A/N: First of all, this is going to be very AU third year. Basically, there's no Sirius Black, no dementors—just my own troublemakers. If you don't like it, don't read it—it's that simple.

My faerie characters are based off of BBC's 'Shakespeare Retold-A Midsummer Night's Dream' characters, with a few tweaks. Such as, my Puck is female. But you can take the Shakespeare Retold version of Puck and pretty much apply it to Jack. There are pictures on my Live Journal page.

If you have no idea who the faeries are, either do your research or ask me. I'll be happy to explain.

I've only read through book 3 of Harry Potter, so…leave me alone, fanatics.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, really. Anything Harry Potter belongs to whoever Harry Potter really belongs to, and the mythological creatures belong to themselves. I kinda sorta but don't really own Jack—he's the combination of a few different ideas. Don't sue me, I'm barely staying afloat and have lots of student debt. Barnes and Noble just doesn't pay that much.

The Forbidden Forest just couldn't have been a more appropriate name right now. Draco Malfoy burst through the forest, Hermione, Ron and Harry close behind him. Something was chasing them, and it wasn't very pleasant. Stumbling blindly, the teens didn't realize they were trapped till it was too late. The clearing that they lurched into was really more of a dead end, surrounded by thick trees, brush and roots as though the forest itself was bent on snaring them. Whimpering, Malfoy spun around, looking for a way out. "We're trapped!" he cried.

The other three took in their predicament and exchanged a look. They were scared, but crying like a baby wasn't going to help. Harry pulled out his wand, and after a moment's hesitation, Ron followed suit. Hermione quickly found a sturdy stray branch and set it on fire for a make-shift torch. Together, the trio turned to face their attacker.

A shape was slowly emerging before them, a black shadow that was even more black than the forest surrounding it. Harry stood steady, ready to attack if necessary, suddenly very glad that this year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher had taught them things that were actually useful. As the creature moved closer, Harry could swear that he heard a soft, feminine laughter coming from the shadow.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Giggling was his only response. "What do you want from us?"

"Little changelings…" answered a soft, high-pitched female voice. Harry couldn't help but think that she sounded ever so slightly insane. "Sweet little wizard changelings…"

6 months prior…

Beautiful late summer afternoon in the woods of England…and it couldn't have possibly been more boring. Puck sat in the branches of one of her favorite oak trees overlooking the river, and was on the verge of banging her head against the tree trunk. Titania's handmaidens were steering clear of her since the incident with the pigs, and there were no mortals about to play with. The only remotely interesting thing anywhere around was sitting two branches above her and to the left, filing his nails.

Puck looked up at Jack as he studied his left hand and blew on his nails, wiping them against his coat before setting the file to them again. A small smile began to creep its way across her face. Oh well, it would seem that she would just have to make her own fun…

In the blink of an eye, Puck was around the tree trunk and leaning over the pooka's shoulder. "You know," she started slowly, "if you keep doing that there's not going to be anything left."

Jack dropped his hands and looked over at her. "Since when do you care about my nails?" he asked, just before switching hands and working on his right hand. Puck grinned wickedly, reached over and snatched the file from Jack's hands and was on the other side of the tree in a flash.

"Since the sound of this thing has been getting on my nerves all morning," she answered, dodging up the branches as Jack came after her.

"Puck…" he whined. "Give it back."

Wrapping an arm around the tree trunk, she paused, and smiled down at him from her perch. "No," she answered simply, as though he were out of his mind. "I'm finally starting to have some fun." With that, she scampered up a few more branches, this time with Jack on her tail. The two went round and round the great tree, and Puck dropped to the ground suddenly, laughing as she kept just as the pooka's reach.

The two were completely oblivious to the fact that their lord and lady had entered the clearing and were standing near the base of the oak tree, watching the two chase each other around. Oberon leaned against the trunk of the tree, Titania standing next to him, watching for a break in the action. Not seeing one, he cleared his throat loudly…with absolutely no effect.

The jesters both stopped suddenly, standing opposite each other on either side of the clearing. Jack looked annoyed, and Puck was grinning wildly. She was very much enjoying this. "C'mon, Puck, give it back," Jack said, a little more fire to his voice than before. The sprite just laughed and dangled the nail file in front of her face.

"Awww, does little Jackie want his manicure toy back?" she asked, her voice sickly sweet. Jack just growled in frustration.

Oberon exchanged a look with his queen. This could go on for hours if he didn't do something. "Puck," he called, a slight edge to his voice. Unfortunately, she was a little too much into her game to pay much attention. The sprite gave him a little half wave, barely registering his presence.

"Oh Jaaack…" she called, taking a couple of steps back. "Come and get it." He growled and ran at her, only for her to dance out of his reach and twirl around laughing.

Their king, however, was not so amused. He sighed, exchanging a frustrated look with Titania, before striding into the fray himself. Jack and Puck had stopped again, the pooka trying to figure out the best way to capture the hobgoblin. When it looked as though they might go at it again, Oberon decided he'd had enough. Before Puck could run off, he slid up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, halting her in her tracks. The small girl looked up in shock as he plucked the nail file from her hand and tossed it to Jack before releasing her from his grasp. Puck turned and looked up at him with a pout.

"Spoil my fun," she said, crossing her arms across her chest. Oberon just gave her a Look.

"We have some business to attend to," he said seriously. Jack and Puck exchanged a look, before taking a deep breath and turning their attention to their king. Seeing that he actually had their attention now, Oberon made a motion for them to follow him, before turning and heading out of the clearing.

"I've been informed that Illyria has been making plans to raise up some changelings," he started. Puck looked at him from her new perch on the top of one of the many picnic tables that now littered their woods. It hadn't been that long ago that the mortals had turned their woods into some sort of camp-park thing. But on the up side, it did provide more mortals to play with.

"Illyria?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. You know, crazy broad. Had a thing for Oberon years ago. Did the whole, 'I'm gonna seduce the king into loving me' bit." Puck grinned as Oberon groaned and hung his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "It was actually pretty funny." The sprite tried to push back a laugh at the annoyed look on Titania's face. "Oh come on. She tried to turn you into a newt. You can't say that wasn't funny."

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand?" Oberon asked crossly. Puck reduced her smile to a meek grin and cast a sly look to Jack who was perched across from her on the other side of the table. She'd have to tell him the whole story later.

"The thing is, Illyria isn't going after just any children," Oberon said. "She's going after wizard children. One of whom comes from a fey-blessed bloodline. All of the seers say that the ones she's targeted are going to be quite instrumental in their world's time line, so it is imperative that we save them."

"What did you have in mind?" Puck asked, starting to get interested. It had been centuries since they'd had any direct dealings with wizards.

The king had turned back to his lady and wrapped his arms around her as he answered. "What do you think of playing in the mortal realm for a bit?" he asked, a bit of a twinkle in his eye. Puck's face exploded with excitement.

"Really?"

Oberon shrugged. "You'll infiltrate the school, posing as a student. Keep watch over the children. Nothing too drastic."

The female jester giggled. "And maybe a few tricks along the way?"

Oberon smiled. "I don't see why not. They are wizards, after all. Just so long as you don't attract unnecessary attention to yourself. And nothing that would give yourself away to Illyria."

"Have you ever known me to attract unnecessary attention to myself?" Puck asked playfully.

Her master narrowed his eyes at her, and one of his eyebrows crept up. "I'm not going to answer that," he said. Puck smirked, and hopped off the table, grabbing her jacket that had materialized beside her. "You can take Jack with you."

Puck froze, one arm in her jacket, and stared at her lord, wondering and hoping that he was joking. She liked Jack alright, even have a good time with him occasionally, but for something like this…"I can handle it myself."

Oberon cocked his head slightly at her and crossed his arms against his chest. Puck stepped forward, rising up to the unasked question. "I'm sure that Jack would be better served here. He'll just get in my way."

At that, Jack threw down his hands in annoyance. "Oh come on. Me get in your way? When have I ever gotten into your way?"

Puck just rolled her eyes at him, keeping her attention on Oberon. The king looked down, his expression cross; he didn't like it when others challenged him. "You'll take Jack with you," he repeated firmly, his tone reminding Puck that he was, of course, the one in charge. As his changeling, she was bound to his will. But that didn't mean that she couldn't contest it from time to time.

Puck rolled her eyes. "Alright," she groaned, clearly not liking the decision. Oberon gave her a semi-suspicious half-smile, but decided to count his blessings for now.

"Very well. We'll need to hurry, though; there isn't much time for us to make our preparations."

The streets of Diagon Alley were filled with the usual pre-school year chaos. Children and parents were coming out of the woodwork, or so it seemed, with shops filled to capacity as old and new students alike struggled to find all of the necessary items on their back-to-school lists. Unseen above them sat an odd young man bundled up in a buttoned-up brown suede coat, tan scarf, and a gray toboggan that covered most of his chin-length blond-brown hair. He held one hand out in front of him, studying his nails, before pulling a nail file from one of his many pockets and setting to work. Beside him sat a short young woman in a patchwork jacket and uncontrollable dark brown curls. The duo sat on the edge of the roof of one of the stores on the main street, legs dangling in the air, watching the hustle and bustle below. The man sighed, dropping his hands in disgust.

"What are we doing up here?" Jack asked, looking at Puck. The female sprite lifted her chin from her hands to meet his gaze, and let out a sigh of her own, though her's rang with the impatience of a teacher with a slow pupil.

"We're watching," she answered, as though it should be obvious. "If Oberon wants us to blend in with the students, then we need to watch how they act."

"But why? They're just kids. We know how kids act. Hell, most of the time we act more like kids then those little buggers down there."

Puck just shook her head, never losing the air that she thought Jack was being a simpleton. "These are wizard children. They're different. You've never spent any time around wizards, and it's been far too long since I've had any dealings with them. So we need to observe how they act so that we don't go in and completely give our selves away."

"Oh." Jack looked at the nail file in his hand, then back down to the street below them. "So…what now?"

A sigh of defeat was his answer. Puck hung her head before reaching over and snatching the nail file from the pooka's hand, before tossing it to the other side of the roof. Jack grumbled and stood to get it. Puck smiled wickedly, just as something on the street below caught her attention. Jumping up into a squat, Puck precariously balanced at the edge of the corner, hands over feet, looking curiously at what was happening. Three of their soon-to-be charges were on the street below- two boys and one girl. One of the boys and the girl, one with bright red hair, the other with mousy brown, had been coming up one side of the street, while the other boy (who was a pale blond) stalked up to them from the other. Puck watched with delight as the three appeared to have some sort of confrontation. Indeed, the boys even looked close to brawling.

Eventually they separated, the blond boy shoving past the other two and continuing down the street. He must have said something nasty, because the girl had to stop the red-head from charging after him. Puck was almost disappointed—she was curious as to what would have happened. As Jack returned, she started to say something about it, but stopped suddenly, cocking her head to the side as though she were listening to something. After a moment, she stood abruptly.

"Come on," Puck said. "Oberon's tracked one of the children to an inn near here. He wants us to get a room and meet them there." Jack stood and followed her lead. This was going to be interesting.

Business at the Leaky Cauldron was fairly slow, since it was only early afternoon. A bell dinged as Jack opened the door, holding it for the young woman who followed him. Puck shot him a little glare as he smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Jack just ignored her and turned to the innkeeper, handing him a small pouch of gold. "We're gonna need a room for the night, mate," he said.

Tom counted the coins in one hand quickly, before looking up and giving Jack a gap-toothed grin. "Oh, I'm sure we can accommodate you, sir. And your lady friend." The hunchback smiled at Puck, and the sprite managed just a tiny one back. She really wasn't in the mood to be polite at the moment. "Right this way, please." He turned and they followed him up the stairs. Jack allowed Puck to go first up the narrow staircase, but pulled her close again as they walked down the hall, ignoring her attempt to pull away.

"Now, now, play nice, darling," he murmured in her ear. She just growled at him softly. The pooka was having way too much fun with this, and Puck wanted nothing more than to punch the cheeky grin off his face and replace it with a snout.

"Here we are," Tom said, unlocking the door that he'd stopped at and waving the two inside. "You just let me know if we can do anything for ya, then." Jack nodded at him as they stepped inside and closed the door.

Once the door was closed, Puck popped away from Jack as fast as she could, which was, of course, very fast. In a flash, she was several feet away on the other side of the bed. Jack turned from the door and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What, no foreplay?" he asked with a smirk. She just rolled her eyes at him, and a moment later, he was dodging a blast of golden-green Glamour.

"Would you come off it?" she snapped, not so much annoyed at Jack but at the tiny flip-flop she'd felt in her stomach when he'd pulled her close downstairs. "We have work to do." Puck pulled a small pocket watch out of one of her jacket pockets and glanced at it before looking out the window. "Right on time," she muttered to herself, watching a small dark-haired figure approaching the inn with a red-head and brunette in tow. Puck looked up at Jack and gave him a small smile before vanishing from the room altogether. Jack just shook his head and laughed, before doing the same himself. Unlike Puck, he was going to have to track down his target, so he figured he might as well get started. They were all in for a busy night.

Even though she really didn't have to, Puck chose to make herself invisible to the mortals downstairs. Sure, she could have just sat in a corner and watched them from a table, but where was the fun in that? She would much rather be able to get close (at least closer than a stranger could manage) and really know what was going on. Beside, her job was to feel out the children she was to be protecting. That way, she could pick a guise that would make herself endearing to them.

The three children that she'd spotted from the upstairs window were quickly joined by several other red-headed individuals, presumably all the one boy's family. Puck rolled her eyes. Why did some mortals insist on populating the world with so many children? Weren't there enough of their kind as it was? At any rate, it didn't take long for her to take a liking to the two identical boys—they seemed like pranksters, and there was nothing that she loved more than true pranksters. For a moment, Puck lost herself in the thoughts of what sort of wonderful schemes she could pull if there was someone who looked exactly like her. The very thought made her giggle madly; surely Oberon and everyone else would go out of their minds. Oh, but what fun that would be…

The sprite pulled herself out of her revere as she noticed her three charges talking amongst themselves. She scooted over to lean on the pillar directly behind them. It would seem that they were telling the new boy about their encounter with the blond boy in the streets. Even if she hadn't had witnessed the near-fight herself, it was obvious that these three hated the other boy. Puck was suddenly glad that Jack was going with her. It would have been one thing to guard all four if they were friends, quite another to do the same when they're enemies. Puck was still sure that she could have pulled it off, but it wouldn't have been easy if she was to blend in with the students and gain their trust at the same time.

Puck tapped her fingers on her chin as she heard some of the insults that the blond boy had thrown at the two earlier. "Mudblood," the girl spat. "Honestly, I'm beginning to wish that he'd come up with something else for a change. That seems to be the only thing that he can ever throw at my face."

"Try not to let it bother you, Hermione," the dark-haired boy answered. "He's just jealous because he's a full-blooded wizard and can't do half the spells you can."

"Yeah," the red-headed boy agreed. Then his face darkened. "But I swear though, if Malfoy says one more thing about my family…" he waved his wand threateningly. Puck snorted. How could anyone get even a speck of magic done if they had to carry around a twig with them all the time to do it? Ah, the oddities of wizards…

"You'll do absolutely nothing," Hermione finished. "You can't. You'd get expelled if anyone caught you."

The red-head muttered something about 'only if someone caught me' and Puck grinned in spite of herself, the beginning of a plan twinkling in her eyes. If this Malfoy was as much of a bully as they said, then there just might be a way for her and Jack to make this work.

The sprite straightened as she felt Jack return upstairs just as the children were called away to dinner. Perfect timing, she thought, silently whisking herself back up to their room to begin working out their disguises.

Puck stood in their bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror. A quick blast of Glamour had put the thing to sleep (another thing she didn't understand about wizards, giving life to things that have no business being animated) and now she just stood there, hands on her hips, trying to think of something appropriate.

"You could go blond," Jack suggested. Puck turned and glared at him, while her reflection just stuck out her tongue. Turning back to the mirror, she chewed on a fingernail in thought. After they'd gotten back to their room, Puck had shared her idea of a ruse with Jack, and was glad when he'd reported that Malfoy acted exactly as she'd expected him to act. So she would need something innocent…straightening, Puck ran her fingers through and under her hair, her Glamour making it shorter and into more controlled ringlets. Next was the face—she gently rubbed both hands over her face to make it younger and a little more heart-shaped. As she did this she seemed to shrink, just a bit. Puck was already small—she barely topped five feet normally—but she wanted to still be small next to the mortals. Small and innocent and helpless…that was the key.

Puck turned and raised an eyebrow at Jack. He stood from his lounging position on the bed, rising to her unspoken challenge. As he walked towards her slowly, he rubbed a hand across his chin, his beard seeming to grow back into his face. Then he fingered his hair, Glamouring it back into a shorter and neater cut. He too seemed to shrink; Puck figured he'd still be a little taller than the wizard boys they'd be caring for, but that was good—Jack's role would need it. When he was done Puck found herself face to face…well, face to shoulder… with a clean-cut boy who held himself as someone of importance. The slight slouch that was normally a part of Jack's figure was gone—this was a young man who'd been raised to believe that he was better than others and that he was to be someone important someday. Puck held his gaze for only a moment before bursting into giggles. This was going to be great.

"I see you two have been busy." The sprites turned to see Oberon and Titania standing near the door. Puck struck a pose for them.

"What do you think?" she asked. Oberon smiled approvingly.

"Very nice," he answered. Jack and Puck looked at each other again, giving their opposite an once-over, before nodding in unison. Yes, these disguises would do nicely.

"Everything is in order at the school. You've both been added to the rostrums, in the appropriate houses and years. No one in the administration should notice your arrival," Oberon continued, walking over and taking a seat on the bed. Puck thought that he looked just a bit winded, and glancing at Titania, she could also see signs of strain on her queen as well. The jester was at her king's side in an instant, shedding her mortal masquerade just as quick.

"You alright?" she asked, concern in her eyes. Oberon looked up at her and smiled tiredly.

"The defenses at the school have been improved since I was there last," he answered, and now Puck could hear the weariness creeping into his voice. "And we very nearly had an encounter with the headmaster." Oberon smiled at Titania as she joined him on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around him. Then he switch his gaze back to Puck and Jack, who had also changed back to normal and was standing close behind her.

"I want you two to be careful around him," he added seriously, looking them both in the eye one at a time to make sure he had their full attention. "I don't think he'll sense you, but if he's set on your trail he very well might see through your disguises. I'm quite certain he sensed us, if just for a moment, and he was on the other end of the school. I made sure of that." Oberon inhaled deeply and held his gaze on Puck's, pointing a finger at her for emphasis.

"No tricks around him," he said slowly, emphasizing each word. "He seems to be a good man, but you know as well as I the impressions wizards have of us. They remember only the bad, and it's been such a long time since they've seen anything else, that I don't really blame him. I don't want us making any trouble with him." Oberon held his gaze steady and raised his eyebrows expectantly until Puck nodded her understanding, and he nodded in turn.

"Good. Now, the train leaves in the morning. Here are the things you two need to gather by then. I assume you've worked out a plan regarding the children?" Puck and Jack nodded as he handed them each a list. "Excellent. I want to hear it later, before we leave. Now, be off with you. The hard part may be over, but there's still some chores left to be done before we're through."