#she doesn't like it when the pale molly chases her

[mourningsbane]

Strawgoose, have you had any weird dreams?

Just one. She considered telling Tanglefern but decided against it; he's looked very stressed lately. Besides, they're just silly dreams!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Here are some of PumkinMask fam(+ others) and what their doing after her death.

Former Mate/ OakBranch

(Pale grey and black sphynx tom with green eyes)

OakBranch has been spending time reaching out and rekindling with former friends, one being PomegranateSpots, a former kithood bestfriend of his. Both toms have been spending some time together, talking about their past and what they been up to. OakBranch once cared about Pumpkin, but after talking with others, he no longer feels even a shred of love for her and sees their former relationship as toxic.

Kits/ MockingSnap, LeechDoe, DirtRiver/GlowRiver and MoonSong

(A pale orange and black sphynx molly with amber eyes)

MockingSnap has been spending her time hunting or training, not really wanting to be anywhere near camp right now. She is not exactly sure about how to feel about her mother's death; having not faced the complete wrath of pumpkin, but not having completely been missed it either. Her relationship with MoonSong is extremely stressed but is slowly healing. She has an OK relationship with her father, OakBranch.

(A pale grey and white tom with amber eyes)

LeechDoe has been pretty much unaffected by PumkinMask demise, but has spent some time staying up late and staring into the night sky. He is completely sure about his hatred of pumpkin. He didn't see her as his mother and only viewed her as the cat who put him and his siblings through hell. His relationship with Moonsong is practically dead, only seeing him as a copy of their mother. His not exactly sure about OakBranch, but he is giving him a slight chance.

(A pale orange sphynx tom with dark amber eyes)

GlowRiver has been spending a lot of his time outside of camp, barely coming back when the sun has long since fallen. He doesn't want to spend any time talking about Pumpkin due to the amount of shit she put him, though both mental and physical harm. Even though his relationship with MoonSong will never be the same, it has slightly gotten better through therapy with lavender.

Moonsong has been spending his time with lavender and trying to repair his relationship his family. He once cried over pumpkin untimely death, wailing about how unfair it was, till he met lavender. Even though it started with him threatening to chase her out, they slowly began to talk to about his life. As it went on, he slowly began to realize that the cat she truly was. He realized the pain she had cause, the things he thought were normal where not. wanting to stop himself from becoming like pumpkin, he decided to spend time with lavender and learn about the basics boundaries and what actions are good/bad. He has been told that his relationship with his siblings may never fully heal, he still wants to give it a try.

//////////////

OK, so I tried to draw some of the characters as sphynx, but I'm not sure they turned out to good.

I'm not exactly a good writer, but I hope I got a basic understanding of the characters though, tho.

Here's some extras, though

First design of pumpkin (pls ignore the bed quality and random doodles)

(MangoKit, Pumkinkit and BananaKit)

Three mollies who PumkinMask had in the darkforest, unknown father, and were probably taken away by the adoption community.

THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD!!?? this is literally the artstyle I aspire to have

Good on Oakbranch and Moonsong! Live your best life!

[fallowpaws]

@hideyspot i didn't realize how cute featherfern really was until i started drawing them so thank you ajgkdsl

stonekit (stoneleap) - gray tom with dark gray flecks on his back, a lighter belly/tailtip, and green eyes

fogkit (fogtail) - pale gray molly with a darker stripe on her forehead, a dark tail, lighter paws/tailtip and blue eyes

brindlekit (brindlewhisker) - gray-brown tortoiseshell cat with a lighter chest/paws/muzzle and green eyes

backstory/au idea under the cut!

canon is pretty much the same up until the end of a shadow in riverclan. this is a minor detail but i headcanon that whitestorm isn't the sire of fern and ash; brindleface had a little fling with a kittypet from twolegplace instead but HEY that's an au for another day

just a note: feathertail is a bi trans girl and ferncloud is a lesbian :)

instead of randomly turning on ferncloud because it's "the right thing to do" to hate your neighbors or w/e. feather actually faked the argument at the border to resolve any suspicion her clanmates might have about her and fern

ferncloud was in on the 'fight' but she's a good actress and everybody buys it

featherfern start meeting up at sunningrocks at night and gradually take the steps from girl friends to girlfriends :)

but whoops! feathertail is getting called to go on the journey to the sun-drown-place. she doesn't tell fern the whole story, mostly because she doesn't really know why she's doing this yet. she just tells her that starclan is calling her and she has to go

fern understands but misses her gf :(

just to clarify, feathercrow isn't a thing. maybe crow had a crush on her after she helped him to warm up to the group but it was probably short-lived and definitely one-sided

since they deserve a happy ending (plus i haven't even gotten to the kits yet lmao), feathertail doesn't die saving the tribe! she does hurt one of her back legs pretty badly though, and the travelers have to stay in the mountains longer than they'd like until she's better enough to travel

feather does walk with a limp on that leg for the rest of her life, but she doesn't want to wait in the mountains any longer because she knows the clans must be suffering at home

and they are

in canon, there's a lot around this part of the series where ferndust's kits are pretty much dying left and right. but since ferndust didn't happen in this au, i'm gonna say that dustpelt just. found some orphaned kittens on the edge of thunderclan territory and ferncloud volunteered to take care of them. those kits end up being spiderleg and shrewpaw.

the birchfall/hollykit/larchkit litter doesn't exist in this au whoops

shrewpaw still chases after the pheasant, but dustpelt shoves him out of the way just in time, sacrificing himself. shrew and spider take it really hard bc he was basically their father figure, and fern takes it hard too because dustpelt was not only her uncle but also her friend

the travelers return home and everything proceeds somewhat according to canon (besides the fact that ferndust wasn't a thing and feathertail is still alive)

feathertail is heartbroken when graystripe is taken by the twolegs, but she does believe that if there's a way for him to return to them, then he will. it's just the kind of cat she is

ferncloud is still grieving dustpelt but she's very glad feathertail came back and they spend a lot of time together on the journey to the lake. like. a LOT of time

stormfur does end up staying in the mountains with brook as per canon, not bc feathertail is buried there (she's still alive), but bc he loves brook and the mountains and he never really felt at home in riverclan.

by the time they find their new home, cats are starting to notice that ferncloud is pregnant.

y'know that meeting in the marsh where squirrelflight gets her warrior name? right after, feathertail goes up to leopardstar and tells her to her face that ferncloud is her mate and expecting her kittens. to her Face.

leopard literally stood there and allowed tigerstar to tell stonefur to kill feather and her brother, and she does still feel guilty about that even though they're mostly on a truce. so when feather tells her she wants to join thunderclan to be with fern, she's not really surprised or angry, she just. gives her blessing and lets her go

feathertail and ferncloud tell firestar together. he's impressed by their honesty, plus he's not a little bitch about half-clan relationships. not to mention he'd do anything for graystripe's kits! so he accepts feather into the clan

squirrelflight is probably excited that her time with her friend won't be coming to an end, but brambleclaw is getting into his "hawkfrost isn't evil" phase and they're not real close at this point

fern gives birth a little before sorreltail, and she has three kits: stonekit (named after stonefur, who feather credits with saving her life), fogkit (sorta after mistyfoot, her former mentor, but also cause she just looks like a fogkit lol), and brindlekit (after fern's mom)

featherfern fight like lions to protect the kittens when the badgers attack, and their little family manages to come out intact

stonepaw is apprenticed to cloudtail, fogpaw is apprenticed to thornclaw, and brindlepaw is apprenticed to brightheart!

at this point featherfern is fully open about their relationship for obvious reasons. spiderpaw becomes spiderleg and shrewpaw becomes shrewnose and over time they both come to view feathertail as their mother alongside ferncloud

ferncloud decides to stay in the nursery full time and feather supports her wife <3

as a permaqueen who's raised 2 litters, fern's experienced with kittens and she knows leafpool's pregnant when she sees it. she doesn't call her out though and she doesn't tell anyone, but she's not shocked when feathertail confronts her about it

squirrelflight privately pulled feather aside earlier and told her leaf was pregnant with crowfeather's kittens. she'd volunteered to take them but since she's aroace and not in any relationships the clan might not buy it

feather catches on and tells squirrel she'll tell fern. which she does. after some discussion featherfern agree to raise the kittens

leaf and squirrel return with the kittens on the way back from their 'journey' and say that starclan led them to them so they wouldn't starve/freeze to death. fern immediately tells firestar she'll take them and he figures it was all part of starclan's plan so he buys it

the three grow up knowing that featherfern aren't their bio parents, but they do see them as their moms and they grow up happy and loved

graystripe returns!! woo!!! and he has a new wife

feathertail is thrilled to see her father again and he's thrilled to have grandbabies :)

feather doesn't see millie as her mom and millie doesn't see feather as her daughter, but they generally get along up until briarlight's accident, at which point feather steps in to fill millie's role as a mother figure to her half sister. she also probably knocks some sense into graystripe and he visits briar often

ashfur does threaten to kill holly, lion, and jay in the fire, not because he believes they're squirrelflight's kits, but because she helped rescue them in the first place and she loves them

when the truth comes out about their parentage, they're shocked and hurt that leaf, squirrel, fern, and feather never told them. holly runs away/is presumed dead in the tunnels and featherfern grieve for her.

the foxleap/icecloud litter still happens but probably a little later than in canon! foxleap is dark gray (think gray fox instead of red!) and icecloud is super pale gray

since birchfall was never born, he and whitewing don't become mates. ashfur starts paying attention to her out of nowhere and unfortunately she's charmed by him. once she finds out he was only trying to make squirrelflight jealous, she drops him like a hot rock. but she's already pregnant with dovewing and ivypool. she raises them without ashfur and only tells her daughters the truth once they're warriors

ferncloud ultimately dies as in canon, defending the nursery from brokenstar :(

feathertail is heartbroken and blames herself for not being there, but she carries on for her kin and her clan

she eventually drowns in bramblestar's storm, helping briarlight escape the camp. silverstream is the one to fetch her to starclan, where she reunites with ferncloud again :)

here's some notes specifically on the hypokits i designed:

stoneleap is a huge ladies' man but for both toms and mollies (he's bisexual)

his mentor was cloudtail and he picks up a lot of cloud's traits, including his religious feelings, though he's probably more agnostic than atheist

he's pretty laid back and chill. i really get a stoner-that-skips-class-but-still-aces-every-test vibe from him. he follows the warrior code unless he thinks it's dumb (he doesn't attack anyone who obviously crossed the border by accident)

he definitely has a lot of little flings but ends up falling hard for a riverclan molly and leaving thunderclan to be with her. i don't know who the molly is but she's definitely riverclan

mistystar lets him stay because feathertail used to be her apprentice and stoneleap is feather's son. also bc he's a skilled fighter and the clan could use more of those

fogtail is sassy and doesn't take anybody's shit. she's bisexual and grayromantic; i can see her having some flings but she never does take a mate of have kittens

her mentor is thornclaw and she gets her loud mouth from him lmao. she's definitely not afraid to speak her mind at all

she likes to help out in leafpool's den (kinda like brightheart) but never trains as a medic. she's just helping

she and stoneleap bickered a lot as kits but it never really evolved into serious fighting, they just have different personalities that tend to clash sometimes

she follows the code to a T, but when stoneleap goes to riverclan she supports him and doesn't let anybody from anywhere talk shit about him for following his heart

brindlewhisker is born as a molly but later comes out as nonbinary. she uses she/they pronouns and she likes mollies :)

they loved training under brightheart and when it's clear jaypaw isn't going to be her apprentice anymore, they vouch for her mentoring skills. firestar ends up letting brightheart mentor hollypaw due in part to this

they think a lot about the cat they were named for, brindleface, and see her as a role model despite never knowing her in life

she loves flowers but is tragically allergic

not sure if i can see her having kittens, but she slowly falls in love with hazeltail and they become mates later on

that was. a lot and i'm so sorry but i hope you liked it! i really had a lot of fun with it :)

tldr; featherfern happens, it's gay

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Goldenflower And Sasha Switch Kits AU

so uh

apparently my draft posted and I wasn't aware of it, despite it being saved as a draft????

so

let's

try this again

with this au

and pretend nothing happened

Tadpole, Hawk, Moth

Tadpolekit, Mothkit, and Hawkkit are born to Goldenflower and Tigerstar. [Tadpole is an almost black tabby, Mothkit is almost identical to her mother, and Hawkkit looks how Bramblestar does in canon]

They are still in the nursery when their father is exiled. The kits are notably hurt by him leaving.

When whispers about the kits start, Tadpolekit is quick to fight and kick and protect his siblings from any rumors, causing quite a ruckus. He's also close to his uncle, Snowkit, especially once cats start to realize the white tom is deaf.

Mothkit is clearly hurt the most by what's going on, feeling lost on why everything was happening. She sticks closer and closer to her brothers, though the words against her aren't as harsh as with Tadpolekit and Hawkkit.

Hawkkit is harder to read, as he acts like nothing is wrong and nothing happened, instead choosing to pretend everything is fine, though he slowly is less and less connected to his brother and sister as a result.

When Snowkit is grabbed by the hawk, Tadpolekit tries to save him. He doesn't, but he slows the hawk down enough for a warrior to snag the bird and save Snowkit. Tadpolekit and Speckletail become very protective of Snowkit as a result.

They grow and become Hawkpaw, Tadpolepaw, Mothpaw, and Snowpaw - their mentors, respectively, being Firestar, Brightheart, Cinderpelt, and Brackenfur [with help from Speckletail]

Not long after they're apprentices, though, Mothpaw and Hawkpaw go missing and cannot be found. The Clan panics until the next gathering, where it's revealed Hawkpaw and Mothpaw were in ShadowClan.

Mothpaw isn't happy there, but she was pressured by Hawkpaw to go. It turns out, too, that Tadpolepaw knew about this, but didn't leave with them as he wanted nothing to do with his father. Mothpaw is now Littlecloud's apprentice and Hawkpaw is being mentored by Blackfoot.

Hawkpaw also makes a scene at the gathering, saying how ThunderClan chased them out because they kept judging them on their kin, and specifically says its Firestar's fault

The rest of the gathering isn't that pleasant

Time goes and when Tigerstar is killed, Tadpolepaw finds himself unable to feel sorry for his father and this angers Hawkpaw beyond belief.

Tadpolepaw asks Mothpaw to come back and Hawkpaw stops her from leaving, saying that Tadpolepaw abandoned them, too

Tadpolepaw is outraged that his brother feels this way, feeling more about this than he did his father's death, which only proves to piss off Hawkpaw more

Mothpaw apologizes to Tadpolepaw, stating she needs to be there for Hawkpaw.

He tells her she doesn't, but still watches as his sister leaves with their brother.

The battle against BloodClan happens about the same way, with all the apprentices - including medicine cat apprentice Mothpaw - coming together to kill Bone. Hawkpaw also attempts to ight Scourge, but ends up having half of his face ripped to shreds. He spends many days in the medicine cat den, seething.

As warriors they become Tadpolefrost, Snowheart, and Hawkclaw Mothpaw eventually earns the full medicine cat name Mothwhisper

Bramble, Tawny

Bramble and Tawny are born to Sasha after she returns to the forest. Sasha is weak and tired, but does her best to care for her two kits. [Bramble is a brown and cream tabby and Tawny is a seal point cat - both of them are massive kits, too, which was stressful for a lone molly giving birth]

Sasha eventually starts getting sick, but is afraid to turn to ShadowClan for help.

She eventually grows too weak and drags herself and her kits towards the Clans. She is taken in by RiverClan, but they are unable to save her in time and she passes away a few days later.

Bramble and Tawny, who are still young, are named Bramblekit and Tawnykit, and given to the queens, who all take turns taking care of the kits.

Tawny was eventually apprenticed to Leopardstar and Bramble was apprenticed to Blackclaw [it should also be noted that around this time is when Leafkit and Squirrelkit are born in ThunderClan]

Featherpaw and Stormpaw, who are young apprentices at this time, are curious about these new kits and are glad to have potential friends.

The two brother and sister duos become fast friends and teach each other everything they need to know.

However, Featherpaw feels a tinge of worry every time she looks at Bramblepaw, especially as he gets older. She brushes this off, but it doesn't stop the worried thoughts.

Tawnypaw and Featherpaw also get really close, even after Featherpaw becomes Feathertail, and the two are best friends. Tawnypaw also actively defends Feathertail while she works through her trauma and gives her her space when she needs it.

Bramblepaw had a harder time making friends, secluding himself for a bit as he felt a strange tugging at his dreams every time he closed his eyes. He did eventually become friends with Feathertail, Stormfur, and Dawnflower later on in his apprentice training.

Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw earn the warrior names Tawnyfang and Bramblefur

Where Their Stories Intertwine

The chosen cats for the journey are Feathertail, Crowpaw, Tadpolefrost, and Mothwhisper Stormfur and Tawnyfang refuse to let Feathertail go alone and Tadpolefrost gets joined by his apprentice, Squirrelpaw, whom he can be frustrated with, but he still thinks highly of her as he can't deny that her spunky attitude is refreshing.

Tawnyfang and Feathertail at this point are mates and openly so as they are rather affectionate

Things go as they do in canon, though with the new cast of characters and with new interactions. I have few memories of the journey itself, honestly, and will need to reread TNP once more fdksh

When they reach the lake, Mothwhisper pulls Tadpolefrost to the side and tells him that Hawkclaw is getting worse and she's worried about what he may do in the future.

Tadpolefrost wants to brush this off, but something deep down feels a familiar dread.

Back in ShadowClan, Hawkclaw is currently mentoring Smokepaw, becoming a model warrior and someone Blackstar clearly trusts, though there is the bias with the two being a former mentor and apprentice. Bramblefur finds himself jealous of the ShadowClan warrior, as he seems to be the star of that Clan, but he doesn't speak about his envy.

During a gathering, Bramblefur notices the ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice, Leafpaw, watching him. After the gathering, he confronts the apprentice, who apologizes and admits she didn't know she was staring. She admits he reminds her of someone, but before he can press for answers, she ends up being called away.

Returning to the journeying cats as they start their return, they come across the Tribe. When Feathertail almost sacrifices herself, Tawnyfang gets in the way. She doesn't die killing Sharptooth, but she is badly injured. Feathertail and Stormfur stay behind with her, leaving Tadpolefrost, Squirrelpaw, and Mothwhisper to return to the Clans.

Bramblefur and Leafpaw work together to save cats who are taken by twolegs, Bramblefur getting them out and Leafpaw treating them for their injuries.

and I'm not sure how I want things to go past here

But Tadpole is the one to kill Hawk, who almost became leader as he was actively trying to kill Blackstar after Russetfur's "mysterious" death

Tadpole did try reasoning with his brother, but after he realized there was no hope, he killed him

I don't even know which of the Tiger kids I want to have trained in the Dark Forest jakffds

And to get some side notes out

Squirrelflight doesn't have a planned mate, but she doesn't get with Ashfur

I'm not sure if I'd go with LeafCrow or LeafBramble [as they are close in this AU, but idk if they'd become mates], but one of those two toms is the father of The Three. Also, before anyone complains, there's only a 6 moon age gap between Bramble and Leaf and they wouldn't have feelings for each other until they're both older. Though, I can't imagine they'd run away together and split mutually because they can't manage to keep meeting when they're a whole lake apart.

Squilf still lies for her sister and raises Holly, Jay, and Lion as her own

If Tadpole ever has his own kits, he names one Hawkkit after his brother, though I don't know who he'd be in a relationship with [maybe he gets with Daisy instead of Spiderleg?]

While in the Tribe, Tawny and Feather find a Tribe tom willing to help them and they become the proud mothers of Stonekit/Stonesplash, Silverkit/Silverfeather, and Ravenkit/Ravenstep Stone is a brown and gray tabby trans intersex tolly [uses he/him] Silver is a pale gray and white tom and Raven is a black tabby molly

Stonesplash ends up the RiverClan medicine cat and has to be partially tried by the other medicine cats after Mudfur passes away. He tries to convince Leopardstar to let Willowpaw train with him, but is denied for a while. He eventually wins and Willowshine, as a warrior apprentice, trains to be a medicine cat. It's not until moons later that it turns out the two had been flirting since they were apprentices.

[ridiculousravenclaw]

The Life of Elara Ware : Chapter 2

Elara sat on her butterfly patterned bedsheets, a heavy leather bound book in her lap. She was studying alchemy this year and wanted to get a basic understanding of it before school started. She was lost in concentration when her bubble of thought was burst by light tapping at her window. She looked up to see a shabby brown owl rapping its beak against the glass. She smiled. "Hi Errol". Elara crossed her room and opened the window. The old bird half hopped, half collapsed inside. Looking out her window Elara saw it was now starting to get dark. The sun retreated below the horizon casting shadows of deep orange and red across the sky. It was a beautiful summer's evening, a light breeze provided respite from the unforgiving heat of the day. Errol lazily nipped at her hand letting out an exasperatedly quiet hoot. "Sorry boy, here" She detached the tightly rolled parchment from his leg then opened the empty bird cage perched on top of her drawers, gesturing for him to go inside. Errol happily obliged helping himself to water. The Wares family owl Alizeh had to stay in Elaras room as her mother couldn't stand her hooting. But she was currently out hunting and Errol looked thankful for the hospitality.

Elara undid the scroll expecting to be greeted with another message from George, so she was surprised to find it wasn't his handwriting at all. 'Hello Elara. I know George has been in contact with you but I dont know exactly how much he's said or not said so I thought it best to write you myself. You are of course still welcome to come and stay tomorrow. Though I must warn you it'll be a bit of a tight squeeze. My eldest sons Bill and Charlie are home and are in the twins room meaning Fred and George are currently in with Ron and Harry. Oh yes, Harry's staying with us as well I hope you dont mind. You'll be in Ginnys room, but again, tight squeeze. We have Hermione staying in there too. I hope this is all okay with you. I've been told to expect you by flu powder at about 11. Our house is called The Burrow, I don't know if George had said. Anyway it's all still a go is what I'm trying to say and we'll take you to Kings Cross as planned. Look forward to seeing you Molly Weasley'

Elara smiled. The note really was unnecessary but she couldn't blame Mrs Weasleys lack of trust in George giving her all the correct details. She quickly scribbled a reply on the back of the note. 'Thanks again Mrs Weasley this is really kind of you. 11 o'clock. Flu powder. I'll see you then'

It took some convincing and several treats but Elara finally managed to get Errol out of Alizehs cage and attach the note to his leg. She wasn't sure if Errol was quick enough to get the note to Mrs Weasley before tomorrow morning but it was worth a try. She sent him on his way then made her way downstairs to the living room. There she found her mother silently working her way through stacks of documents she had laid out on the sofa. Her long brown hair was wound into a messy bun on top of her head and her black rimmed glasses were perched on the end of her narrow, slender nose. She was wearing grey jogging bottoms and a light blue t shirt that hung off one shoulder. She was sat cross legged, brows furrowed in concentration. She hadn't noticed Elara walk in.

"Watcha doin?" Elara said. Her mother sent several pages scattered across the wooden floor as she jumped in surprise.

"Jeez sweet pea don't sneak up on me like that!"

Elara laughed and stepped forward to help as her mum started chasing papers around the room. "sorry. I wasn't aiming to scare you"

"yeah? then why are you laughing at me?" Her mother retorted as she tried to smack Elara on the backside with a recovered sheet. She tried to put on a disgruntled face but she couldn't hide her smile as her daughter dodged her attacks.

"hey! I'm helping!" Elara replied, smiling goofily back as she hopped out of her mothers reach.

"causing mayhem more like"

Elara folded her arms defiantly, a devious grin on her lips

"fine. I wont help then"

Elara put up her hands in mock surrender and started walking towards the door.

"hey! not so fast. This is your doing so you can come tidy you cheeky bugger"

Elara complied with an exaggerated curtsy as her mother started to reorganize the pages.

"honestly. all I came down for was to tell you I'm going to the Weasleys at 11. now you've got me clearing up like your personal slave" Elara put on her best dramatic sigh which made her mother chuckle.

"think how I feel. it took me ages to put all this in order now I've got to do it again"

"hmm, well if you will insist on throwing things around the house"

"oi!" her mother retorted but once again she couldn't stifle her smile.

"11 did you say?" She added after a moment.

"yup"

"how were you going to get there?"

"flu powder" then at the look of confusion on her mothers face she continued "that's the one where you travel through the fireplace. wosh" Elara flailled of her arms to illustrate.

"oh right. the one that scares me to death you mean?"

"that's the one"

"great!" Her mother gave her a double thumbs up but her eyes showed her disapproval. Elara rolled her eyes.

"mum how many times? it's safe. I've been using flu powder since I was 7. Everyone does"

Her mother sighed, nodding her head reluctantly "I know, I know"

They picked up the last few pages in lazy quiet before Elara went to kitchen to make them both a cup of tea. When she returned she found her mother staring into the currently empty fireplace like she was waiting for something. Elara silently stood by her side handing her a floral patterned mug. She looked at her mothers face obviously deep in thought. She looked almost upset. "mum?"

It was several moments before she answered.

"you know it doesn't matter how impressive and mystical and amazing all this is. Theres still a massive part of me that wished you took after me, not your dad."

Elara couldn't deny she felt offended, and it must've shown on her face

"no no that's not what I meant. Oh hunny your magics incredible and you make me proud every day. Please know that. It's just. I dont know. I can't lie. I'd be a lot less stressed if you just grew up to be a hairdresser or something. Something ordinary. Something risk free" Elara felt confused at the direction the conversation had taken. Quick to defend the life she loved so much she answered

"Well wheres the fun in that? mum I'm perfectly safe in the wizarding world. you must know that. it may still be weird to you but its who I am and its normal for us."

Her mother looked at her for a moment. Then smiled a strange, sad sort of smile. She started to say something, then stopped herself sipping on her tea instead. Elara could see a million thoughts spiraling behind her mothers eyes. Then, finally "yeah. yeah of course you are." Then without a word she turned and left.

As she stood alone in front of the mantelpiece, Elara had the feeling like she was missing something. Then a most unwelcome thought; that there was something her mother wasn't telling her. Her mother had always been a worrier. Fretted over her wellbeing day and night. It never bothered her. In fact Elara Ware had grown so used to her mothers fussing she almost didn't notice it anymore. But now that she stopped to think, since returning from school that summer it'd seemed to get a lot more frequent. Obsessively checking in on Elara through the day. Restricting when she could leave the house, not letting her go alone. At first Elara thought this was just her fear of her baby growing up. Now that she'd sat her exams, chosen a career path, got a boyfriend. But now she wasn't sure. Whatever it was, her mother was definitely upset by it.

The next morning Elara woke up later than she wanted to. She ran downstairs and inhaled some cereal so fast she was sure she must have set a new world record. Then back upstairs for a hurried shower, which unsurprisingly resulted in shampoo in her eyes. Swearing repeatedly and dripping water onto the tiles as she went. Elara stumbled blindly across her en suit reaching for a towel. cursing herself for not putting one out first. Quickly drying herself off she threw open her wardrobe, looking at her limited selection of clothes. most of it was packed in her trunk. She glanced out the window. It was raining and with the rain had brought cooler weather. She picked out her favourite pair of jeans and a loose white shirt with lace criss-crossed across the back.

It was only after she had triple checked her trunk, glancing at the clock and seeing she still had 30 minutes to spare, that Elara finally allowed herself to relax a bit. Mentally scolding herself for waking up late and turning her morning into a mad rush. She was gazing at her reflection in the mirror and without realizing found herself fussing with her hair. She couldn't explain why. Elara had never really cared what others though of how she looked before. Yet there she sat tucking her brown hair behind her ear, the pulling it forward, then tucking it back again. Perhaps it was the nerves of seeing her boyfriend again after weeks apart. After all they hadn't been dating that long when school ended for the holidays. Or perhaps it was the stress of meeting his whole family. But then again she already knew half of them. She may never have spent much time with Ron, Percy or Ginny but they were already acquainted. Then of course theres Fred. the twins came as a pack. you rarely get one without the other and she'd been going to school with them for 5 years.

She tried to shake the nerves, focussing instead on the thing she'd always liked about herself. She gazed into her eyes which were the only ones like them she'd ever known. Her right eye was a cool blue, like a river. Her left eye a pale light green flecked with yellow. The muggle doctors said it was a genetic condition with a weird name she could never remember. it didn't matter. Elara loved her eyes. they made her different. Different was good. She looked at the clock again. 20 minutes. She picked up her trunk which she'd played at the foot of her bed and began to haul it down the stairs.

"you'll write wont you"

"nah I won't bother I'll just leave you in suspense the whole year"

"Elara Ware!"

"I'm joking! I'm joking! C'mon mum I'm in my 6th year now. I'm a big girl. I'll be fine. and I'll be back before you know it."

Her mother sighed and pulled Elara into a bone crushing hug. "I know. I just worry" Elara chuckled "yeah funnily enough I've noticed"

Her mum ignored this "I love you" she mumbled into Elaras hair. "I love you too" Just then Elara noticed the time on the clock "ooh mum I've got to go. its time" Elara wriggled out of her mums grip and stepped into the fire place where her trunk was waiting. "mum the powder"

"oh yeah right"

Her mother grabbed a small clay pot from ontop of the book case. It was peculiar in shape, unpainted and unvarnished. Elara had very vague memories of making it at muggle school when she was about 7 years old. Inside was the floo powder. Elara grabbed a handful and offered one last smile to her mum. "Bye mum"

"Bye darling"

Elara dropped the floo powder onto her feet and shouted "The Burrow" With that she started to spin. Faster in faster as her living room dissolved into a blur of colour. But just before she lost sight of her mother completely she saw it again. The same sad look in her mothers eyes. She was trying to hide it but still it was unmistakably there. Why? what was Elara not understanding? Before she could even fathom the answer the spinning stopped. She was no longer in her living room. She stepped out onto a well worn rug to a wall of welcoming red headed smiles. and there standing the closest the one she was most excited to see. beaming the brightest of all "miss me?" Said George