Of course Harry Potter was going to get his own Hogwarts letter. There was no way in hell he wouldn't. But it was no shock to what extremities Harry's aunt and uncle would do to keep Harry's true identity a secret.
Romina paced back and forth in the living room, rambling to herself. As an eleven year old, she had quite an extensive vocabulary. "How dare the Dursleys think they can get away with it!? I should have told Harry the moment I got my letter! That's what I should have done! Yeah! I should have done some spell or something—"
"Romina Camille Oswell, would you quit your pacing? You're blocking the telly!" her aunt scolded and forced Romina to stop. Sitting on the couch, Sage motioned Romina to step aside and clear up the view. "Now, please, calm down."
"But I can't!" Romina slumped on a couch chair with the biggest frown on her face. "The Dursleys just took Harry away without saying a word!"
Sage scoffed, eyes glued to the television. "Doesn't surprise me. Those muggles have got to be the worst."
"But can they get away with that, auntie?" Romina's frown turned into a pout. "Can they really keep Harry away from Hogwarts? I mean...if he's really...Harry Potter...then...then is it legal?"
Sage lightly chuckled with her niece's antics. "Believe me, Romina. Albus Dumbledore probably had that boy's name signed onto the rosters long before any letter nonsense. He'll be there."
Romina wanted to believe just like her aunt but as the days went by and not a single word from Harry emerged, she began to lose faith. Eventually, it came time to finally purchase all her required school supplies, and even the prospect of finally meeting Diagon Alley wasn't enough to pull Romina from her deception.
Because their home was connected through the Floo Network, there was no need for the Oswells to go through the Leaky Cauldron to get to the famous alley. However, Romina's aunt and uncle did think it wise to inform Romina of the alternate entrance into Diagon Alley should there ever be a necessity.
Although Romina did her best to maintain her glumly attitude, she was awed to see Diagon Alley in the flesh. It was swarming with bustling witches and wizards, most of whom were bringing in their children for their school supplies. Romina released a light breath as she took it all in. Her eyes flickered from one shop to the next, finding the oddly named places...out of her knowledge. Though her lips did quirk into a smile when she caught sight of Gambol and Japes Jokeshop. She wondered how young wizards and witches pranked each other. She doubted it had to do with boring muggle whoopie cushions.
"Romina," Lyonel's voice snapped her from her thoughts, "Tell me again what you needed."
"Um…" Romina dug into her bright, red purse slung across her chest. She took out her Hogwarts letter and reread the necessities. "I need three sets of plain work robes—black of course. The hat...gloves…"
"Let's start with the robes," Lyonel suggested and with Sage on Romina's left, they headed for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
Romina felt like a child stuck between them. Of course maybe that was just part of the moody demeanor she was carrying with her. They entered the shop that was, surprisingly, empty. Romina figured perhaps most of the students had already stopped by earlier and she was, well, late. A woman, presumed to be Madam Malkin,greeted the family with a bright smile.
"Another of Hogwarts I assume?" She went straight for business. Her eyes trailed Romina for a moment, probably to imagine the size beforehand.
"First year," Sage explained proudly.
"Noticeable," Madame Malkin responded and Romina had an internal debate on whether or not she should feel offended. "Come here, sweetie," she called to the girl and went for a small, circular platform on the side.
Romina obediently followed but of course had her aunt and uncle right behind her. As Madame Malkin gave further instructions that included the 'don't move lest you want to be poked', Romina kept glancing at her aunt and uncle to make sure this was all right.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" the woman asked.
"Romina…" She replied slowly, but of course knowing that her name had to be stitched onto her robes pushed Romina to give up her full name. "Romina Oswell."
It was like time stopped for a moment there. Romina heard Madame Malkin gasp lightly and of course noticed that the pulling and fastening of the robe stopped. She met Madame Malkin's shocked face for a second then glanced at her aunt and uncle. They seemed to have been expecting this sort of reaction.
Madame Malkin regained herself eventually and coughed awkwardly. "I...uh...didn't know there were still young...Oswells…"
Romina's eyes narrowed. What was that supposed to mean?
Lyonel coughed lightly. "Just her, don't worry."
Romina opened her mouth a bit, now utterly offended. Okay, her family wasn't the best but that didn't mean it all had to fall on her like it was her fault. "Can we finish?" she demanded, ignoring her aunt and uncle' scolding looks. "I have other things to buy."
"Of course," Madame Malkin smiled politely at the girl but Romina no longer had intentions of being nice back.
When all was finished, Romina didn't even bother saying a word to the woman as she stalked out of the shop. She didn't even carry the newly purchased robes. When her aunt and uncle caught up with her, they were both 'severely disappointed' in her conduct and proceeded to tell her how this was only the start of what she would need to handle in their true society.
"Oh—" Romina interjected one of her aunt's lectures, almost sneering which only earned her more disapproving looks from her aunt and uncle, "—so while everyone gives me these stupid terrified looks I'm just supposed ignore them?" she unceremoniously snorted afterwards. "I don't think so!" She picked up her walking pace and left her aunt and uncle a bit behind.
"Sage, she's got her father's temper down-packed," Lyonel shook his head, feeling like this precise trait was going to get their niece into more trouble.
"Well, of course she was going to inherit her parents traits, but we ought not to think it will make her the worst like them," Sage said. Romina was only eleven and she was about to enter the age of radical emotions anyways. "We have to trust that we've raised her right."
"But maybe raising her entirely away from wizard society wasn't our best move either," Lyonel admitted. "Romina will now have to constantly face people who will no doubt accuse her for what her family did in the past. Worse, those still in the dark side may try to persuade her to join them—"
"Lyonel," his wife's voice sharpened, warning him to stop right there. "Romina would never!"
But, Lyonel glanced at her with eyes full of sadness. "But that's exactly what I once said about my brother. Caplan fell for the dark side and never looked back."
Sage grew silent while her husband no doubt thought about his younger brother.
Caplan Oswell had been a brilliant boy at home and excelled at Hogwarts. But, as time went on and the Dark Lord's presence grew, the boy (then teenager) was swayed to the legion of the Death Eaters. The Dark Arts dazzled him and having his mind filled with radical ideas of non-purebloods only served to persuade him completely. His fascination for the darkness was his downfall. Now, for that same fascination, he remained in Azkaban along with his wife.
Neither Sage nor Lyonel wanted to see Romina go down the same path.
In her dramatic walking away moment, Romina hadn't quite known where exactly she was heading, and much less how she was meant to find her aunt and uncle again.
"Well damn," she muttered to herself and hopped down a couple stone steps. As she did, she spotted a small crowd of boys with their faces practically stuck to a glass display window. She watched them curiously and overheard their excited rambles including "racing broom" and "Nimbus 2000". When the group of boys dispersed, Romina skidded up to the shop to get a look of the famous racing broom. Her eyebrows raised, eyes filled with genuine surprise to find an actual broom just...sitting there. Of course it wasn't those brooms you usually used for daily chores, and that's what dazzled Romina most.
"Quite impressive I hear," a young girl's voice startled Romina from behind. Romina glanced back to find a girl of her age, with incredibly bushy brown hair and dark eyes, standing there. The girl had her head held just a bit high and had an aura of 'I probably know this and you don't' around her. "I bet those will definitely make an appearance at the Quidditch games at Hogwarts." The young girl came up to stand beside Romina with her hands behind her back.
"Quidditch?" Romina repeated, eyes darting to the Nimbus in front of them. "What's that?"
The other girl glanced at Romina, something sparkling in her dark eyes. "Are you muggle-born like me? I had to do a lot of reading to get informed. I didn't want to miss anything because of negligence."
Romina could tell that the girl would definitely love to talk ears off with the information she apparently knew. "Um, no...well...no, but...I just didn't live in...this world," she made a gesture to the alley as an example. "I probably know less than muggleborns."
"You should definitely read Hogwarts: A History if you want to learn," the girl suggested.
"Thanks," Romina decided that maybe brushing up on her witch knowledge wouldn't hurt.
"I'm Hermione by the way," she stuck a hand to Romina. "Hermione Granger."
Romina slowly shook hands with Hermione. "Romina…" She remembered the reaction from Madame Malkin after revealing her name and decided that just for this one time she would skip it.
Hermione smiled. "Are you buying your school supplies too?" Romina nodded and suddenly remembered that she was missing a set of aunt and uncle. "I'm already set but I think I might try the bookstore again—there's just way too many books," she dramatically sighed. "Have you gotten your wand yet?"
"Wand?" Romina's head snapped back to Hermione.
Hermione nodded. "I just got mine." Romina could tell the girl was just dying to show said wand to someone but Romina suspected that Hermione's parents withhold the wand at the moment. She then wondered where the girl's parents were as well. "It's got a Dragon heartstring core which I read could give you a lot of power. Plus, it learns fast which is always good. What's yours?"
Romina had to take a moment to catch up with the speedy, factual Hermione. "U-uh...I haven't gotten mine yet. In fact, I think I need to go find my aunt and uncle for that."
"Oh," Hermione didn't look disappointed but Romina swore that the girl was just trying to start making friends so she was probably just hiding her true feelings.
"I'll, um, see you at school, though," Romina tried to be nice, also thinking it was good to start making friends beforehand. Hermione gave a nod of her head and with another 'goodbye' Romina hurried to go find her aunt and uncle.
As soon as she found them, she started telling them all about the new girl she'd met and frankly, her aunt and uncle were relieved to see Romina already making friends with a muggle. They'd been going back and forth on Romina's future path in Hogwarts while Romina was gone. Hearing about this Hermione Granger, a muggle-born, seemed to ease their doubts for the moment.
"Can I get my wand now pretty please?" Romina asked them. "Hermione said hers was a dragon something and I wanna know what mine's going to be."
"Yes, fine, let's go to Mr. Ollivander's, then," Lyonel ushered the girl ahead.
They found Mr. Ollivander's shop in no time. The first thing Romina saw was a lone wand on display just beside the door shop. She hurried to see it and laughed. "Incredible!" However, her eyes found something even more incredible inside the shop. "OH MY GOD!"
Her aunt and uncle had been scared for a moment but Romina didn't bother explaining. She left the display window and went right into the store with a loud entrance.
"YOU'RE HERE! You're here! You're here!" Romina almost tackled Harry to the ground with such a strong hug but thankfully the desk in front served as a great cushion.
"R-Romina?" Harry Potter barely could say the girl's name while she hugged him, or squashed him. "H-how are you here?"
Romina pulled away, eyes wide with joy. "Why do you think? Remember how I asked you about your letter?"
"You knew about this!?" Harry had a brief moment of irritation with her.
"I couldn't just tell you! You'd think I was a bonkers or something," Romina huffed. The bell rang when the door opened again and the two kids saw Romina's aunt and uncle walking in. "But, really, if you're looking to blame...blame them."
"Romina," Sage scolded when her niece pointed a thumb at them.
"Auntie, he can't be mad at me for something that wasn't my fault," Romina crossed her arms.
"Harry, you made it here after all," Lyonel greeted the boy politely.
"Where did you go?" Romina softly asked Harry. "No one in the neighborhood knew anything about you nor the Dursleys. What happened?"
Harry would rather not tell the story of how his aunt and uncle decided for him that he wasn't going to be a wizard. Although maybe he could tell the part where Dudley got a pig's tail.
"Harry?" Romina was lost as the boy just smirked in silence. She suspected there was a good story behind it.
But before Harry could open his mouth, an elderly man walked out from the back. He was carrying with him a new wand for Harry (after the previous failed attempts). He greeted the three new customers with a smile before addressing Harry. "Try this one."
Harry hoped to God no more accidents would happen with this wand. To his luck, there was an instant warmth against his skin when he held the wand. Romina was awed as his wand gave off a couple of sparks.
"Curious, very curious," went Ollivander.
"Sorry, but what's curious?" Harry looked up from his wand.
Ollivander seemed to be a bit too serious for just it being a wand. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It just so happens that the phoenix, whose tail feather resides in your wand gave one other feather, just one. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar," he pointed to Harry's lightning scar on his forehead.
Behind the two students, Sage and Lyonel exchanged nervous glances. Harry, however, was confused.
"And...who owned that wand?" Harry inquired. Romina was staring at him sad-eyed and incredibly guilt-ridden, but being focused on the answer Harry missed it.
"Oh, we do not speak his name," Ollivander replied. "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why, but I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things...terrible, yes, but great."
"I doubt those are the words one wants to use," Lyonel mumbled under his breath.
There was a knock on the window and everyone turned to see a rather big man, with a set of bushy hair and bushy beard, standing outside the shop. "Harry! Harry!" he was excitedly holding up a cage with a snowy-white owl inside. "Happy Birthday!"
"Oh that's right!" Romina entered a state of excitement as well. "It was your birthday! I missed it!" and she clasped Harry in another tight-wrenching hug.
Harry was just out of words. He was a wizard, his best friend was a witch, he now had a wand, and he continued to learn about this mysterious world.
~ 0 ~
Though it was difficult, Romina was able to convince her aunt and uncle to allow Harry to stay with them for the rest of the summer. Since it didn't seem like the Dursleys would be coming back to the neighborhood for a while (probably to figure out how to get rid of Dudley's new tail) Harry would need to either stay with Hagrid or someone he knew. While Hagrid was more than happy to have Harry aroumd, Romina thought it would be better for him to continue living in the muggle world for as much as possible.
Romina had a good laugh after hearing how the half-giant, Hagrid, had given Dudley Dursley a pig tail. Harry loved being able to talk about that moment considering it was truly one of the best moments of his life so far.
The two kids sat in the middle of Romina's bedroom switching candy they'd gotten from Honeydukes (which was agreed mutually that it was the best candy store ever to exist) as well as plain regular muggle candy. Spread around them was their Hogwarts supplies with their most prized possessions sitting right beside them.
"It's ebony with a dragon heartstring core," Romina held her wand right in front of her face. "Mr. Ollivander said the ebony has a good reputation. It's supposed to be well suited for combative magic and Transfiguration, I guess? Whatever that means. Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "And the core's good for 'flamboyant spells'—" she mimicked a dramatic tone which made Harry smile, "—and that they can learn faster than other cores."
However, her aunt and uncle failed to mention that the core was also famous for the Dark Arts. While they grieved that it was almost the same as Romina's father when he first got his wand.
"And Mr. Ollivander said that its alder wood is the best for spells that are made non-verbally! Can you believe that?" Romina dragged her fingers along her wand. "Spells that you say without actually opening your mouth! It's crazy!"
"It's something…" Harry agreed, and it was then that Romina noticed he was oddly quiet.
"Hey, what's wrong? Five minutes ago you were laughing with bouncy chocolate frogs."
"It's just...if you knew that you were a witch...why didn't you tell me?" Harry couldn't understand that.
Romina silently put her wand down, doing surprisingly good at masking her guilt. "Um, well it's against the rules. You're not supposed to tell anyone unless you know for a fact that they're not muggles. Why do you think neither of us have told Arden about this?"
"But—"
"I'm going to get us some drinks, okay," Romina sprung to her feet and headed for the door. She could not deal with any more questions threatening to expose her secrets. She knew it would eventually come once they entered Hogwarts and everyone learned of Harry Potter...and Romina Oswell.
A/N:
P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"