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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 16, 2009 10:43:05 GMT -5
[ahaha. No problem. ;D]
“Did you already?” Brittany asked rhetorically.
She loved the idea of all of the secret passageways in the castle. There was always something hidden that could be found. Always something to be explored. It had definitely kept her occupied while she attended Hogwarts. Briefly she wondered exactly what passage Cooper and his friend had discovered. She figured if the boy knew more about it that he would have kept telling his story. Her mind was set on different passages throughout the castle when she noticed Nathan watching her. His eyes seemed to sweep over her face and watch the subtle movements that she made unconsciously.
As her heart rate increased, her mind began to take a different path. Brittany was curious as to what exactly he was thinking as he looked at her like that. Thoughts began to roam in areas that they should not in public forums but she found her self swept away in the images that her mind kept producing. Cooper seemed very intuitive on the adults’ tension around him. His snort brought her mind back from where it had been wandering and she knew that he was probably paying attention more than they thought.
Brittany found her self making the same movement as Nathan, taking small sips of her water. Glancing down at the watch on her thin wrist, she saw that time had moved into the early afternoon. The plates around hers were almost empty and she winked at Cooper when she asked, “Too full for ice cream?”
Although she highly doubted that the little boy would turn down the opportunity to eat ice cream, he had cleaned his plate. His chicken tenders had vanished along with most of his french fries.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 16, 2009 15:29:44 GMT -5
Nathan secretly wished his son was a little less intuitive; when he made a noise, Brittany had taken the hint that Nathan was staring at her and conveniently changed the subject. As much as the groundskeeper didn't want to look at her like that, he couldn't help it. When he heard the woman ask his son about ice cream, all Nathan could do was roll his eyes.
Cooper looked up at his dad for approval. Nathan really couldn't protest and not allow him the treat he'd promised. "I did say chicken fingers and ice cream," Nathan reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders. Cooper kicked his legs excitedly again just as the waiter returned to clear away his empty plate. Nathan shoved down the remainder of his meal and passed both his and Cooper's plate over to the waiter. He asked if there was anything else they wanted. "Have you got any ice cream?" Nathan asked. The waiter listed off the flavours and toppings and Cooper's eyes got wider with each item he added. "I want chocolate ice cream with caramel and...sprinkles, please," Cooper ordered, glancing sideways at his dad.
"You know what? I think I'll have some too," the man decided, "Chocolate with chocolate sauce, please." He smiled at Coop who giggled playfully and nudged Brittany. "You should get ice cream too," Cooper told the woman with a grin.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 16, 2009 17:56:58 GMT -5
Brittany had thought for a moment that she was about to get reprimanded by Nathan. The roll of his eyes made her think twice about having asked Cooper before saying something to Nathan. It also made her giggle. His scary and foreboding parent act had no affect on her whatsoever. As Nathan announced that he had promised that Cooper could have some, her mind drew back on the brief events of the day. It seemed like months ago that they all had the conversation about lunch activities.
"Okay then," Brittany laughed. Following Cooper's instructions, she turned towards the waiter and told him, "I would like just plain strawberry please."
Strawberry was her second favorite flavor that she seemed to often have to settle for because most places didn't regularly carry chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Although the house elves at Hogwarts were always nice enough to whip some up for her when she was in the mood, she rarely asked for ice cream. Brittany was just having the most random thoughts today, from ice cream flavors to wild imaginations. She bit her lip to hold back the chuckle that wanted to escape.
Brittany watched as the waiter hauled their plates away and then shifted her eyes to Nathan's face. He was watching Cooper, so she felt it was safe. Her large brown eyes traced down the contours of her face and around the edges of his defined jawline. The man's had traces of amusement at Cooper's actions made him look like he was constantly thinking about soemthing. Nathan's mouth had the hint of a smile around the corners which made her smile as a result. As Nathan turned his attention back towards her, she was momentarily distracted by the fact that she had just been caught staring. Because he was looking at her and for the moment she liked it more than she should.
"Where did you move here from?" Brittany asked, not willing to break her eyes away from his just yet.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 16, 2009 19:07:48 GMT -5
"Well, I was born in Hemet, California but we were living in LA when we decided we were going to make the move across the pond," Nathan explained, carefully tiptoeing around the event that caused the move. He knew there was no point in trying to hide from it, considering he'd already come right out and told Brittany what had happened. Still, Nathan didn't feel like talking about it again. Looking up at Brittany, Nathan wondered what it was about her that made it so hard for him to keep his mouth shut. He had never told anyone about his wife so quickly, but he'd been comfortable enough with someone he'd just met to share something like that and it worried him a little. He knew this feeling. He knew what it could turn into.
"What about you?" he asked curiously.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 16, 2009 19:17:51 GMT -5
Brittany nodded as she listened to his answer. Her small talk tactics had never been that great. She ended up thinking too much and she usually ended up asking a bunch of misconstrued questions that made no sense when put together. However, she had succeeded in getting him to play along with the mindless conversation. This made a part of her thrilled because it gave her an excuse to keep looking at him. Especially since Nathan had asked her about her move.
"I was born in Florida and raised there. When I was around nine or so, we moved to England because my dad was transferred there for the Navy. I got my lette from Hogwarts when I was eleven and have been here ever since." Brittany explained then added, "With the exception of like six months after I graduated."
She smiled complacently and she spoke about her past. Of course, she had left out the gritty details. She had been tempted to tell Nathan why she had stayed in England for so long then, remembered Cooper's presence beside her. If he hadn't been there, she probably would have ended up telling Nathan the whole story. He had told her about his tragedy and it made her want to tell him hers. However, she knew that it could come up another time. Brittany scolded her self inwardly about making plans to see Nathan alone.
Just as her summed up story finished the waiter returned holding three bowls of ice cream. He placed them correctly in front of his customer's and was wisked away in the afternoon rush.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 16, 2009 19:32:02 GMT -5
Cooper's arm wrapped protectively around his bowl of ice cream, pulling it close to him as he began slurping it down. Nathan decided it was best to ignore him for the moment because he seemed fairly content with his ice cream. His attention was more drawn to Brittany. The longer the woman spoke, the more he wanted to listen. He poked absent-mindedly at his ice cream and nodded as she told him her story. In a country right in the middle of Europe, Nathan had a hard time finding Europeans. The two staff members he knew best were both Americans and it was pretty amusing.
Finally, Nathan couldn't ignore Cooper's slurping anymore and he finally looked at his son. "You enjoying that, son?" Nathan asked him, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Cooper looked up at his dad with a grin and chocolate ice cream all over his face. Nathan picked up his napkin and tossed it to the young boy. "Clear yourself off," he told him with a chuckle.
Turning his attention back to Brittany, Nathan just watched her for a moment. He'd had a question in his head, but lost it the moment he looked at her. For a second, Nathan floundered until the thought returned. "What were you doing for those six months?" he wondered aloud.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 16, 2009 19:44:50 GMT -5
Brittany lifted spoonfuls of her strawberry ice cream to her lips quietly. She watched, quite entertained, by Cooper's immediate reaction to the ice cream set in front of him. He was getting it all over him and she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Cooper looked as if he thought that the ice cream might be taken away from him at any moment. At Nathan's comment she looked back up and continued to eat away at her own bowl of ice cream. It had bits of real strawberries in it, which she found inconvinient to have to chew.
As Nathan directed his question to her she gladly supplied it's answer. "Well, I decided that I wanted to travel. I went home, to the United States, to sort some things out," Brittany wanted to explain further but heard her self saying something different. "Then, I wanted to see Europe in person. So I visited Paris, Greece, Poland, and other places. I even lived in Italy for two months but just couldn't seem to stay away from Hogwarts."
Brittany had loved those six months. She had felt so spontaneous and free. Not to mention, she had adored being able to see famous monuments and landmarks around Europe in person. It just wasn't not the same to see them in print. There was simply no comparison. However, she had come back to hell since she had left so abruptly. Since she didn't want to have anyone stopping her, she just randomly left and only gave two letters to her closest friends. Brittany left that part out of her story too.
"Quite spontaneous for me," Brittany laughed.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 16, 2009 20:09:53 GMT -5
The way she stopped talking made Nathan wonder if there was more to the story than she was letting on. He didn't press the matter further, despite his curiosity that wanted him to. "That must have been great," he told her seriously, "I've always wanted to travel." There was a pang of guilt he felt in his heart when he said that. It had always been Nathan's dream to travel and he's planned on doing do with his wife after school, but Cooper had happened and those plans had disappeared. It wasn't that Nathan regretted Cooper, not even in the slightest, but there were plenty of things he couldn't do anymore. Especially since he was on his own now.
"Think you'll ever start traveling again?" he asked, suddenly extremely concerned with the fact that she might leave Hogwarts again. Where in the name of Merlin had that come from? He silently scolded himself.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 0:38:30 GMT -5
Brittany heard the longing that seemed to coat Nathan's tone when he said that he had wanted to travel. That made her think that an event had prevented him from doing what he wanted. From the guilty look on his face she guessed that the event that happened was sitting right next to her. However, she admired him for being able to give up what he wanted for Cooper. It must have been difficult to turn his back something that he wanted to do. Her eyes slid briefly to the little boy sitting beside her and the corners of her mouth turned up at the sight of him.
Looking back towards Nathan she thought about what he asked her. The look on his face seemed concerned for some reason. Although Brittany couldn't exactly understand what would cause him concern or trouble him. A thought occurred to her that he might care where she was but she tried to make her self forget about it. She had the sudden urge to reassure him that she wasn't leaving. As if that was exactly what he had been thinking and she needed to tell him that she wouldn't leave.
"I want to travel more," Brittany began slowly and let her words settle across the silence. "I don't think that it will happen anytime soon though. It was a lot of fun and a great experience but it's not the same if you're..." She paused then proceeded with caution, "If you're by yourself. You know?"
The question was rhetorical and she knew she was silly for saying what she had. However, she couldn't help it. There was something inside of her that just could no longer edit what she said. Besides, she didn't want to try and edit what she said to Nathan. So, she figured she'd save her self the hassle and just go with it.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 8:32:11 GMT -5
Nathan's suddenly tense body started to relax when she assured him she wasn't going anywhere just yet. He felt stupid for feeling that way, but he couldn't help it. It had come out of nowhere and Nathan hadn't had time to process the feeling before he was actually feeling it. But he was distracted from his stupidity for a moment when she mentioned not being alone. He raised a curious eyebrow, but said nothing about it. Yet. He felt himself blush when he thought of a real date with Brittany and he groaned internally.
"Daddy, I'm done!" Cooper piped up, breaking the silence and tension that had grown between Nathan and Brittany. Nathan exhaled deeply, turning to look at his son. He couldn't help but laugh as he looked at Coop's face. He had chocolate ice cream from ear to ear and it looked like he'd managed to get it on his forehead too. "Cooper," Nathan tried to scold, but couldn't stop laughing, "Get yourself into the bathroom, little man. Clean up so we can head out." Cooper crawled under the table and scampered off to the washroom again, leaving the adults alone.
Nathan didn't know what to say now. He just looked up at Brittany, waiting for her to break the silence. He poked at his ice cream again, finishing it off and wiping off his mouth. All Nathan could do was watch her until he remembered what he wanted to ask when they were alone. "Do you...think maybe we could do this again, sometime?" he asked her, his eyes not looking at her as he spoke. It had been so long since he was nervous like this that it was almost like it was new to him. He kept his eyes down, praying in his head for a yes.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 13:06:41 GMT -5
Brittany saw Nathan's face after what she said and started to ask what he was thinking. However, the first words didn't make it out of her mouth. Instead, Cooper had announced to the table that he had finished. Turning towards the boy she was met with a chocolate covered face. He had surely devoured his ice cream. It was a wonder where he put it all. Brittany put a hand to her mouth in an effort to try and stifle her laughing, but it didn't work very well.
As Nathan proclaimed that they needed to head out, Brittany felt a bit dejected. Part of her didn't want to leave. However, she knew that she had things to do back at the castle and that Nathan and Cooper probably had other plans for the day. Smiling kindly at a silent Nathan across from her, she stirred the small amount of ice cream left in her own bowl. At his question Brittany felt her stomach do a flip.
Had Nathan just asked her out on a date? She was pretty sure that she had heard him correctly but for all she knew she was imagining again. Brittany couldn't understand why she felt so nervous around the man across from her. The way she was acting was not normal to a woman that was normally so confident. It was strange but something she would probably laugh at her self about later on. As her answer built up inside of her, it took all of the control that she had in her to not shout a yes towards him.
"Yes, I would really like that." Brittany's smile touched her eyes as she noticed the nervousness etched into Nathan's features which were turned away from her own.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 13:22:57 GMT -5
Nathan's heart fluttered slightly when he heard her say yes. He allowed his gaze to finally reach up to her. The man flashed her his crooked grin and a light chuckle escaped his lips. He wanted to reach across the table and touch her hand but he kept his hands where they were.
Now that they were alone, Nathan thought it would be alright to ask something else he was curious about. "You said you went home before you started traveling Europe to sort things out," he began, speaking quietly, "What did you mean? You don't have to explain it, it just seemed like there was...more to it. I don't mean to pry." Nathan realized he was starting to ramble and stopped where he was.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 13:53:33 GMT -5
Brittany watched as Nathan's face took on a more familiar look. She liked the idea that she had made him happy. As he asked her about the missing pieces to her story she couldn't believe that he had caught on. Maybe she didn't cover up her patched together pieces as well as she thought she did. Nathan had obviously noticed that there was something missing to what she had told him and Cooper. The whole story with all of the nitty gritty details would have taken too long. Cooper was due back from the bathroom at any point in time, unless he had a fiasco with the sink.
Brittany nodded and replied, "Wow, very observant of you." She laughed a bit and supplied the cliff notes to her story, "No problem at all. My mom was a witch and my dad was a muggle along with my younger sister. Well, my mom figured that I was rightfully hers after the divorce since I had powers. The only place that was safe for me was Hogwarts, which meant that I had to stay away from my family. When I went home I was taking a huge chance. However, I found out my mom had died within the past year. Finally, I could have a family again and everything was normal."
Her voice was almost reminiscent at the end of her story. She had been sad, of course, about the passing of her mother. A death was not something to be rejoiced. However, the good that came from it was. Brittany had finally been able to spend time with her dad and sister without having to look over their shoulders every five seconds. Now they wrote to each other regularly and kept in touch as often as possible, trying to catch up on what they had missed in each others lives.
"My mom wasn't the best of people," Brittany finished with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She didn't know why she had just told him pretty much everything. Her best friend Shay was the only person whom she had told and she had been remorseful even then. But she had told him and she liked letting him know. Her eyes went back up to Nathan's as she told him, "That's what was missing."
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 13:56:30 GMT -5
"That's where Cooper gets it from," he tried to joke playfully when she called him observant. It was true, he picked up on a lot of things and cursed that he'd passed that on to Cooper. Sometimes, his son was painfully observant.
After she shared her story, Nathan sat back in his seat, exhaled heavily and tried to register what she'd just told him. He felt awful for having made her tell him that and he couldn't even remember how to form words. He wanted to apologize for having made her share that but he couldn't make himself speak. Nathan's mouth gaped open and closed a couple times like a fish out of water until his voice returned to him. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Brittany," he told her quietly. The groundskeeper looked up at his colleague with sad eyes and sighed again. Why was he such a dolt?
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 14:09:27 GMT -5
Brittany watched his reaction and felt her heart skip a beat at his concern. He seemed a bit shellshocked from her little blip of truth. In which, she couldn't blame him for. However, it was just a story and it was in the past. For her there was no real sentimental attachment to the story except for the happy part that she was part of her family again. She realized that he probably would have a hard time seeing it that way. After all, the entire situation was complicated.
"It's okay Nathan," Brittany shook her head.
She found her self inching forward over her own bowl but keeping in her own area of space in front of her. Her forearms rested lightly on the tables edge and her hands fell limply in front of her ice cream bowl. Somehow she had found a way to make him feel bad again. This time he felt bad for her though, which was completely unnecessary. There was no way that she could possibly think of to let him know that it wasn't that big of a deal to her without making her sound totally heartless. So the woman simply smiled at him with a reassuring look on her face.
"It's all really complicated," Brittany began difficultly and looked down at the table for inspiration. Her head was inclined just over her bowl and she absent-mindedly drew circles with her fingers on the table. Looking back up she laughed and said sweetly, "This is crazy. I've barely known you for a day and yet I just spilled all of that to you. But I like talking to you, you make it very easy."
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