Alya and the twins woke up very early the next day. They each had a shower before getting dressed and heading straight to the shop. The twins had these new brown suits to wear at the shop, Fred had a yellow shirt with a purple tie and George had a green shirt with an orange tie. Alya thought that they looked extremely cute.
They put the last finishing touches together and they were ready to open up the shop. Alya had bought a red ribbon that she had tied to the doors of the shop for the twins to cut open at 10am. At 9:30, there were already groups of people lining up outside the shop with excitement. Molly, Arthur and the others were at the front of the line, waiting patiently. Fred and George were looking around at all of the people there, feeling ecstatic. At 9:50, Tom, Mattheo, Pansy, Draco, Theo and Blaise had arrived. Alya rushed over to them and hugged them all, bringing them to the front of the line with the Weasley's.
She introduced her friends to Molly and Arthur, who shook all of their hands cautiously. Fred and George thanked the Slytherin's for coming, and before long, it was 10am.
"We just want to take a moment to thank you all for being here," said George, loudly. "It truly means a lot to us to see you all here,"
"But most importantly, we want to thank one person in particular," said Fred, smiling at Alya. She shook her head at him anxiously, but he carried on. "Ally, without you none of this would be possible,"
"You're the reason were all standing here today, and we want you to cut the ribbon," said George.
"How many times, this is YOUR shop!" laughed Alya. "You two are cutting it,"
"No chance," smiled Fred, handing her the scissors.
"You wouldn't want to let all these people down, would you?" smirked George.
"For fuck sake, Weasley!" chuckled Alya, taking the scissors from Fred.
"GO ALLY!" shouted Blaise, Theo and Pansy.
"THAT'S MY GIRL!" shouted Mattheo.
Tom and Draco were cheering her on, while Alya shook her head at them, laughing.
"You're all so embarrassing," she chuckled.
"We can now declare that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is officially open!" shouted Fred and George at the same time, as Alya cut the ribbon.
Fred and George ran inside and were followed by everyone as they showed everyone around the shop. Alya watched them with a huge smile on her face as she walked around the shop with the Slytherins.
"So this is what you've been working on?" said Mattheo.
"Seriously guys, I barely did anything," said Alya. "It was Fred and George that did it all,"
"Alya, stop being modest!" said Mrs Weasley from behind her, with tears in her eyes.
"You bought the place, you bought the flat, you decorated it, cleaned it" said Molly. "It's just as much your shop as it is theirs! You're just too nice to admit that,"
"God, Ally," said Pansy.
"You're so incredible,"said Draco.
"Oh, stop it guys," giggled Alya. "I don't want any part of it, I did it for them," she smiled at the twins, who were looking over at her with the biggest grins on their faces.
After around an hour, Alya, Tom and Mattheo needed to get to the orphanage. She went to hug Fred and George and say goodbye to them.
"I'm so incredibly proud of you both," smiled Alya as she hugged them. "I'll see you both soon, okay?"
"I love you Ally, thank you so much," said George.
"I love you more, Georgie," smiled Alya, kissing his cheek.
"I love you, darling, I'll see you later okay?" said Fred, kissing Alya's cheek.
"I'll try and come and see you later yeah?" said Alya. She blew them both a kiss as she and the slytherins apparated to Casa Stella.
Alya put her trunk that she had brought from the Weasley's down and said goodbye to Theo, Draco, Blaise and Pansy, before she, Tom and Mattheo apparated away.
They arrived at a very gloomy looking orphanage called 'Wool's Orphanage'. They went inside, and there was a girl sitting at the front desk, who looked around Alya's age. She had dark hair in a ponytail and she had these red cat eye glasses on that made her look slightly more friendly. Her face lit up, however, when she saw Mattheo and Tom.
"Ooh, two visits in two days, how lucky must I be," said the girl, flirtily.
"Hello, Rachel," said Tom, trying to stifle a laugh. "How are you this morning?"
"So much better now I've seen the two of you," smiled Rachel.
Alya was getting really annoyed at this, although she couldn't quite figure out why. Mattheo looked at her and smirked.
"Hello, Rachel," said Mattheo. "We're here to see our Star. We were wondering if she'd be ready for us to collect her today,"
"Oh... wouldn't you rather wait?" said Rachel, looking quite sad.
"Why would we want to do that?" asked Alya, sounding slightly more annoyed than she had intended.
"Um... who might you be?" said Rachel.
"This is Alya," smiled Mattheo, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Our... best friend, sort of" smiled Tom.
"Friends, sure," laughed Alya. "So why would we wait?"
"Well, you know... maybe the child isn't ready to say goodbye yet," said Rachel, looking up at Tom and Mattheo with a stupid, pouty look on her face.
"The child has a name. I'd prefer it if you used it," snapped Alya. "I think we'll let Star decide whether or not she's ready. Right, boys?"
"Absolutely, princess," smiled Mattheo.
"Exactly, my angel," smiled Tom.
Rachel looked at Alya in disgust. She went in the cupboard underneath the desk and picked up a pair of keys.
"Follow me then," she sighed, leading them out the main door and up a flight of stairs.
The whole orphanage was rather dark, all the walls were a dark blue colour and all the doors were black. The only lights that were in there were coming from the very few windows and the dim light bulbs that clearly needed changing. They reached a small room at the end of a long hallway and Rachel opened the door. A small girl with long, dark brown, curly hair was sitting at a desk reading a book. She had beautiful blue eyes and freckles on her face. She turned around immediately when the door opened and jumped into Mattheo's arms.
"Matt, Tom!" shouted Star. "You're back already?"
"Hello beautiful," smiled Mattheo, putting her down. "We have a surprise for you,"
"We have someone we want you to meet first," said Tom,picking her up to hug her. "This is Alya,"
"Hi, Star," smiled Alya. "Your brothers have told me all about you,"
"Are you Matt's girlfriend?" asked Star. "Or are you Tom's?"
"Straight to the point, kid," chuckled Mattheo.
"But she's really pretty," said Star. "I want her to be your girlfriends,"
"Yeah, she is," smiled Tom.
"Extremely pretty," smiled Mattheo.
"Thank you, you're very pretty too," smiled Alya. A huge smile spread across Star's face and she hid her face in Mattheo's arms.
"So what's my surprise," said Star.
"Well... how would you like to come and live with us?" said Mattheo.
"Like actually really?" said Star, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Totally, actually really," smiled Tom.
"Oh my god, oh my god," exclaimed Star, jumping up and down. "Yes, yes, YES!"
"Yay!" shouted Mattheo, hugging her.
"Are you living with us too?" asked Star.
"I am, your brothers have just moved into my house with some of our friends," said Alya. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, that's so much better!" said Star, running up to Alya and hugging her.
"Good!" smiled Alya, picking her up. "And guess what? You're going to have a nice big bedroom that you can decorate all by yourself,"
Star smiled and buried her head into Alya's neck, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly. She looked up at Tom and Mattheo who were staring at her adoringly.
"So, Rachel," said Tom. "I think we've got our answer,"
"Looks like it," said Mattheo. "When can we start packing her things?"
"Well, I'd better ask my manager if you can take her first," sighed Rachel.
"Well that shouldn't be a problem," said Alya, smiling sarcastically. "Considering your manager wrote to my boys already, telling them we can take Star home,"
Rachel gave Alya a dirty look and left the room. She came back a few minutes later and asked to speak to the three of them outside.
"Wait here a second, darling," Tom said to Star. "We'll be right back, okay?"
Star nodded anxiously and went back to her book. Alya noticed the look on Star's face, and knelt down next to her.
"Hey," she said softly. "You don't need to worry, okay? We're not leaving you. We just need to talk to Miss Rachel outside and then we 'll be right back, I promise,"
"Promise?" asked Star. "What does that mean?"
"Well, a promise is something that can never be broken," explained Alya. "They're really important to me. If I promise you something, it means I will never, ever go back on it. I know you've had a tough time in here, but you can trust me, okay? I will never hurt you and I will never let anyone else hurt you. I would never leave you here on your own, you're coming home with me and your brothers today, and that is a promise,"
"Okay," smiled Star. "I like promises,"
"Me too," smiled Alya, as she squeezed Star's hand gently and went to step outside the room with the twins.
They closed the door behind them and turned to Rachel, Mattheo and Tom both giving Alya a grateful and adoring smile.
"My manager said that there must be some mistake, as she doesn't recall ever writing to you," said Rachel. "She said she can't allow a child to go home with two 18 year olds,"
"Excuse me?" said Tom, in an angry voice.
"I brought the letter," said Mattheo, shoving it in Rachel's face. "Take that to your manager, now,"
Rachel looked at the letter and sighed. Alya was getting annoyed and suspicious, so she decided to go into Rachel's mind. She read her thoughts and got extremely angry.
"It was you," said Alya. "You wrote the letter? Why the fuck would you do that?"
"What are you talking about," said Rachel.
"Don't play dumb with me," growled Alya. "You wrote the letter because you wanted to see my boys again. Don't even try to deny it. God, how desperate can you get? You're disgusting, inside and out,"
"How dare you speak to me like that!" said Rachel.
Alya stepped closer to her and got right in her face. She looked her in her eyes with an evil look.
"You're lucky there are children around," said Alya. "Or trust me, you'd be needing medical attention. Go and get your manager, now,"
Rachel scurried off, looking quite scared. Alya turned to Mattheo and Tom who looked like they were on the verge of tears. She pulled them both into a hug and kissed their heads.
"Don't worry, she's still coming with us," said Alya. "Just leave it with me, okay?"
They both looked at her and kissed her on her forehead as Rachel and the manager came around the corner.
"You wanted to see me, Miss...?" said the manager, a plump lady who looked like she could be Rachel's mother.
"Cortez. Alya Cortez," said Alya. The manager looked at her with wide eyes as soon as she said this. "Are you aware that certain members of your staff have been writing false letters to people, asking them to collect children from the orphanage?"
She handed the letter to the manager, who read it and looked disgusted.
"Rachel, what on earth is this about?" shouted the manager.
"I'll tell you what it's about," said Alya. "Rachel here is so desperate to get my man's attention. So much so that she writes fake letters to lure them back here! She's been flirting with them all day, it's quite disgusting actually, and extremely unprofessional. I trust that she'll be getting fired for this?"
"Well, I... of course, Miss Cortez," stuttered the manager.
"Good," said Alya. "And as for poor Star, who's the real victim in this whole situation, she'll be coming home with us today. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about your rules,"
"Miss Cortez... you have to understand," said the manager slowly. "I simply can't allow th-"
Alya stepped closer to the manager and looked into her eyes. Alya's eyes started glowing red and the manager started growing weaker.
"Don't finish that sentence," said Alya. "You don't have to allow it, it's happening either way,"
"I... um..." stuttered the manager.
"This idiot has already got Matt and Tom's hopes up, telling them they'd be able to bring their sister home after 10 years," snapped Alya. "Not to mention Star has already been told she's coming home. I know how poorly she's treated here by the other children, and clearly by the staff too. I will not allow either one of them to be let down, just because you can't keep your staff under control. The three of them are too precious for that,"
"I...I understand, Miss Cortez," stuttered the manager.
"You, go and get me some boxes so I can pack Star's things," Alya said to Rachel. "And as for you, you can take me to whatever paperwork I need to sign. Once that's done and we've got our girl, we'll be out of here and no one will get hurt,"
"Y-yes... miss," said Rachel, running off to another room. The manager nodded silently.
"See, i told you it would be okay," Alya smiled at Tom and Mattheo. "Go and sit with Star until that idiot gets back with the boxes. I'll go sort out the boring stuff and we'll get going, yeah?"
They both nodded at her in shock and silence as they walked back into Star's room. Alya and the manager went to the office to sign the paperwork. The manager was shaking profusely as she handed her the pen and paper.
"S-sign here... and here," she said. "And put your n-name here, and S-Star's name here,"
"Is that everything?" said Alya, once she had signed the paperwork.
"Yes... should be," said the manager.
"Good," said Alya. "We'll be off then,"
She and the manager walked back to Star's room, where Rachel was helping Tom and Mattheo pack up Star's belongings. She moved closer to Mattheo, without noticing Alya standing there.
"That's close enough," said Alya, sternly. Mattheo looked up at her and smiled.
"I love you so much, Ally," he chuckled.
"I love you more," smiled Alya.
Rachel huffed and moved backwards, staring longingly at Tom and Mattheo every few seconds.
"Are you broken?" said Alya. "Or just stupid? I told you, they're mine,"
"Both of them?" asked Rachel, with a shocked expression.
"Yes, both of them," said Alya. "I know they're beautiful, but you need to stop dribbling and do your job. Well, what's left of it anyway,"
"I'm all yours, love," smiled Tom.
"Me too," smiled Mattheo.
"No, you're both mine!" giggled Star.
"We can share them, Star," smiled Alya.
"Deal," laughed Star.
They finished packing up Star's room and Star took Alya's hand as they walked out.
"Is there anyone you want to say goodbye to, love?" asked Alya.
"Yes actually, can we go to the lunch room?" said Star.
"Of course," smiled Alya, as the four of them walked to the lunch room.
They walked in and people instantly started whispering about Star and laughing at her, not noticing Alya, Tom and Mattheo standing with her at first.
"Haha you lot, guess who got adopted first!" shouted Star, pulling Alya into the room. Tom and Mattheo followed and the whole room went silent. "And by my real family, too!"
"Oh, so these are the little arseholes that have been bullying my sister," glared Mattheo.
"Leave it, Matty, they're just kids," said Alya. "Although, kids do need to be punished for being bad,"
"I was thinking the exact same thing," said Tom.
"Which ones are they, Star?" asked Alya. Star pointed to a group of boys and girls sitting at a table, staring at them.
Alya lifted a few of them into the air gently, so that they started screaming. She picked up the cups of juice with her powers and poured them over the kids heads. She then picked up the little cakes that were on their plates and smashed them into the kids mouths, spreading icing all over their faces. Star was laughing hysterically as she watched this happen, and so were many of the other kids in the room.
"Next time, before you bully someone just because you know they're better than you," said Alya. "Maybe take a moment to wonder why little shits such as yourselves are in an orphanage in the first place,"
"Woah, Ally!" laughed Mattheo.
"That was brutal!" chuckled Tom.
"Well, they bullied my girl," said Alya. "It's only fair,"
"Bye bye, losers!" shouted Star, as she, Alya and the twins left the lunch room.
They walked through the orphanage and back down the stairs into the main office where the front door was. Alya smiled one more sarcastic smile at Rachel, who was packing up her desk and sobbing. She avoided eye contact with Alya, but tried to sneak one last glance at Tom and Mattheo.
"Come on gorgeous," said Mattheo, wrapping his arm around Alya's waist. "Let's go home,"
"Yeah, come on angel," said Tom, glaring at Rachel. "We don't want to waste another second with these creatures,"
Alya, Tom, Mattheo and Star left the orphanage and Alya grabbed Star's hand tightly and Tom grabbed the other.
"Whatever you do, don't let go, okay?" said Alya.
"Don't let go of either of us," said Tom. Mattheo grabbed Alya's free hand and they all apparated back to Casa Stella.
"Woah, how did we do that?" asked a very shocked Star.
"Magic," smiled Mattheo.
"She doesn't know, does she?" asked Alya.
"No, we were hoping you could help with that," said Mattheo.
"Of course, love," smiled Alya. "Come on, let's go home,"
The four of them walked through the gold gate and up to the house. Draco, Theo, Blaise and Pansy were in the front room watching TV when Alya, Star and the twins walked in.
"Here they are!" said Pansy.
"Bloody hell, you were ages!" shouted Theo.
"Don't even go there," sighed Alya. "It was an absolute nightmare! Anyway, meet Star,"
Star wouldn't let go of Alya's hand, and she just stared at everyone.
"Hello Star, I'm Pansy," said Pansy, walking over and kneeling down in front of her.
"Like the flower?" said Star.
"Exactly," smiled Pansy.
"Hello... I'm Blaise," said Blaise, holding out his hand. Everyone laughed at him as he looked around at them all. "Well I don't know how to address a child, do I?"
"Hey, Star, I'm Theo," said Theo, kneeling in front of her. "I'm your cousin,"
"My real cousin?" said Star, excitedly. "I have a real cousin?!"
"You do," smiled Theo. "I've been so excited to meet you,"
"And this is Draco," said Alya, pointing to Draco who seemed to be hiding away.
"Um... hi," he said shyly, which made Alya laugh.
"He's pretty," Star whispered to Alya.
"He's very pretty, isn't he," chuckled Alya. Draco blushed and smiled at her.
"Okay, shall we go and pick a room?" said Alya. Star nodded as they went upstairs. Tom and Mattheo followed them with her boxes.
They went through a few bedrooms, before Star picked the one closest to Pansy's, which had an ensuite bathroom in it. Tom and Mattheo put the boxes in there and Star looked around excitedly.
"So how would you like to decorate your new room?" asked Alya. "You can have anything you want,"
"Really? Anything?" asked Star. "Then can I have purple walls? And a pink, fluffy carpet?"
Alya waved her wand and transfigured the room exactly how Star wanted it. Star watched in amazement as the room started to change before her eyes. Alya changed the boring wooden bed into one with black, metal, spiral bars and princess drapes over it. She put fresh pink bedding on and changed the curtains into pink, starry ones.
"Like it?" asked Alya.
"I love it!" yelled Star, excitedly.
"Good, we'll get you some proper toys and things soon," smiled Alya. "Oh, and I got you this, it's for your door," she pulled out the plaque that she'd had engraved with 'Star' on it.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" exclaimed Star, jumping up and down and giving Alya a hug.
"You're so welcome!" said Alya.