Author's Note: I own very little.

Chapter Two: When Times Were Easy. For the Most Part.

My mother and father were what one could call an "odd" couple. It was no secret to anyone who passed by thought that we were a strange family, but as I look back, I realize how well my parents managed to keep us hidden from the Muggle world. Though we may have only been five minutes from the city, not very many people ever knew we were there. I never really ever saw any non-magical people.

Father worked at the Ministry of Magic. I never fully knew what my father did for a living, but he was always busy with it, or at least during my childhood he was. That aside, he was a man who was very tall, lanky, with thick glasses and brown hair that always seemed to be messy. Mother always joking called him our little "know-it-all" in the family. One thing about father that made me love him so much was that he was always very mild-mannered and calm; I could always find comfort and consol in his bright blue eyes. Whenever mother may have been ready to immediately punish me, father always thought things through and tried to hear my side of the story.

It always baffled me as to how he and mother came to meet each other. For mother, on the other hand, was short with auburn hair, just like mine, as well as wide blue eyes. As I said before, father was always very interested in the Muggle world, but if it were up to my mother then she would have rather lived a separate life from them. Mother also always seemed much more social than father. Every time we had other witches and wizards over for dinner, mother would be the one to lead conversation while father would sit quietly, speaking to me every once in awhile. They were quite the opposite of each other, but it seemed as though our family worked despite their differences.

Mother told me, after I got older, that her and father had met at a place called Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards (I always chuckled at the name when I was younger). I was taught from a very young age that Hogwarts was basically a heaven on earth for our type. Mother would sit up late at night, telling me of its beauty and the rolling hills and lake that stood on the castle grounds. Many a night, I found Hogwarts creeping its way into my dreams.

Speaking of dreams, I found the night time to be a very intriguing part of the day. Ever since the incident with the snake at a young age, I made sure to bide by my mother's word and never approach the fence across the street without being closely monitored. I may have followed this rule very religiously during the day. In fact, I very legitamately was scared to even look in the direction of the house. However, deep down I knew there was still some curiosity that lingered.

My curiosity was fueled even moreso at night time when screaming could be heard from the cottage.

They were not the sort of joyful screams either that one may utter after seeing a long forgotten friend or family member.

I remember, as a restless child, fighting sleep tooth and nail. Darkness surrounded me as I turned over time and time again, trying to force my eyes to shut. Then, out of nowhere, cutting through the silence of the night like a knife, an ear-splitting, high-pitched scream would break through the air. The first times I heard the noise, in response, I would jump out of bed, scared for my life, releasing a scream myself.

My dad would come running into my room, equally alarmed as I was. He would grab my hand and calm me down before running to the window, as if looking for something in the dark. I would always try to join him at the window, but he would always demand that I get back into bed. Before the incidents became a normal part of the night, I would obey and stay tucked away in my bed, but after several days of they were becoming the norm, I decided that I would finally go to the window and see just what was going on for myself.

Very clearly, I remember, creeping out of bed in my nightgown through the darkened room to window. I'm sure that father assumed I was only sleeping through the screaming. I assumed that I would be unheard. Deep down, I felt guilty in disobeying my father, but a part of me was excited for the adrenaline rush. I wanted to know what was going on.

In the moonlight, a cloaked figure could be seen, climbing over the white picket fence and jumping to the ground below. In awe, (and silently), I would watch as the figure made its way up the hill and squeezed itself into the busted out window of the cottage. I thought that perhaps, I was only imagining the person on the first night, but it seemed as though night after night I would see the same thing. This cloak, this figure, was going through the same process.

It wasn't long until my father found out my little secret when I happened to step on the family cat, Clover, who liked to sleep in my room, on the floor. The cat hardly ever showed itself, except for in the evenings and I nearly forgot we even owned it. As awful as that sounded, it was true. Clover did not care much for humans to begin with and my tripping over her did not seem to put us in any better light for her. She hissed loudly before turning, too lazy to do anything else to me.

Instantly, I felt a lump in my stomach as father came trodding down the hall. I was already standing very close to the window and it didn't take much figuring to realize I was caught.

"Lana!" He exclaimed, nearly scaring me out of my skin as I jumped away from the window. He seemed to show no concern for the cat, but was only focused on making sure I saw nothing out of that window.

"Daddy, I was-" I tried arguing, but had little idea as to what I was arguing for really.

"Lana, get back in bed. Now," He said, more adamantly than I had ever heard him ever before.

"Daddy, I wasn't-" I tried, but this time he said much more loudly.

"Lana!" He yelled, much louder than he had ever yelled before.

Knowing I was wrong, I looked at him and sunk my head down before trotting back over to bed. He pulled his robe closer around his body before moving himself over to the window, once again as if he were looking for something. I sat myself in bed and pulled my knees up to my chin, watching him. Tears burned in my eyes before sliding down my cheek. Father had never yelled at me. Guilt rushed through my entire body.

He looked over at me and sighed before coming to my bedside and kneeling down," Lana, sweetheart, I-I just-"

He paused, looking directly into my eyes, as if feeling bad for me.

"You'll understand why one day," He said quietly before pulling the blankets down on my bed.

Reluctantly, I crawled to the tip of my bed and put both my legs under before my dad pulled them up to my chin. I stretched my arms out of the blanket and looked at him again.

"Dad, why can't I know now?" I asked, very softly, not wanting to make him angry again. "Everything has a story..that's what you said."

He looked down again, as if nervous before meeting my eyes," You're right..but don't worry about it now, Lana. Please try to get some sleep."

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. And even though I was still a young child, who had no knowledge of the situation, I knew that he was lying to me. I could tell that there was something he wasn't telling me. Never had I been a child to disobey my parents, but every night waking up and seeing that figure was my little act of rebellion. I assumed that my father did not trust me for it only took three days for he and mother to switch my room with the guest room in the back of the house, where the cottage was out of my view. If I had tried to get a glimpse of the house, I would have been caught easily.

"I told you, there are no such thing as dragons!" Benjamin exclaimed one day as we walked down the country road, behind my father, who was well ahead of us. By this time, I assumed that we were probably around ten years old.

"Benjamin, puh-leaaaase everyone knows that dragons are real. Right, dad?" I countered, asking my father, who looked back with a smile on his face.

"That's right, Lana," He said, very serenely as always.

Benjamin had a look of complete outrage on his face, which only made me smirk and cross my arms," Told you so."

We turned the corner country road, just where our property line met the road. Father was just about to open the gate to our yard as Benjamin exclaimed," You're only saying that because she's your daughter!"

My father released a chuckle as he held open the gate for us," No, Benjamin. Trust me, they are real. Just ask your father about that."

Benjamin gave my father a questionable look and stared at him for a long moment, as if he were crazy before finally turning around and coming after me.

It was no secret that the Flocktons and my parents had been friends for a long time. They never really went into the details of when they met, but my mother told me that all four of them were in the same house at Hogwarts, Gryffindor. Mr. Flockton rarely came over to visit, mostly because of his job, but Mrs. Flockton, as I mentioned before, seemed to be over at least once a day.

Mrs. Flockton was a tall, slender lady with a sharp jaw line and light brown hair that was always pinned atop of her head. Though I never saw him much, Mr. Flockton was built much stockier and had light brown hair that always seemed to be slicked back. Both of them had large, brown eyes. I'm sure mother and father must have known their first names, but most of my childhood I went without knowing that, only referring to them as Mr. and Mrs. Or Benjamin's mum and father.

Father used to always joke that the Flocktons, himself, and mother had seen quite the lot of adventure in their days, but I always thought he was joking when he said this. Normally, the four of them would spend a long time talking to one another, but I hardly ever thought much of it. I was typically more interested in other things.

"What does my dad know about dragons?" Benjamin challenged, raising a brow.

My father closed the gate and followed us up the stairs to the house and started to speak," Well, he had a pretty close encounter with one when he was a teenager."

"No thanks to you!" Mrs. Flockton added after opening the screen door for the three of us to enter once again.

Then they would start to talk about "the old days" and that was Benjamin and I's cue that we were to entertain ourselves with something else. If it was one of the rare days whenever Mr. Flockton was around, then we could be guaranteed quite a lot of play time.

Our backyard was rather expansive and stretched far out into the field behind our house. There were plenty of rolling hills and allowed for us to have plenty of space to run through the fields.

"I still don't think my dad knows anything about dragons," Benjamin would tell me as we walked to the far end of the field.

I shrugged my shoulders," You never know. My dad says everyone has a story."

"But my dad is just so boring. All he ever talks about is work!" Benjamin complained, as we heard an eruption of laughter from the house behind us.

I smiled at Benjamin teasingly before saying," Well…all I know is…I'm still faster than you."

And so it was that I ran off into the distance, feeling the wind blow through my hair. I had no worries or no cares and the arguments that I ever had seemed to be so trivial. Running and laughing through the field was one of the best feelings I could have ever imagined, as a child and the darkness that lay across the street seemed a little farther away with every passing moment I was able to play and be a child.

Normally, I would run until my legs literally felt as though they were going to fall off. Benjamin would always prove to me that he was, in fact, faster than I was. Sometimes, I remember falling over from having such weak legs, but hardly even caring. It wasn't until the sun was nearly completely hidden under the horizon when our parents came to the back porch in search of us.

"Lana! Benjamin!" They would cry, their voices ringing through the night air and in response, our sounds of disappointment.

Reluctantly, we trudged back inside for the night.

Life was easy as a child.

Later in my life, I envied the innocence we had as children.

Author's Note: Alright, so there's a little more introduction stuff for ya'll. I know that right now you don't have much knowledge about time era and such, but that will become more clear as the chapters progress. Promise. :D

Big thanks goes out to SweetSunnyRose and MisticLight for reviewing! I love hearing feedback so drop a review!