The New Raven

Andy sat outside of Florean's with his elbows resting on the table. He had agreed to meet up some school friends, who had yet to turn up. He wasn't all that bothered by it; he was early, after all. Andy looked out at the busy street and at all the students, some of which he recognised but for the most part, they were all fresh and new faces. Andy smothered a laugh at what looked like a first year, clinging to dear life to his mother as they entered the Apothecary. He remembered how nervous he had been back then. It seemed like only yesterday.

Andy pulled his coin bag from one of his pockets and tipped out the contents on the table. He might as well count the money his parents had given him. He wondered if he had enough for all his textbooks, a new broom for the house team and a dog. Maybe.

Thomas hummed to himself as he went into the Ice cream parlour. He'd agreed to meet up with some friends from school... Or at least he was pretty sure that was what they were now. Some Slytherin tendencies were difficult to shake off sometimes. He looked around the place, wondering where they would be, since he was pretty sure he was a couple of minutes late. Firstly though, he decided to go get Honeycomb ice cream, before looking around again. Eventually he saw Andy, and walked over to him, just noticing his attempt at trying to not laugh. "Heya Andy." he said cheerfully as he sat down opposite him, wondering where the others were. "Any idea where Riley is?" He asked.

Riley had arrived in Diagon Alley early, so as to get some shopping done before meeting up with some friends from school. She had bought some new robes from the robe shop, before her mother set her free to get some ice cream. She entered Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and looked around. Were they supposed to meet inside. She shrugged and guessed that she may have been early, so approached the counter with a smile. She ordered vanilla ice cream in a cup and waited patiently until it was handed to her. She gave the money and took a bite, looking around the shop. Riley sighed and headed back outside with the intent to wait for them their when she noticed two of them already waiting. She took a seat at the table and smiled. "Hi Anthony, Thomas."

Andy looked up to see Thomas there. He grinned and shook his head.

"Nar, haven't seen her," he told the boy. "She's probably shopping. Girls are far too fond of that, normally."

Just as the words left his mouth, the girl in question left the Ice-cream parlour and was standing by the table. Andy blinked; he didn't even see her go in. He deemed that he was too busy observing the street to notice. How ironic.

"Hey Riley," Andy greeted with a smile.

She trudged through the myraid of human beings that threatened to run her over. But she wasn't going to let them win, she was determined to make her way out of the crowd to a safe corner of Diagon Alley. With a copy of the latest issue of The Quibbler under her arm, she wheeled her buy of the day and headed towards the ice cream parlour.

Juggling through her pocket, she found a few galleons and with a smile, ordered the usual. That was when a few students not far away caught her gaze. Her smile grew bigger, and she ordered her feet to get moving.

"I'm Phoebe Watson," she introduced, ignoring the fact that she may have been rude, "How do all you do?"