i got addicted to a losing game

“I’ll take another please,” Andie said to the bartender after finishing off her glass and setting it down onto the bar. Work had been okay but hearing stories of where people had been the night of the attacks or even the loved ones they were currently worrying about were hard to hear. It almost made her wish she was out there hunting the Death Eaters herself. “What are you looking at me like that for? Were you hoping for one too?” she asked half-jokingly when she noticed somebody’s eyes on her. 

"I’m covered, but thanks for your concern,” Aurora replied, winking at the woman. She had been taking her sweet time with the pint in front of her, debating whether to ask for something more fruity instead. Apart from that she had been admiring the other’s outfit and tried to decide if it would suit her too. “Your whole look is gorgeous,” she added in explanation, motioning in other’s general direction. 

“For the last time, no I don’t want company, no I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want your sympathy. What I want is to be left alone so I can continue to enjoy my drink in peace.” Hunter found himself harshly and drunkenly snapping. He’d trained his gaze on the bottom of each glass that had been put in front of him and hadn’t moved from that position for the last however many hours. Apparently too many people felt it was their business to ‘uplift’ him and right now he was one more pitying gaze away from flooring someone. 

"There’s no need to want to bite my head off, my dear, I just happened to find myself here,” Aurora replied casually. She knew when to keep her mouth shut and she was going to just sit nearby and silently keep an eye on the other. If he happened to need someone’s assistance, she would offer him a helping hand of course, but for the time being she would stay away to allow him some privacy.

“If I could, I would but unfortunately…” Rowan stated with a little shrug of his shoulders. “Or if the truth doesn’t matter to you, I suppose I could lie.” He added after a moment but it wouldn’t delay the inevitable. Looking around for a moment, he spotted the nearest place that was undercover and that looked like it still had things going on. “I think I’m going to head there. I’d rather not get soaked through.”

"How thoughtful of you,” the woman commented, barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes at the other. Obviously she wished to hear that she was indeed mistaken and maybe it was just some random single drop and the day was going to remain bright and sunny. “You do sound as if this is going to get bad. How good are you at weather forecasting?” 

“You were right about how good the food here is,” Rosa polished off another one of her chili fries with a noise of content. “I am wondering if you brought me here because you knew I’d be too busy eating to talk your ear off about Occamys or something– would I be right in that assumption? If it’s the case I have to say that I really respect the creativity of your tactic,” she laughed, obviously just teasing but she also knew she could get overly passionate about things too.

"It’s not that I don’t like when you talk about birds, but sometimes you give too much information for anybody to remember,” Aurora teased the other. And for someone for who any bird could be called ‘birb’ and they didn’t really care what exactly was what they were hearing about... Well, a change of topic was much better. “I’m glad you like it in here though, I’m in love with their margaritas!”

Hugo sat there as some random girl screamed at it. It was a moment before she walked away and Hugo blinked a few times trying to determine if this was real life before looking at the closest person who had just witnessed the entire thing. “Uh, you saw that too right?”

"Oh she does that every other week,” Aurora shrugged. “It’s supposed to be a part of her healing process or something along those lines. Don’t really know if it’s helping her since it’s been some times since I’ve heard her for the first time, but she doesn’t seem worse soooo yeah,” she added, smiling softly at the other.

Talia nibbled on her lower lip, her cheeks now red from embarrassment. She was always selective when it came to things she wanted to learn, however she liked to think she knew what truly mattered. Besides, she had made it that far, so she couldn’t be completely hopeless. There was also the matter of her being able to hear things when she focused enough. Cheating wasn’t really her style, but she also didn’t want the other to dislike her. “I’ll do my best,” she promised after a moment of silence. 

"Fabulous, I’m sure you’ll do great,” she encouraged the other. In any case, she thought she could manage to save their asses and they wouldn’t end up at the very bottom. “I’m Aurora by the way,” she introduced herself, smiling softly and hoping that would make her look less scary. 

🤏 - one of our muses pinches the other for not wearing green ( @auroraclaremont​ )

“Ow!” Theo yelped, turning around to the other, “Hey, I am wearing green!” he protested, pointing to the green lettering on his shirt, “Wait to jump the gun, Aurora. Is there a forfeit as payback for you making a mistake?” he asked, grinning slyly.

"Oops, my bad,” she smiled at Theo innocently, raising her hands. “To be fair, there’s really bad lighting here and everyone could make a mistake,” Aurora tried to explain, then took a step back. “But... But I am wearing green,” she pointed at her skirt, although made no move to run in case he really wanted revenge. 

❓ - our muses take part in a pub quiz & @auroraclaremont​

Talia’s eyes widened when she heard the first question, suddenly not feeling like she had made the right choice to take part in the quiz. “Do you think they give prizes for participation?” She asked, smiling softly at the other. 

“Participation? Oh hun,” Aurora shook her head, then smiled softly at the other. “Let me tell you what, let’s not end up at the very bottom and I’ll buy you whatever drink you choose. How does that sound?” She offered. While bribes were not exactly the best solution, it wasn’t like anything bad was going to happen if she gently nudged the other towards trying a bit more.

Leaning dangerously far back on her chair to the point where it risked tipping over, Ivy was playing a mobile game on her phone with the sound up. She was muttering to herself, barely registering that someone had come up to the desk. She was relatively new to the receptionist job but she was already slacking off because she found the job incredibly boring, which was not a great look. After the individual who had approached had made themselves known to her, Ivy almost collapsed out of her chair, just barely managing to catch her balance. Her phone skittered onto the welcome desk and teetered dangerously off the edge of it. 

Ivy placed a hand over the device and slid it to safety before looking up at the other with a stressed out laugh, “Hey uh– what can I do for you? Are you coming to see somebody or are you being admitted or…?” she asked, moving her fingers back to the keyboard in hopes that she’d remember how St. Mungo’s online systems worked.

Having an accident outside of the castle was not a smart move, Aurora knew at least that much. She didn’t feel well enough to travel a long distance, but fortunately St Mungo’s was near enough. Now she only needed to avoid every familiar face that could tell her off for injuring herself. The woman cleared her throat when the receptionist hadn’t seen her standing for a few minutes. Usually she would just stand until someone paid attention to her, but she really wanted to have a seat. “Um.. So... It’s not exactly that bad, so I can totally wait,” she tried to explain.

“Is it? I think I’ve only ever seen it one other time but maybe I am just not looking carefully enough.” He wasn’t an astronomy teacher after all and he spent the majority of his time in the hospital so it was rare he got out for long enough to give it his time. “One wish a week though, hm? I am very curious at to what your one wish a week is? And, have they ever come true?”

"Well, you can always leave the list with your wishes with me and I’ll make sure to ask on your behalf,” she smiled at Colm sweetly. “Some of them did come true, even though it took a bit of time. You can’t rush the stars, nor discuss secrets that are between them and you with someone else,” Aurora added jokingly. 

💫 - our muses see a shooting star

“So…” Colm began as he let his arms slip around the woman’s waist from behind, watching the light move across the sky. As an Astronomy teacher, what do you see when you see a shooting star in the sky. Do you believe in making a wish on it?” Colm asked quietly, pressing a kiss to her cheek as they enjoyed the moment of peace away from the crowds.

@auroraclaremont​

Aurora leaned back, quietly sighing at how content she was in Colm’s arms. “Well, part of me wants to be all scientific about it and say it’s actually very common to see a shooting star. But then I still want to believe they bring luck and I think we all could use some. I try not to be too greedy when I spot one and only allow myself one wish a week,” she grinned in response. 

🍾 - our muses share a glass/bottle of champagne

“Cheers,” Theo said in thanks as he was handed a drink, sipping on it. He wasn’t planning on getting too wild tonight. He could so easily get drunk on champagne as it was easy to drink so he was being extra careful with this, “So who have you brought with you tonight? You don’t expect me to believe you came dateless, do you?”

@auroraclaremont​

“How are you enjoying the party?” Aurora asked, sipping from her own glass. She didn’t want to wake up with a headache in the morning so she was going to take it slow, at least that was plan. “I believe Colm’s with his friends. We’ll find each other later. You’re going solo for the night thought, right? Haven’t seen anyone on your arm yet,” she noted. “Want me to find you someone gorgeous?” 

“I’ve been trying to get rid of things to make room for the new so I wasn’t sure if that would end up in the donation pile or not,” Laurel admitted with a shrug when the other held up one of the items. “It’s yours if you want it.”

"One part of me wants it, but the other keeps reminding it I already have the same blouse in three different colours and that’s probably enough,” Aurora smiled sheepishly. Sure, she could always just make her wardrobe bigger, but then that would allow her to buy more unnecessary clothes while she should be saving for a place on her own.