Flashes Before Your Eyes (Braelynn)

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Andromeda and her adopted family were away on a camping trip, so the Leaky Cauldron was closed for a few days. The sign had been put up to use Floo Powder, Portkeys or Apparition to enter the Alley, and her fellow coworkers, including Raleigh, had left for the weekend. Susan had spent the previous day with her brother Edmund in Diagon Alley, but today was about a different family – her friends, one in particular. Hannah had kept Susan blissfully busy over the past few weeks, but she had managed to get off a few owls to Zander to check in on Bay. She had used a different owl every time, so that it would not look so conspicuous. Today would be the first time she would see Braelynn since they had left her in the care of Zanders' uncle Carson. She had been given the coordinates to her new hiding spot in code, and she wore dark clothing as to not attract so much attention to herself.

With a crack, she Apparated into a solitary wooded area; she listened for a moment to see if she could hear anything, but all she could hear was the chirping of birds and the wind whistling through the trees. She stepped slowly through the forest, stopping every few moments to make sure she wasn't being followed. Everyone thought Braelynn was dead; only she and Andy knew otherwise, outside the Abbott family. With what Desirae had done to her own sister, it would be better this way. She arrived at the hiding spot, knocking sharply twice then one additional knock as Zander had advised. She took a small step back, bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously, waiting for someone to come out.

@braelynn

ooc: I needed some Bay/Susan time I just watched like three episodes of Reign in a row

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Braelynn hadn't seen anyone other then Zander, and Carson in well over a month. Most of that time, it had just been Zander. He'd been there the entire time, helping her recover mentally from the events of the kidnapping. She still wasn't.... normal though. At least not the way she was before. She was a lot quieter. She still had flashes of jumbled and broken memories that didn't make sense. Then the nightmares that kept her up half of every night, even though Zander was there to calm her each time. She'd only 'met' Carson officially when they'd come up with the decision to move her. It was perfectly safe, or so they'd said. The small cottage was spelled, and Carson the secret keeper. Only those he told could find it. Braelynn had thought that meant only Zander and Carson would know. Until today.

Zander was out at the moment, to reassure his family he was still alive and well after being gone so much. And Carson only came by periodically. Which was why Braelynn froze when she heard a knock at the door. She'd been reading, but stopped at the sound and held her breath. She recognized the pattern. Zander had told her that it meant it was safe to open the door. Slowly she stood, crossing to the door and carefully opening it.

Susan.

Braelynn let out the breath she was holding from surprise. "... Susan...?"

@susanvictoria

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Susan breathed a sigh of relief when Braelynn opened the door, alive and well. She looked thinner and paler, but still she was alive. She was sure Zander had been getting her to eat; he had assured Andy and her of this in his coded letters to them at the Leaky Cauldron. It helped that Carson was Hannahs' brother; in reality the Leaky Cauldron was the best place for both Andy and Susan this summer from the Braelynn perspective. She opened her arms and gave her friend a hug. She didn't say anything, or really expect Bae to hug her back. She just needed her to know that she was still there for her, and always would be. She knew she had said some things out of anger to her the last time she had seen her, that time in Carson's house while Bae had been lying in bed and refusing anything of help. Zander had told her there had been progress though, and Susan could see it now.

“I'm so sorry for what I said the last time I saw you Bae,” she said softly, looking at her feet in the doorway. She looked up, and around. “We should be inside, just in case,” she said, crossing the threshold and shutting the door behind her. She was quiet again for a moment. “I got a job, at the Leaky Cauldron. Hostess for now, but Hannah says if I keep it up I can move to waitressing before the summer is out,” she said quickly. She paused again, not knowing if she should tell her the other bit of news. “Oh and...Raleigh is working there,” she told her.



@braelynn

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Braelynn froze when Susan put her arms around her in a hug. Not hesitated, froze. Unsure of how to react. While she’d been… better about human contact, it still made her a little anxious. The only one she could really tolerate was Zander, but even then he was usually slow about it, so she could chose if she’d accept it or not. Normally she would, but she had occasionally stepped away. This was Susan though. One of her best friends! She should be… happy to hug her friend. And yet, she didn’t move.

Her eyes widened as her friend apologized, and then finally said they should be inside. Right. Slowly she nodded, stepping aside so Susan could come in and shut the door behind her. ”It’s alright…” she finally managed to respond. To be honest, she didn’t blame Susan. She’d been a dark place then, and couldn’t see a way out. At least now, even though she still had a lot to work through, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. ”It’s not your fault, Susan.” She added after a moment. Hesitating, Bay finally motioned her friend towards the living room so they could sit. Strategically Bay took one of the arm chairs, sitting down quietly and looking at her friend.

Susan was telling her about her life. How she was working at the Leaky Cauldron. Braelynn just nodded, her expression still. At least until Raleigh’s name came up. Her eyes widened again. She hadn’t seen Raleigh, or really had any news about him since… Well, according to Zander, since she’d asked Raleigh to get Zander out during the ‘rescue’. She didn’t recall that though. But in the flashes of memory she did have, she thought she’d seen him out of the corner of her eye… ”That’s… nice…” The girl managed to say, not really sure what else she might say.

@susanvictoria

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Susan knew Bay was going to be different; she had known that from the moment she saw her lying near death in Carsons' home.  So she wasn't that put off that she did not return the hug; she had been betrayed in the worst of ways by a person who was supposed to love her unconditionally, why would she trust good human interaction?  Zander had warned her of this at least, but a tiny part of her felt sad for her close friend.  "I know it's not my fault, but I didn't need to react that way, that's not what you needed to hear," she told her with a small sigh.  At the mention of her ex-fiance, Susan saw Bay's eyes widen slightly.  Raleigh had told her about how he had tried to go back and rescue Bay, but had assumed that she had really died at the hands of Desirae.  "Raleigh is...an interesting character," she said slowly.  "I think maybe he's a bit more complex than I had originally thought," she added with a weak laugh.  She didn't feel that it was her place to let her know that Raleigh had seemed to have an air of guilt in what happened to her - it could be something, if the time was ever right, that he could tell her himself.

Wanting to change the subject, she nodded towards Bay's shorter hair.  "I like your haircut, it looks lovely," she said with a smile.  She looked around the place Bay called home now.  "So now that you're....well, dead in a legal sense, what are you planning on doing with your time?" she asked her.

@braelynn

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Braelynn looked away from her friend as she spoke, saying that she shouldn’t have acted that way. She almost spoke, but she didn’t know what she could possibly say. What would make this better. At long last though, she just nodded, choosing to allow that to be her response instead of words.

She swallowed as Susan said Raleigh was more complex then she’d thought. Well, Bay would agree with that statement. ”He’s had it worse then me, growing up. I never saw anything happen but….” She stopped. Was she really saying that she suspected Raleigh’s parents of abuse? She had no proof. Just the way each Flint child acted, and knowing his parents. She could still remember the parties. Pansy would drink more then a respectable amount of alcohol, and the more she drank, the meaner she got.

Finally though, a subject came up that Bay wasn’t so nervous of. Her hair. She reached up to touch the ends of her short hair, and finally smiled just a touch. ”I… could use your help with it, actually. Zander isn’t very good with hair, so I can’t ask him…” She paused, looking back at her friend. ”I don’t think I cut the back straight.” She finally admitted, knowing her friend would understand. She’d cut her hair herself. She was silently asking if her friend would check, and fix, the hair cut.

”Well…” She started as an explanation to what she’d do now, but stopped. What would she do? Her gaze slowly dropped to the ground as she thought. She knew what Zander wanted her to do. And that happened to be what she wanted. But they hadn’t quite figured out how to make it possible… ”Zander wants me to study wand lore…. And construction.”

@susanvictoria

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Susan smiled happily as her friend gestured to her hair. “I’d be delighted to help,” she said, moving so that she was behind Braelynn. She took a step back and studied her hair carefully. “It looks great, but you’re right, there are just a few little spaces where it’s a bit uneven,” she said. She pulled out her wand and conjured a pair of hair scissors that fell into her hand. “Don’t worry I’ve used these on Lucy’s hair and they work amazingly,” she reassured her as she set to work. She made sure to take it slow and steady, not talking so that Bay would not move her head and therefore mess up the cut. She was curious about her statement about Raleigh though; was she insinuating that his father hit him? She had never seen Marcus Flint in person, but she’d seen his photograph in the Prophet a few times; he did not look like the type of man she’d ever want to cross.

After a few minutes, Susan brushed off the cut hair and smiled. “There, that’s better,” she declared, picking up a hand mirror and showing it to Braelynn. “It suits you,” she repeated with a smile. She raised a brow as Bay told her about potentially studying wand lore and construction. “That would be so cool – if I ever snap my wand I could just get a message to you for help,” she said, half joking. Hopefully that wouldn’t come to pass though; Susan loved her wand. “But in all seriousness, I think that’s great. I’m glad Zander suggested that for you; he’s definitely got your best interests in mind,” she told her. She then gave her friend a sly grin. “So how IS the great Zander Lloyd?” she asked with a small smirk. Gently, it was turning back into a conversation they would have had at Hogwarts, in a time where Bay was not declared dead and they would have been curled up in the Ravenclaw common room, gossiping happily.

@braelynn

Ooc: obviously this post is before his parents death and their subsequent betrothal XD