September 1994

"Triwizard Tournament?" Snow asked the others after the feast. "Triwizard Tournament? What?"

"Come on, it'll be exciting!" Ron said. "We're going to meet people from all over Europe. There's going to be tasks! Whoever wins is going to be remembered forever."

"Whoever gets chosen might die." Hermione replied.

Snow turned to Ginny. "Foreign boys. Did you see them?"

Ginny giggled. "Yeah, I did."

"You're thirteen." Fred told Snow.

"Doesn't mean I can't talk to those of the opposite sex." Snow replied. "I'll be fourteen at the end of the year. That's old enough to date, isn't it?" She looked at Ginny, who nodded.

"I think that's all right." Ginny said.

"Either way, I hope this will be a year full of drama that is not ours to deal with." Snow said. "Third time's the charm, right?"

"Try fourth." Harry said. "I haven't had a year that wasn't interesting."

"Our first two years weren't too bad." George said.

"Yeah, they were pretty good, really." Fred replied.

"Before Harry came around." George said.

"There is it." Snow said, looking at Harry. "It's all your fault, hon. You will never have a normal life."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out already." Harry said.

"Aw, poor baby." Fred patted Harry's head. "At least you're too young to be in the tournament. We won't even help you try to get your name in."

"You're going to try?" Snow demanded.

"What's wrong with that?"

Snow crossed her arms. "What do you think your mother would do?"

"Howlers. Many, many, howlers." The twins said together.

"Are you ready for that?"

"For a thousand galleons?" Fred Shrugged.

"Yeah." George nodded.

Snow sighed. "Fine." She nodded slowly. "If you get in I'll make sure half of the people in the stands have your name on a poster."

"Seriously?" Fred asked.

"Yeah. Even if you don't win, you'll have the most support." Snow said, knowing that neither of them would be able to get their names in the cup to begin with. "But if you do get in, and you die. I will never forgive you for leaving me."

"Why is that?" Fred asked.

"Because what would I do without you around?"

XXX

Snow sat in the library, studying. She had a test in History of Magic in a few days, and she felt like the sun had bleached her brain over the summer. She could barely focus on the book in front of her, and she barely could remember what she was coping down in her notes that were to hit on the highlights of history. She didn't know how she was going to pass, and she always hated starting out the year weak.

Snow rubbed at her shoulder. It was still a bit sore since she got trampled. She knew she could probably go to Madame Pomfrey and be fixed in a minute, but she was never good at admitting she needed help. She also knew that sitting in a hard wooden chair was only going to make her shoulder feel worse.

Snow grabbed her books, folding them under her arm as she stood. She might as well go outside to study while the weather was still good. So she walked to a tree by the lake, where she always went. There weren't many people around. A few Durmstrang boys were trying to skip rocks, but otherwise she was alone. Snow put down her things and transfigured a sheet of paper into a blanket before laying on it.

"Did you really just do that?" Called one of the boys from the water's edge. He did have a bulgarian accent, and dark brown hair with matching eyes and olive skin.

"Yeah." Snow called back.

"What year are you? Fourth? That's a rather impressive." He said, leaving his friend and walking towards her.

"Third." She corrected, wondering why he was still talking to her.

"And you're a veela, right?"

"Quarter." Snow told him. "How can you tell?"

"All the veelas I've seen, magic comes pretty easily, even if they're only part veela." He said, gesturing to an empty part of the blanket. "May I?"

"Yeah, sure." She said, scooting over a bit more, and folding her legs in a pretzel before her. "How do you know anything about veelas?"

"I find them rather fascinating. Mostly how normal wizards are just drawn to them." He told her.

"Is that why you're talking to me?"

"Well, I would have tried to sit next to you sooner, but I'm afraid you've been rather surrounded at all times." He replied.

"You know who I am?"

"Who else in this school has white hair?" He replied.

Snow smiled. "Well, Dumbledore does."

He laughed and held out his hand. "Wilhelm Maier, fourth year."

Snow took his. "Snow Vale, third year."

"You're a Vale?" He asked. "So, you're from the Nordic tribe, then?"

Snow nodded. "Yeah, that's what my mum said."

"Have you been there?" He asked. "What's it like?"

Snow shook her head. "I haven't. Not yet, at least."

"Will you ever?" He asked her.

"I don't know." Snow told him. "I honestly haven't really thought about it. My mother always said that only veelas were allowed in, and I would never want to make the journey on my own."

"You don't know another veela?" He asked.

"Well, my mum, and my Aunt Katie, but no one else." Snow told him. "We're not really that common, I don't think."

"That's true." Wilhelm agreed.

"So what's Durmstrang like? How much of a change is it, being here?"

He thought for a second. "It's very different. It's a lot colder there."

"And how did you learn english so well?" She asked. "But, you don't speak English like me."

"My mother is American." He told her. "We speak it when I'm home with them. I grew up speaking two languages, I guess that's good because my friends are over there right now because they don't really understand what we're saying."

"So what? You'd just be staring from a distance if you couldn't speak to me?" Snow asked.

"Something like that."

Snow laughed. "You're funny."

"Good."

XXX

Snow walked into the room with the Goblet of Fire just to see Fred and George wrestling on the floor. Both of them had grey hair and grey beards, and people were watching them gleefully.

Snow just knew they had crossed the age line. Dumbledore would do something like that to the underaged people who crossed it. Soon enough, the fight was broken up, and they were both sent to Madam Pomfrey to get the beards taken away, Snow stopped them, as they tried to get passed the doorway.

"Gramps? I thought you were dead!" She said.

"Shut up." Fred said, looking down.

"Come on, we had to try." George said.

They made to move passed her, but she stopped them again. "Hang on a sec, okay?" She turned to look at Colin Creevey, who was taking pictures of the people putting their names in. "Colin!"

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"Come here." She said, holding out her arm as the twins tried to get passed her again.

He walked over to her, and she took the camera from him before snapping a picture of Fred and George, and handing the camera back to him.

"When you get those developed, can you please give me that one?" She asked me.

"Me? Yeah, sure. Anything." He said.

"You're a sweetheart." She told him. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Anytime." He said, not moving away from them.

Snow just kept smiling at him, wondering why he wasn't going back to what he was doing before.

"Come on, Snow." Fred said, watching Colin. "Come watch us get un-bearded."

Snow turned to him. "Sure. That will give me enough memories of you for a lifetime, granddad."

XXX

Snow,

About what you said about veelas having magic come easily to them, I honestly don't know about, but I talked to your father, and Remus, and nearly everyone that knew me when I was young, and they all said the same thing-well, besides Katie, but she's part veela too. Yes, magic did come easier for me. I guess that is a part of the reason why Katie and I were able to get through the Auror program quicker. Don't tell anyone that, though. They may get jealous, or say you're cheating because of your blood.

Tell me more about this Durmstrang boy that told you this. Are you enjoying the other schools being there? It must be exciting. Just have fun, and if you need a dress for any occasion, be sure to write, and we'll figure something out. I remember that I used to love dressing up for functions my father made us go to. The dress is half the fun.

How is the year going so far? What classes did you finally decide on? When is your first Hogsmeade weekend? You will have so much fun, I promise you that. Go to the Three Broomsticks and have a butterbeer.

But, I am wondering something. How would you feel about having a place of our own? Just a thought, but I would like to know how you feel about it.

Love,

Mum

So it was because of her blood she was better at practical magic than many others. That is interesting.

Snow folded the letter and shoved it in her pocket. Maybe she should go see that part of her family. Maybe they can tell her something no one else could. Maybe they could teach her things.

Maybe she could end up being the most powerful of them all. Maybe she could invent spells, and have her name put in history books. Maybe one day she would be a respected old woman with the same snow white hair as always. Hopefully she would get taller.

"What're you thinking about?" Fred asked, kicking her under the table.

"Nothing." Snow said, getting out of her trance.

"It has to be something." Fred replied. "What do you think, George?"

"She's just spacing again, I think." George replied. "Probably hoping to make

Snow wasn't listening, she was looking around for Wilhelm, and saw her walking between her back and the Slytherin table. She stopped him from passing her. "Hey."

"Hello, there." He said.

"You were right about the magic thing, apparently." She told him.

He smiled. "Good. Do you want to test it out later? Like, see what you can do?"

"Yeah, totally." Snow nodded. "When?"

"I'm a bit busy right now, but how about this afternoon? Meet you at three by the tree?"

"Perfect." Snow smiled.

"See you." He told her.

"See you." She nodded as he left.

"Who was that?" Fred asked.

Ginny, who was beside Snow, nudged her. "Wilhelm?"

"Wilhelm." Snow agreed, before both girls started giggling.

"Who's William?" Fred asked.

"Wilhelm." Snow corrected. "And he's a friend."

"Not for long, I hope." Ginny poked her. "He's cute. You didn't say he was cute."

"Does it really matter?" Fred asked.

Ginny and Snow turned to him. "Yeah." They said together.

"And he knows a lot about veelas." Snow said.

"So?" Fred asked.

"So, I'm part veela." Snow said.

"So he finds you interesting because of your blood?" Fred asked. "Nice guy."

Snow rolled her eyes. "What's your problem? I made a friend. A friend that might actually know something more than I do about me. We all know my mum sometimes has visions, I might be special too."

"Are you saying you're not?" Fred replied.

"Stop picking apart what I'm saying." Snow told him. "Wouldn't you want to know if you had a hidden talent?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't go to some guy to figure it out. I'd figure it out myself." Fred replied.

"Yeah, that's the only reason why she's hanging out with him, Fred." George said quietly, watching the interaction.

Snow just batted her eyelashes at Fred as he stared at her.

"Well, then." Fred said. "It's going to end badly."

"Okay." Snow shrugged. "It'll still be nice if something does happen. First boyfriend being from another country...I wouldn't be unhappy."

"You're too young to date."

"So?"

"I'm sure your mother wouldn't like this."

"She wouldn't care."

"Your father then." Fred replied.

Snow paused. "I can handle him. Plus, he's not exactly here, is he?"

"I don't like him." Fred said.

"You've never met him." Snow replied. "He's nice."

"Everyone's nice to you."

"Not everyone."

"Yes, everyone."

XXX

"Well, that's all I know." Wilhelm said, leaning against the tree. "One of us is going to have to get a higher magic book before you can try more."

"I can do that." Snow told him, laying down on the grass with her arms behind her head. "I'm sure Fred or George won't mind too much if I ask."

"Who're they?" Wilhelm asked.

"Best friends. Big brothers. Take your pick." Snow told him. "I've known them my entire life. Their whole family, actually." Snow paused. "They are my family."

"How did that happen?" Wilhelm asked.

"My mother and I live with them." Snow said. "Or lived. I think my mother is looking for a new place." Snow said. "It won't really matter much to me in the long run. Most of my time I'm here, and I guess if we move out I'll have my own room for the first time in my life. I'll miss everyone, of course, but I spent most of last summer away from home."

"Where were you?"

"The Bahamas." Snow told him. "I sadly didn't tan, but I was a beach bum for most of July."

"And the rest of July?"

"I was shopping, of course." Snow smiled.

"Of course." He replied.

Snow rolled onto her stomach and got up on her elbows to look at him. "What is it like in Bulgaria?"

"I don't know how to describe it to you." He replied. "It's as normal to me as England is to you. It's just different. Different language. Different culture. Our wizarding population is smaller. Our school is smaller. It's just different." He said before pausing. "If I asked you to describe where you live when you're not here, how would you?"

Snow thought for a second. "I'd describe it as home."

"And that's how I'll leave Bulgaria. It's my home."

A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed. I'm a bit sad that it's sunday. Mondays are my least favorite day of the week. How does everyone else feel about them?

I'm just going to say, that I will be taking things from both the books and the movies, so right now it's going to be more like the movie, but I'll tell you if it turns into being more like the book.

C.B. Weasley: I'm fine! Much better now. Thank you so much! Thank you for your review!

Guest: Thank you! Yes, I was too. Loralei was doing her best though, and in her circumstances, I think Loralei did a pretty good job, but there's always mistakes people make. Everyone has rights to their feelings, I agree to that. Thank you for your review!

Padfootette: Thank you! Thank you for your review!

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Her-My-O-Knee: Yep. I don't suggest them. They're no fun. Thank you! I get that! It's just as bad as writer's block, don't you think! Thank you for your review (Even if you are too lazy to log in ;) )

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Kat