Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, I really wouldn't be staying in at lunch and typing this stuff up, would I? Well, just in case, it is not mine, sadly, so get over it.

This chapter sucked. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

-Twin Angels-
-Chapter 4: Aboard the Hogwarts Express and Wand Shopping-

The day came when the boys would have to get their school supplies, but, of course, they knew that the really important thing was the wand.

Sure, Caden'd been a little overexcited at the news that he would get to pick out his own clothes for once, but when he learned that there weren't many robes that could be described as 'black with silver fastenings, sewn on Hogwarts crest, and floor length hems,' he was a bit disappointed. And, so what if James really, really, really wanted to get the Charms and Transfiguration textbooks so he could scour it for spells that could later be used in pranks.

But the thing that would be the most important because it would be with them forever was the wand.

As soon as the door to Ollivander's clinked shut, the only thing Caden could think to do was blink in disappointment. The shop looked like a forgotten storage room. There were such things as cleaning charms for a reason, you know! Caden had to stop himself from using the will-magic again to sanitize the tiny little shop. The only reason he could resist was the fear that the magic would interfere with that of the old wands and cause an explosion… or something.

Caden had long since sensed the presence of a man behind him and notified James immediately, if only for the purpose of amusement that an old man was hovering just behind their shoulders.

In a stage-whisper, Caden whispered, "How long do you think he's going to stand there?" to James.

Several things happened at that stage. Unfortunately, one of them was the way their mother unintentionally overheard them and scolded them for being such cheeky young boys. Another thing, the 'presence' chuckled gleefully.

Even though the twins were known to be slightly out there, that didn't mean that they understood everything that went on or reasons behind people's actions. Thusly, they looked at the man, who was revealed to have gray hair and wise, twinkling blue eyes, questioningly.

Responding to their unspoken question, the shop keeper went on. "You're twins."

Well, this wasn't exactly what they had expected, and they continued to stare.

"Twins are known for being difficult to find wands for."

This time, only James continued to stare, while Caden happily replied, "I'm so glad to be able to offer you a challenge, Mr. Ollivander."

And so they set about searching for wands.

Instead of the shop owner handing them wands to try out, they wandered around the store to see if anything reached out at them. Of course, the only reason this worked was because of the stored magic residing in Caden and James searching out the missing piece.

Thirty minutes had passed and, as eleven-year olds often do, they were bored.

At almost the exact same time, both whined across the bond I'm bored before bursting out laughing.

Five minutes later, the same thing happened, causing Caden to get an idea. Let's play a little game, shall we brother? Caden spoke, smirking.

Ooooh, I like games! James squealed mentally childishly.

I know. Okay, so here's what we do… Use your magic to levitate yourself up to the highest shelf, where it's empty. Find one wand that fits you decently from that row and slide it down to the end of the shelf. Make sure that they do not fall! We'll slide them at the same time, so the first one whose wand reaches the end wins the round.

The game was fun enough and distracting enough while it lasted, but soon enough the parents noticed that their little boys weren't exactly on the floor anymore.

"Caden HARRISON POTTER! JAMES RICARDO POTTER! YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN FROM THERE! 1….. 2….. 3….." Never let it be said that Potter women have no guts or inspire no fear, because the boys were back on the ground at 1 and a half.

They slumped their shoulders and continued to walk through the numerous aisles.

Almost simultaneously, they both shouted out, "I found it!"

Mr. Olivander chuckled again and asked to see the wands they had chosen.

"For you, Mr. Caden Potter, we have… wood from a preserved palm tree from Antarctica with a chip from a vampire's fang for the core, 13 and a half inches long… slightly springy… good for almost everything. Amazing. This is one of the most powerful wands I have ever sold.

"Mr. James Potter? May I see yours now?" Obediently, James handed it over. "Interesting… wood of a tropical palm tree from Hawaii with a hair from an elf for the core… 13 and a half inches long… extremely swishy, exceptionally good at Charms and Transfiguration. Wonderful… I have to say, I'll keep an eye out in the newspapers for you two boys. I think we can expect great things from you."

Oddly, the wands seemed to be the opposite of each other, but they fit their owners, and that was all that mattered.

-0-0-0-0-0-

It was ten fifteen in the morning on a certain September day and Ricki Potter paced across the carpet in her living room anxiously. In just fifteen minutes, she would part with her two young babies and all of the rest of the clan that came with them.

She smiled softly at the sound of her husband chasing her twin babies around the house, yelling obscenities at them about some prank they'd pulled. She decided not to scold him for it at the moment.

"James! Caden! You get your butts down here! It's time to go to King's Cross Station!"

"But Mum! I don't wanna go!" came the whined reply from James.

Caden sighed and rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to dignify that with a response, but humored his brother anyway. "Oh come on, James," he pleaded, bounding down the steps as he tried to goad his other half down too. "The sooner we go, the sooner you can see Sirius again!" It'd only been one week since James had last seen Sirius in reality, but it was a really long time to a bouncy eleven year-old boy who had enough energy for a Third World country. Several times over.

Jesse came panting down the stairs, dragging James by his ear painfully.

Through the bond, Caden asked, Did you get the stuff packed? Well, so James's reaction to getting on the train was a decoy; he'd been stuffing their prank equipment into one of the hidden compartments Caden had created inside each of their trunks. It was amazing what that boy could do, really…

When their mum and dad found out all about their 'pranking prowess' it could go one of two ways: disastrous, or full of hilarity. Theoretically, at least, that was what they'd anticipated, which was quite a bit, considering their combined intelligence, but they knew better than to expect anything normal from the 'old' families.

Five minutes later, two trunks rested at the base of the stairs, with two cages occupied by two identical gray birds, whose eyes matched their respective owners. Alright, so they weren't identical, but very nearly.

Ricki had no worries of her boys getting hurt. In fact, she worried about Hogwarts, which would soon be left in a bizarre barrage of pranks. Poor castle, she thought fondly.

She had seen all of the children together at one time only on a single occasion, and still experienced recurring nightmares about the incident.

Caden rolled his eyes, yet again. A knowledgeable smile-smirk made its way onto his face as he thought about the place his parents had told him so many fascinating stories about.

Despite learning that the parents weren't his biological parents at the tender age of 8, Caden still called the two his parents.

His parents had refused to tell him about this mysterious sorting, but that made it all the important sounding all the same. Neither had told him which house he would end up being sentenced to, but assured him that he'd still be their Caden just the same.

He sighed in annoyance before sat on top of his trunk, waiting for his father to come back down or for his mother to leave said person behind in lieu of getting to the train. If she didn't decide soon, they would be late because she was just too gosh-darn lenient with her husband.

There were still twenty minutes left… and that was pushing it as it was… "Jesse Potter! Get down here this instant of I'll be leaving without you!"

James and Caden sighed again. It would be a loooooong few minutes.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ricki hustled her family onto the platform and smothered her sons in hugs as they prepared to leave for their new home away from home.

Five minutes now.

"Mum! If you don't let us go, we'll choke or miss the train! You can always owl us tonight or something!" James yelled over the bustle of the morning indignantly.

Possessing the decency to blush, Ricki looked at them and had to smile at their angelic twin smiles. Beautiful smiles, really. But that was beside the point. "You're right, I suppose. I'd better let you get going."

Caden and James panted as they ran onto the train with their trunks and owl cages being pulled behind them (a few feather light charms later), but they had made it. Whew. Now all they had to do was find a compartment… What joy.

A familiar head of tawny brown hair bobbed ahead of them and they shoved each other out of the way to take turns shouting at Remus. Finally, they stumbled into the one they'd seen him enter and collapsed on the floor after stowing their luggage overhead.

The train ride passed them by quickly and they couldn't help but worry about how their parents would react to the whole deal. Though, James remembered vividly the passing of the snack cart after buying three-quarters of it to feed to his friends. Andromeda tried to assure them that there was nothing to be scared of and that their parents would accept them whatever house they landed in.

The cry of the groundskeeper rose above the jumble of gossiping students and giggling girls, causing Andy to separate from her proverbial brothers and sisters while the new students split up into three boats to cross the lake.

When Hogwarts came into view, dark, menacing, and foreboding, none of them felt relieved at all. Instead, they had a pit of dreading unease in their stomachs.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Here are the poll stats right now, and, remember, it's still open.

House:
Caden
Gryffindor: 16 (I decided that I would ignore these, as I don't want them to be all in the same houses, and I have already declared that Caden is not at all like James in personality, even though they fit.)
Ravenclaw: 28
Slytherin: 20
Hufflepuff: 3
Anything but Gryffindor: 5 (Can I put my vote in here too? That includes mine now.)
Remus:
Ravenclaw: 5
Slytherin: 1
Gryffindor: 1
Hufflepuff: 1
Werewolf: 1 (duh)
Sirius:
Slytherin: 1
Gryffindor: 4
Severus:
Slytherin: 6
Panther: 2
Narcissa:
Slytherin: 4
James:
Gryffindor: 5 (recount from beginning)
Andromeda:
Gryffindor: 1
Lily:
Ravenclaw: 1
Pairings:
Not slash: 8
Caden Sirius: 20 + 11?
Caden Remus: 22
Caden Severus: 28
Remus Caden Sirius: 15
Caden Severus Lucius: 3
Remus Caden Severus: 3
Caden Lucius: 2

James Lily: 1
Severus Lucius: 1
Sirius OC: 1
Narcissa OC: 1
Animagus:
Winged Panther: 2
Snake (if in Slytherin): 2
Panther (if in Gryffindor): 14
Black Leopard: 1
Coyote (if Ravenclaw): 5
Wolf: 16
White Tiger: 2
Tiger (Siberian: 1): 3
Black Fox: 1
Falcon: 1
Owl: 1
Fox: 1
Wolf and Tiger/Panther: 1
Lion: 1
Lynx: 1
Phoenix: 1
Type of cat: 1
Flying Horse: 1

So replies to anonymous reviews are at http / only-gray . livejournal . com. Just take the spaces out.

Love,

Cher, aka Fear of Apathy