𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 faintest idea how she wound up here.
The air was cold and crisp, forcing almost painful goosebumps to rise on her legs and arms. The sky was the darkest she had ever seen, which fitted the grim setting she found herself in.
The graveyard wasn't well lit, and the blonde had to strain her eyes to make out the words on the tombstone she was standing in front of. The adornment on the tombstone wasn't very intricate, since her father couldn't afford it back then.
She wondered how many times he had stood in this exact spot. How he felt with the knowledge that the love of his life had died giving birth to his second daughter. How everything was ruined with the birth of Daisy Kennedy.
She knelt down in an awkward crouch, the long grass wet with the day's rain, her stockings growing damp from the contact. Her hand reached out to touch the gravestone, to see if she could sense her mother's presence.
It sounded cruel, but Daisy was glad she didn't know her mother before she died. It would have made the loss too great. The way it was now, she just had a gap in her life, but she had no knowledge of how it was ever filled.
Suddenly, the ground starting shaking at her feet and Daisy stood up with a start, heart pounding. Her muscles tightened when she witnessed the tombstone starting to crack with the powerful reverberations in the ground.
The stone fell over, separating into jagged pieces, but that wasn't the worst part. A hand reached out of the soft dirt that was just previously under the tombstone, flesh grey and rotting.
Daisy watched in absolute horror as the hand clawed it's way upward, revealing an elbow, a shoulder, then using the ground as leverage for a head to poke through. The young witch took several steps back, unsure whether to run.
Candace Kennedy's dark blue eyes were a stark contrast to her ashen-white skin. Some sort of black liquid was oozing out of the sides, making it look like she was crying tar. Her lips were stretched into a manic grin, teeth decaying and some missing.
"Mom?" Daisy's voice was barely above a whimper, her vision going hazy on the sides.
As soon as the sound escaped her lips, Daisy's risen mom snapped her head in her direction and crawled out of the grave with lightning speed. On her hands and knees, she started racing towards her, looking like a creature of hell.
A swirling blackness surrounded her, bursts of energy escaping.
A scream ripped its way out of the blonde's throat as her mother lunged for her, a sharp pain slicing through her body.
February, 1945
Daisy woke up with a cry, her hair plastered on her forehead with cold sweat. Her breaths came out sharp and quick as she attempted to remind herself where she was.
The dream came back to her in pieces, and she felt an uncomfortable weight settle over her as she tried to ponder what it meant. If it even meant something.
"Hey, are you okay?" Gabriela rolled over in her bed and peered at the blonde through sleepy eyes.
"Yes, just a bad dream," she replied vaguely, putting a hand to her chest and feeling how fast her heart was beating.
"Do you want to talk about it? You look like shit," the Spanish witch said matter-of-factly, never being one to shy from the facts.
"Thanks," she said dryly. "I'm just going to go down to eat. That always makes me feel a little better."
Gabriela nodded understandingly, stepping out of her bed. She offered to go with Daisy to give her company which she deeply appreciated. The two girls trudged out of the Slytherin common room and went upstairs to the Great Hall.
To their surprise, Anika was already there and sipping some warm tea. She was one of the only dozen or so students there since it was so early in the morning. Daisy ad Gabriela sat down in the seats adjacent to her.
"I didn't know you were a morning bird," Daisy commented idly, noting that Anika didn't seem remotely sleepy at all.
"I have a lot to do today," the girl replied. "And I'm more productive in the morning. But what's wrong with you? You look...er...like you need a hug."
"Yeah, this is typically how a girl tends to look post-breakup," Daisy said without thinking, then cringed at their shocked faces.
"WHAT?" they both exclaimed in chorus. "What?!"
"Fleamont broke up with me yesterday," the blonde reluctantly confessed. "Said he was in love with someone else. Apparently he's been trying to find a way to tell me for ages."
"That bloody wanker!" Gabriela snarled. "I can't believe he led you on like that."
"I agree," Anika piped in. "That wasn't very cordial of him."
"Look on the bright side," Gabriela offered, trying to nee comforting."
"What bright side?" Daisy looked at her questioningly.
There was a silence as the three girls looked at each other, none of them saying a single word. Finally, Gabriela cleared her throat awkwardly as it was apparent she should continue.
"Well, erm, I thought Anika was going to speak up because I have nothing to offer."
"It is what it is," Daisy shrugged. "I have bigger problems on my plate."
She then began to shovel food into her mouth so vigorously that it was clear she did not want to elaborate. The other two girls took this as a sign to begin eating as well, their trio filled with silence.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Gabriela was meeting Cora in the library and could not stop the slight bounce in her step as she made her way over there. The girl wasn't completely sure what was happening between them, and she didn't even know if it was supposed to be happening between them, but she did not give a single damn.
"Hey," Cora greeted her coyly, looking up from the desk she had seated herself in. "I'm glad we finally have a free period that aligns with each other."
"I know!" Gabriela agreed. "I'm sorry again about last week. I had to rain check because of a last minute thing."
"That's okay."
"Cool," the witch sat down, wondering why it suddenly got so hot in the library. "Let's get this make-out session started."
Cora stared at her with wide eyes, blinking slowly as she tried to process what the other girl had said. At the exact same time Gabriela realised her error, and turned a lovely shade of beetroot.
"I MEANT MAKE-UP SESSION!" she practically bellowed, earning a shush from nearby students. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me."
Cora cleared her throat aggressively, trying to think of something to say so that they could move on from this very awkward moment. She piled her notebooks on the desk and opened a textbook between them.
"Let's begin," she smiled at Gabriela, who scooted her chair a little further away.
They both worked in silence for the next 30 minutes, working efficiently on the work they had to do and discussing questions they had about the different assignments. Eventually Gabriela realised that they needed to find another supplementary text if they wanted to bring their work to the next level.
"I think it's in the last few bookshelves since the author's last name begins with a Z." Cora guessed. "Let's go there and see if we can find it."
The two girls stood up and walked to the end of the library which was significantly emptier. They explored the shelves, pulling out multiple editions and sighing when it was the wrong book. After several minutes, Cora announced that she had found it.
Gabriela followed the redheads voice and approached her standing and pointing above her head at a dark purple book.
"I'm 90% sure it's this one," Cora said. "I just can't reach it. Is there a step-stool around here somewhere?"
"I could probably get it," Gabriela replied. "I'm like 10 centimetres taller than you. Being tall has its perks."
Cora laughed lightly at that and moved slightly out of the way so that the brunette could reach up for the book. Gabriela got on her tip toes and was pleased to find that her fingers just managed to reach the text. She pulled it out and turned to give it to Cora.
Back on her flat feet and now facing the Ravenclaw, Gabriela realised how close they were to each other. So close that she could smell the faint vanilla scent wafting off of the shorter girl, and could see the freckles that were perfectly distributed all over Cora's cheeks.
"Thanks," Cora whispered, taking the book from her, their fingers overlapping each other.
They both looked at there hands touching on the book cover, then back into each others eyes. Gabriela had no idea what Cora was thinking at that moment because her own body was swarmed with a warm tingly feeling that made everything fuzzy. Everything seemed to be intensified at the moment, as if a sudden movement would electrify Gabriela so bad she would pass out.
Cora gently pulled the text so that she was fully holding it, but then to Gabriela's confusion she put it on a lower shelf as she came to face her again.
"Fuck this," the redhead murmured gutturally. "I've waited long enough."
Cora grabbed Gabriela by the waist and pulled the girl against her body. Gabriela gasped in surprise but didn't pull away, feeling like she would let the other girl do anything to her. They spun around slightly so that Gabriela's back was against bookshelf, a random book digging into her back. She didn't even feel it.
One of Cora's hands came up to cup the Spanish witch's cheek, tracing her cheekbone and coming down to part her lips. Gabriela was utterly speechless, staring at this bold majestic girl.
"Tell me to stop," the redhead whispered, her breath tickling the stray stands of Gabriela's baby hairs. "Tell me now, and I will."
"Don't," Gabriela managed to stutter out, and decided to pull her own daring move.
She leaned forward and connected their lips, eyes shutting in pleasure as both of them got the outcome they had fantasised about.
It was a good thing that part of the library was so empty.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Daisy was also currently in the library at the moment, but under no circumstances aware of what her friend was getting up to. After all, she was in a different library section entirely to find the truth about her heritage.
For whatever reason, the Hogwarts library had thousands of records of family history's and hospital records. The Slytherin witch had already gone through all of the hospital records but had found nothing about a Candace Kennedy or a Candace Whitlock, which had been her mother's maiden name.
Did her mother not give birth to her in a hospital? Why was it as if she didn't even exist?
Daisy suddenly wished that she had taken Lili's offer of help, but then pushed those thoughts away. She was much more suspicious of the strange student now, and was unsure whether Lili could be trusted.
How did Lili know about Daisy's peculiar power? Did Lili know something about Daisy's heritage and wasn't telling her?
Daisy rubbed her head, the nagging headache having bothered her all morning. She had tried multiple medications but this constant dull pain did not seem to go away.
"Let's focus on the things I know," she told herself calmly. "My mother is a muggle. My mother died giving birth to me. My mother's name is Candace Whitlock, Candace Kennedy after she was married. My mother appears not to be in any hospital records."
"What am I missing?" she racked her brain, trying to think outside of the box.
An idea came to her, but she didn't know if it would lead to anything. She went through the records again, and this time pulled out her father's and her own. She assumed it would list his identity and his marital status, and perhaps provide some insight on where she was born.
She scanned both documents with sharp concentration, eyes picking out anything important. The paper's said that her father married Candace Whitlock in 1921, 6 years before she was born and 4 years before Mackenzie was born.
She scanned her own papers then, trying to find the location of her birth. Her face scrunched in confusion as the location was extremely vague, only mentioned the name of a small village in Northern Ireland. Armagh.
She looked back at her father's papers, trying to find something, anything, of use. Her eyes then widened as she read the limited information about her mother.
In the column for Blood status there nothing written. But there was a small star in the corner of the box. Daisy followed the star to the bottom of the page, where a tiny footnote was written.
Candace Whitlock was presumed to have been a muggle, but further evidence and investigation into her family has revealed that she came from two pureblood parents. While mostly everything about her family cannot be found, Candace never went to any Wizarding School and never exhibited magical qualities. She is now presumed to have been a Squib.
Daisy's heart was racing as this information overtook her. Her father had always led her to believe that her mother was an ordinary muggle, and that there was nothing magical about her at all.
It was the next paragraph that caused Daisy to feel even more conflicted.
Candace Kennedy - Deceased in 1927 (unknown reason) **
**an investigation was started to discover the origin of her death, but was called off only a week later. This was due to the lack of body parts to be investigated. Few remains of Candace Kennedy were found.
Daisy was completely and overwhelmingly shocked. Everything she knew about her mother, which was very little, was totally wrong. Daisy knew that there was only one thing that she could do, one thing that she would do.
She needed to go to Armagh herself and finish the investigation herself.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
A/N: OOOOOH it's gettin' complicated ;)
What are your thoughts? Also, ship name for Cora and Gabriella?