Tamblin Demosthene and the Harlequin Accord
Tamblin sealed the note and handed it to Vlora. The house elf immediately bounded out of the room to send the letter by owl. Even though he'd see his friend Cascata later that day at Hogwarts he'd taken the time to pen a quick note to send her. He'd promised to write often when he left the year before and he meant to fulfill that duty.
His summer had been rushed and chaotic. Vlora was able to maintain the house and grounds adequately in his absence but many of the larger estate tasks involve muggles. For those matters Tamblin had to be on hand. His summer had dissolved into hours of signing papers and cheques, as well as endless meetings with accountants, auditors, managers, and lawyers. He found time, when he could, to write to Cascata although he felt he had little to say.
Still it was important to him to try. She was his best friend. Just a year ago he had nobody he could truly call a friend. Vlora looked after him and doubtlessly cared for him as house elves are wont to do, but she was still a servant. His father had died nearly seven years ago. His mother had gone shortly afterward. He wasn't sure what had happened to her, not really. Mostly he never thought about it, but Professor Dumbledore had implied that his mother's history might be important.
A year ago he had no friends, although he wanted for nothing. The Demosthene estates were substantial. When his father had moved to England from Romania he'd bought a significant mansion and grounds, and of course the family estates in other lands were still intact.
A year ago he had had no friends, and now he had three. Cascata was the first and the dearest to him, but through her he'd become first indulgent, and then fond, of Susan and Hannah.
And who did Cascata have? She'd been abandoned by her family. She had shelter at Hogwarts certainly. Dumbledore had made it clear that, since her father had asked, she could stay on the grounds. Still the indignity of it rankled him.
Due to their frequent contact with muggles, the Demosthenes traditionally didn't have the same active dislike for them that many other pureblood families did. Tamblin considered them unfortunate in a sense, but not actually inferior. Still there were exceptions, and when he thought of Cascata's father he felt an icy fury.
The man had cast out his own child because she happened to have a talent he lacked. Cascata had defended her father by saying she thought her abilities reminded him too much of her deceased witch mother. Hearing her defend him only made Tamblin angrier. He had no right being defended by the daughter he cast aside.
The letters helped to ease his anger, and his guilt. He'd known about her home situation ever since last Christmas and yet he'd let it slip his mind; until he and Susan and Hannah had left to catch the train from Hogwarts home at the end of the year...and Cascata hadn't. Cascata replied often and in her missives she sounded typically energetic. She was spending a lot of time outside she said, although she never seemed to say exactly what she did. Tamblin assumed she simply was lounging around. Other children seemed to do that. He, on the other hand, had a stack of reports to certify as having read and accepted before he left to catch the Hogwarts Express at 11.
He'd also managed to send a note to Susan and Hannah, although he cheated a bit and just wrote one letter and had Vlora copy it and send one copy to each of them. He'd gotten a short note back from Hannah but not from Susan. Frankly that was fine; he didn't have the time to maintain ongoing correspondence with all three or even two of the three. If he had to pick one it was going to be Cascata.
She'd become his first friend. She'd gotten him to become part of the school and to interact at least a little with the people in it. She'd been his co-conspirator in finding and opening the Artiste's Alcove. She'd even saved his life.
He shook himself out of his reverie. He had to finished the paperwork so he could get to the train.