CHAPTER ONE
baked secrets.

SUMMER WAS ALMOST OVER and for the first time ever, Edith dreaded it.

Back home in the muggle world of England was Edith Pettigrew seated on a cushioned banquette. The sun peaked through the window on her left which brightened up the small area she was comfortably seated in, with her back laid against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. In both hands were one of her favorite books, Pride and Prejudice. However, her gaze was off of the open book and focused on the view outside her window, deep in thought.

Despite from her unfinished homework, Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban had taken a great toll on her for the past few weeks. The moving picture of the shabby-haired man hasn't left her mind when she read the news of his escape. He was sentenced to Azkaban for murdering thirteen people and one of them being her father, Peter Pettigrew.

She knew of the man and what he'd done to her father — her grandmother made sure she knew. On the other hand, her Aunt Nora rarely spoke of the cause. The subject being too difficult to discuss.

"Sirius Black is a sick man. Your father did not deserve to suffer in his hands." Was all her aunt would tell her.

Yet, it also left Edith questioning. What about her mother? Was she also killed by Sirius Black?

Her mother, Eloise Mavin, was murdered a month before her father was killed. But there was no reason found as to why or who killed her. Though with Sirius Black's killing streak, Edith figured she already knew the answer to that.

"Edith?"

A familiar voice shook Edith from her thoughts. She glanced away from the window turning to see her Aunt Nora, who stood not too far from her, brows furrowed with a look of concern.

"Yes? Sorry," Edith sat up from her lying position as she closed her book, giving her full attention. "Is everything alright?"

A second passed by before Nora gave out a small chuckle, "I was going to ask you that." She walked towards her niece, motioning her hands at her to make room on the small cushion.

Once seated comfortably, they both moved in sync; Nora laid her head on Edith's shoulder, while Edith's head moved to lay against her aunt's.

A content sigh left the both of them.

Ellinor — Nora— Mavin, was the sister to her late mother, which made her the aunt and Godmother to Edith. She gained custody of Edith after the news of Peter Pettigrew's death. So, Nora made sure to do her best to raise her niece. Although, it was not easy for a nineteen-year old squib to raise a child by herself — so, Matilda Pettigrew (Nan or Missus Pettigrew, she liked to be called), had stepped in to help raise her grandchild. Nora's parents had already passed a few years before, leaving just the three of them. But no matter the circumstance, they made sure that their little girl was raised with love and care.

And Edith couldn't have been more grateful.

"Are you scared?" Edith asked, breaking the comfortable silence. Her voice shook slightly, revealing her distress from the reoccurring events.

She felt her aunt tense against her for a moment. Then suddenly, arms engulfed her sides in hopes to give her comfort — which it did, a bit.

"Terrified," Nora admitted as she rubbed Edith's arms soothingly. "But I've learned that fear won't get us anywhere in life. We'll just have to overcome it eventually."

Edith just nodded in reply, her thoughts taking over her once more. She'd wondered if Black's escape was to get revenge on those who locked him away for so long. Maybe murder more innocent people...even her.

"Do you...do you think he'll come after me?"

Edith's question caught Nora off guard. She lifted her head up to look at Edith who was now staring down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. Nora placed her hand atop of Edith's with a shake of her head, "I won't let that happen to you, ever. Okay?"

She brought a hand up to brush the bundles of curls to the side as she caressed Edith's cheek. "When your nan and I took you in, we swore to always keep you safe and out of harms way—I will never break that promise."

Those words were enough to reassure Edith in that moment. She looked up at her aunt and gave her a small smile, then laid her head against her shoulder with a small sigh, "I know, and I love you both for it."

Nora wrapped an arm around her and gave her a soft squeeze, "You know, when you were born, you looked exactly like your mother; Tan skin, adorable dark curls. Then, when you opened your eyes, they were a beautiful light shade of blue just like—"

"My father." Edith finished off with a knowing smile.

Aunt Nora looked down and softly smiled as she held her niece tighter, "Yes, just like your father."

Edith had been told many times from her nan and aunt, sometimes others, that she was a carbon copy of her mother but her eyes were exactly like her father's. But she never grew tired from it, instead, she always took pride in it.

"Gosh, I remember how much your mum would fuss over you, always making sure you were taken good care of." Nora tilted her head, the memories playing in her head. "She really loved you, even more than me."

A soft chuckle left Edith's lips, with Nora following along. She let a playful smile grace her face, "I'm sure she loved you as equally."

Nora playfully rolled her eyes and gently nudged Edith's shoulder, causing a few more giggles to erupt from the girl and soon both fell into a fit of laughter. Moments like this were Edith's favorite—happy, carefree laughter filling the house, brightening it even more.

For the past thirteen years, Edith lived in England. She grew up in a small, but crowded, neighborhood. Fortunately for her, most of her neighbors were very nice and welcoming. There weren't much kids around her age to play with, so, she stayed inside most of the time; helping her Aunt Nora bake a few sweets and talk with her nan about books she had read.

When Edith took her timely breaks from reading, she would keep herself occupied in the kitchen. She learned that baking was traditional in their family, that it ran through many generations. She also discovered that her mother took onto that tradition and was, in fact, amazing at it. Aunt Nora soon followed along, and now it was Edith's turn to keep that tradition alive.

And Edith fell in love with baking. The process of it was time consuming, yes, but she was taught that having patience made things much more easier and worth the wait.

"I was thinking 'bout cleaning up the attic," Nora gave Edith one last squeeze before getting up from the soft cushion, "It's been a while since I've been up there and your nan has been bugging me to get on with it. But I'll need an extra hand, so best do it before she gets back from the shop, yeah?"

Edith gave a small nod and stood up from the banquette, hesitantly following her aunt down the hallway. She had never been in their attic before, besides her aunt and nan. Not that she wasn't allowed to, but because the room held so many memories of her late parents she chose to disregard it — knowing that if she hadn't, she'd never want to leave.

But her aunt was right, she would have to get over her fears eventually.

ABOUT TWO HOURS PASSED BY, and the attic was now way more clean than how it was before. When they had entered the dust-filled room, stacked boxes were piled in different areas accompanied by a few cobwebs along with some old books that were cluttered on the floor.

Edith took to dusting the walls and sweeping the floor, while Nora sorted through the heavy boxes.

Now, the two were seated against the cleaned walls, peaking inside the boxes that surrounded them. They went through a few that were mostly packed with vinyl records. Most were filled with ABBA (Edith's all time favorite), Queen, and The Beatles. She could tell that most of the collection were from her late father.

They rummaged through a new box expecting to find more records. But instead, it was packed with a load of different-sized books, all piled among each other.

"Blimey, I've been looking all over for this!" Nora exclaimed excitedly as she took out a dark brown, thick-covered book. Edith peered at it curiously; there were small pieces of paper sticking out of the pages, a few were bent. Nora flipped the book over on its front, "Baked Secrets: The Mavin's" printed boldly on the center of the hard cover.

Edith tilted her head. They had a Cook Book?

Nora could sense Edith's confusion and moved closer so she had a better look at the book. "Your mum and I wrote this book for people who were interested in baking. We added a few of our favorite recipes for them to try out," Nora continued as she ran a hand on the front cover. "But after her passing, I wasn't...I didn't have much motivation to finish it."

Edith noticed her aunt's eyes build up tears as they were still focused on the cover, but none fell. Her fingers softly caressing the small words underneath the title, Written by: Eloise and Ellinor Mavin.

"Can you read some of it to me?"

Nora looked to her niece and gave her a sad smile, nodding softly. But before they got a chance to open the book, a shouting voice interrupted them from below.

"NORA?! EDITH?! CAN SOMEONE HELP ME WITH THE BAGS, PLEASE?!"

The loud voice of Missus Pettigrew snapped the two from their exploring. Nora quickly placed the cook book back into the box before shouting in reply, "WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE!"

Edith took a quick glance back at the book, I'll get it later. She made her way towards the ladder after her aunt climbed down. But not before noticing a box was right in front of her and ended up knocking into it, prompting her to almost fall over. The box then fell frontward from the impact, following along with a small thud.

Edith ignored the small mess — making a mental note to clean it up later — then made her way down the ladder, carefully climbing down.

As she entered the kitchen, she walked towards her grandmother and kissed her cheek before grabbing the grocery bags from her. Edith let out a puff of air, "How many supplies did you buy, Nan?"

"Enough for all of us to eat for a while," Missus Pettigrew sat down on a chair close by with a huff as she fanned herself. "I hate going to that shop. Too many people," she mumbled under her breath, bitterly.

Edith placed the heavy bags on top of the kitchen counter next to her Aunt Nora. The two gave each other a knowing smile as they passed the food supplies to put away. Missus Pettigrew wasn't really a social person. She'd rather stay inside and keep herself company with the television on as she chewed on some lemon drops. But when she had to go out, it would only be for emergencies — which, as of right now, was their need for food.

"Did you finish your assignments, Edith?" The dark-haired girl paused momentarily at her nan's question. She completely forgot about it. She swiped at her nose before looking up at her with a nod.

"Almost." It was partly true. She only worked on one of the few pages that still needed to be completed. But it was better than nothing. She had quite a few things on her list that kept her busy during the summer — and homework wasn't a part of that list.

Her nan looked at her, eyes squinting. "Don't lie to me."

Edith blew out a breath, "Okay, no — well, I worked on one? But I swear I'll get it done before the year starts."

"You better, or you're not stepping a foot into this kitchen until you do so," Missus Pettigrew told her, pointing a finger at her granddaughter in warning.

"How do you always know when I'm lying?" Edith folded her arms in defeat. Everytime she would avoid telling the truth, her nan could always tell. Edith first thought that her grandmother was a Legilimency, but was soon proved wrong when she couldn't guess what number Edith was thinking of between one to ten.

"You swipe your nose before you tell a lie," Missus Pettigrew told her, swiping at her own nose in example, "exactly how your father would."

Edith looked at her surprised. She rarely heard about sharing the same traits as her father, except when it came to her eyes.

"Really?"

From beside her, Nora scoffed out a laugh, "Yes, really."

A small smile made a way onto her nan's face, "You may look like your mother, dear, but you did inherit your father's quirks."

Edith let a wide grin tease her lips. It made her  happy knowing that she had a mix of her parents in her. Feeling as if they were truly with her, always.

"Oh, Edith, could you bring down the cook book from the attic?" Aunt Nora asked her, now washing the dirty dishes in the sink.

Edith nodded and made her way to her nan, giving her another peck on the cheek, before making her way down the hallway again.

Missus Pettigrew watched her granddaughter walk off then turned to face Nora, a knowing look on her face, "Baked secrets?"

Nora looked up from the sink. Her eyes grew softer as she nodded with a smile, which earned her a warm smile in return.

        HUH.

That was the only word that Edith could think of when she stumbled upon the small mess she may have accidentally made when she tripped on one of the boxes a while ago. But her gaze was rather focused on a bright coloured book that stood out from the others, which were piled around it.

Slightly distracted, she picked up the book hesitantly. Looking at it up close, its features grew more clear; the cover was just as thick as the cook book her Aunt found, but instead of its dark-brown color it was a warmer shade of blue. It was also smaller in size, more similar to a journal.

Small fingers ran across the front cover, feeling the leathery material. Then suddenly, Edith felt little bumps underneath her finger tips that moved towards the bottom right of the book. She drew the book closer, focused on the cursive engraving as she read the following words,

Eloise Harper Mavin.

Her blue eyes widened, this journal belonged to her mother.

Edith flipped the book on its side attempting to open it, but it didn't budge. She tried again, but the cover stayed shut as if the pages were all glued together. Weird, she thought. She couldn't use her magic outside of school, so she mustered up whatever strength she could to open the book a third time. But again, the book stayed stubbornly closed.

"EDITH?! YOU OKAY?! ARE YOU STILL UP THERE?!"

Edith jumped at her aunt's shouting. She let a curse slip from her mouth before quickly shoving the book underneath her sweater — praying to Merlin it wouldn't fall out as she made her way towards the ladder.

"YES! I'M ON MY WAY DOWN!"

Edith moved the box to the side, not wanting to trip over it again, and grabbed the cook book before making her way down the ladder. But if she had stayed a moment longer, she would've noticed another book had fell out. Small words glowed for a split second in the same spot where her mothers name was engraved.

However, it read of another name,

Edith Helena Pettigrew.

Gosh, this took forever to get done.

Again, sorry for the long wait 😭. literally i had to rewrite and revise and change this chapter because some parts didn't make sense and it felt too short for me. So, it's finally finished and now I can write her journey into Hogwarts.

Updates for this book will be slow, unfortunately, since my motivation is all over the place. But I will do my best to make sure I don't abandon this book. Edith is literally my baby.

This chapter was basically a little fill in on how Edith's life was with her Aunt and Grandmother, & how she feels after Sirius Black's escape.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this!