Tales from the Other Side (open)

[simanus]

Simanus finally had time to pay the debt she owed the house elf and with Sirius' help she'd remembered which fruit to tickle to gain access to the kitchens. She entered unobtrusively and inquired about who to thank for showing her the Spar Oom. After some conversation, the house elves agreed to take payment in the form of stories from "other places." She wasn't sure how to react to their knowing her for the American. She sat down in a corner and began;

"Long ago, before time began, Lydia and Apon were newlyweds. They got into what we call a knock-down/drag-out over Apon's hanging around a young lady named Cassiopeia. They really went at it, those two, eye-poking, hair-pulling....crockery-throwing," the elves laughed at this. "One of the pieces of thrown crockery became the Earth," she continued, "a smaller one became the moon. A coal from their stove was knocked loose and became the sun. The gods had to step in at that point to keep the bickering pair from destroying the universe before it had a chance to begin and set them on opposite sides of the sky. Cassiopeia, who started all the trouble was confined forever to a rocking chair made of stars; Lydia has always been willing to try again, but Apon is so stiff-necked and full of pride, he refuses. They star at each other across the starry wrack of their marriage in mingled hatred and longing. Those two are three billion years gone and Apon has grown into Old Star and Lydia into Old Mother. They are the North and South now. On this side of the Doors, my little friends, we only have a star called Polaris, Apon's twinner."

She knew someone had come in during her story, but had not looked to see who it was. She waited for the house elves to notice before she turned to look.

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi tickled the pear and pushed open the door of the kitchens where she saw a blonde girl sitting in a corner with the house elves around her, she heard the end of the story of the stars and smiled. Her grandmother had told it to her once, a long time ago. She waited until the story was finished and smiled at the house elves when they turned around.

"We is sorry for making you wait Miss." said one.

"It's not a problem, that's a great story." she replied.

"What can we get for you." said another.

"I'd like some Jam Doughnuts please." she asked politely, smiling down at them, and they hurried off to make them for her. She looked up at the blonde girl and smiled. "Hi," she said, as she sat down on a chair at the side of the room to wait, and a house elf ran over holding a cup of tea. "thank you."

[simanus]

Simanus was wowed by this girl's looks, but any megrims that might have formed about this new quantity were quashed as her "straight-dar" pinged. The girl looked like a Ravenclaw to Simanus and this was advantageous in its own right. "Hello," she said, standing, and was mortified to discover that her accent had, almost instinctively, picked up its flirtatious sultry tone, To late now, press ahead and whatever you do, don't look at her legs! "I'm Simanus Flagg," she continued, not showing any of this internal scuffle on her face, "The American and permaybehaps, depending on Dumbledore and Flitwick, a house-mate of yours next year." Her usually keen senses were muffled in this place as her huntress' instincts focused on and parsed out the smells of meat and poultry, she was having a tough time getting a read on this one.

She walked over to the girl and extended her had, "It's nice to meet you, Miss...?"

[Jaimi Willow]

"I guessed, the accent is kind of a giveaway." she replied with a smile. "I didn't think you could change houses," she said curiously. The girl was looking at her strangely, and Jaimi didn't know what to think of it.

Jaimi took the offered hand and shook it. "Jaimi." she said simply.

[simanus]

"Young miss," said a house elf, the last one who hadn't gone back to work, he was tugging on her sleeve, "can I gets you something to drink?" "A glass of white tea would be nice after telling that story," she said, "and please call me Simanus." He nodded and went off. She returned her gazed to Jaimi, glad to have had time to strip the overly-observant look from her eyes If I'm anything, I'm pragmatic, and this is a straight girl. Besides, I don't pursue romance at school.

"Do you know Lydia and Apon? I haven't met many British who do," she smiled at this, "Yes, I've begun to become bothered by their sense of entitlement; they don't have any respect for cooperation or restrain, and I never sat under the sorting hat. My hope is to request to do so in Flitwicks or Dumbledore's office at the end of the year, I'll need the approval of both though." "While we wait on these dear little fellows to find a moment for your doughnuts and my tea, tell me a bit about yourself if you will," she said, pulling out a wrapped muggle snack with a picture of a smiling crescent moon on the front and opening it.

[Jaimi Willow]

"I'm part French, my Grandmother believed that I should have a little knowledge of as many cultures as possible, I've only heard that story once, but I recognised it." she said and gestured to the seat beside her, waiting for Simanus to sit down before she began speaking again.

"My Grandparents on my mother's side are French, Mama grew up there, but decided that after hearing so much about it she really wanted to go to Hogwarts. So my Grandmother let her. My Father was 15 at the time and when he saw her sorted into Ravenclaw he was determined to have her. On Mama's 17th Birthday she had a coming of age party and my Father was there, they ended up engaged because my Grandfather's realised how advantageous this would be to both families. So here I am, I decided I wanted to go to Beauxbatons, like my Grandmother wanted, and I used to spend Christmas, and the first and last week of the Holidays with them, but I don't suppose that'll happen anymore. Mama wanted me closer to home she 'couldn't deal' with me being so far away. She did it for three years, seems like a stupid reason to me." she said and took a sip of her tea. "What about you?" she asked.

[simanus]

This one was partly French, that explained the appeal of her looks. "My father runs a business America-side. I started learned about magic when I was very young and attended Salem for two and a half years before doing a semester abroad here," she said, sitting, "afterward, I decided to transfer and here I am today. My family are an alright sort of folks, I suppose, I love them all. Mother and Father's families knew each other from way back and they met at a Yule party one year and hit it off." A clicking sound came from her right and she saw the house elf returning with a tray in each hand, one with jam doughnuts on it and one with a glass and small clay pitcher of tea. Simanus took her drink and thanked the elf, waiting for him to leave before pulling a small vial of orange-gold liquid from her pocket.

"A little muggle alchemy," she said, shaking the already uncorked vial, she then put two drops into her glass and poured a small thin stream into the pitcher, "honey and queen jelly with some citrus peel soaking in the mix." This little addition done, she drank the glass in one, sighing in appreciation as she lowered and refilled the glass, "What was Beauxbatons like?" she had briefly considered doing her exchange program there.

[Jaimi Willow]

"I've always wanted to go to America," she mused as she took the plate of doughnuts. She bit into one and smiled, the Jam was still slightly warm, and the dough hadn't cooled yet either.

"Beauxbatons is an old Manor house, abandoned but luckily not destroyed in the French revolution. The building itself is Gorgeous, magically expanded on the inside of course, naturally; unplottable too. It's more about quiet sophistication and elegance there, as opposed to the grandeur of great hall and the Suits of Armour everywhere here." she said and smiled. "What was Salem like?"

[simanus]

"Very American Gothic," Simanus replied and took a long sip from her glass, "Most of the magical community in America is. There are several smaller buildings devoted to branches of magic: one building for Theory and Quantitative magic (Divination, Runes, etc.), one that houses Magical Creatures and Herbology as well as the greenhouses, menagerie and conservatory, one building houses the dining hall, administrative offices and ballrooms, there are three classroom buildings and several dormitories. I was in Solomon house." She summoned another glass and poured some tea into it, "Can I tempt you?"

[Jaimi Willow]

"Sounds very interesting." she said with a smile. "I'll try anything once. Doughnut?" she asked, holding out the plate. "So who was Soloman to the world of Magic?" she asked curiously.

[simanus]

"Oh no," she giggled, taking a piece of a doughnut, "it's named for the Solomon family, great contributors to the development of America." Simanus wanted to chat more, but couldn't think of a question to ask, she ate the rest of the doughnut to give herself time to think. She washed it down with tea and said, "What do you specialize in?"

She realized this was a bit vague and added "Oh, we all tend to one form of magic or another," she said, waving her hand. "Then there's what interests you? Charms and wands are my focus."

[Jaimi Willow]

"Oh, I see." she said through a bite of doughnut, then swallowed it quickly. "Specialise? I don't know what you mean." She sipped her tea and tried to think what Simanus meant, unless it was what subjects had she chosen to take, Jaimi couldn't think what she meant.

[simanus]

"Oh," Simanus replied airily, "you know, your knack, your niche, what part of magic is it that sings its song for you? Surely there must be something you're passionate about. I'm curious to see what a Ravenclaw feel on this subject, being as I hope to transfer there in future." She'd rather liked the doughnut but decided not to have another, instead she drank her tea.

[Jaimi Willow]

"Well my Transfiguration professor at Beauxbaton seemed to think I had a natural flair for Transfiguration, and apparently Professor McGonagall agrees with him. I've never thought about it 'singing it's song' for me, but I suppose it does, that and healing. I want to be a healer, I was talked to Madam Pomfrey about volunteering in the Hospital wing on weekends and stuff, but she says she can't take underage volunteers, but I could sit and watch her if I really wanted, but I'd have to respect patient confidentiality. I've got a load of forms to sign next weekend." she said.

Jaimi looked down at the four remaining doughnuts on her plate, she really didn't fancy eating them now. She looked up to see where the nearest house elf was and the next thing she knew one had rushed over to her.

"Can I get something for you miss?" it squeaked.

"Can I have a bag for the rest of the doughnuts please?" she asked, and the ran off to find her one.

[simanus]

"A shape-changer," Simanus giggled, "How delightful. As I say, I'm a charmer by nature. Transfiguration and healing though, quite a potent combination." Simanus' mother was a great transfiguress and she had a lot of respect for the art. Listening to Jaimi, Beauxbatons wouldn't have been a bad choice, and the French we more accommodating of her...tastes than the English. She could sense the first-time getting-to-know-you chit-chat beginning to peter out.

She drew out one of her little silver-gold coins, the Flagg crest on one side and a fox's footprint on the other, and placed it on the platter with the doughnuts paw-side up. "It was nice meeting you, Ms Willow," she smiled, "please take this as a gesture of friendship." These coins were another of her mother's little tricks, usable as a means of group conversation en mass or one-on-one discourse.