Jason and Romina

Jason & Romina

"Happy Birthday dear Jason!" burst the chorus of off-key and un-musical voices. Jason Potter grinned as his family and friends sang to him on his sixteenth birthday. It was the thirty-first of August, and he would be leaving for his sixth year at Hogwarts the next day. He glanced around the large living room at all of the smiling faces of his loved ones. There was his dad grinning so wide that his emerald green eyes crinkled under his round spectacles while he sang. His mum dabbed the joyous tears from her brown eyes. Jason always thought his mother was pretty, with her flaming red hair and peaceful disposition. In between his parents stood his little sister, Juliana, who would be starting her first year of Hogwarts. Juliana was the spitting image of their father, with her unruly black hair and bright green eyes. Jason, too, had inherited Harry's messy black mop, but he had Ginny's chocolate colored eyes. With those eyes he scanned over the rest of his family.

Gosh, he thought to himself, there certainly are a lot of redheads here. Jason was right; there were a lot of redheads in his grandparents' house, which was also known as the Burrow. His Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were there with his twin cousins, Rodney and Rachel, who had their sixteenth birthday last month. He also noticed his Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur with their daughter, Madeline, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Cho with their son, Alexander, Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny with their children, Leo and Mariana, Uncle Fred and Aunt Angelina with their daughter, Taylor, and finally Uncle George and Aunt Katie with their son Anthony. His grandparents, Molly and Arthur Weasley were grinning from ear to ear, rapturous that their house was full of young, happy people again. Beside them stood Sirius Black, with his wife, Lydia, whom Jason and Juliana called "Pop" and "Nana." Even though Sirius was not a blood relative, Harry had insisted that his children see his godfather as a grandfather. Sirius and Lydia's twenty-one year old daughter, Cassiopeia, nicknamed Cassie, sang and laughed with her parents. She, too, would be returning to Hogwarts this semester, but not as a student. Cassie would be filling the spot as Transfiguration teacher while Minerva McGonagall took over as Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Jason remembered vividly the day that the former Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had died. That grave day occurred two months ago, and was the first time that Jason had seen his father cry. His Aunt Hermione would be taking the position as Deputy Headmistress alongside her Arithmancy teaching duties.

Next to the Blacks stood Remus and Valerie Lupin, who were called Master and Madame Lupin by the ever-joking Sirius. (A/N: can anyone guess what my first name is? 10 points and a chocolate frog to the first one who gets it!) To Jason's right were his best friends: Machavy Finnigan, Benjamin Longbottom, and Sophie Wood.

"Happy birthday, ugly brother! Now blow out your candles and make a wish," Juliana said cheerfully. Jason smiled evilly at her as he blew the candles out in one try. He got up and bowed as everybody cheered. "What did you wish for, Mr. Smelly?" Juliana inquired innocently.

"Oh, not much. Only that you would get eaten by a rampaging hippogriff," Jason replied coolly. He and Juliana usually teased each other in public, both trying to embarrass the other first. Juliana stuck her tongue out at him.

"Children! Enough!" Harry said in what he thought was a harsh voice, but his twinkling eyes gave him away.

"Aw, Dad, you never let us have any fun," Jason complained in his most annoyingly whiny voice. Harry grinned.

"You're right, I don't. That's my job," he nodded in affirmation. Jason rolled his eyes.

"All right then, Dad. I just hope that you remember this conversation when I dump you on the doorstep of St. Mungo's Home for Old Wizards," Jason sighed in a mock warning voice while he cute his cake. Juliana cuffed him sharply on the shoulder.

"You will NOT do any such thing to Daddy, you Skrewt!"

"Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me, eh, Drool-iana?"

"Me!" she said sharply, "I just got my wand yesterday!" Jason snorted.

"That doesn't matter. You don't know any magic yet!" he exclaimed haughtily.

"I don't need magic, dummy."

"Oh? Then what would you use your wand for, if not to hex me?"

"I'd stick it up your fat arse, that's what I'd do!" she shouted. Ginny's eyes widened with horror as everyone else, including Harry, burst out laughing.

"Juliana Potter! Where did you hear such language? No, I don't want to know. Just promise you will never, ever say it again," Ginny scolded her daughter, and then she turned to her guffawing husband, "Harold James Potter...HARRY STOP THAT LAUGHING!" Try as she might, Ginny could not hold back the giggle as her husband gasped and spluttered with laughter.

"So sorry, Ginny...It's just...Oh, it hurts!" he choked out as another loud burst of laughter split his sides open. He gripped his wife's shoulder so that he could steady himself. Juliana beamed; with all of this going on, her parents would forget to punish her! Jason chuckled while he sliced large pieces of cake for everyone. His eyes sparkled with mirth as he listened to everybody having such a splendid time.

* * *

Her blue eyes swam with tears as she watched her parents screaming and fighting. Romina Malfoy quickly swiped her tears away and bit her trembling lip so that the sob that had been choking her for the past half an hour would not escape. The sixteen year old was sitting in an elegant antique leather chair with her knees drawn up to her chin. She made sure that her long silvery blonde hair veiled her face; she couldn't let her parents see her crying. If they did, they would tell her how she's disgracing the Malfoy name. That was all she had ever heard throughout her entire life, that she was a disgrace. Her parents never complimented her on her high marks, nor did they praise her when she had been made a prefect in her fifth year. They only time they had attempted to something resembling praise was when she had been sorted into Slytherin. Romina was miserable in Slytherin; most of her housemates were carbon copies of their Death Eater parents. At school, although not as much as at home, she was scorned for her tolerance of Muggle-borns. She whimpered with self-pity. Her parents abruptly stopped their yelling and gazed at her as someone would at a slug, or something equally revolting.

"Get out of here and wash your face, you disgusting little brat!" shrieked her mother. Romina obediently stood up and turned to leave, grateful for a chance to get out of there, but stopped when her father took hold of her arm and spun her around. He glared at his wife while he held Romina's arm in his tight grip.

"Look at this, Pansy," he drawled malevolently, indicating to Romina, "Is this girl your sorry excuse for a proper witch?" Pansy looked daggers at him.

"It's not my fault she doesn't live up to the Malfoy name, Draco!" she hissed in her high-pitched voice.

"Oh, yes it is," he growled, "You're her mother. It's your job to raise her properly. But all you ever did was get drunk, smoke your cigarettes, and spend my family's money while the children were left to the nursemaid." Romina flinched; Draco's grip on her arm tightened painfully with each word.

"Father, let go, you're hurting me," she said tearfully.

Draco gave her a piercing glare and said, "Oh, I'm hurting you, am I? Tell me, does this hurt?" He gave her arm and all-mighty wrench, making her yelp in pain.

"Let go of me, you foul bastard!" she screamed. Draco's cold, grey eyes bore into her. She immediately regretted what she said. "Father, I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." But she didn't finish, for the next thing she heard was a loud smack as her father's cold, hard hand struck her soft, delicate face. He hit her with such a force that she fell to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the sight in her left eye was slightly blurred. She also tasted a hint on blood on the inside of her cheek. She wearily raised her eyes to her parents, who were both staring at her with loathing.

"That ought to teach you some respect!" Draco spat coldly and then he stalked out of the spacious dark drawing room. Pansy's eyes glittered furiously.

"Maybe know you will start acting like a proper member of this family, like your brother, Aaron!" she barked. Then she, too, left Romina to sob into the plush, red carpet.

After what seemed like an hour of crying, which was actually five minutes, Romina heard evilly malicious laughter behind her. She pulled herself up into a kneeling position and mopped her tear-soaked face with the silky sleeve of her shimmering powder blue robes. She looked up at the pale pug face of her elder brother, Aaron. If there was one thing in her life that Romina was thankful for, it was that she had inherited her father's aristocratic nose and not Pansy's bulbous one. "What do you want, Aaron?" she asked with a sneer. Aaron was seventeen and acted, in Romina's opinion, like he was going on thirty. Aaron smirked at her in his annoyingly superior way.

"Look at yourself, Romina," he drawled lazily, "blubbering on the floor like a bloody infant. You are so incredibly pathetic. You're not a Malfoy. You're noting but a Mudblood loving..."

"Shut it, Aaron," Romina warned through gritted teeth.

"...disgraceful..."

"Aaron!"

"...miserable..."

"SHUT UP!"

"...no good excuse for a witch. You have absolutely no wizarding pride whatsoever. Why don't you go and do everyone a favor and swallow a cauldron full of undiluted Bubotuber Pus!" Aaron's harsh statement had produced the desired effect. Romina's eyes were wide with shock while she swayed on her knees. Her large, sapphire eyes welled with bitter tears of self-pity as she jumped to her feet and bolted for her bedroom, where she would cry herself to sleep for the fourth time that week.