Chapter Two: Veil (Dam)

It had been hours since they had returned from Diagon Alley; the sun was now setting across the countryside, and the moon was faintly visible in the east. Teddy sat by the window, staring out of it, while Alfie and Ella were perched on his bed, watching him with faint curiosity and trepidation. Victoire was not present.

After Gran had found Aunt Fleur and explained what had happened to her, Victoire, much to her discontent, had been dragged off home. The adults had spoken in hushed whispers, but Teddy had gathered this much: they weren't sure what to make of the symbol that had appeared in Knockturn, but it couldn't be anything good. Aunt Fleur had said that while they still didn't know what had happened, Victoire would be safer at home with her family.

Victoire had argued that she would be fine with Teddy, but Aunt Fleur had been adamant. When the young witch had demanded an explanation, her mother refused to say a word. All this only served to increase Teddy's suspicions; what exactly was going on here?

He knew that his grandmother knew exactly what that symbol was, but when he had questioned her about it on their way home, she had told him that it was nothing for him to worry about, and that he should avoid discussing it. She reassured Alfie and Ella that they were perfectly safe, and that they shouldn't let this put a damper on their summer holidays. After noticing that Alfie still looked rather scared, she'd sat them all down at the kitchen table and demanded that they drank steaming mugs of hot chocolate to 'calm their nerves'. It had been a while before the three of them had managed to get upstairs and converse in private. Alfie and Teddy had wasted no time in telling Ella exactly what happened—including whom they believed had emblazoned the symbol on the shop door.

Teddy heard something outside, crept quietly to the door and opened it slightly. Poking his head out of the door, he could hear his grandmother's voice from downstairs, along with another male voice that he instantly recognized as his uncle Harry's. He gestured for Alfie and Ella to stay where they were, and crept to the top of the staircase.

He could just about see his grandmother next to the fireplace, conversing with his godfather over the Floo. They were speaking in hushed voices, and Teddy strained to make out a few words.

"What could it be doing in Knockturn?" he heard his grandmother ask. "Have there been any recent sightings of it?"

So Uncle Harry knew about it as well, Teddy thought. It was obviously some sort of established symbol, one that both his grandmother and godfather were familiar with. Plus, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he'd seen it before—perhaps in a book, or something. But he couldn't for the life of him remember where.

"Not that I know of," Uncle Harry said. Teddy's godfather was in the Auror department: he'd been working there ever since he completed his training seven years ago. Teddy didn't know much about what exactly he did in the department, but he knew that he was pretty high up, and that he knew a lot about what went on in the Wizarding world.

"Is there no way you can investigate this?"

He shook his head. "Robards has me working on a different project right now, one that's quite important as well. I'll try and transfer to the team working on this as soon as I can, but right now, I have to stay put."

Gran sighed. "I understand."

"I'll try and find out what I can, though," Uncle Harry reassured her.

"Would it be possible for you to stop by after work? Teddy and his friends are still a little shaken up by what happened—although, of course, they have no idea what they saw. I think they'd be reassured if you told them there's nothing to worry about."

Teddy lit up; he'd love to see his godfather. Perhaps he'd tell him what the symbol was—after all, Teddy's grandmother meant well, but she always seemed to be trying to protect him. Sometimes, all he wanted to know was the truth.

There was a brief silence before his grandmother spoke again. "There is nothing to worry about, am I correct?"

"There shouldn't be. We've seen vagrants use the sign without knowing what it means; this case could be no different. It should be no different."

Except maybe it was, Teddy thought, with a sinking feeling. If Ralph had used the sign, chances were that he knew exactly what it meant—whatever it did mean.

"Of course."

"I have to get back to work now. Thank you for calling in, Andromeda. I'll be leaving in an hour; I'll stop by your house then."

"Thank you."

The Floo disconnected in a whoosh of green smoke and Teddy quickly scampered back to his room, closing the door quietly behind him. Ella and Alfie looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" Alfie asked. "Did you find out anything? Whether anyone saw Ralph? What the mark is?"

Teddy shook his head. "My godfather's not on the team investigating, but from how it sounded, they don't know that it was Ralph. Both him and my grandmother seem to know exactly what the sign is though, but they didn't say anything that I could use to figure it out."

"What did you say it looked like again? A skull with snakes around it, plus a badger, an eagle and a lion, all dead? And three crosses on the forehead?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Ella looked thoughtful; she stared off into the distance, focusing on a single spot on the wall. Teddy could practically see her flipping through books and magazines in her head, trying to figure out whether she'd ever seen the symbol before. He and Alfie had grown used to this habit of hers, and knew to stay quiet while she thought.

Finally, she said, "I don't think I've ever seen it. Certain aspects sound familiar, but otherwise, I just can't seem to place it. The four animals are the Hogwarts house mascots—I don't know what that could possibly mean—and snakes, skulls and crosses might be associated with evil."

"That doesn't tell us much," Alfie mumbled. "You know, maybe we should tell someone about what we saw. Like your godfather, Teddy, wouldn't he find that information useful?"

Teddy shook his head almost instinctively. Last year, when Ralph had attacked him, the older boy had told him that if Teddy told anyone about what he did to him, he would hurt Alfie and Ella. Teddy knew that Ralph was perfectly capable of carrying out his threat, and he didn't want to put his friends health in jeopardy. The agreement was that if he left Ralph alone, Ralph would leave them alone. If they went ahead and told an adult about what Alfie had seen, chances were that Ralph would see it as a violation of their agreement. Teddy told Alfie and Ella as much, but they still looked doubtful.

"I don't know, Teddy," Ella said, pushing her thick black glasses up her nose. "How will Ralph even know that we were the ones who told the Aurors? Anyone in the Alley could have seen him, or told on him—including that guy you said he was talking to."

"Ralph will know," Teddy said adamantly. "My grandmother told my godfather that we were there, and he'll enter that into the official records at the Auror office. If we tell the Aurors about what we saw, they'll record our names, and we'll have to testify. He'll know."

Ella thought about this for a moment before saying, "But surely they'll protect us, once they know what he did to you?"

"We don't know that they will! What if they don't? What if he goes after our families?"

At this, she visibly sobered. Alfie piped up instead. "But, Teddy, they should know. We should tell them what happened. He's violent, and if this symbol is as bad as everyone seems to think it is, then it's our responsibility to let adults know so that they can do something before someone else gets hurt."

Teddy thought over this. It was true that Ralph was dangerous, and maybe they could stop him if they told the Aurors about what he'd done. But, if for some reason, the Aurors couldn't catch him and Ralph found out that Teddy had gone against their agreement, his friends could be seriously hurt. He didn't know what to do: he wanted Ralph behind bars somewhere, under close guard, but he also wanted his friends to be safe.

"Let's just think about it," he said at last. "We know what Ralph threatened to do, and

we know what he's just done. I don't think we should be making any hasty decisions—for all we know, the Aurors will figure out it was him and he'll be arrested, and we won't have to do anything."

Ella and Alfie still looked doubtful, but they agreed with him anyway, much to Teddy's relief. He'd fought with them before, but often only over petty things, like studying or grades. The only major fight they'd had had been when Alfie had found out that Teddy was an orphan. It was a messy, complicated situation, but Alfie had forgiven Teddy and they'd moved past it, stronger than ever. Either way, Teddy preferred not to argue with his friends. Needless to say, it wasn't much fun.

"So, what do we do now?" Alfie asked.

"My godfather's coming in an hour," Teddy told them. "He'll want to talk to us; my grandmother thinks we're still all shaken up."

"We are still shaken up."

"Until then, we read," Ella said in a bright voice. Teddy was surprised that she managed to sound so enthusiastic, but Ella's love for books knew no constraint. She jumped off the bed and walked over to his bookshelf, scanning the few titles. She picked out three and deposited one on each of their laps. "There. No better way to pass the time."

Alfie shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno, Ella, can't we watch TV or something? You do have a TV, right, Teddy?"

Teddy was about to tell Alfie that his grandmother had not consented to buy him one of those rectangular Muggle devices – she didn't see the need—but Ella shot Alfie a look so threatening that both boys immediately shut up. "Alfie. Read."

When Ella was determined, she was incredibly scary.

They read in silence for an hour. Teddy was surprised that they managed to do so; usually, he and Alfie had very short attention spans and would often put down their books and search for something more interesting to do. But there was something oddly therapeutic about immersing himself in the world of the novel. He didn't have to think about Ralph, or about whether or not he should tell his Uncle Harry about what had happened. He didn't have to worry about anything; all he had to do was let the words on the page draw him into the fictional world that the author had created.

He reluctantly withdrew when he heard the doorbell ring. His grandmother moved soundlessly to the door and opened it. Teddy, Alfie and Ella sat in silence, listening as she invited Uncle Harry into the house. They spoke for a few moments in hushed whispers, but Teddy couldn't make anything out. He started when his grandmother called for the three of them, loud and clear.

They climbed down the stairs together and greeted Uncle Harry. He looked tired, but calm, as if he wasn't worried about anything at all; quite the opposite of Alfie, who, as Teddy noted with slight distress, had started quivering again. Teddy hoped that he wouldn't spill about what he'd seen—they needed more time to think about it, and properly decide upon a course of action.

Gran brought them all cups of steaming tea and they sat down in the small, though impeccably furnished, living room. It felt awkwardly formal, Teddy thought, to be sitting around a coffee table with a pressing subject to discuss; it was almost as if he was being treated like an adult. While other children might have enjoyed this, he simply felt uncomfortable.

Uncle Harry asked the three children how they were feeling and they all gave him the same response: fine, but a little shaken up. Ella seemed to be the calmest— after all, she hadn't actually witnessed the event—while Alfie was still on edge. Teddy was nervous too, but more because he was afraid that Alfie was going to say something to the adults.

Gran and Uncle Harry exchanged a glance before Uncle Harry continued. "I want all three of you to know that there's nothing to worry about. There's a team of Aurors investigating what happened and they're all very capable people; they'll find whoever did this. It likely doesn't mean anything, but we've got to be careful." He paused briefly. "Do you know what the mark you saw was?"

The trio looked at each other and then looked back at the adults, shaking their heads. "It kind of looked familiar, but I couldn't place it," Ella admitted.

"We decided that it was better that you hear it from us than from someone else," Uncle Harry said. "The mark that you saw is very similar to one that was used by Death Eaters, back during the Wizarding Wars. It was known as the Dark Mark."

Ella and Alfie gasped, and Teddy felt his heart go cold. Why did Ralph use the Dark Mark? What did he want with it? He knew, from his conversation with Andrew Averdeen at the end of last year, that Ralph wanted to revive the blood purity movement—did this have something to do with that?

"There were some differences to the original mark, so we're still investigating this one, trying to figure out what it means."

"But this is bad, right?" Alfie said, shakily. "I mean, if the mark is called the Dark Mark, it can't be anything good."

"The Mark has appeared several times after the war ended," Harry explained gently. "Most of the time, it's just people messing around—much to the chagrin of many individuals, the incantation for the Mark was printed in a book after the war ended. The book is difficult to find now, for it is mostly out of print, and it doesn't show the correct wand movement for the spell, but people have figured out how to combine the incantation with other movements. Still, most of the time, people don't realize what it means."

But Ralph would know what it meant, Teddy thought to himself. He used that mark on purpose because he knew that it would attract attention. As he processed Uncle Harry's words, he suddenly felt his stomach sink. "Book? What's it called?"

Uncle Harry glanced at Gran, as if waiting for approval. She nodded once and he turned back to them. "The New Age of the Dark Arts."

"No!" Alfie exclaimed. When the adults gave him a funny look, he quickly added, "I mean, I've heard of it, that's all, I didn't expect the incantation to be in a book I've heard of. Professor Macmillan mentioned in last year, said he didn't approve of it."

Teddy felt as if he was going to be sick. A nauseating feeling was swirling in his stomach, and he wasn't sure he could take this anymore. What would happen if someone found out that they'd helped Ralph steal the book? Would they be implicated in this whole mess?

"Yes, I'm sure he doesn't." Harry nodded. "Not a whole lot of people do, but many said that the incantation should be preserved for historical purposes. But anyway." He made a conscious effort to lighten his tone. "Please, don't worry, you three. There might be a couple of Aurors who stop by tomorrow to ask you a few questions, see if you saw anything that can help us, but there's nothing to worry about. We'll find whoever did this; until then, we're trying to keep quiet about the whole thing, prevent a panic. You shouldn't trouble yourselves about it—just enjoy your summer."

Teddy didn't see how that was even possible, but he nodded anyway. Uncle Harry gave them all hugs—even Alfie and Ella, who were both looking rather pale after finding out about the mark—and sent them upstairs while he spoke to Gran. They went up the first flight quietly, but once they reached the landing, Alfie began whispering fiercely.

"Teddy, Ella, we have to tell them! We can't keep being quiet—they need to know what happened, especially now that we know that that Mark is so bad."

"What if it wasn't Ralph, Alfie?" Teddy whispered back, wishing that the other boy would keep his voice down. "What if you made a mistake?"

"I know I didn't! It was Ralph, it had to be—and now that we know about the book, I'm even more sure." His voice was steadily rising. We have to tell them, it's not right to keep it from them! People need to know—what if he hurts someone? We need to tell your godfather what I saw!"

"Alfie?" Uncle Harry's voice came from below them. Teddy looked over the railings and saw both adults staring up at them. He cursed inwardly. "What did you see?"

Alfie looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. Stunned, he turned to Teddy and Ella who looked at him with blank expressions. Immediately, Teddy knew what he was going to do, and tried to speak up to stop him, but Alfie got there first.

"I saw who cast the mark," Alfie said.

.oOo.

It took some pressing to get it out of them, but they ended up telling Uncle Harry everything from when Ralph had first approached Teddy about the book, to when they'd seen him in the Alley. Both adults had been furious that Teddy had kept something like this from them—after all, he'd been attacked by the older boy and yet had refused to give him up. It was only when Teddy told them about the threat Ralph had made that they calmed down a little; they understood Teddy's motives, but his grandmother was adamant that once Ella and Alfie left, Teddy was going to be grounded until school started again.

All three of them received a long lecture on why they should never keep something of this magnitude from adults. "We could have helped you," Uncle Harry told them. "Protected all of you, and sent this Ralph to prison."

"I realise that now," Teddy said, quietly. Somehow, talking to the adults had actually helped him. He'd started off reluctantly, not wanting to say anything, and had been incredibly angry with Alfie for giving them up, but he soon realized that Alfie only had everyone's best interests in heart. Just as Teddy was trying to protect his friends, Alfie was too, just in a different way.

Maybe Alfie's way was the right way. Sure, he might be grounded, and he was sure that his grandmother was going to be less trusting of him—he had kept a lot of secrets—but now, his Uncle Harry would be able to launch a full investigation into Ralph. He said as much to the group.

"Well, not a full investigation," Uncle Harry warned them.

"Why?" Ella asked.

"You don't have any evidence, and unfortunately, the word of three young children very rarely stands up in court."

"That's ridiculous!"

"That's the way the law functions, Ella." Uncle Harry gave her a rueful smile.

"I don't understand," Alfie said slowly. "Don't you believe us?"

"I do, but others might not. For a case to pass in a court, it requires sufficient evidence, and whoever represents Ralph can easily argue against both charges: the attack on Teddy, and the casting of the Mark. Both situations had only one eyewitness and both eyewitnesses were in distress at the time. The book proves nothing—we can't prove that Ralph ever had it because it wasn't on the formal library log, if you stole it, as you say."

"Stealing a book from the library." Gran shook her head. "Really, Teddy, I thought I taught you better."

"I'm sorry," Teddy said sincerely, for what felt like the thousandth time.

"The man Ralph was arguing with!" Alfie said suddenly. "In Selwyn and Shafiq! Why don't you ask him?"

"We will," Uncle Harry reassured him. "But these Knockturn Alley types rarely give each other up. We'll try anyway. Until then, I'll investigate Ralph on my free time, figure out what he's up to. You have my word; I'll keep you safe."

.oOo.

It was much later when Uncle Harry left and Gran sent the children to bed. Ella and Alfie went upstairs first, while Teddy got a good telling-off from her about his reckless behaviour. He promised her that it would never happen again, and that he'd always tell her.

"You're not angry at me, are you, Teddy?" Alfie said, a little sheepishly. "After all, I told even when we agreed that I wouldn't."

"I'm still a little ticked off," Teddy admitted.

"But I was just trying to protect you. And us. I thought it was the best way—"

"I know," Teddy cut in. "Which is why I'm not angry. It's kind of like a weight off my shoulders."

But all the weight wasn't gone yet. Ralph was still out there, and there wasn't enough evidence to pin him down. Teddy wondered how they'd be able to get it, and he expressed this to Ella and Alfie before they slept. "I think we should investigate," he said. "Find some evidence."

Ella and Alfie exchanged a worried glance before Ella spoke up, "I don't know, Teddy, don't you think we should leave it alone, now? Your Uncle Harry knows what he's doing, right?"

"Right," Teddy admitted. "But, I don't know. We're partly responsible for what Ralph did. We're the ones who got him the book, after all."

"But we didn't know—" Alfie interjected.

"What he was going to use it for, I know, I know. But we're still partly responsible, and we need to help find evidence. He threatened us."

Ella bit her lip. "Look, I'm as anxious to get rid of Ralph as you are, Teddy, but I think we should let the authorities do their job. We can investigate when we go back to school if the situation hasn't been solved, okay?"

Teddy still felt a little reluctant—he wanted Ralph gone now—but he nodded anyway. "Alright."

.oOo.

He slept restlessly that night, tossing and turning in his bed. One moment it was too hot, and the next too cold, so he found himself pulling his blanket on and off. Alfie didn't seem to be troubled; he slept peacefully in the makeshift bed next to Teddy's. No sound came from the nearby guest bedroom, where Ella was tucked up.

He went in and out of sleep, encountering all sorts of thoughts and nightmares. Although he now had a better idea of what the symbol was, Teddy wasn't satisfied. He was scared: he still didn't really know what it meant, or why Ralph had used it right then and there. If he had wanted to proclaim that he was reviving the blood purity movement, why hadn't he used his spell in a more public place, like Diagon Alley? And why did Ralph alter the mark?

He still had these worries when he woke up the next morning, but he kept them to himself. As the trio walked down the stairs for breakfast, Ella, sensing Teddy's discomfort, told him that he should relax and enjoy summer. She said that there was no point in getting all worked up over something they couldn't do anything about.

"It's not as if we can investigate now," she whispered to the two boys. "Logically, at this point, anything would just be mere speculation. Let's just have fun, okay?"

She was making perfect sense; there was no way that Teddy and his friends could actually go out and find information, not without arousing his grandmother's suspicion. When he agreed, Ella heaved a sigh of relief, almost as if she'd been expecting him to be difficult. This immediately made him feel bad, and he resolved to be as pleasant as possible over the next week and have as much fun with Ella and Alfie as he possibly could.

Gran had prepared a wonderful breakfast: eggs, toast, scones, fresh fruit and sausages had been laid out elegantly on the table. Alfie's eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw the food. "Wow! This is some spread, Mrs. Tonks! It looks amazing!"

"Hopefully, it tastes amazing too, Alfie," Gran said with a smile.

They tore through breakfast—the food really was as amazing as it looked. Teddy hadn't realized how hungry he was until he'd already wolfed down several eggs and slices of toast. His grandmother gave him a look, but he just argued that he was making up for Ella's pitiful appetite—she was only eating a single slice of toast and a couple of berries, despite his grandmother's attempts to convince her to try the eggs.

"Is this all you eat at home, Ella? I wouldn't want your parents to think that I haven't been feeding you."

Ella smiled, twirling a strawberry around on her fork. "Oh, yes, Mrs. Tonks, I've always had a small appetite. Please don't worry."

"So, what are we going to do today?" Teddy asked.

"We could play Quidditch!" Alfie suggested eagerly. "You have brooms, right?"

"Nope, but we could borrow my Uncle Harry's!"

"Not so fast," Gran cut in. "Today's a weekend—the Muggles in the surrounding villages might see you. Best wait until Monday."

Alfie's face fell slightly.

"That's okay," Ella said, smiling. She leaned over and elbowed Alfie playfully. "Maybe we could go on a walk and familiarize ourselves with the surroundings, just in case Alfie gets lost while on a broom."

Alfie turned as red as the strawberries on his plate. "That was one time."

"And we'll never let you forget it!" Teddy chipped in.

"A walk does sound lovely, but wait until the evening. It'll be cooler then," Gran recommended.

"What'll we do till then?"

"We could read!" Ella suggested.

"Please, no," Alfie groaned. "We did enough of that last night."

"Why don't the three of you bake a cake?" Gran suggested. "I was planning on making one myself, but seeing as you don't seem to have anything better to do, you might as well try it."

"I love baking!" Ella exclaimed.

"I do too!" Alfie said, a smile spreading across his face. "Do wizards bake in the Muggle way? With the stirring and the ovens and all that?"

"We use a spell to bake the cake, rather than putting it in an oven," Gran explained. She was much more familiar with Muggle devices than Teddy was; his grandfather had been a Muggleborn. "And we usually use a spell to stir the batter as well, although I can't see why you children need magic. You can do it yourselves, can't you?"

"Of course, we'll be fine." Ella beamed. "You up for this, Teddy?"

Teddy grinned back. "On one condition. It has to be a chocolate cake."

.oOo.

A few hours later, they stood in the kitchen, staring at the ingredients in front of them. Gran had taken everything out for them, and had handed them the recipe from her favourite Witches Can Bake! cookbook. She'd asked them if they had needed any help, but Ella was adamant that they'd be perfectly fine on their own, and she had hence retired to the living room to read, until she was required to perform the magic to bake the cake.

"Right," Ella said, tying the strings of Gran's flowery apron. She was the only person wearing one; Alfie and Teddy had just put on old T-shirts and shorts, but apparently Ella didn't own anything that was old or inexpensive. She'd complained extensively about how her parents would kill her if she ruined anything. "We need two cups of flour. The flour's here—where's the cup?"

"Here," Teddy handed it to her. "Do you want me to measure it out?"

"I'll be fine," she assured him. Reaching for the bag, she held it firmly in both hands, and then turned it over just above the cup. Nothing happened, so, mumbling that the flour must be set firmly, she tapped the bag repeatedly, causing a deluge of flour to fall into the cup, and coat the surrounding surfaces in white.

Ella surveyed the mess that she'd made with dismay. "Oh. I didn't realise that was going to happen."

Alfie rolled his eyes. "I'll measure out the next bit."

"No, no, I can do it!" Ella exclaimed, reaching for the baking soda. As she put a teaspoon of the powder into the bowl, Alfie quickly measured out the sugar in a cup and poured it into the bowl. When Ella gave him an affronted look, he simply shrugged.

"We might as well be of help too," he said lightly, although he winked at Teddy when Ella wasn't looking.

"We need to crack the eggs in another bowl," Teddy said, examining the recipe.

"I'll do it," Ella said quickly, grabbing the eggs. Before either Alfie or Teddy could stop her, she'd slammed one down against the counter-top. The force caused the shell to break apart violently and the liquid egg inside spattered against the table and the wall.

The boys watched in horror as Ella turned around slowly and smiled sheepishly. "Oops."

"Ella," Teddy said slowly. "Have you ever actually baked a cake before?"

"I…er." For the first time since Teddy had known her, Ella actually seemed at a loss for words. "I mean, I've never baked a cake, but I've seen my cook do it."

"You have a cook!?" Alfie exclaimed. "Of course you have a cook!"

"I thought I knew how to do it!" Ella protested. "I've seen it done enough times

"Maybe it'd be best if, you, er, observe," Teddy suggested gently. "I mean, watch Alfie and I do it. And while we bake, we could teach you."

Ella considered this for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, that sounds like a much better idea. At least that way I won't wreck your grandmother's kitchen."

It was at that rather unfortunate moment that Gran decided to walk into the room, letting out a loud gasp when she saw the state of it. Teddy, Alfie and Ella all turned around to face her, looking rather sheepish. "I thought I left you in here to bake a cake!" she exclaimed. "Not ruin my kitchen."

Teddy, not wanting Ella to take too much of the blame, decided to step up. "Gran, we—"

Ella interrupted him. "It's all my fault, Mrs. Tonks. I…I accidentally spilled some flour, and it appears that I don't really know how to crack an egg." She forced a little laugh, although Teddy could tell that she was suffering from both severe disappointment and embarrasment. "We'll clean it right up, I promise."

Although Gran didn't look too happy about the state of her kitchen, she seemed satisfied enough by Ella's explanation. "Alright then. I suggest you clean it before you proceed."

"You're going to let us proceed?" Teddy asked.

"Yes, but under my supervision." She smiled. "Call me when the room is spick and span."

It didn't take them too long to clean up the room. Alfie was well acquainted with which Muggle instruments to use for what, and he removed the mop and cloth from the cupboard. He and Teddy began to sweep and within about ten minutes, all of the flour had vanished from the floor, and the egg was disposed of. When Gran re-entered, she was very impressed with their cleaning efforts.

The cake baking proceeded without delay, and this time, it was much more productive. Ella stood to the side with Gran as the boys—or rather, Alfie—took over the kitchen. He was a whiz at baking, expertly measuring out and blending together ingredients. Teddy, who tried to help at first, ended up stepping back, as did his grandmother, who soon realized that Alfie was more than capable. Alfie was much better at this baking thing than he was—he might as well run wild.

It took them another fifteen minutes to finish the batter: a beautiful, creamy, chocolatey-brown substance. Teddy thought it was quite a waste to bake it. "Can't we just eat the batter?" he asked his grandmother hopefully.

Gran laughed. "Not a chance, Teddy. You three can lick the bowl if you'd like, though."

.oOo.

An hour and a half later, the trio sat in the garden, generous slices of the warm, freshly-baked chocolate cake in front of them. Teddy smiled and angled his face towards the sun, allowing the warmth to trickle into his skin. "This is nice.

"Yeah," Ella said, smiling. "It is. It's a good thing Alfie baked and I didn't."

"Not the cake—although it is good. I mean this." Teddy gestured to his surroundings. "Spending time with you guys. I really missed you two."

"So did I," Alfie said, his mouth full of chocolate cake.

And in that moment, Teddy realized that whatever was going on with Ralph and that sign didn't really matter. All that did matter was that he was here, with his best friends. He wanted to make the most of the time that they would have together.

He was determined to make this week the best week ever.


A/N: The response to C1 completely blew me away- you guys really are the best readers ever! The next couple of weeks promise to be hectic, so I'm looking at posting C3 after about two weeks. Hopefully, I'll get it done in time! (You can keep track of my writing progress on my Tumblr! Link's on my profile!)

Your reviews mean the world to me- I'd love to know what you think of this chapter. And thank you for all your follows and favourites- please remember that Escapades is no longer being updated, so you should transfer your follow here!