look alive, sunshine | nell

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

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”Nice save,” Nell laughed as she looked up at him. Damn right she was his best friend. No one else wanted to hear her prattle on about wandmaking during first year. While she had never asked if it had bored him to death too (it probably did), at least he always seemed like he was interested in the subject. Not to mention that knowing an Ollivander had serious benefits. Obviously she was the only friend for him.

Alas, she was starting to get hungry. They could stand outside of the Leaky Cauldron all day, but that wasn’t going to solve her hunger issues. Or the fact that she had a limited amount of time before Veronica turned into a Hebridean Black dragon and came into the pub spitting flames everywhere. Nell didn’t actually know her sister’s stance on werewolves, but if her total disgust towards Frankie being a squib was any indicator, she really didn’t want to introduce Rhys. It was better than Veronica probably assumed she had no friends.

”Alright, enough of that disgusting stuff. I’m hungry and I think you are too,” she stated before walking into the pub. The fact that it looked like it had never once been dusted in the centuries it had been opened was charming, until she inhaled and immediately felt like she needed to sneeze. Finding one of the smaller two-person tables, Nell made sure not to set her arms down on it, otherwise they would have stuck to the surface. ”I’ve always wondered if a cleaning charm would have any effect in here. Like, do you think it’ll just bounce off the grime?” In all of its disgusting, dirty glory, the Leaky Cauldron was still the place to go. Mostly because it didn’t have any competition in the area.

rhys alexander greyback ● 298 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

the future is bulletproof

the aftermath is secondary

Fall 2022
eleanor gwendolen ollivander

She was right to drag Rhys out of his flat that day. It was easy to hide in one’s head when stuck in one place for too long. His brain had spiraled nonstop since Juniper left, and more than usual. Work, along with whiskey and women, was a nice distraction, but it never numbed him enough in the end. These last few minutes were the first time he felt sort of human in a long while. And as a werewolf, that was a rare feeling in itself. Nell was a constant in Rhys’ life since he was eleven. Someone who never treated him differently than anyone else or proved less than genuine. He reminded himself to tell her she was important. Apparently, people left if you didn’t.

”Starving.” Between working, drinking, and sleeping, it didn’t often leave time for proper meals. They went inside, and Rhys followed Nell as she chose their table. Looking around slowly, Rhys hadn’t ever thought about the state of this place. Those details hadn’t mattered the times he was here. Living briefly in one of the rooms had felt like paradise compared to the orphanage. ”No, I think it would absorb it and grow stronger.” Maybe they’d stumbled across some form of accidental and powerful magic. Or maybe Aurors would have to come in and clear it up.

While he was feeling a little bit better, Rhys still looked around for a waitress. He wanted whiskey despite what Nell might have to say about it. But really it was more for his frazzled nerves than anything. ”Veronica still treating you like a house elf?” Rhys asked, moving into the small talk.

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[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

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Nell was positive that he was still stuck in his funk, but there seemed to be a little life back in his face. He hadn't looked like that in a while. It helped that they could talk about other things, a distraction of sorts, like the bar flys of the Leaky Cauldron or the state that their table was in. Shifting in her seat slightly, she felt the gentle, sticky pull of it against her pants. Great. The chairs were in the same state. She should have known better. Everything in the pub was covered in a fine coat of booze and other aged bodily fluids. Cleaning charms were probably ineffective at this point. "The grime is sentient for sure," Nell made a face as she rearranged herself in her chair again, grimacing at the ick of its stick. "If I was better at potions than wandmaking, I think making an all-purpose cleaning potion for situations like this would be perfect." Heck, she could still do it. Her potion making skills weren't that abysmal. Unfortunately she had to spend most of her time working under the watchful eye of her sister. Any deviation and she'd be kicked to the curb. Or at least that was what Nell told herself to keep from quitting.

Speaking of Veronica, Rhys summed up her experience working under her sister in a fairly succinct way. There were times where she didn't feel like her aspirations were being crushed under the pressure of her sister, but they were few and far between. Which brought up quite a few questions that she needed to answer soon, like what her goal was in all of this. Veronica would never relinquish the store to her, nor did she want it unless something happened to the rest of the family. And as of right now, owning her own store seemed impossible. It was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Since the day I could walk and think for myself," Nell groaned as she leaned onto the table, forgetting that it was sticky. She immediately retracted her elbows, though it was too late. "But really, it's not all that bad..." What a lie. Rhys was going to see right through that. She decided to deflect and talk about wands instead, "I made this beautiful ebony wand the other day with a phoenix feather core...Veronica seemed to think it was pretty good." Nell got the impression that it was passable and could be sold. That rarely happened.

rhys alexander greyback ● 420 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

the future is bulletproof

the aftermath is secondary

Fall 2022
eleanor gwendolen ollivander

The pain in his chest subsided slightly. Enough that he felt he could breathe better. Merlin knew the more he stuck around in his thoughts, the worse it got. And the thing was, Rhys knew this and yet still found himself at the end of the spiral so often. And again, he felt grateful that Nell was here trying to help. He supposed it wouldn’t kill him to try and sulk a little less for the duration of lunch. ”I don’t know if you could separate from the wood at this point.” Rhys looked at the table, gently running his finger near the corner. Nothing stuck to him, fortunately, but it was still there.

For all they knew, it was the same grime from centuries ago, or somehow Merlin had dealt with it himself. Some attempt at an incredibly strong all-purpose cleaning potion would probably just burn through everything. But then again, it was part of the place's charm, wasn’t it? He raised an eyebrow at Nell’s response. The fact that she could hardly look at him while claiming being treated as slave labor wasn’t so bad. ”Right—I think my training was easier than what you got there.” Those two years were perhaps the most physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding of his life. Other situations came a close second but in hindsight.

Rhys found himself shaking his head. Maybe it was just his short temper creeping up again. ”She doesn’t give you enough credit.” He’d always considered Nell one of the most brilliant people he’d ever met. And in areas such as wandmaking, which was complex on its own. ”She probably could’ve gotten the real story out of Doloh—Dolohov.” Rhys corrected himself before habitually using their classmate’s old nickname. But he had no doubt Rhys generally didn’t stop by Ollivanders because Nell’s sister could be quite intimidating.

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[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

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Strangely, Nell had heard similar comments from others about how difficult her apprenticeship seemed to be in comparison to their own work training. The real problem with what she had going was that she already knew how to make wands. Her sister ultimately had the final decision on whether or not she could ‘graduate’ into a full-fledged wandmaker. There was no ceremony or test or license that dictated this. Technically, in the eyes of the greater wandmaking community, Nell was already set and had been for quite a while. Being an Ollivander interested in the craft essentially made that so. She had been leagues ahead of other apprentices elsewhere halfway through her time at Hogwarts. That was just how it went being from her family. Her sister was the same way, and she was sure Benny would be too if he really wanted to put the effort into it. The funny thing was that even in his own silliness and ‘half-assed’ attempts, he was still more competent than some of the work she’d seen other wandmakers present.

When it came to credit and Ollivander’s, it was all kind of muddied. They had so many wands, it was sort of crazy. That was the problem with the family, especially when multiple offspring decided to try and enter the family trade at the same time. In a perfect world, there was no reason for her father to have passed the business off to Veronica already. Was she a better wandmaker than him? Yes. At least under the parameters of what the family had decided to create their trade. Nell categorically disagreed with sticking to only three core materials, but there was no wiggle room under her sister. Which frustrated her immensely. ”In the end, I’m just E. Ollivander on the label inside the wand box.”

Nell gave him a look as he started to use Dolohov’s ‘nickname’. They were old enough that such a thing didn’t need to exist anymore, even if she did get around a bit. ”Well, Veronica is Veronica. She’ll give in eventually and make me a full-fledged wandmaker. I’m sure of it.” And if she didn’t in the next year or so, Nell could easily nudge her father into saying something. He knew how hard she worked and what she was capable of. Having two of them running the shop would give her sister so much more time to spend with Gideon too. How could she say no to that?

rhys alexander greyback ● 412 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

the future is bulletproof

the aftermath is secondary

a

Fall 2022
eleanor gwendolen ollivander

”For now.” Rhys responded. He couldn’t imagine her situation, but he could feel frustration for his best friend. But Rhys getting triggered by some injustice like this was not anything new. Especially when he’d watched her over all these years and noted how hard she worked. Not to mention all the wand work she did in the common room or how many times she had pulled Rhys in as a test subject without warning, and there went his eyebrow again. After a while, Rhys knew what she was asking, even if she didn’t give specifics, but he’d help her regardless.

”Well, I’m sure I’ll need a new one at some point. I know who to go to.” No Cursebreaker ever goes without breaking a wand at least once.” Or so he was told. So far, he and Saffron had been lucky. ”Archer just got a new one, right? Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else…” All the whisky, overworking, and lack of sleep was catching up to Rhys. Not to mention, he had a nagging suspicion that Saffron let objects hit him in the head on purpose. But so far, he had yet to prove it. But a waitress approached the table to take their order, her eyes lingering a few extra moments on Rhys before addressing Nell. And Rhys was starving; now that they were sitting here, he felt the lack of proper meals catching up to him.

[ end rhys ]

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