"Cassie, John, Steve!" Their mother called up the stairs. Groaning, Steve stumbled down the steps, sitting at the kitchen counter. "Morning honey,"
"Where's breakfast?"
"Shoot, i knew I was forgetting something!" She smacked her palm to her forehead, drawing her wand from her pocket. "Hold on, I'll have it in just a minute-"
"Don't worry, I'll do it,"
"Sweetheart it'll be faster-"
"I'm totally capable of doing it myself," Steve stood up, opening the pantry.
"John! Cassie!" She yelled again. "We have to leave!" She shook her head, looking at her watch.
"Mom, can I go today?"
"Well. . ." She bit her lip. "You're a bit young-"
"The last time I went I was ten,"
"Yes, but, things were different-"
"In other words, you didn't know I was a squib yet,"
She looked around uncomfortably. "John, Cassie! NOW!"
"Coming!" Steve sat at the counter, poking at his oatmeal with a spoon.
John down the railing on the stairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a banana. "Hey Stevey, you coming to Diagon Alley today?"
Steve groaned again and let his face fall into the bowl.
"Right, don't call you Stevey," John turned and grabbed two slices of bread, the peanut butter jar and a bag of chocolate chips.
"Hey, put those down. No chocolate for breakfast! And Stevey, sweetheart, you're breakfast must be hot, you might get burnt,"
"So?" He raised his head, now covered in oatmeal.
"Steve, you've got a little oatmeal on your face," John said around the sandwich he was stuffing in his mouth.
"You've got peanut butter on your nose," Steve mumbled, picking up a washcloth.
"I bet it's good for my skin," Steve smiled, shaking his head. "So are you going-"
"Apparently can't handle it,"
"I never said that," Their mother frowned, yelling up the stairs. "CASSIE!"
"Just as good though,"
"Come on Stevey, you have to get ready for the tournament-"
"Mom, I'm almost fourteen, and I'm totally capable of going to Diagon Alley,"
"But Stevey, it's a wizard's market-"
"And even if I weren't a squib I couldn't use magic,"
"But-"
"Mom, he's fine. And if he's not, he can just come with us. I mean, he already knows Bryan, Eric, Andrew, Tyler, and Max. What's the big deal?" John picked up a bag full of wizard coins.
"Honey, he's-"
"Nearly twice as strong as me and almost taller?"
"Actually I'm-"
"I'm trying to help you, Stevey. Don't you dare say you're half an inch taller right now,"
Cassie popped into the room
"We ready?" She asked. This being her last year at Hogwarts, she was able to apparate after she had passed the test a month ago.
"Yeah, how are we doing this today?" John asked.
"Let's apparate, I know that's what mostly everyone else does, plus it's quick,"
"All right, Steve coming?"
"Well. . ."
"Mom, come on. You let me run around Diagon Alley alone in my second year. He's older, stronger, and you never let him come,"
"Fine," She sighed, shaking her head. She grabbed his shoulder and John's and the room started spinning.
While Steve loved magic, he could deal without disaparation. It made him feel nauseous, yet John seemed to have adjusted to it.
The streets of Diagon Alley were, as usual, filled with the unique sounds, sights, and smells. The colorful awnings of the shops displaying there odd, dangerous, shiny, or even foul-smelling products. Steve turned to the nearest shop on the cobbled road, only to be pulled back by John.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I was just-"
"You don't have money, and you do realize that's a Wizard's Joke Shop?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So? You'll get kicked out of school if you bring any of that there,"
"That's the point," Steve yanked his sleeve away. "I hate it there,"
"Why?" John asked, steering him in the other direction.
"There's no magic,"
"That's the point, you're supposed to give the ministry information on the Muggle World,"
"You don't get it. It's so boring, I'd give anything to actually have magic,"
"Aren't there other, well. . . you know, kids without-"
"Squibs?" Steve shook his head. "It's not offensive, you know,"
"Hey, look, there's Bryan and Max!" John was obviously uncomfortable talking about this. Everyone was. They were all afraid he was easily offended by whatever they said. Truth was, it didn't bother Steve. He wanted to talk about it.
By the time they had reached Bryan and Max, they'd been joined by Andrew and three unfamiliar girl's. One of the girl's was pale with dark hair that had been dyed many strange colors. The other two were twins with red hair.
"Hey John," One of the twins waved, glancing at Steve a bit confused.
"Hey Delia," He smiled back.
"Stevey?" Max yelled.
"Stevey!" Bryan waved.
"STEVEY!" Andrew ran into him, making Steve stumble backwards a bit. "You're taller!"
"And lucky enough, stronger,"
"Stevey?" One of the twin's mouthed behind Andrew's back.
"Stevey's my younger brother," John explained, prying Andrew off him. "You gotta be so weird?" He asked.
"I love Stevey!" Andrew looked offended. "I wasn't being weird,"
"But I love him more!" Eric came out of nowhere, jumping on Steve.
"NO I DO!" Max jumped at him, falling on the ground instead.
"Sorry, but i don't like you like that. We can still be friends though," Steve laughed, lifting Eric off of him.
"But, Steve! What we had was special!" Eric pretended to burst into tears.
"I know it's going to be hard to get over the heartbreak, but I'm in love with someone else,"
"ME!" Tyler jumped on his back.
"Yeah, sure," He laughed.
Eric straightened up, quitting his dramatic act. "What happened to your head?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, your hair is longer, and why are parts of it blonde?"
"Uh, hair dye?"
"People!" Bryan clapped his hands. "We have a task ahead of us! Cause the caretaker as much trouble as we possibly can,"
"Meaning Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is the first stop!" Steve punched the air.
"You're going to get kicked out of school," John repeated, shaking his head.
"Good!"
"I'm so proud of you," Tyler climbed off his back. "Attempting to get kicked out of school,"
Steve nodded, smiling. Diagon Alley was better than he remembered.
*Cool Change In Scenes Because I'm Too Lazy To Write About The Joke Shop*
They opened the door to the book store, trying to get out of the rain.
"Alright, let's split up and try to find what we need," John pulled his hood off.
"I'll get out of your way, I'm going to be back there," Steve pointed to the far end and started walking.
He started looking through the shelves. One book, about ten shelves above his hand caught his eye. He quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then stepped back. One foot hit the wall, propelling him up, where he hit the shelf, then the wall, then landed on the shelf, sitting on the edge. Magical, Unusual, and Too Late, the cover of the book was bound by old, worn out leather and the letter's were dull and fading. Yet it appealed to Steve, and he opened it. The first page read: A Recording of the Ministry's Real Information on Non-Magic Holding Beings Born to a Magic Holding Family. Recordings of Their Abilities and Dismissed Issues in Their Lifestyle. Non-magic holding beings, meaning squibs.
He jumped off the shelf, checking his pocket for the coins John gave him.
"That's so sad!" He heard one of the girl's voices from behind the next shelf. Beth, if he remembered right.
"He's a squib? That's why we've never seen him? Aw, poor kid," Delia? Maybe it was Julia?
He gritted his teeth, stepping around the end of the shelf and staring down the aisle. John was standing with his back to Steve and Andrew had attempted to lift one of the girls high enough to grab a copy of some book.
Beth looked up at him, doing a double-take. "How long have you been standing-"
"I can manage fine on my own, so you know. Not having magic isn't a disease. I can survive," He stalked away, out of the bookstore, nearly running into a girl with pretty, dark, feathery hair on the way out. He received a cold shock from the rain, and looked up momentarily, one hand on his hood, then pulled it up and kept walking until he was far enough away that he couldn't see the bookstore's sign through the sheet of rain.
He sat on the curb, debating what to do for a minute or so. Letting his head fall into his hands, he glared at the wet street below.
A shoe appeared on it. "Hey,"
"What?" Steve stared up at his brother.
"What's up?"
"You heard them,"
"And?"
"I hate people who I don't even know acting like that,"
"Like what?"
He sighed, shaking his head. "They act as if I'm about to die,"
"Well, come on, do you blame them?"
"Yeah? I'm no different from a Muggle, or for that matter any of them during the summer because they can't use magic,"
"Look, not everyone is like that-"
"Then what is everyone else like? The only reason your friends don't act like that is because they've always known me,"
"But they don't know-"
"Whatever, I'm going to go find Mom and Cassie, I might be able to get home earlier," Steve stood, turning away and walking down the dark, rainy street.
*Such an Awesome, Long, Transition Past All This Unimportant Stuff That Happens That Summer*
"What the heck is this?" Olivia asked, sitting at the table occupied usually solely by squibs.
"Uh, I think it's a lunch table," Seth smiled. It was the second day of school, and Steve had made them all come to the table as fast as possible.
"I'm sick of being useless. If we're squibs, from a magical family, we have to be able to do something," Steve said.
"You're still fighting this, huh?" Charlie picked at the ugly school food.
"Why not try and figure it out? Come on, you guys want magic too,"
"Well, yeah, but come on, look around," Lydia gestured at the table across from them.
Most squibs were friendly with Muggles, but Gabrielle, Thomas, Jacob, and Cindy ignored the rest of them, acting as if they too thought they were freaks.
Seth shook his head. He blended well with either crowd. "They all just forget that we're here to get information about Muggle's, not play popular,"
"Does popular involve snotty, rude, bit-"
"Now, Lydia," Olivia shook her finger. "Don't use those words to describe them. It's too modest,"
"Guys, we can figure this out. It may be difficult, but we have to do something, right? I'm not going to live my whole life being looked down on. Think of how many people we can help,"
"Maybe Stevey's got a point," Seth searched his backpack, pulling out a notebook.
"Seth, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Stevey before I can knock your teeth out?"
"At least five more," Seth started scribbling on the notebook. "Where are we going to meet?"
"How about we go to Stevey's house?" Olivia smiled at the frustrated look on Steve's face.
"Fine, just stop calling me Stevey,"
"How are we going to do this?" Lydia asked. "I mean, sure we're squibs but it's not like we do nothing,"
"She's got a point," Charlie gave up on the school lunch, sliding it across the table where it fell into the trash can. "I'm not open until five o'clock,"
"Same," Lydia said.
"I can't get home until usually five thirty," Steve slumped down in his seat.
"So? We can just get there later and say we're doing homework or something. My parents get really weird whenever I say anything about magic," Lydia leaned over to look at Seth's notebook as Olivia spoke.
"But I have to leave by eight," Seth put in.
"Your point? We get there at, let's say, five forty five, and then leave at seven thirty or eight. Easy,"
*Another Oh So Cool Transition To The Next Scene*
"Steve!" His mom called up the stairs. "There's someone here for you!"
He looked over at the clock confused. Five forty. Steve gave his wet hair a shake, maybe to help dry it, and slid down the railing instead of walking down the stairs.
"Hey Steve, 'sup?" Lydia stood leaning against the doorway, Charlie behind her.
"Nice hair," Charlie smiled, ruffling his hair as he passed on the way in.
"This your study group?" His mother asked, looking skeptically at Charlie's strong build, backwards hat, and earring. Not to mention Lydia's hair, newly dyed a sort of reddish color.
"Uh, yeah. We'll be upstairs, send the others up when they get here,"
"Others?" She raised her eyebrows. "How many-"
"Only two, I promise," Steve led them up the stairs to his room.
"Nice," Charlie commented, surveying the room.
Lydia picked up a trophy on a shelf. "How many trophies do you have?"
"At least fifty by now. Some more are in other places, too,"
"Whatever you do, you either are really good or they give out a participation award,"
"If they gave out participation awards I would have twice as much,"
"Hey, Stevey," Seth walked in.
"Don't call me Stevey,"
"So how are we going to do this?" Lydia asked, setting the trophy down.
"I stole my brother's old potions set, my sister's old books, and-" Steve reached under his bed. "This cauldron,"
"Won't they notice they're gone?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"No, they're fifth and seventh years so they don't need most of it. This is an old potion kit, too,"
"So are we going to do this all in your room?" Seth looked around.
"No, the attic. No one ever goes up there,"
"Where the heck is Olivia?" Lydia groaned, looking at the door. "I'm the only girl!"
For some reason, this made them all laugh.
"Come on, stop it," She crossed her arms. "It's not funny," It looked extremely hard for her not to smile.
"Alright, let's just go up to the attic. We can wait for her up there," Charlie stood up, shaking his head, still laughing.
"It really wasn't that funny!" She argued with Charlie as they started up the stairs. Behind Seth and Stev
"Yes, it was really that funny,"
"Shut up,"
"No,"
"Jerk,"
"Terd,"
"Asshole,"
"Bit-"
"Shut up back there, lovebirds. Don't make me-"
"Lovebirds?" Lydia yelled, outraged.
"I hope Steve's mom is gone by now," Charlie laughed, shoving Lydia into the wall.
"Same here," Steve laughed, opening the door.
"Um, how long has it been since someone was up here?" Seth asked, setting the cauldron down in front of the door to keep it open.
The attic was covered in a thick layer of dust, spider webs, and an assortment of useless-looking boxes.
"A couple years," Steve coughed, waving his hand in front of his face as if to keep the dust away.
"Jeez, those years must have been long, hard, and dust-filled,"
"No kidding. We'll have to spend all of today just cleaning it up. Where's a broom?"
"See, that's a problem. We only have broom's that fly,"
"Idiot,"
"We have rubber gloves, and a mop,"
"Bring them hither!" Lydia yelled.
"Did you say hither?" Charlie laughed.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Don't tear each other's head's off, I'll be right back," Steve shook his head, smiling, and walked down the steps, retrieving the mop and gloves.
Halfway up the stairs, Olivia ran into him.
"Sorry, I'm late!" She panted.
"No worries, come on, we have to clean up the attic,"
"I'm not late enough, huh?" She laughed.
He smiled, leading her into the dusty attic.
"Do we really have to clean this?" Seth whined.
"Yeah, sorry about that guys," Steve set down the mop and gloves.
"I don't want to," Seth groaned, slamming his fist against the wall.
Suddenly, the dust rose into the air, before disappearing all together.
"What the-" Charlie, who was sitting on a chair on the corner looked around, then stood up. "There's no dust on this chair, and I didn't move,"
"Seth, what the hell did you do?" Lydia turned to look at him.
"Nothing! I just didn't want to clean-"
"Wait, Olivia, hand me that book," Steve turned to her.
"Why? You've got two legs,"
"Jeez, just hand me the book!"
"Fine! Why do you need this book so bad?"
"You'll see," He flipped it open, then looked up, "Seth, how badly did you not want to clean,"
"Come on, this is stupid-"
"Answer,"
"I really didn't want to clean,"
"Lydia, how much do you hate the dark?"
"What?"
"You hate the dark, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Charlie, shut the door,"
"Why?"
"Come on, just do it, you'll see,"
The room went entirely dark.
"Come on guys, turn the light back on," Lydia laughed nervously.
"No one move," Steve hissed.
"This is stupid! Come on, just turn it on!"
"No, just wait,"
"Steve, turn it on," Lydia's voice was full of panic.
"No,"
A bright, yellow light appeared in front of Lydia and started to bounce off the walls, finding an empty lamp and illuminating the room.
"What the hell?" Charlie shouted, panicked.
"Steve, you'd better have a damn good reason why you-"
"Look, it was an experiment. This book says any amount of stress, distaste, or even desire can trigger magical abilities in young wizards,"
"So? We aren't wizards," Olivia sat on an old trunk.
"Then what just happened?" Steve asked, shutting the book.
"But this is way too late to be qualified as-"
"It also says here that the magic may be uncontrollable based on the severity of the emotion, and the degree of the magic itself depends on the age of the so-called 'magician',"
"Is that all it says?" Charlie asked.
"In this one," Steve set it down. "You think it may just be a late development of powers?"
"We'll have to find out, won't we?" Olivia picked up A History of Magic. "Let's see if there are any other cases like this,"
"Cases? What is this, a crime show?" Seth picked up the second volume.
"Don't you think someone would tell us if there had been?" Steve asked, thinking about his brother and sister.
"Look, they go through most of the events and subjects in the books, not all of them," Lydia picked up another book.
"And how do you know this?" Charlie asked.
"My dad is teaching there this year, and he's going to take my brother there after spring break so he can get away from his stupid school,"
"Is he a squib?"
"No,"
Everyone went silent, only the turning of pages interrupted the silence.
"Guys," Olivia looked up. "I think I found something,"
"What?" They all echoed.
"It says, any holder of magical powers that have not been trained is called a magician. Most magicians receive their powers at a very young age, but a small group does not receive their powers until after most wizards start training. These powers can be hidden for the rest of the holders life, unknown to them. In few cases, the powers have been discovered. These magical abilities are more powerful than the most trained wizard or witch usually. Holders of these powers were captured and executed in the 1800's, but are now believed to be extinct,"
"Extinct?"
"Some of these magicians were quite famous and one of these is commonly known as Houdini. Houdini's family was pure blood, but hid their magic. Houdini's powers developed at the age of fourteen, and he discovered he could use them as a source of income. An international wizard council was brought forward to assess the matter, and many believed Houdini's ways would expose wizardry. One wizard was sent in the audience of one of Houdini's shows to take him to a wizarding court. Houdini refused, using his powers to injure the wizard, nearly killing him. Most magician's with late developing powers tended to be violent and were put down the second these powers were discovered, before the user could have full control of these powers,"
"Does it say anything else?"
Olivia shook her head.
"Um, it does in here," Seth held up an ancient Wizard Dictionary.
"What does it say?"
"It says most wizarding families are under the impression that a squib is as of the same abilities of a muggle, however, all squibs have advanced powers. Whether they discover how to use them or not could be life or death. In some cases, the powers saved them from cruel, pureblood families, but in others members felt threatened and murdered them. If by a magical child's thirteenth birthday they have not received powers, they should be executed,"
"They have common cures for late-developing and out of control powers in here," Lydia held up an old potions book that was nearly falling apart.
"How many of them involve death?" Steve asked.
"Hope you wouldn't ask that," She sighed. "Four, but one involves being bitten by a werewolf as a way to control the powers by having another part of you be out of control. The only one that seems remotely painless is brewing a potion and putting both hands in it. Wait, never mind. The potion's supposed to burn the first two layers off your hands and disable your magic or reveal it,"
"Well, I think we may just not want to tell anyone until we can get this under control,"
"And how do we do that? We don't have wands, and that's the easiest way to control magic," Lydia stood up.
"Focus on your emotions, make sure they never get out of control and you may be able to hold them back. We can see what we already can do later, but right now it seems like we can produce light and move small particles of air?"
"Stop talking like that," Charlie groaned. "Small particles of air? Just say dust,"
"I'm starving," Seth jumped off the box he had been sitting on.
"Yeah, you have any food around here?" Lydia yawned.
"Maybe? My mom's probably gone with my dad to some stupid Ministry meeting,"
"Then let's go raid your fridge," Olivia opened the door and the lamp went out.
They all squeezed onto the narrow stairway down from the attic, relieved when they reached the much wider spiral staircase down to the first floor.
"Ah, good, we do have food!" Steve took out a milk carton, a bag of bread, a glass container filled with what looked like pasta, and jelly. He went to the pantry, taking out peanut butter and chips.
"Jeez, you hungry?" Olivia laughed.
"Oh right, you guys want something?"
"Seriously? You're willing to share your small amount of food?" Charlie asked, taking the bag of bread.
"Come on, I eat a lot because I do a lot,"
"You must be a marathon runner,"
"Actually I do martial arts, and every once and awhile weight-training,"
"And that's enough?"
"Yeah, you might be surprised at how much it actually-"
"I don't care, I'm just hungry!" Seth grabbed a slice of bread and the peanut butter jar, dipping the bread in. "What?" He asked, stuffing it in his mouth, noticing that Lydia was staring at him.
"Do you usually eat like that?" Lydia asked.
"Like what?" His voice was muffled by the food.
"Like, I don't know, a starving dog?"
"Shut up," He shoved her with his shoulder, swallowing.
"That's actually a good idea," Steve grabbed two slices of bread and put one in the jar of jelly and one in the jar of peanut butter. He swallowed, picking up the carton of milk, twisting off the cap and drinking half the carton.
"Alright, nobody else drink from that carton," Olivia shook her head, taking another one out of the fridge.
"Why not?" Seth shrugged, picking up and drinking the rest.
"Not only have you grown white facial hair, but you basically just kissed Steve," Lydia gave him a glass of water. "There you go, wash that out of your mouth,"
Seth looked mortified for a second, then took the water, gurgling it. "Nothing against you Steve, it's better if we're just friends," He said, wiping his mouth.
"No worries," He laughed.
"So, you've got a pretty big house. What do your parents even do?" Charlie sat on the counter.
"They both work at the ministry, doing something that really doesn't seem interesting or important," Steve shrugged, sitting on a stool.
"So, are they usually gone at night?" Olivia asked.
"Only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and some Fridays,"
"So they're only here on the weekends and Monday?"
"Prove your point before I hit you,"
"Can't hit a girl,"
"There's nothing in the almighty laws about kicking,"
"Basically, we can do the physical stuff, like the magic itself on every day but Monday and weekends. Any other stuff on Mondays and weekends,"
"Now I can't hurt you," Steve shook his head, acting disappointed.
"What time is it?" Seth asked.
"Uh, almost eight, why?"
"Bye!" Seth ran to the door.
"Where are you-" The door slammed on Lydia's question. "-going," She shook her head.
"I probably have to go, too," Charlie sighed looking at his watch.
"Yeah, I'll go with you, your house is pretty close to mine," Lydia waved. "See you guys at school,"
"What about you?" Steve turned to Olivia as the door swung shut. "You leaving too?"
She wrinkled up her face as if thinking very hard. "Nah, I'll stay for awhile,"
"Really? There's nothing to do-"
"Come on, you can't do anything yet. Let's try and make you do something,"
"Why, can you do something?"
"I've been trying. I got frustrated when I couldn't find anything for awhile, the pages just turned. I didn't touch them,"
"So, is it only me and Charlie now?"
"Seems like it, now what did that book say-"
"Any amount of stress, distaste, or even desire can trigger magical abilities in young wizards," Steve recited.
"Memorized it, have we?" She smiled.
"Well, it's not that hard-"
"You're pretty smart, you know that? So what else did it say? Something about the severity of the emotion-"
"Magic may be uncontrollable based on the severity of the emotion. The stronger the emotion the clearer the source and intention of the magic,"
"Was the last part in the book-"
"Yes, I just didn't say it,"
"Why?"
"Lydia is terrified of the dark, and she probably doesn't want anyone to know that,"
"No one could figure that out besides you," Olivia laughed. "What time are your parents getting home?"
"Probably around nine, why?"
"Alright, we're going to make you use your powers. Should I frustrate you, make you mad, or however the heck I can make you feel desire?"
"Stress might not work. I've survived plenty of stressful situations,"
"Why are you talking like an adult?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're always acting much older than fourteen, come on, just have some fun,"
"And how are we going to do that?"
"What do you do when no ones around?"
"Excuse me?" He laughed.
"Just tell me,"
"I usually just go to the weight room up stairs or do homework or play video games,"
"Do you like video games?"
"Name one teenage boy who doesn't," Steve scratched his neck shoving one hand in his pocket. "What are you-"
"Where are your video games?"
"My room, why?"
Olivia smiled deviously, turning and running up the stairs.
"Olivia!" He yelled, following her to his room.
"You ready?" She asked, smiling. In one hand, high above her head, she was holding an X-box, standing on the chair to his desk.
"Olivia, get down, you're going to fall,"
"I'll drop it,"
"Get down,"
She let go of the shiny box and just as it was about to hit the floor, Steve caught it.
"You'll need a better threat," He shook his head, laughing.
"Fine," She jumped off the chair, arms crossed. "I need to think,"
"Look, I've got a pretty good handle on my emotions, and if you're going to drop something I've got pretty fast reflexes,"
"Alright, maybe I just need to find out more about you,"
"Hm, well, my favorite song is 'Rough Draft' by Yellowcard, my birthday is on February fifteenth, a day after Valentine's Day, I spend most of my time doing some form of martial arts, and my favorite color? Purple?"
"Stop mocking me,"
"You wanted to know more about me, even if it's the boring stuff, it's a start,"
"Are you an only child?"
"Nah, I've got an older brother and an older sister,"
"What are they like?"
"They look nothing like me,"
"Does that bother you?"
"Why the hell would that bother me?"
"I don't know, you have any pictures?"
"Yeah, I took them over the summer," He opened the desk drawer, pulling out a stack of pictures. The first half wasn't even of people, just animals and locations.
"Where'd you get these?"
"I took them with my camera. I'm sorta into that whole photography thing,"
"Really?" She asked, flipping through them. "They're amazing,"
"I have a website I put them on, too,"
"Why didn't I know this before?"
"No one ever asks,"
"Yeah, but I've known you since I was eleven,"
"You never asked me,"
"How would I know to ask?"
"The fact you found my camera, looked through half the pictures, then gave it back?"
She laughed. "Maybe that was a good hint," She looked back at the pictures and her eyebrows rose. "Who are they?"
"That's my brother, and this-" He took the first picture off the stack. "-Is my sister,"
"How?"
He laughed. "My brother and sister look more like my mom and I look more like my dad,"
"But they're-"
"My mom's hispanic, my dad's japanese,"
"Still!" Steve laughed as she stared at the picture of his some-what-dark-skinned, dark-haired siblings. "I mean you're skin is lighter, way lighter, actually. And you're hair is black, and it's blonde-"
"You know I dyed it blonde, right?"
"What? When?"
He laughed. "I dyed it last year. Did you seriously think it just grew that way all of the sudden?"
"I feel stupid,"
"Good, because you are,"
"Well, maybe you guys have the same eyes?"
"Not the same shape, but the color's relatively similar,"
"Your's are darker,"
"You aren't even looking at me,"
"I was a creepy stalker chick awhile ago,"
"What?"
"When we were eleven, for reasons unknown, I was in love with you,"
"Was it because I was good looking?"
"Don't flatter yourself,"
"Is it my sixpack?"
"Abs? I doubt you have a sixpack," She laughed, looking through the pictures still, but sitting on the edge of his bed.
"I do!"
"Uh huh,"
"Seriously, I do!"
"Hey, who're they?"
"Who?" Steve sat on the bed next to her. "Oh, those are my brothers friends. They all live nearby, and that-" He said taking the stack away from Olivia as she flipped to the next picture."Is none of your business,"
"Let me see!"
"Nope," Steve stood up, walking to the desk. Olivia jumped on his back, grabbing the back of his hair.
"Olivia, let go,"
"Come on, just let me look!"
"Fine!" He threw his hands in the air and she fell to the ground. "But you can't make fun of me,"
"!" She jumped up for the stack of pictures, and Steve easily handed them over. "Hehehehehehehehehe," She giggled like a little kid and sat on the bed again. Then stopped and looked up. Then down again, and up at Steve, then down and up again. "Who's this?"
"That-" He sat down next to her. "-is Emma Thrash,"
"Yeah but who is she?"
Steve sighed. "My first girlfriend,"
"Since when?"
"Well, the area I live in has a lot of wizards in it. Emma came back from Hogwarts last year at spring break, and I was sitting by the lake with my camera. She walked down there and started talking to me, and I liked her. So we kept coming down to the lake over spring break, and when she went back, we used her owl to talk back and forth. She came back during the summer, and I was waiting at the lake. And the whole summer, we were down at the lake all the time. It sort of just happens. I took this two weeks before she left. She'll be back for Christmas break, and I've already counted how many days,"
"That is-"
"Remember, you can't make fun of me,"
"-Really sweet,"
"What?"
"Why would I make fun of you?"
"Because you have no idea how much John's friends did when I told them,"
"Why'd you tell them?"
"I've known them my whole life. Plus, Bryan's house is five minutes from the lake anyway. And they saw me when I took this picture," He showed her the next one, which was of the same pretty girl, under the same tree, yet Steve had his arm around her and his lips were just barely touching hers.
"She's really pretty,"
"I know. And she's sweet, too,"
"How'd you take these? You're actually in them,"
"I have a timer on the camera,"
"Whoa," He was doing some sort of hand stand and Emma was sitting on the ground below him, stretching her neck so her lips were touching his.
"Victor Kim did it first. It's a break dance move. I just thought it was really cool so I tried it, too,"
The next was a picture of them lying on the grass, though they were both in opposite directions and you could see the camera strap. There were several pictures of them, and just her, too.
"The best part about it all, was she didn't care that I was a squib. All she cared about was that I was there, talking to her,"
"Well, this is good,"
"What?"
"Now I know enough about you to try and make you use your magic,"
"Right. About that-"
"Are you scared?" She smiled mischievously and started making chicken noises.
"No, just don't do anything too drastic,"
"You are scared,"
"I have no idea what you're going to do now,"
"I have never even heard 'Rough Draft' by Yellowcard. You have a reason to be scared,"
IMPORTANT! To those of you who read AH: After Harry and you have any ideas message me. I'll be glad to add them in :) It's about to die anyway
Author's Note:
I have decided that AH: After Harry is about to die. I just don't like it much. It really wasn't even centered around magic. So this series is gunna highlight magic, not to say it'll take over AH. Well maybe. It's an alternate version. Not an alternate view, there is probably going to be a whole new ending. Different death's, still death's, but different ones. And I really hate writing about Justin, so it'll be centered around these people. They're all dancers, guys. I based them off of dancers. Steve is modeled after Steve Terada of Quest Crew. Down to the birthday, favorite song, appearance. Personality more or less so. Olivia is modeled after Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales from IaMmE Crew. No idea what's right or wrong on her, but I haven't put a physical description for those of you who don't know what she looks like. Lydia is modeled after Lydia Paek from Quest. Same case with Olivia. Charlie is modeled after Lenny Pearce from Justice Crew. Again, same situation as Lydia and Olivia. As for Seth, PAULIE MERCIADEZ OF JUSTICE CREW! He's awesome. I wasn't sure if I should make Seth look and act like Ryan Conferido of Quest Crew because I LOVE him too, but I'm happy with using Paulie.
Read my random banter?
Congratulations
Thanks for your time.
Ace Axel
P.S. Yeah they're longer chapters, but that's 'cause I'm taking my time. Oh and about Emma, not sure how she looks. I tried to download a document with pictures for this story to FanFiction but it didn't work. I now know it's not possible. So I'll probably make a website once I have enough readers that care. BYE BYE!
