wild child

“No, the breading usually does me in. I’m boring and I just got meatballs, because I wanted to make my own sauce, but I didn’t feel like doing much more than cooking onions and garlic.” Merlin, he sounded dull. Sturgis practically fell asleep listening to the sound of his own voice. “It’s good to see you.”

“Oh, Podmore, I love it when you speak Julia Child to me.” Nevermind the fact she was a French chef, apparently that didn’t matter. “You, too,” she spoke with arms crossed, eyes narrowing slightly as she look onward and observed. Blunt as she was, Penny said, “The hell’s up?”

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“I wasn’t very good at talking to people back then.” Florence admitted. “You were a year ahead of my though I think?” She shrugged, but smiled at Penny laughed. “Oh, no judgement.” Florence tried to assure her. “I’m vegan so I try to be mindful of what I eat and often times eating out isn’t an option for me, but I don’t expect you to become one just because I am. There’s a lot of fruit and veg on hand pretty much year round. I do make mock meat meals though, you’re honestly welcome to anything kept in the kitchen. Makes me feel useful looking after others.” She said with a soft laugh. “Is that pathetic?”

“Yeah? Didn’t realize people were aware of who I was back then. Didn’t even get close to those people until Hogwarts, or whatever.” She rolled her eyes, but it had been the best thing to ever happen to her. Nash, and Sturgis, and A.J., Frank, Amos, and John, too. Penny was, admittedly, judgey about the whole vegan thing. Who the fuck could survive without cheese? I mean, unless this Miss Florence was only lactose intolerant. There was a potion for that, though. Penny shook her head with pursed lips, her ponytail whipping around her, “It’s only pathetic if you feel pathetic. You feel pathetic?”

“So then we’ve just got to go somewhere else and make ourselves known.” Or maybe a little less known, considering where that had got them at the Drunken Dragon.

“‘Kay, Percival, you’ve got it. Let’s go find a round table.”

WHEN: Thursday, 15 April, 1980; evening WHERE: Outside of Gino’s, London  WHO: Sturgis Podmore & Penny Tyler ( @pentyler​ )

Sturgis thought, perhaps naively, that he could sneak out of Gino’s without spotting anyone he knew—but he was sorely mistaken upon turning the corner, bag of takeaway in hand, as his gaze landed on a familiar face. “Hey,” he added in a casual tone, his appearance being anything but casual. Sturgis wore stress plainly, with dark circles under his eyes, untidy hair, and a wrinkled shirt. He liked Penny Tyler, of course, but every interaction felt laborious and exhaustive. 

Instead of commenting on the obvious, Penny decided on popping her bubblegum obnoxiously instead. She pointed down at his takeaway bag, “Got any chicken parm in there? None of that aubergine shite. I’m starved.”

“The Drunken Dragon isn’t worth our time anyway. Maybe we ought to find a shitty pub here in London. There’s got to be the right sort, somewhere.”

“There’s literally five shitty pubs on every street in London. I like that I don’t have to tell the bartender at the Dragon what I want. He has it ready for me when I come in. He knows me.” I mean, it wasn’t exactly a tall order. A coke with a basket of chips and vinegar wasn’t hard. “Makes me feel real fancy.”

when: april 10, 1980 where: somewhere in diagon alley who: @pentyler

“—so, anyway, that’s why I can’t show my face in Cardiff for a good few weeks at least.”

“I’m one more disagreement from being permanently banned from The Drunken Dragon.” Disagreement put it lightly. Hey, at least they were never alcohol fueled. She wasn’t that much of a loser. Only slightly. “So let’s stay outta Cardiff for awhile, chump.”

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“I went to London School.” Florence replied with a smile, she wondered who Penny meant with her comment. “She seems lovely.” Florence agreed. “We had a nice chat before she left for Tokyo. Seemed surprised that I was going to make meals for the house. I’ve never lived with roommates but I thought it might be nice? I grow most of the food and herbs kept in the kitchen and the supply cupboard. So if you have any requests I can add them to the crop.”

“I know, me too.” Penny shrugged her shoulders without much explanation. Not many people had known of her back then -- and really, it was how she preferred it. “Oh, no shit?” She stared down at her processed chips and laughed. “I bet you’d feed me shit a helluva lot better than what I consume right now. I’m not too picky of an eater. I mean, I don’t think?” She wouldn’t eat snails, unless it were a dare.

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“That sounds lovely.” Florence nodded. It was always good to introduce new creatures to each other to see if they might need an adjustment period when becoming acclimated to one another and while Churro was an intelligent creature, she like humans didn’t get along with everyone or everything. “There’s plenty of running space in the creature closet, we can have it there.” She smiled brightly. 

“There’s one other who will be taking a room. Her names Betty Braithewaite.”

“Betty, Betty, Betty,” Penny hummed as she tried to recall the girl. “Oh, yeah. She hangs around the London School bozos.” Occasionally, Penny was one of those bozos. She did not say so, though. “She’s ace. High maintenance as hell, I reckon, but it just means she’s got standards. A lot more than people our age can say.”

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Florence eyes lit up at the mention of a dog. She had taken care of several during her time at Hogwarts. She was a walker for a time in her first year, but she didn’t live with one and the idea was exciting for her. There wasn’t a creature she had met that she didn’t love and she didn’t see why this would be any different. “Churro will love to have someone to play will. She gets along with most of my other creatures, but there is usually a size difference one way or the other and they don’t make for good playmates.”

A lot of time had gone into training Blair. And while she had her outbursts, much like her own, she was a happy girl who kept to herself a lot of the time. She knew how to entertain herself whenever Penny was working long nights. The thought of her having some creature companions did bring a genuine smile to Penny’s face. “We’ll have to do a ‘lil meet and greet with the dudes.” Better to be safe than sorry, even if Penny knew Blair would be well behaved. “Was there going to be somebody else movin’ in?”

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“I’m alright, thank you.” She smiled at the offer. It was kind but Florence had was overly cautious when it came to food. There was no guarantee the chips hadn’t been prepared with fish or chicken and she wasn’t willing to take that risk. “The catch — um, well I have a lot of creatures. They do live in the closet and they keep to themselves, but Chunk, she’s my niffler, she sneaks about from time to time and Churro, she’s my Kneazle, she lives in the apartment.”

“A Kneazle, right, right, okay.” Penny attempted not to let her excitement show, but she looked like the happiest woman in the WixBurger as she chomped down on her chips. “Blair, ma dog, nicest girl there is. She gets along with everybody.” She wasn’t so much asking if her dog could move in, too. It was more so a given.

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Florence was excited, having a full house was always something she had dreamed of. With her on sister being near 14 years older than her, she was so used to spending time alone by the time she moved out on her own. Then it was just Florence and her creatures. She hoped that having housemates would work out. Noise in the house, new friendships forged. 

“Hi!” She smiled brightly as she made her way over to Penny. “I’ve been looking forward to this.” She admitted, settling in across from her new roommate. 

“Yeah, for sure, same. Oh, shit, here, help yourself to some chips,” she attempted to do the polite thing, concerned for once about making a good first impression. She’d been searching forever for some place affordable to live. And this place... Well, she decided to voice her concerns. “What’s the catch? It almost too good to be true,” she said through a mouthful of food, licking ketchup from her fingers.

Penny’d requested to meet Florence here, after deciding she was in the mood for chips and couldn’t go on with her day properly without the salty, crunchy goodness of them covered in ketchup. Speaking of ketchup, she opened packet after packet until her basket of chips were appropriately covered and soaked.

“Over here,” she greeted Florence. She waved, trying not to doubt the situation she was about to get herself into. Roommates, huh? Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without.

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Violet scowled, shaking her head. “What part of it aren’t you getting? What isn’t clicking? Please, tell me, so I can make it clearer to you.” 

Penny blinked. “I thought I was a sordid bitch. Who died and made you court jester?” She blamed her hand still healing from an Academy injury for keeping her from cracking bone in this other witch’s annoyingly protruding nose. With pursed lips and a shrug of boredom, Penny Tyler turned on her converse clad feet and strolled away. Better things to be doing. Always was.