act one: the girl in the bubble
chapter four

September. The changing of the leaves. The slow turn from summer to fall. The beginning of school for young Witches and Wizards alike. Centuries had passed since Hogwarts had opened, and centuries had passed since the first family of the Black's and other pureblood families had gone to the school as well.

Hogwarts was a beginning for all sorts of people. Hogwarts was a place opened to muggle-borns, purebloods, and half-bloods alike. Giving them an education on how to defend themselves and the world that they lived in that was so different from the ones of muggles outside of the wizarding world.

Daphne had learned a lot in two years at Hogwarts. She had formed bonds that she never imagined she would have and she had slowly started to morph into a powerful young witch. Carrying with her the grace and kind heart that many of her family members in the past had lacked.

She had already packed for her third year of Hogwarts. A year she knew would be different as her Uncle was now her Professor. Things were changing, for better or for worse was a great question.

Sadly, upon the family's arrival home late in the morning, Rosalie had stayed up waiting. And like every night, a fight had broke out between the children and the parents.

"I'm tired of this! I'm sick of having a daughter who is as spoiled and uncaring as you are!" Rosalie yelled as she stood chest to chest with Daphne.

Despite how much Rosalie yelled at Daphne, the girl never matched her tone. She always kept a normal conversation.

"Do not talk to our daughter like that," Lucerys' tone became dark, he wasn't going to let this stand any longer.

"Listen to her! She runs her mouth so much but once someone finally tells her the truth she shuts up, she's a coward!" Rosalie spits down at her daughter.

"Says the woman who has to use any Slytherin she can find to determine her place. The old ways of pure-blooded houses for worth. You aren't even a pure blood," Daphne refused to let the tears flood her eyes in front of this woman.

"You skanky little bitch," Rosalie couldn't help but sneer down at the girl as she grabbed ahold of her hair, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Get off of her!" Atticus freaked out as he grabbed ahold of Rosalie's arm only to be shoved back.

Lucerys looked panicked as he tried to figure out a way to get the woman off of the girl without causing any physical harm.

Daphne felt immense pain within her head as she gripped harder. A few tears pricked her waterline as she let her head go back, giving up on fighting back against the grasp.

"Rosalie, let go of her," Lucerys snapped as he stared at the woman, moving to grab her wrist, "Let go of my daughter."

Atticus grabbed hold of Daphne as Lucerys managed to get the woman to let go. Atticus held his young sister close to him as he became insanely protective despite how many times she flinched and tried to fight against his grasp. Daphne's body shook lightly in the grasp of her brother. He pulled her out of the room, needing to get her out of there.

She didn't even make it up the stairs before her body just gave out. Atticus quickly moved to grab her so that she wouldn't fall back down or hit her head against any of the wood as sobs wracked her body.  Atticus moved his hand and she immediately moved her head, which caused tensions to rise as the yelling grew louder.

It wasn't until the yelling finally ended, Rosalie telling Lucerys to leave which caused him to go find his kids. Lucerys was quick to get the kids out of the Lupin-Black home.

"We're going somewhere, somewhere Atticus and I haven't been in a while," Lucerys looked between the two and carefully bent down to his daughter, "Come on. I've got you," He helped her up, ignoring the pain that resided over the entire family.

Daphne closed her eyes momentarily as her eyes felt as if a flame was being held close to them before she felt her body being lifted and taken from the home. The yelling of Rosalie wasn't even registered by her ears.

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Home of the old House of Black. It was the place where Lucerys and his brothers grew up.

Daphne pulled herself away from her father and her brother as she placed her hands on either side of her temples. Feeling the pain in her head got so intense that everything slowly faded from her mind.

"Daph," Her father's voice sounded faint,  "Shh sweet girl it's okay."

Daphne tried to fight against the pain in her head but it was too intense. It took a few minutes before she could push through it, still shrugging everyone off of her as she breathed heavily. Looking between her father and her brother as Lucerys looked beyond worried. He seemed scared to move from her side.

"I'll get the door," Atticus seemed slow to move as well before he stomped on the ground, methodically before all of the buildings began to move to showcase Number Twelve Grimmauld place.

Daphne forced herself to go and push past everyone as she entered the old Black family home. Wincing as voices began to play back in her head. She walked into the home, having to stop and lean against the door momentarily.

"It's just her trauma response," Atticus tried to relax Lucerys as he looked at the man, you can go get our stuff. I'll help her out."

Daphne felt the air in her lungs start to get away from her as her heart began to race. It was happening again. Oh god, no... Daphne wasn't sure she could go through this again. SHe wasn't even sure what it was or why it was happening. She didn't care whatever the world decided it wanted her to see. She wanted it to stop. 

"Are you sure?" Lucerys questioned as he looked worried, "It can wait..."

"I get she's your priority, as she is mine. We leave for school in less than twenty-four hours so go, I can calm her down," Atticus looked at the man, "Go."

Daphne looked at her cousin as she shook her head, her father hesitantly listening to the boy's words as he scrambled out of Grimmauld place as fast as he could so that he could collect their belongings. After all, he needed to get back to Daphne. What if Atticus couldn't get through to her? This was all so new...

Creak. Creak. BAM.

The girl looked back at the door before looking forward once again, the sounds of movement causing her to be filled with confusion. Yet, as she looked around it only furthered her confusion as she found herself caught back in time. Watching as a young pair of teenagers waltz around the halls. One reminding her heavily of Atticus with how sharp his features were and one looking similar to her.

"Hesper, we mustn't disclose this here," The boy spoke as he followed after the girl into the parlor.

The girl, presumably Hesper, turned around, her big skirt whacking against one of the walls, "Eduardus, if what I have prophesied as true... thy integrity of our house is in danger."

"We mustn't discuss this here, not in the open with thy prying ears," The Eduardus man seemed firm as he adjusted the hat atop his head.

"Damn it, Eduardus, thy daughter of raven and thy moon will come," The woman's face was full of rage, "Through thy lineage she will defy, a rare sight in thy making. Defiled with age but strong as our blood. Lady of the Night yet the protector of The Chosen..."

She tried to listen in but something inside of her was screaming. What did any of this mean? Why did all of this feel so familiar yet so...so archaic?

Daphne closed her eyes one moment and then she opened her eyes. Her breathing became a lot more rapid as she looked around, finding herself near the whomping willow at Hogwarts. The sky was dark, almost pitch black but a slight glow resided within it due to the luminescence of the moon. A full moon. And a pair of bright yellow eyes in front of her face.

Daphne tried not to freak out but she knew how her Uncle was in a werewolf state. This couldn't be him, could it? She feared what would happen to him and his problem at Hogwarts and this was not helping.

A pair of claws then swung at the girl's face causing her to fall on her back as she tried too hard to get back. Her fingers began to try and get it off of her, feeling an immense amount of pain within her face. Almost rivaling the one in her head.

"Daphne!" A grip resided on her wrists as it tugged against her as she continued to scratch at her face, needing to get it off of her, "Daphne stop! You're only hurting yourself!"

Daphne finally managed to stop as she finally felt her brother's hands against her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she looked around the home while Atticus held her hands tightly. Her mind was in some sort of jumbled labyrinth as she tried to get a better grip on herself mentally. Wincing at the stinging in her face.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Atticus questioned, slightly horrified by what he had just witnessed, "Do you even remember anything?"

"I didn't black out," Daphne shut that down before she looked at him, "Don't say a word to anyone about what just happened," The last thing she needed was this getting out and causing her to stay away from Hogwarts.

"Does an adult know about this? Daph, this is anything but normal! You just went bonkers," Atticus was clearly a little freaked out, "Spewing some nonsense about some raven and moon stuff and a chosen? What the bloody hell..."

"We'll discuss this another day," Daphne looked at him, "Swear to me you won't say a word," Daphne held out her hand as she looked at Atticus, "Uncle Remus knows."

"Uncle Remus? Bloody hell, Daph how long has this been happening?!" Atticus began to freak out as he rose to his feet alongside the girl.

"Just swear it! I'll answer everything," Daphne begged the older boy as she looked at him pleadingly, "Please."

"Fine, I swear," Atticus took the girl's hand once again as he shook his head before the door opened and in walked Lucerys.

"Merlin! Daphne, what happened to you, my sweet girl?" Lucerys dropped down their trunks while looking worried as he walked over.

"I fell into the doorframe," Daphne lied as she looked at her father, "I was just clumsy and it scraped me up."

The lie was not a good one. Daphne knew that but there was nothing better that she could've come up with in such a short time. Atticus didn't bat an eyelash at the lie, he didn't look amused and went with it. She was thankful that he had, the last thing she needed was Lucerys finding out about this little thing that had been happening.

"You can be so clumsy," Lucerys shook his head at the young girl as he hesitantly brushed a hand against her face, his frown deepening upon seeing her flinch.

Clumsy. And that's where she left him to wonder. Lucerys took the children to the rooms that they could stay in. The two ended up being left in Walburga and Orion Black's old room. Lucerys took note of his old room, telling his kids that if they needed him they'd know where to find him.

Atticus and Daphne laid in separate areas of the room all night. Both wide awake, despite the hour and knowing when they needed to be up once again to go off to school. Daphne sat up against the wall as she looked through the urging darkness.

"Care to explain about what happened now?" Atticus asked through the darkness, somehow knowing that the younger of the two was awake as well, "When did it start?"

Daphne let out a small sigh as she stayed where she was, "Not too long ago. It was the last time we went to Uncle Remus', it wasn't as bad as this one though."

"And you kept it between you and him? How incredibly stupid is that?" Atticus couldn't help but remark before realizing how mean it sounded, "I don't mean to sound mean, Daphne. It's just that I'm worried. If it truly wasn't that bad before and it is now... it's accelerating and accelerating quickly."

"With everything happening... in the context of our family as a whole, do we truly believe it is that important? Besides, it's just flashes of..." Daphne caused herself to stop talking, halting in her place as she slowly fell deeper into her bed.

"Flashes of what?" Atticus' voice was almost demanding and urgent, "Tell me, Daphne."

"Possible outcomes," Daphne's voice was quiet as she felt as if the darkness was eating her up, her hand slowly moving to touch the scratches down her face.

The silence became smoldering once Atticus had stopped talking. Almost as if a ghost had taken a pillow and held it down over Daphne's face, slowly taking all of the air from her lungs until she couldn't survive off of it anymore.

"That explains something about what you said earlier," Atticus finally spoke, speaking monotony which caused the girl to make a face, "Someone that's extremely rare."

"What do you mean it explains it?" Daphne asked, finding herself confused.

"A seer," Atticus finally spoke, "Which would explain a lot but it's incredibly rare. And it would only add to everyone's fear. If anyone knew... you easily could be more targeted than you already are," Atticus didn't seem fond of this outcome.

"A seer?" Daphne acted as if it was absurd, "Surely not. Let's just ignore it for now, besides, we've got school and we need to get some sleep."

"Daphne, we've been up for ages," Atticus deadpanned as he turned over, causing the floors to creak from beneath him.

"Maybe if you weren't so loud, we'd actually get some sleep," The girl couldn't help but mutter jokingly as she adjusted herself back into a sleeping position, "I'd rather not look dead upon my return to school."

"The scratches will give something away," Atticus joked as he sighed, "You need to tell me about this stuff. I need to be able to protect you, Daph."

"I don't need protection," Daphne muttered as she leaned into the pillow, "Who would want me?"

"Anyone who knows of your ability."

The next morning, Atticus' words stuck with Daphne. She knew that if anyone knew what had been happening with her it would cause quite a bit of trouble and that was the absolute last thing that she needed. She was keeping it quiet, and that was what she had to do.

Lucerys checked on both children and both noticed how his eyes were bloodshot as they took them to the train station. Lucerys helped take their luggage through the platform and get to the other side of nine and three-quarters. He stayed silent.

Placing a kiss on both of their heads as he smiled, "My sweet girl, my strong boy," it was almost like Lucerys was a shell of who he had been the night prior and the two teenagers couldn't blame him.

Daphne felt bad, knowing that she was also partially making him upset. Everytime he moved his hand she flinched, she couldn't help it. She wished she could but after that one time with her mother it was a reaction she couldn't stop.

"Have a great year, you two, and don't forget to write," Lucerys gave them a look as they walked towards the train.

"Yes, Uncle Luke!" Atticus waved as he disappeared onto the red train while Daphne waved from the door of the train.

"I will! Love you, Dad!" Daphne called out before entering the train fully as she looked for her friends.

"Honestly Ron, it's not funny. Harry was lucky enough to not be expelled," Hermione's voice caught the girl's attention.

Harry's eyes caught with Daphne's gaze as he smiled and forced her to join his side in the tight squeeze of a hall, "I think I was lucky enough to not be arrested actually."

The way he looked at her reminded her of the letter. The letter he had sent to her and made her wait upon opening. She felt stupid to have forgotten about it now but with everything that had been happening to her recently, she wasn't exactly mad about forgetting it.

"I still think it was brilliant," Ron grinned like a little kid as he spoke, holding Scabbers close to him within his coat.

They stopped in front of a compartment where it took Daphne a moment to realize who sat in one of the seats. Remus Lupin sat on the wall with his coat shielding his face. Presumably in a slumber as he made no movement as the four teenagers looked in and opened the door.

"Come on, everywhere else is full," Hermione spoke as she walked into the compartment first, pushing the door aside and taking a seat closest to the door on the opposite side of Remus.

"Who do you think that is?" Ron asked as he took a seat on the same row as Hermione while Daphne took a seat closest to Remus and Harry sat at her side.

"My Uncle," Daphne spoke but was also mixed with Hermione.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione answered as she looked up top at the man's trunk.

"How'd you know everything?" Ron's voice went a few octaves higher as he spoke while Harry finished pushing his belongings above the three, "How is it she knows everything?" He repeated his question.

Daphne couldn't help but have a small grin knowing that this year was going to be one that she would remember. For better or for worse, she'd have her friends by her side and figure out yet another mystery that would start the next journey.