Blood Ties and Forsaken Hearts

introduction + author's note

A quiet lullaby. Soft, slanted moonlight peeking in from a window. An incessant trilling from cicadas outdoors. Silk pillows, weighted blankets, sturdy beds. A little girl cuddled close. Soft breaths gradually slowing and deepening as slumber descends into the room. Promises of eternal love and whispers of sweet affirmations drifting from a mother's mouth and into two little girls' ears, shielding them from the brewing storms and furies of the outside world. Warding off any thoughts that don't consist of a promised tomorrow, a guarantee that the sun shall rise again.

These are all things Reina Selwyn swears to protect.

She vows to her sister Hana that the flowers will still sing tomorrow, that the magical chalk will never run out. She reminds her that Hana is special in ways that neither girl fully understands yet. She tells her sister that there is truly nothing to worry about, that the problems of the world are nonexistent and that her girlhood deserves to last for eternity. Reina pledges to her mother Lina that her patience and efforts will be rewarded one day without a doubt, that Lina's husband cannot stay around to torment her forever. She tells her mum that it doesn't matter where in the world the family ends up as long as all three girls have each other.

She promises her father Nicholas that he will never, ever rest in peace. She swears that the rest of his life, no matter how long or short it may be, will not be spent happily. Her newfound knowledge of his foul, wicked character has fueled perhaps the most dangerous fire of vengeance anyone of her bloodline has ever felt. She swears that he will never find a woman as perfect as her mother, that he will never find satisfaction in his superiority and he will regret even thinking of doing his wife, daughters, and the vast majority of the Wizarding and Muggle world harm.

Reina promises herself that she'd never fall down the same path her mother did. She will never fall for a man who uses her unique, powerful blood for his own corrupt purposes. She swears to never lose track of her true purpose; she must keep her mother and sister happy and safe for as long as possible. She binds herself to her moral code as strictly as she can, ensuring that no matter how much immorality surrounds her, she will not succumb to degeneracy. She is better than that, she is better than her father. She lives to make her mother proud and her sister happy, and will use whatever it takes to ensure it.

______

hiii omg ok!! this is really exciting i haven't published any of my writing publicly since like middle school lol. i'm not sure how many people are actually going to read this, i'm truly just doing this for my own enjoyment and letting myself see where it all takes me :)) 

not much to say about me except that my name is sara, i'm finishing highschool and am desperately looking for something to do as a passion project before graduating (hence the fanfiction). i'm desi and muslim and am from america. i very much enjoy harry potter (obviously) and also percy jackson, several kdramas/kpop groups (kep1er <3), and an unholy amount of disney movies. i've been writing ever since elementary school (?) but have never received actual feedback or critique so that's where all this comes in basically

NOW ONTO THE BOOK

i won't even lie this wasn't supposed to be a fanfic at first i just really wanted to write about a mommy's girl with severe daddy issues as a way to vent LMAO but i recently got back into hp fanfics and decided to tweak it into one myself!! also i did not come up w the title but it stuck and now we're here. "blood ties" because of her familial issues and "forsaken hearts" for reasons unrevealed as of yet 

the book was also heeeeavily inspired by mitski's "my love mine all mine" so if you want a feel of the book's theme in song form, there you go.

i suppose i should get this out of the way first since i KNOW this is wattpad and i KNOW what most people are looking for when they start a fanfiction: this is not a romance story. the main plot does not focus on reina's love life, though it is most definitely a major sub-plot and carries large significance in regards to her character and lore. if you are looking for a spicy, romance-based fanfiction, then this is not for you. this will not have smut and will likely have minimal spice (lots of fluff though so if you're into that, stick around!). please do not complain when there is a clear warning written here at the beginning. i hope everyone is able to enjoy the story for what it is: its characters, plot, themes, messages. not as a tool for wp users to get off to.

the main character is reina selwyn. her surname comes from her father obviously but her mother gave her the name reina. ethnic background: japanese (mum) and english (dad). more on their "love story" and how they got together later so stay tuned. (lowkey wanted to make reina half south asian instead but there are no magical schools in the subcontinent so grrr). she inherited much of her facial structure from her father, including her pointed nose and faint freckles. but her eyes, dimples, smile, voice, build? those are from her mother. her goals and ambitions? from her mother. reina is described as overall quite striking; her genes obviously create quite the mix. she's got a younger sister (hana) by six years and the two are basically attached by the hip. their mum lina is nearing the verge of insanity so reina picks up the reins(a) (pls laugh that was funny). 

reina begins attending the japanese school of magic mahoutokoro at the age of 7 and proves her insane aptitude with magic instantly (but more on that later). however due to events that will soon be revealed she transfers to hogwarts at age 11 where she is sorted into slytherin and the rest is history. there is a major timeskip and the main plot picks up smack in the middle of 4th year after flashbacks end so just be prepared for that! :)

i don't want to say too much without spoiling but i've got an incredibly good feeling about this book and how it will turn out so FINGERS CROSSED it'll all be great. my sincerest apologies for yapping this long i'm proud of you for lasting this long lmao.

with all that said, please enjoy the ride! i already know for a fact that i'm going to loveee writing this <3