Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the wondrous world of Harry Potter. I do not nor do I claim to.

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Chapter 1 - A Special Delivery

July 23rd 1989

Dark gray clouds had rolled into the skies over the Scottish Highlands. It looked as if it was going to rain, as it often did up in that part of the world. The low rumbling of thunder was heard off in the distance and a bolt of lightning cut across the sky. Suddenly, a huge pair of bright orange eyes pierced the darkness as an owl flew into the oncoming storm. It was carrying something in its beak.

It swooped down on an old cobblestone cottage on the edge of the woods and landed on one of its windowsills. It began tapping its beak against the glass, hard and fast, and squawking loudly. It peered through the window into the kitchen, where ex Order of the Phoenix member, Marlene McKinnon, and her eleven year old daughters, were eating a delicious supper of potato stew and beer bread with warm milk. It flapped its wings wildly, so that they would notice it was there.

Hearing it, Marlene stood up from the table and hurried over to the window. Her long blonde hair was back in a haphazard bun and her piercing blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. Even though she was nearly thirty years old now and had endured countless losses during the war, the radiance that she had had as a carefree seventeen year old remained. She slid up the glass to let the owl in the house and gently patted its wee head. In return, it affectionately nibbled her finger. "What's this here, Hamish?" she asked in her thick Scottish brogue, untying two letters from the owl's sharp, black claw. Examining the letters in her hands, she instantly realized that they were Hogwarts letters, and turned excitedly on her daughters.

Over at the table, they were staring back at her with mouthfuls of stew. They wondered what in the world had made her so happy and why she was staring at them. In reality, she was trying to remember who was who because they looked so alike. She wanted to give them their letters, but was having some difficulty. Halley Skye Black, the elder twin by eight minutes, had long black hair with blonde streaks in it and misty gray eyes. Phoebe Ailsa Black, the other twin, had long blonde hair with black streaks in it and piercing blue eyes. They had nearly identical faces and were the exact same height, so it was hard to tell them apart at times. It didn't help that they were wearing matching blue, green and red plaid sweaters and black skirts, and both had their hair up in messy ponytails, either.

She decided to simply put the letters on the table, so that they could each grab their own without confusion. "Girls," she beamed. "Your Hogwarts letters are here!" Her daughters were going off to Hogwarts; the very school she herself had become an extraordinary witch. Her eyes welled with tears of pride and she sniffled, wiping them on a dishrag that was floating in the air nearby. After everything that they had endured in the past eight years, it was about time that something good happened to them.

"Merlin's beard!" Halley and Phoebe breathed excitedly, diving for their letters, and nearly sending the pot of stew and jar of warm milk crashing to the floor.

"Open 'em up!" Marlene encouraged them, too happy to care if they had indeed made a mess of their supper, which thankfully they hadn't.

They looked each other in the eyes, unable to believe that they each held their very own letter; usually they had to share everything, but this was clearly special. One was addressed to Ms. Halley Black while the other was to Ms. Phoebe Black, but both envelopes said the same thing below their names in neat cursive handwriting: the Second Bedroom on the Left, the Cottage by the Woods, the Scottish Highlands. How did the school know where they lived? They wondered curiously as they sat there admiring their envelopes. Whoever addressed these had excellent penmanship, they thought happily.

Though they wanted badly to tear them open and read what books and equipment they would need, they also wanted to savor the moment. You only got accepted to Hogwarts once, after all. About ten minutes had ticked by before they decided to open them. They gently peeled the wax seals off and each of them slid two pieces of paper out of their envelopes.

They began to read their letters aloud;

"Dear Ms. Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress"

"Excited are we, girls?" Marlene was absolutely beaming with eagerness. "Oh, we'll have to go tomorrow to Diagon Alley to get your things!" she said. It had been a while since she had ventured out to the popular wizard village and she couldn't wait to go and buy her daughters' school supplies.

"Do you think we'll be in Gryffindor like you and Dad were?" asked Phoebe, chewing on her fingernail.

"I hope we are, Gryffindor is clearly the best house there is!" Halley added, shifting in her chair.

Marlene smiled happily at them. "There's no doubt in my mind that you'll both be sorted into Gryffindor House. I've not met more daring and adventurous girls in my life."

Hearing this, the twins beamed with excitement. They couldn't wait to be whisked off to the magical school where their parents had learned everything there was to know about the wizarding world. Their mother was the best witch they knew and they couldn't wait to be extraordinary witches too; they swore to make her proud. As for their father, well, they hadn't seen him in eight years, but they were sure that he had been a good wizard in his own right, no matter what others said about him.

They deserved some happy news for once; their entire lives had been turned upside down at the tender age of three, when they had lost nearly everything that they had ever known. On May 30th 1981, the night of their third birthdays, a group of Death Eaters had invaded their grandparents' farmhouse and murdered the entire Clan McKinnon (with the exception of their mother, who had only barely escaped) and they had had to go into hiding in case the Death Eaters came back. Only their mother's closest friends in the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society formed back in the early 1970s that their parents had been a part of, knew that they had survived the attack. Then less than three months later, on August 3rd 1981, their father, Sirius Black, was charged with the death of one of his best friends (a man called Peter Pettigrew) and twelve muggles and sent to Azkaban, the high security wizard prison operated by the British Ministry of Magic. Not that his family cared much; they had never even met their father's family before. Apparently there was bad blood between them. Of course, things had improved a bit over the past eight years, with the war ending and them being able to come out of hiding, but they still had loads of questions that their mother wouldn't answer.

What was the story behind their father's arrest? Why had they never met their father's family before? Was he really a murderer? Why had those evil Death Eaters murdered their mother's entire family that night they turned three? Why had there been such a horrible war raging in the first place? And - How was that wee Potter boy still alive after He Who Must Not Be Named attacked him? Those were the questions that had been swimming in their heads for years and now, they had a chance to go off to school and truly learn about their pasts. Surely there would be loads of information at Hogwarts, wouldn't there?

In nine days, they would be on their way to Hogwarts. And they couldn't wait.

If you want to review, that would be really cool, but you don't have to... well, yeah, I hope you liked this first chapter! :)