A Change Of Seasons

In a house in Coxley, a young girl and boy reaching their 11th birthdays, were quite bored. The rain for the past 2 days had made even the brightest moods far less cheerer, and being it was now a Sunday, and having been stuck indoors for the whole weekend certainly wasn't helping these two young people's moods a'toll.

Leaving their parents down in the kitchen to discuss whatever it was grownups discussed, they headed up to their room to figure out something to do for the rest of the afternoon.

"Cops and robbers?" the boy said.

"Try again, we did that yesterday! Naughts and crosses?" the girl said.

"No, you always beat me at that, it's not fair. Chess?"

"It's not like I try to beat you you know, just comes naturally. Chess is out, I always beat you at that too." she said giggling.

"Fine I didn't want to play any of that anyway." he said sulking now.

"Oh do come on, there's something we've got to be able to do round here! I know, let's go see what's in the attic!" the girl said grabbing her cousin and heading for the top stairs.

The attic was actually rather large, running the full length of the upper part of the house, giving these two children plenty of room to play in. However what they found was a bit limited it seemed.

"Cor, it's only a bunch of rubbish up here you know. Let's see, oh look, here's your old pram, you knickers are even still in it!" the boy said grinning.

"Sod off, I was still in nappies when I wore those things. There's got to be something up here, I just know it. You know how they feel bout us coming up here, like it's some giant secret or something. So there's got to be something!" the girl said peering round things to try to make her argument worthwhile.

"Did you ever think that maybe they have good reason? If you ask me, I think it's a bit creepy up here actually. And cold too, feels like a bloody dungeon." the boy said shivering a bit.

"You better not let your mum hear you talking like that you know, she'll murder you, or worse, wash your mouth out with soap." the girl said.

"And look who's talking eh? You're the one poking round in places we shouldn't be." he muttered.

"Where's your sense of adventure? Not like we haven't gotten into scrapes afore now. I'm quite use to the rows bout it really. Oh stop being a wet blanket...oh blimey, what the bloody hell is this?!" the girl said growling as she suddenly tripped over something.

"You allright? What is it?" the boy said.

"I dont know, but it's big. Oh...its..it's a trunk of some kind! What's this? Who's H.J.P. and D.L.M.? Never seen this afore, have you?" the girl said wondringly.

"Nope, haven't. Dont know who they are, maybe friends of our parents? Let's open it up!" the boy said crouching down now to examine the trunk lock.

"I dont know if we should, I mean it's obviously not our family's..."

"Now who's talking bout adventure? Don't you want to even peek at it, just a bit? I'm certainly a bit keen to know what's in here even if you're not."

"Oh, allright, I suppose it couldn't hurt. Well, what are you waiting for...open it allready!" the girl said in a huff.

The boy struggled with the lock for a few moments, but it appeared it wasn't going to budge. Finally he gave up, sitting back down next to the trunk and glaring at it.

"Well? Thought you were going to open it Mr. Adventurous?" the girl smirked.

"It's stuck! Allright Ms. Know It All, go head, you open it!" the boy said scowling.

The girl put her hand on the lock looking for perhaps some other way to open it when suddenly something odd happened. The lock seemed to grow warm in her palm, and a very strange power seemed to flow into her, and seconds later, the lock opened with a tiny 'click'.

"You did it! I dont know how, but you did it!" the boy said beaming up at his cousin.

"I...I dont know either. The minute I touched it I felt like...well odd. Maybe we should leave this thing alone, maybe it's something we shouldn't mess with." the girl said still a bit shaken.

"Look, if it wasn't meant to be looked at, you wouldn't have opened it right? So it's a sign, I say we look!"

"Oh allright, but dont blame me if something really awful comes from this!" the girl said sulkily.

The boy opened the lid of the trunk and peered into it, but wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. Some of the items on top seemed definitely odd at best, so he started pulling some of them out to show the girl.

"What is all this stuff you reckon? Hmm...let's see....got some funny looking sticks here, and..what's that?" the girl said peering round her cousin's shoulder to get a better look.

"Robes looks like...with some odd looking symbols on them...let's see..a lion is on one, and ewww...a snake's on the other, I hate snakes!" he said muttering.

"Stop being such a git, it's only a badge of sorts, not real. I think it's charming." the girl said taking the one with the snake on it in her hand to get a better look. "What else is in there?"

"Hmm...books...lots of really strange books. Blimey what's this, potions, astronomy, divin something or other...trans..transf...I give up on that one...ari..arith...bah another bloody long word..this stuff's all rubbish! Probably books from a play or something, it's not real anyway." the boy said a bit peeved.

"It's Divination, Transfiguration and Arithromancy you stupid git. No wonder you're at the bottom of the form, you're ruddy awful with pronunciation, let alone reading." she said smirking.

"Sod off, we cant all be like you and bloody smarter then anyone else." he muttered. "What else is in there?"

"Really that's bout it, just some clothes, some bits of paper...oh what's this?" she said reaching down into the bottom of the trunk and pulling out a small black book with the initials H.J.P. on it. "That's odd, that's the same initials as the ones on the trunk. Maybe it's this blokes diary or something?"

"Hey yeah, maybe it's finally something good to read! Shall we?"

"I dont know, that's private you know. We shouldn't read what someone else wrote in secret, it's well...wrong." the girl said a bit nervously.

"Like going through this blokes trunk was any different? Well if you wont, I will!" he said and promptly opened the book to the first page. As he started to scan through the pages however, he was a bit surprized at what he was reading, and quite silent.

"Well? What's it say?" the girl finally asked.

"Rubbish, that's what this is. Good for nothing but the dustbin if you ask me. It's all rubbish!" the boy said, and gave it to his cousin to read.

The girl started to flip through the diary and read a few pages here and there. The more she read, the more surprized and bewildered she got, causing her to even gasp in a few places. If she didn't know better, she thought she was reading one of those fantasy books she loved so dearly. That was, until she got to the last entry in the diary, and with a small scream, she realized this wasn't a fantasy she was reading.

"What is it? What's wrong?" her cousin asked her now alarmed. "Come on you git, what's it say?" he said majorly peeved now.

"I..it..cor can it be for real? Hear...let me read it, see what you make of this..." and sitting down with her back against the trunk, her cousin next to her, she read the last entry to him outloud.

* * * * *

I wonder now looking back on these past four years if I ever was that person, the person who was supposed to save the wizarding world...destroy Voldemort and the evils he was...but in the end, I wasn't the one who saved them. I was nothing, noone. Not the Saviour, simply just me. Someone else did my job for me, and I can live in peace, as just a boy who's turning into a man, and creating a life for myself and my beloved.

In the end, our worst enemy became our greatest ally even if the circumstances were vague. He didn't do it for himself, or for us...he did it because he was mad. Not in the angry sense, but in the mental one. He has suffered, and now will pay for his crimes, ironic justice for what he has done to us these many years. Tom feels no loss for him, he no longer admits to anyone but our father as being our father, and I for one, will not say otherwise.

They say time can heal wounds, but it can also do the opposite. It can create them, make them hurt worse, and even make one forget. We have somewhat forgotten, perhaps each of us for our own reasons, but the results are the same. We have forgotten what it was like to sit in a classroom studying potions, transfigurations, to wave a wand and with a simple word make things move. We have nearly forgotten the magic and what it was like to be wizards.

I think this will be my final entry in this diary, for I have come to the realization that it does me and my family no good to dwell in what was, what could and should have been, and in who I was. That person is no more, perhaps I never even wanted to be that person, I dont remember now even, it seems so long ago. I have something now I never could, a mum and dad, a lover who is more precious to me then any magic, and friends who do not have to be in my shadow.

Should the time come that someone does find and read this diary know this...I left on my own choice, not because I was forced to. I could have gone back after the recent events, but I...we...chose to stay here in the muggle world, and live the life we've carved out. Will we ever return to the wizarding world? Perhaps. But not as who we were, but as who we are now. Two friends, two lovers, one heart, mind and soul. Not as the Boy Who Lived and the son of a madman, but as what we have become.

The past is over, the present is but a moment of uncertainties, and the future is yet to be written. Heed my words, whomever is reading this, and take advantage of what you have, not what you were or could have had, for now is all that matters. Grab what you can, hold what you have close, even learn to accept you're once enemies, for like Shakespeare said, 'My only love sprung from my only hate', and I for one, believe that to be truth.

I hope one day, someone will understand the decisions that we all made on this fateful day, July 31st, 2006, for it is I and my 'brother's' 20th birthdays. For now, we will remain here in the home of our 'parents' Alan David Brandon, and Terra Susan Argent Brandon, the ones once known as Sirius Black and Taryn Silver. When it is safe, and Lucius is destroyed once and for all, my brother, my lover..Tomas Sidney Brandon and I will leave this town, so that we can be free to love openly, and rather then share our last name as 'brothers' we shall share it as husbands. Where we will go is yet to be determined, but with all the money we have at our fingertips now, the world shall be our explorations, until we wish to return home.

Home. Such a funny word to me now. Once I thought it to be Hogwarts, as a Gryffindor, but now it is here, in Coxley, in this house. Home is with Tom, they one that used to be named Draco Lucius Malfoy, Slytherin and my once mortally hated enemy. I never really had a home, or love, or understanding, and now I have all that and more.

I swear, as Tom swears, on all that is holy, that we will try not forget we are wizards, or that we once had the ability to be wizards. We may not brew fame, bottle glory, or even put stoppers in death any longer, we may not be doing 'foolish wand waving', or levitating feathers, or reading the stars and all that, but the 'magic' inside of us will never leave us. We choose willing not to use it, atleast for now, but we will not forget that we can.

Remember us for what we were, but more for who we are now. For that is all we want. I do miss my dearest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger Weasley, and I wish them well in the paths they have chosen. Whomever reads this, I implore you, please try to find them someday, and tell them I did care for them deeply, and that I loved them both with all my heart and I never meant to hurt them.

With this written now I am at peace finally. I am free.

* * * * *

"Whoa, what do you think that all means?" the boy said slightly awed.

"Hold on, what's this...a clipping? Wait a minute, this is...oh bloody hell, it's moving!" the girl said as a small piece of parchment dropped out of the back of the book.

"Wow! Sure is! Look, look at the date though, it's 11 years ago, same as the diary, right before we were born! I bet it's an article bout something important, or this person wouldn't have saved it. Read it." the boy said handing the fallen photo to his cousin.

* * * * *

The Wizarding world has much to celebrate this month, as early on we reported that He Who Must Not Be Named, also known as Tom Riddle, and Voldemort, destroyer of wizards and muggles alike, was found confirmed to be dead for all time. As the wizarding world celebrates this demise, we must stop to wonder at the odd turn of events that caused this to happen.

Noted pureblood, death eater, right hand man, and one of the richest men in the wizarding world (confirmed on all this by a servant of Voldemort's, Peter Pettigrew) was the one to eventually destroy the dastardly evildoer. Apparently, according to Pettigrew, Lucius Malfoy, grieving over the loss of his wife Narcissa Malfoy 4 years ago, then the apparent kidnapping of his son Draco Lucius Malfoy, was driven over the edge, and in a rage of pure malice for Voldemort's unsupport of finding his son, cast the same Avada Kedavra spell that kill Harry Potter's parents all those years ago against the evil one, killing him instantly.

Rumor had it that without Harry Potter around to kill off, Voldemort had become frantic, using any and all dark means necessary to find him, until in the end, it weakened the physical body he'd stolen of his dead fathers, and that is how the curse was able to be performed by Lucius Malfoy so successfully.

Sirius Black, who in the end was confirmed not to have kidnapped Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, under sworn oath of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been cleared of all charges against him for the apparently not so demise of Peter Pettigrew, having found him during the raid on Malfoy Manor on the rumors of Lucius's turncoat ways. Dumbledore had no comments for us at this time, however two of the professors of the school, Severus Snape, Potions Master, and Remus Lupin-Snape, his husband and professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, did have this to say.

Remus Lupin-Snape - "Wherever they are, they are happy, and that is all that should matter. We wish them the best, and hope that they wont stay away too long. We'll always be there for them should they need us. Padfoot if you see this, make sure to take care of that woman of yours, she's in for the ride of her life! Harry, Draco, I wish you both the best. Take care of yourselves allright?"

Severus Snape - "I say the same as my husband, only adding this - Taryn, I'm hoping to hear from you." Professor Snape I"m told, is usually a man of little words.

On a side note, James Silvius Lupin-Snape, 11 years of age, a quiet, yet determined lad who looks very much like both his fathers, with shoulder length silky black hair minus the shock of white running through it, and entrancing black eyes, and a voice allready silky like his father Severus's, will be attending Hogwarts this year. So be on the look out all attending Hogwarts first years, this boy is oozing charm!

Also on note, two aurors, who apparently were very close friends of Harry Potter's, Ron and Hermione Weasley, had this to say.

"Harry you gave us the scare of our lives, but we understand now why you did what you did then. We dont hate you, in fact we still miss you. Always know you have a place in our hearts, even if we never see you or Ma-err..Draco again. Take care of yourselves will you? (Ron had this to add - Harry, make sure next we meet you've improved your chess game eh? One day we'll have a rematch!) (On another note, I must add that Hermione Weasley gave birth to a bouncing 8 lb 3 oz little girl. Her name is Lilian Harriet Weasley.)

As things remain, the wizarding world celebrates, and it's heroes...Sirius Black, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy, are the reason. If it was not for them, Voldemort would not have died, and for that, we are forever grateful to them. We here at the Daily Prophet will not attempt to find them wherever they are now, but we do hope they are well, and know that they are missed and loved by all of us.

Lucius Malfoy is now currently in custody, awaiting to be taken to St. Mungo's for treatment, however the general mood is that he is beyond hope, and is no longer a threat to anyone. It's unlikely if he will even live long enough to face the charges against him for treason, death eater activities, procured use and abuse of the dark arts, improper use of dark art items, and according to Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, "a lot of other things that we would rather not go into for safety of your readers."

This ends the tale of horror and mayhem the wizarding world has faced these many many years. Sirius Black, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy...wherever you are in this world, know that we owe you a debt of gratitude, and you will be forever known as the "Heroes That Destroyed Voldemort". Good luck, and may the gods protect you all.

* * * * *

"Whoa, this is...pretty weird." the boy said in a soft tone of voice.

"Yeah I know. Who'd have ever thought? You know what this means dont you?" the girl said turning to her cousin, an odd gleam in her eyes.

"No what?"

"It means that..." the girl began, but didn't get to finish.

"Uh oh, we best get a move on, you're mum will kill us if we're not washed up before dinner! Come on Ori, let's go!" the girl, Andra said, grabbing her cousin by the arm. She hadn't noticed until she was back in her room that she still had the diary in her hand. Quickly, before her cousin could come back into the room, she hid it under in her special draw of secret things. It would be safe there, for the moment anyway, until she could sort this all out, however, now wasnt' the time nor place.

Poking his head into the room, her cousin Orion told her to hurry up, and putting the things she had so recently discovered into the back of her mind, she headed down to dinner. She was a bit subdued during dinner however, which wasn't a surprize to her parents, nor her aunt and uncle, for she was often times pensive on schoolwork and such, but it wasn't that that she was thinking of now.

Right now the only thoughts running through her mind were simple. Find a way in which she could distract her cousin, and all her relatives, and somehow find a way back up the attic unnoticed. And above all, her goal was clear..to find out more of the items in that trunk, and to reread that diary top to bottom for more clues. For if she was right, she wasn't the person she thought she was, and suddenly, alot of things in her and her cousins past were beginning to make an awful lot of sense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Couple things - Naughts and Crosses is the match Tic-Tac-Toe. A pram is an infant stroller, more like a buggy type. Has 4 wheels, and a bonnet (hood) on it. Nappies are diapers.

Their names are a bit of a pun on things. Andra is Scottish, meaning Strong and Brave, like a Gryffindor, and Ophelia of course, means serpent.

Orion though is Greek, for son of fire; the hunter. Taryn being an earth element, Orion being fire element named. Llewellyn is Celtic, meaning lion...can you sense a pattern here? :grins: oi am I a giveaway or what?! :)

For those interested, here's afew little stellar tidbits bout our favourite peoples! These are all constellations by the by.

Draco (Dragon) - The dragon slayed by Hercules according to one myth. One of the most popular characters in Greek Mythology. For the powerful, dominant person. Visible from the UK: All times of the year.

Canis Major (Greater Dog) - Contains Sirius, the brightest star in the entire sky - ideal constellation for dog or animal lovers. Visible from the UK: December - April.

Lupus (Wolf) (A/N I'm refering this as to Remus of course :) ) - This constellation seems to have been an unidentified animal, with Centaurus possibly offering this animal as a sacrifice. Very mysterious! Visible from UK: June - August.

Orion (Hunter) - The hunter who boasted he could kill any creature on Earth - fatally stung by a scorpion. A giant of a man in more ways then one. A very famous mythological character. Visible from UK: November - April.

2002-03-07 10:02:52 AM