No Salvation For a Bad Girl [Trixie]

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The moment Antonia heard that a Dolohov had joined the St. Mungo's staff, she had known she had to meet them. She'd spoken to a few of the most gossip-y members of staff, until she had known precisely where to leave her lunch invitation, and precisely when Tricia would be available.

Antonia sat with a basket filled with food from home - vastly superior to what the cafeteria served - and waited for a bright-haired witch to arrive.

@rivune

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Antonia watched as Tricia Dolohov approached. Her hair was a bright pink-purple, and she wore combat boots. She certainly hadn't been brought up in the same circles as Antonia had, but that didn't tell all. She was, however, quite polite when she spoke.

Antonia waved away the formalities of being greeted as Miss Rookwood. "Please, call me Antonia. This is definitely not a review." She all but shuddered at the thought. "No, nothing like that. Our families were once quite close. I wanted to see how you were settling in, help reform that old friendship." She smiled welcomingly, but it was just a touch too calculated to truely reach her eyes.

@rivune

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"Two generations, then?" Antonia would have loved to try and trace out the family trees, but that would inevitably lead them back to Death Eaters, and that was a dangerous topic for a public place when she couldn't speak as positively of her grandfather as she liked. But though Tricia was cautious, she wasn't afraid to confirm their connection. That was a promising sign.

"Living alone is quite the change," Antonia agreed, when Tricia mentioned how settling in was going. "I live in the family home these days, but before my father died I rented. There's not a huge selection to choose from really, unless you want to go into the Muggle world." She opened her own basket of food, pulling out a neatly set up tray of quiche and cutlery, and casting a quick warming charm of her own before answering Tricia's question.

"I grew up in England, near York, but I attended Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts. It got a little cold, but they were very nurturing of my interests, and it was excellent for my language skills." She smiled, and it did reach her eyes. "If you were in America, then you must have been to Ilvermorny, is that right? What's it like there?"

@rivune

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Antonia smiled and nodded when Tricia suggested they talk about family another time. Sometime when they weren't in public and didn't have to mind their tongues quite so much. School was a much safer topic, Durmstrang's reputation for Dark Arts notwithstanding.

"Durmstrang doesn't have the same House pride culture either. If people need to be split into groups, it's usually alphabetical, or by mother tongue." She paused. "I prefered alphabetical. I wasn't quite the only British witch there, but the everyone else group can get tiring fast. Groups based on interests were always outside of class time." That had had both advantages and disadvantages - they'd taken longer to form, but once they had, well, what Tricia said about being herself was something that definitely resonated.

She mentioned no-maj med school though, and Antonia was fascinated. "Muggle med school - how interesting! Is it true that they dissect dead humans as part of their studies?" She took a casual bite of her quiche, because that didn't even begin to phase her.

As for how she'd discovered Healing, well, that was perilously close to family again, but it was innocent enough to answer truely. "I dissected a frog with grandfather when I was a little girl." She smiled at the memory - a bit blurred around the edges, but one of her most treasured. "There was never anything else I wanted than to know how people worked after that."

@rivune

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Tricia was clearly quite different from Antonia, but the way her eyes lit up when she talked about her Muggle medical school was something Antonia understood completely. Practicing dissections on real human bodies and watching autopsies for extra credit sounded like a superior way to learn the human body, even more so than the magical means.

"You know, I think I have some friends who'd love to hear more about your experiences, and I'd love to know more myself, but I'd hate to put our neighbours off their lunch." How much she herself didn't mind was punctuated once again by her fork sliding smoothly through the quiche. "We have dinner at my house periodically, and I'd love it if you could join us next time." She shrugged, and added "Just something casual, meeting of like minds, you know." If nothing else, she dared say that Tricia could appreciate having a good meal on someone else's dime.

And if she planned it well, then perhaps Elaine - or her dear lackey Shannon McCafferty - could join as well. She rather thought she'd approve of Antonia's new find.

@rivune
Elaine Lyra Dupree - FYI