It was a humid day in the last week of June. Parents and their younger children stood at Platform 9 ¾ as they awaited the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. You could just FEEL the anxiety in the air. The nervous while at the same time excited atmosphere increased tenfold when a gigantic red train pulled into the station with a screech. All was still for a moment, and then the doors were opened. Eccentric children aged 11 to 17 poured out of the train, chatting ecstatically and pushing carts loaded with an odd assortment of items.
An 11 year old girl (her birthday was rather early in the school year- December 6- plus she was beyond responsible, so she was permitted to start her term at Hogwarts even though she had been 10 in September) by the name of Alexandra Ueda struggled to remove her cart from the train. When she'd finally succeeded in shoving it through, a small golden crate went flying off the top. "No, Butterscotch!" she gasped. A freckled fifth year boy spun away from his own cart and grabbed the crate, which contained a brown and white Dutch rabbit. Alexandra sighed in relief, gratefully allowing him to situate the crate back on her cart.
"There you go, runt."
"Thanks, Jonah, it means a lot…"
The boy- Jonah- ruffled the top of Alexandra's waist length, dark brown hair and winked. "Not a problem." Without another word, he retrieved his own cart and vanished into the crowd. Alexandra stared after him for a few moments, her cheeks a light shade of pink.
"Alex, what are you doing? We gotta go find Mum and Dad," a male voice called. Alex closed her teal eyes tightly to snap herself out of her trance and smiled sheepishly over her shoulder. Her 15 year old brother had just wrestled his way off the train, his unruly dark brown hair even more askew than usual.
"Sorry Kiseki, zoned out for a sec… Where's Kathy? Shouldn't we be waiting for her?" Katherine was one of their two older sisters, and, being 17, had just completed her final year at Hogwarts. Like their father had been, Kathy was a Ravenclaw. She had wavy, light brown hair that went down to halfway down her neck, and always wore dark purple glasses.
Kiseki shook his head, removing his orange tabby from her crate and draping her over his shoulder. He rolled his emerald green eyes. "Nah, she told me to go ahead. She's waiting for Radha and that darned James Sirius." Radha was the daughter of Padma Patil, and a Ravenclaw. She'd been Kathy's best friend since year 1. James Sirius was the oldest son of Harry Potter, as you probably know, and a Gryffindor. Both of them were in the same year as Kathy. "I don't see why she's dating that troublemaker… Kathy's such a good girl! Not to mention James made fun of her all the time when they were younger."
Alex shrugged. "Every girl has a weakness for bad boys." Kiseki gave a small groan, heading off to find their parents.
"Ah, there's my little Ravenclaw!" called a man's voice. Alex spun around, suddenly grinning from ear to ear. "Daddy!" she shrieked, abandoning her cart to dash into her father's arms. Shiro Ueda, a 40 year old man, was decently tall- 6'3- and though no body builder in the least, he was pretty muscular. His hair was the same dark shade of brown as Kiseki and Alex's, and he kept his beard shaved extremely short so that it looked much more like 5 o'clock shadow. From a distance, he was a bit intimidating, but one look into his bright blue eyes would tell anyone his true nature.
"And there's Mummy's favorite little Slytherin," crooned a woman, leaning over to give Kiseki a peck on the cheek.
"Mum, don't!" Kiseki moaned, blushing.
Konata Ueda chuckled and ruffled Kiseki'a hair. Konata was 40, like her husband, though 2 months younger than him. Her hair was straight, light brown, and worn in a variety of styles. Today, however, she had it thrown into a low ponytail that trailed about halfway down her back; despite her age, there were about 3 miniscule strands of gray amongst the brown. Kiseki and Kathy had both inherited her lovely emerald green eyes. She was a good 7 inches shorter than her husband, and about 10 pounds away from being underweight. All in all, though, she was quite pretty.
"Did you blow all those professors' minds, Allie?" asked a voice Alex hadn't heard since Christmas break.
"Aussie! Oh my gosh!" Alex squealed. Austin was 20 years old, so he'd already graduated Hogwarts; he was the only Hufflepuff in their family besides Konata. He had the same teal eyes as Alex, with very short hair the same color as his mother's. He had his bangs cut so that there was nothing on the right side, but his left eye was completely covered by hair. The smile he'd inherited from his dad could compete with Gilderoy Lockhart's, and he flashed that heartwarming grin at Alex. She wrapped her skinny arms around his waist without hesitation.
"What are you DOING here? When did you get so tan? Oh, goodness, it's FANTASTIC to see you!" she squeaked.
Austin patted the back of her head, laughing. "Great to see you too baby sister. First question: we'll explain that later. And second: my job as a magical creature photographer has been taking me to tropical places lately, and the weather is bloody BRILLIANT there. A vampire would probably turn tan after staying there for a couple days."
Alex nodded, her eyes glistening. She'd always been extraordinarily close to all her siblings, but if she was held at gunpoint to pick a favorite, it would definitely be Austin.
"Oh, wow, Aussie! I didn't know you'd be here!" called a girl's voice. Kathy quickly gave James a kiss and Radha a hug before trotting over to her brother.
Shiro smiled affectionately as Kathy, Austin, Alex, and Kiseki started catching up with each other. He suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around him from behind and heard a masculine voice whisper, "It's been a while, old man," in his ear. Shiro's smile returned quickly as he turned around to face his oldest son.
Raito Ueda, who was 23 years old (yes, his parents had been quite young when he was born), looked an awful lot like his father. The differences were so little they could be counted on one hand: Raito was 5 inches shorter than his dad; he shaved his facial hair clear off every morning; he had his mother's nose and smile; there was a thin, pink scar from an accident nearly 10 years ago permanently etched on Raito's right cheek. That scar wasn't alone: his other forever-remaining scars included a big gash on his chest and on his left bicep. He had many other little ones, too.
"So, how have you liked your first year of being the full-fledged Care of Magical Teachers professor instead of just my student-teacher?" Shiro exclaimed.
Raito's face lit up. "I've LOVED it! The older kids were upset you'd retired for a while, but they'd grown accustomed to me. I'm immodest enough to say I think they ENJOYED me teaching them."
Shiro nodded, beaming with pride. "Good, good. That's my boy. What about the new Muggle Studies teacher? How's she?"
Raito gave a small shrug. "She's okay, as far as old bats like her go. She knows her Muggle stuff, yeah, but I doubt she's actually experienced it hands on like Mum has. I've heard people saying Mum is the best Muggle Studies professor the school's ever had."
Konata's cheeks turned a light pink color; she smiled both in shock and pleasure. "Did they now? Oh, that's so sweet of them! Give my old students and coworkers my thanks when school starts up again." Though she was a pureblood, Konata had been raised by Muggles since she was a baby. She wasn't aware her parents were 100% witch and wizard until her fifth year at Hogwarts. Shiro's father was a pureblood, but his mother was a Squib.
Alex looked around at her family as if she was doing a head count. "Where's Raye?" she questioned. "Is she back from her term at medical school?" Raye, the last of the Ueda kids, was Raito's twin sister and only 7 minutes younger than him. She had been the assistant nurse at Hogwarts from the time she 19 until she got married at 21. She returned to Hogwarts for a short amount of time while she was 22, but then decided to go to medical school so she could be a doctor in the wizarding world. Shiro had been a doctor (as well as a veterinarian) in the Muggle world for 10 years, starting from when he was 21.
"She's at Malfoy Manor with her hubby. Probably makin' babies as we speak," Raito mocked, amusement evident in his tone.
"Oh, she better not be doing that. Don't get me wrong, I like Scorpius, but I don't like the idea of ANYBODY laying their hands on my daughter," Shiro sighed.
"Quit filling Allie's head with PG-13 images, men!" Konata scolded, clamping her hands over Alex's ears. The Uedas all laughed and started heading back to parking lot.
"We're home," Shiro declared a while later. They had all piled into a seemingly normal minivan, drove into an alley away from Muggles, and Shiro pressed the button on the dashboard that magically teleported them all the way to their home in Japan. You see, Shiro's father was Japanese, though his mother was British; Konata's biological parents were solely British. Though Konata and Shiro had lived in England for the first 31 years of their lives, they'd decided it would be a treat to move to Japan once they got their jobs at Hogwarts. Now that he wasn't a professor, Shiro was currently working on finding work as a doctor or vet in Japan.
"Ah, it's good to be home," Alex sighed once she'd unpacked her things. She fell back onto her too-cushiony bed after slipping a carrot into Butterscotch's cage. She didn't often see this room- when her parents had been professors at Hogwarts, which was for almost as long as she could remember, she'd slept and ate in a cabin outside the Forbidden Forest and spent her days in her parents' classrooms. The only time she'd come to this home was during summer break, and occasionally for the winter and spring holidays.
"Ms. Alexandra! Your family be wanting you, they is!" a high pitched voice called from the doorway. Alex sat up, smiling deeper at the sight of the tiny house elf who'd been with her family for nearly 20 years. Still, she was the size of a human toddler. Nevertheless, she was rather wizened when it came to house elf standards.
Though most house elves wore things like rags or sacks, Tippy wore a simple but cleanly green dress made for a doll, a pink headband with a sparkly bow on it, and two pure white socks with purple polka dots. Raye had given Tippy the dress many years ago, not liking the idea of her family owning a cute, innocent little SLAVE. Tippy, however, had grown attached to the Uedas, and liked to do their chores, so she stayed with them. However, so they didn't have to spend any more money than what she felt necessary, she'd find meals on her own.
Alex slid off her bed, scooping up the adorably ugly elf. Cradling her in her arms, she trotted down the long flight of stairs to their dining room. Placing Tippy on the floor and giving her a pat on the head, she trotted into the living room. Raito sat in an odd sideways position in the cream colored armchair in the corner; Austin sat in the identical one to the right; Kiseki sat with Kathy on the forest-green sofa facing the TV in the middle of the room; Konata and Shiro were standing in the doorway of what used to be a playroom, but was now a guest bedroom. Upon Alex's arrival, Kathy motioned for her to sit on the couch.
"When Raye gets here, we'll tell you our news," Konata told them, leaning into Shiro a bit.
Raito shot them a skeptical look. "If you're pregnant again, I swear I'll-"
"Don't worry, your mother isn't pregnant. We're done with that chapter," Shiro assured him quickly. It was silent except for the television for a couple minutes. Alex detected movement outside with her peripheral vision, and jogged over to the window to investigate. She was greeted by what would be a very strange sight to most people, but in the wizarding world, was as normal as seeing someone walk their dog down a sidewalk.
Skimming above the trees and diving progressively closer to the ground was a pair of two people: a pale blonde man and a brown haired woman. From a distance, they appeared to be riding an incredibly thin, invisible horse through thin air, but as they got nearer it was evident they were perched on a broomstick. The boy sat high up on the handle, gripping the stick firmly; the girl sat closer to the bristles and had her arms wrapped tightly around the boys' waist, the side of her face pressed against his back. The boy wore an expression as if he was the king of the world sitting on his throne, and the girl had her eyes closed in a thrilled type of peace.
The boy brought the broom to a perfect soft landing on the Ueda's front deck, and the girl immediately dismounted. She put her hands atop the boy's, staring into his eyes. They kissed for a good 5 seconds until the girl reluctantly backed toward the door, giving him space to exit. She waved him off, and he blew her a kiss before flying away into the sky. The girl waited for him to be long gone, and then proceeded to the front door. Alex shot to her feet, flinging the large oak doors open before the girl's fist could even make contact.
The older girl smiled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Hi Allie, it's so great to see you!" If you took Raito and made him 1 inch shorter, about 3 times skinnier and less muscular, removed all his scars, gave him female features, and lengthened his hair by about a foot, you'd have Raye. The sides of her hair perfectly framed her face down to the tip of the chin, while the back descended straight along her back. She was rather attractive, though there was still some evidence she'd previously been on the edge of anorexia.
Smiling brightly, she waved at all her family. "Hey everyone! Wow, I haven't seen you guys since Christmas…"
Konata and Shiro strode over and gave Raye tight hugs- Konata's was preceded by a kiss on both cheeks. "Oh, sweetheart, I've missed you! I'm sorry we asked you to come here when you've just got back to Scorpius, but…"
Raye shook her head, staring cheerfully into her mom's eyes. "Don't apologize, Mum! I missed you guys a lot, all of you! Besides, Scorpy's fine with this. You're my family too, and he can have me for a pretty big duration of the summer."
Konata nodded with an appreciative smile and stood to face the rest of their children as Alex went back to sit on the couch. Raito motioned for Raye to approach him, grinning broadly. Raye did so hesitantly; Raito grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. The more she struggled, the tighter he hugged her and the louder he yelled "MY SISSY! I LOVE YOU!" Alex laughed: Raito had done the same thing to her and Kathy when they'd gotten home.
"So, we COULD give a long introduction on how we love all you kids, and we're so proud of each and every one of you, and we miss seeing you all every day-"
"Technically you never saw ALL of us EVERY day: Raye and I had already started Hogwarts by the time you guys had Alex," pointed out Raito. Raye had given up on fighting him and was now sitting awkwardly on his lap.
"See why we don't give these long introductions? We'll just get right to the point." Shiro grinned at his wife, who returned his expression. They simultaneously declared, "We're going on vacation!"
The kids all stared at them blankly, as if they were speaking a foreign language. Konata chuckled and slid her wand out from behind her ear. She tapped it against a flyer which Shiro had removed from his back pocket, and it instantly multiplied. One landed in the hands of each of her kids; their jaws dropped.
"We're going HERE!" gasped Austin, who was the only one who could find his voice. The flyer displayed private beaches with dazzling white sand, and an ocean with crystal blue water; a gigantic waterfall with water an equally gorgeous color as the ocean, with numerous mini waterfalls dotting the cliffs around it; miles and miles of luscious forests, completely untouched by humans, abundant with colorful and mysterious plants and animals; a hiking trail that led up to a dormant volcano, and a considerably large village consisting of about 50 unique houses, a few shops, and what could only be taken as a wooden dance floor.
"Yes, yes we are," Shiro confirmed with a rather proud tone in his voice. "A little more description on what 'here' is: this is an island located… somewhere in the ocean, I'm not supposed to tell where- and it's very difficult to gain access to it. Ridiculously expensive, and more heavily guarded than… Well, it's very heavily guarded. They want to preserve it, you see. It took years and years of arguing just for the people who decided to live there to get permission to build that village. About half the people that come are crazy rich tourists, a fourth of the people live there, and another fourth… I'm not sure who they are, actually. The point is, it's close to IMPOSSIBLE to come to this oasis."
"How did you afford this?" Kathy wondered aloud, her glasses sliding down her nose as she stared wide-eyed at the flyer.
"You kids know how I was almost an Auror?" The kids all nodded, still in a daze. Shiro smiled almost mischievously. "Well, the family who owns this island… The father is heavily involved with the Ministry of Magic. He's the one who pressed that I be an Auror. The man LOVES me. He offered me a vacation at 85% off the normal price."
"That's unbelievable…" Raye whispered.
"Well believe it, chickie," Shiro exclaimed.
Konata clasped her hands together. "Okay, so. We- that meaning the 8 of us- are going to be leaving on the tenth of July, so there should be PLENTY of time for you guys to pack and prepare and get in spending time with your friends. We'll head home on the twentieth."
"So we'll be there for Dad's birthday?" Kiseki remarked quietly. Shiro's birthday was July fifteenth.
"Correct. Because you brought that up, you get first dibs on your room at the… hotel? House? I'm not quite sure what we're getting," Shiro indicated.
"Hey, question: do they allow pets there?" Austin asked, thinking about his toad, Hops, and his owl, Eclipse, back at his home.
"They ENCOURAGE it! Just please, please, PLEASE do not LOSE your pet," Konata responded. Her eyes drifted over to Raito, who'd misplaced his rat, Chester, more times than he could count. Konata's smile softened as she turned her gaze to Tippy, who was listening from a crack in the dining room door. "They also allow house elves."
Tippy's round hazel-and-green-flecked eyes widened and immediately started watering. "O-oh! Oh! Kind Ms. Konata… She… She is wanting Tippy to come along? O-oh, no, Tippy cannot! Tippy is not important enough!"
Konata kneeled down, rubbing Tippy's floppy, bat-like ears. "Don't be so humble. You're part of the family, Tippy!" The house elf burst into tears of joy, slipping in "thank you"s during gasps for breath.
Alex looked around the room. She looked at her oldest twin siblings, who were still sitting ineptly in the armchair; Kiseki to her left, who had changed so drastically in the past couple years; Kathy to her right, who had graduated Hogwarts and would be starting her life as a grown-up; Austin, who was already an adult with a job and a plan for his life (which involved marrying Radha, though he hadn't told many people that) but still had a youthful heart; her parents, who had somehow managed to successfully raise 6 children, while remaining happily married for 23 years without ever seriously considering divorce; and the little house elf, sobbing her big eyes out in utter delight.
Alexandra smiled, a very warm feeling spiraling up inside her chest. Her family would all be together… They'd be on a dream vacation… They'd all be having the time of their lives… Though she didn't notice it, somewhere deep within her mind, Alex was experiencing a great feeling of dread. Why was this? Because somewhere deep within her mind, she had a very keen sense for the future.