As If It Always Happens | Aerick

[Deleted]

Angie had the sponge magically cleaning dishes in the sink as Olive ate her breakfast that morning on the small table in the kitchen with 4 wooden chairs around it. Olive ate her cereal slowly while playing an alphabet game on the tablet that Angie had been talked into buying by one of the others moms at the daycare center that she enrolled Olive in during the day while she was at work. The 3 year old sported a messy pony tail with her hair frizzing and fall out in curls around her head, and was still in pajamas. Angie had at least managed to get herself dressed in black leggings and a sweater and had managed to throw her own hair up in a bun. She wasn't planning on getting Olive dressed today. Olive was still recovering from having had pneumonia and Angie had kept her home for a week now, which meant that she also had to take the time off work, and she was very lucky that her employer understood. 

"Sweetie I know the game is really good, but remember to eat your cereal before it gets soggy." Angie called from her own bedroom where she was making the bed and putting away a bit of laundry. Having an entire week off with a sick baby had been stressful for the first few days, but once Olive started feeling well enough to be on her own, Angie found it very productive and began to think that her little two-bedroom apartment had never been cleaner. She poked her head out of her room when she heard a knock at the front door. "Mummy, someone's here." the little girl called to her mom, her voice showing obvious signs of sickness and vocal strain, not to mention the mucus still in her lungs making her cough and clear her throat often. Angie threw the last pillow onto her bed, thinking maybe her mom had decided to stop by to see how Olive was doing. She went to open the door was a surprised to see the man there. "Hi." she said immediately, a bit of shock in her voice. "Did we know you were coming? Did I forget something? It's been a crazy week..." she admitted, still standing in the doorway, her shock understandable, it wasn't like she saw him too often. 

@aerick

[Deleted]

The past few weeks had made Aerick feel like he was swirling downwards in a vortex. Elaine had finally granted him the information that had tipped him over to the side of the Purifiers all those years ago; she knew where his father was, and had given him a file detailing every part of his life the past six years since he’d left his family in New York. Aerick had spent hours that turned into days pouring over the information, soaking it all in like a sponge. He hated his father for how he had lied to him and his mother, but the part of him, the child that grew up admiring and looking up to his dad, wanted to know what he had been up to. Since abandoning his family, Kenneth Adler had rushed across the Atlantic Ocean and had worked in freelance on different political campaigns, both Muggle and Magical under the name Erik Adams. The twist on his own name had been like a knife to Aerick’s own heart, but it had become so hard over the years it only fueled him to find out more. There had been two elements of surprise in the file; the first was that Kenneth, now Erik, had remarried a Spanish Muggle of noble birth, Leonor, and they had twin daughters, Letizia and Sofia. If finding out he had two half siblings wasn’t enough, Aerick realized they were currently staying in London, as his father was campaigning with the Labour party's’ Muggle Prime Minister candidate. All this time, Aerick had avoided local Muggle politics because he didn’t care, but if he had deigned to glance at a newspaper, he would have recognized his father immediately in the background of one of the photos. He cursed himself for being so ignorant, for thinking his father, whose first love was politics, would stay away from the game indefinitely.

Having absorbed all this information, Aerick made the conscious decision to go see his daughter, Olive. He and the little girls mother, Angela, had a politely cordial relationship. Olive had been conceived during a one night stand, right at the beginning of Aerick’s time with the Purifiers, and when Angela had announced she was keeping the baby, Aerick had asked to be introduced as the babys’ godfather. Even then, Aerick knew what Alastor was capable of, and now with Elaine at the helm, he wanted Olive’s true identity to be protected more than ever. But, after all this, he still had feelings for his daughter, and knew he needed to at least see her. “Oh...uh, no you didn’t. I just stopped by to see how Olive was doing,” he said uncertainly. Angela didn’t know he was with the Purifiers, and he didn’t want her to know that; surely she’d cut off all contact with Olive if she knew. “Hey there cutie,” he called out, unable to stop himself from smiling. He crouched down to the girls’ level. “You sound like you’ve got a frog up in there,” he said, pointing to her throat and chuckling.

@angie

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Angie firmly believed that she made the right decision by keeping Olive. She hadn’t really thought of abortion, but she had seriously considered adoption. At 18 when she found herself both pregnant and unemployed while living back in her childhood bedroom. She had got into a sticky situation with a man who worked at a bar, but at least he had a job. She hadn’t expected him to step up once she decided to keep the baby, she didn’t want to force anything on him. It was a decision that she had made and if he wanted to be involved, of course she would have let him, but she didn’t want to force anyone to be in her daughter's life. Having Olive had turned her whole life around. She got herself together, she got a job with an awesome boss and benefits that came along with full-time employment. She was able to afford a 2 bedroom flat in London. Granted, it wasn’t the nicest or safest neighborhood, but since she was a witch she wasn’t very concerned with muggle security.

Aerick had decided to stay involved with Olive, or at least he wanted Olive to know who he was. But he also didn’t and Angie didn’t know why. At first she couldn’t hide that fact that it hurt that he wanted to be known as her God-Father instead of just her father. It was hard not to take it personally or feel offended on behalf of herself and her child. However, she had decided that it was better to have him in her life in some way than not at all. “Sure, come in then.” Angie insisted, letting him enter and then closing and locking the door again behind him. She never left the door unlocked. She was a woman living alone with a small child who liked to play with anything she could get her hands on. Angie was just lucky that Olive was still too short to reach the deadbolt lock above the doorknob.

“Arrik!” Olive smiled when she saw him enter and heard him speak. She was always happy to see him. She was always happy to see everyone. She had gotten her mother's love of social interaction. And while the 4 year old could speak fairly well, she still had trouble with some words, particularly words that she didn’t get a chance to use every day at daycare. “I have Nemona.” Pneumonia was a difficult word, Angie wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t been able to grasp that one yet. “She has Pneumonia.” Angie clarified. “She’s okay and no longer contagious or anything, but she and I are home for another week until she can go back to Daycare.” she told him. Angie had no hard feelings towards Aerick and she was actually very thankful towards him. As weird as it was, she wouldn’t be where she was in life now without having met him.

@aerick

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Aerick saw the hesitation in Angela's face, and he couldn't blame her. He knew that electing to be known as a Godfather over Olive's biological father must have stung, and he was thankful she had even agreed to it in the end.  Angie had every right to have said no, to not allow Aerick in his daughters life.  But if he was to ever extract revenge on his father, he did not want anything to happen to Olive, or Angela for that matter; being the mother of his child could have reprocussions for what he was in on.  Though he was not there every day, he did enjoy the time he did get to spend with her.  Olive was a lively child, and definitely kept him active whenever they took her to the park.  It looked like the park was out of the question today though, with pneumonia on the brain.  "Well, we'll just have to stay indoors then won't we?" he said, putting his hands on his hips.  He reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out a book. "I bought this for you, it's a book about a big red bull in Spain!" he said, pointing to the cover of Ferdinand the Bull.  "Why don't you go hop on the couch and I'll read it to you," he suggested, handing Olive the book.

He straightened, and looked over at Angela.  "Sorry about dropping in unexpected," he told her sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.  "Does she need anything?  Medicine, anything like that," he asked, trying  not to sound too anxious.  Knowing he was just procrastinating the inevitable, he sighed.  "I wanted to tell you...I found my father," he told her quietly.  Angela knew the basics about his life; his father had run out on him at his graduation from Ilvermorny, and Aerick had come to London originally because of a tip that his father was here.  Angela of course did not know of his work with Elaine, or what he had in mind when it came to his father, and she didn't need to know that.

@angie

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It had taken Angie a while to get over her anger towards Aerick. She had no idea why he had asked for her not to tell anyone that he was the father. She had no idea why, even after asking something like that, he was still interested in being in either of their lives. And for a while, it hurt. It hurt for herself, the feeling of rejection and disappointment, and, even worse, it hurt for her daughter. It hurt that whenever Olive asked about her dad, Angie had to tell her that he was gone. She hadn't quite explained the concept of death to the 4 year old yet, so she just said that he was gone and they couldn't visit him. Her parents and friends knew that Olive's father was dead, and a few of them thought that it was weird that it wasn't someone whom they had ever met. Angie had told them parts of the real story, they knew that it had been an accident during a drunken night that never would have happened again. But over the years, particularly when Aerick expressed interest in seeing Olive regularly and still being a part of her life, Angie had started to let the hard feelings go. It was easier that way.

Olive was excited to see that her god-father had brought her something. She was someone who liked things, just like her mom. But Angie tried to keep it in check by teaching Olive how to do chores around the house and instilling in her a sense of having to work in order to get the things that she wanted. The toddler jumped up from the kitchen table and took the book from Aerick, she ran over to the couch and plopped herself down to the cushions, flipping through the pages and looking at the photos. 

"No it's okay, you know you're welcome here anytime." Angie said. And she meant it. She loved when Olive and Aerick got to spend some time together. She loved her daughter and she wanted the best for her. She didn't want Aerick to feel like he always had to schedule time to see her, otherwise it could turn more into a chore than something that he wanted to do. "She's fine. She's enjoying time off where we both get to be at home." Angie insisted, rolling her eyes and brushing her blonde hair back out of her face a little. Of course, Angie was enjoying the time off too, however, it also stressed her out. He then dropped something big on her and Angie did her best not to act too surprised about it, otherwise Olive would surely notice and ask what they were talking about. "Oh really?" she asked. Angie knew a fair bit about the father of her daughter. She knew vaguely about his family history, and she knew knew that his father had left them when Aerick Graduated and that was what brought him to England. So it was major news that he had found him. "Where? When? What's he doing here?" she asked him. 

@aerick

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Aerick smiled, looking grateful. “Thanks Angie, I appreciate it. I know I haven’t been the...easiest person to handle sometimes,” he said with a wry chuckle. That was in the past though; Angie seemed to have gotten past the sting of his request to be known as Olive’s godfather and was allowing him in her life. Angie was doing very well raising her, he could see that. He didn’t think he would have ever wanted to have been a father, or father figure, otherwise. Though now that Clodagh was part of his life, Aerick was allowing the possibility of a perception change be entertained. He wouldn’t tell Angie about her though, not yet. He didn’t want her to have an impression that Clo was some random girl he was interested in passing; he did enough bad things that she didn’t know about to let her think that about the author.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly; he was glad Angie at least understood that it was serious business he had found his father. “He’s...I don’t even know what he’s doing exactly. Working on campaigns for some of the MPs, he always had a knack for spinning things in a better light.” Aericks’ grimaced; he could hear the drips of dislike in his voice. “He remarried too, though I’m not actually sure he divorced my mother properly, I didn’t have the courage to ask her ever. Two kids, twin girls, actually about Olive’s age.” His daughter and half-sisters were the same age, how laughably ironic. He sighed, shaking his head. “I thought I knew what I was going to do when I found him but...I don’t,” he admitted, shrugging helplessly.

@angie

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Angie was glad that she was able to forgive Aerick, even if she would never say it out loud. Forgiving him was more for her than it was for him. And maybe that was selfish, but she didn't think he needed to hear the words as much as she needed to absorb them. It had always been an unspoken rule that they would be civil, at least around Olive, and if they had anything uncomfortable to discuss, they both knew it was better to do so privately. Their conversation now was heavy, but, it wasn't putting either of them in a position that Olive would question. And no one was raising their voice, they were speaking in the kitchen in hushed tones while the 4 year old sat at the other end of the room engulfed in her new book. "As far as I'm concerned, you're family." she shrugged. "It doesn't do any good to be upset with family." They had a child together, whether or not they were a traditional family, Angie knew that they would always be in each others lives.

Angie listened, shaking her head a little in disgust as he spoke about his father. She was happy, in these times, that Olive didn't know Aerick's side of the family. Often, Angie was upset about it and wondered if Olive would ever ask about her fathers family, Angie had no idea what she would say when Olive began asking. That was something to talk to Aerick about another time. Aerick told her that his father now had two kids who were Olive's age, which caused Angie's eyes to widen a bit. "Wow." she said, not really sure what else to say. She kind of wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure if it was what he needed. "I don't even... Aerick that's awful." she sighed. "That's really terrible. Is there anything i can do?" she asked, sure that the answer was no, but still wanting to do something. 

@aerick

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Aerick smiled gratefully at Angela. “Thanks, I really appreciate you saying that,” he told her. His smile faded as she took in the news that his father was not only alive and well, but remarried and had two little girls. “It’s like he forgot that he had a family, a life in the States. You know he changed his name too? He’d probably claim it was to start fresh, or spin some cock and bull story to make it seem like he was the victim. But he wasn’t; his wife was, and his son was.” Aerick felt his hands ball into fists, and felt the familiar sensation of wanting to transform into his python form. Being an Animagi was not something anyone knew, except for Elaine, and he imagined a giant snake in the middle of the living room would not go over well for Angela or Olive. So he took a steadying breath and tried to calm down. “I want answers, but I don’t even know if I’m ready to hear them,” he admitted to her.

As if on cue, Olive hollered over at them and Aerick couldn’t help but chuckle. “Just keep taking good care of Olive, Ang. That’s all I can ask for. If my father...if we end up coming to blows, I don’t want him to know about her; he’s a liar and I’m afraid he’d try and use her as some sort of leverage.” This of course was not the main reason Aerick had initially been reluctant to take ownership of Olive’s parentage, but as this information came to light, it was what made the most sense. “Now I better get over there before she decides Ferdinand is better off on the floor,” he commented, walking towards the couch where Olive was waiting. He sat down next to the girl, took the book from her gently, and began to read.

@angie

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He continued to explain his situation and she listened, keeping an eye on the child as the spoke in the next room. She understood his resistance to meeting his father and to finding out the answers to all of the questions that he had kept since his father left. But also, Angie couldn't imagine Olive not knowing her father and, if Olive ever got the chance to actually get to know her father, not just her god father, Angie would urge her to take it. But she wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do in Aerick's case. He had been harboring years of contempt for his father and with what he had found out, Angie didn't blame him for not wanting to know. "Did you talk to him? Does he know that you're here?" she asked. She wondered if he had just found him but didn't reveal himself or if they had sort of found each other.

He insisted that she could help by just taking care of Olive. Of course, she had no plans of stopping. Olive was her entire life. "Our arrangement stands." Angie nodded, while she had long ago accepted that no one, including Olive would ever know who her father was, it still hurt to say it out loud, especially not knowing exactly why. Olive called over from the living room and Angie craned her neck to look over. Aerick walked over and sat down with their daughter, beginning to read the book to her. Olive snuggled up and listened. Angie knew how desperately she wanted to learn how to read and be able to do so on her own. While they were reading, Angie tidied up Olive's breakfast from the kitchen table and then joined them in the living room. "I'm thinking of finding her a wizard tutor instead of putting her into muggle school this next year." she told him after they had finished their book. "I'll be able to read soon too." Olive croaked. 

@aerick

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Aerick chuckled down as Olive declared, in a creaky voice, that she’d be able to read soon. “Of course you will Miss Olive. I bet you’ll be reading dictionaries back and forth by the time you get to Hogwarts,” he declared, turning the page of the book. “A wizard tutor is a splendid idea,” he added to Angela, looking up at her briefly. “Let me know if you need any help...financially with it. The bar pays better than you’d think,” he told her with a wry chuckle. Of course, it wasn’t slinging drinks for the drunken masses that paid well; Elaine rewarded her followers financially for completing her missions successfully. Aerick lived relatively simply compared to some of the other Purifiers, so he had a decent chunk of Galleons stocked up in his Gringotts account.

Aerick finished the book and set it aside. Getting up, he stretched slightly, then motioned for Angela to follow him back to the kitchen area. “I haven’t been to talk to my father yet,” he admitted when she was close enough, keeping his voice low so Olive didn’t suspect anything. “I’ve been pretty angry with how he left six years ago, and I don’t know if I can control that yet if I talk to him now.” It went deeper than that; Aerick had come to the United Kingdom with a sole purpose of killing his father, and had gotten caught up in the Purifiers in the meantime. He wasn’t about to let Angela know that though. “I was thinking about telling my mother first, but I don’t know if she even wants to know anymore,” he added, scratching the back of his head. Aerick’s mother had gone the pretend it never happened route, and from what he understood her MACUSA colleagues followed along. “I just wish there was a straightforward way to know what to do,” he admitted, shrugging helplessly.

@angie

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He humored Olive when she insisted that she’d be able to read soon. “Yes you’re learning your letters now, aren’t you?” Angie smiled to the girl, who nodded. Aerick agreed that it was a good idea to get her a tutor. She wasn’t sure where he stood when it came to muggles. She had never asked. She knew that most parents just sent their children to muggle primary schools until they got their Hogwarts letter, but Angie was so worried about Olive accidentally performing magic in school and then having to call the Ministry in to clean up whatever mess was caused. A part of Angie knew that she couldn’t be the only parent with such a fear, and likely it had happened before. Everyone knew that children couldn’t control their magic. But still, she would much rather keep her around people who understood and could help answer any of her questions. “I’ll let you know.” Angie nodded. Honestly, she did need a little help if she was going to afford it. Hiring someone on full time couldn’t have been cheap, but, Angie was a proud woman. She didn’t like asking anyone for anything. She had a hard time even asking her mum to watch Olive if she wanted to see a friend. Asking someone for money wasn’t something she’d do willingly, even if he was the father and wanted to help out. She knew, however, that he would offer and insist and eventually, he’d likely break her down. “It’s mostly just a matter of finding someone to do it.” she admitted.

He told her that he hadn’t spoken to his father yet and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to do so. She understood his anger. Honestly, she prayed that Olive never felt that anger towards her father. And, Angie worried often about Olive finding out that Aerick was actually her father, if that information was ever released. She didn’t want their daughter feeling the same way about Aerick like Aerick felt about his father: like he had abandoned them or was ashamed of them. “Maybe just give it time then, honestly.” Angie shrugged. She felt bad that she didn’t have anything better to say. “Give it time for your emotions and anger to subside a little and be able to think logically about it. I know it’s hard to do, but, it might be the best in the long run?” she suggested. “How did you find him?” she asked.

@aerick

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Aerick nodded with a small smile; he hadn’t expected Angela to outright accept his offer. She was immensely independent and proud of herself for taking care of Olive on her own for the most part so far. He’d find a way to help though; perhaps it was pride but he saw that the young girl was very bright and intelligent for her age. She simply had to have the best tutor for young witches and wizards available to them. “My coworker at the bar has a three year old son, Sebastian. If you’d like, I can ask if she knows anyone,” he offered. He didn’t elaborate on Sarah Oliveira; the less Angela knew about the woman the better. She didn’t need to know she was a sadistic bloodthirsty werewolf after all. What she could know of course was that Sarah loved her son fiercely, which was completely true. Aerick wouldn’t be surprised if she did have a few names of Wizarding tutors laying around.

Making a mental note to talk to Sarah during her next shift, Aerick shifted his attention to the conversation at hand. “I know, I know. Time’s supposed to heal all wounds. But he just left us out of the blue, on the day of my graduation from Ilvermorny. I can’t just forgive him for that, he doesn’t deserve forgiveness,” he said, his eyes shining with anger as he kept his voice level. He shook his head for clarity as Angela asked the one question he had been hoping she would avoid; how did she find him. He had thought up several excuses as to how he found his father, but he hadn’t settled on one in particular. He couldn’t tell her the truth though, that Elaine Dupree had found him in exchange for Aerick being one of her devout followers. So he went to Plan A. “I hired a private investigator; I had been saving up the money since I got to London when I was eighteen, and I wanted to be sure I hired the best of the best. And well..he was, it only took him about three months from hire to finding him,” he lied, the words flowing easily from his mouth. He was sure whoever Elaine had used to find his father was indeed an investigator, just not in the normal sense of the word.

@angie

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He told her that he had a coworker with a son who might know someone. Angie was a little skeptical since her son was younger than their daughter and Angie wasn’t sure why the woman would already have a tutor for her son, but she knew that some people liked to start education as soon as the child was walking and talking, something Angie did to an extent, but wasn’t crazy about. If Angie already had some ideas or names of people who could do it, she would have turned down the offer, but since she didn’t and wasn’t even sure where to start, and nodded, “Yeah, it would be great if you could ask her.” she agreed. “I’m not even sure where to begin.” she shrugged.

“I don’t think you should forgive him, at least not yet.” she agreed, She couldn’t pretend to know his pain over losing his father, but he did know the feeling of being rejected, from him even. While she never wanted or expected them to be the perfect, happy family, his request that no one knew that he was the father did feel like a rejection to her and the child, and while she no longer harbored hard feelings over it, she wasn’t sure if she would ever fully be over it. He seemed like he hadn’t been expecting her to ask how he had found his father. Of course she was going to ask, he had been making such a big deal about it and she wanted to know how he had managed to finally complete this task that he had moved here for. He told her that he had been saving and had hired a private investigator and she had no reason to doubt that so she nodded, it made sense. “Wow, I’m glad you found him, I guess. I’m sorry it wasn’t what you expected though.” she sighed. Olive coughed as she walked over to the two of them, the book still in her hand. “What are you talking about?” she 4 year old asked, touching her mother's leg for comfort. “We’re talking about you and your schooling.” Angie told her, picking her up. Angie never wanted to lie to Olive and tried to be as honest with her as one could be with a 4 year old, so rather than lie, Angie just kept the second part of their conversation out of it.

@aerick

[Deleted]

Aerick nodded; he wasn’t sure if Sarah would actually know any magical tutors, but he knew that someone in the Purifiers would. They were blood purists after all, so someone should know something! He’d never be so brazen as to ask Elaine though, even if it would make sense that she knew someone due to her posh upbringing. He would never go to Elaine with such a request though, because he couldn’t like to the Dark Lady. Even though he was a well accomplished Occlumens, Elaine was an even better Legilimens and there was the ever present possibility she could break through and see the truth. He couldn’t let her hold his daughter over him as a threat; the less she knew the better. Now that he thought of it, perhaps it wasn’t a great idea to ask Sarah for help. She was close to Elaine; they had the same weirdly sadistic sense of humor. Aerick preferred to get his jobs assigned to him done swiftly and as painless as possible, while Sarah...well judging on their first encounter with each other, he assumed she preferred to play with her food.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him if I’m honest. He caused us a lot of pain by running off on the day of my graduation. It’s one thing if….well,” Aerick paused, feeling uncomfortably hot all of a sudden. “If he had done the same as Olive’s father. But he was my idol for seventeen years Ang. And he left, with nothing but a note.” Aerick took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He smiled as Olive wandered over, relieved that he could change the subject now that the little girl was standing right there. He crouched down to be on her level. “What do you think O, do you want someone to teach you about magic?” he asked, wiggling his fingers in front of him to indicate magic.

@angie

[Deleted]

Angie hated hearing what the man was saying. She could understand how much he hated his father and she couldn’t imagine her own father leaving her family after having been there for so long and giving the impression of a happy family. Her parents were still together and there was no sign of divorce on the line, for which she was thankful. And, as hard as it was to imagine, Aerick bowing out before Olive was even born rather than leave later on it Olive’s life was something that she was thankful for. She never had any fantasy that the three of them would be a happy family. But, the two of them could have decided to co-parent and then Olive would have asked about her dad more frequently and ask when he was coming over and why she couldn’t go and see him. It was easier with her not asking questions about her dad and having her just think that she simply didn’t have one. With Aerick being just a friend, Olive didn’t really ask when the next time he would drop by was. She was just happy to see him, as she was to anyone who dropped by.

Angie just nodded as he spoke, knowing that there was nothing that she could say. It was such a difficult situation. Once her daughter joined them and Aerick asked her if she wanted someone to teach her about magic, Angie switched her attention entirely. “I want someone to teach me about flying.” Olive insisted. Angie smirked. Angie had been awful on a broom, just dreadful. The girl never had great balance in the air, but Olive was obsessed with hippogriff and brooms and wanted to fly. Angie was finding it difficult to hide the fact that the 4 year old would be getting a toy broom for her birthday in May. “You can learn all about flying when you go to Hogwarts.” Angie promised. “No I want to go to Beauxbatons.” Olive countered. Angie laughed and rolled her eyes. “She’s going through a bit of a phase, she met a girl from Beauxbatons who told her about all the fairies living around the castle.” Angie explained to Aerick, leaving out the rest of their meeting with the man and his daughter.

@aerick