InsaneJournal

Though the birth of Keira & Felicity Smethwyk on May 22, 1961 was meant to calm the waters of a rocky marriage it did nothing but cause greater turmoil in the lives of Erica (nee; Stainwright) and Tobias Smethwyk. For a short period the attentions from their dysfunctional marriage was pushed to the side for the sake of catering to the needs of two vocal children. Twin's had a tendency to be a handful, after all, and between their dual tantrums, dual giggles, and dual diaper changes the marriage still managed to continue in a violent crumble.

There were constant arguments over money, social commitments that couldn't be kept, a need for freedom, and the suppression of genius. With Tobias and his reserved sense of tradition and Erica's clashing new wave of thought it was no surprise that rumours of the doomed marriage filled those pureblood tea parlours. It was obvious to many that the couple was battling a power struggle that would be deemed "normal" for the first five years of marriage. Tobias expected his independent and free spirited wife to be obedient and mindful of his and their childrens wishes. While Erica was entirely insistent that she be able to live her own life and make her own money with out the interference of her husband or the burden of her children.

Thankfully, the pair tried their best in the beginning to keep their dysfunction safely hidden from their children. Growing up, Keira had never truly paid much mind to the closed door arguments. For the most part growing up on the Smethwyk estate was as normal as it could be having bickering parents and an identical twin sister. Never truly lonely and always capable of having someone to play with, Keira proved to be quite the stereotypical first born. She was always eager to take the lead of 'director' in games of fantasy playhouse and willing to organize compromises when they were entirely necessary. Together the girls proved to be quite the pair - never letting the other get caught in trouble and always standing up for one another amongst nannies and other pureblood children.

The strong bond between the sisters was tested in late 1970 when their parents finally caved and divorce papers were drafted. With both daughters having certain preferences to each of the parents (Keira to their father and Felicity to their mother) epic arguments between the sisters caused more stress than was already present. As would be expected the girls were also caught in a dirty custody battle that for a time required them to be shuffled around from house to house every week. Eventually, Tobias and Erica decided to simply split the girls up so that each parent had one. Naturally, this arrangement didn't bode well with the children and came to an abrupt end when Felicity threw a massive tantrum until she and her sister were reunited.

With time things settled down by the end of the first year. The rotation between houses was left to the girl's and their moods. Keira, however, had a mad longing to stay in the Smethwyk estate where they had grown up. Not only because it was with her father, but their mother's newer classier home seemed cold and unwelcoming - plus she was rarely ever there to begin with. It was obvious from the start that Keira had sided with her father while Felicity with their mother. Both having their reasoning behind the near subconscious decision. To be fairly honest, Keira has always felt as if their mother had abandoned them for the sake of seeking riches and a better social standing. And in some ways she still resent her twin for supporting that decision. To this day there's still that resentment and hurt left behind from the divorce, but with time they both learned to live with it and to overcome. Avoiding it in conversation seems to work well too.


When Hogwarts became a driving topic in the twins lives, Keira was more excited than nervous. She wasn't much for excessive learning, but she certainly enjoyed meeting new people and had been fantasizing about teenage experiences for a long time coming. As would be expected Ravenclaw house was a big tradition in the Smethwyk household and the twins were pushed to follow suite. Thankfully, Keira was relatively confident she and her sister would manage the feat relatively simply. Their father, Tobias, had assured Keira over a late night glass of hot cocoa that there was nothing to worry about. As long as they demanded to the sorting hat that they wanted to be placed in Ravenclaw that was how it'd be. This, as it turns out, was how it happened - despite talk of Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

Unfortunately, the stereotypes of Ravenclaw house were a bit more demanding amongst the student body than Keira had anticipated. She wasn't one for excessive studying or excessive library visits. Unlike her sister, she had an obvious disinterest in academics and had a tendency to do the bare minimum when it came to her work. She never over excelled in her homework or in lessons and commonly got called out for not tending to the assigned reading by professors and their lecture questions. Keira's ability was easily laid in the hands of what many call The Art of BS. Rarely eager to learn the material, Keira does know when it's time to sit down and read the junk. Thankfully, she can retain facts fairly well when she has to and can use it to bullshit her way out of any essay. Because of this work ethic Keira's the type of student who tests exceptionally well, but falls short in homework and lessons due to the sheer disinterest in most of her subjects. Majority of her marks border on an "average" scaling.

That's not to say she's terrible at all of her classes, however. On the contrary - when her interest in a subject is peeked she'll soak up the information like a sponge. This is particularly why she excels so well in Care of Magical Creatures. Keira's a fan of animals and has always shown a natural way with them. Though the theory aspect of the classes took some extra work she proved herself decently when her mind was set on learning it. Her natural wand ability came in the form of Transfigurations to which she seems to excel with very little effort.

As would be guessed, Keira was more of an extracurricular girl. She's participated in a number of clubs over the years - Charms Club, Dueling Club, Biting Jacks Club, Gobstones Club, Cooking Club, and even a brief stint with Quidditch Card Traders Club. All of them of course were participated in because she had a friend who suggested she join. As would be expected her commitment to each association dwindled with the following semester and/or year. The only real club she stuck with was Wizard's Chess Club, only because it was a game she'd been perfecting since she was a kid. As for Quidditch, well, Keira's always had a particular talent on the broom. Unfortunately, her tryouts for the Ravenclaw team in second, third, fourth and fifth year only got her on of the reserve slots. As everyone knows reserve slots in Hogwarts level quidditch doesn't exactly mean much of anything. This year...she's determined to get the now open seeker position. She's been practicing all summer!

Other than quidditch Keira has started to realize that she's going to have to start buckling down a little bit more than she had been on her studies. Though she received 7 out of 8 O.W.L's, majority of her marks were incredibly average. Excelling only in Care of Magical Creatures and Transfigurations she had an interesting summer deciding where to set her sights for post-Hogwarts. For the time being she's rather insistent on working with animals. It was a childish idea she'd always toyed with - but the summer after O.W.L's she had to think of something she might want to pursue after school. At this point she's quite certain she'd like to become some sort of animal care giver if she can manage it. Maybe...work with large animals that no one likes to deal with.

And...well...if that doesn't work out she'll play quiddditch for the Chuddley Canons. They seem to hire just about anybody who can fly in a straight line for 30 yards - right? It's a good backup plan if she ever did think of one.