RP: Music Festival

[shh_luna]

Date: August 25, 2005
Character(s): Luna Lovegood, Ernie Macmillan, Caradoc Dearborn, Ginny Weasley, Lavender Brown, Ron Weasley, Eleanor Branstone, Zacharias Smith, Mandy Brocklehurst, George Weasley, Lisa Turpin, Draco Malfoy, Marietta Edgecombe, Arabella Figg, Julian Avery, Rabastan Lestrange, Katie Bell, Cedric Diggory, Wayne Hopkins, Eloise

Comments

[shh_eleanor]

The shop hadn’t been very busy. She’d had a few customers in the morning, but for the most part it had been pretty dead. She figured that everyone was out enjoying the Music Festival. Eleanor decided she was probably wasting her time keeping the shop open, and decided it probably wouldn’t hurt to close a little early.

Besides, she was worried about Ernie. She had expected that he would show up yesterday after his appointment at the hospital, but he hadn’t. When she got home he was sullen and quieter than usual. He hadn’t said much about his appointment, either. Although he had assured her that he was healing well. Considering his mood, Eleanor’d had her doubts that it had gone as well as he was telling her, but he looked tired, and she didn’t push him on it.

He’d still been asleep when she’d left, which she found a bit unusual, since he’d gone to bed rather early. Maybe getting him out of the house would help. Except for the trip to the hospital yesterday, he hadn’t really gone anywhere lately, and she thought he would enjoy the Music Festival.

When she got home, she was surprised to discover that he wasn’t there. Maybe he’d been thinking the same thing. She hoped so, anyway, because she really had no idea where else he might have gone. So she went upstairs to change into a plaid sun dress before heading off.

She looked around for Ernie once she’d arrived, but didn’t see him immediately. She did, however, see another familiar face in the crowd. Zach was with a pretty brunette woman that she didn’t recognize, but hoped was Mandy. She’d been hoping to meet her. Heading over, Eleanor tapped him on the shoulder. "Hello, Zach, nice to see you here," she greeted with a smile.

[shh_zach]

It was fairly crowded at the festival. Zach hadn't been too interested in going, after all the last festival like this he'd been to had led up to finding Macmillan bloodied and half dead in the street.

He kept close to Mandy and knew there would be no walks for him tonight, nor anyone he cared about.

A tap on his shoulder made him turn and he smiled widely when he saw who it was. "Elle! How are you, love?" He pulled her into a hug, holding on tighter than he would normally. He'd been worried for her. "How was your first full day at the shop? Everything all right? You all right?" He pulled back to look at her. "I can run it tomorrow if you need me to? I hate leaving you there... how's Macmillan?" He'd not seen him so it was safe to ask. "And oh wow, I want you to meet Mandy." He stepped back, his arm going around Mandy's waist and pulling her closer. "Mandy, this is Eleanor. Elle, Mandy." He was terribly excited. He'd been dying for the two of them to meet.

[shh_eleanor]

Eleanor hugged him back, it was good to know that she hadn't completely put him off after the drunken lunch at Socks last weekend. Or, more importantly, mentioning the prefect badges to Ernie while he'd still been standing there. "I'm good, and it went well. Actually, it was pretty dead, so I closed early. I thought that Ernie might like to get out of the house for a bit, but he'd already left by the time I got home. And I'm usually closed on Sundays, or that was the original plan, anyway, so you don't have to work for me tomorrow. Enjoy your days off," she told him, shaking her head. "Ernie's doing fine. He went to see the Healer for a follow up appointment yesterday, and apparently he's getting better."

She grinned when he introduced Mandy, and offered her hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mandy. I've heard many good things about you from Zach."

[shh_mandy]

Mandy stood back a little, smiling and waiting as she watched Zach hug the pretty young woman who'd greeted him. When she realized who it was, she took the opportunity to look at Eleanor more closely -- she'd heard enough about her from him that she was intrigued. She did seem very sweet indeed, both cheerful and sensible at once.

"Hi, Eleanor ... Elle?" she tried as she took the hand she was offered. "It really is so nice to meet you after hearing about you for weeks." She laughed. "Zach's been spreading the good word both ways, apparently. In fact, it feels like I know you a bit already."

[shh_eleanor]

"Oh, yes, either is fine," she told her at the question about her name. She was a bit surprised to hear that Zach had been talking about her, Eleanor didn't think she usually gave people much to talk about. But then there had been the whole incident with Ernie, so she supposed it wasn't so surprising that her name would have come up in conversation. "I feel the same way. I was hoping I would get to meet you after hearing about you so often. So, have you two been here long? Enjoying the festival so far?"

[shh_mandy]

"Actually, we just arrived," said Mandy. "But it seems great, doesn't it? I like this band that's playing now, and I can't wait for the Weird Sisters. And we're definitely staying for the fireworks tonight." She smiled up at Zach. "Would you mind getting us a couple of blankets over there? It seems they're for anyone to use instead of chairs, and this is a nice place to sit, we'll have a good view up to the stage."

Mandy'd be interested in a couple of words with Eleanor alone, in fact. She gave her a questioning look. "Would you mind sitting here with us?" Biting her lip, she knew they probably thought of the same thing. If Ernie was at the festival, too, sharing blankets might be a bad idea. Still, what was the worst that could happen? The men would just have to sit at opposite edges of the blankets and pout.

[shh_eleanor]

"I've only just gotten here too. And I can't wait for the Weird Sisters, either. I've never seen them live before." She smiled to herself at Mandy's comment about the fireworks, and her smile to Zach. She was happy to see that Mandy appeared just as enamored of Zach as he was of her. She was rather hoping that Ernie wouldn't mind staying late enough to watch the fireworks, too.

"Oh, um, yes, I'd like that very much," she said with a nod. "If you're sure I won't be intruding." She really should go and find Ernie, but then, she wasn't even really sure that he was there. It was just as likely that he'd gone to visit a friend. And she supposed she could keep an eye out for him just as well if she was seated. Although she was starting to wish she'd left a note to let him know where she was.

[shh_mandy]

"Of course you won't be intruding," she said, and gave Zach a grin and a little wave as he disappeared off to where the blankets were. She couldn't help that her gaze lingered for a moment at his bum in those snug jeans but firmly tore her attention back to Elle, blushing just slightly as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

"It must be nice for you to get out for some fun," she said. "It must have been a terribly stressful time for you. You seem to be holding up well, but ... well, I saw how shaken Zach was. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you and Ernie. I really hope he's doing okay."

[shh_eleanor]

Eleanor bit back a giggle as Mandy watched Zach walk off to get the blankets. She didn't want to embarrass the other woman. Plus she could completely understand that, she rather liked to watch as Ernie walked away.

"It is, yes. Although, Zach was good about making sure I got out for a while last weekend, which helped a lot, as well. He's been a really good friend through all of this. It was... pretty bad, yes. But he really is doing much better now." Physically, anyway. Emotionally, she wasn't so sure, but she supposed that was to be expected after all he'd been through. "It hasn't been easy though, but I'm hoping things will start to get back to normal now he's starting to heal."

[shh_mandy]

"It probably helped Zach as well as you, that you let him help out," Mandy said softly. "He was very concerned. He needs to feel able to ... do things for people he cares about, concrete things. Maybe it's a thing with blokes." She shrugged, then smiled at Eleanor. "I stopped by the shop when he was working it that day. It looks just lovely, and smells even better. Zach got me a couple of things but I told him I'd save up the rest of my purchases and stop by a day when you're at work. I've been pretty curious about you," she confessed with a little laugh.

"I'm glad he's better. Healing takes time, all kinds, nothing you can really hurry along, I think." Mandy drew a deep breath. "Zach was really concerned about Ernie too. Though you might not be able to tell by the way he goes on. I can't really understand how it's possible to be sympathetic and irate at the same time," she said, a bit vexed but grinning at Eleanor. "I ... well, I suppose it's ... mutual, this ... um, not getting along thing, with those two? I mean, from the ... physical skirmishes that happened this summer, that's what I presume, that Ernie isn't too, er, fond of Zach either ... is he?"

[shh_eleanor]

"Actually, I can understand that. I think it's actually a Hufflepuff thing," Eleanor said with a smile. "I'm glad you liked the shop. I'm pretty proud of it. And I'd told him that he wasn't supposed to pay for anything." She was also pretty sure he hadn't listened. She'd discovered some money that couldn't be accounted for when she'd done the books.

"Yeah, he's doing a lot better physically, but I think it's going to take some time yet to heal emotionally," she agreed. "And I had noticed. He looked pretty crummy there for a while, but he was looking loads better when I saw him last Saturday. I may have bugged him a bit to make sure he wasn't bottling it all up." Chuckling, at Mandy's question about how fond Ernie was of Zach, she nodded. "Oh yes, it's quite mutual. It's... rather interesting to watch them interact. Ernie is usually rather sweet, but not to Zach. I think that was the first time I'd ever seen him be flat out rude to anyone. Apparently this has been going on since their school days."

[shh_mandy]

"Well, yes, you can't go telling your friends not to pay if you're going to make a healthy profit, you know," Mandy teased her. "Better not even start down that road."

"It's good if you got him to talk a bit." She looked over to where Zach had gone, and saw him starting back towards them with the blankets over his arm. He seemed to have picked up bottles of drinks for them, as well. "He's stubborn," she said quietly. "Stubborn about being hard on himself, not least."

She gave a small burst of laughter when Eleanor told her Ernie was generally not rude. "Er, well, yes, I haven't actually seen Zach and Ernie together but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen Zach be flat out rude to someone. Or plain arrogant, anyway. He's inclined to ... strong sympathies and antipathies," she said diplomatically. "He's mellowed some over the years though, but not with regard to Ernie, so much. And he generally explains these sentiments in fairly ... emotive terms, so I tend to try not to argue." She lit up in a big smile when she saw Zach grinning as he caught her eye. "He's so kind to me though," she added in a soft murmur. "You've no idea."

[shh_zach]

Zach went to get blankets for the girls, thrilled that they'd finally gotten to meet. Mandy seemed excited and he thought that maybe Elle was too. There was a vendor selling drinks near the blankets and he stopped and purchased enough for all of them before making his way back through the crowd.

"Miss me," he asked cheekily as he drew closer. He spread both blankets down on the ground and then pulled Mandy close and kissed her full on the lips. "I brought drinks," he murmured, smiling at her before looking over at Elle. "Have a seat, you two. Where is your boy tonight, Elle? I'm surpised you're out without him. You're going to stick with us though. I don't want you walking home alone."

[shh_eleanor]

Eleanor laughed. "Well, I normally wouldn't. I've got to make it work somehow, even if it does mean making my friends pay. But I didn't see any reason for him to, this time at least, since he was actually working there for me. Apparently, he disagreed." But she wasn't going to bother him about it. She had a feeling it wouldn't be appreciated at all.

"I did, a little bit. And he reassured me that he'd talked to you some." And Wayne, as well, but Eleanor didn't think it would be appropriate to bring that up. "I'd noticed the stubbornness when he insisted on working at the shop, but I did try to tell him that he's been more than great through all of this. I just hoped he believed me."

She tilted her head to the side and gave Mandy a curious look when she mentioned Zach being rude. "Really? He actually hasn't been, at least when I'm around. I don't try to pretend that they're rude to each other when I'm not, though." Zach was had almost reached them, so she leaned in and confided, "Frankly, I think they have more in common than they realize."

Eleanor looked around at the crowd when Zach came back and 'greeted' Mandy, blushing slightly to be standing there during their public display of affection. She just hoped she wasn't so obvious about it.

"I'm not really sure, actually," she admitted as she took a seat on the blanket. "He wasn't home when I got there, and he didn't leave me a not. Of course, he didn't know that I would be coming home early either. I thought I might find him here." No sign of him yet, but she was keeping an eye out. And I'll happily let the two of you walk me home if I haven't seen him by then. I'm not going to complain about the company, either."

[shh_zach]

"Good," Zach said, smiling at her. "I never want you out after dark alone. I've made sure Mandy and Wayne understand that. I can't go through this again."

He squeezed Mandy against him before helping her to sit down on the blanket.

"I'm sure he's fine. Macmillan's head is harder than anything. He's around for sure, but too stuborn to let anyone know." He smiled at Elle. "How's the shop doing? I love working there, you know?"

[shh_eleanor]

"Don't worry, I've no plans to go out on my own after dark. Ever again," she reassured him. "I don't think Ernie would let me, anyway."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Ha ha," she said dryly. Although, he actually did have a point about Ernie's hard head. She wasn't going to tell him that, however. "He probably is, though. I don't know where else he would have gone. I'm sure he'll turn up eventually. And the shop is going very well. Aside from it being slow today. I think those flyers you put up must have helped a lot. And if you're ever in need of a low paying, part time job, you know where to go," she said with a grin.