When The Weather 'Aint Good

At Darius's exclamation, Vivianna remembered that she had managed to keep her job from becoming common knowledge. There'd been a reason why she'd made sure the other Slytherin's didn't find out, and she hoped Darius wouldn't spread it around.

Spinning her ring on a pale finger and shrugging, Vivianna said, "my family got tired of funding my potions experiments." Wondering why on Earth her housemate would want to visit her at work, the girl continued with, "I work at Marcheti's, you know, the wand shop down in Diagon. I have to walk to Hogsmeade and floo to the Leaky, but it means I get free reign of the Alley after work whenever there's time." The witch smirked at that, her Diagon trips were always fun, it was nice to get off the grounds sometimes.

As strange as it may be, the girl actually liked her job. She hadn't expected to, she was just a sales assistant, but one couldn't spend hours upon hours in a wand shop without learning something. Wands were ridiculously fascinating, and something most people took for granted. She'd even started a game of sorts with herself, trying to guess what type of wand everyone who entered would buy. Vivianna noticed herself getting better and better with time.

"Oh, just Transfiguration," the teenager answered vaguely, she really didn't want to talk about Transfiguration right then.

He smiled. Potion experiments.
It was really nice to talk with a person who did something useful. Potions were interesting things, all this craft and all that balance that was needed there... Darius lacked it. He could boil potions, but he was did not put his heart into it. To him, the ingredients, the smell, the colors meant nothing.
“Oh, yes, I do know...“ He replied, though he had never been in that shop, only heard things about it. So far he never heard any complaints and he assumed that Macheti was a master of this area.

“But I take it that you like working there? And it must be nice to walk on the Diagon Alley when its half empty,“ Darius thought loudly. Students could also visit the alley, but that was when there was something Really needed. Without a good reason they did not get the permission. Not that it stopped the students. Darius knew many ways how to get out of the castle and he was sure that he wasn't the only one.

He looked at the scroll again though he did not read anything what Vivianna wrote there. Transfiguration. It was interesting to watch, but not as fun to learn. He handed it back to Varnes. “Maybe I should leave you to your homework? When's it due?“

"I love working there, actually," the girl admitted. She hadn't expected it, but wandlore was incredibly fascinating. If the teenager didn't love potions so much, she'd probably want to be a Wand Crafter. As it was, she was still considering it as a possible career option. "It's actually rather complicated down there right now, Mr. Marcheti isn't around currently, so our lazy-ass manager and I took over to keep everything going. I try to get down there as much as possible because Merlin knows the place would fall to bits if he was left in charge," Vivianna confided.

The truth of the matter was, Aaron Marcheti was in Azkaban, not that many knew that. The witch only hoped that he was alright, and preferably would be back soon. Her wanderings around Diagon, and Knockturn on occasion, were nice. She was aware that not every student got the chances she did for such exploration, and was incredibly glad for it.

"It's not due for a few days," Vivianna shrugged, "you don't have to leave." The redhead could hardly remember a time when she didn't procrastinate Transfiguration assignments. The fact that today wasn't the day before the work was due, was an unusual enough in itself.

Darius smiled. It was a rare sight to see someone who actually Loved his work. He knew plenty of people who actually hated their job and would avoid it at any cost, but money was what people needed and they reason why some sacrificed themselves.
He gave a short nod when she described the situation and Macheti's wandshop, but she kept her mouth closed on the most important part. Darius Dolohov, as a part of the higher society and a young man linked to the death eaters, knew about Macheti's “disappearance“. It was not that big secret, anyone who wanted, could get to the core of what really happened, even Darius could, but he was not that interested in such affairs. “I'm sure you will do just fine. You are a clever girl after all, aren't you?“ he complimented her with a cheerful smile. Not that he enjoyed throwing nice comments towards anyone he met, but he believed that right now it was the right thing to do.

Dolohov raised his eyebrows, but remained on his chair. “As you wish.“ To be honest, he did not want to leave either. It was either Vivianna with whom he could actually talk without proving himself somehow rather than sitting in the Slytherin common room or library and try to read when it was close to impossible.

“But returning to our previous topic, tell me, is there anything else you like besides flying, wands and tattoos? Books for example? Or flowers?“

When Darius told Vivianna that she would do fine with the shop, the girl just nodded with a determined smile. She would do well, the teenager would make sure of it. The witch had to admit that Darius confused her a little. He was a Slytherin, an older Slytherin. Yet, he was being ridiculously nice. The girl was almost temped to call foul play. The Varnes decided that if she was still just as clueless in a while, she'd ask the older student.

"You forgot potions," the redhead said teasingly. It was odd, that Darius was interested in what she liked. The OWL student mentally reminded herself to be careful. "I like books, and reading. Then again, I'm often reading about potions or wands so I'm not sure if that really counts. Flowers, no. I mean, they're pretty and all, but not really," Vivianna answered the male's question slowly, pausing a few times to think.

"Swimming, I like that," the witch added after another moment of thought. It wasn't quite as good as flying and heights, but she definitely liked it. There was something so serene about gliding through water, diving into a liquid blue mass. Vivianna certainly liked swimming.