black coffee | remus lupin [2]

115. an old memory

｡･:*:･★,｡･:*:･

JULY 24th 1965

IT WAS ONE OF THE HOTTEST DAYS days of the year, that was for sure. Margaret Maple looked out the window at Maple manor with a small little smile on her face, because out there in the garden a small little girl wearing a fluffy little dress with ladybugs on it ran as fast as she could towards the entrance of the manor.

Claudia looked excited. It surprised Margaret every time that her granddaughter was so when she was going to see her father, because if Margaret would be honest she couldn't exactly see the appeal of her own son.

Every time Claudia was around he would ignore her at his best ability, so why was it that she was so happy to see him? Well, maybe it was the idea of having a proper father, the idea of making her mother think that Charles loved his daughter and most of all the idea of playing in such a big house with those little elves she always saw walking around.

Just like every other Sunday, Claudia was going to spend her afternoon at Maple manor with her father and grandmother, merely because her grandmother wanted her to.

Unlike every other Sunday, however, it wouldn't be just the three of them. No, Louisa, Charles' wife, would be there as well, alongside her two sons.

Now, Claudia had met Louisa before. She had been in Charles' life for a while by now, so she had appeared a few times before during Sunday lunch. However, she had never once made the effort to even appear nice to Claudia.

The little girl had, however, never once met Louisa's two sons Nolan and Nicolas. You see, every single time Claudia came to visit, Louisa and Charles thought that it would be better if the boys came with their mother to their own house that they hadn't sold yet after the passing of the boys' father.

But now, in just a few weeks time, Charles and Louisa were going to get married. So, naturally, Margaret said that it would be scandalous if Claudia's first time meeting her new brothers would be at the wedding.

So, she decided that this day was going to be the day.

Margaret made her way downstairs as Claudia, who was still outside, waved goodbye to her mother, who was standing by the gates to the manor.

"Bye, mumma!" She shouted gleefully, waving as though her short little life depended on it. "Bye!"

"Bye, darling!" Anne's soft voice reached Margaret's ears. She wouldn't deny that it kind of hurt something inside of her whenever she thought about Anne.

If only things had been different, maybe she was the one who was going to marry her son in a few weeks, and not the insufferable blonde who always had lipstick on her teeth. Margaret regretted not giving Anne more appreciation from time to time. Her ideals had gotten in the way, and so had her beliefs of halfbloods, and so she had to deal with the karma that came in a very blonde human and ruined every single family gathering.