The Three Broomsticks was busier and fuller than she had expected, and Nadya almost immediately regretted her decision to come for a butterbeer. While she had been looking forward to the sweet drink for the whole walk down to the village, there was something irritating about the noise of it all that made her want to turn around and visit Honeydukes for her sweets instead. it was only when she heard a call out for her--and yes, she allowed herself to believe that "gorgeous" was referring to her--that she allowed herself to smile just a little, seeing one of her old schoolmates behind the bar. While he was smiling more in one moment than Nadya probably had in the last year, seeing him again did feel nice, and she made her way over to the bar, sitting on one of the stools in front of Finn.

"Good to see you again," she said smoothly, leaning an elbow on the bar. "Catch up over a butterbeer?" While the man had been two years ahead of her in school, she still remembered him as kind and nature-loving, qualities she admired, even if he had always been far more talkative than Nadya. At least it would be nicer to talk to a familiar face than be alone in the noise, and she would get her butterbeer after all. She took her hair out of its bun while waiting for him to get her drink, shaking out the blonde locks behind her head.

@finn

Taking the butterbeer from Finn's hand, Nadya took a long drink before beginning to answer. It was cold and sweet and delicious, just as she knew it would be, and she was happy she'd stayed to get it. She set it down in front of her, thinking about how to answer her old schoolmate. It wouldn't be a very good conversation to complain about everything, even if there were plenty of things she wanted to complain about. She'd have to tell him about the things that were going well.

"Care of Magical Creatures is still one of the better classes, as you might expect," she said, a touch of a smile on her face. She remembered Finn's love of animals, and she hoped he would be glad to know that the school was still teaching that subject well. "Though we did have to study a dragon who'd been disfigured in order to be kept in a cage by rich people. At least he was rescued, but still..." Her face darkened, remembering her outrage at knowing that someone had did something so horrible to the poor creature, no matter how dangerous dragons were. She picked up her butterbeer instead, hoping the sweetness would distract her from remembering how upset she had been.


@finn

"Almir is great," Nadya said, her face smoothing out as the bartender redirected her to more peaceful topics. "You were still there when he arrived, right?" Over seven years, it was easy to forget exactly when everyone had come and gone to the school. Some people seemed like eternal constants, like the headmistress, while others, Nadya could barely remember their faces. At least Finn was a nice face to remember, and so was Almir--she had definitely been harboring a crush on the part-giant for a few years. But this didn't worry her too much, as she had already realized that she would rather be in love with more than one person at once, so she wouldn't get hung up on someone she couldn't be with.

"That's one of the classes that actually is going well," she explained. "I only decided this past summer that I want to be a Healer, so it might be hard to pull off the right N.E.W.T.s." She scowled slightly, thinking of how much she hated sitting still and studying in the library. But she knew it was the right thing for her to do, as much as she hated the thought of working in London. It was where she actually had a chance at changing something in the system. Besides, she'd be terrible at doing something like Finn did--the thought of having to make conversation with everyone, all day, even annoying people, sounded impossible.


@finn

"You should come and visit the castle sometime! I'm sure Almir would let you pet a few creatures." Nadya knew that security on the castle was tight, but she was sure a recent graduate who lived in the village just down the road would pose no threat, if they asked the Headmistress. "It must be hard to keep pets here, then?" She had to admit that despite keeping in contact, she didn't know if Finn lived here, in the inn, or somewhere else in Hogsmeade. Her own family lived in an apartment back in London, where it was rather difficult to keep pets, though possible. Papa had been talking about getting an owl.

Nadya stared into her glass when Finn said she must be good at healing, considering how to answer. While she hoped it was true, and enjoyed the compliment, she knew she still had so much to learn. Most of what she could do now was recognize healing herbs and apply them. Everything else still seemed like something she would have to learn in training, because she certainly didn't know it already.

Not that she was going to admit these reservations too freely. "I hope it really does work out as well as you think it will for me. I bet you could learn to heal scratches really quickly, though. It's not a big injury, so you could fix it with herbs. Then it wouldn't matter if you're clumsy or not."


@finn

Nadya shrugged at Finn's question. "Well, I wouldn't know for sure, but if the school's really going to bar people who lived there just less than a year ago, that's--how shall I put it--bullshit," she said. For the second time in their conversation, despite the simple topics, she felt frustration rising in her again. It wasn't like she would have any interest in going back to Hogwarts after she was gone, but she was eternally amazed at how little of an opinion the school seemed to have of its students. As if she hadn't already been seventeen for months already! She wasn't a little child. Nor were her classmates, no matter what sort of displays of immaturity some of them had.

"Ah, I'm in London as well," she said, trying to distract herself with the dog picture Finn had pulled out. "I should have known you all lived there!" With the headquarters of most wizarding organizations there--the Ministry, St. Mungo's, the Daily Prophet--plenty of magical folk lived in the city. She peered at the picture closer--the little animal inside was adorable. "I would like a dog, I think. Or any sort of pet. I never had one to bring to Hogwarts, which I think is a shame. My Papa wants an owl, but I'm sure we'll only get one--there's not enough room where we live to have many. They wouldn't have space to fly."

She drank a bit more of her butterbeer, sad to see it almost empty. "Is your mother a healer, then? I'd love books. I need to do more research on which ward I'd like to work at."


@finn