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"You're mad." Said Persephone as she wondered how she was roped into these things by her cousin. She wanted to do the sensible thing and stay home. She didn't mean sitting on her petticoated behind eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans while the real Bertie struggled to survive.
"I'm not now be quiet until we get out of the anti-apparation field." Said Portia as they crept off the property of their ancestral home. a fog hung over them completing the mood.
"What part of your plan makes sense exactly? The part where we escape to the continent, try and blend in with the muggles, and then rescue Harry, Galatea, and Timothy? The three of them who Galatea has told us to leave alone until she sorts things out!" said Persephone her voice rising dangerously high.
"Shut up! Do you want the guards to hear you? Or worse, mother?" said Portia. She wished that Persephone could see it her way, she really did.
"No, I want to be back in my nice warm bed and not the one in the house either! You know what I want? You really want to know?!" said Persephone in a harsh whisper.
"What? What do you want so badly?!" asked Portia holding Persephone's gaze. Grey eyes locked onto blue ones for a few seconds before Persephone's gaze dropped to her leather boot illuminated by the moon.
"I want to be a kid again." Said Persephone. Portia gave her a confused look.
"You're thirteen. You're talking as if you've got a house and a husband already." Said Portia as she continued walking. She stopped when she noticed that Persephone wasn't following.
"Am I, am I really?" said Persephone. Portia quirked a dark blonde, almost brown eyebrow. Was this some ploy to get them to be stationary long enough to be noticed or was it one of their deep talks. She was leaning towards deep talk.
"Well thirteen and a few months I suppose, cousin." Said Portia. Persephone shook her head, a few strands of her almost translucent blond hair getting free from her long hastily done braid.
"When we came back from out little Avalon World Tour Timothy was born. We're at least a year older." Said Persephone
"And then Puck set us back to our original ages more or less. We're fine." Said Portia crossing her arms, the navy cotton of her simple dress clung to her from the fog and her own nervous sweat.
"I don't feel thirteen." Said Persephone. Portia took her in her arms warm and safe.
"You're as old as it says on your birth certificate in the eyes of Remordere. That's what counts." Said Portia as she held her little cousin tight.
"Portia?" asked Persephone quietly, the dark pink of her dress mixing with the navy of Portia's. If Galatea was there to complete the hug forest green would be added to the mix. If Harry was there with them a deep blood red would join their muted rainbow.
"Yes Persephone?" said Portia breaking their hug with the intention of continuing their walk to their daring rescue of Galatea and her family.
"What would you do if you could live forever?" said Persephone her voice taking on a somber tone. This was not lost on Portia.
"Blow my brain out after two hundred years and hope that did me in." said Portia with utter seriousness and conviction. Persephone looked at her with a deep look of confusion.
"Why? Why would you squander such a gift?" asked Persephone incredulously. Now it was Portia's turn to look at her like she was mad.
"Because I'm a witch and we typically don't live past a hundred and fifty. Another fifty years would be fine but to outlive my friends, my family, even my own children and their children etcetera, etcetera…it would be maddening. We weren't designed to live forever." Said Portia her boots echoing as they walked down the servant's path in an effort not to be spotted.
"Puck isn't mad." Said Persephone quietly. Portia was about to make a joke about his marriage to Galatea bringing that into question when she turned to look at her cousin. Persephone shrank like an overcooked piece of meat under her gaze. There was guilt there.
"Fey are designed to be immortal, cousin, we are not." Said Portia in a controlled voice. She didn't like where this was going. It was in the pursuit of immortality which drove Tom Marvolo Riddle to go mad and become the Dark Lord. Or maybe he was mad before that either way immortality was never a good thing to pursue.
"But what about vampires?" said Persephone seemingly out of the blue. Portia defiantly didn't like where this was going. She knew little about vampires besides what she learned at school and the Interview with a Vampire biography some witch tried to pass off as muggle literature. The movie was pretty good though even if it did leave some things out. According to Galatea that was better, that vampire really could go on sometimes.
"What about them? From what I can gather they either go mad, kill themselves, or both." Said Portia. Persephone knew that this was the time to tell her cousin why she didn't want to leave the island and go off on some half baked plan.
"I've met one." Said Persephone quietly like she was a schoolgirl confessing a fancy. Portia hoped that she didn't fancy a vampire, hell she hoped that Persephone was mistaken and it was just some possibly perverted weirdo with a pair of fake fangs and an aversion to sunlight.
"Don't be daft, vampires only talk to people when they want to make meals of them… or book deals." Said Portia playing with her bangs. She was going the perverted weirdo route.
"Well, I sought him out." Said Persephone with mock bravado. She knew that stealing the phoenix gate and going on her own side adventure was reckless and stupid but she knew that vampire girl was her daughter. She knew that the child had to come from someplace but she couldn't ask outright. The universe and Galatea, mostly Galatea, didn't want her to do that.
"And you're sure this just isn't some perverted weirdo with fake fangs and an aversion to sunlight?" asked Portia unaware of the moonlight bouncing off the large glass butterfly clip used to hold her hair in place.
"No, it's the one who wrote the book." Said Persephone. Realization dawned on Portia as she began to play with her nails.
"And I don't supposed you told Louis and Lestat to talk to that which posing as a muggle." Said Portia in a tone that clearly said that this was not a question. Persephone suddenly looked very sheepish and continued walking down the path. Portia strode to catch up with her.
"Well, she's a near squib witch actually…" started Persephone before lights began to appear behind them.
"Run with me!" said Portia as they dashed down the path to freedom.