Full Summary: Camellia Avery, from a family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, starts her academic life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1989. Despite her complex yet dark family background, she immediately befriends with her fellow Housemates, and eventually, shares a romantic relationship with Cedric Diggory. Follow her seven-year-journey as the Dark Lord returns, along with his merciless regime. With this unpredictable new character and her family, how will the fate of the entire wizarding world change?

Disclamer: This is all Jo's... Except, of course, the OCs, which belongs to me (this definitely includes the Averys)
Honestly, if HP is my, I'll make sure that Cedric have a Happily-Ever-After... He just doesn't deserve to die and stuff...

So... because this is my first ever legit FanFic, it may not be as polished as the other Cedric x OC FanFics but I'll try my best. Also, please review and let me know what you like and dislike, also, what you would like me to change / include / exclude.

PS. I know that this chapter is pretty short, but that's because this is the preface and not an actual chapter.

Please Enjoy!

Preface: The Introduction to an Everlasting Journey

August 15, 1989. Avery Mansion.

"Well, come on now little sis, open up your presents." The twelve years-old Alex Avery is quite handsome for his age. His somewhat choppy hazel hair, along with his fair skin, seems to glow in the sunlight; above all, his eyes are the shades of dark aquamarine.

His younger sister, Camellia, however, have a straight shower of pale hazel that flows down her back, stopping at her waist. Her eyes, a few shades lighter than her brother's, are shaped like moon crescents as she smiles. She simply ignores her brother and simply asks: "Where's Rosy?", and begins to walk over to the large pile of presents that sits beside the empty fireplace.

"I don't know," Alex shrugs, "but honestly, what do you expect? She's probably just playing her boring little dolls somewhere." Camellia rolls her eyes at her older brother, "That's just a rude comment."

"Whatever."

Returning her full attentions to the presents, Camellia randomly chooses a nicely wrapped gift and begins tearing the fabric. The first present, from her grandparents, is a beautiful goblin-made silver necklace, an heirloom of her family, the most honoured House of Avery. She silently thanks her grandparents, who are not present at the moment.

Then, suddenly, an ill-fed looking owl appears at the opened window and hoots loudly. Dropping everything, Camellia runs quickly towards the owl and grabs the letter and roughly tears through the rough yellowish made-of-parchment envelop with hands shaking from excitements; the letter reads:

She quickly turns towards her brother, "Alex, Look! It finally came!" she squeals at her brother.

Alex rolls his eyes and responds, "Congrats", in a monotone voice.

The Next Day, at the Entrance of Diagonal Alley

"Alex, where do you reckon we start?" Camellia asks her brother while checking the supply list.

"I would suggest Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, since the robes would take a while, with the overwhelming demands." Alex answers while joggling the money bag that he had received earlier from their parents, who are too busy to accompany them.

"You are the boss." Camellia obediently followed her brother.

Few hours later

"Well, that's everything else. You should just go inside alone; Mr. Ollivander can be a bit creepy… so I'll just wait for you outside." Without looking at his younger sister, Alex gently places their new materials on the cracked, old wooden bench that was beside him.

Normally Camellia would laugh at his brother's cowardliness, but she was too busy worrying. For wizards and witches, the most important object one could ever own was one's wand. Although, as a pureblood, Camellia knows that the wand chooses the wizard, for her case, the witch, but she wishes for a wand with a core of a phoenix tail feather. Just like her brother.

Now, she would be getting her wand.

Camellia slowly turns the rusty old doorknob of the shabby shop and walks in. A tinkling bell rings somewhere in the depth of the shop as she stepped inside. The low flickering lights causes the shop to be quite dark and paint on the walls had started peel off. She looks around for a single living soul while walking towards the counter.

"Hello?" she says with a voice no louder than a whisper.

"Well, good afternoon." says soft voice that had startled Camellia; she jumped slightly. It seemed to her that Alex was right; Mr. Ollivander is a bit spooky.

Then she heard quick yet quiet footsteps towards her direction. An old man stands before her, his wide, pale eyes shines like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Oh, well, um, good afternoon Mr. Ollivander." Camellia slightly moves back a little. She feels a bit awkward, with Mr. Ollivander's silvery eyes staring at her.

"I trust that your wand arm is your right?" Mr. Ollivander asks and after seeing his costumer's light nod, pulls a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"Hold out your arm now," Mr. Ollivander slightly nods towards Camellia's right arm, "That's it." He measured Camellia from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head. As he measures, he says, "It seems only yesterday that your parents and brother were here, buying their first wand. Your father, twelve and a half inches long, swishy, made of ivy with a fine unicorn tail hair. Excellent wand for charm work, especially defensive ones."

After the old man finishes with the measuring, he swiftly moves back to his shelves.

Unexpectedly, the old man is able to move swiftly from shelf to shelf. He continues, "While your mother's wand is quite flexible and is eleven inches, dragon heartstring, if I recall correctly. A little more powerful than your father's in offensive charm work, but of course, it's also excellent. Then there's your brother: a very fascinating combination; thirteen inches and fairly springy, made of rowan and a single feather of a particular fine male phoenix."

"Right then, Ms. Avery. Try this one. Cedar and dragon heartstring, twelve and three-quarters, pleasantly springy," he offers a dark, curved wand's handle to Camellia. Then, just when Camellia is in contact with the wand, he adds, "No, no. Not this one. Definitely not," and snatches it away from her.

"Now, now, here— vine and unicorn hair, eleven inches, swishy. Try this—"Mr. Ollivander immediately takes the wand back before she had the chance to properly try it.

The small mountain of tried wands and its boxes were piling up on the counter table, but it seems that the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulls from his shelves, the happier he becomes; which seems quite odd to Camellia.

As Camellia was lost in her thought, Mr. Ollivander disappears for a minute or so. As he returned, Camellia looks curiously at what he was so carefully holding. Unsurprisingly, it is another wand box. Except, this time, the box is different. Judging from its thick layers of dust, the box is definitely older, but the box was also fancier. Silver, gold, and different gemstones decorated the ancient box with complex patterns.

"I wonder… but why not. The other wand cores definitely didn't suit her." Mr. Ollivander mumbled quietly to himself as he hands his young customer this special wand.

Eager to try this wand, Camellia quickly takes the wand and firmly holds it, preventing Mr. Ollivander to take the wand again. Different from the previous wands she had tried, Camellia can feel streams of electricity beneath her fingertips. As she lightly waves the wand in the dusty air, a stream of gentle, yet visible, breeze unleashes. It quickly swirls around her and dances around her before disappearing into the tip of the wand.

"Fascinating… Ms. Avery, this wand has a single thestral tail hair. Twelve inches, pleasantly supple and is made of hazel wood. A very, very curious combination… Anyways, that's seven Galleons please."

Camellia leaves the shop with a very distracted mind. She never heard of wands with thestral tail hair, but she also doesn't want to ask her brother about it, since it is quite private. Whatever, she thought, school will be starting in less than half a month, so I'll be able to do some research in the library. Alexander had told her earlier that Hogwarts have one of the biggest collections of books in the wizarding world of Britain and she is definitely excited to visit it herself.