[thd] legends of the lost and found [nerys]

september 2001

“No, see I ordered chizpurfle fangs and these are chizpurfle toenails.” Honey Bea shook the box of toenails at the hag (not literally) behind the counter, not sure what else she could do to get her meaning across. “I don’t have my receipt because you didn’t give me one.” The woman pursed her lips as she narrowed her gaze. This was the third time they had gone around with this same circle of questioning. “Toenails would be useful in love potions, and I certainly don’t need any help with that.” She muttered this more to herself that to the other woman as she drummed her fingers on the countertop, exploring her next option for getting her exchange or refund.

Chizpurfle fangs were expensive and the toenails weren’t and she had paid fang prices for this box of clippings. She had tried to save time by placing and owl order but that plan had gloriously backfired when she had received the wrong thing. Now she had missed the timing on her potion, the filling for a calming draught truffle, a favor for a friend, and she would have to start the process all over. She might not be making any money off of these truffles she was planning to simply give away, but her time was galleons. She hoped that wasting her time traveling to the apothecary in Diagon Alley to sort all of this out was worth it.

The hag shuffled away, reluctantly taking the box of toenails with her, and Honey muttered something about “Brilliant customer service,” as she watched her leave. Left with no one to be angry about, Honey turned around and leaned back against the counter she had been arguing across, only to find a familiar face looking back at her. “Nerys!” Her scowl was almost immediately replaced by a wide grin as she closed the few feet of space between herself and the other woman, not caring that her hands were full of potions ingredients, and pulled her into a hug.

@Nerys Blevins

The bell tinkled as Nerys stepped into the apothecary in Diagon Alley that she often frequented, but the shopkeeper didn't look up. The old woman was in an argument with a customer. Having seen the woman duke it out with her customers over the last few years several times, Nerys knew it rarely ended well, so she moved over to the shelves on her own. She hardly needed helping here anyway; being such a frequent shopper here herself, she knew exactly where everything she needed was. Today's trip was a short one anyway: just a few refills of basic ingredients and then back over to the lab. It wasn't an official work day, but Nerys was already starting to feel that she was falling behind in her work for the Guild. Research would leave her behind if she didn't keep up.

Nerys filled her two bags quickly and moved back to the front just in time for the woman to disappear into the back. It wasn't a helpful situation, given that she had hoped to pay and go, but she had to admit she was impressed the red-headed woman leaning against the counter had held her own. It wasn't until Honey actually said her name aloud that Nerys realized who she was looking at. "Oh!" she exclaimed, returning the hug as best she could without knocking ingredients out of either of their hands. "How are you? Sherry isn't giving you too much trouble, is she?" Nerys tilted her head toward the door through which the woman had disappeared, indicating the shopkeeper in case her friend didn't know the woman's name. "Did you actually manage to get your way?"

“I’m not great, to tell you the truth,” Honey said, with a bit of drama in her voice. “Sherry sent me the wrong thing and didn’t give me a receipt.” She let Nerys fill in the rest on her own as she rolled her eyes, stealing a glance over her shoulder that the woman hadn’t come back and overheard her. “I haven’t yet,” she said with a frown and a shrug. “Normally it wouldn’t be such a big deal, y’know, but this mess up screwed up my calming draught and now I’ll have to start over and I really don’t have time for this.” Term had started, which meant that needy kids would be flocking to Honeydukes soon on their first weekend off, just like they did every year (the last one excluded, of course).

“What are you up to, then?” She motioned to the ingredients in her friend’s hands, trying to decipher what she could be working on just by what she was purchasing, but it was all such basic things that it didn’t really narrow it down at all. “Work good? Keeping you busy? I haven’t seen you at the shop much.” She had filled orders for her, of course, but she was pretty sure those were more for her child than for herself. “I’ve been coming to London a lot recently, so I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to run into you.” She frowned again, but she fixed her face back into a scowl as she heard movement behind her.

“What do you mean you won’t give me the exchange?” She listened half-heartedly as the hag gave her the spiel one more time. “But,” she started again, her accent getting just the slightest bit thicker as she edged closer to losing her cool, “You did not give me a receipt.” She emphasized every word and heaved a great sigh as Sherry shuffled off one more time to the back room, to do Merlin knows what with that damed box of toenails.

Nerys sighed knowingly. "Owl order?" she had tried it once, and gotten similar results. The apothecary had excellent stock, which was why Nerys returned time and time again, but the service wasn't the best. "She can be a bit unreasonable." Admitting it was easy, given the woman was in the back room. Nerys nodded along as her friend talked, knowing full well how finicky a calming draft could be. Ironically, it was the type of potion that required serious concentration and perfect timing to make -- not something anyone in need of it could handle. "I might have a few bottles," she offered, referring to her private store back at St. Mungo's. "I could send you a few, if that would help. No big deal." Potioneers had to look out for one another in situations like these.

"Just refilling a few basic stocks," she answered, lifting the containers to illustrate her point. "Sorry I haven't been around much. Keeping busy." Honey knew only too well how easily Nerys could fall apart if she didn't keep herself occupied and focus. Things were getting a little easier every day, but she still wasn't to the point where unoccupied hours were comfortable. "I'll stop by next time I'm in Hogsmeade. Honest." Not that she expected it to be anytime soon. But, then again, she'd been running into old friends lately. Maybe she would find time to make a visit to the village for social purposes only.

Sherry was back, and Nerys cocked her head to listen to the argument once again. Sherry could be a real pill. Nerys wondered whether she might be able to help at all, as a regular customer, but she wasn't sure she was willing to risk getting on Sherry's bad side when Honey seemed to be holding her own fairly well. She stepped forward as Sherry left again, taking her place next to Honey. "As if she needs evidence it's from here," Nerys commented, rolling her eyes. "The stuff is labeled with her seal."

“Yeah, like, excuse me for taking pride in my merchandise and expecting other people to do the same.” Honey rolled her eyes as she slumped over the counter, trying to peer back behind the curtain to see what the hell was taking her so long. But instead of the lady hag shuffling back towards them with the same ol’ box of toenails, it was, she could only assume, her manservant hag clutching the same ol’ box of toenails. Honey was ready to start in to the same line of reasoning as she had offered Sherry, but was cut off before she could even open her mouth.

Unlike Sherry, this man was not a ball of sunshine, telling her that she either needed to buy chizpurfle fangs or get out. “But,” she started again, “I already bought them.” Why wasn’t he getting this? He shoved the box of toenails into her hands and she dropped it rather unceremoniously on the counter. “These aren’t even high quality toenails,” she told him, her voice dripping with sweetness. She turned to her friend, casually plucking her items from her hands and dropping them on the counter with the discarded box’o’nails. “C’mon, I have this stuff at my place, all local, not English, much better.”

She gave Nerys half a second to protest as she grabbed her arm, turning on her heel and bringing them spinning back to Honeydukes just as the apothecary owner narrowly missed Honey’s head with a will-aimed lob of stray ingredients. She might be without the chizpurfle fangs, she might not be making this draught soon, and she would definitely be letting Jonathan down with his lack of truffles, but at least her pride was still in tact, even if she had run away to hide once she started getting yelled at. “Sorry,” she started as she found her balance, leaning on the closest candy shelf. “That place was rubbish anyway.”

Things were escalating quickly, with Sherry's assistant now handling the transaction. The whole thing was ridiculous, as far as Nerys could tell, but it was starting to feel like a lost cause. Even if Nerys had wanted to stay to save face with the shopkeeper, it was getting out of hand. Products being thrown at customers was a new low, even for Sherry and her staff, so Nerys didn't object in the least when Honey grabbed her elbow and turned on the spot, bringing them into temporary nothingness.

They had left Diagon Alley far behind but Nerys needed no time at all to recognize the back room of Honeydukes when they emerged. They were safely hidden there from the rampaging store owners, at least. "I don't mind," Nerys assured her. "Got some ingredients out of it, anyway." She held up the still unpaid-for containers she hadn't yet handed over any sickles for. "Guess we won't be shopping there again." She said it with a smile, so Honey would know she wasn't too devastated over it. It had been a good apothecary, and convenient, too, but the atmosphere of the place didn't do any wonders for Nerys' chronic stress. "I really can bring you some calming draught if you need it," she reminded her friend. "I've got a few bottles stored." The potion was simple and incredibly useful, given Nerys' profession.

"What were you going to use it for anyway?" she asked with interest, stepping over to the cauldron where Honey had been working. The potion clearly was ruined, there was no denying that. It was giving off a rather odd smell, but Nerys didn't mind terribly. It was just part of the trade.

"Oops," Honey said with a grin, feeling distinctively not upset about her friend stealing ingredients from that last shop. It was a far nicer thing to do, anyway, than what Honey wanted, which included sending some sort of gift basket filled to the brim with acid pops, cockroach clusters, and exploding bonbons to the apothecary. But she cleared her mind of any and all revenge -- at least temporarily -- as Nerys mentioned the calming draught again. "That would be lovely, thanks." She straightened up, tucking a loose strand of red hair behind her ear as she looked into the cauldron a little sadly. "I'll trade you something, of course, and can give you some calming draught back once I get the right ingredients." Honey might not be a card carrying potioneer, but she'd be damned if she thought her potion subpar to Nerys's.

She moved along the lines of shelves, stopping a few feet from the back of the room and gently tipping a glass jar off the shelf towards her. "They're not for sale or anything, but," she brought the jar over to Nerys and removed the lid with her free hand, "I've been making these for a while now." She tilted her head in the general direction of Hogwarts, wordlessly bringing up the Dome as the catalyst for this bout of creativity. "Truffles with a little kick," she shook the jar just a bit, the shiny-paper-wrapped truffles rustling around. "Invigorating, dreamless sleep, calming," she held out the jar. "These are draught of peace, dark chocolate, sea salt, and caramel, if you'd like some for the road."

"Not that I need you to leave," she added quickly, realizing her last sentence had sounded a bit like a dismissal. "I just need to get in the kitchen soon. I've already spent too much time dealing with those damn toenails." She shrugged. "You can stay or go, but either way, you need to take as much chocolate as you can carry."

Reaching into her bag, Nerys pulled out her planner and a pen and jotted down the favor for Honey. “I can bring them by this evening, if you’d like. I’m not sure how soon you need the bottles, but I’ve got a spare hour before my shift tonight at any rate.” Nerys smiled at Honey’s offer to reimburse her, not intending to take her up on it but grateful all the same. Even if she felt she needed the payment, it was unlikely Nerys would ever be using someone else’s potions at the hospital.

“I’m sure I owe you for something, anyway,” she pointed out. “We’ve been friends long enough not to keep track, I think.” Nerys stood up with a smile, tucking her things back into her bag before plucking a chocolate out from the jar Honey was offering with interest.

“Not for sale?” Nerys lifted the sweet up to her nose and inhaled. On top of the wonderfully rich chocolate smell that she associated with nearly everything Honey created, there was something in the aroma that made some of the tension in her shoulders melt away at once. “I bet these would be a real hit in the waiting room at St. Mungo’s. All those tense family members harassing us for information could use a few jars of these, I’m sure.”

Nerys waved off Honey’s offer, carefully tucking the chocolate into an interior pocket of her purse before slinging it over her shoulder. “I should get going anyway. I was just supposed to be running out to grab a few things before heading back to the lab.” Nerys moved to the door that led back to the front of the shop and pulled it open, lifting her hand in farewell as she exited. “See you tonight!” she called before stepping into the busy front room and heading back toward the street.

[fin]