A/N: I apologize in advance for any awkward grammatical errors in the first few chapters. I decided to switch tenses halfway through chapter 4, and may have overlooked some editing. By all means, let me know if anything is blatantly horrific.

Chapter 1

George Weasley stands in front of the European Auror School in Dublin, staring. This is nothing like Hogwarts, and he is surprised to learn that he is actually very okay with this. He doesn't want to be reminded of Fred, or Lupin, or Tonks, or Moody, or…anyone else who died in that awful war. George is so relieved to have found someone to take over management of the joke shop. Dean and Seamus will do an outstanding job. George is still owner, of course, but his passion is no longer there for it, his heart aches from the constant reminders of Fred, made more poignant by the Weasley family portrait hung in the back room. George couldn't, wouldn't, look at it. He wouldn't go home, he could hardly be counted on to meet his mother or father or one of his brothers in the various bars or restaurants they set meetings, reunions up at. He always would answer Ginny's summons though, always.

The school is either a very small building or a very large house. George cannot decide which, so he steps inside to find out. He's greeted with chaos the second he crosses the threshold. It appears that two boys have been making fun of a girl with brown, curly hair. George walks in just as the girl Transfigures the boys' breakfasts into little stone frogs. George grins, thrilled that not everyone at the school is going to be intense scholars, but his grin fades as he realizes that the girl probably just invented that spell on the fly. The two boys pout at the girl, then turn to look at George.
"Hi." The one with the brown hair says.
"Hey." George says back. "I'm George."
"We know." The same boy says. "I'm Alex, this is my buddy Topher, and that," he says, pointing to the girl, "is Kaila."
"Nice to meet you guys," George says grinning at them, and reaching over to shake hands with Topher, a tall, well built black kid with shoulder-length dreadlocks.
"Where is everyone else?" George asks
"Sick of us already, huh?" Kaila teases, grinning at him. "There's actually a relatively small group of us right now." She says, "it's just us and three other guys. They kind of keep to themselves."

This is it, the awkward "us" or "them" moment, the one where you're forced to choose sides based off a thirty second meeting.

George isn't even sure if he wants friends yet, so he evades the unasked question by pointing at Kaila's frog statues still sitting on Alex and Topher's plates.

"Nice work." George says, grinning.
"Hah!" Kaila laughs, "Oh, thanks."

"I should probably demerit you for that." A voice calls out behind George, "but…"
"You won't!" Topher, Kaila, and Alex say teasingly in unison. George turns to see a middle-aged wizard with graying black hair walking forward. He walks up to George, shakes his hand, and says
"You are George. Welcome to my school. I want to see you in my office in an hour." With these words, the dark-haired wizard walks off. Confused, George turns to the others with a raised eyebrow. They, of course, are grinning.
"That's Nolan. Nolan Clearwater. He's headmaster here and, well, brilliant." Explains Topher. I nod and Topher continues,
"He's fairly lenient as far as magic goes, but NEVER be late. Ever. And don't joke with him before you know him, or he'll hate you." George laughs,
"So basically, be courteous and he'll like you?" George asks. Topher considers, grins, nods.

"Well THAT, I can do."

Exactly an hour later, George is standing outside Nolan's office, nervous for the first time in…well…ever. What am I doing here? He wonders. I hoodwinked my way in, I never really enjoyed school anyway, I'm not at all smart, and I'm an emotional wreck. This Nolan Clearwater guy is gonna take one look at my sorry self and send me packing. Or blow me up.

The door opens, and the same dark haired wizard as before ushers George in. He shakes George's hand again looking him in the eye and saying
"Hello George, I'm Nolan Clearwater, the headmaster here. You may call me Nolan, we don't really stand on formality here." George only has time to smile, nod, realize that Noland has a wicked Irish accent that he didn't notice before, and sit in the offered chair before Nolan begins speaking unnervingly quickly, explaining the rules, classes, living situations, and day to day schedules.

"Basically, George," he begins, "This is exactly unlike anything you have ever experienced before. You are free to go anywhere, with anyone, and do anything you want provided you show up to every class on time always and you act as a Muggle when you are not on the school grounds. If you show up late to class, you're out. Period. I know it's a strict rule and may sound crazy, but punctuality in real life saves lives. You must learn the planning, organization, and responsibility necessary to show up on time consistently. Now all national laws must be obeyed, both Muggle and Wizarding, but other than that you are an adult and are free to live your life as such. Everyone gets individual rooms upstairs, and there are men's and women's community bathrooms. There are only six other students here besides you right now, and I daresay you'll meet them all soon, so I won't bother telling you about theme now, I'll leave you to your own thoughts and prejudices. As for dating and romantic relationships, well, you're an adult and I do not get involved so have at it if you so desire. Classes begin at one p.m. and end at four p.m. daily, there is Stealth and Tracking on Mondays, Concealment on Tuesdays, Reconnaissance on Wednesdays, Spycraft on Thursdays, and Intelligence on Fridays. Saturday afternoons there is a mandatory Practical form five p.m. to seven p.m. I teach everything, and grading is on a pass/fail basis. Now, any questions?"

George's head is spinning, he's overwhelmed as he shakes his head "no" and is ushered out of Nolan's office.

As he walks upstairs to find his room, he wonders what on earth he's gotten himself into.