The brisk air brushed against December’s rose-colored cheeks as she walked steadily towards Ollivanders. She brushed a bit of frosted white-blonde hair out of her face before she yanked the door open and hurried inside. She normally welcomed colder weather like it was an old friend, but that day the temperature was a tad bit low even for her liking.

To her relief, it was much warmer inside the shop. She was happy to see that the store had a hint of holiday spirit with some holly and garland hung variously throughout. The holidays were her favorite time of the year by far, and not just because she was out of school, though that was a nice plus.

December approached the counter apprehensively, reminded of when she had first set foot in the store a few months ago. A lot had changed since then.

“Hello,” she greeted the old man with an empty smile. ”I’m in need of some wand polish.”

The man turned to her with a kind face. ”Oh yes, Ms. Hale! 30,4 cm laurel wood and snallygaster heartstring. A fine wand indeed. I’m glad to know that you take such good care of it.”

As he turned his back to her to grab the polish, December reached into her purse to grab her coin pouch. She set it on the counter loudly and waited for Ollivander to give her the price. The sooner she could get this done, the better.

Since receiving his letter in mid October, of course, Arthur had been desperate to visit Diagon Alley, if just to confirm once and for all to himself that this wasn't a joke. But his school didn't let out until 4:30 and, unsurprisingly, his mother didn't like him wandering the streets of London alone at night. Weekends always seemed to get away from him, and he felt bad asking her to use one of her days off to take him somewhere.

Instead he decided to wait until school got out for the winter. It gave him time to save up anyway. He'd stopped by the wizard bank first and converted his money into galleons. He didn't have enough to buy all his school supplies at once, but it was obvious where his first stop was going to be! Wand in hand, he was just waiting to get a box and pay when another student came in the door.

Not one to eavesdrop, he wasn't really paying attention to their conversation until he heard his wand core and wood type repeated. He turned around, thinking he was being called. But no.. he was definitely talking about the girl's wand. She didn't look to be much older than him, though it was hard to tell.

"Snap," he said, with a small grin, once Ollivander had turned around. Then, remembering that many of the wizards he'd encountered so far weren't too good with slang, elaborated, "Uh, I mean, I have the same wand.. Almost." He hadn't caught the length. But.. "Snallygaster heartstring and laurel wood, right?" he asked. Was that unusual? It must be at least a little unlikely, since they'd gone through several wands before finding the right one, and they were all very different. Then again, he couldn't exactly say for sure.

"Are you a Hogwarts student?" he asked her.

Just as she was about to express her displeasure at the amount of time it was taking the old man to a simple bottle of wand polish, a boy started talking to her. She stared for a moment, unsure of what was inspiring the conversation. Sure, they had the same wand core and wood, so what? Certainly loads of other wizards and witches around the world had the same combination as well, and it was merely a coincidence that this boy happened to be in the same shop as her at the same time.

She reluctantly turned her attention towards the boy. ”Wow, what a coincidence!” she flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ”How long is yours? Mine is 30.4 centimeters. They say that length makes a better wizard, you know.” She pushed a strand of ice blonde hair behind her ear before holding her wand out for him to see.

He looked to be around the same age as her, but he had asked if she was a Hogwarts student, which seemed like an odd thing to ask, unless he’d never been to Hogwarts before himself. ”Yes, I am. I’m in Gryffindor.” She stated her house proudly, as if he should be envious of her. ”I haven’t seen you around before. What house are you in, and what brings you to Diagon Alley over the holidays?” She asked slyly.

Arthur lifted his shoulders slightly when she turned towards him, losing confidence. She seemed reluctant to engage, and it occurred to him (too late) that he was probably bothering her. It was just a casual observation.. Honestly, he probably shouldn't have said anything at all, but the words came out before he'd realized it.

Her smile seemed a little insincere, but it didn't really matter. They were only strangers after all. He shouldn't worry about what she was thinking.

"Is.. that so?" he said, a little skeptically. He kind of doubted that was actually something people said. It sounded more like something she just made up. In fact, the only thing he remembered reading on the subject was that smaller wands favoured more refined spell-casting, while longer ones were drawn to those with large personalities. He wasn't going to argue though. Honestly, he didn't even have enough of a frame of reference to know what was considered 'long' and what was 'short'. "Mine's 11 and half inches, so like, 29cm?" That wasn't exact, but he found the rough length in inches easier to remember.

He did appreciate seeing her wand, though, and he lent down to look at it. He'd only gotten to see the ones he'd tried before finding his own up close, and not for very long. They were all impressively carved, and hers was no exception. "Nice," he said, not sure how else you were supposed to compliment another person's wand. Or if there was an etiquette to such things.

"Oh, I haven't started yet.." he explained. "I'll be going in September. I'm just picking up school supplies now. This was the first time I had free," he said, answering her second question. Though he hadn't had much chance to learn about the school yet (the book shop was next on his list of things to get!), he had visited his wizard relatives and was able to borrow some books from their library that talked about it. "Gryffindor is the brave one, right?" he asked. Sorting children into personality groups at age eleven seemed a little odd to him still. "What do you think of it?"

Truly, December didn’t care if there was credibility to the wand length myth at all. Of course the books said differently, but that wouldn’t be the first time the books had lied just to make the general public feel better about themselves. She’d heard one of her friends say it and it seemed to make sense enough, so why couldn’t it be true?

”Oh? I guess that makes mine longer,” she giggled. The sound was high pitched and practiced, as if it were staged. ”Don’t worry though, I’m sure it’s just an urban legend,” she shrugged.

The boy looked at her wand for a few moments longer than she found to be comfortable. She viewed her wand to be an extension of herself, so it was a little vulnerable to have someone observe it so closely. Finally, he was done. Goosebumps shot up her spine as he complimented it. She felt oddly exposed. She felt her heart rate increase and a pit of nausea well up in her stomach. The feeling was way too familiar, and not at all welcome. She quickly pocketed her wand and changed the subject.

December was not surprised to find that the boy indeed had not been to Hogwarts yet, and it didn’t seem like he had a good grasp on the different houses, either. ”Well, that’s splendid!” she smiled at him politely, yet her eyes remained blank. ”You must be excited. Yeah, Gryffindor is known for its bravery...” Lately she had been feeling anything but brave, so the words felt a bit strange as they came out of her mouth.

”Which house do you want to be in?” She suspected he may not know yet, but she felt a strange sort of comfort in putting him on the spot. It made her seem more in control of the situation, and she hoped that it would give her more information about him.

Though she may have been caught of guard and a little bit annoyed at the sudden conversation at first, she was finding that she didn’t necessarily mind talking to the boy. It definitely beat having to wait in silence for Ollivander to find her polish, and there was something undeniably sweet about him. She figured it would be rude to not introduce herself to him at this point. ”My name is December, by the way.”

"Guess so," Arthur said, shrugging again. He cautiously smiled back when December laughed, though he couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that her tone and her intent were not in line.

"I'm excited," he said nodding, his smile more genuine now. Who wouldn't be excited for this? Though it came with its fair share of drawbacks as well.. Not least of which was leaving his mum behind, alone, something he was increasingly anxious about these days.

Trying to shake off those thoughts, he focused instead on the Gryffindor's question. He frowned pensively, giving it some thought. "I guess... Ravenclaw," he said at last. He'd always been naturally curious, and always loved a challenge. That said, it's not like he particularly cared about school. He maintained good grades in order to keep his mum from worrying, but otherwise put in the minimal amount of effort required to get the best marks. Most of the things that interested him were outside the scope of what was taught in the classroom. Maybe Hogwarts would be different, though..

He shook his head, laughing softly at himself. It seemed a bit conceited to say, now that he thought about it... Like he thought he was especially clever. "I don't know. I guess any of them would be fine," he said. Although he doubted if Slytherin would take him, given that he'd been raised by a muggle. "I'll be curious to see how it turns out."

He wanted to ask her if she thought there was really any merit to the system, but that seemed too involved for a conversation with a stranger.. "Do you ever wish you were in a different house?" he asked, instead. That was probably just as bad!

"I'm Arthur," he introduced himself, in turn. "Nice to meet you."

When December had gotten her letter, it had come not only as an excitement, but as a huge relief. Her dads had assured her that both of her biological parents had been magical, so it would be highly unusual for her to not show signs of magic at all, but she had always worried in the back of her mind that she would have to remain in the muggle world for forever. But alas, she received her letter on her eleventh birthday and was already halfway through her first year at Hogwarts. It was strange to think that she was ever worried about it now.

”Ravenclaw is an exceptional house,” she smiled proudly at herself for using such a big word. ”What makes you want to go to Ravenclaw?”Her parents were rooting for her to go to Gryffindor, and she certainly displayed many of the traits, but December had always felt a strong connection to the house of the eagles. She truly enjoyed learning and often found herself reading ahead in the school books her tutor had provided for her. But the sorting hat knew best, of course, and into Gryffindor she went.

December decided to continue to have fun with asking the boy questions. ”Have you heard how we get sorted? Oh, it’s dreadful,” she put her hand up to her forehead dramatically and leaned her head back in dismay. To be fair, having a centuries-old hat that was seldomly washed was legitimately not something that December had enjoyed, so she wasn’t technically lying.

Had she ever wished she was in a different house? What an odd question. December had never been asked that before. It was a little bit like asking someone if they had wished they were born in a different timeline; they could never know whether that timeline was better than their own, because they were born in this one, and it was impossible to know if it would be better or worse, because that’s all they knew. She had never had an issue with Gryffindor, so she supposed that was what he meant. ”No, I guess I haven’t... Though I suppose I wouldn’t have minded being placed into Ravenclaw.”

”Nice to meet you, Arthur!” she smiled at him. She really was curious to ask him if he had magical parents, but a lot of people were sensitive about that sort of thing, so she figured it best to wait.

Artie shrugged, laughing softly. "I don't know.. I like a challenge. A lot of things interest me. And I'm kind of a bookworm." All of which fit into the stereotype of the house that he'd read about so far. He raised an eyebrow dubiously at her sudden dramatic tone. "Isn't it a hat?" he said, wondering what could be so terrible about that. Certainly he was not exactly enthused about the idea of some random magical item routing around in his head, but he wouldn't call that 'dreadful' exactly.

"Interesting..." he muttered, mostly to himself, at her reply. He was genuinely curious what people thought about the house system. It all seemed a bit odd to him. But, curiosity being what it was for him, he couldn't help but think that whatever house he ended up in, there would be a part of him that wondered what it would be like to be in one of the other houses instead. He lifted his shoulders casually. "I guess the hat really does know best." At least it seemed like she got placed somewhere she was happy. Hopefully that meant he would be too.

He nodded as she introduced herself, smiling, then asked, "What is it about Ravenclaw you like?"

”You like a challenge?” December raised a snow-white eyebrow. ”I’m not sure what challenges have to do with it, but Ravenclaws do like to read, I suppose,” she smirked. Did this kid even have a grasp of the Hogwarts houses at all?

”Personally, I like how Ravenclaw treasures curiosity,” she pushed a piece of white blonde hair behind her ear and flashed a dubious smile. ”After all, without our will to investigate and form our own opinions, we’re just blindly following others, free to make the same mistakes they did.”

Surprisingly, Arthur did seem to know about the Sorting ceremony. But she wondered how confident he was in the information. She had always gotten a kick out of trying to lead the younger kids astray. It was a sort of test, to see how they reacted and help her identify who to watch out for. So far, Arthur hadn’t really taken any of the bait, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t still try. Everyone had a breaking point.

Before she could reply right away, Ollivander finally made an appearance. “Right, here is your wand polish, young lady. That will be 3 sickles, please.” December rolled her eyes and handed over the sickles. She snatched the polish in a huff,irritated it had taken the buffoon this long to acquire it. ”Thank you for the prompt service as always, Ollivander,” she smirked before turning back to the boy.

”Where were we? Oh, yes, the sorting ceremony…” A harsh laugh escaped her lips. ”Of course there’s a hat, yes, but did they tell you what the hat does?” She widened her eyes in horror. She looked to the left and right for a moment, as if checking to make sure no one else was listening before leaning in closer to the boy. She lowered her voice to a whisper. ”All I can tell you is to watch out for your ears.”

After shooting him a final, serious look, she head towards the door of the shop, pocketing her polish into her bag. ”Best of luck, Arthur,” she waved to him with a sickeningly sweet smile. ”I do hope to see you again.”

"A challenge," he repeated. "As in, I enjoy things that are intellectually challenging." Of course, there were many kinds of challenges, but he'd assumed that she would be able to infer from context. Certainly, if she didn't see how that was related to Ravenclaw now, there probably wasn't much point continuing to explain it.

He lifted his shoulders amicably at her response. Curiosity was all well and good, but it didn't really resonate with him. He didn't care about knowing things just for the sake of knowing them. But he did want to solve things just for the sake of solving them. The information, then, mattered less to him than how it was obtained. He was the sort of person who never wanted a hint on a riddle, no matter how long he'd been thinking about it. Knowing wasn't as important to him as being able to figure it out himself.. So maybe Ravenclaw wasn't right for him after all.

"Is that so..?" he said, an echo of their earlier conversation. By now it was pretty clear to him that she was making this up. Even if he didn't know anything about the school; her tone, previous deceptions, even the way she looked around before finishing her sentence, all gave it away. He raised an eyebrow at her dubiously. Did she really even go to Hogwarts? he wondered. Or was she a first year like him, and just messing about that part too. He wouldn't be surprised. He could never understand the compulsion to lie... though plenty of people their age seemed to jump at the opportunity to mislead someone, so it wasn't exactly rare. It seemed a little childish, but he didn't really mind it.

Still, he'd inherited his mother's rather direct manner, and didn't (how was it she always put it?) suffer fools well. He opened his mouth to confront her about it, but by then Ollivander had turned his eyes back onto him and suddenly recalled that he had been going back to get him a box to put his wand in. "Ah yes! My apologies. One moment.." he said, bustling back towards the back of the shop.

"No worries," Arthur said, feeling a little bad for the man, since December had been somewhat short with him. "Thank you!" he called after him, though he had already disappeared into the back.

When he turned his attention back to December, the girl was already heading out of the store. Shaking his head a little to himself, he just chuckled and waved back. It was an interesting experience if nothing else.. "You too," he said. "See you."