Author's Note: Here I am, writing a fic…again. Here's hoping this one goes better than the others are going (or were going, as they've all been put on hiatus).
Anyways, this story was inspired by Second Life, and a Harry Potter area in it that I'm a member of. They held a ball a while back, and I invited a non member friend, and, because it's a role play area, we had to create a character for him. It was decided he would be my brother, and I had such a good time with him that night, that it inspired me to write a story based on my character and his. Only the names have been changed, and that's for obvious reasons.
So, hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think in a review!
A New Old Life: Chapter 1
Tears streamed down the woman's face as her husband looked upon their son, a great darkness and disappointment in his eyes. The son cowered before his father's gaze, unsure of what he'd done wrong; wondering what had upset his parents so.
A baby's cry rang out, and the woman gasped, her tears ceasing immediately and her expression turning to one of horror as she turned her gaze to her husband. "What if she…"
The husband spun around. "We won't take that chance!" His tone was sharp, though no sharper than usual. "Prepare her for the journey."
"But just because he is…" The woman tried again, only to be cut off by her husband once more.
"I said prepare her." The husband's voice grew louder. "We cannot take the chance, not in our situation."
Tears began to flow freely again, though the woman said nothing as she left the room, heading towards the sound of the crying child.
"Hush, my little one." The woman cooed as she picked up the baby girl. "It'll be all right."
The little girl's tears turned into happy gurgles at the sight of her mother, and in the silence the woman could hear her husband shouting at their son to ready himself for a trip. The woman cuddled the baby closer to her chest for a moment, very much afraid of what her husband would do. As she heard her husband approaching, however, she wrapped the tiny child in an extra warm blanket and lay her down in the car seat. The woman quickly leaned over and kissed her daughter's forehead, whispering her goodbyes, as the little girl drifted back to the sleep she'd been so rudely awoken from. She straightened as her husband entered the room, attempting to make herself appear as emotionless as possible.
As her husband roughly grabbed the carrying handle of the car seat, however, the woman couldn't restrain herself.
"Be careful!" She whispered almost angrily. "She just fell asleep again."
The woman's husband raised an eyebrow at her.
"I… I just mean… You probably don't want to wake her. A screaming child will draw attention." The woman stuttered defensively.
The husband said nothing as he spun around again, carrying the baby girl from the room.
The woman watched as her husband met up with their son in the living room, roughly took his hand, and left the house. She fled to the window to watch as he loaded their children into the back of the car, secretly hoping he'd put the car seat in correctly and make sure their son was buckled in place. She loved her children – both of them – regardless of the events that had caused her husband to do this, and she hated to see them leaving as they were.
The husband took off, ignoring his son's questions and protests about where they were going and not being able to say goodbye to his mother, and simply kept driving. He knew exactly where he was going, and knew there were faster, more suitable ways to get there, but he didn't wish to draw attention to himself.
When he finally stopped the car a great many hours later, he carried both children, for his son had fallen asleep during the ride, from the car, and left them on the doorstep of a large building. He wrapped a blanket around his son, despite it being nearly dawn on a midsummer day, then left, getting back into his car and driving away. He looked back only once, to see the figures of his children lying under the sign on the door that read: 'Madame Malefsky's Magical Mansion.'
XXX
Five years later, a woman and her husband sat in front of Madame Malefsky, discussing an adoption.
"So you're interested in little Maya, are you?" Madame Malefsky asked with a smile.
"We think she's perfect." The woman in front of her replied, smiling at her husband.
"That's something I always love to hear." Madame Malefsky said. "There is, however, one issue with the adoption."
"Yes?" The husband asked.
"When Maya arrived here, five years ago, her brother was with her. Her brother has always been very protective of her, always looking out for her; he's very close to her. The two of them are so close that they insist, or, her brother insists, that they should not be adopted out separately. We wish to do everything in our power to fulfill their wish." Madame Malefsky explained.
"How old is he?" The wife asked. "Maya's brother, I mean."
"Nearly eleven."
The wife looked at her husband almost pleadingly.
"Ariana, I thought we agreed on only one child. At least for now." Her husband could tell exactly what his wife was thinking.
"But we also agreed that Maya is perfect for us!" Ariana begged. "Would her brother be such a hassle? If he's so attached to his sister, he'd surely be more than willing to help care for her, and if he's nearly eleven, then he ought to be headed to Hogwarts shortly anyway…"
Ariana's husband considered this for a few moments before glancing at his wife's pleading expression once more. "Well, why don't we meet him first?" He sighed. "At least see if the three of us would get along all right." He turned his attention back to Madame Malefsky.
Madame Malefsky nodded, then rose from her seat. "I'll bring him in."
"I'm only even considering this because you know I'd rather have a son than a daughter, even if the child is adopted." Ariana's husband spoke sharply to his wife as soon as Madame Malefsky had left the room.
"Then why did you say yes to Maya?" Ariana challenged.
"Because all the boys are too old to be properly trained, and a girl is better than no child at all." Her husband replied. "We've been through this, Ariana."
As he finished his sentence, Madame Malefsky returned, a small boy with her. "Stephen, this is Mr. and Mrs. Evener, the kind people I told you about." She introduced.
"Hello." The small boy greeted them politely. He appeared to be a little shy, and perhaps even a little nervous around the people in front of him.
"I'll leave the three of you alone for a few moments." Madame Malefsky smiled and left the room again.
Stephen glanced at the door, appeared even more nervous now that Madame Malefsky was gone.
"There's no need to be frightened, we won't hurt you." Ariana said. Her voice was soft and soothing, her maternal instinct coming into play. She was unable to have children of her own, but always acted this way towards them – it was one of the things that had inspired the decision to adopt a child.
"I'm sorry." Stephen hung his head a little.
"There's no need, dear. We've been told of how much you care for your sister." Ariana smiled. "That's why you're here, actually."
Stephen's head shot up, as he looked at them very suddenly. "You're going to take us both?"
"We're considering it." Ariana's husband spoke up. "We had to make sure you'd be ok too, though."
Stephen could do nothing but smile for a moment. Quite a few people had expressed interest in either him or his sister, but nobody had been willing to take them both. He'd begun to fear that perhaps they'd be split up after all, simply for the sake of getting them out of the orphanage.
When Stephen spoke again, he changed the subject. "So, are you part of the pure blooded Eveners?"
Ariana's husband looked a little taken aback. "He certainly is well schooled if he's heard of the pure blooded side of the family." He said to his wife before turning his attention back to Stephen. "We are. Why do you ask?"
Stephen shrugged. "Just curious. It would be nice to have a pure blooded family, though we don't get many looking to adopt. Our real parents were pure bloods. Well, not one hundred percent pure, but very close. Or, I think that's how it went, anyway."
"And they gave you up?" Ariana's husband looked even more taken aback. He suddenly began to wonder why these children were up for adoption. There was somewhat of an agreement in the pure blooded world that children were kept unless there was an extreme circumstance. If this boy and his sister had been put up for adoption by a pure blooded family, something had to have happened – something terrible.
"I was only five when it happened, but my father went on a bit of a mad rampage. He brought my mother to tears, making her get my sister ready, then drove us all the way out here. That's all I remember." Stephen explained.
Ariana's husband looked Stephen up and down for a moment, then looked at Ariana, his expression saying everything.
Before Ariana could speak, however, Madame Malefsky re entered the room.
"Have you had enough time?" She asked.
"I think so. But could we have a few moments to discuss it?" Ariana's husband asked.
"Of course." Madame Malefsky led Stephen from the room, leaving the couple alone to speak.
"He looks perfectly normal to me." Ariana said, reading her husband's thoughts from his expression. "And so does she."
"But, if they're purebloods…" Her husband protested.
"Then they ought to fit in with us even better." Ariana replied. "The poor boy was five when he came here, there's a very good chance something happened, something that didn't involve the children at all, that he didn't know about."
"I still have my doubts."
Ariana looked at her husband, her eyes pleading with him again. "Please, Quinton? You know how much I want a child, just as I know how much you want one. We have different reasons, perhaps, but… These two just seem so fitting! And I'll get my little girl and you can have your boy… You yourself said he was well schooled."
Quinton sighed. He had a bad feeling about it, though he knew his wife had very good points. "Very well. Though if there's a problem…"
"I know, I know, it'll be my fault and I'll have to deal with it. I'm willing to take that chance." Ariana replied.
"Madame Malefsky, I do believe we've come to a decision." Quinton called out. "We've decided we'd like to adopt both Stephen and Maya." He finished as Madame Malefsky came back into the room.
XXX
An hour and a half later, Quinton unlocked the door to his and Ariana's home. He held the door open and allowed the two children to pass by him and enter. "Welcome to your new home." His tone was softer than it usually was, and a smile found a way to his lips as he watched the children look around the house in awe. He turned to his wife. "I think we made a very good decision."
Ariana hid her smile – she knew Quinton would come around sooner or later.
