Closed Ocean's 1

[Andi Hart]

It wasn't fun being the oldest one at the orphanage. Well, that was a lie, there were definitely it's perks. Andi could often boss around the younger ones, or tell them ghost stories about the evil witch that haunted the orphanage. It often got her into trouble with the matron which often included words like "trouble maker" and "tyrant" or longer sentences like "no wonder you haven't been adopted", "you did this to yourself", and Andi's personal favorite "can't you just be more like [insert angelic child's name here]?!". Andi didn't mind too much; after the first five years of hearing it, it got boring and lost it's effect.
It was warm in the late afternoon, the cold season hadn't quite hit and the evenings were still quite light. Andi often spent her afternoons exploring, once her homework was done. The homework seemed to be getting easier for Andi, and she (and everyone else at the house) was quite surprised that she didn't actually mind doing it. Tonight, Andi had found herself down a long and lonely stretch of road. It was nice and peaceful, and hardly anyone around which made the young girl feel like she could walk forever. She knew she'd have to turn around eventually but there was a glowing in the distance that she had to investigate.
Upon closer inspection, Andi saw the most magnificent, oustanding and beautiful house she had ever seen. In fact, she remembered they were called mansions. It even had a massive fountain in front of it. Well, this she couldn't resist. A place that big, surely she could sneak around unseen? It sure would be a story to tell back home. The kids would be so impressed.
Desperate to see what it looked like on the inside, and if there was something she could sneak home with her, Andi kept to the tree line, making her way to the house. A groundskeeper walked past, and Andi dropped immediately to her stomach, breathing an air of relief when they kept walking, not noticing her. Peeking up, Andi searched for a way in. There weren't any open windows downstairs, and she thought for a minute. 'Surely not.' The girl thought to herself, before army crawling her way to the front door, staying low so no one would spot her out of the window. Slowly standing up, Andi was amazed that the front door was open. Just unlocked, and open, for any fool to waltz into. With a grin, Andi quickly moved inside, but before she could do anything, a high pitched shriek cut through the air. Andi clapsed her hands to her ears immediately, letting out a yell of her own. Cursing the awful alarm, Andi ran to hide behind a plant that was nearby, not even able to take a proper look at the place.

 

[Lucan White]

Lucan was sitting in his favourite living room, drinking hot chocolate and thinking about how ridiculous it was to have a favourite living room. He had spent the majority of his life in mansions - first his parents’, and now Keevan’s - yet the absurdity of his wealth had never for a day gone unacknowledged. Well, technically speaking, it wasn’t his wealth, but this should only have made it easier to enjoy, since he was able to benefit from all the same luxuries with none of the attached concerns about maintaining it or screwing up and losing it all; but he had always worn his luck over a vest of guilt. Nobody needed a house this large - not even Keevan, who somehow found a purpose for every room, every nook and corner of the sprawling estate. Even he could have dispensed with a third of the house and scarcely noticed it was gone. Most of it was purely for show. And Lucan had to wonder: who on earth was he trying to impress?

He set his empty mug on the coffee table and reached for his book - a poorly written romance novel which he had to finish, not because he was enjoying it, but because he wanted to see how much worse it could possibly get. Just as he leaned back in his chair, a horrendous shrieking noise tore through the house and stole all the air from his lungs. It was such an unnatural sound that he struggled to comprehend it and simply sat frozen in place. Fire. Fire? An alarm. Someone screaming. Someone dying.

Synnove...

Lucan grabbed his wand which he had left on the table and stumbled out into the hall. The mansion was on fire. No, a thought rose from the smoke in his mind - it wasn’t Synnove, not his sister. She was already dead. He was fifty years old, married. Where was Simon? He started in a jog towards the foyer, gripping his wand tighter in his sweaty hand. If he could just find Simon, or Keevan, or anybody, the noise would go away. He would be OK. He was OK.

 

[Keevan White]

Intruders.

Keevan pushed up from his desk, his wand already in hand by the time he had reached his office door. He was old enough and harrowed enough to know that there were no false alarms in this house, and he was damned if his inaction would be the reason he buried another of his family.

"Hominem Revelio," he said, as he swept down the corridor towards the entrance of the house. The spell revealed the presence of several people nearby, but this was neither surprising nor helpful; his brothers and their partners were all home, not to mention the staff. Of course, a sane man would be long gone. A sane mane would have fled at the sound of the alarm.

A sane man wouldn't have broken into a wizard's mansion.

Approaching a pair of white double doors, Keevan repeated the spell. There was somebody in the foyer. That somebody had not moved since the first incantation. And now another somebody was approaching at some speed from the other direction. Keevan sped up to outpace them and flung open the doors a moment before Lucan burst through an identical pair on the other side.

"Stop."

Lucan stopped. With a jerk of his wand, Keevan disabled the alarm. They regarded one another, listening, hearing nothing over the ring in their ears. The hallway appeared to be empty except for the two men, but charms didn't lie. They were not alone.

"Who's there?" Keevan demanded, flooded with a sudden boiling rage. He would turn over every cabinet, blast through every damned cupboard door if he had to. "I said who's there? Are you a coward? Show yourself!"

 

[Andi Hart]

If other people had entered the room, Andi was not aware of it. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her hands still over her ears, trying to block out the bone chilling alarm. Who in their right mind thought that that was an acceptable alarm to use? It felt like it went on for an eternity, and the young girl couldn't think of anything but how awful it was. And then, all of a sudden, the sound stopped. She felt like it was still ringing in her ears, but as she removed her hands, Andi realized for the first time that other people had joined the room. The young girl panicked when she heard someone asking who was there, quickly going through her options in her head. But then the voice called her a coward and all the other thoughts went out of her head. She stood straight up. "I'm not a coward! How dare you!" Andi shouted as she moved out from behind the plants.

 

[Lucan White]

The screaming had stopped, but Lucan’s confusion was not a bit relieved by his brother’s appearance. If the smoke and the noise were all in his head, why did Keevan look as panicked as he felt? He didn't show it as plainly, and when he spoke his voice was strong and unwavering, but Lucan recognised the fear in his eyes. Or was this another invention of mind, which was so aflame with the pictures of that haunted night?

Lucan startled at his brother's outburst. He hadn't heard him shout like that since... Gregory. The severity of it all was on the verge of sinking in when something moved in his peripheral vision, and he turned his head to see a small girl standing amongst the plants near the front door. Who was this? What in Merlin's name was going on??

 

[Keevan White]

What the...? A child? Keevan began to lower his wand, then half-raised it again, realising he could not be certain no polyjuce potion was at work, then finally dropped his arm to his side. No adult would say such a childish thing. "What are you doing in here?" he asked, less vehemently, but with a clear note of annoyance in his voice. Who did this girl think she was, waltzing into his house uninvited, scaring the hell out of Lucan, probably (Keevan would handle that later), and shouting at him as if he was the one trespassing on her property? "What's your name?"

 

[Andi Hart]

Now that she was out and looking at two grown men, Andi realized just how silly her decisions had been. The one man's voice had been frightening when he yelled at her, and even though it wasn't as yell-ey anymore, Andi knew she probably shouldn't push his buttons. "You're the one that left the door open." Andi said, with as little sass as she could possibly muster (a hard feat for the young girl). Her eyes then noticed both men holding sticks and her eyebrows raised in confusion. "Look, if we're going to have a sword fight, can I please at least have a stick too?" Andi asked, looking next to her and reaching up to grab a branch off of the plant before remembering she wasn't supposed to be pushing anyone's buttons and she quickly brought her arms back down and clasped them in front of her, trying to look innocent as she so often practiced at the orphanage.

 

[Lucan White]

In the sixteen years Lucan had lived in the mansion, never once had anybody triggered the caterwauling alarm. He had forgotten the thing even existed. No wonder he was so slow on the uptake - but he had got there at last, and, realising the wailing had not been in his head at all, relief slid through him. He lowered his wand. The child in front of them had an attitude to rival Keevan’s, and Lucan was struggling not to laugh. “You’re too young for a wand,” he told her. “Where’s your parents? You’re a long way from home.” The mansion was surrounded by several acres of countryside. Was this kid planning on walking back by herself?

 

[Keevan White]

Alarm bells were ringing in Keevan’s head, now. He frowned but said nothing as he waited for her to answer Lucan’s question.

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi raised an eyebrow. "Ooooh, a wand is it? Well...you better be glad that I didn't bring my...staff thing, because that can do awesome magical shh---ssstuff." Andi spluttered out. She didn't quite know what she was trying to say, but knew she wasn't supposed to swear in front of elders. The man continued talking, mentioning her parents and Andi had to think quickly about which route to take; make him feel bad for asking such a question, or lay it on thick so she could get a ride home. "I haven't seen them in about - " She pretended to count on her fingers, " - ten years, so if you find them can you let me know? But yeah, not sure how you know where my home is, probably to do with your "wand" -" she said, using her fingers as quotation marks, " - but if you feel like calling me a taxi, I wouldn't say no." Andi knew that she had walked a long way, and would probably get home well after dark.

 

[Lucan White]

Lucan glanced at Keevan. The White Mansion was charmed to repel muggles. It was impossible, then, that this little girl wasn’t a witch. So why did she sound so incredulous at the mention of wands? Surely not... A muggle-born, perhaps? But what on earth were the chances of a muggle-born wandering completely oblivious into their house?

“Oh, no,” Lucan said. Well, that might've explained things. If she didn't know her parents, it stood to reason she might not know she was a witch. Lucan quickly pocketed his wand. "No - you're a long way from any other houses, that's all. Who's looking after you, then? Don't worry, we'll make sure you get home safe."

 

[Keevan White]

Not a chance Keevan was going to be the one to break it to a ten-year-old girl that she had magical powers. For one thing, he didn't have time. "I'll call," he said, stalking off to find a phone. He just hoped he remembered how to use it. What a ridiculous situation. Of all the ridiculous things he had ever done, paying a burglar's taxi fare home was definitely near the top.

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi smiled at the nice man when he said they'd make sure that she got home safe. Although she didn't manage to see the rest of the mansion or take home any souvenirs for proof, it was still going to be a fun story to tell about the randoms that left their front door unlocked and came running out with sticks. The man had asked who was looking after her. Good question. "I guess that would be Madam Matron. She's alright! But if you speak to her, be sure to tell her that I'm Sarah." Andi would much prefer Sarah be the one who got into trouble. She looked in the direction that the other man stalked off. "He's a bit grumpy?"

 

[Lucan White]

Lucan laughed. “Awright, Sarah. Noted.” He watched the doors fall shut behind Keevan. The kid wasn’t wrong - at least in the accuracy of her description. “Well, you probably shouldn’t be walking into people’s houses uninvited,” Lucan pointed out. “Just because the door’s unlocked, doesn’t mean it’s anybody’s property. You’re cheeky, you are. I’ll bet you get into lots of trouble with Madam Matron.” He grinned.

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi grinned when the man took note of the name Sarah. Perfect. Now she just had to manage to sneak back into the orphanage without the Matron seeing her; especially if she arrived in a taxi. She had never been in a taxi before and she didn't actually expect these guys to call her one. Andi shrugged at the man saying she shouldn't have walked in uninvited but thankfully he kept talking. "Who me? Whaaat? I never get into trouble. I'm the perfect example of what a child should be. I even get all my homework done." Well, at least the last part was true.

 

[Lucan White]

"Is that right?" Lucan asked. "Go on, then - what's the cleverest thing you know?" He glanced again at the doors. Maybe he should have volunteered to call the taxi himself - Keevan was probably still trying to figure out which bit of the phone to speak into.

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi had to think hard for something really smart she knew. She had one great fact, but felt like maybe she shouldn't be telling it to a stranger. So instead, she stuck with, "Well, I'm really good with my maths, like, ask me what thirteen times five is. It's sixty five." She answered with her head held high and chest puffed out, without giving the guy a chance to ask her.

 

[Lucan White]

"Wow," said Lucan, "that's impressive. And you're only ten? I'm not very good at maths, but I know a good fact about the moon. People in the Northern Hemisphere see the moon as upside down compared to us here in the Southern Hemisphere." Lucan had tested it himself - it was completely true. "So you can tell that to your friends. Do you want a drink, or something?"

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi beamed at his compliment. Heck yeah she was impressive. She listened at his fact, confused. "What's a hemisphere?" She asked, wondering if those in the a northern one lived upside down. "Yeah a beer would be great." Andi said before grinning. "Kidding! I'd be chill with some soda?" She never got fizzy and would be over the moon if he had some.

 

[Lucan White]

"It's like, half the earth, I s'pose," Lucan said. "Half a sphere. New Zealand's on the bottom half. People on the top half are looking at the moon from a different angle. That's why it seems upside-down." Despite having just finished his hot chocolate, Lucan was thirsty himself. And Keevan would surely be at least another five minutes. "Awright, kitchen's just through here." Being directly off the foyer, Lucan was sure it wouldn't hurt to show her in. As he passed through the door he grabbed a broom that was sweeping by itself and threw it hard to the ground, thanking Merlin that it didn't get up again. He walked around the marble island and opened the fridge, which wasn't plugged in, though everything in it mysteriously stayed cold. "We've got coke, will that do?"

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi nodded her head, actually interested in what the man was saying. She definitely was going to keep that fact tucked in the back of her pocket to tell her... 'friends'. To be honest, it was more to show off to the littles. Now that the man was taking her through, Andi actually had a proper chance to look around the place. It was huge. And so clean! Andi startled slightly and looked at the man weirdly when she saw him throw something, but was immediately distracted by the kitchen. Were kitchens actually allowed to be this big and tidy? They probably never had to wipe the dust off of their plates before eating. She felt like she could eat off the floor - which she often did back home anyway, but at least this floor was sparkley. "S**t yes - I mean, yes please, that would be - definitely that would do." Andi said, eagerly awaiting the coke. She leaned against the marble counter. "So like, do a thousand people live here? Where are they all? Are you two like, the security or something? The stick police?" Andi giggled.

 

[Lucan White]

Lucan was used to hearing curses, but they were always jarring coming from the mouth of a kid. He rooted through the drawers for a muggle utensil that could open the coke bottle, which took an embarrassingly long time, and then placed it on the counter in front of her. "Security?" Lucan repeated, laughing. "I live 'ere! Me brother - the grumpy one - he owns this place." It started to dawn on him that he was probably telling this complete stranger too much, and he ignored her other questions. "Right, we'd better go and wait in the foyer - bring your drink with you, you don't need to rush it."

 

[Keevan White]

It was 2054, and muggles still hadn't invented a mobile phone with a good signal. Regius said the interference was probably caused by all the concentrated magic in the house, but Keevan preferred to think that muggles didn't have a clue what they were doing. Having finally conveyed that he needed a taxi to come and wait twenty yards from his front gates (any closer and the driver would suddenly have remembered he had someone more important to pick up elsewhere), Keevan dropped the phone and went back out into the foyer.

They were gone. Voices drifted from the kitchen several doors away. Damn it - what was Lucan doing, giving the little thief a tour of the mansion? But it was worse than that; he was feeding her. Brilliant. Now she would be down here every weekend looking for handouts. The trouble with Lucan was that he thought everybody's intentions were as pure as his own. "The taxi will be here in twenty minutes, apparently," Keevan said. "Come with me, we'll go and wait by the front gates."

 

[Andi Hart]

Andi was slightly taken aback that the men lived at the house, that one of them owned the house. She supposed someone had to own it, but it just seemed so empty for just them. Andi took the coke and smiled at the man as a thanks, slightly disappointed that they were just going to go wait in the foyer; she wanted to see the rest of the giant house! But she followed the man, taking a sip of the coke, her mouth bursting with fizzy. She was never able to just gulp fizzy down, she figured she wasn't that used to it, so she swished it around her mouth as they continued into the foyer. The brother was back and Andi sighed when he told her they would wait outside. "Thank you nice man." Andi said to the other guy before following the grumpy one outside, sipping and swishing on her coke again. "Your brother is very nice." Andi stated again to him.

 

[Keevan White]

"Bye, Sarah!" Lucan said as they exited the mansion without him. The further they got from the front doors, the more Keevan relaxed, growing more and more confident there was no risk of the girl spotting something magical and asking questions. He smiled slightly at her comment. "Yes, he is," he said. Lucan was naive, perhaps a little childish, but he was one of the most generous and thoughtful people Keevan knew. He was proud to call him his brother. As he was thinking this, the groundskeeper walked directly across the path up ahead, half of a felled tree floating over his shoulder. That didn't look natural. He disappeared behind a row of hedges, quickly enough, perhaps, that the girl hadn't even noticed. Please, Merlin, say she hadn't noticed. "So, Sarah," Keevan said, "Do you live in Napier?"