Knockout [Rosie]

[Vivian River Jordan]

24 March 2029

Viv felt a little guilty, but not too much. She’d begged her flatmate for only ‘five minutes Rosie, please please please’ in Zonko’s notorious and ever-popular store…although they’d just passed the twelve-minute milestone and Viv’s promise had long since drifted into the back of her mind. Back in the day when she’d been the scourge of Hogwarts, visiting Zonko’s had been much more than a hobby, although maybe just a tad bit less than an obsession. She’d probably spent days simply wandering through the aisles, whether to wait for that stroke of inspiration or with a shopping list in hand and a prank in mind. And now? Well, you could take the girl out of Hogwarts but not her deep-rooted admiration for the wacky workings of Mr. Zonko’s mischievous mind.

This wasn’t normally how they spent ‘roommate bonding time,’ but Viv did figure it wasn’t completely her fault. The walk had been Rosie’s idea, and she’d suggested it knowing full well that Viv’s attention tended to wander. It was one of those things that was probably charming in the right context, but annoying the rest of the time. But overall, it was probably a good thing that Rose was here. She was truly the only one who could actually keep Vivian out of trouble (and had a successful track record of shutting the worst ideas down), or at least encourage Viv to minimize the mess wherever necessary. And they were, in a sense, outside. Or at least it could seem that way with the snow cannon Viv was currently fiddling with, wondering if it had any hidden functions (because she could also make it snow with her wand, couldn’t she?).

And see – the only reason she hadn’t set it off yet was thanks to her flatmate’s restraining influence on her wild curiosity to do something as soon as the idea popped into her head. “Can’t see much use for it, you?” she mentioned off-handedly to Rose before putting it back on the shelf, rather disappointed. Nothing had quite caught her attention yet, but it seemed a crime to walk out without buying something. Vivian picked up but then quickly rejected a screaming whistle (too obvious, and Viv liked a sophisticated touch to her pranks), then turned randomly into another aisle. Drizzle, strangely enough, hadn’t wanted to join them – but that was probably a good thing. She would’ve set off half the store by now.

rose harriet granger-weasley

[rose harriet granger-weasley]

March 24, 2029

Having Vivian drag her into Zonko's on their walk down the High Street in Hogsmeade was perplexing to Rose on multiple levels. First, they were adults with careers going into a shop frequented by children and had no real need for any of the joke products that were sold there. Second, her father and her Uncle George (who might as well have been Vivian's uncles, too, even if they weren't blood relatives) ran Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which was arguably the better source for anything to do with jokes and pranks, even if Zonko's had been around longer. Third, it was hard for Rose to move in there without feeling as though she was going to set something off that would move more suddenly than she could anticipate.

With her back up against the nearest space of wall that wasn't filled with shelving or other product displays, Rose had stopped keeping track of the time when Vivian had gone beyond the five minutes she'd assured her it would take when she had gotten distracted by Zonko's. She was almost as bad as Lily was, Rose thought, glad that she didn't have to deal with the two of them in the same room as a teacher. They also hadn't come upon any of her current or former students, so that had saved her some embarrassment.

Vivian had managed to find what might have been the most unique product in the whole shop, a snow cannon. "Can't see much use for it, you?" she asked, a rare comment coming from her.

Rose shrugged. There were Weather-Modifying Charms, so if Vivian had those as an option if she wanted to create a blizzard or a snowball fight. Apparently deciding that the cannon wasn't worth her while at that point, Viv went on to browse some other items.

Knowing that she would have to put up with whatever Vivian brought home, Rose followed behind her at what seemed to be a safe distance. "What do you need anything from here for, anyway? Pranking someone at the TV station?"

Vivian River Jordan

[Vivian River Jordan]

Once the snow cannon was back on the shelf, Vivian quickly forgot about it and moved on. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly kept drawing her back to the store. There was the nostalgia factor, of course – things had been a lot simpler back in Hogwarts, and the world didn’t seem quite so big or scary (especially its tendency to just swallow people up and spit them back out). But it wasn’t just chasing after the feel-good vibes of her student days. It had something to do with the escapism of it all, if Viv really had to guess. There was just a lot of sadness…well, everywhere. It seemed to linger at the edges of your life, and if you stopped moving or laughing or losing yourself in what you were doing – then it could get you. Viv was hard to pin down, but even she wasn’t immune.

So if she could chase it away for another day with an enchanted set of playing cards, then she’d do it. Viv shuffled through the cards, but the design didn’t look too interesting so she tossed it back on the shelf. The card deck hit a rubber mouse which squeaked loudly, but Viv had already moved on. She looked around and quickly spotted Rosie, who seemed to have decided not to move or look at anything for too long and therefore risk setting it off. Vivian quickly crossed the aisle to rejoin her flatmate, gazing around her critically as if something might shout at her (which, being where they were, might actually happen).

“No,” Viv said quickly, too quickly to achieve the casual tone she’d been going for. Rose’s question hit too close to home and she turned away so Rose wouldn’t see the expression on her face. The escapism wasn’t working. “I...might be one teensy step away from hiatus. All this HOWL stuff, y’know. Only werewolf host and all. They’ve asked me not to call attention to myself until it all blows over.” Her voice had faded into a mumble by the end and Viv felt a new tension in her shoulders as she picked up a random item off the shelf without really seeing it. It wasn’t exactly the kind of advice a TV host could take. Her whole gig was to call attention to herself and she hated this idea of…what, being ashamed to be looked at while some people gossiped about her? But she didn’t really call the shots, not if she didn’t want to risk the wrath of her producers. Viv squeezed the tube hard but didn’t laugh as ribbons shot out.

rose harriet granger-weasley