Chapter Text
October 1998
Hailey Potter stood on the gravel drive, a young boy, not even a year old, sitting on her arm and cuddled into her side. The morning sun was peaking through the trees of the forest surrounding the house; a two-story wooden cabin just out of the nearby town. Forks was a small town, and that was one of the reasons Hailey chose it. That, and Sirius had already purchased the cabin back after Voldemort's revival for Hailey to run to if she needed it. He probably didn't expect her to run after beating Voldemort though. Or with a kid.
She walked up the path and through the front door, the lights turning on the moment she entered. It wasn't a complex house—Sirius knew she preferred the simpler things—but there was still plenty of space in case any of her friends wanted to visit. The foyer was small, with multiple shoe racks built into the left wall. It opened into a living room, already furnished with some plush chairs and couches facing the fireplace; currently closed off from the floo network, but she had plans to get it connected by the end of the week.
There were two doors on the back wall, each connecting to a spare bedroom. The wall opposite the fireplace was open, showing the kitchen to anyone who wanted to talk without leaving the room, and letting people easily move between the two. In the corner by the foyer entrance was a circular staircase moving up to the second floor, a floor comprised of four bedrooms along a hallway. One of those rooms, the first on the right, had her name on it. A wooden name plate with her name etched in cursive Gryffindor red; an achingly familiar cursive.
Her eyes scanned the other rooms, spotting that only the room beside hers had a matching nameplate on it, and her breath hitched when she read it. Sirius. She could feel tears welling, but she didn't let them fall, quickly shaking them away and turning back to her room. Now wasn't the time to cry.
She opened the door slowly, taking in each part of the room as she did so. It was open, with plenty of space to move around; obviously enchanted to be larger inside than it was outside—and she could easily assume all the other rooms were like that. There was a desk pushed against the back wall, underneath a window and next to an empty shelf. Pushed against the right wall was a queen-sized bed, clearly styled after the beds in the Gryffindor common-room with the gold and red canopy. On each side of the bed was a door, on the right, a walk-in closet, on the left, a bathroom.
Hailey looked to the kid sleeping in her arms, a fond smile on her face as he cuddled into her chest, his hair shifting between multiple hues. "This is our home now," she whispered.
August 2003
The morning sun peaked through the window, highlighting the room in a golden glow. The once empty walls were now covered by shelves, all filled with different manners of books, from entertaining to educational. The shelf by the desk was the only one without books in it, instead filled with magical trinkets. The desk had a laptop on it, the books she was currently reading, and a photo showing her and Teddy together on their most recent birthday.
It didn't take long for the door to slowly and silently open, a small head peaking into the room. It was a little girl with black, curly hair reaching just past her shoulders, and vibrant green eyes, sparkling like emeralds and glinting with mischief. She was wearing a pink, short-sleeved shirt with a moving dragon on the front. Her skirt was a pale violet, reaching well past her knees. And while the place they lived in was fairly cold, she didn't need to worry about that in the house, so she decided to forgo her socks or tights. Her eyes scanned the bed, its canopy was open, as it always was, and a smile broke across her face. Because, there in the bed, as she was most mornings, was her mother; tangled up in her blankets, hair wild and messy, and drool dripping from her mouth onto her pillow.
The girl entered the room silently, holding back her giggles. She reached the bed quickly, barely tall enough for her eyes to peek over the mattress, but this wasn't her first time. She pulled herself onto the bed, using one of the legs to support herself. It didn't take her long to reach the top and stand over her mother's sleeping body at the end of the bed. She froze for a moment when her mother turned in her sleep, but she didn't wake, and the girl couldn't help but sigh in relief. With an evil grin, she jumped onto her mother, shouting, "Mama! Mama! Time to wake up!"
With a yelp, her mother's eyes shot open, and her arms flailed, getting entangled in the blanket as the girl laughed. But her laughter quickly turned to a yelp as she was dragged into her mother's flailing.
"Wait! Mum! Mum—" But she was cut off when her mother started tickling her, and her yelping quickly descended into giggles.
"Mama! Mama! You win!" she huffed out through her laughter. The tickling stopped instantly, and through rapid breaths and watery eyes, she turned to face her mother; Hailey Potter. Much like her current style, Hailey's hair was long, black, and curly. But she didn't have the luxury of changing it whenever she wanted, so while her hair was neatly curled, her mother's was messy and tangled, a clear result of her only just waking up. While her mother's eyes didn't sparkle and shine in the way she made hers do it, they still shined in another way; filled with her love and devotion for her daughter. She was smirking, and her daughter couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face.
"Good morning, Teddy. What have I told you about waking me up in the morning?"
Teddy's grin practically doubled in size. "Sorry, Mama. I won't do it again."
They both knew she was lying.
Hailey sighed. "Why don't you go wait downstairs while I get ready. Then I'll cook you some food."
Teddy eagerly nodded her head and dashed out of the room, rushing down the stairs and planting herself on the couch in the living room. The once sparse living room walls were now covered in family photos. The majority of them were of Teddy and her mum—sometimes as a boy, sometimes as a girl, and sometimes something in between—but it wasn't only the two of them. Her grand-mama Andi was a frequent appearance, with Teddy often sitting in her lap. Her aunty Hermione also appeared often, leaning down and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Aunty Ginny and Aunty Luna were always in the pictures together, often squishing Teddy in-between them. Her uncle Ron was in a lot of her earlier pictures, but he had stopped coming around after he got into a fight with Hailey and Hermione. Uncle Neville was only in a handful of pictures as he didn't visit often—he was busy teaching Herbology at Hogwarts—but he still made an effort to visit once a year.
Teddy grabbed her book that she had left on the couch, practicing her reading while she waited for her mother to come downstairs. It didn't take long—magic made it incredibly easy to prepare for the day.
"Sweetie, what do you want for breakfast?" Hailey asked, grabbing out eggs and bacon from the fridge. She almost always cooked the meals herself, rather than using magic to do it.
"Uhm... eggs and toast?"
"No bacon?"
"No, thanks." She said, looking up from her book to give her mother a smile.
Hailey matched it before focusing on her cooking while Teddy went back to her book. The two worked in a comfortable silence, the only constant sound that of the frying pan—occasionally, Teddy would ask her mum to help her with a word, spelling it out letter by letter. When the meal was ready, Hailey moved to the living room, the plates floating behind her. Already knowing the process, Teddy was quick to climb off the couch and move out of the way. With a flick of her wrist, her wand appeared in her hand. It was a knobbly thing, made of a dark brown wood, and with a swish and a twist, all the furniture in the room changed. The plush chairs and couch shifted, becoming wooden dining chairs with a plain cushion attached to the seat. The coffee table in the centre of the arrangement (a purchase from a local wood carver) grew into a dining table. A flick had the chairs arranging themselves around the table, and a couple more swishes had the table decorated with a tablecloth, place mats, and cups. The hovering plates were quick to find their placements opposite each other, not at the heads of the table, but at the sides.
Teddy climbed onto her chair as Hailey both sat on hers and floated over a bottle of orange juice from the fridge, pouring some into both of their cups. She started scarfing down her food, and in the span of her mother telling her to slow down she had already finished a quarter of her meal. She shot her mother a cheeky grin who raised an eyebrow in response. "Honestly, I should tell your grandmother how you eat when she's not around."
"What?! No! Please don't..." She trailed off when she spotted her mother trying to hide a smile on her face. With a pout, Teddy stuffed another mouthful of eggs on toast into her mouth.
Hailey chuckled. "So, we need to go shopping for food today. Do you want me to take you to the playground afterwards?"
Teddy perked up, speaking with her mouth full. "Yes please!"
Hailey huffed. "Honestly, the fact Andi has never seen you acting like this is shocking."
Teddy sheepishly swallowed as Hailey took a bite of her bacon. "Sorry."
"It's fine. You'll grow out of it when you're older." Her eyes glanced to one of the pictures on the wall. "Hopefully."
It didn't take long for the two to finish their breakfast, and Hailey was quick to return everything to how it was; vanishing the summoned table accessories, reverting the dining table back to a coffee table, moving and reverting the furnishing back into lounge chairs and the couch, and finally cleaning the dishes with a spell and sending them back into the cupboard.
"Now, do you want my help to get ready, or do you want to do it yourself?"
Teddy shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I can do it myself."
Hailey gave her a warm smile. "Okay. But if you need me for anything, just let me know."
Teddy nodded and dashed up the stairs. She wasn't going to change her clothes too much. She slipped on her tights, a warm black pair. Forks was known by the locals for being wet and cold, even during the summer, so while she did have summer clothes, she didn't get to wear them often. She made sure to change her shirt, as a moving picture of a dragon was sure to draw the wrong kind of attention. She ended up with a pink shirt with violet bird silhouettes. Finally, he slipped on a white jacket; the jacket was special, a birthday gift from her aunty Hermione, enchanted to always keep her warm, and to grow with her so she will always be able to wear it.
She checked herself in the mirror, making sure that not only her clothes looked good, but that her face matched what she wanted it to look like. Lastly, she put on the final piece of her outfit—a platinum chained necklace with a raven emblem attached to it. Teddy had had the necklace as long as she could remember, it stopped the muggles from realising she wasn't like them, tricking their minds and changing their memories to match her current appearance. She loved it. It meant she didn't have to worry about accidentally changing how she looked, or having her mother lock her into one form, which made her feel like she had hundreds of spiders crawling around under her skin.
With her outfit completed and happy with her appearance, she ran downstairs, hoping to beat her mother. She didn't, as Hailey was already waiting for her at the door, wearing simple navy jeans, a white graphic tee with a picture of a stag, doe, and foul in a forest, and a simple leather jacket.
"Ready to go?" She asked Teddy, putting on her combat boots.
Teddy pouted as she moved over and slid on her black Mary Jane's. "I thought I'd beat you."
"I didn't know we were racing." Hailey said, amusement lacing her voice.
"That's why I thought I would win." Teddy said, not looking at her mother as she finished putting on her shoes.
"Come on you goof-ball." Hailey rubbed her head, messing up her hair. Of course, Teddy fixed it with a thought. "The sooner we finish the shopping, the sooner you get to play."
Teddy perked up and rushed out the door while Hailey laughed.
Rosalie was thinking that it might have been a better idea to go with Carlisle and her brothers and sister to enrol at the school. She didn't think there would be so many people doing their food shopping so early in the morning, and she wanted to spend time with Esme, but now she was dealing with men constantly hitting on her, and women constantly staring at her in jealousy. As such, she was following behind Esme, a permanent scowl on her face, and a glare in her eyes that she constantly shot at the men who approached her, despite the fact it often did nothing to deter them. Every so often, Esme would shoot her an apologetic smile over her shoulder, which helped with her mood. While she hated the attention, she would much rather it was on her than her mother figure.
None of them knew why Rosalie tended to grab so much more attention than the rest of them. Sure, she was the most beautiful, that was undeniable, but her presence seemed to erase everyone else's. They thought it was a gift, but according to Eleazar, she simply didn't have one, so that was ruled out. Honestly, Rosalie had given up hope on ever understanding why she grabbed the attention the way she did, instead focusing on ignoring the lustful and hateful glares constantly shot her way.
Luckily, the two were almost finished with their shopping, approaching the counter after grabbing everything they needed from the family owned corner store to keep up appearances. Fortunately, there was only one person at the counter—apart from the cashier. Rosalie took in her appearance; she was small, about half a foot smaller than Rosalie. Her hair was raven black, filled with messy curls that were barely tamed and reached just past her shoulder blades. Her green eyes were scanning the shop, clearly looking for someone. Her eyes widened when they landed on Rosalie, and she waited for the look of disdain that often followed, but instead they moved over to Esme, before quickly moving away from the both of them.
Rosalie blinked once. Then twice. Then looked over to Esme to see if she noticed as well. This woman wouldn't have been the first to ignore whatever effect Rosalie had on people, but it was rare. Incredibly rare. And from Esme's shocked face, she noticed as well. Esme moved to introduce herself, but was cut off by a child running past them. She was clearly the woman's daughter, but her hair was somehow tidier than her mother's.
"Mama! Mama! I found the ice cream!" The child shoved the tub towards her mother, who looked down at her with a fond smile. Rosalie had to clench her hand to stop herself from doing anything stupid. She hated being reminded of what she couldn't have. Another reason she should've gone to the school with her siblings.
"You sure that's the one you want?"
The small ball of energy rapidly nodded, and the woman took the tub of ice cream and gave it to the cashier, who had stopped scanning the items to stare at Rosalie. She was quick to glare at him, snapping him out of his daze and making him go back to scanning the items. She glanced back at the child, only to find her staring at her. Rosalie was quick to look away.
Unfortunately, while Rosalie was content to ignore every human and tried to push them away, Esme would only do so if they were close to figuring things out that they shouldn't. "Hello, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Esme Cullen, my family and I just moved here."
Esme stuck out a hand for the woman to shake. She looked at it for a moment before accepting with a gentle smile. "Hailey Potter. And this little one is Teddy. It's rare to see someone move here, normally people are trying to get out into the bigger cities."
Esme laughed, a musical laugh like all vampires, designed to draw their target in. "Well, my family and I quite enjoy the outdoors, and my husband, Carlisle, is a doctor who likes helping out in small hospitals."
Rosalie had been so focused on the conversation between Hailey and Esme, that she somehow missed Teddy slipping from her mothers side and appearing in front of her. "Hello."
Both Hailey and Esme stopped talking, turning to look at the two of them. Rosalie's stern facade faded as she looked at the beaming child in front of her. "Hello, I'm Teddy. What's your name?"
"Rosalie," she said, a gentle smile on her face. She could never keep up her icy facade around children, they were just too cute.
"Your eyes are gold. It's really pretty." Teddy said with a beaming smile. Rosalie couldn't help but match it. She had been told she was pretty before—too much, honestly—and her eyes had certainly been a part of that unwanted flattery, but the sincerity of it coming from a child meant far more than it could from anyone else.
Hailey laughed at the same time as the cashier finished scanning her items. She quickly paid before turning back to Teddy and Rosalie. "Come on, Teddy. Time to say goodbye to the pretty lady."
Instinctively, Rosalie glared at Hailey, but it quickly turned to confusion. It was said jokingly, playing off what Teddy had said earlier, but that wasn't what made her confused. There was no hint of jealousy or sarcasm in her voice. She knew Hailey could ignore the effect she had on her, but it was like she wasn't affected at all, and she had never found anyone like that. She didn't bother glancing at Esme, she knew she wouldn't notice something so small unless she was in Rosalie's situation.
"Okay. Bye-bye, Rosalie!" Teddy shouted with a wave. With confusion still lacing her face, Rosalie waved back.
"Bye, Esme, Rosalie. And welcome to Forks." Hailey said. The duo then left the store, and Rosalie could hear Teddy babbling on about how pretty she was, with Hailey agreeing with her. She didn't know if those were her real thoughts, but everything she had seen pointed at that to be true. The last thing she heard before the car got too far away was Teddy asking how she would look with golden eyes.