Says the Black Sheep..

[Effie Kingston]

Effie seriously needed a break from teaching in classes today, it wasn't that she disliked teaching students at Hogwarts because she actually adored it to no end. But sometimes looking at numbers all day wanted to drive her to the edge of insanity. On top of that she was tasked with keeping a close eye on her niece and Nephews to make sure they stayed out of trouble as much as possibly, upon request of her obnoxious older brother Alphonse. "Mmm this tea is so delicious." Effie took another sip of the iced tea she had bought not to long ago, she felt like the drink could help her calm down and relax more easily than anything else in the world. A nap could really help too but Effie figured that she could be doing other things that wasting the day away sleeping, like grading more of those exhausting homework papers that she had been neglecting to do. Most people would probably be out with their friends on a day like this, but Effie was such a Black Sheep that is was no surprise to her that she didn't have any.

"Oh snap!" Effie felt the books she was holding in her hand begin to slip until they had fallen from grasp and onto the ground below. Effie had also bought some books for her to read later from the local book store, she had probably gotten to many but oh well there was no use telling herself that now. With a small snorted she went down to pick them up, so far this day wasn't very relaxing.

 

[Kira Carter]

Kira was more than glad of a few days off from both of her jobs, she had so much planning to do and she was beginning to quickly run out of time. It was such a lovely day out, Kira just wished she had time to enjoy it but as she made her way through Brightstone with a few bags in her hands she was wondering where she had to go next. Although she wasn't in much of a mood to be carrying a lot of bags around with her so she made her way back to her shop and dropped them off first while checking up on things with Jasmin and Leo first. Grabbing herself a bottle of water from the fridge she ran back outside to continue some more shopping.

Making her way back down through the Village Kira sipped on her water, trying to relax herself slightly, she knew she should be worrying as much as she was but she couldn't help it. Walking past a few people she noticed a woman drop a handful of books that she was carrying. Needing a distraction Kira took a few steps closer to the woman she bent down to help her pick them up, the woman seemed to have her hands ful anyway. "Here let me help." she said as she started to gather a few of the books up. Oh how she missed the day of just relaxing with a good book, it seemed like she hadn't done it in forever.

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie blinked her different colored eyes and allowed herself to let free a small but pretty smile at the kindness of the stranger, to her it was rare to see such kindness from someone she didn't know usually people just apologized and turned their heads to pretend like she wasn't there. "Thank you." She said softly, her voice sounding almost fragile to anyone who hadn't known her for awhile, Effie had always had a soft voice and even softer features. Her brother's used to describe her as a little glass doll, proper, pretty, but easily broken by anyone who had a dark enough heart to do so. Others called her the Black Sheep because she was so different from the rest of her family due to her being against the Death Eaters and hating nearly anyone who wasn't pure blood.

"Perhaps, I should have gotten less books today." She said softly once again as she tried to bring up a conversation so she felt less awkward in front of this woman. Once she had picked up the remainder of the books that the woman hadn't got she tucked them under her arm softly, she wished she had bought less books but she knew this would be what kept her entertained during the upcoming Holidays when she wouldn't have classes to teach and her boredom would probably reach a full out boiling point. "I'm Effie Snow." One thing she hated about her last was that most people recognized it as being a family full of Death Eaters, just because her family was crazy and cruel didn't mean she was too. Effie didn't blame Alyssa one bit for running away from them and moving to New Zealand with her so she wouldn't have to deal with then anymore.

 

[Kira Carter]

Kira picked up the rest of the books, not completely surprised how the woman had dropped all of them - there was a fair number of them. "No worries." Kira replied back in her kind voice with a sweet smile. She stood up and handed the books she had collected to their owner, wondering why she hadn't even gotten a bag for all of the books but didn't bother asking. Kira laughed at the woman's comment, "Oh you can never have too many books." she said, the old Ravenclaw in her coming out of it's shell.

When the woman introduced herself the last name stuck a memory with the Auror, but she wasn't sure how. Maybe it's just one of those names. she shrugged the idea off as that. "I'm Kira Baxter." she said, letting a small laugh escape her lips, she wouldn't be saying that for too much longer. "So what's brings you to the Village today? Other than raiding the book shop?" she asked jokingly.

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie almost snorted out loud when the woman commented about someone never having enough books, she sounded like a true Ravenclaw right there. Effie herself had been sorted into Hufflepuff, when she had always thought she should have been sorted into Ravenclaw or even Slytherin because of her Pure bloodline that Salazar Slytherin seemed to value in people. However, it may have been Effie's caring side and need of being love by someday that put her in that house that she had grown to love over the years. "Hmm, my Library is nearly full and I'm running out of places to keep all these books." She shrugged her shoulders and took the books from the woman with a faint smile still on her lips, maybe she should get rid of the books she never read anymore or something to make room in her Library, but she didn't know if she'd ever have the heart to get rid of them.

"Nice to meet you Kira. I do have to admit that your last name sounds familiar for some reason." Effie commented with a raised eyebrow, she didn't remember exactly where she heard it from but it still sounded as if she had heard it mentioned around once or twice. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her though, it liked to do that when Effie was tired or spacing out. "I'm just trying to have a nice day out and relax before I have to go back to teaching. What brings you out here?" Effie stated with a light French accent proving she wasn't exactly native to New Zealand. She quickly rolled her different colored eyes just thinking about her accent. She knew this woman didn't teach at Hogwarts because she would have recognized her from around the school or would have heard her name being mentioned before.

 

[Kira Carter]

Kira felt envious, but nothing serious, about the woman saying her library was nearly full. She has a library? All Kira had was a few bookshelves with her collection of old books, there wasn't too many new ones lately. One; she wouldn't have the time to read them and two; she was trying to save as much money as possible with the wedding coming up all too quickly. "Well you're a witch right. Just cast a shrinking spell on all your books to make some more room." she suggested with a laugh.

"Mmm..." Kira said lightly as Effie said she thought she knew her last name. "Strange I thought I recognised yours too." she admitted. "Do you have any connections in the Auror office? Other than that, only my younger brother and sister, Leo and Jasmin, who live here." she said, not quite sure how the two would know each other's names. Considering the woman's French accent she wouldn't know her family back home in England. Kira nodded lightly at Effie's explanation as to why she was out and about today. "Oh what do you teach?" she asked, surprised that someone so young was a teacher - then again she was an Auror and they were both hard jobs. "Oh I'm out doing some Wedding shopping." she said with a beaming grin, loving being able to say that she was shopping for her wedding.

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie had almost thought for a moment that the Shrinking spell sounded useful in this situation, but the more she thought about it the more she realize that it probably wouldn't do her much good. "Thats almost encouraging me to buy more books you know." Eventually she'd run out of room for even the shrunken books which would leave her in the same exact position as she is now, maybe she should just save up her money for something else besides books. However Effie did have a teenager to support at her home now, and boy was that girl spoiled completely rotten when she lived with Effie's older brother Alphonse. Alyssa was lucky that Effie was pretty wealthy or she would have to suffer some serious life style change, which would actually be pretty funny to see that girl try to give up shopping and fashion sometime in her life, she would crack.

"I guess you could say that." It wasn't as much of a connection as it was the Snow name being known amongst many Aurors, but it wasn't like Effie was going to sell herself out like that. She figured she shouldn't be punished, she wasn't one so why should it matter who she was or what crimes her family had and are still committing today. "Actually, I think my niece Alyssa dated Leo. His name sounds familiar." She remembered Alyssa being with some boy often before the summer had ended, they seemingly broke up though because Alyssa apparently was currently claiming to be In love with some boy that Effie knew of quite well, the boys father had been good friends with almost all of her siblings when they were younger. "Wedding...your getting married? Oh thats so sweet, I bet your excited!" A bigger smile than Effie was usually capable made it's way to her face, she thought weddings were so cute especially when the Groom and Bride seemed to deeply care for one another. Effie wouldn't mind getting married someday, but right now she knew she was too much of a Black Sheep to ever consider settling down or even catching someone's interest like that. But she wasn't too bummed, she was still young and had her whole life ahead of her for something like that.

 

[Kira Carter]

Kira burst out laughing at the woman's words, it made it seem like a bad thing but with books, one really couldn't go wrong. "Ah yes, but books are so worth it." she said, her laugh still coming through in her words. The old Ravenclaw in Kira was most definitely out of its shell at this point. Kira made a mental note for herself to crack open some of her old books later on, she needed to relax badly and curling up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and a good book was one of absolute favourite pasttimes and it was about time she started to do it again every so often.

When Effie mentioned that she had a connection to the Auror Office, Kira immediately dismissed it as an option in her head. The Auror office at New Zealand wasn't very big so Kira knew pretty much everyone and there was definitely no Snows. Maybe I should check it out though.. she thought to herself. If Effie did have connections then maybe Kira did know her through the Office, but for now she knew it was for a different reason. Then when Effie mentioned her niece had dated Kira's brother he insides knotted. "That's it!" she said, feeling like slapping herself, or her brother, both would work. "Yeah Leo told me about her. He got a few slaps for breaking up with her like that." she said, shaking her head at the stupidity of the boy. "I spologise on behalf of him, boys will be boys." she said with a slight laugh.

At Effie's obvious excitement at the thought of Kira's wedding, Kira herself couldn't help but beam. She was excited, more so if it was possible. She couldn't wait to become Mrs. Kira Carter, it would be too perfect. "I am! I really am!" she said, excitement clear in her voice. "He's perfect!" she said, her eyes sparkling with pure adoration at the thought of the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. She knew he was the one that she would be growing old with and while that put some people off, it was the one thing that kept Kira going throughout the whole run up to the 'big day,' even though it was going to be fairly small. "There's so much to do, but it'll be worth it in the end." she said simply. "Any sign of you walking down the aisle in the near future?" Kira asked, it may seem like a personal question having only met the woman but it only seemed right seeing as they were discussing her love life.

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie eyed Kira carefully, it wasn't that she was all that worried that the woman would snoop around because in all honesty she didn't care all that much. Effie could openly admit that there a good chunk of Death Eaters in her large family, but that's just merely because she didn't side with them and frankly figured that someone needed to knock some sense into them. "I also teach Arithmancy at Hogwarts in New Zealand, I suppose thats about as close to the Ministry as I would ever want to go." Effie preferred to just stay out of any mix that involved drama of any sort, she could only imagine the sort of issues that popped in the Ministry which looked like a real pain in the side. When Kira exclaimed that was where she had heard the name before, Effie almost snorted in amusement especially when she noted how sorry the woman was with what happened between two hormonal and crazy teenagers. Effie swiftly held up a pale hand to tell the woman to relax and that there was no harm done, it wasn't like it was Kira's fault that the two had broken up. "No harm done. They are just teenagers so it was expected, I'm sure Alyssa is over it by this point anyways." the young Veela teenager had been upset for a couple of days afterwards but Effie was unsure if it was because of what happened between her and Leo or if it was the other boy that she seemed so fond of. Whatever the case was, Effie wasn't going to try and keep up with it because she surely wasn't going to be able to keep up with it.

Effie found it almost warming that Kira seemed so excited to be getting married, it was rare to see true love these days that was true and not corrupted like everyone else's seemed to be these days. People have been forced, arranged from birth, even just to gain the others family and power. It was horrible to see which made Effie not trust the idea of love very much, you never know what it could lead to if you let your guard down these days. "I hope you guys will be happy together. What's left for you to do?" Effie wondered if she was one of those wedding crazy brides, the ones that were overly obsessed with their weddings and pretty demanded that the day was beyond perfect. She actually had half a mind to already think that her family had many of those types of people, they thankfully were too young for marriage yet though. When Kira asked Effie if she planned on get married anytime soon, her different eyes blinked before she rolled them softly at the very thought of it. "Not really. I haven't met Mr. Right yet, I actually doubt any man could really handle me long enough for that." Effie could be strict, and very literal with things and that bugged the hell out of some men. Effie also had a sweet and gentle side, but it was hard for those to break though the walls she was good a building up, after all she had come from a Strict Pure blood family.