Afternoon Tea Party

The days swiftly went by as Rowan and Severus spent almost every day in the study with their grandfather, Reginald. In the long afternoons, the two of them would head out to play. Rowan worried about Severus without Lily. And so, the days steadily streamed by, the two of them were no longer rail-thin having been fed properly and a little less pale from their time in the sun.

One warm afternoon, Severus and Rowan cheerfully chased each other around the Prince manor in a game of their own making. Inside his study, Reginald watches his grandchildren playing on the vast grounds of Prince Manor. He fondly recalled Eileen playing very much the same as a child. His smile fades recalling how Eileen became more and more withdrawn the older she became, Melancholia.

Out of breath, Rowan and Severus take a mutual break. "I'll be right back, I'm thirsty," Rowan panted.

"Mm, I'm fine," Severus wheezed wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve. "Go on, I'll wait." Rowan hurries away leaving Severus alone.

All alone the grounds seem rather empty and vast. Severus wanders across the green lawn searching for bugs, before making his around the back of the manor. In the back of the manor, there is a large marble patio and a moving hedge maze.

"I'm fine," Severus said as he wiped the sweat from his nose bridge. "You go on ahead." Rowan briskly walks away as Severus finishes wiping his face dry with his sleeve. A bit bored, Severus wanders across the green lawn and around to the back of the manor, where there is a marble patio and moving hedge maze.

Their grandfather, Reginald Prince had firmly instructed the two of them not to play inside the enchanted maze. The hedge maze was enchanted to move and constantly change making it difficult to escape from. Concerned that they could get forget, Reginald had been firm, and though disappointed the twins had agreed not to enter the maze.

Curious, Severus begins to study the enchanted sculptures that can move on their pedestal. He laughs at a muscular statute that flexes its muscles at him. He follows the statues all the way to the patio where Dawn, the house elf is carefully plating an array of sweets and other treats in an elegant fashion.

Feeling a bit hungry, Severus eyes the array of sweets until Dawn says, "Is everything all right young master?"

Severus gulps and futilely tries to hide his desire for the colorful sweets. "I was just curious is all," hungrily eyeing a platter full of brightly colored macaroons.

"Dawns sees all, young master," Dawn knowingly squeaked as she wagged her finger at him. " This is for Miss Georgine and Lady Sirsa's tea party. Please wait Dawn will be back in just a jiff with a small plate for the young master to enjoy."

"Yes, please," Severus eagerly agreed. He was rather hungry from playing.

Dawn finishes with a whirl plating the treats, before vanishing with a pop. With the house elf gone, Severus decides to take a closer look at the array of sweets. He had never seen so many sweets before in his life! He leans in closer taking a whiff of the delectable smells in anticipation of the tasty treats that Dawn would bring back for him to enjoy!

"What are you doing?!" A sharp female voice snapped.

Severus jumps back rather startled. "I didn't touch anything! I was just looking!"

Their aunt, Georgine Prince releases a cloud of smoke putting out the cigarette in her hand moving briskly towards him. Her dark skirt snaps irritably in the breeze around her thin boney ankles. "Really, then let me check?" She grumbled moving past Severus, who stepped back and bumped into the table behind him.

The delicately stacked sweats wobble dangerously for a second, before tragically plummeting to the ground. "What have you done?" Georgine crossly said raising her hands in exasperation.

A strange sound is heard as a cake smacks squares into the back of Georgine Prince's head. The cake splatters all over Georgine and even a little bit onto Severus, who is standing in front of her. A determined voice from behind threatened, "Don't you dare lay a finger on him!"

Rowan determinedly held up another cake in her hands to smash into their aunt's face should she make the slightest move. In disbelief, Georgine raises her hand to touch the back of her head. Her hand comes back with whipped cream and sticky strawberry syrup dripping down her hand.

"You are a vicious, little brat!" Georgine roared taking a step towards Rowan.

"Enough!" A cold voice declared causing everyone to freeze. "Just what is the meaning of this?!" Sirsa Prince impatiently snapped striding across the marble steps in a dark dress with thin strands of pearls around her neck.

"These ingrates attacked me without provocation!" Georgine sharply protested. "Sirsa, they must be strictly disciplined. They simply cannot be allowed to run around all amuck!"

"That is sufficient, Georgine," Sirsa curtly said to her sister-in-law causing Georgine's face to darken. "Clean yourself, Georgine, you are filthy. You are not fit to greet our guests, hurry, they will arrive soon."

Georgine's lips are pressed into a line, but she departs for her private quarters with her head held high despite the cake on her person. Her back is razor straight like the Queen of Sheeba herself. She could be humiliated, but she would never bow her head.

Once Georgine is out of sight, Sirsa rounds upon her grandchildren. "What was that?! Half-bloods or not, you were raised better than that!"

"It wasn't Rowan's fault; she was just defending me!" Severus furiously exclaimed hiding his clenched fists behind his back.

Sirsa critically eyes her grandchildren. "Very well, I am open to an explanation of the occurred event."

Rowan casts Severus a reassuring glance before Severus begins to explain. "All I wanted was a closer look, I promise! I wasn't even going to touch the sweets! Dawn had already gone inside to procure a tray for me to share with Rowan when Aunt Georgine appeared out of the blue. She thought I had filched a sweet, she moved past me, and I stepped back and bumped into the table. And then everything just came crashing down to the ground!"

Seeing the honest expression on her grandson's face, Sirsa is inclined to believe the truth of the account. Turning towards, her granddaughter, she pointedly inquiries, "And what about you, Rowan? You have given no explanation for your gross conduct."

"I saw Aunt Georgine raise her hands to Severus as if to strike him," Rowan flatly answered. "So, I attacked her first."

Sirsa furrows her lips in displeasure. "That is not an acceptable excuse for violence."

"I had no reason to believe that Aunt Georgine would not," Rowan coldly countered.

"Whatever do you mean?" Sirsa asked rather startled by the statement. "Georgine may have a shrew tongue, but she would never strike another in anger. Although, she would not be above striking her hands in anger against an object."

"I see," Rowan quietly said placing her squashed cake onto the table. "It would appear I was in the wrong," she acknowledged her mistake. Wiping her hands clean with a serviette, she looks up. "I will go and apologize to Aunt Georgine."

Sirsa is not pacified by the response but rather feels her heart tighten in an awful manner in her chest. "Child, why were you so certain that Georgine would strike Severus in violence?"

Neither of her grandchildren moved to answer remaining tactfully silent. "Rowan? Severus?" Sirsa asked again.

Rowan and Severus exchange a pointed look, but Severus is the first to break. "Show her, Rowan," Severus said in almost a whisper. There is some hesitation on Rowan's part before she reluctantly parts the left side of her hair to reveal a gruesome, scabby scar on her left temple.

Sirsa feels her heart still in her chest. "Did-, did your mother allow this?" Sirsa hoarsely asked.

"When mum intervened and most of the time it worked," Severus quickly said in the defense of his mum, (Eileen). "But when father was too drunk-. He wasn't always so easy to calm down."

Sirsa suppresses the cold fury in her heart at the home life her grandchildren have experienced. Now was not the time to display her fury, but rather to reassure her grandchildren. "The Princes may be cold and we may even say terrible things to each other, but we will never strike each other in anger. This much I can guarantee."

"I'm back, young master," Dawn called out appearing with a tray. "Oh, no! What happened?!"

"It was an accident, Dawn," Sirsa reassured the house elf. "Will entertain the ladies in the floral parlor until the patio is presentable."

"Yes, Lady Sirsa," Dawn obediently said, before handing Severus the platter in her hands and rolling up her sleeves to magically commence cleaning the area. The sweets are quickly vanished off the ground leaving the area clean, before Dawn pops away to retrieve the extra sweets she had prepared. Dawn was a prepared house elf!

Carefully holding the tray of treats, Severus says, "Grandmother, did not seem so bad."

"Mm, we'll see," Rowan replied grabbing a small, lilac, frosted sponge cake.

Severus nods his head in understanding as they head off across the grounds towards the cool shade to enjoy their tray of sweets. "Should we head to the creek?"

"Mm," Rowan agreed with a mouth full of food.

Across the green lawn, the two of them make their way to the creek at the edge of the woods. They find a shallow part of the creek and remove their socks, before sitting down to eat on a large round stone. They sit there in the shade enjoying the sweets while dipping their toes in the cool water.

Severus lets out a giggle as a fish with two tiny legs begins to nibble at his toes. "Stop that!" He breathlessly protested as he laughed.

Rowan leans closer for a better look. She recognized the creatures from Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, (a copy was held in her grandfather's study). The creature in question is named Plimpy's. Severus freaks out the first time, he sees Rowan tie their legs up and toss them back into the creek. The Plimpy's would be fine, but it would ensure the Plimpy's wouldn't come back any time soon.

After that, the two of them began to play in the creek, but they stayed far away from the deep end of the creek. There were dangerous magical creatures that hid in the deeper parts of the creek. However, there were plenty of things to see at the shallow end.

There are tiny green stick-like figures, Bowtruckle's, who shyly peek at them from the trees. A few brave souls even went as far as to approach them ONLY allowing Rowan to hold them. It made Severus feel green with envy. He could only bitterly watch Rowan smirk at him as she held the Bowtruckle's.

On the other hand, Rowan equally liked the Bowtruckle's and most of the woodland creatures except for the fairies and the electric blue pixies. Fairies by nature gave her the willies, and the pixies were annoying mischief-makers. Either way, she tended to splash them away with water any chance she got.