She Apparated to her flat in Muggle London, and tossed her bag of gear onto the couch.  She stripped as she headed to the bathroom.  She desperately needed a shower after that grueling practice. 

She sang to herself as she washed her hair, and decided to leave it down, doing a quick-dry charm on it.  Throwing on a pair of jeans and a plain red tee, she grabbed her keys and walked out the door, heading for Agnes' Cafe, where she knew Angelina was probably waiting for her.

Angelina was indeed waiting for her friend at Agnes'. She'd actually been waiting there for ten minutes and was already making her way through a second scone. After the morning she'd had, she needed as many lemon scones as possible. She didn't care if it'd ruin her dancer's figure; she wouldn't exactly be needing it.

Dance rehearsal had been disastrous, simply disastrous. Her partner, Philip, had turned his ankle while doing the cha-cha, of all things. Out of all the routines and styles one could injure one's self, he did it to the cha-cha. The non-travelling cha-cha. What kind of professional dancer turns their ankle at such a beginner's dance?  Now, Angelina didn't know if her troupe would even be performing at their next scheduled event. Damn man, buggering it up for everyone. Rather pathetic, really. It just proved, once again, that people could not be trusted to do things on their own.

  Afterwards, she had gone to visit her mum, which was always a special time. Ever since her father had died, Angelina felt like she was banging her head against a brick wall around that woman. She refused to listen to anything Angelina had to say about the Wizarding world. She would just babble mindlessly on about the neighbors' son and what a lovely couple he and Angelina would make, or how it was a shame that Angelina didn't have the opportunity to attend university. Like Angelina would want to do more learning.

Angelina chomped down viciously on another bite of lemon scone, scowling.

"Where is that bloody girl?"

As if on cue, Alicia rushed in through the door.  She slowed to a walk and grinned cheekily at her friend, knowing full well that Angelina had probably been waiting for a while.

"It's okay, Angelina, I'm here now," she laughed tossing her jumper into the booth, and sitting across from her friend.  Noting the amount of crumbs, she glanced at her friend. 

"Been a day already, huh?  Wanna vent?"

"My dance partner has slugs for brains and my mum's still a nutter. The idiots of the world are conspiring against me, Ali," Angelina sighed and hailed a waitress for another scone. "I don't even know if we'll be performing at the dance theatre next week."

"Gross," Alicia agreed, making a face.  She requested a coffee and cinnamon bun from the waitress and turned back to her friend.  "I can understand your mum, sort of.  It's gotta be hard, even after five years.  But that doesn't mean she should make your life a living hell."

She smiled watching her friend for a moment.  "I don't know if I can say anything to make it any better, nor do I know if I should share my good news.  But I'm here for you to vent to, whenever, unless I'm teaching Yoga or practicing or playing."  She laughed, "When I say it like that, it really doesn't sound like I'm here for you at all!"

She took a sip of her coffee, "How'd your dance partner screw up this time?"

"You mean, other than he breathes?" Angelina snorted. "He turned his ankle while doing the cha-cha with some student of his. It had swelled to the size of a bludger by the time I saw it. He can barely walk on it, let alone dance, the arse."

Angelina tugged off another bit of scone and popped it in her mouth, feeling a bit lighter now that she'd complained properly about it all. There was really nothing like some good, honest bitching to make Angelina right with the world once again.

"What a cack-handed prat!"  Alicia exclaimed, laughing.

"Tell me about it," the dancer replied. "Now, what's this good news you were on about?"

"Well, you know how I had heard rumors of Sharon, our special moves chaser, being pregnant?  Well, it's true... And the manager just told me, they want ME to move up from reserve to starter!  First game is this Saturday, we play the Arrows.  I'm so stoked.  It's going to be exhausting though," she mused aloud, thinking for the first time about her commitments to Yoga and Quidditch, "the Yoga studio asked me to fill in on Friday night...  And I'm happy to, don't get me wrong, but...  It's just a lot."

For the first time since finding out that she had been named the new chaser for Puddlemere, Alicia saw that it was going to be a lot harder than she'd originally anticipated.  She was going to have to find a way to balance both...  She'd made the commitment after all.

Angelina practically squawked with excitement, "You're having me on! They did not choose you! Merlin, Ali, I can't believe it!"

Angelina jumped up from her side of the booth and slid into Alicia's to throw her arms around her and squeal, "Alicia Spinnet, STARTING chaser for Puddlemere United! Brilliant!"

For a moment Angelina wished she had gone into the world of Quidditch, as well. At least then she would have had a steadier career than what singing was affording her. But she had made her bed and now she had to lay in it. Besides, Quidditch had never given her the same rush that singing for an audience did. She lived for that rush, just as she knew Alicia lived for the rush of Quidditch. The moment slid away and happiness for Alicia's good fortune took over once again. Angelina gave her another tight squeeze.

Alicia blushed, a pink tinge on her cheeks, and then hugged her friend back. 

"Talk about 'Quidditch' a tad louder Angelina, I don't think those two crones at the back quite heard you,"  Alicia joked.  "And I'm rather offended that you would think I was putting you on!  As if I would ever put you on about this.  And as if I wasn't the obvious choice!" 

She laughed as she pretended to pout and drank a bit of her coffee. 

"It's a dream come true though.  Almost as exciting as finally flying with the Gryffindors, hmm?"

Angelina laughed, "Oh, the women just think we're using some new slang. And there is nothing more exciting than flying with the Gryffindors. Especially with Wood as captain. I don't know how he did it all those years. I wanted to strangle the entire team by the end of the season."

That year had been another reason why Angelina hadn't wanted to pursue Quidditch as a career. Not only had it taken all the fun out of the game--though Umbridge helped with that, as well--but Angelina hadn't liked the person she was that year. Always angry and stressed over new tactics and practices. She was sure that many of her teammates were still terrified of her after her tenure as captain.

Alicia sighed, "Oh, Oliver.  And the twins.  Merlin's beard, but they were the best beaters Gryffindor has ever seen."  She paused.

"Do you know how Fred is doing these days?"  She tried to keep the question light, but couldn't help asking it.  She and the twins had been close once, but when George had died, she checked out on Fred.  She wasn't very good at mincing words and comforting people...  So she'd kept her distance at first, to let him heal.  But the days turned to weeks, and weeks to months and months to years, and now she could hardly just owl him up and ask him to meet her for coffee.  It just wasn't right.  But that didn't mean she didn't care...

"As well as to be expected, I suppose," Angelina sighed and finished off her scone, "I haven't spoken with him in awhile. I should go visit him sometime. It's just that, sometimes, I...don't know what to say."

After she called for the bill, Angelina added, "And I'm sure he'd like to hear from you. Once a Gryffindor teammate, always a Gryffindor teammate, ya know?"

"You know I can't really do that, Angelina.  I left him in that moment when he needed teammates most.  And now it's just been too long.  Like you said... What do you say?"

She paid what she owed, and left some extra on the table for the waitress.  She grabbed her jumper, and together the friends walked to the door.

"I'll keep it in mind though.  When do I get to come hear you sing?  This Saturday is probably out, but let me know and I'll do my best to be there."  She smiled, "I'm so glad I came to see you right after finding out my good news."

"You know how I love good news! Especially when it's about my friends potentially becoming famous.  And I've gotten the Friday night spot now, as well as the Saturday. I can owl you later about it. I would love to see a familiar face in the crowd!" 

With that, Angelina hugged her friend goodbye and started off towards the alley to Disapparate to her flat. It was just out of walking distance from Agnes' and she didn't have the money to take the Tube. She really did need to do something about her financial situation. She couldn't keep putting compulsion spells on her landlord. It was much to close to the Imperious for her tastes.

'Maybe dance lessons.....'

With that thought, Angelina vanished with a gentle pop.

Alicia hugged her friend back, and turned to walk to the Yoga Studio.  She wanted to pick up her mat so she could spend some time in the park near her flat in her advanced practice. She had a lot to think about now as far as balance, and Yoga would help with that.  Sadly, it was Yoga that had gotten her into her current predicament.  She would owl Katie tonight and see if they could grab lunch.  She could use her other friend's optimism and gentle wisdom.  She smiled.  She hadn't kept in contact with very many people from school, but she was very glad that she had kept Angelina and Katie.  Together they were a very balanced group...  And always had been.  It was part of the reason they'd played together so well.  Smiling with her memories of days past, she strode purposefully on.


{SUMMARY} Angelina and Alicia meet up for tea at Agnes' and to trade news. Alicia's is way better than Angelina's.