Tell the world I’m coming home | Amy

[Alora Veda Astor]

The day she was dreading had finally come. She had fobbed Amy off long enough during their other trips to London, but she couldn’t do it for any longer. Today was the day she was finally bringing her to see their, now shared, family home. It was odd. She had wanted to welcome her sister into her life. It had taken some getting used to, having someone in her life again, not being utterly alone. But it had been sort of pleasant actually, even if she didn’t want to really admit it.

Amy had been dying to come to the old Astor townhouse. Nestled in amongst the huge Muggle Mansions of Kensington in London was the Astor home. The size from the outside was astronomical compared to a lot of places in London, but on the inside, thanks to magic it was another world. There was multiple bedrooms, a huge garden, a full library, her grandfather's den that she loved so much, even a ballroom that there had once been so many parties in when she was little. On the inside, it was more the size of the country homes that the Muggles around It lay empty now. At one stage the family had even had a House Elf, but he had died when she had been in New York with Sam, and she hadn’t seen the need to replace him. Instead she paid a cleaning service once a month to come in and give it a once over. After their Grandmother had died she had started renovating bits of it. The dark depressing living areas had been given a new lease of life, or at least half way. There had been something cathartic in pulling out all the old, ridding the place of the toxicity that came with her Grandmother. Some of the rooms had been made over to be brighter and modern like her bedroom. Some, including her study, had been kept with the darker colour theme of the house, but given fresh paint, with more modern furniture. The Basement kitchen that had only ever been the place of the old house elf and whatever other staff her Grandmother had hired had been completely revamped to a more cosy area. A new fitted kitchen with all the mod cons, and a plush set of chairs by the huge hearth in the corner. Alora had always liked spending time down here even when it was awful and dreary. It was one of her safe spaces in the house, she had just made it a lot more comfortable in the last few years. Her other more loved spaces were of course her bedroom, her adjoining study, her large greenhouse, and the one place in the house that had gone completely untouched; her grandfather’s den. There had been marks of change around the house, and then there had been other things, like large imposing oil paintings of her as a child and her Grandparents that still hung on the wall. The mix marked some sort of bridge between her old life and her new, but it wasn’t finished. Everything was still up in the air; figuratively and literally.

It had been odd, letting Amy into her life at all. Now bringing her here had been the weirdest bit. She wasn’t sure why but she had held off on it so long. There was some part of her deep down that had wanted to hold on to the last little piece of the dynasty that was only hers. It hadn’t been easy to share it. She wondered, for a moment, how much Amy would want once she’d seen it all. A cruel, darker something inside of her was selfish about it all. Amy and her brothers, their brothers she corrected herself, had no claim to any of this. She had been the one that had put up with years of abuse and mistreatment from her Grandmother. The difficulty of navigating it all alone once she had died. This was all hers, and she didn’t want to share. Especially if @andrew was as pushy as Amy said he could be. Alora would fight tooth and nail to keep this place. The idea of their mother worried her even more, but for now she tried not to dwell on it. They could enjoy it sure, but it was hers. It had crossed her mind, but she had tried to push it out. Though, she wondered still, all these months later how Amy had kept her hidden from Andrew. She was grateful of course, she wasn’t really able to deal with the emotional messiness of it all. They would develop a plan over the next few weeks. They’d stay together here and work some things out. Alora would have a reprieve from Hogsmeade and work, Amy a break from her dorm room at LIFE.

After the driver had landed them at the front door and left their luggage, Alora raised her wand and dropped the wards over the house. The heavy front door was a bit of struggle, it always had been. The overly large, but dark entry hall greeted them, and Alora turned to Amy and gave her a tired smile, before glancing to the imposing staircase in front of them and waving a hand towards it. There were always mixed emotions involved in coming back here.

”There’s twelve bedrooms, other than mine and…hers, so pick whatever one you want. Some have en suites, some don’t. But whatever. There used to be more but I started renovating some. Some got finished, some didn’t.” with some sort of a noise between a laugh and a sigh, she shrugged and looked back to the face of her younger sister. ”Anyway, when you pick one we can change it to whatever you want for your room and yeah…” she trailed off, with a half hearted shrug. Her face was quite clearly unsure of the whole situation and Amy would know that. She had grown to know Alora a little more than she had probably liked, but in a way it was good. When it was just the two of them now, she wasn’t as concerned with hiding herself and keeping the mask up. For a moment she was hesitant, wondering if she should offer a sort of tour of the place, or would it be better to let Amy explore for herself and just come to her with questions as she needed.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

It had taken months, but Amy and Alora had finally managed some semblance of normalcy in their lives. Alora had let Amy in bit by bit, and Amy had even been a bit afraid herself. Nineteen years of not even knowing that Alora had existed made for quite a difficult change of pace. They'd spent time together in London, slowly getting to know one another, and back at Hogwarts where they agreed to meet up at least once a week. Amy could comfortably say that she had grown to know Alora more quickly than she had expected in the last few months. But there had always been that last stretch of comfort that was missing.

At last, Alora agreed to take Amy to the Astor family home in London. Amy was used to glitz and glamour having grown up around Hollywood starlets. But when they finally approached the Georgian townhouse, Amy's breath was stolen from her. It was regal in a way nothing in California was. Though it made sense, she guessed. After term had ended, Alora had tentatively invited Amy to stay with her for a few weeks over the summer break. Amy had immediately agreed, not even considering how awkward it would be if Andrew suddenly showed up and knocked on the door. She still hadn't figured out how to tell him about Alora. Amy hated keeping secrets, but she respected Alora's right to privacy.

"Twelve?" Amy echoed, arching a brow. "Fourteen total? Magic," said Amy, her blue eyes narrowing as she glanced around the vast entryway. She didn't quite comprehend how all of this space existed. Magic, even still, didn't really make sense to her. Where was the space stored when it was in use? Maybe that was a question to ask Toby next time she saw him. "Thank you," said Amy after a moment, before tentatively sauntering off to investigate the house.

It took Amy only a quarter of an hour to find the room she wanted to claim as her own. It had wide windows that overlooked a leafy street, and the sun slanted through the glass in shimmering rays. It didn't have an ensuite, and it certainly wasn't the largest of the bedrooms, but it did have a sizeable closet. Perfect, as she would be spending much of her time shopping and filling the closet with cute new outfits. "This place is really pretty," said Amy, finding Alora once again.

Alora Veda Astor

[Alora Veda Astor]

A silent nod escaped her as Amy exclaimed in awe. ”These are big houses, made even bigger by magical Architects I suppose. Fourteen bedrooms, as well as Grandpa’s Den, and a library. There’s a ballroom where there used to be parties as well. It’s not the biggest but it’s there. The Garden is small, but lovely. Most of it is taken up by the old greenhouse. That’s my favourite spot” the iron frame glasshouse took up most of the London garden. Victorian style, it was more of a conservatory with plants. Apart from the potting tables, Alora had set up a cosy space at its centre where she spent most of her time as a child, and during Summers she had to come home from Hogwarts. It had been a while since she’d spent the care and love there it deserved, but being back here for the summer she’d dedicate her time to it. With a low snort of a laugh, she rolled her eyes. ”The Astors & The Fawleys are old money families, as Grandmother liked to remind me quite often” her tone, though she tried to keep it light as a form of explanation more than anything, seeped with bitterness as she rhymed off what had been drilled into her a bit too much throughout her childhood.

As Amy eagerly left her to explore, Alora watched her retreating back end. Lips pursed, she frowned slightly. She was still undecided on this whole thing. Amy still hid it from Andrew and Avery. Her brothers, though unknown to her, were still her brothers. Hiding in plain sight, she wondered what Amy told them, how she covered it all up. How things would unfold when they eventually did find out about her existence. The thought set her teeth on edge, but trying to ignore it, she bit her lip and refocused. With a lazy wave of her wand, her small pile of luggage had disappeared, sending it to her room.

Her movements through the house, out to her greenhouse, were slow. Almost deliberate.

Once she was settled into one of the comfy armchairs at the centre of it, another haphazard wave of her wand called forth a china tea cup containing peppermint tea. Her final move made a vintage looking record player on a table at her elbow begin to spark to life, playing old music at a low volume. There were two plump chairs she had dragged out here once upon a time, one either end of a ricketytable that had other hardback chairs. But these were one of Alora’s comfy spots, refuges from a former life. By the time Amy came to find her again she had her head laid back amongst the comfortable cushions of the chair and her eyes were closed as she enjoyed the mix of music and the rumbles of a summer shower on the glass ceiling above her. When Amy spoke it called her from her stupor, and she gave her younger sister a small half hearted shrug. ”It’s not bad I guess. Did you find a room you liked?” she paused, only to sip from her cup. ”do you want some tea?”


AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW