A Kind of Magic

Twenty-Nine

Her mother's voice reaching her from the sitting room woke Fiona up in the morning, a few minutes before her alarm would ring.

"You can do whatever you want today. Fiona is off, but Freddie has school until four. Just make sure to give me all your used clothes before you go out, I'll do the washing this morning," she instructed their visitors, making Fiona roll her eyes. So much for not getting used to them. Her mother was already treating them like sons.

She rolled over on the bed and turned to Freddie, pulled herself up on her elbow, and observed the sleeping child for a few moments. He wouldn't be a child for much longer, he was changing day after day, growing in front of her very eyes...

Sighing, she ruffled his brown curls, then kissed him on the cheek when he did not stir.

"'Freddie, wake up. You need to go to school. There are just three days left, and then you can sleep as long as you want the whole summer."

He turned towards her before he opened his eyes and gave her one of his rare smiles. "Maybe we could spend a part of the summer with granddad in Silmarea. You said you would take two weeks off when my holiday starts. Instead of going to Scotland, we could go with them," he said. 

His huge blue eyes were intent on her as he nodded towards the door leading to the sitting room, from where a multitude of male voices reached them now, and Fiona's mind tuned inconspicuously to Peregrine's words rendered incomprehensible by the closed door. 

She sat up, then got off the bed, shaking her head decisively. "I really want to see the Loch Ness lake, and we're not going anywhere with three strange strangers. End of discussion. Grandma is up, so you can go get dressed in your room. And feed Gollum on the way, will you?" she added as the dog turned around her twice, making her almost fall back on the bed before he headed for the closed door where he sat down patiently, waiting for anyone who would take him into the kitchen. 

Freddie laughed at the sight, then said in a perfectly serious voice even as he reached the door and laid his hand on the door handle. "They may be strange, which is not necessarily bad, mum, but you can hardly call them strangers after they spent two nights in our flat."

With that, he was gone in Gollum's wake, making Fiona feel like he was the wiser of the two of them. Maybe he was, but it didn't matter. It didn't change anything. She was his mother and so it was up to her to decide about this.

Fiona dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a moss green t-shirt, pulling on a white cardigan too when she opened the curtains, then the window, and noticed the hazy sunshine outside. Summer was slow to arrive this year, she mused on her way to the bathroom, across the empty and already tidy sitting room. She found the men and the boy seated around the kitchen table a few minutes later, with Gollum lying at the dragon shifter's feet, the man's hand caressing the dog's side, while her mother carried more food to the table. 

Right, that was what Fiona needed to do today-- shopping. There couldn't be much food left left in the house.

"Good morning," she muttered, blushing as three heads turned to her, realising that even though she had washed her face and brushed her teeth, she forgot to brush her hair. Or rather, she decided not to bother with it as it always took too long and she... was inpatient to see Peregrine. Silly Fiona, she scolded herself, patting the pockets of her cardigan in search of an elastic band, her heart skipping a beat, her cheeks flooding with warmth and colour when Peregrine's hand closed around hers to stop her. 

Botheration! How could he have such an effect on her?! Hopefully, he couldn't perceive her reaction to his closeness, she despaired, casting him an inconspicuous glance, the smile playing on his lips as he reached for his cup of coffee telling her otherwise. 

Suppressing a sigh, she shifted her attention to Freddie, who had just finished eating his porridge. 

"It's getting late, Freddie, and you are still in pyjamas. If you want to take Gollum for a walk with me before school as always, you must hurry," she said, and the boy nodded, stood up, and left the room immediately. 

"Mum, I'll take Freddie to school, bring Gollum back, and then go shopping. Just make me a list of everything you think we need," she told the older woman who had just set a cup of coffee in front of her. 

"I've done the list already," her mother replied, collecting the empty plates, carrying them to the sink. 

"Leodhais and Gilderoy decided to help Alexandra with cleaning, washing and cooking today," Peregrine spoke, his words surprising her just like they seemed to surprise Leodhais and Gilderoy, who looked at him, one with a frown, the other with a bemused smile. "May I come with you? You'll need help with the shopping."

Fiona nodded when his eyes ensnared her in their silvery magic, finding herself unable to tell him no. If only he could stay... Frowning at the unwelcome thought, she finished her coffee and stood up to go check on Freddie. 

"Is that all you're having? A cup of coffee? You didn't eat anything," Peregrine said, following her into the sitting room like a shadow, pushing the shopping list her mother had given him into the pocket of his cloak.

"I don't eat this early in the morning, I might have something later," she said, wondering why they should be talking about her eating habits. "Freddie, come on!" she called in the direction of the boy's room, taking the leash and the dog whistle from the coat rack by the door, releasing Gollum into the corridor even as Freddie exited his room, put his shoes on and hopped after the dog, calling, "Bye grandma, bye Leodhais, bye Gilderoy," in the direction of the flat. 

A choir of voices greeted them in return before Fiona closed the door and the three people and the huge dog descended the ill-lit staircase.

"Give me your bag and off you run," she said as every morning upon reaching the street, smiling at Freddie who was impatient for his few moments of fun with Gollum in the park before spending the day at school. "Just don't let him scare anyone and mind the road, understood?" she added, taking the book filled rucksack from him, its weight disappearing as if by magic before she could put it on her arm. 

"I'll carry that," Peregrine said, the bag already on his shoulder.

She nodded her thanks, watching him observe the boy who just vanished through the wrought iron gate into the park far in front of them. The dark man's serious scrutiny reminded her of what she wanted to ask him. It took her a while to think about how to form the question, she didn't know exactly what she was asking about, she just felt that there was something beyond his looks and words addressed to her son. 

"Last night you asked him whether he ever thought of..." The sigh that escaped him the moment he guessed the direction of her thoughts made her exclaim, "Tell me!"

He looked down at her as they stepped through the park gate together, leaving the road crowded with the early morning confusing commotion behind. Walking into the park was like stepping into another world, a purer, simpler world more similar to Silmarea... This was his chance to make her change her mind and agree to come home with them if he chose his words right. But it wouldn't be easy to explain to her that her son was like him, to make her believe it without scaring her... She obviously had no idea, not even the vaguest suspicion, he mused, observing the boy playing with his dog in the distance. 

Where should he start? There wasn't a better place than the beginning. 

"Who is the boy's father, Fiona? Please tell me something about him, and then I'll try to explain," he offered.