I Can Show You The World

[Mary Lou Layton]

*Set during Christmas Break 2050

Coming home for Christmas had never been such a harrowing thought to the young girl. Usually this should have been such a wonderful occasion, but knowing what undoubtedly awaited her, Mary Lou was convinced that this Christmas was not going to be a fun one. To be fair, she hadn’t really been enjoying her time at school much, if she was being perfectly honest, but, still, people didn't ignore her there and in fact many had gone out of their way to help her, talk to her, be her friend and share stories, which was more than she could say for her family - her Aunt and Uncle seemed determined to force her into a life of seclusion if what they were doing was any indication. Mary Lou loved her Aunt Bettie and her Uncle Lou and she would forever be grateful that they had taken her in when they didn’t have to given her Mama had never mentioned that she was coming. They’d picked her up from the airport okay, but that was about all they’d done for her. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t fed or given somewhere to sleep, but they barely said good morning to her or hello. She had to entertain herself for most of the day and that stung. She’d wanted to much to hear all about their childhoods, to hear about her father, everything that they had learned at school and only and hour after having set foot in the country her hopes had been dashed. It was a hard pill to swallow. Mary Lou pushed the door to the farm open from where her Uncle had picked her up from the train station. They lived about three hours away, so it had been a very long and silent drive. She was coming home to more silence. Exactly what a young girl needed.​

@Lou Prindeou @Bettie Prindeou @Shirley Prindeou

 

[Lou Prindeou]

Lou would never be used to the presence of the young girl in the house. It had been years since he or Bettie were considered young. It was a little easier that Mary Lou wasn’t very much like his late brother. Though, she did have his eyes. Sometimes she would look to him with his brother’s eyes and his heart would twist a little in his chest. He had been silent as he picked her up, unsure as ever as to what to say to her. She was in another world, going to school and growing up the way she had. What was he to say to her? He nodded to her as she came up to him, the silence he spent most of his time in continuing as they got home. He followed her in the door. It had been getting hotter out, so when they had come inside he took the new sunhat from it’s peg by the door and plopped it onto Mary Lou’s head before taking her bag and heading to put it in her room.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

It was immediately obvious to Mary Lou that her Aunt Bettie wasn’t home yet. She knew that simply by noting how quiet the place was. Her Aunt Bettie had a habit of going out of her way to make it obvious she was ignoring her presence. Greeting Uncle Lou happily and loudly, but turning away from Mary Lou completely. It upset her, but she couldn't do anything about it, she knew. She looked up, surprised as Uncle Lou placed the hat heavily on her head and her hand immediately went to tug on the side of it. She wasn’t sure what the point of the hat indoors was, but she appreciated the small unexpected gesture all the same. Especially once he took her bag to her room, which was, of course, on the complete opposite side of the house to theirs. She had never even seen the inside of Aunt Bettie’s room, though she was pretty sure there were a lot of magic books in there, since she knew Lou often got them from somewhere and it wasn’t anywhere else in the house. Uncle Lou’s bedroom, however, was usually open and Mary Lou was free to peek inside whenever she headed out the back to watch her Uncle work. His room was at the back of the farm house, since he had to get up early to tend the many hectares of plants he had. Though Mary Lou knew nothing about them. She followed her Uncle to her room, intending on getting changed out of the dress she had been wearing on the train and then the car ride back to the house, which had taken longer than she had hoped. She felt sticky and icky, like she tended to do in Summer, though New Zealand Summer was milder than she was used to, she still tended to feel sticky.​

​

 

[Lou Prindeou]

Lou dropped Mary’s bag on the foot of her bed, turning and leaving to give her some privacy. It didn’t look like Bettie was back yet either. He shrugged and moved about the kitchen. Mary probably hadn’t eaten since this morning, but the heat was enough to dampen anyone’s appetite. He set to work throwing together a light soup, humming quietly to himself as he moved about the kitchen.

 

[Bettie Prindeou]

Bettie sighed in relief as she stepped out of the fireplace, patting her clothing down as she did so. Sometimes tutoring was a nightmare, honestly, but it paid the bills and she enjoyed it on the days she wasn’t teaching muggle children, who were frankly much simpler to deal with. “She home?” She asked, looking up to see her brother in the kitchen. Cooking if the smell was anything to go by. She dropped her coat onto the hook by the door, before continuing her way into the kitchen. “No one warns you about travelling by floo powder in the Summer,” she said, dropping her bag on the chair as she moved. “You’d think they’d develop more heat friendly ways of travelling, but no.” It was a bloody oversight in her opinion and she’d written several letters to the Department of Transportation on the matter, not that it had helped at all. “Did you make it to the stores today or are you going tomorrow?”​

 

[Lou Prindeou]

Lou heard Bettie arrive. He didn’t turn to look, letting her chatter as he always did, humming a positive to her question about Mary, shrugging at her complaints of travelling, offering her a cold drink from the fridge when she asked about his trip. “Went there first,” He muttered, referring to his appointment to pick up Mary. He turned back to his soup, adding the vegetables.

 

[Bettie Prindeou]

Bettie nodded, accepting the drink and placing it to the side. She didn't like having her brother’s child around. There were so many reasons why, and she never spoke about them, but, for the most part, the girl was a reminder of everything she never had. Reece went off, travelling the world as he did. The youngest son. Whilst she and Lou were stuck on the farm, doing what they were told to do and Lou got the worst end of it, not even given a proper school education like she and Reece were. Seven years at Ilvermorny only to head straight back to the farm once everything was over. Of course Lou had taken over the majority of the duties after their Father had died, but that wasn’t the point really. And that girl was the reason why Reece never came back, why he died. She could never bring herself to forgive the girl, probably never would, so ignoring her was best for everyone. “Heard from one of the parents that they’ve been low on Alihotsy lately, we might want to ramp up our production if we want to get a leg in for next season.”​

 

[Lou Prindeou]

Lou continued on in silence, enjoying the process of cooking. It was oddly soothing to him. He paused as Bettie spoke of the Alihotsy. “Mm,” He grunted in response, planning how to shift the gardens to accommodate. Maybe he could have Mary Lou help him while she was home. Not that he would tell Bettie. Maybe keeping Mary Lou more with him would be better for both of them. Bettie wouldn’t need to bother ignoring her and Mary would have something to help pass the time.

 

[Bettie Prindeou]

“You’re chatty,” she said, picking up her drink and opening it. “She get you in a mood, did she?” She of course was the child living with them. And whilst Bettie would never hurt her, she didn’t see why she had to give up valuable hours in the day to get a haunting glimpse of her dead brother, the one the child was partly responsible for the death of. “It’s Christmas, we going to go see Mum?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to go, after all, they could hardly leave Her here by herself. Who knows what she would have gotten into. Not to mention there was the problem of accidental magic and she didn't trust the child within to feet of their farm. She had no clue.​