The sixteen year old Veela-Witch dipped her feet into the ocean for the last time. Wisteria, named after the soft violet color of her eyes, felt the warm salt water lapping against her smooth, luminescent skin. The sun kissed her soft face as she felt the fragrant breeze comb through her long, sparkling blonde hair. She listened to the tourists laughing and the cars rumble by in the nearby city. The muggle world was so loud sometimes…

It wouldn't be long now. She had to go to the strange muggle "airport" in less than an hour. She wasn't safe here, standing alone on the beach. They could find her and kill her at any second. They didn't care if muggles saw them do it. Biding her time, she waited for her father to call her.

Wisteria felt her stomach sink as the plane rose off of the ground. She knew she wouldn't see her home for an excruciating amount of time. It would probably be best, she thought, if I didn't return at all. She looked out the window to see the islands zooming by beneath her. She saw the white beaches lined with surfers and tourists. She saw the turquoise ocean sparkling happily, as if someone had told it she would be back tomorrow. She saw the volcano where she had attended school. It was erupting. She admired the endless blue sky that surrounded the plane.

She couldn't help but enjoy herself just a bit. She had never been this high in the air before. She had flown on broomsticks, but she and her fellow students were restricted to the inside of the volcano, among the ash and sulfur. In Hawaii, the number one rule was that muggles were kept completely separate from magic. This meant she could never be seen near the volcano or in her school uniform. The school she had previously attended was inside the volcano Kilauea on the island of Hawai'i, an extremely secretive and elite school for wizards. She doubted anyone in Scotland would have heard of her school. She bleakly thought of the strange expressions she would receive when she tried to explain where she was from.

Fear suddenly gripped her. What would she tell her peers when they asked her why she left? She went to an elite school in a tropical paradise. What reason could someone have for leaving? Should she lie about where she was from as well? She had never been an outcast before, and she would surely become one at this boarding school.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. A flight attendant's face smiled at her.

"Would you like something to drink, sweetheart? You look a bit pale."

"N-no," Wisteria stuttered, surprised. "How long do I sit here?"

"…Well, we should land in Los Angeles in about 3 hours."

"Los Angeles?? I thought I was going to London!"

The flight attendant gave her a quizzical look. She was wearing a lot of makeup. The black mascara particles clung to her eyelashes and her lips were red and cakey. Her bright purple eyeshadow seemed to glare at Wisteria.

"If flights are too long, they stop in some cities along the way. This flight is stopping in Los Angeles, and then it's flying to New York from there. Then it's going to London."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you."

The flight attendant moved on, and Wisteria felt herself blushing. She knew next to nothing about muggle transportation. She didn't know how this plane was hanging in mid-air without the aid of wings or magic, she didn't know the process people went through when they went on planes, and the flight attendant probably thought she was strange and rude. This whole trip had been very strange and embarrassing to her since she went through security at the airport and asked if the machines would electrocute her.

As these thoughts flew through her head, she twisted around in her seat. Her father was a few rows back, carrying what appeared to be a normal conversation with the flight attendant. He was calmly smiling at her, and even ordered a drink. Wisteria was comforted knowing he was near her, though she inwardly wished that they didn't have to walk and sit separately so they wouldn't be recognized.

She also wished she possessed his bravery instead of her mother's beauty.

Memories from the day before began to crawl into her mind, like a stealthy spider stalking its prey near a web. Wisteria closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. She could not remember them yet. She needed to be alone to do that. Crying while she was surrounded by strangers would draw attention to herself, and that was the last thing she needed to do.

"I'll have to be brave from now on," she thought. "I have no other options."

In the hotel room, Wisteria stared out the window. It was raining in London. After all, it was nearly September; the last week of August. Rain was to be expected. She leaned her head against the cool window. Raindrops thundered in her ear. The room was dark, except for a candle she found in the bathroom that was now sitting on the nightstand. She needed to think about what had happened. She hadn't accepted any of it yet, and she knew she needed to.

The raindrops, separated from her only by a sheet of glass, comforted her.She started remembering, from the very beginning.

Her father had finally come home for the summer from New York. He worked in World Wizard Trading (WWT) there, among the skyscrapers. Wisteria had visited her father in New York once. The height of the buildings and the technology the muggles had created without the aid of magic amazed her. She thought it would be wonderful to live there, but quickly learned of the imperfections of living in the city. It was high stress, loud, and extremely hectic. Her father had to live nearby the WWT quarters. He was only visiting their home in Hawaii for two weeks that summer, but at least it was something. It was his seventh night back home, and the beautiful two story house didn't seem so large and empty anymore. It felt like home again when he was there with her mother. They had a normal day, followed by a normal evening. They had eaten dinner outside, in the garden near the lagoon. The garden had been Wisteria's favorite place, besides school. Wisteria's friend and classmate Ellen had come over for dinner. After Ellen left, it was quite late. Wisteria went to bed.

At exactly 2:33 am, her roof was collapsing and all four walls were shooting inward. She didn't apparate out of the room quickly enough-- her left hand had several splinters in it and her wrist was sprained. Her mother grabbed her and they apparated into the garden. Someone was following them very quickly. Green flashes of light flew past her ear as she ducked down. She looked back at her house. It had been reduced to a small cube no bigger than a chair. The strange people in black robes had tried to kill her family by crushing them within the house. Her father was dueling three large wizards. She wanted to duel with him, but fear stood in her way. She felt her mothers hand on her arm and she saw two more black figures running toward them. They both ran toward the lagoon. Her mother pressed something warm and small into her hand. It was glowing.

"Don't lose this!" her mother shouted over the rising din. Her voice sounded beautiful, even when she was shouting.

Before Wisteria could apparate again, her Veela mother had been hit by one of the green spells. She stopped glowing and fell limp and lifeless to the ground. Suddenly, Wisteria was on a different island, gripped tightly by her father. She had been screaming. Her father let her scream. They were in the middle of a field, where no one would see or hear them.

Maybe, if she had been able to ignore fear and fight with her father….

Wisteria shuddered. Her silver tears joined the grey raindrops in their dance down the windowpane. The horrors of the past made her feel even more alive than when she had been running from the people who had killed her mother. Her father said they may have been Deatheaters, but he wasn't sure. It would make sense for them to go after those who work in the World Wizard Trading headquarters. They worked very closely with the Ministry of Magic in Britain. She wouldn't be safe in America-- no, not even Kilauea was safe enough. Hogwarts was the safest place, and if the Death Eaters were after her family, they would not expect them to fly to Britain on a muggle airplane and stay in muggle hotels until term started.

So that was it. Her mother was dead, a cult was after her family, and she was to attend Hogwarts. She would not be able to communicate with or see her friends. She was not to tell anyone that she was from Hawaii, and she was to tell them she transferred there because her father had transferred to the Ministry of Magic through WWT. Wisteria sat back and looked at her melancholy reflection in the window. She was glowing, like her mother did when she was alive. She had all of her mother's perfect Veela features: bright, violet eyes; long, lush eyelashes; full pink lips; a perfect nose; clear, smooth skin that lightly glowed; and long blonde curls that sparkled in sunlight.

She turned away from the window and sighed. At least she would be safe at this boarding school.

The object her mother gave her glowed in her lap. The blue luminescent glow had not faltered since that horrific night. It was a necklace: a blue crescent moon on a small, crude metal chain. The chain seemed to be stuck to the moon by some spell or charm; there was no hole or loop for the chain to go through. Some of the links on the chain were bigger than others. The moon felt warm to the touch. It was obviously some magical item, but her father had never seen it before, and neither had she. Her mother had kept it a secret from both of them, and neither knew what powers or purpose it held.

Wisteria draped it around her neck and suddenly felt at ease. She crawled into her large bed. The sheets were cool and smooth. Her father snored in the next room. The red numbers of the clock read 2:33 am. Wisteria grimaced and felt the warm moon glowing against her skin. She closed her eyes and abruptly fell into a deep sleep.

"7:00 am,"the clock flashed at her. "7:00 am. 7:00 am. 7:00 am."

Wisteria blinked. She had left the curtains open, which had been a foolish mistake. Her father had specifically instructed her to leave them closed. She made her way over to them.

BANG!

Wisteria hopped back in surprise and let a small scream escape from her. An owl flew directly into the window. Without speaking, she slid the window open and lifted the poor bird off the window ledge and quickly closed the curtains. As she had expected, there was a letter attached to it. Laying the owl on her bedspread, she untied the scroll.