somewhere only we know.

        ❝   hey,   it’s   okay   —   ❞   dirk   noticed   the   back   of   hana’s   head   in   an   instant,   rushing   over   to   help   them   with   the   screaming   stranger   in   the   street   who   had   been   obviously   injured.   ❝   please,   let   them   help   you.   ❞   his   hand   landed   on   the   strangers   shoulders   to   keep   them   in   place,   breathing   with   them   to   help   slow   their   heart rate.

When Axel finally spots a familiar face in the panicked crowd, he latches onto it like a lifeline, pushing his way towards them with his useless arm cradled against his body. He’d paid the price for trying to protect his guitar from the sudden crush of people trying to escape back towards the Leaky Cauldron, but it was worth it. “I am calm,” he says, and he sounds it in spite of the wild look in his eyes. “I think my arm it’s- not broken- it’s… fuck! It’s fucking- ausgerenkt?” And it hurts.

“Not that you’ve been trying very hard,” Ned points out, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t usually sleep with people I want to get rid of.” He just stops owling them, like a normal person. “You don’t have to agree with me, I already know I’m right. Just like I’m right about the motorcycle.” Once he gets an idea in his head, it’s nearly impossible to get him to let it go.

His grin only widens at the idea of Hana bringing a sign to the game, rather charmed by the sentiment, and in possession of the kind of confidence that rarely allows him to feel embarrassed. “Excellent. Make sure you make it out to ‘the Sledgehammer’ so all the other fans will know it’s for me,” he laughs. “Are you gonna come with me to the after party this time?”

hana would admit she had a soft spot when it came to ned but it was something much more than sex, it was genuine friendship that she didn’t know how to determine. but she still held her ground about the motorcycle incident. “no, sorry, i still stand by my opinion.” she says with a smirk, grabbing a cigarette from her box but not lighting it. “i know how you are, whether you like it or not.” she said, pointing her finger and cigarette towards him. 

“Yet here you are, dealing with me, like you have been for the last seven-ish years,” Ned replies smugly. “And anyway, talk about the pot calling the cauldron black! You’re easily as bad as I am.” Perhaps it’s less obvious on Hana than it is on him, but there’s a reason she was sorted into Gryffindor.

“Aw, Banana, you really do care,” he teases, accepting the pat on the cheek before settling more comfortably against her, peering at the contents of her book. “Are you coming to the match this weekend? There’s tickets for you and your dad, if he wants.”

“you’re truly a thorn in my side that i can’t seem to get rid of.” she rolls her eyes shaking her head, the two were very chaotic together, always had been, it was no surprise of the teasing, she takes it with grace and sighs, “i refuse to agree with you.” 

hana’s   presence   was   more   than   a   comfort   for   sloane,   it   was   the   same   feeling   you   get   when   you   drink   rich   hot   chocolate   after   a   cold   day   out   in   the   snow.   the   way   you   could   feel   it   warm   your   insides   in   an   instant   after   the   harsh   climate   —   like   a   sigh   of   relief.   ❝   oh,   i   love   cats   —   we’ll   have   at   least   ten.   let   themselves   make   their   own   family   and   have   access   to   roam   wherever   they   please.   ❞   something   sloane   never   felt   she   was   able   to   do,   especially   not   when   she   had   no   family   home   to   return   to   anymore.   she   was   stuck.   shaken   from   her   internal   struggle   by   the   cool   touch   of   hana’s   fingers   on   her   cheek,   sloane   blinks   as   her   head   instinctively   turns.   ❝   it’s   okay   —   i   like   who   you   are,   too,   you   know.   even   when   you   hog   the   bathroom   and   refuse   to   take   the   garbage   out,   ❞   sloane   chuckled   as   she   brought   the   blanket   up   to   her   nose.   ❝   is   it   bad   that   i   always   assumed   you   would   ?   two   sides   of   the   same   coin,   we   are.   plus,   i   don’t   think   i   would   ever   leave   alone   —   ❞   and   she’d   never   ask   teddy   to   go   with   her.   he   deserved   more   than   that.   so   did   hana,   but   the   way   the   two   of   them   were   so   similar   in   their   trauma’s   allowed   sloane   to   have   the   silly   idea   in   her   head   that   hana   would   say   yes.   ❝   maybe   one   day   when   we   aren’t   such   fraidy   cats   anymore,   yeah   ?   or   when   we   let   ourselves   leave   this   dreadful   apartment,   ❞   she   couldn’t   help   the   laughter   that   filled   her   chest   for   even   a   few   seconds   as   she   leaned   her   head   on   hana’s   shoulder.

                    ❝      i’m   sure   !      it’s   not   too   busy   today   ,      i   think   i’ve   got   it   handled   if   i   didn’t   just   jinx   it      ❞

The answer she receives to her question is almost philosophical, and she ponders it for a moment before nodding in agreement. Old and new it is! “Oh, Hana, you must let me pay!” Trixie protests, but it’s too late, and the other woman is already putting her own money in the till. She sighs, putting her purse back in her handbag. “Thank you, that’s very kind. And very naughty.”

She perches on one of the stools at the counter, taking a dainty spoonful of ice cream as she continues to chatter. “Have you been busy today? It’s been non-stop at the Menagerie, all the frazzled parents are doing their last minute bits before school starts. I think I must’ve sold twenty toads today - I know that doesn’t sound like very many, but I’ve noticed they aren’t usually very popular with students for some reason.”

“what’s the point of having a father that owns an ice cream parlour if i can’t get some mates some free ice cream, yeah?” plus, she had always made sure to pay for her friends, her father wasn’t missing out on any profit and it was honestly a joy to see her friends enjoying something her father had made. 

“oh! that’s my favorite, i’m glad fortescue’s finally added it to the lineup. I hope it isn’t just a summer flavor. can i buy you a cone?” 

cressida had no intentions of partaking in a cotton candy flavored anything – she hated the taste. she usually switched it around, sometimes staying with a new flavor she found for the next few times she came in. her last ice cream dish had been quite phenomenal. a blend of black raspberry and maple with cherries and toffee chips. it was quite a brilliant mix on her part. “thanks, but no thanks,” cressida replied with a bit of a fake smile as she turned around slightly. “i think i’ll stick with my current favorite.”

Ned wrinkles his nose. “That little booklet thing? As if something like that would stop me.” If a bit of bureaucracy was the kind of thing that gave him pause, he’d never get to do anything fun. “Besides, I’m pretty sure they just give those out to anybody that asks - some of the muggles I’ve seen cutting about in their cars are mental.”

“Yeah, but that’s why I have you,” Ned says with a grin, getting up from his seat so he can squish in next to her instead. “Are you honestly telling me you couldn’t un-snap my neck? Some mediwix you are!”

“you’re impossible to deal with,” which was saying a lot because hana was also impossible to deal with but in a different way. she rolls her eyes before thinking about the amount of car wrecks she’s seen in her life, which wasn’t that many but people were bloody mental. most people that came to her were because they fell off their brooms and they were aurors. 

His eyes light up at Hana’s assessment, folding down the corner of the page he was looking at to go back to later. “Fucking amazing,” Ned enthuses. “Reckon I could learn to drive one? It can’t be much harder than flying, yeah?”

location : the three broomsticks

@beforedawnstarters​

“do you ever just, realize you’ve made a mistake but think it’s too late to fix it?” she said a bit drunkenly, nursing her third firewhiskey.

open . / @beforedawnstarters​

          ❝ here  ,  my  treat  .  just  change  the  bloody  song  that’s  playing  on  the  juxebox  or  i  might  loose  my  mind .  ❞