❝"I want to save them."
"You're just saying things that I already know, Nellie."
"You're not going to try and stop me?"
"On the contrary, my little Witch. I'm going to try and help you."❞
***
Viatorem Atramento: Ink Travellers. That was what Noell...
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This wasn't the first time Noelle had dreamt of the bridge — specifically, jumping off of it. She'd had the dream several times before, each time the same sequence of running, panting, and soaring into the air in a positively suicidal leap off the water-washed wood — not that there was anything positive about the act, Noelle mused, though she wondered if this was her subconscious trying to tell her something about herself.
She could never change it. She thought that being aware of what would happen would allow her to stop or wake up sooner, but it always ended the same way. Once she jumped she would wake with a distinct feeling of having left something behind. It left her feeling unsettled.
It had become somewhat of a ritual to ask herself: what was so special about this bridge; this dream? Noelle thought if she asked enough times, the answers would finally come. They didn't.
***
"Noelle!"
She glanced up from her book. "Yeah?" Noelle said loudly in response to her mother's impatient tone. At the silence that came back to her she huffed and heaved herself up from her bed; she never understood why parents called you only to not say anything back in response. Though, she admitted, she couldn't really blame her mother. Eira Walsh was a woman who had her hands rather full; being a single mother and an on-call nurse was incredibly demanding and she was often scatterbrained about her home life when she was preoccupied with her work.
"Noelle!" Eira called again, and Noelle could hear plates clattering in the sink as she made her way down the stairs.
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." she muttered. Noelle jumped down the last two steps onto the landing before entering the open plan kitchen and dining room. "What is it?"
Her mother was dressed in her bright blue nurse scrubs, sipping hurriedly out of her coffee while simultaneously trying to organise the dishwasher. She glanced at Noelle, a soft smile adorning her lips. "Sorry for interrupting your reading, sweetie," she nodded at the Harry Potter book still clutched in Noelle's hands, "but could you pop to Spencer's to pick up my parcel and some milk? I'd go to pick them up myself but I've just been called in..."
Noelle sighed dramatically, placing her book down on the marble counter. "I was just getting to the part where Harry gets attacked by the Dementors!" She flopped over a chair as if it were a great effort to remain standing. Her mother's brown eyes shone with amusement. "But if I must, mother, then I'm sure I can acquiesce," Noelle paused, before a grin overtook her face, grey eyes shining with glee. "As long as I can also buy some chocolate chips."
Eira wiped her hands and shot her daughter a stern look. "You're not eating those straight out of the packet again, Noelle." The girl in question huffed and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can buy actual cookies instead, okay?"
Noelle perked up, feeling pleased at the compromise. "Deal. What's in the parcel, anyway?"
"My new scrubs," said Eira dryly, stacking up the plates neatly. "Remember how there was an accident with a patient's urine drainage bag?"
Noelle pulled a face and shivered. Shaking off the horrific memory she pulled herself together and watched as her mother bustled around the kitchen muttering to herself, darting around Noelle to reach for her bag. "Keys, keys, keys...Have you seen my car keys—Oh, thank you, darling," she shouldered her bag after Noelle had dropped the dangling keys into her hand, and stretched out an arm to pull Noelle into a brief hug. "You be good, Noelle, alright? I have another late shift today so I won't be home for dinner. There's some left over pasta in the fridge, you know my work number in case of an emergency but only call if the neighbours can't help you, and..." Eira paused, brows pinched together as if trying to remember something.
"Money?" Noelle prompted helpfully.
"Right!" Eira smiled in silent thanks. "Money for the milk and cookies you can find on the counter—remember to get 4 pints and—"
"—and check the date, I know, mum," Noelle interrupted gently, squeezing her mother back before moving away with a cheeky grin. "You've only told me a thousand times." She jerked her head towards the door. "You should get going now before you're late,"
The last comment seemed to spur Eira into action as she registered the time. She hummed in surprise and quickly dropped a kiss on Noelle's forehead before hurrying to the door. "Okay, bye sweetheart, love you! Make sure you lock the door!"
Noelle held back a fond eyeroll at her mother's unrelenting chaos, resting her chin on the chair as she watched her leave. "Love you, too." The door shut and locked into place. Noelle glanced at the time, and then at her book on the counter. "Just one more chapter wouldn't hurt..."
And as she read about Quidditch and green-eyed boys and soul-sucking prison guards, it didn't come to mind that it may be the last time she'd ever see her mother. Not for a long time.
