The Kingdom of MAE | George Weasley

Chapter Twenty-Three

family bonding ——— THEIR ABSENCE DID NOT GO UNNOTICED. When they returned home, the family was gathered in the living room with solemn faces. One would've thought someone died. They couldn't sneak upstairs without passing by the living room, which meant they were noticed from the moment they entered the house. The one who looked most angry was Mrs. Hepburn with her stern face. She stood up the moment Rosie stepped through the door. The glee on Rosie's face that was prevalent earlier was gone without a trace. The wigs were no longer on their heads and instead shoved in a bag that Rosie held.

"Which of the two of you is responsible for this escapade?" said Mrs. Hepburn sternly.

Before Nephthys could argue that they were both responsible since they were both involved, Rosie said, "It was my idea."

Mrs. Hepburn scoffed, "Of course it was. And you dragged Nephthys into it too? Don't you understand what you're playing with here? What if something happened to you out there? No one knew where you were, no one would've known. Or what if something happened to Nephthys? Who would tell her family? Do you know what the Malfoys could do to us? She's more than just your friend, Ambrosia!" Rosie stayed silent. Mrs, Hepburn sighed before she turned her gaze to Nephthys, "And you! I expect more from you. You should've put a stop to this mad idea! Do you climb out of windows at the Malfoy manor? Do you disappear without a word?" Well, no, but they didn't know where she really would go off to half the time.

"I wish I could climb out their windows," said Nephthys quietly.

"You —" Mrs. Hepburn interrupted herself and sighed heavily, "There's no point getting to you — should I call your guardians?"

"I'll be in trouble for other reasons," grimaced Nephthys. Rosie turned to look at her with a look she couldn't quite read, which was concerning since she could read Rosie well.

Emery spoke up to voice Rosie's thoughts, "They don't know you're here?"

"No. . .they think I'm with another friend," said Nephthys.

"And you lie to them too?" said Mrs. Hepburn in frustration, "I —"

"Well, you can't tell them," argued Emery, "We all know why she has to lie to come over."

"Let's all calm down," said Giotto, "Neph, come with me." Nephthys turned to look at Rosie as Giotto began to climb up the stairs. Rosie stared back at her. "Nephthys," said Giotto, a little firmer this time.

Nephthys left Rosie's side and followed after Giotto, who entered a guest bedroom. Nephthys sat on the bed next to him. He didn't speak for a while as he stared at the floor. Nephthys stared at the wall.

"Happy early Christmas," said Giotto as he placed a gift on her lap after a few seconds in silence. Nephthys, taken aback, stared down at the wrapped gift. She took note of the uneven edges and the silly wrapping paper. "It's quite hard to shop for someone who could have anything she wanted at the snap of her fingers, you know."

"Not anything," said Nephthys, which dropped his smile a little. She paused as her words sunk in and she looked up, "I didn't mean to dampen the already tense mood."

"Well, unfortunately I can't gift you anything the Malfoys already can't, but I hope you like it."

"Just having you is something the Malfoys can't gift me," said Nephthys as she shook their head, "They love each other, I know they do, but they show it in such strange ways."

"Well, good to know we've influenced your way of showing love," said Giotto, "It'd be a shame if you got that from the Malfoys." Nephthys began to carefully unwrap the gift on her lap. It was a small, thin velvet box. She carefully opened the lid to see that it was a little translucent charm of a —