December 2006

Kiara waved goodbye to her roommates as she made her way through the crowd towards the familiar form of her mother. She weaved through the station, dodging past running children and harassed parents, her trunk in tow. Her mother was sitting on a bench a little ways off from the main entrance. She was surveying the platform her legs tucked underneath her and her back stick straight. Some things never changed and Hope's upbringing never quite left her. Kiara and her mother shared the same dark hair and brown eyes that ran in their genes. Hope was still a bit taller, with a few more streaks of gray than Kiara remembered but still the same. Kiara knew the moment her mother spotted her, Hope's posture relaxed by a barely perceptible degree, and a wide smile grew on her face. Hope gracefully stood up from the bench before rushing over to Kiara. Before Kiara knew it her mother had reached her and smothered her into a suffocating hug.

"Kiara, you've grown so much. You're almost as tall as me," Hope said, finally releasing her. She pulled just far enough away to judge at Kiara's slightly rumpled state.

"Mama, you say that every time I come home. I haven't grown that much," Kiara smirked, "maybe you're just shrinking."

"Oh, you... Why do I even bother? I should just leave you at school the whole year, you'll miss me then, and all my smothering," she added as an afterthought. Hope smoothed out Kiara's sweater, which had gotten somewhat disheveled by Quinn's goodbye hug and Hope's welcome.

"I did miss you, Mama." Kiara squeezed one of Hope's hands trying to impart her feelings through the touch. "Let's go home."

Hope mischievously tilted her head at Kiara knowing the real reason, "Really? I didn't know you loved the apartment that much. I guess you miss sleeping in your own room. Those friends of yours can get rowdy."

Kiara sighed, caught, "I want to see my siblings."

One of the highlights of the break for Kiara, other than seeing her mom, was hanging out with her siblings for a week. That had been the agreement Hope, Kiara and her cabin made. Half of each break was with her mom and the other with her siblings. Kiara rocked back and forth on her heels, she could not wait to see them. Hope shook her head at Kiara's excitement and grabbed her arm pulling them over to the portkey station.

– o – ️ – o –

The portkey line was not extremely long but it was not short. This was one of the few times Kiara wished they lived in London or at least somewhere close enough to apparate to. There were at least five groups maybe six that Kiara could count. Around the two-minute mark, Kiara set down her trunk, her hand aching. Three more groups passed in the time it took Kiara's feet to start throbbing. She needed better shoes. Hope snickered at Kiara's exhausted face.

"Don't be mean Mama, I've been awake since six," Kiara huffed.

"Well, you should try and stay awake." Hope cast a tempus, "It's only ten at home. You have at around eleven hours until sundown."

A loud groan was Kiara's only answer.

Two groups moved past the booth. One more to go. The only problem was the father and son in front of them seemed to have misplaced one of their passports. They rummaged through their belongings as the people behind Hope noticed the problem. Grumbles emerged from the waiting wixen a few of them sending harsh glares at the worker in the booth. Hope stepped up to the frantic father and placed her hand on his arm. The man jolted almost bumping into Hope who had swiftly moved. He stuttered out apologies reaching out as if to help her before pulling them sharply back.

"It's fine. No harm done." Hope gestured to herself before returning to the reason she had got his attention in the first place. "I'm sorry if this sounds out of the blue but are you perchance a muggle?"

The father flinched again before straightening up a bit. "Yes...ma'am," he added after a pause.

At his response, she sighed, "I am sorry, sir, that I have worried you. I was just asking to see if I could help. You see there is a spell to find things that might be able to help your predicament."

The man nodded permission and Hope slowly drew her wand every move telegraphed so there were no misunderstandings. She flicked it at his bags with an accio passport. The bag popped open and a slim passport flew into Hope's hand. She returned it to the stunned man before stepping back to where Kiara was sitting on her trunk. The man's eyes were wide and sparkling wonder had washed away some of his nerves. He thanked Hope before placing it down and finishing the paperwork.

The man and his son rushed off likely to make sure their portkey would not leave without them. Kiara pushed herself off her trunk and trudged it over to the counter. By comparison, Hope's steps seem to be like walking on clouds. Kiara rolled her eyes at her mother's perfection before turning to the portkey attendant. He was in charge of portkeys as well as immigration. The travel days in Hogwarts required the station to have portkeys otherwise families would have to travel to the airport first and then to their respective countries. This was especially hard for muggle-born and international students so the ministry allowed a limited amount of portkeys to be used by families for their travel. This unfortunately led to whoever this poor man was working to both bring families in and send them off for hours.

The exhausted worker was barely holding it together, his uniform wrinkled and his face drawn. His slumped form took a few seconds to rest before the fact that two new customers registered in his mind. With a cough, he sat upright and plastered on a smile. He asked for their names and, with practiced motions, found their booking. After checking over their passports he handed Hope the portkey. With a forced cheer, he finished his script, "You have five minutes to get everything and everyone who is leaving with you to touch the book. Anything or anyone left behind is not our problem. Any damage to people or things is your responsibility. Have a good day. Thank you for using Portkey Travels."

Hope thanked the man and they swiftly moved out of the way for the next group. They wandered over to a less dense area of the station. Luckily the platform had partially emptied out most families leaving for their cars or apparition. Hope found a bench that was miraculously unoccupied. It wouldn't be the first time someone accidentally portkeyed with someone else. One accidental touch during its activation could transport someone anywhere in the world especially if they did not have a good grip on the portkey.

Hope started chattering about what had happened back home. She caught Kiara up on the months she was gone. Even though Kiara had gotten updates in their weekly letters and IMs, it was different in person. Hope told Kiara about Miss Jenifer's new cat that kept wandering into their apartment. Hope swore she had shut all the doors and windows at Kiara's amused glance. The familiar chatter calmed Kiara. Life at their home was rarely silent. Music playing from the radio, her mother gossiping with their neighbors, and honking cars at all times of the day were constant in Kiara's childhood. The strange silence that occasionally appeared in Hogwarts was unnerving for the first few weeks. At the four-and-a-half-minute mark, Hope and Kiara placed their hands on the shimmering encyclopedia.

A sharp tug flung them out of King's Cross and into the JFK airport. Kiara shut her eyes against the whizzing colors and lights. For a terrifying moment her hand seemed to slip but before she could be lost to wander the earth solid tile appeared beneath her feet. Kiara stumbled a little, her breath shaky from the sudden change in speed. She never got a hang of portkeys. Hope opened the door of the Portkey room and they stepped out into the airport. It looked like any other airport except for the floating suitcases floating behind passengers and screeching pets with a few too many limbs to be considered ordinary. The magical side of the airport dealt with portkeys, floo trips, and many other means of magical transportation. It was only accessible from the underground train station on Train H. The occasional muggle wandered in only to be turned away by muggle repulsion runes. Hope methodically walked through the oncoming crowds to the hovering carts. She sidestepped a man with pink ooze seeping out of his bag, seized a cart, and breezed back to Kiara who had finally gotten her legs to agree with her. Hope cast locomotor to move the bags before dragging her growing tired daughter through the airport.

Like clockwork, they made their way through security and immigration. By the time they made it out to the taxi loading area only an hour had passed. They had to carry the trunk after exiting the train and Kiara felt like its weight was leaching her energy. The cold air rushed into their faces the moment they stepped out slapping some alertness into Kiara. Hope walked up to a taxi and told them their address while Kiara put her bags into the trunk. She slipped into the back seat and was out before the car even started.

– o – ️ – o –

"Kiara we're here," Hope whispered, shaking her awake.

A sleepy Kiara stumbled out of the taxi and wandered around the back of the car. She followed the gentle hand on her arm pulling her towards their apartment. The steps up to the house woke her so that by the time they reached the door she was semi awake. Hope took the steps two at a time, with Kiara following at a subdued pace, to the fourth floor. Hope searched her bag for the keys before giving up and sending a small accio keys into the bag.

Their home was small, the kitchen and living room squished into one space with two rooms and a bathroom on the far wall. They did not need any bigger. It was just the two of them as it had always been. Kiara dragged her trunk into her room before sitting down on her bed with a sigh. She rested for a while gazing at the purple walls they had painted when she turned ten. Origami butterflies fluttered in front of her window. They were charmed like many things in her room but with one word they would become mundane. Kiara slipped off the bed to sit next to her trunk. She unlatched it and began to riffle through the compartments. She pulled out her clothes and toiletries, happy for the rest to stay put. There was no need to completely unpack but the necessities were nice to have available. Her coat and sweater were flung onto her desk chair, the heating in the apartment warming her from the winter breeze outside. On socked feet, she slid into the living room-kitchen where Hope was making a late lunch. Kiara flopped onto the sofa leaning over the back to watch her mother putter around the kitchen humming out of tune to a holiday song.

"Mac's almost done," Hope called out, noticing her.

Kiara stretched and climbed over the back of the couch towards their tiny kitchen bar. The kitchen was small, like most things in the house, but it was the right size for them. Kiara tiptoed to grab the bowls hidden in the strangely high cabinets. Their home was not built for people under six feet. There was a folding stool waiting in a corner for when they had to reach the top shelves. Kiara slipped past her mother to make her way back around the kitchen bar. She set out three spoons and bowls before sitting on the middle bar stool. The doorbell rang four times, the last one sounding like someone was leaning on it.

"I'll get it." Kiara jumped off the stool and rushed over to the door.

She did not need to check who it was. There was only one who ever buzzed the doorbell like that. She pulled the door open to see Finn, who immediately started rambling.

"Kiki! You're home! Tell me how it was. Did your friend take my advice? How were your exams? I'm so glad I'm out of school. Exams were the bane of my exist-"

"Finn, hurry up and come inside!" Hope shouted from the kitchen, "You're letting the heat out."

Finn sheepishly smiled at Kiara before dutifully slipping off his shoes and closing the door. He reached down to give her a tight hug. He and Hope could probably join an arm wrestling competition with the strength of their hugs.

"Things were great," Kiara pulled Finn with her, "but we got back and I'm starving."

Kiara sat on the empty seat next to her mom leaving the last one for the towering man. He always looked humorous standing next to Hope or Kiara, like a giant trying to masquerade as a human. But they had checked over and over. He was as normal as could be. When they first moved Hope had run into him with a screaming toddler in one hand and falling grocery bags in the other. The recent graduate had dropped his boxes and rushed over to help Hope with her daughter. Ever since then, they had spent so much time together, that both apartments felt like home to Kiara. He was especially useful in reaching the stand mixer above the shelves.

"So... How was school?" Finn asked, too impatient to wait.

Kiara laughed before diving into what happened so far that year, sans magic of course.

Hi guys so I was wondering if you like this kind of chapter. They aren't very plot heavy but it lets me flesh out the characters. Right now a lot of the chapters are going to be like this as I figure out who my characters are and try to work them into some kind of plot that makes sense. There will hopefully be little pieces of info that are important for later.

So I'm not sure if this is interesting but there is this cool musical about the Odyssey called Epic and a new saga just came out. It's pretty cool if anyone wants to check it out and if this is a stupid message because everyone knows about it, well... I live under a rock.

Also, one question I have is how did you find this story?

Any questions are welcome. If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a comment or a vote. Thanks for reading!

- Natalie