"Hello, Old Friend"

November 1971, 2 months later

A silver circle of moonlight projected through the window and onto Serenity's trunk at the end of the bed. Through the gap in her drawn drapes, Serenity could see one of her roommate's venomous tentacular plants waving out of another open window- the plant wasn't authorised to leave the greenhouse, but the girl had snuck it into their dorm and swore all of the girls to secrecy.

The middle of the night enjoyed keeping Serenity awake. The past few weeks had helped her homework pile grow, and so she had been running on naps during her free periods and a few hours sleep before daylight breaks. Tonight she didn't have work to do, but there was whispering in the room. She stared at the mustard drapes above her head, trying to locate the noise. The four other girls in the room were fast asleep, yet the whispering seemed to get louder.

Groaning, she sits up and looks around. Her wand appeared to sparkle in the moonlight and an unseen force compelled her towards it. When she poked her head through the gap in her drapes, she glanced around and saw that the others truly were fast asleep. Closing her hand around the wand, she felt herself being pushed back onto the bed and the world around her faded into nothing but a grey fog. She immediately recognised the same thing that happened seven years ago in Ollivanders.

"Hello?" Her voice echoed as she looked around the grey wasteland.

"You have strayed Serenity Rier." She lowers her eyebrows. "The last time we spoke you were kind and open-minded, do you know who you are?"

"I am kind," she mutters, not quite convincing herself, "I help people that deserve my help."

"Does your family not deserve your help?" She crosses her arms, wishing she had a source to scowl at.

"They're not my family, they shut me out-"

"No." The wand's tone sharpened, somehow sounding irritated. Serenity sook her head, what was she doing talking to a wand? Was she finally losing her mind? "Your Great Grandfather shut you out. He cast you away like he has done to others he cannot control. The difference with you is that he couldn't control your power at all. At the age of eleven you could overpower him- imagine what you could do now, the people you could save."

Her mind went back to Erin's pleads a few months ago, how she was desperate for her help and the way Dexter seemed to shrivel up in fear at the thought of being kicked out of the house. Images of Merritt's distraught face as she relayed what the wicked man had done to her muggle-born mother. Serenity could see now that they wanted her, no, they needed her. Cormac and Winston were becoming her, each of them decidedly pulling pranks on other students and using their disability to guilt other students into doing their work for them. Anger flashed in her as she knew they were consciously exploiting other students and it was painfully obvious that Dara had been influencing them.

Her family is falling apart, and she's doing nothing about it.

A/N

Short but essential.