MISSED CALLS ➡︎ TEDDY LUPIN [2] ✓

cxxvii. TEXTS + ROSIER MANOR

CORDELIA & AVALON

avalon
do you want me to go with you to pack up your stuff at your house?

cordelia
i mean, yeah
if you want to
isabel doesn't want to go
and i don't want to go alone

avalon
alright
i'll meet you in the living room in like 20?

cordelia
sure

Avalon was waiting for Cordelia on the couch in the living room when the younger girl walked down the stairs stiffly, probably still in pain from the events of a few nights before.

"You ready?" Avalon asked.

Cordelia nodded, and without another word the girls Apparated to Rosier Manor.

The mansion was deserted, its last resident arrested and locked up in Azkaban for the use of the Cruciatus Curse against an underaged witch, and the floorboards under their feet creaked eerily.

Avalon found herself shivering, and the paintings lining the walls seemed to follow her every move with their eyes. Sometimes she hated magical paintings—they creeped her out, especially when they talked back to her.

Cordelia kept her eyes on the ground. "Come on, my room's this way." She muttered, leading Avalon through the cold, desolate house.

There was a portrait on the staircase, just above where Avalon had found her a few nights ago, that featured a younger, chubby-faced Cordelia, a woman with the same dark hair and striking blue eyes, and Clarence Rosier. The woman must have been Cordelia's mother, who, at least according to Isabel, had died several years before.

Whoever cleaned the blood off the carpet deserves a raise, Avalon thought to herself.

Cordelia continued to lead the way through two narrow hallways lined with doors that were most likely locked up tight, until the two girls came to a door on the left side of a third hallway.

"I, um. It's locked, and I lost the key when I left that night. Can you...?" Cordelia asked meekly, sounding embarrassed.

Avalon nodded, pulling out her wand and whispering "Alohamora" under her breath. There was a click, and when Cordelia went to turn the glass doorknob, it rotated easily and without any obstacle.

The door swung open to reveal a room with green wallpaper and black hardwood floor, an elegant wood bed against the far wall and no windows to be found.

"This is your room?" Avalon asked, stepping into the room and doing a twirl to take it all in.

Cordelia grimmaced. "It was. I know it's not much, but, well, it was mine." She replied.

No windows. No blankets, other than the duvet that was folded neatly on the bed. No posters, paintings, stuffed animals, jewelry boxes, knicknacks or toys. Nothing to personalize the room. Nothing that could identify that Cordelia had grown up in here.

The only little memento that had any sort of identity was a photograph on the nightstand in a gilded gold frame.

Avalon stepped closer and picked it up gingerly, finding that the picture was a moving image of Cordelia and Isabel, the two girls in what looked like the Slytherin common room with their heads thrown back in laughter; Avalon could practically hear her sister's laugh through the photograph.

Avalon's heart warmed at the thought of Cordelia choosing this one little thing, a small reminder of her girlfriend even while she was in this hellish house, to decorate her room.

Cordelia was silent as she opened up her wardrobe, setting the duffle bag she'd brought with her to empty the contents of the closet into it. There wasn't much, a few articles of more summery clothing and a spare uniform sweater.

"That's it?" Avalon asked.

Cordelia looked over her shoulder at the redhead. "If you couldn't already tell, I don't exactly like it here, Weasley. So I try to keep as much of my things at Hogwarts as I can, so I don't have to come back as often." She spat, harsher than she'd meant to be.

Avalon's face fell, but only for a moment before she regained her composure. "Well, it's a good thing that you're moving into Oliver's old room, isn't it?"

The brunette's stony expression softened. "I really can't thank you enough for that."

Avalon snorted. "Please. You think my mum would let you do anything other than move in with us? She's the type to pick up every stray dog she sees on the street because she feels bad for it."

"Wow, Weasley. Thanks for comparing me to a dog."

i forgot to post this