With the school year looming over his head Clarke was getting restless. He wanted to just go to school now but he thought complaining about it would come across as childish. School shopping had helped him get more and more excited for school, spending his days working off that energy by flying in their backyard -- low like his mother demanded so any muggles in the area would not be able to see him. But after getting all of his supplies he was just more overwhelmed with excitement. He would just rifle through his school books trying to absorb the information before getting bored and putting it back down so he could walk around the room just imagining the castle.

Good thing though his mother was a little absentminded because after looking through the robes she had bought CLarke for the start of year she realized that he would need another set.

"You are not going to be wandering around in the same set of robes all year, I will not have it. We have the money you are getting more," she had demanded when Clarke said it was fine, the robes he had were great. But she wasn't able to calm down.

Persephone Laredo though was not the type of woman who was good at planning things out, so Clarke had to go to Diagon Alley on his own. His mother just waved at him and said he would do a good job, he knew how to buy robes for himself. Clarke just hoped she was right.

When he stepped into Madam Malkin's he awkwardly stumbled over his words explaining what his mom had said to him to the shop keeper, before she walked off to get what he asked for. Clarke just rubbed his hands together as he stood around and waited.

Yuck, dresses, Amanda thought as she stomped into the shop. A dress was the precise reason as to why she was here. Her mum had insisted that Amanda buy a new dress for her second year. Amanda had tried to argue in vain, saying that she had plenty of dresses that still fit her, but her protests had been ignored as her mum shooed her out of the house. So Amanda had huffed her way over to Diagon Alley, walking through the streets of London until she had finally reached the pub and entered the magical alleyway.

Now that she was at Madam Malkin’s, Amanda looked around the shop for a simple dress. I don’t want anything too frilly or lacy or anything like that, she though as she perused the racks. Ah, here’s something. Amanda pulled out a simple blue dress and studied it. Yeah, that should do. She slung it over her arm and looked around a bit more, but didn’t find anything. She noticed a boy standing near the entrance who looked about her age, but Amanda didn’t recognize him. Must be a new first year, she observed as she walked over to him. “Hi, I’m Amanda. Do you go to Hogwarts?” she asked.

Clarke looked over to the girl a little surprised and smiled, "Yeah," he said, "well not yet, I am going to go to Hogwarts this year but I haven't yet" he said, probably over explaining his situation. How many words did it take to just say he was a first year? Not that it mattered. He shook his head as if to shake it off before settling back into an easy smile, "do you?" he asked her. Which in retrospect was kind of a dumb question, of course she did, she was around his age and asked him first.

Just a few minutes ago his mind had been getting out of his shop as soon as possible and she had taken him by surprise, which was his excuse for not being able to find his words too easily. The whole situation was a little overwhelming, being trusted to buy his own robes was probably the kind o thing others would think was normal but his mother was picky, especially about the way he presented himself. If he got the wrong set, or remembered her instructions wrong it could cause a lot of issues when he made it back home. But it had made him feel a little bit better to see someone else around his age also being trusted to shop on their own

The boy looked a bit startled when Amanda approached him. So he’s a first year, she thought as the boy answered her question and asked one of his own. “Yeah, I attend Hogwarts. I’m a second year,” she replied smiling at the boy. “I don’t believe I caught you name, though.”

Amanda paused and began to think. If he’s new first year, that probably means that he’s totally clueless about everything at Hogwarts. Then came the question that hung in balance between good and evil. Should I do it? Well the moral answer was obviously no. But pranking people was just so much fun. I can’t resist. It’s just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Amanda opened her mouth to tell the kid that the school was haunted when she had an epiphany. I could tell him the truth and scare him a little! So instead, she said “Did you know that there’s a vampire at Hogwarts? Amanda looked at the boy. “Well, half-vampire. He’s a second year Ravenclaw. I’ve met him once and he’s kind of stuck up. Told me I was a fool or something archaic-sounding.” Amanda grinned. “So I told him that he was a dumbass, but he thought that I was calling him a donkey or something.” Amanda laughed. “I’ve heard that he’s really fast, though.”

There was a sort of sense of deja vu in the air. Walking down diagon alley once again felt fairly similar to when she had first come here a year or so ago. Fairly similar considering the fact that her parents weren't here this time. They had trusted her to go shopping for school supplies herself. Without causing much trouble, that was. 

Madam Malkin's was one of the last places the girl had needed to go. Just to pop in, grab a dress or two and take her leave. That's all she'd have to do. The girl walked through the door as the small clack of her leather boots stopped. 

Frost pushed up her glasses as she eyed a few of the yellow dresses to the left. She grabbed a simple one and moved on to the grey's. Feeling the fabric of the dress, the ginger could hear some speaking just behind her. "Well not yet, I am going to go to Hogwarts this year but I haven't yet" A first year, was it? A boy none the less. "Do you?" The boy inquired from whoever he was talking to.“Yeah, I attend Hogwarts. I’m a second year,” A girl? Maybe Frost knew her. After all, she was going to be a second year too. 

The ginger turned the corner, the grey dress slung over her arm. A boy and girl stood there, just there conversing. The girl had started to talk about a vampire boy at Hogwarts. "Are you talking about Kaegan? Kaegan Deathmote? Correct me if I am mistaken, miss." The words seemed to just tumble out before she could do anything. She clearned her throat. "Oh, please excuse me for barging in. I'm going for my second year as well!  I'm Frost, by the way." The ginger extended her hand to them, beaming as she did so.

Clarke cringed just a little at the story about Vampires but he tried to keep his face polite. If a vampire was allowed at Hogwarts it must be for a good reason right? they probably aren't that bad at all.

When the other girl approached him and confirmed the story he felt a little bit better. Because at least if there was a vampire at Hogwarts it meant that he wouldn't be allowed to hurt any of them anyway.

"I'm Clarke Laredo," he said. If they were Quidditch fans they may recognize the last night but it was just as likely that they didn't. Not everyone followed professional Quidditch and it wasn't like Laredo was a terribly unique name anyway. But still he always was a tad uncomfortable introducing himself just in case someone did recognize the name and know who his father was.

Otherwise it felt nice to meet two Hogwarts students before he went. Besides his childhood friends who were also going to the school he was a little intimidated by how daunting the whole school seemed to be. So knowing that he could enter the school the first day and maybe see some familiar faces in the halls made him feel significantly better about all of it.

Kaegen had been walking in the large shopping alley, nerves slowly but steadily deteriorating as people bumped and bustled past him in energetic attempts to get nowhere at all. Why was everyone trying to get somewhere so fast, was walking at a normal pace against the rules? He was about determined to take down the next witch that bumped against him and then bolt when he heard a name. More precisely he heard his name. Not once, but twice. Coming from the small shop he had visited but once before.

In truth, he sorely needed a new robe. The ones he wore last year were decrepit, disheveled and patched. Some holes were made by acid, others fire or knives or abrasions. But that didn’t bother the prefect in the slightest. As long as there was enough fabric to keep the robe from falling off of his body he was fine. Let others spend their hard earned galleons on clothing they only needed to make themselves feel better. He had visited the alley purely to peruse for anything useful that might happen to be at a bargain price. After all, the train wasn’t due to leave for quite some time and the platform was probably far more packed than this place, as unbelievable as that was.

The prefect had no idea who most of these people were, save the stupid ravenclaw that had the vain idea that the muggle and wizard communities could coexist. He had no clue how she had been chosen for the same house he had been chosen for, but that didn’t really matter to him right now. She could harbor all the delusional fantasies she wanted to, if she didn’t drag the rest of the house down with her.

Three in total, one in his house. As soon as he let go of the open door it swung shut with a little ding of the bell. Burned and torn black hair sat atop a white face that looked like it belonged on a corpse. Certainly not on a young boy. His eyes were dark, surrounded by heavy, tired eyelids above and dark sleepless shadows below. His chin was partially obscured by a soft grey scarf that moved about in the small breezes created by people passing by. The eyes didn’t seem to move at all, just stared straight ahead at the group of three, trying to consume any pieces of information that might unknowingly be being offered.

Every move he made was smooth and deliberate, a grace and purpose that didn’t quite seem human, didn’t seem alright. It was the grace of a predator, but also of someone cautious enough to be practiced in hiding. His voice was quiet, and a bit hoarse. A whisper that reminded some of dry rustling leaves.

”My name. Who said it.”

Amanda turned her head as she heard a girl address her. “Yes, I’m talking about him. He gives me the heebie-jeebies.” The girl then introduced herself as Frost and also being a second year. “Nice to meet you, Frost! What house are you in? I’m Ravenclaw.”

The boy told them that his name was Clarke Laredo. Laredo? Amanda wondered. As in Jeremiah Laredo on the Falcons? She studied Clarke and was pretty sure that she could see a resemblance, but Amanda decided against saying anything. She didn’t want to make Clarke too uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, Amanda noticed a extremely pale, ragged-looking boy and froze. Kaegan Deathmote.

Amanda could remember the first time that she had noticed Kaegan. She had been in Diagon Alley with her mum and siblings when her little brother Daniel had said “Mommy, why does that boy look dead? Is he a zombie? Amanda had followed Daniel’s gaze over to a boy about her age who, indeed, looked as if he were no longer among the living. Alice had gently scolded her youngest. “Daniel, it’s not polite to stare. And no, he is not a zombie.” Amanda had been growing curious about the strange boy. “Well what is he then, Mom?” Her mother had turned around to face Amanda. “I’m not really sure, honey. I believe he’s some sort of half-vampire. I’ve heard that he’s rather odd and I would prefer it if you stayed far away from him.” Amanda had nodded, feeling a little scared about there being a vampire boy.

And then he had been at Hogwarts, where Amanda had discovered that she found him quite annoying. He acted like a know-it-all and he was sort of odd, just like her mother had said. Amanda had made a point of avoiding the vampiric Prefect, until they had gotten into an argument over Muggle technology. It was a petty disagreement, nobody was hurt. But Amanda still thought that he was creepy.

And here he was, standing a few feet away from her. He had whirled around when he heard his name. “That’s him,” Amanda whispered to Clarke. She bit her lip, scared that Kaegan would attack them. She didn’t really want to die, least of all at the hands of a pretentious vampire boy. Deciding to save Frost the trouble, Amanda spoke up. “I did. You got a problem with that?” Oh crap, I hope he doesn’t kill me.

He heard a hushed “That’s him” from the ravenclaw dimwit as she attempted to let the other student know who he was without him knowing she was letting the other person know. That clearly meant he was right about them talking about him, but why would she not want him to know? His eyes moved a fraction of an inch to the side to focus on the other girl in the group, the one he assumed the ravenclaw had been trying to covertly whisper to.

”Why did you say my name?”

She then proceeded to bite herself on the lip, showing a complete lack of coordination. Biting oneself on the inside of the cheek was a honest mistake. How could you accidentally bite you lip? How did that even work? It would take a conscious effort to be that stupid. Which, of course, meant that there was a possibility that it wasn’t stupid and Kaegen just didn’t understand it. Which worried him more than a little bit.

“I did. You got a problem with that?”
The words themselves weren’t bad, they had no ulterior motive or subjective meaning. She simply stated she was the one that had said his name and then asked if he had a problem with it, all things considered it was rather polite. Except for the tone. The tone was challenging. Kaegen didn’t really grasp most tones, people being complete enigmas to him. But he grasped a challenge rather well. And this was certainly a challenge. Which meant that the lip biting earlier was her trying to bare her teeth. Failing miserably, but still trying.

Kaegen’s hands slowly tensed, unusually long dully pointed fingernails creeping out of long sleeves, leading the hands and wrist that had been hidden in long, patch up sleeves. If her next move was to attack him he would make sure Ravenclaw would be down one student. She didn’t look very strong, no matter how you looked at her. And he wasn’t getting any warning signs. Nothing that would make him think her a serious threat.

His eyes moved the fraction of an inch back to her, focusing on her face, gaze drilling through it. He just had to be careful not to corner her. A cornered mouse can kill a cat, but give the mouse room to run and the fight is already won. So he stepped smoothly to the side. There was room for her to run out the door or farther back into the shop. But would she, or would she follow through on her threat and attack him?

One hand vanished back up his sleeve, and reappeared with a wand. He had his own spell, one that couldn’t backfire because it was a backfire. In all aspects but numbers he would have the upper hand should she choose to escalate this. Because, as hard as he tried to think, the most logical reason why she would be talking about him is if she was making plans for his murder.

”Your move?”