April 6th, 1894 - Padmore Park

The town seemed a little fuller this weekend and Sadie was pleased to find out the Hogwarts students were on their long Easter weekend. She was enjoying the warmer weather and the increased number of park goers; it had felt a little bare lately. She also felt a little pang of jealousy at the families taking picnics and walks throughout the park, but also found it homey. Albright was a step behind her as she twirled her parasol against the spring sunshine.

"Do you think we can stop by the bookstore on the way back home?" She asked of Nettie as she looked over her shoulder. Sadie was busier than she would have anticipated, as it wasn't the season yet, but she also feared they were gearing up tp head home. She was going to have to try and at least get her aunt to stay for a little bit of the season. Hogsmeade was starting to really feel like home and she wanted to debut here where she had made friends instead of back home. The bookstore was especially a favorite of hers.

They veered toward the path that led away from the lake (thankfully, it sort of gave her the chills) and back toward the High Street. It had been a while since she'd gotten lost, which was also nice. Sadie was wondering just how she would be able to stay here permanently, but hadn't quite figured it out yet. She was about to say something to Nettie about maybe stopping by the modiste to see if her new dress was ready, when she caught the eye of another young lady passing by and smiled at her, feeling a strange sense of deja vu as she looked at her.

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Sisse Thompsett

  

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It was nice to be out of the house, to stroll down the paths of Padmore Park and not have to watch out for any of the younger children. Sisse smiled at it. Matthew escorting her, trying not to look impatient as she stooped to take in the trumpet daffodils sprouting in the park. His mind was elsewhere. Personally Sisse was convinced that Matthew fancied someone, Matthew would never stoop to tell her as much though.

Sisse's thoughts were distracted by a young lady walking along the path with her maid. Sisse smiled at the lady as they met eyes and murmured "Good morning." And that would have been the end of it, except at a glance forward she realized the girl had dropped her reticule. "Oh! Excuse me Miss! I believe you've dropped something?" Sisse was rushing forward to grab the item as she said this, hastily turning, long skirts swinging around her legs, hair pinned up fashionably under a hat. The picture of one lady helping another. Not a girl helping a lady.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sadie nodded and return the greeting, passing by and returning to what she was saying to Nettie. She didn't make it too much farther down the path when she heard the other young woman calling to her. "Oh!" Sadie hadn't even felt it slip through her skirts out of her pocket. "Thank you so much, that would have been just abysmal." It had escaped both hers and Nettie's attention (probably because Sadie was talking her maid's ear off as usual) and it would have ended poorly. There was quite a bit of spending money in there for her to use today and she would have hated to explain that she'd lost it.

"That was very kind of you," she added as she took back her reticule. "How embarrassing, my aunt would have been so cross." Sadie was trying to do anything she could to stay here in Hogsmeade, that certainly wouldn't have helped!

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"You're very welcome." Sisse replied with a kind smile. "I should hate to have lost mine." And truly it was the only decent thing to do in such a situation.

"Do you mind," Sisse began without thinking, "But have we met? I'm terribly sorry, I ought to remember if we have, it's just that you seem familiar and I can't quite place why." The words spilled out quickly and her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. Oh she certainly was not acting like a lady now. She was being an impulsive rude little girl. How utterly embarrassing it would be to see this lady in a ballroom this summer if she thought anything less of Sisse for her presumptions.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"You know, I get that a lot lately." Sadie chuckled as she tucked her money back into her pocket, securing the ties more securely this time. The strange sense of recognition had been something she'd felt as she'd originally passed by, but with a faulty memory, Sadie could never quite trust that instinct. She got the same sensation with Mr. Hatchitt sometimes, though she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was just because he had become a friendly face around town and had looked after her during the storm.

Once everything was tucked way safely, Sadie passed the other woman a smile. "But I'm not from around here, so it's unlikely." She shrugged slightly reaching up to brush her hair back from her face and tuck her hat more securely in place. Her charm bracelet glinted in the sunlight and as she brought her hand back down, she shook it back into place. Sadie always wore it over her gloves, because she was so fond of it, but it did get stuck sometimes.

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"Oh, I must have been mistaken, I'm so sorry. Welcome..." Sisse's words died off as she took in the glint of silver on the lady's arm. She knew that bracelet, that gesture. She had never thought to see it again. But surely she must be mistaken. It couldn't be. Desperately Sisse wished to know where the girl had gotten it, had she found it in the shallows of the lake? Mentally she shook off the feeling. "Sorry, welcome to Hogsmeade." She tried to regain her footing in the conversation, mind whirling with how to ask about the glint of silver she had seen. "I love your bracelet, by the way. I've been looking to get one for my friend but I haven't found a place that makes with such remarkable craftsmanship." A little over fawning, but she was fairly certain it was much more polite and smooth than her bombardment mere seconds before.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sadie shook off the other young lady's apology. It had happened a lot, she was sort of used to it by now. "Thank you, I'm enjoying it very much." Hogsmeade was wonderful in every way. Sadie never wanted to leave, that much was becoming clear to her. It was going to take a miracle though.

Fortunately her thoughts were pulled from that deviation, but the compliment of her bracelet. "I've had it for a long time," Sadie put her other hand over it fondly, pulling at her favorite sunflower charm. The last time it had been brought up was when the mediwitch had come to look at her ankle and though the whole encounter was a little fuzzy, thanks to the following headache, Sadie was a little guarded about it. "I'm not even sure where it's from." A gift from her parents, according to her aunt, but Sadie had no recollection, it had just always been there. Some of the charms made perfect sense, the S, the sunflower, a little snowflake even, but the golden snitch didn't. Sadie had never dreamed of taking it off, but she had never been a fan of quidditch that she could remember so it felt out of place.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help than that." If she knew the jeweler who had made it, she would certainly recommend them!

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"Oh." Sisse didn't quite know what to say. Her mind was spinning thinking of the one she had seen so many times before, glinting on Sloane's wrist. Realizing she had remained quieter than she ought to have after such a comment Sisse decided on the truth. "It reminds me very much of one my friend had." And then she quickly amended, "Another friend, that is." The words didn't stop coming though, "A friend we lost this summer." Which of course was too morose of a comment for a casual greeting. Sisse waved the thought away, "I apologize, my mind is all a scatter today. I must have spent too much time chasing the third years around the village this morning." She had discovered that being a head year did seem to add quite a bit of work to her Hogsmeade weekends.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sadie was involuntarily brought back to the conversation she had with the mediwtich about her bracelet and abruptly stopped fidgeting with it. It seemed to be such an attention getter that perhaps she ought to stop wearing it around. "I'm very sorry for your loss." Now she was drawn back to her very first conversation with Mr. Hatchitt in the cemetery and she felt as though she was having some strange wave of déja vu. It happened more often than she would have liked and it was not helping her sense of feeling that Hogsmeade was more to her than just a place she had been staying for a few months. Perhaps it was time to ask her aunt of she had been here before and just didn't remember it. Why her aunt would not have told her this in the first place, Sadie wasn't sure, but theses instances kept happening and it was boggling.

"Oh? Are you here from the school?" Her fascination with Hogwarts would not quit, and she had read everything she could about it, but she still enjoyed hearing first hand stories from the students she had met, like Miss Potts back in December.

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"Indeed." Sisse gave her bright smile, "I'm in my final year." She explained.

It was a well known fact that Sisse was a social creature. She knew just about every student at Hogwarts and this young lady she certainly would have met had she been a student in the last few years. Yet she was as unfamiliar to Sisse as Sisse was to her despite the fact that Sisse suspected she was only a year or two older - if that. "Did you attend Ilvermorny?" She ventured, as the girl seemed to lack a French accent. It wouldn't be the first time an American had come to visit after they finished their schooling.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sadie was so curious for information about the school, but always felt like such a pest asking. "Ilvermorny?" She wasn't familiar with the name, but guessed it may have been another magical school? It made sense to her that there were more, though she had never thought about it before. Now she had more to read up on.

"I was educated privately if that's what you're asking?" Sadie admitted. Her normal education was not lacking; she had been taught languages and reading and writing, music was not her strong suit, but they'd tried. Everything but magic really. She was too unpredictable, too unreliable in her fits that she wasn't able to be trusted with a wand. Her memory was as inconsistent, so half of the things she was taught did not stick, but she enjoyed learning and reading nevertheless. "I would have loved to attend Hogwarts though." She wanted to see the castle and experience that caliber of education, but knew that ship had sailed far away.

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Not Ilvermony then, Sisse decided at the confused look on the lady's face. She oughtn't to have brought it up at all in the first place, truly it was such terrible manners of her.

"Yes, I suppose it was." Sisse agreed with a nod and a smile. She would have hated being educated at home. In fact Sisse was rather sure she didn't want to know what would have become of her had she not gone to Hogwarts, had she not made her friends. Would she still be the young woman she was?

"Are you not from here then?" It seemed the only logical next question, Sisse found herself thinking as she allowed her curiosity a freer reign, she'd already made a fool of herself, she ought to see if she could salvage a bit of the conversation and not find herself wondering about things after the fact.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Smiling, Sadie adjusted her stance and shrugged. "I should have gone, I'm from Cheshire, so not terribly far." Britain was a bit of a ways from here, but she should have attended Hogwarts based on geography, had she been able. "I was not well as a child, so I was kept home to be educated there." She explained in a sad sort of tone. If she remembered her childhood at all, she wondered if she would have fought that decision, but it was over a decade ago now, there was no changing it. Sadie couldn't help from wondering what it would have been like though. She and the young woman standing before her would have been there for nearly the same time, and perhaps they may have even been friends.

"Currently we're staying with some family for an extended period of time." Hopefully as long as she could manage. If she was lucky, she might be able to swing her own debut here in Hogsmeade where she had grown to find herself.

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"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that." Sisse genuinely was. To have missed the chance to attend Hogwarts because of health was heartbreaking. Every child should get to experience the acceptance and experience Sisse had had during the past seven years. It was as if Hogwarts were a very part of her being now, the stitches woven into her very soul.

"And are you enjoying it here?" Sisse found herself asking, "Have you had a chance to meet a great many people? I'm sure you have, but if not I would certainly be happy to host you for tea."

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sadie could hear the genuine sincerity in the other woman's voice and smiled slowly. "It's been lovely, unlike anywhere else I've ever been." Not that Sadie had been a lot of places, but Hogsmeade was truly the best of them. She felt so comfortable here, like she belonged, it was hard to feel anything else when she kept meeting people like this.

"That's very kind of you, I would like that. I'm Sadie, by the way, Sadie Sinclair." She wasn't sure just how much longer she would be here, but knew the students got out at the end of May and they were there until at least June, so perhaps she could indeed be able to have tea. "I've met lots of wonderful people. I've been afforded a lot of wandering time to get to know the town and everyone I've met has been very welcoming." Maybe that was part of why she felt like she was at home here. Of course they were visiting family, so that was an easy way to get to know people, but each social event she'd attended had given her a good chance to meet even more people. "Did you grow up here?"

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Sadie Sinclair. Sisse's stomach tightened. The girl Lester had mentioned, and Calla and Alice. The girl who Sisse's subconscious kept suggesting was trying to take her place. Suddenly her smile felt more fragile, like it was a thing that could be broken at any moment. She was grateful when the young woman changed the topic.

"I did." She confirmed. She'd never known the world beyond Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and Irvingly. She wondered if perhaps she would get to see London during the season. She hoped she did. But what would the rest of the world be like? "Did you enjoy growing up in Cheshire?"

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom