Moonlight

Chapter One

August 29th 1975

It was a rainy day when Lilith Starlight ran away from home. She was wearing a midnight blue dress cut to the skin just above her knees and long white socks. Lilith had been in a hurry, so the only thing protecting her from the rain was her shoes. They had the same colour as her dress and they were her favourites. A cold gust of wind rustled the young girl's golden hair. She told herself she wouldn't go back. She wouldn't go back to that house. Back to those people. The girl walked down to the river only a few blocks away from her house.

Lilith liked the river. It reminded her that things can change and that life is flowing just like the water is flowing down the river. But sometimes, she would only throw stones in anger. Today wasn't a throwing day. She was angry, yes, but not in a way to let it out on the world. Lilith sat down on the riverside and watched the rain connect with the river. Little waves formed at the connecting points and spread across the surface. It looked so simple, yet there was so much to understand behind this phenomenon.

She'd love to learn all about it as she studied everything possible in the wizarding world. The spells, the history, plants, and creatures and she mastered all of those classes at Hogwarts. Why wasn't it enough? Lilith Starlight was top of her year and yet her father decided she needed a husband, a rich and powerful pureblood, to stay on the good side of her family.

She screamed about how she did everything to deserve his praise and how she was top of her year for three years in a row, how she was way too young to think about marriage yet being only fourteen years old. But all the screaming was only in her head. She had been nodding back then. Nothing more. Then she ran away. Lilith buried her head in her arms and let the tears flow.

The girl knew she'd go back. She returned that afternoon. Her parents hadn't recognized a thing, not even after two hours of her absence. They ate dinner together, and Lilith went straight to her room. It was a quiet dinner, a potential husband only swirling in the blonde's head.

September 1st 1975

Lilith stood before the massive cobblestone wall between the two platforms, nine and ten. Her parents stood right behind her. Her father is on her left and her mother is on her right. The girl felt intimidated by their enormous shadows and powerful presence. Mr. and Mrs. Starlight had to make an appearance in front of the other wizard families. Dressed in dark high-quality robes, one hand on their wands and one on the shoulder of their daughter, they emerged through the wall.

Every year, the huge and old-fashioned train fascinated Lilith. Hogwarts Express is her ticket to a better life. Her mother's hand slipped off Lilith's shoulder as she went to greet the Rosiers. The girl's eyes followed her, searching for Evan and Pandora Rosier, their twins, and close friends since she attended Hogwarts. They weren't with them anymore. Her eyes moved onward to the train. Many of her classmates were already boarding, and she ached to do the same.

Her father pushed her forward. He wanted to talk to Walburga Black. Lilith had heard her parents talk about them and others a lot. She wasn't sure what they were saying, only listening in from the staircase. But it was obvious it had to do with the change in the wizarding world. Dark magic was rising, and they were preparing for something. Of course, her father wasn't foolish to discuss those matters in a public place like this.

Walburga Black wore similar clothes to the robes the Starlights wore. Black and noble. Her face was as stern as ever. But something was different this year. She didn't seem as proud as ever.

"Walburga," Mr. Starlight greeted her.

"Francis." Mrs. Black nodded slightly as a sign of greeting him. She didn't even recognize his daughter. Right beside her stood Regulus, her youngest son. He looked at Lilith with his stormy-cloud eyes. She gave him a quick smile.