Closed Pockets Full of Posies

[Astraea Vale]

A young jet black cat was curled on Astraea's lap, which she stroked with one hand absent-mindedly, while her mother began brushing her hair. Plaiting her own hair was something Astraea was soon going to have to do on her own, but for the time being, the soon to be eleven year old was content letting her mother do it. Although the words were never spoken, this was a favoured activity for Astraea. Sometimes the two would sit in a comfortable silence, and other times they would recite nursery rhymes or poems, Carine teaching Astraea the real meanings to the nursery rhymes, Astraea's favourite one was how Ring Around The Rosie was about The Bubonic Plague and cremating people.
For the time being, however, Astraea sat in silence, watching her mother through the mirror.

 

[Carine Vale]

It wasn't lost on Carine that each of the moments she spent with her children were precious. That each passing day and month marked by crosses in her calendar represented the reality that her children were constantly growing up, that they were growing into the people they were destined to be. They were caterpillars she nurtured from infancy now forming a chrysalis, and just as quickly it seemed they would emerge from their protective shells, from her protective arms into the big wide world. While it would still be a few years before Carine's two youngest would leave the nest, with Astraea it was only a matter of months, and it became ever more apparent she needed to spend time with her daughter while she still could. It almost felt like minutes rather than months when Carine thought about it, precious minutes she wanted to grasp onto from fear of losing the time she had left.

The minute she was in was one of many Carine wanted to hold on to. One where she currently found herself brushing Astraea's dark hair in one of their tide and true routines. Sometimes they would pass the time reciting poems and nursery rhymes or fairy tales, other times they remained in a contented silence. That day Carine favored the silence at first, preferred to keep the moment peaceful as the bristles of the brush glided through the strands, untangling any knots formed from the day as she counted down from one hundred in her mind. She parted Astraea's hair in two sections and ran her fingers through it, only remembering after she began to braid one section of the conversation she needed to have with Astrea, and the decision Astraea needed to make for herself over her looming education, and deciding to finally speak. There was no better moment, Carine realised than the one they were in, where they were alone and her daughter could be honest in her thoughts and feelings to which school she wanted to attend.

"My darling, I have been meaning to ask." Carine began, eyes for a moment looking to Astraea's in their reflection in the mirror of her vanity, then returning to the dark hair she braided with gentle hands. "Have you decided, whether you will attend Beauxbatons, or Hogwarts?" There was a family legacy at Beauxbatons, one Carine had lived through and embraced while she was younger. However she both wished for and wanted Astraea to make the decision for herself, wanted her daughter to form her own opinions and her own legacy if she wished for it, as opposed to allowing an existing legacy and any imposing expectations decide for her. ​

 

[Astraea Vale]

As the peace and tranquility lingered, Astraea's eyes moved away from her mother's face to the cat on her lap, enjoying the warmth it's body emitted. Astraea felt that her cat was a sort of familiar, it seemed to have similar personality traits, as well as not enjoying the company of anyone but her and her mother, a fact which Astraea smugly reminded her brothers of often; especially Ulric. Her mind had drifted to thoughts of the night sky when her mother broke the silence. Astraea's eyes snapped to her mother's reflection in the mirror, waiting to see what her question was going to be. When she spoke, Astraea only took a moment before responding. "Hogwarts is the closest." Astraea replied, matter-of-factly. While revelling in the fact that her and her family were often different, going somewhere so far and so different from home did not bring any type of enjoyment to the young girl.