The Manor in the Woods

by Gruagg

Harry didn't grow up with the Dursley's. Instead, He and Hermione grow up together in an orphanage till a Death Eater Attack. This is their story. Multi Pairing. minor bashing, but not the focus. Rated M because I want to be absolutely safe. Poll for Susan's pairing up. let me know your views. Warning, this fic does get dark in spots, I do not write smut, stuff is at most implied.

6. Chapter 6: Adjusting to Life

A/N As usual, I don't own anything, and as such, am just playing in the sandbox.

Ok, So I want to point out a couple of things. There really isn't much action in the first three years. Voldemort would have had no reason to go to Hogwarts as the stone is obviously locked up by the Flamels. Lucius is gone and took what he wanted with him, including the diary, as it belonged to his master and he was told to protect it. So it won't end up in Hogwarts in the second year, and as such, no basilisk. I could have someone break out of Azkaban in third year, but I really don't want to. I have plans for Azkaban. As such, there aren't any real death defying events in the first three years. They will still hear of events happening in the wide world, but not dealing with it as children. I have not decided if I want to use the tournament, or something else. But basically, Fourth year is where the action really starts to pick up. As such, The first three years will be covered in a single chapter each, or, at most, the third year might take two chapters, as they get older and get to know each other better.

These next few chapters aren't really world building, and there will be some minor events, but most of the stuff happens outside the school. I wanted to take the time to build the characters up so that they aren't complete mental cases. As such, I honestly do not know how Harry in canon, was not a complete basket case by the end of his third year, as, although I enjoyed the books and movies, I honestly wondered if J.K. Rowling was a bit of a sadist as every time something good happened to Harry, something even worse happened right after. Nothing ever really worked out for him.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

The end of the chapter is pretty dark, and about as dark as I will ever go. The last two sections dealing with the tower of Nurmengard are dark. It is not blood or gore, but implied situations between adults, not necessarily consenting. You have been warned.

Chapter 6

The Hogwarts Express had just left the station of Kings Cross and was slowly starting to make its way to Hogsmeade and, after a short trip, to Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione were in a compartment towards the back, waiting for the other girls to show up. They had sent a letter stating where they would be, and hoping to get past the initial introductions. It was hoped that things would not go south quickly, though they weren't discounting it either. A few minutes went by as they sat there next to each other before there was a knock at the door. A quick, "Enter" from Harry, and the door was opened to reveal a pair of twin girls. They had a bit of a darker complexion, as if they spent a good amount of time in the sun. As most girls their age, they appeared to be rather gender neutral besides the soft faces with longer hair, and the obvious skirts they wore.

"Hello, I'm Parvati and this is Padma. Patil that is. Um, would you be Harry Potter and Hermione Granger?" Harry stood and nodded. Remembering back to his etiquette lessons, he gently took each girl's hand and lightly kissed the back of them. It was a move he had practiced with both Hermione, as she was closer to his height, and Ms. Louis as she was an adult. To his surprise, size made a small difference. "Yes, I am Harry Potter, Heir Potter, if we are being formal, though please, call me Harry." Motioning to Hermione, he continued, "And this is Hermione Granger, my betrothed for the House of Potter." Seeing her curtsy, again due to the training they had received, the twins curtsied back. "Now that the formalities are out of the way, may we relax ladies?" They both nodded, though he did notice that Padma seemed to be a bit more shy about it than Parvati. Identical twins , but different mannerisms . A good way to tell them apart for now .

"Thank Heir Potter, and please call us by our given names. As for relaxing a bit." She plopped down on the seating opposite them and let out a big sigh, "I think that's best. Sorry about that but daddy said …." a rather sheepish grin on her face. Hermione decided to enter the conversation at this point though, "I understand. We, ourselves, are still learning what is and isn't appropriate, especially as our instructor is rather outdated on some things, and there really weren't a lot of books to read on the subject." It was Padma who seemed to nod at this, "It is kept in the families for the most part. Daddy said at one time, the noble families would take in Muggleborn or raised and ensure they received the lessons and knowledge so that they could blend in better, but that stopped about a hundred years or so ago. Something about the first world war." Her voice was soft and again, Harry noted that it made her appear a bit shy.

Conversation lagged a bit, as Harry mentioned he was waiting on Daphne Greengrass as well, hoping to get to know all of them and that he also hoped that the twins along with Daphne would get to know him and Hermione. It was his wish to become friends first, though he would talk later about that once everyone was there.

The compartment was sort of full. Hermione looked around and was amazed at first until Daphne Greengrass, who had joined them shortly after the Patil sisters, explained that as a magic train, the compartments would enlarge if needed. They did have a supposed max limit, but she had no idea what it was. Add in them being first years, and therefore, smaller than anyone else on the train, and they could fit more in there with less space. This was how half way through the train ride Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Tracey Davis, and Astria Black had all found themselves in the compartment. Harry had, of course, mentioned that they might need to find a few boys their age to even things out, much to the laughter of the others.

Neville, in her opinion, was painfully shy and quiet. Sure, Padma was shy, but Neville seemed to even flinch at the shadows. She had been told quietly that his grandmother was a very overbearing woman, and his family wasn't the nicest of people when they thought him a squib, or rather, a non-magical born to a magical family. The problem was, everytime someone tried to include him in the conversation, he barely responded, then seemed to shrink into himself. She sort of understood what Susan had meant when she had leaned over and said that her Aunt Amelia would let her make the choice, but was seriously leaning, as things were, towards having her paired with Harry.

The talk had continued though, from the initial of the contracts, to houses they might be sorted into, to how the sorting happened. Though after a bit, Harry and Hermione were both feeling a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of people. It was Padma who noticed it though. "You know, daddy said that you weren't used to being around a lot of people. Am I correct in guessing that it's getting a bit too much for you?" Harry smiled, but slowly nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, sorry everyone, it's just… I don't really know how to explain it." Susan spoke up at this point, "It's ok Harry, Hermione. Do you want us to leave? It's fine if you do." That was one thing Hermione decided she really liked about the girl, she seemed to really care about other people. "No, that's ok. I mean, we have to get used to it, but I think I will step out for a bit, go to the Water Closet or something." Hermione decided it would be a good time also for her to do so. She wasn't as affected, as she could easily just tune everyone out and enjoy a good book, but it would be good to follow and make sure he was really ok.

Hermione stood up and followed him out, and it wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. She took a few extra minutes to center herself, and focus her thoughts. It ' s a lot different than I thought it would be . Daphne is nice , though she seems to keep up a mask if she can . The twins are about as different as night and day , though I hope they don ' t take offense if we spend the night in the private room we were promised . Susan is really kind , though Neville needs someone to help him come out of his shell . Not something I can really help with , nor Harry , as we have our own shells to hide in . She walked out and saw Harry had apparently had the same timing as her and walked over to her. As they were walking back though, they saw an older student, probably 13 or 14 years old, walk up to them. He was taller than them, with black hair and brown eyes, though his features were marred by a sneer of contempt at them.

"Marcus Flint, and I'm guessing you are Harry Potter. It would be best Potter, if you disappeared. I'm here to help with that." The sneer grew and he reached into his robes, withdrawing his wand. That was all the threat that Harry and Hermione seemed to need. They had trained to defend themselves, wanded and wandless. And though wandless took some effort, they could do more working together. The two had spent years training together, and had learned a few tricks. Namely how to divide the tasks at hand. Before they came to the train, they had decided on how to handle something like this, just in case. Harry thrust his hands out, and a wave of magic, invisible to the naked eye, but easily felt, flew out from him, hitting Flint with the force and knocking him backwards. His feet and hands extended as if the force had hit in the gut.

His wand went flying, and it was as he was he landed with a loud bang onto the ground on his back, that Hermione threw out one of her hands. The plan had been simple, and they had practiced it thoroughly. Harry would knock them back, and Hermione would ensure they couldn't get back up. She let her magic wrap around him and, to the older boy's surprise, he was flat on the ground, spread eagle, with a full body sticking charm holding him to the ground. As he struggled, he started to rant, to scream, and to make threats. "YOU DIRTY HALFBLOOD…. HOW DARE YOU….. THE FLINT FAMILY LOST EVERYTHING WHEN THE DARK LORD FELL… YOUR FAULT… MAKE YOU PAY…." It was at this point that, though his mouth was moving, no sound was coming out.

Another older boy, this one seeming to be 15 or 16 years old, with a badge on his chest, put his wand up. He looked at the two and, instead of performing an inquisition, he asked a simple question. "Are you two ok?" He had red hair and looked a bit stuck up, but he was at least checking on them. Harry nodded and Hermione answered. "Yes we are. We practiced that, just in case, but…. ""It's perfectly fine." Waving to someone in the carriage car behind him, another individual with a badge stepped out, this one, a young woman. "Penelope, can I ask you to escort these two back to their compartment? I'm going to signal the Head boy and girl, let them handle this one." "Sure Percy." Not more than a few minutes later, where they are back in their compartment.

Daphne sat at the Ravenclaw house table and looked around to where everyone was placed. Her and Astria had been placed in Ravenclaw along with Padma Patil. Tracey, Neville, Susan, and Hannah had gone to Hufflepuff, while Harry, Parvati, and Hermione had gone to Gryffindor. She had suspected that Harry and Hermione would be placed together, and honestly, it made her feel a bit better. The one thing she had learned was that they really didn't do well with a lot of people. When they had gotten to the great hall and had been waiting, they both had fallen to the back and kept a very good space between them and everyone else. Being called out in front of everyone, she had worried that they were going to have a panic attack.

The twins had made it clear they were going to try to get different houses. They loved each other, but wanted to be known for their own achievements. Harry had also promised to talk to someone to see if they could have people over in their private room, and if so, they could sneak off there to have some sister time. He also extended the invite to the others, or at least the betrothed, since he felt he could actually swing that.

Daphne was just happy to not be in Slytherin. She had heard the horror stories about what Snape had let happen there, and she honestly didn't think it was a safe place for a girl. She hoped Pansy would be alright. Looking over, she could see the girl had her head down, while surrounded by Crabbe and Goyle. They weren't bad people, like most everyone here, they where kids. But she also knew that some families, and she didn't know where the Parkinsons landed on the scale, saw their daughters as only a means to an end. She would have to see about talking to her, and making sure she was ok, and that nobody was harassing her. They may not have been the best of friends, but they were friends… sort of.

Pansy Parkinson had just gotten to her room and sighed. She was lucky on one hand that Slytherins had their own private rooms. The downside was, she was in a private room. She knew it didn't matter yet. Anyone that could do something, wouldn't for a while. She was 11 and not developed at all. Frowning, she relocked her door and moved a chair in front of it. "Better safe than sorry." Her father loved her, she knew. But the problem was, she was his only way to get an heir to the Parkinson name. And if something happened to him, well, the Notts would most likely take up guardianship. She shivered at that. She would have to stay on her guard. Probably a good idea to spend as little time in the dorms as possible . I ' m safe for now , and daddy would destroy anyone who did something . But in a year or two ? Hopefully by then, things would have calmed down, and she wouldn't need to worry about it.

The first two weeks of school had set a grueling pace for the students, both old and new. Harry sat in the library with Hermione, Daphne, Padma, Parvati, and Susan. Neville was in the Greenhouses, last he heard, at least. Apparently, the young boy was a prodigy at plants. Hannah seemed to enjoy spending time with him there and, surprisingly, so did Tracey. Astria was meeting a friend in secret, though never said who. Though he had to admit, Astria, cousin though she was, did seem to keep things at a bit of a distance. He listened back into the conversation coming from Padma and Parvati.

"You have to look at it from Astria's point of view. Till a month and a half ago, she was a boy. Now she's a girl and having to change infront of them, shower with them, and so forth. It's a lot to accept. I mean, a month and a half ago, she would have been considered a pervert and been in huge trouble." Padma said quietly to her sister. Parvati was having none of it though. "That doesn't matter anymore though. She IS a girl now, and I get that its an adjustment, but not much of one right now in age. So she uses the toilet one way now instead of two, and her undergarments are different. It's not like she was dating or anything like that. We are too young to have to worry about it. Besides, she should relax, we all have the same equipment in the dorms. It's not like she's seeing anything that we all don't have."

Harry sighed. This argument had been going on for a bit, and he could honestly see both sides. It stemmed from the fact that Astria had made it a point to wait till everyone else had left the dorms before she would even get out of bed to change or shower. Leaving the two sisters to their argument, he listened in on Daphne and Hermione for a moment. Daphne was talking about something interesting. "Hermione, I understand you don't like being singled out, but your intelligent, and it shows. However, if you think the Professors are singling you out, we can go talk to them." Ahh, he understood where that was coming from. Hermione had already proven that she tended to know the answers. It was no surprise, as they tended to stay in the private room rather than the dorms, it meant he saw how much she studied.

"I know Daphne, and it's not being called on. It's the attention. I don't like it." Hermione hadn't adapted as well as he had, not that he had done too well himself. They had even skipped history to hide away one day. They really did try, but attention just found them. Susan was the one who answered at this time. "Hermione, you do ok with us, even when we have the full group together. What's the difference?" "The difference is simple Susan. I KNOW you and the others. I don't like everyone else. And no, I don't want to know them. I just want to go back to our manor and the woods." A small sniffle escaped her and that was all Harry needed. He was by her in a moment, wrapping her up in a hug, and with a wave of hand, something he had been practicing lately, all of his and hers stuff packed up. He looked at the others, "Sorry everyone, but todays not a good day for us. We'll be in the room if you need us." He saw the others nod with understanding looks on their faces and then he led her away.

Unbeknownst to them, a teacher had been watching them from an alcove. A frown appeared on their face as they considered the information.

Minerva Mcgonagall sat in the faculty meeting room. It had been two weeks now and it was time to do the initial assessments. Especially with all the changes we have brought . "Filius, let's hear what you have to say about Charms and the first years." Seeing Filius straighten up and move a couple pieces of parchment around, she saw him look at everyone. "Well, I think that they are adjusting. The Occlumency classes with a focus on memory and retention have definitely helped our students. It has been rough, but you can easily see who is putting the effort forth. Though I am worried about two of our students. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are, well, they are … having difficulties, shall we say." The others nodded. Nicholas Flamel leaned forward, as the pseudo Potions teacher for Newt level students and potential Alchemy students if he found any interest, he hadn't had any real interactions with the named students, but he did have an idea. "And would it be correct to assume everyone feels the same?" He saw more nods. "Then Headmistress, I have an idea."

Harry was outside with Percy Weasley. Apparently, all first years were now being assigned a mentor to help them adjust to life in the castle. Percy was an ok guy, from what he had seen so far. He just didn't know how to feel about it. "So Mr. Weasley.." "Percy, please. And do you mind if I call you Harry?" Harry shook his head. He could give it a go at least. "What is the point of this whole thing? I mean, it's nothing against you, but I just don't understand. It's going to take us time to really adjust. I mean, sure, we jump a bit and don't really interact with others, but… " Percy was nodding along. He and the other fifth years had been pulled aside and explained the idea behind this.

"Well Harry. There are a few things they are trying to make sure happen. First, of course, is if you need or want someone to talk to. Sure, the professors are there, but," He leaned down after looking around, and whispered "They are rather old. Are we sure they remember how to be kids?" Harry chuckled at that. Ok, he knew it was silly, but still. Standing back up, Percy continued, "The second reason is mainly in case you have questions about homework, which I don't think you probably will, but the offer is there. Maybe explain something in a different light and such, or maybe shortcuts around the castle, things like that." Harry nodded again, that made sense. He had thought it was just something for him and Hermione, but if it helped everyone, or had the potential to, well, that wasn't so bad, was it?

"Finally, you're the first class from the first year that is going through the new accelerated learning. The professors thought it might be a good idea for you, and those in your grade, to have someone to talk to. Maybe rant, or distress. I don't know Occlumancy too well, though I am learning it fast. Honestly, I wish they would have taught it to us in first year as well. Think of it like this though, if nothing else. You now have an older friend you ask anything to. I may get embarrassed, but I won't turn you away. OK?" Harry looked at him and nodded. "So Harry, why don't you tell me about what you like to do to relax?"

The end of October was here, Halloween. The small group had started to worry about some things, like Neville, for instance. He was a nice enough kid, and the Mentor program did seem to help, but he really only seemed to get Herbology. His wanded magic was really weak. Rumor was going around that he was a Savant. In magical terms, that meant he was going to be a genius at Herbology, however, his magic compensated for this gift by channeling itself in a unique way, making wanded magic difficult. Not impossible, but definitely harder. His mentor had been working with him on it, and he was making some progress, but the rumor continued that he might be getting an apprenticeship instead of a normal education.

The schedules were packed for everyone though. Mornings started at 730, or at least, that's when breakfast ended. Then there was a mandatory hour of Occlumency practice, followed by the normal schedules at the new pace being done. Then came lunch, with another hour of Occlumency, classes, Occlumency, Dinner, then free time, which Harry and his friends spent in the library studying and doing homework. One night a week they had Astrology, and those were rough nights to say the least. It was a heavy course load that would only get worse, but the thought was that by their third year, the hour of Occlumency three times a day could be done two times a day, and dropping to once a day by 5th year. Any other work on it would be done in one's private time.

It was Parvati who made the simple statement, "Doing it so much seems to be helping though. Honestly, we are reinforcing everything we are learning because we have to review the memory and then sort it. It also helps that we aren't trying to do it all at once right now. Once we get it down to easy sorting later on, we can work on building better defenses and organizations. I know I am having an easier time now, than when we first started. That was rough." The others agreed wholeheartedly. There had been a handful of students dropped from the accelerated classes and moved to what was now being called the British standard classes. It wasn't a bad thing, necessarily, just that they would be taking only the British standard OWLS and NEWTS as opposed to those set by the ICW.

What that meant was the type of postgraduate education you could look forward to. Neville was being taken on as an apprentice in Herbology, and the boy seemed to be in plant heaven. But he still had to pass standard OWLS and NEWTS. Most Apprenticeships though came after completing school and getting accepted by an appropriate guild to assign you a Master that is willing to take you on in the field of study. Even after that was done, and it took a minimum of two years, sometimes longer depending on your field, you were only a level 1 master. The greatest in the fields were level 5 masters. A good example though was Minerva Mcgonagall, being a level 4 master. There really wasn't much she didn't know about the field. No one was quite sure yet what they wanted to do with life, but Harry was sure of one thing, he wanted to be able to defend himself and his future family. As such, he had started asking questions along those lines of Percy.

There were a few professions that he could look at, namely an auror, though Harry had dismissed that when he learned he had to deal with all sorts of people. Even if he got better at it, he could just imagine him being some poster child or something. Percy had also pointed out Hitwizards. Harry was mildly interested in them because they did choose their own jobs, but they were looked down on almost as much as they were respected. It really depended on whether they were guild backed, and which guild it was that was backing them. He had suggested that he look at a mastery of some level in Defense against the dark arts, but also learn what he can from the other subjects.

Ron Weasley slumped into the great hall with everyone else, and the group had split up to sit at their house tables. Ron had been put into Gryffindor, but had not really put a lot of effort into his classes like Harry or Hermione. He wasn't a bad kid, Harry had decided, but he definitely hadn't been taught manners or things like that, at least not to where he used them. The problem Harry had with him was the boy was constantly trying to get him to slack off. It was earlier that day that he had snapped at Padma in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw shared class in charms. Of course, Harry had grabbed her and stopped her from running off. The group had simply walked off. They had spent a couple of hours going over Occlumency practices to get their emotions under control. They showed up to the dinner feast, and after explaining it to the professors, were excused for the day.

It was halfway through the feast, just as the ghosts where starting a rendition of some wizarding story, that the doors to the great hall opened, allowing Mr. Filch to come running up to the professor's table. All could see a whispered conversation happening. Finally, Headmistress McGonagall stood up and clinked her glass. "I apologize for interrupting what was turning out to be a wonderful rendition by our resident ghosts, but I have just been informed that all students should return to their dormitories. A special surprise has been set up for every house, courteous of the Ministry. I hope you enjoy it." Whispers broke out by everyone. Harry and Hermione were also getting ready to leave, when a throat was cleared behind them. "Remember to go through your preparations for tonight, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger." Charity Burbage, resident Ritual Mistress, informed them.

Tonight was another basic ritual. They had done a cleansing and heirship ritual, along with the Familiar bonding ritual before coming to Hogwarts. But tonight was Samhein and they had planned on doing the gifting ritual tonight. With Hogwarts being so close to so many ley lines, it would mean that there was no chance of a negative side effect. That was the secret to the best rituals. If enough natural magic, or ley line magic was in the area when you performed a ritual, any potential negative side effects from a ritual were negated. Neither student had a full understanding of it, but it was well documented. It was also a big part of why they wanted to come to Hogwarts. So far, they had done nothing that had a negative side effect. But in the future, such as the elemental attunement ritual, they would have had to worry. Vanen had explained it using the elemental attunement ritual as a good basic example.

This particular ritual would attune you to be in better sync with a chosen element. In the case of fire, your fire spells would become easier, take less energy, be more powerful, and so forth. You would also be better protected from the element of fire and gain access, eventually, to higher level casting based on fire. There were other benefits based on the element as well. Though there were side effects. Without enough magic in the air, it could affect your emotional state, bringing you closer in line to what fire was considered, hot tempered, quick to act, rash, and so forth. It also made you quite a bit more susceptible to the opposing element, in this case water, and by extension, the cold. However, with the ley line magic of Hogwarts, these negative side effects would be negated as enough magic would be used to do so. Hermione was putting together enough questions to ask Mistress Burbage exactly how, but hadn't yet. For now, it was enough to know that it did, and not why.

As for tonight though, the gifting ritual would allow someone to receive an ability that magic, or whatever controlled magic, be it a god, or something else, deemed that you would need in life. It was never a major gift, such as an animagus form, or a staff or anything. It was always something that was benign, and usually was something you had to learn how to use. A good example was the gift of languages. This gift would allow you to learn a new language and retain it with much less effort than before. You still had to work at it, but it did come easier.

Harry and Hermione left to go do the basic preparations for tonight with a smile on their face. "I think we made the right call in coming here, Harry." He just smiled at Hermione. Their friends in their circle hadn't grown since the train, and the mentor program was definitely helping them and others deal with things. Many students would be doing their own initial rituals for cleansing tonight, as Mistress Burbage had called in quite a few experts to help do everything. As time went on, other rituals would be done as the first years would be doing the cleansing, but the program was still being set up.

Deloris Umbridge had received a letter, an offer for a better position than she was in now, Private sector, with better pay and benefits. She knew she would be a fool to pass it up. All she had to do was resign her current post and take the portkey that was in the letter. She had already sent an owl off to Cornelius, oh she would miss him. His beady little eyes, the way he played with his hat, the short stature, pot belly, and hairy knuckles. Shaking herself free of those thoughts, she touched the portkey. She would never be seen again.

Frank Schutem was a Polish Healer and Doctor. He had studied both the mundane and magical arts of healing. He had been a good man, in his eyes at least. Though he questioned it these days. He had appeared here some decade or so ago, and even now, to this day, he dearly misses his wife, children, and grandchildren. His Granddaughter who had been 8, the last time he saw her, always made him shed a tear. He refused to fight anyone, and even the monsters he came across, he would do only what he had to to get away. He was a healer, not a fighter.

It had been roughly two sleep cycles since he had seen his last patient, something this damnable labyrinth had him do. He would find someone in need of medical attention, and he would get to work. He had found that if he asked for specific supplies, they would appear. What he hated the most though, was every now and then, he would be sent a woman. He had, at first, refused to do anything with her, beyond that of a medical scan and basic healing. This labyrinthe had other ideas though. He assumed it was some type of lust ward, or confundus ward that eventually overcame his own senses. He hated himself afterwards, every time. Through the past couple years, he had come to accept it as part of his punishment. He didn't know what he was being punished for, but he knew he must have done something. There was no other reason.

He would be sure to be gentle, never doing anything without at least a modicum of consent. He saw the wall open up and a young lady walk out. Sighing to himself, he spoke up. "Hello ma'am. I can guess why you are here, but perhaps you would be willing to sit and have some food first, maybe a bit to drink? I would appreciate a bit of conversation before anything else, and do rest assured, I shall not do anything without your approval." He finally looked up at the young lady and stared in shock. "Grandpa?"

The Heart understood the relationship now between these two. Though it was interesting, their reactions. It didn't quite understand why though. As far as it knew, women were there for rewards and pleasures of the men, and it used that to encourage the men. They were more aggressive, normally at least, if they were rewarded. The women lived together easier, although she assumed the red headed one was a special case. It did not know why it felt some type of…. Affection… would be the best word, it assumed, towards her. Though it did. That was why it gave her a bit extra, and helped with the runes when she was stumped. It knew she was trying to reach it, and maybe, if she did, the Heart would finally understand.

The heart also had a small glimpse, again, of the noseless one, and a baby boy. A scar on the forehead, screaming, and more. It had no idea where this came from, but again, it just knew the woman with red hair had the answers. The noseless one always made it angry. It didn't know why, but it knew it did. Eventually, the red headed one would come here, and its answers would appear. It couldn't wait.

Deep inside the Heart, another small voice that could not be heard, unknown even to the heart, as it was hidden by those who had put it there, a little girl, no more than eleven, whimpered out in pain. It saw all that the heart did, though was powerless to stop it, its views were being warped, though she didn't know it. "...mommy….daddy… save me…"

Chapter End

Final notes: Ok, I know I have been giving a bit of darkness at the end of the chapters, but that is for a reason. The tower is not a good guy, it is the heart of Nurmengard, and its awareness is literally formed around the evil that is there. Some of you may have already guessed the little girl. I won't deny, or confirm. But in a few more chapters, we will get some happiness. So hold on a bit longer.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and are looking forward to the next one. I will see you in the next chapter of The Manor in the Woods Ch . 7

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