𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗲, harry potter

˗ˋ 02

CHAPTER TWO
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-: fourth year :-

── IN WHICH SHE'S DISMISSED

. . .

And whilst Harry Potter was forced back into a life of lukewarm dinners, listen to the Dursleys' grumbling about the length of his hair and how scruffy he looked, attempted harm from his cousin and quite frankly absolute and utter boredom, Jane Everleigh was settling into what she could consider a life of luxury.

Florence Adley had practically swept her away from the home she had lived in for years, and her brought her deep into the countryside, to a seemingly abandoned mansion in a forest just outside of a small town named Little Whinging.

However, as Jane soon found out, the mansion was not all abandoned - technically. It was Florence's family home, and although it hadn't been lived in for years, it was a home. And so, whilst the outside was very much wildly overgrown, the inside was so beautifully decorated - albeit a little dusty.

"Make yourself at home." Florence announced, her glorious accent ringing through the entry way. "I called forward and had it cleaned up a bit before we arrived, but they didn't seem to do a very good job."

The woman had a frown on her face as she ran a lace-glove covered hand across a chest of drawers in the hallway, retracting her finger, staring at the dark grey dust covering the tip. Promptly wiping away the dirt on a handkerchief, Flora turned to Jane.

"No problem!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Just a little extra work we'll have to do over the next few days if you don't mind."

Jane quickly shook her head - she quite possibly would do anything for the women who had fostered her. "Should I take your bags to your room?" She offered, glancing back through the open front doors at the car, which was overflowing with Florence's cases, her singluar suitcase tiny in comparison.

"Don't be silly darling." Flora replied. "I'll show you to your room before anything, and I'll nip back into the village and get some food." Jane watched as Flora hurried back out to the car and getting her case.

"Now, I hope you don't mind, but I've put you up in the attic. It's absolutely lovely in the summer and I thought you would like some privacy as you settle in." Flora explained, leading a wide-eyed Jane up into her room.

Over the next week or so, Jane and Flora spent quite a lot of time tidying up the mansion. Jane did a lot of the work, Florence wasn't as youthful as she seemed and as Jane made her way down to breakfast one morning, the house was far more alive than it had been before.

"Good morning darling." Flora called, looking very lively as she swept through the kitchen. Whilst her outfits the days before had been rather plain, it seemed the colour had been returned to her, and her outfit was as eccentric before.

"Good morning!" Jane replied, sounding rather nervous and flighty as she glanced behind the woman and saw someone hard at work.

"This is Angela. She's here to help me out today." Flora pulled out a chair and gently pushed Jane down into it, Angela plating the breakfast she was making and placing it under her nose.

"Help out? But I thought..." The Everleigh girl trailed off, brow crumpled in confusion.

"You've been working so hard and been cooped up in this house. And that simply won't do. Little Whinging is a lovely little town, and I know a girl like you isn't the type to stay inside all the time." Flora smiled down at her, hushing her as the girl opened her mouth to protest.

"No ifs, no buts." The Adley woman continued, "I've had Angela make you a lunch." She clicked her fingers and the Angela woman hurried over, placing a brown bag into Flora's hand. "Go and get to know where you're living, you may be happy helping out here for now, but I promise you that you'll grow bored."

Without the ability to protest against what Flora was saying, Jane had left the house half an hour later, a bag swinging from her shoulder and a map folded in her hands.

Walking down the long, overgrown drive, Jane carefully pushed open the ivy-covered gates that sealed the house from the outside world and slipped out, venturing back out after staying within the grounds since she arrived.

It didn't take her long to get to Little Whinging, following the road from the gates and a few sign posts. Little Whinging was practically fairytale like within the original village, but after exploring the main area, Jane stumbled upon the new estates, and decided to turn back.

She had promised Flora not to return until at least mid-afternoon, and with that in mind, Jane had dipped into a small alleyway, examining the map and choosing a walk along a river.

It was bound to be a hot summer, and the second day of July was promising, any clouds in the sky a fluffy white and a lazy, warm breeze drifted through the field.

Figuring it was close to lunch time, Jane walked along the river until she found somewhere that looked quite comfortable. The chorus from the children just down the trodden path from there echoed in her ears as she pulled herself up a tree, settling in the branches.

It was something she had done whilst at the home, but now she had been taken away by Flora and been given a new place within the old house, it seemed so much better.

And so Jane tucked into her lunch, rather unaware of a boy only a few hundred yards away, who in a few moments time, would join her under the tree.

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a/n
i might end up unpublishing this
because i'm not v happy with it so if
you see this missing that's why