A/N;; Hello again, friends! This is a little friendly and kinda wholesome chapter and I'm actually really happy with it.
I wanted to kind of touch on a little more of these two sides of Talia and how differently she feels about things surrounding her, and this gave me a good opportunity to do that. It's also a nice bit of more fun and light stuff before things get serious in coming chapters

I just want to continue to express that I'm so incredibly thankful for all of you who take the time to read this little story of mine.
I love hearing from you!
I hope you continue to enjoy as we go along; thank you for being here

Chapter 8: We Were In Screaming Color

Talia,

Happy birthday, dear. I remember when you were just a baby, it feels like such a short while ago, and now here we are: sixteen years old. How the time flies, and what changes it really does bring.

I hope that this letter finds you well, and that things with you and Draco are pleasant. This is a year of many changes, and I'm sure that you are glad to have each other. Hold onto that.

May the remainder of this term go smoothly for you, and this new year of life do great things for you - the both of you.

Happy birthday, again.

Narcissa Malfoy

A confused frown creased my brow as I slowly re-folded the letter that Winston had dropped for me at the breakfast table. I had been mildly startled when my tawny owl had swooped into the Great Hall at all this morning, given I wasn't expecting anything. It being my birthday didn't mean my parents actually wrote to me, so receiving a letter had surprised me. That letter coming from Draco's mother of all people had only proved to add confusion to that surprise.

The concept of a motherly message was the first thing to set me off. I couldn't remember the last time my mother had said a caring word to me, or at least not one that didn't come from a place of her own benefit. Narcissa's letter was kind, thoughtful, in the way that a mother probably should be. Her wishing me a happy birthday was nice, but what brought confusion was that this was the first year the woman had ever taken it upon herself to write me for my birthday. On top of that, the message within the letter unsettled me just slightly.

True, Narcissa was Draco's mother and therefore she would care about how he was doing and that his term thus far was going pleasantly. It felt, though, that it was more than that. It wasn't just about Draco himself, it was about the both of us, grouped together. Perhaps I was reading into it too much. It was probably as simple as Draco having not led his mother to believe that there was ever any issue between us, like he'd told me at the end of summer ball. It still felt odd in a way I couldn't quite place.

I glanced at Draco, thinking I might ask him about it, but then changed my mind. Things had been going well between us so far, I didn't need to throw in unnecessary confusion when I'd been pleasantly surprised by the lack of that recently. I was likely just thinking too much about it. Tucking the letter back into its envelope, I stuck it into the pocket on my robe, leaving it be.

"Where the hell have you been this morning?" Blaise called and I turned to see where Lucy was approaching the table with a big grin on her face.

Daphne and I had woken up around eight and been surprised to find the girl not in bed still. When we'd gotten to the common room and not found her there, either, the lot of us were confused. The likelihood of Lucy being occupied with something like studying or homework during the early hours of a Saturday morning was not high.

"Mind your own business, Zabini." Lucy snickered then she turned to me. "I need to borrow you for a bit."

I looked at her in question then turned my gaze on Daphne. Since they had been the two to conspire together for whatever birthday plans were coming, I figured the other girl would have something to add. The blonde made a face and held her hands up.

"Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with this one." She confirmed. It was the smallest confirmation that there was indeed something planned for later still, though I had mostly known that already.

I assumed that meant that Lucy had planned something all her own, because what else could it mean? Finishing off a piece of watermelon on my plate, I slid the almost finished dish in Draco's direction where he sat on Daphne's left. He was confused at first but when he saw the few cut green apple slices remaining on my plate, the corner of his mouth twitched upward - it was a favorite of his.

"I suppose I'll catch up with you all later then." I declared as I stood.

"Wait, where are you going?" Draco had evidently been so enthralled in his conversation with Theo - or purposefully ignoring Lucy's presence - that he hadn't realized she had asked me to come with her.

"Relax, Malfoy. She'll be back by lunchtime." Lucy rolled her eyes.

I gave a shrug of my shoulders as he looked at me curiously, but Lucy didn't leave more time for chatting as she looped her arm through mine and towed me away. I had to laugh a little at her persistence.

"Two surprises today then?" I asked as we exited the Great Hall.

She steered us in the direction down the marble steps, out into the courtyard and I wondered just what she was really up to.

"The other one is mostly Daphne's idea, I just gave some input. It's also for, you know, us. In Slytherin, I mean." She answered.

I squinted faintly, lips curled upward just slightly. "Sorry, what are you implying, Lu?"

"You mind your business, too." She laughed with a shake of her head. "You'll see soon enough."

We walked through the courtyard and one side of outdoor corridor, then continued down the grass path the way that we typically went down to Herbology. Veering off that familiar path a little, we walked past the vegetable garden and Lucy let out another snort of a laugh at the questioning look I shot sideways at her. A few moments later, I had more of an idea of where we were headed and a dark brow quirked in further question as we approached the shore of the Black Lake.

"Are you planning on drowning me for my birthday, is that it?" I asked with amused curiosity.

"What a waste that would be."

I whirled with widened eyes at the sound of Fred's voice, finding him and his twin brother coming from the direction of the greenhouses that Herbology class took place in. They were carrying a collection of small sized, variously shaped, bright orange and purple boxes in their arms.

"Little bird told us it's your birthday today." George grinned, eyes flashing mischievously as he glanced at Lucy beside me.

"She twisted our arms into putting all these together for you." Fred held up his armful in gesture before setting them down on the gravel in a heap.

George was smirking solely at Lucy now. "Real convincing, that one."

I looked sideways at my best friend who looked exceptionally proud of herself as she shrugged loosely. "Not my fault you're easy, Weasley." She teased him.

I suddenly felt like I was intruding on a moment between them but I couldn't help my amusement. Taking notice to my curious glancing between them, Lucy leaned closer to me.

"I told him I'd snog him under the stairs by Filch's office." She admitted.

"Lu!" I laughed loudly and she shushed me despite the fact that she was giggling herself.

As I paid more attention to the little boxes the twins were now setting up specifically, I thought that I recognized them. "Are these the little fireworks you've been showing off?"

Fred scoffed dramatically. "'The little fireworks,' she says. Honestly, woman."

I wrinkled my nose with a short laugh, feigning a joking apology for him.

"They're some of them we've been working on, yeah, just a bit more special." George explained.

Lucy nodded with a wide grin beside me. "I haven't actually seen these ones yet, had them batch them together special for today. I had a few requests."

"A few." George snorted, shooting an amused look at Lucy.

"Feels like I've been let in on a secret about our lovely miss Talia here." Fred declared and I lifted a brow curiously. He smirked and spun his wand between his fingers. "You'll see."

"Alright, gonna need you to come over here." George waved a hand toward a cleared space among some of the scattered boxes in the gravel. When I didn't move right away, Lucy gave me a gentle shove and George chuckled. "So you're gonna have to stand right here." He pointed to the spot with four colored boxes surrounding it, each about a foot or so away from me where I stood.

"Don't move until we tell you, alright? Just stay right where you are til we say so." Fred instructed as his twin moved over to stand beside him.

Lucy was grinning wildly a couple steps away from them. The three of them stood several feet away from where they had told me to stand and I wasn't sure that their distance was comforting to me, all things considered. Exchanging a weary look with Fred that he returned with a faint grin, he finally gave a short nod of his head. The flick of the two boys' wands was quick and precise, I nearly missed it.

The two fireworks situated almost behind me popped first, each shooting a light pink ball of light a ways above me. As those balls of light exploded further, with a crackle this time, the shape of a cherry blossom tree hung a safe enough distance over me - glittering and bright. The second pair of fireworks popped off in front of me, these ones each releasing three little white-pink balls of light into the air about level with my chest. As they went off, those sparks turned into the shape of cherry blossom petals. They circled around and around me, almost as if in a wind funnel, buzzing and warm as they passed - just close enough for me to feel their warmth, but far enough that without moving they didn't touch me. Smiling brightly, I tilted my head back to look up at the shape of the tree above me, watching as with a gentle few pops, some more 'petals' fell to join the others in their sparkling dance around me.

It reminded me of my precious bonsai at home. Lucy knew how the simple taking care of that beautiful little tree was something that provided me solace, escape. This must have been one of her previously mentioned requests - this personalized imagery in the fireworks the twins were creating.

My cheeks were warm both from the spark of tiny fires around me, and a deeper sense of inner warmth. This was beautiful, this was special. Lucy had planned this for me, and these two boys who didn't know me at all, who had no obligation to do anything nice for me, had created something so pretty, and so personal.

With a flourish of the 'petals,' as if they were swept away by a passing breeze, they fizzled out of the air. The glowing tree above me gave one final pop before fading away with a shower of pink and white sparkles that landed in my brown hair and along the shoulders of my robes.

"Alright, now! Quickly." George waved me over.

I turned as I stepped away from the spot I'd been in, walking backwards toward them so not to miss whatever was coming next. Each of the remaining boxes sparked - presumably with another flick of the twins' wands - launching different shades of blue and purple balls of light into the air. Some of them burst into the expected more regular firework shapes, some crackled into little clouds of lingering glitter. The rest turned into small, flickering hummingbirds, fluttering about in between the rest of the small explosions, leaving a shining trail behind them.

Lucy and I had talked about my fascination with hummingbirds once; how I thought they were cute, how I wished my life could be as simple as flying at ridiculous speeds, thriving in sunshine, and enjoying as many flowers as possible. She had made a joke about how perhaps I'd been a hummingbird in a past life. 'You are rather tiny and quick' she'd said with a laugh. That had been in second year.

Distracted in awe, I half stumbled another step backward and Fred steadied me with a hand against my back. I didn't look at him, enthralled with the display of colorful light a few feet ahead of us, but out of the corner of my eye I could just make out that he was looking at me. Lucy stepped up beside me on my other side, but I didn't look at her right away either.

A couple of the burning hummingbirds were now spelling out the words 'happy birthday, Talia' with their trail of sparkling, gold fire. My smile grew impossibly wider as I took it all in. The words shined several feet in the air for a minute or two, and each of the remaining hummingbirds slowly but surely shrank then exploded into different colored sparks - a finale of sorts. Finally, my birthday wish faded and fell in the same rain of different colored glitter that had fallen onto me from the charmed cherry blossom tree.

For a few drawn out seconds there was quiet, the pops and crackles and bangs leaving a subtle ringing in my ears. Finally, almost childishly, I brought my hands up to either side of my face, clutching loosely at my cheeks.

"That was amazing." I breathed, still awestruck. Whirling toward Lucy at my side, I yanked her in for a tight hug, shaking my head. "That was amazing."

Before giving myself time to think about my actions, I released my best friend and turned to Fred on my other side, hugging him as well. It was his stiff surprise at the gesture that had me yanking back from the embrace after a quick moment, before he even had the opportunity to hug me back.

"Sorry." My cheeks burned and I scowled faintly - more at my own expense than anyone else's. I gave Lucy a gentle shove, muttering quickly, lowly to her, "I can't believe you just let me hug him."

"I can't believe you tried to hug him." She was lost in a string of giggles now, only furthering the heat flooding my cheeks.

"You can grab me as you please, darling, I just didn't expect it." Fred grinned behind me. I wouldn't meet his eyes, not wanting to see just how amused he was by my current flustered state.

George huffed out a laugh of his own, shaking his head at us but bringing a hand to his chest in dramatic display. "Now here I am, hug-less, awkward or otherwise. That's not fair, is it?"

"You're terrible and I hate you all." I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut as my head dipped back on my neck. Despite the lingering blush in my cheeks, there was a grin present, too.

"Now, now, no need to lie, Talia." Fred snickered as he moved away from me. Opening my eyes again I watched as he and his brother made quick work of ridding the area of whatever leftover evidence there was of their fireworks display. "Gonna get yourself into trouble doing that."

Lucy nudged me with her elbow, smirking with a lift of her brows and a tilt of her head in Fred's direction, as if she were implying something. I shook my head at her but couldn't help a small smirk of my own.

"You two could've gotten in big trouble for all that, too, you know." I pointed out. As if saying so reminded me of the evil woman who would be the one to do such a thing, I instinctively turned to look back over my shoulder the way that Lucy and I had come down to the lakeshore, just to be safe.

"Yeah, you're welcome, by the way." George teased.

Scrunching my nose up, I loosely folded my arms across my chest. "You're right, I suppose I should thank you. That was nice of you, the whole thing really was fantastic."

"Say that again? Louder?" Fred prompted, cupping a hand to his ear.

I rolled my eyes now, smiling despite myself. "Shut up."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought you said." He grinned.

Ignoring his antics, I turned to Lucy and gave her arm a squeeze. We exchanged a fond smile, and I knew that she was aware I was thanking her for the thought that she had put into this whole ordeal. Certainly, the Weasley twins had no need to do anything nice for me, birthday or not, but in Lucy being friends with them, she had managed to convince them to do something special, personalized, beautiful. It was definitely a gift that no one else was going to be able to give me today.

The four of us moved from the gravel and mud shores of the Black Lake to settle instead in the grass near the vegetable garden. It was more out of politeness than anything that I didn't immediately return to the castle. I didn't fully know how to navigate actually hanging out with Fred and George, because I hadn't been the one to do so over the last several weeks. That nagging voice in the back of my mind also reminded me that who I was - my name, my family, let alone my house or my other friends - didn't really leave a lot of room for friendliness with people like the Weasley's. Despite my feeling differently, not fully believing in those ideals, they had been so drilled into my head for so long, I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable going into a casual amount of time spent with these boys. As if I would actually find myself in trouble for it, or something.

Lucy and George were on about something, I honestly wasn't paying attention, my gaze trained thoughtfully out over the lake. My earlier embarrassment had subsided - after a little more joking at my expense, of course - and now I wondered how long was too long to be sitting out here like this. It was a Saturday, true, so we weren't missing classes, but we weren't exactly in the most supervised area of the grounds. At least the fireworks were over now, less room for getting caught. Current company probably didn't care much about getting into trouble anyway, even Lucy.

"That's fancy." Fred's comment pulled my attention to where he sat a small distance away on my right. When I looked at him, he gestured to my right hand where I was leaning back on both in the grass. "New birthday gift, or something you've had for a while?"

It was a little strange, having regular conversation with him. Deep down, I knew that I was just thinking about it too much. A subtle paranoia as a side effect of my upbringing couldn't easily be shaken enough to be consistently friendly. When we were being playful or snarky, even the couple times where he bordered on flirting with me, those moments were less personal. Those times were less like he was trying to be my friend. I didn't have a real reason not to let him.

I glanced at the serpent bracelet on my wrist, the item in question. A small smile twitched at my lips as I looked at the green jewel on the back of the snake's head. It means you feel safe.

"Yeah, it was a gift, actually." I nodded. "It's got a special warning protection charm on it."

"Oh? What's it do?" He pressed curiously.

"What're we talking about?" Lucy asked, turning toward me. George was sitting on her other side, closer to her than Fred was to me. It looked like things were slowly but surely starting to work out for my best friend and her interest in him, but maybe I was getting ahead of myself, this was my first time spending time around them together, after all.

"Talia's fancy new birthday gift." Fred answered and I shifted to sit up so that I would hold my right hand out in Lucy's direction for her to have a look at what he was referring to.

Lucy took my hand, eyes growing a little bit as she seemed surprised by the piece of jewelry. I imagined the expensive quality of it came as a little bit of a shock. It could also probably serve as a rather clear answer to who had given it to me if someone took a moment to think about it, I realized.

"It's gorgeous." The girl turned my hand one way and then the next, taking in the way that the metal snake wound around my wrist.

"And magic, apparently." Fred added then chuckled faintly. "So I'll ask again, what's it do?"

"The jewel changes color." I pointed out the pear shaped gem on the back of the tiny snake's head, eyes locked on the deep green that it currently was. "It turns black when something bad is coming, or when I feel like I'm in danger. It stays green like this when I feel safe."

George hummed thoughtfully. "Pleasant and caring gesture, or somebody knows something you don't and they're being preemptive?"

I hadn't thought of it that way, but perhaps that was because of who was giving it to me at the time. I liked to think that it was as simple as Draco caring about me enough to want to give me something to help promote a sense of ease. We both were aware of things to come, we knew that life at home was complicated and sometimes scary, I had figured the choice of charm had come more from that place in his heart - looking out for me.

"It's like a magical mood ring, then." Lucy noted. Fred, George, and I all blinked at her, with varying levels of perplexed present in our expressions. She let out a laugh and shook her head. "Sorry, it's a Muggle world thing. They sell them at fairs and stuff. My dad got me one when I was younger, but my mum killed the illusion for me. See, they've got little fake jewels on them that change color, and it's supposed to be based on your mood changing, is the idea. Mum told me they're just temperature sensitive, though, and that Muggles will just believe pretty much anything you tell them."

I smiled a little bit. I always enjoyed whatever little bits of other world life Lucy could bring to the table. She and her stories were a part of my interest in Muggle Studies in the first place.

"Dad would love her." Fred chuckled.

George let out a laugh at Lucy's confused expression. "He loves Muggles. Thinks they're fascinating."

"I mean, they are, if not a little stupid sometimes." Lucy admitted with a snorted laugh.

I didn't contribute my opinion on the matter. It felt like a slippery slope for me. Thankfully, their back and forth on the subject of what Arthur Weasley did at the Ministry, and how the man typically questioned Harry about all sorts of Muggle things when he would visit them didn't go on for too long. Just long enough to make me aware of the uncomfortableness of my being there for the subject.

"Who gave it to you, anyway?" Lucy asked finally, nodding at where I was now absently dragging my thumb along the microscopic diamonds along the snake bracelet's shape.

Perhaps it was our present company, and how I knew that there were unpleasant feelings all around between these people and who my answer was, that made me hesitate in answering quickly. "Draco did, last night."

George let out a short, dry laugh. "Well, there goes the idea of it being caring."

Fred laughed beside me, but I rolled my lips together. Lucy gave a backhand swat to George's chest and shushed him before looking at me wearily. I glanced out toward the lake again, trying not to feel defensive.

There was a certain level of understanding I felt, that they would jump to the worst case possible when it came to Draco. A couple of weeks ago I might have even agreed with them to some extent. My having more knowledge of the reasons for Draco's attitude and his actions didn't change that they hurt people. Some of those people who saw the worst of Draco were the Weasley's, I really couldn't blame them for making assumptions. They were easy assumptions to make. It was just complicated for me.

Balance between who Draco was when we were younger, who he was when we were alone now, and the Draco who was spiteful and angry and performative wasn't something I foresaw for the near future. He and I were working through our own issues slowly, but it was a process. There was a long way still to go. At least there was that hope for me, for us. For many, many other people at this school, it wasn't that simple. They didn't have the history that I had with Draco. They didn't have the mutual understanding of each other's lives, or the shared life experiences with him. I had a special knowledge of Draco that very few people had.

Therefore, I couldn't fight battles in his defense, especially not to people who he regularly caused pain to. I tried to keep that in mind as I took in a careful deep breath through my nose, suppressing whatever frustrated argument might bubble to the surface.

I was aware of Lucy muttering something quietly to George, but I couldn't make out what it was. She mumbled to me that they would be right back, that they had to go grab something and for me not to leave yet. I didn't give any notable acknowledgement of it, but the two got up anyway. Fred once again pulled my attention as he shifted to stretch his long legs out in the grass beside me. Glancing at him, I noticed the curious gaze he had fixed on me, like he was trying to figure me out. My lifted brows served as a wordless question of what he wanted.

"Are you and Malfoy a thing, then?" He asked. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't as much distaste in the question as I anticipated. Fred's saying the name Malfoy didn't carry the same absolute displeasure that I so often heard in other people's tones when speaking the name Potter.

"We're friends." I replied shortly. I did my best to ignore the way that the question awoke another nagging reminder in the back of my mind - that subject hadn't been covered yet, either.

"Didn't think Malfoy was capable of having the good sort of friends." Fred noted, continuing to watch me carefully.

I shrugged and pursed my lips for a moment. "I get that he's awful to you."

"He's awful to most people." He corrected pointedly.

"Whatever." There was a bite to my tone and I dropped my head on my neck, closing my eyes. I took in another deep breath only to let it out in a heavy sigh. "I know that he's not always the nicest person in the world. He's still my friend, though."

Fred's head tilted. "Is he nice to you?"

I turned my head slightly to glance at him over my shoulder as he leaned back on his palms. I hated the way that the question stung in my chest - that same way that Draco taking swipes at our complicated relationship did, like it was a painful reminder. "Sometimes, yeah."

A small smile twitched at the corner of the redhead's lips, but there was a softness to his gaze, almost an apology. "Don't you think you deserve better than sometimes?"

I turned again, but this time looked down at my own legs outstretched in front of me. I noticed the beginning of a run just above the knee in my black tights and anxiously picked at it with my fingers. The question felt heavy in a way that I didn't think Fred fully intended, or maybe he had and that made it worse. I couldn't quite figure.

Sensing my shift in mood, Fred maneuvered forward so that he sat closely enough beside me to nudge his arm against mine. "Didn't mean to take that pretty smile away."

I rolled my eyes, and despite the now warring sides of my brain that argued whether or not I agreed with where these boys stood on their assessment of Draco and me, the corner of my lips ticked upward. "I thought we already covered that you're not allowed to flirt with me."

"I thought we already covered that I was going to do it anyway, because you blush every time that I do." Fred countered playfully.

I swatted at his shoulder with the back of my hand but I let out a laugh. Unfortunately, his point was further proven by the warmth that flooded my cheeks at his comment. With perfect timing, Lucy and George came back to join us, cutting short whatever further back and forth would happen. Lucy was carrying a camera of some kind and George had four thin, orange wand-like objects in his hand.

"So, this," Lucy held up the device in her hands. "Is called a Polaroid camera, rather old model of one, actually." She sounded vaguely like a teacher, explaining a new lesson to the three of us. "Contrary to the fact that it does indeed immediately print a photograph within a few seconds after you take it, it's not magic."

"Rubbish." Fred immediately replied, earning a laugh from both his brother and myself.

"We're going to try to photograph the sparklers." George explained, holding up the orange sticks that he carried.

Fred was up before I was, brushing grass off of his khaki trousers before holding a hand out to me to help me up. I looked at it for a moment before taking it and allowing for the assistance. He gave my hand an extra squeeze in his even after I was on my feet before he dropped it to make a grab for the sparkler that his twin held out for him. With a mumbled thanks, I took the one given to me as well. Lucy hooked the strap of her camera over her head to hang against her chest as we all held out our sparklers for George's wand to light them appropriately.

The sparklers that they had created were charmed to allow for drawing or writing to stay visible for the length of a few minutes. They left behind a sparkling image of what the holder drew with them before that picture fell away to glittered dust. Lucy took to writing out her own name, each letter a clear, bold, capital. She underlined it with an up and down zig-zag line and then stepped back, readying her camera for whatever the rest of us came up with.

Following suit in Lucy's idea, I carefully used the sparkler to write out my first name in a loopy, cursive script. I dotted the letter 'i' with a star and smiled widely as it lingered in the air in front of me. Lucy was laughing out a comment for us all to hurry, so I stepped out of the way to stand beside her. George wrote his name going down in a horizontal line, in the direction of where Lucy's name still crackled. Fred's job was a little sloppier - perhaps a testament to his penmanship - but he managed his just above mine, drawing little sparkling squiggles off either end of his name. As George stepped away, Fred jokingly drew a big heart shape around Lucy and George's slowly fading names. Looking quickly at Lucy, I saw the mischievous grin on her face, but there was a subtle pinkness to her cheeks she couldn't deny if she tried.

"Alright, alright, move it, Freddie." George laughed, waving his twin over toward us.

Quickly, Lucy lifted her camera to look through the lens then clicked the button with a snap. She bounced gently on her feet, mumbling for the device to hurry up as it slowly pushed out a square card. I looked at the card in confusion as she handed it to me and told me not to shake it. I wasn't sure why she thought I would want to, but I left that alone; it probably had something to do with the camera I didn't understand. She hurriedly took a second picture, racing against the way that our names were fading in the air. She managed a third, her and George's names nearly completely faded. As she removed that third photo's card from the camera, she smiled.

"This should work." She nodded, voice hopeful.

I lifted the two cards that she had handed to me from the first two pictures that she took, my eyes widening slightly when the first one she'd taken now had a faded-colored picture of all four of our sparkling names in the square slot that had been blank and gray prior. The second photo was slowly coming into focus as I and Fred beside me both watched it, wonderstruck. Lucy was holding the third out for George to watch and he, too, looked a little amazed. They weren't the moving photos that we were used to, but they were their own sort of magic.

"You're telling me Muggles made this?" Fred asked in disbelief.

"Wild, right?" Lucy laughed with a nod.

"Wicked." He agreed.

"Dad's going to lose it." George noted, still gazing at the slowly appearing photo that Lucy had handed over to him.

Lucy let George keep the copy of the photo that he held, leaving it for the two boys to share. She and I took the other first two copies. As the four of us headed back up toward the castle, I continued to look at the little unmoving memory in my hand. It captured the last couple hours of time we had spent together, the different personalities of each of us. In seconds it had been printed from the bulky device dangling around Lucy's neck, immortalizing the moment that we'd all shared on this day.

Magic was one of the biggest parts of my life, it was in my blood, it was the whole world that I had grown up in. Days like this one, moments like this captured one I carried in my hand, however, they felt like magic in a way that the magic I knew so well couldn't always match. It was the kind of magic that touched the heart, that made me feel warm, happy. It was the magic of home - a feeling I never could fully place for myself. But maybe, just maybe, I was beginning to really figure it out.