RIGHT. Another fic, yeah, I know I haven't updated any of my others in years. Sowwwy. This is another alternate chapter story, written by both me and Maya Sunshine. You should totally check out her profile, she's AWERSUUMM.

It is actually about us being witches in Hogwarts, written in the 3rd Gen. Characters totally based around ourselves, though with slight differences.

So I'll write a chapter, then she'll write a chapter and so on.

Enjoy, and please review.

Tielle, x

Chapter 1

Grabbing the handles of her trolley firmly, Tielle ran forwards through the platform divider in Kings Cross station, coming through on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, and meeting Blaise Zabini on the other side. Blaise was her father. Not biologically. She was left on his doorstep with a tatty note reading: 'Tielle Liza. Born on 24th December. Half-blood." Blaise had taken her in and looked after her since that day, with occasional help from nannies when he had to go out, or when he was working. But it was normally just Blaise and Ti, and she liked it that way.

She knew she was adopted from a young age. Having a totally different skin-tone, and looking completely different kind of gave it away a bit. Ti was quite pale, with freckles, brown hair and an oval shaped face, whereas her father was dark-skinned and had charcoal black hair, a very thin face and pointy features. She had come to terms with it quickly: He wanted her, and her parents didn't. Simple as.

She instantly spotted her best friend, Maya Wood, standing with her family a few steps away and discarded her trolley to run over and pull her into a death gripping hug. It had only been three days since they'd seen each other, but it felt like forever to Ti. Maya's father was Oliver Wood; captain of Puddlemere United. She was biased to support them because of that fact.

Besides their family backgrounds and houses – Tielle being a Slytherin and Maya being a Ravenclaw – They had been best friends since they met on their very first Hogwarts Express journey. They were both nervous and neither had anybody to sit with, so they sat together. Maya would have sat with her older brother, Alex, but he wanted 'alone time' with his girlfriend.

Ti noticed the icy stare as Blaise greeted Mr and Mrs Wood, and looked towards Maya, both of them rolling their eyes in sync and then giggling. Ti smiled at Alex. She used to have such a big crush on him when they first met, but she'd got over it quickly enough. "How's your head?" She asked him, slightly guiltily.

When Ti had spent a week with them in the holidays, she'd accidently hit his head with the end of her broom when they were having a game of Quidditch in the Woods' massive back garden.

He laughed slightly. "Better now. Remind me never to play quidditch with you ever again."

She rolled her eyes. "You love it." She laughed and took her trolley from her father, giving him a quick hug and kiss. "See you at Christmas?" She asked.

"Of course, sweetheart. I've invited Draco, Astoria and Scorpius this year. They fancied a change of scenery."

Ti's eyes widened. She was on speaking terms with Scor, but she knew he would hate this idea as much as she did. She made a mental note to write her name on the 'staying for Christmas' list when it came around.

She just smiled and hugged him again, pushing her trolley along the platform in search of an empty compartment, Maya right next to her. They found one near the very end of the train and loaded their trunks into it. Ti's new kitten, Scribble, was sleeping soundly in his squat plastic crate. The plastic crate was bigger than most - She frowned upon keeping animals in small spaces, but she had no other choice because she didn't want him to get hurt or lost.

She'd purchased him the day after she got back from Maya's house two days previously. The kitten was grey and white, and had a cute pink nose. Ti adored him, and with her father's pureblood history, their family were definitely well off enough to care for him.

Ten minutes later, the train had left the station and Ti let Scribble out to wander the compartment freely. He just curled up next to her and went back to sleep. Giggling, she stroked his back for a while and looked towards Maya. "And the insanely boring journey begins here..."

Maya nodded. The two were so bored of the whole-day journey to Hogwarts. They were about to start their sixth year at Hogwarts. That's twelve journeys without counting going home for Christmas, Easter and other holidays.

"Did you hear what my dad said on the platform?" Tielle asked, fighting the urge to roll her eyes again. "I'm staying at Hogwarts this year, for sure."

"You could always come and have Christmas with us, mum and dad won't mind." Maya suggested helpfully.

"As long as I think of a good enough excuse as to why I'd rather spend Christmas with you than him - that sounds great!"

Just then, a curious buzzing noise came from the direction of Ti's bag. Exchanging a curious look with Maya, she unzipped it cautiously, preparing to whip her wand out at any given moment, and found the source of the buzzing: It was just her phone vibrating. She was still not used to it, after being bought up in a completely wizarding environment.

She saw Albus Potter's name on the caller ID and quickly hid the screen from Maya, subtly as she could manage. She raised it to her ear and tapped the answer button with her thumb.

"Hello?"

"Hey are you alone?" He asked.

"Nu-uh."

"Shoot. I want to see you, I've missed you."

"Me too." She frowned.

"I'm in carriage twenty two. Just FYI."

"See you in five." She smirked slightly and hung up, putting the phone back in her bag and zipping it up.

She looked innocently towards Maya. "Well, I have to go and find somebody. I'll see you later..." She grinned slightly and stood up.

Tielle and Albus never used to speak, but they were put in pairs for a muggle studies assignment and, after all the awkward silences, had got to know each other. He was one of the few people who knew the real her and actually liked her for it. He knew how much she hated being in Slytherin, he knew how much she loved Quidditch. He even knew how sensitive she could be.

Maya stopped her. "Who was that?" She asked suspiciously, picking up Scribble and seating him on her lap.

"Nobody." She replied casually. "I just have to go see them, and I'll be back in a few."

As soon as Albus had asked her out, she accepted. She'd even snuck out to see him a fair few times in the holidays, unnoticed by both Al's parents and her father. They'd sworn not to even tell their closest friends about it. I mean, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? A Potter and a Zabini? The amount of torture they'd go through just for being together.

"Won't be long." She smiled and left the compartment, closing the door behind her and walking down the carriage, leaving Maya staring suspiciously at her from inside.

She reached compartment twenty two and saw Albus sitting casually by himself through the window. Smiling, she opened the compartment door and pulled down the blind after she'd closed it.

He stood up and kissed her lightly on the lips, then pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you." He whispered in her ear.

She smiled. "I missed you too." She half pulled away from the hug and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him back. She hated that he was about a head taller than her, but in his words he thought it was 'cute'. She just thought he was a giant.

Just then, Al's brother James opened the carriage door, making all three of them freeze. Tielle moved her lips away from Al's and bit her lip. That was a trait of hers – biting her lip when she was nervous.

"I..." He stopped and pointed from Albus to Tielle and back again, obviously in shock. He'd just caught his brother kissing a Zabini. Yeah, a Zabini. He came in and closed the door, locking it behind him.

Albus let go of Tielle and they both took a step away from each other. The silence was pressing on her ears. Not a single thing I say can possibly make this worse, she thought, though still biting her lip. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just stood there awkwardly, waiting for James or Albus to speak.

James sighed deeply. "Do you have any idea what this could do to my rep?" He asked. "What's the deal with you two? You'd better just be doing this for fun because if you're dating..."

"Which we are..." Albus added in, making Ti close her eyes tightly for a couple of seconds before opening them again. This wasn't going so well.

James rubbed his face in his hands and looked back up, lost for words.

"Pott... James?" Ti asked as kindly as she could manage. He looked towards her in a way of showing she had his attention. She thought for a few seconds about what to say, and chose her words carefully. "We'd really appreciate it if you'd, well, not mention this to anyone?"

"Oh, sure!" He said sarcastically. "Normally I would, but what's in it for me?" He casually took a seat, putting up his feet and putting his arms behind his head.

Ti took a deep breath, then smiled deviously. "How about I get you a date with Maya?" She asked him with a smirk.

She knew James had been crushing on her for ages, but every time he asked her out, or hinted that he liked her, she rejected him.

He shot up like a rocket. "Really?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Only if you keep your mouth shut." She shrugged.

"Deal." He grinned and held out his hand.

She shook it and smirked again. "Deal."

When Tielle had said a hasty, rather awkward goodbye to Albus, she walked back to the carriage herself and Maya were occupying and went in to find it completely empty, except from the girls' trunks and Scribble, who was still sleeping. There was a note magically stuck to the window which Tielle pulled off before reading.

Ti,

I've gone to the prefects' compartment.

Be back soon.

Maya.

Tielle winced slightly at the tone of the writing, just knowing Maya knew something was going on and wasn't happy that she hadn't been let in on it.

Sighing, she sat next to Scribble and got comfy, waiting for Maya to get back.

The train finally boarded in Hogsmeade station, and Maya was acting normally. Maybe she doesn't suspect anything after all... Tielle thought, more hopefully than certainly.

She put Scribble back in his plastic box and pulled her trunk from the train, making it thud noisily on the floor. She saw Albus a fair few feet away, and he caught her eye, smiling, then gesturing for her to go over to him. Maya was just getting her things from the carriage, and she shook her head with an apologetic expression. It was just too risky. She watched as he stopped a second year and gave him something, then pointed at her. She wasn't the best lip-reader, so she had no idea what he was saying. When he was done, he looked back at her, winked and walked towards the carriage.

She was so busy wondering what was going on that she didn't realise the second year standing right next to her just a few seconds later.

"Erm, excuse me?" He asked, holding out a folded piece of parchment. "This is for you..."

Ti took it and smiled. "Thanks."

"What was that all about?" Maya asked, suddenly appearing on her other side, and watching the second year walk away.

She shrugged. "Not a clue."

Maya gestured to the note. "Let's see then."

"Actually, I think I'll look at it later..." She folded it up smaller and placed it safely in her pocket.

"Oh-kaay..."

She smiled and they started walking, towards the carriages. She deposited her trunk and Scribble's box with everybody else's things and found a carriage with Maya. The carriage was full of Ravenclaws, a few of which were friends of Maya's. Ti sat there quietly as her friend chatted away.

Subtly, she slipped the note from her pocket and opened it quietly. It read:

Querida,

Sorry about my lame-ass brother earlier. You and I both know he's a total dolt.

I really have missed you.

Meet me by the lake at nine?

I'll be waiting.

Al. xxx

Maya noticed Tielle slipping the note back into her pocket and stopped her conversation. "Hey! You opened it without me!" She said, pouting slightly. "What did it say?"

"Nothing." Ti replied with a reassuring smile. "Absolutely nothing." Then thinking, or maybe the complete opposite of that...