Disclaimer: I own very little.

Chapter Three: Owl Post

Benjamin and I couldn't have had a happier life as children to be perfectly honest. We continued to grow up together, experiencing all of the joys of childhood and learning daily lessons about the magical world from my mother, once we were of the age where we could comprehend all that was going on. Of course, mother did not give us very advanced lessons for we would attend school at age eleven, presumably Hogwarts.

There was roughly the period of a year whenever we never heard anything from the cottage across the street. Never at night, nothing at all. However, that was also the time whenever mother needed to take a job during the evenings. The Ministry needed more assistance, I was around the age of seven at the time, and she figured that father would be able to take care of me while she went off to work.

"…The three witches and the knight set off down the hill together, arm in arm, and all four of them led long happy lives, and none of them ever knew or suspected that the Fountain's water carried no enchantment at all," Father said to me, as I sat in my parents' bed, curled up under his arm as he read the story, The Fountain of Fair Fortune to me.

Typically, it was a story that was only read during the Christmastime, but I always loved hearing it and begged him to read it no matter the time of year. It just so happened that I had asked him to read it to me during the month of August. He never argued with me and always happily read whichever story I wanted, as long as I promised to go straight to bed.

"I can't believe they never found out, Daddy!" I exclaimed after the story was over and he had tossed the book aside on their quilted, blue and white comforter.

He adjusted his glasses on the ridge of his nose and smiled down at me," Perhaps, it was better they didn't, Lana."

"Perhaps," I repeated with a shrug of my shoulders.

"C'mon now, off to bed with you," He said after a couple moments of silence.

I started to move and just as my legs dangled off the side of their bed, I said," Daddy, do you know what time mum will be home?"

He swallowed hard before saying with a small smile," By morning, darling. Remember, she has to go to work now in the evenings."

I jumped to the ground with a soft clad as he followed me," Oh…yeah…I forgot."

Out of all honesty, I just wanted to see my mum before going to sleep, but it seemed as though that was no longer an option; therefore, I walked in silence with father following behind me down the hall before we came upon the door on the left. We walked inside and knowing what needed to be done, I slipped up onto my bed and pulled the pink quilt up to my nose.

Father chuckled softly before pulling it down to my chest," Goodnight, Lana."

I adjusted myself in bed before I felt him lean down and place a soft kiss on my forehead. He moved a stray hair out of my face before shutting off the lamp that sat on my bedside table. Moonlight immediately spilled into the dark room.

"Goodnight, dad."

And so he left the room and I went to sleep unaware of what would happen later that night.

At first, I thought it was just a dream when I heard someone saying my voice.

"Lana…" it whispered, ever so softly.

I was somewhere between dreaming and reality. I tried ignoring the voice at first, but it kept on coming back into my head.

"Lana…Lana….Lana," It whispered, every time softer as if they were getting farther away from me.

As a child, I had very little knowledge as to where this voice was coming from and who exactly it was. All I remember is that I was sitting up in my bed, but I was still very confused. I saw a little spark of light fly across my room and I watched it, as if in a trance. The light was enticing and I remember throwing the blankets off my legs to follow the light to the window. There was a sort of peaceful feeling I found in that light and this voice saying my name.

"Lana…come…" It continued and I was not going to hesitate.

Just as I reached the window, the peacefulness that I was experiencing disappeared as I heard a door slam in another room of the house. I blinked hard before trying to discover just what was happening.

"What's going on?" I heard several moments later, from my father in the other room. Instantly, a strike of fear ran through me as I wondered just what could be going on.

"Rebecca…"He said my mother's name very quietly at first, but I could still hear through the thin walls.

"He's thirsty," She answered hoarsely, sounding very foreign to my ears.

"Rebecca, I told you-" My father shot back, his voice angry.

"Just get her away!" Her female voice screamed, I assumed it to be my mother, but her voice was very high-pitched and estranged-sounding.

I could not hear any other voices, but heard the sound of my father's frantic footsteps, coming toward my room.

The, once calm, voice I had been hearing suddenly screamed inside my head," LANA!"

It had been a soothing voice before, but when it exploded inside my head I could do nothing but writhe in pain and scream. It was a very strange sensation. The same voice I had been attracted to and in awe of was causing me pain like nothing I had ever felt or known before. Something seemed to be entering into my head, saying nothing but my name. My child mind could not handle the constant torture that I was experiencing and as I fell to the ground, father came running in and picked me up into his arms. Even though it was only my name being said, it felt as though more. It felt as though I was being invaded by something both wonderful...and very terrible at the same time.

Tears started falling from my eyes with all that was happening. The voice disappeared as soon as father touched me and held me close in his arms. I remember my father stroking my head softly and trying to get the tears to subdue. He grabbed nothing else out of my room and the rest is all a blur. He must have apparated out of the house because the next thing I knew, all sorts of shapes and colors were spinning around. It took nearly no time at all before I was standing beside my father in my grandparent's living room in their house by the shore.

And then, suddenly, all of the pain was gone as I stood in my grandparent's home. The voice, the confusion, pain...it all had ceased immediately. Father still had a tight grip on me and before letting me down, he asked many questions about how I was feeling, but I simply answered them all with a "yes". It was rather strange how everything had happened and only one thought was running through my head as I stared into the fire buring in my grandparent's fireplace. I wanted nothing more than to have an explanation of everything that had happened.

"Daddy, why are we here?" I remember asking him, the first night, soon after we arrived. "What happened?"

It was not very often that we took a trip to grandma and grandpa's. I knew something must have been wrong. I had not forgotten the terror that I had just experienced. I wanted to know why it was happening.

He took one of my hands and squeezed it tight before saying," There's just, a little problem back at the house. Nothing mother and I can't take care of, but we're just going to stay here for the time being."

"Where's mom?" I found myself asking for the second time that evening.

He, once again, swallowed hard before saying," She's just taking care of something back at the house, Lana."

"Why didn't we stay-" I asked, but he cut me off abruptly.

"Lana-please. Just don't ask me any more questions about it," He asked, or pleaded rather.

I felt hurt by my father's rejection, but continued to ask something else because my curiosity couldn't be contained," Daddy, I don't-"

"Lana!" He yelled louder than he had ever before and more abruptly than needed. "Please."

He didn't mean for it to hurt my feelings, but it did. I remember feeling a piece of my heart break as he yelled at me. Just at that moment, I saw grandma walk into the room and I ran to her instantly. She took me into her arms as grandfather came in beside her. He went in and sat on the couch next to father. It was not the most happy or orthodox greeting in the world, but it seemed as though everyone knew something was not right that night.

"Shh, darling," Grandma soothed me as we exited the room.

I don't think I ever understood why father was so upset with me. It was very clear that my questions were not welcome.

I tried to put this out of my head and enjoy the spontaneous visit, nontheless. Grandmother would talk to me as we sat out on their back porch. They were only steps away from the shore and the ocean was always a sight that I loved seeing. I don't remember much of that trip, but I do remember father being pale for most of the time we were there and spending quite a lot of time with grandfather while I spent a majority of my time with grandma.

My grandmother was one of my favorite people that I hardly ever saw. Those few days were such a treat, walking on the beach with grandmother. She had curly, gray hair like most elderly women did and wore some sort of dress every day. Even though she was older, she still enjoyed going on walks and staying active. Not to mention that I loved grandmother's cooking and I loved hearing all of her stories. They also had a rat that ran around their house, almost more of pet than a pest. The creature had quite the talent of being able to scare me out of my wits Both she and grandpa were wizards and their house was filled with many old artifacts that I was instructed not to touch if I liked where all of my limps currently were.

That scared me quite a bit as a seven year old, so I made sure not to touch much.

The days all started to run together and the trip was a blur. Sometimes, I wondered if we would ever travel back home and I was beginning to seriously worry about mother. Father was calm with me once again and apologized for being so angry with me before. He explained that everything was alright and that we would be able to go home soon. Despite his apology, I was still scared to ask much out of him.

Whenever grandfather wasn't with father, speaking about whatever it was they were speaking about, he would pick me up and spin me around before talking to me. Grandfather would never speak with me for very long, but whenever he did he always made me feel special.

"How's the little princess today?" He would ask me with a grand smile on his face, his blue eyes, still bright as ever sparkling behind his spectacles.

I would smile and tell him I was doing splendid, when really all I wanted was answers as to why we were even staying with my grandparents. I didn't dare ask anymore questions, other than to grandma, who didn't seem to know anything either. After a certain amount of days, I forced myself to forget about the situation and just simply enjoy the time we were spending with them, even if I didn't understand why mother wasn't joining us. Grandfather and father were slowly beginning to go back to normal and I didn't feel as much like I was being left out of some huge secret. I missed my mother, but I knew there wasn't anyhting I could do at the time to make the situation better.

Just after I had finally come to terms with being away from her, father informed me that we would be returning home.

As soon as father and I appeared on the front porch, mother came bursting through the front door with a smile on her face as she picked me up and kissed me on the cheek. I laughed as she placed me down and her and father hugged before we all went back inside. It was as if nothing had ever happened and father and I were only returning from vacation. How strange it was to be back in my own home again. I missed my grandparents greatly, but there truly was no place like home.

"Lana, darling, I've missed you so much!" I remember her saying as she sat down on the couch, and pulled me onto her lap.

I smiled and looked into my mother's blue eyes. Her fair skin, which normally held some colour, was completely pale and I noticed dark bags under her eyes. These details were minimal compared to the gashing scar I noticed across the top of her forehead, in the light of the fire burning in the fireplace. All of the joy I was experiencing in simply being home again was, once again, put aside.

The smile on my face instantly disappeared as I pointed to the mark on her head," Mommy, what happened?"

The smile on her face disappeared as she felt the place on her forehead," Oh, darling that's just-"

"Lana, don't-" Father started again, but mother shot him a very nasty look before turning her head back to me.

"Mummy fell," She said with a smile plastered on her face. "Don't worry about it."

"Rebecca," Father growled under his breath.

"I fell," She growled back at him, but quickly tried to cover up her actions by adjusting me on her lap and smiling. "Nothing you should worry about, dear."

Even though I may not have been very old, I knew that something was not right between my parents even though we went through the rest of the night, talking and laughing as a family. Even though they sat next to each other, eventually hand in hand, as we all enjoyed each other's company. Eventually, the both of them took me to bed and tucked me in together, it was nice to be going back to normal. It was definitely a feeling I could have gotten used to.

I was told not to tell a soul about what had happened on that night and when the Flocktons asked that next day where father and I had been, just to tell them that there was a scare with the grandparents' well-being. I knew this was a lie, but I did not want to make either of my parents upset with me once again.

That next day, Benjamin came over filled with questions, just as predicted. I truly only wished we could go back to normal because, knowing Benjamin, he would have a million questions on the subject.

"Where've you been?" He demanded, placing himself on the stool next to me at the breakfast bar early the next morning.

"Oh," I started, looking away from his brown eyes," My grandparents…they were…ill. We had to go see them."

He furrowed his brows at me and I silently wished he would not ask any more questions, but he spat out another one," Well, are they alright?"

I looked down at the muffin in front of me, picking at the softly before saying," I think so."

"Well, that's good," Benjamin said after several moments of silence. I was rather happy he dropped the topic all-together and we were able to go back to our normal lives, even if for a short amount of time.

As the years came closer to my eleventh birthday, we had less and less problems at home. I was able to live a semi-normal life without anymore strange incidents. I remember when there were only two weeks left. Two weeks and I would finally turn eleven years old. I would finally be able to attend Hogwarts, the place that both my father and mother had been building up to me since nearly birth. All of the strange events that had happened in the past, seemed to be nonexistent, anymore. Life really was as normal as it could be for a wizarding family.

That whole year, the only thing Benjamin and I could speak of was how wonderful our lives were going to be after we were finally wizards. I remember the excitement and feeling genuinely like a little kid before Christmas. All of the scares with the cottage across the street and the confusion were the last thing on my mind.

Turning eleven was quite the ordeal at my house and my parents had planned something special for the day. I remember waking up to a beautiful summer day and going over to the vanity in my tiny room, which my parents had gotten me special for my birthday. I sat in front of the mirror and brushed out my thin, auburn hair that came to my shoulders. A yawn escaped my lips before I wandered over to my dresser drawers and pulled out my clothes for the day. A pink, knee-length skirt and a white shirt.

Even though my parents may have viewed my eleventh birthday as a big deal, and I did as well, but I was secretly hoping they wouldn't go too far overboard. Just as I opened my door to go to the washroom, I heard many whispers and right when I stepped into the hallway, both my parents, the Flocktons, and my grandparents (who had made a special trip down) crowded the hallway, yelling, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LANA!"

I remember being so surprised that I dropped my clothes before smiling and running over to hug all of them. After greeting them all and laughing over the matter, Benjamin told me," Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Alright, I will!" I answered, excited to see what the day would bring.

"Now, Lana, I want you to close your eyes," My father told me, later that day after the cake and most of the celebration had taken place. It was nice to just spend time with the closest family members and friends. There were plenty of other people that I had met over the years when I would travel into Diagon Alley with mum or dad, but I never made as deep of friendships then with the Flocktons.

I did as I was told, waiting anxiously for whatever it was that he had for me.

After seemingly an eternity of waiting, he said," Open your eyes!"

I opened my eyes as quickly as I knew how to see a beautiful broomstick sitting on the kitchen table. I released a small squeal before running over to get a better look at it.

"Father! Thank you! But I can't fly!" I said, hardly seeing the last part as a downfall, but more happy that I had a broomstick of my own than anything. I remember how much I had always loved it when father would sneak in a flight with me as a child.

"You will learn how to fly at school. Now, for the first year this is going to stay at home and will be strictly for use here, after you learn how to fly properly. Do you understand?" He asked me seriously, as I noticed the Nimbus 2000 engraved on the handle.

"Of course!" I exclaimed before running over to give him a hug. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" He said, chuckling before I heard a knock at the door.

I looked with wide eyes around my father to the door. I had waited eleven years for owl post to show up at my doorstep.

"Do you think-" I started to ask as I stepped away from father, who only smiled.

"Go see for yourself," He told me quietly, as I looked over to Benjamin, who had grown a couple inches taller and lost some of the baby weight and was now rather tall and slim with the same light brown hair and eyes. We both ran to the front door.

I grabbed the gold handle and turned it as fast as I could. Just as I opened the door, I saw a owl, perched on our front porch. Tentatively, I walked out in front of the gray owl and smiled as I noticed the envelope in its beak. I reached out for the envelope and gently took it from the bird's beak. With a hoot, it flew away from our house and Benjamin and I watched as it flew up and away into the sky.

I looked down at the envelope and smiled before ripping the envelope off as quickly as my fingers allowed.

"….You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"

There may have been plenty of other words written on that piece of parchment, but those were the only ones that mattered, in my eyes.

Author's Note: I know that I have not updated in awhile, but hopefully you enjoy this chapter and I can get my act together and get into the actual story! These last few weeks I have had soooo many papers to write that I have had very little patience to write anything else, unfortunately. I apologize if this chapter seems a little all over the place, but I hope you all get the jest of it.

Despite that, thanks to MisticLight, SweetSunnyRose, and Evy201 for reviewing, once again! You guys are the best! :) Feel free to let me know what you all think of this chapter!