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When Christmas hols roll around, everyone goes home.
And Renée makes a suggestion and Miranda sends some owls, all with the same underlying invitation:
Mum wants to go shopping in Muggle Edinburgh and said I should invite some friends. You can Floo in or she can pick you up by Apparition, as you like, and we'll get lunch and she'll have you home in time for supper. Want to come?
She invites Karen and Jenny and Emma and Alli, and as an afterthought also Vivian, since she and Karen have been friendly and another muggleborn might ease Karen's jitters.
chanuphis
planetarium
To the monument.
Karen looks over her shoulder at Miranda and sticks very close to Vivian, looking nervously at cars.
Karen looks over her shoulder at Miranda and sticks very close to Vivian, looking nervously at cars.
slythervivian
Vivian does not offer to hold Karen's hand. It occurs to her that if it were anyone else, she probably would, but she can't quite force herself to do it anyway. What if Karen doesn't want to.
She does catch the nervous looks at the cars, though. "You okay?"
She does catch the nervous looks at the cars, though. "You okay?"
planetarium
"Yeah, those things are just scary. And they don't smell very nice. That's them, right?"
slythervivian
"I was scared of brooms at first, if it helps," Vivian says encouragingly. "They go so fast, and you could just- fall right off!"
planetarium
"Yeah, but if somebody else hits you on a broom all you get hit with is a broom and a person. Not a... that."
slythervivian
"The cars will obey the lights," Vivian says, more firmly than she really feels. "Just follow me and the lights, okay?"
slythervivian
The memorial is a little farther than the cathedral, but not by much. Vivian tries to stick to paths by parks when she can, to reduce the traffic.
slythervivian
Vivian looks around. This part of the path is nice. There are trees, there is shade. No cars. "Are... are you sure everything's okay?"
slythervivian
That was not at all what Vivian was expecting. Surprised, she stutters, "A potion to- wait, what?"
planetarium
"Ugh, I'm sure it's impossible," groans Karen. "And she wouldn't take it, I bet! Unless she would. I don't know."
slythervivian
Vivian knows she shouldn't ask. There is no way having this question answered will end well. Karen is definitely not talking about her, and doesn't that just make her feel like her lungs are shriveling inside her chest? But she forces herself to breathe, and to ask the question. "Who wouldn't?"
planetarium
"She wasn't sure," says Karen in a rush, "she said she didn't know yet she wasn't old enough to be positive, she said she would think about it and she told me and that if she was widdershins then of course, but, but she isn't. Turns out. It mentioned in her letter when she was inviting me here."
slythervivian
Vivian feels her whole body tense up even as Karen finishes her sentence. She can't let herself freeze, though, she can't, not when Karen is looking at her with that beaten-down look on her face. It almost hurts more to see Karen this upset than to know Karen was pining for someone and it wasn't her.
"I'm sorry," she says again. "I know it sounds lame, but- I really am sorry. At least you know that it's- that if she was, she would-" she can't quite bring herself to finish the sentence. "...does it help?"
"I'm sorry," she says again. "I know it sounds lame, but- I really am sorry. At least you know that it's- that if she was, she would-" she can't quite bring herself to finish the sentence. "...does it help?"
slythervivian
"Yeah." Not being liked back is awful. She could write whole essays on the subject, at the moment. "See? You're awesome, and she knows you're awesome?" she attempts. "That's just- bad luck, really."
slythervivian
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Vivian asks. "Distract you with castles or plaid or bagpipes, or something?"