A Necessary Purchase SOLO FINISHED

Date: Saturday, 26 August 2023
Time: Around 11:00
Location: Quality Quidditch Supplies

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Koko was at Diagon Alley once again, this time alone. She hadn't been alone at Diagon Alley since 2018, her first time there, and the parallel wasn't particularly pleasant to think about. Back then, she had been alone because her brothers had been her parents' priority. That, and her parents were arguing, and they couldn't agree on who would take Koko.

Now that she had made up with her mum's side of the family, however, Koko wasn't sure why she felt a lump growing in her throat as she meandered the alley. The shops were all so familiar, but she wanted someone next to her as she shopped ─ preferably, a Leblanc. Once upon a time, she would have preferred her Aunt Vienna over anyone else, but right now, she really wanted her mum.

That was pathetic. She knew that. Sixteen-year-old girls who were nearly adults weren't supposed to want their mummies. They were supposed to be able to navigate the world on their own without any issue. They were supposed to be strong, capable young women. But at this moment, Koko didn't feel particularly strong or capable.

Yes, that was it. She wanted her mum. She could admit that now, five years later. Maybe that really did speak for something.

She paused on the path and rested near a shop window. Koko knew how much money she had ─ more than enough to purchase a broom. She just needed to find the right one.

She already had the Silver Arrow her aunt had bought her a few years ago, but Koko was a Quidditch captain now, and she was going to graduate eventually. She needed a broom for long-distance transportation. Although the Floo Network was always an option, Koko much preferred the feeling of flying even if it took longer.

She began walking once again and eventually entered Quality Quidditch Supplies, her favourite shop ever. It smelled like Quidditch, if such a smell existed. The sight of brooms all around her made Koko's discomfort fade as a smile replaced her frown. Quidditch: the one thing that made her happy. Ridiculously happy.

Almost immediately, Koko was drawn to the Firebolt. It had been the greatest broom on the market for quite some time, but Koko did not have 222 Galleons. She didn't even need a broom. She had a broom, a really nice one. Nonetheless... This was a temptation she couldn't fight. Her money would burn a hole in her purse if she didn't spend it.

That was why she was here, anyway. She didn't need manoeuvrability, and speed was, for once, not the priority. She needed something that could withstand more than a few bludger hits.

Finally, Koko noticed something ─ a treelike broom labelled a 'Pine Chopper'. It wasn't necessarily her style ─ she preferred sleek, classic brooms ─ but it seemed as if it would be able to hold its own against even a Muggle aeroplane. That was good, very good. And it was only 127 Galleons.

Only. Koko sighed. Anything over 100 Galleons was a lot for a sixteen-year-old to purchase with her own money. However... This wasn't a want. This was a need. She wanted the freedom to travel at her own leisure, in her own way. And, the more she thought about it, the more she was certain. Her family ─ at least, the Leblancs, her French family ─ would have told her to buy the Pine Chopper if it would make her happy. Even if she couldn't fly from Coventry to Rioux-Martin now, she was a decently sturdy girl.

Koko was on autopilot as she bought the broom and requested the shopkeeper to hold onto it until later. Later, she would barely be able to remember counting out all 127 Galleons and the single Sickle. She might eventually ask herself why she bought a broom made from a tree rather than the sleek, classy Firebolt, but right now, her thoughts where someplace else.

As she left Quality Quidditch Supplies, she thought about Rioux-Martin, France, and how she hadn't properly appreciated it until just last month. She hadn't properly appreciated her family until last month, thinking they were just strange people who were completely out of touch with her life. The thing was... They weren't out of touch with her life at all. They supported her Quidditch aspirations, something her own father didn't quite understand. And while she loved her father... She now wanted to make the Leblancs proud.

More specifically, she thought, she wanted to make Rosalie ─ her mother ─ proud. She had never tried to understand what her mum tried to tell her, but now, she thought she understood. Perhaps she had never been fair to her mother. But it wasn't too late to start acknowledging that her mother was human, and humans made errors.

Plus, she was Koko's mum. Maybe she just missed her mum after all.

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