Grand Opening!

[golden_armor]

Date: May 14
Time: 9 AM
Location: Alecto's Animal Emporium, Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Aurin Helm, anyone in need of animal supplies or vet care!
Rating: We'll make it PG-13, just in case.
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[safinnigan]

Seamus was wandering Diagon Alley during a brief break from his duties as Barman at The Leaky Cauldron. He had already stopped in at Quality Quidditch Supplies, just to be certain there was nothing new in the way of Quidditch. Surprisingly, there wasn’t. He’d passed some time with everyone in the shop, as he usually did, and then moved on to take a turn around the Alley.

He’d seen the flyers for the new shop; lots of them had turned up in The Leaky after folk left last night. There was a new animal shop in Diagon Alley? Seamus definitely wanted to investigate that now. See what they had and what kind of place it was.

He entered the shop briskly and looked around. Everything looked new and freshly painted. Of course, he’d seen the work going on in the shop before they opened, but he’d not been inside before. It looked great.

“Cheers, mates.” He smiled to both the other men in the shop. “Well now, congratulations on your first day of business here in Diagon Alley!” With any luck, he’d have his own business here soon.

[golden_armor]

Aurin smiled at the young man in return to his greeting as he entered and held out his hand for a shake. "Hello to you as well," he replied.

"Thanks. I'm Aurin Helm, and this is my brother Toviel. Is-" About to continue on, Aurin was interrupted by Romero's indignant squawk, "Ah, sorry," he said to the bird. "That's my good friend, Romero. As I was about to say, is there anything in particular you're looking for today?"

[safinnigan]

Seamus took Helm’s hand in a firm handshake. “Finnigan. Seamus Finnigan, Barman at The Leaky Cauldron and admirerer of most animals, magical or not.” Then he turned, gesturing in greeting and nodding to Helm’s brother. “’Tis a pleasure to meet you as well, Tovial, lad.” Then he turned back to Aurin, looking a little harder and feeling quite certain he’d actually met the man before, or at least seen him in connection with the Order. He made no further comment, however, as now was neither the time nor the place to do so. If Aurin was to be a permanent fixture about Diagon Alley, they’d have plenty of chances to speak without an audience.

Just then “Romero” squawked again. Apparently Seamus had not been quick enough to acknowledge the feathered member of the group. “Aye then, Romero! ‘Tis sorry I am and then begging your pardon for not speaking to ye sooner!” He nodded most seriously to the bird, and then turned a smile back to Aurin.

“Right then, ‘tis on the behalf of Kellen, me kestrel that brings me after searching for

[golden_armor]

Romero preened at the greeting Seamus gave him and seemed satisfied to leave it at that, staring interestedly out the window at the passerby. Aurin grinned at his bird's posturing and attention-mongering.

"A kestrel, eh? Beautiful birds. Let me see..." Aurin looked around the shop, thinking aloud, "Hover hunter, likes small mammals, rodents, and insects..." His attention returned to Seamus, "I think we've got just the thing. If you'll follow me back to the bird supply aisle, there's a new variety of treat, just in this morning, made specially for the smaller birds of prey."

[subtle_simmer]

Severus had not escaped the rather aggressive advertising fliers scattered about the wizarding world, and as he was low on some ingredients (which June had pointed out) he decided to pay a visit to the shop. 'New' seldom meant 'better' in his experience, but he never passed up the opportunity to look for better-quality ingredients for his potions

[sightlesswolf]

Truthfully, it hadn't taken much 'insisting' for June to agree to accompany him to the shop. Her new job did a great deal to occupy her time and her mind, but it didn't get her out of the house, and as always when the moon was waxing her restlessness was growing with it

[golden_armor]

Romero watched intently as the two new customers entered, about to demand attention. Just as he opened his beak to make himself known, however, he noticed that the male was giving off the feeling that he associated with people who didn't particularly enjoy animals, and rethought his actions, making a quiet burbling noise instead.

It was this that caught Aurin's attention as he showed Seamus back to the bird supplies aisle, and he smiled at the new customers. "Welcome to our grand opening! I'll be with you in just a moment, but feel free to look around in the meantime!" he said as he led the way for his current customer.

[subtle_simmer]

He snorted in surprised amusement at June's comment.

"Don't be ridiculous," he chided her sardonically. "If I were to acquire a pet, I'd get myself a ferocious Kneazle just to watch you lot fight it out once every twenty-nine days."

He kept his voice low so as not to be overheard by anyone in the shop, but he could not help but be somewhat astonished to think he had come so 'far' in such a short time, that his own personal phobia had become a source of jocularity.

The proprietor of the shop wandered past at just that moment, and addressed them. Severus nodded in acknowledgment, but made no other reply. As soon as the man had passed, he spoke quietly to June again.

"There is a bloody Harpy in the window," he said to her in astonishment. "I'd pay handsomely for some tail feathers and fresh clippings from his talons - though if I could get a vial of blood..."

[golden_armor]

Aurin listened, interested, as the companions discussed who would get the tour. Was there some reason, other than the obvious, that the woman might not want to come back and visit the animals? Their tones seemed to imply that might be the case. Ah, well. Best not to pry. He knew he certainly wouldn't like it if someone dug into his personal life uninvited

[subtle_simmer]

Severus' dark eyes darted here and there as he made mental notes as to which animals might be of interest to him. Unfortunately, as has been already stated, most of the truly useful ingredients could not be obtained in a fashion that would leave the 'donor' fit for resale.

"Have you Runespoors here?" he inquired. The shed skin, venom, and bits of shell of new hatchlings would all be useful, and Helm clearly saw to the health of his animals, so the quality of the specimen would be quite high.

"Or Fwoopers?" He had recently lost his supplier of the feathers.

Severus had no desire to touch any of the beasts. He was not an 'animal lover' by any stretch of the imagination.

[golden_armor]

"I've got three Fwoopers here now, and another coming in a week." Aurin indicated the brightly colored birds lined up in proximal cages set into the wall. One of them opened its mouth, but the silencing charm on the cage rendered it mute.

"As to Runespoors, my permit has yet to come through, but as soon as it does I've got a supplier lined up to ship two over. I'd be happy to provide you with some Fwooper feathers - at market price, of course - today."

[subtle_simmer]

Aurin Helm clearly ran a tight ship. Severus could easily appreciate someone who took their business as seriously as he took his own. The animals were exceptionally healthy, the displays carefully controlled to provide the precise environment needed by its inhabitants. All in all, even considering the place was quite new, it had the air of careful attention and deliberate organisation