Mortem Obire

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Training montages and unexpected enemies

Truly, she should have known that things would change what with the reveal of at least part of the truth to her mother. Yet somehow she had still been blindsided, even when her mother had let her sleep on her bed that night and let her snuggle next to her. The same part of her which had just been waiting for the so-called Dursley Treatment to appear: the treatment where they ignored her and left her to deal with her own issues alone. She should have learnt by that point that Celeste Carter was a Carter, not a Dursley, and she was the mother who loved her so much.

The mother who had loved her enough to live for her, rather than die for her. Not that she knew much about Lily Potter. She didn't have green eyes anymore, and the Potters were something which probably belonged in the past, if only she could manage to leave it behind.

"Harriet?" her mother asked, peering over at her as she stirred ever so slowly. "You didn't have any nightmares, did you?" she questioned, looking so helplessly worried as she brushed a thumb over her annoyingly chubby cheek.

"Mn. I'm fine," she said softly, peering over at her mother, even as she was haloed in the soft light of the sun seeping through the curtains. Her dreams were one of the few things which visions didn't affect. It was the one time she was free from the flashes of gold and the tragedies which, more often than not, followed in its wake.

"That's not an answer to my question," her mother said flatly, staring at her so seriously then. "Whether or not you had a nightmare is another question as to whether you're fine, sweetheart."

Harriet shrugged. "I don't think I had a nightmare. I'd usually wake up if that was the case," she remarked, sitting up and playing with her fingers. They were so terribly interesting all of a sudden, what with how oddly uncomfortable she felt beneath the weight of her mother's attention. "Dreams are nice," she mumbled, thinking of those few good nights where she wasn't hauled off to that train or sucked into the vivid imagery which came with her visions.

"I'd hope they are," she whispered, sliding out of bed. "What do you want for breakfast today, sweetie?" she asked. "We're spending the day together."

"Uh, waffles?" she blurted out, stomach grumbling as she thought of her favourite breakfast-slash-dessert. "Please?"

"Sure thing," her mother said, ruffling her hair. "You want to help me make them? Or do you want to nap for a bit longer?"

She tilted her head, taking a moment to decide, before she grabbed her mother's arm. "I'll help," she decided, pulling herself up from under the covers and padding over to the door alongside her wonderful mother. Celeste Carter had a place in her heart, now and forever. That was undeniably true, Harriet mused, even as her eyes burnt gold and her mother stared down at her with those confused, worried eyes. The same eyes she would likely have to get used to, and Harriet didn't need her visions to tell her that much.

"You can measure things out, yeah?" her mother said, pointing at the recipe book, the weighing scales and ingredients slowly finding their way in front of her. "I'll be doing the dangerous stuff," she continued.

"Mn. It's only dangerous if you're not careful," Harriet mumbled, weighing out the correct measurements for her breakfast and passing them over to her mother in the order they were required. "Or if you don't have good motor control as most children do..."

A finger prodded at her nose, her mother looking down at her as she sat on the counter. "Don't speak as if you're not also one of those children," she said matter-of-factly, and Harriet frowned, uncertain of the truth of that statement. Technically she was older than a child in mind and possibly soul at least, no matter how small her body was. "We also need to talk about what we're going to do going forwards... after what you told me last night..."