A/N: Hey, everyone! So this is my new story, called Then You Look At Me. Title is taken from a Celine Dion song, which, disclaimer: I totally do not own. Among the other things I do not own are Harry Potter; the books, characters, world, etc. I definately do not own Glee or it's characters, although that would be awesome.
A huge thank you goes out to my Beta, shanpagne16. She's so awesome. If you like Twilight fanfiction, she has a rather awesome story over there. Check it out!
I don't think there's much else I have to say, so, without further ado, here's chapter one. :)
"BRITTANYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Santana flung the door open to her next-door neighbor's house with practiced ease. "I GOT MY LETTER! WHERE ARE- Oh," She stopped screeching as Brittany came sliding around the corner from the kitchen in her socks, which apparently didn't have much grip, because moments later she crashed into Santana. Laughing, Santana righted her friend and gave her a furious hug. Brittany was literally bouncing with joy.
"Me, too, San! Me, too!" Brittany looked like she was going to say more, before stopping and considered for a moment what she would say next. Santana, quite used to this, waited patiently until Brittany turned to her. "San," she said thoughtfully, "should we go find Q?"
Now it was Santana's turn to fall quiet. In her rush to get to Brittany, she had completely forgotten about Quinn, Brittany's other next door neighbor and the third musketeer in their little gang. The girls had promised each other months ago that they would wait and open their letters all together.
"Oh, um… yeah, sure!" Brittany's face lit up at her statement, before she took Santana's hand and dragged her out the door.
As soon as the door was closed, the girls skipped across the lawns, letters in hand, stopping at Quinn's doorstep and knocking frantically. A few moments later, the door was opened by a fairly somber looking Judy Fabray.
"Hey, girls, Quinny's in her room. She's a bit upset at the moment, so just be mindful of that, please?"
The girls frantically nodded.
"Alright, come in. Please don't forget to take your shoes off because of the new carpet!"
The girls nodded again before being left to their own devices. Brittany had some difficulty getting her shoes off, but Santana was there to help her.
"Sanny," Brittany whispered softly. "Why is Quinn upset?"
Santana simply shrugged a bit, before taking Brittany's hand and leading her up the stairs to Quinn's room.
The girls tiptoed through the open door just to the left of the landing. They could see their friend's shoulders shaking from her four-post bed, and within seconds, Brittany was next to her, cradling Quinn's head to her chest. Santana took a few moments longer, but soon she had thrown herself next to her friends, her head on Brittany's shoulder, looking at Quinn in sadness, an arm on both girls' backs.
"Q," Brittany asked shyly, "what's the matter?"
Quinn took one look at the girl's letters, still clasped tightly in their hands, and it set off another wave of tears. "I… I…" she gasped tearfully. "I haven't gotten my letter," and everything following was unintelligible sobs.
Understanding the issue now, Brittany pulled the miserable girl even closer to her chest, and Santana started rubbing comforting circles on each of her girls' backs. "Quinn, honey…" Brittany purred. "You just haven't gotten it yet." This caused Quinn to lift her head a little. "Don't worry, Q! I'm sure it'll be here soon!" Brittany grinned down at her friend, causing the corners of Quinn's mouth to jerk up in an attempt to smile.
The girls were able to distract Quinn for about ten minutes, which was the time it took Brittany and Santana to recap their adventure from the day before where they thought they saw a Red Cap down by the river. "I swear, Q, it was totally real! I wonder if the river was an old battlefield of some sort." Brittany gushed. Santana was able to fill in the parts Brittany left out or forgot, and pretty soon Quinn was smiling again. Brittany had just finished talking about the turtle fish the girls had found and named 'Raymond' because they "Thought it was appropriate." When she suddenly burst out, saying "I can't wait to read about all the creatures around the castle in Hogwarts, a History!"
Santana stilled her hand, which had made its way down to Brittany's ribs to make random designs there, and it was enough to let Brittany know she may have misspoken. She bit her lip anxiously, and opened her mouth to apologize to Quinn, but was interrupted with a rapid pecking at Quinn's bedroom window.
Quinn jolted out of bed to let the owl in, and probably would have passed out with relief if Santana hadn't been seconds behind to catch her.
"Oh," Quinn gasped, "Oh, thank God. You guys have no idea the pressure I was under to be my parent's perfect offspring, I have no idea what would've happened…" Quinn stopped talking and just cradled her letter close. "Oh, hang on." She ripped open her bedroom door that Santana had closed behind her and yelled "Mom! Mama! I got my letter!" She proceeded to tear down the stairs and towards her mother.
Brittany and Santana went to sit back down on Quinn's bed until she inevitably came back up. Santana pulled Brittany into her, and Brittany merrily snuggled her nose into Santana's neck.
"I'm really glad Quinn got her letter. I don't know what we would have done at Hogwarts without her," Santana sighed, pulling Brittany closer to her body.
"Silly," Brittany reached up and bopped her nose, "I told you that she would."
"You're right." Santana said with a playful eye roll. "You're always right. You're so smart." And she could feel Brittany's lips pull into a smile against her neck.
Hours later, after the girls had finished pouring over their supply lists, discussing what pets they would bring to school, what wand type they thought they would get, and if they could beg to be on their perspective Quidditch teams, the subject turned to houses.
"Guys," Santana began cautiously, "What happens if we don't get sorted into the same house?"
"What makes you say that, San?" Quinn countered, inquisitive.
"Well… neither of you are really Slytherins. And I'm going to be one, so it's going to totally suck that we can't have classes together. You'll probably be a Gryffindor, Q, 'cause you're all kinds of courageous. And B, you'll probably be in-"
"Hufflepuff," Brittany finished for her. "I wouldn't mind it, though. That's what house my mom was in, and I really wouldn't mind being in the 'nice house'," Brittany smiled dreamily.
"Actually, I was going to say Ravenclaw." Santana said, smiling. "You're a genius, Britt. I wouldn't be surprised if the hat knew it as soon as it touched your pretty head."
Brittany gave her a smile that could kick start the formation of a solar system, and Santana felt butterflies in her tummy.
'Wait, what? What was that?' Santana thought. It had happened a few times, but only around Brittany. She guessed it was just part of her natural charm... literally. She knew everyone expressed it differently, and she assumed this was Brittany's way of doing it. Giving people butterflies. How fitting.
"Well, S," Quinn piped up. "There's no need to worry about it now! Let's cross that bridge when we get to it!"
Santana smiled brightly in response, accepting the distraction.
"Okay, girls," Quinn began again. "What do you say you both sleep over here and we can wake up tomorrow, together, and make our moms take us to Diagon Alley?"
Brittany and Santana rapidly agreed, and owled their parents to let them know they would be staying over Quinn's.
It was convenient that they all lived right next-door to each other, and that their parents were all friends. Both Brittany and Santana's fathers worked at St. Mungo's, the wizarding hospital, which is where Santana's mother had worked until she left to stay at home and raise her daughter. Brittany's mother, however, had been a very famous, very talented Auror, until she left to have Brittany, and a few years later, Britt's sister, Rosie. Four years ago, Brittany and Rosie's Aunt and Uncle had been tragically killed in a house fire.
At the time, Brittany was seven years old; Rosie was five. Brittany's Aunt and Uncle had left behind their son, Sam. Sam was Brittany's age, and when Brittany's parents adopted Sam, the pair became two peas in a pod. Sam was Brittany's best friend… after Santana, of course.
When Nancy Pierce had worked as an auror, she was introduced to Quinn's father, Russell. Russell Fabray was a lead editor for the Daily Prophet, and was highly respected all throughout the wizarding world hub that was the Ministry of Magic. While Maribel Lopez and Nancy Pierce had quit their jobs to raise their children, Judy Fabray had decided long ago to be a stay-at-home mother, taking care of two sons before Quinn - Josh and Peter. Josh had already graduated Hogwarts, and was now training under August Pierce and Carlos Lopez. So, in living together and raising their children together, Nancy, Judy, and Maribel became very close, and, by extension, their three girls became the best of friends.
The next morning Brittany, being their human alarm clock, decided to wake the other girls by viciously jumping up and down on the bed. Quinn was up by the second bounce. She groaned and rolled over, out of the bed, and into the bathroom to freshen up.
Santana was still asleep. Brittany was fully aware of how difficult it was to wake Santana without her freaking out and accidentally punching you in the nose, and she relished the task at their sleepovers.
She could almost always stop Santana from becoming violent.
"Time to wake up, Santana." She whispered near the girl's ear, scratching her back softly.
"Saaaaaaaan." She tried again… no movement. The only sound that occurred was a deep, low grumble coming from somewhere in the depths of Santana's chest.
Brittany pondered a moment on what her next wake-up method would be, before she lightly pinned Santana's arms down and kiss-attacked her face. Santana's face scrunched up very cutely for a few seconds, before she opened her eyes blearily and looked up at Brittany.
"Hi," Santana managed to croak.
Brittany giggled a wispy "Hi," in response.
With Santana's guard momentarily down, Brittany seized the perfect opportunity to tickle her best friend on Quinn's bed. Santana immediately guffawed, before squealing and begging for mercy, until Brittany finally got off of her with a mischievous smile.
"Girls! Breakfast!" Judy called down to them. Brittany raced out the door, with Santana hot on her heels.
When they got downstairs, the girls saw that Sam and Nancy were already seated at the table. Brittany skipped over to them, gave both her mother and brother kisses on the cheek, and sat down across the table from Sam. Santana followed, gave Sam a wave and Mrs. Pierce a hug.
"Where's the brat?" Santana inquired as soon as she sat down next to Brittany.
"Quidditch camp for the day," Nancy replied happily. She was much too chipper in the mornings, Santana thought. She thought about how Brittany was always happy when she woke up, and there was Sam, all smiley and alert diagonally across from her. Maybe it's a family thing, Santana mused.
Brittany caught her thinking expression, and nudged her shoulder playfully. Santana smiled back as Quinn came down the stairs, hair freshly washed and already in her going-out clothes.
Quinn took the remaining seat at the table, and then looked around. "Where's Pete?" She turned to her mother. "Is he still sleeping?"
"Oh, no," Judy answered, sighing, "He had to work, so he left me a list of his things he would need for school. I told him if he forgot anything we could make a quick stop before you all have to get on the train."
The girls nodded silently, each digging into their own breakfast. Sam was already on his second helping of eggs.
"Looks like it's just us, then!" Nancy said cheerfully.
"Mrs. Pierce-" Santana started to say.
"Santana." Nancy chided the girl, "How many times do I have to tell you? Please, call me Nancy. Or, if you insist on using the 'Ms.' at least call me 'Ms. Nancy'."
Santana smiled down at her plate. "Sorry." Santana mumbled bashfully. Brittany nudged her shoulder again. "Oh! Right. Um, Ms.… Nancy? What about my mom?"
"Oh! I almost forgot." Nancy exclaimed. "Santana, your mom is going to be meeting us there, your father accidentally left his lunch at home, so she's bringing it to him," she smiled at the girl.
The group divided, getting ready to travel by floo to Diagon Alley. Brittany was with Sam, Santana with Quinn, and the mothers were together. One by one, each of the pairs took a handful of the powder, stepped into the fireplace, and yelled 'Diagon Alley!'
The girls were all glad that they had been to Diagon Alley prior to this outing; otherwise all of the hustle and bustle may have frightened them.
"Okay, girls… and boy." Judy and Nancy pulled the four youngsters aside. Santana smirked a bit at this.
She didn't understand why Sam always had to come on all of their trips. It wasn't that she didn't like him; she liked him a lot, actually. It's just that whenever Sam was around, Brittany paid less attention to her because she liked playing with him. Santana wasn't jealous, or anything. She just liked days where it was just her and Britt. It was then that Santana noticed the moms talking- had they been doing that this whole time? Everyone knows not to talk over her inward soliloquies! Santana sighed, and turned back to the conversation.
"So, ground rules?" Judy asked.
"No talking to adult strangers, we all have to stick together, if we have to go to the bathroom it needs to be in groups of two, and only buy what it says we need on our lists." Brittany rattles off. Santana grinned at her. How could anyone ever call her stupid?
"When are we going to meet up with Santana's mom?" Quinn inquired.
"We're meeting her outside the Leaky Cauldron for lunch; remember we're going there before we get your wands and pets?" The foursome nodded. "Okay, good luck kids! We'll see you at lunch!" and with that, Nancy and Judy were off.
The foursome sighed in relief. This was their big test before Hogwarts; to prove to their parents that they could take care of themselves, if only for a few hours.
"Guys, can we get all our books right before lunch? They'll be the heaviest to carry around." Everyone agreed quickly with Quinn's suggestion.
"Do we want to start at the apothecary?" Santana offered. The group nodded and went to join the line of students buying their potion supplies.
It was Brittany who first noticed the posters. They were walking out of the apothecary when she tugged on Santana's sleeve, and pointed at the nearest pillar. "San," she gasped, "Look!"
Santana followed Brittany's finger to a poster of the notorious criminal, Sirius Black. Santana instinctively took Brittany's hand and squeezed it gently, as if to say she'd protect her, even from a thoughtless criminal who blew up thirteen people many years ago. Brittany squeezed back, before Quinn decided that was enough lingering, thank you very much, and took them all to get cauldrons.
Santana and Sam had to spend an entire ten minutes convincing Brittany to not get the one with sparkles that changed color "No offence, B-bear, but don't cauldrons melt pretty often? Are you sure you don't want to spend your allowance on a pet instead?"
Begrudgingly, Brittany nodded, and they left the shop with four brand new pewter cauldrons in tow. The cauldrons were an excellent idea, because now they could store all their things in them without having to carry it all in their arms.
Sam pushed open the door to Madame Malkin's shop, and held it open behind him for his sister and friends. This was what Santana was most excited about, after her wand, of course. There was something about getting their Hogwarts robes fitted that confirmed with certainty that they were going.
A middle-aged witch bustled over to them. "Hogwarts?" she asked, with a twinkle in her eye.
"Yes ma'am." Sam answered respectfully. The witch, who they assumed was Madame Malkin, blushed slightly at the sight of his easy smile.
The girls rolled their eyes. Sam was so charming, they weren't even sure he was consciously doing it anymore. Santana scoffed lightly.
The elder witch giggled and gave them all roughly-sized robes to try on.
The girls finished first, and Sam was just being hemmed when the door rang, signaling someone walking in. Three heads turned to see none other than Noah Puckerman, a boy their age whom all four of them had met before at Ministry parties. There was a tall, lanky boy next to him.
None of the girls recognized him, so they all became rather shy until Noah said, "Hey, guys. Imagine all of us being in Diagon Alley on the same day. Excited for Hogwarts?" The girls all nodded, while Sam was looking at the tall boy with interest. "Me too. Already got a letter asking me to be on the house Quidditch team this year."
Santana rolled her eyes. "Alright, Noah." She said suspiciously. Obviously he was lying. How can they ask you to be on the team when they don't even know what house you'll be in?
"Actually, I go by Puck now. It's more badass." And before any of the girls could correct him, Madame Malkin spoke up with a mega-watt smile and an "All done! Off you go!" to Sam.
He stepped down, still in his Hogwarts robes, when a realization came over his face. "Hey… are you Finn Hudson?" the lanky boy looked completely shocked.
"Um… uh… yeah, how'd you know?" he questioned.
"I think I used to play ball with you when we were younger."
It took Finn a moment, but he finally figured it out and gasped, "Sam? Sam Evans? Holy crap, dude, it's been forever!" Sam reached out to clasp Finn's hand.
This was getting a bit boring for the girls, so they told Sam they would meet him and the boys at Flourish and Blott's down the street.
Entering the store, the girls looked around the familiar space. They knew where their books would be, but on the way there, Brittany noticed books that she had never seen before in the front of the bookstore. They were in a large, gold cage and appeared to be snapping at each other. A very flustered shop attendant asked them carefully if they were third years. The girls all shook their heads, and the attendant let out a string of thanks before pointing them towards the first year section.
Both Brittany and Santana finished their shopping fairly quickly; the first year's books were all in a bundle, but Quinn took a little longer since she also had to get her brother's books, which were scattered all over the shop. Brittany and Santana offered to help, but Quinn shook them off and said it was easier this way, as to not lose them.
At that moment, Sam walked in and spotted the girls. He smiled and greeted Brittany with a huge hug, as if he hadn't seen her for days, not fifteen minutes. Brittany laughed and ruffled his hair affectionately, as Santana pointed him towards the first year books, smiling. Sam smiled dopily at her.
"I'm gonna go see if Quinn needs any help getting Peter's books!" he said cheerily, ignoring both girls' protests that Quinn had refused their help, and was likely to refuse his.
You know what, Santana thought; He's not a bad guy. Maybe I should cut him a break since we'll probably be classmates.
Santana broke out of her thoughts to find Brittany deeply engrossed in a book, '100 Ways to Attract Unicorns'. She grinned at her best friend.
Brittany must have seen it, because she glanced up. She smiled back, that soft, sweet smile that Santana had only ever seen Brittany give her. She wondered idly if it was saved especially for her, and the thought made the ever-present, Brittany-induced butterflies flutter.
"You are adorable," Santana gushed.
Brittany blushed lightly.
"Well, well, looks like we've got ourselves two little lesbos, Azimio."
The girls turned to find two intimidatingly large boys around their age. One of them, the black one, was cracking his knuckles menacingly.
"Maybe they'd like to taste my fists, that'll straighten them out," The black one took a step forward, a menacing sneer present.
Before either girl could comprehend what that meant, the second boy reached forward and pushed Brittany away from Santana. No one noticed the small stack of books behind Brittany's legs.
There was a moment when everything paused. Santana's eyes honed in on Brittany's head coming dangerously close to the corner of a nearby table. She narrowly missed it, and ended up sprawled out across the floor of the bookshop. Santana was torn between beating the crap out of these two and rushing to Brittany's side.
Sensing her hesitation to face them, the boys chuckled.
It was enough.
"Let me make one thing very clear," Santana whipped her head towards the pair, walking up to them threateningly, and commanded them in a low voice.
"If you touch her again, if you harm a single hair on her head, one single hair," she lowered her voice even further. "I will personally end you." The boys looked entirely taken aback at her aggression, glancing swiftly at one other. They nodded in synch, before narrowing their eyes and starting forward.
"Hey!" a voice yelled out. Santana, who had briefly closed her eyes in anticipation of a punch, quickly snapped them open.
The voice belonged to a thin Asian boy, who was now standing in between her and the bullies.
"I would suggest leaving here right now. Walk away. Don't want to be suspended before school even starts, do you?" he asked calmly, one eyebrow quirked.
At the same moment, she could hear Sam walking up to where Brittany lay, panting heavily.
"Brittany! Oh my God, what happened?" He nearly yelled. Brittany just pointed wordlessly at the boys. Sam was up in an instant, moving toward the boys angrily.
"Is there a problem?" A third voice echoed next to Santana. She turned to see Puck.
The boys, seeing they were outnumbered, quickly decided to exit the store.
Sam turned to the new boy and extended his hand. "Sam Evans." He said, smiling as always.
"Mike Chang." The boy returned his smile quickly. "Thanks for defending my sister and her friend, that was-"
Santana decided it was fine to withdraw from this conversation, and practically jogged over to where Brittany sat, propped against a bookshelf, holding her head tenderly. Santana took one look at her and nearly burst into tears.
Brittany already had a bruise forming on the wrist she had thrown out to break her fall. Santana tenderly lifted her best friend's arm and kissed the dark area. Brittany looked at Santana with her small smile and nothing but trust and… something else Santana rarely saw there. She wondered what it could be.
Santana shook her head a bit to clear it. Still concerned for her friend, she traced her fingers all over Brittany's head, trying to find the bump to kiss it better. Brittany giggled as Santana enthusiastically messed her hair up. Suddenly she winced.
Santana wasn't sure if it was Brittany or herself who had made the noise, but she had found the bump on Brittany's head- and it was easily the size of a snitch.
"Britt" Santana breathed out, tears returning to her eyes.
"It's okay," Brittany said to Santana, warmly. "It feels better." Santana looked at her questioningly. "You know, now that you're here." Santana smiled softly at her injured friend.
She wanted to protect her, always, from bullies, and disease, and death, and everything in between. Was that really such a terrible thing to want?
Santana leaned slightly behind her friend and did the one thing her Mama had done when she was a little baby; kissed the places that hurt. It always worked on her, and she never ever wanted Britt to be in any pain.
A little while later, the group sat down to eat at The Leaky Cauldron. Maribel Lopez had fixed the bump on Brittany's head in about three seconds flat, but that didn't stop Santana from constantly fussing over her, and Quinn constantly worrying her hands. She was so guilty she had left the two of them alone.
After nearly an hour, Sam turned quietly to the three girls. "Quinn." He started, "Stop feeling bad. There was no way you could've seen this happening. It wasn't your fault. I wasn't there either." Quinn looked down at her plate and nodded slightly. "Santana." He looked at her quasi-sternly for a moment, and said, "Britt is fine. You're worrying yourself into a worse state than even she's in." Santana smiled at his words.
"Okay guys; are we all ready to get wands?" Nancy piped up merrily.
Four young heads nodded enthusiastically.
"We figured we'd let you guys get wands before pets, so that way we'll be able to bring them home straight away," Judy smiled.
The quartet joyfully took off immediately down the alleyway. Brittany took Santana's hand and cheerfully pulled the girl after her, Santana gladly walking behind.
Brittany, forever the fastest of their group, reached the windows first and peered inside. "Mom, someone's already inside!"
"That's okay, love, we'll just wait inside until they're done." Her mother patiently responded. "It's much too hot outside."
The kids followed their mothers through the door.
Once everyone was in, there was hardly enough standing room for all of them inside the tiny shop. Santana sat on the ledge of the window and placed a giggling Brittany on her lap. Sam leaned casually against the only wall that wasn't covered by wands, in between the window and a very spindly chair. Everything was dusty in the shop, the walls no exception. It let out a puff of dust at the pressure.
This left Quinn to stand awkwardly in the center of the room, as the moms were all clustered around the chair.
There was a very small girl their age inside, and, judging by the pile of wands on the counter, she had been here a while.
Hearing the bell ring upon their entrance into the shop, the young girl finished with the wand she was testing and pivoted to latch onto the person who was closest to her. Poor Quinn didn't even see it coming.
"Hello there! My name is Rachel Barbra Berry; it's simply a pleasure to meet you. Is this your first year at Hogwarts, also? I'm so excited! I can't wait to be sorted. I wonder what house I'll be in. I've done a little research and it appears I am the best match for Slytherin House, I am a highly ambitious person, you see. What house do you foresee yourself becoming a part of? Oh, and isn't it a shame that first years can't be on their house Quidditch teams? I think it's a downright crime. At the very least we should be allowed our own brooms." The girl rambled.
Sensing she would continue the conversation- if you could even call it that, it almost appeared as if Rachel was berating Quinn- the poor girl interrupted the flow of Rachel's monologue by shaking her hand.
"Hi, Rachel. I'm Quinn Fabray. I am in my first year. It's nice to meet you as well."
Rachel positively beamed at this. Quinn smiled back at her in return, until they heard someone clear their throat.
A very wrinkly old man stood behind the counter, slightly smiling at them all. He held two more wands in his hand.
"Ms. Berry," he started, "Your wand will most likely be one of these two. Remember, the wand chooses the wizard, so try to stop- erm- forcing the wands to play along, shall we?"
Rachel nodded, gaze falling to the ground almost sheepishly.
The old man, who they gathered was Mr. Ollivander, passed Rachel the first wand.
"Now, then. I feel a bit more strongly about this wand, so if you will, try it out first. Spruce, Dragon Heartstring, 11 inches, slightly flexible. Give it a go."
Rachel took the light-colored wand a bit timidly, perhaps mindful of all the strangers in the room. She then took a breath, shook her shoulders slightly, and raised her head high with a dazzling smile.
Santana wondered idly who she was trying to impress.
Rachel took another breath, and, still with the ridiculous smile on her face, raised her wand.
The room became warm suddenly, as light shined from the corners and crevices of the room, and the wand let out a small spark that burst into several smaller, tinier sparks.
Everyone in the room applauded, impressed by the display.
Sam even let out a wolf whistle.
Ecstatic, Rachel turned and curtsied to her new friends.
"Well!" Mr. Ollivander chuckled, "It would appear that all you needed was an audience! How appropriate for this wand and, no doubt, yourself."
Rachel smiled again and reached into her wallet for the coins she would need. She reached for her wand in awe, and then turned to Quinn.
"It was very nice meeting you; I look forward to our time together at Hogwarts."
Quinn smiled softly back at her, and with that, Rachel was out the door.
"Are all four of you here for new wands?" Mr. Ollivander inquired.
"Yes, the four of them will be at Hogwarts this year." Santana's mom answered.
"Splendid! Now, who would like to go first?"
Santana lightly squeezed Brittany's hip in question, silently offering her to go first. Brittany subtly shook her head in response.
"I'll go!" Sam cheerfully volunteered.
The girls nodded as he stepped forward a bit nervously.
"You look rather familiar." Mr. Ollivander tilted his head to one side to study Sam.
"Ahh," He said after a minute, "You are the Evans boy, are you not?"
Sam nodded.
"Of course you are. I was so very saddened to hear of your parents' deaths. My condolences."
Sam's head hung slightly.
"Which is your wand arm, Mr. Evans?" Sam held out his right arm, and Mr. Ollivander pulled out a tape measure that went to work right away, taking every measurement of Sam that one could possibly need.
"Now, I suppose you were too young to remember what your parents' wands looked like," Mr. Ollivander called from the back shelves, "But rest assured they were both very strong wands for two very strong wizards. I'm sure you will follow in their footsteps. Here we are."
He returned to the front of the shop carrying a single wand box in his hands.
"Try this one, Mr. Evans. Your father favored a Mahogany wand, and your mother's was excellent for charm work, and this one marries the two. Mahogany and Unicorn Hair, ten and a quarter inches. Rather stiff."
He gestured at Sam to go on, but as soon as the wand was lifted, it was taken out of Sam's hands. "No, that's not right." said Ollivander thoughtfully.
He peered at Sam again, narrowing his eyes. He seemed to have decided whatever had been puzzling him, for he cocked an eyebrow one moment and took off the next.
Sam turned around and made eye contact with his sister, widening his eyes as if to say "This guy is crazy". Brittany covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She felt Santana smile into her shoulder.
Mr. Ollivander was back in no time, already opening the box and presenting the wand with a flourish to Sam.
"This one should suit you well," he started, "It's another strong wood, Cedar, and it has a core of Unicorn Hair. Eleven and a half inches and flexible. Give it a wave." Sam gave a slight wave to the wand and immediately there was a warm light, the same that happened for Rachel's wand. There was a bouquet of wilting flowers on the front desk that straightened up and became a brighter color. Sam turned excitedly as the girls clapped, enthralled, and Brittany let out a "Yay Sammy!"
"Well!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed "It's been a very long time since a wand was found that quickly, you must have a very strong sense of who you are. Congratulations, Mr. Evans."
Brittany's mother stepped forward. "I'll be buying his wand, but I also have another one in need of a wand this year." Nancy nodded towards Brittany, who skipped forward merrily. "So I'd like to purchase them at the same time, if that's alright."
"Why, Nancy Donaldson. I remember you. Let's see, Maple, Dragon Heartstring, twelve inches, nice and supple, am I correct?" Mrs. Pierce nodded.
"If I'm not mistaken, you married August Pierce?" She nodded again. "Excellent, excellent." He turned his attention to Brittany.
"I can imagine that you're a rather unique individual. I'm sure finding you a wand will be just as exciting." Brittany grinned at him.
Mr. Ollivander snapped his fingers, cheerful at the proposition of a challenging wand search, and the tape measure sprang back to life. He turned and started pulling boxes from the nearest shelf. He placed about six boxes in front of Brittany, who tried all of them with the same frustrating result.
The wand maker, however, happily went about pulling more wands off of shelves. After Brittany's tenth wand, Mr. Ollivander folded his hands against his chest in thought. "Ms. Pierce, I have one small test I would like to perform, is that alright with you?"
Brittany shook her head, eager to get on with finding her wand.
Mr. Ollivander produced a wand from inside his cloak. The group could only assume it was his own wand, because soon he was pressing the tip of it against Brittany's chest.
"Hey!" Santana started forward, fists curled, eyes glaring at the old man. She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Quinn, eyes slightly narrowed but intently focused on Brittany. She also saw that Sam had his brand new wand out, although he probably wouldn't have been able to do much more than shoot a few sparks out of it. Santana focused back on Brittany.
If Mr. Ollivander noticed her outburst, he said nothing. Santana was glad for that fact. The only thing any different from before was that Mr. Ollivander's lips had become slightly thinner.
There was now a very slight glow coming from where the tip of the wand met Brittany's chest. None of the parents were moving in alarm, however, so the kids reasoned that there wasn't cause to panic.
That didn't stop Santana from glaring, of course.
It was over in a few moments, Mr. Ollivander pulling back with an attentive gleam in his eye.
"Ms. Pierce," he finally said, "Can you speak any other languages?"
"I don't think so, sir." Brittany said innocently.
"Hm." Mr. Ollivander replied. "Do not be surprised if you end up doing so in the future." He smiled cryptically at her and danced into the back room.
He returned a moment later, carrying only a single wand with him.
"This should do it. Rather unusual combination. I only carry a few wands of this wood at a time. Young wizards rarely earn these wands. We only have three or so in stock. Apple wood is a highly rare wand wood, and that coupled with Unicorn Hair will make quite the distinct wand. It is twelve inches long, and very bendy. Let's see what it thinks of you."
He passed her the unusually colored wand. Warm light filled the space for a third time, and this time, a small bird flew from the end of Brittany's wand, let out a few notes before bursting into a cloud of glitter.
Santana, Quinn and Sam stood with their mouths hanging open.
Sam recovered first, grinning and clapping madly. Santana and Quinn quickly followed.
Brittany ran straight into Santana's arms for a hug. Santana pulled her close to whisper in her ear "See? I told you. You're amazing." Brittany pulled back and smiled widely at her.
Brittany leaned in for another hug, and Santana glanced up to see Mr. Ollivander staring at them curiously. He met her eyes before looking around his shop to his wands.
Brittany's mom paid the fourteen galleons required for the two wands with a smile that was becoming of their entire family. Santana realized suddenly that she didn't want to be around on a day when the Pierces were frowning.
Brittany gave a slight tap to Santana's back, encouragingly pushing her towards the shop's counter and shopkeeper.
Santana wasn't quite sure what to make of Mr. Ollivander. He seemed to know what he was doing, but then he had to ruin it by totally feeling Brittany up.
Okay, maybe not feeling her up. But it was still pretty fishy! She reasoned to herself.
"Why, you're left-handed! You rarely see any of your kind, these days." Mr. Ollivander said after Santana offered her left arm, begrudgingly, to be measured.
Mr. Ollivander paid no attention to the storm in Santana's eyes, saying "You must be a Lopez. Your father favored a willow wand, Unicorn hair, rather supple. He uses it for healing, correct?"
Santana nodded. "That's what I thought. And Maribel, you had an ebony wand, Dragon Heartstring, fairly stiff, yes?"
Maribel confirmed it. "Those were both quite, ah… fiery wands." Ollivander glanced at Santana's mother in the corner, a twinkle in his eye. "Glad to see some things have not changed," Ollivander said, jovially. Maribel blushed and glanced at the ground.
This action was so rarely seen by Santana that her mouth immediately dropped. At it again, the tape-measure seized the opportunity and measured the height and width of her mouth before Santana had time to compute what had happened.
"Enough!" Ollivander said brusquely before laying the wands down on the counter. "Give these a try, Ms. Lopez. Go on, one by one."
Santana did as he asked, carefully weeding her way through the wands until she reached the seventh and last wand before her.
As soon as Santana raised the wand, the now-familiar light glowed around the shop. Santana's wand let out a great gust of air. It was almost as if the wand were sighing, like it had waited a long time to find its rightful owner. It even snuffed out the lights in the shop.
Mr. Ollivander quickly swept his own wand through the air, and the lamps were rekindled.
"How interesting. What a bizarre combination, this one. I believe it's pretty clear that you will surprise us all, Ms. Lopez. It is said that the blackthorn tree produces the sweetest berries after the hardest frosts. Take that as you will. Combined with Dragon Heartstring, this wand will certainly serve you well through your darkest hours, whatever they may be." He nodded at her, and Santana's mother stepped forward to place the seven galleons on the counter.
Quinn's mother stepped forward and placed the required galleons in front of Mr. Ollivander, saying that she would be paying upfront so that the group could leave right after Quinn found a wand.
"I remember you, too." Mr. Ollivander said, nodding. "Fabray, you say? Are we talking of Russell Fabray?" Judy and Quinn both nodded. "You used to be called Carver, yes?" Judy nodded a second time.
"So, Ms. Fabray," he started, oddly not mentioning her parents' wands, "Would you acquiesce to the same test I gave your friend before?"
"Yes sir that would be fine." Quinn said seriously.
Raising his wand, Mr. Ollivander put the tip on Quinn's temple.
Santana, still slightly freaked out by the action, reached for Brittany's hand, running her thumb over her knuckles reassuringly. Brittany squeezed her hand and gave her a small smile in return.
Mr. Ollivander removed his wand fairly quickly. "Hm." He uttered as he walked away.
Quinn must have already tried thirty wands, and while the group was frustrated and intrigued as to why the process was taking so long, Mr. Ollivander seemed as happy as a clam.
"Tricky customer? How delightful!" He walked back into the main room with about five more boxes.
Quinn groaned under her breath. Both Santana and Brittany giggled at that. At the sound, Brittany's wand began producing multi-colored bubbles. Everyone was fascinated until a sudden "Aha! This may be the one!" came from Mr. Ollivander in the background. The bubbles stopped abruptly.
Mr. Ollivander was pulling out a beautiful honey-colored wand, with dark brown streaks visibly running through it. To put it simply, the wand was beautiful.
"Elm and Phoenix feather. Twelve inches. Pliable. Give it a wave." Mr. Ollivander said, reverent.
As soon as Quinn touched the wand, the room lit up, brighter than ever before. When she firmly had a hand on it and raised it above her head, her wand let out three fireworks, blue, silver and gold.
Charmed, even Mr. Ollivander clapped. "Lovely! An elegant wand for an undoubtedly elegant young lady." He gave a slight bow of his head, which Quinn returned in thanks. As he was packaging her wand, he started chuckling. "You know, in all my years, I don't think I have ever sold two brother wands on the same day. What a remarkable day."
Quinn received her wand cautiously, thinking over what Mr. Ollivander had just said.
"Mr. Ollivander," she started, "who owns my wand's brother?"
Mr. Ollivander chuckled in response.
"That's for me to know and you to find out. Never fear, you will know quite clearly if you ever try to duel him at in any of your classes." He smiled down at her.
"So it's a boy? Who goes to Hogwarts? At least that's a start!" Quinn said eagerly.
Mr. Ollivander simply winked.
With that, Mr. Ollivander bid them all a good day and bowed them from the shop.
Brittany took Sam's offered arm, Santana walking next to her and Quinn on Sam's other side.
"What an interesting dude," Sam commented first.
"Interesting is certainly one way to describe it," Quinn giggled.
"I thought he was creepy. Like, why did he only do his wand telling spell thing on you two?" Santana said stiffly, pointing to Brittany and Quinn. "Totally weird."
"He may have been, but just imagine for a moment all of the interesting people we're sure to meet at our time at Hogwarts. Surely he won't be the most interesting one." Brittany said logically.
Santana beamed at her.
"Well," Quinn thought, "When he put his wand to my head, it was almost like he was trying to tell what my thoughts were. Not specifically, but, like, what the overall theme of them was? It's kind of hard to explain."
"No, totally." Brittany said. "That happened to me too. Except when he touched my heart, it was like this overwhelming happy sensation. It felt like I could do anything because I was so hopeful."
Sam lightly ruffled her hair. "That's because you've got a heart of gold, B-money."
Santana rolled her eyes at the pair. "I still thought he was a little weird." She said, shrugging.
The kids laughed and entered the pet shop, Santana holding the door this time. An explosion of bird calls and monkey cries greeted them with a gust of what smelled pungently like animal droppings and straw.
"Ladies first," Sam said playfully, stepping aside.
Santana wrinkled her nose and stepped into the room that was glowing with hundreds of eyes.
They emerged almost half an hour later, the journey home taken with three adults, three primping owls, one exceedingly large cat, and four very happy, very tired youngsters.
A/N: So! What do we think? Is it worth continuing? Please let me know your opinions! I have a ton of ideas for this fic, and I would totally love to write them down, but it would be reassuring to know if someone liked it! I spent weeks trying to get everything perfect for the first chapter of this, I hope it was worth it!
Once again, thanks to my awesome Beta shanpagne16, you rock!
Please R/R! Thanks for reading!
