Chapter Twelve

Old People are Terrible

Summary:

Christine's first order of business when she got back to London was to hug her parents and sisters. The second was to give them their much-anticipated presents. But third, was to speak with her grandmother about something much more serious.

Christine kept her word to Ms. Badi when she returned to London. The first thing she did, after greeting her family, was call her grandmother. She wasn't very happy that Christine had been informed about the ancestors' warnings to them. But she did eventually admit that she agreed with Ms. Badi. And even agreed to write to Ms. Badi herself about the issue.

That was a surprising offer from her grandmother. But it was a very welcome one. It could only help things for the two matriarchs to be directly in contact with each other. Using Christine as a middle man would be too likely to cause some sort of miscommunication down the line.

A few days after that conversation, she got a letter from Ms. Badi. Thanking her for keeping her word. And letting Christine know that they'd agreed to share information, and to make contact with others within their community. It was good news. Communications between parts of their community had broken down after Voldemort's defeat. It was about time they rectified that.

She had another conversation with her grandmother later that day. In person, this time. Christine wen to her grandparents' flat after getting a call from her grandmother to come by.

She unlocked the door with a wave of her hand, and walked in. She called out to her grandparents to let them know it was her, and went to start the kettle boiling on the stove. Her grandmother came in just as the water came to the boil, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Christine returned the gesture after she poured the tea and set down the kettle.

"What's up Bunica?" she asked as she carried the tea tray through to the sitting room, "Anything I can do to help?"

Mrs. Rumancek smiled and patted Christine on the arm. She didn't say anything until she'd taken her seat and accepted a biscuit from the plate Christine had laid out on the tray. When she did speak, it was with a heavy severity that Christine didn't normally associate with her doting grandmother. If Christine hadn't already been worried about the situation that would've done it.

"I've been writing to your friend Ms. Badi. She's a good woman, I think. You made a good choice befriending her, my dear."

"Thank you, Bunica," Christine accepted her grandmother's praise, "I do believe she is a great woman."

"Yes," Mrs. Rumancek agreed, "We have discussed what you suggested, writing to Dumbledore. We've agreed that you should. Working with wizards this time might be for the best."

The easy admission that Christine was right brought a satisfied smile to her face. It was a rare thing for Mrs. Rumancek to admit that anyone was right when it meant saying she was wrong. So, you had to savour those moments when they arose.

Christine knew what her grandmother change her mind, but she wanted to hear her say it. She wasn't going to let any of her family ignore the fact that she'd been saying things like that for years. Her grandmother realised that was what she wanted. After giving a heavy sigh, Mrs. Rumancek gave in and said what Christine wanted to hear.

"Yes, I agreed because of you and your friends from school," she told her, "Because of how they changed. The fact that they call me Bunica now, too."

"And the fact that I told you they would accept us, and they do. So do my aunt and uncle. And my teachers."

"Yes Kalo, you showed me that we could work with them," Mrs. Rumancek told her with an exasperated sigh, "You have eternal gloating rights."

That may have seemed like a joke. But in the Rumancek family, that was a real thing that they did. And when you were told by Bunica that you had bragging rights, that was official. You could brag about being right for the rest of your life. And nobody could do or say anything about it. It was frankly, great, when you were the one with the bragging rights, as she did on several matters. When you were on the other side, however, it could get pretty annoying.

"So, you want me to write to Dumbledore. Anything in particular you want me to say?" she asked, because she found it hard to believe that her grandmother called her over just to tell her to write a letter.

"No," Mrs. Rumancek shrugged, "You know the man better than I do. I trust you know how best to tell him of this matter."

"Then what else did you want to talk to me about?"

Her grandmother sent her a wicked smile, and Christine instantly knew she'd made a mistake by asking that question. And she realised why it was a mistake at the same time. Her grandmother has been talking to Ms. Badi. That they kept their conversation to strictly business was highly unlikely. She dreaded what she knew what was coming next.

"Ms. Badi tells me there were a few young men who caught your interest over there," she began still grinning.

Christine groaned. This was going to be very uncomfortable. For her. Her grandmother would undoubtedly enjoy this immensely.

"I could write to her and arrange something," she suggested gleefully, "The interest is mutual, as far as Ms. Badi knows. It wouldn't take long."

"Bunica, no!" she yelled, embarrassed and outraged, "Don't you dare!"

"Why not?" she teased, "You don't want any of those young men? What's wrong with them?"

"No Bunica, I don't. I was just having a bit of fun. There's nothing wrong with them, but I'm eighteen, I don't want to get married!" Christine exclaimed, a little frantically.

Her grandmother started laughing at her, and Christine threw a cushion at the older woman. That only made Mrs. Rumancek laugh even harder. Safe to say, Christine wasn't very pleased with how the conversation was going. But she could only suffer through it until the embarrassing ordeal was over with.

Mrs. Rumancek definitely had her fun with the whole thing. But she did, at length, let it go. Christine was immensely relieved when that happened. The rest of her tea with her grandmother went much more pleasantly. And half an hour later, Christine left her grandparents' flat to head back home and write to Dumbledore. She could only hope the old professor had something of a plan to deal with what was coming.