I was uh...in the neighborhood [Sarah]

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin finally had a day off and he decided that he'd pay his friend a visit. Sarah had gotten realized from St.mungos a couple of days ago and he was sure that staying in the house was driving her mental. Of course he was just being a good friend, what better way to not spend a day in the house than eating take out and watching really bad movies. Of course Austin's version of really bad movies were really old scary movies with awful special effects. It wasn't as if it was raining or anything, that would be a bit to clichéd.


After paying for the food and renting a few dvds Austin took Holt for a walk because he knew he was neglecting his companion as of late. Between work and his friends being in and out of the hospital it was a lot to deal with. Even so that was no excuse to ignore one of his best friends especially one who could complain and be understood as if he was speaking English. Sometimes Austin wondered if having the gift was worth knowing what dogs thought of their owners. While it was funny it was also...annoying at times.


Taking a quick shower and changing into a pair of a sleep pants and a t-shirt he apparated to Sarah's flat and knocked on the door. Leaning against the door frame he listened to see if he could hear her stumble to the door. For some reason he imagined her bundled up on the couch and flipping through the telly even though it wasn't that cold. When the door opened he held up the food and the movies "I come barring gifts" He smiled at her and waited for her to say something.

SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

Hannah was nice enough to give Sarah the next week off after she had ended up in the hospital. And while Sarah knew that she would have to go back to work eventually to be able to afford her life and pay her bills, her arm was still a bit sore and most of her bruises were still black and blue, some were even purple. So she decided to take her boss up on the offer and take a week off to recover before going back to work at the pub. This had been the third attack to happen right outside of the Leaky Cauldron, and Sarah still had to go back and work the night shift.

The young girl woke up at around noon like she normally did thanks to her normal work schedule and she took another dose of her pain potion along with her morning tea. She didn’t bother to get dressed, so she just curled up on the couch in her pajama pants and a tank top with her favorite plush blanket wrapped around her like a burrito while she watched muggle TV, unsure what most of the shows actually were since we normally didn’t ever watch TV. She wished that they would televise Quidditch: it had been forever since she had seen a game. When someone knocked on the door, Sarah jumped a bit. Vanessa was still staying with them, putting them all at risk of another attack and possibly even a house call, but currently, she was out at work. Madison, her official roommate and best friend always worked all day and Sarah was fine with being alone, but after her attack, it was a little eerie. She got up, walked over to the door with her blanket still wrapped around her and looked through the peep hole and was relieved to see Austin: a good friend of hers whom she hadn’t seen much of since they had left school. Sarah unlocked and opened the door. She smiled when he said that he brought gifts and held up the bag. “Well then come in.” She smiled and begin to hug him softly, not wanting to hurt herself or lose her blanket. She closed the door right after him and instantly relocked it.

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin smiled when she opened the door, he was right she was curled bundled up in a blanket. He found that somewhat cute even though he was pretty sure the summer heat was starting. Unless she had it cool in the apartment, his always seemed to be cold. He was sure the landlord kept the whole building cold because he had issues with the hallways being to muggy when he did his rounds to collect rent or fix a problem one of the tenants had. Returning the hug as gently as he possible could he walked in after she moved to the side.

"I figured you could use some company and the whole team got a day off. The rest of the guys are probably drunk right now and I was worried about you" He was pretty sure rambling was not the way to sound cool. He smiled at her and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he set down the food and movies on the coffee table in the living room.

Austin was aware that Madison and Sarah had another roommate who went by the name of Vanessa and while he didn't particularly agree with the troublesome girl staying there, it wasn't his place. It was really hard to be kind and want your friends to be safe, especially when it was stranger. Logically he knew it was the right thing to do but he didn't want his friends getting hurt anymore. Maybe if he was around more, he would've gotten to know her and consider her a friend but work had him busy. He could only spare time for the friends he'd known for a lot of his life.

Sitting on the couch he patted the spot next to him and began taking out the food. "I got soda and Chinese take out oh and I bought some awful movies we can laugh at. I'm not entirely thrilled at the prospect at watching sappy chick flicks but I will if that's what you want....please says it's not." He gave her his best version of puppy dog eyes he could muster because, he really didn't want to get stuck with hours of silly romance, not when his didn't work out the way he had planned it.

Now was not the time to be thinking about Nina, Roxy had matched them up perfectly but in the end it was hard to settle down with someone who wasn't in that sort of frame of mind. He wanted someone he could come home to and watch TV with until he fell asleep. He rarely had the energy to go an party and have fun unless it was a specially occasion.
SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

The land lord did tend to keep it quite cold, but Sarah had a thermostat in her flat and could turn up the heat if she wanted to. She rarely did. She and Madison normally weren’t even home so it didn’t matter much to them, plus, now that it was getting warm out, Sarah liked that it was colder inside of the flat. It was always more comfortable to wrap up in a blanket then it was to sweat your skin off. After he returned the hug gently and then sat his bags down and hen himself down, Sarah sat herself back down on the sofa as well, pulling her feet back up and curling back into her blanket.

“Chinese food and muggles movie? Sounds like a riot.” She smiled, teasing him a little though she was actually very happy that he had stopped by. He was right, a little bit of company would do her good. She had spent time on the sofa with Madison last night, but eventually, Madison needed to go to sleep because she had to get up early and go to work. Normally, Sarah wouldn’t get off of work until 3 or 4 in the morning and she would just apperate home and then go to sleep until noon or so before she would get up and get her day started. So, her being off of work on a day that wouldn’t normally be her day off had made her feel a bit lonely. She wasn’t physically up to doing her normal daily activities such as baking or going out for a visit, so she was happy that someone had thought to come and have a visit with her.

Sarah smiled a bit when he said that he wasn’t in the mood to watch a sappy chick flick, and then she remembered why. She had heard about his and Nina’s break up but she wasn’t quite sure why it had happened, though, she wasn’t really one to ask too many question, she wasn’t exactly open about everything herself. “Chick flicks aren’t really my cup of tea.” She admitted with her soft smile. “But I’m comfortable, so you’ve got to get up and put it on.” She smirked.

AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin was glad that even though she was attacked Sarah was still being herself. He still found himself worrying about her and her being alone but he figured if she wasn't acting paranoid or hiding away he wouldn't say anything. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he felt she was weak or something along those lines. It was merely in his nature to worry about his friends especialy the female ones, call him old fashion but that didn't mean he felt she was incapable of protecting herself. What else were guys there for if not to provide and protect? Maybe he was over thinking this, Sarah was obviously being protected and so was Madison and by defualt that other girl too. He smiled and move over slightly to give her more room to stretch out.

"Oh of course, rainy day activities without the rain. We're living life on the wild side for sure'" Austin couldn't help the small snort that pushed past his lips at that. It would be better if it was raining, he kind of wished it was. It kind of brought back memories of the whole gang eating junk food and watching movies or spending summers doing nothing but playing qudditch or goofing off at someone's house. That was before they were adults, now they had to deal with attacks and failed relationships. "Just a heads up though, i fall asleep during the movie just poke me it's really bad manners to fall asleep on your hostess." Even though he was only half play he knew that eventually tiredness would creep up on him. He really wanted to give Sarah his undivided and couldn't if he was sleeping.

"Thank Merlin, i was honestly worried for a moment" He gave her smile and got up to put a movie in "I have Thankskilling one through three and killer clows from outer space. Im not sure which one you want to watch first. OH and i have some bad martial arts films from the dinosaur ages so like the 1990's pretty sure our parents might have went to the cinema to see at least one of them" He sat on the floor as he set up the dvd player and waited for her to tell him which one to put in.
SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

Of course, Sarah couldn’t help but feel like she had let not only herself down, but a lot of the people around her. When she saw her father in the hospital, the first thing that she thought of was that he was disappointed in her. She hadn’t be able to defend herself. She hadn’t put her training to good use. She had failed. She had let herself be attacked. Her father was her hero. He had been able to protect his loved ones and defend himself. She had failed. She had worried all of her friends and had probably made her mother cry. She didn’t want anyone to worry about her. She felt so defenseless.

When he brought up rainy day activities, she couldn’t help but remember back to when the whole group would be together. She remembered conversations out in the courtyard under the brick roof while the rain fell down. That was where she and Thomas would have their secret meetings about how they were going to get Madison to fall in love with him. And all the hours spent on the Quidditch pitch in the rain. All the movies at someone’s house and the countless bags of popcorn and other sweets. The five of them hadn’t been together like that in a long time, and for Sarah, it felt long overdue. “I won’t hold It against you if you don’t hold it against me.” She said about falling asleep. “The potion the healers gave me for pain tends to make me sleepy too.”

When he listed off the movies he had, she couldn’t help but let out a few giggles, “How about we start from the beginning? Thankskilling one?” She asked and curled her feet up with her. She was glad that he knew how to set up the DVD player because she had absolutely no idea how to. “I’ve got nothing to do all day, we can see how many we get through.” She said.

AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin nodded "I think you need sleep to heal and be back to perfect health" Of course he was probably keeping her up with his showing up and all. He wouldn't stop her if she fell asleep either. She had more of a reason to be tired than he did. Whats more he surprised her mother didn't insist she stay with her parents until she was fully healed. Austin figured all mothers were a bit morw than a little smothering when it came to things like this. "At least you take your meds and rest. Im just glad you're okay"

"Sure, I dont mind" popping the dvd in he pressed play and passed Sarah some chop sticks and a container of food. Getting comfortable himself and starting on his food he watched his friend out the corner of his eye. He sort of felt that maybe she wasn't okay as she was letting on. He knew that had it been him he would feel way worse knowing he couldn't protect himself but at the same time he wouldn't want to talk about it. He also felt like he should as but maybe it was to early in the visit to ask.

"How's work? I know you usually work the night shift. How's that work for you?" .
SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

Sarah wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to talk about her feelings regarding the attack. She had still yet to tell anyone who actually attacked her. When she was in the hospital, she couldn’t remember, but slowly as the days passed, the seer had been getting small visions about it. Seeing the man’s face in the darkness of the Alley. Hearing the wolf growl from behind her. Seeing the beasts piercing eyes. The visions weren’t painful, thank god. She wasn’t sure why she had been getting them. She had never had visions of the past before. Normally, all of her visions were visions of the future, they were warnings.

“Well I haven’t really got a choice, have I?” she asked when he said that it was good that she was taking her medicine. “It’s either choke down the potion or let the bruises get the better of me every time I try to move.” She didn’t want to make it seem like she was in too much pain. Honestly, she felt alright. Most of her body was just very numb and she felt sluggish. She had to walk slower than before. She felt tired almost all day. She didn’t have any energy, and being an active, social girl, Sarah hated the feeling. But she would rather be tired than let the pain get the better of her. If she let the pain take over, the Black Army would win. She needed to heal quickly, and get back to protecting Vanessa. “Thank you.” Sarah smiled when he handed her a set of chopsticks and a carton of food. She wasn’t even sure what she was eating before she took a bit, but she wasn’t picky. It was better than the cold, leftover soup that her mom had stocked the fridge with after Sarah insisted that she was fine to stay at her own flat. When he asked about work, she swallowed before she answered, “Work is normally pretty fine… I haven’t had much trouble.” And when she had trouble during work, there was always someone there to help her: Thomas would come down every night and sit with her at first to make sure that she was alright. Then she started sharing the shift with another young man, who was always cautious when a man got to drunk and tried to take advantage of her. And finally there was Simon, the young man who had taken such good care of her after she had her last vision right in the middle of her shift. Thinking back on all of that made Sarah feel so helpless. When had she gotten so weak that she needed someone to help her all of the time? “How’s Professional Quidditch?” she asked. “I’ve been meaning to come to a game. Don’t take it personally that I haven’t. I haven’t been to see James play either.” she admitted, and James was like her brother.

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin could sense that the attack was a sore topic for his friend so he didn't linger passed the initial making sure he she was okay. It wasn't like he had to hound her for information, when she was ready he was sure she'd talk about it. He didn't know if she was the type of person to hold things in for way longer than she should but he hoped she wasn't. Something like this wasn't a thing you should keep quiet about but he doubted she needed therapy. His parents had been worried upon hearing about the attack but he had to assure them that Sarah was indeed fine. His mother was a bit of drama queen and after the whole Nina fiasco she wanted to assess all the females in his life.

That's good, I'm glad you like your job." He still felt like maybe she should work during the day and sleep during the night. He was well aware of what type of people visited the Leaky cauldron at night and some of them weren't friendly at all. Not that she couldn't take care of herself because Austin was more than sure about her ability to defend herself. The probably came with the fact that she shouldn't have too, maybe that was a contradiction. "Maybe I should start visiting you during your shift, We barely see each other" Of course it was meant more as a friendly gesture, not a I want to make you're safe gesture....although he couldn't be too sure.

"It's okay, James and I still compete just as we did in school and I'm doing pretty good as a keeper. Kind of hoping to snag the captain position, our captain is retiring soon. He's getting married and such." He smiled at her though there was a sadness that was left in his eyes at the worried married. That was his biggest dream, he wanted to get married and start a family but these days no one really wanted that until they were older. "Don't worry once you're better ill come kidnap you and bring you to a came, you'll just have to ignore the cameras and rumors." He smirked at her and turned his eyes to the screen.

SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

Sarah knew the eventually, she would tell the Order what had happened to her and who had done it. She knew that no one would let Dathon get away with what he had done. Sarah hadn't realized how loved she was until everyone had came together once she had been attacked. She had always basically felt like a member of the Weasley family, but at the same time, it amazed her how some of them got to her side before her mother had. She really wasn't surprised that her father had been the first there, her dad had always been protective, but to be honest, Austin being the second one in the room had been a bit of a surprise. While the two had been friends in school, she wasn't so sure that he cared for her enough to worry so much when she had been attacked. It was nice.

When he offered to start visiting during her shifts, she couldn't help but remember more about how Thomas used to. Things hadn't really changed with them since the affair, things weren't even awkward. The hard thing about the event was, of course, Madison. If it weren't for Madison, the event wouldn't have made either of them feel as upset as they both obviously were. It was so uncharacteristic of Sarah. She had never been one to jump into bed with a guy whom she wasn't in a real relationship with. In fact, Thomas had been her first time. And he was her best friends boyfriend and the father of her future niece of nephew. She had never expected to be that intimate with a guy whom she would never marry. And she did want to get married, but she didn't want to rush into anything. She wasn't even in a relationship and she definitely didn't want to jump into a marriage like she had jumped into an affair. She snapped out of her thoughts and back to the couch. "You can if you want, though, I would think that being a Quidditch player and all, you would need your sleep." She said with a shrug, though a part of her really sort of wanted her to come. She liked having someone that she trusted at work with her. It was a bit of a safety net. Having Thomas walk her home had defiantly made her first nights easier. "What rumors would I have to ignore?" She teased with a smirk.

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

Austin stretched a little bit and shrugged his shoulders, yes he was already a pretty tight schedule as far as sleep and practice went but in all honesty he was the type of person that would ignore that. "Nope I get sleep trust me, and when I'm sleep holt slobbers all over my face." He scrunched up his nose before his eyes darted back to the telly screen. Maybe he was guilty of lying just a little bit, but she didn't really have to know that. All he had to do was keep himself from looking to tired and sleep more on his days off. Since he was already practicing most days he could cut down his morning runs to only his day off and take holt to the store with him for walks.

"Well, how it look if keeper and future captain of the apple-bee arrows shows up carry a girl. Oh the reporters will have a field day and that's exactly what will happen because I'm kidnapping you remember" He sent a smirk her way, secretly laughing in his head at the picture. He would be the one to show up with a girl slung over his shoulder laughing. Not because he was a player but because he'd be the type of lovesick loser to want to be with his girl at all times. "Besides the daily prophet thinking we're secretly not so secretly dating is probably the tamest rumor."

Of course with the quality of news that was said to come form that publication press was a bit on the skeptical side. "So how many people do you think will die before the end of the movie?" He asked trying to change the topic before it got too suspicious.
SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

"Well I'm sure if you want to come down I can probably sling a few drinks you way." She added. She knew that if he really wanted to come and stay with her, there would be no talking him out of it. Sarah had given up on trying to talk guys out of anything they already had their minds set to. It was pretty pointless, and they'd just do it anyway. "It's been a while since I've seen Holt." She admitted. "Bring him by too." she told him. Her flat smelt like dog already thanks to Vanessa's large dog. But Sarah had learned to get used to the smell. Vanessa kept their mess clean and always opened windows if the smell got to bad. Sarah loved animals though, one day, when she was living in a much bigger place than the small two room flat, she would like to have a dog. And maybe a few guinea pigs. Maybe even a cat. Cats were nice too.

"I see the problem." Sarah nodded along with him as he explained the confusion regarding him carrying a young woman into the stands and sitting her down so she could watch him. There would be quite a lot of gossip about an event like that. When she saw his smirk, she couldn't help but blush a little bit. Had he always been so... handsome? She figured that because she hadn't really been interested in guys in school that she just would have never noticed. But seeing his smile made her want to smile. She realized that she had probably looking at him a little too long after he turned back to the television and so she turned her head back too, clearing her throat a bit and taking another bite. "Who reads the profit anyway?" She added, though, she knew that everyone read the profit.

"My guess is eight. At least." She said. Normally, in movies like this, most of the cast was already dead half way through. So far, there were a handful still alive. Sarah stretched a little herself, moving in a slightly slouched position with her shoulder lightly touching his.

[AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE]

"Eh, I don't really drink to be honest and Holt would love the attention, ya know I'm starting to see that I'm living with diva. Trust me when I say that dog is high maintenance" Austin was glad she wasn't trying to talk him out of visiting her. It wasn't as if he was just noticing how pretty his friend was, it was just that during school he was kind of blind to it in a way. It was kind of obvious that Madison and Thomas would end up together, even if they didn't completely show it all the time. He just figured James would snag up Sarah eventually. Of course things didn't always turn out the way you expected, he didn't realize how hard it was to find someone that he could settle down with. It had nothing to do with the fact he was a player, more often than the not it was him being played. His Kryptonite seemed to be pretty girls who pretended to care about him.

"Yep, but that's okay because I'm sure if the gossip doesn't ruin us, either James, Thomas, or Madison will from keeping something like that from them." Snorting into his cartoon of food, maybe he was enjoying the picture entirely to much. Yeah, it wasn't cool to crush and or like your girl best friend it was a sure fire way to make things awkward. "My mother still does, you would think she wouldn't and my father too. My mom says it’s the only 'inside' look you'll ever get to my personal life. It was a awkward dinner" He managed to admit that embarrassing fact with little blushing and more laughter. His mother was someone who made him laugh constantly after he got over the embarrassing.

"Yeah, such a shame a couple of them had promise." Though the movie wasn't nearly as interesting as their conversation about rumors. Was it terrible to think that, maybe it was. Then again he was thinking the wrong way since he got here. Mostly about Vanessa, he was really ready for her to move out, surely they could find a better place for that woman. He knew hew wasn't being very Gryffindor about this but he valued his friend's life more than a stranger's.

SARAH JANE FINNIGAN

[SARAH JANE FINNIGAN]

"I'm sure he just needs a little love, is all." Sarah said when he told her that Holt was high maintenance. Every animal was from what Sarah had heard, but that was all just part of loving them. The flat was so small now that she didn't have room for a pet, and so, she and Madison agreed not to get any while the lived here together. Vanessa's dog was the exception to that rule of course. They had no where else to go. To Sarah, the crowded flat was worth it when she thought about all the good they were doing. Vanessa was in trouble. They all were. And she wanted to keep her safe. Vanessa had always been someone that Sarah considered a friend. She would do anything and everything in her power to keep her friend safe. Even if it meant putting herself into danger. "Well, maybe I can get you some food, then." Sarah said when he told her that he didn't drink. She honestly couldn't believe how many men she had met that didn't drink. She was a bartender. Of course she drank. Never at work of course, but once she got home she would often have a glass of wine. And on her days off when she would go out with Madison or Thomas (or both) she would have a few drinks. Though, maybe it was time to give it up... it only caused trouble.

"I'm sure my mum reads the profit too, to be honest. I suppose something like that going around could make our families start to wonder." She agreed with red cheeks. Sarah wasn't sure how Madison or Thomas would feel or think if they heard rumors like that. She was sure that Madison would be upset that she hadn't told her, but there were bigger things that Sarah had been keeping from her. Why did that always have to pop into her mind? She didn't want to think about it. She wanted to forget. "I actually haven't talked to my parents very much in a while. I'm not sure why, we've just all been busy, I guess." The same could be said for her sister. She had been all but ignoring Elizabeth. She meant to go and have dinner with them, now that it was summer and her sister was home, she really had no excuse not to. Not that she needed an excuse. Her parents were always so great for her. Her mum all but begged her to stay with them while she healed, and had been so kind as to stock the fridge after finally agreeing that Sarah would be better off in her own home.

"They did it to themselves though. You'd think they'd learn." She shook her head and then leaned forward, setting her carton of food back onto the table and then leaning back with a yawn, now leaning her head over onto his shoulder. Which, wasn't really anything special. She would sit like this with James. And with Thomas.

AUSTIN BRADY KIRKE