Beneath Her Skin

Chapter Seven

The 1st of September had finally arrived.

It had certainly been an eventful summer holiday.

The Quidditch World Cup, the Death-Eaters, the Dark Mark appearing, and then Theodore Nott, losing his mother and no one but him seemed to know how and he wanted it to stay that way.

With all of this happening before the school year had even begun, Alastriona silently dreaded what the year would entail.

Darcy and Alastriona were currently eating their pancakes - drenched in maple syrup - at the kitchen table in the Breen household, still in their pyjamas. 

"Bloody hell!" Finn's voice rang out from his bedroom and he rushed out, tugging his work boots on, "Sorry girls, I'm going to have to rush you, there's a situation at the work site and I've got to get there as soon as possible." He was expecting some groans and complaints, they were teenagers after all, but they simply jumped up and rushed to their rooms, taking their plates to the kitchen on the way. "What did I do to deserve you two?" He muttered to himself before going back to collecting his things.

Alastriona hurriedly pulled on some light blue jeans and one of her uncles old t-shirts, he'd bought it in 1990 when he went to a Rolling Stones concert. It used to scare Alastriona when he first showed it to her due to the weird purple monster on the yellow background of the white shirt but she'd since come to love it and he'd eventually passed it down to her. 

She grabbed her trunk and Arwen, at the top of her stairs she gave her trunk a slight nudge and it slide down the stairs, a manoeuvre she'd mastered over the years. Darcy came out of her room, narrowly missing getting crushed by the trunk and grinned up at her curly haired friend as she tugged her own trunk out of her room. 

Finn rushed past and grabbed each of their trunks and took them outside, he put them in the back of his work van and carefully placed Arwen, unhappily perched in her cage, in the back seat where she'd be sitting next to Darcy. 

"I'm so sorry for rushing you this morning, I won't even be able to see you off properly." He quickly glanced at Alastriona as he made a turn, "Will you be okay to get to the platform?"

"Of course, Uncle Finn. It's all right." She smiled reassuringly at him and his tight grip on the wheel loosened ever so slightly.

"Okay." He breathed out, relieved. "You'll both have an excellent year, I'm sure of it. Just make sure you stay safe and look out for each other," he paused, "and keep an eye on Theo, the poor lad."

"We will." The girls chorused together.

Finn pulled over outside Kings Cross Station. He jumped out and grabbed the girls trunks and placed them gently on the sidewalk by the car. He ran a hand through his fiery hair, he usually had more time to say goodbye. 

Darcy acted first and wrapped her arms around Finn's waist, "Thanks for having me again, Uncle Finn." She said as she stepped away from him. 

Finn beamed down at the young girl, "You're always welcome in our home, lassie." He said fondly. 

Alastriona was grinning from ear to ear at the interaction between her best friend, practically sister, and her uncle.

She wrapped her arms around her uncle and squeezed tightly, "I'll miss you, Uncle Finn." Just as she did every single year. It was the only negative side to Hogwarts, not seeing her family for so long.

Finn breathed in deeply, this was always the hardest part, saying goodbye and letting her go. "I'll miss you more, I promise." He ran a hand over her curly mane and smiled down at her, "You're going to have so much fun, little one, make sure to write to me and keep me updated on everything."