Last time: Elizabeth helped her little sister Annabeth to greet the guests to the younger girl's birthday party and exchange guests with them. After an emotional musical performance for the guests by the two girls Elizabeth retreated from the festivities for a short while only to discover Annie hurt and bleeding after hitting her head. With the stress of the situation her magical talent awakened to heal the young girl.
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After the incident at Annabeth's birthday celebration the Wilsons had left their townhouse in London early to return to their estate in the countryside. Elizabeth rarely left her sister's side for very long in the few weeks that had passed since then. Seeing her little Annie bleeding so profusely from her head had ratcheted up the elder girl's already overly protective instincts. As such she spent as much time doting on the younger girl as she could once they had returned to the estate. Annabeth had been loving the attention and had no qualms with sleeping in Elizabeth's room with her during that time.
In the rare moments in which she wasn't spending time with her sister; Elizabeth found her mind wandering back to the strange events of that day. It had begun with her doll being where it shouldn't have been in the morning followed by statues seemingly crying after their performance. Finally, and most importantly in her mind, there was what had happened with Annie. The physician who examined her afterwards had been confused by the lack of a wound when everyone had clearly seen blood after she fell. The only explanation the auburn haired young woman could think of was that magic had healed her.
Yet, that didn't make any sense. Elizabeth was a squib and her family were muggles; none of them had the ability to use magic. However; what other explanation could there be for such a miraculous recovery? Her parents and a few of the attendees attributed it to a miracle from god answering their prayers for the young girl's safety but that didn't explain what Elizabeth had felt at that moment. Besides; though she had been raised by her adopted family to believe in god, it had always been difficult for her to truly believe in miracles when she knew what existed in this world beyond the knowledge of muggles.
In spite of all this, no matter what she had tried to do while alone afterwards; she'd been unable to reproduce any additional magic or feel that surge from deep inside of herself again. It was extremely frustrating and confusing. In the end the squib had convinced herself that it had been a fluke. Perhaps what little magic may have been hiding in her blood had simply been used up when she needed it most. While disappointing; it would have to be enough. She was just grateful that Annie was alive and happy.
So it was that in the late afternoon on the thirty first of August Elizabeth found herself out in the garden with Annie. The two of them were each sitting against the trunk of a large silver birch tree where they had laid a blanket down to sit up. Each girl was reading a book to prepare for the return of the governess who taught them privately to return to the state next month. Holding the book in one hand; Elizabeth's other hand gently ran her fingers through Annabeth's long golden blonde hair.
"Lizzy, is it really true that balloons came from the Far East before they made their way to France?" Annie asked as she looked up from the text she was reading to face her older sister; curiosity alight in her eyes.
The elder girl grinned and giggled before responding. "Yes; they were a bit different; but that is where the principle came from. They managed to do it a lot sooner too. I believe the governess said the sky lanterns they first used were much smaller but operated on the same principle." Elizabeth stated as her nose wrinkled slightly, a sign that she was thinking. "Hmmm, I don't actually know if they ever sent people up back then though."
Annabeth grinned widely as she listened to her sister. "I hope they did. It would be so wonderful to fly in the sky. I wish mom and dad would let us go on a hot air balloon someday. Mom keeps saying it's too dangerous." She ended with a slight frown.
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A Legacy of Pain: Filling the Void
Fanfiction**Hogwarts Legacy Fanfic, spoilers for game** Elizabeth had never felt whole; as if something integral had been missing from her life. That feeling had only grown when she was abandoned by her family for seemingly being a squib. After being adopted...
