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Moving day, what a strange thing that was to say. Matty sat on the floor of her room, her gaze flickering over all of the packed items. Today she was finally moving in with Sebastian and staying in Feldcroft for the foreseeable future.
It was a strange thing to know that she was moving out of her parent's home for good now. She was used to being away for long months at Hogwarts and as much as Hogwarts felt like home—obviously it wasn’t. And as much as she missed her life in Ireland, so many memories had been made here in London and it was going to be hard to say goodbye. But she was nineteen and after a year of planning this out, her dream would finally come true.
A knock at the door stole her away from her thoughts; it was Anne’s voice on the other side of it. “Matty?” She asked, opening the door slowly. “Your parents wanted me to ask you how close you were to being done.”
Matty looked over at the door at Anne. “Almost finished, thank you.” She replied.
Anne had been living with the Ambrose’s for just a bit by now, staying in their guest room. She wanted to make up for all of the years she had missed out on the world and had decided to go to London first so Matty’s family had happily opened up their home to her while she was looking for work and trying to get stable.
To be honest, Howard and Ada were going to be quite distraught when Anne would eventually leave as well; an empty and quiet home was something they were not used to.
Within the hour, Matty was finished and came downstairs to inform her parents. The train that would take her to Hogsmeade station left in an hour and she did not want to miss it. “Mum, Da, everything is ready to be loaded up.” She spoke, referring to loading things into the carriage.
“Are you sure you can’t drag it out just an hour longer?” Howard asked with a small chuckle accompanying his words. But in reality, that chuckle was hiding the pain in his voice. He was not ready for Matty to leave yet but he knew this was what she wanted and he just wanted to make her happy.
Matty just gave her father a small, sad smile and wrapped her arms around him. “You know that train is waiting for me, Dad.” She said a bit solemnly. She didn’t even have to see her father's face to know that he was tearing up. “Aw, Da, don’t get emotional on me.” She spoke, knowing if he cried, she would too.
“I can’t help it,” Howard replied, pulling away to wipe his eyes. “You’re all grown up now and there’s another man out there to take care of you. And I’m so proud of you for everything.”
Hearing those words from her father’s mouth—although she had heard them before—felt a little different this time around. Knowing that Howard trusted Sebastian reassured Matty that she was doing the right thing.
“I love you, Dad,” Matty said quietly, pulling her father into another hug.
Ada walked in on them sharing their embrace and it warmed her heart. A father's love for his daughter would always be unmatched. But of course, Ada wanted to have her own goodbye with her daughter too. When Matty realized her mother was standing there, her goodbye to her father ended soon after.
Before Matty could move forward herself, Ada grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug, knowing that this would be their last big one for a while. It was hard to say goodbye to Matty—especially since she was their only child but this was all a part of life. Everyone had to say goodbye sooner or later and this was that time.
“You know, I’m proud of you. Very proud of you.” Ada said, pulling away a bit to look into her daughter's eyes. Her hands slipped down to Matty’s forearm, holding them gently but firmly. “And when you get out there, you give it your all. But just know that we will always be here for you even if you don’t live with us anymore, okay? We’re still your parents.”
Matty nodded her head, taking her mother's words to heart. Initially, she was nervous about how her parents might react to her wanting to move out of the home and go on with life on her own but her parents had immediately been very supportive of her. After all, they knew this day would come and so they had raised her to one day be able to do this and be out on her own.
But saying goodbye was never easy and they had come to learn that with Matty leaving for long months to Howards. But this? This was different.
“I love you and never forget that,” Ada said in a loving tone but with a bit of sternness as well.
“I love you too, mum,” Matty replied, pulling her mother in for another hug.
Howard slipped away to grab Matty’s things and load them up into the carriage that was waiting for her outside of the home. Life was going to be so much different now but both of Matty’s parents had faith in her and were proud of her for what she was doing.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous about this, though. While living with her parents, she could always go to them for advice but now that she was going to be living far away, she couldn’t do that anymore. Not to mention, the fact that she was starting the Auror program soon was terrifying enough to her to begin with.
But she was determined and wasn’t going to let her anxiety get to her. She had been through enough these past four years that when she put her mind to it, she could simply brush these feelings off. Besides, there were a lot of good things coming out of this move too.
For one, she got to spend every day with the love of her life—which was arguably the most exciting part. When she had first approached Sebastian with the idea of them living together, he had almost passed out. (In the best way possible, of course.) Both of them wanted nothing more than to just be in each other’s presence.
And being with each other was exactly what they were going to need in the next couple of years as their careers took off and life got a little difficult. It’d be trying but it’d be worth it. Especially since this would be the next big step in their relationship.
While Howard was getting everything put up, Matty and Anne chatted for a while to pass the time. It was great to see Anne so lively. The front door opened soon after. “Alright, everything is ready,” Howard announced, looking over at Matty. “It’s time to go.”
Hearing those words made Matty’s heart drop just a little. She knew she could come back to see her parents at any time and that they’d always be there for her but this was the last goodbye for a while.
Trying to not drag things out, the four of them went outside so Matty could say her final goodbyes before getting into the carriage. She would’ve hugged her parents for much longer had she not been on a time crunch to catch her train.
“I love the both of you so much, I’ll miss you.” She spoke, her voice cracking as she held back tears. Her arms were around the both of them, hugging them with all her might.
“We’ll miss you too,” Ada replied, allowing the tears to freely fall down her cheeks. “Remember to do your best out there.”
Matty nodded her head, wiping away the tears that were now falling. “I will, I promise.”
With a deep breath, she finally pulled away, turning to get into her carriage. “I promise I’ll write to you all as much as I can!” She promised as she opened the carriage door, getting ready to get in. “I love you!”
“We love you too, darling!” Ada called out, speaking for all of them.
Once the carriage door was closed, it was now finally time to go. Matty heard the crack of the reigns and felt the carriage begin to move. She was off to King’s Cross station, from there to Hogsmeade station, and then finally, she’d be in Feldcroft.
In Feldcroft where she’d be able to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved.