professor valentine || i got ice cream on a cloudy day

[Isabelle Ine Iolani]

after a few days at diagon alley shopping for school supplies without her mother and father, isabelle ine iolani started feeling her energy levels going down at about this point. while she was at this point used to her parents being too busy to spend a few days away from work, she could have used some company shifting through all the books at flourish and bloots or guidance from mum or someone else about what kinds of owls were best to buy. plus the nights alone at the leaky cauldron watching old witches and wizards having conversation or families having dinner weren't all that fun. so after a few days of feeling far too lonely in diagon alley, isabelle decided it would be proper to treat herself to ice cream from the colorfully painted, childish yet welcoming abode of floerean fortescue's ice cream parlor.

the small-framed hufflepuff took step by step, pushing and elegantly sliding her way through the thick crowd of families who were careful and completely unwilling to separate from each other even to let someone through. finally, when she reached the small, black fence that outlined the outer seating area of florean fortescue's, isabelle let out a deep breath of relief. it was a daunting journey that led her here, but she imagined the soft, velvety ice cream would make the task absolutely worth it.

without thought, isabelle patted down her black day robe with its hufflepuff crest sitting on her chest before she stepped up to the gunmetal aquamarine painted wooden doorframe with two pieces of glass sitting on top of the other. as she entered the shop full of energy, life, and color, a bell chimed. her thin, pink lips formed a smile, appreciating the euphony the sound of the bell made. inside the shop, upbeat, jazzy music played and there were witches and wizards sitting at a bar-table lined on a couple of the walls chatting with each other, laughing, and simply taking time away from their busy days to enjoy some ice cream and conversation.

the ambiance of florean fortescue's certainly helped isabelle's mood. her smile widened as she happily stepped up to the long display of ice cream, her golden brown hair bouncing behind her. isabelle's eyes grew as she surveyed the plethora of flavors, certainly unable to decide just what to choose. oh, she wanted to try them all! someone at the counter saw her, probably noting her fascination with the selection available. when asked if she wanted to try a sample, isabelle tried five. she finally settled on mint-chocolate-frog, an obvious winner of the flavors she taste-tested. happily grabbing her cup and sliding extra sickles and knuts into the tip jar, isabelle took a seat at the bar opposite of the ice cream display, beginning to dive into this delectable treat.

[Prof. Phoenix Valentine]

Busy, that was the one word that could be used to describe Diagon Alley. People doing last minute shopping for Hogwarts or for their own little needs caused the small road to be completely packed. Phoenix had no real idea why he happened to be here pushing and slipping his way past the families that seemed to be in awe of the new things that were in all of the shops windows. By now they should know that new items are always added to get peoples attention, but they still stand in the middle of the small road causing problems to people trying to actually get somewhere.

Phoenix noticed that the small ice cream parlor happened to not be as crowded as the other shops so he decided why not see what was new in the world of ice cream. Pushing past a few other wizards that were huddled around whispering to themselves, he pressed the two doors open letting the cool air of the shop to sweep over his body. Smiling to himself, Phoenix took a deep breath taking in all of the odors that the small shop harbored. Walking toward the counter he looked over the multiple flavors until one with no name caught his attention.

Asking the shop owner why it happened to not have a name, she just said that it was a brand new flavor that they had come up with and was giving it a trial run before naming it. Taking a small sample of the light blue ice cream he slipped a small spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth, suddenly noticing that it had a salty taste before becoming pleasantly sweet. Smiling Phoenix bought himself a larger portion of the ice cream before he turned from the counter looking over the faces of the others that sat around in the shop. It didn't take him long to notice the face of the fourth year Hufflepuff Isabelle. Walking over he knocked on the small table she happened to be sitting at with a smile, "May I join?"

[Isabelle Ine Iolani]

as isabelle sat at her table enjoying her ice cream, she thought of all the fourth-year boys she was excited to see on the hogwarts express. in the midst of her thoughts, she heard the sound of a knock on wood. coming back to reality from her daydreams of the hufflepuff hunk she had crushed on for like, probably two years by then, her head darted towards the source of the noise. isabelle's hazel-brown eyes lit up upon seeing a familiar face. "professor valentine!" she squealed, letting her cup of ice cream drop onto the table as she jumped up and went for a hug. coming from a community of people from hawaii in the middle of colorado, isabelle normally greeted others with a hug and never really let go of that cultural part of her background. she never had a second thought about how it made others feel, because it had always been so normal to her.

wow, it was so weird seeing all these professors at diagon alley! she never really saw them outside of hogwarts or hogsmeade before, and even then, seeing some professors at hogsmeade outside of their normal teaching attire and into more casual robes could be weird. did professors go on summer vacation, too? isabelle got excited at the thought. she wanted to have summer vacation every year for the rest of her life! maybe she would consider teaching...

"how has your summer been, professor valentine?" isabelle asked in her american accent, looking up into the eyes of her professor as she took a couple steps backwards. she had a million questions to ask professor valentine! but for now, she would start with this one. she didn't want to burden professor valentine or anything, after all the conversation was just getting started! "are you excited to go back to hogwarts?" maybe two questions. isabelle was really excited to go back to hogwarts. maybe she wouldn't want a summer vacation every year, after all.

[Prof. Phoenix Valentine]

Phoenix had just managed to place his cup of ice cream down onto the table, when Isabelle suddenly jumped up to give him a hug. If he had not been expecting it she could have easily caused them both to fall to the floor, but thankfully that was not the case. Letting out a faint laugh he looked down at the small Hufflepuff before giving her a loose hug in return, "I am surprised someone is happy to see me," he said in a joking manner once Isabelle took a few steps away.

"Ah, my summer away from school has been rather pleasant. Mostly busy traveling and visiting the Ministry. Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem so fun," he said with a shake of his head along with a small smile. Once all of the eyes of the small shop went back to their own conversations Phoenix pulled the small chair out from under the table and took himself a seat across from where Isabelle had been sitting. Taking another small bite of the ice cream, Phoenix nodded at her second question. "Of course I am excited and ready. I get to teach new students and see faces of fellow professors along with students once again. And maybe ill finally be able to fly around the Quidditch Pitch when I have free time," he said with a smile knowing that Isabelle happened to be on the Hufflepuff team, "How has your summer been? You seem to be ready for classes to start."

[Isabelle Ine Iolani]

visiting the ministry? that sounded fascinating! although isabelle's mother, ine, worked for the ministry in some muggle department or another, she was never invited to go along. wow, but professor phoenix went! what an exciting life adults led... she frowned at his afterthought, mentioning it wasn't so fun. "it wasn't fun visiting the ministry, professor phoenix?" isabelle pouted, the key of dissapointment clearly ringing in her voice. "what did you do at the ministry?" her mind scattered, thinking of all the possibilities. her mother told her so many stories about her life working for different ministries!

alas isabelle took her seat again, following professor phoenix's lead. she beamed at the idea of her defense against dark arts professor flying around hogwarts on a broom. "oh, good!" she clapped her hands with enthusiasm. "so you haven't gotten to jump on a broom this summer? me either," at those last two words, she pouted, scrunching her nose. "my mother wouldn't let me. we live in a muggle neighborhood." isabelle's use of mother made it clear she was not british, nor did she attempt to adopt the british dialect.

once asked how her summer was, isabelle took her cup of ice cream into one hand and her pink spoon in another. she leaned back into her chair, bringing the spoon over her lips as she thought of a proper answer. "it's been okay," she replied to phoenix's question after some thought. "i can't wait to get back to hogwarts, though. my parents love to work and i have no siblings and i can't even practice magic or quidditch. i did play some baseball! do you know what that is, professor valentine?" she had no idea what the wizard sitting in front of her knew about the muggle world.

[Prof. Phoenix Valentine]

Leaning back in the small chair Phoenix placed another spoonful of ice cream between his lips, holding the spoon with his teeth. He ended up doing so many things during his Ministry visit that his mind couldn't remember everything that happened. "Well, I met with some of my former colleagues. Sadly being a former Auror I ended up being swept to some department, but I won't bore you with the details," he nodded to himself as he placed the spoon back into the cup.

He nodded with a smile and a faint chuckle, "Sadly I have not been able to, but maybe ill borrow a broom from the school. I believe the last time I was on a broom was during my last game as a beater," pausing he glanced at Isabelle before continuing, "Hopefully im not to rusty and end up falling." So she hadn't been able to fly either, hearing so caused him to frown slightly. "Well I guess it would have been weird for them to see some broom flying around with a girl on it, but it would have been fun and interesting I bet." Giving her another smile he looked out of the front window to watch crowds continue to walk around.

Baseball? Phoenix thought to himself, he had heard of something before but could never really understand or get into it. He tilted his head from side to side, "Hmm.. isn't that the game that uses something that resembles a beaters bat? That is all I really know about it." Phoenix gave her a small shrug of his shoulders followed by an apologetic smile for not knowing.