Closed Comfortable Companionship

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber was delighted to work in Obsidian Harbour this break with both her sister and girlfriend also having jobs there. Sophie now worked at Flourish and Blotts, while Ainsley had gotten a job at Ollivander's which Amber was very happy about. Now her lunch break was a lot more fun, and sometimes she and Sophie could to go to work together. Things between Amber and her sister had relaxed a lot over the past years, with the resentment between them finally out in the open there had been time to heal. Sophie was still a grumpy girl who could really do with a smile more often, but Amber wasn't going to say that to her. Today was a fairly nice day, for winter, so Amber and Sophie were sitting on a bench together while eating their lunch. Amber had packed them both the same thing, as she had been making her own anyway. She glanced over at Sophie who was reading a book while eating, a habit their parents had never liked. "Did you just buy that one?" She asked, as she couldn't recall seeing her sister with a book when they left. "Doesn't that kind of defeat the point of working in a book store?" She added with a small laugh. "Buying the merchandise?" She glanced up to see if she could spot Ainsley yet, but hoped to have some small talk with Sophie while she waited for her to arrive.

 

[Sophie Wilson]

It wasn’t an easy thing to admit, but Sophie didn’t entirely mind spending more time with her sister lately. The fact that they both had jobs in Obsidian Harbour now made it easy to spend time together even when they were away from the house, and Sophie didn’t mind. It beat sitting around on her own at the very least. The girl was enjoying her new job in the bookstore, though she really wished she didn’t have to deal with the customers so much. Her ideal job would just be to sit and read, or organize books all day, but that wasn’t very realistic. Before leaving on her break today she hadn’t quite managed to resist buying a book, something Amber noticed. Sophie sighed and glanced up at her question, one eyebrow raised. “No, it is the point of working in a bookstore.” She said dryly. Then she noticed someone approach and smiled slightly. “Besides, you can stop bothering me now. Your girlfriend is here, and she’s even wearing shoes.” Sophie could still remember the first time she had seen Amber and Ainsley together, after Amber’s first year right here in Obsidian Harbour. It felt like a long time ago, and she remembered how rude she had been to Ainsley back then. Thankfully, the girl never seemed to hold it against her. Though Sophie told herself she didn’t really care what she thought. She was Amber’s girlfriend, but nothing to her. Sophie simply nodded in greeting before looking back at the pages of her book.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Having a job was even more fun and rewarding than Ainsley had expected, but it did get tiring, especially having to talk to so many people, all at once. After a few hours she was always feeling a bit frazzled and overstretched, and it was a relief to be able to take her breaks with Amber on days they were both working. While other people wound Ainsley up and made her more tense, Amber somehow always managed to calm her back down, help her find her center again and relax. It was nice to see more of Amber's sister too. After so long together with Amber, Ainsley felt like she really should know Sophie better, and hopefully this would be a good way to do just that. She beamed as she spotted Amber and Sophie, hurrying over with a bright smile on her face. "Hi!" Ainsley said cheerfully, plopping into the seat next to Amber. "Sorry, someone else came in just as I was heading out for my break... how are you guys?" She asked, opening her own lunch as she talked. Ainsley had never had a lunchbox before, having never gone to school before Hogwarts, and it was exciting to see what they were like. A box full of lunch was a pretty useful thing to have! Glancing over, she spotted Sophie reading a book, and peered around more, unable to see the cover properly. "What are you reading?" She asked, hoping to find some common ground with the younger girl.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber was glad when Sophie didn’t get angry with her for her teasing. It was still relatively new territory for the sisters, as even a few weeks ago they surely would have gotten into a fight over a comment like that. But Amber was starting to understand Sophie better, and she thought Sophie understood her more too. “So that’s why you applied, I see.” She said with a smile. Sophie’s next words were surely intended to distract her, but it worked. Amber turned around so quickly she nearly fell off the bench, beaming at the sight of Ainsley approaching. Even though she saw her girlfriend a lot, she still had to marvel at how tall she was occasionally. Her red hair also made her easy to spot in a crowd. "Hi!" Amber put an arm around her as she sat next to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She chose to ignore the face Sophie pulled at that gesture. Amber smiled at Ainsley. “I have some biscuits left over from my own lunch, do you want one?” In truth, she had packed too many just for this chance, but she was a little shy about letting Ainsley know that. She thought it was sweet that Ainsley asked Sophie about what she was reading, though she also wished her attention was more on her.

 

[Sophie Wilson]

Sophie expected the arrival of Ainsley to make her lunch break a whole lot quieter, as she and Amber probably had a ton to catch up on. Sophie made a show of pulling a face as Amber kissed her girlfriend’s cheek, even though she actually found it kind of sweet. It did make her a little sad, as it made her think of her recent breakup with her boyfriend. It had been amicable and without any drama, but that didn’t mean it didn’t leave her feeling a bit melancholy in the face of such obvious love. “I’m fine.” She muttered in response to Ainsley. Amber was so caught up in trying to feed her girlfriend biscuits she had so obviously packed for her that she didn’t even answer the simple question. Sophie prepared to dive back into her book to give them some privacy, but was surprised when Ainsley showed an interest in what she was reading. Sophie showed the older girl the book cover by way of answer. “It’s a book about some of the Daily Prophet’s most innovative journalists back in the day. And what they accomplished.” She said, not sure if Ainsley would know anything about it. “It’s research.” She added. Sophie was taking over from Lennon as editor of the Hogwarts paper, and she took this very seriously.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Cuddling up to Amber a little, Ainsley smiled as she returned the kiss to her girlfriend's cheek. It was nice, to be able to meet up with Amber like this over the holidays. It made the time away from school less lonely. "Oh, yes please!" She smiled in response to Amber's offer, wishing she had thought to bring something to share. Ainsley's lunch was just leftover quiche from last night though, and she didn't think that would be especially appealing to share. She listened to Sophie talking about the book she was reading, nodding. "Oh, that sounds interesting!" She had seen in the last issue of the Hogwarts Monthly that Sophie was going to be taking it over. "I bet you'll be in a book like that one day."

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

As Ainsley cuddled up to her side, Amber glanced around a little to see who was around. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed to be seen with her girlfriend, but it was still a little strange to be so open in public. The girl grinned when Ainsley said she did want a biscuit. It had been what she had expected, and she happily handed the girl the biscuit she had been saving for her. She listened as Ainsley talked to Sophie about her book, a small smile on her face. It was both nice and a little strange to see her girlfriend and sister interact. They did have a love for books in common, something Amber didn’t share. She nodded in agreement with Ainsley’s last statement. “Definitely.” She said brightly. “No, they’ll make a whole book about you instead.” She said with a grin.

 

[Sophie Wilson]

Sophie carefully put her bookmark at the place she had stopped at, and closed the book. It didn’t seem like she was going to get much more reading in on this break, but she had to admit to herself she didn’t mind that a whole lot. Sophie had always felt a little detached from Amber and her perfect life. It was nice to be included, and to see that it maybe wasn’t as perfect and untouchable as she had thought. She ignored the cute biscuit talk, but nodded when Ainsley said it sounded interesting. A blush appeared on her cheeks at her next words, worsened by Amber. “Right, no pressure.” She said, rolling her eyes. But deep down she was pleased with their kind words.