"Mother"

June 1966

Leaning against the window and thumbs twiddling in her lap, Serenity sat in a compartment with her newly-discovered siblings on the Hogwarts Express. As the rumbling of the train rattled the glass of the window against her head Lakita's rambling were distant and sounded as though Serenity had been submerged in water.

An unusual sensation in her mind drew her back to reality. The feeling of someone knocking lightly against the side of her skull forced her eyes to look at the compartment; where Lakita was still rambling about nothing and Lucas was asleep with his feet tucked onto the seat beneath him, Logan was watching her with a look that screamed for her attention. With a sigh, Serenity nodded her head and allowed him in.

"How are you feeling?" His voice was strangely hollow as it echoed around her mind. As an experienced legilimens, she'd expected something more from him and, yet, she remained content with it.

"I'm fine." Her response silenced Lakita. The blonde looked between the two and shut her mouth. Serenity smiled kindly at her sister, gradually coming to terms with the fact that this girl was in fact her twin sister. "I'm going to meet my mum."

***

When the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross Station the laughter in their compartment died quickly. While the twins collected all four bags and hastily left to find their mother Serenity slumped down in her seat suddenly.

"What are you doing?" Lakita wondered as she hovered by the door.

"I can't do it." The brunette whispered. She felt frozen to her spot as if she would remain for eternity a slumped and terrified pre-teen. "What if she doesn't like me?" She cast her eyes up to the only identical feature she held with her sister. Raising her hands, a wand in one hand and the other empty, she shakes her head. "What if she thinks I'm like my dad? I mean- I'm not but I... I am..." Lakita sighs and drops back into the seat beside her.

"Well, there's only one way to find out. Besides," she nudges her sister with her leg, "we can't stay here long else we're going all the way back to Hogsmeade." Stifling a short giggle, Serenity shuffles awkwardly and nods hesitantly.

"Fine. Help me up." Pulling her to her feet, Lakita ushers Serenity ahead of her in order to stop her from falling behind. With one final playful shove, Lakita forced Serenity to the open exit.

Catching herself on the handle by the door, Serenity scans the crowds. Students from each year and house were embracing their parents, muggle and purebloods alike. By one brick pillar, she saw Juliet tightly encased in the arms of her mother and father, not too far away she also noticed Lucius awkwardly greeting his own father who was more interested in what Cygnus Black had to say. Bellatrix had caught Serenity's eye, the Slytherin girl nodded towards the train a few compartments away. Glancing over, Serenity saw Christian Rier. Her breath caught in her throat as she stumbled off the train.

He had seen her already yet made no move toward her. Instead, his eyes were locked somewhere behind her now.

"Is that her?" Turning slowly, Serenity found herself being approached by a tall woman with a pointed nose and dirty blonde hair. Her forehead was abnormally large yet those same hazel eyes her three other children had grinned down at her. "Serenity?" Nodding and swallowing the lump in her throat, she offers a small smile. The tall woman places a hand on either of her shoulders before running one long finger down her cheek. "You're so beautiful." As she began to blubber, Julia Penniman wrapped her lanky arms around the brunette in front of her, unaware of the girl's father disappearing back through the crowds with a distraught expression and an aching heart. "I thought I would never see you again."

"You-you're really my mum?" With a single nod and teary eyes as confirmation when Julia pulled away, Serenity smiled through the emotion bubbling up in her as a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill. "I didn't think I would ever meet you." As the eleven-year-old cried, she found herself back in the warm embrace of the woman she could now call her mother.

Beside them, Lakita looked away from the scene and almost immediately her smile faltered. Logan was nudging Lucas and holding his palm out, the latter simply rolls his eyes and digs 5 galleons from his pocket and slaps it into his brother's hand. She can't help but roll her eyes when Logan smirks and playfully musses his brother's hair.