All Good Things

Chapter 10 - All Things Considered

She hadn't expected to wake up slumped against the door at the sound of the alarm charm she had set on her wand. Her legs and hips ached from the position she'd found herself in, and her back was sore from having been curled up like a shrimp all night. Victoria stood, stretching and heading toward her personal bathroom. A hot bath was definitely in the works, and maybe a pepper-up potion for the hangover. How much wine had she had last night?

One look at the empty bottle beside the door was enough to make her cringe. Too much, apparently. She pressed her hands to her back firmly before stripping her clothes as she went, turning the tap to hot and moving to inspect herself in the mirror. She had always hated the myriad of pink scars that marred her dark skin. Most were fairly straight slashes across her abdomen and limbs where she had fought against ashwinders and poachers. Some were smaller, more jagged scars where she'd been sloppy in her disposal of goblin loyalists. But then there was the big, lightning-like scar that covered most of her chest. A constant reminder of how far some were willing to go for their family.

Victoria turned from the mirror, stopping the tap on the ceramic tub and sinking in, her muscles pulling taut as the scalding water seeped into her skin. She leaned her head back against the edge of the tub, closing her eyes and letting out a deep sigh. Last night had been painful on her heart, and she was desperate to either talk it out with the woman across the hall, or forget it even happened. The choice entirely depended on the state Poppy was in this morning. She soaked in the heat of the water for a bit, allowing her muscles to relax before she took to scrubbing the dust and grime off of her skin from the cleaning spree she'd gone on.

It didn't take long for the alarm charm to once again chime, signaling that she would be late for her job at the ministry if she didn't leave soon. She forced herself from the tub before drying off and dressing in her usual work attire – a dark, long skirt and jacket combo with a white button up blouse, black stockings and heels. She pulled her hair back as neatly as she could, ensuring the curls were contained in a bun at the nape of her neck before tucking her wand into her skirt pocket and making her way downstairs.

Poppy was nowhere in the small house, her door having been left wide open and the ground floor completely vacant. Victoria let out a sigh before reaching into her potions cabinet and grabbing a pepper-up and a wide-eye potion, downing both quickly before making for the door.

She had tried and failed to keep her thoughts from straying to the night before as she made the trek to the telephone booth that would take her down to the ministry's headquarters. She still couldn't quite figure out where she had gone wrong, but surely she must have for Poppy to have had such an adverse reaction to their late night endeavor. This was going to be a very long day if she couldn't find a way to keep the thoughts from invading her every free second.

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She had been right. The day had dragged on, business as usual with her regular stack of papers to file, sort and fill out. And every second she wasn't busy with a client, her mind had snapped back to Poppy. It was driving her mad, and she desperately hoped that Poppy was home when she got there. She even made sure to stop by a small bakery on the way and pick up Poppy's favorite flavor of chocolate cupcakes in an attempt at apologizing for whatever she'd done.

Victoria stood for a long moment, just staring at her own front door before taking a deep, steadying breath and making her way in. She exhaled, shoulders dropping in disappointment when she found the lower level still empty. Peeking up the stairs, she huffed out a sigh when she noticed Poppy's room was still open and the lights were still extinguished. She could only assume Poppy was avoiding her, and her heart ached in her chest as if it had been split in two.