In the Bleak Midwinter

[Brianna Devlin]

For once, their father had taken them on an outing. It was strange: their family had had much more time together recently, it seemed; more than during Christmases past, even. She supposed they were all feeling their loss. Clancy's death in the plague had stunned them all summer, but it had been all too easy to imagine that when she and her younger siblings returned home for the winter break, her elder brother would be there waiting. Instead, the rest of them had sat, and eaten, and talked, and celebrated together, trying not to let sorrow's black hole draw them in.

Everyone was in a rather good mood today, in any case, out amid the heavy sweeping of snow against the flatness of a grey sky. Well - Damon and Morgana had been bickering, but Brianna had been content to wander along behind them as they chose a spot in the Park. Winter weather did not suit everyone, but Eoin had been pestering their father to have a snowball fight quite avidly, and finally the opportunity had come. Morgayne had joined in, though seemed to be more entertained trying to hit uninvolved bystanders than the other Devlins, and Damon had wandered off somewhere, mysterious as ever. Brianna, conscious not to stray too far from her family - she was not yet quite a debutante, but her mother had not let her hear the end of the matter anyway, and this was once Brianna rather appreciated her mother's consideration - but equally keen to avoid the lumps of snow flying this way and that, had retrieved the sketchbook she'd brought. Missing Hogwarts' Art club, she had hoped to keep up with drawing practice, and capture some kind of winter scene.

Brianna supposed it may have made better sense to merely visualise the snowy park scene from home, where she was inside and warm and dry and not wandering in the snow, trying to hold on to the sketchbook, concentrate on the trees, and keep hold of her stick of charcoal. After dropping it for what seemed like the fiftieth time whilst she had been peering at a thicket, trying to place it in her composition, Brianna gave a sigh, retraced her steps a few paces - when had she dropped that piece? - and leant down with a frown, trying to find the charcoal in the snow.

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

It was a lovely snowy day in the park, and Nicolas was enjoying a good walk in the park when he spotted a girl dropping something in the snow. He walked towards it, and as she looked back along her steps Colle bent down to pick it up.

"My child, is this what you're looking for?" he asked, offering the piece of charcoal that had fallen to the snow. "It's become quite damp, I'm afraid."

  

[Brianna Devlin]

Glancing up as she was addressed - she was fairly certain 'my child' had been referring to her - and smiled gratefully at the sight of the charcoal being offered back to her. She reached out to take it, but her fingers fumbled a little as she looked up at the man who had kindly discovered the missing stick. It fell from her grasp yet again and Brianna ducked frantically to rescue it before it could sink into the snow and be lost yet again, straightening up face to face with Nicolas Flamel.

She had seen him at Hogwarts before, of course, which was why she recognised him so immediately at all - she had been so naturally indisposed to potion-brewing that attempting Alchemy had been safely off the cards - but she was sure she wouldn't have been so flustered at coming across another of the professors in the park. This was a renowned alchemist, hundreds of years old, and if that weren't intimidating, she didn't know what was. "Thank you, that's - very kind, sir," Brianna managed in gratitude, offering a belated, rueful nod at the charcoal's dampness. She ought to have foreseen that it was unavoidable outside today in this snow, but it was a shame. "Never mind, I suppose. It perhaps wasn't the most practical of plans."

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

"Art rarely is, ma chère," Nicolas said kindly. He pondered the situation, because art should not be limited by the weather. He pulled out his wand, and tapped it on the charcoal. Hmm. "It might stay dry now."

  

[Brianna Devlin]

Professor Flamel did not seem about to chide her for having had such a silly idea as to try and draw in the snow, but instead offered her a sage remark that saw her smile thoughtfully. She looked on with cautious interest as the alchemist produced his wand and tapped the piece of charcoal. She hadn't the slightest idea what spell that had been, nor what effect it had had, but Brianna had no doubt that it had worked.

To prove this - without dropping it into the snow again, rather - she pressed the end of it against the paper in a small scribble. Indeed, the charcoal seemed to be working as it was supposed to, with no evidence of its former dampness. "Oh, thank you!" Brianna looked up with a brighter smile, smudging the scribble idly away into the background's shading. "I am very much obliged!"

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

"You're welcome, and I do not mind at all. Art is something to be encouraged." He smiled at the young lady, peering at her page. "You have some real skill, child."

  

[Brianna Devlin]

If she had not already been daunted by this chance conversation with Nicolas Flamel, when he complimented her skill she would certainly be overwhelmed. Indeed, she was, and her cheeks flushed darker from delight (though the cold had already seen them fairly rosy).

"I expect you must have seen a wealth of great art -" in your time, she had been about to say, but Brianna wasn't sure whether referencing his age so directly was impolite. Her mother despised any mention of age, and she was but a fraction of Professor Flamel's! She did hope he would say something more on the topic of art, though. "More than most people, I mean..." He had lived in other places before Scotland, certainly, and Brianna sighed dreamily at the thought of what culture he must have had the time to see. Masterpieces a plenty, all the greats. The sorts of things her little sketchbooks of still life and landscapes would be specks of dust in comparison to.

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

"I have seen quite a bit, ma chère, and the secret of it is that no one begins their life great. Even those who are immensely talented only find their greatness by refining that talent."

  

[Brianna Devlin]

Of course he had. "Do you really think so?" Brianna repeated, though she was sure the man knew precistely what he was talking about and ought not have to say it twice. That was terribly encouraging, that not even the greatest artists necessarily just created masterpieces from an innate vision, no need for mistakes or experimentation or hard, hard work. Effort was not something she lacked in her own endeavours. "But I do suppose having talent makes for a stronger starting point," she mused. Professor Flamel had told her she had skill, though! (A little in art, perhaps. With no talent or skill - despite plenty of hard work - she had been quite terrible at Potions, for one. It was a shame, really, for she'd never been able to try Alchemy.)

@Nicolas Flamel - super sorry for letting this die, it got missed off my list somehow!

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

"I would not have said so if I did not think so," Nicolas said with a fond smile. "You are quite right - talent is only an advantage in starting out. Hard work can negate the difference in most cases." Certainly some were exceptionally talented, or exceptionally untalented, but for the great majority any skill was more a matter of hard work than it was anything else.

@Brianna Devlin - My turn to apologize!

  

[Brianna Devlin]

She flushed once again in gratitude that he'd indulged her further; but the reaffirmation of that opinion was certainly comforting, and Brianna had no reason not to fully trust the opinion of such an experienced, esteemed man as Nicolas Flamel.

"That is rather remedying to hear," Brianna responded, hopes lifted both by the earlier compliment of her possessing some measure of skill, and of the reasoning that putting in effort and practice could only help. "I do practice drawing a fair amount," she offered, as an example. Art club was useful for that, but she did keep it up during the holidays, as today had proven. "But I shall be certain to keep it up as often as I can."

  

[Nicolas Flamel]

"That is all anyone can do, dear child. Do have a good day."