Life Like No Other
A/N: Welcome, earthlings! As per usual, I'm going to try and keep as true to the books as possible, age and date-wise (oh alright, plus a bit of creative licence).
Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own the HP universe. Leaving it with JK. Only own my OC's.
Chapter 1: Alphabetical Arrivals
"You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!"
Dr Seuss (Oh, The Places You'll Go!)
It was absolute; eleven year-old AJ loved the summer holidays. Two months of no school dedicated to travelling, visiting family, books, movies and playing football, just like any other kid would do. It was from all these activities that AJ found joy in her favourite hobby of all time; exploring. The outdoors fascinated her to no end; ever since she could remember, she'd spent many a day on fantastical "expeditions" wherever she was living. Her latest adventure was England. Since relocating with her family early in the summer, AJ had spent generous amounts of time discovering all there was to know about her new home.
One particular afternoon, the adventurous girl found herself alone and content in one of her new favourite sunny spots, a grassy hill next to a fruit orchard that overlooked the Devon County village of Ottery St. Catchpole. It was a nice town, AJ had decided; a bit greener than Cardiff city, and cooler than Barcelona, but nice enough. From the moment her glinting hazel eyes had set sight on the rolling hills and bubbling creeks, she knew they had chosen a good town. Excellent view aside, AJ laid back and returned to the Dr Seuss book she was reading, a box of animal crackers sitting close by her side. Impatiently, she brushed strands of short auburn hair out of her face as the wind picked up, and kept on with Dr Seuss.
AJ didn't know how much time had passed; she was so engrossed in her book, when out of nowhere, she heard a hollow whistling, followed by a loud THUMP! She started in alarm, nearly tearing her book in two. Rolling over, AJ's eyes found the strange object that had landed only a few feet from her. It was a large crimson ball, around the size of a football, but with three large dents in it. As AJ got up to inspect it, she noticed it looked very hard and solid, but very worn and battered. She picked up the strange ball and tapped on it; it felt and sounded very hollow indeed. How strange, AJ thought. She had never seen any ball like this before.
'Scuse me?'
The hesitant voice came out of nowhere. AJ spun on the spot and came face to face with a lean young boy with a shock of flaming red hair. He was at least a head taller than AJ, who was well below average height, but looked of a similar age. His freckled face, soft brown eyes, straight nose and smiling mouth gave him a rather friendly and easy image, even down to his rather plain clothes; a light green t-shirt, faded blue jeans and dirty grey sneakers.
'Sorry, it appears you have our ball.' he said. There was a moment of silence as AJ processed the sentence. She was unsure, however, why the boy said "our", when he was clearly the only one around.
AJ fumbled with the strange crimson ball, then looked up at the boy again. 'This is yours?' she asked.
The boy grinned and nodded. 'Yeah. D'you mind?' He nodded at the ball still in AJ's hands, which she quickly threw back to him. Catching it with ease, he mumbled a thanks and gave her a curious look.
'Funny, I've never seen you around here before. Do you live in Ottery?'
AJ nodded. 'Yeah, you know the main town?' she said, pointing in the village's direction. 'I live at Old Cribbin's Crossing. It's sort of near the Otter River. Where do you live?' she asked. The boy pointed in the opposite direction, out past the fruit orchards. AJ's keen eyes followed.
'About two miles the other way, sort've near the town.' he replied vaguely. AJ thought that a little strange; she hadn't heard of anyone living out past the orchards, she thought it was just nothing but grass. Maybe his family were farmers. The boy stared at her a bit longer, curiosity still clear in his brown eyes.
'So, what're you doing up here alone?'
'Just reading and stuff.' AJ shrugged. 'You?'
'Playing Quidditch with my brothers.' the boy answered automatically. A sudden look of horror crossed his face and he clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised his potential stupidity.
'What's Quidditch?' AJ inquired. The boy's jaw dropped.
'You-you don't know what Quidditch is?' he exclaimed, dumbfounded.
'Is it like basketball?' AJ guessed.
The boy fumbled with the ball nervously. 'Um, well…not really, I mean… what did you say your name was again?'
AJ quirked an eyebrow. 'I didn't. But people call me AJ.' she replied cautiously.
The boy mirrored her expression. 'AJ?'
'Si.' she replied in Spanish. She scrunched up her face in annoyance. 'Um, I mean, yes. What's your name?'
The boy grinned. 'I'm-'
'FRED! There you are! Charlie wondered where you'd gotten to!' another voice called from up the hill. AJ's jaw dropped at the sight of the newcomer; it was another boy, a boy who looked exactly the same as the boy she was talking to. Same fiery red hair, same freckles, nose, brown eyes, mouth, clothes, everything! AJ also noticed that he was holding a sleek wooden broom. She blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and gawked as the second boy noticed her for the first time.
.
'Hello there.' he greeted cheerily. 'Who's this?'
'This is AJ. She lives not far from here.' the first boy answered. AJ blinked again to check she was still sane.
'Wait, wait, wait! There are two of you?' she exclaimed. The boys looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter, much to AJ's confusion.
'Well yeah, that's kind of the point when you're a twin!' one of them laughed. AJ wanted to slap herself for being so slow.
'So, you're twins?' she repeated. The boys gave duplicate smiles in response.
'Identical.' they chorused.
'Right down to the last freckle.'
'Even Mum can't tell us apart. She's hopeless!'
AJ nodded, still curious to find out more. 'Okay. So, what are your names?'
The boy on the left answered first. 'Well, I was going to tell you before my brother here interrupted. I'm Fred Weasley. And this here-'
'Is George Weasley. Nice to meet you…AJ, was it?'
'AJ Xavier-Walsh.' she said more confidently. The twins shared a glance, then turned back at AJ.
'Some name you got there.' said Fred. Or, no- wait, was it George? AJ had forgotten already.
'It's long enough without the "AJ", and all my middle names.'
'What's the AJ stand for?' George asked.
AJ replied automatically, 'Not telling.'
'Why not?' demanded George.
'Is it too embarrassing?' Fred teased.
'No!' exclaimed AJ defensively. It's just… really long- that's all.'
'How long?' the twins asked.
'Most letters of the alphabet, long enough I guess.' AJ confirmed, with a hint of pride. Despite the ridiculous length of her full name, she knew no one else who could rival it.
One of the twins gave a low whistle. 'Wow. It must be some name.'
'You sure you don't wanna tell us?' said the other twin.
'No.' AJ replied firmly. 'It's fun to make people guess. How old are you?' turning the conversation back on them.
The boys cracked their identical twin grins again. 'Eleven.' they answered.
AJ smiled brightly. 'Really? Me too!' Fred and George both raised their eyebrows in surprise.
'Birthday?' AJ demanded before the boys could ask.
'April first. You?' they replied.
'June first!' she exclaimed excitedly. 'Weird, huh?'
'I reckon.' said Fred.
'Two month's difference.' added George.
'That's pretty cool.' finished AJ.
The three of them looked at each other, very pleased with how easily they were getting along. After a while, AJ noticed something out of place.
'What's with the broom? Were you sweeping the grass to play basketball or something?' she asked George. The boy looked confused.
'What's baske-' but before he could finish his reply, Fred cut him off.
'No! Our Mum was making us do chores when we wanted play outside. So we tried to combine the two.' he explained in in one breath. George stared at his twin, catching on in an instant.
'Yeah. Keeps things interesting.' he added. AJ nodded, unsure whether to believe them or not. But she didn't press it. Before she could continue the conversation, a distant, but firm male voice shouted from a distance.
.
'FRED! GEORGE! GET YOUR IDENTICAL TWIN ARSES BACK HERE NOW! WE WAN TO FINISH THIS GAME SOMETIME TODAY, THANK YOU!'
All three of them started and looked over to the next hill, where a much taller boy was waving his arms high above his head. Fred and George gave AJ apologetic smiles.
'Ah, sorry. That's our brother, Charlie.' Fred exclaimed with a slight chuckle.
'Yeah, he's probably ready to kill us for taking ages to find this old thing.' George added, pointing to the battered red ball with an unashamed grin.
AJ nodded. 'That's okay. I should go soon anyway.' She went to put her book and cracker-box in her rucksack, but kept her eyes on the twins in case they disappeared suddenly. 'Will I see you again maybe?' they shrugged.
'Who knows?'
'Chances are.'
'Try and find me next week. We could go exploring or something.' AJ suggested. Maybe they could even be friends, she thought. She wouldn't mind that, after all, she still didn't know many children her own age in town.
'We might just see you around then.' Fred said, with George nodding in agreement.
AJ waved in goodbye as they set off down the hill.
'Adiós! Nos vemos otra vez!' she called.
The twins grinned at AJ's enthusiastic use of Spanish. 'See ya AJ!' they chorused, before disappearing from sight. AJ decided to make her own way home as the afternoon drifted by, so her parents didn't send out a search party for her. Things couldn't have been better, she had moved to a fantastic new home, and she'd just made two new friends- twins no less! She had no idea what else lay in store for her, but with Fred and George, it was bound to be exciting.
Reviews are like hugs.
G.