the girls [ivanka]

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Mid August 2027

It was sweltering - how was it that Scotland could feel hotter than the Sahara? Brígh supposed it was due to the humidity, which was nonexistent in the desert. The air was oppressive and despite the corridors being made of stone, it didn't keep the place cool. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be an issue. But this summer had been a real scorcher and Brígh had been thrown back into courses despite having been out in the field already.

There was only one person who could fully commiserate with her - who had been in her shoes fully and who Brígh trusted almost as much as Addy or Cheese. Ivanka had both helped her resurrect Phoenix Rising, saving dozens of lives in the destruction of the castle, and she had taken up curse breaking with her. Ivanka was also the sister of Brígh's flatmate, Irina. They had both been pulled from their field training for further coursework. And Brígh knew exactly where to find Ivanka on a Thursday late afternoon.

Slamming down two pints, Brígh slid onto the bench across from Ivanka. She pushed one towards her friend, and took a deep drink from the second. This new student run pub was the best thing about LIFE - easily accessible cheap alcohol for her to swill whilst commiserating. "Thursdays are for the girls," Brígh said, arching a brow mischievously.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

Mid-August 2027

Did Ivanka want to be at the Lufkin Institute for Further Education instead of training in the field like she had been the previous year? Not particularly. She had grown up and moved beyond Hogwarts and its destruction and having to restart Phoenix Rising, yet there she was, back at Hogwarts. It wasn't even September, but she had been at "LIFE", as it was being called, for over a month by that point. It was suddenly back to homework and assigned readings and everything else that she hadn't signed up for after completing her NEWTs. Irina was lucky that she was already a full Curse-Breaker.

The one benefit to being at LIFE was that it had a student pub, the one place that made her feel less like she was trapped at Hogwarts University, minus the notes from her most recent lecture on the table in front of her.

"Thursdays are for the girls," she suddenly heard a voice declare, a pint of beer in front of her as if it had been summoned. It was Brígh, her fellow Curse-Breaker-in-training-turned-LIFE-student, Irina's flatmate, and her former Phoenix Rising coconspirator.

"Thank Merlin," Ivanka responded gratefully, putting her notes back in her satchel and then looking across the table at Brígh. "We should be drinking in Peru or somewhere right now, you know?" she pointed out with a dry laugh, taking a sip from the pint glass Brígh had brought her. They could have been anywhere in the entire world… instead of being someplace called the Flobberworm and Lettuce. They got an enhanced library back, sure, but they could have had that without all the formal courses. A giant public library somewhere near Gringotts would have been fine; that would have been great, even.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Ivanka greeted Brígh and the pint graciously as she swept her notes back into her satchel. It was refreshing to have Ivanka around classes, to say the least. They'd been coconspirators, and friends for even longer. Brígh nodded fervently. "Or Sapporo. Imagine..." she replied with a sigh. Despite her rather vocal disapproval, the school board refused to listen to the students who had been shuffled back into school. Back into exams, revising, writing papers, reading dusty old books on theory... Brígh could hardly stand it. She itched for adventure. What was worse was that she'd had a taste, and it had been snatched away from her.

Tucking a lock of red hair behind her ear, Brígh considered Ivanka. "You know... I bet we could get away with a holiday. I mean, we are adults now, aren't we?" asked Brígh, tilting her head. "Surely we're entitled to do as we wish..." a smirk was playing at the corners of her lips as the idea started to form in her head. "Your da was minister. Doesn't that mean he has special fireplaces connected to the floo network? Or was it taken back when he left?" asked Brígh curiously. She hadn't travelled so far by floo before. They'd always taken a portkey to their various field trainings. But it wasn't worth it to create an unapproved portkey for the purpose of escape.

"Muggle way is too slow. Trains and planes... look, you haven't been to Ibiza, surely?" asked Brígh, her eyes darting up to Ivanka's. "I bet there are loads of gorgeous girls there. And obviously..." she lifted her pint, before taking a drink. "Loads of drinks. Oh Ivanka, imagine," said Brígh in a rush. "We wouldn't even be missed! I doubt Professor Vector would mind if we skived off a class, he's good craic," she added. While Ivanka should have known better than to suggest an adventure, Brígh sensed that her fellow was just as on board for a little rule breaking as she was.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

Mid-August 2027

Melting literally anywhere but LIFE sounded like the dream, and Brígh was just the person daring enough to suggest that they could take a holiday and get away from the complete boredom of university life. It wouldn't be hard for them to do; she had a point there. They were adults who could leave LIFE at will and didn't live on the premises (thankfully). Even without the perks of being the Minister's daughter, Ivanka knew, it wasn't as though they'd have to do anything too outrageous to take a little break.

"We don't need the Floo Network," she pointed out to Brígh. "We can get a Portkey. Easy." They didn't have to be secretive about it, as long as they didn't miss any lessons. Nothing illegal, just a chance to enjoy themselves for a little while again.

As Brígh was already daydreaming about going to Ibiza and getting all the alcohol they could drink, Ivanka laughed. She had to bring the former Gryffindor back down to earth just a little bit. "We could just do it at the weekend. We could leave tomorrow night and come back on Monday morning." she suggested. "We might be back in time to avoid any skiving, but Vector is probably too busy making sure the new Curse-Breaking trainees don't fall into any quicksand." Ivanka, considering it more, took a sip of her beer. They would need at least a few more hours to plan, so leaving immediately wasn't feasible. "Do you think Wildsmith Travel Agency in Horizont Alley have any package holidays?" she wondered. Surely there was somewhere they could go on such short notice to refresh themselves.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh flushed. "Oh right. I thought..." she trailed off, deciding it was best not to add insult to injury. Her mind quickly flurried to all the prospects, when a fitting idea came to mind. "Should we drag Addy along? I bet she needs it. Her and Cheese broke up... suppose she could use some drinks and hot men to distract her. Or women," she added after a moment. Addy had never stated a preference, so Brígh thought she could find solace in the arms of anyone. As long as it made her feel better.

"Oh! Better than Ibiza. Let's go to Malia. It's on Crete, and there's loads of history there. I mean when we get tired of partying, if we ever do, we could go to the Minoan ruins." Brígh straightened, the cogs of her mind spinning. "You're right, I net Wildsmith will have a package. Good shout," she agreed, nodding fervently. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she considered what else they would need. "I reckon we can get most of the stuff we need on the island. We can go to Wildsmith's in the morning and see... doubt they're open now," she mused, tracing a grain of wood in the table. She took a large gulp of beer. "I am so pleased that you condone all of my bad ideas. It's refreshing," said Brígh with a grin.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

Mid-August 2027

Ivanka didn't mind Brígh's suggestion of taking Addilyn Slater along with them on their girls' trip. It was a spur-of-the-moment plan, anyway, and they weren't going to hurt anything by being a group of three. Besides, as Brígh brought up, Addy had broken up with her boyfriend, Raphael McLaggen (or "Cheese", for some reason), and needed the distraction. "Yeah, let's invite her, too. Why not?"

Brígh also suggested Malia, on Crete, instead of Ibiza. Greece sounded nice, too. Plus, as trainee Curse-Breakers, there were also ruins there that they could check out. Maybe that wouldn't make their little trip completely educational, but it would at least give them something to do besides drinking.

Wildsmith sounded like the way to go, in any case, though Brígh pointed out that they would need to wait to go to the travel agency in the morning. As long as they got an early start on that, Ivanka reasoned, they wouldn't run into any problems there. If it was a little expensive on such short notice, she didn't mind paying for the other two girls.

"Greece will be great. I sort of miss the spontaneity of going to Gringotts and being told that I'm taking a Portkey to another country for training," she commented after Brígh expressed how glad she was that she condoned her bad ideas. Perfectionistic though she was, there was nothing exciting about life at LIFE. A package holiday would be all laid out for them; they only had to show up. Ivanka knew that making sure of that would still fall on her shoulders, but she also trusted Brígh enough to be responsible when it mattered.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh grinned, draining her drink. She swept away to collect another round before returning with the light of adventure in her eyes. "You know, I bet Vector would even sign off on this excursion so we could get an extra few days. My mam was telling me about how she'd been working on a research project in school and dashed off to Spain to 'collect evidence' and instead she went to a festival. To be fair, she did also collect evidence, but she veiled it so she could get legless," Brígh replied.

Leaning back in her chair, Brígh nodded in agreement. "Me too. I have always wanted to be a curse breaker cos of the promise of adventure. Now, I've got a year of adventure under my belt and being slammed back into coursework is rather a rude awakening," said Brígh thoughtfully. "It just feels... archaic. You know? Like turning back time, in a non-magical way," she added after a moment. She sighed, sipping her drink. "Do you feel trapped here?" asked Brígh. Her voice was softer, her brows knitted together in question. After her taste of freedom, being tied back down to one place felt distinctly uncomfortable. Like the powers that were were punishing her for something. She tried to think of what could have landed her this prison sentence - had she not done all she could to save the lives of many? Frowning, Brígh glanced around the pub at the other students. They seemed happy, jovial even. Not at all how she felt.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

Mid-August 2027

Going on a spontaneous trip to Greece might not have been the most logical thing either of them had ever done, but there was only so much of LIFE they could take without losing their minds. Ivanka knew, too, that there were worse things that she and Brígh could have done, in theory. Brígh even suggested that they could get Professor Vector to sign off on their trip if they were to frame it as being something academic and claimed that her mother had once done the same thing when she was in school. It was a creative idea and not a sure bet, but Ivanka was willing to try it if Brígh was. Plus, they wouldn't be going behind Professor Vector's back.

Brígh likened their having been thrown back into academic courses like having been thrown back in time, and Ivanka nodded. It was like they had been caught in some sort of limbo, only without a Time-Turner.

Ivanka watched as Brígh's tone changed quickly. "Do you feel trapped here?" she asked, sounding far more serious than she had.

The shift in the conversation felt a little bit strange to Ivanka because of how happy Brígh had been just before then, but she had also become used to it. Living through everything that they had made being treated like children again feel insulting. "Yeah," Ivanka admitted, taking another sip of beer to keep from having to speak about it at length. "Not enough to quit training," she clarified for Brígh after she had swallowed the liquid in her mouth, "but… yeah. I-It's like everyone forgot, so…" And now they just got alcohol that they didn't have to smuggle into the castle as a consolation prize, Ivanka thought.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH