Mention: @Sirin Liu

Rebecca walked into Madam Malkin’s with her aunt and her cousin at her side. Rebecca let out a sigh of relief, glad to be out of the bustling crowds and into the less crowded shop. Her aunt put a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder and led her inside, as her cousin spotted one of her friends and ran up to greet them. This was when a woman, who Rebecca assumed was Madam Malkin, looked up from where she was pinning a dress on a boy. “Welcome, dear. Hogwarts? I’ll be finished in just a moment.” Rebecca nodded as the woman quickly finished what she was doing and then beckoned Rebecca over. Rebecca’s aunt took her hand off of Rebecca’s shoulder and Rebecca walked over. “Will you be needing the complete Hogwarts set?” The woman asked Rebecca. “Yes, ma’am.” She replied, fidgeting in place. “Well let’s get you some robes, shall we?” With that said, she started to measure Rebecca and choose some fabrics for the robes. Rebecca was only half paying attention to her, more focused on her cousin who was laughing with her friend. ‘That will be me soon,’ Rebecca thought to herself. ‘Soon i’ll be at Hogwarts and I’ll my own friends.’ Rebecca smiled to herself and was drawn out of her thoughts with the door swinging open and a girl walking in.

@Rebecca Wolks
For some unknown reason, Sirin found herself taking a stroll straight to Madam Malkins. Why exactly had she decided to do so? Sirin didn't know. She'd gotten all her school robes already--beautifully tailored. Ravenclaw robes--a stunning azure blue matched with the pitch-blackness of the robe, tailored to fit Sirin. Along with it, she bought a couple of other robes and a skirt and dress shirt. She had yet to buy a couple of other things--a broom perhaps, but she didn't have enough money. Maybe a little window shopping for brooms wouldn't hurt. Nonetheless, she still mindlessly strolled into Madam Malkins' store. Perhaps it was the smell of new clothing or being squashed between piles of softness that gave Sirin comfort--and compelled her to return. As she pushed open the door--which was unexpectedly heavy (perhaps because Sirin was caught up in thought) she entered once again the heavenly paradise of clothing. She saw Madam Malkin attending to another girl. This girl had shoulder-length flaming red hair---definitely not a hair color that Sirin saw often. Interested, Sirin approached the girl cautiously. Perhaps, this was an opportunity?

A chance meeting at Madam Malkins'--perhaps this could be one of Sirin's future friends. To be completely honest, Sirin didn't quite know why, when she saw a new person, she would instantaneously think: oh, new friend opportunity! Even then, it never hurt to have multiple connections. Giving people opportunities is a concept her parents had ingrained in her mind since birth. She walked up to the girl, who was finishing up and confirming her order, and asked,
"Hey! Going to Hogwarts?"
It was a relatively obvious question--which eleven-year-old kid wasn't going to Hogwarts? Sirin knew very few people who attended the other magic schools.
"Nice robes, by the way."
A rather basic question--and rather unnecessary. Every student's supply list required the same kind of robes--there was nothing particularly special about these robes. Or maybe...did they look better on this girl? Never mind that. Sirin decided it would be best to stop dawdling and get straight to the point.
"I'm Sirin--Sirin Liu. What's your name?"

@Sirin Liu
After the door opened, a girl with dark purple hair and blue eyes walk in. Rebecca starred at her hair for a moment, amazed by the unusual color before snapping her attention to the rest of the girl, giving her a soft smile before her attention was turned back to Madam Malkin. When Rebecca finishing with Madam Malkin and confirming her purchase, the girl Rebecca had seen before walked over and started talking to her. “Yep! I’m really excited, my aunt has told me quite a lot about Hogwarts so I know how much I have to look forward to!” Rebecca was ecstatic that the girl was talking to her. Maybe she would be Rebecca’s first friend. “Are you going to Hogwarts too?” Rebecca beamed when the girl complemented her. “Thank you very much! I really like them, they’re comfortable and they fir nicely too! I love your hair, by the way. It’s such a cool color!” When the girl told Rebecca her name, Sirin, which Rebecca loved, it reminded her of all the tales of Greek mythology her cousin had told her instead of them going to sleep, Rebecca instantly replied with “Rebecca. Rebecca Wolks.” Rebecca gave the girl a huge smile. They seemed to be getting along! Maybe they would become friends?

@Rebecca Wolks

Sirin touched her braids--they were her pride and joy. Sirin had always been self-conscious of her person--her appearance, her everything. She'd always spend three-quarters of the morning picking out outfits and making sure she was in tip-top shape. Her hair, however, was perfect in every aspect. Sirin was not a generally proud and arrogant person--on the contrary, she was rather humble. Yet, she could only admit that her hair was wonderful--luscious and purple. So, it wasn't much of a surprise for Sirin to be awfully pleased when the other girl complimented her luscious purple locks.

The girl named Rebecca seemed very pleased to receive Sirin's compliments--as intended. It seemed that Sirin's communication skills hadn't deteriorated too much.
"Haha, thanks! I take a lot of pride in my hair, so..uh.. thanks! Your hair is really nice too, I hardly ever come across redheads these days."
Sirin hoped she hadn't come across as rude for saying "redhead." Of course, though, it was the truth. Her hair was flaming red, like a fiery flame. When reflected by the moon's light, even the stars won't shine as bright when bested by this girl's flaming head.

"So, which house are you in?" I'm assuming this is before sorting, but let's pretend it is after sorting since in my first post I mentioned Sirin was Ravenclaw
Sirin had been sorted into Ravenclaw--which she was extremely proud of. Ravenclaw, the house of the "witty" suited Sirin perfectly.
"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you’ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind."
the sorting hat's words echoed in her mind. "witty" and "ready mind" was what Sirin aspired to be. In house Ravenclaw, she felt at home. Even her father was once a Ravenclaw--and she remembered his pride upon hearing that Sirin had landed a position in the prestigious house as well.

Either way, she was enjoying her conversation with this unknown girl, and hoped she may be bale to delve below the surface of the flaming red hair.

Rebecca smiled at Sirin. “Thank you! My mom has red hair too, I got it from her.” Rebecca smile widened a little bit at the thought of her mother, whom Rebecca loved dearly. Rebecca took pride in her brightly colored hair, knowing that it would make sure she always stood out in a crowd. Rebecca hated it when she was forced to try and blend in, she wanted to act the way she wanted to and wanted people to like her for herself, not the Rebecca she was sometimes forced to be. Rebecca eagerly replied to Sirin’s next question, “I’m a Hufflepuff, what house are you?” Rebecca smiled proudly as she announced her house. She knew that some people thought Hufflepuffs are all weak, but Rebecca knew that her and her house were all people not to be crossed if you knew what was best, and she hoped that Sirin felt the same and didn’t carry and prejudices about Puffs. They are all loyal to boot and would not hesitate to defend a fellow Puff or a friend. So far Sirin had been really nice and interesting and Rebecca felt really engaged in this conversation. Rebecca thought that Sirin would make an amazing friend, and would hate to ruin such a promising friendship with useless prejudices.

@Rebecca Wolks

Just as Sirin was enjoying her conversation with the redhead (it would probably be best to develop a habit of calling her by her name) she heard a soft squeak outside the door. Of course, it must have been Elysia--Sirin's ferret friend. She'd left the little ferret in a comfortable carrier outside Malkins' place. For one, Sirin wasn't sure if Elysia would make a lot of noise, and second, she certainly didn't want the curious little fella to ruin Madam Malkins' displays. She excused herself from Rebecca and went out to retrieve Elysia.
"I'm so sorry, my ferret is calling me. I'll be right back!"
As soon as Sirin stepped out of the shop, she was greeted by an adorable little grin and a squeak. Elysia was Sirin's pride and joy--besides her hair of course. Sirin had recently "met" Elysia at the menagerie and happily adopted her. She remembered vividly carrying Elysia back, snuggling with her, and playing ball with the little fella. It was as great as playing with friends--and Elysia represented a number of things to Sirin. Friendship, laughter, warmth...everything she'd once lost.

After a bit of reminiscing, Sirin returned with the large bag into the shop. She returned to where Rebecca stood.
"Mrs. Malkins, I hope you don't mind me bringing my ferret in. Elly Elysia's nickname just cannot stand being alone."
She then turned to Rebecca.
"This is Elysia, as you may have already heard haha. She's really nice, wanna pet her?"
Like Sirin, Elysia was outgoing and loved receiving pats and strokes from everyone. The little ferret happily stretched its neck out of the bag ready tor receive more praise and strokes. Hopefully, if she were lucky, Elysia would get a treat.

When Rebecca heard what sounded like a squeak coming from the direction of the door, her head snapped up to look at the door in confusion. She then heard Sirin say something about a ferret, and with that she started walking to the door, but Rebecca was too confused to reply. Her thoughts went pretty much like this:

Ferret? Did she say ferret? She has a ferret? She totally said ferret, I know she did. Do people have ferrets as pets? I have never met someone with a ferret before.

Rebecca has seen a ferret probably about once before in her life. And then Siren returned with quite possibly, one of the most adorable creatures Rebecca has ever seen. Rebecca’s eyes widened and she softly cooed at the adorable creature, who Rebecca had heard Sirin refer to as Elly to Madam Malkin. As soon as Sirin asked her if she wanted to pet Elysia, she instantly stated a “I would love too.” She then started gushing over the ferret, making sure to keep her touch light and gentle in fear of hurting the adorable creature. Rebecca then started to continue her conversation with Sirin, “She is so adorable! When did you get her?” Glancing up at Sirin after she said this to wait for Sirin’s reply.

@Rebecca Wolks

Sirin was, no doubt, very pleased to see that Rebecca loved Elysia. For a moment Sirin had questioned whether Rebecca would like Elysia or if she was allergic to fur, but thankfully there was none of that drama. Elysia squeaked happily and waited to receive more adoring stares.
"Haha I'm so glad you like Elysia! I got her pretty recently, at the magical menagerie. She's going to be with me throughout my journey at Hogwarts. Maybe one day you'll get a ferret too and they can be friends!"
Sirin could already imagine two happy ferrets roaming in the grassy fields of Hogwarts while their owners chatted under a tree.

"So...do you plan to get a pet in the future? , maybe? Or ferret? I've been a lifelong cat person but I decided on a ferret--they're just too cute to ignore. Besides, my grandmother has a cat and I always get to visit her."

Sirin hoped that Rebecca would also be a cat person, or a ferret person---but Sirin frankly didn't mind if Rebecca preferred dogs or something else.

"Have you made your purchase yet? We can leave together and maybe visit the joke shop or get something to eat."

As much as Sirin wanted to continue to chat, her time was limited and she had to get going soon. She still had to buy a couple of quills and some more ink (she'd somehow used all her ink while annotating a book she was really getting into).

Rebecca hummed thoughtfully as she continued to pet Elysia. She hadn’t really considered a pet yet. Her cousin had a cat, Lily, that Rebecca loved and helped take care of during the summer when her cousin was home, but other than Lily she had never had a pet, and Lily wasn’t even Rebecca’s. She could get a ferret, she certainly liked Elysia, and if Rebecca got a ferret, they would already have a friend. “Maybe I’ll get a ferret, that sounds like a good idea.” She paused at Sirin’s next question. “I might get a pet. To be honest, I haven’t thought about it all that much. My cousin has a cat, Lily, and she’s really cute so I could get a cat. But I could also get a ferret to give Elysia a friend.” Rebecca smiled at Sirin. “We and our ferrets could be friends!” The thought made Rebecca immensely happy. Rebecca then nodded at Sirin’s next question. “Yep, all paid! I would love to go somewhere with you.” Rebecca didn’t have much else to do today, getting robes was the only thing left on her checklist. She might stop by Flourish and Blotts, she had only gotten her schoolbooks and some of the other titles had seemed really interesting. But as her schedule was free, she didn’t mind where they went. In all honesty, she was just happy that she would get to spend more time with Sirin. Rebecca then shared her thoughts with Sirin. “I don’t have anything else to do today, so it doesn’t really matter to me where we go.”

@Rebecca Wolks

"Oh, cool! I don't really have anything very important to do...maybe we could get something to eat?"

Speaking from the heart, Sirin just wanted to leave Malkins'. It wasn't that she didn't like the place--in fact, she loved the atmosphere. Elysia was just getting twitchy and started to claw and bat at the cloth. Sirin could sense Madam Malkin's wary gaze. Sirin remembered she also needed to get new quills---the top of her bucket list. She'd already gone through one quill and Elysia chewed up a couple of more. She also would stop to get ink too.

"Would do mind getting some quills with me? Or...if you have your books we can go to flourish and blotts to read and get your books."

Then she remembered--she also had to stop by back again at the menagerie to get some food and toys for Elysia. With a pet comes responsibilities, and Elysia was no different from any pet. She loved to play--and she already destroyed most of the toys Sirin had knitted for her.

"I uh also need to pick up some stuff at the menagerie, wanna come with me? Maybe you can start thinking about what pet you want."

She'd already thrown so many suggestions at the girl--and she hoped she hadn't been too overwhelming.