Mama's Boy
Date: December 23rd, 23 · 𖢨 · Location: muggle London

Ernest didn't know where he was. Dark space and slanted walls greeted him and he didn't know how he got here. He felt sick and off-balanced, but something pulled him forward. A stripped brown door sat in front of him, intimidating him with its size, a sliver of bright light peeking under it. The part goblin felt like something was wrong; the door looked 10 feet tall but also small. He felt smaller. Everything was-

“Mama?” He heard a child speak, timid and confused. In front of him was an open door, the sun streaming out of it as a frizzled brunette woman hurried through the room, stuffing things into a trunk that sat on the bed that took up most of the room. The lady’s head snapped up, looking up and staring straight into Ernest’s eyes. He suddenly realized he didn’t just feel smaller but was smaller. He was unbalanced and overwhelmed by this feeling like something was wrong with the woman in front of him, and that he cared deeply about what that was and this brunette.

“My love, what are you doing up here?” The lady said, a face smile plastering itself over her mouth, as she knelt in front of him. She used both hands to tuck her hair behind each of her ears, licking her lips while she did, looking nervous and almost manic. “You should be with your Grandpa.” Ernest couldn’t stop his mouth from opening, saying words that sounded familiar yet foreign, “I don’t like him, ‘e snores. When are we going home?”

Ernest felt trapped in the body of what seemed to be his young self, as he looked at what had to be his mother. He wished to memorize her face, but already the features seemed to blur. “Mama has to leave for a bit, but then I’ll come get you and take you home. Okay?” It wasn’t okay, Ernest wanted to say, it wasn’t okay at all. But he wasn’t in control of this, he didn’t know what he was saying as this version of him.

“Okay, Mama,” He said. His mom smiled and kissed the top of his head, then stood again. She closed the trunk and looked back at him only once before the memory seemed to flicker, and then Ernest was in that room again. The light was gone and so was his mother. Gone once again.

Ernest woke up with a sharp breath, his eyes opening in the same room as his dream. It was bright from the sunlight that streamed in from his own window, it showed years of his life at his grandfather’s place. Art from his childhood, doodled swords and stick figures; carved ‘swords’ from sticks, and photos of his grandfather and him as he aged.

He knew his dream had been just that; a dream. His grandfather had said his mother had left in the night, that she had not taken anything and hadn’t said anything to either of them, but he could hope. He had been having dreams like that ever since he got the letter. Maria Drakes of London had written him back a letter after he had sent a number of them to as he could. All came back unanswered, the Hogwarts owls asking for treats as they gave his same letter back to him.

Ernest had around 15 galleons converted to muggle money in his bag and had some muggle clothes to wear for the day. Maria had said he could meet her at a cafe in muggle London; so they could talk. His grandfather had told him he could go, but that he would get the aurors to find him if he wasn’t home by night. It was most likely an empty promise but Ernest didn’t care. He was close to finding his mom.

The part goblin had to take a train out to his grandfathers, his adopted father not saying much as he had to deal with Clark’s return from school too, and Clark would always outweigh Ernest’s ranking on his list of kids to watch over. His grandfather lived right before the divide of Muggle London and Wizarding London on the West side, so he mapped out where the Cafe was, knowing if he hurried he could make it there by noon, and have hours to talk to his mom.

The young boy made it into muggle London, a good fourth of the way to the cafe when he spotted a familiar shade of blonde weaving through the semi-crowded walkways, not in a hurry, per se, but walking without a plan. Ernest smiled before hollering out her name, uncaring for the adults who looked at him with dirty looks or irritated expressions, “Elisa!”

@Elisa Shakestra

Mama's Boy
Date: December 23rd, 23 · 𖢨 · Location: muggle London

Ernest didn’t have a real plan for when he met his mom, but the idea he wouldn’t be alone when he did make him feel so much better than he cared to admit. He figured it could be a cool way for Elisa to know more about him if he got to see some of Ernest’s other family; Clark was not a family member that he cared to show off.

He jogged ahead to catch up to Elisa, just as she had reached the door to the cafe he was headed to himself. “What are you doing in muggle London?” He asked in a hushed whisper as he walked in with her. Ernest could have sworn she was from Wiltshire, which was far enough away he couldn’t see her just here on a daily lunch run.

The part goblin looked around when they were through the door, but after a quick glance over the area of the cafe, he saw no one who looked like they were hiding anything. Ernest frowned slightly, his hat feeling extra snug on his ears at the thought that maybe his mom actually didn’t look like him. Maybe she looked human and that’s why he wasn’t wanted. . .

Ernest forced that thought away, even though his hand moved to pull the beanie down more. “Have you been here long?”

@Elisa Shakestra