Her search did not last long, for Mr. Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper, waiting for her to awaken.
"Ah, good morning Aurora," he greeted her, looking up from a fascinating report of a Quidditch match.
"No offense Mr. Lupin, but I see nothing good about it," she replied, blantantly honest.
"Yes, you're right. It was a terrible thing that happened to your parents, but we can be thankful that you're still here with us,"
"Well, I guess. But where am I supposed to go? I have no family. You don't have to pretend that I'm going to my grandmother's, I know she's dead-"
"On the contrary, Aurora, she's still alive and kicking. Although I cannot say for sure why your parents would have told you she was dead. Perhaps she can tell you when you meet her," he responded, trying to be as gentle as possible.
"Well, okay then. That's really weird. Now what?"
"Now, we're off to London!"
♥~♥~♥
Rory stepped out of the fireplace, having Flooed from her beach house to her grandmother's house, into a very fancy, yet very empty, large room.
"Aurora? Oh it is you! I've been waiting for this moment ever since your parents moved to America before you were born, of course I never wanted to see you under such awful conditions. Well, come here and give your grandmother a hug!" an old but elegant looking woman greeted her, who could be no one other than Matilda Lamont, her grandmother.
Meeting her grandmother after believing her to be dead her whole life, Rory had no idea what to expect, but what she found her to be was unbelievable. Her biggest surprise was that her grandmother was a witch. This was obvious because she came to her residence via Floo Powder. This was shocking because her parents were both Muggles. Thinking of her parents was much too painful however, so she let it slide. The apparent wealth of her grandmother was her next surprise. She had lived a comfortable, but middle class life. Again, Rory found herself thinking of her parents and let the thought go. Nonetheless, she had a feeling that these surprises had something to do with why her parents told her that Grandma Lamont was dead.
After eating a little breakfast and saying goodbye to Mr. Lupin, her grandmother showed Rory her room. Now, her room was beautiful, but immediately she realized how different living here would be because of one simple thing: no electricity. The sight of a large bookcase relieved her of this disappointment, for she had always loved reading. Every time she looked at the large oak canopy bed with white dressings, she fell in love with it again. The room also had a large fireplace and several comfy-looking lounge chairs and a vanity whose wood matched the bed and wood trimmings of the room.
Noticing the smile on her granddaughter's face, Matilda said, "I had a feeling you would like it," with a wink and left, leaving Rory to unpack and settle in.
♥~♥~♥
The funeral was a small, simple service. Rory cried only a few dignified tears, waiting for the privacy of her room to sob.
For the next few days, Rory really kept to herself, not there were many people to talk to, other than her grandma. She spent most of her time either reading in her room, walking around through the gardens and more wandering than exploring her grandma's estate. The only time she spent with her grandma was at mealtimes.
About a week and a half of wandering and reading, her grandma shocked her at breakfast one morning.
"Aurora, now I do not know if this moping is your usual lifestyle, but I would guess that it is not. I'm willing to ignore it due to the Unfortunate Circumstances that brought you here, but whether you realize it or not, the rest of the world is still going. As I understand, you have ties to people back in America who are probably wondering why they haven't heard from you. I feel that it is best that, whenever you feel up to it, that you write to those most important and tell them that you have moved. Do not tell them about your parents' death. I know that it's going to be awkward, but make it seem as though all three of you moved out of the country,".
"So you want me to lie?"
"No, I just, well, yes. Do not tell them where you have moved or why. Please try to keep the letters short, it is very important,".
"Why?"
"I think it is best that we do not discuss the reasoning, just do as I instruct. I assure you it is for the best,".
"Grandma, I'm sorry, but I can't just lie to all my friends about this. I can't do it,"
"Fine. Say nothing to them. I will write to the Headmistress of your school and inform her of your and your parents death. I'm sorry Aurora, but it must be this way,".
"It's not fair," Rory whispers as she gets up from the breakfast table and retreats to an alcove she discovered in the garden.
♥~♥~♥
Rory found it hard to forgive her grandmother for the letter she sent Ms. Nightwing. She spent most of the summer ignoring her grandmother, only sharing meals and not words.
Near the end of the summer, it occurred to her, where was she supposed to go to school now that Salem Academy thought her dead?
She thought it very strange that it took her this long to realize it, but she found it even stranger that not five minutes after realizing it did a honey brown owl drop a letter at her side while sitting in her alcove spot. The envelope had a weird 'H' seal, and curiosity taking the best of her, she opened it. She read the letter, which answered her question: she would be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Part of her was angry, but most of her was confused. She took the letter and spoke to her grandma for the first time since their little disagreement.
Unfortunately, her grandma offered no insight to anything about the letter but ran off, assuring Rory that she would be back soon. Fifteen minutes later, she returned, but not alone. A woman, who looked to be slightly older than Rory's mother when she died, was with her.
"Aurora, I'd like you to meet my niece, and your cousin, Diana Leander," her grandma said, gesturing to the woman.
Rory shook her hand but said nothing. Her confusion increased, another family member she did not know even existed, and here she was.
"Now, Diana is going to take you to Diagon Alley in order for you to get your school supplies, I assume you came across the list that accompanies your letter. You will also be going to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to claim your parents' inheritance, vault 318."
"Inheritance? You mean my parents left me something?"
"Oh yes, something of great importance,".
"What is it?"
"In time, Aurora. Be patient," her grandma said with a small smile before beckoning Rory towards the fireplace.
♥~♥~♥
Rory liked Diana a lot. Even though she looked older, her essence showed none of her age. Diana was also a lot easier to convince to call her Rory. Her grandmother would have none of it.
Checking her list of school supplies, Rory noticed that all she needed were books. Diana pointed to a large store, overflowing with young people and their parents, getting their school books at Flourish and Blotts. They split up the list and went searching through the mass of chaos.
Rory was scanning a book shelf for her Defense Against the Dark Arts book when someone violently bumped into her.
"Hey! Watch where you're going why don't you?!" she exclaimed in irritation.
"Oh, sorry," the boy who bumped into her mumbled without even looking at her as he continued on his way, shuffling through the store. The glimpse she got of him only showed a mass of dark hair and glasses.
"Hmmpf, so much for English gentlemen!" she mumured under her breath, finding her last book and going off in search of Diana.
They pushed their way through the crowd and set off for Gringotts, a number of parcels weighing them down.
"Ah, maybe we should've come here before doing all of our shopping, huh?" Diana remarked with a chuckle.
Rory had never seen a Wizarding bank before. Back in America, school supplies were purchased the first day of school and Muggle currency was accepted. Diana had two keys, one for vault 318 and one other for vault 23. A goblin from the front desk led them to a cart and they set off for the vaults.
The ride to vault 23 seemed to take forever, not to mention a very bumpy ride. Rory was quite happy with it stopped.
"This is the Lamont family account. It's one of the oldest accounts, and your grandmother, myself, and you are the last remaining Lamonts, therefore, it belongs to the three of us," while Diana explained about the vault, the goblin opened it, reveling a huge room, filled with piles and piles of Wizarding coins as well as a vast collection of precious gems and jewelry, among other valuable items. Diana pulled out a pouch that had the Lamont family crest on it and Rory's initials on the back. She filled it with an ample amount of different coins and explained, "Your grandmother wanted you to have some money for when you go to school, so this is yours," and she handed over the full pouch.
The next thing Rory knew, they were at vault 318. As the goblin went to open the vault, Rory wondered what her parents would have left her. She imagined the vault would be somewhat similar to vault 23, just not nearly as large.
The door started to open revealing...
rest in results!
...A single, silver locket.
"That's it?" Rory said in surprise.
"Don't sound so glum, Rory, this locket is a family heirloom. It's been in our family for ages. Keep it safe! As your grandmother said, it is very important. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you, I would wear it at all times, just to be sure," Diana explained.
"Of course. It's beautiful-"
"And valuable. Just keep that in mind,"
"Yea. Um, do you know-"
"Rory, yes, I do know, but it's not my place to answer whatever questions you may have about your parents. Your grandmother will tell you when it's time."
"Oh, okay..." Rory replied, very disappointed.
♥~♥~♥
The last few weeks of summer seemed to drag by, Rory's grandma offering to hint as to share any information about her parents.
Even though the thought of going to a new school terrified Rory, the thought of getting out of the Lamont Estate invoked such a free spirit in her that she had trouble sleeping on August 31, 1996.
That's it. I hope you liked it. This one was a long one. Hopefully that'll make up for the lack of parts as of late. PLEASE rate/message cause I spent a lot of time on this. Thanks.
