A Well-Earned Treat

@Jade O’Reilly|Word Count: 448

Charlotte had finished her school shopping, and well, she was exhausted. Her book bag was filled with lots of things for the upcoming school year, and was becoming quite a pain to carry around. She looked around wondering whether to return home or to stay at Diagon Alley. Her parents would have probably wanted her to go back home, but Charlotte felt like she deserved a treat after her long day. Charlotte looked around the bustling streets, wondering what she could do.

She paused and stared at the ice cream shop, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. It was a nice day, and ice cream was just the thing she wanted. She looked in her purse. Just enough to get something. Charlotte could practically taste the ice cream as she made her way to the ice cream parlor. She opened the door and breathed in the smell of ice cream. It was really crowded, probably from everyone who had also finished their school shopping. There was a really long line ahead of her, and Charlotte debated whether to turn back.

Charlotte started at the long menu of flavors and treats. Wow. . . there’s so many options. She only had 4 sickles in her purse, but it was still enough to get something delicious. After a bit of waiting, Charlotte was finally at the front of the line. "Hi um, can I get the Classic Treat? Thank you" Charlotte waited a bit for the ice cream to be ready, and Charlotte started to look for a seat. The ice cream looked really good, and Charlotte couldn’t wait to sit down and eat it after her busy day. She walked around the ice cream shop, looking for seats. Unfortunately, everywhere inside looked full and crowded. Charlotte stepped outside, and there didn’t seem to be seats at outside either.

Charlotte frowned. She really wanted to sit down, and her bag was getting heavy with all the stuff Charlotte had bought. Plus, her ice cream was beginning to melt. She finally decided to walk around a bit more, and towards the end of the outdoor seating, where there were less people, there was an empty seat. There was also another girl at the table, around her age, eating a delicious looking sundae that Charlotte wished she could have gotten. Charlotte wondered if she could ask to sit on the empty chair. There wasn’t any other seats in sight, and she wasn’t loosing anything if she asked the girl. Maybe she could even make a new friend.

“Hey, can I sit here?” Charlotte asked a bit more nervously than she meant to sound, pointing at the empty seat. “I’m Charlotte, by the way”

_{Mentions:@Charlotte Evergreen @Jade O'Reilly}

_{Time: Time given in thread}

_{Day: August 25th}

_{Outfit: Below in the Reducio}

Reducio

It was still summer break, and the school year was starting. Andy was going to be a third year. Now, there was no need to buy fake permission slips in to hogsmeade, and no need to worry about you getting caught while taking a closer look at the dormitories for the third years in the common room. But it also takes more responsibilities and effort to be a thrid year. More homework, more difficult classes and much more. To get ready for such a year, the perfect thing was ice cream. At this time, Andy has just arrived to Diagon alley a day ago. It was very busy everywhere since the streets where filled with worried first years, adult wizards and witches and much more. Andy opened the door whitch lead to the ice cream store. Vanilla in a cup, please. Andy always loved the classic. No caramel drizzle, no Chocolate chips, just vanilla. He got his ice cream and flicked up a Galleon to the worker. Jeeze, prices are getting higher and higher these days! Andy sat onto a table that was already occupied by two girls. Even though a whole Summer passed, Andy was still his talk-ative self. He walked up to them with his ice cream, which was already half eaten and said, Hello, I am Andy. Let's chat!

Mentioning: @Charlotte Evergreen @Andy Loggins | Date: 26th August, 2025
Dialogue: #407e58 | Word Count: 396

Jade had been watching the crowd as she slowly ate her ice cream sundae, savoring every bite, so she wasn’t surprised when someone approached her. They were a girl, around Jade’s age, carrying ice cream and a rather large book bag. Probably from school shopping, Jade thought. Seems like that’s what everyone is doing around here. “Hey, can I sit here?” The girl asked, pointing at one of the table’s empty seats. “I’m Charlotte, by the way.”

“Oh, sure,” Jade said, with a smile. “I’m Jade. Nice to meet you, Charlotte.” She felt a little rush of satisfaction at having pulled off the interaction successfully. It was nothing exciting, just a greeting and an introduction, but Jade had often found that the hardest part of a conversation was starting one. Since it would be weird (at least, in her mind) to just return to eating her ice cream, Jade was preparing herself to ask Charlotte a question (something about shopping, or Diagon Alley, or the upcoming school year, really anything that was appropriate for conversation), when another person approached their table.

Jade looked sharply at the new arrival as he announced himself, saying “Hello, I am Andy,” as he took a seat in the other empty chair. He's not even going to ask if he can sit here? “Let's chat!” That's rude… Jade wouldn't have said no, of course, but in her mind it was still considered polite to ask. What if she'd been saving the seat for someone? It's fine, it's not a big deal…

“Oh, uh, hello,” Jade said, still feeling a bit thrown off by his sudden arrival and his lack of politeness. “I'm Jade. Nice to meet you…” She trailed off, awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. The boy, Andy, had made it clear he wanted to chat -- but about what, Jade had absolutely no idea. But it would be rude to not say anything at all, and it had been her table to start with, so Jade felt an urge to find some way to make conversation. What was I thinking about earlier? I know I had some good ideas… Maybe she could ask about school shopping? They were all young enough that they would be doing that. “So, um, I take it you all have been doing your school shopping?” Does that sound awkward? Please don't sound awkward…

The girl looked up and Charlotte waited for her response.”Oh sure,” the girl said. ”I’m Jade. Nice to meet you, Charlotte.” Charlotte smiled, happy that the girl, Jade, had let her sit there. See, it wasn’t that bad. She took a seat, placing her heavy book bag on the floor, instantly feeling relieved. Her arm felt so much better. Charlotte looked at Jade, wondering what to talk about. She wondered what year Jade was going into.

But before she could say another word, another boy, holding a half-eaten vanilla ice cream cup, suddenly arrived at their table. Just a plain vanilla cup? With nothing else on it? Charlotte hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings, so it seemed like he just appeared out of thin air. She wondered why he was here. Maybe he couldn’t find a seat either. “Hello I am Andy. Let’s chat.”

Andy took the other empty seat without a word, while Charlotte felt a bit bewildered. Why did he just show up and just take the other seat without asking? That seemed a bit rude. Actually, that seemed really rude. . . On the other hand, Charlotte marveled at his ability to talk with so much confidence. He was probably good at making friends. That was something she desperately wished she had. Whatever, it’s fine. Andy seems friendly enough.

Jade introduced herself to Andy, but Charlotte couldn’t find anything to say at the moment. Her tongue felt twisted. Why am I so bad at talking to people? She took a breath. “Hi, nice to meet you,” Charlotte finally said, glad she had at least said something. Then she returned to her ice cream, since it was melting quick.

“So, um, I take it you all have been doing your school shopping?” Jade asked. Charlotte looked up from her ice cream. “Oh yeah, I have been!” She had totally forgotten that that was the reason she had came to Diagon Alley in the first place. “I got a lot of school shopping done,”she said lifting up her heavy bag. “Are you both going into second year . . . ? ” Charlotte asked. She wasn’t sure if that was the right question to ask, but oh well. She finished off her ice cream cone and sighed contently. The ice cream was pretty good.