Sunday afternoon

“Golly,” Theta giggled, wiping brightly coloured ice cream off the tip of her petite nose, “I feel like I’m 9 years old again, sitting here.” Her legs still dangled down from the stool. There was a sizeable ice cream sundae between them on the table, and each of the girls had long handled spoons. “Only it wouldn’t have had alcohol in when I was that age.” She reached for her glass, complete with overly curled straw, and took a sip. She studied the athletic blonde witch opposite her.

“So you left here the moment you could and then what? Where have you been? What’s been happening - why are you back?” Much as it was good to have another friend back, Sky was away on an adventure, doing things Theta could only admire from afar while pursuing her career as an apprentice time turner maker.

“Go on, make me jealous of your exploits,” the former Ravenclaw challenged the bold Gryffindor graduate.

While Sky had been friends with Theta before she left to travel the world, after two years it felt like she had lost contact with most of her friends.  Which is why she was here at the ice cream parlor with Theta trying to catch up.  Sky took a bite of the ice cream and savored it a bit before swallowing and answering Theta, "Hold on girlie, take a breath between questions would you?" she grinned and took another bite. 

Putting the spoon back into the bowl, she focused on Theta's questions.  "I left because I wanted some independence away from my over-protective brother, so I went on a travelling spree." She took a breath while thinking about where she went first, "I spent some time in Ireland, went to Germany, I tried Paris for a bit - loved the food, and ended up in Australia."

She smiled as she remembered the last 7 months she spent in the beautiful town in Australia.  "I made some friends, really cool people, and we started a band for about two months before I decided to come back.  I had fun."

"What about you?" she nudged Theta with her foot, "What's been up with you? Have you found a bloke yet?" She sipped a glass of water and looked expectantly at her friend.

How could someone go on such a wander around the world and not be full of stories? Theta wondered, but then realised that she might be the fifth or fiftieth person Sky had recounted some of the tales to, and maybe it was best not to rush them with her enthusiasm.

“… made some friends, really cool people, and we started a band for about two months before I decided to come back. I had fun.”
“A band?” Theta asked, “I’d have never come home!” She shrugged at her younger friend.

“What about you? … you found a bloke yet?” Theta jumped a little at the nudge of Sky’s foot.
“I had a bloke,” Theta shrugged, “Me and Chris broke up though, last Christmas. I’ve been happy enough on my own, like I’ve moved in with Grace, Fauna and Penny, much nicer than Dorothea’s.” Theta had serial bad luck with roommates, and her stint on her own at Dorothea’s hadn’t been any luckier. She was happier to be on her feet with friends and Penny’s dog, even if it did pee at inconvenient moments.

“My uncle got remarried last month and my dad kept joking I’d find a ‘nice young man’ at the reception.” Theta shook her head gently. “You didn’t bring any nice looking Australians back with you in your suitcase did you?” She asked Sky with a twitch of her lips. “And why’s my lacking love life more interesting than telling me about your world tour?” She didn’t mind, but she hadn’t expected the deflection so soon.

"Sorry about the bloke, tough luck." she said and then began to think about what she did while travelling that would be worth mentioning to her friend.  "And I didn't want to come home, but I felt that I needed to spend some time with my brother, so I came home for a while."

"Sadly, all the gorgeous Australian boys are still in Australia, the airport wouldn't let me put them in the cargo hold." Sky laughed, she had crushed on a couple boys, but the girls that she had made friends with were with those boys, so she just held her feelings back. "Well, I did do some crazy stuff.  Let's see..."

She began to tell Theta highlights of what she did while she was travelling.

"I kissed the Blarney Stone in the castle in Ireland. It was kind of hilarious, you have to do it backwards, so that was fun.  I had a bit of a head rush afterwards though."

She told Theta about the castles she had taken tours through and how some of them were bigger than Hogwarts.  "Ireland was so green."

She went on to talk about when she visited Germany, "I went to one museum where they've got this miniature train model that's got all kinds of stuff on it.  One of the boys who worked there said that they put stuff in the model that you'd have to look really hard to find, I swear that I saw some miniature people getting freaky in the woods..." Sky laughed as she remembered that she had seen that particular part the same time as the elderly lady next to her and the look on the lady's face was priceless.

"I didn't do much else too interesting except finding the most interesting places to stay where I stopped travelling for a bit.  And then I stopped in Australia.  The water is so blue there, and the town I was in, there was a story about this island and mermaids, but I didn't believe it."

She thought for a moment, "About the band, I didn't want to at first, but I never really realized I had any artistic talent at all.  I guess my twin got all the ability to create drawings of anything, and I got the singing ability.  Evidently, according to the guys, I was pretty good.  So that's pretty much it.  I'm back now... looking to hanging out with people, tormenting my brother.. maybe finding a good English boy to talk to..." she winked at Theta before drinking some more of her water.  She hadn't even told this much to Shade, just given him the highlights, maybe she needed more friends of the female variety.

Their ice cream continued to work its way down, a combination of their spoons and it beginning to melt into the tall glass. Theta sighed wistfully at the account of gorgeous Australian boys, giggled at the account of how to kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland, propped her chin on her hand and imagined as much as she could the size of the castles rivalling Hogwarts. She laughed out loud and had to sip her drink to muffle a coughing fit brought on by Sky’s account of the elderly lady and the model train in Germany. It was so very much a Sky move to not have that kind of filter on her thoughts amongst strangers.

Theta set aside her ice cream spoon as Sky’s account began to draw to an end, as she talked about the band.
“… I never really realised I had any artistic talent at all,” she explained, nonchalantly, “I guess my twin got all the ability to create drawings of anything, and I got the singing ability.” Theta let out a quiet aww, glad that Sky found a hidden talent amongst her time away.

“… looking forward to hanging out with people, tormenting my brother… maybe finding a good English boy to talk to.”
“Ooh, you’ll be looking hard here,” Theta warned her, “but I can totally invite you to lunch at the Ministry one day to check out all the hotties in their suit robes.” She gave a mischievous chuckle. “Honestly, even the boys we went to school with look better in a suit, you know, once their spots have gone.” She gestured to her own face.

“Talking of your brother…” Theta said softly, biting her bottom lip, “I barely spoke to him at school - even though you and I hung out… and I didn’t realise it was him was hanging out with my dad while you were away.” Theta had kicked herself when she’d realised. It wasn’t as if the name Shade was very common, but she and Sky had been out of touch a deal the past year or two, what with Theta finishing school and then Sky’s travels the following year. She’d quite forgotten.

“He’s grown up, hasn’t he?” Theta grinned, blushing a little. “Quite the good English boy.”

The idea of sitting in the Ministry for lunch and 'people-watching' was intriguing, "I'll take you up on the offer for lunch." Sky told Theta as the ice cream vanished.  "I need to get back into the swing of things here since I've been gone."  She turned a bit on her stool until she was facing directly at her friend, "What do you mean about my brother?"

She didn't really care who her brother hung out with as long as they didn't hurt him.  He had such a soft heart and cared way too much about people that she had to watch out for him sometimes.   He trusted way too easily as well.  "Wait, he's hanging out with your dad? That's news to me, he didn't tell me that in any of his letters."  She paused and looked at Theta, "Why's he hanging with your dad and not you?"

Sky knew nothing about her brother's continued friendship with Monty Pepper, other than the time he told her that he was thinking of talking to the man about his art, she didn't know that he'd went and bought a motorcycle.  Shade kept that secret.

“What do you mean about my brother?”

“Ah…erm…”

Sky had turned to sit looking directly at her, and Theta felt heat rise to her cheeks a little, as if she had been accused of a crime. By luck, her friend was distracted by associated information, going first to query Theta’s dad being involved.

“My dad is a portrait painter,” Theta began with a shrug, electing to start with the simple. “Your brother got to know and approached him this year about learning something, or becoming an apprentice artist. Dad’s always a bit of a sucker for someone appreciating his work, and he loves to talk about it, so I think they used to do a bit of painting together, meet up for artist … things.” Theta shrugged, “Pretty sure my dad kind of knows a few people our age who are in the art community,” Lenora Amherst, quite a few other painters.

“As well as painting portraits,” Theta’s fingers knotted, “well, it’s kind of a long story about how it happened,” she licked her lips, “my dad kind of owns this flying car company in America now. He thought there was a relative of ours, in America, building up a company who made flying cars and he’s been obsessed for years. But well, you know my grandfather did, and my uncle and now I make time turners? My dad decided to go to find this long lost Pepper relative in America end of last year, and took some old, supposedly not working, time turner prototype with him.”

Theta looked up, wondering if Sky was following this at all. She was only explaining it because the last time she’d seen Sky, her dad had just painted portraits and been, well, not as old as uncle Francis.

“So the moment he’s meant to meet this relative, he gets turned back in time, not like an hour… twenty years.” Theta winced a little, expecting Sky to laugh her out of the ice cream parlour with such a tall tale. “The relative in America, making flying cars, was actually my dad all along. And well - he’s got quite… friendly with your brother.” Theta lowered her voice and leaned in a little towards Sky. “I am pretty sure that my dad has taken him over to America to see the company...”

"That's quite a tale, although, I believe most of the stuff about my brother and artwork.  He's always had a knack for drawing things."  She sat still for a moment while thinking about her brother and his penchant for all things artistic.  Then her mind caught up with the fact that Theta mentioned a flying car company.  "Do they make motorcycles?" she asked.

She played with her water glass as she elaborated on her question, "I only ask because I remember in one of Shade's letters that he was looking to design a motorcycle. Did he go through with it?"  Sky figured Theta would know more than she did about anything that happened with her father's company.

Theta wasn’t sure Sky entirely believed the story about the time-turner, though she didn’t blame the girl.

“Do they make motorcycles?”
“I think so…”

“I only ask because I remember one of Shade’s letters - that he was looking to design a motorcycle.”
“Uhum,” Theta nodded in understanding.
“Did he go through with it?”

“Well,” Theta sat up straighter, trying to think how to answer that, “when I talked to him at my aunt and uncle’s wedding the other month, he had a motorbike with him.” She bit her bottom lip, blushing, “and he maybe took me for a ride on it.” She went crimson and leaned over, lowering her voice, “and we flew but you mustn’t tell anyone, because it’s illegal, you know.”