Goodbye is Never Forever

Chapter 1

"Bree, what's taking so long?" I called to my twin sister. We were getting ready to go to King's Cross Station in London to begin a new year at another new school, this time Hogwarts. So far, we had attended The American School of Magic in the United States, Durmstrang in Bulgaria, Beauxbatons in France, and now Hogwarts in England. You see, our father was a Muggle, and our mother a witch. He hated the fact that we were magical, for a reason that I might never understand, and ran out on us when my sister and I were just five.

Our mother tried as hard as she could to raise us, but as skilled a witch as she was, it was harder for her to find work, as she hadn't done magic in quite a few years because of our father. Her parents had long been gone, she had been an only child, and she hadn't kept in touch with our father, so she then left Bree and I on a doorstep of a Muggle adoption agency, in the dead of night, and then fled before we had a chance to wake up and stop her from going.

Why she chose a Muggle one, I will never quite understand, either. I guess she was rather quite fond of them, for one reason or another, and left a note explaining our heritage, praying to the Lord Almighty that they would take us in anyway. And they did, though they didn't tell any of the foster families what we truly were. It remained a secret.

Now, the only thing we have left of our mother are our lockets, with our names, Breanna and Rebecca written on them and a letter which she wrote to us, hoping that it would console some of our fears. It said:



My little Angels,

I wish I didn't have to leave you this way, but I have no choice. You will grow up healthy and strong this way, with a good family to care for you... If only it really had turned out that way ...I love you both with all my heart, and I want you to remember, goodbye is never forever.

"Becky, stop worrying, we'll be there in plenty of time," shouted Bree from upstairs. "Lorie and Bill promised they'd take us, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but they also decided they were going to ask the adoption agency to look for a wizard family to take us in, since they didn't want to care for us anymore, as we were too much of a hassle," I said, mostly to myself.

"Listen, at least they're giving us a ride to the station," answered Bree, now walking down the stairs.

"Do you always have to be so optimistic?" I asked. Okay, I admit it, I have a kind of a bad attitude, but you would, too, if you had been through everything I had. My father, for some reason, thought that Bree wouldn't be a witch and I would...he said she inherited his family traits...boy was he wrong. Anyway, like I said, he hated anything magical. He would go to any extent to try and stomp the magic out of me. He abused me, mentally and physically, and actually set our house on fire while I was locked in my bedroom. Thankfully, the magic hadn't been stamped out of me, and I got out safely. It was right after that when he left.

Ever since then, while my sister had been "Mary Sunshine", I kind of just blended into the background, trying not to get myself noticed, though people sometimes did mistake me for Bree. After all, were completely identical except for a scar, barely visible above my right eyebrow, which was from one of my father's beatings.

I did enjoy being a twin, however. Besides sharing a room, birthday, your good looks, and a few other minor things, it wasn't so bad. The only major problem for me was trying to fit into a new school. Bree never had a problem, and was always instantly popular, but for some reason, I never had an easy time making friends. It was then that I'd wish goodbye really wasn't forever and that I could my mother to me, to console my fears.

"Becky, what the heck? Are these fake tickets? It says Platform 9 3/4. There is no such thing," complained Bree. We had finally made it to the station, but now we only had ten minutes to find a way onto the platform and catch the train.

"Hurry up, we don't want to be late...there's only ten minutes before the train leaves for Hogwarts! Hurry, now!" I heard a voice say. I turned around to see a family of redheads walking to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

"Fred, George, you first," said the woman to a set of twins who looked to be in their last year...they must have mastered how to get onto the platform. They started to run towards the huge barrier, and I was almost sure they would crash, when they suddenly disappeared.

'What the heck?' I thought, until it occurred to me that the barrier must be a sort of doorway into the magical world. Intelligence was something I had always prided myself in, and now it had finally come in handy.

"Bree!" I called to my sister. "I found the way to get in!"

"Finally," sighed Bree. I just rolled my eyes...sometimes she could be so prissy.

I walked up behind the last of the redhead family...it was a boy who looked to be about my age. He was kind of cute, at that.

"Umm...excuse me," I said, as polite as I could, time was running out. "Could you tell my sister and I how to get onto the Platform? We're new to Hogwarts."

"I thought you figured it out," whispered Bree into my ear...sounding very impatient indeed.

"Oh, sure, all you have to do is walk straight through that barrier there. It's best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. You can go before I do," he told us. "I'm Ron Weasley by the way."

"Thanks Ron, I'm Becky Johanson, and this is my sister Bree," I said before starting to run towards the barrier. We were about three feet away when I was certain that we would crash and shut my eyes, though I knew it wouldn't be very much protection. However, the crash never came, and I opened my eyes to see absolute pandemonium. It was a miracle that Bree and I were able to get onto the train and find a compartment.

"Hey Becky, Bree. Do you mind if me and my friends sit here?" It was Ron, leaning against the frame of the compartment door, a smirk on his face...God he looked cute.

"Sure," answered Bree, looking past Ron and into the face of one of his friends...a boy with jet-black hair and stunning green eyes. The other friend was a pretty girl with brown eyes and wavy brown hair. We soon found out that they were Harry Potter (yes, the Harry Potter) and Hermione Granger.

To my joy, Ron sat down next to me, and to Bree's joy, Harry sat down next to her, and Hermione on the other side of Harry.

After everyone was properly introduced, a round of questions for my sister and I followed, much to my displeasure. I would rather have been a mystery to them, than for them to know my whole life story. But, Bree, knowing that I was uncomfortable with these questions, answered them briefly, with as little detail as possible, I guess also a little tired of running through the routine once more.

But, this was what happened every time we went to a new school...It would start all over again when they found another family for us, who like all other families so far, would probably be at least a couple of countries away from our last home, making us switch schools once more.

But, we were used to it by now. Though I kind of wished we could stay here, at least for this year...just to see what it would be like.

As we arrived at Hogwarts, I was stunned by the magnificent scenery. As soon as I stepped onto the platform, I was greeted by a tiny wizard, no more than three feet tall at that...amazingly, it was one of the professors...Professor Flitwick to be exact.

He led my sister and I to a carriage that was led by invisible horses...certainly a contraption that I had never seen before.

"We're going to take you up to the castle, and you may try on the Sorting Hat in Professors Dumbledore's office," Professor Flitwick announced. "It might be a bit uncomfortable trying it on along with students who are 4 years younger than you."

Well, finally, a professor who actually had some knowledge of what it felt like to be sorted among with people, if not half your age, half your size.

So, we were taken to Dumbledore's office.

We had heard a great deal about houses and sorting on the way here from Ron, Harry, and Hermione, all of which proved very helpful indeed.

Bree went first, and I knew she was hoping to get into Gryffindor so that she could be with Harry. However, as the hat shouted out the name, it pronounced it "Ravenclaw!" - easy mistake to make of course.

And then, as were the only two new students, I went next, I was hoping to either put in Ravenclaw to be with Bree or Gryffindor to be with Ron...Slytherin though also caught my interest, as their personality, to me, sounded quite similar to my own...not that I was mean, I just wasn't the easiest person to get along with.

As soon as the hat touched my head, I heard a little voice inside of head, and imagine this, it told me pretty much everything I already knew, and everything I have said, and told me I was "difficult indeed". But in the end, however, my intelligence triumphed and I was put into Ravenclaw with Bree. Which, of course, was probably for the better...if I had been put in Gryffindor, Bree would have been furious...I'd be spending more time with Harry than she would have. Yes, I suppose it was better this way. Who knows? Everything happens for a reason, I suppose.

After being sorted, we were led down into the Great Hall ahead of the First Years and showed our way to the Ravenclaw table, which cheered as we sat down. Somehow, word had gotten out that there were two new students, and everyone had been waiting for us to get sorted.

As I surveyed the room around me, I instantly spotted Ron, Harry, and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table and waved. We told each other that we'd meet here tomorrow for breakfast...it would have been after dinner, but Bree and I needed to know where the Ravenclaw Common Room was.

So, we all ate, and drank, and had a merry old time, I guess. I even met a couple of people that I actually liked including Padma Patil and Terry Boot.

After dinner, we began our mission to find the Ravenclaw Common Room. Luckily, we had a prefect as a tour guide, so the adventure wasn't too bad, though we did get caught on a set of moving stairs once - that was quite an adventure.

After climbing down into one of the dungeons...though not as far down as you'd expect, we came across a statue of what looked like a very intelligent woman - most likely Rowena Ravenclaw, for whom the house was named.

The prefect gave the password - "Ishkabibbles" - you'd think that being Ravenclaws, they'd have been able to come up with one that sounded at lease a tad smarter - and were led into the Common Room.

There were large blue chairs and sofas in front of a couple various fireplaces - quite grand, indeed.

Padma then led Bree and I up to our dormitory, where we found our trunks and owls awaiting us.

I undressed and climbed into bed, falling asleep just seconds later.

"Pass the bacon please," I said to Mariah, a girl in my dorm. She seemed really nice, and she didn't ask too many questions...We were going through another round of them now, and as always, Bree was answering them all.

Just as I was about to dig into my beautiful plate of bacon, toast, and eggs, another girl from my dorm, Sarah decided to ask me a couple questions.

"How come you're so quiet, Becky?" she asked, actually sounding a little concerned.

"I dunno, really," I answered. "I guess I just don't have much to say. After all, it is better to remain silent and let people think you are a fool then to open your mouth and prove it."

I often found myself quoting various people, sometimes even just said random quotes that I would find on the Internet when I was staying with another Muggle family. Bree caught my eye and glared at me...She hated when I did that.

"Oh, well, do you have a boyfriend at your last school?" Sarah then asked.

I could see her eyes glittering, and she had a huge smile on her face.

"I had one, but we broke up when I told him that I would no longer be going to Beauxbatons." Unfortunately, this was true.

"Ohh...a French boy...was it romantic?" asked Lisa.

I sighed and Lisa was able to figure out that I didn't particularly want to talk about it; though it's amazing she could figure anything out at all...she was as dense as a wall of bricks.

"His name was Pierre," said Bree, glaring at me again. "He was tall, with dirty blond hair in which he was able to style in practically any way possible, and dark green eyes, which could make any girl melt. He was the bad-boy type, perfect for Becky; yet, neither of them wanted the commitment of a long-distance relationship, so they broke it off. She hasn't been the same since."

"Awe, you poor thing," said Lisa sympathetically.

"True love is like a ghost many have talked about, but few have seen," I recited before gulping down the last of my orange juice and getting up from the table.

"Becky! Wait up!" I could hear Bree coming over to me, so I just walked faster. By now, I was almost to the lake, and I still had no clue where I was heading.

"Rebecca Nichelle Johanson!" Oh boy! I turned around, glaring at my sister, Breanna Lurlene Johanson, right now, my worst enemy. "Please, listen to me!" she pleaded. She looked so pathetic running after me, that I decided to at least hear her out.

"What? What do you want? And why did you tell them about Pierre?" I asked her, tears forming in my eyes.

"Becky, you can't keep this all in!" said Bree. "I'm just trying to help!"

"If you want to help, don't say anything else about him...to anyone! I don't want the whole school to know about my past. It's over and done with, and I need to move on with my life," I told her.

She came over and gave me a quick hug before she turned back around and started walking towards the castle.



A couple minutes later, I heard someone else coming towards me and turned around to see none other than Ron Weasley. I sighed, though I truly wanted to talk to him, right now was not the best time considering the type of mood I was in. I didn't want to lash out on him and then have him hate me.

"Hey there," he said as he reached the tree in which I was sitting under.

"Hi," I replied, my thoughts still on Pierre, the only guy I had ever loved. Bree kept telling me that I was too young to be in love, but she had never felt that feeling that I felt with Pierre. She won't know until she feels that feeling herself. Hopefully, though, she won't have to go through all of the things that I had to go through. But, 'The course of true love never did run smooth.' That was a quote by William Shakespeare, and I found out only how true it was just last year, though I was only 14.

"Earth to Becky!" I heard Ron saying.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked, feeling my face turn red. "I must have zoned out, I'm sorry."

"Forget about it, no big deal," he replied, that stupid smirk on his face. Oh, that smirk. It's the same smirk that Pierre used to win me over. But, I was sure that I wasn't going to let Ron win me over as easily. He was going to have to work for my affection.

But, just as that thought crossed my mind; he reached over and pulled a piece of my chestnut brown hair out of my face, and looked into my eyes.

"You have really nice eyes," he said, that stupid smirk still on his face. "They're the color of the ocean."

Why, oh why, was I so easy to win over with the guys? Couldn't I, just once, keep my ground? It didn't seem that I could. He sat down next to me, and put his arm around me, and we sat like that, talking for hours, for it was a Saturday and there were no classes. The thing was, I could have stayed there forever, and not cared at all.

"So, how's Ron?" asked Bree that night when we were alone in our dormitory getting ready for bed. "Lisa Turpin says he's really sweet, and he seems to have a thing for you!"

"Bree, please don't do this," I sighed.

"Becky, ever since Pierre, every time a guy tries to get close to you, you back off, and then you look back on it with regrets," said Bree. Honestly, I couldn't remember anyone besides Ron who had tried to get close to me since Pierre.

"Bree, I just don't want to get hurt again, or worse...You understand, well, you know what I've been through," I said to my sister, who just looked back at me with those ocean-blue/green eyes that Ron loved on me so much. Oh God, what was happening? I couldn't get Ron out of my mind; yet I needed to...I couldn't get hurt, not again.

"Becky, Ron's not the type of guy who would do the stuff that Pierre did. He's sweet and gentle, where as Pierre was rough and tough all of the time. You need to put Pierre behind you, now." Now, I knew Bree was trying to make things better, for that was what Bree always did, though it almost never worked. Bree and I are like a split personality on two separate bodies. She's the sweet, lovable side, kind of dense, actually, where as I'm the hot head-head of the family...Dad was definitely wrong when he thought that Bree was the one to inherit all of his family traits...though I was the better witch, no doubt, she had Mom's personality, always so sweet and loving, sometimes so sweet and loving it made me sick. But, that's how Bree was. We were practically identical, from our almost-shoulder-length chestnut brown hair, and blue-green eyes, 5'5" exactly, and I doubt we'd be getting any taller. Were identical right to the scar under my eyebrow and the scars on my back and legs. The scars were the only things that our Mom could tell us apart by. He hurt, too, and that was the only reason she hadn't left him before he left her. She knew he'd find us, and she didn't want any harm to come to neither Bree nor I. It would have been the same thing with Bree. She would rather die herself, protecting me, than to run and save herself, even if it meant endangering me. Now, me on the other hand, I'm not really sure what I would do...I'm one of those people who you just have to wait and see what's going to become of me.