25th November, 1893 — Swallowbury
I do not wish to be a burden any longer, the note tucked under her bedroom pillow read. I am going abroad, as far as my savings will take me. Please do not look for me. She didn't think that it would be effective in stopping her family from searching for her, but she did hope that they took the letter at face value and started looking in the wrong place. If they expended enough of their energy trying to find her name on outbound ship's passenger lists, or hoping to find her turned up in a foreign jail, or watching international news of werewolf sightings, she was hoping they would run out of willpower to keep looking before they thought to look for her where she actually intended to be.
"I'm sorry I can't take you, Lilah," she told the cat, scratching behind her ears. The cat, by all appearances oblivious to the change that was in the air, dozed on the foot of her bed. "You might give me away, you know. You've got a memorable face," she teased. She had considered taking Lilah with her, but ultimately it was an unnecessary risk, and she could afford no unnecessary risks. Everything she wanted to take with her was packed into the expandable trunk, which had then been reduced down to pocket-sized again and tucked away in her cloak pocket. She'd practiced climbing out of her bedroom window and into the garden a few nights earlier, before the full moon. From there it was a short walk to the Casino, who would still have floos available even in the evening hours. She wasn't sure about the logistics of tracking the floo network, so she wouldn't use her aunt's fireplace to leave. They might be able to track her through the Casino floos too, but at least there would be six or seven options to look through, and no way to tell which one had been her. Just in case, she had planned a route through two intermediate floos — one a highly trafficked floo in a southern port town, which would hopefully give credence to her note if they made it that far.
And then on to London.
It didn't feel like leaving home. She'd already left the bedroom where she'd spent the majority of her time the past five years, when they had moved out of her father's house after his death. She was technically leaving her family, but half of them had already left her. And it was time to start a new chapter.
[FYI! Evelyn McGonagall Demelza McGonagall Delight Urquart Sebastian Urquart]
"I'm sorry I can't take you, Lilah," she told the cat, scratching behind her ears. The cat, by all appearances oblivious to the change that was in the air, dozed on the foot of her bed. "You might give me away, you know. You've got a memorable face," she teased. She had considered taking Lilah with her, but ultimately it was an unnecessary risk, and she could afford no unnecessary risks. Everything she wanted to take with her was packed into the expandable trunk, which had then been reduced down to pocket-sized again and tucked away in her cloak pocket. She'd practiced climbing out of her bedroom window and into the garden a few nights earlier, before the full moon. From there it was a short walk to the Casino, who would still have floos available even in the evening hours. She wasn't sure about the logistics of tracking the floo network, so she wouldn't use her aunt's fireplace to leave. They might be able to track her through the Casino floos too, but at least there would be six or seven options to look through, and no way to tell which one had been her. Just in case, she had planned a route through two intermediate floos — one a highly trafficked floo in a southern port town, which would hopefully give credence to her note if they made it that far.
And then on to London.
It didn't feel like leaving home. She'd already left the bedroom where she'd spent the majority of her time the past five years, when they had moved out of her father's house after his death. She was technically leaving her family, but half of them had already left her. And it was time to start a new chapter.
pinned my hopes to the summit of someday
Magnolia