Ink and Parchment ~ blood and bone

67

But the globe sat on her desk still remained rather empty, and so she once again packed her bags and decided to grab a portkey to Mexico. She booked a hotel room for a month in Taxco and was ready to start again. She travelled all round Mexico in the day, visiting ancient ruins and busy wizard shopping districts. She brought back books upon books and books and called Sirius and Remus on the mirror almost every night.

Sirius and Remus weren't the only people from home she was still speaking too.

She and Tom still had their journals, and somewhere between her second and fifth post-card it had become a tradition to speak every night. Either Tom would ask first or Eliza would, but it always began with a simple 'how was your day?'

And then Tom would complain about ministry officials and Eliza would gush about whatever city she had visited today. Tom would allude to whatever secret plans he was working on and recommend more places for her to visit and she would ramble about whatever came to her mind.

She missed him, but not enough to give up on all the fun she was having.

Her time in Mexico passed by quickly, almost too quickly. Everyone had invited her back home for their first legal Samhain celebration in England. Apparently Tom had convinced Alexander to open up Nott Manor again for a gigantic Samhain celebration, the first in decades.

But Eliza had a plan, a plan for Dias de Muertos, and she needed the time to prepare.

The day arrived faster than she thought it would and Eliza busied herself by checking and double checking her preparations. She didn't like the idea of relying on the resurrection stone, even if she was the master of death, but she was a necromancer. Dealing with the dead was kind of her thing, even if the power thrumming through her today was unsettling. Again there was that disconnect between herself and her body, as if she had one foot in the grave almost literally.

Instead Eliza built a small altar in her apartment as people poured into the streets below her, celebrations in full swing. She could join them later, maybe, but right now she wanted to try something. Placing Regulus' old snitch in the middle of the altar and a photograph Eliza focused on her breathing, centring herself as she slowly unfurled her magic.

And just to give herself a bit of help she pricked her thumb, smearing blood onto the snitch to amplify her innate magic.

Merlin she loved blood magic.

She could feel the magic building in the room, the candles she had placed flickering from their usual gentle orange flame to venomous green until suddenly the atmosphere surrounding here popped.

And there in front of her sat a very unimpressed Regulus Black.

"Hello" Eliza greeted casually twirling the Elder wand between her fingers. Regulus let out a long despairing groan and ran a ghostly hand through his hair.

"Merlin not the Potter Spawn"

She hadn't told anyone about summoning Regulus that night, but he had become a permanent fixture in her life anyway. He was like a permanently grumpy Theo, full of sarcasm and snark, fiercely intelligent and yet just as studious and calm.

He laughed like Sirius - she wondered if he knew.

Either way Regulus had quickly become another reluctant family member, an uncle who was somehow the same age as her and perpetually angry about it. But he still followed her to Ireland anyway.

She missed Mexico, the warmth, the food, the buildings, but it was time to move on.

Ireland was fun, in a different way. She rented another apartment much to Regulus' disgust ('you have enough money to rent a manor why are you here?') She went out exploring in the day, and finally took a small break from studying and went out drinking. She met a boy with Tom's smile but none of his charm and the sharp burn of the whiskey did nothing to stop the brief feeling of homesickness that hit her. Instead she had another drink, danced with another stranger and woke up in the morning for another adventure.