a/n: All the characters of the Harry Potter series and the world in which they inhabit belong to J.K. Rowling. This story's main character is a figment of my own imagination but I've tried to make the rest of the characters and events as canon as possible. Oh, and although this is set to begin in GoF, I may extend it to the rest of the series as well, and must therefore warn you I suspect there will be some romione, hinny, and nuna fluff. Also, for any observant folk who may have noticed the capitalization/spelling error in the chapter's title, my sister thought that would be a clever way to begin each chapter since this story is all about a witch! This is my first fanfic, something I dreamed up just for fun, I hope you enjoy!
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"Daphne! Come downstairs for a moment. There's something your mother and I'd like to speak with you and your sister about." My dad's voice echoed down the hall through my bedroom's cracked open door. I rolled my eyes, so not in the mood to have a pointless discussion (or should I say argument, because that's what most of these "family meetings" turned into anyway.) but managed to drag my feet down the hall. The room felt tense, all three of my family members sitting on different chairs or sofas.
My sister, almost the spitting image of myself, with short curly caramel hair, hazel eyes, and serious expression just like my mother who sat on her left, glasses frames glinting in the sunlight and straight brown bangs sweeping across her forehead, and then my dad, average height with silvery hair and greenish eyes.
"Yes….?" I said, staring around for another moment before directing my glance to my shoes. My parents exchanged a look, but my sister stood up, frowning. "Let's not pretend like we don't know what's going on here. I'm guessing you've gathered us all here to announce you're getting divorced. Great. Get it over with. It's not like it's out of the blue. It's been becoming more obvious for months. I-" But my dad cut her off before she could continue.
"Aysel," he said, in the annoyingly calm voice that I personally think shouldn't be used to address such a serious matter. "This is not how we would have liked you and your sister to find out-" "Yeah dad," Aysel added, cutting him off this time, "But we did. So what? Just give it to us straight. It's not like we're little kids anymore, I'm nearly of age, and Daphne's 14. Go ahead. Who will we live with, where will we move, who gets what furniture, go on."
I eyed her trying very hard to keep my lips clamped together. She glared at me. For the last six months, our sisterly friendship had been rolling downhill just as mom and dad's relationship had. But how could she be so blunt now! Sure, I'd known something like this might happen eventually, but this all made it so real, which made it more difficult. To my surprise, it was my mother who spoke first.
"Girls, your father has gotten a job offer for the ministry in London, England, and he's decided to accept. Daphne," For the first time in a while she met full eye contact with me, almost shyly. "You will be moving with him. While Aysel and myself will be staying here." My breath caught and my entire body went numb.
What did she mean I'd be 3,000 away from my mom and sister and entire life? "Wow." I looked up as Aysel's voice caught. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Just like you two to pull something like this right? I've been naive. You know when most people get divorced it's a move across town, who gets who for holidays assortment. But not with the Fletchers of course." My mom opened her mouth to speak but my sister talked over her again. "What? You'd thought I'd be happy cause I'm the one who gets to stay at least? Well, I'm not, surprise! It sucks for me too, having my dad and sister live in a different country. And if it's bad for me I can't start to imagine what it's like for Daphne." With that, she left the room.
Rage coursed through me and I felt a tear slip down my cheek which I angrily tried to swipe away. Before my parents could say anything I followed Aysel's suit and marched back to my room. Walking over to my dresser I grabbed my walkman and jammed the headphones on, then flopped on my bed, my hair sticking to my tear-stained face.
I tried to take in the full capacity of what this meant. I would be saying goodbye to my family, friends, Mount Greylock Massachusetts, and worst of all, Ilvermorny. My sister and I are currently on summer break from boarding school. But not just any boarding school. A boarding school for magical students. I am, you see, a witch.