"Did You Hear?"

25 December 1969, A few weeks later

Julia wandered around the top landing of her home early on Christmas morning. She was sure to tightly shut her bedroom door at the end of the hallway and shut off the light in the bathroom beside her room. As she walked the corridor with her wand lit against the morning darkness she came to a stop between two juxtaposing doors.

Touching the handle to her left, she could feel the edges of the stickers Lakita had gained from her subscription to 'The Potion Master' magazine. Small and large stickers of vials and ingredients littered the door, Lakita's name scribbled across the door in green marker. She opened the door quietly, the only noise being its base against the carpeted floor. Inside, the room was crowded.

On the far right side of the room, Lakita lay sleeping in a cabin bed slotted between the wall, her double bed and the bedside table. On the bed, Serenity and Merritt were sprawled. Merritt's fist pressed on her sister's face and soft snores emanating from her mouth whereas Serenity snorted and shook her face away unsuccessfully and kicked her leg out from under the covers. Julia couldn't help but chuckle at the two of them. On the floor, where the light from her wand was the brightest, Juliet was rubbing her eyes and watching her.

"Mornin'." She grumbled, remembering how she had given her parents no choice but to let her spend Christmas with the Senates... especially after what they had told her.

"Good Morning, Juliet. Merry Christmas." The Slytherin nodded and shuffled out of her sleeping bag and leaned towards the desk behind the door for her wand.

Shutting the door, she turns to the door across the hall which remained as clean as the day it was installed- which was after the boys had accidentally burnt a hole in it with their sister's potions kit. Entering the room, she was content to see the twins sound asleep on their beds. Logan with the quilt gathered around his feet and Lucas with only his feet peeking from under the quilt. Both of them breathed heavily under their arms which were slung across their faces.

Satisfied that her children were all sound asleep still, Julia made her way downstairs to the kitchen to begin preparing for the feast she would have to cook that day.

Juliet was not far behind her when she also descended the stairs. Rather than turning left to the archway into the kitchen-diner, she turned left and approached the lounge. As she opened the door, the room illuminated green which brought her to draw her wand. Standing in the middle of the lounge, his face covered in soot and loose-fitting pyjamas hanging off his body, Lucius shrugged at Juliet's incredulous look. After a moment of silence, she sniggered and raised her hand to stifle her laughter while she shut the door behind her.

"Stop laughing." Lucius frowned as she only laughed harder. The muffled cackled she was directing at him was irritating and tiring at such an early hour and so, with a huff, he waved his wand and promptly cleaned himself. Juliet waved her hand as she wheezed.

"I'm sorry... I've just- I've never seen you like this." Lucius rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." As he slipped his wand in his trouser pockets, the sleeve on his arm lifted and Juliet could see the dark ink of a tattoo. She lunged for his arm and shoved the fabric up to his elbow. As he tried to pull away she resisted him and shook her head.

"I've seen this in the common room. So many people have been getting them- Narcissa did in the Hallowe'en break but she wouldn't tell me what it means... something about mudbloods." Lucius finally managed to snatch his arm back.

"It means that soon there will be a reckoning, the Dark Lord will rise and all muggle-borns and half-bloods alike will get what's coming to them." Juliet sat on the couch, seemingly unfazed, and propped her chin on her hands.

"The Dark Lord?"

"Yes," Lucius dropped onto the seat beside her, "he believes that intermingling with muggles has tainted the wizarding world. Magic is only pure if our blood is pure; wizards and witches like you are limiting our potential." Juliet raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"If you knew what I know then you'd know I'm not your problem." Lucius's eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

"But you're muggle-born. You're the enemy." She giggled and shook her head, leaning back on the couch.

"Nah- my supposed 'parents' kindly informed me yesterday that I was adopted from a wizarding family. They knew the whole time, led me to believe I was special for being the first muggle-born sorted into Slytherin, but no, I'm just like the rest of you." Lucius' face lit up.

"Great! Come to the next initiation, I'm sure the council would be thrilled to hear your story." Juliet raised her eyebrow once more. "The council are the original six followers. We call ourselves death-eaters and this tattoo is the dark mark. With it, we can summon the Dark Lord or he can summon us."

"So it's a cult?"

"But better." The door to the lounge opened and Julia entered. The blinds raised as she waved her wand and the first light of the morning illuminated the lounge in an orange glow. She was shocked to find Lucius sat on her couch beside Juliet, the two of them looking like two threatened centaurs.

"Lucius!" Julia failed to notice the two set in their defence. "I wasn't expecting you to be here so early..." She trailed off as her eyes fell on the mark adorning his arm. Realising the mark still out in the opened, he pulled his sleeve back down harshly. Smirking, Julia twisted her arm to reveal the mark tattooed to her arm as well. "Welcome to the club, my boy."

*

Serenity was the last to wake. While Lakita and Merritt had risen as the sun illuminated the room, she had simply buried her face into the crook of her elbow and continued to dream peacefully. Warm air tickled her nose where it peeked over her arm. Scrunching up her nose, nostrils flaring, she groaned and rolled over.

A low chuckle finally roused her as the bed dipped behind her and a familiar voice greeted her.

"Merry Christmas, my love." Turning over, she squints up at him through the haze of her morning eyes. His fingers tangled in her hair which lay in a halo above his head with all sorts of knots and tangles in it.

"My love? That's new." He chuckled and nodded his head.

"Figured I'd give it a try." He dipped his head to kiss her lips, she squirmed away and giving him only her cheek with a small squeal.

"No, I have morning breath!" He shakes his head and raises his hands in surrender. While they both chuckle, he dips his hand into his trouser pockets and produces a small wrapped gift. Serenity sits up and accepts the gift. With a small smile, she pulls at the ribbon and carefully picks at the tape keeping it together. After carefully dissecting the wrapping paper and spreading it out next to her, she turns her attention to the box and raises the lid. In it lay a small silver bangle. It was engraved with scales and ended with a snake's head wrapping over its tail.

The smooth inside had 'Serenity' scratched in scraggly writing- as if Lucius himself had taken a knife to it.

A/N

JuliaAAAAAAAAH