Serenity | 1

THIRTY FIVE

"Favourite Grandchild"

The letter had reached Serenity within a day. She had been exchanging gifts with Lucius after they woke up in time for lunch. The Malfoys' house-elf, Dobby, had made them sandwiches and a bowl of assorted fruits. To Serenity's surprise, the sandwiches seemed to be efficiently squashed, which made her wonder what else the elf heard last night. The owl that had flown through the window was undeniably the Rier owl and the handwriting was easily recognisable as Merritt's. For the time being, however, she tucked the letter away with the present her father had sent.

Finishing her sandwich, she nodded and waved her hand as she waited to swallow the mouthful.

"Okay," she pauses for a moment, thinking, "favourite charm?" Lucius leans back, wiggling his toes in the thick socks she had charmed to keep his feet toasty. He leans his head back in thought, the sunlight catching the pale blonde of his hair where it hung close to his elbows.

"Um, colloshoo." Lowering her eyebrows and eating a grape, glancing around momentarily, she misses his smirks. Then, whispering the spell under her breath, she gasps and looks up at him with wide eyes.

"That's the stickfast hex! I said charm." His laughter echoes around the room, and she tosses a grape over to him. "Shut up," she crosses her arms with a pout, waiting for him to calm down. Nodding, he hiccoughs around his final few giggles and directs his gaze to her.

"Alright, fine. Favourite subject and why?" It was his turn to eat while she inevitably gave him a misdirected answer.

"Transfiguration," she smiled, "it's the only subject I struggle with because I actually have to use my wand- I can't fake it. Human transfiguration is the best, although I haven't quite mastered it yet. I did manage to give a first year Gryffindor antlers at one point because he was picking on a first year Slytherin. The Gryffindor and his mates soon scurried away and I've been trying to catch the Slytherin kid for a while now, but he always manages to slip away... makes me wonder if it's something to do with all of the grease in his hair." She scrunches up her nose momentarily, remembering a moment where light had reflected off of the boy's head one time. Part of her wondered if he ever washed his hair. Lucius, however, was grinning silently as he watched her reminisce.

"You know you don't have to master every spell right?" She leans forward to rest her arms on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I do. What's the point in learning something if you can't use it to its full potential. It makes no sense." As she shook her head, her eyes kept catching the small box and the envelope by the Christmas tree. She hadn't spoken to Merritt much, but their conversation about her mother still made her skin crawl. By a force greater than her own, Serenity snatched up the letter and tore through the wax seal of the Riers and scanned over the letter before reading it again carefully.

'Serenity, I don't know how long it will take for you to get this but I hope it's very soon.

Dad, Haley and I are staying in the back guest house on the estate. Aunt Lucia invited us and used concealment and protection charms to hide us from Great Grandfather and Aunt Dara. I was planning to write to you tomorrow to wish you merry Christmas but this is urgent.

I do hope your Christmas is merry but I have just witnessed the most terrifying thing. I don't believe I will sleep at all until we return to Haley's cottage.

You see, I left the house last night and snuck up to the house- the downstairs study was lit up and the light was casting some curious shadows, so I had to see what was going on. I looked through the window and the room must have been soundproofed because I could hardly hear what they were saying, if at all. But what I saw was horrible. Merlin, Serenity, you have to help.