Awkward run ins with Roger's girls.

[melodicmaeve]

It was the day after the article in the Prophet, and as paranoid as Maeve could have let herself become about what happened in Hogsmeade, she was trying to just see it as a horrible one off event. It was tragic, but she wasn't going to let it get in the way of her life, or Lily's, so today they were out in Diagon Alley, grabbing lunch and doing

Comments

[lavender_x]

Lavender had been doing a coffee run after her morning session with the team, needing much more caffeine in her system if she was going to make it through the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for November and she was feeling overly optimistic about being back in England. But then she heard it...

Her name was being called over and over again as she crossed the street, the voice only getting closer. When she looked up, Lavender saw them and her stomach sank. There was literally no way to avoid this. She took a deep breath and took those last final steps towards Maeve and the adorable seven year old that had Roger's smile.

"Hey, what a coincidence..." she started, giving her a tight smile.

[melodicmaeve]

"Uh huh." Maeve nodded with a slightly awkward smile, aware her daughter was beaming at this outcome. "Sorry, we didn't mean to embarrass you or anything..." Maybe they could all get through this quickly...

"I'm Lily, and you're Lavender. You're friends with my dad!" Or not. It wasn't going to get less embarrassing with the excitement of Lily fuelling it, was it? "But you're meant to be in another country taking pictures! What country were you in?"

Giving the little girl a small squeeze, Maeve tried to work out how to shut Lily up..... and then felt awful for even thinking about it. "I'm sure she's just got back, let's not go overloading her with questions already, sweetie." What was she meant to say now? "I mean it's nice to see you. Visiting family?" Oh great example, tell your daughter not to overload her with questions then ask one yourself.

[lavender_x]

Lavender was about to tell Maeve it was really okay, but Lily was going about a mile a minute. The head rose up in her cheeks, realizing that Roger had told his daughter so much about her.

"I was in a lot of different countries," she explained to Lily, trying to to go into too much detail. But it was hard not to when she was looking up at her with those big eyes.

She turned her attention back to Maeve, trying to get her head on straight.

"Actually, I'm on a new assignment....local. I got back just in time for the Reunion Ball actually," she told her, the words spilling out. Lavender looked from Maeve to Lily and tried to keep that sinking feeling out of her chest. This was a bit of an emotional overload. "I'm back in town...permanently."

[melodicmaeve]

If there was one thing to say for Lily, it was that she was hard to resist at the best of times, never mind when she had her mind set on something she wanted to know more about. Luckily she had a lot of patient adults in her life. Also luckily, she sometimes knew when to just let the adults talk, and she just looked up, looking between her mum and Lavender as they spoke. For now.

"That was good timing. I hope you enjoyed the ball." The ball.... a blonde, a blast from the past, the year below Maeve. The pieces clicked together and she had to stop herself from laughing. "It must have been nice to catch up with Roger, you did catch up, right?" Oh, she was going to have to whack him if he was falling back in love with Lavender. The last thing she wanted was him getting his heart broken if she took off again.

A small voice piped up. "Are you staying with my dad?"