Carina Blackwood (learningspells) wrote in thebeatentrack, @ 2018-01-27 12:15:00 |
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To say that Carina Blackwood was the most excited she'd been in a long time would not have been an inaccurate thing to say about today. The last few years hadn't exactly been the easiest of times, what with the strains of managing the place suddenly and abruptly on her own after her parents had been named among those who'd not come back from the Battle of Hogwarts. In fact, to most people, that probably would have been understating the difficulty by a considerable margin. Carina thought she'd managed well enough, taking on the occasional help from friends of the family at first as needed, helping place some of the larger beasts in the care of people who might have been able to better provide for them than she on her own. For certain she never felt lonely among the menagerie and the ability to give tours and educate some of the younger people who came to visit helped break up the isolation, but that was a very different sort of thing than what she was expecting today. Today, Hermione Granger was coming to visit. She'd taken the cleaning the house up nicely, more than just a little thankful that she knew the right house magic to expedite the process. It, unlike the enchanted collection that lived concealed in the forest behind it, didn't look like much (to her) on the outside. Perhaps the same could have been said of the interior of the place too, but Carina didn't really think much of it. If you were to ask her, the outside grounds, particularly the walkway into the sanctuary itself, were the most impressive and exciting bits. Though she had always fancied Mother's tea room — which was where she was now, prepping it for her visitor — as well. She gave a soft chirp in surprise when Bupo, her Father's owl, took a perch on the open window sill and squawked loudly at her. "Yes, yes, I know we never have people in the house, but today is different." She spoke softly, her Mother's English tones mingled with the whimsical diddling of her Father's from Wales. She certainly had adopted both of their cadences more too since their passing, a fact she hadn't entirely noticed. Another loud squawk. "Now don't be like that. When has anyone ever made a mess of this place?" Which would draw some chirping, obviously the conversation was one sided, but Carina had known the bird as long as she'd been alive and had picked up on more than one or two of its mannerisms over the years. "I do not!." She balked in reply. "I keep it very clean in here thank you very much." She puffed a strand of red out of her face. "And I don't have time to argue with you right now. Go on. Up to your perch, tell me when she gets here while I go finish getting ready." She'd already decided to go with something simple, bright and colorful as per usual (with special favor paid to the blue and gold of her parents respective houses), but nothing too over-the top. Besides, the weather in the sanctuary was always perfect for dresses and she thought the choice was appropriate without making her look stuffy? Or...at least that was the hope anyway. From there it was just a matter of quickly walking the grounds where the animals were, making sure nothing was out of sorts or there were no immediate problems that required her tending, before she'd make her way back to the house and set about getting the kettle on in preparation for company. She told herself not to get too excited, to not think much of it at all really, but that was hardly the easiest thing to do. Visitors inside the home were rare enough, but to have it be a name she knew well and had not-so-secretly idolized just a bit when when the stories had begun to circulate in the Prophet? Well, practically dancing just a bit she-was-she-was. She'd checked her hair and dress at least a half dozen times, making sure there weren't any twigs and branches stuck in herself anywhere (there often were), smoothing out any wrinkles and making sure her sneakers (which looked horribly out of place with her dress, but Carina didn't have any other options), were laced up well enough that they wouldn't be an issue as they walked — or at least that was what she assumed they'd be doing. Once satisfied, and hearing the loud bellow from the bird to announce the arrival of her guest at the edge of the path leading up to the house, Carina opened the big, wooden, door, and positioned herself quite politely on the far side of the bridge to wait. She assumed she was visible enough and, this way, she'd have at least a few minutes time to keep the excitement from being splashed all over her face when she went to shake the woman's hand and make proper introductions. |