Dirty Little Game ♠ Professor Lupin

Sixteen: Time for Reflection

They were waiting for me at the station. I noticed them even before my feet touched the platform, staring out the window as the train was breaking. I was sitting confidently straight, getting ready for a face-to-face encounter. Yet I was shaky on the inside and I knew that if anyone were to notice it, it'd be my parents.

After saying goodbye to Wilton, whom I had hugged a little too long than I was used to, knowing we were both not going to spend the holidays as we would like, I put on my self-confidence mask and, clutching the wooden trunk in my hand that was beginning to sweat dangerously fast, I headed towards my parents.

"Ethelyn" Father said, nodding to me. A warm welcome. At least he acknowledged my presence.

My mother was less reserved, but I couldn't tell whether she embraced me genuinely or because there were so many other wizards around us. "Welcome daughter." Her voice was too sweet, like those cheap, viscous milkshakes. "How was school?" She freed me from her embrace but took my arm, oddly tight, as though I were about to run away from them. To be honest, that thought crossed my mind.

Vance took my trunk from me, probably not wanting to look like the cold father that he was. "It was good." I replied flatly. It was an inadequate response, so I had to say something to escape appearing as an undisciplined girl in the first minute of my reunion with my parents. "As always, I'm the best in class at Potions, I have no problems with other subjects either."

Knowing that my parents are so annoyed with me that they would doubt anything before they find something I wasn't good at, I wanted to save my sanity and give it to them on beforehand. "I didn't quite understand the last Transfiguration lesson," My mother's head turned slightly towards me. She was ready to tell me directly what she thought about it. "but fortunately I have two weeks to catch up."

"You're lucky it's Christmas. You can't afford something like that again." My father reprimanded as he walked to the other side of me. I felt hemmed in.

In silence, we walked the final few meters of Kings Cross. We came to a halt on a less busier street and teleported straight to our mansion's gate. I opened it and didn't have to worry about closing, because the house elf quickly appeared next to us to take care of it. I heard his screeching voice so he was clearly saying something but I wasn't paying attention.

"You are to go straight to your room." Father commanded, no longer hiding his petulance. "You don't leave without our permission."

I was completely expecting it, so it had no effect on me. Knowing I will have a lot of time on my hands and not be able to do anything fun, I packed a lot of books that were conveniently minimized to fit in my trunk. If I would not respond, though, it would seem that the punishment was inadequate, and they would almost definitely modify things so that I would be more aware of the repercussions of my actions.

So I turned to my mother, trying to sound like an aggrieved little child. "Are you going to keep me here as a prisoner?"

My arm was freed from her grasp. When the elf opened the massive wooden door to our home, she was the first to enter, quickly slipping off her pricey fur. "We're just giving you enough time to think."

So I ended up in my room, lonely, misunderstood, unloved. Shortly after I entered, slamming the door behind me so loudly they must have heard it two floors below, a house elf appeared with my belongings. I hadn't even had time to open my mouth to ask him to make me something to eat, and he was gone. My parents had the audacity to forbid our house elves from interacting with me.

I fell facedown on the soft, freshly washed sheets of my bed, making a noise full of frustration. Locking me in was their way of letting me know that they didn't like what I did and that they were still in control of my life, although it's easy to forget in the castle. It was a punishment for not following their suggestions. Not a punishment for my actions themselves. The time for that would come later, I was sure of that.