book shopping (o)

it was as if a huge weight was taken off of his shoulders. someone else had walked into the store. a female. francois couldn't say he knew who she was, what house she was in, or even what year she was in. all he knew was that she had to be younger than him. he smiled when he finally saw the girl, but she looked like she was in no mood to talk to anyone. he noticed her tapping her foot, probably to signify that she was impatient. maybe she wanted to get out of there quickly. what for, though?

"hi," francois said, looking the girl up and down, trying to figure out what house she was sorted into. "sorry, my english is no good, but... how you do?" he had to put his head down and blame himself for not getting that out correctly.

as he noticed that his books were being brought to him, the seventh year picked his head back up. let's try this one more time.

"looking forward to new year?" at least that sounded better. he hoped that the girl - regardless of name, age, and house - was willing to respond. if people younger than him were able to understand what he was trying to say, his luck would only go up from here.

francois was relieved to hear such a pleasant voice in lilac, the name of the girl who had spoken up. he had heard she was a slytherin, and two years younger than her. he wondered if she had decided on her future - or at least gotten to the point where she had an inkling on what she was going to do next. don't be such a fool. of course she seems like she's got her head on her shoulders. fifth years might know what they want to do. they may not.

he decided to not forcefully ask lilac what she was thinking of doing after hogwarts, but did decide to answer her questions. it was the only considerable thing to do. "my name? francois," he started, trying not to mumble his words or break out into french. lilac probably wouldn't understand a word he was trying to say if he suddenly spoke in his more familiar tongue. "my house? hufflepuff."

before he could even mention what year he was in, the employee behind the desk returned with more than enough books than were on the parchment letter that francois had received a few days earlier. he had a look of confusion as he thumbed through a book on astronomy. "these books... mine," he asked, a little startled. the fewer words he said to this employee, the better. he hoped that he was able to carry all of these books with him through the alley.

he thought seventh years were supposed to take newt-level classes only. what was he doing with all of these books in his possession?

it appeared as though francois was going to be stuck with the books that he had received. "sir, too many," he whined, hoping the employee who retrieved his new belongings would listen to him. but the employee pointed to a sign that clearly read 'no refunds'. if a puppy dog face wasn't going to solve this, what would.

panicked, he turned back around to lilac. he wondered if she was getting sick of him complaining about the books. they were going to take up enough space as-is on the train. an extra possession would have to be bought for so many hardcover materials. did mediwizards need to know about the stars again? he thought that was kind of... well... insane and absurd. he knew he had to take newt-level classes; potions, charms, and herbology were the ones he knew he was in. but when he was given books for muggle studies, among other unneeded classes... something just wasn't right.

"parchment," he said to lilac, motioning to the letter he was handed back by the employee, "give to nice man. he take care of everything."

francois never lied in his life. he sure wasn't going to lie about something as frivolous as stupid lies on parchment and a huge stack of material that seemed taller than he did. surely, something had to be fixed...