Ami pulled a sour face at Anatole's whispered words, her face puckering up almost comically. All in all, one was vaguely reminded of the end a lemon. "You're kidding?" she said with a sigh, although he obviously wasn't. After all, no one dared to kid about protective gloves- it simply wasn't done. 

She pouted, tugging on her hair, yearning for a way to keep talking to this wizard... after all, this was one of her very first interactions with the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts, which she'd briefly visited on September 1. After riding the Hogwarts Express and getting Sorted, as her mom had insisted, she'd been whisked off back to Chicago on September 6. Five days... that wasn't enough to make a lasting impression. No one remembered her, no one knew her face or her name. Altogether, it was quite annoying.

In the end, however, she came up with nothing. Zilch, zero, nada, as Thomas liked to say. "I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts," Ami said glumly with a sad smile. "I'll try and find you, if you want." Glancing out the window of Dogweed and Deathcap, she realized with a start that her mom was waving her over, anyway. "Bye, Anatole! It was a pleasure and a privilege meeting you," Ami finished off hurriedly, and shaking Anatole's hand briefly, she sped out through the doors of the small, quaint shop.

Running over to her mom, she spat, "Yes?" Abella glared at her daughter, saying, "It's time to go, love. You've overrun your time, you should've been keeping track." With another heavy sigh, Ami trailed after her mom, glancing back at Dogweed and Deathcap and she trudged onward, doomed to spend another Christmas alone, with no one by her side.

Anatole couldn't stop looking between his mother and the girl, making sure they were in completely different planes of thought and that his mother was distracted for just a few moments longer. He had this automatic need to finish the conversation he started with the girl, no matter how long it took. He would make it happen.

"Not kidding, Ami. It's just gloves, and I'm sure she thinks that this has been taking all too long." He shrugged, breaking out into a giggle.

Ami seemed alright for a foreigner. Playful, smart, almost the perfect girl everyone would want. And not to mention, she was a little cute.

No, not love-cute, just cute, like cute as in the way she waved, smiled, and spun around in the middle of a public establishment cute. Anatole was never one for love and hopefully never would be.

She said what he expected: something along the lines of "Bye, I'll see you at school."

And one of the main things struck him like an arrow of enjoyment: "I'll try and find you, if you want."

She'd find him. Not in the creepy way, but in the way-she-said-it-cute way. "Oh, sure! I wouldn't mind that. You're a great person anyways." With a sheepish smile, he ended the conversation with a smile and wave. "Bye."

The timing was impeccable as his mother turned around, gloves in hand. "Yes! We've got them! Now, to take you back to school before anyone gets angered at me." His mother tossed the gloves into the boy's small hands, and he felt them, noticing they were much better than the tattered ones he had at the start of the year. "Now, tell me about...Ami."

On the walk to the car, Anatole wasn't sure if he should tell her or not. He was still a little shaken by all the events since June, but talking about her was sure to make him feel good. It was what he needed. "Well, she's a nice girl, let me say. She really likes plants and came in the store alone. I think I might've distracted her from looking at said love, but we'll find out. She's coming to Hogwarts soon. I like her, but as a friend. She has..."

Exeunt Anatole and his mother, thus ending the thread.