Lorelei Jones | Summer After 3rd Year
"Gran!" Lorelei cheered when she got off the train and saw her grey-haired grandmother waiting there for her. Lorelei dropped her trunk at her feet and threw her arms around her Gran. "I missed you so much, Gran."
After the loss of Cedric Diggory, a well-known Hufflepuff boy, Lorelei was shaken. Hogwarts didn't really feel safe for the weeks after his death, and she was easily spooked by everything. Once Enzo tried to come talk to her, but she hadn't heard his approach, and she stumbled and yanked her wand from her pocket on instinct. Lorelei had never done that before.
Somehow, seeing her normal, muggle grandmother at the station in London reminded Lorelei somewhere was safe, and that somewhere was home. Gran gripped Lorelei in a tight hug and sighed, "Ah, my sweet child. I've missed you, dearly. Easter was far too long ago."
Lorelei pulled back and nodded with her eyes already glossed over. She gave her Gran a watery smile.
"Get your bags, sweetie. Your mum's just flew in from the states yesterday, so we'll go out to dinner tonight," Gran said and motioned towards Lorelei's bags on the ground a couple steps back.
Lorelei wrapped the long strap of one bag over her body and then picked up her trunk with both hands. It was rather heavy, and as she was only thirteen still, she couldn't use her magic outside of Hogwarts. She had to just suffer under the load of her overly stuffed bag until she and Gran made it to the bus station. Then she could set her trunk on the floor for the ride. She was already smiling at the thought of that relief. This all delayed her processing of Gran's second statement until a few moments later.
"Wait. Did you just say mum is home?" Lorelei clarified with hope lilting her voice upwards at the end of her question. She gripped her trunk even tighter and made a series of hurried steps to keep up with her Gran who had already started to walk off towards the bus station.
Gran nodded at Lorelei's question and continued to lead the way through the busy crowds. Lorelei stayed close behind her so as not to get lost with her large trunk held to her chest. Every few seconds, the trunk started to slip, and Lorelei had to do an awkward skip maneuver to adjust her grip.
"How long is mum staying?" Lorelei asked once they made it out of the heavy crowds and into a less hectic area.
Gran had slightly white hair with a twinge of her old blonde still in it. She was relatively short, but that didn't take away from her power in the slightest. Gran had two children of her own, and she was normally a sweet and kind woman, unless one messed with her family. If one of her family members were hurt, her wrath was feared.
"I don't know, sweetie. I told her to stick around longer this time. I know you need her now more than ever after what happened with that classmate of yours," Gran sighed and shook her pale hair away from her face. She placed a hand on Lorelei's back and encouraged her along to the slightly busy bus stop in front of them.
"Gran, I...I can't believe he died," she whispered and drew closer to her Gran.
"Let's discuss it when we get home, alright? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble discussing it out in the open like this," Gran said with her gaze scanning the public space.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and there were many commuters using the busses and trains at that hour to get to and from work. It was an unusual day for weather. It was hot, the air feeling almost sticky with its humidity, but the sun was completely hidden beneath a blanket of thick, grey clouds.
Lorelei silently prayed it would storm that night. It would get rid of this awful humidity, and she loved to crack open her window and listen to the sounds of the thunder and the downpour of rain in such severe weather. Storms like that were considered to be dangerous and feared, but Lorelei was comforted by it. She hadn't known a reason to fear what many others looked at with horror.
She knew these storms were the reminder of the power of nature and the elements. Lorelei was amazed by the electric buzz in the air and the taste of oncoming danger while others feared their own powerlessness in comparison. However, to witness another powerful thing should not diminish your own sense of power, for there is not a finite amount of strength and kindness in the world. It is the same with power.
Before long, Lorelei and Gran made it to their small home just outside the city in a quiet neighborhood. Lorelei stopped in the driveway and looked up at the smaller willow tree in their backyard that was just barely visible to her from where she stood. Even if the transition between home and Hogwarts was difficult sometimes, Lorelei knew the beautiful willow trees in both places were her constant.
Lorelei picked up her duffel bag and her trunk and lugged herself inside after Gran. As the door was opening, Lorelei caught a flash of dark blonde hair as her mum hurried past and into the kitchen. They stepped into the house, and Lorelei embraced the warm scents of freshly baked bread and sugar cookies that she had long ago associated with home.
Lorelei set her things down in the foyer and walked into the kitchen with cautious steps. She peeked her head around the corner and couldn't help her grin when she saw her mum tugging a pan of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. It looks like Gran had put them in when she left, and now they were done. Just in time.
However, as much as she loved those cookies, Lorelei was much more interested in the person holding them.
"Mum!" Lorelei beamed and lurched forward. Lorelei's mum had just enough time to set the tray onto the stovetop before her daughter practically jumped on her and engulfed her in an overly enthusiastic hug.
"Hi, Leilee," her mum said, saying Lorelei's childhood nickname and bringing tears to her blue eyes.
"Mum, I've missed you so much!" Lorelei said and held onto her mum as tight as she could. Maybe if she made it clear to her mum how much she missed her, she wouldn't lose her this time. Maybe if she just held on tighter, her mum wouldn't drift away again.
Nevertheless, Lorelei's mum pushed her back by her shoulders and chuckled, "Leilee, I have to check these cookies. Why don't you put your things away? We've got reservations at a restaurant in town later."
Lorelei took a couple steps backward and pasted a bright smile onto her face. She nodded enthusiastically and rushed back into the foyer and ignored her Gran's concerned expression.
Gran started, "Lorelei-"
"Oh, I'll be right back. I just need to change into something nice for dinner. I'll be right back," Lorelei cut her off with rambling words and limited eye contact. Lorelei swooped up her duffel bag and her trunk and stumbled down the hallway at an alarmingly fast rate.
As soon as Lorelei got into her bedroom down the hall, she dumped her things onto her bed, shut her bedroom room, and fell back against it with a loud sigh. She blinked her watery eyes and then flung open her trunk in hopes of finding her pink dress. Once she located it, she began to absentmindedly get dressed in the same way she did at school.
She slipped off her top and tossed it into the white and pale yellow hamper in the corner of her room. She tugged her dress up her legs before she slid her jeans off underneath, never allowing her bare legs to show, should anyone walk in on her. She then slipped the sleeves onto her arms and reached back to zip herself into it. Then she checked twice to make sure that her legs were completely covered by the long dress. It wasn't that she was worried her Gran and mum would see her legs, but horror filled her chest at the thought of anyone else ever seeing them.
Standing in front of her mirror, Lorelei gently lifted the hem of her dress up to uncover part of her legs, and she chewed on her cheek at the sight. Lorelei hardly even could remember the accident that took her father, but the scars she was left with would surely remind her what happened every day for the rest of her life.
A sudden bang made Lorelei flinch and drop her dress. She flung herself towards the door and ran down the hall with silent steps and her hands closed into fists. She made it to the doorway of the kitchen when she heard the yelling more clearly.
"I'm trying, but you always act like I'm such a monster to her!" Lorelei's mum yelled and slammed a pan down on the counter.
"You aren't really trying, and you know it. She needs your support. You're her mother for goodness' sake!" Gran argued in a much quieter tone, so Lorelei had to strain to hear.
"Well, I never wanted to be her mother anyway! I never should have let Todd convince me otherwise. I should have known he would get in a bloody car accident and leave me with her!"
Lorelei couldn't conceal her cries any longer. She pushed out of the house, and the sticky air started to get washed away with the down pouring of the heavens. She made it to the willow tree and hid under its branches, listening to the thunder crackling in the distance and not knowing when it was time to run.
//