My Attic (Dmitri)

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The two of them made their way out of the little café and back to the street. Dmitri thanked her for having held the door for him, and they continued on their way back to the main stretch of Diagon Alley.

"Don't most students get their books there?" Dmitri asked of Flourish and Blotts. "You'll have to show me your favorite area."

Being that it was the primary bookseller for most of magical Britain, Flourish and Blotts could get exceedingly busy at times—especially in the back-to-school rush. In response to Dmitri's question, Tamatha nodded her head; she had seen some long lines snaking out of the building before. "Yeah," she smiled in reply, looking over at Dmitri. "That's the place." Luckily, she had found that it wasn't too packed otherwise; at least, barring any events during which an author happened to be there to sign copies of their latest release or a highly-anticipated book happened to be releasing on a certain date. She'd never been one to get caught up in that, even though journalism and writing as an author for the sake of publishing books or the like weren't incredibly dissimilar.

Still, it wasn't as though Tamatha didn't have any opinion on which books were actually worth her while. Speaking in terms of the different genres, she knew that any of the self-help nonsense was just that—nonsensical and a waste of her time. If anything or anyone could have done anything to help her find some sort of inner peace or whatever else they were proclaiming to do anymore, she was highly skeptical. No amount of positive thinking could change all of the unfortunate things that had happened to her family, and it was useless to suggest that reading a couple hundred pages on how to take back her life—or whatever—was going to accomplish much.

She had learned how to cope, at least as well as she thought that she ever would. Whether those coping strategies had been particularly healthy was another question, but she had never spent the time unpacking all of that additional baggage. Tamatha was fairly certain that she had neither the time nor the energy to sit in front of some counselor or Healer while they made suggestions as to what she could do differently—something that maybe she and her younger sister shared, come to think of it.

As for the books that she was inclined to read, autobiographies and memoirs and things like that weren't bad, though some authors seemed to prefer to position themselves as being incapable of doing any wrong. Quidditch books were occasionally of interest, albeit mostly for the sake of work. She didn't mind poetry, if she was honest, not that she had ever fancied herself a poet. Even some of the No-Maj stuff that she had come across wasn't too bad.

"I'll find something," she assured Dmitri. Although unsure as to what, exactly, she'd find, she hoped that the allure of it was enough to keep Dmitri interested. It was hard, she realized, when she couldn't be certain that their interactions would follow the same trajectories as so many of her relationships with men before him. What did it matter what she claimed to take an interest in, when she knew that she wouldn't see them again after a night or two? She didn't know what to do with that kind of pressure.

@dmitri

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Dmitri and the woman walked away from the cafe, and Dmitri saw her nod in response to his inquire. If it was as common to shop for school books, he had high hopes for finding some excellent books there, even if the students were all still at school. "That's the place." she noted He looked at the small shop. It didn't seem to be too clouded, but the streets did seem to have gained a few more patrons walking around.

Dmitri did notice the noncommittal answer after he asked about her favorite type of book. There were many reason why someone would do that. One was that they weren't too fond of books, not like he was. Another could be that they didn't want to give too much information about themselves. This was something that Dmitri knew lots about. It was the way he was. He wasn't to fond of speaking about himself or his past. That was why he usually aimed conversions to shed lite on those he was talking to. "It will be nice to take a good look around." He hoped that he didn't sound like he would be keeping her longer than she wanted, but he also wanted to get a good lay of the land before leaving.

@tamatha

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Diagon Alley had gotten a bit busier since they had stepped into the café for a while, though the crowds were far from being at their worst. Flourish and Blotts was just ahead of them. It might not have been the largest storefront on the street, but it wasn't so small and cramped for space that it was impossible to move beyond pivoting around. Dmitri mentioned that it would be nice to take a look around the bookstore, and Tamatha couldn't disagree there. Maybe she would come across something that sparked her interest, she considered.

"The shop itself isn't that big, but they have thousands of books in there, easily." They had to offer at least that many; they sold hundreds of copies of textbooks alone. It was the type of place that Tamatha imagined some people could get lost in: Books lined every inch of available space, with the exception of maybe the floor. "And they have author signings and events like that occasionally," she added with a small smile, if those types of things interested him. As they walked nearer to the bookstore, Tamatha could see that it wasn't packed with customers. That was good, at least from her perspective; she might be able to spend some more time with Dmitri that way.

@dmitri

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A book store didn't have to be large, or pretty looking. What mattered, was the contents therein. He observed the store as it drew closer, listening to Tammy's words. As the arrived at the door, Dmitri held it open for her once more. Allowing her to enter first, he took one last glance of the people moving about outside, before following her inside. The shop was small, and like she said, filled to the brim with books. There were even a few stacks that seemed to magically defy gravity. It wasn't too clouded, which made it all the sweeter. "It's remarkable." He had been here once before, but there had been more people, and didn't give him a chance to take a really good look. "Where to start" He gave Tammy a sweet smile.

@tamatha

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They reached the door to Flourish and Blotts, which Dmitri held open for her. Tamatha entered the bookstore but stepped aside so that Dmitri could follow her in.

Once he did, it was clear that he was amazed. "It's remarkable," he stated of the bookstore. He then looked to her and smiled. "Where to start," he considered.

"I thought you said you'd been here before?" Tamatha smiled back at him, and she looked around at the shelves. There were bookshelves upon bookshelves, as well as a few shorter shelves and tables upon which some newer releases were sitting. As for where to start, Tamatha wasn't sure, either. "That's the question, isn't it?"

@dmitri

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Playing the role of the gentleman was something that Dmitri had learned at a young age. People responded well to being treated the way they wanted to be treated. Simple things like holding the door open, and listening to what they say was something that proved to reward him.

Walking into the small shop was amazing. This was something that Dmitri couldn't hide. He loved to read and this place was defiantly going to be a place to return to.

He smiled at Tammy at her question "It was quite crowded, and I didn't have the time to really take a good look." He took another look around, not quite sure where to start off, he did remember the path he took to get that English potions book. Tammy didn't seem to knew where she wanted to go, and Dmitri did have an idea "I could use a new potions book"

@tamatha

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"It was quite crowded, and I didn't have the time to really take a good look," Dmitri explained of his previous trip to the bookstore. It made sense, though Tamatha couldn't help but to give him a little bit of a hard time about it. She was glad to see that he was so astounded by it, and it made up for the few rougher patches that they had had earlier in the day.

"I could use a new potions book," Dmitri stated, which gave them some direction in which to look.

"Potions…" Tamatha glanced around to see where the section of books about potions would be. There was one, she noticed, that was just a short distance from where they stood. Perfect. She nodded in the direction of the area in question. "It looks like they're over here," she told Dmitri, and there was clearly no shortage of relevant books, either. "Unless you're looking for household stuff," she added, "then that might be somewhere else?"

@dmitri

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Dmitri vaguely remembered the way that he went to get the last book that he bought when he had first moved to the UK. But he thought it would be more fun to be shown around by Tammy, that was what he was here for anyway, right?

"It looks like they're over here," she stated. Dmitri moved over to the books that she had motioned to. He picked up a book of Advanced Potion Making Flipping through the book, it did seem like a good one for his sister. Then Dmitri glanced over to a specialized potion book, it was all about love potions. He thought about grabbing it, but he really didn't want to give the wrong impression. He would need to return for it. "I believe that this will be adequate for now?"

@tamatha

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After she had mentioned where the books on potions seemed to be located, Dmitri headed in that direction. There was no shortage of books on the subject, nor did Tamatha expect there to be. The books ranged from the most general understandings of potions to what—from the books' spines alone—seemed as though they were meant more for an apothecary.

Tamatha watched as Dmitri looked around at the books, and she did the same while she waited. She wasn't sure how much interest Cameron would have taken in any of them, though she browsed with her sister in mind more than herself. Was there anything that would be of use to her sister? Tamatha didn't know, though some of the titles probably wouldn't have been too bad…

She was broken away from her thoughts, however, by the sound of Dmitri's voice again. "I believe that this will be adequate for now?" he said, having picked up a copy of one of the books available. From what she could tell, Tamatha could have sworn that it was one of the Hogwarts textbooks, too.

"Are you sure?" she checked with him. "I don't mind waiting if you want to look around some more."

@dmitri

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"Are you sure?" she had said after he said that he would purchase the book. He didn't blame her for asking that. It did seem like a book meant for younger students who wanted to excel in potions. In reality, it was meant for a future student of the school, though he didn't want to bring his dear Dashyenka into the conversation. It was his way of protecting her. "No this is perfect. I believe I have a book like this one in Russian, but I'd like the English version as well." Perhaps one of his more flimsy excuses, but it was believable. He was Russian, and from Russia. All together it was the truth. He just left out the fact that it was for his sister who he was encouraging to use and read English when at all possible. He was also starting to teach her some fifth year potions, so it would be good for her to have the English book. He would encourage her to learn the ingredient names in English as well as Russian.

@tamatha

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“No,” Dmitri assured her, “this is perfect. I believe I have a book like this one in Russian, but I'd like the English version as well.”

Tamatha nodded. While she didn’t exactly own a library’s worth of books, she understood. What she did own was some combination of books published in French or English, from France, Canada, the United States, or the United Kingdom. That was what happened after living in multiple countries and speaking two different languages, she supposed. “Okay. Great,” she smiled. “I’ll just wait for you to check out, then?” she offered.

@dmitri
OOC: Do we wanna go ahead and wrap this up?

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Dmitri had just moved to the country, he didn't have that many personal items, but he was working on that. Books were something that he enjoyed, and could always have a use for. “I’ll just wait for you to check out, then?” She had said. Dmitri nodded "That sounds good, unless you want something as well?" It not, that was fine.

Dmitri then bought the book and thanked the worker. "Thank you for showing me around Diagon Alley." He said, as he held the door open for Tammy.

@tamatha
[OOC]: I think that it smart.