Coral

Author's Note-

Thanks Siriuslysnogged for the wonderful review.I looked at your stories, and apparently we are birds of a feather when daring to venture into slightly daring plot outlines. I appreciate your bravery in tesing out my story, and your courage in writing some very good, bold stories yourself! Cheers!


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I got my own way of livin'

But everything gets done

With a southern accent

Where I come from--





--Rookwood--





Soon, Rookwood Manor had absorbed Amanda. It had always known her, and she had always known it's faded mauve walls, and peeling white paint.



She became part of it's shadow, part of it's light, part of the soft female fragrance that had long ago permeated the furnishings.



Occasionally, Eloise would see her admiring something, and tell her a piece of the house's history.



" It's funny you should like to stand there, just so, Amanda. That was your great-grandfather's favorite place."



" I see you like that corner. Those flowers were hand-painted by your Great-great grandmother Irelia."



Though she could easily have spent her remaining life drifting through the nooks and crannies of the house, reading in it's corners, and sewing by it's windows; Eloise had other notions as to what young women should do.



She had decided that the best way for Amanda to adapt and to learn, was to 'polish' her, so to speak. Amanda was receiving her finishing education all over, only this time, it was in ways she would never have imagined before.



She watched as her relatives used spells and charms to clean, sew, transfigure, alter and summon. She herself could not perform these spells, but Eloise insisted that she learn them all, just the same, against the chance that she might have 'repressed' abilities of her own.



" Besides, it doesn't hurt to be on your toes about such things. You never know when you might need to discuss a spell, or need to describe one."



Besides the spells and charms, she had to learn Wizarding history, with it's wars and economics, and politics. There were famous names to learn, living and dead; geography, the monetary system, magical creatures and races, and basic knowledge of potions.



" Just because you can't brew them, doesn't mean you can't use them." Winter told her. " There are potions for practically everything. From the strongest antidote to the mildest stain remover, and you will need a proper knowledge of how to use them. "



They set her to work in the kitchen, brewing on simple salves, balms, and antacids that needed no magic, only careful measurements, and preparing the ingredients for the others if they were brewing a ' true' potion. She was very meticulous with her work, and learned quickly.



Not only did this please Eloise, but it pleased Amanda as well, because at last she had found a way to be useful. She also had a green thumb for growing certain cooking herbs, and after taking over the care of Winter's herb boxes, they soon over-spilled with lush aromatic plants. As long as the weather charm remained in place, there was never a lack of pungent sage, rosemary, basil, dill, and a dozen other culinary delights.



However, she quickly implied that the herb boxes were as far as she would go towards gardening.Flowers and vegetables held no interest for her, and no amount of coaxing or flattery would change her opinion.



Every other day or so, they would go out, and show Amanda the charms of the Wizarding world. They took her first around the village, to show her the quaint shops- the cobblers, and the market, and the small stalls that sold magical toys, animals, candy, and trinkets. She was reminded at every turn of the prose of Dickens, only with Wizards and Witches standing in as the Dramatis Personae.



As Eloise suspected, Agnes and Demogene were unenthusiastic about Amanda and Stella. On occasion Demogene would offer to show Amanda a shop or introduce her to an acquaintance, but they generally all three avoided each other by unspoken agreement.



Amanda did not mind too much. She was in love with this new world, and Agnes and Demogene were not. They had always been a part of it, and they were bored and sullen with it. She liked going out with her mother, because Stella was in a way rediscovering magic, and became just as excited at all the new inventions and landmarks that had accumulated during her absence.



Winter was indulgent company and could be easily amused by any questions or antics.

Eloise was good company because she gave short simple answers, and pointed out the serious issues of the Wizarding World. She carried a walking stick,( mostly fashionable people did, Amanda noticed. ) and when they walked she would either point with it, or lean on it while dissertation on whatever object had gained her attention. It was not a necessity, by an extension of herself.



An accessory.



After the village had been explored, they took her to London, and to Diagon Alley, where Amanda could be impressed by the sheer size, and how cleverly it was hidden.



" Oh, there are places such as this in every town and city in the world." Eloise assured her. Leaning close, in a conspiratorial fashion, she added;



" Even in New Orleans, I would imagine."



Amanda turned to Stella, partly in question, partly in accusation. She was slightly irritated that Stella had kept this life so secret. Stella flushed. She had explained many times why she felt she had to divorce herself from the Wizarding world, but she never fully explained, and from Eloise, and Winter's behavior, Amanda suspected that their might be more to the story.



" I honestly don't know... " she said defensively. " if there was a Wizarding section of New Orleans. I never had cause to explore. "



After they had explored every stall and booth, Eloise asked Amanda if there was anything she might like. Amanda confessed that though the trinkets and baubles were pretty, what she wanted most of all was a new wardrobe. She did not like that her Muggle clothes were so drab and ungraceful amongst all the flowing dresses, and velvet robes.



" Clothes! Why, she is a girl!" Eloise crowed exultantly. " Of course you shall have clothes. Which ones do you like?"



Amanda couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt like Alice conversing with the white Queen. She felt very young, and and very out of place. Awkwardly, she tried to explain that she didn't necessarily want robes, as she wasn't really a witch, but just some dresses. Something Victorian, perhaps.High collared blouses and long straight skirts.



A dress or too with soft skirts and gently tucked waistlines. No more having to wear unflattering knit tops, and uncomfortable trousers and jeans.



Eloise gleamed with anticipatory glee. She already had a seamstress in mind. Not Madam Malkin, no, she was a little too old fashioned, a little too stark. And Madam Crinkle, she was too...vibrant. Too overzealous about the newest and most popular fashion statements. Eloise imagined Amanda in one of the wide trouser legged robes with the orange fringe that many young witches were wearing. No, the idea was preposterous.



" I'll send for a seamstress tomorrow." she insisted. " I know just the perfect lady for the task. I'll see that you have a closet full of pretty clothes."



" I only need a few." Amanda protested.



Eloise sent her a look that said there was no such thing as a girl who required only a few garments...herself included. Eloise never wore less than three sets of robes per day, and always dressed specially for going out, or evening parties.



" We'll see that you have enough. And that reminds me...Amanda, there is something else that I want you to have. I know, you can't use it, not yet, but I believe in being prepared. I am going to buy you a wand."



A wand!



What an exciting idea! She would have her own wand, even it was only an empty accessory.

But what if it wasn't? What if she could eventually learn to use it?The possibility was intriguing, and she made promised herself, that as soon as she owned one, she would practice with it relentlessly. She would will herself to be able to use one!



She was sad to learn that the wand would be delayed until the next week, however. The wandmaker claimed that he was too busy to be making house-calls, as it was time for the new students to Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Witchery to be buying their first wands. He couldn't possibly arrive sooner than Saturday, not even for a friend.



Eloise had been irritated, in the way that someone can only be irritated with friends they have had for a long time. She threatened to have someone else make the wand, and Winter had laughed and told Amanda that Eloise wouldn't dare. Their family had been using Ollivander's for generations, and no other wandmaker would make house-calls, or tolerate Eloise's imperious behavior.



For a wand, she might have to wait until Saturday, but for her new clothes, she had only to wait until the next day. Eloise had spoken with a seamstress, a certain Madam LeBonne, who had been very exuberant about the prospect.



Amanda was soon to learn that Amele LeBonne was exuberant about everything.

" I have four babies, you know? Four! Can you believe that? All such wonderful fat little things, with brown eyes. Their father is fat too though. Oh, such a fat little Frenchman he is.



I remember, ten years ago, we met in France. Ah, ah, he was so sunburnt, like an apple. Red, he was. And he had lost his glasses in the sea. I was swimming that afternoon, because I cannot resist swimming, and I see him walking about. This little fat man, all bald on top and red, and he is stooped over like this..." she stooped to demonstrate.



" I call out to him, to find out what he is doing, all stooped over like that. We searched for an hour for his glasses, but they must have washed out already. He asked me to dine with him later on the terrace, and of course I accepted, because I have my grandmother's gypsy eye, and I knew this was my new husband. Yes, that very week, he proposed. Squinted up his eyes at me, and said " O Amm-eee-lee" in such a way. Such a way I fell in love with him.



Only I teased him and said he might not have proposed could he have seen me! Ten years ago, and now, we have four babies. All boys. All boys. But we will have a girl next time, I am sure. Wouldn't that be nice?"



Amanda thought that it would. Amele should have a daughter. A daughter to carry on her long dark hair, and laughing dark eyes. A girl with just the slightest gap between her white front teeth. She liked Amele, this woman who was of the gypsies and so eager and full of life and beauty. She wanted to reach out and pat her hair, and call her a friend. Amele worked with long dexterous fingers, never thinking about her work, as she sewed, both with magic, and by hand.



Amele was the seamstress appointed by Eloise.



" You are Am-anda? I am Am-ele. " she had pronounced, as though that in itself were the secret to life. It gave them something to share, this similarity of names.



She was a gypsy, her grandmother had been born in Romania. She was a full blooded witch as well, but her magic behaved differently than Eloise's. When she waved her hands to illustrate her conversation, little warm waves of magic would fall over Amanda.



She also did many things without using magic at all, like some of the sewing.



' Never is a good garment made all of magic. Magic is only so good as the maker. Buy always real cloth, woven, even in the Wizarding world, some things should be done the hard way,or people get lazy, and then, everything falls apart. " she bit of a piece of the white thread, which showed up brilliantly against her golden olive skin.



Her dresses were beautiful. She had seemed to read Amanda's mind, drawing out some quick sketches with a short chewed pencil.



" Like this? " she would ask.



She had made her several blouses and skirts. Mostly white blouses, with full sleeves and trimmed with narrow lace. The skirts were brown or blue or black, and fell just to the tops of Amanda's feet, giving her an austere grace. A serious innocence.



On this day, Saturday morning, she was making adjustments to a dress she was designing. It had short capped sleeves, a square neckline, and fell gently over a her client's natural line. It consisted of a white underskirt with a white crocheted over-dress, making it appear frothy and lace heavy.



It was much fancier than Amanda would have chosen, but Eloise had been adamant that this, as well as three others should be made. So adamant that Amele had been to the house four times that week.



" You are wiggling. Why are you wiggling? You fidget like my son Jules when he is doing something naughty. Do you have a lizard in your pocket? Or fireflies?"



" No!" Amanda laughed. " I'm just nervous."



" About what? I've haven't stuck you yet with a pin, have I?" Amele smiled everytime Amanda spoke, being fascinated with her drawling accent.



" No. It's just that Eloise is having a wand made for me this evening."



" Ahh...yes, she said something like that. There is nothing to be worried about, you just have to be there." she hemmed up the skirt, and handed her own wand to Amanda.



" Isn't it pretty? I bought it in London, from Ollivander's. I had an old one, that was my grandmother's. I never could use it well, that is why I learned to sew by hand as well. But, this one, it was like it was meant for me to find it. Sometimes I feel that it knows what I want before I tell it."



Amanda admired the smooth length, handling it carefully. Around the handle, a series of small flowers were carved faintly in the soft wood.



She handed it back with a sad smile.



" It's very pretty. Aunt Eloise wants me to have a wand, but I don't believe it will do me any good. "



Amele had no prejudices. She rocked back on her heels and grinned up at Amanda.



" Ah, you never know. Is that the occasion for this dress?" she flounced up the skirt playfully.



" No! Aunt Eloise wants to have a some parties. I am to be introduced to some of her friends." Amanda tried to keep her voice level, but Amele saw that she did not wish to attend.



" Young bachelors?" Amele winked.



Amanda blushed miserably.



The older woman laughed.



" I don't wish to meet them!"



" What if one the men, the gentlemen, is to be your lover?" Amele tilted her head.



" I tried to explain to her, that I have no desire for such a thing.!"



" Give me your hand Am-anda, I might be able to read your future. Maybe I can tell you if someone is to be in your future, no? At the very least, I can tell you if you shall ever do magic."



Amanda watched with fascination as her small white hand disappeared into the long, strong hand of Amele, who turned it this way and that, against the window light. She traced all of the lines, and felt of the fingers, flipping it over once to examine the fingernails and knuckles. Then she looked at the other hand. Then held both side by side. She laughed warmly.



" What is it?"



" I cannot tell you all of it, for that might change the future." she frowned slightly." And the future is very important. But I can tell you a small part. " she folded Amanda's hand up and pressed it back against it's owner's breast. " You will do magic. And when you do, it will be wonderful."



" Amanda? Are you finished?" Eloise called.



" She is. Come in and see, Ms. Rookwood. It is perfect, just as you said."



Eloise entered the sewing room, and examined the dress. It was perfect.



" There you have it Amanda, you look as though you come from another time.Here, let me just do this." She took out her wand, and deftly dressed Amanda's hair into a high, soft upswept style that accented her face perfectly.



Amele cooed with delight.



" She is beautiful. She has just the perfect figure for these classic dresses."



" You mean she is chubby?" Agnes drawled from the doorway. She was holding a tin of chocolates, her shoulder resting against the door facing.



" Agnes, I don't believe you have any room to speak. And if you don't stop eating those bon-bons, you won't have any room to sit either." Eloise said, bitingly. " Now, what do you need?"



" I thought you might like to know that Ollivander is here. We can see whether or not he is a miracle worker." she offered a sweet smile.before turning to stride away. Amanda knew she would be lurking around, just waiting for her to embarrass herself in some fashion.



Agnes had been exceedingly hostile towards Amanda ever since Amele had arrived at the beginning of the week, to take her measurements.



" Come along," Eloise offered Amanda her hand. " Let's not keep him waiting."



" Can't I change back into the other skirt, I don't want to tear this one. " Amanda was aware of the fragility of the crocheted lace.



" No. This won't take long. "



Amanda glanced back at Amele, who was placing a green dress over the dressmaker's dummy, preparing it for it's alterations.



She paused and gave Amanda a reassuring smile.

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Southern Accent lyrics-Tom Petty