That day in first year ran through her mind so much that Tara began to have more confidence in herself. The last five years at Hogwarts seemed to blow past. She and Natalie were closer than sisters and had gotten two new friends to add to their sisterhood. Kyla was the fiery one of the bunch. She had flaming red hair, like Tara’s and ice blue eyes She was definatly intimidating when she was mad. Charlie was the adventurous one. Always taking every dare to heart. She had long, strawberry blonde hair that she always just threw up and beautiful hazel eyes. She was the only girl, so far, that Ian had stayed with longer then two weeks. So far, she and Ian had been going out for six months. Natalie was the fashion queen and the one who kept all their grades up. She had curly brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was very jealous of Charlie and both tended to argue a lot but they both knew they were together till the end. And, then there was Tara. She was more of quiet type and tended to watch on the sidelines then get involved. She knew almost everything that happened in school and knew the right plan for the right moment. For some reason, she felt that she did all of that because she had a feeling that there was still hope in finding her mother. She had disappeared the night her father was killed and no one has seen or heard from her since. Not to mention, she was constantly reminded of how much she looked like Lily with her long auburn hair and bright green eyes.
Ian on the other hand, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, the Marauders and the Weasley’s. Sam, Jesse and him were the most popular kids in school. And, if you thought them extremely handsome at eleven, try sixteen. Unfortunately for Tara, the only boy she liked in school was Jesse, the womanizer and group leader. Sam, on the other hand, tended to flirt rather than chase. He was definatly good on the eyes but, in Tara’s book, he was still a mischief maker, like the other two.
Ian, of course, was an even better Seeker than his father and already had Captaincy. Probably because almost every generation back had played Quidditch and, both his parents had played Seeker. Tara knew if she tried out, she would get it because she was just as good as her brother but she just didn’t have the motivation or the interest.
Towards the end of third year, Ian had pulled her aside and secretly told her that they had become unregistered animagus, and, much to Ian’s surprise, Tara simply patted him on the arm and congratulated him to putting his mind to good use. He told her that he was a white cat, Sam a falcon and Jesse was a fox. He had told her that that was their secret for never getting caught because they always did their mischief by animagus form.
In forth year, Ian got his first real accident in Quidditch that had put him in a short coma. He had several broken ribs, a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, a shattered arm and a ruptured spleen. He had gotten hit by a Bludger by Delani Malfoy He had fallen one hundred and thirty feet to the ground. He still had the scars.
After that, much to her knowledge from gossip, Ian was spotted having a “thing” with Delani which ended in spells being cast and a bloody nose, on Ian’s part.
After all that, Ian lost most of his popularity with the girls and he was able to get a clear, level head. That was when he met Charlie. From first sight, he knew her to be the one. He chased after her all forth year and into fifth year and suddenly, it just happened. The news flew around the school like a germ and once again, his popularity returned.
In the middle of fifth year, Dumbledore told Tara and Ian that Remus and Peyton had been returned mysteriously. They were perfectly fine except, Remus had changed. He would walk around, all pale and ramble on about how he had been certain. He tended to stay in his little apartment all the time and hardly went out in public.
Peyton was absolutely thrilled to be returned to his parents. Though, he hardly had any memories of them, he still seemed to except them as he had five years previous. On asked about what happened or who he saw, he would shrug his shoulder and change the subject, not wanting to admit anything. He was about five years old now and had the Weasley’s red hair and Hermione’s blue eyes. The only thing they had managed to get out of him was, “It’s coming…” Though he was very vague on what.
After that, everything was calm and life moved back to it’s original pace. Fifth year ended in Gryffindor winning the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup. And, it also favored a new surprise. When they were getting on the train, Jesse pulled her aside and told her that he really liked her and wanted to hang out that summer. It had happened so quick and unexpected that the whole summer went by and neither saw each other and the first day of school came with dread.
_______________________
The door to Tara’s room burst open and a very handsome sixteen year old Ian Potter stood in the doorway, his pajama bottoms sporting tiny green clovers all over them and his tee-shirt was all white and a tad too big. He grinned his trademark smile.
“Tara!” he cried.
She groaned and covered her head with a pillow. “Go away…” she told him.
Ian grinned and crossed the room, plopping down on her bed, pulling her pillow away from her head. “For being twins, we’re definatly not the same…” he told her. “I’m a morning person and you’re definatly not.”
She glared back at him. “What do you want, Ian?” she asked him with a growl.
He brightened. “Last day of summer break! Uncle Ron said they’re taking us to Diagon Alley today!” He leaped off her bed with a whoop of joy and raced from the room. Tara groaned again and grabbed her pillow, stuffing it down over her head once more.
Truth be told, she wasn’t at all looking forward to Diagon Alley. Her friends were sure to be there and that would mean Ian would be up Charlie’s butt and wherever Ian was, there was Jesse. God! Those eyes! No! He was a stuck-up bastard who enjoyed nothing in life except to torment women. It was his goal in life. She thought to herself.
Hermione walked past her open door carrying a laundry basket. She stopped in the doorway of her room and frowned. “Tara Ginevra Potter! Why are you still in bed?” she asked.
Tara groaned and threw her pillow aside, rolling out of bed. Hermione smirked and continued down the hallway.
Tara went in her bathroom and washed her face and threw up her hair real quick into a messy bun. She turned to leave but not before she looked at her reflection. She had seen pictures of her parents ever since she was little but there was nothing in her features that let her look like her father. Neither Ian nor her looked like him. Well, Ian had her father’s hair and she had his eyes but that was about it. Everything else was strictly their mother. And, everyone she met seemed to remind her about this.
She went out into the hallway and could hear Peyton crying in the kitchen down below. Ron was yelling at who she suspected to be Ian, She rolled her eyes and went down the stairs into the kitchen. Apparently, Ian had taken the rest of Peyton’s juice and finished it and then proceeded to eat his cereal. Ron saw it and proceeded to yell at him.
“-have to be like that? Just because he’s younger then you doesn’t mean you can just take everything for granted!” Ron yelled at Ian.
Ian watched Ron with a bored look on his face. “Sorry…” he muttered.
Ron eyed Ian, then, with a sigh, went upstairs, running his hand through his hair. Tara sighed and refilled Peyton’s cup and gave him more cereal before turning to Ian. “Just because you do it at school doesn’t mean you can do it here!” she snapped at him, her green eyes flashing dangerously.
Ian rolled his eyes. “Not you too…” he groaned.
Tara threw up her hands and turned away from him to get her own cereal. “You’re unbelievable!”
Ian grinned. “That’s what Jesse says about you everyday.” Ian teased.
Tara slammed her bowl down on the counter and turned to Ian with a deadly look. “You’re dead!” she screamed and Ian took off out the front door with a cackle and Tara raced after him.
Ron and Hermione lived right in London in a large three story townhouse. They had a huge lawn and both had a car. Tara figured it was because Hermione was muggle-born and they just wanted to fit in.
Ian jumped the railing of the porch and ran down the sidewalk. Tara, though, took the stairs two at a time but lost some ground. But, she also prided herself in her speed. She knew she could easily run him down.
They made it down the block and Ian crossed the street into the park. As his twin, Tara could already tell what Ian was up to and hurried her pace. Sure enough, when she reached the park, Ian had disappeared. She stopped to take breather and look around till she found what she was looking for and she crept forward. A large, long-haired white cat was purring and rubbing up against the leg of a hot woman in a running outfit who was petting him, talking sweet to him. Tara gagged. How typical.
A boy and his dog went running past and she got a quick idea. She caught up to him, paid him twenty bucks and walked home with a grin on her face.
Sometime after breakfast, Ian came in all scratched up and muddy with a murderous look on his face. Ron, Hermione, Peyton and Tara were all sitting around the table and watched as he limped towards the stairs.
“You paid him didn’t you?” Ian snapped, looking at Tara.
Tara only shrugged innocently, acting like nothing happened. Ron and Hermione watching him limp up the stairs, their mouths open in shock. They looked back at Tara who looked at them innocently and continued eating.
When she was done, she went up to Ian’s room and knocked softly. “Ian? Are you alright?” she asked.
There was a moment’s pause and the door opened to a glowering Ian. “Does it look like I’m alright?” he asked angrily.
Tara pushed past him into the room and plopped down onto his bed. “Well, I was just getting back at you for all the rotten things you’ve done to me this summer.” she told him with a grin.
Ian smirked back at her and took his muddy shirt off. The scars from his Quidditch accident littered his body but he quickly shoved a new shirt down over himself. He was very self-conscious about himself, especially now that he had scars. “You’re getting too much like me, Tara. It scares me.” he admitted.
She shook her head. “Nah. I’m the complete opposite of you and you know it.” she told him.
He nodded. “I do. That’s how we learn to agree on things but, you still have the need to cause some trouble.” he winked at her. “Don’t ya?”
She blushed and looked away. At that moment, Hermione knocked softly on the open door. “Hey, you two. Ron wants to leave soon so you might want to get ready.”
Tara stood. “We’re coming, Aunt Hermione.” she nodded and left. Tara turned back to Ian. “Sorry about today, Ian. I didn’t mean to.”
Ian shrugged. “No big deal, sis. It was actually fur being chased by a dog. Stupid things if you ask me.”
Tara giggled and left the room.
___________________
Tara and Ian had been in Diagon Alley since the day they were born so it was nothing new to them as they stepped out through the fireplace next to the bookstore. As it was the last day of their summer break, Diagon Alley was packed with students. Ian saw tons of first years who stumbled beneath their packages of robes, a wand and an owl. He couldn’t remember even being that young.
He made to move down the street with Tara but there was a squeal and a flash of strawberry blonde hair and Charlie jumped into his arms.
“Pooh bear!” she squealed, kissing him hard. “I’ve missed you!”
Ian grinned and set her down. “You wrote me everyday! How could you have missed me?”
She gave a little pouty frown. “I missed you’re kisses.”
He grinned and set her down, giving her a more serious kiss. “Better?”
She looked up at him. “Definatly.”
Tara mimed throwing up then turned around, only to come face-to-face with Jesse himself. She took a step backwards and sputtered for the right words.
“Lost for words at the sight of me, kitten?” he asked her casually.
She slammed her mouth shut and looked haughty but couldn’t stop the blush creeping into her face. Those eyes…
“What do you want, Emerson and don’t call me kitten.”
Jesse shrugged non-chalantly. “Nothing. I was going to say hi but you clearly aren’t ready for the niceties yet.”
Now she was lost for words. What? No sly comeback? No flirty, witty explanation? Was this the Jesse Emerson she had met last term?
Her though process was put on hold as Natalie and Kyla skidded up beside her and smothered her in hugs.
“Tara!” they squealed.
“When did you guys get here?” she asked breathlessly.
“I stayed at Natalie’s last night.” Kyla told her. “And, we decided to come today to just walk around. We got our stuff last week so…”
Tara grinned. “Well, I’m just happy you guys came, with love birds over there.” she told them., pointing to Ian and Charlie.
Natalie giggled. “Come on, let’s get some ice cream…”
Ian watched his sister and her friends walk away and turned back to Charlie who was smiling up at him, her arms wrapped around his waist. “Aren’t you going with them?” he asked her.
She gave him a pouty face. “What? Don’t you want me with you?” she whined.
Seeing he was treading in dangerous water, he quickly added. “Yes! I do! I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going so that you could spend all your time with me!” he told her, giving her a radiant smile.
She quickly forgave him, of course, and leaned up, giving him another kiss.
Jesse rolled his eyes and patted Sam on the shoulder. “When Ian resurfaces, tell him I’m trailing his sister.’
Sam nodded, looking rather put-out by having to stay with the kissy-mushy couple. Jesse walked off, keeping his eyes open for the familiar red head. No sooner did he walk away did he find her and her friends at the ice cream parlor, ordering ice creams.
He quickly dodged behind a book cart outside of Florish and Blotts and pretended to be interested in a book about cursed Egyptian scrolls that caused the reader to talk in gibberish for the rest of their lives.
He peered out from behind the book cart and watched as they made their way down the crowded street. He put the book back and made after them as unnoticeable as possible. He had had a lot of practice with stealth the last two years because his Animagus form was a fox and they were always naturally stealthy.
Their next stop was the robe shop where all three girls spread out to look around. Jesse walked in and scouted the store, immediately spotting Tara’s red hair in the far corner of the store. He smirked and circled behind her. “Hey, Tara.” he whispered in her ear.
Tara gave a little squeak and dropped the robes she had been looking at before she turned around. “What do you want, Jesse?” she snapped as she bent down to pick up the robes.
He gave her a surprised look. “I thought we were going to hang out this summer?” he asked her.
A guilty feeling swept over her and she blushed. “I guess I forgot.” she said simply.
Jesse nodded. “Mhmm, I’m sure…” he told her teasingly. When she gave him a threatening look, Jesse cleared his throat and changed the subject. He turned to the rack of robes and peered through them. “So, tell me. What are you looking for?” he asked her with a seemingly interested look on his face.
I want a piece of you with everything in top… she shook her head and shrugged. “I want something casual, I suppose.” she moved around the rack to look at him. She took in the fact that he was dressed in all black and his hair, when he had been in first year, had been a light brown and was now a darker shade of brown. He was tall, taller than Ian and had the muscles of a Quidditch player, even though he didn’t play. His green eyes were a blazing emerald and they were so intent on the robes that she had to stifle a giggle. Am I actually talking to Emerson? she asked herself. I’ve always talked to him before because he’s my brother’s best friend but not like this… I’ve never felt this way before… She suddenly looked away as he looked up at her with a grin.
She pointly looked away as Natalie appeared beside her, saving her from answering embarrassing questions.
“Tara, Kyla’s going to pay then we’re leaving. Are you coming?” She glanced from her to Jesse and back again and smirked.
Tara’s face flushed pink, whether from anger or embarrassment, Jesse couldn’t tell but, before he knew it, Tara was leaving with Kyla and Natalie, leaving him to wonder about her watching him.
_______________________
Ian found his day to be a real drawl. Charlie dragged him to every girly store within a ten mile radius and cooed over the “cutest things”. When Charlie dragged him to a make-up store, he finally broke away, dragging Sam along. They caught up to Jesse who wasted no time and re-telling the story of him and Tara, during which Ian was laughing hysterically. Jesse told them that no matter what had happened today, he wasn’t about to give up on her.
They stocked up on their supplies and bought their new books. At quarter to five, Hermione found them and told Ian that it was time to go home. Sam said he had to get home too but Jesse ended up going home with Ian. He had promised Hermione that his parents would send his stuff over later, much to Tara’s anger.
Later that night, Tara stayed in her room, listening to Ian and Jesse down the hall in Ian’s room. She had a photo album open on her lap of when her father and mother had been younger. She flipped through a few pages till a piece of parchment fell out of one of the pages.
Intrigued, she picked it up. It was a letter from Ginny to Harry and dated a month or two after they had left school.
Dear Harry,
I know we broke up because you didn’t want Voldemort to find out but, I remember you telling me that the only, most sure way to kill Voldemort, is love and I believe that if we get back together, out love together could bring him down. I love you, Harry and I would never let you fight him alone. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and I have never left your side. Not during the Department of Mysteries and not during the Death Eater attack on Hogwarts. We were faithful DA members but I’m still forever faithful to your heart, Harry. I want to be the love you feel when you fight Voldemort and I want my love for you to help aid you. I hope this letter reaches your hands soon because each moment I spend without you makes me heart break a little more.
With Love,
Ginny Weasley
Tara set the letter down, wiping the tears from her cheeks. It was hard to believe that two people had to be killed for such cause. Well, her father anyway. She still didn’t know if her mother was dead yet.
Her curiosity peeked, she flipped through the album for more notes and, instead, a picture fell out that had come loose from the page. It was a picture from her parents wedding day. They were waving happily at her and Mrs. Weasley was crying at Ginny’s elbow. Mr. Weasley had his arm around his wife’s shoulders and had a bog grin on his face. The Weasley twins were setting off fireworks in the background and Ron and Hermione were congratulating Harry . And, in the background, looking thoroughly uncomfortable being there, were Harry’s Aunt, Uncle and cousin Dudley.
She smiled at the picture. What she wouldn’t have done to be there on that day. She closed the photo album with a sigh. She remembered a memory from Ron’s pensieve that she had accidentally fallen into. It was the only thing she had.
-Flashback-
There was a soft knock on Ron’s apartment door and he opened it to find Harry standing in the doorway, his cloak wrapped around him. A wedding ring blazed on his finger. This memory was well after his wedding.
“Harry!” Ron exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” he asked him, letting him in.
Harry unclasped his cloak and draped it over the back of a chair. “Well, I just came from work and thought I could talk to you…”
Ron looked surprised. “You didn’t go home first? That’s a surprise. You know Ginny will throw a fit…”
Harry shifted uncomfortably. “Well, it’s Ginny…. That’s why I’m here…”
Ron’s eyes instinctively narrowed. “What did you do to her?” he asked him.
Harry gave him an uncomfortable smile. “Well, I sorta got her pregnant…”
There was silence at first then a goofy grin spread across Ron’s face. “You mean, I’m going to be an uncle?”
Harry smirked. “Yup.”
That was it because, at that moment, Ron had appeared and pulled her out of the memory, grounded her and hid the pensieve where she had yet to find it.
-End Flashback-
There was a knock at the door and Ian and Jesse appeared, wearing their best. “We’re going out for awhile. Are you coming?”
Tara grinned. “Yeah!” And she scrambled off the bed after them, leaving the photo album laying on her bed.
____________________
Having Hermione as an aunt had helped the twins to be well educated in the Muggle world. One being the subway. Jesse was absolutely entranced by the trains. He kept asking random people how they worked and either got laughed at or ignored.
They got off the subway at a local shopping plaza where they got a table and ate ice cream. It was only on the way home that trouble started.
It was already dark and they were on the subway home. It was relatively empty and Ian, Jesse and Tara had a train car all to themselves. Tara was reading a new book she had bought and Ian and Jesse were giggling over some muggle magazine. She looked over at them to tell them to shut-up when, suddenly, the lights in their train car flickered and went out.
Instantly, Ian and Jesse were on their feet with their wands out, all seriousness about them now. Tara stood slowly as she watched a hooded figure appear in the doorway of their train car and slowly raise a wand, mutter something and a flash of red streaked towards them.
Tara was shoved to the ground as the spell raced past them and blasted a hole in the side of the train.
“Tara! Run!” she heard Ian shout at her from the other side of their car.
She scrambled to her feet and headed towards the door where the hooded figure had come through. She stopped in the doorway and looked behind her. Another figure had appeared in the other doorway and had disarmed both boys and held his wand to them.
Tara raised her wand and walked towards the figures.
“Tara! NO!” Ian shouted but the words had left her mouth before she could stop herself.
“Stupify!” The nearest figure crumbled to the ground and Tara had to duck out of the way as the other figure shot a spell at her.
“Run, Tara!” Jesse screamed at her.
She ran towards the next car and burst through the door, the muggles there screaming. She could hear the figure hot on her heels and she prayed that Ian and Jesse had managed to escape during all the confusion.
She didn’t dare stop and use magic. She had already violated the right for underage magic and she didn’t want to make it worse by doing it in front of muggles.
She burst through the next door into the next car where another hooded figure was waiting for her. She stopped short and gasped. She was trapped. Muggles had shied away from her now, glancing between her and both figures.
“Come with us and you’ll be making it easier for yourself.”
“Never!” Tara hissed.
The whole time, the train had been slowly down. Now it stopped and the doors opened. She quickly put on a burst of speed and shot out of the train just as a spell exploded into the door behind her. Now there was chaos on the station. Through it all, she saw Ian and Jesse escape a few doors down with three hooded figures on them.
She reached the stairs and was about half way till a spell exploded under her feet, causing the stairs to break way. She screamed as she began to slide backwards. With quick thinking, she grabbed a piece of the stairs and lugged it at the figure who wiped it away with a flick of his wand. But, that moment had given her enough time to scrambled upwards and head back up the stairs.
Back outside, she turned around to see her attacker better under a street light. She gasped in anger. She recognized the mask of the Death Eater, of the very thing her father had died to destroy. Anger bubbled inside her and she ran faster, determined to out run him.
Suddenly, he Apparated right in front of her and she screamed, ducking down an alleyway, only to find herself trapped. Another Death Eater was blocking the other side of the alleyway. She turned around with a gasp as the first Death Eater chuckled and walked towards her. “You might as well give up. We already had your brother. The less of a struggle, the easier this will be.”
“Liar!” she screamed.
The Death Eater raised his wand and she closed her eyes and ducked, waiting for it.
“Stupify!”
She opened her eyes to see the Death Eater collapse. Jesse stood behind him, his eyes blazing. The other Death Eater shot a spell at him and quickly used a shield charm, which backfired against the Death Eater and he, too, collapsed.
“Are you alright?” Jesse asked her, running over to her.
“Where’s Ian?” she snapped.
He nodded behind him. “Running for your Uncle Ron. He’s got a few cuts and bruises but he’ll be alright,”
Tara’s fierce bravado melted away and she flung her arms around Jesse with a cry and buried her head in his chest. He held her tightly. “It’s alright. It’s over now…”
She sniffed. “What do they want…?” she whispered.
But, she already knew the answer to that question….
A New Generation Begins by The_Heir_of Gryffindor
Chapter Notes: This gives a highlight of what is to come. The twins finally relieze that there's still something out there and they are the target. I hope this one holds the action you were looking for!