"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.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he pouted and reached up to pat her head, "I know how much you loved him." As he continued to ruffle her hair, the sniggers from the three other boys seemed to encourage him to test her limits. "You know, I overheard mum talking about your Aunt Dara the other day. She said they admitted her to St Mungo's because she's been accusing you of- well," he glanced around, understanding that prying ears would not go well for either of them, and cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper in her ear, "murder." He leaned back to see her reaction. "Must have been a family effort, I suppose? If you all managed to discredit her." Nothing.

The cutlery hung loose in her grip and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Serenity did not look at Sirius, instead, she stabbed at her food with her fork and continued eating. With a disappointed huff, Sirius left her and returned to the Gryffindor table with his friends.

*

With only a month until her final Newt exams, Serenity was taking a break from her studying to take a leisurely stroll into Hogsmeade. Lucius was scheduled to meet her at the Three Broomsticks for a late lunch, but the thought of eating anything made her feel sick to the stomach. For months, she had not been feeling her healthiest and had visited Madam Knaggs multiple times. Each time she had been diagnosed with stress and the simple remedy of rest and taking a break from her studies for a day or two.

Her date with Lucius marked the first day of her break, the fresh air comforted her and gave her space to think which hadn't led to a downward spiral of self-hatred. She almost wished she didn't have a time limit, or curfew. She wanted to keep walking until she hit the edge of the earth if such a thing existed. But she had commitments to uphold, people she would hate to disappoint.

Taking her seat across from him in a booth, she hadn't realised she had been holding her breath until he took hold of her hands from across the table.

"How are you?" Her breath was shaky, memories of Christmas day and the week following flashing through her mind. They had four weeks together, four weeks in Malfoy Manor, and yet she could only think of how they spent New Year's Eve in bed while she screamed as he restrained her from rubbing at her palms before she scrubbed the skin off. "Serenity?" Refocusing her gaze, she looks up from the table and flashes a weak smile.

"I'm good." He smiles sadly, an expression she hated to see partnered with the black shirt and suit he wore.

"You look ill, my love." Shaking her head, she glances around at the surrounding tables. For a moment she could only imagine that they look like a couple in mourning. But they weren't a random couple, people knew their faces, their social lives. Everything that happened to the Riers or the Malfoys or even the Blacks made it into the Daily Prophet. There was no doubt the two of them would make the front page the moment a whirlwind of drama hit them.

"Madam Pomfrey- the new matron- says it's stress. Professor Sprout has started giving me chocolate whenever she sees me." Lucius's hand trailed up to her face where he swiped a tear from her cheek. For a moment, Serenity was confused. Why was she crying? She had no reason to cry. She swiped at her eyes, her hands coming away damp. "My body is betraying me." She forced a short laugh as she continued to wipe her eyes, ignoring Lucius' worried stare.

"Aw, is Serenity crying?" Narcissa slid into the booth beside Lucius, trapping him as she pouted at Serenity. "What did you say to make that happen, Malfoy, I've been trying to do that for years." She gasps. "Did you two break up?"

Serenity's eyebrows lowered, confused and dazed by the speed at which Narcissa was talking. Her appearance had been so sudden the two of them were shocked into silence. Narcissa grinned, finding her own answer in the stunned silence and turned to Lucius. He leaned again the wall, equally confused as Serenity. And more so when Narcissa kissed him.

Serenity's mouth dropped open, watching as Narcissa kissed his still mouth. She scrambled from the booth, already leaving the inn and missing the moment Lucius pushed the sixth year away and clambered after her.

He caught sight of her turning a corner and ran after her. She felt the need to run, to avoid anyone and everyone as she began to sob. She circled towards the back streets that led into a forest, stumbling into the treeline and resting against a tree. Her head spun as she held her hands to her forehead, clutching at her head. There were so many horrible, yet real images bombarding her memory. So much pain and suffering on hers and others behalf. She felt her power slipping as it had the day Chadwick cast her out, she felt the hopelessness of pushing away her Erin, the stinging in her head and arm during her initiation, she heard the snap of Chadwick's ankles and his raspy yell as he fell through the window.

She keeled over, vomiting into a bush.

"Serenity!" Lucius panted as he reached the tree. "My love, I'm so so-"

"No!" She choked out, gagging and refusing to look at him. "Stop, just stop it!" He shuffled, attempting to circle around to stand in front of her. She roughly pushed him, hitting his chest and shoving him further away. "Leave me alone! For Merlin's sake, Lucius. Just leave." When he said nothing, she ran her hand through her hair and turned away. She began to cry again, choking through sobs as she spoke in barely a whisper. "It's not fair. Why can't everyone just leave me alone?" She pulled at her hair and turned back around. "I didn't ask," she held out her palms, thrusting her hands away from her, "for this."

For a moment, they stood in silence. Lucius stared at her, unsure what to say or do as she remained glaring at her hands. The smelled like vomit, sour against the pollen that hung in the air. A light breeze rustled through the leaves above their head and a few birds were singing happy songs, blissfully unaware to the dispute happening beneath them. Lucius shuffled forwards again, his hands slowly reaching out to hold hers. She looked up to meet his eyes as he gently squeezed her hands.

"I'm sorry." Shaking her head, she pulled her hands close to her chest and left the forest. He promptly apparated home as she made her way back to the castle with her hands cradled against her chest and her head hung low to hide the overflowing tears.

A/N

I wrote this on my phone (for the first time in so long) so there may be some spelling mistakes I'm not aware of yet.