Revelations (Dora)

It had been just over a month that Mimosa had made herself at home in Dora’s tiny flat. The little pup seemed happy and she was small enough that the studio apartment Dora currently called home that Mimi didn’t seem to mind. The only troublesome bit was finding a way to allow Mimi out to the balcony to do her business without leaving the window that led to the balcony open all evening while she was at work. Dora had tried it once, after enchanting the rails of the balcony to not permit Mimi (or more precisely, Mimi’s collar) to jump over the railing in case a pesky pigeon decided to taunt the dog while Dora was away, but when Dora came home after three o’clock in the morning from her shift at the nightclub, Dora found rain had poured in through the open window and soaked nearly half the flat. The next night she placed a charm on the window to keep rain or snow out, but when she came home from work her flat was freezing from the chilly air that had still been allowed in, and Mimosa was curled up under the covers of Dora’s bed without a care in the world to the little ice box they were standing in.

It took some time, and some assistance from Fin to help charm the place properly, but Dora and Mimosa settled in together just fine. They went for walks twice a day, and Mimi was happy to sit out on the balcony in Dora’s lap while she read or cross-stitched. She had gone to the library to check out books on dog training and dog poo removal spells – her small balcony was the perfect size for a patch of fake grass but there wasn’t anywhere to put the stuff after the fact. Dora was pleased – and slightly weirded out – that there seemed to be a book about any and every topic, even poo.

Mimosa had met most of Dora’s friends. Fin was obviously the first, and then Livia. She sent pictures to Jovi, along with a letter asking if her cousin was planning to come home over the Easter holiday – she wasn’t. Dora had even taken Mimosa to the cemetery and introduced the puppy to her father and brother, and she had contemplated going to her mum’s flat in Winchester but chickened out at the last minute and left after knocking on the front door, before her mum had had time to answer it. Practically everyone had met or at least heard of Mimosa by now, except Kit. She was planning to introduce the pair at breakfast today.

Dora adored Kit for several reasons, most of which were ultimately superficial or hormone driven, but he really was a wonderful bloke. Saving her life some years back hadn’t hurt anything, either. Who didn’t want a knight in shining armor to whisk you away and save the day? Dora certainly did. It was the plot straight out of several of the trashy novels she had hidden underneath her bed. Dressed for a gorgeous spring day, with her bare skin enchanted to keep the persistent winter chill off her, Dora plopped Mimi into an oversized handbag. “Now you be a good doggy, Mimosa. Do you understand me? I don’t want to see you chasing Azrael or making any trouble for Kit. We rather fancy him.” Dora smirked and gave a wink to the pup, who barked as if she understood what Dora was saying. Perhaps she did. Or perhaps she just liked the sound of Dora’s voice and her name being used in a loving tone. Whatever the case, Dora took it as a sign of agreement, then she slung the purse’s handle into the crook of her arm and disapparated.

Kit’s townhouse was massive compared to the little studio where Dora lived. It was nothing compared to Fin’s manor, but then something like Fin’s place didn’t seem to suit Kit. He was a different sort of posh; one that gave her nether region a flutter if she thought about him too much. Dora rang the buzzer as she stood in her mini skirt on the front steps, Mimosa curled up on the bottom of her handbag and completely out of sight.

Dora waited on the stoop outside Kit’s townhouse, admiring the brickwork and the greenery that was around her. She had turned and was looking at the buildings on the opposite side of the street when the door finally opened, and Kit greeted her and welcomed her inside. She grinned in return. “I knew you’d love it,” she said confidently of her outfit as she stepped into the home and gave her skirt a little fluff in order to show it off a bit more, as if he hadn’t just ogled her enough. He hadn’t. She could always be ogled more. She loved having any bloke’s eyes on her and if she even imagined Kit’s were staring at her in such a way she would go weak in the knees.

Kit was cooking her breakfast. She already knew that, of course, but having him say it aloud again made her giddy. Fin used to cook for her, he still did sometimes when she invited herself over (usually unannounced), but it wasn’t the same thing, not in the slightest. Fin, while hot and a really good kisser, was her best friend. She had naughty dreams about him from time to time but she didn’t generally think of Fin Avery in the same way she thought of Kit Devereaux. Even his name was sexy. This sexy man who had quite literally saved her life was cooking her breakfast and that deserved a moment’s pause.

A pause which was interrupted by a tiny growl coming from inside Dora’s handbag.

“Mimi, be polite!” she scolded her bag in a whisper, turning towards the stairs that would take them up a floor to where their breakfast was cooking itself under the spell of the handsome Auror. First impressions were everything, and Dora wasn’t about to spoil Kit’s first impression of Mimosa when she was acting up. The pup was probably not used to smelling food cooking, as Dora didn’t really know how to cook for herself. She could make a few cold meals and boil a sausage but anything more complex than that and she risked burning her flat down. She decided to let Mimi stay tucked away in her bag for a while longer until she got used to all the new smells, including Kit’s cat Azrael which would definitely be a scent Mimi hadn’t encountered since coming home from the pet shop. “What are we having?” Dora asked cheerfully, another growl emanating from the pink bag on her arm.

Similar to Dora’s arrangement, Kit lived a larger city with very close neighbors on all sides of him. Unlike Dora’s flat though, Kit had a spacious townhouse with four full floors and proper walls between all of the rooms, none of which had to double the others like Dora’s bedroom/living room/dining room. It was still rather cozy compared to the mansion she had grown up in or to her friends’ places, most of whom lived in elegant manors or impossibly spacious flats that cost more a month than what Dora made in a year. She wasn’t complaining of course. Her place was teensy tiny but then again so was she, and at least she now had Mimi to keep her company. The pup, as if on cue, growled from inside Dora’s bag as she dropped it carefully from her arm and placed in on the floor beside the dining chair which Dora had pulled out for herself, intending on watching the all too seductive act of having a man cook for her.

“That all sounds lovely,” she replied, speaking over a full on bark coming from her bag. “I haven’t had a home cooked meal in ages,” confessed Dora. “I’ll probably eat a bit of everything, if you won’t think me a pig.” She ate fairly healthy things whenever, though she couldn’t pass up chocolate if it came around, but she wasn’t all that consistent in her diet. Dora went through spurts of eating whatever she wanted in moderation, and then practically starving herself for weeks if she thought she was getting too fat. She was always on the waif side of thin and her perception of her weight generally had more to do with her bouts of melancholy and whether or not men were paying her enough attention for her liking. It was a dangerous line she teetered on, but she didn’t always starve herself if she was in one of her episodes. Sometimes she cut herself to manage the emotional pain. Dora didn’t find a problem with either means of coping, but she still kept her habits to herself. Luckily, Dora was truthful when she said she hadn’t had a home cooked meal in a while and she was really rather looking forward to eating a little bit of everything Kit made for her.

Another growl came from her bag and Dora was just about ready to pull Mimi out of her carrier and give her a good telling off for being rude, not that the animal could understand but it would make Dora feel better at least. “The balcony would splendid,” Dora said, her voice rather strained from trying to hide her aggravation as she picked up her bag and headed toward the French doors that led out to the ivy covered space. “I’m just going to have a peak,” she said, excusing herself as she stepped out onto the patio.

“What is going on with you, Mimosa?!” she said in a scolding tone as she set her bag on the table outside and opened it up. Mimi was looking up at her from inside the little carrier, standing on all fours and ready to leap out of the bag. Dora picked the pup up and held it high to that they were eye level with each other. “You need to be polite! Kit isn’t going to invite you back if you’re a bad puppy. Do you understand me?” The dog panted and licked Dora’s nose.

It was impossible to scold Mimosa when she was suddenly being such a good little doggie. Perhaps she wasn’t fond of being shut up in her carrier, was all. As Dora held her, it was clear that the dog was no longer growling or making noises unbecoming of a member of the Parkinson family. “You just don’t like being locked up, do you? Mummy understands that.” A noise behind her signaled Kit’s appearance and it was accompanied by another bout of growling. This time, with Mimi in her arms instead of tucked away in her carrier bag, Dora saw the pup’s lip curl into a snarl, her fangs bared as she growled at Kit who was bringing out their breakfast.

“Mimosa!” Dora scolded, completely shocked at her dog's behavior. There was no reason for her acting this way and Dora was mortified to have such an ill-behaved dog. Perhaps she should have taken Lucius’ advice on hired a professional dog trainer to teach Mimi some manners, but she hadn’t displayed this level of distrust with any of Dora’s other friends. Dora turned her body, and Mimi, away from Kit, twisting her neck to look back at him as she attempted to put the dog back into her bag as a punishment for being so rude. “I’m so sorry, Kit. She’s never acted like this before. I think she’s just nervous meeting you.” Nervous or not, the moment Dora’s hands moved off the dog’s fur to fasten the closures of the bag, Mimosa leapt forward, knocking the carrier to the floor and brushing past Lyra as she ran at Kit.

Mimi usually did quite well in new places, she was rather used to be carted about and shown off. Despite having no professional training just yet, she was typically a rather well behaved little pup, at least she had been up until this point. Sure, Kit’s place wasn’t as posh as a lot of her other friends’ homes but it wasn’t as if Mimi could really be all that snooty about her surroundings, after all, she lived with Dora in what Fin claimed to be a literal shoebox. Dora scolded the dog, clapping her hands to get the pup’s attention as she jumped and snapped at the legs of the chair Kit had leapt onto. Had Dora not been absolutely mortified by her ill-behaved dog, she would have giggled with delight at Kit’s outburst, making some inappropriate play on his words that made his cheeks flush and his posture get all twitchy.

Nothing she did seemed to be working and she wasn’t sure what else to do. Honestly, Dora was a teensy bit frightened by her normally sweet little pup. She had never seen the dog snarl at anything more than a duck or a squirrel, and even then it seemed much more playful than this. Mimosa was not attempting to tease Kit with her ferocious sneer, she appeared to well and truly want to rip Kit’s leg off. Green eyes flashed from the furry little ball of snarls to Kit, up on the chair and gesturing to his wand. Dora didn’t have time to comprehend what he was asking before Mimosa was levitated into the air and through the door, which Kit closed promptly behind her locking the tiny pup in the kitchen. With Mimi’s snarls muffled through the glass, Dora instantly broke into an unyielding series of apologies. “I am so sorry, Kit! Really, I am. She’s never behaved like that. I didn’t think – Oh Merlin, I am sorry. I don’t know what’s come over her. She really is a good dog, honestly. Shit. Shit. I’m sorry. Oh shit.”

Green eyes turned up to look at Kit but there was an intense sense of worry in her expression. Sure, Kit claimed it was fine but Dora knew it wasn’t. Not really. She had no idea what had happened to make Mimi so aggressive and for the dog to direct that aggression at Kit, of all people, was beyond strange. She would definitely be replaying this moment, and every moment leading up to it, over and over and over in her head throughout the rest of the day, trying to understand what had happened to make her normally sweet little puppy turn into the ferocious little ball of teeth that was still slobbering all over Kit’s kitchen door.

Kit’s attempt at a comforting smile had the opposite affect on the still shaken witch. She muttered a few more apologies as Kit tried to usher her over to the table and redirect her focus onto the food. It wouldn’t work. “Oh no,” she remarked sternly, sitting herself down in the chair opposite Kit’s. “She is not getting any treats after that…that…display. She’s a bad dog.” Dora turned and leaned forward toward the snarling dog, raising her voice a touch so she was heard properly through the glass. “Do you hear me, Mimosa? A bad dog. Bad.” She exhaled a sigh, letting her head fall slightly as she turned back to her breakfast date. “I am so sorry, Kit. Honestly, I had no idea. I don’t know what happened.” Hopefully Kit would be right and Mimi would calm herself down soon enough but it was too soon to tell and there certainly wasn’t any calming down on Dora’s part. She felt wretched and wondered if this was the last time she’d ever be invited to Kit’s place. She would understand if that were the case. If someone brought over their poorly mannered beast to her flat and it had attacked her, she certainly wouldn’t be extending them an invitation anytime soon.

Dora reached for a piece of toast, broke off a small bite and shoved it into her mouth, her eyes unfixed and staring towards the piles of food. This would have been such a lovely breakfast had she not ruined it by bringing Mimi along. The dog was really helping Dora lately. She hadn’t had Mimosa long, but she was already feeling more at ease in the nights when her mind raced and she couldn’t help but to picture all the horrible things she longed to forget. It was silly that an animal could have such a soothing affect on her anxieties but she did, and now that helpful little furball was laying in Kit’s kitchen, eyes fixed on Kit and raising her head every so often to snarl at the poor, sweet man trying his damnedest to ignore it all. “You’ve a perfect face,” she replied, lifting her gaze and fixing a still apologetic stare at Kit. “She must just be worried about being in a new place, is all. I’ll have you round for tea at my flat. She’ll be a good hostess, I promise.” Merlin, Dora hoped she could keep that promise. She certainly didn’t want to push Kit away for any reason, he was already so difficult to pin down as it were. Socially awkward and busy with a real job, Dora was surprised he’d made time for her today at all, and she’d gone and ruined it before she’d even taken a bite. She broke off another bit of toast and popped it in her mouth, glancing back to Mimi as she chewed.

“Right,” she said with a forced yet guilty smile on her face, putting to rest any more talk of Mimi's poor behavior. “We’ll just ignore the erumpent in the room.” Dora laughed awkwardly but it was short and pained. “I’ve been fine, I suppose. Fin’s taking me to a gala at the Minister’s in a few weeks. I get to buy a new gown.” Her expression perked up a little as she spoke of new clothes. “And my birthday’s next weekend, of course. I wanted to throw a big party but I’ve not gotten around to planning anything, so maybe drinks and dancing instead.” Dora gave a genuine grin. “And now that I know how good of a dancer you are…” She let her sentence trail off in a teasing manner, though he would probably hear the words in a more threatening tone because that anything fun was a threat to the insanely reserved Kit-kat.