A Riveting Reunion PV Dusana Finished

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30th November 2023
@Méabh Regan

She was a professional. Dignified and knowledgeable and competent. She'd had years of training and- oh bollocks! Ants crawling along the desk had spooked her into dropping her wand, which had clattered along the floor and rolled under one of the ancient cabinets that looked like it belonged in an antiques museum if you asked her. Could this day get any worse?!

And that was how someone found her, muttering to herself on her hands and knees as they came into the Hospital Wing, her reaching in vain for her wand. Merlins pants this was embarrassing. She hadn't even heard the footsteps, too busy trying to reach for the blasted magical stick that would actually allow her to do her job. All she'd heard behind her was a thinly-veiled amused offer of help. Dusana shook her head in response, looking back with determined glint in her eyes. "No thanks. I've got it." As soon as her eyes adjusted though, the warm tone of her words died away. The welcome by one Méabh Regan fell on deaf ears. What had this world come to that she was here? Surely the world was playing a cruel trick.

Dusana huffed at Méabhs welcome. Obviously the recognition hadn't been instant. Or she just hadn't been paying enough attention to who was actually hired. Not that Dusana hadn't done the exact same. If she had known Méabh was in the vicinity of the castle, Dusana would have very politely refused the job and gone back to Germany with her father.

Forgetting about her wand for now, Dusana raised a manicured eyebrow at the other woman, her eyes darting between Méabh on the other side of her desk and the bowl of kiwi fruit that she had placed there. A welcoming present? Surely not for her. If Méabh had known she was working at Hogwarts, the bowl would probably have gone onto Dusanas head, upside down.

And, oh there it was. The shift in the atmosphere. Méabh had recognised her. Dusana smiled sharply in response to the one word sentence, her teeth sharp and her tongue ready to strike. "Me." She glanced down to the bowl once more before staring straight at Méabh. Her smile melted away into an expression that read I hate this. "I don't like kiwi fruit," she deadpanned.

Her back ramrod straight, she stared down, or rather up at Méabh. She wasn't going to give an inch to this woman who had ruined her school years. "I can't believe they let you work here." Her left hand clenched upon habit, missing the bite of the cherry wood. Merlin and Morgana, she needed to get her wand back. But there was no way she was asking Regan for help.

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One might think that twelve years of no contact would melt a bit of the hostility between two old rivals, but clearly, one would be wrong. Méabh's eyebrow twitched in response to the declaration that Dusana didn't appreciate her little present, but clearly, those twelve years had dulled her edge a little, or she would have known she was only giving Méabh ammunition. "Fabulous," she replied, not budging from her relaxed position against the desk. "I would have felt forced to take them back if it had turned out you liked them, and that would've been awfully rude of me."

She tilted her head slightly, then hopped up to sit on the nurse's desk, an instinctual urge to slouch in response to Dusana's stiff posture kicking in. Which was silly - Méabh didn't even slouch when she was by herself, but she was always at her most contrarian around Sabo. Something about the woman's broom-up-her-butt attitude and perfect styling made Méabh want to lounge across her desk and chew crisps with her mouth open just to annoy her. Pushing Dusana's buttons had always been one of her favourite pastimes, but it was more than that.

"Funny coincidence, I was just thinking the same about you," she drawled, reaching over and plucking a random item [your choice] off the nurse's desk to inspect it with an air of negligence. "Polonius and Emery were a little odd, granted, but at least they weren't..." She let her words trail off and instead ran her eyes down Dusana's figure slowly. Instead of finishing the sentence, she smiled.

Drawn by the movement, she let her gaze twitch down to where Dusana's hand was clenched into a fist, and raised an eyebrow. "What, are you going to punch me? What a way to greet an old classmate." Old classmate, indeed. More than that, Méabh and Dusana had spent years of their time at Hogwarts in a bitter rivalry - both Slytherin, both talented in potions, both ambitious enough to do their House proud, and yet their attitude had been entirely different. Where Méabh had spent much of her schooldays sneaking around, playing pranks and getting into trouble, even running an avid but not exactly staff-approved potion trade for some time, Dusana had been... not like that. Ultra-correct, a stick-in-the-mud, Méabh had never understood how anyone could brew potions like that. The metamorphmagus was easy-going most of the time. Few people managed to get her as angry as Sabo had always managed to, seemingly without even trying.

"What were you doing down there, anyway?" she asked. "Looking for a new place? I know you're short, but I think the cabinet would be a little cramped even for you."

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30th November 2023
@Méabh Regan

They said in life you determined whether you liked someone within 30 seconds of meeting them. It had only taken Dusana 6 to realise that having Méabh Regan as her classmate, her housemate, was an utter disaster. She was flippant and self absorbed and chaos personified. Where there were rules, Méabh simply ignored them. It had gotten even worse as they got older and both of them had found passion in potions. And had showed considerable talent in the subject too. It would be no surprise if Dusana discovered that Méabh was the current potions professor.

Dusana had hoped that she would be able to work with the subjects professor, as a lover of said subject, but also because her position required them. She would be able to brew many of them herself granted, but she'd had fantasies of sitting down in the staff room over a cup of tea discussing potions and recipes with someone who shared her interests. That was blasted like a bombarda now.

Dusana kept her face passive as Méabh commented that she'd just leave the kiwis there. Thank Merlin the nurse actually liked kiwis. She'd been trying to throw Méabh off, but of course it would take more than that. Returning a scathing glare at the tanned woman across her desk, Dusana replied with a faux gasp of astonishment, "Oh? Well at least my plants will be happy with the compost. Can't say the same for me..." She let her eyes glance down Méabhs figure, the statement clear.

As Méabh lounged across her desk, Dusana remembered why she loathed the woman. If steam could come out of her ears it would have been by now. Honestly, twelve years without Méabhs presence in her life had been too short. How could this woman just lounge around like a cat in the sun, preening herself over Dusanas space. The audacity of this woman! Breathing out a breath slowly, she rolled her eyes at Méabhs own caustic statement. No matter the previous iterations of Nurse, Dusana was better. She had the skills and knowledge, and if nothing else, the presence. She would prove herself, just like she had in school. To anyone other than the woman sitting across her desk now playing with her desk clock. A scowl formed across her face, her blue eyes narrowing threateningly at the other woman. Really, what a child. Couldn't she sit still for once! Snatching the item back, she snapped a scathing retort at Méabh. "Counting down the seconds until you can leave? You know where the door is."

Placing the clock back on her desk, Dusana turned, trying to ignore Méabhs presence. If she could cast nonverbally, a skill she needed to learn if Méabh was going to be in her vicinity for the foreseeable future, Méabh would have been blasted back across the hallway. Dusana felt a sense of satisfaction at the thought. Sadly that, and punching as Méabh mentioned, would have seen her swiftly kicked from the premises, and that wasn't going to happen less than 24 hours since arriving. No doubt Méabh would owl her to gloat if it did. Maybe a tongue tying curse once she got her wand so Dusana didn't have to hear Méabh prattling on and on.

Settling back onto her hands and knees on the floor, Dusana eyed the gap under the cabinet once more. Her wand sat near the stone wall, as innocent as ever. She muttered a curse under her breath. There was no way in hell she was going to reach it. Méabh could accio the wand to her... Could hand it over to Dusana... Guess it was the muggle way then.

Getting up again, she dusted herself off and bit out a reply to Méabh. "I was thinking where I could hide your body but your skyscraper limbs wouldn't fit." A saccharine smile followed as she walked over to the cleaning equipment against the other side of the Hospital Wing. A long handled broom sat there, ready for her to use. Picking it up, she came back to the cabinet, ready to knock her wand out. Maybe the cabinet would become firewood after this.

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"Glad to hear it," Méabh replied unrepentantly. Seeing the seething anger in Dusana's eyes at her mere existence was almost worth suffering the woman's presence in turn. Sabo was one of the things she had very much not wanted for after graduating from Hogwarts, even in the months she'd spent alone travelling South America, when she had missed Tala so badly it had felt like part of her was missing. "Maybe it'll help them survive the poison of your presence. I wish your plants all the best."

But clearly she hadn't lost her knack for getting under the blonde woman's skin. One moment Méabh was playing around with the clock, inspecting the hands - it was a pretty piece, admittedly - and fingering the little knob to set it to a different time, the next it was snatched out of her hand. Méabh blinked, curling her stinging fingers, and sat up slightly, pulling up her feet to sit cross-legged on the desk, the way she often did in class. "I'm quite comfortable here, thank you," she replied with all the insouciance in the world, which was a blatant lie. "I was more wondering, shouldn't you be meeting a Head of House right about now, to introduce you to your new duties? Usual procedure." There was no such thing, of course, but Méabh's face was perfectly smooth. "Being late on your first day? That won't make a very good first impression."

She was almost a little insulted when Sabo kneeled back down on the floor, turning her back to Méabh like there were more important things for her to be doing. What was so fascinating about the floor, anyway? Something under the cabinet? Why didn't she just summon it, or move the case itself? Interested, Méabh straightened up a bit to peer down at the bulky old thing, even while Dusana got up from her position and threatened casual murder. "Oh, you're resourceful, I'm sure you could figure something out," the metamorphmagus replied absently, reaching for her wand with one hand as Dusana stalked off.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she incanted, flicking her wand at the cabinet, then motioning it to rise. It was a heavy old thing but it rose obediently, if slowly, revealing... oh. Oh. Could she be so lucky? The corner of her mouth quirked up as Méabh hopped off the desk, squatting down to pick up what appeared to be Dusana Sabo's treasured cherry wand, the cabinet still hovering a meter above ground. What an interesting turn of events.

Feel free to decide who gets there first.

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@Méabh Regan

Dusana couldn't help the irate expression that tempered her face as Méabh sat there on her own desk, looking the picture of serene calm. How was Méabh always able to get under her skin? Ever since that potions incident Dusana had felt Méabh was always one step ahead. Once step above her. Beauty, brains, even her family life with her sister and mother. It had always been a sore point, one that admittedly had caused quite a few pranks to go a little too far.

At Méabhs insistence that Dusana meet with her Head of House, Hufflepuff if she was not mistaken, Dusana internally panicked. Why were her hands clammy? Was she messing up this bad on her first day? She wasn't going to give Méabh another point to hold over her though. Rolling her eyes, she clenched her hands around the broom she had just grabbed. "You say that it's my fault for being late, but you're the one taking up all of my precious time. Lounging across the desk like that. I hope your students aren't treated to this show of-" she stopped, a few words running through her head. "Indecorum." She finished haughtily. Enough was enough of this show. She would depose of Méabh Regan, get her wand back, actually see to meeting the Head of House without Méabh knowing all in time for dinner in the Great Hall. With that in mind, she turned to face her desk once more.

And as she turned back to face her desk and the soon-to-be-bonfire of a cabinet, Dusana stopped dead in her tracks. Regan had got a hold of her wand. Dusanas eyes went slightly wide before she could control her features into something more resembling cool nonchalance. She shouldn't have kneeled on the floor. Shouldn't have shown her hand. Dusana watched as the other witch gripped Dusanas own wand, the cherry wood basically screaming out to its owner to help it. Now more than ever Dusana wished she'd learnt wandless magic. It would have solved at least one of her problems today. Maybe she could have dropped the floating cabinet onto Méabh? No. That wouldn't do. Dusana would have to heal her. Which would be unfortunate... But at least she would have her wand back.

She glared at Méabh as she placed the now obsolete broom down over her desk, a physical barricade stopping the other witch from claiming it again. It was hers. Not Méabhs to do as she pleased. The same sentiment could be said for her wand. Narrowing her eyes in a clear challenge Dusana lifted her chin towards her wand, the action somewhat ridiculed by the fact that Dusana didn't even reach up to Méabhs nose. "If you would be so kind as to give my property back to me." She was ready for a fight, but in all honesty she had no idea where this would go. They weren't students any longer, playing pranks and sniping at each other. They were colleagues. Professionals. Dusana would try to remember as much as the thought of squashing Méabh under the still floating cabinet gave her too much enjoyment.

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"Oh, don't let me keep you," Méabh replied, unruffled, even while Sabo's response brought a grin to her face. It was just like the woman to not want to lose face by admitting she didn't know about any meetings, even when in this case, calling Méabh out on her straight-faced bullshitting would have been entirely correct. Clearly, Dusana's nerves were beginning to run thin, which meant that Méabh would stick around for just a few minutes longer before she allowed herself to leave. "And don't worry, darling, I'm reserving all my indecorum for you."

She was rolling the cherry wand lightly between her fingers when Sabo turned back around, and watched the emotions play across the nurse's face with a certain amount of satisfaction before her old rival managed to school her features back into indifference. There was no actual indifference, of course. She doubted anyone would be indifferent in this situation. Wands were something deeply personal, something that was part of you more than it was separate, and Méabh usually wouldn't even think of touching another witch's wand without permission, be it a friend's or a stranger's, and Dusana and Méabh were neither of the two. Imagining her wand in Sabo's hands... No, any nonchalance the nurse showed was an act, even if she could never fault the woman's pokerface.

Stepping out from beneath the cabinet, she lowered it carefully down to the floor, settling it with a soft thud. When she faced Dusana again, all of her perpetual good humour and amusement melted off her face, leaving her expression cool and hard. She wasn't an idiot; they both worked here now, and she wasn't going to jeopardise her position by stealing the woman's wand or doing something stupid like attacking her. But it would do well enough to make a point. Méabh straightened up to her full height, her eyes cold. While she wasn't even that tall, it was easy to tower over Dusana, and she knew how much her old enemy hated feeling small. "Why?" she asked. "Because you're so great at respecting other people's boundaries?" A small grimace crossed her face, memories, that despite the time that had passed, never lost their sting. Some things couldn't be forgiven.

She flipped the wand over in her hand, giving it a depreciatory glance before she stepped forward to hold it out, pointed at Dusana's chest. If the nurse grabbed for it, she'd let it go, her arm sinking. If not, she'd place it on the desk next to her. "I don't want it," she pointed out, then turned to step past Dusana, her eyes already fixed on the door, ready to finally leave. A twinge of regret passed through her, she'd miss the easy comfort she'd so far felt in the hospital wing, but there would be none of that with Sabo around. "And I don't want you here. Do us both a favour and scurry back to your father, hm?"

Leaving unless stopped.

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30th November 2023
@Méabh Regan

Sunlight streamed through the window, lighting up the room in a warm luminescent halo. A pity, since the two inhabitants were so coldly facing each other. Dusana stared at Méabh as she rolled the fine cherry wand through her hands. If anyone else had touched her wand, they'd have received a slap. And quite possibly a strike from Asclepius, who was at this current moment in time reacquainting themselves with the Hogwarts exterior. Dusana hadn't even thought that he would be needed here on the first few days back. What was there to do? Watch her attend some small crying child as she reset a bone or reverted an array spell? But now as she stared up at Méabh, her face flushing a crimson at the indecorum comment, the Nurse really would have liked her companion with her. The gall of Regan!

No words would come out of Dusana's mouth. Really there didn't need to be. She had asked for her wand back, and it was up to Méabh to give it back or not. She begrudgingly held the power. Standing to her full height, she crossed her arms and waited. It wouldn't surprise Dusana if Méabh were to throw her wand out a window and make her retrieve the wand from the mud. Pettiness wasn't above them both where the other was concerned. Their history showed.

She raised her eyebrows at Méabhs comment of boundaries and her tongue loosened. Dusana scowled, a memory from their time as students rising from the depths of where she tried to keep it down. "Boundaries? You talk of boundaries, oh so great Potion Master. You shattered them when you ruined my potion. My father-" She stopped. She wasn't going to just break down in front of Méabh. Was finally seeing her addling Dusanas brain? The memory was old but seeing Méabh now felt like it had been done just yesterday, ripped asunder for all the pain and hurt to bubble over, spilling into something dark and twisted. Hatred brewed anew. The Nurse glared, wishing for the other woman to just leave her be.

She watched as Méabh offered the wand over. A feeble peace offering? Oh, nope. Grasping her wand, Dusana snorted, her arms still locked around herself to form some sort of barrier from Méabh. It had been rocky, for a number of reasons, but her father and her were on good terms. Now. She watched as the other woman turned and left, and Dusana couldn't help a parting remark. "Say hi to Fiadh for me!"

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