Closed Every Turn Brings Us Closer to Home

[Weston Stirling]

As far as Weston was concerned, the coolest part of his parents' jobs was all the traveling they got to do. They were always receiving invitations to random conferences and lectures around the world, and he couldn't understand why they didn't try and attend all of them. He had tagged along with them on a couple of these trips when he was younger, and actual conference aside, they had always been fun experiences. Of course, those family trips had become increasingly rare after Weston had started at Hogwarts. But this week, at least, everything had finally aligned. He was on break, and his dad had been invited to give a lecture at the National University of Singapore. There was also apparently some large science conference happening this week that a lot of his parents' friends from grad school would be attending.

They were at that conference now, and Weston was waiting impatiently for his parents to finish catching up with their friends. Conference centers tended to look the same no matter the city, and he was eager to actually see Singapore. Still, he knew he would likely be there a while, so he decided to wander around. The hall was a flurry of activity as attendees chattered and set up research posters. Weston was surveying the hall when he spotted a girl about his age. She'd caught his attention, not just because it was a bit unusual to see someone under the age of 20 at these things, but because she looked a lot like one of his friends from Hogwarts. And then he realized it was his friend. "Indi?" he called, moving closer to her, a note of incredulity in his voice.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi was frustrated. Traveling to conferences, no matter where they were, was something she had always done with her mom when she was able. It was something that they did together. Together and alone. She had known about the trip to Singapore before she had even come home from Hogwarts and had been one of the big reasons she had been able to push through her exams. But of course, the moment she got home they told her the whole truth. Her stepfather was also presenting a paper on whatever he was up to in his lab. The same lab she had stolen a pair of safety goggles from so she could use them during potions lessons. Now both him and Anisha had to come to.

Indi was far too old for tantrums but the urge had been strong and instead she gave her mom the silent treatment for a week. Now that they were here and as much as she liked what she had seen of the city she was determined not to have fun. She had managed to ditch her mom and sister and was spending the boring part of the day walking around the hall trying to see if any of the other presentations were interesting. But it was all boring and eventually she found a bench to sulk on. With a heavy sigh she counted the days till she was back at school. When she heard her name she frowned, thinking her mom or sister had found her but it was a boys voice. Her head snapped up and she spotted who it was immediately. "Weston?" she asked, just as shocked as he sounded and looked. "What are you doing here?"

 

[Weston Stirling]

Even as he called out to the girl, Weston was half-expecting this to simply be a case of mistaken identity. He was at a conference for adult muggle scientists in a random city in Asia. There was no way this person could actually be Indi, who he was pretty sure came from a magical family and who was definitely not from this continent, much less this country. But then the girl recognized him. "What am I doing here?" Weston repeated. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived in Australia." He realized almost instantly that this was a very dumb thing to say. Half the people at this conference were not from Singapore. He was not from Singapore. Still, he couldn't quite wrap his mind around seeing one of his Hogwarts friends here. "Do you... know someone here?" It was the only explanation he could think of. As smart as Indi was, Weston was pretty sure she was not hiding a secret university degree and actually participating in the conference.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi stood up quickly once Weston got a bit closer, still unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her. But she was quickly assured it was really him when he started to ask questions. "I do live in Australia." she clarified and wasn't sure what that had to do with both of them happening to be be at the same place at the same time. "Of course." she said when he asked if she knew someone here. As smart as she liked to think she was, there really wasn't any other plausible explanation. She hardly understood half of what her mom or stepfather were talking about most of the time and for the hundredth time she wished Astrology, their only science course at Hogwarts, was even a little bit challenging. "My mom and stepdad are both presenting papers." she said explained. "Now what are you doing here?" Indi asked. She would assume that he was here for the same reasons but she never remembered him mentioning his parents were academics before.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha couldn't believe her parents had dragged her all the way to this conference. It was so boring. After exploring the venue and stealing a few of the free snacks that were out, Anisha was ready to go home. This place was just full of dull adults talking about dull things, though she knew her parents really cared a lot about it. Anisha wished Indi had just gone with their mum like they used to, it had been great to be at home alone and do whatever she wanted. But now they all had to be here for some reason. At least it was better than having Indi stay home and watch her, but only slightly.

Anisha was looking for her sister, hoping to at least have some fun annoying her. She barely saw her sister throughout the year, as Indi spent her time at Hogwarts. Anisha barely remembered a time when that wasn't the case, and she liked it that way. Indi had made no secret of not liking her, so Anisha had long ago decided to like her sister even less. She was pretty sure she was winning. Anisha finally found her sister sitting on a bench and talking to someone. She stopped in place, watching them for a moment. This was a boy, and Anisha was pretty sure Indi liked him because she got up to talk to him from even closer. Anisha hesitated for only a moment before heading over, a smile on her face. "Indi!" She called from a small distance. "There you are." She said as she stopped next to her, giving her a grin before looking at the boy she was talking to. "Who is this? Is he your boyfriend?" She asked eagerly, grinning at him.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston blinked. "Wait, your parents are muggles?" He admittedly didn't pay much attention to his friends' blood status, but he had always assumed Indi came from a magical family. "My dad," he explained. "He's giving a lecture at NUS. And he and my mum have some friends who are presenting here." The initial shock was starting to wear off, and Weston grinned, glad that she was here. While people-watching at conferences could be fun, he'd much rather hang out with a friend. "So have you been in Singapore all week then?"

Before he could pepper her with questions about what she'd seen of the city so far, another girl approached them. Weston automatically smiled at her, but his expression quickly morphed into one of confusion. "What?" He glanced at Indi before looking back at the other girl. "No, I'm her friend. Who are you?" The obvious answer was that this girl was Indi's sister. But Weston wasn't even sure if Indi had any siblings. There was the chance that she had mentioned one before, but he had never been great at keeping track of his friends' personal lives.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi felt the same strange feeling in her gut that she got every time she had to think of her father. She had never met the man and knew very little about him. She also knew he didn’t matter when it came to Weston’s question but she couldn’t shake off the thought of him completely. “My mother is a witch but she works at the University of Melbourne and so does my step-father. But he’s a muggle.” she explained and was unsurprised when Weston had a similar explanation. “What’s his field of study?” she asked curiously and nodded when he asked if she had been here all week. “Yeah we’ve been here for a while now.” Indi explained just as she heard a familiar voice call her name and she tensed up immediately.

How had she found them? She was supposed to be with mom. All the blood drained from her face as Anisha asked if Weston was her boyfriend. “Shut up!” she hissed. “He’s my friend. Shouldn’t you be with mom?” Indi asked sharply. She glanced at Weston who was no doubt confused and with a frown she attempted to introduce them. “This is my sister, Anisha.” she said dryly. “And she’s leaving now.” Indi said and tried to grab her sister’s shoulders and gradually push her back in the direction she came from.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Opportunities to embarrass Indi were few and far between, so Anisha relished this one for a moment. It was her job as the little sister, after all. "Are you sure you're not?" She asked the boy, tilting her head. "I'm her sister. Duh." She added, gesturing between them. There was no mistaking the likeness between them, she knew, even though they were only half-sisters technically. Anisha turned to Indi. "No, mum told me you had to watch me for a bit. She's busy talking to important people." She said though it wasn't entirely true. The last part was, but she hadn't technically said Indi should watch her. "Does she know you're friends with boys?" She asked, dodging out of the way of Indi's hands.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston nodded at Indi's explanation. That made sense. His own family was very similar; his dad was a muggle professor and his mum was a witch who worked in the muggle world. "History," he said, very aware of how ironic it was that his worst subject happened to be his dad's area of expertise. In his defense, the history his dad studied was much more interesting than the stuff taught at Hogwarts. Weston's eyes lit up when Indi mentioned that she'd been here a while. Hopefully she had some recommendations for places to visit.

For some reason, the girl didn't seem to believe him. "Yes?? I'm sure." He shot Indi another confused look. Had she said otherwise? After the fights with Eoin and Zay and the unexpected pink rose from Valeria, Weston had quickly learned that friendships could be complicated. But he'd always thought he knew where he stood with Indi. "I'm Weston," he said, introducing himself to Anisha. He frowned slightly when Indi tried to push her away. "She doesn't have to go..." he started, trailing off when Anisha started to say something to Indi about their mum. After spending the past four years thinking Indi was an only child, Weston had a lot of questions, and he hoped Anisha would stick around.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi’s eyes lit up a bit as Weston said his father studied history. She had several questions she wanted to ask, like what period of history and what kind of research he did, but her sister’s presence made it impossible. “I am very sure.” she said through gritted teeth when she again if Weston was her boyfriend. She felt her face flush with embarrassment as he also repeated his answer. She hated that her friend was put in an awkward position and she glared at her sister. “It doesn’t matter that I’m friends with boys. I got to a school full of boys.” Indi said exasperatedly when Anisha asked if their mother knew. She turned back to Weston when he said her sister didn’t have to leave. “Trust me. She does.” she said seriously. He had no idea how annoying she could be and the thought of having her two worlds overlap any more than they had today would make her go fully crazy. “Go away. You’re old enough to walk around by yourself. You don’t need me to hold your hand.” Indi told her sister firmly with hands on her hips.