“First: You make a knot. Then, you make two bunny ears. See? We have a bunny. Then you take one ear and pass it under into the hole and make the bunny safe. And Taa-Daa! We tied your shoes”
Under the vague light, inside a decently habitable cupboard, a boy with jet black hair made a cheerful hand gestures to his sister who was not impressed.
Harry paused “This is were you cheer and act impressed”
She gasps
“Great heavens! What an unheard of way to tie shoes! It absolutely is not the same old one just with new fancy words you learned from school”
Harry pushed her feet off his lap “Is that the attitude you give to your dear brother who is teaching you to tie your shoes?”
“does it matter?” Ares pushed her untied pair in his lap
“don’t you want to try? Maybe, you will get it this time.”
“No” she dirtied his trousers demandingly, watching Mr and Mrs. Dots (The spider couple) in the celling.
Ignoring her natural attitude of carelessness and rudeness, he tied her shoe.
Harry and Ares Potter are twins.
They are orphans living with their terrible relatives.
They share everything; clothes, beaten toys, the cupboard even harsh words and treatment.
Tonight, their relatives, the Dursleys: uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia and their son Dudley are having dinner with uncle Vernon side of family celebrating the return of a rich relative from Germany.
Harry and Ares are not invited and if they were uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia won’t take them anyway.
They are not staying home neither. Doubtful of the legibility of living two 7 years old home alone and importantly, uncle Vernon beliefs that they will burn the house to the ground... or blow it.
Consequently, they are staying at Mrs. Figg the old lonely woman with devils for pets.
Harry and Ares were chugged at her from time to time on important events to the Dursleys so that they won’t miss it up. But tonight is the first time they ever stay overnight somewhere outside their cupboard.
Neither are excited, especially Ares who was fudging pulling her long blonde locks with nervousness that is not in her nature.
Harry thought of what to say or do to cheer his sister and stilled at tying her shoes for her with the method he overheard his teacher teach another student.
Ares lacks in physical intelligence, she can’t tie her shoes and just keeps knotting them couple of times then stuffes the rope in the shoes.
Harry lacks in social intelligence, he doesn’t like or know how to talk to people. So, he lets Ares do the social part.
Being twins that no one wants, teaches you to depend on each other and helps in the areas the other lacks in.
“I think Mrs. Dot is pregnant” Harry says
Ares lowers her brown eyes from the ceiling and raises an eyebrow “yeah sure. And then an empire of spiders will live above our heads.”
“Maybe, we’ll get a free live show of sleeping beauty” Ares laughs and Harry puffs in pride.
“And they dance and sing ‘once upon a dream’ with their eight legs-“
A heavy rattling of knocks cuts him off.
Ares features of happiness fades and replaces it her usual angry pissed one. Harry mourns her peace and calmness.
“OUT!” the shrieking voice of their aunt calls them out and they obey.
The Dursleys has finished dressing and are leaving the house, aunt petunia hauls them out with the ratty bag of their night-wares and drags them to Mrs. Figg’s house.
On their way, they see Dudley and uncle Vernon by the car. Dudley was seated in the backseat and was making rude childish gestures at them.
They stop on Mrs Figg’s doorstep and aunt Petunia glares and them sharply “You make no trouble, you say nothing, no funny or freaky business. Clear?”
Ares fingers twitch.
“Yes, aunt petunia” they reply
Ares worries the inside of her cheeks and Harry squeezes her hand in support. Aunt Petunia rings the bell.
“Come inside children. Oh, how dear. Come inside” Mrs. Figg ushers them inside and falls into the usual low mumbling here and there about: the devil like creatures, the weather or the new mail man.
Ares and Harry are left standing in the middle of the living room that is full of glaring eyes and claws scratching the furniture.
“They are good kitties, don’t worry yourselves” Mrs Figg catch on their nervousness.
The glaring doesn’t support her statement and they sit on the ground infront of the telly Mrs Figg knitting on the armchair serving as an unlikely protection.
Cats hated Ares. Ares hated them back. Harry liked cat. Cats liked him back. Just not Mrs Figg’s.
The twins sit and tried to distract themselves from the cats by watching the weird program Mrs Figgs watches.
Two cats ginger and brown sat by them, the first coughed hair balls in Harry’s lap and the second glared at Ares who was doing her best not to lock eyes with it.
Harry felt another one playing with his hair scratching his scalp and yelped in pain.
Mrs Figg still in her little world, knitting a scarf taller than Harry himself, was of no use or help.
“Achoo!” Harry sneezed from the fur of a grey that rubbed herself in his face.
“bless you” Ares mumbled, The brown cat sat on her stomach luring over her glaring, which Ares didn’t dare return. Three other cats were at her side rubbing or scratching her.
Mrs Figg had devils for pets.
A specific one hated them more than the other cats and that’s Mr Johnpants. The brown cat glaring into Ares soul waiting for the slightest movement to scratch her face open.
Ares and Harry first meeting with Mr. Johnpants was on a normal day while walking home from school.
The cat stalked them and when they stopped to examine the matter it shot at Ares at once scratching her badly (the scratched healed rather quickly, luckily).
Ares glares all the time. Cats don’t like to be challenged.
That night Ares and Harry slept in Mrs Figg’s guest room in a bed for the first time.
Balls of fur slept in random spaces on the bed taking over the bed and they had to squeeze into each other.
Another problem: Mr. Johnpants is still sitting on Ares. Luring and glaring.
Harry reached for Ares’ hand under covers and caressed it.
“it’s okay Ari. I’m here.”
That was the first time they slept outside their cupboard.