Photo Day, the Hopping and Aperture way!

[bluemoon_loon]

Date: Wednesday, May 3, 2000
Time: Early afternoon
Place: Hopping and Aperture's, Ottery St. Catchpole
Characters Involved: Luna Lovegood and open to EVERYBODY! Come one and all!
Rating: We'll say PG to PG-13
Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Comments

[subtle_simmer]

Severus was on yet another ingredients and grocery run into town - having left another of his very cursory notes to the household.

I've gone out. S. SnapeNow, one might wonder why a shopping excursion needed to include such a non-Wizarding, non-shopping place as Ottery St. Catchpole, but if Severus Snape was contemplating a brief visit to the Weasley Matriarch, well, that was no one's business but his own

[bluemoon_loon]

Luna was surprised to hear her name called from behind, even though subconsciously she knew the voice the moment she heard it. But it was the fact that she wouldn't expect Severus Snape, of all people, to show up here, in Ottery St. Catchpole... and at a photography studio, no less! She whirled around and indeed, it seemed to be true.

"Professor Snape," she greeted brightly. Potions was far from Luna's favorite class at Hogwarts, Snape was far from her favorite teacher, and Luna could be certain that she was not his favorite pupil. Her essays tended to meander on for inches longer than they needed to, following whatever tangent caught her fancy at the time. She always made her point though... eventually. And her personality was as distracted and unpredictable as her writing. But Luna quite often managed to prove herself a true Ravenclaw. Snape was a difficult teacher, but she had no hard feelings against him. After all, what else were teachers supposed to do? So she did her best, and occasionally her wit and intelligence

[subtle_simmer]

Severus, who believed in the existence of neither creature - nor many of the others Lovegood had mentioned throughout her years as his student, had been mocking her, of course. However, he was not disappointed to discover she had not realised it - he would have been far more surprised if she had. He merely smirked at her, content to be alone in his amusement.

His amused gaze left her face to sweep over the assemblage once again, and the establishment in question.

"A sale? I thought you wrote for your father," he said vaguely, aware that he really had no idea what she did for a living, and was allowing his own perceptions and preconceived notions to colour his opinion and expectations.

Now, however, he registered her question, and his eyes flew back to her face in barely concealed horror.

"A photo? Of what?" he asked incredulously - and then looked over the crowd dressed in their frippery, and found complete understanding, at last.

"Surely you are not suggesting that I would be so narcissistic as to waste time and galleons

[bluemoon_loon]

Professor Snape was... trying to smile... not quite successfully, no, but the attempt was there! Luna took that as a good sign and smiled back serenely as she answered his question.

"No. I do help with The Quibbler's production, when I can, but I've never been fond of writing." Which was true. Luna could write, and in fact wrote very well, but she'd had neither an appreciation for her skill nor an interest in pursuing it as profession.

...Not until she and Tonks began The Periodic Inquiry, of course. Realising now that she did have the aptitude, Luna planned to nurture it

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks had wandered around customers, inside the shop, heading to what looked like the front desk. The inside of the building looked different to Tonks, for the last time she was here it was very late at night, and everything looks different at night. A few times she accidentally stepped on feet, which she apologized about profusely, as she approached the front desk. Then when she went to sign the appointment sheet resting near the edge of the desk, she had stepped up to, she nearly knocked over the ink well as she prepared to write down her name

[bluemoon_loon]

After bidding Snape farewell Luna turned her attention to Tonks, who had just walked up. Was getting Snape to take a photo really that amazing? She smiled. "Oh no... we don't sell souls here, after all."

Despite her cheer, Snape had been a difficult customer and her mind was reeling a bit from so much negativity energy! Who knew it was possible? And she was still unhappy that he hadn't taken a frame....

Oh well, no use crying over spilled pumpkin juice. And at least Tonks was here... that melted away what remnants of Snape's negativity still hovered over Luna's aura. She continued smiling as she took a quick glance about the room. "Well, it looks like you'll be up soon! Do you know what sort of backdrop you'd like?"

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks chuckled with amusement, as she looked at Luna with both curious and anxious eyes. “Well I hope you didn’t promise anything as a trade…. He’ll hold you to it Luna- whatever it was that you promised to give him in return for getting a photo done

[bluemoon_loon]

Luna, looking slightly sleepy and a little surprised, shook her head. "I didn't promise him anything. Except, that he will receive his photographs by post tomorrow morning. And he will! We have a fast turn-around." She smiled vaguely, and her expression brightened when Tonks hugged her. Not one for physical contact before, she was getting used to the affection that her friends now offered. She looped an arm around Tonks's back loosely, both to return the gesture and to straighten her own posture. She'd begun to feel a bit lopsided

[ginny_afire]

"Oh, come on, Harry. There isn't a single picture of us together," Ginny lied as she hung onto her recalcitrant boyfriend's hand and walked determindly towards the line of the shop. That wasn't quite true as there had certainly been candid photos of the two of them together in the papers since the first article hit the stands. Ginny did want something that wasn't cut out of the bloody Prophet however

[broken_harry]

How had she managed to get him this far? He swore every step of the way he wasn't going to take another step...which lead to swear after the next step. Well, that explained it.

"Merlin, Gin, you know I hate having my picture taken. Can't we just get one of you done?" Sounding whiny to his own ears, Harry straightened his slouched, defeated shoulders in an attempt to recover his maturity and hold over the situation. Although, he made no move to stop her or letting go of her hand. She did have one advantage that outweighed his size or strength - she wanted this bloody picture

[ginny_afire]

Ginny had opened her mouth to respond when she found herself tucked under one arm and tugged against Harry's side. Glancing around at the avid curiosity, she slid an arm around his waist, her other hand coming to rest on his chest as she tilted her head up to respond with a murmured, "I'm sure it'll be fine

[bluemoon_loon]

Luna was surprised to walk out the door and see that quite the queue had formed. There were a lot more customers milling about the back of the shop than she had expected to see. And after a moment of peering around, she realized why. All eyes were on Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, who were right in the thick of the group and looking much like a pair of rabbits surrounded by hungry wolves.

It seemed that was the explanation for the sudden boom in business. No, really; there were a few people coming down the lane who had undoubtedly walked right out of their houses to follow the famous pair. Obviously, even some witches and wizards were equipped with celebrity radar.

The party inside had noticed the action outdoors, as well, and were now crowding in the threshold behind Luna to take a look.

"Is that who I think it is?" Barry the assistant said from behind Luna's head. Mr. Hopping's eyes looked about ready to fall out of his head.

Luna simply smiled and waved a hand. "Hi Harry, Ginny!"