Chapter 5
Maith Cara was beginning to freak Harry out. No matter where he went in that house, he always felt as if he were walking into a room packed with people, but he never saw anyone. If he were sitting somewhere, he would hear footsteps that he knew weren't Caedmon's out in the hallway. More than once he felt as if someone were staring at the back of his head, but he would turn around and find that there was no one there. He could hear people whispering in different parts of the house, but he never got close enough to hear what they were saying.
He tried to talk to Caedmon about it, but the guy wasn't much help. All he'd said about the matter was that it was nothing to worry about. That wasn't reassuring in the least, but Harry tried to slog along as best he could.
One day, he was out in the garden with a book, and he kept seeing something out of the corner of his eye. Whenever he tried to look directly at it, it would be gone, but when he looked obliquely, he could tell that it was something…someone…dressed in white and light green.
I'll just continue reading, and it'll go away or stick around, he thought, turning a page. When it made up its mind what it wanted to do, then he would probably get a better look at it.
He managed to get so far into the book that he jumped half a mile when he realized that someone was sitting next to him on the bench.
"Hello, child," she said, smiling.
"Hullo," Harry answered, beginning to feel shy. This woman was what he had been seeing, but she was beautiful! She wasn't a veela, but she was still gorgeous enough to make his heart pound.
"So you've come to stay with our Ronan," she said, sounding like a proud old grandmother. "What do you think of him?"
"You mean Caedmon? I like him," Harry said, "but I still don't know him that well. He's always working upstairs in his work room."
She nodded. "That would be like our Ronan," she said, smiling. Harry felt his heart do a little jump. "He's doing his best for us against the dark ones, that's for certain. What think you of Maith Cara?"
"Is it haunted?" Harry asked, feeling foolish. "I'm always hearing voices"
"That would be the small fey," she said, patting his shoulder. "Pay them no mind, they're rarely quiet."
"Small fey?" he said, perplexed. By this point, she had put an arm around his shoulders, and he was happily content. She was starting to smooth his hair for him.
"Brownies, house elves, and the like," she explained, fighting the losing battle that Mrs. Weasley always fought against his hair. "They like to chat with one another while they work."
"Oh," Harry said, taking that information in. "What's your name?" he asked, suddenly anxious to know. What if she were a dream?
She smiled. "You may call me Cara," she told him.
Caedmon found him there hours later, asleep and dead to the world. He carried the boy inside and put him to bed, recognizing the feel of the magic around him. A resting spell that his grandmother set would last until dawn the next day, so there was no point in trying to wake the boy up for supper.
He tucked the boy in, went back downstairs, and got the surprise of his life when he saw her seated at the kitchen table.
"Hello, grandson," Cara said. "He's asleep?"
"Gone like the flame of a candle," Caedmon said, sitting down across from her. "Why did you spell him?"
She smiled. "Because he's a nervous wreck, that's why," she explained. "I've spoken with the small fae, and they won't be so noticeable anymore for him. He was starting to think that he was going mad."
"Oh," Caedmon said, nodding. "How's Grandfather? Have you seen him?"
She smiled. "No, dear, I haven't. You know he and I don't get on anymore."
"Just thought I'd ask. How are the spells holding up?"
"They're fine," she said, patting his hands. "You're doing very well."
She rose, kissed him on the forehead, and left, adding that he should try to rest some. Sighing, Caedmon went upstairs to bed, hoping that one day soon, he'd be able to do what was needed of him without worrying.
Author's Note:
Good so far? Anything you don't like?