Paying a Debt

Andrew stood outside of Honeydukes, his back leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes scanning the crowds, trying to search for Nerissa, whom he had called earlier and told her to meet him here. He then considered if he should've apparated to her and brought her here, but he remembered that she didn't like to apparate. So he would wait patiently. Looking around some more, he began to become bored. So he pulled out his recently fixed cell phone, a Droid, and began to play 'Brick Break' on it, to the bewilderment of the patrons around him.

After losing two lives, he decided to call it quits and switched off to the internet. An interesting article caught his eye as he began to search through his home page, msn.com. The article said 'A research team gone missing in western South America.' He was about to press the link on it, when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned his head quickly to the right, and it only revealed a recent buyer just coughing. He pressed the red button on the phone and pocketed it, wondering where Nerissa was now.

“No, no nothing is wrong,” Nerissa spoke into the mouthpiece of a cell phone she had purchased a few days before; she had figured that buying a new phone was not only good if she wanted to keep in contact with the people she cared about, but it was also best that she have something to call 911 with if anything ever happened… Yes, Nerissa had been very paranoid when it came to her own safety after going through everything she had. “I just needed to talk to you, thank you for listening,” She added, her voice breaking towards the end.

The fact that Nerissa hadn’t yet told her own parents about what had happened to her was causing her to feel sick to the stomach, and so she turned to her uncle Calvin, whom had already known about Ne’Os and, well, all of it. “Should I meet up with you somewhere? I could bring Pac Man in a jar, he’s really missed you…” came the geeky voice of Nerissa’s uncle, and she couldn’t help but smile faintly. She enjoyed talking to someone who was so… Calvin, when she was feeling unwell. “Thank you, but no, I’m meeting someone in Hogsmeade,” she replied as she continued, standing up from the chair she had been sitting in for a moment to examine her face in the mirror.

Every time she’d looked in that mirror since that evening in Knockturn Alley, she’d seen someone other than herself… someone with the soul sucked out of her, and a painted on smile on her face in order to make herself look OK. “I’ll talk to you later, Uncle… I have to go,” she spoke quietly before closing the small cell phone shut and setting it down in the chair she had just stood from.

Nerissa breathed in slowly and titled her head to the side, staring into her own eyes; they didn’t look right, and she couldn’t get them to go back to normal. A dry sob escaped her lips before she could bite her bottom lip in order to keep it locked inside of her. She turned away sharply from the mirror and sat down on the small mattress that was in the center of the room. She laid back on the soft bed and covered her eyes, her hair fanning out around her head. She would be late if she didn’t get out the door that very second… but she needed a moment in order to collect herself.

-

A young female who looked as if she were fifteen or so, walked down the narrow streets of Hogsmeade, her curly red hair cascading over her shoulders. She wore a soft smile on her light pink lips, and her eyes scanned the area for any sign of Andrew Thompson. Her eyes stopped when she spotted him leaning up against a wall not too far from where she herself was standing.

Nerissa continued forward, her worn sneakers thudding softly against the ground, “Hey!” she greeted calmly and stopped when she was close enough to Andrew, “you wanted me to meet you here?” she asked, smiling up at him; he was quite a few inches taller than her, after all.

Andrew turned his head to the all too familiar voice of Nerissa nearby. He felt himself burst into a smile and stopped leaning against the wall. He went over to Nerissa and hugged her quickly. "Yeah," he said with a bright smile "I just remembered something a while ago, and I wanted to see it done." He used his hand to gesture over to the Honeydukes and said "I remember you saying something about owing you a pound of candy, so I decided to do so."

Andrew remembered that she had said something about owing her a pound of candy after teaching him to dance, so he decided to surprise her...if it truly did anything. He was still new to the whole dating experience after all, Nerissa being his first true girlfriend. "So you're spree awaits," he said trying to sound like he was a royal butler or somewhere along those lines.

Nerissa herself had forgotten completely about the deal they had made- watch and learn because dance lessons will cost you a pound of any candy I choose- and was quite surprised that he was actually planning on paying that dept. She smiled softly and nodded her head, “Well, we’ll be even then,” she agreed. She wrapped her arms around her midsection absentmindedly and bounced a few times on the heals of her feet; even if it was summer, it had been quite cold for a weak or so… or perhaps it was all in Nerissa’s head, and her shivers made no sense to anyone else. That got her thinking for sure; it was plausible.

She looked around at her surroundings, moving her head in a slow, circular motion; the sky was gray and looked as if it would rain any moment, and yet, there were plenty of people walking the streets, holding the items they had purchased close to them, laughing and smiling. Apparently it didn’t matter if the sun was shining or not; these people about her could have a good time in any situation. Nerissa bit her bottom lip, putting a ‘dent’ in her small smile; she felt hope spark inside of her beneath her ribcage.

“Alright, let’s go inside then,” Nerissa said, turning her attention back towards Andrew. She walked past him slowly and turned around so that she was walking backwards, keeping her eyes on Andrew, which looked quite dull.

“Has it been this gray all day?” she asked slowly, her eyes flickering in the direction of the sky. She honestly wondered where the sun was at that moment… Perhaps the sun liked to hide behind the clouds when it wasn’t feeling well, too.

Andrew nodded and smiled warmly. "All right then!" he said in a cheerful voice. He then walked over to the door that led into Honeydukes and pulled on the handle. Already, he could smell different assortments of candy and other sweets. He was tempted to buy a pound of his own, but he didn't need it. "After you, madam," he said in his royal butler voice again, trying to make her laugh. Although he wasn't very good though.

He looked up at the sky, to notice that it was gray, almost like a sign that it was going to rain. "I'm not sure," he said raising an eyebrow at the sky. Weird. He looked back down at Nerissa, who he noticed trying to keep herself warm. "You alright?" he asked curiously "you seem cold."

Nerissa laughed at his impression of some servant of the royal. She had noticed that he really did quite a lot of different impressions with his voice, and wondered if he enjoyed himself when he was doing so, or if he honestly didn’t notice how often he did so.

“No, no I’m fine,” Nerissa replied. How many variations of that reply did she have to use before she realized herself that she was lying? She had always been a rotten liar, but it almost seemed that every time she spoke words of deceit, she became more convincing at it- which was a skill she really didn’t want to have, and considered correcting herself… she, instead, walked into the candy shop with a smile and was amazed by the many different, vibrant colors and the odd mixtures of fruity and sour fragrances that danced about the air. “I haven’t been here in ages,” Nerissa said, almost in a cheer; loving candy as much as Nerissa did, she couldn’t help herself from feeling all giddy and excited upon seeing so very much of it.

She stood still in the center of the shop for a moment before darting towards one of the bins of candy, having spotted her favorite. Unlike many of the students at Hogwarts, Nerissa wasn’t really a fan of the Every Flavor Beans, instead, she had always- for as long as she had been able to purchase candy in the wizarding world- favored Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and Licorice Wands.

Nerissa wrapped her slender fingers around one of the small shovels that were used to scoop the candy into bags, which were then weighed and were paid for by how many pounds your bag of candy was. In Nerissa’s case, she would be able to fill the bag up until it weighed a pound, for that had been the agreement. She grinned as she dropped a fair amount of her two favorite candies in the bag, popping one peice in her mouth.

She chewed the vibrant gum slowly, savoring the sweet flavor, before blowing a bubble, and watching as it floated from her mouth in the air and drifted high above her head. She laughed, covering her lips with a few of her fingers.

Andrew had a small shimmer of doubt floating in his brain, yet wondered if he would be pushing it when he would ask. But he cared about her and wanted to see if he could help. "Are you sure that everything is alright?" he asked softly to her, watching her pick up all the candy she wanted. He smiled, feeling glad that she was enjoying herself. He then snuck a couple of pieces of candy that seemed to be chocolate candies. He stuck them into a small white bag that was located nearby, and placed them inside. He was spending money anyway.

He turned back to Nerissa and laughed when she made a large bubble that couldn't have been possible with regular muggle gum. He stood next to her, the white paper bag located in his left hand and said "I take it that you like gum?" It seemed obvious, yet he always liked to hear her talk. He didn't know how he got so attached to her, but he did and was. "Take as many as you like, if you want. I got plenty of money with me."

“Not muggle gum,” Nerissa replied with a smile; muggle gum wasn’t nearly as amazing as the kind that you could find in wizard candy shops. Now, Nerissa had nothing against muggles personally, but when it came to candy, they should really just have left it to the pros. She didn’t answer his first question, and instead, had pretended as if she hadn’t heard it in order to avoid any further deceit. Nerissa didn’t enjoy lying, but it was especially difficult when it came to Andrew.

“Really? Thank you!” Nerissa spoke excitedly. She considered giving him a quick kiss on the lips, as most girlfriends would, but instead, she hesitated, and turned her attention back to her bag of candy; Nerissa was rather new to the whole ‘yeah, you have a boyfriend’ thing, being as closed off as she usually was, and she had a feeling that it would take a while for her to get used to it.

The young female reached up in the air and closed her hand around the bright blue bubble she had created and held it in her palm. It wouldn’t pop for another few hours- or so it said on the box. She never really trusted wrappers, but then again, it didn’t pop when she squeezed it tightly, and that was rather convincing. She opened her hand again and blew on it, freeing it once more.

“Have your injuries healed alright?” Nerissa asked, turning to face Andrew; she was speaking of the wounds she had seen on him when she had last seen him, her curiosity and concern was there in her voice. She knew of quite a few useful plants and herbs that helped with injuries, but he appeared healthy, and she figured that he hadn’t had any trouble healing.

"Muggle gum just doesn't take the cake?" he asked a wide grin on his face. He had never tried wizard gum before, and it must've been ten times better, like all other wizarding things. He would probably come back some day and try a piece, and judge it for himself. Somewhere in his thoughts, he noticed that Nerissa hadn't answered his question. He would ask her later, and not try to ruin anything in the moment.

"No problem," he said with a bright smile watching her mess witht he large blue ballon that she had blown up. It was rather weird, seeing something like that last for minutes on end, and wondered if wizards could use it as some kind of water ballon. It'd be a nice prank, if one were to utilize the idea.

Andrew then moved his hand to his face, wondering if his injury was still there. All he felt was just the beginning of a beard growing. He nearly sighed in relief and then said "Yeah, they are pretty much healed. I've still got a couple of cuts, from where the floor exploded below me, but I've got them covered." He didn't want to think of the battle, as that still needed to heal. The memory still burned whenever he thought about it. "But I'm alright, I promise"

“Well you can’t exactly blow indestructible blue bubbles with muggle gum, now can you?” Nerissa replied with a short laugh, hugging the small bag of candy close to her chest. It sure was a small bag, but she was sure that she had fit enough candy in that very bag to satisfy her sweet tooth for a year. She walked the short distance it took to reach one of the small, round tables in the candy shop and took a seat in one of the two chairs near the table. She set the candy down on the table before her and continued to chew on the gum she already had in her mouth, enjoying the flavor.

Nerissa rested her chin in one of her palms and looked around at all the people who were also shopping for sweets. The place was so crowded that Nerissa was surprised someone hadn’t already been knocked to the floor and stepped on. She frowned. That wasn’t the best thought- in fact, it was one that didn’t belong in her head at all- and so she pulled another piece of candy out of the bag and held it in her fingertips, moving on to the next thought.

“Well that is good to know,” the young redhead replied with a nod of her head. She was glad that the wounds were healing properly, for she herself had been having a bit of trouble with a few of the injuries she had received not too long before, and wished for him not to have the same problems. She drew up her sleeve for some reason beyond her, and stared at the long scar that ran up her arm. It was the mark Ne’Os had made on her- like a brand to claim his property. She quickly pulled the blue fabric back over her arm when she felt her lips form a frown once more; she didn’t enjoy frowning much at all...