It was Alastriona, Darcy and Finn's final night in Lothbeg before they left for London and the family was sitting down for dinner in Sloane and Maeve's picturesque cottage.
Sloane poured himself another gin and another one for Maeve and Finn, too. "I think it's bloody grand that yer've got the roll of Prefect!" He called out to the table, Alastriona's fork full of scotch pie stopped halfway to her mouth.
Darcy, across the table from her, glanced anxiously at Alastriona and gave her a reassuring smile.
Alastriona forced a tight lipped smile on her face, "Thanks, grandpa."
Her nana hummed in agreement. "Yes, it is! Elliot was a Prefect in his day, it was a good stepping stone to Head Boy too." She said, her voice tinged with sadness but she was smiling brightly. Maeve looked to Darcy, "What big things will happen this year, Darcy? It's been so long since Elliot's days at Hogwarts, it can be hard to remember." She was lying, she remembered every single thing Elliot had told her about Hogwarts but she could see her granddaughter needed a moment to recover and, even though Maeve wasn't sure why, she was happy to give her the time.
Darcy smiled at the older woman from across the table. "We'll be taking our O.W.Ls, which help to narrow down which classes will be suited for us in our sixth year, if we don't pass then we usually wouldn't be accepted into N.E.W.T classes. And Dawn told us that we'd be getting career counselling, too."
Finn's nose scrunched up at that. "You're a bit young, don't you think?" He said gruffly. He didn't want to think of his kids out in the world just yet, they hadn't turned sixteen yet.
Darcy chuckled and shook her head, "I think so too but it's really so they can let us know what classes we absolutely need to take to get on the right path." She reassured him easily.
"Have you thought about what you'd like to do, Darcy?" Sloane asked, sitting back in his chair and sipping his gin.
Alastriona looked up from her plate and gave her full attention to Darcy.
Darcy felt a bit awkward, being put on the spot but smiled back at Sloane. "I think I'd like to work closely with Muggles. It was really strange suddenly finding out I was a witch, slightly overwhelming you could say, and I think there should be a better process for helping out Muggle-born witches and wizards adjust to the Wizarding World."
Sloane nodded at her answer. "Very respectable, Darcy, and a grand idea too! It was a massive bloody shock when Maeve and I found out about Elliot, would've been nice to have some inside knowledge." He agreed with Darcy wholeheartedly. "What about yerself, Alastriona?" He asked his granddaughter.
Alastriona's mouth opened, then close and she blinked rapidly before answering. "I haven't really thought about it, grandpa."
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Alastriona was being hugged by her grandpa and in his large, warm arms she considered the possibility of not returning to Hogwarts. Maybe she could stay with her Uncle Finn and her grandparents, they could live in the tiny village of Lothbeg and make fresh jams and chutney's every day.
