Summer Sweets

[Stephan Cullen]

Stephan meandered around Hogsmeade after apparating from the Ministry where his father forced him to work after graduation. He’d much prefer playing Quidditch, but at least he didn’t have to settle for cleaning up owl droppings at Eeylop’s Owl Emporium. Still, his father was insistent that he become an Auror. Stephan almost had a mind to stalk people who worked for the Department of Mysteries just for fun. Being an unspeakable wouldn’t be so bad, in his mind he could know every important secret there was to know in the wizarding world. A part of him really wanted to see what was hidden away in the Hall of Prophecy.

Thinking himself foolish for such thoughts he pushed open the door to Honeydukes sure Claire would like it if he bought something for her. The little bell over the door tinkled as he entered, and he flashed a charming smile at the woman behind the counter before vanishing into one of the isles. He continued walking until he found the chocolates, and stood there pondering over what she might like best.

((ooc: Stephan needed to be written, sorry it’s not very good, nor is the title, but anyone is welcome to join him!))

[Andrea Michalka]

((ooc: Hey, hope you don't mind Andy, I figured she'd know Claire since they shared a dorm, being Hufflepuffs and stuff.))

Andy wandered up and down the aisles of Honeydukes torn by her ongoing mental debate about just how much damage those sugar quills would do to 'her figure'. She couldn't decide so, instead, rolled her eyes at herself and dumped a box of them in her already half-full basket of sweets. Her and Kat had major plans for a film-and-Guitar-Hero marathon that weekend at Kat's place- well Kat, Archie and Jacques' place- and she'd promised to stock up on their behalf with every junk food she could get her hands on.

Spotting a familiar face, Stephan Cullen to be precise, she paused, observed him looking at the chocolate display, before going up behind him. "Yo Cullen!" she greeted him suddenly with a grin, "So how are you and what's with the staring contest with the chocolates? I mean I'm sure they are flattered, who wouldn't be, but you staring at them is making them terribly flustered and blushing," she remarked teasingly, looking up at him in a friendly way.

[Stephan Cullen]

Stephan jumped slightly at Andy’s voice. He could never mistake her cheery voice, and so smiled as he turned around. “Hey Andy,” he greeted her with a perfectly charming smile. His smile turned into a smirk, almost as if he were holding back a laugh. “I can make chocolates blush just by looking at them, wow, I didn’t know my eyes had that kind of effect on sugary sweets,” he said teasingly.

Shrugging, he took a step away from the chocolates, “I was trying to decide what to get Claire… I figured she’d like chocolates,” he mentioned glanced back to the large selection of chocolates, wondering if it was silly that he was always thinking about Claire. Looking back at Andy, he peered into her basket then back up at the blonde, “Having a party, or just celebrating graduation with some sweets?” he asked with a smile.

[Andrea Michalka]

Andy laughed lightly and shook her head, "Oh please, Cullen, you make anything blush just by looking at it enough," she teased before listening curiously as he explained why he was there. "Ooo I see! Well Claire's a lucky girl to have a guy thinking about her so much," she commented sincerely and then, peering at the shelf of chocolates she looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'd get her these, she says they're her favourite," she suggested helpfully with a kind smile.

At his question she snorted in amusement, "Both, I guess, Kat and I, and Archie and Jacques if they happen to be at home at the time... anyways we're having a major movie marathon this weekend so a girl's gotta stock up on the sugar you know?" she explained chirpily, "Besides, I think with this much sugar we might go to that lovely fuzzy sugar coma, fun!" she concluded with a nod. "Sooooo how's Claire then? And yourself, how are you? It's weird knowing we don't have to go back to school in September isn't it? I have noooo clue what I'm doing with my life, but I'll wait until the end of summer to start worrying about that fact," she commented, waving her hand as if dismissing it.

[Stephan Cullen]

Is that so?” Stephan asked with a laugh, “So you mean if I looked at you long enough you’d blush too?” he asked teasingly. Then he smirked, “Yeah…” he still thought Claire deserved someone better than him. Chocolates didn’t make up for him being… well him, he thought. “Oh,” he said in surprise as he grabbed a box of the chocolates Andy had suggested, “Thanks, I would have been here forever trying to figure that out,” he added, making a mental note of her favourite chocolates.

“Aah, yes a movie marathon sounds like fun,” he mentioned, “You aren’t going to make Jacques and Archie watch chick-flicks are you?” he asked jokingly. “Claire’s good, I was sort of hoping to surprise her with these," he shrugged. "I’m working at the Ministry now apparently… or so my father tells me. But I’ve been practicing for tryouts anyways,” he shrugged, “What can I say, I’m the rebellious type,” he flashed another one of his crooked smiles. “Yeah, it’s kinda weird,” he replied with a nod. “I can always help with the job hunting if you like, I’m good at acting professional,” he told her in a joking tone.

[Andrea Michalka]

Andy looked jokingly thoughtful for a moment and then shook her head, "Nah, let me correct myself then... you can make most things blush if you look at them enough. I'm not so much into that blushing thing, I leave that to Kat and she does enough blushing for the two of us," she commented good naturedly. Raising an eyebrow she considered him for a moment, "Aaah you doubt my words? Well then let me tell you Claire is absolutely crazy for you, she considers herself the luckiest girl on earth to have found you," she told him bluntly- the two girls had tended to talk quite a lot at Hogwarts in their dorm, mostly about guys it had to be said! "No problem, and hey it's alright, least you know now. Oh and for future reference, she also loves those deluxe sugar quills... well she likes anything sweet and sugary but yeah," she shrugged.

"You and Claire should totally come to one sometime... we plan to have many many movie marathons in the future, you're totally welcome to come, providing you don't mind hanging out with sugar-crazed Michalka girls," she joked casually with him. "Hmmm, I wasn't going to buuuut now you've suggested it, oh wow, I am definitely going to force them to watch chick flicks while force-feeding them chocolate. Great plan there Cullen!" she exclaimed with a wink.

Nodding with a small smile, Andy replied, "Awww well tell her hi from me if you see her before I do. The Ministry? Huh... I never took you for wanting to work in such a... rule-following place," she trailed off in a confused voice and then a smirk grew as he said he was rebelling. "See now that is more like it, that's what I expected. Where you trying out for, which team I mean?" she asked him as she suddenly reached forward, plucking a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from the shelf next to him and dumping them in her basket. "Really? Thanks, I appreciate the offer but I'm actually thinking of doing the struggling musician thing..." she explained with a grin, "I dunno I can't really see me as the type of girl to hold down a nine-to-five job in somewhere like the Ministry or anything, I like being free and spontaneous too much, I'd hate something so structure. Sooo I think I'd like to work on my music, at least until the point when I can no longer deny the fact that I need to get a proper job," she explained with a light laugh.

[Stephan Cullen]

Stephan smirked but didn’t say anything, instead he turned his thoughts to which box of chocolates he would get Claire, before his attention was quickly returned to Andy. “I think she has that backwards,” he replied in his serious brooding tone. He was the lucky one! Then he smirked as Andy told him Claire also liked the deluxe sugar quills. For good measure he plopped them into his basket as well. “I know, sometimes I think she lives on sugar,” he joked light heartedly, but he loved her for it.

“That would be fun, I’m sure Claire would love to join in the ‘sugar-crazed girl’ stuff. Archie, and I might just do… guy stuff,” he added. “Okay, I’m definitely not joining in on your chick flick marathons then,” he joked.

Stephan nodded knowingly as Andy said she expected his rebellion. “I wanted to try out for the Tornados. I heard their Seeker is transferring to another team sometime next year. Of course, it is Kale-fucking-Gallagher, so I doubt they’d want me to replace him, but it’s worth a shot,” he concluded in a casual sort of way and then fell silent for a while letting Andy speak. “Aah, I could see that,” he mentioned and quieted again until his anger got the better of him. Stephan gave a irritated sigh, “Yeah, tell me about it. Luckily my father is well respected there, otherwise they’d never let me go gallivanting off on my little outings… like right now,” he said with a smirky smile. “Well, they don’t let me exactly, but they tolerate it. I’m sure my Dad will tell me off again for not staying at my desk, but I finished my work in two hours, honestly what was I supposed to do? Make paper airplanes and hit people with them?” he ranted in a dry sarcastic tone, “That would be disrupting the progress of everyone else, so really I’m much better off being outside,” he finished with a small smirk.

“Well, my sister Evvy works part time as a waitress and sings at this restaurant, maybe, if you wanted, I could see if you could get in and sing a few songs sometime?” he offered with a shrug of his shoulders, not sure if that was something Andy would like, but figured it could be a start.

[Andrea Michalka]

((ooc: Eeek this is so late, sorry!))

"You do? Oh honey, no," Andy protested, shaking her head with a comforting smile as she saw his expression turn serious, "Claire's crazy about you, really, nothing will ever change that way of thinking she's the luckiest girl ever. Can't say I disagree either, I mean she's found someone she loves, that loves her too. Wait... you do love her too, right? Because, you know, if you don't I might have to slap you, no offence but it'd have to be done," she concluded with a sweet, innocent smile. Watching as he also grabbed some of the sugar quills she referred to she smiled at him, "That's true. When we had midnight feasts in our dorm she could always be counted on to have some sugar or chocolate somewhere near."

Nodding encouragingly the blonde added, "I'll text Claire about it later, and no... you and Archie will not be sneaking off to do 'guy stuff', you'll sit like good boys and be force-fed chocolate and watch Clueless with us. Don't make us get the handcuffs out, because we will," she threatened him jokingly, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "But what if I tell Claire to bring you along? You might be able to say no to me but would you be able to say that to Claire's pleading puppy-dog-eyes expression, huh?" Andy remarked simply with a challenging smile.

"The Tornados huh? Cool," she said, nodding along. She wasn't really big on Quidditch but knew the basic idea of it and the 'good teams' so she was well aware of the Tornados he referred to, especially because Kale Gallagher was on the team. "Wait, hang on Gallagher's transferring?" she asked, a sad joking pout twitching at her lips then, "Buuut that means I'll have to find another Quidditch superstar to fangirl about if he moves teams!" she protested before adding in explanation, "My mum lusts after him big time, the only reason she goes to their matches is because of him... sometimes I go too." Looking up at him she nodded with a sympathetic smile as he talked of working at the Ministry, "Yes you should have made paper aeroplanes and hit people with them... if you had an Invisibility Cloak that is, because that would be a fun prank to play on some of the stuffy people who work for the Ministry. Which department are you working in anyway?" she asked curiously as her eyes then caught the display of chocolate frogs that proclaimed to be 'extra springy' and so she plucked a box from the top of the pile while listening as he spoke.

Faltering slightly her eyes widened, "Really? Oh wow, you could really do that?! Oh my god, really?!" Andy asked excitedly, a huge grin on her face and then realising how over-excited she'd become she calmed herself, saying in a jokingly nonchalant tone, "Yeah that'd be cool I guess. If the place she sings at wants some kind of proof I'm not just a seasoned karaoke-er then I have a CD of a couple of my songs, well... of me and Kat's songs. She writes them, I sing them... she should because she has a great voice but you know she's too shy, so I take the credit," she joked with a giggle.

[Stephan Cullen]

((ooc: Hehe, it’s okay, I wasn’t here to notice. ))

“Yes, I do,” Stephan answered simply, in that calm serious tone he always used, when he was very stubborn on a fact and wouldn’t budge on his opinion of something. “I know,” he muttered under his breath, almost in a low grumble, as he stared at his converse. Turning his gaze back up to meet Andy’s he stared at her in astonishment, “Of course I do!” he answered rather defensively. What kind of a question was that? His slightly crooked smile returned quickly, beginning to play with the corners of his mouth as he spoke again, “She does enjoy her sweets,” he said affectionately as he plopped a box of sugar quills into his basket.

“Ugh! No way, Archie and I will get out of it. There is no way I am watching Clueless!” he replied with a disgusted face. “You can do whatever you like, but I know I can get Claire to let me out of it. She’s sweet like that,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t come, I just said I wouldn’t be forced to watch a girly film,” he remarked in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Yeah, the Irish National Team I think, it’s huge!” he added with a shrug of his shoulders, “You could always fangirl over me,” he offered, flashing his signature smile. “Or you could simply follow Gallagher’s team?” he said, “You’ll still see him everywhere.” Nodding in understanding Stephan held back a laugh behind his crooked smile, “Well, maybe if Mr Gallagher and I become mates I can get you an interview with him or something,” he offered. After listening to Andy he smiled, “Oh, I work for the department of International Magical Cooperation. My father really wanted me to work in Magical Law Enforcement, but IMC was our compromise between that or Magical Games and Sports. I work with this French girl, who’s nice but always tries to flirt with me in French, and the fact that I know what she’s saying makes it a lot dirtier. I try to ignore her as much as is politely possible. Then there is this other girl, Isabella, but we all call her Bella, who comes in every once in a while. She’s really cool, and funny. But she works with the Prophet, so most of the time my days are really boring and I sit there missing Claire,” he sighed, “As soppy as that may seem,” he added in a joking sort of way.

Smiling pleasantly at Andy’s excitement he nodded simply, “Yeah, I’m certain of it,” he reassured her. Listening silently he added, “That sounds good, I’m sure they’d like your songs. I’ll be sure to ask Eve about it next time we talk,” he told her looking around. “Well, I suppose I better go purchase these, so that I can maybe pop in and surprise Claire before my father catches that I’m not actually at work,” he told Andy in a jovial tone before walking towards the front of the shop.