A/N: Feel free to skip this if you hate author's notes! I just wanted to say thank you for choosing to read this fic! Harry Potter has always been one of my favorite series to write and read fanfics for. I began researching/writing the plotline for this series back in April and it's my longest fic to date. It's also the only fanfic I've ever solely written and posted. I found inspiration in many of my friends for it and I'd like to give a special thanks to a certain special friend who helped me work out the final kinks. I jampacked it full of troupes, stereotypical filler events, etc. so have fun tearing those to shreds! I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you all enjoy this work for what it is. I'll do my best to update regularly, but I make no promises. Anyway, thank you again! :)
Word Count: 1,650
Chapter 1: The Best Years
It was an afternoon in late August, and the air was beginning to stir with the winds of change as one of the most important times of the year approached: the yearly reopening of Hogwarts. Students from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland flocked to the streets of Diagon Alley to prepare for the start of the new term. The pavements were crowded with families bustling about to get their supplies for the new year. Many excited young faces pressed against windows of the shops, peering in at the newest models of Broomsticks at Broomstix, or admiring the candy delicately framed in the windows at Sugarplum's Sweets Shop, and even pondering over their choice of pets at the Magical Menagerie. The excitement and loud chatter of the people filled the air, but this did not dissuade Leon or I from our own endeavors.
"Sachie! Hurry up! We've got to get our supplies," my twin brother called me as he grabbed my hand and pulled me along past the many shops.
"Where are we going first, Lee?" I asked, trying my best to be heard over the clamor of the crowd. The noise was quite stifling, but I liked the atmosphere of Diagon Alley.
"Flourish and Blotts, we should get our books first before the line to get inside gets too long. After that Madam Malkin's for robes." We arrived in front of the bookstore. "Have you got the money?" I nodded, pulling out the wallet from my bag. Our parents had left us with plenty of money to get what we needed. They were currently away on a work trip, so our older brother had taken us to go shopping for our school supplies. While he was talking to his friends, Leon and I slipped away to go purchase our things. I knew he wouldn't be happy about it, but I tended to go along with most things Leon did, mainly to make sure he didn't get himself killed.
We went inside and quickly gathered what we needed, paid for our books, and left the parchment scented shop. Following Leon, we made our way to the other shops and gathered the remaining supplies we needed.
After running about the alley for an hour, we found a quiet place between two shops and took a well needed rest. I pulled out the snacks we'd packed as we sat down to eat. "We still need to get wands," I said through munching on a Pumpkin Pasty.
"We'll make it to Ollivander's before it closes for the day, don't worry," Leon replied nonchalantly, his dark blonde hair, the same as mine, falling in his brown eyes. "What I'm more concerned with is how long you'll take to decide on a pet."
"I can't help it, all of them are just so cute!" I exclaimed in defense, wiping crumbs off my face with my sweater sleeve. Leon handed me his empty food container and I stuffed them back into my bag.
"You think toads are cute?" He said, giving a look of disgust.
"Better looking than you."
"Hey!" He punched my shoulder. "Let's get going." He led the way to Ollivander's, a small run down looking shop that had looked like it had been there before the alley was even built. We walked through the ragged looking door and were met with a musty smell. It smelled even more ancient on the inside. The shop was cluttered with hundreds of thousands of thin, rectangular boxes that lined the shelves, covered in several layers of dust. After we entered and the shop door closed, we waited for Mr. Ollivander. "Hello?" Leon called out. I began taking a look around the shop.
Suddenly, an old man with wild white hair appeared from the back of the shop, startling the both of us. He smiled and spoke, "Ah, the Sinclair twins. I was hoping I'd be helping you find your wands. Your brother was in here earlier and told me you had wandered off. I told him to wait and that you'd be along soon, but he insisted on looking for you right away." Leon and I looked at each other in anticipation. "Now then, which one of you is first?" I motioned for my brother to step forward, and he did. "Hmm, I sense a particular air of strength about you my boy, very strong minded and decisive. Perhaps..." Ollivander heads for one of the far left shelves and pulls out a long, black box, carefully opening it. "This. Fir wood with a unicorn hair core, 12 inches and hard flexibility." He hands the beautifully sculpted wand to Leon, who eagerly takes it and gives it a flourish. Suddenly, all the papers in the room began flying around.
"Doesn't seem so, sir," Leon quickly hands the wand back to him. Ollivander laughs, placing the wand back into the box. He thinks for a moment more before heading to another section of shelves, taking one of the boxes off the very top of the shelf.
"Maybe this will suit you better?" He hands my brother the new wand. "Quite the handsome wand, aspen wood with a phoenix feather core, 13 and ¾ inches and unbending flexibility." Giving the wand another wave, Leon's wand begins to glow faintly. "There you are! An ideal pairing. I expect you to give it your all in charms class my boy," Ollivander says, giving a sly wink, the meaning behind Leon's wand only a true wandmaker could know. He then turned towards me sharply. "Now then, onto you, my dear. Quite a resilient look in your eyes, full of determination as well. Try this, the twin of your brother's wand, larch wood with a phoenix feather core, 11 inches and surprisingly swishy flexibility" he says as he hands me a box from the same shelf. I open it and take out the wand, giving it a small wave. Instead of the warm glow I expected, the boxes in all of the shelves began rattling and trembling. I quickly put the wand back in the box. Ollivander frowned and thought for a moment. "Hmm... Quite peculiar, I thought for sure that would work. You both are so similar, and yet... there's something so different about you both." He retreats into the back of the shop, out of view, and a few moments later reappears with a new box. "Elder wood with a dragon heartstring core, 12 ½ inches and unbending flexibility." I reach out my hand and he places the wand in it. The moment the wood touches my fingertips, my body begins to tingle and the lights in the shop flicker off and on.
"Sir..?" I began. He cut me off with the raise of one hand.
"Remarkable..." he muttered. His eyes darted between the two of us. My brother stood close to me, both of us full of eagerness. "I believe I have witnessed here today the birth of greatness," Ollivander said slowly.
"What do you mean, sir?" I asked.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Ms. Sinclair. They are better judges of character than most people, and though the answers are never clear, one thing is certain: you both are quite unusual." And with those words, we paid for our wands and departed from the shop.
Stepping outside into the fresh air and back into the bustling crowd, we paused on the steps of the shop. I turned to Leon, "Well that was... odd"
"He's an odd old guy. What do you expect?" We were about to start walking when suddenly we heard our names being shouted by a familiar voice.
"Leon! Sachie! There you two are, I've been looking everywhere for you guys." We turned to see Jason, storming over to us. He brushed his messy dark brown hair out of his brown eyes so we could see the annoyance in his countenance as he towered over Leon and I. "Don't wander off like that again, okay?" He ruffled Leon's hair.
"It's not our fault you were taking forever to finish talking with that girl. Who is she, your girlfriend?" Leon taunted, sticking his tongue out at Jason. Jason just laughed.
"Just a friend. Fellow prefect too, actually. What else do you guys still need to get on the list?"
"We got everything except for a pet." Leon replied.
"Well let's hurry and find you each one before the shops close for the day," Jason said, leading the way to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Leon already knew he wanted a Tawny Owl. He quickly picked one out and went to purchase his owl. While he was at the counter, Jason approached where I stood in deep thought, pondering my choices. "What are you thinking, sis?" he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder to snap me out of my thoughts.
"I'm not sure. I think I'd like that lovely looking Barn Owl, but I also wouldn't mind a black cat or a western green toad."
"Hmm... Well, I'd get the owl for now. That way you have a way of sending letters home to Mum and Dad as well as sending letters to friends you make over the summer. Then next year, you could get a second pet if you decide you need the extra company. The dorms will also be filled with other people's pets, so I'm sure that'll help you decide whether you truly want a cat or a toad." I smiled and nodded in agreement. I purchased the owl, which I named Bandiboo, and caught up with my brothers, who had exited the shop and were excitedly chatting about our nearing trip to Hogwarts. We left Diagon Alley and went home to finish packing.
Finally, I thought to myself as I sat on the edge of my bed, petting my owl, The best years of my life are about to begin!
I couldn't have been more wrong.