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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍
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LIKE JAMES SAID, HE AND Olivia chose to ignore what happened the night before. They had ended up falling asleep wrapped around each other's arms— Olivia would never admit it, but it was the best sleep she's gotten in a while. The morning after that, the two acted like nothing happened which Olivia was grateful for.

Unfortunately, some things were not as easy to ignore. In a magical castle where they learned about potion making and proper wand movements, it's almost easy to forget that outside the protective Hogwarts walls, a war continued to rage on. When James and Sirius does something stupid, it's almost easy for Olivia to forget that dark forces will stop at nothing to get what they want.

However, the list of names in the Daily Prophet was a constant reminder for the students, and on that dreary day of October, one name stood out amongst the rest. Ophelia Merrythought was one of the listed names, their defense against the dark arts teacher. Now as the students sat in what should be their DADA class, everyone remained quiet, none of them wanting to disrespect the death of whom they all knew to be a great teacher.

A memorial was held for the fallen professor the morning earlier and now the students await to find who their new teacher would be. It was a well known fact that Ophelia Merrythoughts was about to retire, which was why she was out that certain night interviewing the young lady who aspires to be a teacher. However, she was unfortunate enough to have ran in with some Death Eaters who quickly realized her to be a member of the Order. Even with her expertise with defensive spells, she wouldn't have been able to fight five death eaters at once.

Olivia sat with her fellow Slytherins, her place right in front of James. Everyone gathered in the Great Hall where Dumbledore had just finished giving his eulogy. "Now, it's time to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, whom Ophelia herself handpicked. Join me in welcoming Professor Amara Kinsley."

Olivia's head snapped up so fast that she ended up getting whiplash and sure enough, her sister stood in front of them beside Dumbledore. Everyone stared at the previous Hogwarts student, whom is considered to be a legend amongst these walls.

The Kinsley siblings all handled their pain in different ways. Olivia built walls and defenses around herself, Maxwell rebelled and fought back, Samuel threw himself head first into academics and sports, but Amara, oh Amara was spitfire. She caused chaos wherever she went and she'd do anything to get what she wanted. Olivia always thought that the only things Amara feared was their parents and the dark lord himself. However, it seems that wasn't the case anymore.

Olivia knew her sister well and she knew that look in her eyes. Amara was done running and Olivia pitied whoever went in her way, because if Olivia is hurricane then Amara is a raging storm and heaven bless the poor soul who try to stop her.

"Hello, Everyone," Amara greeted with one of her crazy, mischievous smiles, her eyes lingering on Olivia and even where the younger Kinsley stood, Olivia saw the troublesome glint in her older sister's eyes.

Everyone watched the older Kinsley with awestruck eyes, all of them having heard the stories of the multiple chaotic situations she somehow managed to put herself in and half wondered why the twenty three year old girl chose to teach in Hogwarts when she obviously has a very bright future ahead of her if only she actually tried.

"I hope we all get along well," she said, her eyes scanning the sea of students before smirking. "Oh I really hope so. For your sake."

It was such an Amara thing to say that Olivia almost wanted to laugh, but her schoolmates eyed each other warily, her threatening words obviously getting to them.

From across her — with two other students in between them — James met her eyes and amusedly raised an eyebrow. They were only in second year when Amara graduated, but who could ever forget a girl like her? To James, it almost seemed ridiculous for Olivia and Amara to be related. Of course, they shared the same features like the chocolate hue hair and the pale skin as well as the freckles that littered their faces, but whereas Olivia's eyes are grey, Amara's was a sharp shade of blue—a courtesy from their Malfoy cousins. However, it didn't matter how similar the two looked, it was obvious to everyone how different they are in every way possible.

James pointed at the untouched food in front of her, a silent way of telling her to eat which Olivia rolled her eyes at but did it nonetheless. The baby bump in her stomach was admittedly getting larger. So much that she's started using disillusionment charms to hide it, which is uncomfortable but Olivia dealt with it as best as she could.

"Wow, Liv, you have got to introduce me to your hot sister." Was the first words Sirius said once the assembly had ended and the four Gryffindor boys returned to crowding around her.

Remus rolled his eyes, hitting the black boy with a school book he had been carrying for his next class. "She's our professor."

"And six years older than you," James added.

Sirius faked gasped as he dramatically place his hand over his chest. "Love knows no bounds, my friends, and age is but a number."

Olivia rolled her eyes at his antics. "And so is the police landline apparently."

It was as if Sirius was unable to hear them as he kept going on. "What do you call a younger man being attracted to an older woman? I mean, I know an older woman being attracted to a younger man is called a cougar but what if it's the other way around?"

"Inappropriate," Peter answered without losing a beat.

"Illegal," Olivia said.

Sirius playfully rolled his eyes. "Well, you two are rays of sunshine. If we get together, you and I will be related by law, Liv, don't you want that?"

Olivia scoffed at the leather jacket wearing boy. "It's not happening, Black. Get your lustful thoughts of my sister out of your head."

Sirius pretended to act offended but the smirk tugging on his lips told them he was only playing around. "Shut down so fast."

Not long, Olivia found herself waiting by the oak doors of the Great Hall, James a few feet away from her while his three other friends carried on to their classes. She had asked James to leave as well but the boy was having none of it. James knew he was getting borderline obsessive, but he simply couldn't help the protectiveness that took over him as soon as he found out about the child in her stomach. In an era where war raged on and the dark side had the upper hand, James was constantly afraid of losing the one thing that matters to him most — which happened to be Olivia and the little fetus inside her, his family.

"Tiny!" Called a boisterous voice from inside the the Great Hall and then appeared Amara running to her with her chocolate brown hair flowing freely behind her. Amara was not someone you would consider teacher material. She wore fitted jeans and a plain white shirt that gave everyone a peak of her stomach. Her muggle clothes not even coming close to the formal cloaks the other professors wore. It was no surprise why boys like Sirius lusted after her.

Before Olivia could respond, she was being tackled in a bear hug that almost brought the two of them down if only she wasn't leaning on a wall. James watched worriedly from a distant, not liking the force in the way Amara hugged.

She finally pulled away and held Olivia at arm's length, examining the teenager with such curiosity that it made Olivia blush. "Merlin, little sister, you've grown."

Olivia smiled. "That tends to happen over time."

Amara playfully rolled her eyes. "Smart ass."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at her older sister, a huge grin on her face. "Is that an American accent I hear?"

"Hiding from evil dark lords and death eater parents ain't easy, you know?" She said. "The land of the free seemed like a logical choice."

Olivia smiled sadly. "So you're joining the war, huh?"

Amara tried to give her signature smirk but it was weak. "It's not easy always running away, Tiny, always hiding and always changing locations. It's tiring. Maybe it's time to stop running. It's time to stop pretending that this war isn't ours, too, because it really is, Liv. This is our war, maybe even more than the others."

Olivia looked down at her shoes, unable to meet her sister's icy blue eyes. "And you're sure you're not just doing this because of your anger?"

At that, Amara's eyes hardened, knowing exactly what she was a talking about. Once upon a time, she had a little sister and two little brothers but now one was gone and she was left with a broken little sister and a lost little brother. Of course, she was mad. "I'd be lying if I say that isn't a part of it. What they did to Maxwell — they have to pay for it, Liv. I can't—we can't just let that pass."

Uncertainly, Olivia nodded, but even though she wouldn't admit it, her heart broke a little. Of course, she wanted Maxwell avenged but she's not willing to lose a sister in the process. Olivia was afraid. She's afraid to have to attend another funeral of one of the few people she loved. She's afraid of losing another family. She's afraid that maybe — just maybe — all of it won't be worth it, that they're just wasting their time fighting a losing battle. She's afraid of bringing her baby into this world, this chaotic, cruel world she was forced to grow up in. But most unfortunately, those were the things she couldn't do anything about. In the end of the day, the decision to fight lies with Amara and there's not much she can do but make sure her little nugget is the safest it can possibly be in a world of war.

Amara grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before showing her a dark leather notebook that Olivia didn't even know she was holding. "It's also because of this. It took me a year to finally have the courage to open it, but it finally made up my mind."

Olivia could feel her eyes stinging with unshed tears as she stared at the book with the little red stain on the upper corner because of that time Maxwell accidentally spilled red wine on it. "I-I thought mom and dad burned it."

Amara shook her head. "I got it before I left. I meant to give it to you sooner but I figured it's too important to send using the owls." She then placed the simple leather-bound book that meant so much to the people who knew its owners. "He wrote them for you."

With shaking hands, Olivia held the book to her chest, closing her eyes for a moment to allow herself to imagine all the nights spent when Maxwell wrote pages and pages of his life in it. Her heart suddenly felt heavy in her chest and a lump had formed in her throat. Perhaps out of all the four siblings, Maxwell and Olivia had always been the closest. They had been attached to the hips as soon as they could talk and walk.

Why wouldn't they be? They were twins after all.

The worst day in her life was the day she was called in Dumbledore's office. She remembered feeling numb when she was told the news and then she remembered the heart crashing pain that came after. Then she couldn't remember anything else after that. The day was a blur she didn't like reliving.

After a long hug with Amara, she finally walked back to James with trembling lips and a faraway look in her eyes, instantly making the boy worry. "Are you okay?"

Olivia didn't hesitate to nod her head even though she knew it was a lie. She's never okay. Some days she's fine, and some days she's even good, but never okay. "Just a bit tired is all. I think it's better if I head back to my dorm and rest for a bit."

James knew she was lying. Olivia was allergic to any kind of emotional talks which was why she has now decided to run to her room, perhaps planning on locking herself in till she finally pull herself together. She'd never believe it, but James pay a lot more attention to his surroundings — especially to her — than he had ever let on and he knew that whatever the two sisters talked about obviously affected her more than she'd like to admit.

But he'd never push her because he knew her enough to know that pushing her would only lead her to closing off some more and maybe even lead to a spectacular row between the two of them that neither felt like having at the moment, so instead, he nodded at her request and asked no questions. "Okay."

So they walked back to her dormitory in silence, Olivia clutching the leather notebook to her chest as if terrified of losing it and James giving her worry glances every now and then.

"Have you told her about little nugget?" James asked, breaking the silence.

Olivia couldn't help but sigh as she shook her head. "I was planning to, but then some topics came up and I didn't have the chance to tell her anymore."

James nodded his head in understanding, remembering the look on her face only a few minutes ago. The look of utter defeat and long bottled up pain. "It's fine."

"I'll tell her when I see her," she promised before saying the password and entering the comfort of her dormitory. She forced herself to smile at him. "I'll see you later, Potter."

James smiled softly at her, his hand automatically reaching up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "Rest well, darling."

As soon as the door closed between them, Olivia wanted to collapse on her bed. The sadness of losing her other half crushing her again, but instead she kicked her shoe off and placed the journal on her lap, taking a deep sigh before opening it.

Property of Maxwell Alexander Kinsley
Return if found.

She traced the words with her finger. The messy scrawl he called his handwriting was something she hasn't seen in a long time. With a heavy heart, she flipped to the next page, but instead of seeing his first journal entry, Olivia found a white envelope tucked in between the pages.

To Olivia, the better half of me.

Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones or maybe it was just the overflowing sadness that filled her body, but this time, Olivia allowed the tears to fall to her cheeks as she picked up the envelope. It was still sealed which told her that Amara had chosen not to read it, a fact that she was grateful for. With shaking hands, she ripped the envelope and unfolded the paper.

Dear Liv,

If you're reading this then that can only mean that I'm dead. Please don't be sad — actually, never mind. On second thoughts, be sad. Weep if you have to. Mourn for my death for a few weeks, maybe months, but after that, I need you to pull yourself together. I need you to know that whatever happened to me was my choice. I was not forced into doing anything. I chose to fight. We can't let them keep doing this. We can't let them keep hurting innocent people. The time for running and cowering away is done. It's time to stand against it.

I remember the times you always teased me about always acting like a Gryffindor, but I'm proud to say that I'm a Slytherin through and through. I'm ambitious. I have a dream I will stop nothing at to achieve. That dream is to finally be free of the chains that tie us down — the chains that tie you down. And I will fight till my very last breath for that dream, no matter the cost. You have to know that I'm doing this for you, because if it's not me then it's gotta be you and my biggest fear is that if you're reading this now, then it is you and I desperately wish I can change that, but unfortunately, there are just some things we can't change no matter how much we wish to do so.

You have to realized that the world isn't black and white, Livvy. There's a shade of grey in between that most people tend to overlook. You and me belong in that shade. There's a lot of things I discovered — about me, about you. Things that might shock you seeing as it sure as hell had me trembling but unfortunately, it's another one of those things we can't change. All the things I learned are written here, but I have to warn you to read it only when you feel ready. And I know you like spoilers and reading the ending before you even start the beginning but for this one, I'm going to need you to stick it out. Read it slowly, page by page, and understand the words I wrote.

I wish I could have told you in person but it seems I've lost that chance. I love you with every fiber of my being, Tiny. You might not see me, but always know I'm with you wherever you are. You and I, we share one soul. You will forever be the greatest part of me, Olivia. You are stronger than you believe. Be brave. Please, be brave for the both of us.

Yours forever,
Maxwell

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞:
And so the real plot begins.
Olivia will face things bigger than
the butterflies in her stomach
whenever James Potter's there.

Oof I'm sorry I made Olivia and
Maxwell twins because I know
how overused twins are in
wattpad but it's something I
love writing about. In whatever
story I write, there's gotta be a
pair of twins there.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
EVERYONE!!!
How's your 2020 been so far?