Characters: Bellatrix Black and Artemis Laidlaw Date: Monday, 19 January 2002 Location: Yaxley Residence Time: Night
"Merlin, I think I'd rather work for a living," Kastra was saying before the curl of her smirk met the rim of her silver cup.
Wisps of steam stretched from the mulled wine out into the night air. Her gaze lifted again to the stars above them, perfect and crystalline through thin winter air. Though her cheers were slightly pinked with the cold, the make-shift nest of furs and cloaks had been charmed to radiate extra warmth. Not that they really needed it, she noted, sliding the swath of soft gray away from her neck a little. The back of her mind hummed with familiar echos. Small girls bundled up, laying on their backs, giggling and huddled together as they sought themselves in the heavens, Cissy pouting when she realized she was not to be found. It was a bittersweet thing to revisit memories that had to be cropped and edited. It had just been her. Her and Cissy and a house elf, no doubt, lurking behind a tree or a fountain to mind three two girls who probably shouldn't have been outside in the middle of the night anyway.
She glanced back at Artemis, returning to the present. The girl was perhaps the most sensible person of her generation from what Kastra had seen thus far. Excepting the odd friendship or two, their conversations were reminiscent of the sort she was used to. There was a good deal of appreciation for the fact that Artemis had thoughts beyond her career. Sure, in her own day more women had children than careers, but most of them made careers out of child-rearing- Merlin, it became their whole lives. It took at least two years for any of her friends to get over the initial thrill of motherhood. Women were, regarding their infants, as fanatical as men could be about quidditch. And it wasn't that she had no appreciation for quidditch, but some men seemed to think the world began and ended with the World Cup; during the season, anyway.
"Honestly though, it's sad to see such a small pureblood social scene," she went on. It wasn't a new sentiment from her, but Artemis had become something of a sounding board for her easy thoughts. "Charles' secretary was saying, though, that there's some club somewhere- Elite something? But really, if I'm going to be out speaking my plain mind I really think I'd rather do it in the privacy of someone's home."
She took another sip from her cup before setting it down, nestling it a bit in the snow. The entire courtyard was frosted with a layer of smooth white, reflecting a blue sheen in the moonlight.