It was crisp day, cold but bright and fresh and Hufflepuff house had joined the other houses on their way down to the village for the afternoon. Maddie hadn’t spent all that much time with her fellow students, instead she had gone to her parents home where Maggie, and the very severe Russian gentleman waited for her to arrive. The man was her late grandfathers lawyer, he had apparently come all the way from Russia by portkey to speak to the Backus girls and he insisted on doing so alone.

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Later, as she headed back to the castle, falling in behind the other students she was lost in thought not really speaking to anyone as she thought about all that the lawyer had said. It was only when she heard a familiar voice calling her name that she looked up, realising it was Handsome. Her face broke into a smile, relieved, because at least she would be able to talk to him about what had happened. ’Mister Whitledge’ she greeted with a smile, and as they reached the large ornate gates that separated Hogwarts courtyard, from the winding track that led down to village, and officially marked the entrance to school grounds, she stopped. They could speak here, and pretend that they were waiting for any stragglers due up from the village below.

’Something very odd has happened’ she admitted, not beating about the bush. She needed to tell someone, to see if this was normal and to be expected in every day life. It didn’t seem normal to her to be sure. ’You know my Granpa Kozlov died 6 months ago?’ she said, prompting his memory, he had been the first to know then as well. ’Well I had a visit from his lawyer today, in papas shop’