September 1, 1995

As the Hogwarts Express chugged steadily across the countryside, Jenna Harper sat quietly, leaning against the cool glass of the window. Her twin brother Wyatt slept next to her, his wire-rimmed glasses slipping almost comically down his face as a small drip of spittle crept out from the corner of his mouth. On Jenna's lap, their elderly black Persian "Fiddlesticks" purred contentedly.

Year Seven. Their final year at Hogwarts. And then… Jenna felt her lip curl. The adult world.

Jenna had an apprenticeship waiting for her after graduation with the Healers at St. Mungo's, and Wyatt was being considered for an entry level position with the International Magical Trading Standards Body at the Ministry of Magic. They'd both worked their arses off to be successful, but that didn't stop Jenna from being… terrified. Being in school made her feel safe, and it allowed her a certain degree of freedom to do as she pleased without having to worry about any major responsibilities.

But after graduation… No more leisure time. No more long hours of uninterrupted reading. She'd have to learn to talk to people, to communicate properly. (She might even have to make eye contact. Yech.) She'd have to learn to adapt to changing situations. Hogwarts, for the most part, stayed relatively predictable in terms of what was expected of her and what she could expect from it. But what should she expect from the real world?

Wyatt didn't seem worried. He never did. He was always perfectly content to be wherever he was, and he'd never had difficulty in getting people to like him. Wyatt was always just slightly above average. (He'd almost been made a prefect in Year Five. He'd been considered, but there were others who were better. And he'd heartily congratulated the ones who'd made it without a hint of bitterness.) He was friendly to everyone, and he was always reliable.

Wyatt was like that one neighbor everyone seemed to have: nice enough, but people were sort of vaguely aware of him. Some people didn't… quite remember his name. Others weren't entirely sure which House or Year he was in. They just knew that he was 1) always polite and 2) always there when he was needed.

Jenna, on the other hand…

She took an entirely different approach when it came to school: Don't speak unless it's necessary, stick to routine, and don't get distracted. Her main goal when it came to socialization was to not be noticed, and she was quite good at that. However, the few times people did notice her, they might have described her as, at best, shy and, at worst, reclusive. The only person at school she really spoke to was Wyatt. If they were both in the library, she occasionally spoke to Roger Davies (Head Boy, Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, and sort of sweet when he wasn't around his friends), although she usually avoided him because he often emitted a strong scent of hair gel. (She'd dated a Hufflepuff girl named Olivia, but they'd both been far too socially awkward to take care of each other emotionally. The sex had been phenomenal, though. Jenna had found she had a bit of a natural flair for certain... acts. But they'd had a massive blow up last Easter and hadn't so much as looked at each other afterwards.)

Both she and her brother shared the same general physical appearance: They both had curly brown hair, although Jenna's was longer and usually pulled back, and identical dark brown eyes and olive skin. They were also both much taller than their classmates, with Wyatt standing at 6'0 and Jenna at 5'10. However, despite their shared traits and genetic linkage (former womb-mate status!), they were really quite different.

Once the train had stopped at Hogsmeade station, Jenna gently shook her brother awake. Together, they wove through the crowds to snag one of the carriages. They passed by that troublemaker Harry Potter, and Jenna noticed that he was eyeing the thestrals in alarm. Jenna rolled her eyes. Was he just now noticing them? Jesus.

Just don't screw up this last year for me, Potter, and we'll be fine, Jenna thought as she swung herself into a carriage after Wyatt.

Once they'd all been seated in the Great Hall, Jenna watched the Sorting with mild amusement. She remembered that feeling of apprehension of standing there, all of those eyes on you, as you waited for your name to be called. And then once it was called, that agonizing walk up to the stool, that moment of sheer panic as you seemed to look into everyone's eyes at once as they tried to guess where you'd be going, that brief silence right before the Sorting Hat assigned you…

Jenna had tripped on the steps up to the stool. Her legs had been trembling so badly that she'd hardly been able to stand herself up. Luckily, though, Wyatt had been right behind her, and he'd helped her on. People had laughed, but she'd managed to keep from breaking down right then and there.

As the First Years shuffled their feet nervously as they waited their turn, Jenna let her eyes wander up to the High Table to scope out the staff. Since Moody was gone, there was bound to be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor…

A-ha! There, a bright pink flower in the sea of dark robes. That was… a lot pink for one person.

She looked rather short, although it was hard to tell when she was sitting down. She was older, at least fifty-five. Her face was kind of… broad, quite wrinkled. Her mouth was wide and thin, painted in bright pink lipstick. Her eyes… Well, Jenna couldn't quite see them from afar. Her mousy brown hair was stiffly curled and topped by a black bow. Overall, the woman looked… kindly, sweet. She looked like someone who'd like to cuddle under a warm blanket on a rainy afternoon, and who would giggle through her fingers at dirty jokes while feigning a stern look at whoever it had come from.

Jenna felt her cheeks grow slightly warm. The woman wasn't really attractive by any means, but… something about her made Jenna's body tingle. She bit her lip, feeling slightly dazed.

She glanced at Wyatt, who was watching the Sorting with mild amusement. He nudged her.

"What do you think?" he whispered, pointing to a particularly smug-looking girl. "Slytherin?"

Jenna shrugged, then nodded towards the High Table. Wyatt looked over, nodding.

"I suppose that's the new Professor." He noted. "Doesn't really look like someone who'd teach Defense…" He frowned. "More like… etiquette, maybe? Ballroom dancing?" He smirked. "Looks a bit like a frog. Or a toad, maybe."

Jenna elbowed him in the side, looking up to see if she'd somehow heard him. She was gazing around at the students, a prim, polite smile on her pink lips.

"Jenna, does someone have a bit of a crush?" Wyatt teased gently. "Come on, you can tell me."

Her eyes gradually seemed to reach their spot. Jenna knew the woman wasn't really looking at her, just in her direction, but… she couldn't help but smile at her. When her smile widened, Jenna quickly looked away.

After the Sorting, Dumbledore introduced her as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Dolores Umbridge.

"Jenna Umbridge." Wyatt whispered once Dumbledore had begun his speech. Jenna's face went hot, and she punched Wyatt hard in the thigh, scowling.

Midway through Dumbledore's speech, Professor Umbridge made a very… strange sound.

"Hem hem!"

She was… interrupting Dumbledore? What?

What the arse? Was that even allowed?

As she began her own speech, Jenna felt a tiny twinge of annoyance at this woman. She was speaking as though they were all toddlers, as though they were in need of spoon-feeding. The whole speech, in general, was rather… dull, Jenna noted. Professor Umbridge certainly seemed to enjoy the sound of her own voice. (It was rather cute, as breathy and high-pitched as it was, although Jenna could see it getting irritating very quickly.)

Once she'd finished speaking and had taken her seat, the Great Hall seemed to fill with whispers and uncomfortable shuffling. What she'd basically said was the Ministry would be getting more hands-on at Hogwarts, and that she was the go-between.

Jenna looked at Wyatt.

"I have a feeling this woman may be more trouble than she's worth."