Feeling This [:Greer]

Sindri Trickett was celebrating.

It wasn't often that the twenty-two year old went to a bar so early in the night but he needed to be around people and bask in the atmosphere that only came with being in a room full of strangers. That particular Friday had been one of the best he had in what felt like weeks. An unlikely contact had shown a prominent business owner in London a few photos of the furniture Sindri built and the man, without question, commissioned Sindri to completely furnish his newest restaurant in the city. The job alone would pay him more than he had made in the past two months, and Sindri was beside himself, already keen to start the new creative venture.

Sindri had been having a hard time dealing with his personal life, between confusion about Dash and a handful of dates that positively drove him batty, he welcomed the physical distraction with open arms. The man was constantly turning to the things that left him sweaty, sore, and covered in dirt when he had too much to mull over. Physicality was the only way he could completely lose himself and relieve the tension.

The grin on his face infectious and ever-present, Sindri made his way to one of his favorite bars just around the corner from his loft. It was a small and dingy place, but it would do the trick. The sun had just set, and the streets had started to fill with witches and wizards starting their weekend early. Sindri peered over the heads of a small crowd forming outside of the bar. He was visibly confused by the excitement, it wasn't often that there was ever more than a handful of people outside, especially this early. As he got closer, he realized they were taking pictures of something, or someone. A petite blonde was the focus of their energy and by the looks of things she was none too pleased that they had completely surrounded her.

Greer Lusk. Sindri knew the woman from their Hogwarts days and he had kept a few tabs on her professional career once she hit it big in the racing world, but he hadn't run into her since their graduation. The two of them were in the same house and got on well during their time together, he had a few fond memories with the social butterfly of the house.

Sindri, struck by how much she had grown up over the past few years, couldn't help but lingering his gaze for a bit too long before he sprung into action. "Oi! Mates give it a rest," The brunette man called out over the shouts from the paparazzi, pushing his way to the center of their attention. Without another word, Sindri put his arm over Greer and directed her into the bar, having no problem using his physical size to part the crowd of middle-aged men. Once they were in the safety of the dark pub, Sindri, suddenly aware of how close they were, put some space between he and his old housemate. "And here I thought they were waiting to take my picture..." He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, the dimpled grin on his face evident that he was far from serious.

Greer Lusk was celebrating.

Or, rather, she had been celebrating for the last few days and tonight was the first time she had a moment to herself. Her first race in years had ended with a triumphant win, and the elation that the small blonde felt from the experience was only shadowed by that of her supportive family. The instant Greer had stepped from the interview room, she had been damn-near crushed by the sheer force of her mother’s tear-eyed hug. It had literally knocked the air from her lungs, Greer recalled, and she loved every minute of it.

What she didn’t love, however, was the attention she was receiving now. As mentioned before, this was the first free moment she had experienced in nearly a week. In typical Greer fashion, there was no way she was going to spend this carefree night alone in her house with her cat, and so she got dolled up in her favorite party dress and the highest heels she owned to spend a well-deserved night on the town.

Perhaps Greer should have, oh I don’t know, expected the overwhelming response from witches and wizards on the street, but it had been so long since her name was in the headlines that she had grown accustomed to being just another simple face in the crowd. And so here she stood, as polite as possible with the most pathetically phony smile etched into her painted features… posing for paparazzi.
“Miss Lusk! Miss Lusk!,” one gentleman yelled at her with a distinctly Londoner’s accent, “how does it feel to know that you are, once again, the best female horse racer in the Wizarding World?”

Pale green eyes darting left and right, searching for a break in the throng of people, she was instead finding herself blinded by flashes of light. Greer struggled to find an answer her publicist would approve of.
“Um… uh, well…” she fumbled, already failing to remember the query that had been asked, “good, I guess… I’m sorry, but I don’t really have time for questions right now. I’m supposed to be mee-“
But Greer’s answer was cut short again.

“Tell us how proud your family is of you!” the rude journalist yelled through the noise, and the smile fell from the girl’s face.
“They’re all ecstatic, but listen, I really need to get through! I just want to go in and get a drink…” her normally proudly Scottish voice fell a bit flat as she spoke. Clearly, there was a certain amount of irritation growing deep within her stomach. If Alasdair was here, surely he’d be able to play with the crowd much more effectively than Greer was. He was always so good at being the focal point among a group. So why wasn’t he the ‘famous’ one?

Oh right, because it’d go straight to his egotistical little head. Rolling her eyes at the thought, the 21 year old’s attention was again pulled in the direction of another demand,
“What would your late father say about your win?”

This was it, the thing that would finally make Greer snap in the most outrageous of ways. Her father was NOT a topic that was to be openly discussed without the woman distinctly consenting to it beforehand. A prickled burning sensation began moving from her toes up her body, causing Greer’s vision to shake and her fists to clench. Immediately, as if there was some physical force driving her into rage, her eyes narrowed at the tall, thin reporter who had spoken the unforgivable. He seemed innocent enough, peering at her from behind a pair of darkly rimmed spectacles. Poor guy probably wasn’t aware of the beast he had just unintentionally released.

“What gives you the right to talk about my father, you half-witted, moronic piece of-“

And as if on cue, a booming voice grew above the noise of the crowd, cutting Greer off before she could even get started. The unexpected intrusion was a slight shock to her, and she felt an almost protective arm cover her. Almost effortlessly, the unknown entity guided her through the crowd of assholes and into the dimly lit bar scene.

Blinking, her eyes began to adjust to the change in atmosphere as the anger began to satiate itself. Greer turned, feeling a wave of relief and excitement, to offer her gratitude to the stranger who had just saved her from perhaps making a career-devastating mistake.

“Thank you so much,” the blonde breathed out as a genuine smile stretched across her features, and it was at that moment that she realized who exactly she was dealing with.

“Sindri!” she exclaimed loudly and, without hesitation, jumped to wrap her arms around the handsome man in a hug. He was no stranger, not by any means. The pair had practically grown up together in Gryffindor house. It had been years since Greer had seen him! And was she ever glad that she was seeing him.

Releasing him from her grasp, the woman grinned up at him and laughed lightly, “Well, damn, look at you. If I was them, I would have been taking your picture…” she ran a hand through her curls.

“It’s been way too long. What are you doing here?! What have you been up to…? Are you meeting someone, or can I buy you a drink? It’s the least I can do since you saved my life and everything…” She was talking too much, Greer knew that, but she was just so excited to be out of the storm of paparazzi and into the presence of a long-time friend that she simply couldn’t stop herself.