Late Bloomers

Revelations

Sinead didn’t go to breakfast the next morning. Instead, she stayed holed up in her room trying without success to keep the nerves about the upcoming meeting at bay. Attempting to finish her homework turned out to be fruitless, and she took to pacing the length of the room as she awaited the arrival of her aunt and uncle. At exactly eleven o’clock, Sinead made her way down into the Ravenclaw common room. It was fairly empty as most of the students were either enjoying the rare fall sunshine or were in the library. She smoothed out her white v-neck dress and took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart.

At five minutes past eleven, the door to the common room swung open and admitted Nona and Pops. Sinead could hear Professor Flitwick’s squeaky voice bidding them farewell. “Sinead!” Nona called, opening her arms to her niece. Sinead smiled in reply and walked to her aunt, hugging her tightly. She noticed right away Nona's forced smile and the strained expression in her uncle’s eyes. If anything, their air of tenseness only served to increase her anxiety and though it was nice to see them, Sinead wanted to get straight to business.

“So what is it you want to talk about? There’s an empty classroom right down the hall from the stairway leading up here,” Sinead asked as she pulled away from her aunt. Nona and Pops exchanged a look, as though wishing she hadn’t been so direct; as though they had wanted her to stall.

“Why don’t we just head there now then,” Pops suggested. Nona nodded and Sinead led the way down the stairs. Her stomach was twisted tightly in knots as they neared the classroom and it didn’t get any better once they were inside it. Nona closed the heavy wooden door carefully behind her and cast a Muffliato charm upon it. Sinead wondered why it was necessary, but didn’t ask. She was looking from her aunt to her uncle expectantly while attempting to mask her apprehension, but neither seemed too willing to speak.

Finally, Pops broke the silence, “You should take a seat, Sinead,” he sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. Sinead did as requested and sank down into a wooden chair that stood in front of the desk nearest to her. Pops pulled up another and placed it on the other side of the desk so that he was facing her. Nona followed suit.

The couple exchanged another worried look, and Nona began to explain, “You remember your mother and father disappeared during the first Wizarding War,”

“Of course,” Sinead’s brows furrowed with suspicion. What did this have to do with her parents? Had they found them? Were they coming home?! The thought was wild, outlandish even, but Sinead felt a surge of hope blossom in her chest. Perhaps this was the moment she had been dreaming of since childhood; her parents homebound, ending with a loving reunion with their only child.

Nona took a deep breath and her eyes became misty with tears; the muscles in her necka nd jaw tightened and she seemed incapable of speech. Pops gave her a sympathetic expression and grasped her hand. Sinead saw Nona's tense shoulder relax slightly and her aunt steadied herself with a rattling breath, “We got word from the Ministry earlier this week. Apparently there was some construction in a Muggle area going on. The Muggles found-“ her voice cracked and she had to take a moment to collect herself, “they found bodies,” Nona looked at Sinead imploringly, hoping she could understand without having to say the word. “The bodies were those of your parents. My sister- I,” no words would come out. She broke down in tears and Pops hugged her, smoothing her hair and making comforting sounds.

Sinead was numb with shock. Slowly, she shook her head. This was impossible! Her parents were alive; they had to be! She had believed it for so long. It was the only thing that kept her sane on nights that she lay awake, wondering where her parents could be, the only thing that kept her sane when consumed with loneliness and a longing to see them. Though her aunt and uncle loved her, it wasn’t the same as a mother and father. When she thought about her parents, there was a heavy hollow feeling in her heart; a black hole that could never be filled no matter how hard she tried.