"She seemed nice," Ada said as the two of them walked back out onto the street. Freddie stopped to throw away her milkshake cup which was empty now.
"She is. If you ever want your hair done, she's definitely the place to go. She's an artist."
"Yeah I like the tips she did on that guy's hair, he was cute. I don't think I could pull off the wild colors, though. Especially getting a job at the Ministry, I'm sure I have to be professionnel."
"True," Freddie chuckled. "...Hey you wouldn't go out and get married and have a baby without telling me, would you?"
Ada stopped on the sidewalk and looked at her like she was crazy.
"No way!" she declared. "First off, I don't think that's happening for me anytime soon. I mean, I'm 17. I'm not even dating anyone! But if I ever did meet someone and decided to get married – you know, sometime in the wayyy distant future – you would definitely be my demoiselle d'honneur."
"Your maid of honor, really?" Freddie asked, flattered. Her smile faltered for just a moment as she remembered her very last conversation with Daniel – how he'd told her he wanted her to be his best man at his wedding someday. A wave of sadness washed over her and she quickly blocked it out, using her Occlumency. Ada didn't seem to notice.
"Of course! You're my best friend in the whole world, Freddie. And I'd never let us drift apart like you and Amelia did, no matter how busy either of us was. I'd come find you – I'd go to your house, I'd come to St Mungo's and hunt you down if I had to," she threatened and Freddie laughed.
"Bien. I'd do the same to you – come hunt you down at the Ministry of Magic and drag you on lunch dates or something."
Ada chuckled but then her face grew thoughtful.
"Do you think you'll ever get married? You and Severus?"
Freddie balked at the question and quickly shook her head.
"I don't think so. I've never even really thought about it, to be honest," she said and considered it a moment before shaking her head again. "I'm not even sure I'd want to even if by some miracle he did. I'm not big on parties and that's all weddings are really they're just parties and they're for friends and family anyway. I haven't got any family left that I care about and you're like my only real friend besides him. I don't see it happening."
"Yeah I have a hard time picturing that myself – you in white with flowers in your hair and Severus in a tux, or dress robes I suppose is what wizards wear to weddings."
"He wore dress robes to the Potions Championship dinner, the first night I met you."
"Ah, oui, I remember now."
"But I don't think I've ever worn white in my life!" Freddie chuckled.
"So no wedding bells in your future then?" Ada teased.
"Definitely not. Honestly, even after 5 years I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he actually loves me. That's enough for me any day of the week."
"Is he going to be there whenever we head home?" she asked curiously.
"No, he said he was most likely going to stay at Hogwarts, give you and I a chance to spend time together."
"I feel like I'm driving him out of his home."
"You're not," Freddie assured her. "I told you, he isn't home 99% of the time anyway. Neither of us are. We only go there to sleep mostly and even that's not every night."
"Only to sleep?" Ada asked teasingly, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Adalene!" Freddie laughed, hitting her friend lightly.
The girls continued talking and laughing as the sun began to set over Diagon Alley. Freddie remembered abruptly that they were supposed to be finding an owl for Ada and she led her friend down the street to Magical Menagerie.
"The guy who owns this place, Matt, is another friend of mine. He really cares about all the animals he has in his shop. He's the one who helped me nurse Ziggy back to health when he was a newborn kit, he gave me advice on how to treat him and take care of him. He's a great guy," Freddie explained as they approached the shop.
They entered the shop together and found Matt standing at the counter writing something on a piece of parchment with a quill. He was a tall wizard several years older than Freddie, in his early 30s if she had to guess. He had a mess of brown curls on top of his head and a close-cropped beard. His blue eyes always seemed kind. As he looked up to greet them Freddie noticed a white rat snuggled in the pocket of his t-shirt, its whiskers twitching as it looked out at them.
"Hiya Freddie," Matt greeted. "Been a while. How's Ziggy doin?" He looked around expectantly – any time Freddie had visited the shop over the years Ziggy had always been with her, eager to check out what toys and treats Matt had in stock.
"He's great, but he's not with us. He decided to stay home this afternoon. I guess napping in front of the fireplace was more appealing than following us around shops all day."
"Aw that's too bad, I just got some fresh catnip in from my friend Angela."
Ada grinned at Freddie, no doubt remembering the catnip incident that had occurred when Freddie was in her Animagus form in the Shrieking Shack. Freddie scowled at her.
"Who's your friend?" Matt asked curiously, coming around the counter to talk to them.
"This is Adalene Leroux," Freddie said, introducing Ada by her full first name just to irritate her.
"Ada," her friend said insistently, cutting her eyes at Freddie as she shook Matt's hand. "It's lovely to meet you, monsieur."
"Oh you're French," Matt said, his eyes lighting up at Ada's accent. "Do you go to Beauxbatons?"
"I just graduated actually. I'm going to be staying in London for a while, I have a job interview with the Ministry of Magic."
"Not a place I'd want to be working right now. Hear things are a real mess over there right now," Matt said, shaking his head. "Hagrid told me what's going on. Fudge is off his rocker if he doesn't believe Dumbledore."
"I agree," Ada said quickly. "Fortunately I won't be working directly for Fudge. My job will be in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, working as a translator – if I get it, that is."
"I'm sure you will – your English is flawless," Matt said.
"Merci," Ada said, blushing faintly at the compliment and smiling. "My French is even better."
Matt chuckled and the rat in his pocket poked its head futher out, disturbed by the vibrations of his chest.
"So what brings you in this evening?" he asked curiously. "Are you interested in a little animal companionship as you start your new venture?"
"Actually yes," Ada replied. "I thought that I should probably get an owl so I can keep in contact with my family back home. Freddie insisted this was the best place to find one."
"Well she's right about that!" Matt said grandly. "Sure you could buy an owl at the Owl Emporium or even the post office sells them, but every animal in my shop has their own personality. They all eat a special blend of food that I make for them myself and I provide treats and enrichment that the other shops just don't bother with. I'm really close with all of my animals."
"They look really well taken care of," Ada said, peering into a tank of multicolored puffskeins near the door. "They seem so happy."
"Thank you," Matt said, pleased. "Let me just put Graham back in his cage before I show you to the owls – he has a bit of a cold so I'm keeping him away from the other rats until he's better."
Matt took the white rat from his shirt pocket and it let out a feeble squeak of protest as he put it into a cage on the counter.
"It's alright, bud," he murmured softly to the creature, pulling a treat out of his pocket and dropping it into the cage. "You don't want to go into the owl room, do you? They might think you're a snack."
The rat grabbed the treat in his little paws and quickly buried himself under a pile of wood shavings. Matt closed the door of the cage, then turned back to them.
"This way, ladies," he said, leading them to a door past a tank of harlequin toads. "I keep the owls in here so they'll have more room to move about."
He opened the door and the three of them entered a large room with about a dozen owls scattered around the room. They were all different sizes, colors, and breeds. Immediately a small screech owl flew over to Matt and landed on top of his head.
"This is Barnabus," he said with a chuckle, raising his fist to his head to try and get him to move onto it. "He only has one leg but he doesn't let that stop him. He can fly just as well as the others and he almost never falls off his perch."
"He's adorable," Freddie said, grinning as the little owl refused to move from atop Matt's head. "What happened to his leg?"
"He hatched that way."
Ada was walking around the room, looking curiously at all the different owls. Matt followed behind her – with Barnabus still nestled in his hair – and told her about all the different owls, their names and personalities. They stopped in front of a barn owl that was hanging upside down from a perch.
"Is she stuck?" Ada asked curiously and the bird tilted its head at her, observing her with glittering black eyes.
"No, that's Lunette," Matt said, shaking his head and chuckling. "She isn't stuck – she just likes hanging out like that. It's the weirdest thing. Most owls don't hang upside down for any extended period of time, but she even sleeps that way most of the time!"
With a flap of her wings Lunette righted herself on her perch and hopped closer to Ada, hooting softly and craning her neck out to her. Gently Ada reached out and touched her feathers.
"Hello gorgeous," she said softly as she stroked the bird's white plumage. "You're absolutely stunning. And your name sounds French, you know? It means 'little moon'."
"She's a really strong flyer and fast, too," Matt provided. "She'd have no problem delivering letters or even packages across the channel."
"She's perfect," Ada said, her green eyes sparkling as the owl extended her wings for her to continue stroking her. "I'll take her."
"Excellent!" Matt said, pleased. "I'll get together everything you need to take care of her – a cage, a perch you can set up at home – just be sure she has enough room to hang upside down. With owls you don't really have to feed them, just let them out to hunt at night and they'll take care of that themsleves, but I'll throw in some owl treats for you. I make them myself and the birds just love them. They're really nutritious."
Matt coaxed Lunette into a cage with a few of the owl treats while Ada stood nearby, promising the bird she wouldn't have to stay in there long. Freddie followed them back out into the main room of the shop where Ada paid for her new owl and all the accessories.
"If you have any questions at all you can pop in and talk to me anytime," Matt told Ada, leaning against the counter. "I'm here most days from sunrise til sunset. Well the shop technically closes at 6 but I always hang around late taking care of everybody after hours."
"I definitely will. Thank you so much, Matt," Ada said, beaming at him. "It was so lovely meeting you."
"You too, Ada. Hope to see you again soon. Take care, Freddie."