The days following that very fateful afternoon in the garden were long and dreary, and had filled Adrienna with both dread and excitement for the day she would finally get to leave home.
However, strangely enough, now that the day had come, she was restless. She'd found herself unable to sleep, and not for a lack of trying this time. Perhaps she had dreamed about freedom too often, so that now, as she stood on its very edge, something inside her was convinced it was all part of some farce—a notion that was simply too good to be true.
Yet still, despite her doubts, it burned. In her chest, a fire burned. The desire to jump, the desire to fly—it was fighting its way out.
Anyway, with her inability to find sleep came an obsessive desire to move. One could only toss and turn in bed so many times before it would become infuriating. So, as any sane person would have, Adrienna had wandered off somewhere during the night, abandoning her own bedroom in favour of that of her great-grandmother, Katherine Flamel.
Even though Katherine was long gone, traces of her could still be found everywhere. At school, Adrienna had been taught of her compassion. At the Ministry, of her greatness. To the outside world, Katherine Flamel was a concept—an ideal everyone ought to strive towards. But to Adrienna, she was the main pillar to uphold her faith. She was more than just an example: she was everything Adrienna could ever hope to become.
Worthy, echoed a voice through her mind. Of the name you bear.
The words sent a shiver down her spine as she sat on the cold floor, staring up at a portrait—the only portrait of Katherine which Beatrice Flamel had never been able to remove—on the wall. It was a portrait depicting a younger version of Katherine, wearing a deep blue gown as she sat in a chair with golden details. Her dark brown curls, silky as ever, fell into place over her shoulders, and her hands lay gracefully on her skirts. Although Katherine was asleep still, it was not difficult to notice the rosiness of her cheeks, the liveliness of her very soul shining through the surface.
Adrienna's eyes flashed towards the necklace her great-grandmother was wearing for a brief moment, its golden chain and oval-shaped pendant shimmering, knowing it now found itself around her own neck. She clutched it, the small diamond cold in her hand.
Then, suddenly, Adrienna felt a presence lingering outside the door. She smiled. "You may enter, Lola."
Lola didn't need to be told twice, as the house elf came eagerly rushing into the bedroom of her former mistress. "Forgive me, my lady," she said. "I know you do not eat breakfast as early as this, so I have brought you the daily paper instead."
Adrienna offered her another smile as she took this morning's copy of La Gazette du Sorcier. She did not look at it yet, instead turning her attention to the house elf in front of her.
"Thank you," she stated.
"You are most welcome, my lady." Lola beamed happily. "Most welcome, indeed."
Adrienna smiled, nodding more. Lola bowed her little head before turning around to leave the room again, though Adrienna caught her looking up at the portrait on her way out, mumbling something she did not quite catch.
Finally turning her attention to the newspaper in her hands, Adrienna unfolded it and attempted to remedy the crease it had left in the middle of the front page. She stopped, however, partially because she knew her efforts would be futile, and partially because her eyes caught a glimpse of something far more interesting.
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