OPEN --* clearly, gelato is the superior dessert

[Headmistress Cerise Charmant]

clearly, gelato is the superior dessert, thought a particularly picky and somewhat dissatisfied cerise charmant as she took the first bite of her still-delicious scoop of ice cream from florean fortescue's ice cream shop. dressed in a long, dark gray robe made of velvet, she had consciously decided that morning not to stand out from the crowd. normally, cerise's attire ranged from neon robes to pink robes to other assorted, very out-of-the-orderinary robes. she chuckled to herself as she took another bite, surveying the sea of students and parents who were visiting diagon alley reading the lists she and the hogwarts house elves personally signed, stamped, and sent to families.

she remembered the days when she brought her children around to diagon alley, especially their first times. it was a satisfying experience knowing her children was accepted into her alma mater, and even all the more satisfying that they were excited about it. although the first few months with them out of the house was lonely, cerise now reflected on those days with a smile. especially considering her childrens' foundation at hogwarts led to their success, cerise couldn't complain about the nest finally emptying.

plus, it probably led to her career. as headmistress for the several years she served, she all-in-all enjoyed it. cerise took another bite of ice cream, watching familiar faces drag their parents and watching parents drag familiar faces up and down diagon alley. being headmistress led to close relationships with a diverse array of people. her family, her hogwarts... oh, how she looked forward to another year with them. she saw no worries on the faces surrounding her, no worries about the world outside of the wizarding world. the upcoming school year was all that was on everyone's minds.

[Olivia Blue Hyde]

Olivia stepped through the doorway entering florean fortescue's ice cream parlor shop, savoring the sweet smells of waffle cones and other delectable goodies. Her mother never really let her enjoy too many sweets because they make you fat and frumpy and little girls had to appear nice at all times. If only her mother could see how she was dressed now in black platform boots, black leggings torn at the knee, paired with a plaid pleated skirt and a dark blue cardian sweater. She walked to the counter eying the many choices of sherbet, sorbet, ice cream, and gelato they had to offer and than the wide array of toppings they had. Finally settling for all time favorite, chocolate chip cookie dough with hot fudge, whip cream and a cherry on top she took her dessert and found a seat across from a familar face she recognized from school.

Dipping her spoon into the bowl, she took her first bite enjoying the creamy goodness as she continued to stare openly at the older woman sitting one table across from her. Setting down her spoon it dawned on her that the woman was none other than headmistresss charmant who led the sorting hat cermony during her first year at hogwarts. The older woman appeared to be deep in thought so Blue not wanting to disturb continued to eat her dessert while watching her.

[Headmistress Cerise Charmant]

young students and students-to-be gawked at the newest broom models sitting in florean fortescue's across the street. as she took another bite into her creamy, mint-chocolate-frog flavored ice cream, she watched the crowd in front of quality quidditch supplies get thicker, and then thinner, and then thicker, and then thinner. a chuckle managed to escape her pink lips when she realized the crowd of students was much like the waves of the ocean, moving here and fro, here and fro, one group of students at a time.

as the aged woman took another bite, she laid her head back and enjoyed the momentary rays of the sun on this partly cloudy day. merlin, it is the perfect day to enjoy ice cream. cerise drew her head up, setting her small, almost finished cup of ice cream onto the quaint, hot pink café table in front of her. relaxing her hands, she surveyed her surroundings at diagon alley a little more, looking into the crowds, hoping to be nonchalant about her people-watching. then again, she was all alone. maybe sitting alone at a table was a clear indicator that she was due to people-watch. she laughed at her train of thought. shouldn't she know the answer by her age? obviously, she hadn't opted to people-watch people who were people-watching recently.

it wasn't hard to tell the difference between incoming muggle blooded students and incoming students with wizardly blood. she wondered what went through their head surrounding these moments, being introduced to such a beautiful concept. welcome to the wizarding world, she wanted to wish them, but she would get an opportunity to at the sorting ceremony.

at this point in time, cerise turned her head towards a young girl with a curly-bob sitting alone at a table. making eye contact with the girl, she offered her a warm smile.

[Olivia Blue Hyde]

Olivia took a couple more bites of her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and then set it aside to work on some of her drawings. She loved to go to random places and pick people out of the crowd to draw portraits or caricatures of them if they stayed still enough. You would think she would just go up to people and ask them first if she could draw them, but she likes to draw people in their natural setting without bothering them. It makes for a better picture she thought.

Lifting up her bag, she reached in and searched through the contents of it until she found her favorite blue quill and her rather worn out notebook. "I think I should make a stop by Amanuensis Quills to stock up more supplies for my drawing and school." she thought, as she flipped through multiple pages of her notebook causing a random flip book story unfold before her eyes. Looking up from the blank page she noticed that her headmistress had caught her watching her, causing her to blush with embarrassment. Strangely, she didn't look away but returned a kind smile back to the older woman.

Setting her notebook on her lap she took the moment to sketch out Cerise's portrait while she was staring off in the room. She would have to be a bit more careful since she didn't want the woman to ask what she was doing.

[Headmistress Cerise Charmant]

the curly-haired young student returned cerise's smile, and then looked down to her own notebook, after pulling out a quill just moments before. cerise's eyes darted away, searching for other surroundings to occupy her people-watching.

with her cup of ice cream sitting on the table, both her hands rested on her lap, one on top of the other. she felt relaxed. it was a gratifying feeling having these days somewhat off, as her summer vacation resulted in some planning but did not require an intensive involvement like during the school year.

she had just finished a short period of time talking with the ministry about the group of muggles the believers. it was odd, thinking about suspicious muggles trying to find their way into the wizarding world. part of her felt the ministry made too big of a deal of it, but another part of her was worried about hogwarts. from her meeting, it did not seem that the school grounds would require extra protection -- for now, they said. for now.

she shook her head in obvious discomfort, but then picked up her bowl of ice cream again. she needed to take the day off, relax. get that off her mind. it was stressful at times being headmistress. sometimes it got so stressful for cerise she would have to take days off during the year only to depart for a few days and clear her mind. that's just how she was, and hogwarts seemed to be getting by well even with her brief absences.

she took another bite of her almost-gone ice cream. it was so refreshing! she needed to treat herself like this more often.

[Olivia Blue Hyde]

Olivia scribbled away furiously on the sketchpad with her blue quill, making sure she got as much detail from the headmistress as possible. The last thing she wanted was for someone she knew to walk by and demand why she was drawing her. She loves to randomly seek individuals with interesting characteristics and draw them secretly in her notebook without their consent. Usually, she would ask for permission before she started drawing but she felt it was better to catch them off guard.

Pushing aside her empty dessert dish, Olivia ordered a glass a water for her dry throat and decided to take a restroom break after a couple of sips. Leaving her notebook on the table would be a terrible idea so she gathered it in her arm and headed towards the ladies room which happen to be located straight past Cerise's table. As she walking to the restroom, her foot tripped over another students bag and she tumbled to the ground sending her notebook flying over to were the headmistress sit. If things couldn't get any worst, it somehow managed to open to the page she was working on.

Slowly she picked herself off the ground and began to grope around to where her glasses had fallen. "Son of...who leaves their bag in the middle of the walkway. Someone could seriously get hurt this way." she muttered under breathe, until a slight grasp had escaped her throat. Her eyes darting to where her notebook laid...right by the feet of the headmistress. If she could someone manage to get it back before she noticed than things would go back to normal.

[Headmistress Cerise Charmant]

as she delved deeper and deeper into her soft cup of ice cream, cerise forgot more and more about her initial craving for gelato. she smiled modestly after each bite, letting the flavor sit on her tongue as the cold spoonful of ice cream melted in her mouth. as this happened, cerise closed her eyes, letting herself sit and enjoy the flavor of her treat.

thump. cerise heard a multitude of nearby, irregular noises nearby. startled, she immediately opened her eyes. her hazel eyes landed on the curly-haired student whom she smiled at just minutes earlier, but had at that point been on the ground. as she watched the student pick herself up, cerise pushed her chair back and jolted up, her inner-motherly instincts urging her to make sure the dear girl was alright.

as she stepped forward, cerise felt something that wasn't exactly ground. she looked down, startled to be stepping on a notebook. "oh!" the old woman exclaimed, stepping back. in her young age, she would have normally darted down immediately. however, she wasn't as nimble as she was in her prime... so instead, cerise set her hand on her table, and began squatting downwards. as she did, she tilted her head. hm... this drawing is awfully nice... and looks...quite familiar... she squinted as she finally made her way downwards, picking up the tablet.

as she did, she tilted her head the other way, not realizing she may have been prying into this girl's privacy. "huh..." escaped from her lips. this drawing looked an awful lot like her mirror image. cerise set the tablet onto the table as she pulled herself back up to a standing position. grabbing the tablet, she walked over to the young girl. "is this yours, dear? i must have stepped on it...oh, well, yes actually. i did step on it." she laughed at herself. "are you alright? that was quite a fall."

[Olivia Blue Hyde]

Olivia's face turned a deep crimson red, as she picked herself off the ground for the second time in the day. Her mother was right about one thing about her daughter; she was a big klutz when it came to everyday life. If she wasn't tripping down a flight of stairs, or getting chased by a random creature, than it was something else. Rubbing her shins, she finally spoke to the headmistress with reluctance, "Yes mam, that is my notebook that you have in your hands. I think I'm ok this time and nothing is broken or hurting which is a great thing." she said, still eyeing her sketchpad in the older woman's hand.

She didn't want to be rude and reach across and snatch it from her hands, but it embarrassed her to know that someone had finally came across her talent of drawing people; especially since she didn't even bother to ask the woman if she would mind. Rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet she waiting to see how her headmistress would feel about the intrusion of her privacy, and prayed she wouldn't be angry with her.