In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Getting the Letter

She may not have been a Forrest, but she was as good as one, and Juliette intended to make this day about her. 

Her son beat her to it though, and jumped down from his stool to run and hug her. "Happy birthday!" He cried

"Happy birthday, sweetheart" Juliette smiled as she flipped another pancake

"Happy birthday" Lizzie added, a hint of a smile on her face.

Once Briar had been embraced by her whole family, she joined them at the table for a large breakfast. Briar knew she didn't quite fit into this family, and Lizzie's reminders made it clear, but it felt right.

As she ate, they heard the sound of papers dropping, from the front hallway, so her adopted brother Ollie quickly went to pick up all the post, and hand it back to his mother.

"There's a letter for Briar" He said

Juliette quickly shot her middle child a stiff smile, hoping it reached her eyes "Probably just something from my parents, let's open it later with your presents" She suggested and Briar smiled at the sound of presents, as every child did on their birthday.

So once their meal was over and tidied away, the family of four moved in to the living room where they were about to open presents, before the doorbell rang so Juliette went to open it, and bounding in came their neighbour Henry Michaels and his parents Daniel and Annalise 

Henry and Briar had attended the same muggle primary school and been joined at the hip since they were little. But what Briar had never known, was that Henry's family too were wizards and they, like Juliette, had been friends with Briar's parents

During the Wizarding war, they didn't want to fight because of Annalise's pregnancy, and so Remus had asked them a favour. To watch over Juliette, one of his closest friends.

Then, when Remus gave up Briar, she went to live with Juliette, and Daniel and Annalise looked after her too.

Once Juliette, Daniel, and Annalise joined the kids in the living room they found Briar beginning to tear through her wrapping paper already with Ollie and Henry watching excitedly, while Lizzie had her nose buried in a book

Truthfully Juliette wished they could stay like this. Young, innocent, and safe. But she knew that the letter resting on the kitchen counter would change Briar's life, and once Briar read it, Juliette wouldn't be able to protect her anymore.

As the day wore on, her heart felt heavier and heavier as she thought about her daughter. So come evening, after dinner, Juliette assembled her three kids in the living room and fiddled with the letter for Briar in her hands, her nails picking at its red wax seal

"What's going on?" Ollie asked after a few moments of silence, unable to stand the waiting.

"There's something I haven't told you," Juliette sighed and passed the still unopened letter to Briar "This letter isn't from my parents. It's from a school, a school of witchcraft and wizardry" Lizzie let out a snort, which was ignored by everyone "Now you know that 10 years ago your parents gave you to me and James, but I never told you that your parents were both in fact wizards and they had to give you up. A war plagued their world and they were afraid for you. They loved you so so much, but after you were born, your mother passed away so your dad gave you to me because he couldn't raise you on his own-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Briar asked

Her head was swimming with confusion, and she didn't even know if she believed the words she was hearing. But Juliette had never lied to her, and she would never when it came to Briar's family.

"Because I promised your father I wouldn't" She sighed "He wanted to keep you out of this world and hoped perhaps the genes would skip you but now that you're 11, Hogwarts School want you to come study and learn to control your magic in the same place your parents did"