Chasing Love

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven - The Dawlish Manor

It was absolutely silent. Everything left untouched since they had left for the battle. Eliza did up the rest of the buttons on her jacket as she shivered due to the sheer coldness of the manor.

All three of her remaining family members had been caught - her father was immediately sent to Azkaban but her mother and brother were awaiting their trials. Kingsley had asked if she wanted to go but she refused, she hoped to never lay an eye on them for the rest of her life. She was no longer a Dawlish, they were not her family. She wanted them to leave the country and never come back.

Her footsteps echoed as she walked down the corridor, she paused as she glanced into the dining room, it was pitch black as none of the curtains had been opened. Eliza continued down until she reached the forbidden door, to the room she had never been allowed to go in - her father's office. He wasn't there to stop her anymore.

"Mistress Eliza?"

Spinning around she saw Winky, "You are still here?"

"We still work here!" Winky informed her, "Are you trying to go into your fathers study?"

Eliza nodded, "He's locked it."

"I can get you in there!" Winky told her, "I have the key."

She moved to the side and watched as Winky opened the door. "Tell me when you've finished, I must lock it so Master does not know."

"You'll never see my father again."

Winky looked up at her, "Is he not having a trial?"

"No, he's crimes were too serious and there was already enough evidence proving he had done it."

"I'll see you soon Mistress Eliza."

"Thank you!" Eliza called out to her.

She stepped quietly, as not to disturb anything, it was nothing like the rest of the house. It felt warmer and you could tell someone had spent lots of time there. There was a desk in front of the window, with a pad of paper and letters. Eliza's finger traced the books on the shelves beside the window, it was truly a beautiful room.

A small golden mirror was hung and a small layer of dust lay upon it, there were paintings of landscapes on every wall, but none of his family. It was her father's sanctuary, the place he could relax and it seemed he did not want any memories of those he was related to. Especially not of the Gryffindor Dawlishs'.

Carefully, she sat down at the desk and started to rummage through the different papers. Upon a stack she saw scraps of newspapers. Curiousity got the better of her as she pulled them out for her to read. When she started to look through them all she found out that they all had one running theme - they were of Ballycastle Bats Quidditch games, and more specifically the ones she was included in. Shock registered first as she re-read them, unsure as to why he had them all.

Quickly, she tried to open the drawers of the desk and had to use her wand so they would unlock. In there, she found even more work things but at the bottom there was tickets from a couple of the matches she had been in. Again she felt surprised, her own father had watched her, even after he had disowned her.

It was the bottom drawer that brought the most interest to her, it was a stack of letters in envelopes, the writing was loopy and very neat. She opened one and looked down to the bottom so she knew who had written it, 'From your sister, Evelyn'