In her favorite slouchy sweater and jeans, Fauna sat across from Stefan on the couch, the mid-day light from the window dappling the rug, and the smell of tea still lingering in the air at the Radford Estate. The house was quiet and cavernous during the day while her flatmates were out. They needed to clean the windows, she thought idly. Fauna rested her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, while her wand sat useless on the coffee table in front of her.

Stefan was also leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, hands fidgeting. A touch of gray tinged his light brown hair. Easygoing lines emphasized his eyes. His expression shifted to grave and concerned.

"Fauna."

She took a few deep breaths, and glanced up at the man she hoped to call stepfather come the spring. Spring of 2012. A new year, starting today.

"I'm sorry," she lifted a limp hand. "I don't know why my magic isn't working. I should have - I thought - maybe the party? Maybe someone is pranking me." It didn't sound like a prank any of her friends would pull. "Um," she shook her head. "I know I was sick last week and so I wasn't using magic around you or Artur. I did feel a little off yesterday, apparating. This is just..."

She stared at her wand on the table, feeling helpless.

"Fauna," he said quietly, swallowing. "I'm calling your mum."

Her brow furrowed. "I don't want to worry her. You don't need to call her. But if you have to," she watched as he unlocked his phone. Fauna stood, feeling a mixture of dread and relief. Her mum would help explain, but she hadn't wanted to involve her like this. She'd told her she would be fine, explaining who she really was on her own.

Stefan glanced at her. Was that wariness in her eyes, or weariness? Fauna's face flushed.

"I'm stepping outside for a minute to make sure - um, I just need to make sure it's not the house."

Stefan stood too, the phone by his ear.

"I'll be right back," she rested a hand on his arm and tried to look reassuring.

I'll be right back, said the heroine before walking into a trap. Wand in sleeve, Fauna passed Madam Radford's portrait on the wall. The portrait sniffed, silent and disapproving in front of the muggle stranger.

She stepped outside into the cold and looked up.

Fauna squinted at the clouds, shielding her eyes with her hand. The clouds drifted by, hazy as clouds were. Was there a net? Hard to tell. Heart racing, she willed herself to step past the porch. Fauna looked back at the house. Old Victorian, same as always. Dusty windows. She started to walk around the house, keeping an eye out for anyone on the road, looking into the trees, and even looking for lit candles. In the alley between houses Fauna tried casting a Revelio spell. She shut her eyes and concentrated hard like she had when she was eleven.

Her wand rested like a dead twig in her hand.

"Lumos," she said clearly.

Nothing. Dark and dim.

Hands shaking, Fauna finished her perimeter check and stepped back inside and locked the door behind her. She shot a glare at the portrait. "Say something."

Nothing.

Fauna remained in the foyer, overhearing Stefan's low, urgent voice as he spoke to her mum on the phone. She bit her lip. It wasn't supposed to go like this. While she'd been sick over the holidays, he'd asked if she wouldn't mind showing him around UAL and her house sometime when he was in London and she was feeling better. They'd made plans for New Year's Day. She'd picked up a few forms at the Ministry and decided to tell him, officially, who she was. What she did with her time. Why she was so difficult to get a hold of and had to run off so often. It wasn't for art projects or gallery work. It was for Auror-ing.

After they'd met for lunch, she'd invited him to the Radford house and sat down and started to explain everything. Her palms had been clammy, and she'd flashed so many nervous smiles. She'd needed it to go well. She wanted them to be a family, her and her mum and Stefan and Artur. She wanted them to be a real family before her mum and Stefan married in the spring.
 
When he'd gotten a confused, alarmed look on his face, she thought she'd demonstrate. Cast a simple Lumos. Cast anything.

But her wand was dead.

"What do you mean she is actually a... witch? How can you encourage this? She believes this and you're just going along with it?" Pause. "No one with any sense would name a school Hogwarts."

Fauna stood miserably in the archway between the foyer and the living room, watching Stefan pacing the rug.

"She's not enrolled in university, did you know that?" Pause. "You knew that? Fantastic."

He glanced back at Fauna, lowered the phone. He opened his mouth, then shut it, running his hand through his hair. Fauna's heart sank. She rubbed her arms from the chill that had crept in from outside. She glanced back at the closet, thinking of extra layers, and her eyes widened.

The closet she and Theta had enchanted to block magic. All for the sake of her precious mobile phone and her paranoia about Tawse...

Moving back into the hall, Fauna opened the closet door and tried magic in there, too.

Still nothing worked, but she wondered now if the wards had somehow seeped out of the closet and into the house. She'd had such strange, anxious dreams last night.

"What attack earlier in December?" Stefan's accent grew more pronounced. "Catherine, I can barely hear you through the static."

Fauna moved the chairs aside, running her fingers over the walls. She picked and peeled away the corner of the wallpaper that hid the wards drawn underneath. She had just found the edge of the drawing when she heard Stefan behind her, and looked over her shoulder to find him staring.

"What are you - Faun, your mum wants to know if it's something that happened on the - what? The moon? Full moon," he added.

"Could be," her voice shook and she cleared her throat. "It might be a delayed effect from that night."

He paused for a long moment. "This isn't making any sense to me," he started to say, and then directed at the phone, "I can still barely hear you."

Fauna took her phone off the shelf and gestured inside the closet, avoiding his gaze. "If you step in here it'll sound clearer."

He gave her another long stare. Stefan remained in the hall and put Catherine on speaker phone.

"Sweetie," her mum's voice sounded. Fauna's face nearly crumpled as she crossed her arms and rested her shoulder against the door jamb.

"Back in Dec... you said it..." static. "-you couldn't get help, right?"

She took a few deep breaths, struggling not to cry.

"Are you here?" Her mum wondered.

"She's here," Stefan answered. "She's... upset."

"We were there on patrol and our spells were blocked," Fauna rambled. "Uh, the spells that signal for help. Maybe it's gotten worse. I don't know if it's related. I need to send a - I need to call someone."

"But you got hurt-" static from the phone. "It could be a - what do you call it - a curse?" Her mum's voice rose in panic.

"Um, I can't speculate on that now. I just need to get a hold of someone."

What happened, Stefan mouthed silently to her, but Fauna shook her head, stepped into the closet again, and called Trevelyan first. He would understand.

"She needs to see a doctor, Catherine," he moved further into the hall. "I said, she needs to see a professional. Can you get to a place with a better connection, for god's sake?"

No answer. She didn't leave a message, instead listening to the argument in the hall, waves of dread rolling through her. Fauna tried ringing Abby next, hating to bother her at all, but Abby at least lived in an apartment full of magical sorts and she could let her know if others were having problems. No answer.

Fauna gave the chair a kick and tried Fig next, swearing under her breath. Ring, ring, sorry Fig, he'd probably never answered his phone before.

Stefan appeared again in the doorway, having pocketed his phone. Fauna lowered hers.

"We want to talk in person. Together, as a family, alright? You'll come back to Devon with me, you'll stay with us a few days, and we'll sort this."

Fauna let out a shaky sigh and shook her head. "I'm going to head to, er, St. Mungo's. It's a hospital for um..."

He reached for her, then let his hand fall. "I'll come with you. I'm not leaving you alone like this."

She paused. If he came with her, he might feel more overwhelmed. If she waited until her flatmates returned, they would help explain. But if she waited, what if the loss of magic was a symptom of something else? Something worse? Panic fluttered in her chest. She wanted to handle this now.

"Will you stay in London while I go figure this out?" Fauna suggested, voice thick with emotion. "That's really what I need you to do. It's the most helpful thing you can do. Just until tonight."

Though it took a good ten minutes to convince him to head over to his brother's for a while, in the end he left. When the front door shut, Fauna leaned against the wall and let the tears stream down her face.

"Muggles," Madam Radford scoffed in her frame.

"Oh, shove it," Fauna scowled, pulling out her phone to send a group text. She added everyone who had been at the New Year's Eve party last night.

'Help' - deleted.

'Urgent' - she typed, then deleted.

  - deleted.

Hey party people. Not an emergency, but I think I'm crsed. I'm stopping in at Mungo's. Pls ring or text me.

She deleted the 'ring or text me' about a dozen times before deciding to keep it, and after a moment, she added:

hope you all are ok

Too full of angst? Too scared? Not clear enough? Not vague enough? Oh well. Fauna hit send.

She then gathered her things, stepped into the floo, and sent a silent prayer to Helga Hufflepuff as the green flames swept her away.