A/N: Hello everyone! Just a quick note, Tonks is training to be an Auror and it is her first year out of school, the Twins Aurora and Hunter have a mind bond and if they don't shut off their mind from their other twin (occlumency) the other twin can hear their thoughts and what they say through telepathy. They can either shut off the thoughts and not communication, or both. Happy reading!
Talking
Parseltongue
Thoughts
Telepathy
"Wake up Aurora! Wake up! I just got my Hogwarts letter!" I hear my twin brother screaming through my mind, and I grumble in return and turn my head over on my silk pillow to find my letter. I don't bother opening it as I have seen Dora's many times and I know what it says. My ears pick up movement down the hallway and I spring up out of bed stealthily, and creep behind my door. As predicted, Hunter slowly walks in and before he can realise I'm not in my bed, I shoot my hand out and douse him in water, leaving him soaked. "Still too quick for you my brother" I say with a smirk plastered across my face. He narrows his eyes at me and tries to tackle me to the ground, but I side step just in time and Hunter face plants before grabbing my foot and yanking it, pulling me down as well. I swing my leg and roll at the same time, forcing him to let go and spin around only to find myself pinned to the ground, with both hands above my head and pressed down, and my brother on top of me.
He grins and says "You may be faster dear sister, but I am stronger." I can't deny it, he is strong, and we both know it. We both start cracking up laughing and we hear our Aunt walking up the stairs to wake us. We quickly jump up and Hunter blows a big gust of wind on himself, effectively drying him and his clothes just as she walks in. She eyes us both suspiciously but shrugs it off.
"I assume both of you have received your Hogwarts acceptance letters yes?" I look back onto my now messy bed and lying there is my letter. We both nod and she carries on. "Right well we will be leaving for Diagon Alley in an hour, I suggest you tidy yourselves up a bit. Bobby and Tinky have your breakfast prepared" She finishes and walks out of the room swiftly and goes down stairs.
"What's wrong with her?" I ask Hunter and all i get is a shrug. "Okay, well I'm going to get changed, so if you don't mind." I motioned his out and he left. I sigh before taking a quick shower, brushing my hair, and heading down stairs. The scent of breakfast invade my nostrils and I breathe in more deeply. Mmmmmh, blueberry pancakes, my favourite!
I am greeted with a very unattractive sight. My brother devouring his breakfast as if his life depends on it. I wonder to myself how he isn't choking. "It's one of my many talents
" I chuckle to myself and give in to the smell of breakfast.
Five minutes into my breakfast, my Aunt comes in once again and asks if we are ready. I swallow the last bite of my pancake and say yes. She smiles at me and scolds my brother as he is now dripping with maple syrup. He gives her a sheepish grin and she pulls out her wand and mutters "Scourgify" making the mess he made disappear.
"Thanks Aunt Andy!" He says happily and she chuckles at him. This happens most mornings and its become a daily routine. I shake my head in amusement and ask what we will be doing today.
"Well you two, we will be going into Gringotts first and getting some money, then going to Flourish and Blotts so we can get all the books. Aurora you may have one book that isn't a school book." I grin and thank her. I've read most of the books, but I haven't read the ones about dark witches and wizards. She smiles and carries on. "Afterwards, if you two have behaved yourselves, we will get an ice-cream. "Hunters eyes light up at this and i shake my head at him. "Then we will get your robes fitted for you, and then your wand. Even though you may not need it, I don't want anyone finding out unless necessary that you can perform wandless magic, it will make you a bigger target than you already are. On the way back, we will stop off at Eeylops Emporium and you can have a pet each. Is that okay?" We nod with enthusiasm and she tells us to hold onto her arms. I know whats coming.
It feels like I'm being sucked through a pin sized hole, and after a few seconds, I feel my feet touch solid ground. I groan as my tummy starts to do somersaults and I bend over for about a minute trying to catch my breath. It doesn't take long before my brother and I have recovered and we are on our way.
We walk down Diagon Alley and some witches and wizards look at me terrified. This nerved me a bit, but I brushed it off, and we carried on to Gringotts. My Aunt gives some blood to the goblin to confirm she is allowed to go into our Vault and the next thing I know, we are on the carts, swinging and looping around, going deeper and deeper into the underground. Once we get off, my Aunt looks a little sick and doesn't talk, but she just follows the goblin. He grabs two weird looking objects and gives one to my Aunt and they start shaking it. I'm confused for a moment and then I figure it out when I see the Dragon. I know immediately its a Ukrainian Ironbelly. It's flinching away from us, and I hate the sight of what's happening, me being an animal lover and all. I look towards the Dragon with sorrow and keep moving. I vow to get that Dragon out one day and save it.
We finally get to the Vault, and moments later for the first time in my life, I step into my mothers Vault. All I can see is piles and piles of gold. Jewellery, weapons, armour, heirlooms, and plenty more. "Take what you want, it is, after all, yours." She says with a grim smile. My eyes light up and I spend a whole hour going around the vault. From an early age, we were trained to defend ourselves with daggers, swords, hand-to-hand combat, shielding, and magical, so I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to equip myself with proper weapons and jewellery. I end up with two daggers with the words Tourjours Pur engraved upon the blade, a sword that has the Black family Crest on it that can shrink, a bag full of gold, and a locket containing three people in it who I assume to be my parents and maybe a cousin or something. It is made from gold and has a very detailed Black Crest on the front. My brother gets virtually the same as me, but he got a simple male ring instead of a necklace.
We leave Gringotts and go to Flourish and Blotts to buy our school books and I end up getting Dark Witches and Wizards of the 20th Century. We get an ice-cream, and I have a peanut butter and vanilla one topped with some muggle sprinkle things. I have to admit, it is delicious. I zone out for the next hour as we are fitted for our school robes and head towards Ollivander's. To my brothers and my annoyance, there is not a wand that we suit, so Aunt Andy takes us down to Knockturn Alley in search of a wandcrafter.
We finally get to a shop and the wand crafter introduces himself as Vladimir. I realise he's Russian. We introduce ourselves and I decide to talk to him. I ask him where he was from since he has a Russian name and he said he was born in London but he gets the name because he is a distant relative of the Tsar family who were executed in 1918. After my little interrogation, he starts talking.
"Wave your hand over each bit of wood and tell me which piece of wood you feel is best. Do the same with the cores and the gems." I did what I was told. I wave my hand over the pieces of wood and finally pointed to one piece.
"That one." I say.
"Ah, yes elder, very powerful wood. Next, the cores." The man says. I do the same with the cores and I find my hand is attracted to the one in the middle.
"Chimaera Scale. Very rare yet very powerful Miss Black. This wand will be more expensive than the normal ones that I make" My Aunt nodded as she expected this again and again I did the same with the gems and pointed to a brown one.
"Right, the gem that has chosen you is a Ruby. They are thought to be hardened blood drops of battle dragons. The Ruby gives to its wearer strength of lion, fearlessness of eagle and wisdom of snake." The man says and he takes the things that I had just chosen and mutters a spell. He turns back to me and hands me the newly made wand. The wand is beautiful. The handle looked hand carved and the wand was a dark purple, it looked as if it had just been polished and the gem was located at the handle right where you place your thumb.
"Miss Black, that is a very powerful wand, treat it right and use it well." The man says carefully as he takes in my looks. It's now my brothers now. He goes through the same process and ends up with a wand made of Elder as well and has a core of Ash-winder ash which the man says would cast the best protection spells. The gem is an Onyx and his wand is jet black.
"The Onyx is a stone of fighters, as it enables to focus one's energy. The Onyx when set in the wand, will guard the owner against sorcery and evil eye. It is said that Onyx has an ability to drive away storms, lightning, and various everyday misfortunes." The man says. "Treat it well."
As we enter Eeylops Emporium, all the owls start hooting, and the cats start meowing. I sigh and move towards the back of the shop and see a snowy owl with bright blue eyes grooming itself. It has black feathers spread out all over the body but it could easily become invisible in the snow. It hoots at me and I smile at it and immediately know that is the owl. I name him Oreo after the shop assistant tells me its a male. Aunt Andy buys him for me and he flies over onto my shoulder and I feel a small shock of electricity run through me. Hunter still hasn't chosen one so I decide to keep looking around. I find the section that has snakes and find myself attracted to a colourful snake that I was sure wasn't there before.
"Keep staring you idiot human" I hear it hiss.
"Excuse me?" I say offended.
"I apologise human, usually the others stare at me and they can't understand me." The snake says, a little surprised.
"It's fine, do you have a name?" I ask the snake.
"Nika is my given name. Can you please take me from here? I can be of use to you, and there is something special about you." The snake pleads with me. I reach into the tank and stroke its head, and I feel another shock go through me. I bite my lip, and nod, and head over to my Aunt.
"Aunt Andy, I know you only said one pet, but there is a snake over there that I have been talking to and she's begging me to get her out of there. I think there's something special about her and my owl, I felt a shock go through me when I first touched them." Her eyes widen slightly, and agrees to buy him. I jump happily and drape him around my neck, trying to hide him from everyone, but it is very hard as Nika is colourful.
"Alright, don't freak out Aurora, but I think I can help you with hiding myself." I nod and look at my snake, just in time to see her turn invisible.
I gasped and some people looked at me weirdly, and then with fear. I sighed and held onto my mothers arm as we disapparated home.
As soon as we got home I raced upstairs and into my bedroom so I could read my new book. I didn't realise what impact that book would have on me.