What the Hell am I Thinking?

[Katalina Harker]

It didn't matter how long she'd been out of school apparently her Gryffindor courage was still as intact as ever. Katalina Vanderhol stood on the outskirts of Bleak Street almost one hundred percent certain that she was about to travel down the dark alleyway. She'd never been down this particular way and of course she had always been an extremely curious gal so the brunette figured why not see exactly what all the hype was about. She'd been on a self-destructive path for month anyways, what with her 'illness' (as everyone else liked to call it) having reappeared and then her relationship with Chace on the rocks and going nowhere at all, one more little adventure hurt? The only thing holding her back at the second was that she now had a famous face and was expected to behave in a way that the public would consider honorable and she was almost certain that wandering a place that was famous for housing seekers of the Dark Arts and Death Eaters wasn't exactly what most would consider honorable, but to hell with it. Even though Kat knew that her team and the league had gone to great lengths to try and cover up and re-establish her reputation as a role model after her little 'visit' to St. Mungo's and at the time she had been grateful she was now more than fed up with it constantly being thrown back up in her face every chance they got.

The former Gryffindor sucked in a deep breath and set a foot forward. Setting forth into a place that she was pretty sure someone like her didn't belong.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

A young blonde woman was looking for the apothecary to help with her job as there were a few plants that were not in season at the moment and those were the exact ones that was needed for a potion to help with her job as a nurse at Hogwarts New Zealand so with that in mind, she left Isadora with the young girl's great grandmother before heading off around Brightstone, assuming that it was there but somehow she had turned a wrong corner when looking for it and all things happy seemed to change to threatening and ominous. Her brown eyes flickered around, looking for someone 'normal' to help her get out of here because there was still a lot of blood prejudice in the world and she didn't want to be killed for being a muggle born. So Nina walked rapidly, not making eye contact with anyone but still checking them out while keeping a hidden hand on her wand for protection should she need it.

Nina was lost in a place someone like her did not belong for more reasons than just her blood type. The former Hufflepuff had many flaws, and she knew this as there was no point in being self-diluted but she also knew that she wasn't as flawed as some of the people here. Nina wasn't nearly as scary, in fact if she had even a fraction less of a nerve then she did right now, she'd probably be wetting herself with fear just as her two year old daughter would be doing. At last Nina found someone that looked relatively normal so she walked at a normal pace towards her with butterflies in her stomach because she knew that appearances could be deceiving but at this moment she didn't have a choice but to judge a book by it's cover. "Err, hey. Do you know where we are? I'm sooo lost." It was then that Nina recognized the girl, Katalina Vanderhol. Not only had the pair gone to school together but she was in the papers constantly for being a famous quidditch player so she sighed with relief, knowing that she was in perfectly good hands.

 

[Katalina Harker]

She had tried her best and failed miserably to hold her composure when she heard someone address her. Too bad she nearly jumped out of her skin. Kat just knew for sure that it was some old hag who wanted to curse her face off or some nosy reporter wanting to know why she was loitering about on the sketchy alleyway, but alas it was neither. In fact, the nineteen year old was pleasantly surprised that it was a familiar and friendly face. "Nina," she asked, feeling almost certain that was who this girl was. It had been several years since she'd spoken to the girl, in fact she was almost certain the last time she'd actually conversed with her was during the first Tri-Wizard Tournament. Usually the thought of that time made Kat's stomach lurch, but she'd since then made her peace with Nicolae and was even very close friends with his girlfriend Marleigh.

"Bleak Street. You may be lost, but in a serious error in judgment I wandered down this way on purpose," the brunette confessed, slightly embarrassed. "Where were you looking to head to and we can see if we can try and maneuver ourselves in that direction. This place is giving me the creeps. I guess that Gryffindor bravery left the day I walked the stage and got my diploma, eh?" Kat turned and motioned for the blonde to follow her, hoping that they both made it the short distance to safety without being stopped by some odd witch or wizard wanting to make a treat out of them.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina nodded her head, confirming that Kat had gotten her name right. As the brunette told her the name of the area that they stood in, Nina mumbled under her breath, "How aptly named it is." She quirked an eyebrow up, why would any mentally sound person want to spend their time in Bleak Street? From what she had seen in her hour stroll down this dark area, she knew of no one that would want to be caught dead here so she couldn't help but judge the younger girl slightly for testing her bravery. "I'm looking for the apothecary. I've forgotten where it is. I guess that's what I get for depending on Styx's plants," Nina said with a small smile, knowing that if there was a Professor that Katalina would remember it would be Professor Styx because even as a colleague of his, he still frightened her.

Nina smiled and said, "At least you had the opportunity for some bravery during school. Being a Badger meant... well I'm still finding that out." She chortled at herself, she of course knew that the Hufflepuff house tended to be the nicer of the four or the left-overs, either way it had suited Nina just fine during her school years and even after words. Walking beside Kat, Nina asked, "So how is life in the fast lane?" The pair had talked maybe twice during the time that Nina had been at Hogwarts and both were in the year that she had been visiting with Alex, Noah, Asher and a few others so she thought now was as good of a time as ever to strike up a conversation because Katalina Vanderhol had probably just saved Nina from eminent doom.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat merely nodded when the older girl said she was looking for the apothecary then Nina said a name that made the brunette visibly shudder. It didn't matter how long she'd been out of school the thought of Professor Styx creeped her out because she'd always thought the man to be overly sketchy, but now the thought of his name made her a little sad since she'd learned that Jaken had been killed several months prior. Shaking her head she said, "That man is definitely not someone I'd want to have to rely on. What are you doing at the school now? Teaching?" Kat had given thought at one point in time to maybe go back one day and teach, but her current career was going to well that she didn't have any desire to give it up just yet.

Her lips curled slightly at Nina's comment. "Bravery...stupidity...whichever you'd like to call it. Probably a small mixture of both on some days is more like it. My best friend had been a Hufflepuff and she's still a pretty tough cookie so you'll figure it out eventually. Probably a lot more brave than you know," she replied with a genuine grin. Life in the fast lane...well it's not all it's cracked up to be she thought with a sigh. "Well, it's busy all the time. Some days it's fabulous and others I long for the times when I had privacy and wasn't making headlines. I don't guess I thought it would be this way, but I'm grateful for what I have," Kat said honestly. When they'd finally reached the edge of the dark alley Kat breathed an audible sigh of relief. Bleak Street was one of those places that she could say she'd been to, but definitely wouldn't be going back. "Okay seems we're safe at this point. Now to find the apothecary."

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina nodded her head, she hated that she had to rely on him for her materials for the potions but there wasn't much she could do about it. As Kat asked her if she was teaching, Nina firmly shook her head. As much as she respected her Professors, that was the last thing she wanted to do. "Nope, as a nurse. I was working at Saint Mungo's for a bit with the permanent residences but it was too morbid for me to handle at that time. I figured the worst thing at school would be a broken arm or two." Perhaps in the future Nina would return to Saint Mungo's but she couldn't think about death constantly when she had a two year old daughter, it was just too difficult and morbid for Nina to continue with her life positively when she had to watch people die because there was nothing more that could be done.

Part of Nina had wished that she had just become a midwife like a few other people had but it was not where her interest lie, besides there were a bunch of girls (and even a guy) there, one of them just happened to be the Hufflepuff that Katalina mentioned. "I heard that Rhyspa had her baby, one of the girls that we worked with together said something about it. Have you seen the little tyke yet?" she asked, with a grin, partly because she was happy for the woman that she had only really known through a distance and partly because she was not the only young mother.

As the famous Quidditch player told Nina about how she felt about her career, Nina nodded. It was like her own, there were bad sides to it but there were some great positives and she was glad that Katalina also had her chance at happiness through her own career. "Well I'm sure soon you can get out of the spotlight a little bit but still be an amazing player, should you want that," Nina said positively, her brown eyes flicking from the brunette to the path ahead of them and she let her hard gaze soften once she felt that they were out of the danger that clearly was Bleak Street.