The smell of leather and parchment hit him the moment he stepped across the threshold. It reminded him of the poky little second hand book store back home, Much More Books, which managed to cram an entire library's worth of old books into one small storefront. It was... Magnificent.

In comparison this might well have belonged in a castle. Heck, with all the polished antique wood bookshelves and furniture it might well have come out of one. It was large, with an upper level even, and almost labyrinthian when compared to his usual hauntings.

He wondered if maybe they set up an area specifically for Hogwarts students to fetch their school books? Glancing this way and that, he couldn't see anything of the sort. Then again, he couldn't see the whole room anyway.

"Oh, Beric dear... We mustn't forget to pick up a copy of Bewitched Baking, you promised to make those scones your dear aunt told us about..."

Florence and Beric wandered off, more than happy to let Sebastian rummage through the shelves himself. They'd have helped of course if the boy had asked, but he didn't so they didn't. Turning back toward the shelves, he instead resolved to hunt them down for himself.

Starting with... Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, of course. Alina had a copy somewhere, but she'd written all over the margins. No, no, he'd much prefer his own copy thank you very much. Without the cynical ramblings of his oldest sibling.

@Aisley Solace

To be quite honest, Aisley didn't quite know what drew her to the bookstore, she was getting all her books as hand-me-downs from her sister. Aisley would normally be disappointed at that, but Marianne had kept the first-year books in quite a good condition, so they all still looked brand new and no one would know that they were her sister's.

She pulled to door open, and stepped into the bookstore, breathing in the smell of parchment and leather. Pulling down the sleeves of her brown crochet jumper, quite glad she'd gone with some navy baggy jeans and the jumper instead of a top and shorts, she looked around the store, spotting a few people here and there. Aisley took in one more breath before moving over to a shelf of books that consisted mainly of fantasy.

She browsed the area for a while, shoving a book that she liked into her canvas tote bag, before moving on to the next. In this area, Aisley could see many of the school books that were required for the year, that unfortunately, Aisley wouldn't need. Even though she didn't need the book, Aisley figured that buying a new copy of Quiddich Through The Ages would be fine, then before she left for school, she could give it to her brother so he wouldn't get her copy that had drawings in them.

Aisley grabbed that book as well from the shelf before putting it into her tote bag. What she didn't realize is that she'd accidentally knocked the stack of books with her elbow, causing about three stacks of books they start falling to the ground.

"Oh no!" She muttered, "Why must gravity exist."

She watched as the books clattered to the ground, flinching a bit when the sound of a thud could be heard. She looked to see if the books had fallen on anyone, sighing when she realized that a few books had fallen down onto a boy's feet.

Aisley sighed again, before starting to clean up the books, moving her way to the boy to apologize, "I'm so sorry about that." She said, "It's all gravity's fault- Well actually, partially mine- but mostly gravity!" She rushed to correct herself, continuing to stack the books.

"Pesky little thing gravity, isn't it?"

Though the stack of books which had fallen onto his foot had indeed hurt, Sebastian could practically see the steam of embarrassment flooding out of the girl's ears as she stooped to pick them up. Rather than stand there watching her, or admonishing her for the part she'd played in his freshly stubbed toe, the boy knelt down and assisted in returning the tomes to the shelves.

"Why can't things just float. Like, I don't know, a feather!" Having grown up around plenty of fowl, he was no stranger to such. Soft, downy, of varying hues... Feathers were light and airy and drifted on the breeze. Compared to that, the heavy thud of a pile of books seemed almost barbaric.

He was part way through one pile of the dropped books when he turned his head to look her way once more. "Are you okay? Uh, did you need one of these?" He looked at the name of the book, then smiled slightly. "Oh, do you play? Dad's told me a fair bit about it, not exactly sure if it's the sport for me..."

Was there such a thing as a sport for him?

Ehh... Maybe. Somewhere out there.

One stack was now precariously being lifted up in his arms, ready to be replaced to the shelf. "Oh, I'm Sebastian by the way." This was said around the stack of books, moments before he slumped them back into place. "Are you here for school books too..?"

@Aisley Solace

Aisley was relieved when the boy didn't seem to mind much, mentioning how gravity, her previous excuse, was a pesky thing. Aisley couldn't agree more.

Aisley tucked a strand of her bubblegum hair behind her ear, thanking the boy as she noticed him starting to help her restack the books back onto the table, commenting about how he wished that things could just float.

"In some ways, I agree with that, but in others, I don't." She said, continuing to stack books, thinking back to the time she'd broken her mother's vase, "If everything just floated or fell like a feather, there wouldn't be any fun in many things. Like that muggle game Jenga. Also, it'd be such a pain to grab anything for people like me." Aisley said, mentioning her sad height of 4'11.

She continued stacking books onto the counter, appreciating the boy's kindness to ask if she was alright, replying with a sweet 'Yes,' before shaking her head no, asking if she needed a copy of the book.

"I've put a copy in my bag. For my brother, so he doesn't have to have my beat-up one." Aisley said, before replying to the question about the book, Quiddich Though the Ages, "Nah, isn't really my sport. My younger and older brother love it though. I just prefer to watch it, it's quite entertaining, and I'm sure you'll find a sport that fits you. Maybe dueling?

Aisley herself quite liked dueling but wasn't sure if she should join the team at Hogwarts. She'd have to see how it is, maybe she'd just stick to what she's good at. Aisley shook her head, continuing to stack more books.

The boy, now known as Sebastian, suddenly introduced himself to Aisley, promptly asking if she were here for schoolbooks as well.

"Well Sebastian, thank you for your help. I'm Aisley Solace. Your average witch, not in height though." She once again commented on her cursed height, "And unfortunately for me, I'm not here for school books, I've got hand-me-downs from my sister. I'm just buying one for my brother and another for entertainment on the train if needed. I know it's quite a long trip. What about you? Are you getting brand-new books from the Labyrinth of Shelves?" She asked, herby dubbing the bookstore the Labyrinth of Shelves.

"Oh, I love Jenga!" he exclaimed with a jovial, almost lopsided grin, "Even if Tobin always resorts to cheating..."

That next she spoke of her height only made colour rise within the boys cheeks. She was a couple of inches taller than he was, hopefully that didn't put him at any real disadvantages in life; certainly it seemed as though she believed it might, in regards to herself that was.

"Okay, well what if they only floated a little when dropped from a height?" he asked by way of compromise, "At the very least that could stop stubbed toes and loud crashes."

Thankfully the girl was 0kay, more of a wounded ego than anything else. It was all made a little more hilarious to him when she declared that she wasn't even needing a copy. Not for herself at least. Of course that would be the case, why wouldn't she have knocked down a random non-schoolbook stack?

"Getting it for your sibling? Huh... I wonder if I'd be allowed to send Tobin something back." The poor older brother, left behind first by his older sister and now his younger brother, forced to attend regular old Secondary School while the other two got to play at being magical.

There had to be something here mum and dad would let his brother keep... Somewhere.

"Dueling? I don't know the first thing about spells," he confessed, sheepishly. "I don't know, maybe I'll just stick to nature. Leave the roughhousing to someone else."

Then a name was given, Aisley. Aisley Solace. A very cool surname if he did say so himself! "I didn't think to read anything from here on the train" the boy confessed with a curious, almost faraway tone to his voice, "I just packed an old Narnia book, you know, in case I get bored. What sort of thing are you looking to read?"

Maybe he could help search!

"I'm no stranger to hand-me-downs" he sympathized with a short nod, "But Alina's are pretty ratty at this point, she just graduated, and she likes to scribble all over the pages," He grimaced at that. "Dad set some money aside so I could grab a couple of them new. I definitely want Fantastic Beasts without my sister's ramblings in the margin, she doesn't really like animals all that much..."

Labyrinth of Shelves.

Oh, Sebastian liked that!

@Aisley Solace