Outside, the leaves rustled in the breeze, and the wind lifted and dropped the bamboo blinds, making a soft tap-tap against the window frame. Anne slowly stirred awake, her eyes fluttering open. Ever since the start of summer break, she'd been rising early.
She glanced at her watch, 7:15 AM. There was still plenty of time before the 8:00 morning meeting. Lowering her gaze, she looked at the girl curled up next to her, and an unconscious smile crept across her face.
Gently, she slipped her arm out and carefully got out of bed. After standing up, she lightly drew the blanket back over Hermione. But just then, Hermione hugged the blanket tighter and mumbled drowsily, "Crookshanks, stop it…"
Anne almost laughed out loud. She'd never seen Hermione like this, so adorably disarmed. And then, she thought of Crookshanks, that peculiar pet that practically seemed sentient. She had no idea where Hermione had even found him.
Anne tidied up the blanket, then stepped onto the balcony and used her wand to send a silent signal. A moment later, Gooka appeared on the treehouse balcony carrying a breakfast tray. Anne took it from him and whispered a request for him to bring Crookshanks from Hermione's room.
She then gently placed the still-sleepy, curled-up Crookshanks on the bed. A mischievous grin crossed her face, she was curious to see Hermione's reaction when she woke up and found him there.
But time was ticking. She glanced at her watch again, then at the breakfast and note on the wooden table, before heading out of the treehouse.
Anne stepped into the conference room at the Roland Manor, cradling a folder of documents. Five figures, all in identical black robes, were already inside, some sitting, some standing. They pulled back their hoods only when she entered.
Once the door closed behind her, Anne said, "Thank you all for coming." She began distributing the documents. "These are the statistical reports from last month, as well as the forecasts for this month and next."
One of the slightly pudgy wizards flipped through his copy and gasped, "This much?"
Anne grinned, her sharp canines showing. "Not surprising. Profits from wartime trade are always higher than from peace."
A tall witch also skimmed through her copy. "Still, this is quite high… What about the Ministry of Magic?"
"Business is business," Anne replied coolly. "Nothing we're doing is technically illegal. And if we weren't doing it, someone else would."
An elderly wizard, having carefully read his report, commented slowly, "You really do take after your grandfather. The Roland family was just as bold under his leadership."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Anne smiled. But then her expression turned serious. "Despite the current profitability, I want to remind everyone that this comes with immense risk, especially now that the wizarding world is in a full-blown war. We all know how powerful the Dark Lord's forces are…"
The meeting went on for nearly four hours. As they left, each wizard tossed their documents into the waiting fireplace near the door. The purple flames devoured the pages instantly, not even ashes remained.
Seated at the head of the table, Anne played idly with a golden Galleon between her fingers. Gooka apparated back into the conference room and gave her a small bow. "Mistress, everyone has safely Disapparated."
Anne let out a small sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you, Gooka. That's all for now." She stretched, pocketed the Galleon, and stood up. "Where's Miss Granger?"
"The third-floor library."
Anne smiled. She'd known that's where Hermione would be.
Balancing two chilled glasses of watermelon juice, Anne climbed to the third floor and stopped in front of the library. But then, instead of entering, she turned down the hallway and pushed open the door to the study. It was empty. The wooden door connecting to the library stood half open.
She sat down at the piano, lifted the lid, and began playing Beethoven's Für Elise. The first few notes echoed softly, and immediately, a meow came from the library. A moment later, Crookshanks burst through the door and leapt onto the study's couch.
Hermione followed close behind, a book in her arms, smiling as she leaned against the wall and watched Anne play.
Without missing a note, Anne nodded toward the watermelon juice on the table, motioning for Hermione to help herself.
Hermione sat down and sipped slowly.
As the last note faded, Anne stood and moved toward her, but Crookshanks cut her off, circling her feet while eyeing the watermelon juice on the table.
It was as if he were saying: No juice for me, no going near my human.
Hermione chuckled at the scene, clearly curious to see how Anne would handle it.
Anne bent down with a playful sigh. "So, if I don't give you some juice, I'm not allowed to approach your owner, is that it?"
Crookshanks tilted his head and, astonishingly, nodded.
Hermione burst out laughing. Crookshanks bit Anne's pant leg.
"Alright, alright, I surrender!" Anne raised her hands in mock defeat. Crookshanks gave a pleased meow, darted to the table, and, holding the cup with both paws, began licking the watermelon juice happily.
Anne finally made it to Hermione's side, resting a hand naturally on her shoulder. "Hermione, are you sure Crookshanks isn't some wizard Animagus in disguise? You might want to check with the Ministry."
Crookshanks rolled his eyes dramatically, and Hermione laughed even harder. "No, Anne, I'm positive he isn't."
"Hmm, alright…" Anne shrugged. "In that case…"
With a mischievous grin, she added, "Since your cat drank my juice, I think it's only fair I take a sip of his owner's."
Before Hermione could protest, Anne grabbed Hermione's half-finished glass and took a big sip, smacking her lips afterward. "Yep, there's nothing better in summer than chilled watermelon juice. So cool, so sweet…"
Hermione blushed, immediately recalling the kiss from the night before, and then, the surprise of waking up to find Crookshanks curled beside her.
"So, what about this morning?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows. "I nearly jumped out of bed when I saw Crookshanks there. There's no way he made it all the way across the manor and up the treehouse on his own…"
Anne rubbed her nose sheepishly. She could already picture Hermione's startled face from this morning.
Meeting Hermione's gaze, she admitted with a guilty smile, "Well... maybe next time, you can bring Crookshanks to sleep in my bed?"
Crookshanks, having finished the juice, gave a short, satisfied meow and leapt from the table into Anne's arms, rubbing against her affectionately.
"See?" Anne grinned. "Crookshanks approves."
"No one's asking him," Hermione replied, but her tone was helpless in the face of Anne's shamelessness.
Anne raised an eyebrow. "Then how about this, let's go to the lake tomorrow and grill some fish!"
She lifted her chin with pride. "I promise it'll be absolutely delicious."
That suggestion finally earned Hermione's approval, and Crookshanks, tail held high, pranced in excitement.
⚡︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⚡︎
After lunch, Anne and Hermione spent the afternoon in the study. Anne caught up on some family affairs and checked her investments in the Muggle world, after all, her assets had now reached over a million pounds. But still, it wasn't enough.
If she wanted to make serious moves in the future, she'd need to take bolder risks. Possibly even leveraging debt.
The weather was clear, the sky a deep blue reflected in the lake. A stream from the nearby mountain flowed into the lake beside a small wooden cabin. Two simple one-way nets blocked off a section of the stream, about three meters apart. Inside that area, five fish could be seen swimming lazily.
"No magic?" Hermione asked, eyeing the fish.
Pants rolled above her knees, Anne shook her head firmly. "That would ruin the fun. And anyway, didn't you say last night you've never caught fish before?"
She looked thrilled. "Trust me, fish you catch yourself always taste better. And with these nets, it's basically beginner mode."
Anne gave Hermione a teasing glance. "Granger, you're not scared, are you? Look, five fish. Let's make it a competition."
"Scared? Me?" Hermione straightened, competitive fire ignited. "You're on."
With a knowing grin, Anne stepped barefoot into the stream, then reached out to help guide Hermione in. Crookshanks gleefully ran along the bank, tail upright.
As if sensing their fate, the five fish darted wildly, churning up mud from the streambed. The once-clear water turned murky.
"I can't see them anymore," Hermione frowned.
"Even better," Anne laughed, helping her steady herself. "Now it's 'fish by feel', adds challenge. You're not backing out, are you?"
"Not a chance." Hermione took a few cautious steps and nodded. "You say when."
"Heh. Now!"
Anne bent down and waded toward one of the net's corners, fish often liked to hug the banks. Sure enough, just as she reached in, her hand brushed against one. It thrashed in her grip.
She glanced over at Hermione, who was searching diligently a few steps away.
But her fingers slipped, and the fish wriggled free.
Grinning, Anne tried a different spot.
"Oof!" Hermione groaned. "It slipped right out! I almost had it…"
Anne lifted her hand and waved a fish triumphantly. "Got one! And nope, I'm not telling a certain someone that the trick is to grab it behind the gills as soon as you feel it…"
Hermione shot her a look and bent back down to search again.
Anne tossed her fish onto the bank. Crookshanks sprang forward, pinning it with a paw and yowling proudly.
"Bucket, Crookshanks!" Anne reminded. He grabbed the fish in his mouth, trotted over to the small pail, dropped it in, and meowed triumphantly again.
Just then, Hermione held one up, face glowing. "Look! I got one!"
"Wow!" Anne grinned. "Looks like I need to up my game."
Hermione threw hers onto the bank too and smiled back. "Three left!"
In the end, Hermione won, three fish to Anne's two.
Hermione was thrilled the entire time they grilled their catch. With Anne's special seasoning, the fish over charcoal turned out delicious.
Crookshanks got the fattest one as a reward for his contributions.
After the meal, Hermione followed Anne's lead, barefoot, shoes in hand, walking back to the manor across the grassy lawn. Even covered in mud and water, both girls wore nothing but the brightest smiles.
⚡︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⚡︎
The complete release can be accessed through Patreon.com/Crimson_Lore