The entire collective school was waiting outside in the freezing cold. Fortunately by this time most of the students had the presence of mind to A) use warming charms, or B) huddle closer together to share body heat.
Tania was gleefully a member of the second category, sharing space with an amused Roxas.
Once he got over the shock of suddenly being plunged into dating his best female friend, and the sudden attitude changed (and by that he meant actually gained a rather unique personality her own with a broad range of actual emotions), he settled in quite well. He easily ignored the looks McGonagall shot him, because frankly he could care less.
And like Xion, he did his laundry firmly in the laundry room of the Castle That Never Was, rather than give the house elves even a remote chance of snagging any of his clothes. Needless to say that bit frustrated McGonagall even if he did relent to the point he changed the color of the chains to a gold, rather than a silver.
It hadn't taken long upon realizing "Sky Windheart" wasn't going to bow under McGonagall's stern rules that the other students started to relax, save for Ron. The mental comparison to Pete kept getting stronger and stronger the longer he skulked around trying to ferret any secrets to use against him or the others.
Under the guidance of Roxas, the rest of the Gryffindors were tentatively starting to follow suit with the other three houses. All hush-hush of course, because McGonagall would bandy about detentions and lost points, but it was still better progress than Tania had made without an ally in that house.
The girls, particularly the fashion conscious ones like Lavender and Padma's twin sister Parvati, were quick to adapt to the new rules, relying on Roxas' blatant dismissal of their head of house to skate under the radar.
As long as she was focused on bringing Windheart to heel, she would ignore the rest.
Roxas got McGonagall's attention on him long enough to distract her from Parvati's rather odd hair ornament. It was flashy and could be construed as pretty, but not very practical. She flashed him a smile in thanks. How did he distract her you ask? He kissed his girlfriend.
The same girl who had been irritating McGonagall since the "Clothing Incident" as the other students called it.
Having a girlfriend, a heart, and no real reason to care how people saw them, Roxas had gotten used to what Hannah and Susan called "PDA's", or Public Displays of Affection. Xion certainly didn't mind, because she snuggled closer to him.
It was to this scene that the French school of Beauxbatons and the Bulgarian school of Durmstrang arrived to.
Sure, their displays were moderately impressive, but when Dumbledore went to make a half-assed showing for Hogwarts, he was rudely interrupted by a reformed pair of Weasley twins.
After having a long talk with Bill and Charlie, and being given permission to start a joke shop provided they weren't caught bullying the other students anymore and actually brought their grades up, the two had become "more tolerable" in the words of Snape.
Ginny was still a toss up, but at this point everyone thought she was likely to be married off to someone she at least tolerated in hopes of raising the name of Weasley out of the mire their now former Mother had left them in with her crimes.
With Dumbledore's display cut off, there was a sound of fire crackers as Tania and Roxas stood in their casual clothes. They wouldn't bother with the armor from the fairies...that was a surprise they'd save for later when they needed it.
Before McGonagall could work up to a rant, the two summoned their Keyblades. What followed was a display of pure acrobatics, wandless magic, and sword skill that left the students and visitors awed at the sheer skill displayed.
It was already known they had the missing blades of Gryffindor and Slytherin.
What they were doing was subtly challenging Dumbledore.
When they finished their demonstration, the applause was enormous.
"We proudly present the power couple of Hogwarts! The current heirs of Slytherin (Tania took a bow) and Gryffindor (Roxas bowed)! Proof that love can conquer even age old rivalries!" said a cheerful Luna and Naminé.
A figure dropped down from the ceiling on their broom, and then took out a well used piece of chalk. It went around the goblet of fire, then made a series of invisible runes on the floor. With a clap, the circle activated and a secondary age line was set.
This one was geared towards keeping anyone older than nineteen from getting past. With that line done (it would dissipate after the names came out) the figure donned the cloak again and vanished...scant moments before a taller, obviously older one came in with a piece of parchment.
The amount of swearing the second figure let loose upon realizing there was another age line almost drew the teachers. After one last attempt to put the parchment in, it left with a huff. It would come back periodically to keep trying, until early in the morning when they gave up.
Tania breathed a sigh of relief when her name didn't come up. After Flitwick confirmed there would be a Yule ball near Christmas, Tania had him convince Dumbledore to allow the Hogwarts Music club to provide the music.
After that though... she would have to enlist the aid of the faeries. It was cheaper and much more fun than simply buying dresses! And thanks to the fact they cleaned out the Black family home, they had a large amount of jewelry that they could chose from.
Tania and Roxas were in the library when they were discreetly approached by Viktor Krum.
"Those blades you were using. Are they the Guardian Blades?" he asked in accented English.
"Guardian?" said Roxas.
"Another word for Keyblade apparently. Since people like us guard the worlds and dispatch Heartless and Nobodies, we're sometimes referred to as 'Guardian Blades', rather than Keyblade Wielders," explained Tania.
"Oh. In that case yes, they are Guardian Blades," said Roxas.
"How much would it cost to clear out our school?" asked Krum uncomfortably.
Tania and Roxas stared at him.
"Wait... does Durmstrang have a heartless infestation?"
"Headmaster not mention it, but a strange sorceress has taken up residence in nearby castle, and her experiments have been running loose. Some have ended up in school," said Krum.
"Sorceress? Greenish skin, horned robe and a crow familiar with an odd man who looks like a cat as her minion?" asked Tania seriously.
"We would deal with her ourselves, but she's a dragon animagus."
Xion groaned, as Roxas face palmed.
"Maleficent. So that's where she went when that phoenix Nobody chased her off," said Xion.
"Probably found the fact that the Darkness was about to take this world appealing and stuck around," groaned Roxas.
Xion looked at a confused Viktor.
"Wait until summer after the tournament and we'll kick her out. Having her around isn't going to help at all with our goals," said Xion.
"How much this cost?" asked Krum flatly.
"A tour of your school and the chance for an alliance later against Dumbledore's supporters," said Xion equally flat.
"Is deal," said Krum, heartened to know that the tales of the Guardians were true. A tour and an alliance was a small price to pay to be rid of the monsters threatening their school.
When he left, Roxas looked at Xion.
"Can't believe Maleficent is here," said Roxas, putting up his book.
"I can. Demyx hasn't heard a word about her, but everyone still remembers she exists so obviously she would have been holed up somewhere off the beaten path."
"At least we won't be bored out of our minds this summer," said Roxas.
"True. So which runes are you having trouble with again?"
"These. They're supposed to be healing runes, but they don't work like they should," complained Roxas, pointing them out.
"Ah. No wonder. Did you get them from the Black family library by any chance?"
"Aunt Narcissa handed me the books when I said I wanted to learn more healing spells. She said something about how healers and mediwizards should always know how to defend themselves?"
"She would say that. These runes aren't just for healing. They're also used for malignant purposes as well, like reversing their intended effect. They're not illegal (kinda hard to make an old language illegal) but they're really frowned upon by healers because it's about the intent of the one using them that determines their purpose."
"So they're no good?"
"They're good for a weaker version, but if you want the ones that are more effective you should try these," said Tania, sketching out a rough set of runes for him.
She might be a fourth year, but she got the hang of languages really quickly. So much so that she was put into the advanced runes once she proved she could handle the work load.
"What are you two chatting about so secretively?" asked Naminé, giggling.
"Roxas is having trouble with his runes again."
"That's one of the few classes you two aren't together in, right?" said Luna.
"Before you say anything, we weren't being 'lovey-dovey' so you two can drop the act," said Xion.
"This coming from Ms. Kiss-a-lot?" said Luna snickering.
"What was that? I thought I heard something rude just now," said Xion, pinching Luna's face cheeks roughly with both hands.
Then she turned her attention on Naminé, putting her into a headlock.
The three were so close it was no wonder everyone thought of them as mismatched sisters.
"EH!? Your Gummi Ship is finally fixed?" said Xion.
"You bet, kupo! Took forever too! Cid is such a miser, kupo!" complained Shadow.
Shadow had been fixing that Gummi ship since Xion found him in Diagon. To hear it was finally fixed to the point that they could fly it around rather than use the Corridors for everything... Xion was thrilled.
"So where are you going to take it first?"
"No choice, kupo. Have to fly it to the Moogle Village to visit my family, kupo. The Corridor thankfully doesn't reach that far, kupo," said Shadow.
She could understand why he was relieved. If the corridor could reach his world, that meant the heartless had a foothold on it. She couldn't use the corridor to get to Disney Castle either.
"Tell you what, kupo. When I get back I'll bring presents from my home village!" said Shadow.
"Be careful Shadow. And you're always welcome in our home... kupo," said Xion smiling.
"Hey, that's my line, kupo!" said Shadow, pretending to hit her. Xion laughed.
"Go have fun with your family for a while. You've more than earned it!" said Xion.
"I'll be back soon, kupo," promised Shadow.
"Where's 'Professor' Shadow?" asked Susan.
"He finally got his ship up and running, so he's making an overdue visit to his home village. He did mention presents though," said Tania.
"Hold on. Ship? What ship?" said Hannah.
"Gummi Ship. Apparently Cid refused to fix it unless he paid the full amount, and it took him a while to come up with the munny to pay him off."
"Ouch," said Hermione.
"Anyway he should be back soon, before the first task hopefully. Sky said he was being considered for Madam Pomphrey's apprentice, since he's so good at healing magic."
It was ironic, but Roxas had always been the best healer out of the Organization. Well, perhaps not ironic, considering his element was light, which was common for healers.
As such, it was very little surprise that Xemnas had Roxas learn every white magic spell he could get his hands on, including the older and obscure ones.
Tania pouted.
"I'm going to miss having something fluffy to cuddle while he's gone," said Tania.
"What does that mean?" asked Roxas.
"Tania likes to hug Shadow as if he were a teddy bear at night. It's surprisingly comfortable and he doesn't seem to mind. Well since he's not currently available, what about 'Fluffy'?" asked Naminé.
"Too big. But still fits his name," said Tania disappointed.
"It's worth trying isn't it? See if he can shrink down," said Naminé.
"Not like I have anything better to do until close to dinner anyway. Music club isn't until tomorrow, and we're still narrowing down our selections. Good thing we finally fixed the issue with our music players...it means I can take a break and enjoy the ball too," said Tania. She suddenly grinned at a now nervous Roxas. "And I found the perfect duet for us."
"Why do I feel a sense of foreboding?"
"Because she's going to drag you to the music room so that you can practice," said Hermione flatly.
In the World That Never Was...
"Cerberus! Here boy! Where did you run off to this time you silly dog?" said Xion.
Hearing the sound of baying hounds, she grinned and turned around. Cerberus came barreling down upon her, before skidding to a stop to avoid running over her. He brought his heads down, and she made sure to give each of them a good scratch on the ear. His tail wagged a mile a minute.
"Such a good dog. Who's a good boy?"
Cerberus barked.
"Hey Cerberus... is it possible for you to shrink down into something smaller? That way you could hide in the castle with me and the others without being chased off," said Xion.
Cerberus cocked his heads. Shrink down? Hades had never even considered the idea. He just wanted bigger, scarier, meaner.
"Pretty silly idea, right?" said Xion. She continued to give him attention...right up until he started to glow.
It was so bright she had to shield her eyes...and what was now before her had her staring.
It was fluffy. It was small. It was the perfect size for an adorable lap dog. In fact it looked more like a puffball than a big mean guardian of the underworld.
The fluffball of doom barked, in a cute yap. Xion stared for three seconds before her natural instincts kicked in.
"SOOOOO CUTE!"
She scooped up the small dog, who proceeded to give her face a thorough washing with his tongue. It's fluffy tail continued to wag like crazy.
Who knew Cerberus could turn from big mean guard dog into such an adorable fluffy puppy?
Which was why, shortly after returning from Hogsmeade after a weekend, it was brought to the attention of Professor Sprout that a stray dog had followed Tania back into the castle, and refused to leave.
She called him Homura. So long as he didn't disrupt her classes or make a mess, Sprout looked the other way. And she gave Tania a slip stating she had permission to keep the dog. It wasn't that big of a troublemaker. Homura was a total lapdog from what she had seen.
(A/N: If you want to know what Cerberus turns into, look up episode 7 of Dances with Devils. The dog called "Loewen" is what I'm basing his smaller form off of.)