Maybe this time

[Aurore Ganthier]

Aurore Ganthier walked briskly through a bustling Brightstone. It was clearly Brightstone weekend for the students of Hogwarts New Zealand and this made it very difficult fo the woman to get to where she needed to go quickly. Glancing at her sparkling, sterling silver watch she groaned. She was late, she hated making bad first impressions and this was no exception, picking up the pace she began to weave her between the groups of people anxious to arrive outside Honeydukes. The social worker that she had been in contact with over the last few weeks had sent her and owl containing a letter that told her that she was to be meeting a teenaged orphan by the name of Elspeth outside Honeydukes that day 'Nothing like advanced warning!' Aurore thought sighing as she was once again cut off by shrieking students. Crossing her arms she waited for the group to move on before swiftly moving on.

Rounding a corner Aurore's highly organized mind began to run through everything , from what she was going to say to what she was going to do. Although her husband and herself had wanted to adopt for along time, notw that the moment had arrived Aurore was nervous beyond words. Everything had changed as soon as the brown barn owl had landed on her window sill early that morning.

Darting a group of giggling girls Aurore caught her first glimpse of her destination. In front stood an uncertain looking girl clutching a piece of parchment. 'So this was Elspeth' she thought smiling. Taking a deep breath she drew up to the girl and cleared her throat "Ahem, you must be...Elspeth..." she said trailing off, this wasn't going exactly as she had planned. Feeling awkward she extended a small pale hand and plastered a grin filled with false confidence on her face."I'm Aurore Ganthier. Um... would you like to sit?" she asked indicating to a nearby chair. Biting her lip Aurore's cheeks flushed red and waited for Elspeth to speak.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth had been put in contact with social workers at the beginning of the year, soon after she became an orphan once more, but she had to be honest with herself. She'd never expected it to come to anything, and the owl she had received this morning, with the official looking letter tied around it's leg had surprised her almost more than it had worried her. She'd had two families already, and all of them were dead. Peter didn't count as family, she told herself firmly. The young witch couldn't help but wonder if Aurore Ganthier knew this, and if she did, what she thought of it. It was as if she had a curse on her, causing her whole family to die off, one by one.

She had left the castle early that day, alone. She didn't want other people hanging around, watching her first meeting with her soon-to-be new mother. It was going to be awkward enough, as she knew from previous experience. She clutched her letter nervously as she waited outside Honeydukes, the throng of students pushing around her. She wished they'd chosen a less crowded area for their first meeting; she didn't know if she'd even know her if she looked right at her.

Then a woman appeared in front her, looking as nervous as Elspeth felt. This must be Aurore Ganthier, the woman she'd only ever heard of this morning, but who she would hopefully spend the rest of her childhood with. Nodding self-consciously in reply to her question, she wondered if she'd wanted a different child. Had she somehow already disappointed her new mother? She shook the proffered hand awkwardly, hoping her hand wasn't shaking noticeably. Looking over at the chair indicated, she walked over and sat down, then looked back at Aurore, waiting for her to do the same. Elspeth knew she was expected to speak, but she couldn't think of anything to say. "Hello...?" She said, her voice trailing off much as Aurore's had done. Hopefully Aurore would think of something to say, because Elspeth was stuck.

 

[Aurore Ganthier]

Aurore sat awkwardly next to Elspeth, the silence drawing out for an uncomfortably long time. Being a usually talkative women she found it odd that she didn't have anything to say. She bit her lip, 'quick, think of something to say...' she thought hurriedly. Swallowing hard she pulled a slightly crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, smoothing it out she read the adoption papers again for the third time that day. Placing her clasped hands over it she turned to Elspeth and smiled. "Uh, well, yes. You obviously know why I'm here..." she started lamely her voice wavering slightly "Erm... and... why don't you tell me about yourself...?" she added smiling kindly hoping to boost her adoptive-daughter-to-bes confidence.

She was hoping with all her heart that Elspeth would want her as a mother. Not everyone liked her, thought she was weird. 'Well, perhaps it was the younger kids who think I was weird, with my french accent still slightly noticable. But still one could never be too careful...'

As Elspeth still had not said anything Aurore found it fit to start. "Well, I like reading and cooking and swimming... and uh, cleaning and... well that's about it really..." she muttered, nothing she said was very exciting, and she was kicking herself for not coming up with something better. 'Who likes cleaning for pete's sake?' laughing quietly she waited, hoping that Elspeth would speak soon.

 

[Elspeth Brookes]

Elspeth's teeth worried her lip and she tried to avoid fidgeting. She knew nothing about this woman, and yet they were being asked to become mother and daughter? When Aurore began speaking, however, the young Ravenclaw realised they were equally nervous. There was a pregnant pause after Aurore spoke, as Elspeth tried to think of what to say. She had just decided to not mention the deaths unless asked, when the older woman spoke again, defusing the tension.

"That's nice," Elspeth murmured absently as she listened to her possible new mother's stuttered list. There was another lengthy pause, and then she spoke. "Well, I'm a Ravenclaw, and I like reading and playing the piano." Her voice was soft and her tone tentative, but she had stopped tapping her finger against her leg, a sure sign of her previous nervousness.

"I'm thirteen, and I have a pet cat called Nymph. Wait, I can keep Nymph, right?" Elspeth blurted, head snapping up to look at Aurore's face. She hoped she could - it had taken years of pleading to get her Mum to even consider the idea. Wait, would that be my last mum, or my old mum, or what? Her inner voice asked. She could tell that adoption could get painful and confusing already.

Out of Character:

I think she was thirteen at the time, correct me if I'm wrong.