life unfamiliar [jude]

“Perfect!” Noemi clapped her hands together as she stared at the flower arrangement that she was fixing on the kitchen table. She’d spent three hours arranging the kitchen to to her liking. The other part of the house had been done ages ago, between she and Jules, it’d been a breeze. Everything was light and airy, different from the home that she’d used to live in. She’d needed something new, a brand new start, something that was her own, and the flat that she was renting was just that. Noemi had to negotiate with the manager to get a potions lab added to her rent which the owner of the building was fine with, she’d just had to pay for some of the work. With the money that she made doing potions, a proper lab was the most important part. Yes, it was creepy, with gothic designs, but she was sure a little bit of elbow grease and flowers would brighten the place up.

She was at an impasse at the moment. Most of her friends were busy, dealing with other things. She could understand it, even as much as she’d hated it. Since they were too busy for her, she knew that she would have to find other things to focus on. So she had an apprentice in Jules, and they would be working on the reconstruction of this nice place she’d gotten in this…Knockturn Alley. The realtor had show her the place, and it was in a very …interesting area. Noemi had seen hags, and potions for sale, and decided that yes, she would like to work in this place. It was very colourful. Although, she hadn’t spoken to anyone about her recent purchase, because she was proud of finding such a nice and affordable location.

When she was done with the flowers, she reached into the side drawer and grabbed the pouch she’d prepared for this day. She hadn’t expected Jules to move in with her, but the thought of her younger apprentice being close by made her…happy. She was ready to fling the younger girl into the madness that was experimental potions making. But first, they had to start with refurbishing the lab. And they were going to start today. There were boxes upon boxes of supplies that she'd purchased just for this lab. She was even going to make an alchemy section, just so she could get a bit of practice in.

Noemi bustled down the hallway, past all of the rooms before knocking on the door frame. She could see Jules’ slender frame in the room, but out of respect for privacy…hell, what respect. The door was open. She bustled in, holding the pouch. “So, your keys to here and to the lab are in there. The lab’s floo is Turner’s…thats who owned the place before I bought it. It’s in Turnknock alley, somewhere by the diagonally. We will go when you are setled“ She flung her hands in the air, shrugging before looking around. “Now…You can decorate all you want in here. It’s only been a night but this is…bare…” She began messing with the curtains, holding them against the wall. “…I think a nice blue or green will do, what do you say?”

@Jude Blythe

Jude leaned against the windowsill of the room, looking out over the street below. It was a nice place, a pleasant neighbourhood, and for Jude it definitely felt like a fresh start. Things with Noemi were starting to feel familiar and safe. She was nicer than he'd expected. He'd heard some horror stories about Potions Masters and how they treated their apprentices, but so far Noemi had felt somewhere between a boss and.. an aunt or something. Nurturing and friendly in a way that Jude hadn't been expecting. The fact that he had his own room in her home spoke volumes. He'd been expecting a camp-bed in Noemi's lab, but not only did he have his own room, but it was a decent size too. Large enough for a double bed, a freestanding wardrobe and a desk. And plenty of space to spare for his precious houseplants. They were currently sitting on every surface. It already made the place feel more like home, which was nice. He hadn't felt at home anywhere for years.

He straightened up as Noemi knocked on the doorframe and then bustled right in, his lips curling into a small smile as he reached out a hand to take the pouch of keys. She trusted him. That felt nice, although the sensation was also tinged with guilt. He'd already taken some of her supplies to increase his polyjuice stock. That had to stop. She was trusting him and being nothing but kind and generous and he was abusing that trust.

Those thoughts were brushed aside as Noemi continued to speak though, his eyebrows raising at the mention of 'Turnknock Alley'. "Knockturn?" he asked, slipping the pouch into the pocket of the oversized black hoodie that hung over dark skinny jeans. "The lab's in Knockturn?" Oh wow, that would be interesting. It wasn't that he had any issue with working out of the place, he already bought ingredients there and he didn't have any moral objections. As far as he was concerned people were free to do whatever they wanted so long as it didn't mess with his plans for his own life... but he certainly hadn't had Noemi pegged as a Knockturn kind of girl. In fact, she seemed pretty oblivious. "We're going down in the world then?" he joked, mainly to see if she knew what he meant or if she really was as oblivious as she seemed.

Jude watched as Noemi moved towards the window, fussing with the curtains and once her back was turned, his upper lip curled in slight disgust. He liked a plain room just fine. The last thing he needed was some fancy wallpaper or cutesy decorations. "I like it," he said, his eyes sweeping over the room, "It's uncluttered," well besides the plants of course.

“Oh. Yes. Knockturn Alley. That is the place.” She fluttered her hands dismissively. “It is dark there, and dingy, but it suits our purposes.” They wouldn’t be starting a business out there, after all. Well, for now at least. “It was cheap.” She also admitted, hands on her hips. “I like buying things cheap and making them better. The potions masters who worked there were not so smart. Everything is a fire hazard.” She hated stupid mistakes, but she hated fixing stupid mistakes even more.

Noemi looked around the room, her finger hovering over a green plant before smiling. “There is a place in the lab on the roof I wish you to maintain. I have already deposited my collection of every day potions plants up there.” She shrugged. If Jules had a green thumb, she was going to use it. There was no reason for her not to be fully involved in that part. “There is a section where you can grow a bit of plants if you wish. It is climate controlled, but seasonal. I do not enjoy plants manipulated to grow out of season. They seem to fare worse and make horrible quality potions…”

Clapping her hands together, she gazed at Jules. “If you need anything else for you room, let me know. In that bag is a key for it as well. I do not have a copy, just as you do not have a copy to my study. This is your private place, so if you wish to have company during the night, please use a silencing spell. I…wake easy as of late.” Ignoring the flash of homesickness, she put her hands on her hips. “Right. I am headed to the lab. You will meet me? Wear things you don’t mind getting dirty.”

She bustled out of the room and headed straight to the floo where a bag of things awaited her. Throwing floo powder into the fire, she stepped in and calmly shouted out her location. When she walked out the other side, classical music soared through the room. Brushes were scrubbing the windows, getting all of the grime out. She’d been there earlier, starting the clean up, so it was halfway there. She had to have it clean, or she’d be twitching all night. She began with the big table in what she’d supposed was the ingredient preparation room. Dragging on dragonhide gloves, she began to brush the table off, scrubbing grime and dirt of the marble table top.

Hearing the whoosh of the floo, she looked up at footsteps and nodded towards the bucket and the other set of gloves. “Once you get armored up, you can tell me about you week, and then Veritaserum and what happens when you dose a person too much.”

Noemi was totally oblivious to the fact that Knockturn was a pit of thieves and murderers. Jude toyed with the idea of filling her in, but she seemed so... happy with her new purchase. He'd have to let her know gently another time. And maybe Noemi wasn't bothered either. So long as their lab didn't get broken into and their ingredients stolen. He brightened at the mention of a roof garden at the lab. It would be good to have the space to grow some of the plants that were simply too big or awkward for keeping inside. Or even some vegetables. For a moment, his thoughts got wrapped up in what he might be able to make of the space and his features mirrored Noemi's in enthusiasm for their fresh start.

He was happy to hear that his room came with a lock and some privacy and although it embarrassed him a little, it was also nice to hear that Noemi didn't mind him bringing people back, so long as he was quiet. "Of course," he replied, "and sure, I'll just grab a different pair of jeans and be over."

Once he heard the rush of the floo, and knew she was gone, he let out a soft groan. He locked the door, then, crossing over the room, he pulled a battered suitcase out from under the bed. Flicking it open, his eyes surveyed the contents. Ingredients, in various stages of prep. The move had disrupted his brewing - he hadn't started a new batch of polyjuice, just in case he wasn't able to complete it. Boomslang was so expensive. He'd taken a small amount from Noemi's store, which he now felt incredibly guilty about. If she wasn't so nice to him it would be easier. He was sure she hadn't noticed, and he'd even considered taking more during the move as it could get explained away as being lost in the shift from lab to lab. But did he really want to mess up the one thing in his life that was going well - going to plan? She was giving him an opportunity, a new home, an education and a career. And he was throwing it back in her face. His fingers reached for the moisture-controlled box containing the boomslang skin. He had to sneak back the amount he'd taken. And then he'd just have to buy some more... with money he didn't have. One way or another, he needed to make the potion. A future without it seemed bleak and empty.

He threw a few other less suspicious ingredients and a couple of plants into a large box and buried the box of boomslang skin at the bottom and then he changed into a ripped pair of jeans and a sweater that he usually used for gardening. Picking up the box, he took a deep breath, trying not to look down at the half-buried box. He couldn't keep it. He couldn't risk fucking this up. Not this. Not after he'd worked so damn hard to get here and he'd lucked out with the nicest Mistress he possibly could have gotten. Nodding to himself, he carried the box over to the floo and stepped onto the grate. "Turner's, Knockturn Alley," he spoke clearly, wincing as the green fire surrounded him.

Classical music and the sound of scrubbing reached his ears before his eyes adjusted to the fading brightness from the floo. "Ok, just coming, I'll just set these down somewhere... out of the way..." he replied, keeping his voice casual and matter-of-fact as he raised the box which had the plants overflowing obviously from the top. Looking around, he spotted the boxes and crates which sat ready to be unpacked. He didn't sneak as he headed over there - Noemi was concentrating on her manual scrubbing - obviously spells and enchanted scrubbing brushes weren't good enough by themselves - and he didn't want to make himself look guilty by acting odd. It took mere seconds for him to dump his box next to the others and move the Boomslang box into a more appropriate location amongst other ingredients of a similar type. There. Done. Like it was never gone. Something inside him was pining, but he shut that down and forced himself to leave it behind.

He pulled on the gloves and joined Noemi in the main part of the room, looking around as he did. The lab had a creepy gothic vibe which Jude had to admit he really loved. This was exactly the kind of room he'd always imagined working in one day. Twisting ironwork and green copper, decorative stonework, large ancient-looking tables with marble tops. Pulling his wand from his pocket, he filled the bucket with hot soapy water and started at a set of shelves nearby to Noemi. Likely, she'd end up redoing everything he did anyway. He'd already noticed that clean was never quite clean enough for her.

Veritaserum? Why was she bringing up the truth potion when he was hiding secrets from her? Did she know? No, that was stupid. Just a coincidence.

"Not much to report on my week," he said above the sound of the scrubbing and music, "I got an owl from home - Jo's back there from Hogwarts for the summer and most of Dad's classes are on break until September. He's a tutor - I think I mentioned that, yeah? Oh, they, uh.. wanted to invite you.. well, us... over to dinner sometime. If you want to." He glanced up to try and gauge her reaction. "They said they'd like to meet you." He shrugged. Honestly he didn't mind whether Noemi wanted to or not. He'd never felt that connected to his family and now that he'd moved away and was no longer a stranger living in their home, they felt rather distant.

"Veritaserum, known as the Truth Potion, forces the imbiber to answer questions truthfully - or at least give answers that they believe to be true to the best of their knowledge and mental state. Brewing phase is a lunar cycle. It can be resisted by Occlumency and various antidotes, and some people are more susceptible to its effects than others, making it rather less effective and useful than a person might imagine. Over-dosing can, at first, lead to the imbiber being unable to stop talking, babbling absolutely everything, and consistent over-dosing can completely destroy the imbiber's mind and body." There he paused in his recital. "I'm not sure what that actually means though. Destroys it how?"

Dunking her brush into the bucket, she watched as the potions residue dissolved into the water. It was murky and disgusting, and with a flick of her fingers, she banished the water and filled it up again. She poured in her homemade potion solution, using her wand to gently manipulate the water into spinning to mixing it in. It turned and almost mercury colour, and it was only then that she dipped her brush into the water, and began to scrub again. Blood stained everything in here. She wasn’t…quite sure what gone in this place, but it wasn’t a nice thing. Luckily it was just animal blood, so it could have been something simple, but she wasn’t quite so sure. Her eyes flicked upwards to gaze at Jules, but she went back to focus on her task. Noemi could have cleaned it with magic, but the less magic to interfere with this particular brand of cleansing, the easier it would be to get rid of the taint.

Her hands were focused on her task, but her ears were focused on Jules. It wasn’t quite that often that the girl spoke about her family, but when she did, it didn’t always sound so comfortable. Noemi didn’t know what was going on there, but there was some tension. Noemi was familiar with that, that family stress. It wasn’t often that the woman saw her parents, but when she did, it was awkward. Tense. As much as she envisioned them burning in  a cauldron, she also envisioned what would have been had they’d not made the choices that they’d made with her. Would she even be in this place in her life? No matter, she was here, and past worries weren’t something to dwell on when one had so much work to do.

“Do you want to have dinner with them?” She asked, brow arched. She got a towel, and used it to dry the now clean marble off, banishing each one that she used to the trash bin, and touched the clean surface. Her clear grey eyes focused on the other woman, and she rested her hand on her hips. “Cause I am willing to go if you would like me to.” And that was that. She’d go if she was wanted, maybe even bring a cake. Speaking of cake, she was going to feed Jules soon. It was almost time for good food.

As she began to clean another surface, she listened to the recitation. Everything was right, everything was correct. A  smile covered her face, and she nodded. “Correct. There are certain potions that with long term use cause hazardous effects. Felix being one, and Veritaserum also being one. When someone overuses or over doses on Veritaserum it slowly deteriorates control over one’s functions, spanning from muscle control, to seizures, to death. Mentally, it leads to distraction and the inability to form words. Sometimes people can get stuck inside their bodies, unable to speak or interact with the rest of the world.” Using a hand to dismiss that train of thought, she switched to another topic.

“What are the benefits of tumeric? And how would you feel about me turning downstairs into an apothecary? It would involve you working part of the day, but you will get paid outside of your regular apprentice allowance. Which…I think I put in your room. Or the Gringotts draft at least….fucking goblins.”