"You're Tony?" Ron stood there, mouth slightly agape. He'd pictured a boy his age, vaguely Italian looking and somewhat nerdy. Not a curvy black girl in short shorts. She didn't seem the least bit concerned with his confusion as she stood up in front of him, head cocked, examining him without bothering to be subtle. She was probably more than a foot shorter than him. She had the look of someone who would have had a decent amount of babyfat, but was so athletic they came out more stocky. Hints of biceps on her brown arms stood out as she put her hands on her hips. Her pale greens eyes flicked over his outfit, his scars, then met his own eyes. Then she smiled wide.

"Yeah, it's short for Antonia, and that's Josh." She nodded her head over to the brunette boy, who was walking out of the bathroom now. He wore a plain white tank top which showed off muscular arms, and loose grey sweatpants. He lifted his hand in a lazy greeting then hopped on the second bed.

The room was decorated in rustic style, with wood paneling on the walls, dark wood floors, and rugs all in brown, beige and red color schemes. The furniture was all wood too, the same color as the walls, which gave the place a cramped barn feeling. The comforters on the two beds were a dark pine green. The large window near the door had it's curtain mostly drawn, but a sliver of the outside world peaked through at the edge, and it was obviously nighttime.

"You left at what, 7am? It's 12am here, so you basically lost a day." Tony said, following his line of sight.

"Wait, so it's June 11th now?"

"Yup." She emphasized her consonants in the weird way Americans did, skipping over the u sound and ending the word in a hard puh. Then, straightening her back and lifting her chin, she announced in a mock formal voice. "On behalf of Guadalupe, we welcome you to our school and to America." She waived her hand in a broad sweep, as if to present a grand and magnificent sight.

"Right... thanks." Answered Ron. Tony laughed at his response, then continued, "I know you're probably not too tired since its still morning to you, but you should try to get some rest before we go hiking in eight hours. You can sleep on that bed with him-" She gestured to the boy again, who gave a small friendly smile.

"-Or you can grab a blanket and sleep on the floor. Whatever." She shrugged. Ron nodded absently.

"Until then," Josh began, "Why don't you sit and tell us about yourself."

"Um..." The ackward feeling Ron had had since he arrived hit it's peak. He was alone in a hotel room with two strangers, one of which was nearly half naked.

"Yeah, like, what made you want to come to a school for werewolves? I honestly wasn't expecting a transfer from Europe." Tony asked. "I always got the feeling they hated us more over there than they do here, and they really hate us here." She didn't sound the least bit bitter as she said this, just very factual, as if she had said water was wet. She sat back down on the bed close to the door. Ron decided to sit the edge of the bed that Josh was laying down on.

"Well, one of my professors was a werewolf, hes a pretty nice bloke, and he was the best Defense teacher we ever had."

"Was?" Josh asked.

"He lost the job when word got around of what he was." Ron decided to leave out the part about Lupin nearly attacking him and his friends. It was a long story and he didn't feel like talking about Harry and Sirius.

"Hm, guess my impression was right then." Tony said, looking somber. Then, she seemed to decide that they needed to change the subject.

"You look like you at least know how to dress for a hike in no-maj territory. I've heard stories about crazy shit british wizards wear when they try to look like no-majs." Said Tony, scooting back on her own bed while crossing her legs, tucking her feet under her knees. Ron remembered the quidditch world cup. He hadn't been expecting his outfit choice to earn him any compliments. But he had the feeling that a lot of unexpected things were going to be happening on this trip. "Is it a long hike?" He asked.

"Takes a few days. 'less you're fit, most our applicants are not." Tony answered. Ron was confused for a moment before he remembered that 'fit' probably didn't mean the same thing here.

"Don't worry, you'll make it." Josh offered. Ron appreciated the confidence in him, but he didn't share the sentiment.

"Is that why they wanted me to come over so early?" Even if the hike itself took a whole week, he was still about two months early to the school year.

"Guadalupe runs all year round. A lot of the werewolf students don't really have anywhere to go during the summer, and we can't exactly kick em out and leave them high and dry without any wolfsbane. That's asking for an accident." Tony explained. "But I guess they want you here early because the tests to find your classification can take a pretty long time."

"Classification...?"

"Know anything about karate?" Josh asked, and Ron just stared back at him. "Ok, well, when you start out a novice, a white belt, and when you get better you graduate to yellow belt, then orange, purple, and when you know everything their is to know about karate, you get a black belt. Yeah?" Ron nodded, but wasn't completely sure if he understood.

"Well, you'll be tested, to see if your yellow or purple, or whatever, then they know what classes to put you in." He said. "Lots of the students there didn't get to start their magical education when they were 11, so it doesn't make sense to group students based on age. We do it by skill level instead."

"So I might end up in classes with eleven year olds?" Ron asked. He wasn't the best student. In certain subjects, his skills could very well place him with kids several years younger. He also wondered what they would do with Hermione if she took those tests, they'd probably have to invent an entire category for her.

"Yeah, most classes have a pretty broad mix of ages." Tony said. "But Hogwarts is a pretty good school right? I doubt you'll end up in the bottom tier of anything." She pulled her hair over her should and began to braid it.

"Tell us about Hogwarts. It has houses just like Ilvermorny right?" Both Tony and Josh watched him with interest. He figgited a bit with his hands.

"Yeah." He said "I'm in Gryffindor." He didn't feel like a Gryffindor right now.

"That ones for bravery, right?" Josh asked. Ron just nodded. He told them a bit about the sorting ceromony, the hat's song, and Dumbledore. They continued lisening with keen interest. When he paused, not coming up with anything else interesting to say, Tony supplied him with with a little information about Guadalupe.

"It's such a young school. Only been open officialy for about 10 years, but we already have rouphly 150 students. Not a lot by the standards of Ilvermorny or Hogwarts. But it really freaked MACUSA out. We had like 5 werewolves in the first year, 30 in the second, and then 100. MACUSA didn't even know that many werewolves were in they're country." Tony was smiling as if the thought was funny to her.

"But I guess Ms. Renaissance just has a way with making us feel safe. She's wasn't affiliated with the government and refuses to be now. She makes everyone take vows against giving away each others identities, so only we can choose to out ourselves. She has such a powerful presence. It's really inspiring." Tony seemed to glow when she spoke about her school, and her headmistress. Ron found himself watching her and listening as keenly as they had to him.

"When did they start letting non-werewolvs in?" Ron asked.

"About five years ago." Josh answered. "Although, I think Dawn was here before then?" He looked over to Tony for confirmation.

"Yeah, Dawn's sister is a werewolf but she isn't, they came here together because they refused to separate. So I guess that makes Dawn the first student admitted who didn't have lycanthropy. " Said Tony, looking thoughtful.

"Anyways, we got to be up bright an early. So we should try to go sleep." She said after a moment, then crawled under the blanket.

Ron changed into his pajamas in the bathroom, and folded up his jeans and T-shirt. He'd barely worn them for a few hours, so he could probably wear them again tomorrow, or today...when the sun came up.

He chose to share the bed with Josh, which seemed a bit awkward, but Josh didn't even blink when he climbed in. Ron had shared beds with various brothers throughout his life as his big family expanded, shrank, and traded rooms around the house. Being the youngest boy, he was also usually the first to be shacked with cousins whenever the extended Weasley clan had a get together.

But the bed was large. Josh turned his back to Ron, and Ron had plenty of space to himself. Maybe it was the lack of sleep lately, or having woke up that morning at the crack of dawn. But despite having just gotten out of bed a few hours ago, Ron was tired, and he fell asleep withing minutes.

It was still dark when Ron awoke, but he could hear birds chirping outside signaling the imminent arrival of the sun. He laid still and listened to the rythmic breathing of his room mates. He turned to look at Josh, who had rolled onto his back at some point. His face serenely facing the ceiling, lips parted slightly.

Last night Ron had hadn't looked at Josh too closely. He'd been too distracted by Tony's magnetism and somewhat exotic appearance. But now up close he could see that the boy was pale, although not as pale as Ron. His skin looked clear of any freckle or blemish. He didn't even have dark spots under eyes. He had a square set jaw, high cheekbones and long brown lashes that matched his hair.

His shoulder almost touched Ron's, their bodies made the covers especially warm in the surprisingly cool summer morning, and Ron found he didn't mind the proximity too much. Maybe because Josh was sleeping, so Ron didn't have to fret about how he must have appeared at that moment, enjoying in the presence of a boy in bed with him.

Ron banished the thought quickly.

He slid out of the warm blankets into the cool air, used the bathroom and changed into his ripped jeans and t-shirt once more. He decided to sit outside, where any noise he made wouldn't bother Antonia and Josh, and eat the muffins his mother had packed. The view when he opened the door almost floored him. The sun had just made it's appearance, reflecting off a large lake That their lodge faced. surrounding the lake were tall, densely packed pine trees. Mountains stretched the entire distance of the horizon, larger than life and peaked with snow. It suddenly struck him why it was so cold. They were probably at a decently high altitude, and he was wearing short sleeves. He sat down next to the door to enjoy his muffins and the view.

Despite how early it was, he soon saw muggles, in little boats out on the lake, propelling themselves with long paddles. A few also walked by him, coming from they're own cabins and headed off to do whatever muggles did here. They politly greeted him as they walked by, but thankfully none had tried to have a real conversation.

A little while later the door opened and Josh stepped out. "Oh good, you didn't wander off."

He stepped out, wearing dark jeans, boots that were worn and scuffed, and a long sleeved shirt rolled up to the elbows. His backpack on and ready to go.

"Where are we?" Asked Ron. Sweeping his arm to indicate the view in front of them.

"Wyoming. Specifically, south of Yellowstone park. You cold?"

"Yeah."

"You'll warm up later when we start walking, but I gotta jacket you can borrow for now," Ron noticed that Josh didn't emphasize his consonants as much as Tony did, and he spoke a pace or to slower.

"Thanks... want a muffin?" Ron asked, holding one up.

"What kind?"

"Lemon poppyseed."

"Hell yeah!" Josh reached for the muffin and brought it up to his face to take a big bite. Just then, Tony walked out of the room with Ron's bag, her own already slung over her shoulders.

"Anything else before we head off?" She asked the boys, handing Ron his bag.

"Naw." Josh said with his mouthful.

"What you eatin?" She asked.

"Muffins, want one? My mum made them." He cringed a bit as he said it. He should have just said they were good. He held a muffin up to her and pretended not to be embarrassed.

"Ooh! Thanks." She said as she took it. She started walking away while eating, and Josh and Ron moved to follow her.

"Your mum is a pretty good cook!" She said a moment later, giggling when Ron blushed.

They left the little village and were soon walking on a trail through thick wilderness without another person in sight. The trail was rocky, and dusty, and constantly going up, and down, then back up. A few times they actually needed ropes and harnesses to climb up steep rocks. Ron peeled off the sweater Josh had given him and tied it around his waist, he was sweating lightly despite the air still being a little cool. The three of them chatted about anything and everything. His family, his friends, Hogwarts. Josh and Tony were genuinely curious about it all, and Ron found himself feeling less shy around them.

Tony smiled when Ron told her he had 5 brothers and 1 sister. "I know what thats like." She told him she was technically an only child, but she and her mother lived with her aunt and 9 cousins. "Back home, I share a room with like, 4 girls who are all younger than me."

"I finally got my own room a few years ago, though it's in the attic." He said. She laughed and told him she'd kill to get an attic to herself.

"So you don't have a dad?" Ron asked without thinking. Tony pursed her lips and gave him a hard look. Suddenly Hermione's voice filled Ron's head, telling him he had no tact and this was just so typicial.

But a moment later she turned her head away from him and shrugged. "No, never met him before. Too bad really, he's probably the one who made me a witch. The rest of my family are no-maj."

Josh never offered up anything about his family. This time Ron didn't ask.

They were both in something called the "Next leaders program". Certain students were chosen based on aptitude, extracurricular interests, and knowledge of foreign langues. They also worked as teaching assistants to some of the lower level classes and meant to act as guides to other students. The ultimate goal for NLP was to secure places in government, where they could hopefully make a difference in laws and attitudes regarding werewolves and similar groups. Ron told them it sounded kind of like being a prefect, but harder. They spent the next hour comparing prefect duties to NLP duties.

Tony spoke Spanish as well as French and was trying to learn Japanese. She often tutored students whose second laungege was English. Josh had basic training as a healer, and taught some lower level potions classes.

"I'm not that great at potions, I hope I don't end up with you as a teacher, that would be wierd." Ron told him.

"Well, you wouldn't be only older person there. I told you some students don't start here till there older." He replied. "I didn't get to start school 'till I was fifteen."

"What? and you're already teaching?" The ease Ron had finally started to feel around his new schoolmates was waning. They were both way smarter than him. Soon he'd take the classifications test and then they'ed know exactly how slow he was.

"Why'd you start so late?" He asked, trying to distract himself from his new anxiety.

But Josh didn't answer him. He gave Ron a sidelong glance, and then walked on ahead. Ron wondered if he'd hit on another sore spot unintentionally. They walked on in silence for while after that.

Tony stopped them once at a particularly beautiful spot in the trail, where the trees separated and you could see the mountains in the background.

"Lets get a photo, to remember your first trial of becoming a Guadalupe student." She insisted. She set the camera on a rock, ran back to stand next to them. "When everybody in frame says 'cheese' at the same time, it'll snap a picture." She explained.

"Why 'cheese'? That seems kind of-" Ron started to say before Tony cut him off by pulling him over Josh.

"Just say it and smile, silly."

He did. At the sound of all three of them saying the word, the camera snapped several pictures by it itself. Tony walked over and picked it up. "That's gonna be a keeper," She said with satisfaction as she put away the camera.

They walked all day into the evening, stopping occasionally to eat. They steadily climbed a higher and higher altitude. The sun had started to set when Tony suggested they stop and set up the tent. Ron silently screamed in relief, his feet had been killing him, but he hadn't wanted to be the one to ask if they could stop.

It was a magical tent, similar to the one his family used at the quidditch world cup. On the outside it looked barely big enouph to house a child. But on the inside, it had more bedrooms than they possible needed. Ron guessed about 30, but didn't bother to count. There was a central living area, with large plush couches and pillows arranged in a circle.

"They use this tent for club activities." Josh said as a way to explain the surplus of space. "So no need for us to cuddle up tonight." He smiled, and Ron felt his face and ears go pink. He put his head down and picked a random room to walk over and throw his things into. The rooms were small and basic. A bed, a rug, a nightstand, all of which were mismatched in style and various levels of shabbyness. He couldn't help but be reminded of home.

Josh and Tony both announced they were tired and going straight to bed. Ron stayed up only a little bit longer to write Hermione a letter. He couldn't send it off until he got to the school. But he wanted to write down that thing Josh had said about karate and classifications before he forgot it. He considered writing Harry, but quickly abandoned the idea. By now Harry knew that Ron had skipped out on him, and was probably furious with him over it.

Ron was also extremley tired, so as soon as he finished the letter and put it in his bag, he flopped onto the bed and was asleep in minutes.

AN: please leave reviews! Tell me what I could be doing better, because I feel like I could definatly be doing this better.

This setting was partially inspired by Firewatch. I mean, the Rocky Mountains really is one of the best places to hide a magical school in America, I think. I also picked it because its far enouph away from Ilvermorny. It's also just an allround gorgeous location. Google Coltor Bay village to see Ron's view from the cabin.