Hey I'm back! Thanks for the reviews! Thank the Lord you guys are still with me on this. I've even gotten more followers and favorites! I was concerned that people would leave if I put Nanoha in Slytherin, even though it's important to the plot.

Anyway just something I should mention. Someone asked for more info about Nanoha being a bodyguard with Miyuki and Kouya, so here it is. Except for Suzuka when she is at school or hanging out, Nanoha doesn't have any other clients, though she is used as covert back up when her brother and sister are operating in the city. She also does reconnaissance work and threat assessment for them, mostly with her Spacial Awareness. Her being a part time bodyguard is also tied into her other innate abilities that aren't tied to her magic, though, like SA, she can use magic to increase it. Her other abilities will be explained, most likely in a couple of chapters.

On a side note, I just updated my profile in case ya'll are interested in knowing a bit more about me.

Anyway, in this chapter we have more Malfoy interaction, though no befriending yet, an explanation about Daphnae, classes, and something extra. For the extra, you'll just have to read.

Enjoy!

Despite the late hour, the two mages woke early. Before opening the curtain for the bed, they checked Nanoha's vitals and Linker Core again. Once again, it had improved; not by much, but enough to be noticeable.

"If this keeps up...," Fate observed as she powered down the display.

"My Core should be reformed by Christmas," Nanoha finished. "It would be nice; I'm getting a little tired of not being able to fight for myself too much." Taking care not to wake Tracey, the two mages exited the bed. After doing their morning exercises, minus the sparring, the two mages went to take a shower. As they returned, dressed in their school uniform with a green and silver striped tie, Tracey woke up, the curtains clinking a little as she pulled them aside.

"What are you two doing up so early," she asked, yawning a bit.

Nanoha switched to English as she and Fate finished putting on their cloaks, the clasps having turned to a coiled silver cobra with emerald eyes. "Training. We like to keep our body in shape. If you like, we can wait for you in the common room and head to breakfast together."

Tracey nodded her head slightly as she got her things together and headed for the bathroom.

The Common Room was deserted. Nanoha and Fate sat on the black leather couch facing the fireplace. "So, what do you think of Tracey?" Fate asked in Japanese.

Nnaoha shrugged. "She seems alright. She doesn't feel quite the same as the others. Malfoy is an interesting case though."

Before Fate could respond, Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, entered the room.

"Takamchi-san," He began, slightly irritable after getting chewed out by his father, though he was thankful for for his mother's crash course in Japanese honorifics, "I think we got on the wrong foot yesterday..."

"Next time do not attack the person you are trying to get to know simply because they said something that you did not like," Nanoha said coolly, causing him to wince, "I greatly dislike fighting and I do not appreciate being put into that position."

"You're one to talk," Fate sent drily.

Nanoha ignored her. "However, perhaps we may start over again. After you give me some time to think."

Malfoy nodded. Gesturing to his two cronies, Malfoy left the room, his guards following.

"What did Malfoy want?" Tracey asked as she walked into the Common Room.

"To apologize," Nanoha replied as she and Fate stood.

"Well, let's go eat." Tracey replied.

The three girls quickly headed out of the Common Room, the door expanding as they approached it, before retracting after they passed. "So, you two are from Japan?"

"Yes," Nanoha said with a nod, "Uminari City, by the coast on the central island. Where are you from?"

"My family lives in Liverpool," Tracey said.

The three Slytherins continued to talk as they headed for the Great Hall, Nanoha discretely guiding them with her Spacial Awareness since it allowed her to sense things two floors above them; though to be fair, she and Fate had memorized the route. However, Nanoha made a mental note to remember where she had last sensed McGonagal.

They soon reached the Great Hall and quickly sat at the end near the door. "You were raised by Muggles?" Tracey asked after filling there plates.

"Kind of," Nanoha said, "Fate, a few members of my family, and myself all have certain abilities that could be considered magical."

Tracey nearly choked. "And you didn't know anything?!"

Nanoha shook her head. "My half brother and sister and mother can increase their strength, but it's more of an manipulation of internal energies rather than magic. If it wasn't, we would certainly have known about this. Fae and I are the only two that possess unexplainable abilities, except perhaps by psychic power."

Just then the doors to the Great Hall opened. Tracey was on her feet in a moment, hugging Daphnae Greengrass. "Daphnae," Tracey squealed in delight, "Come and sit with us."

Unable to ignore her friend, Daphnae joined the two mages at the table.

After the girls introduced themselves Tracey asked her surrogate sister, "How're you doing Daph?"

The bespectacled girl smiled lightly. "Alright. Ravenclaws have their own room, so there was anyone to bother me about why I was there."

"Hai," Nanoha stated, "I noticed that everyone was surprised that you were put into Ravenclaw."

"Not as much as hey were when you were switched from Hufflepuff to Slytherin," Tracey added.

Nanoha nodded. "Hai. Myself I can understand, but why were they surprised about you, Daphnae-chan, if you do not mind my asking?"

It was obvious that she had hit a nerve as Daphnae hesitated. Then she said, "Both of my parents were in Slytherin."

"I do not understand," Fate said.

"They died three years ago. People assumed that I would be like them, but I'm not."

Nanoha nodded as the doors opened the other students came in. "You have my condolences."

Daphnae shook her head. "Quite frankly, I'm glad. They weren't...the nicest of people."

Fate nodded. "I can understand that. My mother was the same until Nanoha beat some sense into her."

Nanoha pouted as Marcus, bearing a stack of papers, came over, thankfully diverting the attention of their new friends. "Your class schedules," he said, handing them out.

The discussion was four looked over their schedules. "It appears that we start out with two classes today, then add others during this week, before moving to a regular schedule next week."

"Transfiguration first today, then Herbology after lunch." Fate noted.

"At least our first class is with Griffindore," Nanoha commented. "We will be with Harry-kun and Ron-kun."

As breakfast progressed, even as Tracey and Daphnae explained bits and pieces of the magical world, Nanoha and Fate couldn't help but notice that Harry and Ron hadn't arrived yet, even as the warning gong went off and the three Slytherins parted ways with Daphnae. As the three headed for the Transfiguration classroom, Nanoha leading the way since she remembered where she had sensed McGonagal, though she didn't tell Tracey that.

Nanoha's fears were quickly relieved after her SA sensed them two floors above, running like mad. "They're fine," she sent to Fate as the three Slytherins entered the classroom to see that most of the class had already entered, "Just lost."

"Well they're going to be late," Fate sent as they put their duffles down on the desk.

Nanoha then noticed the gray tabby cat on the desk on the far wall, which had been just out of range of her SA, its left ear twitching. It looked so cute that Nanoha went to it, though it stiffened at her approach. It had strange markings like eyeglasses, and as she went nearer, she could sense the same kind of faint, magical trace that she had sensed on Scabbers.

"Fate, the cat isn't normal. It's like Scabbers I think. I think judging by its glasses, I think it's Professor McGonagal." Now that Nanoha thought about it, she could vaguely sense Professor McGonagal's presence where the cat was.

"Must be like Yuuno."

Nanoha automatically began to lightly scratch the cat behind the ear. The cat stiffened a moment, before it fell prey to Naoha's expert hands after petting Suzuka's many pets. It clearly enjoyed it, leaning its head into Nanoha's hand and started to purr. "You're a pretty thing," Nanoha said.

The cheerful event was soon ruined by the sound of the door slamming open and two very disheveled Griffindore boys barged in.

"Thank Merlin the Prof's not here," Ron exclaimed to Harry, though the whole class had no trouble hearing him, "Could you imagine the look on McGonagal's face if she saw us late."

"I certainly can," Nanoha said, looking at the cat, "Right Professor?" In answer to the classes perplexed looks, the cat ceased rubbing against Nanoha's hand, gave it an appreciative lick, and leaped off the desk, immediately transforming into the Scottish professor who came to a stop in front of two tardy boys.

The sight of the obviously disappointed Scotts woman caused Ron to try to save face. "That was brilliant!" he said, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Thank for that assessment, but perhaps it would better to transfigure Mr. potter or yourself into a pocket watch? So that at least one of you would be on time."

The glass giggling made Ron turn as red as his hair in embarrassment. "We got lost," Harry offered.

"Then perhaps a map," she asked amused, "I trust you don't need one to find your seat."

At that, Harry and Ron quickly took a seat next to the beckoning Fate, earning the two Griffindores dubious looks from the Griffindore side of the classroom as McGonagal looked at Nanoha. "Takamachi-san, may I ask how you knew that the cat was me?"

Nanoha nodded. "The tattoo of your glasses Sensei. Also, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly, and have an itch that it did not try to scratch."

McGonagal nodded. "Well, five points to Slytherin for your observation and consideration for animals."

Nanoha nodded as she took her seat in between Fate and Harry, with Tracey next to Fate, and Ron on the otherside of Harry.

The class progressed smoothly, and by the end of the class McGonagal had them trying to turn matchsticks into needles. While it was a bit hard for the two mages at first, their mental training paid off once they figured out it was based more on intent than the mathematics, and both Nanoha and Fate managed to get them perfectly by the end of the class, earning them five more points, with Nanoha gaining five more when McGonagal discovered that the metal was titanium, something that was very tricky to do. Hermione managed to get hers to turn metal, but it still lit, earning two points for Griffindore, and Harry managed to get his silvery and pointy. The rest of the students, including Ron and Tracey, managed to get very far.

As the three Slytherins headed to Herbology with Hufflepuff, Nanoha sent, "I think that Ron's rat is someone."

"Same here. Though I wonder who could it be?"

"Most likely a bodyguard," Nanoha sent, "It makes sense since it looks as if no witch or wizard can sense magic. We should leave it alone. I don't sense any malicious intent from him, and he is Ron's bodyguard, he wouldn't take kindly to us confronting him."

Fate nodded in understanding, though the two ordered their Devices to keep track of the rodent.

Herbology was fairly interesting, especially since the plants were sentient. Professor Sprout, the plump woman with dirt stained robes, reminded Nanoha and Fate of Mrs. Weasley.

Charms, held the next day, was with Griffindore again, and once again saw Fate, Nanoha, and Tracey sitting with Ron and Harry. Professor Flitwick, and diminutive man that needed a stack of books to reach the top of his podium was a fun teacher, the Nanoha and Fate noticed that he was always ready for a fight. Unfortunetely, he fell off his stack of books twice with a yelp during roll- once when he saw came to Harry's name, immediately followed by Nanoha. Still, he was a likeable teacher, and Nanoha and Fate were able to add a few color changing spells to their repertoire.

Astrology, held at midnight on Wednesday, was quite simple for the two mages since they had traveled the stars.

History of Magic, which Nanoha and Fate had been looking forward to, proved to be a bust. The droning of the ghostly Professor Binns had the two mages nodding off, something that Nanoha quickly appreciated since it gave her Linker Core another opportunity to speed it regeneration.

Then came Potions on Friday. Nanoha had been looking forward to her confrontation with Snape. She hadn't forgotten that he'd tried to enter her mind. That left her though when she saw him. He looked haggard, tired and was wincing slightly.

He ushered them into class, and then pointed his wand at the chalk board. "Instructions are on the board," he said tiredly, "Ingredients in the cupboard. You have three hours."

"I wonder what's wrong with him," Nanoha sent as she and Fate settled at a caldron.

"Don't know."

Once Nanoha had settled into her cooking routine, she sent a tightly shielded mental prob and rapped on his mental shields.

It took all her training not to laugh as Snape looked for the source. Once he was again looking gloomily at his desk, she again knocked on his shields. This time, he let her in.

Severus Snape had had the worst first week in his life: ever since that girl had blasted him out of her mind, which he couldn't blame her for since he had invaded hers, he had had a headache that he was sure that could split the skull of a troll; it was compounded by the fact that the best potions by the Healer couldn't take it away. His inability to do much else than the bare minimum had meant that he hadn't had the energy to berate his students, which he was sure they appreciated. His hopes that his identity had gone unnoticed was dashed the moment he felt a probe.

He let her into his mindscape, a copy of the Enterprise. Sitting in the captain's chair he was startled at her form: she was clothed in a highly stylized sailor uniform, white with blue accents, and a big red bow in the center of her chest. That however was where the resemblance to a uniform ended. It was heavily reinforced with blued and white metal sholder pads, and wrist guards that extended into fingerless gloves. Her hair was tied into pig tails with the poofy white bows that he had seen both her and Fate wear, though on different occasions. A white eyepatch with a pink star covered her left eye, hiding her scars.

"Hello Sensei," she said cheerfully.

"How did you know it was me," he asked, shocked that she had uncovered him even through a mental probe.

"Next time you try to read a mind, make sure that you are not in the same room." She smiled, amused. "Your reaction gave you away."

He nodded. "I see. What kind of spell did you hit me with anyway? I've had a headache all week that I can't get rid of."

"I apologize. I did not know that would happen."

Snape instantly found that his headache was gone. Knowing he would get no answers from her he asked, "Why are you here?"

Nanoha shook her head. "I told you I would talk to you."

He nodded. His explaination, how there were numerous people out for Dumbledore who wouldn't hesitate to use there children to take him down, including his own part with Voldemort, took most of the lesson.

He had no idea why he trusted her, but after seeing her mental spell, and her shielded prob, he somehow knew that he could trust her with his past.

Nanoha nodde. "That's more like it. I trust that you will not bully Harry just because he is your schoolyard enemy's son. I you love the boy in your own way, I can see that. Please don't take revenge on him. It will only lead to worse things later.

"You're not angry that I was a Death Eater," he asked surprised, needing to think about what she said before answering.

Nanoha shook her head. "Your actions after Voldemort threatened Lily tells me that you are not all bad; though you were selfish to not include James and Harry in it, I can understand that too.

I must be going. About Dumbledore, rest assured that neither Fate nor I have any intention with harming him. Anyone that tries while we're around will be in for a rude awakening."

Snape nodded, knowing that with that a real version of Strike Smasher would knock even Voldermort out for the count.

Nanoha smiled. "Next time you wish to talk, just knock."

Snape nodded again as she disappeared. It wasn't until after the class had left that he realised that even with her attention split, she had managed to brew a perfect cure for boils. That girl is something else. A powerful witch, the strongest Occulmens I've ever seen, and can multitask like there was no tomorrow. He shook his head. I actually pity Voldemorte when he tries to get her and Harry...Or anyone for that matter.

Forgot to mention, the Slytherin Password Crotalinae is the over all name for the genus of pit vipers, which I thought appropriate.

See ya next time!