RP: Lunch and Gossip

[tt_alicia]

Date: 11. February, 2002
Characters: Ginny Weasley and Alicia Spinnet
Setting: The World’s End – Lunch Time
Content: PG, most likely
Status: Open: Private, Complete


When Viktor had left for work that morning, Alicia had snuck back into bed. Working evenings meant that she would be back too late for it to suit the early hour at which Viktor had to get up the next morning, but she still did get up, wanting to spend the time with him she had missed out on the night before. Of course, that was why she had slipped back into bed, for another short hour of sleep, so she could get all the things done during the day, before she had to go back in for another evening shift. Thankfully, the shift tonight, was the last evening shift in a long time; Alicia had made sure of that, by pointing out the disproportionally large number of late shifts she had had lately. Hopefully, it would last longer than the 4 weeks that had already been scheduled out, taking her evenings into consideration.

There weren’t a whole lot she needed to get done today; a quick trip to the market to refill the cooler – though technically Sasha could do that, Alicia just preferred to know what was there – and then another trip to her house for a few more changes of clothes and some of her sandals. Gods, how long had it been since she had been at the house? A few weeks, unless you counted the brief visits to pick up some things she needed at Viktor’s. Not that she minded it, quite the contrary. Getting to spend this much time with him felt like a luxury, that she couldn’t see herself ever living without. Oh! And she was having lunch with Ginny today.

Alicia woke up again later in the morning, and after a quick shower, she headed to the market. She took her time, going by each vendor to make sure that she got the best of what they had. Just before noon, she paid for the last of her purchases, cast a stasis Charm on the bag before she shrunk it and set her direction towards The World’s End. Finding a place in the shade, she ordered an iced tea – a drink she hadn’t appreciated the value of until she had ended up living in this tropical wonderland – and picked up her datapad. Apparently Viktor was on his lunch break too, and while she waited for Ginny, Alicia didn’t see any harm in messaging back and forth with him, even if they were spending as much time together as possible.

Comments

[tt_ginny]

There had been an accident at the portal clearing during the morning group transport, a young, heavily-pregnant woman went into labor as soon as she exited the portal and Ginny had already been at the Command Center having tea with Kingsley when the call came through. It had been a harrowing hour of stress, with the umbilical cord caught around the babies neck, but Ginny had managed to work it free using both Muggle and magical techniques. In the end, there was a new, healthy baby boy on the settlement named Dorian after the settlement guard who had helped Ginny deliver him.

She was still a little harried when she arrived at the World's End, tapping out a message in reply to the Medical Center with some last minute details they wanted on the baby. Not bothering to shrink her 'pad, Gin tucked it under her arm as she spotted Alicia in the shade on the deck and hurried over to her, flopping down in the seat opposite. "You'll never believe the morning I had," she sighed heavily, lifting a hand to signal the server.

[tt_alicia]

Sipping from her iced tea, Alicia read the last message from Viktor. It made her smile, reading about how he had been spending the morning with the dragons, even if she couldn’t help but worry about it too. At least she wasn’t outright opposed to it any longer, something she considered a step in the right direction for her. The small clock in the upper corner alerted her to the time, but being a Healer she knew that sometimes things happened, even on your day off, so she wasn’t worried or annoyed that Ginny hadn’t shown up yet. Instead of sending a message to ask her what was holding her up, she began tapping in a reply to Viktor, including the request of which version of dinner he would prefer that they made from the groceries she had gotten.

Somewhere in her peripheral vision, hurried movement caught her attention, and when she looked up – tapping ‘Send’ as she did – she spotted a rather hassled Ginny headed in her direction. She didn’t look upset, though, just a little rushed, and Alicia couldn’t help but smirk when her friend dropped down into the chair across the table from her. “What?” she asked her, ready to share her iced tea with Ginny when she saw the server closing in on their table. “Rowena Ravenclaw and Gellert Grindelwald showed up in flagrante?” It was a silly teasing, but at this point, Alicia wasn’t going to be telling anybody what could and couldn’t happen when it came to the portal.

[tt_ginny]

Ginny was grateful that she didn't have something to drink or Alicia's quip would have been met with choking and sputtering. As it was, she coughed and shook her head, trying hard not to blush or laugh, neither of which was doing much good.

"I daresay that would have been more amusing, at least," she managed after a brief moment to collect her wits. Having Godric Gryffindor show up in the portal clearing basically let everyone release their expectations of 'normal' when it came to the portal.

"No, I was having tea with Kings when an alert came through from the portal. A woman in this morning's group went into labor upon exiting and the baby was in distress. Umbilical cord wrapped around his little neck," Ginny sighed, pausing when the server arrived and she ordered a pint.

[tt_alicia]

Alicia smirked as Ginny seemingly tried to decide between coughing, blushing and laughing, still waiting patiently for an explanation of what had made Ginny declare this morning hectic. The explanation, however, had Alicia’s smirk freeze and fall into a concerned set of her mouth, as a small worried frown appeared on her forehead. This was anything but an amusing story, and she immediately wished that she could take back the silly words she had spoken.

“Oh no,” she sighed, taking a closer look to see if Ginny was alright. “How’s the baby doing now?” she asked, wishing and hoping that Ginny had gotten there in time. As a Healer, Alicia dealt well with people in distress, even children, but when it came to complications in pregnancies and deliveries, she had come to learn that that was not for her. She simply lacked the ability to distance herself enough in order to act professionally, and as such had been cleared to focus on other areas of Healing and medicine, though she was still required to keep her training in the field up to date, in case of emergencies.

[tt_ginny]

Brushing her hair back, Ginny took a moment to tie it up in a rough ponytail. She nodded at Ali's concern. "He's doing fine. I spotted it almost right away and one of the blokes from security helped hold the mother still while I released the cord. Thankfully, it wasn't tight yet."

"She named the baby after him - Dorian," she chuckled, shaking her head. "I admit, I was nervous at first but Trisha's coaching kicked in. There wasn't any time to get someone else from the med center anyway. It was just pure luck that I was the closest one. But we got mum and baby bundled off to the medical center and settled in. They'll stay overnight for observation."

[tt_alicia]

“Oh, thank Godric,” Alicia breathed, truly relieved to hear that both mother and child was doing fine. “I’ll look in on them for you when I go into work later.” Maybe, if she was lucky, there would be some free time where she could devote some time to help out with the fussy babies there. That was one difference from St. Mungo’s that she appreciated here; if no other patients needed Healing, it was perfectly acceptable to take a break and simply sit with one of the babies.

“I’m sure Trisha’s proud,” she assured her, knowing how proud she, herself, was of Ginny right now, and she didn’t even have anything to do with her training. “So tell me, what else is going on with your life?” Picking up her glass of ice tea, she offered it to Ginny by turning the straw in her direction. “I know I should be checking the messages, but forget to do it, unless it’s for me and I get a notification about it.”

[tt_ginny]

"Besides making an arse of myself with Professor Lupin? Not much, really. I have tea with Kingsley about once a week. Mum says it keeps him from working himself to death. He seems to enjoy the company, though I'm not sure his assistant, Toby, would agree," Ginny explained with a soft laugh.

"Thanks," she said, taking a small sip of the refreshing drink. "Speaking of Godric. You have to tell me all about him!"

[tt_alicia]

“Yeah, how did you manage to do that?” Alicia chuckled, before she raised a finger in mock warning, “and keep in mind, you’re talking to the very same person who’s made an arse of herself with Shacklebolt, your brother and Godric Gryffindor, so your method had better be pretty impressive.” She sent Ginny a smile, sincerely hoping that Ginny hadn’t made as much of an arse of herself as she claimed. In many ways Alicia doubted she had, since it was Professor Lupin, and Ginny wasn’t the sort to mess things up too badly. At least she didn’t think she was. “I’ve only ever met Shacklebolt in person once, so I’ll have to take your word for what he enjoys, though I can honestly say that I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting his assistant.”

Picking up the menu, Alicia skimmed it over, though she already knew what she wanted. She just needed a moment to figure out how to tell Ginny about Godric, because… “All about Godric Gryffindor,” she muttered then shrugged and put down the menu. “I don’t know,” she tried, chuckling softly as she shook her head. Meeting the founder of her house had been a mindblowing experience, it had been infuriating and exciting and interesting and very, very humbling. “He’s… tall, has a nice voice and we kept unintentionally insulting one another.” Again she shook her head, almost apologetically. “He’s just a bloke who’s a long way from home, I think.” She made a mental note to swing by his house someday soon, to see how he was doing.

[tt_ginny]

"I'm pretty sure I gaped at him when he first hopped out of King's Jeep. Then I ended up calling him Sir and Professor and rambling. I'm pretty sure it was on level with you and Charlie. I don't know about King's or Godric," Ginny replied sheepishly. She was surprised to find out Alicia didn't know Kingsley better. "Really? Oh, he's very friendly, and smart. Mum and Dad have been friends with him for ages and ages."

Ginny picked up her own menu, looking over a couple of new dishes and picking one of them. She liked to try the new concoctions that Lisa came up with. So far, they'd all be quite tasty. She put the menu on the edge of the table, just as a server approached with her drink and took their orders. "Tall and nice voice. That's not very descriptive," she teased, laughing. "How in Merlin's name did you insult each other?"

[tt_alicia]

Propping her head up on her hand, Alicia listened to Ginny talk about how she had reacted to seeing Professor Lupin again. Slowly she shook her head. “I really don’t think it was as bad as you think it might have been,” she assured her. “You said Prof- Lupin,” she corrected herself, “came here from 1993, right? That’s when he was teaching at Hogwarts so he was Professor Lupin, not to mention he looked like you remember him as Professor. And the gaping… well… he died, Ginny, and I think you’re allowed to gape a little if you stand in front of a dead man who’s very much alive without being a ghost or an Inferi.” She sent her friend a smile. “Professor Lupin is the only reasonable DADA teacher I had at school, and I remember him as being very understanding. I’m sure he’ll understand this too. Maybe… go see him again, just to see how he’s settling in, see for yourself?”

With a small wave at the server, she signaled that they were ready to order, before she turned her attention back to Ginny. “No, it’s not very descriptive, I know,” she sighed. “But he… well, remember that picture in the Common Room?” Holding out her hands palm up, she shrugged. “He looked just like that, only younger.” Clearing her throat, she rubbed her forehead. “It started out pretty disastrous, to tell you the truth,” she began telling her. “I’d barely entered the room, before he’s draping me in his cloak telling Shacklebolt that he most certainly does not want tawdry accommodations. Seriously, that’s what he said; tawdry accommodations, which made me burst out that I was not a common whore, which in turn offended him because apparently he had only been defending my honour.” With a groan she looked at Ginny. “First time I meet an actual legend, and I put my foot so deep in it it’s reaching my arm pit. So maybe you gaped at Professor Lupin and perhaps I ended up eating your brother’s yoghurt, but none of that compares to being offended by and offending back Godric Gryffindor. He’s… he’s intimidating, and arrogant, and chivalrous, and everything you expect him to be.” Sending her a weak smile, she tilted her head a little. “Is that descriptive enough?”

[tt_ginny]

"Yeah, 1993, and yeah, exactly as I remember. He was even wearing that tweed jacket that he always wore," Ginny agreed with a sheepish grin. "Does it make me a bad person that I wasn't thinking of Tonks? I mean, he doesn't even know her, not yet." She paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly. "Oh, he was. I think that's what made it worse for me. He was so understanding. Except when I mentioned Sirius."

"Mmm, like the portrait but younger? Wow. He must be dead gorgeous!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening. Now she was determined to run into this man, her Founder, if only to catch a glimpse. Ginny listened to Alicia's tale, laughing softly. "Oh my, I give, I give. You still hold the title of most embarrassing. At least until I meet him, I'm sure. Merlin, yes, that's descriptive enough. He's everything I've always thought he would be and more!"

[tt_alicia]

“Oh,” Alicia cooed gently, chuckling softly at Ginny’s relay of her meeting with Professor Lupin. “No, I don’t think it makes you a bad person. It sounds more like you were Ginny Weasley, 12 years old again, than an adult dismissing a woman he apparently doesn’t know yet.” Unconsciously mirroring Ginny’s moves, Alicia tilted her head as her curiosity was peaked. “Sirius? That’s Sirius Black, right? What happened when you mentioned him?”

Groaning softly at Ginny’s excitement, Alicia finally gave in and nodded. “As horrible as it went, his portrait really doesn’t do him justice and he is…” with a slightly dreamy sigh, she shook her head to show that she lacked the words to describe their house’s founder. “There’s a reason he’s a legend, and I hope you get to meet him someday, where you won’t have to convince him that you’re trying to help him rather than believe him to be either contagiously sick or the victim of evil trickery and majick, to use his own words.”