Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Eighty Six

"Mother?" Esme's throat had dried up and her voice cracked slightly at the surprise.

They just stared at each other for a moment before Antoinette smiled softly and inquired, "I think it's best if I come in off the doorstep, yes? It won't look good if anyone of importance to us happens to walk past."

And Esme, still in a mild state of shock, moved aside to let her mother into the hallway of Grimmauld Place.

"Through here, if I remember correctly?" She purred as she gestured towards the living room briefly before striding in and making her way through to the kitchen.
"Er..." Regulus faltered slightly, "Yes, that's right." He called out despite the fact that the woman had already made her way there.

He frowned slightly, and turned around to ask, "Esme, what's-are you alright? What's going on?"

"I don't know."
"Do we need to worry?"
"I don't know."

It was, even with everything they'd been through, a surprise for Esme to not know if she could trust her own mother or not.

At last, she put her own wand in her back pocket and placed a hand on Regulus' arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Are you alright?" She asked, suspecting this might be a bit much for the boy to deal with at the moment,

"Yeah, I'm okay. You?"
She nodded, "Yeah, we'll figure this out. No need to worry."

"Of course not." Regulus nodded, not entirely believing himself. He was hoping to convince himself of the fact as much as Esme.
Nevertheless, she gave his arm a last reassuring squeeze before the two of them made their way towards the kitchen in order to face Antoinette Avery.

The woman in question, refined as always, was stood at the head of the table as they entered. Her brown hair was noticeably darker and pulled back into a tight, long ponytail. She appeared to be quite tired as there were deep set lines beneath her eyes, but these went unnoticed as she wore a deep purple lipstick to draw the attention away.
Antoinette had removed her floor-length black coat and hung it over the back of the chair, revealing a floor-length plain black dress beneath it.

"First things first..." She began, "Esmerelda, what are you doing here?"

Instinctively, Esme and Regulus sat down beside each other at the table - much like they were young children again being told off for being too loud or wild.

"I could ask you the same thing." The girl quipped.

"This is no time for that." Antoinette warned, "If people know you're hiding out here, it won't look good."

Regulus was still hung up on his less than appropriate greeting to Antoinette Avery - the moment of confrontation between himself and his girlfriend's mother playing over in his head still.
Esme snapped him out of this by nudging him in the side as she asked her mother, "Why are you here though? Did you know I was here?"

"Esmerelda Marie Avery." Antoinette warned her daughter again.

"Alright." Esme gave in, "Yes, alright, I left Hogwarts. Something happened and Regulus needed me."
Antoinette, at last, pulled out a seat and sat down at the head of the table, "To do with what the Dark Lord had asked?"
"Yes." She responded, "Now it's your turn to answer my question."

The slender woman nodded slowly, "Of course."

"How did you know I wasn't at Hogwarts?"  Esme knew, of course, that it was technically possible for Antoinette to have paid a visit to Grimmauld Place on her own accord. However, she had shown no sign of surprise at seeing her daughter there, and it was fair to say the woman always knew more than she ever let on - which was what made her such a good wife to Lucas Avery as she knew everything about everyone for him.