August 13th, 1889 — High Street, Hogsmeade
Sloane Bixby

After spending an entire summer in a magical household, Cammie was, for some reason, surprised that his life hadn't become an extension of Hogwarts. He was still forbidden to use his wand, had nothing solid to study until his supply list came in the mail, and spent much of his time doing exactly what he used to. The only difference was the occasional trip to Hogsmeade and magical London, and, more frequently, the trips to the quidditch pitch to watch a match.

Today, though, was not one of those occasional trips that took place to simply get the kids (minus poor Greta) out of the house; it was Hogwarts shopping day, and Cameron's excitement could not be contained. Suddenly he was around other wizards in witches his age once again, in a crowded city, with the newest supplies on display in every shop window.

Somewhere along the way, Cameron had found himself in front of Gladrags, his step-father and step-siblings no where in sight. He needed new robes desperately, having shot up a number of inches since he'd begun his third year. Never again would be let his robes touch the middle of his calf like he had during second year—especially now that each growth spurt became more intense than the last.

He moved to enter the shop, but was stopped—not by a barrier, but by the sight of a familiar face. A friendly face. A pretty face. He pushed the thought from his mind like he'd tasted something disgusting, but nevertheless found his eyes stuck on Sloane's face as she exited the shop.

"How is it that you look both older and shorter this year?," he teased, crossing his arms across his chest. "Or did you make yourself look shorter to get one of the first-year bundles?"

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Her mum had insisted on new robes though Sloane had barely gained an inch in the last year... She hadn't gotten any last year for that very reason and while it was a sore spot for her, she didn't think it necessary to get new ones if her old ones still fit. Nevertheless she was promised new quidditch gloves if she'd fit for robes, and the petite metamorphmagus couldn't turn down new quidditch gear.

It was a girls' day, just Sloane and her mother, the boys left to their own devices and probably for the better. Sloane could hardly imagine Alvin knowing what to do with her at a robe fitting. At least her mother hadn't invited Tuni. Ugh. They had a wide variety of things to pick up for school, including her Care of Magical Creatures textbook, which the Gryffindor could hardly wait to get her hands on. Needless to say everything was much more exciting than new school robes and Sloane made that abundantly clear while she fidgeted her way through the entire fitting. If the robes actually fit right when they picked them up, it would certainly be a miracle.

While her mother settled up with the staff, Sloane bopped to the door, stepping out into the warm sunshine. She shielded her eyes from the bright light, but didn't need to be able to see clearly to know the voice that greeted her as soon as she exited the shop. Grinning at Cam's comical greeting, she couldn't even be mad, too happy to see him. "I can still take you!" Sloane retorted quickly and launched herself at him from the top step, arms around his neck in a bear hug, feet dangling in the air quite a few inches off the ground.

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Cameron dropped his arms to his side as she walked forward and smiled, only to wrap them around her waist as she launched herself into his arms. He froze in place as the realization hit him that she hadn't actually hugged him like this before, and before he could figure out what to do, he'd loosened his grip enough for her feet to hit the floor. He extracted his arms from around her as swiftly as he could manage, but only managed to bring more attention to the gesture as he awkwardly bumped into her.

He cleared his throat and tried to brush the moment off with a smile. "Definitely shorter. Not much stronger, either, I'm afraid," he teased, his smile widening. He was tempted to make a gesture that showed the difference between their heights, but a voice in the back of him told him he might get punched. "But that's alright; a seeker needs only to be quick."

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The hug was much shorter than Sloane had been prepared for, almost tumbling backward at being placed on the ground again so swiftly, but she supposed that was what was proper anyway. As if she was fussed about that. Friends should be allowed to hug, regardless of gender. Honestly.

"I think it's that you've gotten taller, really." She huffed, looking up- way up, at him. He had to have near a foot on her at this point. "But really, I could take you." Sloane may have been tiny, but she had a lifetime of rough housing with her brothers under her belt; she was pretty feisty when she wanted to be. Being low to the ground had it's advantages sometimes.

Scoffing at the last remark, she shoved him for good measure. "Tiny and fast, that's me." She passed him a wide, cheeky grin, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear that had escaped during her leap. "How's summer been treating you?"

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Though only a year apart in age, Cammie thought they quite looked like a first and sixth year standing beside each other. Or maybe they would have, if Sloane's face hadn't lost some of its roundness over the summer. "You'd best hope I not get much taller. I might step on you by accident," he chuckled. In truth, stepping on her would probably feel like stepping on a nail—or worse, an open fire if she literally set her head aflame—but he wouldn't admit that.

"Take me? What would you do? Kick me in the shin?" he taunted with a disapproving cluck of his tongue. The smile on his face absolved his comments of perceived offense, and he even laughed when she gave him a rough shove that caused him to stumble back a few steps.

"It's my first summer with the Bells. It's... different." He'd always liked Maddy, but nothing was more awkward than running into her while they stumbled through the halls in the morning on the way to breakfast. They were technically siblings now, but it still didn't feel like it. "How about you? Made your elective choices yet?"

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Pursing her lips, Sloane quirked an eyebrow at his teasing. "I doubt you'd enjoy that." She warned playfully. She'd grow... eventually. Maybe. Who knew. Her mum wasn't all that tall, though some of the boys had achieved some height, thanks to their father's genes. It was all relative and frankly, it worked for her ambition to play seeker professionally. At least she was a small target!

This time his taunting was met with a decisive punch to the arm, though a kick to the shin was always an option. "In a race, in a duel, you name it, I'll beat you." She wasn't so sure about the latter, but she could definitely beat him in a race- on brooms that was.

She softened up when he mentioned the difference in the summer. Sloane couldn't even imagine losing a parent then just moving in with a new family halfway through school, even if that family included Maddy! "Yeah Maddy said as much," She shrugged a little bit. Hopefully it would be alright. They were both her friend and she sincerely hoped nothing would get super awkward.

"Care of Magical Creatures!" She all but chirped at him in response. "But I don't know if I should take anything else? What do you take again?" Honestly she'd forgotten.

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Cameron snickered through the momentary pain when her fist connected to his arm, unwilling to give her any reason to suspect she had even a little bit of strength in her tiny body. "It wouldn't be fair to duel right now," he teased. "I've got a whole year on you—and at an OWL level, too." In truth, he was likely no better than she was; he was a mediocre student for all he found magic exciting, and decided long ago that his strengths were stuck on the quidditch pitch.

Maybe having magical family members for once would make him less apprehensive about opening his textbooks during the summer months, which in turn would help his magical progress, but he wasn't holding his breath. Maddy didn't strike him as overly enthusiastic about academics, either.

Oddly enough, the prospect of Sloane sharing a class with him sent a burst of excitement through his chest and a smile to his face. "I think the class would suit you. I'm not sure about the others. I take Divination and Ancient Runes, though," he added with a shrug.

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Sloane very nearly stuck her tongue out at him, but decided against it at the last minute. Her hair was already turning pink at the ends- a clear sign of her current mood (delighted) and she didn't want to give him anything else to tease her about.

"Yeah? I find it incredibly exciting. Might be a class I actually study for." Though she enjoyed both charms and herbology, there was just something about creatures that really pulled her in. A career pertaining to creatures would be a good backup for when she retired from quidditch in the future.

"Divination? You take divination?" Had she known that? Forgotten? Either way the mere thought if it was highly amusing. It seemed like such a useless class, but perhaps he was taking it for an easy grade? It seemed altogether too prissy for Sloane to even consider. " I don't think I'd do well in either of those. I thought about Earth Magic, maybe Muggle Studies? Ghoul Studies?" No interest in divination and runes sounded harder than she'd like it to. Ideally she'd like something easy herself so she could still focus on quidditch.

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He didn't doubt Sloane would flourish in Care of Magical Creatures. She might be the wildest one there—even more than the creatures they worked with! He smiled at the thought of her chasing around an angry garden gnome, or trying to catch a pixie or two. She'd have a grand ol' time, and he'd be right there with her, he reminded himself with a smile.

"If you want, you can borrow my notes from last year. They're not much, but it gives a good overview, I think," he offered. His notes resembled a sketchbook more than an academic journal, but hey, she might be interested in a few (poorly-drawn) creature illustrations and abstract charts of where they came from, right?

Less amusing was her teasing about Divination. "Hey," he pointed out, his tone defensive, "Maybe if you take Muggle Studies you'll learn that muggles have tried their hands at divination, too. That's the only reason I took it! It was familiar to me!"

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   Sloane Bixby

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Sloane visibly brightened at the offer to see his notes from last year. That would certainly be helpful! She wasn't the best of students, but when the subject was interesting she tended to at least make a more concentrated effort to do well in the class. Being a little ahead for once would be nice. Not that she was particularly behind, but starting in an all new subject sometimes made her a little uneasy. She had to wonder if this was how Cam felt when starting at Hogwarts altogether.

"Something to do one night in the common room when we get back." She grinned. Thinking that it would be highly out of character for her, but worth it. Probably.

Her grin turned a little more wicked when he got all defensive about divination. "I was leaning toward muggle studies actually, but honestly. Are you the only boy in the class?" There surely couldn't be that many. "Is that why you took it? Surrounded by ladies?" She waggled her eyebrows at him, though didn't really mean it. Sloane doubted that had anything to do with it, but oh how she enjoyed getting a rise out of him.

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For some reason, the thought of spending the evening with Sloane in the common room brought a wave of nerves of both the happy, fluttering sort and the anxious, confusing sort over him. He'd never really studied with anyone before, so he imagined the thought of anyone watching him struggle his way through his work would make him feel that way. Surely she wouldn't judge him harshly; she already knew how bad he was at classwork.

Besides, she had more important things to judge him about, apparently. A scowl formed on his face when she began prodding him about Divination. Surely she didn't really think that about him? Or maybe...

"I don't know, maybe I did," he bantered, raising a brow in challenge. "All the ladies are more than pleased to help a 'helpless' boy." If he'd been less mature, he might have stuck his tongue out.

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Sloane was momentarily worried she was taking it a bit too far, the way he scowled like that, but he bounced back quick enough. "Oh, well then." She mused, humming it aloud with a little waggle of her eyebrows and a playful push. It was too easy to get a rise out of him every now and then.

Her next words came out a little bit like a sing-song as she  eyed him carefully. "Careful Cam, that's how you get in tro-ooo-uble." She met his quirk of an eyebrow with one of her own. Or so she was told. Honestly Sloane was the last one to ask about that. It was funny to hear her female friends go on about how handsome certain boys were and whether or not they could possibly fancy one of them. It was ridiculous really. Sloane had far better things to worry about.

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A chuckle accompanied his squinted eyes and wrinkled nose in response to her teasing. "Me? Trouble? Neeeever," he responded as though she'd offended him, though he couldn't help the images of 'trouble' that wandered through his mind. Did she mean trouble for spending too much time alone with a girl? Trouble that would happen after all that time was spent? Or was she worried for his own sanity?

"Come to Divination class and you might keep me out of it," he suggested with a knowing tilt of his head. "If there's an odd number of boys Professor Carmichael might let me sit with you. Then I could copy off your notes." He smiled brightly, teasingly; maybe that's how she could pay him back for his Care of Magical Creatures notes.

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Sloane laughed out loud at that, head back in a quick all out amusement. So much trouble. It really was a miracle they didn't get in more trouble, really.

"Oh no, you couldn't pay me enough to take it seriously. I think Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies are plenty." The latter of which she'd pretty much decided to take just now. Cam could help her with both, how easy was that? "Sisse might be taking it though, you could cheat off her." She mused, not too mature to stick out her tongue, which she did. Realistically though, it was both the smarter and safer option; Sisse was ten times smarter than Sloane would ever be.

The bell of the door tinkling behind her had Sloane checking to indeed find her mother on her way out. "We're nearly done, bookstore next I think. Meet you at Honeyduke's in a little while?" She raised her eyebrows hopefully, ignoring her mother's amused smirk.

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Cammie felt a tightness in his chest that he couldn't identify the source of. He couldn't possibly be disappointed; it wasn't as if he'd ever taken Divination seriously, either. On a good day it was an extra period for studying. On bad days he could drown out Professor Carmichael's voice and think through his problems. Sloane would interrupt that. It was for the best that she wasn't there. Yes.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from fighting it.

"Hey, if I can handle three electives, so can you. And you can't possibly expect me to copy off of Sisse; she's too good — too nice! I'd feel guilty about it. Not to mention that I'd have nothing to offer in return except a charming smile and my company," he protested, physically moving himself between her and her destination and altogether ignoring her mother's presence (which was easily, really, because he'd never seen her mother in person).

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   Sloane Bixby

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"See but you're just a smidge more ambitious than I am, three is far too many. Two is good." Her mother was nodding behind her as if she was privy to the whole conversation. "Plus you've a year's more quidditch experience, I need that time to practice." Thankfully Rufus hadn't been entirely distracted this summer with his new wife to ignore Sloane altogether, they had gotten a little practice in and she'd learned some useful things she hope to bring back to the team this year.

Oblivious to Cam's movements, Sloane instead watched as her mother pretended to be very interested in something in the next window display down and had absolutely no idea what it was she was getting at. Fiona Bixby, though blessed with four boys before Sloane, was not entirely out of touch with what it was like to have a teenage daughter. Sloane on the other hand was oblivious, but knew when her mother was feigning interest; Sloane saw that look a lot when she was going on about something from school. "Somehow I doubt Sisse would mind." Sisse was too nice after all and had practically carried Sloane through academics thus far. Thank Merlin for that. "You won't convince me, sorry. You'll have to get your fill of my annoying face at quidditch practice." She shrugged, chuckling at him.

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