a long lost friend is coming home [eleanor]

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The week had stretched on and on and on, and Natalia was glad that it was finally Friday, and Friday afternoon, no less. She was looking forward to getting to spend the weekend with James and maybe get a chance to write to Andromeda at school, or maybe see Nikolaj. Mostly, she was happy that she wasn't going to be on her feet all day. That was what she was still trying to acclimate to; going from sitting in classrooms or in libraries or at dinner parties for hours at a time to standing and running around and finding antidotes and hardly ever sitting. Most people underestimated the physical element of Healers, preferring instead to see them as mental giants who just bustled from room to room. It was different in poisoning situations, since an antidote's efficacy was exponentially decreased with time after the initial poisoning, but not many people realized that. Natalia let a soft sigh out through her mouth, running a hand over the shaved part of her head. She really needed to give it another trim. Maybe she'd have James try it that weekend. Nat had just clocked out and was about to take the elevator down to the hospital's main floor so she could Apparate home, but paused. She thought she had seen someone familiar walk past, but now she couldn't be sure. Natalia checked her watch. She still had some time before dinner. Maybe she was wrong, but that wouldn't matter - she could just say she forgot her cloak at her station if she didn't recognize the stranger.

@eleanor

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To say her job had been crazy the past few weeks would be an understatement for Eleanor Percival. With the Triwizard selection over with, getting the First Task set up and ready to go without any preventable hitches was their task force’s current dilemma. Ella had been coming in on weekends to get her extra paperwork done, but thankfully today she knew she’d gotten everything done before leaving. Finally, she had a weekend of freedom all to herself; she couldn’t imagine anything better just then. She left the office and decided to take a walk; contemplating even taking the Tube for a change. She had the time for once, and she did really love taking public transportation whenever it was feasible.


She wrapped her scarf around her neck; it was rather windy that day and though Ellas hair kept her head mostly warm, her neck felt vulnerable. She walked past a stretch of abandoned department stores that she knew secretly housed Saint Mungos when she saw a girl with blonde hair, half shaven in front of her. The girl had given her a look of ‘do I know you?’, so Eleanor sped up to see if she could recognize her at a closer distance. “Natalia!” she exclaimed, finally seeing the younger Ravenclaw alum up close. They had been four years apart, but Eleanor had made sure to be on at least a polite and first name basis with all of the Ravenclaws; it was her fathers personality traits coming out. “I almost didn’t recognize you; how are you?” she asked the girl pleasantly.

@natalia

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Even when Natalia saw the woman up close, she couldn’t quite place the face. Apparently the other woman knew her name, though, and Nat was a little taken aback by her warm greeting. She was still getting used to people actually liking her; she had been the classic ice princess at Hogwarts, up until James, at least, and even then, half the school was convinced she was a murderer. Nat was fairly certain that even if she knew this woman, they would have met when Natalia was not-so-friendly. As for not recognizing her, well, Natalia had changed quite a bit, physically – unless people worked at the hospital (or were James Potter, which this woman was not) they probably were used to a brunette Natalia without any of her head shaved. She was surprised that anyone recognized her at all. Natalia felt silly now, especially now since she was caught up in a conversation with someone who seemed to know more about her than she knew about them. One of the advantages to being an ice princess, though, was that Natalia knew a thing or two about how to navigate social situations even when she didn’t know what was going on. A pleasant mask slipped onto her face, and the corners of her lips pulled up into something that could resemble a smile, if you squinted hard enough. “I’m well, and yourself?” She asked serenely. “What have you been doing since graduation?” Hopefully the other woman’s job would give Nat an idea of what she had been like in school, and she could extrapolate from there.

@eleanor

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Eleanor could tell that Natalia didn’t really recognize her but she didn’t have a problem with that. Ella had made it her business to know everyone in her house once she was made Prefect, and Head Girl status two years later had only solidified that. Cyrus had been curious since her brother Nik was in his own house, and their last name was quite infamous. Eleanor had learned quickly into her schooling at Hogwarts not to ever judge a book by its cover however. “I’m well; I’ve been working as a Junior Assistant in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, so I’ve been helping manage the Triwizard Tournament, trying to make sure it all goes off without a hitch,” she explained, hoisting her bag onto her other shoulder to relieve the tension it was placing on her. “Even now that the first task is over we still have the second and third, which we still have some loose ends to finish up,” she added. “It’s Eleanor, by the way. I was four years ahead of your in school,” she offered after a moment with a smile.

@natalia

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Natalia nodded neutrally when the other woman rattled off her title. It was quite a long title, and Natalia would have been satisfied with only knowing that, but the other woman continued on to say that she was helping organize the Triwizard Tournament. She continued to nod politely, despite the fact that she had figured that anyone working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports would have been involved in the Tournament, even peripherally. The rambling continued, with speak of the second and third tasks, and Natalia’s nodding became slightly more agitated. Her sister wasn’t Hogwarts’s Champion, so the only factor that would have caused her to be interested was eliminated. Nat couldn’t remember that last time she had spoken to someone who talked so much but said so little. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming herself down so she could take in more information. Eleanor. Eleanor Percival – she had been a prefect, and Head Girl. Mudblood. Natalia scolded herself for that lost thought, correcting it gently. Muggleborn. Eleanor was Muggleborn. “Well, it sounds like you’ve been doing some wonderful things since graduation.” Natalia replied, voice cool and smooth like glass. She had no idea what else to say – the only things she knew about this woman were her name, age, job, and blood status. That was hardly enough for her to start a conversation on.

@eleanor