Echo

{1} Stayin' Alive

HAS BEEN EDITED AND REWROTE

"Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive!"

A grunt came from under the blankets as a hand reached out on went towards a record player to push the needle off, but found that it already was.

A nest of dark brown hair emerged, confusion clear on her sleepy face. It wasn't until she listened clearly to finally hear that it was coming from downstairs.

As she descended down the stairs, the girl was greeted with her Uncle Oliver swinging his hips to the BeeGees while flipping pancakes, and her Uncle Carson trying to balance three tea cups on top of their cat Gizmo's head.

The room was tidy, due to Uncle Carson who was an absolute neat freak.

Tea cups and mugs were hung off small hooks that were placed under a series of cabinets above the stove. An oak dining table was sat across the room with four matching chairs.

The living room had a stained, dark blue couch and a brown recliner. The television was on even though no one was watching. It was placed on a small stand. A large blue and grey rug sat across the floor with a brown stain in the corner. Everyone in the household claimed to not know were it came from.

Echo just sighed as she continued on her way over to steal three pieces of bacon.

"Oi! Young lady, you should be happy that that food has been made for us, and you should wait so all of us can eat!"

"Oliver, dear, you don't even like bacon," Carson said, coming to a total of five cups on the cat's head. Oliver rolled his eyes, flipping the pancakes onto the other side.

Echo watched the scene with a small smile before a grin rose as she remembered what day is was.

"Uncle Oliver?" Echo said in a sickening sweet voice. "Guess what day it is?"

He sighed, "I was hoping you didn't remember."

"I'm going to Diagon Alley!" she squealed, jumping on to the couch and falling off onto the floor. Carson instantly forgot about the teacups and quickly went over to help his niece up.

"Maybe we can wait to go another year?" he asked hopefully, gently helping the girl up. "I am thirteen and deserve to get my stuff. I deserve to go to Hogwarts. You have kept me from this for two years. I am going." The two men had complete ignored the letters no matter how persistent they had become.

Echo raced upstairs to grab some money. 12 knuts, 17 sickles, and 2 galleons. The money was all of her savings but it was worth it.

"Oliver, are you sure we should do this? Remember what happened to Emily-"

"Yes, Carson. I remember. As much as we want to keep her from this, we can't."

-----

Echo happily skipped down the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley. The two men smiled at the young girl sadly. She knew that the world was a cruel place, yes, but she didn't know how cruel.

The small family walked into the many wizarding shops getting robes, quills, and all the necessary books. Then they got to the shop her uncles dreaded the most. Ollivanders. The place that would seal their niece's fate.

As they stepped inside, Echo was greeted with the smell of burning wood and a light smell of chocolate. An old man came slid on a ladder that was connected to the shelves of many wand.

"Miss Akilo. About time you came."

She elbowed her Uncle Oliver in the side softly.

"Come, come. We have to get your measurements." He measured her arm length, height, leg length, everything. As soon as he was done, he seemed to hover his hands of the many wands. He seemed to do this for a while before it seemed as if he had gone over the entire shop.

He came back holding three wands.

One was a reddish brown color with a swirl design going around it in a darker brown. The second was all black with a small bulb at the bottom and carvings that looked like stars. The third was just a plain dark brown. It had only had small carvings into it, nothing special.

"Would you please try these out?" He handed her the black one.

She waved it just a little, setting Carson's pants on fire. Ollivander instantly put the fire out, leaving Carson with a hole burnt through his trousers. 

"Nope, not that one."

He handed her the reddish brown. Again, waving it just a little, a vase exploded.

Ollivander sighed, taking that one away and handed her the dark brown one.

She waved it and nothing happens. Echo waved it again, nothing happens.

"Strange," he muttered. Echo gave it one more swish and the vase instantly put itself back together. He stared at her for a moment, "I guess this wand has chose you, Miss Akilo."

"Use it wisely."

They walked out of the store after the strange experience.

"So, am I taking Gizmo with me?"

Carson looked at her in shock, "You, my dear, are not taking my baby away. That school is taking you away, and I'm not letting it take him."

"Echo, dear, one pet only, and even if you weren't, I believe Carson is to attached to Gizmo."

---

When they  got back home, Echo instantly started putting all her books, supplies, and robes into her trunk. She wasn't leaving for another week but it was better than doing it last minute.

"Well your in a hurry to leave aren't you, dear?"

Echo turned around to be greeted with Oliver smiling at her sadly. He honestly looked like he was about to cry.

"Never," she stood up from her crouching position and gave him a tight hug. He hugged back just as tightly, kissing the top of her head. "I love you, pumpkin, so much."

After a few minutes, they pulled away from each other. "You remind me so much of your mother."

Tears now welled up in both of their eyes at the mention of her mother and Oliver's sister.

"What was she like? I mean, I have small memories of her, but it all ends up in a blur."

Oliver smiled at the question.

"Your mother was kind. Not to me at times or course because of sibling rivalry and all that, but with other people she was kind in her own way. She had a fight in her. Sure, not that much bravery, but if you got her buttons pushed in the right order she was something. And her humor. Merlin, she could make you laugh for hours on end."

Echo listened, as they both sat on the floor talking about her mother. There was her father that popped up on occasion, but Oliver quickly stopped talking about him as soon as he saw the tears in her eyes. Marcus Akilo had a strong connection with his family. So strong that he threw away his life to protect them.

People had called the Akilo's a picture perfect family.

But they weren't.

Echo remembered the fights and the days that her father would work late and her mother confronting him about it. The glass shattering and yells echoing through out the house. But those days past after they saw what they had done to their now unhappy daughter.

They died fighting to protect her, and it won't be the last time someone did that for her