absit omen (prologue)
Cardiff was abnormally sunny in the spring of 1960. Hope Howell, a stout, rosy cheeked woman welcomed such weather. Superstitious at heart, the idea of delivering her first child on a miserable day felt like a bad omen. Her husband, Lyall Lupin, would shake his head with a soft smile as she would ramble on and on about such credulous beliefs. Lyall was a tall and lanky man, with a wonky nose and driven attitude. The pair complimented each other nicely, practically polar opposites from different worlds; a wizard and a muggle.
Though quite poor, they found comfort in one another and took joy in the small things. Before her pregnancy, Hope would adore gardening, which she now seemed to lack the energy and mobility to do. Lyall, devoted as ever, would pull weeds from their tiny garden patch to prevent it from becoming overgrown and unsightly, occasionally uprooting the wrong plant with a disgruntled grumble.
On other days, Lyall would read aloud books from Hope's collection, mainly involving topics of muggle history. She would listen intently, imagining carnivorous wars, ancient cities, and pompous rulers. Her all-time favorite subject that Lyall would read to her, was the tale of the rise and fall of Rome, specifically how it came to be. In fact, she adored it so much that she had her mind set on the idea that if she were to have a son, his name would be Romulus.
Hope went into labor on March tenth, three weeks before expected. As ultrasounds were far from common in Britain, let alone Cardiff, neither Hope nor Lyall had expected twins. Though the news was welcomed warmly, the pair knew that they were majorly unprepared for such a surprise, both mentally and financially. Lyall made partially decent money with his position in the department of non-human spirituous apparitions, but catching boggarts hardly tied the both of them over, let alone two more additions.
Hope, on the other hand, saw this as a string of fate. It would only make sense that by expecting a son with the name Romulus, the universe would send him a brother, a twin. It was a sort of divine destiny, so it only made sense that her second son, identical to the first, be named Remus.