Discalimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but everything else is mine, MINE!!!!

Barak sighed contently as she looked around herself. The sky was grey and it was a very blustery day. The chill breeze disrupted the bits of dead leaves that still clung to freshly mowed grass. It was quiet outside, as if she was the only one in the whole wide world that existed. For those few precious moments, she was carefree, lost in the cold breeze devoid of snow. Here where there was no happiness, sadness, or anything in between... just the soft whisper of the breeze and the shuffling sound her shoes made as they brushed the pavement.

All too soon, Barak was walking up the driveway to her house. She opened the door and quickly evacuated from her sweatshirt, which was all too hot in the air-conditioned house. She had just pulled the object over her head when she was assaulted by what some would say was a smaller version of herself.

"OOMPH."

The other girl in question happened to be her identical twin. No, this did not mean they looked anything alike- as a matter of fact far from it- it meant simply that one egg had split to become two.

Ruach was a pretty girl who had filled out rather well for a girl her age. She had wavy brown hair (which was always straight, as she was a chi fanatic), hazel eyes that were usually mostly green with light brown, a small nose and lips that weren't small but weren't full. Her wrists were tiny, and she had the smallest pinky finger of everyone she knew. Her voice was a little high, and it was rumored her squeaks could shatter glass.

Barak, on the other hand, was a little less feminine. While she still had curves that rivaled many, she could never match up to her sister. Her hair (which was very wavy and caramel colored) reached all the way down to the middle of her chest that had a stray ringlet here and there. A slightly bigger wrist than her sister, as well as fingers. She had arched eyebrows and her eyes were hazel, usually light green with a ring of light brown around her pupil. Her nose was a bit bigger, and she had nice full lips, although the top lip was a bit bigger and stuck out slightly more than her lower lip. Her voice was a bit lower, though she was still able to match her sister when she squeaked.

As far as personalities, Ruach was easily angered and very playful. She was shy even though she talked a lot, and was able to make decent grades at school when she tried. She really enjoyed singing and had quite a knack for it even though she had never taken lessons. Barak was a very shy, quiet girl, who enjoyed reading. She was decent in school when she worked hard, and was good at drawing. Currently she was best using pencil and charcoal, though she was taking lessons to learn how to use other mediums.

In any case, Barak was very surprised when her sister pounced on her. Normally she was not especially exited to see her sister at home unless she had been very, very bored.

"Um... I love you too." Barak murmured, shaking her sister off.

Ruach jumped up and down, babbling excitedly. "I sorry! It's just that I have been sooooooooo bored... Wanna play Rummikub?"

Barak looked at her twin for a moment, then shrugged and nodded as her sister led her over to the already set up board. She sat down as Ruach picked up a tile. Yes today was going to be a long day... mainly because of the fact that today was the last day of Chanukah, which mean the biggest presents came tonight.

Chanukah was a Jewish holiday in which the Maccabes and their victory over the Greeks is celebrated. It was also said that after the temple was destroyed (the holy temple in which the Maccabes had worshipped G-d) they tried to relight the menorah, but were only able to find one small bottle of oil. It would take eight days for more oil to arrive. Obviously deciding that something was better than nothing, they lit the menorah and surprisingly enough it lasted the eight days it took for more oil to arrive.

Barak sighed as she laid out her tiles. Originally, money had been given out at Chanukah. However, when the Jewish children saw that other children got presents during Christmas (which was the same time as Chanukah) they were envious. Thus, it had become the tradition to give out presents.

Even though it was a time to celebrate, Chanukah was not without its sad side stories. The most well known one was the story of Hannah. When the leader of the Greeks came, he told all the Jews to bow down to idols. All of Hannah's sons (and she had many- around seven) refused and were killed. Finally, her last and youngest son was brought forth, a lad who could still be called a toddler. He also refused. Out of pity, the leader threw down his ring before the idol and told the boy to fetch it. That way, he could still be thought of as bowing to the idol. However, he refused and was executed. As her last son was killed, Hannah jumped off the roof of her house.

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For every Chanukah the Weis family had held, they had had their Chanukah alone and without company. This was probably the reason why Barak and Ruach were so surprised to see that all of their closest friends gathered in their living room/dining room, along with their parents.

The living room/dining room was a rectangular white room. There was a fair sized TV up against the right-hand smaller side of the wall, surrounded by two cabinets on each side filled with books. In front of the TV was a white couch covered in scenes of a river, with a bear catching fish and deer running around. To the left of the couch was a small nightstand with a lamp that was in the shape of and painted like a lamb. Behind the couch was a round wooden table with six wooden chairs around it.

Standing by the bookcases, three young girls stood fidgeting as their parents talked. On the left was Mary, who of all the three girls had known the two twins the longest. She had wavy, brown/black hair down to her armpits, with eyes the color of bistre, an oval face and a tan complexion. She was a very well muscled girl and a part of her school's track team. Her parents were Christian and the more religious type.

In the middle was Alice, a girl of a fair complexion, though not as pale as Ruach and Barak. She had a round face lightly sprinkled with freckles, with blonde/grey straight hair down to the bottom of her neck. Her eyes were blue with a ring of green around her pupil. Her lips were a bit on the thin side. She was muscled as well, though more from the exercise it took her to beat up "jerks" than anything else. Her family was very strict, with both parents being teachers and a brother whom she hated vigorously.

Finally, the girl on the right named Maya harbored paleness almost akin to her two friends. She had straight black hair that went to her shoulders, and bangs to the top of her eyebrows. She had a somewhat oriental look about her face, even though she had no blood of the type that her family knew of. Her eyes were blue. She was thin, although lacking in muscle. Her family was what some would say a bit on the weird side- slightly strict, she had a twin brother and an older brother. Frankly, that was the only way to describe her family- weird.

Sitting on the couch were three women; the mothers of Maya, Alice, and Mary. Standing and talking to them were the fathers of the three girls, along with Ruach and Barak's mother.

Barak looked around, confused. "Um, mom, what's going on?"

Obviously, the people occupying the room had not noticed the two girls standing in the doorway. The women on the couch turned their heads sharply towards the doorway, the parents standing stopped talking, and Maya let out a gasp of astonishment rather akin to a parrot.

There was a moment of silence before Agnes, Ruach and Barak's mother, spoke up.

"Girls, you know how on the last night of Chanukah you always get your biggest presents? Well, we (meaning us parents) have been receiving a letter since each of you was ten years old. However, what this letter requested required some serious money, so we were never able to send you away. However, this year we were finally able to get tuition! So we all decided to give you your biggest present for your last night of Chanukah/Christmas."

With this, each of the parents walked over to their children and them heavy letters, then stood back beaming.

Each of the girls opened their letters only to see rather identical looking letters, and there was a moment of silence as each of the five silently read them.

Finally, Maya looked at her mother. "Hogwarts?!" she asked with a frown. "Who in their mind would name any school Hogwarts? I mean, as in hog-warts, or what? Is that some type of witch or wizard symbol?"

Her eyes locked with Barak and Ruach right before five girls burst out laughing.

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Hey Hey! So what did you people think? I know that you would that most people would be surprised, but I promise that in the next chapter it will be explained.