Disclaimer: I disclaim everything!

A/N: All right, I'm giving in. I've been getting a lot of hits on that last chapter, so I know people are getting impatient. This chapter does reveal later things to come in ID'TCO', but I don't really think it's anything you couldn't already expect to happen. I'm sorry for waiting so long, but ID'TCO' doesn't seem to be coming along fast and I don't want to wait another year to update this one. So please enjoy. It's a depressing time for Maddy, but please try at least.

Chapter 14: Return to Wormwood Mansion

The limousine pulled up in front of the massive manor. Several black petticoats appeared as the door opened. Maddy walked up the front steps and knocked on the door three times. Her chauffeur carried her bags up to the steps behind her. She dismissed him quickly.

A mass of curly white hair appeared as the door opened. For a moment, Maddy thought it was Anne-Marie, but then recognized her as Mr. Wormwood's mother. She had a stern, but disturbed look upon her face as she looked Maddy up and down.

"Who are you?"

Maddy thought for a moment that she had lost her voice. She couldn't bring herself to speak. "Dame Victoria…it's M-"

"Mother! Who is it?" A shaking voice came from inside.

"I don't know!" The old woman said abruptly. Maddy recalled that Mrs. Wormwood and Dame Victoria Wormwood had never gotten along very well.

"Please, Madam, I'm Madeleine Penly. I used to work here. Mrs. Wormwood requested that I come over immediately…"

Dame Victoria did not seem to recognize Maddy, although she had told her her name. She shook her head, and tried to push Maddy back.

"No, no Miss. This is no time for visitors. We are all mighty distressed here…"

"Grandmother!" A voice from inside called out. It was a young boy's, but whom it belonged to, Maddy was unsure. "We are to have guests. Mother invited them."

Dame Victoria looked at Maddy sourly and let her inside. Maddy picked up her bags and entered the foyer. Nothing seemed to have changed since she had left. Everything was as spotless as it always was. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a door open and close very quickly. A small blonde boy had left the room, and by the way he held himself, Maddy was sure that it was Christopher.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs caught Maddy's attention. Mrs. Wormwood, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared, staring down at them.

"Miss Maddy…" she said slowly.

Maddy almost opened her mouth to correct her. Everyone called her Mrs. Penly these days, and no one ever seemed to call her Miss Maddy anymore.

"I am so glad you could come…"

Maddy could see that Mrs. Wormwood's eyes were red and swollen, and that she had tried, and failed horribly, to cover it up with make-up.

"It was no problem, Ma'am…" Maddy said, giving a small curtsey.

Mrs. Wormwood nodded in return. She seemed to have lost all strength to bend her knees to the full extent of a curtsey. She turned hastily and headed back up the stairs. Dame Victoria left quickly to their right, and Maddy took this as a signal to follow Mrs. Wormwood up the stairs.

"You will be staying in your old quarters…" Mrs. Wormwood said, her back still to Maddy, as they walked down the upstairs hall. "No one has used them since you have left. You will see that nothing in them has changed."

Maddy nodded and looked around. "Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying, it does seem a bit more quiet around here. Where are the children?"

Mrs. Wormwood brought herself up to full height. "They are grieving. They have just lost their father. Unless you have forgotten…" Mrs. Wormwood sneered. "I don't think you could relate to the pain they are feeling…"

Maddy had the deepest urge to tell her that she could relate, but she did not want to make her stay uncomfortable right from the get go. She nodded and apologized for asking such a daft question.

"And remember, you are here as a guest, not the hired help, so you will not be expected to tend to the children or see them whenever you please. You must come to me first."

Maddy nodded, again. She was certain that the children had almost no desire to see her. If they had, Christopher wouldn't have left the room so quickly.

"If there is anything you need, I'm sure one of the maids will help you. You know where to find them."

Without another word, Mrs. Wormwood turned sharply, and marched down the hall and back down the stairs. Maddy turned to her room and looked around. Nothing had changed. It almost seemed as if she had only spent the morning out in town, not a year away from the place.

Maddy did not come across any of the children that evening, or even old Mrs. Edgar. She didn't even see Mr. Whisk skulking about. No. Everyone seemed to be staying out of the way.

On occasion, she would hear Dame Victoria scolding the children, and shooing them back into their rooms. She had assumed that the boys now had a separate room from Marie, for there were several doors slamming, instead of one.

What Maddy did not expect, was a visit from the Dame herself. It came around 7:30 that evening. The two sharp knocks at her door.

"Come in!" Maddy had been staring out the window. She could think of nothing better to do.

Dame Victoria moved swiftly into the room and shut the door behind her. Maddy had turned to look at her, and was startled when she saw the old woman standing there.

"There is no need to be alarmed, my child…" the Dame said, attempting to be kind. Maddy thought that it would be easier for a cobra to pass off as a kitten.

"You just startled me, that's all…" Maddy said softly.

"You did say 'come in'." Dame Victoria said, gesturing toward the door.

Maddy nodded, "Yes, I did. I just, honestly, didn't expect it to be you."

Dame Victoria moved toward the bed, "Who did you expect? The children? Jane? Or perhaps Mortimer?"

Maddy shook her head at once. "No, no, not at all. I would never…I could never…I mean…" Maddy couldn't seem to find the right words, and it didn't help that Dame Victoria continued to stare at her accusingly. She hadn't done anything wrong!

"I do believe Jane has spoken to you about the children…"

"Yes…" Maddy replied lightly.

"They have no desire to see you or speak to you…"

"I will leave that for them to decide…"

Dame Victoria looked at her sharply, "It is up for us to decide! They are not your children, therefore are not your responsibility!"

"They're as good as mine!" Maddy bellowed, without thinking. "I helped raise those children! When they were sick, I tended to them! When they were bored, I played with them! When they were hungry, I would make them cookies!"

Maddy's whole body was shaking. She had never noticed it before, but she had been like a mother to them. They even seemed to hold her in higher respect than their own Mother. Dame Victoria looked completely horrified that a younger woman dared raise her voice at her. Her eyes narrowed into slits in an attempt to look fierce. She did not frighten Maddy.

"Madam, you cannot frighten me…" Maddy said menacingly, "I have been through more than you can even imagine! I have seen the face of all things evil and ugly and you cannot even begin to come close! Nothing can keep me from those children! Not even if you drag me through the fieriest pits of Hell!"

The old woman continued to stare at Maddy, and without warning, she left the room. Maddy fell down onto her bed, suddenly feeling very uneasy. She had meant every word she said, though she had never thought that she could bring herself to say it.

-----

The following morning, Maddy thought it best that she did not attend breakfast, for surely, Dame Victoria was there and would, without any doubt, cause a scene. Instead, she headed in the direction of the library. The one place she thought she could think without being disturbed.

When she opened the door, she had expected to find the library empty, but instead, all four of the Wormwood children sat, or stood, in different parts of the room, staring at her. A now ten-year-old Marie gave a small squeak, and the twins seemed to glare at her as if she was a slug. Elizabeth had turned and continued to look for a book on the shelf behind her.

"Hello…" she said softly to them.

None of them said anything back. She almost wished that they would show some sign of recognition. Even an 'I hate you' would have been welcomed. Something, so she wouldn't have to stand there in silence.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth finally said, her back still to Maddy.

"You're Mother invited me," Maddy said, thankful that someone had said something.

Elizabeth scoffed, "I don't know why, seeing as everyone here wishes you were the one who died, and not Father…"

Maddy smiled grimly, "Join the club. Most of my family has believed me to be dead for the past nine years."

"They didn't wish you dead though…" Elizabeth said lowly.

Maddy laughed harshly, "Some of them did…"

"What kind of family is that?" Christopher asked abruptly.

Maddy looked at him, "One I had betrayed…"

"How did you do that?" Michael asked, closing his book slowly. Each of them were interested to hear the story of Maddy's life. She had never told them anything about her past, or about a family. As far as they were concerned, they were her family.

"I left them. Without a good-bye…without saying anything…"

Elizabeth had turned from her shelf and was now leaning against it, "Why?"

Maddy thought for a moment, "Well, I suppose it was because, the man I loved, was in love with my cousin…and I was jealous. I wanted to make him hurt as much as I had and I had tried for a while, but nothing seemed to work…so I left. I thought I could end the pain. Leave it behind with him. Forget about it. But you can't run from something like that. You just can't…"

All of them continued to stare at her. It was their turn not to know what to say.

"I guess I was too greedy for my own good. I wanted everything for myself, everything to be perfect, like a fairy-tale, that I never noticed what I had, until it was gone…"

"We've been greedy too…" Marie's tiny voice cut through the silence, "I always wanted everything, as soon as I saw it and never once did I think about Mother and Father. Father bought me a horse for my birthday this year, 'cause I had always wanted one and I never thanked him. Now, he's gone…"

Maddy tried to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes, "I understand, Marie."

"No you don't!" Elizabeth snapped, "You can't understand! You can never understand! You've never been through anything like this!"

Maddy stood back, aghast. "Never been through anything like this? Never been through anything like this? I have been through much worse than this!"

The children fell silent once again.

"Almost every fatherly figure I ever had died! Not only did they die, they were murdered! With me, helpless to stop it! Doomed for the rest of my life to think: 'Was there something I could have done?' or 'Could I have changed it?'…" Maddy's voice shook and broke off.

Elizabeth shook her head slowly, "I-I'm sorry Miss Maddy…I-I didn't know…"

"No…" Maddy said, her voice still shaking, "You didn't know. Barely anyone knew. I never spoke of it. I had tried to hide from it.Forget it. Run from the pain of the past. Even the Potters haunted my nightmares and I barely knew them. Barely remembered them. If it weren't for Harry, I…"

Damn. She had brought Harry up, and she had purposely been trying to ignore him. Elizabeth seemed to be racking her memory, because her face had gone stony hard, and she was staring at the leg of the table Marie was sitting at.

"Potter…Harry Potter…why does that name sound familiar?" she said aloud.

Maddy sighed. There was no way around it. "Harry was at the party…"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, yes…he was with his-"

"Wife…" Maddy finished bluntly.

"Yes, but you-did you know each other…"

Maddy didn't want to lie to them. "Yes. Harry and I were almost brother and sister. His parents had thought about adopting me, when my uncle, who had been living on his own since sixteen, couldn't bring me up, alone. Harry and I were just a day apart. July 31st and August 1st. We were almost twins." Maddy shook her head sadly, "But they were murdered before the adoption was final and Sirius was sent to prison soon after for a murder he never committed. Harry never knew about it and still doesn't. It was a thought that had haunted me through my teenage years…"

"Why?" Michael asked curiously.

"Because I…I…" Maddy stopped and stared at the window.

"You were in love with him…" Elizabeth finished. She suddenly realized why Maddy had looked so strange on that day she had yelled at her in the library, so long ago.

Maddy nodded, "Or I believed I was…"

"What made you stop believing?"

Maddy didn't answer. The truth was, she never did stop believing she was in love with him. She had been angry with him, indeed. She had also fallen in love with Charles, but never once did she deny to him that she loved him.

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. The others in the room did not understand the way they did. Marie was much too young to understand the pains of love, and the twins were still convinced girls had cooties.

Maddy looked around uncomfortably. She no longer wished to talk about her past, but having it out in the open, felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Where is Mrs. Edgar? I haven't heard her shuffling about since I've gotten here…" Maddy said with a small laugh.

The children didn't laugh in return. They each exchanged strange glances with each other. Maddy's laughter faded quickly as she looked around at each of them.

"What's the matter? Has she prohibited you from laughing now? Told you to grow up too quickly? Turned into a regular Captain Hook? You know I always had my theories that she was in league with the pir-"

"No…" Elizabeth cut her off. "Mrs. Edgar wasn't in league with pirates. She wasn't an alien from outer space sent here to take over the planet. And she wasn't a hag in a people suit." She glanced at Marie quickly, who looked away. "She was just a widowed old lady…"

Maddy wondered why their perception of old Mrs. Edgar had changed so drastically. They used to have the best times coming up with reasons why the ornery old woman was so unkind. But, she supposed, their year apart had changed them quite a bit.

"Well, what about Mr. Whisk? Have you discovered that he can open doors? I tried to tell you, but no one would-"

"Mr. Whisk has run away…" Elizabeth said gloomily.

Maddy gulped. "And Mrs. Edgar?" She dreaded the answer.

Elizabeth looked at her siblings and then up at Maddy, a look of sorrow spread across her face; "Mrs. Edgar…is dead."

A/N: Oh noes! Just more and more sadness. The next chapter has some happy moments though, and there's a return of one of my favorite characters so I'm pretty excited. (And no, it's not Harry.) You'll see who it is when I update. But in the meantime: REVIEW! Please and thank you!