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[attr="class","ctopline"]And all is said and done

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[attr="class","clyrics"]It's worth all that's lost[break]
Just to see you smile

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[attr="class","cbody"]Horses were a lot of work.
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This wasn’t some giant revelation to him. From the moment the idea of getting Maya a horse for Christmas had come to his mind, he had known that it was a massive undertaking. It wasn’t something that he was going to take lightly. He knew that there was a lot of responsibility for a child getting any pet, but a horse was certainly more work than most other pets were. It was why he hadn’t made a final decision on this.
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He knew that there were plenty of other presents that he could get Maya instead. There were even plenty of different pets that he could get her. She might like a cat. That would certainly be more low-maintenance than a horse would be. He would not have to do nearly as much research for that.
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But for now, he wanted to give this a try. He had already looked into boring at a stable outside of London, and it had seemed nice enough. He was sure that it was beautiful when the trees had leaves and the flowers were in bloom, but it had still been a pleasant enough place, even with how cold it was outside. The stablehand that he’d spoken to had been incredibly informative. He had found out that there were spots open for boarding there and he had also gotten some more information about certain breeds of horses to look into.
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He definitely had somewhere to start. But now he knew that he wanted to do some research of his own. He hadn’t gone straight to Flourish and Blotts, of course. He’d headed back to work for a while--there was plenty for him to get done there, and he couldn’t just take an entire day off to research horses. No, he thought that he could at least attempt to space it out a bit. But once he had been done at the office for the day, he’d headed out and into Diagon Alley.
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Chris didn’t honestly know how much this particular bookstore would have on horses. They were a Muggle pet, technically. There was a chance he’d have to head back into the Muggle world to really get some more information, but he figured it was at least worth a shot to see if Flourish and Blotts had what he was looking for.
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And as luck would have it, he found that they did have a sparse collection of books about Muggle horses. They were tucked into a rather far back part of the store, but he didn’t mind that. It hadn’t been too hard to find them and now that he was back here, and there was no one else around, he could focus on his options and figure out what books would help him with research the most.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]472 ● @ open ● outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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When you said time was all you really needed
I walked away and let you have your space

    The Dolohov estate had a large library, with so many books that he didn't think anyone would be able to read all of them in a lifetime. A lot of them were in Russian, though there were several languages scattered through the entire collection here and there. However, Antonin enjoyed adding to all of it. He really did, one could never have too many books. Even if he would not find it useful in the present, perhaps a descendant of his would need something on that precise topic in the future. He didn't know, he was no seer and Lady Hesper had not seen fit to warn him about anything in particular. Antonin always did enjoy going to book stores and seeing what rare or obscure tome he could find. Whenever he wanted to buy something in particular, he found one of the many smugglers and criminals that lined the streets of Knockturn Alley and sent them off to find it. Of course, that had been before his arrest after the first war. Being in Azkaban made it rather difficult to order any books, but he thought that Titus had added a lot of tomes to the family library while he was away. Then there was the second war and he didn't really have time to go shopping all that time- and then he was in prison again. Didn't come out until the take over. Well, he had time now. Old habits die hard and all that.
    There were a few things here and there that called his attention after walking around the store for a while, but what he'd suddenly remembered was that they were particularly lacking in books about magical creatures. Oh, his family had always been more adept at practical magic- alchemy and potions and duelling and necromancy, that sort of thing. Herbology and Magizoology were not greatly represented in their library. Perhaps he ought to change that, just in case some great great grandchild of his ended up wanting to pursue that career path. It would be strange but he didn't think it was impossible. So he went down the flight of stairs, as he he'd bee browsing through the shelves on the higher level, and searched for the creatures section. There, he found a man already skimming through titles. Titles about... horses. Not magical horses, not thestrals or pegasi or any such creature. Just normal horses. How peculiar. But he offered a slight nod and turned to a different section. One that had many sort of creature encyclopaedias. In fact, it seemed like there was a set. A different tome for different kinds of creatures. Pseudo-humans, flying creatures, reptiles, all that sorts of interesting things. Taking one from the shelves, he made a pleased sound when he found that each page contained exquisitely detailed illustrations. How pleasant.

words - @ Somebody New - outfit

by neverland of adoxgraphy 2.0.

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[attr="class","ctopline"]AND ALL IS SAID AND DONE

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[attr="class","clyrics"]IT'S WORTH ALL THAT'S LOST[break]
JUST TO SEE YOU SMILE

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[attr="class","cbody"]He knew that this present would probably go down in the books as the most extravagant present that he had ever gotten his daughter. And he knew that there might be people that thought it was a little ridiculous to get her a horse for Christmas when he wasn’t even sure that she had ever been on one before. Most people would give them lessons first and see if they actually liked it, or had a talent at it, before investing in one of the more expensive pets around.
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It was something that was holding him back. He wasn’t one to make impulsive decisions, so he was going to do the necessary research before making any kind of solid commitment to buy a horse, of all things.
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But he thought that he did know his daughter well. He knew her better than he knew just about anyone else in the world. Chris was quite confident that she would enjoy learning how to horseback ride. He had checked out a stable earlier in the day that had stalls open for new horses, and they had lessons there too. So really, if he got her a horse, everything would be all set up for her to learn right away. This wasn’t some idea that he had just come up with, without knowing his daughter. Maya would like horseback riding. Her interests were varied, but she loved animals and he did think that she’d like to learn something new. And have a pet.
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It would be easier to just get her a cat or something, but he just thought that a horse might end up being the right decision. He had time to do the research and figure it out, thankfully. It was nice to know that there were several stalls available at the stables he’d looked at. Of course, even if they happened to fill up before he made a decision, there were other stables. He had just liked the ones that he’d looked at. It had everything that he was looking for and the stable hand that he’d spoken to had been knowledgeable enough. He had been able to answer all of his questions, and it had put him more at ease.
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That wasn’t going to stop him from getting even more research. He wasn’t the type to do anything half way, and he knew how much of a responsibility this was. He wanted to make sure that he was informed enough to make this decision and if he went through with it, he wanted to make sure that Maya realized the responsibility of it too.
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She had always been responsible though—always mature for her age, and he knew that she would understand it easily. He had no doubt about that. He just had to make sure that he was all right with giving his daughter this level of responsibility.
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Pulling a tome from the shelf, he flipped through the pages to see what kind of information the book held. His attention was drawn upward by movement at the corner of his eye and he nodded in greeting to an older man that stopped at a bookshelf nearby. But then, once again, his focus went back to the book in front of him. At least, until he realized that he could use a second opinion. He couldn’t ask Mac, and this man was in the animal section. Maybe he knew something about horses. “Excuse me—I’m quite sorry to bother you, but do you know much of anything about horses?” He asked, curiously. It was worth a shot, anyway.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]599 ● @ bookstore stranger ● outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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