A Magical Second Life Ch: 1

Synopsis:

It only takes a single hand to tip the scales of fate. Luke Walker would do much more than that.

Blessed or cursed with memories of another life, fate is forced to change to accommodate him. Most changes are minor; after all, he's only a single person in the grand scheme of things. However, the changes he makes stack up, and eventually, he finds himself halfway around the world with his family.

That alone isn't much, but things start to snowball when he meets a boy with a scar on his forehead. Luke has trouble sitting on the sidelines, and soon, he's embroiled in a conflict of the ages.

One thing is certain: it will be magical.

-X-X-X-

Author's Notes:

This is a Harry Potter Fanfic. I do not own the rights to almost all of the characters mentioned, as they are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I'm just a nerd who loves the universe she's created and wants to have fun with it.

Please enjoy.

-X-X-X-

Luke never liked the news. He felt it contained too much doom and gloom, served up by people who were biased in one way or another.

Besides, if it were essential, he'd hear about it anyway, whether that be from social media or through acquaintances. Only then would he take the time to look the story up and judge for himself.

He never thought twice about how his smartphone factored into it all or how convenient it was to have the world at his fingertips—not until smartphones were only a thing in his memory.

Cut off from endless scrolling and targeted ads, Luke was free to live in relative ignorance, though it did come with some noticeable downsides, mainly having to sit and listen to news reporters.

These days, if Luke wanted to know what was happening in the world, which he very much did, there were only two ways he could do it: Luke could wait for the newspaper each morning like his parents, or he could watch the news. He chose the news.

Luke had nothing against newspapers; he just disliked how they came out after the fact. And while he detested news anchors in general, they were better at keeping him up to date on worldly affairs. He did have to sit and wait through all the boring everyday reports, but occasionally, something important would be featured, and Luke would be rewarded for tuning in

—like now.

With one hand, ten-year-old Luke Walker used the remote to turn up the tube TV's volume while his other anxiously rubbed against the fabric of the couch he was sitting on. The feel of the pale-green suede against his tiny fingertips centered him, reminding him that this was all real as his eyes refused to leave the grainy, forty-inch square television screen across the room.

Every news station was talking about Ukraine, but not for the reason you might think. Everyone was celebrating Ukraine’s succession from the Soviet Union and how it was a sign of things to come for the diminishing superpower.

As always when watching the news, Luke’s eyes periodically drifted to the bottom right corner of the screen, where today's date and the local weather were shown.

Monday, July 16, 1990. 4:57 pm. 74 °F.

Luke would give almost anything to have a smartphone like the one he saw in his memories, but smartphones wouldn't be invented for another seventeen years. He’d settle for Google, but even that wouldn’t launch for another decade, and by then, he would be out of high school.

It had been almost nine years since he suddenly remembered his past life, and Luke Walker still had moments where he considered the possibility that this was all a dream. After all, the clearest memories he had were from 2024. Reincarnation was one thing, but time travel, too?

It had been hard for him to come to terms with one, let alone both, so when Luke saw things like this on the news, even though he'd long since come to terms with the knowledge he had, a small voice in the back of his head couldn’t help but consider the possibility that this was all his mind playing tricks on him.

“Good for them. I knew they could do it,” the soothingly sweet voice of Shannon Walker, Luke’s mother, pulled him from his thoughts as she rounded the couch and plopped down next to him. Her arms expertly wrapped around him in a comforting hug as she pulled Luke into the crook of her arm.

“Anything else interesting on? Anything about England?”

“Not really, just the local news and Ukraine,” Luke lazily replied as most of the tension slowly bled from his body under the weight of his mother’s loving embrace. He stopped rubbing the couch in favor of closing his eyes and listening to his mother’s rhythmic breathing.

Luke knew he wasn't hallucinating because of her. The sound of her steady breathing, the warmth of her hug, the tickling sensation of her long, dirty-blond hair against his neck, the light behind her pale blue eyes, and the faint smell of dirt and flowers wafting off her jeans and blouse from her work in the garden earlier were too real to be anything but.

In the background, the news anchors continued chatting happily, but neither Luke nor his mother were genuinely listening. It was just white noise to the duo as they sat there enjoying each other's company.

"This is nice," Shannon casually remarked a few minutes later, yawning as she did so. “I hope the next few months are as nice as this.”

Luke briefly wondered why his mother phrased it like that, but he didn’t dwell on it long. For him, this was more than just ‘nice.’ Luke’s past life wasn't horrible by any means, but it wasn't anything to write home about either. His previous life’s parents were always busy and emotionally distant, both to him and to each other, the exact opposite of his new family.

In his memories, after Luke had moved out of his parents' house in his previous life, they rarely talked to him, and when they did, it was always about his dead-end serving job and how he wasn’t living up to his potential. Which— fair.

Meanwhile, Shannon was caring and attentive and, as a stay-at-home mom, was always there for Luke and his rowdy little sister. Similarly, his new father, Raymond, who was currently at work as a vice manager of a local dock geared towards overseas imports, was also a fantastic dad. He was the family's breadwinner and worked long hours Monday through Friday, but even then, he still found time for his kids.

Luke didn’t hate his previous life’s parents but wasn't afraid to admit that he preferred his current family over the memories of the old one, and the comparison wasn't even close.

It took him years to come to peace with his past life's memories, and while he would freely acknowledge that they were a part of who he was, Luke had long since decided that he was Luke Walker and not anybody else. His past life had helped shape him and given him a wealth of knowledge to draw from, but at the same time, it wasn't who he was now.

“It’s nice having you two home all the time," Luke's mother continued in a slow, serene voice.

As if perfectly timed to contradict his mother’s words, faint giggling echoed down the stairs, signaling Luke’s little sister was getting into mischief again.

Cocking one eye open and meeting his mother’s smiling visage, he couldn’t help but quip, “You sure about that?” His mother tried to hold back a wave of laughter, but the sound of something heavy being pushed across the carpet upstairs sent her over the edge.

“She’s moving her toy chest again,” Shannon let out a resigned sigh after catching her breath. It wasn’t the first time Luke’s sister had moved her furniture around; this was probably the tenth time Hailee had done so since school was let out a month ago.

“Still don’t wish we were still in school?” Luke continued to playfully tease his mother, receiving a bright smile in return.

“You know they say the first child is supposed to be the hardest,” Shannon playfully booped her son on the nose as the noises of things being shuffled around upstairs grew louder.

“Yeah, I’m awesome,” he smugly replied.

"You both are," Shannon corrected her son with a sickeningly sweet smile and a kiss on the forehead.

Luke wasn’t embarrassed much by his mother’s affection, having memories of being starved of such things his first go around. At first, Luke had trouble acting his age, but over the years, he adapted, and it slowly became second nature. He was still mature for his age, but not so much that it drew the attention of his parents or his teachers.

Just then, the two heard the pitter-patter of short legs rushing down the stairs at breakneck speed.

"Though I will admit your sister can be quite a handful," Luke's mom whispered to him as if it were some big secret as Hailee barreled into the room.

Luke's sister was a tornado incarnate, literally twirling as she rushed toward him, ignoring her surroundings, including their mother sitting beside him. She wore a black bath towel like a cape, brandishing a colorful foam sword in each hand. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail to keep it out of her eyes, just like she always had it.

“Luke, I am your sister!” She tried to sound sinister from behind her towel, holding it in front of her like vampires did in movies, trying and failing to look menacing.

"You don't get tired of saying that, do you?" Luke deadpanned while his mother raised a hand to hide her smile from her children. Luke acted as if he hated his name, but it was an open secret in their family that was just him being dramatic.

It was no secret he was named after the famous movie protagonist with a similar name, their family’s last name being the obvious inspiration. Luke’s father, Raymond, was more than a little nerdy, and seeing how ‘A New Hope’ was the first movie his parents saw together when they first started dating, it wasn’t a stretch to see how Luke got his name.

Luke was, however, happy that his mother had put her foot down when he was born. She had ensured his middle name was Jakobs, like his father's, instead of Sky, like the man initially wanted.

Luke loved his new name so much that he refused to acknowledge his old one, but that didn't mean he wanted to be known as Luke Sky Walker his entire life.

“You could’ve had such a cool name,” Hailee smiled wildly at her brother, pointing the red and blue foam swords she’d colored in his face.

“I have a cool name,” Luke corrected his sister for what was probably the hundredth time, undeterred by the tip of the foam swords hovering an inch away from his nose.

Hailee ignored her brother’s rebuttal and continued her rehearsed dialogue: "Join me, Luke, and together, we can rule the galaxy as siblings!” She tried to cackle manically, but as usual, it just turned into her giggling uncontrollably.

Luke made eye contact with his mother as if asking for help, but she just nodded towards his patiently waiting sister, smiling, urging him to play along.

Luke rolled his eyes as if exasperated, but he was already getting into character. In one quick motion, he snatched the blue foam sword out of his sister’s hand just as he'd done yesterday, the same as the day before and the day before that. This was their ritual, and Luke would have it no other way.

After carefully inching away from his mother so as not to bump into her, Luke jumped to his feet on the couch and dramatically shouted, “Never,” as he swung his sword in a wide arc, giving his sister extra time to react.

Hailee nimbly jumped back, dodging his swing. She gave him one last manic smile before turning and booking it back upstairs just as quickly as she had arrived. Luke and Shannon smiled as they heard her pause at the top of the stairs, no doubt waiting to ensure Luke was properly following her.

“Don’t go too crazy,” his mother playfully warned him as he hopped off the couch and leisurely followed after his sister.

“No promises,” Luke calmly replied over his shoulder as he walked out of the living room, sword in hand, leaving his mother and the news behind. They were still talking about Ukraine and would probably continue doing so for the next few days as the situation developed.

Mentally, Luke wished the people of Ukraine good luck, knowing full well what the future held in store for the recently independent country-

At least what he thought he knew.

“Come on,” his sister urged him from atop the stairs as he rounded the corner and casually started to walk up.

She didn’t give him time to reply before rushing out of sight again, ducking into her nearby room. Luke could’ve rushed after her but instead chose to keep his current pace, knowing it would annoy his sister to no end. Luke was a big brother, after all.

It was his job to give his sister a hard time every now and again, or else who would? His parents? That hyperactive gremlin had them wrapped around her finger, just like he was.

As Luke walked up the stairs, he couldn't help but smile. In his memories, he had been an only child in his past life and always wanted a sibling, so when he was three, and his sister was born, he vowed to be the best big brother he could be. He may occasionally complain for appearance's sake, but he never turned down the chance to spend time with her.

Halfway up the stairs, Luke tried to get into the proper headspace for the ‘duel’ to come, as he liked to give Hailee his full attention, but his mind couldn’t help but wander back to the news. The stuff about Ukraine matched what he knew from his past life. That didn’t stop him from overanalyzing everything, trying and failing to spot any differen

ces between the two realities.

Everything appeared to be the same. Luke's past self wasn't exactly a history aficionado, but he knew enough from school. U.S. history was the same. World Wars I and 2 were just as bad in this life as his past one, and technology was developing simultaneously, down to the companies that made everything.

Computers were slowly taking over the world, while cell phones were becoming smaller and more handheld as the years passed. As far as Luke could tell, everything was the same, but he knew that couldn't be the case as there was one massive difference between this life and his last.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Luke stopped, stretched out his arms, and centered himself. His pride as a big brother demanded he try his best so he couldn't enter his sister's room distracted. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Luke turned and faced his sister's door, which was wide open.

Her room was a mess, as usual, so he had to step over a bunch of toys and stuffed animals as he proceeded inside, shutting his sister's bedroom door behind him. Hailee was waiting for him, practically vibrating in excitement as she stood in the center of her room, where she’d pushed back all the clutter, forming a neat circle like the eye of a hurricane.

She discarded the towel, proudly showing off her favorite Star Wars shirt.

 "It took you long enough," her green eyes glared at her brother while she pouted.

“The hero always arrives late,” Luke grinned cockily, tilting his head back and looking down his nose at his sister, playing into their roles further. Luke stayed in character but didn't take his eyes off her. Now that he was in her room, anything was fair game.

"The usual, first to ten points?" He casually asked.

"You will bow to me," Hailee responded, using both hands to grip her red foam sword.

"Good," Luke responded to his sister's enthusiasm. "Our battle will be legendary," he raised his fist and quoted a movie that wouldn’t come out until 2008.

There was no signal for them to begin; the two just moved on instinct, with Hailee sending a lightning-fast jab at Luke's chest, precisely where his heart was, hoping for a quick win.

Luke was expecting as much and easily parried his sister’s strike. Foam sword met foam sword, but instead of overtly bending as one would think, the foam blades remained rigid as they clashed.

"You always start so aggressive," Luke bantered as he pulled his sword back and adjusted his stance while tapping his sister's exposed arm.

Most kids would swing wildly at each other until their arms tired, but not the Walker siblings. He may be ten, but Luke had little patience for overtly childish games and preferred to treat his sister like a little adult.

He did this to help her grow as a person, not coddling her as some older brothers might. Because of how he treated her, even though Hailee was only seven, she too was mature for her age, though now and again, her age betrayed her.

If they were to duel, there would be rules, hence the point system the two devised. A strike to the arms or legs was worth two points, the torso was worth three, and a bonk on the head was worth five. The only exception was the heart, which counted as an automatic win if one got lucky.

Hailee, the hyper tomboy she was, preferred to aim for the vitals, so she almost always led with a stab to the chest or a swing at Luke's head, which meant she was somewhat predictable.

Almost every one of their matches started the same way, with Luke having a two-point lead over his sister, but that didn’t mean he was guaranteed to win because while she was probably the most compassionate and sincere seven-year-old in the world, Hailee was also highly competitive and loved to play at being the bad guy. And if she was playing the villain, why should she play fair? Her words, not Luke's.

With her first attack failing spectacularly, Luke sensed a change in his sister as her left hand let go of her sword. He didn’t even look as she made a grabbing motion with her now free hand towards one of her many stuffed animals to his right and made a flinging gesture.

In one fluid motion, Luke slashed out with his sword, knocking a stuffed rabbit out of the air before it could bean him in the head, which would've counted as a strike.

This was why Luke was so interested in the news and historical events despite hating news anchors. While things may be progressing almost identically as in his past life, he was 99.999% sure that telekinesis wasn't supposed to be a real thing.

Hailee wasn’t the only one who could fling stuff; Luke could do the same thing. A fire in the center of his being burned constantly, though instead of heat, it gave off a chaotic energy that filled his young body, an energy waiting to be let loose. He’d sensed it as soon as he regained his memories, as the sensation had felt utterly alien to him then.

He remembered those early days vividly while telekinetically throwing stuffed animals back and forth with his sister.

Luke still didn't know for sure what their abilities were; thanks to his memories, he had a plethora of media to draw from, but it was a double-edged sword.

For example, comics were still popular here, so the idea of metahumans and mutants wasn't foreign to people, yet there was no information on people like them outside of fiction.

Did they have superpowers? Magic? Were they physics or cultivators? There were so many possibilities that it was hard to single out any one idea over another.

Luke wasn’t sure, but he knew they weren’t alone. They were extremely rare, but he’d sensed others like them walking around in public. They looked the same as everybody else, but Luke didn’t let that fool him. He never approached them, as they were just random people on the street, but they were there.

Paring Hailee's follow-up attack after she stopped force-throwing stuffed animals at him, Luke questioned if he had made the right choice with his little sister for a brief moment. He'd learned a lot about this mysterious power since he regained his past life's memories, the key aspect being that everybody had the chance to unlock it, though many never did. Though that might not be the best way of putting it.

Everyone was born with a flame inside them; it just died out in most people between their first and second birthdays—Just as it almost did for his sister.

Back then, he had no idea what this power was capable of, as he hadn’t learned to move things with it until he was six. But even before then, he had some control over the weird energy inside himself. So, when his sister was fourteen months old, and her flame started to dwindle just like every other child around him, he did something about it because Luke knew what would happen if he didn't.

The result was plain to see in every adult. Where there used to be fire, there were only smoldering embers of what used to be. From what Luke could tell, once a person’s flame died out, it was gone forever and could not be reignited.

Luke didn't know if he did it because he didn't want to be alone or because he wanted to give his sister all the opportunities he had; either way, once Luke noticed her flame was shrinking, he did everything he could to stop it.

For over a year, Luke transplanted a small portion of his inner flame to his sister by playing with and holding her daily. Ultimately, Hailee's flame stopped shrinking and grew naturally a little before her third birthday, from a flickering candle to a roaring bonfire.

The energy Luke sacrificed never recovered. Even now, he could sense that a part of his flame was missing, but that didn't matter, as what remained grew naturally to cover for what he lost. Time would tell if he permanently harmed himself, but even if he did, Luke would never blame his sister for it.

Thanks to his choices back then, Luke had a special bond with Hailee, a secret only the two of them shared, and he wouldn’t trade that for all the power in the world.

Stimulating the flow of the chaotic energy given off by his fire, Luke stealthfully used his abilities to lock his sister's feet in place. With her feet stuck to the carpet, rendering his sister helpless, Luke effortlessly scored another hit, this time on Hailee's left shoulder. The shoulder counted as hitting her torso, bringing his points up to five.

“No fair!” Hailee complained, channeling excessive energy into her feet to break his tenuous hold on her before stomping around in a tantrum. “No holding!”

“You used the force first, Darth Adorable,” Luke playfully stuck out his tongue at his sister, using his nickname for her.

It was an inside joke between the two of them that they were secretly Jedi. Luke had only been teaching his sister to control her powers for a little more than a year, but even before then, she'd been a massive fan of the Star Wars trilogy, having been influenced by their father. It was probably why Hailee picked everything up so fast. It took Luke six years to learn how to move even the lightest of objects, while it only took Hailee eight months to accomplish the basics.

Of course, just because she picked it up faster than he did didn’t mean Hailee was more talented than her older brother. Her apparent talent was a product of her desire to learn, compounded by Luke's teaching ability. After all, learning something from another was always easier than learning it from scratch.

“That’s it!” Hailee growled and charged her brother in a mad dash, putting too much power into her foam sword.

Luke grimaced as he tried to block his sister’s feral swings, doing his best not to let her hit him while she overcharged her sword.

A few months ago, Luke learned how to strengthen the foam swords they dueled with and taught it to his sister. It kept them from flopping all over the place and curving when they blocked each other. The act required very little energy and wasn’t hard to maintain. Their telekinesis, or more accurately, the energy generated by their inner fire, didn’t affect the hardness of the foam, so they could still safely bop each other without worry of harm—

So long as it was kept to acceptable levels.

By nature, their powers were chaotic. Moving things was the easiest thing to do, but there was a fine line between control and chaos. The energy they wielded could do many things, though so far, they’d only been able to harness it to move things and keep their swords from flopping all over the place. A little chaos energy channeled into their swords kept them from bending. Too much, and the foam swords could become as hard as a stone or spontaneously combust—both were bad news.

Hailee hadn't lost focus like this in months, so Luke had trouble deciding what to do. Whatever he did, he would need to do it quickly. If she didn’t stop soon, one of them could get seriously injured.

Luke’s inner turmoil didn’t go unnoticed by his sister. Like flicking a light switch, her look of rage shifted into a sneaky grin. Her wild swinging became more deliberate as she retracted the extra energy she’d funneled into her foam sword, and while Luke was still processing the sudden shift, she slashed at his stomach, scoring three points. 

“Ha! Got you. That’s what you get for messing with my feet," the seven-year-old gloated about tricking her older brother.

For a second, Luke gave his little sister a proud smile, which promptly morphed into an older brother's frown. Yes, he was proud of her for being clever, but what she did was dangerous, and he needed to make that known.

“You could’ve really hurt me like that," Luke lowered his voice so Hailee knew he was serious. However, it came out far squeakier than he would’ve liked because of his age. Still, he felt he got his point across.

Luke expected his sister to be chastised by his remark; instead, her shit-eating grin only grew wider.

“Ah, but you weren’t,” She cut him off before he could get mad again. “I only made it look like I lost control," she happily corrected him before demonstrating how she did it.

Luke could better sense the energy in his sister’s sword without her swinging it all over the place. At first, he had thought she had channeled an excess amount into it, but in truth, she’d only taken what was already there and forced all of it to the edges, giving her sword the illusion it had too much energy contained within.

“I’ve been secretly practicing this all week while you were busy watching the news downstairs,” she happily proclaimed, puffing out her chest in pride.

The ten-year-old part of Luke was miffed at being tricked, and if he didn't have his previous life's memories, he might've lashed out in revenge at his sister. But Luke was more mature than that, so he did the only thing any good older brother would. Lowering his sword, Luke stepped in front of Hailee and ruffled her already messy hair until she would need to take out her scrunchy and tie it back up again.

"Hey!" Hailee tried to swat her big brother's hand away, but her heart wasn't in it.

“Good job, Hailee. You got me fair and square. Nice trick," Luke didn't hold back as he complimented his sister, who was now smiling ear-to-ear. In truth, she deserved more praise, but Luke didn't want to give her a big head.

Well, a bigger head than she already had.

Unlike her brother, Hailee couldn’t sense energy like he could. To Luke, their inner flames and the energy they gave off were so bright he could practically see them, and manipulating that energy came as second nature to him. Hailee didn't have that ability.

Hailee had to do everything on gut feeling alone. So, the fact she’d figured out how to do something that precise without being able to sense it was frankly astounding to Luke.

Hailee blushed faintly under her big brother’s praise but quickly schooled her features before lightly pushing him back. “Thanks, but we’re not done yet. I’m still going to win,” she announced her intent to continue by raising her red blade and pointing it at his exposed chest.

After their heated exchange, the red marker was flaking off and would need another coat soon. Luke’s blue sword was no better.

No longer needing to hide his pride, Luke openly smiled as he brought his sword back up. For the last year, he'd been teaching her everything he knew about utilizing the energy inside them, and for the first time ever, their roles were reversed. Luke couldn’t express how proud he was with words alone. That didn't mean he would go easy on her and throw the match.

The two squared up, ready to continue after their heartfelt moment, only to pause and quickly retract their energy. No sooner than they did, Hailee’s door knob started to twist.

"Alright, kiddos. I think that's enough for today. It’s getting late. I already put dinner in the oven, and your father will be getting home soon," their mother announced as she opened the door. First, she smiled at her children, who had not broken anything during their roughhousing. Luke thought his mom looked sad for a moment, but he blinked, and she was smiling again, if a bit forcefully, at the mess surrounding them.

“Hailee, dear, I know it's summer break and all, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep your room clean.”

“Soooorrryyy,” Hailee replied, visibly deflating. Hanging her head, she refused to meet their mother’s eyes.

“You’re not in trouble,” Shannon quickly backpedaled, seeing her daughter’s downtrodden look. “Just clean your room. If you ask nicely, I’m sure your brother will help you. He always does," she suggested playfully.

Before turning around, their mom winked at him, knowing full well that Luke would help his sister like the good big brother he was.

That was close, Luke thought as their mother disappeared out of sight. He was so caught up in his sister's success that he almost missed her outside his sister's door.

For years, Luke considered telling their parents about his and his sister's abilities, but he always found some reason to talk himself out of it every time. At this point, he was just scared to come clean. What if they were mad, or worse, insisted they saw a specialist of some kind? Luke had no desire to end up as a lab rat on a slab somewhere.

Luke stood still until he could sense the smoldering remains of his mother's inner fire enter the kitchen downstairs. Once he was sure she wasn't coming back up, he stepped over his sisters’ toys and gently shut her door again before resummoning his energy and using it to float a handful of toys without ever turning around.

Even though they were almost caught, Luke didn't hesitate to use his abilities to help his sister. It was the perfect chance to practice his finer control, and so long as they kept a metaphysical eye out, it was highly unlikely that they'd miss their mother a second time.

One by one, faster than if he used his hands, Luke moved the toys spread around his sister's room into her wooden toybox that had been pushed up against the far wall from where it usually sat. After a sizable chunk of her toys were put away, he levitated over a dozen stuffed animals at once.

Telekinesis was a peculiar thing. Both weight and mass contributed to how much Luke could lift at once. All in all, he could levitate roughly sixty pounds so long as the weight wasn’t spread out too much. The key was properly wrapping the items in his energy. As the stuffed animals were neither too big nor too heavy, it was literal child's play to lift multiple up at once.

“Alright, where do you want them, Sis?” For the first time since their mother left, Luke looked back at Hailee, and when he did, all the colorful animals hovering above him once again fell to the floor.

She hadn't budged an inch since their mother came to check on them. Instead, Hailee was staring at the floor with a forlorn look.

Without hesitation, Luke dropped all pretense of cleaning and went to hug his little sister. “Still bad, huh?” He whispered into her ear as he held her close.

“Worse,” Hailee hickuped into his shirt, her voice no more than a whisper. “Dad was just as bad this morning," she added in a quieter voice.

All Luke could do was continue holding his sister tightly while he did his best to project happy thoughts despite now feeling worried himself.

Luke knew he'd been born lucky. If he hadn't been born with such a sensitivity to this mysterious energy inside people, chances were both his and his sister's fires would’ve died out just like their parents had. Luke loved his gift with all his heart; that’s why it hurt him so much to see Hailee struggle with hers.

L

ike her brother, Hailee had a special gift that Luke didn't, but while Luke's gift was a blessing, his sister's was less so.

While Luke sensed energy, Hailee sensed emotions. It was why she was such an outgoing kid and did her best to make friends with everybody she met. She was an empath, a sensitive one at that.

If the people around her were happy, Hailee's joy multiplied; if they were feeling sad, she couldn't help but feel sad with them. Her gift had only grown stronger since she started learning to control her powers, and around Luke, who was always happy to hang out with his sister, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Things only sucked for her when people were feeling powerful negative emotions around her, which was rare for anyone around Hailee.

Everything had been fine up until a couple of weeks ago. Hailee said their parents' emotional state had been relatively normal until then. They had their good days and bad days, but mostly, they were a happy couple. Sadly, as the days passed, they became more and more anxious and on edge. They hid it well, but it was causing Luke’s sister to suffer to no end.

Something had recently changed, and their parents feared talking to them about it. Luke did his best to distract his sister in their day-to-day lives and keep things light and happy, but he could only do so much when the family had dinner together every night.

“Can you describe it to me?” Luke asked, hoping that if his sister explained how their mother felt, he might finally get to the bottom of things.

Sniffling, Hailee struggled to find her voice. “It was so sudden and strong. It wasn’t bad while she was on the other side of the door. Then she saw us having fun, and suddenly, it got a lot worse. Sadness. Worry. Fear…. What’s the one that is like worry but different? You called it something a few days ago?”

“Anxiety?”

“Yeah, that. I don’t like it,” Hailee grumbled, clenching Luke’s shirt tightly.

That wasn’t much for Luke to work with. Then again, he couldn’t think of that many things that would elicit that kind of emotional reaction from their parents.

Luke didn’t think his father was cheating on their mother; they loved each other too much for it to be that. Plus, there weren't any signs he recognized from his past life. Shannon and Raymond’s marriage was solid, which also ruled out a lot. Sure, they had the occasional spat, like Hailee said, but nothing that bad.

Was it related to their father’s work? Maybe Money? Those were the only two things Luke could think of. He liked to think he would’ve noticed if his father was fired. It couldn’t be that, right?

In the end, speculating got Luke nowhere.

From the sounds of it, things were getting worse, which meant Hailee was suffering more. It’s no wonder she’s been spending so much time upstairs lately, he thought. Luke wondered if their parents had even noticed she deliberately avoided them whenever possible.

If they didn't resolve the problem or talk to them about it soon, Luke would need to get creative sooner rather than later.

Luke could feel his sister slowly calm down and relax in his arms. He didn't want this to happen again. Mentally, Luke gave his parents until bedtime tonight. If they didn't say anything by then, he would start dropping hints that he’d notice something was wrong tomorrow.

He would do his best to pull attention away from Hailee, and if that didn't work, he’d have to be blunter, even if it came off as intrusive.

Luke felt more than a little responsible for his sister's condition. If he had never saved her inner fire, her empathetic powers would have never developed, and she wouldn't be like she was. So, he would do everything he could to fix it because that’s what big brothers did.

“Alright, let’s get to cleaning up your room,” Luke softly nudged Hailee until she let go of his shirt.

“Okay,” Hailee agreed with only a fraction of her usual energy.

The two got to work using their powers in tandem to straighten up the messy room at lightning speeds.

“Maybe if we have time, you can tell me how you did that awesome trick with your sword," Luke tried to distract his sister by praising her, and thankfully, it worked.

“Really? Sure. Okay, so I….” Hailee was more than happy to brag about her accomplishment and explain how she figured it out, so much so that Luke could slowly see the life return to her eyes as she slowly forgot about her encounter with their mom.

In no time, Hailee returned to her usual, bubbly self, and her room was clean. Just in time, too, as both heard the soft thud of a car door outside. Their father was home, meaning they would be called down for dinner any minute now.

Luke offered his sister his hand, which she happily took.

They would figure this out together because no matter how cheesy it sounded, they were stronger together.

Luke refused to let this life end like his last, dying alone in a rundown apartment he could barely afford. He had time now, a loving family, power, and knowledge of the future.

All that remained was to play it smart and enjoy his second life, something he very much intended to do.

-X-X-X-

Author's comments:

So, what do you think? Interested? For those curious, the Harry Potter references don't start until a few chapters from now. This is the prologue to the prologue.

I intend to stay faithful to the books, but I'm not against changing a few things to fit my narrative. Hence, I changed how people are born with magic, but most lose it. Everyone deserves a trace of magic, and since magic is genetic in Harry Potter, why not?

While working off the books, the movies will be the most common reference. For you HP fans, you can see how this could lead to our main character making mistakes, and that's my intention. The first few years will roughly follow the timeline, but as things progress and fate changes, things will deviate.

Let me know what you think below. Does it sound interesting enough to read further? I especially want to hear from people who aren't generally HP fans.