Hogwarts Mystery - B and T's Summer Break

The Arrival part 2

This chapter ended up being kind of long so I split it into 2. I hope you enjoy.

After a quick tour of the farm house, I showed Barnaby to my brothers old room where he would be staying.
"It not as big or fancy as your manor is probably, but its like home to me"
"Yeah the Manor is big and fancy, but it's cold and empty. This is brilliant! it's warm and full of life."
I smiled as I helped B hang up his clothes on the closet. I'm glad Lolly packed away Jacob's things. I didn't want to see them.
"So Lolly.... where is she from? Not England..."
"She grew up in the United States"
"...of America?" he asked looking confused
"Are there others?" I laughed
"I don't know, are there?"
"I don't think so... but yeah she met Pops when she was here on vacation and pretty much never left. They got married really fast."
"They're amazing. I don't think I have ever been hugged like that...not like a friend's hug....but a....mom hug. We don't hug or anything in my family. I actually don't think I have ever seen my parents hold hands or...smile at each other even. They may not even like each other."
"That's.... horrible. I'm sorry you grew up that way. But I'm glad you're here now."
"Me too"
"Let me show you around outside before dinner. Just around the barn. You can meet the horses." I thought the horses might cheer him up. He looked a little down after talking about his parents
"Ok" he shrugged
Downstairs, I told Lolly we were going to see the horses
"Ok dears. Dinner is in an hour, don't be late!"
"Don't worry about that! People call me a lot of things, but late for dinner isn't one of them" laughed Barnaby
As we walked out to the barn, Barnaby put his arm around my shoulders.
"Here's the barn. We have 4 horses. This is Ruger." I said stopping in front of a beautiful chestnut horse. "He's the one I ride mostly." Ruger came over to see us. "He's really nosey."
"He's friendly" said Barnaby petting his face.
"Yeah, but he's stubborn and doesn't take well to new riders. He needs a firm hand"
I grabbed the scoop to put some horse feed in his feeder.
"This is Bullet." I said stopping in front of a dark brown Bay. "He is super fun to ride, but he doesn't like to walk. He'll take of at a canter as soon as you get on him if you aren't careful."
Barnaby started scooping the feed for the rest of the horses.
"This is Maggie. She's super calm. Lolly rides her a lot because she's totally fine just walking. And this is Trigger." I said climbing up on the last stall gate. Barnaby stood next to me. Standing on the fence, we are the same height. "I think you two will get along. Come on I'll show you how to groom him."
Barnaby stepped into the fence and jumped over gracefully. As I swung my legs over, he offered his hand to help me down. I grabbed the grooming brush and gave it to Barnaby. I put my hand on top of his to show him the right pressure to use.
"Just talk to him and let him get used to your voice. You guys need to trust each other for our ride tomorrow."
"I get to ride him?"
"Of course. I'll take you on an awesome ride."
"Hear that Trigger? We're going for a ride tomorrow."

Soon it was time for dinner. We walked back to the house hand in hand. Lolly's shepherds pie did not disappoint.
"So deary, I know you can't tell me much, but do your parents work for the government like Tiffy's?" asked Lolly
"Um...no...my parents are....in Azka...in prison. They....got mixed in the wrong crowd."
I was proud of his explanation.
"But even when they were around, they weren't really around."
"Oh dear. So who took care of you?"
"I mostly took care of myself. My Gran was there, but she didn't really have an interest in children. We had the house el....we had servants who did cooking and cleaning. And they helped teach me basic things. I spent most days outdoors."
Pops and Lolly looked at each other sadly. I know they couldn't imagine such an unloving upbringing.
"Who's ready for dessert? I made coconut cream pie."
"And then it's time for game night and we're playing Uno, so get ready to get your butts whipped!" said Pops rubbing his hands together.
"Oh yeah." I said to Barnaby."We are a bit competitive. We'll play a couple friendly hands so you can learn the game, but after that, it's every man for himself!" I said winking