Chương 295: Bath

The night swiftly passed, and Rowan fell fast asleep on the couch, because the next thing she knew, she was being gently awakened by Mrs. Evans, who had gotten up to prepare breakfast. Sending her upstairs to wash and freshen up, Rowan obediently returned upstairs to do as she was told. By the time she showered, Lily was up and reading a letter from James Potter and a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been generously sent over along with the letter.

"What did James say?" Rowan politely asked as she dried her hair with the bright orange hair dryer. Yes, the color was hideous, but at least the blasted piece of plastic did its job.

Lily ignores Rowan's jab and takes a bite of a piece of buttered toast (sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon) that she had flinched from. "James said that he wanted me to tell you and Severus that he was sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother. He prattled on for a bit about his summer plans and hoped to see us at the Quidditch World Cup later this summer."

"Ah, is that all?" Rowan asked as she turned off the dryer and grabbed the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. Lily averted her eyes shyly and didn't answer Rowan's question. But by this point, Rowan didn't care to ask as she read the news article by Rita Skeeter.

After a moment, Rowan seemed a bit miffed by what she read. So, her grandfather and Sir Knight Prince had purposefully lied to her. She was not the only parselmouth in the family, but Sir Knight Prince as well. With a frown, she tossed the paper onto the bed, before marching downstairs.

Rowan was the first person at the kitchen table as Mr. Evans had since left for work, while Petunia was still in bed. "Good morning, Mrs. Evans," Rowan politely said.

"Good morning, Rowan, how do you like your eggs dear?" Mrs. Evans earnestly asked.

"Softly well done," Rowan replied, as she hated it when the yellow of the yolk was too runny. "By the way, Mrs. Evans, I don't if it'd be possible for Lily to come with us to the World Quidditch Cup this year?"

"I'm sorry dear," Mrs. Evans replied. "Your grandfather did mention that to me in his letter, but we'll be taking a holiday in Bath at the time as an entire family. I'm afraid that Lily will have to wait until the next one. But it's not so bad as it's every four years much like the football cup. Which will make it rather easy to remember."

"Yes, it'll be held in West Germany, this year," Rowan sighed. "I would love to watch the matches, but Grandfather doesn't have a television." At least she did know who would win, West Germany would beat the Netherlands 2-1.

Mrs. Evans hides a smile, before placing a plate of well-done eggs with two sausages for breakfast. Rowan happily thanks her and digs into the meal. By the time she was done eating one of her sausages, Severus was at the table with Lily barely coming down the stairs. Seeing that Lily was about to ask her mother a certain question, Rowan hastily swallowed. "Thanks, Mrs. Evans," before rushing upstairs to grab her things.

Packing the last of her things, Rowan shoves them into her bag before hurrying over to Petunia's room. Petunia was snoring and didn't even notice her as Lily rushed upstairs in tears and slammed the door. Letting out a quiet breath, Rowan softly closes the door behind her and left Petunia to her sleep.

Though Rowan had been tempted to draw a funny face on Petunia as she slept. But since Petunia had been rather polite to her during their stay, it simply wouldn't be very kind of her to do so. Instead, she had left a small note of thanks on Petunia's desk along with the Prince Manor address. She sincerely hoped Petunia would write to her. They had gotten fairly well along, and they shared the same sense of humor. And frankly, Petunia could use a friend.

Heading back downstairs, Rowan finds Severus sadly poking at his eggs and sausages. Rolling her eyes, Rowan asks, "Mrs. Evans, would it fine if I borrow your copy of the Lord of the Ring series? I promise to send them back via owl."

"Nonsense dear, you can have them," Mrs. Evan warmly answered with a smile. "Mr. Evans doesn't have much time to read now, and Lily nor Petunia seem too much like fantasy novels."

"Why?" Rowan seemed rather startled. "Tolkien's a most exceptional writer."

"Yes, well, ever since Lily went off to Hogwarts, Petunia hasn't exactly been enamored with the idea of magic, while Lily largely scoffs at Tolkien's writings," Mrs. Evans replied as she washed the dishes in the kitchen sink.

Rowan's lips press into a frown, "They don't know what they're missing."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell them that," Mrs. Evans chuckled as she turned on the faucet to wash the soap away.

Rowan sat back down to read and not long after, she heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it," Mrs. Evans said as she dried her hands in her apron. Mrs. Evans opened the door to see the tall, slender figure of Georgine Prince.

"Severus, Rowan, your aunt's here," Mrs. Evans called out.

Rowan carefully packed the books into her travel case, before heading to the door. "Thank you for having us, Mrs. Evans," Rowan politely thanked Mrs. Evans.

"It was a pleasure, they were both most well-behaved," Mrs. Evans genuinely said as Georgine made a wry face.

Severus unhappily trots over with his own small travel case. "Thank you for having us, Mrs. Evans," Severus whispered as he kept glancing upstairs, but Lily didn't come down to say goodbye.

Mrs. Evans guessed the reason for Severus' gloomy glances. "I'll be sure to tell her after her sulk. She'll be right sorry she missed saying goodbye to the both of you. I bet that by the end of the day, you'll have an apology letter."

Severus slightly perks up at her words, before Aunt Georgine says, "Thank you again, Mrs. Evans and your husband. I do hope that the two of them behaved themselves."

"They were no trouble at all," Mrs. Evans said as she reached into her pocket for the remaining and golden money clip.

Georgine shook her head and said, "Consider it a token of our appreciation for the favor, you and your husband did us in our time of dire need."

"If you insist," Mrs. Evans said as she slowly withdrew her hands from her apron to clasp them nervously before her.

Georgine nods her head once more, before saying, "Come along children." Both Rowan and Severus trotted right after. The morning was still cool as it was only eight o'clock. It frankly surprised them that Georgine was even up at this early hour. Usually, when at home breakfast wasn't served until nine, and only half of the time Aunt Georgine was up at that hour.

The streets were still sleepy as the husbands had long since left for work and the children had yet to go outside to play. In the distance, the factories could be seen churning black smoke as Georgine led the two of them to a secluded alley. Grabbing hold of the two of them, she apparated away leaving the sleeping town of Cokeworth behind.