wade in the water [harper]

[Deleted]

april 26, 2025

Oscar was in Ireland for work. It wasn't exactly where he wanted to be, but at least Ireland was closer to England than France was. Well, there was no English Channel between the two, and given Oscar's distaste for water, that was a step in the right direction. Being in a coastal town wasn't the best thing for someone with aquaphobia, but he had gotten a job - along with another, hitherto unnamed metal charmer - to put a series of protective enchantments on a new ship that was going to be giving tours to wizards looking for hippocampi.

He was waiting for his associate before he began his task, though; Oscar wanted to make sure they were on the same page when it came to what enchantments were needed, and what they could feasibly do. Oscar's specialty was more in jewelry and smaller trinkets, not large pieces of metal like the ones composing ships, so he was hopeful his temporary coworker would have something to say about that. While he waited, Oscar pondered. The wedding ring he had been given the week previous was now on a chain on his neck rather than in his pocket, where it could get easily lost, and it was Anna that occupied most of Oscar's thoughts. He'd be able stop thinking about her when he started working, but until then...

@harper

[Deleted]

@oscar

04.26.2025

It wasn’t often that Harper was sent out into the field for work. Despite having almost two years of experience in metal charming, they really liked sticking her into the back room of the office so that she could breeze through charming silverware and other household items. Apparently because she was good at that, they didn’t think she needed to go out on the more complicated jobs. That sort of bothered her because she knew what she was doing. During her most recent review with her boss, she brought this problem up, and for once, it seemed like he decided to listen to her. So she was being sent off to Ireland. The job was to charm a ship that was going to be used for magical tourist groups. Harper thought the concept of being sent out onto the water to spot magical water creatures was one of the funniest things ever. Magical creatures sort of lost their edge when your parents raised you around dragons.

Apparating close to where she was supposed to meet her unnamed colleague, Harper immediately wished that she had worn a warmer jacket to work today. Somehow working near the water didn’t send alarm bells ringing in her head that she would need to really bundle up. Her only reprieve was to silently cast hot-air charms from inside her jacket every couple of steps, the lukewarm air immediately being sucked into the chilly abyss of Ireland. She liked to think she could withstand the cold because riding her motorcycle was always a test of willpower outside of the summer months, but this was something else altogether. As long as her coworker was competent, they could quickly get the job done and head back to London. She dearly missed the space heater that she kept in her office already.

“Oscar?” Harper asked the man that was standing at the supposed meeting place. This was Oscar, right? Her cousin’s husband that up and disappeared? She had only met him once prior, at his and Anna’s wedding the previous year. “You might not remember me, but I’m Harper, one of Anna’s cousins? You’re not the other metal charmer assigned to this ship thing, are you?”

[Deleted]

His coworker knew his name. This was absolutely brilliant – and by that, Oscar meant absolutely awful. It seemed he was destined to be chased by his lack of memory no matter where he went. What were the chances that the other metal charmer knew him? Not likely, considering Oscar hadn’t actually been a metal charmer before he left, a fact he only learned upon his perusal through the journal Lucy had given him. Oscar took a deep breath, pasting on a pleasant smile. “I do not remember much these days. I am sorry.” At least he knew now Lucy wasn’t lying about her and Anna having a large amount of cousins. Oscar tried to commit Harper’s face to his memory – hopefully it would stick this time. She didn’t look much like Anna, but then again, Oscar was mostly looking at her hair, which wasn’t red. “I am, yes,” he answered when she asked if he was the other metal charmer assigned to the ship project. So much from his work distracting him from his personal woes.

“The ship is this way,” Oscar said, gesturing towards the end of the dock. It wasn’t far from their meeting place, but Oscar was hoping the short walk would help him organize his thoughts. He sincerely hoped he wasn’t friends with this cousin the way he was apparently friends with Lucy. There wasn’t a protocol for what to do when you lost your memory and your new coworker was your wife’s cousin! Maybe he would write a book about this, Oscar thought miserably. An Amnesiac’s Guide to Life and Love. It would be a best seller and then he’d never have to work again, and thus never have to accidentally run into one of Anna’s relations again. It was an airtight plan.

@harper

[Deleted]

▲

Oscar’s phrasing of how he didn’t remember much lately was a bit odd, but Harper decided to chalk that up to one too many drinks after the wedding. There were a few bits that she was hazy on too. That wedding had been the first for the Weasleys in ages, and she had gotten carried away with having all of her older family members being in one place. Whatever had happened that she couldn’t remember was worth it though. “I’m right there with you on that. Glad I still remember the whole ceremony though! It was absolutely beautiful,” Harper reminisced. She was sure Oscar and Anna had a completely different outlook on their wedding though, with all of the build up to it. All Harper had to do was wake up and head over with her parents and then sit in the family section. She couldn’t even start to imagine all of the emotions and stress right up until the vows took place. Probably absolutely mind numbing.

“Right! The ship.” She started off in the direction of the dock, wracking her brain for the next conversational topic. Harper thought it was strange that she hadn’t heard from any of her family members that Oscar was going to starting as a metal charmer as well, and if he was already moved on tasks like this ship, he was obviously a quite accomplished one at that. She had pulled the lucky straw when she started and became too good at charming eating utensils. Doing that day in and day out was career suicide in her opinion. “So how long have you been doing this? Metal charming, I mean,” Harper asked, breaking her own silence after they started their walk. “I find the more complicated jobs to be intellectually stimulating. Putting charms together is almost like building a machine. Certain parts won’t work without the proper gears in place.” She let out a satisfied sigh.

@oscar ● 322 ● Darkside by blink-182

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