Unfortunate (Open)

It was summer, but it felt more like a dreadful, tiring, confusing night. There was too much in Winter's mind; school-related worries, job applications to be filed, letters from her mother that she had not yet responded to, Aspen's upcoming 19th birthday and her final - and theremore most stressful - year studying medicine. She would have liked to also study muggle medicine, but the studies were often too long and Winter didn't have the patience to put up with another eight years of school. It wasn't so much that she didn't like it, because she loved learning. There had always been a difference between learning and studying, and Winter was very well aware of which one she liked best. Therefore, she found herself roaming around Hogsmeade, with the intention to clear her mind and maybe drink something familiar, or something exotic, and eat a Garden Salad. Yes, that would be splendid.

Walking in to the familiar Inn, Winter's lungs filled with the too familar warm smell of butterbeer. Personally, she had never liked the beverage. It was too sweet, too intoxicating. Winter prefered tea. Regular, hot, black tea. With 4 spoonfuls of sugar. And, depending on the day, some milk. Her hands reching inside her jean pocket, Winter counted how much money she had with her, and it was just enough for what she wanted. Walking over to a table, she smiled at the waiter and placed her order. Tea and a salad. Simple. Sighing, Winter sat back and took out a small, fluorescent green journal and began to write a list of the day's activities. She had to buy groceries, that was at the very top of her list, for sure. The letters her mother had sent could not be put away any longer as Julia - a Winter often called her mother behind her back - was getting anxious with the lack of information Winter was giving her.

In the middle of her list-making duties, Winter noticed the young waiter bringing her tea over to her table, with a rather shaky hand. But he delivered her drink and lunch very nicely, so Winter made a note on her journal to leave him a good tip. It wasn't every day that a nervous youth managed to give good services at the Three Broomsticks. Lifting up the cup of tea to her lips, Winter became aware of the sudden crowd inside the Inn. It was as if the whole population of London had suddenly decided to take a seat at the wizarding place. Shrugging, Winter moved on, but it was then, in the blink of an eye - actually, it was faster than the blink of a eye - that Winter felt part of the steaming liquid pouring over thighs. "No!" Denial. The first thing Winter always did. She chose to ignore the pain, not wanting a big scene, as she was perfectly able to take care of it at home. However, in the middle of the moment, Winter had somehow sent her journal to the floor, and as she stood up to get it, she realized how ridiculous her pants looked. She looked as if she'd...well, used her own jeans for...um, urinating, peeing, synonyms of the word.

Taking a napkin and rubbing away the excess tea, Winter groaned at her own stupidity. "Well, there go my pants." she commented, trying to lighten the mood for her own sake. She was glad that everyone else seemed to be too caught up in their own business to notice her unfortunate luck. She refrained herself from glancing around, because that might get her attention and that was the last thing she wanted. With two napkins already used, Winter noticed how the wet stain somewhat resembled a really badly-shaped cloud. It could have been a lion's head, or a dog, or even a bunny, but no; this stain had absolutely no funny shape. Throwing the used napkins aside, she reached out for her journal when a voice suddenly came her way. It was a male voice, of course. Putting on a smile, Winter was about to tell whoever it was that she was okay and didn't need any help, because if it was an elderly man trying to help her out and send her to a shop to buy new pants, the way a father would, Winter would have to tell the elderly that she was okay.

But it wasn't an elderly human who stood in front of her. Nope. It was a very attractive young human who stood in front of her. Her smile instantly dropped, her cheeks turned red with embarrassment as he continued to speak. "Uhm..." Winter wasn't sure what she was trying to say, because she had suddenly forgotten she was 22 and not 15. "Yes, the Hot-Air charm." she agreed, her eyes looking around the whole room. If he had noticed, then other people would have too. Her cheeks were burning, out of embarrassment mostly, because how ridiculous could a grown woman look in such a situation? Very. Feeling around her pockets, and then her bag, until she finally found her wand. She pointed it at the stain, turning her back slightly towards the stranger - no need for him to be witness to such a thing - when she finally realized she didn't know what the Hot-Air Charm was. Or rather, she couldn't recall the incantation at the moment.

Staring at the stain on her jeans, she thought about the spells she knew, but suddenly her mind seemed to have been cleared of everything she knew until that point. "Umm." Slightly turning her eyes towards the stranger, she checked to see if he was still around and when she found him, she admitted her inability to even remember the spell. "Okay, could you just remind me the spell? I can't seem to get it right now."

It was embarrassing, really, how Winter suddenly felt like a 15-year-old. It was kind of gross, actually. Trying to concentrate on something else, Winter decided it was best to just look away from the guy. Because, damn. But no, he decided to smile. Wow. It reminded Winter of another person who, sadly, had the same effect on her. This man she was thinking of, though, had nothing on the one in front of him. This one looked friendly, flirty even. The one she loved was a jerk. Naturally, Winter didn't return the smile. Instead, she waited for him to tell her how to do it, and it turned the situation around by accidentally pointing out how nervous Winter actually was. Great. Just great.

"No incantation. Right." Winter muttered as she prepared to use another spell she actually knew, Amy other spell to get her out of the spotlight. Except, just as she was close to coming up with a solution, he just went ahead and cleaned up the mess himself. Turning to look at him, Winter almost ran off at that moment. "Er, thanks." There was so much tension in the air around them, so much that one could literally smell the awkwardness. "We deserve an award for Most Awkward Situation." Winter pointed out, hoping to break the ice and not look like a complete fool at that moment. She let herself smile a littl when he practically joked about her misfortune. "Yeah. That'd be nice. Except now I've forgotten what it was." It wasn't an everyday thing for her tonspill drinks and have attractive men clean it up. Nobody should expect Winter to remember what she was doing before something like this came about. "Pretty sure it was tea, though." she narrowed her eyes, trying to think if she had chosen something familiar or not.

It must be easy for him to say that. Oh, it's fine! Don't worry! It's nothing! Right. It wasn't anything. Maybe that sort of stuff didn't happen to him because of his pretty face, but Winter was an average human being with average looks and that kind of stuff DID happen to her. Inconsiderate pretty boy. She took a seat and waited as he brought another. Had it been another situation and another man, Winter would have laughed at the teasing. But Winter was trying to not make a full of herself so there wasn't much room for friendly actions. Instead, she just gave him a small smile and took her drink, pulling her bag closer to her.

James Balan. Yeah, it suited him. "You do look like a James." She pointed out, taking a sip of her tea. "Winter D'elia." She nodded, glancing at his hand and then deciding it would be rude not to shake it. As she did so, he continued on about his work, and Winter's heart dropped all the way down to the floor. She would definitely see him around! No! Suddenly flustered, Winter drank her tea again before turning to him again. "Healer." She decided. The less they knew about each other the easier it would be for Winter to not act like a lovesick teenage girl around him. Today would be okay, but Winter could never do that at work. "You'd think I know how to dry fabrics, but my area of knowledge covers how to heal a burn instead." She offered him a smile.

She wasn't going to lie, Winter was incredibly confused by his actions. He seemed to completely ignore what she was saying - despite the fact that it wasn't much - and a polite person would at least try to listen to the simplest of words. That's what Winter did. She could dislike whoever was talking at the moment, but because they were speaking they held her full attention, and that's what made it harder for her to listen to him. She wasn't trying to be purposely rude, she just couldn't look at him for too long. She rolled her eyes jokingly when he spoke again. "Yeah, guess I wouldn't be much help in that situation. But then again, I don't think you'd ever find yourself in such a spot." Because, seriously, what were the chances? He was a potions person, not an adventurer for all she knew. "You don't look like that kind of person." she slipped, her honesty trying to put her in situations she herself didn't like.

Ehhhh, Winter didn't want to answer that question. There were many people at Hogwarts, and she wasn't sure she was even going to work there during the upcoming school term. Applying for a job and getting a job were two different things and Winter had been dying to get a response. "Not yet. I'm currently unemployed, just graduated from university..." she trailed off. She must look like a young, inexperienced girl. Wow. Great. Taking another sip of her drink, Winter rubbed the palms of her hands on her knees, feeling terribly self conscious all of a sudden. It was as if she had turned back into a school girl. "How old are you, anyway?" she blurted out, thinking maybe she just needed to talk to other people rather than the jerks she always had around. James could be a jerk as well, but he was innocent until proven otherwise. "I mean, you must be older than me. For sure."