The Lesson Learned

The Way Home

They walked up the steps slowly. Olivia was trying her best not to trip, as she kept craning her neck to look around and would occasionally miss a step. The huge double doors opened up to a main hall where there were two staircases on either side of the room. The color scheme in the main room was rich and deep. There were velvet maroon curtains drawn over the high ceiling windows, the hard wood floors were mahogany, and the rugs placed throughout were dark brown. The furniture looked antique, it had obviously been passed down many generations, but it was so well kept that it would have been very difficult to guess its age. She waited by the door as Draco and Boscos brought in the luggage. When the last bag had been set down, Draco let out a deep breath and looked around.

"This place never changes," he said with an air of regret. "Let's see if we can't have a spot of lunch before we take the grand tour."

They left their bags and proceeded into the kitchen. The kitchen itself was almost as big as their house in Ireland. There was a large fire pit, a brick oven grill, and what looked to be a refrigerator up against the far side of wall. A large array of copper pots and utensils hung deliberately from the ceiling. Olivia and Draco had mince meat pies and pumpkin juice at the marble counter in the middle of the room. Boscos had brought in a couple of stools for them to sit on and even joined them for a bite. Lunch was quite hurried. Olivia noticed that the men were eager to talk but kept the conversation light for her sake. Finally, after Olivia had taken her last bite of pie and the dishes had been cleared, Draco spoke to Boscos.

"If you don't mind, I would like to take my daughter on a quick tour of the manor and show her to her room. You and I can talk while she unpacks her things." He turned to Olivia. "Let's start with the downstairs."

Through a couple of wooden screen doors the kitchen connected to the main dining hall. The hall ran the entire length of the house. There were two crystal chandeliers lined with candles and a long table that Olivia was sure could seat every student in her year. To the far left of the dining hall was the informal dining room. It was a small room with a circular oak table and high backed chairs. There were a number of lit torches secured to the wall. The rest of the downstairs included a two-story library, a formal waiting room and parlor, an informal waiting room, a large den with a long fireplace and large family portraits, and a few small spare bedrooms.

The upstairs of the manor was not as easily laid out. At the top of the main staircase were two large hallways that crossed from the front of the house to the back. The right wing of the house contained most of the bedrooms, including the second master bedroom and bathroom which now belonged to Olivia. The other side of the house contained the manor's master chamber, which was made up of an enormous bedroom, an almost equally large bathroom, a sitting room, and a library. Draco pointed out some of the other rooms as they passed, and on occasion he even opened the doors so that they could peek in. There were however a few doors that remained closed, and he often did not offer an explanation as to what lay behind them. He explained that the house also had a third floor, which was a lot smaller than the rest of the manor, and the use of which was a bit more private, a basement, and a sub-basement. When at last Draco had shown his daughter all that he wanted to, he led the way back to her bedroom.

"Take a look around. I'll go downstairs and get your bags," he said as he walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

The first thing that Olivia noticed about her room was how dark it was. There were plenty of windows, but they were all so heavily draped that very little light, if any, passed through. The second thing she noticed was that her entire house in Ireland could have easily fit into the room with space to spare. There was a large canopy bed with wooden steps that led up to the mattress. At the foot of the bed was a bench that doubled as a storage chest (she could see the hinges hidden under its pillows). Directly in front of the bed was a large fireplace with a portrait of a garden above the mantel. On the right, towards the back of the room was a small library with high, built-in bookshelves, an armchair, and a large writing desk. There were also plenty of windows. The farthest one, she saw, led to a large balcony. Olivia approached the largest of the windows, beneath which sat a small sitting bench, and pulled open the drapes. The sunlight poured into the dark room brightening it up a little. Beyond the window was a very well kept garden with plenty of beautiful roses. Olivia was sure that once the windows were open, the room would be filled with their sweet aroma. She looked about the room, privately deciding that she would have a fairly comfortable stay while they remained at Willow's Creak, although her room could definitely use a woman's touch.

The door to her room opened and her father stepped in with her bags. "Boscos and I are going to have a talk," he said. "Why don't you unpack and get a little more acquainted with the room? We'll take a walk around the grounds when I get back."

"Okay," she answered. There was something that she had been dying to ask him and she couldn't suppress it any longer. "Daddy, how long are we planning to stay here?"

"We'll talk about that on our walk, Oli. I'll be back in a moment."

She didn't like the way he looked at her when he answered. It seemed as though he was reluctant to say something outright. She supposed that their stay would probably be longer than she had anticipated.

The unpacking of her belongings went fairly quickly since she hadn't brought too much with her. She found her closet behind two screen doors. It was a walk in, and aside from a couple of robes hanging in the corner, it was completely empty. When she had hung her clothes she found that only a small portion of it had been filled. Thinking that no one could ever posses enough clothes to fill it she closed the doors and looked around for the bathroom. Apart from the doors to the closet and the one leading to the hall, Olivia could not see any others. She walked around the room looking for some sort of door handle when she noticed a portrait of a waterfall. The picture was mostly still, except for the movement of the descending water. Unable to resist the urge, she reached out and touched the picture. At first, all she felt was canvas but when she reached the waterfall, she instantly felt the sensation of cool running water. She moved her hand in a bit further and then felt something hard. Surprised, Olivia pulled on it. A doorway sprang up in front of her. She stepped through it.

She had found the bathroom.

A little while later, she had arranged all her toiletries in the enormous bathroom and was contemplating taking a bath in the miniature pool she assumed was the tub, when her father called out. "Oli, are you about ready for our walk?" She appeared from the bathroom and he asked her, "How do you like the room?"

"It's beautiful, Daddy. A bit dark though..."

"You can change that if you wish. Come on let's go." He led her out of the room.

They climbed down a small staircase that led to the parlor. The large curtains were open, and upon looking through the open doorway Olivia realized that not only were they putting up in a large house, they were also sitting on a massive piece of land. They walked out onto the back porch and down stone steps that led into the garden and headed for the trees beyond. There was a small dirt path that disappeared through the trees which they immediately followed. Although it was getting late in the afternoon, the sun was still shining bright and Olivia found the cool shade of the trees refreshing. They walked slowly, her father leading the way.

"I want to apologize again, Oli, for springing this news on you so suddenly. I know you must be angry with me. You have every right to be." He paused here. The path had risen a little; they were both breathing heavily.

"I don't think I'm angry anymore, Daddy. I was just a little disappointed that you lied to me. I never expected you would be capable of doing something like that. I trust you so much. It just hurt, that's all." She turned towards him and noticed that he seemed hurt. 'That's new', she thought. He had never been that easy to read.

"I am going to try to shed some light on what I did. Maybe when you learn the reasons why I felt I had to do it, you will forgive me," he said. Olivia nodded in agreement, even though she had already forgiven him. He was her father after all, yet she couldn't deny wanting to hear his explanation. They continued walking and Olivia knew that their talk was far from over. They came to a small brook where there was a patch of grass underneath an old oak tree. Draco stopped and sat down, Olivia followed.

"I can't pretend that I had a good childhood, Oli. My life at the manor was very chaotic; full of misery and despair, something that no child should ever have to experience."

"Don't worry," he quickly added, noticing her expression. "It's just that, well you see... I was constantly trying to impress my father but it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough. Your grandfather was a difficult person to love and because of his stubbornness, I was driven into a world that may not have been the healthiest choice for me. I felt frustrated and alone and I suppose you can say that I behaved recklessly in the hope that he would finally begin to be a real father to me. "

"What kind of world were you driven to?" Olivia asked, noticing at once how vague her father was being. He was keeping something from her.

"Let's just say that I did things that I am not proud of."

"And, grandma, was she?" she asked. Her father's eyes grew tired and sad.

"Your grandmother did everything she could for me. I suppose she loved me in her own way. I mean she did leave me everything in her will, didn't she?" He said this as though he was trying to convince himself too. "But her love only went so far, it was father who truly ran the house, and when your grandfather set out on me, there was nothing she could do but stand back and watch. Sometimes I think that the reason I kept you from them was because I didn't want you to be a part of that life. "

She couldn't picture living with such people, having grown up in such a happy place herself. But, Olivia supposed, not all families were perfect. "You were a teenager," she told him. "Lashing out at one's father for attention, it happens. If you were a difficult child, maybe grandfather's strictness was a result of it. Loads of people go through that. I don't see why you are so upset about what you did as a kid."

Draco didn't respond. He merely looked at the darkening sky, thinking. "It's just like you, Oli, always trying to find the good in a situation or in a person." When he finally looked back at Olivia his eyes seemed a little warmer. 'Maybe he's finally starting to come to terms with his past', she thought.

"I am never going to understand how I came to deserve such a wonderful person for a daughter."

"You're a wonderful person, Daddy. You deserve good things," she said, smiling. Draco got up, brushed off the grass clinging to his clothes, extended his hand and pulled her up.

They began walking down the path, Draco lingering behind her. "You think you can find your way back home?" he asked. Olivia looked back at him, a little puzzled.

"I'm sure I can," she said.

She suddenly realized what he had said. He had called it home.