Another Working Day (OPEN)

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled softly and threw her apron on the table in front of her, another working day over, another pay day in her account and she was getting excited for her first performance of the play she had been working on in her spare time tomorrow.

She loved everything about it! Her outfits, her songs, her co-workers! It was going to be perfect to actually perform it.

Sighing happily she sat down at the bar in a daze of thoughts and placed her head on her hand, leaning on her chin while she thought about it, not even noticing that a butterbeer had been placed in front of her.

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Gabriela had been bored, and she wasn't going to spend her first weaken at school, looking over lessons. She had already done and ready.

Deciding to go out she went to Goldenen Straße and she found a nice pub, entering she noticed it was somewhat full. Gabriela made her way to the bar, and sat next to a dark haired woman, she smiled at the butterbeer. She was glad, she couldn't handle heavier drinks. Turning to the barman, she said, "May I have a butterbeer please."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe jolted out of her day dream with an embarrassed smile, she couldn't believe that she had spaced out like this! As the woman sat down next to her she noted that she got a butter beer too, and Niobe couldn't help but smile.

"Hello there, are you alright? I can get that if you want."

Opening up the hatch that led to the back of the bar, Niobe picked up a glass and filled it to the top with butterbeer, handing it to the woman over the counter, before returning to sit down herself.

"I'm Niobe Maestas, who are you?" she asked, with a friendly smile, holding out her fingerless gloved hand for a shake.

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Gabriela had been touching her wedding ring, her thoughts had taken her to her husband, she missed Gaspard. She wondered what he was doing right now...

"Hello there, are you alright? I can get that if you want." The woman's voice made her snap out of her thoughts, turning her around she nodded, "Hello, yes, of course. No, it's alright, I already ordered a butterbeer."

But before Gabriela could stop her, she served her her drink, Gabriela said thank when she gave it to her.

"I'm Niobe Maestas, who are you?" Niobe looked friendly and if Gabriela wasn't feeling so lonely she wouldn't have entered the pub.

Taking Niobe's hand to shake, she said, "Nice to meet you Niobe, I'm Gabriela Covarrubias."

It wouldn't hurt to have a friend.

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled graciously, she didn't mind getting the drink at all, in fact she had just clocked off work so she was still kind of in that mode to get drinks for people, she never really left that mode actually.

"No problem it's my pleasure to help, the guys might be a while serving you, they're normally busy doing something around this time...watching Quidditch perhaps." she smiled wider.

When she found out the ladies name Niobe smiled lightly:

"Your name sounds lovely, are you forgein by any chance? I am. I came from Greece a few years ago when I was a child, I tell you it's completely different here for me..."

Realising she was rambling again, Niobe blushed and laughed: "Oh sorry I have a tendency of letting my mouth run away with me."

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Gabriela laughed when Niobe told her about the guys watching Quidditch. Thankfully Gaspard wasn't interested in the sport.

"Oh no it's okay. I don't mind much." Gabriela smiled.

"And thank you, I really love my name, my grandmother chose it." She stopped, only her husband knew that.

But Gabriela felt she could trust Niobe, she seemed nice and really good person.

"It's good to know that I'm not the only foreigner around here. I was born in Madrid, but I moved when I was really young to England and well I just moved here a week before school started-I'm a Instructor for Durmstrang. And I agree with you, Germany is so different from any other place I have lived." Gabriela finished with a deep breath, while taking a sip of her butterbeer.

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled lightly when Gabriela told her that her Grandmother chose her name, her mother had chosen hers and she didn't really know much about the older members of her family because she was taken away to Germany before she could really learn about them much.

"My mother chose my name because it's from a Greek Myth that she loves, a beautifully sad Greek Myth that hopefully wont apply to me when the time comes." she laughed

Listening to Gabriela tell her that she was born in Spain, Niobe grew even more happy, she was glad that she wasn't the only person that wasn't born and bred in Germany, sometimes they could be suspicious of people like them.

"Didn't you find it hard moving from England to Germany, especially now? It's just so cold...and so are the people most of the time I find."

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Gabriela had read the greek myth when she was younger and knew what Niobe was talking about. She too hoped that never happened to her.

She drank some more of her butterbeer, "Yes, I was unsure to come here, before I moved here I was so busy with my investigation and my husband and I rarely saw each other, but well he convinced me in the end to take the position here in Durmstrang."

"Germany is very different from Spain, and England was always raining, but I prefer England than Germany. " She laughed. "As for the people, they are cold, I'm sort of used to it, I'm a very cold person. But who can blame them, we're in a middle of war, people tend to distrust pretty fast." She told Niobe.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you do anything else besides working here?" Gabriela asked curiously.

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled lightly and listened to Gabriela talking about her life before she came here to Germany, she was a little surprised when she said that she was married, and it made her feel a little bit sad that she didn't see her husband.

"That must be hard for you not to see your husband, does he still live in England or something? I have a boyfriend, he works as an instructor in Durmstrang too you know." she said with a happy smile.

When she said that they were in the middle of a war so that people would be naturally cold, it made sense, although she hoped that when this war was over, people wouldn't stay that way.

"I hope that after this war is done, which I also hope is soon, that people go back to being friendly to foreign people again...it's hard being here on your own when everyone's so suspicious."

With a large smile, Niobe said proudly: "Yes I work in two other places, a cafe in the hidden village, and a pub on Poison Street, what do you teach?"

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Talking about Gaspard made her feel lonely. Sure when she lived in England, the barely saw each other, but she had always the expectation that she would see him for just a couple of minutes before going to sleep to talk about their day. But now? She came to a dark castle and waited with so much anxious for a letter from him. Being here was making Gabriela depend on Gaspard, and she never liked to depend on someone else. Even though it meant it was her husband.

Gabriela tried to smile, but failed, "It's is hard, but I'm getting through, well as much as I can. Gaspard-that's my husband's name, actually moved to Scotland, he's a professor at Hogwarts." She said proudly, and when Niobe told her that her boyfriend worked in Durmstrang it surprised her on how the world was so small. "Really? What does he teach? Sorry, I hope you don't mind, it's just well I'm kind of a ghost in Durmstrang." Gabriela said sheepishly.

Hearing Niobe talk about the war and people being distrustful to others, she understood her completely. "I agree with Niobe, it's really hard, you have to be on constant alert and be on your guard, have your wand out at all times. I think muggles live better than us. And that's saying something."

"The one near Durmstrang? That's lovely. Hmm, Poison Street, never been there, just the name gives me a sense being unsafe, I suppose it's the equivalent of Knockturn Alley, have you heard of it?" Gabriela contemplated for a while and smiled when Niobe asked her what she taught.

"I'm the Herbology Instructor. I'm new to the whole teaching, investigation and experiments are more my thing. But it's nice to know that I'm teaching all I know to this generation. I don't really mind that I don;t have a lot of students, it's better that way and..." Gabriela laughed, when she was talking about anything related to Herbology she tended to babble, "Sorry, Niobe."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe hated to see anyone so sad and she just wished that Gabriela and her husband could live in the same place and make time for each other! It would be hard for her to see Viktor any less than she did already and they weren't even married.

"I know how it feels to miss a loved one, it feels as if your arms been chopped off and you're just flailing around until you find it again." she said, quietly.

When she said that her husband was a professor too Niobe smiled happily, it seemed as if both of them liked teaching children and must be experts in their feild for the schools to hire them.

"That must be interesting, I only wish I was clever enough at something to teach it, I'm only really good at cooking and I don't think they teach that. Oh!" Niobe beamed "He teaches World History, he's Viktor Nickel, one of the twins."

Niobe would give anything to be able to move back to Greece and to have a normal, happy, life there with her family, but she couldn't so she tried not to think about it too much, only focused on the here and now.

"It's hard for me, I don't think I could hurt anyone, even if I really needed to...if I'm attacked, I'm practically useless."

When Gabriela asked her if she had heard of Knockturn Alley, she shook her head and smiled lightly: "No sorry I haven't heard of it, and Poison Street isn't the nicest no...I much prefer the cafe."

Hearing that her new found friend taught herbology, Niobe smiled and nodded, she always thought plants were pretty but never much looked into it beyond that.

"Haha, don't worry about it, it shows that you really love the subject!"

[Gabriela Covarrubias]

Gabriela needed to cheer up. That was why she decided to get out of the castle. She knew that in the summer she would see Gaspard or maybe earlier.

"That's exactly it, Niobe. And until your with that person you feel whole and your you again." She whispered, while taking a sip of her butterbeer.

She had a feeling that Niobe was talking about her family in Greece. Gabriela knew that feeling, missing her family. Especially now when the war was at it's maximum, it was hard to be in the same place where the fighting was, knowing full well that in any second you could be dead and wouldn't see your loved ones.

Gabriela smiled, "I know that muggles teach how to cook, it's a career of some sort." She nodded, the twins, she had seen them before but have never spoken to them, actually she never spoke to anybody expect her students..."Professor Nikel, yes I know who he is. Well I never had the chance to actually know him, but I know who he is." She said sheepishly. Oh Merlin, she was a hermit!

"Nonsense! No one is useless, we're magical! Surely you excel in some sort of magical defense. What was your favorite subject when you were at school?" Gabriela asked her. She was a believer that everybody was intelligent in their own way, that they had to find something in their selves.

"Well if it's what I'm thinking, then Knockturn Alley and Posion Street are alike..."

Gabriela blushed, "I do. But I think Im a horrible Instructor." She laughed. "I also love Potions and Magical Creatures. Before I taught I was head of an investigation group, we would go all over the globe, looking for rare plants, creating medicinal potions and trying to cure wounded creatures of cause of the war. It was so exhilarating, I miss those days..."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe didn't want to get sad again, however the thought of Viktor going off to fight in the war was too much for her also, she couldn't bare the thought of the war claiming everything that she had loved, and she rubbed her wrists slightly as they began to throb.

Glad that there seemed to be a change in topic, Niobe smiled excitedly when she was told that she could teach cooking in a muggle school, although she would need muggle qualifications for that.

"It's all a bit too complicated when it comes to muggle schooling, I would have to go and do a special qualification to teach and learn how to cook according to their course." she pouted.

Niobe smiled happily and perked up a lot more; "Well maybe you would like to come out with us one day, we can introduce you to some people that we know, if you would like that?"

Rubbing her neck with an embarrassed smile, Niobe thought back to her schooling and what she enjoyed...which was very little;

"Uhm...my favourite subject was potions because it was just like cooking, but, apart from that I always liked flying and defense."

The story of what Gabriela used to do before she was a professor made Niobe smile widely, it truly sounded like it had been a wonderful career and she was a little sad for her that she had given it up.

"I'm sure you're not a horrible instructor, how many students do you have?"

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