Tour the Town Down [Tag: Mary]

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

Liquorice, snot jelly beans and warm chocolate. Let it never be said that Honeyduke's didn't know what their customers wanted. As soon as he had gotten permission from his parents to visit Hogsmeade, this candy shop had been his first stop. Derek had spent many a joyful weekend here buying enough candy to make him and his entire Quidditch team throw up. After an evening of repenting, he'd made sure to spread the sugar around more reasonably, sending at least of third of the bounty to his parents by owl and give some to the Head Nurse that had taken him under her wing. His mother had complained that she'd put on weight because of him but her fond smile assured him that she honestly didn't care.

His head was tilted a bit to the side with a lazy smile gracing his face as he breathed in the sweet, warm smells. Every now and then, Derek would take a sip from the butter beer he nursed as he sat waiting and relaxing. Fortunately, no students seemed to have recognized him without his formal robes on. It was easier to transition between work and play if his patients didn't constantly treat him like he was on duty. Considering that he was also going to be seeing more of the town thanks to Mary, he was glad of that. It wouldn't be very much fun if he had to be very professional when just seeing new sights and sites. Derek could more freely show his emotions that way.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary wheeled into the sweets shoppe, her grinning cheeks pink from the chill outside. She pulled her hair out of her face and grabbed a butterbeer before going to sit beside Derek.
"Hey." She breathed. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. My owlet toppled a stack of books just as I was going to leave."
Herbert had landed atop some precariously placed books, sending them to the floor with a bang. He hovered in the air for a moment before landing on the fallen books, hooting as if he had done something to be proud of. Mary had stood there dumbfounded at her owl's sass for a second before she put him in his cage, magically straightened the books, dropped a few treats in with him, and left.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

While the scraping of a chair on the floor of Honeyduke's was part of the typical hubbub that made up the shop's atmosphere, the proximity of this particular one brought Derek back to focus on his immediate surroundings. When the cheerful brunette fell into a chair next to Derek, he smiled in recognition, glad that Mary had been able to make it.
Nodding while he listened, the Healer was also quick to assure her that it was perfectly understandable and that he not been kept waiting for long, "It's only a quarter past noon! And I think we both'll need to warm up a bit before the tour right?"

Besides he had been able to enjoy a warm butter beer and brace himself for the quickly cooling weather that winter brought. It was far cooler here than he was accustomed to in London which attested to his boots, long-sleeved shirt, jacket and beanie. If it were snowing, he would have added another shirt to that at least. Seeing how many people came to St Mungo's suffering from frost-bite and various other cold-related illnesses had definitely encouraged his desire to stay warm and healthy in the winter.

"Was your owl ill earlier this week?" Derek did try to make that sound like less of an interrogative but was not sure he was entirely successful. But illness was the only thing he could really think of that would prevent it from flying to Hogwarts unless she lived a ways away from Hogwarts which may tire the owlet out but he was quite sure that saying that would be akin to asking where she lived. That information many people weren't comfortable with giving out to friendly acquaintances. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he grimaced apologetically.
"Sorry if that sounded weird, I just wanted to know if it's ok..." his words faded into an embarrassed mumble.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"No, no, he's fine." Mary assured him, smiling. Derek really did seem to be perfectly fitted to be a Healer if he worried about her owl. Cutie. "I just worry he's a little young to be flying to Hogwarts in the winter." Herbert liked to go on errands for her, but she wasn't sure he was strong enough to make it to the castle in the winter winds. She took of a swig of warm butterbeer, feeling the heat in her stomach a few seconds later. "So, I figure you remember quite a bit of Hogsmeade from the school trips, and this'll mostly be walking around and remembering." She smiled at him.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"Ah. Got it." this was one of the reasons why he had never had the hugest urge to become an expert in Care for Magical Creatures. As a Healer, it was enough to be on top of your game in understanding the physiology of one species. True, that knowledge had to be very in depth, but you don't have to worry about forgetting where your patients kidneys were or even wonder if they had kidneys at all. Derek's esteem for Mary increased as it was clear how much she made an effort to take care of her pet.

"Your owl's lucky to be in a good home." he gave an almost stern nod of approval. It would have been very dignified indeed if it weren't for the beanie fitted snugly around his head. Unless you were born with ornamental head-wear on and taught from that point onward how to give stately - if slow - gestures to indicate moods, more likely than not, you would look less than majestic. At least Derek wasn't trying to look particularly serious now, he was drinking with a friend after all.

Oddly enough, teenage Derek had only visited a few of the stores in Hogsmeade, preferring to fly with his friends if he felt like relaxing rather than spending an entire day in the village. Normally, he'd spend maybe an hour between buying candy and browsing Tomes and Scrolls then leave to go back to Hogwarts. Why spend his parents' money on food or school supplies when food was free at Hogwarts and his parents could get discounted goods in Diagon Alley? They were far from poor, but from a young age when he went over to his friends' homes or mansions, it was clear they certainly weren't the richest around either.

"Actually, there's quite a bit of Hogsmeade I haven't seen," he chuckled ruefully. "So I apologize in advance if I 'ooh' and 'aah' over very familiar places to you."

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"That's fine, too." She grinned. "Want to get started now?" They could walk and talk and drink Butterbeer at the same time.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"Fantastic, let's begin then shall we?" he rose smoothly from his seat and tucked it in before he strode towards the counter to pay for both their drinks. The mischievous grin Derek wore made him look a bit like a boy having successfully used a fart cushion on someone for the first time. Unless she insisted on paying him back for the drink, he would regard buying it for her as a way of thanking her for putting up with his tourist-like whims. Mary was being extremely kind by offering to show him around and that was worth more than a butter beer anyways.

Derek held the door open with one hand, gesturing for her with his other to leave first. It was only good manners and he had to follow her as a tour-guide as well. He braced himself for the comparative cold outside, feeling it begin to seep in through his jeans a bit. They definitely would have to keep moving to stay warm. Pity that the butter beer wouldn't stay warm for long out in this weather though.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"What an old-fashioned gentleman you are." Mary teased. "Paying for my drinks twice." She stepped out the door and immediately wrapped her hands around the bottle of butterbeer. It would keep her fingers warm for now, and then her fingers would hopefully keep the butterbeer from freezing. She turned to the left, away from the wind, and started walking.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"Well it's only fair. Then when you ask me for a favor, you can buy the drinks." a smile played on his lips as he accepted the verbal poke.

Derek closed the door behind them to keep the warm from inside of Honeyduke's from escaping into the wintry landscape Hogsmeade was quickly becoming. The snow from Thursday and Friday had thankfully let up today but that didn't stop the temperature from plunging another fifteen degrees below freezing. Maybe it was just as well that he was almost finished with his butter beer. Even though the particles in it meant it would need cooler temperatures than water to freeze, he would rather not risk it.
With that in mind, the he took another swig of the drink before levitating the bottle with a flick of his wand so he could pull out his gloves from his coat pocket and slide them on quickly. Once that was done, the man stuck his butter beer into his coat pocket, letting out a small huff upon the discovery that the drink had cooled even with the momentary direct exposure. At least they were out of the wind and the two of them were covered in enough clothing to stay reasonably warm.

"So what's the first stop?" his eyes flickered over some of the shop signs along the street. He only vaguely recognized a few of them, one of them being the Three Broomsticks Inn which was sadly still shut down. Now Hogsmeade villagers and visitors had to choose between staying at the Hog's Head for their visit or back in London near the train station.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"Next to us is the owl post." She nodded her head to the right. "You can borrow an owl to deliver a letter. Up ahead is Zonko's, all sorts of pranks and things. I heard Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes bought them out but insisted they keep the name 'Zonko's', but it's probably just a rumour." She shrugged and took a swig of her butterbeer. "Not much behind us. Houses, Shrieking Shack, Three Broomsticks is still closed." She frowned. "Then the train station."

Spoiler:

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

(Thanks for the link and picture!)

Despite Zonko's and Weasley Wizard Wheezes having become things of legends, Derek had never been in either of their shops. The appeal of vomiting kits and ton-tongue toffees were lost on him as a youngster who thought people hurting each other was silly. He'd always ended up giving them to his friends when well-wishing family friends bought him those pranks as gifts. It was still interesting to see the store-front years later though.

He was about to take another sip of his butter beer when he noticed Mary frown. At that, he couldn't help but mimic her expression for a slightly different reason. Surely the train station wasn't something that typically induced frowns.
"Are you alright Mary?"

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