It was teaming down rain, but Alexandra Dursley remained outside. The water soaked her skin, but she hardly seemed to take notice. She sat in the grass, her chin in her hand, staring out at the distance at some non-existent object. She had spent everyday of her summer vacation so far doing this: sitting in her yard for hour on end, lost in her own thoughts.

"Alexandra!" called Dudley from the house, drawing her attention back to reality. "Are you crazy? Get inside before you get sick!"

Alexandra, noticing the rain for the first time, quickly ran back to the house.

"What's going on?" Dudley asked as he tossed his daughter a towel from the hall closet. "You were just sitting out there like you were in a sort of trance."

"I was just…thinking," Alexandra replied, drying off her hair. "I was about to come in."

"Is everything alright?" Dudley frowned. "Everyday since you've gotten back from school you've just been off in the yard."

"I'm fine, dad," Alexandra told him. "I like it out there, that's all. It gives me time to think."

Dudley opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, the phone rang and Dudley made a grab for it.

"Hello?" he paused for a moment. "Are you sure?"

Alexandra frowned. Her father seemed upset with whomever he was talking to.

"But you said- Yes, I know that!"

He listened to the other end.

"Fine," Dudley said angrily. "I'll get back to you tomorrow." And with that, he slammed the phone back down.

"Dad," Alexandra said softly. "What is it?"

"It's just…my lawyer says things aren't going as great as he hoped, you know, with the whole situation with your mother," he sighed. "She's really fighting for rights to see you again, and it looks like…it looks like the courts might side with her."

Alexandra nodded.

"I'm sure I'll be able to get it all sorted out, though," he told her with a false sense of optimism. "You'll see."

"I know, dad," Alexandra nodded.

"I've got to get to work now," Dudley said, grabbing his cup of coffee from the table. "I should be back around ten tonight. There's leftover beef in the fridge. Put on something dry before you do anything, though."

He gave his daughter a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbed his umbrella, and headed out to his car. Alexandra, feeling a chill run through her spine from her damp clothing, headed to her room to change. After throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Alexandra sat down on her bed and stared outside at the dark sky.

She knew, as much as her father tried to deny it, that there was no way that he was going to win the case against her mother. Not only was Dudley far from the most successful person, her mother was no ordinary woman. Just last year, Alexandra had found out that the woman who she always just figured abandoned her was none other than Claridina Wretermoust, a Dark witch who seemed to be getting more and more powerful. It was chilling, to think that she shared blood with such a woman, and her vile son, who was just as bad as she was, even at such a young age. She had been trying over and over again to tell herself that this meant nothing, that blood meant nothing in who you would turn out to be, but so far, she had yet to convince herself.

Alexandra laid on her bed for hours, contemplating the situation at hand. She must have dozed off, because when she awoke, she heard her father coming back from work. She heard him pick up the phone, and dial who she assumed was his lawyer again.

Alexandra slowly got up from her bed. She heard Dudley yelling into the phone again. It was useless, she told herself. She was going to be forced to see her mother again.

She walked into the living room just as Dudley was hanging up the phone.

"I thought you were asleep," he said as Alexandra walked into the room. "Did I wake you?"

"No," she said. "But, dad, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Anything. What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I want to see mum."

….

AN-Well, if you're reading this, I just want to say thanks for continuing with my series! Anyway, nothing too eventful here, but this story will be moving much faster than Abnormal and Peculiar did, so just sit tight.