The Flat Share

[Varvara Peeters]

Chapter 1: Speak To Jason​

The new day blurred into focus, the sun warming the room through the single dusty window. The brunette stretched as she lay in the bed, forgetting, for a moment, where she was. It had been another late night of job-seeking and house-seeking; Varvara Peeters was staying in a muggle B&B, her purse becoming as skinny as she was. She did have a few savings, but she was putting them towards a proper place. Unfortunately, her lack of income put off any people with room to let. All looked hopeless that morning, as Varvara dressed and left her room to go down to breakfast. It was starting to look like she would have to head back to the Netherlands, to her mother, to the place she had escaped. Little did she know, help was just a newspaper away.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else?" the kindly muggle landlady asked, a slight frown on her face, eyes flitting between the slender piece of toast and Varvara's own scrawny figure. "It's all I need," Varvara replied, "but thanks anyway." This must have been a good enough excuse for the woman, as she simply shook her head and walked off to serve the other customers. Varvara's stomach growled. She was still hungry. Since being in New Zealand, any shape she had once owned, had now been turned into food, leaving Varvara with an almost skeletal sort of frame. She had never been very good at using magic to cook, and even cooking like a muggle was something she struggled with. The best she could conjure up was a bowl of chicken soup, which was why she would take her backpack- with what little possessions she had brought- into an isolated area, away from the muggles. It was once she was away that she would begin filling up on all the soup she could conjure. Varvara had thought about becoming a squatter, hiding away in somebody's empty house. She didn't want to get in any trouble like that, though, not if she wanted to find a job..

The sound of a newspaper slapping against the table before her, brought Varvara back to her senses. She stared down at it, then up at the person who had put it there: A tall man with heavy grey stubble, drooping eyes and a warm smile stood looking back at her. "I hear you're house-hunting. I figured you need this more than I do." Varvara instinctively looked over to the till. The landlady nodded. Varvara looked back to the man. "Thank you," she said weakly, shocked by the fact that people actually cared about her. The man shuffled away and Varvara began thumbing through the pages, finally scanning the 'Rooms To Rent' and 'House Share' section. It was such a small advert, nestled amongst so many describing themselves as vivid as the day. The black printed words simply read 'Flat share. Three present, two more welcome. All welcome. Speak to Jason.' The address that followed seemed like the others, but she noted that there was no phone number like the others had had. It made her curious. And Varvara thrived from such a thing. It would be her quest to go to this address and to find out more, whether the occupants were ready or not.

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