She bit her lip the moment it was out, not having planned to say it when she did, and flashed Snickers a quick, apologetic look when she saw her scandalized expression, knowing that the outburst hadn't been very ladylike of her. She tentatively turned her eyes back to Mr. Fairburn, trying hard to tame the heat of embarrassment in her cheeks as she smoothed out her own expression again. At first, he just looked surprised, but then he smiled at her in a way that made her even more embarrassed, because it was a look one would show a small child that'd said something absentmindedly sweet. Glaw knew that she was indeed a child, but had long considered herself more mature than others her age, and so always did her best to avoid saying or doing anything childish.
Glaw went back to avoiding Mr. Fairburn's gaze as he said, "There's no telling whether or not he'll succeed tomorrow and the both of you are to stay here, tonight, so it's not as rushed as all that. Honestly, I assumed that 'the sooner, the better' would be your view on the topic."
She was looking at him again and frowning before she could stop herself, unable to understand right away why he couldn't see that the whole thing was nerve wracking for her and that she'd rather it take as long as possible to find her a permanent family. After all, she had no idea whether or not the family that ended up taking her in would even like her. For as long as she could clearly remember, she'd lived alone with Snickers, moving from ramshackle house to remote cottage. She knew what a normal family was supposed to be like, she even vaguely remembered a few things about what it was like when her mother was still alive, but she wasn't sure if she really knew how to fit into one. Glaw was aware that he couldn't see the other reason that she was reluctant to leave the Ferret's Den so soon, because she'd been trying her best to hide it.
It'd been such a long time since she'd been in a home with another human being that she barely remembered what it was like. She had enjoyed listening to Mrs. Fairburn talk about how their home was built, their friendship with two of the oldest Muggle families in the valley, and trying to imagine it. She even enjoyed sitting in their kitchen, watching Mrs. Fairburn as she moved from place to place, grabbing pots and pans here and placing out the spices and herbs she'd need there. Glaw was surprised to realize as she thought about it, that she was rather comfortable around the woman, though she was working to hide it, and that thinking about what their life must be like from day to day gave her a cozy feeling. In the moment, she was sure she'd never admit it, but she was worried that she wouldn't get that same feeling from the home that Nigel Fordfarer found for her.
Snickers cleared up Glaw's confusion before Mr. Fairburn could, snapping the girl out of her thoughts by saying, "He knows we don't want to be around them any longer than necessary, because they're blood traitors."
The realization hit Glaw rather hard, because she'd learned about blood traitors and mudbloods from Snickers, but had never actually been around any, and she suddenly understood what had struck her as off about the monologue Mrs. Fairburn supplied before her husband appeared to fetch Glaw. She'd spent plenty of time around Muggles, though, and thought they could be quite entertaining at times; Snickers had even laughed lightheartedly along with her at some of the stories she'd told her about her experiences while street performing. It had always confused Glaw that Snickers didn't really seem to hate them at times, but at others could be so resolute about their worthlessness and the need to avoid them.
Glaw's gaze flashed over to Mrs. Fairburn when she heard her drop something on the counter and saw that her back was stiff as an arrow for a few seconds before she returned to what she was doing, while a quick look at Mr. Fairburn showed that he was uncomfortable, but trying his best to hide it.
Her eyes hardened when she turned them back on Snickers, who winced at the look in shock and confusion, while Glaw told her firmly, "Never say that word in their presence again, Snickers. It's obvious that they're only trying to help us. They've been nothing but kind…" She resolutely lifted her chin in the air, determined not to look away from the hurt and annoyance that Snickers was showing her. "If this is how all blood traitors are, then I think I'll have to start seriously questioning some of your teachings… Now, you won't say it again, will you?"
"Ohhh…! You sound just like your great uncle Berwyn! Mistress Meddal had a touch of it, as well, but she was wise enough to keep thoughts like that to her-"
"I'm your mistress, now, Snickers. So, answer me." Glaw interrupted calmly, though there was enough authority in the tone that Snickers stopped speaking the moment she began.
Snickers lowered her gaze to the table and poked out her bottom lip a bit, her scraggly eyebrows furrowing in discomfort, "No, Mistress, I will not say it in their presence again." She lifted her gaze quickly, though, met Glaw's gaze, and declared steadily, while her large eyes shined with meaning, "And not because I fear what will happen if I do, but because you bade me not to."
Glaw felt her throat tighten a bit as Snickers faithfully dipped her head. The house elf treated Glaw with the respect that was due to her when necessary, being fairly carefree with her words and quite motherly at all other times, but very rarely did she stress the meaningfulness of her servitude and her dedication to her current mistress. She spoke of Glaw's mother so often, always referring to her also as 'Mistress', that sometimes the girl thought she didn't take her very seriously. The idea had never really bothered Glaw all that much, content as she was to let Snickers mother her, and she usually wouldn't stress her role as the elf's master unless she wanted something very much. Though she'd been outwardly firm and confident in her order concerning the term 'blood traitor', Glaw hadn't liked scolding the elf when she knew that Snickers was only doing what she thought Glaw's real family would do, hoping to somehow teach Glaw what she would've learned had she grown up in their ancestral home. The house elf's last words and the gentle bowing of her head eased Glaw's guilt, though, and forced her to remind herself that despite what Snickers chose to teach her, she had the freedom to form her own opinions.
Glaw showed Snickers a quick smile when she raised her head again, softening the features on the house elf's face when she saw it, and said, "Thank you, Snickers."
"Yes, Mistress." Snickers said with a relieved smile, simply happy that her master was no longer being stern with her. Her mistress may have been a seven year old girl, but she was her mistress nonetheless, and Snickers' sole purpose in life was to please her; if that meant holding her tongue around blood traitors, then, so be it.
Glaw started a bit when her gaze trailed to the left and she saw Mr. Fairburn smiling tenderly at her. She forced the familiar smile off of her face, leaving just enough emotion in her features to show him that she was still cautious. It didn't matter whether or not being in Mrs. Fairburn's presence was calming and that the two of them were clearly only trying to help her, because she'd been taught for as long as she could remember not to trust other witches and wizards, to avoid them at any cost, really. Though she knew that she would have to learn how to soon, she still wasn't sure how to start and had yet to convince herself entirely that she should.
In the back of her mind, though she didn't allow herself to focus on the vulnerable feeling, she worried that they might think she was being cold with them because she was wary of blood traitors, too. It was a sad thought when paired with the idea that they might be entirely worthy of her trust. She'd never really cared that some witches and wizards were friendly with Muggles and mudbloods, though she never told Snickers so, because she herself had seen the good in Muggles and didn't see why it should matter so much whether or not mudbloods were as powerful as purebloods. They could use magic, too, and weren't there pureblooded wizards who were not as powerful as others? If it wasn't so, then how would any pureblood defeat another in a duel? She understood the idea that witches and wizards would do a better job ruling over the world than the Muggles, that it would make things easier for the wizarding community, but had never really liked the thought of actually enslaving Muggles, as Snickers sometimes hinted at.
"Thank you, Glaw. My wife and I had quite enough of that during our time at Hogwarts; isn't that right, Angel?" Mr. Fairburn called over his shoulder without looking away from Glaw or letting his smile fall.
The girl couldn't keep her eyes from shooting over to where Mrs. Fairburn now stood before the stove, stirring something in a large pot, to see her look at Glaw and show her a relieved smile, visibly relaxing from head to foot as she replied, "Yes, quite enough. Thank you, little one."
"That's alright…" Glaw practically muttered before turning her attention back to Mr. Fairburn and asking, "What's Hogwarts?"
His smile dropped, then, before both he and his wife exclaimed in unison, "What?!"
She sunk down a bit in her seat, though she knew it wasn't ladylike to do so; that wasn't to say that she wasn't used to dismissing Snickers' many lessons on proper etiquette, just that she was always aware of it when she did. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment, but she kept her expression smooth, despite the pointlessness of the endeavor.
"You haven't told her about Hogwarts?" Mr. Fairburn inquired of Snickers as if it were the most unbelievable thing he'd ever had to ask.
Glaw looked over at the elf to see her scowling at him, "Haven't I told you already that the Llywelyn's have always been homeschooled? Why would I waste time telling her about a place she'll never see? Besides, I'd have nothing to tell, seeing as none of the masters I've served ever went there...- Master Berwyn visited the place from time to time, because he was acquainted with one of the professors, but that was after Master Arian cast him out."
"I see…" Mr. Fairburn mumbled, his gaze moving to the surface of the table as he seemed to lose himself in some troublesome thought.
"Well? Aren't you going to tell me about it? It's a school, isn't it?" Glaw started when she couldn't keep quiet any longer, now barely able to hide the entirety of her interest; she'd spent so long hearing about the wizarding world, but unable to enter it, and now, not only could she hear about parts of it that Snickers hadn't explained to her, but she could listen with the knowledge that she was soon to step inside at least some parts of that world.
"It is, but…" Mr. Fairburn sent a tentative look Snickers' way and Glaw could tell by the way his face dropped that the elf was glaring.
She sent Snickers an exasperated look, but tried to keep her tone reasonably soft, in light of their previous dispute, when she asked, "Why don't you want me to hear about it, Snick?"
Snickers' face fell when she looked away from Mr. Fairburn and answered, "You should be raised like a proper Llywelyn, and that means homeschooling. I don't like the idea of these… two, or anyone else for that matter, trying to fill your head with how 'wonderful' wizarding schools are…"
"What makes you so sure I'll like the sound of it?" Glaw asked a bit haughtily, feeling the pride of nobility that Snickers had taught her to wear on her sleeve rising up as she considered the notion that she should be offended by what the elf was insinuating.
Snickers narrowed her eyes at her Mistress, her eyes glinting with challenge as she replied, "Because, everyday you sound more and more like Master Berwyn and, for as long as I can remember, after he was cast out of Llywelyn Hall, Master Arian would rant and rave about what he heard of him through the grape vine. One of the rumors that angered him the most was that Berwyn was heard saying he regretted not going to Hogwarts when he was a boy, regretted being taught solely by my father's master, Eira, your brilliant great grandfather."
"Well…, I don't have a Llywelyn to teach me, do I? Besides, it can't hurt to just hear about it. Who knows? The family that Mr. Fordfarer sends us to live with might be brilliant, as well, and I might prefer to learn from them. But..., either way, the choice is up to me."
Snickers opened her mouth to argue, her expression one of strong offense, but a resolute look from Glaw silenced her. They both knew that Glaw was right, that it was her choice. She didn't want to upset Snickers so much, but she hated the idea of not learning about these things at all. She was a witch, after all, and was now in possession of the freedom to know all there was to know about the world she belonged to. She felt it was wrong for Snickers to keep the knowledge from her and, though she knew she was disappointing the elf by even considering it, she also felt that it was wrong to expect her to want to be homeschooled. She understood the Llywelyn pride in teaching their own, but had always felt apart from it when hearing about it from Snickers; as she'd said, she had no Llywelyn to teach her. Glaw couldn't help but wonder if, like the blood traitors matter, she would have a hard time finding anything lowly or wrong with the idea of going to a wizarding school.
"Now, now." Mr. Fairburn started, giving Glaw an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to start another row between the two of you."
"It's alright. This is all just very new and… unexpected. I never much questioned the idea of homeschooling, because I never thought I'd have another option. But, that's not to say I want to go to a school, just that I'd like to hear about it. And as far as Snickers goes, she may be angry with me, but she'll still love me, no matter what I do." Glaw told him matter-of-factly, ignoring the tongue that Snickers stuck out at her after.
"Well, that may be so, but… perhaps we should wait until tomorrow to talk about Hogwarts." Mr. Fairburn replied carefully, obviously wary of becoming the object of Snickers' hatred.
"Please, I'd like to hear about it, now." Glaw started, allowing her sincere anxiousness to show as she leaned forward a bit in her seat.
A plate set itself in front of her and she looked up to see Mrs. Fairburn smiling at her from where she stood in the center of the kitchen, waving her frail looking wand around while full plates and shiny silverware soared through the air to land in front of those waiting at the table. When all the plates and utensils were placed, along with empty bowls and a large pot of stew in the center, Mrs. Fairburn took the empty seat beside Glaw and began spooning stew into everyone's bowls by hand after a quick smile at her husband.
"Seems to me the girl's made up her mind. Go on and tell her about it, Lyle." Mrs. Fairburn pressed him sweetly.
Mr. Fairburn obviously couldn't help the smile that came with his resigned sigh, before he locked eyes with an anxious Glaw and started by saying, "There are wizarding schools all over the world, expertly hidden from Muggles by some of the most powerful witches and wizards in existence, all grand as a dream and filled with enough knowledge to pave the path to whatever future one might want for themselves in the wizarding world." Here, he leaned forwards a bit and continued in a mystifying tone, his eyes bright as he gazed into Glaw's wide pools of hazy blue and held back a chuckle. "Each contain ancient mysteries that even a clever young witch like you would have trouble wrapping your head around…" The last earned him a small, slightly incredulous smirk from said young witch, and he flashed a cheeky smile in return before going on. "The grandest of them all, though, is Hogwarts. It's a vast, seven story castle, which boasts a hundred and forty-four-"
"Forty-two." Mrs. Fairburn corrected before blowing on the spoonful of stew she'd lifted halfway to her mouth.
After sending a glance the woman's way and seeing that she was already eating, Glaw began to do so as well, though she kept her gaze set on Mr. Fairburn and her ears focused to absorb all that he said. "Right, right. It boasts one hundred and forty-two staircases, some of which move of their own accord and have trick steps that students have to learn to look out for if they don't want to risk an injury. There's a greenhouse, where Herbology classes are held and students with a keen interest in the subject can spend free time among various magical plants; a Quidditch pitch, where games are held, for those that have a knack for flying... We'll be sure to see that you get on a broom at least once before you go, if- Oh, my apologies! I was just… Um…-"
"Talking as if she were our own." Mrs. Fairburn finished for him, causing both Glaw and Snickers' gazes to snap towards her, the latter of which had just begun to dig into her food before the blatant statement and was now letting some of it spill absentmindedly from the corner of her mouth as she stared blankly at Angelica.
Glaw's gaze snapped over to Lyle's wife just as she swallowed her spoonful of the rather delicious stew that she'd supplied, which had a hint of sweetness that she'd never before detected in Snickers' carefully prepared meals. The girl was incapable of coming up with anything to say in response to Mrs. Fairburn's comment, so she kept quiet, turning her eyes towards Lyle Fairburn while she lifted another spoonful to her mouth, waiting to hear his response with as neutral an expression as she could manage.
"… Perhaps." Lyle replied after a few strained seconds of silence with a sad smile aimed at Angelica. "I suppose I was, but seeing as that won't be happening, we can just make sure that whoever takes her in will see to it…-" Angelica waited a few seconds as Snickers and Glaw ate carefully slow and Loopy ate with his usual enthusiasm, before Lyle continued with, "Either way, we'll give her advice if she wants it… No harm in that, eh?"
"Oh, surely. No harm at all." Mrs. Fairburn replied softly, a small half smile on her lips as she lifted a spoonful of cobbler from the small side platter near her bowl, every being at the table noting the sadness in it, despite her attempts to hide it.
"Right…- Anyhow, the point is, you can be keen on any subject and have many opportunities to delve into it at Hogwarts. It's not just the Care of Magical Creatures or the Herbology teachers that will let you take your interests further than classes might get you; every professor is open to helping dedicated students further their education. For instance, my Ancient Runes teacher allowed me to stay after classes often when I wanted a quiet place to study the subject and I wouldn't have been able to make as many archaeological discoveries as I have if weren't for her… Of course, I still couldn't have reached the places that I have if not for the castle itself. I would explain what I mean by that, but these are things you should learn for yourself, if you decide to attend the school, that is."
Glaw found his kind, but dismissive smile slightly antagonizing and knew that she wouldn't be pleased until she heard all of what he had to tell of Hogwarts. She listened closely as he gave a brief summary of the four houses, the attributes they valued, and the rules of the House Cup, thinking that she couldn't see herself worrying about such a thing as a competition between them. On the contrary, she was sure that she'd be too engrossed in her studies to think about much else. Learning as much as she could about the wizarding world was a desire that'd only grown after arriving at the home of the Fairburns, though without a doubt, her desire to learn about magic itself had a stronger pull; during her time alone with Snickers, she'd held her enthusiasm back quite a bit, knowing that her dreams of 'leaving the nest' saddened and worried the house elf. Now, though, she didn't see the point in hiding it as much, as the fact that she was soon to enter the wizarding world was unquestionable, at least to her. She was sure that Snickers hoped she would turn her back on the opportunity of adoption after meeting the family that Fordfarer chose for her, but was, herself, resolute in the most recent decision to accept them, no matter the circumstances. Trusting them was, of course, another matter; after all, it was her mother that'd wanted her to be wary of her own kind. She did, however, plan to give whoever adopted her the chance to earn her trust.
After telling her a bit about the houses, as well as the founders of both them and the school, Lyle began describing the grounds of the castle. He told her of mermaids and a sunken city in the Black Lake, of the Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade, which third year students and above were permitted to visit on the weekends; of these three, it was the mermaids that fascinated her the most, as the only magical creature she'd ever seen in person was Snickers. It was also, however, the vivid underwater scenes of the sunken city which her mind conjured up as he spoke of it that awed her. He spoke of ghosts, next, and then of a particularly pesky poltergeist, whose only fear was the Bloody Baron.
Lyle had just begun one of his own personal tales from his seven years at Hogwarts about the very same poltergeist, who'd interrupted and prematurely ended a class taught by one of said ghosts, Professor Binns, by way of a spray bottle full of Fungiface Potion, the original owner of which was apparently never discovered, when Angelica realized that everyone at the table had finished eating quite some time ago. She let him finish by saying that Binns didn't notice his class' evacuation, all of them second years who'd had no idea that you had to actually ingest the potion for it to work, and continued to teach to an empty room for the duration of the period. Angelica then cleared her throat lightly, smiling warmly at her husband when he looked at her in surprise, and announced the time.
"Right. Quite late, quite late..." Lyle mumbled to himself, straightening himself in his seat a bit awkwardly, as he'd leaned his elbows on the table while he spoke spiritedly of his childhood home away from home.
"Are you normally up past nine, Glaw?" Angelica asked when she noted that the girl didn't look the least bit tired.
"She's normally to bed by eight, but on rare nights, she'll 'secretly' stay up longer to read." Snickers followed this information up with a small bout of her namesake, earning a dreamy giggle from Loopy and tiny smirks from the Fairburns, while Glaw looked briefly appalled.
When the surprise passed, she had a small smile on her face, as well. "I was sure my blanket was thick enough that you couldn't see the light…"
Snickers chuckled lowly and shook her head, and then Mrs. Fairburn stood up, saying as she did, "Well, we've more than one guest room, beds made and ready. But, there's an extra cot in Loopy's room for you, Snickers, if you'd prefer not to be in a room alo-"
The female house elf shook her head resolutely and interrupted. "I'll sleep within the same walls as my mistress."
"Oh! Of course!" Mrs. Fairburn quickly appeased, her soft gaze flashing over to the elf, while her wand continued to flick to and fro and the empty dishes sailed across the kitchen to rest in the sink. "There's a room right across the hall from ours that has two beds. It's a bit smaller than the others and the window doesn't open, but otherwise-"
"That's alright." Glaw cut in, flashing Mrs. Fairburn a kind smile that disappeared almost instantly, as if she'd done it without thinking and was suddenly self-conscious of the slip up, her eyes quickly turning down to the folded hands in her lap and her voice gone small as she explained, "Snick and I don't mind, as long as it isn't haunted."
"Oh?" Lyle started with an easy chuckle. "I suppose you've lived in a haunted house before, then?"
"Oh, yes." Glaw replied, her gaze lifting instantly and her expression relaxing as she told him, "It was more of a cabin, really, though… The ghost was an old woman that liked to sing lullabies in the wee hours of the morning. Snick could sleep through it, but I woke up every time, so I was often tired during the day. She wasn't very talkative, really, but Snick managed to get an old recipe or two out of her before we moved on."
"I see. Well, not to worry; the Ferret's Den isn't haunted. Not to mention, it's half buried, which means the walls and such don't creak as much as average houses, so you probably won't wake in the middle of the night thinking I've lied to you."
"Half buried…?" Glaw started incredulously, one corner of her mouth twitching upwards, sure that he was joking.
Mrs. Fairburn, done with the transporting of the dishes to the sink, appeared at Glaw's shoulder, then, and spoke before Lyle could after placing a hand on the back of her chair and leaning forward a bit to look at her face. "I'll show you what he means tomorrow morning, dear. For now, off to bed, yes?"
"A- … Alright." Glaw replied, once again realizing that she'd lowered her guard and reigning her enthusiasm in.
Mrs. Fairburn smiled, gave a slight nod, and stepped aside, so that Glaw could push her chair back and stand. Snickers was just behind her after Angelica gestured for Glaw to follow and then started for the hallway door.
When they were all out in the hall, the young witch found herself being led towards the curve, again. She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the hall, past the swinging kitchen door and the family room archway on the left, where she could see the bottom of an ascending set of yellow-gray stone steps, lit by the flame in a wall sconce beside it, the glass around the flame shaped like a deer's tail. Paying closer attention now than the last time she went down it with Mr. Fairburn, Glaw saw that all the wall lamps looked like this, that they cast a warm, yellowish glow over everything, and that the long, skinny carpet that began at the start of the curve, which she'd only been aware of before by the change of terrain under her feet, showed two lines of brown ferret silhouettes. Their feet faced each other opposite what she supposed was meant to be the rich earth beneath their toes and behind and between them were trees both tall and short, grass, and a variety of small forest shrubbery, so that it looked like the ferrets were chasing each other through the woods.
They passed four rounded doors of pale wood on the right and two on the left, placed in sets of two, one always right next to another, so that they almost looked like double doors, before Angelica slowed to a stop, not far from the hatch that led to Lyle's study. They'd stopped in between two sets of doors that faced one another across the hall. Angelica moved towards the first on the left and opened it.
She stopped with one foot inside the dark room and a hand on the door handle, then turned to looked at them over her shoulder and say, "The room next to this one is Loopy's. If either of you need anything in the night, don't hesitate to knock on his door; he's an odd elf, but he's very kind, so you needn't worry about him refusing to help you."
Snickers nodded tersely, while Glaw simply glanced at the door to the right of the room they'd be sleeping in, thinking that she wouldn't knock even if she did need anything. Asking a house elf other than Snickers to do something for her was too foreign at the time for Glaw's comfort; not to mention, she was sure that Snickers would take offense if she found out about it.
Angelica took another step inside the room, then, reaching around the right hand corner. Her face disappeared for a moment, along with her arm, and then light filled the room and she walked the rest of the way in, moving aside after so they could enter behind her. Glaw and Snickers stepped inside, both given a moment of silence to assess their surroundings.
There were two beds, as promised, one in each back corner of the room. Both beds were singles with matching quilts, sheets, and pillows. The quilts were what Glaw considered top quality at first glance, though the feel of it against her skin would decide whether or not 'looks can be deceiving' would apply to this situation. They were definitely thick, there was no mistaking that, and were made of mostly yellow fabric with horizontal, crisscrossing stripes of soft, muted green and pale lavender. The sheets were lavender, as well, though this shade was truer to its name, and the pillows were wide with soft green cases to match the quilts' stripes. In between the beds, high up in the wall, was a half moon window with brightly colored glass. The room itself was shaped like one half of the arched double door of a gothic cathedral that Glaw had passed by every day on her way to her 'stage' in the small town they lived in before they moved to the city where Fairburn found her. A short, square end table of applewood with a stove-like door on its front was coupled with each bed. The door of each was engraved with the facial features of a ferret, the shape of its nose vaguely outlined, complete with whiskers and faint scratches for fur.
Lying before the feet of the beds was a large and circular crocheted oval rug with a coat of arms in its center of pale gold, white, earthy brown, and silver. Two does flanked the shield, their front hooves raised to rest against its rounded top, while their heads were slightly bowed towards the two ferrets above the shield. The ferrets, one pure white with a pink nose and the other sable with a black nose, were curled into each other like a ball, seemingly at play. There was no helm beneath the ferrets, but a bed of lavender, while the stems of iris flowers intertwined with those of the lavender and the flowers themselves hung down to caress the sides of the shield and the backs of the deer. The shield itself was outlined in pale gold, its base color white with a single branch of earthy brown in its center that had three silver pinecones attached to the ends of its short branchlets, two hanging below and one held up above. Surrounding the coat of arms and making up the rest of the rug, were rings of the four colors aforementioned.
Glaw found her attention entirely taken up by the rug once her gaze found it, the rest of the room forgotten, and she found herself asking without thinking, "Who made that?"
"Oh, the rug?" Angelica responded, appearing at Glaw's right shoulder, the sudden intrusion of her voice into Glaw's distracted mind startling the girl a bit. She relaxed quickly, though, after a glance up at Mrs. Fairburn, and nodded. "Ly- Mr. Fairburn's second great-grandmother crocheted that right after she married into the family. It's the Fairburn coat of arms, that design in the center."
"Your family really loves ferrets, don't they…?" Glaw muttered just loud enough for Angelica to catch, while leaning forwards to study the design more closely.
Angelica chuckled and, without thinking, softly ruffled Glaw's hair as she said, "Well, yes and no…-"
Glaw straightened immediately at the touch, her gaze shooting up to Mrs. Fairburn's with surprise evident in her features, causing the woman to jerk her hand away and flash the girl a sheepish half smile. The girl, realizing that she'd flinched a bit, tried to ease the sudden tension by relaxing her stiff posture, her attention returning to the rug, and asking, "What do you mean?"
"Hmm? Oh…" She cleared her throat and, when she began to explain, her tone was again at ease, "Well, before Lyle's ancestor began building this home in the fourteenth century, he was a wandering naturalist with no coat of arms nor any name other than simply 'Fairburn'. It was the ferrets that brought him to both a place to settle and a family to give his name to. There was a young woman, you see, who lived in a small hovel near this very spot and had befriended a family of ferrets, whose den nearly touches the walls of this house. Her father, her only caretaker, had recently passed away and she was just getting the hang of things on her own, when she returned to the hovel one fateful evening to find a bear just outside. She'd planned right away to turn and run, but the bear looked over at her before she could and started her way. Now, you see, it's impossible for a person to outrun a bear, so she did the only thing she could think to do; she climbed into a tree beside her hovel and jumped onto the roof. The tale's been told by so many generations, that no one really knows anymore how long she was up there, but at some point, as darkness fell thick over the world, a few members of the ferret family came out to hunt, for they are nocturnal creatures. Well, they saw the bear waiting in front of the hovel and the poor woman perched atop it, and ran off to get help, remembering all the times she'd played with them and sent mice down their tunnels. Luckily, Fairburn was travelling down the road nearest to the hovel at the time and the ferrets happened by him, so they ran out into the road and told him about the danger that the young woman faced-"
"Told him?" Glaw interrupted incredulously, though immediately after the words left her mouth, she was reminded of her conversation with the black snake and her disbelief lost a bit of its strength.
Angelica smirked softly and waved a dismissive hand at the air in front of her as she explained, "Many stories from the Middle Ages tell of animals speaking and people acting as if it's the most natural thing in the world. I don't quite believe myself that that's exactly how it went, but it's how the story was told to me and that's how I tell it… Anywho, long story short, Fairburn saved the young lady with a well-executed Blasting Curse near the bear's feet, causing him to run off. The young lady offered him supper and a place to sleep out of gratitude, which he accepted, but Fairburn ended up staying much longer than that one night. He was naturally enthusiastic about both magical and non-magical creatures, you see, and had never had such close contact with ferrets before, so he stayed around a while to study them. He and the young lady, Elain, fell in love, of course, before he could get it in his head that it was time to set out again. He built her this home after they were married, with the help of the Muggle families already situated in the valley, as I said earlier, and named it after the home of those that brought them together in the first place."
"Hmm…" Glaw mused thoughtfully, before looking up at Angelica and asking, "But, why didn't Elain just take care of the bear herself?"
"…" Angelica's expression was tense for a split second and then she flashed Glaw a small smile and said, "I'll tell you in a moment, after you change into a proper nightgown and crawl into bed, alright?"
"But, these are the only clothes I have…"
"I expected as much. Just a moment." Angelica replied as she reached into one of the deep pockets of her skirt and fished out her wand.
