It is twilight on Sunday morning with the sun not yet visible on the dim starry horizon. A loud knock is heard awakening Rowan from an exhausted slumber. She sits straight and reaches for her wand under her pillow. She takes a defensive stance holding her wand ready.
Another knock causes Rowan to blink and glance at her surroundings. It takes her a moment to orient herself. She is at the Black Summer Manor. It is Sunday morning, the second day of tutoring. She will be headed home at the end of the day.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Rowan sighs tiredly. She had hardly gotten any sleep having gone to sleep only a few hours after having constructed the ward and discussed long into the night with Firenze. She just wanted to go back to sleep.
Uncertain if it is normal to awaken guests or perchance to start the day early under the tutelage of the Black family elders, Rowan rises from her bed with her wand in hand. Without so much as saying a word, she wretches the door open to have the edge of surprise just in case.
Despite the early hour, the pretty house elf with a sleek Chanel chair looks impeccable in her uniform with nary a wrinkle. "Finney apologies for disturbing your slumber so early at this hour, Miss Prince," the house elf apologetically bowed before rising.
Finney's brown eyes are quite somber as she speaks, "Finney is to inform young Mr. Prince and Miss Prince is to immediately return to Price Manor. The elders of the family express their deepest apologies for the sudden abruptness, but Mrs. Crouch abruptly passed away during the night. The family is otherwise occupied consoling Mr. Crouch and the children and commencing the funeral preparations."
"Of course, it is understandable," Rowan quietly said. "Thank you for informing me, Finney."
Finney curtsies in response, before gracefully trotting over to knock on the door of Severus. Rowan closes the door behind her and slowly begins to get dressed. She could never have imagined that mere hours after her conversation with Barty, he and his infant brother would be motherless.
With care, Rowan repacks her things before grabbing her satchel. She glances over the chamber one last time to ensure that she has collected all of her items. Certain that has everything, she casts a simple spell on the bed to remove any of her hair from the bed. There are several nefarious spells that can be used by using the hair follicle of the victim. Her grandfather and Aunt Georgine had drummed it into their heads to always wipe their guest quarters clean.
Turning around, Rowan opens the door to the already fine Severus leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. "Took you long enough," he said in a snappish tone of voice.
"No need to take that tone with me, Severus," Rowan arched her brow at her twin brother.
"Sorry," Severus murmured gazing away in a standoffish manner.
Sensing that it is not about her, but rather something else, Rowan elects not to further antagonize her brother. The two of them in silence walk through the manor to the floo hearth. Sitting down in front of the hearth in a silk embroidered cream-colored nightgown is a beautiful, witch with loose long blond hair that falls like a curtain down her shoulders. Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black) is as beautiful as ever with a slim figure despite having given birth not many months ago in December.
Narcissa's blue eyes are as deep as ever, but there is a faint mauve color under her eyes hinting that she did not sleep for long if at all. Tucking the blue-colored shawl closer to her body, she rises upon spotting Rowan and Severus Prince. "My apologies for my disgraceful appearance, but we have been rather preoccupied this morning."
"No need for apologies," Rowan swiftly said. "Rather it is we who offer our sincerest condolences on this solemn day." Severus bowed and also murmured his condolences before stepping back.
"Thank you," Narcissa graciously thanked them though a slight trembling of her lips gave her away. Narcissa had fond memories of her Aunt Bertha Crouch. She would truly mourn her loss, especially now being a mother herself. She simply could not fathom leaving Aurora an orphan much less little Lycoris, who had not been in this world for long.
Rapidly blinking moisture out of her eyes, Narcissa glances away and shakes her head as if to straighten herself. With her head held high, she recomposed herself. "Please," she gestured to the hearth, "I shall see you both off."
Taking the hint, Rowan reaches for the sparkling floo powder resting on top of the hearth and safely out of the reach of the curious, mischievous hands of the children. The floo powder is contained in a small, but exquisite China porcelain basin.
Grabbing a pinch, Rowan paused before reaching into her moke skin pouch and pulling out a silk handkerchief filled with three bulging ruby-red fruits. "I forgot to give Lorcan this yesterday. If you would be so kind as to deliver the treat to him, I would greatly appreciate it."
"Very well," Narcissa tentatively said as she took the silk handkerchief gingerly between her two fingers. "I shall ensure, Lorcan appropriately responds and expresses his gratitude."
Rowan was about to respond and say it wasn't needed, but something in Narcissa's demeanor told her otherwise. She wisely turned around and tossed the sparkling powder into the hearth, "Norton," she clearly called out as the emerald flames roared and rose as she stepped into the hearth and vanished in a sickly swirl.
Narcissa blinks rather surprised at the destination. Glancing in bewilderment at Severus Prince, who coolly responds, "The wards at Prince Manor were reinforced again. Grandfather is cautious for good reason."
Seeing that she is not going to get a clearer response, Narcissa gestures at Severus Prince to go forth. Severus steps up to the heath and also tosses the floo power before shouting, "Norton." Severus disappeared from the hearth.
The emerald flames returned to normal again as the orange flames flickered in the hearth. Shaking her head, Narcissa tugs her shawl up higher to cover her arms and shoulders. She hadn't wished to show any more weakness than she already had. Turning on her heels, she went to check the nursery on her daughter, Aurora, and the rest of the children.
Blinking rapidly Severus reoriented himself to find himself in an alleyway in the town of Norton that resided just outside of the forest surrounding Prince Manor. Leaning against the wall, Rowan motions at him to follow her. "We're supposed to head back home, Rowan," Severus growled.
"Then go on right ahead," Rowan shrugged, before going on ahead.
Seeing Rowan heading away, Severus curses under his breath, before hurrying after his twin sister. There were days when he rather disliked her. However, if asked, Rowan would have made the same remark about Severus.
The streets are still dark though the sky at the edge of the horizon begins to change color. The light posts buzz as moths and other insects flutter around the glaring yellow light. There are a few folks up and about, mostly prepping for the morning rush at the grocers or the local diner. Though there are a couple of stragglers making their way home after a long night at the pub.
Strangely enough, the record/cassette store has a neon sign that flickers and buzzes, "24/7." The window looks rather dusty and a bit grimy. The meet door handle is chipped gray between flecks of white paint. Yet Rowan heads towards the door.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Severus moved to grab Rowan only to find her already halfway through the door. "Why me!" He moaned under his breath and stepped inside the grimy record store.
The store smelled of cigarettes and the faint stench of smoked hash. The carpet is rugged and torn in spots revealing the dirty linoleum underneath. Keeping his hands carefully tucked at his side, Severus hisses at Rowan, "Come on, let's go!"
Paying no mind to her twin brother, Rowan begins to rifle through the cassettes. She needed to get a new cassette player and several cassettes for herself and Sirius. She knew that would cheer him up (along with batteries). Though she had the distinct feeling that Remus wouldn't be forgiving her any too soon. Sirius had the irksome habit of humming his latest favorite song for several hours at a time which only served to drive Remus up the wall!
With delight, Rowan spotted one of her favorite bands. She happily grabbed the cassette and hummed the famous lyrics, "Well, the landslide brought it down; Oh-ohh, the landslide bring it down."
Seeing that he is being ignored, Severus proceeds to sulk, before a certain cassette catches his eye. It had the words for one of the song's tracks as a starry night, and he was rather curious. Before he knew it, it was just as absorbed perusing the cassette collection.
Rowan picked out two more cassettes, one with a song about a "Dancing Queen," and the other about "Billy", who went off to war. The rest were good bands she was already familiar with. She made sure to get two copies of everything she thought Sirius might like.
Seeing that Severus is much more at ease, Rowan says, "So what is that woke you on the wrong foot, Sev?"
Severus freezes and his shoulders squeeze together in guilt. "I-," he looks away in a mix of emotions. "I just dreamt about mum and dad last night."
"I see," Rowan quietly said. "Was it a nightmare?"
"No," Severus's voice became even quieter. "I dreamt of when Dad and Mum took us to the beach. We were all laughing as we played and picked seashells-," his voice trailed off.
"And what then?"
"I woke up," Severus's voice broke as he gazed at the cassette in his hands tightly clutched.
"Well, that was a nice dream to have, and I don't begrudge you for it," Rowan confessed to Severus's astonishment. "It wasn't all bad, Sev." She sadly smiled. "Even I have fond memories of them," she paused to take a shaky breath, "and there are times when even I find myself missing them."
"So, are we good?" Rowan carefully observed Severus's response.
"Yeah," Severus let out a deep breath he hadn't known he had been holding. "Yeah, I am."
"Good, let's hurry and check out, I'm hungry," Rowan muttered as she gathered her purchases and went up to the twenty-year-old at the counter whose eyes were red-rimmed and reeked of hash. She only paused to grab several packs of AA batteries from the racks leaning against the counter.
"Right," Severus hurried up to do the same. He felt much lighter than before. He had been feeling guilty and ashamed for remembering their parents in a good light. It felt like a betrayal to himself but to Rowan too for all that they had suffered. It sounded so stupid in retrospect, but it didn't feel like that at the time.
The twenty-year-old had a cassette player on hand at the counter and readily added it to Rowan's purchases. "Hurry up and add your stuff, I'll pay for it," she impatiently gestured to Severus.
Shoving his items across the grimy counter, Severus frowns and halts himself from wiping his hands clean on his trousers. He felt so dirty. "Thanks," he mumbled as he resisted the urge to cast a cleaning spell on himself. He would just have to wait until they got out of the store.
The cashier calculated the price and Rowan paid it without so much as a word. In a hazardous fashion, their purchases were put into a paper brown bag and returned to them. They quickly escaped and headed home to Prince Manor.
"Have a nice day," the cashier called out to them too late before taking his joint from under the counter and beginning to smoke. He blew out a cloud of smoke as he pulled on his headphones and listened to the slow beat, "And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills; 'Til the landslide brought be down."