A Start To An Unwilling New Family (Ellison Twins)

[Ashlyn Swallow G5]

She was nervous and it was affecting everything, Ashlyn fumed silently. She couldn’t play without messing up a note, barely ate unless the house-elves became so worried that they almost insisted and slept badly almost every night. The bond may have been her fault – and Ashlyn had willingly accepted all of the blame for tying another person to her for life – but this predicament was all Damon’s fault. All of it was his fault. If she had thought that the Graas children were going to eat her after interrogating her then Ashlyn could only have nightmares about the parents. Oh, what a great idea. Let’s meet the parents and show them exactly what their son was bonded to for the rest of his life. Forget that she hated people and especially families – let’s torture her some more!

Damon Graas was nothing but an insufferable male who plotted her downfall through his parents, Ashlyn sulked silently as she stormed out of her house and into the streets of Hogsmeade. It really was just her luck to be bonded to a male. And it didn’t help her mood that she had to stay at the house in Hogsmeade for a few days to avoid any correspondence that her parents might have sent since she hadn’t quite worked up the courage to face them and tell them exactly what she thought of them. And her day just kept getting worse, she thought wryly when her gaze passed over two small figures sitting with their backs against a fence. After learning that she had two cousins at Hogwarts once again, Ashlyn had rearranged her schedule to make time to dig out her family tree and examine it only to discover that she had, not two, but three cousins.

“Get up, cousins,” Ashlyn ordered brusquely, her pity slightly stirred by the sight of the girl in tears. At one time, she had been that girl, sitting in a secluded corner and crying while no one was watching because it was the only way to let some of the hurt and pain escape. Only, she hadn’t had a brother trying so hard to comfort her even when he was hurting. But still, she kept her tone forceful and left them without a choice but to follow her because she knew that it would give them something to focus on and let their minds push away the thoughts of what was bothering them. “Keegan, Alexis.” Her tone was even sharper this time and they hurried forward to walk next to her obediently.

It seemed wrong to bring them into what had once been James’s house but she had little choice so Ashlyn ushered them in and, with one furtive glance around, closed the door. “Jigger, get some tea.” Ashlyn ordered softly, glancing at the twins before adding softly, “some calming potions also might be necessary.” After some deliberation, she concluded that she had little choice and, with one hand on each of their shoulders, steered them towards the private sitting room and gestured for them to take a seat. Neither of the twins actually meant anything to her but Alexis, while sitting and crying into her knees silently, had reminded her so much of herself that Ashlyn hadn’t been able to leave them out on the street. “Which one of you is going to tell me what’s wrong?” Ashlyn inquired carelessly, crossing her legs neatly as she leaned back in her chair and sipped at her tea.

[Keegan Ellison S3]

She’s dead. His father’s hollow words echoed through his head endlessly as Keegan chased through the streets in pursuit of his sister, breathing heavily through tears that blurred his vision. “Lexi!” His childhood name for her, a name that he hadn’t used in so many years, seemed to break through whatever daze his twin was in since she stopped and waited for him to catch up with her. “She’s dead,” Alexis cried softly. His heart wrenched at the childish despair in his sister’s voice even as he pulled himself together enough to fish a handkerchief out of his pocket and dry her tears himself after she just looked at the cloth cluelessly. Silently, Keegan threw an arm around his sister’s shoulders to draw her closer as he steered them away from the crowded streets of Hogsmeade.

They had walked for about an hour before Alexis showed signs of coming back to a more aware state. Oh thank Merlin, Keegan whispered silently, hot tears prickling in the back of his eyes. He had already lost one family member today; he couldn’t stand to lose another one. But his turn to grieve would come later. Right now, Alexis was his responsibility and he had to look after her. Which was why he shot a look around the streets, desperately trying to recall a more secluded spot for her to have her breakdown in. His sister was highly prideful and would hate to realise that anyone but him was seeing her cry but going back to the house was out of the question.

Cousins? Keegan looked up from miserably trying to comfort his sister only to be confronted by the face of an annoyed looking blonde who, although too light-haired to be mistaken for his sister, looked quite like how Keegan imagined his twin looking in a few years. It wasn’t odd for him to discover a cousin he hadn’t known he had. His father’s family had been rather annoyed at him for divorcing his first wife to marry the twins mother. “We’re coming,” Keegan snapped irritably, his slow temper roused by the insensitivity of his cousin.

“C’mon, Lexi,” Keegan coaxed gently, bringing her to her feet and slinging an arm around her waist to keep her upright. Normally, he would have looked around the house in discreet curiousity but his attention was mostly focused on keeping his twin from seeming completely catatonic. The first cup of tea Keegan picked up was pressed into his sisters hands with a firm look that warned her to drink it before he drank from his own cup. “Our mother’s dead,” Keegan answered shortly. “Potions accident.”

[Alexis Ellison S3]

Merlin, she loved her brother, Alexis thought as Keegan helped her to stumble through the streets and into the house. She might be the one who generally made the majority of the decisions – especially when it came to their half-sister – but she also tended to forget that Keegan had a way of quietly persuading her to follow his choice without her really noticing. He was the soft-hearted one, Keegan was. He was hurting just as much as she was, probably even more since he had been the only one to step into the lab and see... Alexis retched before the thought could make it back into her mind, sensing more than hearing Keegan’s alarmed curse as he set a bowl in front of her immediately and whisked it away only to wipe her mouth with a wet cloth seconds later.

Mutely, she took the tea that her brother handed to her, blinking down at the cup emptily before automatically drinking from it. Chamomile, her mind informed her briefly. Calming, soothing and probably the best tea for her to be drinking at the moment. Indeed, her senses seemed to be returning slowly so Alexis leaned forward to take one of the vials of potion, clearly labelled ‘Calming Potion’, from the table and downed it in one gulp. Keegan sent her a silently approving glance before copying her actions with an appreciative grin to their hostess. Yes, that was quite right. Alexis’ mind cleared some more as her green eyes rose to glance at the older girl for the first time. “Thank you for your hospitality,” she murmured formally before falling into silence once again.

Keegan drifted into silence after offering a short explanation and Alexis took over automatically. “We were out for the day in Diagon Alley with our friends. We always meet up with them around this time every year and then later to buy our supplies. Dad took Layla, our little sister, out for the day because Mum wanted some time alone. She gets stressed so easily. She got stressed so easily,” Alexis corrected herself, looking lost for a few moments before pulling herself together again simply because she had to. “Keegan went home before me; I was having too much fun to want to return home. When I got back...the door was open, there were Aurors outside and the lab had been on fire. Dad was sitting in the hallway, just crying into his hands with Layla on his lap and crying into his shirt.” Her mouth ran dry and Alexis raised the cup to her mouth again, tears silently tracking down her face. She didn’t even have to look to know that Keegan was crying too. “The Aurors told us...they told us that Mum had been messing around with potions. She’d always loved them and she worked at the apothecary. It was meant to be her day off but she must have been catching up with some work. But she must have mixed something wrongly or chosen the wrong ingredient by accident. The explosion knocked Mum out and while she was unconscious, the fire spread. She didn’t have a chance.”

Alexis surrendered to her tears as one last, horrifying thought occurred to her. “We can’t go back there,” she sobbed unhappily. “Mum died there, Keegan saw her. I...please don’t make us go back,” Alexis begged desperately, her eyes – a beautiful green that she had seen reflected in her mother’s face every day since the day she had been born – clouded with the tears that steadily dripped down her face and onto her hands.

[Ashlyn Swallow G5]

Ashlyn didn’t even stop to think before crossing the room in a few long strides, kneeling beside Alexis and gripping her hands lightly. Green met blue and in those green eyes, Ashlyn saw pain, fear and desperation. It was like looking into a green-tinted mirror of herself after James’ death so she put her arms around the younger girl in an awkward hug, soothing her without words. These two teenagers would turn out like herself if someone didn’t look after them and that was not a fate that she would ever wish on anyone. For now, that someone would have to be herself.

The two teenagers had cried themselves into exhaustion after half an hour and, aided by the calming potions they had swallowed with the tea, were sleeping restlessly in Ashlyn’s bedroom upstairs. Lucky them, she thought lightly. They were certainly getting more peace than herself, who was currently trying to get out of an uncomfortable situation that she wasn’t quite sure how she had gotten herself into. “You can have all three of them,” the blonde-haired man told her unemotionally. “I don’t want them, not any of them. Not without her.” Ashlyn opened her mouth to protest but sent an uneasy look to the peacefully sleeping girl on the couch and reconsidered. The man would probably get louder if he was interrupted. “I’ll sign over custody of them to you immediately. They just remind me too much of her. Please understand.”

Yeah, I understand, Ashlyn thought bitterly as she watched her uncle leave. I understand that the Ellison’s have a habit of leaving people when they need them most. You bastard – those children need their father because they don’t have a mother anymore and you’re just walking away from them without even looking back. But that’s the Ellison way, isn’t it? Make your decision and don’t look back; to hell with the rest of the world. What was she going to do with two thirteen year old and a ten year old? Ashlyn wondered perplexedly. Well, Layla would be at Hogwarts in September so she wouldn’t have to worry about the child being at home alone but what was she meant to do with them until then? Not that it mattered anymore, Ashlyn sighed as she picked up the ten year old gently and carried her up the stairs to rest with her brother and sister. There was no turning back now.

It was still a mystery, Ashlyn pondered once downstairs again. A woman, experienced with potions and working with them for a living, dead from a potions accident. It seemed unlikely but what was the other possibility – murder? That was more than enough suspicion aimed towards someone from her own bloodline, Ashlyn told herself firmly as she pushed away from the table and grabbed her violin. It had been an accident and nothing more. Bad things happened. That was life. With the unconscious ease that came from something being a habit, Ashlyn placed the violin under her chin and raised the bow to the string reverently before beginning a mournful requiem for the Aunt she had never known and now never would know.