The kitchen window of the Starling household revealed only the inky black sky outside, the world a swirl of darkness with the distant sound of early rising wrens and blackbirds singing in chorus, welcoming the dawn. Brie peered out through the frosted glass pane as she escaped the whirlwind that was her mother, sitting cross-legged upon the kitchen counter with a chipped mug of tea in her hand, chasing away the numbness in her fingers. Lysander, her eagle owl, was perched beside her, eagerly hoovering up the crumbs from the biscuits she was munching on as utter chaos unfolded before her eyes.

Considering only one of her three children would be returning to Hogwarts this year, anyone might have thought that Rosanna Starling would be marginally less flustered than usual, however this was not the case. In fact, Brie would go as far to say that she was worse than normal.

"Mum, stop fussing," Benedict Starling grumbled, ducking beneath his mother's flapping arms as he stood in front of the lopsided mirror hanging in the kitchen, straightening his midnight blue tie as a nostalgic reflection of his Ravenclaw days at Hogwarts whilst attempting to tame his unruly fair hair into something slightly more presentable for work at the Ministry. "You're doing my head in."

Sebastian poked his head from above the bannister of the rickety staircase leading upstairs, his chocolate brown hair sticking up at peculiar angles and his green eyes still glazed with sleep as he cast a disgruntled look downwards, looking particularly irritable. "Merlin, I don't think you could be any louder if you tried. What's with all the screeching?"

"Oh, Sebastian, be quiet," their mother snapped, pursing her lips into a thin line as she craned her head to narrow her green eyes at him, a perfect replica of his own. "You may be perfectly able to laze around at home all day; however, I have to get to work, your sister needs to somehow find her way to the train station and Benedict-"

"Has to get to his job at the Ministry," Sebastian said in a high-pitched voice, mimicking their mothers tone childishly. He grudgingly shuffled his way down the stairs, rolling his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation as he flopped down upon the faded armchair beside the agar, ignoring the withering look Rosanna Starling threw his way. "I know he bloody does, Mum, as I'm sure do the rest of Cornwall the amount you keep going on about it."

Benedict shot his twin a peevish glance in the reflection of the mirror before shaking his head, turning back to inspect the lapels of his blazer to ensure they were still impeccably clean.

"Now, Brie," Rosanna said wearily, turning to her daughter with a frown. "Are you quite sure the Potter's don't mind taking you to the train station? You know I would usually take you, but what with these new work hours-"

"Yes, Mum. It's fine," Brie sighed, unfolding her legs so that they now dangled against the cupboards below. "I didn't even need to ask – James' mum and dad offered the last time I went over to his house a couple weeks ago."

The tension in her mother's shoulders ebbed a little before she kissed her daughter fleetingly atop her head of curls before Brie could protest, green eyes holding a glint of warning. "Don't keep them waiting, will you?"

Brie shook her head feverishly, hopping off from the counter to plop her finished mug into the sink. The scourer lazily slid into the washing up bowl, the taps streaming as it magically cleaned the dish, soap suds forming before her eyes as the washing up liquid joined in the party. "I won't. I just need to go upstairs and get my suitcase, then I'll go."

Rosanna smacked a hand to her forehead, eyes widening in realisation. "I haven't even checked if you've got everything-"

Sebastian cut across their mothers cry of despair before turmoil could ensue by gesturing towards his owl, a delicate tawny by the name of Pavlova, who was dozing sleeping on top of the kitchen cabinet, head tucked beneath one of her wings. "If she does forget anything, I can just send Pavlova to deliver it. Or, if Brie uses her noggin and realises herself, Lysander can come and get it. It isn't the end of the world."

"We'll be late if we don't leave now, Mum, anyway," Benedict said coaxingly, unable to keep the twang on anxiety out of his voice as he fidgeted, glancing down at the watch on his wrist. Brie glanced at her elder sibling sympathetically – despite his initial jubilation upon being granted a position after his application to the Wizengamot Administration Services at the Ministry, every day since he had been excessively worrying about the job, with being late his major concern. "And I need to find my office…"

"Oh Ben, of course," Rosanna sighed, tucking a dark brown strand of hair behind her ear as she gave him a feeble pat on the shoulder in an attempt to soothe his concern. She turned back to her other children with a frown, green eyes narrowed as they flitted between them. "Be good, both of you."

Two resounding cracks echoed around the kitchen as the pair dissaparated, causing Pavlova to jolt awake with a shriek as Sebastian let out a sigh of relief, sinking lower into the confines of his armchair as he glanced up at Brie, jerking his thumb in the direction of the kitchen door. "Bugger off to James', then. I trust I don't need to show you how to use floo powder, do I?"

Pulling a particularly ghastly face over her shoulder, Brie shot up the ancient staircase leading to the second floor of the house before clambering up the slightly dilapidated wooden ladder her father had put up that led to her bedroom. After many years of squabbling between the three siblings, somehow Brie had won the argument granting her the attic bedroom of their ramshackle, countryside cottage. The walls were cream, a slanting ceiling plastered with curling, moving photographs of her and her friends through the years, scattered around dangling Gryffindor banners and flags. From kneeling precariously on her dressing table, she would peer out through the angled windows over the golden fields growing rapeseed, listening to the church bells of their wizarding village ring, echoing throughout the valley.

Casting a fleeting glance around her bedroom for any stray things she might need for school, Brie shoved the corners of her red Quidditch gear into the confines of her case, zipping it tightly before scrambling back down the ladder, her case thumping loudly against each rung she went down.

When she returned to the kitchen, Lysander blinked up at her and ruffled his feathers, wings stretching as he fluttered up onto Brie's left shoulder, talons digging into her jumper sharply. Once he had settled onto his new perch she heaved her luggage, scraping it noisily across the floorboards as she moved passed her brother. "Don't tire yourself out too much with your busy life schedule, will you? I'd hate for you to exhaust yourself."

He grinned at her sarcasm, stretching his long legs out contentedly as Flea, their greying border terrier, hopped onto his lap languidly, head resting upon his knee. "I wish I was going back to Hogwarts," Sebastian sighed mournfully. "Now I'm going to have mum and dad nagging me twenty-four hours a day until I find a flipping job like Ben."

She grinned, shaking her head as Sebastian reached up and ruffled her curls, making the strands even more unruly. "See you at Christmas, Cheesey."

Rolling her eyes at the nickname, Brie walked through the house and into the lounge. Photo frames cluttered the wooden mantelpiece of the fire, along with abandoned plates and glasses which, Brie realised with some repulsion, appeared to have the green traces of mould growing upon them. Shuddering through her repulsion, she was just about to step into the fireplace when a familiar brown stick caught her eye, protruding from behind a photograph of her mum, dad and brothers at a past birthday celebration. The sight of it caused Brie to give a jolt of relief as she hastily grabbed her wand, hardly daring to think what her mother would have done if she had forgotten it, and slipped it inside her pocket.

Making sure both her luggage and Lysander's bird cage were within the confines of the fire Brie bent her head, ignoring Lysander's indignant squawk in her ear, and stepped inside. To her despair, she needn't have even bothered crouching due to her short height and, with a mutter under her breath, she dipped her hand into the patterned pot strapped to the brick of the chimney. The floo powder fell through the cracks in her fingers, sending up miniature dust clouds as it hit the grate before she dropped the entire handful at her feet, letting out a cry of, "Potter House!"

Brightly coloured flames flared up around her, encasing her in a wall of fire as a fierce wind blew, the living room blurring before her eyes before she scrunched them shut, willing the sensation to end as quickly as it had started.