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Unfortunately, the tomb had been nought but a bust. It was interesting to any that might find history interesting, of that, Harry was certain, but there was little and less to be gained from examining the place in detail. He imagined he could find out more about House Peverell in the regular old library… well, unless they fancied going through the contents of every sarcophagus. If they were to do that, he reckoned they'd just about find what they were looking for in some strange and convoluted sort of way; people did love to be buried with some mad things.
"Disappointed?"
He turned to regard Elaine as they walked, hand in hand, along the path he'd refreshed upon his own journey earlier on. They'd decided to seek out the greenhouse and decrepit, secondary mansion he'd gone and found in the woods, and as they walked, he simply watched her. It was strange, walking as Muggles might to their destination, but it was something she'd insisted on.
It's romantic, he figured. Elaine can be cute when she wishes to be. I reckon she's like just about every witch, every person — affection's wicked.
"You made mention of a shrine," Elaine said after they passed betwixt a bush with berries scattered across it, and a birch tree with little shavings peeling off like paint off a wall. "Was it without magic when you checked? Did it feel strange?"
"It wasn't magical so far as I could tell. There might have been wisps of it, but they'd have been from a very long time ago, I think. And no," he shook his head and waved his hand, the latter action forcing an errant tree's limb from their path. "It didn't feel strange. It felt like I was before a shrine in the middle of the woods."
Elaine rose a brow at him, and then she prodded him in the side, in the ribs. He tried to dance away from her, and from there, the couple found themselves play-wrestling in the woods, their journey momentarily forgotten as they laughed and chased one another, hands seeking out a grasp of the other.
They pushed aside bushes and brushed aside branches, ran across grass and flowers alike, until finally, their little impromptu dance of a kind had ended much like how one would oft expect it to end; that being with one of them pressed up against the tree with the other victoriously grinning down.
In this instance, the victorious party was Harry, having leveraged his superior strength and the reflexes only a Quidditch player — years ago as that was — would have. He'd maneuvered her up against a tree, her hands held aloft above her head by one of his whilst the other had wrapped itself around her waist, ensuring that she stayed pressed firmly against his chest.
"I should've done this years ago," he said with a pleased sort of look on his face as he looked at the dark-eyed beauty before him; truly, Elaine was in a league of her own. He doubted a day would come in which any could come close to outdoing her beauty, Veela, Sirens and the other cheaters included.
"You should have. I'd not have had to invent a myriad of reasons to ensure you stay by my side, which would have left me with far more free time than I'd had — our study sessions together could have been so very different, as well," Elaine leaned forward, content in her position at the moment, enough so to pepper his face and neck with wet, soft kisses. "I suppose all worked out well in the end, though I dare say I'll never be so patient again."
With her softness against his front, it'd already been easy to get lost in the moment. When those words of hers followed shortly thereafter, and the kisses that were given ceaselessly, he couldn't help himself.
It'd not be claimed that it was his fault alone that they took nearly an hour to reach the mansion and greenhouse proper.
"I'd say it's not safe to enter, but that's something that can be so very easily remedied if we work together," Elaine's wand was in her hand in an instant, and affixed on her face was a gaze of expectancy. After their earlier walk through the woods, one in which they'd gotten 'lost' for some time, she seemed filled with a new vigor.
One Harry happily mirrored as his wand appeared and in tandem, the two reached out to the building before them.
Before any effort had been made, the place was a ruin, plain and simple. The wooden walls had many a hole made in them, and in one area, it was burnt out, scorched, with metal and bits of wood, rubble in other words, in the area. Lightning, or some other means of fire had done damage, and it'd never been repaired.
While the Peverells were dying, maybe? Or maybe the ones that lived here were dead long ago. This place was probably beautiful once.
For some reason, simply the thought of such a beautiful home, one that'd belonged to a grand and powerful family, reduced to this was… sad. Mayhaps it was queer of him to say, but the stories it could tell were probably many and more, and so the thought of the place falling into disrepair, left to burn and wither and rot, filled him with a sense of melancholy.
Even as the various holes began to fill in under his efforts and Elaine's, even as the outer walls, ruinous walls, began to return to a stage of originality, and even as the glass of the windows returned whence it'd been, it still made for a sad reminder; one that told the tale of power and prestige, but ruin and decay as well.
Eventually, the 'repairs' to make safe the mansion to enter, were completed. It was still a grizzly sight to behold, the mansion, but one that was, at the very least, safe to enter.
"Think we'll ever hav—"
"Yes," Elaine responded instantly, not so much as letting him finish his sentence, such was the speed of her answer as she grabbed his hand and started forth, to the entrance. "I believe we'll have a use for the place quite soon, though certainly not before the rustic quality is dealt with and the many repairs that need be made, completed. I believe we'll not take very long at all to do so, but that's not the reason for our journey today, as you've said."
Harry pushed open the door with another wave of his hand so that neither she nor he need touch it, and after the small smile Elaine gave him to showcase that she was pleased at his action, he nodded. "You're right," he said. "We should look at the other places together and in good detail… if I'm honest with you, I don't think there's anything here."
"Why?"
"It was ruinous and abandoned. Probably before any of the other buildings."
Elaine raised a brow, amused as her other hand came to pinch his cheek, her tongue sticking out of the corner of the mouth as she did so; again, she could be adorable when it pleased her.
"You're marvellous, lover," Elaine said before she returned her attention to the grand hall they entered into. "And you speak the truth. It was certainly abandoned before the graveyard we'd seen, and before the original home as well, but that needn't mean it's without secrets. Ofttimes, wherever you look in a ruinous structure, there's a secret to behold."
He supposed that could be true. It'd make sense as well… but not always, he reckoned. There could have been others that'd already taken what lie here at once time, or the secrets could be especially well-hidden. It'd not be the first time, and he knew it'd not be the last.
"A basement and a second floor," Elaine wrinkled her nose. "Only a second floor. Hardly fitting for such a wondrous and enlightened house, even if this was meant to house a cadet branch far removed from the main family at one point in time."
"Wait," Harry said. "I missed it a few seconds earlier — what would we use the place for? I doubt it'll be anytime soon that we have enough children, grandchildren or the like to fill it up, and we have a larger kitchen, banquet hall and the like already."
Elaine tutted. "We'll restore the protection that once existed upon this house specifically, and we'll have a Floo connection made. With our wealth, it shan't be hard to spruce the place up, enlarge it, modernise it, and ascertain its security."
Finally, Harry caught on to her meaning. He should have expected it from the start. "You mean to make people think this is our real home, is that it?"
"I'll not correct whatever assumptions people fake if it's in our favour," Elaine kissed his cheek, and then she danced away, her grace and speed catching him off-guard as she went carelessly up the stairs.
He watched her rear bounce away, and when the vision vanished beyond the stairs, he raced off after her.
It was fun.
And it didn't take him very long to catch up to her. Minutes, at most. When he did, his hands wrapped around her and he lifted, hefting her into the air while her legs kicked and she laughed, melodic and joyous; even in the confines of the damp, musty building.
"Where are you running off to?" he asked cheekily, peppering her cheeks with kisses much like she oft did to him.
"I seek the library, lover," Elaine broke free and twisted on her heels, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and resting against him. "Mayhaps something's hidden within it, or more likely, all the books are long rotten — I suppose that assumes they were left behind in the first place."
"I wouldn't think they'd be left."
"Neither would I, 'tis nothing more than a fantasy," Elaine stretched, cat-like in her gracefulness, before she pulled away from him. "I wish we could have seen these lands at their zenith. The sights and traffic would have been a sight to see."
She's probably right, Harry reckoned silently, trailing after her and looking at the craftsmanship. Decrepit as the place was, the ornate carvings of the wood and the busts and other likenesses that remained were still rather marvellous, even if their peak was long since past. It was probably quite something.
"Here," Elaine called as she turned at the end of the hallway, whereupon there was a branch left and right; she'd gone to the latter side. "This way leads to the study and library."
"How do yo—"
She tutted at him over her shoulder, cutting him off before she responded a second later. "Many Pureblood homes are designed quite similarly, and having the main study be across from the library is normal therein."
It made sense, he supposed. "I'll take a quick peek off to the left. Yell if you find anything, yeah?"
"I'll call whensoever something of interest appears," Elaine answered before she blew a kiss, gave a wink, and turned on the balls of her feet; she shot off like a spell into the study.
Harry watched where she'd been for a few seconds, and then he shook his head and went back to the fork in the path. From there, he went to the left, and there were only five doors; more than the other side, but the rooms seemed far smaller from the hall's view alone.
He debated checking for spells, did so with a flick of his wand and mutter of the incantation, and barring any reaction, he took a few more steps ahead. There was nothing, he figured, and so he waved his hand, opening all the doors.
There was a closet and a grand bedroom, and on the other side, another loo and two bedrooms. Nothing noteworthy sans the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom. Mayhaps he'd check them later, but he did so desire to go back to Elaine and see if anything had appeared. He was lucky, he knew that well enough, but her perception was on another level when compared to his.
And so he walked back whence he'd come with patient, slow steps, his eyes taking in his surroundings as he made the journey. As he'd described the place earlier, it was — at one time — quite ornate insofar as the carved works into the wooden archways of doors or the many stone-made pillars. The few busts that were mostly in-tact also conveyed a sort of enlightenment, he supposed.
It's like being in a small, decrepit Hogwarts.
"I do so desire a time in which we'll be free to travel."
Elaine's voice echoed from the library, and so he walked faster, his response only coming once he was standing in the doorway. She was in the farthest corner, the back-right of the room, and she was standing atop a table she'd repaired. With the remnants of some sort of chandelier or the like hanging down from the centre of the library, where more remnants of tables and chairs remained, the place would have made for quite the marvellous vision… a very long time ago.
"Why's that?" his answering question came when he finally entered the room proper. He took but a cursory glance around it to see if there was anything that might interest him, but there was nothing. There were gaping holes in many a section of the bookshelves, and those that remained seemed in too poor a shape to remain readable, legible, even.
"We could have a library thrice this size, and even then, eventually, everything within its confines would have been read. I desire something massive, a monolith, and filled to the brim with knowledge gathered from every magical society in existence," Elaine deftly hopped from the table, her feet landing with little more than a dull thud as she started toward him. "Could you imagine it? Whosoever would dare stand against us wouldn't have a chance. He could be the next Grindelwald, and with our knowledge and wands combined, he'd be nothing more than a Muggle in comparison."
Harry did quite like the sound of that, in truth. He'd thought it many a time, but a society run and governed and owned by him and Elaine would make for a wonderfully-functioning world. One free from the problems that were all too oft had; corruption, thievery, extortion, all would be solved. They'd need knowledge, spells, power, in truth, if such a goal was ever to be realised; it would be.
"A shopping spree once we finish him off then, how's that sound?"
Elaine danced into his arms, her hands taking up his as she leaned forward to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. With her eyes, dark as ever they've been, staring into his, it was easy to get lost.
"Wondrous," Elaine kissed him, quick but aggressive, and withdrew with a grin — she licked across the entirety of his bottom-lip during her withdrawal as well. It was normal for her, and she continued with nary a glance or sign of smugness after doing so. "I can only imagine the sights we'll see and the knowledge we'll gain upon our time of travel. It needn't separate us from home for very long, and mayhaps we could turn this place into a palace of knowledge."
"It'd give the cauldrons out of the basement."
There was a pinch in his side, and when he looked down, he saw two of Elaine's fingers were the culprit. "Don't take my cauldrons, lover," she pinched him again for good measure, amusement and a purr coming from her. "Instead, another portion of this could be turned into a massive tub, mayhaps self-heating and cleaning."
"You just like brewing potions in the middle of the night too much."
"I suppose there's that factor as well," Elaine agreed with a sly smile as she turned them about and started back to the study. "One last check before we go and see what you might have found. You needn't worry either, I've already begun mapping out the many changes required."
"I thought we were going to use this as our 'official' home?"
Elaine raised a brow and glanced at him as she walked with him through the entryway of the study. "Mayhaps we're in need of a third building."
Harry shook his head as he tried to hide a smile; she was ever the ambitious one. A home for a library and bath, a manor, really… the thought must be alien for most.
"What're you doing?" he couldn't help but ask when he'd blinked, his amusement gone as he saw Elaine shrink a massive desk down to a comically small toy-like size. It'd been a bit worn by weather and age, but the thing had still been impressive enough, he supposed; that still didn't explain why she'd taken it though.
"I'd like a second desk of a similar design and what better than that? It was of a fine quality, once, and restoration is seldom hard — didn't you see the wood of it too?" Elaine nodded to the small cabinet — or what would have been one at one time — beside where the desk had previously been standing so proudly before. "Elder Wood, the brightness is wondrous when put in an otherwise dark and dreary room. I find it forces the attention of those before you to stay focused more than they often will, as well."
"Huh."
And so they continued with their exploration… and as they went, the occasional pieces scattered throughout were 'liberated' in the words of Elaine. Many would be repurposed and added to his office, the room in question soon receiving an enlargement, for even their offices needn't be separated from one another.
Not beyond a small, foldable room divider, at least. Privacy charms existed for a reason.
"I do so desire to restore this soon," Elaine said as they descended the staircase they'd run up previously. "The architecture, if salvageable without too much fuss, would be an impressive sight not-paralleled by many modern craftsmen. We'd need find pieces of furniture and mayhaps a miniature museum for the manor as well — any hope, if meant to be believable for an ancient house such as Peverell, would most certainly have a museum of some sort and a library."
"I th—
"Few families will offer access to their libraries even if bonded to one another. Take Corene, for example. If you so desired it, she would give access to her familial library if desired; a testament to our relationship with her. Abraxas and most others would refuse outright or request the same in return, or other desires they possess," Elaine turned left upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, and from there, she pulled him along, continuing her words. "It'd not be a full library, a ruse of one, believable for those that saw it and nothing more."
Harry blinked as they passed into a rather large dining hall with a view of the open meadows they'd walked through. "This'll be quite the ruse, won't it?"
"The best fake is the one never caught," Elaine separated from him then, and went to the head of the table, where she swiftly fixed the chair, cleaned it, and sat in it.
He watched, amused, as her eyes took in what the sight would have once been. Elaine scanned the meadow and treeline, the rest of the room, for nearly all of it was visible from where she sat, and over to the kitchens and entrance by way of the home's Great Hall. Based on her visage, one of happiness and eagerness, she quite enjoyed whatever picture her mind had conjured; he reached out, allowing the walls betwixt their minds to crumble, and felt much like he'd predicted.
Elaine was in a very happy state of mind, and like earlier, filled with affection to boot. That alone had the makings for a great day and greater night.
She stood up swiftly then, clapping her hands together and signalling with a nod of her head for him to follow after her. Harry watched as she turned on the balls of her feet and swiftly sought out the door that led to the kitchens, and as he made to follow after her slowly and whilst taking in much of the surroundings, he reckoned he'd want to check the place over again on his lonesome one of these nights when he couldn't find sleep.
There was something on the Peverell lands if they'd been so secretive, and he'd find it. Mayhaps it'd take years or longer, but he'd find it. Of that, he had no doubt, and all the drive in the world.
Beyond the kitchens on the other side, were a cellar for food — long empty — a second dining room meant for staff, the quarters therefore, and a series of doors that led into loos or other storage facilities. The side they'd taken had been rather boring, and the opposite side was only slightly more interesting. It had a ballroom, a parlour room with a perfect spot for Floo access, a hall that led to two large restrooms for freshening up, and a small sideroom where alcohol had once been served from… there was also an exit that led to a porch that wasn't in great shape and the remnants of a fence that'd once existed for whatever reason.
No, mayhaps fence wasn't quite the right word for it. The thing had been made of an abundance of stone rocks and fashioned into a wall together with a mixture of some kind. It didn't seem quite like the sort used on bricks, but he wasn't all that knowledgeable when it came to Muggle building methods and Elaine cared not to look them over in detail. She was much too concerned with what else they might be able to loot from the place and any hidden stores they might be able to find; it was why they'd left the basement of the place for last.
If there were secrets to be had, they'd probably be found there, in the depths of the home and tucked away by way of traps or other, equally as dangerous means.
"Are you prepared, or do you need a rest?"
He snorted at Elaine and chuckled a second later. "Me? Need a rest?" he scoffed and shone the light of his wand down the staircase that led into the depths. It wasn't all that imposing compared to what they'd been through before, and he certainly wasn't old enough to be winded with what little they'd done thus far. "Not bloody likely. I'll go first, yeah? You just keep me out of trouble and try to stay close, my lady."
This time it was Elaine's turn to snort, and as Harry began to descend the staircase, he heard her let out a small, huff-like laughter as if she tried to hide her amusement. It made him smile to himself as he raised his wand, continuing fourth down and down the stairs with seemingly no end in sight… until one appeared nearly fifteen steps down.
It wasn't quite like how he'd expected it to be, that being stone rather than dirt or a mixture of rocks or what have you. In fact, he'd say it looked much like the basement of their true residence, and that gave him a hopeful feeling. Mayhaps the secrets they sought, at least a portion of them, were down in these bowels they'd only now learned of.
I wonder if all Purebloods are as secretive and paranoid as the Peverells, or if that came as a result of the Hallows. Maybe I'll find out… maybe not if I have both at once.
That reminded him of the cloaks and Potters again, and as he'd thought before, soon, he'd have to meet with them to see if he could resolve that little issue of theirs. If he could, that'd be quite brilliant; the three Hallows in his possession and Elaine by his side, the world would never have another war.
Not a Magical one, at least. That was the least he and Elaine could ensure if those three items came to be in their possession. The world had seen enough violence from Muggles alone, the least the Magicals could do was ensure their world had a semblance of peace and stability. If he didn't do his best to ensure that with Elaine by his side, soon enough, they'd have another mad dog like Grindelwald try to come along and convince the world that Muggles needed to be destroyed or enslaved.
"Nothing," Elaine said from behind him, her own wand out and pointed forward, the tip alight with a rainbow of colours as spell after spell silently swept for any signs of traps ahead; they could be illusionary or otherwise, mayhaps even a pit for him to fall down or something that need be touched for activation. "I believe the place to have been made safe previously."
He quirked a brow at that, but he didn't turn to look at her. The task at hand was a bit too dangerous — potentially — for him to do so, and they'd learned since their first time underground back in Belarus some time ago. "You think somebody's already disabled anything that would've been here?"
"If there'd even been something here in the past to begin with," Elaine answered as she made to stowe her wand away. "I believe we needn't worry."
"If you're certain," Harry said, his wand remaining out so that their source of light remained. "It's not a very large basement, is it?"
He asked those latter words when they'd made it around the corner at the end of the stairs, one in which opened the area up to them and as he'd said, it wasn't especially large. Mayhaps the size of their real parlour room, with one 'door' if the remnants could be called as such on the far side of it.
There wasn't any other side. For some reason, the place didn't have a full basement, just a portion of one. "Not much here," he said again when Elaine emerged from behind him, her eyes full of disappointment as she took in the sight before them… maybe lack thereof was a better term.
"Only a door and this rune room."
"Rune room?" He looked back at the place, and after blinking, he realised what she saw. There were cracks and the like in the centre of the room, but he'd figured those had been as a result of age and wear. Upon closer examination, he realised he'd been wrong. They weren't scratches made by accident or cracks made by force. "Rituals, or something similar?"
Elaine seemed amused when she responded. "Rituals," she said. "Find yourself fascinated by the topic again, do you?"
He couldn't help but snicker in return. There'd been a time some year or so ago when that'd been all he could think about. That and the study he still wasn't totally convinced was Slytherin's. In that time, he thought he could better grow to match Elaine if he went through various processes to strengthen himself, but as time would prove, that hadn't been necessary for him to do.
"Not really," he said with a shake of his head. "I remember what's said of their costs — besides, what would you do if you lost your basking rock in the morning or in the midst of the night?"
"A catastrophe the world would never recover from, I fear," Elaine walked past him after those words came from her, jesting and light, and as she moved into the room before them she was careful to avoid walking atop anything in the centre; the runes.
"Is there something to be worried about?"
She looked back at him from her spot near the remnants of the door. "I don't believe so, only caution. Do as I did, lover," and then she looked away, her eyes on the door and her hand reaching out to it.
He made his way over to her quickly upon seeing her do that, avoiding the centre as she'd done and advised him to do. It wouldn't do if there was some sort of ritual or the like that he accidentally activated; he quite liked being warm.
Seeing that he'd arrived, Elaine flicked her fingers and the door went inwards with a creak… before it promptly fell from the hinges that it'd been resting on. He couldn't help but laugh as she turned to look at him with a huff as her arms folded.
"It was ruinous."
"Still funny."
Elaine turned and flicked him just as she'd done to the door, but all it accomplished was giving him a dull thud by way of magic against his chest. "You're lucky I've become so horribly fond of your presence, lover."
"I suppose I am," he said with a nod and grin as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'm quite fond of your presence too, you know."
As he kissed her, she spoke through it, the sound and feeling tickling him enough that he separated to laugh, something she mimicked, her words only barely coherent.
'I know' — that's what she'd gotten out.
He supposed it was rather fitting for her, that confidence had been one of the many things he found attractive about her. There was more of course, far more, but it'd take hours to list everything.
Eventually, the pair separated from one another with Elaine stretching after their kiss, her eyes only then going back to the opening where the door had once been.
"Oh~" she all but sang as her eyes took a peek into the room. "I do believe I know what this is. How queer for them to have it."
"Yeah?" Harry stepped in after her, examining the room. So far as he could tell, there wasn't anything of note about it. The place was empty sans a few shelves that had been built into the walls. "What's this for, then?"
"This room would be meant for a different type of ritual. One in which the Muggles oft portray — you've seen the old circle with candles scattered around it, haven't you?"
He nodded. It was something he'd frequently seen in both the Magical world and the Muggle world. It could be, perhaps, the only idea of magic they've actually got right, by and large. That and the most frequently used tools like a wand or a broom… he supposed the hats they associated with Magicals on the tele weren't far off either.
"Useless to us, then?"
Elaine rose a brow. "The room would have been made safe for all manner of rituals and the like, so most certainly not useless. I'd go so far as to say this room could prove especially helpful should we find this knowledge you're seeking."
"I think I'm well past the idea of using any rituals. It seems like they've got far too many downsides," he made to leave the old home, stepping gingerly around the 'cracks' in the ground in the main portion of the basement. "I suppose it's off to the shrine and greenhouse next?"
"The greenhouse, it's closer. Go, I'll join you in no more than a few minutes time, I wish to ensure I've not missed anything down here," Elaine's eyes sought out the walls, narrowed and speculating, she looked at them.
Nothing happened. There didn't seem to be anything of note and with Elaine down here, if there was, she'd not take too long to find it.
"I'll meet you at the greenhouse then," Harry turned and made to go around the bend where he'd be taken back to the staircase. As he moved, he cast one last glance at Elaine. She seemed so interested in this little basement of theirs… but in truth, Harry very much doubted there was anything of note down here with them.
The place had been abandoned and partially burnt down, even their restoration of the property only made it stable, not livable. If they wished for the latter to be true, there'd be a whole lot more work to see through, and whilst Elaine wished for that to be done as quickly as possible, Harry didn't see the point.
No. There were other things on his mind; restoring properties solely to host guests on his lands didn't fit within those aforementioned other things. He wished to solve the mystery of Slytherin's study, he wished to solve the old issue of the Peverells and their lost knowledge, he wished for the cloak so as to have all the Hallows, and finally, he desired that Grindelwald's last Horcruxe, would be destroyed.
Death was the right and fitting end for the monster. Nobody could tell Harry otherwise. He'd not hear so much as a peep.
It took him a few minutes of peaceful walking before he reached the greenhouse proper, the once tall, glass-made building nothing more than ruins on the ground. There were weeds that picked away at the edges of the building, no small amount of glass shining under the sunlight, broken as the pieces were, and a good deal of rubble that poked up, through the myriad of plants that still lingered within the old greenhouse.
Harry could tell with nought but a glance that many of the plants that he saw within the ruins were Magical in nature, though a few mundane were mixed in too; natural growth, he reckoned, or plants of importance. In truth, he'd never been all that interested when it came to herbology, though he supposed he couldn't really be blamed. There had always been more pressing topics, and there'd probably always be more pressing topics.
As he made his way closer to the ruins, he snickered to himself. Not unless I lived for centuries and centuries could I ever spend time studying herbology. Even then, I reckon I'd find something else that's more important.
He shook his head. Years ago, when he'd learned about Voldemort and all the people that followed the monster, he didn't think he'd live to see his twenties, and now, here he was joking about living for centuries. It might not be true, but to him, it may well have been with so many life-threatening problems resolved and the final amongst them — for now — soon to be dealt a death blow.
"Oh," Harry said in surprise when he grew nearer still, his feet touching the edge of the 'building' when he stopped. As he'd thought, there were a great many plants with Magical and Mundane mixed together, but not only did they exist, by and large, they seemed to be doing quite well with one another. "It'd appear as if I have a second garden."
In silence he stayed, looking at the greenhouse remnants before his very eyes and taking in how strong nature could be. After those few seconds of silence and admiring the beauty, he whipped out his wand and began fixing the great many issues he saw; the abundance of glass scattered all about was the first thing that needed resolving, and after that, he reckoned he'd fix the rest of the rubble.
Unsurprisingly, by the time he'd finished that, Elaine had just begun to make her appearance.
He heard her well before he saw her.
She'd step, her feet oft falling silent unless they'd hit a series of leaves and cause a rustle, or walk atop a twig and cause a snap. Still, those weren't the noises that gave her away; it was her singing. He didn't think he'd ever heard her do so before save for when she washed herself, humming tunes of a type he couldn't recognise, but he wasn't mistaken.
This time, she truly was singing, and he hadn't a clue as to why that'd be. Irregular behaviour from her, if anything, worried him, and so he took a few steps away from the building as he called out to her. "Elaine," he said loudly, his voice carrying to her, whereupon she promptly stopped singing by the time his next words were coming from him. "Did you find something?"
There was no response for a few seconds' time, and then she emerged, quickly, from betwixt two trees at the end of the path. Unlike the majority of the path, at the end, there was very little concealment so one was very easily visible.
"A more apt word I'd not be able to use," Elaine followed that up by procuring a key from one of her many pockets. It was old, rusty, and of a comical size. "This was in the depths, caked in a layer of grime and dirt as if it'd been tread upon dozens and dozens of times. I was unable to solve with haste what it might be for."
Harry took the few dozen steps required to reach her, and upon doing so, he looked over the key as she held it out for him. It was a key, alright, an old and rusty one just like he'd thought, but there were bits of shiny metal — gold or copper or something like that — and that bit of metal shined in the direct sunlight.
Merlin, he didn't have a clue as to what it'd go to. Maybe a chest or crate, perhaps a door he'd not yet found, and mayhaps even still, a tome that was well-guarded enough to require a key. All of those were guesses and guesses alone, but at the very least, he understood what had gotten her so eager; there was a hint of Peverell loot or knowledge, and they'd gotten a step closer to it.
It certainly made the greenhouse feel pointless.
"I suppose we'll have to find out," Harry said as he stowed his wand and looked over his shoulder at the greenhouse. He gestured to it a second later. "I got rid of the class and did away with most of the rubble. There might still be a few pieces here and there that I didn't manage to get — you'll want to keep your shoes on until I can make sure everything's well cleaned up."
"How horrible. I have to remain with my shoes on and keep my feet clean."
Sarcasm, he thought with a snicker to himself. Harry snorted and, with his wand now away, reached out and swept Elaine up and into his arms. She really didn't weigh all that much, not nearly enough to give him trouble in carrying her, and so he started off back whence he'd come, manoeuvring around the edge of the greenhouse to offer Elaine a look.
He knew she was wearing shoes too, but sometimes, he couldn't resist carrying her or holding her close, and it certainly wasn't something she'd mind. If anything, it'd please her all the more, for the two would be closer together, a desire she oft had when it came to physical affection.
"I see a great many plants that might prove beneficial to possess," Elaine said from her spot aloft in his arms. "I assume you came to a similar conclusion?"
"I did," he agreed as he stepped past the threshold and atop a little makeshift peak. It gave the pair a better look over the place. "I figured you or Corene, probably the pair of you, would know a lot more about the plants here than I would. Really, I just fancied a peek to see if there was anything stashed away here… who'd think to check a greenhouse, yeah?"
"And did you?"
"Did I?"
Elaine blinked at him as she turned to face him, a small smile creeping onto her face; amused and affectionate as one hand glided across his cheek. "Did you check, lover?"
"Oh," he said with a stupid grin. "Not really. I'd only just finished up when I heard you singing that siren song of yours."
"So easily ensnared, are you?" The teasing tone seemed heavier, and her eyes matched as they grew lidded and full of promises best left untold.
"By you?" He leaned forward and pressed a kiss, gentle despite her typical nature, and when he pulled back, he said a word that he knew she'd love to hear, and one that was truthful to the uttermost. "Always."
Elaine seemed very pleased, as he'd suspected. She preened under his affection, a very light dusting of red forming on her cheeks that did nothing more than make her look more beautiful than she typically did.
He'd be lying if he didn't admit to feeling some level of satisfaction upon seeing that. Elaine blushing was a wondrous sight to behold, but to be the cause of it was something else entirely. He strived for moments such as the one he'd just created.
She looked back at the garden and tutted, the red of her cheeks growing a small degree. "You do so love seeing me flush like an embarrassed youth."
"We're young."
"In a way."
"I suppose I'll say that we seem older than most of our friends, but we're still young enough," Harry ascertained his grip of her, and then he popped away, keeping Elaine gathered up. It took more concentration than usual, but like that, the two appeared before the shrine they were meant to investigate.
The one of a nature he couldn't decipher, or of a deity he had no knowledge of.
"And here I was expecting the treatment of a Queen being carried through the woods by her King," she freed herself from his arms and turned to look at him, and that was all the notice he got before she leaned forward to press a kiss as fleeting and soft as the one he'd done earlier, to his lips. "Make up for it tonight."
And then she pulled him closer to the shrine.