Serenity | 1

THIRTY SEVEN

"I Love My Treasure"

31 August 1973, 1 year later

Being a Hogwarts graduate was not preferable at all. Julia did her best to keep Serenity and Lakita home, especially since Logan and Lucas had cut ties with her. It wasn't hard at all for her to succeed with keeping Serenity considering she had hardly left her room since she completed her NEWTs with 'exceeds expectations' in transfiguration and astronomy, 'acceptable' in defence against the dark arts and herbology and 'poor' in potions- much to the dismay of Professor Slughorn.

Serenity's connection with Lucius had all but ceased, he had sent her a few letters until her exams started and had even waited in Hogsmeade to hand deliver one. Instead of meeting Serenity, as he had hoped, he only met Merritt, who then had to pass it on to Lakita. Upon exiting the train at platform 9 and 3/4, Serenity had spotted him waiting by a pillar. She inadvertently ignored him, too aware of his posture straightening and his gaze remaining on her as she and Lakita moved to find their mother.

While she had applied at the ministry for Auror training, her NEWT results were unacceptable. Lakita, however, spent most of her days at St Mungo's training to be a healer. The rejection letter that more-or-less came from her own father dug deeper at the wounds she already had. At this point she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, her family was falling apart at the seams. Erin had told her in a recent letter that Dara was dominating the house, Irene was growing wearier by the day and Lucia often engaged them in disputes. Of course, Christian and Merritt were further north of the country with Hayley and now that Chadwick was out of the way, what else was there to do.

The Dark Lord's patience is sure to wear thin if Serenity continued to pick away at his death eaters. With nothing dire to consume her thoughts anymore, and no work to occupy each passing day, she spent a lot of time lying on her bed in a room that once belonged to her brothers reading through old letters when life was so much easier. And if she wasn't reading? Well, the images that tended to occupy her mind were always unsettling.

Spending her birthday in bed with a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and her wand tip illuminated yet dulled by the bed covers. She scowled at the front page of the Daily Prophet, where a small headline waved up at her 'Juliet Law and Vaughn Floyd return... with a ring?'. It seemed as though they simply couldn't wait to return from wherever they had disappeared to. Serenity, flipping through the pages to find the article, shoved a handful of jelly beans in her mouth and flinched at the mixture of pleasant and equally unpleasant flavours. There it was, the two had reappeared in Hogsmeade a few days ago and had happily informed the first reporter to ask that they'd had a small wedding- a wedding Serenity had not been invited to.

Tearing the page away and bunching it in her fist, she opened her palm and watched as it spontaneously burst into flames. The fire licked at her hand yet did not burn her and the heat warmed up her cold cheeks. Once the parchment was rendered to nothing but ash, she sprinkled it over the rest of the newspaper and folded it, so she didn't make a mess.

A knock from the door interrupted her as she continued to glare at the pile of parchment that now rested on her bedside table. She called out for them to come in, expecting Julia. She didn't look away from the picture on the front page of the newspaper. The newly trained Aurors, whose faces she knew far too well. They waved at her, smiling and brandishing their licenses, mocking her as they had the day they received their NEWT results.

"Is this the wrong time?" She looked up, eyes wide, breath catching in her throat at the sound of his voice. The light from the hallway filtered in around him, shadowing his face as he walked into the room. Raising her wand, the silver light showed the nervous smile on his face and the plate in his hand. "I made you a sandwich, squashed down flat... just how you like it, right?" She didn't speak as he put the plate down atop the newspaper and sat on the edge of the bed. Despite how much she tried, she couldn't form any words for him. Her heart was in her throat as she watched him wring his hands- never before had Serenity seen Lucius be as nervous as he was now. He didn't speak for a moment, staring at the floor, the limited light in the room made his features appear sharper than usual but, as he finally met her eyes, he was undoubtedly the same Lucius she had left a year ago. "I was going to bring you a birthday present but I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me." Her chest heaved yet she remained silent. "Julia said you haven't left your room for a while, I would've come sooner but she warned me against it."

Serenity felt as though she should be crying. Her body yearned for him, her mind silenced in his presence. But she didn't cry anymore. Instead, she felt heavy. Every movement was slow and sluggish, as though she was suddenly carrying a second body with her wherever she went.

"I missed you." Her voice was small, quiet and weak. She pushed herself to sit up and placed her hand over his. Squeezing her hand, he shuffled closer.

"I should have kept writing to you, kept trying to see you." He searched her face. "You're not well, Serenity." She smiled, offering him the box of beans.

"I've been worse, Lucy." He took the box from her, closing it and placing it to the side. He began to hug her, with one arm at first in case she pushed him away, but as soon as his hand touched her shoulder she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and held him close. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, smiling for the first time since Chadwick's death. "I wish there was more to me than just being the witch who went crazy." He leaned back, stroking her hair away from her face and shaking his head.

"You're not crazy, who told you that?"

"Andromeda, apparently it's in all of the gossip magazines... and the Daily Prophet." He shook his head once again.

"You shouldn't listen to her, you can't trust mudblood sympathizers." He draws her back in for a hug, running his hand up and down her back. "A change of scenery might motivate you, help you see the you I see."

"Who do you see?"

"A strong, independent woman who is incredibly brave and cares very deeply for her family. I still see that confident girl you were the first day we met, when you proved all of my doubts wrong. Even now, when you're beat down and suffering, I can still see that same irresistible smile that you only ever gave me. I know who you are, I have always known. She simply got lost in the midst of growing up." Serenity looks up, a small smile on her face. She kisses his lips gently, almost hesitant after not seeing him for so long. "Come stay at the manor with me." He mumbled, resting his forehead against hers and feeling her nod.

"I would like that."