Boomerang

Prologue

Theodore squealed with delight every time he swung slightly off the ground. He stood in between his mum and his older sister, who were each clasping one of his much smaller hands.

The three walked along the deck of the ship that was currently voyaging from Australia to England, London to be more precise. 

"Storm approaching! Everybody off the deck!" the captain- an authoritative but kind man- commanded. 

"Come on Theo" his mother, always soft spoken, said whilst gently tugging him below deck by his hand.

Theo obediently allowed himself to be pulled below deck- he was very calm and unproblematic for a five year old- he felt much warmer out of the wind and rain caused by the fast approaching storm.

As the triad joined the missing members of their family in their small but comfy cabin, Theo's father grabbed a card game called happy families. 

As the five played the game, Theo's mother couldn't help but think back to how their family came to be.

Sophie thought back to the summer that she had spent having fun and being a bit too care-free. She was only sixteen when she first realised she was pregnant and only just seventeen when she had the baby. It was an accidental pregnancy but she loved her oldest daughter, Rebecca, as much as it was possible to love without a moment of regret. She had moved from London to Australia after she had found out so her parents wouldn't kick her out, so moving back now was causing some mixed emotions to surface, but with Marcus by her side she knew she would manage.

Her second child, born ten years later, had been planned and he was an angel; she both dreaded and anticipated his teenage years where she was sure he would rebel to make up for his current obedience. 

Four years after their second child, they were delighted to find out they were pregnant yet again. Nine months later, after a couple of difficulties during delivery, the baby arrived healthy and happy. Two months later and the family had decided to move to England. They were interested to see if moving to England when he was only two months old would mean he had an English accent, or if he picked up their very strong Australian accents.

"Mum it's young go" The middle child informed her, she took note of his accent and wondered if it would get weaker.

"Ok, darling" She smiled and ruffled his red locks, focusing again on the game. 

The baby started crying, quickly going from complete calm to bawling his eyes out. 

Rebecca sprung from her seat muttering a quick "I've got it mum" before grabbing the bottle and offering it to the two month old.

Theodore, who was sitting next to the cot, started playing with the baby small tuft of hair- not really knowing how else to soothe him.

Just as it was about to accept the offering of milk, a huge wave crashed through the window. Panicked shouting could be heard coming from the hallways. 

Theodore was confused, he didn't know what was happening. He was shoved into the hallway by his mum and then shoved through the hall by strangers. 

He staggered down the narrow corridor and up the stairs onto the deck, his short legs ached from the climb. No matter how hard he looked for someone he knew, people were blocking his way. 

A wave swept over the deck and knocked him off his feet. A life jacket was thrown over his head by a woman he did not know. Everywhere he looked were people jumping off the side of the ship and trying to swim away from it. 

Someone grabbed him from behind and tossed him as far from the ship as they could. He submerged his head spinning and the water pressed in on his ears making him disorientated. 
After an agonisingly long time he managed to surface.

The boat was no longer visible and a force was tugging him under the water again. Struggling against the tug, he swam as well as he could. For a five year old it was a difficult feat, but, somehow, he managed the desperate swim and breathed in a deep breathe of salty oxygen.

Now there was no force pulling him down, but there were many pushing and pulling him back and forth. 

Theodore, with the assistance from his life jacket managed to stay afloat, despite the waves crashing over his head and trying to force him down again.

A transport boat happened to be passing by and picked up the survivors that were dotted about. It took them to the nearest dock, which happened to be London. Theodore, and the other survivors, were taken to the hospital. Theo was shocked back to life and given cpr multiple times and somehow, be it because of the gods or lady luck, he survived.

He was reunited with Rebecca and Tobias, his siblings, who had also survived. Rebecca was somehow completely unscathed. Tobias had not been so lucky. The doctors didn't know how long he would live, but they did know he would have regular health problems, due to his compromised lungs, and that his throat was so damaged he would never speak again. His hearing had also suffered, he was now fully deaf in one ear and almost as bad off in the other.

They no longer had parents, but Rebecca was sixteen and- although she was absolutely petrified- she would not let them split the three of them up. To be honest, she didn't have to fight much to be the carer of her two siblings- it was the 1960's, nobody really cared. 

They were extremely poor, but Rebecca got a job and they managed to rent a flat. It was extremely run down, but they had a roof over their heads and some days they could afford food and they still had each other. So, even if others in their situation weren't so happy about it, they knew how much worse it could be and were each just glad the other two were alive. 

When Theodore was old enough he looked after Toby so Rebecca could get a full time job. By the time Theo was eleven and got a letter meaning he was whisked off to magic school Toby was six and just about old enough to take care of himself.

Theo was now sixteen and about to enter his sixth year at Hogwarts. Toby was now eleven and starting his secondary school education. Rebecca was now twenty six, almost twenty seven, and had a secure job at a primary school as well as a boyfriend who looked like he could be the one. They were still in their run down flat but now they could afford at least one meal a day, usually more when Theo was home over the holidays and had a part time job. 

Things were looking good. 

A/N: (1149 words) I know this isn't very good and i kept repeating things towards the end but hopefully it will get better, and i might come back and edit it :) I hope to develop the characters too, they are a bit nothingy right now. This chapter was just to set the scene, but my aim is to make this funny and dramatic from here on out. I hope i can make my main Australian boy Theodore grow on you.