In Her Eyes

Chapter Four

Alastriona,
I hope the Scottish air is treating you well, I'm not sure what chutney is but it doesn't sound that fantastic.
I went and saw Blaise and Theo just the other day, they both say hello to you. We went into Blaise's backyard and flew around on some old brooms for a while, I keep telling them they need to join the quidditch team but for some reason they're being stubborn on the matter.
I've also been and purchased all my books, and bloody hell be careful when you buy your Care of Magical Creatures book! The stupid thing is vicious and I've got no idea who assigned it but it's ridiculous.
-Draco

Alastriona smiled at the letter, she and Draco had been writing back and forth all summer, nothing too interesting but enough to stay in touch.

Dawn had finally been in contact and had sent along a photo of her standing frighteningly close to a dragon, although she insisted that she was fine and was meeting amazing people as well as dragons.

Darcy had kept in touch, mostly to complain about her little sister who had apparently covered all the door knobs in and outside the house in honey, so needless to say that Darcy was looking forward to spending a peaceful week with Alastriona.

Blaise and Theo were sending their letters together, keeping Alastriona in the loop and Theo was asking for help with his subjects while Blaise was sending her very well drawn pictures of Theo pulling his own hair out over a Transfiguration essay. 

This was Alastriona's last night in Lothbeg and much to her nanna and grandpa's happiness she'd manage to re-discover her Scottish accent, she'd spent so much time chatting with them while baking breads and jams, singing in the kitchen with them, that she hadn't even realised when it happened.

Dear Draco,
Chutney is much nicer than it sounds, I'll bring home a jar for you so you can try it.
I'm not sure why they don't either, but Darcy and I gave them proper quidditch gloves not long ago because we knew they loved flying at home and that made them consider joining the team, hopefully this year they'll try out because I just know they'd be fantastic.
Be careful of the book because it's full of information and very heavy to carry? Or is it actually vicious? I'll never know what to expect from any kind of book, especially one from the wizarding world.
-Alastriona

"Alastriona?" She turned and saw her grandpa's head poking around the door, "Writing to one of yer friends?"

Alastriona grinned, "Writing back to Draco, I forgot to the other night, I've just finished though."

He came in and swept her off her chair, "Perfect timing then! I'm going to teach ye how to dance properly for tonight!"

Hours later and Alastriona was a sweating mess by the time her grandpa was finished teaching her just one dance that was called 'Strip the Willow' and she was honestly still slightly confused.

She was saved when her nanna walked in, "Sloane, she isn't going to fully understand it until she's doing it with the rest of the group! Bloody ridiculous trying to teach her with two people, it's a dance for forty tonight!" Her nanna gripped her hand and pulled her out of the room, "Come on, love, I'll run ye a nice hot bath, now do ye know what yer wearing tonight?"

"I think so, I packed a black  dress and Uncle Finn gave me some shoes for Christmas so I can wear them."

"Perfect!" Her nanna turned the taps on, "Now ye have a good soak, I'll pick some flowers from the garden for yer hair."

Alastriona's eyes widened and she turned around, "My hair?" But her nanna had already left her behind.

She sighed and simply decided to let things be, her three weeks in Lothbeg had been full of excitement, she'd been yanked to fairs and markets and her nanna and grandpa had taken her to villages nearby and she'd been introduced to so many people her head was spinning, not that she didn't love every second of it but she really just felt exhausted at this point.