▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

thought that 'next time' would be quite so long, child,"

Saffron blinked back the darkness that had consumed her vision and opened them slowly to see a slightly older version of her mother standing in front of her, in comparison to when she had last time, the day she and her siblings had snuck out to go to Diagon Alley over the Summer. Since then, her only encounters with the Grey had been split seconds, fuelled by moments, of what she saw to be moments of weakness.

Her mother smiled down at her and watched Saffron get to her feet, struggling immensely under the pressure and severity of what she had just witnessed.

"Why now?" Saffron asked the Grey, in annoyance. It was a sign of how far she had developed as a wizard that she was capable of being able to think about things hostility within it. Previously, her experiences had been full of questioning and answers alone, but this time, in spite of her asking a question, she was able to think about how her body was likely lying on top of two girls who had been petrified. Consequently, nobody would be able to raise the alarm of what had happened and perhaps the monster was looking for more victims as she stood there, in the Grey. "Why bring me here now? I know that it was my pain that brought me here or whatever, but there have been so many other times that I could have come here but haven't. So why now, when my friend needs me the most?"

Prina took a moment before answering. The girl version of her mother seemed to consider the answer for a second until she came to her conclusion.

"I think you know why," Prina told her softly. "Think about what could have happened if you were still conscious, you might have fallen victim to this monster you've been worrying about,"

"But now I can't tell anybody about it," Saffron replied exasperatedly. "The three of us are just going to lie there," She paused and went on to say sharply: "Let me go,"

"Saffron, I can't just let you go," Prina furrowed an eyebrow at her, suddenly starting to glow amidst the grey all around her. "No matter how much I might want to, I can't, the Grey will let you go when it wants to let you go, and I regret to tell you that it isn't time, not yet," She paused. "While we're here, we can talk, if you want to,"

"What's the point?" retorted Saffron bitterly. "You're a curse, you're not my mother,"

"Can't I be both?" Prina asked her tentatively. "After all, what I am internally is a result of what you know of me. So I see no reason why I can't at least try, seeing as I am unable to do so outside of here,"

Saffron just shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to start, I'm not even sure I want to start,"

Prina pouted. "Well, I'm here until you're not. If there's anything you wish to ask me, I can try to answer. The Grey remembers things, you see, it remembers what I was like in this form," She gestured to the body of the girl that she was inside of. "My memories consist of what you know of me and what the Grey remembers of me at this point in time. Meaning if you ask me something that I might have known at this point in time, I could answer it, or, at least try to," She paused. "I get the feeling that I'm missing the point,"

Saffron merely stared at her. Her mind was fixed on escaping the Grey but it seemed like the more she focused on it the more it felt like it was consuming her.

As she did so, her mother continued. "Perhaps I should be the one asking questions,"

With a sigh, Saffron responded with: "Ask away, it doesn't mean anything anyway,"

"Maybe not," agreed Prina. "But I think in this moment, it will, I know it will for me and when I look back to how it was when I lost my mother at a slightly older age than you, I know it would have meant a lot to me to see her again, even if it wasn't entirely her,"

Not wasting any more time, Prina began.

"Are you happy?"

Saffron blinked. Such a question threw her off guard. Quite simply because right then and there in the moment, she wasn't quite sure of her answer. But she answered, in spite of any hesitation about doing so. As the Grey was right, Saffron would have given anything to get to talk to her parents again and in the weirdest of ways, she had that opportunity. Just like she had owed it to herself to connect with Amanda, she owed it to herself to try with her mother. Even if it wasn't real.

"I--" Saffron's voice broke off the second she tried to use it, but she quickly regained her composure. "I'm not right now, with what just happened. Everything in school is awful, two of my friends have been petrified now. But most of the time, I am. The four of us love it here, me, Maya, Rachel and Rowan, we love it. It's almost like having a real home, almost,"

"I know the feeling," replied her mother with honesty. "I felt it too," She continued to question her. "What about your friends? Are they kind?"

Saffron let out a small laugh at such a question. Her mother really reflected the strangest mix of vernacular and tone from both the seventies and nineties. But nevertheless, she succumbed to her request and answered the question.

"Definitely," she nodded shortly. "There's Hermione, she's the one who's waiting for me to help her out there. She's the smartest person I've ever met, even smarter than Maya. Then there's Lavender and Parvati, we share a dormitory together and they always make me feel good about myself. I'm always smiling when I'm with them, then there's Harry," She looked up at her mother. "Lily's son,"

Prina nodded with an air of sadness. "Yes, I shared a dormitory with Lily in school," Then, the girl asked a question that had clearly been on her Grey manufactured mind. "I see that you've met Amanda,"

"Yeah, we have. It wasn't planned, but we've been talking to her ever since we sorted a few things out," Saffron informed her slowly. She noticed the sadness in her mother's misty eyes. She wasn't entirely sure if the emotion was genuine but she treated it as though it was. "She's nice,"

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Prina bracingly. "As you know, she helped me with the Grey when I was around your age. I'm glad that she can do the same for you, after all, as she went about telling you, it was her that helped me realise that there was more to the Grey than what meets the eyes. She helped me unleash what truly lay within---"

Suddenly, her mother's voice broke off as the Grey started to become brighter. Just like that, Saffron wanted to stay.

"What lay within --- what?" replied Saffron confusedly.

"Until next time, child," Prina offered her a small smile. "You have matters to attend to, and if I'm reading the room correctly, it seems that Amanda has something to do with what's next. Wish her well from me,"