What Did You Mean By Love? [OPEN]

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Nova loathed Madame Puddifoot's. It was overpriced, smelled horrid, and worst of all: tacky. The tea was passable at best, while the baked goods and other treats they offered were an affront to mankind. If there was a Hell equivalent afterlife for kitchen atrocities, Puddifoot's would be the poster child of it. Thankfully it was hidden away in Hogsmeade, far away from her bakery. At least that was how it usually went. A neighborly promise a few years prior to help Jimbo Blishwick with his Valentine's events whenever they occurred was maybe the only poor decision she had ever seen her aunt make. Decima seemed to enjoy it though, using it as a way to promote the goodwill and pastries of their shop. All Nova got out of it was half a month of hassle, and the week prior always felt like her kitchen had become a fiery inferno of heat. Normally it didn't bother her. Having stoves running almost all day - even with magical assistance - was not optimal. And now that the day in question was here, she was done with it all. After today, she was going on a Blishwick diet.

But the real reason she was more upset with Madame Puddifoot's today was because the stand that Blishwick had provided the Vector's was literally adjacent to the tea shop. Every time the door opened, the thick floral smog wafted in her direction and made her want to be sick. It tainted the aroma of their own baked goods. Her aunt didn't seem to care as usual, gently reminding Nova that she was scowling and it scared away the younger students attending the event. If it kept them out of the abomination known as Puddifoot's then she was fine with it. Their sales weren't going to suffer from one day of resting bitch face.

The first opportunity she was given to apparate back to the bakery to collect more of the prepped heart-shaped cookies was a literal godsend from Merlin himself. Breathing fresh, untainted air was wonderful, enough that she immediately ruined it by going for a smoke break to collect herself again. There was no hiding away while at the Hogsmeade stand, and she had been feeling the nicotine craving coming on for awhile. That had been partly the reason for the irritability. Plus, Decima hated the things. At least she was still oblivious to the side hustle that had been going o for years. Either that or her aunt didn't care because it sort of promoted the normal business too.

Standing out front of the bakery was definitely odd, because Horizont and Diagon were equally empty, aside from a stray half-kneazle lurking in the alley across from the bakery. This never happened. Years past, Blishwick had held this event right in front of the shop, lassoing in all of the other store owners to go along with his plans. While that had always made her feel like she was smothered in her own comfort zone, the ability to be able to easily escape still existed. That wasn't possible today at Hogsmeade.

After a reasonable break, Nova collected what she came for, let out an exhausted sigh, and popped back to the Hogsmeade apparation zone. Somehow it looked like there were more people than thirty minutes ago, the crowd surging in waves at every building entrance. These sorts of things didn't necessarily make her anxious, but now that she was back she wanted to be at the stand instead of stalled in a flock of bodies. Instinctively she shoved another cigarette in her mouth and lit it, anxiously puffing on it as she tried to shoulder her way back to her station, not caring who she bumped into along the way.

OPEN ● 626 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Living in Hogsmeade was normally not bad at all. It was quiet and unassuming. Living near the Hogs Head provided less questions when one came and went at odd hours. But there were certain times where the crowds came and he instantly wished that he lived anywhere else. This festival had to be the worst. Not only were there a large number of people moving about, but most of them seemed to be moving in pairs, being nauseatingly obsessed with the other. His original plan was to leave the area and hold up somewhere in the London underground, or take an overseas job. But as he had been making preparations for just that...an overly excited Breeze came crashing in. They wouldn't stop talking about how excited they were. Then the inevitable happened. Breeze had mentioned that they would be helping with a booth, and innocently stated that Clyde should come and visit. He didn't want to, and had originally said no. But, as history had proven, it was hard to fully deny that child.

As a result, he had stayed in the area, and dared to venture into the forsaken crowd of lovers to pay a visit to the hopelessly innocent Breeze. He had stayed and listened to the kid talk and talk and talk about what they were doing and what they were most excited about. But the time came that he left. Now it was back home. Or rather the Hogs Head. He needed something stiff for this headache that he now had.

The amount of people only seemed to get worse and worse as time went. People shoving and forcing their way where they wanted to go. Well, he wasn't much better. The sooner he could get into the grungy pub the better. Clyde wasn't suppressed when someone who seemed to have the same amount of need to get where they were going came across his path. "Oi, watch it." He instinctively blurted out as they crossed paths

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