toil and trouble

Briar Pritchard. 22. Fan of Caerphilly Catapults, dogs, and all things citrus. Tea or bust. @briarpritch: brb joining a support group for oldest sisters whose younger brothers are taller than them 😤

[briarpritch]

anitashah​:

WHEN: Tuesday, 18 January, 1981 WHERE: J. Pippin’s Potions WHO: Anita Shah & Briar Pritchard ( @briarpritch​ )

“Oh, I’m positive the error is my sister’s.” So positive that Anita didn’t move. There was a perfectly good iFlown in her pocket, and another glued to her younger sister’s palm. It would only take a moment to reach her— But Anita already knew all she needed to know. “Would you mind terribly to pretend to look again, just so I could tell her that you did?”

“Sure.” The shop had been quiet for the most of the day, so it wasn’t any skin off her nose to take a second look through their orders and see if they had something. “Do you know what was in the order? It might be under a different name. Our morning guy gets distracted by Quidditch matches sometimes.” 

[briarpritch]

sturgispodmore​:

WHEN: Thursday, 20 January, 1981; early evening  WHERE: Diagon Alley, London WHO: Sturgis Podmore & Briar Pritchard ( @briarpritch​ )

Sturgis couldn’t exactly say that his new routines felt habitual yet, but they were starting to become comfortable—and for that, he was thankful. He moved through Diagon Alley, a brown paper bag in hand filled with groceries as he headed toward the exit. Onward to pick up Chinese takeaway and then his flat. It was all too normal, and considering the chaos of his life in the months prior, the mundanity was welcomed. 

“Pritchard,” he called when he spotted a familiar face. “You weren’t trying to avoid me, were you?” 

.

At the voice calling her name, Briar looked up from the iFlown in her hand with a smile. “Trying to get this to work, actually,” she admitted, waving the device in his direction before sliding it in her pocket. She wasn’t sure if avoiding someone or being caught messing around with her iFlown on the sidewalk was the more embarrassing answer, but she shrugged it off regardless. “Long time, no see, world traveler. How’s curse breaking?” 

[briarpritch]

asheravery​:

“Ah, see, a dangerous question to ask to someone you don’t know. I could be an over sharer and find myself in an opportunity to unload all of my troubles onto you.” The smile on his weary face told the story of someone who had no intention of doing what he suggested. “I am, however, oddly lost. Though, that has nothing to do with you grabbing me.”

.

“Something about me told you that you wouldn’t be much of an over sharer. Don’t really have the style for it,” Briar said with a slight smile as she motioned to his hood. “I’m glad I didn’t bump into you hard enough to have you completely turned around. I might be able to help with the directions though.” London wasn’t a city she knew like the back of her hand, but she could probably at least point him in the right direction if nothing else. 

[briarpritch]

daveygudgeon​:

when: 2 December 1980 where: St. Mungo’s who: Davey Gudgeon + Briar Pritchard ( @briarpritch​​ )

“About time for my sponge bath?” Davey’s brows wiggled all too annoyingly in the presence of his best friend while he set down the borrowed paperback copy of the too-on-the-nose book, The Outsiders. The cover-page reflected the sunlight streaming in, bouncing off December sleet. Things were running a bit slow here at Mungo’s, understandably understaffed and rather backed up. The potion Davey needed to finalize recovery should’ve been here earlier that afternoon, but had been delayed yet again. It was one prison after another.

.

“You’re the worst,” Briar declared without any heat, plopping herself into the uncomfortable chair next to his bed. With all the magic in the world, you would think someone could charm the chairs to be a little more comfortable or the tea to taste a little bit better, but she also supposed that wasn’t anyone’s priority in a hospital. “You’d have to be very hard up before I’d consider being the one to give you a sponge bath. Aren’t you supposed to get out of here soon, or are they just so seduced by your personality that they decided to keep you around as long as possible?” 

[briarpritch]

vanceofmyheart​:

Emmeline was walking when all of a sudden someone grabbed on to her and she was lucky she had a good grip on her boots otherwise they would both be on the ground. “It’s fine,” she brushed herself off and checked herself over, no injuries so that was good, “Are you okay?”

.

“Yeah, fine. Aside from the whole forgetting how to walk apparently thing.” Briar flashed the other girl a smile, a hand reached out to ensure her steadiness against the nearby light pole rather than another person. "Good thing your reflexes are good, or we might both have been out of luck there. Are you alright?” 

[briarpritch]

asheravery​:

Asher had no idea what had happened, only that one moment he’d been walking along, hood pulled over his head, and the next, he was exposed. A hand having grabbed out for purchase, only to find him instead. He might’ve laughed at anyone finding some use for him had he not been so completely caught off guard.

Ever since his injury, and eventual release from the muggle hospital, Asher had been passing himself off as a muggle. Why? He couldn’t say, only that he felt safer like this. Just another nameless face in the crowd. No one to care about. No one who could care about him. In many ways, it was a direct response to Rosalind leaving. While she wasn’t dead, she was gone, and weren’t those the same thing?

“No, no, it’s fine,” Asher said quickly in his low voice, trying to not draw any further attention to himself by making a scene. “Just a good thing you didn’t end up hitting your head.”

.

“A good thing I didn’t take you down with me, more like. Then I’d have to apologize for more than just grabbing a stranger by accident.” Briar straightened, letting out a huff exasperation at herself before turning attention back to the person that had kept her from face planting into the ice. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar, in that possibly walked past this person on the street handful of times before kind of way, but not enough for her to try and explore why that might be. “Are you alright? Suppose that should have been my first question.”

[briarpritch]

When: 21 November, 1980 Where: anywhere your heart desires  Who: open 

“Whoa!” Briar slipped across a bit of -- rain? ice? Did it matter? -- and grabbed for the nearest solid surface. Unfortunately, that solid surface happened to be another person. “Sorry, sorry,” she said, straightening quickly and hoping she was on solid ground again. “Didn’t mean to use you, but thanks for the assistance there.” 

[briarpritch]

when: monday, november 8, 1980 where: faintly wronski who: @daveygudgeon​

Briar knew how to be cool. She was a master at the front of being cool, could present a pulled together and laid back front with the best of them. Being a Gryffindor meant that acting like you were too cool for something was practically an artform, and Briar felt like she had achieved that before she left Hogwarts. 

She did not even think about pretending to be cool as she all but attacked Davey as soon as she saw him enter the pub. “It’s only Monday but it’s already been a long week and I’m still too portkey lagged to pretend I didn’t miss you,” she said with a slight laugh as she hugged him. 

[briarpritch]

broken barriers

when: saturday, november 6, 1980

Even knowing that everything had changed, Briar somehow thought that by the time she got home, everything would go back to feeling the same.

She hadn’t really intended to be gone so long in the first place, but an inescapable itch had built up under her skin, a kind of restlessness that she couldn’t get rid of after only a month in the apothecary. Is this supposed to be the rest of my life? she had found herself thinking on more than one occasion as she checked on cauldrons or packaged orders or prepped ingredients. She had been sure no one else really noticed, as no one had mentioned or acknowledged it aside from the sidelong looks she sometimes got from her brother, and he didn’t count.

And then in the middle of August her father had handed her an international Portkey approval notice. “Go, it’ll be good for you,” he had said. And she, who was prone to arguing with anyone over anything just for the sake of it, agreed without question.

Spending two months with her aunt in Bulgaria hadn’t exactly been her idea of a good time, and it definitely hadn’t been on her mind at graduation, but Briar had to admit that there was something… freeing about it. Magic was different there, darker somehow. It wasn’t that even the majority of wizards there were practicing dark magic of some kind, but the fact that most of the local wizards had attended Durmstrang and at least studied more Dark Arts than they allowed at Hogwarts certainly showed. The lines between allowed magic and dark magic seemed less firm there, and while Briar didn’t think it was all good, it could be... strangely compelling. 

The one place where the line was firm was between Muggles and Wizards. As the news started trickling in about the statute falling in Brazil, Briar was treated to many long lectures about the importance of keeping a line between those two worlds and how magic was doomed if they didn’t tread carefully. “Mark my words, yeğenim,” her aunt declared as she shook whatever cooking utensil she held in Briar’s direction, “it’ll be just like before, and those without magic will either want to use us or kill us. There will be no in between.”

Briar had stopped trying to argue with her after the third time a lecture turned into a fight, but she didn’t stop rolling her eyes. And she didn’t stop watching the news that trickled in from other countries as their own Statutes of Secrecy took hits and then fell. Stories about wizards and Muggles deciding to live side by side in the open. 

Briar could only blame the absolute lack of change in feelings toward Muggles in Bulgaria for she almost waited too late to apply for her Portkey home. A process she had expected to only take a couple of days dragged out into a week, and then two. Just as she was contemplating how hard it would be to just find a broom and fly home (likely very), her approval came through and she found herself home just in time to witness the fall out of their own Statute.

The town where Briar grew up had always been the kind of place where weirdness was mostly accepted even when they knew a few of the local families were a bit odd, so Briar wasn’t overly surprised most of them muttered to one another in Welsh but didn’t treat her too differently or ask any questions. No, the real surprise happened when she went to visit her brother. It probably shouldn’t have surprised her that Muggle university students were suddenly so invested in the idea of magic, but it seemed that every single conversation in the pub where she and Rhys got lunch revolved around the news. Not even the football match on the televisions seemed half as interesting.

“Do you feel different? Now that it’s all out in the open?” she couldn’t help asking in the middle of filling in the blanks of their past two months of limited communication.

Rhys’ eyebrow raised as he turned his attention away from the match back to her. “Was this supposed to change things for me?”

Briar’s made a gesture somewhere between a shrug and a dismissive wave. “I don’t know. I guess I just wondered if… you were going to tell your friends. About everything. Or whatever.”

“No, of course I’m not going to tell them,” Rhys said with a scoff as he glanced up to watch the replay of a goal. “Then everyone I know will think I’m defective instead of just half.”

Briar wasn’t sure what kind of sound she made. Or maybe it was the suddenly frozen expression on her face that spoke for itself and she hadn’t actually made a sound at all. It was hard to tell with the roaring in her ears and a sudden taste in her mouth that seemed suspiciously similar to guilt. Either way, when Rhys turned his attention back to her, his own eyes widened as he realized the impact of his words.

“Briar, I--”

“No, don’t, don’t apologize,” she said with a sharp shake of her head. “Not if you--”

“I meant it as a joke, not that you make me feel defective,” he cut in with an exasperated huff.

No, you didn’t, she wanted to say, but didn’t. The words had come out too easily, felt too real. Maybe she was an exception, but it was definitely the rule. Instead of arguing, she nodded even as she dropped her soggy chip on the plate and pushed it away. “I should go. Gotta figure out where I’m going to live and all.”

His mouth opened before he closed it with a snap, rising to his feet. He led the way out of the pub, pausing once they reached the street outside. “Catch you later, brat,” he said, his tone almost testing to see if they were going to agree to forget what he said entirely  and go back to normal.

Normal, hah. She hoisted a smile on her face, wiggling her fingers in his direction. “See you around, asshole.” He huffed and rolled his eyes, but she could see his shoulders relaxing as he did a typically dismissive wave and turned to head back towards his flat. Her smile dropped as he disappeared from sight, her arms wrapping around her chest as her fingers clenched tightly in her own coat.

Maybe nothing had changed all that much. Now she just didn’t have any additional barriers to hide behind and keep her from seeing it.

[briarpritch]

dawnwitheyy​:

“My mum got me it, for graduation. I don’t think I was supposed to drink it all in one night, but –”

“If you can’t drink a bottle that big for your graduation, when can you really?” 

[briarpritch]

nellfawley​:

“Is your grandfather Italian?” Nell’s jokes were weaker and weaker as she poured a much stronger drink. She sipped at it deeply, mimosa the cherry on top of moving day. She could have said a whole lot more regarding the academy, but she didn’t want to fill Briar’s head and day with useless nonsense she’d just vent to her mum later on. “Will it be a summer at the apothecary?”

“Tragically Welsh, actually. There might be Spanish way back in there, but definitely Welsh.” The question about her summer made Briar let out a wry noise before taking a large gulp of her drink. “For the summer at least. I haven’t really come up with any plans yet, so maybe for the rest of my life, who knows?”

[briarpritch]

nellfawley​:

“I might’ve been able to tell you in great detail what’s next a few months ago. Now I’m just as lost as Christopher Columbus was.” Nell chuckled at her stupid joke, mixing up mimosas for the pair. “At least I have a month to think before the Academy starts.”

“And there’s the academy to look forward to. As much as someone can look forward to more school, I guess?” More than she had to look forward to, at least, Briar couldn’t help but thinking. “My grandfather keeps talking about all the potential options now that my whole life is in front of me, so he’d probably appreciate the Christopher Columbus comparison.” 

[briarpritch]

dawnwitheyy​:

“You should see the bottle of wine I’ve got,” Dawn replied, before showing off the oversized bottle in question.

“I... didn’t even know they made bottles that big. Where did you get that?” 

[briarpritch]

nellfawley​:

“Never!” Nell was quick to defend, with a laugh. The laugh may have covered her true feelings, but she’d known she’d been real absent, especially as of late. And though she was running through the motions like a robot on autopilot elsewhere, she was missing out on things she should have been paying more attention to. Nell should have known focusing on others instead of yourself is what always made you feel better. 

“I’m not sure I’m a fan of champagne, but I’d been saving it until move-out day. Do we still have juice?”

.

“I think there’s still orange juice in there. Probably not much else.” Briar boosted herself up onto the counter with a smile, looking around the small kitchen with a small amount of fondness before turning her gaze back to Nell. “It’s a bit weird, isn’t it? That it’s all over. What’s next for you?” 

[briarpritch]

dawnwitheyy​:

“Ummmmm,” Dawn’s gaze moved around the table before scooping up a random bottle. “This.”

.

“Tequila, huh? More than one way to celebrate a win.” 

[briarpritch]

nellfawley​:

when: 27 June 1980 where: no. 6 Low Street who: Nell + @briarpritch​

The cork popped from the champagne, zooming by Briar’s head before bouncing from their refrigerator. “Yikes, sorry!”

Briar ducked with a surprise yelp that turned into a laugh. “If I was that rubbish of a roommate, you could have just told me. No need to try and take me out at the last minute.”

[briarpritch]

dawnwitheyy​:

When: 23rd June 1980 Where: Number 4  Who: @briarpritch​

“Briar. Do a shot with me?”

“Done. What are we doing a shot of?”