HIDDEN TRUTHS ARE UNSPOKEN LIES.

there's no point in denying that simply because it is the truth. what is the truth you may wonder?

well, let i, as your dear and humble author tell you something that i've learned from my many years of wisdom. it's that the truth hurts, there's no denying that, but it heals you; it's like that little pinprick you get when you get your injection. it hurts like a little bitch at first, then you're sore and after a day or two, you forget you even took a jab.

but a lie, that's completely different. we've all heard the saying a little white lie never hurt anybody. well, i'll give you my honest brutality on the matter and tell you that it's utter and complete bullshit. the best way i can describe it is a lie is like a pain killer. at first, it'll give you that instantaneous relief; any hint of pain you once had gone for those few moments. but after the effects of it wears off, that pain is back and you take more pain killers. and you take more and more and more till your body can't handle it and you lose all control of it.

now you may be wondering why i'm even dwelling on this matter of truths and lies. well, the very foundations of this tale you are embarking on are built on hidden truths.

our story starts in the grassy fields of wiltshire, large green expanses of land shadowed by the dark, obsidian night sky. november the first of 1981 started off as a particularly unsettling day to day the least. not a single star in sight, the moon clouded away, no comfort.

all which could be heard was very, very faint rejoicing and shouting from a local village.

he who must not be named vanquished!

all hail harry potter!

to harry potter! the boy who lived!

yet despite the commotion from the vicinity, a family of six, now also housing their extended family of four; the adults lying down restless from the previous days' events.

a young couple lies down on their bed, their heads on their hands as they tightly clench each other's palms, their attention solely on their three children. a small girl with unruly wavy hair lies in between her two older brothers, one on either side of her, their chunky arms protectively hugging her.

the couple seemed as though they were scared of letting go of each other or even diverting their attention away from their children for even a fraction of a second.

in another room on the same floor, another young couple, one with fiery red hair and another with messy black hair lie down on the bed, their one-year-old son in between them, as they too try to sleep after yesterday's horrors. the man with the messy hair gently caressing his son's forehead, which now had a fresh lightning bolt scar, that was covered by a plaster with a fairy on it.

two people, so close together yet so distant, lie on their own respective beds, in two different rooms. the young boy with the curly hair tried his hardest to force himself into sleep, but it was as though the ants under his skin wouldn't let him. nor were his shaking leg, though paralyzed due to a reckless act he did a year or two back, trembled as such. the other man, his face painted recklessly with scars and scratches, some old but some still healing, lying down on his bed looking up at the ceiling; wanting comfort after everything.

the woman with the cinnamon brown eyes gets up from her side of the bed and lets go of her husband's hand, as she makes her way out of her bedroom, towards the loft, the grey-eyed man hot on her trail.

"leela! wait up! where are you going?" says the grey eyed man, running as he attempts to catch up with his wife's long-legged strides.

"something i should've done a long while ago." she simply replied, tears running down her cheeks, her eyes more and more bloodshot.

"what about the kids then? we can't leave them alone can we?"

the brown-eyed woman said nothing.

"you know what, i'll go get reggie and tell him to sleep in our room and take care of the kids yeah?"

the brown-eyed woman nodded in response.

"meet me in mama's room."

the grey-eyed man was confused. out of nowhere, his wife was asking her to go to her most favorite room of the entire house, something that no one, not even the grey-eyed man himself was allowed to go into.

the grey-eyed man nodded quizzically and rushed to his brother's room. he knocked on the door, went inside, and asked his brother whether he could sleep with the kids, just for the night, to which the curly-haired man agreed. the grey-eyed man helped his brother on his crutches and parted way with him, rushing himself to the room.

the heavy, oak doors were ajar, a faint golden light emitting from the small gap. the room itself was simply extravagant. designed by the woman herself, it was clear that there were many elements which was inspired by her late mother. three walls painted in a light terracotta colour, many shelves of swords, daggers, shields and spears, all of which she had gotten from her mother and her maternal family. the fourth wall, facing north, was plastered in wallpaper. intricately painted mughal art, drawn on by the woman's mother herself, to which the brown eyed woman had placed an engorgement charm on to cover the surface of the wall. it looked as though it was depicting a war of some sort. people with spears and swords, two distinctive sides separated by a statuesque bridge. in the midst of it all, a large portrait of the woman's late mother was present, adorned in a large brass frame.

he could see his wife kneeling below an open chest, a white sash with a gold border in her arms as she breaks down. a large kindjal, a nose ring, three chains, and a heavy book were around the woman. the grey-eyed man couldn't help but comfort his wife. he knew her family was a sore subject to her, especially her mother. the man had known his mother-in-law since he was a child, frequently going on 'play dates' with his wife from when he was a child, going as far as calling her 'mama ny'.

"we can't tell them anything"

the man scrunched up his eyes from confusion, "what do you mean?"

the woman brushes away her tears from her bloodshot eyes as she looks at her husband eye to eye.

"it means that the kids don't need to know anything about my side of the family. even dumbledore said it himself. "

"leela, you can't just jump to a conclusion," the man says getting up from his spot on the floor, offering an arm out to his wife, "come on let's sleep it off, and think about it tomorrow yeah?"

"no sirius! i can't sleep! you saw what happened today. jamie did. lily did. reggie did. remus did. we all did!" says the woman, getting up on her own and walking back and forth, tightly pulling at her hair.

"leela, there must be a reasonable explanation..."

"sirius, we saw it happening with our own two eyes. it all kickstarted. we have to stop it from growing, or else what-"

the grey-eyed man walks towards his frantic wife and grabs both her forearms, bringing them in the ring of her chest and making her look right at him.

"happened to mama ny won't happen to them. i promise you that love."

the man with the grey eyes brings his wife yet again to another embrace. the woman's left ear pressed tightly against her husband chest; the soft, relaxing thumps of his heartbeats bringing her it was almost like one of those bittersweet ones, the ones where you have to give false reassurances- which both parties fully know that it was for serenity, not comfort.

"we have to hide all of this stuff. mama's stuff, if the kids find out in the future... it's too dangerous si,"

"we can't deprive them of their grandmother leela. out of both of our families, i'd rather the kids know about bubbles and mama ny. and fai i guess.."

"you know i'd want them to know as well. less baba, some faizi, and a lot of mama, but i can't siri. after tonight, i just... i just don't want to lose them.."

"and we won't. you hiding your heritage and your whole family line are only going to make things worse love," the man says, his hands tenderly stroking his wife's face, "they need to be prepared or even train themselves for this all."

"but mama-"

"as i said, what happened with mama ny won't necessarily happen to the kids. come on you ravenclaw. isn't it time you started to think straight?"

"i am thinking straight and i've made my mind up. we have to lock all of this stuff away. especially the book."

"why the bloody book? it never opens anyways?" asks the man to his wife. him and his brother once spent a whole afternoon trying to pry the book open. nothing worked. not even the muggle machinery they had bought.

"mama once told me that she wrote it for my future children. i don't know how she even knew at the time, but she journaled the book for them."

"okay, we'll hide the book then. anything else to hide?"

"everything in the chest. i'll take the pictures and the albums."

"where are you even planning on hiding the chest?" asks the man.

"we'll hide in the loft. no one goes up there anyway."

the man lets go of his wife. the both of them gather the items that the woman left on the floor, picking up the book, the kindjals and the nose ring. a small box lies on the corner of the chest. the man picks it up and rattles it.

"si! be careful!" exclaims the woman, taking the box from her husband's hands.

"there's something in it! open it!"

"calm down! i'm opening it!"

the woman gently opens the palm-sized velvet box, gasping upon seeing three chains lined up inside the box. the chains were beautiful; embedded in each of them was a stone of some sort. there were two dog tags and an oval-shaped locket of some sort.

"hey, it's aquila!" exclaimed the grey-eyed man, who seemed to have tidied up the rest of the mess. he stands behind his wife, his head on her shoulder.

"si, isn't it just lines?" asks the brown-eyed woman. she didn't study astronomy when she was at school. but she did rather enjoy her husband telling her stories about each and every star.

"no, you idiot. look, this one is aquila and whatever that rock thing is, it's marking our lion altair. see!" the man with the grey eyes was a bit of an astronomy nerd (though he would beg to differ).

"i think the stone is tourmaline. it's one of their birthstones.". the brown-eyed woman should know, her mother adored crystals and stones.

"the second one love is the constellation and that stone over there is marking our little monkey atlas." the man says, pointing his very big hands onto the small stone.

"that's opal."

"and right there is serpens and that stone here," says the man moving his finger yet again, "is our little beauty, alya."

"i believe that's peridot."

the woman glides her finger over the smooth and cold metal of the necklaces, flipping the middle one back.

a.l.b

she does the same to the other dog tag and the oval locket.

a.e.b

a.v.b

"the children's initials are there too." says the woman.

"this is weird love. like how is it possible?" asks the man, seemingly bewildered.

"i don't know but the necklaces are pretty nice aren't they?"

"huh, the necklaces are nice," mutters the man, "but why would mama ny have them though?"

"i don't know love," the woman replies, her eyes fixated on a parchment-coloured paper creeping up from the cushion the necklaces were displayed on, "but i think that's a letter."

the man pulls out what seemed to be parchment, however upon opening it, the man stands bewildered, looking at what appears to be in his eyes- gibberish.

"lee, i think you're the best person to figure this out." the man says, handing the parchment to his wife, as he now holds the box containing the necklaces.

"mama wrote it. it's in hindi. and look!" leela says pointing to the ending, which appeared to be a signature, "even after mama got married to baba, she still had the habit of signing her name off with her maiden name. so she would cross it out and then rewrite our family name."

the man nodded, "that's all good stuff love, but what does the letter exactly say?"

"date: 13/11/1969

to the light of my life, my beautiful daughter,

hopefully, by the time you're reading this, sirius is my son in law and i have three beautiful grandchildren. if so, your father and brother owe me money. shame on them!

you may be wondering why you even have this letter, or why there are three necklaces in this box. and i'm here wondering why you are looking through my stuff.

i have seen a lot through my years and i fear some things would have been taken into light right now. if so i am incredibly sorry my love. i was grateful to sweet merlin that you and faizi didn't have it, however, the guarantee that your children would, was always uncertain.

i have charmed these necklaces with ancient protective spells, inhibition spells, and an essence of my very own magic. i've seen how you are and how you will be, so i thought for precautions for the little ones i would make them. it's such a shame that i'll never meet my grandchildren.

it may be hard to contain or regulate so until my magic decides that it is time for them to accept who they truly are, all will be guarded from them, so you need not worry. ensure they wear it at all times, even after they mature.

my light, i know my passing will bear no closure to you nor sirius, but know, when the time is right, all will be revealed, for you only know a small fraction of the truth.

another word of warning, whatever events have transpired prior to you finding all my keepsakes and this box, do not trust albus dumbledore. i have had the greatest displeasure in meeting him when i had first gotten married to your baba and countless other times. do not disclose with him anything which has occurred. do not tell him anything regarding our family history. he will treat you like a pawn in his game, anything for himself and the greater good.

protect the little stars and tell them their nani nyla loves them more than anything.

remember, lotus life.

unconditionally,
mama

p.s: hello sirius, take care of yourself okay? don't be the reckless little boy you were jumping onto abraxas' peacocks. tell my grandchildren stories of their grandmother, grandfather, and uncle. je t'aime beaucoup mon étoile."

silence hung in the air. it was quite potent. it was very clear that after reading the letter, the young couple were speechless needless to say.

the death of the woman's mother was so sudden and unprovoked. yet, the two could remember it as clear as day. the two nine year olds were having a sleepover at the man's (at the time, the little boy's) grandparents' house with the boy's brother and cousins, as well as the girl's brother. the girl's brother was with the two oldest black cousins, who were busy talking to the patriarch of the family and the rest of the four? well, the blonde-haired teenager was busy doing the little girl's hair and the two boys were playing with their toy horses, pretending to be knights, to 'win over' the brunette princess.

the brown-haired girl's father walked into the room, his face emotionless and stony, though a hint of sadness shone through his eyes. he called over his two children and apparated them home, his grip tightly on their hands. the news was not what the two children were expecting and it was from that day, the whole family's dynamic changed. the father could no longer look at his daughter's face as her resemblances were too uncanny to his late wife's and he could no longer stare into his son's jade green-blue eyes, as he saw his wife, not his son.

"what the actual fuck what that letter?" exclaims the man, his mouth wide open as his face is contorted into one of shock.

"all i got from that was, mama put some voodoo shit on the necklaces for 'inhibition', dumbledore is some secretive shithead and we're missing some blanks on her death?"

"don't forget the bit where she won the bet with bubbles and fai." the man says, grinning cheekily at his wife. she, in return, gives him a deadpanned look.

"yes, that too bitch boy."

"i personally think we should listen to mama ny."

"what are we going to tell dumbledore tomorrow afternoon? we can't tell him anything or trust him now according to mama."

"we'll make something up. let's talk about it tomorrow morning with everyone, makes sure our alibi is clean. because according to mama ny, it seems as though the little shit is going to use the children."

"plus we have to make sure he doesn't get into our minds. you know, he used to do it all the time in school, even now."

"so we're good yeah? lie to the most powerful wizard in the world about yesterday's events and in turn, protect the kids? sounds absolutely spiffing."

"all we have to do is make sure the children wear it at all times."

"doable, considering atlas loves wearing my jewellery, altair will be a good boy and wear it regardless and alya loves anything shiny. i wonder where she gets from." the woman turns to face her husband, only to be met with him looking intently and what looked like was drooling at the necklaces.

"what's going on?" as he snaps out of his reverie and focuses his attention back on his wife.

"nothing love," the woman says sighing, "let's just go to sleep and get ready for tomorrow morning."

the events of october 31st were honestly a day that they could not forget even if they tried.