diamonds & dancefloors | nova

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

vibrations in the atmosphere

its psychological imagination

December 1, 2028
nova hypatia vector

Unfortunately, Benny could not drag Nova away from her work as often as he’d like. Merlin knew it had taken forever and a half the previous summer to consider spending time with him and Mina. Not that she had remained in their company for that long, citing her work schedule. Eventually, Benny managed to keep the workaholic’s company past midnight when the gang decided to have a chill night instead of going out. Unfortunately (for Nova), that was not the plan that night—not exactly.

The Hound’s Lounge was less crowded and noisy than The Indigo Club but hardly as casual as one’s local pub. A change of scenery was nice, and a chance to act classy for however long sobriety still had a hold on them. Benny couldn’t remember if he’d asked Nova to bring any of her special baked goods, but he shrugged it off. The closer it grew to the holidays, the more that unfamiliar, anxious weight pitted in his stomach. Merlin, he hated it. His body was trying to make him smaller from the inside out, like how he felt when his brother glared at him.

The bartender placed a glass with a bright blue liquid in front of him, a light but steady stream of what appeared to be smoke billowing from the top. Before he could ask what it was precisely, Benny heard his name—well, his given name, which made him physically cringe. 'Gehry.' ”Only my mother and Veronica call me that, of which you are neither.” Benny reminded Nova playfully. ”This place isn’t too bad, is it?” It was a shame Mina and Rue were unavailable. Even with Rue remaining unwillingly stone-cold sober, it didn’t mean the gang couldn’t enjoy themselves. But Benny could hardly call his family dysfunctional, knowing what he knew of the Vectors. And this was only what was shared with Benny in pieces and hardly the entire thing. They both would need several drinks to get through the month.

template by vee

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

The calm before the storm. That's what Nova liked to call the start of December. Similarly to the end of August, when all of the families were school shopping, the increase in customers Christmas shopping made daily work tiresome. They wanted themed cookies and warm drinks, and platters of baked goods for office parties. Not to mention that she had already received the full order for the Blishwick holiday bash, or whatever ridiculous name he had come up with this year. It changed frequently, and Jimbo had already strolled by twice in the last week to make edits. He had a few weeks to do so, but it was sort of annoying nonetheless.

Suffice to say, December made her dour. Her aunt had jokingly called her 'Nova Scotia' earlier in the day, her chilly demeanor apparently matching it. She didn't even know where Nova Scotia was, aside from it being cold and in Canada. It sort of worked for her, despite it getting under her skin just a bit. Very few people could get away with that, Decima being one of them. Getting out tonight was good for her though, and she was sure Benny was surprised that she'd stayed out this long. A rare sight indeed.

"Do you think hippogriff cookies as a replacement for reindeer would work?" she was asking Benny as his newest drink was slid across the bar to him. Work was still on her kind, and he wasn't paying attention. "Benny," Nova said a little louder, also semi-entranced by the smoke that was coming off of the concoction. "Benny," she repeated slightly louder. Nova cleared her throat and used a more authoritative tone, "Gehry." He'd hate that.

Almost instantly, he looked at her, immediately claiming only his sister and mother called him that. And now her, apparently. "Not at all. I feel like they sort of pop up out of nowhere all the time..." Only because she never went out if she could help it. Such was her boring life as baker and edible dealer. She supposed her question about the hippogriff cookies could wait until he wasn't staring into his drink like it was a crystal ball. Nova didn't need that to see his future. He was going to be either passed out drunk or high here pretty soon. Hopefully she was too. Merlin knew they both needed it.

gehry benjamin ollivander ● 396 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

vibrations in the atmosphere

its psychological imagination

December 1, 2028
nova hypatia vector

Contrary to what others might assume, Benny was capable of listening and thinking at the same time. So, while he focused intently on the smoke billowing from the glass, he’d caught a few of Nova’s words. Perhaps not the context, but he would take a guess. Cautiously, Benny lifted the drip and took a sip. The fog decreased only slightly. He figured it was due to the amount of liquid remaining. ”They can’t seem to compete, but it’s a busy time of year.” People flocked to such establishments during the holidays for various reasons. Club Indigo was still wildly popular near London and, of course, various other places throughout England.

”I always liked Griffins better.” The words ‘reindeer’ and ‘hippogriff’ had slid into Benny’s consciousness just before hearing his name. That was enough for some context. ”Mina was supposed to join us, but she’s watching her nephew.” Although Benny couldn’t figure out how Mina got stuck with Aunt duty with all those sisters. One of which was said nephew’s mother, but he kept that thought to himself as always. ”What are you drinking?” He asked, looking at the empty glass before his friend. ”I owe you one for letting me drag you out of your bakery.” Benny’s head was not so far in the clouds that he didn’t have some self-awareness of his personality. At least his friends were polite enough not to call him out on it, especially his longtime friends. He supposed it could be worse. Benny could mope around miserably as his older brother did. But the mere thought of him did anything but lift the youngest Ollivander’s spirits.

template by vee

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

”I could do griffins…” Nova mused as the conversation switched to their missing friend. If she were to be completely honest, not having Mina here was better. Nova didn’t dislike her, as they seemed to be getting along fairly well over the last few years, but she tended to steamroll conversations and make everything more intense than it already was. And Benny fed off of that energy. Personally, Nova liked being able to only concentrate on one person at a time. It made her introverted brain happy. Focusing on too many fast-changing topics between two people was only going to give her a headache and make her want to leave earlier than she normally would. It was better this way. ”He’ll keep her on her toes. She brought him by one day a couple years ago and I thought he was going to run straight into the kitchen.” Blind curiosity had killed plenty of witches and wizards over the years. She was not going to become the witch from Hansel and Gretel because another Oliveira committed to action before thought. That seemed to be a running trend with that family.

”Err…” she stared down at her drink, which had been finished a few minutes prior. What was it again? Something gingery. It was pretty good, and definitely a lot stronger than she’d thought it’d be. ”Dark and stormy, I think?” She hadn’t felt any of it yet, making sure to eat a decent meal before coming out. Knowing Benny, this could be a long night and she didn’t want to be hugging her toilet bowl at any point in time.

”I know we’ve got a month and the holidays still, but do you have any plans for the new year yet?” she asked. Hers was always something like ‘make new pastry or cookie that she hadn’t before’, which had come to fruition this year quite a bit. She had never guessed she’d spend part of the summer making blood pudding for the vampires down the street from her. That was certainly an experience. ”Because I’m not doing anything once Christmas is done. Decima gave me the week off to recharge. Merlin knows I’ll need it…” Especially after dealing with Harmony over the holidays. It would be a literal miracle if she was able to see her younger siblings more than once during their entire Christmas break.

gehry benjamin ollivander ● 396 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

vibrations in the atmosphere

its psychological imagination

December 1, 2028
nova hypatia vector

Mina’s nephew was familiar with Benny by now, given how often he dropped by the apartment Mina shared with her older sister. He had undoubtedly interacted with Sebastian far more than Sebastian’s mother—who, to be honest, intimidated Benny a bit. ”He’s a ball of energy.” But what did one expect of a young boy? Veronica claimed Benny was quite the handful, but he didn’t recall any memories of causing any more chaos than the other kids his age in Diagon Alley. ”I think her older sister usually watches him.” But life as a Healer was hectic. Benny could never imagine working so many hours at once.

Benny had few memories of Sarah from Hogwarts, mainly due to mutual friendships with Nell. But that Slytherin bunch kept to themselves for the most part, though occasionally he’d spot Vasilia’s older sister with them. ”We weren’t that much trouble at that age, were we?” Benny now mused out loud. So many kids were running around the shops at one point thinking of Sebastian, which only reminded Benny how thin that crowd had grown.

Nodding, Benny flagged down the bartender and ordered their refills, prompting him to finish the glass before him. If he was honest, the drinks felt relatively weak. Or perhaps he was used to the low-grade spirits served at Club Indigo. ”Nope.” Benny responded quickly. Thus far, his holidays comprised the usual family dinner, and that was it. The New Year was always a toss-up. ”Sometimes I’ll drop by The Violet Hound. Vas usually has something going on.” That was always an option, although he hadn’t seen much of his childhood friend lately. It seems her breakup earlier in the year had pushed her into the shadows. Placing his finger and thumb on his chin, he thought of different ways to spend the week. ”You have anything in mind?” Their drinks arrived—perfect for a brainstorming session.

template by vee

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

It was almost funny hearing Benny call someone else, a small child no less, a ball of energy when he was the one that seemed to be a caffeine machine running perpetually on borrowed power. Nova didn’t dare ask what else he was doing that could keep him going for days on end, but to suffice to say it was not normal. ”Well, considering Mina is who she is and Sarah is, well, Sarah, it’s probably good to have someone responsible keeping an eye on him and showing him what a good role model looks like,” Nova said without much thought. She realized only after how that sounded, and while Mina probably wouldn’t care, she really did not want to deal with Sarah Oliveira. ”That stays between us,” she added quickly. Everything about Sarah screamed ‘do not fuck with’, and Nova liked to follow those internal warnings as much as possible. She’d almost prefer dealing with Harmony every day of the week over accidentally angering Sarah. But only by a smidgen.

”I wasn’t. At least not once I was at school,” Nova said as she took a long sip of her drink, finishing off the watery bottom of the glass. ”I definitely could have lightened up a bit there. Give me a time turner and I’d go back and do things differently. Live a little. Maybe have a few more friends. I don’t know…” Maybe even understand that the hand she’d been dealt when it came to her father was one that she was always going to lose, and that it was never her fault. There was never going to be any winning Harmony over either, as that had been a lost cause from the beginning. Only her own children counted, apparently.

Her glass was whisked away as a new one replaced it, and she stared into its amber liquid. She twirled around the ice with the straw as Benny talked, listening to his potential plans for New Years. When the question was turned back on her, she shrugged. ”Nothing so far. My aunt wants me to get out more though, so I’m sure I’ll end up somewhere.” Whether it was to make more friends that weren’t Benny and crew or for her to find a potential partner, Nova wasn’t quite sure what Decima was implying. Either would be fine, as long as they understood that she had a lot of work to do on a daily basis.

gehry benjamin ollivander ● 408 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

vibrations in the atmosphere

its psychological imagination

December 1, 2028
nova hypatia vector

Benny shrugged in agreement. Mina was his best friend in the entire world, but neither cared for such responsibilities. She performed then dutifully, and Benny understood why, having heard enough rants about Sarah. And Benny personally found the oldest terrifying, to say the least. Sebastian always seemed happy to see his aunt, that big smile with teeth now missing beaming every time. How that spawned from Sarah? Well, it was beyond Benny’s knowledge. ”I suppose if you want her to teach him how to take house points from all your siblings.” He remarked sarcastically. Callisto had a reputation at school, taking house points from Mina and Benny at times. Much to the dismay but not surprise of their peers. Benny nodded to Nova, assuring her those words would never be repeated. For all of Benny’s traits, he most certainly was loyal.

He wanted to agree with her, but at the same time, what was done was done. The Ollivanders certainly learn that lesson rather than his oldest brother and sister constantly at one another’s throats. Not that his father helped. Benny tried his best to remain out of these squabbles. ”Well there’s no time like the present.” He remarked enthusiastically, following with a large gulp of his drink. ”Never too late to make up for lost time.” Placing his glass down, he casually draped an arm on the back of her chair.

Again he thought through different options. ”Well, Mina always has some plans with her family after Christmas…” Well, ‘plans’ meant she likely had to deal with whatever family drama occurred at the time. Every year was something new. ”Any place you’ve wanted to visit or see?” Benny asked curiously. The partying could happen when Mina was available, and in the meantime, there was plenty else to do, right? He liked exploring, probably from growing up in Godric’s Hollow with the Potters and Weasleys, who often were in trouble for wandering too far. ”I’m sure you’ll want to sleep for a day or two after?” As he ran through his usual post-Christmas activities, Benny also remembered how often he slept most of the day rather than be productive.

template by vee

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

"I don't have that many, Merlin..." Nova responded in regards to her younger siblings. They were practically all out of school now too. If Harmony wasn't such a raging bitch, Nova would have a better relationship with the younger three. As it stood, only Idele had her head screwed on correctly and seemed to be seeing the whole picture clearly. The Vector family was messed up enough as it was, the added bonus of her 'step-mother' was not necessary. "And anyways, the triplets are almost done. I don't think Mina's nephew is even halfway to being old enough for Hogwarts." But who really knew. Time for the two of them was vastly different than for children. They grew up fast and were suddenly done with school, all while she continued about her day to day activities at the bakery.

Benny wasn't wrong about saying it wasn't too late. It just took so much effort to correct people's perceptions and expectations of her, especially after years of being a hardworking shut-in essentially. Which was hilarious the lore she thought about it, because over the last few years she'd been supplying half of Diagon Alley with pot brownies. If only Vivian could see her when she was like this. Who was the stuffy teacher's pet now? "True," Nova sighed. "It just feels like I have to work harder now than it would have been in school, you know? Because on one hand, I don't want to change too much of my routine, but I also want to break some of my normal habits..."

If Mina was out, that probably meant Rue was as well. The two of them were a packaged deal most of the time it seemed. Even more so now than ever before. "Honestly? I don't know. Nothing in London that's for sure. And I know if I wanted to take a vacation somewhere, Decima would let me. It's like I was just saying, how I need to break some of my habits."

gehry benjamin ollivander ● 335 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0