This story started out as a random idea I had. I wrote this first chapter in the middle of the night because the plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone. I just got this image of an imaginary woman's life story in the HP universe, and had the idea of showing it through the eyes of her daughter. This is a prologue, but if I write another chapter there will be some actual plot to it. Also, the odd title will be explained.


Aurora Jenkins had always known that her mum was quite mad. How could she not, when her mother wore insanity like a favorite cloak?

Controversially brilliant, the journals called her. Veronica Jenkins walks the tightrope between magic and science.

When Aurora was smaller and had only just learned to read, she was fascinated by every article that bore her mum's name. She couldn't understand a thing, of course, about the ethics of using unicorn blood or the transfer of life-force from one person to another. It was just the sight of the byline and the awe it invoked. She thought her mother was famous, known to the world, so it came as a shock when Veronica explained that she was invisible outside a small community of readers. It seemed that few people were interested in what she did for a living.

"Famous is like Harry Potter," Mother had told her. "I went to school with him, you know. "

If Aurora had heard that now, she would have sighed and shaken her head in disbelief. Mum always seemed to be sort of confused about when she had gone to Hogwarts.

"I was there with Voldemort," she used to say, back when she told Aurora strange things because she thought the girl would forget them. "I kissed him and he taught me how to make the greatest mistake of my life." Whenever Aurora heard that, she would ask what the mistake had been. Even then, her mum had never told her. Still, Mother was remarkably open with the girl until she turned eight or so.

Aurora would never forget the night when, at the age of six, she woke up to the sound of voices. This was a rarity in her house, considering that it was in the middle of a thick forest and no one ever visited. She crept down the staircase and hid herself in a corner, watching and listening. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, talking to a young woman with a pretty face and long dark hair. The two women looked very different, but to the natural intuition of a child they somehow felt the same. The stranger was oddly transparent, as if she wasn't all there. But she wasn't silver like the pictures of ghosts Aurora had seen in storybooks.

Craning her neck sideways so she could see better, Aurora noticed that her mother was wearing her black bracelet. The one with the curved, sharp-tipped beads that looked like fangs. The one that she constantly cast spells on and hid in odd places around the house. The other woman was staring at it like she wanted to grab it but didn't dare to. Or maybe her eyes were actually focused on Mum's wand.

"Is there any way-" she began.

"No." Mother spoke sharply and stood up, pointing the wand at the other's face. From her new viewpoint, she noticed Aurora's hiding place. She lowered the wand and came toward the girl. For one wild moment, Aurora considered running to her room and trying to shut herself inside. Mother's anger was fierce and unpredictable, and she had probably earned it.

But instead of yelling or hexing the girl, Mother's face broke into a smile. "Hey, Evanna!" she called out. "Come and meet the child I was telling you about."

Aurora just stood there, nervous and confused. Mum had called the other woman Evanna… But that was what she said her own name had been, before she changed it to Veronica. How strange…

After a few seconds, the young woman came out of the kitchen. Aurora was kind of creeped out when she saw her up close. There was the semi-transparency, for one. And the weird way she looked at Aurora.

"She looks like you," the stranger drawled, sounding as if the resemblance wasn't a good thing. "Tell me, what was the point of having a child? It's not like you can pass on some sort of bloodline."

Mother stepped in front of Aurora as if to protect her. "First of all, don't take that tone with me. Remember, I can send you back whenever I please." She seamlessly switched topics to answer the other woman's question. "And anyway, it's not like I meant to get pregnant. But I kept Aurora, and I actually do like her. Consider it an experiment of sorts."

Both women paused to watch Aurora as tears welled up in her eyes. "Sorry, honey," said her mother. "But haven't I already told you that I'm incapable of love?"

Aurora didn't understand some of the words her mother was using, but the message was clear; she was liked. Not loved, not adored, but liked. 'Like' was a word reserved for snacks and toys, not children. She gulped, trying not to actually cry, but couldn't control herself. The girl wiped her eyes with a pajama sleeve and ran back up to her room, slamming the door. She lay down sideways across her bed and somehow, eventually, fell asleep.

When she came back downstairs the next morning, their visitor was gone.