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Chapter Text

Albus Severus Potter: pureblood, Slytherin
Alex Fierro: a year younger, pureblood, Slytherin
Annabeth Chase: muggleborn, Ravenclaw (rare case of two wizards in muggle family)
Arya Stark (Arry): pureblood, Gryffindor
Frank Zhang: pureblood, Hufflepuff
Grover Underwood: halfblood, Hufflepuff
Hazel Levesque: pureblood, Gryffindor
Jason Grace: halfblood, Gryffindor
Juniper Green: pureblood, Hufflepuff
Leo Valdez: muggleborn, Slytherin
Magnus Chase: a year younger, muggleborn, Ravenclaw (rare case of two wizards in muggle family)
Nico di Angelo: halfblood, Slytherin (only dad's a wizard, still Hazel's half brother)
Octavian Augur: pureblood, Ravenclaw
Percy Jackson: halfblood, Slytherin
Piper McLean: halfblood, Slytherin
Rachel Elizabeth Dare: muggleborn, Ravenclaw
Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano: muggleborn, Gryffindor (strong enough to make purebloods question her muggle ancestry)
Rose Granger-Weasley: halfblood, Gryffindor
Samirah al-Abbas: a year younger, pureblood, Gryffindor
Scorpius Malfoy: pureblood, Slytherin
Will Solace: muggleborn, Hufflepuff

Gryffindor:

Year 2: Silena Beauregard, Chelsea Harrison, Quentyn Martell
Year 3: Meera Reed, Pollux Wine, Charles Beckendorf, James Sirius Potter
Year 4: Alyson (Allie) Sheridan, Emma Carstairs, Coraline Jones, Cery Faren
Year 5: Clary Fairchild, Maia Roberts, Cato Mason, Gale Hawthorne, Katniss Everdeen
Year 6: Shay Balmera, Beatrice (Tris) Prior
Year 7: Bronn Blackwater, Keith Kogane, Peter Pevensie, Thresh Garner

Hufflepuff:

Year 2: Gendry Waters, Jeyne Poole, Laurel Sewell, Sophie Newman, Rue Orchard
Year 3: Thomas (TJ) Jefferson, Marco Diaz, Star Butterfly, Lucy Pevensie
Year 4: Elia Martell, Rachel Patel, Julian Blackthorn
Year 5: Ethan Nakamura, Simon Lewis, Peeta Mellark, Madge Undersee, Fred Lee
Year 6: Hunk Garret, Alexander (Alec) Lightwood, Annie Cresta, Florona Baku
Year 7: Blitzen Bilisson, Christina Dauntless

Ravenclaw:

Year 2: Mya Stone, David Lawson, Josh Newman, Primrose (Prim) Everdeen, Hiro Hamada
Year 3: Castor Wine, Yuki Klea, Janna Ordonia, Plaxum Blue
Year 4: Sylvain Cassel, Katie (Pidge) Holt, Sonea Kyralia, Lyra Belaqua, Will Parry, Dorrien Rothen
Year 5: Myranda Kennels, Ramsay Bolton, Caleb Prior
Year 6: Tobias Eaton, Susan Pevensie, Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern
Year 7: Tyrion Lannister, Hearthstone (Hearth) Alderman, Magnus Bane

Slytherin:

Year 2: Lyanna Mormont, Mallory Keen, Tamani de Rhoslyn
Year 3: Jackie Lynn Thomas, Tom Lucitor, Maureen Brown, Nyma Beezer
Year 4: Daenerys (Dany) Targaryen, Carter West, Josephine (Jo) Arringford, Edmund Pevensie, Rolo Beezer
Year 5: Jace Herondale, Isabelle (Izzy) Lightwood
Year 6: Oberyn Martell, Lance McClain, Clove Kentwell
Year 7: Camille Belcourt, Tori Wu, Finnick Odair, Raphael Santiago

Minerva McGonagall: Headmistress
Chiron Brunner: centaur, Care Of Magical Creatures teacher, head of house Ravenclaw
Gilly Craster: Divination teacher, head of house Hufflepuff
Jaqen H'gar: Transfiguration teacher, head of house Gryffindor
Persephone Flowers: Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, head of house Slytherin
Aurora Sinistra: Astronomy teacher
Hecate Triodia: Charms teacher
Neville Longbottom: Herbology teacher
Cuthbert Binns: History Of Magic teacher
Petyr Baelish: Potions teacher
Rolanda Hooch: Flying teacher
Nemesis Nakamura: Arithmancy teacher
Samwell Tarly: Muggle Studies teacher
Bathsheda Babbling: Ancient Runes teacher
Rubeus Hagrid: Gamekeeper
Hannah Abbott-Longbottom: Matron

Luke Castellan: halfblood, Ravenclaw
Thalia Grace: halfblood, Gryffindor

Chapter Text

I watched, as the train station vanished from my vision. So that's what it was like. Going to Hogwarts. Leaving in the mid of morning, not returning until Christmas break. A long time.

Shit... It's not that I was scared. Just... I was eleven! But all the other first years were so, too. Maybe I could get some friends... Or not. I was not the one to make friends. Not on my own. You didn't need to, if your family was one of the biggest the wizarding world had ever seen.

So maybe I should drag myself after Rose, then. I knew her already (too well, anyways), which could be my chance to... No. I could do this on my own. I'd try, even if only once.

I made my way through the train wagon, looking for some place that wasn't overcrowded. First years were mixed up with 5th year prefects, everywhere I went: chaos.

Couldn't there be a compartment left for myself? I could wait until someone came in, started conversation. But, my luck, the only empty bench I found was across from another, already occupied by a light blond boy my age.

He seemed to be sad, or at least somewhat reluctant to say anything as I walked in and sat down. Well I didn't actually greet him myself, so maybe I was guilty, too. Just a little bit.

I sighed and tried to catch his glance, which was directed downward, onto the floor. Now was my turn. One of the few moments I dreaded. Apart from the Sorting Hat ceremony, however.

"Hi, my name is Albus."

I didn't want to tell him my last name, even though he might already know. I, for instance, did know his name.

"Scorpius."

I was told not to befriend him. A Malfoy. But he didn't seem like an actual pureblood snob. More... like me. I was almost a pureblood, too, if you looked past the whole "Weasley: blood traitor" nonsense on my mother's side of the family and the fact that one of my grandmothers was muggleborn... We could be more alike than I thought.

"So... you got no one here?" Shit, that hadn't been very considerate. What if he thought I just wanted to mock him? "Me neither, by the way."

Scorpius stared in my direction, mouth agape.

"But you're a Potter! Shouldn't you have, like, a whole bunch of friends?" Then he catched himself. "Sorry... I didn't want to..."

"No, it's good. And no, no friends. Yet." I tried my best smile - which wasn't much - and Scorpius smirked.

"Yet? You mean..."

Now I smiled sincerely. Yes, maybe I meant that. Maybe the Malfoys weren't so bad after all. At least this one.

"Of course."

It had started. Throughout the next year I would learn how to be a witch. That was crazy.

I had never thought I could make it. Well, it's not that you have to get good grades to get accepted into Hogwarts, you just have to be... special. And I never believed I was that way.

I was a muggleborn. I didn't know about Hogwarts until I was seven. And then I met someone.

Thalia and Luke, they were wizards, too, both halfbloods. They showed me their world, but they didn't go to school anymore. Luke was too old, he already finished and made a fine career somewhere in New Zealand. And Thalia... I didn't speak about it to anyone.

So I was nearly alone on my first magical train ride. Luke had brought me to platform 9 3/4, just because he was on vacation in England, and now I sat in a compartment with a bunch of kids I didn't know.

There were three boys and a girl, and they seemed to know each other already.

The girl, Piper, as they called her, had a very soothing voice, and everyone always listened to her as she spoke. She had beautiful brown braids and her skin had a smooth coppery tone. I envied people like her, always perfect and good-looking. In a beautiful way, not the "cute" one like me with my blonde locks.

Next to her sat a loud guy, short but hard to ignore, curly dark hair framing his pointy face. He seemed to be Piper's best friend or something like that, as she called him silly names, instead of his real one. He always responded with "No one messes with Leo, Beauty Queen". Then she kicked him playfully.

Pressed to the window on the opposite side of Leo was a boy which was a lot more quiet than the rest of the lot, commonly referred to as Grover. He seemed to be the nicest of them, but spilled insiders unknown to me nonetheless.

They all ignored me one way or another, except maybe the last one, who seemed to find my shoulder nice enough to use as a pillow. The others scolded him for staying up all night, and his grin turned sad whenever it was mentioned.

Once in a while his shiny green eyes used to close, until he was fast asleep and drooling on my new sweater my father gave me last week.

I resisted the urge to push him away, maybe because he looked so calm that way. If you ask me, he certainly didn't have a good time at home. He needed rest.

Since he was asleep, it was much more quiet. The orthers spoke in hushed tones, not wanting to wake him up.

"It's good for him to get away from there." Grover stated. "Though I feel bad for his mom."

Piper nodded, her expression soft. "Percy will worry about her, too."

So that was his name. Percy. I wondered if I could just ask about his problems, but decided not to. I wasn't friends with him, after all.

Maybe I could be. First step: involving myself in their conversation.

Percy stirred and opened his eyes, lids fluttering. He shot me a confused glance. Then his eyes widened and he sat up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to do that. Really."

What do you answer on that? No problem? It's okay? I didn't know, so I naturally said the one sentence I could actually kill myself for.

"You drool when you sleep."

I hated redheads. That was my first thought as I noticed the two girls sharing the compartment with me and Juniper.

Apart from the hair colour and the freckles they were nothing alike, the one with the locks sported vibrant green eyes, while the other one's were blue (another trait I despised, especially the two of them together). The first girl was spotted with paint, the second had a book lying in her lap. (A reader, too, huh? That got a lot worse within seconds.)

Maybe I shouldn't judge her, though. There could be little to no connection to my family. Just the looks didn't give away everything.

But she could be related to the Tully's somewhere. I'd better watch out. She might be crazy.

Somehow I missed my parents. Everything was better than Aunt Lysa and her strange obsessions. Even my sister Sansa left us to live with a muggle family. But she was a squib, so what could you expect? Clearly not to stay in a pureblood's home all life.

I was relieved that I could go to Hogwarts instead of spending any more time with this red haired, blue eyed disaster.

And now I got another one for free. Hurray...

"So, what are your names, everyone?" Typical. Juniper started a conversation no one wanted. I didn't exactly like, nor did I hate her, we just knew each other pretty well. She might be closed up sometimes, but always wanted to be on good terms with everyone around her. And that worked, more or less.

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare" the living artwork answered. "I'm a muggleborn, and I hope I am sorted into a cool house."

Juniper giggled. "Mum always said that every house is a cool house. I'm Juniper Green, by the way."

So we told our full names now? I was so out of here. But what if the other people on the train were similar? Or even worse? No, then I preferred to stay here, where I at least knew one person.

"Rose." The last girl said. "Rose Granger-Weasley."

There was a moment of silence among Juniper and me. (Well, I didn't exactly say anything, so for me it wasn't anything new...)

So that's why she was a redhead. The Weasleys. I should have known. They were the resident "red family" (hair and house alike, since most of them are sorted into Gryffindor), the Tully's were the new ones. If we hadn't moved to England, I would've gone to Durmstrang. But my father, not a Tully, just a plainer looking Stark, had thought moving to be a good idea. False. He had signed his death warrant with that. His and mom's.

I shook my head, wanted to chase away the feelings that came up every time I thought about it. That wasn't a good time for a breakdown.

"Arya" I said instead, without any motivation. "Arya Stark."

"Why so cynical?" Rachel fiddled with something that looked like a hairbrush, strangely damaged and the colour of baby blue.

Rose opened her book. "She's clearly going to be in Slytherin."

She didn't talk to anyone in particular, but I also knew, she clearly did not talk to me.

Slytherin? It was a prejudice, no doubt. She didn't like me, so she wanted to have me out of her way.

You think I'll be sorted into Slytherin? It was a declaration of war. No. I won't.

They hated me. I knew it. I could see it in their eyes from the very beginning. And I also knew I did nothing wrong. Well maybe except glaring at them as they were invading my compartment.

My parents believed in first impressions and told me: "The ones you sit with in the train will be the ones you'll be stuck with the whole time." I hoped they were wrong.

They didn't speak much. More so, they didn't speak at all. I didn't know their names, I could just watch them through half closed lids while we sat in silence.

The girl facing me had dark skin and curly, golden hair. She looked the nicest of them all and was leaned against the dark haired boy on her left.

He, in difference to her, was pale and looked as if he hadn't been in the sun very often. His clothes were all black, only a silver ring on his finger brought a flick of colour to his outfit.

The last girl was the most intimidating person I've ever met. Her stare pierced me every time she caught me watching her.

Definitely a pureblood. No muggle could manage such an expression, for sure.

"What are you looking at?" She had an exotic accent. Maybe she stemmed from Spain or Mexico.

The floor was suddenly very interesting. I didn't want to get on her bad side. I don't think anyone would like to get on her bad side.

"Nothing."

The girl scoffed and turned to the other two. They seemed to communicate with each other without any words.

"So..." The boy sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Me? Your names, for instance?" I should have just shut my mouth. Find myself other "friends" than these three.

But no, I had to get answers. Sometimes I wanted to hate myself for this urge to learn everything about everyone. Only sometimes.

"I'm Nico" the guy answered, voice a bit tired. "That's my half sister Hazel..." He gestured to the girl next to him.

"And I'm Reyna." A glare shot from her eyes, but not in my direction. It was as if she wanted to scold Nico for trying to introduce her, without giving her the actual chance to do it herself. "And who are you?"

Apart from the look on her face, her voice had become slightly different than before. As if she wasn't actually as cold as she seemed to be.

"Octavian." Maybe he could start a conversation, now that they knew each other a little better. With an emphasis on "maybe".

"So... are you exited? I mean, about being sorted?"

Hazel smiled, but her eyes flickered fearfully. "I guess. It would be great, if I'm not alone."

"You won't be alone." Reyna leaned back, although her posture was still more straight than mine would ever be. "That's the principle of the houses, right? You spend time with people who are like you. Or at least have similar interests."

I hope so. The ice may have been broken, but I still didn't think these three could share my interests. We were too... different.

But there was still time to find out more.

Chapter Text

The Great Hall was ... well, great. Big. Hundreds of students sat on benches surrounding four long tables, each decorated with another colour, another sigil. The lion of Gryffindor, the eagle of Ravenclaw, the badger of Hufflepuff and the snake of Slytherin. I had heard many stories about them, like every properly raised wizard should have.

I didn't think much about myself, when I guessed the house I would be in. It was more like: "What would my father think?"

More than just one person, even he himself, told me that I shouldn't be considering others for this. Only myself. My own character. My own desire. But I didn't have any. Not really.

There was nothing fuelling me, nothing for me to get to. Frank called my situation sad. Not in a bad way, he just felt sorry for me. And I didn't stop him. I knew that I was a bad excuse for an eleven year old. Depressed like a teenager. Tired of life like an elderly man.

"Octavian Augur!"

My mind had skipped the whole introduction, and now it was time. Time for me to please whoever would be pleased by the decision of the Sorting Hat.

I walked to the chair in the middle of attention. I didn't even like attention, but maybe I had to get used to it. The hat was far too big for my tiny head and all went dark.

You'd like to have a motivation... Brave enough, but strong in mind... Want to know yourself, your desires... No objections? Then, clearly...

"Ravenclaw!"

The headmistress took the hat and I looked around. Ravenclaw. The students at the blue decorated table cheered.

I couldn't help but smile, as I walked down the stairs. These kids might like me. I doubted Reyna, Hazel or Nico would join me here. Maybe these were my people after all.

I was happy to get away from the train as fast as possible. Not that the conversation went downwards after my non-considered words to Percy.

The others had laughed and confirmed that he, indeed, did drool in his sleep, and he had tried to defend himself in every single way. It had been funny, sort of, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't have been so mean.

Luckily, Percy, Piper, Grover and Leo stood in the second half of the line of first years, while I was almost at the beginning.

Sadly, I got nervous as I walked to the Sorting Hat. What if it couldn't decide, which house I might fit in? What if it would say: "Sorry, girl. It was all a mistake. Now leave."

I didn't want to leave. I wanted to be a mighty witch, developing new spells after I got my graduation. And maybe also one to save Thalia, to bring her back somehow...

So you are thinking about your future. The hat began to speak. Not loudly, more as if it were in my mind. Very ambitious goals, showing loyalty to your old friend. You have to be brave, facing the challenges on your way.

Weren't that the qualities of both Slytherin and Hufflepuff as well as Gryffindor? My fear increased. The "what if"s seemed much more solid now.

But most of all, you shall learn the moments where you'll need these traits. My decision stands.

"Ravenclaw!" it called out, and as soon as I could see my surroundings, I noticed the clapping and cheering from one of the tables.

I let the breath out I hadn't known I held, until it had been over.

The Sorting Hat had made a decision, and I, Annabeth Chase, would gladly accept it.

The girl ahead of me, Annabeth, seemed nice. And she looked very relieved to be sorted into Ravenclaw.

What did Juniper say? That every house was cool. So I didn't worry. Apart from the people in my compartment I didn't know anyone here, there wouldn't be any difference of finding friends, I supposed.

The hat was funny, pointed and really old. It also looked a bit strange when the kids' heads vanished beneath the leathery rim. Did he stay quiet while inspecting their character traits? He cried out in the end, for sure. Was it more a discussion or did he decide on his own, apart from any objections? Maybe I could try it out.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare!"

"Red!" an older student yelled somewhere in the back.

I stepped forward, grinning in his direction, sitting down on the small chair. Yes, red. I always had a weakness for colours.

A shining light in the dark of worry. A hungry mind looking for answers. Will it be yellow or will it be blue?

Blue, I thought, remembering Annabeth sitting down next to the other first year. If I can choose, that is.

It is blue, then. It's...

"Ravenclaw!"

"I rooted for you, Red!" The guy from before said, playfully disappointed, and indeed, he sat at the Gryffindor table. A boy near the very end of the first year line shook his head, sighing.

They looked very much alike, I noticed. Family, maybe. I might find out some time. But for now my task was to join Annabeth and the other Ravenclaws at their table. Our table.

Bianca should have sat there. At one of these tables. I didn't knew, where. It didn't matter. Not anymore.

I tried to deflect the feelings cooking up in my body, my heart. I had Hazel, after all. Maybe it was for the best that Bianca wasn't around. I changed after that. Matured.

But I couldn't let go. It wasn't easy at all.

"Nico di Angelo!"

I wanted to get over with the sorting. Leave it behind, this ceremony Bianca would've loved. Look forward to life in Hogwarts.

My sister would've laughed at the hat. She had always been so happy, so easy-going.

There is a lot on your mind. You know what you want. Did I? Even if, I didn't know how to pursue these goals. Moving on isn't always easy, but necessary. To follow your ambition, the best place is...

"Slytherin!"

Slytherins are not the bad ones, I had to remind myself. If the Sorting Hat thought it the best, then it had to be so.

I walked down the stairs, to the table on the right-hand side of the Great Hall. The students there seemed to be equally happy. There was no difference to the reaction of the other houses, when they got a new member.

Would Bianca also be happy? Of course. And I should try so, too.

Easy to say, I've never been happier in my life. Well, I might have been, if Thalia had been there. I knew that I wasn't the only one who lost a family member throughout the last years. But it hurt all the same.

"Jason Grace!"

I'll do this for you, I thought. You couldn't finish school, I'll do it for you.

Of course she would have argued, telling me not to choose my priorities after her.

But she'll also know me well enough to see, how sincere I was. I would avenge her. Somehow, someday. And until then I'll appreciate the time I'd have in Hogwarts.

The train ride had been okay, Frank and Will were really nice guys. Though even they didn't understand my desire to make Thalia proud, wherever she might be.

Yes, they had similar interests, but they were more... subtle.

You have a heavy sense for justice, young lad. For a moment I wanted to look around for the person who said that, until I realized it was the hat.

There's a bravery inside of you. Bravery along the lines of law, but bravery nonetheless.

I didn't know if he gave the others a chance to object. I couldn't say anything before he already cried out:

"Gryffindor!"

Many smiling faces greeted me from the red table. If the hat said so, they should feel like me. In a similar way, at least.

I had tried not to react in any way, when James had disturbed the ceremony by commenting on Rachels hair and name. Annoying older cousin...

Now it was my turn. The boy in front of me had been sorted into Gryffindor, and I would so, too. I just knew it.

My mum had always said she wouldn't be any less proud of me, if I got Ravenclaw or something. She could have, too, back then. I came after her. Well not for the looks, that was solely father's work.

But I didn't want to go anywhere else than Gryffindor. My parents and uncle Harry had shown how great they were.

"Rose Granger-Weasley!"

Even if James commented something, I wouldn't hear anything. I was too busy, chanting "Gryffindor, Gryffindor" in my head as soon as I put on the Sorting Hat.

You seem very decisive. Wanting to prove yourself, so that you can follow the footsteps of your mother.

Did I? I mean, proving wasn't bad, but it wasn't always everything about my parents, right?

You shall gain what you wish for, so I give you to...

"Gryffindor!"

Nice rhyming, I thought, leaving the chair and grinning.

James whooped , and I couldn't help but laugh at that. He was my family after all. I was with my family. And maybe Albus would join us, too, later.

I looked back to the near end of the line, where Arya stood, grumpy face as ever. Why couldn't she be happy? I had tried everything to bring her into our conversation, but she just wouldn't listen.

No time to think about it now.

"Juniper Green!"

"Boo!" the boy from before shouted, clearly imagining me belonging to Slytherin. I shot him a charming smile and he fell silent. Wasn't that a Potter?

The Sorting Hat smelled weird. Old, yes, but also...

Yikes! Someone in here sweated like an ox!

No comment about my smell, please. Don't you want everyone to like you? If it is that what you want...

No, no, maybe not, perhaps you could...

Discussion finished! it cut me off. No wishes anymore!

"Hufflepuff!"

Did I annoy it? Could a hat be pissed? Or did I just imagine it?

I didn't know, but I was in Hufflepuff and it would be great. It had to be.

I couldn't help but think about my mum, when I waited for my name to be called out. I left her with Gabe. Why the hell did I do that? And for nearly the millionst time: Why didn't she just leave him?

Last night had been... rocky to say the least. Gabe wouldn't stop shouting at me. He didn't know that I was a wizard, and gladly so. If he did, I would have been dead by now, maybe.

"Percy Jackson!"

But I was alive. And in Hogwarts. I should make the best out of it. And when I'd come home, I would show Gabe who was the more powerful out of us.

Yeah, perhaps my mother wouldn't allow that. But you could always dream, right?

Like all the other's, my eyesight was blocked by the Sorting Hat immediately. I was still tired, and my mind really considered taking a nap for a second. But I had to stay awake. Dumb mind.

If you say so, then the blue house is not for you.

So it spoke more than just the four random names. But... Why? I like blue?

It is not about preferring a colour. It is about you, and your desire to face what hurts you and your loved ones the most. Whatever the price may be. So I'll put you, where you may achieve your goal the best.

"Slytherin!"

Wasn't defending your loved ones more of a Hufflepuff trait? At least Piper told me that. She also assumed I would get there. And I wouldn't have minded at all, but apparently it wasn't meant to be.

I watched the Slytherin table, my eyes trailed along the cheering faces, until I found a merely sad one. Wasn't that this Nico, who had been sorted a few minutes ago?

I sat down beside him, put on a smile. He didn't smile back.

Nico wasn't happy. If it was because of the sorting outcome or something else - someone else - I didn't know.

Like always, I wanted to be there for him. I was his sister, after all. Never mind, half-sister. Nothing more.

When our dad brought him home, he had already endured so much. I always offered to help him, to be the shoulder he could cry on. He wouldn't respond for weeks, until he found me crying. Our bond had strengthened, but it wasn't enough.

"Hazel Levesque!" We were both known under our mothers' last names, I recalled. No one would know our family situation, if we didn't told them.

Concerned about the well-being of your brother? Want to stand up for him?

Half-brother, I responded weakly. He doesn't want me to befuddle him. It was true. He had said that I should choose for myself, not for him. But, was I really to choose? You were sorted, after all. Not asked about which house you preferred.

His house and your house are also like half a sibling to each other. Always fighting, but similar in heart. Ambition and Bravery. Following rules made by themselves, or those made to be just.

"Gryffindor!"

The hat was taken from me and I let out a deep breath. At least Nico wouldn't scorn me for always trying to be close to him. And - like the Sorting Hat had said - Slytherin and Gryffindor where close enough to each other so that I could keep an eye on him.

The students cheered and I placed myself between the red-haired girl and the blond boy. They seemed nice, and perhaps I could get friends despite having to care for my brother. Well, not having to, more like a wanting to.

But I also wanted to be happy myself. I just had to use my house as a kick-starter, to make the best out of my time in Hogwarts.

Please let it be Slytherin, please let it be Slytherin. I never prayed for something so badly before. When I was young, I never needed a decision to be made so dearly, so I could honor my family.

My father had been there. My grandfather. And many generations before that.

Well, yes, father had tried to reassure me, that it wouldn't be bad, if I did not make it into Slytherin. He wouldn't judge me. That were his words. I wasn't really sure about his true intentions.

But... what if I did come into Slytherin. My father had been a Death Eater after all. What would the other students think of me. I didn't want to crouch in a corner forever, alone, because no one liked me.

Even Albus might avoid me then.

"Scorpius Malfoy!"

I saw that Rose, Albus' cousin, clasped her hand in front of the mouth of James, Albus' brother. I should know, they would hate me. Maybe I should try to get into Hufflepuff, stay out of the drama...

You are not very decisive, it seems. You have your ambitions, you do, but you have to much to bring them all to light.

What did that mean? Was that the point where the hat cried out "No house is fitting here"?

Slytherin, I whispered in my head. If else there'd be nothing, then I chose to stay in line with my family.

So be it, that would have been my decision either way, even if you do not see it yet, you belong into...

"Slytherin!"

The dark haired first year from a few minutes ago grinned and waved at me from the green decorated table, next to him the other, more closed of. We'd make a weird lot, but I knew we wouldn't break apart just because some others might have prejudices.

The number of Slytherins increased more and more. And I had one goal. To be the next one who got there.

Why? Well, first, we couldn't let our bud Percy alone, could we? I mean, there were people that seemed nice, but we were friends, and friends should stick together.

Second: it felt right. It was like a connection drawn between this table - these students - and me. I couldn't help it.

The other houses were surely interesting, too, but they didn't have the same effect on me. Not really.

"Piper McLean!"

I heard gasps from the ... well, audience, one might say, although most of them seemed pretty unconcerned until the hat cried out a house. Not so, when I was called out.

They knew him. My father. He was too popular for his last name to go unnoticed. I wished it wasn't that way.

The hat was old and stank. It's only for a few moments. Some just had sit on that chair for seconds, some others seemed to have discussed for a minute, but most sessions weren't very long.

You have much on your mind, but a goal before your eyes.

I decided not to say anything. If I felt the magic attracting me, the hat would notice, too.

You are sure about your fate, but you could quickly convince me otherwise. You will need your talents in...

"Slytherin!"

Yes!

Didn't I say I knew it? And even if my father was famous for the wrong things, weren't there much more children of them? With me in Slytherin and also in Gryffindor and elsewhere?

I wasn't the only one, right? So, I'd find others, and I wouldn't be seen as someone peculiar.

Hopefully.

So many Slytherins... Scorpius, too. My only friend so far. Should I join him or my family?

My father told me that the hat would consider my wishes. He might have been in Slytherin, if he had wanted to. Could I refuse to go to Gryffindor?

"Albus Severus Potter!"

"Brother!" James cheered and other Gryffindors joined in.

What did I do to deserve such a sibling?

I walked to the chair and sat, noticing Scorpius, who smiled at me. He knew that I hated this, being called out as a Potter, as the son of the 'boy who lived'.

Now here we have a different kind. Not wanting to please their parents, nor their other family members. Only their friends. Am I right?

Was it? I wanted to fit in, not being forced to live with my family all the time. So, yes, maybe...

Of course I am right! I am always right! The Sorting Hat seemed to go mad. Or was he that way since ever?

So, friendship is available everywhere, young lad. But a friend who is more than just a learning partner, there is only one.

Why did it only tell me what I already knew? From the very beginning I had that feeling, and that was it. Shouldn't it tell me about my character traits? My desires and values?

"Slytherin!"

Seemingly not.

As the hat was taken from my head, I saw what I had done. James looked at me, not cheering anymore, kind of disappointed.

Rose didn't catch my gaze, face a grimace of an emotion I couldn't name. Anger, perhaps?

The Slytherin table welcomed me, and Scorpius grinned. I had got my way. But I had also found a way to fail my family.

These boys weren't ashamed, were they? Calling out the people they didn't like or went into Slytherin. Everyone had the right to prove themselves first, right? Without being mocked?

Of course. If I hadn't believed in equal chances, I wouldn't be the person I was now. I wouldn't have befriended Nico, just because he wasn't open enough. But I gave him time, and that was all what was needed. No one was truly evil, even if they turned out to be that way at some point in their lives.

And if you knew how to deal with bad influences, you never got that far away. That was what I had learned very soon, when I was merely a child. Well, I was eleven now, most people wouldn't consider me old enough just yet.

Hylla, my older sister, always told me that she could talk to me as if we were of age. And I appreciated that. Since the... situation with our dad had escalated, we had to become young adults. Mature. And Hogwarts was the first time I ever went away from home far enough to not come back for the night. I had to be responsible for myself.

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano!"

I almost expected the Gryffindor boy from before shouting something about my awfully long name. But nothing happened. The sorting of this Potter must have rendered him speechless. His brother, as I recalled.

Look strong, straight posture. I wouldn't give in to all these purebloods and whatsoever. I was muggleborn, so what? I could be as well-respected as anyone else. And I was starting with sitting down gracefully.

In people you do not look for heritage. You look for bravery and gallantry. These are the traits you value. You are one of the more easy decisions today.

"Gryffindor!"

The hat did have a point. I despised cowards. Why would a person not at least try something, even at the risk of losing? And gallantry? Well, it was a pity that knighthood did expire over the last centuries.

I couldn't see a problem with the outcome of my situation. Despite having to be in a house where the older Potter brother resided. But it would suffice.

I missed the train already. Talking to Jason and Frank had been great, even if they were reserved sometimes. Standing in line to be sorted into a group of others you'd spend your next years of life with? Not so great. It wasn't my strength to wait. Patience had always been the one thing I couldn't accomplish.

But even as more and more students had been under the inspection of the Sorting Hat, my nervousness didn't subside.

What was it like to sit there? Did one see anything? Or was it... like... dark?

Hopefully not. I was kind of scared in that perspective. No, more like... really afraid.

I had never minded being called a "sonny boy", or "sunny boy" in that case. They were right. I was happy, confident and talkative. In daylight.

"Will Solace!"

See? Even my name had something to do with comforting and maybe also "solar" vocabulary.

I should've perhaps comforted myself. Nothing could save me now. The hat awaited.

It really was dark, and I started to shiver. It's only a hat. Nothing dangerous. I almost jumped, when it started to speak.

Everyone underestimates you, but you will prove them wrong. You can find pride for your house in yourself, even when you do not know about it specifically. No one shall know you for your fears, only for your actions to put forward your house's honor.

That sounded... interesting. Even from a hat cutting off all the light from my eyes.

"Hufflepuff!"

Loud cheering erupted, shortly before I could see once more. Hufflepuff, yellow table. Sounded like something fluffy, but as the hat had told me, there was more to it. And I would be a part of these who'd show the whole school what we were capable of.

I was next in line. For the first time in my life I wished for Sansa to be at my side. We were sisters after all. But I had to get through this myself.

Was it possible to discuss with the hat? No one had ever told me about the sorting ceremony or the measure you could take within. My family didn't know because we weren't from England. And I had never asked anyone else.

It must be. I cannot go into Slytherin! If I did, that would only cause Rose to laugh and point a finger at me, screaming "I told you so!" Well, maybe not, she would just tell someone else, making nasty remarks behind my back. Either way, it was horrible.

"Arya Stark!"

In my head, I had already declared war. And it wouldn't end before one of us was down once and for all. Or I lost patience and interest.

The chair was hard, the hat stinky, and I immediately wished it was over. I wanted to get out of there. If it had to be, even back to my crazy aunt.

Well, not so fast, I wasn't that desperate, yet.

You are eager to fulfill your goals and ambitions...

Ambitions? No! Not Slytherin, you silly hat! Don't you see I'm trying to win a war?

A war inside yourself, that is. Growing up, you will have to live under the decisions you made. Starting now.

"Gryffindor!"

Yes! But also... not yes. It wasn't Slytherin, but it was Gryffindor. Perhaps I would have to spend time with Rose, or something. Share a room?

Please, don't let me have this.

Judging by the look on Rose's face, she wasn't happy about that either.

So... the blonde girl from the compartment, Annabeth, was in Ravenclaw now. Percy and Piper in Slytherin. Leo was yet to come. And me? I didn't know, yet.

I could hope to go with my friends, but would that really be for the best? All of us in one house? That could erupt into chaos. Hell would break loose and...

Yeah, I might have overreacted. But all of that could happen anyway. Nobody had said there couldn't be a friendship between Slytherins and... yes, what?

"Grover Underwood!"

The moment of truth. After that, nothing would be able to go back to normal. Everything would have changed.

Okay, stop that, drama queen, I chided myself. It is just school. A school for wizards and witches, but a school nonetheless. It was almost the same as in the muggle world, right? I wished my father had told me more about it, before he vanished for good.

But I couldn't do anything about it. Just sit there. And wait.

A heart full of patience I see, but restlessness at the same time. How come? Should I really answer on that? That was surely a rhetoric question, right?

Staying with friends that are true will not be hard for you, even from another house. For you yourself, I would say...

"Hufflepuff!"

My eyesight returned and the other Hufflepuffs applauded. A blond boy - he had been Will, right? - raised his hand for a high five. I ran over and answered to it.

So I would stay on good terms with the others. Clearly, Percy was my best friend, we wouldn't lose ourselves just because of some houses.

Second to last. Waiting had seemed like forever. Seeing the only friends I made so far be sorted into different houses made me sad somehow. What if I couldn't hold contact with some of them? I didn't like being alone. Not since I lost my mother three years ago.

"Leo Valdez!"

I made my way to the middle of attention. Normally, I would have grinned and joked around, to hide my nervousness. This time I couldn't get myself to do it.

Even when the hat bloked my view, I could feel the stares. It cost me all my concentration not to fiddle with my new robe.

There is a facade on you most of the time, a lonely soul looking for recognition inside of you.

I shook my head. I didn't want to be sorted just because of my complexes.

That's not me!

It is, sadly. It is friendship you need and crave.

Maybe, but I knew that "friendship" wasn't a major trait of the Slytherin house. And I wanted to go there. To Piper, my best friend. To Percy, that dorky boy.

It's about them! They need me! At least I hoped so. If not, then...

No. It is about you... and yourself only. You may need them now, but...

Shut up! I didn't want to hear that. Wasn't this hat just there to sort me somewhere? This was no therapist, right? Or was this all just a bad dream?

Your talents might be more useful in...

No! I want Slytherin and you'll give me Slytherin!

I had never been so stubborn in my life, but something had hit me, some... presentiment. That if I didn't get what I begged for, I'd be lost. Why did my mind play such tricks to me? Why?

Now!

"Slytherin..."

It was more a sigh than anything else. Did I do something wrong? Did I...

"I guess you broke it", I told the boy - Leo. The hat hadn't cried out like it usually did. It had been more a resignated acceptance. What had he done?

And much more important: Did the Sorting Hat still work? I was the next in line, and the last. If I couldn't go through the ceremony...

He had the nerve to grin. Really grin. Wasn't he ashamed? He just made a magic artefact go mad. Did he have any sense of decency?

"Sorry... I had no choice." He walked down the stairs, joined the students at the Slytherin table. They - understandably - didn't know if to cheer or just to gape, mouths open.

So it seemingly never happened before. I shook my head, speechless. My luck.

"So... we'll see if we can bring this to an end." Professor McGonagall checked her list of names, as if nothing was wrong.

"Frank Zhang!"

The moment of truth. I really hoped the damage wasn't permanent.

It felt normal, getting the hat put on my head, it went over my eyes just as for all the other first years.

Finally a boy who will be happy with every decision I make. The last one was tiresome.

I sighed. It worked. All this build-up nervousness fled with one relieved breath.

Now to yourself. Loyalty at all costs. I will not make it long, my point stands clear. Your place is in...

"Hufflepuff!"

A collective whisper travelled through the Great Hall. The Sorting Hat's voice was as powerful and loud as before.

Clapping rose from the Hufflepuff table and a smile crept up on my face. The danger was over. Everything would be great.

Our first year at Hogwarts had begun.

Chapter Text

"So, we're housemates now, I guess?" It was obvious, actually, but I needed someone to reassure me I wasn't dreaming.

Annabeth smiled, her blonde locks falling into her eyes. "Yes, we are." Was I mistaken or did she seem relieved herself? "I feared I wouldn't get into a house at all."

"And now you got the best of all. Congrats!" A boy who must have been a few years older thrust his fork into the bowl of chicken right in front of me. Well, I hadn't even noticed all the food popping up. It wasn't until now that my stomach decided to pull a full-grown orchestra concert on its own. I just hoped nobody heard that.

"Seems like you're hungry, aren't you?" The boy wasn't just looking at me, but at all of us first years, with piercing ice-blue eyes. It didn't look as if anyone had made an attempt to eat, yet.

"Sooo... I'm Ramsay, 5th year headboy, and you..." He pointed in our general direction, without picking someone especially. "You'll have to solve a little riddle first, yeah?"

A riddle? At any other table, the first years had begun to eat. Without doing anything. So why did we have to work for our food? Was it because we were Ravenclaws? Was that the price?

A long sigh to my left got my attention, coming from a girl in about the same age as Ramsay. "Don't listen to him, folks, he just wants to abuse his new title."

"Oh, crap, Myranda! You're no fun!"

"Hold it Ram. You wanna loose house points for that?" The girl, Myranda, took a knife and pointed it in his direction as a subtle threat.

Ramsay paled and opened his eyes wide enough to look like a maniac. "You wouldn't!"

"Sure I would!"

"Get a room!" Both of them stopped fighting and glared at the speaker, who smirked without regret, showing off a huge scar placed right on his nose.

I had just turned my head left and right the last few moments, to follow the argument that had been building up, but now that new boy seemed much more interesting. How did he get that scar? He looked even older than the others, but it could have also been because of the state his face was in.

"Hey." An elbow stabbed into my side, not really hurtful, but determined. It was Annabeth. "I wouldn't stare so much if I were you."

The blond boy right behind her, Octavian, as much as I remembered, nodded. "I think, we'll find out more about him later, anyway."

Maybe he was right. We had seven years to go. Enough time to dive into the secrets and intrigues the members of Ravenclaw house had to offer. And perhaps all the others, too.

Until then... My stomach could have used some filling. And as it seemed, the riddle only had been a joke. Time to eat.

I picked some potatoes and a soup that had a suspicious air of roots and lots of spices. Starting small. However, I didn't know if there would be such a feast every day or just this evening, so maybe I should make use of all the delicious food on our table.

It took me some time to notice that the happy choir of voices receded into worried mumbling. Everyone was - more or less - looking at Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be in a hot debate with some of the teachers.

"Perhaps it's because of the incident Leo had with the Sorting Hat", Annabeth whispered.

Octavian looked up from his own plate, a noodle still hanging from the corner of his mouth. "You know that guy?"

"Not exactly, he was in my compartment, but we didn't talk much."

Somehow I had a feeling. That she wasn't telling us everything she knew. There had to be more to all that. But the situation was tense even without me rummaging through topics I didn't need to know anything about.

"Let's just hope it's nothing serious." I knew even then that I was wrong.

"Breathe, Frank. Breathe." Will squeezed my shoulder, trying to calm me. Everything had been great, until I thought about how close I had been to chaos.

I had been happy about being sorted, up until Professor McGonagall threw herself in a hearty discussion with the other teachers. Because of the hat. Because of the problems at the end of the ceremony.

It's not your fault. I told myself, for the hundredth time. It was this Leo kid, not you.

Slowly, I let out my breath and fixed my gaze on Will, who smiled understandingly. Behind him I could see the other first years, only two of them, a boy and a girl, eyeing me worriedly.

I didn't dare to face the part of the hall at my back, where the Slytherins were seated - of course they would just laugh at me, right? I couldn't give them the opportunity.

"Nobody judges you", the boy next to Will mumbled, a veggie burrito between his teeth. "I mean, how could they? You were sorted, just like everyone else."

The girl nodded reassuringly. "I bet it was only a little fallout. Nothing serious."

But I knew she wasn't right. I knew there was a greater problem. It was just that no first year student really had any information about what was going on. And I trusted my grandmother when she said that it was better that way. That I didn't know why my mother had to die. Why my father had left.

I shook my head. That was clearly a problem for another day. I should be happy to finally be at Hogwarts and here I was, grumpy and worried. It couldn't be that bad, right? Not here, in this school. In this safe haven, as my grandmother had called it. I should be fine here.

"Enjoying the meal?" An older girl, maybe from fourth or fifth year, smiled in our direction. Kind of forced, maybe. But on the other hand, quite sympathetic.

"Well... yes", I answered, not noticing that I hadn't even so much as taken a bite. "It's... great."

The girl curled her fingers into her thick, black hair and sighed. A little strand caught up in a knot, but she didn't seem to care.

"I'm Elia, by the way. And the food really is great, if you'd try. The house elves of Hogwarts do their best."

The guy next to her scowled. "Sure they do..." A dark eye fell in our direction, the other was coated by a patch. I couldn't help but wonder how he got hurt that way. Was it because of...

"Really, Ethan, no one needs you to question Elia's project." The one who spoke this time could only be in second year or so, but his tone spoke of experience. All these people... what had they lived through? How much did they know...

"May I have your attention, please?" It was Professor McGonagall. She had stood up and let her gaze wander upon the students, now even more quiet than before. They had stopped eating and watched the headmistress, as she straightened her posture.

These couldn't be good news.

It's only a matter of time until we are all being sent home.

"To ensure safety, all inter-house activities will be cancelled for an indefinite amount of time. Please refrain from asking the teachers too much questions about the situation, you will get to know what you have to. I am very sorry to establish these rules, it is significant to preserve your well-being."

With these words, the professor pointed at the Slytherin table, so that they would get up. House after house. No contact.

What have we done?

I watched as the Slytherin students left the Great Hall. Nobody seemed happy about it. Inter-house activities cancelled? Sure, I didn't know anything about wizard customs, but that really looked like an emergency situation. What could be so dangerous, that we couldn't even have contact anymore?

"This is bad", Hazel mumbled, more to herself as anyone else. And I had to agree.

"What will we do then? About..." I knew she understood what I meant. Even if we were bound to be Gryffindors, Nico was her half-brother. And my friend. Would we even get to see him sometimes? He needed someone to take care of him, if he wanted to or not. He still wasn't over everything he had experienced.

He was the last to vanish through the doors and Professor McGonagall motioned for the Hufflepuff table to follow. Hazel had no answer to my question.

"That didn't happen before, did it?" I asked one of the older students near me. He should have been old enough to be of age (according to the wizarding world, that was when you turned seventeen), but stared equally shocked, despite attending school many years.

"It sure didn't. First time." Slowly, he turned his head in my direction and gave me an uneasy grin. "Shit's about to go down, I guess."

"Could you stop swearing, Bronn?" A girl who couldn't be that much older than me zoned in on our "conversation". "You could try not to spoil everyone within the first hours, like you did last year." She almost looked like Hazel, only with darker hair, and lighter skin. Her curls were all over her face. "You clearly should be more concerned."

"Listen, Meera", the guy named Bronn replied, scowling. "I'm swearing when I bloody want to. And that now is just the right fucking moment."

I raised my eyebrow. So much for not spoiling us first years. But I could understand why he reacted so harshly. So it was rather unusual in Hogwarts to be separated in such an ultimate matter. Noted.

"Okay, guys." Meera ignored him now. "We'll be the last house going, so no haste. We hope these rules won't hold very long."

I looked around, seeing that the other first years nodded, and followed their example. Why did this girl give orders, though? Bronn seemed to have the same issue.

"You've no bloody reason to be in command."

"You too." It was only a matter of time, before she would snap. Her eyelids were already twitching. "You're just concerned that you won't see Tyrion as much as before. Or is it Elia that caught your attention now?"

"Oh... burned." It was only a whisper, but I heard the blond guy anyway. If I recalled it right, that should be Jason. And I liked him already for siding with Meera.

"Shouldn't we really just drop that?" This conversation had also attracted the attention of the other side of the table, where the Potter boy sat with his... what was she? Cousin? And it was the redhead who spoke now, calm, but slightly worried. "It is what it is and we cannot change anything. The Sorting Hat had a problem and now there are precautions. The end."

"The end?!" A girl with short brown hair had gotten up and propped herself up on the table, which was still filled with only half-touched food. "It's not the freaking end, Rose! If you really knew what problems occur out there, you would know better than to suspect only little precautions!"

"At least I try to cope with it, Arya!" Rose glared in her direction, clearly not wanting to back down.

And all of a sudden, more voices were raised. Everywhere around me, students shouted at each other, not even trying to keep quiet. I sighed. Even if there were greater issues out there, the main one was to get the Gryffindor house under control. It seemed as if I was the only one not fighting, along with Hazel and Jason. All the others were full out yelling.

And it annoyed me. That should have been the first day at Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. I was a proud Gryffindor now, but most of my housemates behaved like little children fighting over toys. How could we ever get over the problematic ceremony if we didn't listen to one another?

"Keep quiet for once!" I didn't knew I had raised my voice high enough to drown all the other's until dozens of faces watched me. But still, I stood, keeping a straight posture.

"I may not know much about what you are talking about and I may be just a first year student, but I know we won't get any further if we keep yelling that way. We'll overcome it in time, and together, right? No need to hold grudges." I looked around, waiting for a reaction. The Ravenclaw table had cleared by now and Professor McGonagall gave us the sign, but nobody moved for a while.

Until Bronn whispered: "She's bloody right, that girl..." Then everybody started to make their way out of the hall.

Slowly, I took a bite off the potato I had grabbed shortly before the teachers had sent us out. It was greasy, and kind of salty, too. Overall, not bad.

Did I concentrate on the taste of food solely because I wanted to keep myself from panicking? Maybe.

It had all been so fast. In one moment I had tried to console Albus, the next the house-separation had been announced. The only thing I was really happy about right now was not being alone. If Albus had gone to Gryffindor, he wouldn't be so sad, but we also wouldn't be together.

"This way!", a slim but tall boy called out. He had introduced himself as Oberyn and told us he would be leading us to our respective dorm rooms.

As we reached a staircase leading downwards, Leo - the guy who "made the hat mad", as someone had called him - groaned in frustration.

"Why don't we live in one of the towers? Why down there?" He was walking ahead of me, flanked by Percy and Piper, who had signed up as his bodyguards, just so no one could pick a fight with him about what had happened at the Sorting Ceremony. A slight overreaction, one might think.

Oberyn sighed. "'Cause we're no fucking birds who need a kick-start for flying. We're snakes, the ground is ours."

"Dumb question, then." It was Percy, raising his hand as if he were in class." Lyanna just told us, the Gryffindors got a tower. But lions are also not birds."

Lyanna had been the second-year who gave Leo his nickname, too. She seemed pretty chill and was also the one to answer.

"The Gryffindors might be up there, because they think so highly of themselves, but, actually?" She turned and walked backwards for a while - of course having left the stairs behind. "I guess we'll never really know."

"A common room in a tower would be great, though." A girl with silvery blond hair - who was not related to me - slowed down her pace to walk with our little group that was lagging behind. "I mean, dragons are practically snakes with wings, right? And I'm..."

"We know, Dany", Oberyn boxed the girl's shoulder. "You're a slut for dragons."

"Shut up!" But Dany laughed nonetheless. They seemed to like each other well and didn't look concerned about being separated from the other houses.

"Don't you have something like friends in..." I cut myself short. I didn't mean to say that out loud. That wasn't anything like me. But somehow...

"Well yeah, kind of." Oberyn stopped at one point, where the other Slytherins went through a door, waiting until it was his turn. "Got a sister in Hufflepuff. Password is house pride, by the way."

"And you, guys?", Lyanna asked. "Any siblings?"

I shook my head and heard Albus saying: "Obnoxious Gryffindor brother."

Then my mind started to wander away from the topic, even though I still got something about a half-sister. We were in the Slytherin common room now, and it was amazing. Silky cushions placed on dark green sofas, a lit fireplace, and - most important - the view. Without paying any attention to what the others did, I ran to one of the windows, looking out on... the bottom of the lake. Fishes and squids swam through the water right across the glass, not concerning themselves with the prying eyes of their spectators.

"Beautiful, huh?" I didn't notice Albus standing next to me until he said that and turned to face him.

"Everything alright?"

He raised his gaze, his green eyes reflecting the movements of the water. "I'll get through it. I'm much more worried about... you know."

I nodded and started to watch the other Slytherins. My people. Most of them seemed calm on the outside, but it was the little things that gave it away.

Percy tried to talk to Nico, the one with the half-sister, while Piper scolded Leo as quietly as she could. Oberyn eyed the entrance from time to time as if waiting for something to happen. Lyanna and Dany had already left the room through one of the doors in the back.

"I just hope it isn't as bad as it seems."

I couldn't even convince myself with my own words.

Chapter Text

Sunlight streamed through the window next to my bed, illuminating our dorm room. It was morning, then. Reyna was already gone, she had actually told me she awoke early most of the time. Rose was still asleep, but Arya stood at the far end of the room, clearly thinking about something.

On the other side of the wall would be the next room, of the second years, and so on... while, to reach the boys, you had to go down a staircase and make your way through the common room. In the evening, Arya had been very suspicious about these stairs, which were said to turn into a ramp, if the person ascending wasn't a girl. I myself thought it a funny twist.

"You gonna get up some time or just continue watching me?" I swallowed and started to get out of bed, but I had still seen Arya rolling her eyes at me. What was her deal? She had been that way from the very beginning. Not exactly friendly, but maybe it was just who she was, and nothing could change that.

Next to me, Rose stirred, slowly opening her eyes, while - right on time - the door was pushed open by Reyna, fully dressed and apparently thriving after a good night's sleep. Only her concerned gaze didn't fit into her appearance, as she stepped into the room.

"Are you ready? We got a new schedule." So that's what she wasn't happy about. I mean, I didn't knew her for very long, she and Nico had become friends someday and I had just gotten into the group. But she was serious most of the time and thus this new schedule had to be bad.

"What's wrong with it?" I felt awkward asking, but I had to know. Our first day at Hogwarts had already been anything but normal, so what could make it any worse?

"Classes with the second and third years, but only Gryffindors."

"They are consistent with their separation." Rose had gotten up and started to change into her robes.

"Of course they are. It's kinda important." Arya had her gaze lowered to the ground, her voice sharp and still good to hear. What was it with these two?

Reyna must've thought the same, because she clasped her hands together and cleared her throat. "We should go eat breakfast."

Eat. Just as we had done shortly before we were sent away. In the Great Hall...

"How are they coordinating meals?" Yes, maybe I had hope seeing Nico again. Just a look. He had seemed so down last night, so sad. That his real sister wasn't there with him. I wished he'd recover soon. Find friends. Spend time with people. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.

"Let's see." Reyna opened the door once more and I quickly put my robes on, following her and Rose into the corridor, Arya right behind me. As we descended the staircase, Jason already stood there, clearly waiting for us.

"Hey, ehm... guys?" He looked uncomfortable, being the only boy in our year and house. But we would have classes with the older ones, so he could befriend them also, right? "It's kinda lonely with an own room."

"Maybe you can ask, if you might share with the second years?"

"The question is, why doesn't he already?" It was Rose bringing up what we all might have thought. Why waste a whole room for just one person?

"It's a school of magic. They won't have any real space issues, will they?" Arya crossed the common room at a fast pace, actually not once turning to look back. Jason sighed, but quickly followed her, so there was no reason to stay anymore. It was time for breakfast, after all.

We went through the hole behind the painting and started to make our way down the tower. Nobody of us said a word, but there was no silence, either. There were other people heading in the same direction, chatting, as if nothing was wrong. Until we came to a broad corridor, where a professor stood, guiding everyone into a small hall, which seemed to be just big enough to hold all of Gryffindor house.

"In here, students!" The man called out, waving his hand in the general direction of the door. "The Great Hall is sadly unavailable at the moment."

"Why don't you just say that it's because of the fucking precautions. We're no fools." It was Bronn, who had stopped in the middle of the doorway, questioning the professor, who was still pretty young himself.

He gave him and us other students a sad, but sympathetic smile. "We were told to not stress you out too much, though I guess this isn't possible. I'm sorry." Then he continued waving us inside, where there was already food on the tables, plates laid out for each six to eight people. Half of them were occupied, the others still free.

"So", Reyna said, sitting down on a bench near the door. "Let's eat and then see how they want to do the classes, if all the teachers are separated between houses, too."

Breakfast was... loud, to say the least. I mostly kept to myself, but this Percy guy wouldn't stop asking me questions. Where I lived, if I had family - very bad topic, by the way - if I had always been this grumpy. The answer to the last question would be no, I remembered the times I was as talkative as him, maybe more. But this was long ago, and I hadn't responded.

"Just let him be", the girl chided in. She was called Piper and was the only first year who wasn't a boy. You'd think she'd be lonely, but she was best friends with Leo and Percy, so she didn't mind. If you believed her assurances. Well, it was kinda hard not to. Everyone listened to her, more or less.

"So... we're gonna go some time?" The only blond guy, Scorpius, seemed nervous to speak up, but a small smile had formed on his face.

"That's a great idea." Piper had already stood up, giving Leo a little slap to his shoulder to make him move. I followed her example - not the slapping of course, I wasn't nuts - and waited at the door of our dining room. I might have been a loner most of the time, but even I knew how important it was to have someone as backup, even if I didn't grow attached to them. I had no choice but to roll with it and join the group.

"Classes are only starting in half an hour, what're we gonna do 'till then?" Leo was bouncing up and down on his feet, standing not very far away from me. Did he have ADHD or something? And this careless attitude? Even though I was a half blood, I may not know many wizards, but I was pretty sure this guy was either muggleborn or simply ignorant. And a goofball for sure. He couldn't take our situation seriously.

"Maybe we could get a little tour around the schoolgrounds." Percy had positioned himself next to me, clearly in order to get me to join the conversation. "What do you think, Nico?"

Great. Talking in front of everyone. Way to go.

"Uhm... I don't know..."

"I fear it won't be allowed, little ones." For one moment I was confused, but then I remembered that we weren't completely alone. Dany, the older girl with silvery blonde hair, had thrown an arm around Piper's shoulders, eyeing the rest of the group. "Separation not only for breakfast and classes, but also usage schedules for the library and quidditch field. Everything."

There was something distinguishable in her eyes, sadness, as I had seen here for a few times already. Every student tried to keep their worries a secret by sporting wide smiles and speaking in loud voices. But most of them didn't do well.

"I'll suggest you guys stick with Lyanna. As a second grader, she'll have Transfiguration up next with you."

"How will they do it?" Piper ducked away and put her hands on her hips. Perhaps to look more intimidating? "How do they manage three different difficulty levels at the same time? And will we still have the same teachers, even though there is meant to be no contact?"

Many faces from across the room turned in our direction, watching curiously. I was glad that I hadn't been the one who spoke up.

The question got Dany off course. She stammered a few words I couldn't understand, seemingly having no idea. How could she, though? She might have been in fourth year, maybe. Not an adult, actually. And clearly not the right person to confide in when it came to dangerous or tricky information.

Students began to whisper, sort of as if a dam had leaked, water broken loose. No happy atmosphere anymore. More questions than anyone could answer.

I always knew that something was off with the wizarding world. Ever since my mum was killed and we - Bianca and I - were on our own. Then, when my sister sacrificed herself, just so I could be safe. She had known about nearly everything. But she never told me. It wasn't safe. It was the same here. Nobody telling the children, even if it could cost them their lives.

"Calm down, everyone." A middle-aged woman shoved herself through the crowd that had thickened around us. She had beautiful black hair and flowing dark robes. I recognized her immediately. Persephone, my father's new girlfriend. Or wife? I didn't remember if he ever mentioned a marriage.

"All questions will be answered soon, more or less. Now, please, let me escort you to your classes. First, second and third years, to me." Her eyes glinted knowingly, as her gaze met mine, but she didn't say anything about me. For that, I was grateful. "Others, wait until I come back."

With these words she turned, heading out onto the corridor.

I really didn't want to follow that man. He was not the tallest, of slender build, and he had something... sly on him. His eyes had been cold, wandering through our group of merely twelve students. First to third years.

If he didn't like children, or if he reacted that way to everyone, I couldn't say. He had smiled, true, but it didn't reach beyond his thin lips.

Apart from us, the corridors were empty. Nobody talked. And if someone tried to, anyway, it was through a quiet whisper.

There I was, the girl who had been nervous but exited about Hogwarts. It was nothing like I had imagined. At least not in the case of atmosphere.

"There we are." The teacher had stopped in front of a plain metal door and seemed to fiddle with his keys or something.

It was the Potions room. On the schedule we had gotten had been nothing else in this time slot. Just this word. Potions. And after breakfast everyone was escorted to their classes. Like prisoners. A very happy thought.

"That'll be fun...", Octavian grumbled from behind me. I would have told him to shut up, if I hadn't given up hope myself. This wasn't what I had wanted.

The door swung open and I moved, along with the others, to the seats. There were a few tables, accompanied by benches. Our kettles were already there. I knew that I wouldn't have forgotten mine, but given that we weren't even allowed to return to our chambers after breakfast...

I sat down and Rachel placed herself next to me. She was pretty talkative, as I had found out, but we were both muggleborn, which delivered us plenty of topics to chat about. And way too little sleep. But that was an entirely different problem.

"So we guys have the pleasure to have Potions class right now." The teacher had positioned himself in front of us, behind a desk full of flasks and bottles. "For all the first years who do not know me..." He said it as if we were more than just three. "...I am Professor Baelish. I've taken the liberty of arranging your kettles and other materials to match your respective places, and I believe you have found them already."

Professor Baelish's eyes narrowed, just a fraction and not for long, but I had seen it. I might not like him from the very start, but, in order to get good grades, I hoped the feelings weren't mutual.

"This guy's kinda... creepy", Rachel whispered, quiet enough, so he couldn't hear it from up front. Actually, I guessed so, but if he did hear, he didn't show it.

"I know." It wasn't much of an answer, since the professor already continued with his speech.

"I'll give all of the second and third years tasks, that shouldn't be too difficult to do on your own. First year students..." It seemed as if his lopsided smile grew even wider, as if he looked forward to what he was initiating in this moment. "I'll show you some of the basic skills of potion brewing."

"Excuse me, Professor Baelish?" It was a blond boy from third year, who had been sitting all alone during breakfast. He seemed friendly then, so it had been sort of odd that nobody talked to him. It occurred to me, that maybe he had friends after all, only in other houses. People he wasn't allowed to see anymore. "You don't mind breaking the teacher's rules, so I thought, maybe you could tell us what is going on."

The professor paused, and for a moment I was sure, he had been broken in some way. Then he drew a deep breath and faced the class, much more serious-looking than before. Rule-breaking, huh?

"It may not please you, Po- I mean Castor", Baelish tried to recover from being caught off guard. "But it is my honorable duty to follow the headmistress' orders. Else I wouldn't be here, teaching you skills to finally pay your excuse of a father's gambling debts."

His face had deformed into a smug grin and I couldn't believe it. How...?

"Aren't you as a teacher supposed to be nice to your students?!", I shouted, even before it got to my brain. "I don't think insulting their parents is a part of your job description!"

I felt a hand on my arm, forcing me to sit back down, though I didn't remember ever standing up. It had been, as if something in my head had short-circuited. Now I knew: If I'll ever hate someone, like really, to death, it would be that guy. He deserved being hated. And I was not looking forward to Potions two times a week from now on. For a long time, sadly.

But I could see the boy smile in my direction from the corner of my eye, and - honestly - it had been worth it. Even the unamused look in those pale, gray eyes was bearable that way.

"We are not discussing this today!", Professor Triodia blew up after some time. I had expected this, seeing that she wasn't very patient from the start, but I still shuddered at her loud voice. "Just try out your assigned tasks."

It had been Gendry who wanted to know more about why the houses were separated. And like any other time a student asked a person of authority something about it, the topic was brushed off, without any explanation.

I looked down on my desk, catching just a glimpse of Will's hand thrusting forward and exchanging my pretty white feather with his slightly damaged one. He had already gotten it to hover a bit, crashing into his chest at high speed, while mine didn't even twitch.

"Hey", I whispered, as quiet as I could. "What're you doing?"

Will smiled, winking. "Maybe this one's just better." Then he turned back to Frank, pushing him lightly to get his attention.

Juniper sat on my other side, frequently saying "Wingardium Leviosa" and moving her wand. After the fifth time or so, it stirred, slowly floating up a few inches.

"Good work." I didn't see that Professor Triodia had stopped in front of our table. Her smile was reserved, but there. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Only doing her job. "And you should try once more." Her gaze caught mine, but she didn't turn mad about me not being very talented, so...

"Wingardium Le..."

The door crashed open.

"Hecate, may I have a word?" Another woman came barging in, hair as dark as the Charms professor's. They looked similar, somehow. Same sharp cut faces, same dark eyes... Were they related?

"Of course." Professor Triodia led the other teacher - she must've been a teacher - to the front of the room, as far from the students as possible.

For a while, they talked in hushed tones, and I tried to concentrate on my feather. Well, more like Will's feather, which he gave me. But even that didn't really seem to help.

Something was wrong with this school and if I wanted to know what that was, I had to hear this conversation. But I wasn't so crazy as to just walk up to them and hope to be subtle enough from them to not realize it until it was to late.

Gendry was.

I watched as he shuffled forward, face scrunched up in concentration, trying to stay out of sight. I couldn't say if that was brave or just idiotic.

But the professors were so caught up in the topic, they didn't seem to notice him. Like, at all. For a while nothing new happened, time kind of just stopped.

Then Gendry backed up, sliding behind his desk as if he'd been there from beginning to end, a little scowl on his face. I had expected him to grin, because of his successful mission, but the conversation must have been too serious to think about that.

It was scary, to say the least.

"Students", Professor Triodia called out, the other woman already leaving the classroom. "We'll call it a day now, and I'll escort you to your next lesson in a minute. Just stay here, I'll be back soon." Then she left, too.

All at once, everyone's eyes settled on Gendry. I saw him swallowing.

"It's kind of a disease they try to prevent from spreading. I guess that's why we're separated."

"Is it already here?" Will had gotten up, putting a hand on Frank's shoulder. The Sorting Ceremony, the hat...

"Is that why they were freaking out about the Sorting Hat? Has it something to do with magic artefacts?"

"I don't know." Gendry sighed. "But Miss Abbott-Longbottom has been sent home."

A collective sound of surprise and shock went through the class. Well, the second and third year part. I, for instance, didn't know this Miss Abbott-Longbottom, but she seemed to be liked by everyone who did.

"Will Professor Longbottom quit now?", someone asked.

Silence washed through the room. No one answered. If it really was a disease, and someone already got it inside the school's borders... it could only get worse.

I understood now, why they didn't want any contact between the houses. If the illness spread fast, the tiniest bit of interaction could bring it further.

The question was: What was it and how bad could it be?

Chapter Text

After a calm lesson of History of Magic, Professor Binns, a ghost in every fiber of his being, escorted us to the Charms classroom. He hadn't been distracted by the occasional waves of whispered conversation, and even though his voice was mostly sleep-initiating, the topic had been kinda interesting. So I had taken notes through the whole period, trying not to think too much about any of my problems.

Which included bring deprived of friendly contact, in some way. Don't get me wrong, the girls were super nice (most of them, anyway), they really tried to lure me in and get me to talk to the older boys, but... It's not as if they were weird or something, they just didn't seem to be interested in befriending me.

Quentyn seemed okay, but only until he started to obsess about a girl from Slytherin who was two years older than him. I had listened to him for a few minutes at the breakfast table, but there was only so much patience I could give.

Pollux and Charlie were sort of glued together. Though they sounded friendly, every word was only directed at each other. Throughout History of Magic, I could hear them talking about some brother and, a lot more quiet, about Charlie's crush. Not exactly gossiping, but close.

James... well, he was the only one talking to me about kind of normal topics. If you count ranting about quidditch, that is. And, sadly, I was not a quidditch fan.

Suddenly, I wished for being on the train again. Frank and Will were in Hufflepuff now, which meant no interaction. But that had been, to be honest, the best conversation I've had since I left for Hogwarts. I had really thought, we could become friends, although we were pretty different. I retrospect, I should've known that I wouldn't have such luck. Ever since the Thalia incident happened, everything seemed to go downhill for me. That had been four years ago.

"Hey, mate, you listening?" James punched my shoulder, making me stumble. "I said, we're short a chaser now. Care to show up for tryouts?"

I turned to face him, while trying to keep up with the other students heading up the stairs. Quidditch again. I should've expected that. I thought back to when our father had first introduced Thalia and me to this game. He didn't get much enthusiasm from either of us. The flying itself was pretty fun, but only as long as there was no balls involved.

"Isn't there a rule for first years not to play, because it's too dangerous?" Just an excuse, but he didn't have to know that. Maybe I could gather enough arguments for him to let me be. "And the separation won't allow games, either."

James scowled. "There are not enough students to uphold the former rules, y'know? You won't believe it, but not everybody is interested in becoming part of the team." Yes, unthinkable. I swallowed a laugh. The least I could use was him being upset with me. "If you're talented, you'll get a place. As for the separation..."

"That's another matter altogether." A girl with auburn curls turned to face us. A second-year, but I couldn't remember her name. "But when all this drama's over, we need a team to face any competition, don't we?" So she was a quidditch player, too. At least something I knew.

We reached the third floor in brooding silence, never seeing anyone else beyond our class. The teachers must have planned not to use the same routes for changing rooms. But, why? No one ever answered our questions, even if they just grazed the topic a little bit. Didn't they know that children were more eager to do everything to find out something if they didn't get answers right away? Perhaps not. It was strange all the same.

"I will leave you here." With these words, Professor Binns vanished through a massive stone wall, leaving us alone. Twelve students, unsupervised, alone. And kinda lost. Nobody said anything anymore.

Then a woman with dark, long hair joined us in the hallway. She gestured for us to follow her, and we did. I saw some faces lighting up, obviously being relieved. Could that be good news? Maybe this teacher was more open to talk to? We could find out about what was happening in Hogwarts right now. This could be our chance.

The room was plain, as you would expect it to be in an ordinary school. Desks were aligned in three rows, and a dozen of white feathers awaited us. I hurried to sit between Reyna and Rose, just to avoid any more demands to join the Gryffindor quidditch team. Maybe I should've told them "no" straight away, but that seemed pretty rude.

"I'm Professor Triodia, for everyone who doesn't know me." The woman placed her hands on her own desk, but somehow she looked as if she was shaking. "I have been instructed not to tell you anything about the reasons of the separation, and I won't. Not directly, anyway." Her eyes wandered through the room, examining every one of us. There was sadness in them, and nervousness. "However, I can tell you, that Miss Abbott-Longbottom has been confirmed sick and was sent home, before anything worse could happen. But even now, we have to be cautious."

That's clever. Professor Triodia hadn't broken the rules, but had still given us all sorts of information. A sickness. They didn't want us students to catch it, that was clear to see. But why all these precautions of no interaction and avoiding any contact, if we were sharing teachers anyway? They could carry it on as well, right? It didn't make any sense. Why didn't they just close the school altogether? Send everybody home instead of just the ones that fell sick?

Or maybe... maybe it was just a pretext to hide what really was going on. I had to know if they told everyone the same. If it was some kind of distraction from the real problem. A sickness could be overcome, it couldn't be that easy if the adults were panicking that way.

"Jason? What are you thinking about?" It was Rose, throwing me a curious glance. "It's not about the quidditch offer my cousin made you, am I right?"

I shook my head. "Tonight I will try to find Will or Frank. I have to ask them something."

"Your Herbology class will be cancelled due to... Professor Longbottom's personal problems. Have fun in your common room." Baelish smirked one last time, then he was gone. Asshole. He had seemed almost delighted as someone had informed him about this earlier. Why was he so happy about other people's difficulties? That was sketchy at best.

But for the moment we couldn't do much more than stay in our rooms 'till lunch. Wait until something interesting happened.

Rachel and Annabeth claimed a place at the fire and immediately dove into conversation. Most of the others split up into little groups, complaining to each other how we couldn't go anywhere without taking the risk of getting detention and being condemned to much harder restrictions. Only two second year boys didn't seem to attach themselves to anyone. One of them listened to the girls for a while, then got something out of his pocket that looked suspiciously... digital. How did he...?

"Hey, you're Octavian, right?" It was the other one, a guy with golden blond hair, who was only a little taller than me. "Standing there all by yourself must be boring."

"Well, I could say the same to you." It got out slightly more annoyed than I had wanted it to. "You're not exactly drowning in company, either."

"Touché." He grinned, but there was something dark in his eyes. I wasn't surprised. Everyone had some issue right now. "I'm Josh, by the way. Wanna get on Hiro's nerves until he lets us play with his laptop?"

"His... laptop?" It sounded as if Hiro was the guy sitting all alone by the fireplace, but... What? Confusion swept over me. "I never..."

"He built it himself, I mean that's what he says." Josh already took a step away, slowly, as if waiting for me to follow him. "Of course he doesn't have any connection because of the magical shields, but the thing is, he made it work. A genius, clearly."

"You're talking about me?" Hiro had looked up and stared us down, bangs nearly covering one of his eyes. Then I saw teeth flashing and he was laughing. "Really, Josh? You never shut up about me and my skills, I almost have a feeling you've taken a liking to me", he called out, catching his breath.

"Don't give yourself so much credit." Some other students turned to look, but Josh just brushed it off. "As if I would ever fall for a scrawny kid like you. You'd need a few more curves at the right places, if you know what I mean." Another wave of laughter erupted from the two boys.

So much for someone apart from me being completely alone.

But still... they were friendly. More so than the bunch around Reyna I had sat with on the train. Maybe it really was my destiny to belong to Ravenclaw house. Maybe I was on my way to find something that's worth fighting for.

Hiro sighed and marched straight to the dorm rooms, while Josh leaned against one of the sofas, grinning triumphantly. I didn't know what they had talked about after their laughing fit, but it was very clear who had won.

"So... ready for some fun Hogwarts wants to deprive us of?"

To be honest, I had no idea what he could have in mind. I had never possessed a laptop or something like that. Well, I knew what it was in general, but that's it. Completely new territory.

But I decided to just roll with it. It couldn't be too hard to figure out the basics, when I needed to, right? No reason to make myself a fool, just because my family despised modern technologies.

"Yeah, I guess." Keep the conversation going. "So, you two have been friends for a long time?"

"Hiro and me?" Josh chuckled. "Not really. We despised each other first. He was an obnoxious know-it-all, while I annoyed him with dumb questions. It took us almost the whole year to get used to each other. And now that I can't see my sister anymore..." His smile dropped. "I'm glad he's here."

"I see..." So Josh had a sister in another house. There were more and more people who lost something or someone to this separation. And that was just the beginning. How much harder would it get if we were weeks or months into the school year?

"Sophie's a Hufflepuff, so if we'd still eat in the Great Hall, it would be pretty easy to sneak out and meet her, seeing that their common room isn't that far away. But I guess it isn't meant to be." He reached into his pocket and took something out that looked like a neatly folded piece of paper. "I wrote her a note, but I'm still thinking of a way to get it to her."

"I'll help you." The words were out before I could even understand what I wanted to say. Maybe it was the chance to make a family happy, since I had no one except my father, maybe just the sympathy I felt for Josh, but I didn't regret my promise either way.

"Really? You'd do this?" For a split second, there was a spark of hope in his eyes, but it died quickly. "It won't be easy. I heard that teachers will patrol the corridors at night. Maybe I'll just leave it in some classroom, waiting for someone to find it..."

"No." I didn't know where this determination came from, but I somehow liked it. "We won't take any chances. I'll handle this. Trust me."

I couldn't sleep. And while that might seem like a dumb excuse for sneaking out of the dorm room... it wasn't. Not really. It was much more comfortable to sit at the fireplace, letting the flames illuminate the common room, than throwing nearly a fit just because it was dark and lonely. I knew I was silly. I - theoretically - knew that nothing was hiding in the shadows under my bed. The uneasy feeling stayed nonetheless.

I had tried to deal with it for years now, since I turned six or so. But whatever I thought could help... it didn't. It was as if my subconscious would permanently warn me about something. The separation and all the news that came with it weren't exactly helping.

Sickness that could overcome you at any time? Frightening. Maybe some other dark force lingering within the school walls? Straight up terrifying.

My breath hitched without any reason. Just at the thought. Why was I like that? Not even the warm fire, that I kept going since the last Hufflepuff had gone to sleep, could calm me. Maybe it was time for a stroll. Some time walking through the corridors, alone and in complete darkness... perhaps not. But still... I couldn't think of anything except for the dawn of morning that would have had a positive effect.

I grabbed one of the lanterns neatly lined up on the mantelshelf and lit the candle inside. One more moment to consider going to bed... No. I had to do something or I would go crazy.

The stairs up to the main building seemed to go on for forever. But there was nobody patrolling it... yet. The security had been increased, Madam Hooch had burned that into our minds, while we had been in Flying class. Yeah, flying. The memory of myself failing multiple times while Grover soared up at his first call was still vivid. I chuckled. That's what I got for being too advanced in Charms. Frank and Juniper had nailed the Transfiguration lesson instead. I liked that. Everyone having their strengths. And weaknesses. In some way. Dumb nyctophobia.

Suddenly there were steps. Fast paced, but also as if the person was trying to not be too loud. Just around the corner. I tried to hide the light of the lantern behind my back, hoping it didn't shine into the hall. And waiting for the person to go away.

"What are you doing here?" For a moment I froze. Then I noticed that it was a student. No professor. And he was whispering.

"I could ask you the same." A second voice. And I knew the owner of this one. Jason. The guy from the train that had been sorted into Gryffindor house. Indeed, what did he do near the kitchens? And this other boy? Well, I myself wasn't less guilty of breaking curfew.

"Shit. In there! Fast!"

Then I saw the two. They hurried in my direction, as quick and quiet as possible. Confusion crossed their faces when they noticed me, but what I wasn't prepared for was Jason jumping forward and grabbing my lantern. He put out the flame and pressed himself against the wall next to me. The other guy, that I recognized as the Ravenclaw boy, was on my other side.

Steps got louder, this time much more determined, strictly going for a goal. Not just one person. At least more than a dozen. Voices rang through the Entrance Hall and were sure to drown everything else out, but I swear, my heartbeat should have been heard anyway. I wished I could stop the pounding just for a little while, until the threat to be found was over.

And then it was. Just like that. All three of us let out their breath simultaneously. And laughed. I didn't know how it came to be, but I found myself trying to restrain myself from curling up on the floor. We hadn't been caught. And that was great. We broke the rules. Screw the rules. We were still alive.

"Sooooo..." Jason stretched the word as if looking for a good way to start the conversation. "You're the one I was looking for, Will. I wanted to ask you something, but..."

"Before doing that, you gotta give me my lantern back." He did. And that was when I remembered. The fire had been put out. It was rather dark. I could feel the shake creeping up my hands and taking over my body, but I took a deep breath. I wouldn't show my fear. Not now. I had to handle this by myself and not bother other people with my problems.

"What I wanted to say, is, that now I can ask both of you, since you're from different houses. Do you know of the sickness?"

Nobody said anything to that. So the others found out, too. Did they eavesdrop like Gendry? Or had someone actually told them?

"Will? Octavian?" There was a nervous tone to Jason's voice. "Answer me."

"So Professor Longbottom's wife has fallen ill", Octavian said. "That explains it."

I decided to give input, too. Maybe it was to distract myself from the darkness that still surrounded us, hiding the faces of the other two... "We overheard a conversation of Professor Triodia." It was no use. The trembling only got worse.

A hand dropped on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly. Jason. Had he noticed that my condition wasn't the best? "But she told us herself. Why should she do that, if she didn't tell you before?"

"I guess she noticed you found out what was up and then didn't feel like keeping a secret anymore." Octavian sighed and leaned against the wall, at least that was what it sounded like, since I could see next to nothing. "Anyways, Will... You're a Hufflepuff, right?"

"I am." It was hard to keep my voice from rising up several octaves, but somehow I managed. Jason's reassuring grip was working well, whether he intended that or not. "What is it?"

I heard him rummage through a pocket or something. "This guy, Josh, gave me a note for his sister. Could you give that to Sophie?"

"Yeah, sure, I..." I paused. Were those steps? Again?

"You dealing drugs or something?"

To be sure, I didn't exactly think they'd do something like this. I mean, we were eleven, what kind of world would that be? Honestly, one where guys like Gabe would rule. I'd hate living there.

"Well, no." I couldn't see much because of the dark, but I recognized the three silhouettes as students from all the other houses. What were they doing? Breaking the rules, for instance, but that was not even the interesting part.

"So you're holding an universal meeting without inviting the Slytherin ambassador? I'm highly offended, folks." I sat on one of the steps and stretched my arms up in the air. We've had Astronomy class on midnight, which was understandably tiring, so why wouldn't I use the great opportunity to rest a little? I had separated myself from the group, after all, for no particular reason, and succeeded. I'd earned a break.

"Yeah... That was not exactly planned..."

"Guys, can we just like... go back... or somewhere else?" This one sounded a little unsure. His voice trembled. Only slightly, but I had grown up with a violent stepfather, I knew how people tended to suppress fear. Still, he seemed capable of handling it for the moment.

"Why not, we could..." I thought a little about it. Where would be the best place to hide from patrols? Not in that staircase, for sure. "...see if we can get into one of the classrooms. The moon is pretty bright today, so we could actually see one another."

"I second that." The voice was a lot stronger now. Needless to say, I was good at making people feel better. I was, right?

We fell silent. It might have been not the best idea to talk at a normal volume in a hall where we were not supposed to be. At least not without supervision and clearly not together. But we made it to the nearest classroom pretty fast, when I heard footsteps that weren't ours.

"Go!" Whispering and shouting at the same time wasn't easy, but the boys got the message. We rushed into the room and I closed the door, as fast and quiet as I could. The steps grew louder, steady and determined, until they were right next to us. But they didn't stop, and after a few minutes of total silence, I allowed myself to take a deep breath and look at the other three. All of them had blond hair, two of them wore it short, the last one curly. That had been the scared one, but now in the moonlight, he seemed to be able to pull himself together. So, let's get on with it.

"To start off, I'm Percy, and my idea may have just saved your butt."

The scrawny one scoffed. "Yeah, very funny. I'm Octavian, by the way, and I think we should get back to our dorm rooms."

"Why so hasty? And anyway, you could be gone by now, if you just didn't follow us."

He rolled his eyes and made a step in my direction. "I completed my mission, so I got nothing else to do. But going back while you others stomp around and alert everyone? I don't think two groups could be lucky enough to get away at once."

He wasn't wrong. But his tone had changed since his conversation with the other two. It was as if... he was annoyed by me. What did I do to him?

"Calm down, guys." That was the boy who was taller than me. "To get back to the introductions, I'm Jason, this is Will."

"You know I can do this myself, right?"

"Uh, of course... I mean... yeah." I got it. Jason had sensed Will's near-breakdown, too, but didn't exactly notice that he was okay now. But... I decided to keep my mouth shut this one time. At least for this topic.

"We're totally breaking the rules, aren't we?" I chuckled, still cautious not to be too loud. "Like, going against the separation?"

"Hmm... maybe that wasn't a good idea." Jason leaned back on a table and looked out a window. "We could get sick, if this is really what it's all about."

"I'm not so sure about that", said Octavian, still standing in the middle of the room, a little awkward. "I don't know about you, but in my opinion, this has been around for quite a while already."

"What do you mean, a while?" It was Will's turn to sound suspicious. And tired. He was sitting backwards on a chair, chin resting on his crossed arms.

"I just remembered what my father told me about my mother disappearing a few years ago. He said she got sick." Was it just the moonlight, or did Octavian's eyes shine with tears? "But it came very sudden. Nothing was wrong with her. I never knew what it was exactly."

"And now you think it might be the same cause?" I scanned his face for signs of joking, but he seemed serious about it.

"If that's the case, the separation won't do anything. I was close to mum, but I never got ill. And she didn't leave the house often. The infection must depend on something other than human contact."

Jason sighed. "It's no use. No one's gonna listen to us, anyway. We're no doctors, just kids. We'll just get detention and I wanna avoid that."

He was right. As much as the teachers were trying to understand us, they were still adults. Not looking at children for answers, because we didn't have any education or experience. But the more I learned about every student at Hogwarts, even the ones our age, the more I saw that we actually had experience. Some maybe a little too much.

"Do you know what that means?" I looked around the room. Jason and Octavian were both confused. Obviously, it meant that no one respected our ideas, but there was something else. "If the sickness doesn't spread the way the teachers are thinking..."

Will's face lit up. "Then it's safe to meet up with the members of the other houses. Secretly, of course."

Chapter Text

"Where are you going?" Mallory narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Don't you wanna hang out with us?"

I sighed. Of course I wanted to, but to be honest, I wasn't really in a mood. Staying up until late in the night, just for a "scientific look at the stars"? Not exactly the best method to keep a working sleep schedule.

And then, the tension in the morning during Herbology? Professor Longbottom had seemed agitated, even though everyone from the upper grades had told us he was the nicest teacher around. School continued to be... weird. Kind of. It was all too much to handle.

So I had decided to sneak out during lunch break, find some place to maybe close my eyes for a while, relax. Especially because we had Flying lessons right after.

"Sorry, Mallory. I need some time." So I made my way outside.

I felt strange, creeping through the corridors all by myself. I'd always been pretty social, mostly hanging out with friends, preferably those who didn't know my family reputation. That left muggles, for the most.

Then, a few years ago, I met Leo, a muggleborn wizard. He didn't know anything about all the drama the McLean family had gotten into. And that was awesome. He didn't care about my background, the only important part was that we made a great team.

But Leo was preoccupied now, and I also didn't wanna bother Percy, who had tried to get Nico into planning something with him. It was me, and just me.

I looked around the next corner. No one. Go ahead.

When I had come to Hogwarts I had thought about crowded places, loud voices, cheerful laughter. It had been that way in the beginning. Now I missed this first evening.

I jumped when someone wailed, piercing and in agony. The sound shouldn't have come from a human being, that was nearly impossible.

Slowly, I made my way to the next and only door near me. The wailing had stopped for a moment, but now I heard a squeaky voice mumbling words I couldn't understand. There was someone inside.

"Hello?" My hands were shaking as I opened the door and closed it behind my back. I was tired and exhausted, not exactly ready for bad surprises. "Who's there?"

Loud sobbing emerged from one of the stalls. "Just meeee." That was definitely a human though very annoying voice.

Some other student, perhaps. Without waiting for a response, I stepped closer. "You okay in there?"

Suddenly a strange fog emerged from the stall, not quite white, but tinted with a whirl of colour. I flinched, retreating. Did someone brew a potion in here or something? Who in hell would do something that stupid?

Then the fog thickened, and the shape of a girl appeared before my very eyes. A ghost. Why didn't I notice before? The voice had been human, but weird, no wonder it belonged to a dead person.

"What do you want?" The ghost sniffled back a sob.

"Just checking if you're alright." Of course she wasn't, she was dead and haunted this bathroom, but, well, it could be worse. Maybe. I didn't know.

"No one just comes by and asks if I'm alright." Ghost girl hid her face behind her hands. "They always want something."

Sleeping, I almost said. But that was not the time.

"What's your name, if I may ask?" I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, gave it a soothing undertone.

"Myrtle." She dropped her hands and stared in confusion. But she had stopped sobbing, so that was already a success.

"I'm Piper. You seem nice. So why are you sad?"

Myrtle sighed desperately, and I feared she would cry again, but she left it at that.

"No one ever visits me except when they need help find something." She scooted backwards and sat on the sink. Well, at least as far as she could get to sitting in her transparent form. "Secret hideouts, hidden passageways, help for solving riddles... You are the first one visiting me for... me."

Her ghostly lips curved upwards in a shy smile and I smiled back. Myrtle was a human, after all. She had lived once and she had feelings. Such as being lonely.

"So..." I continued, sliding downwards, until I sat, still leaning against the door. A yawn escaped me, but I wouldn't sleep, not now. I couldn't just leave Myrtle alone, after reassuring her that I was here to visit her. "You know much about this place?"

She had said something about secret hideouts. Maybe, if it was hidden enough and safe to use, I could persuade the boys to go there. Try to lure Grover in, too. We were friends and him being the only one in our group who was sorted in another house... We didn't see each other anymore.

Perhaps Annabeth would come, too. She had been nice that day on the train. And if she had made friends now, they could come, too, and...

Before Myrtle could even answer my question, the door opened, pushing me forward to the middle of the bathroom floor.

I didn't mean to barge in on the conversation that took place in the bathroom, but... well, you can't win against nature.

We were on our way to lunch, escorted by Professor Baelish - who nobody seemed to like by the way - and I had talked to a nice second-year called Rue, when I had to go. But since we had to stay in our groups most of the time, it didn't even occur to me to leave on my own. I follow rules, okay!

"You alright?" Rue's eyes scanned my face, while still keeping up our pace. "You look kinda..." Her voice wavered. "...sick." I almost didn't get what she was saying, but when she drifted away from me, my breath hitched.

"No! I just..." I reduced my voice to a mere whisper, because it was - maybe - kinda embarrassing? "...I have to... pee."

"Oh..." Rue cracked a smile. "You had me worried for a moment there. Looking pale and all this." She waved her hand in the direction, where Professor Baelish was leading the group. "Just ask if you can go. He's not as strict as most teachers, even if he's an asshole."

"Maybe it's especially because of that", I said. "Annoying the crap out of his co-workers might be his hobby."

Without waiting for an answer, I sped up, trying to catch up with the teacher as fast as possible.

"Professor Baelish?"

He turned his head to look at me and his gaze was cold as ice. But only for a moment. Then his expression softened, making way for a thin smile.

"Yes, Miss...?"

"Green, Sir. Juniper Green. Uh... I wanted to ask if..." I pretended not to notice the interested glimmer in his eyes, when I told him my name. "...if I could use the bathroom."

"Sure, Miss Green. Just around the corner."

"I'll be back in a minute." I forced myself to a smile and turned away, eager to finally fulfill my needs.

Before I reached the corner, I felt the professor's stare burning into the back of my head. "No need to rush!", he called after me, chuckling, but there was no warmth in his voice.

I hurried to the door that looked the most similar to a bathroom and stormed in. The door was slow to open and it was as if a heavy weight was leaning against it from the inside. Well, that was exactly the case, to be sure.

The girl was shoved across the floor, making a surprised sound, but I couldn't care less. Now that I had the chance... I wouldn't let anything or anyone stop me.

As I was sitting in the bathroom stall, sighing contently, the girl on the outside escaped her state of shock.

"What the heck was that? Are you a cannon ball, barging in like that?" Then she calmed her voice, almost as if she was talking to someone else. "Does this happen more often?"

"No", a second voice replied, and I froze. Had there really been someone else? Someone I couldn't see, maybe? Hogwarts was a magic school after all. Or I had just overlooked someone standing in the bathroom besides the brunette girl on the floor.

A sniffle came from outside. "I should leave you two alone..."

"No!" When I opened the stall door, the brunette girl was shouting in the direction of the sinks. And there, sitting on the edge, was a person. Not necessarily a living human being, but definitely a person. The ghost of a crying girl. "Don't go!"

But it was too late. The ghost dissolved into smoke and vanished through one of the drains, a quiet wail following her path.

The other, real, girl was standing in the middle of the room, staring into the mirror at the wall, clearly not happy.

"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say.

"She might have known about a secret meeting point..." It was more of a whisper than anything, but then she turned around and smiled. "No problem. Guess you had to."

"Yeah..." A small laugh escaped me, relieved that this girl wasn't mad at me. I couldn't stand people being angry because of me.

"I'm Piper."

"Juniper."

For a while we only stood there, looking at each other, staying silent. Slightly awkward...

I cleared my throat, shoving a strand of hair behind my ear. "So, what were you doing here? Apart from talking to a ghost, of course."

Piper smiled, but there was something else. She seemed... tired.

"I wanted to find a place for me to sleep. Astronomy, y'know."

Right. The Slytherins had been the first ones to have classes at midnight, then. I could see she was a Slytherin because of the tie she had carelessly thrown across her shoulders. I hadn't expected Astronomy to be that tiring, but suddenly I wasn't very thrilled for tomorrow night.

"So... is that why you said something about a secret hideout? Did you want a place where nobody would bother you?"

Piper chuckled in reply and I felt myself smiling. It was a bummer that the houses were technically separated. We might have been good friends in that case.

Then she straightened and looked me in the eye, serious all of a sudden.

"Don't we all want a secret hideout and meeting place?"

So Octavian was allowed to sneak out, meet members of other houses, and not be caught? Had I known about his little adventure when it wasn't over yet, I would've followed him. I mean, who wouldn't?

"You're kidding, right?" Annabeth leaned back in her seat and narrowed her eyes. "What if you're found out? The boys might've just been lucky."

Octavian didn't say anything, but he watched me with wide eyes. He had told us about his little escapade last night, with hushed tones of course, so that nobody else could overhear. And now he admitted being scared and nervous. As far as I was concerned, he maybe just said that to make me stay at lunch.

"Can you two cover for me?" I stood, grinning at my housemates. "I'm gonna see what there is to find."

Ignoring Annabeth's protest, I rushed through the door of our lunch room, making use of the professor keeping watch being distracted by Ramsay and a fourth year called Katie fighting over something.

The corridors and halls were surprisingly empty, all teachers either watching the students or having a break themselves. It was quiet save for the muffled voices of students talking and bickering.

My gaze wandered around while I tried to think of a place I could go. The library was boring, the weather outside way too hot.

Lastly, I decided to explore the Hogwarts castle itself a little. It couldn't hurt to know more about the place you lived at for most of the year. Maybe some adventures would bump into me...

They did. Kinda.

"Ouch!" It was more a whisper than a yell, probably because we weren't supposed to be here at all. "Watch where you're going!"

Standing before me, was Rose, neatly dressed as always, perhaps a little less composed than usual. Her glare could've pinned me to a wall. But then... I had gotten used to that on the train.

"Hi Rose." I grinned. At least I had met a student of another house. Even if I already knew her. "Whatcha doing?"

"None of your business."

"You running from Arya?" Maybe that wasn't the brightest thing to say, but I remembered the two girls not getting along. And they were both in Gryffindor, so it might've gotten even worse. They could try to just avoid each other.

Rose squeaked in surprise and I almost laughed about it. Almost.

"No! Not at all! I'm just looking for..." She paused, eyes jerking from one side to the other, clearly searching for an excuse. Then her shoulders slumped and I knew she'd tell the truth. "My mother once told me about what she and her friends did in Hogwarts. I mean, it's a popular story, but..."

Again, she fell silent. Then, even quieter than before: “You wouldn’t understand anyway.”

“What?” I scoffed. “You really think that? You think I’m dumb or something?”

Rose shook her head, shifting from one foot to another. “No, of course not. See… I wanted to look for some of the places my mum mentioned.” I opened my mouth to reply, but she interrupted me. “On my own.”

She turned on her heel, scooting down the corridor in the direction she’d come from. Without reconsidering, I followed her, not giving up on my adventure.

“Well, you won’t get rid of me,” I said, keeping up with her fast pace. “I’m going to find these places alongside you.”

“It’s no use to tell you to stop now and turn around?”

“Nope,” I responded, popping the ‘p’.

Rose was silent after that. She just walked ahead, maybe thinking of a place that would be boring enough to throw me off. But she wouldn’t succeed. It was Hogwarts, for heaven’s sake! There had to be at least something interesting.

I heard whispers and only after some time I realized that it was Rose, talking to herself. I didn’t understand much but listened nonetheless. Who knew what secrets could be revealed?

“…to moaning … not the worst…” Moaning? Really? All of a sudden I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know anymore. But... yeah. I was stubborn. I wouldn't give up on my adventure.

"There we are."

We were on a disappointingly normal corridor, facing a disappointingly normal door. A bathroom door, to be specific.

I took a step forward, examining the wood for something... mysterious maybe? But there was nothing, only quiet noises, as if someone was insi-

Feeling brave, I pushed down the handle and opened the door.

What I found (oops, I forgot Rose - what we found) were two girls, first years like us. Both brunettes, one with stylish braids and the other one... was Juniper.

"Hey, Junes." I grinned, raising my hand for a high five. Juniper ran over and answered to it, wearing a bright smile.

"Good to see you two." She pointed to the other girl. "This is Piper." Then she turned to the introduced. "Piper, this radiant Ravenclaw is Rachel, and that grumpy Gryffindor is Rose."

Piper's eyes widened a bit and then they sparkled, accompanied by a smirk.

"Granger-Weasley?"

My gaze fell on Rose's face. It was unreadable, her brow furrowed, as if she was trying to remember something. Then her expression loosened.

"McLean?"

Piper McLean. I should've known that our paths would cross again someday.

Her Father was well-known in the Wizarding World, stemming from an American pureblood family, and had somehow fallen for a British muggle woman. I had seen Piper's mother once, shortly before she went for another guy.

That had been five years ago, and a year later had been the last time I met Piper herself. Until Hogwarts. Until now.

Rachel cleared her throat and ripped me out of my thoughts. "What exactly is going on? You know each other?"

"My father, he..." Piper seemed uncomfortable to talk about what happened. And everything was just the fault of her mum.

Even Juniper started to grasp what was going on. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

"Sorry, if I missed a lesson or something, but what?" Rachel paced trough the room, now more serious than ever. She was still curious, but I could see in her eyes that it was more or less outweighed by a sheer need to know the truth.

I looked at Piper, saying nothing. It was not my turn to talk. It was a touchy subject either way.

"My father... he wasn't always a pureblood elitist." Piper turned and walked to one of the sinks, running her hands across the edge in a means to relax a bit. "On the contrary, he was invested in making lives better for muggleborns. He worked together with some of the most popular wizards of the last decades."

"Such as my parents, that's why we know each other." I gazed to Juniper, who should've known everything until that point, then to Rachel, who now stood still, listening wide-eyed.

"And then my mother came along, had me, and left a few years after. Even before that, she cheated. More than just once. It... It broke him."

A small sob escaped Piper, and even though we hadn't seen each other in years, I had to hold back to not just run to her and hug her. She hadn't deserved that.

"She was a muggle and her lovers, too. It was too much for him. He turned on his former co-workers, becoming exactly what they'd tried to eliminate." I could see her grip becoming tighter and the words came out more and more strained. "As for me..." She stopped, her breath heavy.

I had to help. "If you want, I can tell from there." A small nod was all that I needed. "Piper reminded him of what her mother had done, being a halfblood didn't help at all. He... abandoned her, kind of. Ignored her."

Another sob from the sink.

"When I saw her the last time, she was... different. Not the happy person I'd gotten to know. She started to... to do anything to get his attention, but it didn't work. Right?"

"Right. And I will always be known as the disgraced daughter of an elitist who threw a temper tantrum because of his ex." Piper's laugh was hysterical, without any trace of actual amusement.

And then there was wailing. Not from Piper, not really. More... from the sink itself. There was something. Someone. And somehow I knew who.

"I'm so sorry!" Moaning Myrtle ascended from the drain, filling the room with noises that dashed back and forth between the walls. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much sorrow!"

"It's alright." There was a hint of a smile on Piper's face, as if the arrival of the ghost had been something she wanted. "You didn't have it easy either."

She was right. Being killed in a school bathroom was... difficult to say the least. And she wasn't that different from Piper, too. Both had been abandoned because of who they were. Ghost and halfblood. And they certainly weren't the only ones.

"But... I think it's good to talk about it." Piper fully turned to us. "Thanks, guys. Especially you, Rose."

"No problem." I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but failed terribly. So it hadn't be a burden to tell her story? More like a... relief? I had never been the one to hold conversation about my psychogical needs, never felt like it would help anything, but if Piper said so...

"Sadly, we cannot come to this place very often." Piper's eyes were gleaming again. Were those tears or mischief? I really didn't know. "Since the separation began, we're under strong surveillance. Usually."

Myrtle's eyes went wide. It started as shock, and turned into an expression of someone who has an idea.

"The Room of Requirement! You can meet there and no one would find you if you don't want to!"

"But wasn't the Room of Requirement destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts?", Juniper asked. "What was it again? Burned?"

"No, no, no!" The ghost was exited. I had never thought to see her that way, since she wasn't called Moaning Myrtle for nothing. "I mean, yes, but not entirely! Only the Room of Hidden Things! The rest is good as ever!"

I swallowed. Did she just say what I heard her saying? Was she suggesting that we break the rules more frequently, more open? I wasn't sure if that was my interpretation of "finding places my mother talked about".

"Do you know what that means?" Of course Rachel was head over heels for this idea. "Hey, ghost girl... what's your name anyway?"

"Myrtle."

"So, Myrtle, you can tell us where this Room of whatever is, right? And then we can bring our friends, meet up, all these things."

"I don't think bringing everyone would be..." I started, but Rachel jumped forward and pressed a hand to my mouth, keeping me from talking.

"Not everyone. Girls, this Saturday will be the first meeting of the whole first year. No one else allowed. Don't even tell anyone else." She grinned. "Screw the separation."

Juniper seemed unsure, but Piper smirked. "This will be our revolution."

Chapter Text

"You what?" I came to an abrupt halt, for a moment blocking the way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, until I was pushed forward by an annoyed Lyanna.

"Move, you brick."

I ignored her and followed my friends to our seats.

Piper sighed and repeated: "I secretly met a few students from other houses yesterday."

Percy grinned. "Yeah, me too. Kinda the night before."

"You both?" I didn't know if I could breathe anymore. "And what's with me? You can't just leave your buddy alone!"

"Silence, please." Professor Flowers stood before the class, waiting for everyone to stop talking. As for me, she could wait pretty long.

"If you're gonna ignore me when you go on adventures, I'm gonna ignore you now." I turned away from Piper and faced the other way, meeting the raised eyebrow of Nico.

"What? It's revenge."

"Mr. Valdez, is this conversation a matter of life and death or is there another reason you are disturbing our lesson?" The teacher's gaze burned into mine, but I refused to back down or even search for excuses. I just... stared back at her.

"I wouldn't do this." I almost didn't hear Nico's whisper from beside me. "She's good at staring contests."

My eye lids flickered and suddenly I couldn't hold it anymore. But not because of my "opponent", only because... what did he say?

There was a sigh from the front and then Professor Flowers started talking to the class. I didn't pay attention, there was something much more interesting.

"You know her already?"

Nico nestled with his silver-green tie. "Maybe."

"Aaaand...?"

"She's my stepmother."

"Oh." I had expected almost anything; family friend, met on some festival... heck, even "She's famous, who doesn't know her"! But this... "And your real mum?"

"Dead." Nico stared down on his desk, hands clenched into fists. "Listen, I don't want your pity, you can just..."

"No", I interrupted him. "Mine died, too."

I didn't talk much about it, not even to my closest friends. They... wouldn't understand. Yes, Piper's mum left, and Percy never knew his real dad, but death... it was permanent. You had to come to terms with someone never coming back, even if they would've wanted to.

"After..." Nico swallowed. "After my sister died, too, my father took me in. I didn't even know him before. And my half sister, Hazel, is always trying so much to make me socialize." He looked up, his dark eyes blinking, as if wanting to hold back tears. "It's hard."

"Sorry to burst your bubble of self-pity, but at least you still have some family left." I didn't mean to come off annoyed, but somehow it was getting harder to keep up the walls I had built over the last three years.

I heard Nico responding, but I turned away. What did I think? Opening up to someone only makes it worse!

For the first time this class I tried to concentrate on Professor Flowers, and now that I paid attention, I had to confess that she talked about pretty interesting things.

Well, it was Defense Against the Dark Arts, even the name promised fun. And fun was basically my middle name, right?

Right?

"And after that we will take a further look on ghosts. You might have got to know some of them already." Professor Flowers let her eyes wander around the class. She smiled when she saw that Nico and I had stopped talking, but there was something sad in them. Maybe she had hoped he would make friends...

All in all, she seemed nice.

I felt something grazing at my hand, but it took a while until I looked down and saw the piece of paper that must've been put there by Piper. Notes, huh?

Well, I didn't gave her much choice, declaring that I wouldn't talk to her. Slowly I unfolded the note.

Hey, I'm still on Team Leo. I'll prove it. Saturday will be a big meet-up. Sneaking out tonight, looking for the meeting point. You with us?

I crushed the paper between my fingers, but I couldn't hold back a grin. Of course I'd be with them. We were best friends after all.

"Mr. Valdez, are we now keeping to notes?" I hadn't noticed the teacher standing directly above me. "I want you all to know what you can expect from this class and by that I don't mean improving your literary skills."

Before I knew what happened, she snatched away the paper from my grip and unfolded it again, slowly and neatly. I heard a quiet gasp from Piper and knew we were screwed.

Detention, here I come.

"Interesting." Professor Flowers' dark eyes sparkled. That was the end. "Do not write any more notes in my class and I will overlook this little... escapade."

She took out her wand - a dark one, beautiful decorated with little petals - and swung it across the paper. It caught fire immediately and was... simply gone.

"And now, back to business."

Now I really couldn't pay attention. What had just happened?

I turned to Nico again, noticing the ghost of a smile on his face. "She didn't just... did she?"

"She did", he answered under his breath. "You were right, by the way. I should be glad that I still have some family left. But it doesn't make things a lot easier, you know. Just a little."

"Yeah", I said, now determined to thank Professor Flowers by actually listening to her. I could have fun later tonight. "I bet it does."

The stars were beautiful. On another occasion it would've been great to sit down somewhere, watch them, relax after a day of hard work.

But that wasn't over yet.

"I cannot believe that we have to do that." Will zipped up his jacket, even though it was surprisingly warm this night. Well, maybe Professor Sinistra had put up a warming charm or something.

I looked around, took in the sight beyond the Astronomy Tower. There were woods, fields, a little town. That's Hogsmeade, I suppose. I could see the train station, far across the lake.

Sadly, I couldn't just stay there, at the edge of the platform. I had class. Even though it would've been great to... like... turn into a bird or something. Fly away. Then at least I could forget about the separation, all these rules.

The sickness that perhaps didn't spread the way the teachers thought.

Will had told me everything and Juniper had been exited about meeting everyone. In secret. It was against the rules. But I couldn't stop the others from going, anyway. In this case I should just go with them.

"Saturday, right?" I whispered quietly, so that only Will could hear me. Juniper and Grover were still gazing at the stars, waiting for Professor Sinistra to finish talking to the second years.

"Yeah." He shuddered again. Was that really from the cold? "I cannot wait."

"Wait for what?" I turned and faced a dark eye, staring down at me. Just one.

Right. It was Astronomy. A class not only for the first to third years, but for everyone. Everyone who had taken it, anyway. It was optional for those who had succeeded in the O.W.L.s before.

So that was why Ethan Nakamura, a fifth year student, had overheard our conversation.

"Are you mute now? I asked you something."

"Ugh.... I...", I stuttered, gaze flashing from eye to eye patch and back.

"You don't know anything about privacy, right?" For the first moment I didn't know who had said that. Then Will stepped forward, back straightened and confident.

Why didn't I notice it was him?

Right. His voice. He wasn't sounding weak anymore, or even scared, as I had. He sounded as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Maybe we were just talking about going to sleep, I mean, I surely cannot wait for that. But, really..." Will scoffed. "You shouldn't care. It's not your problem."

Ethan's eye widened, partly shocked, but also partly amused. Oh, Will. You shouldn't have been that brave.

"Listen, Goldilocks," the older boy replied. "It's not illegal to ask, right? So why don't you just tell me that you don't want to talk about it like a freaking normal person?"

His voice had gotten darker with every word and I looked around, searching for someone who had listened, seen us. Someone who could help. A teacher would've been best. But no one seemed concerned.

Until Elia did.

"You know you don't have to project your rage onto these first-years." She came over and threw me a reassuring glance. "It's not their fault that L-"

"Stop it." Ethan wasn't shouting anymore. Not even growling. He just seemed... broken. "Just hold it there and stop. I'm over it."

With these words he turned to go, clearly not over - whatever this was. But as he took the first step, a loud bang sounded somewhere far-off.

Everyone's heads turned to look in the direction of the noise, and as I followed, there was smoke, coming from Hogsmeade, and a golden glow. Fire.

The town burned. Had it been attacked? For a moment everything went quiet. Dangerously quiet.

Then the voices started. All around me, students talked to each other, agitated. Nervous, scared.

My body didn't respond to anything. I couldn't move. Shock, I told myself. But knowing it didn't help at all.

The flames were gone as fast as they came. Someone must've put them out.

"Alright." Professor Sinistra cleared her throat. "You should go downstairs to your rooms now. You will be informed of the incident as soon as we find out more."

We won't, I thought. We were kids. They wouldn't tell us everything. A cover story, yes, but not the truth.

I ripped myself out of my trance and walked to the door, alongside the other Hufflepuffs. I could see Ethan clenching his fists, and as he turned around once more to look at the remaining smoke in the distance, anger glowed in his dark eye.

Will stood at my side, shuffling from one foot to the other, while we were waiting for the way to clear.

We pressed through the staircase, still surrounded by the chattering of the others.

"Well, that was scary." Grover held himself close to our backs, Juniper followed not far behind. "What was that? A terrorist attack?"

"I don't know, but who would be interested in destroying Hogsmeade?"

"Someone who doesn't like wizards, but knows about them." There he was again. Ethan. It was almost as if he followed us around. Why? What did he want to tell us? Without saying it out loud, of course. "Someone who wants to get even."

With these words he let himself fall back to talk to some older students.

Grover chuckled nervously. "And that was weird. Don't you think?"

"Yep", Juniper said. "Let's wait for the meeting and tell the others about it. Maybe they know what to make of these cryptic messages."

Yes, maybe. But now, I just wanted to climb into my bed. Midnight classes, an explosion, strange hints? Nothing more life-drenching than that.