Serenity | 1

TWO

"Faeries"

17 years earlier, July 1965

The Rier estate was exactly what it sounded like. It was a big place.

Barricaded by towering steel gates guarded by two wizards at any one time, the entirety of the Rier family lived on the estate as their ancestors had for millennia before them. It was centred around a large stone fountain that never froze or ran out of the water- even in the colder months. Said fountain was neatly carved to match the fountain in the ministry of magic, only, this one was smaller. Stone figures representing muggles and the like strained at beneath the square base of the statue above, their faces contorted into painful expressions and their bare bodies arched uncomfortably. A neatly trimmed square hedge encircled the edge of the fountain, burying it into the gravel of the driveway.

Around the edge of the large circular driveway, the gravel crunched in what seemed to be open air. The huffing of equines fill the air despite none being present... or so it seemed. Thestrals snacked from the troughs lining the outside of the driveway as they waited for their carriages to become occupied.

A grand manor house occupied the majority of the land, its large wooden doors opening into a grand entryway with a central staircase that stretched the width of a hearse. The house stretched off in several directions. With ten bedroom suites, five bathrooms, two dining rooms, three lounging areas, a kitchen, a library and several studies, the family had more than enough room. Several guest houses littered the acres of land behind the house, each garden following down to a dark forest containing all sorts of wild beasts. Sometimes the especially friendly centaurs would wander out to play with the children during the day and at night they would spot the occasional unicorn grazing along the border or even a faerie.

It had become commonplace to give the children bedrooms with a view of the forest, they enjoyed the anticipation that came with possibly seeing a magical beast.

One particular afternoon, after lessons had ended, Serenity and her cousins were gathered in hers and her sister's room. The eleven-year-old was the eldest of her cousins and so, she had been the first to claim the largest room available. Well... her father had. Between the Riers, there were four generations: Great Grandpa Chadwick, Grandpa Reglin and Grandma Marjorie and their children Lucia, Irene, Christian and Dara, finally, there was the cousins, Serenity, Erin, Cormac, Winston, Merritt and Dexter.

Sharing a room with her sister wouldn't have been Serenity's most desired living situation, however, she stuck with it and her willingness for Hogwarts to start sooner. Sitting in the cushion of her window alcove, playing with her sister's hair, she patiently watched the window as the others did. Erin and Dexter were playing a particularly calm game of thumb wars while twins Cormac and Winston wrestled each other on the ground below them because Winston's knight had wrongfully taken out Cormac's queen. Erin had scolded the twins plenty of times on their logic over Wizard's chess, the ten-year-old, wiser than her years, was forever scoffing and rolling her eyes at her cousins.

"We've been over this, 'Mac, you can't make accidents happen in Wizard's chess. It's enchanted so that only legal moves work." The twins stopped rolling around on the floor and looked up at her. She shook her head, blonde hair tickling her chin as she stood up to sit next to the game board. Glancing from the game to Cormac, she smirks. "No one likes a sore loser, Cormac." Standing up defensively, the eight-year-old puffs out his chest- he'd underestimated the ten-year-old's height.

"No one likes a know-it-all, 'Rin." He grins cheekily up at her, watching as she bites her cheek in annoyance. Silently huffing, Erin spins on her heel and sits herself back down next to Dexter. "I win." High fiving his brother, the two move to sit back down to their game.

Eyes wide, it took Winston a few seconds to register the blur of blonde hair in front of him as a bundle of brother and cousin graced the room. From behind, Erin had launched herself at Cormac. She tickled him relentlessly, struggling as he squirmed and giggled in her grasp. For a long time, that's all that happened.

Erin would tickle Cormac while the other twin simply watched on in amusement. Dexter ignored them and watched as Serenity began to braid Merritt's hair.

As the eleven-year-old ran her fingers through her little sister's dark hair, she listened to her younger sister and cousin mindlessly chat with each despite the kerfuffle happening on the floor. As Erin cried out when Cormac's foot connected with her nose, the room fell silent. Looking over at Serenity, Erin pointed an accusing finger at the surprised twin.

"He kicked me!" In response, Cormac quickly pointed back.

"She tickled me!" Glaring back at him, she watched as Cormac squirmed away and behind Winston.

"I didn't break your nose." Cradling her face, she looks back up to see Serenity moving to crouch in front of her.

"Remember what Grandpa taught us about healing magic?" Erin nods carefully, tears quivering in the crevice of her eyes. "Good," Serenity's voice was quiet and calm, as though she was comforting a scared creature rather than her cousin who was less than a year younger, "why don't you give it a try?" Nodding carefully, once again, Erin closes her eyes.

After a few moments of cupping her hands around her nose, a white light flashed through her fingertips and a snapping sound resonated around the room. The five uninjured children hissed at the sound and recoiled, only moving back when Erin uncovered her face to reveal her nose to be bloody yet no longer broken.

"I did it!" Everyone clapped her and praised her for what she'd accomplished, for years she'd been trying to build her skill at healing magic and, finally, she did it.

A tapping at the window startled them all.

Merritt squealed, she sat up on her knees excitedly and pressed her palms against the window.

"Wow!" Rushing over to the window, everyone witnessed the tiny faerie tapping out rhythms on the window and waving at the children. Everyone watched in awe at the faerie until Merritt scrambled at the window. "Can we let her in?"

"No!" Dexter and Erin grasped her arms and dragged her away from the window. "Faeries are impulsive and sometimes even dangerous. Grandma would kill us if we let it in and lost it or it broke something. No, Merritt, the faerie stays outside."

"Right, sorry."