Life has a strange way of giving people exactly what they need. It takes and it rarely gives but when it does decide to take pity on the souls of the living- it gives love.
Love is love no matter where one may look. Whether it be familial or romantic or friendship—love is love. Without love human beings lack their meaning for life.
She woke to bright red flashes behind her closed lids. She reached behind her head, grabbed her pillow and proceeded to cover her eyes as best as she could to block out the light that was straining to invade her sleepy mind.
"Stella," her sister wined, "I'm starving to death." Christi was not actually starving to death and therefore, in Stella's mind, she could sleep another five minutes. She listened as her baby sister finally gave up with a huff and stopped flicking her light switch on and off.
"Umm Stelly?" a hesitant voice asked.
"What?" She groaned from the comfort of her small twin bed.
"Auntie won't wake up." Stella practically fell out of bed trying to get up as fast as possible. She then saw the scared, panicked look on her little brother's face. Jack was a short, timid kid that rarely ever made a fuss- the exact opposite of Christi in every way- and therefore she realized the severity of the situation.
"Grab the green bottle from the medicine cabinet and make Christi and yourself some cereal, okay?" She spoke as softly and as calmly as she could.
"Are you going to…?" Her brother responded timidly, running his fingers through his blonde baby hair anxiously.
"I have to." Stella responded gravely.
Jack ran out of the room to grab the potion while Stella grabbed a bucket and blankets. They brought all the supplies into their Aunt's dirty, cluttered bedroom. Though the room was the biggest one in the house it barely held the queen-sized bed and dresser that were squeezed into it. In the small space of floor between said bed and dresser lay Auntie B. She hadn't even made it to the bed this time.
"Lift her on three," Stella said as she knelt beside the sickly-looking woman. "One, two, three- lift." She grunted as she and Jack hauled the small woman on to the bed.
She pressed two fingers to the side of her neck and felt a very slow and barely-there pulse.
"Hand me the vial and go Jack—you don't want to see this." The small boy followed her orders and left to take care of their younger sister.
Stella- after making sure Jack had truly left the room—proceeded to force the green, sludge-like potion down her aunt's throat. She accessed the smaller-than-ever woman as she waited for the potion to take effect. Aunt Beatrice was once a gorgeous and elegant woman, renowned for her beauty and curse-breaking abilities; however, her love of Ginger Smoke- a wizarding drug that lulled a person into an extremely relaxed and pleasant state of mind- had caused the slow deterioration of her body and mind. She now was all sallow, yellowed skin and brittle bones. Her once intelligent and cunning mind was now nothing but mush that focused on one thing only- Ginger Smoke.
Stella was firm in her belief that hate should never be used when speaking of another human being. But she hated what that drug had done to her aunt and she hated the cleanup that she had to do every week so that her empty shell of an aunt could continue to provide a roof over her siblings' heads.
When the potion finally took effect, she stood at the ready with the designated post-overdose vomit bucket. She watched as her aunt began hacking and spewing gold tinted blood and Stella couldn't help but cringe. After the vomiting came, the chills racked through her aunt's bird-like body. Stella wrapped the blankets around the spasming body of her aunt to increase her internal body heat that was depleted due to the side effects of the Bleffer potion. She then proceeded to leave the small room and go on with her day.
Stella had been caring for her drug-addict aunt since her parents passed when she was ten. Jack had been only seven and Christi only six. Stella had to become the unofficial primary care taker. The Ministry of Magic had to follow the Stone's vague will and therefore place the children with their last living relative. She had begged their social worker to place them with anyone else and had in turn been told to toughen up. The only way she was getting out of that house was if her aunt died. Occasionally after a long night she would ponder leaving her aunt to die in a drug induced haze of her own making. Stella couldn't do it: it would forever haunt her if she ever let anyone die when she could of done something to prevent it—whether they deserved it or not.
When her Hogwarts letter had finally arrived, she had been so excited and had felt a wonderful sense of relief for a total of five seconds. She then had snapped back to reality and realized that she would never be able to take care of her family and attend a boarding school. She proceeded to send a letter to Headmistress McGonagall detailing that she would be unable to attend due to her aunt being 'sick' and therefore unable to care for her young siblings. The Headmistress had then provided the solution to all her problems- floo access home at night and back to school in the morning.
Her first five years had gone by relatively smoothly. Her brother was even able to join her when she was a fifth year. On weekends, she would occasionally floo in to grab a book from the library and once food from the kitchen when her aunt and her aunt's wallet disappeared for two weeks and they had run out of food. It worked out well and would become much easier this year when her sister joined Hogwarts as a first year. There were downsides to having so many responsibilities as a teenager. She had no social life, no real friends, and the stress levels of a forty-year-old.
The sound of shattering glass knocked her out of her revelry. An eardrum shattering sound that had originated from her aunt's bedroom. She darted back into the vomit-smelling room.
Aunt B had begun to spasm and shake—her muscles grotesquely contracting and her golden eyes rolling back. Glass from an old lamp she had knocked over was everywhere. Time seemed to freeze. In that moment Stella felt every piece of glass that dug into her sock laden feet and saw every spastic movement made by her dying aunt. Dying—her aunt was dying.
"Jack floo call Saint Mungo's- now!" Stella screamed from her aunt's bedside.
Tick, tick, tick, tick went the increasingly annoying clock that seemed to echo through the Saint Mungo's waiting room. Stella only refrained from standing up and smashing the infuriating old clock to bits because she couldn't get up without disturbing her siblings. She had one pale arm wrapped around an even paler Jack, his golden blonde head resting against her shoulder. Her other arm was rested on her sister, who was sprawled across her lap with her beautiful reddish-brown hair getting more and more tangled by the moment.
The peaceful bliss of the three siblings was interrupted only by the click clack of heels on the overly shiny, tiled floor. The only woman who could make that much noise in heels went by the horrendous name of Lavender B. Finnegan. She was the Stone children's magical social worker and possibly one of the most distasteful women to ever exist. Today she had parred some horribly bright fuchsia colored wrap dress with sky-high, leopard print heels.
"Oh you poor children!" She whined in her overly high-pitched voice, "I just heard the news!"
Stella was by no means dumb. She was top of her class with her OWL scores rivaling those of the esteemed war hero and civil rights activist Hermione Weasley. The fact that Mrs. Finnegan treated her like a common idiot made her blood boil. Stella knew for a fact that the second a presiding child care giver is admitted into Saint Mungo's, the social worker for the family is notified. She had been sitting in the waiting room for well-over three hours: Mrs. Finnegan did not just hear the news.
Luckily the swift arrival of their aunt's healer kept Stella from informing the lacking social worker of this knowledge.
"You are the Stone family I presume." Said the tall, dark skinned man. "I'm Healer Thomas and I presided over your aunt's case today."
"Dean!" Screeched Mrs. Finnegan as she provocatively attached herself to the unwilling man, "I haven't seen you in forever."
"Lavender, it's nice to see you." The man replied in a tone that suggested it was anything but. "Are you the social worker for the Stone's?"
After releasing her death grip on the poor healer, she adjusted her dress and schooled a serious look on to her face.
"I am. Please tell me you have good news for these poor orphans. They have already been through so much," and then in a slightly lower tone added, "and so have I, dealing with all their complaints."
With a disgusted look at the stupid bint his 'thinking-with-a-different-head' best friend had married, he turned to the children, feeling absolutely terrible about the news he was about to bestow upon them.
"I'm so sorry children. Your aunt did not make it. Her substance abuse corroded her the blood-brain barrier and caused lipophilic neurotoxins to attack the brain. Were you aware of her Ginger Smoke usage?" He addressed the question to Stella, the obvious eldest of the children.
Today, Stella decided, she would tell the truth.
"Yes sir. She overdosed about once every two or so weeks. I used the Bleffer potion as well as blanket to take care of the shivers. It was only a matter of time sir." Stella responded, trying to sound as educated as possible in her shocked state.
"Lavender," he exclaimed in shock, "were you aware of their guardian's drug use?"
Before Mrs. Finnegan could respond Stella answered for her, "Yes sir, she was very aware. Every time I informed her of my aunt's resent escapades she told me to… I believe her exact words were 'suck it up and stop complaining'."
Healer Thomas turned his dark, accusing eyes on to the deer caught in the headlights.
"I… umm… how- how dare you accuse me, your caring and attentive social worker, of ever letting such abuse happen under my nose."
"Mrs. Finnegan," Dean Thomas responded in a very quiet and threatening tone, "I believe you can show yourself out of my waiting room. I will arrange for a more- a more suitable social worker to take their case." At Lavender's apparent hesitation to leave, Healer Thomas's eyes seemed to get increasingly darker, "That means you need to leave. The floo is down the hall."
With an overdramatic huff and an exaggerated turn, Lavender Finnegan fled the scene with not even a small amount of class.
Stella was in shock- absolute shock. Her mind was grasping for some sort of plan that ended with her keeping her siblings and avoiding an orphanage. Aunt B was gone. There was no money, no house. Stella was not yet of age. Christi was barely eleven for Merlin's sake! How was she going to convince the Ministry that she could take care of her siblings on her own? She would have to get a job or rob a bank or sell all her possessions.
Her internal mental hurricane was interrupted by the warm, jarring voice of Healer Thomas. "Stella is your name yes?" She nodded her head slowly, "Well Stella you have nothing to worry about. I have a friend that reminds me of you quite a bit- obviously intelligent with a tendency to overthink and attempt to solve everything on your own. She should be able to find you and your siblings a home with a real parental guardian."
"Sir, thank you, really, I appreciate it- I do, but… I- I really don't want to split up from my siblings."
"Stella, I-"
"There is no guarantee that anyone will want to take in three children who are leaving for Hogwarts in the fall anyways and-"
"Stella, you-"
"-I'm a year away from turning seventeen, sir, and I'm sure that if I just got a job I could care for my siblings. Really I've already practically done so since I was ten, sir, and-"
"Stella!" In response to the apparent aspiration in his voice, she instantly quieted. "You are still just a child- Stella listen. I understand you are sixteen but if you really have been caring for your siblings since the age of ten then you deserve to be a child for once as well! You will at least meet my friend because I'm sure she can find a happy, loving family for all of you. You won't be split up. So please take a seat and stay with your siblings you care so much about while I contact her."
Healer Thomas spun on his heel in the direction of the floo with a graceful swish of his lime-green healer robes.
Stella, with a stubborn sigh of resignation, turned to her now fully awake siblings. "I guess we can hear the woman out right?" She asked. They nodded, eyes wide, voices mute.
Healer Dean came around the corner with a beautiful woman. She had golden-brown, curly hair that fell to her shoulders elegantly and framed her heart-shaped face nicely. She practically exuded class and style in her beige robes that only highlighted her figure. It only took a second before Stella recognized her idol- Hermione Weasley.
"Stella and siblings this is Mrs. Hermione Weasley. Hermione these are the Stone children." The healer smiled a smug grin when he saw the awe in Stella's face.
Stella immediately stood up and stuck out her hand. "It's an honor to meet you Mrs. Weasley! I've read all your work on creature rights. I particularly find your book about centaur philosophy and beliefs to be extraordinary!"
Hermione Weasley was rather taken aback. She was quite used to complements being a war hero and all, but it was rare that she found someone who actually cared about her current work enough to have actually read Centaurs and The Sky. She recovered quickly however and shook the exuberant girl's hand. "It's so very nice to meet you Miss Stone. I truly would love to discuss with you why you find my book so fascinating when most fall asleep reading it; however, we need to discuss your living arrangements."
Instantly Stella fell back into reality. "Yes Ma'am, I understand. This is my little brother, Jack. He's twelve. This is my sister, Christi. She's only eleven. I refuse to be separated from them."
Hermione nodded slowly, accessing the girl in front of her and respecting the girl for her devotion to he family. She carefully responded, "I understand your need to be with your siblings and I believe I might have a home for you all. Don't get your hopes up too high but my brother-in-law and his wife have been talking about adopting kids for ages and I'm sure they would love to meet you. I'll be right back. I must go make a call."
For the first time that day Stella breathed a sigh of relief and let herself hope. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. She looped her arms around her siblings and pulled them in close to her- as close as comfortably possible- and proceeded to close her eyes and drift off into sleep.
That was the way, thirty minutes later, Hermione Weasley as well as Charlie Weasley and his Romanian wife Stea found the Stone siblings.
"Oh 'Ermione, they are precious." Said Stea, her soft accent breaking through.
"They are. The oldest, Stella, is very stubborn, but incredibly intelligent if the rumors are true. She is very protective over her siblings but she really is a very sweet girl. I have yet to truly speak with her siblings but I'm sure they are just like her." Responded a smiling Hermione.
It was Christi that woke up first to the sound of muffled adult voices. She starred up at the tall, brawny, red-headed man with a sort of nervous apprehension. The other two adults, the woman her sister had fawned over and some other woman she had yet to meet, were caught up in conversation a little ways away.
"Who are you?" Christi asked with a questioning look on her little face.
"I'm Charlie, and who are you?" he responded with a humorous smile on his face.
"I'm Christi but my sister says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers so I probably shouldn't talk to you but you seem nice and my sister always worries too much anyways. My brother always agrees with her and says that I'm to talkative and need to be more careful around people I don't know but I think that he just follows what she says because she's the oldest."
Charlie raised his eyebrows. Little Christi was going to be a piece of work, he could already tell. A groggy voice arose from the blonde girl, Stella.
"Christi, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"
"That I shouldn't" Christi cheekily responded. With this all three siblings seemed to shake the sleepiness from their brains. Stella immediately opened her eyes and looked at the large, redhead.
"I apologize if my sister is bothering you sir. She has a bit of a mouth on her and sometimes doesn't realize when she needs to stop talking." The last part was said with a pointed look aimed at her much smaller sibling.
"It's really no issue, I assure you." The man responded with a kind smile. "My name is Charlie Weasley. I'm Hermione's brother-in-law."
"Oh well in that case, I'm Stella and this is Jack," the small, quiet boy shyly nodded his head, "and well I suppose you've already met Christi."
"It's very nice to meet you Stella and you as well Jack. You must meet my wife, Stea." He gestured towards the beautiful platinum blonde that was speaking with Mrs. Weasley.
More introductions were made and Stella became filled with more and more hope that she would finally have a home and maybe even parental figures that… cared for her.
Charlie Weasley turned toward his sister-in-law with a huge smile on his face. "Is there anyway they can come home with us today?"
