Soothe the throat (Neri)

Last night she had watched her younger siblings and of course they wanted to torture her by playing pranks on her. She loved them to death but they did annoy her and that's why they did it when she came home from school. Her throat hurt from all the screaming she did when they played hide and seek and they would jump out at her or throw fake spiders at her. Even though they knew that she was easily scared and hates spiders with a passion, they always find it in themselves to play with her weaknesses. She got to the Tea Shop a little after they opened and it wasn't packed at all, there was two other people in there besides the workers. She got to the counter and the woman smiled at her. "How can I help you?"

"Can I have herbal tea with honey and lemon only?" Elena asked in a hoarse voice. "It's also going to be for here as well" Elena added. She payed the money for the tea and waited for it to be finished. Once it was she happily took it and went to a two person seat by the window. She took a sip of her tea and sighed as it went smoothly down her throat.

Nerisei's summer was going well. Of course, the witch was really bored, but there was no surprise there. Texting with Dimitri was the only thing that actually kept the witch from dying of boredom, but with every text, the Ravenclaw witch missed the young wizard more than she actually believed she would. Their relationship was still not defined, but it was obvious that Nerisei considered herself Dimitri's. He might not consider her his girlfriend, but there was no other guy Nerisei wanted.

After his present arrived at her home, the young witch had taken some time to enjoy some of the sweets, before deciding that she should pay a visit at Honeyduke's, in order to put that voucher Dimitri had got her to use. After all, her trip to France was close, and sweets would be needed, if she had a single chance of surviving her mother's attempts to introduce her to the model community.

The shopping at Honeyduke's was quick, with Nerisei buying different sweets, enough to keep her stocked for the whole trip (and for a few days after that). But to be honest, the Ravenclaw did not wish to go back home right away. Instead, she decided to relax and maybe get a drink. Sadly for her, the Three Broomsticks were full, which was quite a surprise. That left her, though, with only one choice. Go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Nerisei had been avoiding that shop like the Plague, but seeing that there was no other choice, the young witch made her way towards the disgraceful shop with a frown.

Upon entering, Neri ordered a cold peach tea, before turning around to take a good look at the shop. She hated being here. Her eyes landed on a familiar face and even though the girl couldn't place a name, she found herself walking over to the blonde lady, sitting alone.
"Hello. Pardon me, but have we met before? You look familiar." Worst case scenario, Nerisei would be wrong, she would apologise and move on.

Elena continued to sip her tea and just look at the menu with treats. She knew she had to put something other then tea in her body to keep up her strength but everything on the menu looked good. She just had to find something to go good with tea.

She was so lost in her thought she kind of jumped when she heard a voice. Elena looked up to see a young female who looked maybe a year older then herself with dark hair. Elena looked her over and thought about where she had seen the girl in front of her, because the girl in front of her did look familiar, Elena kept trying to pinpoint it but then something clicked. "Well I go to Hogwarts, what about you? Do you go there as well? I'm a Slytherin, but I swear I am not like some of the others" even with a semi hoarse voice she still was kind like she has always been growing up.

"I'm Elena Bliss."

Nerisei felt herself frown as the girl jumped. The witch didn't believe she would be that scary, but she should have expected this type of reaction, since she wasn't one of the loudest people and to be fair, she had kind of sneaked up on the girl. Nerisei wasn't that type of person though. She didn't like to make others uncomfortable, or scaring them in any way, which meant that the least she could do was apologise to the fellow witch for the intrusion. "Oh, I apologise. I did not mean to frighten you."

"Well I go to Hogwarts, what about you? Do you go there as well? I'm a Slytherin, but I swear I am not like some of the others"

As the answer came from the girl, Nerisei nodded. Of course the girl was attending Hogwarts, that was why Nerisei felt she knew her from somewhere. The Ravenclaw studied the blonde girl for some time, nodding at herself as she finally recognised her. Even though she didn't have many friends, Nerisei knew a lot of people around the castle. Because knowledge was power.

"I'm Elena Bliss."

"Nerisei Gerber." Neri said after Elena introduced herself. She didn't know the Slytherin witch well, but Neri was sure she was younger than her. "May I sit with you?" The witch inquired softly, not wanting to sit in this place all by herself. The least she could do was stick with someone from Hogwarts.

Elena felt bad because of the frown that passed the other girls face. Elena didn't mean to jump but when she is deep in thought she forgets about the world around her, which she needs to work on because you never know when something bad would happen. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, it's just when I get lost in thought I don't really pay attention to the world" Elena apologized for upsetting the other girl.

The other girl studied her before realizing that what Elena said was true about going to Hogwarts. Even though it was a big school you could still remember faces, maybe names but mostly faces. When the other introduced herself Elena smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, that is a beautiful name. Very original" she smiled friendly, now knowing her name Elena was going to remember it for good now. "Yes you may."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, it's just when I get lost in thought I don't really pay attention to the world"

As Nerisei heard the other girls apologising, a wave of laughter took over her. She was not mocking the blonde witch, no. But she found the fact that she had apologised really funny. It was Nerisei that had sneaked up on the girl and effectively scared her, not the other way around. And the only person that actually had to apologise was Nerisei. "Oh, no. It's me who has to apologise! You did nothing wrong!"

"It's nice to meet you, that is a beautiful name. Very original"

"I get that a lot. It's nice to meet you, too, though." Nerisei answered truthfully. It was nice meeting a fellow student, mostly because friends was one thing she needed nowadays. Elena allowed her to sit, and Nerisei wasted no time, instead taking a seat next to the girl and sipping some of her own tea. "Thank you."

After she got comfortable, Nerisei looked around the shop, her usual frown in place. Madam Puddifoot's was the worst place in Hogsmeade and the Ravenclaw witch didn't truly understand why Elena would choose to come here. "What brings you here? There are far better shops to go to, if you ask me..." It was no secret that Nerisei despised this place, and the only reason she had visited was because all the other stores were full.

Elena was kind of shocked that she wanted to take the apology, well Elena could see why but the other females she knows or have met once, they'd let her take the blame to feel better about themselves and Elena would go along with that because she had a tendency of being gullible and she really needed to work on that. She gave the other female a small smile and left it at that. That's all that she could do.

"Well I'd be worried if you did not get that a lot" she giggled a little bit. She was really starting to like the girl, Nerisei seemed really genuinely nice and sweet, something that she needed in life because all she really had to talk to are her pets and she didn't trust her little siblings and her parents that was out the question. She watched as the other girl sat down and she smiled kindly, happy for the company.

When Nerisei asked why she was there and that there were better shops. "Well I came here to get out the house to be honest. Got tired of spending time with my siblings because I had to watch them yesterday and all they did was prank me" she rolled her eyes at the memory. "What about you?"

"Well I'd be worried if you did not get that a lot"

Nerisei had to smile at that. She knew her name was different, uniquen in a way, but she had never truly felt the need to flaunt that around. People that knew her since she was a baby never once questioned her name or asked about it. They had accepted it without any questions and moved on because, after all, it was simply a name. During the years she had lived in Sweden, her name didn't stand out as much, especially when she had met that boy in Elementary named Odin. Let's just say that as he got older the name didn't suit him at all!

But when she moved to Scotland, her name was something that people would stop and stare at, if they could see it. Some thought it was weird, others that it was very cool and then there were those people that considered it very, very special and was asking her a million questions about it. Sadly, Nerisei didn't know much about her name. That's what she had been called all her life, and that's pretty much it.

"Well I came here to get out the house to be honest. Got tired of spending time with my siblings because I had to watch them yesterday and all they did was prank me"

The answer as to why Elena was in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was enough for Nerisei. To be honest, she wouldn't ask for too much information, but since the girl wanted to share, Neri had no problem with that. After all, if she wanted to form a friendship, sharing things was the first step.

"I don't have any siblings, so I can't really tell if that is good or bad, but they seem to be giving you a really hard time." Nonetheless, the witch gave Elena a smile, signaling that she was finding this amusing and did not mean any harm. Nerisei was fortunate --or unfortunate-- enough not to have any siblings, so she couldn't possibly know what was normal in these situations.

"What about you?

"Well, I came to Hogsmeade to pick up a few things for my upcoming trip to Paris. But Madam Puddifoot's... well... let's say I would prefer to be somewhere else. But all the other shops were stocked, so..." Nerisei shrugged softly and sipped some of her tea. "But now that I have you as company, I don't mind. Much."

She shrugged, she knew that siblings were different all over the world, not all were like her younger sister and brother, they were one of a kind she liked to think. Elena loved her siblings unconditionally to be honest, but they did in fact annoy her to know end. They loved to get under her skin and it made her mad a lot.

"Well I'm not sure but I do know that not everyone is like my siblings. I mean there may be but they're not all like that. I guess I'm just lucky" sarcastically said of course. She sighed.

When the other girl mentioned Paris her eyes lit up for she lived in Paris for as long as she could remember, still did technically but her parents decided that England was better for them and now they're in England.

"Paris wow, I'm actually from there, my family and I moved here. But you will absolutely love it trust me, it's absolutely gorgeous this time of year."

"Well I'm not sure but I do know that not everyone is like my siblings. I mean there may be but they're not all like that. I guess I'm just lucky"

It was obvious, from the way she spoke about them, that Elena's siblings weren't the best of people. Or well, they weren't kind just to their sister. Though, Nerisei, having not met them even once in her life wouldn't be able to know whether the problem was just with their sister, or whether they were constantly acting like spoiled little brats. Sadly --or thankfully--, she doubted she would ever meet them, so she was safe, for now.

So instead of asking more questions about her siblings, Nerisei simply nodded and let the subject drop. After all, she didn't know what to say, truly. They were Elena's family, and she was the one that had to deal with their terrible behavior. Plus, they weren't the best of friends, at least not yet. Maybe, after getting to know Elena a little better, a nice friendship could form. Until then, Nerisei would keep her opinions to herself.

"Paris wow, I'm actually from there, my family and I moved here. But you will absolutely love it trust me, it's absolutely gorgeous this time of year."

Nerisei smiled at the girl's excitement. When people said to her that they were going to visit Sweden, Nerisei always made sure to inform them of all the places they should definitely visit, but also all the places they should avoid at all costs. But she had never shown the excitement Elena had. Maybe it was part of her personality.

"Well, you seem to love your country very much!" Nerisei said with a soft laugh before continuing. "Truth is, though, that I will be accompanying my mother to her exhibition, so I doubt I will have much fun there." Avoiding her mother was a hard task, as it was. Fun was not going to be evident at all, it seemed.