Friends Racing and a New Address ((Dare & Nadine))

[Solitaire Keighley]

Solitaire couldn’t believe that her friend was staying with her this summer; she had made arrangements with Dominic so that they wouldn’t have to stay with Solitaire’s parents. Solitaire’s parents had gotten used to her staying in town since they had found out about her muggle habit. They hadn’t approved of it, and had agreed that if Taire wasn’t going to give up the habit then it would be best for her to stay in town anyway when she was home. Dominic had agreed to let her use the garage apartment any time that she needed to after the argument with her parents. He had actually been there with her when it had happened and had told her parents that she would be safe there and that all other muggles knew not to bother or harass anyone that stayed in his apartment. They weren’t totally happy that Taire had already made a muggle friend, but there was nothing that they could do about it. They had agreed to pay Dominic for letting Taire use his apartment but he had refused. He said that it was the least he could do for a friend that had showed him that there really was magic in the world. Shocked that Dominic knew that Taire was a witch, they invited him to stay for dinner that evening and this in turn shocked Taire. The four of them had dinner peacefully and they explained that there would be no problems caused by them as long as Taire wanted to stay in Dominic’s apartment. They were pleased though that he had some where else he could stay while Taire lived in his apartment. Taire even agreed that she should pay Dominic some type of rent for staying there, but his response was that she could work on the cars during her free time to help him, and that it would cover anything he needed for expenses. Taire agreed, it would help her get better with car parts and such as well. Her parents were fine with this arrangement and helped Taire movie her stuff to the apartment.

Taire, of course, had owled Dare and Nadine the moment the dinner was over with. She was so excited that her parents had taken the news fairly well and hadn’t disowned her for it. She had told Nadine that the two of them would be staying in the muggle village at the apartment that they had talked about during the school year, and had told Darien that she had made arrangements for him to stay at the local inn, if that was what he wanted. He could owl her back and let her know different, and she could make other arrangements. The apartment was three bedrooms, so if necessary, he would be able to stay at the garage apartment with Taire and Nadine. But she hadn’t mentioned that to Darien just yet, she wanted to see what he would say to the local muggle inn. The inn was really a nice place. Dare would be able to still use magic as long as he was at the apartment during the day with Nadine and Taire or he would be able to use it as long as he was in his room, or the muggles weren’t paying much attention. Taire was just glad to finally be out of her parents’ house, and to get to spend a parent free summer with her friends.

Taire was now at what was her new apartment. Dominic had stayed to help her to get everything organized, and now Taire was settled down and trying to get used to being on her own. Of course her parents had agreed to help her if she needed any type of money, muggle or wizarding. They had said that it was still their responsibility to make sure she had money, and that they wouldn’t hold what would one day be hers anyway. Taire had liked this agreement, but she also wanted to do a bit on her own and support herself some, kind of prepare herself for adulthood since she was already now staying on her own. Even if on her own was only a five mile journey from her parents house, she was still never the less out from under their roof. She was relieved that she was somewhat on her own now. It meant no rules,well some rules but only ones that she chose, no hiding her racing, and her father had even agreed to come one weekend when Dominic would let him know about the races to come to one. This had shocked Taire and she had to ask him to repeat himself that he would come to one of her races. He said he didn’t totally approve of her muggle past times but he wouldn’t shun her for it. All that was left now was to wait on her friends so she could share this with them.

[Nadine Whitaker]

Very little surprised Nadine anymore. Even less shocked her. This summer seemed to both shock and surprise her, which had left her in a less than pleasant mood. Getting an owl from Taire with the news that her parents had accepted her friends favourite pastime had surprised her because she knew her parents hadn't approved of it and such a big turn around was...well, surprising. Getting invited over wasn't news to her at all since she had already known about it and grown used to the idea and even a little excited about seeing her friend race for the first time. Why else would she have been working double time on her scents during the school year - to the extent of staying up past midnight and skipping breakfast and lunch to catch up on homework she had shifted to the bottom of her priority list because paying customers - and the scent she had spent days working on for Cleo - came first for her. Her research into storing the scent in precious and semi-precious stones to boost the potency - and attract people who would be more likely to spend more money and increase her amount of money - had been shoved off her priority list altogether because she simply hadn't had the time to search through books for information, nor did she have access to the right books anyway. And hiring people to research something was, to her mind, a waste of money that she had worked extremely hard for. Sure, she had an inheritance to fall back on but she couldn't use that for a number of years yet. So her research and the project she had pinned such hopes on - hopes of getting out of her fathers house and away from babysitting the brats she was forced to share bloodties with - had been postponed until September, or later if she didn't squash her pride and ask Cleo to look through her library.

But that was just surprise and annoyance, both of which Nadine could handled without a lot of fuss and bother. What had shocked and infuriated her was the news that her father had married another woman while his children had been away at Hogwarts. Tyler had taken the news best, Nadine admitted sheepishly. But he always had had the best relationship with their father whereas Nadine could barely tolerate him sometimes. Ryann had reacted as well as Nadine supposed any thirteen year old would take the news that her father had married a woman that none of them knew; she had stormed out of the house and come back a few hours later to collect her stuff and make the announcement that she was staying with her godfather for the summer, and possible longer. Personally, Nadine reckoned Ryann had made the best decision of all three of them and she would have followed in her younger sisters footsteps if she had known who her godfather was, or if she had one. As it was, she was still in her room but had refused to leave it untul she had gotten Taires owl. Even then she had just packed a few clothes, jammed her favourite hat - a black stetson with a bright red ribbon around the base - on her head and flooed to her grandparents house so they could apparate her to Taires. And all the stress and irritation just seemed to leave her the second she left her fathers house.

It was obvious that Grandfather approved of her fathers match just as much as she did, Nadine noticed as she observed him, feeling slightly guilty when she noticed the weariness shading his blue eyes. "I'll walk up from here," Nadine assured him as she hugged him impulsively - for once laying aside her own dislike of being touched. "Take care of yourself," she ordered before watching him apparate away. She had wrapped herself up in her own worries and surrounded herself with her fury to the extent that she hadn't even noticed how old her grandfather looked nor the way his shoulders hunched as if to fight off cold even though it was the middle of summer. But she couldn't do anything about it now, so Nadine pushed it to the back of her mind as she walked through the village, finally stopping outside the apartment that Taire had claimed as her own. It was her own shyness that made her hesitate before lifting her right hand to knock, eager to see her friend again after so many weeks.

[Solitaire Keighley]

Taire wondered through the apartment, still shocked that it had now become her own. Moving things around so that the rooms would be more welcoming than crowded, Taire had never realized how much stuff she had. There was no doubt about that, but Taire just couldn't seem to get everything the way she wanted it to be. Her Hufflepuff Banner hung tightly on the wall, next to a Gryffindor one that she had gotten so she could support her friends. The furniture were all conjured by her father just moments after agreeing to let her move into the apartment. She did bring all the stuff from her bedroom, furniture and all, in which made her mother cry, but her father was alright with it. Taire's life had changed within moments the day her parents had agreed to this move.

Taire had somehow managed to get her father to paint the walls of the apartment the easy way as well, although she had talented artist friends, and she could sketch out anything that she wanted painted on the walls, her father could just wave a wand and the pictures be there until she wanted them removed. Taire showed her father the vixen fox that she had sketched to be painted on the side of her car, and had asked him if he could get that on one of her walls in her living room. Her father for the first time ever complimented her work and said that he would be more than happy to add the picture to the painting that he was already magically applying.

Taire was now looking at all the work that her father had done in her apartment to make the rooms the way she wanted them, the kitchen in yellow with deep red accents through out, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff colors filled her apartment, and made her feel so at home. The colors would please her friends, and Taire was shocked that her father had done it all with little to no complaints. He had expressed how he wished that she would add Slytherin and Ravenclaw colors to the apartment, and she had promised to think about it, but for now it would stay this way. He sighed but agreed and went along with the spell making. Taire’s apartment was now as beautiful as she could have ever imagined.

Taire continued to walk around her apartment, and kept repeating to herself that she could move anything at any time. This was a thought that she couldn’t get over. This was her apartment. Taire was beginning to zone out into her own thoughts when she heard a knock at the door. Wondering who could be at her house this quickly, Taire almost fell running toward the door. Gathering herself as she stood in front of her door ready to answer it, Taire opened the door calmly. The calmness that Taire felt didn’t last long as when she opened the door, her best friend Nadine just happened to already be standing outside it. “How did you get here so fast? I didn’t think the owl would have reached you yet.” Taire said not noticing that something was wrong with Nadine. “Come in. Oh my gracious, I get to say Welcome to my home. My home, not my parents’ home.” Taire finally shut up after a quick burst of excitement and looked at Nadine. “Umm... What’s wrong?” Taire asked finally noticing the look in Nadine’s eyes.

((sorry this took me forever. It has been coming in short bursts of inspiration and I have just now been able to get them typed out))