NOTICE:

I do not own any aspect of Harry Potter -the universe, place names, titles, or characters, nor anything else having to do with HP. The plot of this fan fiction is, however, mine. Harry Potter/Harry Potter universe and all aspects are owned by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 2: Marching Orders

After she had herself a good cry, Mercedes picked herself up off the stairs, grateful that no one had come home while she allowed herself to feel vulnerable. She decided on a whim to search the house from top to bottom, sussing out the layout, and stopping to ponder over the odd item that caught her eye. All she found worth while on the first floor were a few chocolates that her step-mother was clearly saving for a later time, as they were shoved behind the clock on the mantle. She grabbed the small bag and took it with her as she explored the remainder of the bottom floor, munching on the candies as she went. When she was done, she placed the empty bag -now filled with discarded wrappers- back on the mantle and turned her attention upstairs.

After taking a cursory glance in what had to be her dad's and Marcia's room, she turned her attention to the other rooms along the hallway. She made note of the location of the bathroom -her's, because her dad had an en suite, thank God- as she continued along the hall until eventually she found what was supposed to be her room. It held only a bed, a small dresser, and what had to be her new school trunk. It was Spartan, to put it lightly -which was disappointing, but it did make a bit of sense, seeing as it was going to be a little less than a week until she was shipped off to her new school. She had been a little less pessimistic about the transition when her father had informed her that Hogwarts is a boarding school, meaning she would hardly be spending any time at all with Marcia.

Mercedes went back to the entryway, grabbed her luggage and heaved it up the stairs and into her new abode. Flopping down on the bed, she began to try to think of a way out of her current situation. She needed to be mindful how she acted in front of her dad, show him she was fine, that her mother had exaggerated the situation, and then maybe he'd let her go back home. To her mother.

Her mother. The thought of the woman who bore her lit a small fire in the pit of her stomach. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for Alma losing her shit. Mercedes had gone to her in confidence, assuming -based on past experience- that her mother wouldn't fuss, that she would be okay with anything; after all, she was almost 17. An adult. But, as luck would have it, there is a first time for everything... Mercedes knew exactly why her mom had freaked -it was a pretty normal response to hearing your daughter was almost killed- but she still couldn't understand why the woman hadn't stuck with her credo of personal privacy, of keeping things within their small family, aka: the two of them.

Although her Dad technically was family, he had never seemed to count before... Especially when her mom had gone off to Acapulco for two weeks, leaving Mercedes with her uncle Andreas... Or that time they'd been skiing, and Mercedes had gotten buried in a 15 foot snow drift and Alma wasn't able to use her magic to rescue her because there were Muggles with them. Mercedes had definitely almost died then, but not a single word to Henry.

"I'm doing this for your own good, mija." Alma had said, when her ex-husband had portkeyed into their tiny kitchen as they were finishing dinner. It was the night after Mercedes had told her of the incident at school the past year, and all that had transpired since. Mercedes had been beyond shocked, and the feeling of betrayal was immediate. "Your mother and I have your best interest at heart, luv." Her dad, Henry, had said, putting his hand awkwardly on his ex-wife's shoulder in an attempt to show solidarity. Instead, the contact had made them both wince.

Mercedes had to pick her jaw up off the tile floor, which seemed impossible considering she seemed to have lost all control of motor function. "I can't believe you told him!" She'd shouted at her mom once she had found her voice. "You swore you'd always keep what was said between the two of us, between the two of us. Obviously, you had other ideas on what that meant, Alma!" she said, refusing to allow her mom the dignity of the proper title. She glared openly at her. "If I had known that you had exceptions to that rule, I wouldn't have told you! He's going to over-react; put me on house arrest of something! I was handling things fine! I don't understand why it's okay to spill to Dad this one time, but not all the others!" Her mother sat there, staring at her with frustrated tears in her eyes. "Mija, please don't be angry with me. I swear to Dios I wouldn't have told your father if I didn't think it was truly serious. And it is serious -your father agrees, this sort of thing is very concerning, mi corazรณn -those kids are dangerous. If I had known about this sooner, we would have had more options. I'm still furious the school covered it up..." she said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes as she visibly rallied herself for the coming fight. She knew her daughter well enough that she knew she wouldn't go quietly. Her father, on the other hand, lived thousands of miles away, only seeing her a few times a year, and had no idea what he had entered into. "You can't meddle in my life like this!" Mercedes spat. "I can take care of myself. I only told you because you deserved to know. Last time I tell you anything!"

Henry drew himself up to his full height, towering over both women. "Your mother and I have discussed this, and decided it would be best for you to come live with me in England until things blow over here. You will finish school there." Mercedes was horrified, and tried to find her voice, but her father cut her off. "Those are your marching orders!"

The sound of the door unlocking somehow reached Mercedes in the semi-sanctuary of her new room, and she pulled herself from thoughts of the last weekend. Could it really have only been last weekend? Just six days ago... "Hullo!" she heard her dad call up into the rafters of the house. He knew she was here somewhere; after all, where the hell else could she go? Mercedes closed her eyes, refusing to answer his expectant call. He would find her shortly, she knew, and she could attempt to be ready when he did.

All too soon, her dad was opening up her door -without knocking, she noticed. "Figured you'd find your room alright. Sorry it's so bare -we'll fix that before you come home for Christmas break." He said amiably enough, walking over to join her on the plush comforter. "Talked with your mum before I got home. She hoped you had a nice flight, and told me to tell you she loves you." Mercedes huffed at that, the first audible sign she was actually listening to her father. "You can tell her that I'm fine, the flight was fine, and I'm ready to go home now. This joke is no longer funny." she retorted, shiftily glancing over at her father''s face as he looked around the room -at anything but her, actually- to see if it was working. Judging by the creases in between his eyebrows, it wasn't. Crap. "Honey, you know you're not going home any time soon. You were almost killed. You were being threatened by a cult -a gang, whatever it is- for chrissake... All because you got their leader kicked out of school." Mercedes sat up quickly, cutting him off. "It definitely isn't a cult, okay? God. And I didn't almost die; that fucktard couldn't curse anything even if her wand was right way round! Now Mom's gone and blown the whole fucking thing way out of proportion!" This got a deep frown out of her father: he was against the use of foul language, but only as long as she was the one using it, not him. "I'm almost 17, which I know you know. You and Mom won't be able to control me forever." she said, hurt. "Is that why I'm here? Seriously? To keep me locked up and safe for the rest of my life? Never able to stand up for myself and face my demons?" She asked, frowning back at him. His own frown deepened, which was never good. "Your school was no good, Cedes. And your mother had been worried about the things that were happening there for a while. This... this new information was just the last straw for her." he responded as calmly as he could.

"Listen, I'm not going to discuss this with you right now - Marcia is on her way home. I only came up here to remind you to be civil towards her, and to invite you down to dinner -tonight and every night while you're here, I'll be expecting you to join us." His voice rang with the finality that only parents are good at. He got up and walked the short distance to the door, stopping to turn his face partially back in her direction, his back still to her. "Oh, and I'm having a work colleague over for dinner tonight, with his family. I expect you downstairs at half past six." He said semi-apologetically, almost as if he was sorry for springing that on her, too.

And with that, he snapped the door closed behind him.

Mercedes stared at the door, mouth slightly open, a look of disgust on her face. She'd barely just gotten here, was going on about four hours of sleep, and she was expected to entertain? Jerk. Of all the inconsiderate things... It was bad enough she was going to be expected to eat dinner with Marcia, but now a whole family of outsiders was going to come and watch the spectacle. Great. She hoped they get their money's worth.