Chapter 10 Mother and Father
The excitement and questions about the famous Vardo Ice Carnivale died down over the weeks and Daniel stopped being the center of attention. However, as previously announced, the King and Queen were to be chosen and presented at the Halloween feast followed by a dinner and then the grand opening to the Carnivale. All of it was to take place soon and some students seemed to find it hard to decide whether they wanted to stay away from Daniel, or be around him again. Construction for the carnival had been going on for the better part of a month on the lake.
After his conversation with Veronica, Daniel wanted more than ever to talk with his mother or Harry. He received the opportunity when Hagrid handed him a note the day of the Halloween feast. Their first class that day, Magical Creatures started early and they rushed through breakfast and headed down to Hagrid's hut. Without calling attention to his actions, Hagrid handed Daniel the parchment as he gathered the stray students into a bunch and moved them along to the paddock. "Ah right there, let's move along now. Stay close. I got a real treat for yer today." There were moans from several students who tried to stay warm as they huddled in the snow.
Daniel opened it and read: Danny, please come up for tea this afternoon about 4:00. We haven't had a chance to see you. It was signed by Harry. Daniel nodded to himself. "It's time," he muttered and then joined the others.
That afternoon, he followed the directions on the note. It led to Harry's private quarters high in one of the towers. He climbed stairs that wound up around the inside of the tower until he reached a small opening. When he stepped out, it almost took his breath away. It was a platform room, almost entirely surrounded by windows that gave a view of the entire valley from every angle.
Unlike Harry's study, with its' heavier wooden and austere furniture, sunshine filled this room. Against one wall stood a canopied bed and a writing desk with a small heating stove and an old Firebolt broom standing in the corner. Across the floor a table stood covered with a cloth and set with fine china and silver goblets. His mother rested with her back to him in a chair facing out toward the mountains and the Quidditch pitch.
Books and papers lay stacked on the bare floor and strange objects littered the desk. Daniel crossed the room quietly, barely breathing.
" Me shoonav tu. (You, I hear)," she breathed and he heard the smile before she turned, "Avakai, Yanel, (come here)."
"Daj, (Mother)." He sat in a chair beside her.
They spoke in their own tongue. "Your father will come in a minute. Let us talk." She took his hand. "It is beautiful here. I don't like the rest of Hogwarts school." She scrunched her nose. "Dark, like a graveyard eh?"
He nodded and said in Romani, "Sometimes."
"Are you mad with your mother, Yanel?" she asked. Her lashes fluttered long against her dusky satin cheek. Her dark eyes pierced him.
"Yes." He nodded but didn't feel the heat of his anger. Then; "No. I was for awhile. I sent a letter to you and then I didn't see you to speak to you after the Quidditch match and after the…the…"
"The paper? The one that said those things of me," she finished for him."
He nodded, "It's been weeks, mother. Neither you or Harry talked to me, you didn't come to me. Everyone thinks I'm related to Voldemort and to Salazar Slytherin. They think…"
She interrupted him, "Tayne! (be silent), you know that this is not to talk about. It is forbidden." She referred to the taboo of not discussing ancestors. "I will ease your mind and tell you that it is not true. These are lies. To hurt your father and you."
"Lies to hurt Harry and me," Daniel repeated.
" Va, Yanel, these words they write cannot hurt me." She reached over and patted his cheek. "Trust me, they are lies. We are the only ones who need to know the truth."
"Why didn't you come to me?" he asked and then regretted asking a question.
She broke into English, "We are wooried that these words hurt your heart. Your father, he says, you are not happy. He says he wants to tell you, talk to you these words in the paper, about why you come here to Hogwarts school. I tell him, you won't be happy to come here." She frowned and reached for his hand. "He can not tell you these things- so we don't talk to you," she shrugged. "You must believe in your mother." She touched his face very gently and murmured, "I want you be a great wizard like your father."
He bit back the bitter words he wanted to say to her and said instead, "Mother, I already know more than what they teach at Hogwarts. I could have stayed with the Kumpania." He drew away, now feeling angry.
"You are to be a man and it is what you need to do," she said and shrugged again as if the matter were settled.
"You wanted me here because of Harry," he said.
She frowned at his manner and his tone of voice, and spoke to him in Romani, "Yes and no. He is your father, Yanel. You show no respect for my wishes."
"He's not my father!" Daniel raised his voice and stood. "What father leaves his family for years?"
"Yanel, he could not help this and someday you will know the story of why he has been gone from us. Don't be.. uhm, what is word, chalali chavo (foolish boy). You should forgive him. He loves you." Her own voice was becoming more sober and serious.
"For…forgive him!" Daniel stuttered and broke into his own language. "I remember if you don't! The night he left, you were in the wagon. I stood there listening to you, feeling… feeling what you felt!" Daniel felt his face growing red and his hands clenching. Gritting his teeth he forced down the memory. "You don't know what it means to be Senseve, mother. I stood there and felt my heart pulled from my chest when I heard you cry out for him!"
His mother leaned into his face. Her breath smelled sweet and her face softly glistened with a dewy moisture. "I love you, Yanel. I will never say it again. You are almost a grown man. Someday you will understand what I have done. I love your father and he loves me, but we cannot be together. You know this. I travel down another road. It will always be this way. I missed him when he was gone and now I see him and I am happy." She held his chin with her fingers and looked deep into his face. "He is good man. He has been so wounded and so hurt in this life that he deserves our love. I want you should be together. He is your family."
"He's not my family, mother," he said, still feeling angry. "Jonas is my father!" He caught her look. It was a mixture of fear and anger. He went on unable to stop, "He is more of a father than Harry will ever be. He loves me, he teaches me! What has Harry ever done?"
She urged him toward the table, ignoring his rant and speaking calmly, "Come, we have tea. He will be here soon. Let us talk of something else."
"MOTHER!" Daniel shouted . He was going beyond disrespectful and didn't care. She glared at him and then turned her eyes to the table. He could see the beads of sweat on her upper lip and a small tremor in her shoulders. He knew he had never come as close to getting her mad as he was doing at this moment.
"Jonas is not your father!" she spit. She lifted her smoky brown eyes that grew wide with anger. "I want you here, at this school and away from Jonas. He will teach you NO MORE! YOU WILL NOT GO TO HIM! I demand this and you will swear to it!" She held her head high and stood hands on hips waiting for his oath.
Her look sent shivers through him and he spoke with a dry mouth without hesitation, "Ha 'shi 'la," he said. She nodded once.
"Hello?" Harry stood at the head of the stairs watching them. It was obvious he'd heard part of their conversation. He asked, "May I come in?"
"Yes, you come in and have the tea with your son and me," she growled in English and offered him her hand while still looking at Daniel. The look in her eyes faded. She and Daniel stood for an instant longer and then both sat down stiffly. There was a tense moment and no one spoke.
Harry looked at both of them nervously. "Danny, I wanted to talk to you about the Daily Prophet article," he stated.
"We have talked," Daniel's mother barked and then said more calmly, "He understands his duties. This paper is not important!" It was Harry's turn to stare at her. Daniel had never seen her so upset. He blocked most of the emotion radiating from her but continued to feel her fear and wondered at it. The moment, once again, passed as she turned and poured tea. Daniel noticed her hands just barely shaking.
Daniel couldn't argue with her. He wanted to ask her what was wrong. He wanted information but knew she wouldn't speak to him about the Prophet article. He also knew that Harry wasn't going to say anything in her presence and so ventured a question outside the issue, "Mother, why are we having Carnivale?"
Her scowl turned to a smile and she said gaily, "For you Yanel, we have Carnivale for you." She nudged him gently in the chest and clapped her hands in delight.
He was dumbfounded. From what he understood it took many skilled wizards and many weeks to complete a Carnivale. She was sitting here telling him it was for him. Harry was staring at her in utter surprise and Daniel was looking between the two of them.
She nodded looking at his astonished face and ignored Harry. She said, "It is my gift to you."
"But… but, why?" he stammered.
"To take away the sadness in your heart, my son. We have sent you from us to go to this school and I wish to ease your burden," she said patting his hand. "Wait and see."
He sat quietly drinking tea and saw that his own hands trembled. Something was terribly wrong and he didn't know what it was. He also knew that she would never tell him and she had just lied to him. With his astute senses he believed that Harry was wondering at his wife's attitude as well.
They spent the afternoon talking about the Carnivale. Daniel still had a hard time believing that his mother had arranged it. He didn't mention the book Veronica had found in the library, nor would he venture a question about the newspaper article again. Daniel was also not ready to do as his mother suggested and forgive Harry. Instead, Daniel gave him a stony face and cold shoulder through their tea. Even so he noticed that Harry also watched her with a frown on his face.
"It's time for you to go to class Yanel, " Harry said and stood up. " Would you mind letting me talk to your mother alone?"
"It is time for me to go," Nadya said, quickly and rose to her feet.
"But…" Harry protested.
"Yanel walk me to the outside?" She kissed his father quickly on the lips and she ushered Daniel from the room with her hand in his back leaving a very puzzled man standing alone in the tower.
They walked through the castle. Daniel pointed out some of the classrooms and talked about Gryffindor House and his friends. He knew that his mother would find the castle cold and unwelcoming as he had when he'd first come. She smiled nevertheless. They ran into Ron and Veronica on their way out of the entrance doors.
Ron walked with him in front of his mother and Veronica strolled beside her and chatted happily. Daniel's mother showed them their beautiful wagon with the gilt carvings and the hand painted walls, the neat little table and chairs and the stove for heating. The four of them talked for awhile and then Veronica and Ron left.
"Yanel," his mother stopped him at the door and the twins went on without him. "Thank you for coming to tea with your father and me."
"Va, Daia," he said nodding. He was still disturbed by her mood and her attitude and grew even more worried.
She reached for him and hugged him, stroking his hair and kissing his forehead. He was so taken back by her gesture that he held his breath. It was unknown for mothers to demonstrate such affection and it scared him and yet felt wonderful. She hadn't held him since he was a small boy.
She pushed him back finally and said, "I will be busy from now on. You must stay in the castle and not come to visit the kumpania." She turned away. He left the wagon with strong reservations and without speaking again.
She's terrified, he thought as he followed the trail made by Veronica and Ron through the snow. He studied the dark castle with a hundred twinkling lights and the small huts that had been put up on the wagon site to house the Roma through the winter. He was torn between the two and stood halfway along the path between Hogwarts and the wagons in the falling snow, not knowing which direction to take.
Finally, almost frozen, he turned and walked towards Hogwarts.