Chapter 1: Negative Space
2031
Virginia Boyd sat at her easel, blank canvas in front of her and for the third time that hour wondered if she was completely in over her head; more importantly, she was wondering if she'd made the right decision. Hugo said that he would come over for a visit as soon as he could, and they wrote letters all the time, but for some reason she was missing him more than usual. The trip over to Italy wasn't hard, finding a place to live in the magical section of Rome was easy, especially with her inheritance from her grandmum, but the Muggle art classes were something else entirely.
As the instructor walked by, inspecting the different canvases of her classmates, Gin felt irritation creep over her. This was an easy subject, a still life of tastefully arranged fruits with some other objects, something that she'd done so many times that she couldn't even begin to count, but yet she couldn't even begin roughing things in. When Fulvio Nesci, her instructor stopped by her canvas all she could do was fume.
"Is the lesson too difficult for our English ragazza? No inspiration?"
Gin closed her eyes momentarily and looked over to her instructor, wanting to roll her eyes for calling her the English 'girl' again. His wiry grey hair fell down to his shoulders in curls, framing his very tanned, unshaven face. "Not today. I'm sorry; I just don't feel like painting."
"Tch. Professionals do not have the luxury of such things. Think on this and then return tomorrow, or do not."
As he walked away Gin seethed inside. She had gone to such great lengths to arrange for this class, her apartment, everything. She'd left her job at Witch Weekly, but that was easy as her boss had been a very small-minded woman with a narrow view of the art direction for the magazine, and had given her nothing but minor tasks the entire time she worked there. She had finally made it to Italy, in the class of a very important teacher, and now she couldn't even paint stupid fucking fruit? Without a look over at her instructor she packed her things and walked out of the classroom without saying a word.
Outside the bright, clear sky of Rome shone down on her, and as three tall, impossibly thin and good looking women walked by in their fashionable clothing Gin felt her lip curl in irritation. At Hogwarts, and especially in Slytherin house, she was considered fairly good looking with a taste for clothing. Now, among the Italian women she felt nothing so much as short, pale and dumpy. Glancing at her reflection in the window of the school Gin knew that it wasn't true, she actually was quite decent looking, but did every Italian woman that walked by have to look so damned good? Were they hiding the ugly ones? As she stood there in front of the window she took in her appearance, looking critically. Her dark hair was almost to the middle of her back with long bangs swept to the side, skin pale and gratefully free of the freckles that graced both her parents' faces, her mum more than her dad, dark greenish-brown eyes and pale lips, as her lipstick had worn off already. At least she was somewhat fashionable, in her own way. The military jacket that she'd bought at a secondhand store was altered enough to fit her frame and the jeans were incredibly comfortable, even if they were somewhat old.
After sighing Gin picked up her backpack and walked over to her little scooter. After putting on the helmet that her mum insisted upon she started the engine and decided that no matter where the hell she went in Rome it would be far away from her school, from Fulvio Nesci, and especially from those annoyingly oh-so-Italian Muggle girls. As she sat in traffic she knew where she had to go, to Nacosta, the magical section of Rome.
While sipping a cup of strong Italian coffee in the outside seating of the little café, Gin tried to write a letter to Hugo, explaining how she was feeling, but after the third try she simply gave up. As she stuck the crumpled paper into her bag she could sense someone standing close by at her table. Thinking it was the waiter, she straightened up in her chair, but as the man sat down she felt like taking her wand out of her backpack and cursing the hell out of him.
"Such a pretty thing to be all alone, such a shame." The young wizard sat at her table and smiled at her. "Coffee is better when joined with conversation, no?"
After a few seconds of mental translation Gin shook her head. "Actually, no." She held up her left hand, showing him her engagement ring. "I'd prefer to be alone, thank you."
"English? American? I can show you the sights of Rome, things not on tours. Let me buy you coffee, and then we can see…"
Gin closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of how to tell him in Italian. "I do not want to gone with you, I think you are annoying and brick."
The wizard looked at her oddly. "I do not think you meant to say what you saying."
Slipping back into English Gin decided that sign language was the only way to deal with him. "Translate this." She held up her hand and extended her middle finger. "Vacagare."
As the wizard stood up quickly and walked away Gin sighed, only to have someone else stop by her table. Today was not the day to mess with her. "What?"
"Did you just tell that guy to piss off? Virginia Boyd, that's exactly what I would expect from you." Scorpius Malfoy smiled at her.
"Scorpius? What the hell are you doing in Rome?"
As he pushed his blonde bangs out of his eyes Scorpius looked over his shoulder for a moment and then back to her. "That's what I get, questions? Not even a hug for a fellow Slytherin? I am your brother-in-law, you know."
Gin stood up and hugged him, and then sat back down quickly. "Come on, have a seat. Want a coffee? They're so strong they make your toes curl."
Scorpius looked at his watch and then sat down. "Just for a few minutes, I have a meeting up the street. So how goes art school? You know, if we can hammer the details out I might have some time tomorrow. I was going to find you anyway, you know if I came to Rome and didn't see you I'd hear about it when I got home."
Gin laughed. "Yeah, I bet you would." She squinted at him. "Hugo or Mione? Which one was the worst?"
"Your mum." He shook his head. "I told her it all depended on how much we completed whether or not I'd be able to find you, but that didn't go over so well."
"I bet." Gin took a sip of coffee. "So how long will you be in Rome?"
"Today and tomorrow. Saturday if needed, but hopefully it won't take that long."
Over Scorpius' shoulder Gin saw yet another beautiful woman walking towards the café, but it wasn't obvious that she was Italian. Her long, dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, parting occasionally as long, dangling silver earrings moved with her walking pace. A large golden necklace with a disc hung from her neck, towards the front of a daringly low cut shimmering blue robe.
"I need to get out of here, Scorpius. I mean, look at that woman. Well, not immediately, let her walk past."
Scorpius angled his head towards the sidewalk, but the woman in the blue robe did not walk past, instead she walked directly over to their table.
"Mr. Malfoy, I am sorry I am late." She smiled at him and Gin felt as if she was something that even Hagrid wouldn't want.
"Not a problem." Scorpius looked over at Gin. "Shadia, this is Virginia Weasley, my sister-in-law. Virginia, Shadia Manacosi. Shadia works in the Italian department of International Magical Relations."
"Very nice to meet you."
Shadia extended her hand to Virginia and when she shook it Gin noticed not only the expensive bangle bracelets but an impressive manicure. After Shadia sat down in the empty chair at the table Gin reflected on her own hands; small, neatly trimmed nails but with some paint still stuck at the edges of her cuticles. She watched as Scorpius took great pains to leave enough space between him and Shadia, placing his briefcase between the chairs.
"So, Virginia, what brings you to Rome? Visiting the attractions of our fair city?" Shadia sat at the table and effortlessly crossed her legs, exuding elegance that Gin had only seen in her father's Muggle movies that were exclusively in black and white.
"Art classes."
"I didn't know Marcus was accepting new students." Shadia knitted her brows momentarily and then reverted to her former open demeanor. "I apologize; he's a friend of my father's."
Merlin, do I have to do this again? Virginia shook her head. "No, not magical art classes. Muggle classes."
"Whatever for?" Shadia glanced over to Scorpius for a brief second and then returned her attention to Virginia. "Muggle paintings are so still, so lifeless."
Virginia closed her eyes and sighed, as it was the same conversation she'd had with non-Muggles about Muggle art. The paintings didn't move, that was certain, but there was so much life in them if you only knew how to look properly. Instead of launching into that discussion for the millionth time she simply smiled. "All a matter of perspective."
After unlocking the door to her flat Virginia stepped inside, kicked off her shoes and threw her keys on the counter. She unceremoniously flung her bag onto the sofa, put her jacket on the back of the kitchen chair and decided that the only way to get out of her funk was to get good and royally drunk. Fuck Fulvio Nesci, fuck whatsherface that showed up with Scorpius, and for that matter fuck everything. Fuck it to fucking hell. She peeled off her jeans, opened a big bottle of red wine and grabbed the first glass out of the cupboard, which turned out to be a coffee mug from an old restaurant in America. She'd found it in a box of her dad's old things out in the shed and had decided that she'd liked it; one of the few things she'd brought over to Rome. Her Italian friends would be aghast that she was drinking wine out of a coffee mug. Fuck them. It was perfect for drinking wine.
She turned on some music using a Muggle music player and sat on her sofa with her mug of wine and flipped through some magazines that she'd picked up at a bookstore that carried English-language publications. One advert showed a half-naked woman lounging against a fully naked man, their skin glistening in the sunlight, and it irritated her to no end but she couldn't figure out why. After a few sips of wine from the coffee cup she realized that it should have been her and Hugo that she thought of when she saw the picture, but instead she thought of Mione and Scorpius. Ugh. She almost threw up in her mouth a little at the thought of seeing Scorpius as naked as the man in the ad. She still couldn't believe that Mione had married him. , She liked Scorpius, she really did, but he and Mione were sickeningly perfect together…
Perfect together. That was it. Mione and Scorpius were perfect together, but her and Hugo? She'd thought it would be easier when he got back from the war, but it wasn't. His Auror training, her art, not to mention all of the unspoken expectations that she and Hugo would be getting married soon…it had been too much. She sat down in a chair next to the window, pulled her knees up to her chin and looked out on the city while slowly draining the coffee mug. It was all laid out in front of her; going back to London, finding a place with Hugo, planning the wedding, all of it. Once he became an Auror it was her job to paint nice little pictures and pop out some more kids with Weasley-red hair. What then? What was she supposed to do after that? Mione may be happy as hell to bounce around Forthingsgate with Draco and their fifty kids after she played Quidditch for the Wasps for a while, but that wasn't what Virginia wanted.
An afternoon visit with her godmother Ginny Weasley popped into her head, and she could almost see the day in her mind as if it was one of Al Potter's WeasleyVision movies. She'd gone over to Grimmauld, as it was before Ginny and Harry had built their current house, and had gone to Ginny's little private room. The similarities between her and her godmother, while not overtly obvious, were definitely there. Both of them at one time or another wanted to be the focus of the picture, not a supporting character, the seat-filler or the person in the background.
Virginia almost slammed the coffee mug on the windowsill. "Goddamn it, I'm not going to be a secondary character in my own damn life. Fuck this."
As Virginia stood against the bar at the club waiting for her drink she wondered what her Grandmum Lane would say if she could see her now. Her clothes would obviously be called into question, as her skirt would be considered too short and immodest, her top would be criticized for its daring neckline and above all she would be chastised for not wearing a bra. The shoes and jewelry would pass muster, especially the jewelry as the bulk of it used to belong to her Grandmum. Virginia had inherited most of Lane's things, her mum and her sisters had kept a few pieces, but most of it passed down to Gin as she and Lane were similar in style and coloring, except for the hair. The bangle bracelets clinked and jingled as Gin took the single malt scotch from the bartender.
"Can I buy you a drink?"
Gin looked at the blonde man with the shoulder length hair and simply held up her glass.
The blonde man walked closer to her and leaned against the bar, setting his beer down on the counter. "What are you drinking?"
"Whisky." She glanced at his beer and arched an eyebrow but didn't say another word. The man's accent was American, as was his watery beer.
He let out a low whistle and gave her a big smile. "I like a woman who can drink."
After taking a deep breath Gin reached up, pulled the golden swan comb out of her hair and let it all shake down loosely. She looked up at the blonde man, batted her eyes a few times and gave him a thin smile. "I like men who can drink, too. Sorry about that."
When she reached the small booth at the back of the club Gin sat down, crossed her legs and looked out over the crowded club. Lights were flashing, the music was thumping in almost unbearable levels and most of all people were dancing like idiots. All around the dance floor people were hunting and being hunted in one of the oldest struggles on earth, the struggle to find someone. After the song ended and the next one seamlessly started Gin drank her whisky in two large swallows and sat the glass down on the table, noticing her engagement ring sparkle and fade in the swirling lights of the club. The last letter from Hugo wasn't romantic at all; for the most part it could have been a letter from any of her friends from Hogwarts.
Her reverie was interrupted by the blonde man from the bar. He sat down without being asked in the booth, this time holding two glasses of whisky. "Figured you'd need another one by now. I'm Billy. Didn't catch your name."
Virginia glanced at the whisky, at the man who still used a little boy's name and back at the glass. She could use another drink, but then had what her brother HR called one of her 'Slytherin moments.' After taking the offered glass of whisky she took a sip. "I'll tell you one thing about me per drink. We'll start a tab. Loser pays."
Billy stood up and went to the bar, returning later through the throng of dancers and other club attendees with a bottle of fifteen year old single malt in his hand. He sat down and put the bottle on the table. "I just went ahead and bought the bottle. Totally worth it, especially for such a pretty woman who speaks English. Love the accent. Are you from England?"
Gin pointed to her newly empty glass, and after it was held the appropriate amount of liquid she raised the glass to her lips. After Billy did the same she sat the glass down. "Scotland, actually. You?"
He drank the whisky and coughed slightly. "I'm from California. Here on business, actually, but I don't have to be anywhere for a few days. Playing tourist. How about you?"
Once again Gin pointed to the bottle. After feeling the warmth of the whisky expand in her torso she looked over at the Californian. Even in the club's shadowy booth she could see his eyes were already slightly red. "I'm taking art classes.
"Wow, an artist. No wonder you look so beautiful." He smiled at her but grimaced suddenly as another man sat down next to him. "Sorry, this is Chip. He's a consultant like me."
The new arrival looked over at Virginia. "Like he said, I'm Chip. What's your name?"
Virginia reached up to the table and pushed the bottle in his direction. Billy explained their little game, so after emptying his glass Chip poured some whisky and drank it straight away.
As the bottle began to empty Gin smiled as the obvious signs of intoxication were readily apparent on the faces and in the actions of the two Americans. Once again she was happy she'd inherited what her Grandmum Lane said was her Grandfather Hieronymus' drinking ability. Lane had told stories about how Hieronymus had won several bets at the pub because of his ability to hold his alcohol. Eventually though, she decided she'd had enough of the two drunk men who were both making blatantly obvious passes at her, even after she'd divulged her engagement, and she stood up.
"Boys, it's been fun, but I do really need to go." She reached out for the bottle and took a long pull directly from it, not bothering with a glass.
Billy half-fell out of the booth. "Wait, don't you want to go…um, back and, um…see the fountain at the hotel?"
After putting her hair back up with the swan pin she cocked her head to the side and looked at them. "Tell you what, if you two can make it out the door without falling down I'll think about it." Without saying another word Gin walked out of the club, glancing behind her once to see a tangle of bodies on the floor half-way from the table.
When she walked into Fulvio Nesci's classroom the next day Gin didn't have her bag with her, she had a medium sized canvas that was covered with a cloth. Nesci looked up after hearing her footsteps and glanced up at the clock. When he turned back to Gin he made disappointed noises and left the small stool next to one of the students, striding over to her with purposeful anger.
"Ragazza, I do not tolerate lateness. I will not teach you today."
Gin snorted. "Good." She slipped the cloth off of the canvas and displayed the canvas to him.
Nesci found his eyes drawn to first one part of the painting, then another, and finally he took three steps back to look at it from a distance. The figure of a man draped across a table, whisky bottle in his hand, was alive with color. The composition was classical, but altered in a somewhat odd take on the form. "You have talent. Very much talent. But I will not teach you today."
After covering the canvas again Gin put on her sunglasses. "Doesn't matter. I quit."
Once she'd made her way out of the classroom and into a somewhat deserted alleyway Gin took out her wand and set the canvas on fire. It felt good to watch it burn.