Thread backdated to August 31st, 2024.

It was the 31st of August. The Andersons, plus Grandmother Clarke, decided to make a last-minute trip to Diagon Alley. Their mother explained she wanted to raise her children’s spirits a little and to do something fun to say goodbye to Nat, considering the news on the 28th. Their father’s foolhardy assurance in his experimentations was bound to backfire sooner or later. The level of drama of the consequence, however, was unexpected.

Nat’s mother told her she would offer her one expensive gift. Nat’s longing gaze at the pet store, the same expression she’d made last year at Diagon Alley, but perhaps with increased melancholy this time around, wasn’t quite what her mother had in mind. "Honey, you know we have to pay the hospital. We can’t afford to get you a pet, sweetie."

"I’ll pay for the first year of food, how’s that sound?" Grandmother Clarke said, gripping Nat’s shoulders lovingly.

Her mother shook her head at her. "You’re already helping us pay for Jordan," she said, sorrow lacing her voice.

"No, no, it’s okay," Nat interjected. "I’ll find something else. I was just looking."

"Avery, come, talk to me." The older woman pulled her mother aside. A deliberation that seemed to take forever followed. Nat was clearly a liar. If she hadn’t selfishly wanted a pet, she wouldn’t have let the discussion continue, period.

“Honey,” her mother said when she returned to her children. "Gramma remembers how you got lonely without us there last year, and," she took a deep breath, "we know it’ll hurt you more to think about home right now. A pet is a lot of responsibility." She eyed Nat like her eyes were threatening weapons. "You have to take care of it. You can’t let it starve. You have to give it love and attention. You already have schoolwork. Understand how much work this will be ahead of time."

Nat’s heart was soaring; none of her mother’s warnings mattered, even if she could partially regret it later. She didn’t care, not right now. She was on cloud nine. "Yes, I understand," she said. "Please, Mum, let me get one!"

Her mother sighed with exasperation. Meanwhile, Grandmother Clarke sweetly said, "Okay, honey, pick out whatever you want." Nat’s heart fluttered excitedly, and with an expectation to love whichever pet she chose, and, really, all of them (the fluffy ones, anyways).

Nat passed the fish, first. She didn’t like fish. Still, a goldfish puckered its little mouth at her. That was cute, she admitted. Her grandmother stuck by her for the moment. She noticed her brother sticking by her mum. Perhaps he was a little jealous.

"Anything you have in mind, honey?" her grandma asked, gripping her shoulders again. It was a habit of hers.

"Umm, well, owls kinda freak me out," Nat admitted as they passed the birds. "I don’t really like fish, or reptiles. Probably a bunny or cat, or something."

"Pygmy puffs are my favorites," her grandmother offered, but it was clear Nat wasn’t interested. Nat felt herself zoning out a little as she talked, and she was staring at the large, obvious cat cage at the side of the store. She pointed, absorbed in their grace and cuteness. "Oohh. Well, cats are certainly witchy, aren’t they?" Her grandmother spoke with an approving and fun-loving tone.

On her way to the cats, Nat passed a mist hopper rabbit. It stared at her with beady eyes, its ears were flattened back, and its little, baby pink nose twitched. Unfortunately, Nat wasn’t really an animal person, and its cuteness didn’t win her over. She was insistent on the pet that would cost even more energy, time, and money.

Speaking of, two cats spoke to Nat most, as they were most engaged with her, a red classic tabby and a bewitched midnight stalker. The others were sulking further back in the cage, some hiding from her sight behind their toys. "Your mother will kill me if I buy you two," her grandmother said with a jesting tone, clearly knowing Nat was fully aware of the situation already. "I may have money to spare, but your mum insists I save some for retirement." She gently slapped Nat’s back and cackled. Nat smiled lovingly her way, then re-focused on the animals.

Nat reached her hand slightly into the cage. The ginger cat swiped its paw at her hand, claws unsheathed, letting out a small hiss. The hairs rose on its back slightly. Nat threw her hand away before she could be clawed at, banging her hand on the cage bars and exclaiming "Tss!" Nat was devastated; this felt like a betrayal already. "Trying to be brave, are we?" her grandmother asked the cat, unfazed by its suspicion.

Meanwhile, Nat was too butthurt to keep trying with that one. She more closely analyzed the black cat. It was looking up at her with dark blue, intelligent eyes. Its eyes’ varied tones of colour seemed to swirl like pools or black holes. The void did not move as Nat, much more cautiously and slowly this time, brought her hand through the bar. She touched the cat’s nose, which included splotches of brown as well as pink. It was wet. The cat moved its head and began rubbing along her arm, its soft but slimy-textured fur, slightly on the longer side for its short-furred type, flipping the "wrong way" as it marked her as its property. Its fur rubbing against her arm began to feel like she was meeting with rope, but it didn’t much bother her. The cat had claimed her, like a wand chooses a witch. There was no turning back now, not in Nat’s head.

"I want them," Nat said, bringing her hand back out of the cage and pointing.

Her grandmother nodded approvingly. "They like you. You’ll make a good match for each other."

The ginger cat meowed loudly as the two of them approached the couple at the counter. The black cat had been silent, but Nat was determined to get a purr out of it one of these days, especially when she could properly pet it; she’d just have to wait and see. Her mother and brother caught up with them. "Which one are you choosing, Natalie?" Sean squeaked. He must’ve seen her spending a lot of time over at the cats and assumed she was getting one of them.

"That black one," she said, pointing. Sean could only assume what she meant, since it was near the front of the cage.

"Cool!" he exclaimed meaningfully.

The first thing Nat noticed about the woman was how short she was, and she felt like the man looked like a weasel because of the whiskers on his face. Nat was silent; they looked friendly, but she was initially shy, even when faced with the most inviting people. "What can we get you?" the woman asked, smiling at the kids.

"We would like to buy the black cat in the front, riiight there." Her grandmother pointed. "It's for my sweet granddaughter." She gripped Nat's shoulders one more time. Nat glanced up at the adults in her family. Her mother was smiling, but looked tired. Nat felt badly about it, but they were too far in, and wasn’t about to say anything to back out of it now. It was now, partially, her grandmother’s gift to her, and she was the insistent, pressuring type. Nat reminded herself that, although she felt ashamed, her mother was probably angry at her mother more than her child for this arrangement.

"That one’s Dahlia," the woman said, with a dimpled grin. "She’s such a sweetie. By the way, dearies, would you like a cookie?" she asked. If she had been any taller, she probably would have bent down to their height, because she leaned over the counter a smidgen. "You've been so respectful, and I appreciate it, a lot."

"Thank you!" Sean said, seeming to brighten up for the first time that day.

"Aww," Nat giggled. "Thank you sooo much!"

"You’re welcome," she responded, earnestly. The kids munched as she continued. "That’s one sweet cat. She tends to notice people’s auras, we like to say. She only goes up to characters she thinks she’ll like. She tends to be shy, but will develop a favorite person--it has been me before," she bragged partly jokingly, "so I’m certain she’ll require a lot of love from you. I don’t think that should be any problem for you," she concluded, smiling with twinkling eyes at Nat. Nat smiled warmly back, feeling an appreciative and joyful flush in her cheeks. Her father was forgotten about, for the moment.

Nat and her family next went and picked out bowls and cat food. They got a nutritious kind of kibble, but one that was only a little more expensive than the average for costs’ sake. Nat picked out two relatively cheap but large purple bowls, because purple was her favorite color. The cat was put in a smaller crate, which Nat sort of hated, but she knew she would let her out as soon as possible. Excited to go back to school for once, if only for the newfound responsibility of sole cat ownership, Nat, enthusiastic but with a calm tone, greeted her new companion: "Hello, Dahlia." The void peered back at her with steady eyes. She had a complexion which, to Nat’s 12-year-old mind, read as most approving.

What animal do you wish to purchase? Bewitched Midnight Stalker
What do you want to name it? Dahlia
Is this a boy or a girl? Girl
What is your pet's date of birth? January 12th, 2022

WC: 1,699

Pet Granted

Look after Dahlia well.