I felt no small amount of trepidation as I slowly descended towards my supposed destination, the home of Mary. I admit this is on me, I really should have checked this out earlier, if only for the sake of convenience. Not that finding this place had been all that heard, apparently the neighborhood was famous. And by famous I mean like the 1% level of famous... in the world. The whole damn world. There were apparently embassies on this street, or so I'd been told when I'd been asking for directions. To sum it up; rich. Way richer than anything I'd ever been close to that wasn't government-owned.
Kensington Palace Gardens was the name. Number 13.
It looked like a small mansion! A small ugly mansion. it was like they had tried for a castle look but quit halfway through and went with something vaguely modern, for these times. I mean, why was there a portion of the third floor of this place just sticking out into the air by roughly a meter? I'd expected that from a wizarding house, that's downright normal on those places, but on a muggle mansion? And beside that was this weird boxy-looking building that just stuck out of the side of the main structure with what I thought might be a garage under it since there was a road leading down to it. Might also be for receiving shit.
I contemplated that before I floated over to the left side of the building and my landing. it was a good spot, a tight alleyway with lots of trees that blocked the view, at least this late in the evening. That done a quick transfiguration turned by flight suit into a nice blue three-piece suit with a white shirt and a back tie. Magically custom-sized for that perfect fit.
Have I mentioned that I love magic?
Taking a fortifying breath I jumped the fence and landed on the street beyond and made my way towards the front door. Mary and me would have some words about her failing to mention that her relatives were apparently stinking rich. I don't even know how I would get into this place if I couldn't fly. I'd seen what looked like guard shacks by both the entrances, though the gates were open so it might have been for show or to stop motor traffic.
I took another fortifying breath before I used the knocker on the door. It swung open almost immediately, revealing a guy in one of those suits that looked like they had skimped on the jacket a bit. It looked like the ones used by the male servants on Downton Abbey so I assumed it was a uniform. Rich enough to have servants... good lord what have I tripped into?
"Yes?" he asked and gave me a quick once over, with his eyes stopping briefly on the jewelry box I was holding. "Are you a guest for the festivities?"
"Yes." I answered simply.
"Can I have your name please?" He asked as he produced a clipboard from somewhere.
"Drew Ahlgren."
I noticed his eyes widen in recognition and something in his body language seemed to relax a tad. "Ah yes, Miss Mary left special instructions concerning you. You are a bit early, but please come inside and wait while I go and inform Miss Mary of your arrival."
With that, he stepped aside and opened the door wide for me to enter. The foyer I entered was richly decorated with what I assumed was antique furniture. To my left was a three-person sofa made of some type of dark wood. It had a comfortable-looking cushion on it and some pillows resting against the bear backrest. Facing that was a pair of chairs flanking a rounded half table with a gilded framed mirror above it. Right in front of me and down the hall was a large round table with a large pot on it containing some sort of flowering plant. Beyond that, there were additional chairs, some paintings, and another guided mirror.
To my right was also a large stairwell that faced towards the outer wall. The man that had opened the door moved towards it while indicating that I should take a seat in either the sofa or the chairs before he quickly, but without rushing, made his way upstairs. I considered following his instruction for a moment but decided that I felt too nervous to sit down so instead, I moved over to one of the walls where there were several small paintings hung. They weren't much bigger than an average photograph and were depicting what I believed was suppose to be two young peasant girls moving down a dirt path holding little baskets filled with flowers. I noted that the older one seemed to be scolding the younger for something.
"Drew!"
The exited shout was the only warning I got before I was tackled by an excited girl. Mary looked good, I noted absently. Her hair was still cut short, of course. She had on a nice black dress that reminded me of the one Famke Janssen had on when she played Kamala on Star Trek, only with poofier sleeves. It exposed a generous amount of cleavage which I really appreciated.
"Hey Mary-girl, looking good," I said when she let me go. Then I leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I'd have appreciated getting a warning that your relatives were obscenely rich."
"Does it matter?" I asked challengingly.
"At this level of rich, it kinda does," I told her promptly. "If any of these people cotton on that there is something hinky with me it could cause trouble for me."
Mary studied me critically for a moment, "If I had told you, would you still have come?"
"I'm here aren't I," I told her pointedly. "I could have easily just turned around and flown back to school."
"So in the end the result would have been the same." She stated primly.
"That's not very nice, Mary-girl." I admonished lightly.
Mary smiled at me teasingly, "A girl does what she has to. Also, I think it mattered."
I snorted. I suppose I couldn't blame her too much. It wasn't like she had to think about these kinds of things as I had to every time I ventured into the muggle world. She was just an ordinary girl that had tripped into something extraordinary because I had been feeling bad one night. This whole thing must be rather exciting for her so I can forgive some thoughtlessness on her part I suppose.
"Mary dear, who do you have there?" A smooth feminine voice asked, startling us both and causing Mary to jump out of my arms like a scalded cat. While we had been distracted a woman had entered the room and was now studying us with an amused look that widened when she saw Mary's startling blush.
"Aunt Liz!" Mary exclaimed
"Mary. I don't believe I have met this gentleman before. Won't you introduce us?" She asked, her smile stretching into something that might almost be considered sinister and suddenly she looked rather like something I'd seen in the past.
The aunt looked like the concept pictures I'd seen of Scarlet from the new Final Fantasy game that was about to come out just before I got dropped into this world, sans the red dress. In short, thicc. She had nice broad shoulders, broad hips which made her vaist seem much thinner then it actually was, and tits that looked way too firm to be on a woman in her forties. Neither did her face, which was free of any sign of wrinkles. Her hair was light blond and her eyes were icy blue. She had on a very tight white silk dress that left very little to the imagination.
I noticed the similarities with the shade of Mary's mother that I'd summoned, though this woman obviously took care to keep herself in shape. And what a fine shape it was. I noticed that Mary was having some trouble forming a coherent sentence. Startled I suppose. Taking pity I stepped forward and offered my hand to what I assumed was the lady of the house. She placed a dainty hand in my larger one and I dipped over it politely
"My name is Andreas Ahlgren, but Mary and my friends just call me Drew." I told her with a smile.
Liz raised her hand to cover her mouth as she giggled, "You must call me Elizabeth. So you are Drew. You know, I half-believed Mary had made you up. She mentioned you when she came to live with us, but she didn't talk much about you until she met you this summer. She was so very excited that you promised to come to her birthday party. Haven't stopped talking about it since."
"Aunt Liz!" Mary protested, her face baking.
"Well..." I said, slowly stroking my goatee with a smile, "It's always nice to be appreciated.
Mary looked at me, askance at my blatant betrayal.
"She also told me that you helped her a great deal when my sister and her husband left us." She said as her smile shifted into something more solemn. "And you that you have my most heartfelt thanks." She told me seriously, and I felt that there was something she left out and I wondered if Mary had informed her aunt of what she had been planning to do that night. Probable, even likely, I decided.
"I was just in the right place at the right time to do some good. Anyone would have done the same in my place." I told her seriously.
"Oh my god..." Mary groaned in embarrassment and hid her flaming face in her hands.
"Come now, Mary. It's nothing to be embarrassed about." Liz enthused while smiling benignly at her niece. That's some high-level shit right there, she had to have a kid of her own if she could nail someone like that. "I wish all the boys that show up here would be as nice as him."
Mary seemed to have hit her limit because she started to push me towards the stairs rather insistently while glaring balefully at her aunt all the way. "Come on Drew, let head up to my room until the rest of the guest arrives."
"You could always wait down here, honey," Liz suggested, apparently unfazed by her nieces' blatant hostility.
"I want to show him something in my room!" Mary snapped back and gave me a rough shove.
I chuckled and gave the mistress of the house a jaunty little wave, "It's nice to meet you."
Liz gave a delighted little laugh, "Oh don't worry, I'll be around to chaperone everyone this evening, I'm sure we will have a chance to talk some more then."
Mary gave a frustrated groan and gave me another shove and this time I relented and started to move on my own. With another smile for the lady, I swung around and started to ascend the stairs with Mary hastening to get ahead of me and then race ahead forcing me to speed up to keep up with her rapid ascent. Once on the second floor, she led me towards another staircase that led up to the third floor and from there she guided me towards the back of the house.
The room she showed me into was large, I estimated that it was large enough to fit the entire ground floor of my childhood home. The style of the room was somewhat more modern than the rest of the house, or at least modern for the times. I was gratified that Mary didn't seem to be a fan of pink. The walls were covered in textured cream wallpaper with flowers that looked like they had been sketched on. It was not a bad look. The floor was dark hardwood without any rugs except a small round furry thing just by her bed. Her bed was large, though I wouldn't term it a double bed, it was a tad smaller than that, though it would sleep two comfortably.
The rest of the room was finished expensively. several large closets, a large writing desk, one of those old types with lots of small drawers that came complete with hidden panels and such. I had the instant urge to just pick it apart just to see if it did have any hidden compartments. Further in, towards the other side of the room right next to a large window that likely overlooked the backyard, there was a sitting area with a large round table, some chairs, and several bookcases that were filled to the brim with books.
I also noticed that the walls were covered in Beatles posters.
Mary slammed the door shut after me and leaned back against it and sighed, bonking the back of her head against the door a few times. "I can't believe she brought that up."
"She seems nice, I look forward to talking with her later." I felt the need to say.
Mary glared at me, but I just smiled in return. Drop me into the deep end, will you!
Revenge is indeed sweet!