Taking A Break

The new girl made Dani nervous. It was that simple. Okay, it wasn’t really. It was actually incredibly complicated and delicate and therefore prone to collapse. Because Rosa had been at Ivermorny for Dani’s last two years. They had been in different houses, thank Merlin, so they hadn’t exactly been what one would call friends. But there was a vague familiarity and enough friends of friends connecting them that this could all be very, very bad. So far, Dani had done a pretty good job of steering clear of Rosa. Not in any obvious way. Just casually staying away whenever the job allowed. Which was made easier by the fact that Rosa didn’t seem to want to interact either and Meg was a little too busy with the whole Theo mess to notice Dani was keeping distance from their new colleague. But how long could this really last? How long before Rosa realized Dani was using the wrong last name? Or that whatever gossip had worked its way through the alumni grapevine about the werewolf attack last August and a student getting injured at Christmas was actually referring to Dani? How long until Rosa put together enough pieces to destroy the shaky life Dani was trying to build here? It had Dani worried. Especially on top of everything else already going on in the wizarding world.

Today though… Today something was different. Maybe because the pub had slowed down enough for Dani to actually look at Rosa for once. Not just glance over the vaguely familiar face, but really look. And what she saw as she wiped down a set of mugs behind the counter surprised her. Rosa looked tired. And lonely. And maybe just a little lost. That was when it finally hit Dani. She was new here, just like Dani had been back in January. (Merlin, had it already been eight months since she came to England?) And from the looks of things, she could probably use some help making friends. But it was when she pulled out the paper and pencils that Dani’s heart truly melted. Rosa was an artist. She had forgotten that. Or maybe she had never known it seeing as they hadn’t really run in the same circles. Dani looked around at the bar, which really didn’t need any more cleanup after the slow night they were having, and then back at the girl with the pencils. It was enough to melt through the anxiety surrounding Dani’s heart to the quiet and caring girl beneath it. Maybe reaching out was worth the risk.

Setting down the cloth she was using, Dani picked up her satchel from its spot behind the counter and walked around the bar to one of the seats beside Rosa. The serve saw her coming and immediately began apologizing. That only made Dani feel for her even more. She held up her hands in a nonthreatening gesture, a quiet smile creeping across her face. “Easy. You’re not in trouble. I promise. It’s a slow night.” She set her satchel down on the bar. “I wouldn’t do that while the owner’s around. But since he’s not…” She shrugged. What the man didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. As if to prove the point, Dani said down on a stool and tugged her sketchpad out of her bag, giving Rosa a small smile as she did so. She flipped past several pages of plants and streetscapes and a few unfinished sketches of Meg in her garden before finally finding an open page. As she pulled a pencil out of one of the pockets inside her satchel, her eyes fell on Rosa’s drawing. The outline was only just beginning to take form, but Dani could already tell what it was supposed to be. The wondrous castle atop the hill had always fascinated Dani too, partly because she had never been there and partly because it just made such an intriguing subject. “You’re pretty good.” The words were spoken down to her own paper as she started the first few lines of a whisky bottle behind the counter. The one the Irish boy from a few nights ago had liked. If Rosa wanted to talk, she could take things from there. If not, Dani was perfectly happy to sit here and draw in silence.

Rosa reacted pretty strongly against the compliment. That was okay. Not everyone was good at accepting praise. Dani might be slightly more adept, but being in the spotlight for too long could make her pretty uncomfortable as well. She shrugged in response to the returned compliment. “Which is how I know you do too.” She smiled warmly before settling in with her pencil. She didn’t get to draw nearly as much as she would like to anymore. It was nice to be able to just lose herself in the work and breathe.

Except she couldn’t quite get lost in her drawing this time, no matter how insistently her mind was thinking about Bran the musician and the way he had made her laugh. It was a little hard to focus when she kept feeling eyes on her neck. Dani glanced over at Rosa only to find the server watching her intently. Crap. What if she started putting things together? She didn’t seem to remember Dani so far, but the brain was a fickle thing. A single expression or turn of phrase might be enough to remind her. Rosa quickly looked away though, blushing as if embarrassed. And then she was asking about the castle. The tightening knot in Dani’s shoulders began to relax as the server seemed to move on. “Yeah. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Kinda makes you wonder if it’s that beautiful inside too.” It occurred to her too late that she had just given away the fact that she had gone to school other than Hogwarts. One more piece that could potentially jostle Rosa’s memory. Well, there was nothing to be done for it now.

Except maybe changing the subject. “You’re new to England, right? You settling in okay?” The words were cast out there casually, although Dani's focus was completely on Rosa despite her eyes being locked on her hand moving across the page. Truth be told, Dani could be just as motherly as Meg when the occasion called for it. She just tended to be the one in need of mothering where Meg was concerned. But checking in on someone who had just moved here, a boat Dani had been in herself only a few months ago, made for a refreshing change of pace. It was nice having someone else to focus on. It made all of Dani’s own problems seem so much further away.

Dani very nearly raised an eyebrow at Rosa’s answer. That wasn’t at all convincing. She didn’t want to pry though. “That’s good,” she said instead. She turned her gaze back to the bottle taking shape on the page. Thinking about the Irish musician who had ordered that brand made her feel warm inside. Like a shadow of happiness. He’d been sweet and funny, if incredibly flirty, and it had made her forget about all the mess in her own life. But right now the person she should be focusing on was Rosa. The question was how much to say. At what point would her words accidentally tip her hand?

“I didn’t do too well when I first got here,” Dani admitted, eyes still on her pencil moving across the paper. “I didn’t know anyone, so it was hard.” Being a secret werewolf certainly hadn’t helped matters. “It took a while before I actually made any friends. A few months, actually. Meg, the other bartender, she had to sort of force her friendship on me. But I’m glad she did. She’s been really good to me.” She stilled her hand to look over at Rosa. Hopefully this wouldn’t be the straw that broke the apparent amnesia. “I know you don’t know me very well. But if you need anything – work advice, a friend, whatever – let me know. Or Meg. She makes great tea. And I’m sure she’d love having someone else to mother.” The corner of her mouth twitched upward in a hint of a smile. Meg certainly seemed to have a habit of collecting strays. “I know it’s rough right now. But it’ll get better eventually.” Why was it so easy to say those words to someone else when it was so hard to believe them in the midst of her own mess? Somehow caring for others always came easier to Dani than caring for herself. But then again, Rosa seemed like she might need someone to look out for her a bit. And Dani certainly needed the distraction. Maybe they could help each other. Assuming Rosa didn’t suddenly realize who Dani was and blow up this whole situation.