Casual Research (Open)

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It had been a long time since Philo had walked into Flourish and Blotts. He had his own private library at his home and it was extensive. He also had little use for wizarding books the last few years given his career as a Muggle Society Historian. But today, he was looking for a certain book by an author named Reginald Bloombom, who wrote some very negative things and made some very negative assumptions about Muggles. Philo needed the book for the sole purpose of writing a book that proved the man wrong.

He located the book and flipped though it. It wasn't long before he was chuckling away at what he read. The wizard author had either never met a Muggle as all, or had only met some rather nasty ones. Whatever the case, Philo knew his own book was going to be a very interesting one once he had finished. It was high time some of Bloombom's loyal readers were enlightened, perhaps even Bloombom himself.

COLE THEODORE NOTT

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

Cole had been up to his ears in work and preperations lately and thus had been, once again, almost completely ignoring his girlfriend. He wasn't sure what made Katrina so tolerant witg his scheduel, but he couldn't thank her enough. He decided it was time to make even a small gesture to show her how much he did think about here. So, he popped into Diagon Alley after practice and walked a straight line to the Book shop. A new sketchbook. A hard back one: bound in leather, or skin. Something nice enough to be worthy of her wonderful art work. He was even thinking about doing a little sketch of his own and leaving it, along with a note, hidden on a random page of the book. He could only imagine her smile when she found the page and saw his awful drawing skills.

He walked into the shop and began wandering down the isles, not stopping until he saw the familiar face. "Uncle?" Cole asked and approached the man. Cole was very fond of his uncle. They always seemed to get along more so than almost any other family member. Cole looked up to his greatuncle almost more than he looked up to his own father. His Uncle had taken his own path: much like Cole. "Fancy seeing you here." His face lit up in a smile.

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Philo looked up and was quite surprised that Cole happened to be in the bookshop at the same time he was. A mere raised eyebrow showed that. He was far too old to flail and gasp in surprise at anyone or anything.

"Cole," he said with a smile. If there were two family members Philo was particularly fond of, they was his grandnephews Cole and Scorpius. He was so proud of them for stepping away from the common believes shared by many in the family. Philo of course heard all the family news. Even hiding away in his office, he couldn't avoid it.

Philo stepped over and patted Cole on the shoulder.

"How are you, my boy?" he asked. "Well let's look at you. The Arrows seemed to be taking good care of you. I always admired that team. I remember when Quidley Saturnbard won the Cup for the team." Philo chuckled. "I suppose I'm showing my age with that one. Anyway, so what's new with you... besides what I've heard my niece rant on about."

COLE THEODORE NOTT

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

"I'm doing well." Cole said with a nod and a grin. The young man had never passed up an oppertunity to hang out with his uncle as a child and wasn't about to pass one up now either. "Quidditch is keeping me busy. I'll be sure to get you tickets to any games you want, just let me know. I have always got a few to spare." He insisted then flinched a little when he brought up his mothers ranting. It was true, Cole had spoken with her lately and she had been less than happy with the conversation, but he knew it was the best thing for hin to do. He wanted to be able to fully live his own life. "Well, I'm not sure what my mum told you: but I'm having my girlfriend move in with me. She's why I m here actually. I've been neglecting her a bit lately and spending too much time on the pitch." She admitted, feeling his ears go red.

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Philo smiled about getting tickets for Quidditch. He did enjoy going to the occasional game with his best friend Professor Snug. The two could cheer as strongly as any young person.

"Well if you can spare two, Claudius and I have been discussing attending a game," he said. "It will be good to get him out of that castle."

He then listened and couldn't help but chuckle as Cole spoke of what his mother was upset about.

"Oh yes, I know," he said. "She's a Greengrass alright. You should have seen the looks on your great-grandparents' faces when they discovered I had Jill move in with me. Not only were we living together out of wedlock, but she was a Muggle. You can only guess why they called me the Black Sheep of the family." Philo shrugged. "But here's Jill and I, still together all these years later... married now of course. We had to at some point." Another chuckle.

Philo patted Cole on the shoulder about him neglecting time with Katrina.

"Love can be a complicated thing... especially young love," he said. "I'm sure she understands though... Katrina isn't it? To some extent anyway, given she is willing to move in with you."

COLE THEODORE NOTT

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

Cole liked the idea that tickets made his uncle happy. Each player got a few to give to family and friends, but it nevet seemed that his father or mother wanted to come to a match. They were busy, he knew. And while Kat came when she could, the idea of having family watch him made him happy. "I can get you as many as you'd like." Cole nodded with his grin. When his uncle told him that he too had moved his girlfriend in with him before they were married, he felt proud of himself, he was more like his uncle than he thought. "The look on my mums face when I told her that I wasn't ready to get married but was moving her in anyway. I don't think I could have disapointed her more." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Katrina is her name. She understands that I need to spend a lot of time on work, but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about it." He admitted. "So I thought I would stop in and get her a stetchbook. Just a little surprise." He said.

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Philo gave a small smile about getting the tickets.

"Two will be plenty I think. Sadly, Jill isn't a fan of Quidditch or most Muggle sports to be quite honest." He patted Cole's shoulder. "Thank you, my boy, and I know Claudius will equally appreciate it."

Philo shook his head. While part of him didn't want to insult Cole's mother in front of him, the old man did speak his mind more often than not.

"Daphne is so much like my brother and her late father," he said. "Everyone and everything had to be a certain way to truly satisfy him. Merlin forbid one wasn't Pureblood or Slytherin Alumni or even holding hands with a significant other than one wasn't married to." He smiled at Cole again. "I'm proud of you, my boy. Making your own decisions is a sure sign that you have indeed entered adulthood. Perhaps some day your mother will learn to do the same." Another chuckle.

Philo nodded, glad that Cole did feel bad about neglecting the girl, but only because it showed what a good heart he had.

"She likes to draw then?" he asked. "I was a bit of an artist in my day before I turned to writing. I'd like to meet this Katrina, see some of her work."

COLE THEODORE NOTT

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

"I'll be sure to get those tickets to you." Cole nodded and made a mental note to do so, knowing that he wouldn't forget. The next time he went into the gym he'd have the team manager send the two tickets to his uncle. Cole didn't forget much, he blamed that on his drive to keep his parents perfectly pleased with him through his school years. As much as he cared about them and respected them, Cole was done trying to be the perfect son. He was devoting his energy to Quidditch and Katrina. "Yeah. She loves art. I wish you could have made it to Greece with the family last summer, Katrina came along and got to know a lot of the family. Uncle Draco is quite taken with her, actually." He remembered. That had been the best family trip that he had ever had. "I would love for you to meet her. I can try to arange something soon, if you'd like." He promised.

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Philo smiled as Cole promised to get him the tickets. Cole always had that kindness about him many in his family lacked.

Philo sighed about the trip to Greece.

"And appease your mother who planned that trip?" he asked. He then leaned over and whispered to Cole. "Your aunt Jill and I weren't invited along." He then chuckled to show he wasn't offended. He probably wouldn't have come if he was invited. He and Jill had been there numerous times, and he always promised his wife that when he went, she went, and there was no way Daphne would allow a Muggle to be part of the group that went.

Philo was happy to hear that Cole wanted to him to meet Katrina.

"When she returns from school, bring her over for dinner one night," he said. "You know how your aunt loves to cook large meals for guests. Last time we had a guest, she cooked so much that we had leftovers for a good week."

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

When his uncle told Cole that he and his wife hadn't been invited on the trip last summer, Cole felt sick to his stomach at the thought. His uncle was a lovely man. And was someone whom Cole looked up to very much. And while he understood his families desire to keep the family purly magical (and Cole himself was going along with it) the idea of regecting a family member because they married a muggle made him sick. Especially towards his mother. "You should have came anyway. " Cole said. "We can't let my mum and her extreme morals ruin all the fun." A part of him felt bad for speaking ill of his mother, but he honestly hated the way she had acted.

"I'll definently do that. I know she would love it." Cole agreed. Katrina always seemed to enjoy meeting his family, it made him feel bad that he couldn't meet hers. "And from what I remember of aunt Jills cooking, a weeks worth of left overs is nothing I would be sorry to have." Cole smiled and patted his stomach.

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"Morals..." said Philo, finding it odd that Cole used that word when it came to Daphne. He grew sick of hearing the Greengrass version of "morality" decades ago. But he stopped there by simply repeating that word. He didn't want to upset Cole too much. He always wanted the boy to enjoy the time with his granduncle. "Perhaps the next time Jill and I go, you and your lovely lady can come along. There's some wonderful places there that I'll wager even your mother doesn't know about."

Philo smiled about Cole agreeing to bring Katrina over for dinner. Jill liked Cole a great deal as well. She found him to be a bright and respectful young man. Being a Muggle brought into a world of magic by marriage, she hadn't always gotten that kind of respect outside of her husband of course.

"Splendid, my boy," he said. "Now, let's find that sketchbook of yours. You can never go wrong with the Ballycastle Ballpoint sketchbooks. Good, strong paper there, perfect for a dedicated artist."

COLE THEODORE NOTT

[COLE THEODORE NOTT]

Cole still wasn't happy about the fact that his mother had disinvited his uncle to the family trip, but he knew that it was in the past and there was very little that he could do about it. He was fairly sure, however, that he wouldn't want to go on the next family trip that his mother planned. Whenever or wherever that may be. He would rather take Kat on a trip with his uncle and aunt. When Philo brought Cole's attention back to the sketch book, Cole nodded. Right. The whole reason that he had came into the shop. A gift for his neglected girlfriend. "That sounds good, uncle. I want to get her something really nice that wont just fall apart on her." he agreed and picked one up, feeling the leather in his hands. "This is perfect." he insisted. "And I'll bring Katrina around anytime. You just let me know when you and Auntie want us." he added as he purchased they sketchbook.

((Wrapped up for Cole))

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Philo smiled at Cole taking the sketchbook.

"Excellent choice and money well spent, though I wouldn't expect anything less from my bright grand-nephew," he said, patting Cole's shoulder.

Philo then chuckled about letting Cole know when he and Katrina could come.

"On the contrary, you let Jill and I know when you're coming and we'll be ready... well perhaps it would be wise to send an owl a few hours prior so we can get everything ready," he chuckled. "Good seeing you again, my boy." He embraced Cole and went back to his book, staring at it. "Now why the bloody hell am I buying this rubbish again?" He chuckled again as he put the book away.

(End)

COLE THEODORE NOTT