Coral

***







I want to paint your portrait



Hang your colors on my wall



Discussing form and content with my friends and drinks



And no one thinks at all



I see you in a different light



I see you in a different light--















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Polly had begun to grow concerned about Amanda. Eleven o'clock had come and gone, but Amanda had not called for her. She hadn't heard her run a bath yet, either. At eleven thirty, she Evanescoed a cold un-eaten breakfast away, and un-tied her apron. Eloise and Winter would be furious if they discovered that Amanda had missed a breakfast.



Marching to the stairs with hands on hips, Polly was prepared to call up, when the door to Amanda's room opened and Edward stepped out. He was tying his cravat, and humming that song that Amanda always played. The one with the French lyrics.



Seeing Polly standing there, he smiled, looking a little insane in her opinion.



" Good morning Polly."



" Good morning sir."



" Could you please take Amanda a tray? She would like strawberry toast, a soft boiled egg and tea. "



" Yes sir. Can I get you anything?"



" No thank you. I have to see to the shop."



He passed her swiftly and casually, as though it were perfectly normal for him to be home, at noon, on a Wednesday. As soon as the door had closed behind him, Polly hurried into the kitchen and whipped up a brunch tray. She found Amanda seated at the dressing table. She had evidently just emerged from the bath, her skin was pink,and her hair, which she was brushing out, was damp and curling.



" Good morning Polly." she greeted. " What's that? It smells delicious!"



Polly sat the tray down, and watched with amused surprise as Amanda began to eat voraciously. Amanda...who had not willingly eaten anything in the past few months. Polly supervised until the last of the tea was gone, and Amanda was resisting the temptation to lick the last of the syrup from her fingers.



" Thank you, Polly! Mmm...wonderful!"



" Amanda! You have a bruise around your wrist!" Polly took up Amanda's hand and examined the mottled flesh.



" Oh!" Amanda colored "...there was an incident last night. In the shop. Please, don't tell Mother and Aunt Eloise. I want a chance to explain it to them...if it is not already printed in the paper."



" The paper? Goodness, what happened?"



" Some men came into the shop and created a little mischief. They tipped over some of the shelves, and I tried to stop them."



" Well, I don't like the look of that bruise." Polly was not looking at the bruise, but was scrutinizing Amanda's face. " You should have a healer look at it. Or Winter at the very least."



" No, I'll put some arnica ointment on it. I have a pot of it in the other bath. Oh, that reminds me, I'll need some help moving my things back into the other room. After I write my mother. " she self-consciously hid her arm on her lap.



That particular bruise had not come from Martin. She was surprised to see how badly it had discolored, since she could not recall at what point Edward had squeezed her arm that hard. Of course she always had bruised quite easily. Unbidden, the sudden memory of her hands pinned over her head the night before returned to her, and she smiled with her equally bruised lips.



Polly took the tray away, and Amanda rummaged out a sheet of letter paper. She didn't have the chance to write anything, before she heard a commotion downstairs. Several voices, all of which were rising and falling dramatically.



" Yes Ms. Rookwood! Ms. Winter...please...?" Polly's voice joined the fray.



Amanda capped her pen and tossed it aside. Hurriedly, she rushed to the closet, digging through quickly, she pulled out one of her autumn dresses. It would disguise all of the marks, but was light enough not to attract attention for being obviously out of season.. She had just worked it over her head when she heard Stella on the stairs.



" Amanda?"



" Yes. One moment..." she called. Glancing in the mirror, she smoothed out the dress, buttoned the sleeves, and brushed her undressed hair behind her ears.



She swung the door open to face Stella, who stood, hand raised to knock..or pound demandingly on the door.



" I am supposing you heard what happened." she observed drolly.



Stella engulfed her in a huge embrace, taking her by surprise. She winced as her mother's chin came against the place where Martin's elbow had pinned her to the wall.



" Are you all right?" Stella asked. " I would have been here sooner, bu we only just heard!"



" Heard? I assumed it would be in the Daily Prophet!"



" Oh, it might be. We heard it from Arthur Weasley. "



" Arthur? But how did he--"



" Yes. Mother, Aunt Eloise and I were in Diagon Alley this morning, and Eloise thought she would drop into the shop, but it was closed!"



" Yes, you see--"



" Then Arthur came along. He said he had something important to tell Edward. Where is he?"



" He's at the shop."



" No he isn't, we were just there."



" He only just left." she half raised a hand to point in the direction of the door, causing her sleeve to ride up. Stella saw the edge of the bruise, and gaped.



" A-manda! " Stella took up Amanda's hand and unbuttoned the sleeve." Oh my!"



" It's not as bad as it looks." she declared honestly. " Let's go downstairs."



Amanda started off, but Stella caught her skirt, and pulled her back.



" Not so fast, my dear." she took out her wand and murmured something over her wrist. " This is the second time that I have done this for you. Why didn't Polly take care of it?"



" I'll only trust a few people to aim a wand at me." Amanda smiled.



Stella smiled in return, but it changed to a look of slight puzzlement as she healed the bruise.



" You seem different today. " she noted as they left the room. " Maybe it's the dress, but you seem so...grown-up."



" I am wearing my hair down. Perhaps that is it."



" Perhaps... "



Amanda wanted nothing more than to be alone. Just for an hour. Maybe an entire hour in the garden. Alone, with just the fragrance of flowers, and her own thoughts, of which she had a great many. They were all somewhat tumultuous.







Instead of being alone, she was listening with growing unease as Giles expounded on the many inadequacies of the Ministry. He had arrived just after Amanda had finished giving a reasonably tailored account of the previous nights events to her family.Edward was with him, and for once, he did not seem irritated at finding his home filled with the Rookwood women.



Not five minutes later, Arthur Weasley also appeared.



Giles had begun his diatribe by apologizing profusely to Amanda for his absence the night before. He had been sent to Colchester to investigate an incident of Muggle hexing. There had been a bit of pandemonium, due to the use of magical fireworks that spelled out ugly words and threats, complete with graphic illustrations.



He had only just arrived back at the Ministry in time to join Kingsley, and they had both agreed that arresting the two men was great fun. Giles did not know much about Martin Ashwell, and grudge against Amanda. However, Martin's companion, Avery , was the son of a Deatheater, and was suspected of having been one himself, just before You -Know-Who was defeated. Avery was notorious, Giles said, but not notorious enough.



The Ministry fined each man a minimal amount of money, not nearly enough to reimburse Edward for all of the work, time, and value that had gone into the broken wands. For the physical harassment that had occurred, each man was slapped metaphorically on the wrist and told to straighten up. If they had attacked a Pureblood in the same manner, a stiff penalty of several years in Azkaban would have been their reward.



However, since Amanda did not fall into that elite group, and was estimated at having less value than the broken wands, the charge was dropped. Martin's broken wrist and nasty bite wound were treated sympathetically and the two men were released, free to do as they pleased.



Giles, Edward, Arthur, Eloise, Stella, and Winter...in that order, were outraged. Giles being the most livid, and Winter the most controlled when it came to demanding to know what right the Ministry had in releasing two villains?



Personally, Amanda thought that the term villains was a little too romantic to be used. the word ' thugs ' was better suited, and she was the least upset upon hearing of their fate. She had not expected them to be punished, for truly, they had not had a chance to truly do anything, and name calling was not an unpardonable crime in any world.



" And this is not the first time that I have seen the Ministry let those men slither from it's grasp!" Arthur informed them. " I just know that Avery, was involved in that playground fiasco with Augustu-- I'm sorry Eloise..."



Eloise only shrugged. She looked rather abashed, still being slightly ashamed of herself for not having realized just how appalling an Ashwell could be.



" I do not claim Augustus as one of my own family, Arthur. I make no apologies for him, and neither should anyone else. "



Amanda leaned into her mother.



" Augustus?" she whispered.



Stella squeezed her hand.



" A relative. He...was arrested for being a Deatheater."



Amanda would have to investigate the family tree and discover on which branch this particular bad seed had ripened. She had regarded the tree a few times at Eloise's house, and discovered it to be a tangled, thorny mess. Most of it's 'leaves' were classified into three distinct categories.' Us', ' The Deceased', and the ' Rookwoods With Whom We Have Little or Nothing to Do'.



Sometime after Eloise had inherited her parents money and house, there had been a lot of pruning in the familial garden, and a lot of dissension, and ultimately division, amongst the ranks. As far as the other Rookwoods were concerned, there was " Eloise" and then, "Everyone Else", and the two were as incompatible as matches and gasoline.



Apparently Arthur felt the same disdain for the 'other Rookwoods', for he gave Eloise's hand a gallant and reassuring pat, before he turned to explain just how close several Aurors had been to actually catching Avery and Augustus Rookwood red-handed.



" Of course, that wasn't my department, but I had been watching Avery for months over those pencils."



Giles shook his head.



"I predict that things are going to get out of control. I can't explain it, precisely, but I feel it. Right there." he stated, prodding his midsection." Something is bubbling underground...stewing right under this seemingly happy surface we are being shown."



" What do you mean, exactly?" Stella asked.



" I mean...that I believe those former Death Eaters know something that we do not, and are scheming away unhindered. No doubt working toward the total expulsion, or even death of all who can't claim to be full blooded. Genocide. That's what it is. I've seen it attempted before, and it is a hellish fervor led by the bigoted, the fanatical,and the wealthy!"



He punctuated this thought by pounding a meaty fist on the table, rattling the set of crystalware Eloise had given as a wedding gift. Eloise winced only slightly, and elegantly extinguished a cigarette in the nearest ashtray. Settling back, she began fiddling with the ivory cigarette holder.



Amanda watched drowsily as her aunt's tapered fingers played along the carvings. She had never noticed it before. It was a scrimshaw engraving of a seated woman, with unbound hair. She was looking through a telescope at the stars. Behind her, a man in strange robes leaned gently over her shoulder, his lips parted only inches from her shapely ear, as though he were about to secretly confess something to her while she stargazed. It was very beautiful, but the man wore an expression of extreme sadness. so realistic, that it was unbearable to gaze at him for too long. She returned her attention to the others, but the conversation had evolved into detailed conspiracy theories.



Soon, Arthur had to leave, but not before he gave her several warnings.Giles reiterated those warnings.



By the end of the day, Amanda's world had been basically limited to the confines of house and garden. She watched as an interesting array of wards and spells were cast over all the entrances to prevent the possibility of intruders.



Throughout all of this, Edward had remained fairly quite, only answering here and there with rather biting sarcasm whenever Eloise or Giles attempted to engage him in conversation. Amanda could only imagine that he was furious with the damage done to his stock, and most likely very irritated with the amount of trouble she had cost him over the past year.



Ashamed at this, she did her best to stay out of the way while they were applying the wards, and rolled up her sleeves to help Polly in the kitchen. The least she could do was see that her well-meaning guests were refreshed before they had to leave. She vowed, as she hastily began to peel potatoes that she would try to be less trouble in the future, and would make it up to Edward as best she could. If it was not too late.



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Different Light-Lyrics, V. peterson/S. hoffs