- - let a little light melt the ice

[Sarah Winthrop]

After a long twelve hour shift at St. Mungo's, there was no way Sarah would go as far out to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade this afternoon. She was exhausted mostly from reports rather than healing. The most action she's seen today was early morning and well that was a just a witch giving birth. Besides that it was small nicks and cuts or common summer colds. Arriving at Wand*Mart, she sighs briefly for the change in temperature. It was sweltering hot outside during the summer which was uncommon for London, but rain was in the distance since she had smelled it in the hair. It was much needed after it felt like they had been in a drought for the past month.

Anyway, the cool air inside Wand*Mart made her feel much better, aside from her stomach grumbling since she came here for groceries. Sarah knew it was a bad idea to go shopping on an empty stomach, but considering her roommate is a man and doesn't like to shop or cook much, she felt obliged to do it. The most Brandon can do in the kitchen is make a sandwich or something that's already prepackaged and comes with instructions. Typical that she should find herself a useless roommate, but he's a dear old childhood friend and at least he could wash the dishes and take the trash out. She snickered to herself at the demeaning things she's thinking of her best friend, grabbing for a basket and making her way to the fresh produce first.

[Jackie Lupin]

Now that she was living in muggle London, it was rare for Jackie to do any shopping back on the wizarding side but she missed Wand*Mart and their variety of wizarding treats that had been lacking in her cupboards. Truth be told, if things turned around a bit and if everything settled nicely with her grandparent's estate, she'd quickly move into wizarding London for the mere familiarness of friends and faces. Running into Harmony and Sirius the other day made her mood lift significantly and she really needed that she'd come to discover. So today was a means of grocery shopping. She quickly whisks out the list she had brought with her, a pen perched between her lips as she studiously examined her compile of ingredients and items. Onions, artichokes, spinach, squash all set. Lately she'd been consuming vegetables and she knows that's why Sirius and Harmony kept looking at her funnily the other day because a diet of merely vegetables doesn't do much for one's figure.

Jackie sighs, eyes flickering about, smile lighting up when she eyes the meat section and decides, why not? She decides to start off small. It'd been a while since she had heavy meat so she purchase a few cold cuts that would suffice and see what her stomach could handle and when she turns around she remembers that she had forgotten to pick up the lemons she wanted to use for zest on her garden salads. Tsking, Lupin quickly maneuvers back toward the other end of the market. It's sad to say, but after the lack of faces she had seen in Hogsmeade the other day, Jackie hadn't on intended on running into many more but she lets out a tiny gasp of delight when she sees Sarah Winthrop, no less, feet away. Pushing her trolly over toward the woman (she got prettier every time Jackie saw her), she smiled. "Sarah? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

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We never got to finish our last thread with them! I couldn't pass this up (:

[Sarah Winthrop]

There were many choices of produce that she could put in her basket. Perhaps some oranges and apples for one. When it came to vegetables, she was very keen on the cucumbers and tomatoes. They would make for a perfect salad. The same with zucchini for a barbaque. Sarah had a knack for planning meals inside her head for the week. It gave her stomach something to look forward to each day. Although most of the prepping and cooking would be due to her because Corbett was useless at handling things in the kitchen, especially knives! He'd butcher the meal and then they would have to eat out again. She cannot stand another mexican/cantina restaurant again!

So she reaches for the selected vegetables in front of her. She wasn't going to get fat or have her arteries clogged like Brandon. Unfortunately, he was healthy as a horse with all the junk food he consumes. Must be something in his blood or else he's been sneaking behind her back and actually counteracting it all with something healthy. Cheeky git. Just as she stood erect from hunching over, she heard a familiar voice from behind and turned around. To her surprise it was Jackie Lupin! She was silent for a moment as she was trying to grasp on to the thought that she had returned. Oh this would make for a good conversation with Brandon. Actually, nope! Not even going to mention it to him.

"It has been! It's good to see you again though. How have you been? How is life? And when did you return?" She wasn't going to beat around the bush, but she was interested just as the next person since Jackie had left so suddenly awhile ago without so much as a word or trace.

[Jackie Lupin]

The lemons didn't take too long to find. She quickly selects a few that she likes and then makes sure they're fresh and then places them in a plastic baggy in her cart. As she turns her attention back to Sarah, Jackie's smile fades quickly, slightly taken back. Jackie had expected the questioning to come from someone at some point but she could honestly say that she hadn't been expecting them from Sarah of all people. So to say the woman gets flustered is an understatement. Jackie's cheeks flush prettily under Sarah's direct scrutiny. It wasn't Sarah, though, that intimidated her; it was that Sarah was Brandon's room mate (or so she still had reason to believe, unless, of course, Brandon had taken up residence with another woman) and that scared her most of all. Jackie bit down into her bottom lip as she so often did in uncomfortable situations. Careful to choose her wording, the former Mihael finally feels her muscles give way, loosening one by one.

How did she even begin to explain the death of her grandparents and the way she's been doing poorly during the full moons? "It's good to see you as well," is what she chooses to start with, smiling sheepishly down at her hands which are knotted tightly together in front of her. "I've been back a few weeks now. I'm actually living on the muggle side of London but if things go well with the school I might go back up there to teach. Or if not, I'm thinking Mungo's intensive care could do with some more mediwitches. Who knows? I can't stay on the muggle side of the city forever, but it's been nice. It's been... a really shaky year. How about you, though? Everything okay with you?" Her and Sarah hadn't necessarily been the closest in school but she always looked up to the girl and admired her straight forward attitude. More so, she respected how well Sarah looked after Brandon, as the man could hardly do so on his own.

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[Sarah Winthrop]

It came as a surprise that she had been around for a few weeks now, but it's no wonder Sarah hadn't known. Jackie was living on the muggle side instead of here. At least if she had been here, news would have floated around quickly because people like a good story. Nevertheless, she was happy to see Jackie return. She would just have to keep quiet to Brandon unless he's known about it before her. Then she'd have to beat the living daylight out of Brandon for not informing her. Sarah could have invited Jackie over for tea and cake. Actually should could do that now and have it planned for the next week. But why bother with it now since she didn't want to overwhelm the woman with placing her in the same room with her completely slob of a roommate.

"A few weeks is a short time, but you'll notice that not a lot has changed besides the status of everyone's relationship," she joked. "But it would be nice for the school to open up again. I think I remember that teaching was something you enjoyed, right?" Sarah opted for the path of medicine just because teaching children wasn't something she'd like at all. Her students would hate her and she wouldn't have it any other way. "We do need mediwitches and surely Chief Slughorn wouldn't mind having you in her department. But time can only tell. So I'm guessing the Ministry just isn't cutting it?" If she remembered correctly, Jackie was working there as an Auror. There were only a few connections Sarah had to the Ministry, but mostly through Brandon and Johnathan Harker. She barely spoke much to Sirius just because his personality clashed with her's. Plus he was stubborn and too full of himself, much like herself.

She smiled while clutching a couple of lemons to put in her basket. "I'm sorry to hear that things haven't been good for the past year. But I'll lay it out there and let you know that I'm here if you need anything." It's the least she could do since she likes Jackie. She wasn't sure how Brandon could ever lose her, or did he?! "I'm doing quite good actually. Work is the usual as a mediwitch. Nothing ever exciting happens in my life," she shrugged. "Unless it comes to making Corbett's life miserable." A sly grin appears across her lips. "But that happens mostly when I come home after a long day's work and the place is a mess. He still acts like a child y'know?" She purposely brought him up just to see Jackie's reaction. Sarah must be just as a deviant as Sirius when it came to those two. "Anyway, so if the school were to reopen, what position are looking in to teach?"

[Jackie Lupin]

If she were being honest with herself, part of the reason why she chose muggle London (aside from being close to her family) was to escape the rumors and gossip and news of her return. The gossip column had a knack for circling things about her in the past that she wasn't too keen on but also avoiding situations with old classmates was precisely what she had needed at the time. It took a lot for her to come into the warding market today, especially since she anticipated running into someone at some point or another but for some reason, she's glad it's Sarah. Even if the topic of their conversation has her on edge, there's a trust she has toward the woman that she didn't possess with many other people. It took a lot to get her to open up about personal things and strangely enough, it was Sarah she considered turning to. Not now, though. Especially not in public. Nodding, relieved to find the subject of school something she was at ease with, Jackie's smile brightens considerably, her eyes lighting up at the mere mention of a new job opportunity.

"Yes, the teaching thing... I might be out of swing of how things work up there but it'd be nice to teach again. I was weighing between Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I've some new teaching methods up my sleeves and it would fun to instill them on a fresh batch of faces." Of course she remembered Sarah worked at Mungo's as well and it came as even more good news to hear that there were still openings for mediwitches. Her healing spells weren't exactly out of par; she used them every full moon for little things that she couldn't allow for her body to mend on its own. She figured if the schooling career didn't work out, she could afford to put her head in the books for a while and brush up on her potions as well. Ugh, potions. The mere name brings back so many memories from Professor Slughorn's class and how she managed to butcher every assignment given to them. She didn't have the magic touch, that much was for certain. "The ministry is great if you like your independent assignments and studies. That was never my thing. I need to be around people to truly enjoy myself." That much was true. It made her sound needy or perhaps lazy but it's not like she relied on others to do the work for her; Jackie just didn't see the appeal in being in a stuffy office all day thinking things through when she could be out socializing with others while getting the job done. That was more her style.

"I really do appreciate it Sarah, thank you. That goes for you too, if you ever need anything." That was one thing she always excelled in; being a great listener. Quickly, the subject turns to exactly what she predicted it was and that was Brandon. There's a painful knot in her stomach just thinking of him. They never exactly ended things per se, but things between them grew distant and suffered from a lack of communication what with her constant disappearances. It was her fault and she knew that but how did she even begin to apologize? She had done to him exactly what Mandy had years prior and she couldn't ask anything of him. Not anymore. She lost that privilege years ago. So she distanced herself further from Brandon with foolish hopes that time would heal all wounds. She'd been doing okay at avoiding anything related to him. Until now. "He's always been a child," she finds herself saying through a genuine smile. "It's comforting to hear you two are still so close. I'm sure he's appreciated that and vice versa."

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