The Gables

"Gran it is pretty warm in here, are you sure I should leave this jumper on?" Harrison asked his grandmother as he walked into the dining area of the kitchen, smiling when he saw the fancy set up of the table. She had gone to a lot of trouble and he knew in part it had to do with his being there.
He felt rotten now complaining about the jumper she had magically knitted for him for Christmas, the only consolation he had was that Andromeda had gotten one similar.
"I was only kidding Gran" he smiled instead, "Happy Christmas again".
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Esmerelda turned around to see her grandson standing there with the jumper she had made for him.
"It's only gorgeous on you" she smiled, Esmerelda had a wicked sense of humour sometimes and knew he probably didn't want to wear the stuffy old thing. She would wait to see how long for her sake he would though.
She kissed him tenderly on his forehead and ruffled his hair.
"Happy Christmas dear. Did you get the packages that arrived this morning from your parents?" she smiled, "they're in the sitting room if you want to open them now".
 
It seemed like the months had flown by, one minute it had been Halloween then Christmas, Easter came and went fairly unnoticed but now exam time heralding the summer holidays were here. Andromeda knew she had better write to Essie as fast as she possibly could. She had let so many things get away from her and so many things had happened that it seemed all a blur still.
Dearest Esmerelda,

I know you had said that I cold come to stay at the Gables with you for the summer but that had been when my mother was still living there. What with eloping to marry and now setting up their new home, I didn't think you would still want me to come. But I am asking any how. Can I please? Your house, your home has been like a home to me. That and Hogwarts.
I would truly love to spend the summer holidays with you, my mother doesn't mind for obvious reasons. The honeymoon must not be over yet.
Exams are nearly over now, I think I've done alright so far but time will tell.
I do look forward to hearing from you soon.

All my love

Andromeda
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Esmerelda hustled and bustled her way around the house trying to organise it for the two girls. Andromeda and Zazuka were going to spend the summer with her which was going to be wonderful. Her grandson Harrison couldn't make it after all, summer school or something equally daft from Durmstrang. Time off was what that boy needed but who would listen to her.
Esmerelda gave a final check around, their beds were freshly made, a vase of silk flowers stood on their bedside lockers as she never knew these days who had alergies and who hadn't and there was lunch ready for them when they arrived.
She was getting excited now and wished she could have gone to meet them both instead of them coming straight here. Pacing up and down, she gave quick glances out the front windows at every possible moment.
They would be here soon, the excitement really was getting too much for her.
 
Andromeda could see Esmerelda through the window pacing back and forth. She smiled turning to Zuka.
"Yep she's expecting us, come on slow coach" Andromeda raced the rest of the way up the path and pushed in the door. It was the most natural thing in the world to just fling herself at Essie in a huge bear hug, or was that wolf hug now?
"I've missed you so much" and she had, it was months since she had seen any of them, she hadn't been allowed back for Christmas because they hadn't been equipped yet to deal with her werewolf form but now they were, at least now Essie was. Her mother was no longer part of the equation of The Gables.
"Zuka come on" Andromeda let go of Essie and turned to Z, "You remember my friend don't you Esmerelda?"
 
Zazuka walked up the Gables behind Andy because she didn't want to seem to eger. It had been a while since she had seen a house this grand. Her house at Willow's Rain had been something like this but all she had ever been able to see was her room as a sanctuary and the outside gloom before she went in. The Gables had a homeyer feel to it. It was brighter and somehow more inviting.
Zazuka draged along her school trunk which had all she ever owned in the world. It was a pretty big trunk and after years of liveing in a room the size of a shoe box Zazuka was skilled at making a large amount of stuff fit into a small amount of space. "Yes I remember her. Thank you very much for having me Ms. Snickett." She said bowing her head to show rispect. Zazuka, if not asked, would leave out that had she not been allowed to stay her she would have had no where else to go.
 
Esmerelda caught both girls up into an embrace delighted to see them both.
"Of course I remember Zazuka" she smiled at the girl, "My how the two of you have grown. Why don't I just send your trunks to your room and both of you go freshen up before lunch".
The summer was looking decidedly better already, Esmerelda was delighted she wouldn't be spending it alone. The sound of laughter about this house was sorely needed.
 
Andromeda let herself be hugged to ribbons within the arms of her godmother. She felt safe and protected there and was thrilled that Essie had hugged Zuka too.
As she released them and told them to freshen up Andromeda smiled.
"Wait I can do the trunks, watch this" Andromeda used the advanced banishing spell that Professor Lloyd had taught her, she loved his class immensely.
"Everte Statum" she flourished her wand at both trunks which promptly sent them up to the room the girls would be sharing.
"Cool huh?" she beamed at Essie, "Come on Zuka, race you up there. Winner gets to choose beds".
 
Zazuka grined. She had never been hugged that way before her father perfering to show how he felt about her with the buckle of a belt. Andy seemed to have more controle over her banisheing spell than she had and Zazuka was happy about that. Zazuka could use it to blow things into walls but nothing more. "Alright but I worn you I'm fast." She said with a bright smile. She didn't know how fast she would be in her oversized tattered brown trainers but she would try. Besides there was no way Zazuka would be able to beat Andy even in if she wasn't so frail.
 
Summer 2021

Andromeda was levitated very gently from her bed into the waiting wheelchair, the muggle invention was proving to be extremely resourceful as Andy didn't really like being levitated to the places she wanted to go. She didn't really go very far anyway, from her bed to the bathroom had been the main one until the healers finally said that she could venture outside for fresh air. The full moon had been just two nights ago and she was so frail and shattered from the experience. Her body had no where near recovered from the neglect she had been put through at Durmstrang, but Esmerelda was with her the whole time. Not afraid or anything. Andromeda knew her godmother was remarkable in so many ways but even more so now in her eyes. She had needed that bit of human contact when she had been in her wolf form, the wolfsbane rendered her harmless anyhow but being so ill made her possibly the most pathetic of werewolves yet. Essie had sat with her and groomed her lovingly, stroking her fur until she was nearly purring.

She sat now in the shade of the orchard trees, two of Zuka's dolls on her lap and a letter from Harrison held in her hand. How she missed her friends but would they really think much of her when they saw her in September? She was so much changed now, so very different. It was as if she had lived a completely different life in the past few months, she had witnessed the cruelty of man and not just any man but wizard and witch alike. Esmerelda came over and tucked the blanket up around her god daughter before sitting again on the bench beside her with her knitting in hand.

"Everything is going to be alright Andromeda, you do know that don't you?" Essie looked at the young girl before her and tried so hard to remember the brave, smiling fearless spirited girl of just the year before. It was so hard to believe that this frail, pale dispirited creature before her were one and the same. Essie was grateful her father was not here to see Andromeda like this but then again if he had been alive, none of this would have happened. She felt in her pocket for the letter that had arrived just moments before deciding whether or not it was the best time to read it to her. Patrick, Andromeda's uncle had finally written after such a long, long time. He didn't know of course anything that had happened and Essie could not bare to tell him either. He too had been through so much, if Andromeda wished him to know then she herself would do the telling. Essie patted the pocket which contained the letter and put her knitting into its bag before banishing the bag back to the house.

"It's time to get you back inside, the air has become slightly chilly again" it seemed funny that she was so conscious now of any little change in the wind when they were out doors but she knew she had to be, Andromeda was still so weak and fragile that anything could set her health back. It did not phase her that Andromeda put up no refusal or fight against this but let her godmother push the wheelchair back to the house without saying a word. She very rarely spoke nowadays, her screams in the night echoed through the small house and seemed to be the only sound she made at all. Esmerelda could not give up on her though and knew her friends wouldn't either.
Andromeda would return to them, in spirit as well as body.
 
Hogwarts Letter Arrives:


Andromeda had begun walking about without the aid of Esmerelda's arm or a walking cane. She still felt weak but not as bad as she once had, her appetite was slowly returning but the healer who still regularly came from St. Mungo's had quite clearly stated that she would never regain the weight she once had. It wasn't that she was scrawny thin or anything, she was lean extremely lean and as she had already grown another few inches in the last year and her palour was still somewhat paler than normal, Andromeda felt gangly and ugly. In her wolf form she looked superb, fit and healthy, lither and limber.

Essie had brewed the new batch of wolfsbane that morning for her, it took nearly three months to mature but she had plenty to see her through until then. As she wandered about the orchard, an owl flew overhead swooping low and dropping a letter into her outstretched hand. Looking at the postmark, Andromeda let a tear fall. She couldn't help it, her letter from Hogwarts. She had honestly thought she would never see one of these again. Tearing it open carefully, she went and sat beneath the largest apple tree in the orchard and read her supply list and welcome back note. The envelope itself still felt heavy and tipping it up Andromeda soon discovered why. A prefects badge fell out, picking it up gingerly she could not believe her eyes.

She didn't think she had deserved this honour at all, could possibly think of at least several people who did. Why her? She had been gone for so many months, would the other students begrudge her this when she finally went back in September? Her heart slammed into her chest, her world was crazy enough without her old friends and housemates alienating her over a prefect position. The thought crossed her mind to send an owl back to the school with the badge and a 'thank you kindly but I don't deserve this' letter attached to it but something else stopped her.

Life always threw you lemons, her grandmother always said simply make them into lemonade. Take the good with the bad, find the silver lining. Maybe this was exactly what she needed, authority where once she had absolutely none. A voice where once no one had wanted to listen. But this in itself was false, she had always had a voice, always belonged at Hogwarts - it had been Durmstrang that had taken everything from her. She smiled at the badge, held the letter in her other hand and stood up carefully, walking slowly back into the house to Essie to show her. No, this was a good sign - she would make it so. Her spirit felt a little lighter than it had for a long time and she wondered had Brian and Zazuka made prefect too.
 
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