A Bend in Time

After dinner, Rowan somewhat reluctant heads to the East Wing to apologize to Aunt Georgine. The trip may have taken longer as she stopped several times to admire several of the enchanted paintings including one of a fierce raging battle. It appeared to be a historical battle and one that she would have to look up in the history books.

Soon enough, Rowan arrives in front of an intricately carved bedroom door. She lifts her hand and tentatively knocks at the bedroom door. From inside a voice loudly answers, "Yes?"

"It's me, Rowan. Might I be permitted to enter your personal chambers, Aunt Georgine?"

A loud snort is heard from inside. "Well, you're already here, I can't very well say no, can I? You might as well come in."

Carefully turning the golden door handle, Rowan enters an exquisitely decorated room. Unlike the rest of Prince Manor, Aunt Georgine's quarters had a reminiscent oriental vibe. There are various enchanted fans and various weapons hung against the wall as tasteful, but deadly decorations. One never knew when a deadly weapon might come in handy.

Shutting the door not too loudly, Rowan moves across the Persian carpet towards Aunt Georgine. In a scarlet robe, Georgine lays on a large bed with countless pillows reading a book. Seeing the child approach, Georgine places a scarlet dragon-shaped bookmark between the pages. Once she closes her book shut, the enchanted dragon bookmark curls around the book to mark its place.

Georgine raises a lofty eyebrow and impatiently says, "Well, I am waiting."

Rowan grimaced and bit her tongue lest she retorts back. "I came to apologize for my rash behavior this afternoon. Not only did I overreact, but I acted in a most inappropriate fashion. I was clearly in the wrong."

Georgine purses her lips as she waves her fingers in a gesture for Rowan to stop. "Well, I suppose you're honest enough," Georgine muttered. After a moment, Georgine beckons Rowan with her fingers and says, "Come here, child."

Rowan cautiously moves over to Aunt Georgine's bedside. Georgine's long, pale fingers reach over and firmly grab Rowan's wrist. Before Rowan can wrench her hand out of Georgine's grasp, Georgine pushes Rowan's sweater sleeve up to reveal the faded bruises.

"Mm, I thought as much," Georgine gently murmured, before tugging the sleeve back down and releasing Rowan's wrist.

Feeling vulnerable, Rowan smooths the side of her sweater sleeve. She had been caught off guard by Aunt Georgine's actions. She did not like to be surprised.

"I'm frankly surprised, Reginald, won't be killing your brute of a father," Georgine purposefully commented observing the reaction of her great-niece.

Rowan blinks in surprise before a wary expression crosses her face. "Was grandfather intending to do so?"

"He cannot now, " Georgine smirked. "Though Reginald desperately wants to, dear, Sirsa made him promise not to."

"Would grandfather have if not for grandmother?" Rowan asked with mixed emotions.

Georgine narrows her eyes and tilts her head to the side. "We are the Prince family, we are quite vicious to our enemies, it's in our blood," Georgine chillingly stated.

"Good," Rowan steadfastly answered causing Georgine to raise a surprised eyebrow at the reply.

"It would appear that you've most certainly inherited the cold-hearted heart of the Prince's," Georgine mused out loud in approval. "But it seems you are a tad bit reluctant to see your brute of a father dead."

"No, it's not for me, but for Severus," Rowan truthfully said causing Georgine to raise an eyebrow in solemn question. "Severus for all his doom and gloom is quite sensitive at heart. I don't want him to be hurt any more than he already has been."

Georgine's eyes flicker at the truth of the statement and leaned back into her pillows. "Well, I suppose you don't have anything to worry about in that case. At most, that brute will be transfigured into some sort of pack animal and be sent to the fields to work for the rest of his days. While at best, he'll find himself guilty of some sort of muggle crime and sentenced to a muggle prison for several years," Georgine nonchalantly confessed.

"That would be for the best," Rowan curtly agreed, before changing the subject. "Aunt Georgine, have you visited China and Japan in the past?"

"Mm, I did a bit of touring of the East in my youth," Georgine fondly remembered. "They are the most brilliant people, and I did enjoy my time there."

"Any fond romantic tales to regale of your misguided youth?" Rowan mischievously asked with a cheerful gleam in her eyes.

Georgine furrows her brows and stares down her nose at Rowan. "You are much too young to be hearing such tales," Georgine huffed. "And secondly, I wouldn't be sharing them with you in the first place, you, nosy brat."

Rowan snickers at Georgine's words when old sadness fills Georgine's eyes. Shaking her head to cover her lapse of emotions, Georgine shoos the child away. "Now, off you go, it's time for your bedtime."

"Goodnight, Aunt Georgine," Rowan called out, before departing from the chamber.

Georgine's eyes become distant as she stares aloofly into the faraway distance. Her hand unconsciously creeps under her pillow searching for her prized locket. She clutches the locket in her hands grasping it so tightly as if afraid to let go. She remembers a happier time filled with hope and dreams. Dreams that never came to be.

*

Tobias Snape irritably exits the factory cursing the government and immigrants for running the d*m country into the ground. The lights flicker dangerously causing a new stream of curses to spew from Tobias Snape's mouth. "Not another bloody, power cut, da*n them!" Tobias cursed as he stomped across the flickering street.

However, a few seconds the lights stabilize with a buzzing sound as the yellow streetlights remain abuzz. "Thank God," Tobias grunted as he made his way to the pub for a cold pint after work.

A street away from the nearest pub, Tobias sees a squarish vehicle with an orange line across the doors with white letters that read, "POLICE," with a smaller blue sign on top of the vehicle with the same words and a blue siren. "Cripes not this again," Tobias grumbled out loud at his misfortune.

Police Constable Wilton, a dark mustached man with sideburns rolls down the window and nods at Tobias. "Good evening, Tobias," Constable Wilton said as his partner a watery-eyed man, Constable Sharron nods as well.

"Good evening, Constable," Tobias growled.

"A fine evening for a walk, don't you think?" Constable Wilton politely said.

"Mm," Tobias grunted unhappily at being stopped.

"Well, Tobias, I wonder if you don't mind taking a stroll with us down to the station. We've got an interesting case and we'd like to gain your version of the events," Constable Wilton firmly declared.

"What is it this time?" Tobias snapped. "I told you all already, that my wife ran off and took the kids."

"This is regarding another concerning that was recently brought to our attention," Constable Wilton pleasantly said.

"What? I know my rights!" Tobias huffed.

"We have you on charges of theft and fraud-," Constable Wilton said, but before he can finish Tobias Snape starts running. "We got a runner!" Constable Wilton shouted as he turned on the blue siren and rushed forward.

Constable Wilton squeals to a stop and blocks off the street as Tobias leaps over the front of the car to only be slammed into the car by Constable Sharron. "Keep your hands where I can see them," Constable Wilton said as he held a police baton in hand.

Constable Sharron snaps handcuffs onto Tobias Snape's wrists and hauls him into the back of the car. "I swear I didn't do anything!" Tobias Snape howled from the back of the vehicle.

"Sure, you didn't," Constable Sharron snickered from the front seat.

Constable Wilton shakes his head and mutters under his breath, "Blimey, Tobias. I knew you were an angry drunk, but I never thought you were this cowardly." And with that Constable Wilton drives off to the station with Tobias Snape in tow. Because frankly speaking, they already had a case and evidence against Tobias, but it was just a formality of getting Tobias Snape's confession. And thusly forth, Tobias Snape would be charged and sentenced to prison for the next eleven years of his life.