Disclaimer: Dove, Raven, Drew, Alex, Kello and Chris are miiiiiine. Everyone else is...not mine. Some of the lines are from gods-know-where. I practically collect funny quotes, so who knows. But anything that my six characters say have actually been spoken at one time or another by one, or more, of my real-life acquaintances. So you can blame them if the characters are weird. (But blame me if you like them.)

The Winged Serpents

Chapter Four: A Strange Circle

***

Dove gave Raven the softest look she could manage. Her sister had just arrived and looked far from happy. "Sit down, heart. Tell me what happened." Dove was the absolute poster-girl for sympathy when it came to her beloved sister. But her sister snapped on a skeptical look that would have made Professor McGonagall proud. "You look unhappy. And while I know my skills are in purely physical healing, and emotional stress is your own area, please let me do what I can, hmm?"

Raven trudged over to her bed and collapsed, losing her concentration and thus dropping packages and bundles and cauldrons beside her onto the hardwood floor. She started at the loud clunk it made and suddenly realized her error. "Oh. Sorry." She looked back up towards Dove, but not at her. Rather, she looked right through and past her. Dove did not allow herself to become unsettled however, as she was used to dealing with Raven's mood swings.

"What's wrong, heart? Tell me what happened. Tell me everything. And when you're done, I'll tell you what I've found out as well." Raven snapped back at this last remark, as Dove had known she would. "Yes, I did learn a little something. But I'm not talking until you've spilled." Raven huffed at her, but cleared her throat to speak.

"It's nothing important, really. I was just...thrown off. I was passing the new Nimbus display, and it reminded me of the broomsticks we saw in the store window just before we jumped back here. And that reminded me of why we jumped. And it just came rushing back so fast...I couldn't even begin to stop it. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let it get to me. Although, I'm kind of surprised you didn't feel it." She gave Dove a penetrating look and satisfied herself that she had successfully changed the subject without really diverting from the topic at hand. Dove scowled anyway.

"I might have felt it, but it was probably overpowered by a few other feelings at the time. I'm sorry that you still have such a hard time dealing with it, and I'm especially sorry that there's nothing I can do. I wish I could help you the way you've helped me." Dove looked down at her feet, her throat constricting. She knew how hard it had been for Raven, she'd felt the same thing. But Raven had been able to help Dove get over the emotional hurt that had accompanied the physical diversities, whereas Dove had only been able to heal the bruises and welts that Raven frequently received. They were both healers, but with specific areas of persuasion. And outside of those areas, they could do no more than any other teenage witch or wizard. Dove often reprimanded herself for being so useless to Raven when her sister had been so crucial in her own recovery.

"Dove." Raven's eyes went soft, and her face released the hard edge she often felt it was necessary to wear. She knew how Dove felt, she'd often felt the same way. While she'd been able to help Dove mentally, her physicals scars and wounds had been left to heal themselves. Without Dove's physical curative powers, and with no wand to cast spells, she'd been unable to treat her sisters maladies. She brushed her fingers through her sister's tangled mess of white curls (such an odd hair color for a girl with olive skin), and whispered again. "Heart. Don't trouble yourself. We both did what we could with what we had, and I'm grateful to you just as you are to me. You have to leave it behind you now." Straightening herself back up, she regained her straightforward composure and continued. "Now, tell me what you found out. The parchment, what did you learn?"

Dove sighed and unrolled the parchment once more. Whispering the same spell she'd used earlier, she tipped the words into Raven's view. Raven's eyes remained calm and unfeeling until she saw the name that resulted. "Oh." She looked up at Dove, comprehension abandoning her. "So it was him?! But how? Has it just been waiting all these years? Or is it possible that he's...that..." Her voice faltered as she looked to her sister for any sign of hope or possibility. But Dove only shook her head and sighed again.

"No. He isn't alive. We both saw him die, so you know that it's true. But I did have the same thought. So I checked the ink for aging. It was written ten years ago. Just before he died, I assume. My guess is that he asked it to be delivered at this point and no earlier. You know how Daddy was. Always planning extravagantly, always so particular, always with his reasons." She looked down sadly, remembering her father. But her thoughts were interrupted by a hasty response.

"Wait. Dove...this was sent to us in this time. Not in our time. We've been wondering why he didn't tell us earlier, but what if he'd meant to?" Her eyes lit up as she thought through it. The words came out jumbled and confusing, but Dove could read into her thoughts and make out the gist of it. "I think this was sent to our selves from two years ago. But we didn't receive them because we were with Her. You know She had wards up everywhere to discourage owls. What if the owl who brought this to us...What if he was meant to give it to our fifteen–year-old selves, but it was delivered to us instead. The owl wouldn't have known the difference. As far as it's concerned, we're still Dove and Raven Thomas, regardless of age or time-origin. What if we were supposed to get it two years ago, but didn't because our seventeen-year-old counterparts got it instead?"

Dove began to grasp what Raven was saying. "It does make sense. Strange and confusing sense, as is traditional with you, but sense nonetheless. If it is true though, what does it mean? What's the significance? It doesn't really matter, does it? It doesn't really change anything. We got the note, and we got it in this year as we were supposed to. Do you think it'll affect anything?" Worry carved itself into her face as she spoke, but Raven leaned toward her excitedly.

"No! That's what I mean. We didn't get it two years ago, which means that our seventeen-year-old selves must have gotten it then! We just didn't know about it. We didn't know about the note or about our other selves. Not at the time. But it still happened, and this is the proof!" She waved the parchment frantically. "Don't you get it? We were supposed to jump back! This whole time we've been worried that we would mess something up somehow, that something would go wrong and we'd be found out. But we never were found out, so it must mean that it all works out in the end! All of this was meant to happen!" Her face brightened uncharacteristically, and Dove couldn't help but return the smile.

"You're right. This is great news!" The two girls bounced up and down on the bed until their heads threatened to burst. They giggled and laughed and talked conspiratorially about the coming year, any fears of being found out having been dispatched from their minds. They packed their trunks and scrambled into bed, thinking to each other until the late hours of night. Finally, after whispery thoughts of sweet dreams passed behind their eyes, they drifted off.

***

Clambering across Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Dove and Raven scanned the crowd for any sign of their old friends. A few minutes passed, when one of them heard a very loud guffaw erupt from their right. They both turned, recognition showing in their eyes, and sought out the source of the laughter. Only a few yards away, they found who they were looking for.

"Dove! Raven! Woo! We haven't seen you all summer! Where have you been?!" Kello Kage started bounding towards them, her long blonde hair (a physical characteristic of great envy among most Hogwarts girls) jouncing about behind her. She pushed through towards them and squished them into a big hug. She stood over the two girls by at least six inches, although she was only a Fourth Year herself. Although she was a Gryffindor, she had been a friend of the twins years before they'd all attended Hogwarts, and no Sorting Hat was going to break them up now. She'd been with them all through their father's ordeal and stuck with them right up until She had taken them away.

As Kello released the girls, three more students came running up behind her to surround the twins. Another Fifth Year, Chris Tofer, was a Gryffindor like Kello, and had originally been the one to introduce Raven to the Weasley twins (close friends of his and frequent partners-in-crime). But his good humor and willingness to do "anything for a laugh" had earned him a place at the trio's study table, and thus in their hearts. He was terribly intelligent, but barely made the effort even to pass most of his classes. He was a nice guy, though, and had made friends with practically everybody as he had the selfless tendency of making jokes at his own expense instead of everyone else's.  Slytherins had a habit of getting into arguments with him just to hear him joke about himself. He sort of looked like an older, cuddlier version of Neville Longbottom (which made sense, as they were not-so-distant cousins).

Alex Gordon, also a Fifth Year, was a muggle-born Ravenclaw, and as such, had been the only one ever to understand the jokes the twins made about Muggle pop culture. He kept them in good supply of Monty Python tapes and Eddie Izzard cd's, and in return they complimented him on his cutting wit when it came to topics such as Scooby Doo and Colin Firth. He had soft brownish-gold hair which fluffed about in his face, and bright blue eyes. He was positively dashing, and could easily have given Draco Malfoy a run for his money if he didn't always act like a nine-year-old with a spectacular vocabulary.

Last, but never least, was the only other Slytherin of the group, Drew Maxim. With spiky hair that was forever changing colors, and gorgeous deep hazelly eyes, he was the object of much affection. A Fourth Year with Kello, he was arrogant, ambitious to a fault (even for a Slyth), stylish, handsome, witty, and the stereotypical Slytherin bisexual (everyone knew he had eyes for Draco, but nobody was stupid enough to discourage him). His style and manner were nearly as sharp as his tongue.

The six friends had been an amazing source of gossip during the first couple of years, fraternizing between Houses was not socially acceptable amongst Slytherins and most Ravenclaws, but a few well-played duels had snuffed out all sly comments after the twins' fourth year. They were also left alone due to their outstanding reputation of having the weirdest conversations imaginable. If a young witch or wizard made the mistake of walking in on one such convo, there was no telling what they might hear. Dove and Raven made up a quick story about spending their summer with an old Muggle friend (which brought Alex right into his element) and then quickly diverted the attention to Chris. One thing you could always count on was Chris' natural ability to soak up attention. He immediately leapt into a hilarious account of his own summer hijinks, and the six friends laughed frantically as they boarded the train.

Scooting into a box, they threw out the two lowly Second Years who had dared infiltrate and settled down to swap tales and tell jokes. Chris finished off his story and Kello took off with her own. Lip gloss spells and fair-skinned wizards dominated as she drove onward, punctuating every so often with an impression of some little old lady she'd met on hols. "What the fuck...that's c-a-razy...I'm old!" she cried out in a perfect Jewish grandmother accent. The crew laughed hysterically and turned to Alex.

"So what'd you do, Alex? No doubt you've spent the past two months doing something incredibly productive and interesting." Drew mouthed off. Alex sneered sarcastically and poked Drew in the ribs. Then, dodging a smack from the Slyth boy, he bent into conversation.

"Actually, yes. I was very productive, and I'm always interesting. I've spent the last few weeks documenting the progress that Muggle animation has made." He raised his eyebrows in mock superiority as Kello giggled.

"So...you watched cartoons." Chris confirmed. The girls laughed at his disapproving manner and waited for Alex's reply.

He puckered his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. Then with a loud huff said "Yeah, pretty much."

Dove smiled and inquired as to the specifics of his research.

"Well, I tried to focus on the American 'toons this summer. They have been so disappointing in the past. But with the arrival of the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory, I had hoped they may have risen above the old clichés. Unfortunately, I was wrong."

"You should stick to the old stuff, like Scooby Doo. He'll never let you down. That Shaggy...he's a card." Raven remarked slyly.

"Oh, no. Scooby Doo has slipped and let me down in the past few years. The newest incarnation of which has only one plus: that they've improved the animation of Daphne. So I can now be attracted to her as a cartoon, comfortable in the knowledge that she is in possession of facial features," Alex deadpanned. The box exploded in laughter, and it was some time before the conversation could be switched back to anything resembling normality. Alex finished his account with a theory on why Americans should have stopped with stick figures, before handing the floor to Drew.

Drew waited until everyone had settled down before starting. "Nothing happened to me, really. I spent the hols with my parents in France, as I always do. Nothing of particular interest there. Although..." He broke off and waited for the barrage that would soon follow.

"What?! What happened?!" came the cries and queries. He raised his hand to silence them and continued on.

"Well, I ran into an old friend, as it happens. Spent most of the time with him. Nice fellow too. Shame school had to resume so soon." He blathered on, skirting the details, never divulging the name of his summer companion. Amidst angry remarks and threats on his life, he bantered forth and brought them up to speed. Finally, when he thought they could take no more, when he was sure they would explode if he didn't tell them, he smiled. "Oh, did I forget to mention his name?"

Outcries of where his parents really came from, and where he could shove his wand poured forth in an angry torrent, and he laughed helplessly at his own ability to stir up trouble. "Well, why didn't you just ask? Of course I'll tell you. I spent most of the summer with..." an annoyingly long dramatic pause, "Draco Malfoy."

The stunned silence that followed was enough to convince Drew that his merciless leads and empty hints had been well worth the verbal abuse. He sat back and relished the quiet, closed his eyes and abruptly fell asleep. The others stared on, disbelieving. Draco Malfoy?! was the overpowering thought in all their heads. And the rest of the trip was spent in thoughtful solitude.

***