Leaving for the day

[Leah Winters]

((I need to find my perfect font...)
It was a cool morning, a day to get out and get some much needed grocery shopping. Leah missed the days when Ioan would bring groceries to the apartment, but it was time to manage on her own. Her funds were diminishing somewhat, but luckily she had found a job. Ashton, unfortunately was not of working age so it was up to her to keep her job. It was a little depressing having to act as a parent and work, but she was an adult and it had to be done.

Leah yawned a little as she exited the door. She hadn't slept much last night and it was now that she was beginning to feel the effects of lack of a good nights sleep. Regardless she turned and locked the door with a murmur of a spell, and began on her way. She could go to Obsidian Harbour, or to the small General Store around this area. The Harbour was a bit of a walk, but the General Store was only moments away. The General Store was muggle owned, however. Leah stopped walking and thought for a moment.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene had not woken up in a great mood. She had been having tons of weird dreams lately, mostly about her brother. Last night's had been one of the oddest to date. She'd dreamt that she and Ioan were sitting in the Dinette and Lorin was running around all over the place. Girl after girl had entered the place and Ioan kept getting distracted and when Irene looked around again Lorin was gone. She'd panicked and been about to run out to go search for him, but Ioan had grabbed her and said in an ominous tone that 'It was time he told her.' She had woken up with a start before she could find out exactly what it was he wanted to tell her.

After shaking off the dream, Irene had decided to go outside. The air was much cooler and it woke her up even more. Lost in her thoughts, Irene hardly noticed that a girl had stopped in the middle of the walkway until she was nearly on her. Stopping short, Irene stepped around the girl, rolling her bright blue eyes slightly at the younger woman before she turned her head and continued walking.

 

[Leah Winters]

It would have to be the General Store, Leah realized. She was dreadfully exhausted and since that was closer it would have to do, Muggle Owned or not. Perhaps since it was fairly early in the morning she would have minimal contact with many non magical folk. Muggles had gotten where they annoyed her and she wished to avoid them at all costs, lest she be tempted to use her wand on them. Leah looked up for a second and noticed a woman coming her way.

She looks familiar. She thought with interest. She couldn't place if they had ever met...or if they had then where? They had to have met somehow but she couldn't think of where. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Leah was not one to stop a busy Witch or Wizard in the street and inquire about something so foolish, but for some reason she felt like she had to ask. When the woman reached her, she promptly walked around Leah with rolled eyes. Alright. I'll ignore that. She thought feeling a bit patient. "Excuse me." She said politely. "I feel like we've met before, although I don't remember you."

 

[Irene Finch]

As she heard the younger woman say something behind her, Irene turned around. She knows me? she wondered to herself, pretty sure that she'd never seen the woman before in her life. Narrowing her blue eyes, Irene thought for a brief second and then shrugged her shoulders, not really wanting to put in the energy to figure out if they truly did know each other. It was too early for all of that.

She could tell that the woman wasn't a muggle, so it was likely that they had crossed paths at one time or another, though where exactly that was was anybody's guess. "Maybe you've seen me at the Dinette...I own the place. Or at the Ministry?" she said with a slight lift in her eyebrow.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah stared at the woman racking her brain trying to figure out where she had seen her. The woman looked very familiar yet it seemed impossible to place where she had seen her. "I've never been to the Dinette, and I've only visited the Ministry once, and you certainly were not there." Of course, she had gone to the Ministry in the very early hours of the morning when not to many people were on the clock. She figured she'd remember the woman if they had seen each other at the Ministry, for what had happened there made the memory burn clearly every day.

"Maybe a name would help." Leah offered. "I'm Leah Winters."

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene listened to the girl's response and lifted her eyebrow at the attitude she detected in the younger woman's voice. When she heard her name, Irene briefly recalled hearing both her brother and Link mention a Leah, but she didn't remember ever hearing a last name attached. Since she herself had a cousin named Leah, she knew that it was a rather popular name and didn't think too much of it, though the thought still nagged her as she spoke.

"Perhaps you weren't allowed onto my floor" she smirked. Her job with the ministry wasn't terribly important. All she did was teach the students of the school to apparate, deal with splinchings and occassionally assist with floo network travel. Ms. Winters didn't know that though. "I'm Irene...Irene Finch" she said easily, not offering her hand to the woman. "Does it help?" she asked, her tone only slightly nicer mostly because she was curious to see where Leah supposedly thought she knew her from. If she didn't find out, it would only bother her all day so she hoped that Leah would remember something.

 

[Leah Winters]

((OMFG I love 'Since you've been gone'))

Leah crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Irene Finch. She was most definitely a rude one, of course so was Leah so she let it drop for now and focused on the situation at hand. Finch was the last name of Ioan.... and suddenly she knew who she was. "Oh..." Leah smirked, realizing the uncanny resembalence of the two siblings. She knew that Ioan had a sister, in fact he had mentioned that his sister owned the Dinette...of course that had been a long time ago and she had only just now remembered. "You are Ioan's sister."

 

[Irene Finch]

((Me too!!! ))

When Leah mentioned Ioan, Irene suddenly knew that this was the Leah she thought it was. Guess the name's not that popular she thought to herself as her own eyes narrowed. She had spent a lot of time being jealous of this woman both because she had dated Link and he had obviously still liked her and because Ioan spoke of her highly and often. Having never met Leah before, Irene had conjured images of Leah being hideous looking as it was the only way to reassure herself that she didn't care that this girl seemed to steal the attention away from the two people she had wanted it from most. Now with the girl in front of her, she could no longer keep the image up. Leah was beautiful.

"Yes, I am" she said, pleased that her brother had at least mentioned her once before and then added, "and you must be the Leah he took in off the streets." Irene crossed her own arms across her chest, a smirk crossing her face before she continued. "I've heard a lot about you"too much she finished silently with a look of contempt on her face, not at all indicating that she'd heard good things.

 

[Leah Winters]

"And you must be the Leah he took in off the streets."

Leah uncrossed her arms, her eyes flashed with anger as she reached into the pocket of her jacket and clenched the handle of her wand with such force it almost snapped in two. "I assure you I was not living on the streets." She doubted Ioan had ever said anything to Irene about taking up poor homeless Leah and fixing her up with a nice apartment. She was not homeless, she had a place to stay but simply wished for other living arrangements. The tavern and the inn were the most popular for a while.

"I would wonder why you have such a vendetta against me, but I suppose the word jealousy explains it all." She shook her head, a small smile finally forming on her lips. "Petty jealousy."

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene smirked as she watched Leah reach for her wand in anger. Her comment about Leah being taken off the street by her brother had apparently hit some sort of nerve. She pushed her hair behind her ears, an innocent expression on her face as if she had no clue what could be angering Leah so much. Knowing that her wand was just inside her jeans pocket, Irene felt a surge of confidence as she spoke again. "Details, details..." she murmured, still rather pleased with herself. She had been miserable the past few months and was glad to have someone to take it out on.

The smirk dropped off her face and her pleasure quickly went away when Leah accused her of being jealous. It was the truth of course, but there was absolutely no way she would be admitting that. "Please sweetie..." she scoffed as with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the idea. "What in Merlin would I have to be jealous of you for?" she asked, eyes widened as if the very idea of being jealous of Leah was incredulous to her. "Oh wait...maybe for, no. Or maybe...nope not that either" she said in a mocking tone and then turned her icy blue eyes on Leah, "I've got nothing...enlighten me why don't you?"

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah pulled her hand out of her pocket and crossed her arms yet again. It was not worth the energy to hurt this woman, for she was nothing short of jealous. She wondered why Irene was so against her for she was only Ioan's sister. Leah barely saw him anymore, so it was not as if she was stealing his time from his family. "Yes, why in Merlin would you be jealous of me?" Leah asked her expectantly. "I would like to know, because although you claim you are not, you are set upon belittling me." She stared at her with an eyebrow cocked, waiting for an answer.

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene gave the girl a small smile and shrugged her shoulders, stretching the movement out. "I don't think jealous is the right word for what I think of you. Just...curious" she stated as evenly as she could. "I've heard your name spoken quite a few times even though Ioan and Link didn't think I overheard them" she explained, a frown clear on her face as she recalled the first time she'd heard Leah's name. It had been the day Ioan had visited her new home and discovered she was dating Link. Even though the guy's thought they'd been keeping quiet, she'd heard them discussing the very girl who stood before her.

"You do know Ioan is married, right?" she asked, wondering if Adrianne, Ioan's wife, knew that Ioan was keeping company with a young beautiful girl like Leah.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah tilted her head a little in confusion. She looked Irene over and suddenly knew who Link was with when she wanted to try for him again. Anger flared up inside of her, but she managed to keep a cool exterior. Her jealousy was prominent but she could not allow this woman to notice any of it. "So, you're the one Link's been banging for the past few months." She stated, finally grasping the upper hand. "You are jealous, then. There really is no other way to explain it, and don't you dare deny it. If I had never been in Link nor Ioan's life then we would be having a cheerful conversation and you would not be trying everything in your power to insult me."

It was true, even if Irene did deny it. They both knew what was going on, and it was hilarious to Leah that Irene would try to convince her that she was above jealousy. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do know Ioan is married." She paused, smirking. "But when has that ever stopped me?"

 

[Irene Finch]

Irene's face darkened as she listened to Leah speak and declare her jealous. She didn't doubt that the conversation would have gone differently if Leah had not been a part of her brother and Link's life, but if she hadn't there likely wouldn't be a reason for Irene to speak to her at all. It was far too early in the morning to be dealing with any of this. "Link and I are no longer...banging" she said distastefully as if she wasn't used to speaking like that. She'd nearly said that he'd broken up with her, but stopped herself before she revealed the information to Leah. That certainly wasn't information to share with this woman. "If you want Link back...take him. I don't want him" she said, acting as if she did not care about the guy. That wasn't the entire truth. She still wasn't over him though it was getting easier to deal with each day. Somehow, seeing his ex in front of her caused her to miss him more, though she had a feeling that much of it had to do with her jealousy.

As she listened to Leah continue speaking, Irene's eyes narrowed. Homewrecker she thought to herself as she crossed her arms across her chest. Her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something disgusting. "How surprising" she said sarcastically, not really concerned about whether her brother slept with one hundred women though she wondered whether Adrianne knew about any of this. Perhaps I'll pay her a visit if Ioan annoys me too much she mused, deciding to sit on the news for a while for the perfect moment when it might prove useful.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah smiled once again. Clearly she was gaining the upper hand, for innocent little Irene had nothing on her sharp remarks. "Did he tire of you then?" She questioned, knowing it would hit her to the core. She wasn't surprised one bit. Link had tired of her very quickly, although they hadn't even made love once. It was her fault completely she was prone to leaving the country without informing anyone and it was not shocking that he had moved on to someone else. She did wish however he would've given her a chance to prove herself to him. He was a depressing subject matter for her, and she felt her mood darkening and the small smile fading as his face flitted around in her mind. She was still hung up on him, but there didn't seem to be a chance to take him back. She decided not to comment on her comment about taking Link back, for she knew he was over her.

"No, not at all surprising." Leah agreed. "But, honestly you can't do anything about who your brother takes an interest in, he's a grown man and he doesn't need his little sister tagging along and throwing a tantrum every single time he strays from his wife. It isn't my fault she bores him." Perhaps she had gone to far with the last remark, but it seemed to be true.

 

[Irene Finch]

"Did he tire of you then?"

Irene's hand moved toward her pocket and she nearly pulled out her wand and threw a curse at Leah when she heard those words. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that it would be unwise for a ministry official to attack an innocent bystander and she would find it difficult to justify if she were asked why she had done it. Surely, the ministry wouldn't see Leah's insults and insinuations as a good reason. "You know you're a" she began and proceeded to call Leah a name she had been called often herself. She knew it was catty of her to say, but she was getting rather tired of the girl's calm demeanor and her ability to say exactly what would get Irene the most upset. It was rather infuriating.

When Leah began to tell Irene how she should behave with her brother, Irene nearly snapped again. She forced her hands onto her hips to stop herself from pulling out her wand. "I could honestly care less. I just feel sorry for the both of you when Adrianne finds out" she said, smiling for the first time in the past several moments.

Rolling her eyes, Irene decided that she'd had enough. There was no reason for her to continue to take Leah's crap, so she had no plans to remain a moment longer unless the girl really said something to get her upset. "Look...I've got things to do, so...are we done here?" she asked swiftly. The quicker she could get away from this girl, the better. She reminded Irene of all the girls she'd hated back at Durmstrang.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah watched warily as Irene made the move for her wand, she did the same and grasped the handle firmly waiting for the woman to strike. She had always been skilled at provoking another, one of her many talents.

"You know you're a %^%$"

Leah stared daggers at Irene but let the comment drop. She was right after all.

"I could honestly care less. I just feel sorry for the both of you when Adrianne finds out"

"I'm not afraid of some stupid humble house witch." She snapped, feeling particularly threatened by that remark. She hadn't done anything, except spend time with Ioan, and that certainly was not a crime, at least not one that she was aware of. "Anyhow, she should keep a better reign on her husband."

"Look...I've got things to do, so...are we done here?"

Leah shrugged. "I suppose so. I've nothing left to say to you" She did feel a bit bad for the way things turned out between her and Irene. She knew now that it was possible that they would never get along, and the only thing that worried her was if Ioan would begin to hate Leah too. It all depended on how much he cared about his sister, for he would most likely side with Irene over Leah any day. She made a mental note to never talk badly about Irene in front of him, and if possible to pretend this meeting never happened.