I am confidence in insecurity [Deirdre]

She had been working in this shop for a hot minute as an apprentice herbologist, but was surprised by how little she was actually ever in the shop. She was always on the road or in the greenhouse tending to the plants and never actually in the shop learning potions. She was a potioneer, too. At least, she was a bronze cauldron and able to brew some simple potions and sell them under the seal of Cassia Stricklander. Still, she enjoyed the rare occasions where she could protect her pale skin from the direct summer sun. She didn’t like being hot, though she supposed summer was preferable to winter. She didn’t like wearing a ton of clothing, and typically wore tank tops and shorts to work. She typically worked in the hot greenhouse, which was hotter than the actual outside, though. Today, she felt underdressed. Cassia was out for the morning at a prenatal doctor’s appointment, which meant the two girls were stuck alone with Iris—who was a bit nasty to them both for generally no reason. Apparently, this was Iris’ idea of behaving however, so Eve let it go without much. She had a horrible case of resting angry face, and Eve could never tell if her insults and snide comments were sarcastic jokes or sincere jabs. 
 
Cassia, on the other hand, was always professional. She might have been a bit chilly and aloof, but she was a good potioneer, a good teacher, and a decent boss. Iris must have been jealous that the firstborn got a whole apothecary to herself, and she got nothing. The woman was getting a little baby bump too, though, and the potions irritated her, especially if they were noxious to begin with. She had excused herself to the fresh air outside for another break, which Even couldn’t blame her for. Even if Eve and Deirdre, the other intern, were doing the lion’s share of the work… two pregnant bosses didn’t bode well for them. Eve thought that surely, they would have to take on another intern…. But who would even fit the bill. Would they close when the babies were born? For a long period of time? Would Eve and Deirdre be out of jobs, she wondered? Or would they all just get all the work and be horrifically underpaid for it all? Who would watch and observe? 
 
Despite Cassia’s attention to professional conduct (and dress, as Eve had noticed), she was not necessarily a rule-following gold cauldron master. She let the apprentices do whatever they desired work-wise, and simply checked them for errors before selling. No errors, no issues. At least once a week they had a lengthy 3-hour lesson with her about some new technique, skill, potion, or special ingredient. Iris would sometimes take over this session with Deidre, especially. Eve was under the impression Iris preferred Deirdre to her, and she was right to some degree, but Iris wasn’t necessarily hateful. She just didn’t have the time to work directly with the herbologist. She barely noticed Greer, her own cousin and chief herbologist for the shop. It was like Greer and Iris were strangers. Cassia and Greer, alternatively, were quite decent friends. 
 
Eve wanted to be friends with Deirdre, she really did. She liked the way the girl behaved, her mischief and her penchant for working on “extra-curricular” potions on the clock. Eve was guilty of working on extra-curricular potions and herbs on the side, but she wasn’t quite gutsy enough to bring her recreational endeavors to the workplace. Deirdre got bonus points for gall. 
 
“What’s this?” She asked, peeking into Deirdre’s secondary cauldron. She noticed some of the ingredients that went in, and it appeared something of a pepper-up potion with added steps. Euphoria-inducing, maybe? “I’ve never had a pepper-up with so many steps.” She teased, knowing a bit more than she let on. “Oh, by the way, I’m not calling you out. Just looking. Learning.” She promised. “It’ll be our secret.” She whispered with a smile. 
 
“You know, I grow a few special things on the side, too. Brew some tonics, make salves and natural healing remedies and stuff. Obviously didn’t go to Dilys, so I’m no professional, but I like helping.” She smiled.  
 
She had another job, too. She couldn’t be there as often as she liked, as she was usually out hunting through forests with Greer, looking through plant shops or repotting or watering or feeding…. She was a tea specialist at a potions/coffee café in London, closer to her house. She mostly worked mornings there, then came in in the afternoon. The travelling from England to Scotland to England was tiring, but she had a membership to a short-distance portkey club that she got a lot of use out of. For a similar price to a knight bus pass, she could travel farther, faster. Of course, if she had wanted to go very far, she might need to splurge a bit more. She was thinking of going on an herb hunt with Greer in Brazil, and then another smaller hunt in the everglades of the United States. She would need to save up, though. This would be a week trip, if not longer. If she couldn’t get Cassis to pay for it, of course, which she was pretty sure she could. The Reeds were loaded, anyway, and then Cassia had married into the Stricklanders, who were also loaded. They could afford it. She would just need some “fun money” and her fun money bank was really depleted lately. She had been enjoying too many pepper-up lattes, but honestly, they helped her feel so much nicer than if she hadn’t had them. She just worried about the poor folks who seemed addicted to them. She was pretty sure the sickly-looking business-suit fellow that came in every morning (and afternoon) was a Reed too, just by the looks of him. Or a Stricklander, maybe. He had the eyes. 
 
Honestly, she was still getting used to looking through pureblood British people. They had some distinctive looks about them—Stricklanders tending to sickly with large, protruding eyes, for example—but that didn’t mean they all looked like that or that she could really tell the difference. She liked to pretend she knew, though. She had been a Ravenclaw, of course. She liked to know. 
 
“You should come to the shop I work at one morning. The potioneer there is amazing, mixes potions into flavored lattes and hot chocolate and stuff like that. I make loose-leaf teas for them, too, and I’m really proud of some of them. You a coffee or tea girl? Maybe I’ll pick you up a pepper-up peppermint latte when they come out again this winter. They’re the best. It’s awful they’re seasonal.” 

@Deirdre Coltrane

The role as an apprentice didn’t feel right to Deirdre but the young witch knew how to conduct herself well and follow the rules if there was something in for herself. She needed a skilled potioneer to mentor her to move up in the ranks of Potioneer’s Guild herself and that was the sole reason for Deirdre to have applied at the apothecary.

The months had passed and things had gone quite alright for her. She still had enough time to work on her party potions, still found a few hours per week to work for Ms Robbins’ detective agency. She made a decent amount of money out of her two jobs and her little side business - enough to rent a small flat for herself in the centre of Edinburgh. However, Deirdre’s goals were higher. For now she was content. She was just one year out of school and had already settled into adult life. She wasn’t dependent on her mother or her grandparents although they all still tried to influence her life. Sometimes this was even beneficial and Deirdre tried to make the best of the acquaintances she made through her family and also through her jobs.

Her bosses at the apothecary were quite preoccupied with their personal lives now, it seemed. Both women being pregnant meant that they were hardly at their best and their sense of judgement was suffering. It didn’t matter too much to Deirdre, though. She did what they asked of her, diligently and courteously following their guidance.

When they weren’t around, though, the young witch soon heated one or two additional cauldrons and worked on her own concoctions. They sold comparably well. There were customers for party potions, especially on the black market where they thought they got illegal stuff or potions that would be more expensive elsewhere. People were so easy to fool sometimes…

Deirdre just put some ingredients into her cauldron and stirred the potion three times clockwise when Eve, another apprentice, addressed her. Deirdre looked at the other girl, her expression unreadable. Eve spoke of a secret and Deirdre waited for what else she had to say. She was not going to give her any information if she didn’t get anything in return from the other witch.

“It’s just a little energiser,” Deirdre said, “works wonders with alcohol.” She smirked. While the potion could work just as an energy potion if taken alone, it was doing wonders along with alcohol. It was almost euphoria inducing and could surely keep one dancing all night.

“What kind of things do you grow?” The Scottish girl asked curiously. Maybe Eve had some ingredients that she could use for her potions but she was not going to beg. Either the other witch offered it herself or she’d deal without her plants.

Eve talked a lot and Deirdre just looked at her, trying not to show whether or not she appreciated the conversation. Truth be told, while Deirdre didn’t mind the other girl, she thought that she was a little too chatty and she was in doubt if a muggleborn could possibly be as skilled as witches and wizards of magical ancestry. That, however, was nothing she carried out into the world. In the current times comments against muggleborns were frowned upon and Deirdre wasn’t really extreme in her beliefs anyway.