Overthink...

Addison was beginning to discover that while freedom was one of those things that she had been coveting for nearly two years now, it was also very terrifying once acquired. The letter her parents had left her sat crumpled in her pocket along with a sad, little pouch of galleons and a stained cheque that looked a decade old and was only worth ten galleons. Perhaps this was how her parents intended to dispose of her. Disappear to an undocumented destination, write daughter a noncommittal letter and abandon her for nearly three months with only a little under thirty galleons. She could get murdered, or raped, or kidnapped.

But no, they needed a break. After all, they'd done a spectacular enough job raising her already. Why try now?

And so Addison stood in a bakery, shrouded by a vague sense of recklessness, impatience and anger. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to eat before she did it. For now, she nervously picked her nails, firmly deciding that she would only accept the food from the Leaky Cauldron once she was down to twenty galleons. So, a fortnight, if she was careful.

Addison sidled forward to the counter, a tingle of pain shooting up her finger as her thumbnail dug into the skin under her nails. She sighed gloomily, sidled up to the counter, took another step back and finally dropped into a seat in the corner, pretending to look at a menu even though she was half sure she wasn't hungry anymore.

Piper was reading from a Daily Prophet that had been discarded on the table she had been sitting at. Piper had realized in the month or so since the battle that she needed to calm down, recalculate. She was a spitfire but that damaged her more than it aided her. She thought that by being so aggressive against people it would protect her.. but it only made her even more of a target.

She was now doing the unthinkable, and trying to work her way into Athena Goyle’s little group- Pricilla Cuffe, Kendall Rookwood, that Tobi bloke, and Darius “Woman Eater” Flint. She had to seriously lie down her pride, bite her tongue and never let them know she was a muggleborn. But she figured she could do it.

First, she had to escape her tell-tale sister, which was easy enough. She had already escaped her today to retreat into the lovely bistro where she could hide out from everyone. She was eating a sweet bun towards the front of the store, reading an article by that hippy hobo guy who was blaming the Order and the Headmaster for the battle. Fun stuf.

She glanced up and suddenly saw Renny, her overbearing sister, rushing about the street, her mouth moving to form Piper’s name. “Sh!t!” she muttered ducking her head and turning away. She crouched down and snuck away, snatching her bun and walking slowly. She glanced back out the window and suddenly collided with something.

It turned out to be a girl sitting at a table. “Oof,” Piper muttered. She moved around and sat at the chair opposite the girl, ducking her head so that it was hidden behind the girl’s. “Psst! Don’t move. I’m hiding from my obnoxious sister.” Her eyes darted outside and saw Renny near the bistro. She flinched, not wanting to deal with Renny and her perfection.

Addison stared at the menu for a good ten minutes, her eyes flitting over the same sentence over and over again until she was sure she'd memorized the prize of every single appetizer the bakery offered. She sighed and was just about to set it back onto the table when something bumped hard into her from behind. Addison lurched forward, her hand slamming into the table as she tried to regain her balance. A moment passed and then the menu slid off the table, fluttering uncertainly in the air and then sliding under another table in one neat whoosh.

Addison frowned and turned around to see who it was. She was met with a shock of blond hair and sighing, she followed the person to where she plopped down in front of her. Addison smirked a little at the girl's words, not sure if she found her words amusing or just plain stupid. "Can't imagine why I'd want to move away from you," Addison remarked lightly. She followed the girl's gaze to where she was looking outside the bakery but lost interest halfway through and turned back to her.

Addison stared at her for half a minute, then turned in her chair, plucked a menu from the next table and settled comfortably into her chair - staring at the girl over the piece of embossed paper in her hand.

Piper knew very well that had the tables been turned and this girl had slammed into her the way Piper had, Piper would have thrown a fit right there. She would have made a big deal about it. Although, Piper was unsure that that particular fact was still true as she was slowly evolving, changing the way she handled tings to keep herself as safe as possible. Survival was everything.

“Sorry about that,” Piper murmured, not wanting to apologize but recognizing the offense. Piper raised an eyebrow up at the girl at her words, as they were vague and sort of... well... weird. Almost a compliment but said like an insult. The girl had to be a Hufflepuff. Only Hufflepuffs tried to be witty or clever or offensive and ended up saying something nice instead. Piper smirked at the thought.

The girl stared at her for awhile, but Piper was too busy moving her hands onto the table to scratch at a bit of rust on one of the spoons. Did no one have standards anymore? Suddenly the girl moved, forcing Piper to mirror her movements. “Hey!” she hissed. “I’m still trying to remain incognito here!” She settled back and Piper was able to relax.

She watched over the girls shoulder and watched Renny give an exasperated sigh, before moving past the window’s frame of view. Piper slumped in her chair, blowing out a relieved breath, before sitting up. “Thank God, she’s gone now. Neurotic woman..” She shook her head, addressing the other girl. “Thanks for letting me use your face as a shield. Decent of you."

Addison watched silently as the girl fiddled with a spoon and stared out the window and for once, she didn't feel like the one out of place. She lightly tapped the menu on the table, glanced around the bakery and sat back into her chair. She still wasn't sure if the girl had any discernible purpose for being there, other than hiding from her sister and so, decided that it was unclear as to how long she intended to say. So, throwing a glance over her shoulder, she signaled to a waiter.

It was only once the waiter had set down two glasses of orange juice in front of them that Addison noticed that the girl was slumping into her seat. She pushed one of the glasses toward her. "Makes for a better cover." Addison said even though she half-hoped that the girl would just take it and go away. Addison smiled a little at her next words, taking a small sip from her juice. "Neurotic..." she echoed.

Addison wanted to warn her that if she was trying to escape from a neurotic sister then, she'd ended up next to the wrong person but decided not to. She had a feeling that the girl meant neurotic in another sense and since most of Addison's neurotic tendencies were directed at herself, she didn't think that the blonde across from her had much to worry about.

"You're welcome." Addison said, glancing out the window as she took another sip from her juice.

Piper would have realized that the girl seemed a little awkward with the situation if Piper cared to see how others felt about.. well anything. And even if she had noticed, Piper was unlikely to do anything to help. Piper did not get along with anyone very well and she did not set out to, so the discomfort of others really did not bother her so much.

Piper finally turned her full attention on the girl before her, realizing- unsurprisingly- that she had no idea who she was. Piper did not socialize nor pay attention to her peers at Hogwarts so she- unlike Renny who seemed to know everyone's full name by heart- pretty much knew no one. She was always surprised when someone she met went to her school- even surprised when she found out they had had classes together. Who would of thought.

Two glasses of orange juice arrived and Piper briefly wondered if the girl was expecting someone. She pushed the glass towards her and Piper began to say, "Oh, no. I..." But what would be the honest answer? She hadn't been eating well because her family was.. well.. trash and she was bottom of the food chain within it, so she missed out a lot. She decided to put her dignity aside and take a sip of the orange juice. "Thanks."

The girl repeated her description of Renny and Piper nodded, wiping stray juice from her lips with her index finger. "Well, she's overbearing, and paranoid, and perfect, so.." Poper rolled her eyes. She sighed, taking another drink- great juice. Piper usually did not care, but she felt the question come out before she could question it. "What's your name?"

Despite wanting the girl to leave her alone, Addison couldn't help but feel slightly pleased as she chose to accept the glass. It was one of those things that were simply hardwired into her brain, from childhood and from her experience as a Hufflepuff. If she offered someone something - regardless of her intentions - it was considered polite to accept it. That was what her mother had used to say when Addison had bothered to listen to her. It was the norm in Hufflepuff to accept something simply because someone had bothered to offer it to you. You just didn't say no. It didn't matter whether you wanted that thing or not.

Addison nodded in response to the girl's thanks, smiling faintly at her.

Her smile grew as the girl elaborated about her sister. Truthfully, Addison was half-sure that she already recognized this girl from school. She was a Slytherin as far as she remembered and so, Addison was simply inclined to believe that all the qualities that she'd just listed off were present in her also. Yet looking at the girl sitting across from her, sipping from the glass, Addison couldn't help but feel a little like she was not quite the generic Slytherin.

Four years and now Addison was sure that the Hufflepuff in her was glaringly obvious. If not, then it was at least clear that she was not a Slytherin. Yet the girl was still sitting there, being impressively civil with her. Or maybe she was just sitting around for the juice. That was a silly thought, even for Addison. She decided though, that she wouldn't be offended either way.

Addison glanced up as the girl asked her name. She couldn't help but be a little surprised. Who'd want to know a Hufflepuff's name? "I'm Addison." she said, nonetheless. "And you?"

The girl answered with just her first name which suited Piper just fine- rarely did she allow people to be privy to her own private information, and though a surname was not exactly private, it was something Piper wished she could keep under wraps. If someone found out she was a Handler, they could connect her to Renny, who was much looser about their muggleborn blood status, something Piper had to cover up if she ever wanted to survive Hogwarts, especially in Slytherin. And the less the girl revealed about herself, the less impolite Piper seemed for not doing so too.

Piper racked her brain, trying to figure out if she knew this girl from anywhere. Piper really did keep to herself at school, and while she preferred it so, it did become a sticky spot in such situations. You could pair Renny up with anyone and she was guaranteed to know their name (usually first and last), house, and could get at least one year close to their year.

Piper, on the other hand, was having to go with her gut instead of knowing like her encyclopedia for a sister did. Her intuiton was telling her Addison was a younger Hufflepuff but she could not be totally certain, though she was sort of confident in her own desiveness. She responded to the girl, "Piper. Nice to meet you." She smirked at her words though, trying to look tough and impressive, rather than curteous and polite.