| Details for Encounter at the Three Broomsticks |
| Summary: | Just a random encounter between two very different women in Hogsmeade. |
| Date: | September 19th, 1937 |
| Location: | The Three Broomsticks |
| Related: | None |
| Characters |
  |
Three Broomsticks Pub, Hogsmeade
Despite the obvious patina of age, The Three Broomsticks has a warm, inviting ambiance. This character the pub has attained is, no doubt, thanks to the years it has been steeped in the environment of this particular village. Just one evidence of the village's influence on the pub can be seen in the dark paneling inside the building. The wood was once the outer walls of the home that housed Hogsmeade's founding family. Put to good use once again after the founding family bequeathed it to the pub, the paneling has served the pub just as well as it once served Hogsmeade's founders. The Three Broomsticks has flourished under its current proprietor and is always open and ready for a customer or visitor.
The dark wood surface of the floor glows with a polished sheen from much cleaning, and exposed ceiling rafters, which appear to be original, cross the ceiling in tidy squares. Wood tables of varying sizes litter the room, and matching chairs are scattered among them. Several secluded booths fill up the space along one wall. A flavorfully aged mahogany bar takes up most of the space near the back wall with a series of mirrors and shelves of varying heights hanging behind it. Those shelves behind the bar are lined with memorabilia depicting the life and people of the village as well as items which are special mementos to the pub's owner.
It's a fairly quiet evening in Hogsmeade, with many already settled indoors with darkness approaching. But there are always people in the Three Broomsticks. Several of the locals are around, and at a table near the bar, Annie sits with a butterbeer before her. She's leaned forward, peering into the glass as if the drink holds the answer to all the questions of the universe.
The somber chatter of the pub quiets momentarily, as a small woman adorned in a heavily embroidered blouse, billowing skirt, and far too many dangling bits of inexpensive jewelry. Nadya gets a little smirk at the reaction, short-lived as it is. Though a resident of Hogsmeade for several years now (as much as someone living in a wagon on the edge of town can be a resident), she's the sort of person that nobody wants to admit being acquainted with, even though plenty are. She saunters right up to the bar, giving the barkeep a smile like she knows something he doesn't. "I'd like a red current rum."
The oddness of the quiet brings Annie's head up, even as conversations resume. But it leaves her looking around, wondering what that was all about. All she sees is the woman moving toward the bar. Only a resident for a few months herself, and not one to pay much attention to the gossip of the village, she assumes Nadya is just another witch, if differently dressed than some. Heaven's knows she's seen some odd witches so she doesn't think twice about it. She does watch the woman, with a wistful pang of envy at her grace and pretty hair.
Nadya turns to face the room as she waits for her rum, smirking as several faces turn away, as if they weren't staring. There is a mysterious aura about her, and it's one she's cultivated ever since her years at Hogwarts. Her eyes settle on the one witch that doesn't seem to be averting her gaze. As her rum is set down, she drops a coin on the counter (which the barman immediately tests with his teeth), picks up her mug, and sways over to Annie's table. Boldly, and unasked, she sets down the drink and takes a seat opposite the librarian.
Annie watches the woman approach, a tentative smile touching her lips. She waits a moment for Nadya to settle before she speaks easily. "Hallo. If you don't mind me saying, that's a lovely blouse."
A rather small and unassuming figure of a young woman, such is Annie. Standing on the short side of her claimed 5'4", most people first notice crystal blue eyes beneath delicately arched brows. A soft sprinkling of freckles decorates the bridge of a small nose. Lips that curve into a ready smile bring out twin dimples in her cheeks, and tell of a good humor within. Try as she might, her curly auburn hair refuses to remain tamed, and tumbles to just brush her shoulders.
She wears simple clothing, never really the newest styles but clearly kept in good repair, suitable for either Muggle or Wizard company. She tends to wear green, as it accents the reddish hue of her hair, but blue does compliment her eyes a bit better. On her feet are sensible black shoes of a modest heel, and around her neck a gold chain suspends a golden heart locket and a four leaf clover charm.
A catlike grin spreads over Nadya's face. Fearless, this woman! "Thank you," she replies with an Irish lilt. "My aunt made it." She regards Annie for a moment, still testing those comfort levels. "You have amazing eyes, do you know that?"
The compliment brings a blush to Annie's cheeks, but also a pleased cast to her smile. "Ta. My da's eyes were the same colour. Mum always said 'You've got your father's eyes' but that always made me feel like I had them in a box somewhere." Her smile is tempered for a moment at the memory, but then she laughs softly and holds out a hand, "Rude of me. I'm Annie Taylor. Do you live here in Hogsmeade?"
Nadya takes Annie's hand with a delicate touch, never quite gripping. "I'm called Nadya O'Hara. I live just outside of town, in my caravan." It's an unassuming wagon, perhaps once colorful, but the colors have long since faded. Still, it is unusual enough to be noticed by the locals, but far enough off the road that many others overlook it.
Annie's brows lift at the name. "O'Hara? I knew Simza O'Hara at Hogwarts, are you her older sister? She'd mentioned having one." Her hands land to fiddle with her mug of butterbeer, the pads of her fingers lightly tapping the ceramic.
Nadya nods deeply in reply, still wearing that cheshire smile. "Simza is my sister. Were the two of you close? Not that she wouldn't have spoken of you. But we don't speak much, she and I."
Annie takes a sip of her butterbeer, for a moment looking at Nadya over the mug's rim. She puts it down, head shaking no. "We studied together, but not sort of best friend close." Considering for a moment, she says simply, "I'm sorry you don't talk more. If I had a sister I think I'd talk to her constantly."
Nadya shrugs nonchalantly. "I love her dearly. But we have little in common. There isn't much to say between us." She pauses to take a sip of her rum. "You said you have only lived here for a few months. Why did you move to Hogsmeade?"
Annie shifts in her chair, then has to swipe away a curl that falls into her eyes. "Oh, I've come up to be a cottage sitter," she says with a smile. "A friend's grandparents have gone to America and I'm taking care of their home while they're gone."
Nadya leans back in her chair, propping her feet up on another empty seat, very much giving the impression of a lounging feline. "That is very kind of you. Where did you come from before that?"
Her shoulders lift in a casual shrug, "It's a good fit. They're even kind enough to send me a little something every now and then." Annie's eyes drop back to her butterbeer. "Before that? I grew up in Camden Town, London." She looks up and smiles, "I still visit friends there sometimes." It's always nice to be back home for a little while, having friends who still live on the same street where they grew up.
"Mmmmhm, London," Nadya muses. "You have a certain 'city-ness' about you. Is it hard, adjusting to village life after growing up in London? Though, by the sound of it, you left Hogwarts not so long ago."
Annie has actually given this a lot of thought, "You know, I think it would have been a more difficult adjustment without the whole," she waves her hand in a vaguely wand-waving fashion, "magic thing. In the city we got around on the tube, and now it's apparating or floo or somesuch. So it isn't really like anywhere is all that far away, is it?"
Nadya shrugs, sipping her rum. "I suppose not. It does take the enjoyment out of travel, though. There is wisdom to be gained in every inch of road." Implying that wizards are generally unwise…perhaps not an entirely inaccurate assessment.
Annie nods in agreement, "It's all quick and all, but you don't get to see anything when you just pop around all the time." Her nose wrinkles as her smile turns into a grin, "I do like that I can get to London quickly for work. And then come here at night, where it's peaceful."
Nadya arches an eyebrow curiously, sitting up a little in her chair. "You work in London? What is it that you do? No, wait…let me guess. You…manage a bookstore. No…a curio shop."
Annie peers at Nadya curious as she guesses, then laughs in surprise, "Cor, you're close with the bookstore. I work in the London Library." She says the name proudly, fortunate that she was able to land such a nice position. "When I was in school I worked in the library there, as well," she offers.
"Up at Hoggywarts? I didn't know they let students work in the library." Nadya laughs, her smile rising all the way to her cheekbones. "Though I can probably count the number of times I went into the library on one hand."
Annie laughs, "I practically lived there. We were allowed as assistants." A clock chimes, and she glances over to the bar. "Cor, it's gettin' late, and I ought to get home." She twists to get a light robe off the back of her chair. "I'm right at the and of Cottage Way, number sever. If you're ever that way and would like to stop in for a cuppa." The invitation comes with a friendly smile, and a little struggle to get herself sorted into the robe.
Nadya doesn't rise with her, but there is a passing look of astonishment when Annie gives her address to a stranger…especially a stranger that was treated with mild suspicion by others. She gives Annie a warm smile. "I just may do that. Thank you."
Finally, Annie stands and manages to get herself straightened away. "Good night, Miss O'Hara." As the young witch turns and presses some coins to the bar, the bartender doesn't acknowledge her. She doesn't even notice as she's bustling out for the short walk home, that several sets of eyes watch her parting from the fearsome gypsy.