SMILE » n. longbottom

lviii

"EERINESS AT THE LONGBOTTOM MANSION, PART ONE"

As the two exited the station, a fancy automobile was waiting for them on the side of the street. The boy recognized it right away, however the girl had not realized what the complex machine could mean to either of them. The cold wind that blew through the street bit at both of their cheeks, and prompted her to follow where he was certain to go.

A small cloud of snowflakes dripped down from the sky, misting over the city like a thin blanket. The wind slowed to a crawl, and the clouds from above looked as if they were a stretched out string of yarn.

Neville opened the door for her once he had set her luggage that he carried onto the floor of the car. He pulled her coat closer to him, nodding his head towards the open car as if to say, 'Hop in already'. His face lit up in a warm way that Alana felt only he could pull off.

She hopped in, and was careful not to slam her legs onto the luggage that rested on the floor. Neville sat in behind her, closing the door as he plopped down onto the seat.

She looked to him as he was wiping away the small amount of rain that seemed to have fallen onto his face. It seemed as though the snowflakes that had begun to fall from above melted upon impact on his face. She turned her head and looked at the frosted car window that sat to her left, staring at the frost collect and melt eventually.

She shook her head as she compared the two combinations of surfaces. She'd rather picture Neville as his own radiant sun rather than consider him just an ordinary boy. The automobile pulled away from the station, Alana found that she was subconsciously patting at her own cheeks but dismissed it quickly.

Alana turned to Neville stating matter-of-factly: "Just so happens, you never told me how your family might manage with an extra unexpected guest for Christmas break." She pretended to ponder the subject seriously, staring up in the corner of her eye at a fake imaginary day dream.

Neville's face flushed and he scratched his head as if wondering the same thing. She blurted, "Well, uhh, I don't think they'll mind, actually. They might quite be delighted by it. I am uncertain, to be honest. It's been only us for a couple years now."

Alana blushed, not bothered by the subject, in truth. "Neville — I actually wasn't that concerned about it. But I'm glad to know that they might like to have me accompany them for the break." She nodded, as if she was physically confirming her thoughts.

The machine that the two sat within began to buzz to life as the air conditioner heated up the space that they sat in. Alana hurried to pull off her jacket before the heat would be overwhelming. She folded her jacket over her legs and stared out at the scenery that they seemed to be flying past. The urban city of London slowly faded into a lush green forest where a layer of thin moss covered the bark surrounding the forest's trees.

The snowflakes from above seemed to flow down more densely as a light snow blanket covered the forest floor. Alana pushed her body deeper into the cushions of the seat, comforted by the safety of the machine that transported her. On the ride to Neville's home, she wandered about many things.

One particular thing that seemed to plague her mind was about her parents, or more particularly the lack of the two at the station just a few minutes ago. She of course did not want them there after she sent a letter out to them, but she wanted to them to at least contest against her now-successful attempt to spend her break with Neville.

They would struggle against this, no matter what. But they didn't. The ride was off, as far as Alana could tell. What possibly lurked outside of the car gave off a strange foreign aura that the forest or the inside could possibly give out.

The automobile arrived, the gravel that ran up to the entrance of the towering abode crunching underneath the tire of the machines. Alana perked up from the rested position that she seeped to, she looked at the mansion that Neville called home. She had not expected Neville to live here, she had expected a quaint little burrow, because thats all she could imagine him living in along with all of his plants that he could acquire among his years, books about plants, and any possible medicine for any sick plants, etc.

The sound underneath the tires came to a stop, and the automobile's door opened to the front doors of the mansion. Neville slid out, holding open the door for her. She grabbed the luggage that sat next to her legs and she slid out as well. As she stepped out of the machine, the front door of the mansion opened.

And as she looked up at the sound, a quaint old lady stepped out of the doors. The lady ran to Neville, hugging him once she had realized who had arrived at the grounds. She hollered out, "Oh, sweet Merlin, My dearest Neville had finally returned. How nice!"

Alana stepped out, closing the automobile's door with her luggage still in-hand. She scratched the back of her head, curious about what to do while the family reunion started to commence. The lady turned to her from where she had just hugged Neville.

"Well, dears," the lady finally said, flattening out an almost clean apron that hung about her waist. "Would you two like any hot chocolate? I've been preparing some but it's almost done as well."

Alana opened her mouth to speak and before she could, the woman interrupted her while holding her own hand, "Ah, don't mind. I'll make some cups for you dears anyways."And just as Enid Longbottom stated that, she turned her heal and rushed back into the front doors of the mansion. She presumably vanished to the kitchens to finish some hot chocolate that she had been making before the two arrived.

The girl stared out again at the façade of the mansion then looked back at the gravel road from which they came. A shiver came over her, and she nestled her head in between her shoulders, as if trying to repell the wind that rushed out towards her. She turned her head to Neville who nodded towards the front door of the abode, as if welcoming her inside.

She continued on, stepping through the doorway with her luggage.