The Hogwarts Express came to a steady halt at platform nine and three-quarters. The students streamed off into the crowd of eager parents who were there to welcome their kids for the Easter holidays.
As Ben got off the train, he noticed that the crowd was a lot sparser this time. Not many students had come back home as the exams were very close.
"Me boyo! Welcome home!" Thea cried, throwing her arms wide. "It's been far too long since I've seen ya!"
"Ma, it's only been three months," Ben replied.
"Nonsense. Come give yer mam a hug."
Before he could protest, she pulled him into a crushing embrace.
"Ma… I can't breathe… too tight," Ben wheezed, trying to pull his face away from her chest.
"Don't be so dramatic," she said dismissively. "And look at yer hair. Have ya forgotten how to brush it? Here, let me fix it for ya."
She began fixing it, pressing it down and parting it neatly, completely ignoring his embarrassment.
"Ma, stop it. You're embarrassing me."
"Embarrassing ya? I'm just showing love to me own flesh and blood."
"Please, can we just go home?"
"Of course, me boyo. I'll make ya a nice cup of tea, and you'll tell me everything about school."
"Okay, I will. But can we keep it low-key?"
"Fine, fine," she said with a suspicious glint in her eyes. "But that's what happens when you forget to write to yer old ma."
"I get it. It won't happen again. I promise," Ben sighed in defeat.
"It better not," she said triumphantly. "Now let's go."
He waved goodbye to his friends and followed Thea out of the station.
Ben felt awkward with the sudden change in her behaviour. But along with the embarrassment, there was also warmth. No matter how over-the-top she was, she loved him.
As they got out of the station, Thea led him to a secluded alley instead of Muggle transportation.
Ben suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
"Hold on tight now," she said, putting an arm around him.
Before Ben could react, his whole body was pulled into a single point in space and disappeared from the alley.
Ben felt his eyes roll back into his skull and his whole body getting compressed from all sides at the same time.
The pressure on his chest stopped him from breathing, and he could feel his eardrums receding deeper into his skull.
In just an instant, everything went back to normal, well, not exactly.
Ben could feel the pumpkin pastries make their way back up.
He tried to get his bearings as best he could and focused his Magicka on his palms, suppressing his nausea.
Just as he was about to conjure a cursed weapon from places unknown, Ben recognised the familiar scenery; it was his own front garden.
Now Ben was confused. This was the first time his mother had performed a side-along apparition with him.
The side-along apparition was much harder than a normal apparition, especially when performed with someone like Ben, who had no prior experience.
Ben knew that his father did not allow him to apparate as it risked him splinching.
While he was musing on this sudden change in circumstances, the front door to the house opened, and a woman identical to the one standing next to him appeared.
"Maeve, did you just perform a side-along apparition with him?" She inquired with disbelief in her voice.
"Oh, he's fine. You are alright, aren't you, boyo?" Said the woman he had previously taken as his mother.
"Wha' th' devil is goin' on here?" Ben was so baffled that a thick Irish accent came out of his mouth.
"Youse don't even recognise yer dear auntie now? Such an ungrateful nephew ye are," she said, staring mad daggers at him, with an obvious fake look of disappointment.
The starved hamsters started running the wheel once again in his mind, but before he could say something in rebuttal, his nausea came back with twice the strength, and he emptied all the pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs on the lawn.
"Ugh, he'll be fine," Maeve said, trying to flash a reassuring smile towards the angry mother.
"He may be fine, but you'll make sure nothing happens to my plants," Thea said apathetically as she led Ben inside.
"Let's get you some Ginger tea, dear. You'll be alright," she said as she wiped his mouth with a cloth and only then proceeded to hold him in a tight embrace.
'Ugh, you might as well squeeze the rest of it out of me, too,' Ben complained in his heart.
"You didn't tell me Aunt Maeve was coming. I would have been prepared," Ben complained to his mother.
"As if anything could prepare you for me," voiced the devil from behind him.
Maeve O'Malley was Dorothea O'Flaherty's twin sister, and she was the bane of Ben's existence.
Not having any children of her own, she loved Ben a little too much. The problem was that her love was a bit on the tougher side.
Despite being his aunt, she acted more like his older sister.
A sister who loved to bully his younger brother.
It was honestly a welcome change of pace, as everyone else in this house seemed to treat him as if he were made out of candy glass.
Usually, it was very easy to tell her apart from his mother as she acted all different and dressed all funky, and her hair was darker.
But this time she had come all prepared, apart from that smug smile, he could hardly tell them apart.
"She's here to help me set up the garden and the rabbit farm. You better be nice to her," Thea instructed Ben.
Named after the famous Medieval witch, Queen Maeve of Ireland, who is said to have trained many great witches and wizards of Ireland.
His aunt was nothing like that dignified figure.
But she did have great talent in Herbology and spellcasting.
Maeve had her own Herb farm in Ireland, where she grew highly sought-after potion ingredients and even had a few magical creatures running around the place.
"Yes, Mum..." Ben simply nodded as he didn't want this to go on any longer.
On the way up to his room, Ben noticed that the condition of this old house had improved significantly.
It seemed that Maeve really had been helping around the place.
The stairs no longer squeaked, furniture no longer looked chipped, and walls had become a lot more vibrant.
This sort of intricate charm work takes a ton of practice and concentration.
Still impressed by all the changes, Ben entered his room.
And immediately froze.
The walls were pink, covered with drawings of Puffskeins and Mooncalves.
"Oh well," he muttered. "It's still better than before."
He let out a tired sigh and flumped onto his pink bed, staring at the charmed ceiling where brightly coloured Fwoopers flew around.
---Dreamscape--
MC can't even handle a side-along apparition, what a wimp. Witness him being wimpier with chapters at Patre@n/DreamyApe