WILD & WICKED / © yllwjckts
029 ⸻ No Place Like Home

The sharp winter air greeted the five students as they exited the train, Lux giving her final well wishes to Lily and the other girls as it did, embracing them with hugs and making them promise to write, as they had done the entire time through the train. At first, it had seemed silly to her — after all, they'd only be spending a few weeks apart, but as it grew closer and closer for them to leave, she found her heart aching at the concept of being ripped apart from her friends.

When Lily finally turned her back to Lux in favor of searching for her family with Marlene at her side, Lux moved to scan the area for the four Marauders that she was spending her winter break with. It was Peter that came into her line of sight first, the boy visible as he stumbled down from the train, wearing a large red hat that stood out amongst the crowd and drew her in.

Remus, Sirius and James were all hovering nearby Peter, the latter turning as Lux approached them, her hands digging into the pockets of her coat as she shivered in the cold. "Hey, Lux," he greeted with a half smile. Noticing how hard she shook from the weather, he said, "My parents should be around here. We won't be in the cold for too long."

She responded with a smile of her own, though Sirius was shoving his mate to the side in favor of rushing up to the people he spotted in the distance. "Effie! Fleamont!" He shouted, waving his arms in the air wildly as he ran up to the pair.

James grinned, moving to follow after Sirius, as did the other two boys. Lux lingered behind Remus, who watched with a mild apprehension, that scar that ripped across his face glistening a white hue in the sharp cold.

The woman — Effie, Lux assumed, had Sirius wrapped in a hug, while James was greeting his father with an awkward sort of side hug men tended to do to each other once they hit a certain age. Both of them were older than most parents Lux had seen, perhaps in their late fifties or early sixties, with greying hair and kind eyes. It was Fleamont who noticed Lux first, releasing his son after a moment or two, gaze swiftly settling on her. "And this must be Lux!"

Lux nodded, extending a hand for him to shake. "Hello, Mr. Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"She's so polite!" Effie exclaimed as Sirius let go of her, giving the boy a smile as she did. "Enough of that hand shaking nonsense, come here love!"

Before Lux could react, Effie Potter had her arms wrapped around her in a hug that felt so familiar, yet so far away. Something out of reach, yet something she'd held so dearly before, a memory she couldn't quite hold onto after long enough.

Mary Erzsebet, she thought to herself as she brushed the shock of deja vu to the side and allowed herself to hug Effie back. It reminded her of her mother, the tenderness she'd never experienced since going up in flames, in such a way that she found herself involuntarily growing stiff against Effie's grip.

Effie seemed to notice, letting go of Lux moments later, though didn't question her on the matter. Simply glancing down at her with a kind smile that already felt like home, she patted her on the back of the head. "It's so lovely to meet you, dear. Sirius writes to us quiet often, you know? You've been the topic of many of his letters."

She felt her face burn bright red. "It's nice to meet you too."

"And Remus!" Effie exclaimed, rushing over to the boy and embracing him with the same eager vigor in which she'd engulfed Lux with. "How are you still growing, dear boy? I swear, you're two inches taller than summer."

Remus laughed, allowing himself to melt into Effie's grip. Fleamont was now greeting Peter, who was comfortable enough to refer to the Potter patriarch by his first name.

"We should get going," James said, rubbing his arms with his hands as a particularly harsh breeze slammed into them. "Not to interrupt such a nice reunion, of course, but I'm sort of freezing my arse off."

"Of course." Fleamont rubbed the top of his son's head with his hand, messing up his dark curls. "Right, Peter, from what I recall, you're an excellent apparator?"

Peter's chest puffed up with pride at this as he nodded. "I am."

"You take James, Effie will take Lux, and I'll take Remus and Sirius. How's that?"

He nodded again. "Sounds good."

As Effie reached out a hand for Lux's, who did her best not to show any reaction at all at the skin contact, Fleamont continued his kind but firm instructions to Peter, "Aim for outside of the house, yeah? Just so we don't somehow apparate on the same spot and get splinched."

"Are you ready?" Effie asked, turning to look at Lux with those dark eyes, concern swimming in them. Lux had the feeling that if she said no, that she didn't quite care to apparate, Effie would understand. She'd find a different mode of transportation, even if it kept them outside in the frigid cold all night.

Only to not be a burden, Lux nodded through the flurry of snow that had begun to rain down on them from the clouds overhead, brushing against her hair. "Right, have you ever apparated before?"

She nodded. Not that she cared much for the process, but she'd done side along with Fulk a fair amount of times.

Effie smiled kindly. "Okay, good. Just remember to be still, and if you feel like you're going to fall over once we land, just hold on to me very very tight. Can you do that?"

Another nod, and that seemed all the elderly woman needed, as she closed her hand tight around Lux's, before a snapping sound echoed through her ears. Before Lux could fully process the nausea and dizziness from the movement, she was on her feet again, stumbling backwards slightly as she struggled to maintain her footing.

"Here," Sirius rushed over to her from where he'd landed a second earlier, grabbing onto her wrist to keep her from toppling over as she so often did when apparating. "Got ya."

She gave him a soft smile, turning her attention towards the Potter house. No, not a house, certainly the word mansion would've been more fitting, with expansive pillars lining the outside of a pale white home and windows that had to be as tall as she was.

The door was the kind that split in the middle, like the one in the Great Hall, made of a fine wood with a knocker on the left one and a lock that Fleamont switched off with the wave of his wand. Just as she approached the door, did Lux stop in her footing, staring up at the massive entrance with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

This wasn't her home. She had to be invited in by an owner.

Panicked, she watched as Peter, James, Sirius and Remus all stepped around her, giving her odd looks as they did.

"You coming?" Sirius asked as he leaned against the doorframe, the last to enter the home. Remus lingered behind him, frowning. "Or are you planning on sleeping outside?"

"I..."

"Come in," he urged when she paused.

Hesitantly, she took a step forward, unsure if the embarrassment or panic was more all consuming in the moment. It could work, she told herself if only to still the anxiety seizing her. Sirius lived there, it was in everything but blood his home as well. Surely his invite would be as good as any.

Lux could only breathe once she was through the door, something she had no struggle doing. The home had proved itself to belong to Sirius just as much as it did James.

Remus moved to shut the door behind her as she kicked off her shoes on the welcome mat, just as Peter was in the process of doing. She and Fulk always wore their shoes inside their cabin at nearly any given time, but they couldn't afford not to, between the cold winters and the creepy crawlies that lingered about in the summers.

"It smells amazing!" Sirius enthused as he stepped through the hall, rushing towards the kitchen before turning back around, searching for Effie. "Bloody hell, did you make lasagna?"

"I knew you'd want your favorite," Effie responded with a cheeky sort of grin. "Jamie, would you mind showing Lux to the dining room? I've got to check on the food. It should be ready by now, but just in case."

"Of course." James turned to Lux, eyebrows raised in a casual sort of way that had her wanting to squirm. "Follow me?"

She did as he requested, moving behind him through the Potter home, Remus at her side, occasionally glancing over at her. He still looked unwell, though not nearly as bad as Dorcas had been claiming in the compartment. The rest he would have gotten on the train ride must've done him some good.

"You have a lovely home," she told James, hoping her voice came off as sincere.

"Thank you!" James beamed, and her eyes narrowed in on him. It seemed that, for all the anger he'd harbored towards her, he was willing to fully let it go for the sake of a peaceful Christmas.

"Where do you and Professor Ingelger live?" Remus asked as they entered the dining room, where a table long enough to sit a dozen people sat among shelves holding various knickknack, all of which Lux had no doubt cost a fortune.

"Just around," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand, too busy admiring the items that lined the shelves — jewelry and gems and a few spellbooks that appeared to be centuries old.

Sirius popped his head into the dining room a moment later, grinning at the sight of Remus at Lux's side. "Luxie, you'll sit by me, yeah?"

"Sure," she agreed.

"Moony, you sit there," Sirius pointed at a spot in the middle of the table. Remus didn't argue, though Lux didn't miss him roll his eyes.

The table was already set, with a plate situated between silverware and a perfectly folded napkin that made Lux wonder how long Effie had spent on the setup. She took a seat at Remus's left, then Sirius at her free side, sandwiching herself between the two boys. Sirius seemed awful satisfied at this, as did James, who smiled to himself as a house elf announcing themselves to be named Banana brought out a hovering plate of food.

"Is Sirius always this bossy?" She leaned over and whispered into Remus's ear before she could stop herself.

"Sometimes," he agreed.

"Oi, I heard that," Sirius nudged Lux with his elbow, gentle enough that she could barely feel it, yet had a dozen nerves jittering at the simple touch. "I'm not bossy, just calculative."

"I don't think that's much better, mate," Remus said, earning no protest, though this may have been due to Sirius's distraction by the food floating towards him. The house elf lowered the plates down onto the table just as Effie and Fleamont emerged from the hallway, Effie taking a seat at the head of the table and her husband at her left.

"I do hope you like lasagna, Lux," Effie said as she waved her wand, causing the knife to slice up the meal into a dozen or so pieces. "If not, we've got plenty of other things in the fridge. Feel free to ask, really."

"Thank you. It all looks wonderful," Lux gave her a weak smile, stomach rumbling. Another thing her eagerness to leave Hogwarts had resulted in her overlooking — how the hell she was supposed to eat while here. From the looks of it, the Potter's had a pretty expansive garden that certainly had to be home to a few stray animals, but slipping out for long enough without being noticed to feed would be a difficult task indeed.

"She won't eat any of it," Peter warned Effie and Fleamont with a grim sort of look. "Never does."

"I eat!" Lux protested with a glare in the boy's direction, before returning to James's parents with a mournful sort of expression. "But...I'm not very hungry right now. My apologies."

Concern seemed to engulf Effie's expression, enough so that Lux's stomach twisted into knots of guilt. Even so, the woman proclaimed, "Oh, nothing to apologize for! They'll be plenty of leftovers if you want any."

"I'm sure I will," Lux lied.

"Sirius says you're new to Hogwarts this year," Fleamont began after finishing up a conversation with Peter about the legality of lab rat testing in Ministry spaces, something Peter was vehemently against.

"I am," Lux answered simply, twisting her fingers about. "My father was invited by Professor Dumbledore to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts vacancy. He homeschooled me prior to this."

Fleamont leaned against the table, eyes alight. "How fascinating! I didn't know many wizarding families still did homeschooling! Did you enjoy it?"

"I did. Hogwarts was quite an adjustment."

"I can imagine!" Effie interjected, holding a hand to her heart as if scandalized by the thought of it. "Everyone's been kind to you, I hope. You haven't had to deal with anyone too nasty, have you?"

She shook her head, though the thought of Mulciber all those months ago weighed heavy in her mind as she did. No matter. Effie needn't know about such people and what their actions carried for her. It would only upset her.

"Everyone's been lovely," Lux said, if only to emphasize her point.

"Are you sure you don't want anything, Lux?" James asked her through a mouthful of lasagna. "Surely you're at least a little bit hungry."

"James, don't be rude. She'll eat when she's feeling up to it," Effie scolded, before turning her attention back to Lux. Likely, Lux thought to herself, the woman was just glad for another female presence in the Potter home after all this time. "Tell me about you father, dear. Is it just you two, then?"

She nodded, prepared to tell the lie she'd spoon fed to everyone else in her life, those unfortunate enough to get too close to have such falsities told to them. Part of her felt guilty, lying so brazenly to someone as kind as Effie, who'd opened her home and her heart to Lux without even knowing her, but she bit down on her tongue and pushed through it.

"My mother died when I was quite young. It's been my father and I ever since."

"Oh my dear, I'm so sorry to hear that," Effie released a breath and extended a hand across the table, grabbing onto Lux's where hers rested by her napkin. "Not having a mother must be so difficult."

She shrugged, finding her throat had closed up and knowing if she dared speak, she'd simply humiliate herself.

"Effie, have you been keeping up with your garden?" Remus interjected swiftly as he poked about his food with his fork. Lux flashed him a thankful look, only to find his eyes were already fixed on hers, causing both of them to glance away the moment their gazes met.

This led into a long winded conversation regarding Effie Potter's gardening habits, that had Lux grinning to herself as she passively listened.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sirius leaned in and whispered to Lux, keeping his voice down as to not be overheard by anyone.

"The Potter's are lovely," she responded, finding she meant every word. She'd never met a family that seemed to function with so much warmth, nor a home with walls prepared to protect anyone that was allowed inside. It was clear that the Potter family would fight to the death for each other, a love so deeply held between every member, Lux felt it wafting away and radiating onto her. She wasn't sure what to make of it, only that she never wanted to go another day without feeling that bit of light cast atop of her in a way even the sun couldn't shine.

"You're in an awfully polite mood," he continued, giving her his typical shit-eating grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Thank you for inviting me, Sirius. I appreciate it."

He shot her a wink through those grey eyes. "The fun's only just beginning, my dear Luxie."

The house elf called Banana returned half an hour later to clear everyone's plates, giving Lux and the lack of food remnants on her empty china an odd sort of look as he did. Effie and Monty then beckoned the five teens into the parlor, citing the need to "catch up" further.

"You have a piano," Lux said rather dumbly as they took their seats amongst the various couches and cushions — her opting for a chair close to the couch Remus and Sirius had spread out on, their knees grazing each other. James sandwiched himself between his parents, leaning his head on his mother's shoulder who in turn stroked his face, whereas Peter took a spot on the ground next to the Christmas tree, staring up at it with wide, almost glowing eyes. A mountain of presents was buried beneath the fir, having Lux wonder who they could all be for — certainly just the three Potters and Sirius couldn't make up such an array of gifts.

"We do!" Fleamont beamed. "I played quite often in my youth — not so much now, but we always hoped James would pick up on the skill."

"Has he?" She turned and looked at James, who was too busy in conversation with Peter, head still on his mum's shoulder, to notice that he'd been referenced.

Fleamont shook his head. "He never had any interest. Preferred running around and getting his hands dirty, compared to sitting still and messing about with some keys, I suppose. Can you play?"

"I can."

She wasn't sure what possessed her to speak the truth, to bring forth a part of herself in which she'd locked away. It would've been an easy enough lie to tell, that she'd always wanted to but never learned, that she wasn't any good, that she hadn't a taste for music.

"You can play the piano?" Sirius whipped around to look at her, eyes wide as though he couldn't quite believe what he'd heard. When she slowly nodded, he demanded, "You've got to play some for us!"

"It's been quite a while," Lux admitted as she dug her fingers into her palms, once again the truth.

The last time she'd played the instrument was over twenty years ago, and two days before she'd driven that stake into Philip's heart. Even if she'd had the opportunity, she'd never thought about attempting to do what she had once been a master at, something she'd only ever known how to do due to Philip's molding.

He didn't deserve his memory being recalled in such a way, in music and the beating of her heart.

But Sirius was never one to give up a challenge, never one to see when someone was pushed too far, and Lux couldn't find it in her to snap at him in the presence of the two kindest people she'd ever met. So after nearly ten minutes of incessant begging, in which James and Peter joined in on at various points, Lux released a breath and agreed to try.

"It's been a long time," she reminded them as she rose from her chair, only to take a seat once more at the edge of the piano. The similarities between Hollyvale Manor and the Potter home were endless, she realized as she shifted about on the stool to get comfortable, only to find she could not.

They'd both invited her in with open arms, the doors massive and halls expansive, both rich and powerful and treated her like royalty. The Potters may have been no different from the Coven, with sharp teeth hidden behind those kind smiles they flashed her, their interest in her only related to the blood of hers they could spill, the use they could get out of her.

If only to quell the inferno beginning to brew in her mind, Lux placed her fingers on the black and white keys, trailing behind a melody she could only just barely grasp a hold of, moving in a way that came to her as naturally as breathing in and out. A melody that sang of violence and anger and swollen lips and bruised thighs and words she could not, would not say. A melody desperate for any means of survival at the hands of an arsonist prepared to burn her up for sins she could not remember committing. It ached in her ears no different than smoke had once filled her, no different than the endless palms of hands struck across cheeks, of foul language and insults she could not refute and oh God, how long would this last? How long could he go on for?

How long could she?

A clapping echoing through the room had her exiting the crevice of her mind that had her ensnared.

"That was amazing, Lux!" Effie, the person who had begun to clap, exclaimed with a grin. The boys all followed suit, even Remus managed a smile and the gentle placing of his hands.

"You should look into playing professionally," Sirius said as Lux rose onto her feet and made her way back towards her chair. "How long have you been playing for?"

"A long time," she answered, twisting her thumbs. "It isn't something I'd want to do professionally, though."

She couldn't handle it, she wanted to say but didn't. The eyes on her now as she relived those endless Coven days had been more than enough, how could she handle hundreds, thousands on her?

"Do you have any plans on what you'd like to do when you graduate, then?" Fleamont asked politely, leaning his elbows on his knees to get a good look at her.

With her senses returned, her wits about her once more, Lux mentally scolded herself for having dared to for a moment equate the Potter family to the Coven. No one in those walls had half the kindness in their eyes that Fleamont Potter did.

"I don't know," Lux admitted.

Fight in the war? No doubt Dumbledore would ask that of her, but he couldn't make her. She wasn't about to risk her life and comfort for a cause that didn't affect her, no matter how disgusting the opposition and their beliefs may be.

But there weren't many other options, she realized as she thought on it. Return to her life with Fulk, she supposed, but was that possible? She'd entered the wizarding world with a bang, made herself known to enough people that vanishing all together would be a difficult task to accomplish.

No one would hire her if they knew what she was, and she couldn't remain at places for more than a few years without being spotted for not aging.

Perhaps war was the only option for her.

Oh good Merlin, what had Dumbledore gotten her into?

"You have plenty of time to figure it out," Fleamont assured her with that kind smile of his. "James here is determined to join a professional Quidditch league. Isn't that right?"

"After the war," James clarified for his father. "I'm going to fight."

A chill seemed to rush through the room, burrowing itself within Lux's bones.

Effie's eyes narrowed on him. "James, now's not the time."

"I was just saying," he huffed, folding his arms over his chest, though he was not quiet on the subject for long. "I mean, we've got to talk about it, Mum. You say you don't want us involved, but we're all seventeen now, Sirius eighteen! We're old enough to know what's going on, we see it every damn day in the Prophet, and therefore we're old enough to help stop it."

"James, we have guests," Fleamont warned.

"They all agree with me! Right, guys?"

Sirius, Remus and Peter all nodded.

"Lux?" Sirius asked when he noticed her lack of movements. "You agree, don't you? You agree that our side is the side to fight for, right?"

"Of course I do," she answered, mouth dry. She supposed she'd never properly had a conversation with him about where she landed on the topic of muggleborns, considering he didn't know her true parentage. He likely just assumed her stance, up until this moment.

And while Lux craved to agree with him completely, all she could hear in her mind was the cool voice of Severus Snape, with the bitter reminder that out of all the people in this room, she was likely the only one to come out of the war with her head on her shoulders.

Before, the idea may have filled her with pride. Now, the concept of losing any of the six people surrounding her filled her eyes with tears.

"Fighting is dangerous, though."

She felt foolish as she spoke, cowardly and small and pathetic, but it needed to be said.

"Of course you'd say that," James snapped. "How the fuck did you get into Gryffindor, anyways?"

"James!" Effie scolded.

"No, seriously! Did you beg the hat for it or something? How can you be in Gryffindor and not want to fight? Lily's going to. So are the other girls in your dorm. Why not you? If Voldemort wins and kills the rest of us, will you bend the knee to him?"

"James," Remus warned.

Maybe before, the answer would've been yes. Had Voldemort come knocking on their door before Dumbledore with the very same offer of protection from the Coven, Lux would've accepted.

Not now, though. Not when things had become so convoluted. Not when her own skin wasn't the only thing that mattered. Not when her heart beat not just for herself.

Even so, Lux shook her head in the softest of movements. "I'm not a solider. And neither are any of you."

"We're the best anyone's got!"

"Enough," Fleamont interjected, a newfound hardness to his tone. "Maybe it's time we all head to bed, yes? Clear our minds a bit?"

"It's not even nine," James protested, but one glare from his mother had his mouth closed, a shameful sort of flush creeping across his tan cheeks. "Right, goodnight guys."

Sirius and Peter both wished James a goodnight back, though Remus was noticeably silent, jaw shifting every few seconds in what Lux interpreted as withheld anger.

"Come, Lux, I'll show you to your room," Effie said with a wave of her hand, urging for Lux to follow.

When they were down the corner, Effie halted her steps, coming to a stop just at a window looking out into the night. "I'm sorry about what James said. He was being cruel. I don't know what's come over him."

"It's fine," Lux assured her, hating the idea of Effie feeling guilty. "I'm not offended. He'll see I'm right, in the end."

"I hope so," she mused, biting down on her lip. "My James, he's usually such a sweet boy, but this war has him so worked up. I mean, I understand why, he has empathy down to his bones, and his father and I raised him to share our beliefs, but...he's just a kid. I don't want him getting involved in all of this."

Lux nodded along, unsure what to say. How was one supposed to go about comforting a mother who's son was prepared to join what was looking more and more like a lost cause every given day? Even someone who didn't read the Prophet understood where it was the war was going.

"If that parasite they call a man wins, Monty and I will be dead," she continued matter-of-factly, as if unbothered by the notion of meeting an early death. "But I want James to live, to flee the country and live to be old. Maybe it makes me selfish, but it's all I could ever want for him."

"It's not selfish to want the best for your son."

The hint of a smile slid onto Effie's lips, as she began to walk down the hall again, with Lux at her side. "He's a good boy, Lux. I mean, you're friends with him, I have no doubt that you know this already. My Jamie has such a good heart, But he can just get carried away. Don't take what he said tonight personally."

"I won't," she promised.

When they reached one of the many guest rooms that the Potters apparently owned, Effie stilled her movements, not quite ready to leave just yet.

Lux wasn't sure she wanted Effie to leave either.

"I lost my mother when I was young too, you know."

Lux gulped.

Effie reached out a hand, grabbing onto Lux's. "It's so hard, growing up without one. I'm not quite sure how I did, to be honest. I'm sure your father is wonderful, but Lux, if you ever need anything that for some reason he can't provide, I'm only a letter away."

She nodded, her mouth dry, throat suddenly aching. "Thank you."

This time, Effie Potter did leave, giving Lux's hand one final squeeze before vanishing down the corridor, leaving the vampire alone with her thoughts.