18 Chapter:18 Bones Manor
Susan Bones, a youngling hailing from the noble and ancient Bones family, a pure-blood wizarding family with a distinguished history in the wizarding world. The Bones family has a long history of producing witches and wizards who were expert combatants, a trait quite apparent from the fact that the last three Heads of Auror Departments had been Bones.
She is a young girl with an approachable appearance, her light brown hair back with colorful hairpins and her bright, inquisitive hazel eyes reflecting her friendly and open nature. Susan is of average height for her age, with a lithe, graceful build and her complexion is fair with a smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
She greeted Victoire and Lyriel with a polite nod and introduced herself,
"Hello, I am Susan Bones. You two must be Victoria and Lyrel."
And she mispronounced their names.
"Hello, Mees Susan, I am Ly-ree-el, not Le-rel, and zees ees Veek-twah, not Victoria."
This was the first time that Victoire had ever heard Lyriel talk in English, till now, all their interactions had been in their mother tongue. Also, she never realized that the second half of her name resembled the word 'Twat'. That's gonna be a problem.
"My apologies."
Susan dipped her head a bit and turned around to lead them,
"Aunty is expecting you. Follow me."
Susan led Victoire and Lyriel out of the parlor and through the magnificent halls of the old wizarding mansion, its walls were adorned with tapestries depicting the ancestors of the Bones family. And she even recognized some of them.
At the top, near the ceiling, hung the portrait of Edgard Jonathan Bones, a highly skilled wizard who had made significant contributions to developing non-violent methods of subduing opponents.
And then there was the famous painting depicting the scene of the 'Borras Wedding Massacre'. A gruesome event that took place at the wedding of one of the Ancient German families. The scene was, however, seen as more of a poetic or romantic theme instead of gore due to the underlying story.
As they followed Susan, Victoire couldn't help but try and remember her role and appearance in the books and movies.
Susan Bones, a member of Hufflepuff House, is known for her loyalty, hard work, and dedication to her House. The most noticeable development of her character was when she joined that silly group called 'Dumbledore's Army' or 'D.A.'.
Seriously, who came up with the name? Sometimes she wondered if they wanted to get noticed rather than be a secret club. The second most noticeable development was that she participated in the battle of Hogwarts.
Victoire couldn't help but notice an air of distinction about Susan. It hinted at her noble and ancient lineage. Watching Susan, Victoire couldn't help but admire the high quality of her genetic roots. Susan's grace and poise, even at a young age, spoke volumes about the magical strength that ran in her veins.
The thought... comforted her.
The book couldn't compare to real life, could it? Even though Susan in the book was completely undermined by the 'Golden Trio', she was still a rare magical talent.
Perhaps the same was true for others too.
Maybe Moldypants would be more irritable than in the book and slip up. Maybe Snap won't be a prat or maybe Dumbledore won't be as much of a control freak.
Then again, these thoughts were for a time that is still far off into the future.
Finally, they reached an ornate wooden door at the end of a long corridor. Susan paused and turned to face them.
"Aunty is inside. She's been eager to meet both of you."
Her voice was low and formal, devoid of amusement or excitement. With that, she gently pushed the door open, revealing a lavishly decorated room with plush chairs and an imposing fireplace that roared with green and blue flames.
Seated by the fire, in an elegant armchair, was a woman who could only be Amelia Bones. She was somewhere in her early thirties, with sharp, intelligent eyes and a regal air about her. Her auburn hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her robes were a deep shade of emerald green, embroidered with intricate patterns. It was evident that she had inherited the family's keen sense of style.
Lady Bones rose gracefully as the trio entered, her eyes focused on Victoire and Lyriel.
"Welcome, I am Amelia Bones, but you may call me Aunt Amelia."
Her voice was firm yet welcoming.
"Please, have a seat."
Victoire glanced at Lyriel and nearly gawked at the sight in front of her.
Lyriel, the Champion of Veelas, was blushing like a teenager.
She watched in amused bewilderment Lyriel gingerly took her seat opposite Madam Bones. Her eyes rapidly shifted to the wall, then at Madam Bones, then at the table, again at Madam Bones, and then at Victoire who was still standing a couple of steps behind her.
Victoire finally snapped out of her bemusement as Lady Bones pulled back her chair and slid back into it. Barely making any noise as she did so, but just about enough to get her attention.
Finally, Lady Bones spoke again, her piercing eyes never leaving her two guests.
"The Bone, and The Lefèvres, are both ancient households. "
Her tone was serious, and it made the duo sit up straighter, all apprehension.
"Hector asked me to foster his daughter for one week each at the beginning and the end of your school term. He made use of age-old contracts and as such I am unable to refuse you hospitality, however,"
she continued,
"That man thinks too much."
Her frown eased, and a kind smile crept onto her lips,
"Even without our familial connections, I would have allowed you to take up stay here as long as you might require. Not indefinitely, of course."
She chuckled and Victoire could have sworn she heard Lyriel swoon right next to her.
"As I am informed, both of you are to leave for Hogwarts on the 1st of September by the Hogwarts Express."
Victoire stirred at the remark,
'Both?'
She turned to look at Lyriel whose adoring face was replaced by a nervous, sheepish look.
"I see you have doubts regarding your destinations, I will let you sort it out between yourself."
Amelia went on,
"But till then you are both to live under the roof of the Bones family and therefore are entitled to every privilege of a guest, as well as being obliged to follow the rules set by your host."
The duo exchanged glances once more, unsure of what to make of this unexpected turn of events. They had known there would be some unexpected circumstances that might arise due to familial laws, but this was stretching it a bit thin.
"These rules are meant for adults rather than kids, so these are meant for you, Lyriel, right?"
Lyriel's eyes lit up and she nodded her head vigorously.
Victoire might have been imagining it, but she was sure that she saw a tail wagging wildly behind the Veela.
Amelia leaned forward, her expression earnest,
"There are three important rules that you must follow. First, you are not to bring a 'partner for the night' back here. You can take them to an Inn or a muggle hotel, but you are not to bring any here."
Victoire and Lyriel were stunned, though both were blissfully unaware of each other's reasons.
One of them was stunned due to the aversion visible on Amelia's face as she mentioned the word 'partner', The second one was wondering how the hell did Amelia not notice the lustful gaze of her companion.
Guessing which was who's is quite easy.
Amelia continued,
"The second rule is that you are not allowed to drink heavily in the manor. You may consume in moderation but please don't knock back so much that you puke all over the floor."
Another rule that would have dampened Lyriel's mood and she not been drooling after the 'MILF' in front of her.
"And the third is for both of you."
She turned her gaze to Victoire,
"You have access to the library, but there are some sections that are draped under cloth. I would like it if you keep them that way."
Her sharp gaze softened as both of them gave one sift nod each.
"Glad that's out of the way. Now, you two must be famished, let's go it's nearly lunchtime."
And with a sudden change of her face, she smiled and walked out of the study, telling them to follow after her.
Victoire didn't move, she was too busy staring at Lyriel who, with a guilty conscience, was not looking at her.
"And how did you forget to tell me that you are going to Hogwarts as well."
Lyriel fumbled for a bit before shaking her head in denial,
"Hector said it was a surprise. He didn't want me to tell you that he purchased a shop at Hogsmeade."
Victoire frowned,
"A shop? In Hogsmeade? What kind of shop exactly?"
"Oh, nothing much really. Just a bit of everything..."
Before Lyriel could finish her statement, Amelia called from down the corridor,
"You girls coming or what?"
***
The Bones Estate, despite being quite vast, was surprisingly monotonous. Not like Victoire stayed there for long enough to get truly bored, but still, the place appeared to be deserted.
There was a stable not far from the manor, but it was unoccupied, and a pond not far from it but it too was empty.
The library was practically covered in drapes, sometimes Victoire even thought of suggesting that Amelia might as well cover the door instead of wasting so much cloth on the individual shelves.
But it was only on the day they arrived that she went out to explore, the next day was spent making sure she had properly packed everything, or if she had missed something and would have to go to Diagon Alley to purchase them. Unfortunately, it appears that Andrea was far too competent to make such a silly mistake.
Her entire luggage was packed into a single trunk, the one with the undetectable extension charm applied to it. The inside of the trunk was roughly a cuboid of 15m x 15m x 15m, a space devoid of any structure save for the floor matting, a shelf, a wardrobe, and other pieces of furniture she nabbed from one of the empty guestrooms back at home.
Theoretically, she, as the owner of the object, could mold it's inside according to her preference. Increase the space and add a natural habitat like the Newtcase, or maybe build an intricate dungeon. But it was only theoretically possible, she did not know how to perform or control the extension charm, and doing so without the required skills may have some unforeseen... consequences.
Still, the day wasn't entirely boring, for one she finally received a reply to the letter she sent to Elara.
Victoire had begun her correspondence with the German witch not long after returning from the trip. Their letters had advanced from formal exchanges to informal talk about how their days or weeks had passed. Their last correspondence had been nearly half a month ago when Elara, unfortunately, had to go undercover due to her work. She had said that it would be a quick in and out but it had stretched for nearly half a month now.
In the early afternoon, Emily, the giant eagle owl, swooped through the window and landed on Victoire's head, nearly breaking her neck in the process.
Emily was a cheery 'little' fellow, or at least as cheery as a Eurasian Eagle Owl could be. These buggers weighed nearly five pounds and were one of the biggest if not 'The' biggest species of owls. Another reason why Emily's sudden swooping on top of Victoire's head was quite a troublesome problem.
She untied the parchment wrapped around its leg and saw writings that only could be described as 'panicked'
[Dear Victoire,
How are you? I am fine, but ze mission is going to drag on for much longer zan I anticipated at first. I promise to make up for ze time we haven't spoken by visiting you after zis task. You know I can't divulge ze contents of ze operation, and therefore all I can say is zat I am close to finding out why ze shipments of floo powder are disappearing all over ze world.
Good luck vith your school,
Elara
P.S. - Smart owl, don't use zis one again, can give avay your identity]
Looks like someone is busy.
Victoire didn't think much of the letter and placed it inside her suitcase just in case she forgot to do so later. Moments after that, a tapping on her door turned her attention away from Elara and onto Susan who had just come up to invite her guests for dinner.
Dinner was a silent affair with Lyriel gazing at Amelia with a strange look in her eyes. Meanwhile, Lady Bones ate her dinner completely, somehow, oblivious to the strange look that her guest was giving her.
It was quite apparent that only Susan and Victoire were aware of what was going on, visible clearly through the excited gaze of Susan as her gaze wandered from one end of the table to another, her excitement seeping through her eyes.
After dinner, Amelia stated that she would be accompanying them to the station due to her presence being required there since a large number of young witches and wizards would be gathering at one spot. An ideal location for a mishap to happen.
This declaration worried Victoire, and Lyriel acted like a lovesick teenager and kept on complimenting and praising Amelia's work.
Afterward, they all withdrew to their quarters and went under for the night.
