Salvation

Chapter 1

Adanna

November, 1897

~

The old clock perched atop the rickety cabinet ticked steadily into the deafening silence of the empty shop. The hands read ten minutes to five, and the sun was already beginning its descent, casting a warm glow over the dark wood countertop where Adanna sat. Usually she would use the time when there were no customers—an occurrence more regular since last November—to restock shelves, make note of potions that needed brewing or filling in order forms for suppliers. The menial tasks that she used to squeeze into her busy days now failed to fill them sufficiently as customers she had previously seen every week hadn't stepped foot in the door for months. To add insult to injury, many avoided her gaze whenever she passed them in the village. So instead, Adanna sat on her stool and tapped her nails against the grain, waiting for her friends to arrive, deep in thought as Felix wove around her ankles. The black cat mewled incredulously at the lack of attention, Adanna's fingers coaxing him closer as her mind wandered.

Today was different from any other Monday when she might head over to The Three Broomsticks after work or jog around the village, admiring the trees slowly shedding their crimson leaves—in barely more than an hour she would be coming face to face with her best friend after a year of his absence. Inexplicably nervous, she finally stood to tidy away the remnants of her day's work, Felix yelping and disappearing into a stack of cardboard boxes. She recalled the devastation she'd felt the last time she saw Garreth, the ache in her chest as acute as that fateful day twelve months prior. The rare flash of fear in his emerald eyes was forever etched into her memory, the brush of his hand as he said goodbye now a phantom that played across her skin at night. He'd left thinking he might never come back, bereft of hope and utterly alone. Adanna had never once doubted his innocence, though the same couldn't be said for the rest of the wizarding world.

A tinkle of a bell shook her from her quiet reverie, followed closely by a shriek and a blur of red and black. "Ada!" Natsai was upon her in a flash, wool clad arms enveloping Adanna in a tight embrace that squeezed the remaining air from her lungs. "Natty! It's been far too long," she gasped, hugging her tightly before pushing the woman back to give her a good look over. A diamond glinted on her left ring finger, lifting the corners of Adanna's lips. "As beautiful as ever. Gosh, it has been too long."

Natsai beamed, returning Adanna's curious observance, though her own gaze held a tinge of concern. "I am not back for long, unfortunately. How are you?"

How to answer such a question? Adanna was surviving, she supposed. She spent the days going through the motions, squashing her various worries deep inside her aching chest, missing her best friend like one might a limb. "I'm fine," she said instead, earning her a cluck of Natsai's tongue. Thankfully any further rebuke was silenced by the arrival of their final companion. The man dressed in a smart navy blue suit and neatly pressed shirt entered the shop, almost grazing the doorframe with his neatly combed auburn coiffure. They were chalk and cheese in appearance, but Leander was a kind soul who mirrored Adanna's own Hufflepuff sensibilities. Face crowded with freckles and creased in a smile, he stood at least a head higher than the two women in front of him but still bore the bashful and slightly awkward air of someone who didn't quite know what to do with his extensive limbs.

"Just in time," Natsai teased, beckoning the redhead with an outstretched hand. More greetings were exchanged, the air in the small room thrumming with anticipation. There would be time to catch up later, once their party had one more very important member.

"Shall we go? I imagine Mrs Weasley is climbing the walls," Adanna said, throwing a worn leather satchel over her shoulder. Leander and Natsai nodded, the former holding open the door to the chilly autumnal air. As they left the warmth of the shop, Adanna flipped the sign that hung in the window to 'closed' and locked up, fingers fumbling the keys as her nerves flared once again. They made their way to the nearest floo flame as the sky turned dark, the sun dipping just below the horizon. Lights around them flickered to life with every footfall; enchanted flames encased in lanterns signalling the start of another evening in the village she called home.