How can a person feel familiar? ¦ Andrew

[Alora Veda Astor]

It was April and the weather was unpredictable, yet it didn't stop Alora try to enjoy it. It was a Saturday afternoon and, unsurprisingly, she had nothing to do. Corrections are up to date, students behaving for once, lesson plans were made and ready to go, and greenhouses were under control and happily watered thanks to some more helpful students. She had toyed with the idea of going up to London for the day and spending the time traipsing in and out of shops, but it was too nice a day for it.

Instead, she had chosen to sit at a table outside the Three Broomsticks in the weak spring sun and enjoy a glass of wine with the latest copy of the European Herbologists journal.

Overly large, vintage-style sunglasses hid most of her face and let her read without having to squint in the sun. Smiling to herself she paused and lifted the glass from the table, taking a sip and glancing around the street for anything interesting that might be interesting.

andrew ethan astor-shaw

[andrew ethan astor-shaw]

Meeting up with Amy was just about the only good thing in the shitty week Andrew had been having. Getting a reason to get out of his everyday grind and come to Hogsmeade to catch up with his sister was a welcome change. Though now that Andrew was almost aimlessly wandering on the streets of Hogsmeade, his mind returned to work. Even though the matters Andrew was involved in were relatively inconsequential and straightforward, every now and then there were those particularly annoying people who made it difficult to appear civil and not to just outright say fuck you to their face. But Andrew, despite his inexperience, was a professional, and managed to stay civil. Still, he could be seething about it in his head, just like he was right now.

Being so deep in thought, Andrew didn’t notice someone stepping out of another person’s path, crossing right onto his. The collision wasn’t enough to make Andrew lose his balance, but it did make him lose his grip on the to-go cup of coffee he had been holding in his hand. Andrew watched it fall, landing on such an odd angle that it bounced on the floor, landing under a table. He didn’t even notice the person who had bumped into him slink away as he was more focused on the thought that the coffee might have splattered on the poor woman’s clothes.
“Oh, God, sorry, I’m so—” But before Andrew could finish his sentence, his brain registered the woman as someone familiar. Lifting his gaze back to the woman, it took him a second to process that thought. The woman oddly reminded Andrew of pictures of his mother that had been taken when she was younger. The ones in the thick photo album the family busted out from a drawer on special occasions when they wanted to reminisce about the past. She had the same soft features, but a strong jaw. For some reason the situation gave Andrew a slightly uneasy feeling.

Andrew was frozen for a few seconds, simply staring at the woman before he snapped out of it, at least to some degree.
“I’m sorry, uh, hope your clothes didn’t get stained.” Andrew still found it difficult to grasp the words coming out of his mouth. The situation was a little surreal, and he probably came off as really weird. But it wasn’t often you came across a stranger who gave you such an intense feeling of familiarity.

Alora Veda Astor

[Alora Veda Astor]

Engrossed in a study on Flutterby bushes, Alora hadn't noticed Andrew's cup go flying from his hand, the only thing that had caught her attention was the small splash of awry coffee on her bare leg as it bounced under her table. Looking up from the glossy pages, her eyes locked on a younger guy standing beside her table and offering hurried apologies. Giving him a half smile, she shook her head. "No, no. It's fine, just splashed me on my leg slightly, but didn't get anywhere."

"No harm done" When he cut himself off and clammed up just slightly, she raised an eyebrow. Her own uneasiness setting in, he looked like he'd seen a ghost. Shifting in her chair, she began to scrape it back in an effort to retrieve his coffee, but stopped when she noticed it was a simple Spellbucks one. The way he froze and stared at her, made her slide her sunglasses down her face and stare back at him. Too bad she was blissfully unaware that she was looking into a mirrored version of her own.

Alora didn't like the tension in the air. It was easier to force a smile on her red-painted lips, instead of asking him if he was ok. "Hey, let's get you a fresh one.." It only took her a second to turn and motion to the wait staff to replace the takeaway cup. "Here's coffee is better than Spellbucks anyway I suppose.." brushing a hand through her auburn hair, she shook it out making it gleam in the sun. While she waited a moment, curiosity got the better of her and she felt the need to fill the silence. "You're a long way from home, you're not from around here I'm guessing?"

andrew ethan astor-shaw

[andrew ethan astor-shaw]

Luckily the woman hadn’t taken a hit from the spilled coffee, and Andrew could let out a little sigh of relief. The initial odd feeling Andrew had started to slowly dissipate as she assured that it was alright, and moved on to mention replacing the spilled coffee. Andrew managed to nod before she mentioned him being far away from home. He responded with a smile and another nod, though this time the woman got a proper verbal response from him as well.
“Yeah, my work brought me here”, Andrew explained. That wasn’t exactly true when it came to Hogsmeade in particular, but it wasn’t like she was commenting on that either. His accent gave his origins away, and it told everyone he was from the other side of the Atlantic.
“And that’s why I’m drinking that…dishwater,” Andrew added, laughing a little. “I’m not really familiar with the cafes around here, so any recommendations are welcome.” Now he knew that this place offered better coffee, at least according to the woman. He would see for himself soon, he supposed.

Even though the topic had already moved on, and the initial weirdness of the situation had faded, Andrew still couldn’t shake off the thought of how much the woman reminded him of the old pictures of his mother. It was uncanny, if he was being honest, and he couldn’t help the slight confusion still in his eyes as he looked at her. What a coincidence, Andrew figured.

Alora Veda Astor

[Alora Veda Astor]

Alora nodded politely and watched him. Maybe he was a little bit younger than her, but to be so far from home with work in her mind meant he must have some sort of important job. With a small smile she nodded again and brushed at her hair again "Well, I like Spellbucks Atmosphere to work in. They do a good Mocha. For takeaway though, I like Three Broomsticks, but I wouldn't sit in and work here it's too busy." pursing her lips she reached for her wine and shrugged again "But that's just me"

Sipping from her glass, she glanced away for a moment. For him, the weirdness may have faded but for Alora there was still something intriguing to it. It was odd and left her with an uneasy feeling. A feeling of wanting to know more. Nevertheless, she let it go and stayed quiet. The probing wasn't worth it for the moment, she didn't even know the guy.

And yet, the way her looked at her made her feel even worse. She offered him an awkward half-smile before glancing away again.

[andrew ethan astor-shaw]

The woman answered his question for recommendations in surprising detail. Andrew’s job didn’t necessarily allow him to work out in public, but it was still useful knowledge. He wasn’t the biggest fan of busy places anyways.
“Huh, good to know. Thanks”, Andrew commented on the woman’s recommendations. It wasn’t like he came to Hogsmeade too often, trying his best not to intrude into Amy’s life, but it was still better to know what kinds of options they had for meeting places. Now, sure, Amy had told him that she was trying out Hogsmeade’s cafes with a friend, and she could recommend some good ones, but Andrew still liked to be the one to organize everything, so having some options in his back pocket.

Andrew noticed the woman’s strained smile, taking it as his cue to start leaving. He figured that the weird feeling he had gotten from bumping into a woman who really looked like a young version of his mother was rubbing onto her, making her feel uncomfortable. Though Andrew feared that his odd behavior might come off as creepy, considering he was a strange man giving her an odd stare. Dropping his gaze from the woman as she took her eyes away from him, Andrew shifted his weight anxiously.
“Sorry, you just…really remind me of someone I know”, Andrew explained the weird stare he had been giving her, not really caring to elaborate. Instead he just gave her a somewhat awkward laugh accompanying the explanation as an attempt to make the situation just a little less weird. He should just get the cup of coffee and start making his way back home anyways.

Alora Veda Astor

[Alora Veda Astor]

Listening to him wasn't the hard part. Even if she did find his low accent sort of grating in her ears, it was fine to sit and listen regardless. Her brain wasn't totally working full capacity today, and it became even more sluggish as she tried to work out where this creeping sense of familiarity was coming from. Perhaps it was the accent, and he wasn't dissimilar to her ex she supposed. Even if his accent was from the other side of the states, it didn't matter, she'd lump them all in together in her head. They all rubbed her up the wrong way like that.

"Oh." with a half smile again, she tilted her head slightly and reached for her own drink "Who?"

But then, he was starting to turn away from her. Maybe he sensed how awkward she felt. Contrary to belief she never was the kind to talk to strangers willingly. In a way, she wondered if it would just be easier to let him walk away. Although, curiosity was taking hold of her and now she wanted to know what had spooked him so bad. 

[andrew ethan astor-shaw]

Before Andrew could apologize for the commotion he had caused once more and make his exit, the woman surprised him by showing curiosity towards his quick explanation for the awkward stare he had probably been giving her. He didn’t blame her, it was a little weird, but it wasn’t often you ran into someone who eerily reminded you of your own mother. It was properly uncanny, and gave Andrew a weird, detached feeling from the situation, as if there was a glitch in the fabric of the universe.
“Oh, uh”, Andrew stuttered for a second, shoving his intentions of leaving the woman finally in peace away for a second. “Funnily enough, my mom? But—um—when she was young, of course.” The last thing Andrew wanted was to offend the woman by implying that she looked old enough to look like his mother, especially since that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t sure if that distinction made it even more awkward, but oh well, the words had already left his mouth.

Alora Veda Astor