HSW&W, Assignment 6 | Gryffindor | Floristry, Task 6 | Prompt: Write about someone beginning a new, exciting chapter in their life
Word Count: 436
IPC # 809 - [Restriction] No dialogue
365 #123 - Generation
Muggle AU, set post-WWI
Warnings: references to character death, mentions of war
o . o . o
Émigré
She stepped off the gangway, her skirt fluttering around her ankles in the sea breeze as her heels clicked on the Australian pavement for the first time. She reached up and put a hand atop her hat, making sure the little cloche didn't blow away in the wind. Her hair wasn't as neatly coiffed as usual, but she had done her best on the little boat, and the other girls in the shared dormitory had kindly offered to help her pin her golden hair into a neat chignon. In her other hand, Hannah tightened her grip on her suitcase and shuffled forward with the other passengers.
The sun was beating down, soaking into her skin and warming Hannah. It was a stark difference from the rainy weather back home in England, but Hannah needed more than a little change. England had become a dreary place, and it had nothing to do with the weather. The war had torn Hannah's life apart, leaving her scant few friends, no brother, and no fiance - a whole generation gone just like that. Even her job as a nurse had been taken away now that the men were all home from the front again. All she could do was return to her comfortable life in the countryside, sitting in the study reading. But her house was full of ghosts - she saw Jacob everywhere she went. Breakfasts together in the small dining room, a dance in the ballroom the time he graciously saved her from an atrocious suitor, childhood games played across the sprawling lawns. Her brother was everywhere. London was no better, on the occasions that she took the train in. She could see herself kissing Anthony outside of the nightclub before coyly slipping away, could remember brunches with Susan and Lisa, and couples outings with Justin and Ernie rounding out the group. It seemed there was nowhere left in England that wasn't haunted, and Hannah couldn't stand it anymore.
Australia was her chance at a fresh start. Nothing here would remind her of home or of the people she lost, and that was something she desperately needed.
Once her visa had been checked and stamped, Hannah stepped through the gates to her new life. Butterflies flitted through her stomach as she walked through the Sydney streets, following the handwritten directions to the ladies' dormitory where she would be staying. She couldn't help but feel a mounting sense of hope with each step that she took. There was a certainty that she hadn't felt in a very long time, not since long before the war. Everything was going to be alright.
