Sabrina ; The next generation

Fourteen

It was always nice with my whole big family gathered at my grandparents place.

Even my uncle William and my Uncle Marco were invited. Even though they weren't on my dad's side of the family, they were still family and my grandparents had gotten to know them through the years.

Though no one expected uncle Will to show up, but he did. He and mum found out that they can be in the same room together, but the energy between them is still quite tense.

When Uncle Charlie arrived, I was sitting on the sofa with Theo and Adriana. She was here because Theo wanted to bring her, seeing as they are dating. They were cuddled up together on one end of the sofa and I sat next to them.

But as soon as Uncle Charlie arrived, I got up from my seat and made my way over.

"Have you brought any creatures with you?" I asked, just as grandma was greeting him with a hug.

They both looked at me, Uncle Charlie raising his eyebrows.

"I did..." he said slowly. "...not even a hello first, though?"

"Hi!" I said enthusiastically. "Now... what creatures did you bring?"

"Bree, let him breath," grandma chuckled, but Uncle Charlie shook his head.

"It's alright, mum..." he said before looking at me again. "...they're in your grandfather's shed. I'll show you."

He pulled the door open and I hurried to put shoes on before walking out, my uncle following behind.

"You've grown." He said as we walked towards grandpa's shed. "You were what— fifteen the last time I saw you?"

"Sixteen." I corrected him. "I had just turned sixteen."

"Right." He breathed. "Where's Alec? I don't think I saw him in there."

I shrugged as he unlocked the shed, then pulled the door open.

"With his lame friends in London."

"Lame friends?" Uncle Charlie chuckled as we approached the table where there was these different "cages" for the creatures.

"Oh shit!" I cursed. "That's a Knarl!"

I approached the cage to look at the brown Knarl with the black eyes.

"Don't let him out... I'll get in trouble if she breaks anything."

Knarls are very destructive creatures. A lot of muggle children have actually been blamed for Knarls destructions.

"What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one yet." Uncle Charlie said. "I'm open to suggestions, though."

A smile spread on my lips as I looked at the Knarl who were currently eating some food she had in her cage.

"How about Hannah?"

"Hannah?" He repeated. "Isn't that James' girlfriend?"

Oh my god.

I immediately looked up at my uncle who was feeding a creature in a cage on the other side of the table.

"How do you know that? How does everyone know that?!" I exclaimed. "I didn't."

Uncle Charlie smiled.

"You sound like you've got a crush on her."

"Seriously?" I asked. "Everyone also knows that I'm gay apparently. Is it that obvious?"

"Well, when you were little and you got these Barbie dolls... you three all the boy ones away." He said. "Immediately, they went in the bin and I still remember the look on your dads face while your mum couldn't stop laughing. Of course, that doesn't mean the child is gay, but growing up, you always wanted more to do with girls than guys and when you first befriended Adriana, you wouldn't stop talking about her. Sure, it may just have been because she was your first friend, but then you hit puberty and you'd blush anytime you mentioned her... you obviously liked her in more than one way."

I did. I had a crush on Adriana but I grew out of it.

"And now you named my Knarl... Hannah, which funnily enough is the name of James' girlfriend whom you won't stop looking at."

I frowned.

"You've been here for ten minutes."

"And in those ten minutes, you stared at her while glaring at James at the same time." He said. "You like her and it's quite obvious but you can't control that. You're a teenager with romantic feelings. No one can blame you for that."

Not just romantic.

"I gave her my phone number." I said proudly. "And she saved it."

Uncle Charlie let out a deep breath as he straightened up.

"Sabrina... she's dating James. Just because he's your cousin, doesn't mean it's less wrong for you to try and go for his girlfriend." He said. "I know you've been competing with each other since you were in diapers, but I'm sure James wouldn't want to compete about a girl he's with."

I sighed.

"Don't do anything stupid..." he said. "...don't be the girl who ruins a relationship, especially not James'. He'd never forgive you, and you may not care now, but you'll regret it when you're an adult."

I bit my lip as I scanned the cages, walking around the table before bending down to look at a creature I didn't recognise.

"What's this one?"

"That's called a Fwooper. Eyes are yellow but the fur can vary between orange, pink, yellow and lime green. They're native to Africa and their high-pitched singing causes insanity which is why they have to be sold with a silencing-charm placed on them."

The one in the cage was lime green, sitting on a small tree while staring at us.

"His name is Jamexie."

"Jamexie?" I asked. "That's a horrible name. Poor guy."

"I gave him that name."

I looked up at my uncle, then shrugged.

"Makes sense."

"Oi!" He laughed. "Almost seventeen years of knowing you and you still surprise me with that attitude. You may be adopted but you're a true mix between your parents."

"Is that a good thing or..."

"It really depends." He said. "If you're gonna go looking for danger like your mum, then no. Otherwise... yes."

I hummed slightly.

"I don't really like drama." I said. "I'd rather stay out of it."

I ran a hand through my hair as I stood up straight.

"What're you planning to do when you graduate?"

I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest.

"I have no idea whatsoever. My schedule is quite... full. That way I have more opportunities after school." I said. "Plus, I think it's odd that we at an age of fifteen has to start thinking about what we want to do for the rest of our lives."

I turned to my uncle.

"When did you know you wanted to work with dragons?"

"Oh, I've always known."

I sighed.

"Of course." I groaned. "Just like mum always knew she wanted to write, and dad knew he wanted to open a shop for his and Uncle Fred's products."

"Listen... not everyone knows just like that, but you'll figure it out eventually and if you still haven't figured anything out by the end of your last year, you can always come and work with Lillian and I in Romania."