House of Strixx
House of Strixx
Visions of Rowan and nightmares about the Cursed Vaults plagued me all night. I woke up early the next morning disoriented and confused, feeling panicked because I thought I'd overslept and missed my Potions N.E.W.T. examination.
It took several very long seconds for me to register where I was, in a small bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Great Britain, in bed with Barnaby Lee. Okay, right. Then I remembered I'd already done all of my exams and left school two days ago. I breathed a sigh of relief. Adjusting to life after Hogwarts was going to take some time.
It was very early still, the sun had just begun to rise but I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep. My mind was already starting to run backwards over everything that had happened yesterday. Before I could let it overwhelm me I slipped quietly out of bed and went to shower.
The steamy hot water felt good and the rhythmic drumming of the water hitting the old fashioned porcelain tub helped clear my mind. By the time I'd dried off and dressed I felt much more myself and in control. I opened the bathroom door to see the most handsome guy I knew coming back into our cozy little room with a tray of tea and toast. Breakfast in bed, exactly what I needed, and more than I deserved. I stood in the doorway and marveled again at how fortunate I was to have Barnaby in my life. He caught me staring and a broad grin spread across his face. God I was so lucky. I couldn't help but smile back as I bounded over to join him back in bed.
It was a few hours later when we finally arrived at my house. My childhood home, my parents house. Anyway I said it, it sounded strange. Hogwarts had been my real home. This was just where I spent two months every summer. It hadn't felt like home to me in a very long time. But my parents were still my parents and they were standing there on the tidy front porch looking so eager to greet us.
I grabbed Barnaby's hand and squeezed it tightly. "No need to be nervous Samhain, save that for when I bring you home to meet Grandmother" Barnaby whispered to me. I laughed but he had a point, this was guaranteed to be the easier reunion.
I took a deep breath and started forward calling out, "Mum! Dad! Hey, it's so good to see you both. This is Barnaby. How have you been?" My parents took turns hugging me and shaking Barnaby's hand before ushering us inside.
The house looked the same to me, but different somehow, emptier. I'd always enjoyed how average it was, average size, average neighborhood, average coloured wallpaper, nothing very interesting really, just a house.
It could have belonged to Muggles if not for a few telltale signs of wizarding inhabitants. Such as the dishes washing themselves or the WWN playing. We trooped into the kitchen as my mum brought out a plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of iced lemonade.
"I figured you'd be starving after travelling for two days" said Mum. "Your room is ready, just like always and I've fixed up Jake's.. the spare bedroom, for you Barnaby."
Well, this was going to be awkward. I hadn't had much time to think about what I would be doing with myself, but after learning Barnaby wasn't going to Brazil I'd decided I wouldn't be staying at home with my parents. I had some vague idea that Barnaby and I could maybe get a flat together, but nothing really fleshed out. And I hadn't exactly told my parents I wasn't planning to stay at home. I didn't know what I was doing yet but staying there wasn't in my plans. And I certainly wasn't going to have Barnaby staying in my brothers old room.
It occurred to me then that I really did need to make a plan of some kind. In all the craziness of leaving school, leaving my friends, discovering Barnaby would be staying behind with me and then our impromptu trip to see the Khanna's, I had sort of let it slide from my mind that I was of age now, and would need to start being practical.
Of course it took coming home to see my parents and being treated like their child again to make me realise I didn't have a clue what I was going to be doing a week into the future. I just needed a little time alone with Barnaby to talk about what we wanted to do now and figure out a plan, but that wouldn't happen if we were stuck in separate bedrooms.
I knew my parents would be happy to have me there, and Barnaby too but I just couldn't picture it. Not after the last two days of finally being able to do whatever we liked, whenever we wanted. Parents came with comfort and stability, but also rules. And I'd never been very good at following rules, especially if I didn't think they made sense.
I mulled it over while my parents chatted with Barnaby about our N.E.W.T results and our trip home from Hogwarts. At the moment he was doing fine and even seemed to be impressing them. I smiled encouragingly at him. Hopefully they'd stay on that topic for a while. If they asked too many questions he might let slip that we'd spent the last two nights together and I had no idea how my parents would handle that information.
The afternoon passed pleasantly enough and we had a nice dinner of spaghetti bolognese and salad out in the garden. It was towards the late evening when we retired to the sitting room for a nightcap that my dad started asking the harder questions. What types of jobs had we been applying for, what our long and short term goals were for living arrangements and careers, if we'd thought about joining the Ministry or furthering our academic studies.
I fielded as many as possible, answering vaguely as if we were just on a busy streak socially, trying to make the most of our precious free time while we had it. But I could tell my dad saw through me and was starting to get irritated that I wouldn't let Barnaby answer anything. I even tried feinting tiredness and suggesting we all turn in for the night but Dad called my bluff and told me to go on up to bed and that Barnaby could keep him company. Not a chance.
Mum took pity on me and told my dad she needed help with something in the kitchen, I gratefully seized the opportunity to rush Barnaby upstairs to my old bedroom. I started apologising before I'd even closed the door but as I turned around to face him he shut me up by kissing me passionately. Kissing quickly turned into groping and I completely lost track of time and all the worries that had been spinning my head downstairs.
It was getting to a point where clothes were about to come off when he stopped me and pulled back smiling. "How are you feeling now?" He asked.
"Some kind of way" I giggled, reaching for his shirt again. But once again he stopped me, this time grabbing my hand and holding it up to his cheek and staring into my eyes.
"I love you Samhain. And I'm going to take care of you. Maybe it won't be conventional or exactly in line with your parents preferences, but I promise you we are going to be happy together. And if you had let me answer some of your dad's questions I'd have told him that. I've got a house, not my Grandmother's but my parents house. And I found a job, for you too if you want it. You don't need to be so stressed, I swear your hair turned a new shade of white just in the last hour here." Barnaby finished, smiling but continuing to give me that intense eye contact while he waited for me to reply. I was too stunned to speak at first. Was this my Barnaby? Planning ahead? Being prepared to meet my parents and answer questions about a future we hadn't even had time to discuss ourselves? I was still trying to process everything he'd said but I latched onto the first part.
"I love you too Barnaby. Very much." This made him smile even bigger. "Why didn't you tell me you have a house?" I asked. "Well, it was going to be a surprise. I was going to take you there after visiting Grandmother, and ask you to move in with me." He said simply. I smiled back at him.
I had seriously underestimated Barnaby, more than just that night. I shook my head at myself for not ever giving him enough credit, and realised he was speaking to me again. ".. something else I wanted to ask you too, but I don't think you're listening Samhain."
He was right, of course. I put all my focus on him and was shocked to see he'd got off the bed and bent down on one knee, still holding my hand in his. "Now that I've got your attention" he chuckled. "Samhain, you make me a better man than I ever dreamed I could be. You appeared in my life and gave me a purpose and inspiration to be who I am now. Without you my life would be empty, and unfulfilled. I've known for a long time now that you're all I'll ever want. So if you'll have me as your husband, I promise I will love you and care for you and do my best to make you happy for the rest of our lives."
He proposed. Marriage. Barnaby asked me to marry him. My mind spun out of control. I struggled to say something. Anything. "We're awfully young Barnaby." Ugh, why was that the first thing I said. Yes would have been a great answer.
He seemed to understand that my brain was doing cartwheels and that I hadn't said no. "It can be a long engagement if you prefer, we don't even have to tell people. I'm sorry to do this now, like this. I can see you're very surprised and I haven't even got the ring yet. That's sort of why I need to visit Grandmother. You don't need to answer now Samhain. Take some time to think about it."
He started to get up after that. But something clicked in my brain. This man gave up his dream to be with me. He'd already planned out our life, he knew exactly what he wanted and it was me. He'd taken care of everything already and thought ahead. I had no plan, no plan other than wanting to be with Barnaby. Engaged at seventeen? Well it wasn't even that strange given all we'd seen and done at Hogwarts. I thought about the possibility of not saying yes or not saying anything and it filled me with panic. Realising Barnaby was all I wanted made it easy. I threw myself into his arms and kissed him enthusiastically. "Yes" I croaked between kisses.
He pulled himself back slightly.
"Yes? Are you sure?" he asked me. "Yes, I want to marry you Barnaby. I've never been so sure of anything in my life until now." He was positively beaming as he pulled me against his chest. And that's how my dad found us, kneeling on the floor next to the bed, hugging and laughing.
"Am I.. interrupting?" Dad asked hesitantly. "No sir" Barnaby replied, quickly standing up and pulling me to my feet with him. "I was just saying goodnight to Samhain." He kissed me quickly on the cheek and with a wink left the room.
I suspected my mum had had a word because my dad ended up apologising for grilling us. He said he'd just been worried about me when I hadn't announced a plan for the future yet and wanted to help me figure it out. I cut him off on that thought early. Now that the plan was as clear to me as it has been to Barnaby all night it was easy to confidently assure my dad that I was going to be fine. I didn't feel ready for another big reveal and just said I'd let him know when there was something important coming up but not to worry about me.
I fell asleep that night happier than I'd been in such a long time. The constant anxiety that had grown to be a part of me over the last year actually seemed to be completely gone now, not just temporarily controlled. I felt peaceful, excited and ready to move forward into the unknown with Barnaby, my fiancé.
Breakfast with my parents the next morning was more fun than I ever remembered it being. Barnaby had woken up at the crack of dawn and convinced Mum to let him help make my favourite chocolate chip pancakes. He'd also spent a good amount of time bonding with both of my parents and had clearly won them over while I slept.
I had no idea what he'd told them but seeing him fitting in so well and being treated like a member of the family made me feel more at home there than I had in years.
The atmosphere in the kitchen when I shuffled in was simply adorable. Barnaby had on one of Mum's flowery aprons and was brandishing a wooden spoon and a big bowl of batter.
"Samhain! Come sit down, we're making pancakes" Barnaby told me ecstatically.
His enthusiasm was contagious. I gave him a quick kiss, brushed a bit of flour off his nose and joined my dad at the table where he was watching Mum and Barnaby cook up a storm.
Dad passed me a section of The Daily Prophet to read as Mum poured me a cup of tea. Nothing very exciting seemed to be going on in the Wizarding World that day, nothing that made the paper anyway.
I looked up from the Prophet and caught Mum and Dad exchanging secretive, gleeful looks with each other. Weird. I was getting the feeling I'd missed something important by sleeping in that morning. I decided I'd ask Barnaby for an explanation as soon as we had a moment alone together, but put it out of my mind for the time being to enjoy our pancake breakfast.
It was even better than I remembered, it puzzled me again that I hadn't known Barnaby could cook. Perhaps he'd had a lot of help from my mum, but if I was being totally honest with myself, I would have expected more burning and less deliciousness from him in the kitchen. I made a mental note to stop having these low expectations because so far all Barnaby had done was blow those out of the water and continue to surprise me in the most wonderful ways.
After eating, Dad and I got the washing up started with a few lazy flicks of our wands and he apologised to me again about the night before. Weirder still. My dad wasn't an unreasonable or unfair man but he'd never been this quick to apologise. He usually would think he was right until evidence to the contrary was shoved right under his nose, and only then would he admit he could have been wrong. Something had definitely happened to change his mind. He also hadn't mentioned a single word about careers or plans or anything of the sort.
I glanced wonderingly over at Barnaby who was sitting cozily with Mum looking at.. Oh Merlin's pants! No, the horror.. not the baby pictures! I pointed my wand at them and muttered quickly "Accio photo album." The heavy book flew out of my startled mum's hands and zoomed over to me. I caught it, tucked it under my arm and snapped "Showing my chunky baby pictures to anyone not related by blood is a crime worthy of Azkaban" before stalking off to hide the album.
I could hear them both roaring with laughter over my embarrassment and hoped it could be forgotten sooner rather than later. I also hoped I'd be able to get even with Barnaby and see some embarrassing old photos of him when we went to visit his Grandmother. Which we had planned to do that same day.
I decided to let it go and not be annoyed with my parents or Barnaby when I remembered we were due to leave shortly. Instead, I rejoined them and made the most of the rest of that morning with my family and my fiancé.