Permission to Godmod @Ruby Cazares

July 13th
Late Afternoon
Warm, Perfect

July thirteenth was nothing short of perfection. The sun beating down on her skin, making the girl feel as if she were wrapped in a weightless blanket. The crowds of people and chatter around her, wizards of all ages finding their way to every store imaginable. She smiled to herself, looking beside her at Ruby Cazares, a girl with gorgeously blue eyes that had decided to accompany her on her trip to Diagon Alley. In fact, while she was in America, the Slytherin had owled and invited her to come with. The one, singular person that truly got Marla Quinlan.

The day had been filled with plenty of adventures. Between simply walking around and talking, trying ice cream for the first time, doing a bit of window shopping, it wasn't all bad. But one thing that Ruby had mentioned in her letter was that she wanted to purchase a pet, which was where they were walking at this very moment. All of a sudden, Marla became very aware of the heavy galleons that sat in her small backpack. She glanced at the strap that was strung over her arm, crossing fingers it would be enough to get herself a cute critter.

Soon they had made their way into the infamous Magical Menagerie, as she stepped inside it had released a whoosh of cold air, causing her to let out a relieved sigh. Inside was surprisingly quite empty, the only noises being hushed chatter and the squeaking of animals from all sides of the room. Standing together talking enthusiastically to another small group of students were two evidently older people, both with completely white hair. The man was extremely tall, the woman still being quite tall to Marla, who was only 4'2, but much shorter than the man. She concluded that the two were the owners of the shop when the group of children buried them in galleons before leaving with two cats and a rat. Which was a bit concerning because of the devious smirks and giggles that came along as they rushed out the door while looking intently at the rat, but that wasn't any of her business. Hopefully, the poor thing wouldn't become dinner for a special someone.

With a shake of her head, she made her way to the far left side of the room, examining different cages. Some with scurrying rats, squeaking and scratching on their cages. Marla scrunched her freckled nose. She didn't want a rat, they kind of freaked her out... Well, they were a bit cute. With their small little feet and snouts, not to mention their beady eyes. But she needed something grand, not something cowardly and dim-witted. Something as small as a rat most definitely had a pea-sized brain. Same goes for pygmy puffs. Yes, they were a bit more flashy, but the price tags on those damn things? Twenty galleons for a glorified rodent? No way. And toads, ugh. Slimy monstrosities. Marla had been covered in slimy green lime JELLO before, and a frog was just a constant reminder of that disgusting mess. There was no way in hell she was going to buy one of those willingly. Maybe at gunpoint. Maybe.

Cats, though... They were clever. Sly, and frankly, not only cute, but cool looking. They had this look in their eyes that gave off such mystery to the girl, filled with curiosity. In fact, Ruby had found her way to a cage with a cat that had a white and black print, almost like a tiger or a cheetah. She walked nedxt to the girl, and there were two tiny kittens in there. Probably twins. She smiled, putting her face closer to the box, her cheek briefly touching Ruby's as they bore into the cage together. Oh, were they adorable.. The two had bright blue eyes, laying on their backs as they stared up at a small light on the top of their cage. Marla felt a smile tugging at her lips looking at them. She snuck her pointer finger into the cage and wiggled it a bit. One of the cats pawed it playfully, causing a giggle to escape her lips. The redhead whipped her head around to ask how much one kitten would cost, but a coat of white caught her eye from the other side of the room.

She froze, her mouth slightly agape. Standing at the right of the room was the biggest owl she had ever seen. It stood tall, yellow eyes staring straight at Marla, who began to walk over, entranced by its elegance. Coming closer, she could tell by its flawless feathers that it was on the younger side, and all she could think was that she desperately wanted to traverse the Hogwarts grounds with the beautiful bird in front of her perched on her arm.

"Um, 'scuse me.." She said to the tall man who owned the shop, turning her head around to look at him, "Would yeh mind openin' the cage please?" She asked with a smile, hoping that her mess of an accent wasn't intelligible. Living in both Scotland and England, while learning two different languages caused her voice to be rather... Difficult to understand. But she sure as hell stood out in a crowd, being as loud as she was with the damn thing. The shop owner obliged, taking out his wand and walking over, murmuring the alohomora spell. He opened the cage, kneeling down as to offer his shoulder to the owl to sit on. He let out a laugh as the owl perched on his arm before turning to Marla. "He's a riot, this one. Usually bangs on 'is cage if anyone even comes close." She simply exhaled with a nervous laugh, watching the bird intently before it hopped on her head. She let out a startled yell, almost falling backward from the sudden weight. At this point, the shopkeeper had made his way to some customers that were more in need of help.

As she tipped over, the bird quickly flew to a nearby surface as to not make the Gryffindor fall. She thankfully caught her balance and looked up, shock practically filling her eyes to the brim as she watched the owl spread its wings. It was beautiful. And the first thing she thought of: Icarus. The story about a boy who flew too close to the sun, causing his gorgeous, big wings that gave him so much joy to melt and made him plummet to his death. This owl had the same, ginormous and beautiful wings as she thought they looked in the tale. But they were bound with flesh, blood, and bones. Her hand ached with temptation to reach out to the gorgeous creature and touch his wing, but she held back.
A smile spread across her face as she began to convince herself that this could have been Icarus. The bird could fly to the sun, even higher, where he would be able to touch the stars, without fail. Taking a quick glance at the kitten cage at the other side of the room, and back to the owl, she knew what she had to do. Putting out her arm, the owl immediately hopped on her forearm.

Walking up to the tall woman with white hair, the smell of cookies wafted up her nose, almost putting her in a daze. She turned to the shorter old woman, the smell of baked goods immediately wafting up her nose. "Only sixteen galleons, yeah?" The woman confirmed it with a small nod. Marla hastily unzipped the front pocket and took out a handful of galleons. Ten... Thirteen... Fifteen... And ten sickles. Seriously? She dug around in her bag a bit more, before finding one last galleon. A wave of relief fell over her. She dropped the money in the woman's hand. "He's all yours." The woman claimed with a smile. Marla returned the gesture, taking a few steps back and looking at her owl in the eyes. All of a sudden, her heart was filled with the utmost joy. This was her owl, and god, was she proud about it. Suppressing a grin, she made her way back to Ruby, who had a small furry friend of her own. One of the kittens from her cage that was pawing all over her. "Aww, cute," she murmured, looking up at the kitty in her best friend's arms. "Let's get out of here, Leaky Cauldron?" An approving nod came from the Slytherin as they headed out the door to continue their adventures out on the town with Icarus and Cazares Jr.

WC: 1,436/400

What animal do you wish to purchase? Great White Owl
What do you want to name it? Icarus
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? March 13th, 2019