Post by katya on Nov 9, 2011 19:10:10 GMT -8
October 22nd
5:30 pm
5:30 pm
The sweets shop was an excellent escape from the biting cold of early evening. Students crowded around colourful displays, laughing, gesturing, purchasing, consuming. Katya removed her knit gloves so that she could sample a morsel of lemon fudge from a house elf's tray and as she nibbled at it, glanced around for anyone she knew. Of course, she "knew" just about all of the Ravenclaws by now, and a goodly number of those in her year; but as for friends, she had none. No one here, at least.
She'd been too preoccupied to make much of an effort to fit in. On top of the usual school work, she'd been practicing catching the snitch at every chance she could get. In addition, there were a few other little concerns. For example, she didn't know if some awful fate had befallen Trey, and it made her question her current predicament to have to wonder whether her father had murdered or maimed the man who had raised her. Any effort to send him a letter had resulted in more silence. During the summer she'd taken some of her rare private time to search for her mother's death certificate, but that had turned out to be a dead end. She had no idea how she had died, and for some reason she had avoided bringing it up with Trevor. A slave ring powerful enough to kidnap a full-grown Garou was apparently after her. On top of all that, she couldn't help but miss the one person her age who had been perfectly candid with her -- who was, by order of her own father, treated as less than a human being.
Yeah, she had problems. She was getting tired of sitting around and letting things happen around her, too. Being in the public eye was making her too careful, too easily forced into hiding and inactivity. She'd been worried, initially, that if she weren't a credit to him, her father would be less accepting of her. She had come to see that, hard man though he was, the Lord's children could do no wrong in his eyes. Layla was living proof of that; but then, her little sister had never gone behind his back to support the organisations that opposed him.
Being Lord William's daughter made it even harder than usual to find said organisations, but being a metamorphmagus helped. Through a contact in Hogsmeade she'd met for the last visit in September, she'd been able to pass information on to S.A.V.I.O.R. about certain security procedures at Puxley without revealing her identity. In exchange, she'd requested information about Julia.
She was going to meet with her layman in disguise in an hour to receive that information, but until then she had time to waste. As she idly walked through the candy shop, she let herself relax and enjoy the warmth, bright colours, intoxicating smells and sound of laughter. It reminded her of when Trey would take her to get sweets and new clothing in Sofia. He would lift her up to pick taffy from the big barrels...
Katya wiped a tear from her eye and ducked her head to hide her inconvenient bout of homesickness.