Life Like No Other

A/N: Hello yet again! Note: I am going to be as historically accurate as possible, age and date-wise (according to/with the books), cause I'm a nerd.

Disclaimer: I most unfortunately do not own the HP universe. If I did, the movies would have some major improvements. Only own my OC's.

Chapter 1: Alphabetical Arrivals

"You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!"
Dr Seuss (Oh, The Places You'll Go!)

There was no questioning it; eleven year-old AJ loved the summer holidays. No school for over two whole months. Travelling, visiting family, reading, TV and playing football were all part of AJ's plans, along with her favourite hobby of all time; exploring. The outdoors fascinated AJ to no end; ever since she could remember, she'd made many fantastical "expeditions" of exploring wherever she was living at the time. Her latest mission; England. Since relocating with her family early in the summer, AJ had spent generous amounts of time discovering all there was to know about her new home.

One particular afternoon, adventurous little AJ found herself alone and content in one of her new favourite sunny spots, a grassy hill next to a fruit orchard that overlooked the Devon County village of Ottery St. Catchpole. It was a nice town, AJ had decided; a bit greener than Cardiff city, and very different to Barcelona, but good enough to get used to. She'd fallen in love with the rolling hills and hidden creeks the moment her hazel eyes had set sight on them. Excellent view aside, AJ laid back and returned to the Dr Seuss book she was reading, a box of animal crackers loyally sitting by her side. The sun seemed different in England, she noticed, it wasn't as strong as the summer sun in Spain which would always reach down and gave her freckles or darkened her skin. She brushed her short auburn hair out of her face as the wind picked up on the slightly-sunny hill, and kept on with Dr Seuss.

.

AJ didn't know how much time had passed; she was so engrossed in her book, when from out of nowhere, she heard a hollow whistling sound, followed by a loud THUMP! She started in alarm, nearly tearing her book in two. Rolling over to her left, AJ set eyes on the strange object that had landed only a few feet from her, scrambling from her spot to examine it. It was a large crimson ball, around the size of a football, but with three large, round dents in it. As AJ got up to inspect it, she noticed it looked very hard and solid, but very worn and battered. She picked up the strange ball and tapped on it; it felt and sounded very hollow indeed. How strange, AJ thought. She had never seen an object like this before.

'Scuse me?'

The hesitant voice came out of nowhere. AJ's head shot up to find a lean young boy around her age, with a shock of flaming red hair and a pleasant ruddy face, walking up the hill towards her. By the time he'd reached the top, AJ was able to make out that he was indeed quite tall, at least a head taller than AJ who was well below average height. Underneath a multitude of freckles was a cheerful face, soft brown eyes, a straight nose, and smiling mouth. In contrast to his generally bright features, his clothes were rather plain; a light green t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and dirty grey sneakers.

'Um…it appears you have our, um- ball.' he said. There was a moment of silence as AJ processed the sentence. She was unsure, however, why the boy said "we", when he was clearly the only one around.

'Oh, this is yours?' said AJ.

The red-head boy grinned and nodded. 'Yeah. D'you mind?' he asked politely as AJ realised she was still holding the strange crimson ball.

'Here you go.' said AJ, carefully throwing the ball to him. He caught it with ease, and eyed the girl before him.

'Funny, I've never seen you around here before. Do you live in Ottery?' he asked curiously.

AJ nodded. 'I do now. You know the main town?' she said, pointing in the village's direction. 'I live at Old Cribbin's Crossing. It's sort of near the Otter River. Where do you live?' she asked. The boy pointed in the opposite direction, out past the fruit orchards. AJ's keen eyes followed.

'About two miles the other way, sort've near the town.' he replied generally. AJ thought that a little strange; she hadn't heard of anyone living out past the orchards, she thought it was just nothing but grass. Maybe his family were farmers. The boy stared at her a bit longer, curiosity still clear in his brown eyes. 'So, what're you doing up here alone?'

'Just reading and stuff.' AJ shrugged. 'You?'

'Playing Quidditch with my brothers.' the boy answered automatically. A sudden look of horror crossed his face and he clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised his potential stupidity.

'What's Quidditch?' AJ inquired. The boy's jaw dropped.

'You-you don't know what Quidditch is?' he exclaimed, dumbfounded.

'Is it like basketball?' AJ guessed, referring to the ball in his hands.

The boy fumbled with the ball nervously. 'Um, well…not really, I mean- um…what did you say your name was again?'

'I didn't. But people call me AJ.' she replied cautiously.

'AJ?'

'Si.' she replied in Spanish. She scrunched up her face in annoyance. 'I mean yes. What's your name?'

The boy grinned. 'I'm-'

'FRED! There you are! Charlie wondered where you'd gotten to!' called a similar voice coming up the hill. AJ's jaw dropped at the sight of the newcomer; it was another boy, a boy who looked exactly the same as the boy she was talking to. Same fiery red hair, same freckles, nose, brown eyes, mouth, clothes, everything! AJ also noticed that he was holding a sleek wooden broom. She blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and gawked as the second boy noticed her for the first time.

.

'Hello there.' he greeted cheerily. 'Who's this?'

'This is AJ. She lives not far from here.' the first boy answered. AJ blinked again to check she was still sane.

'Wait, wait, wait! There are two of you?' she exclaimed. The boys looked at each other before bursting out laughing, much to AJ's confusion.

'Well yeah, that's kind of the point when you're a twin!' one of them laughed. AJ wanted to slap herself. Of course!

'So, you're twins?' she repeated, not caring which of them answered her first. The boys gave duplicate smiled in response.

'Identical.' they chorused.

'Right down to the last freckle.' one of them declared proudly.

'Even Mum can't tell us apart. She's hopeless!' the other added. AJ nodded, still curious to find out more.

'Okay. So, what are your names?'

The boy on the left answered first. 'Well, I was going to tell you before my brother here interrupted. I'm Fred Weasley. And this here-'

'Is George Weasley. Nice to meet you…AJ, was it?'

'AJ Xavier-Walsh.' she said more confidently. The twins looked at each other, then back at AJ.

'Some name you got there.' said Fred. Or, no- wait, was it George? AJ had forgotten already.

'It's long enough without the "AJ", and all my middle names. Sounds kind of weird with an accent like mine.'

'What's the AJ stand for?' asked George curiously.

AJ shook her head. 'Not telling.' she automatically replied.

'Why not?' said George.

'Is it too embarrassing?' Fred teased.

'No!' exclaimed AJ defensively. It's just… really long- that's all.'

'How long?' the twins asked.

'Most letters of the alphabet, long enough I guess.' AJ confirmed, with a hint of pride. Despite the ridiculous length of her full name, she knew no one else who could rival it.

One of the twins gave a low whistle. 'Wow. It must be quite a name.'

'You sure you don't wanna tell us?' said the other twin.

'Non.' AJ replied firmly. 'It's fun to make people guess. Makes life interesting.'

.

AJ decided to end the guessing game and steer the conversation in a new direction; she was still quite fascinated by these two boys.

'How old are you?' she inquired. The boys cracked their identical twin grins again.

'Eleven.' they answered.

AJ smiled brightly. 'Really? Me too!' Fred and George both raised their eyebrows in surprise.

'Birthday?' AJ continued, before the boys could ask.

'April first. You?' they replied, noticing AJ's growing smile.

'June first!' she exclaimed excitedly. 'Weird, huh?'

'I reckon.' said Fred.

'Not much difference.' added George.

'That's pretty cool.' finished AJ.

The three of them looked at each other, pleased with how easily their conversation all flowed together, and they laughed. After a while, AJ noticed something out of place.

'What's with the broom? Were you sweeping the grass to play basketball or something?' she asked George. The boy looked confused.

'What's baske-' but before he could finish his reply, Fred cut him off unexpectedly.

'No! Our Mum was making us do chores when we wanted play outside. So we tried to combine the two.' he explained in a rush. George stared at his twin, catching on in an instant.

'Yeah. Makes life interesting.' he added, echoing AJ's words. She nodded, not sure whether to believe them or not. But she let it go. However, before she could continue the conversation, a distant, but firm male voice shouted from the next hill.

.

'FRED! GEORGE! GET YOUR IDENTICAL TWIN ARSES BACK HERE NOW! WE WANNA FINISH THIS GAME SOMETIME TODAY, THANK YOU!'

It took all three of them by surprise. Fred and George looked at each other, and then gave AJ an apologetic smile.

'Ah, sorry. That's our brother Charlie.' Fred exclaimed with a slight chuckle.

'Yeah, he's probably ready to kill us for taking 10 minutes to find this old thing.' George said cheerfully, pointing to the battered red ball. AJ nodded in partial understanding.

'That's okay. I have to get going too.' She went to put her book and snack in her rucksack. She looked up at the twins again. 'Will I see you again maybe?' the boys shrugged.

'Who knows?'

'Chances are.' they replied after each other.

'I'm usually here on weekends and stuff.' AJ said. These boys seemed nice, maybe they could play and explore for a bit, especially if they knew the area better than she did. The twins seemed happy enough with that.

'Cool. We'll probably come back here soon enough.'

'We might just see you around.'

As the boys turned to leave, AJ looked at them again.

'Adiós Fred! Adiós George!'

The twins grinned brightly, particularly at AJ's use of Spanish. 'See ya AJ!' they chorused, before dashing down the other side of the hill. AJ saw the sun moving further to the west, and decided to go home before her parents started looking for her. She glanced over the hill a final time, only to see the wide open field unoccupied. AJ sighed, reminding herself it would be stupid to think that the twin boys would still be around. She knew she'd want to see them again at some point, they seemed fun. Lucky for her, fate was on her side.

Reviews are like hugs.
G.