The Grey | Hermione Granger

|04| Chapter Four

F O U R 

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It felt as though no sooner had Maya arrived back in Holyhead for the Christmas holidays she was already headed back to Hogwarts to compete her first year of magical education. The Mitchell siblings had a pleasant reunion with Maya and rung in the new year together, watching as the 1980s came to an end and the beginning of a new era that being the 1990s was upon them. Getting a glimpse of the happy life Maya was living at school gave the other three Mitchells hope that the end of this torrid decade would mark the end of the major unpleasantries in their lives. 

However, as soon as Maya left the other children were back into their routine and had to readjust to their life before Maya arrived back for the holidays. Rachel only resumed her position in Maya's bed a week after the eldest girl left, Saffron took the blame from Squire for not dusting the hallway (a job Maya had been doing upon her return) and Rowan had taken it upon himself to study Maya's letters to such detail that he had laid out what the girl was doing each day in Hogwarts whilst the three of them remained in Holyhead.

Those events were truly the most interesting things to be achieved by the siblings up until their sister returned home from Hogwarts again that following June. As the Mitchells led their usual lonely collective life during the Winter months, their walks and ventures becoming scarcer until Saffron's tenth birthday in April. The siblings celebrated with the leftover cake from one of Squire's tea parties, providing them with a week of joyful fun and games. Before returning to their usual dreary days.

It was after Saffron turned ten that her siblings were growing increasingly wary of her health, as the girl started to develop the most terrible of beaches.  For five weeks or so, some nights she was to be found writhing in pain and clutching her head in pain and was thus having a hard time sleeping. It felt as though there was something in her forehead wanting nothing more than to burst out of it but was unable to do so.

It had gotten so bad that Saffron had asked Rowan to get Squire to help her. That was a sign of how poorly she felt as Saffron did not want anything to do with Squire but she had to put her pride to one side and hope she could put her right. 

"What did she say?" Rachel asked Rowan desperately, as she was wetting a cloth wetting a cloth for Saffron to place on her head. The eldest Mitchell was lying on her head letting out the occasional moan but apart from that remaining still. The pain was becoming normal for her now that she was not moving around as much as she had during the first few weeks of it. With each passing week, the pain only got worse and whilst she could function for pockets of time during the day even that was becoming harder for her. "Can she do anything?"

Rowan met Rachel's desperation with a solemn shake of his head. 

"She said it will pass, that it can't be too bad now that she'd had a potion,"

"A numbing potion!" exclaimed Rachel in fury. "Whatever she has doesn't need to be numbed, this cannot be a normal headache!"

"I know, I know," Rowan let out defensively before letting out weakly with a trembling lip. "I tried... I'm sorry Saff, I don't know what else I can do, she won't help anymore,"

Saffron had been listening to the twins interaction the entire time and she was not even surprised. As long as Squire had 'attempted' to help her that was going to be enough for the woman. She did not have the same affection for Saffron as she did for Rowan. If Rowan could not get some help from her, none of the girls would be able to do so. It led Saffron to change the course of direction in terms of help as she let out: