Turning (Open!)

Aisha had a vague memory of visiting what was known as "The Sacred Grotto" on a little adventure with her father when she was about twelve. It had been the summer holidays and on a nice day, he'd taken her to see a beautiful little grotto hidden somewhere in the countryside. She couldn't remember the details, only that it had been a lovely little trip.

So, as the weather was starting to warm up and spring was coming upon them, she decided it would be nice going back to take a nice relaxing walk and see if she could find the place again. Aisha had always been one for adventure and excitement. Her trips at the weekend usually consisted of either shopping or adventuring.

Dressed in her least expensive, posh, beautiful clothes, she set off in the vague direction of her destination. The walk ended up a long one, but that wasn't a bad time. She liked walking, a combination of exercise, relaxation and reflection time. Finally, she came across the grotto and was not disappointed with its beauty.

For a moment, Aisha just stood there, staring at the Sacred Grotto, satisfied.

A few days earlier, someone had told Genevieve that she was a bit tense and needed to relax. She had slapped them, for they were lower than her in the department. Well, everyone was lower than her in the department, but back to the point. After she apologized (if they quit, she wouldn't get her pay), the worker had suggested a place called The Sacred Grotto which, from what Genevieve gathered, was a grotto. The person wrote down the location on a piece of paper and handed it to her, and she stuffed it in her blazer and forgot about it.

On that particular day, though, Genevieve was feeling super stressed. Although she was the head of a Ministry department, which made stress her life, she had had a meeting with a bunch of Ministers from different countries and her head was drowning with all of those languages which she had to translate. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and her new language, German, were spinning round in her head and it was quite confusing. It was only when she found that piece of paper hidden in her blazer that she decided to see what was so great about the grotto.

She put on a pair of comfortable jeans and a loose jumper and an old pair of sneakers. Genevieve rarely ever wore clothes like these in public, but she felt at home in that outfit. When at home, she always wore things like yoga pants and jumpers and coloured socks, because nobody was usually there to judge her. And she knew The Sacred Grotto was probably deserted as well, so she decided to take the chance. She packed a tiny bag with nothing but a book, some food and other necessities like her home keys and Muggle mobile. Muggle things were cool and interesting, in her opinion. It was good to know about the people around you before you hid things from them, in her opinion.

Once she apparated to the spot, Genevieve spun around and looked. She had to admit, it wasn't very disappointing. It was a nice view, honestly. The water was quite blue and calm, so she sat down and crossed her legs. She put in her hand in the water and waved it around for a bit till she realized that she wasn't alone. Genevieve didn't look up or move or do anything that made the other person know that she knew that they were there, but she could sense someone else's breathing in the room. Slowly, she shielded her face with her hair, and then decided to find out who it was since they haven't attacked her yet.

Looking up, she saw a blonde woman, probably about her age. She probably hadn't noticed Genevieve, though, since she was just watching the water. She did look kind of pretty, even though her clothes were casual. Like Genevieve's. She looked down at her clothes, then looked back up at the stranger. Then, for once, she realized that she didn't want to be the selfish, big-egoed self she was. "Is it your first time 'ere?" Genevieve found herself asking, quite curiously.