CHAPTER 2: Red Skirts and Blue Cows.
Routine enveloped the farm, and as everyone got along quite well the months ticking away slowly but contently. The twins stopped crying over their parents, and by the time they were 7, all the faces from Godric's Hollow had melted and leaked away.
July 1988 brought the 5 children of Baker Farm to a brook by the property. Further along was a deep and fast flowing stream, but they were forbidden from going there without an adult.
They had stripped down to their underpants and were splashing and playing about. It was Hannah's turn to look after Toby, so they sat together on a checked picnic blanket. The boy was sickly, and had near to no immune system, so he wasn't allowed to go swimming. Truthfully, he wasn't allowed to do anything for fear that he would get a fever. The twins had made a great game of sneaking sweats to him after dinner.
"1, 2, 3 … 4, 7"
"5." Interrupted Hannah as she nibbled on apple slices.
"5 … er 6, 7, 8 …, 9 … and 10!" The boy seemed quite pleased with his conquering of numbers, and rewarded himself with a piece of chocolate.
Henry walked over and dropped next to the girl, raising a blond eyebrow.
"We are becoming masters of mathematics." Hannah said dramatically, swishing her long black hair.
"I see. Well Egraine will be happy. She may even give you extra lessons."
Toby had zoned out with his nose in a picture book, not bothering to listen to his siblings banter – for the Potter twins where as good as sisters to him.
"I'm going to have a snack now, so you can go join the other girls" The 12-year-old boy said while looking through the packed basket. Hannah stood and shook some leaves and dirt from her legs. Laura and Mary were squealing happily as they threw sand and water at each other. But when Hannah began to walk, she heard a loud and high-pitched squeak from behind.
Turning around, the girl saw a startled Henry looking pointedly at her legs. Looking down, Hannah was quite shocked – and a little frightened – to see a trail of blood falling down both legs.
"Holy crap!"
The 5 packed up their picnic quickly and rushed back to the farm, looking for any adult they could come across. Mary and Laura holding Hannah closely.
Oddly enough, the first to be seen was old aunty Agnes. Odd, because the old woman was hardly ever outside the main house, and odder still, because she was without her ever present hats. But at that moment, the oddities of an old woman did not concern the children.
"Aunty Agnes!" Laura cried.
"We need your help!" Yelled Mary.
The woman stopped her slow walk and watched the approaching horde, a twinkle in her blue eyes.
"Am I going to die?" Hannah asked, unsure if she was joking or serious. Agnes looked down and saw the blood, now covering the girl's feet and thighs.
"Ah …" She chuckled, "No deary. You're not going to die. You're just a bit of an early bloomer!"
The 4 older children looked confused – Toby was watching two sheep argue over a tuft of grass.
"Well, come along deary. Lets get you cleaned up. You had better come too, Laura" Agnes laughed. Not waiting for a response, the old woman turned and began to walk towards the main house.
Hannah and Laura looked to the Baker siblings and shrugged, before doing as they where bid.
_oOoOoOo_
Aunty Agnes had an old flower vase in her room. I later found out that she had been writing letters to her dead husband and stored them there. With hindsight, I can see how incredibly lonely she was.
_oOoOoOo_
Although awkward, and time consuming, the eldest resident of Baker farm had sat the twins down and explained what she called 'the red flower'. Half way through, Egraine had come in – having been looking for the twins – and joined in. It was a conversation the girls were glad for though, as that night, Laura followed her sister in bleeding.
The next morning, the twins decided to spend time with Gladice – one of the farms milking cows. They sat on the wooden fence and sucked on some chocolates Mags had given them. They didn't question it, just enjoyed having the treat two days in a row.
"I want to cut my hair." Laura said suddenly.
"What? Why?"
"Don't you think it would look cool? It's really fashionable too. Though I don't think I like the bigness."
"But you have such nice hair now."
"I know, but don't you think a bob or a pixie cut would be cute? I need a change. Maybe I can get one on our next birthday?"
Hannah shrugged and grabbed at her own hair, giving it a gently pull and tug. The cow made a loud noise, then continued to eat.
"We don't make our own cheeses, do we?" Laura said absent mindedly, leaning on an outstretched arm.
"No. I heard there's a cheesery in the next town over though. It's where Linda gets the blue that Mrs. Baker likes"
There was silence for a few minutes then. The twins watching clouds move quickly across the sky.
"Who do you think first made blue cheese?"
"And why?" Hannah added.
"Maybe they saw a blue cow?"
They glanced over at Gladice, chewing happily on a tuft of grass, and raised their eyebrows.
"There actually are blue cows aren't there?"
"Belgian Blue Cows? But I don't think they're actually blue. Hannah replied. She found herself imagining the milking cow as blue, and making blue cheese from her milk. Laura seemed to mirror her trail of thoughts.
Suddenly there was a ZAP! And an even bigger BANG! And Gladice's coat had changed to a vibrant blue. She looked around alarmed and leaped up when full wheels of blue cheese started to appear at her feet.
The twins where stumped, and simply sat there watching, identical looks of awe on their faces.
"What are you two – GOODNESS!" Cried Egraine as she approached.
The twins spun around and Hannah fell off the fence. When all three looked back to the cow, she was completely back to normal – although a little spooked.
"Well now," The woman sighed, joining the girls on the fence, "It would seem that you must go through two big talks in two days."
The twins looked skeptical, but saw Egraine was in no mood to be argued with. So they settled and waited.
"Where to begin. … Well, I suppose by saying … you two are witches," The girls made to counter, but were silenced with a look, "You see, its quite common for young witches and wizards to accidentally display their magic at about your ages. My husband you see, he was a wizard …"
And so the evening vanished in Egraine's explanations of magic and the school that her son wasn't able to attend. Small memories resurfaced for the twins, of dancing teddy-bears and floating biscuits, and the twins knew that Egraine was right, they were witches, and so were their parents. At some point, the conversation had shifted to Egrains family, and she spoke with a lost expression.
"My husband thought it would impress me," She said, pulling a black stone from her pocket, "Had stolen it from some wealthy lord. He was quite stupid, I tell you. It's a miracle he lived as long as he did!"
"What about your son? Where is he?" Laura asked, watching as the stone was put safely away.
"He was ashamed of me, I think. Or angry. I think he blamed me for his lack of magic. Ran off as soon as he could afford it. We trade letters every now and again, but …"
While a part of Egraine knew it was highly inappropriate to talk to children about this, she couldn't stop. The last time she had talked of her family was ten years previous, and the tension had build up in her system.
"I hope he's happy though. I suppose that's all I can do"
The twins looked at each other and nodded, before wrapping their arms around the woman. Egrain smiled and patted their hands.
"Now girls," She said sternly, "For the time being, you must keep your magic a secret. There would be a lot of trouble if people found out about it, and you two would be in danger. Do you understand?"
Hannah and Laura nodded.
_oOoOoOo_
Christmas came with snowstorms, and that night I dreamed of a giant spider wrapping a web around the house, eating the inhabitants when it felt hungry, and with every person it grew larger and hungrier.
I woke in a panic when it was my turn to be eaten, and saw that Laura had had just as bad a dream. We had nightmares every night from then on, and took to sleeping in the same bed.
Egraine tied lavender to the headboards, and bags of sandalwood under our pillows. It helped a little, but not enough for me to sleep alone.