Magical Hogwarts

"You'll love it, I promise," Senna said with a bright smile as she grabbed Gigi's had and clomped down the steps in her much beloved black combat boots, her mostly see-through https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/411868328430099507/' rel='nofollow noopener' target='_blank'>dress floating around her thighs and the yellow streetlights of New York City making her normally pale skin look golden. A red florescent sign overhead said 'BA', the R taking the night off apparently, and Senna glanced back at her friend and waggled her brows in excitement. She was in a good mood. It had been a fun night so far with her friend that she hadn't seen a some time. She had written her, of course. One particularly hasty letter came to mind after she had woken up from a dream of Gia dying and had immediately owled to check in. All had been well but it had been too long since she had spent time with Gigi and Senna was feeling way too restless.

Instead of being practical and asking their manager about the next time Oliver Rigby and the Band were booked for New York shows, Senna had bartered with a friend for a last minute portkey and had basically shown up on Gigi's front step. This little unassuming restaurant co-owned by Frankie called the http://magical-hogwarts.com/index.php?topic=165705.msg1000890278#msg1000890278' rel='nofollow noopener' target='_blank'>Supper Club was only one of the stops that Senna had convinced and cajoled Gigi into visiting with her - most on a whim or some half-remembered fact, a few not coming to fruition at all. But the ones that had worked out? They'd been wondrous. A pop up art show featuring all female nude paintings, a muggle store run by self-claimed witches selling potions and amulets that weren't real magic but were very tempting anyway, and a tattoo shop set in an old church with black walls and even blacker floors. Senna had left with a tiny tattoo that she had decided on in the moment -- three small stars on her wrist, one for past, present, and future.

But now she was starving and she had somehow heard of this restaurant's soft opening and immediately wanted to go. And she was glad she did because she loved it at first sight. All of the mismatching portraits and misshapen mirrors, the exposed brick and strings of lights, and the smells! She wanted one of everything and as they were seated, Senna grinned at Gigi across the table. "Since they're so new, they probably don't have rules against seances in here, right?" she asked with a light laugh, pulling a menu towards her.

http://magical-hogwarts.com/index.php?action=profile;u=25836' rel='nofollow noopener' target='_blank'>@Giovanna Coppola

Giovanna gave the other witch a wide, closed-lipped smile in reply to her reassurance, and entwined their fingers before giving Senna?óÔé¼Ôäós hand a soft squeeze. They descended the stairs together, hand-in-hand, their heavy boots clunking arhythmically.

They dropped one another?óÔé¼Ôäós hand at the same time?óÔé¼ÔÇØthough without any sense of shame or urgency?óÔé¼ÔÇØand took their seats ?óÔé¼ÔÇØ Giovanna?óÔé¼Ôäós shiny black skin-tight pants squeaking against the leather seat cushion. The dark-haired witch took the menu offered to her and glanced across the table at Senna?óÔé¼Ôäós query; Gia?óÔé¼Ôäós face lit up. She flicked her gaze up to their waiter, who had just pulled out his notepad, and watched him as he suddenly grew paler.

?óÔé¼?ôOh, I forgot to bring my phalange,?óÔé¼?Ø Giovanna said with a downturn of her lips at the blonde ?óÔé¼ÔÇØ and out of the corner of her eyes she could see the young waiter looked relieved. He stammered that he would be back ?óÔé¼?£in a minute?óÔé¼Ôäó to take their drinks order, and Gia let out a laugh as he left them alone.

She looked down at the menu finally and was pleasantly surprised to see a number of Italian dishes. ?óÔé¼?ôSo how did you hear about this place before me??óÔé¼?Ø she asked of her Irish friend, genuinely impressed. ?óÔé¼?ôLike, I live here and you had to tell me it existed.?óÔé¼?Ø

Senna pressed her lips together and made a show of shaking her head in disappointment, but the moment their waiter ran off, she laughed with Gigi. "Think we scared him off, now we might never get our food," she said, simultaneously praising them on their joint efforts while also complaining a bit. She was hungry.

She crossed one leg over the other beneath the table, her chunky black boots tapping to a beat only in her head as she looked over the menu at the variety of options. Lots of things she wanted to order, only a few items that she hadn't tried before that piqued her interest, but she found herself smiling and waving her hand lightly at Gigi's question. "I have my sources," she said mysteriously before breaking into a laugh. "Friend of a friend of a friend, you know how it is," she explained, her honey colored eyes glowing warmly in the low lighting.

She pointed out an item on the menu under the 'to share' portion and glanced at her friend. "Want to try the beef tongue salad?" her brows perking up with curiosity. "Do you really think its beef tongue?" Sen had never had such a thing so of course she wanted to try it. Well that and the pizza. Or the cacio e pepe.. She wondered if Frankie was around and could give her a discount because she really did want one of everything.

“Oh, he’ll be back,” Giovanna smirked, her gaze lingering on the waiter for a moment longer before flicking back to Senna.

Her eyebrows rose inquiringly. “I thought I was your only friend in New York?” the brunette said testily (mostly in jest). “Do I know this friend of a friend of a friend?” she asked, curious now — New York wasn’t a quaint little English village where everyone knew everyone, but wizarding New York was a little more quaint than it’s no-maj counterpart. More importantly, was this friend a ‘friend’ or a friend?

Senna pointed out the beef tongue salad and Giovanna rolled her lips, hiding a smirk. “No,” she replied evenly, not with the look of disgust the Irishwoman might have been anticipating. “I’m mostly vegan right now.” Except when she wanted fresh pasta, or gelato. But did she think it was really beef tongue? “I think so,” she said, scrutinising the menu again — it looked pretty authentic. “You can get it if you want, maybe I can just eat the salad part.”

“And we’re definitely getting some grappa.”

Senna gave Gigi a look over her menu, a playful smile curling up her lips. "The only one in New York whose aura fits perfectly with mine," she said in jest, batting her lashes a bit before answering the next question with a shrug. "Hmm, dunno. Maybe? You might know Frankie. Feels like you know everyone. Frank..?" she said, trailing off as she thought about it, crossing one leg over her knee as she sat back. "You know, I'm realizing I'm not even sure what his last name is and yet I'm still hoping we get the friends and family discount."

She grinned impishly and glanced back down at the menu before giving Gigi a little pout. Of course Gigi wouldn't be phased by a beef tongue salad. Vegan though? Sen gave her a nod. Yeah, she had tried that and had promptly lasted less than a month, but she had really been trying to go back to vegetarian meals only. Alas, tomorrow was the perfect time to start a new resolution. Or maybe the day after that..

"No, it's ok, there's so many things to try. How about the caprese to share, that's vegan right? And I reallyy want the cacio e pepe. No, wait, the pizza. No--" she steepled her hands as if this was the toughest decision before she jolted in her seat and glanced behind her. "Did you just see.. shit, I swear someone just touched my shoulder," her hand went across her chest to touch the coolness she felt, her eyes widening as she looked back at Gi. "I liked this place already, but if Frankie's got a resident ghost up in here, I'm definitely giving this place five stars."

 Gia narrowed her eyes playfully at Senna, a smirk tugging on her lips.

Frankie, she said. Or Frank. No last name. “There’s a lot of Frank’s in New York,” Giovanna told the blonde witch. “I’ve got like two Uncle Frank’s,” she added, to emphasise her point. She wasn’t strictly related to one of them, but that wasn’t important — everybody was family. Gia shrugged. “I’ll say he’s my cousin and see if they believe it.”

Senna didn’t take the bait that Gia had dangled in front of her face—the only reason she would give up dairy would be for a man—but maybe the other witch was just too distracted by this menu — it did all sound amazing.

“Yeah, sure,” the brunette agreed — caprese wasn’t vegan, but a tiny bit of mozzarella wouldn’t hurt anybody. “I might get the risotto,” which likely had some parmesan in it too, but it was better than ordering a steak—

Giovanna looked up sharply, then around their vicinity in search of a tell-tale pearly sheen, but she couldn’t see anything. She grinned. “Maybe they were trying to tell you to make your mind up,” she teased. The server boy from before was back at their table and depositing water. “Can I get an espresso martini, please?”

 "Think my Frankie is one of your uncles?" Senna asked with a grin, intrigued by the idea then leaned in a little. "Plot twist." The thought was a bit weird, but then again, not the weirdest that had ever crossed her mind. Her eyes ran over the curve of Gia's shoulder as she shrugged. "You do kind of look like you could be related," she mused. Both had dark hair and dark eyes with hands that seemed graceful, although their auras were completely different. Gigi's was a wash of silver edged in the palest of eyelid lavender and flickering ivory like burning candles. It was her to give a shrug. Might as well try.

"Ooh, the risotto sounds good," she agreed easily, her mouth really was watering at the thought. She was hungry. The spirit, unfortunately, didn't show itself but Senna was still on the lookout for any more signs. She gave Gigi a grin. "A very helpful ghost then. I'll take one of those too," she told the server, echoing her drink order and then asking for the cacio e pepe and caprese salad to share before letting the brunette order as well.

When the server disappeared, Senna trying to win him over with an innocent smile, before she turned back to her friend, wiggling her brows. "So, go on. Tell me what's going on with you," she finally asked. They had spent the day together, but now Senna wanted the dirt.
 

 Giovanna laughed, then shrugged one shoulder; “Maybe. How old is he?” An enquiring (hinting) eyebrow rose – she knew Senna was like her, in that neither of them discriminated too much based on age (or colour, gender, wizard or no-maj, so on). “You could become my Aunt,” the American witch joked.

Senna ordered and Gia indeed went with the risotto, deciding it was the lesser of the evils in her (private) attempt to be more vegan (no reason, of course…).

“Hm?” Giovanna lowered her hand from where she was admiring her nails (candy apple red). “Oh, nothing,” she teased dramatically. “Nothing serious,” she clarified. “There’s this English guy I’ve been like, sort of seeing? I guess? He’s only here when he has business in New York so it’s like, perfect.” She was gesturing with her long-clawed hands as she spoke. “He’s so hot, like, muscles, tattoos,” she ran her fingertips up her own arms to demonstrate. “And he’s older.” Gia let out a dreamy sigh and rested her chin on her upturned fist. “And he has money,” she smirked.
 

"How should I know?" Senna said with a grin and a breezy shrug. Age wasn't much of a factor for her. She was more concerned about important things like aura color, astrology sign, and the last time someone aligned their chakras. But she knew why Gia had asked and her smile took on an impish gleam. "Needs a few more years to be in your range," she said with a wink. "Or mine," she added playfully. She didn't really have a specific age range she looked for in a partner, but as of late, she had been drawn to a certain older man with a golden aura..

"I would make the best cool aunt, huh," she added as the waiter came back surprisingly quick with their drinks. Senna's eyes lit up as she slide her glass closer to her, her elegant fingers wrapping around the delicate stem as she raised her glass to her friend. "To cool aunts and older men."

She sipped at her martini and smiled as Gigi danced around the question. "Oh come on now," she urged with a laugh. Sen could feel there was more to be shared and she wanted the scoop. "Mmmm," she hummed in all the right spots, grinning at her friend. "Wow, a catch. How hot? How'd you meet him? What's his vibe like?"

Then a thought occurred to her. A certain quidditch player was also older, wealthy, hot, and had muscles and tattoos. She and Gigi were similar in a lot of ways, but she couldn't help but be amused by the thought that that similarity extended to men as well... her imagination couldn't help but provide a hazy image of what it might be like for the three of them.. focus, Senna. Focus.

"Does his name start with an H?" she asked coyly, a smile on her lips as she brought her glass to her lips, a gleam in her eyes at the possibility of such a coincidence.

“Oh, so like, still in his twenties?” Giovanna grinned. She was generally a thirties-plus sort of girl, though she was always willing to make exceptions.

Her expression warmed, the grin still on her lips becoming softer. “You would.” Their drinks were deposited and Gia picked up hers, matching her companion’s toast with a smirk. “Older men.” She sipped and licked her lips free of the crema, then glanced back at the silvery-blonde witch across from her, and smirked again. “I— He’s very hot,” she reiterated. “Like, it’s insane. I don’t know if it’s the accent or, you know,” she waggled her eyebrows.

“At work. He was just in the foyer, and I may have like, accidentally bumped into him.” She fought to suppress a grin. “Batted my little eyelashes and he offered to take me out for dinner to apologise for bumping into me.” She had another drink of her martini and then twirled the glass slowly on the table. And his vibe? “I can’t even… put it into words, he’s just so serious and old fashioned but like, in a really, really attractive way. Like it’s not normal.” And they both knew Gia didn’t do normal.

Did his name start with ‘H’? Giovanna gave Senna an amused look. It didn’t, and she could let Senna attempt to call out to the void for the right letter, but Gia also wasn’t entirely sure if she should give Senna his name yet. They’d only seen each other a couple of times, and she didn’t want to jinx anything. “H?” She repeated instead, hoping there was something Senna needed to tell her instead.