Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter three- A Happy Home?

That night kind of bonded Regina and me together. There was only one year age difference between her and me but sometimes I felt like there were millions.

Maybe it was because she was so small for her age, or maybe it was because she talked so quietly yet quickly so I had to listen hard to catch her words. But I think it was because she was bringing out a whole new person in me, a person that I didn't see eye to eye with.

This was a guy who spent time thinking about the perfect gift for his friend's birthday. This was a guy that listened to every word his friend said and then was later able to recall every word of it while he was dreaming. But most importantly this was a guy who was failing to keep his promise that he would never fall in love.

Maybe it wasn't just Regina's fault. I was thirteen now, and that meant I was a teenager. That might have had something to do with it, but part of it was still her fault. The worst part of this new guy was however that he didn't mind being this guy that was devouring his bitter and cautious side. Leaving him slightly cheerful, although a bit sarcastic, and totally gullible. I didn't mind all this.

I found that this in itself was proof that Regina was a powerful witch.

When summer came it was hard to say goodbye. I had finally made my first friend, and now I had to leave them. Going home wasn't going to be easy. I had built up my bitterness and rage for a reason, and now that it was gone going home would be like going into battle armed with a long pink flower.

I sat down on the train and pulled my luggage into a cabin and pulled the doors closed. With a flick of the wrist I turned all walls around me into one-way glass and with another flick I locked the door. This was my favorite cabin, and I enjoyed being able to watch those around me as they bustled through. On one side was Malfoy's cabin with all his lackeys and the two girls that followed him around.

On the other side was a cabin full of girls getting out of their robes and dressing back in their normal clothes. Part of me wanted to watch them, the part that had grown up around Malfoy and my father, but the 'new' me, well he was swiftly devouring the old me, and the new me was full of respect for Reggie.

Since the door was locked I took the opportunity to change out of my robes myself and into a pair of jeans and a black sweater that didn't fit the same as it had when I had first come to Hogwarts this year.

"Alohomora," I herd a small voice whisper out side my cabin door.

I herd the door slowly creak open and I quickly tired to pull my sweater over my head, unfortunately my head got stuck in the arm, I pulled too hard, lost my balance and fell into the cabin wall.

Regina chuckled and slammed the door shut. I herd her whisper the locking charm and then light poured back into my eyes as she lifted the sweater off my head and helped me put it on right, all while we sat in the corner of the cabin. I was destined to look like a fool in front of Regina.

"You're such a nerd," she said.

"I'm the coolest nerd you've ever met," I said standing up.

"Your foot is sticking out of the hole in your knee," she warned me as I tripped and fell.

"I'm such a nerd," I complained.

"That's okay, your just nervous about going home," she said as she pulled me to my feet. I hadn't even needed to tell her what was upsetting me. Regina was my first friend, I don't know if that was it, or if it was fate, but we had a connection. I understood her even better then she understood me.

"You know you don't have to go home," she said playing with the gold locket around her neck as I tried to pull my pants on properly without her seeing any skin. It was hard and I fell over at least two more times, making her laugh, but for the fist time someone was laughing with me, not at me.

"Where would I go if I didn't?" I said after I had finally struggled into my pants.

"Well, I've been meaning to ask for months. My parents have invited you to stay with us and I already told them you were coming. You don't have to or anything, but I thought you might appreciate my home more then yours."

I was dumbfounded. No one had ever invited me to stray with them. No one had even wanted me to stay with them. I was worried about leaving my mother alone for a year, but I knew she would want me to go with Regina.

"Sure, I'd love to," but that was all I could say to her as night fell outside.

I woke up six hours later when the train pulled into the station. It was light outside again. I wanted to get up and use the bathroom, but Regina had fallen asleep with her small arms wrapped around my shoulders. Part of me wanted it to be her hugging me; the other part told the first part that it was just her using me as a pillow.

"Are we here?" her sleepy voice asked

"Yes," I said stroking her hair, I wasn't quiet sure why, it just seemed like something the new Snape would do.

In a flash she was up and moving around the cabin, getting out her luggage and getting dressed so she looked presentable. Like I had said before, she wasn't beautiful, she wasn't hideous, she was perfectly forgettable, but I couldn't help but watch as she brushed out her frizzy copper hair and applied what I assumed was chap stick to her lips.

"What's the hurry?" I asked as I pulled down my luggage, starting to wonder if my own ripped jeans and sweater were presentable since she was now pulling on a blue sundress over her dark tights that she had been wearing like spandex pants.

"The hurry is my family! They are all waiting out there for me, I haven't seen them in forever!"

"Was your family happy or something?" I asked. I never remembered looking forward to home this much, and sure I had always seen parents at the train stop, but it had never occurred to me that they were waiting for their kids.

"Of course," she said as she pushed her luggage threw the door, "you're going to love them. They are going to love you!"

I let myself be dragged down the corridor as she leaped out of the train pulling me behind her. She looked around the platform but I watched her face fall as she didn't find what she was looking for.

"They're not here!" she moaned as she turned her face into my chest. She hit me with enough force that I had to work hard to keep my balance but I wrapped her in my arms and searched for something that she might have missed. There was nothing obvious, no one with the same copper hair and quiet a few people with green eyes, but that was common in wizards.

That's when I got the idea. I pulled out my wand and while still holding a distressed Regina in my arms I waved my hand and the thoughts from everyone around me poured in. no luck. There were parents thinking about there children's first steps in beautiful pictures, and other parents thinking the same line: they are growing up so fast!

But then I found what I was looking for, there were emotions pouring into my head. Excitement. His sister was coming home. Relief that she had survived without him. Now all I had to do was find the source, and aha! I found the little boy.

He, like Regina, was small, so he had to jump just to see over the heads of people, which must have been why Regina missed him. He was obviously a muggle, which struck me as odd since Regina was pure blood, the sorting hart didn't make mistakes. The only way I could tell he was a muggle was the look in his eyes, the fascination with everything magic he could catch as it walked by, as if he were taking mental pictures, well that and he was holding a 'welcome home Reggie' sign which wizards didn't often do.

I slowly turned her away from my shoulder to face the small bouncing brunette, and watched her face light up with joy.

"Georgie!" she screeched as she ran across the platform tugging me behind her and our luggage following behind me.

"This is Georgie," she said as she embraced her brother, "Georgie, this is Sevy!"

I gave him a nod, suddenly shy. What if they didn't like me? Why did this matter? I had never cared about people liking me before.

"The others are on the other side of the platform. They didn't want to seem mad when running into a wall," Georgie said with a bright smile

"I knew they would come!" she yelled pulling me and her brother along. For a small girl she was awfully strong.

Her family was absolutely perfect, a loving mother that was the perfect image of a 1950's muggle mother, her dad was a cheerful man who not only hugged his daughter but me as well, which made me a bit tense. And her three brothers were, well, I liked Georgie very much, unlike her other brothers, Jake and Ben. They seemed to give me evil glares the whole ride to their small home in the country.

Regina quickly showed me to the up stairs to her room witch was the perfect image of pink, it almost blinded me, for while I was learning to be less dark in nature the pink was almost blinding to someone like me. Then she showed me to the room I would be sharing with her brothers.

"I'm sure you'll all get along great!" she said, closing the door behind her as she left to go change into some cleaner clothes.

"You can share my bunk!" Georgie piped up

His brothers continued to glare.

"You thirteen?" one of them, it think it was Ben, growled.

"Yes, I am thirteen," I said, my knees shaking, and I didn't know why. I could kill this kid in at least twelve different ways that wouldn't have been detected by a muggle doctor.

"Why you messing around with our sister?" the other one growled

"Um… I don't understand the question?"

"He doesn't like you," Georgie said, as if this clarified it a bit.

"I got that, Georgie, thanks," I mumbled

"Leave our sister alone," Ben growled, he had blonde hair like his twin Jake, while Regina had copper, and Georgie had brown. They didn't look very closely related.

"I'm not hurting your sister. She's my friend," I said, it was the first time I had ever called someone my friend.

"She had a boyfriend once," Jake began to tell a story, probably something Regina wouldn't want me to hear, but I stopped him.

"I'm not her boyfriend, just a friend. That's all. She's in my house at school."

The two older boys fixed me with appraising glares as they turned back to their beds.

"Let me show you the trampoline!" Georgie said as he pulled me out of the room. I had passed inspection.

Well, once again I have managed to make Snape look human. Oh, and thanks to my art teacher for the flower in a battlefield image.