in Need of some Sunshine [open]

[Shannon MacDuff]

It was only 10 am, and it was already a Hell of a morning for Shannon O'Sullivan.

Since she had woken up a few hours earlier, she had been called off of work for the day. Shannon hated being off work; she didn't know what to do with herself, so she sat around in her flat above Diagon Alley. She figured a nice, hot bath would be a relaxing way to waste the morning, but then she got the call from her landlord: the water was being turned off for the day so the shop below could fix a leak. So, she sat, flipping through old book she'd already read.

rrrf, raRF! rarf! Lucky, Shannon's terrier, jumped up onto the couch next to her, barking and nudging her arm with his nose.

"Yeh need ta go out, Lucky?" Shannon smiled down at the dog, gently patting his head as she got up to grab a coat. A walk with the dog! That would be a lovely thing to do on a Saturday morning! She donned a light jacket and hooked Lucky up to his leash, and out they went.

...And it was raining.

"Bloody perfect," Shannon glared up at the gloomy grey London sky, taking out her wand. With a flick of her wrist, the wand extended upwards and branched out, forming an umbrella over her head. "Les make this one quick, boy," She talked down to Lucky, her arm jerking about as the dog examined his surroundings, "Ah don' want ta be in the rain too long--OI!"

Shannon yelped as the dog jumped up with even more excitement, hopping up and down at the legs of another Diagon Alley visitor. He barked happily, his muddy paws pushing against the poor passerby's knees. "Ah! Ah'm sorry!" Shannon hurried up next to them, pulling Lucky back by his leash. "'E means well, Ah promise..."

[Arianna Blackthorn]

For a minute the patchy gray London sky looked to be clearing, offering a welcoming sign to weary travelers. However, the flighty sky changed its mind and instead of offering sunshine it poured rain. Whatever blue patches there had been quickly became a blob of gray. Arianna Blackthrone smiled wryly to herself. No sunshine welcome home for her. Just as well, she liked the rain, it was natures way of cleaning. Back in town for less than twenty four hours and she practically bought out Flourish and Blotts. Eager to pry information from the leather covers, she hurried through the slick streets, her mind creating a plan of attack.

first I'll read...

Her mental thought was interrupted by barking and a suddenly force at her knees. The petite young woman instantly lost her balance on the slick cobble stones. Arms flailing, her packages dropping like stones, Arianna stumbled backwards, before her feet became tangled in her rain robes. She landed in a tangled heap on the wet ground, the spell that was blocking the rain ending. Brown-black eyes locked on a straining dog. The whole scene was so comical, she just laughed. Sitting on the wet and muddy ground, her bottom stinging she burst into hearty laughter, her thin shoulder quaked.

Then she remembered her books.
"Bloody Hell!" She exclaimed and quickly lunged for the paper wrapped packages that were quickly soaked. Most of her books and quills had escaped the box they were in. She bit her lip as she glanced at her soaked books. She prayed that her rather expensive purchases was not ruined. It took a few minutes to gather everything, even quicker when she realized she had a wand. Sometimes she forgot that the thing had a practical purpose besides probing artifacts.

"He won't do it again will he?" She asked a little wary but gentle. She liked animals and she wondered why this creature had been so excited to see her. Arianna quickly placed a protection spell over her books. She didn't mind the water hitting her face but if the parchment was ruined and she couldn't read the words she'd be devastated. A drying spell could go only so far.

[Shannon MacDuff]

"Ah'm so sorry," Shannon quick looped Lucky's leash around a nearby railing, bending down to help the woman pick up her things. "Lucky's a bet too friendly sometimes..." She glanced up, her grey-blue eyes friendly as the woman laughed. She smiled as the woman's spell lightly tugged the books out of her arms and into their owner's.

"He won't do it again will he?"

"Ah don' think so," Shannon shrugged, resuming her umbrella spell, this time extending it outwards farther to cover the other woman as well. She watched Lucky as he barked aimlessly at the rain. As much as she loved him, the terrier was a little slow. "'E just gets excited every now an' again." She shrugged. She glanced at the other woman and noticed she was a bit overloaded with her books. "Can I help yeh carry yer books? Least I can do after knocking yeh down like that."

[Arianna Blackthorn]

The dog was actually quite cute and Arianna couldn't help but like him despite the fact he practically ruined her books. She shot a smile at the young girl when she cast her spell over both of them. Arianna wasn't much of a spell caster, not with practical spells like protecting one self from the rain. Her knowledge was far more specialized.

Arianna was slightly taken a back by the offer and at first was going to refuse. These were her precious books but the young lady was trying to be nice. It also wouldn't hurt to meet new people in England. She planned on being here for a while and even Ari got lonely. One could read a book for only so long. Contrary to popular belief she did have a pulse and enjoyed human contact.

"That'd be wonderful. I'm on my way to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat, care to join me?" She said with a welcoming smile as she offered a few books to the girl.