absentminded

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera was feeling a little distant this morning. It was the time between christmas and new year, a sort of downtime of the year. today she was going into obsidian harbour, she needed to pick up some herbs from the apothecary, she needed to get some things from the apothecary, and she needed to get some more parchment and quills and she needed to get a couple more presents for the girls for their first birthday. it was now mid morning and the girls were starting to get restless. she stopped at a bench on the side of the harbour and reached out two yoghurts and two spoons out of her bag, a strawberry one her helliana and vanilla for selene. with the two girls facing her in their double pram she alternated spoonfuls between them. after a year she had gotten fairly good at handling the two of them on her own, and could let her mind wander. she was thinking about how much she was missing. she was thinking about Ava and nicholas's wedding, she was so used to seeing things before they happened she was shocked she missed something that big. She wondered if she could have changed it if she had forewarning. She knew that wasn't how things worked, but she wondered if it could have been. "Here comes the firebolt" she said sending the strawberry yoghourt into helliana's mouth. "Make way for the flying horse" she said a moment later as a vanilla laden spoon went into selenes she remembered something else she had also missed. she had only found out the other day from a small article in the daily prophet that a good friend was now married and had a son. she had know it was coming for years but it didn't mean it hadn't come as a shock. she was so distracted she didn't even realise she had reached the bottom of the tub until she attempted to give selene an empty spoon, and she refused to take it. "Sorry" she said putting the spoon away and stroking her hair, ending with pinching her cheek before copying the action for helianna. that was one thing about the two of them. If she gave Helli attention selene would be fine and happy on hr own, however if she gave just selene attention helli would cry unless she got at least the same back.

 

[Deianira Strati]

Deianira left with a wide smile from the job interview she had just attented. Her portofolio had collected positive reviews and encouraging comments. She was at cloud nine as she was walking with starry eyes down the harbor with her dossier held tightly in her arms. Finally her efforts were paying off. She had been dreaming of becoming a fashion designer for witches and wizards ever since she had graduated from school. Deianira was prepared that it wasn't going to be easy. There were accomplished designers out there making a world wide impact with their work and she had been feeling like the smallest fish in the pond. However today she received a nice job proposal of good pay and attractive incentives, which could only be the start of great things for her. It was a life dream to dress the most popular witches and wizards, quidditch players and of course, introduce nice and cheap ideas for those who didn't have enough money. She was young, full of ideas and ready to work hard. She was just remembering of ideas she hadn't recalled during the interview to mention as she was walking down the harbor with no particular destination. She thought that she should celebrate this but she didn't have many friends except from relatives in New Zealand. She had sacrificed her life back in Greece, her friends, even her two years relationship but the last one was a hopeless case anyway. Her new life began with the best possible way.

Deianira had planned to meet with her cousin Athena for lunch and she couldn't wait to tell her about today's success. The interview had ended earlier than expected and now she had too much time at her disposal. Not really wanting to return back home and change her outfit, she purchased her favorite berry smoothie from a cafe and continued her walk until she found an empty bench next to an occupied one, facing the sea. She had a seat, crossed her legs and her grey eyes got lost in the vastness of the ocean. She took a sip from her smoothie as she watched a flock of seagulls flying in rounds above the water, until her attention was drawn by the woman at the bench next to her. As soon as she noticed those twins in that double pram, she felt her heart melting and a warm smile stretching on her face. This must have been how she must have looked like with her twin brother when they were toddlers. Deianira had a soft spot for children. She had been creating clothes for them as well and one day she wanted to be a mother herself. She couldn't stop beaming as she watched the woman with the raven, black hair feeding her babies. "Aww! They are so cute! Blessed be!" She couldn't help but to say that. They were both adorable. "How old are they?" She asked the self evident question she was doing every time she was seeing parents with their young children.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera didn't notice the young lady sit on the bench next to hers until she spoke. she looked up and saw a pretty blonde girl there. She hastened to move her bage before realising that the lady already had oleanty of space and was just commenting on how cute her girls were. "Thank you." she said smiling. there was something about having a baby with you that drew attention she had felt it whenever she had been looking after her neice, however since becoming a mother herself she had found that twins brought with them even more attention. it was surprising how quickly you got used to it. "they will be turning one next week, that is Heliana, and that is her older sister selene" she said, first of all gesturing to the baby nearest the lady with, the girl with brown hair and grey eyes and then to the other baby coloured more like her mother with dark hair and odd eyes, one violet and one grey. yes the answer was more than the question required but Elvera found this answered the three questions most people asked, or wanted to ask, in one. How old are they? What are they called? and who is the oldest?
"is that a greek accent? what brings you so far from home" she asked, deciding she should keep the conversation going and she was curious if she was right.

 

[Deianira Strati]

Deianira listened with a smile as the woman spoke of the twins' names and ages. "Oh! Happy birthday to them." She wished them upon hearing that they were going to turn one in a week. "And what beautiful names! I love the association with the sun and the moon." Deianira said and looked both at the twins and their mother to see the resemblance. "They do look like you. Especially Selene." She noted as not only both mother and daughter had different colored eyes but also the rest of their facial features were pretty similar. Deianira noticed that the woman had one green and one purple eye, whereas the baby girl had a purple and a grey one. The other twin had both grey and she reminded a lot of herself when she was one year young. Deianira was born with fair brown hair, now thanks to transfiguration charms, turned into blonde. The babies had darker wisps of hair, matching that of their mother.

"I have a twin as well but he's a guy." She shared as photos of her and her brother in a double pram, included in family's albums, were really similar to these little girls. "It's good that they are both girls. My brother was annoyingly overprotective." She admitted, remembering all those times he was ruining her dates or when he was snitching to their parents her plans of sneaking out of the house and meet with friends at night. Of course she was always the grounded one while he was a boy and could hang out with his friends all Saturday night long. "Maybe they would have a row over toys and later over clothes." She predicted but still a twin sister was better over a nosy brother constantly teasing. Deianira adored her twin regardless, especially now that they were adults minding their separate lives. She glanced surprised at the woman but she flashed an embarrassed smile when she pointed out about her accent. "How could you tell?" She wondered impressed. It was easy to tell that she wasn't from New Zealand but to pinpoint exactly from where she was coming was remarkable. "You're right." She nodded fascinated. "It's not the first time I visit here but this time I'm planning to stay permanently. A new chapter in my life. I just got my first job!" She beamed passionately and held her dossier. It was funny that she was celebrating this with a complete stranger but she was feeling comfortable, despite knowing her for a couple of minutes. "How about you? Are you from around here? I'm Deianira by the way." She also introduced herself as they gradually engaged into a conversation.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

"thank you. Most people don't realise the sun and the moon connection." she said. not really surprised but also a little surprised. "Helli looks a lot like my twin sister" she said smiling. Eden was a warmer looking girl where she had a more milky tone. "I am lucky i am the oldest. but i was not raised with my sisters so we never had that problem by the time we met, well when we learned we were twins we were adults." she said. "so I will have the fall outs to look forward to. at the moment they get on well. but then less than a year old i think they are happy as long as they have hugs and food" she said. There was cirtainly parts of their personality are coming through. Helli seemed more outgoing where as Lena was quiet and more introspective.
as the lady questioned how she recognised her accent she smiled "I had a good firend and former colleague who was greek, and i have a couple of greek students" she said. it had been a long time since she had seen icarus but just a hint of a similar accent reminded her of his voice. "Congratulations" she said when the lady said that she had got her first job over here. "What do you do?" she asked. "you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. she said realising that it really wasn't any of her business. but the girl seemed nice and despite being continuously being surrounded by people she really didn't socialise as much as she should.
when the lady asked where she was from and introduced herself she nodded "right, we know our lives stories, but not our names. It is nice to meet you Deianira, I am Elvera, Elvera Le Fey. she said. I am originally from england, but have been living here since i was eleven. she said, her english accent although still there was less dominant than it once was. she looked at the girls and they seemed to be starting to fall asleep. that was good hopefully. Selene had started to not sleep well at all, and woke up frequently in the night crying from bad dreams, and of course that woul wake heliana up.maybe a daytime nap would work better for her.

 

[Deianira Strati]

Deianira listened in fascination as Elvera told her about the twin sister she only get to know when she was an adult. She was sure it was a nice story to hear but Deianire didn't know the woman well enough to request her to tell it. "That must be a memorable experience. The day you found out you have a twin sister." She limited herself to saying. Her face lit up with curiosity when Elvera said that she had a Greek friend and students, and that's why she recognized her accent in the first place. "Students?" She repeated thoughtfully. "Are you teaching at Hogwarts?" She asked even more curiously now. "My brother used to teach flying at Hogwarts and a few of my cousins are also studying there." She said almost convinced that she was referring to them. The Greek wizarding community of New Zealand was a small one. Its members knew each other and Deianira was pretty positive that no other Greek apart from her brother, had ever taught at Hogwarts.

"Thank you!" She said when Elvera congratulated her for getting her first job. Deianira had no problem at all to tell her what was her new occupation. She opened the dossier in her hands to reveal several of her animated drawings. Of men and women wearing the clothes she was designing. "I'm a fresh fashion designer." She explained as she slowly flipped through her portfolio. "Both designing and tailoring." She said as she was searching for a particular drawing. "This is my personal favorite." She showed her the drawing of a young witch on high heels dressed in a black, spangly catsuit with one shoulder exposed. The outfit was completed with a cloak, waving behind the drawn woman as her sketch was continuously walking forwards on the paper. The cloak was had a moving night sky pattern with twinkling stars. As for accessories, two wide, silver bracelets were rotating around the woman's wrists in the sketch. "This is mostly for professional duelists who want to make an impression with their appearance." She explained as a shooting star crossed the inside of the sketch's cloak. "My twin is a professional duelist so I could have a few of his colleagues as future customers." She continued with her business flair. "I would also like to design for children." She looked at Elvera's twins. "Clothes enchanted with automatic protective or lulling charms. Now that would make a lot of mothers happy." Deianira disclosed her next career plan now that she had signed with a fashion house.

Their life stories were pretty similar. Elvera might have been for a much longer period of her life in New Zealand but she came originally from Europe as well. Deianira could identify with her. It was a new life in a new country, a new career, maybe a new family as well. She wanted to have her own family one day but she considered herself young to get married soon and have children. It was a long-term plan for sure. "Did you met your husband here as well?" She carried on their conversation.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Elvera smiled when deianira said that it must be a memorable experience. "truly was an interesting day" she said. people always said luck comes in threes, it was certainly true that day. graduation, finding Eden, and becoming a seer. it was hard to sat what the best bit of the day was.
It seemed Deianira knew about the school over here. as she asked is she taught at Hogwarts. "yes, I teach divination there" she said. she would rather just say she taught divination than she was deputy headmistress, although she knew it as sort of the laughing stock of the subjects, but she didn't mind, she loved it and that was all that mattered. however when she said her brother used to teach flying. she was a little surprised. "you are Icarus's sister" she said more you of surprise than anything. she couldn't remember him saying that h had a sister, he had mentioned a brother but not a sister. maybe she had missed it. "will you say hello to him from me and the girls" she said. she had the feeling that icarus didn't know she had the girls, she hadn't seen him since before she was pregnant and she hadn't contacted him since but there was a chance that he may have heard from someone else.
elvera watched as the lady flicked through a file and found a picture of a lady in a catsuit. and described that she was a fashion designer. "that is a fantastic outfit" she watched as the lady posed on the page. "that is awesome. i am sure some of his colleagues would like something designed for them." she said. as the lady mentioned that she was thinking of expanding into children's clothing. and incorporating enchantments into it. "that is a great idea. soothing spells would be a great for Selene at night. and with Heliana on the move a protection spell would be real useful' she said.
as the conversation turned back to her had shook her head. "I didn't meet my husband here." she said she knew there would be a lot of people who would think bad of her. but it was what her mother had done, and had run in the family almost as a family curse. "I am not married." she said, shaking her head a little almost indiscreetly.