Family Ties

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

Dannie hung up the phone and sighed. Was it really happening? Her sister was really sending her daughter to the same school Dannie’s own children would be attending in September? There was no way it could be happening and yet, she had just had a phone conversation which told her it was. Dannie had decided against meeting up with her sister but thought it couldn’t hurt to have the twins meet Sienna, or whatever Villi’s daughters name was. They would, after all, probably end up meeting at school anyway. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable.

That morning, Dannie was wearing an old pair of sweatpants and a ribbed tank, her hair up in a pony tail. She was cleaning hers and Jacob’s bathroom today, a task that, if not performed early and often, became difficult and rather messy. The task, however, got put on hold while she talked to her sister, whom she hadn’t talked to in ages, and now was going to be prolonged even more. She would probably cleaning through lunch.

Glancing at the clock, it was only 9 in the morning so the twins were both still home, probably doing chores. Telling them about this now would be best. They were both home and she could talk to them at the same time. “Zachary, Jadyn, I need you two in the living room, stat,” she hollered, hearing her voice echo back at her from the corners of the house. As she said this, Yvette poked her head out of the doorway to her bedroom. All the small girl had to do that morning was clear the table from breakfast and put the dishes where mommy could magic them clean easily. The small blonde pigtails bounced towards mommy and asked, “Mommy, awe dey in twouble?” looking honestly afraid that her big brother and sister were in trouble.

Smiling, Dannie hoisted the small girl into the air, “No, Yvette, they’re not. Mommy just needs to talk to them.” Relief swept over Yvette’s face as she got carried back into her bedroom. Dannie set the girl on her bed and squatted down to her eye level. “Now, Mommy needs you to stay in here until I’m finished talking to them, alright?” The little girl nodded and Dannie left the room, closing the door behind her and going back into the living room to wait for her children.

 

[Zachary Heaton]

Zachary was surprisingly up and in a fairly good mood. Ever since he had gotten his owl for Christmas, he had stopped sneaking out at night because she usually wanted to be fed after midnight. This resulted in a happier ten year old because he was getting the proper amount of sleep. While he still wasn’t a morning person, he was at least civilized.

Today’s chores included sorting laundry, which Zachary didn’t mind because it involved being in the basement. He had roped Bryan into helping him, and was now giving his little brother some potion making advice. The dryer was serving as his perch, and Bryan was sitting on the floor wide-eyed. Potions was an easy subject for Zachary; his dad allowed him to look at the potions but never touch.

That didn’t mean Zachary listened. He had pulled some of the foulest looking vials from the cabinet, and was educating Bryan on what they did. “Okay, this black one here? This one makes little bitty seven year olds get deathly ill if they tattle on their brother. And this greenish one? One slip of it into your drink will kill you dead,” the ten year old was saying, holding up the appropriate vials. Of course he was lying. He wasn’t sure what the black potion was, but he knew the green one was a sleep potion. Luckily, it was the green one he dropped when his mother shouted for him and Jadyn. “Now, I wouldn’t move from that spot if I were you. Touch it and you die,” he said, smirking at the liquid spread out around his brother.

“Coming!” Zachary yelled up the stair, jumping off the dryer. He took the steps two at a time, and flicked the basement light off. A satisfied grin appeared on his face as he lingered just long enough to hear the sounds of Bryan starting to cry before shutting the door and going into the dining room. Yes, he would be in trouble when his mother went looking for her precious little boy, but he figured he had at least twenty minutes. Long enough to see what his mom wanted and get out of the house.

 

[Jadyn Heaton]

Jadyn was almost happy to be called by her mom into the living room that morning. Her green t-shirt was soaked with sweat and her shorts were soon to follow. She was in the back yard weeding the garden and while it was fall, it was still warm enough out that wearing a t-shirt and shorts while sitting under the sun for a few hours was enough to make anyone sweat profusely. Through the open window, however, she heard the familiar holler of her mother which usually meant something was up.

Standing up and brushing the dirt off herself, Jadyn trumped up to the house and into the living room. One horrified look at her nails on the way in meant she was going to be busy cleaning herself tonight. For now, however, there was something else at hand to take care of. What her mother could want was beyond her so, just to be safe, when she got into the living room she looked at her mom and said, “Whatever he did, I had no part in it,” just to cover herself in case she was getting the blame for something her twin did.

This seemed highly unlikely, however, for her brother was so taken by caring for his owl that he got into much less trouble than normal. He seemed almost human instead of the Tasmanian devil Jadyn often jokingly compared him to. No, this had to be something else. Something big for she saw Yvette closed in their bedroom and Bryan was nowhere to be found. “Um, mom? What’s up?” For a fleeting moment, Jadyn thought she was going to tell them she was pregnant again but then all of the kids would be here, as would Daddy. No, this was something else. She hoped. The house couldn’t handle another Heaton. At last not while Jadyn and Zach were home.

 

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

Waiting, Dannie heard her twins make their way into the living room, one from down below and one from outside. Zach had been in the basement with Bryan and she heard him turn off the light and close the door. Either Bryan and quietly come up with him and she didn’t notice or he was down there in the dark. While she strongly hoped it was the former, a little birdie told her it was the latter and so she opened the basement door and hollered for Bryan to come upstairs and go into his bedroom. The mother never recalled seeing her son move that quickly, closing his bedroom door behind him. That would have to wait, however, for there were slightly larger issues at hand.

“No, Jadyn, he didn’t do anything and neither did you. Neither of you are in trouble, I just need to talj to you guys about something.” They were both seated on the couch and there was enough room between the two of them for her to sit there.

Relaxing into the couch cushions, Dannie took a deep breath and then looked at both of her children for a moment and then began talking. “So, you both know I have a sister, your auntie Villi. She hasn’t come around in a while because, well, she’s been busy with… stuff.” Pausing, Dannie felt bad being so vague. But, unfortunately, Dannie didn’t know much, either. “Well, she has a daughter who’s a few years older than you. She will be going into her third year in September.” Another pause and Dannie remembered her niece’s name. “Siara went to Durmstrang for her first two years of school and is going to be attending Hogwarts with you two in the fall. Villi and I just got off the phone and she wants Siara to meet up with you two before the year so you’ll know who the other is.”

Stopping talking for now, Dannie waited to see what her children’s reactions would be. She wasn’t so worried about Jadyn, the girl being as friendly as she was, but Zach was another story. Part of her doubted if he would get along with the girl. On the other hand perhaps Siara was just like Zach. Then it would be Jadyn who likely wouldn’t get along with her. The only way to find out, however, was to have them all meet.