A.N. Hey guys, welcome back. This is the first chapter, Welcome Home!.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter series or the Twilight series. I just like to write.
The once lovingly-cluttered living room of the Black family home in La Push, Washington, seemed unusually empty. All the furniture had been pushed up against the back wall, the ornaments had been placed into a cardboard box in the corner and the braided rug that once lay in front of the fireplace, had been rolled up and propped against the wall next to an animal carrier. Well, empty except for the three gigantic young men standing in the middle of the room and the older man in a wheelchair next to them.
Each man was dark-haired and each had varying shades of copper skin. The tallest, Sam Uley, stood a good several inches above the other two. Jared Cameron was the next tallest. Unlike the other two, his hair was curly and dark brown rather than black. The shortest of the trio was Paul Lahote, though he was still taller than average. A permanent scowl seemed etched onto his face. The older man, Billy Black, had long, jet-black hair that was tied back at the nape of his neck. His deep brown eyes were fixed on the fireplace.
The silence in the room was broken by three high-pitched yelps as the brick fireplace roared to life. The young men jumped backwards, almost losing their footing. Unusual green flames flickered wildly, and before the men could gather themselves, a tall dark shape emerged from the flames. Paul turned to look at Billy, who was unfazed and merely looked amused. The shape stepped out of the fireplace, and the group could now see that it was a person obscured head-to-toe by a hooded, dark green cloak. Sam moved quickly and placed himself between Billy and the stranger, prepared to take them down. The stranger looked up, and Sam backed down.
They removed their cloak; the movement causing soot and ash to cascade to the floor. Jared and Paul craned their necks to see who it was. They saw a young woman with long red curls and pale, freckled skin. Neither of them recognised her, but Sam seemed to as he stepped aside.
"Uncle Billy!" she exclaimed, as she walked over to give him a hug. "I missed you."
Billy returned the hug and told her that he'd missed her too. Jared and Paul looked confused. Paul opened his mouth to say something, but Sam just glared at him and his mouth snapped shut. The fireplace roared to life once more, eliciting another round of yelps from the young men. A second figure appeared in the flames, also wearing a dark cloak. As they stepped out, they removed their cloak to reveal a young man who looked similar to woman with the same nose and freckled skin. He was taller, however, with dark brown hair. Like the woman, he strode over to Billy to give him a hug. He then looked back at the floor in front of the fireplace, pulled a long wooden stick from the front pocket of his jeans and silently traced the letter S over the floor. The soot and ash disappeared, leaving the floor nearly as clean as it had been before they arrived.
"Okay, what the actual fuck is going on?" Paul said, his eyes bulging.
The male stranger looked over at Paul and then back at Billy, who looked amused once again.
"I haven't told them yet," Billy said, as the strangers looked sheepish.
"Told us what?" Jared asked, his eyes fixed on the floor as if he was waiting for the soot and ash to reappear.
Billy gestured for the group to take a seat on the furniture. The strangers took the armchair; the female in the seat whilst the male perched on the arm. Sam, Paul and Jared sat on the sofa, uncomfortably squished together, and Billy wheeled himself so he was in front of them all.
"Boys, let me introduce you to my godkids, Kit and Gwen Swan. They're Charlie's oldest two," Billy began. "Kit, Gwen, this is Sam Uley, Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote."
"So what the hell are they?" Paul spat out. He was rewarded with a growl from Sam.
"We're wizards, although females are typically called witches," Gwen explained. "Personally, I prefer wizard. You guys are shapeshifters, right?"
Paul's face turned a deep shade of red. "Seriously? These total strangers are allowed to know?"
Billy fixed his dark eyes on Paul who wilted. "The knowledge of wizards has been passed down, but I cannot be sure how the tribe first found out. I never truly believed it until I met their mother," Billy explained. "Her magic saved my life. She entrusted us with her secret, so we entrusted her with ours."
"Plus, we humbly offer you our services should you need them," Kit continued, absent-mindedly twirling the stick.
"Your services?" Sam asked, intrigued.
"Potions, protective enchantments, that kind of thing," said Kit. He held up the stick. "And this is a wand before you ask."
"So Chief Swan's a wizard?" Jared asked.
Gwen shook her head. "No, he isn't. His parents were, but he didn't inherit it. Bella's not one either."
"There are others around here. You will get the chance to meet them at the next bonfire," Billy said. "I decided it was best to wait until everyone was home."
"You just thought it'd be funny to spring it on them," Gwen said, grinning. "I approve."
Billy chuckled. "Guilty. Now, will one of you boys take these two home? Their stuff is already in the truck."
"Why can't they just use the fireplace to get there?" asked Jared, confused.
"Nosy neighbours. Best not to risk them asking questions," Kit explained.
"I'll take them," Sam offered. "I know where Chief Swan's place is."
Billy agreed, and the siblings stood up to leave. Kit slid his wand back into his jeans before he and Gwen hugged Billy goodbye. As they followed Sam out to the truck, Gwen picked up the animal carrier. Once in the truck, she carefully balanced the carrier on her lap. Within a minute they were on the road and starting the 30-minute journey to the Swan residence. The first ten minutes passed in uncomfortable silence before Sam decided to try a little conversation.
"So how did you do whatever it is you just did?" he asked.
"Appearing from the fireplace?" Kit asked.
Sam nodded.
"It's a method of magical transportation called the Floo Network. You take a handful of Floo powder, throw it into the fireplace, stand in the flames and call out the location you're travelling to," Kit said. "And then boom, you've reached your destination."
"And it's not harmful," Gwen chipped in. "It's a little disconcerting and you can get pretty dizzy sometimes, but it's probably one of the safest ways for us to travel."
It took Sam a moment to realise what she meant. "There are other ways?"
"Oh, most definitely. But most have a lot of risk to them," she said. "You'll learn more over time. Telling you too much too soon will just give you a headache.
Sam was already getting a headache. The past year of his life had turned his world upside down and it was starting to become one weird thing after another. He contemplated taking notes at the bonfire. Kit and Sam engaged in small talk for the rest of the trip, whilst Gwen fell into deep thought as she watched the trees pass.
The past school year had been her final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and whilst she was glad not to have to constantly be studying, she would miss it a lot. She looked over at Kit. He was three years older than her and had left Hogwarts three years ago, but Professor Morant, the Potions Professor, had taken him on as an apprentice with the intention of training Kit to take over her role when she retired.
This started her thinking about what she was going to do now. She knew she wanted to go into the potioneering industry too, and wondered if her Aunt Faye, who owned an apothecary in the wizarding sector of Port Angeles, would be willing to take her on as an apprentice.
Before long they reached the Swan residence. Sam went to help them get their belongings from the back of the truck and was stunned when he saw two broomsticks.
"They don't actually fly, do they?" he asked, a little apprehensively.
Gwen smirked as she covered them with a blanket before picking them up. "What else would they be used for?"
He stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do or say. Eventually, he chose to say nothing and grabbed one of the trunks from the truck as Kit grabbed the other. After everything had been placed on the porch, Sam said goodbye to them and drove off.
Gwen and Kit entered the house and moved their belongings into the hall. Kit headed towards the kitchen as she set the carrier down. She opened the carrier to let out her cat, a Bombay named Monty. He sauntered out, stretched and then took off into the living room, presumably to lay in his favourite spot on the rug by the fire. Gwen looked around; not much had changed since she had last been there in September. She noticed little changes such as new pictures of her younger sister, Bella, as well as her shoes on the shoe rack. Gwen smiled. She couldn't wait to see Bella when she returned home from school as she hadn't seen her since last summer.
Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Kit called out from the kitchen.
"Surprise me," she called back, knowing that he was currently looking through the fridge.
"Well, the good news is that it looks like Bella's been doing the shopping," he said, as he walked back into the hall. "The bad news is that we're going to have to go shopping because key ingredients are missing."
Gwen groaned; it was a good 30-minute walk to the grocery store. She glanced at the clock and saw it was only one in the afternoon. Quickly calculating, she figured that they would have enough time to get to the shop and back as well as start their surprise dinner before Bella returned home.
The Hogwarts school year had ended four days ago, but Gwen and Kit had told their father that they would be staying in the UK for an extra two weeks to spend some time with friends. In reality, they only planned to stay with their friends for a few days before returning home to surprise their family and cook the family's favourite meal of fish and chips. Charlie had tried to get his children to call them fries, but their British roots had won that battle.
Gwen grabbed a notepad that was beside the telephone and quickly scribbled out a list. 30 minutes later, they reached the store and quickly searched for the ingredients they needed. As a treat, they decided to pick up a cake for dessert.
Whilst trying to figure out what cake, a wave of uneasiness passed through her and she felt like someone was watching her. She glanced around as subtly as she could and, out of the corner of her eye, spotted a very pale-skinned, brunette woman looking over at them. The woman looked away just as Gwen decided to take a proper look at her.
Gwen froze, her hands tightly gripped Kit's arm. He was oblivious until her nails began to dig in. He winced in pain, snapping Gwen out of her trance, and she released his arm.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice low.
They both looked down at his arm and saw several indentations, although luckily none had broken the skin. Gwen looked apologetic but didn't answer him. Instead, with shaky hands, she took the list and the pen, wrote a single word on it and handed it to him. He looked at it with wide eyes and quickly looked around. The woman had her head down and was busy getting something out of the freezer. Kit crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Are you sure?" he asked, in a hushed tone.
"I saw her eyes," she whispered, trying to keep her voice even. "Let's just pick a cake and get out of here."
She grabbed a cake and they checked out as fast as they could. Briskly, they walked home and arrived quicker than they normally would have. Entering the house, they took a moment to catch their breath before heading into the kitchen to unpack the shopping.
A.N. Thank you for reading. Thanks to nifflerhufflepuff for the review.
Leave any questions in the reviews and I'll make sure to answer you in the next chapter.