may the 19th | present, what present?
LOCATION : diagon alley TIME : 19th of may FEATURING : open ! @startertms
The late spring light clung to the cobblestones of Diagon Alley, as Daphne stepped out of St Mungoโs, exhaustion settling over her shoulders. Her shift had ended later than expectedโor rather, later than contracted. She was always at odd hours ever since her rotations in the maternity ward had started, which now felt like the new normal.
Her thoughts were still half-caught in the cries of the last newborn of the day (or rather, the first, as her day had already given way to a new one), when a realisation struck her: time was slipping through her fingers. What day was it? Had she missed it already? Noโsurely not. She still had time. Didnโt she?
She moved through the alley without truly looking, mind drifting from shopfronts to memories, to the kind of gifts that could have made up for her mistake. How could she have forgotten to plan for her sistersโ birthday? (And hers, too.) She barely noticed the noise around her untilโ a shoulder touching hers, altering their equilibrium.
โOh,โ she breathed, trying to steady herself, one hand reaching out instinctively notย to fallโย ย on the floor, or on the person she had bumped into . She raised her gaze โ and for a brief moment, her steps faltered again, while standing, as the world around her seemed to pause, like a breath held under starlight. Was she surprised, or worried? โApologies," she whispered. "Are you well?โ she asked, the apology in her voice edged with something warmerโย motherly, even.















