Attacks and Letters
“They did mine too”, Pandora said to Eryn at breakfast the following morning.
“What?”
“The burn marks, they did it to me too. And Barty, and Dorcas”.
“Oh…”
Eryn looked down the table to Snape and Lestrange, who were both laughing with their group. He was almost certain they were behind this.
“Look, I know you don’t want to, but we should really tell someone—“
“No. Drop it”.
“Eryn—“
“If they know this is bothering us, what’s stopping them from doing it again? You’re just giving them what they want”.
Pandora bit her lip and turned her attention to Barty, who had just sat down beside her. The two of them talked quietly while Eryn stared off into space.
Then a small brown owl landed in front of him. Surprised, Eryn untied the envelope from its leg, stroking its feathers before it flew back out the window.
“It’s from Andromeda”, he said to Pandora, who also looked confused. Eryn didn’t usually get much mail.
He read the letter carefully to himself.
Dear Eryn,
Sirius has been telling me about you in his letters, so I thought I should check in on you. It’s been too long since I’ve written to you.
How has school been? From what Sirius has told me you’ve been keeping some good friends. I’m happy for you.
Me and Ted are living in a nice little house near the Potters, they’ve been lovely to us these past few years. We’d had some trouble settling in, but for the most part we’re fine now.
I guess the real reason I wanted to write to you was because I’ve thought of a plan if you and Cissy want to see us over the summer.
Our town is close to the Secret Society, where Uncle Alphard used to live, remember? They have a program for Hogwarts students to stay there over the summer, to learn about its history. Euphemia Potter volunteers there and I’m sure she’d be happy to help you two visit me if you would like. Mother and Father wouldn’t suspect a thing, they don’t know where I’ve been living.
Love you, write back soon,
Andy
“What is it, Eryn? Is she okay?”
Most of the table was leaving for classes. Eryn stood up.
“I need to find Narcissa”.
He hurried out of the Great Hall, Andromeda’s letter in hand. He scanned the crowd’s for Narcissa’s light blonde hair.
“Cissy!”
She stopped in her tracks.
“What is it, Eryn? It better be important, I’m going to be late for—“
Eryn held up the letter. She took a few minutes to read it.
“Oh, Eryn…you’re still in contact with her?”
“My best kept secret”, he said, folding and tucking the letter into a pocket on his robes. “So, are we gonna do it?”
“Of course, I’d love to see Andy again. But what if mother and father find out? They’ll kill us”.
“Well, they can’t really kill me. You on the other hand have that to worry about”, Eryn laughed. “And they won’t find out. You read the letter, they don’t know where she’s living and if they think it’s a school trip we’ll be fine”.
“Alright, I’ll write an owl to the Society, you write one to Andy. And we’ll be stuck at home for at least a month for Bellatrix’s wedding so—“
“She’s getting married??”
“To Lestrange. Bella didn’t tell you?”
“No, she didn’t…”
“Oh. Well, anyways, we’ll have to stay for that over the summer, so we need to see if the Society will take late acceptances for their program”.
“If not I’m sure this Euphemia person would put in a good word for us”.
“Right”.
It was then Eryn realized they were alone in the hallway. Everyone else had gone to their classes.
Pandora appeared around a corner and rushed to Eryn.
“Flitwick sent me looking for you. Everything alright?” she asked, looking to Narcissa.
“All good”, said Eryn. “See you in the common room tonight, Cissy?”
“Of course. See you”.
They parted ways, Eryn following Pandora to their charms lesson.