A Twist in History, Chapter 12

A.N. Is it sad that I only just noticed I wrote chapter 10 on that last one?

Anyway, I won't be getting anymore history homework, and since that was my biggest problem with updating, these should be faster.

I was told that this chapter was in all underlines, so I'm going to try and re-upload it. Can someone tell me if this works? Cause it doesn't show up here.

Disclaimer: … Forget this; you all know I don't own anything.

The rest of the holidays passed too quickly, in Husky's mind. He wasn't looking forward to leaving the peaceful house for the noisy castle. It reminded him too much of his father's castle, despite the distinct lack of stepmothers trying to kill him.

He shook his head quickly, trying to dispel the unpleasant thoughts. They were driving to the train station, with Remus apologizing for not being able to use the Floo Network.

"It's fairly difficult to get through when students are going to school, and I have things to do in town anyway." They assured him it was fine with them.

"Cars are cool! I've never been in one before we came here!" Cooro was far more excited to ride in it when there was no snow blocking the view. The view was beautiful English countryside, and the children had no problems watching it go by in silence.

The platform wasn't terribly crowded, until when they reached Platform 9 ¾. Many students were milling around, talking to family and finding friends, and generally being obnoxious to those who preferred the quiet. Like Husky, who sighed and turned to Remus and the others as they walked onto the platform.

"Thanks for having us for Christmas, Remus…"

"Yeah, it was really fun!" Cooro was still hyped up, and Husky wondered vaguely if he had had some candy while no-one was paying attention.

"Will you be okay alone there?" Nana looked a bit worried, but Remus smiled.

"It was my pleasure to have you four. I'll be fine, Nana. I have lived there for several years." As she was still frowning, he continued.

"Besides, I am expecting some visitors soon, and I'll be traveling to France in a few weeks to see a few old friends. Don't worry." Nana opened her mouth, to say what, no-one knew, because the whistle announcing the train was loading sounded loudly.

Remus waved them all forward.

"You don't want to be late, not go." And they left, loading their things into an empty compartment, waving goodbye as Remus walked back to the Muggle world and watching for Hermione as the crowds thinned to the latecomers and parents who were saying their farewells.

Hermione did end up coming in, a few minutes after the train left and panting. She grinned sheepishly.

"Car broke down… Barely made it…" Nana moved over to give her a seat and they talked about vacation. Moody was mentioned, though the reasons for his visit (and his appearance) were left out.

Hermione had spent the holiday with her extended family in Wales, and was telling them of some escapade of a distant cousins when the door slid open in an obnoxious manner that had them all looking up in surprise.

A group of older students were standing there, looking at them with surprise that faded quickly to contempt. Even from the other side of the compartment, Husky could see the Slytherin badges gleaming proudly on their chests, as they were already in their school robes.

"Well, look what I found! Some Mudblood trash in our compartment. What should we do about it?" This came from the one in front, who turned back to look at the others in amusement. Cooro looked around in bewilderment.

"This is your compartment…? I don't see your things or anything. And I'm pretty sure we were in here before you were. Doesn't that make this ours?" I started slightly, as his tone faded from his usual obliviousness to a sarcastic, snarky version of it, with a smirk to match. It really wasn't like him.

The look faded to a normal grin while the students glared, and the front one took a step forward.

"See, here's the thing. We always sit here; it's reserved for us. So why don't you make like rats and scurry. Preferably under the train." He stepped forward again, only to find a tall bear anima standing in front of him, glowering as his arm glowed faintly under his sleeve.

Senri didn't say anything, simply staring until the other boy turned away. No-one could withstand the power of his stare, except perhaps Moody. Senri frowned a bit at the thought. That didn't count; the eye gave him an unfair advantage.

The Slytherin boy, meanwhile, was in a bit of a predicament. On the one hand, he didn't want to lose face in front of his mates, but he really didn't want to try and force Senri to do anything. The blank scare was creepy.

The decision was taken from him as another voice came from the hall.

"Oi! Either go in or get out of the way! Some of us have places to be besides waiting for you to make a decision!" The group glanced at their 'leader' of sorts, who shrugged.

"Not worth the effort. Let's go." They left, and another head poked through the open doorway. Cooro smiled as he recognized the older Slytherin.

"You're that girl who helped our friends!" She gave them all an once-over, lingering on Cooro as he spoke.

"You're the wing-boy." He nodded, not noticing that it almost sounded like an insult as it passed from her lips to open air.

"Well, I'm Marcella. Nice to meet'cha, goodbye." She left, and when Cooro inevitably ran to the door and looked out, she was already gone, probably disappearing into one of the many compartments on either side of theirs. He looked at them from his place in slight disappointment, before plopping down next to Senri and began asking random questions that no-one could answer.

Finally, Husky groaned loudly.

"What's with you?! We don't know where magic comes from, why do you keep asking?" Cooro looked at him with a small smile.

"No reason. But isn't it odd we have magic at all? It's not exactly common back home, you know…" Husky had no answer, and Hermione pondered once again where they could be from; the country names they'd mentioned their first night didn't exist, she was sure, but she didn't know how to ask without seeming to be a nosy busybody.

Nana was thinking on his question. Why did they get their magic? They'd been told that young witches and wizards showed signs of it within a few years, and none of them had ever shown anything. They'd been getting their animas at the time.

Cooro kept at his questions, effectively ruining any chance for them to think.

Hours later, the questions had subsided and Cooro was once again asleep, leaning on Senri's shoulder while the others talked quietly, swapping horror stories for lack of anything else to do.

The train arrived at the Hogsmeade station just as the sun disappeared under the horizon, boarding the carriages and riding to the school in silence. The large crowd that disembarked the carriages was far quieter than they'd been on their way onto the train, and separated to go to their rooms in near silence. The five first years fell into the crowd of Gryffindors traveling to their beds.

Sleep welcomed them like they hadn't seen him in years, pulling them into his realm as soon as their heads graced their pillows.

No matter how much Sleep argued with them, however, Dawn and Wake both pulled his guests back to them to face another day, though happily their brother Work wasn't paying a visit for another few days.

None of them were willing to leave Sleep's company, but his sisters were stubborn, and they were soon all awake and in the Great Hall, eating toast and eggs, laughing at the stories their friends had to tell of their break. Hermione was talking the most, as her extended family was full of strange tales and talents that had the others rolling in their seats with mirth.

Soon, though, it became time to finish any (Read: ALL) homework left until the last minute, with Hermione now breathing down their necks, mixing her advice with many lectures on 'not leaving these things until the last minute!'

It was done a few hours before dinner the next day, and Cooro wanted to go outside, to do what, nobody was quite sure of. They would never know, either, as Senri pointed out the heavy snow that was once again coming down on the castle, piling up on trees and windowsills. Ron laughed at his expression, slightly pleased he didn't have to go out into the snow. There was no way to avoid it if Cooro used his patented puppy-eyes.

Husky sat on his bed, remembering the season with a grin. Christmas was a rather fun holiday when there were people you actually liked with you, instead of nobles and step-mothers all doing their best to annoy you.

Now, he was waiting for Cooro and Senri to finish getting dressed so they could go down to the pitch. Harry had a match today. Husky frowned at that. Not just a match, it was against Slytherin. And Snape was refereeing. Even with the limited time they saw the Potions Master, it was painfully obvious that he hated the Gryffindors in general, and loathed Harry.

He knew Hermione and Ron had been trying to talk him out of playing today, but from what he could see, Harry wasn't backing down. He sighed to himself. Those three were very secretive lately, though with all the secrets they'd been keeping, he wasn't surprised at all. But it was saddening that the first people they knew here would barely speak to them. Cooro was taking it rather harshly, though he tried to hide it.

Someone waving a hand in his face drove these thoughts out of his head, and he found himself looking into Cooro's eyes, which were staring with concern at him.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were out in space or something…" Husky shook his head and stood, forcing the crow to step back.

"Never mind, it's time to go downstairs. If we don't hurry, there won't be any breakfast left before the match." Cooro frowned, but nodded and literally skipped to the door, humming one of the many songs he'd learned at the church. Husky was willing to bet it had something to do with food.

Smiling in spite of himself, he followed, turning once to make sure Senri was behind him.

It's short, but it's here, and I want to break it here before I write the match and the resulting speedup in canon.