“Uncle Horace raised me.” She said. Themis could only smile at the thought of her uncle and guardian. Horace Sommerville was a complex man, but he loved the stars, and he loved his niece. Themis never doubted those facts. Not wanting to dwell, but wishing to explain, she added, “My parents both died when I was three. My father was muggleborn, and my mother was disowned when she sullied the Sommerville blood.” She couldn’t help but sneer at the audacity of purists and their nonsense. “Uncle Horace was the only one that thought a halfblood toddler worth raising. He was also an astronomer.” Themis considered the years spent with her uncle, an entire life framed around someone else’s passion for the cosmos. She had been fortunate and never forgot that. Perhaps, it’s what gave her a heart for the less fortunate.
“I can’t imagine what growing up would have been like if I didn’t love the stars. My uncle both punished and rewarded me with mathematical problems and star charts. It was everything I knew. He was a good, complicated man. He would be less than pleased with our experiments. He had a very fraught relationship with his magic.” Uncle Horace was little more than a squib when it came to magical potency, his Hogwarts career difficult and long. “He cautioned that magic makes one lazy. I understand his perspective, but I cannot say I agree anymore.” Themis was unsure if she ever had agreed.
She relaxed as they stood together at the window, the past a strange ghost for them both. She had imagined her life with parents, the traditional upbringing. She also knew it didn’t mean she would have been happier. Would Nelson and Delphina Lyra have been stellar parents? Would she have ended up in a mediocre marriage anyway? Would she have a path to academia? She had many questions without a way to answer them. But she considered her son, her place as a mother. “I am sorry they did not support your talents. It would have been a waste for you to become a generic man about town.” Her face made very clear what she thought about such a fate. “Why would you want anything but happiness for your child?” She thought about, fretted over, and dreamed big for her son every day. He was her heart in ways she couldn’t describe in words, an extension of her soul and the best parts of her. What more was there than his health and happiness?
She considered his experience with his magical partners and his own description of his magic. She frowned, “Oppressive is too negative a word.” She needed a more accurate description of what she’d experienced with him. “You’re warm, almost scalding to the touch, but it wasn’t painful. It’s weighty, powerful, and fast-moving. I didn’t find a need to resist it, but I suspect trying to would be a fool’s errand. It felt like,” She stopped, considering. “I don’t know how to describe it; I just knew I was meant to reach for it.”
It would be a lie to say she didn’t take his praise to heart. His compliment earned a smile she tried to suppress, modesty making a brief appearance. “I look forward to our next adventure. I felt powerful, untouchable even. It’s intoxicating.”
“I can’t imagine what growing up would have been like if I didn’t love the stars. My uncle both punished and rewarded me with mathematical problems and star charts. It was everything I knew. He was a good, complicated man. He would be less than pleased with our experiments. He had a very fraught relationship with his magic.” Uncle Horace was little more than a squib when it came to magical potency, his Hogwarts career difficult and long. “He cautioned that magic makes one lazy. I understand his perspective, but I cannot say I agree anymore.” Themis was unsure if she ever had agreed.
She relaxed as they stood together at the window, the past a strange ghost for them both. She had imagined her life with parents, the traditional upbringing. She also knew it didn’t mean she would have been happier. Would Nelson and Delphina Lyra have been stellar parents? Would she have ended up in a mediocre marriage anyway? Would she have a path to academia? She had many questions without a way to answer them. But she considered her son, her place as a mother. “I am sorry they did not support your talents. It would have been a waste for you to become a generic man about town.” Her face made very clear what she thought about such a fate. “Why would you want anything but happiness for your child?” She thought about, fretted over, and dreamed big for her son every day. He was her heart in ways she couldn’t describe in words, an extension of her soul and the best parts of her. What more was there than his health and happiness?
She considered his experience with his magical partners and his own description of his magic. She frowned, “Oppressive is too negative a word.” She needed a more accurate description of what she’d experienced with him. “You’re warm, almost scalding to the touch, but it wasn’t painful. It’s weighty, powerful, and fast-moving. I didn’t find a need to resist it, but I suspect trying to would be a fool’s errand. It felt like,” She stopped, considering. “I don’t know how to describe it; I just knew I was meant to reach for it.”
It would be a lie to say she didn’t take his praise to heart. His compliment earned a smile she tried to suppress, modesty making a brief appearance. “I look forward to our next adventure. I felt powerful, untouchable even. It’s intoxicating.”
![[Image: Bka0H0x.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/Bka0H0x.jpeg)