Ash Amber Rivere (Birth Story)
Francis Rivere hated his name to the absoulte core, but could never bring himself to change it. It was a family name, after all, and if he had changed it, he would be nagged by his grandmother for years, saying, "Francis, it was the middle name of your great-great grandfather, the greatest wizard ever to have invented a self-pruning bonsai tree!" A self pruning bonsai tree? Give me a break.
Francis's great-great-grandfather had been a great Japanese wizard, but of course Francis himself was not Japanese. Since then, the Rivere family had been intermarrying with the British and Americans, even once marrying into the Malfoy family. It had always surpised Francis that not one Mudblood or Muggle or even Halfblood had made its way into polluting the lineage. But Francis didn't think that way, even if his grandmother always pressured him into keeping up the bloodline.
When his grandmother died, Francis, in grief ,married a young woman who was a pureblood. Thinking he was honoring his beloved grandmother's wishes, he also had a child with this woman for hopes of a male heir to continue on the Rivere line. However, his wife, Carmelyn, had triplets, 2 of which were boys and 1 girl. Overjoyed, Francis loved his children even as his affection for his wife was going away, result of their haphazard marriage and shaky, shallow foundation as a couple. Carmelyn loved her children as well, and genuinely loved her husband, even if he didn't feel the same. She named one of the boys, Adrian, after her brother, and the other, Grey, after her cousin. And she named the girl Ash, after the name she wanted as a child.
Two years passed, and slowly, surely, Francis and Carmelyn's marriage was decaying. Then, Adrian and Grey died. No one was sure how it happened to this day, not even if they were kidnapped or cursed or killed the Muggle way- all everyone knew was that the two were pronouced dead in the month of April, in 2008. Within the week, Carmelyn had packed her bags and signed the divorce papers with Francis. The last time they saw each other was in the hallway of the Minstry of Magic, before walking seperate directions and out of each other's lives. And, the child who survived, Ash, was immeaditely fought over in a custody battle. But it wasn't much of a battle, since only Francis had filed for her, with Carmelyn not even returning to say goodbye to her two year old daughter.
Francis had always hated his name, and he hated it even more in the years to come. It reminded him of his grandmother, who therefore reminded him of Carmelyn.. he wouldn't even let his friends refer to him as Francis anymore. Instead, he turned to being called by his last name only.
As soon as Francis had regained custody of Ash, he moved away from their formerly fantastic abode and moved to a little cottage near London. It was a sharp change, but Francis got used to it for the sake of his daughter. As time went on, Ash grew taller and more mature. They moved to America to a farm for quite a few years, before returning back to the cottage. By the time she was five, Francis was teaching her about magic. He was frustated because even though she did well, she complained about the lessons not being "fun": fun, he would say, does not apply to learning. He would argue with her constantly, even when she was young.
By the time she had reached 9 years old, Francis had mellowed out a little. Since he had married extremely young, at 17, he was around 26. He still had fits of fury, but he seemed to be more content with his life. But when Ash reached 12 years old and was on her 2nd year of school, his fury resurfaced, nagging her continuously about her low grades, and her lack of interest in learning higher-level spells and jinxes. The truth was, she wasnt interested in school, but did better then she had expected of herself. She told her father that is was fun, and he was angered even more.
Their relationship was increasingly bitter, and she hated going home to an unpredictable father. He could be moderately calm one minute, and then yelling at her for the rest of the day. Ash tried to be cordial, but refused to come home for the holidays. Instead, she spent Chirstmas and other breaks at Hogwarts, where she was very lonely. She had a hard time making friends, but the first of her 2nd year held some promise for her... when she met Midnight, Theodosia, Angel, Christabel, and Michelle.
