15 - Life at the Manor

{Brooke Manor, Greater Manchester}

{18th August 1989}

Heather had spent the last two weeks living at Brooke Manor... and she was in love.

She had been given her own room, her own things, her own clothes. Not only did she finally have clothes of her own, but they were nice, clean. Stylish. Heather didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to wear them.

She was told she was allowed to have anything she wanted.

It was honestly a bit overwhelming.

Heather also didn't have to do ANY chores. While she didn't like the idea of mooching off the Brookes, Matteo had just brushed it off, telling her not to worry about it. And, well, it was hard for her to even find anything to do when Matteo had over a dozen maids.

Then there was Camilla and Chloe.

In her own words, Lady Brooke had said that she was 'too adorable.' She tended to give her hugs and pat her head whenever possible. Heather had found it a bit much at first, but she soon found herself craving her affection, as well as Chloe's and Matteo's. Heather was soon greeting the three of them with hugs whenever she could.

Lady Brooke had said that she was 'touch-starved.'

Aunt Petunia had never hugged her, and Heather didn't know how she had gone so long without something so sacred.

Chloe was a lot more reserved, and was a 'servant' of Lady Brooke... but her relationship with Matteo's mother was nothing like hers with the Dursleys. As far as she could tell, Camilla treated Chloe with the love and care that one would treat family.

'Or rather,' Heather thought back to the Dursleys, as well as the Potters, 'with the love and care that you were supposed to treat family.'

Heather shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

Neither the Dursleys nor the Potters cared for her, so she shouldn't care for them. After so many years of torment, to the point that it was all that she knew... she was free. At Brooke Manor, she was cared for, loved for, and always welcome.

Here, Heather felt like... like she was amongst family.

The thought left her a bit teary eyed.

And then there was their newest addition, Nagini.

Heather pitied the poor woman– cursed to forever be a snake, unable to talk to anyone for decades... but thanks to Matteo, Nagini had already made a full recovery. She had barely been here a full week!

Nagini could now freely transform between serpent and woman, but for some reason, she preferred to leave her bottom half a snake as she slithered around the manor.

'Maybe it's easier than walking...?' she wondered.

It was actually thanks to Nagini that Heather learned that she was a Parselmouth– she had a 'bloodline magic' that let her talk to snakes.

She could even use it to speak in code!

She was ecstatic to learn that Matteo was a Parselmouth too... or so she thought.

It turned out that Matteo wasn't a Parselmouth, but a Replicus– Matteo could replicate any magic, spell, or magical ability after seeing or hearing it once.

Even other bloodline magics.

Matteo's 'bloodline magic' was practically cheating.

'Focus,' Heather berated herself. She was SUPPOSED to be working on securing one of the most sacred parts of herself, her mind. At their first meeting, Matteo had been nice about it, gently viewing her surface thoughts, but he was the exception.

Most people were a lot less careful, a lot less gentle. Erasing, modifying, and even outright creating fake memories in other people was possible, not to mention just outright attacking the mind until it broke entirely.

Safeguarding her mind was a must, so Heather focused... clearing her thoughts, distancing herself from anything and everything... strengthening her resolve with the love she had for Camilla, Chloe, and Matteo... with the gratitude she felt towards the Brookes...

"Nicely done, Heather."

"EEP!" Heather squealed, leaping into the air.

She furrowed her brow in annoyance– Matteo loved sneaking up on her, and she had tried and tried to prevent him from doing so, but alas, she couldn't.

Matteo gently wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. With this being the first time she had seen Matteo in days, Heather practically melted into his touch.

"How are your mental defenses coming along?" Matteo asked.

"Um, pretty good," she shifted in their hug.

"Shall we put them to the test?"

Heather felt his presence in her mind.

He slipped past her defenses with ease– she tried to force him out, but Matteo was all encompassing. It wasn't much longer before she felt recent memories of hers resurfacing, those being her hugging Matteo, her hugging Camilla, her hugging Chloe, and her hugging Matteo...

She was going to die from embarrassment.

<You really like hugs, huh?> he chided.

"Matteo, please..."

Before she could ask him to stop, however, Heather sensed it– there was something else inside her head. Something sinister. Something evil.

Her breath hitched at the sheer maliciousness that she sensed from it, but before she could figure out what it was, it was gone.

"W-What... what was that?" she asked wearily.

It was only thanks to Matteo that she was still standing.

"Something you'll have to fight," he replied, "but only when I can't waltz right past your mental defenses like they're not even there."

"I-I'm trying my best!" she said heatedly.

"I know. You've been making wonderful progress, Heather."

Heather blushed. She was still very weak to praise, especially from Matteo.

"Let's go downstairs, breakfast should be ready any minute now..." Matteo trailed off, before gently rubbing her head, messing up her hair.

Not that she minded.

"Okay."

***

As she walked into the dining room with Matteo by her side, Heather was greeted by familiar faces. Camilla, Chloe, and Nagini were all sitting at the dining table already... or rather, Nagini was resting atop the rest of her tail, coiled into a makeshift seat.

With breakfast being served by Matteo's many maids, and most of the people seated digging in to their food already, it was rather lively. An atmosphere that Heather appreciated.

Then there was a new face... white hair, red eyes, and strikingly beautiful horns adorning the top of her head. Heather could tell that she was strong.

"Um, who is...?"

"Her name is Vienna," Matteo answered for her. "I rescued her in a... similar way as to how I rescued you."

'Oh...' Heather's hesitance vanished at Matteo's words. She looked at Vienna in a new light, with a mixture of sympathy and understanding. Wondering what kind of life someone as strong as her could've been living, to the point that she had required saving.

Then she watched as Vienna looked at the steak on her plate, and Heather suddenly realized how odd it was for Vienna to only have a massive steak for breakfast. But before she could even question it, Vienna opened her mouth and let out a streak of white-hot fire, torching the steak until it was almost nothing but charcoal, as well as charring her section of the table.

With a wave of Camilla's hand the fire was instantly put out.

Heather's jaw dropped at the display.

"...She's also a dragon."

"A dragon?!" Heather squealed, turning back to Matteo. "Like, a real dragon?!"

"Yes, like a real dragon," he chuckled.

"But... this might not be the best setting for her." He left Heather standing at the edge of the table, making his way towards the ill-mannered dragongirl. "Vienna, let's get you something you can actually eat."

Vienna practically leapt from her seat into his open arms, and Matteo was forced to bend his legs a bit to catch her. Looking quite silly carrying a girl twice his size, Matteo turned back to the rest of them, saying, "I also have some... other things that I need to take care of, so I'll be back in a few hours."

"Yeah... have fun, Matty," Camilla scoffed, knowing full well what those 'other things' were.

"Bye Matty..." Chloe said, a hint of longing in her voice.

"Bye Matteo!" Heather said, a bit sad that he had to go, but understanding it all the same. As the Brooke Heir, Matteo had a lot of responsibilities, almost more than Lady Brooke did. It was perfectly normal for him to need to disappear for hours at a time, or even days. Heather was just glad that he still made time for her...

Then it was just Camilla, Chloe, Heather, Nagini, and the maids.

Heather sat down at her seat, her mouth watering. Her plate already filled with eggs, bacon, waffles, and coated in a layer of syrup, she started eating right away.

"How is your training coming along, dearie?" Camilla asked as they ate.

"Um, it's okay," Heather answered. "No one can enter my mind without me knowing, but I'm still not very good at protecting it..."

"Oh, hush. You still have two more years before you step foot into Hogwarts, which gives you plenty of time to polish your skills," she chided.

"Ah, I guess..." Heather half-answered, her thoughts still lingering on Matteo's prowess.

"You won't ever catch up to him," Camilla answered for her. "He isn't just a genius, or one in a million, no, he's the definitive best. He's already much, much better than me, and he's most likely a better mage than anyone on the planet..."

Heather stilled at Camilla's words. 'I'll never catch up to him...?'

"Matty will always be better than me, better than you. But he won't judge you for that, or abandon you for that. So stop worrying over nothing, you silly girl," she scolded her.

"Oh..." Heather blushed. She still wasn't used to being read so easily.

"Yes, well, it seems that people can still read your surface thoughts without you knowing, so you'll need to practice more," Camilla chided, to which Heather groaned.

Then, after a comfortable silence, owls flooded the room.

"Fucking wizards," Camilla muttered, "you create something as wonderous as teleportation, but you still rely on owls for your mail..."

Heather just nodded absentmindedly. Already aware of how the Brookes are mostly independent, and how Matteo is only going to Hogwarts to 'network,' she has already been exposed to a few of the flaws in how wizards did things.

Four copies of the Daily Prophet were dropped in front of them, one for Camilla, Chloe, Nagini and Heather respectively. As well as a dozen other letters for Lady Brooke, the head of the newly founded house. It was only a few minutes before they all flew out of the manor, sickles in claw... but that did not lessen the numerous feathers they left in their wake.

Heather looked at the front page of the paper.

'The Oddly Isolated Brookes?' written by Rita Skeeter

The title gave Heather a bad feeling.

"The Oddly Isolated Brookes..." Camilla read aloud, frowning.

"Isolation tends to have odd effects on the human mind... The Brooke Heir seems to display a number of odd characteristics, such as being unnaturally quiet... due to multiple eye witness accounts, it can be assumed that... that Matteo Brooke is has been the victim of emotional abuse. Emotional Abuse. This... this Rita Skeeter is implying that I, one who is solely devoted to Matteo, would abuse him?"

Camilla's voice was calm, unnaturally quiet. Heather couldn't detect any rage, any malice in Lady Brooke's voice. Which only left Heather more confused, with the surrounding air suddenly so heavy that she couldn't even breathe.

Murderous intent leaking from nearly everyone in the manor.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough time to reduce Heather to a shivering mess.

"I'm sorry about that," Camilla whispered. Suddenly enveloped in Lady Brooke's arms, Heather hadn't even realized that Camilla was behind her till she spoke. With Lady Brooke's assurance, and the pressure rescinded, Heather let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Are you alright, dearie?"

"Um, yeah..." Heather said, still a little shaken up.

Which was to be expected, having experienced murderous intent twice in one day.

"Good, good. The maids will take care of this, don't worry," Camilla assured her, and Heather looked up to see that she had broken her glass, her juice trailing down the table's edge. Before she could sputter that she'd pay for it, Camilla lightly flicked her forehead.

"Ow!"

"You don't even have any money," Lady Brooke scolded her.

Then Heather felt Camilla's demeanor shift, no longer murderous, but cold. A deep, visceral hatred swelling just below the surface. Heather found it slightly unnerving, never having seen Matteo's mother so furious before.

She was just glad that there wasn't any bloodlust to accompany it this time.

"Now... now I just have to find this 'Rita Skeeter.'" Then with a wave of her hand, Camilla vanished, and Heather softly fell back into her chair.

'Rita Skeeter,' she recited, frowning slightly. The thought of someone openly slandering the Brookes, a family that had welcomed her with open arms... it infuriated Heather. But with how terrifying the Brooke matriarch was, Heather couldn't help but pity the poor woman.

'Good luck, Rita, because you're going to need it.'

***

{Gringotts, Miles Underground}

{18th August 1989}

Meanwhile...

Gutpunch was having a good day.

A couple of his investments had paid off, and now the goblin was up-charging– ahem, he was upgrading his third Wizarding Family to a High Security Vault. Working off of commissions could be risky at times, but it was times like these that made Gutpunch smile.

"We'll be arriving at your new Vault in just a few minutes," Gutpunch assured, the rehearsed lines coming to him naturally, "but first, let's show you why these Vaults are High Security."

Pulling up on an empty cavern with the Peridot Family, passing by rows and rows of High Security Vaults, stacked on top of each other going down a seemingly endless ravine... the rails of the cart started to tremble.

Or at least, they were supposed to tremble.

"I said," Gutpunch repeated himself, this time much louder than before, "let's show you why these Vaults are High Security!"

No response.

Gutpunch gritted his teeth.

As they pulled around corner, however, Gutpunch's frustration gave way to shock. Where the decrepit, scarred, Ukrainian Ironbelly once stood... was a corpse. It was merely a fabrication, but since it had been grown using the genetic makeup of the original, masterfully crafted to the point that it would fool any expert, that wasn't something Gutpunch would know.

No, all that mattered to Gutpunch was that he'd have to report a dead dragon to his boss.

'FUCK!'

***

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The next chapter, Rita Skeeter, releases April 12th, 10:00AM (MDT)

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