On the 1st of July 1994, Cordelia Phoenix stood, shaking in her kitchen, as everything she ever knew to be true crumbled around her.

I wish I could say it happened fast like someone pushed a button, and that's what turned my life around, but it was slow, painful, and ruthless. My parents, the people in the world I loved the most, were dead. I fell to the floor and held my mother's body to mine as tears stream down my face. The physical pain, the torture that intruder put me through is over, and yet I can't stop yelling. How are they gone? I don't understand. I look at my father's cold face, staring back at me soulless. I fall on top of him and desperately start shaking him.

"GET UP. DAD PLEASE, NO! GET UPP!" I yell. This is a dream. It has to be.

Before I have time to try to rationalise everything that has just happened, another man bursts through my door. He has one, too. A wand? It sounds ridiculous, I know, but... This has to be a nightmare. Wake up, Cordelia, WAKE UP! Fear floods my body once again. "This is it", I think, "He is going to kill me". But a beam of pain doesn't come out of his wand, instead...

"Lumos," he says. I flinch, but light comes out of his wand. In all the madness, I hadn't noticed that the house's electricity had gone out. He looks at my parents' bodies, not in disbelief or shock, but with sorrow and a sense of failure. I think I've lost the ability to speak... or scream. He looks at me now; his magical light illuminates his pale, scarred face, his red hair and beard. He looks far more friendly than the others. I take heavy breaths as I stare at his face. He looks at me in pity, my red puffy eyes, my desperate, confused face. I can see his heart breaking, looking at me. He slowly bends down to me; I flinch again but never take my eyes off his wand. I am still in pure panic mode. His eyes follow mine, and he slowly puts his wand on the floor.

"Cordelia?" he asks. In that moment, for some reason I trust this stranger. I fall into his arms, crying my eyes out, hyperventilating. "shhhh, I know, dear." He consoles me, "I know".

"They're gone!" I cry into his shoulder. "How are they-Why ar-"

"You're safe, Cordelia, you're safe now."

I weep and weep until my lungs give out. I pull back. "Explain this to me. I've never seen that man or woman in my life...And that thing he was holding. It-It almost looked human?... He praised it, tha-that rat like man...And she..." I check my back and see the scars she inflicted, a few on my upper arm, too. I look at him in disbelief. "How did they-" I am lost for words.

"Cordelia, dear", he starts "This is going to be a lot to take in..."

And he explained it all to me. Magic. Witches, wizards, muggles...You know who...The prophecy. He tells me his name is Remus Lupin, that he was informed of Voldemort's plans to kill my parents and me... That he wishes he had known earlier...That he raced here as soon as he could.

"That thing?... it was a Wizard... The one everyone fears.." I ask.

"He used to be at least... We thought he was gone."

I sat in silence, unable to move, and Remus carried me out of the house where two odd-looking people (I assumed correctly to be magic folk) stood in sombre. They look at Remus, a sight of confusion on them, without saying a word. A few nods and sad salutes, and they walk into my home as I leave it and am carried into the passenger seat of a car. I sit with my legs in my arms, not saying a word, still processing, still taking it all in. Remus drove, too, in silence. This has to be a dream.

Once I turned around, I was faced with a tall, redheaded man leaning against the counter. Sorry about that, love, he apologized with a slight upturn of his l...

Eventually, I find my voice. "What are those people going to do?" I ask blankly. Remus looks at me, he wasn't ready for that question. "hmm?". "That man and woman... what are they going to do?", I was looking at him now, his eyes turn and look at my numb, unfeeling face. His mouth is parted to speak, but nothing comes out. "Please be honest with me sir... my parents-, they are gone." I start very plainly. "And I am so confused." A tear falls down my face, and I grit my teeth. "SO please", I raise my voice. "Please-pl-pl...be honest with me."

"Your parents, love. They didn't surround themselves with wizards. They didn't know. You didn't know... There's a reason for that, Cordelia. Muggles can't know about our worl-"

"Your world." I butt in, "This is my world, I have no part in your world". He stares at me with sorrow. "We have measures in place if a wizard ever kills a muggle." he continues. "If we can, we..." he lingers away from his sentence.

"Honest, sir" I plead.

"We obliviate any muggle who's ever known them...Professors, Dumbledore and McGonagall are collecting information on anyone who knew them... or you." He glances at my confused face, still driving the car. "Right. Obliviate, dear, it means... taking their memory. Particular memories, any that are associated to you or your parents."

"You're erasing them? Pretending they never existed? YOU CAN'T JUST!"

"You'll understand someday," he says glumly, a tear falling down his scared face.

"That's where you're driving me. Somewhere, they can erase my memory." I state.

"I said muggles, Cordelia—non-magical people. I wouldn't really have to drive you anywhere to do that, but that's not the point. That's not where we are going."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Remus, but I don't have magic. I'm not a witch."

He looks at me again. A sad smile covers his somewhat teary face. "Silver, a beautiful colour, but I know it means deep, deep sadness. Sparkling slightly, as your tears are, under the streetlights through the window. Yes, very beautiful. But with the price of it, the sadness, I much rather you as a brunette." He tells me, looking at my hair. "You'll learn to control it."

I have no idea what he was talking about. I am a brunette; this man is mad. I slowly put my fingers through my hair and look into the car mirror. There it is, as clear as day, my hair is silver. I clench my jaw and wipe a tear from my eye.

"It's very rare, both muggleborn and a metamorphagus... It usually doesn't start until you've witnessed magic." He starts as I stare blankly into the mirror. "I understand this is a lot", he says. "I'm going to take care of you. You are safe.", and we drove in silence.

We arrive at what looks like the middle of nowhere. We drive through woods, and then the road diverts. We are on a makeshift road. I can tell not many had driven on it before. It leads to a large, open, empty field entirely surrounded by trees. The car stops, and Remus gets out. "Are you ok to walk?" he asks, and I get out of the car. The movement hurts my entire body. The adrenaline and confusion had masked the pain before, but now I can only move slowly. I look at him expectantly. There's nothing here, I think. Then he walks forward and disappears. It was as if a clear wall had swallowed him up. I put my hand out, and nothing is there to touch. Forward again, and my fingertips disappear! I step back in shock. Remus' floating head pops out beside me. "You can just walk through; you don't have to do magic, love. Take all the time you need," he says, and his head disappears again, just for a moment, before popping back out. "or..." he starts, somewhat embarrassed, "I could hold your hand and guide you through if you need?" he ends sweetly. With nothing to lose, I, alone, walk into the unknown.

Where there was nothing before, now stood a large house. At our feet, a cobbled path leading to it. Remus walks up to it, and I follow. My room is on the top floor. It is much bigger than my one at home and looks very cosy.

"Remus?" I inquire, and he opens the door slightly again, " Thank you", I say, "Thank you for for trying and for I- Thank you." I say, and with that, he leaves me alone. To cry myself to sleep.