Twin girls stood looking around the emptiness of their childhood home. Identical faces peered around the room they used share.
"Well, I guess this is it." Stated the one of the right. She was the eldest of the two, even if only by a minute, and was more sensibly dressed for the wintery occasion. "Why do always underdress Georgia? It's like 12ºs outside, why are you wearing that?"
Georgia looked down at her clothing, which consisted of a black cotton skirt with a dark-teal paisley pattern, plain black t-shirt and an old grey zip-up hoodie which she wore with everything but did little to keep away any cold. "There's nothing wrong with my outfit Charlotte. Where we're going it's summer." She retorted and pushed up her thick-rimmed glasses as she walked to the stairs to tie up her beaten up Converses (which were also black).
"That's beside the point! We still have to drive to the airport and then wait for our flight. And in England the normal maximum temperature is only 25ºs anyway!"
"How do you even know that?" Georgia questioned with a raised eyebrow and a confused expression.
"Google."
When Georgia was finished tying her shoelaces they walked down the stairs and out the front door to where their Mother and Father were waiting. Their dad, Thomas Prewett, had decided only two weeks ago that their small family of five should uproot their perfectly happy life in the Melbourne CBD to move to London. The decision came about when Thomas received a letter from his cousin, Molly, asking for help in the upcoming war against Voldemort.
The twin's older brother, Ben, had moved into their new house two days ago to make sure everything was working. At the age of 21 he'd already proven himself in the art of Potion making and had gotten a job at his old school (where the twins had been attending until today) as an assistant to the Potions Professor. He basically helped the kids who were struggling to keep up in the lessons and gave them tutor sessions outside class too. Ben has always had a strong sense of family and would be damned if he were the only one left in Australia, so he quit his job and applied for the same position at Hogwarts. He had received conformation for an interview yesterday, Headmaster Dumbledore would be delighted to have a chat with him.
Their dad was kind of the odd-ball of the Prewett family, he'd grown up in England and had been raise by his uncle and aunt along with his cousins (after the untimely death of both his parents in a potions accident). However, unlike the rest of his family (past and present), when he came to Hogwarts for his first year he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw. To put this in perspective, it was like a Malfoy being sorted into any house that wasn't Slytherin. The Prewett family was a Gryffindor house, so why on earth was he in Ravenclaw? This had been the question on everyone's mind all through Thomas' school. So when the time came for him to graduate he got out of there as fast as he could and ran away to Australia. There, he met the muggle woman, Layla, who was now his wife and mother of his three children.
"Daaaad! I still don't understand why we have to go to England. It's on the other side of the planet!" To say that Charlotte was sick of Georgia's whining was an understatement to say the least. She didn't particularly like the idea of ripping herself from her life in the middle of a school year, only to start it all over again because of England's stupid school year system. Why would you start the school year in September, it makes no sense! But at least she wasn't complaining and stating that 'I just want to go home!' every five seconds.
"Georgia, quit complaining there's nothing we can do now we've already booked our plane tickets." Layla Prewett explained to her daughter, who at the age of 15 was reminding her more of a toddler than anything else.
They pulled up into the airport carpark in their black 2010 Jaguar XF (NOTE: say this is AU so it doesn't matter what year the car was made, it's for visual only) and handed the keys to Layla's sister who would be getting the car shipped for them to England. Once they made their way through customs, waited for the announcement saying they could board the plane, and sat on in the same chair for seven hours until the change over in Malaysia, they had to wait some more for the connecting flight to Heathrow.
"Why is it that other country's major airports are so big but Australia's Capital city doesn't even have an international airport?" Charlotte was musing to her self as she wondered around the endless shops in Kuala Lumpur Airport.
"Darling, you should try to rest. We've still got two more hours here." Layla walked up to her daughter and wrapped an arm around her as she walked them toward some comfy looking couches.
o0O0o
It was the early morning when they arrived at their new home in London, the house was silent as they unlocked the door and looked around. Charlotte and Georgia found Ben's room, they carefully opened the door making the least amount of noise they could. The girls prepared to jump on their big brother, but as they switched the light on he was nowhere to be found. They absently stared around the room until they were both scared out of the wits by a hand grabbing their shoulders.
"I knew you would try to scare me this morning!" Ben exclaimed. The girls looked at each other and smiled.
"I don't know what you're talking about Ben, we only came in to wake you up for breakfast." Georgia said sweetly with the smile still firmly in place.
"Uh huh, sure you were. Come on, lets go down stairs."
As the Prewett family ate 'breakfast' (for the majority of them it was more like afternoon tea / early dinner), they talked about the exciting things they should do together over the holidays.
"I have to take you to Diagon Alley for your school supplies, we might as well make a day of it." Thomas said as he ate his eggs on toast. "There's an ice cream parlour, a Quidditch supply store, a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, and a book store. You'll all have something you enjoy."
Layla's eyes lit up with an idea. "We can go to all the tourist-y things around muggle London too! We can see Big Ben," Everyone looked at Ben and he looked at them, unamused. "And the London Eye, all those kinds of things! Oh! We could see what musicals are on in the West End, I'm sure you'd love that Charlotte."
This caused Charlotte to jump out of her seat as she began to recite all the shows she knew would be on during the summer and mentally made notes of which ones would be a priority over others. "Well, if Wicked is on we have to go and see that one, and Matilda and oooh, what if Kinky Boots is on too!" her rambling continued on as she raced upstairs to find her laptop to research what else they could go and see before summer was over.
"Okay, so there's that. But what I really want to do is just walk around London, Wizard and Muggle, and look at all the book stores I can find. Ben could come with me!"
"As long as I don't have to play Quidditch I'm all good."
As the family all smiled at each other, Thomas remembered an important detail he'd forgotten to share. "Today at 3 o'clock we're expected at the Head Quarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It's where Molly and her family are staying for the summer."
o0O0o
After lunch Charlotte and Georgia were sitting in their study room. Charlotte was planning which musicals the family would see and Georgia was sitting in an arm chair reading her leather-bound copy of the 'Complete Sherlock Holmes'.
"Why don't they have normal subjects at Hogwarts?" Georgia mumbled into her book.
Charlotte sighed, "Because in the British Wizarding World things like Maths and Science aren't seen as important when they have Arithmancy and Potions."
"But what about English, and Literature? People in the wizarding world write and read everyday and they still think that it's not important?" Georgia hadn't been thrilled when she found out her two best subjects were not offered at Hogwarts. It was her dream to become a fictional writer, so, because of her predicament with subject choices, Thomas hired one of his friends from Hogwarts, who became a successful writer and also happens to have a teaching degree, to tutor her.
"It's the way things are Georgia, you just have to get used to it."
o0O0o
As the residents of Number 12, Grimmauld Place sat around enjoying their holiday, the Prewett family knocked loudly on the door. No one but Molly and Arthur were expecting the guests, thus everyone else's confusion and even fear as to who on earth could be at the door.
Molly practically ran to the door, Arthur shortly behind her and opened the door with happy smiles and were treated with a chorus of 'Hi's 'Hello's and 'Thanks for having us'. Molly was close to tears when she saw Thomas, she hadn't seen him since Fabian and Gideon's funeral. The two cousins looked at each other for what felt like forever, that is until Molly gripped him into a tight hug and whispered, "It's been too long, Thomas."
"That it has." He whispered back.
By now everyone inside the house was trying to get a good look at who was standing outside, "Oh, How silly of me! Come in, come in and we'll introduce you to everyone." Molly rushed them inside and into the dining room (the only room where everyone could fit all at once).
"Well Thomas you'll know most of the adults here, so I'll introduce you to the children first. My eldest three aren't here for various reasons, their names are Bill, Charlie and Percy. The eldest here are Fred and George, they're twins. Then it's Ron, then our precious Ginny. And these are their friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter." As Molly said the name 'Harry Potter' and pointed him out to them Georgia couldn't help but scoff at him. This set off Ron.
"Do you have something against him?" He asked angrily.
"Nothing at all," Georgia smiled sweetly back at him. "I'm merely surprised that famous Harry Potter is so tiny and weak looking. You are the one who took down Voldemort aren't you, or was that a different Harry Potter? It is quite a common name, so it wouldn't surprise me."
"Georgia, You can't say something like that! It's so mean!" Charlotte swatted her sister on the arm with wide eyes, and Georgia gave her a dirty look. This is when the others apparently notice the uncanny likeness between the girls.
"You're twins!" Fred and George chimed together.
Charlotte and Georgia looked at each other and blinked, "What!? Mother should have told us!" they replied. Everyone in the room looked shocked, 'they didn't know?' The girls then burst out laughing at the look on their faces.
"Of course we knew! How could we not with a face like ours?" Georgia said between laughing fits. With a sigh she sat in a free chair and took 'Complete Sherlock Holmes' from her bag and started reading from where she'd left off.
"Georgia! Don't read when people are being introduced to you, that's very rude!" Layla chided her daughter, but to no use.
Without looking up from the book she replied, "Why should I? It's not like I'll remember their names anyway." Georgia was very good at remembering peoples faces, just not their names, sometimes it can take her a year just to remember a name. However that rarely happens.
Breaking the silence that overcame the group, Molly continued introducing and pointing to the people around the table. "This is Remus Lupin, Sturgis Podmore, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGongall, Dedalus Diggle, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Emmeline Vance, Mundungus Fletcher and Severus Snape."
At the mention of the last name to be called, Georgia looked up wide-eyed at the man sitting opposite her. He had dark shoulder length hair and annoyed expression on his face, like he didn't want to be there. She could definitely relate.
"You're Potions Master Snape." She continued to look at him awe.
"Yes," He drawled. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Georgia Prewett, that's my twin Charlotte and my brother Ben. My dad Thomas and my mum Layla."
"You mention having trouble with names, yet you know mine. How is that?" Now he had a less annoyed, more inquisitive look on his face.
"My Potions Professor went to Hogwarts and was taught by you," She paused hoping this would be enough. By the look on the Potions Master's face, it was not. "He said that you're one of the best Potions Masters in the world, changing the way people approach potions as a subject and as a profession! So… the reason I know your name is because he mentioned you several times so I decided to research you and see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't disappointed to say the least."
Molly clapped her hands to catch everyones attention, "Why don't all you kids go to lounge room upstairs and get to know each other whilst us adults talk about more serious matters." The children knew that there was no room for argument and made their way upstairs.
"Do I count as a kid?" Ben asked seriously, sometimes it's hard being the youngest adult in the room.
o0O0o
Once the teens had settled into seats they all just sat there for several moments before Charlotte spoke, "How old are you guys anyway?"
"Fred and I just turned seventeen. Harry, Ron and Hermione are all 15. And Ginny's 14." George answered. "And you guys?"
"Georgia and I are 15. Ben here is 21, but he's the most immature 21 year old you'll ever meet." Charlotte answered with a smile toward her big brother.
"Just because I scared you before you could scare me? You're both just too predictable." Charlotte and Georgia both just stuck their tongues out at him.
"Why are you guys even here?" Everyone turned to look at Ron, he'd been silent the whole time since his comment to Georgia. It was clear he didn't like her very much.
"Didn't you hear me when I said our names? We're cousins, idiot. Prewett, it's your mother's maiden name." I think it's safe to say that Georgia felt that same way about him. An awkward silence filled the room.
"So where are you guys from? I don't know the accent." This was Hermione, she was clearly very curious.
"Well, naturally our dad is from Britain, he was actually raised by Aunt Molly's parents. And our mother is from Australia, where we have lived our entire lives until know." Charlotte answered helpfully. The group looked intrigued, none of them had met an actual Australian before.
"So Ben, your 21 right?" Asked Ginny, Ben nodded. "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm was an assistant to the Potions Professor at the school we all went to. But, because of the move, I quit and applied for the same job at Hogwarts. I got a letter two days ago saying I have an interview in a week." Ben replied, with a smile at the thought of Hogwarts.
"So you guys are coming to Hogwarts then, what house do you think you'll be in?" Harry asked.
"You mean 'houses'." Georgia corrected looking up from her book.
"He doesn't actually." Fred told her. "Almost all twins that have ever been through Hogwarts have been in the same house. So it's most likely that you'll be the same."
"Unlike you, being identical twins doesn't automatically make us the same in every way." Georgia retorted pushing up her glasses. "For example, where I have ambition, Charlotte has loyalty. She is still ambitious and I am still loyal but the one takes precedence over other traits which are definitely not in the same order for us. So I'll say it only once more. We may be identical in face, we are most certainly not identical in soul."
Charlotte smiled and translated for those in the room not used to Georgia. "In other words we love each other a lot but we argue all the time."
There was a quiet knock on the door before Molly walked in, "Sorry to interrupt, but Ronald could you please water the pot plants? It's your day."
As Ron replied with a 'Yes mum.' Georgia started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked angrily and Molly berated him from the doorway but he paid her no mind.
"It wasn't you, if that's what you were wondering. I merely curious, do you all speak like that?" She asked, mirth coating her voice.
"Speak like what dear?" Molly asked kindly.
"Like someone added an 'r' to plant. I suppose you'd do it to things like dance and castle too, right? Brits are so weird." Georgia said rolling her eyes and went back to reading her book. "Georgia, just because people from different countries articulate their words differently, doesn't mean you can tease them about it." Charlotte sternly chastised her twin.
"So… if you're identical, how come one has glasses and the other doesn't? And why do you have different hairstyles…? And hair colour!" Ginny asked curiously. Charlotte subconsciously tugged at her chocolate brown bangs that covered her forehead. "Well, it's like Georgia said before, we might look them same but we're really quite different, we also like for people to see us as separate people not just see 'Charlotte and Georgia', and as for the hair, she dyed it that way it used to look like mine. The glasses thing though, Georgia contracted a disease when we were really little and when it went away it left her eyesight messed up.
"So what do you Brits do for fun around here?" Charlotte asked after allowing the group a moments speculation to take everything in. The teens spent the rest of the evening chatting, playing exploding snap, wizards chess and Charlotte, Fred and George taught Harry and Ron how to play poker, while Hermione, who refused to do anything akin to gambling, watched instead and Georgia kept to herself and her book the entire time, her black hair obscuring her face from everyone in the room.
