like a kid in a candy store -- [open!]

[Izzy Longbottom]

How could she not keep the smile from crossing her lips? She was in a cornucopia of sweets, the threshold of chocolate itself! Her eyes went wide like a kid in a...candy store as she stood there in the doorway, gaping up at all of the different sorts of sweets. They had basics, like chocolate, licorice wands, and pumpkin pasties, but then they also got creative. Ice mice and cockroach clusters were some of her favorites. And special for the winter season, they offered peppermint toads, which hopped around in a cage waiting to be eaten. But she still stood in the doorway, taking it all in. Until a rather rude witch pushed her out of the way. Rolling her eyes, Miss Izzy just smiled, and walked in, ready to be dazzled by all of this glorious candy.

She stopped by some of the chocolate and quickly picked up two packs, one also for her father. She knew he had a love for Honeyduke's Chocolate, but he never had time to visit Hogsmeade, so she would be a good daughter and bring some back. An employee offered her a shopping basket, which she took happily and thanked him. An entire basket of sweets? It had to happen, it just had to. With Galleons jingling in her purse, she continued on, going over to the Christmas candy and playing around with the peppermint toads.

The windows were frosted with snow, so Izzy dressed accordingly. She wore at this moment a pair of jeans which led down to snow boots, decorated haphazardly by herself. On her top she wore a blue t-shirt, accompanied by a black jacket that probably at one point belonged to a man. The pièce de résistance of her outfit was, however, as usual, was her light pink tutu that was worn nicely on her hips. She leaned down to scoop up some peppermint toads into a bag, watching them hop about for a moment before she put the bag into her basket, and carried on.

As she shopped, she considered what her year had been like so far. Her professors were drilling her on her grades, which only seemed to make them go down further. And it wasn't as if she could really escape them...if she was caught slacking off by her father, he would make her work harder. He was never really too worried about her grades, because they were good, but this year he seemed to have turned into some sort of grade Nazi. Which led her to wonder why she was even buying him chocolate. She promptly put the extra box of chocolate back on the shelf, before looking back, and taking it back. She'd just eat them both.

Izzy was heading to the other Christmas items when she was promptly distracted by lollypops the size of her head. She gaped at them and took one off the shelf, looking at it as if it were a mirror of some kind. She posed into the lollypop, receiving odd looks, but she continued on. Finally she put the lollypop into her basket, and went back to the Christmas candy. She filled her basket with some wand-shaped candy canes, but not before sampling a piece of chocolate they were offering.

Today, she thought to herself, would be a good day.

[cordelia]

The gleam of a giant lollipop caught the blue eyes of a one Cordelia Hartlock. Now, anyone would have been mesmerized by the size, but she was more of a chocolate girl and quickly discarded the wonder in her thoughts at the large treat and instead focused on the person posing into it. It was someone she was, thankfully, familiar with- her best friend Isabella Longbottom. A wide grin split her chocolate-covered lips and quickly rubbed her hands against her mouth, wiping it back against her apron.

She couldn’t think of one student at Hogwarts who actually worked on trips to Hogsmeade, but then again, she didn’t know anyone who had parents who ran stores there. Her mother, Rosmerta, ran The Three Broomsticks, and whenever she came down into town on a trip, she was expected to help. Though it was usually only busy-work- unloading boxes, running errands, the like, she was a little annoyed today of all days with it. It was so pretty and shiny out, snow glistening and covering every surface of the cozy town she had grown up knowing like the back of her hand. She could imagine running in the streets and feeling the cold through her boots, then going back to the castle after a grueling walk and just collapsing next to the fireplace and warming up. The feeling of vigorous work left her comfortable and dazed and she longed for the feeling, though perhaps not this way- catering when she should be enjoying herself.

Cordelia usually wasn’t so unhappy with the work load she was given. She had grown up working around the place and getting to know the regulars. Most of the people in the village knew her well though she wasn’t really too fond about that. They remembered when she wore diapers. It was hard to garner any real respect. She worked hard and deserved a little!...right?

This seemed to be her mother’s sentiments when she said she could have the rest of the day to herself so long as she kept herself out of trouble. It couldn’t be that hard, Cordelia decided, and had taken her up on the offer, only she had forgotten in her haste to ditch the apron. Oh well. It wasn’t really that noticeable under her coat. The rest of her outfit was similarly plain, with a few exceptions for her accessories. A woolen cap with tiny wiggling puffballs at the end pulled over her wispy, pale locks, and happily squealing mittens. They were supposed to keep her hands warmer though all they did was crap all over her sleeves. They couldn’t all be winners, she figured as she stuffed them earlier into her pockets as she entered the candy shop.

She had already bought her desired confections, just a simple box of chocolate. Best not to over do it after what happened last time…she shook that thought away and the puffballs on the end of her hat let out squeals of terror. She ignored them and the few looks sent her way as she pocketed her chocolates and nearly bounced over to her friend. Excitement to see Izzy had made Cordelia flush, eyes wide and bright, the rush of blood bright against her fair skin. The thought of any chocolate remaining on her lips was forgotten for the moment as she took in her friend with a smile.

“Hi! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t come down today! I got chocolate,” she added with a tiny eyeroll at the blandness of her purchase. “Oh! They have knew edible fangs!” she said suddenly, reaching behind Izzy to grab a mark labeled so. “Amazing,” she murmured in awe as she studied it, turning away from her already forgotten friend. “I didn’t think they could make them in anything but blood flavored…” Suddenly remembering herself she turned her head sharply back with another grin. “Nice tutu! What’re you buying?” she asked, taking a shameless peek into the basket.

[Izzy Longbottom]

"Delia!" Izzy exclaimed, and she grinned, embracing her friend immediately. She received a few looks from the laugh that left her lips, but as usual, Izzy didn't really care whatsoever. She let her friend go, noticing the chocolate but decided not to say anything just yet, until the excitement ran down. Who really wanted to ruin this feeling of happiness, anyway? Izzy pushed back some of her pink hair, biting her lip. "I'm here shopping. I wasn't, but then I figured...why not? I was about to come in and visit you, after I was done gaining ten pounds."

She allowed her friend full view of her basket, the little frogs still hopping around. "Just stocking up for the next month, you know." Izzy winked when she mentioned her tutu, and moved her hips, moving around the tutu. "Thanks. It's an old one from a few years ago...I haven't worn it in a while." She tugged at it for a moment before looking back up at her friend, her eyes wide and a grin plastered across her face.

"Let's see. Candy wands...peppermint toads...some ice mice...and this big lollypop that reminds me of a mirror!" she exclaimed, and took it out, putting it up to Cordelia's face. "Yep! It's bigger than your face, too. My dad would have a field day if he saw me with this." She puffed her cheeks out in the best impression of him. "Izzybear, that lollypop is distracting to your studies! Put it away before I put you away! And you know I don't mean violently, just focus on plants!" She even did a deep voice.

Izzy laughed at the idea of her father saying that, because he would. She looked at the lollypop, and the smile faded. "But seriously, school is beginning to get lamer now that things are actually getting too hard. I dunno why they have to work us so hard...I mean, O.W.L.s are easy, right?" she asked, and put the lollypop back.

[cordelia]

Despite the looks Izzy caused to send their way (and maybe it was her fault as well, with the squealing hat crushed upon the other girl’s hair) Cordelia’s grin did not falter in the slightest. Wisps of her light hair were frazzled and she quickly combed her fingers through them, chipped nail polish being to be removed and repainted. She had always been a messy person and it showed. But wasn’t it better to have fun and do your chores than look good all the time? Taking in her friend with a slight head shake, maybe it was possible. “Oh, whatever,” she said breezily, not at all affronted by her friend’s detour. “And ten pounds my ass. ..literally,” she giggled with a tiny eye roll. She was probably just exaggerating but how could tell when it was yourself that was the judge? But it was always easy to feel large next to Izzy or any of the other smaller girls at the school.

“Aww,” she cooed, holding her hands back to not pet the tiny edible frogs. It would be rude to touch someone else’s food, but they just looked so adorable! “I have no idea how you eat these. They’re so cute!” She paused, considering something. “You know, you’d think after growing up here I’d get used to the weird food. But I’m still sticking to just plain ole’ chocolate.” It was the safest bet. Who knew if those frogs wouldn’t hop up Izzy’s throat after she ate them? The thought made her wince a bit.

What she liked best about Izzy was that she always made her laugh, and for someone as emotionally delicate as Delia was, that was a good thing to have in a friend. As she took in the deep bass of her father’s voice she raised a hand to snicker into, shoulders shaking softly. “One of these days he is going to put you away, you nut,” she said when her laughing fit had passed. “And then what am I going to do without you?” She placed a hand over her forehead exaggeratedly, sighing as if it were some great tragedy. Not that it wouldn’t be, but she doubted that anything like that would really happen.

“Just focus on plants,” she repeated, her mood dropping. A look of determination quickly led way to one of hopelessness. “Fifth year Herbology sucks! Not that your dad isn’t a good teacher, but it’s so hard! I’m gonna get a T, I just know it. Think you could help me study?” she asked, turning from the shelf she was looking at to her friend. She would hate herself if she didn’t even attempt to get a passing mark. She doubted she would ever excel at Herbology but one could at least try.

[Izzy Longbottom]

Izzy laughed. "You just put them in your mouth. It's kinda sick...you have to like bite off their heads first so they stop squirming. But they taste good, especially these kind. They're peppermint, see," she explained, as if that wasn't obvious by the greenish color. She leaned against a shelf. "Ooh, but the weird stuff is probably the best! Cause it adds a little more...fun. And eating can and is boring sometimes, so I like a little...flair." She grinned as she nudged the frogs around, the magic still taking its full effect. "But the chocolate's good, too...it's the sweetest chocolate in the world. My mum sends me chocolate from the States, and it's not nearly as good."

"He just may," she said with a snigger and she wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. "I can see it now...Isabella Longbottom put away because she was, in fact, a nut. News at 11." She brought back the deep voice to imitate the newsman, even adding in a mustache with her index finger. "Well, you'll definitely just whiter away! That's what happens to people when they don't get their daily dose of Izzy, you know. Why do you think all the Slytherins look so...dilapidated?" she asked, and gasped. "I remembered a big word!" she exclaimed, and smirked to her friend. She absolutely loved being the clown in the relationship.

"He's not a bad teacher, but he expects everyone to love Herbology as much as he does. Or know as much...it's a bit silly if you ask me. But I only know so much because I grew up around it." She rolled her eyes. "There is no T. Who told you there was a T? Was it George Weasley? He told me there was a T and I almost believed him..." she grumbled, and shrugged. "There's not. Just a really bad grade."

"Of course I'll help you!" she exclaimed, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can get you into greenhouses we haven't even seen and go through our notes and stuff...you'll be ace, I swear," she said, and snuck another free sample with a wink, before she popped it in her mouth.