Mistress of the Moon
"You don't know me Wood. And you never will." she stated calmly as she turned and walked the other way, leaving me to wait in the hallway. Stopping dead in her tracks after a few steps. "Besides, I don't know the meaning of the word fear." she spat aloud.
Great, in another twenty-four hours, I would officially be spending my holidays with Miss Pity down there.
And so the countdown begins.
Waking up in the morning, I groaned aloud as I stretched in my bed, the covers falling off to the side as I rubbed the left over sleep from my eyes vigorously. This was the morning, of truth or pain, either was just as difficult to imagine.
Pulling myself out of bed, I walked over towards the bathroom only to be interrupted on my route by a loud tapping on the glass of the bedroom window. Outside of the panel of glass sat a large grey bird with a small envelope within it's mouth.
Sighing, I opening the window and shivered suddenly at the blast of chilly wind that swept through the portal. Taking the letter, I reached out to pet the bird to find that he had left already. So closing the window, I walked back over to my bed and sat down my the pillows, looking at the letter closely to see my name inscribed in neat handwriting.
With a long sigh and a shake of my head, I ripped the seal of the letter and opened it to read.
Dear Oliver,
Due to current arrangements, your mother has asked that you and your mistress floo to your manor rather then take the train as she believes it will be much easier. Meet me in my office at nine and have a good morning.
P.S.- I like gumdrops.
A. Dumbledore
Looking over to my clock, I shook my head as I read the time, 8:30. I had half an hour and I still had to finish packing my belongings.
Half an hour later, I was being lead into the headmasters' office as I opened the door and stepped inside my small bag in tow behind me. Dumbledore offered a small smile as I looked to McKenzie to find her dressed in casual clothes, muggle clothes.
With dark, skin tight jeans and a large black hooded sweatshirt, she glared as I walked into the room and greated them. "Now that you're here Mr. Wood. I take it you are ready to leave?" he asked with a small smile as I nodded my head and yawned tiredly. "Well then, I wish you the best of the holiday season and I will see you when you return to school after the break."
Nodding his head towards the fireplace, I watched as McKenzie took a handful and stepped inside. "Just say, 'Wood Family Manor, Glasgow Scotland' and it should take you right there." I stated tonelessly as she nodded her head and paused in silence for a few moments.
Looking from her feet, her eyes met mine for a few seconds as I felt a spark ignite within as I quickly tried to push the feeling down. In an instant, everything changed. The words that escaped her mouth as she through the powder were not the ones I had told her, but rather a different address.
"Scott Manor, Tipperary Ireland." she shook her head solemnly as her eyes never left mine until they were consumed in a cloud of smoke.
Grunting deeply, I only faintly heard the voice of Dumbledore behind me as I followed suit. "Ah, the beauty of young love." he mused as I cursed under my breath before following her to this foreign place.
In a rush and sickly sensation, I found myself looking into the grand room as I looked around, only just catching the eye of Alexis as I leapt forward to catch her arm before she could run away. "What are you doing?" I demanded as she made a statement to wretch her arm from my grasp.
"Wood, this is the only people I know close to family, the least you could do is let me have an hour tops with the lot of them, yeah?" she asked as I desperately searched for a reason to say no. In a way, I knew it was a bad idea, but it was true. She did deserve to see friends and family for a while too. Even if it was unexpected, besides... it's Christmas.
"Fine, an hour tops." I sighed, setting my bags down by the fireplace and following her as she raced out of the house and into a large open land in the back. People were scattered across it all as I watched witches and wizards talking and laughing, flying around on brooms and playing with lots of magic.
Running after her, I watched as she accelerated and as she called out a name I didn't recognize. I watched as a boy around my age turned around and looked just as surprised as she leapt into his arms. He was fit, perhaps less more then I was, but he was also a little shorter in height too.
A jealous feeling crept up within as I watched him swing her around and hug her tightly. Extinguishing the feeling immediately, I desperately tried to pick up on their conversation. "It's good to see you Bray… you never come around anymore." he smiled in a thick Irish accent.
"Yeah, trying Mac, I really am. Hey where's the rest of the lot?" she smiled as she starred around excitedly. I hadn't seen her this giddy ever, and it probably would be a long while before it happened again.
"Well… see, that's the thing. I was going to tell you, but it was so hard trying to find where you were. I never got the chance," everything seemed to go downhill as I turned from the boy to Alexis to see her face drop and her eyes lose the excited look.
The boy was good looking, reddish brown shaggy hair and a strong complexion, holding himself high and mighty, but now… his shoulders had dropped ditheringly and his face turned from an excited smile to a defeated look of shame.
"Ryan and Jocelyn were out looking to see if they could help the cause. You-Know-Who is back B, and you and I know it more then anyone I can think of. Now, there's just more proof." he sighed, wrapping a long arm around her shoulders. "They were killed four months ago. And Teagan was turned to a night dog and refuses to see anyone. Sorry, love… but it's just you and me now." he stated as Alexis pushed away from him and bowed her head for a few seconds, she looked to be lost within.
"Not everyone can live forever Mac, it's life. People live, and people die… it's what happens. Besides, people are replaceable." she stated coldly as the boy grimaced and motioned to speak. Well he could grimace all he wanted to, I was disgusted, how could she say such a thing, and about her friends?
"If you'll excuse me." she added suddenly in a clipped tone before taking a few steps away from him before stopping dead in her tracks, half turning in his direction as she refused to meet his eyes. "I really am sorry, but I have to get going. You look good Mac, same as always. I can't wait to see you again." she offered him a small smile as she continued again. "Merry Christmas!" she called back over her shoulder as Mac nodded his head in agreement, thankful she managed to say something else, but with less emotion than before.
Unexpectedly, she was surrounded by a wave of young and older children. From what looked like ages six right to thirteen/fourteen managed to flock around her as she forced a smile and embraced everyone of them. "Brady, it's about time you came back. I been practicing that trick you showed me, almost pro now. You've got to see it!" one young kid yelled as she turned to the boy and ruffled his hair affectionately, desperately trying to mask her pain for the sake of the others.
"B… you won't believe it, I made seeker for the town's team. Just like you did!" another little girl replied excitedly as she nodded her head and smiled.
Everything seemed touching, but they were all calling her different names. Something else that only made me question her motives and life even more so then normal. What was she really hiding from me, from everybody here?
"That's great Luce! I told you that you could do it!" as more crowded around, she silenced them quickly and demanded their full attention. "I'd love to catch up with you all, but I've got to go for a bit, I promise I'll be back soon though, so practice up and I'll see you soon!" she exclaimed as the children let out a long whine but cleared away all the same.
Watching her intently, I couldn't help but smirk as I watched her determinedly sauntered closer and closer to me before brushing past. "I'm finished, let's leave." she stated quickly before running into the house, me hot on her heels.
"What, so quickly? You didn't even introduce me to the others!" I complained as she turned on me suddenly.
She opened her mouth to spit something horrid before closing it again and biting her lip long and hard. "This isn't your crowd Wood. There not as rich, don't have as much material possessions as you do." she spat as I scoffed and looked at the surrounding house. If this wasn't wealth, then I didn't know what was.
"This isn't their's." she argued as I looked to her disbelievingly.
"Oh really. Well who does it belong to then… Santa Claus, oh… the Easter Bunny!" I smirked as she turned on me and shook her head. This could have gone a lot of ways, but I couldn't find it in me to pity a child like this.
"No, it belongs to me. These are foster witches and wizards who can't fend for themselves. If their Hogwart's letter comes, then they leave… if not, then they stay here with some of my parents' old trusted friends. It's like one big family." she sighed suddenly, lost within as her eyes glazed over at the thought of her parents.
"They had always dreamed of helping others, being one of few to step up to the plate and make their voices heard. This isn't my doing, I'm simply carrying on their legacy, I'm these kids past, present… and hopefully one day, future." she stated, still stuck in her dazed world.
Shaking her head, she snapped out of it immediatly as she turned and stalked towards the fireplace before retrieving her things and throwing down the floo powder, not bothering to wait for me to catch up.
Sighing in frustration, I shook my head before taking another look around. It was large and grand, with towering cathedral ceilings and exotic chandeliers. Suddenly, the faint sound of someone clearing their throat caught my attention as I turned my head to find this Mac boy standing off in the corner, a grimace on his face.
"Who are you?" I asked confidently. He was smaller, and even if not by much there was no way I was going to loose neither a battle of wits or of bronze to someone I hardly knew. I would show Alexis, or Brady, whoever she was, that I was just as strong as her past, I could handle anything.
"The names Mac brother, and you are?" he asked, taking a few weary steps forward into the light as I looked to him and tried not to smirk.
"Wood, Oliver Wood. I'm with Alexis." I stated as he looked at me confused before I sighed and added, "Brady."
"Oh, oh right." he mused before sizing me up and grinning slightly. "Just like 'er. Always after the Quidditch players that one." he chuckled to himself as I shook my head confused.
"What's her last name… Brady's?" I asked as another smile broke out onto his face.
"That is her last name. Last and first." he stated as I starred at him confused. "Don't worry mate, non of us get it." he laughed again. "Her mum and dad always went by first names and no one knew who they really were. Bray is just the same. No one knows who she really is."
"Yeah, tell me about it." I sighed under my breath as he let out another pounding chuckle. His eyes dancing with a hidden and masked over pain, but also a smirk of amusement.
"Don't sweat it Wood. Brady never knows what she's doing, that's what makes her so popular. She acts on impulse, makes people laugh, keeps them entertained. Everything your looking for is packed into that small body o' hers. You just gotta dig deep enough to find it." he smiled as I nodded my head before bidding him a farewell and catching up with the girl whose name I did not know.
Apparating home, I smiled as I stepped out into the big mansion, loving the smell and familiar striking nerve of standing within the confines of all my childhood memories. All the parties, the girls, the friends, the enemies, the Quidditch games, the holidays. Everything.
"Oliver… is that you love?" I heard mum's shrill voice call out through the house followed by a fit of laughter.
"Yeah mum. Be in in a second." I called back before sending my things up to my room.
After shrugging out of my coat, I walked past the large table and chairs and into the long hallway, full of family photos of waving Quidditch players, and proud Scotch purebloods.
Stepping into the kitchen, I found myself looking at my mother and McKenzie in the kitchen with flour all over their faces, and my father with a glass of whisky in his hands with an amused expression on his face. "Ah, Oliver, so nice of you to join us for a change." my father said as I nodded my head before taking a few steps forward to assess the damage.
"Normally Oliver is stuffed up in his room with that book of his drawing out new plays and practices for school. Surely you would know Alexis, you seem like the kind of girl to get in deep with the sport. Your very essence leaks out that of a Quidditch player. What chaser? Beater?" my dad smiled as he turned back to the girl. "Don't get me wrong Oliver, I live to see your passion for the sport. But it'd be nice to see you once in a while." he mused again as I locked eyes with McKenzie before she spoke.
"As a matter of fact Mr. Wood, I play seeker. I played for three home teams and the national reserve team ffor Ireland, but I had to quit halfway through." I looked to her as she consumed the tension filled silence that conquered the room. Smirking as she turned back to helping my mother clean up.
"Oh, that's horrible." my mother chided as Alexis merely shrugged her shoulders, nothing but the cool and calm expression of contentment on her face.
"I love the sport, and I found great passion in flying and taking the risk, but my biggest challenge was at home, family and friends. I ran into quite a few problems with friends and my extended family, and they asked me to come home and help. So I couldn't say no. After that, I took up coaching one of the local teams, I knew a few kids from there and they put in a good word for me." she chuckled slightly while shaking her head at the thought.
"What happened in here?" I asked suddenly, taking in the large mess as my father's amused expression returned immediately.
"Oh, Alexis was teaching us how to make pie without magic, she said it had more taste and more sentimental value, but as you can see… your mother isn't so good without her wand." my father stated with a mighty sigh as my mother's wicked grin spread throughout her face as she grabbed the bag of flour and right before my eyes, launched it across the room at my father who merely stood shocked as it hit him and exploded in a fury of white powder.
"Teach you to judge me." she huffed with dignity and arrogance before I felt the sharp impact of a heavy yet rather soft object smash into the side of my head. I suddenly found myself covered in baking flour. The cloud of white barely thinning as I looked around to the direction of impact.
"This means war…"