mockeries | nell

[Veronica Giselle Ollivander]

━ you have bewitched me, body and soul ━

early april 2027

IN THE LAST TWO YEARS of her ridiculously busy life...Veronica Ollivander had never visited the store her sister had opened in 2025. The faint memory of Eleanor discussing that she would be leaving her apprentice role for such a thing seemed laughable when the eldest looked back on it, especially since the younger Ollivander dreamed of creating her own area to work on her own craft, separate from family traditions. What a waste. Luckily there was just a bit of distance between the two, with Ollivanders stationed in Diagon Alley and Eleanor's...store was in Horizont.

Taking the time to leave the store during a quiet lunch hour - whilst relying on a new intern to handle things (and keep an eye on the whittling of wands that Veronica had charmed of course), the brunette walked, one careful foot in front of the other in the direction that many others had told her, where Eleanor's store was exactly. As the eldest Ollivander walked closer, she noticed the large sign that seemed to welcome customers and random tourists alike.

"The Queen's...Wands and Woodworks.." She read aloud, her tongue making a clicking noise while she shook her head. "What a..peculiar name." Knowing the slight bit of tension she was faced to eventually meet, a hand dug into deep pockets, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. With a quick flick in both opening the lid and lighting the muggle item slotted between her fingers, Veronica took a few puffs, letting the smoke from the cigarette fill the air. Deciding that she would prefer to continue smoking, the Ollivander pushed at the door and stepped inside, the bell of the door letting out a quiet jingle - probably to inform whoever worked in the back (most likely Eleanor alone) that a customer was up front. But Veronica was...far from a customer.

| eleanor gwendolen ollivander |

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

▲

Her store had survived two whole years of being open. Not much had really come in the way of it, aside from an incredibly slow start in which it took a lot of convincing customers that she also sold wands and that wandmaking was her primary job over self-rocking rocking chairs. Those things sold like hotcakes though, and there was almost always a half dozen on order to be made. Her woodworking and furniture was what ultimately kept her in business, alongside wand repairs, as the wands themselves were pricier and for those looking for more niche magical conduits. The plan was to eventually take custom orders for things like staves or walking canes. She could make virtually anything on demand, it was just that the customer had to understand she was a solo operation. But two years in, everything was moving along fine. Hiccups were bound to occur, like slow months of sales, but she always recovered. People always needed wands, and securing incoming first years was definitely a big part of that. They were already buying her wands at Ollivanders anyways, so there was literally no difference between there and here. She even made them the classic family way just for fun, with all the boring cores and woods. A nicely priced cherry wood with unicorn hair as a starter wand and priced accordingly brought in more parents than one would assume, and that was what made her different from the family shop.

Speaking of her family, she hadn’t expected to walk out her workshop to be greeted by Veronica of all people. That hadn’t happened at all in the two years since opening, and Nell’s immediate thought was that someone had died and Veronica had volunteered to deliver the news herself. Which she would never do, but that was beside the point. “Welcome…” Nell said hesitantly as she eyeballed her sister, immediately noting that the older Ollivander was smoking a cigarette inside the shop, which of course she was. She was going to break as many normal rules as possible to try and annoy Nell. That meant someone in the family hadn’t died, hopefully. “Did something happen, or are you just stopping by for a social call?” she asked cautiously. Her work smock was still on and shedding woodchips on her side of the counter. That was still better than the billowing cloud of smoke above her sister’s head.

Veronica Giselle Ollivander ● 402 ● Alabaster by Post Animal

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Veronica Giselle Ollivander]

━ you have bewitched me, body and soul ━

TAKING IN HER SURROUNDINGS OF her sister's store, Veronica hadn't expected for Eleanor to pop out so quickly at the sound of the chime. In Ollivanders, it always took the younger Ollivander a moment before heading to the front to welcome a potential client and get them what they needed. Regardless though, the response could mean various things. Point A being, Eleanor was slow on clients or customer orders as of present, or even point B, she had found a love in the work she was doing. A type of eagerness Veronica hadn't seen in a long while. Which was partially her fault of course.

As her sister welcomed her, Veronica took that moment to exhale the smoke she had been holding in, before raising a brow over at her sister. "You don't have an ash tray do you?" She questioned, initially ignoring her sisters question. Then came another quick inhale while Veronica browsed amongst the store once more, taking in the minor displays of wands, woodworks and furniture. It was all very intriguing to see, no doubt about that.

"Nothing happened by the way. All is well." She added then, hoping to reassure her sister. "I simply heard you've been open for two years now..So I came to visit." She added, looking over at the simplistic decor and interior before her eyes fell on her sister. "Congratulations. Has it been rough?"

| eleanor gwendolen ollivander |

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

▲

Merlin, she hated the way Veronica was eyeballing her store. Nell knew that her sister was scrutinizing every single detail, from choice of wood on the furniture to the way she stacked her wand boxes on the wall. Obviously she was limited with space here and didn’t have the cavernous aisles that Ollivander’s did, but she made do. Probably worse was if there were stray wood shavings on the ground. She hadn’t managed to do a good sweep yet and that was bound to annoy Veronica. Instead of jumping into that though, she asked for an ash tray. Nell stared at her for a moment before flicking her wand over her shoulder. The sound of the door opening at the top of the stairs in the hallway that separated the store from workshop could be heard, a second wave summoning an ash tray that usually sat by the front window of her upstairs apartment. It zoomed down and landed in her free hand, Nell placing it down loudly on the counter without breaking eye contact with Veronica the entire time. She knew the cigarette wasn’t going to be put out, rather smudged enough so that it created a longer strand of smoke.

From the way her sister was talking, it sounded like she’d expected this venture to keel over and die before it even got started. Nell wasn’t gullible enough to think she’d be here for any other reason than to gloat, but it definitely sounded like a disappointed congratulations. “Thanks I guess,” she furrowed her brow as she was still trying to figure out what exactly Veronica wanted. “Not at all,” she answered in response to the difficulty so far. “Believe it or not, people want wands with some flavor to them. And those-” She pointed at a line of self-rocking rocking chairs, “Those rocking chairs are a huge hit for families with little kids. They basically sell themselves.” If she was going on total sales, her furniture outsold her wands almost every month of the year except in August and December. Business was far from being slow.

Veronica Giselle Ollivander ● 349 ● American Pie by Don McLean

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0