Every morning, where the water met land, Henry Dover stood at what felt like the edge of the world, with every hope she would one day come back to him. Over a decade had come and go, and there was no sign of her, but still, he waited. Waves crashed against the shores, sometimes softly, other times with such force as if the waters were angry. Sometimes, Henry liked to pretend they carried the whispers of his lost lover, and he hoped they would travel his words back to her.
If it were true, the sea knew the entire story of the star-crossed lovers and their forbidden affair that resulted in a child.
"I'll be taking her to work with me today," Henry said that very morning, braving the rather chilly winds, "it'll be a battle to get her out of bed, but I think she'll have a good time. There should be other children there, so maybe she'll make a friend or two before she goes off to Hogwarts. I suppose if she goes to Hogwarts, I haven't the slightest clue whether she'll be permitted to go and I'm afraid to ask. Every day, it seems a new question presents itself and I don't have the answers."
Of course, he received no worded advice in return, leaving him to let out a heavy sigh with a nod of his head.
"Right, I suppose I should send a letter or something along the lines to the Headmaster, he would know. I guess I've just been fearful of the answer myself. Nixie's been asking so many questions lately and I don't even know where to begin with this conversation, Meri. She hasn't sprouted her tail in years, long enough that she doesn't remember it, but I know she's curious. She wonders why I make her swim in the waters when it seems too cold for anyone in their right mind to enter. She asks me where you are and truthfully, I answer saying I don't know. I don't even know if you're alive, but I refuse to believe that you're dead."
Once again, Henry was greeted with silence with the exception of the natural noises of his surroundings. He tilted his head back, feeling the overwhelming sensation of tears burning at his eyes, and a lump developing in his throat. It seemed time could not heal all wounds because whenever he thought about Meri or her absence in their lives, he found himself nearly collapsing.
"If she does get into Hogwarts, I know we'll have to discuss things sooner rather than later because there will have to be some sort of accommodations made. But acceptance letter or not, she has the right to know. I've waited this long, thinking you would make your way back to us sooner. That was foolish of me though. Perhaps tonight after Bring Your Child to Work day, I'll have her sit with me, and we'll discuss things. I'll let you know how it goes."
He lingered a few seconds longer praying with all his might before glancing over his shoulder in the direction of his home.
"Well, wish me luck, it's never an easy task to get Nixie out of bed. I have an easier time arm-wrestling a giant."
As anticipated when approaching Nixie's bedroom door that morning, there was a light sound of snoring as she had managed to burrow her way beneath her covers and slept soundly. By no definition would Henry ever consider his child to be a morning, quite the opposite as she usually tried to sleep her way into the early afternoon and stayed up unreasonable late. Henry often blamed himself, mainly because he allowed her to have such a poor sleeping schedule.
However, raising Nixie alone, while attempting to work at least part-time for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, proved quite to be a challenging task. When she was younger, he could get away with it, often leaving her under the care of his own parents while he went into the office, but it was quite clear that they were uncomfortable being around her for long periods of time.
For the sake of their son, they watched over their granddaughter, but it was clear that their prejudices did not disappear overnight by any means. Which, for the sake of Nixie's comfort, Henry did everything he could to work at home, although it was a bit difficult since his work often required him to be on the scene as a magical linguist and interpreter. But with Nixie growing older, Henry started allowing her to stay at the home by herself, of course, with many magical precautions put into place, like their little guard dog, Bean.
"Alright, Bean," Henry called out as he re-entered the home that morning, "time to wake her up."
From where he had been settled on the sofa in a resting position, Bean the Crup lifted his head and glanced over in Henry's direction. As Henry made a gesture towards the staircase, Bean let out a small whining noise, knowing what task lied ahead. With a running head start, Bean led the way to Nixie's room, pushing the door open with his nose and leaping onto the girl's bed.
When Henry walked in shortly after, Bean had part of Nixie's duvet in his mouth, pulling it at with a faint growling sound. However, as Nixie flipped over under the covers, she yanked it back, leaving the dog to flop over suddenly. Never one to accept easy defeat, Bean proceeded to pounce on the lump of a body, over and over, and the second growling noise came from Nixie.
"Bean, stop it!" her voice called out. "I'm trying to sleep! Go find something else to do!"
Bean glanced over in Henry's direction, who only nodded his head and watched as Bean continued to harass Nixie by barrelling into her side as if he were trying to push her off the bed. However, no matter what the little dog tried, Nixie continued to have the upper hand in the situation as she kept herself buried under the covers, away from Bean's attacks. Finally, Bean flopped onto the end of the bed with a grunt, looking at Henry as if he were saying "it's your turn now."
"Nixie, do we have to do this every morning?" Henry asked as he came to sit down on the edge of the bed.
"Not if you let me sleep in every morning," she replied with a yawn, "just five more minutes."
"It's never five more minutes, you and I both know that," he said, "now come on, you were all excited about coming to work with me today. Use some of that excitement as motivation to get up and get yourself ready."
Clearly, the motivation was quite lacking as Nixie didn't bother moving, meaning Henry was going to have to result to drastic measures especially as time continued to slip by.
"I didn't want to have to do this, Nixie, but you've left me with no choice, "he said, pushing himself up, "before I leave to work, I'm going to head into town. I got this new shirt with your face on it, that says 'I'm Nixie Dover's Father.' Think I might stop by a few shops while singing the song I wrote about you and your snoring."
Suddenly, the covers were thrown from Nixie's body as she sat up abruptly. Her dark hair covered her face initially before she pushed it back to reveal a worried expression. She seemed to check over his attire to make sure he wasn't wearing said shirt before she met his gaze.
"I do not snore."
Henry and Bean exchanged a silent glance with one another before Henry turned back to his daughter.
"Well, I say you do, and it doesn't matter what you say if you're not awake to defend yourself."
With a grumbling sound under her breath, Nixie stood up from her bed and started making her way out of the room.
"No need to be so dramatic, Daddy."
Initially moving at a snail's pace, Nixie finally found the energy to finish getting ready when the smells of breakfast travelled to her nose. She could still feel the heaviness of her eyes, begging her to go back to sleep, but managed to make her way downstairs to the kitchen where she found her father cooking while humming a tune to himself. Bean remained close by, hoping that any bit of food would fall to the floor and become his for the taking.
As a prepared plate of bacon and eggs was placed in front of her, Nixie picked up her fork and started to eat, while Henry sat across from her with his cup of coffee, watching the time.
"I had a dream last night," Nixie told him after the first mouthful.
"Let me guess, you dreamed about getting more sleep?" Henry answered playfully, earning a look from his daughter.
"No, I dreamed that I lived underwater."
It took every bit of self-control for Henry to keep his composure, although he ended up burning the top of his lip with the hot liquid in his mug. His gaze focused on Nixie, who hadn't seemed to notice anything of her father's reaction.
"It was almost like that dream I had before where I was a fish swimming around," she continued, "but this time, I wasn't a fish, I was me, I think. I couldn't see myself, just my hands. But I didn't have to hold my breath and I could swim around really fast! And I saw the woman again."
"The Woman" as Nixie referred to her as before had made numerous appearances in her dreams before, Henry noting each time his daughter brought it up. Nixie would describe the woman with little detail, noting her blue eyes and the dark hair that was similar to her own. Of course, Henry had described Meri's appearance once or twice to Nixie and he believed Nixie had created an image of her mother in her head.
"She was singing the same song that I hear you hum around the house. It has to be my mother, right? Maybe since she can't be with us, maybe she visits me in my sleep."
Henry could only stare at Nixie, feeling the same overwhelming sensation of pain weighing heavy in his chest as she brought up the topic of her mother. In more recent times, it seemed Nixie had been attempting to pry more and more information out of Henry and while he wasn't emotionally or mentally prepared to tell Nixie the truth, he knew there was no sense in hiding it from her anymore.
"We have to get ready to get going soon if I'm going to be on time, Nixie," he said, "but when we get home tonight, you and I are going to sit down and we are going to talk about your mother, among a few other things."
Immediately, her eyes lit up, followed by a "really?!" and Henry couldn't deny himself the opportunity to laugh, especially since Nixie had a bit of egg stuck at the corner of her mouth. He nodded his head but motioned her to hurry as he pointed at his wristwatch. As Nixie proceeded to wolf down the rest of the food on her plate, Henry left the kitchen until it was time for them to leave.
Truth be told, Nixie hadn't been very interested in attending work with her father for the sake of seeing the Ministry of Magic with her own eyes, but rather, she simply liked the idea of spending the entire day with him. She much preferred to have him around versus the rest of her family that always made her feel uncomfortable. Her grandparents never said anything harsh or cruel to her, but they never came across as the affectionate type either. According to Nixie, they were quite boring, especially in comparison to her father who was awfully playfully and a joy to be around.
She had begged him on more than one occasion to attend work with him when he had to leave but it was mostly because she didn't want to be left in her grandparents' care. But Henry took it as her having this huge fascination with his workplace. Either way, she wasn't complaining as she stepped out of the Floo Network, holding the sleeve of her father's cloak.
As soon as they stepped out of the Floo flames, Henry drew her in closer as they had to make their way through the crowds of witches and wizards that were attempting to get to their designated departments. Walking along at a brisk pace, Nixie was able to see that other children appeared to be in the company of their parents that morning as well, leaving her to wonder if she would be able to meet another child in her father's department.
Entering the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Nixie followed along as they entered through another series of doors that were labelled "Beast Division."
Nixie didn't know too many details pertaining to her father's job, she often heard that he was a linguist, which meant he spoke multiple languages and worked as a liaison within the Beast Division, which he had once told her, he tried to keep the peace between many different groups. When they arrived at Henry's desk, Nixie could see plenty of scrolls of parchment papers collected in a pile and the pained look on her father's face as he noticed them too.
He sat down, summoning another chair over with his wand for Nixie to sit beside him. As she sat, Nixie quickly scanned the room, noting that it was rather empty, and no sign of any other children being present. Opening one of the scrolls quickly, Henry read it over before grimacing, making Nixie strain her neck to attempt to read over his shoulder. But as she looked over the parchment paper, it just seemed like a bunch of splotches and scribbles.
"What does that say? Did someone spill their ink?"
Henry chuckled before bringing the letter down to her eye level. "This is the handwriting of a troll, they're not exactly known for their penmanship. Can't say I really blame them, if you've seen their size and well, they aren't considered very intelligent. They're quite large though and having to write on small pieces of parchment paper, it's complicated."
"So, what does it say?"
"Well, it looks like they're having a territory dispute with Giants. Nothing good there, Giants are very difficult to negotiate with, especially depending on the Gurg in charge."
"What's a gurg?"
"A Gurg is the leader of a tribe of Giants, most likely the meanest and strongest of them all. To even get close to their territory, you have to offer the Gurg a gift and hope he accepts it. If not, you're going to be in big trouble."
"What kind of gift would you give a giant?" Nixie asked.
"It depends on the Gurg really. Some of them like meat, others like shiny objects. I even heard about a Herbologist years ago offer tea bags to the Gurg and was able to make her way through Giant Country."
Nixie was just about to ask her father what kind of tea bags were offered but the two found their conversation interrupted when someone else came in, someone else who happened to have a child with them as well.
"Lyall, what brings you to the Beast Division?"
"It's been a slow morning so far," the man spoke, adjusting his own cloak, "thought there would be more children brought in for my son to spend time with. No such luck. Heard you were bringing in your daughter, figured I'd come here and see if you did."
"Oh!" Henry exclaimed with a grin. "This works out, wasn't sure if there was going to be anyone around Nixie's age here today. Nixie, this is Lyall Lupin, he works in the Spirit Division, we've worked on a couple of cases together over the years. And this is-"
"My son Remus," Lyall answered with a kind smile, pulling the boy that was hiding behind him to the centred front. "He's a bit shy."
When Nixie didn't say anything, leaning into her father's side nervously, Henry let out a chuckle.
"Nixie's on the shy side as well."
The two children simultaneously blushed as their fathers awkwardly introduced them, but when Nixie finally made eye contact with Remus, she offered a small smile in his direction. One that he returned before his eyes focused on the floor. But fate decided to save them as someone else entered, a young woman, who appeared slightly flustered as she came hurrying in.
"Mr Dover-"
"Amelia, how many times have I told you to call me Henry," Henry told her, " really, I'm not going to get offended, I would prefer it-"
"Yes, I'm sorry, Mr...Henry, anyways, I was actually going to come find you next, Mr Lupin. You two are needed in the Centaur Liaison Office, sooner rather than later."
"What exactly am I needed for?" Lyall questioned. "Centaurs are not exactly my area of expertise."
"It's all a real mess," Amelia said, her eyes flashing over Nixie and Remus before she glanced up at the men, "there are centaurs claiming territory but there's also a poltergeist involved, who refuses to leave. The poltergeist has insulted the centaurs numerous times and now they are retaliating by taking over the farmland of a nearby village. It's got everyone all twisted, so please..."
"Alright, alright, Amelia, calm down, we'll head over there right away."
"Who's going to watch the children while we're gone?" Lyall asked, bring Henry to look at Amelia with a knowing smile.
"Lyall, not sure if you've met Ms Amelia Bones, she's been interning at the Ministry for the summer, I think she's more than capable of watching over Nixie and Remus while we're gone. What do you say, Amelia? Up for the challenge?"
Amelia appeared hesitant for a moment before Henry added, "it'll also come with outstanding recommendations from both the Beast and Spirit Division."
"Deal."
While Henry told Nixie that he would be back as soon as possible, Lyall seemed to do the same with Remus before the two left, causing another awkward confrontation as Nixie, Remus, and Amelia were left alone. The two children stared at her, waiting for her to say something, but she seemed to be waiting for them to do the same. Every so often, Nixie would steal a look out of the corner of her eye to see Remus doing the same.
He was tall for his age, or at least taller than Nixie when they had been standing. His hair was brown and slightly messy as if he had rolled out of bed and left it as is. His voice was soft and quiet, kindness to his shy smile, but Nixie also couldn't help but notice the light pink scars that decorated his face and the sides of his neck. The curiosity was there to ask him how he had gotten such scars, but her father had told from the time that she was very young, not to point out someone's appearances if they didn't bring it up themselves.
"I assume you two will be starting up at Hogwarts come this September," Amelia said finally, "you both look about the right age to start."
"I haven't gotten my letter yet," Nixie answered.
"Me neither," Remus added.
"Well, you're both eleven, right?" Amelia asked, watching as the two nodded. "You have time before the term starts, I'm sure your letters will be arriving soon."
The conversation died quickly after Amelia spoke until a young man entered the office area calling Amelia's name. She jumped up so fast, looking entirely too thankful for the distraction as she was handed a parchment scroll. As she read it over, she frowned before turning to the two of them.
"Do you think I can leave the two of you here by yourselves for a few minutes and you won't cause any trouble?"
Nixie and Remus nodded again before Amelia quickly left and as soon as she was gone, Nixie started laughing to herself.
Remus turned to her with a puzzled expression. "What's so funny?"
"I don't know," she said, "I think she's just funny."
It grew quiet as Nixie tried to force herself not to laugh, unsure herself of what she found to be so funny about the situation, but not even a minute or so later, she was laughing again.
And unable to control his own smile that started to form after listening to Nixie laugh, Remus started to laugh too.