Chapter 6
For the third day in a row, Evelyn Faye found herself at Gringotts.
Thraxnik was waiting for her behind the desk this morning, so Evelyn stepped up to him instead of waiting in the queue again. He nodded at her and led the way to his office. Except this time, when they entered his office, someone was already in there.
"Evelyn Faye, this is Meriweather Lewis. Mrs. Lewis this is the girl I was telling you about," Thraxnik said as he sat behind his desk. Meriweather Lewis had light brown eyes that were almost gold and seemed to match her golden brown hair. Her skin was tanned and her nose covered in freckles, like she spent a lot of time in the sun. Evelyn thought she was pretty, but pretty didn't always mean nice.
Evelyn looked at Meriweather Lewis with no expression other than polite curiosity, but on the inside she was wondering why she was here and what Thraxnik had told her.
"Please call me Meri, Evelyn. I am here to stand as a possible guardian for you, as I understand your parents are dead and you have no other family. Thraxnik has told me that you have some business to settle here today," Meri paused, waiting for Evelyn to respond. Evelyn nodded, and Meri continued. "I thought if I sat in this meeting with you and then went around Diagon Alley here for any essentials you may need, we could see if we would be a good fit for each other. What do you think?"
Evelyn didn't say anything for a long moment. She knew she needed a guardian to leave Lowood, which she absolutely wanted to do as soon as possible. She decided she would take today as a trial to learn as much as she could about Meri, but she did not like the idea of agreeing for her to be Evelyn's guardian just yet.
"I think that is a good plan for today," Evelyn looked at Thraxnik.
"As you are the heir and lady to the Le Fay line," here Evelyn looked over at Meri to see her response. Meri's attention was directed at Thraxnik but otherwise seemed to have no outward reaction. "There are several things we need to do to bring the accounts back to an active status. However, as you are still underage, we will be treating this more as guidelines and updates you would like to see done to your accounts. You will not be able to take full ownership and control until you are of age. Provisioning guidelines was enacted in such cases as these where the only living recipient is underage, but without attention the accounts would fail to turn a satisfactory profit." Thraxnik pulled out a short stack of portfolios and handed them to Evelyn. She appreciated that both he and Meri were treating her like an adult, but Evelyn honestly had no clue what she was expected to do.
"The top portfolio lists all property and business assets owned. The second details all investments on the accounts. The third and fourth are inventories of the vaults." Thraxnik continued. "I would recommend going through the portfolios here with me today, in that order as the most pressing issues have been prioritized."
Evelyn flipped open the top portfolio but the information inside made no sense. She looked up at Meri and found her already watching her. "Would you like me to look over it with you?" She asked, not moving towards Evelyn and without any condescension in her voice. When Evelyn nodded, Meri scooted their chairs until they were touching at the elbows and looked over her shoulder at the file.
"Here is where the property information is listed," Meri dragged her finger along the file as she explained to Evelyn how to read and understand what she was looking at. There was only one property that qualified as a residence and had been uninhabitable for quite some time. The business residences were primarily being rented, but there were one or two that had fallen empty. Once Meri had finished explaining the state of each property, she then pointed out where Thraxnik had made a suggestion for each property. Meri added her opinion on each as well.
A little overwhelmed, but all of Thraxnik's and Meri's suggestions made logical sense to Evelyn. For the residence, there was a short-term (very expensive) and a long-term (very reasonable) option to making it habitable. Both Thraxnik and Meri had suggested the long-term option with quarterly check-ins to make any updates or changes to the rehabilitation plan. Evelyn also agreed with their suggestion to sell the empty business properties as they were doing no one any good standing empty. She also followed their advice on the business properties that were being rented, including adding in a yearly inspection to ensure the property was being cared for.
"Well, if it's alright with you Thraxnik, I would like to take a break for lunch before we tackle any investments. What do you think Evelyn?" Meri asked, rather cheerfully in Evelyn's opinion after looking at someone else's paperwork all morning.
"Yes, I am a little hungry," Evelyn said.
"In that case, I will see you both back here at 2pm to continue."
"May your enemies fall to your blade," Meri said with a chipper as they left Thraxnik's office. Evelyn thought she shouldn't be quite so happy saying something quite so bloody, but what did she know.
"Are you in the mood for anything in particular? There is a great little cafe around the corner that has delicious sandwiches," Meri suggested.
"Sandwiches sound good."
"Right this way, then!"
Evelyn was beginning to think chipper was Meri's default setting as she followed her up the street, around a corner and into a little cafe called Wand and Whisk. Inside was a very cozy atmosphere. Most of the tables were small, for only 2 or 3 people with very comfortable looking, though mostly mismatched, chairs and a large hearth with a crackling fire. A broom in the corner seemed to be sweeping by itself and there was a ding from the counter as "Order 37" trilled out and a tray flew over their heads towards a table in the back.
Meri stepped up to the counter and pulled out a menu for Evelyn. Once they had both decided, Meri placed their order (number 39) and shuffled her over to a table by the window.
"Now, I'm sure you have many questions, but I thought it might be a bit easier if I explained a little about myself first," Meri began, once they were seated. "Like Thraxnik said my name is Meriweather Lewis. I was born Meriweather Lafayette and I married my husband Oliver Lewis right out of Hogwarts. He was an auror, which is a magical law enforcement officer, and died during the war, in 1980 which I believe is when you were born, is that correct?" Evelyn nodded. "Ollie died before we could have any children. During the war, we had notified Gringotts that we were happy to be considered as a potential guardian for any relative that came forward that was affected by the war, which is why Thraxnik contacted me about your situation," she said nodding at Evelyn. "Now, where would you like to start?"
Evelyn was suddenly overwhelmed by the number of questions she had, but she took a calming breath and began asking Meri all of the questions she had thought of last night.
"Are we related? Do you have a house? What do you do?" Meri laughed as Evelyn rushed out her questions without pausing.
"We are related many generations ago, but I am from a different branch of the Le Fay family which is why my name was Lafayette instead of Faye. I do have a house, here in London, which I hope you will agree to come and live in. I am a magical artist. Have you seen any wizarding photographs or paintings yet?" Evelyn shook her head. "Wizarding photographs and paintings are a bit different than what you are used to. Photographs loop through the moment it was taken, making the subjects move. Paintings are a bit different. If it is a portrait of a magical person, then upon their death it will "wake up" for lack of a better term, and carry the memories and essence of the magical person. If the painting is of a landscape or scene, typically they will move a little as well, but not as dramatically as photographs or portraits. For example if it's a painting of a forest, the wind may ruffle the leaves."
"Wow, that sounds amazing!" Evelyn couldn't help her excitement from showing. She had never heard of such a thing before and couldn't wait to see one. Evelyn was prevented from reeling off anymore questions by the arrival of their food (via flying tray). While they were eating, Evelyn took a few minutes to really think about Meri's offer to come live with her. So far, Meri had been extremely kind and had answered all of Evelyn's questions without mocking her for not already knowing the answer, or even screeching like she remembered her aunt always doing whenever Evelyn asked any question at all.
After they were both finished eating, Evelyn asked the questions she wanted to know about what living with Meri would be like. Meri looked at her a long time before answering, which made Evelyn think she had revealed too much.
"If you decide to come and live with me, there will be no chores other than keeping your room and belongings neat and tidy, there will always be enough food at any time of the day, though I hope we can agree to always eat dinner together," Meri looked a little wistful at this. "I can sometimes get lost in my work, but Ollie always insisted we eat dinner together every day, and I hope to carry on his tradition with you," Meri paused slightly. "I don't know if Thraxnik has mentioned oaths before, but for a magical person swearing an oath is more than just a promise, it's binding. If the oath is broken, then Lady Magic enacts the consequences. I would be willing to swear an oath to provide for your health and safety to the best of my abilities. If that is something you would like me to do, we can have Thraxnik give his opinion on the wording of the oath and advise you what to do."
Evelyn nodded, though she wondered what kinds of consequences Meri meant. She liked Meri and didn't want anything bad to happen to her, but Evelyn also liked the idea of some magical protection.
~~~~~
Once they had finished lunch, they returned to Thraxnik's office. The afternoon flew by as they continued reviewing Evelyn's accounts. Though her eyes did almost bug out of her head when she saw the charges from her healing session. Meri had explained that while it was very expensive, there was plenty still left in the accounts. There were some guidelines regarding investments already on the accounts, and Thraxnik and Meri agreed that since they had been earning a profit already, there was no need to make any big changes there. Evelyn also greatly enjoyed the inventories, though she didn't have the slightest idea what some of the items were (what in the world was a foe glass?).
Thraxnik approved the idea of Meri swearing an oath and provided his opinion on Meri's wording before having her swear it. Thraxnik explained that oaths were very serious and very important ones were sworn on one's life or one's magic or both. Meri was willing to swear on both, but Evelyn didn't like that idea, especially as she had not been as honest as Meri had been. They agreed that Meri would swear on her memory of Ollie, which if she intentionally broke her oath, she would have no memories of him.
Though Evelyn was happy to meet Meri and hoped she could live with her, she felt it was too soon to go home with her tonight. Besides, Lowood was expecting her back that evening. Evelyn and Meri agreed to postpone their shopping until tomorrow and agreed to meet back in the Leaky Cauldron first thing the following day. Evelyn was very excited to explore more of Diagon Alley, as thought it would be her fourth day there, it would be her first not spent in Thraxnik's office at Gringotts.