Six days later, Eli sat with Fred and George on the Hogwarts Express as it carried them and a good number of the other students back to Kings Cross for the holidays. They were all dressed in their street clothes, Eli in a denim skirt with thick tights, boots, and a woolen jumper—while of course, the twins had on matching outfits. Simon's aunt had arranged to pick him up the night before, so it was just the three of them, laughing and eating sweets they'd pooled their money to purchase.

"So, wait, go through that again," Eli laughed, squeezing her eyes shut. "There's…Bill, right? Then…Percy?"

George snickered. "Bill, then Charlie-"

"Oh right, with the dragons!"

"Then Percy after him. Then us, of course, the absolute best." George paused when Eli hit him on the arm. "Ow, hey!"

Fred picked up while his twin rubbed his arm—Eli hit hard. "After that is Ron, our baby brother. And then Ginny, the only girl."

George shook his head sadly. "Poor thing."

Eli drummed her fingers on her leg. "Bill, Head Boy; Charlie, loves dragons; Percy, prefect; the twins; Ron, the youngest boy; and Ginny, the only girl. Right?"

"Perfect!" Fred crowed.

"You have too many siblings," she griped, crossing her arms. Really, though, she was just nervous. Since she'd been Sorted into Slytherin, she'd become intensely aware of the divide between her house and her friends' houses, and though she crossed it bravely she knew plenty of people, even adults, might balk at a Slytherin being anywhere near them. Perhaps Fred and George's parents were like that, and the boys just didn't know it.

The train arrived and they hauled their luggage onto the platform, Eli refusing to allow either of them to help despite her trouble. "You did let your parents know I'm coming, right?" she asked a touch anxiously, following behind George's trunk as they weaved among families.

"Well, we sent an owl," George told her.

"But Errol's been known to drop the post before," Fred cackled, throwing her a smirk over his shoulder.

George dropped back a moment. "Don't worry, Eli, mum's going to love you," he assured her, too quietly for Fred to hear.

Eli smiled and nodded, drawing herself up. She was a Slytherin, and she was damn well going to act like one. At least…she was going to try.

The elder Weasley brothers were waiting for them near the entrance to the platform. "There you lot are," laughed Charlie. "We were wondering if you'd missed the train."

Fred dodged Charlie's attempt to rub his hair. "You wish," he retorted.

The wiry one Eli assumed was Percy gave her a withering look. "But she's-"

"She's what?" George demanded. "Got something to say about our friend?" He crossed his arms and set a fierce look upon his brother, a stance Eli had seen the twins take many a time—usually before they attempted to haul off and slug someone in their face for taunting Eli. Of course, she just hexed the offender when their back was turned.

Percy sniffed. "Well, if you ask me-"

But Bill elbowed him in the side, hard. "Nobody asked you, Perce," he sighed. "Keep it to yourself. Eli is our guest, got it?"

"Don't make us string you up outside again," Charlie snickered.

Eli bit the inside of her cheek to keep from blushing. She'd never expected Fred and George's siblings to defend her, especially against their own brother—though it did sound like they had previous issues with him.

Before she needed to comment, a shortish woman with curly red hair came through the entrance, chattering loudly to the redheaded man behind her. A young boy trailed between them, and the woman had a little girl attached to her hand—both redheaded as well.

"There's mum, finally," Fred sighed, picking up his trunk's handle.

Eli swallowed nervously. She wasn't really bothered by Percy, she'd had a few run-ins with him while causing general chaos with the twins, and it seemed he might blame her for their behavior—as if—but he didn't scare her. She was very much so worried about their parents, though.

Mrs. Weasley was fretting to and from, checking over all her boys, kissing them on their heads and checking them for 'damage,' it appeared. George lent into Eli and whispered, "She does this every time. Like we're going to come back all sliced to ribbons."

Finally, Mrs. Weasley made her way down to Eli. "Oh! And this must be your friend, George… Eliana, was it?"

Eli bit back a harsh correction. "Er, Eli, ma'am. But yes." So she had gotten their letter. That was good, at least. But how did she know Eli's first name?

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley rounded on the twins suddenly. "Did you use me to play a prank on your friends again?"

As she laid into them, Eli just giggled and stuck out her tongue at the two. Serve them right. She never went by her real first name. It wasn't that she hated it, the name just felt too…fluffy for her personality.

"Right, we'd better be going, shouldn't we, Molly?" Mr. Weasley suggested, touching his wife's arm to get her attention.

She nodded and began to sort her children into groups. "Now, since we've gotten a bit too big for the car now, we're going to Apparate home—Eli, dear, have you ever Apparated before?"

Eli shook her head—she recalled the word from a textbook, but she couldn't quite remember what it was beyond some form of transportation for magical folk.

"That's quite all right, don't worry, it's very safe." She smiled warmly and beckoned Eli closer. "Now, you hold onto my arm just here, yes, right there, good. And, let's see, Fred, George?" She looked around for the twins, who by now had begun trying to pin Percy's coat sleeve to his back, without their brother noticing, of course.

At Mrs. Weasley's call, the two abandoned their prank and hurried over. Eli had never seen them move so fast, except when they practiced flying. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but nobody else seemed concerned so she just kept her hands round Mrs. Weasley's arm and waited to find out.

"Yes, mum?" George asked innocently.

She gave him a look that told him there'd be trouble later, but otherwise dropped the subject. "George, you take Eli's arm on that side, and Fred, you take Ginny's here, please. That's it, good. Everyone ready?" Her keen eyes scanned the group, but everyone seemed to be in place. Eli noted them all congregating and holding onto the of-age wizards, which made sense. Magic travel would only be allowed outside school in that age range.

"All right, then. Have at it," Mr. Weasley told them loudly.

Eli was about to ask what it was when George clenched down hard on her arm—and then everything spun wildly in front of her. The ground fell away and Eli felt like her stomach was being thrown around in a washing machine, on the highest cycle.

It was over in moments. Eli staggered forward in a field, dropping to her hands and knees and gasping. She didn't think she'd ever been that nauseous in her life! Apparating was just dreadful.

"Eli?"

"Are you going to throw up?"

She gritted her teeth. "I will not, Fred. Back off." Eli sucked in a deep breath and forced to her feet, resolving not to show any more weakness. She was a witch, not a pansy, and she'd better start acting like one if she expected to fit into magical society.

Laughing a bit, the twins helped Eli to her feet and led her through the field to a huge house—it looked, to Eli at least, as if it had once been a modern farmhouse. But over the years, additions had been made, mostly upward, turning it into a sort of tower house and giving her the impression it might topple over at any moment.

"Welcome to the Burrow," Fred announced, sort of proudly and sort of nervously. "Isn't much-"

"But it is home," George finished.

Eli stared up at the house as they approached, smiling to herself. "I grew up on a sort of farm too, in Sussex. It's lovely to live outside the city, I've never liked big cities like London much." Except for the theatre districts, of course, but that was Eli's secret.

"It might be nice to have a few more neighbors, though," Bill laughed. "Still, I s'pose it's better than plenty of other options."

"I like it," Eli declared, watching her hosts' faces light up as she spoke.

She was led in and shown up to a room near the very top—it was a touch dusty but Mrs. Weasley cleared that up in a moment. "Now, if you need anything, do let me know, dear," she said kindly. Eli blushed, feeling a little uncomfortable with the attention. "Why don't you get settled in before dinner, Eli? The boys will probably be outside playing Quidditch most of the day, I'm sure you'll find them out there when you're ready."

Left alone, Eli unpacked her small bag and sat on the little bed. The blanket looked homemade, a bit weathered but felt soft when she touched it, and the pillows had definitely seen better days. But everything felt so warm and welcoming, and Eli had to smile—she scarcely felt so comfortable in her own home.

"Eli! You'd better be decent!"

That was all the warning she got before George walked in, grinning hugely. "There you are. Look, Percy won't join us and we need another player—are you a quick study?"

She tipped her head. "Depends on who's teaching me. What do you want me to learn?"

He smirked at her, and she got the feeling she'd be regretting saying yes to whatever he suggested. "Oh, nothing much… Just a little game called Quidditch."

And that's how Eli found herself wobbling on a broomstick, tossing apples and rocks and playing a fake game of Quidditch with Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, and even Ron—who was still dropping to the ground every so often and a very unsteady flier. But it was all for practice, all in good fun, and Eli found herself laughing and enjoying herself despite her lack of practice on a broom. Fred and George kept yelling tips at her—though it wasn't much help, Bill had to catch her after they suggested she lean much harder sideways to turn better and she slipped off headfirst!

As the day progressed, though, she began to get the hang of things—mostly she played defense, what they called a Keeper, as she'd played youth football for a while and had been a pretty decent goalie. Eli recalled hearing that her house at school ought to be like family… But that was rubbish, honestly, she felt more at home with a family of Gryffindors than among her fellow Slytherins.

A while later, Mrs. Weasley called them in for dinner. Eli trooped off alongside the twins, carrying her borrowed old broom and smiling ear to ear.

"You're pretty good, y'know," Fred commented. "Maybe in a few years you'd make your house team."

George elbowed him. "We're trying out next year. Charlie says we ought to go for Beaters, the ones they've got now could be a lot better."

Eli, who had never been to a Quidditch game at Hogwarts, just shrugged. "I doubt I'd be allowed on, they'd never pick me." Ignoring the way the twins' faces dropped, she continued, "But I bet you'd make it, you're really good."

"You should've been in Gryffindor, I don't know what the Sorting Hat was on about," George complained, kicking a branch irritably. "I've seen you stand up to people, you're braver than half the Gryffindors I know."

She had to laugh at that. "Yeah, but how many Gryffindors do you know who'd hex someone when their back's turned? I'm not that brave, I just know they can't hurt me." Eli had gotten quite proficient with charms and hexes, practicing secretly in hidden corridors and even the Common Room late at night, and was quite confident no first year could out-hex her.

"She's got a point," Fred admitted.

The holiday couldn't have passed faster. Eli didn't think she'd had so much fun with her own parents—she got to help decorate the whole house in tinsel and holly and ribbons, and taught the twins and a very excited Mr. Weasley how to make popcorn balls to put on the tree; she helped Mrs. Weasley cook Christmas dinner; and though she hadn't bought any presents for anyone, she baked cookies from scratch and wrote everyone's names on them, and decorated their little piles of presents with holly garlands woven with tinsel. Christmas Day they pulled magical Christmas crackers, she pranked Percy with the twins, braided Ginny's hair for her, and was shocked to find Mrs. Weasley had knitted her a sweater just like she did for all her children.

Eli had owled her parents a Christmas card—a magical one with a little paper songbird that sang carols—and got a muggle one back, which was still sweet. She missed them, of course, but the Weasleys were so wonderful with her that she couldn't be homesick. And when it came time to go back to school, she found she'd miss the family. Whatever she'd expected from the holidays…that hadn't been it.

"It's never going to work," laughed Simon. It was their last night free before classes resumed and Fred was—yet again—working on his stolen parchment, as he did every night.

Eli looked up from her book, sighing. She'd been engrossed in a chapter of Advanced Spells for First Years while George and Simon quizzed each other, as Professor Flitwick said she showed real promise in Charms, and she always got high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But it wasn't enough for her. What she really wanted was to be top of the class, which would require outside studying.

"It will work!" Fred retorted crossly.

"What do you even expect to find in that, hm?" she asked. "A treasure map?"

He rolled his eyes. "You just don't believe."

Fighting off a fierce grin, Eli countered, "What I believe is you're up to no good with that parchment. You're always up to something."

Fred smirked and tossed his head. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good with this, of course I am. And it's got to be something good, why else would Filch have hidden it so well?"

But Eli wasn't paying attention anymore. She was staring, open-mouthed, at the parchment. Where Fred's wand still trailed, almost forgotten as he defended himself, ink had begun to reveal itself along the parchment's surface. "Fred… Bloody hell…"

"What?"

George tapped his oblivious brother and pointed at the parchment.

Fred let out a yelp as the others gathered around, watching the words reveal themselves. Excited but still trying to keep his voice down, Fred began to read. "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present… The Marauder's Map." He smoothed a finger over the writing and murmured, "What did I do?"

Taking initiative, George began unfolding the parchment, revealing that its once blank surface now was filled with ink—in fact, as the four of them leaned in to watch, Eli began to see names, and locations, all infinitely familiar… "It's Hogwarts," she breathed. "It's a map of Hogwarts."

"But are those…" George trailed off, staring intently.

Simon nodded. "Students."

"Blimey…the teachers are here too!" Fred hissed excitedly. He pointed out a few—Dumbledore in his office, Flitwick in his classroom, and Madame Pince pacing near the entrance to the library. "I think…"

"It's a map of everyone in Hogwarts!" George finished his sentence.

Eli traced her finger across their names, grimacing a little as she noted hers was written as Eliana Chaplain. "My name's Eli," she grumbled. As if it had heard her, the name faded and the banner shrunk, replacing it with Eli Chaplain. "Well, thanks."

"Fred, look here—what's this passage?" George asked, tapping another section of the map. There seemed to be a hallway leading out of the school, but Eli shook her head as she figured out where the map suggested it was located.

"It can't be, there's nothing there," she asserted. "The statue of the one-eyed witch, I pass that all the time, there isn't a passage to Hogsmeade."

Fred stood up suddenly. "Let's go have a look, then."

Though Eli kept insisting there wasn't a passage, the four of them made their way to the one-eyed witch statue, keeping a close watch on any nearby teachers with the Marauder's Map. But when they got there, and discovered she was entirely wrong, they all knew their lives at Hogwarts would never be the same.

As the year wound down, Eli found herself dreading summer. She'd miss her friends terribly, and even though they promised to write, she knew it just wouldn't be the same to be back in the muggle world. No matter what she'd thought at first, she had found a place to fit in, and now leaving it felt like leaving a piece of herself behind. Three whole months of no potion brewing, no moving staircases, no weather-themed ceilings, and worst of all…no spells or hexes. No magic at all!

But she resolved to study hard all summer to prepare for her second year. Eli wanted to be even better at potion-making—Professor Snape had suggested she had the makings of a true Potions Master, and she wanted so badly to prove him right. Also, she had to prepare better hexes, since her fellow students would be getting stronger too and she'd have to step her game up if she wanted to keep all the other Slytherins afraid of her.

Better afraid than mocking.

Eli passed her summer spending her days studying and her evenings writing to Simon and the twins. She found a branch near the size of her wand and practiced spell movements and incantations in the mirror, so she wouldn't accidentally cast something and get in trouble.

Simon sent her photos from a trip he took with his aunt to France—moving wizard photos—and the twins kept her amused with oddities and books they sent her. George sent her a weathered old book called Intermediate to Advanced Hexes: For Petty Revenge and Personal Enjoyment, which contained loads of new spells she could use against people, and she practiced at least one spell from it every night.

Finally, as summer drew to a close—summer had never been so painfully dreary—the best letter came in, carried in the beak of the Weasleys' unreliable owl Errol.

Eli,

Did you get your supply list yet? Mum said it might take longer to get to you, since you're in a muggle town and they've got to send the owls at the right time so get don't get hit by—plains? Something. Anyway!

We've asked Mum and she said you can come shopping in Diagon Alley with us this year! Then you can sleep at ours and we'll all catch the train together. If you like, I mean. It'll be good fun!

Write back soon—otherwise we'll just go without you, and then you'll be upset, and cry…

Wait, do Slytherins cry? Or just glower?

Don't kill me.

-George

Eli rushed to her parents immediately and begged to go. Thankfully they agreed, since she'd already spent Christmas with them and it would free them from a trip to Diagon Alley. Even though Eli had always been close with her parents, their standoffishness towards the wizarding world—her world—was carving a gap between them.

Still, she was too excited about seeing her friends again to mind. So she hurried to write back, gave Errol a treat, and sent him on his way.

She was going back!

"Eli!"

She couldn't help but laugh as the twins mobbed her, switching off hugs and hair-ruffling and spinning her until she was dizzy. "Stop it!" she giggled, pushing the redheads away with fake irritation. Off to one side of the room, her parents watched fondly, while fielding Mr. Weasley's excited questions about their household appliances.

"You didn't miss me at all, did you?" she teased them, beaming.

George winked at her. "Not at all, didn't think of you once."

Fred smirked. "Actually, who are you again?"

She just laughed and punched both their arms.

Peeling the well-meaning Mr. Weasley away from her parents, Eli said her goodbyes and loaded her trunk up in the blue car parked half on the curb, at an angle with the boot facing almost straight across the road. Her parents gave her money, plenty to exchange and use for clothes, and told her to find a payphone and ring them if she didn't have enough. Then it was all hugs and quick goodbyes and please-do-write-us do-you-have-everything did-you-forget-your-wand and finally she was off, back into the magical world.

Fred and George caught her up on their adventures while Mr. Weasley drove into London, telling her of their practice for Quidditch—they'd be trying out that year for the Gryffindor house team—and the gnomes in the garden, and how Ginny had sneezed and set Percy on fire—which they secretly thought was on purpose. Eli had nothing of note to tell them, but promised to show off her hex practice their first night back.

"How far did you get in the book I sent you?" George asked eagerly. "I went straight to the end, it had this fantastic charm to make someone's ears grow bigger every day, just by a little, and it could only be stopped with a potion involving dragon dung!"

Eli grinned devilishly. Now here was something she could go on about. "Oh, you must've missed the last chapter then. I went through it all, even though I reckon I won't be strong enough for some of the really serious ones just yet, and I think I found the best of the lot. There's a curse to actually make someone forget how to talk! They walk around understanding everything and thinking they're speaking normally when they're actually babytalking. And there's one to make all food taste like soap, or a modifier where it tastes like slug slime." Glancing nervously at the front of the car, where Mr. Weasley sat driving away, and whispered, "Some of those were very intense, though. Like—cutting people up intense. Hopefully nobody makes me mad enough to use them."

Fred gave her an appraising look. "Bloody hell, I'm glad we're friends and not enemies."

Eli tapped her nose and grinned. "Hasn't happened yet. I learnt diffindo last year and didn't use it on anybody."

"Not yet," George snorted.

She just whistled innocently. Eli sat back as the car turned down a familiar street—she recognized it from when her parents drove her to Diagon Alley last year, and wondered for just a moment if she ought to miss them more. Being away at school should've been hard for most any eleven-year-old, but she'd been just fine. Of course she loved her parents, they were wonderful and had always loved her through her magic manifesting during childhood… And yet… She didn't miss them. She was excited to go back to school, to be with her friends and go to classes… But not looking forward to going home after. Really she might be happier just spending summer with the Weasleys, but she couldn't put that financial strain on them. It was all just so odd. Shouldn't she miss her parents?

In the couple days before school started back up, Fred and George spent nearly every waking moment practicing for Quidditch tryouts. They were determined to make Gryffindor's team, no matter what it took—they wanted to be Beaters, and honestly Eli thought it was perfect for them—but she didn't really want all that practice. The twins told her she made an excellent Keeper, but Quidditch would take up so much time from studying and she had a whole new set of Slytherins to ward off…

"You're sure you won't try out?" asked Ginny Weasley when they'd finished—she usually kept her distance from the older girl, seeming very shy, except during Quidditch practice. "You're a really good Keeper, honest."

Eli shrugged and nudged the little practice broom. "I don't actually have a broom of my own. And besides, I've got to keep up on my hexes, otherwise nobody will be afraid of me anymore." That part she added with a wink. It wasn't like she wanted Ginny afraid of her, but it was true—if she didn't stay ahead of her classmates, she'd become a target, just like the year before.

With a little smirk, Ginny pointed out, "You'd be the first muggleborn on the team in an awful long time, you know."

Ooh, that girl knew exactly how to get to Eli! "Well…" She grinned reluctantly. "I won't discount it yet, I suppose." There. It was all she could allow, for the time being. First she needed to see how the new students treated her, and how the new seventh years acted.

After dinner—Eli helped with the washing-up, as she usually did—she retreated to the twins' room to plan a few beginning-of-the-year pranks, go over school lists (despite Fred's loud protests), and just enjoy themselves a bit before they had to worry about homework and tests and classes again. Sitting there, chatting, discussing the new hexes she'd learnt, Eli began to understand why muggleborns left the normal world behind in favor of the wizarding one. Who would ever want to go back really, when they could be part of something so much more…interesting?