At long last, the end of Alexandra's stay with her mother was here. Except for the night of her arrival, she had not seen her mother. She knew she was staying cooped up in the third floor of the house, and throughout each day, she would see witches and wizards coming up and down the stairs, all looking like people she would be terrified to be faced with. Throughout her stay, Alexandra had scarcely left her room, save for meals and trips to the bathroom. She had occupied herself in the solitude of her room working on her homework assignments and trying to figure out what sort of plan Wretermoust could possibly be talking about that involved her…
It was the day before the first of August, and Alexandra was in her room packing her bag for her journey home tomorrow. She was stuffing the last of her clothes away when there was a knock at her door, and Claridina entered.
"Anxious to leave, I see," she said.
"My father said the arrangements were made for me to stay until the first of August."
"I know what the arrangements were. I just regret that we had such little time to spend together…I was very busy, I suppose you know."
"It's okay," Alexandra mumbled. Truthfully, she was quite pleased that she had not had to have had much contact with her mother.
"No, no. I will have to make it up to you when you stay again."
Alexandra looked up at her. Stay again?
"Um, my dad hasn't really said anything about me coming again-"
"Come now, Alexandra, we don't need to concern that muggle with every little decision," Claridina scoffed. "I want to take part in your life. You'll come again for a week during the holiday, won't you?"
"I-I don't know."
"Think on it, will you?"
Alexandra nodded.
"Very well, that's all I wanted to discuss," she said, turning to leave. "I'll have someone ready to take you to the train station tomorrow morning at nine." And with that, she left the room, closing the door behind her.
…..
"Every Ministry in the Europe is looking for you," said a tall, surly wizard named Aden. "Clearly you can see that it would perhaps be wise to lay low for awhile."
"Every Ministry in Europe is an organization of incompetents who don't know one end of their wand from the other," Claridina snapped, pacing back in forth in the large room of the third floor.
"They are no match for you, I know," Aden said quickly. "But if you were to make a mistake and-"
"Do you think I make mistakes?" Claridina said in a scarily soft whisper.
"No-No. I didn't mean to imply…I only meant that-"
"I don't give a damn what you meant. This whole plan was been flawless so far. It's not going to screw up now."
"Does the girl know yet? About her part?"
"She's still warming up to me," Claridina replied. "Until I have her complete trust, it's not wise to tell her such information."
"What if Rolwat lets something slip at school?"
"Are you doubting my son's secrecy?"
"Not at all. But he is a young boy and-"
"He's proven himself to be a far more gifted wizard than you'll ever be."
"I don't deny it."
There was silence, and then Aden opened his mouth again. "What if the girl reveals our location to Harry Potter?"
A smiled snaked its way onto Claridina's face. "What if?"
"She's bound to see him sometime, my Lady. If she reveals our location-"
"She'd have to explain what she was doing here, now wouldn't she?"
Aden blinked. "I-I don't follow."
"She's not going to tell a soul she was here," Claridina said softly. "Especially not Harry Potter. For if she does, she's have to admit to sharing blood of perhaps the Darkest witch of the age. She's not ready to do that. Yet."
Aden didn't reply.
"You're to take her to the train station at nine tomorrow morning," Claridina said, leaning over a bubbling cauldron. "You may leave for the night in the meantime."
Aden nodded slowly and left the room without a word.