A family at last?

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth almost ran down the street to the place her and her aunt had agreed to meet at. When she arrived she sat down on a park bench and tapped her foot impatiently. She couldn't see anyone of the right age near her, but since she hadn't seen her aunt since she was two years old, she wasn't sure. It belatedly occurred to her that they should have arranged a way to recognise each other. She checked her watch, before standing and craning her head to see over the heads of the crowd of Hogwarts students. This was her chance to meet her only surviving family member, Emily Brookes. She forced herself to sit down again, her foot tapping a staccato on the cobbled street.

 

[Emily Brookes]

Emily stood outside the Three Broomsticks, watching the crowd for a twelve year old girl. However, the streets were full of Hogwarts students, and she had no hope of finding Elspeth in a crowd like this. Pushing her way through the rush of people, she walked over to a park bench she'd seen, and sat down gratefully. The girl sitting next to her seemed impatient, and Emily wondered whether she could be Elspeth. Looking closely at the girl, she thought she saw something of Justine, Elspeth's mother, in her face. She tentatively reached out a hand. "Elspeth?" she asked timidly.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth jumped when she heard a voice behind her say her name. She turned, convinced she'd misheard. "Auntie? Is that you?" She asked, trying to find some trace of herself in the woman's face. She looked about the right age, and she was looking at Elspeth, so it was probably her. Elspeth wanted to jump up and down with happiness, but she'd keep her composure until her identity was confirmed. She smiled awkwardly at the woman. Man it would be embarrassing if it wasn't her, she thought to herself, the idea causing her to grin to herself. That grin was wiped off her face when she remembered that Aunt Emily didn't know that everyone was dead, and that Elspeth would have to break the news to her.

 

[Emily Brookes]

Emily was so pleased to finally be seeing Elspeth that she ran towards her and held her so tightly. She was so pleased to be seeing another member of her family, and that she was away from her boyfriend. She hoped he wouldn't be mad when she got home, he didn't like her leaving. Pulling her sleeves down Emily faked a smile, trying to cover up the bruises on her arms. "Of course its me!" she said, "Where's Justine?" she asked, a little puzzled, surely Elspeth wouldn't have come to meet her alone, her mother would have never allowed that.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth hugged Emily tightly. She was her only family now, and she wouldn't lose her. Ever. However, then she asked the question, the one Elspeth had been dreading. "Mum? She's.... ah... Last year there was an accident, and she...she..." Elspeth swallowed, unable to finish her sentence. She wondered whether Emily even knew her parents and brother, Elspeth's father, were dead too. "Well, I don't - didn't - have any family. I've been staying at the Hogwarts Halfway House." She bit her lip, a habit she'd acquired, and waited for the reaction. She hoped what she'd said was clear enough, but she couldn't bring herself to elaborate.

 

[Emily Brookes]

Emily winced slightly as Elspeth hugged her tightly, as she was pressing on the large blue and yellow bruises spreading across her ribs from where Peter had kicked her. However when Elspeth pulled back to talk to her her face was smiling again. While Elspeth mumbled and stuttered out an explanation for Justine's absence, she grew increasingly worried. If there had been an accident, why hadn't Elspeth mentioned Justine was in St Mungo's? Emily could have visited her. When Elspeth finished, Emily stood frozen with shock. "Justine and Patrick are...dead?" she asked through numb lips. No wonder she didn't tell me, she thought. "Why don't you stay with your grandparents?" she asked, not understanding. It was a massive shock, and she was still trying to make sense of the fact that Justine, her best friend, and Patrick, her beloved brother, were dead.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth watched as Emily slowly grasped what she was saying. She had taken better than Elspeth. She nodded as Emily asked for confirmation, fighting back tears. She'd cried enough lately. She looked down, scuffing her shoes on the street as she was asked about her grandparents. "Your parents died with Patrick, and we thought you'd died then too. Mum's mum died in a fire, and her dad killed himself the year after." Elspeth took a deep breath. This conversation was becoming even more painful than she had imagined.

 

[Emily Brookes]

Emily closed her eyes. If her job had sent her to NZ a few years earlier she would have met Justine again. Maybe she would have been there when Elspeth got her letter of acceptance. "Wait, you're staying at the Halfway House?" she asked, an idea occurring to her. She had heard of it, but she wasn't sure she wanted Elspeth staying there. It would just be like an orphanage, wouldn't it? "Why don't you come and live with me in England over the holidays?" she asked, so excited by this prospect that she forgot about her fiancée. That way she could look after Elspeth, be like a mother to her. She waited impatiently for Elspeth's answer, hoping against hope it would be a yes.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

"Yes," Elspeth answered Emily's question about the Halfway House. However, the next question took her completely by surprise. "Wha- Me? Stay at- Really?" She asked, stammering slightly. Elspeth would have a family again! Even if it was only a family of one... No, it wasn't, she had a boyfriend. "Aren't you engaged?" She asked, trying to straighten it all out in her head. Her, staying in England with Emily! The cold was completely forgotten as she imagined her new life.

 

[Emily Brookes]

Emily smiled widely when her offer was accepted. She'd always wanted to be a mother, even when she didn't have her memories. But Peter, her only attempt at a relationship, didn't want children. When Elspeth asked about Peter, she grimaced minutely, hoping he wouldn't hurt the twelve year old, or hit Emily in front of her. He didn't mean to hurt her. She just made him mad sometimes. He couldn't help it! "Yeah. Peter Williams. I met him just after I lost my memories, and he gave me a place to stay. He's...Well, you'll meet him." She rubbed her arm self-consciously, making sure she didn't pull the sleeve up.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth didn't miss the expression that flitted across Emily's face, when her boyfriend was mentioned. She grew increasingly confused as Emily spoke. "Okay...Where do you live in England? What's your house like? Do you have any pets?" She asked, remembering a time almost a year ago, when she had introduced herself as Ells. Her behaviour now was almost identical to Ells'. Elspeth felt a warmth inside herself that did not come from the sun that was shining on her face. She had a family at last!