A/N
I know that currently Julia seems to be involved with Felix Decker, but the only role he plays in this story is for Julia to discover what she truly is. Sirius/Julia scenes will come soon, and they do kind of already start in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Send me your thoughts and suggestions if you wish, I adore reading them!
Sophia xxx
Chapter 2 - Golden Sun-rays
I skipped dinner, and lay in my bed for what felt like hours, staring at the red drapes in front of me. The rest of the girls in my dorm trickled in after a while, and I still hadn't fallen asleep when the dorm became silent as everyone else's breathing became steady.
I was mentally exhausted the following day, which did not help my final day of studying before my first O.W.L exam. I avoided everyone as best as I could, even though I knew Felix Decker was looking for me. I skipped dinner again that night, too tired to try and force food into my body.
The following two weeks, filled with examination after examination, caused most students to realise they should have started studying earlier, and left me alone to do their last minute revision. If Dumbledore hadn't told me about my "true" past, something, which I still didn't fully believe, I would have almost enjoyed the last two weeks of my fifth year.
I had managed to convince Madame Pince, a young lady working in the school library, that I could loan books over the summer holiday. I planned to read as much as possible on Veelas in the summer, even if I was still very doubtful of the headmaster's theory.
On the train ride back home, I sat with Lily and Gwendolyn in a compartment. Usually Severus Snape would have joined us, however Lily was explaining how she and Snape had had a fight during the examinations, after he had called her a "Mudblood". Lily was very upset about their lost friendship, and Gwendolyn comforted her as I read one of my books. Comforting people was not an area where I excelled in, and luckily Lily understood that.
There was a knock on the door of our compartment, and Felix Decker entered. "Hello ladies" he grinned. "Mind if I join?"
Lily and Gwendolyn looked at me, knowing how uncomfortable I became around anyone else.
I shrugged. "If you want" I answered quietly.
"Great!" Felix said, sitting himself down next to me. "What are you girls getting up to in the holidays?" he asked us.
"Hiding from my sister" Lily laughingly admitted. "She hates me ever since I started at Hogwarts" she explained to Felix.
"That's a shame" he emphasised with her. "She's probably jealous of you"
Lily nodded. I knew the subject of her sister affected her, even if she tried to cover it up.
"I'm going to France to my family's Chateau!" Gwendolyn told Felix. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to France as well!" Felix grinned. "Maybe I'll see you there?" he asked with a wink.
Gwendolyn blushed. She wasn't used to guys winking at her either, I suspected.
Felix turned to me. "And what are you doing?" he smiled.
I blushed, but was saved from answering his question as the door to our compartment banged open once more.
"Not flirting with my girl, are you Decker?" James Potter grinned, the other Marauders standing behind him.
"I'm not your girl" Lily said exasperatedly.
Felix rolled his eyes. "Of course not, Potter" he grinned. "Only with this young lady right here" he said, motioning towards me.
I felt my face become an even darker shade of red, as everyone looked at me.
"Mind if we join you?" Remus Lupin asked us.
Lily seemed conflicted, as her and Remus were friends, but she despised Potter.
She nodded stiffly, and James cheered as he squished himself between her and Gwendolyn. Remus sat himself on the other side of Lily, while Sirius purposefully sat between Felix and I. Peter looked unsure which side to sit on, and ended up sitting on the floor.
"Well this is cosy" Sirius grinned, then looked down at me.
I completely stopped breathing as he looked into my eyes. I noticed how long and dark his eyelashes were, and it almost gave him a feminine touch to his face.
Lily agreed loudly, uncomfortable at the fact she was sitting next to James.
I noticed my heart was beating fast and my breathing was irregular as I turned back to the others. Felix didn't cause my body to overreact anymore, and I assumed it was because I was almost used to him now.
The boys started talking about the Quidditch teams next year, such as who would be replacing the players who left in each team. The other girls joined in occasionally, and I sat quietly in the corner and returned to my book. I tuned out on their conversation, yet after a while Sirius poked me in the side. "Why aren't you joining in our conversation?" he whispered in my ear. My breathing became laboured, and I could tell he noticed by his smirk.
I mumbled something about having to go to the bathroom, and left the the compartment for ten minutes, just before we arrived at the station.
I hugged Lily and Gwendolyn quickly, said an awkward goodbye to Felix, and hurried off the platform to meet my parents.
"How was your year?" my parents asked me excitedly. They were always keen to learn new things about the magic world, and were disappointed every time I reminded them I wasn't old enough to do magic at home yet.
"It was good" I smiled at them. I missed them every year, and was glad to be back home.
The following days I spent with my parents was filled with stories, most of which they told, and we went out for dinner every second night. The more I spent time with them and thought about what Dumbledore had told me, the more I didn't believe him. I didn't have any memories from my previous family, and I had the exact same humour as my father, and generally the same facial features as my mother. I looked like their child, not the daughter from the picture that Professor Dumbledore had shown me.
I forgot all about his story after a few weeks, enjoying myself way too much to even give it a thought. It was only when an owl tapped on my window one early morning when I was reminded of it. I knew the owl wasn't Lily's or Gwendolyn, even if we hardly wrote each other. It wouldn't be my O.W.L. results either, as it was still too early to read them. I opened the letter carefully.
Dear Miss Millington,
Your mother wrote you a letter before she left you in my care, for you to open on your seventeenth birthday when you come of age and gain your full powers. Since the enchantments we placed on you are already wearing off, I have decided to give you the letter now.
I hope you have been enjoying your holiday!
Professor Dumbledore
I looked inside the envelope and found the letter. I opened it with shaking hands.
My dearest Julia,
If you are reading this it probably means I am dead, or am unable to be there for your seventeenth birthday when you will come to your full powers. Either way, I hope you have a wonderful day, and are not too overwhelmed with the information Dumbledore will share with you. I am so sorry I have not been able to be with you for any of your birthdays, especially as I was forced to leave you only a few weeks before your first birthday, but I promise I will see you one day, perhaps not on this earth but in an afterlife.
I need you to understand that I did what was best for you and your protection. Hogwarts is the best school I know of, and Dumbledore is one of the only men I trust. I hope you are living a good life with a good family, because you definitely deserve it. I know you will be scared when you realise how strong you are, I know I was the first time I showed my true strength. I need you to stay strong. Dumbledore will help you through this. You need to remember that being a Veela is not a curse, but a blessing. I can't imagine what a beautiful young lady you will have become by now, and it hurts me that I am writing this, knowing that if you read it, it means that I will never get to see you. I hope that if I am not able to be there, at least your brothers have managed to return to see you. I know they desperately wished that you could have come with us to Japan.
My only advice to you is to stay strong. Your father did not die in vain fighting for our lives.
"Apres la pluie, le beau temps"
You are and will always be in my heart,
Your Mother, Sofia Dupont
My breath stopped as I read the line written in french. I understood it, even though I had never learnt French with my current Muggle parents. It translated to "After rain comes sunshine", and used to be a part of a lullaby I was sure someone used to sing to me.
"Mum?" I shouted down the stairs.
"Yes?" I heard my mothers reply.
"Did you ever sing a french lullaby to me?"
There was silence for a few minutes. "No? Why?" she asked me.
"Nevermind" I said, quieter.
I put the two letters back into the envelope, and noticed a piece of card in it. I took it out and recognised the photo that Dumbledore had shown me a few weeks previous. I studied my family closer. What I hadn't noticed before was that the boys were identical, and even wore the same grins. My father had blonde hair, with a perfect smile. My mother had dark hair with piercing, light blue eyes. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that I had almost identical features, yet my hair wasn't as shiny and perfect as my mothers, and my blue eyes didn't contain the spark that hers did. I wondered if that had something to do with Dumbledore's spell.
The letter had almost convinced me that what he said was true. I couldn't deny that being a Veela would be interesting, but it would definitely be a change from my personality now. I wondered if what I was like now even counted as a personality, seeing as it was spell-induced.
My family ended up going to Italy for the last two weeks of my holiday, in which my pale skin managed to get a golden glow.
The owl delivering my exam results managed to reach us in Italy, and I was happy to find out that I had gotten Outstanding in all apart from three, as I had received Exceeds Expectations in two and Acceptable in Arithmancy.
Much too soon the end of the holidays had arrived, and I once more stood on platform 9 3/4, ready to start my sixth year. "Good luck honey!" my father told me, bending down to kiss my cheek.
"Enjoy your year! Write us lots" my mother smiled tearily.
I almost felt uncomfortable as they fussed and parented me. I know they had raised me, but ever since I had read the letter from my mother I had speculated if Evan and Daisy Millington were my legitimate parents.
I rushed onto the train as soon as possible, and found most of the compartments still empty. I chose one near the front of the train, and pulled out one of my books to read. Ever since receiving the letter, i had increased my knowledge on Veelas extensively. My biggest worry was something every book had mentioned. When Veelas became very angered, they transformed into "something similar to Harpies", and they were then described to change into "Cruel, beak-like heads of birds with long scaly wings bursting from their shoulders". This terrified me, and I had already decided to go visit Dumbledore as soon as I got the chance.
There was a door to my compartment was flung open and James burst in. "Millington!" he exclaimed. "Have you seen my precious Lilyflower? I haven't seen her for almost two months and she never replied to any of my letters!"
I smiled, my face still hidden by my book. The day Lily would respond to one of James' Letters would be the day I flew without a broom.
"Millington? Did you hear-"
I looked up at James and he stopped part-way through his sentence.
"Blimey!" James exclaimed. "What happened to you over the holidays?"
I stared at him in confusion. "Sorry?" I stammered.
"Your face and your hair! You look good, Millington!"
I blushed red. "Oi Padfoot! Come look at Millington!" James shouted down the corridor.
"Potter!" I exclaimed. "That's embarrassing!"
James grinned at me, before Sirius appeared behind him and pushed James out of the way.
"Aphrodite's chest hair!" Sirius exclaimed.
I raised my eyebrows at his use of language.
"Puberty hit you hard over the summer holidays, Millington!" Sirius grinned.
I turned a dark shade of red. "Thanks" I muttered.
"Get out of the way, Potter" I heard a loud voice from behind the boys.
James' eyes brightened as he recognised the voice. He turned around immediately, and grinned as he said "Ah! My lovely Lily darling! How I've missed you!"
Sirius Black was still staring at me during James and Lily's reunion, in which Lily ended up threatening to hex James if he didn't stop hugging her.
The way Sirius Black's eyes travelled up and down my body appreciatively made me extremely uncomfortable, and I hurried out of the compartment to greet Lily, as well as save her from James Potter.
