Unfamiliar Ground

Charlotte had been able to adjust well to the new rule of dressing casually. During her first year at Hogwarts, she had slowly begun to do that anyway, but now it was almost more expected of her. Today, she wore some very casual clothing, a cute shirt and shorts, with some shoes that matched.

She was brushing down a wrinkle when she waled into the dining room. A smile pulled at her face a little while she looked around. She turned her head in time to see the owl perched and went to retrieve her own envelope. She opened it casually and began to read it while she sat down.

"Do you think we can go and get out supplies today?" Charlotte asked, though it wasn't to anyone in particular. She felt her heart leap at the idea of seeing her friends, MJ or maybe some of her other friends from the train ride home.

Dodry wandered into the room, dusting himself off from some sort of sparkly gold powder. He felt his pointy ears, as if to check they were still there, then inspected the breakfast to ensure they still had everything they needed.

Ever-keen to be useful, he glanced at the eldest and youngest two Dorens -- wary to interrupt any sort of conversation, but deemed it worth the risk.

'Is you needing anything from Dodry?' he asked, alert and energetic despite his tired or unimpressed manner of speaking. 

'Master Gilbert is tending to the gardens,' Dodry replied. 'He is not allowed here, according to Mistress' rules. I is letting him know you wish to speak with him, if you wish you attend in the gardens?' he said, unsure how to help without rule-breaking.

The elf eyed Elizabeth's letter, unable to resist.

'Is you needing Dodry to owl something?' he asked, a bit hesitantly as if expecting to anger them for such a suggestion. 'I is still needing to go beyond the boundary, even if Mistress is not here to enforce the restraint.'

"Oh, I see... Then, I will go see him in the gardens after breakfast," Charlotte said as she took another pastry from the table. She was quite content at the moment and felt that since her parents had been taken away, she had more of an appetite. No longer was she having to worry about impressing them. At least for a time she could be relaxed... The worry of them returning was there though, in the back of her mind and she shivered at the thought while she sat quietly. 

"I suppose Mr. Tolliver would be okay to come..." The idea of disheartening to Charlotte, but she sat quietly as her sister finished with Dodry and then brought her attention to her. She expressed her discomfort and Charlotte looked at her with confusion and maybe a little bit of anger. 

"It was probably because they are just mean... I hope I never see them again," she said boldly before she took another sip of her juice that she had poured. "They do not even care for us..." Charlotte said as she recalled the one time she was easily forgotten when they had a party. It was during a time when William and Elizabeth were gone. It had been the only happy day she could recently recall while at this house.

For a time, she felt loved and care for by them. Then, they dropped her like she was trash and forgot all about her. She never wanted to see them again. She stood from her place and brushed off her casual clothing, checking for anything that had dropped on her at any point. 

"I am going to see him," she said bluntly before she left through the doors. She took her time walking to the gardens and arrived not long after she left Breakfast. As she entered, she looked about and smiled at the beauty of the garden. 

"Um... Mr..." Should she call him uncle or mister when she spoke to him. She had never actually called him Uncle while he was there in person. "Gilbert?"

Elizabeth couldn't believe the words Charlotte was saying. Her parents were mean? How childish of her. Was a professor mean for deducting house points from misbehaving students? Their parents may have been strict, but Elizabeth had to believe that they had truly cared for them. Why else would they spend so much money on tutors? Perhaps Elizabeth would have to show Charlotte the dress that she had received from their parents.

If their parents had ever been mean, it was the circumstances. The incident with her mother demanding that Elizabeth go to Azkaban was the one of the only situations that Elizabeth could point to where she thought her parents had been to harsh. And the words of her father--"You were enough"--Elizabeth knew that they loved her, even if they showed it in a different way.

She was not able to explain all of that to Charlotte before she ran off, and soon afterwards Dodry reappeared. Elizabeth startled, already unsettled by the events of the summer. Perhaps she should train herself to be a bit more calm.

"Thank you, Dodry. Today is a good time to go. I'll be out waiting with Charlotte in the garden."

She collected her things, including the Prefect badge. The type of responsibility she was growing used to. She walked the way her sister had gone. Elizabeth was not going to let her sister be alone with a man her mother hadn't trusted enough to give custody to. She stood at a bit of a distance, watching Gilbert and Charlotte with concern.

Why couldn't things just stay the same? The way she was used to them being? She missed her schedule, and she missed her tutors, and most of all, she missed her parents.

Adapting to the new rules was not as easy as it sounded. A lot of time, William planned to wear formal before realizing he was supposed to wear casual. He chose a simple black t-shirt with a small pattern. He chooses not to make any changes to his usual hairstyle. Changing to clothes at the last moment made him a little late for breakfast.

William was also struggling with frequent changes in routine. His whole life, William had learned that things should happen at a proper time, and he had tried to follow this rule in school also by having meals or studying at the proper time. When the routine was not there at home, it felt weird. It was almost like he had not been at his home but at some strange place.

Another new thing was the option to spend time however he wanted. William had the habit of getting a timetable from his tutors, but it was not the case now. Probably his four years at Hogwarts trained him to make his own timetable. So, it was not that hard except that he had to reserve some time for two activities; to go out and spend time with his sisters. Even though these two things weren't teaching him anything, with every passing day, he learned new things about his sisters.

Arriving at the breakfast table, he went to sit at his regular seat. He was glad that at least there was one thing that remained unchanged. It was hard to confess, but he was almost expecting his mother's angry glare for arriving late at the breakfast table, but it didn't happen.

"Good morning Charlotte, Elizabeth." He said in a dull voice.

William collected his letter from the owl and read it slowly. The permission slip was the thing he was worried about. When Elizabeth mentioned sending the letter to their guardian, it felt weird. He knew she was talking about Dae-hyun Tolliver, and William was not happy with the idea. It wasn't like they had any other option if they wanted to get permission for Hogsmeade.

This letter did raise William's hope. He hoped returning to school would be much better than living in a dysfunctional home. The idea of going to get supplies was good, and when Elizabeth suggested heading start on our studies, it made him even more excited.

Willam read the letter written by Elizabeth. The letter contained all the important details without useless chitchats. "Perfect." He answered.

When Charlotte mentioned meeting friends, he wondered whom he looked forward to meeting, maybe some of his classmates. When Charlotte called Gilbert as uncle, it was very uncomfortable. No matter what anyone would say, suddenly finding out that their gardener is their uncle was not easy, and it would take some time for him to accept this.

Since he found that Gilbert was his uncle, it was hard for him to be around him, and he didn't want this trip to be a situation like that. When Elizabeth tried to explain to Charlotte, William remain silent and let her handle the situation. Besides, he had no idea how to explain this without making her sad.

Elizabeth's way didn't go as well as they would want. Charlotte got angry and even said that she hoped she would never see them again. It made William socked and unable to say a word. Soon, she went out, and he couldn't do anything.

"She didn't mean it." He said after a weird amount of silence in the room.

Dodry delivered the letter, and they could go to Diagon Alley today, which was fine. After finishing breakfast, they went to the garden and noticed Charlotte and Gilbert. Nowadays, he didn't feel comfortable around Gilbert, but Charlotte was very close to him. Charlotte would want to go with Gilbert. Mr. Tolliver was not his first choice either but given the circumstances, he would be the better option.

"If we couldn't convince her, then maybe we can ask Gilbert to accompany us with Mr. Tolliver," He said to Elizabeth, obviously being away from Charlotte's earshot. He wasn't looking forward to spending time with Gilbert after knowing the truth, but couldn't think of any other solution.

Charlotte couldn't help but smile in a bit of amusement when he wiped himself off with his gloves. Why she found it rather funny was unknown to her, but he gave her his full attention. Why couldn't her father give her attention like this? Or mother? They didn't want to give them any form of attention. But, Gilbert was willing to stop and look at the letter with her. When he smile at her, it made her feel warm inside.

But, then he turned down the offer to come with them and she felt a little sad by it all. Did he care about appearance too? It seemed everyone in the family did and after seeing how others at school were... Did it really matter all that much how one appeared to others? Was it so awful to just... Be yourself?

Then, he involved her in helping with the garden and she found the ability to just tap her wand to make the can water was quite enjoyable. She was smiling while she helped him, forgetting the want to go to Diagon Alley. BUt, then he nudged her and he looked towards the figure herself.

"Oh... Well... Can I help you again... Um..." She felt her cheeks turn red as she was about to call him Mr. Gilbert again. Inside, this was a struggle... "Do... Do you still wish me to call you Mr. Gilbert?" She hoped that he would understand that she thought maybe another term would be better for him. But, everything left her so very confused from the summer.

Once he told her what he wanted her to call him or if he okayed her to call him what she wanted to... She would head to the Lobby to go with her siblings to Diagon Alley.