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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Oct 25, 2010 22:09:47 GMT -5
It was strange knowing that someone might end up needing her, even if it was just to keep calm on the carts. Kayleigh wasn't exactly sure what she was getting herself into. She was in the wizarding world now and she couldn't turn back to just leave. She had to go on and be brave. Although she was having second thoughts about being brave.
"Okay," she said. "You help me and I do the same." As long as the memory that she had tried so hard to block out didn't come back to her, she'd be okay. At the mention of a dragon, Kayleigh's thoughts scattered. "There's a dragon," she asked interested. "Are they like the pictures in books?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Oct 27, 2010 16:35:16 GMT -5
Flynn had a good feeling about this. Although he had just met Kayleigh today, he had a feeling that this trip would be good for her. She would get to see a glimpse of her parents' world, and she would face her fear. And she'd finally find out what her parents had left for her.
Her parents had loved her, and they had changed their whole lives for her sake. Going from the wizarding world into the muggle world had to have been a difficult adjustment, but they had done it. It was just a shame that they hadn't lived to see her grow up.
Meanwhile, with the exception of his oldest brother, Flynn's family was all still alive.... yet still he was separated from them. Somehow it didn't seem fair that Kayleigh's loving family should be taken from her, while Flynn's bitter, hateful family lived on, treating him like the outcast.
"They're a bit different from the pictures in muggle books," Flynn replied. "Much uglier. I've only ever seen one, and it was a baby. Even then, though, they're ugly things. And they're not always green, either. The one I saw was bright red."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Oct 27, 2010 22:06:11 GMT -5
"Much uglier, eh," she repeated, "And they have a lotta scales and everythin', like an armor?" Dragons were a fascination of Kayleigh's. When she was younger, her father bought her a picture book that had dragons in it and unlike other little girls her age, she always wanted to find one. "Are they all different colors? Like orange and brown? And do they really breathe fire?"
There was a lot for her to learn if she wanted to get close to her parents and Kayleigh didn't know where else to go. She hadn't really approached Cale to see if he was magical or not and she knew that the people she worked with couldn't be. Right now, Flynn was her best option.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Oct 29, 2010 0:15:23 GMT -5
Flynn chuckled. He liked answering her questions. It sort of reminded him of his students, how they sometimes got excited when they were learning something that interested them.
"Yes, they do have scales, and I think they act like armor. I've never been close to a full-sized dragon, but I've heard that the scales are very tough. They can be different colors... Red or orange or brown, and some are green. I think there are even some blue dragons. Although I'm pretty sure there are no pink or purple ones," he added with a grin. "They do breath fire, too. Wizards who work as dragon keepers have to wear protective clothes and be really good at flame-freezing or water spells."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Dec 20, 2010 15:39:24 GMT -5
There was so much to learn about the wizarding world. Her parents taught her about different things but she was so young at the time, she couldn't learn everything. Her adoptive parents were muggles so they didn't tell her stories of the wizarding world. All she had was a few memories until now.
"Do all wizards attempt to blend in with muggles? Do any live beside muggles or do they just live away from 'em?" Kayleigh was aware of the fact that there were muggles who didn't like wizards, and wizards who didn't muggles. They weren't all the same and Flynn was a perfect example. He treated her just like any other person.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Dec 20, 2010 23:44:28 GMT -5
Flynn's smile faltered slightly, but he looked away so she wouldn't notice. What she was asking was inevitable, he supposed, but he really had hoped to keep the darker side of the wizarding world from her, at least for a little while.
"No.... Not all of them do. In fact, most of them do not," he admitted. "Some of them, particularly ones who are born into pureblood families--that means their whole family has been magical--don't really care for muggles or muggleborns...." Or squibs, he thought to himself, but couldn't quite bring himself to say aloud.
"My family... they are like that. That's kind of why I don't get along with them... because I don't believe that being purebloods makes us any better than anyone else."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Dec 21, 2010 8:58:54 GMT -5
To Kayleigh, it reminded her of muggles. The racism that had occurred, the hatred. It was all the same. There was nothing different with the exception of magic.
She did notice that he turned away from her and it had to be hard for him to talk about it. Kayleigh made a quiet 'oh' sound before reaching out her hand and touching his arm. She didn't really know what it was like to disagree with parents, but for Flynn, it was evident that it was hard. She gave him a soft smile and then placed her hand back on her glass.
"You're part of the exception and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm glad one of the first wizards I have met is part of that exception."
Kayleigh knew that there needed to be a change of subject. "What other interesting things are there in the wizarding world, besides quidditch?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Dec 23, 2010 18:22:43 GMT -5
Flynn's smile returned. He was proud to be different from the rest of his family, but it was strange to him that he should be the one who was considered an outcast. It hurt to think that he was doing the right thing and lost his family because of it. But, he reminded himself, friends could make up for the loss of his family... they would be the family he chose instead of the one that was given to him.
"Hmm... let's see," he said, thinking about her question. "Well, as I've already mentioned, there are the magical creatures. Just about any kind of mythical creature you've read about in storybooks are real. Not just trolls and dragons.... there are elves and pixies and giants, and unicorns, too."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Dec 24, 2010 15:05:33 GMT -5
"Pixies? Those nasty blue lil' things? Me Da caught one in our house once. Don't really remember how it got there." That event was one that she would remember, after all, the pixie was almost stuck in her hair.
"Me mum would tell me stories about unicorns. She said that it's rare to see one." The magical animals fascinated Kayleigh. It wasn't often that someone from a non magical world was able to experience the magical one, so that made each thing that she discovered better than the last. "What sorts of animals do people have as pets?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Dec 25, 2010 2:11:56 GMT -5
Flynn laughed. "Yes, those are the ones. They're not dangerous or anything... just annoying."
He couldn't help but smile as he watched her eyes light up with curiosity about the magical world. To him, the magical world should be, well, magical. But to the many people who had grown up with magic as a way of life, it became commonplace, almost ordinary. It shouldn't be that way. This was the reason why Flynn liked working with children... many of them were muggleborns, and they still found the magic in every day things.
"Yes, unicorns are really rare. I've never actually seen on meself. But then, they don't really like men very much. They hide from men... but they sometimes let girls and women pet them."
He shrugged as she asked about pets. "Most of the time, pets aren't all that different from what muggles would have. Some people keep cats, or rats, or toads. Oh, and of course, owls to deliver the mail."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Jan 3, 2011 14:31:20 GMT -5
"We had an owl when I was little. Poor thing was clumsy. When it flew in the house and wanted to land, you had to move or the poor thing would crash into you." Kayleigh shook her head. "But people keep toads, really? Me adoptive Da would tell us that they'd give you warts, 'cause Todd would get 'em all the time and he ended up with a wart." She looked at Flynn with a questionable glance. "They don't really do that, do they?"
Part of her wanted to get a pet but she had to move out of the hotel she was staying in first. Kayleigh didn't even know where she was going to stay but she did know that she was going to stay around London for awhile, after all she had a job.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Jan 4, 2011 0:10:53 GMT -5
Flynn laughed heartily. "No, they don't really do that," he replied. "Well, not unless they've been cursed, that is. But the chances of finding a cursed toad is pretty rare... no one really wastes their time cursing toads in the hopes that people will adopt them and get warts. I suppose it does happen, but not as much anymore."
As they talked, they walked slowly toward the bank. Flynn hoped that she would be all right, and wouldn't be afraid of the bank or the trolls that worked there. He really had a feeling that whatever she would find in her parents' vault would be a good thing for her.
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Jan 16, 2011 0:17:58 GMT -5
After Flynn's explanation, Kayleigh laughed. "That's good to know." As they walked down Diagon Alley, she took the opportunity to look at the different shops. There was a variety of shops from a bookstore, to a wand store, and even a place to buy owls or other animals. On the sign, Kayleigh noticed that there was a bat hanging on it. "Do people actually have bats as pets?" She looked to Flynn, then looked ahead of them. A tall white building was directly in front of them. She realized that the place was Gringotts.
As they reached closer to the bank, Kayleigh felt her heart start to beat a little faster. She tried to keep her breaths even, in order to try to slow down her heart beat. "Wow this place is huge," she said attempting to keep it together as she looked at the exterior of the bank.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Jan 16, 2011 2:10:04 GMT -5
Flynn heard her breathing change, and he reached over and gripped her hand in his. He could tell that she was nervous, and he wanted to reassure her somehow. Gringotts was probably the safest bank she would ever go to. As they always said, a person would have to be mad to try and rob it. Of course, there was the possible threat of death eaters, which he hadn't really explained to her, but it all seemed quiet right now. There really wasn't anything to worry about.
"What you're seein' isn't even the half of it," he told her, and pointed at the ground beneath their feet. "Remember, the vaults are underground... it's a vast tunnel, and no one really know how big it is, except the goblins themselves."
He gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. "It'll be OK. I won't leave your side."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Jan 16, 2011 8:12:24 GMT -5
Already, Flynn felt like a best friend. He knew what was going on and he was going to try to help her. Once he gripped her hand, Kayleigh squeezed it. She was trying to force herself not to think about anything but the goal she had in mind, to see what exactly was in the vault. Even if it was nothing in there, she got a lot of today. She met a good friend and she was able to see the world that her parents loved dearly.
As Flynn spoke, Kayleigh was trying to picture the tunnel and all the vaults; however, that wasn't really helping. There were so many places a person could hide. As they entered the bank, her breathing started getting shorter and faster, but again she tried to control her breathing. She couldn't return Flynn's smile at the moment since she was trying to concentrate on calming herself down. When she finally looked around, she stopped. The mental image of her parents walking in the bank again entered her head and so did the events that followed that. She couldn't control her breathing anymore. It started to feel like it was hard to breath. "I-I can't," she said with a shaking voice as she pulled her hand from Flynn's. Kayleigh felt tears start filling her eyes and she left the bank in a run, knowing she needed to get fresh air.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Jan 17, 2011 0:57:05 GMT -5
Flynn knew he was losing her, but he was powerless to stop it. His calming words went unheard by her, and his attempts to hold on to her failed. As she broke free of his grip, he felt horrible. It was too much for her, she couldn't do it. He wondered if he had called it something other than a bank, if she would have been able to go in without a problem.
She was running pretty fast, and he took off after her. They wouldn't have to go to the bank. She wasn't ready for it. And maybe they could find a way to find out what was in the vault without her having to go to the bank herself. But none of that mattered right now. He just had to get to her and help her relax.
She had a bit of a head start, and he was woefully out of shape, so catching up to her wasn't easy. "Kayleigh, wait!" he called. "We don't have to go in.... just come back!"
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Jan 17, 2011 1:19:54 GMT -5
Kayleigh kept running, passing different wizards. She had no idea where she was heading. Vaguely she heard Flynn calling her, but her body wasn't letting her stop at the moment. She saw a bench and took a seat. Her breathing was still uneven and she was trying to even it back out while tears rolled down her cheeks. Part of her wondered why she was still effected the way she was when she walked in to Gringotts. After all, she was in her twenties now, and her parent's death happened when she was nine. Maybe it was because she did her best to avoid banks in general.
Putting a hand on her chest, Kayleigh tried to take deeper breaths in order to calm herself. She was shaking as she sat on the bench. At the moment, she didn't realize that she was out in public. She had to pull it back together.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Jan 18, 2011 1:15:40 GMT -5
When she stopped and sat down on the bench, Flynn was relieved. It took him another minute to reach her, and by the time he did, he was breathing heavily. "Man, I gotta start an exercise program or something, because I am just out of shape," he panted, to no one in particular.
As he start to catch his breath again, he sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "It's all right. Everything is OK. We don't have to go to the bank. Let's just sit here a while.... that's it, deep breaths, but not too deep. You're OK. You can lean on me, if you want to."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Jan 18, 2011 19:18:43 GMT -5
By the time Flynn reached her, Kayleigh was still trying to slow her breathing down, remember what the healer she went to visit told her. The panic attacks scared her while she was having them and maybe that made it worse. Luckily, she didn't jump when Flynn sat beside her or touched her.
Without a word, Kayleigh leaned into Flynn. She reached up to wipe away the tears that reached her cheeks. Honestly, she did find a good friend already. He didn't judge her, he wanted to help her. For the first time, Kayleigh was letting someone help her, other than Georgiana. She felt the pace of his breathing and she tried to match it.
It took a few more moments for her to get her breathing back to normal. She felt a little light headed, but other than that, she was fine. Kayleigh moved from leaning on Flynn to sit back up. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I thought everything was going to be fine."
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Jan 24, 2011 19:15:41 GMT -5
Flynn shook his head. "No, you don't need to apologize. You weren't ready.... It was brave enough of you to even try. Maybe we can work on it another time, or maybe we can find some other way to find out what's in that vault. It's OK.... it's not going anywhere. And neither am I. We're friends now, right?"
He sort of felt as though he had pushed her into doing something that she wasn't ready for, and he was eager to make it up to her. "If you want, we can go look at the pets in the pet store. Or we can get ice cream at the ice cream shop... I promise you, you've never had ice cream as good as Florean Fortescue's."
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