Messin' With The Kid ((Sierra))

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

“We’re going to Mummy’s store today, yes we are…oh, yes we are,” Dixie smiled down at her son as she buttoned the onesie, Jamie was chewing on a teething ring, but his mother’s smile had calmed him down from a set of hysterics. He was cutting teeth, and it was a painful process to watch from the parental point of view – Dixie couldn’t imagine how it was to actually be going through the pain. She lifted him up, holding him gently so he could stand on the changing table. His wide blue eyes looked around and then focused in on Dixie before he broke into a bright smile and dropped his teething ring. “Oops. Mummy will get that in a moment. First, we’ve got to buckle you up in your carrier…c’mon, upsie baby.” She lifted him and set him in the bucket seat, strapping him in safely. It was a good thing he was such a small boy, otherwise he wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable. When he was settled in, Dixie retrieved his teething ring and handed it to him. She had planned this trip to Hogsmeade last night, feeling like she needed a day out with her son in a familiar place where she felt comfortable and at home.

Checking to make sure she had everything she could possibly need, Dixie looped her arm through the handle, pulled out her wand and apparated away from the manor in Ireland. Sometimes she worried if apparition startled Jamie or made him ill in any way, but every time she checked on him afterward he was always smiling and making motions with his hands as if he were trying to clap. Sometimes he even made the baby sign for “more.” Baby sign; that was something Dixie had read about in a parenting magazine while waiting for her check up. If you signed to the child while you fed them the sign for “more” then they would pick up on it and eventually transfer it into Baby sign – a smaller version of adult sign. Dixie set Jamie on the checkout counter, and tucked her wand away before looking around for the manager she had hired when she had taken off for her pregnancy. “Hello? Violette? Anyone here?” Dixie unstrapped Jamie and pulled him onto her hip, moving from the main display room to the back office. Typing and soft music could be heard behind the closed door that Dixie tapped with her knuckles on. The typing stopped and in a few seconds the door swung open to reveal Violette Silva.

She was a short blonde with bright blue eyes that almost looked violet, making her name mean something. Dixie had hired her, not for her fashion sense, but for her quirky yet slightly witchy attitude and her experience in retail. Violette was only 16, and she was already the manager of the Lovely Lumos! Hogsmeade location, while her classmates worked below her. Violette couldn’t have asked for anything more, even if she was an ambitious Slytherin. “Oh, it’s you. Hey.” Dixie stumbled slightly at her disappointed tone as the teenager turned around and walked back into the expanse of the manager’s office, her thick heeled knee high shoes if you could call them that, clunking on the hardwood floor. Dixie followed her in, closing the door behind her and shifting Jamie from her right hip to her left. They made quite a picture. Dixie with her grey pencil skirt, Jimmy Choo heels, Slytherin green cashmere sweater; and Lette with her black jeans, black corset top, and navy blue lace…whatever that was.

“’Oh, it’s you. Hey?’ That’s seriously all I get? I’m paying you way too much for that kind of reply,” Dixie smirked at Lette, who shrugged her shoulders and sank back into her chair. “Anyway, I figured I’d stop by and see if the place has burnt down yet.” Lette made a face in Dixie’s general direction as the older woman sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk; Jamie now balanced on her knee, which was bouncing up and down steadily. Jamie let out a stream of “dadadadadada”s. Dixie ignored it. They were just baby sounds. “Have there been any problems?” Now, Dixie was being serious, and Lette knew she was, but before she could give a response, the bell indicating a customer had arrived chimed. “Why didn’t we install one of those for when someone apparatus in?” Dixie mumbled to herself as Lette began to stand. She stopped the teenager and said she’d handle it, she hadn’t been working in months and could use the practice; and then she left the office with Jamie on her hip again.

“Welcome to Lovely Lumos!, where you can find anything in your size and style. How may I help…” Dixie trailed off as the girl turned around from the rack of clothes she had been looking at. The silence fell between them, Dixie staring at Sierra and wondering what to do…run and hide, hug her, what? She had always looked at Sierra as a little sister, and when she had left Adam it had been hard to let go of Sierra as well… but did she have to? Dixie had been pushing those thoughts away because it was too much pain. Before she could make a decision, Jamie gurgled and smacked his lips together in a wet baby kind of way, with a goofy grin on his face. “Oh…hi, Sierra…”

[Sierra Greene S6]

Sierra loved weekends, especially since she had been granted permission to be at home for them. Ever since Dixie had left, Sierra requested permission to go to Hogsmeade every weekend just to keep Adam company. Headmistress McGonagall had thankfully agreed. Perhaps she had noticed a lack in Adam’s character lately too. In fact, she seemed more than willing to let Sierra make the special arrangements. Either way, when Friday afternoon rolled around, Sierra made the trip from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade with Adam, and quite often then stopped at the Three Broomsticks for dinner. It had become sort of a routine, one that Sierra was beginning to rely on.

Then, on Saturdays, she and Adam were free to do anything they wanted, really. Sierra tried planning things that would help keep his mind off of everything else. Day trips here and there. An occasional weekend trip to somewhere far off. Adam seemed to enjoy the time, or at least he acted as though he did. Plus, it wasn’t like Sierra was the one in need of a vacation, so she was sure he wasn’t just doing it for her. He needed it, and he knew he needed it.

Today would not be the normal weekend excursion for Sierra though. She had other plans in mind, plans that she hadn’t fully shared with Adam. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to argue when she told him she just needed a day for herself. Once she threw the word ‘shopping’ out there, he quickly waved her away, explaining that he had plenty of other things to do anyways, including a growing stack of Ancient Runes essays to grade. Sierra was half tempted to slip hers onto the top of the pile, hoping that he’d be more gracious at the beginning as his energy and patience might grow thin toward the end of the grading process. She ended up leaving her essay where it was though, somehwere in the middle of the stack most likely. Adam would be hard on her no matter where her essay was in the pile. Even if she was brilliant at Runes, he always pushed her to do better. Typical of him.

All important necessities in hand, Sierra bundled up and walked into the chilly winter day. It wasn’t brutally cold, but cold enough to make her wish she had her apparating license. The walk wasn’t too far though. She knew exactly where she was going.

As she neared the newly refurbished building on one of the Hogsmeade streets, Sierra paused for a moment, admiring the window displays. She wasn’t that into fashion, but Sierra knew a good style when she saw one. Lovely Lumos had that style. Of course, with Dixie as the creator, Sierra could understand why. Now, if only Dixie were there today, Sierra would be a bit more pleased. She had peeked in a few other times, always to find out that Dixie was still out of town. The elder Slytherin girl who manned the shop on the weekends, Violette, probably was getting tired of Sierra popping in with the hopes of finding Dixie. If she wasn’t there today though, Sierra was going to ask Violette to deliver a message. There was always the option of owling Dixie, but Sierra hated the thought of the letter getting lost along the way. She knew Dixie had to come to the shop eventually, so the letter would be waiting with Violette when she did.

With no letter in hand though, Sierra was counting on the fact that her luck would change and that Dixie would be in the store. Needless to say, luck was on her side. "Hey..." her voice sounded somewhat unsure. She smiled though, looking at Dixie and then at Jamie. "Oh my goodness!" she shrieked, a bit more upbeat than the original greeting. Sierra rushed forward to get a better look at Jamie. "Look at how much he has grown!" Sierra wasn't sure if she should ask to hold him. Though she knew Dixie held nothing against her, it still was hard to look past all that happened between Dixie and Adam. Sierra did come down on Dixie's side for most of the differences though, but in the end she really just wished that the two of them could work it out. If not for each other... at least for Jamie. How could they be so selfish and not work together for that cute little face. Looking back at Dixie, Sierra remembered why she had come in the first place and a bit of her excitement dwindled.

"You never said goodbye," Sierra said, folding her arms and leaning against the nearby wall. She wasn't trying to be mean to Dixie. She wasn't even trying to make her apologize. Sierra just wanted to process everything. She had tried being there for Adam, but it was even hard for her when she wasn't able to explain everything. She couldn't know exactly what Dixie was thinking when she left. She understood the gist of it, but the entire picture was perhaps a bit hazy. "He's a mess. Disastrous. Ever since you left." A silent stare. Sierra wasn't sure what she expected from Dixie in return. "I know it's his fault... but... it's hard to seem him like that, you know?" It was out there. Sierra felt a lot better now that Dixie knew. Hell, she probably knew already, but Sierra had been growing weak from lugging the thought around with nobody to share it with. "I know it's tough for you too. I don't mean to dump this on you. But I miss you. I miss Jamie. And Adam misses you both too. I know he does."

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie’s grip on her son tightened a little at the sight of the 15 year old girl not two feet in front of her. It was almost as if Adam had walked into the store, and Dixie had to remind herself to breathe slowly. She had hurt Sierra almost as much as she had hurt Adam and herself, she couldn’t believe she was able to stay standing in front of the 5th year Slytherin. Shame washed over her, flooding her cheeks with blood and making them red. She shifted Jamie on her hip again, giving Sierra a small smile at her weak ‘hey’ and then nearly stumbled back at her squeal of delight. A truly delightful laugh came from Dixie and she shifted Jamie so he could see Sierra clearly. Jamie reached out a small pudgy hand and patted Sierra on the nose, “He’ll be 5 months in a couple of weeks. It scares me how fast he’s growing up.” Each new day was an adventure, each new day Jamie surprised her. It was probably the one thing about her life that was wonderful without any faults. Jamie was perfection.

Her brown eyes rested on Sierra as the younger girl grew serious, and said four words that made Dixie’s heart hurt. “I know, Sierra, I know. I’m so sorry. I…” Dixie frowned and looked at her son as he wriggled around in her arms, trying to get to Sierra. He was always so social and he wanted to be around the new person at all times. Sierra was like a new shiny toy to him, something he couldn’t wait to get his drooley mouth on. He wasn’t into biting just yet, because he hadn’t completely cut his first tooth, but gumming was still an option. “I just needed to get the hell out of dodge, you know? And the safest place to be was in Ireland with my family. I thought about writing to you, if it’s any consolation. But I just didn’t know if you wanted to hear from me or not. And I don’t think I could have taken you saying you hated me or something…” Dixie looked at her apologetically before looking at Jamie and then offering him to Sierra, “Could you hold him a moment while I set up his pack and play? He’s a bit squirmy, and he might try to gum you to death…” She smiled as she handed the 4 month old off to Sierra and then turned around to his carrier.

She reached into the big pocket and pulled out a tiny pack and play; a play pen basically with toys scattered here and there. A muggle invention, but a brilliant one at that. As Sierra talked, Dixie tried not to think about the burning tears that were forming in her eyes. She pulled out her wand and enlarged the pack and play in the center of the store before turning back around to Sierra just as she was saying Adam missed them. Dixie sighed and took Jamie back from her, placing him in the play pen. What was she going to say to that? She tucked her wand away and then folded her arms over her chest, trying to keep her eyes on Sierra instead of letting them drift away to Jamie. “You know I miss you, too, Sierra. You’re like a sister to me.” She tapped her foot gently on the hardwood flooring, trying to let a good remark come to her. Dixie let her eyes fall to her heels and then she slowly lifted them back up to Sierra, “Does he really miss me? Because…”

There they came. The tears flooded her eyes and she lifted a hand to cover them, taking several deep breaths. She needed to calm down, she wasn’t going to get anything accomplished by being a wreck. She was disappointed in herself. She had thought that she had gotten past this crying whenever Adam was mentioned. Obviously not. That or…having Sierra there was just regressing her progress. “Because…” Dixie sniffed and wiped at her eyes to touch up her make up before straightening herself, “He should. Yeah, because he should.”

[Sierra Greene S6]

"Hate you? Dixie, I never hated you." Sierra shook her head with a strong sense of assurance. Perhaps she had been mad at a few points, but Sierra's anger was never directed solely at Dixie. Sierra didn't know why, but she felt so bad for both Dixie and Adam. It wasn't any of her business, yet she felt like she owed them something. Part of her felt that it was up to her to make sure they were happy.

Dixie then offered Jamie to Sierra while she fixed his playpen. Slightly nervous, Sierra made sure she had a good grip on Jamie's tiny body. She had never held a baby before, but it wasn't as scary as she'd thought once the initial part was over. He was quite light, still small despite having grown since the last time she saw him. Though he didn't cry, the look on his face indicated that he might not have been completely thrilled that his mother just handed him to someone who was practcially a stranger.

Soon, with Jamie in his playpen and Dixie's attention back to Sierra, the tears came. Dixie's crying caused Sierra to shed a few tears of her own. Quickly, she closed the gap between them and drew Dixie into a hug. Sierra was a bit shorter than Dixie, but she squeezed her tight nonetheless. "He does. He really does. Even if he won't admit it, I can tell." Sierra wondered if things could be fixed with a simple apology. Was it as simple as Adam realizing his stupidity and Dixie forgiving him? She wished that were the case.

Their embrace ended and Sierra stepped back, taking another look at Dixie and wondering what to even say next. It was all just a process of returning to normal. Normalcy was all that Sierra wanted. There had been enough sadness and drama in all of their lives. Why couldn't things just be happy for a change. Maybe even contentment would be nice. "You should at least go talk to him," she stated. It wasn't as much of a command as it was a request. "But, that's up to you. I've probably already gotten involved too much as it is." Sierra knew this was probably the case, but it seemed that both Dixie and Adam had streaks of stubbornness. They'd never get anywhere if neither of them were willing to make the first step.

"On another note though, do you happen to be hiring? Just part-time. Maybe only a few hours a week. I just need a little extra spending money. Adam will hardly let me touch my half of the inheritance. Well, it's all his really, but he told me he put half away for my future. What good is it to me if I can't use it though?" She flashed a small smile. Sierra knew Adam was doing what he thought was best, but Sierra still needed some sort of income. She did like to be able to enjoy some ability to buy what she wanted and have money to do other things with friends. "If not, I considered asking Madame Rosmerta. We go into Three Broomsticks enough now that nobody cooks for Adam." She didn't mean her last statement in a cutting way, but Sierra realized that it might have seemed so. "Not that that means anything." She shook her head. Sometimes words could come out so wrong.

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie felt better at Sierra saying she didn't hate her, that she had never hated her. For some reason that she could not explain, Sierra felt more like a younger sister to Dixie than Mack did. Mack felt more like a best friend than a sister, and she knew that was because for years and years, Dixie had degraded their relationship to the point where there was no way they could ever be sisterly. But Sierra had always been someone she got along with from the get-go. Ever since those days they spent at St. Mungo's together, standing vigil by Adam's side while they hoped and prayed he came out of that coma, Sierra and Dixie had a bond that Dixie hoped not just anything could sever. It would appear that even the looming threat and knowledge of a divorce didn't stop the familial feelings either of the two girls had toward one another. By now, Dixie had handed Jamie off to Sierra and set up his pack 'n' play.

Tears were fighting to make their way out of her tear ducts and Dixie was feeling the frustration rising in her stomach. She was so exhausted of crying all the time that it was starting to grate her nerves. First, it was somewhat therapeutic, but now…it was really just…tiresome. Jamie was in his play pen by now, and she had turned to face Sierra, replying to her about her Adam missing them remark. And when Dixie's tears fought their way forward, Sierra rushed toward her and grabbed her into a hug. Immediately, Dixie wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and held on tight, resting her head against Sierra's as she closed her eyes and tried to block more tears. It felt nice to hug her, it felt like a part of Dixie returned. "Well, then…" Dixie whispered into Sierra's hair, blinking her tears away, before the 15 year old pulled away from the hug. Dixie smiled at her and wiped at her eyes cautiously, "I suppose that's better than nothing at all, isn't it? I do miss him, too…I miss the both of you, quite a bit."

She sighed slightly and listened to Sierra say that she should at least talk to him. She knew she should, but she couldn't find the strength to attempt to talk to him only to get crushed even more. Dixie wondered how Sierra thought things would work out between she and her brother, but she didn't ask; figuring that would be opening up another can of worms that Dixie just couldn't wade through. Dixie smiled and clasped Sierra's hand gently, "No such thing as getting 'too' involved, love. You just care. I may talk to him, but I just need time to adjust myself and make sure I won't act like a complete lunatic." She wasn’t lying. Dixie did have every intention of talking to Adam eventually, she just wasn't going to go and seek him out until she was certain she was ready. If things happened on their own accord and they are suddenly slammed together by fate, that would be a different story – but if she were to track him down and talk to him now, it wouldn't be talking…it would be screaming. And she didn't want to scream at him.

Dixie tucked her hair behind her ear and tilted her head as she listened to Sierra ask about hiring her for a part time job at Lovely Lumos! When she talked about Adam not letting her touch the inheritance money he set aside for her until the future, Dixie laughed another full-hearted laugh; "Your brother. The Frugal Monster. Yes, you can have a job here. I'll let Violette know you'll be working for her and she'll draw you up a schedule. The pay is actually rather good here, because I don't really feel like losing any employees – it's 5 galleons an hour, as opposed to the 10 sickles you'd get at any other shop, and that's just minimum wage. That would be why Lette still works here. She loves her pay." She smiled and walked to the checkout counter, kneeling down to pull out an application for her to fill out; "You'll need to fill out this, though, for filing reasons."

As she handed the form to Sierra, Dixie reflected back on what the younger girl had said about the two of them eating out a lot, and then she did something she probably shouldn't have done – especially if the answer was one she didn't want to hear; "You said that no one's cooking for him…does that mean that he's….he's not…not…uhm…" Dixie scratched the back of her head and tried to appear casual, "…seeing anyone?"

[Sierra Greene S6]

“Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite?” Sierra grinned when Dixie told her that she would give her a job. Not just any job at that. The pay was more than great and Sierra knew both her supervisor and her boss already. Lette was another Slytherin older than Sierra, and if Dixie trusted her to be in charge of the store, then surely Sierra wouldn’t mind working for her. “I’ll only need weekend hours for now,” she explained. Sierra was pretty focused on her school work, and so she couldn’t afford the extra responsibility during the week. She was certain Dixie would understand. The most prevalent Slytherin trait that both Sierra and Adam had was their ambition to succeed. Granted, Adam had changed his mind about the whole Minister of Magic thing, but it didn’t mean he had let his hard work go to waste either. Same with Sierra; she wanted to keep her options open, which meant that she’d have to do well in as many classes as possible.

“Oh, right, no problem.” Sierra took the application and began quilling in the necessary information. “Hmm?” Sierra asked, looking up between writing when Dixie asked her a question. “Oh, cooking…” she laughed. “No. Of course not. But… oh. Well… maybe? I don’t know.” Sierra didn’t make much sense in her answer. Originally though, she figured Adam wasn’t seeing anybody, but then after she thought about it, she remembered Professor Granger. “I guess there is someone. Well, not really. Nothing you should be worried about. I mean, not that you’re worried anyways. But…” Sierra bit her lip. She wasn’t really sure what kind of answer Dixie was looking for. Adam and Hermione weren’t actually seeing each other, and Sierra wasn’t sure if she should tell Dixie or not. Perhaps it would just make things more awkward. She didn’t want to keep secrets, but she surely didn’t want to be spreading rumours either. “Put it this way. He’s been hanging around with a particular person, but I doubt it’s much more than a friendship. He just needed someone when you left, and so he found a friend. That’s all.” She hoped she sounded convincing. In the end, Sierra wasn’t really sure what to make of it anyways. All Sierra knew is that she wanted everyone to be happy. Whatever ending that would require, she wasn’t sure.

“Just… just go see him. I promise you it’s what will be best for both of you. There’s a lot that the two of you need to process, and I think that the only way you’ll be able to do that is by talking with one another face to face. As much as I’d love to be the go-between, I’m afraid I can’t speak for the two of you completely since I’m not sure exactly what you’re both thinking.” Sierra offered a smile, knowing Dixie would understand. If there was one thing Dixie was, it was understanding. Sure she chose to react to the truth in drastic ways, but Sierra knew that, above all, Dixie was at least reasonable in her understanding if not entirely reasonable in her actions.

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie grinned, "Yeah, but I never get tired of hearing it." Her grin melted into a smirk as she handed Sierra the form and then leaned against the counter, her hands clasped, her eyes never leaving the younger Slytherin. The girl had been through quite a bit, especially where her parents were concerned, and Dixie sincerely hoped that she wouldn't have to be through much worse. A young girl's life shouldn't be filled with such drama. Sadly, Dixie realized she was causing some of that drama, but there really wasn't much Dix could do about that right now. Perhaps sometime in the future, but right now change wasn't going to happen immediately. "Good, because we're short staffed on weekends. Especially since most of the employees are teenagers who don't want to spend their weekends working. What do you kids do on the weekends?" She smirked, knowing that what she had done on the weekends were completely different from what they were doing. There was definitely an age gap, and Dixie was frightened by it.

As she watched Sierra fill out the form, Dixie thought about Adam being with someone else. It made her feel sick. It made her feel like she was going to throw up, or pass out, or something equally horrible. Would he? Move on that fast? Dixie hadn't even spoken to another man, unless you counted Tommy but she didn't, since she and Adam had parted. She had practically become a nun! And to think about him…talking to, being with another woman? It made her…jealous. Yes. Jealous. Dixie was jealous for the first time in her life. She hadn't been jealous of his relationship with Rae, that was understandable and even somewhat expected, but she was jealous now…of the mere idea of him being with someone else. It made her head hurt, and she was nearly about to lunge and grasp Sierra by the arms and shake her when she didn't answer automatically.

And when she did, Dixie felt her knees buckle slightly and the only thing that kept her standing, really, was the counter she had been leaning on. She managed a weak smile, for Sierra's sake, and continued to listen to her talk about how he wasn’t really involved with anyone, but he had been seeing someone on a friendly basis, and that she didn't think he was interested but just that he needed a friend to support him. Dixie wondered who it was. It wasn't Rae this time. Pathetic. She was wishing it was Rae. Because then she knew how to handle it. But it wasn't. And she didn’t. "Right," Dixie replied, blinking rapidly to rid her eyes of tears, "Of course, no…" she shook her head and smiled, a sincere yet slightly dulled smile, "I'm not worried. I was just curious." She gained control of her legs and she gently pushed herself away from the countertop to kneel down beside Jamie's pack'n'play. He gurgled when he saw her and reached his hand out to her, opening and closing it. Suddenly, she felt better.

Sierra talked about Dixie going to see Adam and after a length pause, Dixie sighed heavily; "Perhaps you're right, Sierra. Maybe I should go and see him. But I don’t know what I would say let alone if there would be anything to say at all. What would he say and how would I respond? And what if it just ends up worse than it is now? I don't know if I can handle all of that," she bit her bottom lip and then stood and faced Sierra again, "You know, I haven't really thought about how all of this is affecting you…and that's really selfish of me. I'm sorry. We shouldn't be putting you in the middle like this."