adelaide harper

Sulli smiled as she sat down beside her. In attempts to stop her nerves she took a large sip of her drink but Addie had already started to speak. “Oh,” she quickly focused her attention. “I’m doing alright. How are you?”

Addie nodded as she trailed her fingertips along the rim of her wine glass before a small smile crossed her face. “About the same. Business as usual,” she replied before lifting her glass to her lips to take a sip. “Was it a long day that brought you in here tonight?”

Sulli looked up from her place at the bar and saw Addie sitting only a few spots away. It had been awhile since she had last seen her. Since they had talked at all. Her heart moved quicker than her mind because suddenly she was standing behind her. “Hi,” she tapped her shoulder. “Have a drink with me?”

@av-harper​

Addie was seated at the bar nursing a drink as she scrolled through her phone after a long day at the office. When she felt a tap on her shoulder she placed her drink down and glanced to the side to see who was disturbing her before a small smile crossed her lips. “Hey yourself,” she murmured before nodding. “I think I can make time for that. How’ve you been, stranger?”

↳ instagram: avharper uploaded a new photo.

happy halloween, bitches. 

“Well, of course. Slughorn is a sweetheart, but interior designer he is not,” Cassie mused, finishing up the essay she was grading. She nodded at the question and looked up. “Yeah, I was about to take a break from all this actually. My third year Ravenclaws drove me to my wit’s end today, just about. Did you need something?”

“It just needed a woman’s touch, it seems,” she smiled as she walked over to one of the shelves to look at some of the potions before she laughed. “I don’t miss being that age at all,” she mused before she nodded. “What do you know about studies that have been put into potions that could be used to help those with addled minds? Whether it be because of trauma or spell damage.”

Addie’s heels clicked across the stone floor of Hogwarts as she made her way down the corridor to Cassie’s office. The familiarity of the school drawing her thoughts back to the years she had spent here, but she quickly shook away the nostalgic feelings that tempted to overcome her senses when she reached her destination. Seeing the door open she simply stepped inside and glanced around before her gaze settled on her friend behind the desk and she smiled, “thank Merlin you redecorated in here. It was awful before,” she said, laughing a little. “Is this a good time?”

“Well, I got lucky with that part,” Sulli said with a laugh. “I was looking for new shop but honestly I thought I was going to have it the muggle world. I still want to have one outside of all of this. I think that’s really the dream for me,” she shrugged. “I was looking for a flat in Hogsmeade because I wanted my own place and the perfect one happened to be above a vacant shop. Fate was on my side for that.”

“I’m honestly surprised that’s not what you were aiming for instead. You always have enjoyed our visits to the muggle side of the world,” Addie pointed out as she reached for her fork. Being a halfblood herself had allotted her the opportunity to see both sides of the world. “I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished so far. It’s just going to go up from there.”

“Oh, they’re great,” she said with a smile. “I was worried for awhile with the new shop because of all that’s been happening. Hogsmeade isn’t as busy as normal but it’s slowly getting there. Malkin’s is doing perfectly with Hogwarts students going back and needing their robes.”

Addie nodded as she took her seat and draped the napkin over her lap, but her gaze never moved from Sullivan. “That’s something then. Honestly, I don’t think you could’ve picked a better location. You have a huge advantage being so close to all the students; lots of which have endless amounts of their family’s money to spend.”

“Oh,” Sulli said with a smile as the girl pulled her into a hug. It was all so familiar and made her mind start to race. She moved back and let Adelaide talk a bout her job. To see her seem so happy brought Sulli more joy than she could admit. “Well, I’m sure it’s all going to work out great. You can do anything you put your mind to.”

Addie smiled, content with the hug she received. She lingered there for a moment before pulling back and she made her way over to the table to take a seat when the food was finished. “I’m confident it will,” she nodded. She was determined to make this program work. She wanted nothing more than to help people that the rest of society deemed to be unfixable. She wanted to give them a life, and see them make it through. “How’s the shop going, love? Getting a lot of business, I hope.”

“Wait, really?” Sulli said with a smile as she turned back around to face Addie. “That’s amazing,” She felt the urge to hug her but she only reached for the woman’s hand. Not wanting to overstep any boundaries just yet. She squeezed her hand before letting go. “Your own program that’s amazing. You deserve that and I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Addie nodded, a wide smile crossing her face. For the first time in awhile, she felt herself happy about her career choices and the direction she was now taking. She gently squeezed Sulli’s hand back before she gently grasped her wrist when the other woman pulled away. “A handshake won’t do. I want a hug,” she teased, already stepping forward. “But thank you. I’m so excited. It feels right, especially after my break from the entire field.”

“No need for apologizing,” she said with a soft smile. Sulli started to feel herself getting nervous as her and Addie looked away from each other. Silence followed for a few moments but it wasn’t a bad silence, or an awkward one. Quickly she picked up her glass of wine and walked back over to the kitchen. “So, anything else we need to do for this?”

“So channel my inner smug side: that I can do,” she purred out as she lifted her wine glass to her lips and took a sip of it. She followed behind Sulli, a small smile tugging on her lips as she shook her head. “Just plate and eat. It smells delicious,” she replied as she placed her glass down. “So, I don’t know if you remember the suggestion or not, but back when we were still together you had brought up my art and my healer training. I found a way to use both. I’m launching a new program at St. Mungo’s that’s combining muggle art therapy and psychology practices with healer training. The muggle world has seen great success, so I’m hoping it’ll do the same for addled magical folk.”

“It was definitely a tad bit awkward. All my fault though. I can’t help it,” Sulli said with a small laugh. At the women’s next words she felt herself wanting to smile but kept her composure. “Oh,” she nodded. “Well, you succeeded.”

"Your awkwardness has never bothered me in the past, love," Addie replied. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth but she looked away so she would not catch the others' gaze. At Sullivan's next words, Addie lifted a brow in amusement and she walked over. "Then I succeeded," she smirked. "Question is if that’s something I should apologize for, or be smug about?"

“Of course,” Sulli said with a laugh. At Addie’s words she felt her breath slow. Why did she ask her here? “Well,” she paused. There was no way she could tell her what she was truly thinking. She missed her, missed them. “We needed a longer time to catch up! You know. That day in the shop wasn’t nearly enough.”

Addie picked up on Sullivan’s change of demeanor, but she kept the observation to herself. She had to push her training to the side and just focus on the conversation at hand. “It wasn’t. At least it wasn’t as awkward as it could have been.” Addie chuckled and took a sip of her wine, “but, I have a confession to make,” she paused for a beat, her gaze lifting to rest on Sullivan. “I only said I was seeing someone to try and spark up some jealousy in you, because I’m still that bitch sometimes.”

“I know, I know. I’m just complaining for the sake of complaining at this point,” Marcie stuck her tongue out and took a menu in her hands. “Oh?” she lifted her gaze to meet Addie’s, a slightly more concerned look appearing on her face. “And how do you feel about that?”

“It’s what we both do best,” she laughed softly and placed the menu to the side when she decided what she wanted. “I’m nervous, but excited. I got funding to merge my muggle studies with my healer training. I’ll be starting an art therapy program for addled minds as well as my regular duties as a mind healer. It could be very promising,” she grinned. “Muggles have found a lot of success with using art as a way to get those with trauma to open up.”

“Oh?” Yvette raised a brow, trying her best to hide her surprise at seeing the letter in Addie’s hand–a letter she had suggested for Sulli to write all those years ago. Unbeknownst to her friend, the two kept in contact for a few months after the separation, mostly so Evie could keep tabs on her and update Addie if her ex’s life fell apart, as all best friends are dutied to do, but sometimes also for moral support; Sulli was her friend too, after all. The breakup wasn’t easy on either party so Evie suggested a letter, hoping it could bring her friend some answers, if not closure, but since Addie never mentioned getting one, she always assumed that Sulli had never sent it and their contact eventually went cold. “You were hurt, you needed time to heal. Hey,” she nudged Addie’s knee to grab her attention and pull the woman out from spiraling in her thoughts. “That’s not a bad thing. But I’m not here to push if you’re not ready, so let’s just start with the baby steps–like Facebook stalking,” Evie laughed, nodding over to the laptop on the table in front of them.

Addie found her thoughts swirling and slowly taking over her mind. There was so much that needed to be done, that should have been done. There were so many missteps by her when she initially found out about the move, then after when she had received the letter. There was a lot to sort through: emotionally and mentally, and she was glad that her best friend was here to help her. Addie took in a deep breath as she was pulled from her thoughts and a small smile crossed her face before she nodded, already leaning forward to pick her glass up from the coffee table. “Baby steps I can do,” she smirked, pushing her thoughts aside for the time being. “She dated a girl for a few months while she was in Italy, but it doesn’t seem to have lasted long. I don’t see anything else since though,” she wrinkled her nose. “Own shop though, so she’s still pursuing her dreams. You’d love the shop, by the way. Her work is flawless.”

“I always have that look,” she said with a small laugh. Addie wasn’t wrong. Ever since the woman had gotten there she had continuously been thinking about them and their past relationship. “Are you okay? You have that staring into someone else’s soul look right now.”

“I’m a mind healer: it’s what I do,” she countered, a smirk crossing her face as she lifted the glass to her lips to take a sip. “Why did you invite me here tonight, Sul?”

“Thank you,” Sulli said with a smile as she took the glass. “I’m fine,” she took a sip before setting the glass down on the counter. “Why do you ask?”

“You have that I fell into my own mind and am getting lost in my thoughts look going for you right now,” she pointed out. It was amazing how quickly she was able to remember the small, subtle things about Sullivan, even after years apart, things that she had thought she forgot long ago. She leaned back against the counter and looked to the other woman.