Out by the lake, there is a large construction dedicated to the 10th birthday of Lady Ingress of the House of Arch. Ingress has had birthday parties on this site before - there was a birthday princess ball her 7th year, a playground party for her 6th.

This party is different from either of those. Tom, Door, and Ingress worked on the design for months.

There are three ways to get into the birthday party.

Guests can go through the hedge maze. It's enchanted, of course, but the walls shift places at a docile rate. The path is wide and firm, so this is the easiest way to enter the party.

Guests might also try the obstacle course of tubes to crawl through, walls to climb, ropes to swing over deep ball pits, curly slides to fling themselves down. The only enchantment on this entrance are anti-falling charms.

Or guests can bounce through the giant bouncy castle!

Once they've passed through either of the three entrances,they will enter the clearing for the birthday party proper. Picnic blankets are spread out over the grass, and there are plenty of chairs scattered about. Paper lanterns float above people's heads with purple and green streamers linking them together.

A long table overflows with plenty of cold water, birthday treats, and other refreshments. There is a cake with lots of icing roses, of course, and ice cream. Each guest may help him or herself to a Wizarding cracker in a large basket at one end of the table, and there is space beside it for gifts, should guests wish to bring one. Gifts are not expected, however.

Most importantly, there is Ingress, a little girl in the comfortable gray uniform of a Herald-in-training, who is not so little anymore.

Come and have fun!

Ingress loved staying with Amy and her family in Ambergelder. The dancing, the yummy feasts, the pretty dresses, having fun without thinking about anything but pleasant holiday thoughts. She was sad to leave, but she knew it was good to go back for Tom's birthday. It made Door smile, too, having her back. She missed them, too, of course, but she wasn't sad when it was time to go to Shadow with Sallie.

Shadow is totally different from Ambergelder. It's not as fancy, but there are things Ingress has never seen there. Megwyn has a nice stable to stay in, and plenty of hands to help take care of her. There's plenty of room to ride and race and explore.

And, of course, Sallie is there, and she keeps Ingress busy in very good ways. Today she's promised Ingress they'll bake a pie! She's never baked a pie before.

Ingress is reading a book on the sofa, waiting, and warming herself before the big fireplace. It's funny; the fire in the hearth looks a little like the fires she's seen wizards and witches step out of when visiting the Wizarding world with Tom. She wonders why, but mostly, she just enjoys sitting here, not having to be scared or worried. It's brilliant.

It's time. It's finally time to go home. Ingress and Megwyn stand in front of an old stone wall some ways from the main road to Haven. The wall is screened by trees, thus making Tom and Door's sudden appearance less noticeable for anyone who might be passing by.

Ingress shifts impatiently from one foot to another. Since the incident in the woods, she's been counting the minutes to go home. She stayed in bed with a sick tummy the rest of that miserable day, but she made herself get up and go about the last full day of her visit. As she passed by people, said goodbye, and did her chores, she wondered what they really thought of her. Did the big kids in their gray uniforms think her strange and wrong? Did the other Companions? She knew Megwyn didn't, but how could she be sure of anything? She thought everyone liked her.

Finally two figures appear in front of the stones, stepping from the world of her birth to the world chosen for her future.

Ingress kept busy on her holidays to Valdemar. Savil made sure of that. She performed her duties on the Duty Roster, attended to Megwyn's needs as all the other Heralds and Heralds-in-training did, and served as page to the court. She observed appropriate lessons in the Collegium once in a while. She had the opportunity to meet get to know other students and their Companions, and she made many friends amongst the pages and younger, unaffiliated students in the Collegium. Sometimes, she simply spent her time exploring her future world, with Megwyn by her side.

Today she had an afternoon free, and she went with her friends, and fellow pages, Larl and Byman to play in the woods near the Companions Field. Wooden swords, shields, and scrapes and bruises of varying severity comprised most of the play, but there was time for exploring, as well.

Joining them were two older girls from the Collegium who had drifted by as they had set off and invited themselves along. They were unaffiliated students in the Collegium who knew Byman's family well, all being highborns from Westmark. Ingress remembered one of the girls, Kessa, from her last visit. She hadn't been very nice, but it wasn't for Ingress to say they couldn't join in.

She could ignore Kessa's frosty looks and her bossing the younger pages about. It was a pretty day, and Ingress was having fun, in spite of the intrusion.

As they climbed over a large, storm-felled tree trunk, Larl spotted something slithering in the leaves below. "Look, a snake!"

Kessa grabbed Byman's sword from his hand and imperiously swung her legs over the trunk. "Don't worry. I'll kill it."

"No, no, wait!" cried Ingress, alarmed. She vaulted over the trunk and clambered between Kessa and the small black snake. "It doesn't have a pointed head. Those are the only kinds that are really dangerous." Ingress had learned much about snakes from Tom and his menagerie.

Kessa glared at Ingress and pushed her aside. "Snakes are snakes. I'm killing it."

Ingress' feet tangled in the undergrowth, but she grabbed for a dead limb jutting from the trunk in time to steady herself. "Stop it," she demanded. "That snake isn't doing any harm. Leave it alone." She'd managed to scramble in front of Kessa again, and reached down to skillfully scoop up the snake. It coiled around her wrist, and she walked over to a line of bushes where she could safely deposit it.

"Why don't you let her just kill it?" asked Kessa's friend with a sneer. "Do you love the filthy creatures?" Ingress ignored the girl, and let the snake slither from her hands to safety.

She couldn't ignore what Kessa said next.

"Of course she loves filthy creatures," sneered Kessa. "She is one, after all."

The girls laughed with gleeful malice. Byman walked over to Ingress, and Larl followed. "Don't you talk to her like that, Kessa, or you neither, Siddra. Ingress is going to be a Herald, and she's my friend."

"Thanks, Byman," Ingress said, her face flushed red and her stomach tight.

"She shouldn't be," said Kessa, advancing on them. "She's from outKingdom; she's not one of us. She shouldn't even be allowed in Haven. I bet you she's a dark mage's child, what with that hair and those eyes and her love of snakes."

Ingress stood her ground, her head lifted high. "I'm a Lady of the House of Arch, and I belong here. I was Chosen."

"You're nothing but a Rethwellan brat from some miserable freeholding no one's heard of," said Kessa. "No one wants you here, running about Court like you belong. Valdemar doesn't need foreigners for Heralds."

When Kerowyn befriended Ingress, Tom, and Door in Milliways, she, along with Megwyn, helped them create an origin story for Ingress that would make sense for her transition to Valdemar. Rethwellan was far enough away from Valdemar to explain Ingress' differences. Or so they'd hoped. Ingress was careful not to talk about the Underside or Milliways or even her opening abilities to anyone but Savil and Vanyel and the others in her closest acquaintance.

"My brother's best friend has a friend who knows a Herald, and she told him that her Companion spoke with Yfandes and they want your Companion to get rid of you before it was too late," said Siddra, leaning against the stump with her arms casually crossed over her chest. "They can, you know. They can repudiate their Heralds. One did, not too long ago."

Ingress didn't know what repudiate meant, but it sounded like refused, and she knew what that meant. She looked to Larl and Byman. "That's not true, is it?" she whispered.

Larl shrugged and didn't meet her eyes. "It can happen. But this one, he did something bad, I heard. That's why it happened."

"Yes," agreed Kessa with a cruel smirk. "He did bad things because he was born wrong. He didn't belong in the ranks of the Heralds."

"Shut up, Kessa," Bayman yelled. "You're just jealous because you were never Chosen no matter how many times you walked around Companion's Field."

Ingress didn't hear this last. She felt like she'd been slapped, hard. She was angry and hurt and confused and she could find no words. She hadn't felt like this since-

The creatures who'd taken her from her mother's side had said cruel things to her. The thugs who kept her prisoner made her feel much the same as she did right now. She didn't want to remember. Her ears roared with the sound of her heart beat racing in her chest and she was hot and sick. All she could do was call for her Companion. ::Megwyn!::

::I heard, Chosen:: replied her Companion, her voice serious. ::I'm coming to you. You'll hear my bells soon. Walk out of the woods, and I'll be there:: She sent Ingress a wave of love and acceptance, which Ingress clung to for dear life.

"I don't care what either of you think," she finally said, her voice hushed, but not quivering, as she expected it to be. With that she turned and walked towards the tree line, determined not to cry where they could hear her, though her gasps for air sounded like sobs.

She did care what they thought. She cared very much for the first time in her life.

As per backroom post, comment with your character's name (past, present, or uh, future?) and I will tell you:

1) how Tom Riddle or Ingress's opinion of the named character has changed over time, or
2) why Tom Riddle or Ingress does or does not get along/like/other with the named pup.

If you really want to ask about poor neglected Missouri, cracktastic Mojo Jojo, or any of my old characters (Susan Pevensie, Albus Dumbledore, etc.), go for it.

HoA owl names: Archipelago and Galatea.

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[url=http://tektek.org/avatar/4257178][img]http://public.tektek.org/img/av/m09/d03/23/ae4b82.png[/img][/url]

“Tom, can I ask you something?” Ingress sat at the kitchen table, coloring a picture while she waited for lunch.

“Of course you can, little one.” Tom waved his wand and flipped her grilled cheese sandwich in its pan. He was on lunch duty today, as Door was taking care of some unexpected business in Marble Arch. He winced and pointed at the scorched bread, vanishing the black bits made visible.

“Could Dickon come live with us? If he wanted?”

Tom frowned. A strict rule had been put into place about bringing children in need of a family to the House of Arch after Ingress brought Gavroche home. “Dickon? I think he’s happy with where he is, isn’t he?”

Ingress had been talking about Dickon a great deal lately. And drawing his picture. With copious amounts of hearts and flowers included. Door thought it was cute. It was all Tom could do not to go find the boy and give him a stern talking to, even though he seemed a well-behaved lad.

“I guess.” Ingress pushed away her drawing as Tom placed her plate of unburned grilled cheese in front of her. “It’s just- Megwyn said he couldn’t come to Valdemar, because she can only bring me there. But you and Door can come, so you could bring him? Or he could live here, and I’d see him when I came home?”

She looked so hopeful. How could such a young child be so smitten? He’d passed right over that phase to getting whomever he wished however he had to, and the mere thought of that kind of behavior in Ingress made his blood run cold.

“I think Dickon belongs in his world, Ingress, not ours nor yours in Valdemar. Sometimes there are reasons for people to leave their worlds. But I don’t think Dickon has one.” He hoped, anyway. Ingress was far too young for this.

Granted, he’d think she was far too young when she was thirty, but still.

Ingress chewed her sandwich, deep in thought. “That’s what Megwyn said, too. I asked how come you could leave your world and come to ours.”

“I had a reason. I wasn’t happy there, and it wasn’t the right place for me any longer. Does Dickon seem sad about living in Yorkshire?”

“No, he likes it very much. He’s always talking about his garden.”

“Then I don’t think he’d be happy here at all, for while we have gardens, we don’t have Yorkshire anywhere in London Below.”

“I guess.”

She looked terribly unhappy now, and Tom knew he’d said this all wrong. He hated getting things wrong where Ingress’ happiness was concerned. “Say, I have a little time this afternoon,” he said, even though he really didn’t. “Why don’t we go to Florean’s? We can get your favorite sundae as a special treat.”

“No, I think I want to go to the stables and help today.” She finished her last bite and slid out of her chair. The stables were close to the greenhouse, after all.

“Maybe tomorrow then? Or we can do something special when you come home from the stables.” He’d do any number of desperate things to make Ingress happy. Sometimes he just had no clue where to begin.

“Okay,” she said, placing her plate in the sink. She kissed Tom on the cheek and took off for Milliways. He watched her disappear through the painting and frowned again.

---

Ingress sat back against a bale of hay by the stable door. She had a good view of both the door to Milliways and the greenhouse.

She sighed. Today was not a very sparkly day. Even petting the horses on the nose didn't cheer her up.

Ingress lies back against Megwyn as they rest in meadow adjoining Ingress' room in London Below. They've been for a nice run, as they do most sunny days.

As Ingress watches the clouds pass by in a time past in a London no longer in existence, she twines her fingers through her Companion's mane and sighs.

::I'm so happy, Megwyn.:: She sends the thought with a bright blue wave of contentment.

The tea party room in the House of Arch has been re-arranged. The chests of dress-up clothes are still there, but the large table is gone. In its place are comfy, overstuffed chairs, a long sofa, and several cushions and bean bags scattered about. There is a small table loaded with snacks like crisps, dips, cupcakes, candy, and soda. There's also a veggie tray and cheese and crackers for all of those over age eight.

An old model TV hooked up to VCR is set up with several video cassettes of movies such as The Aristocats, Sleeping Beauty, Shirley Temple classics, and other fun viewing choices.

Tom and Door have been busy escorting guests into the House, if they didn't already have access on their own, and the birthday girl greets them with squeeful happiness. Megwyn is already there, standing by a basket of fresh hay and apples. Even Companions need treats.

She is wearing pajamas with unicorns on them with a fluffy yellow robe on over. She is very excited and feeling very grown up. She's going to stay up all night.

Ingress likes tea parties. She runs a fine party, complete with enchanted china teacups which never spill (or break).

She also likes dress up. Of course. She has a trunk in the tea party room. It has big girls' clothes and little girls' clothes and several sizes in between. Most of them have lace or sparkles, and the rest have both.

Today there are extra special garments in the trunk. Ones of velvet and tattered silk, set aside for the most special of guests.

Sunny is in attendance for tea today. It is a special day indeed.

The glint of the tiaras and jewelry dripping from necks and wrists is blinding.

Ingress, as most small children do, has intense phases in which she finds out all she can about a certain subject. She's gone on pirate binges in which she read nothing but pirate stories, drew nothing but pirate pictures, and played nothing but pirate games. She's done this with horses, dinosaurs, princesses (of course), and squids.

Sometimes she runs across a picture or a story, and her memory is jogged. So it is that she and Tom walk out to the lake, to see if Ingress can catch sight of Sunshine Dust, the glitter squid.

And who knows, maybe one day Mr. Julia Fruitnugget will return.

"I hope she's there still," she says, running ahead of Tom into the cool fall-like day. "I haven't looked in a long time."

The huge, white tent sprawls on the lawn beside the lake. It has been transfigured there for a very special occasion. A stone walkway leads from the bar to the tent - the pavements are wide enough that ladies' dresses won't trail on the ground as they make their way to the entrance. Over the draped curtains of the entrance way is a large banner which reads "Happy 7th Birthday, Ingress".

Once inside, the honored guests will be in the midst of an enchanted ballroom. There are balloons drifting in bunches from the circular tables lining the sides of the large dance floor. Floating candlabras glow with gentle light from above. There are trees in large ornamental pots interspersed throughout sparkling with fairy lights from real fairies.

One long banquet table is positioned on along the side of the ballroom - there are treats of all description. Little finger sandwiches, chopped up fruit, cookies, cheese and crackers, and other child-friendly h'ors douerves are presented to make sure the dancers are sustained throughout the the party. There are large bowls of ice cream (kept cold with magic)and sundae fixings. Punch bowls of sherbet-flavored drinks await ladling into crystal goblets. But most impressive is the large birthday cake with blue, purple, and pink icing roses festooning it.

Ingress is busy greeting her guests in her gown - a birthday gift from Amy and Susan - but soon she'll be dancing to the music provided by the overlarge Gramophone in the corner, which is playing a wide array of dancing music from waltz standards to court music to pop hits of the 20th century.

Tom, who's pretty tired from the magical effort required to pull this off, is in the background making sure his little girl is having a perfect party, and Princess Amy is helping Ingress in her hostess duties.

Come in and enjoy the party!

Dear Diary,

I am mad. I am very very mad and I am sad to. We went to Florean's ice creem parlore yesturday and it was closed. Tom and Door said sumthing bad had happend and it wont be open again for a while.

I hurd Tom say Florean was missing. I hope he's okay and he's not in the dark with spiders like I was. I liked him and he always said hi to me and floted cheries on my sundays.

I hate bad guys. Why do they have to be mean and take people away and kill people and hate everyone? Why can't they just be nice? It's eazy to smile and lagh and be nice.

I can't wate to be a Herald.

Dear Diary,

Lucy gave you to me and said that all good riters keep a diary. I like her as my teacher. We read poems and she said we'd write some soon! I like poems!

I miss Mary Poppins but I love Amy and Martha is nice but she dusn't kno how to make pancakes in funny shapes. Door said she would help her lern how.

Doyle is a good teacher too. He is funny and when he sneezes he goes all spikey on his head! Master Windu isn't funny, but he's smart like Tom's smart. I like school.

Oh! And Meg is teaching me ballay, and it's so much fun! And Sallie says I have to praktiss lots on peano, but I like playing the peano. Profeser Merriman is not like the othr teachers. He's not meen, but he's not funny. He's smart too and I like lerning Latin even thouh it's hard. We havn't had a feeld trip with Ace yet, but we will soon.

Megwyn took me to meet Kalira. She was sad. I was scaired, and I thot I would be happy. Kalira was sick and lookt all rumplee and she missed her Chosen. I didn't know what to do. Megwyn talked to me and it was better.

Tom is sad and grumpy agan, but he says it's not becos of us. He said we make evreething better. He lookt funny when I said I was keeping a diary but Door said she kept one when she was little too.

Okay, that's all for now. But I shall write in you later! Bye diary!

Ingress waits for Amy and Alanna, and their animal entourage, in a playroom decorated with a lace tablecloth and a full tea service, complete with all the delicious biscuits and sandwiches ladies, and small creatures, might like.

Except for the dried flies for the frogs. They are in a container beside a little waterfall pond with running water.

The room is decorated for Christmas, complete with a large Christmas tree decorated with homemade ornaments from a few generations of House of Arch children.

Ingress herself is rather decorated, as well, in a red and green robe with holly in a crown on her blue head. Hope, her potato kitten, is sitting on her lap, and Hubert splashes in the pond. Agatha is sitting on the table nibbling a cracker. And out a window, watching lovingly, is Megwyn, the white horse-shaped Companion from Valdemar.

Ingress watches as Tom enters, both ladies on his arm, as he brings them through the magical painting.

"Hi! You came, you came!"

Ingress went to Megwyn first as her Companion could soothe her in ways no one in her family could. But even Megwyn could not give her what she really wanted.

She wanted her mother.

Just as Tom was not really her father, but did the daddy jobs, Door was not really her mother either. However Door did an excellent job at the mother jobs.

She doesn't wait to chime the painting to Door's study. She throws herself through the painting and flies across the room into her big sister's lap. Once her arms are around Door's neck, the tears begin.

"It's not fair..."

Ingress runs into the barn, eager to see Susan. Tom and Door had told her that Susan had something important to talk to her about. She couldn't wait to find out. She thought perhaps it was something about a new horse in the stable. But she wasn't sure.

"Hello Susan!"

She gives Susan a big hug.

Ingress has been helping out in the stables every now and again. Today is one of her days.

She walks in to find Susan, her notebook and pencil in hand and her press badge proudly displayed on her jumper.

"Hi, Susan! Can I sweep the hay?"

Ingress likes sweeping.