Note:
Okay, so the character I said was going to be in this story, will be in this story. Teddy should be showing up next chapter, I'm just giving you some background and setting all this nonsense up.

Also, please review, and be brutally honest (like that dress really does make you look fat kind of honest)- do your worst, I can handle it.

Chapter 2- Late August 2009

Holly:

"So when you get there you get sorted into a house?"

"Yeah, you sit on this little stool and they put this hat on your head and it tells you what house you're in, but don't worry it only hurts for a minute." The older boy had to try so hard to not smile fiercely.

Holly's eyes widened, "It hurts?"

"Oh yeah, it's got to get into your brain you see, so it makes a few little holes so it can see in there." The look on the girl's face just made this better. "Don't worry though it fixes it all up afterwards for you,"

Holly looked at her brother, really hoping he was saying this to scare her and that she wasn't really going to have a hat drilling into her brain. "You're a Hufflepuff, right Tommy?" Her curiosity overrode her fear.

"Yeah, so was Mum and Dad, so was Aunt Virginia and Uncle Rolly and Uncle Carl and Stephan and Monica and Daniel and Lisa... Everyone in the family really…" He tried to think of someone in the family who had not been a Hufflepuff and drawing a blank. Holly looked puzzled, "Am I going to be a Hufflepuff then?"

"Probably, that's how it seems to work in families."

Holly bit her lip, thinking, "What if I don't want to be a Hufflepuff?"

"It's not really a choice, Holly."

She watched the older boy as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "You need a haircut."

Tommy frowned, "Mum keeps saying that… I like it."

"You look like a mop," Holly smiled at his annoyed look.

"Have you looked in a mirror, Holly?" Now it was her turn to look annoyed. She didn't think she looked like a mop, not today at least. Their mother had braided her hair this morning to avoid the mop look specifically. Tommy leaned back against the wall, stretching his legs out over the snitch sheets on his bed. He sighed, "It's gonna be weird having you at school."

"I won't even acknowledge you if it'll ruin your bad boy, quidditch captain image." She smiled at him cheekily. He gave her an unamused look, "I don't have an image"

Her smile grew even more. There was a hint of mischief in her eye, which never ceased to worry Tommy. "What's that look?" He tried to sound casual.

"I was just thinking of the look on all the girls' faces if I decided to tell them about-"

"Please don't say the gnome incident…"

She laughed at him, "I was going to say the incident with Mr. Harper, but the gnome one's even better."

He glared at her, "If you bring up the gnome thing, I'll tell all the firsties about Doug." From the panic he could see in her eyes he knew he had her.

"I think we've come to an agreement" She said. They shook on it.

Tommy looked at his little sister. It was weird to think of her going to Hogwarts, she seemed too young. She always looked younger than she was, which he assumed didn't help. It was her eyes, they were too big and blue and… doe-ish. He would have to look out for her, he knew that much.

Phoenix:

Phoenix slumped against his dresser, starring at the still mostly empty trunk on his bed. He had no idea what to bring, he didn't really have anything to bring, and everything he needed he was going to get later that week in Diagon Alley. For some reason he couldn't shake his nerves, no matter how hard he tried. He was excited, God was he ever, but still there was this dull throb of anxiety that lurked right behind his eyes. His parents assured him that it was going to be fine, but that just made him more uneasy about it if that was even possible.

What if he didn't make any friends? What if no one liked him? What if he was rubbish at magic? What if he wasn't magic at all and they had somehow made a mistake? What if he failed all his classes? What if he got lost in the castle? What if he got sorted into Slytherin?

There were too many things that could go wrong. He was too busy chewing on his lip to notice that his door had gotten pushed open the slightest bit.

"Phoenix?" Phoenix jumped, hitting the back of his head on a dresser drawer. His mother pushed the door open, "Are you okay?"

She looked down at him, concerned as he rubbed his head.

"I'm fine, you just surprised me."

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering how the packing was going." She frowned as she saw the empty trunk on his bed.

He stood up, "I don't know what to bring…"

"You should bring some clothes, so you aren't just wearing your robes every day, maybe a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt to two, and a jumper, the castle can get a bit drafty. And you'll need pajamas and socks and underwear." She saw the unenthusiastic look on her son's face. "Why don't you bring your camera too?"

Phoenix looked at his mother excitedly, "Could I?"

She smiled at him, "How else can you send us pictures of all your adventures?" This worked as she had hopped, he began to pack. She watched him, folding up anything he haphazardly threw into his trunk.

Phoenix loved to take pictures, magical or not. That was the one muggle thing he loved to do, was to take muggle pictures, the unmoving pictures made you guess how people were feeling, or what really was going on. He opened up one of his drawers and pulled out two cameras, on magical and one muggle.

"I shouldn't bring my muggle camera, should I?" He looked a bit disappointed. "What if they think I'm not good at magic cause I use a muggle camera?"

She looked at her son, grinning, "They will be so amazed that muggles have cameras that they won't have time to think anything else."

"What? Why wouldn't they know muggles have cameras?"

"Most people raised in magical houses don't know much about muggle things." She seized the lesson teaching moment, "That's why we need to promote muggle awareness."

He appreciated the muggle awareness lesson less than she did, "So they will like it?"

She couldn't help but smile at the twinge of hope in her son's voice. "They will want you to take pictures just so they could watch them sit still."

Phoenix's face lit up, "Really?"

His mother nodded, smiling. He put the cameras down on the end of his bed, grabbing a bag out of his closet to put them in. His mother watched him, feeling a sort of proud sadness. Her baby, her only son was going off to school. She suddenly felt tears rising up. Phoenix looked over at his mother to ask if he should bring his toque and saw that she was just about to cry.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" he was concerned about his mother, who he had only ever seen cry a handful of times. She pulled him into a tight, but gentle hug, "I can't believe you're going to be going to Hogwarts… It was just yesterday that you were running around in diapers."

Phoenix tried reassuringly patting her back, "It's gonna be okay. I'll come back for Christmas and Easter, and I promise I'll write you as often as you want."

"You better write Phoenix Flannery, at least every other day! I want to hear everything, no matter how silly it is!" She was holding his shoulders now, looking into his face. Two pairs of brown eyes met, both filled with love and a slight shimmer of worry, both trying to blink back uncharacteristic tears.

"You'll do wonderful, Phoenix, I know you will."