Fire And Ice - Yin and Yang (Harry Potter fanfiction)

A stranger in the night

The midnight-blue sky was twinkling with hundreds of stars scattered across its vast space. The ordinary silhouettes of the ordinary-looking houses of Privet Drive rose into the night. All windows were dark and all shutters down. Everything was as it was supposed to be on an ordinary Friday night at one a.m.

Except at one house in Privet Drive. House number four.

A tall, elderly-looking man stood beside a dark lantern, gazing across his half-moon spectacles at something in the shadows. He was dressed quite unusually. Instead of typical trousers and a white shirt, an observer would have found him clothed in deep purple robes, covered with silver stars that matched the night sky.
Long, white hair flowed down his back and a long white beard fell across his chest.

He looked, in every way, like a typical wizard that had just popped out of a storybook.

And that was what he was.

A wizard.

"I should have known I would find you here", said the wizard quietly with an amused tone. "Minerva McGonagall."

A soft meow reached him out of the shadows. A tabby cat suddenly appeared, with rectangular markings around its eyes.

It shot the wizard a look before suddenly, with a pop, an older woman stood where the cat had been. Dressed in emerald-green robes and her black hair twisted into a tight bun, she could have been not much older than sixty.
"Albus", she said, pressing her lips tightly together.

Albus Dumbledore sighed.
"You know of my decision, then?"

"Yes, However, I do not approve of it", said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I've been watching these muggles all day. They are just dreadful, you cannot possibly-"

Professor Dumbledore raised a hand.
"It is important that Azalea and Periwinkle stay with their relatives", he explained softly.

Professor McGonagall huffed.

Pulling out an old watch on a golden chain from his robes, Professor Dumbledore checked the time.
"Hagrid should be here any moment now."

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened.
"You entrusted the twins with Hagrid?", she squeezed out.

"I trust Hagrid", said Professor Dumbledore firmly and looked up. "Ah...right on time."

The sound of a rattling motorcycle filled the air. But instead of driving down the street, it descended from the sky. A large man with an enormous beard and warm, little eyes came to a stop beside Albus. He turned off the motorcycle and silence suddenly filled the air.

"I got 'em", said the man with a thick voice. He carefully reached into the side car and, with each of his large hands, got out two little bundles.
"Little rascals fell asleep when we reached London."

Professor Dumbledore carefully accepted the first bundle and peered over his spectacles into the slumbering face of Azalea Potter.

"Minerva, would you get Periwinkle, please?"

The witch did so, and stared at the identical face of Azalea's twin.

"Lovely, aren't they?", said Hagrid with a teary voice and trumpeted into a handkerchief he had pulled out from his pocket.

Professor McGonagall shot him a sharp look.
"Try not to wake them up."

"Sorry...it's just...I can't believe Lily and James-", Hagrid choked out.

Professor McGonagall's eyes softened.
"Neither can I."
She looked back down at Periwinkle and noticed something on the back of the baby's right hand.
It was a mark in the shape of a lightning bolt.

She gasped.
"Albus, she has a curse mark on her hand", she said with an astonished face.

"Azalea does as well", said Professor Dumbledore quietly, after checking said twin's left hand.
"It is from the Killing Curse that rebounded onto Voldemort."

Hagrid flinched.

Suddenly, the bundle in Professor McGonagall's arms started wriggling around. She looked down perplexed and found that Periwinkle had opened her eyes and was now staring at her sleepily. Interestingly, her right eye had a blue hue in it.

"She woke up", said Hagrid fondly and leaned forward.

Periwinkle giggled softly and reached up with her little hand to touch Professor McGonagall's spectacles.
The older witch leaned her head back in surprise, not wanting her spectacles to fall into the clumsy hands of a one-year old. However, she could not stop a smile creeping onto her lips when Periwinkle continued to giggle at her.

Professor Dumbledore chuckled slightly and reached out with his free hand. He lightly brushed his fingers against Periwinkle's forehead and she instantly started yawning widely. Within a second, the Sleeping spell took affect and she had fallen asleep again.

"What- what will happen ter them, Professor Dumbledore?", Hagrid said worriedly.

Professor Dumbledore straightened up, carefully holding Azalea Potter in his arms.
"They will stay with their relatives", he explained and started walking to the house. Professor McGonagall followed swiftly, carrying Periwinkle Potter.

"Albus, you cannot be serious!", she hissed when she saw the headmaster approach the house. "These girls cannot stay with-"

"There is no other way", said Professor Dumbledore softly and looked at her over his half-moon spectacles. "I will explain to you one day why."

And he carefully bent down to lay Azalea onto the doorstep. He straightened back up and motioned for Professor McGonagall to do the same.

The witch did so, albeit reluctantly, and her lips thinned even more.
"How will you explain to the muggles what happened?", she asked frostily.

Professor Dumbledore pulled out an envelope from his robes and gently laid it onto Azalea's chest.
"This letter will take care of that", he said and looked up at the sleeping house. "But I shall return tomorrow to answer any questions they may have, which, I presume, will be many."

He nodded, then turned and silently walked back to Hagrid. Professor McGonagall glanced one last time at the sleeping twins, before she followed as well.

After the two professors had disappeared with soft plops, after Hagrid had flown away on his rattling motorcycle, after silence had settled back onto the street, nothing in Privet Drive seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing, except two sleeping babies and a letter laying on the doorstep of Privet Drive, number four.

Periwinkle: "Can you imagine the shock Aunt Petunia got when she got the mail that morning?"

Azalea: "Yup. I think Mrs. Figg told us once that her scream woke everyone up in the entire neighborhood."

Indeed it did.