Family Photo c. 1993
(from left to right Emmeline Vance, Shelley Teo, Poonima Shah (center), and Dedalus Diggle)
I insisted we take a photo together. I was about to begin my second year at Hogwarts. I wrote on the back my mummy and papas'. Emmeline and Dedalus broke down and cried, Shelley pulled me into the biggest hug.
Emmeline, Dedalus and Shelley were members and an ally of the original Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. So were my birth parents. Dedalus and Shelley were only sixteen when they first joined.
Emmeline raised me from infancy and I met Dedalus and Shelley when I was three. I knew the four of us didn't look alike. Emmeline was Japanese Kazakhstani, Shelley is Chinese Singaporean, and Dedalus family is originally from From Assam, Northeast of India.
As I grew a little older, about five or six I started asking a lot questions about my birth parents. Emmeline and Dedalus were very open about my history. My father's name was Benjy Fenwick and my mother was Chandramani Shah. Benjy's family came from Andhra Pradesh, his great-grandfather surname was Nayudu. Chandramani's family from Rajasthan.
Both were Hit-Wix for the Ministry of Magic, They joined the Order in the mid 70s. At the height of the war Benjy was killed and a month after the war ended Chandramani died.
Emme was a Curse-Breaker, when I was seven she took me to India and we lived there for a time. Dedalus encouraged me to know my heritage.
Shelley bought me a journal, he told me to write letters and keep them in my journal to let Benjy and Chandramani know I was doing OK and was happy.
I told Emme, Dedda, and Shell that I wrote to my birth parents, that I have two mums and three fathers. I think its alright to have more than two parents who love you unconditionally.
commission by the brilliant @nekokonut 🌺🌺
Thank you!
