Invictus

Another Brick In the Wall.

Lily spent the last month writing farewell cards, packing, buying furniture for her new house, and finding responsible and respectful tenants to rent her house in Cornelia Street. At last, she somehow miraculously, magically finished all the packing, booking, finding and goodbyes with the help of Sirius and Remus. She had already rented a nice, three-bedroom house in the suburbs, Chiswick, while Remus and Lupin opted to live somewhere near the magic, cherishing home after long years away. Lily wanted a bit of normalcy to remain in their lives, so living the same average life they lived in New York during the school holidays would be nice.

Olivia and Harry's memories had been erased to provide them with a clean slate. They didn't remember the attack suffered by Death Eaters at the park and how their mom held off four of them until Lupin and Black arrived because they were all supposed to have a celebratory picnic for the twin's birthday. For them, the only reason they are coming back to London is to start Hogwarts at the same time as everyone else, not because they aren't safe anywhere but there.

-      Dibs on the master bedroom! – Olivia screamed while she ran through the house.

-      The master bedroom is mine, Liv! – Harry exclaimed, following his sister.

Lily dumped her bags on the floor and started to unpack the boxes that arrived there before they did. Sacred new beginnings, she thought. Dumbledore would be arriving at any moment to cast a spell around the house and be their secret holder, so Lily tried to tidy up the place as well as she could before he arrived thirty minutes later with Professor McGonagall for Lily's surprise.

-      Please, don't mind the mess!

-      We will just do what we need to and leave, yes? You must be tired. – Dumbledore said while he looked around.

-      Yes, the flight was very long, but uh, can I offer you guys some tea?

-      Have some rest. We will be done in a few minutes, then we will lock up. – Suggested McGonagall with a smile. She knew Lily didn't have any tea or a kettle for a matter of fact.

-      Thanks, Professor.

- Call me Minerva.

Lily walked up the stairs to find Harry and Olivia in the master bedroom, sleeping on the same air mattress, awaiting their bed arrival. She was so exhausted, so she just found a place that fitted her body and laid there. In a week, they would be going shopping for school supplies and the twin's existence to the world would be confirmed once and for all. The rumors about what happened the night Voldemort was destroyed are hazy and confused. Some say Voldemort was so powerful that a massacre occurred in order to destroy him and the identity of whoever was in the house with the Potters was strictly confidential, but majority knew how powerful love was. Most people knew that one of the twins had defeated Voldemort and Lily always demanded Olivia to hide the scar on her forehead with her hair or make-up or anything.

The week flew by, filled with the tasks of unboxing, organizing, cleaning and familiarizing themselves with the neighborhood, the best takeaway restaurants and the best bookshop. There was a W&H Smith that was extremely close, and Olivia practically lived there, buying a large amount of pens, because she refused to use whatever they used in Hogwarts. They also bought loads of winter clothes and visited tourists spots throughout London and read about the history of the city.

Remus and Sirius went to pick the Potters, so they could all visit Diagon Alley together, a mere excuse to provide company and help for Lily since they knew how hard it was to expose yourself to the world while you've been hiding for 11 years. Lily tried to prepare the children in the best way she could for all the hassle and questions and curious looks they would receive, but as they got closer to Diagon Alley, she wanted to turn the car around and go home.

-      We are here! – Sirius tried to sound as excited as he could in an attempt to cheer the mood in the car. It was ineffective to say the least.

Olivia and Harry wore hats, scarves, gloves and anything that would hide them, but Olivia and Lily's ginger hair gave it away. It wasn't that easy to hide a family of five walking around, so it wasn't much of a surprise to them, except Olivia and Harry, when all the faces in the Leaky Cauldron were staring at them. The whispers and murmurs began, but Lily walked so fast she couldn't hear anything.

Lily was very methodical about shopping. They would go buy the wands first whilst Sirius and Remus bought the books, then Lily, Olivia and Harry would buy robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, so Sirius and Remus had time to buy potions, potions ingredients, and scales as well as cauldrons. They would all meet in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies to see if the children had a knack for Quidditch like their father.

Since Olivia and Harry were born between the 8th of July and 4th of August, their wand wood was Holly, one of the rarer kinds of wand wood; traditionally considered protective as it works most happily for those who may need help overcoming a tendency to anger and impetuosity. Harry's wand was made of phoenix leather and Olivia's was made of dragon heartstrings.

-      Interesting choice! A bit horrifying really. – Ollivander, the owner of the shop, exclaimed.

-      Oh, why, sir? – Harry asked while Olivia looked around.

-      Dragon heartstring tends to be the easiest wand to turn to the Dark Arts.

-      What does Dark Arts even mean? It sounds bad. – Olivia questioned Ollivander with a bit of panic in her voice.

- Mr. Ollivander, would you please pack the wands for us? We have a busy day ahead, thank you. – Ollivander appeared to forget Olivia's question, but it would be something that she would carry with her.

Walking into Madam Malkin's shop, Olivia felt numb and Harry couldn't contain his excitement. She dispersed from her mother and brother to have some time to collect herself and gave the excuse that she was just going to look at the measurement chart.

-      Is it your first time here? – A blonde, skinny, tallboy asked in a polite manner.

-      Yeah. Is it yours?

-      Of course not. Every self-respecting wizard has at least two robes for special occasions. – His tone changed to an almost disgusted one. – I take it you are not one of us?

-      Who is 'us'?

-      Pure-bloods.

-      Yeah, I am. There is nothing wrong with my blood, so it must be pure, don't you think?

-      Do you even know what purebloods are? - The boy asked in a mocking and condescending tone.

-      Why are you even talking to me? Get lost.

With that, Olivia went to find her brother and mother to get a robe and leave that shop as soon as she could. The peculiarity and secrecy surrounding wizard terms made Olivia feel excluded and the school hasn't even started. Within a few minutes, they were out, arriving at the Quidditch shop before Remus and Sirius, and Olivia pouted, because Sirius would know what to do.

The twins picked a Nimbus 2000, a gift from Lily that felt guilty for throwing them to the wolves in a short span of three months. Then, Remus and Sirius arrived, looking exhausted and suggested they go for lunch in a local pub, a muggle pub to eat fish and chips.

-      I think I've made my first friend today. – Harry said during lunch.

-      Does that friend has a name? – Remus asked while biting his fish.

-      Yeah, Dino. Dino Thomas. He is pretty cool.

-      I think wizards are a bit silly. – Olivia shrugged.

- I thought your dad was a bit silly at the beginning too. – Lily murmured loud enough that Harry and Olivia could hear.

- You never talk about dad. – Harry commented.

- I guess it's time I start to, because your dad is a hero, but they will tell you a lot of conflicting information about how he wasn't a good man.

- Who are they? – Olivia asked.

- You will see it.