Foxglove Cottage - Verity’s home.
Excerpt from: Lion Hearts: Book 1, Golden. Chapter 1 - A Rainy Monday.
Summary: A girl, Wilde at heart, sets forth on a brand new adventure - full of magic, and secrets, and war.
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Nestled in the heart of Yorkshire, a heavy blanket of trees lay at the bottom of a valley. Within it, stood a curious little cottage, hidden almost completely from view. The walls seemed fit to burst, sagging quite noticeably under the old thatch. The roof was misshapen - peculiar, even - accommodating too many windows, of various shapes and sizes. A tall, crooked chimney propped up one side, while a stout conservatory protruded from the other, the rain drops drumming on the glass as they fell. Gangling plants curled up and out of skylights, and crept stealthily through open windows. Outside, wisteria clung to the uneven stone, and the garden had no end, as it trailed off in to the wilderness.
Walkers often hiked the footpath near the house, hoping to enjoy a scenic stroll in the woods. Foxglove Cottage, however, did not take kindly to uninvited guests. Should someone stray too close, they would be struck with the urgent notion that something was not quite right. For example, they ‘might’ have forgotten to lock their back door, or they ‘could’ have left the iron on. That niggling feeling grew more intense the closer they came, becoming unbearable before they had even set one foot in the vale. It was quite clever, really, and had managed to keep prying eyes at bay for just over a decade.
Within this protective little bubble, a young girl sat at her window, quiet and pensive. Her book, ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ lay forgotten at her side. She watched the rain as it snaked across the forest floor, rushing to join the babbling brook that curled around her home. Lulled by the rhythmic patter, and the warbling of a distant radio, she closed her eyes. Downstairs, her mother cooked breakfast. The enticing smells of a fry-up had wafted their way under her bedroom door, making her stomach rumble. She knew she should probably get up soon, even if there wasn’t much to do. The girl popped her glasses on, the round frames glinting in the artificial light. Her eyes drifted towards the calendar on her wall - ‘Monday, 26th July’. It had been exactly ten days since the Summer holidays had started, and boredom was already creeping in. As if on cue, her mother called up the stairs,
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A/N: I haven’t written anything in well over a decade, so I thought I’d throw myself in at the deep-end and write an entire series during lockdown. Book 1 begins in 1971, when Verity and our four favourite boys are sorted in to Gryffindor. I’ve also written a few one-shots, feel free to check ‘em out here on AO3.
Kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated - lemme know what you think!
L♥ xx
