A Shared Passion PV Haley Rose | Miles Thatcher F

@Miles Thatcher
@Simon Kincaid

Holidays are supposed to be about relaxing, right? Right. But the Christmas holidays were anything but relaxing for Haley. While she was trying to see some of her old friends from the Muggle world, pure chaos had broken out at home. The whole house had to be cleaned and tidied, suitcases had to be packed, presents had to be bought and any other errands had to be done. As much as Haley was looking forward to the trip to her family, she was annoyed by all the hustle and bustle.

Once again, her mother had to go to Diagon Alley because she had to get another Christmas present. No one understood this woman, but for some reason she managed to have to get a present every other day. According to her, she couldn't wait until the list was complete because by then the presents would be sold out. Haley didn't even try to question the theory and quietly accepted it all, hoping she wouldn't have to accompany her.

It was a little silent competition that Haley's father and she had between them. Who would be the escort today? It was like when the lottery numbers were drawn. As soon as the subject of errands came up, father and daughter looked at each other in panic, both hoping that by sheer force of thought they could convince Stephanie to choose the other. But today was the day Haley's father took the game to the next level. It was another morning of Haley's mother talking about what errands she needed to run when Haley's father suddenly spoke, "I think Haley should go with you, she's been spending so much time at home helping the last few days." Of course her mother was thrilled with the suggestion and Haley had no choice but to accompany her mother.

The first few hours had passed, they had squeezed through crowded shops, stood in eternally long lines at the checkout only to leave the shop and go to the next one. Gosh, a big family could definitely have its drawbacks, Haley thought to herself as her arms started to get heavy from carrying all the bags. But to her relief, her mother came around the corner of a shelf and informed her that she could manage the rest on her own and they could meet up again later. Her mother took the bags from her and as quickly as she had appeared, she had disappeared again. You would have thought she had studied it all.

Relieved, Haley walked out of the stuffy and crowded shop, it didn't take her long to figure out where she was going. Probably one of the only shops she really wanted to enter of her own free will. She read the sign above the shop - Quality Quidditch Supplies - and stepped through the door to enter, also in a crowded shop but at least less crowded than all the others. Here there was only half as long a queue at the tills and a large group of people were just paying and leaving the shop again. After a few minutes it was much more bearable and the aisles were pleasantly empty, so Haley could walk through comfortably without pushing past anyone every other metre.

Soon to bump into @Haley Rose

@Miles Thatcher
@Simon Kincaid

Haley let the air pass through her nostrils in relief, this was now a place she felt comfortable. This was shopping she would like to do and she was glad to have some time to herself after the long hours filled with crowds, carrying bags and standing in queues. Looking satisfied, she strolled through the aisles, past the offers, Christmas specials and sales items. She passed the fan merchandise, a huge number of jerseys from various teams and training jerseys. And while she kept walking the path led more and more to the things that were relevant for Haley.

Training stuff, snitches, Quidditch equipment and soon she had arrived in exactly the right compartment. Beaters and chasers, where else would the young Gryffindor go, after all she was first string Chaser for the Gryffindor Team and who knows, maybe she would find something she could wish for her next birthday.

Before she rummaged any further, she glanced at her watch, it had only been 20 minutes since she had said goodbye to her mother, at least 6o more would be left before she would have to set off again, probably to carry 10 more bags, wrap them at home and then pack them into any suitcases where there was still room to be found. But until that time came, she would use the remaining time wisely and so her gaze fell from the time back to the shelves and she blanked out the rest around her.

With her gaze focused on the various items, she slowly took one step at a time, sometimes stopping, taking something in her hand, examining it more closely and making a note in her mind. Then she put it down again and continued walking, and so the whole game repeated itself. Completely absorbed in her thoughts, she walked slowly down the aisle, by now starting to sweat in her coat, so she took it off, keeping her eyes on the shelves. She slowly let her neck move and crack to the right and then to the left as she suddenly comes to an involuntary stop.

"Ouch." She stumbled back a few steps and dropped her coat. Perplexed, she looked up and her eyes widened as she realised what had happened. The involuntary stop had been a person. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" the redhead apologised quickly, holding one hand to the centre of her chest and one to her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe that she had actually just run into someone. Actually, she shouldn't have been surprised, it's not like it was the first time it had happened to her.

@Miles Thatcher
@Simon Kincaid

Smiling, she accepted her coat from the unknown boy, relieved that he didn't hold it against her. "Thank you." Still, she looked down at her feet, somewhat embarrassed, as her cheeks began to glow red. She laughed at his comment and nodded in agreement. "It's hell here at Christmas time. I'd go on about how Christmas is at the same time every year and shouldn't really be a surprise anymore but my mum is no better." the redhead laughed further, shaking her head.

"Charming." Haley grinned, raising her eyebrow. He really could have been classified as cheesy, but the way he said it and smiled at the same time prevented that, it didn't come across as cheesy and Haley let herself in on the little game. "But you are right, of course." She agreed with him, "Four words are not enough of an excuse for such a horrible act. I don't know what got into me either. I couldn't have blanked out my surroundings like that and anyway I wonder how I could have blanked out someone like you." She laughed at her words and added with a grin "I hope that was enough to hear a little more of the accent."

"I'm Haley. Haley Rose." She held out her hand for him to introduce herself. "Last minute gift shopping or Quidditch player?" she asked further, unable to assign which answer was more likely. He was a total stranger to her, she wondered if he was also a student at Hogwarts or maybe from one of the other schools? She tried to think about it, but she really couldn't remember his face. The dark hair, the blue eyes, the boy standing in front of her was simply unfamiliar. She couldn't remember a brief encounter and so this was probably the first one between the two of them.

@Miles Thatcher
@Simon Kincaid

"It's an honour to meet you Miles Thatcher." Haley replied with a smile as the two shook hands. It was unusual to find others her age at this shopping time of year, as it was mostly adults, parents, grandparents and co, who were busy buying out the shops at this time of year. So it was all the more a pleasant change to meet a fellow sufferer here. She wondered if Miles' parents were standing around the corner, waiting to use their son to carry bags through crowds of people.

But it seemed he was not on a last minute shopping trip. He was a Quidditch player, like herself. "A Beater, then." She remarked, taking a closer look at his stature. "Yep, you got that right. Hogwarts, Gryffindor." She thought for a moment, Ilvermorny was in America she was sure but was it also the school her cousins went to? She always confused the North American school and the one located in the rainforest - Castelobruxo. She would have to check again over Christmas but maybe it really could be that they knew each other.

"Indeed. Chaser." She enlightened the boy and while many would now be thinking - Oh two students playing Quidditch, that's going to make for a long boring conversation - were wrong. For it turned out to be anything but boring. It turned out that Miles could be very spontaneous and not only that, but had spontaneous good ideas. Haley knew most of the goods from the shop and she wouldn't discover anything in here that would really be a novelty for her. So she thought about his suggestion. "Mhh." But actually it was already obvious how she had made up her mind. The red-haired girl was already putting on her coat and preparing herself for the cold waiting outside.

"You should be more careful who you challenge Miles." She admonished him with a devilishly playful smile. "Let the games begin." This was now her final agreement. She made a quick head movement that made it clear to Miles that he should follow her. Like a pro she twisted her way around all the people in the shop until she finally arrived at the door. Outside, thick flakes were still falling from the sky and with a quick glance upwards, a smile formed on her lips. "Follow me!" she called to him as she suddenly started running.

It wasn't long before Haley had led them both to a more secluded spot where they wouldn't disturb anyone with their little snowball fight. As soon as Haley came to a stop, she bent down, formed a snowball as quickly as possible, turned around and threw it in Miles' direction.

@Miles Thatcher
@Simon Kincaid

It was one of those moments when she could show whether she really deserved to be a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The situation was the same - throwing a Quaffle through giant rings or snowballs at a boy. The principle was the same, there was a projectile and a target. And Haley had fighting spirit, she would give it all here and now, in snowy Diagon Alley, to show the Ilvermorny student what Hogwarts students were capable of. She was going to win this match.

Of course, it did not go unnoticed by the observant girl where Miles was fleeing to and that he was taking cover. She kept an eye on him for a moment, waiting for him to go on the attack immediately, but that was not the case. For a moment she stood there confused, already had the next snowball in her hand, ready to attack. But something was wrong. The boy had to be up to something, and with quick steps, she plodded through the snow. She held the snowball tightly in her hand, ready to attack at any time, but right now her goal was to spy and it wasn't long before she had reached a point where she had a good view of Miles and at the same time was in a clear path for him.

At first he hadn't noticed her and now she realised what was going on. He was preparing for a fierce attack, but it was not that easy to defeat the redhead. She now knew his plan. Haley slowly bent down and formed another snowball. With both in one hand each, she quietly tried to sneak closer to Miles. With luck he wouldn't notice and when she was close enough she took her first throw. She aimed for his back and depending on whether he noticed in time, it could be a direct hit, a graze or he would save himself. No matter what, after letting go of the first snowball, she threw the second ball. But this time she didn't aim at Miles but at the bag he was holding.