Moving these stories to wattpad. Might stop updating here because I'm tired of the drama from that other writer. I haven't decided yet, but if you're interested just PM me. Either I'll update on both sites, but if they keep it up, I might just remove the stories from here.
A/N: The characters are all grown up, and have children. This is Hayden, Ben and Ashley's stepsons story. Hayden is an OC. He goes to school with the next generation characters but doesn't really interact with them. This is his first year.
Anyway, I wrote New Beginning years ago, but then I moved it to a blog. I started this story just for fun while I worked on better projects. However, as much as it was just for fun, I grew to enjoy writing about these characters. So whenever I have writers block on my real stories, or even when I am feeling stressed, I write about these characters lives. Many people might not enjoy this since it's OC and all but this story as bad as it might be actually got me through stressful times. Whenever I was feeling upset, I would think about some happy things happening to them or even bad things. I would sit down, and write about them. I logged back onto this site recently and saw some recent requests for this story. So I've decided to resurrect it here since some people don't want to read it on my blog.
Hayden's first year
"I can't believe we won't be back here next year," Minnie said to me as she lingered behind our classmates to gaze around the empty classroom.
"But we'll be starting Hogwarts next year," I reminded her. "I've been wanting to go to Hogwarts since Ashley told me about it. We'll finally be able to do magic! I can't until I can finally have my own wand."
"I'm excited for Hogwarts too," Minnie said to me. "But I am going to miss this school too. I am going to miss Trevor too. He can be a pest but I'll miss him. Hayden, aren't you going to miss Alyssa and the twins and Hailey?"
"Yes but I don't have to worry about that until the end of the summer," I told her. "Speaking of Alyssa and the twins, I have to go pick them up. Ellen is picking us up today."
"I'm going on the bus," Minnie said but she didn't move.
"Come on Minnie," I said. "Normally you're happy on the last day of school. Let's go. I can't keep the kids waiting, and you don't want to miss the bus."
I tugged on her arm, and she finally moved forward. I didn't understand how she could be so sad about being done primary school. Wasn't she happy that we were finally going to do magic? We'd been talking about it for as long as I could remember. I'd already managed to do magic on my own, but Ben and Ashley didn't know this. They usually left their wands laying around. They trusted us enough to believe that we wouldn't touch them. I could do some spells already. I just couldn't wait until I was actually allowed to do it myself and with my own wand.
Minnie and I left the classroom and went into the corridors. We found Alyssa, Michelle, Clarissa, the twins and Trevor all waiting for us. I was relieved about this. I didn't want to go to each classroom to pick them up. I resented the fact that I had to do it at all. They could get around on their own, I didn't see why I had to get them everyday and I was glad that it was the last time I had to worry about it.
"It's about time," Michelle said to me. "What were you two doing in there? We saw your class leave ages ago."
"Michelle, you know you could have just taken the kids outside to meet Ellen," I told her. "Next year you will be anyway."
"I did go outside first," Michelle told me. "Mum told me to come inside and get everyone, so I did."
I'd never really liked Michelle. I wasn't sure why it was. She wasn't too annoying or anything, but we'd just never connected too well. Sometimes I felt she acted a bit too young for her age, but otherwise I couldn't pinpoint what it was that I disliked about her. It was just most of our lives I never wanted to really hang out or play with her.
"Well lets go then," I said. "I'm sure Ellen is getting impatient," and I turned to Minnie. "I'm sure I'll see you soon Minnie."
"Hopefully. Write to me on the parchment when you can," Minnie told me as she took a hold of Trevor's hand.
I started to walk towards the exit and the others followed behind me. Cameron ran up to take a hold of my hand. He'd always been very clingy and a little anxious. He was getting better than he used to be, but at times it could be annoying. I didn't mind at the moment that he was holding my hand, but other times it could be embarrassing. I couldn't understand why he and William were so different when they were twins.
Technically they really weren't my brothers and sisters, but I still thought of Alyssa, the twins and Hailey as my younger siblings. I knew that they all looked up to me as an older brother. Alyssa had always loved me and I knew it bothered her that I was leaving soon for Hogwarts. I loved them all, but Hailey was the one I worried about the most. Ashley had almost lost her when she was pregnant with her, and then she had been born premature. Sometimes she got sick easily but she also seemed to be a fighter. While the other kids whined and complained when they were sick, Hailey didn't and she was only two years old. Alyssa cried as if she were in horrible pain and she was seven!
I'd been living with them for almost three years now. Ashley and Ben were my godparents. Shortly before my ninth birthday, my real mum had decided she didn't want me anymore. It still bothered me to this day that my own mother would give up on me. I didn't feel as angry as I had when it first happened, but sometimes I would get furious about it. I would never forget the day when she told me that she couldn't raise a magical child anymore. She'd been pregnant at the time as well, and she'd told me that she didn't want my brother or sister to know about me either.
"But if you want to visit sometimes Hayden you can. We will just tell your brother or sister that you're just a friend of the family, but I never want the baby to know about the magic."
"No mum. If you don't want me anymore, I am not coming back. I want my brother or sister to know me as their brother."
Minnie had been with me when mum had broke the news to me. She'd always been my best friend and I had needed her support, and I knew she wanted to be there too. Before then, I'd been living with Ashley and Ben full time but I'd never expected it to be permanent. I'd asked to stay there because mum kept yelling at me for accidental magic. She'd kept telling me how much of an embarrassment I was and that she was worried I'd drive her boyfriend away. So I'd written to Ashley to ask if I could stay with her for a bit. I hadn't realized at the time that it would be a forever move.
At times I actually preferred the fact that I was staying with them. I could be myself more than I was able to with mum. We also now lived in a mansion and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it. I had my own room with my own bathroom. We had a pool that we turned into an indoor pool in the winter. The backyard was so huge that I had to make sure Hailey wouldn't get lost if I took her outside. Every year I usually had a pool party with my friends and our house certainly could support all the people. I loved having a family, but at times I still wished I had my mother. Why was it that Ashley could take me in and love me as if I were her own child, but my mother couldn't?
With Ashley and Ben I also had a huge extended family of cousins (including Minnie) who all loved me. Ben's parents treated me as if I were their own grandchild and so did Ashley's parents. Even Ellen's parents treated me as if I were their own kid. I knew I had plenty of love in my life, and I knew there was always someone who wanted me around but it still didn't take away the pain. I still had fantasies that mum would come back into my life, and she'd take me back. I would meet my brother or sister who would be about the age that Hailey was now.
Sometimes I still had to see a therapist (or a mind healer as Ben called her) and she helped me a lot. I was able to talk to her about things that I had a hard time talking to Ashley or Ben about, or even Minnie. She was so easy to talk to and she knew more about me than sometimes my godparents knew. At times I felt I could even talk to Michael about those things as well. He'd gone through something similar with his parents, so he knew how it felt.
I didn't like to admit it, but when it first happened I blamed muggles for it. I knew now that not all muggles were bad of course. Ashley's parents and sister were muggles and they were nice to me. I'd met other muggles who were nice through my muggleborn friends at school. I knew it had been a bad thing to think when it came to muggles, but for a while I'd hated them. My own muggle mother had abandoned me because of magic. We had to keep magic secret from muggles, so back then I just saw them all as the enemy.
It wasn't really until Ashley almost lost Hailey that I really sat down and thought things through. It wasn't just Hailey I thought was gone, but Ashley too. It had been a scary time. I'd already lost one mother and I was scared to lose another. Ashley had gone to fight some evil wizards Halloween night and had been hit by too many spells.
She hadn't known at the time that she was pregnant. I was sure if she'd known that she would never have gone. After that fight, she'd been tired all the time and depressed. She and Ben had always promised to tell me the truth after what happened with mum, and so when I'd asked her what happened she been truthful with me. She told me she'd lost her baby and it was then that I started to realize that muggles weren't the bad ones. It was just certain people in general who could be bad.
Thankfully she found out that she hadn't lost Hailey after all, and she ended up getting better. It wasn't until a few months after Hailey was born that she finally did magic or got her energy back, but I'd been relieved to see my godmother back to her old self. Hailey had also grown up normally, even if sometimes she got sick too easily. All of us were protective of her though, even Alyssa and the twins and they didn't know the full truth about everything.
Now all my anger was mainly directed at my mother. I had many written letters to her that would never be sent. If I truly wanted to contact her I could, all I had to do was get an owl. At times I believed I should do just that. Ashley and Ben knew about my letters and they told me that I just had to let them know if I wanted to write her. I had many things I wanted to say to her now that I was older. At the age of almost nine I hadn't been able to say the right things. Now I was almost twelve and I knew exactly what I wanted to say to her. I even considered writing to her when I got to Hogwarts. Ashley and Ben didn't own an owl but I knew there was an owlery at Hogwarts.
I wondered often if she ever thought about me. Did she miss me? Did she regret her decision to give me up? I knew that Ashley and Ben had told her never to contact me again, and maybe that's why she hadn't contacted me. Perhaps it would be up to me to do it. Ashley had told me recently that it was up me if I ever wanted to talk to her someday.
"I just hope you won't be too disappointed if she doesn't want to talk to you," she had told me.
I already knew I could expect that however. Mum had already hurt me so much by abandoning, she couldn't hurt me anymore than she'd already had. There was a chance she wouldn't reject me again though. Maybe she was just scared to contact me because she was scared to. Of course I'd be angry with her at first, but I wanted her in my life enough that I knew eventually I could forgive her. She would just have to prove herself to me.
All this was on my mind on the last day of Primary school. I was deep in thought as I led the kids outside. Ellen was waiting off to the side by our van. I could see Hailey strapped in her car seat. She started to wave to us with a big grin on her face. Ellen usually worked from home, so a lot of the time she came to pick us up in our Van. Other times we just took the bus and went home. Ashley and Ben had decided that year I was old enough to look after the kids at home while they were at work. It's what I would be doing that night. Even though I had to keep an eye on the kids, I just hoped they wouldn't bother me too much.
All I really wanted to do was just be by myself. Thankfully I wouldn't have to look after the kids for too long. Ashley and Ben didn't usually work past five.
"Can I go over to your house to play?" Alyssa asked Ellen as soon as we spotted her.
"That's up to Hayden," Ellen said as she nodded at me.
Another thing about me watching the kids was that I could make the decisions for them. I loved it when Ashley or any of the adults told them that they had to ask me first. It showed that they truly did trust me. All of the adults seemed to trust me with their kids, and I was glad that most of them no longer saw me as a little boy anymore.
"Please can I go over and play with Clarissa," Alyssa said now turning to me.
Sometimes the older children such as Alyssa, Clarissa, Charles and Michelle found this to be annoying. They hated to ask me when at times they saw me as another kid. It had taken Alyssa a while to get used to that transition, but Ashley had started that when Alyssa was around four or five. So by this point she was used to it, but sometimes I thought she looked annoyed that she had to listen to me. Michelle absolutely hated it because she wasn't that much younger. She'd just turned nine in March and she was now seeing herself as a 'big' girl and not one of the kids. I could understand in a way. It was around that age I'd started to think the same way. However, at times when she complained about it, I enjoyed lording my authority over her.
I was actually glad that Alyssa wanted to go over to Ellen's. It was one less kid to look after, and sometimes Alyssa wanted Clarissa to come over. The twins always managed to amuse themselves and it didn't take much to keep Hailey busy. I could even likely take them all outside and they'd be fine. It was a nice enough day out. William and Cameron could keep themselves entertained outside for hours, and it was always difficult to convince them to come inside. That really just left me with Hailey who was usually the easiest child to sit for.
"Sure," I told her. "You just know you have to be home by five."
"Yeah!" She and Clarissa shouted at the same time.
"Well come on, get in the van," Ellen said. "I still have some work to do."
"Where is Elliot?" Clarissa asked as she climbed into the van.
"At Michael's and Shelly's. Hailey wanted to see you lot so I let her come, otherwise I would have just left there too."
"Ooh can we go play over there?" Clarissa asked.
"Not today," Ellen said. "Shelly has enough to do without adding the two of you over there. She doesn't mind taking Hailey and Elliot sometimes, but you know she has a baby to look after too."
"We won't get in the way over there," Alyssa said. "And Michael is Clarissa's godfather you know."
"Alyssa," I said with irritation as I waited for the kids to climb inside the van. "You said you were going to Clarissa's. Ellen already said no to the two of you going to Michael's. You can wait until later to go over there."
"I want to see the new baby!" Alyssa said to me angrily.
"If you keep arguing you can go up to your room," I told her.
"That goes for you too Clarissa," Ellen said giving me an appreciative look.
I smiled at her and then climbed into the front with her.
"What's going on with you?" Ellen asked as she glanced into the back to make sure everyone was buckled into.
"What do you mean?" I asked her as I buckled my own seatbelt.
"You're not very good at hiding your emotions. Ashley has always been the same way. I can tell that something is bothering you," she told me.
"I was just thinking about mum," I answered her.
"Hayden," Ellen said and she shook her head before she started up the van.
"I know I shouldn't think about her, but sometimes it's hard," I said to her. "It's my last day of primary school and she has to know I am starting Hogwarts in September. Sometimes I think she must be wondering about me."
"I'm sure she wonders about you too, but Hayden whenever you think about your mum, it puts you in a mood. You should be happy right now. It's your last day of school and I know soon that Ashley wants to take you to get your wand. You should be thinking about that instead of Rachel," she said to me.
"But it should be mum who goes with me to get my wand," I told her as she pulled out of the school parking zone. "It should be her who drops me off at Hogwarts."
"It should be but it won't be," Ellen said to me. "I'll tell you this much though. I wasn't abandoned as you were but for years my dad did ignore me and Timmy. The more I thought about it, the more I would be in a bad mood. I would take it out on my friends and there was a few times when I almost lost them. Michael was the same way when it came to his own parents."
I'd never known that about Ellen. I knew she had a good relationship with both her mother and father so I had a hard time believing that her father had ignored her. He even treated me really well when he saw me. Usually when he came for a visit, he had treats for all of us.
So I asked: "What do you mean your father ignored you?"
Ellen pulled into the London traffic but I knew we wouldn't be there for long. I never knew if they were just all really good drivers, or if they had done something to the van. All I knew was that we always managed to bypass all the traffic. I had to wonder if they'd done something, and if they had I knew it was illegal. Ashley and Ben both worked in the Ministry so I was surprised if they had done something. Wizards weren't supposed to charm things like cars or other muggle artifacts.
"My dad was scared of the wizarding world. He's muggleborn as you know and when you-know-who took over, we all had to go into hiding. I think he felt that magic had betrayed him somehow because for about three or four years he tried in integrate back into the muggle world. He couldn't do it though, and eventually he came back into our lives. It was actually when I got pregnant with Michelle that he changed his mind and got involved with us. For those years that he tried to go back to a muggle, he didn't talk to Timmy or me. He even moved in some muggle woman and her little girl into our house. I was so angry, and I'd taken it out on my friends. I just don't want to see you go down the same road. I'm sure even Michael has told you what happened when he brooded about his parents," Ellen explained to me. "I hate what Rachel did to you, but I don't want it to destroy you either. You're an amazing young man. It's understandable that it bothers but I just hate seeing you get in this mood."
I didn't say anything at first. I knew what she was telling me was true. Everyone had been telling me this for years. Michael had told me exactly what he'd put his friends through when he was about my age. I knew that they'd had a huge fight in their second year because of him. I knew that he'd almost lost his friendship with my godmother and that he hadn't treated her well. There were times when I'd taken it out on Minnie, and I always felt bad. I didn't want to be that guy, so I did do my best not to dwell on my situation. At times such as today it was hard not to.
If mum hadn't abandoned me, I would be going home to her excitedly about how it was my last day of Primary school. She must have been thinking and wondering about me. All I wanted to do was talk to her again.
"What are you thinking?" Ellen asked as managed to get down a side street that would eventually take us to the back roads. I really was starting to think the car was illegally charmed. I had a godmother who worked in the Experimental Charms office and a godfather who was good with magic. London was hard to get through at the best of times, but at three in the afternoon on a Friday it was even worse. People could be stuck in traffic for hours and yet we always managed to bypass it all no problem. I would never have believed it from either of them. Not that I disapproved, I found it amusing but I always found Ashley and Ben to be rule followers.
"I just want to talk to her again," I finally said. "I want to know what she thinks about, especially now. She can't have forgotten that I'll be starting Hogwarts soon."
"Well Hayden, that is something you'll have to talk to Ashley and Ben about," Ellen said and she glanced at me. "Are you going to be okay watching the kids? I remember back when I was your age, I would want to just be by myself at times. I was twelve when my parents got divorced. I can take the twins to my place, and drop Hailey back off at Michael's and Shelly's."
"You'd do that for me?" I asked her with surprise.
"I understand wanting to be alone, and sometimes the last thing I wanted to do was look after Timmy or be around my friends," Ellen answered. "I know Ashley and Ben would understand too. If you feel that you need to be alone until they come home, I will be happy to look after the kids. I just don't want you to lock yourself away too much honey. Always know that Michael or me will always be there to talk to you. Ashley and Ben will as well, but they never went through the hurt you did... well Ashley did in a way with her father but she was so young when that happened. She didn't know the truth until she was seventeen. All I am saying is we are all here for you, even if you just see us as pesky adults. We do actually get what you're going through on some level."
"Well I appreciate it," I told her. "I would rather just be alone right now. I know I need to spend time with the kids," and I glanced back at them. None of them were paying attention to our conversation. Alyssa and Clarissa were laughing together. The twins were playing some kind of hand game and Michelle was talking to Hailey. "Soon I won't see them for months at a time, but today I just need to be by myself."
"Then I'll look after the twins too, and I know Shelly will be happy to see Hailey again," Ellen said.
So Ellen did just that. Even though they were all adults, I was surprised that they did understand me at times. Maybe it was because they'd been so young themselves when they had become parents. Ashley had been sixteen when she'd become my godparent and she was only twenty when she'd had Alyssa. So perhaps they could all just relate to me better than an older parent could. They remembered their teen years well enough, and how they'd felt at my age.
I loved having the big old house to myself. We had a television, which wasn't something you often found in wizarding homes. Usually the magical interference could stop them from working properly. However, ours always seemed to work fine even with all the underage magic. At times we worried that it would blow up when the twins had their tantrums but it always survived.
So when I got home, I opened the fridge to see what kind of snack that Ashley left for us. Usually it was something healthy and I wasn't surprised to see that it was a veggie and fruit platter. I took it out and filled up a plate for myself before I put away. I then walked into the living room where I sat on the couch and lost myself into afternoon cartoons. Even though I was almost twelve, and I should have been too old for them, I still enjoyed watching some of them. I felt cartoons were the best way to put me in a better mood. While I munched on some vegetables and watched an American cartoon called Animaniacs, I felt myself relax.
I was actually shocked when the younger kids ran into the house over an hour later. I glanced at the clock on the wall to see that it was after five.
"Can we put on Bugs Bunny?" Alyssa asked as she jumped on the couch beside me.
"If you can find it, and don't jump on the couch," I told her.
"We want to watch the Ninja Turtles!" Cameron said.
"No, I want to watch Bugs Bunny!" Alyssa said.
"It's two against one!" William told Alyssa.
"Nope, Hayden hasn't said what he wants to watch, and Hailey hasn't either," Alyssa said.
"Hayden would rather watch Ninja Turtles!" William told her and then looked at me. "Right?"
"I don't really care," I said, "but I do know everyone here likes Bugs Bunny. Why not put something on that everyone wants to watch? I know Hailey likes Bugs Bunny too."
I glanced over at Hailey who wasn't even paying attention. She'd gone straight to the box of toys that Ashley and Ben kept in the living room. She was currently pulling some out to play with.
"You want to watch Bugs Bunny?" William asked me.
I knew that if I said yes that the battle would be won. The twins usually wanted to do what I wanted to do. So I gave a nod and then glanced at Alyssa who wore a big grin on her face. She gave me a wink so I wondered if she understood what I was doing. I didn't want a conflict at the moment, and I did know that both William and Cameron liked Bugs Bunny as well. I felt it was easier to do it this way than to have the kids all fight.
"Okay, we'll watch Bugs Bunny," William told Alyssa. "Only because Hayden wants to though."
"Hayden," Ashley said appearing in the doorway. "Can you please some in the kitchen. We want to talk to you."
I felt a little nervous as I got up. I hoped I wasn't going to be in trouble for passing up on my baby-sitting duties. I scanned her face to see if she looked upset with me but she didn't. She seemed almost unreadable however. I walked over to her and she put a hand on my shoulder, so I assumed I couldn't be in too much trouble.
We walked into the kitchen where Ben was sitting at the Island in the middle, and eating some of the veggies and fruit from the platter. I walked over to sit with him. At the counter was our house elf Mully that they hired to work around the house. She didn't live with us full time. Ashley didn't feel the need to have one around full time. In the beginning, Ben had a hard time convincing her to even get one. Mully usually came around for our meal times during the week and then every other day to clean.
There was a shelter where free elves lived. Hermione Weasley had set it up a few years ago. If wizards wanted to hire them, they could go there and pick one out. Apparently the elves could work at more than one home if they wanted, or they would stick to one family. Some people even let them move in with them full time. Our house elf had other families it took care of, but Ashley hadn't wanted one full time because she felt she could do some of the cooking and cleaning herself on weekends. She'd decided just to get help during the weekdays. It had been a decision she'd made shortly after Hailey had been born.
The shelter was basically a safe haven for elves who had either been abused by their previous owners, or ones who had been freed. Some of them worked for free while others were paid. Ashley had insisted on paying Mully. Some elves were insulted by the very thought of being paid, and some refused to work for wizards who wanted to pay them. It had taken Ben a while to actually find Mully. We'd been taught from the beginning to respect her and treat her well. It wasn't a lesson I needed, but sometimes Alyssa or the twins could act spoiled. Ashley had already told Mully that if any of us demanded that she do things for us, to say no.
"Hungry?" Ben asked me as he pushed the platter of fruit and vegetables over to me.
"I had some when I got home," I said but I reached to grab a carrot anyway.
Ashley sat down at the counter as well. I was beginning to surpass her in height. I was sure given another year or two I'd be much taller than her. At the moment we were maybe the same height, but I might have been a little taller. It seemed strange to me when not too long ago I'd actually been shorter than her. Most of my life I'd looked up to her and soon enough I'd be looking down at her.
"So Ellen told us you needed some time to yourself," Ashley said once she was settled. "She said you would like to write to Rachel."
I nodded. "I was thinking about her again today. I'm sure she knows that I am going to start school soon. You haven't heard from her have you?"
I knew that Ashley and Ben would never deliberately hurt me, but I also knew they might have felt they were protecting me by not telling me. I would be angry if they had kept that information from me. I had the right to know when mum wanted to talk to me.
"You know we'd never keep that from you Hayden," Ben said to me. "We've always promised to be honest with you. If Rachel has tried to contact us, she hasn't been able to."
"But we're also okay with you writing to her," Ashley added to me. "You're going to be twelve years old soon. We don't think it is the best idea," and she hesitated, "but we also don't want to forbid you from trying to contact your mother. I know if it were me, I would want to talk to my father if he had just walked out instead of committing suicide."
I didn't know the details about her dad, but I did know he had killed himself. It wasn't information she'd offered to me on her own. I'd overheard her talking about it a year ago and I'd asked her about it. She didn't know much about him either. She'd been a little kid when it had happened. I'd asked her why she hadn't told me since she too understood how it felt to have a parent abandon you. Her situation was even worse because she could never contact him again. She'd explained that she hadn't felt it was something to share with a child my age quite yet.
"I think I do want to write to her," I said. "I mean, the worst she can do is ignore it right? She can't hurt me anymore than she already has," it was something I'd told them more than once.
"Well unfortunately, the only way I think we can get a hold of her is with an owl," Ashley told me. "I tried contacting her once on the message parchment but she never got back to me. I am assuming she got rid of it years ago just as she said she would."
"Probably," I said as I thought back to the times I'd written to her as well.
"So we'll have to time it perfectly. You've never really had to use an owl because you've always had your message parchment but they are very smart animals. When I take you shopping in Diagon Alley, I think that will be the best time to do so. They have a post office there, and we can tell the owl not to deliver the message to her unless she is alone," Ashley told me.
"You could also send her another message parchment so that she can write back to you that way. It's been years since she has used an owl," Ben added.
"My mum used owls?" I asked him with surprise.
"We used to write back and forth to each other all the time," Ashley told me.
"Hayden, I know that you say you can handle the disappointment but I hope you do prepare yourself for this. She could either ignore you, or she could send you a rude message back," Ben said to me.
"She might even take it out on us," Ashley added. "She told us never to contact her again."
"You also have to decide what you want to do if she does want to talk to you," Ben said to me. "It could be a very complicated situation if she does decide she wants you back. We would never stop you from going back to your mother, but there are complications considering we have full custody of you. I am not sure how it works when a parent decides they want their child back. The Ministry might even decide that she is an unfit parent since she gave up on you. It took a lot work since muggles had to be involved as well."
"I'll figure that out if it comes to that," I told Ben. "I am not writing to her because I want to go home. I don't even know what I'd say if she said I could. Sometimes I think I'd want to go back, but other times I don't think I could. Not after what she did to me. I feel angry with her and I think I will be for a long time. I just want to talk to her before I got to Hogwarts."
"Well we are here for you every step of the way," Ashley told me. "So for now, why don't you work on a letter that you'd like to send to her, and then when we go to Diagon Alley, we'll send it to her. We'll see what happens from there."
"What would you two want to do if she wanted me back?" I had to ask. "And be honest, don't just tell me what I want to hear."
"I honestly don't want you to go back to her," Ashley told me. "I won't stand in your way if you two want to reconnect, but I just can't forgive her for what she did to you. I'll say this though, if it comes to that I'll be making sure that she truly does want you back. I won't allow for her to just take you back only to do it to you again. She needs to make sure she has a stable environment for you to go back to. Your therapist and I'm sure the Ministry would be checking into that as well."
"It won't be a simple process," Ben told me. "It won't be resolved from one letter. It could take months, even years."
I understood all of that and I wasn't even sure if I could go back to her. I was confused about the whole situation. I wanted her to my mother again, but at the same time I was still angry with her. All I knew was that I wanted to get the real letter written to her. I had many I couldn't send to her, so I knew I had to work hard on this one. I wasn't going to tell her off in the letter, not yet anyway.
Ashley took me to Diagon Alley not too much longer after that day. The other kids wanted to go as well but I was relieved when she'd told them that they had to stay at home. I was glad that this was something she and I were doing on our own. I hadn't received my Hogwarts letter yet, but they already knew what books and supplies I would need for my first year. I was looking forward to getting my wand the most.
I think Ashley knew this because it was where she took me first. The wand shop we went to was called Ollivanders Wand Shop. I knew the owner was very old, and that one of his great grandson now helped him run it. Ollivander had apparently never been the same since the war, and his great grand son was the first to show wand-making talent since Ollivander himself.
It was Ollivander who greeted me however, and I had to wonder just how old this man was. Ashley had told me that he'd been old when she'd gone to him at the age of eleven, but he seemed so ancient now. His great grand son was an older man as well, even older than Ashley's parents! I knew wizards could live for a long time, but I was shocked just to see how old the two of them looked. That easily had to have made Ollivander close to two hundred at least! When I'd heard of his great grandson, I thought it would be someone in their twenties.
"Ah this isn't your boy is it?" Ollivander asked Ashley as his eyes fell on me.
"He's my godson," she answered him.
"Well I expect we'll see great things from him, just as I've heard you've gone on to do great things Miss Dunning," he said.
"You remember me?" She asked with some surprise.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold Miss Dunning. I remember how scared and uneasy you were when you came into my shop with Minerva McGonagall. I sold you a 9.75" Vine Ashwinder Ash wand. You must still have it today," he said to her and I watched as she reached into her pocket to pull it out to show him.
"Very good for charms, and from what I've heard, you went on to Experimental Charms," he said.
"Charms was always my best subject," she told him and then she she pushed me forward a little. "He is ready for his first wand."
"Muggleborn are you?" He asked me now and I gave a quick nod. "What is your name young man?"
"Hayden Hoofer," I answered feeling a bit shy now. He seemed to be a nice man but he made me uneasy.
"Hoofer?" He asked and he glanced at Ashley with surprise.
"I know I've sold wands to many Hoofer's over the years. I believe I will be selling one to a young Minnie Hoofer this year," he said.
"Hayden is our adopted son," Ashley explained. "He's muggleborn but when we took him in, we gave him our last name."
"And which Hoofer boy did you marry?" He asked her and I felt myself growing impatient. Couldn't we just get on with it already? I just wanted my wand. "I believe it could only be Barry or Benjamin, but from what I heard, it's Barry's oldest daughter who is starting this year. That can only mean it's Benjamin that you married."
"Yes it was Ben," Ashley said quickly. "Could we try out Hayden's want now," she added before he could go on about Ben's wand and I was sure he would have. "I think he's getting impatient."
"I apologize Hayden," he said to me. "I often reminiscence when I see some of my former customers grown up. I enjoy seeing them go on to do great things with the wands I made for them," and he turned to his grandson who was leaning against the counter. "Norman could you please grab some wands from the back," and he turned back to us. "My great grandson Norman will eventually take over my shop. He has amazing talent and he has even tried some new wand cores I would never have thought to try. Perhaps one of his wands will choose you young Hayden," he said to me.
I didn't say anything to that. I wasn't sure what I could say to him about it. I just moved closer to Ashley who put an arm around me. It seemed to be an awkward silence until Norman returned with boxes of wands in his arms. He set them on the counter and Ollivander gestured for me to come forward. He took a measuring tape from his pocket which started to measure my arms and legs on it's own. It even measured my head.
Once that was done, I was finally allowed to test out the wands. It seemed to take forever for anything to happen. I began to worry that maybe I really wasn't magical after all. Maybe after all these years it had been a mistake. Maybe I'd been around magical people so much that somehow I'd picked up on it. However he finally handed me a wand made of vine with dragon heartstring as it's core. I gave a wave and I felt warmth spread through me and a breeze blew through my hair.
"Bravo!" Ollivander said excitedly. "This is one of my own wands, and a very powerful one at that. I believe we will see great things from you Hayden."
I was relieved when we paid for my wand and we were able to leave.
"I'm sorry about that," Ashley said to me as soon as we left the shop. "He is a good man, but he can make you feel very uneasy."
"It's okay," I told her. "I'm just glad I have my wand now."
"Well lets get your books and robes and then we can stop by the owl post office before we go home," she told me.
"Can we get lunch too before we go?" I asked her. "We never go out with just the two of us anymore."
"We can," she said. "We'll stop in The Leaky Cauldron before we go home."
After we got everything else we needed for school, Ashley took me to the post office where she selected an owl that was supposed to be really fast. After she paid the postman I heard her talking to the owl in a very low voice. I'd learned in school that they were very smart and that they could understand people really well, but it still seemed odd to me. I wondered why anyone would want to use an owl over a message parchment. They still had their uses when it came to delivering parcels, but that was it. I'd even heard Ashley and Ben talking about getting an owl now that I was going to Hogwarts soon.
"Now are you sure you want to do this?" Ashley asked me. "It's your last chance to change your mind."
"I need to do it," I told her and I reached into my pocket to hand her the letter I'd written.
She took the letter from me and I watched as she tied the letter to the owls legs. Moments later, the owl took off in flight. I wasn't sure how long it would take for the owl to get to her, but it was supposed to be a fast delivery. Chances are that very night she would be reading a letter from me.
That summer, I was the official baby-sitter for the kids. I was actually glad about this after a few days into the summer. I had Shelly next door if I needed her help, and I also had Ellen as well. For the most part, it was me in charge and I was making some good money for the summer. Now I understood why Ashley had spent all her summers baby-sitting. This was something I wanted to do every summer until I was old enough to work somewhere else or until Alyssa was at least eleven. I was sure she would want to take over the baby-sitting when she could, and I would let her. By that point I would almost be sixteen anyway and I was sure I could get better paying jobs.
It was just the money I enjoyed however. I just wanted to spend time with them all before I left them. I knew I would miss them, and they would all miss me as well. I was in charge of Ashley's kids, but Michelle and Clarissa often came over as well. Sometimes Shelly and Ellen would let me watch over Elliot and Elaina as well. Usually I asked if Minnie could come over to help me out as well, and most of the time she was allowed to. I'd been surprised at first when Ashley had told me that she didn't mind if Minnie came too.
"I know how much easier it is to have a friend help out," she'd told me when I'd expressed surprise at this. "I used to get Ellen to help me at times too. Just remember that no one can go in the pool."
That was the number one rule. We were not allowed in the pool when there were no adults around. Since Ellen worked from home, sometimes she would come over so we could swim or even Shelly would come with her baby Mikayla as well. There were times too when the two of them would sit back and watch. Ellen always made sure to assure me that she knew I was in charge, but they just wanted to make sure we were all safe when it came to the pool.
"And you know we have a pool too," Ellen reminded me. "You're always welcome to swim on ours as well. I know it's not as big as yours but it's still a decent pool."
So sometimes we would do that so it would be easier for her. I found that baby-sitting for all the kids was quite easy. This was my first time baby-sitting for them for so long on my own, so I'd been worried about it. However, Alyssa and Clarissa usually did their own thing and so did the twins. Usually I just had to look after the toddlers and with Minnie and Michelle's help, it was actually a breeze.
Often I felt nervous when Hailey fell and hurt herself. I knew too well from growing up with so many kids that they would fall, however we all still worried about her. I always worried too that somehow I'd be blamed if she hurt herself too severely. She was always on the go too. She was a brave little girl, and she had no problem with climbing the jungle gym. It was why I was glad the others did their own thing. She was the kind of kid that you had to keep your eyes on all the time.
"Has your mum written back to you yet?" Minnie asked me a few weeks after I'd sent my letter.
"No, but I am glad I sent a letter to her anyway," I told her. "I told you the worst thing she can do is ignore me."
"She still might get back to you," Minnie answered. "What are you going to do if she does? I hope you won't go back to her."
"I haven't decided yet," I said.
"Daddy says that Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ben shouldn't have let you write to her," Minnie informed me.
"I would have done it with or without their permission," I reminded her. "Hogwarts has an owlery too. They know that and so they didn't see the point in stopping me."
"Well I still don't understand it," Minnie said.
"Of course not," I said feeling a little annoyed with her now. "Both your parents love you. You don't know what it's like to have someone abandon you that way."
"But I wouldn't want to talk to someone who did abandon me. Remember year five? Colleen stopped talking to me and we'd been friends since year one. Once she told me that we weren't friends anymore, I didn't try to talk to her again."
"It's not the same thing Minnie," I told her. "You're talking about a fall-out with a friend. It's not that simple when it's a parent. I don't even know who my father is. According to Ashley and Ben, he doesn't even know about me and he probably doesn't want to. Apparently I have a brother who is magical, but he didn't let him go to Hogwarts. So chances are my dad won't want a long lost magical child. My mum might have changed her mind though."
"I just don't want you to get hurt again Hayden," Minnie said. "I don't want you to get your hopes up. You have a good home here. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ben love you. They're your parents. Michael told me that family doesn't make blood, it's how the people in your life treat you. Michael would know better than anyone. Our grandparents did adopt him after all."
"I appreciate everything they've done for me," I told her. "I do consider them to be my family but I just want my mother to love me. I don't want to talk about this anymore, okay?"
"Sure," Minnie said, "but just remember I am your friend and I will always be here for you Hayden."
I didn't say anything to that. I knew that she always would be there for me. She always had been. The problem was she had parents who loved her, so even though she was my best friend, it wasn't something I always liked to talk about with her. She would never get why I wanted to write to my mother. She could only assume what she would do in my situation, but it wasn't a choice she'd ever have to make.