10 April 2021
Around 14:00

Today was the day. After almost a year of begging and pleading- Who was she kidding, she'd been asking for a pet from the moment it had become clear that she couldn't take Theophilius with her to Hogwarts, so really, it had been almost two years of her parents suffering through her constant whining. Not that Dee saw it that way. To her, this was, finally, a great injustice being righted. This was why they had travelled to London two days before the end of the break, giving Dee the opportunity to pick her pet before Ileen and her went back to Hogwarts. Her dad had come along this time as well, less worried now that almost two years had passed with no communication from his parents - that Jonathan and Alexandra knew of, at least.

Dee still couldn't believe it had taken one and a half years of near perfect grades (with exceptions that shall not be named), her appointment as captain of the Ravenclaw duelling team (which was currently a front-runner for this year's championship), joining the school newspaper, organising an entire ball (with help), and now being appointed as Ravenclaw's newest prefect to convince them she was responsible enough to get her own cat. Ileen had had Liv for what, half a year now? And they hadn't had any concerns about that, only saying that it wasn't their decision to make and as long as Liv was house-trained and Ileen took care of her, it was fine by them.

Okay, granted, apparently they'd been planning to let her get a pet as a late birthday present in summer, so it seemed their hearts weren't completely frozen, but it had only been after receiving the letter including the prefect badge from her Head of House that her dad had finally caved, faced with her huge pleading eyes, immediately leveraging this newest achievement to her advantage, and agreed to let her get it early instead.

There was no trace of those big sad eyes now when Dee pushed to door to the Magical Menagerie open, her steps more resembling skips, locks of hair bouncing and eyes wide with wonder as she looked around, taking in the meowing, chirping, hooting chaos around her.

Dee had never been a huge animal fan. She didn't dislike them, they were just... okay. Theophilius was the exception, and by extension, she had developed a fondness for cats (and she swore, one day, she'd get to a point where Silver wouldn't try to murder her in her sleep). Hence, this was now where she headed, the corner filled with felines of all colours and sizes. Or rather, the corner where they should be, but as cats do, they had spread all over the shop.

She never got there, anyway. There was a constant level of noise in the shop, caused by animals and humans alike, so she didn't really notice the small squeaky noise. The tiny blob scurrying across the floor towards her registered only at the edge of her consciousness, attention focused on the cats - but it was hard to ignore the sensation of tiny feet, climbing first over her shoes and then scampering up her leg below the robes. Dee froze mid-step, eyes widening, all the while the tiny creature with the trippling feet climbed higher, up her back to where her hair was covering her shoulder, a small bump below the fabric.

"Where'd it go!" a kid exclaimed nearby. "Has anyone seen a rat running around? I want to buy it!"

She blinked. "No, I haven't," she replied, automatically. There had to be a reason if the rat had run from that boy this fast, she wasn't going to rat sorry it out. And honestly, any rat smart and stealthy enough to escape and pick the one human who was likely to hide it on a moment's notice deserved to get away. For a minute, she kept still, and so did the rat on her shoulder. There was a small commotion as people searched for the escaped rodent. Dee fought the urge to hold her breath as she watched, and felt like her little visitor did, too. After a while, the shopkeeper came to dissolve the ruckus, encouraging the boy and his parents to go look at other pets instead, before she shot a knowing look at Dee and turned around to help another customer.

The tension went out of Dee's shoulders, and she sighed, an odd sense of relief spreading through her that she couldn't really explain. It seemed her visitor had sensed it was safe to move again, too, because he slowly crawled forward until he could peek out from below her robes, first only a pink nose, followed by a small head covered by smooth, silver-grey fur, a little darker around the ears and lightening up towards the nose.

Dee stared down, aquamarine eyes wide with surprise. The rat stared back up from its tiny black eyes. The rat's nose twitched. Dee's nose twitched. And that was it.

"Mum," she said, looking up, the one word all that was needed.

Alexandra frowned, just slightly. "Dealla, you live with two cats."

Dee shrugged, helpless, the corner of her mouth quirking up. "Mum, it's him." He'd have to deal with the cats, but she had a feeling he'd manage just fine.

Word Count | 890

What animal do you wish to purchase? Gray Rat
What do you want to name it? Ninkilim
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? 18 February 2021

Pet Granted

Look after Ninkilim well.