A/N: Otayz! The long awaited (not!) prequel to The Phoenix Ring is hereeee! Hope ya like it!
Disclaimer: I own many things...and I don't own even more things than I do own...and I own less than the amount of things I'd like to own...
Chapter One:
Life in the Land of Not-So-Perfect
(A/N: Don't ask where I got the title, cause I have no clue...)
Violet's POV
My name is Violet Marie Evans. I'm quite a normal girl, really; eleven years old, 4 feet 6 inches, energetic, with a bit of a passion for creativity. I have no idea what I'm going to be when I grow up. I'm way too lost in other worlds. I'm nothing like my twin sister, Lily, or my older sister, Petunia, for that matter. Lily's my best friend, but we're a world apart, really. Lily's a study bug. Whatever she does has to be done perfectly. I'm more sloppy, and unorganized. I love having fun, not that Lily doesn't, only, she has less fun than me, what with her studying. Lily's really the beauty of the two of us. Although we're twins, we aren't identical. My hair is horribly brownish blond, and there's a mess of it. I have glasses, as well. I loath my glasses, they make me look even more plain, and they take away the one aspect of me that I like, my eyes; they're identical to Lily's, emerald green. Hannah tells us that our eyes could charm a savage monster.
Petunia is a different story altogether, her hair is blond. Very blond. She's not ugly, or anything, but I'd pick Lily's red hair to Petty's blond any day. Sometimes Petunia's fun to be around, and to talk to, but sometimes she's mean, cruel and bossy. Lately, she's been being her mean, cruel, bossy self more often. When we were little, we used to all play together, but last year she went into secondary school, and she's become a bossy, self-centered, popular, gossiping, prep. She's always wearing make-up, and talking about boys, and it makes me sick. Honestly! She's only a year older than me and Lily, and she acts as if she's in high school, and we're preschoolers. But, still, Petunia's my sister, and I love her. So does Lily, she just never admits it.
Mum has Cancer. We found out this year. It scares me. The doctor said to Hannah that mum only had a few more years. A few more years are too short. I want to be with mum forever. Dad died when I was little, only a toddler. Petunia says she remembers him, but I'm not sure if I do. Sometimes I feel like I have memories of him, but sometimes I think they're not really memories, just the stories mum told us about him. Mum said he loved us a whole lot, and that he would've given anything for us. No one ever told me how he died, so I guess I'll find out later. There's a lot I have to wait to find out. I can't stand waiting, though. It's just like you're standing still, doing nothing until you find something else. If I told Lily that, she'd probably come up with some logical response to why I was wrong. I love Lily, really, but when it comes to logical, and just plain intellect, she really beats me out, I think. Hannah says that no one's unintelligent; only, some people have different ways of thinking. I like that.
Hannah always has something wonderful to tell me. I love her, and so does Lily. Hannah's something special. She's nothing but pure love, and kindness. It's amazing, as if she's not even human. I could never imagine being as wonderfully kind as Hannah is. I mean, I have the fieriest temper anyone has ever seen, and I'm as stubborn as a mule. I could never be soft, or sensitive, like Hannah. When I was little, and sometimes still now, I used to think Hannah was an angel, or a fairy queen, or something amazing or magical. I believe in magic. Lily used to, but I'm not sure if she does anymore. I guess the logical side of her has gotten the best of her. I hope that never happens to me. Since there's nothing special about me, I'm no princess, or fairy, or even witch, I have to keep believing in them, or there'll be no fun at all in life.
*~*~*~*
Tawny's POV
I, Arabella Tanya Figg, don't know what to say. For once, I really and truly don't. I don't know what to say, think, or feel. She's dead. My sister, Victoria Theresa Figg is dead. There's a sinking feeling in my heart, like a piece of it's been cut off, and I've been forced to live without it.
It was just a simple curse, a simple curse that ripped out that piece of my heart. And Victoria herself did it to me. She did it to me. She could've at least killed me too. But, no. She just had to go and kill herself. Victoria was my sister. I didn't always like her, and I certainly had never gotten to know her, but, she was my sister all the same. We shared blood.
Blood. It's a horrible thing, however you look at it, in my mind. There was no blood spilled when Victoria preformed the curse. It was sharp, and painless. But, the blood running through my veins was what hurt me. It always had. My family isn't really all that it's cut out to be. Actually, I don't really have a family. I definitely don't have parents. My parents are nothing of what parents are supposed to be. They're horrible, and I hate them. It's scary, though, if it hadn't been for Grace and Sirius, and James too, I probably would be just like them right now; evil, horrible, and working for an equally horrible and evil wizard. Grace and James are what I think siblings should be like; the kind of people who I can always talk to, no matter what. And Sirius? He's all that and more. He's like...a twin, I guess. I wouldn't know how deep twinly bonding goes, but if there's anyone I'm really close to, and I mean really, really close to, it's Sirius. Sirius is like...everything to me. And so is Grace. Grace is my best friend, James is a pretty darn close friend, and Sirius is everything else, and more. And, I figure that's all I really need, right? Sirius, Grace, and James are my family, more than my parents ever will be, and more than Victoria ever was.
For some reason, I'm sad. I don't really know why, I mean, I never knew Victoria. Actualy, there were times when I seriously did wish she'd die. And I don't mean in a sisterly 'I-hate-you, you're-so-annoying, how-dare-you-steal-my-new-skirt' kind of way. I mean, in a serious way. Now I'm sad, though. I guess it's just natural. I must be a complete hypocrite. But, I'm not going to cry. That's for sure. Tanya Figg does not cry. I think the last time I cried I was just a baby, and even then, whenever I cried, my father would say 'Stop crying, you bloody girl.' He'd also say other things, 'Rose, I don't know why the hell you had this damn baby'. Can you see now why I'm not fond of my parents? And don't think the things they said to me didn't get worse over the years...
I think I'll owl Sirius. I feel bad not telling Grace, and I know she'd have something comforting to tell me, but I'm not ready to tell her yet.
*~*~*~*
"VIOLET! VI!!! Oh, my gosh! Vi, Vi, Vi!!" Lily screamed, as if I was deaf, instead of in the room next to her.
"What is it, Lil?" I asked, curiously. Lily doesn't usually get this excited over many things, so this was probably good.
"Oh, come here! You won't believe this! Oh, you won't! It's amazing!" Lily was jumping up and down so hard it felt like the house was shaking.
I decided to walk over there. (A/N: if im messing up the tenses, I'm really, really sorry...) "Ok, ok, Lils, I'm-"
Lily didn't let me finish. She shoved a piece of parchment in my face. I read it over. "I can't believe this..." I murmered, "What does it mean? Is it real?"
"It has to be! Oh, Violet! Isn't this great?" Funny, usually Lily was the one who was skeptical, but I guess I just didn't want to get my hopes up.
"Yes, it is...amazing. I never thought..."
Lily was jumping up and down again, "Oh, Vi! Neither did I! This is so brilliant! Let's go show mum!"
Lily and I ran into our mum's room. "Mum! Mum! Oh, guess what!" I squealed
I handed mum the letter, and she read it over. "Hogwarts? Magic? Witches and Wizards? It all exists? Oh, girls, this is a great opportunity! I'm so proud of you!" Mum hugged us, "You'll do great, I know it." Mum wasn't like other mothers, who would've never let their children go off to a strange unknown place to do heaven-knows-what. Mum considered everything an opportunity.
"Oh, mum! I'm so excited!" Lily said, happily.
"Me too!" I danced around the room. Just then, Petunia came in.
"What's going on in here? I was talking to Vernon on the phone..." Vernon Dursley was Petunia's boyfriend. He was an extremely boring person, who would most likely end up being a bank manager, or something boring when he grew up. Mum didn't like Vernon much. Most mothers would love to have their daughters going out with someone boring like Vernon, but, as you can probably already tell, mum isn't most mothers.
"Oh, hi, Petty!" Lily said, happily, usually she couldn't tolerate Petunia, but at the moment she was happy enough to tolerate anyone, or anything, "You won't believe it! Me and Vi are witches!"
"Violet and I," Petunia corrected, "And there's no such thing as witches."
"There is too! Me and Violet are going to a magic school, to learn magic! Doesn't it sound brilliant, Pet?"
"No, it sounds terrible! You and Violet are both freaks! Honestly! What would the neighbors say?"
"Petunia, you shouldn't worry about what other people think of you," Mum chided,
"Well, get away from me, you freaks. If my friends find out about this..." Petunia ran out of the room, continuing to grumble.
"Don't worry, girls," Mum said cheerfully, "She's just a bit upset right now, and soon she'll come around and be just as proud of you as I am." I highly doubted that.
*~*~*~*
I got my Hogwarts letter. I can't say how relieved I am. I finally get to leave this family. Sirius, James and Grace are coming over this afternoon, and I can't wait. I bet they got into Hogwarts too. I know James did, all the Potters have gone to Hogwarts, and they've been Gryffindors since...forever. Since Grace is James' cousin, she probably got in too. She's definitely clever enough. And Sirius, well, I'd be very upset if he didn't get in, but I'm sure he did. The only problem now is houses. We could all end up going to Hogwarts and hardly ever see each other, because we all end up in different houses. Gracie and James will be in Gryffindor, and Sirius probably will be too. He's definitely brave enough. And me? I'm so afraid of getting into Slytherin. Both my parents, and Victoria were Slytherin. I don't want to be like them. I think my chances of Gryffindor are slim, though. Maybe Hufflepuff, but, really, I think that if I don't end up in Slytherin, the hat will just decide that I don't belong in Hogwarts, and send me straight back home.
It's so lonely here. I sit in my "room" (it's not quite a room, more of a...corner in our little shack...) for hours on end, just talking to myself. I'm all alone in the house. Just me, all night and all day. I guess you can say I've found ways of managing by myself, but I'd say I have really good luck.
I met Grace when I was three, in Diagon Alley. My parents were in Knockturn Alley, and I wandered off by myself. Needless to say, my parents didn't notice. It was a ball at first, all alone in such a huge place. I didn't have any money to spend, until I found a bag of sickles lying on the ground. The right thing to do would be to return them, but, do you really think I ever learned wrong from right with my parents? No, I certainly did not. So, I had a blast. I bought myself candy, and ice cream. What else would a three-year-old dream of buying? But, once it began to get dark and I had eaten all my candy and ice cream, I began to get scared. It was then that it occurred to me that I had no way to get back home. So, as you can probably guess by now, I had never been told that you need to ask someone for help when you're lost, but, like I said before, I have really good luck.
Before I could completely panic, or start to cry, a girl with dark curly hair came up to me. I remember it like it was yesterday; she was wearing a pink calico dress, and a matching pink bow. She came up to me and very plainly asked 'Are you lost?' I was about to let my pride get to me, and deny it, but then I realized with my situation, my pride would do me no good. Plus, how much pride can a three-year-old have? Anyways, I told her I was, and she told me that her parents would help me, and that her name was Grace. And her parents did help me. And that was that. Or, so I thought.
Well, all witches and wizards have to go to school. Only, it's quite risky sending little kids to muggle schools. There'd be a riot every time the kid blabbed. Of course, some wizards still send their kids to muggle schools, but my parents had no intention of mixing me with the 'wrong kind'. I dunno if they're really the wrong kind. I've never really met a muggle. Grace, James and Sirius all say that they aren't, though, so I guess I'll just have to trust them, until I can see for myself. So, anyways, my parents sent me to a small wizarding preschool. I can't say how excited I was about it. An opportunity to leave home every day was a dream come true. On my first day of preschool, I wore a brand new outfit. Victoria had bought it for me, since I didn't have my own money and anything mother or father bought me would be terrible. I thought it was the most beautiful outfit I'd ever seen. At least the most beautiful outfit I'd ever worn. Recalling it, I think that Victoria probably spent less money on that outfit than I spent on my ice cream at Diagon Alley that day. Anyways, I wore my "beautiful" outfit, only to go to school, and spend the first few hours of the day being teased and tormented. It was worse than school, and I even almost cried. The day was going horribly, until a boy came and cheered me up. He told everyone to back off, and he played with me for the rest of the day. His name? Well, you've probably already guessed it; Sirius Black.
He then introduced me to his best friend, who was, to his disappointment, and fury, in the other class; James Potter. James was in the same class as Grace, who I was shocked to see again. You'd think I wouldn't recognize a person I'd seen months ago, for only a few minutes, but Grace was the kind of person that was hard to forget. So, as it went, it was the four of us, James, Grace, Sirius, and I, all through primary school. We were inseparable. We always will be. Just us four; forever.
*~*~*~*
There's a ring that Lily and I found in our yard one day. It's odd. It's as hard as stone, and yet, soft, and silky as feathers. It's hard to explain. We keep it in a little box in the tree-house with all of our "treasures". We use it for playing fairies and princess a lot.
I'm not sure what it does, but I know it's special. Maybe magic. I'm so excited about Hogwarts. I mean, me learning magic. It's too good to be true! I don't think I'll be able to wait an entire month. We're going to get our stuff tomorrow. The letter said to go into a tavern, and ask for directions into Diagon Alley. Mum said she'd come with us, but I kind of don't want her to. First of all, I'm afraid. I don't want anything to happen to her. Second, I really want Lily and I to be able to go off on our own. I know, it's a bit selfish, but I want to have some fun without mum. I told mum that we'd be fine on our own, and that she shouldn't be going out much. She told me that she was perfectly fine, and that she couldn't stop doing the things she loved to do. But, she still agreed to let Lily and I go off alone.
(A/N: ACK! Dat part sucked! Eek!)
*~*~*~*
"Hey, Tawn" Sirius said, frowning, like he hardly ever did, "I'm sorry...about Victoria."
"You know I don't care. I hated her. She's better off dead." I replied. I knew it wasn't quite a lie, but I did care. I just didn't know why I cared.
"You know that's not true. You do too care." Sirius said, reprimanding me, but he saw the look on my face and changed the subject, "We're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow." He announced
My face lit up. "Good. I can't wait to get away from this place. My parents haven't come home in a week. Not that that's a bad thing, but I don't like the feel of the empty shack. I feel so helpless in it; like I'm liable to be attacked at any second. I wouldn't put it past some of the neighbors." I grinned,
"Ick." Sirius stated, "Why don't you go over to Grace's tonight? I'm spending the week at James'. My parents have...work." Sirius' parents are aurors. It's not a topic brought up often; first, because of my parents, and second, because Sirius doesn't like talking about it. Sometimes he feels like his parents' work is more important than him. They're barely around.
"Oh. Ok, sure, I'll owl Gracie." I said, trying not to bring up the subject of his parents' work. Especially not what day his parents' business trip had fallen upon.
"You know, I don't think they even noticed. They had this trip booked or months, though, I didn't want to interfere. It was important." Sirius said sadly, "They were just too busy...They lost track of time...They didn't mean to..."
I hugged Sirius, "Of course they didn't! If it makes you feel any better, I've never gotten any recognition of my birthday from my parents ever. If they even knew, they didn't care..." I frowned, "Your parents had no right to do that, though! It was important! If their work is more important than you, then...then..."
"Then I'd be at James'. On my own birthday."
I feel terrible for Sirius. He has a better family than me, and at times I'm utterly envious. But, families seem to hurt, regardless of whether they're good families or not. "Maybe they'll come back tomorrow..."
"No, they won't. But, it's ok, really. What's a birthday anyways, but an excuse to say you're one year older, and get loads of gifts?"
"You're right." I agree with him. It might not be entirely true, but it sounds right at the moment. Then, I grinned, and added, "Maybe I should just throw out your present," I joked
"No, that won't be necessary," Sirius said, going back to his usual cocky self, "So, what'd you get me!"
I giggled, "I'm a leprechaun! You have to catch me to find out!" I laughed, and jumped up, running around insanely with Sirius chasing me.
"Tell meee!" He shouted
"No!" I yelled
"Hey, what's that?" Sirius said, and I turned around. "Gotcha!" He shouted, and jumped at me. "Now tell me!" He said, sitting on top of me. If we hadn't been eleven, it would've looked very wrong.
"No! Never!"
"Please?!"
"Nope! I think not!" I hopped up, giggling insanely. Life was so perfect. Well, maybe not so perfect, but it was...life.
A/N: OMG...I HATE this chapter!!! GRRR! I'm so mad at myself for writing such a bad chapter!!! I am soooooooooo sorry!!! It'll get better, I promiseeee! And I have tense issues, so I'm gonna see if I can get someone to beta this for meee ((ok...Daynae did...about 2 months ago...and I'm *finally* getting this up...but, thanks, Dayn!))...well, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter of The Phoenix Ring! You ppl r soooo great, and I hope you're reading this now, I'd hate to lose you as readers! Well, here it was! A really uneventful chapter, I'm sorry, but it'll get much better!