The following morning, Lydia woke up feeling uneasy. She had been dreaming and, even though she had forgotten any details, she knew it had been upsetting. She went over to her window to open the curtains, but hesitated. She had a feeling that she was going to see something she had dreamed about, something she did not want to see.
She stepped back from the window and was immediately cross with herself. She had had a dream. It was just a dream. She could not even remember it, all she had was a feeling she did not like. That was crazy and she was not going to let it spoil her day.
She stepped forward, grabbed the curtains and whisked them open. There was nothing out there but a bright, hazy morning and a view down the length of the garden to fields beyond and vague, misty hills beyond that. The lawns were framed between the stands of trees at either side, the hedgerow and gate at the end, with the fields and the world beyond. It was an incitement to explore, an invitation to the future. She smiled. The shadow of the dream had faded with the flood of morning light into her room.
She looked around the room. Had she not planned to explore it last night? She had come in, brushed her teeth in the en-suite bathroom (that was a nice touch) and gone directly to bed. No exploration had happened. There could be amazing secrets in any cupboard! But then she was sure there were no secrets. Sophie and Freddie had found the things they desired. Lydia had found her old room, or an improved version of it. It was a haven, a place of comfort and security and peace. Really, it was all she had desired.
After she had got dressed, Lydia decided not to call for Fenton. She left her room, concentrated on breakfast and took the first door she came to which was neither Freddie's room nor Sophie's. She took the stairs she found down to the ground floor. She crossed a hallway with a Welsh dresser displaying blue and white Willow Pattern plates, and opened the door. There was a large kitchen with wide windows, a range, a sink and drainers, and a farmhouse table surrounded by sturdy wooden chairs. Her mother and uncle were sitting at the table drinking what, from the smell, must have been coffee.
"Good morning, Lydia," her mum smiled, indicating the chair next to her.
"Good Lord!" Ambrose exclaimed. "One of the young people has emerged at long last."
"Is it late?" Lydia asked, noticing that Xander was sunning himself on the windowsill.
"It approaches the ninth hour of the morning clock," Ambrose pronounced. "The sun floods the room with its bright ambassadors of morning."
"It's not late. It's just after half eight," Catherine translated.
"Oh, that's not bad. It's still dark at this time up at Hogwarts," Lydia noted.
Xander leaped down from the window, sashayed across to Lydia and sprang onto her lap.
At that moment the door opened and Sophie popped her head in.
"Here you are," she said. "You were right, Mr Ward, it's easy when you just think about where you need to be."
Ambrose stood and beckoned to Sophie to join them. "My dear young lady. You never need to tell me when I'm right. So much time can be saved by that simple expedient."
"You don't need to point out when he's being annoying, either," Lydia's mum said. "Even more time can be saved that way."
Ambrose raised an eyebrow at her.
"Did you see anything of Master Fortescue on your journey?" he asked the girls.
Lydia shook her head.
"I put my ear to his bedroom door," Sophie told them all. "He was trampolining."
She grinned and turned to Lydia. "He was even going 'Whee!', which is so Freddie."
Ambrose chuckled. "He seems a delightful fellow. It is a blessing to have someone with such positivity in your life. I am content that he is your friend."
"He is a love," Lydia smiled.
The door burst open and Freddie had arrived. "You two!" he said to the girls. "I can't believe you haven't been in for a bounce, yet! Hi, everyone, by the way."
"Good morning, sir," Ambrose smiled at him. "I trust you slept well, or at least did not spend the whole night trampolining and tumbling."
Freddie dropped onto the chair next to Ambrose. "I compromised. I slept on the trampoline. It's actually really comfy."
"Fenton, my good fellow!" Ambrose called out.
The elf appeared, dressed in chef's whites. "Good morning, guests and family. Would you care for drinks first or shall I serve breakfast, now?"
"Now, what do you young people have for breakfast at Hogwarts?" Ambrose asked. "A cup of melted snow and a bowl of gruel between you, I trust?"
Catherine tutted. "I'm sure they have proper breakfasts, Ambrose. What would you all like? A full cooked breakfast?"
The girls ordered full breakfasts from Fenton, as did Ambrose. Catherine ordered porridge with fruit and yogurt.
"Could I have the cooked breakfast without the meat, please?" Freddie asked.
"Certainly, sir. Would sir like eggs?" Fenton squeaked.
Freddie pondered for a moment. "Are they free-range?"
"They are from Molly and Arthur Weasley's hens," Ambrose informed him. "They could hardly be freer."
"Wild hens?!" Freddie joked. "Are they dangerous?"
"Well, virtually feral hens. They are a collective, I suppose."
"Eggs from a hen kibbutz. Sounds fine," Freddie mused. "Thank you, Fenton. Poached, like the others are having theirs, thanks."
"Are you vegetarian, Freddie?" Catherine asked after Fenton slipped away into the kitchen proper, which adjoined the dining kitchen they were in.
"Sort of," he admitted. "I just avoid most of the meat dishes at school, and at home. I like animals. They're all little characters, mostly. I don't want them to die just for my dinner. Sounds soft, I know."
"Not at all, dear boy," Ambrose said. "I was raised in a farming family. We fed and looked after our animals all their lives and we never treated it lightly when we took them for our food. We gave them the best lives we could and they kept us alive. I think it dreadful these days when people are too far removed to honour the lives of the animals who sustain us. We don't need as much meat as most of us have. That is dishonourable, in a way. I applaud your stance."
"How long have you felt this way, Freddie?" Sophie asked.
"A couple of months now. You wouldn't have noticed 'cos we don't eat together in the Great Hall."
"Different houses, of course," Catherine nodded.
"Well, I do know Fenton would be delighted to do you something to your own taste," Ambrose told Freddie. "His passion for cooking matches mine for eating. It is a most fulfilling arrangement."
"I always wondered how you keep your figure," Lydia said. "When you're eating all the time."
"I do a lot of heavy reading, my dear," was all that her uncle would say on the matter.
Fenton served breakfast by stepping into the room and clicking his fingers. Plates or bowls of food and mugs or cups of drinks appeared before the diners. Fenton took a bow to a round of delighted applause.
"What are your plans for the day," Catherine asked as they were all finishing their breakfasts.
"Is there anything we can help with, Mrs Ward?" Freddie inquired.
Catherine smiled. "Very few chores. Fenton is so good at them and, with his magic, they are quite easy for him."
"We could make a map of the house, if that would help?" Sophie suggested with a grin.
"I am sure we all know that would be an impossible task," Ambrose chuckled. "And impossible things are best tackled before breakfast."
Catherine thought for a moment. "I'm trying to make a quilt for an old neighbour of mine. If anyone is good at sewing or cutting fabrics, or whatever?"
"I could do that," Sophie volunteered. "I do sewing projects with my Nana, sometimes."
"I could stick hot needles in my eyes," Lydia groaned. "That would be about as much fun."
Sophie's cat, Elsa, slinked into the room and sat to watch the proceedings. Xander followed her a few moments later. He and Elsa had breakfasted in the boot room, dining on fish provided by the ever-helpful Fenton.
Ambrose leaned forward. "I need Freddie to help me calibrate some of the scientific equipment in my study."
Freddie looked alarmed.
Catherine laughed. "Don't worry, Freddie. It mostly involves drinking tea and eating biscuits. He's been at it for weeks. Many biscuits have entered; none have left. I do hope you have a tolerance for weird music, though. There tends to be a lot of that, as well."
"I am aware your Philistine taste in music does not accept Captain Beefheart, Tool, or The Re-Stoned. That is no reason to believe Freddie will not be suitably enthralled, Catherine my dear," Ambrose retorted.
"What do you want to do, Lydia?" her mum asked.
Lydia sighed and seemed to deflate. After a while she spoke. "I think, for today, I'd like to spend a bit of time in my room, read some of my old story books and just…"
"Get some of your old self back?" Catherine ventured.
Lydia nodded. "Yeah, something like that."
Freddie, who had Xander on his knee, leaned towards Lydia. "Do you want us to let you know if we're going on the trampoline? So you can decide whether you feel like it?"
Lydia thought, then smiled and nodded. "Yes, please. I can always say 'No, thanks' but I'd like the choice."
"I'll knock on your door three times and then we'll go to mine. If you want to join in just come along. If you don't then you don't even have to open the door."
"Thanks," Lydia nodded. "Everyone."
"Then away we shall all go," Ambrose beamed, standing to go. "I propose we meet here at 6pm, for dinner some time thereafter. Snacks, drinks or lunch may be ordered at any time from our esteemed Mr Fenton, in the usual manner."
Lydia slipped away to her room. She selected a few of her old favourite story books from the book shelves and went to sit on her bed. Then, feeling embarrassed and self-conscious, she did something she had not done for years. She crawled under her old brass bed and pulled the duvet down, almost to the floor, at the open side of the bed. The other side and the head end were against the wall. The foot end was partly obscured by a chest of drawers.
She had created a cave, a hidden place, where there was enough light coming in at the foot end for her to read by. The old bed was high enough that she could easily move around. The carpet underneath her was much softer than she had been used to at home, at her old home. There was a miaow from the other side of the duvet. Xander must have sneaked into the room as she arrived. She lifted the duvet to let him underneath. He searched around for a minute or so, securing the perimeter as they say in military movies. Then he lay down beside Lydia and curled up with his back against her hip.
She smiled as the troubles and the years melted away. She lost herself in the worlds hidden in those familiar old books for the rest of the day, sustained by tea and cakes provided by Fenton from time to time.
Sometime in the afternoon, it was still light but starting to fade towards dusk, there came three knocks at her door. She put her bookmark in her book, closed it, and left it under the bed. She went to open the door. By this time they must have gone to Freddie's room. She turned to the left, Xander by her ankle. She opened Freddie's door and peeped in. Freddie's room was different from hers and Sophie's. The ceiling was higher, the furniture sleek and coordinated in tones of grey, silver, and white. His bed was like a bunk bed but with a study area where the lower bunk would have been. As she walked inside, she saw there was a mezzanine area leading off from the raised bunk and leading around behind her. It continued over the door by which she and Xander had entered. The far end from the bed had a rope ladder leading back down to the floor.
Freddie and Sophie were taking off their shoes by a netted area in the wall. Behind this was the trampoline.
"Hi!" Freddie greeted her. "C'mon and get your shoes off."
As she joined them Sophie hugged her.
"Thanks for having us here, Lydia," she said. "I miss mum and Nana but this is crazy good."
Lydia tried to speak but could not. She felt choked and her eyes were wet. Sophie was now so happy and so open about her feelings. It felt like a new level of friendship had opened up between them. Lydia immediately felt she had been a poor friend to Sophie. Freddie had always got the best of her attention – and Teddy Lupin, of course. Look how that had turned out. She resolved to be a better friend to Sophie, to mirror her loyalty.
"OK, troops," Freddie said in a stern voice. "Before we go into the anti-gravity area we need to steel our nerves and cement our trust. Group hug!"
"I'm pretty sure they don't do this in the marines or the Space Fleet or whatever this is," Sophie informed him.
"It's the perfect time for a team hug, though," Lydia smiled and threw her arms around her friends.
"Into battle!" Freddie whooped.
"Why does it have to be a battle?" Sophie questioned.
"It doesn't," Freddie conceded. "Into the fun chamber!"
Into the fun chamber they went. It was a large area for a trampoline, at least five metres square. They bounced, they star-jumped, they did seat drops and doggie drops, they tried forward rolls and forward flips. And, of course, when any of them fell over, the others bounced with more energy to make it harder for the fallen one to get up again. When they could they talked about what they had done that day.
Sophie and Catherine had selected pieces of material and cut them to size for the quilt. Then Catherine had taught Sophie how to use a sewing machine. They had sewn the different fabrics together to make much of the patterned top of the quilt. Ambrose had shown Freddie around his collection of old scientific instruments of brass and crystal. Then they had taken tea and cakes, as befitting learned gentlemen. Ambrose had told Freddie ludicrous stories of his times as an explorer and as a health and safety officer on a pirate ship. Then there had been more tea and many more cakes. Lydia told them how she had revisited the best of her childhood and how it had recharged and settled her. Then they bounced a good deal more.
After a while they ended up rolling around on the trampoline, panting and snorting with laughter.
"Just wait 'til you get out," Freddie warned. "You'll feel like you're made of lead!"
Sophie looked at her watch. "We should probably start getting ready for dinner, soon."
They left the trampoline and dragged their now burdensome bodies across the room to where Xander and Elsa sat watching over their shoes. The cats looked on with disdain as they put the shoes on.
"Ohmygod!" Freddie exclaimed. "It's Friday tomorrow!"
Sophie and Lydia looked at each other. "So?" they chorused.
"Chrimbly Eve!" Freddie squealed.
7