Usually the weekdays were a bit slower at the Leaky Cauldron, but the weekends were enough to almost kill Kiki with how busy it was. Yesterday was the worst. People were coming in wanting to welcome in the weekend with booze with their meals. Most days, Kiki didn’t have to worry about that as her shifts always ended before the evening drinkers came, but yesterday, was the exception. Every time she turned around, she felt like she had to run to get Berlin, the bartender, to serve a table a firewhiskey. She knew it was running not just her, but Berlin crooked. While today was better, it was still just tiring to work two days in a row, with one being extremely overwhelming. Thank Merlin I have the day off tomorrow!

If Kiki were to survive another weekend at work like the one she just had, she was going to have to find some sort of monetary motivation. Her best bet was going to be checking out the Quidditch shop. Perhaps she could find a broomstick she wanted and she could tell herself to work hard to earn enough money to purchase it. Hell, she would even welcome some new gloves. After she found out she would be having a meeting with her head of house in regards to her future planning, the Hufflepuff had taken to flying a lot more as a stress reliever. However, the poor thing had been so anxious thinking about it that she was gripping the broomhandle more tightly than usual and had all but worn a hole in her gloves.

She made her way down Diagon Alley from the pub to Quality Quidditch Supplies and walked in.It was always like heaven for a Quidditch lover like Kiki. The good quality of the supplies was enough to send any Hogwarts player that had to play with worn down quaffles into a complete state of envy. There was some part of her that had to talk herself into being rational and blocking out silly thoughts such as the need to buy a complete ball set when she had no one to play with at home except her father. Well, maybe if I invited Caleb over. Really the thought was quite ridiculous. All her and her best friend would need was a quaffle, as he was a keeper, so the only thing they could work on was goal work. Well, maybe we could use bludgers to help with our dodging. Actually that sounds like a terrible idea without beaters around.

As she rounded the corner, to look at the broomsticks, she saw a familiar figure. She quietly laughed to herself. It was actually quite funny to her that she was just thinking about her teammates only to run into one. The younger Hufflepuff was a chaser like her and he was pretty damn good in her opinion. Of course, Kiki thought all of her teammates were wonderful. Each one of them had great talent, and that is why she knew they would win the Quidditch Cup next year. Clearing her throat, she approached @ahmed. “Well hey there, Mike, fancy seeing you here! What are you up to,” she asked with one of her trademark smiles.

Oh, what a busy day at the tea shop. It was a tremendous day, looks like Sunday is the day of lovers, the tables were busy all day until the closing time. It was cute watching them though. It is now time to relax from a long and hard day at work so he thought he should go to Quality Quidditch Supplies to check the latest broomsticks as his broom is becoming older.

He went down to the fireplace at the Tea Shop then used the floo powder and shouted clearly, "Diagon Alley". He the came into the fireplace of Diagon Alley after passing the long list of fireplaces. He headed down to the main street then walked his way to the Quidditch shop. When he reached the door he pushed it and entered to see a pretty familiar face. A face that he saw pretty much as he just saw @kiki , a fellow hufflepuff, older than him by 1 year, and a fellow chaser in the Quidditch team so he smiled to her. "Hey Kiki, how are you?". He took a deal breath then continued, "Checking the latest brooms, probably going to save some money to buy a new one as my broomstick is getting too old. So what are you doing? Checking for brooms too?"

If Kiki were to really think about it, she probably didn’t really need another broom. Her broom was just fine, as it had been her Christmas present just a few years ago from her father. It was his hope that now that she had found something she liked in the magical world, he could encourage her to stick with and be a little more proud to be a witch. His plan actually worked. Quidditch was the one thing Kiki loved about being magical. There wasn’t much else. Sure, she realized if she was a muggle, she wouldn’t have met all of her lovely Hogwarts friends, but she really did have trouble feeling like she belonged among them. Well, all of them except Caleb, but being her best friend, he didn’t count. It was like an unwritten rule that a best friend was someone that allowed a person to be themselves. If she didn’t feel comfortable in her skin with Caleb, then in her mind, he wasn’t a worthy best friend. Luckily, she did feel like she could be her goofy, dancing self around him, making him an outstanding friend. It made her smile because she knew she would be seeing him later this evening for a little basketball scrimmage, and she had been really dying to see the bloke since school let out.

I know my broom isn’t that old, but it is kind of getting slower. It then dawned on her the perfect justification for getting a new broom: Zeke. She did say she would work on teaching the Gryffindor to fly, so she was going to need another broom. Her current broom was very beginner friendly, which is why it didn’t go nearly fast enough in her opinion. No, it would do quite well for her fellow fifth year, which is exactly why she needed a new one.

Truth be told, she hadn’t taken her mind off of Zeke. It didn’t help that she had received letters from him that very day. She hoped the two could hang out soon. The ball hadn’t really gone according to plan, and like he said, he still owed her a dance. Every time she thought about it, the sixteen-year-old had to fight the urge to grin ridiculously.

But now was not the time to be thinking of all of this. Blimey does my mind wander these days. She brought herself back to the small shop and stared politely at the boy in front of her. Kiki really liked all of her teammates, and she was happy to see that the younger chaser was taking his position so seriously. Geez, do I sound like a captain or something. Speaking of which, I wonder who will be captain this year. Mike stated he was at the shop checking out the brooms and the witch nodded when he asked her if she was there for the same thing. “I think I’m in the exact same boat. I’m checking things out and just seeing if there is anything I want to save my money for.” She figured it best not to tell him that work was damn near killing her and she was trying to find something to motivate her to keep working. “Are you working somewhere, then?” Kiki knew that not all fifth years got a job, but some of them did, and since Mike said he was saving his money, it made her believe he might be.

Just looking at the girl made him feel comfortable. She was a very nice hufflepuff, and a great chaser he must say. She had always been kind to him, well he didn't love her by the meaning, but he liked staying with her, it made him comfortable and he started thinking that this incident is a good one as he haven't seen her since Summer has started. He wondered what had she been doing with her time since Summer Started.

Oh, she's buying a new broom then, as she is more experienced than him so he thought he would ask her for some advice about a new broom. "Wow, that's cool. So you have any ideas for a new broom? Honestly I haven't been following on brooms news so I don't know much about the new ones." He took a breath, she noticed then that he mentioned 'saving' and assumed he's getting money from somewhere, probably she is too. "Yeah, I am working as a server at Madam Puddifot's Tea Shop in Hogsmede, you're welcome to come at anytime. So do you work somewhere? You mentioned saving somewhere in your speech so I suppose you have a job to get some money."

The Hufflepuff never questioned why she was sorted into the house of the badger. She knew that she had a fairly outgoing and friendly personality, and she embraced it. Kiki really did enjoy other people and getting to know them. Sure, Mike and her were on the same team, but she still didn’t know him as well as she would have liked. From what she could tell, the younger badger seemed to be a nice and charming person. He seemed to be a kind soul, but most Hufflepuffs were. She supposed there were a couple that were an exception to that, but fortunately, she hadn’t really encountered them much.

Kiki did take a quick glance at some of the brooms around her. In her younger years, it had been so easy for her to judge solely on aesthetics, like most female flyers would do. In fact, her father had to talk her out of the cheap, but cute broom she had wanted for her first broomstick after making the Quidditch team. It had been some off brand purple broomstick that was a bargain price, but was just a very impractical broom. It barely got any speed, according to what her dad could tell, and it would have never served her well out on the field. Luckily, the girl’s taste in broomsticks had quite improved since her younger years. She could now tell which brooms were best and reasonably priced for what they did. Because of all of this she chuckled a little when her teammate asked about a good broom suggestion. She had caught glimpse of a nearby one when she had taken her quick glance that she thought might be good. “Personally, I like this one,” she said picking up the Varápidos broom. “The Brazilian team used this in last year’s Quidditch Cup, so they are starting to make appearances. I think they’re probably measure up to the rest of the imported brooms, and be one of the cheaper ones. Of course,” she paused to place it back down, “it will still be expensive because it is associated with the most recent Quidditch Cup, and because it is imported.” She searched along and noted the big advertised broomstick in the center of the shop. “You could always go with the Firebolt Supreme, but I am almost willing to bet, it is more expensive than the Varápidos.”

Continuing on down the line, she realized that these brooms were going to be an arm and a leg. She may have to work all summer at the Leaky Cauldron and forget dancing all together if she really wanted one of the newer ones. She scanned past one that looked like it would be okay, even if it was a bit older. “Now, if money is your big concern, this Siberian Arrow might be the way to go. It is a little outdated, and I personally wouldn’t go with it because of that, but, it is probably one of the best for its age. The Nordic Team used it back in 1994, I think.” It was crazy to her just how much she knew about Quidditch, but it was the one thing she loved most about being magical.

Bringing her mind away, she looked back at the boy when he said where she was working. She gave a polite smile. The tea shop probably was a wonderful place to work, but Kiki really didn’t care much for tea. However, perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad, and maybe if she was lucky, they would have coffee. “I may have to stop by some time. Although, I must admit, I’m not a big tea drinker,” she said with a sincere smile. Mike seemed to catch on to what the girl had said about saving money, so she nodded in response to him. “Yeah, I am working at the Leaky Cauldron. It actually isn’t really too far from where my family lives, so it makes it easier to travel since I’m still too young to apparate.”