NATURAL ❃ harry potter au

⤷ three

three.
dinner

The four kids made their way to the playground and when they reached it there were already some other people. They got closer and when they reached it, Selina could see who were already there — Jason and his friends.

Sighing, Selina sat down on one of the benches with her brother next to her. Chris seemed unsure about what to do before he sat down on one of the other benches. Unlike Chris, Penelope seemed irritated as she saw the older kids just sit down, but sat down next to her brother.

Selina watched as Jason and his friends came closer, a smirk playing on the boy's lips — Selina wanted nothing but to get out her wand and cast a spell to get it off his face.

"Ah, Winstons," Jason said, but when he turned to Selina and her brother, a look of disgust came on his face. "Scarletts."

"Jason," Chris greeted — Selina had thought they were friends, but the boy looked rather irritated. "How's it going?"

"It's going great," Jason answered, his smirk resurfacing. "I would ask you the same, but I'm guessing it's going horrible as you're hanging out with them."

"Oh, no, I'm fine." It seemed to surprise Jason, making Selina wonder what happened between the two boys as they had been very close at a young age.

"Are you still mad, Chris?" Jason asked, putting his hand on Chris' shoulder, who immediately shrugged it off.

"I'm fine," Chris repeated, standing up. "You know, I think I'm going back to the house. Does anyone want to come?"

"I'll come with you," Alex told him, glad to be away from Jason and his group, who were standing with their arms crossed over their chest.

"I'm coming too." Selina stood up, giving Jason one last look before turning to the younger girl on the bench. "Penelope?"

Penelope seemed to hesitate before nodding and leaving with the others. They left Jason and his group behind, who Selina was sure were disappointed at the lack of fight they had gotten — those boys seemed like beasts at times.

The group of four made their way back to the Scarlett home and Selina noticed her brother falling back after a while.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, making her brother look from the sky to her. "I mean the sky's beautiful but it isn't really interesting — at least not at daytime."

"It's nothing."

Selina was about to ask him again when she heard Chris call out to them. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, we're coming," she yelled back while jogging back to the Winstons with her brother following.

⟳

The group had spent the rest of the day, playing some random games that Penelope had wanted to do, which were mostly stupid games, before it was time for dinner.

The four kids went to the dining room to find that Misses Scarlett had made one of Selina's favourite dishes — an easy salad, but she liked it nonetheless.

They sat down and began eating, it didn't take long before a conversation was started.

"So, Penelope, how's it going with school?" Misses Scarlett asked, looking at the younger girl.

"My grades are okay," she told the woman, while stopping with eating to reply, but was stopped by Chris with saying more as he coughed.

"You barely made it," he told her, making the younger girl look at him with narrowed eyes.

"So?" She asked and Selina was sure an argument was about to happen if someone didn't stop it. "I made it, so they're okay. Unlike you, who only barely passed his exams."

"So? I made it," he mimicked and Mister Scarlett seemed to notice the argument rising.

"The food's great, hun." The woman turned to her husband, a smile appearing on her face.

"Thank you, sweetie."

The Winston siblings must've realised how rude they had been as Chris apologised, while Penelope focused on her food. They all finished their food and the Scarlett parents began cleaning up while the others began talking.

"So, what are all of you planning to do now that you've finished school?" Chris asked, looking at the Scarlett siblings.

"I honestly haven't thought about it." A lie, Selina knew she had wanted to be a reporter at one of the magical papers, but how in Merlin's name could she tell that to a muggle?

"I'm thinking about becoming a lawyer," Alex told Chris, making Selina smile — Alex had always dreamed of protecting the innocent and this would be a perfect way to do that. "And you?"

Penelope seemed to notice that they were talking about something that she didn't care about as she told them, "I'm going to help your parents."

"I'm thinking about becoming a teacher," he told them when they heard a knock on the door, signalling that the Winston parents had arrived.

A growl was heard, making Selina wonder what was happening — why would someone growl?

She looked at the others and while Chris looked as confused as she was, Alex was staring at the door in horror. Just when he was about to stand up, the door to the dining room opened and there mother came in with bloody clothing. She had the urge to say 'bloody hell', but decided against it as she saw the serious look on the woman's face.

"You need to get out of here," she whispered and Selina noticed the door budge against her mother. "Go, I'll distract them!"

"What's happening?" Selina asked and noticed that none of the others had moved.

"You need to go, now!" She yelled, making the trio begin to move. Alex seemed to recover first as he grabbed both Selina's and Chris' arms and made them go through the kitchen and towards the yard.

Selina looked back one more time and what she saw would forever haunt her in her sleep — she watched as vicious creatures sinked their teeth in their mother's flesh.

"Selina," Alex yelled, having noticed her freeze. "We need to go!"

She let herself be dragged towards the fence of their backyard before finally gaining back control. The trio climbed over the fence and made their way over to the forest behind their house. Their worst nightmare had just come true and there was no going back — they had to find a way to survive in these dark woods.