Practice and changes

William Eberhardt, or Will as he went by, was a rather cute raven headed boy, with big sea blue eyes. Unlike the rest of his family, he had a rather tall frame, though he was quite small and lanky for someone who came from a family of shifters. He was perceptibly a Muggleborn as he was the only one in his family to have magic, and an only child, which was why he was so close to Seth; he was the brother he never had. Both boys had known each other and grown up together since they were both toddlers, and had both spent a year together being home schooled before both beginning their first yet second year at Hogwarts the previous year, when Delilah had started her third.

"Wait, you go to Hogwarts?!"

It was quite understandable why Delilah had never noticed him; she had never really taken the time to meet her brother's friends. Though how was it possible that she never noticed the boy her brother was always around with when he wasn't with her, or even when he was? Maybe it was because Will was the kind of boy that tried hard to camouflage himself with anything in sight, out of shyness, as to not be noticed.

Either way, Delilah felt horrible about it, even more so when she had found out he'd been staying with them, for the past two weeks since his parents were traveling as they were anthropologists. So, for the next few days, while she wasn't at work or in her room, Delilah spent her time with her brother and Will, and, surprisingly, she got along well with her brother's friend, though, unfortunately for him, she was completely oblivious at the fact that he was smitten and completely and utterly in puppy love with her.

Seth, who was also oblivious of his best friend's affections toward his sister, was only happy that his sister was, though slowly, coming back out of her shell. He was ecstatic when they'd both gotten her playing around and laughing genuinely, though it soon faded two weeks later when Lara had found out about her scars. How she had found out, neither of them knew, but Seth knew her bringing them up was a really bad move.

That Saturday night was going on rather normally... well, as normal as things can go in the Dawn Harrison residence. Daren was drinking his usual mug of coffee, watching the television from the armchair in the parlor, Seth and Will watching as well from the carpeted floor, eating their night snack. Delilah had been in the kitchen, at that moment, leaning against the counter beside the stove, sipping at her own mug of coffee when Lara suddenly came down the stairs and just blurted out the words.

"Why did you never tell me about them?"

Blowing a bit at her hot drink, Delilah's eyes squinted in slight confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Delilah."

She looked up and stared blankly as her second cousin.

Lara was a pretty, short brunette, with almond-shaped, deep brown eyes with thick dark lashes; she was one of the few in their entire family to have been born with a normal color of eyes. Unlike the rest of their family... well, as far as Delilah knew, she had quite a petite frame, especially for someone her age and species, but she was very pretty with her oval face with fine bone structure, that wealth of brown wavy hair that fell past her shoulders, and, though she still wore very bit of make-up, she was more natural than any other woman Delilah had seen, with, maybe, only Miss Kathie, Mrs. Weasley, and her Aunt Cynthia being exceptions.

Lara was also very kind and compassionate, though sometimes she spoke without thinking and ended up saying some rather insensitive things, only realizing it later, after she had already said it. Delilah never really had any problem with her from the beginning, but, ever since she had started living with them, she had found herself getting rather irritated with Lara as she constantly pressured Delilah into opening up more already, not quite grasping that the girl had only begun speaking again less than three years ago, and that years of having gone missing from the surface of the world was not really something she wanted to tell to just about anyone. Yes, they were family, and they shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other, but her past was just not something she was ready to reveal, and, when she was pressured into doing so, she only became blunt, cold and distant all over again.

"Why didn't you tell me about the scars? How— what happened?" There she goes again.

The teenager looked away, brows furrowed as she stared down at the cup in her hands, which she gripped tightly, her knuckles whitening.

"Why should I tell you?"

"We made a deal, remember?" There was a long pause before Lara said, in a softer tone, "We're family, and that means no more secrets."

A second passed, then, suddenly, the ceramic cup shattered from Delilah's tight grip on it, cutting through her roughly-skinned hands, the hot drink splashing onto the floor and her clothes. The burning of the steaming liquid wasn't what made her fight back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes, nor the blood that was now oozing from her cut hands, which were slowly healing. No, it was the emotional agony she was going through as the memories of years of torture and loss rushed back into her mind all at once; nothing hurt her more than the pain of knowing her own fate of anticipated doom. The pain of knowing that, even though Seth, Daren, and Lara were part of her family, they weren't her family. She lost her family. Long ago.

In Anima Curatoria.

Delilah looked at Lara with cold eyes. "Is it because we're... family that you think I should tell you everything, or is it just because I remind you of my mother and you two just so happened to be best friends who told each other everything?"

Lara's lips parted, though no word left her mouth. She had no idea what to say.

Meanwhile, Delilah was raging more. At first, she had been flattered to be compared to her mother, the woman she had spent her life missing... the woman she had spent her life idolizing. But then... she realized, what was it that she idolized about her? She had known her mother for barely a year, and, even then, she didn't really know her. She didn't know what her mother was really like apart from the kind smiles she'd give her and the fact that she loved singing, but... that was just it. She didn't really know anything about her mother. All she knew was what she'd been told about her and even that was always vague as all people would do is smile at her when she did something that reminded them of her mother, and that's all they would voice.

You're a lot like your mother...

You remind me of someone I once knew... Ella-Grace ...

You are so much like your mother...

You're just like your—

Ugh!

She grew tired of it. It seemed as though that was all people saw when they looked at her. They all saw Ella-Grace Dawn rather than Delilah Dawn, and she was tired of it. She was kindhearted, compassionate and caring towards others just like her mother had been, and, then, there was also the fact that she looked a lot like her mother had in her teenage years, but Delilah was becoming so tempted into just shaving her head and become an ice queen if that's what it would take for people to stop comparing her to her mother. She was tired that the comparisons practically forced her to live up to the expectations placed upon her, that was also what made her doubt lately about whether she wanted to be an Alpha anymore, or not.

"And no more secrets?" Delilah scoffed. "You're one to talk; if I hadn't walked in on your conversation with Daren that day, I would've never found out about Sirius being my father."

Sick of it all, Delilah scoffed once more before swiftly walking past Lara without sparing her another glance, and disappearing up the stairs and into her room, not bothering to care that she left quite a mess behind.

The next morning, she simply laid on her bed in the dark, a single ray of sunshine piercing through the silky blue drapes covering the large window in her room. Her hands, which hadn't exactly healed well, were bandaged and kept at her sides as she laid there, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The telephone suddenly rang, bringing her out of her empty reverie. She turned her head to the side and stared at her extension. It rang a few more times before finally stopping, making her turn her stare back to the ceiling. It was Tuesday, but she wasn't needed at work for the day as it was her day off. After staring at the ceiling for a few more seconds, she shut her eyes close, taking a deep pained breath before letting it out.

No coughing; thank the Goddess of the moon.

Her eyes snapped back open when she heard her name being called from the living room.

"It's your friend from school."

She hesitated for a moment before sighing, pushing herself up onto her elbows to reach for her extension, then laying back down when she picked it up.

"Hey, Herme..." The air coming out of her mouth, as she greeted the other person on the line in a whisper, rasped her throat, making her strain her neck slightly as to not cough right then and there.

The door to her room was ajar. Lara waited outside. Listening. Hearing nothing. Mentally cursing herself; if she hadn't given up her phasing, she'd probably still be able to hear up to the smallest of sounds... but then again, she would be intruding in on Delilah's privacy and, so far, that hadn't done either of them any good; their aunt-and-niece/second-cousin relationship was really sliding downhill.

She bit her tongue, hesitating for a moment, before she pushed the door open and saw the teenage girl sitting in her darkened room, on her bed, back facing the door, completely deflated.

"What do you want?" Though she had spoken the day before, it sounded as she hadn't spoken in days, weeks, as her voice held a raspy edge to it.

Lara was pained to see her this way, especially knowing it was her own fault this time. "Delilah, I'm really sor—"

"It's fine, you didn't know I would react that way," she cut her off.

Lara looked at her, slightly taken aback. "Deli—"

"Just leave it," she cut her off again. "It's not worth going over again, only for me to throw another tantrum."

But it wasn't a tantrum she threw. If she considered giving someone the cold shoulder and walking away a tantrum, or laughing coldly and walking off too, then she most certainly never saw or threw a tantrum in her life.

Lara was so tempted to counter what Delilah had just told her, but she knew it wouldn't help anything at all, so she closed the door and left the teenage girl alone. That evening, she was still in bed, facing the wall. Lara had knocked at her door and entered with a plate of food, but she was paid no mind.

"I brought you some dinner," she said softly. No response. Sighing, she left the tray on the night table beside the twin-sized bed and left the room, leaving the girl to drown in her inexplicable grief.

She hadn't spoken to anyone. She'd forgotten all about talking with Hermione, Ron and even Harry over the phone, and ignored their calls. She felt distraught. She felt so for days. She'd stay up late. Working, studying in advance for the upcoming school year, reading books in the library. It didn't matter what she was doing, it's the feeling she got. She'd be tired, her eyes would burn and she'd have the gritty feeling one usually get after not sleeping for a while. She'd try to crawl into bed, close her eyes for a couple of minutes, while waiting for sleep to overcome her, but it either almost never did, or she would be overcome by nightmares, wake up and spend the rest of the night awake. She'd try to get a little moisture back into her eyes. That couldn't hurt anything, right? But it did. It was like telling a bird with a broken wing to fly when it clearly couldn't, when all it could do is fall.

She scavenged the entire public library near the house, searching for that feeling in every book and newspaper, though she found nothing. Though she was sure that even if she did find something, it will never really be exactly as she felt. Even if she did find something and other people found out about it— Lara, Daren, Seth— they would never know that her brain was actually right. And, of that, she couldn't deny that she was afraid. That's what made her second-guess everything she thought, and made her so indecisive.

When a new Thursday came around, Delilah found herself trying to relax; work had been canceled for the day and the next week as it was her boss' marital anniversary, and she and her husband were leaving England to celebrate. It was hard though as, every time she tried to clear her mind, a part of her two recurring dreams would pop into her head.

Sighing, she sat up and opened the door, letting the non-magical mutt that had been pawing at her door, into her room. She had barely sat back on her divan with the large family book on her laps, when, suddenly, her door flew open, revealing a rather nonchalant Seth, followed by a shy Will.

"You know there's such thing as knocking, right?" she muttered, tucking her feet under her legs as she got more comfortable in her cushioned seat.

"Where's the fun in that?" her brother retorted, flopping down on her bed.

Delilah rolled her eyes. "Did you need something?" She glanced over at Will, but he only raised his hands.

"Don't look at me," he said, his pale cheeks flushing a tinge of pink under her piercing gaze. "It was Seth's idea."

The young hybrid's eyes furrowed as she slowly closed the large book, which instantly made a 'Click'ing sound as it magically locked itself, the mechanical-looking lock disappearing afterwards.

"What idea? Seth, what's he on about?"

Seth propped himself up on his elbows and hesitated for a moment, biting his lip; something Will noticed Delilah did more than often... must be a Dawn thing.

He sighed, siting up completely, clasping his hands together over his laps. "Okay, here's the thing. You," he pointed at his sister, "need to stop locking yourself up with that book or whatever else you do in here."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, at least I finished my estival homework— something you should be doing 'bout now instead of wasting your brain cells on that system that transmits visual images and sound that are reproduced on the screen—"

"TV."

"I knew that," she snapped, her face slightly heating up.

"Why are you so snappy?" Seth blurted out, and Delilah immediately felt guilty.

She sighed, putting the book aside. "Sorry. I've just... I've been trying to see my history, but nothing from before I got to Hogwarts, or even the time I went missing at the end of my second year shows up in it." She huffed. "All I've gotten so far is: powerful, eleven-year-old witch who survived the killing curse at months' age began her time at Hogwarts entirely mute; fought off a troll, made it into the Gryffindor Quidditch team, fought off a two-faced freak, blah, blah, blah."

It was almost comical the way Will and Seth both happened to have raised their eyebrow at her at the same time, though she simply rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay, it wasn't exactly in those words, but you get the idea."

"That's because you're in denial."

That confused her. "What?"

"Look. This book has a chapter for each family member of the Dawn family, all the way to before our surname came to be. We can read the story of most of our ancestors, but that's only because they've given their consent."

"... their consent?"

Seth nodded. "There souls have found peace, so they don't mind, anymore, people reading about their life because they have accepted what has happened to them, whether it was good or bad. Anyone from our family can see mine because I don't mind it. I've got nothing to hide. If wanted to, however, keep my life and story to myself, my chapter would either be empty to any eye but my own, or only what's publicly known would show up. You don't mind people knowing about what you've done since you've been to Hogwarts, but when it comes to whatever you've been through before that time and what you showed me... well, you haven't exactly come to terms with it. Until you do, you won't be able to see it. As for anyone else reading any of it, no one can unless a Dawn magically gives their consent, letting the book know that we let certain people read it."

Delilah blinked owlishly at him. "... so... what you're saying is that... this book has a mind of its own?"

Even Will looked rather baffled by that idea.

Seth nodded. "Yup," he replied, popping the last letter of the word.

Delilah nodded slowly. "Right. Now, what do you really want, besides getting me to leave my newly humble abode?" she asked, with a slight edge of sarcasm near the end.

Will stepped in, settling down beside his best friend. "Well, we were wondering... you know, since Mr. Harrison wouldn't help us... if you would—"

Seth rolled his eyes at his friend's stammering; the boy always got nervous when he asked anyone for help.

"Can you train us?" he asked simply.

Delilah blinked. "... train you," she said slowly as though the word was foreign to her.

Blaze squawked. "I believe they are asking for your mentoring in combat, Delilah."

Delilah glanced at her phoenix for a moment before returning her glance upon the two younger boys. "You want me to train you," she repeated with an edge of uncertainty. "Why?"

"Well... for one, Uncle Ren doesn't want us to train."

Delilah crossed her arms over her chest. "And for a very good reason, I am sure."

Seth rolled his eyes and waved her off. "Something about us being too young and—"

"That's because you are. Seth, we've gone over this," Delilah said, standing up with the 'Dawn History' book, roaming around her room for a place to put it in the mean time.

"No. We talked about phasing."

"You talked about me training you into phasing."

"Same difference," he said, waving her off again. He then paused, his eyes lighting up at the reminder. "Speaking of which, can—"

"No."

"Aww, please?"

"No."

"Please, please, please, please, pretty please!"

"No."

"Not even with a cherry on top?"

"What? No."

"C'mon, Dels!"

"Fine."

"Really?"

"No."

Seth let his arms fall to his sides, lips jutting out in a pout. "Why not?"

"Again, because you don't need it."

"But I—"

Delilah huffed as she threw the book on her small table beside her divan, then spun on her heels and looked Seth dead in the eyes. "I will not teach either of you—" Her gaze shifted between Seth and Will. "— how to phase, nor will I train you. You don't need any of it right now."

"But it's not fair!" Seth said.

Delilah snorted. "Life's not fair, but you don't see me complaining," she muttered.

"Why won't you help us?" Will asked.

"I'm not experienced enough to teach that kind of stuff. Everything I know comes mostly out of instinct. A few things I learned back before..." She sighed. "Before the ambush."

"Then teach us what you learned then," Will said.

Delilah sighed, running a hand through her hair. "That was way back, Will. I hardly remember any of it."

"Then teach us what you do remember."

"I can't!"

"Why n—"

"Because I can hurt you!"

Will was confused. Seth only stared at her, just as puzzled, as she flopped herself back onto her divan; he certainly wasn't expecting that to be the reason behind all her objections.

"You won't hurt us," said the youngest Dawn in a quiet tone.

She tilted her head forward and looked at him. "Joseph, you saw what I can do— I can easily snap your arm with one hand by accidentally putting too much pressure on it."

"But you won't."

Delilah sighed, pushing herself forward on her seat. "Seth—"

"No. Look, we're part wolf, and when it comes to my pack—"

She groaned. "This isn't your pack, Seth— this isn't even a pack."

"Yes, it is, and you're the Alpha, whether you like it or not. And as the Alpha of this very small pack, you have to make sure the other members in it know how to defend themselves if a war ever breaks out."

"There won't be a war."

"There might."

She growled in irritation; her brother just had to pull the Alpha card, didn't he?

"Change into something more comfortable, then meet me here in ten minutes."

Both boys grinned widely, then quickly ran out of the room to do as told. They were clearly eager to start as, less than five minutes later, they both came rushing back in, both in large plain t-shirts and shorts.

Delilah stared at them for a moment, then muttered, "First, I'm giving you two a haircut before you suddenly become girls."

An hour later, the three of them, along with Dopey who wouldn't leave their side, were ready to leave to begin their training.

To say Will was surprised by the way Delilah took them to their training area was an understatement. He was left a tad bit dizzy, but he quickly balanced himself again and stood by his best friend's side, both following Delilah as she led them toward her decently big, yet small cottage in the middle of the woods, on the outskirts of Holmes Chapel. The tiny stone cottage was gorgeous, to say the least.

It clearly belonged there so absolutely that it seemed as if it must have grown from the rock, a natural formation. Honeysuckle climbed up one wall like a lattice, winding all the way up and over the thick wooden shingles. Late summer roses bloomed in a handkerchief-sized garden under the dark, deep-set windows. There was a little path of flat stones that led up to the quaint arched wooden door.

It was very welcoming, and both boys couldn't help but feel warm inside as they approached the young Alpha's home.

"Welcome to my humble abode," she mumbled, not feeling the need to speak louder as she knew they could hear her clearly.

They kept stealing glances her way, and couldn't help but feel curious when they noticed the way her face began to light up the closer she got to the house. It wasn't until Seth felt the familiar presence, did he understand why she was feeling so.

"Remus!" she exclaimed, running forward.

Said man had just opened the arched wooden door and stepped out onto the stone porch, a smile dancing its way onto his lips as he saw the three children; it wasn't the quartet he had gotten used to seeing, but it was almost the same.

"I heard your arrival," he said.

Seth was happy to see the man, but he was confused. If this was Delilah's house, then what was he doing here? Will seemed to be just as puzzled, but he didn't put much thought into it; he was excited to reunite with their former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Prof— Mr— I... really don't know what to call you," Seth said, a small embarrassed blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Will gave him a sheepish smile. "Me neither."

The werewolf and the hybrid chuckled. "Remus is just fine," said the man.

"I see you took up my offer," Delilah said quietly, after sharing a quick, gentle embrace with the man.

He smiled, almost apologetically. "I needed a place to stay, while I looked for another job."

"Must be hard... with the furry issue," Delilah said.

"You have no idea."

Delilah chuckled. "You'd be surprised— are you sure you don't want me to tell Dare— "

"It'll be fine, Delilah."

"But he could help you find something with Muggles in the meantime! You can get a pretty good one, only part-time, and use the rest of your time to look for something... magical."

"It's fine this way— I hope you don't mind, though."

She waved him off. "I told you it was fine. I made the offer, remember?" He chuckled. "Besides, it's also a better way to have a friend of my father's around. I'm sure he'd be upset if he couldn't find one of his only good best pals."

"Speaking of Sirius, have you heard from him?"

Delilah hummed in confirmation, nodding. "Gotten very few letters, but at least they're something."

"Has—"

"I'm lost," Will blurted out.

Seth nodded in agreement. "I've got nothing against you, nor do I mind you being here, Prof— Remus, but what are you doing here?"

Delilah rolled her eyes. "I offered him a place to stay," she said in a tone that suggested her statement to be the most obvious thing. Frankly, it was, but apparently not to Seth and Will.

"You're that nice?" Will blurted out in awe, looking at her like a lost puppy.

Delilah actually looked hurt at his words. "You think I'm mean?"

He blushed and quickly shook his head. "No! That's not what I meant! I meant— I was saying— I..."

Delilah gave him a small smile, placing a hand on his shoulder, causing his blush to darken. "It's fine, let it go, kid." She turned back to Lupin. "We're gonna borrow part of the house, if you don't mind."

He shrugged, motioning to the house. "Well, it's yours. You can do as you please," he told her as they went inside. "May I ask what you are going to do?"

Delilah smiled and nodded. "These two snapped a string on me to get me to train them."

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. "Train... as in combat?" Delilah nodded, looking almost miserable. Remus chuckled. "Even your mother didn't want to train younger ones when she was asked to— what did they say to get you to train them?"

She threw a glare at the boys who both only sent her a cheeky smile as they walked behind her and Remus. "They pulled the Alpha card on me," she grumbled.

The four of them finally reached the door which led to the other side of the house. Delilah opened it out onto a beautiful garden which was being watered by magical sprinklers. The man and the two boys watched the place in awe before snapping their attention to the girl. They watched as she waved her hand and a small path appeared, leading toward a pair of diagonally grown trees. They separated from each other, straightening like the rest, revealing a small cabin, like those one would store gardening supplies in.

It was a real wonder what Delilah could do with her powers; she literally transformed the cabin, with a flick of her finger, into a large dojo, the part that sent over the garden turning into miniature versions of greenhouses that looked very much like the ones at Hogwarts.

After Remus left them to their training, going off to make some food for them all, Delilah found herself standing inside the very sparse dojo, in front of the boys. They stood in the center of the main room, all three having a cool and collected look on their faces.

"Alright. So, today is the day your training officially begins. We will start off with a sparring program."

"Any rules?" Will asked.

Delilah nodded. "Only basic rules. Rules like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of... let's say, a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken. Understood?"

The boys nodded.

"When you've mastered enough hand-to-hand combat in your human form, we will proceed to try various ways of meditation."

"Meditation? Why?"

"For particularly shifters and soul shifters, your spirit needs to be calm. At ease. It needs to be well rested and prepared for when it shifts the first time. The first time is always the most painful. The next few times are as well, but if your mind and body are prepared in advance, you can numb the pain throughout your first few transformations. After you get a hang of phasing back and forth, the pain will diminish into nothing but a pinch. Since I don't know when you will phase exactly or what will be your trigger, we will concentrate on combat for now, alright?"

They nodded.

"Alright, Seth? You're up first." Will stepped to the side and sat on the floor, watching the Dawn siblings. Seth stepped forward, in front of Delilah, waiting. She gave him a soft, yet stern look. "Ready?"

Almost hesitant, he nodded. They were about five feet apart, but she could close the distance in an instant. Her advantage; her tactic and his lack of experience, compared to her. His advantage; he was small, compared to her, but almost as agile.

They circled each other. She was strategizing his attack.

Then, she attacked. She came toward him with a flying kick. He had anticipated this and was able to doge her, grab her arm and pin it to her back. She quickly responded by throwing him over her back. He landed on his back.

"Don't analyze my moves to the max. You can do so to try to predict what I'll do, and dodge or counterattack, but you need to use your instincts too," she instructed. "Shifters, whether it be regulars or even werewolves, must mostly rely on instinct because they are always at least eighty percent more right than any calculation."

Seth got onto his feet, then moved to kick her in the face, but she rolled away and landed standing up. He was on her in a second, ready to punch her, though she quickly reacted and kicked him with enough force so that he was pretty far away from her, but not too much as to hurt him severely.

He looked up at her and stared. She hadn't even broken a sweat, and they had been going at each other for two hours. How did she do it?

She then came at him, fist ready to connect with his jaw, though he quickly reacted on instinct, as she told him to, and used one of the moves he remembered seeing her use in the memories she'd shown him of her compelled-self from when she'd fought Proditorem after Brady's demise, catching her fist and twisting it before leaping up and locking her head between his thighs before bringing her down to the ground. He jumped onto his feet, smirking triumphantly down at her, though, just as he was about to turn away, he found himself caught and pinned down onto the ground.

"One of the most important rules, never turn your back on your enemy," she said, a smirk on her face as she let go of him and rolled off of him.

He groaned, standing up.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot; there's one more," she told him, looking up at him as he offered her a hand.

His brows furrowed. More rules? However, he was intrigued; the training session had been painful, but it was amazing.

"Really?" he asked. She nodded. "Then what is it?"

She took his hand, then, in one swift move, she jumped onto her feet, spun around as though she were dancing ballet, and threw him over her shoulder again, where he landed hard on his back on the matted ground.

"Always expect the unexpected."

He looked up at her, mouth hanging open in shock before shutting and curling upward into a pained smile. "You just made that up, didn't you?" he asked as he took hold of the hand she offered and hauled himself from the ground.

She shrugged, giving him a rather mischievous look. "I like having the last laugh." She then turned to Will who had just stood up and walked over to them, and glanced between the two boys. "So... are you two ready for this? Because, after a while, the real moves are gonna show and the whole thing will be on an extreme level— blood will be shed."

"What?!"

"I'm kidding! But seriously, it'll be extreme. Are you ready for that?"

The boys shared a look, both hesitating slightly before looking back at their new Alpha, giving her a firm nod. "We're ready."

Her usually hard eyes softened as they often did when they fell upon people she cared deeply about, as a small smile graced its way onto her lips. "Good." Then she looked at her brother and ruffled his hair. "Well, that was great," she said before turning to Will. "And I have no doubt you'll be just as great, then," she glanced between the two, "in time, you will both be awesome."

The boys beamed at their new leader.

That was how the next few weeks went by. They trained five days a week, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night; sometimes in the dojo, sometimes in the woods, and they would always come back to her cottage and spend some time with Lupin, whom they had taken to calling Uncle Remus, because that was basically what he had become to them. It was a bit strange and awkward at first, for them all, but, eventually, after Remus bringing them chocolate after each training session, and spending some time with them, eating sweet food to give them energy, and even practicing some magic with him at other times— he was like the uncle Delilah and Seth were sure to consider so if they had grown knowing him their whole life. On weekends, the trio relaxed, either at Daren's house, or Delilah's cottage with Remus.

Throughout those next few weeks, the changes Delilah went through were grand and as clear as rain. She still woke up in the middle of the night, few hours past it, or sometimes didn't sleep at all, but she had become more open. She didn't reveal more of her past to anyone, not even to Seth, who knew what she had gone through before her previous year, but she did her best not to stay hung up on it. Her brother started teaching her how to play the piano— something she learned rather quickly, and she started, a bit shy at first, posing as a muse for Will, whom she had caught drawing her a few times. He'd drawn portraits of her reading, writing, just sitting there with that pensive look on her face— he never imagined what he drew. He simply saw her in the midst of action, and let his hand fly across his blank canvas. She evidently took interest in drawing as well, and he volunteered to teach her; however, it took longer for her to learn. Neither minded, though.

It wasn't till the Dusk of Harry's birthday that, for the first time in forever, Delilah felt like a normal teenage girl felt when she was self-cautiously nervous. She'd been sitting in the lounge that morning, reading a book she'd found in Daren's little library.

She found the title 'The boy who would not grow up' rather curious, so she took it out and found it was a fairytale of a mischievous boy who could fly and never grew up, and spent his never-ending childhood having adventures on a small island named Neverland, as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys, interacting with Native people and many creatures Muggles would consider mythical, such as mermaids, fairies and such.

Seth and Will had been there with her, playing a board game on the carpeted floor, while Doopey playfully chased Arrow around, Blaze rested on her perch, and Daren sat on his usual armchair, newspaper, and mug of coffee on hand, when Lara suddenly burst in, displaying a dress on the empty coffee table in front of the girl, along with another item that simply made horror wash over Delilah as Lara told her to put it all on.

"You're kidding me, right?" she asked as she stared at the pair of high-heeled shoes placed before.

"Delilah, you're a lady—"

"Ah, ah— I'm a teenager."

"You're a girl nearing the end of her teenag—"

"I'm gonna turn fifteen this year, not twenty."

"Well, in Mexico a girl comes of age when she turns fifteen."

Delilah gave her a disbelieving look. "We're not in Mexico!"

Lara sighed. "Delilah, please. Will you just give it a shot?"

Delilah scoffed. "Yeah, sure, and maybe while I'm at it, I can change from these high tops to even higher high tops," she replied sarcastically. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Lara rolled her eyes at the young hybrid. "Even if I was, it wouldn't work." Delilah glared at her. "Look, just try, okay? Please? Just one try," Lara pleaded, motioning toward the shoes and the dress she had gotten her. "If it's the... marks you're worried about, here."

Delilah grabbed the small vial Lara held out to her, eyeing it with puzzled eyes. "And this is?"

"A potion that will... let's say... camouflage your... marks. Ella and Cynthia made it back when they were your age; they tended to get into trouble quite often."

Delilah chuckled curtly, raising an eyebrow curiously at the potion. "No kidding." She then eyed the clothes and shoes for a moment before sighing. "Fine."

She grabbed everything and went to her room where she changed out of her oversized jeans, her black tank top, her long-sleeved knitted, cropped grunge and her combat boots into the strapless, royal blue chiffon dress with the paired up pumps. She brought her hair out of the long braid she had made with it and let it shower down a few inches past her waist. She then grabbed the small vial, opened it and brought it up to her lips hesitating for a second before downing the potion in one sip. She felt the cold liquid flow down her throat in a rush, emitting shudders throughout her entire body before settling a warm feeling within the pit of her stomach. Dropping the empty vial on her bed, she turned and slowly made her way over to her body length mirror, in the corner of her room, hesitating slightly on the side before stepping in front of the looking glass, admiring herself for the first time.

She wasn't bad looking at all; she didn't look much different than that time Fleur and Gabriel Delacour forced her to look at herself in a mirror when she had landed at Beauxbatons, though to say she didn't miss her once jet black hair with light brown highlights would be a lie— she missed it very much, but the changes she had gone through weren't so bad. Her brown hair had taken a slightly darker tone with a reddish tint to it, her once orange-pink morning glory-begonian eyes were still the violet orchidee color they had become the previous year, and they still had those few gray specks in them, though her strangely colored orbs altogether had become a bit darker. Her skin just as pale as when she had come back for her third year at Hogwarts, though she noticed it had gained a new glow to it after she took the potion Lara gave her, but that wasn't what left her stunned. No. It was the fact that her fourteen-year-old scarred body was scar-free.

"The effects are only temporary." Delilah looked away from her reflection and looked up at Lara, through the mirror, standing at her doorway. "You'd have to take it once every three days to keep your skin scar-free."

Delilah was silent for a moment as she returned her gaze toward her own reflection, awe clear in her eyes. "I can do that," she said softly.

Lara smiled and stepped forward, entering the room and walking up behind Delilah. "I got something else for you."

Delilah furrowed her brows slightly in curiosity but said nothing as Lara stood right behind her and brought what seemed like a golden chain over the girl's head. She stood there, immobile, following Lara every movement, only looking away when the woman's arms dropped to her sides and looked at her with a smile. Delilah looked down and found a golden necklace hanging from her neck, the letter 'D' falling just above the valley separating her breasts. It created a soft contrast as it laid atop the fabric of the dress that covered her upper body.

"'D' for Delilah," Lara said softly, resting her hands on Delilah's nude shoulders. "I know you don't like being compared to your mother and such, but you need to know that when you are, it's not a bad thing. No one does it to anger you. It's just a small comparison— you remind people of her, but no one sees you as Ella, Dels. You are Delilah Dawn. Sure, with a little bit of Ella, but you are you, and you should never think otherwise just because people say you remind them of her."

Delilah did not respond.

"You are as beautiful as she was, but," Lara smiled. "You are more beautiful as yourself."

Delilah returned the smile with a small one of her own. "Thank you," she whispered.

Lara's smile turned into a grin as she turned the girl around and grabbed her hand. "Come on," she said, pulling her toward the door.

"Why are we going downstairs?" Delilah asked, suddenly panicked.

"To show the others, silly," Lara giggled girlishly. "And to begin your dancing lessons."

Unfortunately for Delilah, by the time she grasped what Lara had said, they were already standing in the lounge. Delilah tried to run, but she didn't even make it a foot away from where Lara had dragged her due to the high-heeled shoes she was wearing; she nearly fell. Lara cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen, I present to you: Miss Delilah Dawn!"

Delilah never thought her face could get as heated as it did, as she stood frozen when all four pairs of eyes fell upon her, excluding thus of their familiars. If it hadn't been for her reddening face, she would've passed for a live-looking statue.

"Marvelous, isn't she?" Lara exclaimed herself. "Doesn't she look wonderful? Now, she will learn to dance. Right, Daren?"

Daren was shocked, to say the least. He only snapped out of his trance-like state when he heard his nephew mutter, "Is she even breathing?"

Sure enough, though Delilah was still standing there, unmoving, she had stopped breathing. Lara saw the concerned look on her cousin's face and turned to look at Delilah, her eyes widening in panic when she realized the young girl wasn't breathing.

Oh, my Goddess— Lara sighed, shaking her head— leave it to Delilah to stop breathing out of nervousness.

Lara grabbed Delilah's face and slapped her cheek lightly, repeatedly, until the girl blinked. "Breathe, Dels, you're fine."

Will seemed to snap out of his daze as well, and blinked, realizing what had just happened to his best friend's sister. "Did she just stop breathing because she was nervous?" he asked in slight disbelief.

Seth nodded. "And to think she's our Alpha," he snorted, though he was clearly just as awed at his sister's beauty.

Delilah blinked owlishly for a moment before looking at Lara. "I stopped breathing, didn't I?"

Lara nodded, letting go of the girl's face. "Yup, you have some serious issues, but that will be looked into later."

"Later as in never?"

"Exactly. Right now, you will be learning how to dance."

She blinked. "... dance," Delilah said slowly.

Lara gave her a weird look. "Yes. You know— when you move rhythmically to music, typically following a set—"

"I know what dancing is!" Delilah cut her off. She sighed. "Why should I have to learn it? I'm an Alpha, not a dancer."

"You're learning it," Seth said, getting onto his feet. "They made me go through that torture when I was nine, so you gotta do it."

Lara rolled her eyes at the boy. "It wasn't torture."

Seth glared at her. "You made me wear heels— I'm a boy, and you made me wear heels," he grunted, grimacing at the memory, while Will stood behind him, trying hard not to laugh.

Lara shrugged. "Not my fault you were so short."

"I'm not short," Seth uttered deffensively. "You're just freakishly tall."

Lara rolled her eyes at him before she turned her attention back to Delilah and grabbed her again and dragged her to the middle of the lounge, magically moving aside, with a flick of her hand, every item or small piece of furniture standing in the way.

"So, now— as I said before— you will learn how to dance for a ball," she said as she let go of the girl and went to pull Daren over to where his niece stood rather puzzled.

"How do you dance on a ball?"

Seth and Will snickered at her oblivion, though, Daren, not having heard her confusion, frowned slightly in embarrassment. "I'm not very good at it..."

But Lara dismissed his protest and pulled him to stand before the tall teenage hybrid. Sighing to himself, Daren stepped forward and awkwardly positioned himself to dance with her.

Lara counted off them into the waltz and stepped back to watch. "And... one, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, thr—" She grimaced and shook her head when she saw how wrong they were doing it. "No, no, Dels— you're doing it wrong."

Delilah grumbled. "I don't even know what I'm doing— and you're making me do this stuff on heels."

"Dance," Lara corrected.

"Whatever!"

"And you have to wear heels at a ball," Lara continued.

"How in Jesus' birthplace does one dance on a ball?!" Delilah exclaimed.

Lara opened her mouth to reply, then shut it, and repeated the motion multiple times until she finally understood the girl's confusion.

She giggled, and Delilah glared at her. "It's not funny," she grumbled, stepping away from her uncle and crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're right, it's not," Lara replied, trying to put on a straight face, but she couldn't help it. She laughed, Seth and Will laughing along, while Daren, for some reason, remained silent, looking Delilah over, brows furrowed as he seemed to be in deep thought, though no one noticed.

Irritated, Delilah turned to leave, though she tripped over her heels, falling over. Fortunately for her, Will stepped toward her just in time to catch her.

She grunted. "Thanks," she muttered.

Blushing slightly, he nodded, having stopped laughing long ago.

"Delilah, sweetie," Lara said, looking at the girl with a kind smile. "A ball is a formal social gathering for dancing." Delilah looked at her, blinking owlishly, for a moment, then blushed, not even putting up a struggle anymore when Lara gently pushed her back toward Daren.

"Now, don't lead. Let him."

Nodding slowly, Delilah turned back to her uncle, almost shyly, and waited for him to take the first step. He took a step forward toward her and slowly reached out his hand, offering it to her. Taking a deep breath, she took it and let him pull her back into a dancing position as Lara went to their radio, turned it on and let the music play.

The dance started out a bit awkward, mostly for Delilah as she wasn't one to get too close to people physically. Eventually, as the dance went on, Delilah got to relax and even smile and giggle slightly when Daren would twirl her with once hand.

After a moment, they settled with only waltzing around the lounge, without the single-handed twirls. Delilah frowned when she noticed he looked somewhat nervous.

"What is it?" she asked as they swayed back and forth.

He gave her a small smile and shook his head. "Nothing." She opened her mouth to reply, but he quickly cut her off before she could say anything, and said, "That dress is really beautiful."

She blinked, blushing shyly at the compliment. "Do you think so?" she asked in a small voice.

Daren stared at her for a moment before, shaking his head slightly, glancing at the wall; if he stared any longer, he would think he was looking at his sister and would probably make the mistake of calling her so instead of Delilah.

"Yes. I mean it was nice on the hanger, but it looks even better on you. You... you should wear it."

Delilah raised an eyebrow at him, slightly confused. "I am wearing it."

Daren looked back at her, staring at her for a moment again, and, for the first time, he didn't see his sister anymore. For the first time since he met Delilah, he saw the changes that differentiated her from either of his sisters. For the first time, he truly saw his niece— he saw Delilah. Not Ella-Grace. Not Cynthia-Rose.

Just Delilah.

He blinked, realizing what had been her reply, then played back what he had said before, mentally face-palming himself for stating the obvious. "Oh, right, of course, of course, you are. I'm just trying to give you a... a..."

"Compliment?" Delilah offered softly.

Daren chuckled, nodding. "Of course, yes."

She smiled as they went back to swirling into the dance, gaining more grace that would've been believed to be impossible for Delilah, considering how she'd shown herself to walk with heels. Lara and the boys watched them, awed as they glided around the room, gradually slowing their dancing as the music thankfully began to near the end.

"I'm feeling a little dizzy," Delilah mumbled.

"Kind of light headed?" Daren asked softly.

She gave a short nod. "Yeah."

Daren chuckled. "Me too. Probably from the spinning," he said as they slowed into a stop. "Maybe we should stop."

Delilah raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "Has anyone ever told you, you state what's passed far too much?"

Daren gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

She motioned between them. "You offered to stop, but we already had."

Daren chuckled again, realizing she was right. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Well, you won't be needing many more lessons; you're a pro at this. Just a little practice now and then, and you're good."

Delilah smiled. "Thank you." She let out a small breath, looking around at the others. "I don't know about you guys, but all this stuff made me sleepy. I'm turning in."

Delilah quit struggling throughout the transition Lara made her undergo as the days went by. She was visibly still uneasy about walking around in newer, fitted clothes, but she eventually got used to it as well as taking the scar-freeing potion every third day.

On the first day of the second week of August, Delilah had come to an agreement with Hermione and Ron to go over to the Weasleys the week after and stay there until a day after the Quidditch World Cup. By the end of that week, however, she was packed already and planned to go back to her cottage; Remus had taken off and was staying at a hotel in town as he was still looking for a job, so the house was uninhabited.

"I'm off to my place."

"When will you get back?"

"I told you already, Seth. I'll be there for a few days; then I'll be going to the Weasleys, where I'll be staying a while longer till the day after the Cup. I'll see you then, alright?"

Seth sighed and nodded. "Bring some souvenirs from the game."

Delilah rolled her eyes. "You're gonna be there too, you idiot," she said, playfully flicking his head.

He shrugged. "Just wanted to say it— they say it a lot in movies."

Will gave his friend a weird look. "No, they don't."

"Well, they say it somewhere."

"Okay, I have no idea who 'they' are, but I really don't care, so I'm leaving now. Take care, you two, and stay out of trouble," said Delilah before flashing herself out of the household.