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 B I O G R A P H Y

   Everyone who knew them agreed that Otieno Bilshwick and Ursa Bones were the perfect couple.

  Born in Botswana, Otieno was the somewhat less-important fifth son of a famed sangoma. It was because of his lesser status that he ended up in Great Britain on an errand for his father, and it was there he met his soon to be wife - Ursa. Ursa, a Hufflepuff alumna, was working at Whizz Head books when the two met and ultimately hit it off. Within a year they were married, and the next year Fidelia arrived.

Fidelia's childhood was - well - charmed. The Bilshwicks lived in a little cottage in Hogsmeade, in a home overflowing with blank parchments and spare quills. Otieno spent much of his time penning articles to submit to the Daily Prophet, and Fidelia has many fond memories of walking hand-in-hand with him to the owl-post where they would deliver his writings. Ursa herself used to write elaborate stories for her young daughter, and her old publishing connections ended up coming in handy. She sold several books, and even today the family makes a tidy sum from the sales of 'The tale of little Tabitha Twitcherwill and the backroom boggart'.

Unfortunately, these idyllic times weren't to last.

During a routine trip to Bristol for business, Ursa was suddenly struck down by an extreme case of Spattergroit. Despite the best efforts of St Mungo's (and Otieno's father) - she succumbed to the disease after a yearlong fight. At six years old, Fidelia was now without her beloved mother.

Grief-struck, Otieno threw himself into the raising of his daughter. For the next year he worked hard with Fidelia, teaching her to write, read, and utilize basic wandwork. Though the arrangement suited Fidelia well, Otieno's father did not approve his son spending the rest of his life cooking, cleaning, and caring for a young girl. Using his considerable influence, he arranged for his son to remarry the beautiful (once-divorced) Elba Aatri.

While it was hardly a love-match, it did work quite well.

Elba and Otieno treated the relationship with a professional courtesy and that turned into a kind of a friendship. They were, unarguably, good partners. Otieno was the kind of modern thinking man that Elba appreciate, and Elba was a savvy intelligent woman that Otieno could rely on. And best of all, Elba was delighted with her bright and cheerful stepdaughter. Unlike the evil stepmother in books, Elba treated her stepdaughter with toy brooms, expensive books, and shining new robes. While it wasn't quite the picture perfect family that they had been, it did - well - feel like a family.

The year Fidelia turned 9, it was discovered that the Bilshwicks were expecting. A week to the day after she began Hogwarts, Fidelia's half brother - Cato Bilshwick - was born.

Her time at Hogwarts has passed somewhat uneventfully - she has been in the Gobstone Club since her first year and has recently been named the fifth year female prefect of the Slytherin House. Like most, she's concerned over the Pox, however her father has assured her that not only will he always have a place for her but that her writing skills will survive whether or not her magic does.