The afternoon sun filtered through the tall windows of Carrow Manor, bathing its corridors in a warm amber glow. In a spacious room decorated with antique-looking dark green and white curtains, two young people lay on a large bed covered with soft sheets.
Hestia was lying on her back looking at the ceiling, twisting a small black ribbon between her fingers. Flora lay beside her, her head resting on the pillow, her arms wrapped around Hestia's waist.
Both were completely silent. They understood each other well enough to know what the other wanted without needing to say a word.
"It must be over by now," Hestia finally murmured in a soft voice, without taking her eyes off the ceiling. "The meeting, I mean."
"Mm," Flora replied, closing her eyes. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Hestia turned her head and looked at her intently. There was a warm glow in her eyes... a fire that burned only for one man.
"He's our Aurelian," she replied with unwavering confidence. "Of course he'll be fine. He always is."
Flora gave her a small, almost childlike smile, her eyes shining with excitement and devotion.
"But he's human too," she whispered. "And the Wizengamot isn't just any meeting. Being there with everyone watching. With everyone wanting something from you... even for him, it can be difficult."
Hestia sighed, raising a hand to try to touch the ceiling, as if reaching it would shorten the distance between them.
"We want to always be with him. To support him. To hold him. To..." Her lips curved gently into a tender smile. "Remind him that he will never be alone."
Flora nodded, her voice low, barely a whisper.
"It doesn't matter who looks at him. It doesn't matter who talks to him. It doesn't matter who thinks they can take him."
Her eyes opened wide as she looked at the sky again from her window.
"He is ours. He always will be... he chose us and we chose him."
They stayed like that for a moment, breathing together in sync, united in mind and heart.
As they were reflecting, the door opened softly.
Selene Carrow entered as quietly as possible, with the grace of someone whose footsteps needed no announcement. Her hair was combed back and her expression was calm, as if she were observing the world through a lens that only she understood.
"Thinking about your special boy again, my girls," she said, without needing to ask... it was easy for her to know what her daughters were thinking.
The twins stood up calmly, without discomfort. Lately, their mother no longer treated them coldly, only with a calmness that contrasted with the fire in her daughters' hearts.
"The meeting is over," she continued, slowly approaching them. "Don't worry, Aurelian Gaunt is not someone who gets swept along by the tide. I speak freely and express you point of view to help our society."
Her voice was soft... but with conviction.
"He knew how to listen, and his gift with words is not insignificant. But above all... he knows how to observe."
Hestia lowered her gaze slightly, a gesture more thoughtful than uncertain.
"Even so," she said, "we would have liked to be there... with him."
Selene smiled, a small but genuine gesture.
"I know. All in good time, daughters. There will be times when you will be by his side and times when you will have to wait here. Being part of someone like him's world means learning to walk together... even when you're not walking at the same pace."
Flora looked up.
"What about you, Mother?" she asked slowly. "When you followed our father... did you feel that way?"
Selene didn't answer right away.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her back straight and her hands clasped together.
"Loving a powerful man means embracing his destiny, not just being his companion," she finally said. "And you don't want to be his shadow. You want to walk beside him, or am I wrong?"
Hestia and Flora nodded quickly with determination and a sparkle in their eyes at their mother.
Selene raised a hand and stroked their hair tenderly.
"I know you can do it, my girls. When you set your minds to something, there's no stopping you."
She got up to leave. But before opening the door, she said with a smile,
"Aurelian will most likely write to you soon. You may notice that he always comes back to you when something... significant happens to him," she finished with a wink.
The door closed with a soft click, leaving the twins alone again.
Hestia exhaled.
Flora smiled.
And together they promised in a low voice, an oath that needed no witnesses and that they would repeat forever.
"We will always be by his side... for the rest of our lives."
The main dining room of Carrow Manor was spacious, with high ceilings and walls adorned with antique tapestries depicting scenes of duels and magical pacts.
The long table, made of dark wood polished to a shine, was lit by a row of floating candles that cast a warm light on the plates.
Hestia and Flora sat on one side of the table, always next to each other, while their parents, Alaric and Selene Carrow, occupied the main seats reserved for the lord and lady of the house.
The meal proceeded with the quiet harmony characteristic of the noble and ancient families of magical Britain: elegant movements, measured conversation, and gentle expressions full of meaning.
"As you may have read," Alaric commented as he calmly cut the meat on his plate, "the vote was approved. We are focusing on vigilance and preparation. Not bad for Lord Gaunt's first session."
Hestia and Flora shared a proud glance.
"We knew he would do well," said Flora, gently placing her glass on the table.
"We never doubted it," added Hestia, unable to hide the warmth in her voice.
Selene watched her daughters with a small maternal smile. Thanks to young Lord Gaunt, her daughters had found someone to love and who loved them in return.
"The way you look at him," she said softly, "is the same way you talked about him even when he didn't know you existed... I remember how you talked about a boy with a... radiant smile who saved you in a dark alley," she finished with a laugh.
Hestia opened her mouth to reply, but it was Flora who spoke first.
"It's just that Aurelian..." she searched for the word, "was never like the others."
"No, he never was," confirmed Alaric, with something between respect and an almost religious devotion to the lineage and blood he represented.
The atmosphere at the table was warm... familiar, until Flora put her fork down on her plate to speak.
"Something happened at Hogwarts," she said slowly.
Her parents' attention turned to her. Hestia continued with the same calmness with which her sister spoke.
"A girl... Luna Lovegood."
Selene raised an eyebrow in interest.
"Lovegood? That's not a very impressive surname. I remember they're an eccentric family. I think they have a newspaper," she murmured thoughtfully.
Hestia shook her head.
"It's not her surname that concerns us."
Flora rested her elbows lightly on the table, interlacing her fingers.
"She hugged Aurelian. Our Aurelian. Without warning. Without explanation. As if she had known him forever."
Silence quickly filled the dining room.
Alaric tilted his head, amused by his daughter's words, interested.
"And how did you react?"
Hestia and Flora answered at the same time, seriously.
"We watched her."
Selene smiled contentedly.
"We don't think she's a threat," said Hestia, with the confidence of someone who had thought about it much more than she admitted.
"But we can't ignore her either," Flora concluded.
Alaric put his glass down on the table and interlaced his fingers.
"I can understand that a little... but you must proceed with caution," he reflected. "Because if she's not controlled, she could become... dangerous to both you and us."
Selene nodded gently.
"What do you feel when you look at her?"
The twins looked at each other for a second, searching for the right word.
Flora was the first to respond.
"We don't feel fear toward her."
Hestia continued.
"But we do feel... unease. As if there were something else behind her eyes... we don't know what it is yet, but we'll find out."
Selene and Alaric exchanged a brief glance.
Not with concern, but with interest.
"Listen to me carefully," said Selene, looking them straight in the eyes. "Don't attack her. Don't reject her, just... observe her."
"The world is changing," said Alaric. "The first pieces are already in motion, and the new ones may have more weight than they seem."
Hestia exhaled slowly, and Flora interlaced her fingers under the table. Together they replied.
"Understood... we will proceed with caution."
Dinner continued in comfortable silence.
No tension.
No fear.
Because in the Carrow family, love was expressed this way:
With loyalty. Complete observation and always being prepared to protect what was theirs.
The atmosphere at the table had softened again, the candles floating around the room continuing to illuminate the faces of the Carrow family. Hestia and Flora exchanged a glance before turning back to their parents.
Hestia wiped her mouth with her napkin before speaking in a soft voice.
"Father, Mother... we would like to visit Aurelian."
Flora nodded, with a smile that barely concealed her emotions.
"We want to spend a few days at Gaunt Manor... if you will allow us, of course."
Alaric rested an arm on the back of his chair, assessing them with his usual aristocratic calm.
"If Lord Gaunt desires your company," he replied, "then I have no objection. He is a valuable ally and, more importantly, he is your future husband and someone for whom you feel genuine affection."
Selene folded her hands on the table, giving them her classic gentle but analytical expression.
"Are you sure he wants you to go?"
Flora and Hestia answered at the same time, with a conviction that needed no further words.
"Yes," they said with huge smiles.
Selene observed their certainty for a moment before nodding with a small smile on her lips.
"Then go," she said. "Love, when sustained by respect, flourishes without needing anything else."
Hestia and Flora rose from the table at the same time with elegant, almost identical movements, demonstrating years of involuntary synchronicity.
Alaric raised his glass and spoke to them before they left.
"Be sure to send the letter first," he said with the voice of a satisfied father. "When you go, be sure to represent both the House of Carrow and the House of Gaunt well."
The twins bowed respectfully before leaving for the corridor, their steps quickening just enough to not completely betray their excitement.
Back in their room, moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the table where they unfolded the parchment. Flora took the quill and Hestia rested her chin on her shoulder, watching her sister write.
"Aurelian,
Would you let us stay with you for a few days?
We want to see you. To hug you and be with you."
Flora added a postscript, one that they both knew he would understand.
"We need to be somewhere where it's just the three of us."
Hestia sealed the letter with the silver seal of House Carrow, and they sent their owl out in the middle of the night to fly to Gaunt Manor.
They watched from the window as it disappeared among the stars.
Flora spoke softly, her head resting against the glass.
"I'm sure we'll be with him tomorrow."
Hestia smiled calmly, confidently, happily.
"Yes... Tomorrow," she repeated, unable to hide her excitement.
They lay down together, waiting patiently for their beloved's reply, knowing that they would be complete when they were finally by his side.
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