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Ray stared at the letter in her hands. It was old-looking parchment, and spoke of many things Ray didn’t even begin to understand.The one thing that she did understand, though, was that the innocent-looking letter was a threat. It spoke of her as if she were a witch.She’s had enough of that for one lifetime.However, the bigger problem lied in Zack’s hands. He had a letter too. Delivered by the same owl, which immediately flew off after Ray had taken the letters off. (Ray didn’t know why an owl was delivering letters. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.) Zack’s first thought had been to eat the bird, but Ray pointed out that they’d have to do a lot of work for it to be edible, and so he left the owl be. (If she hadn’t known better, Ray would’ve said the owl had glared at Zack.)“Hey, Ray, what the hell does this crap say?” Zack waved the parchment around loosely, glaring at it like it had mildly offended him. It most likely had. While Zack had learned how to read the basics over the years, he still struggled with bigger words, which Ray happily helped him with.Ray, too, was also mildly offended, but she read his letter out dutifully. “Dear Mr. Isaac Foster,” Zack growled at the name, “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.” She paused for a moment, trying to recognize the name. “It’s signed ‘Minerva McGonagall’. The principal, er- Headmaster, is somebody named ‘Albus Dumbledore’, followed by a whole bunch of unnecessary titles.”“What the hell does any of this mean?!” Zack snatched the paper back from Ray’s hands, shaking them around, and most likely crinkling it a bunch. “Why the hell did we ever decide to come to London again?!”“It was your idea, Zack.” Ray replied.“I know and that’s why I hate it! The one good idea I’ve ever had and I’m regretting it!” He yelled in return.The duo had saved up enough money by doing odd jobs and stealing from Zack’s unfortunate victims that they’d been able to save up for a house, after coming to Great Britain to avoid being noticed in America. It was shabby and falling apart at the seams, along with being in the ‘bad side’ of the city, but it was actually pretty decent for Zack and Ray’s standards. It kept them warm (somehow), gave them a place to crash, and provided a fridge to store food in. (Of course, they always had a bag packed in case they needed to make a hasty escape.) Now that they didn’t have to worry about constant running, and because Zack had decided to lay low for a while with his.. Murderous tendencies, they’d been able to get a job and save up quite a bit.Zack couldn’t stop smiling for days after he’d bought a television.Zack smiled for two weeks straight when Ray bought a video game console to go along with it.“Wait, what’s today’s date?” Ray asked, turning on the TV so they’d be able to see the date.“Today is the 31st.” Zack supplied helpfully.“July 31st?” Ray frowned at her letter, identical to Zack’s (except for name), reading down at the date when they were supposed to ‘owl’ a response back. “But..” She trailed off.“Psh, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s probably some jerk’s idea of a joke.” Zack waved it off, plopping onto the couch in front of the TV, which was already conveniently turned on. He quickly flipped to his bloody and violent video game that Rachel had gotten him for his birthday. (He absolutely loved it.)“.. But it has your full name on it.” Ray pointed out.Neither of them ever mentioned Zack’s full name, just from it being something Zack hated. This person—the one who sent the letter—knew Zack’s, and Ray’s, full names. They’d taken too many countermeasures for their names to just be in the open like that. Whoever this person was, they were dangerous.A couple quick thumps sounded from across the living room. Somebody had knocked on the door. (What bad timing.)Zack had his knife out (hidden from sight) faster than Ray could blink, but she’d also tightened her grip on the parchment paper, readily glaring at the door herself. (She also had weapons hidden on her, but would rather Zack take care of the problem if it was somebody dangerous. However, Ray definitely knew how to protect herself.)Ray got up from her place on the couch silently, using her small frame to make her less noticeable. She slowly opened the door, unsure of what to expect on the other side.However, one thing she most definitely did not expect was an elderly woman dressed in robes, complete with a witch hat and all. There was a stern-looking glint in her eyes, making Ray guess she was used to dealing with naughty children.“Can I help you?” Ray kept a completely blank face, knowing that her dead-looking eyes could be off-putting to anybody if she tried.The witch cleared her throat. “Rachel Gardner and.. Isaac Foster, I presume?” She glanced at Zack, who had closed the distance between Ray and him once she’d opened the door. Of course, the lady glanced at the bandages covering his entire body, but quickly moved on without a second glance. She also must’ve noticed the way he tensed up with the casual address of his full name, so she quickly continued. “My name is Minerva McGonagall. I’m a Professor at Hogwarts. You two have gotten your letters, yes?”Neither Ray or Zack said anything, only watching the possible threat with calculated eyes.She continued. “Perhaps I should start at the beginning. Would you mind if I come in? This may take a while, and I’m sure you will have questions.”So they let her in, watching her the entire time. Neither of them offered her any drinks, as that would only invite her to stay longer. They didn’t like strangers, but this person knew their full names, so they decided it was better to see what she wanted. Soon, they were all seated in the small living room, varying amounts of wariness oozing off of each person. The teacher—Minerva McGonagall—knew they were not regular people, and they both knew that about her in return.“As I said, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I am a Professor at Hogwarts, a school for magical children to learn to use their magic.”“You believe that we are capable of magic?” Ray say, her monotone voice obviously unnerving the teacher a slight bit. If there really was a magical school, then she had probably told other kids they were magical too. The kids had all probably been ecstatic. However, Ray was never good at showing emotions.Professor McGonagall nodded. “Yes. Ms. Gardner, you are a witch. And Mr. Foster, a wizard.”Despite the casual use of his name, Zack kept quiet. He knew that he was no good in situations like these, and the duo had both agreed that Ray would take care of the talking.“Zack. Call him Zack.” Ray clarified.“Oh, my apologies, Zack. I was not aware it was a touchy subject.” The teacher apologized.Ray then allowed just a small, but extremely fake, smile to cross her lips. She shuffled in her spot, making sure she leaned closer to the teacher without notice. Ray knew how to be off-putting, and she used it to her full advantage. “The last time I got called a witch, I was almost burned at the stake.”The Professor obviously didn’t know how to react to that, and she stammered out multiple possible sentences, before deciding with, “There have not been any reported witch burnings since the 1700’s, as far as I know.”Ray tilted her head, looking to the side. “It was a.. Special occasion.”“Yes, well, allow me to explain in greater detail.” The teacher cleared her throat again, preparing for a long spiel. “Normally, children will receive their Hogwarts letter once they turn eleven, but it seems that neither of you had ever gotten yours, for some reason.”“We just moved to London a little while ago,” Ray spoke.Zack pulled Ray closer to him, so their arms were touching. Rachel was sure that he would’ve pulled her on his lap, if they had not had a “guest” over. He had not stopped glaring at McGonagall, and looked close to snarling like a feral dog. The bandages covering his scarred body only furthered that uneasiness, because even at first sight, it’s obvious to see he’d went through a lot, and had only come out stronger in the end.“I see.. I see that you both have your reasons, and as such, the school has prepared something for you, should you wish you go.” The Professor carefully avoided Zack’s glare, or looking at him in general, though Ray could see they were both making her very uncomfortable. Ray was good at messing with people, being a small, frail girl, except with dead eyes, a cold expression, and a monotone voice to every little thing. Zack was something that screamed ‘danger’ as soon as someone saw him—something to avoid for fear of their life, like a feral animal searching for prey. Together, they were a terrifying duo, fitting together like something straight out of a horror movie.Zack gripped his knife even tighter (still hidden in his sleeve), as if she were reaching for a weapon. The teacher was reaching into her pocket, and had begun pulling out two vials, it looked like, along with a long stick. She put the two vials in front of her; some sort of purple liquid inside was splashing around.“First,” McGonagall swished her long stick (a wand?) at the empty dorito bag on the small table in front of them. It started transforming into a plain coffee mug, which the teacher picked up to show it was not just an illusion. She handed it to Zack, who took it with equal fascination and skepticism. “Magic can come in many different forms. What I just did is transfiguration. There’s also potions, charms, defense against the dark arts, astronomy, along with other things, such as flying on broomsticks, apparating, which you may know better as teleporting, warding, and many other things to learn. I believe it would both be in your best interests to come and attend.”Ray glanced down at the wand in her hand, and at the vials on the table. “You mean like.. Wands.. And familiars? Like in storybooks?”The Professor nodded. “Yes.” She gestured to the potions in front of her. “These, for example, are potions. These specific ones will allow you to turn back into your 12 year-old self for the school year, so that you are able to fit into the younger classes instead of jumping ahead to a level you would not understand as well. At the end of the year, you will return to your former age. If you choose to go to Hogwarts, a new potion will be provided to you each every year.”“Huh? These dinky things are gonna turn me back into some pipsqueak 12 year-old?” Zack spoke for the first time, waving one of the potions around loosely in his hand. Ray imagined the vial slipping from his hold and breaking on the floor, but trusted Zack enough to not worry about it.Ray turned to Zack with a gleam in her eyes, even if her face was the same monotone blank as always.Zack immediately knew what it meant. “Ray, no.”Ray just kept staring, eyes shining with the possibility of seeing a 12 year-old Zack.“Hey, hey, Ray! I don’t care how much you wanna be able to reach my hair easier, I don’t wanna be 12 again! They’re so small and dinky, and I’m awfully sure I won’t fit in at any school.” He gestured to the bandages covering his skin, along with hinting at his.. Past activities.‘Back to being 12..’ Ray pondered. She was 16 now. That would bring her back four whole years, but it would bring Zack back eleven entire years, almost half his age, as he’s 23 at the moment.It’d been three years since the building. Since they’d met.“For your appearance, Zack, I will personally apply a charm that will hide your bandages from everybody else. It will look like you have normal skin to everybody, unless they had already seen your bandages prior.” McGonagall let out a small smile upon seeing them be causal with each other. “You will be able to return to your former age over the summer, and while you’re at school, I will personally make sure that wards go up around your home, so it will not be susceptible to theft or the like, if that would be alright with you.”Zack clanged the potion back down on the table, reckless as always, but it didn’t break. “Fine! We’ll attend your gosh dang stupid school!”Ray turned back to the teacher. “We don’t know where to go, or how to get anything listed on the second page.” She shuffled to the second page of the parchment, where multiple books lay listed, along with the option of getting a broomstick and an animal.“Along with explaining more about the magical world to students, I also help them with their shopping the first time. Normally, I will take the group of muggleborns all out at once, but again, you two are a special occasion.” McGonagall explained. “I would also ask you to keep these potions safe and not drink them until you leave for the train. I also believe that mentioning your real age to anybody would cause a slight panic, so please refrain from doing that as well. These potions are not well-known, and are only used for situations such as your own.”“Well, we’re free right now, so let’s just get this over with.” Zack stood up and grabbed the two potions, putting them on the fairly-clean counter in the kitchen.“How much money will it cost?” Rachel tilted her head, also standing up from the couch.“You both are each part of the orphan program, so you will be able to gather all of your necessary supplies with money that the school provides. However, you are able to bring extra money in you want, in case you’d like to buy an animal, broomstick, or something else that you find interesting.” McGonagall explained.Just as Ray grabbed her purse (she was in charge of most of the money between them, since Zack is still terrible with using it, especially since they had to switch to pounds), Zack grabbed her by her hoodie and dragged her back over to the front door. She let herself be dragged, familiar with Zack’s antics, but McGonagall looked slightly concerned, but a bit more exasperated, as if dealing with small children playing.“May I ask what your relationship with each other is? You two seem awfully close with each other.” McGonagall inputted.Zack and Ray stared at her for a moment, as if the answer was so obvious that it shouldn’t even be asked, before answering at the exact same time. “Family.”. . . . .Their first stop was to the wizarding bank, a place called Gringotts. The entire place looked pristine with marble and bronze, and both Ray and Zack had to stop and stare for a moment.“Goblins can, and will, get very offended if spoken to without respect, so make sure you do not speak out of term.”Ray turned to her partner. “Zack.”Zack only sighed and ruffled her hair. “I got it, I got it.”Upon entering, they were greeted with a short creature, obviously not human, but neither Zack or Ray minded. They’d met a lot worse people, and had no reason to judge based on species.The exchange went rather smoothly, only other than the duo noticing that the other wizards and witches all seemed to look down on the goblins, as if they were lesser species. At one point, Ray and Zack had been left alone for a minute with a goblin, while Professor McGonagall had gone to do some private business with the goblins real quick.“This place pisses me off.” Zack tapped his foot impatiently, grinding his teeth together to suppress his rage.The goblin didn’t even bother to look up from his paperwork, nor did he seem offended. “Hm, how so?”“You all just let these people walk all over you?! Even I can notice it, and I’m oblivious as hell. I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it-” Zack growled.Ray squeezed his hand. Zack immediately calmed down some, but was still angry. “I’m sorry if we offended you. We’ve.. Both had difficult pasts, and dealt with being looked down upon ourselves. People saying we’re not allowed to live, for being something flawed and inhuman in their minds.”“No harm done, young children. The humans out there refuse to keep an open mind, and look down on anybody unlike themselves. It has been that way for many years now, ever since Dumbledore decided to change a bunch of rules about non-human species and dark creatures.” The goblin explained, a hint of nostalgia hidden in his tone.“Dumbledore-” Zack tapped his foot, ruffling his hair. “I’ve heard that name before.”“It’s the name of the school Headmaster. Albus Dumbledore,” Ray supplied.“I don’t trust that guy. He gives me a bad feeling.” Zack growled, and just like that, Ray didn’t trust him either.Zack’s instincts were always right, after all. And this person seemed too involved, had too many titles, for him to be anything but bad.Professor McGonagall returned not much later, and the duo continued their shopping.. . . . .Zack had the time of his life in a candy store, looking around at all the magical chocolates and the likes floating around everywhere. He wandered around like an excited child, showing Ray everything he found slightly interesting.“Hey, Ray, look at this!” Zack was holding two blood-red lollipops in his hands, waving them in Ray’s face. “They’re called blood-pops! They taste like blood! We should get some.” He laughed.Luckily, not many other people were in the small shop, other than an exasperated-looking McGonagall. She was looking at them with a fond look in her eyes, as if, somehow, they had gotten on her good side, even after they’d made her so unnerved when she’d visited their house.Zack continued to run around the store for the next few minutes, occasionally stopping by a tasty-looking candy he’d seen. Ray would proceed to grab a couple of each item and carefully place them in the basket she grabbed, along with grabbing a few items for herself. (She and Zack had both decided they liked the blood-pops, just because of what they were.)Soon enough, they’d left the shop with enough candy to last them both a couple months, or perhaps weeks. (They’d have to stop back here later, so they’d be able to stock up for a couple months.)“Ah,” Ray frowned at her already-full arms, and they’d barely started their shopping. “Is there a way to store all of this in a compact way?”“We can go get your trunks next, and I’m sure the shop-keeper would not mind modifying your purse to be much bigger, if you would like.” McGonagall offered, already on her way there.Ray and Zack followed close behind, and soon they were talking to the guy to get their trunks.“What can I do for you today, Minerva?” The guy grinned over the counter, leaning on it with his elbow.“Two new students to Hogwarts, plus Miss Gardner wants to expand her purse to fix personal purchases.”Ray stepped forward to hand her just-emptied purse (hiding the gun within her jacket) to the man. “Are the trunks bigger on the inside too?”“They can be if you want, Miss, though you two seem a bit old to be just heading to Hogwarts,” he replied, already working on charming her purse.“They’ve had some personal issues each, and the school has already prepared a way for their ages not to be a problem.” The Professor explained.Ray saw the list on the side, and quickly scanned it over. “Would I be able to add a personal library to mine, a large extra storage to Zack’s and mine each, and give each trunks passwords, along with being bigger on the inside?”“You drive a hard bargain, Miss, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” The guy said with mock sarcasm.He handed her purse back to her, as it’s much easier to enchant than a large trunk. Ray quickly dumped all of the candy inside, slipping her gun inside while the two elders were turned around.“Anything else you want in yours, big guy?” The shopkeeper addressed Zack.“Whatever Ray just said,” Zack replied easily.“Alrighty then, your trunks will be done by the time you finish shopping, so come back in a little while.”Ray nodded, paying the man the correct amount of money for the three things.. . . . .Next, the three of them moved onto robes to give time to the seamstress so she can finish them while they’re shopping. McGonagall had to take the lady into the back and explain that Ray and Zack would be de-aging to 12 come Hogwarts, so they would need small-ish robes that could easily be adjusted to their correct size.The lady was surprisingly understanding of their situation, and agreed to have robes made for a 12 year-old that would magically adjust to their size over the course of the year, along with when they first put them on. That suited Zack and Ray just fine, so they paid the lady and were off to their next destination.. . . . .The next stop was to a place called Ollivander’s, which seemed to be the place people go to find their wand, according to the Professor.“Hmm, two new people, so it seems. You’re with Minerva, so you must be here to get your first wands, correct?” A new voice appeared from behind them, and immediately regretted his decision to scare the duo. Zack had unsheathed his knife from his sleeve, and while it was out of view from McGonagall (who was outside), Ollivander could see it perfectly fine. Ray, herself, had started reaching into her purse for her gun, but hadn’t pulled it out enough for them to see.Upon realizing who it was, Zack ‘tch’ed, and slipped his knife back in his sleeve. “You shouldn’t scare people like that, old man.”“My apologies.” Ollivander looked through them both like they were books, and could see that Zack had meant no harm in the long run; it had only been reflexes. “You two are here for your first wands, yes?”Ray nodded, glancing outside to see Professor McGonagall chatting to another lady she’d met on the streets.“Which one of you would like to go first?” Ollivander asked, clearly excited about assigning new wands to them.Zack sighed, “I’ll do it.”“Excellent! Now, hang on just a moment.” Ollivander ran into the back of his shop, looking at one of the hundreds of boxes on the shelves, only to move onto another one quickly enough. Soon, he returned with six boxes stacked on top of each other, plopping them down on the counter. “Now, I’ll hand you a wand, and then try swishing or flicking it to see what happens.”Zack was given a light cream colored wand, and immediately made a disgusted face at it. “It’s not whatever this thing is.”“Hmm, not Ebony, how surprising..” He continued muttering, handing Zack a new wand every once in a while.After the 13th failed wand, Zack’s patience started to run thin. The shop was half destroyed from the rejected wands, but Ollivander didn’t seem to mind. He must’ve been used to it. “How many of these damn wands do I need to try, old man?!”“The wand chooses the wizard. I only help the process along. In fact..” Ollivander suddenly brightened up, dashing to the back of the shop with a speed surprising of his age. He returned with a dusty box, opening it with a big grin on his face. “Try this one.”“This better work, old man.” Zack grumbled, but obligingly picked it up. Immediately after touching, not even having picked it up yet, Zack grinned. “This one.”Both Ollivander and Ray could see that Zack’s words reigned true; the entire shop was glowing and floating, including Ray and Ollivander themselves. (Ray took the chance to reach and pet Zack’s hair, since he was normally too tall for her to do that.)“What powerful magic! Yew wood with a dragon heartstring core, 13 ½ inches. An odd combination, seeing that yew wood is among one of my rarer kinds sold. It’s believed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death, so few people fit the criteria to use it, and fewer choose to wield it if they do match. A dragon heartstring means that your magic is powerful, and it likes to match your strength with its own.”Zack glanced down at the wand in his hand. It was black towards the handle part, fading to a golden-brown at the tip. There were some random streaks running down it, and it was bent all through the middle, still somehow coming out straight at the end.“Life and death, huh?”“It suits you well, Zack.” Ray smiled.Ollivander could see the hidden meaning behind what they’d meant, seeing as he’d almost just had his stomach slashed open a moment ago. “Ah, I just realized, I never learned your names!”“Zack,” Zack supplied helpfully.“Rachel Gardner,” Ray stood up to the counter like Zack had a moment later, since it was now her turn to get a wand.“Well now, Miss Gardner, it’s your turn to get a wand.” He studied her for a moment, before running back into the back of the room to grab more boxes.He returned with another stack of boxes, and Ray tried each dutifully. None of them felt right with her, and some of them just gave her an uneasy feeling in general.“Tell me, Miss Gardner, are you acquainted with your friend’s.. Activity?” Ollivander asked, looking at her curiously. He seemed to already know the answer, but waited for her nod before running back into the shelves.This time, he came back with only a single box, just as he had done with Zack. He opened the box, and Ray could tell it was the right one just by looking at the stick, before even touching it.The wand was a dark brown color, with swirls running all down the sides, but was relatively straight. It made her think of being a stereotypical witch, like the kind she had read in stories when she was younger. She imagined a couple leaves growing out of the side, bright green complimenting the dark brown, as if the wood was still alive. “This one.”“12 ¼ inches. Hawthorn wood, another rare type of wood. You two seem full of surprises, though I should’ve gotten that from earlier. This wood is said to make a contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death.” Ollivander explained, looking at the wand in Ray’s hands with a fond expression.Upon her touching the wand, the entire room had repaired itself from Zack’s (and hers) failed-wands damages. The shopkeeper had looked faintly surprised that both of the duo was able of very powerful magic, and they’d never known it before.“The core is Phoenix feather, the rarest type of core. It means you’ll be able to a wide variety of magic, and it sometimes acts of its own accord, knowing what’s best for the person it bonds with. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when choosing their owner, so make sure you take good care of it,” Ollivander told her sternly, but Ray could see he was also fond of them, apparently. She didn’t know why people were getting so fond of her and Zack so fast, even after knowing that they both have.. Questionable morals..She tilted her head. “Do you have anything to hold our wands? Instead of reaching into our pockets?”“Ah, yes. I do. I’ve got a wide assortment of holsters you can choose from, if you’d like.” Ollivander showed them his collection.Ten minutes later, Zack and Ray left the wand shop with their new wands and wand holsters, already attached to their sleeve.. . . . .Professor McGonagall led them around to a couple more shops, and they picked up their trunks and clothes (which Ray stuffed into her purse, which was pretty easy because the trunks had a charm to make them smaller). Their last stop was somewhere both Zack and Ray were fairly excited for: the pet shop.Upon entering, they were greeted by a store employee, who told them to ask for assistance once they’d decided. There was a multitude of strange pets around everywhere, such as mice, snakes, owls, cats, toads (was that a frog mixed in there?), and other types of strange animals. Zack wandered around on his own, seemingly having focused on something already, and Ray went her own way.Almost immediately, Ray caught eyes with an owl. The first thing she noticed were the shining amber eyes, almost looking like a blazing fire, and looking almost too intelligent for just an animal. He was mostly black, with his colors melting into a wonderful shade of dark brown that only seemed to bring out his eyes even more.Before Ray knew what she was doing, she had already moved over directly to the owl, staring directly into his eyes. He seemed to say, ‘Get me out of here already. This place is trash.’ with only a glance.Ray allowed one of her rare smiles to form on her face—something usually reserved for Zack alone. She kneeled down, whispering softly. “Would you like to come with me?”
‘Duh. Hurry up.’
That was enough convincing for Ray. She picked up the large metal cage he was trapped in. He was a lot larger than most of the other owls in the store, but Ray didn’t mind. He was perfect.“Elio.” Ray sighed. “The Spanish name for the Sun god, Helios.”The owl glanced at her, and Ray knew that he liked the name.Ray headed to the register, when she was stopped by a quiet hissing. “~Youuuu.~”Ray turned to face the voice, only to be confronted with a small white snake with glowing violet eyes that seemed to change shade at every angle. She didn’t mind that it was talking, only thinking of it as another magical thing. “Did you mean me?”
“~Yessss.. You are a speaker, but only to the magical breeds. I wonder how that happened..?~”
“Is.. speaking to snakes.. Not normal?” Ray inquired, tilted her head. Elio seemed to notice that Ray was wrapped up in something important, and watched his new master with careful eyes, passing his judgment down on her.
“~No. But no matter, I will explain later; for now, help me escape.~”
“You want me to.. Break you out?”The small snake writhed around in the glass tank they were trapped in. “~The humans do not know I am here, for I have hidden my presence from them. They had planned to feed me to the larger animals, so I made them forget about me. You will be able to lift the lid and grab me out without them noticing or caring.~”Ray had a moment of hesitation where she was trying to decide what to do, but eventually decided to help the small animal. She’d always had a soft spot for animals, even if it had never ended well. “Please do not bite me.”“Do not worry, speaker, I will not harm you.~” The snake slithered up her arm and into her sleeve easily, until it was impossible to know there was a snake hidden under her shirt.Ray continued to the register, to find Zack grinning and holding up a very large black cat with scraggly (but poofy-looking) fur and two different colored eyes. One was a bright golden, and the other, a shaded grey. Ray could see why Zack liked the cat so much, and the cat seemed to like Zack as well.“Ray, Ray, look!” He held out the cat in front of him excitedly, “Say hello to Shadow! I thought of the name myself; do you like it?!” It was obvious the cat was just as proud of his name as Zack was of it.“Sir- Sir!” The employee at the register (who was apparently the owner) was desperately trying to get Zack’s attention. “I told you, you cannot get that cat! It’s attacked all other owners it’s had, and it not safe for you to get. I can show you our selection of other cats over here-”“I’m getting this one and that’s the end of it! If you guys don’t want ‘im, then I’ll take him!” Zack shouted back, holding Shadow close to his chest.“Sir! Please understand, it’s not safe. We were about to get rid of the thing, honestly!” The owner tried again. “Where’d you even find it?! I had it locked up in the back of the store!”Zack growled loudly and fiercely with all of his anger, putting both the owner and all the animals in the general vicinity to go on edge, as if they were being hunted by a powerful predator that shouldn’t be messed with.Ray, of course, was unaffected by Zack’s usual antics, and was pleased to find that Elio, the snake, and Shadow were all unaffected as well. They had chosen good animals, Ray was certain of.At this point, Professor McGonagall came into the store to see what all the commotion was about. “Is there a problem, Zack?” Ray could hear the fond tone seep into her voice, even if the Professor didn’t notice it herself.“Yeah! This jerk won’t let me get Shadow, and they were about to throw him out for being ‘unsafe’ or whatever! He kept him locked up in the back, he said!” He did quotation marks around ‘unsafe’, still holding tightly onto his cat.McGonagall turned to the employee. “Well, I don’t see why Zack wouldn’t be able to purchase the cat, especially seeing as he seems to like him, and you were going to get rid of it anyways.”The owner of the store could see he was fighting a losing battle, and decided to just give up. “Fine, but if something happens with that thing, I’m not taking it back!”Ray and Zack both noticed that the man referred to Shadow as a thing, not even a living creature. That was one of the biggest things they hated, and just because of that, they were going to use their full arsenal against this person.Ray put on her deadest-looking eyes and took steps closer to the register, until the owner was forced to acknowledge her presence. “I’d like to purchase this owl.”“Oh, changed your mind about the cat? Seems like your girlfriend doesn’t like it, buddy.” The owner laughed haughtily.“You’re mistaken.” Ray gave one of her fake smiles to the man. “You said you were getting rid of the cat, and therefore, it’s free.”“Tha- That’s not it works!” The man exclaimed.“I believe it is. Things thrown out can be taken by anyone, isn’t that right?” She tilted her head, letting her blond hair fall over her face.The shop owner spluttered. “Bu- I haven’t gotten rid of it yet, so therefore, it’s still mine.”“Animal cruelty is illegal. When was the last time Shadow has eaten?” Ray asked, watching the man become more and more nervous.Zack stood behind her, still snarling at the owner. “From what it looks like, it’s been a couple days at least.”“Oh?” Ray smiled, turning to look at Zack and Shadow. “It would be a shame if I reported this to the authorities. A pet store owner abusing their animals? I’m sure the goblins would love a chance to earn more money shutting you down, and making your life a living hell.”“You- You can’t prove anything!” The man claimed.“You forget, sir, that I am a well-respected teacher at Hogwarts, and that I would back up these two, along with the other evidence they may provide.” Professor McGonagall put in, backing up her new students.The man sighed, subconsciously backing up from the three of them. He’d obviously forgotten that the professor had been there. “F- Fine. Take that damn creature. I didn’t want it anyways.”But Ray wasn’t done. “For all this trouble you gave us, it would be in your best interest to gift us with an apology.” She subtly gestured towards Elio, who was menacingly glaring at the shop-owner in his own way.The owner was obviously about to argue again, but froze when he saw Ray’s unnerving eyes and Zack, a feral beast of his own, along with Shadow, who was also growling, standing right behind her. Along with McGonagall’s glare off from the side, he seemed to think better.“It would be such a shame, sir,” Ray murmured, obviously meaning no respect, despite the title. “if something happened. Like, perhaps, an accident?”The owner grumbled out some unintelligible words, but eventually agreed. “Now get out of my shop.”Ray only smiled in her uneasy way on the way out, sending chills up the man’s spine one last time.She quickly caught up with Zack and the Professor. “Hey, Zack, where did you find Shadow at?” Rachel unlocked Elio’s cage door, and he quickly flew out and landed on her head. It wasn’t painful, other than a bit heavy.“The bastard had him locked in a cage on the other side of a locked door. I decided to check it out when I heard noises coming from the other side.” Zack snuggled into his new cat, who cuddled right back into Zack.“This is Elio.” Ray gestured towards the very large owl perched on her head.“Woah!” Zack’s smile lit up upon seeing the bird, since he had been too busy petting his cat to notice before. “He’s really big! I like him.”Zack had just won over Elio with his blunt compliment. The owl was giving off an amused look.“Professor, may we stop back at the bank? I would like to speak to the goblins about what just happened.”“I believe that can be managed.”. . . . .Less than an hour later, Shadow had been fed (for the first time in days), Elio was enjoying his freedom and flying high in the sky over their heads, and Ray and Zack had successfully reported the misendeavor to the goblins, who were ecstatic at a chance to cause a wizard some pain. (Ray was sure they’d be able to get along wonderfully in the future.). . . . .The store owner shakily made his way around the corner, still getting over the sudden fear that had come over him when he’d met the girl’s eyes—they were too unnerving for her to be a regular girl. And he’d just had to give away his best and biggest owl away for free, too. That was going to be a real blow to his profits.He reached the door where the feral cat had been kept past, only to stop, frozen in terror. The lock—the lock on the door. The padlock.It had been crushed, with the dents looking oddly—much too close—like a hand.Somebody—was his name Zack?—had crushed a metal padlock, full of wards and charms, with his bare hands.He.. He was lucky he was still alive, wasn’t he?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“We’re finally done!” Zack pumped his fists into the air, then flopped on their couch.Professor McGonagall had just left their humble little abode, after warding the house from intruders and the like. Ray assumed it was some sort of magical security measure, because she could feel the faint magic resonating in their house.“Zack,” Ray spoke, reaching into her sleeve.Zack tilted his head her way, not willing to get up just yet. Shadow was sleeping at his feet, purring so deeply it almost sounded like a growl. “Huh?”Ray brought out the small white snake hidden in her sleeve, holding it out in her hands. “This snake asked me to rescue them, since they were about to be fed to a larger animal. I can.. Understand what they’re saying, and speak back.”“A snake, huh? The last time we’ve had to deal with one of those was the building.” Zack accepted easily, already turning on the television. (Now that he knew he was leaving in a month, he had to get his fill in for the next few months now.)Ray turned towards the snake writhing around in her hands, wrapping around her arm. “Hello little one, I’m sorry that took so long.”
“~I did not mind. Thank you, for rescuing me.~”
“It was no problem. The owner was a jerk, anyways,” Ray replied softly. “You.. mentioned that most people cannot speak to snakes?”
“~Yessss. It is a rare ability called Parseltongue, usually only passed down through offspringssss.~”
“I.. My parents weren’t magical; I know that. Anyways, they’re dead.”
“~Hmm, how strange. Perhaps you can only understand magical breeds of snakesss, such as myself.~”
“Magical breed?” Ray cocked her head to the side.
“~My kind is a rare type of magical snake that has almost become extinct. Our fangs, poison, and skin can be sold for a high price, and as such, we’ve been hunted to near extinction. I am still too young to protect myself, other than hiding my presence from humans.~”
“Humans are.. Destructive creatures,” Ray agreed. “But.. why am I able to understand you? I’ve never been able to understand other snakes before, and you said it’s a rare ability..”“~I do not know. Thissss has never happened before.~” The snake stopped to study Ray for a moment. “~Human, will you take me as a familiar?~”“Familiar..? But.. what about Elio?” Ray wondered, not wanting to upset her new owl.“~Humanssss are able to have multiple familiars, though it is quite uncommon. Your owl will not mind.~” The snake explained.“Then I accept.” Ray nodded. “But.. now what?”
“~The bond will be formed once you give me a name, speaker. You have already formed one with your owl, and your friend with his cat. You two must be powerful wizardssss, if they have already accepted you as their master in such a short time. Usually, a familiar bond takes yearssss to form. I am a rare exception to the rule, and am able to choose when to bond to a human.~”
Ray glanced to Zack and Shadow. She didn’t find it surprising that they had already formed a familiar bond with each other; they were too alike in every aspect for anything else. However, Elio had already decided to bond with her, as well. Maybe he had seen something special in her, just like she had seen in him.She looked back at the small snake in her hands, cold blue eyes meeting an ever-changing purple hue. “May I ask your gender?”
“~My kind has no gender in the normal sense, speaker.~”
Ray lost herself in thought. The young snake was so beautiful, a pure white that reminded her of the moon, and eyes that reminded her of the dark sky past that. There had been many occasions where Zack and Ray had been trapped outside overnight, with their only roof being the hundreds of billions of stars shining overhead. “Nova.” Ray barely heard herself whispering the word, still to entranced with her thoughts of the galaxy and universe above. Still, she continued, “After the vast expanse of the stars in the night sky, mysterious, unknown, dangerous, but unmistakably beautiful.”Nova seemed pleased with their name. “~It is a wonderful name, Master. I am pleased with it.~”Ray turned to Zack, who glanced at her in return. “This is Nova.”“Are you done with your weird hissing now?” Zack asked in return, yawning.“What?”“Yeah, you were doing this weird hissing, like a snake does. You didn’t notice?”Ray made a confused expression. “Um, no?”“~It is called Parseltongue, the language of snakessss.~” Nova slithered up her arm and hung loosely around her neck.Ray tried to notice what she was speaking when she addressed Nova again. “~That makes sense. Oh, I can tell I’m not speaking English!~” She gestured to Zack. “~This is my friend, Zack. If anything ever happens and I’m not available, go to Zack. He will not understand you, but he’ll know that something is wrong with me.~”
“~I will keep that in mind.~”
“Yo, Ray, what’re we gonna do about our jobs?” Zack questioned, finally getting up from his position on the couch to grab something from the fridge. Shadow followed him lazily, flopping on the floor halfway from the couch to the kitchen.Rachel shrugged. “I suppose we’ll have to tell them we’re resigning. Maybe we can find a new job in the wizarding world after this.”“Huh, I guess you’re right.” Zack muttered in return. He turned to his cat. “Oh, Shadow! If anything ever happens to me, go to Ray. She’ll know something’s wrong.”The cat accepted the order with a dutiful look gleaming in his eyes. In the back of her mind, Ray realized that she had just said something eerily similar a moment ago. Perhaps the duo were closer to each other than they thought.“Rayyyyyy, I’m hungryyyyy,” Zack whined. Surprisingly, Zack was a really good cook, able to throw together random ingredients and have it taste like the best thing Ray had ever tasted, but Zack always said that Ray’s cooking was super tasty, so she should cook more often. In the end, they’d usually take turns.“I’ll make dinner,” Ray replied, smiling just a bit, “as long as you make dessert.”“Deal!!”. . . . .“Hey, Ray, are you ready for this?” Zack frowned, glancing at the small vial in his hands.The date was September 1st. The Hogwarts Express, a train to get to the school, would be leaving in a couple short hours, and Ray and Zack were preparing to leave. They’d packed everything they needed; everything important was in Ray’s purse, and all of their school stuff was in their trunks.Professor McGonagall had stopped back over and helped set up the wards around their house to protect it from theft and the like while they were gone, and had explained how to get to Platform 9 ¾, and also on the train. She’d also taken some time to describe what the school was like, giving them each a rule book, telling them about purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns, and what the differences were. They were apparently going into the second year curriculum this year, skipping the first altogether. When Hagrid, the groundskeeper, calls for the first years, they were supposed to follow him, and then get a second year schedule once they entered the school. Professor McGonagall gave Zack a bracelet, engraved with runes. As long as he kept the metal band on, nobody would notice the bandages he always wore. (Zack seemed skeptical, but put it on anyways.) The Professor had also described the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, and what each of the houses were like. (She had seemed awfully fond of Gryffindor, but it made sense when she told them she was the head of the house.)Another thing that Professor McGonagall had told them about was the wizarding war. Apparently, some person named ‘Lord Voldemort’ had tried to kill a baby, failed, and died himself, after killing a whole bunch of people. A lot of people believe that Voldemort is not truly dead, but waiting to come back and start another wizarding war.The baby who Voldemort had tried to kill—Harry Potter—grew up loved and doted upon for stopping the greatest evil of their time, and is worshipped in the wizarding world by most everybody.Ray didn’t think that sounded right the moment she said it. Perhaps it had reminded her too much of her old life, the one before Zack. It was her own gut feeling, similar to the natural instincts Zack has.But, right now, they were about to drink the potions to de-age themselves back into small 12 year-olds, each holding the vial in their hands. Elio had already left for Hogwarts, not wanting to be cramped in his cage for hours on end.“Well, I’m not gettin’ any younger!” Zack exclaimed, clearly proud of his ironic pun.Ray clapped at it, and Zack downed the potion in two gulps.Soon enough, the potion started working its magic. Zack fell on the floor, unconscious, and was shrinking, his clothes now way too big for him to wear. Even his bandages were starting to slip off his arms and legs, uncovering his scarred body. After a few minutes of Ray carefully watching over Zack, he started to wake up, sitting up and ruffling his hair right away.“Hey, Ray, what happened..?” Zack asked, looking around confused. His voice was a few octaves higher, and his clothes were falling off his shoulders.Ray could only stand there and stare at the small boy in front of her, looking almost close to tears.“Ray? Rayyyyy?” Zack asked, starting to stand up.And then it hit her.Zack was shorter than Ray.“Hey, the hell? Why’re you so tall all of a sudden?! And my clothes too- did I shrink?!” Zack exclaimed, about to dash off and find a mirror,when he seemed to remember. “Wait- I drank the potion, didn’t I? Am I twelve? Is this really was being twelve feels like? I’M SO SMALL!”Ray couldn’t help herself—she reached forward and hugged him. The small Zack fit perfectly into her arms, just like she had when he’d still been older. He amused her by hugging back, always having liked touching and holding her as much as she did.After almost five minutes though, Zack gently tried shoving her away. “Hey, Ray, we still need to catch the train. You can hug me as much as you want when we get on.”Ray sighed, but complied with young Zack’s wishes. “Do you want help with your bandages?”“Yeah, that’d be nice. I don’t know how to move this thing.” By thing, he was referring to his body, which was a lot smaller than what Zack was used to.Zack put some smaller shorts on, unwrapping all of his bandages. Ray had seen him without his bandages before, and usually helped wrap them at this point, so Zack wasn’t worried about Ray being freaked out by his burns. (It had taken them a while for Zack to finally show and trust her, but he’d eventually come around. Afterwards, the duo had only grown closer.) (However, nobody else was ever allowed to see him without his bandages.)He sat in Ray’s lap, letting Ray gently wrap the fabric around his torso and arms, though he preferred to his his face himself. It only took a matter of five minutes, since they’d done it so many times, but Ray cherished every single moment.Afterwards, he dressed in the robes they’d gotten, swooshing around and spinning with a delighted gleam in his eyes. (For a second, Ray thought she was going to faint from how cute Zack was being.) Shadow, while now half Zack’s size, as a very large cat, could still be lifted by Zack easily, since he’d always been abnormally strong. Shadow didn’t seem to mind that Zack was smaller; in fact, he was also rather content with this change. He was able to cuddle up even closer to his owner, and Ray was totally not getting jealous of Shadow.“Hey, hey, Ray. You still gotta drink yours! We’re gonna be late soon!” Zack exclaimed, trotting cutely up to Ray to watch her.“Oh, right.” She held up her own vial, forgotten on the table in the chaos. “I’ll pass out for a few minutes while I shrink, so don’t be alarmed.”Zack nodded, and Ray downed her own potion with a couple sips. She fell unconscious with a quick blink, never reaching the floor because Zack caught her.When Ray woke, she was confused for a quick minute, feeling her clothes falling off and seeing Zack look a lot smaller than he’s suppose to be. After a quick moment, she remembered drinking the potion, and then everything made sense.“Zack?” Ray mumbled, slowly sitting up.Zack’s hand was combing through her hair, petting her head softly. “You finally awake?’She nodded. Her clothes were falling off her shoulders, though not as bad as Zack’s had. “I’m going to go change.” Ray stood up, not even bothering to try and cover a bit more of her skin. Zack didn’t care about stuff like that.Ray returned to the living room a moment later, now dressed in matching black robes to Zack’s. They were light and airy, though Ray found she prefers wearing pants. Nova returned to their rightful place wrapped around Ray’s neck, while Shadow was right at Zack’s side like usual.Zack saw her and paused. “You’re a really cute twelve year old, brat.” He smiled one of his rarer ones, the ones reserved solely for each other and nobody else.Ray returned the soft smile with one of her own. One that was solely reserved for Zack, at moments like this. “You’re much cuter than I am, Zack.”He grinned, and Ray was sure he was blushing a bit underneath at the compliment. Zack jumped up from the couch, grabbing his bag full of all his stuff. “Come on, Ray! We’re gonna be late!”“Don’t forget your wand and weapons, Zack,” Ray replied easily. They still had plenty of time, but Zack was excited. One thing she did notice, however, was that Zack was back to being taller than her again. But by a lot less height, making it barely noticeable between them.“Oh, right!” He ran over to the table, where all their stuff was laying on. They’d packed the night before, only leaving out what they’d want to carry on them. He grabbed his wand holster and attached it, making sure his wand was inside, before reaching for the knife next to it, tucking it away in one of the several pockets.Ray did the same with her wand and holster, making sure she also had a knife on her. Her gun was in her purse, easily reachable at any moment. She supposed they’d have to start getting used to using their wands instead. (She wondered how any of the wizards would react to having a gun pulled out instead of a wand.)“Zack, do you have everything?”“Yeah!! I got your bag too!” He replied, holding up both Ray’s and his bag in his hands.Ray grabbed her purse, and then they were ready to go. A taxi to the station was easy enough to grab, even though they were both twelve.. . . . .“Hey, Ray..” Zack pointed to the brick wall in front of him. “You want me to run into a brick wall? Like, actually ‘sprint towards it’ run?”“That’s what Professor McGonagall said to do. Here, I’ll do it first if you’re worried.”“No!” He snapped back. “If it doesn’t work, I’d rather get bruised than have you getting hurt.”Ray swore that if anybody had heard that line, they would’ve “Awwww”ed at the two of them. She’s glad nobody did.Zack sighed, rearing himself up. He was holding their bags protectively in front of his face, and broke off into a run towards the wall.Ray’s eyes widened when he went right through it, but she’s not really sure what she expected otherwise. A moment later, she took off herself, and met Zack on the other side rubbing his nose, bags on the ground next to him. Shadow had seemingly disappeared a little while ago, but Ray was sure he’d turn up sooner or later, so she wasn’t worried.“Are you alright?”“I ran through one wall just to slam into another one!” Zack frowned, pointing at the wall right next to him. He seemed to pause, then glance over Ray’s shoulder, squinting for a couple seconds. His eyes widened, looking like a kid on Christmas, and he started to point to where he was looking. “Ray, Ray, look!!”He grabbed her hand and turned her around before she was able to react, only to notice the thing Zack had seen. In fact, it would’ve been rather hard not to notice the huge train, painted sleek black with light bouncing off, reflecting and making it look all the more majestic. The train, which must be the Hogwarts Express, was surrounded with a bunch of families all saying goodbye to their kids. A few of the students were already boarding, some dressed in the same robes as Zack and Ray, along with a specific color.“Do you want to go board?”“YES.”Zack grabbed Ray’s robes, dragging her along just like usual. (Zack seemed pleased he was still able to lift Ray’s weight easily.) Ray, of course, let herself be dragged, guiding Zack along to the door, and into an empty compartment on the train.After only a few minutes, where Zack looked around excitedly at everything outside and inside, the compartment door slid open, revealing a small girl with bright blue eyes and soft, wavy, blonde hair. She looked fairly similar to Rachel, other than Ray’s carefully neutral face, more straight blonde hair (and not the same shade; Ray’s was darker), and the cold look in her eyes Ray has had since the building.Another different was the many strange-looking things the girl was wearing or doing, such as her wand tucked behind her ear, some bright-colored hair clips decorating her hair, and a weird-looking magazine tucked under her arm.“Hello. Would you mind if I sat with you?” The girl tilted her head, sending a small smile their way.Zack just waved the girl off, going back to staring out the window, which she seemed to accept as an answer. She sat down on the opposite side of the duo, who were sitting on the same side of the seats. “My name is Luna Lovegood.”Ray greeted her with a nod of her head. “Rachel Gardner.”“What did it feel like de-aging? Did you drink a potion?”Zack paused and stared at the little girl, who had somehow figured out their secret in seconds upon meeting them. As per usual, he stayed quiet, letting Ray take over.“Why would you think we’ve been de-aged?” Ray tilted her head, as if she had no clue what Luna was talking about. Even still, she wasn’t too worried. The girl, Ray could tell, was not a threat, only just curious.“Oh, that’s easy. The nogglebons told me,” Luna replied. “Nogglebons never lie, you see.”Ray hummed. “We drank a potion. It knocked us out for a few minutes, and then when we woke up, we were smaller. It’s.. hard, getting used to a smaller body.”“It seems like it would be,” Luna agreed, nodding her head.“Hey, Ray, open the door,” Zack suddenly called out, shaking her a bit.Ray didn’t bother questioning Zack anymore, and opened the door like he wanted. Surprisingly, or not, Shadow was on the other side. The cat lept straight into Zack’s lap, who almost fell over from the force of it.Luna started stroking Shadow’s fur, who had deemed her trustable enough to allow her touch. “You’re familiar bond is very strong.”“It sure is! Because Shadow is the best cat you’ll ever find!” Zack high-fived his cat, who returned the gesture. (They had had.. An interesting month, Ray mused.)The three (four) of them stayed in a peaceful silence, other than Zack’s occasional grunt or Shadow’s occasional purr. Luna started to read the magazine she was holding upside-down. Ray brought out her own book, and Zack was half petting, half wrestling his cat. In a few short minutes, the train whistled, and then they were moving.Twenty minutes went by in relative silence, with Zack having moved to stare out the window and watch all of the fields go by, when the door snapped open. (Luckily, Zack only glared at the door, instead of bringing out some sort of weapon. Ray didn’t react, and nor did Luna, seemingly immersed in her magazine.)“I’m sorry, have you seen two boys come by here? A redhead who’s always complaining and a boy with black hair? They’re my friends, you see, and I haven’t been able to find them, and I’m worried they missed the train- Oh! Are you first years? I’m Hermione Granger, a second year Gryffindor. It’s nice to meet you!” The girl—Hermione—went on an on, never pausing to take a breath. Instead of leaving once she saw her friends weren’t here, she sat on the empty space next to Luna. “Do any of you know what house you’ll be in? Hm, I suppose it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not Slytherin—that house is where all the Death Eaters go. You know, I’ve never trusted the Slytherins. Perhaps it’s because we don’t get along—see, I’m a Gryffindor, and we and the snakes don’t get along well at all. There’s been a house rivalry for as long as anybody can remember, and was even mentioned in Hogwarts: A History a couple times. Oh, you’re reading a book? What’s it about? Have you learned any new spells? I remember when I got my letter I was so excited to try out magic; I had read all of our textbooks before school had even started, and then I dragged my parents back to the store to go buy me some more before school, but they wouldn’t let me read those until I went to school, because they didn’t want me to be bored from already reading everything before I even got there-”“SHUT UP!” Zack finally snapped. It had been building up for a while, and Ray had been wondering when he was finally going to get annoyed enough. Even Shadow was hissing now, just as fed up as Zack was. “You’re so damn annoying! You just keep talking and talking and talking and never shut up!”Ray decided to take over the situation when Hermione looked on the verge of tears. “Sorry, Zack gets annoyed at people easily. But he was also right; we don’t know you, and don’t appreciate people interrogating us. Please mind your own business.”“Oh, uh,” Hermione blushed. She pushed her hair out of her face, not that it did any help. It was so poofy and curly that it seemed to have its own gravitational pull, along with defying the laws of physics. “I’m sorry. When I get excited, I can just go on and on. Can we.. forget that happened..?”Zack just ‘tch’ed and turned back to the window. His bad mood seemed to instantly disappear as he looked out into the fields flying by, almost the same exact view as earlier.Ray nodded, going back to her book. She flipped a page before she spoke. “You shouldn’t judge people based on their house. Imagine if you had told a small, little first year that the Slytherin house was evil and that everybody who got sorted there is a Death Eater, which I understand is some sort of murderer?”Hermione nodded. A blush was creeping up on her neck, as if she knew where Ray was going with her point.“Imagine telling an 11 year old that the entire Slytherin house was evil, and then the kid gets sorted into that house. Where does that leave them? They come into a new world not knowing anything, and everybody already hates them because of what house they’re in.”“I.. I guess you’re right.. I’m sorry. I never thought of how that would sound to the first years..” Hermione apologized, face hung low.Luna spoke up. Her voice was much softer than Hermione’s, who was sharp and to the point, even if the point was all over. “What year are you two going into?”“What?” Hermione looked up, glancing to Zack and Ray with a confused expression. “Aren’t you two first years?”“We’ll be going into second. We had.. We’re a special occasion.” Ray explained upon seeing Hermione’s even more confused face, even if it was vague. “We’re not allowed to tell what it is, so please do not ask.“Are you two muggleborns?” Hermione asked instead, kicking her dangling feet back and forth.“Our parents are dead.” Zack answered with a creepy grin on his face. Of course, the creepiness was lessened by the fact Zack was holding onto his poofy cat.Ray, a bit more helpful, nodded. “Probably. We don’t know.”“Oh, uh,” Hermione blushed (again), “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a bad topic.”Luna only smiled knowingly.“Weren’t you looking for your friends?” Ray brought up, voice the same neutral as always.Hermione sent a half-hearted glare to the door, as if it had somehow offended her. “I looked all over the train for them. If they want to find me, they can look for me themselves.”After that, each of them settled down. Hermione brought out her own book, rapidly devouring it with almost wild-looking eyes. Luna went back to reading her magazine—the Quibbler—upside-down. Shadow eventually crawled out of Zack’s lap to sleep peacefully on the seat. Ray had no problems with that, crawling into Zack’s lap herself. She was promised hugs, and she was going to get them.. . . . .The next interruption, halfway through the trainride, was the trolley. The two girls declined, while Ray bought her and Zack a bit of everything again, planning to store them up for a while. They’d gone back to Diagon Alley later and re-visited the candy shop, but Zack was already making a dent in it over the last couple weeks. (Ray hoped the food at Hogwarts was good; their stash won’t last otherwise.)Hermione looked slightly disgusted at all of the candy they’d bought, but when Ray inquired, she found out that Hermione’s parents were dentists.Hermione also seemed to notice something else. “Oh wait, I just realized I don’t know any of your names! I’m Hermione Granger.”“Rachel Gardner,” Ray responded easily. “This is Zack.”“Zack..?”“Just Zack.”Hermione didn’t looked like she believed that, but accepted it anyways. Everybody has their secrets; some more than others.“My name is Luna Lovegood. My dad owns the Quibbler.”And the next few minutes were spent with Hermione and Luna discussing back and forth if the Quibbler was a realistic source or not, and why each person thinks so. In the end, Hermione didn’t really believe the Quibbler still, but she was willing to let other people have their own beliefs about stuff.. . . . .“Oh, we’re here! I didn’t even realize!” Hermione jumped up from her place on the seat, shoving her book into her bag.Zack was already way ahead of her, already having slammed open the compartment door and dragging Ray outside as fast as he could in his excitement. Hermione and Luna barely got a second to blink before Zack and Ray were gone.(It almost felt like a dream meeting those two, despite the fact they’d see each other again in only a few minutes.)Hermione had to go to the carriages, pulled by some pure black winged horses, looking much too skinny to be healthy. Luna met up with Zack and Ray a few moments later, and saw them staring at the horses that seemed to call to both of them, looking straight into their pasts with an indifferent stare.“Thestrals,” Luna whispered. “Only people who have seen somebody die can see them.”“Beautiful,” Ray whispered back, barely aware of her own breath. She meant more than just the thestrals—the air here was so pure, so clean, unlike the cities both Zack and her had been raised in. Even before the sun had set, the moon was shining down on the entire castle, letting off an faint glow that was more calming than anything. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered again, more confidently this time.Zack grunted his agreement, leaning just a bit closer to Ray than he already was.“First years! First years, over here!” bellowed a very tall man, complete with a giant beard and voice to go with his height. (Ray thought, for half a second, that he reminded her of Shrek.)“That must be Hagrid. Professor McGonagall said that he’d be calling for the first years,” Ray concluded.“Woah! Look at that! Ray, we get to go into the boats!!” Zack exclaimed happily. His eyes were gleaming with excitement, already having picked up Ray to carry her over to a boat.“No more than four to a boat!” Hagrid yelled out.Zack somehow remembered not to just chuck Ray and himself into an empty boat, and gently put her inside before climbing in himself. Luna climbed in only a moment after them. She peered out over the side of the boat, making Zack copy her action and look over the side too, to see what she was looking at.“There’s a giant squid in these waters. He’s very friendly, I’ve heard, but can be very scary.”Zack pointed out into the water somewhere. “Oh, I see him!”All of the students who heard him immediately looked out the side of their own boats to where he was pointing, only to see the pitch black void of the water.“There’s nothing there, you liar!”“There’s no way you can see it!”“Yeah, stop trying to scare us!”Some of the kids shouted out their disappointments. Zack ignores them all, not even having heard in the first place. Instead, he was shoving Ray over to the edge so she’d be able to see what he was talking about.“Zack, I don’t have night-vision, remember?” Ray smiles. She cups his face within her hands, bumping foreheads with him. “I’ll see him when he comes closer to the surface, alright?”Zack bumped foreheads with her back, cuddling closer into her neck like a cat. Ray took the opportunity to pet his hair, scratching the soft black strands and feeling him lean in closer to her hand.“Geeze, get a room, will you?”A new voice, high pitched a just a bit too bossy, came from the other side of their boat and made them separate, just so they could glare at the source. When they looked over, it was a small red-headed brat. It was obvious she was used to getting everything she wanted at home; Zack didn’t even study psychology like Ray did and it was obvious to him.The brat climbed into their boat, taking a seat next to Luna. “Oh, Luna, at least you’re here. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to sit here alone and watch these two snogging.”“Hello, Ginny. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Luna answers politely, but the duo can see she was upset with the redhead for barging in and insulting them.Zack glances at Ray, tapping her hand twice—their signal for when Zack wants to say something, but knows he probably shouldn’t, and is leaving it up to Ray.“Please apologize,” Ray says, her voice devoid of any noticeable emotions.“What?” Ginny retorts, “Why should I-”“We don’t appreciate you barging in without asking and insulting us. Please apologize,” Ray repeats.Ginny’s face starts to match her red hair, and she crosses her arms defensively. “Why should I apologize? You were the ones doing inappropriate stuff out in public like that.”A couple of the boats close by were starting to stare, since Ginny was nowhere near quiet, but Ray decided quickly that she didn’t care. “If touching a boy is against the rules, please show me the exact line, and I expect you to follow the rule yourself.”Ginny splutters, glaring defensively. She seemed to reach her arm into her robes, as if she were reaching for an object for comfort. Ray counted it as a win when she stayed silent for the next couple minutes, until the boats started moving across the lake, glistening in the sunset. Most of the kids, including Zack and Ginny, ‘oooh’ed and ‘aaah’ed at the sights, while Ray and Luna only smiled at their (aka Zack’s) cute faces.The castle came into view, and soon enough—which Zack almost whined at—the first years were getting off the small boats. They hadn’t run into the squid, sadfully; Ray had really wanted to meet the giant squid.The first years (plus Zack and Ray) were led inside the giant castle, glistening with lights and bursting with magic, down halls and into a corridor. They stopped at a large door, and Professor McGonagall came to explain everything.“Through these doors is the Great Hall, where all the students and teachers eat their meals. You will be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. The house you get sorted into will be like your family for the next seven years while you’re at school, so I hope you’ll all get along with everyone.”She proceeded to explain the point system, losing and gaining points for their specific house, and some of the basic rules that should be followed easily. About halfway through, she caught Zack and Ray’s eyes, and let out a small smile, despite her stern expression. None of the other kids seemed to notice, too busy looking around at everything to pay as much attention.Once she was done explaining and answering questions of the students, along with scolding a kid named Colin Creevey for taking unwanted pictures. Many of the students had been curious about the kid named Harry Potter, who was apparently a second year this year. Professor McGonagall steered most of them off saying that they’ll be busy with schoolwork, and that she’s sure they’ll see him over the course of the year.(Ray wonders if Harry ever got asked if he wanted all of this fame.)They were led into the Great Hall, where every kid stared up in awe. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky, and Ray had to admit it was one of the prettiest things she’s seen. There were bright colors everywhere, like the golden gleam of almost every wall and plate in the room. The Great Hall was divided into five parts, it seemed, with the four very long tables—one for each house—, and a raised table at the other end of the room where all of the adults—teachers—were sitting.Most of the chatter in the room was quiet, but still obviously there. It was obvious that the older years didn’t really care about their sorting, since it didn’t pertain to them at all. She heard some of the murmurs, such as how small their class was, if any kids were the offspring of Death Eaters, and how many will end up as snakes.(Ray wonders why any of that mattered. These were just children.)Ray looked ahead, only to see a stool sitting on the other end of the room by the teachers, with an worn down hat sitting on the chair. The first years were stopped in the middle of the floor, in between the blue—Ravenclaw—and yellow—Hufflepuff—tables.Surprisingly, or not, since this was a magic school, the hat broke out in a long song, or was it a poem? The hat spoke of the four houses and the attributes of each, and a bit about the founders; nothing Ray hadn’t already learned by reading. Zack, however, seemed fascinated with the talking hat. He had a big grin on his face while he was listening to the hat speak, and he was squeezing Ray’s hand just a bit tighter.The hat soon quieted down, done with his monologue about Hogwarts and the houses. Zack’s grin, however, did not die out, and he was ecstatic once he knew they’d be putting the hat on!“When your name is called, come up and put the hat on!” Professor McGonagall told all the first years, who were all equally nervous and excited, it seemed.Ray didn’t listen to any of the names or people really; if they were important, Ray would learn about them later. She was, however, a bit worried that the Professor would shout out Zack’s full name, and she’d spend the next couple months constantly correcting them because she knows Zack hates his full name.Only a few kids in, who had all gone to their respective houses, Professor McGonagall sent out a quick glance in their direction. “Zack!”Ray heard the murmuring shortly after. Why didn’t ‘Zack’ get a last name called out? What was his full name? Why hadn’t the school said it? Was he related to somebody they knew?Zack was grinning as big as ever, having to stop himself from rushing up as fast as possible. Most of the whispering had stopped when Zack stepped out, everybody curious to see the person who had no last name. Ray saw him lean over beforehand, and though she couldn’t hear, she knew that he said “Thanks” to Professor McGonagall with the sappiest smile on his face. He was thoroughly enjoying all of this, with all the magic and Ray’s here and Ray is a cute kid and magic!!!, and not having it get ruined by everybody knowing his name.He put the hat on his head, and it flopped over his hair, way too big for his head. Zack was kicking his feet back and forth like a little kid, his grin only getting wider the longer he spent with the hat.The entire crowd watched in complete silence as they watched this no-last-name first year kid sit under the hat for almost five minutes.And then the hat spoke once more.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Zack lifted the hat off his head and stared at his clothes changing from black to a gold and red trim. He trotted down the steps to his house, spinning back around to wave to the hat, before reaching his table and sitting down at the end. He was instantly popular with the other Gryffindors, with them obviously wanting to know his last name and make friends with him and all that.However, Zack didn’t care about any of them. Next up was Ray, who’s ‘G’ comes right after Zack’s unsaid ‘F’.“Rachel Gardner!”Ray took her time walking up the stairs with an indifferent face, listening to all the rumors flying around about the both of them. None of them mattered to her, of course, but she wanted to know if Zack had made any enemies that she should know about.Ray sat down on the stool, and flopped the hat down on her head.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Ray almost bristled at the voice in her head, but managed to stay calm; she had expected something of the sort to happen, but her reflexes were an ingrained response.
“Hmm, you’ve been through quite a lot. You and your friend both have been through much more than anybody else here, no matter what they may think.”
Ray wondered how she could kill a magical hat without anyone suspecting it was her. Or if it could even die.
“Calm down, young lady. I’m sworn to keep secrets. Your friend, Zack, was quite determined to become friends with me. It’s been a long time since a student has asked my name, much less asked to be friends with me.”
Ray found herself believing that easily. “If Zack trusts you, I’ll trust you.”
“Well, it’s not my job to make you trust me, but thank you anyways. You’re both a very interesting duo, and I fear your lives will only get harder as you stay here.”
Ray didn’t find that very surprising at all.“Anyways, my job is to sort, so let’s see.. You’re not very brave, courageous, or outgoing. The lions would rip you apart, even if Zack fits there easily. Hmm, you could be a Hufflepuff, with how loyal you are to Zack, but better not. They’re a social bunch, and that’s not what you want either. Ravenclaw would be a good suit for you—they value knowledge and curiosity, but no.. You’re much more ambitious and cunning to fit in with them. There’s only one place for you, really, so it better be—”
“SLYHTERIN!”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ray gingerly took the hat off, walking over to her table. She watched everyone’s expressions, but nobody really seemed to care much about some random muggleborn student. Even most of the Slytherins were ignoring her, other than a few who were grimacing at a muggleborn in their house.Not that any of their opinions mattered to her.Except Zack’s, of course. And what a shocker, he was cheering her on in his own way, sending her a thumbs up and a cute lopsided grin. (Ray, for a second, almost regretted not being sorted to Gryffindor.) Nobody really noticed Zack’s gleeful, but silent, cheers, other than a couple of the kids sitting next to him.With a quick glance, Ray was able to find Hermione already sitting next to him, smiling at her as well, even though she’d spoke so low of Slytherins just a couple of hours ago.Once she sat down on the edge of the Slytherin table, Ray noticed that everybody was quick to avoid her. Perhaps she was wearing an expression, devoid of emotions that a child would normally have. Perhaps she scares them.That was fine. Ray wasn’t here to make friends.The rest of the sorting went by relatively fast, with Luna going into Ravenclaw, and Ginny, of course, going into Gryffindor. (She hoped that Ginny wasn’t going to be a problem for Zack. Ray wasn’t always going to be around to help anymore, though it wouldn’t stop her from trying.)The sorting finished, and the Headmaster said a couple noises that couldn’t even be considered words, told them not to go into the Forbidden forest, and the feast commenced with a wave of his hand. (Ray thought that that was stupid; he should give some credit to the house elves; she’d learned of them in a book.)The food—God, er, Merlin, there was so much food—appeared them in a fanciful display, most likely to impress the first years. There was tons, and she knew that Zack would be trying every single last thing. Ray, on the other hand, only took a bit of some things that looked interesting.It was all delicious, of course, and Ray would gladly eat this all for the rest of the year, but.. She could easily admit that Zack’s food was still her favorite. (It had only been a day, and she was already missing it.)Next, after the feast finished, with nothing worth noting going on, Ray was led out of the room into the dungeons. Their dorm was hidden behind a wall, openable by a password. The first years all watched in fascination, not having developed the masks they’ll all need to fit in in this house, as the stone wall swung open, revealing a cozy common room.They were led inside, and Ray noticed the green and silver on almost every surface (though not overbearing, thankfully), along with the fireplace, currently lit with crackling wood, creating a homely environment. There was a window—a very large window—that seemed like it was underwater. Ray quickly realized that it must be the Great Lake, especially with the faint teal glow and reflected light off of the water.The first years were all gathered around in the middle next to the fireplace, and two of the older students, prefects(?), were explaining the rules of the Slytherin house. Ray listened to the rules, only to scoff at how much they all depended on keeping up hostilities with the other houses. ‘Don’t let your guard down.’ ‘Never drop your mask.’ ‘Don’t associate with the other houses, especially Gryffindor.’ The prefects continued to insult the Gryffindors for being too stupid, too brash, too arrogant.They were stupid if they thought some crappy house was going to keep her away from being with Zack.Ray had to cut them some slack though. They all grew up hated by the other houses, forced to choose a side between the light and dark. In Gryffindor, the house was meant to help them live—learn how to live their lives to the fullest. In Slytherin, the kids learned to survive.Afterwards, they were each led up to their own respective rooms. While showing Ray where her room was, the prefect scoffed and glared, demanding to know why she got to be on the second floor, while all the rest of the first years were on the first floor. (They got to move up a floor for each year they were in.)Ray only shrugged, not caring to explain herself. The prefect must’ve felt her mood, her cold demeanor, because he didn’t bother questioning her anymore.He was scared.Ray’s eyes were cold and dead, like a moving, breathing corpse.They were worse than usual right now, realizing that she would be split up from Zack at night. She wouldn’t sleep—she couldn’t sleep without Zack. It seems she’d be doing a few all-nighters for the foreseeable future.Ray wondered if Zack was doing better.Ray wanted a hug from Zack.Once the prefects had finished explaining everything to the first years, Ray decided to retire to her room early, instead of staying up to chat like the others were. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to any of them, and it was easy to see that she was unnerving all of them. They hadn’t realized what the problem was yet, but they could feel something off. They hadn’t seen the living corpse, but they could sense it.Ray stood in her room, making sure the door was shut and locked before she let out a shaky sigh. To some, it may have looked like she was going to break down, but Ray only picked herself up after a moment and dragged out the Hogwarts rulebook in her chest, which had been placed in her room by the house elves earlier.Ray flopped down onto her bed, immediately realizing it didn’t feel right. It was too soft, too cold, too new..Too not Zack.She got as comfortable as she could, and flipped open the first page. Nova was wrapped comfortably around her neck, like they had been all day. (Surprisingly, nobody had noticed the small snake.) Elio was up in the owlery, and Ray promised to visit him tomorrow morning.Ray sighed. It was going to be a long night, and an even longer year.. . . . .Ray flipped close the cover of the Hogwarts rulebook. She’d just finished it—and just in time, too. It was turning morning; just enough time for her to grab a shower and head down to the owlery before breakfast. She left Nova on her bed; the snake wanted to spend the day sleeping.While she was in the shower—she had a bathroom all to herself, connected to her room—, she wondered if Zack had taken one. Probably not. He’d have to re-wrap his bandages back up, and he probably wasn’t used to his body quite yet. She’d seen him trip a couple times, and grab for other things, just to realize his body wasn’t as big as it used to be.Ray got dressed in a fresh pair of robes, having worn her others all night, then headed down to the common room. There were already a few other students there; obviously this house was prone to early risers. (She doubted that was the case with the Gryffindors.) None of them still wanted to talk to her, and that suited her just fine.She knew that she looked worse, anyways. Even Danny would have shied away from the dead look in her eyes, she was sure. She’d be more surprised if all of the kids weren’t avoiding her.The only one who never does is Zack.Zack, Zack, Zack. He was the only thing on her mind.She headed to the owlery; it wasn’t right of her to ignore her wonderful owl because school started. It was the reason she had gotten Elio in the first place, plus nobody would be at breakfast yet.Elio was just as gorgeous and beautiful as always, and he also immediately knew something was wrong with his owner. He was never a cuddly type of owl, but he still let Ray smooth down his feathers, murmuring all of her worries to him. It didn’t help, she knew, but it made her feel a little better.It had only felt like a couple short minutes when Elio hooted her away and told her (in his own way) that she was going to be late soon if she stayed. Ray wondered how out of it she was if she didn’t even realize how much time she’d spent here in a daze.She needed to fix this problem. Maybe Professor McGonagall would listen to her. Hopefully.Ray stood up slowly. Even if she hadn’t noticed how much time she’d spent in the owlery, her body still did, and her aching knees were proof. Ray sighed to herself, thanking Elio as sincerely as she possibly could right now, and headed down to the Great Hall.Upon Ray’s arrival a few minutes later, she noticed quickly that Zack was already sitting down at the Gryffindor table. He was surrounded by Hermione and two others—probably the friends that Hermione was so worried about yesterday on the train. Zack was talking to them all, occasionally taking a bite of a random food.She walked over to the Gryffindor table, ignoring the couple stares that she was getting. (Luckily, most students weren’t there, or didn’t care. Not that it mattered to Ray.)“Zack.”Zack glanced over towards the voice, and Ray was able to see his face light up in glee upon seeing her. (It made her feel a little less dead, to see Zack’s wonderful grin light up because she was here.) And then he noticed how she looked, not that he looked much better. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she was sure he did too.They’d stayed up all night before, but last night was.. especially draining. They didn’t have each other like usual. It’d been the first time they’d been split up in years.“What’s a slimy snake doing over here?!” The redhead scowled, not even bothering to swallow before talking.Neither Zack or Ray minded him. She sat down on the other side of Zack, wondering if he’d let her play with his hair. The redhead seemed aghast that somebody would ignore his ranting, and that his new friend seemed to encourage it. Zack’s hand brushed hers under the table, and Ray instantly felt a bit better. Not much, but a bit.“Is there some sorta rule for sittin’ over here?”“No.”Zack squinted. “You stayed up all night and read the entire rulebook, didn’t ya?”Ray didn’t bother denying, nor would she have anyways. “What did you do?”“I was tryin’ to read our textbooks,” Zack exclaimed proudly. “I think I did pretty well; I remembered most of the words.”“Hello!!” The redhead sarcastically gestured, finally catching their attention with his constant whining. “Why’s a slimy snake sitting at the Gryffindor table?!”“Ron! Didn’t you just hear her?” Hermione scolded, looking exactly like a mom friend. “She said there’s no rule against it, so it’s fine.”“No rule against- Merlin, Mione! You actually believe a snake?!” Ron bellowed, looking aghast.“I’ll have you know I met Rachel yesterday while we were on the train. You know, when you decided to skip! If you want to disprove her so badly, go read the rulebook yourself-”“Bloody hell, Mione! You’re mental! Who would read the entire rulebook-”Ray noticed the other boy sitting with them, slightly cowering down the louder their voices got, and avoiding everyone’s gaze. He trusted them, Ray could see, but it was something ingrained into him. He was acting just like Ray had used to, back when she still lived with her parents-Oh.This kid had been abused.She glanced to his friends, wondering if they knew or not. Ray didn’t think they did, judging by how they seemed to forget about the boy as he made himself more invisible. It seemed that was something they’d both perfected.Ray glanced to Zack, and they shared a quick look. He understood that Ray had realized something, and glanced to the third kid himself. It seemed to settle on him rather quickly, and she could see him mouthing out “Oh.” once he’d realized as well.Ray then glanced to her plate; there was no need to make the kid uncomfortable with constant attention right now. It had somehow gotten a small stack of food on it while Ray was looking away. She sighed, used to Zack’s antics.“You need to eat more! You’re so small!!” Zack would always say, stuffing more food on her plate with a playful grin.In return, Ray would always make sure that Zack would eat more than just sweets, filling up his plate with vegetables. Zack had never whined about it, though Ray could tell he wanted to. They both dutifully ate what the other gave them, though it took Zack a couple tries to give her an amount she’d actually been able to finish. (At this point, he was a pro, he liked to say.)“Are you going to be okay today, Zack? I’m going to try to talk to the teacher, otherwise we’re going to have to resign,” Ray said, taking a bite of her food.“Hey! Why’re you still over here?! Go back to your own table!” Ron bellowed, clearly intent on getting his way.Ray sighed again. Hermione was about to scold him again, but Zack decided to take this one on him, since he’d been hanging out with the redhead for a while now. “Oi, if you don’t want Ray over here, then I’ll go sit over at her table!”“What?! You can’t do that-” Ron frowned. “Why’s a snake get priority over your own house, mate?!”Ray sighed once more, then glared directly into Ron’s eyes. He flinched upon seeing them, definitely not prepared for the uncaring stare of her dead gaze. “I understand that the Gryffindor house has a rivalry with the Slytherin house, but unless you have a problem specifically with me, then do not bring me into it.”While Ron had flinched away from her gaze, the raven boy sitting next to him looked curious, almost intrigued, by her blank stare, sitting up from when he’d slouched down. Ray stared back into his emerald green eyes, taking in each other’s character within a quick glance.“Your eyes are really pretty,” The boy whispered, as if he was afraid of anybody else hearing.“Thank you,” Ray said softly. “My name is Rachel Gardner.”(If he ever called her eyes ‘peepers’, Ray was actually going to shoot him.)“Harry,” he replied, equally soft. “Harry Potter.”He seemed to be waiting for something, because he frowned for a quick second, then it disappeared when Ray’s eyes never moved off of his. She realized he must be used to people thinking of him only for his fame, asking to see the scar. (Ray was sure he had other scars, ones that were much more important, and much more recent.)“Are you excited for school, Harry?” she asked with a small smile.He seemed put off by her nonchalant attitude, especially after telling her his name. “Oh, uh, yes. I am. Zack said you and him are in second year?”Ray nodded. “We’re a.. Special occurrence. Neither of us knew about the wizarding world until about a month ago.”“You never got your letter when you were 11?”Ray took a bite of her food. “We moved a lot.”Harry obviously knew there was more to the story, but they both had their secrets, and didn’t ask for any details.Meanwhile, Zack, Ron, and Hermione had all started up their own conversation, talking about what classes they were most excited for this year. Hermione was ecstatic for all of them, already having a giant book on the table she’s read halfway through. Zack was really excited for potions; he’d worked as a bartender and found it one of the most fun jobs ever, and was really good at mixing things together. Ron was looking at them like they were both insane for liking school, especially potions. (Ray wasn’t sure if she’d get along with Ron well.)Harry and Ray joined their conversation, pretending like they’d never left. Ron still had obvious problems with a Slytherin being there, but glares from the three of his friends (plus Ray’s earlier one) kept him quiet with his opinions.Soon enough, their schedules were all handed out. They never got a chance to look at them, because the mail came flying in only a second later. A bright red letter landed in front of Ron, and he looked terrified as it started unsealing itself in front of their eyes. Zack, with the best instincts ever, covered Ray’s ears. Not knowing why, she covered Zack’s ears in return. They were facing each other, almost like they were about to lean in and kiss, but only stared into each other’s eyes, relishing the contact with each other.When the letter fully broke apart, Ray quickly learned why Zack had done that. The letter was screaming at Ron in a woman’s voice—she could hear what it was saying perfectly even despite Zack covering her ears.Ray also learned that apparently Harry and Ron had flown a car into the Whomping Willow, a tree outside of Hogwarts. Many of the non-wizards, or muggles, had seen them, and now Ron’s dad was facing court or something similar because of it. (Ray wondered whose idea that had been, to steal a car and fly it across the country. Had it been Harry’s?)When the letter finally wailed its last breath, Ron groaned. “Oh, Merlin, Mom’s gonna kill me! Although, it was pretty fun flying the car. I- We almost died a couple of times!”He seemed to be looking at Zack expectantly, as if he expected Zack to find what they did amazing and react about how cool it was, but Zack is always one to disappoint. Instead, he was still trying a couple more of the different foods, always one to get his fill in when he can. (They learned to get their fill when food was there; a lot of times, they never knew when their next meal would be.) Ray was petting his hair and smiling softly, untangling the mess of strands with her fingers and going over their schedules.“You two act like a couple,” Ron stated with an accusatory glare.Ray just hummed. Zack answered by wrapping his arms around her. “Ray is Ray.”“Zack, look.” Ray pointed to their schedules, laying side by side on the table.He glanced over and grinned. They had all sorts of classes, and most of them were together with Ray!!“Oh, it seems most of us have all of our classes together,” Hermione input, comparing her own schedule to theirs.“What? Aren’t you two first years?!” Ron squinted. “Wait- That means that most of our classes are with Slytherins!” He grabbed his schedule roughly and groaned, crumpling up the edges. Both Hermione and Ray cringed internally. (Why would he ruin something so important—that meant so much to them. How could he just destroy it like that, like it meant nothing?)Ray glanced over at Hermione. “I’m going to ignore your friend until he says something worth my time.”“I don’t blame you,” Hermione responded, obviously upset with her friend.Ron seemed to look for comfort from Harry (finally remembering he was there, it seemed), only for Harry to shrug. The redhead had such a look of betrayal on his face that Ray almost wanted to laugh. Both of his friends (also Zack) had sided with a ‘slimy snake’ over him.Ray could almost hear the “What?! Why’re you on her side, Harry?!”Zack seemed to agree with Ray too, nodding along with her. “Hey, hey, Ray. We should go talk to the teacher before classes start!!”Without waiting for Ray’s response (not that she would’ve said no), Zack dragged her out of the table so she was standing. Ray grabbed all of their stuff and shoved it into her bag only seconds before Zack picked her up and gave her a piggy-back ride out of the Great Hall. Most students hadn’t looked over, leaving only a couple baffled Gryffindors and other students who’d only seen a Gryffindor kidnap a Slytherin out of nowhere. (Or were they getting along?)Ray had also, thankfully, memorized the entire castle layout, not fond of getting lost. She pointed the direction Zack needed to go, and Zack followed her instructions until they ended up in Professor McGonagall’s office. They still had a few minutes before they needed to head to class—just enough time to talk about the problem.Zack knocked on the door.“Come in.”The duo entered through the door, and Zack finally saw it fit to put Ray down, though he didn’t let go of her hand. He sat down in the large chair across from Professor McGonagall’s desk and then pulled Ray on his lap, cuddling into her hair and leaving her to do the talking for the most part. McGonagall only looked amused with their antics, still learning just how close Zack and Ray were.“I’m sorry to disturb you, Professor. We seem to have..” Ray frowned, trying to think of the right word. “An issue.”“It looks like neither of you got a wink of sleep last night, Ms. Gardner.”Professor McGonagall’s room was nice and tidy, and painted a dark shade of red. There was a couple odds and ends here and there, along with a large stack of papers (parchments?) on her desk that she was leaning over.“You would be correct,” Ray stated, seeing no point in lying.Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. “I suppose it wouldn’t have been nerves that had kept you up, would it?”“No.”“Might I assume that this is the issue you speak of?”Ray nodded. “Zack and I..” she trailed off, not sure how to explain it.“We need to be touching to fall asleep!” Zack proclaimed.Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, nodding. “I can see how that would be a problem.”“We’re aware you may not be able to solve the problem,” Ray started again, “And we’re prepared to drop out if it cannot be fixed. Neither Zack, nor I, can last an entire year without sleeping.”“You would drop out of Hogwarts so easily?”“I’m good at teaching myself, and others, if necessary. I’ll be helping Zack out with his work anyways,” Ray explained, tilting her head to the side.“Ray’s the best teacher!!” Zack agreed, ruffling her hair in a display of affection.A thought seemed to come to the Professor’s mind. “Zack, have you ever been to school before?”“Nah, Ray taught me how to read and write. I’m still not very good with big words though..” He continued lacing his hands through her hair, fixing the couple knots he’d just created moments before. Ray leaned into the touch, sitting back against his chest.“Well,” the Professor cleared her throat, “I will speak to the staff about solving your problem, so make sure to leave good impressions on them today.”She smiled at the end, stern eyes growing just a bit softer for the two kids in front of her, who she had somehow become so fond of in such a short amount of time. (She knew they were dangerous, but that didn’t seem to matter.)“Thank you, Professor.”“Yeah! Thanks Teach!”Ray stood up from the seat first, holding onto Zack’s hand. She helped him up afterwards, though he definitely didn’t need it. (It was more for the touch than anything.) He trotted over to the door, and Ray followed him.She turned around at the last second, and Zack stopped too, despite being ahead of her. “Professor.”“Yes, Ms. Gardner?”“I met Harry Potter at breakfast.”The Professor glanced at Ray, a mix of emotions swirling in her eyes. She cared for the boy—too much, perhaps. “You will learn soon enough that Mr. Potter is just like the rest of the students.”She seemed used to people asking about him.“He has more scars than just on his forehead,” Ray whispered. “Don’t tell him you know, but please help him.”Professor McGonagall seemed to understand, nodding firmly. Ray turned back around and shut the door quietly, jogging a bit to catch up with where Zack was standing.“Come on Zack, let’s get to class.” Ray smiled, entwining his hand within her own.Zack gripped her hand back tightly, but not hard enough to hurt, grinning widely. He was tired, but less so with Ray next to him. There was the excitement running through his veins of starting his first year of school. A school of magic and spells, and, most importantly, with Ray by his side.