Wings of a Wizard (Harry Potter x Winx Club x Fate Winx Saga Fanfiction)

Mind of a Child Pt.1

A.N.: Merry Christmas Everyone!! I'm proud to say that all the parts of this quartet are finally written lol. There's still a bit of editing that needs to be done on the last two chapters, so here's what I'm gonna do. There's a chapter today and tomorrow (Christmas Eve & Christmas Day), as well as a chapter on New Year's Eve and Day respectively. 

I wish that I could include all of the scenes I've written over the next four parts, but I don't think that I'll be able to include everything, especially how Bloom and Andy get together. So when S1E13 rolls around, I'll throw in more of Bloom's childhood and teenage years on Earth. 

Also, I introduce Daphne's friends; people whom I hinted at in the beginning, and sometime in the future, this fanfic will play different roles and connections for Bloom and Daphne. 

Any flashbacks that leave Bloom's P.O.V. out of it are just normal italics. 

Now please enjoy. 

X - normal text

X - text where Bloom is not present

'X' - thoughts

'#$X#$' - Parseltongue

Chapter : Mind of a Child Pt.1: 

After we cried while clinging to each other, the silence felt more disturbing than the weird feeling of a dead soul and a living soul embracing. 

She looked around my mind in awe, staring at the moving memories in orbit around the sphere of my magic. Her gaze drifted to the Dragon Flame, which coiled around us. 

Finally, she broke the silence, seeming to know what this was. "Your mindscape is much more advanced than mine. Far more impressive, and organized."

I gasped in surprise--not having expected to be able to relate to anyone else regarding the mind arts. "You have a mindscape too?"

"All of Sparx's fairies and wizards did," She replied quietly. "Our people belonged to a comic power that is still sought even to this day. Our minds had to be strong, we had to be resilient. By unfortunate circumstance, by necessity, all of our people were hardened, and expected to be confronted with darkness at any moment."

I shivered, knowing that she was talking about the Ancestresses. The Dragon Flame gave a low growl at the thought, his head facing us while his scaly, fiery body still coiled protectively around us, his warmth reassuring, even in my prison. 

"I know, buddy," I murmured, leaning from my seat to rub the Great Beast's snout while my sister watched with approval and a knowing smile. 

I ducked my head, feeling my cheeks warm. 

"He is so proud of you, Bloom," Daphne said, pride also heard in her tone. "He knows the lengths you've gone to protect him, as do I." 

I blinked in surprise. "You do? How? We just met." 

She chuckled. "We know of the things you've achieved, and strive to achieve. And for the record, I'd say that you are on the right path."

I blinked, interpreting what she hadn't said. "You can talk to him?"

She chuckled. "In a way, yes. It is not how you and I talk, but a mutual understanding of feelings. In time, you will too."

I nod slowly, watching him. "Thank you for trusting me with your power," I say softly, and he growls playfully at me.

I stand, compelled by some inexplicable urge. The Dragon Flame raised his head, before touching his snout to my forehead. 

I gasp as I feel something--no, feelings, wash over me. Respect. Confidence. Acknowledgement of me as an equal.

Daphne smiled, watching our interaction silently. 

I stumble back, my mindscape helpfully providing my seat again. "That--was--" I pant in surprise. 

I'd felt impressions of the big guy before, but nothing like that. I felt his emotions as though he were a person and not just a magical essence in my body. 

"Intense?" Daphne prodded gently.

I was still stupefied, to the point where I could only nod in stunned agreement, my consciousness still reeling from what I had experienced. The only comparison that I could give (and not from my own experience) would be what soul mates feel (and since I never had a soul bond with Hermione or Susan, I can't really explain what that would feel like, but I'm sticking with this analogy, so deal). 

She chuckled again--she seemed to like doing that--as she laced her fingers together in her lap. "I had only a fraction of the Great Beast's power. You have all of the Fire of Life inside of you, you would feel his emotions on a more personal level than I." 

"More personal," I repeated dumbly before snapping out of my daze. "That wasn't just personal, that was like our minds had melded together. Our thoughts and emotions were each other's, we were one mind." 

Daphne smiled. "It would seem that you already have a strong connection then." 

I shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I guess." 

Daphne's eyes found my memories, and she saw a snippet of a memory where I had looked into a mirror for the first time as an infant. 

"You were so cute." She smiled tightly. "You always were wide-eyed, shocked and amazed." 

"Well, you would be too, if you were reborn as a princess in a magical kingdom," I groused playfully. 

"If I grew up not knowing magic, I suppose," Daphne agreed. 

I hesitated before shaking my head. "No, I knew magic, but...it wasn't like this. Like the Magix Dimension." 

Daphne cocked her head curiously. "What was your previous life like?"

I bit down on the automatic need to say, 'Hell,' and instead said, "Crazy." 

She lifted her brow, and I grudgingly admitted a bit more. "Interesting too, but mostly crazy." 

I hesitated, biting my lip. "I...don't really want to talk about it though. It wasn't the...best life. I learned to love, but...I lost so much fighting for peace, especially considering the...unusual circumstances of my upbringing and a manipulative mentor," My voice trembled as I allowed myself to remember. 

Hermione, Susan, Neville, Luna. Lily Luna, James, Sirius Minera, and Nymphadora Amelia. James and Lily. Fred and George. Hagrid. Cedric. Cho. Lavender, Parvati, and Padma. Daphne and Astoria. 

Bellatrix. Snape. Dumbledore. Voldemort. Delphi. Grindelwald. Faceless Death Eaters. Terrifying dark creatures. Demons. Monsters. The Carrow twins; Amycus and Alecto, Hestia and Flora. 

"I faced so much evil, and though it carried many faces, the tune never changed." 

My shoulders slumped, recalling all of the needless deaths and messages meant to intimidate the Wizarding World and turn them against me. Grindelwald's mark, Voldemort's mark. Delphi's riddles. 

"They always wanted to conquer, to destroy," I was lost in memories. I remembered the craters in Hogwarts, the crumbled mess of the Astronomy Tower. The Burrow--the Weasley's home--on fire and burning to the ground. The legion of Inferi marched onward to the ICW headquarters in broad daylight. Luna's lifeless body hung from black chains, the dungeon polluted with Black Magic. 

"They turned their own problems or selfish desires into excuses and justification for their wars. Wars that somehow saw me always being put on the front lines against, all because I was the subject of a self-fulfilling prophecy. A savior, a martyr. A disposable, powerful asset that they feared as much as they worshipped." 

Daphne grimaced, understanding where I was coming from. "I see. I will not bring it up if you do not desire such." 

I tilted my head in gratitude. I did not need to tear open more unhealed wounds than necessary. "Thank you, sister." 

She smiled, nodding at me. 

I bounced in my seat, hey, I just got my sister back. I don't give a flying fuck about etiquette. "Please, tell me. What do you remember about our home? Before my birth?" 

A fond smile slowly rose on her face. She turned to face me directly, from where she'd been watching the Dragon Flame coil protectively around my magic core. 

"Well, my years growing up would be a good place to start, no?" she teased. 

I grinned. "Tell me, tell me!" 

"A princess is never hasty, or impatient." She lectured me, sounding amused and serious. 

I pouted, then raised a mischievous eyebrow. "I have memories of you passing me off to Mother before you bolted out when news of your friends arriving at the castle was passed to the nursery." 

A golden hue rose on her cheeks as she choked in surprise. "Ah, I see." 

I giggled at her blush. 

She returned my mischievous smile with one of her own as she amended her statement. "Very well. We might be hasty or have a lack of patience, but we never display it." 

"That is much better," I grinned at her. "But don't expect me to follow along with too many political customs. I prefer the freedom of calling idiots an idiot to their faces." 

Daphne's lip twitched upwards. "That defiance comes from our father. You know, he has often broken people's noses as a way to 'knock some sense into them'."  

I gaped at her, about to burst into another fit of giggles. "He did not." 

Daphne's giggles set mine off. "Oh, but he did." 

I certainly didn't recall that, but Merlin, I was dying with laughter inside. That sounded like something that he would do.   

She then started narrating her own childhood. "Sparx was not much different than the first year of your birth, except for the excess military presence." 

I lifted a brow. "Do you mean the Company of Light?" 

She nodded. "Yes. Our own military was always active, but most of it was placed within the outer walls." 

My expression soured. 

"The Day of the Dragon was always celebrated. It was one of the few days when all of Sparx 'let their hair down'." 

I snorted in amusement, Daphne's expression was similar to McGonagall's in that moment. 

"A parade was held, starting at the palace grounds, wandering through the city streets from the inner walls to just before the outer walls, and back." Daphne's smile was back, lost in better memories. "There was always fine wine, food, and activities. Vendors sold their wares, and on that day, Domino always had thousands of visitors coming to catch a glimpse of the royal family." 

I gasped as I remembered. "We rode on the royal float!" 

Daphne nodded with a smile. "It was always warm, and just right for us. Of course, when you were born, the parade was kept to the inner walls, for your own safety." 

I huffed. "Downside to being a Keeper. Suffocating levels of caution." 

"That caution may one day save your life," Daphne warned me. "It already has." 

I shrugged, my expression slipping, allowing her to see a moment of bitter self-loathing. "I know, but people shouldn't have to change or risk anything because of me." 

"We do it because we want to." Daphne's tone expected no challenge. I opened my mouth, retort ready, but hesitated at her pleading look. No arguing. 

I bit it back on my tongue. 'Fine.' I waved silently, for her to continue. 

"We were always accompanied by a squad of guards, but Mother insisted upon interacting with the people." Daphne smiled. "I made more than a number of friends this way." 

I flushed pink. "I um...don't remember all your friend's names. The ones who coddled me at my first birthday party." 

"Life Day." Daphne correctly gently, with a warmer smile. "Emily and Amanda were the redhead twins, the ones who were more sandy in complexion." 

I nodded, remembering another pair of twin-speak redheads (technically gingers). 

"Tressa is the Princess of Mermaids and Tritons of Andros, the one with red spiky hair and the stutter," Daphne slowly led me through her other friends. 

Diletta has strawberry blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and pale pink lips. She was often fond of pale pink and purple multi-layered skirts and dresses. 

And Politea, who has long brown hair with a fringe that falls on her face and a bun at the back of her head. She has green eyes and rose lips. The day of my birthday she wore a long lime scarf that is used as a sash and a belt. She also wears a red dress with the tips of it that look like it was ripped and a pair of pale green sandals. 

Probably because she was a rebel, but what do I know. 

"How did you meet them all?" I asked. 

"Tressa and Politea were friends first, knowing each other through their ties to the Infinite Oceans," Daphne said with a soft smile. "I met them shortly after I achieved my Charmix, at a party in...Andros." 

She hesitated, looking unsure, and I mentally cursed the witch who stole my sister's memories from her. 

Daphne cleared her throat before continuing. "I met Amanda and Emily when they attempted to sneak into the palace after curfew." 

I gasped. "Wait, they were our people?" 

Daphne nodded, her expression sadder. "Yes. They were." 

Were. As in, likely no longer in the living. 

Because I'd been cast out of the Magix Dimension, and taken with me the life force my people needed to survive. And they called me a savior. 

What a fucking joke I am. 

"--and they joined me in Alfea, along with Diletta. Diletta was my roommate, while Emily and Amanda were our other dorm mates." 

I frowned. "Weren't there two others?" 

Daphne chuckled. "No." She said confidently, and I sighed in relief, glad that she could recall as much. "It wasn't uncommon for dorms to be small in number. Am I to take it that your dorm is at maximum capacity?" 

"We have five," I replied. "Myself, Princess Stella of Solaria. Flora, of Linphea. Musa, of Melody. And Tecna of Zenith. Most dorms have six girls." 

Daphne nodded, still holding her head high and regal. "I see." Her lips pursed, pressing into a thin line. "During the war, many were withdrawn from Alfea. Others abandoned their education to fight on the front lines, or to bury their loved ones who had died fighting." 

"Oh." I leaned back in my seat. From that point of view, it made sense. Harry's generation had been much smaller too, a side effect of being born a year just before Voldemort's reign would be deposed for a time. 

"What did you do for fun?" I asked. 

Daphne wrinkled her nose cutely. "Princesses do not waste time on frivolous activities." She said with a slight smirk and her nose upturned. 

I winced. "I take it you got that a lot growing up?" 

Daphne gave the royal equivalent of a shrug: a slight tilt of her head and shoulder. "Despite my tutor's annoyance, and our parent's occasional frustration, I wouldn't give up my fun at Alfea, nor the pranks that we would indulge in around the palace." 

I froze still. "Wait...so that day when a bucket of dirty soap water fell from the rafters onto the passing maid--" 

Daphne did not break into giggles like Freddi and Georgina might've, but her lips did turn up at the corners. "I'm afraid I have no knowledge of this occasion." 

Feeling my Marauder's spirits rise, I returned her half-smile with my own mischievous one. "Sureeee." I drew out the word before we both allowed ourselves a naughty giggle. 

"Lessons were...harsh." Daphne's expression twisted, and I remembered when our parents told her that she had to prioritize my safety and power first, and our family and relationship second. She likely still was hurting from that. 

"It can't have been easy, being the heir to the throne and the...Guardian to the Keeper." I said softly, displaying as much sympathy as I could. 

Daphne choked on her laugh. "It was what was expected of us." She said, and I was amazed at how she simplified it, without even holding a trace of bitterness or resentment in her tone. 

Then again, she'd been training in the art of political-social interactions far longer than I'd attended them (in this life). If she did harbor those feelings, she hid them from me and hid them well. 

"From an early age, I learned how to harness my inner Flame." She studied me. "A feat you have accomplished as well." 

I nodded as I bit my lip. "My method would be considered more...unconventional by Alfea's standards." 

Daphne suppressed a snort. "We are Fyres, we are of Sparx. Unexpected, brash, unconventional, creative, dangerous, powerful, honorable, passionate." She listed terms that had clearly been labeled for us in her past, maybe even said to her face. 

"Did you have any rivals? Academic? A witch?" I couldn't help but ask. 

Daphne frowned. "No. I was more studious, and my group of friends never went looking for trouble, but were some of the first to fight when trouble arose." 

I read between the lines. "How many times?" 

Daphne huffed. "Too many. It wasn't a witch, it was the Army of Decay." 

I hissed in anger and sympathy. "No wonder you didn't want to leave the palace. Those buggers must be a pain to destroy." 

"That, and some," Daphne winced, before adjusting her position in her seat, and switching her legs. "Some of the greatest scientific minds of Domino and Zenith butted heads until they created a spell specifically used to destroy the 'Decay." 

My heart started beating faster at this revelation. A spell that could destroy the 'Decay? "Can I learn it?" 

Daphne chuckled at my eagerness. "Not at the present moment, little sister. I would prefer if you would learn to master your powers more. I myself learned this as an Enchantix fairy." 

"Isn't all you need to succeed is willpower, belief, and magic?" I asked, puzzled. 

Daphne shook her head. "It was tested thoroughly. Only fairies that had been pushed beyond Charmix had a chance of casting it, but the numbers were slim. Slimmer, for Charmix and Winx fairies." 

I hissed in disappointment. 

Daphne smiled at me. "Patience, little one. Don't be so hasty to grow up. Enjoy your new childhood while you can, because eventually it will be ripped from you." 

I winced, knowing that she was referencing her own tragic demise at a young age. "You were too young." 

"From what you inferred, I gather you were as well." She replied humbly, and I couldn't argue with that, even though our situations were vastly different. She had a choice. I didn't, I was manipulated into the role by an old wizard with delusions of immortality and grandeur. False visions that he killed himself over in a haste to ensure my own demise. 

"I did, but I came back." Shaking my head when she opened her mouth, I held up a hand to forestall; all my secrets were slipping through my fingers like sand. "You were saying about your lessons?" I prompted. 

Daphne raised her carefully plucked and smoothed eyebrow but acquiesced. "Historical lessons were imparted to me over the course of ten years. My first few years of magic training were empowering, as I discovered my limits and pushed beyond them." 

I nodded in respect, having felt similar feelings. 

"After I had my tenth Life Day, I was taught royal etiquette. Mother prepared me for the role of Supreme Guardian since I would be the first of my generation." Daphne said with a strained smile. "Training was cruel, harsh, and demanded everything from you. Your time, your strength, your sweat, and magic." 

I winced. "Sounds close to the training regiment they put Hit-Wizards through." 

"Hit...Wizards?" Daphne said, puzzled. 

"Oh." My cheeks flushed pink. "It's the international magical military force from my last life. Special Ops, covert tactics, the sort of thing." 

Daphne 'ah'ed in understanding. "I suppose that it could be considered...military training, in some aspects." 

"The rest was preparing you to martyr yourself?" I asked sardonically, my tone the epitome of dryness. 

Daphne's expressions flashed with disapproval, before softening. "You also have experience there." 

Red flashed in my vision. 

"Yessss," I hissed venomously, my knuckles whitening as I squeezed my hands so tightly that I swear a joint popped. Memories played through my head (can't say my mind because we're both in it) as I recalled the years of subtle indoctrinations, mental suggestion plants, carefully fed loyalty, jealousy, repulsion, and love potions. The lies and half-truths. 

The blinded old goat whose family crumbled around him and he used that trauma as an excuse, later on, to justify 'The Greater Good'. A phrase that had seen thousands bleed and millions die for, across not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE BLOODY WARS. Grindlewald during World War II. Voldermort's first rise to power. Voldemort's return, and the slow war that destroyed everything. Delphi's guerilla warfare and terrorism across magical and muggle towns and cities. Grindlewald's escape from Nunguard, and his second rise to power. 

And then the war after that, the one that saw magicals and muggles destroy each other by the dozens and millions (once it was known how, not even a nuclear bomb was effective against the magicals, because the intent could be negated with runic shields). 

Even after his death, the Wizarding World in Britain, and on a national scale were still paying for the meddling old goat's mistakes. 

"Oh yes, I remember." I spat, enraged, my aura manifesting in my mindscape in an orange-reddish halo. "Albus fucking Dumbledore and his 'Greater Good' saw no other way to remove a bloody soul shard from my forehead, so he had me do his dirty work before walking out to receive a killing blow from the enemy, with the hopes that Vol--the madman who murdered my birth family in my other live would be killed by those that were left." 

I took several deep breaths, even running through a meditation exercise to calm down, but my magic simmered, unable to lash out in its cage. My prison--embedded within a tree. 

"Sorry." I exhaled heavily. "Bad memories." 

Daphne nodded once, retaining an impassive, almost unreadable look through my emotional mask crumbling and the reveal of my deeper, more unresolved wounds. 

They would be healed if I could just sock the bloody idiot in the face. And set his beard on fire. I swear. 

I contained myself and forced out what I knew would be a difficult question. "Where was the Company of Light when Domino fell? Because when I talked to Hagan--" 

Daphne jolted so fast that I thought that she was struck by a lightning bolt. "You've spoken to Hagan?" 

I hesitate, then nod. 

Daphne breathed out a sigh of relief. "He's alive, thank the Dragon." 

"He's not in a good place though," I confessed my worries. "He's isolated himself in his grief. I've only spoken to him recently, and met with him for hours on two occasions." 

Daphne's features were marred with sorrow. "I imagine that a great many of the Company were lost to the ravages of the war or memories. No doubt the loss of our parents hit him as hard as it did us." 

I swallowed. "It...he..." I cleared my throat and tried again, blushing sheepishly. "He was the one who helped me realize that you were the nymph that was contacting me. After imparting the news of your and our kingdom's demise." 

Daphne's lip quirked up, but her shoulders were laden down with sadness. "He and father used to jest about becoming private investigators, as they were both sharp and intelligent." 

I forced the air trapped in my lungs to release. "They must've been quite the team." 

Daphne smiled tightly. "They were, from what I recall. I believe that you glimpsed a visage of their effectiveness against that monster in the hall where we last saw them." 

I swallowed, the memories of that moment replaying. "I do. Just as I remember that whole event. Every exchange, every expression." 

Daphne frowned. "How? Even if you were reincarnated in some form, how could your memory be so perfect?"  

It was my turn to give a guarded smile. "It's a part of the mind arts from my last life. There are three parts, but I only use the first and second. Augomency; the art of merging your consciousness with your magic daily to strengthen and enhance your powers overall. And the second is how I retain the little details of every memory." 

"That sounds similar to some of the basic exercises done in Magiphysics and Defense at Alfea," Daphne frowned. 

"It sounds similar, because for the most part, the process is similar, but the methods they teach take longer to immerse yourself and become familiar with your magic. My...old life's people preferred this direct route," I explained.  

"This sounds incredible, Bloom," Daphne breathed, her facade cracking slightly to show an excited young woman yearning for new knowledge. 

'Just like Hermione,' I chuckled at my thoughts of the loveliest woman that I knew, continuing my lecture. "Occlumency is the art of building a mindscape by which you can review the jumbled mess of your memories, and sort them--preferably monthly, lest you spend days dedicated to the task. Once that is finished, you can then build mental barriers--shields--that can hide your emotions and help you to mask and better manage your power..." 

Many people assume that Occlumency is simply the idea of sorting memories like a library while creating all sorts of imaginary constructs as defenses, but it's not so simple. There are four tiers to Occlumency, and each has to be mastered separately before you can use it as a whole. Each tier deals with a different part of the mind, so to speak.

The first is the 'sensors' (there is no other applicable term for them), which allow you to tell when someone is trying to break into your mind to gleam surface thoughts, memories, emotions, and desires, burrowing deeper to find the suppressed versions of those four, or to view memory as a whole.

The second is the process of reviewing and cataloging every memory that you have. Before you could organize your memories, you had to become desensitized to them (something that I was not looking forward to. I'd come to peace with my past life, but the Ancestral Witches...I shuddered). Once you were desensitized (meaning that if someone managed to breach your mind and tried to use them against you, they'd be unable to) to those memories, you could then categorize them however you wanted (so by year, by type of event, etc.).

The third was the practice of building up your mental layers. These could be anything you wanted, shields, imaginary constructs based upon places you'd been to, seen, or watched. There, you'd store your memories, displaying them how you wanted(like how I used the Forbidden Forest around Hogwarts, with my memories spread apart in the R & R, Chamber of Secrets and Headmaster's office). Of course, one had to keep in mind that a stronger will with more magic than you could break your mental constructs or shields.

The fourth and final was the practice of discipline. Meaning that you needed to have someone regularly test your defenses. You could do that yourself with a dummy, but it would be very rudimentary. It was preferred that you have four different people attempt to breach your mental barriers using brute force, slow, and skimming mental attacks. 

Annoyingly, I had a lack of people to help with this (Musa is still too new to the Mind Arts to actually help someone of my level), which meant that I had no way of actually knowing how well my defenses would hold when someone attacks my mind with the intent to breach it. 

Occlumency, shields, and expression masks (constructing a specific emotion to wear, such as a smile, serenity, sternness, or a blank face, the latter of which purebloods used a lot) were difficult to maintain long-term. Things like building your mindscape cost your magic to create, and the longer you spent maintaining your mind the more drained you'd feel afterward, usually tired enough to sleep. This was why it was ill-advised for any magical being to create Occlumency shields until after their first magical maturity. 

The good thing was that once your mindscape was built, with no outside or internal tampering (cough, Voldemort, cough, Horcrux, cough), your memories wouldn't be able to fuel your nightmares or dreams unless you let them. Either consciously or subconsciously, which is why constant maintenance of Occlumency was required. 

Once I finished explaining, Daphne sat silently for a while. Finally, her brows furrowed. "Wouldn't that also affect your aura?" 

I giggled. "Funny you say that, actually. Apparently, something I learned when I met Stella was that I have the largest aura in the Magix Dimension. And depending on how many barriers I have raised determines how much of my aura is shielded from detection. I'm no Occlumens Master--they could hide the presence of their magic completely--but I have been able to drive my professors and friends up the wall with how I change my shields during the day." 

Daphne smiled with a knowing look at the deity's essence behind and above us. "The Dragon Flame has always left visible signs in the fairy they choose to be a Keeper. There are others who have auras equal to your size and possible strength, but they are forbidden to speak of." 

I frowned, glancing at her in worry. "Would any of those 'forbidden' beings come after me when my heritage is revealed?" 

Daphne blinked in surprise. "You hide the truth of your origins?" 

I scowled, mistaking her tone for reproach. "What else was I supposed to do? I lived for one year in the Magix Dimension as a helpless infant. My exit was punctuated by your dying screams and the nauseating aura of the Ancestral Witches. That left me with nightmares that I had to endure as a child for years, unable to make them go away." 

The color seemed to drain from Daphne's face, leaving faint outlines. 

"I feared returning, unknowing of what I might find," I admitted, taking a shuddered breath. "My sole consolation was that I was not alone on Earth, since my adoptive mother was a citizen of the White Circlet Kingdom of Earth." 

Daphne gasped. "When you said that you were adopted--" 

"I caused a fire in an apartment building when I crash-landed on Earth. My nonmagical father, James, found me and--", I told her the story that was secretly famous among myself and my immediate family. And Stella. 

When I finished, Daphne leaned back, cupping her mouth. "And your adoptive mother--Lily--never suspected that you weren't an Earth fairy?" 

"As far as I am aware, she was undecided," I shrug. "I knew that she suspected that I could've been missed by the fairy hunters. I was, after all, jettisoned from the Magix Dimension to Earth for my own safety, and considering the amount of dark magic that followed me through the portal, there was enough evidence to prove that my 'parents' had died to the hunters, and the dark magic lingered." 

I took a deep breath and continued, "That wasn't the truth, but regardless, she never let that become a discriminatory factor when raising me. She saw me as her first daughter and proudly proclaimed to the world as such. Eventually, about a year or so after I was born, my other sister, Violet, came into this world, and although she was the first blood-born daughter, she was the second child in the Petersons family."

Daphne gasped in surprise, and...was that jealousy? 

"You would love Violet," I smiled at her. "She's a nature fairy, just like Mu--Lily, but her attitude is more Fyre sometimes."  

Or Potter, I amended to myself. 

Daphne smiled tightly. "Oh Bloom, you do not need to censure yourself in my presence. Lily must be a wonderful mother." 

My throat felt dry. "She is," I agreed. "Kind, caring, loving, nurturing, efficient at time-management, and a true example of what female empowerment means." 

Daphne smiled encouragingly at me, but I could swear that the glow of her eyes was a little dimmer than the rest of her body. 

I felt...a feeling...of jealousy? 

I hesitated, unsure of what to say, because I felt that I had to reassure her. Apologize.  "I never meant to replace our birth parents in my head. It just...happened." 

It didn't help that infant-me had the memories of another Lily in my head and I confused the two. Babies don't use logic and their clarity is weak at best. 

Daphne shook her head. "No, Bloom, never apologize for how you feel. If you are dishonest with yourself, you will find it easier to lie to others you care for. I confess that I find it difficult to know that you did not grow up in our mother's arms, but I will not begrudge you for finding that feeling of home, safety, and sanctity in another fairy's." 

Her lips twitched upwards. "Truly, they sound amazing. I wish that I could get the chance to meet them." 

"You still might," I suggested impulsively. "The second mind art is something that I prefer not to use because it has been used in provocative interrogations in the past." 

Daphne's angry hiss told me that she read in between the lines. 'Torture', she mouthed. I nodded, watching as her expression crumbled into sadness again. "You lived a long life." 

"That would be a simpler description," I sighed tiredly, rubbing my brow. 

I debated on telling her my age when I died, but figured that would only worsen our moods. I sat up, deciding to lighten the atmosphere. "Just know, that because you're my big sister, and Violet is my younger sister, those roles now apply to both of you." 

A small sparkle lit in her eyes. "Oh?" she said, playing coy. 

"Oh yes," I felt the urge to smile rising. "I insist upon it. I won't have my sisters fighting over me, thus, you are now sisters too." 

Daphne rose and mock-curtsied at me with such grace that I ached for her to live. I just wanted to hold her, to touch her. To be reassured and lifted into her arms in the way that I had for Violet. To have my big sister back. "As you wish, my queen."

Fuck my plans, figuring out how to crack her curse has just moved to the top of my objective board. 

Wait...what? 

I froze as something she said registered within me.  

Queen. 

'Queen', I mouthed the word in shock, sputtering as I raised my voice. "Q-Queen? But...I'm just a princess!" 

Daphne coughed lightly before she spoke to me gently. "Bloom, you do realize that with our parents gone and myself technically dead, you are the sole living heir--the heir apparent--to the throne? The last living member of our family who has blue blood guaranteeing the right of monarchy?" 

No, no, no, no...

My breath comes faster and faster, I'm about to have a heart attack. Or a panic attack. Maybe I already am. I'm hyperventilating, staring at her, through her, clutching the armrests of my chair so tight that my pale knuckles could be mistaken for a spirit's. 

My jaw opened and closed before I burst out in denial. "What! No! I...I can't! I'm sixteen for Merlin's sake! It took me ten years to accept that I am, or was a fucking princess! For me to be a queen...no no no, it's too bloody soon! I haven't--" 

Daphne winced at my language, but I was too high-strung, the damn had been released, and there was no holding back my grievances. "Bloom--" 

"--so there! And don't even know how to fit in with royalty, let alone BE one! I couldn't stand the elite as a wizard and as a princess? Psh! I have to deal with the discrimination of a daughter from a Solarian noble almost daily! If I'm put in from of the royal court, how many will act the same when they find out that I'm raised from Earth but born here?"  

"Don't tar us all with the same brush." Daphne reprimanded me softly, but it was like I didn't hear her, or maybe I did, I was too caught up in the realization that once I graduated from Alfea, I'd have to actually rule a dead planet. A queen of corpses. 

"And ruling?" A strangled laugh tore through my hysterics. I'd only led people into their graves, it was why I hated leading others. Why I privately screamed my discomfort when my friends decided that making me the unofficial leader of the Winx 'Club' was a good idea. "Who am I to rule over, now that the Ancestresses have murdered our people?!? Where is my domain, now that Domino is a husk of its former self??" 

My anger manifested then, my voice trembling as I choked on my rage.  

Daphne watched me cautiously. "I understand your desire for revenge, Bloom, but that will take you down a path no fairy should go." 

I huff. "If I ever hunt down that trio of dark ladies, it'll be for justice, not revenge." 

Daphne shook her head almost desperately. "No, Bloom, please understand." 

"What? Understand what?" I was fed up with the cryptic shit. No more. "That I'll become a fallen fairy? A dark fairy?" I mocked Amaryl's words. 

"No!" Daphne launches herself from her seat, gripping my arms tightly. We both gasped at the weird discomforting sensation, but she didn't let go. "Bloom, I fear that you may be susceptible to the darkness in the Dragon Flame." 

My jaw dropped. 

Ok, I did not expect that. 

"WHAT!" 

According to the texts, the Dragon Flame was the purest source of magic in the entire galaxy. How could it be pure and light if there was darkness within it? 

She released my biceps, and I rubbed them, trying to get some feeling back. "Bloom, has Faragonda mentioned or discussed advanced fairy forms with you?" 

I turn thoughtful. "After the Winx form? Like Enchantix, and your...Sirenix? Only the briefest of mentions, nothing more extensive, or satisfying. They want us to get more in tune with our Winx forms." 

She smiled and nodded, but grimaced when I mentioned the latter form. Something to make a note of. Maybe it had to do with her curse? "Yes. It's called Draconix, a--pardon me--bastardized version of Elementrix." 

I frowned. "I've...never heard of those forms." 

"You wouldn't have. Very few fairies actually can achieve either, and the former has only been something that the Fyre bloodline has unlocked. Or rather, been cursed with." 

That was...a worrying statement. 

"Okay, but what does my temper have to do with Draconix?" I asked, suddenly feeling a foreboding sense of dread. 

Daphne sighed tiredly. "There should be a sole mention of it in the Dragon Grimoire." 

I opened my mouth to ask how she knew of it when she held up a hand to forestall any interruption. 

"Draconix is a 'Beserker's rage', a temporary bloodlust. Your powers are compelled to their zenith, and in this state, you will have command of the purest of your element. Your transformation will not alter your appearance, just your wings, which will reflect your element. Any spells that are less than lethal will not affect you at all, and even then, they would not register as a fatal attack, but rather like a normal one when you yourself are not in this phase. You have enhanced speed, strength, and flexibility over your body and your magic. In this state, it truly is nothing more than a matter of belief, and with our element, that is what makes it extremely dangerous." 

"Fire." I breathed. So far, I'm not exactly hearing a downside to this, apart from the berserker part. Surely it's not as bad as she makes it out to be? 

She nodded. "It is as beautiful as it is deadly. As attractive as it is destructive. It is no secret that fire fairies have issues with their temper." 

I coughed to cover my laughter, but she merely gave me an annoyed look that caused me to clamp up. She changed her expression immediately but still sought to impress upon me the dangers of this form. 

"It is a form that is unlocked when a fire fairy--a fairy of the Dragon Flame--willingly embraces her hatred. For who and why, does not matter. In this state, she will not have higher brain processes. She is more animal than fairy, more primal than communal. And if the source of her rage is removed before her powers over the system are extinguished, she will turn on those closest, unable to distinguish friend from foe." 

"Shit." The color drains from my face, and I curse as I realize the repercussions. If I'm enraged enough in a battle against the Trix, and they flee when I'm in this 'Draconix' form, I could...I could turn on the Winx. 

Horror fills me. I could seriously hurt them, or worse, kill them. All because I become a mindless beast. 

I grab her hand, ignoring the painfully weird tingles. I plead, "Please tell me, how do you break out of it?" 

"There has only ever been one way," Daphne said remorsefully. "Draconix draws magic from your body until it can supply it no longer. Either because you ran out of magic--impossible in the case of a Guardian or Keeper of the Dragon Flame--or because your body could not channel more magic and your form expires to prevent magical burnout, leaving you near-helpless with an extreme case of magical exhaustion." 

I shut my eyes, and draw in one strangled breath after another. 

Great. Now on top of everything else, I once again have to watch my temper. Just throw in the Umbridge lookalike, why don't you? 

I was being sarcastic, please for the love of Merlin, don't. 

"I...I see," I swallow my anxieties down, then take another shuddered breath. "I promise that I won't seek to use that form." 

Daphne nodded, pleased. 

"What about Elementrix? Is that something that I can achieve, or not?" I asked, wanting to avoid this subject. 

Daphne shook her head. "Little one, Draconix is Elementrix, for us. Other fairies can achieve it if they try, but we cannot. If not for our sake, then for the safety of everyone else around us." 

I nod, swallowing. That sucked. 

"So, you won't tell me how?" I asked quietly. 

Daphne shook her head firmly. "No. If you are anything like me and our father, you will not be satisfied with the lack of information, but you will not seek it." 

I snort. Not likely. 

"If you are like mother..." Daphne trailed off with a shudder. 

I gasped as I remembered. 

"Mother used Draconix when Valtor tried to get to us," I blurted, before covering my mouth with my hands.  

Daphne looked startled, before frowning. "I...do not recall that." 

I hesitated, knowing that I would be showing an outsider the inner workings of my mind. Memories are one of the most intimate parts of a person. To show another them was to display an olive branch, a show of trust that was sacred, and not to be broken. 

"If you wish, I...I can show you," I offered. "My memories." 

Daphne's breath hitched. "You...you can do that?" 

My lips curved upward as I heard the hope in her tone. "Of course. Maybe seeing these will jog or fill in the gaps of your own memory." 

"Thank you." It was two little words, but the emotions carried such a desperate weight. 

I smiled, nodding, choking on my own emotions all the while as I rotated our chairs and moved them together. 

Orange sparkles fell from my hands as my memories spun, before a specific album fell down to us, and spun through until it landed on the day of the invasion. 

Hey, I haven't upgraded my mindscape to a dreamscape, but once I do, I'll implement Hogwarts. For now, having floating files of memories around my power is good enough. It has to be. 

I play through the day's memory, Daphne gasping as she watches that day through my point of view. We both experience my emotions, my shock, my horror, my fear, and my desperation. 

She feels how I felt when her past self picked me up and fled with the guards, the sheer relief I felt when we watched Father and Hagan defeat one of the 'Decay. 

Then we both hissed angrily when the Ancestral Witches and Valtor appeared and began to taunt the present members of the Company of Light. 

Finally, the battle began with the witches hurling ice, and when Valtor made to seize me from my sister's arms, Mother's irises turned reddish-orange, and blood-orange flames exploded from her back, replacing the shape of her wings. 

Daphne sputtered in shock. "I...it's not...impossible." 

"Could it be possible that there's another way to master that form?" I asked quietly. "Seeing as Mother only went for Valtor?" 

"It...it..." Daphne's shoulders slumped. She was clearly overwhelmed by everything today. "I wish I could say, but I do not know." 

I looked at her. "I promise that I won't attempt to unlock Draconix, but if my temper ever gets the best of me and I do, for whatever reason, I'll need your help to control it. Master it." 

Daphne hesitated, biting her lip as fear flashed across her face before she gained a determined look and nodded. "You are stubborn." 

"Unless I missed a memory, our whole family has stubbornness issues," I pointed out. 

She chuckled. "Ah, Fyre stubbornness, the bane of it all." 

"What about the Dragon Grimoire?" I asked, eager to bring this conversation full circle. "How do you know of it?" 

Daphne laughed--genuinely without any other emotion behind it--taking me off-guard with its lightness. "Bloom, that book has been in our possession for hundreds of generations. While it is not the Book of Fates, it does contain a small history of our people, everything that a princess needs to know about our Sparx's culture, known and unknown facts and disciples of our politics, the Fyre's genealogy tree, and spells that have been created, gifted, or belong to our bloodline and kingdom." 

I frowned. "Okay...but then...why did it get drawn to me? I was trying to search for your name in Alfea's research system. The Dragon Flame did something...and then it controlled me, and the lectern. I felt a pull, and then it appeared before me." 

Daphne chuckled knowingly. "It has always appeared to a Keeper and a Guardian when it was the right time. It is tethered to the Dragon Flame, as such, no matter its location, the Flame can retrieve it if its bearer wishes." 

"But...I wasn't thinking about the book." I protested weakly. 

"Bloom, when you were doing your search, what was your deepest desire, apart from discerning who 'Daphne the Nymph' was?" My sister asked me. 

"To...find out--to find out who my family was." My eyes widened as I understood what she was hinting at. "My history. My family's history. I wanted to know more about where I came from." 

Daphne tilted her head in acknowledgment. "And so, the book was summoned to you." Her smile gained a hint of mischief. "I trust you've found it useful?" 

I nodded with a slight blush. "I may or may not have drooled when writing down spells." 

Daphne's smile widened with amusement. "It must have been quite the spells, hmm?" 

My blush grew darker as my embarrassment rose. "I--they were good spells." I defended. "Nothing I'd ever heard of before, and in my last life, spells were all that we used." 

Daphne nodded slowly, processing that tidbit of information. "Have you looked through the family tree? Read the accounts that lay within, or have you just searched for spells to add to your repertoire?" 

I glanced down, cursing my heated cheeks. "I may have looked once or twice, but mostly spells," I mumbled. 

Daphne laughed heartily. "There is no shame in wanting to learn more, little one. But I encourage you to study the annals of our history more closely. Regardless of when you unveil your heritage and take up the mantle of Queen of Sparx--worry not, there is no rush--all of our grandfathers and their grandmothers knew our history." 

She looked at me apologetically. "I understand that many of Magix's customs may appear strange to you, but knowing our history is important, and expected of a princess, regardless of whether she claims the main throne or not." 

I pouted, but internally, I'd already agreed. I'd need all the assets I could find for when I was thrown into the spotlight again. And from my time among insufferable purebloods, I knew the drama I'd be facing would be a hundred times worse because this wasn't nobility, this was royalty. "Fine." 

Deciding that I would once again like to get all the heavy and depressing baggage out of the way first, I asked her, "Is there anything else that I should know? Important to me or to our realm's future?" 

Daphne leaned back in her seat. Her posture was tensed, and she was tightly gripping the armrests of the seat--my first indication that whatever it was, it was bad. My second indication was her pinched lips and narrowed eyes. "Yes. There is one thing, something that had been behind my repeated attempts to draw you to Domino." 

I didn't interrupt, waiting in silence for her to gather her thoughts. 

Daphne sighed, looking up at the Dragon Flame as he orbited my core. "Bloom, do you understand what the concept of a realm and their relation to their sources of magic are?" 

I nodded, my expression souring as I realized the direction that it was headed. Dread filled me, and I internally braced myself. Whatever this was, it was worse, I realized. "Yes. Headmistress Faragonda briefly touched on it in Magiphysics, but Hagan explained it fully to me." 

Daphne nodded slowly once more. "I see." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Domino's circumstances were different." 

"Because the Dragon Flame is an external source, rather than internal?" I asked sharply. 

Daphne chuckled. "Hagan briefed you well." 

My lips turned down. "You're leading me to believe that there are consequences for taking it away from Domino, aren't you? Apart from the obvious?" 

The golden headdress looked heavier when her head was lowered. "Yes. When the Ancestresses were destroyed, and the destroyed landscape of our realm left behind as a final scarring legacy, Domino began to deteriorate. Its effects only worsen because I am forced to draw from whatever energy remains for sustenance." 

I paled. Fuck--no, it couldn't be. That was...am I too late? "Domino is dying?" I exploded, glaring at her. "Why the fuck did you not contact me sooner?" 

"I can offer no excuse, other than I believed you to be deceased," Daphne said heavily, still frowning at my vulgar language. "My existence is enough to drive anyone to insanity. My guilt grounded me, but only enough. When I realized that you lived, when you first summoned the Dragon Flame back on Earth, that was when I began to reach out." 

I frowned. "That wasn't a conscious decision. I was snagged by an ogre, and the Flame reacted to protect me, shooting out from my breast to blast him back." 

Daphne abandoned her poise and carefully crafted persona of serenity and cautious older sibling to shrug. "Most magic before control is mastered is accidental." Her expression became serious. "The longer the Flame remains away from Domino's lands, the worse the realm's condition grows. Within another year or two, maybe less, I fear there will not be a home for you to return to." 

My breath hitched as I trembled. My eyes watered and my throat closed up. Wetness trailed down my cheeks as I took in gasping breaths, my composure shattering with the realization that the Ancestresses and my inaction would doom our home. 

"How--how do I fix it?" I choked out through blinding tears of rage and grief. "How do I repair the damage to Domino?" I brushed my tears away with my arms. "How do I get to Domino?" 

Daphne was crying again too, softly. "I--have a spell. I will teach you before we part," she promised. 

I shook my head desperately. "Teach me now, before we discuss anything else. I want to learn while it is fresh." 

Daphne grimaced, but nodded firmly. 

The chairs vanished as we returned to our feet. My astral projection's wings fluttered, eager to see some action. 

"The spell is, 'Portale dei Transporti'." Daphne pronounced slowly. 

I winced at the sound, which was what Stella had uttered when she summoned the portal to take us to Magix that first time. 

"Are you sure that I can make that sound with my throat?" I asked skeptically, but determined. 

Daphne threw her head back in laughter. "It is in the Fae tongue, but it is a spell you can say with practice." 

I nodded, then attempted. "Kor-inl dai Tranpoti!" 

Daphne shook her head. "Not quite. P-kor-tele di Thra-ns-port-i." 

"Portale deei Transporti." I repeated slowly, feeling like I was twisting my tongue into twisters. 

Daphne nodded. "Good. Now, faster." 

"Portale dei Transporti." I said, louder. 

Pleased, she smiled. "Excellent, Bloom." 

"Portale dei Transporti." I repeated again, letting the alien words flow over my tongue. It was like I was stepping all over the vowels and mixing up the consonants. 

Daphne chuckled. "You will get it correct with enough practice." 

"Practice makes perfect." I chirped cheerfully, not at all sarcastic, or looking forward to using it. "So, what, do I just imagine the destination in mind? For the spell to work do I have to have seen or been there before?" 

Apparation was similar in theory. To apparate, you first needed to have seen a location or been brought there yourself. Next, you had to will your entire being from point A to point B. While doing so you had to focus on your entire being, pulling it all with you, lest you leave behind a fingernail, an eyebrow, an eyeball, or a limb. That was called splinching, and it is one of the worst things you could ever do to yourself. 

This was where the three D's came in. 

Destination - knowing the location and precise area in which you desire to travel. It wasn't enough to have a general idea of the area, that was asking for trouble. Those who had attempted to teleport in the past without a clear location ended up in the sky, in the ground, or parts of their bodies never were pulled with them at all. 

Determination - willing yourself and your body to be shoved through a tight space in between reality and the fifth dimension, before landing. If you lack the courage or ambition to push on through, then this is the step at which you fail, and where most splinchings occur. 

Deliberation - the careful and cautious decision of where to leave from, where to land, and the careful watch to ensure that all parts of your body--including internal organs--made it through the fifth dimension with you. 

Daphne nodded. "A name is sufficient, a visible location would be more desired, yes. You do not have to be there before, but it will make things easier when you return." 

I nodded, gobbling that all up. 

We were silent, letting everything that had happened get processed. Emotionally, both of us were a mess. Psychologically, I'd say that out of the two of us, Daphne needed it more (yes I'm being a noble idiot again, what did you expect from a self-sacrificing wizard-reincarnated-fairy?). 

I think that it would be best if we detached ourselves from everything for a while. And did some innocent, sisterly things together. Watching stuff, gossiping, or even sharing more happy memories. 

Plus, she told me about her childhood, so it's only fair that I return the same. But, I can do better. 

Biting my lip, I settled on a decision. 

Accessing my mindscape, I manipulated the ring of memories that surrounded my core to spin until the correct 'folder' of memories was found. 

I enlarged it and made it fly over to us. Then, I accessed it and pulled out my memories until I found the start of my life with James and Lily. 

"What are you doing?" Daphne asked me curiously, eyes watching as my hands sparkled and my brow furrowed in concentration. 

As soon as I finished, I grinned at her. "You shared your childhood with me. You wished that you could've been there to watch me grow up. It's not the same thing, not exactly, but you'll see how I grew from my eyes if you want. See, hear, and feel what I felt if you touch those memories." 

Biting my lip, I add quietly, "This is an extremely intimate thing, this act is almost unheard of in my previous life. In the British Magical Enclaves' culture, it means that I am extending the greatest amount of love and trust to you, with the expectation that you will guard and protect the knowledge and moments that are shared." 

Daphne looked like she was going to cry. 

Uncaring about the physical tension that was caused by physical touch, she pulled my hands into hers, touching our foreheads together in a Dominian custom of nonverbal gratitude (which I had seen before). "You are the best gift ever, little angel." 

"Anytime," I forced myself to say as I fought back my own tears of grief, sympathy, and joy. 

I reached out my hand and started the first memory. 

*Flashback* 

I squirmed and squinted, not liking the medical tools or the bright lights that surrounded me. I was too exhausted to cry, even after falling asleep in James' arms. 

Around me, doctors and nurses were talking, but because James was in the same room, my hand tightly gripping his finger, everything was right. 

Well, not exactly, it wouldn't ever be all right. I'd just lost my home. Again. Nothing would or could fill that void. 

Have I mentioned that Fate is the worst kind of bitch? The little rat! 

When doctors mentioned needles and shots, I started to cry again, my tiny underdeveloped brain overwhelmed. It was bound to happen, but I was caught off-guard. 

The nurses were of no use, they only made me cry harder, especially when they tried to pull me from James. I latched tightly onto him like a lifeline, trying my best not to fall into the chaos that was my emotions, lest I unleash my magic, which would be hard to explain to anyone, and would only get me locked up by the muggle government and tested on like a science experiment. 

I've seen it happen, one of the many things that Delphi orchestrated was the kidnapping of muggle-borns and tossing those helpless children--some younger than eleven even--into labs for those sick bastards to study, dissect, and attempt to reproduce magic in their own bodies. 

When the needles with vaccines entered my skin, I cried harder. I hated needles, I didn't like muggle medical equipment. 

I'd never been to an actual hospital, Petunia would never have allowed it. I'd been to St. Mungos and Hogwarts Infirmary more times in my life than I'd been to a Quidditch match, and considering my love for Quidditch, that was something that revealed how often and how badly I got injured. 

Muggle tools, needles, swabs, and all that other stuff were just too intrusive. Magic made everything so much easier and better. Spells didn't require physical touch, and the results were highly accurate compared to the muggle's diagnoses. 

Also, the sterile atmosphere was nauseating. No scents, just blaring bright lights, too much sound, too many bodies, and only one familiar face (that actually wasn't familiar). 

At some point, James started arguing with the personnel at the hospital. They wanted to put me in the foster care system immediately, but he argued for custody, eventually winning when two other doctors and a manager guy (I think that's what he was) sided with him. 

The ride home was dangerous, which was why I was held securely in his arms with a strap for extra protection. He supported my head (I still had bobblehead issues) all the way back to his home. 

"So, what are you gonna do with her?" One of the other firemen asked James. 

"I figure that the little girl's parents don't turn up, or CSI finds traces of them in the fire, I'm hoping to adopt her. Lily-tiger and I have been talking about children for a while." He waggled his eyebrows as emphasis, and the others groaned. 

"James, you'll make the rest of us jealous." A dark-skinned guy grinned at him. 

James grinned back. "What, Alice isn't enough for you, Frank?" 

I wanted to do a double-take. Alice? Frank? As in...Alice and Frank Longbottom? Neville's parents? 

The brown-eyed man smirked at him. "Oh, she's plenty fun in the sack. All young wives are like buckin' broncos." 

The other firefighters roared with laughter, while I tutted internally. 

Thankfully, we were soon dropped off, and James carried me inside. "Just wait, Lily will love you." He promised me, and I babbled at him since I couldn't say his name yet. 

Assuming that I even could stay. 

"James?" 

My breath was taken away when Lily Potter walked around the corner in a simple half-top that left her waist and navel bare while tightly hugging the curve of her breasts. Her lower legs were like sculpted works of art, her thighs hidden beneath a flowy skirt. Her emerald eyes shined with love and happiness as she saw James before they flickered to me, and her eyes widened. 

I sensed something about her, something familiar, and she gasped when I flared out my magic. I jolted a little, my eyes growing a little when I felt a magical aura carefully brush mine back. My magic purred like a kitten's when Lily's magic wrapped mine in a motherly embrace. 

I cooed in content. 

"James...where did you find her?" She asked sharply, and he flinched. 

"Lily, I can explain--" 

She covered his mouth with one hand, before lifting me out of his arms and into her's. A look of reverent awe spread across her lovely features, and she turned to him in excitement. 

I buried my head into the crook of her shoulder to hide my smile, basking in her presence. I couldn't help it. I'd heard so much about the woman who in another life would give her's for mine. I could feel her qualities as our auras mingled. Her love. Her joy. Her protectiveness. Her temper. Her intellect. 

Realistically, I knew that she wasn't the same person. But...as I had memories of her, as well as hundreds of stories about her, my tiny brain was unable to decipher the difference between the woman I was held by, and the woman who sacrificed herself for me. 

I struggled to separate my previous mother from this beautiful woman, but despite what my brain knew, my heart proclaimed otherwise. Haven't you heard? Infants don't do logic! 

I babbled to myself as my conflict waged. I enjoyed the feel of Lily's magic as I listened to them talk. 

"James..." Lily trailed off, before taking a deep breath. "She's magical." 

James's breath hitched. "What?" 

"She's got magic. Like me." Lily's laugh was light and joyful but carried undertones of grief. "I feared for so long that I was the last of my kind." 

A witch? A fairy? My kind of witch? Y'know, with the wands? 

She wasn't a part of a coven, and I could feel her magic, it was decidedly light and pure. It felt good to be in it's presence, and the energy inside of me purred. 

"James, where did you find her?" Lily asked in a hushed voice.

"She was in a burning building. But, the flames weren't touching her, almost like they respected her, or some supernatural element was involved," he replied just before he exchanged a chaste kiss. 

"She's a fairy, and a very powerful one," Lily whispered, though I heard it.

James gasped. "But I thought that all the Earth fairies vanished."

Sooooo, was Lily an Earth fairy? Instead of a normal fairy? Are there different kinds of fairies, or was it like a classification related to their realms? 

And fairies are gone? How? Was it a genocide? 

"They did. I haven't heard from anyone, not even Queen Morgana, or Diana. I fear the worst." she replied in a hushed tone, as though someone would hear the names she spoke and come running. "But if whatever force on Earth is actively hunting fairies, she will be a target. Like me."

I guess that confirmed it, she was a fairy. 

Wait, what? Fairy hunters? Bloody buggering fuck, fairies were being hunted? Like Death Eater--muggle-born hunted? 

Oh boy, this life just keeps on getting better and better (note the extreme use of sarcasm there). 

Also, why had I never overheard any of this in the Magix Dimension? About Earth? Was there some kind of schism, or societal shunning? Did neither side know about each other? Something else? 

"I won't let anything happen to you, Lily," James vowed, his eye carrying traces of solemn promise. The redhead gave her husband a tight smile. "You wonderful man, you."

She turned back to look at me. I stared into her emerald eyes, almond-shaped and beautiful. "How powerful do you reckon she is?" James asked, who by his tone had zero idea what kind of league he'd stumbled upon.

Lily pried me from her shoulder and our eyes met. Emerald green stared into cyan blue. "Her aura...it's massive. If I'm a small river, she's all of the planet's oceans. A beacon of the brightest lights in a moonless sky." I heard Lily reply in a grim tone. "She's so powerful, it's like staring at a star going supernova. She'll be a handful to deal with once she's older."

James hesitated. "Wait, does that mean...?" 

Lily huffed. "Of course, Prongs! Don't think for a second that I would leave a fairy to the mercy of the foster-care system." 

My gasp sounded like a cross between a choke and baby babble. Lily was a fairy! 

James raised his hands in surrender. "I won't argue with you, the foster care in Britain can be worse than you Yanks, but I doubt that it would be safe for a girl with special powers." 

"Not with her magic." Lily agreed. "Based on what you said, I think she may have been the catalyst for the fire, but I can investigate tomorrow night." 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" James protested. "You don't know what you'll find." 

Lily looked pained. "I know. I might find nothing more than charred residue of another fairy that I failed to save. But...I have to know if anyone else survived, apart from myself." 

James looked like he wanted to have a headache. He groaned. "Bloody hell, Lils, at least tell me before you go out, and take your phone with you."

"Language." Lily tutted before agreeing. She pulled me back from her, and I was starting to drool. "Now, where are your parents little one?"

I babbled, staring into her emerald green eyes before saying, "Da-Daph'ee."

"Daph? As in Daphne?" James asked surprise in his voice.

"A sister, probably. Or the name of her mother. Or someone else that she knows who's taken care of her." Lily replied, frowning. She turned to her husband, a touch of worry and urgency in her tone as she repeated herself, just in a different order. "We can't leave her to the system, especially not with fairy hunters out and about."

"But Lily-tiger, are we ready for a child?" James asked hesitantly. She huffed, moving to sit on the couch, making sure that I was comfortable in her lap.

"Realistically, we could buy a bigger and better house than this, and financially support three children at once, especially with the raise you just got. And you do have your family fortune to fall back on if everything goes south." 

So it seems as though James was still a child of the elite in this life.

"Plus, a child would do us both good if we're to have our own. We're not getting any younger, you know." she reminded him as she maneuvered me so that she was supporting my fragile neck.

"Lily, you just turned twenty. I'm twenty-one. You only started your cycle last year, and you said that fairies live longer than humans." James pointed out.

Lily gave him a slight glare. "Not that my period is any of your business, James, but we've been over this before."

I almost choked in embarrassment and shock. 

She cleared her throat before she continued "We're been fucking ever since we were high school sweethearts--" James coughed and I blushed a furious shade of pink (I did not need to know what my parents from another world were up to in bed), "--I'm still working on getting my psychology degree, and raising a child would help me in writing my thesis. Plus, you and Sirius love children."

Sirius! My heart jumped. Sirius was alive here! James shrugged, giving us both a roguish grin. "You sold me already, but I like to hear you so passionate. It's sexy."

Lily's cheeks gained a rosy hue. "Oh you flirt, never change." she sighed. "Let's get the adoption papers, and then I'll show you how passionate I am." she waggled her eyebrows.

Ew! I scrunched up my nose, and Lily cooed at me, though I didn't pay attention. I did not need to see Lily and James flirting, even if they are going to be my parents again.

Although technically they are my adopted parents...

No wait, they were my real parents in my last life and gave their lives for me...

...and now they wanted to adopt me...ugh!

My tiny brain and memory confusion issues!

James laughed; a warm, throaty chuckle. "Padfoot and I've corrupted you. Alright, I'm going." He moved to grab his coat. "I need to get back to the station first and file my report though."

Lily hummed. "Don't be long, and I'll let you pick what I'm wearing tonight from our closet." Merlin, I never saw a man move so fast in my life, and Hermione had used a similar line on me before. Lily giggled, and her laughter set mine off as we watched him trip over his boots as he scrambled to get out the door.

Lily raised her hand and bopped me on the nose. I giggled again, finding the action funny. "You are a powerful fairy indeed. I wonder, where do you come from?" She looked into my eyes, her gaze intense and curious. I squirmed, bracing myself for legilimacy, but it never came.

She noticed my blanket, which she pulled the corner out so she could read. "Bloom Fyre. I like the name, although once it's legal you'll be a Peterson."

I gave her a blinding smile, the smile of a child that has no idea what's being said, but is just happy that attention is being given to them. "Oh yes, you'll be a real heart-stealer when you're older. Fiery too."

Oh Lily, Mum, you have no idea.

*Flashback end*

"I could not think of a more beautiful moment." Daphne sighed. 

I glanced at her worriedly. "Daphne?"

"I'm fine...I just...seeing you in the arms of someone else who isn't our mother but is attempting to take that mantle is...upsetting." Daphne admitted. "I will get over it, I promise." 

"I don't want to cause tensions between my families though," I protested. 

Daphne chuckled quietly. "I apologize, Bloom. I...imagine that you have a little sister who you dote on and means the world to you." 

I nodded, understanding that much; that's what Violet was to me. 

"Then, she is cruelly ripped from your arms by the necessity of survival, and when you see her again, she is a grown fairy that has grace and beauty, already walking on the path of destiny." Daphne shakes her head. 

"And knowing, even without this--", she waved her hand at the memory hovering in front of us like a giant TV screen, "--that you were essentially replaced, unable to care for, or watch that little sibling grow. Still picturing her as a baby, when the young woman who stands before me clearly isn't." 

I preened a little at her praise, but swallowed down the painful truth of her words. If that happened to me and Violet...oh. 

"You have a right to be bitter," I murmured, eyes downcast. 

Daphne shook her head, shoulders shaking with silent sobs or contained hysterical laughter. "I should be better than that." 

"You are human, or near enough," I corrected. "We're fairies, we're supposed to be emotional. Denying what we feel will only hurt us in the long run." 

"But holding onto those feelings isn't healthy either," Daphne sighed. 

"Horrible atrocities and crimes were caused against us." I looked at her with sympathy. "I at least was able to grow with a support system. You suffered, alone for the last decade and a half." 

"My suffering was worth it." She said firmly. 

I jolted, astonished that she would justify her isolation and cursed existence like that. "How can you say that!" 

Daphne smiled at her. "Because time and fate brought us back together." 

I glanced downward in sadness. Family first. Always pure. 

"Toujours Pur," I muttered, before scowling in anger. The phrase still haunted me after all of this time. 

She glanced at me with worry. "I felt your shock and anger across our bonds numerous times. It was enough to get my less pleasant fears and nightmares stirring." 

Did she feel that? My anger episodes? 

"Sorry," I wanted to hug her, but the weirdness only lingered longer with every touch. "When Hagan told me the reality of your fates, I wanted to burn down the world." 

Seeing her expression, I now realized, "Which is why you needed to warn me about Draconix. I could've very well achieved that form in that moment." 

She nodded solemnly. "I wish that I hadn't needed to put more on your agenda and add to your fears." 

I shook my head, now smiling bitterly. "Better to suffer, burdened down with the truth than to lay in naive ignorance, viewing the world through rose-tinted goggles and accepting lies." 

We were silent, before I pulled up another memory, hoping to break Daphne out of her funk.  

*Flashback*

After I was adopted, James, or as I was starting to call him, 'Dad', worked fewer hours. I wasn't a particularly fussy baby, which likely helped reduce their stress and worry about caring for, supporting, and raising an infant.

James was tall, very broad, and muscular, probably around 6'3". He had a handsome face, with a body to match. Not that of an Adonis or some Olympic athlete (yes, I knew what they were now), but just someone rather humble, like the muggle fictional movie character Captain America.

Lily was nothing to scoff at either. With a slim but toned frame, flawless sun-kissed skin, and more than enough curves to identify her as a woman, Lily was a prime example of sexy and beautiful. When we went into town, sometimes I'd overhear men hitting on Lily, making comments about her wide hips, large breasts, long legs, and round derriere.

Whenever my parents would take me to the beach, they looked like supermodels, which I guess was a perk of staying active and fit. And because I sort of looked like Lily, but with James' eyes--although his eyes were more hazel than cyan blue--people made comments about that, and how I'd grow up into a beautiful young woman too.

Their names were also different. James's last name in this life was called Peterson, not Potter. Lily was still an Evan's daughter. Sirius Grey (not Black) also existed in this world, and he screamed of 'bad boy'. With a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, sun-kissed skin (which seemed to be the theme around here), a t-shirt tight against his abs, dress shoes (sometimes boots), and messy black hair.

Adding to his look were the women that sometimes hung off his arms, wearing casual clothes that hinted at curves beneath to curve-hugging dresses with scandalous neckline dips and leg slits.

Neither Pettigrew, Remus, nor Snape existed in this life. I was sad about Remus being absent--there was just this calm, soothing tranquility that he radiated, despite turning into a wild werewolf every full, red, or blue moon--but was perfectly happy that the other two weren't here. Snape had been an arse to me for years on end, and I had seen the memory where he confessed he'd be willing to let me and James Potter (past life) die so long as he got Lily. Pettigrew sold me and my family out to a magical terrorist, but years later he got what he deserved (I ensured it).

Lily had taken to breastfeeding me (probably lactating with a spell since I knew she wasn't pregnant), which meant that I now had another surrogate mother figure (who'd been my mum in my last life) whose breasts were stuck in my brain. Pale, tear-drop.

I'd kinda gotten over the embarrassment with Marion (a year of having boob shoved in your face will desensitize you), but Lily's was a whole different story because I had years of memories of an abused child who craved to know more about his mother and father.

Well...now I knew more than enough about Lily. Right down to the texture and taste of her nipple. Gods, I wanted to bleach my brain so badly. I might have been a breast man in my last life, but I do not, nor will I ever have an Oedipus complex, and the mere idea of suckling on Lily (Potter) Peterson's boobs fits into that category. Which is why I was in mental agony.

It's one of the reasons why I found Ginny and Romilda Vane unattractive, despite their short-but-curvy figures. They simply reminded me too much of my mother, apart from their personality issues.

Romilda was a creepy stalker who deluded herself into thinking that because I was the "Chosen One" in the sixth year I was "the one" for her (she also kept on trying to drug me with lust, jealousy, and love potions until she got expelled).

Ginny was a wide-eyed drooling fangirl who had a severe case of hero-worship (which got worse after I saved her from the Basilisk in her first year).

Where was I? Oh right, talking about this second chance. As a baby, it's harder to stay focused on one thing for long, my mind wanders more than I did in the darkened halls of Hogwarts after curfew. 

There I go again. 

Anyways, life was...good. 

It feels odd and foreign to say that, but I just can't muster up the energy to feel positive. Love grounds me, and although I've got a family-who-was-my-family-but-now-their-not-my-family-because-of-reincarnation-and-alternates-and-shit, I can't find myself willing to replace Marion and Oritel. 

It's ironic, considering that the moment that I finally loved and accepted my new birth parents with all my being, they were torn from me as harshly as the original Lily and James Potter were. 

Well, Peterson now, but...details. 

I found out that I ended up in an apartment complex in Gardenia, Muggle California. It was a middle-sized city, lying on the west Coast of the USA. It was nothing like St. Ottery Catchpole (where the Burrow, Rookery, and the Diggory Manor were), Derbyshire (the vast plains and grassy hills where the Potter, Abbot, Bones, and Malfoy manors were located), Godric's Hollow (where the Potter Cottage was), or any other place that I'd been to.

It was northwest of Orange County, below Los Angeles, which meant that it was about an hour's drive from Disneyland, two for Sea World and Legoland (which I'd never been to, but heard about from some muggle-born students).

It wasn't necessarily a hot spot for tourists (although we got plenty every summer), but it did have pristine beaches, parks, and a few medium-sized businesses, as well as one or two corporation HQs. And it had several iconic restaurants, stores, and other businesses, like Starbucks, Walmart, Souplantation, and Chipotle.

Here you could expect the sun to be always shining, with absolutely zero snow--unless you drove to the distant mountains--and assume that days were always hot, or humid, even when there was rain. 

My 'Draconic' side as I'd taken to calling it was pleased with the environment, liking the heat and humidity of the western coast. This 'Dragon's Flame' had become a sort of...feeling in my head. It was foreign, and it was sentient (which made my hackles rise) but it wasn't threatening. It felt...safe, like how my magic always felt. Just...smarter. 

Speaking of magic, I'd sensed it everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but lingering traces, like the aftereffects of a curse or ward whose remnant would take a thousand years to vanish. It was interesting but also worrisome. What had been here to cause magic on such a scale, and what had broken whatever it was? Was it those fairy hunters that had Lily spooked?

It wasn't necessarily dangerous or body-altering, but it still was something to be concerned with. I couldn't do anything right now except review everything I ever learned about magic, but I hoped I'd find a solution. I did read the entirety of the Potter, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Peverell, Black, and Slytherin libraries with my wives in my last life, so surely I'd recall something. I hoped so anyway.

And apart from sightseeing--which by the fourth month of my stay meant I'd seen everything (apart from the adult stuff) that Gardenia had to offer--, babbling at my family, there really was nothing else to do apart from roaming around in the jumbled mess of memories in my head. 

But back to the fairy hunters. Bloody buggering fuck. This was like vampire hunters, except that the vampires were the good guys, like the Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert characters. Again, there was nothing I could do. My magic was active, but because I had an adult mind, my magic was already under my 'guidance' so to speak.

My magical control sucked, as the instant my emotions spiked, my powers flared. Lily had gained an alarmed look many times that she'd sensed my magic acting up, and the first couple of times that my laugh was punctuated with the sudden appearance of flames in the fireplace created the most amusing expressions on both her and James' faces. 

I had no way of shielding my magic yet, no way to contain my aura or hide my magical signature. Occlumency was a mind art that required you to wait until your initial magical system had fully developed, something that was finished by the time you turned ten. 

To do so any sooner was risking magical burnout, brain damage, or turning yourself into an Obscurus, the latter of which is one that caused all the magical enclaves in my last life to fear like Death himself. 

For the time being, all that I could do was try to control my emotions (which is asking a lot of a one-year-old infant). I did what I could, especially since I did NOT want to draw these hunters, whoever they were, to us. 

Thankfully, Lily had her own magical books, and from one she had constructed a different type of wardstone compared to my past life's version, which she had placed around our house, and hid the presence of other magical beings inside. 

If I wasn't focusing--once I got older, it should get easier, I hoped--on actively sensing magical signatures in the house, I would have missed them. 

Either way, all that I knew was that I was going to be alright physically, I think. Emotionally, I'm crippled. 

Emotional damage, people. 

*End Flashback*

*Flashback* 

I awoke, crying softly. Ever since I'd arrived on Earth, I'd been plagued with nightmares. Ahh, my one curse; dreams fueled by my worst memories. The trauma I saw, Valtor's betrayal, the Ancestral Witches, the 'Burned Ones', the 'Army of Decay', Daphne's agonizing scream.

Those memories fueled my nightmares. Of the witches using lightning, ice, and darkness on my sister until she unleashed that pure animalistic scream of fear again, and again, the sound of fear, desperation, and helplessness echoing in my head.

I was frightened, scared, you name it, I was afraid of them. Afraid of their power, afraid of the possibilities that could've happened. The what-ifs in particular caused me to dream up the most absurd ideas, including them using me as a sacrifice to return Voldemort to life so he could kill my new sister and parents, plus my adoptive (original) ones.

Those giant things...reddish-black monsters crushing my father and Hagan.

Swarms of those zombie things (Burned Ones sounded like a joke to me now) came in hordes, devouring and eating Daphne as she screamed that horrid scream.

Valtor stopped Daphne, then handed me to the witches, their talons reaching for me as their horrid cackles (way worse than Bellatrix's laugh) before I woke.

"Bloom?" I wipe my tears, looking up as Lily enters in a slightly transparent dressing gown. She reaches down into the crib and picks me up, one arm supporting me, her other arm wrapping around my side, trapping me in a warm embrace.

I leaned into her warmth (and her magic, which was an even greater feeling of warmth, with the aura of peace wrapped around me protectively, like a cocoon), cooing, my tiny hand grasping her thumb like a lifeline. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked.

I cooed again, my big blue eyes wide and searching her face, wishing that I could speak about my nightmares. I cuddled into her bosom, and this gorgeous redhead sighed before undoing the snap from the top right strap of her nightgown, revealing her breast. I was still in a state of fright, so I began sucking without my usual whining or complaint. After a while, I felt sleepy and full. Lily quickly burped me, then moved to fix her dress while keeping me steady.

She rocked me gently, humming a lullaby I'd heard from my past life. Her voice was beautiful, and I wondered how no one had heard her mention her singing talent before. It was angelic, it was beautiful, and I'm certain that if she sang the words, she'd be even better.

Within moments of her singing the song, I began to feel drowsier. It was still late at night, and both of us needed our sleep. Faintly, I could hear the hum, growing quieter, in the background. My eyes were closed, the light dimming, until I drifted off into the land of dreams, more peaceful than my last.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Non-Bloom memory*

"She had another nightmare," Lily mentioned to James as they worked together to make breakfast the next morning. The little person that was the topic of their conversation was sleeping in, which she often did whenever she had nightmares.

As a nature fairy, Lily could see the emotional state of a person by studying the outlines of their aura. The width of the aura would depend on how deep a person was in their sleep. The color of the aura--black to white spectrum (with the other colors in the middle)--told the nature of their dreams.

Black were nightmares. 

White were visions. 

Purple was wet, erotic, or nirvana dreams. Blue was calm dreams. 

Green relived good memories while asleep. 

Yellow relived bad memories while sleeping.

Red was anger & vengeful. 

Visions sent to a person while sleeping would appear in gold.

A mind trying to breach or attack the person's mind while they slept would cause the outline of the aura to be silver.

The same colors could be applied when someone was awake.

Bloom had a dark grayish-to-black aura while she slept. Depending on how exhausted she was before she went to sleep usually determined how bad her aura and nightmares were. When she interacted less with the world, her nightmares were more likely. The more she interacted, babbled, and looked around, taking everything in, the more peaceful her sleep was.

Lily noticed early on how her magic presence was something that the tiny baby would latch on to. Several of Bloom's naps were spent with the adorable baby resting on Lily's lap and arms, either drooling, sucking her tiny thumb, or cooing softly in her sleep. She was the most peaceful when Lily was nearby, which confirmed her theory that the baby had been used to being around a lot of magic.

James sighed. "Wish I could help her, and you. I know that it must be a lot more taxing on you, especially with the constant feedings." He paused. "Do you have any idea what causes them?"

It was Lily's turn to sigh, but she sounded more frustrated. "No, although I wish I knew," she grumbled, sounding irritated and helpless. What kind of a mother was she, if she couldn't protect her daughter from bad memories? "If Diana were still around, I'd have asked her or a more proficient Amazon fairy to view her memories, and depending on the severity of them, block it."

James winced. "If I were a different man, I'd send you to the asylum for thinking about messing with memories of our daughter."

Lily chuckled, although it sounded bitter, like her black coffee. "I'm glad you didn't turn out that way then." she kissed him on the lips before pulling back. "But it's sweet to know that you're fully on board with the idea of protecting our daughter."

James tapped his jaw. "She does sleep easier and has had fewer nightmares in your presence. Does that have to do with your magic? Maybe wherever she came from, she needs a lifeline or something to keep her stable. Maybe move her crib into our bedroom?"

"Our magic recognizes each other, as to some extent it does influence us, which could explain why Bloom relaxes in our presence." she mused as she curled a lock of her perfect red hair. "She might come from a culture where it is common to have a specified guardian growing up. Maybe that Daphne person and something happened, which could also be why Bloom struggles."

She hesitated, then continued, "As to your second point, you might be onto something. Do you remember when I mentioned the other realms of magic that existed in space?"

James snorted. "I remember that I needed Odgen's 46' just to finish that conversation."

Having your newly wedded wife of three months drop a bombshell on you about how she was a fairy, and that magic existed, not just in hidden enclaves on Earth, but on other planets in a magic-only dimension was crazy.

He paused. "Do you think that someone sent her to Earth for her safety?"

"And that her nightmares came from whoever, or whatever attacked her home. Yes, I do." Lily nodded. "It would explain why her magic is fire-based, and isn't as tuned to nature as mine." 

They both sighed when they heard a soft cry from the floor above. Lily groaned. "Guess it's feeding time again."

James swooped in while his wife was distracted and stole a kiss as his hand snaked around her hip to grab a handful of her ass. "Omph!" Lily pouted as he broke the kiss. "J-James!" she called after him, her cheeks a little flushed.

The prankster just laughed and sped out of the kitchen before his flustered wife could shake off her sudden arousal to chase him.

*End Flashback* 

"Oh, Bloom." Daphne sighed in sympathy as my original nightmares were revealed. 

I shifted uncomfortably. "I'd never seen anything like them, okay? It was traumatizing." 

Daphne laughed hysterically. "You seem to be handling it better than I." 

I frowned at her. "You...seem alright. But--" 

"Appearances can be deceiving." Daphne and I said together with a bitter smile. 

Her laugh was lighter that time. "No matter the world, the advice stays the same, hmm?" She said teasingly. 

I smirked at her. "I've been told loads of advice, but I don't always follow it." 

Daphne chuckled fondly. "Mother and Father were the same way." 

I smiled bitterly, before waving out the next memory. "Want to see another?" 

Daphne's radiant smile made my imprisonment worth it. 

So worth it.