Bo Dennis sat fidgeting impatiently in the dark and dusty shop that was Olivanders. Gazing through the grimy window at the busy street outside, she watched a young, blond girl, about her own age, eagerly push open the door of Flourish and Blotts and enter with her mother.
Bo didn't get why the girl seemed so excited about books. She would much rather be playing quidditch, or duelling. She dragged her eyes from the girl as she heard footsteps approaching from the back of the shop.
Olivander approached her, holding out a long, thin wand, made of a dark brown wood. "Perhaps this one is more suited to you, Miss Dennis." Bo gazed around the battered shop guiltily, although in fairness it wasn't exactly her fault that the previous four wands hadn't really got on with her.
Carefully, she accepted the wand from the old man. At once, she felt a warm, tingling sensation flowing from her fingertips right along her arm.
Olivander smiled. "Yes, this wand seems to like you. Thankfully."
An enormous grin broke out on Bo's face, as she waved the wand gently, gasping in delight when a stream of red sparks came flying out of the end.
"Ten and a half inches, made of hawthorn with a core of unicorn hair. Unyielding."
Bo twirled the wand happily between her fingers, glancing up at Olivander and saying "Thank you, sir, it's wonderful."
"Yes," He replied. "And it's also ten galleons."
Bo paid Olivander, sticking her newly acquired wand jauntily into her belt and opening her Hogwarts letter to see what she had to buy next.
She groaned when she saw all the books she needed to buy. Tucking her dark hair behind her ear, she left Olivanders, crossed the street and pushed open the door to Flourish and Blotts. The bell tinkled as she entered, the door drifting shut and cutting off the noise of the crowd outside. Apart from the quiet murmurs of the elderly wizard standing at the counter talking to the shop owner, the shop was almost silent.
Bo grabbed one of the wicker shopping baskets that were stacked up by the door, and wandered the long aisles created by the shelves, searching for school books. She sighed as she saw the book she was looking for, the Standard Book Of Spells Grade One, perched on the very top shelf.
Dropping her basket on the floor, she stood on her tiptoes to try and reach it. She didn't notice the small blond girl she had spotted from Olivander's window until it was too late.
She leapt upwards, grabbing the spine of the book and falling back down, tripping backwards on her basket as she landed and into something warm and soft.
"Ooof!"
For a moment Bo lay still, trying to figure out if she had broken any bones, before coming to the realisation that she was lying on top of someone. From underneath her she heard a muffled "Umm, sorry to bother you, but this is not exactly the most comfortable position."
Bo gulped, rolling off the person and getting to her feet. "Sorry, sorry. I'm really sorry, I didn't see you there." She turned to help the young girl she had accidentally fallen on to her feet. The girl took her hand, pulling herself upright. She brushed her messy hair back, gazing at Bo with large brown eyes.
She held out her hand. In it was the Standard Book Of Spells Bo had been attempting to get off the shelf.
"You dropped this."
Bo grimaced, taking the book from her. "Yeah, sorry about that. Thanks for breaking my fall."
The blond laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and gazing at Bo with large brown eyes. Bo gazed back. The girl really was very pretty. Bo shook herself mentally. Stop staring. Instead she held out her own hand. "Hi, I'm Bo."
The other girl grinned, taking her hand and shaking it. "Lauren. Pleased to meet you, Bo."
Bo held onto her hand for a little longer than necessary, before dropping it, awkwardly searching for something interesting to say. "Umm, so, are you getting your stuff for Hogwarts?"
"Yep." Lauren smiled happily. "I couldn't believe it when Professor McCorrigan gave me my letter."
"Wait, the headmaster gave you your letter himself? Mine got delivered by some mangy old owl that almost dropped it in the bin, then fell into the sink."
Lauren looked confused. "Owl?"
"Yeah." Bo looked at her, head cocked to the side. "That's how all the post gets delivered." Suddenly, a look of recognition crossed her face. "Oh, are you a muggleborn?"
Lauren nodded, gazing at the floor. "Is that a bad thing?"
"What? No, of course not." She grinned. "It just means I have a lot to teach you." She picked up her basket. "I have to go and get the rest of my books. Come with and I'll tell you the basics of being a witch."
"And I can 'catch' you again when you fall."
Bo punched her playfully on the shoulder, noting how Lauren flinched and immediately regretting it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No." Lauren interrupted, shaking her head. "It's fine." She folded her arms across her chest. "Shall we get your books then?"
Bo nodded, silently following her, worried she had upset her new friend already. They rounded the corner, Lauren plucking A History of Magic off its shelf and dropping it in Bo's basket.
"Do you have your letter?" she asked.
Bo nodded again, pulling the folded parchment out of her back pocket where she had stuffed it. Lauren unfolded it, scanning it quickly before heading towards the back of the shop.
"You know, I distinctly remember you telling me you were going to teach me about being a witch."
"Oh yeah, sorry." Bo shifted the basket to her left hand, using the other to scratch the back of her neck. "What do you want to know?"
Lauren stopped, taking Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them off the shelf and handing it to Bo, who tucked it into the basket. She tuned to face Bo again, leaning slightly on the bookshelf. "Err, the letter said something about first years not being allowed broomsticks. What would they be used for?"
"Quidditch, it's this really awesome wizard sport that's played on broomsticks. First years aren't allowed to join the house quidditch team," at this she frowned, obviously annoyed at the fact. "But we still get flying lessons."
"Wait, broomsticks can actually fly? But how? That basically defies any law of physics, ever."
Bo shrugged, reaching around Lauren for a copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. "I don't know, magic I guess."
"Okay, never mind." Lauren sensed she wasn't going to get any sort of scientific answer out of Bo. They moved on, wandering randomly through the shelves. "What about owls? Do they really deliver post?"
"Yeah, much faster than your muggle postal system. We've got an owl, his name's Toby. Mum doesn't send any letters though, and I don't really know anyone outside of local quidditch matches I've been to, and they all live really close to me, so he doesn't get much work. He's getting kinda fat and lazy." She stopped, turning eagerly to Lauren. "Hey, you should give me your address and we can write to each other! It'd be so cool."
"I don't know what my parents would say about an owl turning up at the house."
Bo pulled a biro out of her pocket, holding it out to Lauren. "Pretty please? I'm sure they won't mind. Come on, give my fat owl some exercise."
Lauren giggled at the adorable pleading pout on Bo's face, caving and taking the pen from her.
"Alright, alright. But how will he know where I live, can owls read? Stay still." Bo was wriggling at the tickling sensation of Lauren scrawling her address on her palm.
"I can't, it really tickles. And I don't know how owls know where to take stuff. Maybe they can read. You should ask the guy at Eeylop's."
"Eeylop's?"
"Owl emporium, just down the street." She accepted her pen back from the blond, gesturing out the window. As Bo stuck her pen back in her pocket, a short, mousy women carrying a bag of books approached them.
"Lauren, there you are." She noticed Bo. "Oh, have you made a friend? Hi, I'm Nancy."
Bo waved. "Bo. Pleased to meet you."
"Bo was just telling me about owls, how they deliver letters in the wizarding world." Lauren explained excitedly.
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, you learn something new every day. Listen, Lauren, I'm going to go and get a cup of tea at that pub we came through to get here. Do you want to come with me or carry on shopping?"
"Umm," Lauren fidgeted. "Well, I have a few more things to get, so…"
The woman nodded knowingly, handing over a small bag that rattled with the sounds of coins. "Alright then. I'll meet you at The Leaky Cauldron in half an hour, okay?" Lauren nodded, accepting the bag eagerly. The woman headed out the door, saying over her shoulder. "It was nice to meet you, Bo. Be good you two, don't get in any trouble."
When she had left, Bo picked up her basket, heading over to the counter to pay. "Your mum seems nice," she commented.
Lauren frowned. "She's not my mum."
Bo paused in handing over her money. "Oh? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume…"
"No, no, It's alright." She turned away, scanning some edible bookmarks, 'for when you just can't put that book down!'
Bo sighed, running a hand through her hair. "That's twice I've upset you now, and we've only known each other ten minutes!"
Lauren put a bright purple bookmark back on the pile, turning gaze quizzically at Bo. "What makes you think I'm upset? Bo, you're the nicest person who has ever fallen on me, and I'm not saying that lightly." Bo giggled, and Lauren placed a hand on her shoulder, gazing sincerely into her eyes. "My life hasn't been great, but ever since I found out I'm a witch, it's getting a whole lot better. I finally feel like I belong, and you, you are not upsetting me in the slightest. You're making me feel even more at home."
"Really?"
Lauren squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Really."
A loud sniff from the shopkeeper interrupted their moment. They turned to see him dabbing at his eyes with a large white handkerchief. "I'm so sorry, girls," he sniffled. "That was just beautiful."
Bo and Lauren just stared at him, until Bo realised she still hadn't paid. Dropping some galleons on the counter, she picked up her books and looped her arm into Lauren's, guiding her out of the shop. As the bell tinkled jauntily, they could hear the shopkeeper murmuring to himself "Beautiful, just beautiful. They are going to be such great friends."
After exiting Flourish and Blotts, Bo pulled Lauren a little way down the street and into Eeylop's Owl Emporium. They were greeted by the sight, sound and smell of hundreds of owls of all different shapes and sizes. Lauren immediately rushed over to coo at a bunch of baby barn owls, still covered in a fluffy white down.
"Bo, look at them, aren't they adorable?"
Bo came up to stand at her shoulder, gazing down at the owls and agreeing with her new friend. Both the owls and Lauren were extremely adorable. From behind the counter a tall, handsome man approached them.
"You like barn owls, huh?"
Lauren beamed up at him, nodding. "I read a book all about them when I was younger, they're fascinating."
He nodded along with her, grinning at her enthusiasm. "Are you looking to buy a post owl? These guys are a bit young, but, if you follow me, we have a bunch who are ready to get out of here and start delivering letters."
Lauren's smile dropped. "Oh, no, I don't think my parents would like it very much if I bought an owl."
"Doesn't matter," the shop clerk shrugged. "You can still have a look at them, maybe even persuade your parents to reconsider."
Lauren brightened, following him to the back of the shop where three fine young barn owls perched sleepily, gazing at Lauren through half-closed eyes.
"Wow, they're beautiful, just look at those talons!" she began expounding happily on the hunting abilities of barn owls to the amused shop keeper. Watching Lauren get excited over the owls gave Bo an idea.
"I'll be back in a minute Lauren. Just, err, having a look around."
"Okay. Now, you see the beak…"
Bo smiled to herself, heading quickly out of the door, and towards The Leaky Cauldron.
Inside, she found Lauren's mother, Or step-mother. Bo hadn't wanted to ask exactly what relation the woman was to Lauren, but she could tell they were very close. She was sat at a table in the corner, sipping a cup of milky tea and flipping through one of Lauren's newly acquired text books.
Bo slipped into the seat opposite her. "Umm, Hi, Nancy? We met earlier, my name is Bo."
The woman looked up from her book, face breaking into a welcoming smile. "Hey. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks."
"Good to hear." Nancy looked around for her daughter. "Is Lauren with you?"
"No, I left her at Eeylop's fangirling over some barn owls."
"Ah, Lauren always did love barn owls, I remember when I bought her that book for her seventh birthday." She sipped her tea, gazing into the middle distance, reminiscing.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that."
Nancy put her teacup gently back onto its saucer. "Oh?"
Bo took a deep breath and blurted out "Lauren thinks that you and her dad wouldn't let her have an owl in the house. I get, it, I do, they can be messy when they're not properly looked after. But I know that Lauren would really take care of an owl if she had one. And I think it would be really nice for her to have a connection with you and her dad whist she's away at Hogwarts, she'd be able to send letters quickly that would otherwise take days to reach you, and, and- yeah, I just…" she trailed off, fidgeting.
Nancy gazed at her over the rim of her teacup, a small smile on her face. "Bo, I am so glad Lauren found a friend in you. And you make a very convincing argument. I take it owls are allowed at Hogwarts?"
Bo nodded vigorously.
"Lauren's never had a pet before. Her dad never let her." A shadow crossed her face, but quickly cleared as she smiled. "But we don't need to listen to him anymore. I think it's about time Lauren had something other than herself to look after." She resolutely placed her empty teacup back on its saucer, standing and picking up her black handbag. "Can you show me the way to this Eeylop's?"
"…And Daniel said she'll catch all her own food, but she likes special treats like these occasionally, and she knows exactly where to go because of something called an 'innate homing ability'."
Bo watched Lauren skipping along happily, a beautiful, if slightly sleepy barn owl swaying on her shoulder.
They reached The Leaky Cauldron, Lauren turning to Bo and fiercely hugging her. "Thank you so much, Bo," she murmured in her ear.
"No problem. Oh, wait, before you go…" she pulled her biro from her pocket, grabbing Laurens free hand and quickly scrawling her address on her palm. "See," she said as Lauren squirmed. "Told you it tickled. Now you don't have any excuse not to write to me." She turned to the owl, gazing solemnly at it. "Make sure she writes to me, yeah?" The owl blinked, and Bo, Nancy and Lauren laughed.
Grabbing her shopping, Bo hugged Lauren one more time. "See you at Hogwarts, Lauren."
Lauren sighed happily. "See you at Hogwarts."
AN: You guys are seriously amazing. Thank you so much for the reviews, the follows, everything. Just a side note, this will be set in the gangs fifth year, but for the first few chapters I just want to get a bit of backstory down. Let me know what you think, reviews make me happy :). Until next time...
