days end

[Lorna Van Patten]

It didn’t take her much longer to reach Morgana. The other girl seemed talkative enough that she wouldn’t mind a bit of company, so, after glancing over her shoulder for any sign that the washerwoman had taken up chase - didn’t look like it - Lorna leant back against the wall, sliding slowly down it to settle beside Morgana on the stoop and catch her breath.

“The tea room, huh?” Lorna echoed, thinking about her mother’s front for the brothel and the Painted Lady. She imagined the hospital tearoom would be - quieter, perhaps? White-walled, probably; sombre? Sterile? She didn’t think she’d ever set foot in there. It was - well, she suspected they’d pay fairly, at least. It wasn’t the sort of thing that sounded like it’d spiral into a career. “What made you choose there?” She piped up.

She asked because she was curious. Curious, and because Morgana’s question in return was still needling at her, enough that she didn’t like to say it aloud. Lorna picked at some dirt under her fingernails for a moment before she thought she’d better get it over and out with - she shook her head jerkily. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one who’d have left Hogwarts this early. “Doesn’t look like it,” she muttered. “Not unless some bastard calling himself my father shows up on the doorstep for a summer miracle,” she added, with a snort. It was probably too much to ask, even for a miracle - whoever her father was, there was no chance he’d ever have known it.