DISCLAIMER: ALL THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS WHICH LOOK REMOTELY FAMILIAR BELONG SOLELY TO THE WONDERFUL J.K. ROWLING HOWEVER MUCH I WISH THEY WERE MY CREATIONS.
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"MUM, HAVE YOU SEEN MY… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" A shriek erupted from the pink and white painted door. A pretty eleven-year-old girl with striking red hair and startling green eyes burst out from the door with a tawny owl flying out behind her. She raced down the stairs and collapsed in a pile at the bottom of the steps in front of her fourteen-year-old teenage sister.
"Lily, are you alright?" The girl who had spoken had looks that contrasted drastically with her sister's. Instead of the beautiful red hair her younger sister had, she had dull black hair scraped into a ponytail. Her eyes were green, but a pale green, unlike the emerald green of Lily's eyes. She bent down to help Lily up. Lily looked up at her elder sister and gasped, "Petunia, behind you!" She turned around in time to see an owl flying straight at her head. She shrieked as it landed calmly on her shoulder and sunk its talons in.
Mr. Evans, the girls' father entered the room and stopped in shock at the sight of his daughters standing petrified in the middle of the room, a large owl on his elder daughter's shoulder. He reached a hand out tentatively and touched the owl. It patiently stuck a leg out. To Mr. Evans' surprise, there was a letter attached to the leg. He removed it gently. The owl gave a relieved sounding hoot and took off, digging its talons even deeper into Petunia's shoulder.
The two girls looked at each other in apprehension as their father scanned the what seemed like a letter in apparent and growing disbelief. He gave a disbelieving snort and was about to toss the letter into the fireplace when Lily stopped him. She took the letter from him and read through its contents, her sister peering over at it over her shoulder. Petunia laughed, "Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry? Wow, sis, you've been accepted as a witch into this school! What kind of fool would think that we will fall for this? And look at this, there's even a signature by the 'headmaster'! C'mon sis, dump it into the fireplace and let's play a game of Monopoly."
"Wait a minute, sis. Which prankster would go to the trouble of making a LIST of books and a map to get to this Diagon Alley? Right, Daddy? Could we go and check it out please?" Lily turned to her father and pleaded. Her sister laughed and ruffled her sister's fiery red hair and turned to go back upstairs. Mr. Evans shrugged in response and went into the kitchen to get his wife to go along. Lily sped up the steps to her sister's room and knocked on the purple and black painted door. Her sister opened the door and grinned at her, "What's the matter? Daddy decided not to go instead? C'mon, I've already set up the monopoly board." Without a word, Lily grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door and down the steps again.
"Wait, you guys actually believe this shit? Give me a break! I'm going back up to bed" Petunia turned to leave when she saw the disappointed look on her sister's face. "Alright alright, let's go ahead with it and get it over with. But I'm telling you, this does seem like a big and well-planned prank to me." Her sister's face split into a huge beam as she linked her arms with the older girl. She turned and yelled, "MUM! DAD! WE'RE READY!!"
"James, darling, come down for your breakfast!" A lady setting the dining table called, pouring her husband another cup of coffee as he nearly dozed off into his toast.
"You mean brunch, mum. I don't plan to eat lunch later. Dad's gonna play a game of Quidditch against me!" A cheeky voice corrected her. Its owner slid into a seat opposite his father as he dug into a bowl of cereal. Then a plate of pancakes. Then one or two muffins. And finally three glasses of orange juice down the hatch. His soft tousled jet black hair was messy whether just out of bed or in the middle of the day. He looked up to meet his mother's appalled look. Through gulps of orange juice he mumbled, "I'm only eleven, a very fast-growing boy, mum. I need loads and loads of food." His mother replied drily, "I can see that, honey. Now, don't start playing Quidditch straight after your er… brunch alright? It's bad for the…"
Her son replaced his empty glass on the table and trotted around the table to stop beside his father and tugged on his checkered shirt eagerly, "Dad, I'm done stop dozing off into your food. Race you to the pitch!" His father's eyes flew open at his son's words and he got up from the table, sprinting after James, waving his wand in the air and yelling, "ACCIO BROOMS!" as he went. Mrs. Potter stood at the dining table, staring after them, her mouth still opening and closing soundlessly. She shook her head and went back to clearing the table. Incoherently, she muttered, "Boys."
"MUM! MUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUM!"
A black-headed figure barreled through the back door, leapt over a laundry basket filled to the brim with unwashed clothes, skidded over a small puddle of water on the floor to stop before his mother and wrap his arms around her waist ecstatically. His father came strolling in, a pleased expression on his handsome face, holding a letter in his hand. He waved it at his wife, "Guess what, Estelle?" His wife looked blank for a second, her hands still in a basin of soapy water and her son still gripping her waist in sheer joy. A look of recognition spread across her face when she saw the seal on the letter.
"OH GORDON! THAT'S… THAT'S… James, darling, you're going to Hogwarts!" She washed her hands clear of any soap suds before picking her son up and hugging him tightly. She grinned at her husband. Gordon Potter smiled at his son and wife before suggesting, "To Diagon Alley now?" James released his hold on his mother and skipped to the door.
Glaring impatiently at his parents who were still getting their coats, he chanted, "Hurry hurry hurry hurry…!!"
The eleven-year-old boy combed his sandy hair neatly and studied his reflection with his amber flecked with gold carefully. His blue shirt was uncreased and his jeans were ironed. His mother had asked him to dress properly and neatly to day for there was someone coming to visit. He nodded his approval towards his own attire and went downstairs where his parents were.
"Morning, Mum, Dad," He cringed at the last word. His father barely spared him a second glance as he went on scanning the newspapers. He looked at his mother uncertainly. She gave him a warm and reassuring smile. He glanced down at his toast, his appetite lost after his father's coldness towards him. Instead, he picked up his milk.
"Re-mus! Re-mus!" A small voice came from next to him as someone tugged repeatedly at his shirt sleeve. A five-year-old boy stared at him innocently out of wide brown eyes. The original color his eyes were before… before… Shrugging the memory off, he picked his younger brother up, settling him on his knees and fed him the toast. Finally, his father looked up and snapped, "Don't touch him!" He got up and grabbed his younger son away from Remus. "You listen to me, Richard. Don't you ever go near him again or I'll smack you buttocks till it hurts okay?" Richard looked at his elder brother inquiringly and when Remus nodded, he pouted, and nodded silently to his father.
"Good, have my toast and stop eating that… that… freak's food." He tried to pry the piece of toast Remus had given Richard from his son's fingers but he flatly refused to let go. Remus's eyes remained on his milk as he tried his best to blink back the tears threatening to fall. He felt soft hands upon his back as his mother wrapped her arms around him. There was a sound from the living room. They all got up and rushed there to see what was going on. To his surprise, Remus saw a wizard with long white hair and a snowy white beard dusting himself off before his fireplace. He had an air of regalness around him although his midnight blue robes sprinkled with silver stars was soot-streaked. Clearly, he was a wizard, just like his father.
"Professor Dumbledore!" His father called out heartily, crossing the room to shake the old man's hand. That was Professor Dumbledore? He had expected the visitor to enter from the front door, and not through the fireplace. The professor smiled at his parents, "Marcus! You still look as suave as ever. And Serene! Just as pretty as you were in Hogwarts. Now where is your son?"
Richard tottered out and gripped the end of the professor's long beard and gurgled in joy. Laughing, the nice wizard picked him up and carried him. "No, I meant the one who is going to attend my school. I have already made the arrangements needed for him. I just wanted to take a look at him." Remus stepped out tentatively and went right on staring at the carpet. It suddenly seemed so intriguing to him. A wrinkled hand lifted his chin. He found himself staring into a pair of bright, intelligent blue eyes. Professor Dumbledore said softly as he studied Remus carefully, "Ahh… As handsome as his father, of course. And clearly as intelligent as both his parents."
Remus risked a peek at his father, who had stiffened at the professor's first sentence. The professor had apparently noticed it too. His tone took on a sharp edge as he chided Marcus Lupin, "Marcus! Please remember that your son only ended up as a werewolf-"Remus whimpered. "-because you didn't keep an eye on your sons. If Remus hadn't shielded Richard with his own body when the werewolf attacked, Richard would have been the one undergoing the painful transformation every full moon. Now, here is the booklist for his new school year. Serene, I hope you will get his books and necessary items ready." Gently, he placed Richard into Remus's arms. With a last sharp glance at Mr. Lupin and a kind smile at Remus, he stepped into the fireplace and vanished in a burst of green flames.
Remus grinned, he had never felt so happy in his life after the werewolf attack.
The charming boy shot the lady behind the ice-cream counter a smile and immediately got an extra scoop of ice-cream on both cones free of charge. His mother stood outside holding the hand of his younger brother. Sirius Black was an extremely good looking boy even at the age of eleven and had first worked his charm on all the little girls at the playground at the age of five in order to get a few more extra turns on the swing. Right now, he handed his younger brother, Regulus, the other ice-cream cone as he devoured the one gripped tightly in his hand.
Amanda Black indicated that they should return home already. Sirius shrugged as he followed after his mother, not bothering to say a word until they were standing in front of the front door. The house-elf called Kreacher opened the door for them and bowed low till his forehead touched the ground. Sirius grimaced at the look of all the grime covering the tiny house-elf with bloodshot eyes. He shuddered and followed his mother to the kitchen where she dropped her purchases on the hue dining table.
Sirius had never understood why his house had to be so gigantic, when three quarters of the rooms in the house were barred up and he was forbidden to explore them when he was bored. He also never understood why the dining table was so huge when there were only four people eating at the table most of the time. Amanda sent her younger son off to wash his mouth clean of the chocolate-chip ice-cream smeared across it.
"Mum, I'm gonna go have a fly around the house if you don't mind." Sirius said breezily as he waltzed past her out the back door. Her perfectly arched eyebrows came together and she snapped, "SIRIUS BLACK! How many times must I tell you that the respectable people of the Black family must leave and enter the house through the FRONT DOOR? Get back here and leave through the front door instead." Sirius stopped before the back door and rolled his heart-melting smoky gray eyes before spinning around and striding out the front door.
"Ma'am, there was an owl letter come for the young master, ma'am." Another little house-elf by the name Anise piped up from her spot in the corner of the room. She was griping a letter with both hands as she made her way slowly towards Amanda. Sirius's mother huffed impatiently and snapped at the house-elf to hurry up. Anise scurried up and handed the letter to the lady of the house. She looked at the seal on the letter, "Hogwarts."
She took a silver letter opener in the shape of a sword with rubies in the hilt and opened it, looking through its contents. Waving the letter opener, Amanda commanded the elf absently, "Ask your young master to get his ass here right now." Anise squeaked and scampered out to the backyard where Sirius was hovering about in the air.
"Young master! Ma'am would like you to get your ass there right now," she called up to her master, squinting against the bright sunlight. He groaned and shouted back, "What is it now? Tell her I'm being suspended by the sun on a nice warm ray of light and I am unable to come down." She nodded and returned to convey the message to her ma'am.
It took just a minute for his mother to come bursting through the back door and muttering a spell to dump him in a pile before her. He widened his eyes in horror, "Mum! Did you just leave through the back door? That is so disrespectful to our Black fam-" He got cut off by his mother who dumped a letter before his face. His face turned blank for a moment before recognition flashed in his eyes.
He leapt to his feet and screamed, "I GOT ACCEPTED TO HOGWARTS? I GOT ACCEPTED TO HOGWARTS!" Amanda rolled her trademark smoky gray eyes and left her son screaming ecstatically in the backyard. She was about to enter from the back door again when she stopped and huffed under her breath and going around the house to the front door.