Henry Arthur Adams

[henryadams]

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{ A B O U T . Y O U }

Name: Kabby
Gender: Girlie
Age: Shh
E-mail: I'm sure we've got it
Twitter: Ditto
Years of RPG Experience: 'Bout four/five
Other: TEDDY

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{ A B O U T . T H E . C H A R A C T E R }

Name: Henry Arthur Adams
Age: Seventeen
Gender: Guy
Year: Seventh
Face Claim: Dominic Monaghan

Canon or Original? Original

Facial Properties: Scruffy. Yeah, he’s kinda scruffy. His little sister, Ashley, is always teasing him about that, telling him he ought to shave his face more often but whatever, he can’t be bothered. And besides, don’t you think he’s got the whole “rugged” thing going for him? Yeah, let’s say he does. Anyways, his hair’s blonde, just like his mom’s and his sister’s - and his dad’s, not that he really cares about that guy - and it’s kinda scruffy too, you could say, down to the tips of his ears and always a bit messed up, especially when he’s rushing somewhere. His eyes are a bright blue, something else that he gets from both his parents, although they’re lighter than his mom’s. Otherwise, his face is pretty average. His nose is a little big maybe and his ears a little small but not obnoxiously so - you wouldn’t even notice if it wasn’t pointed out to you. He’s got a strong jawline, though it’s usually covered by a few whiskers at the very least. He’s been told a few times that he’s got a “cute” face, and hey, that’s better than nothing, right?

Physique: Not too tall but not too short. That sound about right? Okay, ha, no, fine, he’s short. Not ridiculously so or anything but definitely an inch or two below average. It suits him though. He’s not really the most stand-out kinda guy. He’s the sarcastic little guy. Awesome. But whatever. While he’s not exactly ready to start doing bench-presses or anything like that, Henry’s still pretty fit. He played sports as a kid and he’s always liked physical activity of any kind, really. See, he’s not the kind of guy who can just sit still. Ever. If he absolutely has to, in class for example, you can be sure that he’ll be tapping his foot in that annoying way. Or maybe tapping his fingers against his desk. Or just shuffling in his seat. Something, anyways. He always has to be doing something. Which means that if he’s got some free time, he’s not going to sit around and be lazy, he’s going to get outside and go for a run, or he’s going to walk around the castle, or anything really, as long as he’s doing something. So yeah, he’s pretty fit, and it really does show, might he add. Which sort of makes up for the height thing, don’t you think? Let’s just say so.

Wand Type: 12” Ash, Hipogriff Talon Core
Wand Expertise: Defensive spells (eg. Shield Charms)
Patronus: Red Fox
Boggart: A giant mouse. Lame, right? Oh, shut up. Everyone else already reached that consensus years ago, when they were practicing the Riddikulus charm in third year and on Henry's turn the Boggart turned into an oversized... mouse. A mouse. Oh yeah, everyone got their laughs over that. As for Henry, well, he's just got this thing when it comes to rodents.They're creepy, nasty little buggers, okay? Like seriously, what the fuck. Go scurry somewhere far away from him, thanks. He tells people that he was bitten by a squirrel when he was little but that's a lie through and through. It's just this random, irrational fear. Okay, not fear. He hates calling it a fear. Makes him sound like such a wuss, eh? Yeah, he thought so. Lame. So. Moving on.

Personality:

loquacious - adjective - \lō-ˈkwā-shəs\

1. full of excessive talk
2. given to fluent or excessive talk

Boy, is that an understatement. It’s a bit repetitive, but then again, so is Henry. It makes sense, though - someone who talks so freaking much surely says the same thing more than once now or again. Or all the time. Something like that. Anyways, with Henry, it’s almost a nervous tick. He just talks and talks and talks and if he’s not so sure about a person or situation, it’s even worse. If he’s acutely uncomfortable? Well then you can multiply by ten. Or a hundred. Or a thousand. Whatever, really, it’s all the same. Okay, not really but just go with it ‘cause otherwise that’s gonna hold up the whole process here and-- See? Getting off track already. That’s another thing that happens frequently with Henry. He’ll be rambling on about one thing like there’s no tomorrow and then before you know, he’s suddenly talking about something else and it’s just like whoah, slow down. What? Yeah. So he’s definitely rambler. And of course, to make it even worse, he’s usually talking about stuff that no one could really care less about. Not to say that he talks about really obscure stuff or shit like that, it’s just so pointless or repetitive or just like... Well, it’s talking for the sake of talking. Whether he’s bored or nervous or whatever it is, that’s just how he gets. And while it can be completely annoying on so many levels sometimes, he’s also capable of being devastatingly charming when he wants to. He’s winking right now. But we’ll get to that later. The point here is that quick, awkward chatter? Yeah, Henry practically invented that. Or well no, he’d like to think that people were making asses of themselves long before he came along but whatever. He just talks a lot, okay? And a lot of it is random and a lot of it is just him thinking out loud but hey, that’s the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t really have a filter or a screening process or anything like that. Instead of a thought coming to his mind like it does with most people, it just comes out his mouth. And, obviously, this isn’t always a good thing. In fact, it’s more often than not the opposite.

sarcasm - noun - \ˈsär-ˌka-zəm\

1. a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain
2. a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual

Now, for some people, it's hard to be sure when they're using sarcasm. For Henry, you have to a double-take when he's not being sarcastic. Seriously, it's just how the guy talks. And yeah, it's freaking annoying but it just comes automatically. Someone says something stupid and oh look, there goes Henry with the sarcastic commentary. It's like day and then night, completely expected. Of course, he is aware that this isn't his most attractive trait by far but hey, what the hell do you expect him to do about it? Try and change the error of his ways? Oh yeah, sure. He'll just sent out one big apology to everyone for being so annoyingly sarcastic and while he's at it, he'll buy them breakfast? Sound good? Ha, as if. Nah, Henry's not about to change his attitude anytime soon. Why should he? As far as he's concerned, if people have the God-given right to be idiots, he's got the God-given right to be sarcastic as hell about it. And make fun of them. Maybe. Yeah. Definitely. Most of what he says isn't meant seriously though, that's the thing. He can be pretty harsh or snap for no reason, and more than one person has heard or seen a snippet of that and thought like "Whoah, what an ass" but that's really not true. That's just Henry. Not an ass, no, no, but that's just how he acts. And while it sometimes might be ass-like of him, he prefers to think of himself as delightfully humorous. He's just poking fun, after all. He probably doesn't mean more of what he says than what he does mean, but to him it's just that: fun. That's not quite true though. When he's with his friends, yeah, he teases and says stuff he doesn't mean, stuff that's just a joke. But he's blunt, and he does mean a lot of the shit he says. Crap, does that make sense? Henry's not so sure but whatever. The best way to explain is probably just to say that he usually sounds a lot harsher than he intends - to him, he's just joking, even if not everyone gets that sense of humor - but that's usually 'cause he just blurts stuff out without really worrying if it's offensive or not. Hey, what's wrong with that? He's just speaking his mind, stating his opinion, and frankly, if he thinks you're dumb he's going to tell you... Unless you're a pretty girl, of course. Pretty girls are always a whole 'nother story.

charm - verb - \ˈchärm\

1. to please, soothe, or delight by compelling attraction

Does that make him sound shallow? That pretty girls are exceptions? Eh whatever, shallow's for girls. He's just a guy. A mightily charming guy, if he does say so himself. Ha, okay, maybe not exactly. Not always. Girls tend to make him a bit jumpy. He talks even more than usual, rambling about whatever crap no one really cares about. Or himself. Yeah, he tends to talk about himself a lot. Always boastful and charming, with a little wink here and there. Or he talks about whatever girl has currently got him so jittery. He'll tell them he thinks they're pretty, oh yes, he can just shower someone with compliments when he's after something. Not that he's some huge dirtbag or something, 'course not. But hey, if some sweet nothings will get a pretty girl interested in him, why the heck wouldn't he go for it? So yeah, that's when his charming side comes out, especially if you get some alcohol in him, oh my. He becomes even more exaggerated than usual and a little outrageous, to be honest. Blunt as hell, but even more generous with the compliments for any pretty girls. You could say it really brings his flirty side out, ha. But yeah, as far as girls and that kinda stuff go, well... so maybe he's been called a "womanizer" once or twice but that's ridiculous. Come on, he's not a manwhore like Regulus Black or anything like that, he just likes girls and he's not a prude. But he's not a dick either. He's never given any impression of being interested in anything more serious than what he actually wants. He's just not really a commitment kinda guy, let's be honest. I mean, seriously, he wouldn't trust himself to be faithful to one girl so why the heck would he expect them to? He's too young for that kinda thing and so it's become something he generally avoids. ...Like the plague. Shit, he really does sound like a dick, doesn't he? Well, he's not. Seriously. He's just a seventeen year-old guy who doesn't see the point in chaining himself down to one girl. Nothing wrong with that.

humor - noun - \ˈhyü-mər, ˈyü-mər\

1. that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous
2. the mental faculty of discovering, expressing, or appreciating the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous
3. something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing

Designed to be comical or amusing? Yep, that’s Henry in a nutshell. He’s always trying to be funny - even if he’s not always succeeding. Some would even say “rarely succeeding” but hey, let’s not be too harsh here. He is a pretty funny guy, he’s just... not so great with picking the right moment? Yeah. Henry couldn’t count the number of times he’s cracked a joke at a totally inappropriate moment, only to realize that and then just be all awkward and yeah, awkward’s never good. Nope, definitely not. I believe they call what he does best “foot-in-mouth”, isn’t that right? Yep, totally. Henry’s the king of putting his foot in mouth, indisputably. It’s ridiculous really, how many times he’s just said the wrong thing or not been aware of something that of course, everyone else was aware of, and just ugh, he honestly doesn’t know how he constantly gets himself into situations like that but whatever, he’s accepted it. Well, not really, but what’s a guy gonna do? It’s not like it’s his fault that he constantly tries to make jokes when no one else really thinks it’s funny. He’s just that guy. You know, the one that psychologists that would label as “using humor as a defense mechanism”. Yeah, that would probably be the quickest way to sum up Henry. In this aspect, at least, ‘cause he’d like to think that he’s got loads more sides to him than that. Like a multi-faceted 3-D shape. But not just like a cube or a pyramid or something, no, one of those crazy ones with a billion sides that are just way too confusing for anyone to understand. Oh yeah, he definitely likes that. Whether it’s true or not? Well, I guess that’s for you to decide, no? Don’t worry, he’s not very easily offended. He can take a hit pretty well - self-deprecation is another one of his fortes, you might even say. Not really something to boast about but hey, he’ll take it. He might prefer having a forte like “being ruggedly handsome” if you wanted to throw that out there too but yeah, he’ll take it.

\ˈself -əb-ˈsȯrp-shən, ˈself -əb-ˈzȯrp-shən\

1. preoccupation with oneself

Yeah, there’s really no better way to say it. It’s not like he thinks the sun, moon, and stars all revolve him or anything like that - and neither does he think that he’s the best or something equally silly. He’s not an arrogant ass, he’s just exactly that: self-absorbed. It’s automatic and unconscious, but that’s how it is. He puts himself first. He’s always thinking more about himself or his problems than about anyone else or whatever crap they might be going through. It’s definitely not a great trait of his but there you have it, it’s the truth. It’s not like he even realizes he’s doing it sometimes, he just gets all worked up or stressed out about some little thing perturbing him and then finds out that someone else has been trying to actually talk about their self and, shockingly enough, doesn’t just want to sit there and listen to him bitch. I mean, okay, he doesn’t think that his problems are more important that what anyone else is going through but they’re his problems, damn it, so of course they’re going to be what’s at the front of his mind. And if you get sick of listening to him blab about it? Well, you’re going to have to just put up with it. Or find a new friend. Or call him out. ‘Cause when he realizes that he’s been doing it again, well, it really depends on who he’s with. He’ll either get pissy or he’ll have the common decency to apologize. But you’d have to catch him on a good day for that - if you want a serious apology, that is. Distracted ones are thrown around more often than any other words, after all. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” yep, Henry’s definitely used to saying it. He probably says it in his sleep sometimes. But then again, keep in mind that yeah, he hardly ever actually means it. It’s mostly just an automatic reflex. But hey, that’s not as awful as sounds - most people could probably say the same. I mean, sure, they wouldn’t like actually admit it but whatever, screw them. This is all about Henry, remember? Yep, perfect. And back on the train of thought, similarly enough, he’s also pretty crappy when it comes to simple please and thank yous. Which again, he doesn’t mean any offence by, he was just never really raised with that stamped into his mind and while sometimes it’s automatic - another reflex - on most occasions where it just completely slips his mind. And he’s not trying to be rude, he’s just forgetful like that. Yeah, he’s super forgetful. It’s ridiculous really. As a matter of fact, he’s forgotten everything else that he wanted me to say about his personality. So the end it is.

Likes:
+ His little sister, Ashley. More than anyone else in the world.
+ Pretty girls. What? He’s a guy. Come on. Of course he likes pretty girls.
+ Talking. About his own problems. ‘Cause it’s so much better than just thinking about them, duh.
+ Firewhiskey. He’s no alco, it’s just fun to get a bunch of people doing shots - that’s when the fun happens.
+ Hook-ups. Way easier than all that dating bullshit that everyone else puts themselves through, god knows why.
+ Warm weather. Come on, who likes to shiver? Yeah, he’s definitely not a fan of cold fucking temperatures.
+ Doing something. Always has to be doing something. Even just tapping his foot again and again. And again. Hyperactive.
+ Music. Anything, really. He’s not really a diehard fan of any artist or band but he likes listening to whatever.
+ Okay, fine, his other little sister, Georgie, too, as annoying as she is.
+ His mum. Despite everything, he does love her. So... yeah. Sure.

Dislikes:
– Rodents. Freaky little buggers. Stay the fuck away from him, thanks.
– Guys who hit on Ashley. Just... fucking... ugh. Stay the fuck away from her, okay? Okay.
– Blood. Not like he’s gonna faint but if you’re bleeding, could you go do it somewhere else? Thanks.
– Clingy girls. Does this really need an explanation? Who likes clingy girls? Seriously! No one, that’s who.
– Chatty girls. Okay, he’s a hypocrite, whatever, but he really doesn’t care about their blah blah blah.
– Relationships. Like... what’s the point? Are you planning to marry this person? No? Then... why exactly?
– Forgetting stuff. Well you would too if it happened all the freakin’ time. Seriously. Ugh.
– His step-father. Nothing personal, he’s just not a huge fan of the guy. Whatever.
– His previous step-father. The guy should have appreciated what he had instead of messing Ashley up.
– His biological father. Dude was a douche, what more is there to say?

History:

Mackenzie Danielle Cooper - Mother - 33
Nathan James Finlater - Biological Father - 34
Ashley Margaret Gale - Half-sister - 14
Georgiana Laurel Cooper - Half-sister - 8
Christopher Cedric Cooper - Step-father - 47

Mackenzie Adams. Kenzie Adams. Who was she? You know her. Even if you’ve never met her, you know her. Because, you see, every school has a Kenzie Adams. The hottest, most popular girl in the school. Until her junior year, at least, but let’s not jump ahead without some background. Kenzie had honey-coloured waves, navy blue eyes, a skinny figure, a cute laugh, an outgoing laugh, and just happened to be one of the richest girls in the school. If that wasn’t an instant pass to popularity, nothing was. And so it had been, all her life. From the very first day of kindergarten, when all the other girls had admired her prettily styled curls and wanted to sit near her at circle-time, all the way until her high school years, Kenzie Adams was the highest pinnacle of popularity. And she couldn’t have loved it more. Did that make her a bit stuck-up? More than a bit. Did it make her a bitch? Totally. But why should she have cared? She was Kenzie Adams, she could scoff at whatever losers she wanted to, make anyone’s life miserable on a whim. So she did. Along with her two best friends, of course - Jennifer Birth and Lindsay McAllister. They were a tight-knit little group and they ruled their class of students at the private school they attended in Toronto, Canada. And Kenzie ruled them. She hosted their weekly sleepovers, she presided over all gossip, and she approved which guys were suitable crushes. As for Nathan Finlater? He was the most crush-worthy guy of all. One year above them, he was the hottest guy in the entire school in his senior year. And boy were they were aware of that. All three of them had the most ginormous crushes on them. Which should have been a recipe for disaster but Kenzie made it clear that she was the only one allowed to pursue him. And that she did. He ended up asking her to the Homecoming dance that year and she was more than happy to accept - and flaunt it, of course. Did it just stir up more jealousies with Jen and Lindsay? Yeah. But whatever. She didn’t care. So she went to Homecoming with Nathan and everyone gushed about how cute they were and from then on, they were officially a couple. The hottest couple in the whole school. The it couple. And then? Why, then, only two months into grade eleven, sixteen year-old Kenzie discovered that she was pregnant.

She was too terrified to tell anyone for a few weeks, and then she only confided in her friends. She swore them both to secrecy. But as for Jen and Lindsay? They were sick of her. They were sick of her being number one at everything, they were sick of her flaunting Nathan around the school, they were sick of Kenzie Adams. And so the Monday morning after Kenzie had told them about her horrifying news, she arrived at school to find out that everyone knew. And suddenly? She wasn’t the hottest girl in the school anymore. She was the loser, pregnant chick. Nathan told to her ignore them, that they were just spreading rumors because they were jealous. So she had to tell him: it was true. She was pregnant. He was shocked, and more than a little pissed when he realized that he was practically the last person to hear it. He told her to go screw herself and that he didn’t want anything to do with her. And he walked away. Kenzie ended up calling home that day before first period had even ended, unable to bear the teasing and the fact that she’d fucked up so badly that she didn’t know what in the world she was going to do. Her mom came to pick her up from school and Kenzie waiting, running over and over in her head how she was possibly going to tell her mom about this. But when her mom walked into the office and Kenzie saw the expression on her face? It was clear that she already knew. Turns out that Lindsay had told her mom, who’d told a friend of hers, who happened to be in the same jogging group as Kenzie’s mom. She knew. Anabelle Adams didn’t say a word except to tell the secretary that she was signing her daughter out. She waited until they were in the car. And then she let it out. What in the world had Kenzie been thinking, hadn’t she listened once to all the talks from her parents and health teachers about abstinence and did she realize what an embarrassment to the entire family she was and how much she’d screwed up her future? Anabelle was not going to let this ruin everything that her and Kenzie’s father had worked so hard to ensure for their only child, though. She was scheduling an abortion as soon as possible and Kenzie was going to keep her chin up and deny that any of this had ever happened. Did any of the other students have proof? Of course not. It would take some hard work, but she would be able to fix everything, and regain her social status and her golden future. There was no way that that was going to be compromised. And Kenzie completely agreed.

But then the next night, she was babysitting her little cousins. And she watched them playing and she couldn’t help feeling like... I mean, she didn’t want a kid, she was sixteen years old and her life had been perfect before this had ruined everything. There was no way that she was contemplating actually fucking things up for good. But she thought about it. She thought about the fact that inside of her right now, there was something that was going to grow into a baby. And then a little kid, like her cousins. And then one day a teenager, just like herself. She tried to picture her - a pretty little girl with blonde curls just like her own. She’d be gorgeous of course, Kenzie and Nathan were the hottest couple in the school, remember? Of course she’d be gorgeous. And so Kenzie pictured her. She pictured what this little girl could one day look like and she pictured a pretty life with Nathan and the baby and maybe even more kids one day and... But she didn’t want that, remember? She didn’t want a baby. She didn’t want to be the loser pregnant chick, she didn’t want to be stared at, she didn’t want to be fat. But despite the fact that Kenzie had never been an extremely compassionate person, she just couldn’t stand the thought of destroying the possibility of that beautiful little girl. Sure, she could just have kids when she was older but that wasn’t the same, that wasn’t this baby. And so, she knew what she was going to have to do. She went home that night and she told her parents that she was going to have the baby and she didn’t care what they thought. They told her that she was being ridiculous, that she was delusional if she thought that they were let their only daughter, their only child, throw her future away and that they were going to just sit there and watch and actually encourage this stupidity by letting her raise a baby under their roof. And that’s how Kenzie ended up calling Nathan and sobbing into the phone about how much she missed him and how scared she was but how she couldn’t do that to their baby, how she wanted to have the baby, but she didn’t have anywhere to live and she needed a place to stay and she was so so sorry but she just missed him so much and maybe it was all going to work out, maybe it would all be okay and they could make this work. And Nathan? He came and picked her up. And he kissed her and told her that it was all going to be okay. And she packed up a few suitcases and off she went, leaving behind the only home she’d ever known.

It was nice at the Finlater’s house. Nathan’s parents, James and Emily, were generous and sensible, and his older sister, Libby, was completely welcoming to Kenzie. And now that she and Nathan were back together, hardly anyone made fun of her at school. After all, she was the hottest guy’s girlfriend again and okay, so the fact that she was having his baby was kinda weird and creepy and totally uncool in theory, it was actually kinda cute. At first. It got worse and worse as she got further along in her pregnancy and Nathan started to get teased too - for the first time in his life. He suggested that maybe Kenzie would be happier if she wasn’t going to school, if she didn’t have to see everyone. Maybe it would be easier for her. Easier for him too, Kenzie realized. But maybe it wasn’t such a big deal. The Finlaters had a lot of money, she and Nathan were going to married after he graduated or.... sometime soon, anyways, and it really wouldn’t make a difference if she dropped out of high school ‘cause she was going to be fine anyways. So she did. She dropped out and you know what they say: out of sight, out of mind. Life got a lot easier for Nathan. And then prom came around. Kenzie had dreamed about attending prom with Nathan ever since they’d gone to Homecoming together - and long before. But she was now eight months pregnant. So she shrugged it off, told him that it was okay, that he deserved to go have some fun with his friends. And he did have fun with them. He also had fun with Lindsay McAllister. Kenzie heard about it a few days later from one of Nathan’s friends who was decent enough to think that she ought to know. At first, she flat-out refused to believe it. And then she dissolved into a mess. She yelled and screamed and raged at Nathan and she sobbed and she sobbed and she sobbed. Because she didn’t know how this had happened, she didn’t know how everything had gotten so screwed up. She just wanted her old life back. Where she wasn’t pregnant, Nathan hadn’t cheated her, and her ex-best friend hadn’t committed the ultimate betrayal. Of course, once word got out, Lindsay wasn’t exactly looked upon too fondly either. They called her a skank and a slut and Kenzie was suddenly flooded with old friends wanting to tell her how sorry they were about everything. Above all, everyone wanted to know if she was still was Nathan. And she was. Of course she was. Despite her initial freak-out over the incident, it had only taken her a few hours to go back and tell him she forgave him, that it was okay. It wasn’t, of course it wasn’t. But what was she supposed to do? She was living in his house and her entire future was hinged on him. She didn’t really have a choice, did she?

A month later, Kenzie went into labour. Nathan and his parents rushed to the hospital with her and it was only a few hours before she delivered a beautiful new baby into the world. A baby boy. Not the baby girl she’d always imagined caring for but a little boy. Kenzie didn’t know a thing about little boys. She had no siblings and most of her cousins had been girls - all the ones she’d ever been close with, at least. She knew teenage boys but they hadn’t exactly given her any reason to be hopeful. But she loved him. She loved her little boy, who ended up named Henry Arthur - the first being the name that Nathan had suggested for a boy that she’d agreed to, never really thinking that they were actually going to have a boy, and the second after Nathan’s grand-father. She loved her little Henry and her parents even came to see him and even though they were rather cold, it seemed like a good enough omen. Everything was wonderful, except for Nathan. Nathan who she still couldn’t trust, who had broken her heart, but who she completely and utterly depended on. And then to top it all off, it soon became clear that Kenzie was suffering from a mild postpartum depression, something that wasn’t at all rare, but didn’t exactly help things with Nathan. She’d been so set on getting married, on making everything perfect, but she could scarcely bring herself to care anymore. So his mom helped her look after Henry and soon enough it was fall, and Nathan started at the University of Toronto. He’d always wanted to move out and go live somewhere else once he graduated from high school but that wasn’t exactly possible now. They needed his parents’ help too much to even be able to live on their own. He was frustrated with everything but didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do when his parents were becoming like parents to Kenzie more and more every day. So he went to college and he partied with his friends and more than once, he cheated. And Kenzie didn’t bother to confront him even when it was obvious, because what could she do? They lived like that for a year, and a miserable year it was. And then Nathan told Kenzie that he didn’t want to do it anymore. He was breaking up with her. He was sorry but he didn’t want to be a dad, simple as that. He’d give her a bunch of money every month to look after Henry but that was it. To say that this make things awkward in the Finlater house was an understatement. Kenzie had been living with them for almost two years and Nathan’s parents didn’t know what to do. But it wasn’t their place. And it wasn’t her home anymore.

With the money from Nathan, she got a small apartment for her and Henry. She started working to support them but the only job she could get was as a waitress - she didn’t even have a high school degree, after all. Thanks to Nathan convincing her to drop out. Kenzie had never been forced to support herself, much less another person too, and she’d never worked a day in her life and it didn’t take long for her to reach breaking point. She couldn’t live like this. And then one day at work, she came up with a plan. A plan by the name of Edmund Gale. He was a regular at the restaurant, a skeazy thirty-something guy who wasn’t incredibly attractive but who a) clearly had money, and b) flirted with all the waitresses. She’d always ignored him but now she started flirting back. And then one night, he hung around until her shift was over and - since a friend from work was watching Henry for the night - she went home with him. She started seeing him often after that and then somehow seeing turned into dating and, a few months later, dating turned into a proposal. She was eighteen and he was thirty-three. She said yes. She didn’t love him but he could provide stability and give her the life that she was used to, the only life she knew how to live. She had a kid but she was hot and young and that was good enough for him. Kenzie and Henry moved into his nice house and half a year later, Kenzie and Edmund were married. She changed her last name to Gale, along with Henry’s - who had previously still been Henry Finlater. Two years old, he was left with Edmund’s parents while the new couple jetted off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They returned smiling and tan and, in Kenzie’s case, pregnant. A honeymoon baby, how cute. Nine months later, Kenzie finally got the baby girl she’d always wanted. An adorable little girl with traces of blonde hair, christened Ashley Elizabeth Gale. Henry was enthralled by his baby sister and as Ashley grew older, the two became very close, both always up to mischief, and Henry always looking out for little Ash. Their family might not have been the most ideal set-up but they were happy, even Kenzie, who didn’t have to work anymore and grew more and more fond of Edmund as time passed. And then when Henry was ten and Ashley was seven, they decided to move to England. Edmund had been born there, his parents had moved back a few years ago, and now he found himself wanting to do the same. So the Gale family packed up their bags and off they went. Edmund purchased a town house in the London borough Islington and despite the huge adjustment, life was still good. But they were about to get a big surprise.

When Henry was eleven years old, he received a letter in the mail like no other he’d ever seen before. It said that it was from “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”, which was plain ridiculous, and that he was supposed to go there in the fall. It said that he was a wizard! He assumed of course that it was just some practical joke by one of his friends and ignored it. But then another letter came and this time his mom saw. And she didn’t know what to think of it. But his dad - who wasn’t really his dad, he was just Ashley’s dad, but he was Henry’s step-dad and he didn’t mind if Henry called him Dad - told her not to worry, to just ignore it. And then another letter came. And soon enough, they were forced to admit that it just might have been true, even though they couldn’t believe it. So they followed the directions to this “Leaky Cauldron” pub in London and were shown to Diagon Alley and... it was real. All of it. Magic was real. Henry couldn’t believe it. He squeezed Ash’s hand tightly and found himself hoping that she was magic too. And then they were exploring the alley, with their parents close behind, checking everything out in awe. They got his school supplies and everything and they went home and when Henry went to sleep at night, he knew that nothing would ever be the same again. But that wouldn’t be the last time that he got that feeling. After he’d started at Hogwarts, only three months into the year, he got a letter from Ashley. She was only eight years old at the time but she told him how something had gone wrong at Daddy’s work and now Daddy was upset and Mummy was upset and they were worried and they’d been yelling at each other and Daddy had called Mummy a gold-digger, whatever that meant, and then he’d stormed out and that had been yesterday and he still wasn’t back and had Henry seen Daddy because Ashley didn’t know where he was. No, Henry hadn’t seen Edmund. As a matter of fact, he never saw him again. Edmund did return to the house, to get his things, and then he left for good. He’d lost his job and his wife only wanted his money and he was forty-three years old and he was having a mid-life crisis. As for Kenzie? She was twenty-eight, left with an eleven year-old son at some magic school and an eight year-old daughter who wanted to know where her Daddy was and why he wasn’t coming back. And of course, no real life skills to use to pull it all together. But she tried. She somehow managed to get a job as a receptionist and was able to make enough money to support her and Ashley after they sold the townhouse and moved into a small flat further out in the suburbs. All of this happened while Henry was still at Hogwarts and when he returned home, everything was different. But they were going to be okay. That was the important thing.

And they were okay. They lived like that for two years until another surprise greeted them: Ashley got a letter from Hogwarts. It appeared that there might have been some wizard blood in Kenzie’s history but no one really knew exactly. It didn’t matter, though. They got Ashley her supplies and all her things and she was off to join her brother at Hogwarts. Which left Kenzie all by herself. So you can only imagine how surprised Henry and Ashley were when they stepped off the train at the end of the year - Ashley’s first, Henry’s fourth - to see their mom waiting for them, arm in arm with some guy they’d never seen before, who was - surprise, surprise! - her new fiancé. His name was Christopher Cooper and he was a wizard. Apparently he and Kenzie had met just after Henry and Ashley had left for the year at Hogwarts, at King’s Cross Station. He had a five year-old daughter and had only been at the station so that she could wish her cousin, his niece, goodbye. His daughter’s name was Georgiana - or Georgie, as he called her - and Ashley and Henry were about to discover that she was the exact definition of a spoiled brat. They were too shocked to really process any of that right now, though. Apparently their mother had thought it best to spring this on them as a surprise. They were all moving into Christopher’s large house and the wedding was that summer and Mackenzie Gale became Mackenzie Cooper. As for Henry, he’d had his last name changed to Adams, his mother’s maiden name, after Edmund had bailed on them. Ashley still kept her dad’s name, and even now he suspects that she’s still hoping for him to come back someday. But Henry doubts it. For now, they’re a messed-up family but a family all the same. Henry and Ashley are still as close as can be and she’s the one person in the world he always puts above himself. And any guy that tries to take advantage - or tries anything, really, innocent as it might be - of his gorgeous, already-ridden-with-daddy-issues little sister better think twice because there’s no way that Henry’s going to stand for that. He barely knows his step-dad, his youngest sister’s a bratty little thing, and as much as he loves his mom, he never really knows what to expect from her. But Ashley? She’s always there for him. And he’s always there for her.

Sample Post: Anything by Andromeda Black, Sirius Black, Isabelle Laurentine, Claire Turner, or Rita Skeeter (;

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{ C O N T R A C T }

I solemnly swear that I, KABBY, have read the rules, understand clearly what my responsibilities are now that I am joining ISS, and will abide by these standards set by the staff.

[Lily Evans]

accepted !

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