Time: from after breakfast to after dinner
Day: July 21, 2020
Location: Lydia Grandma's house,
Hampstead, London

The sound of birds tweeting outside of the window was the first thing Lydia had heard that morning.
The sun was filtering through the curtains of the room that would have been hers for the rest of the summer; while growing up, it had been her mother's room, from when she was just a few months old, to the moment she moved in with Lydia's dad. On the walls, pictures and drawings were adorning the white surfaces, sharing their space with fairy-lights and fresh flowers garlands; the big window that faced towards the road had light grey curtains, while the glassed door that would bring on the balcony had a darker shaded one; the floor was covered in a light coloured moquette -wether it was white, grey< or beige, Lydia couldn't tell.

The bed was quite big for just one person, but probably not big enough for two adults; the bedsheets and pillows were in a mix of pink and grey shades, matching with the rest of the room; a carpet was positioned in front of the bed, so that when Lydia would get up, her feet would land right on it. The only bold touch of colour was the bright red chair that was placed facing the bed; it almost looked like a rose in its shape, a little like the flowers that were placed, together with the lights, on the wall right behind the bed. Right under the windows, a small, dark grey sofa and a desk found their place, probably the best spot in the room to study or read a book because of the natural light. Once one would go out on the balcony, they would find a nice outdoor sofa, some pillows, external lights and coasters ready to be used, together with a couple of blankets for the colder nights.

With a sigh, Lydia finally opened her eyes, the sun shining from the blinds now way too bright for her liking. Her eyes travelled across the still unfamiliar room, expertly avoiding every single picture of her mom; she slowly sat up, her back resting against the headboard of the bed, and wiggled her toes, the feeling of the cold sheets sending a chill down her spine.

Her Grandma really needed to keep the AC off during the night, or at least not at 20 degrees, or by the end of the summer the Hufflepuff girl would have become voiceless.

Lydia checked her phone -something that she wasn't that used to anymore-, and noticed that it was already 10:30, and if she wouldn't have gone downstairs soon, her Grandma would have most likely come and checked on her. Wrapping herself in her black hoodie and putting her flip flops on her feet, she exited her room and slowly made her way downstairs, towards the kitchen.

The "Rose House", situated at the end of the Vale of Heath, right by the Hampstead Heath -and with a private access to the park from the bottom of the garden, as well as to the Vale of Heath Pond-, was a big, red brick mansion. A tall, fancy gate protected the privacy of the people living inside, creating a sense of peace that was quite rare in the city of London. One reception hall, a family room, a triple reception room -that served as music room, living room and dining room-, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a staff room were situated on the ground floor; the two upper floors consisted in a total of seven bedrooms (Lydia's one was on the first floor, like her grandma's) and four bathrooms. All around the house, flowers and plants adorned everything, from the paved space in front of the entrance, where a Green Mini Countryman was parked, to the garden and the pool. At the end of the garden, where the private access to the park was, stood a decked terrace, where a brick oven and barbecue were placed.

Any kid would feel ecstatic to spend their summer in a place like that, but not Lydia.

She missed the smell of the sea, the salt in the air, the cold wind that messed up her air every single time she would step outside; she missed her muggle friends, and even her family.

When she finally reached the kitchen -that house was way too big- she was greeted by Dolores, her grandma's housemaid. "Good morning sweetie!" she greeted her, a vaguely Spanish accent in her voice, as she handed her a plated of scrambled eggs, baked beans, bacon and some bread. "Morning Dol," Lydia greeted her back, her voice still slightly hoarse form sleep. She took her plate, and walked outside on the patio, where a coffee table was already set up with some juice, water and tea. Sitting on the outdoor sofa, sipping what looked like a cup of tea, was Marie, Lydia's grandma.

The woman was in her usual house clothes -which, be careful, were always as impeccable as her usual clothes-, her hair tied up in a bun; she was looking out, towards the garden and the pool, and when she noticed her granddaughter, she gave her a warm smile.

"Morning Babka," Lydia said as she sat next to her, before she poured herself a glass of apple juice. She then started munching on her breakfast, that tasted amazing, as she let her gaze wander around. Her mind, free to just relax, brought her back to the event of the Summer Camp. That part of the summer had been an amazing experience; she had met quite a lot of new people, both from Hogwarts and from the other schools, she had created new friendships and had incredible experiences. For a second, the face of a certain boy emerged from her thought, her cheeks becoming bright red as she tried not to think about him. She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips, so she tried to mask it with a big bite of bacon.

"I hope you slept well, miláčik. Today should be quite a peaceful day, and it should even be hot enough for a swim in the pool," her grandma said, placing down on a coaster her cup of tea. "Tonight, on the other hand, your family will visit us! We will have a nice dinner, all together, and tomorrow they will go back to Brighton. Unfortunately, your mother could not take a day off from work,"

Lydia almost dropped her fork at her Grandma's words, her face lighting up for a second, before a wave of anxiety hit her. She was so excited to finally see her mom, dad and sister again, the last time they had been all together was back in December, and she missed them dearly; but at the same time, she knew that, in the moment she would have seen her mother, she would have felt the urge to talk with her about the picture in the Trophy Room.

"T-that sounds amazing Babka!" she replied and gave her Grandma a smile, before she went back to eat her food.

The rest of the breakfast was spent between some small talk and short silences; after that, Lydia immediately tackled some readings she had from school while staying out in the sun. After that, she went for a swim, and ate lunch, and soon enough it was dinner time.

Wearing a strawberry dress and a pair of ballerina shoes, her hair naturally wavy from the water, and her skin slightly tan from the sun, the young girl was basically bouncing on her feet, if from excitement or nervousness she wasn’t sure.

Once the car pulled up in the driveway, Lydia walked out of the house, and once they had parked she run towards the vehicle, only to wrap her young sister -that had thrown herself out of the car the moment it had stopped moving- in a tight hug. She did the same with her parents, hugging them as tight as she could, before they all walked back inside the house.

Surprisingly enough, avoiding the whole Trophy Room picture topic had been quite easy, since Lydia found herself talking about everything that happened at school with so much enthusiasm at dinner, that she didn’t have the time to think about that; but once dinner was over, and her sister was already asleep in one of the guest rooms, Lydia found herself walking towards her parents, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

She had already changed into her pyjamas, ready to go to bed; she had even considered not asking them about it, but she figured that this would have been the best moment to have a chat with them. Scratching the back of her head, she walked up to where they were sitting on the patio and sat over her father’s legs.

“Mom? Dad?” she started. “Can I- I have a question to ask you...” Lydia took a deep breath, her heart beating fast in her chest as her parents looked worriedly at her. “When I was at Hogwarts, I went into the trophy room and... mom, there was a picture of you there, with your name as well. Are you- are you a witch? And you dad? Wh-why have you never told me, or Ally, anything?”

Her voice was shaky, small, just like she felt in that moment. As her parents registered her words, and after they shared a look, Chris sighed and wrapped her in a hug, as her mother moved closer to them.

“Honey... I am a witch, yes, and your father’s a wizard. We both attended Hogwarts, back in our days. We- we decided not to tell you girls anything and raise you as muggles because, well, we wanted you to have normal life, go to school and have muggle friends,” her mother’s words were calm as she kind of tried to reassure her daughter. A slight sense of calm started filling Lydia, but then she shook her head. She didn’t feel calm inside, her head was swimming in an ocean of thoughts and questions, why was she feeling so calm now?

“What normal friends?” She said, getting up from her father’s lap. “The friends that now won’t even talk to me, because I almost ghosted them for an year while I was in a boarding school? The friends that can’t know about magic, and that I will always have to lie to?” Her words were full of anger now, as she tried her best not to completely lose her temper.

This excuse was so stupid, just like the decision of lying to her about her powers. “You lied to us for all this time, made me believe I was oh so special because I was a witch, when I was just... lucky enough to have gotten the right genes. I could have learned so many more things about this world, its creatures, history. But no !” Lydia shook her head, her eyes filling up with tears. “Instead you decided to keep all of this away from us. I bet you wished we didn’t inherit magic, would have saved you a lot of lying,”

“Lydia, honey please... we had our reasons to believe this was for the best!” Her father said, as he tried to calm her down. “I can imagine that you must be upset but- try to understand-“ he didn’t get to finish his thought though, that Lydia interrupted him. “Upset? I’m not upset dad, I’m hurt! And I feel betrayed and- I just-”

There they were, the tears she had fought so long to keep at bay; they were running down her cheeks, feeling hot against her skin.

She continued arguing with both of her parents for quite a while, asking questions and receiving what felt like ‘not good enough’ answers. Once the whole discussion died down a little bit, Lydia blew her nose and then looked down at her feet. “Can you promise me, this is the last secret?” She asked, not daring to look up; if she would have, she would have noticed the weird look her parents had exchanged between themselves and her grandma. “We promise you Lyd. No more secrets,” her father said, before hugging his daughter tight.

After that, and some more reassuring, both Natalie and Chris walked Lydia to her room and tucked her in; it was quite late already, and even though Lydia had nothing to do the day after, her parents had a long drive in the car waiting for them. With a final kiss on the forehead, they said goodnight, and even if she didn’t want to, Lydia basically collapsed, fast asleep, the moment he touched the pillow.

- This thread will have different solos, all together, that will cover Lydia’s summer in London up to the moment of her return to Hogwarts.
- The house used in the pictures is a house currently on sale in London; the address of the house is not, however, the same as the one I picked for Lydia's grandma.
- Babka means "Grandma", and miláčik means "darling, sweetheart" in Slovak.