The days leading up to September first passed slowly, but Vivienne tried to be as patient as she could. Her mother had some very good days, where they were both able to sit out in the back garden together while Papa tinkered in his work shed.

The afternoon before she and her grandparents would go to Platform 9 , Aurora asked, "How do you feel? Are you nervous?"

She decided to be honest. "Yes, I am. I don't know what house I'll be sorted in, or how I will make friends," she continued on. "But I think I'll be ok. Gran says everyone goes through that."

"Well, I bet you are going to be in Gryffindor. I was, your father was, and even Gran was."

Vivienne raised her eyebrows, but didn't interrupt. She hadn't asked about her father in years, because it upset her mother so much, and Gran and Papa's answers were always the same.

"After the war," they would say. "He went away. You will never meet him."

Vivenne had asked if he had died, and they would shake their heads no. When asked where he was, they would shrug and say they just didn't know. She knew the war was a very hard time for everyone, at least according to Papa. He was the only one she got straight answers out of, and that was only after he had poured himself a cognac or two.

That's how she learned about her Aunt Sylvia, her mother's sister, dying. She had been attacked by bad wizards, but Vivienne could never get the exact reason why, other than the obvious fact that they were evil. Her mother also had her accident around then. Even inebriated, Papa wouldn't tell her what had happened to her mother, but it made him so sad.

"Daddy was a Gryffindor?" Vivienne asked, feeling guilty that her curiosity outweighed the compassion she usually showed for her mother during moments like this.

"Yes," Aurora continued. "Me, Daddy, James and Lily."

Vivienne was amazed. Her mother was so strong right now.

"You know, Gran told me that you two met Harry in Diagon Alley."

The boy that Gran hugged right in the middle of the sidewalk, how could Vivi forget? She nodded, watching her mother carefully for any sign of relapse.

"Lily and James were his parents. My best friends. You've already met each other, you know. But you were so little."

This was all new to her, but she tried not to even make a face. She wanted to hear all her mother could offer, but she was fading.

"And then they were gone. James, Lily, and Harry… I should have been there for Harry…"

Then she was gone, face pinched in like it always was when she was going to try not to cry. All Vivi knew to do was take her hand, and at her mother's first sob, Papa came out of the work shed.

"Papillon, what is the matter?"

Aurora just wept, and Vivi's mouth was dry. "She got sad," she finally said. "She was talking about James and Lily."

Papa nodded and sat down in another chair at the little patio table, rubbing Aurora's back.

"They took everything Dad," Aurora snapped, nose running. "Everything."

"Vivi, can you go see if Gran needs help, please," Papa said, interrupting Aurora's rant. She wanted to say no, because she wanted to hear what her mother was going to say, but she knew better than to disobey Papa.

She slipped into the backdoor that was closer to her bedroom and made her way to the kitchen, where Gran was peeling potatoes for dinner.

"Hello wee yin," Gran greeted, pulling the scrap bowl closer to her so Vivi could have a seat. "What's wrong?"

Vivienne wanted to ask why she thought anything was wrong, but she knew that Gran must have just identified the feelings from Vivi's face. She had very limited mastery of not letting all her emotions show.

"Why don't you tell me anything?" Vivi asked, trying to keep her frustration in line. "I barely know who I am, and it takes my mother having an episode or Papa getting drunk to know anything."

She knew her tone was bordering on disrespectful, but she just had so much bottled up inside. When her grandmother raised her eyebrow and stopped mid-peel to look at her, she worried that she had gone too far.

"What is your mother doing right now Vivienne Sophia?"

"She's with Papa, crying," she replied, much more humbly. "She started talking about Harry Potter, and Lily and James, and she just…"

"Now, if your mother, your grandfather, and I have trouble getting through the things that have happened to us, what makes you think that your mighty self will be able to understand everything that has happened?"

Vivienne was speechless for a moment, but came right back with, "You can't keep it from me forever."

"And I don't intend to," Gran said, voice getting louder. "But for God's sake Vivi, there are some things you just don't need to have in your heart like we do."

Whatever venom she still had evaporated. She sat silently, eyes misting and teeth grinding. "I'm sorry Gran. I didn't mean it."

There was no answer, but Gran set down the peeler and grabbed her hand. "I know you didn't. I also want to say that I'm sorry to you. I can't imagine how you feel, but please know that we are trying to do what's best for you. Everything comes out in the light of day anyway. That time is just not right now. Do you understand?"

Vivienne took a deep breath and let it go slowly. "As long as it isn't forever."

"It won't be. Now, do you want to take these potatoes over?"

With that, the Beaumont family had dinner together, Aurora recovering well. Vivienne had a bath, and then sat with her mother for a while, as Aurora wasn't coming onto the platform with them tomorrow.

"I just want you to know that I love you Vivi," Aurora told her. "You have your owl to write if you want to, but you will have such a great time. It'll be like nothing you've ever seen before."

"I'll write all the time. I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too, baby. But remember, Christmas will be here before you know it. I'm very proud of you Viv."

She went to bed that night feeling loved and full. She was going to miss this little life she had with her family, but Hogwarts was going to be a brand-new adventure.