บท 285: Please Enjoy your Stay!

Oleandra quickly entered her room on the second floor and locked herself in. It was rather nondescript, as far as hotel rooms went; the extent of the decoration was the wild duck-themed wallpaper. Two single beds, two tables and two lamps, a CRT television, one small bathroom and one closet; but that was more than enough for her needs.

Upon hearing a knock at the door, Oleandra opened it just a crack without removing the chain bolt; it was the receptionist from earlier. Had she noticed something off with the bookkeeping? Perhaps that Oleandra hadn't actually paid any money for her room?

"Excuse me," the receptionist said. "I thought you might be hungry, so I had some beef stew warmed up for you from the kitchen. Free of charge."

"Oh, er— that's really kind of you," said Oleandra a bit sheepishly, opening the door to let the woman in. "I was starving…"

The receptionist carried in a plate topped with a metal cloche, which she placed on one of the bedside tables. She briefly lifted the metal cover to show Oleandra what was hidden under it, allowing a tantalizing meaty aroma to waft out. Oleandra was now feeling more than a little guilty for magicking her way in without paying.

"Make sure to eat it all, okay?" the woman added with a wink. "I'll leave you to it, then. Have a good night!"

Oleandra's eyes twitched; for an instant, a purplish aura had briefly appeared around the receptionist, signifying that she had just been lied to.

"Good night," Oleandra repeated, maintaining her gratified expression despite the perplexing lie she had just heard.

The woman excused herself with a large smile, and Oleandra closed the door, making sure to lock the door tightly by sliding the bolt back into its locked position.

Had the woman really lied to her about wishing her a good night? Was something sinister going on in this peaceful little town? Or maybe, it had just been an innocent white lie; as in, she hadn't really believed Oleandra would be able to get a good night's worth of sleep, due to her believing she was a runaway.

Oleandra could not detect malice; only falsehoods.

In any case, Oleandra was starving; she hadn't had anything to eat in months. The beef stew was really delicious; she even cleaned out the remaining sauce at the bottom of the bowl with a piece of black bread. And with some food in her belly, she was beginning to feel a little drowsy.

But just to make sure nobody would be interrupting her slumber, Oleandra decided to avail herself of the hotel stationery. She tore out a few sheets of paper from a notepad and drew three runes on each of them with a pen: ᚱ, ᛉ and ᛟ. She then stuck the sticky notes to the door and the windows.

"Raidhu, Elhaz, Odala!" Oleandra chanted. "The Chariot, the Elk and the Fortress! Let this traveller be sheltered within your protection! Withstand!"

One by one, the runes glowed softly as Oleandra tenderly called out their given names and their nicknames. You see, depending upon the way they were called upon, a same rune could have different powers.

For example, Raidhu was not only the Riding rune, but also the Way of Transformations. Elhaz as the Elk's Antlers could protect, but it could also unlock under the aspect of the Swan. Odala was the rune of Inheritance and Thieves, but it could also represent one's ownership over their property as the Fortress; two sides of the same coin.

Oleandra yawned loudly; she must have been more tired than she'd thought.

'Better get a shower before I fall asleep standing,' she thought to herself, before stripping out of her clothes and heading for the bathroom. Without a wand, she wouldn't be able to clean her clothes, but for now, she just wanted to be clean before sleeping in bed.

Her reflection caught her eye; there was a full body mirror in the bathroom., allowing Oleandra to finally see herself for the first time in a few months. The first thing she noticed was that she'd gone through a growth spurt; she was a few inches taller than she'd been before.

She also noticed that her ribcage was visible against her skin; she might have spent a few months in stasis, but it hadn't been a perfect one. She had consumed much of her body weight in order for her mind and body to heal, just barely surviving without eating and drinking.

And that's when she saw it.

"What the…" Oleandra murmured, tracing the outline of a scar on her sternum with her index.

There it was, right between her breasts, right where Voldemort's Killing Curse had struck her. The skin there was marred by a lightning bolt-shaped scar; very reminiscent of the one on Harry's forehead. Oleandra groaned in dismay; what would a future lover think of this? That she was such a die-hard Potterhead that she had tattooed Harry's scar on her chest?

At any rate, this wasn't a pressing issue; as long as she stayed away from communal baths, low-cut dresses and bathing suits, nobody would ever get the chance to look into her cleavage. It was a good thing that Wizards preferred to wear robes, which were rather good at covering the body.

Thankfully, she had designed the Basilisk-skin robes to only leave her upper back and her upper arms exposed, or she would have had to retire the robes from pure mortification…

At least, it wasn't as bad as having it on the forehead. When people wanted to see Harry's scar, he would have to lift his fringe to let them gawp at it. But someone would have to be utterly devoid of shame to ask Oleandra to do the same.

…

A quick shower later, and Oleandra was all clean again. But barely had she made it out of the bathroom than her vision blurred; she was just too sleepy… Oleandra staggered over to the closest of the two beds, but she stumbled and fell before she had even made it halfway there, landing on the soft carpeted floor.

Her last thoughts were that this was unnatural; Sleeping Draught…? Or maybe some sort of Muggle sopori…