Demelza

Demelza opened the front door and could hear the muffled shouts of her dad and brother upstairs. She crept up the stairs listening hard. “Why can’t you just be proud of me?” she heard her brother shout. She peered through the bannisters, into her brother’s room where she could see the two men.

“It’s witches’ work, Rewan,” her dad yelled back, “all this healing business. You’re a Robins boy! You should be out there doing a real man’s job! Like me! Defending your fellow wizards! Look at this, look at it!” his dad was shouting loudly, lifting his robes and suddenly grabbing Rewan’s neck roughly to force his head down to look at the scar. The jagged scar on Kenvar’s side made by the trident of the Mer-Chief from the days when he had protected the people of the Cornish coast against the merpeople and other magical sea-dwelling creatures.

Rewan slapped away his dad’s arms pulling himself up straight again. “You’re not a hero anymore dad. Wake up! You’re just a drunken waste of space and I’ve had enough. You can’t push me around anymore.” He pulled out his wand suddenly, pointing it menacingly at Kenvar’s face. “I’m leaving, I’m done with this. And if I hear you even touch mum or Demi, you will be begging for a healer, do you hear me?” Rewan screamed at his dad, his face scrunched up, angry tears now spilling from his eyes. A loud crack and Rewan had apparated. Kenvar swayed on the spot for a moment before roaring and overturning Rewan’s desk, he wrenched open the door and Demelza stood frozen in fear, her back against the wall.

“You!” Her dad screamed pointing at her. She drew her wand.

“Stay back dad,” she said, trying to sound assertive though her voice shook, sparks shot from the end of her wand and her dad roared again lunging for her. She steaked down the stairs to the living room, her dad lumbering behind her, she grabbed the bowl of floo powder flinging the whole thing into the fire place and screaming “Hare Cottage!” leaping into the grate as it exploded into emerald flames. She heard a glass smash over the fireplace and caught one last glimpse of her father’s furious face before she was whipped out of sight. She closed her eyes against the flashing scenes as she spun round and tumbled out onto the rug at her Uncle’s house.

She heard a voice shout “Demi! And her brother pulled her up into a fierce hug.

“Oh Rewan, I’m so glad you’re here!” she sobbed. “I didn’t know where you’d gone and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Goodness me,” came an Irish lady’s voice from the back of the room, “can I assume this is your father’s doing, bringing you two crashing into my house again?”

“Auntie Orla! I’m so sorry!” squeaked Demelza.

But Orla smiled kindly at her, “I’m just glad you kids are safe, Llanzo’s forever saying we need to go over there and get yehs but I say to him ‘they’re big kids now Lan, they know where we are if they need any help’ and you do. Let me make yehs a cup of tea, Llanzo and Latoria aren’t back yet, but they shouldn’t be long…”

“Grandma’s staying here?” asked Rewan, surprised.

“Yes, she is, she’s not doing too well on her own lately so she’ll be staying with us for a while,” Orla said bustling out into the kitchen.

Rewan sat down on the sofa, smiling. But Demelza’s heart was still racing. He patted the sofa. “Come on Demi, sit down. You’re safe now. Let’s watch some tell-o! I love all this muggle stuff! Best thing about Christmas was visiting Uncle Llanzo’s and Auntie Orla’s was playing with all this” he peered at the remote control unsure what to do with it. Just then the fire crackled and green flames leapt to life again, a tall man stepped out of the fire, offering his arm to the small lady that appeared behind him and helping her step down onto the rug.

“There yehs are!” came Orla’s voice as she came back into the room carrying a tray with an enormous tea pot and tin of biscuits. “Look who else has just arrived,” she nodded towards Rewan and Demelza. Llanzo smiled warmly and held out his arms to them. Demelza accepted his hug, feeling herself relax a little as he squeezed her tightly, “I’m so glad you’re here” he said quietly, letting her go. She hugged her Grandma too, breathing in her cocoa butter-y smell that so reminded her of childhood. Llanzo pulled Rewan into a hug patting him on the back and saying “well done young man, top of your class I hear! And accepted as a trainee healer!”

Rewan smiled, blushing slightly, and said modestly, “well, joint top. Adelia got seven O’s as well.”

“Oh yeah, your girlfriend,” smirked Demelza, “At least you’re a Ravenclaw so I didn’t have to endure seeing you two brainiacs smooching in the common room. Or I suppose there wasn’t much time for that with all that studying?”

Rewan blushed harder and hit her playfully on the arm. “Shut up Demi.”

The next few weeks passed in a happy haze despite the terrible news that arrived regularly with the Daily Prophet. Demelza staying in Llanzo and Orla’s spare room with her Grandma, catching up on all her uncle’s latest travels and going with her brother and his girlfriend Adelia to watch the Falmouth Falcons play against the Holyhead Harpies. Demelza’s mother had come to visit a few days after they arrived to tell them her dad was sorry and they should come home.

“You can’t just try and shove responsibility for him onto us so you can keep shacking up with Merc in the pub knowing someone is there to stop dad choking on his own vomit, mum!” Demelza had angrily told her.

“How dare you say that Demi! You know I am working all hours trying to support us after your dad lost his job! He raised you and he needs your help!”

“He could have killed me!” Demelza shrieked back, but her insides burned with guilt. Maybe she should be doing more to help her dad. How would she feel if he died alone in the house?

Her mother turned and stormed out of the house.

“You’re doing the right thing sweetheart,” said Demelza’s grandma quietly from the kitchen table.

They hadn’t heard from Vee again for the rest of the Summer. The morning of the 1^st of September had rolled around and Demelza had woken early. She lay in bed for a while watching the room grow brighter as the sun rose, thinking about what the year would have in store. Would her friends and family be safe? Surely Voldemort would never attack Hogwarts while Dumbledore was there, but what about Rewan working at St. Mungo’s? Surely the hospital would be a top target? And what about her uncle and grandma, living with a muggle? That would hardly go down well with the death eaters, and then there was her dad… She rolled over determined to push out the thoughts and climbed out of bed. She made her way downstairs where Orla was cooking bacon and eggs in the kitchen.

“Oh you’re awake!” Orla said looking round from the cooker, “I was just going to get you all up! Llanzo’s had to rush out to see his publisher, so I’ll give you a lift to the train station.” She plonked a plate of food down on the table and Demelza sat down poking moodily at the egg yolk with her fork. “Cheer up Demi! I thought you couldn’t wait to get back to school!” said Orla. Demelza shrugged and Orla bustled out to get Rewan up. A few moments later he entered yawning and sat down at the table.

“Well Demi! It’s OWL year!” he said brightly to her. “Think you’re gonna beat my record?”

Demelza snorted. “Nah I wouldn’t want to dethrone the family genius. You don’t need OWLs to be a quidditch player anyway,” she said.

“Is that what you want to do now?” asked Rewan.

Demelza shrugged. “I dunno. There’s loads of time to decide anyway isn’t there. I reckon I’m more of a creative than an academic anyway,” she said.

They heard the kitchen door open again and their grandma hobbled in taking a seat at the table. Orla brought over another plate of breakfast. “Fancy a ride into London with us, Latoria?” Orla asked, “I’m taking the kids in soon for the train.”

“What in that noisy muggle thing of yours?” she asked looking outraged, “no thank you, dear.”

A couple of hours later they climbed out of Orla’s car a few minutes from the station and she waved to them from the window mouthing “see you later!” Rewan kicked the gravel moodily, “I can’t believe I’m not coming with you this year!” he said as they started the short walk to King’s Cross each carrying a handle of Demelza’s trunk. “Hogwarts is home!”

“Don’t be silly Rewan!” said Demelza, trying to sound cheerful. “You’ll have loads of fun at St. Mungo’s. And they’re going to need geniuses like you to put all our limbs back on when they’re getting blasted off by death eaters!” she said.

“Don’t joke about things like that, Demi.” he said quietly.

“I think I have to,” said Demelza, “if I’m just cowering in fear then they’ve won anyway haven’t they?”

They had arrived at the station and Demelza hugged her brother tightly, he was leaving to meet Adelia to look at flats together in London. “Work hard,” he told her as he patted her on the back.

“I will, but not too hard. I know you like being the smart one!” she grinned at him.

“Well yeah, got to keep up the Ravenclaw name don’t I?” he said grinning back, “can’t go getting beaten by a Gryffindor. I guess you can have the Quidditch cup this year, but the OWL results are ours!” he chuckled. They waved and Demelza dragged her trunk to platforms 9 and 10 crossing through the barrier to platform 9 ¾.