Equinox

three

"You're requested to join the afternoon meeting," Blaise tells me.

My head is deep in the planters and dirt coats my forearms. I perk up to look at Blaise over the plants. "Why?" I question and use my hand to shield the sun from my eyes. They always conduct them behind closed doors from my earshot. The reason is beyond me, but it's how the days have gone here.

"Just the messenger here." Blaise simply shrugs with an expression that tells me I asked a stupid question. "Seemed urgent, so you should probably go now."

I shed my gardening gloves and toss them down on the soil. "Alright," I sigh.

"They want me there too so don't think you're special, Cupcake." Blaise teases.

I wrinkle my nose at the nickname. "Cupcake?"

"Aspen doesn't flow off the tongue well," he shrugs with a face.

I wipe my hands on my jeans and walk over to him, "And cupcake does?"

He just messes up the top of my head with his hand. "Shut up," he laughs.

"I will if you think of a better nickname than," I move my hands around in circles, "Cup-cake."

Blaise pushes me forward towards the house and it forces me to regain my balance, "Give it a rest," he says, "we have a meeting to attend."

I skip ahead to lengthen the distance between us, "Sure thing, Cupcake." I tease him.

I'm already opening the door when I hear him groan from the yard, "Fine, hex me for trying to give my friend a nickname."

I'm laughing to myself all the way to the dining room. It's a quaint set up in the far corner of the house. Only one entry, which seals shut with a light wooden door. A chair rail lines the perimeter with a wood that matches the door. The wall above is coated in a floral wallpaper, while the wall below is painted white. A round table occupies the majority of the room and holds eight chairs. Light fills the space from the large window on the far wall.

Papers scatter across the table and I take notice of the three people already seated. Theo has his elbows planted on the table and a hand stuck in his hair as he flips through pages of handwritten notes. Corvus is sitting stiffly and has his nose stuck in the sheets in his hands. Andromeda is just sipping a mug of tea as she shuffles through a book.

Blaise comes up behind me and clears his throat. The two of us were noticeably uncomfortable. We'd never been asked to sit before one of these discussions, and now that we're here, I'm suddenly at a loss.

Corvus looks over the papers in front of his face and considers the both of us for a moment. "Are you going to sit?" He asks flatly.

My chin bounces back into my neck after registering his snide comment, and I'm now remembering why I was annoyed with him the day prior. I glare at him while taking the seat across from him. Blaise pulls the chair to the right of me, unknowingly putting a wall between me and Theo.

"I don't understand what this all means for us," Theo tells Corvus with his eyes trained on the pages.

The brutal silence is broken by Corvus clearing his throat, "As you see, there are magical frequencies concentrated in different parts of Europe." He waves a hand over the table and glowing cyan lines trace the wood, curving and drawing a map of Europe and its countries. He taps his finger on different spots and orbs of red appear. "These are all the places where steady flows of magic pulsate, but no magical folk populate."

"So," Theo pinches the bridge of his nose, "then how is magic staying there if there isn't anyone performing magic."

Corvus just holds up a hand telling Theo to hold his questions. "Moody was able to pinpoint which locations Death Eaters were spotted near." He taps his finger over three different spots, turning the red to a vibrant green. "These are the places that they were spotted at or near."