Anastasia... Jaeda to You

I woke up early on this particular Saturday, and sat on my bed bouncing before I got up and got dressed. Not that it really mattered what I wore, just… me and James had a Plan. Plans with a capital “P” were always fun… usually more fun to draw up and execute than live with but that wasn't really the point. I pulled on my favorite “bleach wash” jeans and a tank top, then pulled my hair into the messy bun that had driven my mother crazy. Then the shoes, the best shoes EVER—my pink/white/rainbow laces Nike running shoes. Here James and I disagree; I love my Nikes and he loves his stupid adidas. Oh well.

Finally, my dad called my sister and I down to breakfast. I was literally glowing I'm sure; this was hardly my first trip to Diagon Alley but today was DIFFERENT. Today was the day we finally got to buy my Hogwarts supplies, and that was extremely exciting. I had put the letter and the supply list under my pillow, to which my dad had jokingly asked if I was planning on memorizing it in my sleep. Well… I had it memorized. Maybe not from my sleep, but that wasn't important. There were a lot of books on there and I was beginning to wonder how in the world they would all fit into my trunk, and later how I would carry them all. My dad, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all told me not to worry, saying I would find very soon how easy they were to carry. Harry warned me not to leave homework till last minute, while Ron nodded fervently and Hermione looked at them both exasperatedly. Clearly they had both left all of their homework to the last minute… which was a REALLY weird picture. All of the adults at Hogwarts? Um… no. Moving on.

We (that is to say, Harry, Ginny, James, Al, Lily, my dad, Ashley, and me) all piled into my dad’s pretty navy blue SUV for the short trip to London. Several times, James and I were told to "can it" and finally we resorted to notes. Lily, who was sitting beside James, couldn't read them (good thing too), and by the time we got to London everything was planned out.

Did I mention neither of us had a wand yet? Nor did we have any idea how to use one. What we did have was Uncle George and some of his joke stuff. Harry had recently taken all of James' fun stuff away (boo. Boring!) but I had cleverly hidden mine. Since it wasn't out in the open and wasn't being used, my dad (who always believes the best in EVERYONE) decided maybe I was growing up a little. Maybe I was… or maybe I was saving all of that amazing pranking ability for someone/sometime that would really make a scene.

We got out of the SUV after my dad expertly parked and walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny had her hand firmly in Lily's, and Al was refusing to leave his dad's side. With Ashley commanding my dad's attention, James and I fell into step just behind our families.

Bad idea. Duh. Me + James + lack of supervision = trouble. That was like… basic elementary addition. But, they noticed. James was dragged rather eventfully up to walk next to his mother and I was put in charge of Ashley. When we got to Madam Malkins' we finally got split up. Ginny took Ashley, Lily, and Al, while Harry and my dad went into the robe shop with me and James. As if they didn't trust us! Geez.

Anyway, so we walked in and guess who was there?! It was Victoire, and Dominique! That was pretty exciting. They were part of the Weasley clan, but I knew them and thought they were pretty darn cool. Both of them had strawberry blonde hair and blue-green eyes that enthralled me; they were, basically, perfect. Dominique squealed, but couldn't move, as she was being fitted for robes. Victoire came running over, though, and hugged Harry.

"So, little cousin, and little cousin's partner-in-crime, what have you done lately to earn this always-interesting escort?"

I looked guiltily (okay, it was so fake, hush) up at the taller girl and James put on his amazing fake sheepish look. When neither of us responded, the question automatically fell to Harry and my dad.

"Nothing… yet. But the way Jaeda was bouncing around this morning, they have something up their sleeves."

I had the decency to look properly indignant at my dad's response as I was being fitted for my own school robes. I stuck my tongue out, as per my usual, while James glowered and waited for Harry's response.

"James was just the opposite of Jaeda. He was entirely too subdued, and they were oddly quiet on the way to London. I think the two of them have started channeling some other rather infamous troublemakers. And I certainly don't mean that in a good way."

James looked about as indignant as I did and glared at his father's back. At long last we were done with the robes, something both of us were outstandingly thankful for. When I heaved a huge sigh and muttered something admittedly inappropriate under my breath, my dad swatted me across the mouth. Not hard, mind you, but hard enough that I wouldn't say that again… where he could hear me.

We got our books at Flourish and Blotts (uh boring!) and then went to the magical pet shop. James immediately found an owl he really liked; she was kind of golden colored with huge amber eyes, and hooted dolefully at him when he cautiously reached out to her. I had found something much more interesting, and I think my dad was pretty relieved, to tell you the truth.

In a corner, curled up on an old pillow, was a fluffy black-and-white cat. There were six or seven kittens curled up next to her, and I sat down on the floor by the pillow. When I reached out to the mother cat, she nudged my hand and began purring. I looked interestedly at the kittens and instantly found a really cute kitten. It was white but had faint grey tabby markings. Carefully, I reached out my hand, and the kitten opened its eyes. I couldn't help it; I actually squealed. Gorgeous bright blue eyes gazed serenely at me, and the tiny animal mewed at me.

When I looked up, my dad was standing next to me, and James was sitting beside me. If there was one thing that could keep us quiet it was small animals, namely kittens. The shopkeeper came over and she kneeled down.

"Those kittens are just old enough to leave their mother. They would be perfect for a young lady like yourself to learn to care for."

I looked back at my dad, my hope shining in my face. He nodded. "Pick out two, Jaeda, your sister wouldn't be happy if she knew you didn't think of her."

After much deliberation, I chose the little white tabby for me, and a black-and-white one for Ashley. When we left, I was holding the tiny cat carefully wrapped in a blanket. It had been purring, then had fallen asleep. I gave Ashley her kitten, which she promptly named "Jet."

Uh, yeah. Ashley is weird like that. James named his owl "Caramel," which I began wondering about. My kitten had the best name, though. Of course she did, she's mine. The little white tabby was named… drumroll please!... Doodle.

Hey! Don't laugh. She looked like a little doodle bug, or rolly-polly bug, whichever you prefer. She curled up like one and she had rolled around like one. Plus she looked like a kitten someone would doodle on their paper instead of taking notes. So Doodle it was. We got to go to the wand shop next, at which Al carefully took my kitten and Lily held her brother's owl's cage.

The wand shop was dusty, and really eerie. The new wandmaker on Diagon Alley was a Hogwarts grad, and married to Oliver Wood. She was tall, with dark hair and blue eyes, and nothing like what I had heard Ollivander had been. Ollivander sounded pretty creepy to me.

"Hello, young ones," she said in a melodic voice. "Starting Hogwarts, then?"

When James and I nodded enthusiastically, she smiled and led us back to a private room. Harry and my dad waited in the main shop, and she locked the door. I wondered what this was all about; it seemed pretty weird to be led aside. James shrugged and raised his eyebrows.

"I happen to know more about you than most people," she said quietly. "I'm Katie. James, I was in Hogwarts with your father and have seen how powerful he has always been. Jaeda, I've heard stories about your accidental magic. I decided it was best not to take chances with either of you, so I've already picked out a few wands for you to try. James, since I really think you've got the most control, you first."

He finally found one that suited him, the very, very last one. Then it was my turn. Katie cast a few protective spells around the room, around herself, and around James, then handed me the first wand. I gasped; it felt right but it was also ridiculously powerful. It literally felt like it was vibrating in my grip. Katie dropped the spells and stared at me in amazement.

"That was the last wand I expected to take to you," she admitted. "It's cedar wood, not really used in wands much. And it has a very interesting core, but I'm going to let you find that out for yourself." Her eyes sparkled, and I realized with a laugh that she was leading me on. Then her expression turned stony. "Do NOT mess around with these wands. And don't, whatever you do, start swapping them. I honestly haven't a clue what they'll do, but it won't be pleasant. I do know they won't work on each other, at least not as well as they should. They don’t share cores—James, your father will appreciate that—but are odd."

We walked back into the main store and Katie dropped her voice. "Watch those two and their wands," she murmured. "Especially Jaeda. She's got some power. If I were you I wouldn't let them lay hands on those things until they leave for Hogwarts."

Too late, Katie. It took only a moment, but while James and I were seriously just looking at each other's wands, we traded. The effect, well… will probably become the stuff of legends. We were out on the path again, and both of us yelped as if burned. Our parents turned around and even they couldn’t do anything.

I was crying; James' wand was burning my skin where it touched but no matter what I did I couldn't let go. "Let go of my wand!" I yelled at him, even though I knew he was probably suffering through the same thing.

"I can't!" he yelled back. Harry looked torn; clearly he could do something but was reluctant to. Finally, the two wands fell from our grasps.

"Don't let them-!"

Oops. The wands hit the ground and then each other. I shrieked as I was burned again and fell into James, who fell over. By now people had stopped to look at us, and the two wands repelled from each other and lay still.

"Anastasia Jaeda Rehshe." I gulped. My dad never used my full name, ever; in fact, he hated it as much as I did. I knew I was in big trouble now. "You were told not to mess with the wands, and definitely not each other's. That included, as stated explicitly by Katie, trading wands."

I hung my head as he pulled me to my feet. James was being roughly pulled to his feet as well, and my dad and Harry pocketed the wands. I knew we wouldn't see the wands for a long time, and kind of got the impression that this was something that would probably follow us around for a long time.

Dang. Why did I always have to be right about that? September first, the day I'd looked forward to my entire life, suddenly was rather imposing. All those eyes… for the first time, I didn't want to go to Hogwarts.

As if I had a choice.