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one it's a small world

♡

SOMEWHERE, in one of the many houses situated in the small street on the outskirts of Ottery st Catchpole in Devon, a girl yells from her bedroom, as she holds her start-of-term letter from Hogwarts in her shaking hands.

Kiera Marley - a half blood witch, with a muggle father named Maximilian who makes a living teaching the local muggle Secondary School, and a muggleborn mother named Gianna who workes as an Owlet trainer (Cute, Kiera knows!). The youngest daughter of three, cursed with two older brothers is often considered a sweet, bright and talkative girl - but, also very inquisitive, and spends a lot of her time asking questions about literally anything. Which can annoy her family and friends sometimes, especially on top of her quick wit and 'literal' attitude.

Kiera Marley jumps excitedly, as though she can't quite believe what she is reading, causing an echo to sound through the walls and floor of the building.

"Why are you shouting? You woke me up!" A boy with blonde hair says as he apparates into her bedroom (he's done this quite often, ever since passing his apparition test), wearing his pyjamas and rubbing his eyes.

Tate is the middle child of the three Marley siblings - eighteen and fresh out of Hogwarts, on the path to becoming a 'Dark Creature Hunter' which he'd had his heart set on since he was about thirteen.

Although, right now he has a small assistant job at Zonko's Joke Shop, just to make a little money as he continues his course. Kiera's surprised he hadn't been fired from there, yet, really, what with the chaos he causes everyday. She supposes he really is just giving unintentional demonstrations of how extreme these pranks are. Ten out of ten marketing.

"I got Quidditch Captain, Tate!" Kiera exclaims excitedly to her older brother, who's clearly unbothered by this news, as his expression barely even flickers.

"Right," he says, slowly. "So you have to yell about it?"

"Yes!" Kiera grins. "It's a big deal! Ravenclaw are gonna have such a boost, now that I'm captain,"

"Okay, but isn't it Oliver Wood's last year?" Tate says, sitting down on her bed. "You know - the only person who might just beat you at being the most obsessed with Quidditch?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, he'll be working extra hard to make sure Gryffindor win,"

"Well, I'll still work hard," says Kiera. "Just because it's his last year, doesn't mean he gets any exception. At the end of the day, it'll be the best team winning - also known as my team."

"I was never able to stay on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team," says Tate, light-heartedly. "Apparently I wasn't the best Beater because I kept hitting the Bludgers into the wrong place - and then one of them ended up hitting me..."

"You quite enjoyed that. Especially the falling part," Kiera nods, as they reminisce on Tate's final match before being kicked off his house team. Long story short - it didn't end well. But Tate is some kind of thrill-seeking freak, and so had the time of his life, falling from his broom.

His clumsiness wasn't the only reason the boy was kicked off the team - he had spent the whole time hitting the Bludgers all over the pitch just for the fun of it - it was really only a matter of time before having one fly back around and split his broom, causing him to fall straight to the ground. Kiera had only been in her first year when she'd watched from the stands.

"It was great!" Tate says enthusiastically. "It was like one of those dreams, when you're falling - except it wasn't a dream, it was real - don't you love those, though? The falling dreams?"

"No," says Kiera, with a judgmental look. "They're terrifying-"

They're interrupted by a large crash, causing Kiera to flinch, before turning to her older brother with a suspicious look. A flash of realisation crosses his face.

"Shit," he says quickly, rushing to the door. "I left the candle on next to my homemade firework-"

And so he runs out of the room. Kiera sighs, before closing her bedroom door and rushing down the stairs.

"Travis!" she calls, speeding into the kitchen to meet the oldest of the Marley siblings, still clutching her start-of-term letter.

"A'ight?" he greets, sitting on the kitchen counter as he sleepily eats his bowl of cereal, unfazed by his little sister's eagerness.

Travis is the oldest of the siblings - twenty one years old and already happily employed studying dragons in Romania with his school friend - but, since Charlie Weasley had taken time off to go to Egypt with his family, it was agreed that Travis should be allowed to take time off too, so that he could visit his family whilst they are all home for the summer.

And so, here he is, lounging around the house like a slob, raiding the cupboards of food and happily annoying his younger siblings whilst their mother fusses over having her (not so) little boy back home for a short while.

"You'll never guess what," Kiera grins.

"You got Quidditch Captain for Ravenclaw?" Travis questioned. She frowns.

"How'd you know?"

"Well, you weren't very quiet about it, were you? But hey, nice one! I'll have to tell Charlie and he can give you some tips - he was Quidditch Captain before he left. I never got on the team, so..."

"I mean, tips would be good, but I'm sure I'll be able to get my team a win myself," the blonde says.

"Yeah, well you've already done better than Tate and I Quidditch wise, so I wouldn't worry," says Travis. "Perhaps this time you'll be the odd one out for a good reason, and manage to stick on the team until you leave," he adds, with a teasing glance.

Another fun fact about the Marley siblings - all three of them were originally supposed to have names that begin with 'T', but whilst Kiera's mother was pregnant with her, her grandmother sadly passed away - and so it was decided she'd inherit her name, instead. Kiera's quite glad she'd broken the chain, to be honest, because her Dad already got Travis and Tate's names mixed up without having another 'T' name to remember.

But, that doesn't stop her brothers from teasing her and calling her 'the odd one out'. It's the price she has to pay for having a little originality.

The siblings are interrupted by the open and closing of the front door and a dog bark. Travis and Kiera's faces light up at the sight of a huge black dog happily entering the kitchen, their father not far behind.

"Snuffles!" Kiera says excitedly.

"Hello, Snuffles!" Travis greets the dog, scratching his ears with a grin, before turning to his dad. "Nice walk?"

"Well, he enjoyed it," Maximilian Marley says. "He got to crap in the middle of a brand new garden of flowers. And he got to play a game of chase - the only minus was the squirrels kept cheating by running up trees,"

"Oh, please can we adopt Snuffles?" Kiera pleads.

"Yeah?" Travis nods in agreement, looking at his dad with desperation.

Snuffles is a large, black dog and had been found by Kiera as a stray. He hadn't been seen anywhere before, and so the Marley family had agreed to take him in, in case anyone around their area had been missing a dog. But weeks had passed, and nobody seemed to be looking for him - so, the Marley parents decided it was best to put him up for adoption, much to the distraught of their kids.

"Well, hang on," says Maximilian. "The only reason we didn't put Snuffles up for adoption the second week after we found him was so you kids could prove you could look after a dog. And in all these weeks you've been home, Travis, you've taken him on two walks,"

"Yeah, well-" Travis begins in defence.

"Plus, you'll be back off to Romania soon, so you can't even help look after him. And all you've done, Kiera, is paint his nails and feed him Chocoballs."

"Well, it's not my fault he can recognise them from the packet," Kiera defends. "And he asks for them, he sits really politely, and everything-"

"You do realise chocolate is poisonous for dogs?" Maximilian tells his daughter.

"No it's not... is it?" she frowns. "Are you sure that's not some weird muggle stuff you read somewhere?"

"Kiera, just a reminder that you're literally half muggle. In fact you're probably more than that because your mother's muggleborn." Maximilian says, emphasising the funny name given to non-magic folk. "And no, it's a well known fact!"

Kiera looks down at Snuffles with a questioning glance. He stares back with glistening eyes and a wagging tail, sitting patiently as though wondering what she'd do next.

"I'll give him the leftover chicken instead, then," she says.

"Well, there goes my lunch, straight down the throat of a... very dim form of a wolf," Maximilian mutters to himself, picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet, still somehow not used to the moving pictures even though he's practically spent half his life amongst wizards, now.

"Snuffles isn't dim!" Kiera defends. "Dogs are very clever,"

"Well, not as clever as wolves," says her Dad.

"They're cleverer than wolves!" The young Marley protests. "They had the brains to come inside and live with us."

"...Well, yeah, but that doesn't make them..."

"And get people to feed them food out of tins, and give them a bed, so they won't have to go chasing prey through the snow for days,"

Snuffles seems to enjoy sitting comfortably in his bed and watching the Marley family dispute.

"Loads of species are cleverer than dogs!" Maximilian says. "I read an article that said crows are cleverer than dogs,"

"Crows aren't brighter than dogs!" Kiera exclaims through a tone of disbelief, pulling a face.

"They are,"

"Can crows fetch a stick?"

"Well, they use sticks as stools..."

"Can they fetch the newspaper?"

"Well, maybe, if you gave them the money. No shiny coins, though, they'd just keep those," says Maximilian, amusing himself with his own little added joke.

"I think dogs are the cleverest animal," Kiera concludes.

"No," Travis chimes in. "A dragon's the cleverest animal,"

"How's a dragon a clever animal?" Maximilian gives his son a funny look.

"Dragon's are highly intelligent," Travis says. "They've done all sorts of tests,"

"What, the dragons have done lots of tests?"

Travis rolles his eyes at his Dad's sarcasm.

"No, the keepers and magizoologists have done lots of tests,"

"They can't be that clever, or they wouldn't end up in chains, would they?" Maximilian says.

"Yeah, but dragons are really clever, because they can grow wings," Kiera speaks up, in support of Travis' claim. "And they can breathe fire,"

"That doesn't make them clever," says Maximilian, frowning at his daughter.

"Can you do that?" Travis says to his dad.

"If you just got angry or needed self defence, could you breathe fire?" Kiera nods.

"No- But-"

"Could you do it?" Travis continues.

"No!"

"Exactly! You're just one down from a dragon, really," Travis says, with a shrug.

"Well, I can't grow wings and I don't have scales all over me, that doesn't make me any... I'm- I'm still clever! I'm still smarter than a dragon!" The Marley father continues, clearly getting slightly agitated at his two children ganging up on him.

"Anyways," says Kiera, clearly bored of this discussion now. "You're never gonna guess what,"

"What?" Maximilian says.

"I got Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain!" Kiera beamed. It took a moment for this to process through her father's muggle brain.

"You- Oh!" His face brightened. "Well done, Ki! That's brilliant!"

Kiera grins. "I can't wait to beat all the other houses. It's gonna be so fun to see their faces. Especially those Gryffindor Beaters, they really do my head in..."

"Here we go," Travis mutters.

"Actually - I'm going for a run, okay?" Kiera tells her Dad, hopping off the counter.

"Wha-? Woah, woah woah," Maximilian says, holding out his arm and stopping his daughter from leaving the room. "You think I'm going to let you go for a run by yourself with a mass murderer on the loose?"

"It's only the woods, Dad, I doubt Sirius Black's gonna be hiding in them. Why would he want to come here, anyway? There's nothing around," Kiera pulls a face.

"Maybe that's exactly why he'd hide in this area," says Tate, overhearing the conversation as he strides into the kitchen - his shirt now covered in ash. "If I was a murderer, I'd want to hide somewhere less known, because then I'd draw less attention to myself. Oh, wouldn't that be so cool, though? If Sirius Black was hiding here-"

"No?" Kiera says, eyeing her older brother with a judgemental expression. "It wouldn't?"

"-He could be hiding in our attic, or something,"

Snuffles gives a soft bark, and wanders out of the room.

"Or, he could have dug out some tunnels underground... and he could be under this floor, right now-"

Tate does a rough, loud stomp on the floor, causing his siblings and his father to flinch.

"Look - Tate!" says Maximilian, with a sigh. "Sirius Black is not hiding in our house, now go and change your shirt you've got... something... all over it,"

"Yeah, um," Tate says slowly. "It might not just be my shirt..."

Maximilian gives his son a reproachful look, before saying,

"Go and clean up whatever mess you've made, because if your Mum comes home and sees it, it'll somehow end up being my fault - Kiera! Don't even think about it-!" he added, raising his voice as the young Marley attempts to exit the kitchen, yet again.

"What?" Kiera says to her dad. "You said Sirius Black wouldn't be hiding in our house, so I doubt he'll be in the woods,"

"I- Well-" Maximilian stutters. "...Travis, go for a run with your sister,"

Travis groans. "That's not fair-!"

"Travis, all you've done today is sit on our countertop eating bowls of Frosties, it'll do you some good to get some air,"

"I can go on my own, you know," says Kiera, turning to wander out of the room.

"Travis," Maximilian says again, and the oldest brother rolls his eyes.

"Fine!" he says. "But if Mum makes someone wash the dishes later, it better not be me!"

And he saunters out of the kitchen after Kiera - finally leaving Maximilian in a few moments of peace...

...which doesn't last long, because Tate causes some kind of crash to sound upstairs, yet again.

♡

"Travis, I swear, if you take any longer, I'll leave without you, and you can get bollocked by Dad!" Kiera yells up the stairs. She's now standing in her tight, black leggings and matching workout crop top, her blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail.

"Alright! Alright!" Travis barks back, appearing at the top of the staircase, before heading down. "I'm coming now, let's go, then,"

Kiera doesn't go easy on her brother, and takes off straight away, leaving him to run as fast as he could to keep up with her. They jog across the road, up the street past the bus stop which is currently filled with a group of old muggles, and onto a path which leads them towards the woods.

The sun warms Kiera's skin as she runs, the air swooping past her and brushing her cheek, her feet bouncing off the ground as her ponytail swishes from side-to-side. Travis isn't far behind, now - he's found his pace.

And then, there they are - passing by the house with the name 'The Burrow' - both siblings taking an interest of its habitants.

"Huh," Kiera says between breaths. "Looks like the Weasleys are back,"

"Yeah," says Travis. "That, or those gnomes are de-gnoming themselves. Charlie did say they'd be back last night,"

Kiera watches the Weasley family's garden intrusively, as figures of three red-headed boys with fresh tans from their holiday fling gnomes out of their garden, as far as they can.

She can't exactly see from this far away, but she could just make out who the three boys are - Ron, Fred, and George Weasley. One of which she actively dislikes and another she hates with her entire soul. Ron's the only decent one there. Kiera hasn't met any other Weasleys, despite there being so many of them, but she's absolutely sure the twins are the worst of them. They're as irritating as a piece of chewing gum stuck on the bottom of a shoe.

Of course, she must never let onto them (especially George) how much they get on her nerves. Oh, no - her job is to annoy them even more, and beat them at their own game.

And, now that she's Ravenclaw's Captain, she'll have a whole new trick up her sleeve.

The Marley siblings continue their run, disappearing into the overgrown bushes and trees...

...Kiera having no idea that the boy she hated most out of the trio has stopped to watch her with fascination - wondering who on Earth this mysterious blonde runner was, and not knowing that her identity would soon be revealed as someone he's sworn to despise.

It's a small word after all, isn't it?

♡

A/N: So there's chapter one! I'm so excited to write this story lmao especially since it crosses over with Golden Girl 👀

And the pieces of dialogue and plots between Kiera & George I've already gotten ideas for and they make me laugh ngl 😭 Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! It'll be a bit of a slow burn obvs and will progress as the story goes on, but I can't wait to publish more!

Let me know what you think! <3