Aidan Donnelly;;

[aidan]

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About You - -

Name: Ellie.
Gender: Boobs.
Age: 17.5.
Years of RPG Experience: :]
Other: Falco. SAYWHUT.

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Quick Quiz - -

How did you find us? Sources.
What about ISS inspired you to join? Awesome-nity.
Do you have any suggestions for us? Continue being awesome. Never cease to exist. Start a fund for airplane tickets so we can all fly to Florida and hang out at the Harry Potter theme park thing?

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About the Character- -

Name: Aodhán [Aidan] Cian Donnelly.
Age: 16.
Gender: Male.
Year: 6th.
Face Claim: Adam Gregory.

Canon or Original? Original.

Facial Properties: Aidan’s quite a looker, with his charming smile, good bone structure and dreamy eyes. His skin is smooth, and has a naturally tanner shade from all the time he spends outside soaking in the sun. He sometimes lets his beard grow a little scraggly, but he tries to shave everyday because he gets really rather hairy after only a few days without shaving. His face is long and proportional. His forehead is normal sized – normally covered with his long, shaggy deep brown hair. Beneath his dark, well-groomed eyebrows are one of his favorite features about his appearance – his eyes. They’re almond shaped and a lovely shade of blue. Closest to the pupil they’re a lighter shade of blue/grey, and around the rims, they’re a dark shade of blue. His left eye has a speckle of orange at the top, something you’ll notice if you look close. Aidan has high cheekbones. His nose has a wider bridge and is slightly pointed at the end. It’s slightly concave. His lips are a deep shade of pink and they’re on the fuller side.

Physique: Towering over most of the school, Aidan comes in at six foot, three inches. He didn’t have his growth spurt until midway into his third year, when he basically shot up a foot. Since then he’s been growing very steadily to get where he is now. He’s on the leaner side, because he’s been playing sports basically since he could walk. However, lean he may be, he’s also extremely well toned – not too strong, but he’s certainly not weak either. His long arms are well defined, veins prominent in his upper arm and even more on his lower arm and into his big hands. His abs are well defined with his six pack, and his hips have those mysterious little crevices girls seem to love so much. His incredibly long legs are thick with muscle. His back is well toned. As for Aidan’s fashion sense, he was very much a simpleton until Alessandra cut in during their fifth year. Of course, he’s still a simpleton, never wearing anything too flashy or showy – but now he’s just a more fashionable simpleton. He generally goes with jeans and a nice shirt for after class or weekends, sometimes even wearing a blouse or sweater. He used to have a bit of an obsession with plaid until Alessa literally burned one of his shirts…he just stopped wearing them after that.

Wand Type: Willow, Ashwinder Ash, 13.5 inches.
Wand Expertise: Charms.
Patronus: Lion.
Boggart: After the loss of his mother in his fourth year, Aidan has been particularly terrified by the thought of losing his loved ones since then. He’s actually a little bit paranoid and worries about the safety of his dad sometimes because he’s got such a risky job. As for Alessa and Fiona…he couldn’t even fathom losing them. They’ve been with him basically his whole life, and they mean the world to him.

Personality: Although calling him a mountain-man may be a little bit….er…rustic, it actually almost applies. Aidan is wild at heart: he’s unrestrained, adventurous, and absolutely restless. Growing up, Aidan lived the muggle life. Like any typical child, Aidan spent most of his time running around, exploring the world around him. To him, it was a vast land that needed to be explored – you never knew what you could find in the great outdoors, right? He went to elementary school, played sports with his friends, and always came home messy. He constantly wandered around outside, and always came running back home with a cool rock or rusted spoon or something. Just like back then, he’s still captivated by the world. One of his goals in life is to see it, to travel. Being outside helps Aidan clear his mind. He gets bored easily, and constantly feels the need to experience new things. Of course, that can be bad in certain cases….but he’s got a good level of self control and knows when to stop. He holds a grudge against schedules, and this is why Aidan occasionally struggles in class; he normally just has to go back and re-teach himself everything. This isn’t too hard for him, but it’s still a hassle…he sort of formed a mental block against actually learning in the classroom setting, so he has to re-teach himself whether he likes it or not.

In school, Aidan is an average student. He’s not exactly the studying type; he does it just enough to get the information into his head – which doesn’t take much more than a glance-over of the book – and he calls it good. He’ll study if he feels unprepared. One subject he feels particularly exceeds in is History of Magic. Although he finds the class with Professor Binns terribly dull, he finds the subject intriguing. He chooses not to pay attention in class, and normally dozes off or writes notes to his friends. Another class he’s pretty good at is Charms – that’s actually one of two classes he’s actually able to concentrate in. The other class is Defense Against the Dark Arts. It’s by far his favorite class; he finds that something interesting always happens in that class. As for his other classes, he does all right. He’s pretty terrible with Arithmancy and math in general. He does most of his catching up after dinner.

Aidan is a very dedicated person. He doesn’t do anything half-ass, and when he decides to take something on, he’ll work as hard as he can to make it a success. He lives rather passionately and has an opinion about everything. He’s loyal and he’d do anything for his family and friends – even die for them. Losing his family and his best friend are actually his biggest fear, and that’s something he never wants to go through. He’d never be a back-stabber, and he generally holds a great dislike for anyone who is. He holds grudges, finding it difficult to continue being friends with someone who’s betrayed him. It takes a lot for a person to really get under his skin that way – he’s a pretty laid back guy about that sort of thing. He knows shit happens, and isn’t going to end a friendship because someone forgot to meet up with him. He’s trustworthy with people’s secrets and expects the same behavior from people – one thing he hates is when people tell his secrets. Aidan is sociable and has an extremely approachable personality. When he’s with his friends, Aidan’s normally the loudest, and he’s got an absolutely hilarious sense of humor. He’s sarcastic and quick-witted, able to come up with clever comebacks and retorts in just a few seconds. He can basically make any situation funny, and he’s good for cheering people up.

Growing up, Aidan loved sports. He was raised by his father to love them. They went to sporting events constantly, and played even more. Even though Aidan is a wizard, he never lost his love for muggle sports, and he goes home every summer and plays them with his muggle friends. He loves everything from football to rugby to baseball and even lacrosse. He’s a pretty good flyer as well, but he prefers the ground. He loves to play Quidditch anyway; it’s a good work out, and Aidan likes to keep fit. He runs and he even has a couple of weights in his room for lifting. An attractive boy, Aidan grew out of his awkward stage around the age of thirteen and found himself surrounded by girls in no time…whether he liked it or not. Aidan turned into a bit of a charmer, and it became a trait of his that he couldn’t shake. He normally doesn’t notice when he flirts [he hardly ever finds a girl he finds worthwhile enough to actually pursue and therefore flirt with] so he tends to get in a lot of trouble with a certain special person who happens to think he’s been flirting with other girls. The fact that he gives off that impression to women annoys him, so normally he tries to keep a pretty good distance from the girls he knows Alessa doesn’t like because he knows that’ll just annoy her even more.

Aidan has a bit of a tendency to get jealous. Alessandra, to him, is no laughing matter, and he knows how the male brain works. He knows she’s a bit naïve about guys, so he’s always keeping an eye out, being sure no one’s treating her bad or giving her “the look” – you know, the look guys sometimes get where you KNOW they’re just undressing someone with their eyes. If he senses someone is ever hitting on her, he’s not afraid to approach whoever it is and give him a little talk and tell him what’s what. Aidan isn’t necessarily a violent person normally but for Alessa, he’s got a bit of a tendency to end up taking things “outside” and giving whoever the guy is a piece of his mind fist. He doesn’t tell Alessa about these excursions because he doesn’t want her to get worried. He gets paranoid sometimes though when he thinks Alessa might be returning the feelings; often, Aidan doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for Alessa so whenever he sees her flirting with a guy he can’t help but wonder if maybe she likes him. Along with that, Aidan’s very protective. If he ever feels threatened by someone he’ll do whatever he can do to eliminate said problem, especially with Alessa and Fiona on the line. He’s not afraid to go and talk to and guy he feels is mistreating the girls and as aforementioned, he can sometimes overreact majorly and assume the worst in situations, leading to….well let’s just call it knuckle scarring.

He’s always been a very impulsive person; he hardly takes any time to tink about anything he says…or does for that matter. Generally while in conversation, he cuts himself off when he talks because he speaks as his thoughts chance. He tends to dig himself into some pretty deep holes because of this, always saying things he doesn’t actually mean. He’s impatient and hates waiting around for anything or anyone [mostly]. He’s stubborn, and when he’s made a decision on something, his mind has been made up and that’s how it’s gonna be, and nothing else. This isn’t to say that he’s narrow-minded; he actually loves listening to other people’s opinions and learning about different cultures; he just keeps his opinions strong and stable. One side of Aidan a lot of people haven’t seen is the compassionate side of him. He’s truly a caring person, and he values his relationships with his family and friends above anything else. He’s a really devoted and loyal friend, the sort of person who would basically sacrifice everything for a friend if they ever needed it. He’s brave – maybe a bit too brave, because he’s the sort of kid who could never, ever, EVER turn down a challenge or, when he was a kid, “triple dog dare” – and willing to take risks. He’s basically just trying to live the life he has to the fullest, filling it with as much adventure and fun as he possibly can before it’s over.

Likes:
+ Alessandra. “She’s my best friend. Of course I like her.”
+ The spot. “Alessa and I found this really awesome spot back home with a little pond and there’s a tree. It’s really nice there. Really, really, really nice.”
+ Halloween. “By far, the best holiday. I like to go all out on Halloween.”
+ Muggle Cars. “All right, so I grew up a Muggle, and I grew to love them, like any normal Muggle man. They’re awesome. I’ve always wanted a Camaro.”
+ Muggle music. And music in general. “Seriously? The Who? The Rolling Stones? The Beatles? Bob Dylan? Creedence Clearwater Revival? You can’t go wrong with that shit.”
+ Playing piano. “I hated it so much when I was younger – when I was like, five, my mom started me on lessons, and after like a month I really got the whole sight reading thing down…basically she freaked out, and got me this really insane bitch of a piano teacher and I had to practice constantly and bitch woman wanted me to be her next protégée...anyway, it was really ridiculous. But then when my mom died, I stopped taking lessons and since then I’ve been able to fall back in love with the piano. Crazy-bitch-woman free.”
+ Dad. “He’s a cool freakin’ guy. Plain and simple.”
+ Fiona. “Cutest kid sister on the planet.”
+ Dancing. “It’s fun. Especially breakdancing. I really like swing dancing, too.”
+ History. “Not the class. God, I hate that class. Well I hate most classes. But I think history is cool. I learn mostly from the books – it’s a good way to get lost.”
+ Autobiographies. “This sort of goes with History, but, I, uh, like learning about people I think are cool. You know, their life story.”
+ Wandering around. “Whenever I tell my dad I’m going ‘to wander around’ he chews me out and tells me wandering around isn’t the same thing as getting hopelessly lost – which has definitely happened more than once. But I really do like going for long walks. Especially in wooded areas.”
+ Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean. “Dude. Yum.”
+ Observing people. “People are interesting.”
+ Guiness Beer. “If you’ve had it, you know.”
+ Ireland. “Greatest fuckin’ country in the world. Hands down.”
+ Comic books. “They’re a guilty pleasure, allright?”

Dislikes:
– Alessandra. “She’s got this tendency to be extremely confusing.”
– Prejudice. “Lame.”
– Discrimination. “I’m muggle born. Do you think I haven’t seen this before? It’s fuckin’ retarded. People are people.”
– Schedule. “I have an issue with, uh, doing the same thing over and over and over again.”
– Homework/Class in general. “I have issues remaining seated and concentrated for extended periods of time.”
– Anything lemon flavor. “Gross.”
– Pessimists. “Okay, I understand that sometimes the world can be a fucking shitty place to live in. But just get over it and move on, will you? Your pathetic, mopey thoughts aren’t going to make anything better.”
– Dolls. “Creepy. So creepy.”
– Men who mess with Alessa. “Very unwise choice.”
– Feeling cornered. “….Does anyone actually like that feeling?”
– Hang overs. “………….Yeah, definitely don’t like these.”
– Arithmancy. “Of all my classes, this one is by far the most treacherous. Also, most poinless.”
– People telling him what to do. “I like to think for myself, thanks.”


History:

Father: Liam Eógan [OH-in] Donnelly, Born 1935
Mother: Ceara [KYAR-a] Bridget O’Flaherty Donnelly, Born 1930, Deceased
Sister: Fiona Yseult [EE-solt] Donnelly, Born 1963

Liam Donnelly was born in the harsh winter of 1935, in Dublin, Ireland. He was a planned child, with three before him and four after. All boys. His father, Cian, worked at the Independent, the biggest newspaper in Dublin at the time. Until Seamus, Liam’s youngest brother, was in elementary school, his mother was a stay at home mom. After that, she became a secretary at the local metal-working company. The family wasn’t in poverty, but they didn’t necessarily have extra money laying around either; Liam grew up knowing to appreciate everything they had, never taking anything for granted. They never threw food away – leftovers were regular. Mrs. Donnelly became quite a talented seamstress over the years because she was always sewing patches in the boy’s clothes so they wouldn’t need to buy new things as much. They made the best of it though, and the family was close, despite the constant bickering the boys had. Mister and Missus Donnelly were always happy, and Liam never saw them fight during his childhood. Growing up, Liam was your typical boy. He loved sports, and was an extremely talented athlete. He hunted and fished, and eventually became a rather talented shooter. He was good in school as well, with plenty of friends. There was, however, always something missing. He didn’t know what, exactly, but one day the impulsive seventeen year old boy got an urge. A really strong one.

He went to America.

Born in 1931, Ceara O’Flaherty was the daughter of a politician and his wife. She lived in Wicklow, Ireland, before she moved to America at the age of seven. She wasn’t too happy about this move, but she got over it, growing to love the city as she got older. They got a large house in a wealthy suburb of New York City, surrounding themselves by prestigious members of the community. New York City was so much different than Wicklow, but she loved it there anyway, quickly fitting in despite her rather intimidating, thick Irish accent. Her dad went to war in 1943, but he came back unscathed. It was a hard nine months for her. Ceara made friends quickly and became a social butterfly, excelling greatly in school. She sang, she acted, she was smart, she was funny. She knew that one day she wanted to go on and be on Broadway….but her parents didn’t support this decision. They wanted her to go to college before anything, so if it didn’t work out, she’d have a degree to fall back on. It was difficult making the choice, but she eventually decided on getting her nursing degree. It was practical. Nurses were always needed, weren’t they? She was great with people, and she’d always been smart, taking an interest in the medical field since middle school. She would make a great nurse.

He hardly had any money to his name, but he was there, wasn’t he? The city where dreams came true. He could do anything here. It was New York City, for crying out loud. It took him a while, but the seventeen year old eventually got a job as a doorman at a nightclub downtown. He could finally stop taking visits to the local shelter every night for a warm bed and a cup of soup. He could afford a flat – and sure, it was puny, but it would suffice. He didn’t go there much anyway – for Liam, home was just a place to sleep. He spent all day wandering around outside, meeting new people, making friends, being social. After a little while, he got a second job on NYU’s campus at a coffeeshop. Things slowly became easier to afford, and after about a year, Liam Donnelly was living the high life. He was as happy as could be, partying on his nights off at the very night club he was employed at and talking to cute, older college girls during the day.

College girls like Ceara.

She went there and studied every single day. It was hers, not his. Why? Why did he have to be there every single day, looking all adorable with that ridiculous apron on, making her coffee just perfect? She couldn’t study when he was around. It was her final year, and there was no way she was going to fail this far in. She’d actually become rather passionate about nursing, always looking forward to going to volunteer at a local med center. So she couldn’t just slack off from her studies because a cute boy was giving her looks from across the room. He was always smiling at her. She would just have to maintain her distance from him---until he started talking to her. And they talked about everything, didn’t they? It was casual though. They were only friends. And she couldn’t get too close to him, because she had studying to do. Plus, he was like, way too young for her. God, she didn’t even want to know how old he was because she’d just want to hang herself in her closet for actually having a slight interest in a teenager. The whole situation was ridiculous, and her friends and their teasing certainly didn’t help. Eventually Ceara just stopped going to the coffeeshop. And Coffeeboy, as she called him, would never see her again. She wasn’t too worried about it; New York was a big place. The chances of ever running into him again were slim. And shortly after she stopped going to that coffeeshop, she found herself in Korea.

He….joined the army. Dear God, what the hell was wrong with him?! They were in war, for Christ’s sake. People didn’t just…they didn’t just go off and join the Army in the middle of a freakin’ war, that was like a death wish or something. He was nuts. Absolutely nuts. He had his apartment, he had his jobs, he had this friends. But once again, something came over Liam Donnelly, and the next second he was signing papers and the next second he was….he was a soldier who was saluting his commanding officer. A solider who would be deployed in six months. That was heavy shit, man. But he went to bootcamp, leaving his new friends behind, only to make new ones. He loved the boys in his battalion, bonding with them almost immediately. They’d spend the next year and a half together. He had to get close to them. It hurt, though, realizing that one day, something might happen. One of them might be gone soon. More than one of them might be gone soon. Hell, he might be gone soon. And he couldn’t have that, could he? Liam Donnelly had to make it through this war. For himself. For his friends. For his mother.

It was absolutely one of the most difficult things of her life. Fresh out of nursing school, Ceara volunteered to go to Korea. She knew she needed the experience, and there was a shortage…some part of her felt guilty, too, knowing the countless amount of friends her father probably lost in world war two because there just wasn’t enough help. She knew it was the right thing to do. She knew it would be difficult to do, but…she did it. And when she got there, she never knew it would be like how it was. Everyday, Ceara was on her feet, running from one end of the hospital to the other…doing anything and everything to save the lives of these men. She did anything and everything from giving a simple shot to wrapping a strained wrist to helping stitch an entire limb back on to someone’s body. She had to save them. And when she didn’t…when she couldn’t, it was one of the hardest things ever. She’d seen countless men, countless, who could’ve survived if there had been more help there. More supplies, more resources, more nurses. And it became her passion. Helping these people, she realized, may have been what she was destined for all along. Not singing. Not performing. Saving people.

All that goddamned death was really beginning to tear him apart. It seemed it was everything he looked, everywhere he went, everything he thought. There were good times, though, when the guys could just hang out at the base without worrying one of their brothers would drop dead any second. He honestly grew to love those guys; they became his family when he was on tour. He missed his family, of course, and he knew he was probably worrying his mother sick, but he tried to write her as much as he could manage. Getting letters from her was one of the best and worst things he could experience – it was assuring, knowing what was going on at home, but it hurt when he thought about how much he missed her and his dad and his brothers and his nieces and nephews he hadn’t even met yet because he’d been away. And then, it happened. He and two of his friends were walking through the jungle in Korea, monitoring around the boundaries of their camp. It was a restricted area for Koreans. But, alas, they ran into five Korean soldiers and they opened fire on each other; Liam ended up with a bullet in his upper arm and was sent to the hospital, one of his friends with multiple wounds and the third friend was unscathed. It really didn’t hurt quite as bad as he thought it was…then again, he still had adrenaline pumping through his veins, which probably reduced the pain, or at least his awareness of the fact he’d been shot. It mostly just burned like hell. He was finally at the hospital, ready to get the damn bullet out of his arm.

And he saw her.

It was like Heaven in his own personal Hell.

It couldn’t be him. He looked so different. He looked…mature. He looked….he looked like he’d been through a war. And apparently he’d learned how to grow a beard. She knew it was him, though; she’d spend far too long studying his face at the coffeeshop…but seriously? Was that actually him? She hadn’t seen him in…in….over a year. It wasn’t him. It was not him. She busied herself with other things, re-arranging vaccines in the glass cabinet closest to her. She couldn’t…she couldn’t treat him. What if he died? What if the boy that was possibly the boy she may have had a slightly interest in many months before died because she…she messed up, or didn’t work fast enough or – “Ceara, come over here! We have a gun shot wound to the arm---“ “But sir, I’m—“ “NOW!” Giving up, Ceara walked over to her new patient, refusing to make eye contact. He already ripped his sleeve off – thank God, his torso was NOT something she wanted to see…well, not his, because it wasn’t Liam.

It was Liam.

“So, what, you’re just going to come at me with pliers and refuse to acknowledge that I’m Coffeeboy?”

Of course he knew it was her. She was getting her nursing degree, the way her cheeks were red…he recognized her face almost immediately, and she was too busy being all shy to acknowledge that it was him. Of course, he would have to break the ice. She looked like she had just seen a ghost or something, the moment she looked at him with wide eyes, but was an almost relieved look. They made small-talk…at least, what was considered for them, two people in a war, to be small talk. Things along the lines of, “So, you’re not going to go insane after seeing multiple people die every day, right?” and various other matters of that sort. He was let down, though, realizing that he’d probably never see her again. It wouldn’t take too long for him to be back out in the field – everyone with a minor gunshot wound had to stay in the hospital for one night to be sure it wasn’t going to infect. He felt guilty, but some part of him didn’t want to leave the hospital…no, it wasn’t even that. He didn’t want to leave Ceara behind. Nothing ever got that serious between them…after all, they…they just talked, but…but even back then, he couldn’t help but admire her beauty and wit. And then she’d just….she’d just stopped going to the coffeeshop and he never saw her again but now they were together again and he knew he was being silly but…he told her when he was discharged that once he got back home, he’d probably start working at the coffee shop again. He hoped that was enough. It wasn’t like he was going to tell her what he was really going to do. Which was wait there every day if he could.

After Liam left, Ceara was in Korea for three more months. She didn’t know how much longer he was going to be there, but once she got back to New York, she went to that coffeeshop a few times every week if she could. After about a month, she didn’t want to seem obsessive, but she actually asked one of the workers there if Liam came back. The boy told her no. He had to be coming back soon, though, didn’t he? She came and came and came and…finally. Finally. One day he was there. And dear Lord, he looked good. Worn-out, but good. Smiling, Ceara walked up to him. And they talked. And talked. And talked. And finally, the coffeeshop was closing…and he asked her to dinner. And then one thing led to another, and Ceara O’Flaherty had herself a boyfriend. Life was good. Really good.

He couldn’t have been any more nervous, but he knew this was necessary. Ceara and Margaret, her mother, had gone out shopping and it was the perfect opportunity to ask Mr. O’Flaherty. He knew he had nothing to worry about, though. He liked Mr. O’Flaherty, and he knew Mr. O’Flaherty liked him. He dressed up in his nicest suit and presented the question, even with the ring in his pocket just in case he wanted to see. Mr. O’Flaherty looked like he was going to cry, and said yes, pleased. Now all he had to do was ask Ceara. After a year and a half of dating, he knew it was time. He loved her. He was in love with her. He took her out to a nice dinner on a ferry boat, and after a nice dinner, he asked. She said yes, and they got married a year later. Shortly after that, Ceara was pregnant with their first child. The thought of having a child was intimidating, but Liam liked kids. He just hoped he’d make a good father.

Born March 20, 1961, Aodhán Donnelly came into the world. He was just a little over two years old when his little sister, Fiona was born. He and Fiona grew up together in their suburban American home. They were your typical brother and sister; Aidan was partial to playing with legos, whereas Fiona played with her barbies. They got along, mostly, but had your typical little-kid spats. When Aidan was six, they moved to a house in England because Liam was needed there for Foreign Relations with the Army. Ceara got a part-time job there as a nurse, so the kids would go to school and then she’d be there when they came home. As a young child, Aidan showed signs of being a lot like Liam. He was very adventurous, always wandering around outside and “being brave” by picking up snakes. This, of course, scared the living daylights out of Ceara but Liam would just stand by and laugh at his son picking up and chasing after the snakes. Fiona kept to herself more, generally playing inside with her dolls and princesses. Fiona liked to sing into her hairbrush, just like her mom [minus the hairbrush in Ceara’s case]. They were a happy family.

It was an interesting day, when Liam Donnelly met Antonio De Luca. He was headed home from work when he overheard a young man say something incredibly degrading to a woman when he was unlocking his car. Annoyed, Liam shoved the keys back into his pocket and approached the boy and his friends, grabbing and lifting him by the collar of his shirt and shoving him up against the brick wall. He whispered multiple threats into the young man’s ear, his gun in one hand and his other hand gripping tightly to the shirt. He let the kid down and snorted as the coward and his friends quickly left the scene. He turned to the woman and gave her apologies for having to witness the scene, and turned back to walk to his car. However, the man she was with – her husband, he was assuming, thanked him and asked him if he’d like a job. At first he wasn’t sure whether or not the man was being serious, but after a long conversation, they made a deal. And Liam Donnelly was thus a member of the mafia. Coincidentally, Liam realized Antonio and his family were their neighbors…of course, this didn’t mean a lot because there were several acres separating their properties, but they lived a bit down the road. One day Liam had to stop over to the De Luca house, and he brought seven-year-old Aidan with him after Isabel suggested it.

Initially, Aidan felt rather intimidated by the big house he was about to enter. It wasn’t just big, no. It was massive. He couldn’t help but wonder how many people lived in there. But when his dad opened the door and Aidan walked into the nearly silent house, he realized that it couldn’t have been too many. Aidan was sent to go to the living room, where he found a girl who looked about his age. They introduced themselves, and took to each other nearly immediately. After a while, Aidan and the girl, Alessandra De Luca, were visiting each other a few times a week. Aidan learned to ride his bike by the time he was eight, so he could ride over to her house whenever he wanted to, he’d just have to tell his mom. Eventually he felt bad for Fiona, who’d stay home after school and play alone, so he started bringing her along. He didn’t mind, either; he’d always gotten along with her pretty well and if he and Alessa ever wanted to go on an adventure by themselves, they could always leave Fiona behind to play with Alessa’s toys, which Fiona loved doing. They attended different schools, so they could only see each other when Aidan came over to play at her house. They did everything from board games to wandering outside on the De Luca property together. One time they were playing hide and go seek when Aidan heard Alessa crying in a closet. He’d been looking for her for a really long time, but when he walked past the closet he thought he heard something…he unlocked the door and saw Alessa sitting on the floor, her head in her knees. It was Carmina, her older sister, who’d locked her in a closet; Aidan never really liked Alessa’s older sister in the first place but this just made him really, really, really not like her. When Alessa and Aidan were nine, they were walking around the De Luca grounds once again, when they went out to the far end of the property and they found a little area with a tree and a pond. It sort of became ‘their spot’, where they would come to just be together without Fiona.

After school, Aidan spent time with Alessa, whereas at school, he’d spend time with Faraz. Faraz and Aidan met in year three and initially, they hated each other over a train-sharing episode….but this train-sharing episode led to them bonding over the trains. Not many kids in the class that year liked to play with trains, so whenever they had play time, both of them would go over to the tracks and play together. As they got older, their relationship progressed and they actually got to know each other. They became best friends and always sat together in class, always partnered up for projects, always picked each other for teams at recess – the whole nine yards. The boys would go exploring together, finding animal bones and cool mushrooms and old spoons and things. They had a very silly relationship at times, always daring each other to do ridiculous things. As they got even older, the boys were on the same sports teams. They did everything together.

He was eleven when it happened. The letter. He’d never gotten mail before, except for a few birthday party invitations here and there. But his mom opened those letters. This letter? This was his. And this letter was telling him he was a wizard. How was that even possible? His parents weren’t wizards. He could remember, though, the times something ‘weird’ had happened. Like when Fiona wandered into the street when a bus was about to cross an intersection; the bus’s brakes slammed on in the middle of the intersection, saving Fiona’s life. There were other little things…and sure, they all could have been mere coincidence. That’s what they believed the incidents were. That’s what he believed they were. But they weren’t; they were a result of his magical power. And the man who’d delivered the mail was there, explaining everything to Aidan and his mom and dad – who honestly looked rather bewildered, and astonished at the same time. The man was old and rickety, but somehow strong in his conviction. He proved to Aidan’s parents that the entire situation wasn’t a scam by summoning a tray with a cake on it into the living room, leaving his parents wide eyed. They agreed to let their son attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Aidan was so incredibly excited. And yet…he wasn’t. He didn’t want to leave Raz, and he didn’t want to leave Alessa either. He couldn’t help but worry about his year seven – could he even go to Hogwarts without finishing middle school? But that wasn’t how it worked, Professor Dumbledore assured him, and explained to Aidan that he would learn everything he needed to know at Hogwarts. He couldn’t tell Alessa and Raz, though; it was his secret. His mom and dad told him he could tell all his friends he was going to Boys Boarding School in the north, and he could visit them on holidays. When Aidan went to Alessa’s birthday party, he was surprised to hear that she was going to a boarding school as well – of course, they were headed to different ones, as his was supposedly a private, boys only institution. He was sad when he and Alessa said goodbye to each other the day before September the first, at the special place. On the train ride to the school, Aidan made friends, but none of them compared to Raz or Alessa. He started writing her a letter on the way there – learning how to properly write with a quill was certainly an interesting excursion that left Aidan with inked hands – and he put it into his bag so he could send it with his new owl when he got to school. When they finally arrived, Aidan knew he’d like it there; the castle was absolutely ancient looking, and he always had a thing for old stuff even at such a young age. The first years were all gathered and led into the Great Hall alone so they could be sorted into one of four houses. And it was during the sorting that he heard the hat call out “De Luca, Alessandra!”. He looked up, jumping up and down until he could see the face of the person who walked up to the stool. And it was her. Some part of him wanted to run to the front of the Great Hall and give her a hug right then and there…but he’d see her after the sorting ceremony, wouldn’t he? Excited, Aidan went next and was sorted into his house, so excited he had Alessa to spend the next seven years with at this school.

Their friendship back in full swing, Alessa and Aidan did everything together at school. They walked to classes, made every attempt to sit next to each other during class, they ate together in the Great Hall and they hung out together over the weekends. They took up their old hobby of wandering around by walking around the grounds constantly, talking with each other about classes. Aidan found out a few weeks into his First year that his dad was going to Vietnam, and he had Alessa there to comfort him. Aidan didn’t get very much mail from his dad but when he did, it was like Christmas. He missed his dad in the first place, and it was hard enough realizing his dad was in a war. He didn’t want his dad to die. Meanwhile, Aidan did well in school, catching on to the whole wizard thing pretty quickly. He kept up with this homework and paid attention in class…well, he atleast tried to. If his mind ever wandered, he’d just go back and re-read the text book when class was over. It worked well enough. The summer after his first year, Aidan’s dad came back well and alive. He was considerably more grizzled than he’d been before, but he was the same dad…just a lot more paranoid. He and Alessa continued spending time together that summer – if anything, they were together more often, making regular visits to their special place. Alessa and Aidan wouldn’t have to be separated like they thought they’d be the year before, Aidan’s dad was back, Faraz and Chelsea, Aidan and Alessa’s best muggle friends were doing great. All was well. It was possible that he had feelings for Alessa – no, he did have feelings for Alessa. But she probably wouldn’t return the feelings, would she? She was always too busy flirting with other boys. She was too good for him, and he knew it.

Everything was fine. The kids were off at school, Liam had just gotten back from Vietnam and he was safe. But…something was different. She had headaches all the time and she was always drowsy. She couldn’t hear as well as before. She brushed it off, figuring it was just some sort of illness. A really prolonged illness. But then it got worse; seeing was difficult, speaking was difficult, she could hardly walk in a straight line, and her speech was slurred. It was like she was permanently drunk. Concerned, she eventually caved and got a neurology consult at the hospital she was working out. After a multiple tests, the doctors determined she had a tumor in her brainstem. She was admitted to the hospital immediately, and underwent treatment. But it just wasn’t enough. Over the Christmas holidays when her son was fourteen, he and Fiona and Liam spent literally all day in her hospital room, spending time with her. They knew it was limited. On January 2nd, Ceara Donnelly passed.

It was hard. He didn’t understand. Why her? Why cancer? Why couldn’t God just leave their family alone? Why couldn’t it have been Aidan instead of her? Going back to school that year was one of the hardest things ever. He was sad all the time, even if he tried not to be; it was like there was nothing that could cheer him up. Sometimes he’d have to leave class because he’d start thinking about it too much, and he didn’t want his classmates to see him like that. He felt terrible for Fiona as well; she was just getting to the age that she really needed a mother figure in her life. He didn’t know how his dad was handling it; they wrote to each other, but Liam never gave much away. But then it happened; Alessa kissed him. Aidan didn’t know what to think – whether or not she was kissing him because she actually had feelings for him or not – but he kissed her back. Everything after that came naturally; the next day while they were walking through the halls, they began holding hands. He wasn’t entirely sure, though; Alessa had held hands with other boys before, hadn’t she? He didn’t want this to be a friendship. He wanted to be in a relationship with Alessandra De Luca. And one day, he stopped questioning himself and he just asked her. “So, you’re my girlfriend…right?” was what he said; that wasn’t anywhere near what he was planning on saying in his head, but it just slipped out. And yes. Yes, she was his girlfriend. They bicker often, getting into little spats about silly things but always making up in the end. They tend to stay together for a while but then break up, only to get back together a short while later. No matter what, Aidan will always love her; whether or not it’s in a friendship way or not he has yet to determine.

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And Finally - -

I, Ellie, 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.

[Professor Albus Dumbledore]

ACCEPTED !