chapter one. the sorrow we knew !
word count. 3042 !
THE END OF SOLSTICE BROUGHT PERFECTION. Every midsummer, Erienne would drink in the beauty of everything, an elixir of tang. The grass was sparkling, creating opalescent scenes from the morning ersa and the sun's visible rays. The dust was floating and almost gave the illusion of snow in the August heat. The window was drenched in an display of opaque curtains, giving the sky a blockage of ivory. T'was a hazy cerulean, although the sunlight gave a golden tint. The clouds moved rapidly, creating teacups and dragons, shifting in the blink of an eye.
The lotus ridden pond rippled from the draft and created small waves, lapping over green toad stomachs. Electric blue dragonflies flew overhead. A lime green hummingbird hovered over the multiple willow and oak trees in the yard. Moving its wings at a rapid pace, it appeared to fly to the open window. It was a beautiful painting, strokes accentuating every detail. A shade for every element. Framed with aureate and hung inside a duplicate.
The real house stood, covered in brick, a childhood dream house. Inside, a body was visible, covered in an ivory cotton comforter. Cascades of silky black hair messily spread out into the pillow, creating an ethereal halo over the face. Her eyes were open, and a range of emotions was detectable through the hickory iris. Enne had been awake for the entire night, twisting the latch on her window continuously and sitting on the rough texture of her roof. She stayed stargazing and observing every crook and cranny on the moon. Accompanied with the radio and bottles of liquor. The music flowed out the speakers, tuning in muggle music, and she waved to 'song about me' and 'lovers rock', her nightie flowing ringlets around her, like a goddess dancing through the stars. Could you guess her favorite band?
The alcohol made her drunkenly recite poetry and ballads, chaotically scribbling verses in the worn out notebook. It was a creative liberty, the romantic notes, moonlight, and bitter taste made another heaven. It wasn't wise to drink before the first day of Hogwarts, but it would have been worse to not. Not the hangover which the girl had grown used to, but everything else. For the past weeks, maybe even months, nights had a different meaning than waiting for the adventures of the next day, as she expected when she was a child. They would instead be drowning in tears and panic. For the newspaper headlines and killings made her mind ( and magic ) a nightmare. Voldemort was on the rise and every inch of her was cowering in melancholy.
Compared to that, growing up was an immature fear, but that didn't erase it. Hogwarts had been a haven as much as her home was, and growing up isolated made it better, then the lonely manor. Everything had happened there, her first friends, bit of magic, crush, enemies. And it was a dear part of her. How could something so beautiful as a castle where tiny first years wander with bright eyes, still exist throughout terror, she didn't know. Soon, it would perish in her mind, and miserable routines would take place.
Her body was still on the bed, bringing her back to the present and out of fear. Surely it would seem like she was a living corpse. Erienne's eyes suddenly blinked and she was aware of her surroundings. The ceiling had become too miserable to look out and she sat up. Her nose scrunched up as if just noticing the mess of her desk. Papers flooded, wood barely being seen. Her feet touched the wood floors, and a fluttering feeling entered her chest, as if saying to accept reality. As she lifted herself off the bed, the lacy chandelier swung delicately as the top of her head hit it. Pillows hit the ground and she made her bed.
positivity positivity positivity. The word sounded like a mantra, it had been going on for days. Her dead mother lived by it, and it was faintly tainted with her. It was the last year, but still normal, there would be quidditch, her friends, and moments with her lovely motherly figure, Minerva. Enne stood for a good ten minutes, as if frozen in time, while her thoughts ran around. She nitpicked the good in every possible situation when she finally resumed walking. Erienne strolled to her closet and picked out the clothes to wear to the station. Every year she would just wear denim and whatever band t-shirt was there, but she had grown some normal teenage girl in her. Her eyes skimmed throughout her closet, and light brown corduroy pants caught her eye. She immediately looked to her tops and glanced at each one, trying to find the one. With a victorious gasp, she pulled out the plaid blazer, it was the exact same shade as the pants. Enne's white turtleneck was soon grasped in her hands and she laid it all on her bed.
She heard a sudden beak snapping behind, as well as a sharp tap on the desk. Grinning, she spun on her heel and walked over to the tawny owl perched on the millions of papers. ( It didn't seem suitable to call it a desk. )
"Hello Elvis, there's some seeds in the box, and you can perch on the bed frame." Erienne was expecting at least one letter from the Potter family. James stayed writing to her, and every first day was a letter from him. She tore the browned envelope, and accidentally cut her finger on the sharpness. It stung but she just wiped the drop of blood forming, and pressed down on it using her other one. Eager to read the note, she pulled out the sheet of paper. It had smudged ink and was barely readable. Leave it to James to take classes about owls and letters ( by Euphemia ) , and still not have the common sense to let the ink dry. She scanned the note and a smile enveloped her features at James Potter's wonderful charm.
' Dear Enne,
I find it hilarious that your nickname is Enne. En. N. Ene. Eriennes's such a beautiful name, and yet you picked Enne? I still love you though, just find it super idiotic for a person that did all my homework for the past seven years. Anyways, it's our last year, can you believe it? Sirius and I have been planning to go out with a bang. I can't write it in here because Mum's reading all the letters, she confiscated our prank stuff too. Because 'I will not be bombarded with owls from Minerva about your exploding quills, or a stash of a thousand fireworks in your dorm.' ( Thanks for the idea Mum ) Dad smuggled our stuff back to us, I can't wait to see you in a few hours !
James '
He was truly a gem. Seventeen and still a five year old. Enne set down the letter on her bed stand. She would see him soon, and poor Elvis seemed famished from the trip, so she decided to not send a letter. She walked back into the closet, and grabbed the black trunk by the corner, already packed and set it on her bed. Double checking everything, her hands ran through the multiple fabrics, toiletries, and other things for ten months at Hogwarts. Her broom stood next to it, as well as her rowan wand.
Enne tiptoed out of the bedroom, not wanting to be bombarded with questions from her father. He would always squeeze out every detail before she left, as if they didn't have all summer. She slid into the bathroom and was greeted with a breeze from the open window. She looked at the clock on the wall. It read seven, enough time for her to ease the weight on her shoulders.
She slipped the night dress over her skin, and threw it in the hamper. Twisting the handle, the shower ran, and instantly made magical looking smoke over the top. She stepped into the hot water, and her muscles unraveled. The knots from the night before had vanished, almost like an invisible hand creeping along her ivory shoulders, pressing into them and untying. The steam was overwhelmed with hints of lemon, peppermint, and lavender. Enne massaged the suds into her skin, and it soon turned very smooth. Washing the suds off, she continued to massage her scalp and rub in the lemon lavender shampoo, soon enough she was George Washington.
Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. A mischievous grin paired with her eyes as she started to dance around. The bubbles made her slip around, but it was fun. Belting the recent Weird Sisters song, she held the various bottles to her mouth and spun around. The last time she had done this was when she was around her fourth year. Psychotic right? Just imagine actually showering without a concert.
30 minutes later, she was done and walked out of the smoky mirrored bathroom with a towel around her, and one wrapped in her hair. Going back to the bedroom, Enne glanced at the outfit laid on her white comforter. Gleefully, she shimmied all of it on, deciding the breeze would suffice through the multiple layers, especially up on the train. Her hair dried quickly, thanks to the outlet and hair blower, ( what did you expect her to do? dry manually? )
The mirror was hanging on the wall and Erienne peered into it. She had glowing skin, her hair seemed to imitate a waterfall, and her wing was perfect. Deciding she was finally ready, she shook off the panic that seemed to grow back, even if she had already pruned it. A miserable crooked tree, plaguing her heart and mind. It haunted her as she closed her eyes. It was the dark masks embroidered without emotions. It was the Screams erupting, cracks throughout expressing a pain taking over their bodies. It was the teddy bears with crosses for their eyes. It was Erienne. And her panicked face as her entire world came collapsing.
A tear came down, leaving a wet smudge through the makeup, as of protesting to beauty. Images flew through her mind and she closed her eyes for a moment, there was still breakfast, seeing her father. It wasn't like time would go in the blink of an eye, or Voldemort whisking her off to kill?
With a trunk in one hand and the blazer in another, she walked to the stairs and stepped onto the carpeted steps, leading her to the double doors of their kitchen. Setting Enne's stuff by the door, she turned back to greet her father, who she could hear humming and tapping his boot clad foot through the door. He was flipping pancakes with one hand on the stove, shaking his hips and waving to the beat of Queen. Purebloods they were, but cultured ones.
Erienne glanced over to the table and saw a plate of hash browns, as well as eggs and syrup. On the Island were all other breakfast dishes, her father tended to go out for the morning, as a going away meal. She walked over and took all the plates and set them on the table. Meanwhile, Ciarin Monet stayed prancing around, not noticing his daughter leaning against the door frame and realizing how similar him and her crush were.
"Nice moves dad. " She said and stuck out a plate for him to flip a pancake on. Accepting the challenge, the older Monet landed the pancake on the dish.
"Good morning Erienne. How'd you sleep?" Ciarin was oblivious to her nerves and always blamed the taps on their roof ( her artist liberty ) on Santa Claus.
"Great, although there were reindeer above my window, especially last night." She laughed and sat at the table, while her Dad sat beside. The tablecloth was worn out, tears and stains decorated it, but he refused to replace it, counting it as a heirloom to pass on.
He passed her the plate of about three pancakes, yet they looked like ten due to the thickness. He was an absolute professional when it came to breakfast, although he sucked at every other dish. Erienne was sure that he survived off of pancakes and mac and cheese while she was at Hogwarts.
"Are you excited about the last year of school then?" He inquired and poured at least a gallon of syrup on the cakes.
"I guess so, no more years of home work or dealing with Kettleburn." She said and referred to the Care Of Magical Creatures teacher that despised her. Erienne hesitated for a while and decided to tell the truth.
"But it's that stupid fear to grow up. It's childish I know but this entire situation with Voldemort. Hell, I don't even know what I actual want to work as." She said and frowned at her father, who was now chewing thoughtfully. Enne was never vocal about her problems with others, although her father would most likely help more than she was helping herself. Guilt always flooded her veins, afraid that she dumped too much on others.
"Darling, I just want you to realize that Voldemort may be here, but that won't force you to not live your life. I don't care if you come of age, because a day difference of when you were 16 to when you are 17 means nothing. You are still the same person. Plus, you have those friends of yours, those pranksters of yours, and me." He wiggled his eyebrows. He pretended that he hated James and Sirius because of an accidental ( or so they say ) prank on him. They were afraid of him and Enne was having too much of a good time not telling them.
"Thank you dad, I really appreciate it." She said and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, where stubble was forming as well as smile lines. They picked the dishes and cleaned up the mess. After everything was done, she straightened out my outfit and hair and walked to the door. Finally about to go to Hogwarts. I lugged my trunk to our car and got into the green Bentley. It was always a pain in the ass because they couldn't apparate. Enne had perfectly been able to, but her dad always pointed out the fact that she splinched 3 times in the process, thank god they were minor. ( Couldn't he go past to where she successfully did it 25 times? )
Ciarin got into the seat and they finally started the engine. Enne always drove, because he would complain about the seats being too far away, yet the pedals to close. He never fixed it to fit a middle aged man.
"Thanks Enne, I promise next time I'll remember to adjust before driving." He said and gave her a grin. They both knew Ciarin wouldn't never do it. He finally buckled in and got adjusted. Erienne pressed on the gas and the green car slowly rose up in the air. Their house was completely deserted, so no risk of muggles seeing them.
The clouds went on forever, they seemed fluffy from afar. But slowly varied into shades of grey as they went through the matter. A thousand needle-like raindrops attacked the shield, and it was like a chorus of screaming. Erienne scrunched her nose in annoyance of the rain. Finally, they reached above the highest cloud. The sunlight was beautiful, they could see clearly and glided along. The trees were visible after a while as they descended. King's Cross was appearing, and Erienne parked in a much more secluded parking lot.
She grabbed the trunk in the backseat and hulled it over to the platform. It's red brick was rough and bright. The pattern of the muggle population was quite unusual as compared to before. It was fluctuating every 15 seconds. Using that to the advantage, Erienne and her father placed themselves in front of 9 3/4, so that the crowds would cover them. As soon as the time hit, they fell through the barrier and stepped into the station. Enne caught myself before she hit the concrete and gazed up at the engine. Its scarlet paint was familiar, and adorned with golden letters, spelling out the Hogwarts Express. Along with the deep black wheels. She felt like a first year again.
She snapped out of the trance by the sharp whistle, and realized the time. Peering at the clock imprinted into the brick, she read 10:54. With a pang in her heart, she turned around slowly to bid goodbye to her father, and was greeted with him with tears in his eyes.
"Dad! What's wrong?" She said, grasping his hands, and holding back her own tears.
"Nothing Enne, it's the father hormones coming to me. You're growing up." He said and wrapped his arms around her. She instantly felt like a child again, and she seemed to reduce in size.
"I love you, but I'll write every week. I'll miss you." She said finally and waved while jumping onto the step of the train, it started to run a bit. And she felt tears streaming a bit more heavily now. Wiping them, she channeled her inner Rowan Monet, and sang that familiar mantra again.
Of course, Erienne Monet would never get a break, and as soon as she walked through each compartment, trying to find Marlene, she bumped into the very own James Fleamont Potter.
NOTES !
HI LOVES ! I am lowkey super proud of this, compared to the pre-rewrite. I literally am in love with Erienne now, like come on, I wish that I had the talent to create songs while drunk. Hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter and I also will hopefully update this soon again <3
- diana