The joys of packing

The rest of the summer holidays passed by in a blur as the twins did just about everything to put the incident out of mind. If Lily noticed that they were oddly quiet at times, she wisely did not comment on the subject. All too soon, it was the day before Hogwarts, and it came time to pack and ensure everything was ready to go. The utter irony was that Lily was the only one of them who would not be stuck packing as everything had already been pre-packed since she would be staying over at the Prince manor for the last two weeks of summer.

During breakfast, Severus hastily gulped down oatmeal before rushing off to pack lest it impedes his remaning time with Lily. Lily much more sensibly ate her oatmeal while Rowan still sleepy appeared in her pajamas. Lily almost choked on her oatmeal trying not to giggle at seeing Rowan's messy hair.

Too sleepy to care, Rowan yawned, "Pass the molasses over, Lily."

Lily handed over the melted brown sugar for Rowan to pour into her oatmeal. Just to be sure, Rowan dropped a good spoonful into the bowl, before mixing it together with her spoon.

After taking a bite, Rowan narrows her eyes at her grandfather, but specifically at the obituary section on the outside view of the paper. "Grandfather, do you know a Cygnus Black?" Rowan asked.

"Why?" Reginald asked as he lifted his head over the paper.

Pointing with her spoon at the paper, Rowan says, "Well, it says, he died of a heart attack."

"What?!" Georgine exclaimed, suddenly wide awake from her seat. Leaning over Georgine reads the obituary through narrowed eyes. "That's utter rot! That boy was like a runespoor with three heads. Something like a measly heart attack wouldn't have done him in."

Luckily Sirsa was not present this morning for breakfast, but still, Reginald gave his sister a warning glance in the direction of the girls. Georgine rolls her eyes and says, "What I mean to say is that anything short of being eaten by a dragon or having his soul sucked out by a dementor would stop that man."

"Dementor?" Lily asked.

"You'll learn about them in your third year, Miss Evans," Georgine murmured as she glanced at her brother as if to ask, "Reginald, you can't honestly believe that he died of a heart attack."

Raising an eyebrow, Reginald seems to say, "No, Georgine but what do you want me to do about it? I didn't like the man much less would have pissed on him even if he was on fire. Besides, it's a tad suspicious that both the father and daughter are now dead."

Seeing the ongoing unspoken communication between the adults, Rowan confidently concludes that Cygnus Black's death is more than a tad suspicious. Considering who his deceased daughter was, it was quite easy to narrow down the list of potential suspects: Tom Riddle, Rodolphus Lestrange, or any other Death Eater for that matter, excluding the entire list of enemies Cygnus Black, had made during his entire lifetime.

Clearing his throat, Reginald shoots his sister one final glare and changes the subject. "Rowan dear, there's been a slight change of plans regarding your goblin lessons."

Rowan's oatmeal splatters on the table in shock as she says, "Professor Dumbledore does not approve of our having a private tutor?"

"Rather the opposite," Reginald explained as he received puzzled glances from the two girls. "It seems the suggestion is rather popular as more than one parent was interested in having their children learn Gobbledegook. After a generous donation from my part and the other interested parents, the Board of Governors for Hogwarts has agreed to make the class official.

As such Gobbledegook has been added as an extra-curricular subject to be taught by Professor Flitwick. With the potential to hire another teacher, once there are several years going.

Since it is the first year being taught 1st to 4th years will be allowed to join. However, next year only 2nd years and up will be allowed to take the class. Both of you girls have already been enrolled as well as your brother. The textbook for the course should arrive later this afternoon. Please make sure to properly place it in your trunks."

"Sev's not going to like that," Rowan muttered under her breath as Reginald returned to reading the Daily Prophet.

Giving her spoon one last lick, Rowan clears her bowl of oatmeal and gets up. Lily having already finished also got up and followed behind Rowan. "Do you want some help packing, Rowan?" Lily offered.

"I already packed most of my clothes, I just need to finish packing some of my books and personal supplies. But if you want, you can help," Rowan accepted the offer.

Lily smiles in reply as she follows Rowan to her bedroom. Pointing at her desk, Rowan says, "If you could grab all the books there and fit them into my trunk that would greatly be appreciated." Before heading into the bathroom to grab a small box with personal hygiene and feminine items.

With ease, Lily grabbed the books and placed them into the open trunk, before moving aside as Rowan carefully placed said box inside. Glancing at the small box, Lily asks, "What's inside?"

"Feminine products," Rowan grumbled causing Lily to furrow her brows before lamely saying, "Oh."

Pausing Rowan curiously glances at Lily and says, "You haven't started yours yet, Lily?"

Lily flushes bright red, "Not yet. Mom says the girls in our family don't tend to start theirs until we're thirteen."

"That's not that unusual," Rowan replied. "I mean, there are some girls who don't get them until they're sixteen or the other way around very early on around nine years old."

"Mm," Lily said as she looked down at her hands in embarrassment.

"Since it sounds like yours may very well start this year, have you already prepared a case of feminine products?" Rowan asked.

"Yes!" Lily stammered in utter mortification.

"Well, that's good, but I recommend getting one or two bottles from Madame Pomfrey for the pain," Rowan sagely instructed.

"A potion for pain, what for?" Lily asked in bewilderment.

"Didn't Petunia already get her monthly?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

".... Lily, did Petunia have any cramps?"

"Mm, mom gave her painkillers and had her.... oh, I see what you mean."

"Excluding cramps, there is even some variety in the number of cycle days or symptoms like nausea, bloating, dizziness, migraines, or even back pain. Not to mention hormones," Rowan paused at seeing Lily's pale face causing her to nod her head in sympathy.

"For example, among the four of us dormmates, Bethanie tends to eat her feelings, while Silvia tends to have a pin-drop explosive temper. As for Tiffany and me, we both tend to be a bit more emotional than usual. Nothing too bad, but it still tends to make one feel all out of sorts."

"That sounds horrible," Lily whispered.

Shrugging her shoulders, Rowan says, "Sadly enough you get used to it in the end."

Lily shudders and quickly changes the subject. "Do you think Gobbledegook will be any fun?"

"Fun? Probably not," Rowan honestly said causing Lily's face to fall. "But useful? Very much so."

"You're no fun," Lily huffed.

"Personally, I beg to differ," Rowan snickered back as she grabbed a pillow off her bed and began to beat Lily with it. Lily lets out a squeal of indignation and fights back causing feathers to burst out and scatter throughout the bedroom.

The two girls somehow manage to drag the pillow fight across the hallway into Severus's room, where with utter horror, Severus slams his trunk shut to only be bombarded by their combined brute forces. Alas, it was an utter massacre with Severus being the innocent victim. But he swore to retaliate, eventually!