Circi | 2

THIRTY

"Consolations"

February 1997, a few weeks later

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"As in gone, poof, vanished."

"You're not helping, Erin."

"Of course she's not helping! Neither of you are helping right now!"

"Serenity, I need you to calm down."

"Calm down!" Serenity paced in front of the fireplace, wringing her hands and muttering to herself. "Calm down," she repeated, mumbling to herself now.

Christian sighed, sitting in his recliner on the opposite end of the room and rereading the letter from Dexter in his hand, the Hogwarts seal flashing in the sunlight through the window. Erin sat at the end of the couch on the other end of the room, her head resting on her fist as she trailed Serenity around the room.

"She could be anywhere," Erin offered, looking between her uncle and cousin. Each of them cast her a disapproving look and returned to their pacing and reading. "I'm not saying that to be callous or rude. I love Circi just as much as you guys but we have to be realistic here. She disappeared from Hogwarts, on the same night death eaters infiltrated the castle. None of it should be possible but it happened. Dumbledore's dead." She took a moment, letting the information sink in. The three of them held a moment of silence for the man who had been their tutor in their youth. Serenity now watched Erin intently and played with the hem of her shirt. "We should focus on what's happening next, Circi will show up. She's protected by association with Draco and Lucius," she cleared her throat as Serenity's eyes darkened in disapproval, "Dex isn't."

This caught their attention. Christian looked up from the letter, holding on a little tighter as he pictured Dexter under the watch of death eaters. He could see the little boy who had clung to his mother until the very last moment when he first left for Hogwarts, he could still hear his cries when he clung to his mother for the last time over a decade ago. There would be no one to cling onto if the death eaters got ahold of him at Hogwarts.

"Dex will be okay, he's at-"

"Hogwarts?" Erin cut off Serenity. "Hogwarts isn't safe anymore. He should be here with us, Ren. It was always us the first time, even if you were off Merlin knows where. But it was us at Hogwarts."

"Look at us, Ez," Serenity spread her arms, motioning to the large living space. Aside from the dining room and the ballroom, it was one of the only spaces that could hold the family as kids. "We're alone now. No Dex, no Cormac or Winston and no-" she took a deep breath, feeling her emotions bubbling up, "no Merritt." She choked out. "We can't do anything."

"Don't say that." She countered. Clinging to the arm of the sofa where Merritt often used to perch when the seats were all taken. "Don't make me lose hope."

Serenity scoffed, resuming her pacing. It was Azkaban talking, she knew that. All of those years being locked away, the aftermath of her birth, the heartbreak, it all led to this. This shell of a woman, doom-saying every minor incident to happen to her.

The silence that followed was painful. Christian looked between the women. Serenity, pacing and playing with her bony fingers, her brown hair streaked with hints of grey was thinning and her eyes never seemed to light up anymore. She seemed almost dead to him, like a corpse that was brought back half-human. And Erin, she always looked warm. Her skin perfectly clear, hair as blonde and bright as ever, she was still Erin although the skin around her nails was torn and her eyebrows were discoloured where she tried to cover up the patches she had created in moments of stress.

He wanted to say something to comfort them both. But that would delude Serenity and pacify Erin. Instead, he waited. And he watched. And, eventually, Erin stood up.

Serenity paused and watched her approach before wrapping her tightly in a hug. They held each other as if it was the last time, as if the other would disappear if they let go, and Christian could feel himself about to cry.

He wanted to hope that everything would be okay like Erin. He wanted to hope so badly. But the Ministry was also under siege, he had gotten out by the hair of his teeth and yet his retirement lasted days. He had another war to fight now with no team except this broken family that had come back together by chance.

Erin led Serenity over to the couch and they sat curled into each other, whispering apologies and 'I love you's. They sat away from Christian, Serenity with her back to him, focusing on apologising to each other for fighting when the fireplace lit up and soot scattered across the room as a woman landed in the fireplace.

Her body was grey with soot and she trembled as she stepped into the room, raising her hands and dropping her wand before anyone assumed she was here to attack. She was spattered with blood. A figure of grey and red, shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily and looked around the room. Her shoulders sagged when she looked at Erin, who was standing up slowly. She shuddered as she looked at Christian, who was pulling himself to his feet.

"Mum?" Erin called out, taking a step forward as sobs raked the woman's body.

"Irene?" Christian wondered, rushing up to her and taking her face in his hands. He wiped his thumbs under her eyes, smudging the soot and blood. She grasped his wrists as though he was her lifeline and cried harder.

"Dara..." she choked out. "I had to- she killed him- I had to..." She fell against Christian, holding onto her brother for fear he would disappear too.

*

For days Irene stayed holed up in her room. Hayley helped her bathe, scrubbing the blood and soot from her hair to reveal the silver of her hair that had developed since they last saw each other. At first, she could barely speak without breaking into hysterics. She cried at breakfast, at lunch, and at dinner. She cried in the bath and she cried in bed. She could barely look at Erin and Théo and spent her days curled up in the study, watching Merritt's portrait pull faces at her to cheer her up. But this only made her cry harder until the portrait disappeared and Christian came to sit with her.

They sat in silence for two days. She read Dexter's letter and welled up as she remembered Lucia, his mother.

Four days after she arrived, she was biting down on a pillow in her lap and watching Merritt's portrait drift around the frame.

"It's not fair." She muttered, catching Christian off guard as he looked up from his book. "It's always the good ones." He looked up at the portrait, watching the image of his youngest daughter walk off into the distance. "Why is it always the good ones?"

Taking her hand in a motion that was nearly aggressive, Christian pressed a kiss to her knuckles and held her hand close.

"They were never meant for this world." He said.

"It's so evil here," she whispered, staring off somewhere in space. Christian hummed in agreement, nodding. After a moment, he squeezed her hand.

"Do you want a hug?"

"No," she said, squeezing his hand back, "this is enough... thank you."