ONE
CHAPTER ONE
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼
0. old scars, fresh wounds !
— THERE WAS A SMALL BELL ABOVE THE DOOR THAT TRIGGERED AS IT SWUNG OPEN, welcoming the blonde woman into the little store with a delightful dinging sound. The cheerful announcement seemingly summoning someone near the back of the shop, as a couple of loud thumps sounded out from behind a mountain of books.
Venus grinned adoringly, gripping her purse in both hands and anticipating the dark haired man stumbling from the mess, crookedly returning the smile that she offered.
"Ahh well if it isn't the lovely tea-drinker." The very much American man greeted in a dramatically faux European accent, seeming to mock the one that belonged to Venus.
Venus laughed, "You own a tea shop, Sawyer."
"And you are my best customer." He smirked at his victory before recalling what she said and having a slightly different reaction to it, "Also, this isn't just a tea shop, it's a book shop- don't sell it short." Sawyer tilted his head, gesturing around the room with a fake glare of annoyance.
Venus chuckled, and the sound made Sawyer break into a short laugh too as his stern demeanour faded quickly away.
"Hello, Space Girl." He finally said, hands coming to rest on her biceps with a kind and distantly fond greeting.
Venus rolled her eyes, though retained her content and happy features as she did so, "I've been called worse."
"That's a good answer, but I was looking for a 'hello, o' brilliant man of whom provides me my magical and lovely tea in the midst of a mostly coffee and crap-filled L.A.', thanks." Sawyer pulled away, leading the woman further into the store- past thousands of leather-bound potions books, spell books with yellowed pages, and a twisting metal staircase that lead to the dining level of the shop.
"That's a little long for my tastes, how about a nice old 'hello, Sawyer', instead?" Venus grinned, following after the man.
"I guess that's fine." The man sighed dramatically, taking a book off of a random nearby pile and plopping it on a free space in a wooden shelf.
Sawyer found his rightful place behind the store counter, shoving a pile of parchment and inkwells to the side so Venus could sit on the nearby stool and still see him over all the mess.
Venus took her seat, narrowly avoiding a levitating novel that was soaring to replace itself on a bookshelf.
"Now," Sawyer sighed, pulling out a rather large book and pen that he'd been using to keep track of his stock. He plopped the logging book before him as if wanting to look busy- clearly having absolutely no intention of actually working, as his full attention was on the woman sitting opposite him. "Why on earth are you here, midday, on a perfectly wonderful, crime-filled afternoon? Shouldn't you be at work?"
Venus shuffled her weight, laying her purse on a pile of books nearby, before tucking her sweater-covered hands under her knees.
"I took a sick day." She excused. "Chloe is covering for me."
Sawyer clicked his pen against the counter, nodding a hello to a kindly old wizard who passed by on his way to the exit.
"You never take sick days, Space Girl." He pointed out, "You're sure nothing else is wrong?"
The woman's smile dropped just a little, now adopting a rather sad twist.
"Took a walk down memory lane yesterday when I probably shouldn't have." She explained briefly, "Photographs, trinkets. I should have left them all very well alone."
Sawyer gave Venus his undivided attention, growing sympathetic at her plight.
"Some memories are more painful than others..." She muttered distantly, staring down at her shoes. "I couldn't put Detective Decker at risk, so I stayed home. No partner is better than a distracted one."
Sawyer watched with sad eyes as the woman ran her hand along her left arm, playing with the material of her sweater before pulling it down even more over her skin.
"And you decided to visit Crescent street?" He asked, leaning his forearms against the counter.
Venus shrugged with a small smile, "It's the only place I know of in ten mile radius to my apartment that has Butterbeer ice cream being sold at Albert's only a few doors down from here."
Sawyer rolled his eyes lightheartedly, "Ah, so nothing to do with visiting your favourite wizard and gaining a free cup of tea?"
"Well I certainly wouldn't complain." Venus tilted her head at the prospect of the warm beverage.
"I feel like you're only polite with me to supply your addiction free of charge." He laughed, but nonetheless called over a stout little house elf that had been snapping his fingers to magically return books to their shelves. "Buttons, would you mind getting Venus a cup of tea, please?"
Buttons blinked at the man, pausing in his work, "Which flavour, sir?"
Sawyer turned to Venus with a raised eyebrow, "What haven't you tried yet?Oooh- you wanted butterbeer ice cream, I can give you the next best thing." He mused, dramatically snapping his fingers at his revelation, "One butterbeer flavoured tea please, Buttons."
"Right away, sir." The house elf nodded, snapping his own fingers and disappearing for a moment.
"Butterbeer flavoured tea?" Venus laughed incredulously, "Butterbeer is already a beverage!"
Sawyer grinned crookedly at her moment of joy, glad to have given the women a small bit of happiness after she'd clearly had a rough morning.
"And I'm the genius who made tea out of it." He boasted as Buttons reappeared to precariously place a teacup and saucer on a pile of books next to Venus' stool.
"Thank you, Buttons." Venus smiled and lifted the tea into her lap. House elf treatment in America was something that had pleasantly surprised the woman when she'd first visited Crescent street. They weren't necessarily free, per se, but they were more respected than the ones in England.
Venus felt a small moment of pride for her friend, the newest Minister of Magic, who she knew would further change the face of house elf treatment- just like they had tried to do when they were still in school together.
S.P.E.W wasn't necessarily a successful organization, but they'd really done the most they could to stop the poor treatment of house elves in Europe— and she was glad Hermione had never stopped pursuing her goals.
"Give it a taste, then." Sawyer eagerly pulled Venus from her reminiscing.
"It's still hot." She laughed, watching Sawyer instantly pull a wand from his back pocket, tapping it against his head teasingly, waiting for her to see his plan.
Venus sighed and leaned forward, holding out the cup of tea for him to wave his wand over and cool for her.
A small breeze appeared to rush over the gold-rimmed teacup, creating tiny waves in the deep brown sea, indicating that something was happening to it.
"Fat lot of work you're getting done." Venus joked, nodding her head towards Sawyer's logging book as he pulled the wand away from her beverage.
Sawyer theatrically rolled his eyes, "Well, would you rather I just ignore my favourite customer?"
"Hear that, Daithi?" Venus shouted to the top floor, being hushed by a few book-buyers. "I'm his favourite."
Sawyer scoffed, "Please, he isn't even here-"
"Can ne'er blame a man for favouring you, Ms. Carlisle." A deep voice with a slight Irish accent came from above, and a man with a long, wispy orange beard appeared from over the railing.
"Why, thank you, Daithi- you're too kind." Venus grinned.
"Have you tried the butterbeer tea yet?" The man lightly gripped his pipe, puffing on the end before blowing tiny, smokey butterflies into existence, allowing them to flutter around his head.
"I was just about to!"
Daithi pulled the edge of his flat cap down a little as a small sign of respect, before wandering off towards his books again.
Sawyer watched the man walk away, lowering his voice and leaning towards Venus, "Does he live in here or something?"
Venus ignored his quip, instead sipping some of the flavoured tea and experiencing the same sort of feeling that butterbeer usually provides- the rush of warmth, like liquid butterscotch that comfortably ignites every part of her.
It was rather delicious.
"So?" Sawyer asked, impatiently waiting for feedback.
Venus hummed and shrugged, "S'alright."
"Alright? Alright?" Sawyer groaned, "I thought it was a tea-flavouring breakthrough!"
Laughing, Venus put a hand out to calm the man's antics, "Merlin's beard! I was kidding, it's lovely, Sawyer, it's absolutely lovely."
Sawyer was uncharacteristically silent as Venus chuckled away, not realizing he'd been distracted by something until she recognized his quiet stare, his eyes fixated on the arm she had outstretched.
The saucer and teacup in her hand clattered noisily as she placed it back on the stack of books at her side, rushing to pull down her sweater sleeve again.
Stillness followed for a few awkward moments, neither Sawyer nor Venus daring to say a thing.
"There are glamour charms you could use..." Sawyer muttered, his mood having been dampened by what he saw.
"I do use them." Venus nodded, "Sometimes."
"... I'd heard about it before, but I never thought those stories were true." He sighed. "It's disgusting, what she did. What they all did."
Venus stayed quiet, rubbing her arm and wishing she were anywhere else.
"I think sometimes I forget you're that Venus Carlisle." Sawyer whispered.
"I left England to forget I was that Venus Carlisle." She snapped, before pulling back and sighing, "I'm sorry..."
"No- it's alright. Too curious for my own good, I think." Sawyer cleared his throat, swiping the palm of his hand over his mouth and picking his wand up off his desk, putting it back in his pocket.
Sawyer then came out from behind the desk, tapping his fingers on the surface as he came to a standstill in front of Venus, opening his arms to her.
Venus sighed, standing and leaning into his apologetic embrace.
"I'm sorry, Space Girl." He uttered, rubbing her back lightly. "I won't ever mention it again if that's what you'd prefer..."
"For now." Venus smiled, "Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you all about everything that happened during the war... but at this moment- I think I'd just like to go home."
The woman pulled away and grabbed her purse off the pile of books where she'd left it, and when she turned around, Sawyer stood there with a to-go cup of tea, and a handful of different coloured coins.
"Here," Sawyer handed them over to her, "Your ice cream is on me today."
"Sawyer-"
"Just take it, Space Girl." He smiled, pushing the coins further into her hand, "It's the least I can do."
Venus' lips twisted into a similar smile, knowing Sawyer never took 'no' for an answer when it came to gift giving, "You're a saint."
Sawyer wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and lead her back to the front of the shop, "Yeah, Yeah- Save it for next time." He joked.
Taking a sip from the travel cup, and allowing the warm butterscotch to ease her wary head, Venus closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, allowing Sawyer to guide her to the storefront door.
Opening her eyes, Venus stashed the coins away in her pocket and looked up at the man, a content grin on her face now that the butterbeer tea had calmed her mind a bit.
"Goodbye, Space Girl." Sawyer said, taking her hand and placing a gentle kiss on her slightly scarred knuckles.
"Goodbye, Sawyer." Venus laughed, "Thank you for all this... I'll bring you a pack of pepper imps next time." She promised.
"Can't wait." Sawyer grinned, moving to open the door for her, bringing the sound of bustling witches and wizards just outside, into his store.
With that, Venus adjusted her grip on her purse, and stepped out into Crescent street, weaving between colourful robes and excitable young people, gazing up at the many stores with wonder and amazement.
Sawyer stood vigilantly at the door of the shop, watching Venus disappear into the crowd, wishing that kind woman hadn't seen and experienced all the things she had.
War changes people. It leaves a permanent, aching scar that no one else can see. Right on your very soul.
The man observed, Venus' soul wasn't yet scarred. Despite the war being years ago, it was still a fresh wound that stung when prodded, and flooded it's crimson memories so constantly in her mind- that the pain never truly left her.
Sawyer hoped, beyond hope, that with these big new changes in Venus' life, his dear new friend would finally have the opportunity to piece her soul back together, and heal.