YEAR FIVE

"Uh, Jayla?" Carol shouted up the stairs.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Come down here, please?" She squeaked.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she grabbed her glasses. She shuffled down the stairs quickly. Her jaw dropped as she entered the living room.

Nate Westerfield and his mother was wandering around the Wynwood's living room. "It's been so long since I've lived in a muggle home… I feel like I forgot what most of these things are for!" Mrs. Westerfield chuckled, looking at Carol like she'd find it relatable.

"Ah, yes…" Carol said, trying to be polite.

"I'm a muggle-born." The witch explained. "Which means I popped out from some muggles."

"Interesting…" Simon said, tiling his head.

"Could I get you some tea?" Carol offered.

"Please." Mrs. Westerfield said, sitting on the couch. She looked around and made eye contact with Jayla. "Oh, hello, Jayla." She said, offering a warm smile.

Jayla moved to sit on the couch. "Good afternoon, ma'am."

"Now, Jayla, I'm a slightly impatient woman and I don't like to beat around the bush." She told her. Jayla nodded. "Nate has told me you're from America… and… your lovely parents, Carol and Simon, did they… adopt you?" She asked, looking at the two white people then back to Jayla.

Jayla looked at Simon who looked at her encouragingly. "Yeah…"

"Where did you live?" She questioned.

Licking her lips, Jayla picked at her jeans. "New Orleans, Louisiana."

Mrs. Westerfield's eyes widened. "Do you remember your birth parents?"

"Not a lot." Jayla admitted.

The adult witch reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of small, shiny piece of paper out. She looked at Jayla before handing her what happened to be a photograph.

She looked down at the photograph and her heart dropped.

There was a man with short dreadlocks and bright smile with the same lips as Jayla. His eyebrows looked just like hers. Next to him was a woman who looked just like Jayla but with brown eyes.

It was her mother and father.

Her eyes were watery as she stared at the photo. "How do you know my parents?" She asked, looking up at the brown haired woman.

Mrs. Westerfield smiled down at her. "I went to school with your mother, Naliha Yaxley. She grew up in a strict household of pure-bloods and was raised to think less of muggle-borns. Her whole family had been sorted into Slytherin. Then she came to Hogwarts and got sorted into Gryffindor. At first she was timid towards me, a muggle-born. She soon came to understand we were equal. She kept it from her family. All was well… until a prophesy came out…" She said, seeming happy until her last sentence.

"Basically, the prophesy said that her daughter would take down the pure-blood supremacist leader who was rising. Her father's reaction was to lock her away since he was a part of this uprising of the pure-bloods.

"Your mother didn't want to be locked away, of course. She knew a boy from America… she had met him at a pure-blood ball. They had bonded over how they thought blood meant nothing. He saved her from her father's plan and brought her to America. They moved to New Orleans where there was so much magic, they'd be impossible to find. They fell in love and had you." She explained. "The last I've heard of them they said that you had been acting up with your magic so they were going to try to go into even more hiding so they wouldn't be able to communicate with me anymore…" She mumbled sadly.

"I was taken away… by child protective services." Jayla said.

"Yes… this happens with especially magic-active children." Mrs. Westerfield said. She looked down at her hands. "I know… that your parents loved you so much… and they haven't seen you in around seven years… Perhaps… if I gave you their address, you could visit them." The witch suggested.

Jayla's eyes widened as her heart pumped with yearning. Her eyes dashed to Simon. He was running his hands through the scruff on his chin while tilting his head. "Of course, you could go…" He said but licked his lips. "You can't go alone… but I think that you're mature enough to go with a friend. A clear-minded one friend who would make sure you didn't get lost… Perhaps your friend Drea… or Tristian?" Simon said, raising an eyebrow.

The young witch nodded. She'd reunite with her parents on any condition. "Simon, thank you…" She said from the bottom of her heart. Jayla hoped that her voice could show how much it meant to her.

He smiled at her. "Of course, honey."

Mrs. Westerfield poofed a pad of paper and a quill out of nothing. Carol walked in and sat next to Simon. "What's happening?" She asked.

"Jayla's going to New Orleans… her parents were actually magic. They weren't unstable, it was Jayla who was." Simon explained. Carol asked him more questions worriedly.

Nate's mom was scribbling down things on the pad of paper. "I'm giving you their address and the address of their close friend there in case you can't find them." She told Jayla, looking up and making eye contact with her. She had the same exact eyes as her son. Jayla wondered where she got her own eyes from.

"Okay. Thank you… thank you so much." She replied.

"One last thing… You have an uncle… sadly, he's not on our side… he's a supremacist. His name is Jelani, Jelani Yaxley… I think he might have a son- or a daughter…" She recalled, tapping on her chin.

Jayla's heart dropped to her feet. "Elizabeth and Michael?"

Mrs. Westerfield snapped her fingers. "Think so."

"Oh… Oh no…" She breathed.

The woman looked to her son. He looked shocked like Jayla. "Elizabeth downright terrorizes Jayla and Tristian. Michael's really nice though. He's in Hufflepuff." Nate explained.

Looking down at her hands, Mrs. Westerfield shook her head. "I had hope for Jelani…"

Jayla was still in shock from the revelation of being related to the Yaxleys. Michael was her cousin. Elizabeth was her cousin.