Autumn watched her sister running towards the menagerie, rolling her eyes with an amused smile. It was nice, like this, just the two of them. Her mother was at Gringotts, getting some financial things sorted out. Naomi had tried convincing their mother earlier that she needed a pet. And once Amina reminded her daughter gently that she was only 11, and that she would be busy with her schoolwork, Naomi convinced her instead that Autumn absolutely needed a pet. It had taken some time, but Naomi was very, very persuasive, more than Autumn usually gave her credit for.

So now here they were, Naomi walking through the doors with a grin on her face, with Autumn following hesitantly. Autumn nodded and smiled politely at the short, elderly woman dressed in a floral dress behind the counter, guessing she was the shop keeper. Naomi just grinned at the woman and continued her charge toward the animals.

Soon, Naomi and Autumn were on opposite sides of the shop, Autumn standing uncomfortable near the toads, feeling awkward in the new environment. A yellow toad to her left let out a long croak.

Autumn nodded as if the toad had made a well-thought, inspiring speech about the nature of humankind. "Interesting point, but widely accepted ethics of our time suggest otherwise."

Naomi somehow heard her, because of course she did, and turned around only for a second to glare at her. "Stop talking to the frog."

"First of all, it's a toad, not a frog. Second of all, what, am I not allowed to make small talk with pets now? Because between you and any pet in this menagerie, I would rather take any of them in a debate."

"Yeah, because you know you would lose in a debate against me. Besides, that's not why I told you to stop talking. Nothing about the animals in general, just... toads. You're not a toad person."

Autumn was silent at that, choosing instead to tacitly agree and confusedly contemplate what on Merlin a 'toad person' was as she made her way across the shop to where Naomi was. Naomi took Autumn presence as her cue to speak.

"Okay, so, I really want an owl, but lizards are so cute. Currently, more specifically, it's a decision between-" she pointed at the animals she was talking about as she talked- "this tawny owl, this girdled lizard and this arctic owl".

Autumn laughed, for the first time in what felt like a while. "Weren't we getting a pet for me?"

Naomi shrugged, "I mean, you would take care of it, since that's what we told Mum-"

"What you told Mother," Autumn corrected under her breath.

"-Same difference, and don't interrupt me. You would take care of it, since that's what I told Mum, and I would hang out with it more than you did, because I'm the only one who actually wants a pet. This would make it technically your pet, but since I'll spend more time with it, I should decide what it is."

Autumn chuckled. "So, if it's technically my pet, and I'm looking and cleaning after it, what if- oh, I don't know- I decided what it is."

Naomi glared at her. Autumn smirked in response.

"Okay, so, I don't really want an owl, and I really don't want a lizard. I don't want a pygmy puff, or a rat, or a toad, because I'm apparently not a 'toad person'. The decision is between a cat and a spider, I think."

Naomi gaped at her. "You have the worst taste in pets. A spider? Don't be an edgy teenager, you know better than that."

Autumn gave her a Cheshire-cat grin, as if to say 'do I?'.

"Alright, so that it's at least a little bit of a mutual decision, and because I pity you, no spiders. A cat, then."

Naomi paused at that, clearly thinking whether she should pick this fight, and whether she would win it if she did. A moment later, she nodded. Autumn basked in the satisfaction of victory.

The two siblings began studying the cats. Naomi found one she loved every few minutes, and showed Autumn excitedly, only to sigh when Autumn immediately rejected the cat. Autumn looked through the cats too, although much slower compared to her younger sister. There were some cats that we perfect on paper, but they all felt wrong. After a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes of that, Autumn was done, just wanting to leave the place.

She sat on the floor and groaned. If they continued like this, she swore to Merlin she was going to find a way to learn apparition instantly just so she could go to the farthest place she could from here. She was too busy trying to think about how likely it was that Naomi would catch her before she ran out- she was realistic, she knew apparition was a stretch, even with her spell-casting- that she didn't notice the grey cat that approached her. The cat curled up into a ball within a few centimetres of her, and Autumn barely noticed that she was petting it. As she began making sense of the furry presence under her hand, it took all of her free will to not jump in surprise.

She continued patting the cat, because what was she meant to do? Not do that? The cat seemed to be taking a nap, and Autumn wasn't about to not let it. She wasn't a particularly nice person, she knew that, but she wasn't a monster. Besides, the cat had some sort of calming presence, and Autumn found that she really didn't mind.

A tall, broad-shouldered elderly man approached the two sisters, smiling sweetly.

"Are you two young ladies doing alright? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Naomi beamed at the man. "Not really, but thank you. We're just looking around for a cat."

She glanced at Autumn casually, then paused, noticing the grey cat she was petting.

"Actually, it seems we've found one."

Autumn blinked. "We're keeping it?"

Naomi shrugged. "Well, I'm certainly not going to spend another half an hour here when we have plenty more shopping to do, and you seem to like this cat way more than any other one I've showed you in the past fifteen minutes."

Autumn nodded and let it sink in that by the time she left the store, this cute grey cat would be her cute grey cat.

The man smiled gently, kneeling down to scratch the cat behind the ear.

"He is asleep. What an odd occurence."

Autumn chuckled. "What, does he not sleep?" She smiled at the cat. "We already have so much in common."

"No, no. He sleeps, yes, but for him to simply approach and sleep next to a stranger is rather rare. I have a feeling the two of you will be getting along quite nicely."

Autumn paused. "Thank you?"

"Of course. Come along now, to the counter. You can purchase your cat, and Anita- my wife, she runs the store with me- has made a fresh set of sugar cookies. I'm sure she'll be happy to give you both a taste. I will warn you now. Her recipe will raise your standard of cookies for the rest of time."

Autumn smiled, and the man smiled back. After all, who could say no to a furry friend and a cookie?

Word count | 1235 words

What animal do you wish to purchase? Chartreux
What do you want to name it? Smoke
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? 1 January 2020