A/N: I'm pretty sure I promised someone to try to get this chapter out for Thanksgiving, but that didn't work out... Yes, I've become that author.
Anyways, enjoy this chapter and Happy Holidays!
Vera's favorite room in the house was the library. While the books never changed, she always learned something new in their pages.
She was in the library when she received her letter to Hogwarts, and she was there when a servant came to escort her to Diagon Alley.
A servant.
Her father was practically a stranger in her eyes. A man who thought that because she was his blood he had jurisdiction over her.
She would occasionally see him during meals if he wasn't gone on business.
His money, status, and reputation were the most important things to him. Not his wife when she got sick, not when she died, not his grieving and isolated daughter. His standing.
Vera's lips twitched as she fought a sneer passing by one of her father's portraits.
Even his pictures are cruel and judgemental. I can't allow them to see me act as anything less than proper.
Following the servant, Laura, Vera strode towards the 'travel room' as she called it. It was a living room, but there was little to no life to be found in this mansion. Especially when her father was home.
Taking Laura's arm, the two apparated to Diagon Alley.
Both the blonde woman and the brunette girl visibly lightened and relaxed now that they were out of the mansion.
"Right," Laura turned to her, "after we head to Gringotts where do you think we should start?"
Vera almost blurted out the wand shop, but she wanted to save the best for last.
"I think we should get the wand last, and the animal too since it will be a bother to carry around everywhere. So, the books first."
Laura nodded, "Good thinking. Well, off we go!"
Gringotts, Flourish & Blotts, the Apothecary, Malkin's, and other shops they visited were all rather uneventful. They got what they needed from each, Vera noting things she'd like to examine at a later date and details she found interesting like how the stores that relate to each other are not together except the sweet shop, ice-cream parlour, and the joke shop which were all near the entrance.
Laura decided to treat Vera with some ice-cream much to the girl's surprise and secret pleasure even though Vera was persistent that Laura should use the money for herself.
Taking a break from shopping, the pair sat at the parlour, Vera people-watching and Laura checking both the time and things off the list.
Laura had to suppress a smile at the eagerness of her ward. Vera had been waiting years for a wand, and her anticipation was visible in her bouncing knee, fidgeting, and twisting the ring on her index finger.
Once they were finished, Laura laughed as Vera briskly strode towards Ollivanders with the blonde woman struggling to keep up.
With a knowing smile on her face, Laura slowed her pace as she neared the shop, Vera impatiently glaring at her as she did so.
Finally, Laura decided to stop teasing the poor girl and they entered the wand shop.
The store seemed empty of people, and Vera stepped closer to the counter to gaze at the shelves of wands in the back.
A man on a moving ladder appeared before her almost as if he had apparated.
He scanned Laura before he spoke, stating her wand and how he had always thought that the wand would never sell.
Then, his pale, silvery eyes darted to Vera. He blinked owlishly twice before smiling softly.
"Though I was not the proprietor at the time, I remember when your mother received hers. She was a rare one who brought in a wand core and asked for a wood that, when combined, chose and suited her perfectly. I was pleased to hear she got sorted into my own house," His face fell, "and terribly upset to learn of her death."
Vera smiled, "She always admired your take on wand-making. She had very high praise for you."
Ollivander's smile returned, "I was always fond of your mother, a Ravenclaw if I ever saw one."
He turned back to the shelves, "Now then, a wand for the young Miss. Ryder.
"Your mother's wand was a beech wood with a unicorn hair core so... ah."
He slid a long, thin box from a cubby, opened it, then set it on the counter before removing the wand.
Ollivander examined the girl before him as he placed the wand in her hand.
Vera scanned the wand, something felt off though.
He plucked the wand from her grasp. "Apparently not."
Muttering to himself, he retreated into the shelves, but no wand seemed to choose Vera.
After yet another attempt to find a wand, Ollivander stood there and observed the young brunette, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Do you have the Sight like your mother?"
Vera nodded, watching as the gears turned in the man's head.
"I wonder..."
Unexpectedly, he gestured for her to join him behind the counter.
"I don't normally do this, but it may just be the quickest way to find your wand."
"Do what?"
"Explore the shelves and run a hand along the boxes. I believe you just might find the one that chooses you."
Surprised and intrigued, Vera did as he said. Placing one hand on the shelves on either side of her, she walked down the narrow pathway as anxiety ate away at her nerves. What if no wand would choose her?
As she thought that, she neared the end of the walkway and the fingers in her left hand began to tingle as if they had fallen asleep.
Ollivander must have noticed because he appeared beside her almost instantly. He was practically silent when he moved!
"Somewhere over here then?"
He seemed confused, did he think none of the wands in these cubbies would choose her?
Trailing her hands up the rows, she jolted when a spark shot up her arm.
Moving out of the way and making her way back to the front, she watched as Ollivander took the box and brought it out. The look still present on his face.
"What is it," Vera watched him in confusion.
"Curious." He removed the wand from the box and handed it to her.
A warm, tingly feeling spread up her arm and bright silver sparks shot out the tip.
"Curious how?"
"Yew with a phoenix feather core, while it's not a bad match, neither your father nor your mother had it. Though, wands don't choose a witch or wizard based on blood."
Ollivander once again observed the girl before him, his gaze different from the other ones he'd given her.
"I look forward to what kind of witch you will grow to be Miss. Ryder. I'm sure your path will be quite different than most."
††††
Once they had purchased Vera's wand and pet, an eagle owl named Zeus, Laura apparated them both back to the mansion and helped the young girl set her stuff in her room.
Seeing that Vera was far too preoccupied with her own thoughts, the blonde left the young lady of the mansion to her own devices.
Vera went through the motions of packing for Hogwarts and putting everything else away.
When she went to feed Zeus, it was only a nip from him that brought her out of her mind.
She smiled guiltily, "Sorry, I'm just thinking about what Mr. Ollivander told me about my wand."
Glancing to the said object on her nightstand, she absentmindedly stroked his feathers, "How will my path be different?"
Closing Zeus' cage and promising to let him out when night falls, Vera sat at her desk, toying with her ring, I finally got my wand, mom. Both you and Mr. Ollivander say things I don't quite understand. You and he seem to know what might happen in my future. I can't even though I have the Sight like you. Please, help me see this through mom. I don't know why, but I have this sense of dread and heartache. I'm scared, mom. I'm not sure I'm ready.