As early as the twins could remember, they were rarely apart. The twin sons of James Harrington and Olivia Harrington, the Harrington twins grew up in a world full of myth and magic, at least the muggle variety. Olivia Harrington, maiden name Evans, was a well known archaeologist, assisting Barry Cunliffe in his excavation of the Roman villa the Fishbourne Palace in west Sussex and assisting the University of Jerusalem's Yohanan Aharoni in excavating Cave no. 8 (Cave of Horrors), that worked out of King’s College in junction with the British Museum on several Greek history exhibits.

James Harrington grew up in a family of historians. Like his mother, he inherited a deep seated curiosity and a sense of adventure. His father developed a focused mind and the fiery determination that drove him through her school years, despite a variety of financial and emotional setbacks, and landed him graduating from Oxford University with his Doctorates in Greek history. He caught a full time position at the British museum as a museum curator and would eventually ascend to director while maintaining a part time lecture at Oxford.

An event at the British Museum brought them together, a showcase of the many artifacts that British explorers have brought back from their travels. The pair collaborated on the Greek section, working long hours with little time for other social interaction, but like they often said, it was a match made in heaven. The pair quickly fell in love, their busy schedules complimenting each other well, and married a few years later. When they discovered they had twins, one boy and one girl, they decided on their names immediately: Apollo and Artemis. They painted blue wolves and dolphins and pink dancing bears, an homage to the source of their names and a blend of modern and ancient imagery.

Only to be wrong. In a surprise twist, both babies came out male. The first one, named Apollo, was born fifteen minutes before his brother and the parents kept the name, pacified by a nurse who assured them it sounded unisex enough. The tired but ecstatic pair returned home when Olivia was released, only to realize they needed to make some adjustments. The clothes and toys were returned and replaced but the nursery stayed the same. Painting was a chore neither parent wanted to go through again so soon.

The twins were inseparable, going everywhere together. Their speech facilities developed much slower than expected, to the bafflement of most doctors. They could comprehend as well as any child their age, possible even better, but they seemed reluctant to put those ideas into words and when they did speak, it was almost incomprehensible until 4 years old when they made sudden leaps and bounds past the standard development. It pleasantly baffled their parents and the pair set out on catching up the twins on an appropriate level of education.

The reason was, in fact, the pair displayed magic incredibly early. The twins were both Legilimens, wizards with an instinctive knack for the Legilimency spell. The pair practically lived in each other’s heads and lack of driving motivation for speaking between the pair heavily impacted their speech development. It wasn’t until they realized not everyone could hear others thoughts that they stepped out of their heads, partially, and interacted with their peers.

They were still mostly silent at home and until the age of seven, the pair struggled to differentiate between the ‘inside voices’ and normal voices. Even once they did, it still wasn’t unusual for them to babble in response to an unwitting stranger’s thoughts. Their parents chalked their impromptu conversations to imaginary friends and encouraged their active imaginations. It was that trait that first drove both their parents into Greek History and it made them proud that their children also displayed it. But as time went on and the conversations turned darker and the twin’s supper questions more uncomfortable, the Harrington’s had to admit that possibly their children were a tad touched.

During Summer one year, when Apollo was eight, he had caught a rather nasty case of the flu. He lay there in bed shivering, sweating, and for the most part silent as a mouse. His head was spinning with not only the virus coursing through him, but also the myriad of voices swimming through his mind. His brothers worry, his mother's fretting, and his father's concern; it was all getting to be a bit too much. Luckily his mother and brother stepped outside, going to fetch him some medicine. His father left the room to let the boy sleep and with that some of the voices died down. However, the fever still persisted and every once in a while when Apollo winced in pain, strange things would happen that no one would see. The window to his room would flap open and closed, sometimes shattering and then repairing itself. His father rushed in but saw nothing amiss, dismissing it all as if the stress of the situation was getting to his head.

After an accident that had occurred while Apollo was sick in bed, Artemis regressed to the silence he maintained when the twins were younger and Apollo took the role of the pair’s mouth. Guilt wormed its way through his brother, eating Artemis alive as he blamed himself for the accident after overhearing a short lived thought that if only he’d been less annoying. Of course, the thought was dismissed as quickly as it came as completely unreasonable, she couldn’t shift the blame on him when it was her fault for taking her eyes off the road anyways, but the damage was done. Artemis sunk into his depression, barely sleeping through the night and avoiding other people as much as possible.

Apollo struggled then as well. Apollo often got overloaded with voices, struggling to keep himself out of other’s thoughts, and when Artemis started having nightmares and crushing guilt, it was a snapping point. He frequently stopped in the middle of public areas and crouched, covering his ears and trembling until it stopped. Or he could become irritable and confrontational, devolving into temper tantrums when everything became too much. Olivia and James had little option but to have a doctor see them, entering family therapy on a recommendation.

It was a rough climb back to some semblance of normalcy but family therapy helped. The therapist,Although a muggle, their therapist picked up on the twin’s “highly empathetic natures”, noting that Artemis felt the accident was his fault and that Apollo was anxious about the growing rift in his family. Olivia and James were horrified to hear this but it was the largest step the family managed and with the help of carefully controlled medications, the pair managed to smile again and feel comfortable in their own home. Their grades and friends returned and life seemed to go on with the occasional episode.

And then the ministry official appeared, Hogwarts letters in hand. Their parents accepted it in about five seconds flat, a barrage of questions that had the man wide eyed. But he could also explain that the conversations the twins had, the voices they spoke to, and the things they did were all very real. Their parents, still dealing with the aftermath of the crash, kept their thoughts well in order despite the initial discomfort of knowing their thoughts were not as hidden as they’d assumed. Apollo and Artemis could barely contain themselves, the younger one dancing around the house ecstatically as he screamed at the top of his lungs and Apollo gaped at the man and then promptly fainted.

When he finally arose from the shock and glee of knowing that not only was he not insane, but that he was in fact a wizard, Apollo was over the moon. They told the twins the next stop would be Diagon Alley. The family was led through London, as the ministry official explained some of the finer points about this arrangement. He took them to a location that was placed between a large bookshop and a record shop. The “muggles”, as they were informed non-magicals were called, didn't seem to notice the pub; it was as if only those with magic could.

They quickly moved through the local and into a back alley where Apollo closely watched the mans every movement, tapping certain brick which made the whole wall disappear and rearrange into a massive archway. It was real, it was all real. The twins looked around with much excitement when the ministry official mentioned they had to go to Gringots first, prompting many questions from both the twins. The prices of their school books and necessities were quite a lot, double the supplies double the price. So the twins opted into sharing some of the books. Apollo insisted he read all the material before the start of the semester as well as took it upon himself to copy down some of the books verbatim over summer; he insisted it helped him learn the material.

After all the supplies had been gathered, there were only two shops left to visit, Olivanders and a Pet Shop. The twins bolted into the wand shop, eager to get their hands on their first wand. An old man with silvery white hair approached the young boys, his eyes shining like two moons that could pierce one's soul. Taking out a tape measure, he began to measure the twins, although it wasn't quite him doing the measuring as much as the tape was doing it on it's own. With a wave of his hand the tape stopped and collapsed to the floor as the elderly man brought over two boxes, pulling out the wands and handing them to the twins. He quickly snatched them away before muttering “that's not right.” And going back to fetch more.

After about 4 pairs of wands he finally pulled out two very dusty boxes, it seemed as though they'd been there for ages. He gave Apollo a wand exclaiming it was Laurel, with Dragon Heartstring , 14 1/2", Whippy Flexibility and Artemis was handed one that was Sycamore, with Dragon Heartstring , 14 1/2", Slightly Springy Flexibility. Just as the twins were about to wave their wands Olivander told them to wait, grabbed the wands and switched the owner's so that Apollo had the Sycamore and Artemis had the Laurel, “Proceed” he said. So the twins both waved their wands, Apollos gave off blue sparkles and bronze swirls, it felt warm in his hand and just right. Olivander told the twins how their cores were unique, brother cores taken from the same Dragon, twin wands if they would.

Apollo spent the time leading up to the first semester, reading all the books, transcribing them into journals which he titled with the books titles. He quite enjoyed the views of an author, a Newt Scamander, and thus decided to name his Red Tabby cat that they had purchased him, Scamander. It was a quiet time before the semester started, for all intents and purposes. That would change however once the school year began.

The train ride was pleasant enough, Apollo and Artemis met a girl named Mary. She occupied the train cart with them while Apollo sat in the corner rereading one of his books. Saying out loud, yet to himself, ”Ravenclaw or Slytherin, neither sounds too bad…” all of a sudden he heard a voice inside his mind, it was presumably Mary's which simply stated that “Slytherin was fine, if you're a bad person.” Apollo straightened up a bit saying a touch louder ”I think Ravenclaw is the best fit for me.” closing his book and making a mental note to inquire about the Slytherin house later.

Finally it was time for the sorting ceremony, Apollo was so excited to see what house he was going to be placed in, and was overjoyed when the hat shouted RAVENCLAW! That is, until his brother went up to the hat, it proclaimed to the whole school HUFFLEPUFF! and Apollos heart sank. He'd never been apart from his twin, this was going to be a rough few years. As time passed he and Mary became close, the reign of a Dark Wizard known as Voldemort, threatened the very livelihood of the twins and thus they persuaded the professor to teach them some defense against the rising threats, as well as a way to help the twins stay in communication when apart. Apart from basic defensive spells, they were also taught how to summon a Patronous. They used this as a means to send messages back and forth from one dorm to the other, as well as incase of a Dementor attack.

Their first year there was rough. Being apart from his brother, only to see him in shared classes or when learning was not in session. He got a few odd glances from the witches and wizards in many of his classes, as he not only had the textbook required, but also had a typewritten copy for him to underline and annotate as needed, because who would dare write in a book? He often helped to proofread his brothers homework, so that he would learn and keep good marks; meanwhile Mary, who happened to be in his house, would help him with Transfiguration while he helped her in Defense against the Dark Arts, classes Apollo excelled in the latter while Mary excelled in the former.

This symbiotic relationship continued into their second year. The twins finally managed to get the Patronous Charm down after a full year of extra studies with Professor Flitwick, a renowned charms teacher. Theyd send messages to each other, ensuring the other was safe as well as helping to fill the loneliness of being apart for so long. The drills for safety during the war that waged became more and more worrisome for Apollo. So much so that in class his Boggart appeared as Artemis, sprawled across the floor dead, his yellow robes tainted with blood. Poor Artemis had to view this sight as well and cast Riddikulus faster than Apollo could snap back. This became one of the biggest drives for Apollo to dive straight into the world of Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts harder than he did before.

A new year marked new beginnings for all. Celebrations were held throughout the world, including the muggle world as well. Talks of Voldemort's defeat spread fast, and many rejoiced in the news; others however mourned the loss of loved ones and helped to clean up messes that were left behind in the wake of war. The twins received a letter from the family owl that was kept in the muggle world in Kensington. Their parents asked if the whispers were true and if they were still safe. They informed them that as far as they knew it was true, but that they had friends lose loved ones in the process. It would take time to reach some semblance of normality again.

By his fourth year Apollo was back to his old self. He still studied Charms and Defenses, knowing that he may need them one day; after all “tis better to have and not need than to not have and need” he'd always say.

As early as the twins could remember, separation was a forign concept. The twin sons of James Harrington and Olivia Harrington, the boys grew up in a world full of myth and magic of the muggle variety. Olivia Harrington, maiden name Evans, was a well known archaeologist, assisting Barry Cunliffe in his excavation of the Roman Villa, the Fishbourne Palace, in west Sussex and assisting the University of Jerusalem's Yohanan Aharoni in excavating Cave no. 8 (Cave of Horrors), that worked out of King’s College in junction with the British Museum on several Greek history exhibits.

James Harrington grew up in a family of historians. Like his mother, he inherited a deep seated curiosity and a sense of adventure. His father developed a focused mind and the fiery determination that drove him through his school years, despite a variety of financial and emotional setbacks, and resulted in him graduating from Oxford University with his Doctorates in Greek history. He caught a full time position at the British museum as a museum curator and would eventually ascend to director while continuing as a part time lecturer at Oxford.

An event at the British Museum brought them together, a showcase of the many artifacts that British explorers have brought back from their travels. The pair collaborated on the Greek section, working long hours with little time for other social interaction, but like they often said, it was a match made in heaven. The pair quickly fell in love, their busy schedules complementing each other well, and married a few years later. When they discovered they had twins, one boy and one girl, they decided on their names immediately: Apollo and Artemis. They painted blue wolves and dolphins and pink dancing bears, an homage to the source of their names and a blend of modern and ancient imagery.

Only to be wrong. In a surprise twist, both babies came out male. The first one, named Apollo, was born fifteen minutes before his brother and the parents kept the name, pacified by a nurse who assured them it sounded unisex enough. The tired but ecstatic pair returned home when Olivia was released, only to realize they needed to make some adjustments. The clothes and toys were returned and replaced but the nursery stayed the same. Painting was a chore neither parent wanted to go through again so soon.

The twins were inseparable, going everywhere together. Their speech facilities developed much slower than expected, to the bafflement of most doctors. They could comprehend as well as any child their age, possible even better, but they seemed reluctant to put those ideas into words and when they did speak, it was almost incomprehensible until 4 years old when they made sudden leaps and bounds past the standard development. It pleasantly baffled their parents and the pair set out on catching up the twins on an appropriate level of education.

The reason was, in fact, the pair displayed magic incredibly early. The twins were both Legilimens, wizards with an instinctive knack for the Legilimency spell. The pair practically lived in each other’s heads which removed the primary motivation to communicate verbally, negatively impacting their early speech development. It wasn’t until they realized not everyone could hear others thoughts that they stepped out of their heads, partially, and interacted with their peers.

They were still mostly silent at home and until the age of seven, the pair struggled to differentiate between the ‘inside voices’ and normal voices. Even once they did, it still wasn’t unusual for them to babble in response to an unwitting stranger’s thoughts. Their parents chalked their impromptu conversations to imaginary friends and encouraged their active imaginations. It was that trait that first drove both their parents into Greek History and it made them proud that their children also displayed it. But as time went on and the conversations turned darker and the twin’s supper questions more uncomfortable, the Harrington’s had to admit that possibly their children were a tad touched.

Their parent’s opinion took second place during the summer of of their eight year, when Apollo caught the flu and Olivia went to pick up his medicine, bringing Artemis along with her after he whined his way under her skin. He’d been bouncy all day, after the first few days of fretting over his quiet brother and being assured he would be okay with medicine, and it didn’t stop in the car. He talked about everything they passed, peppering the stressed woman with a million questions and the second she turned to snap at him, it happened. A truck collided with the passenger side of the car as she accidentally drove into an intersection after tapping on the gas. The force of it rolled the car twice before it suddenly stopped upright. Olivia was sliced with glass and metal. Artemis made it out with nearly no damage, his magic instinctively replicatiing the Slowing Charm on everything around him. And while the child made it out with only a few cuts, Artie still has nightmares to this day about the incident.

After the accident, Artemis regressed to the silence he maintained when the twins were younger and Apollo took the role of the pair’s mouth. Guilt wormed its way through him, eating Artemis alive as he blamed himself for the accident after overhearing a short lived thought that if only he’d been less annoying. Of course, the thought was dismissed as quickly as it came as completely unreasonable, his mother couldn’t shift the blame on him when it was her fault for taking her eyes off the road anyways, but the damage was done. Artemis sunk into his depression, barely sleeping through the night and avoiding other people as much as possible.

Apollo struggled then as well. Apollo often got overloaded with voices, struggling to keep himself out of other’s thoughts, and when Artemis started having nightmares and crushing guilt, it was a snapping point. He frequently stopped in the middle of public areas and crouched, covering his ears and trembling until it stopped. Or he could become irritable and confrontational, devolving into temper tantrums when everything became too much. Olivia and James had little option but to have a doctor see them, entering family therapy on a recommendation.

It was a rough climb back to some semblance of normalcy but family therapy helped. The therapist, although a muggle, their therapist picked up on the twin’s “highly empathetic natures”, noting that Artemis felt the accident was his fault and that Apollo was anxious about the growing rift in his family. Olivia and James were horrified to hear this but it was the largest step the family managed and with the help of carefully controlled medications, the pair managed to smile again and feel comfortable in their own home. Their grades and friends returned and life seemed to go on with the occasional episode.

And then the ministry official appeared, Hogwarts letters in hand. The twins accepted it in about five seconds flat, a barrage of questions that had the man wide eyed. But he could also explain that the conversations the twins had, the voices they spoke to, and the things they did were all very real. Their parents, still dealing with the aftermath of the crash, kept their thoughts well in order despite the initial discomfort of knowing their thoughts were not as hidden as they’d assumed. Apollo and Artemis could barely contain themselves, the younger one dancing around the house ecstatically as he screamed at the top of his lungs and Apollo gaped at the man and then promptly fainted.

Diagon Alley was an entirely different experience. Artemis got separated from the family no less than four times as he darted from shop to shop and returning to demand of the ministry man, a very helpful Mr. Hopkinson who Artie still writes once a month, explanations for every little thing that caught his eye. Which boiled down to… everything. His parents and brother seemed mildly concerned about knuts, sickles, and galleons. Why they were discussing plumbing stuff and ships he wasn’t sure; Artie was too busy begging and crying for the most adorable cat he’d ever seen. He won that fight but sadly lost the color changing robes. His new cat, Nonnie, comforted him through that trying time. Discovering his wand wiped the memory of his lost robes and he couldn’t help waving it around until Mr. Hopkinson finally made him put it away.

The train ride to Hogwarts was a trying time for his soon to be classmates. Artemis could hear the exasperation other students had when he would bounce around the train every few minutes, eagerly greeting everyone and everything, talking a mile a minute to the trolley lady, and to anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. The normal weight that built through the day from all the oppressive thoughts couldn’t even knock his mood. Once his brother made him sit down, he was more than happy to continue chatting the ear of the nice girl in the car with them.

He felt his world shatter around him that same night. The sorting ceremony, one of the most exciting things about the whole days, separated the twins. It was the first time they’d have been significantly apart without a clear time they’d be together in the future. Artie wasn’t sure if he screamed out loud but he definitely did internally as he sat shell-shocked at the Hufflepuff table, on the verge of sobbing. All through his first year, his depression flared again, he struggled to voice his thoughts and opinions unless his sibling was around, and he clung to Apollo harder than he ever had, going so far to skip some classes to hide when everything just got overwhelming.

The end of the first year brought some progress, though it was absolutely obliterated when he got home and his parents were overjoyed with Apollo. Artemis was found… lacking. They acted empathetic but the thoughts. Again, they were just initial reactions. The tinge of disappointment when their son couldn’t meet their academic standards, the flare of irritation at Artemis’ waterfall of disappointment. All gone and replaced with the logical conclusion that he needed a longer adjustment period but the damage had been done. He couldn’t wait to get away again.

The second year made it better. Apollo’s research over the summer unearthed the Patronus charm and after many, many late night talks with both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff heads, and an equal number of tears from Artemis, they learned the Patronus charm in order to send a piece of themselves to each other when the separation weighed too heavily on them. Learning the Patronus was a point of pride for Artie and it gave him a much needed sense of accomplishment to instill a sense of care in his work. His grades in the fun classes, Charms, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Potions, rose almost overnight but the not so fun classes dragged brutally. History of Magic, dramatic sigh. Astronomy, who cares. Herbology, a necessary evil. Thank goodness for his sibling.

Returning to school the next year was even better than the last. Celebrations went on as news of Voldemort’s defeat was carried across Great Britain and the world was a better place for it. Those who supported him were on the outs, his ideals and views unpopular, and another one of Artie’s problems fell away. Though, not all survived the dark, friend and foe alike, and a certain solemnity fell across the campus. Although he didn’t lose anyone himself, he could empathize with the pain of an unexpected separation and he made it his goal to help others through it. He recruited his brother and those who were willing in making a bit life a little more merry that year so at least for a while the seriousness of life didn’t make school room corners quite as dark.

The third and fourth years found Artie growing more into his magic and his confidence in his place in the wizarding world. His love for his favorite classes grew, his dislike for his others grew too, and his days of rolling out of bed disappeared. He put himself together, took pride in how he presented himself, cared more about his grades and put serious effort into even the ones he loathed, and actively made sure other like him and his brother, muggle born, were taught the ropes and given the same opportunities as those born into the magical community.

Artie assumed that was what earned him his prefect position. Though honestly, he didn’t really question it. It marked a tangible milestone in his growth as a wizard and a person and, as a grown and mature teenager, ran around the house screaming at the top of his lungs. It satisfied a jealousy that had been building inside him, a ugly feeling aimed at his brother for always being more successful and smarter than he. Artie was the prefect, not Apollo. For once, someone acknowledge he was more than just a fun kid, a joker, the accompaniment. But he shook that line of thought form himself, ashamed that he felt that way since he knew Apollo never thought of him like that. So he pushed it aside and got ready for a new, exciting year like always. Nothing could go wrong now.