I figured I may as well post this here, even though it's very, very OC-centric.
Hopefully the French is basic enough that it's not troublesome to translate, so I won't really bother here.
Disclaiming:
Lixina and her mother belong to me.
Xero, Reo, and Niiju belong to (( yoru-no-anokoku . deviantart . com ))
Voxnem belongs to (( notemodamit . deviantart .com ))
Voxnem's mother is sort of both notemodamit's and mine...
The Harry Potter universe totally does not belong to any of us.
***##***
"Cheri, owl for you."
"Thank you, Maman."
"Zis doesn't make much sense, though… Darling, you are not supposed to go for anozer year!"
"Perhaps the cut-off date changed…?"
"Per'aps. Well, you may as well open it. Perhaps zee 'eadmaster 'as explained."
"…. No, it's just the letter and list of supplies, I think."
"May I see? Ah, zank you dear… yes, it is just zee standard letter. Most unusual. Ah, well, we shall get supplies zis weekend, and I'll owl zee 'eadmaster about it, yes?"
"That sounds lovely. Thank you, Maman."
***##***
"… !"
"What is it now?"
"There's an owl poking at the window."
"I'm sure it's just your imagination. We live in a fifth story apartment in the middle of the city, what would an owl be doing… here…"
"Told ya."
"Don't get smart with me, young man!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hey, Niiju… it's got a letter.
"It's got a what?"
"Whoa, he's right! See, there's an envelope tied to its leg!"
"Oh, for the love of… open the window."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"… Why me?"
"No idea. Why an owl? Open it, maybe it'll tell you."
"Hey, look, it's even got which bed is yours written on it!"
"Huh? Oh, it does. That's weird…"
"Well?"
"… Something about a school. Maybe you should look at it."
"… What the hell is this? Magic school? Wizards?!"
"Can I see?"
"Sure."
"… Weird."
"I know!"
"Yeah, but why just one of us? We're twins…"
"No idea. Hey, Niiju… can I go?"
"I dunno… I don't really like not knowing about this. It does say something about sending someone to help us with getting supplies – which is good, because I have no idea where I'd buy you a wand, other than a joke store – but… it just sounds off."
"Please? I'll be out of your hair for most of the year, and it says there's no tuition, so you could pay for Reo's schooling…"
"… Give me a bit, okay? I'll give you an answer in the morning."
"Kay~"
***##***
"Pumpkin, owl for you~ just in time, too. I was beginning to worry…"
"Mom, please don't call me 'Pumpkin.' That is not my name."
"But Blueberry~"
"No. Can I have my letter now?"
"I suppose… we'll go shopping this weekend, yes? So exciting, my baby's growing up~"
"MOM!"
"Fine… you're no fun. Apple, you're going to need to be more out going! Not everyone's willing to make the first move to be a friend~"
"Who said I wanted friends?"
"It'll be a long seven years without them, won't it?"
"I'll manage."
***#Saturday#***
Xero Quince looked around the swirling color of the street. There were so many people; all dressed in clothing that looked like it belonged in an old story book about witches.
Which, in a way, it did. Diagon Alley was a place out of a storybook. The shops were filled with old-fashioned looking books, broomsticks, odd creatures, cauldrons, and creepy-looking-things-in-jars.
But they had already visited most of those places. Now, all he needed was a wand, and if he could convince his guardian, a companion.
The wand-shop was an old, dusty place, with painted gold lettering peeling over the door, reading "Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."
The man in charge seemed a little scatter-brained, but Xero didn't really care. Niiju had agreed, and he could finally start to break away from the past. There were only a few things left, and then all he had to do was wait.
The first wand did not work out at all. He knocked over several shelves full of long, thin boxes, and some of the papers on Ollivander's desk went flying.
Five wands later, there was finally one that felt… right. Like he was holding an extension of himself. When he waved it, the air swirled and shimmered in its path, tracing silver swirls that spread out and continued to weave around themselves before fading away. He followed the silver with golden eyes until it faded, then looked over at Niiju and grinned.
"Ash, phoenix feather, 11 and a quarter inches. Good solid wand. Excellent. I've been waiting to find this one a home."
***##***
"Let's see… just a wand left now, cheri." The regal looking woman tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear as she looked at their list. "Oh, and of course a companion. Oh, darling, you will 'ave so much fun at 'ogwarts! If only your Papa 'ad agreed to send you to Beauxbaton's…"
"I'm sure it will be just as lovely, Maman…" Lixina Dantel managed to keep her tone polite and interested, even though she was completely distracted by the market. There were just so many different kinds of people! As purebloods, her family tended to only pay attention to other pureblooded families. Which was a bit of a problem with the end of the war, when so many of them had sided with The Dark Lord, and as such had been on the loosing side.
Her parents were no different, both had been Death Eaters, and both seemed to now be ignoring that anything had ever happened. But it was so hard to forget that when she saw the looks some of the passers-by gave them.
Personally, she understood why people could not forget. There had been heavy losses on both sides, and many had lost loved ones.
"Ah, 'ere we are…" Roused out of her thoughts by her mother's remark, blue eyes glanced up to see the fading sign of the wand shop. She sighed, and resigned herself to trying wand after wand and causing some damage in the process.
The right one was accompanied by flying ribbons of light, the bright colors twining around her before vanishing into so many sparks.
"Intriguing." Startled, she looked over to see Ollivander gazing at the wand in her hand curiously. "Never would have picked that wood for you on first sight, miss. Hawthorn, 9 and a half inches, dragon heartstring, slightly springy. But hawthorn… most interesting."
"Um…" Lixina blinked at him, confused. "Why is it so interesting…?"
"Innocence." Seeing the continued blank stare, the old man pointed at the wand. "Hawthorn used to symbolize both innocence, and it's loss. Change, as it were. You don't seem to be one it would choose."
"Oh…" She frowned at it, then sighed and chose to simply file away the information for later use.
***##***
Voxnem Nakamura, true to form and much to his mother's exasperation, already had his nose in a book as they walked to their second-to-last destination.
"Melon, at least look where you're going…"
"Don't call me that." Came the automatic reply as the silver-haired boy skirted around a crowd of babbling older students, eyes never leaving the page.
"You really are no fun. Oh, well, you'll have to stop reading for at least a bit while you try wands."
He rolled orange eyes before carefully marking his page and entering the shop.
Half a dozen wands later, one finally felt like it belonged. When he waved it, gentle white light flowed over him for a heartbeat, then vanished.
"Pine, 10 inches, unicorn hair core. Flexible. You know, you are the third person today I've had with such a startling match. Seems you really can't judge a book by its cover…" Voxnem blinked blankly at the man, before resolving to look up the properties of his wand at a later date and returning to his book.
***##***