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chapter one: breaking news. date: july 15th 1993.
THE WATER WAS ILLUMINATED with a stunning display of colour and light as the sun's rays danced across it. Located amidst a tiny forest, the lake served as Stella's go-to hangout throughout the sweltering summer months, along with her closest friends Jade and Lola.
Typically, you would find them lying on the ground in the sunniest location they could find, their beach towels spread out, and their portable radio playing softly as their horses fed in the grass.
That was also the case today. Uptown Girl was playing on the radio, Jade was reading about magical beasts in preparation for their first Care of Magical Creatures class, Lola was snacking on some food and passing one to Jade each time she held out her hand, and Stella was floating on her back with her hands softly caressing the water.
"I'm going to miss you guys when school starts again," Lola said, looking at her friends with a pout on her face.
Despite the fact that Lola Brown was a Muggle and lacked magical skills, she was more than supportive of her two friends who turned out to be witches, even if at first she thought they were pulling a practical joke on her. The three girls had been best friends since they were in nursery school.
"We will miss you too, won't we, Jade?" Said Stella.
"Of course," Jade replied, giving Lola a little smile as she did so. "Like a hole in the head."
With a little gasp, Lola grabbed the closest object—an apple, coincidentally—and hurled it. The girl with dark hair scowled and flailed her arms to shield every area of her body, but she moaned as the apple hit her side.
Stella tutted, waddling to the lake's edge. "You deserved that," she said.
"Damn right, she did," laughed Lola in agreement.
Stella climbed out of the lake, wrapping her arms around herself as she suddenly felt cold. She hurried towards Lola, who had already stood up with her towel in her hands.
"I-Is that book interesting?" Jade was asked by Stella. She sprinted into Lola's arms and took the towel that was thrown over her shoulders right away.
"Pretty interesting," Jade stated. She sat up, crossing her legs as she held the book in her hands. "Fire Dwelling Salamanders, also called Fire Salamanders or just simply Salamanders, were small, magical fire-dwelling lizards that fed on flames."
Jade turned the book to reveal to the two girls an illustration of the Fire Dwelling Salamanders; Stella was already familiar with their appearance, but Lola had to creep forward to get a closer look.
"It's cute," Lola hummed. "Much better than that Wobblerworm you showed me."
Stella bit back a tiny laugh. "You mean Flobberworm."
"Wobbler, Flobber, who cares that thing was disgusting," Lola told them, her shoulders shuddering at the thought.
"Anyways," Jade said, putting her book down and pushing it aside. "What's this about your mother and father moving you to a boarding school?"
Lola moaned, "Don't remind me," and collapsed back onto her towel, her blond hair gradually slipping out of its ponytail. "They think I'll do exceedingly well if I were to attend a boarding school aboard."
Stella's brow furrowed as she stared at her friend. "What on earth gave them that idea?"
"They read some crap about how private schools have better outcomes than public schools," Lola uttered, watching the soft clouds slowly move across the sky. "And that your parents are boosting the education you are receiving."
"Do they realise that the circumstances are different?" Jade enquired.
"Perhaps they want to be able to boost about me," Lola wondered, her fingers lightly tapping on her stomach. "I don't know."
"You'll succeed in anything you do," Stella added, glancing down at her friend with a smile. "Anyways, don't you still have that dream of becoming a proper ballerina?"
"Clearly," Lola responded, rolling her eyes at the inquiry. "Unlike you two, I take ballet very seriously."
"Pardon me," Jade scoffed as she put her palm to her chest. "I wanted to become a ballerina, but no, that dream was shat on by some wizard god."
Lola and Stella chuckled before falling into comfortable silence with the radio played at a quiet volume. Lola began to sing softly as Jade picked up her schoolbook and flipped it back open while Stella got up, throwing down her towel, and went to get the bag of apples she had brought. She went to her Welsh Cob horse, who was grazing on the meadow, and picked the greenest apple she could find.
"Hey, girl," Stella said quietly as she walked up to her horse and extended a hand. "Look what I got you."
Stella stroked her black coat as she carefully grasped the light blue reins and pulled her horse's head towards her. The horse accepted the bitter flavour of a green apple.
With the radio playing in the background, the music abruptly stopped, forcing Jade to look over at it and tilt her head to the side in surprise. A woman's voice came over, she sounded worried, Jade could tell because the woman seemed to stutter over her sentence.
"I'm terribly sorry to in–interrupt your summer tunes, b–but I have breaking news for you tonight..."
Lola slowly sat up, her fingers no longer drumming to the music; she had only managed to catch the last few words of the woman's sentence. Stella continued to feed her horse, but her strokes against her horse's black coat slowly stopped as she too only managed to catch what the woman was saying.
"The prime minister made an appearance m-moments ago, as he has been in-informed that a dangerous individual has es-escaped..."
The emotions across the girls faces were different, Lola's brows were raised in surprise; it was rare for the Prime Minister to ever make an announcement. Stella stared at the portable radio, worried, while Jade didn't see all that bothered.
"The public has been w-warned that Sirius Black..."
A loud gasp left Stella's lips, and Lola practically got whiplash from turning her head so fast to look at her best friend.
"What did that just say?!" With a shout, Stella's horse retreated from her.
"I don't know why that woman keeps stuttering over her words," Lola uttered, her eyes narrowing at the obvious fearful expression on Stella's face.
"Turn it up," Stella demanded, ignoring Lola, who was staring at her as if she had grown two heads. "Jade, turn it up!"
Jade moaned while tinkering with the radio's settings. "Just wait a damn second."
Stella shook her head, getting agitated as she observed her friend fumbling with the incorrect nozzles. She rushed up to Jade, who had unintentionally turned the volume all the way down.
"Give it here," Stella told her, holding her hand out.
However, Jade refused, simply turning away from the frustrated girl. "I've got it!"
"It's the other nozzle," Stella said, anxiously chewing her bottom lip. "Let me try."
As Stella reached for the radio and attempted to take it from Jade's hands, the black-haired girl tugged it back, starting a tugging war between the two. Lola rolled her eyes at her friends. Through constant pushing and straining, they were able to raise the level to an extreme degree. The woman's voice became almost yell-like, leading the two girls to collapse onto their backs as they released the radio.
"I s-shall repeat the statement again for those who didn't hear. The public has been w-warned that Sirius Black is armed and e-extremely dangerous. A hot line has been set up, and any s-sightings of Black should be reported immediately."
Stella's face gradually lost colour as she glanced at Jade, whose mouth opened but no sounds came out. Her eyes seemed like they were stuck open.
Observing the horror on their faces, Lola became apprehensive as she glanced between them. "Who the fuck is Sirius Black, and why do you two look like you're going to shit your pants?!"
Stella blinked, turning her head to look at her friend. "He was blamed for the deaths of a man called Peter Pettigrew and a bunch of Muggles."
The blonde girl's mouth opened and closed several times as she digested the shocking news. She looked around her anxiously, hoping that the madman was nowhere near them or their town. The more she thought about it, the colder she felt, and the more goosebumps appeared on her skin.
"Does anyone else feel oddly creeped out now?" Muttering, Lola ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm herself.
"Great, that's summer ruined now. Thanks a lot, Sirius Black," Jade grumbled, switching the radio off and packing into her purple-coloured rucksack. "We will be on house arrest until school starts again."
Stella slowly stood up, dusting off any grass that she had gotten on her back, and she hastily pulled her white vest over her head, covering her bikini top, before putting on her white frilly shorts. Lola began packing away her belongings, which included a towel, strawberries, and the newest gossip magazine, after the others.
"Why did he kill all those Muggles?" Lola wondered, although some part of her didn't want to know the answer to her own question.
"Because he is a lunatic who wants to kiss ass and be best buddies with the Dark Lord," Jade informed her.
However, Lola wasn't convinced nor happy with that answer, so she glanced over at Stella, who was now pulling her brown leather riding boots on her feet, and Stella simply rolled her eyes at Jade's explanation.
"Uncle Remus told me that there was some prophecy," Stella began. She kneeled down and grabbed her beach towel. "That child was destined to destroy the Dark Lord, and that boy was presumed to be our friend, Harry Potter."
"He's just a boy," Lola stated, her eyes widening in disbelief at what she was hearing.
Stella nodded her head in agreement. She remembered when her Uncle Remus first told her about his friends, and he even insisted that she at least looked out for Harry during their time at Hogwarts. She promised to do exactly that, which resulted in her becoming friends with him, and eventually Jade did too.
"Remus was best friends with Harry's parents, as was my mother, and Sirius Black," Stella continued to tell her. She was afraid to look at Lola, who now looked as if her eyes were about to fall out. "The Potters had to go into hiding; only a few select people knew where they were."
A tiny gasp escaped Lola's lips. "And Sirius Black knew."
"He betrayed them," Stella noted, staring out at the fields. She felt sorry for her mother, her uncle, and Harry, as they had all lost someone that day.
"Does your mother ever talk about them?" Jade interjected, pulling her rucksack on her shoulders.
"Too painful," Stella said. She zipped her yellow-coloured rucksack up and pulled it onto her shoulders. "God knows how she and Remus must be feeling now."
"Don't wait for us; go home," Lola said, giving her friend a sorrowful grin.
Stella nodded her head, she didn't need to say anything else to them as she hurried towards her horse, who waited patiently for her to climb up on the saddle. She briefly glanced over at her friends, waving goodbye before riding down the field.
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Rosemary Cottage came into view, and Stella couldn't help but smile at the sight of her home; it looked as if it belonged in a fairytale. The house was cotton white, with pink rose bushes climbing up and around the house. A little white table sat on the porch with a blue checkered tablecloth thrown over it and matching seat cushions beside the greenhouse. This was one of Stella's favourite places.
Stella carefully pulled on the reins to bring her horse, Daisy, to a stop. As she did so, she saw the front door suddenly open and her father, Jamie Dawson-Martínez, an ex-wizarding banker, hurried outside, she noticed the anxious expression on his face.
"Are you okay?" Jamie asked as he reached the white-picketed gate. He cast a fleeting check over her body to make sure she was safe from harm.
"Of course," Stella said reassuringly. A portion of her dark hair was tucked behind her ear.
After giving Stella a quick kiss on top of her head and opening the gate, Jamie took Daisy's reins from her hands. "You better head inside; I'll put Daisy away."
"Thank you," Stella says, smiling gratefully at him.
Leaving Daisy in the hands of her father, Stella hurried towards the cottage, practically leaping up the short set of stairs and into the house. She stopped on the doorway, her brows furrowed slightly, as she could not smell the usual smell of her mother's homemade food; instead, she could only smell the delicate scent of fresh flowers. She entered the living room through the kitchen and felt a sense of impending doom when she saw her mother lying on the sofa with tissues all over her, which Stella thought she had been crying into. Her mother had a pale green blanket draped over her body.
"Mum?" Stella mumbled, and she cautiously stepped further into the room.
A small sigh left Stella's lips as she stared down at her mother's sleeping form. She reached down and carefully pulled the blanket higher up her body before turning around and quietly walking back into the kitchen. Remus Lupin pushed open the front door and entered the kitchen, carrying two white paper bags that held a traditional British dish: fish and chips.
"Hey," Remus whispered, looking at his niece with a wary smile on his scarred lips. "Is she still asleep?"
"Yeah, she's asleep," Stella told him, walking over to the white cabinets and grabbing the plates. "So, what's the verdict?"
Jamie entered the house, immediately taking the plates from Stella's hand and placing them around the table, while Remus ripped open the paper bags and put the cupboard boxes on the table.
"What do you mean?" Jamie asked her, glancing at her for a moment and seeing that she was squinting at them.
"Since he's escaped, all I assumed was that I would be on house arrest," Stella uttered, sitting down in her usual spot at the table.
Remus and Jamie shared a look that Stella couldn't quite grasp as they quickly changed their expressions. She rolled her eyes, reaching across the table and grabbing the box of chips, wincing slightly as the box burned her hands. She grabbed her fork and scraped a dozen onto her plate.
Jamie said, drawing his brows together in sympathy, "I know it's not how you planned your summer, but darling, we can't risk it."
"Risk it?" Stella asked, her lips pursed in a frown. "The Muggles—what about them? They are acting as though this is a common occurrence."
"The Muggles don't know the full story," Remus reminded her, taking the box of chips off her and dishing them out on his own plate. "We think it's in your best interest to stay home for the rest of the summer."
"Lola knows the full story, and her parents haven't put her under house arrest," Stella argued, stabbing her fork into a chip, then dipping it in curry sauce before shoving it into her mouth.
"The girls don't have any connection to Sirius Black, unlike you," Jamie remarked, stuffing a forkful of chips into his mouth. He cast a fleeting glance at Remus, who was staring out into space.
"So, because you all befriended him, it makes me a target, right?" Stella asked, glancing up at the two men.
"Something like that," Remus muttered, picking up the box of battered sausages and offering one to Stella, who begrudgingly took one.
No more words were exchanged, and Stella took great pleasure in angrily stabbing her chips with her fork as she considered how boring her summer would now be spent under house arrest. The school term didn't start for another two weeks, and the last thing she wanted was to be cooped up in the cottage while her friends were enjoying their usual activities in the sun.
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hey peeps! how are you? i hope you have had a week so far!
welcome to my george weasley fic! i am so excited for you to read this, let me know your thoughts in the comments, see you next week!
