Summer, 1971

The light filtered through the leaves on the tree outside Elena's bedroom window, gently at first and then all at once, filling up her room with the warm sunlight Mamá always said could only be found in Spain. The old hacienda where her family's villa was located was surrounded by fields of grapes that made up the Alvarez family vineyard.

Papá always told her that no matter where life took her, their little village of Iliane would always be home. Sometimes if she just looked in the mirror, deep into her dark eyes she could see the dark earth that surrounded her home and was often stuck under fingernails.

Iliane was a small village, not far from a busy port city that Elena was forbidden from visiting. She spent her days playing pretend with Lucia, who loved to dream of being swept off her feet by a handsome prince, who was usually played by Elena wearing a dirt mustache. Antonio always teased her about things like this. He called her "the goodest girl" and would taunt her with the trinkets he would find left by tourists on the coast. He was a family friend, his father was Papá's business partner and they often spent hours at the next town over, meeting with suppliers to sell their wine to. According to Abuela, they would also take their chances on the port city's casino after a particularly good business deal, a fact of life that bothered Mamá to no end. Elena didn't like to hear things like this, Papá was perfect in her eyes, so she'd quickly try to turn the conversation elsewhere.

The summer before she turned eleven, Elena decided boys were no good. It was all Antonio's fault of course. She had been sipping on a glass of grape juice that made her lips red and swollen when Antonio came by on his bicycle to say hello and play in her pool. Her large black sunglasses looked comical on her heart shaped face and when she smiled her teeth were tinted ever so slightly. Antonio stopped and, remembering something his older brother Julian had told him just the other day, he swooped down and lightly pressed his chapped lips on hers. Elena's eyes widened in rage when he leaned back and grinned cheekily back at her. Setting her juice down gingerly, she got up and started chasing Antonio around her yard, until she finally just pushed him in her pool. It was a very silly way to lose your first kiss, by having it stolen by the boy you've known all your life, and Elena silently vowed to never let another boy kiss her ever again. Papá just smiled when she told him this.

That June, Elena found out a family secret. Papá pulled her aside after her birthday party and gave her a gold rosary, with little pearls going up and down the chain, with a gleaming crucifix at the end. Papá had never been the religious sort, despite Abuela's constant chastising. She often quipped that without God, there could be no morals, which everyone knew was a dig at her son-in-law.

"Mija, I give you this so you may always have protection and a little bit of home, even when you are very far away. Do you remember all your prayers? Good girl. Darling, you must always remember them and more importantly, you must always remember where you come from."

It was beautiful, much too beautiful for Elena to carry around with her without fear of losing it. She fretted over the possibilities and barely noticed when Papá took out a thick envelope with a red wax seal. He handed it over silently, breaking her train of thought. It said:

TO Ms Elena Valeria James Alvarez

Third Bedroom, Down the Hall and to the Right

Second Floor, Alvarez Villa

Iliane, Spain

How odd. Elena had never seen a letter addressed in that way before. It felt almost like an invasion of privacy, to know which bedroom was hers. She ran her fingers over the seal, which was adorned with an unfamiliar crest with four animals. Elena looked at Papá in confusion, her eyes squinting comically in a way that caused her dark eyelashes to fold onto each other. Papá placed his large, worn hands on her skinny shoulders, brushing against the frilled straps of her sundress. She had never seen his eyes look so bright before.

"Elena, not everything is not as simple as it seems."

Elena had always known there was something off about her family. Their grapes always swelled before anyone else's and she had often heard the village people mutter something about "brujeria" whenever she was out with Abuela. She knew that Mamá had left the village, something that was never heard of in their town, especially for a woman of her time. She knew that Papá's family lived abroad, too far away to visit, yet their letters always came the fastest.

Elena's dark eyebrows folded into a crease as she tried to understand what Papá was staying. She knew the dimple in her right cheek became deeply pronounced whenever she made this face and Antonio had the annoying habit of poking it mockingly.

"Perhaps your mother would have been better at explaining this than I would, she's the one who actually went to Hogwarts."

And so, it was revealed that Elena had come from a long line of witches and wizards that had lived in secret for a very long time. Mamá had been the only one to leave Iliane for magic school in Scotland. She had been the favorite of her year, but had surprised everyone when she eventually returned to marry Papá and left behind her life of magic. Elena could not understand why Mamá did not use magic anymore, Papá seemed to think it was the greatest thing in the world, even if he could not use it. Her heart trembled at the thought of leaving home for a place with a language she barely understood. Mamá promised that she would pick it up in no time. Elena sincerely doubted that. She had the worst English grades in her whole school.

Weeks later, Elena was being poked by what felt like thousands of little needles by the wrinkled hands of her Abuela, a sharp witted old woman with leathery skin and gray hair that shone stark against her dark features. When she was little, Elena believed Abuela to be a million years old because of how wise she was and the sheer amount of stuff she knew. Elena absolutely adored her. Right now, with her bony fingers digging into her sides and pushing her this way and that, Elena was not so endeared.

"Elena Valeria," Abuela was the only person who called Elena by her full given name, "You are going to have the loveliest robes at that school, that is for sure! Those Brits, as smart as they may be, have no appreciation for the art of working with your hands. Elena Valeria, it is in the hands where all good things come, and a woman's hands can only create things with love. A shirt is not a shirt, it is a blouse, a skirt is not a skirt, it is the petals that twirl as you spin, mi hermosa flor."

Abuela's hands spun Elena around, harrumphing now and again at the fashion of Scottish, or the British, or the northern European, Elena could not keep track. She took in a deep breath of air once Abuela released her from her vice grip, taking notes with one hand and feeling for the perfect fabric with the other.

They were in Abuela's little home, a clay building with a flat red roof and white walls, draped in shawls and Persian rugs, smelling of lavender incense from her many travels. Elena had many memories stored in this place, a lovingly disorganized place that was meticulously cleaned each Saturday without fail. Abuela was full of contradictions and mysteries Elena loved to uncover one by one. From her, Elena inherited an odd love of bugs and other "creepy crawly" things, as Lucia would say, but also from her Abuela, came her strong aversion to pants and shoes. Elena lived almost exclusively in some dress or another, all made by hand with only the loveliest of fabrics and most eye-catching of colors. The black robes and black shoes and dreary weather that awaited Elena was something neither her nor her Abuela were looking forward to.

Elena truly had too much clothing to take with her, but as long as it appeased her Abuela, she paid it no mind. Mamá had given her a brand new Polaroid camera with plenty of film for her to take to Hogwarts, and made her promise to make the most of her time at the witching school. Lucia cried when she said goodbye, her golden curls frizzing around her tear-stricken face. Tío told her to write often and to make them proud. Antonio was a different story altogether.

He kept on as if nothing was happening and kept dragging her around the village, buying her ice-cream and dancing salsa with her in the square. He could never bring himself to look her full in the face though, and his sweaty hand grabbed hers whenever he had the chance, almost as if he believed she'd disappear from one moment to the next. Finally Elena had had enough. She was leaving tomorrow and Antonio was still playing this silly game. She grabbed him tightly by the arm, her nails digging into his skin, and ran to the far side of the village that was close to the marina in the neighboring town. She didn't stop until her dirty feet felt the scalding sand and she finally stopped, not yet turning to Antonio although she had already dropped his arm.

Taking a deep breath, Elena turned around and found herself face to face with Antonio's bright green eyes. No one in their village had eyes like his. Rumor had it that Antonio's mother had been a circus performer who had left Tío and Antonio as quickly as she had come into their lives. Still, Elena was never a match for those eyes. She clumsily took his hand in hers, and said, "You know I'll come back right?" Antonio's eyes softened but did not stop what they were doing to her heart. "I'll never leave you." The two friends sat on the white sand, quietly watching the ocean waves lap onto each other, moving apart and coming together violently and then softly.

The sun set long before Antonio finally spoke. He had not let go of her hand.

"I'll be waiting."

Whew!

That was a long one! Hope you guys enjoy the start of Elena's journey and are as excited as I am for this story, it's an idea that is close to my heart. I feel like my writing style has evolved a lot since I was 12, and now that I'm a junior in high school I think I can offer a more mature and well-thought out storyline.

Up next: Hogwarts!

As always, please review! I am planning on responding to all my reviewers in the next chapter, so any questions, ideas or helpful criticisms are welcome!

Vera