Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“They must have been so lonely..”

“I still don’t get it. Why d’you haft’a leave me?”

“I told you Ollie, I’m off to a real school. None of this Britsford crap, a real smart school for smart girls and boys like me.”

“If I study hard enough, do you think I can make it?”

“I don’t know Ollie, it’s an, er, picky school. Only certain people who aren’t from special families make it.”

“Well then, i’ll just haft’a be that special”

She giggled. Ollie’s heart jumped, but she couldn’t place why. Her best friend, only two years older than her, had to leave for a long time. Off to a school called ‘hoggie-warts’ or something. The small nine-year-old didn’t care. She just wanted to know why she had to leave her alone here. And why she couldn't come with. It seemed unfair if you asked Ollie.

People had always looked down at her and Ollie, more her than Ollie, because their dynamic duo had always seemed so different. An eleven-ear-old girl paired at the hip with a nine-year-old that wasn’t even her kin. They must have been so lonely…

“I promise I’ll write every day, how does that sound?”

“Write every hour!”

“Can you even read that fast?”

“Can you even read that fast?” Ollie mimicked.

Another giggle. “I’ll see you again. I promise.”

Then Desdemona walked away for the next two years.

Chapter Text

It happened some day in early August, Ollie was awoken to a terrifying screech outside her bedroom window. She popped open the glass to get a better look. What the…

“AHHHHHHH” She lept back, but it was far too late. A large feathery beast had made its way into her bedroom and was zooming around, knocking multiple books and fragile records over in the process.

“Oliver? Is that you? Are you okay!” Ollie’s mother panicked at the scream and raced up their squeezed-in stars. When she made it into Oliver’s smooshed room, she was shocked to find her daughter cowering on the floor while a miniature owl sat peacefully on her dresser. The bird flew down to Oliver, dropped down a letter, and returned back outside.

“Is it gone?” Ollie peeled her eyes open to look for the creature. Instead of receiving a message of comfort, her very own mother was breaking down laughing in her doorway. “MOM!”

“I’m sorry, its just-just…” she took a second to recollect herself. “That was a miniature owl honey. The equivalent of a show pony.”

“Did we see the same thing! That beast was out to get me!”

Oliver’s mother did admit that it was a strange sight to find an owl with a letter breaking into her daughter’s room at nine in the morning. With a letter…

As if her daughter could read her mind, Ollie had grabbed the letter and carefully read the address. She froze as she spotted words she hadn't dreamt of hearing every again. Hogwarts.

“Mom? I- I think this is from the school that Des went to.”

Ollie’s mother bent down to join her daughter on the floor. Instead of grabbing the letter herself, she wrapped her daughter in a hug. “You good?”

“Um, ya. Yes. I think so.”

Two years ago, Ollie’s nine-year-old heart had been crushed by her best friend leaving her. She counted the days for her return during the Christmas holiday, but it never came. She never came home to Ollie. She had managed to numb it out of her life as she navagated primary school and had even managed to make some new mates, but none of them were ever the same as Des. It seemed silly now, even the mention of the school broke her all over again, but Des was strange like that. Always making Oliver’s emotions bigger than they needed to be.

While Oliver lost herself deep in thought, her mother grabbed the letter off of the floor and opened it quietly.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF
WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme
Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mrs. Weinds,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Ollie peaked over her mother’s shoulder to read her letter. “What…”

“Desdeoma’s mother never said anything about magic. This has to be prank. Maybe it’s Des! I can call her mother right now and find out if she’s home.”

“Don’t,” for some strange reason, this felt real to Ollie. As if on cue, their doorbell rang an alarming buzz.

Her mother raced downstairs and peeked out a nearby window. She sighed and opened the door. Oliver raced to the top of the stairs to get a better view of who was there.

“I’m sorry we don’t want to purchase anything. We’ve already found God. We know who we’re voting fo–”

“I’m sorry miss. I’m not here for any of that,” A small older women cut Ollie’s mom off with such a power that she shut up almost immediately. She wore a ridiculous black witch’s hat with an expensive looking emerald cloak. “I think I see young Oliver Weinds up there. Hello!” She gave Ollie a kind wave. “I understand you got a letter recently and you must be very confused.”

—

Ollie was a witch. A real, living witch. Not the ugly green ones in her favorite musical stories, but a magical living witch. And not only that, Des was one too! It must have all just been some great misunderstanding. She probably wasn’t allowed to speak to her because she was off doing witchy stuff somewhere else! She hadn’t left her. Not really. ‘It’s an er, picky school.' Ya, picky enough to only invite magical folks.

Ollie’s mother had gotten in such a shock, that she simply sat on the couch, staring into the air. Oliver had not time for that though. Why wait around and play Space Invaders when you could be studying! Studying magic! This professor, Mcgonical, had dropped off piles of books and clothing before she left. She explained that while Ollie did have summer homework, her late wizarding discovery could provide a good excuse to turn in the assignments late. Ollie had quickly decided that she wouldn’t be turning in a single paper late, and got to work within the same hour that the older witch had left. She flew onto her desk chair and opened up the first book: “Hogwarts: A History”. Time to get to work.

Chapter Text

September 1st 1973

“And you’re sure your ready? Your not forgetting anything? Because you know this time I won’t be able to just drop it off in an hour. And are you sure–”

“Mom! I’m going to be fine I promise. And yes I packed everything on the list, plus some extra books.” Ollie lugged along her trolley at the very busy and public Kings Cross station.

“By extra books, do you just mean every Percy Jackson book written?”
“You know it!” Ollie looked around the station, searching for other children with trolleys as big as hers. “Don’t you find it weird that the train to the base of the wizarding world is at King’s Cross? Like what if someone got on the wrong train and then showed up at Hogwarts one day.”

“Considering your ticket is on platform 9 and ¾, I’m assuming we have to do some magic password to get in.”

“Maybe, but where–”

Mid sentence, Ollie was too stunned to speak. She was looking over at a post between platforms nine and ten before she saw a scrawny boy with a trolley run full speed towards it. He couldn’t have been much older than Ollie with buzzed brunette hair and lanky legs (Ollie assumed these were the cause of his fall into the post). In a jolt of main-character energy, she rushed toward the boy to try to push his kart away from the wall. Instead she flew into the wall with him. She braced for impact, but instead of getting a face full of brick pilar, she got a face full of brick flooring.

“What the?” The boy stood up quickly and gathered his books. “Bloody hell mate what was that. You could have fuc–”

Ollie looked up to see the boy staring at her with wonder. He had just realized he was cursing out an eleven year old girl. She gave him a small grimace before getting on her knees to help with his stuff. “Oliver.”

“R-remus.” His embarrassment was easy to see on his face, or maybe it was just his bloodshot eyes. Ollie didn’t know much about drugs, but she could tell this boy was high as a kite. Probably explains him running into a wall. He walked away without a goodbye, leaving Ollie alone in this foreign station.

She finally got a chance to look at her new surroundings. It was some train platform, but not a normal one. She looked for her mom on the other side of the pole, but failed to see anything but a brick wall where she had come from. She turned to study the train. It was bright red with thousands of students piling in with tearful parents on the sidelines. She looked at the text printed on the first carriage: Hogwarts Express. Hogwarts.

“Ollie! Oh, thank the Lord Jesus above.” Ollie’s mother can rushing through the brick wall with all of Ollie’s supplies.

“Mom!” Ollie ran towards her mom and raped her into a tight hug. “I think I found the station,” She laughed.

“Attention witches and wizards of all ages. The Hogwarts Express will begin its journey in ten minutes. Please load the remainder of your things onto your carriage.”

“I guess that’s my cue,” the fact that Oliver would be leaving her mom even a few months began to set in as Ollie wrapped her mom into yet another hug.

“Write every day, okay?”

‘Write every hour.’
‘Can you even read that fast?’
‘Can you even read that fast?’

“I will. I promise.”

Ollie grabbed her stuff, took a breath, and entered the train.

—

Alright. You’ve done this before. You’ve been the new kid. Just say hi to the first person you see and start a conversation.

Ollie looked around for her first victim. Her eyes landed on a scrawny boy with pitch black hair. His outfit matched his dark hair. He had deeply pale skin and focused grey eyes. He was staring into another cabin as if building up the courage to go inside. It’s showtime.

“Hi! I’m Oliver but my friends call me–”

Her introduction was met with a mumble that sounded like something eleven-year-old Ollie should not repeat. He walked away and slammed the door shut on another carriage. That went well.

She walked forwards to see what the boy was looking at. Inside of the car was four boys all laughing and having fun (chucking candy at each other in the process). One of the boys looked nearly identical to failed friend #1. She figured this was why he was staring. Next to this boy was none other than Remus. The two made eye contact, leading to both very panicked children to turn their gaze away. Ollie marched down the aisle, determined to find the new friends.

Chapter Text

Ollie stumbled down the hall and she felt the panic set in. The train had already taken off and she hadn’t found a carriage yet. If a teacher spots her like this, she’ll be forced to sit with them and chat about her summer. With adults. Not gonna happen.

She decided the only choice she had left was to go into a carriage that was already full instead of finding a nearly empty one. She chose the first door to her right and opened it with a forced grin.

Ollie was not someone to believe in fate before this moment. She was a Christian girl who believed that God had a plan, but fate seemed like a made up concept to explain this. As Ollie walked into that random carriage, fate took her hand, but she would never realize that this was the moment she found home.

“CASEY PASS THE DAMN BEANS,” a young boy hid in a corner of the carriage giggling, clearly holding multiple boxes of a small candy. Beans, Ollie guessed.

“NEVER! THEY’RE MINE CHRIS,” Ollie looked over at the other two in the carriage. One was a tall girl with thick blonde hair. She seemed to either be a referee or trying to stop the current brawl. The other was a boy who looked identical to the other holding the beans, but with a little streak of white in his hair. Ollie looked to the the girl for help. They made eye-contact the girl sighed and gave her a helpless smile.

“Guys?”

“NUH-UH. I PAID FOR THEM! NICOLE BACK ME UP!”

“Lads?”

“NO NICOLE BACK ME UP BECAUSE I’M BETTER!”

“MATES!” Nicole dramatically gestured towards Oliver. Ollie shrunk back towards the door and gave them a small wave.

“Oh shi–SHOOT, oh shoot,” Chris looked awkwardly from Ollie to Nicole, unsure of what to do next.

“Sorry for that. I guess that’s just them so if you want the back out now, do it before it’s too late.”

A small part of Ollie really wanted to leave that room and find somewhere quite so she could sit and read “The Lightning Thief” in peace. But a large part of her knew this was where she was meant to be.

—

Ollie stayed with Nicole, Casey, and Chris (Christopher) as long as she could before the first years got separated. They all had failed to tell Ollie that Nicole and Chris were both already second years, leaving Oliver and Casey alone in a giant crowd of other eleven and ten year olds. Despite the hours they spent together on the train, Ollie mostly talked to Nicole and Casey mostly fought with his brother, so they knew nothing about each other.

“So, uh, the weather today,” Casey tried while they waited for a professor to come collect them.

“Ya, the weather is… cloudy,” Yup, everything is fine, this is fine, it’s all fine.

Instead of another awkward response, Casey just laughed. He laughed at himself, at her response, and just at the overall level of embarrassment he was feeling. Ollie quickly joined in. A couple other kids scooted away from the two who had now hit the stage of cackling.

“Are we ALL ready?” the same stern witch with the green cloak and black hat was now standing in front off the group. Wait, how long were were laughing for? Everyone else looked at them in confusion. They had definitely missed something. “I didn’t realize the welcoming speech was this funny.”

Speech? Oh crap. The group began to walk forward, pushing through two huge double doors. They entered the biggest room Ollie had ever seen. You could fit ten copies of her house and still have room for the tables. In black robes, they all marched down a hall way where four huge tables filled with students surrounded them. They stopped near the front of the room. On a small stage was a small, brown and dusty hat on a stool. Without any warning the hat began to talk in drunken poetry. She whipped her head around to Casey and he looked just as confused. Yet no one else did. That speech!

Soon enough names started to be called. The first girl walked up the the front of the room and sat down. The witch Mcgonical put the hat over her head. After a few moments of waiting, the hat spoke again: “HUFFLEPUFF!”

What the hell is a Hufflepuff? She tried thinking back to the poem from earlier, but her brain refused to comprehend it. She always hated poetry.

“You look confused,” a short girl with white blonde hair scooted up to her and Casey. “I’m Astrid.” Before Astrid could elaborate, it was Casey’s turn.

“Casey Barley,” Casey nervously stepped forward and put on the hat. “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Good for him,” Astrid gave a polite clap. “Anyways these are the Hogwarts houses.”

Ollie had never felt so grateful for one soul before. As if she was the book “Hogwarts: A History” herself, she walked Ollie through the houses and more plainly, ‘what the hell a Hufflepuff was.’ Oliver remembered some of this stuff from her summer reading and added on bits and pieces where she could. Soon enough it was Ollie’s turn.

“Oliver Weinds,” She stepped up and placed the hat on her tangled hair.

Ahh, another muggle-born.

What the hell?

I see great promise in you. Great smarts, creativity, but also kind and outgoing. I see only one place to put you.

Who is this talking man in my head?

“RAVENCLAW!”

The hat was ripped off her and she followed a professors guiding hand a table of students in black robes and blue ties. She looked down at her own tie, which had transformed into a similar color.

“Atrid Windwatcher,” Ollie took a seat and looked back up to the stage to see Astrid taking a seat. Before the hat had been placed on her head, “RAVENCLAW,” was yelled and she left the stage accordingly. She sat down next to Ollie with a huge grin. She whispered, “this is the best house, don’t worry.

After the first few names were called. The student moved with their table groups- houses, their houses– and left for the dormitories. She met up with Nicole, a Hufflepuff, and the Barley brothers both in Gryffindor. They all waved before being torn back by their house prefects.

Soon enough, the group had made it to a large tower with a bird on the door.

“Now everyone! The password to our door is a riddle that only a true Ravenclaw can understand. It changes every day. Now, most of the time these riddle are told in rhymes or poetry–”

Poetry? You’re joking right?

“Let’s hear todays. I was told it is very easy the first week,” The prefect knocked on the door and the bird’s eyes shown an eerie bright blue.

“I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?”

“A candle!” Astrid shouted without missing a beat next to Ollie. The bird’s eyes shut and the door creaked open.

“Well done first year! Alright off to your rooms.”

The first step into the dormitories, Ollie felt that tingle of fate yet again. Fake stars covered the ceiling, making the whole room feel like a dream. There were cozy book corners, towering bookshelves, and huge windows revealing the starry night.

“Ollie! You coming?” Astrid was already halfway up the stairs to the girl’s rooms.

“Coming!”

I think I’m going to like it here.

Chapter Text

“You would think by Friday you would have unpacked already,” Astrid laid on her bed furiously scribbling down her introduction to potions essay.

“It’s not my fault that I’ve been so busy!” Ollie tossed the last of the Heroes of Olympus novels onto her dresser and tried (and failed) to stack them all neatly.

“We have the same schedule.”

“Shhhhh. You saw nothing,” Ollie declared her book stacking was good enough and walked back to her bed. She let out a large groan as she still had to find a place for The Trials of Apollo. “Do you think our roomates would mind if we used the bottom of their beds to put our stuff. They’re never here anyways.”

“No! That’s their space. Besides you heard what Samuel said, we got paired with third years by mistake. Dumbledore won’t change it though. You really want to deal with angry third years if you put your books there?”

“I’ll take my chances. Who’s Samuel?” Ollie shoved the last of her books under her roommate’s bunk.

“Our prefect?”

“Right.” Ollie felt stupid. That wasn’t the first time this week.

Not remembering names was justs the beginning. She read all the assignments, wrote all the papers, did all the extra credit, but the moment class began, all the information left her head. She did so well on homework, but so terribly in class that her teachers were questioning if she was cheating. Cheating! And it was only the first week. It’s not Ollie’s fault that none of the classes have been interesting, right? At least she had two new classes today. Charms and Transfiguration. And she had the later with Casey. Today was going to be a good day.

Her first class of the week was charms, which suffice to say, was the best way to end the week. Ollie quickly fell in love of the feel of the wand in her hand, the latin origins of the spells, and how quickly she could apply it. She didn’t even mind the essay that was assigned the first day of class. The challenge was to create a spell using Latin and explain the five factors of spellcasting around it. She was already formulating an idea mid-way through the class period. It was clear to see that Astrid had quite different views on the subject.

“I don’t get it. Why isn’t the feather lifting? I’m saying the words and doing the movement!” Astrid sunk farther into the hard wooden seats. It was obvious that she had studied hard and was upset, so Ollie took that as a cue to put down her feather that had been floating for the last five or so minutes. She was overall surprised that Astrid wasn’t already acing Charms like she did for Potions, History of Magic, and oh wait, every other class that week.

“Put some emotion into it. You know, willpower! Concentration. I think a simple spell like this involves looking at the little things.”

“I am! I even know the wizards who discovered willpower in spells. He isn’t even taught until fifth year!”

“I don’t think that’s what I meant–”

“John Willker. That’s his name…”

After another thrilling thirty minutes of learning new spells, Ollie was quite disappointed when the professor dismissed the class. At least that meant seeing Casey was close.
When the prefect told her that your house was your home, she didn’t expect it to be so literal. She barely saw her mates from the train, especially Nicole and Chris. The four had resorted to sending letters/notes every day. Apparently, Nicole already had three guys pining over her but she rejected all of them (“they’re just not my type”). Chris had found a third year that he declared would be his best friend no matter what. He just hadn’t introduced himself yet. Good for them, Ollie thought. But I don’t need romance yet. It’s the first week for crying out loud.

Lunch and Ollie’s break period sped by. She had just finished her last page of her charms essay before realising her Transfiguration class started in under five minutes. She shoveled together her supplies and flew down the halls faster than she knew was possible. She saw the door, thankful to see it was still open. When she got to the door she nearly tripped over a small gray cat in the doorway.

“Sorry,” she said to the cat, almost expecting a response. She looked around to see all the student chatting, and no teacher in sight. She sighed in relief and looked around the room for Casey. She saw him scribbling a note for Nicole down on a piece of parchment. Ollie sat down happily. “You think Mcgonical knows there’s a rando cat in her room?”

Casey looked up shocked for a second, then grinned and tucked the paper away. His smile grew to an unhealthy size as he gave back an enthusiastic, “Hey Ollie! And I have a feeling she knows. She’s not the type to keep random pets in her classroom from what I’ve heard.”

“You’ve heard correctly Mr. Barley, I am not that type,” Ollie nearly broke her neck as she swung around to find where the voice was coming from. She traced the noise down to the cat, which was not a cat at all. It shifted and twisted until a fresh Mcgonical was in front of them. “I hope you two sitting together won’t cause as much of a disturbance as the welcoming speech.”

Oh, she remembers that. Great.

Casey promised Mcgonical they wouldn’t cause trouble and class began.

Ollie found this class was similar to charms but a bucket load more complex and with much larger stakes. It reminded her of her opening Potions lesson which was filled with all kinds of do this = death. She found this class also came easier to her, but unlike charms, she was not pumped for the worksheet that was assigned for homework.

Ollie could tell that a certain transfiguration teacher was picking on Casey and herself much more than the other students. After a while though she calmed down. Probably because Casey was a whole other story. He was a transfiguration prodigy. From his letters, it seemed like he was failing all of his classes dramatically. Ollie had expected some overreaction from him, but nothing like this. He raised his hand after every question, won 45 points for Gryfindoor in one sitting, and scared Mcgonical away from asking him any more impossible questions (to his disappointment).

Sadly after class, Casey had to rush off to his double Potions class. Ollie figured this was a good time to finally finish unpacking all of her clothes. Obviously this plan failed. By the time she had navigated her way back to the tower, all she wanted to do was curl up with a good book. She decided on “The Lost Oracle” and made her way to her roomates bed. She threw herself on the ground and went digging around for her books.

“HEY! What are you doing under my bed!”

Well, it was nice knowing you all. Jesus let me in. Let this life be lived for you. Amen.

Ollie unwillingly pulled herself out of the bed and meekly looked up.

Des.

“Oliver?”

Des.

“Oliver is that you?”

Des called her Ollie. Not, Oliver. Ollie.

Still, Des.

“Oh merlin, that’s really you.” Des ran towards Oliver and raped her into a tight hug.

“Who’s Merlin?” This caused a large cackle from Des, who still hadn’t let her go. She began muttering something that sounded like ‘I sorrow’. Whatever that is. That didn’t matter. Des.
“Why did you never come back,” Oliver laughed. She could finally get an answer.

Des’ face dropped. “W-what?”

“You never came back for me. Did you have to go to some wizarding camp. Or could you not talk to me because I’m norma– I mean a muggle,” Oliver was confused. The answer was simple, why couldn’t Des answer it. She felt like a kid again that first winter holiday. Alone lost and confused.

“I- uh- yes! Yes! That’s why. I was invited to a summer camp for witches. And I never came on holidays because of how busy I was. I’m sure you know already.”

Ollie did. She really did. Joy overtook Ollie’s face. She couldn’t come back. Ollie knew it. She always knew. “Do you think I’ll make it?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered. “We’ll have to see if your special like I was.”

Well then, I’ll just hafta’ be that special.

“What was that?”

Did I say that outloud. “Oh, nothing. Song lyric.”

Mom,

Hi there! Week one complete. I made a lot of friends that are super nice and stuff but GUESS WHAT? I MET DES! WE’RE ROOMATES!

She didn’t remember the last time we saw each other. I repeated one of the last things I told her and she didn’t respond. She doesn’t replay that scene every day. She doesn’t let her haunt her. Why doesn’t she care. WHY DOESN’T SHE

I really like all my classes! I think this is a good place for me. A good, good place.

Chapter Text

Wednesday 12th September 1973

Des!

It’s really her. Ollie still hadn’t gotten over it. Every night she could just peek over and there she was, in all of her mature glory. Ollie had always expected her to be a little bigger and curvier around the edges, but what she didn’t expect was the five inch height difference. The two had always been about the same height, even when Ollie was younger. It would definitely take some getting used to. Then there was the way she acted…

Des acted great! Sarcastic a lot, but always good fun. Really! Really. Yes, really.

“Des said that I could keep my books under her bed, but I can’t tell if Des was joking. Des was always a jokester but I can’t tell with Des anymore. I think it would be better if I–”

“UGHHHHHHHHH!” Astrid flopped dramatically onto Ollie’s bunk. “If I hear the work D-E-S one more time, I’m quitting being your friend.”

“Too bad, I’m your only friend,” Ollie joked as she settled down next to Astrid. She looked over at Desdemona’s bunk. “I guess Des is kind of your friend–”

“Ollie.”

“What?”

“Oh godrick, your so clueless. I’m off to the library with my OTHER FRIENDS!”

“Oh well, best of luck. I’ll find some way without you,” Ollie mumbled still looking at Des’ bed.

Astrid laughed her sweet laugh and left the room with her book bag. Ollie loved her laugh. It sounded like popcorn kernels popping before a lovely movie. Or maybe little comets soaring through the air. Just brilliant.

A few short moments or maybe a few minutes after Astrid left, the door flew open again.

“FINE, fine! I’ll get it for you. But if I’m caught I’m saying you cast Imperius on me.”

Des had walked in loudly chatting with their other roommate: Pandora. Pandora was a sweet girl, but very child like. She was always out in her own little world. Ollie could get behind that. She always tried to talk to Pandora, but could never build up the courage. She was already vice-president of the Drama club her second year (first years aren’t allowed to join), and was always hanging out with a gang of the worst Slytherins (her own brother was one of them). Ollie didn’t really know if they were ‘the worst’ but that’s was Des told her, so there must be some truth to it.

“What would you get caught for?” Ollie jumped off of her bed and marched over to the two third years with a strange confidence.

“None of your business Oliver!” Des brushed past Oliver and launched onto her bed.

“Oh, come on, no one is too young to learn~” Pandora laughed, a different laugh than Astrid. Hers was more of a whisper in the wind. Ollie liked Astrid’s better.

“Learn what?”

“Nothing!”

“Des, stop being rude. This young girl simply wants to know the ways of the trade. Do you know what a dealer is Ollie?”

“Like a card dealer?”

“She’s proving my point for me Pandora! She’s too young. Too immature.”

“I can be mature!”

“Ya, she can be mature,” Pandora swung her arm over Ollie’s shoulder and brought her closer to Des. “I declare that you will go and get my order with Ollie here or else I will tell my brother.”

“You really think I’m scared of your brother–”

“What about Regulus?”

“...”

Ollie had never seen Des shut up like that before. It was a strange sight, and one that Ollie could get used to.

“Wait, isn’t Regulus a second year? Why are you scared of a twelve year old?”

“Cause he’s a bloody Black. Alright, Oliver, I guess you’re coming with me. Wake up at five AM sharp. If you aren’t up, I’m leaving without you.

“What did I say,” Pandora re-entered the conversation.

“Or else all throw some ice water on your muggle style.”

“Deal,” Ollie grinned and stuck her hand out to shake. Des didn’t see, but that was okay. “What are we even getting?”

Pandora grinned, “We’re getting–”

“HERBOLOGY STUFF,” Des yelled over Pandora and thrust her hand to her mouth. “Herbology stuff for a presentation.”

“Smooooth,” Ollie laughed, still not knowing what this dealer had, but she had a feeling it wasn’t for school.

—

“And how do you know the Griffindoor password?” Oliver struggled to keep up with Des’ long legs as they navigated the halls in the early morning. The sun had barley risen and no one else was out in the corridors except for a few kids sneaking around with small paper packages. Des never answered her question.

The duo finally made it to a large portrait of a lady with a head of grapes. Oliver believed she was called the ‘Fat Lady’ but nothing seemed fat about this woman at all.

“Dazzleberry,” Des said, whipping the sleep from her eyes.

Oliver broke out laughing. “What?”

Before Ollie could make any more comments on dazzleberry, the lady in the portrait began to speak. “You don’t look like any Griffindoors I’ve seen. I’m not sure I should let you in.”

Ollie looked over at Des, confused on what they should do. Des put on her best innocent smile and said, “We will be in and out! We have to give a friend some missing homework. I’m in his class and Ollie here tagged along to say hi. We’re just being good little Ravenclaws,” Des gave her best impression of puppy-dog eyes and Oliver tried to copy.

“Fine, but if anything fishy happens in there you two are my first suspects.”

“Thank you miss,” Des gave a weak bow. “And, for the record, I’ve heard you sing in the halls, your voice is lovely. So… flowy.”

That seemed to do the trick, the lady swung the door open smiling cheerfully, and the two stepped inside.

“Why would tell her you like her voice? I’ve heard you complain about it almost everyday.”

“Because sometimes Ollie, being extra nice to people is the only way to get them on your side. To progress in life.”

“Is it being extra nice or is it lying?”

“Remus!”

Des cut Oliver off as she marched into the very warm and very red griffindoor common room. It had the same aesthetic as a cottage living-room on Christmas morning. It felt so safe and warm. It felt like home.

Wait, wait wait. Remus?

“Hey Desdemona. You're here for Pandora, right?”

“Yup. She just couldn’t come herself,” she laid a dramatic hand on her head before reaching for her pockets. “Did you finish that Potions essay? I did, but its probably worth the same grade as not doing it… Remus? You good?”

Remus was staring at Ollie dead in the eye. She back up and moved side to side but his gaze did not drop. “You brought a literal child with you.”

“Okay you’re only two years older–” Ollie approached the two with a childlike confidence.

“Pandora made me for bonding reasons. Now, while you count this money out, I’m saying hello to Peter. He said he’d give me his transfiguration homework to copy.” She left without saying another word, and leapt up the stairs to the boy’s dorms.

“What’cha selling?” Ollie hoped this awkward moment would go better than the welcoming speech.

“None of you business.”

Oh, great. Should I ask about the weather? That’s what Casey did and it worked well. What if he actually answers with what he thinks about the weather though.

“What’cha fildling with?”

Whenever Ollie panicked, she could always find herself playing with either her hair, her necklace, or something in her pocket. Today’s weapon of choice was a sticky note she brought that her mom gave her. Just a simple note with an I love you -mum. She brought it in her pocket without telling anyone because she was scared they might get mugged on the way over. She wasn’t about to tell that to Remus though.

“None of your business.”

“Touché.”

Awkward silence, welcome back my friend. I did not miss you.

“Look, I’m sorry for being an absolute di– Butthead to you at the train station okay? This is awkward for no reason, so, ya.”

“I’m eleven I know what being a dick is.”

“Do you though? Anyways, I’m sorry for being that.”

“And I’m sorry for acting like an annoying and bratty little sister. It’s not a good look for me.”

“Eh, I didn’t mind it. I never had any kind of sister growing up.”

“I never had any kind of brother.”

“Shall we shake on not being Buttheads to each other?” He raised out his hand. Ollie spotted some strange scars but chose not to comment.

“To not being dicks,” she smiled and grabbed his hand in an enthusiastic shake.

—

Thursday 13th September 1973

Ollie stared out of the window, hoping to gain the energy to write to her mum, but it was clear the moon outside wasn’t working it’s magical powers to help her.

AWOOOOOOOOOOOO

What the hell was that? Ollie panicked and sat up to get a better view of the scene below. Did anyone else just hear that? Outside the window, she saw two witches emerging from the whomping willow tree, looking somewhat panicked, like something had just happened that was not supposed to. One of them went back into the tree while the other waited. Speaking of which, why was the tree moving so slow? Did it always do this at night?

“Nooooo… I can’t find my study guide. Professor Slughorn please don’t give me an Troll. Nooooo…”

Ollie looked over to see a troubled Astrid rolling around in her bed. She had told Ollie about the loss of her study guide earlier, and now it seemed to be haunting her nightmares. Ollie looked over at her study guide tucked neatly into her bag. She looked back at Astrid, then snuck over to her bed. She picked up her study guide, erased her name at the top, and wrote in Astrid in her favorite font of unreadable cursive. She had it memorized by now after trying to decipher her notes for the whole first two weeks of school. She placed the study guide into her bag and walked back over to the window looking out at the bright and bold full moon.

Chapter Text

Friday 14th September 1973

“I’m sorry sir, I just can’t find it. I’m open to re-doing it if you think it’s that important.”

“Miss Weinds, I saw you just yesterday finishing your last problem. I know you have it somewhere. If this related to Miss Windwatcher magically finding her–”

Professor Slughorn was being much more difficult than Ollie had expected. Couldn’t he just accept that she had ‘lost’ her study guide?

“Someone must a have taken it. And no, I have nothing to do with Astrid’s assignment.” Ollie walked away before he could enter the questioning stage. She sighed and took a seat next to Astrid who held a knowing expression.

“Oliver I know this is yours.”

“You don't though.”

“I can literally see where you scratched your name and put mine. It’s not very secretive.”

“Look if your going to get mad at me–”

“Thank you,” Astrid wrapped Ollie in a huge hug. Ollie was surprised at the power of such a tiny body as she was thrown back into her seat. “Though I don’t agree with this cheating business, it was very nice of you.”

“Oi, shove off,” Ollie laughed and separated herself from the hug.

—

Saturday 15th September 1973

Ollie sat back at her dorm window scribbling down what she could remember from her study guide to prep for her exam the following Monday. She looked out at her window, at the (currently) quick-moving willow. Had she just imagined it moving slow? But why would her brain think of that. Why did she see an adult go into the tree as well? Were the two connected? What about the howl?

In her panic, Ollie’s wandering hands moved to her curls, and was now furiously twisting her hair into an unbreakable knot. The only one that noticed was a tall boy looking up at the Ravenclaw tower. He was pushed along by the other third years as they all raced to their first Hogsmeade day. Up in the window, he saw Ollie twirling and twisting her hair in an agitated hurry. He could tell it was her, he hadn’t met anyone, except maybe one of his friends, who had more wild hair. He gave her a small wave looking up at the window.

Ollie looked away from the tree to see a small figure waving up at her. Remus. She waved back.

He pointed to her then gave her a thumbs up.

You good?

Ollie responded with a thumbs up followed by her middle finger.

I’m fine, shove off.

He laughed, pointed at her again, then held up the number ten.

Aren't you ten?

She gave him and eleven back and waved her hand in a pointed position.

Eleven. Now go on with the others.

He smiled again and raced after the others that Ollie had seen in his carriage. Her gaze quickly returned to the whomping willow. That was it. Maybe the curiosity killed the cat, but she was at a wizarding school. Everyone’s safe here!

Carriage Crew Meeting in Great Hall 12pm -Oliver Twist

—

“When did we agree on carriage crew?” Chris swung his book bag over the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. “Also, why the Ravenclaw table? You know Dumbledoor loves Grifindoor so we obviously get better food.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, he loves all the houses equally! And I like carriage crew Ollie, it makes us sound more official,” Nicky shoved on Chris’ shoulder.

“Want to get your opinion in on this Casey?” Ollie looked over at the other first year, who had his eyes glued to the Slytherin table.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t bother with him,” Chris gave Nicole a knowing look. “He had an…er… run in with some Slytherin third years.”

“Ridiculous that we even have to worry about this at school really,” Nicky dug into her pockets. She revealed and crumpled but deliciously smelling bag of crisps. “Any takers?”

After practically licking the bag clean, the newly formed Carriage Crew was ready to hear why they had been called together.

“Okay, so you know that giant murder tree on the east grounds? Thursday night it was like in slow motion. And then I saw two people come out of the bottom of the tree, but I have no clue who they are or what they were doing. Then I heard like a howling sound, like a wolf or something? Then one went back into the tree while the other stayed behind. Then Astrid had this whole dream…”

“Wait what?” Ollie finally took a peek up at her audience to see the same confused expression on all three. She quickly recounted the story again.

“So your saying that people came out of a slow motion tree, then went back into the tree when a wolf howled? Are we sure she wasn’t like… tripping?”“She’s a first year Chris, you really think Oliver Twist over here is a customer of Remus fucking Lupin’s business?”

“Wait he runs of a business? I didn’t think he had it in him,” this was the first time Casey had spoken. It was clear he had heard about Remus quite a bit.

“Does this business involve herbs in packages?” The table went quiet.

“Ollie?”

“Wait-”

“You can’t just drop that on us!”

“What? I went with Des to pick up something for Pandora, my other roommate.”

“The really nerdy and annoying first year?” Casey’s eyes flashed with memories he didn’t want to see.

“No, and she’s not annoying!”

“Tell that to her in my Flying class.”

“Okay moving on from this dorky kid,” Nicole quickly saved a brawl about Astrid from beginning, “Ollie, I don’t think you going to Remus’ business if very safe. There might have been a chance you, erm, picked up on some of the herbs and that was why the tree was being weird. Just don’t look into it and don’t tell anyone else.”

Naturally, Oliver did the exact opposite.

—

The tunnel was tight. REALLY tight. Ollie thought thats what you get when you travel under an illegal passageway in a wizarding school.

Oliver had managed to convince both Astrid and Casey to come with her on this wild goose chase. To find whats under the tree.

“YOUR STEPPING ON MY TOES,” Astrid’s screech echoed down the condensed hallway, surely waking any wizard within a 5 mile radius.

“If your so unhappy why not leave,” Casey gestured towards the entrance to the tunnel, which was way out of view now.

“Because you dummies need me for the slowing spell to get out without, you know,” She threw her had across her throat and made a rather morbid sound.

“And we thank you for knowing spells that are taught in third year. Can you guys shut up though. Remember this is like a stealth mission?”

“No.”

“No way.”

Another brawl broke out between the two, but Ollie was barely paying them any attention. She say a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. She whispered the ‘Nox’ incantation to herself before running towards it. She climbed up a crumbling dirt hill and entered into the sun. Or, what was left of it.

When she emerged, she was in a rusty old shack that seemed to barely be able to stand up by itself. Molding tarps (yes, molding) were thrown carelessly on the top to act as a roof, and the wooden planks were filled with termites and claw marks. Claw marks? What the hell do they keep in here?

The shack had a strange allure to it, which nothing with moldy tarps should have, but something felt familiar about it.

Instead of worrying about the captured creature on the grounds or the weird feeling she got, Ollie peeked through a gap in the wood to look outside. There she saw the exact opposite of the shed she was trapped in. There were building five stories high all colorful and full of customers. Most of which looked to be in some form of Hogwarts merchandise or colors. This must be Hogsmeade. But why would a creature containment cell be next to a shopping town?

Ollie looked over at the Hogwarts students all enjoying themselves and running around. Then, she spotted a group of four boys all staring at the shack. Had they seen her? She raced down the hill and nearly ran into Astrid and Casey stumbling through the tunnel, kicking each others shins.

“You guys are like siblings. We’re going back now!” Ollie hurried past them and towards the entrance.

“What? Why?”

“It’s just weird up there. And I think people maybe sort of saw me.”

“WHAT”

“Just run!”

And back down the tunnel they ran.