Serenity | 1

THIRTY SIX

"Life Goes On"

May 1972, 5 months later

Since the death of Chadwick Rier, whispers consumed the wizarding world. There was talk of him being unable to forgive himself for the strain in the family; or that he had defied Lord Voldemort and paid the price (this, in particular, had triggered fear in plenty of witches and wizards). Then there was the much louder noise that came from Dara Rier- she often wandered Diagon alley and Knockturn alley in an attempt to find someone, anyone, who would believe her when she said that Serenity Rier had murdered him. That Serenity Rier had entered their home and massacred her grandfather in front of the entire family. She was dismissed by the ministry as a grieving woman, and again by Lord Voldemort, who preferred the thought of the seventeen-year-old's ruthless loyalty than the middle-aged witch running around like a loose pixie.

And then there was the rest of the family, discrediting every word Dara had said. Christian and Merritt had been with Hayley Symonds, who lived on the border of Scotland. Irene, Lucia, Dexter and Erin all claimed to have been in separate rooms at the time of his death while Cormac and Winston were busy exploring the forest.

Her ranting and raving had earned Dara a temporary room at St Mungo's hospital, where she was counselled and helped through the grief.

*

Upon returning to Hogwarts, there seemed to be hundreds of pairs of eyes on Serenity. She sat beside Lakita, as far away from her cousins as she could manage, eating in silence except for the occasional comment on her sister's ramblings. Once again, she was without Lucius and the gravity of her Christmas endeavours chewed away at her. He had held her every night, rocked her as she cried and whispered sweet nothings to calm her. They stayed in bed for the most part of their second week without Abraxas, having no motivation move their activities to any other room.

Now, however, she was thankful merely to have her back to the room. There was no way she could maintain eye contact with anyone for a prolonged amount of time. Professor Sprout had greeted her when she entered the castle and encased her in the warmest hug she had ever received, of course, she knew it was pity for the loss of her great grandfather but the sheer warmth filled her with hope that perhaps she had done the right thing. The feeling of being watched soon shrivelled that notion up.

During the welcoming feast after Christmas, four second-year Gryffindors had approached her. They were by far some of the loudest students in the hall and their approach was seen by the stares on her back. Serenity had glanced up to see the teachers table was in their own little world and then over to the boys.

One had dark, unruly hair and walked beside a shorter boy with darker and longer hair that bounced as he walked. The two of them were flanked by a lankier boy with a long face and a nervous disposition and a stout boy with a wicked grin. She knew, of course, that these boys had already received a reputation for being mischief makers and she had also dealt with them previously during a bullying incident.

The long-haired boy squeezed onto the bench between her and a sixth year Hufflepuff who cast an odd look at the boy. He rested his arm on her shoulder, having to stretch to reach as he sat comfortably. She would know that cheeky grin of his from anywhere because this was not some random Gryffindor, he belonged to the Black family and hence his true meaning in life was to make her life hellish.

"Serenity," he grinned.

"Sirius." She glanced up at Lakita, finding her sister to be diverting her gaze while sipping on pumpkin juice. Her grip on her knife and fork tightened as Sirius rested his head on her arm.