A Kind of Magic

Forty-Four

Inside the vast room, well lit and feeling pleasantly warm after the darkness and the rain and wind reigning outside, they found Annwyn collecting dishes from their table with Leodhais in tow. The elf was helping her eagerly, his hands and other parts of his body searching and finding easily many occasions to touch the gorgeous half dragon.

Gilderoy, staring intently into the dancing flames of the huge fireplace, where he probably went to dry off when his help was refused by the two, seemed deep in thought, the sight reminding Fiona of Peregrine's words pronounced in the stables about Aryana. This was a story Fiona hadn't heard yet, something, obviously, very close to Gilderoy's heart.

Apparently thinking the same, Peregrine pressed a kiss into her rain-sprinkled hair, then left her, and made his way to his thoughtful friend, even as Annwyn noticed their appearance. 

"Oh, here you are. Let me show you your room, Fiona, I already took Alexandra and Freddie upstairs. They should be settled for the night by now," the beautiful woman said, a genuine smile playing on her lips as she laced her arm around Fiona's the moment she approached her.

"I would like to help you first," Fiona protested, her eyes strolling to the pile of used dishes on the table. 

"Thank you, but there's no need," Annwyn said. "I already have a helper for tonight; we can manage." Her eyes followed Leodhais, who just walked by carrying a tray full of cups and goblets towards the kitchen dreamily. Fiona smiled; Annwyn looked as much enamoured of the blond elf as he was of her. "And, Freddie asked me to tell you that he would wait for you," she added. 

Fiona nodded without further protests as Annwyn led her towards the stairs, her eyes seeking Peregrine who was now deep in conversation with Gilderoy by the hearth on the other end of the large room, making the half dragon smile knowingly, the smile bringing a rush of colour and heat to Fiona's cool cheeks. 

"I..." she started as they walked up the wooden stairs, not sure what she wanted to say really. There were so many things she wanted to talk about with Peregrine's beloved sister, his only family, but she didn't know where to start.

"No need to explain." Annwyn smiled again, shaking her head as they reached an ill lit corridor. "I understand. And I'm happy for him. And for you too. Peregrine is a wonderful man. He only needs someone to help him see himself for what he really is."

Fiona pondered those words until Annwyn suddenly stopped in front of a closed door, her hand gathered in a fist knocking against its dark wood. 

"I have never seen him behave around a woman as he does around you," Annwyn added in a whisper, pulling Fiona in a quick embrace, even as the door started to open, revealing Freddie in his Harry Potter pyjamas, the colourful print of a scene from the movie on his chest perfectly out of place in this world, in the shy and unsure light of the row of candles lining the corridor.

"Where's Gollum?" he asked the instant Annwyn, having wished them a good night, returned towards the stairs while Fiona followed Freddie inside the room.

"He preferred to stay in the stables, with Peregrine's horse," she said, looking around the candlelit room. Three curtained single beds, one with Alexandra already fast asleep, and a large wooden screen standing by the only curtained window, most likely separating the bathroom area from the rest of the room were all that there was. 

She smiled; she could do with less than this. A roof above her head and Freddie, her beloved Gollum, and Peregrine at her side were the only things she needed to be happy. You are so selfish, she scolded herself even as the thought settled in her mind. You must think of Freddie first; he needs more in life than this. A sigh followed that thought. She had just uprooted her son from his life. He'll need friends and good people around him to form, or rather, to support his personality in the right direction while he grows up, the sweet, intelligent child shaping into a wise and strong man. Had she done the right thing, bringing him into this world...?