The Hasenstab House

[Brooke]

Brooke gave the taxi cabby the amount due and recieved her bags from the trunk. She placed them down in front of her house and looked up at the 4 story mansion. The cab sped away and she could feel the back of the car nearly touching her. She sighed and lifted her baggages, she knew they weren't home. But she wasn't going to stand around all day.

Brooke made her way up to the front door and once again she set her things down. Digging through her pockets to find her house key, she ached to be inside. She hadn't been home all year, not even for breaks. Her parent's saw no reason for her to do so, they would onlyhave to send her back again. Brooke didn't mind staying at Hogwarts for breaks, but she would like to hear from them every once and while.

The door creakily swung open as she pushed on the hard oak, the weight of her bags holding her down. Cool air overwhelmed her and she smiled at the familiar smell of peppermint. Her grandmother used the oil on her hands when she was.... Brooke placed her bags in a corner near a coat rack and entered the house farther. Her parents hadn't done much to it since she had left, but it did seem a lot different.

The living room was empty, as Brooke thought it would be and no one's presence was in the house at all. She sighed and sat down on the green velvet couch, looking up at the portrait of her grandmother. So fair and so sweet. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she curled up in a ball on the couch.

"Welcome home Brooke," She told herself as tears of pain welled up in her eyes.

[Brooke]

It had been an hour since Brooke had arrived at home and found it empty. Since that time she had unpacked entirely, taken a small nap, started supper, and even cleaned up a little bit. Her parent's never believed in house elves, so when they were away she did all the cleaning and everything else that they didn't feel like doing themselves.

Brooke then heard the front door open stealthily at a quarter to 9 and saw her drunken parents stumbling into the cleaned living room with a bottle of booze in one hand and a ciggarette in another. Brooke sighed in disgust and walked over to the front door to shut it and pick up the fallen coats that they had just carelessly dropped.

She was used to this type of treatment, actually this was much better than the most usualy times she came home from Hogwarts and found them home, but drunk and on drugs. In her minds' eye it was nothing to see them like this. This was minor, Brooke really didn't give a damn wether they were drunk or not, just as long as they weren't doing drugs in front of her.

"Mum, Dad, maybe you two should lie down upstairs?" Brooke suggested as she entered the living room and found them dancing cheek to cheek in a dizzy matter. Their steps were all messed up and they stumbled over each other's feet without ease. They didn't acknowledge her, so Brooke retreated up the oak steps to her bedroom, ready to cry herself to sleep one more time.