Fire and ash

The beginning

Life was not always seen as difficult for Elena Alba, she had a family, a powerful one at that. The Alba's were seen as superior compared to the rest of the wizarding families, they were magic itself. Now their history was just locked up in a book on someones bookshelf collecting dust. Doom hit the magical family, first with the Gaunts wiping out more than half of the ancient family and then the Dark Lord completing the rest. They were feared but also admired. Bianca and Alex Alba, Elena's parents were part of The Order Of The Phoenix, an organisation to bring Voldemort down once and for all, and yet, half of them were dead. Now Elena had this heavy feeling in her chest, that she had to continue her parents legacy and end Voldemort and anyone who associated with him. She swore their deaths would not go in vain. She was the last living Alba and was now classed as 'worthless ', 'powerless', but not for long, because she would not take her last breath until she saw the Dark Lord take his.

Dinners with her foster parents were never awkward, they were lively and full of chatter. Elena did not chat much but she did listen and laughed at any jokes her foster dad, Luke, would say every now and then. She would always compliment her foster mum's,Ally's, cooking. They were not her parents and she knew that, but they made her feel cared for and always supported her no matter what.
'How are you feeling El? You know, tomorrow being your first day at Hogwarts and everything,' Ally said as she chased her green beans on her plate with her fork. The Alba put some mashed potatoes onto her plate as she responded,
'I am not that nervous, I do not think it will be like Durmstrang,' she shrugged as she plopped some broccoli into her mouth.

Luke chuckled, 'Hogwarts is amazing, my best years were in that school,' he sighed, 'Dumbledore was such a nice lad.' Ally and Luke had attended Hogwarts in their younger years, they were both muggles but that never had bothered Elena although a lot of people seemed to care about blood status, especially from her grandfather when he was alive and gave speeches on how muggles do not have a right to the 'superior bloods' stuff. The blonde hair woman squealed as she squeezed Elena's shoulder.
'You will love it there hun, it is just so magical.' Elena half smiled as she played around with her vegetables on her plate. She missed Romania and life at Durmstrang. Having to move all the way to England was never ideal for her but she had no choice but to start fresh. Luke could sense that it got uneasy and he plopped his wonky glasses more upright.

'Do not be afraid, we know you miss home sometimes and that is completely okay. Me and Ally will always be here for you, we promise.' Luke sent the Alba a reassuring look and it eased her nerves a little bit. What if no one liked her? What if she made no friends? What if everyone just mocked her name? There were so many what ifs that Elena's brain could not handle it anymore.
'I am not afraid, but big changes have never been my thing.' Elena sighed as she rested her chin on her palm, when she first arrived she wanted to be perfect and followed every dinner etiquette, but now she simply slouched and did not care because she was not judged.
'We know hun it is not easy and we are here to support you in any way we can.' Ally stated and her blue eyes quickly went to Luke and his eyebrows rose quickly as he also spoke,
'Yes exactly, remember, you are an Alba, you are not to be messed with.' He started throwing fake punches in the air and making weird sound effects until his poor wife had enough as she pressed her fork into those green beans and hit Luke right onto the forehead.

'Bullseye'.
Elena laughed softly when she saw Luke's face of disbelief, Ally's growing smirk, she was going to miss this. The rest of the dinner was old stories of the couple at Hogwarts and Elena listened and listened, she chuckled occasionally when Luke spoke and Ally bickered. She hoped one day she would find love like that too. After the dinner had finished, Elena helped her foster mother clear the table and washed the dishes as Luke vacuumed in the living room. She dried her hands with a cloth, she had completed her washing up and it was time to get rest for the big day.
'Night Ally, night Luke.'
'Night hun,'
'Night kiddo!'