Closed Momma Said Home is Where the Heart Is

Serena Vanderhol

Well-Known Member
Messages
905
OOC First Name
Katie
Wand
Cherry Wand 12 1/2" with Essence of Wood Rose
Age
8/2008
It had been close to a year since the youngest Vanderhol sister had come home. The shop that she owned in France had been doing so well over the last fifteen or so years, so she rarely got the chance to come back to New Zealand, but now that her only child had graduated from Beauxbatons, Serena figured she didn't have to work quite so much and could get back home more often nowadays. The blonde witch wandered around a local park, near her family home. It was a beautiful afternoon. So beautiful that she almost wished she'd taken Katalina up on the offer to go to the beach with her and Cyndi, but Serena knew that it had been a rough year for her sisters oldest friend and that the pair needed the alone time. At times, the youngest Vanderhol was somewhat jealous that she'd never been to a real school, occasionally resenting the friendships that her sister had made, but with the tragedy of losing two of those dear friends, Serena was mildly grateful that she didn't understand that type of heartache. The thirty-nine year old continued to wander aimlessly, really with no destination in mind for the time being. She missed her daughter greatly, but was merely happy with the fact that Schuyler was incredibly busy keeping up the family namesake as the newest beater for the Wimbourne Wasps. Serena had been so incredibly proud of that decision. Katalina had been incredibly proud of that decision. And somewhere, deep in her soul, Serena Vanderhol knew that Harrison Landers would be head over heels in love with the decision.

Sometimes it still hurt down to the bone to know that in the last nineteen years, Harrison had never returned or attempted to make contact with her. Andromeda's death had taken a great toll on those closest to her, but never in a million years did the blonde think that the once love of her life would just pack up without a word and abandon her forever. Of course, things might have been different had Harrison known that his girlfriend had been pregnant at the time, but none of that mattered now. Serena had raised her daughter on her own. Built a business and supported herself on her own. And as proud as that made her, it never quite filled the void that Harrison had left not only in her life, but in Schuyler's as well.
 
Professor Misha Haden had been spending time outside of school, increasingly to get a little away from his new found daughter but also because he had been doing a little digging. Specifically gone to see her mother. They'd had a long conversation and Misha was conflicted-ly happy at the outcome, she was definitely his daughter, and suddenly he had this family life he'd always hoped for. He was a little resentful that she had never said anything, never reached out or contacted him from a fear that he would reject them, but Misha had basked in the stories of Cyzarine growing up. So nice and perfect and he would've loved to see any of it. But he was there now, and with a new motivation to teach and be a better professor he had gone to get new bits and pieces for his classroom. Books and objects that could sit around the room. Pictures of his daughter growing up he could put around his office, he might as well lean into having a daughter now that he had one. They had dinner occasionally, he would get the elves to bring a few plates of stuff from the great hall and they'd eat in his office, it was always a little awkward to start with but his daughter was cheery and friendly and it always picked up.
He had admittedly sat back in life, allowing things to just happen around him and spending very little time seeking any of it out. He was drinking a little less heavily and his life just seemed to be good. Of course, Professor Styx still hadn't killed him so that too was a positive. Misha smiled as he shifted the weight of the books and bags in his hands, he was so concerned with that and making sure he didn't drop any of it, that he wasn't really looking where he was heading, and a duck darting out in front of him and then because he wasn't paying attention, causing himself to trip up over it and drop all of it on to the ground. Misha laughed lightly, checking that the duck was okay before bending down and beginning to repackage up the stuff. He was a charms professor after all, he could do this better and he would manage it, and he could continue on his walk through the park, heading to the last place he wanted to go before heading back to the school.
 
Serena was pulled from her current thoughts by the sounds of a dull thud on the ground. She looked up and saw that a man had dropped a stack of books. She chuckled lightly under her breath and thought Klutzy Kat would approve. The older blonde approached the man and knelt across from him. "Quite a handful you have here. Ruddy duck really should have looked where he was going," she said with a crooked grin as she handed him a couple books.
 
Misha looked up at the person who spoke, a blonde woman whom he might guess was about his age. He gave a little shrug as he began picking them up, and taking the few from her that she was picking up, "Thanks," he said with a fond expression, "I should've just charmed them into my bag, and been able to see where I was heading," he chuckled lightly as he got out his wand and cast a charm on them, making them small enough to put with everything else he had, "Just never imagined a duck would be thing to cause me to fall, especially in front of someone else. If only it had been something cool like a bench, or a bear," he joked with a warm expression, it was evident that he was pretty content with things in his life. The man maybe hadn't been paying attention, but the joy at all he had gathered for his classroom, the small amounts of motivation that the new changes in his life had given him. The little differences it was making, and it was clear in his life this had been the little motivation to get him where he needed to be.
 
(So sorry that I've been absent over the last month. Between the holidays and work and school I've been about to go bonkers. Things are finally slowing down)

Serena laughed gently at the man before her. "My sister used to be far worse, I assure you. Actually, she's still pretty clumsy. I guess her daughter should consider herself lucky that for the most part she's fairly coordinated. Not sure where she gets it from," the blonde said remembering just how incredibly ungraceful her older sister was. Her brown eyes met his and she grinned widely, "Now a bear would have been something else indeed. Imagine the story you could tell with that one." She handed over the last of the books and noticed the titles of some of them. "Bit of light reading or are you a teacher at the school?"
 
Misha laughed light, ”I’m usually pretty good on my feet but when I’m not paying attention it gets a little trickier,” the man chuckled lightly and smiled at the woman. At the question he couldn’t help but laugh again, was it that obvious from him, ”Teacher, I reach at Hogwarts, charms,” the man smiled at her and held out his hand to her, ”Professor Misha Hades but most just call me Misha, students included,” there was an easy and light expression on his features, ”I’ve never been one for formalities,” he knew that he was at a slightly disadvantaged point with her knowing both who he was and what he did but he knew neither about her but he also thought it was probably pretty rude of him to ask what she did for a living, it had been the worst question for him before he’d begun working as a teacher.
 
The blonde chuckled slightly under breath and smiled at the man before her. Serena extended her hand to meet his and shook it. "Pleasure to meet you Misha. I'm Serena. Serena Vanderhol," she said cheerily. "Used to live here in New Zealand until about eighteen years ago. Considering moving back now that my daughter has graduated from school. My parents still live here," she said casually. It occurred to her that she didn't often venture out when she came home to visit. Unless she was with Kat. Somewhere inside of her she feared that she would run into someone she knew and they'd start questioning too much about Schuyler and Harrison and those weren't questions that she was able to face anytime soon or ever at all if she were being honest with herself. "Charms, eh? Never was my strongest subject. I think that was more my sisters speed if I recall correctly. I was more of a potions junky," she said, remembering the time in her second year of homeschooling that she'd gone through three cauldrons from not paying proper attention and mismatching ingredients.
 
Misha shook the woman’s hand smiling as she introduced herself back to him, and thankfully also provided a little back story for herself. He was surprised that she had a daughter who had already graduated, the woman was still so young, definitely around his age. ”Nice to meet you Serena! Did you attend Hogwarts?” he hadn’t gone to Hogwarts, he’d only moved to New Zealand for the job and would happily remain beyond it. ”You should move back to New Zealand, I moved here for the job and honestly you couldn’t pay me to leave. I used to live in Poland before moving here here is much nicer,” the man knew she probably wasn’t going to take on the advice of some guy she’d just met but if she was on the fence a little, he hoped to sway her otherwise, New Zealand was great. At her comment he chuckled lightly, ”Oft potions…” the man pretended to be offended by the statement, ”I don’t think we can be friends Serena if you like potions, my poor charms are very hurt,” the man was smiling easily as he spoke. He of course knew that people’s strong was not always his precious subject but that didn’t mean he couldn’t joke about it. ”I was just always good at charms, and I always wanted to teach so it made sense,” the man admitted with a smile still present on his features. This woman, Serena was nice, he enjoyed talking to her.
 
Serena knew that the answer to his first question was going to sound odd. "Well, yes and no. I attended my first year and then my sixth and seventh year, so I graduated from there. I was homeschooled my second through fifth years," she replied, not sure how confusing that was going to sound. Most people found it odd and honestly so did she, but at the time spattergoit had been no joke so her parents had kept her home. The blonde smiled when she heard him say that she should definitely move back to New Zealand. Serena definitely agreed. She did miss this place. Not that France wasn't beautiful, but this place was home. And even though it held some pretty dark times and memories for her it also contained so many fond memories and her parents were still here. "If I could talk my niece into coming to school here and leaving Beauxbatons then I'd definitely move back in a heart beat. Kat, my sister, is hoping that Matty will change her mind and want to finish at Hogwarts," Serena explained, but she knew better than anyone that Mattyson Harker had a stubborn streak like no other and that changing her mind wasn't going to be so simple. She was so much like Katalina that way. "I've never been to Poland, but I've heard it's a beautiful country," she added. She laughed lightly at his comment about Charms and Potions. "If it helps, I use Charms much more as an adult than I do potions, but there are still times when a wand flourish from me could easily take out an eye," Serena chuckled. It was true, she wasn't very skilled with her wrist movements, even at forty years old. She nodded understandingly as she said he'd always wanted to teach. She knew what it was like to chase a dream. For several years she'd followed her own when she played quidditch, but she'd given it up for a love that simply didn't last. Luckily she got the greatest thing from that love and now watching her daughter following in her footsteps and playing quidditch for the Wasps made her so proud! "I know that feeling well. I played professional quidditch for a few years before my daughter was born. It's always a nice thing to feel as if you've accomplished a dream," she said with a smile.
 
Misha listened as she described her school, it wasn’t the most normal of schooling’s but he couldn’t exactly know what had happened during this years to make her opt for homeschooling, and really Misha didn’t want to pry he had only just met Serena, and though she was nice and she was very beautiful, he knew that it would be way too forward. ”I attended Durmstrang, it’s very different from Hogwarts, people smile more,” the man joked, ”Now, when you were at Hogwarts, was a certain Professor Kalif Styx teaching there, or had he not crawled out of the ground yet?” Misha knew that Kalif had been working there a while, but he was just curious as to if this woman who had to be younger than him had probably attended right around when he started. At the suggestion of moving back he gave a little smile, beauxbatons was a fine school, definitely a good school, but he could understand why she’d want to remain near her family, her sister and the niece. He had mostly fallen out of contact with his family. Though of course the emergence of Cyzarine and his old partner had forced him to go see them a little, at least to inform them that they were grandparents again. ”You’ve met me just in time Serena, I’m a really great teacher and I’m really good at wand flourishes.” the man had a smirk on his face as he spoke. Misha nodded when she said she had played quidditch before her daughter had been born, ”You could definitely play again, you’re what twenty, twenty five at best,” the man replied with a wink with as he joked with her.
 
Serena couldn't help it. It was a knee jerk reaction when she heard the name Durmstrang. The only good thing she knew to come from there was Harrison and his group of friends who had been there to protect Andy after she'd been tortured terribly for the brief time she'd attended. Other than that she'd heard nothing, but horror stories about the place and even remembered the jackhole that had messed around with her older sister in her third year. All that Serena Vanderhol knew was that nothing good came from that school. She tried to real in her emotional response, but she was sure that her face gave her away. "Durmstrang, eh? I've heard of it," was all that she replied quickly. The blonde blinked a few times before shaking those thoughts from her head. Serena thought on it for a moment. "Doesn't he teach Herbology? I want to say that he was teaching there while I attended. Rather odd man and not very friendly, am I correct," she asked, hoping she wouldn't offend Misha, but as far as she knew the Styx family had dark ties and she hadn't heard of or met one yet that had been overly pleasant to be around for any significant amount of time. The former Gryffindor smirked slightly as she heard Misha say that they'd met just in time. "Well how lucky for me that you weren't paying much attention to where you were going today. I might just be in assistance of a lesson or two." She gazed at him briefly. He was quite handsome, but she'd just met him and of course trusting men was a hard thing for her to do, but this man seemed nice enough for the time being, though she expected she'd probably ever see him again once she parted ways. She'd never been a pursuer. It just wasn't her nature. At least not anymore. A loud chuckle escaped her. "Oh Misha, I could kiss you for saying that. I won't, but I could. That's very kind of you to say. I'll be forty in August. This old lady has officially retired her uniform. I'm more than content watching my daughter chase her dreams now." And she meant it. Schuyler had been her entire world for the last eighteen years. She wanted nothing more than for her to soar, both literally and figuratively. Her brown eyed, blonde haired, stubborn child was the reason for her entire existence and she loved watching her accomplish everything. If only Harrison could see her now she thought, leaving a slightly bitter taste in her mouth.
 
Misha had long since grown used the reaction to his old school, Misha had had a fair time at the place, it was one of his old professors that had inspired him to pursue teaching himself. It wasn’t the best school, a whole host of problems that perhaps been solved since he’d left school, ”Durmstrang isn’t for everyone,” the man replied with a little shrug, he felt like he’d managed to come out the other side just fine. ”He teaches defence against the dark arts now, and he’s still pretty grumpy, but we’re friends,” the man replied with a little shrug, ”I’m determined to find out both how old he is and how long he’s been at the school, because the I don’t believe the official line,” the man told her with a little shrug, nudging her slightly with a wide grin. The man nodded at her, ”Extremely lucky,” the man smirked easily at it. He thought it was a little said that she considered herself an old lady, since she was about his age, ”I could show you over dinner sometime?” the man asked her with a little grin. He knew it was moving perhaps a little fast, but she was about his age, she was pretty and friendly, and he thought it was better to just jump in than waiting around. Things were going well for him anyway, and he lost nothing from rejection from her. This woman, serena was nice, and he felt like there was nothing better than just letting himself just live easily. He couldn’t imagine not keepping with dreams, but perhaps that would change for him now that he had a daughter. At the very least he was in a prime position to keep an eye on her during her schooling and teaching have always been his dream.
 
Serena felt herself do something that was very out of character for her. Blushed. The blonde hadn't blushed since the first time she'd met Harrison all those years ago. "Dinner?" She questioned with a crooked smile. Serena hadn't been on a first date in well over twenty years. Her last first date had been with the father of her child and then after he disappeared she was either too busy providing for her small family of two or she just wasn't interested. Putting herself out there again was almost more than she could bear, but Schuyler was now graduated and had a career of her own. There was absolutely no reason why Serena couldn't enjoy a dinner out with a handsome man. It wasn't as if they would run off and get married anytime soon, if at all, and she deserved nights out every now and again. "I think dinner sounds perfect. The company might not be too shabby either," she said with a bright grin.
 
Misha smiled at her, it was a little forward, but he was older and didn’t want to waste time. Plus, she was a beautiful woman, and she had a nice laugh and smile, he wanted nothing more than to get to know her, so dinner would be all good. There was no reason to not go out and enjoy her company. ”Excellent, how’s Friday sound?” the man asked, already half planning where to take her on this date, he would make an effort, dress fancy and be a proper grown up adult about it, ”Not too shabby, I’ll take it,” he laughed lightly. The man was surprised by how keen he was for it. How eager he found himself being at the upcoming date that they were going to be having. She was nice and it would be a good night, even if they never saw each other again, Misha was determined to be more bold, to interact more with people and to just date a little more. He couldn’t just be alone forever, he didn’t want that at all. He looked at his watch and realised he was beginning to run a bit late, ”Serena, I’ll owl you! My students await!” he grinned happily at her as he proceeded to rush off in the direction where he could apparate in peace.
 

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