All Good Things

Chapter 8 - Moving Day

This had to have been the busiest Sunday Victoria had had in quite a while. She had spent the better part of her morning cleaning the empty room across the hall from her own, ensuring Poppy didn't move into a room full of dust and cobwebs. She'd had to comb out her curls before she got dressed for the day, her hair having been lightly coated with dust.

Victoria was careful to cover her hair before using her fireplace to floo straight to The Leaky Cauldron. Dusting off her clothes from the green powder, she looked around the small pub, her eyes landing on the tiny brunette perched on one of the barstools, her back leaned against the edge of the counter. Poppy's eyes snapped up to the fireplace, and a large grin broke out across her lips when their gazes met. She hopped off the stool, grabbing the few bags she had brought with her before striding over to meet with her newfound roommate.

"Good afternoon, Poppy. Didn't mean to keep you waiting. I had to make sure that room was ready for you." Victoria wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her thighs, lowering her gaze slightly.

"Oh, I wasn't waiting long. I just got down here actually, no more than five or six minutes ago." Poppy set one of the bags down, her fingers coming to fidget with the edge of the sweater she wore over her shirt. "I would have come to you, but, well..." She paused on that last word, her nails picking at the stitching of the fabric. "I realized a bit too late into the morning that I don't rightly know where you live."

Victoria let out a small chuckle, realization dawning on her that she had never had Poppy visit her like her other friends had. They hadn't seen each other in years, so of course the poor lass wouldn't know where she lived.

"That would be an error on my part. But, we can remedy that." She pulled out her satchel of floo powder and threw a small palmful into the hearth before grabbing Poppy's bag with one hand, and her wrist with the other.

She hadn't realized the force with which she had pulled the smaller woman until they stepped through and Poppy almost fell over. Victoria's arms immediately shot out to catch Poppy, wrapping around her waist just as one of Poppy's hands latched onto the fabric of her own sleeve. Poppy's momentum was stopped abruptly, her hip colliding with Victoria's thigh as she attempted to catch what little balance was left in her legs.

Victoria's gaze was met with large, doe-like brown eyes and parted pink lips as Poppy tried to catch her breath from the sudden surprise of tripping through a floo flame. The two women froze in that stance like statues for a solid minute before Poppy's face began to light up in a bright shade of crimson. They were quick to disentangle themselves, with Poppy immediately dropping her gaze to the floor and clasping her hands in front of her.

"Well." Victoria was the first to break the silence, grabbing the bag she had dropped and heading for the stairs. "Let me show you to your room, and then we can look at perhaps getting a bite to eat?"

Poppy nodded fervently before grabbing hold of the rest of her bags and following. Victoria was thankful that the house wasn't too large, affording them the luxury of having their bedroom doors just a few feet from the stairs leading out into the rest of the house. She pushed one of the doors open with her free hand, stepping into the room and dropping the bag on the carpeted floor with a soft thud, followed closely by the tiny brunette.

"Hopefully there's enough space for you in here. There's a personal bathroom there off the back wall." Victoria motioned with her hand, glancing at Poppy as she set down her own bags. "And my room is right across the hall should you need me when you're not at the rescue."

She turned to face Poppy, watching as her small legs carried her across the room, one hand trailing along the walls before stopping at the lone window. Poppy turned to her, the red of her skin having paled to a slight pink, her lips pulled up in a slight smile.

"This is perfect, Tori. I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here. And you're positive I won't be a bother?" Poppy's petite frame appeared as if she was bathed in ethereal light from the sun peeking through the window, and Victoria had to suck in a deep, steadying breath before speaking again.

"Poppy, I promise you won't be a bother. The house was getting a bit lonely, and who better to fill the empty space than dear old Poppy Sweeting?" Victoria would have missed the quick flash of excitement in Poppy's eyes had she been facing away, and she had opened her mouth to say something when they were interrupted by Poppy's growling stomach. Her small hand quickly jumped up to settle on her abdomen, and Victoria laughed lightly before starting for the stairs once more. "Perhaps we should get you that meal, yeah?"

Poppy

It hadn't taken long for Poppy to settle into her room once they had come back, most of her furniture having been enchanted to fit inside of one of her suitcases. Of course, being a witch had its perks, and she was able to easily maneuver the items into a suitable position. She had barely changed out of her outfit and into a soft skirt and short sleeved blouse when she heard a light rapping on her door.

Victoria was standing there, holding two glasses in one hand, the stems locked between her fingers as her knuckles tapped on the wood, and a bottle of red wine in the other. She raised the bottle, her eyebrows drawing upwards in a silent question. Poppy couldn't help the smile that broke out across her lips as she nodded and followed the taller woman down the stairs.

There was a couch that sat fairly close to the fireplace, a small table placed just in front of it where the wine glasses were set carefully. The two of them dropped down onto the couch, Victoria adjusting herself so that one of her legs was tucked underneath her. Poppy curled her legs so that they crossed over each other, clutching her hands over her ankles to help keep herself steady. She couldn't help but study Victoria as she popped the cork, her long fingers caressing the neck and body of the bottle of wine as she poured.

Poppy felt herself mesmerized by the glow the fire cast over her dark skin, her eyes taking in the details of the woman before her. Victoria had always been beautiful, but she was even more so now that they had grown older. Poppy had always loved Tori's high cheekbones and almond eyes, and paired with her thick, full lips, it made her look like a goddess incarnate in her eyes. She was significantly taller than Poppy, towering over her with close to a head in height, and her curves were only accentuated by the skin tight clothing she always chose to wear.

Despite being the most naïve of their friend group, Poppy had always found herself distracted by particularly lewd thoughts about Victoria. But she had also dreamed of a simple romance with the powerful witch long before she knew about the things that made her stand out. She had found herself drawn to Tori from the moment she stepped through those doors in fifth year, but she hadn't let it go past anything other than basic attraction until Tori had warded off Leander Prewett and Andrew Larson from tormenting her. Her feelings had only grown with each adventure they went on, and she found that even now, despite their recent distance, she was still drawn to this woman like a niffler to shiny objects.

She had dared to dream of a day when she lived under the same roof as Tori, under vastly different circumstances than she found herself now. Poppy could only hope that, based on Tori's current behavior towards her, her feelings were finally being reciprocated. It had been close to a year since she broke things off with Eliza, and she was ready to move on, especially if it were with a certain mahogany skinned woman. Each time Tori smiled at her, her heart felt like she had just run a marathon across the entirety of the Scottish Highlands, and her lungs felt like they'd had petrificus totalus cast on them.

Poppy almost didn't notice the glass of wine she was being presented with, her thoughts frozen on the woman before her. She smiled, taking the glass tentatively and swirling it lightly before taking a sip. This was going to be an interesting experience.