Harry's Twin by Gemzgurl
Lei eyed several small kittens in the window of a shop called Wild Animals and Stuff. These innocent little kittens didn't seem like wild animals to her. A white kitten pushed a ball of pink yarn around its cage, and Lei smiled, until the kitten's mouth opened wide and a large, sticky tongue reached out and ate the ball of yarn. Now she could see why these animals were considered wild.
Kathia came up behind Lei and looked past the girl's shoulder to gaze at the kittens. "Well, aren't those cute?" she commented, watching as a calico kitten pounce onto the smallest kitten there, a tiny black one, who yowled its complaint to the calico. "Wouldn't you just die to have one of those?"
"Oh yes," Lei replied. "You might not die of natural causes with one of those around, but you'd die to have one." She tried to explain what the white kitten had done to the ball of yarn, but Kathia wasn't listening. She ushered Lei into the shop, much to Lei's horror. Lei was not surprised to find the shop completely empty, except for the shopkeeper.
"Come on, Lei, shake the lead out of your feet," Kathia scolded light heartedly. "What can be so bad about a few little kittens? They're adorable."
"Who says they're little?" Lei muttered as a grey-striped kitten grew to the size of a large dog in its cage when Kathia had turned her back. Lei couldn't understand why anyone would want one of these things. She was sure that if Kathia knew what some of them could do, she wouldn't want any, either. But then again, she did have Romeo and Phoebe, and they were pretty wild and crazy. "And from what I've seen, a lot can be wrong with a few 'little' kittens."
"Oh, quit being ridiculous," the woman chided. She reached into a bin that was filled with bunny rabbits.
Lei opened her mouth to protest about the bunny, but it was too late. Kathia was already holding a fuzzy white little bunny. Lei eyed it suspiciously. It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the little creature, however. She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the bunny turned its head toward her and bared its fangs at her. Yes, the bunny had fangs, and its eyes were a demonic red.
And she says that I'm the ridiculous one, Lei thought darkly as she stepped past the evil bunny cage. Just then the shopkeeper came over and asked if she needed anything.
"Actually, yes." Kathia had returned the bunny back to its pen with the other demonic rabbits and was now standing beside Lei. "We're looking for a school animal for her, and I was thinking that one of those kittens would be perfect."
The girl that stood beside the young woman widened her eyes in alarm. "You can not be serious. Those things aren't normal. For all we know they could be dangerous, too!"
"Oh, no, those little kitties aren't dangerous," the shopkeeper assured them. "They wouldn't hurt a fly." Somehow Lei couldn't bring herself to believe the man. "They probably could hurt more than a tinny fly, but they won't."
"See, Lei? Great. We'll take the little black one in there." Kathia pointed to the black runt that was currently being picked on by the white kitten that had eaten the ball of yarn. "I think that one will be perfect."
After paying for the kitten they left the shop and wandered around for a bit before Kathia remembered that she had forgotten Lei's skirt and shirt to complete her Hogwarts uniform. So, they entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions once again in search of a few skirts and shirts. Kathia found the skirts and held quite a few of them against Lei's waist. She finally gave up and asked Lei her size. When Lei had told her, Kathia picked up a skirt that was a size smaller than what she'd been told, found a few others and took them up to the front of the store to be bought.
"I don't understand," Lei protested following Kathia buying the skirts. "That isn't my size. That's a size lower than what fits me. Why did you purposely buy the wrong size?"
"Because, Lei, the sizes in Italy and the sizes in England are quite different," Kathia explained patiently. "Besides, these looked like they would fit you better. You needn't worry. With time you'll understand."
Lei shook her head. She seriously doubted that she would ever get used to these weird things in England. This wasn't her home, Italy was, and in Italy she knew why things were different, or why things happened the way they did there, but now, in England, she didn't know anything. She was confused.
That night, Lei sat on her bed, brushing her silky hair until it shone, just thinking about Italy and her adoptive family. They had all been so nice to her, and didn't treat her like she was adopted at all. She missed Giovanni, her oldest "brother," who had always told her stories when she was little to get her to go to sleep at night. No longer would she hear his comforting voice weaving stories from the oddest places.
As she lay in bed, she also missed Cinzia (A/N: Pronounced Chin-see-a), her little sister, three years younger than she, who had shared a bedroom with her. Cinzia had never slept in her own bed; she'd insisted on sleeping in Lei's. Lei missed Cinzia's body heat next to her, keeping her warm on the cold nights. She wiped a tear away, thinking how Cinzia used to have a little doll that her mum had made for her when she was very little, whose name was Fiore (A/N: Which means 'flower' in Italian). Cinzia had named Fiore after Lei, whose own name meant, "Flower" in the Hawaiian language.
Ragazza Poco, Lei's black kitten, jumped into bed with her and curled up on her chest. It was a minor comfort, but one she welcomed. So far, Lei couldn't find anything wrong with Poco, which is what she called her for short. But Lei decided to give it time.
A woman with red hair stood over two cribs that held her two crying children. Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she reached down to stroke the twins' cheeks. The little girl had red hair, a shade darker than her mother's while the little boy had unruly black hair that stuck up in some places, just like his father's did, and his eyes mirrored his mum's. The twins' father came into the room to help his wife take care of the crying infants. He picked up the girl, and the woman picked up the boy. They walked back and forth across the floor with them. Finally the babies stopped crying and drifted off to sleep.
Once placed back in their separate cribs, the boy stayed asleep, but the girl woke once again and began to whimper. Her mother picked her up once again and in a soft voice, as not to wake the boy, she said, "Don't worry, my little one. You're not alone." She carried the child over to see her brother, who was sleeping peacefully in his crib. The child gazed at her older twin brother and stopped crying.
"See? You're not alone, my little one, my little girl, my little flower. We'll always be here for you, your dad, your brother and I. You will never be alone, little flower," cooed her mother.
Me: Hi there. In case you couldn't tell, in the end of the chapter, Lei is dreaming/remembering a moment in her early life when Lily and James were still alive. When Lei was a child, she had a type of Separation Anxiety, which is why Lily tried to reassure her daughter that Harry was still in his crib, even though they weren't in the same crib. I'm just trying to help you understand a bit of what's going on, because I thought it might be a little confusing. Well, so now you know. Oh yeah, and Lei's kitten's name, Ragazza Poco, basically means Little Girl. Okay, so now you can review and pretty much forget about this, if you want. Like I said, I'm just trying to help you understand.
Lei eyed several small kittens in the window of a shop called Wild Animals and Stuff. These innocent little kittens didn't seem like wild animals to her. A white kitten pushed a ball of pink yarn around its cage, and Lei smiled, until the kitten's mouth opened wide and a large, sticky tongue reached out and ate the ball of yarn. Now she could see why these animals were considered wild.
Kathia came up behind Lei and looked past the girl's shoulder to gaze at the kittens. "Well, aren't those cute?" she commented, watching as a calico kitten pounce onto the smallest kitten there, a tiny black one, who yowled its complaint to the calico. "Wouldn't you just die to have one of those?"
"Oh yes," Lei replied. "You might not die of natural causes with one of those around, but you'd die to have one." She tried to explain what the white kitten had done to the ball of yarn, but Kathia wasn't listening. She ushered Lei into the shop, much to Lei's horror. Lei was not surprised to find the shop completely empty, except for the shopkeeper.
"Come on, Lei, shake the lead out of your feet," Kathia scolded light heartedly. "What can be so bad about a few little kittens? They're adorable."
"Who says they're little?" Lei muttered as a grey-striped kitten grew to the size of a large dog in its cage when Kathia had turned her back. Lei couldn't understand why anyone would want one of these things. She was sure that if Kathia knew what some of them could do, she wouldn't want any, either. But then again, she did have Romeo and Phoebe, and they were pretty wild and crazy. "And from what I've seen, a lot can be wrong with a few 'little' kittens."
"Oh, quit being ridiculous," the woman chided. She reached into a bin that was filled with bunny rabbits.
Lei opened her mouth to protest about the bunny, but it was too late. Kathia was already holding a fuzzy white little bunny. Lei eyed it suspiciously. It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the little creature, however. She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the bunny turned its head toward her and bared its fangs at her. Yes, the bunny had fangs, and its eyes were a demonic red.
And she says that I'm the ridiculous one, Lei thought darkly as she stepped past the evil bunny cage. Just then the shopkeeper came over and asked if she needed anything.
"Actually, yes." Kathia had returned the bunny back to its pen with the other demonic rabbits and was now standing beside Lei. "We're looking for a school animal for her, and I was thinking that one of those kittens would be perfect."
The girl that stood beside the young woman widened her eyes in alarm. "You can not be serious. Those things aren't normal. For all we know they could be dangerous, too!"
"Oh, no, those little kitties aren't dangerous," the shopkeeper assured them. "They wouldn't hurt a fly." Somehow Lei couldn't bring herself to believe the man. "They probably could hurt more than a tinny fly, but they won't."
"See, Lei? Great. We'll take the little black one in there." Kathia pointed to the black runt that was currently being picked on by the white kitten that had eaten the ball of yarn. "I think that one will be perfect."
After paying for the kitten they left the shop and wandered around for a bit before Kathia remembered that she had forgotten Lei's skirt and shirt to complete her Hogwarts uniform. So, they entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions once again in search of a few skirts and shirts. Kathia found the skirts and held quite a few of them against Lei's waist. She finally gave up and asked Lei her size. When Lei had told her, Kathia picked up a skirt that was a size smaller than what she'd been told, found a few others and took them up to the front of the store to be bought.
"I don't understand," Lei protested following Kathia buying the skirts. "That isn't my size. That's a size lower than what fits me. Why did you purposely buy the wrong size?"
"Because, Lei, the sizes in Italy and the sizes in England are quite different," Kathia explained patiently. "Besides, these looked like they would fit you better. You needn't worry. With time you'll understand."
Lei shook her head. She seriously doubted that she would ever get used to these weird things in England. This wasn't her home, Italy was, and in Italy she knew why things were different, or why things happened the way they did there, but now, in England, she didn't know anything. She was confused.
That night, Lei sat on her bed, brushing her silky hair until it shone, just thinking about Italy and her adoptive family. They had all been so nice to her, and didn't treat her like she was adopted at all. She missed Giovanni, her oldest "brother," who had always told her stories when she was little to get her to go to sleep at night. No longer would she hear his comforting voice weaving stories from the oddest places.
As she lay in bed, she also missed Cinzia (A/N: Pronounced Chin-see-a), her little sister, three years younger than she, who had shared a bedroom with her. Cinzia had never slept in her own bed; she'd insisted on sleeping in Lei's. Lei missed Cinzia's body heat next to her, keeping her warm on the cold nights. She wiped a tear away, thinking how Cinzia used to have a little doll that her mum had made for her when she was very little, whose name was Fiore (A/N: Which means 'flower' in Italian). Cinzia had named Fiore after Lei, whose own name meant, "Flower" in the Hawaiian language.
Ragazza Poco, Lei's black kitten, jumped into bed with her and curled up on her chest. It was a minor comfort, but one she welcomed. So far, Lei couldn't find anything wrong with Poco, which is what she called her for short. But Lei decided to give it time.
A woman with red hair stood over two cribs that held her two crying children. Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she reached down to stroke the twins' cheeks. The little girl had red hair, a shade darker than her mother's while the little boy had unruly black hair that stuck up in some places, just like his father's did, and his eyes mirrored his mum's. The twins' father came into the room to help his wife take care of the crying infants. He picked up the girl, and the woman picked up the boy. They walked back and forth across the floor with them. Finally the babies stopped crying and drifted off to sleep.
Once placed back in their separate cribs, the boy stayed asleep, but the girl woke once again and began to whimper. Her mother picked her up once again and in a soft voice, as not to wake the boy, she said, "Don't worry, my little one. You're not alone." She carried the child over to see her brother, who was sleeping peacefully in his crib. The child gazed at her older twin brother and stopped crying.
"See? You're not alone, my little one, my little girl, my little flower. We'll always be here for you, your dad, your brother and I. You will never be alone, little flower," cooed her mother.
Me: Hi there. In case you couldn't tell, in the end of the chapter, Lei is dreaming/remembering a moment in her early life when Lily and James were still alive. When Lei was a child, she had a type of Separation Anxiety, which is why Lily tried to reassure her daughter that Harry was still in his crib, even though they weren't in the same crib. I'm just trying to help you understand a bit of what's going on, because I thought it might be a little confusing. Well, so now you know. Oh yeah, and Lei's kitten's name, Ragazza Poco, basically means Little Girl. Okay, so now you can review and pretty much forget about this, if you want. Like I said, I'm just trying to help you understand.
