Living In Fear (Open)

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Vanessa loved her boss, Donalda Zephyr. The woman was not only just a sweet woman in general, but she let Vanessa bring her Siberian Husky Boris to work with her. The younger customers enjoyed that as well as Boris was a big sweetheart and especially loved kids. He seemed to get along with the other animals at the Menagerie as well.

Vanessa headed to work, yawning as she didn't get much sleep the night before. Another bad dream compliments of her past and a family she was happy she left behind. However, a wide awake Boris kept her on her feet as he pulled her via the leash.

"Slow down, Boris," she chuckled. "You're more excited to get to work than I am. You had your breakfast, and now it's time for mine." She gave him a pat on the head before heading into the Bonfire Bakery. Fortunately, Donalda's husband Alpin Zephyr also allowed pets in the bakery as long as they didn't go nutters and make a mess of things. Boris certainly didn't. She walked in, got a danish and a paper cup of hot tea to help perk her up, chatted a moment with Alpin, and then stepped back out.

As she walked out, she suddenly froze. A short distance away, Dathan Burke walked toward Knockturn Alley. As he turned his head, Vanessa looked down. When she finally looked up, he was gone. Did he see her? Did he knows she was there? After the incident with Morgaine, she didn't know what to believe or expect anymore.

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

It was a busy day once again in the life of Ophelia O'Hare. It took a lot of work to keep her orphanage up and running and even more work to keep it a happy, welcoming temporary home for the children who were living there. She was out early today, planning on buying a few more owls since two had unfortunately fell ill and weren't doing well. She was also needing to pick up a few books for the library since a pair of 3 year old twins had gotten into some books and used them as canvas for art. It didn't bother Ophelia too much since they were common books. She kept the rarer, more important ones on higher shelves to avoid little fingers getting a hold of them.

First thing was first though, she needed some breakfast. She stopped into the Bonfire Bakery and picked up a pastry which looked delicious. She was busy looking down, pulling the paper away from the pastry to take a bite when BUMP! She had almost toppled over someone who had stopped right outside the doorway. "Oh dear! I am so sorry, are you alright?" she asked, concern on her features as she walked around the black haired girl and looked at the ground. "If I made you drop anything, I will be sure to buy you new." she nodded apologetically. She grasped her pastry a little tighter and moved it away from the beautiful husky that the female she had bumped into owned. "Beautiful dog, she's very well behaved. I've never had a dog but one time when I was younger I ran into a huge, raggedy looking mastiff. I never got a chance to pet it since all it did was growl. Not like this pup!" she blurted out loud, smiling brightly and petting the dog on the head. Sometimes she got so excited or wrapped up in her thoughts that she just seemed to blurt out.

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Vanessa almost didn't notice when the woman bumped into her. She was too focused on whether or not Burke had seen her. When the woman spoke, Vanessa slowly turned to her, and for a moment the look or peril was still on her face. Vanessa then shook it off.

"No... no... you're fine," she said, trying to smile. "My cup is covered and I had a good grip on my danish."

Boris was indeed a well-behaved dog, though he did whimper a bit when the woman bumped into Vanessa. However, now he sat and picked up the friendly vibe from the woman, happy to make a new friend. He didn't protest to being petted.

Vanessa did manage to smiled at this. She loved the joy her Husky brought her and others.

"Yes, he's a big sweetheart," she said. She then realized introductions were in order. "I'm Vanessa. Nice to meet you."

OPHELIA JADE O'HARE

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

The poor girl she bumped into looked absolutely terrified at first and it caused Ophelia to feel incredibly guilty about even bumping into her at the first place. "Oh again I am so sorry!" she babbled out once more before the girl went on to tell her that her food was not ruined. It took a bit of the weight off of her shoulders, though she was sure that Alpin would have replaced her food even if it was dropped onto the ground. He was a sweet soul.

The dog that the darker haired girl owned seemed to cheer up on the other hand, which made Ophelia ecstatic. She loved animals- they were cute furry things. Even if they weren't furry, they all seemed to somehow weasel their way into her heart. Unless it were a spider. She was terrified of those eight legged arachnids. Ophelia's hair lightened a bit and turned a soft shade of her usual purple. Her hair often reflected her mood. "I'm Ophelia. Who is this handsome thing?" she asked sweetly, looking up from the dog to the girl, whose name she learned was Vanessa.

"And I'm so serious, I feel so horrible about my lack of observance. I'm such a klutz sometimes too. Please, let me buy him some treats, or maybe come by later to buy you some lunch? Unless of course you won't be here, because don't want to keep you... Sorry if I talk too much. I babble when I'm nervous..." she bit her lip softly to avoid going on any more. She used to get made fun of a bit in Hogwarts for that particular trait, but it never got to her. It was only a mild annoyance. Sometimes babbling was a good thing anyways.

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Vanessa saw the look of guilt on Ophelia's face and put two and two together. Vanessa was freaking a bit over seeing Burke, and the woman must have assumed she was reacting like that to her bumping into Vanessa. Vanessa made more of an effort to smile.

"It's really okay," she said. "Diagon is so crowded, it's bound to happen to some people, right? No harm done."

She then did smile when she watched the woman interact with her dog, and he was of course happy for the affection.

"Ophelia's a lovely name. This is Boris," she said. "One of my best friends and current roommate."

Vanessa shook her head with all the offers she gave for the accident.

"Oh trust me, Boris is well stocked on treats," she said. "I work at the Menagerie and my employer is always giving me some free ones for him." Donalda Zephyr was as kind as her husband. "And you don't have to buy me lunch, but we can always go somewhere later if you'll still around."

OPHELIA JADE O'HARE

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

Ophelia was slowly feeling better the more the girl reassured her that no harm was done and that it was okay. For some reason though, she got the feeling that perhaps the horrified expression she had originally saw upon the girl's face was unrelated to the whole incident. Or perhaps it had caused it? The Gryffindor alumnus was connecting facts in her mind, granted it was slowly... While the woman had a heart of gold, she was never the brightest witch in the room... In this case, the alley.

"Thank you, Vanessa!" she chirped in response to the younger woman's compliment to her name. She had never met a fellow Ophelia and at first when she was younger, she felt like she was even more of an oddity than she knew she was already. But over time she came to like her name and how it was a rare one. "Hmm, do you know what time you should be on your lunch break from work? I've got to get back to my orphanage by 1 o'clock..." smiled to the girl, hoping she would have time to grab a bite with her later and hopefully find out what exactly had scared her so badly before.

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"You're very welcome," said Vanessa when Ophelia thanked her for the compliment.

Ophelia then asked about when she was going to lunch.

"I go at noon," said Vanessa. "But if I need to go a bit earlier or later, my employer never minds. Donalda Zephyr is such a sweet woman. Her whole family is. Anyway, I must go now, but if you can make lunch, perhaps the Diagon Deep Dish?"

(Bumping up the scene to lunch.)

It was nice to have company for lunch. Vanessa couldn't bring Boris into the Diagon Deep Dish, so usually if she ate there or anywhere else, she ate alone, unless she brought the food back to the Menagerie of course, which she did a few good times. Vanessa looked about for Ophelia, trying to avoid looking toward the entrance of Knockturn Alley. She feared that any moment she would see Burke emerge from it, and see his eyes lock with hers.

OPHELIA JADE O'HARE