A disruption to stability
Date: 5th February 2005
Characters: Sydney Fawcett and Kyla Michaels.
Location: Gloucester
Status: Private
Summary: Sydney starts to consider some news that her aunt brought her.
Completion: Complete
Sydney put the assessment books she had been working on to one side and stretched. There was a parent’s evening coming up that Friday, and she wanted to make sure she was up to speed on everything. She really hoped that Jamie’s mum would be able to get the time off work to make the evening. Since they’d identified his dyslexia he had come on leaps and bounds. She was looking forward to discussing his progress with his mother and talking over where they could go next with him.
An excited shout from the living room distracted Sydney from her work, and caused her to smile. Kyla was watching a football match on TV and it sounded like her team, Arsenal, had just scored a goal.
Sydney stood up and moved over to the door. Ah, not a goal, a penalty. She leant against the door frame and watched as her niece hugged a pillow whilst one of her team took the penalty. Kyla winced, her eyes closing tightly shut as the striker drew his foot back.
As she watched Kyla, Sydney considered her niece. She’d adjusted better than Sydney had ever imagined, and she was proud of the girl Kyla was growing into. They’d had problems, yes, but that was expected. She’d have been worried if there hadn’t been any. But the last two years Kyla had finally started to come out of her shell and to live a normal life. Well, as normal as could be expected taking everything into account with regards to her parents and her background.
However, Sydney wondered how Kyla would cope with any potential change. Since Kyla had come to live with her their lives had been pretty stable. Sydney had made sure of that fact, thinking it to be the best course of action to provide a secure environment for her niece after everything she had been through.
But now their established lives might be changing all thanks to the news that Sydney’s aunt had delivered that morning. Yes, change was definitely on the horizon.
Sydney’s aunt Paula had received word from an old friend that now that the war was over the wizarding population of Britain was starting to rebuild, near Ottery St.Catchpole of all places, and had called Sydney that morning to inform her. She’d wanted to know what Sydney’s opinion of such a move was. Would she return?
It was a good question. What would she do?
It was reasonable to assume that if society were rebuilding then they would also be re-establishing some sort of educational facility. Kyla tuned nine this May. In only two years she would have been due to start Hogwarts.
Kyla was settled in her Muggle school. So was Sydney for that matter. She’d made friends. They’d both made a life for themselves away from their wizarding heritage, but it would be impossible to ignore that heritage forever and that had never been Sydney’s plan. Kyla knew that she was different, that she was a witch, but so far that knowledge wasn’t really affecting her. There had been a few small cases of accidental magic in the last couple of years, nothing serious so far, but she would have to be trained to prevent anything more serious and it was her right to have that opportunity after all.
Sydney frowned. Perhaps it would be best for Kyla to get used to that part of her now before she started high school. So she wasn’t thrown in at the deep end. However, it was a big upheaval, leaving all this behind and moving back into the world Sydney had grown up into, and she had to admit that she wasn’t sure she wanted to return. Not to there. Not to where her sister had died.
On the TV the crowd roared in triumph and a ’yes’was hissed from the sofa.
“”Two nil, Syd. They’re up two goals to nil.”
“”Congratulations,” Sydney chuckled, watching as her niece bounced up and down. “Kyla?”
“Umm.”
“Once the match is over, why don’t you come on through to the kitchen? The cookies should be done by then and there’s something we need to discuss.”
Any decision she made would have to have Kyla’s full support. There was a lot to consider and talk about. Kyla would have to play an important role in deciding what they would do. Sydney also wanted more information on what was going on before she made any definite decisions. Perhaps she could send out a few letters using her Aunt’s owl. Trouble was she’d lost so much contact with most of her old friends that she wasn’t sure they would know much more than her or even, Sydney took a deep breath, be alive.
“Okay, Syd. Just give me a few.”
Sydney nodded and took a last look at her nice before turning back into the kitchen and her marking. Regardless of the finer details, she couldn’t ignore it or their heritage any longer. The fact that the pillow Kyla was still clutching now matched the colour of Arsenal’s shirts wouldn’t let her.
Characters: Sydney Fawcett and Kyla Michaels.
Location: Gloucester
Status: Private
Summary: Sydney starts to consider some news that her aunt brought her.
Completion: Complete
Sydney put the assessment books she had been working on to one side and stretched. There was a parent’s evening coming up that Friday, and she wanted to make sure she was up to speed on everything. She really hoped that Jamie’s mum would be able to get the time off work to make the evening. Since they’d identified his dyslexia he had come on leaps and bounds. She was looking forward to discussing his progress with his mother and talking over where they could go next with him.
An excited shout from the living room distracted Sydney from her work, and caused her to smile. Kyla was watching a football match on TV and it sounded like her team, Arsenal, had just scored a goal.
Sydney stood up and moved over to the door. Ah, not a goal, a penalty. She leant against the door frame and watched as her niece hugged a pillow whilst one of her team took the penalty. Kyla winced, her eyes closing tightly shut as the striker drew his foot back.
As she watched Kyla, Sydney considered her niece. She’d adjusted better than Sydney had ever imagined, and she was proud of the girl Kyla was growing into. They’d had problems, yes, but that was expected. She’d have been worried if there hadn’t been any. But the last two years Kyla had finally started to come out of her shell and to live a normal life. Well, as normal as could be expected taking everything into account with regards to her parents and her background.
However, Sydney wondered how Kyla would cope with any potential change. Since Kyla had come to live with her their lives had been pretty stable. Sydney had made sure of that fact, thinking it to be the best course of action to provide a secure environment for her niece after everything she had been through.
But now their established lives might be changing all thanks to the news that Sydney’s aunt had delivered that morning. Yes, change was definitely on the horizon.
Sydney’s aunt Paula had received word from an old friend that now that the war was over the wizarding population of Britain was starting to rebuild, near Ottery St.Catchpole of all places, and had called Sydney that morning to inform her. She’d wanted to know what Sydney’s opinion of such a move was. Would she return?
It was a good question. What would she do?
It was reasonable to assume that if society were rebuilding then they would also be re-establishing some sort of educational facility. Kyla tuned nine this May. In only two years she would have been due to start Hogwarts.
Kyla was settled in her Muggle school. So was Sydney for that matter. She’d made friends. They’d both made a life for themselves away from their wizarding heritage, but it would be impossible to ignore that heritage forever and that had never been Sydney’s plan. Kyla knew that she was different, that she was a witch, but so far that knowledge wasn’t really affecting her. There had been a few small cases of accidental magic in the last couple of years, nothing serious so far, but she would have to be trained to prevent anything more serious and it was her right to have that opportunity after all.
Sydney frowned. Perhaps it would be best for Kyla to get used to that part of her now before she started high school. So she wasn’t thrown in at the deep end. However, it was a big upheaval, leaving all this behind and moving back into the world Sydney had grown up into, and she had to admit that she wasn’t sure she wanted to return. Not to there. Not to where her sister had died.
On the TV the crowd roared in triumph and a ’yes’was hissed from the sofa.
“”Two nil, Syd. They’re up two goals to nil.”
“”Congratulations,” Sydney chuckled, watching as her niece bounced up and down. “Kyla?”
“Umm.”
“Once the match is over, why don’t you come on through to the kitchen? The cookies should be done by then and there’s something we need to discuss.”
Any decision she made would have to have Kyla’s full support. There was a lot to consider and talk about. Kyla would have to play an important role in deciding what they would do. Sydney also wanted more information on what was going on before she made any definite decisions. Perhaps she could send out a few letters using her Aunt’s owl. Trouble was she’d lost so much contact with most of her old friends that she wasn’t sure they would know much more than her or even, Sydney took a deep breath, be alive.
“Okay, Syd. Just give me a few.”
Sydney nodded and took a last look at her nice before turning back into the kitchen and her marking. Regardless of the finer details, she couldn’t ignore it or their heritage any longer. The fact that the pillow Kyla was still clutching now matched the colour of Arsenal’s shirts wouldn’t let her.