InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "fire bad. tree pretty."

Lucy Spinks (addingvalue) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-09-01 20:07:00

Entry tags:

character: hannah abbott, character: lucy spinks, character: susan bones, status: complete

Express Day
Who: Lucy and OPEN.
What: Lucy's having a nostalgic moment.
Where: The Leaky Cauldron (at least to begin with).
When: Monday, 6pmish.
Rating: SFW.

It was barely a week since Lucy had last been on Diagon Alley. Then, she'd been directed towards Finnigan's, stood outside it for about twenty minutes and then fled. It was just too strange, that it had been opened by someone who'd been in her own school year. It had been too personal a connection to part of her life she thought she'd left behind her.

Then on Monday morning on her way to work she'd seen a tiny blonde girl holding tight to an adults hand - trying to get a caged owl into the lifts at Tufnell Park station. September 1st hadn't been a significant day in Lucy's life for years, but just seeing that she knew what it must mean. The Hogwarts Express would be waiting at King's Cross... All day, Lucy had been trying to distract herself from memories of Susan, Justin, Ernie and Hannah all crowded into one train compartment, talking over one another in their eagerness to share what they'd been doing over the holidays.

So now here she was again, standing in the courtyard of The Leaky Cauldron. She hadn't brought her wand with her, hadn't had any reason to think she would need it when she'd left the house. Part of her wondered whether she'd have been able to activate the doorway even if she did have it. She'd been standing there alone for five minutes when the door to the Leaky behind her opened and Lucy stepped aside, not wanting to be in the way.

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addingvalue
2014-09-09 04:16 pm UTC (link)

"Snatchers?" Lucy had been so cut off from the war that she had really very little idea of what had been involved. She knew Justin had been imprisoned from his letters to her, but she'd known none of the details. "I don't know why they didn't find me. I didn't do any magic, my parents moved house after fifth year and I never knew if I was supposed to tell someone at Hogwarts..." Perhaps there had just been no record of her address left in the magical world. Or perhaps they'd only tried to sense people who had some degree of magical power - something Lucy was all but convinced she'd barely had and had almost certainly lost.

She placed a hand on Susan's arm as she talked about her family. She'd been at school when it had happened, she hadn't forgotten. "It's very brave of you," she said honestly. "I couldn't do it."

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susanamybones
2014-09-11 10:57 am UTC (link)

Susan felt her eyebrows shoot up, as she shook her head in wonderment. "You really did flee the magical world, didn't you," she said, shaking her head. "Well it may have been for the best. To answer your question, the Snatchers were groups of bounty hunters tasked under the auspices of the Muggle-born Registration Commission to hunt down and capture or kill any Muggle-born witches and wizards. They got Justin actually, poor thing." She smiled and patted Lucy on the hand. "Not telling the Ministry your new address may have saved your life, darling."

She smiled at the earnest tone of Lucy's voice. "Thank you, but if I don't stand and fight then I can't expect anyone else to do it for me."

"So, tell me more about your work," she said, leaning forward in interest.

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addingvalue
2014-09-12 11:05 am UTC (link)

Lucy felt another stab of guilt that she'd managed to escape so easily. She was glad of it, she'd left the magical world in part because the events of her sixth year had proved to her that she'd be utterly unable to defend herself against those who wanted her gone. She wondered what she was doing back. The war was over, yes, but she still didn't deserve to be here, benefitting from the fighting everyone else had done in her absence. A look at Susan and Hannah's faces gave the distinct impression that now they'd found her, they weren't going to let her go easily.

All in all, it was easier just to talk about her work, leaving the rest of the conversation to fade. She told Susan about Variety - the charity she worked for. About the wheelchairs they provided, and their coaches that took Special Needs children to activities that would be out of reach otherwise. She talked a bit about what she did in the office, balancing the books and making sure the payments went to the right people. Though obviously enthusiastic about her job, she was still reserved - holding back on the details of her personal life. "How long has this place been open?" she asked when she'd covered the basics.

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susanamybones
2014-09-12 03:16 pm UTC (link)

She watched an expression of intense guilt cross Lucy's expression, and tilted her head slightly. "It's all in the past now anyway," she said lightly. "We're in the midst of a baby boom and a cultural renaissance, and dark wizards are getting less blood-crazy and more just comfortably crazy-crazy."

"That sounds amazing actually," she said enthusiastically. "You should set up a meeting with Alicia, her charity is excellent as well! Although you may have read some of her entries in your journal? Anyway, I'm so glad you're happy." She gestured around vaguely. "Oh a couple of years. Seamus inherited the place from his Uncle, and when the Department of Rejuvenation decided to cleanse Knockturn Alley and turn it into a reputable shopping street, he reopened. It's a bit less stuffy than the Leaky Cauldron, more popular with the young crowd."

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addingvalue
2014-09-16 11:14 am UTC (link)

Looking around, Lucy could see what Susan meant about a younger crowd, and she nodded. Everything else - cultural renaissance, Alicia, Department of Rejuvenation - went over her head a little. It was too much to take in all at once, her friends being here, her friends being together and whole and... She tipped back the last of the pint Susan had bought her.

"Can I get the next round in?" she asked, before flushing slightly as she thought that through. It was instinct, to share rounds with friends, but here... "Actually, I've only got n- muggle money."

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