Unexpected Houseguests

An unpleasant feeling sunk in Mira's stomach when she considered Avery's question. Of course, she knew she had to explain, but on the other hand it would be a lot less humiliating for her to pretend like it never happened. On the bright side, if there was anyone she wanted to tell her misfortunes to it was the other blonde. Mira trusted her, which was a rare occasion for the ex-Slytherin. She moved to the couch that had become her bed and sat, paying no mind to her dripping wet hair soaking into the fabric.

"He's gone." She shrugged, even though inside she felt far from indifferent.

"I got a letter yesterday from the Ministry, calling me in to meet my match. I didn't expect -" she blinked, the confidence slowly leaving her voice. "I mean, he's the deputy Minister. But now I'm going to marry Albus f**king Potter and I haven't seen him since." The anger she had felt yesterday was still very present, but she had finally allowed herself to indulge in her sadness and broken heart. This morning had been too emotional for her tastes but she couldn't quite seem to get a grip on herself. Mira was sad. She was angry. And she missed Elijah Krum more than she would ever admit.

Avery watched as multiple expressions flitted across Mira's face. Something had gone terribly wrong. Why did Avery suspect it had to do with what she had read in the Daily Prophet the other day? What else could it be at a time like this? More laws? It wasn't like she wasn't worried about getting her letter, herself. She stared at the floor as she realized that, over the weekend, without even thinking, Avery had written Robin down. She couldn't recall her reasoning just then, but she could nearly slap herself for not having written down her friend, Keiran. What a complete tosser she must be.

"Oh, love, I'm sorry." She murmured at Mira's short reply. It wasn't, perhaps, the wisest decision in the world to tell someone how bad you felt for them when they clearly just wanted to get over it. But Avery was never very good at things like apologies or comforting others. It really was an issue she had to get over.

Avery wanted to hug the girl, but seeing as it would be strange when Mira wasn't exactly dressed properly, she simply leaned towards her and nudged her shoulder in a show of solidarity. As she continued talking, Avery wanted nothing more than to meet the git that had destroyed Mira's happiness so entirely.

"Language." She chided gently, her heart not really in it. If anyone needed to get their feelings out, Mira did. "You and this Albus guy don't get on?" She asked, having never met him herself. "I mean, maybe things will work out. It often takes a while to get to know someone."

Avery looked up towards the hallway Robin had disappeared down, wondering if he was taking a long time on purpose, or if he was perhaps waiting for them to finish. Either way, she was grateful for it. She would have to thank him later. Well, she would if he didn't doing anything particularly ridiculous and frighten her off again.

Mira exhaled, just a bit irritated. "It's not that we don't get along, I mean, I've never really talked to the guy." She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. "But I don't want to get to know him, Ave. I don't want to know anything about him and I certainly don't want to marry him."

For as long as she could remember, when Mira pictured her wedding it had been Elijah at the end of the aisle. Not to say she had always loved him. In reality, most of the time she really couldn't stand the guy. But even when she felt this way it didn't change the fact that marrying Elijah had been the one thing that was more or less set in stone about her life. He had been picked for her at birth and even when she couldn't stand him, part of her had always known that she was meant to be with him.

He had left her first, both with Alice and then defying their parents, calling her a lesbian, and storming out. Then she had left him, claiming they both needed time and space, for him to get his memory back and her to catch her breath. Now it was his turn again, making what seemed like a final move in their saga by tying her queen to another man's king. It was expected but it still felt like going against fate.

"I don't want to marry anyone."

She had been fitted for her wedding dress only last month, after Alice was born and she had lost the baby weight. Mira hadn't told him simply because they hadn't set any sort of date yet, even though Mira had been planning for flowers and bridesmaids and deserts ever since she had discovered she was pregnant. They had been engaged for awhile before that of course, but the baby had seemed permanent. Something to bind them together until death.

She wanted to marry Krum. Almost as if it were engrained in her DNA.

"I just needed to get out of his house. Some of my stuff is still there and I was hoping Robin could go and get it for me. He gets on with Elijah, you see? And I didn't want to be a burden on you. Turning up out of the blue and all.."

“I understand, love.” Avery assured Mira, toying with a bit of the girl's hair in an attempt to provide that physical side of comfort which she didn't dare to show otherwise – how strange would it be to hug your best girl friend when they aren't dressed?

Avery suddenly wondered what her match was doing right then. When would she get her letter and have to worry about the mess heading her way? She couldn't imagine that she would actually be given a match she wanted. It seemed like the Ministry, as much as she wanted to believe in them because she worked there, was determined to mess up everyone's lives.

“Sometimes, the things we expect to be the worst for us actually turn out to work in our favor, you know.” Avery pointed out lightly, tilting her head to the side as if in thought. It wouldn't do to tell your dearest friend that she was over-reacting. Especially when Avery figured she would be far worse in the same situation.

Avery's eyes flew to the hall once more as Mira spoke again. “Oh, you know you never could be.” She interrupted the other blonde quickly, giving her a half-smile. Standing, she made to help Mira up, but nearly laughed as she realized she almost took the girl out in public in not but a towel.

“Robin!” She called over her shoulder, figuring he had to be around by then. “Haven't you found anything, yet?”

Taking Mira's hands, she smiled at her brightly, suddenly deciding that if she wasn't going to be upbeat about it, Mira couldn't become that way, either. “You'll move in with me, and we'll watch horrible Muggle movies and eat far too much ice cream. It will be wonderful, I promise.”

Robin was hiding.

He had seen Mira get angry before and the image stuck with him as an experience he did not need to repeat. Avery was Keiran's close mate and from this fact alone he could guess that she wasn't exactly a wilting wallflower. If there was any riff between the two woman Robin was more than happy to exit the room and let them work things out on their own. He had reduced to a spy in his own house, standing almost at the top of the stairs with a shirt and pants in hand, listening for a sign that all was safe.

Hearing the girls talk to each other, Robin relaxed a bit. While it wasn't a happy conversation it wasn't an angry one either, and that was the important thing. Just as he was about to make his reentrance Robin heard his name being called. He made his way down the stairs and upon reaching the bottom tossed Mira the two articles of clothing. The blonde caught them and stood from her seat. She turned back to Avery and nodded before turning to Robin.

"Turns out you won't have to put up with me much longer. Avery's got an extra room for me." She grinned at Robin, endlessly pleased with this new offer but still unsure of how to thank her old friend for taking her in on such short notice. Turning back to Avery she smiled. "But I was interrupting, wasn't I? I'm going to go and pull my stuff together. We can talk later, dear!" Mira hugged the fresh clothes to her barely covered bosom and towards the bathroom.

Robin moved further into the living room and gave Avery an apologetic smile.

"I should have said I had guests. Sorry about that." It really was unfortunate that all of this Mira drama had to happen today. This date with Avery was important - much more so that any average date with any average girl. A gentleman's bet had been made on it and Robin was not the type of man who accepted losing. Especially not in a matter like this.

"Have I totally destroyed my chances at lunch?" He laughed lightly, dearly hoping she was the understanding type.

Avery smiled at Mira as she stood and clutched the clothes Robin had provided. She wondered momentarily how Mira and Robin had become friends – Avery had a feeling the other blonde wondered the same thing – but that could be discussed later. Now all that was left was to figure out what the rest of her day was to look like. She wasn't sure Robin would want to go after the confusion and slight drama the girls had gone through.

“Absolutely.” Avery promised, reaching into her bag and pulling out her keys. “Get these from me before I leave,” She said, jingling them. She had a second set, and she could apparate in, besides. “And I'll give you time to move your things in.” Even if Robin wasn't interested in going to lunch, Avery was getting to that point where her stomach would soon be making awfully embarrassing noises.

Avery shrugged at his apology, giving him a small smile in return. He seemed seriously concerned about her interest in going to lunch so she looked at him seriously and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, pretty much.” She said in reply to his question.

It wasn't more than a few seconds that she could keep the facade going, however, for Avery could feel the corners of her mouth lifting so she grinned at him and bit her lip unconsciously. “I'm up for a walk.” She reminded him, pulling her bag back onto her shoulder.

"That's the spirit." he laughed. "C'mon, before there's any more surprises."

Robin grabbed his coat off of the back of a kitchen chair and the pair made their way out of his house. Once outside Robin pulled his jacket over his shoulders in response to the autumn chill in the air. The muggles on the block had planted a few trees to make the neighborhood look more festive and their leaves were finally transforming to vibrant reds and yellows. It was the type of weather that made Robin want to sit by a campfire, drink cider, and go on hikes.

"It's funny." Robin mused, "We both know Keiran and Mira so well but somehow we've never managed to cross paths before." While Avery had not explicitly said how well she knew Mira he had been able to tell the depth of their friendship in the few minutes they had been interacting. The ease of their conversation and the certainty in which they had agreed to move in together was the actions of old friends, not girls who had barely met. And of course she had known Keiran longer than he had - they had discussed that the first time they had met.

Robin imagined what Keiran would say if he could see them now. Not that anything had happened. In fact, the date (if it even was a date because that really hadn't been established) was going quite poorly. A hysterical, half naked woman was not exactly something you would consider a success. But still - she hadn't run away yet and that filled Robin will unreasonable hope for her. He might have messed it up but there was still a chance to win the bet, especially with Keiran stuck away with the teenagers.

"You must have been at Hogwarts with them, right?" he asked. Ever since Robin had moved to Ireland he had become used to most of the wizards he met went to Hogwarts. On the isles it was the dominant school and a pretty acceptable assumption to make. Robin couldn't deny that Hogwarts was a good school. Caspian had transferred this year (a fact that was still distasteful to his father) and joined his cousin Sonia there. It appeared that Ivanov's were becoming a Hogwarts family. The shame.

((Slight godmodding. I can edit if you need me to.))

Avery nodded as he picked up his coat, pulling hers tightly around her as the door opened and the breeze hit her once more. She wasn't complaining, though. She far preferred Autumn to the blaring heat summer could sometimes bring. She wasn't exactly a lover of snow, but in the United Kingdom one got used to it, she supposed. And it would be a while before that happened, regardless. She noted Robin's apparent interest in the weather as well and smiled to herself; at least they had something in common, even if it was so simple as an appreciation for cooler weather.

“Yes,” Avery replied, tilting her head to the side in thought as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, “but knowing Keiran, he tends to prefer small get togethers than large groups. Or, I thought he did.” She said, thinking back to how Robin had said the men had met. “Until I heard your story.” Shrugging it off, she looked back at him and added, “As for Mira, we mostly only see each other for girls nights here and there.”

She kicked leaves lying on the sidewalk before her as they walked, listening to his question. It was amazing how many times she had been asked what House she came from. Truly amazing.

“Oh, uh, no. I didn't go to Hogwarts. Met Keiran at Uni, like I said. I met Mira later as well, but she's my best friend.” Avery pulled a hand from her pockets to push a bit of hair out of her face before returning it and finishing her answer. “I went to Durmstrang, actually. But I didn't go by Avery, then – for some reason that is unknown to me now that I'm an adult, I preferred my Middle name. Don't ask what it is, I can't stand it anymore.” She let out a small laugh of embarrassment.

Something about Robin struck her as familiar, she remembered, when they had first met. Now, she had a feeling she knew what it was. “You went to school there as well, didn't you? Though I daresay you weren't in the same year as me. Younger?” She was talking more and more quickly as she got to the point she was making. The point she would hate herself for making. “You might have known my sister, Clarissa.”

Her eyes trained on him, she waited for some kind of sign that Claire had spent years telling Robin about how awful her older sister “Candace” was, and that he would suddenly turn, walk away, and leave her standing on a street she didn't know. It would just figure. As much as Avery had wanted to make things right with Claire, the younger of the Bishop sisters just had not accepted any reasoning or excuses – not that Avery felt she needed any, mind. It was just hard, she mused, to have lost your sister before you were a teenager. Harder still, to never get her back.

Robin's eyebrows raised in surprise and he smiled with appreciation. A Durmstrang girl too? Where had Keiran gotten such luck in finding friends. Yes, he supposed she probably had been in a higher grade than him. Keiran was four years older and if she had been in school at the same time as him that would put her at around the same age. He raked his memory for anyone at Durmstrang who she might have been but came up blank. Like most teenage boys, Robin had been quite self-absorbed and blind to the students out of his year.

His mind refused to make the connection and only after she has blurted it out did Robin realize the gravity of the situation he had just found himself in. In most cases running into your exes sister wasn't a very big deal but there were two big problems 1) it wasn't just an ex, it was Clarissa and 2) she had made it perfectly clear that her sister was a sensitive subject who was never to be met. Their years at school together flashed through his mind - the kisses, the fights, the whispered 'I love you's, and that bloody engagement ring. All of it had been stored away as ancient history. But now..

"Yeah I knew Clarissa." Robin said with a too-cheery grin forced on. "We actually dated for a bit."

The understatement hurt his own ears but it was everything he could do not to turn around and lock himself back in the house. Bishops were dangerous girls. They were able to rip out your heart with a smile and an 'I'm sorry'. Awful, scary, girls.

The bet, the bet, the bet, the bet. Don't let Keiran beat you, you know you'd never live it down. Smile and nod. The bet, the bet, the bet. It was only now with the terrifying discovery of her identity did Robin realize with a shock what a good time he really had been having. She had a sense of humor, could drink like a man, and was still here after all of his weirdness. He liked her more than a subject of a bet ought to be liked. There had to be something wrong with her and now there was - Clarissa Bishop's sister - the very thought..

Robin continued to walk and the leaves crunched under his feet. He smiled over at her, genuinely trying to play off the expression of panic that he was sure had flashed across his face. Merlin, she was gorgeous. It wasn't fair that Clarissa's sister was so pretty.

Maybe she wouldn't pry and everything could go on pleasantly like it had been before. They could pretend they were strangers without all of these odd mutual friends and exes and siblings. But now Robins mind was spinning and he felt like a seventeen year old again, none of his charm and all of his vulnerability. Even the mention of her name ("Her" he had taken to calling her after the breakup) was enough to turn back time to a much more pathetic version of himself. He was so weak.

Avery didn't have a response for that. Not at all. Wouldn't it just figure that Robin had been in a relationship with the more well-liked of the sisters? Now here she was, wondering what sort of outing this was anyway - she had definitely tried harder than usual today - and wondering how she would measure up to Claire. Not one to usually be self-conscious, Avery could feel her arms wrap tightly around herself as she looked away, missing whatever expression he sent her way.

If she had to say it, she would. Avery had not only ruined a relationship she later would wish she had during the rough times, but even now, when Claire wasn't around anymore, Avery found herself influenced by the jealousy she had for her sister. What kind of older sibling was she, if she couldn't help but want to be as liked or appreciated - if not more so - than the younger one?

"I wish I could go on about how wonderful she surely was, but.." Avery swallowed tightly before continuing, "But I didn't really know her."

What a stupid, senseless thing to say. If he asked, Avery was certain she would break down. Or, perhaps worse, leave. She couldn't say why she had done it, but more wished she could take it back. How much worse could this day get? If she were being honest with herself, Avery would have let the voice in her head remind her that, when compared to Claire, even her parents preferred the younger sister. Why wouldn't he?

The tension between them was almost tangible, and Avery knew she should have just stopped with "I went to Durmstrang." It would have saved her - as well as him, it seemed - a lot of stress about the topic of conversation. She sort of wished a hole would open up below her and take her away.