Chapter 1
It's hard enough being the youngest child in a family of 9 children, but when that family is a wizarding family, everything gets that much more complicated. I'm Eleanor. Eleanor Weasley. Yes, I know what you're going to say, "Oh! You're the sister of Ginny and Ron Weasley!" That would be correct, but I'd also like to remind you that I have my own story as well, whether it be as riveting as that of my elder siblings or not.
Let's start at the beginning.
I grew up my whole life watching my older siblings receive their acceptance letters from Hogwarts on their 11th birthdays and flying off to the mystical castle of my dreams to get their education in witchcraft and wizardry. It was my dream, my utmost desire, to finally receive my letter and fly off to that magical castle as well. Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing, apparently the twin gene is strong because mum had two sets: Fred and George, and then me and my twin Madeline. You heard it right, I have a twin. How mum deals with two sets of disruptive twins…I'll never understand. I feel sorry for her though. I really do. Having two sets of identical twins must be extremely hard, but let me tell you, from my perspective, having an identical twin…is awesome.
Maddy and I are very close and we do absolutely everything together. Well…that is, almost everything. I could tell something was different about me from the moment I turned 6. It was our birthday, May 6th, when Maddy grabbed a caterpillar right off a leaf and closed her palm only to open it to a beautiful butterfly. I tried to replicate her and I couldn't. Similar instances followed throughout the next few years but I didn't think about it much and kept only breathlessly waiting for my 11th birthday and the long-awaited and coveted Hogwarts acceptance letter. In the back of my mind I could tell something was off. But I didn't let it bother me. At age 9, Maddy and I watched Ginny head off for her first year of Hogwarts and it was an exciting ordeal. Ginny was our older sister; our only sister; and we both loved her very much. Watching her go off was exciting and disappointing since she would be gone for most of the year and we wouldn't get to see her.
Fast-forwarding a few years, Maddy and I were getting closer and closer to our 11th birthday. It was May 4th, only two days remaining, and we were excitedly awaiting the day our letters would arrive. The two of us were sitting in the highest part of the Burrow squealing and giggling over the excitement of our upcoming birthday. Mum was planning a huge dinner and we had overheard her, through Fred and George's gift, the extendable ears, telling Dad that she was making each of us a birthday cake. EACH of us! We wouldn't be sharing one this year! This birthday was going to be the best one yet, I just knew it.
May 5th, Maddy and I ran about the house decorating for our birthday. We threw streamers around the banister and over the fans and Fred and George showed us how to make flying birthday cakes that would float around the room. It was an exciting preparation day. That night, Maddy and I talked till we fell asleep. Well, until she fell asleep. I just couldn't get the thought that I would finally be turning eleven. That I, Eleanor Weasley, the youngest, smallest, and brightest red-head of the family would be receiving my acceptance letter tomorrow. It was almost too much to handle. I stood on the balcony of our room and looked up at the vast sky, filled with an array of stars that would rival any number of sand crystals on the beach, in beauty and number. And I saw a shooting star flash across the sky. I made a wish that night. I wished deep within me that my acceptance letter would come, because despite the fact that I believed I was just like everyone else, the twinge of fear that I was off, that something was wrong with me, had been growing deep within me for the past two years. So, when that star flashed across the sky, I wished desperately that I was normal, that I would get that letter.