--CHAPTER ONE--
"Ash!" came the whisper of a familiar feminine voice with unfamiliar anxiety. "Ashton, wake up!"
He felt a light shake about his bed and a tickle of perfectly even hair upon his resting cheek. The switch hanging from his brilliant blue bedside lamp was pulled, and his eyelids screwed themselves even more tightly closed over his brilliant blue eyes as the room was flooded with a cool blue glow. After seeing no light while sleeping for several hours, however, this seemed to be a bright, blazing sun shining just in front of his tired eyes.
"Ash, c'mon! Today's the day!" said the girl standing over him, trying to wake him up.
At this, excitement bursted through Ashton's body and propelled his entire torso upright, mouth agape and eyes widened. The young girl quickly shifted backwards so as not to allow his face to bump into hers. Even so, Ashton found himself staring straight into two deep hazel eyes of great enormity from a distance of less than two inches.
The pretty little girl backed away and giggled as she allowed realization to engulf her younger brother. It struck him so hard that he didn't even mind his abrupt awakening. It was September first, and little Ash was finally old enough.
He exclaimed, "Nel! Do you realize-?"
"Shhhhhh!" she whispered, putting her finger to her pretty lips.
"But it's!-" he persisted.
"Shh! I know, that's why I couldn't wait to wake you up," she said trying to calm him down.
"We're going to Hogwarts!" they chimed together and then quickly shushed each other while stifling more giggles.
In a few hours, each would be first-years aboard the famed Hogwarts Express, going to none other than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They weren't twins, but merely were separated by about ten months, and thus were both starting in the same year- this one! What could possibly be more exciting?
"What time is it?" asked Ashton once they had settled down, with Nel sitting criss-cross at the end of his bed, and himself leaning against his squashy pillow.
Nel flung her watch wrist to a point just in front of Ashton's eyes, causing him to fall backwards, and nearly hit his head on the light blue wall behind him. She quickly withdrew her hand to place it over her mouth as she apologized amidst her startled laughter. But Ash was in too much of a good humor to retain any anger, and merely took her hand and read the watch himself. It started as 6:03 but changed to 6:04 once he blinked in the bright green light it gave off.
"Aw, man- We still got another half hour until Mom makes us breakfast! She and Dad won't take us until after we've finished, Nella" said Ashton, disappointed.
"Have you packed yet?" Nella asked him eagerly.
"A week ago. You?" Ashton replied.
"Yesterday," she said smiling.
"So what can we do for the next half hour? I'm to excited to go back to sleep." He groped for his trusty water battle and took a large sip.
"Maybe we could bring our bags to the door to save time," Nella suggested hopefully.
"Yeah, but we'll have to quiet. Mum and Dad won't want to be waken up, I think," Ashton said.
"Yeah," Nella nodded in agreement.
Ashton got out of his bed and pulled on some socks. He walked over to his door and hoisted his bag up onto his bed. He snatched his water bottle in order to take it with him. He always kept a self-refilling water bottle close by. His parents told him he had one of those sicknesses in which one constantly has to rehydrate himself. Strangely, he did not have to use his bathroom any more than most people.
"I'll go get mine" said Nella eagerly.
After brushing his teeth with Nel, Ashton walked out of his room, up the hallway (tip-toeing past his parents bedroom), and down the first flight of stairs. At the first landing, he stopped to allow his scurrying sister to catch up. When she had drawn up next to him, they proceeded to the unlit kitchen, whose lights flickered on as they stepped upon its tiles. They crept past the family Crup and plopped their impedimenta onto the carpeted hall just before the doorway.
They then climbed onto the tall chairs surrounding the island counter of shining granite and merely stared at the clock for a few moments- a common ritual for early mornings. The clock on the cream-colored wall across read 6:09. Little time was bought by their small attempt at time consumption.
Nella sighed and occupied herself with her impressive reflection. She stroked her glimmering deep brown hair with ashen tones, and admired its thickness as she drew it into a pony-tail. The diameter of the hair where her dainty fingers held it had to be at least two inches. She then released her hair and allowed it to fall gracefully back into place. As usual, every single strand was exactly the same length, gradually flowing from relatively strait to extremely wavy along her neck, and ending in even curls at her slender waist. It always seemed to grow that way, and always to that length. She could get a hair cut one night, only to see it at precisely the same length it was before, the very next day. It didn't really grow any longer, either. The only exeption were two collections of strands at each side of her forehead. Each became wavy about an inch past their roots, and spiraled into curls at the level of her nose, refusing to end anywhere beyond or above a point just below her chin. Though she could not see it in the grey granite, her smooth skin was the perfect combination of fair and tan. She looked more like their father, Jes Wood.
Ash, however, was his mother's son. His skin was tanner than Nella's, but not as tan as his mother's, and he inherited a lessened variety of his mulatto mother's slightly large lips, and flaring nostrils. Although his mother, Roxanne, was the daughter of an African-British Angeline, she retained the bright red hair of her Weasley father, George. Ashton also had this trait, but his hair was darker- almost reddish purple in color. His electric blue eyes must have been due to a recessive gene, as neither parent had them. One particulary peculiar trait of his was the presence strange faded scars at either side of his neck, like he had be cut three times on each many many years ago. His parents had him read an exerpt from a muggle text book as an answer. Apparantly, all humans have gills while embryos, but these usually evanesce by the time they are ready to exit through the birth canal. In some cases, he read, a baby could still show the remains of these at either side of their neck, but these often fade before adolensence. Ash's 'gills' hadn't faded.
To break the pressing silence, Ash asked his sister, "So, Nelly, what house do you think we'll be in?"
She raised her dark eyebrows in surprise at him, and said, "Well Gryffindor, of course."
Ashton smiled and murmured, "Well I hope so."
He was growing impatient. Ash had been so excited for this particular day for as long as he could remember, but felt as if he couldn't wait another moment.
Then suddenly a light turned on in the room at the top of the stairs. Nelly and Ashton turned to the stairwell as it was filled with light with the opening of their parent's door. Light, slow, steps began to be heard as someone came tentatively down the stairs.
"Hello?" came the sweet, but powerful voice of their mother. There seemed to be a bit of panic in it as well. "Who's there?"
She peeked her head around the wall of the stairway- with her wand in hand- but at the sight of her children's eager faces she clapped her hand to her heart and stepped backwards in relief.
"Who did you think it was, mum?" asked Nelly, grinning.
"Yeah, mum, who'd be after us?" Ash added teasingly.
She hesitated but said, "Well no one, of course. I just want to be careful that's all, huns. Well why are you to up so bright and early?"
"Bright?" said Ashton.
"The sun isn't even out yet!" laughed Nelly, her eyes twinkling.
Their mother smiled to show two sets of even, brilliantly white teeth between two gorgeously plump lips, and stepped in to the light of the kitchen, displaying her imperious beauty. Her skin was a light, creamy chocolate, and her fiery red hair curled crisply and tightly in a loose bun which reached nearly halfway down her back. She gave both Nel and Ash a kiss and hug good morning, and waved her long, mahogany wand at the cabinets drawers and fridge. Pots, pans, dishes, silverware, food, and baking materials quietly flew out from these cabinets, and placed themselves in appropriate positions. Forks, knives, spoons, and plates slid gracefully to the areas in front of Nella and Ashton in two perfect table settings. Napkins unfolded in their laps and glasses of cold milk filled in their hands, much to their marvel. Nel and Ashton loved to watch their mother prepare meals. It will be something they'll miss dearly at Hogwarts.
The thought that this would be the last time they saw their mother prepare food until Christmas time was a bit discerning, but Ash tried to push it from his mind. He didn't want to spoil his dreams of Hogwarts, and did not want to acquire cold feet.
In what seemed like no time, Ash and his older sister were eating a delicious array of breakfast delicacies including egg's Benedict, crapes, pancakes, buttered toast, sausages, and bacon. Their mother prepared her own plate and another for her husband, and sat down next to her son. He tried to savor every moment of this last meal with his mother for a long time.
As he was sinking his teeth into a particularly juicy piece of a blueberry crape, he felt a gruff pat on his shoulder. He turned to see his burly father grinning at him, and said 'good morning' through a mouthful of blueberries. The Father of the family said good morning to everyone, and took his seat next to Nel. Nel and Ash rushed through their meal, but politely waited for their mother to finish, and even waited for their father to satisfy his humongous appetite. When his father finally ate his last bite, Ash rushed to the sink to wash his plate and put it in their dishwasher. His mother could have easily cleaned it with one wave of her wand, but doing 'muggle' work was supposed to build character. Nel followed closely behind him, and washed hers once Ash was done.
He returned to his seat to await the washing of his parents' plates only too sit down and hear a loud raspberry emit from the seat of his pants. Nel turned and scrunched up her nose as their mother scolded him and their father laughed jovially.
"It wasn't me- I swear!" he said to his family's disbelief.
Ash got up and looked at his seat, which was, to his surprise, lacking a whoopee cushion. He searched wildly about the room for any possible culprit, creating a flatulent noise with every step, honestly denying fault. Then suddenly-
CRACK!
A short and stocky old man appeared right in front of Ash, causing him to walk right into the old man's protruding stomach and stumble backwards.. The man was covered in freckles, and the little hair on his head was a red more vivid than both Ash's and Roxanne's. The man stopped Ash from falling backwards, and messed up Ash's dark red, curly hair.
"Grandpa!" exclaimed Ash, hugging the 60 year old man tightly.
The front door opened and a tall, African-British woman stepped in, her dark gray hair in hundreds of tiny braids, saying, "George, you can't just go around pranking people and appariting into their homes as they finish their breakfasts- Will you ever mature?"
"Of Course not, Darling!" he said merrily, holding her by her slender waist.
She was nearly a head taller than George as she stood next him.
"Sorry, Rox," said George's wife to Ash's mother, grinning.
"Grandma!" said Ash happily, allowing Grandma Angelina her to bend over to hug him and kiss his cheek with her corpulent lips.
Nel ran over and joined the hugging.
"Mom- Dad- I didn't expect-" began Roxanne as George and Angelina came over to hug their daughter.
Mr. Jes Wood greeted his mother-in-law with a hug, and his father-in-law with a firm hand-shake.
Grandpa George beamed at his two grandchildren and said, "Didn't think we'd miss the send-off of our two eldest grandkids, did you?"
Nel and Ashton smiled and shook their heads.
Roxanne suddenly looked up, "That reminds me- I'll go wake the girls."
She then walked up the stairs and disappeared. For several minutes, Jes, Ashton, Nella, George, and Angelina caught up with each other and reminisced about previous events. Roxanne finally emerged with two tiny six year olds in tow.
At the sight of their grandparents, each scampered around their mother and jumped into the arms of their mother's parents, one in each grandparent.
"Good morning Fenella," said Angelina lovingly.
"Good morning Gisel," greeted George.
The two identical twins then ran to their father to wish him a happy morning and climbed up onto the two seats next to him, waiting patiently for breakfast. Their beautiful red-brown hair hung in swirls from low pony tails tied in ribbons of blue for Fenella and green for Gisel. Gisel wore a soft green dress with a wide cloth belt of the same color wrapped around her torso just above the naval and below the chest, with matching green sandals. Fenella wore an identical dress in white, but with a light blue cloth belt and matching blue sandals. Each had adorably huge brown eyes, and dark freckles dabbled densely across the nose and cheeks. As a tribute to their quarter-African descent, each had slightly large lips, but as with Ash and Nel, one could not identify them as partially African by merely looking at them. Their mother could even pass as a one hundred percent Caucasian. But, one could tell she was partially African if they were expecting it.
Roxanne fixed plates for her parents, even though each said 'no thank you,' and fed her twins as well. Once all the plates had been washed, Ash and Nel were nearly at a bursting point- they just had to get going to King's Cross Station. But before they could urge their family to the door, George called tem over too him.
"I've got a little surprise for you two!" said George smiling. He withdrew a wooden whistle caved into the shape of an eagle owl and blew powerfully through it, and a high-pitched, nearly unbearable sound rang out from it.
Ashton and Nel clenched there ears in pain, but as they looked around, everyone else was un-phased. They looked at the whistle as though it was broken, and at the two writhing kids as though they had five heads each.
"Why on earth will we need that?" exclaimed Ash wildly once George had stopped, staring at them.
"Oh this is not your gift," he said, surprised at there reaction. "But you two must have very good hearing to have picked up such a frequency… This is your gift." He pointed his wand to the window above the counter between the door and fridge, and opened it wordlessly.
A magnificent Eagle owl flew in with her golden tawny wings spread in majesty, carrying not a note on her slender leg, but clenching what looked like a bowl made of straw, twigs, and fur.
"You're giving us Aquila?" asked Nel, raising her eye-brow in confusion, recognizing the bird as Roxanne's childhood pet.
"No, no, no- look at what she's carrying!" said George grinning at them.
"You mean that bowl thing?" asked Ash squinting at the owl as she landed gracefully at the center of the granite counter.
"That 'bowl thing' is a nest, and I'm talking about what's inside it," explained George calmly.
"Oh… You mean-" Nel began as she darted to the island countertop.
Aquila politely stepped off the nest she was sitting on so lightly, and gestured Nel and Ashton to take a look with one feathered wing. Two cream colored eggs, a bit more spherical than chicken eggs, lay peacefully in their nest, displaying light speckles on the roundest ends. Aquila, being a good mother, stepped back into the nest and incubated her offspring. Ash and Nella looked to each other open mouthed and gleeful, and then into the bright orange eyes of their mother's favorite pet. The twins were staring at the nest in wonder, and the adults grinned at Nel and Ashton.
"Dad, I don't know what to say," gasped Roxanne, stroking Aquila. "Kids, say thank you."
"Thank you!" they said enthusiastically in perfect unison.
"Oh, it was no trouble. I know how expensive owls are these days, and figured it would be difficult for you and your husband to buy two of them. One for Ashton and one for Ornella. It was all Aquila's idea actually, wasn't it girl," he patting the owl fondly.
The owl nodded her head, and everyone laughed.
"What do you mean it was her idea?" asked Jes.
Angelina looked to George and smiled, "She fell in love."
George looked away bashfully and walked to the door. As he opened the door, a white wonder flew in and landed next to Aquila. A bit shorter than she, this snowy owl had glowing yellow eyes and white feathers tipped in dark gray. Jes recognized this one.
"It's Snowy!" he cried, seeing his parent's owl. He looked to the door as another couple walked in.
Mr. and Mrs. Wood were about the same age as the Weasleys, perhaps a year or two older. Mr. Wood had the same dark eyebrows as his son Jes, and granddaughter Ornella, except his and Jes's were much thicker. He also had the same burly build as his son. Jes must have gained his hazel eyes from his father as well. His wife, Katie Wood (maiden name: Bell), was not nearly as tall as he was, and her eyes were a soft blue. Ash always assumed he inherited her eyes. Though her hair was dark gray as she stood in his doorway, he knew it was once an almost black shade of dark brown, even darker than her husband's brown (now graying) hair had once been. The four kids rushed to their paternal grandparents, who greeted them with much love.
Hugs and hand-shakes were exchanged between adults and all was blissful, as Snowy cuddled his mate, Aquila, while she incubated their very own eggs. Nel and her brother waited at the door in an attempt to hint their impatience, and eventually the entire family was gathered at the spot, all prepared to leave- even their Crup, Peanut.