Sitting On Top of the World

All grins and giggles, Seren threw her hands up toward the sun and sky. Her curly blonde hair bounced around her shoulders from the gentle breeze.

“I'm sitting on top of the world!” she cried out with laughter, “No, you're sitting on me,” remarked Walter.
“Yes,” Seren agreed, resting her arms on top of his head.
“So you're sitting on your grandfather, not on top of the world,” he corrected childishly.

Seren considered this for a moment, but she knew she was right in what she had said. “But you are my world,” she argued.

Wish You Were Here

“I want to tell you about the news today,” she said, laying belly-down on the grass, picking at the wild daisy's. The smile on her face extended to her eyes, making them sparkle. “We went to the forest to pick mushrooms, they were pretty cool,” she added, pausing to inspect a petal. “Mummy said, if I'm good enough, she'll cook it for dinner, the way I like it.”

Tearing her eyes away from her patch of grass, Seren surveyed the meadow. It was peaceful, empty.

“I wish you were here...” she whispered to herself this time.

Born To Try

Pruning shears in hand, Seren stared at the large bushes lining the front garden.
“Mum... why did you grow the bushes next to the fence?” she asked, perplexed. “It doesn't have enough room to grow here.”

Addiena smiled at her daughter, pruning away, her wand in hand. “It has all the room it needs, and soon, with a bit more time, it will be a good wall.”

“Why don't you just build a normal wall?” Seren asked. It'd be stronger than a bunch of plants.

“Because a wall of plants, is a wall of love.”

Innocent Eyes

Fingers poised in position, Seren let one of them fall to the key below, resulting in a gentle ding sound. Cracking her neck, she waited for the sound to end before she tried again, ding ding ding. Music, was a simple pleasure, and had the ability to make the world feel right.

“Mmm-mmm-mm,” Seren hummed to the tune she played. Her fingers stroked and danced along the black and white keys, slowly becoming more familiar with the pattern. Like a dance.

“Don't let me see mistakes and lies... let me keep my faith and innocent eyes,” she sang.

Predictable

Seren was pumped for this. She'd put in the hours on the practice pitch, she got plenty of sleep and consumed an energy packed low GI breakfast. The match would be Ravenclaw's to win.

Mounting her broom, she took to the sky with her tenacious team mates, eyes on the quaffle in Professor Vindictus's hands. Even before the whistle was blown, she'd anticipated the movements of the players, the quaffle and the plays. Her senses were sharp and she was ready to chase it, snatch it, pass it and shoot it.
It was clear to her, Ravenclaw's victory was predictable.

Bare Hands

Sneaking a quick look around the garden, Seren decided it was safe for her to take her gloves off. It wasn't as if she was working with dangerous plants per se, they were just roses.
“What're you doing?” came the voice of a nearby student.

“What does it look like I'm doing?” she replied dryly.
“You'll get hurt,” they said, nodding at the thorny rose bush.
Seren smiled brightly. “A little pain lets you know your alive... it's no big deal.” Besides, it was just a rose thorn, it wasn't going to eat her or anything.

In This Life

Things you should do in front of a hippogriff: treat them with respect, approach cautiously and bow.

Things you should not do in front of a hippogriff, under any circumstances: trip over your own feet on approach, splash mud in the hippogriffs direction and flail your arms.

Seren balled her hands into fists and shut her eyes, expecting a beating... but it didn't come. Mustering some courage, Seren opened her eyes to see the hippogriff with a ferret in its beak. It was a good thing this lesson was supervised or else she'd be tenderised fresh steak for the beast.

This Is Not Me

There was panic. Flat out panic, in the girls dormitories.

Someone had the bright idea of leaving the windows open during class time, resulting in the wind from the passing storm messing up the contents of the room. Granted, it wasn't a life or death situation. Parchment went flying, ink was spilt, no big deal, right? Wrong.

“Where is my essay?!” Came the frantic cry of a fellow second year. Seren shrugged. She kept all of her important belongings in her bag, on her person. “This is not me,” she said rejecting the blame and shutting the windows.

Brave Face

At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Though, in hind sight, strategically placing the head of the chomping cabbage in the vicinity of where the bottom of a crouching Slytherin would be, wasn't her best decision. It was hilarious, and the guy deserved it, and if she had the choice , she'd do it all over again.

Though, being elbow deep in flobberworm mucus, alone in the dungeons wasn't what she had planned for the weekend. Doing her best not to inhale the foul odour, Seren put her brave face on, and persevered, only an hour to go.

A Year Ago Today

Taking great care with her arrangement, Seren placed he potted flowers and bushes on the recently turned flowerbed. The estate was coming along nicely, and with some finishing touches and natural growth, it would settle into a spectacular garden.

Satisfied with the placement, Seren set about digging out the appropriate holes for plants. Wiping her brow with a soiled glove, she couldn't help but remember having similar herbology lessons only a year ago.

She liked her job, her business. It was flexible, it was good money... but it was repetitive, restrictive in nature and... too tame. She needed an adventure.

Running Away

The Amazon Basin was a glorious sight. The steep slopes, the low valleys, the thick forest floor, the diverse understory, the clinging epiphytes, feisty flesh eaters, the canopy and the emergents - were breathtaking. Seren inhaled a deep breath, extending her arms up toward the covered sky before exhaling again.

Her mother called this running away, she called this emancipation. She was free. No longer tied down to a nine to five job, and no longer burdened by her mothers expectations. The closest she would get to dating out here, was collecting spores and sweet-scented juices from a Bulgarian Lily.

Touch

If travelling the world wasn't amazing enough, the flora of the Australian Daintree was awe-inspiring. However, it wasn't the rain-forests flesh eaters or it's mangroves that were captivating her in this moment. It was her mentor who had her complete and undivided attention. The Australian's tanned biceps seemed to be repelling the oceans water in which he swam, the exception to this was a single bead which seemed stuck on the tip of his chin.

"I hope you don't mind," she interrupted his conversation with one of her peers, extending her hand to wipe it away. "Much better."

Longer

Even after all her years as a Ravenclaw, Seren still couldn't fathom the prospect of sitting behind a desk and doing book work. Literally, book work. Her publishing agent was insistent that she meet the deadline, or else her project would be scrapped, and after having invested so much time already, she just wasn't prepared to let it go.

For this reason, Seren poured herself another tea – a mix of herbal blends aimed to improve concentration, before letting her eyes meet the clock on the opposite wall. Just a little longer, then she could indulge in a short break.

The Guardian

Pushing through the crowd, Seren didn't bother looking back as she strode forward. She was confident she had taken the right path in her life and the prospect of teaching the future generations warmed her heart. There was nothing to regret. Not even the late nights labouring away on assignments, and not even the practicals that on occasion had her ripping her hair out.

With her graduation gown billowing in the wind, Seren walked across campus for the last time.

“Farewell Cambridge!” she called out over her shoulder gleefully. The time for nurturing little green thumbed people started now.

Extraordinary Day

There was only one way of describing her first start of term feast, as a Professor, and that was extraordinary.

Greeting her colleagues closest to her was easy enough, one in particular received a brilliant grin as she addressed him in the fashion she was most familiar with, "Professor Vindictus." The man had aged well, though his reply got her thinking he may have had too many bludgers to the head.

"Oh, hey Seren. When you get back to the table, please remind the rest of the House to behave themselves and no food fights."

Well, this wasn't awkward.

One Day

As with many things in life, patience and practice were crucial for managing some aspects of her work. And one such aspect that she struggled with, was marking.

Seren watched the grandfather clock tick and tock, tick and tock, before returning her gaze to the rolls of parchment on her desk. It was decided now that she very much disliked reading and marking essays, rather she would be favouring practice and participation in future. For now, she had to survive this feat. Perhaps one day in the near future, one day, she would have time to leave her office again.

You Are My Rock

The modest crowd was hardly distracting. Seren kept a firm hold of Aron's hands, and her blue eyes stayed fixed to his.

"All that I am and all that I have, I offer to you in love and in joy," she started affectionately, giving his hands a gentle squeeze briefly.

"From this day forward I will love and comfort you. I will hold you close, prize you above all others, and remain faithful to you."

Slipping the gold band on his finger, she completed her pledge. "Aron, you are my rock..my sunshine and my one true love."

Hypnotized

Sunshine, sand, clear blue waters and amazing company, this was her definition of paradise. Needless to say, Aron's genius idea for a getaway to Fiji was well received and she couldn't think of a better way to spend the summer holidays.

Sightseeing was one thing, but snorkeling took her breath away. The sea-flora were stunning in the region, and though she was hypnotized by their vibrant colours and their gentle rhythmic dance in the oceans current, one sight that took her breath away, was her husband. Even as she swam deeper still, she was falling deeper in love as well.

Out of the Blue

Seren stood in front of the full length mirror side on, her head tilted as she peered down at a very distinct bump around her navel. It didn't cease to amaze her to know that there was a small life germinating inside of her, growing and would one day soon, bloom.

Though the pregnancy was well planned, the sight of her growing belly still caught her by surprise on occasion, particularly when she found herself outgrowing clothes. The subtle movements didn't often register with her, but the swift kicks were never expected, they seemed to come out of the blue.

Butterfly

Beneath his tuft of fine blond hair, his orb-like blue eyes stared up at her, and that in that moment Seren found that she couldn't look away – not even if she wanted to. Her son was perfect in every possible way. He was and forever would be, her Oak Prince... Derfael.

Peering over his crib, her index finger affectionately stroking his tiny hands, Seren started humming softly, and gradually her song formed words.

"I won't hurt you... I'll protect you... I won't let the rain fall down... I'll always be around..." and she meant every word of it.

Fragile

Every step was painful. From the stiffness in her hips, to the sharp pains in her knees and the aching of every muscle that was left on her body. Whoever said there was no shame in aging gracefully was either lying or very very young. Aging was hell.

Navigating the stairs to the stands with her crippled legs was hard enough, but the trip was made harder still by her failing eyesight. Merlin. This journey was going to kill her, she was far too fragile. If she was going to break a bone, the least Gryffindor could do was win.

The Speed of Life

If there was one thing she could count on her mother for, it was the woman's ability to make her feel guilty. Seren sat, staring at the pile of photograph albums Aron placed on the table. Not one, not two, not three... but four of them. Four albums of photographs of her son that she hadn't been around for.

If the guilt from that wasn't enough to handle in her old-aged body, the additional guilt Aron inflicted only added to her heartache.

Life passed too quickly, and that much was evident by her handsome little man staring back at her.

In My Own Time

"You should retire," Addiena asserted, her knitting needles working away in mid-air and she observed.

"Mum..." Seren replied, giving the woman looks.

"What?! You work too much … it's not healthy."

"I'm fine, it's good money and it's wonderful experience."

"You're away from your family, that's not the experience you need."

Sighing, Seren uncrossed her legs and leaned forward to take her teacup in her hands.

"You should retire," Addiena continued.

"In my own time..." Seren repeated, not for the first time. It was a conversation that reared its ugly head too frequently.

Believe Again

Staring out of her office window, Seren was beginning to wonder if the rain would cease at all for the day, or if the clouds above would let up at all and give her a glimpse of the blue sky beyond. Somehow, she didn't think that would be the case any time soon.

Given the miserable state of the day, she found there was little more to do than curl up on the couch with Caltex cosy at her side, and to flip through her journal, reflecting on recent events. What was coming next? What did the next chapter entail?