Homonculous |Marauders Era

Chapter One

"Oh, no, don't you try to play that card with me, Elspeth. You crossed the line this time and you went too far. Going across town with Penelope. On a bicycle of all things! What if something happened to you? To the both of you?"

"I got magic-"

Elspeth immediately fell silent as her father looked ready to burst. Obviously, she was only digging herself deeper into the hole of her grave. But she did speak the truth. When Penelope had come over to have a sleepover with her, she brought up the party she had overheard. With Elspeth's parents working late and not expected to be home until the morning hours, just before Elspeth had to head to the train station, they thought they would be in the clear to get away with it all. 

The party had been amazing, plenty of music and dancing, laughter and there was nothing wrong with hanging around some very attractive muggle boys as the company. But as the two arrived at the Hayes household with Elspeth leading the way, they stumbled in tired only to be met with the furious glares of her parents. In that moment, she had wished she had enough energy to run off.

"Look, Dad, I'm sorry," Elspeth pushed herself up from the table, approaching her father cautiously. Caelan was an intimidating man to face head on. He was quite tall, Elspeth only reaching his chest when she was considered quite tall for her age. He had a stern brown gaze that could rattle a dragon's scales. His jawline was sharp as his jaw was clenched, looking down at her. She swallowed nervously, deciding to take a step back from him.

"Penelope and I just wanted to have some fun before going back to school, I mean, this year is going to be stressful with the O.W.Ls looming over our heads. If I plan on walking in the footsteps of all the Hayes before me, I have to do really well in order to continue on to N.E.W.T levels. We just figured we would have one last night of fun before we buckled down to get things down. I am really sorry, I didn't mean to send Mum or you into a fit."

She looked down at her shoes quietly, hoping that her apology was enough for her father, at least to wipe the look of anger off his face. 

Suddenly, one of her father's large hands tucked under her chin, bringing her to look at him. "You're becoming a skilled liar," he said causing her to frown until she heard him chuckle, "you get that from me."

"Yeah, Mum said the same thing."

"What?"

"Nothing." She glanced up at him once more. "So, are we okay or am I still in trouble?"

Caelan sighed before rubbing his chin. "Under normal circumstances, you'd be in your room for the rest of the summer, but seeing as the summer is over, I can't act on that."

"I mean, I could go up to my room for the rest of the time I'm home-"

"Oh right and take that nap that you so desperately want?" Caelan countered.

"Please, Father!" Elspeth dropped down to her knees dramatically. "I beg of you, I'm so tired."

"Oh, Elspeth, that's so unfortunate because I just remembered that there's a bunch of dishes that need cleaning without the use of magic."

The girl peered over at the empty sink to see all the clean dishes set neatly out to dry. Her father followed her gaze and before she could smile in triumph, she watched as her father pushed them all back into the sink.

"Well, that's not so-" Her voice immediately trailed off as her father took one of the dying houseplants in the windowsill and poured it into the sink, covering the dishes in soil. He proceeded to make them good and dirty as Elspeth watched with a pained expression. He turned to her with a bright smile as she looked up at him with a frown.