Hey everyone! Nepe here with the second chapter. I've had to change this one completely, took a little longer than I thought but I'm getting there.

I'm terrible with personalities and making people seem… real? I guess. Lots to work on.

I hope you enjoy.

*Parseltongue*

'Thinking'

"Speaking"

=Whispering=

Chapter 2: You Chose Each Other

5:31 p.m.

I woke up to voices speaking in hushed tones. It took me a moment but I remembered all that happened yesterday and cringed. I could identify one voice as Stanley's but the other I could not. I wondered how long I'd been asleep and cracked one eye open to look out the window. I mentally berated myself for sleeping until about noon. I also wondered if the time displayed was even correct, Stanley mentioned the windows were fake and just charmed to look like the outside. I could faintly make out what they were saying, small snippets, sounded like the other guy just got here.

=...sure she chose my file?= New guy.

=...looked at them for several hours…= Stanley.

It was like this for several minutes before I decided I should let them know I was awake. I stretched, my blanket falling off my lap with a soft plop. The talking stopped and I suddenly became nervous. I was trying to get over the fact that I died but it was all so shocking and now I was 10 again. Why couldn't I just die like a normal person, then I wouldn't have to deal with all this magic crap. I leaned over the top of the chair and peaked towards the two-other people in the room.

Stanley, smiley as ever, watched quietly as the other person's eyes met mine and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever. I compared what I could see in front of me with the information I had read in the file. Short, half goblin, not that I knew what those looked like, brown hair combed to each side from the middle in a short bowl-cut-ish shape. He had a slightly curled up mustache and light eyes behind round glasses. He had on a little bow tie, a collared shirt with grey vest and striped trousers. He also looked about ready to cry and I frowned a little. Did smiley say something to him?

I broke the silence with a soft," Hi." and He burst into tears. I flinched back slightly and narrowed my eyes at smiley. "What did you say to make him cry!" Smiley took a step back and I jumped from behind the armchair to shake my fist at him. Smiley put his hands up in front of him and shook his head.

"I only talked to him about you. I never insulted him!" He hid behind the door, frowning and looking ready to bolt. In any other situation I would have found him being intimidated by a ten-year-old hilarious. I took another step towards him… and proceeded to trip on my hair which reached the ground. I managed to steady myself and gasped. I suddenly became self-conscious and covered my face. Even before I had died I didn't like raising my voice or starting fights. I felt embarrassed. It was completely out of character for me.

Everyone had eventually calmed down enough to sit down in their respective places, I was back in the armchair and wrapped the blanket up on my lap, Filius and Smiley were in their own chairs.

"Sorry about that." Filius coughed in his hand at his embarrassing display. Stanley nodded and continued from where he left off, my-self included this time.

"As you can see here Nelliel is someone with no discernable past or existence further back from yesterday. She has very few memories and according to the inheritance test we did at Gringotts yesterday, no parents. She also has the presence of magic. Under normal situations she would be handed back over to the American branch, however, this is far from normal which is why we've registered her as a citizen." Smiley smiled. "This is also why we needed a foster family already integrated in Britain, to help her to understand our culture and get settled in."

He handed Filius a copy of her file, the original safely in a filing cabinet somewhere. I rubbed my hand over the soft exposed side of the blanket and listened as Smiley spoke. Filius was listening intently as well as skimming through my file. I felt bad because his file was so old, I wondered why no one wanted him to foster them. The only thing I could think of before meeting him was he was simply too intimidating, then I remembered something in his file. He had Goblin ancestry, maybe people here didn't like Goblins. I stood and placed the blanket where I was sitting then turned to Filius and with one quick movement I bowed.

"Please if you'll have me sir!" I waited for a moment before righting myself and looking at him in the eyes.

"My current residence is the castle-"

"That's fine!" I responded.

"I'm a teacher so I may not have a lot of time to care for you-"

"That's okay!"

"Is there anything that bothers you at all!?" Everything suddenly got quiet as I stared at him for a moment.

"Not really..."

"I don't really have any objections either-"

"Well then it's settled!" At our alarmed looks he looked like he was ready to laugh at us. "If you would both sign here and here that would be the end of that." He put two papers in front of us, where we had to sign was circled in red and he handed Filius a quill. He hesitated to give me one but I admitted that among my things was a fountain pen so I could probably use it. I took the quill and dipped it into the ink pot before I began writing my signature. Even though quills and fountain pens are so similar it was still slightly messy but it was alright. I left the last name blank, I had no parents here, sharing their last name was sort of pointless, also I had told them I had no memory of it.

I waited for Filius to finish. Stanley informed us two aurors would be by in one week's time to assess my living situation and they would do that once every three months for the next year. Then they would do it once a year. He led us back to the big room with all the fancy looking fireplaces and I didn't bother paying attention to where we came from, I could feel something forcing my attention away when I tried.

We finally exited and that weird pressure disappeared. I glanced back but the door we exited was gone. I felt like I was on some weird acid trip or something. I immediately had a headache afterwards. 'Drugs are bad kids, don't do them.'

I stood by as Filius took out that green powdery stuff again and handed me some of it.

"Do you know how to use floo powder?" He asked me and I nodded. "Good, we'll be going to the Leaky Cauldron." I nodded again and threw the powder down. I said our destination as clearly as I could and stepped through. This time I was better prepared and avoided the soot. I stepped out of the fireplace to the other side and immediately spotted Tom. I waved as soon as he caught my eye and he waved back. The place wasn't as packed as yesterday. Filius followed a moment after and moved towards the entrance of the alley where I first woke up. I frowned. As far as I was aware it was a dead end back there. Then again, this is magic we're talking about. That and we can travel by fireplace.

He stopped beside one of the brick walls and pulled out a long, slick piece of wood. I realized it was a wand. He tapped a few bricks in order and I gasped as the bricks folded in on themselves to reveal a bustling street. Filius grinned.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley! First stop, Madam Malkin's." Filius said with a bright smile. As we walked he struck up a conversation describing all the things we'd be getting. Among those things he mentioned a pet. I felt the tingly excitement at that. I loved animals. My Biology teacher had a Tarantula named Rosy, an old thing that she let the student's hold once. She also had two hissing cockroaches and later that year she brought in baby ducklings to show the students. She was one of my favorite teachers. I love hands on experience.

"Now normally you'd receive your letter first however now that I'm your guardian your guaranteed acceptance,"He said and explained at my question that since he was a teacher and his residence was the school that for convenience I would be allowed to attend. " I already know what is required for the current school year so we'll be getting your school supplies this trip as well. Everything should tie together neatly."

I nodded along to show I was listening as I took in the other shops as we passed. I realized the shops all were built in a way like the ones that surrounded the square back home. They had the homes built above the shops and the shops were pressed tightly together. I took note of the sketchy looking alley way as we passed with a sign that said Knockturn Alley. From the way people sped up when they passed it I guessed it must be the magical equivalent to the alleys back home that drug dealers resided. I labeled it dangerous until I had more information on it.

"Here we are." Filius announced, leading me into a shop full of beautiful robes of assorted colors. It wasn't just robes either. There were a wide variety of clothes such as dresses and skirts and shawls. I eyed up the shawls heavily as we passed. There were also hair accessories.

"Ah, Filius, what can I do for you today?" A woman stood in the middle of the room with an air of familiarity. Filius grinned back.

"Actually, today I'll be buying for someone else." Filius proudly stated. The way he said It led me to believe he'd been looking forward to this for a while.

I waved from behind him and said a little, "Hi." The woman smiled brightly, a knowing glint in her eyes at my impending doom. Indeed, as soon as I noticed she pounced.

"Follow me, this way," She ordered gently, shuffling me towards the back of the shop." Let me just get your measurements dearie." I grimaced as I was stood upon a stool and she had me hold my arms up. This reminded me of every time my mom or grandma took me shopping to buy me expensive stuff but I didn't want anything I couldn't run or play in with my friends. So basically, that ruled out everything in the stores. I could see Filius excitedly running around and looking at all the clothes and resisted face palming. I didn't want to mess up the measurements being taken. Madam Malkin seemed to be taking secret delight in my pain and suffering.

"This is really unnecessary." I called over to him but he just waved me off. 'I don't need this many clothes.'

"Nonsense!" He said as he disappeared from view.

In the end it wasn't so bad. Until I realized Filius wasn't stopping. I made my fears known that he would buy out the whole store but Malkin told me not to worry. I gave her this long look like I was trying to light her ablaze with my eyes but she just went about her business and I sighed. If Filius wasn't going to slow down we wouldn't get anywhere today. I went over to the growing pile of clothes and began sorting through them. I folded and sorted clothes into piles based on things that matched. He came back carrying a scarf and gave me a surprised look.

I shrugged," I've honestly just given up, but those over there," I said pointing to a small pile of clothes to the side of the now neatly folded main pile," Don't match anything here."

Call me greedy but I've seen that look he has on my mother and grandmother's face when shopping. Nothing would stop him, not even strategic manipulation.

He disappeared behind more racks and suddenly Malkin, who I hadn't realized was gone, came back and shuffled me, once again, to some other part of the store. I realized with embarrassment that she meant for me to go through the ladies' personals, it was in another room so I couldn't manage the destruction Filius was sure to be causing to the pile of clothes I had carefully folded.

She left me again and I could hear her talking to Filius but I couldn't make out their conversation. I decided it wasn't important and moved through the aisles of stuff, some things were normal stuff and some weren't. I picked out things I knew I would use, nothing fancy. I perused the socks and that's where the fun began. I couldn't help but ogle at them, some had moving pictures like kitties that stretched and bats that flew around them. Another pair had a little golden ball with fast moving wings that zoomed every which way. I drooled. I realized that maybe I had as much of a shopping problem as Filius and my family.

I eventually emerged from that room to see Filius standing proudly by several bags like he won the Olympics. I realized he did indeed ruin the pile of perfectly folded clothing and I rolled my eyes. Malkin smiled and I immediately felt uncomfortable. I placed the stuff I picked out on the counter and the woman bagged them. Filius brought out his wand again and I watched him shrink the bags. Malkin took them to another room before coming back.

"I should have them to you by the end of the day if the weather stays nice." She said and he nodded in appreciation, "Now then, I know it's untraditional but is there anything specific you want done with your school robes?"

My eyes widened, I knew exactly what I wanted. I'm a pretty clumsy person and with my hair the way it was that was an even bigger problem. "Is it possible to leave off the sleeves?" They both raised their eye brows. "I'm really clumsy and that would help prevent a lot of disasters." They accepted this and she wrote it down on a piece of thick, yellow, paper.

"All right Filius, I suppose you want me to put this on the pre-paid tab." My eyebrows shot up to my hairline at this. What the hell was a pre-paid tab? 'Maybe he really was preparing for this for a while.' I thought.

"Of course, that is why it's there in the first place." He was radiating pride and I realized that we still had a lot of stores to go. It would be a long day.

The next place we went to be a shop that sold trunks. Filius insisted I pick it out and I walked around as he chatted with someone near the front. There were all kinds with different woods and metals. They had lots of compartments. Some even had whole houses inside. I was impressed by such feats. They all had lists of the compartments and I read each one carefully.

I eventually found one I liked. It seemed sturdy and had little fishes burned into the wood that swam around. It seemed rather cheap compared to all the others. I thought it was cute, and it had a compartment for clothes, books, and potions ingredients. There was a place to store my cauldron and the other utensils as well. I could set a password to lock it and I thought that was neat. Filius approved of my rather adorable selection. Filius shrunk the trunk after I had set the password and we moved on to another shop.

The next thing on our list was potion ingredients and tools. Then we got books. Finally, Filius brought me to the one place I had been really looking forwards to visiting. There were animals everywhere, of all various kinds. Filius immediately stopped me from running off right away though.

"Owl, Toad or Cat." He reminded me. I nodded and stood in between said creatures. My instinct was to go with cat but I decided not to. I couldn't replace a cat I knew I wouldn't see again. Even if they are cute and cuddly. I bit my lip. I couldn't help but wonder how my mother was faring. 'Would she feed Wyntr when I was gone?' I tilted my head. I should stop those thoughts now, I can deal with my internal struggling later. Right now, I need to portray myself as a normal ten-year-old. I turned towards the toads and barely considered them. I liked frogs and toads I just didn't think I'd like to keep one as a pet. That left Owls.

I walked over to them and looked at the name plates that said what kind they were as I watched them. Filius told me that owls were used for mail, or as he called it, the post. This meant I wanted one that could carry mail well. I turned at the sound of wings flapping to see a woman enter from another room wearing an apron. She carried perched on one arm a huge, tawny colored owl with two, black tufts above each eye like eyebrows that made it look angry. Suddenly it opened its long wingspan and took off. The woman let out a surprised shout.

It seemed to zero in on my location and flew around me. Almost on instinct I held out my arm and wanted to punch myself, I wasn't wearing any protection on my arms. It seemed to be what it wanted though because it landed on my arm and began ruffling its feathers. I just stood there awkwardly. The woman came over and shook her head at his antics.

"I'm terribly sorry kid, he's usually much more collected." She apologized as she reached out her arm towards mine. The owl refused to budge. "He usually keeps to himself."

The owl moved further up my arm. The woman was becoming increasingly nervous when she realized that the bird wouldn't cooperate. I frowned. I thought such a large bird would be rather heavy, or painful, to hold but it was more comforting than anything. The woman mistook my action as one of displeasure and went to just grab the bird only for it to peck at the woman's hands. I shook my head.

"I don't think he wants to leave." I said matter-of-factly. I asked her to show me where his perch was and she pointed to the one empty cage near the ceiling. I read the words on the plaque. "Turkmenian Eagle Owl." I read aloud and the woman nodded.

"This one is a young male." I nodded and brought the owl, and the woman as well to speak to Filius. I found him looking at owl treats.

Filius turned to me as I neared and smiled. "Have you decided?"

"Uh..." I looked at the owl which preened and crooned. "Yes?" I questioned.

The woman sighed but nodded her head. Filius lead the way to the front of the shop where the woman also handed me a book about owls and their care. I thanked her and Filius payed. I stopped Filius outside before we went to our final destination.

"I um..." He waited patiently for me to speak. "Thank you..." I looked down.

"There's no need to thank me, Nelliel." He patted my arm. "It's truly a pleasure to finally be able to do this."

We moved on and I followed him to a pretty dingy looking shop. It looked ancient compared to the others. This would be our last stop for the day. 'This is where I get my wand.' I followed Filius into the shop and a bell above the door dinged.

"Ahh-" I jumped and my owl fluttered agitated. "Filius, surely your wand is still as strong willed as ever?" Filius laughed and shook his head.

"Of course!" He turned to me and I moved forwards into view, the owl still perched on my left arm.

"Hi." I said softly with a small wave.

"Nelliel, however, will definitely need a wand." Filius finished.

The old man smiled warmly, his pale eyes shone with interest. He waved his hand and a measuring tape came out of no-where and began measuring me.

"Well isn't this delightful, you're practically glowing with pure magic!" He said fascinated. "Tell me, what is your most dominant hand?"

"My right hand." He nodded in thought and began shuffling about behind shelves.

I looked around. I could tell Filius didn't notice but I could hear them, the different wands. It was a low, low hum, barely audible. I looked at my owl. I hadn't thought of a name for him yet. Before I could think of one though the old man came back with a long, slender detailed wand that he placed in my right hand. I blinked at him. At his urging I gave it a gentle wave only for him to frown. Nothing happened. I looked at him as he took it away and he seemed to consider something as he seemingly caressed the wand.

"Odd, odd." He turned to me puzzled. "You, my dear, are an oddity." Filius frowned but remained silent. "You see, they are all reacting to your presence positively, however, none of them want you to use them. This will definitely make finding a match for you difficult." I nodded as I listened to him talk. Of course this would happen, I already died, what more was gonna be thrown at me.

He took off behind the shelves again and this time didn't come back any time soon. I shuffled on my feet and looked at all the boxes. I felt like the wands would impale me and fly right out of their boxes, the humming was becoming louder, almost forceful.

The old man finally came back, a purple box in his hands a stark contrast to the black boxes on the surrounding shelves. he gingerly set it down and looked at me and back at it. Opening the box he took out a long, warm colored wand with a jagged shape.

He brought it to me and I examined it. It was almost shaped like a bird and the handle appeared feathery. It hummed different to the others who seemed angry now. I gently brought it up before bringing it down slightly harsher then the wand before. Small, white flower heads sprang forth and gently floated to the floor in a shower of white. I recognized the flower. It was poisonous. My favorite flower Lily of the Valley. suddenly the old man clapped and waved his hand to remove the flowers with great enthusiasm. I grinned.

"Well done! Well done!" He said. "Hawthorn, Phoenix feather, 12 3/4, slightly yielding flexibility." He turned to Filius when he stepped forward.

"I thought you said it would be slightly more difficult?" He asked, inspecting the wand like I did moments before.

"Ahh, but it was, you see, I had to look for something different, I had to think." I looked at him. ""The wandmaker Gregorovitch wrote that hawthorn 'makes a strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death.' While I disagree with many of Gregorovitch's conclusions, we agree that Hawthorn wands have complex and intriguing natures that match their owners. Hawthorn wands are both suited to healing magic and adept at curses. They also appear most at home towards a conflicting person or someone passing through turmoil."

I saw the surprise on Filius' face out of the corner of my eye. I looked again down at the warm wand in my right hand and felt it practically vibrate with happiness.

"The wand chooses the witch, Nelliel, but in this case you've chosen each other." He peered down at me and turned back to the counter. Filius stepped forward to speak with him and I tuned them out to turn the wand in my hand around so I could inspect it some more. The feathers along the wood were more detailed than I had first thought. I looked up to see Filius walk back over to me, he had a small gauntlet looking thing in his hand.

When he noticed my questioning look he told me what it was. "It's an arm holster, it'll hold your wand."

"Oh, cool." I said.

He gestured for me to hold out my right arm and I did. He placed the Gauntlet part on my under arm and fastened it at the front. He then showed me how to place my wand inside. Once it was inside he showed me how to bring it back out. I flicked my wrist down and caught my wand in the palm of my hand. Once I had gotten it back in I followed Filius outside and back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once we got there we stepped inside the brick archway only to stop there. He turned to me.

"We're going to apparate to the castle, he'll be able to find his way there." At my worried look he patted my arm." Don't worry he was trained." This only made me slightly feel better.

I trusted him though, so I muttered a soft, =I'll see you again soon= to my owl. I still needed to name him. He seemed to understand what I wanted because he took off into the sky. I watched him go and then looked back at Filius who held out his hand.

"You will have to hold my hand, don't move until we are on the other side because you could end up splinched." I didn't know what that meant but I nodded my head to show I was ready. I took his hand and he turned on his heal. There was a loud crack and I felt like I was being sucked through a straw. Once I felt ground below my feet I looked up and let go of his hand. There were a lot of trees and grass surrounding us. We had appeared outside of a huge metal gate that opened as Filius stepped forward. I followed him up the road toward a huge castle.

I'm so glad I got this written down, I was really tired. I want to watch Atlantis: The Lost Empire again.

Reviews are always welcome!