Ermalene Talon and the Hall of Ancestors - Book One

Bewitched Aerodynamics

Bewitched Aerodynamics

Ermalene had to swallow back the urge to tell Matthew and Caterina about the plans she and Andy were making several times over the next week. Part of her wanted to tell them exactly what was happening, but this other, quieter part told her to keep the trip a secret, though she didn't know why. Matthew and Caterina had never been particularly unreasonable in the years she had lived with them, never overbearing or overprotective, but for some reason she feared that they might say no to her going on the trip. So, she suppressed the urge to squeal and pump her fists at every moment that the thought crossed her mind.

Andy came over everyday and collected Erma, and the two of them would walk to the park, making plans while pouring over maps of Hogsmeade and a copy of "Hogwarts: A History, The Newly Updated & Revised Edition". As each day passed, Ermalene felt the trip becoming more and more real until she could scarcely keep her skin on, she was so excited, and found herself mumbling the plans she and Andy had made around the foam from her toothpaste as she stared at her own eyes in the mirror on the eve of her birthday.

When she arrived at the dinner table that night, having already packed her suitcase and snuck it out onto the roof for an easy departure, she could barely sit still. She nibbled at the casserole that Caterina had prepared and barely touched her cup of sweet pumpkin juice.

Matthew looked over the muggle paper he was reading. "What's the matter with you?" he questioned, eyeing Ermalene's plate suspiciously. Ermalene was a healthy eater and rarely left a plate of food as untouched as this one currently appeared.

"Nothing's the matter," Ermalene replied. Which was true to an extent; nothing was wrong, exactly, she was just anxious. But in a good way. About good things.

Caterina poured herself more pumpkin juice. "Excited about your birthday?" she questioned.

"More than you could imagine," Ermalene answered truthfully.

"What sort of cake did you want me to conjure for you tomorrow?" Caterina questioned, "I learned a spell for a marvelous strawberry creame..."

"That sounds nice," Ermalene replied.

"Or there's a bananas foster flavor that I haven't tried yet," continued Caterina.

Matthew ducked back behind the muggle paper.

"The strawberry would be fine," Ermalene said.

Caterina smiled. "I cannot believe you're to be seventeen," she sighed, staring at Ermalene with doe-eyes. She looked at Matthew's paper, then back to Ermalene. "It seems like only yesterday that we were at that muggle orphanage and selecting you to bring home." She reached out and put her palm on Ermalene's cheek. "We thought we were getting an ordinary child, only to discover how incredibly extraordinary you are."

Ermalene felt her face grow hot. She felt bad not telling Caterina that she was leaving in just a few hours to go to London, to find out who had abandoned her and how she'd come to be in the Nott's care to begin with. She hated how much her desire to know would hurt the people who had taken her in and loved her all this time. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful. She was terribly grateful, and forever in debt to the Nott couple, but she needed to know.

"Thank you," she whispered as Caterina slid her fingers from the edge of Ermalene's jaw. She looked down at her plate and took a couple more bites of the casserole... not because she was hungry any longer, but because she could think of no other way to show Caterina that she cared for her very deeply.

Caterina smiled.

Later that night, after they'd all gone to sleep, Ermalene lay in the twin bed in her room, staring at the ceiling, where she'd hung adhesive glow-in-the-dark stars in swirling patterns and even the constellations mixed in. She counted each of those greenish-tinged stars, waiting for the moment when she'd hear the little rocks hitting the window again, waiting for Andy to come and fetch her for their holiday in London.