The boy with bright orange hair and mesmerizing blue eyes wearing a black leather jacket with grey jeans and red trainers walked down Diagon Alley grumbling to himself. "Stupid sister, why does she have to come to Hogwarts?" Sighing, he walked into a shop.
"Ahh Ben Shadows, I thought you would be coming to my shop soon… Your mother favoured a elm wand with dragon heartstring, very good for dueling. Your father however preferred a holly and unicorn hair wand, perfect for transfiguration. I presume you're here for yours?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with." The old man looked down at the boy with something equal to eagerness. "Very well, let's begin. Wand arm?"
"Right." Placing a wand in the boys hand, the boy immediately felt a surge of power. Waving his hand, he sent green and red fireworks in the air. Whizzing around the shop, the fireworks made their way outside the door, terrorising the street in an explosion of colour. Grinning the man muttered to himself, "Intersting, pine and unicorn hair. A wand that's good for charms, coming from your family which isn't known for it's charm work. That'll be 8 Galleons." Deciding to buy a wand holster like the one his dad uses, Ben left the store. Walking right into a familiar person with brown wavy hair and sea green eyes who he wasn't pleased to see under any circumstances.
"Shadows. Not wearing robes? Such a shame you can't afford proper clothes."
"Winters! Didn't know your family had two brain cells to spare! I'm so pleased I think I might just fa-" At this she glared and pushed past him, elbowing him in the gut on her way past. Muttering to himself, "What an annoyance. Well, guess I have to go home. Wonder if Dad's realized I've left yet? I remember telling Mum…"
As he walked down the street, people started to recognise him and as usual, rumors started flying. "Heard his mother was a up-and-coming dark witch, caught by his father…" He chuckled to himself. That one was true. June Shadows nee Moon was a rising dark witch, caught by Mark Shadows after repeated use of the Dark Arts. They eventually fell in love and got married and had triplets, Sam Shadows, Joan Shadows and himself, Ben Shadows. A year later they had twins, Courtney and Robin Shadows.
"Heard a vampire attacked him… The mother killed it, of course…" How did they find out about that? The Winters family, angered and spurned by June Shadows, forced a vampire to attack the Shadows triplets. It bit two of them, before June murdered it. Turning two of them into vampires, the Shadows and the Winters family's have hated each other since. Ben, having just run into Dawn Winters, the elder Winter's child by two minutes, was now thinking about the events that brought him here.
His bratty sister Robin was boasting about how she would be the one to put him in his place the second she stepped into Hogwarts. Normally he would have ignored her but his temper was at it's limit. So he yelled out, "Mum! I'm going to Diagon Alley!" and floo'd here. He caught sight of emerald-green robes walking out of the Leaky Cauldron and realised he's watching Professor McGonagall take the new muggle-born students into Diagon Alley for the first time. Watching, he saw a girl with a pale complexion, bright red hair and vivid bright green eyes. Running towards the group, he easily caught up with the girl. Extending his hand, he said, "Ben Shadows, Ginger Extraordinaire! You are?"
"Lily Evans, Self-Proclaimed Know-it-all."
"Nice to meet you Lily. So where's McGonagall taking you lot?"
"Gringotts. Then to get school supplies and finally the wand shop. Nice jacket by the way. Are you a half-blood? Some weirdo in the pub just now was saying how pure-bloods are the best and half-bloods always wear muggle clothes."
"Nah I'm a pure-blood, I just don't care about it. Blood is blood in the end isn't it? That weirdo was probably Euan Winters. He is a blood supremacist and will always look down on anyone who is a muggle-born or a Shadows."
"Why would he hate you?"
"Blame my mother." At this Ben's hair turned green and spiky, his eyes staying blue. "How did you do that? Can you teach me?".
"I'm a metamorphmagus, I can change my features on demand. You can't learn it, you can only be born with it." He suddenly froze and muttered, "Oh no… I'm sorry about this." Just then an ear-splitting squeal emitted from behind them. An explosion of brown hair grabbed both Ben and Lily and dragged them off yelling behind her, "Don't worry Professor, we'll look after her!"
Falling on a chair at the cafe they stopped at, Ben glared at the form of his triplet sister, Joan. "How did I not hear you…." he muttered to himself.
"So Benny's found a girlfriend huh? Never thought you'd like red-heads but oh well…" At this Lily blushed but Ben just leaned back and said, "So you want that picture of you dancing with Sirius Black very intamtly to find it's way around Hogwarts?" At this Joan blushed and yelled in protest, "You said you destroyed that! You're so mean!" Watching Joan storm off, Ben turned to Lily and muttered, "As a matter of fact I did burn it but she doesn't need to know that, right?" Seeing her nod, he cast the Tempus spell and jumped out of his seat.
"Damn, we need to get you your things! Let's go" Pulling her by the arm and buying everything she needed, Ben managed to get all of Lily's shopping including her wand and an owl named Mercury in under 45 minutes. "Well Miss Evans, it was a pleasure meeting you but I must leave to find my brat of a sister and hex her. Goodbye." With that he floo'd home, leaving a waving Lily behind.
LINE BREAK
As soon as he got home, he was knocked to the floor by his sister Robin. "I'm so sorry Ben, I forgot you were angry today please forgive me and maybe buy me a Nimbus 1990!"
"Robin, first, get the hell off me. Second, No. Third, Where's Mum?"
"What, I don't get a mention? No stray thought perhaps?" Ben looked up to see the large, imposing figure of Mark Shadows. He had the sort of face and complexion that could go from happy and joyous to serious in a second. His hair was long, shaggy and orange and peeking out of his hair were pale blue eyes. If he was using his natural hair and eyes, Ben looked very much like Mark. Ben's siblings, Sam and Joan, took after their mother and the twins, Courtney and Robin had a mix of both parents.
"Now why would you get a mention? We all know I'm the better parent." Came the voice of June Shadows. She had brown hair and amethyst eyes. Again, like her husband she could go from happy to angry in a matter of seconds but the scary thing was she smiled no matter what mood she was in. Reading her body language was an essential skill in their house, as one wrong word could get you hexed for a week.
Pouting, Mark walked back to the kitchen where he was probably making his favorite meal, 8oz of Sirloin Steak with asparagus and chips. June walked back to the library, saying, "Joan's in her room but it's warded. Good luck." Smirking, Ben walked up to his sister's room. Making himself look like his brother, Ben knocked on her door. The door opened a bit, enough for his sisters eye to examine him. "Is that you or Ben?" Smirking, he produced Sam's wand, thanking whoever left it on the coffee table downstairs. "Alright, come in. Sorry, but Ben wants to hex me for what I did in Diagon Alley today."
Joan's room was a mess. You couldn't see the floor for all the books on it, thrown away after she was done reading them. Her radio sat in the corner, waiting to be turned on. Her wardrobe took up an entire wall. God only knows what's in there. It had a window overlooking the massive lawn they had, with six quidditch hoops facing each other. They usually played with teams of Ben and Courtney, and Sam and Robin as Joan liked to be the commentator, normally using her position to insult Ben and Sam as she saw fit.
"Too right I did." Ben said, making Joan freeze with shock, slowly edging towards her bed as that's where she left her wand. Smirking, he pulled his wand out, muttering, "Perficulus Totadus", freezing her in place. Laughing, he said,"I want you to know that this is entirely your fault."
An hour later, Ben found his mother in the library reading books about Grindelwald's rise to power. "Planning another takeover?" He asked jokingly as he sat down beside her. "In this book, they don't cover how he lost or even where he is now, if he's still alive. That's really annoying."
"Weird, you'd think the ministry wanted people to know he's behind bars or even dead."
"Yeah, or they're protecting whoever did it. By the way, did you get your sister?"
"Put it this way, she's not coming down for dinner anytime soon."
Just then, a letter arrived that changed the Shadows lives until at least Hogwarts started, in a month.
LINE BREAK
Lily Evans was having a rollercoaster of a day. After asking Professor McGonagall countless questions about magic, she suggested living with a magical family until Hogwarts started. Who did Professor McGonagall pick?
The Shadows.
After writing to them, she told Lily to pack up anything she would need for a while. That's why, at 9:00PM, she was waiting outside a giant manor made out of obsidian bricks. Walking up to the front door, McGonagall knocked smartly on the front door. "The Shadows are one of the most muggle-tolerant families I know of, that you already know their eldest child Ben certainly helps matters and- Oh hello Mark!"
"Professor, what can I do for you both tonight?" Mark Shadows looked almost like Ben, Lily thought, but then realised this was a more older version of Ben. A scar ran across his eye, making him look dangerous and menacing.
"I was hoping you could accommodate Ms Evans here until the start of term. She has a few (hundred) questions that I thought you could answer."
"Of course, we have a empty space at the table tonight anyways."
"Excellent, then Ms Evans I will see you at Hogwarts." With that McGonagall disappeared into thin air. "Why don't you come in…?"
"Lily." She replied. Walking behind him, she could hear multiple voices coming from the room he was heading towards. Opening the door, and revealing what looked like a dining room, Mark made his way to a seat next to a woman who could only be his wife, as they shared a quick but passionate kiss as he sat down. Looking around the table, Lily saw Ben, currently wearing midnight blue eyes and amethyst eyes, similar to his mother Lily supposed, wearing the same leather jacket from earlier, munching on steak, oblivious to her entrance. A boy similar to Ben's age, who looked exactly like his looked at her with something akin to confusion, then emmbarresment. There was two girls who looked similar opposite each other, throwing random bits of asparagus at each other when they thought their parents couldn't see them.
"Oh? Who's this Mark?" The woman, Ben's mother, asked.
"Everyone, including you Ben, this is-"
"Lily Evans, when I said see you later I kinda meant in a month. Not in a couple of hours." Ben said, finally tearing himself away from the steak. Blushing in embarrassment, she replied, "Yeah, but McGonagall thought it would be best to let me stay here. Seeing as I already know you."
"Alright but just to warn you, we're holding a small get-together with other families, and the Potters are coming." At this almost every child at the table started complaining, Lily only managing to catch several complaints.
"Thinks he can chat me up!"
"My hair was blue for two weeks!"
"Room trashed, stuff thrown around my room!"
"Stay with the Winters than let Potter near me…" This last one came from Ben and seemed to make the others freeze and ask if Ben was completely insane.
"Are you insane? Potter can't be that bad can he?" Ben huffed in response and walked away, Lily struggling to catch up. They walked until they started going down, walking down into the basement. Watching him, she noticed three other kids, all around the same age as him, near two electric guitars and a drum kit. Sighing, Ben looked around until he saw Lily and smiled. "Boo!" A voice came from behind her while also grabbing her shoulders. Startled, she saw Ben's brother wink at her and walk towards Ben.
"Alright Lily, this is our band. Me and Sam here are main singers, this is Harry who'll be on drums, and Lewis and Lindsay are on the guitars. This is our song called 'Through the Fire and Flames."
At once, they started playing expertly, at least thats what Lily thought. As they played Lily noticed Sam would sneak glances at Lindsay whenever he thought she wasn't looking, and she did the same. Eventually, the song ended and Ben's hair was now long and hanging over his eyes. Grinning, Ben walked over to Lily, his hair slowly turning long and black, with amethyst eyes.
"So, what did you think?"Ben asked, his eyes focused on hers. "It was awesome! By the way, where am I sleeping?"
"You'll be sleeping in Joan's room. Why don't you go unpack?" Came the voice of Ben's mother.
Following a girl Lily believed to be Robin, Ben's younger sister, Lily was awed by the size of the manor. It was three floors, each for different things. Everyone slept on the top floor, Ben even spelt in the attic. The second floor was for the library, and the Shadow parent's study's. There were other doors as well, but Robin hadn't explained about them. The first floor had the dining room, the kitchen, the fireplace which was connected to the Floo Network and the entrance to the gardens.
Finally stopping at a door, Robin pulled out a wand Lily didn't recognise, and muttered, "Alohomora". The door opened, revealing a room that was blacked out as the windows were drawn shut. "Damm, Ben got her good if she did this. Lumos"
Lily still couldn't see much, but saw a figure on the bed opposite where her stuff was. It looked like someone had grown long ears out of the back of their head. Looking carefully, however, Lily saw a slight shimmer in the air around the body. "So you'll be sleeping here, umm come down for breakfast anytime after eight, and don't wake Ben up if you can."
With that Robin left the room, and within seconds Lily was asleep on the bed, dreaming of tomorrow.