When she returned home Gwyn allowed herself to be ushered into the dining hall by Maeve and sat down in front of a hearty lunch. Maeve walked away with her cloak as soon as she was settled in. At this point she was just assuming it was a house elf intuition keeping any meat from being placed in front of her. She still added thanking Maeve for it to her mental to do list. If she wasn't careful it would grow much longer than her written one.
While she ate she brainstormed ideas of what to say to both Harry and the Malfoys. In the end she decided she would simply write them both letters with the blunt truth. She wasn't as worried about the Malfoy family. Even if Draco didn't remember her, then his parents surely would. No, what worried her was Harry. He was the only blood relation she had left and she was terrified of losing him all over again.
She simply would not allow that to be an option. Harry would be alive and well and she would make sure of it. Even if he decided to have nothing to do with her and write her off as some crazy person. Goddess above knows she would if she had no memory of someone and they suddenly sent a letter via magical means, claiming to be a long lost relative.
She didn't allow her mind to dwell on the possibility of he and Draco wanting nothing to do with her. Failure was not an option. The only problem she was encountering now would be how to send off the letters without an owl. From the looks of the owlery when she had passed by yesterday, there hadn't been any inhabitants since she had left. Maybe she could get Maeve to agree to drop off her letters for now.
There were many things she already knew she was going to need and quite a few more that she simply wanted. The problem was she didn't deem it safe for her to make any trips out into the alley for shopping by herself. She could mail order some things but that would speed up news of her arrival back into the wizarding world. Since she had no clue who had taken her that night, she wanted to keep it secret. At least until her arrival at Hogwarts, if at all possible.
She could use Maeve, purchase another house elf or two if necessary to help keep the castle running smoothly. If she was to purchase more then Maeve would absolutely have to be involved in the process. Her oldest friend would take offense if she was to do it any other way and that was the last thing she wanted. Just because they needed to be bonded to a witch or wizard to stay alive didn't mean that one could mistreat them.
Once she was done with her meal she made her way back up to her room. She would speak with her grandparents again tomorrow. She had learned almost too much to handle in the span of forty-eight hours and needed some time to adjust and process all of it. To avoid any of the same scenarios as last night she kept her mind carefully blank as she ascended the stairs and then down the hallway to her room. It wouldn't do to have a breakdown every time she walked through her own home.
Once back in her room she noticed Maeve had added the daggers to her bedside table and the book that Death had given her to her desk. Nero made his way off of her shoulder and over to her bed to curl up on her pillow once she sat down at her desk again. She could feel his eyes on her while she pulled over her to do list and began to update it.
'Yes you may go and update Nagini about what all you've learned today. You can also let her know that I plan to send off a letter to the Malfoys and will begin writing a letter to Harry if you wish.' She turned and gave him a half smile.
'You say that like you think I want to just run off the second we are home.' Though he would deny it, his accusatory tone had an underlying hit of a pout.
'I think nothing of the sort.' She quickly reassured him. 'I do know, however, that you truly enjoy having her to talk to. You always complained about the snakes that were around the girl's home lacking any sort of intelligence. You have a friend now, and you should be able to enjoy her company. You do not need my permission.'
YOU ARE READING
Returning Home
FanfictionEight years she's lived here and learned what hell on earth means. All she had to get her through was her eidetic memory with a perfect recall from the time she was six months old. One fateful night, however, was completely blank. But now she's back...
