𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 | 𝐃.𝐌.

𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

Anastasia

Summer was going pretty well, despite my circumstances. The Emerys Manor was definitely a place that I could get used to! There were so many things to do! You could ride horses, pick flowers, swim, and play quidditch. A month or so ago, I found a quidditch pitch on the property. It was perfect! I had spent hours outside playing to try and get away from my father.

From only being around him for a couple of months, I could already say that he was one of the weirdest people I had ever met. Unlike all the other weird people I'd met, he was by far the most intelligent. He was so smart that he even discovered a way to make himself look normal again, instead of the snake-like appearance I had first seen him as. 

Even though our occasional conversations were awkward, living with him wasn't that bad. Maybe I think this because I barely see him. But, when I did, he was nothing but perfectly nice to me, even though I was not very nice to him. But, why should I be nice? I don't owe him anything. 

I found it enjoyable though to watch him try to appease me. He was trying much to hard to get me to like him. He was practically wrapping himself around my finger and I didn't have to do a thing.

The thought of him having a soft spot for me was one I didn't like to think about as the thought made me cringe. Sure, I am his daughter, and he should be nothing but kind and wonderful to me but, he's also the man that should've been in my life since day one but was not.

Aside from my thoughts, today, I decided to play quidditch out at the pitch. I needed to practice so my skills were perfect for my return to Beauxbatons in a couple of weeks. I quickly grabbed my broom and ran down the stairs. To my dismay, someone was in the hall waiting for me.

"Where are you going?" He asked, sounding curious.

I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically as I turned to face my father.

"Portugal," I said sarcastically.

He stared at me looking confused.

"The quidditch pitch." I finally said with another sigh.

He stood there with his usual expressionless face before finally speaking.

"Mind if I go with you?"

Yes, I mind.

What was I supposed to say to that? If I said no, he would ask why, and if I said yes, he would come with me! I was trapped, and I knew he did it intentionally. Finally, I decided on a perfect answer.

"If you want."

I know, it was a stupid reply because he obviously wanted to come. But, I did not want it to sound like I actually wanted him there. I could tell he was taken aback by my passive response. Probably because he thought I would say no which I almost wish I had done. Before he could talk to me more, I quickly walked out the front doors and towards the pitch.

Once I was at the pitch. I began practicing like normal. I tried my best to ignore my father's incessant presence in the stands.

He stared at me the whole time he was there which was threatening to throw me off my game. However, I remained calm and pretended to be ignorant.

I spent the entire day outside practicing. Around dinner time, I walked back up to the castle from the pitch and went up to my room. I was exhausted and sweaty, so I went straight to the shower.

After I had showered, I of course did my hair.

My hair was naturally a bit curly, so it took a bit of time each night to keep it properly tamed and looking good.

Once I was done with my hair, I walked out to my vanity and applied various creams and serums all over my face.

Finally, after all that, I walked downstairs to the dining room for dinner.

Once I entered the dining room, I noticed that I would not be eating alone tonight. My father was at the head of the table in his standard all-black suit. I sat at the opposite end of the long table as I did not wish to sit to his right which was where my food had been placed. The house elves quickly scrambled to move my food to where I was sitting. I could tell by the annoyed expression on my father's face that this annoyed him. 

We sat there in silence for most of the dinner. That was until he began talking to me.

"How do you like it here so far?" He asked, looking up at me.

"It's nice," I said as I continued to look at my food.

"I'm glad you like it." He said, sitting back in his chair.

"It will be lonely around here without you when you leave for school."

I almost spit out my drink.

Isn't he lonely anyway cause I ignore him?

Or was I not ignoring him enough?

Or was he just trying to insult my efforts to be distant?

"Really?" I questioned, looking up at him.

"Of course," He said, "It is nice to be living with family again."

I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. I wanted to slap myself for allowing such an expression to cross my face by his doing. In other news, he liked having me around. Shocking. However, I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't want me around. To avoid awkwardness I decided to be the one to hold out the olive branch for now.

"Do you want to help me shop for school stuff tomorrow?" I asked excitedly.

He looked a little guilty, but then I realized how dumb of a question it was considering he can't go out in public.

"Nevermind," I said quickly.

"That was a stupid question," I said staring down at my food.

"No, it wasn't," He said cooly, "I'd be happy to go with you."