Sixteen: Circumspect
In the cellar bar in Berlin, Jago surveyed the party, which was now in full swing. He could see Cadence and Jack dancing while Phoenix watched, talking to Ashtad quietly the other end of the bar. The Ashwinders had been wowing the crowd with their new material but now they broke into some of their cover versions.
“If I mattered to you
Then all I would see is indigo
Nothing else I could do
Could ever make you more dear to me and so
Every green every blue
Every red orange and ultramarine
I've seen
Would go Indigo for you...”
Jago grinned, glad that Mack had honoured his promise to play songs that Elspeth loved. He heard Cadence’s peal of laughter above the music and saw Phoenix smiling, watching her. He reflected that whatever their problem had been, they seemed to have worked through it. His eyes searched out Hermia but he couldn’t find her in the throng of Elspeth’s friends who were dancing happily. He took a sip of champagne and turned to see Ashtad making his way through the crowd, to Jago’s end of the long bar.
“Have you seen her?” The ‘her’ in question was obvious to both of them and certainly not the birthday girl.
“This afternoon, in the cafe.” Ashtad didn’t expand on this, pushing his chocolate coloured curls out of his eyes, taking up Jago’s occupation in scanning the room.
“And?” Jago asked excitedly. Surely it can’t have gone wrong again... He thought with a wry smile.
Ashtad couldn’t help but laugh at Jago’s excitement. “She tipped a cup of coffee over me. She’s got her wires crossed about Lalita, I think she’s jealous.”
Jago frowned and disregarded the comment about the coffee. “Who’s Lalita?”
Ashtad still felt rather happy about the fact Hermia was jealous. “Lalita is my sister, but I never got the opportunity to introduce her to Smith because the she did one of her disappearing tricks before I got the chance to.”
It may have been the champagne that had gone to his head but Jago burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Eventually, he managed to calm himself enough so that he could say, “So basically, our massively intelligent, logical and rational BG jumped to conclusions and completely got the wrong end of the stick?” When Ashtad nodded, wearing a broad, silly smile of his own, Jago broke into another gale of laughter. The two men stood there, laughing and trying to compose themselves for several minutes until Jago managed to pull himself together.
“What are you going to do?”
Ashtad sobered slightly. “Talk to her, hopefully, if I can ever find her. Kelpies have nothing on that girl.” His comment caused Jago to burst out laughing again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
There was nothing quite like a party at the Potters. Ron’s voice could be heard over the music, his slightly off colour joke causing more than just Hermione’s nose to wrinkle. The drinks flowed and in the garden, as the late evening sun set, it seemed to set the sky on fire as though it was oil on water. Happiness seemed to bubble forth from the very stones of the building, that they were simply unable to contain the mirth of revellers. There was, after all, a lot to celebrate, finally. Teddy swung Amelia around, dipped her and kissed her deeply. “Congratulations, Mrs Lupin.” Her long wedding robes were cast with a pink-orange hue as they reflected the sky. Laughter was pulled form her lips as Teddy’s found her throat and peppered it in kisses. “Why thank you Mr Lupin!”
At the end of the lane, unseen by every eye, stood an uninvited guest. He could hear Amelia’s peals of floating towards him on the dusk air as the darkness began to creep in. He gritted his jaw with annoyance as a stray cat came up to him, able to smell him on the air and started to wind around his ankles, purring. There was a flash of green light and the animal fell dead at his feet and he moved away. “You’ll have your time, Mrs Lupin.”
~~~~~~~~~~~ Orange, yellow, green and malachite,
Octarine,light plum and eggshell white,
International Klein Blue, maroon,
Azure, magenta, midnight blue,
Harlequin and heliotrope,
Tea, tan, turquoise, teal and taupe,
Amaranth and Ivory,
Cosmic latte, tangerine.
If I mattered to you
Then all I would see is Indigo...
Hermia danced with Lloyd Harrison as Mackenzie sang out his cover of the old love song. She liked the secluded atmosphere of the cellar bar, it felt so very different to the ballroom at Jago’s place or to The Three Broomsticks. Lloyd pulled her close and she let him, taking in his compact, muscular physique. He looked as though he ought to be an Auror, but he was actually the bass guitarist for the Ashwinders, and had insisted that Hermia dance with him, promising that he had no intention of trying to chat her up. “You are very pretty, but I just want to dance, that’s all.” Now that they were dancing together, Hermia was rather suspicious. She had a prickly feeling on the back of her neck, as though someone was watching her. The fact was that more than one person was watching the pair dance. An attractive girl with long corn-rows sat in the corner, jiggling her slender ankle to the beat. Her rather attractive features were marred by her visible jealousy as Hermia and Lloyd laughed and apparently flirted with each other as they danced. At the bar, the glass of champagne in his hand hardly touched, Ashtad watched the pair dance. Turning to Jago, he wondered aloud, “How long has she known him?”
“Umm, a while.” Jago sipped his drink and said, rather dismissively “They’re just friends. He’s not her type at all.” Ashtad nodded and Jago wondered just how many more bumps in the road there could be. Lloyd kissed Hermia on the cheek and climbed back on stage. Jago saw the tension seeping out of Ashtad, as though he was a sponge full of water which someone had squeezed. On the dance floor, Hermia was now dancing with Jack Mannequin, who had her twirling around and laughing dizzily.
“How goes it with the Auror?” He asked, having to get his lips close to her ear in order to make himself heard. Hermia hit his bicep in response.
“That well eh? You’ll make me lose my bet shortie.”
Hermia blinked at him several times and then turned on her heel and stormed out of the bar.
“Ha! It looks like poor old Jack got on the wrong side of her tonight! Gives you a rest though, eh?” Jago called to Ashtad as Elspeth dragged him on to the dance floor.
Ashtad drained his glass and followed Hermia out into the darkness. He followed her for a little while, quite sure that she had no idea he was there. She crossed the road, wary of the unfamiliar traffic. Eventually she came to an uninhabited bench and sat down, her back to Ashtad. He stood at a distance, watching her.
“Djalili, are you coming to sit down or are you going to follow me all over Germany?” Hermia asked loudly after ten minutes, not turning around to look at him. He gave a sigh. She had known he was there all the time. “Tell me, just how many times did you fail stealth and tracking?” She asked, still not looking at him.
“I didn’t, I haven’t had any fail marks yet.” He informed her proudly. She made a small ‘tuh’ of disgust in the back of her throat, perhaps at his lack of modesty in his accomplishments, or perhaps in the tests for not being stricter. Ashtad ignored it.
“Lalita asked me to say that she’s sorry she didn’t get to meet you. She said to say that she had been looking forward to meeting the only girl her brother has...” but he didn’t get to finish his sentence, to pass on the message, as Hermia had stood up and walked away.
“I DON”T WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES!” She shouted back at him, feet picking up into a run. He watched her until she was gone, shaking his head in disbelief. “Mental... that girl is... mental!” he murmured, standing up and walking back towards the party, feeling rather lost.
I tried to tie up some loose ends and I don't think it worked but never mind.
The song is Indigo by Tom Milsom who is so talented it should be illegal.
Lloyd Harrison My gallery isn't working right now, I think I might have to delete it and start again 