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the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 08-30-2026
Friday, 24 August
Grivven's Odds and Ends
about 11:30 am
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"Keep your head down and stick close to me," Reyna said, catching Lovelace by the hand. "A lot of folks 'round here don't like it when you make eye contact."
The door to this particular shop had rusted hinges, and the blackened paint was curling and peeling off of the wood. Above the foggy windows hung a shabby sign that read: GRIVVEN'S ODDS AND ENDS - BUYERS BEWARE.
Now, this was not Reyna's first time sneaking into Knockturn Alley, and it would for sure not be the last, but she still felt a shiver go down her spine as they darkened Grivven's doorstep. Not to mention, that Javor lady would have a conniption fit if she knew that Rey had taken Lovelace into this den of sinners. Then again, it had been a bit of a joint idea, between the two of them. And they knew of the risk that lay ahead. The moment the two girls had entered, some gold-toothed crone had tried to lay some phony sob-story on them.
But it would take good effort to swindle the daughters of a swindler. And pooh-pooh on those Javors! They wouldn't know fun if it kicked them in the pants. They had gotten their time with Lovelace on Wednesday, and Rey felt a need to prove her worth, as well. She could tell-- she had a way of knowing these things-- that her little sister was still sour about the whole "Don't tell Lovelace about magic or Hogwarts" thing that Reyna's father had put her up to.
Even if Lovelace wasn’t sore anymore, the point still stood. So, they would do this, together, and Rey would have the chance to be the bee's knees and all that. A flawless plan, indeed.
Walking in, the first thing that hit Rey was an overbearing musty odor. It seemed to permeate the very walls; a scent that spoke of decades of shady practices and old, old magic. Rey nodded to herself and ushered Lovelace against the back wall. There was a wizened old man (Grivven himself, perhaps?) by the cash register, with a white rat sat on his shoulder. He looked up once when the girls shuffled in, then returned to drumming his yellowed fingernails on the wooden counter.
"Maybe we can find something interesting," Reyna murmured, as they navigated the piles on piles of trinkets, baubles, books, and other mysterious items. "You were lookin' to follow in the old fella's footsteps, right? I've heard that this place carries all sorts of stuff, great for cons."
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RE: the hand that feeds - Lovelace Durand - 09-01-2026
Any other hand and Lovelace would’ve immediately been throwing her whole body into shaking it off. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was going off to school, just like her big sis! Instead of throwing Reyna’s hand off, she squeezed it gently as she did her best to follow her lead. She nodded slightly, taking in her sister’s words, “No eye contact,” she started off seriously, trying to prove that she could be just as business-like as the adults. Unfortunately, her mouth continued, “Ideally no bodily, lowest aromatic as possible.”
It was a struggle not to wear the mischievous smile Lovelace felt in her heart at the concept of going somewhere she wasn’t supposed to as well as at her own words, so she allowed the slightest curve at the corners of her lips. One of the sides lowered as she tried to at least show some sympathy to the crone who wouldn’t get a thing from any Durand. She ducked her head in a near bow as she put on her best imitation of the thickest accent she’d heard around here in response to her ‘best’ tale, “Greatest sympathies, mother, but we ‘aven’t nuffin’ to spare.” Her feet danced away from the cadger as she reached for them before the sisters walked on.
Immediately switching to breathing through her mouth the second they entered the building and started toward the back of the establishment, Lovelace couldn’t help wondering if any spores would find a good home in her lungs. She hoped not, though her thoughts turned to the idea that they might move through her blood and find a way into her brain. It might explain a few things about her now if that all had already happened, she realized, so vowed to ask someone about it later. That decided, and Rey’s words moving to the forefront of her attention, Lovelace considered them as she looked around the place without taking anything in. The last time she and Rey had spoken in any great depth, before Rey had gone off to England for mysterious reasons, Lovelace had been all on-board with being just like their family. That hadn’t changed necessarily, but she’d also realized that she wanted to try to do other things, as well.
Still, Lovelace understood a challenge when one was handed to her (and also when she grabbed one, or pulled it out of thin air), so she focused more on her surroundings, searching for any of the things she’d come to associate with riches, or how to get them. As Rey seemed to focus on the bits and bobs around the place, Lovelace’s eyes scanned how the gambling and betting was set up. The family rarely differentiated between taking from an individual or an establishment, but Lovelace couldn’t help feeling it was more sporting if she focused on the establishment’s likely ill-gotten gains. Because of this, she wanted to find the system, which she figured would change as soon as it’d been cracked a few times. She glanced back at the items her sister was looking at as she considered the last part of her words and she nodded, tilting her head to the side, “Nothing they’d think might help with disrupting their system, likely, but they’ve never met the Durands.” she said with a mischievous smile. “Anythin’ you were thinkin’ of in particular?”
RE: the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 09-03-2026
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"Well, you could go for boring , they're known for their enchanted dice here," Reyna said. She let go of Lovelace's hand and swooped over the piles of merchandise like a bird of prey. "But knowin' them at school, no, knowin' you, really, it's going to take more effort than that."
She was feeling properly buzzy. There was a flip side to being sworn to secrecy for so long; now Reyna was free to show Lovelace every bit of what she'd been missing out on.
"Bet they've got a few of those Biting Books somewhere-- you don't want to be on the receiving end of one, trust me. How flashy are you planning to get, anyway?" I'm not sure how many times I could talk you out of detention." Reyna paused. Hm. Now here was something interesting and eye catching.
She reached out for a small metal phoenix. The intricacy was amazing; you could see everything down to the delicate curled feathers in the metalwork. The figure seemed to glow from within with a tantalizing orange color.
"Or... whatever this thing is-- Ah! Christ!" Reyna jerked back as if she'd been burned-- because she had. The little bugger was white hot. Evidently, the orange had not been just for show. The phoenix wobbled, then toppled off the card stack and onto the floor as Reyna cursed under her breath.
"You break it, you buy it!" Squawked the old geezer.
"Right," Reyna muttered, sucking at her blistered fingers. "I think it's totally unharmed, sir! Not so sure about me, though."
Truly, the real thing wounded here was Reyna's pride. There went her image as the all-knowing older sister. She smiled sheepishly and stuffed her still-stinging fingers into her coat pocket.
"If I am to be honest, the item--" Reyna glared at the smouldering metal thing on the floor, "--Doesn't really matter. It's how you talk it up. Surely you've gotten better at that during our time apart, hm?"
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RE: the hand that feeds - Lovelace Durand - 09-03-2026
On the realization that she had entirely misunderstood Rey’s initial meaning, Lovelace grinned. She moved closer to the items scattered in front of her as her sister’s hand dropped hers, examining the broken glasses closest to her. “Enchanted dice is boring,” she agreed, enunciating every syllable of the word in disgust. She raised her eyebrows as she looked through one of the lenses. Something in the view of them seemed different from what she could see, so she moved her head back and forth to try to figure out if it was just the perspective.
Reyna’s next words pulled Lovelace’s attention from the glasses, turning her head to furrow her brows at her, “What, I’m gonna be too obvious about it?” she asked, trying not to feel hurt by the concept. She did tend to wear her heart on her sleeve, but that was why she did her best to embody the roles their family wanted her to play. She turned back to look at the glasses again, this time picking them up gently. Their father had given her plenty of warnings about touching things that had been near magic, though she felt like those warnings might pop out of her head sometime soon. There was only so much she reckoned she could keep in her noggin before it all started going out the other ear.
As she carefully brought the glasses closer to her eyes, she considered her sister’s next words. She crinkled her nose and turned her body to look at her sister again, “You were just talkin’ about how excessive I can get, huh?” she asked before smiling a little at the glasses. “Books that bite more’n usual sounds like it could be interestin’, not sure who I’d use that on yet, though…” she thought aloud, eyebrows playing charades as she considered. She liked the two Ravenclaws she’d met—though, actually, one of them hadn’t spoken very much. But, still, she hadn’t been given cause to try to get her bitten. “I’m not sure yet how much I wanna do.” she admitted, tilting her head to the side as she considered the question. “What all d’you get up to, Rey?” she asked softly, not necessarily meaning crimes or devilry. Lovelace was normally filled with questions about anything and everything for the family she was comfortable with, and she had had plenty of questions for Reyna. She just hadn’t known how to ask any of them, between Rey moving to England and going to Hogwarts and not telling Lovelace about any of it.
“I think I’ll try n’ play it by ear—but if there are bullies or meanies, I would like something to be able to pull out in case I’ll be Flemington confetti at doing magic, y’know?” she asked, looking back at Reyna with her eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sure you’re great at it, n’ Father is, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be. I’m half galah, with the Javors.” she admitted, then pressed her lips together to get herself to shut up.
At first Lovelace thought it was fortunate that Reyna was reaching for that metal figure, until she realized she might’ve gotten hurt. She reached for Reyna’s hands when she realized what had happened, then let her free hand drop when Reyna took it in her mouth, “Are you okay?” she asked with an even deeper frown at her sister. Lovelace realized she should be double-careful about handling things if Reyna was getting burnt by items in the shop, so she patted around until she found one of the handkerchiefs her mother was always stuffing around her outfits. The woman was convinced Lovelace was still a snot-dribbler, so she might as well give her some questions when it came time for someone to do her laundry. She folded it up even further than it already was, then bent over to pick up the figure and get it back up to its previous height.
Grimacing as she started to feel the heat even through the handkerchief, she dropped it somewhat unceremoniously into the tiniest cauldron she’d ever seen. She did have to admit to not having seen many aside many of them, though, so she could’ve been wrong. Maybe it was for sauteeing a single onion. She stood on her tippy toes to try to see how the figure looked in the cauldron before remembering that her sister had said something, so paused what she was doing to try to recall it. After a few moments, she let her feet relax, looking back at Reyna sympathetically, “I’m not sure,” she confessed, face turning chagrined, “I’ve been trying, though!” she added quickly, though she knew her sister wasn’t judging her. Maybe she’d tease Lovelace a bit, but not judge.
On a whim, Lovelace unfolded the glasses and put them on. Her eyes crossed before she realized what was happening, and her hands moved quickly to try to get the glasses back off, but knocked into the sides with two distinct clicks instead. Immediately, her vision shifted, eyes uncrossing as her eyebrows raised. Her lips pulled down as she looked around the interior, which now looked absolutely busted and like it hadn’t been cleaned in centuries. Looking back at Reyna was worse—she looked absolutely ghoulish. Now that her eyes were no longer crossed, when she moved to rip the glasses off her face, she was successful. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she examined her sister without them, then cleared her throat, “Glasses’re interesting.” she observed, blinking a few times. Her eyeballs felt a little sore from how quickly they’d moved.
RE: the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 09-04-2026
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"M'fine. I just... won't have feeling in my fingertips for a few days." Reyna sighed to herself and made a mental note to rummage around in her things for some sort of salve later. Or she could sneak down to the greenhouses and pilfer some herbs. They wouldn't be missed much, surely.
Reyna looked over, just in time to see Lovelace fumble with the glasses. Cracks spiderwebbed over the lenses, and they were fogged to hell besides. "You look stupid in those," Reyna snorted. She walked back over and smiled fondly. Now that they were both getting on in age, somewhat, she'd grown quite a bit taller than her sister. "What, can't handle being a four eyes?"
Lovelace's sudden forlornness caused a little pang in Reyna's chest. She frowned. Inadequate was the last thing she wanted Lovelace to feel like. "Right, you're not 'excessive,' Lovey, I just meant that--" No, that wasn't it, either. Reyna huffed to herself and opened her mouth to try again.
"I just meant that you've got your own way of doin' things, and I want you to knock 'em bandy, the best you can." There, that sounded a bit more sound on her tongue. "You are trying! Don't let the Javors or anyone else put you off." Reyna snickered again, then wrinkled her nose. "I mean, I only met your 'mum' once, and don't tell her I said this, but she sort of... smelled? Could've been me, though."
Reyna shrugged and traipsed further through the labyrinth of junk. "As for what we get up to, oh, just you wait, Lovey-- School's absolutely ripping. They have actual Acromantulas in the forest!" She cleared her throat and pawed at a nearby snowglobe with her sleeve. Finding it a normal temperature, she picked it up and shook it with gusto.
" 'Course, yours truly still has yet to er... make contact with them, but I wouldn't mind some help with that."
The snowglobe's swirling snow settled, revealing a figurine of a naked gnome, complete with massive potato head, sharp teeth, and... other assets." Reyna laughed out loud. "Aw, here's a beaut! I might buy this for my own purposes. Or we could sneak it in somewhere..?"
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RE: the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 09-04-2026
(09-04-2026, 03:23 AM) Reyna Durand pid=' Wrote:❧❧❧
"M'fine. I just... won't have feeling in my fingertips for a few days." Reyna sighed to herself and made a mental note to rummage around in her things for some sort of salve later. Or she could sneak down to the greenhouses and pilfer some herbs. They wouldn't be missed much, surely.
Reyna looked over, just in time to see Lovelace fumble with the glasses. Cracks spiderwebbed over the lenses, and they were fogged to hell besides. "You look stupid in those," Reyna snorted. She walked back over and smiled fondly. Now that they were both getting on in age, somewhat, she'd grown quite a bit taller than her sister. "What, can't handle being a four eyes?"
Lovelace's sudden forlornness caused a little pang in Reyna's chest. She frowned. Inadequate was the last thing she wanted Lovelace to feel like. "Right, you're not 'excessive,' Lovey, I just meant that--" No, that wasn't it, either. Reyna huffed to herself and opened her mouth to try again.
"I just meant that you've got your own way of doin' things, and I want you to knock 'em bandy, the best you can." There, that sounded a bit better. "You are trying! Don't let the Javors or anyone else put you off." Reyna snickered again, then wrinkled her nose. "I mean, I only met your 'mum' once, and don't tell her I said this, but she sort of... smelled? Could've been me, though."
Reyna shrugged and traipsed further through the labyrinth of junk. "As for what we get up to, oh, just you wait, Lovey-- School's absolutely ripping. They have actual Acromantulas in the forest!" She cleared her throat and pawed at a nearby snowglobe with her sleeve. Finding it a normal temperature, she picked it up and shook it with gusto.
" 'Course, yours truly still has yet to er... make contact with them, but I wouldn't mind some help with that."
The snowglobe's swirling snow settled, revealing a figurine of a naked gnome, complete with massive potato head, sharp teeth, and... other assets." Reyna laughed out loud. "Aw, here's a beaut! I might buy this for my own purposes. Or we could sneak it in somewhere..?"
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RE: the hand that feeds - Lovelace Durand - 09-04-2026
Lovelace made a face at her sister’s numbness. Reyna didn’t seem to want to make a big deal about it, though, so Lovelace didn’t want to either. So, instead of making an even bigger deal of it than she already had, she nodded with a small smile. It probably looked strange, what with her eyebrows still sinking into her eyes, but it was the best she could do. “Who needs fingertips, huh?” she joked.
Unable to keep from smiling more genuinely at the fact that she looked ridiculous in the glasses, Lovelace stuck her thumbs in her ears and did spirit fingers at her sister, “Sorry, are you just jealous at how distinguished I look?!” she teased back. She shook her head at her sister’s question after she’d taken off the glasses, grinning as she dropped them into the cauldron as well. “Nah, I think it’d give people the wrong idea. People in glasses look too proper.” she agreed with a smile.
As Reyna tried to explain, Lovelace wished she’d kept her mouth shut. She moved to a new area and tried to look at the new items in front of her, but her eyes weren’t taking them in. She was glad for Reyna that she’d been off doing all kinds of cool things, and that’s what she should’ve just said instead. She nodded at Rey’s explanation in support of her sister’s finding her words, though she wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about what was being said. Instead of expressing this, or talking about the people with expectations of her that sometimes felt like weights around her neck, she picked up a mirror as she asked a question, “Did Father tell you not to get up to scams at Hogwarts too?” she asked, aiming the mirror around the interior to try to determine what the mirror might do. She turned her head to grin at Rey’s comment about her mother, nodding her head with a snort, “Nah, that’s not just you, she stinks. She says it’s perfume, but I’ve no idea why anyone would want to smell like that, or make up a scent like that and expect it to sell.”
Following Reyna to another pile of items, Lovelace tried to think if she’d seen the word Rey had just said in any of the books she’d insisted she needed. She smiled when she thought she’d recalled the creatures, raising her eyebrows as she looked at her sister and ran her fingers along one of the stems of a sizable flower made of felt. “Those’re the huge spiders, right?” she asked, smiling even wider. “Way bigger’n anythin’ we saw in Australia.” she added, blinking when she thought she saw movement out of the corner of the eye. She turned her head to better look at the “flower” as her finger moved further up the stem. The area with the red bits sticking out of it were curling towards her hand, if she wasn’t making things up. She removed her fingers before looking back at Rey, smiling wide, “I’d love to meet some huge spiders with you!” she agreed excitedly.
Attention pulled by the contents of the snowglobe, Lovelace laughed with her sister. “Are we sure it doesn’t show whatever the holder was thinking about?” she joked, raising her eyebrows at her sister. “Sneak it in to get people to pick it up and see the glorious gnome inside?” she asked, tapping the glass, “I think you should get it for either reason!” she added supportively, then glanced back at the felt flower. It had straightened itself out again, so she lowered her hand toward the part with the red bits. Sure enough, it slowly started curling again. “I’m afraid Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Australia would want to play with this thing,” she admitted as she let it wrap around the top of the knuckle of one of her fingers.
RE: the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 09-07-2026
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The laughter stuttered in Reyna's throat at the mention of their father. "He did," She said, simply. "Before I left home."
It was kind of a disappointment that he did, really. Rey had been hoping that her father wouldn't have bothered, but the fact that he did... Did he not think Reyna was deserving of upholding the Durand family business?
She shook her head. Not the time to think of that now. He was off somewhere else, and she was here, with Lovelace. Then, to regain some of her metaphorical footing, she smirked and added, "But you know me. Not really the type to listen. And, it's not quite my fault that people are proper stupid. Or that my fingers have gotten stickier over the years…”
She tilted the snowglobe up to the light streaming in through the foggy windows. "Believe me, Lovey-- the purebloods, especially. Some families shelter their nippers somethin' fierce. Right, I'm definitely buyin' this." She tucked it under her arm and started for the register. Slowly, though. They had time, even if that mangy shopkeeper was slipping them the evil eye every couple minutes.
"Her Royal Highness has excellent taste, as usual," Reyna giggled, putting on the poshest accent she could muster. "As one of her ever loyal subjects, I will have no choice but to oblige Her Majesty's every whim." She made a point to slip HRH a few extra treats on the train ride to Hogwarts.
Speaking of which-- "You're goin' to be right keen on Hogwarts, I can tell," Reyna sighed. She could barely contain herself, how could you really, with such a monumental happening? "The food, the castle, the classes-- Oh, I have got to show you around the greenhouses too. The collection of rare plants, they've got... I was over the moon."
Reyna wondered, briefly, if she should mention The Year. Her first year at Hogwarts. The one where everything and anything had gone wrong, and the school was turned on its head. She wet her lips. "Just... There's also this mob of drongos who don't quite like half-bloods or muggleborns.."
She fixed her sister with a sort of probing stare. "But you won't let that nonsense worm into your brain. You come to me if anyone gives you trouble, too."
Admittedly, Reyna had been practicing a small arsenal of hexes and jinxes, just in case. Of course, there was the more straightforward option of just lamping someone in the nose-- but if there was anything Rey had learned in her nearly four years at magic school, it was that it sometimes paid to go the roundabout route.
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RE: the hand that feeds - Lovelace Durand - 09-16-2026
Rey’s reaction to Lovelace’s question made her think she’d said the wrong thing, again. She looked down at the heap of items in front of her, unable to actually see any of them. She didn’t get when things had gotten like this between them, but she supposed it had to have been when Reyna left for Hogwarts. Before, if she’d said something that upset her sister, she would’ve known, or been able to guess well enough to cheer her up right after. Now, though, they had spent three years apart, and Lovelace wasn’t sure if anything would go back to normal.
Before Lovelace could spiral too deeply, her sister threw her a life raft. Not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, Lovelace smiled back at her sister and nodded, “Why should we listen when we can find out for ourselves?” she agreed, then shook her head, “’N if they’ve got more money than sense, doesn’t seem entirely fair that they were born with all the money, does it?” she asked, entirely forgetting the fact that she had been born similarly. Whatever was hers was Rey’s, though, so she considered them to be in the same boat. “You’ve gotta tell me what your sticky fingers’ve been up to over the years!”
Unable to argue with Rey’s choice in oddities, Lovelace nodded sagely at Reyna, “Good, if you wouldn’t get it, I was about to for you.” she agreed contentedly. She shook her head after a few more moments, considering the rest of her sister’s words, “It’s like their parents don’t care about them at all.” she said dismissively, not understanding why anyone wouldn’t try to protect their family members. Even Lovelace’s mother seemed to try to protect her, though Lovelace tended to not understand her mother’s warnings or lessons until she was wishing she had paid any amount of attention to them.
Reyna’s words brought Lovelace’s attention back to the felt plant as well as the realization that it was becoming wet somehow, Lovelace decided to start removing her hand. She wasn’t sure if plants could pee, but she certainly didn’t want to discover that she had kept her hand in plant pee for any longer than she’d had to. Once assured that her hand was fine, she grinned at her sister as she ducked her head and touched the top of her head, mimicking Reyna’s posh accent as best as she could, “Since our discovery of Her Royal Highness and her ascension to the throne, she has only had an interest in the highest caliber of company.” she agreed, throwing in words and phrases she’d heard around her mother. “However, she and this plant might destroy each other, so I must decline its request to join her court!”
When others assured her that she would love, or be amazed by, or hate, or feel anything in particular about Hogwarts, Lovelace couldn’t help putting no stock in their words. When Reyna said it, she took heed. Her sister knew her better than anyone, including Lovelace, who rarely had the time or energy for deep self-reflection. Lovelace’s full attention returned to Rey as she spoke, a small smile spreading as she listened. “You had me at the food,” she said happily, thinking about the disappointment of unseasoned food she had been enduring at home. “But the rare plants sound like a lotta fun too! And I’ve read a bit about the creatures, as much as I’ve been able to find. D’ya think we could find a unicorn?”
From her father or mother, Lovelace would’ve dismissed any concerns about dealing with anyone who didn’t like half-bloods or muggleborns. She knew they were half, and she knew that people would let preconceived notions ruin their own lives (and if they were mean enough, they’d try to ruin other peoples’ lives as well.) Reyna had been living in the castle with those drongos, though, so Lovelace’s eyebrows drew together as she looked away, wanting to consider Rey’s words carefully. “I won’t let their nonsense worm into my brain,” she assured her sister before looking back at her, “And I’ll get anyone back if they give you trouble.” she said, setting her jaw as stubborn as she could make it. Anyone who thought they could mess with her sister wouldn’t know what hit them. Sure, she didn’t know any magic yet, but Durands knew how to get creative when they needed to.
RE: the hand that feeds - Reyna Durand - 09-22-2026
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Ah, it was great to have the Durand sisters together again! Reyna ruffled Lovelace's hair. Perhaps she was wrong to worry so much. It was as if no time had passed between them at all. "We'll give 'em hell this year, hey? You n'me." She snorted at her sister's try at poshness. The two of them were as far from posh as could be, but that was what made them two of a kind.
"Unicorns, spiders, centaurs... Anything you can imagine," Reyna said, nodding. "The Forest is techinically 'forbidden,' but I have my ways." She turned the snowglobe over in her hands and fell silent for a moment. Wait a tick...
"Mm. On second thought," Reyna lowered her voice to a whisper. "Who says we gotta pay for these? What is it, when in Rome, or something?" One of her signature grins spread across her face, slow and sly. "Well, we're not in Rome, but I won't tell if you don't."
She pivoted and snuck a glance over at the shopkeep. The old fellow was trying to force a crumb of what looked like moldy cheese down his rat's throat. In other words, he was occupied.
"Watch and learn, Lovey. You get t'see these sticky fingers in action." Hastily, Reyna peered around, then covertly slipped her wand out of her coat sleeve. With a quick tap to the snowglobe and a hushed "Reducio!, the snowglobe slipped nicely into her breast pocket.
"Serves 'em right for my fingers anyway," Reyna said. Her heart was beating at record speeds, but she couldn't stop smiling. "Now that was very illegal and you definitely should not follow my example... But want me to do yours too? Quick, before he catches on!"
It would all work out. Reyna didn't like to make a habit of breaking-- or rather, bending the magical laws or whatever, but they were in a highly dense wizarding populace. And with such a common charm, who would think to trace it back to a student? See, it paid to think these things out throughly.
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RE: the hand that feeds - Lovelace Durand - 10-03-2026
The only thing Lovelace could do when Rey ruffled her hair was grin. “We’ll give ‘em all hell.” she agreed immediately. Lovelace could be incredibly accommodating to even the strangest of strangers, so also sometimes knew how best to get under their skin. She saved the worst for those that seemed to go out of their way to be mean to her or her sister, but would also make an effort if someone was just mean to everyone.
Lovelace’s thoughts turned to the more institutional trouble they could get into as Reyna listed the animals that could be found in the forest, her eyes taking on a dreamy cast as she tried to picture each of them. She grinned when Reyna said the forest was forbidden, waving a hand dismissively even as her sister said she had her ways. “Even if you didn’t, we’d find a way.” she said with complete faith. Together, the two of them could do anything. Also separate, but Lovelace preferred when they were getting up to no good together so they could help each other.
Lovelace’s eyebrows raised as Reyna whispered, and she grinned with a nod of agreement. “Never been to Rome, I think it’s why I’d never know how to pay for somethin’ I could swipe.” she agreed in a returned whisper. She did watch, though she was also doing her best to seem utterly uninterested in everything going on in their part of the store. Her eyes widened for just a moment as the snow globe shrunk, but then she forced herself to look away so they’d get normal again. She didn’t think it was likely for her to draw attention to them, but the practice never hurt.
Putting her hand back on the felt plant carefully, Lovelace kept it low as she put it in front of her sister the second she asked. “Yes, please.” she got out, as quiet as could be. She didn’t want to blow anything for either of them.
As soon as Reyna had shrunk it, Lovelace pocketed her plant then took Reyna’s hand and started pulling her to the exit. “’S’a shame with those glasses,” she observed casually, letting her voice resume its normal level as they got as close as they were going to get to the shopkeeper. “I think they’re probably expensive—they could be fun for later, though! I’ve gotta remind myself about them next year. Maybe I can convince our father they’d help me with studying!” she suggested, then made a face at her sister, actually getting into the conversation she’d started as she opened the door for Reyna, then followed her out. “I just know that’s not comin’ easy to me.”