"Everybody hurts some days, it's okay to be afraid.
Everybody hurts some days, we all feel pain."
-Avril Lavigne, Everybody Hurts

"Your parents are dead." The words echoed through Kati's head when they were spoken to her, she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it months ago. "We need to get you and your brother to a safe place."
Two weeks later she and her brother were in England. Kati and her brother were the last ones in her family to live. Deatheaters had killed them; she recognized the skull and snake that was above their vacation home in Galveston Texas. Even though she knew it was going to happen, she was unprepared for it to happen so soon.
Her parents were activists for equality for all creatures, and had gotten both of their families killed by doing it in England in the First Wizarding war back in the sixties, seventies, and early eighties, that caused them to move to America when her and her older brother were small children. They were homeschooled in Magic before they were usually taught, at just six years old and were already great wizards, though Kati was almost sixteen and Kale was seventeen.
Kale came in to their small apartment in Diagon Alley carrying groceries, it would be two weeks until they went to Hogwarts, so Kale could take his NEWT's, though they wouldn't let Kati take hers, even though she knew she could pass them, but she did have her pick of what classes she wanted to take with her OWL scores.
"You need to get dressed." Kale told her, with a sigh. "You've been in your pajamas for the passed two days. Take a shower."
"We couldn't even have a funeral." She whispered, staring out the window to the busy street below. Families were going passed, and it was like she could hear the laughter and see the smiles. "There was nothing left to bury."
"Yeah, and there wasn't supposed to be anything left of us either. We need to get our supplies for school." Kale told her. "We need to be strong, Kati. We have to take care of ourselves now."
Kati nodded. "Fine, I'll take a shower."
"You're a good actress, Kati, and you're going to have to use that, no one can know who we are." Kale reminded her. "They said we could keep our first names, but we're Blake's now, got it?"
She nodded, before disappearing behind the bathroom's closed door, and looked in the mirror. She used to be beautiful, before her parents were killed. Now, her light blonde hair was greasy and in a messy braid over her right shoulder. Her light blue eyes that used to be so full of light were now rimmed in red from crying, and looked empty. She had a fair complexion, with no freckles, eyebrows that looked as if they went with brown hair rather than blonde, and dark eyelashes that framed her eyes nicely. Her lips were a deep rosy pink, and had a nice shape to them, especially when she smiled to show her straight pearly white teeth.
Her brother and her may have looked alike, but she never saw it, he had dark blonde hair that fell in ringlets around his shoulders, and a deep tan with deep blue eyes and he was tall, nearly six feet. He could prioritize in a way that would always make Kati jealous, even though she was the actress in the family, she could smile when she was at her saddest, be strong at her weakness, and make someone think she could be trusted when she should be the last one to know. Kale was the real one, that didn't manipulate to get what he wanted, and was genuinely a good person, he wouldn't hurt someone else to get what he wanted; unlike Kati. They both had some of the same qualities though, doing anything for someone they loved, they were smart and brave, and they both recently became orphans. They only had each other now, their friends back home thought they were killed in the "gas leak" that killed their parents.
Kati peeled off her sweat pants and tank top and got into the shower, letting the water wash away the tears, and pain that she felt in her whole body, after her shower, she dried her long hair and put on her makeup, looking much like she did before. After she got dressed, she came out of her room looking like a different person. Confident, happy, adventurous, beautiful.
Kale was reading the back of a box when she got out.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Hair dye. I have two choices for you." He held up two boxes. "Mahogany, or ebony."
"Mom and Dad said I couldn't dye my hair."
"Well they're not around anymore, are they?" He replied.
"Brown." She told him. "Give me brown."
"We'll do that tomorrow. For now let's just go get our school robes." He told her, getting up. "You need to have dirty hair."
"Duh," she told him. "What are you doing to change your look?"
"Minor things, I'm lightening my hair and changing my eye color." He told her. "We don't need major things, but I thought since you hate being blonde I'd give you the chance not to be blonde."
"Thank you." She told him, grabbing her wallet, and putting it in the back pocket of her jeans before grabbing her hoodie and shrugging it on.
"Do you have the wizarding money?" He asked.
She jumped, letting him hear the rattle of coins in her pocket.
"Good girl." He said. "Now look happy."
She made her eyes light up, and put an excited smile on her lips.
"Good, put that on if you talk to anyone." He told her, before opening the door to the hallway and locking it behind them.
"Do we need to put on British accents?" Kati asked.
"No, we can just say we're orphans and on exchange." Kale told her. "We say as little as possible about our parents, and about our magic, or your talent, okay?"
"That's what you call it? I call it a curse." Kati told him bitterly.
"You were able to get us ready for this." Kale told her. "They were able to get the will, and get us enough money. They were ready to go."
"No, they weren't." She growled the words out. "That's why it's called being murdered. I can't talk about this right now, can we just not talk?"
"As long as you don't look miserable." He said.
Kati put an award-winning smile on her face, put a hop in her step, and went forward towards the stairs, waiting for her brother to follow.
XXXXX
"Hold still." She told Kale as she put the hair dye in his hair.
"I keep seeing you in the mirror, you look so different." He told her, looking at the dark hair that was piled on top of her head in a tight bun from the product.
"Thanks," she told him.
"So, you haven't cried in the passed day. What's up?"
"I stopped caring." She told him. "It hurts too much to care, so I stopped. It took six months since the vision to do it, but it's done."
"Don't say that."
"It's true. Mom and Dad are dead. They were torn to pieces by Deatheaters because they were activists." She said simply. "We'll live. We live."
"How do you know?" He asked. "You said you didn't really see much after you're twenty."
"I just know. Call it intuition." She told him, as she walked over to the trash can and peeled off her gloves, throwing them away, and setting a timer on the microwave for twenty minutes. "When this beeps, rinse out your hair in the sink, I'm going to rise mine out in the shower, since my hair is a lot longer than yours."
"All right." He said. "But you didn't see it?"
She shook her head. "Now, don't let your head touch anything, okay? The furniture will be ruined." She told him.
"Okay, now go wash that crap out of your hair." He told her.
"Yes, darling brother." She replied, rolling her eyes.
Half an hour later she started into her mirror, her hair had gone from the lightest blonde possible to a mahogany brown after she dried it. She colored her eyebrows so they were just a bit darker, and did her makeup to draw out her features, including bright red lipstick on her lips. She looked like a million dollars-or galleons-for the first time in a week. She put on a deep purple blouse with a lace trimmed spaghetti strap top under, and tied it up to show her slim waist, and sleek jeans with boots with a small heel, getting back into her old routine. Her hourglass figure accentuated by the tightness of her clothes. She was sexy, dangerous, mysterious, and unforgettable.
She walked out of her room, and her brother, with wet hair laughed.
"Look at you! I barely recognize you!" He said. "How do I look?" He tossed around his floppy wet hair, spraying her with little droplets of water.
"Hey!" She whined. "Dry that, will you? We need to get the rest of the school supplies and I don't need you to get sick."
"Fine, go get your jacket." He told her.
"Did you unpack my leather?"
"Yeah," he told her, pulling out his wand and muttering a charm to dry it.
"Where is it?"
"I don't know, where are all your other jackets?"
"Oh," she ran to her closet, and grabbed her leather jacket, zipping it up.
"You look like a biker chick." He told her. "Nothing like my sister."
"Good." She put her wallet in her pocket, as well as her keys to the apartment.
"What do you want for your birthday?" Kale asked.
Kati shook her head. "Nothing, I don't need anything."
"That's different." Kale said.
"You're right." Kati nodded. "I want a knife, I really cool pocket knife that I can keep in my boot for emergencies since I can't use magic anymore."
Kale shook his head. "Only you."
Kati shrugged. "Are you ready to go, or what? I thought you always waited on me."
"I'm coming." Kale said, pulling on his jacket, and catching the door before it closed behind Kati
The first place they went everywhere to get their school supplies, Kati wanted an owl, but since they had no one to write to they decided not to. Even though Kati said she was numb, her heart did sink a little bit at that.
Kati looked at the second page of the Hogwarts letter, and stopped in the middle of the street.
"What?" Kale asked.
"We need to get dress robes." She said, showing him the letter. "All fourth years and up."
Kale sighed. "Alright, let's go to Madame Malkins again."
They turned around, and went back to the shop they visited yesterday, going to the formal section, where Kati took an instant liking to a dress.
It was silver, with spaghetti straps and backless with a thin cord that tied right below her shoulder blades, it went to her ankles, and had a slit up her right leg that went nearly to the top of her leg. It was gorgeous, and when she tried it on it was even more gorgeous on her. The heavy fabric hung tight on her chest and hips, but loose around her waist, making her look thinner than she was. She fell in love with it even more.
Kale got simple deep blue robes, that matched his eyes, but when he found Kati looking sadly at the tag on the dress.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's a hundred galleons. I can just hem Mom's old dress." Kati told him. "I'll go get changed, you can check out."
She got dressed, frowning at the dress, and went ahead of Kale to take some of their packages.
"I'll take the dress too." Kale told the woman, smiling.
XXXXX
Two days later Kale got up early to get the cake from the bakery, and hang up the dress in her closet, before waking Kati up at ten, with a knock on her door, and opening it.
"What?" She groaned, looking up to see her brother carrying a small chocolate cake with a single candle on it.
"I know you hate the 'happy birthday' song, so I'll leave you with. "Happy birthday." He put the cake in front of her so she could blow out the candle.
"Thank you." She told him, before blowing out the candle, and giving him a side-hug.
"There's more." He told her, dropping two forks on the bed, and opening her closet, showing her the dress.
"Oh my god." She squealed, putting the cake on her bedside table, and getting up to look at the dress. "You got me the dress!" She jumped on her brother, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe. "Thank you! Thank you! I love it! I love it! I love it!"
"Let me breathe." He told her, laughing. "Happy birthday."
"I think it might be after all."