The Grey | Hermione Granger

|06| Chapter Six

S I X 

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Receiving her letter to confirm that she did indeed have a place in Hogwarts did not excite Saffron in the way in which it excited her when Maya got hers two years previous. On that occasion, they were paranoid that something had gone awry or someone (most likely by the name of Agnes Squire) might have messed it up for her. Therefore, the letter coming came as a relief to them. This time, however, it felt much more normal and if anything more scary rather than exciting as it was Saffron who was going to have to adjust to a new life soon.

The Summer had taken a turn for the worst and Saffron could count on her two hands the amount of conversations she partook in with her older sister. It was not easy to stay mad at her but Saffron wanted to. She wanted her to learn her lesson and not do anything again. She was not going to stay mad at her forever but the trust she once had in her older sister was damaged. She was not sure she could ever trust her in the same way again. But then again, she considered whether she needed to as after all, she was going to be exposed to a whole new world come September the first. It was all overly complicated but all Saffron knew was that she was keeping her distance for the time being, whilst accepting that Rachel and Rowan were more inclined to speak to Maya than she was. Rowan had her back and spent more time with Saffron than he did with the others but Saffron got the sense that he wanted an end to this as soon as possible. Whilst Saffron was not willing to leave it all in the past, she was willing to go about their day-to-day on as normal terms as possible. After all, they were family.

They quickly got back into old habits as valiant efforts were made yet again by them to let them all go to Diagon Alley to get Saffron's supplies for the oncoming school year.  However, when the questions and please were asked and begged, they were met with resounding nos. As Ms Squire only wanted to handle one of the siblings on the trip, and the sheer thought of taking Rachel and Rowan together next year seemed to be already keeping her up at night.

It was disappointing nonetheless, and Saffron's heart ached upon seeing the crestfallen and bitter looks on the twin's faces the morning of her trip with Squire. Maya tried to lift their spirits by suggesting a trip to the beach, which Rachel agreed to enthusiastically and Rowan agreed to, albeit less so in comparison to his twin and with several rollings of his eyes in Saffron's direction.

Having to walk through a crowded street in wizarding London with Squire felt wrong on so many levels and Saffron couldn't wipe the sour expression off of her face. She knew she should be thankful to be there but being there with the human embodiment of a dementor (the wizarding creatures that guarded the most violent criminals in the prison Azkaban) just dragged the experience down to be a chore rather than a treat. A trip to the beach even with someone she had avoided talking to unless completely necessary like Maya sounded like a better day out.

Squire picked up on Saffron's attitude and wasted no time in commenting on it.

"Saffron, wipe that glare off of your face or I'll wipe it off it for you," sniped Squire, hobbling along the busy street, aided by her walking stick. "I would prefer for you to act like a lady rather than a baby,"

"Well I would prefer Rowan and Rachel to be here with me, but we don't always get what we want,"

Ms Squire stopped in the middle of the street and grabbed Saffron's hand, holding it in hers tightly. Saffron didn't even bother to resist it for she knew she had made a mistake my uttering such a rash and emotional sentence. It was asinine.

"Perhaps I should rephrase," Squire spoke with the fakest sweet voice Saffron had ever heard. "You will act like a lady, you see I am the adult and I will decide what you do," She paused and stared at Saffron right in the eye. "Do I make myself clear?"