When Cantankerus Nott published the Pure-Blood Directory in the 1930s, he was not under any circumstance, referring to this particular branch of the Fawley family. When Deaghan Fawley broke from family tradition in scandalous fashion to marry muggleborn, Abigail Decker, in 1820, he effectively waved away all rights to the esteemed pureblood title. Since then, Deaghan Fawley’s line has continued to mix and mingle with the general wizarding population with great success, and could now only consider themselves as halfbloods.

So there was little commotion when Dennis Fawley married halfblood, Charlotte Magnus, on April 13, 1946. They had been sweethearts at Hogwarts, but waited until Grindelwald’s reign of terror had come to an end before tying the knot. They purchased a modest sized house in the village of East Portlemouth where they hoped to raise a family amongst the small, but close knit wizarding community.

And the couple seemed well on their way as five years later Charlotte finally gave birth to their first son, Martyn, in 1951. They found success again in 1954 with their second son, Damian, while three years later in the early hours of a cold December morning, welcomed their only daughter, Olivia.

Olivia, like her siblings (which would soon include another brother, Jonas), had a typical childhood. As the only girl among three boys, Olivia spent many afternoons playing Quidditch in the garden or catching sand lizards and grasshoppers out on the cliff tops. During the summer, she made friends with the children of the wizarding families who would come to holiday in nearby Salcombe. Between her brothers and her temporary playmates, Olivia managed to mostly keep herself out of trouble. If a dubious pastime was discovered, it was typically done so by Martyn, and he would manage to rein her in before either of their parents found out. While life in the village was quiet, it was a safe and idyllic place to grow up.

By age eleven, Olivia was sent to Hogwarts and was sorted into Ravenclaw, much to her dismay. She hoped to be placed into Gryffindor with her two older brothers, who also seemed surprised by her sorting. Although Olivia pleaded with the Sorting Hat, it was quick to inform her that while she may have the courage admired by Gryffindor, Ravenclaw would be the house where she would find success. With some begrudging acceptance, Olivia agreed to her sorting and made the most out of her time in the tower.

And boy did she make the most of it. While Olivia received satisfactory marks on most of her subjects, she had never been motivated by the academic prowess that gripped some of her more studious housemates. Away from the constant influence of her brothers, Olivia instead discovered her more feminine side and started experimenting with different fashion styles and beauty charms. Olivia also made an effort to build herself a very active social life among the different houses and chose to take on many of the activities on Hogwarts’s social calendar like the Halloween Masquerade and the Valentine’s Day Roses. To her this was success – she was happy, she had friends (and the occasional boyfriend), and she was having a great time.

It was during the summer before her sixth year that the first seeds of change were planted in Olivia. Martyn, who had already graduated Hogwarts and worked abroad as a dragon keeper, came home for a visit and pulled her aside for a serious talk. As a concerned older brother, he was worried that her carefree attitude would jeopardize her future. He implored with her to take her studies more seriously – that despite giving her a hard time when she was first sorted into Ravenclaw, he knew she was a resourceful and intelligent witch who was capable of so much more than she believed herself to be. At the time Olivia brushed aside Martyn’s concerns with plans to enjoy the rest of her summer, unaware that that would be the last time she would speak with Martyn in person.

The first part of sixth year was as relatively unchanged and as it was uneventful. Olivia anticipated going home for the holidays and spending time with her brothers. However, right before Christmas break, she received an owl from Martyn saying he was caught up in a job in Bolivia and wouldn’t be coming home. Slightly irritated, Olivia pushed aside her disappointment. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised – it wasn’t uncommon for Martyn’s job to keep him overseas for longer than expected and sometimes she swore he chose to stay behind with the dragons.

So another month passed. Then two more months. Now it is finally summer again and no one has heard from Martyn. The Fawleys are undoubtedly concerned about Martyn’s whereabouts; he’s never gone more than three months without checking-in with someone. They’ve reported their worries to both Magical Law Enforcement and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but the Fawleys feel as though their concerns are being minimized in place of the brewing war with the Dark Lord.

During this time, Olivia has replayed her last conversation with Martyn over and over again. She wishes she had said anything else to him rather telling him to mind his own business. It’s not that she didn’t appreciate his concern, but at the time, it wasn’t important enough to her. Plus it wasn’t like she hadn't given it some thought during her sixth year. Until Martyn’s absence became something of a concern, Olivia did start to think about life after Hogwarts. The lack of prospects seemed daunting and she wanted to talk to Martyn about things she could do – NEWTs were coming up this year after all. Now she’s afraid she won’t have the chance...