Me: Hey everyone! Aren't I great? I've put up another chapter already! Yay!

Violentdelight: Hurry up.

Me: Fine, fine fine…wait a second…no witty interlude? No retorting comments? *gasp* Are you alright?

Violentdelight: Hn.

Me:…..O.o

Violendelight: Alright, quit those funny looks and give the disclaimer, I've taped Alias, and I must watch it a hundred times before the second show. Come on, times a wasten.

Me:….um….oookaaaayyyy…

Disclaimer: Due to the longishness of this chapter, I claim everything in it mine-(ow) I mean, I claim all original people mine…and the plot.

Me: That hurt!

Violentdelight: Getting sued would hurt more.

Me: Oh. Okay! Come on, sing with me V! Laaaaalalalalalaaaaaaa

Violentdelight: Those are my eardrums breaking Dew.

Girl of darkness:

Me: Have I mentioned I like you name?

Violentdelight: Do you and your sister write stuff together?

Me: That's sooo fun! I personally luv my older sis.

Violentdelight: Hn.

Me: It's true!

Violentdelight: I know that, but the way you burst my eardrums…makes me think otherwise.

Me: I have to confess to you…it'll be a little while before you know for certain who Mako-chan ends up with, but reading this chapter might give you a fairly nice hint.

Violentdelight: I like the whole melding thing-ow! What was that for?

Me: Don't give away the plot! *whack! Whack!*

Violentdelight: And that's supposed to hurt me? Weak.

Me: GRRR!!!! *whacks harder*

Violentdelight: Ow! You can stop whacking now! Ow!

(Imagine this spot blank)

Me: Could you give yourself a name please? Pretty please?

Violentdelight: It's a form of expression. I like it.

Me: the complements! *tears in eyes* We're so creative and original! You'll really like this chapter then person who has no name!

Violentdelight: Rrrriiight…what she said.

Jewel:

Violentdelight: Okay, tieing her up is my specialty.

Me: AHHHHHH!!!! Jewel! Meanie! *sticks tongue out* I do have a life you know! Places to be, people to see!

Violentdelight: *scoffs* Since when?

Me: Ummm……..

(hour later)

Me: ……Um……… *sweatdrop* I don't know?

Violentdelight: *anime fall* Ug, why do I bother?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 4: Fascicolazione

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Several months passed since they arrived at Hogwarts. The girls didn't give out personal information, and Dumbledore apparently didn't give out information about them either.

All the girls got a crash course in the world of magic and took several trips to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley to get all the supplies they needed.

Their schooling and supplies came paid in full by Dumbledore, and whenever something really caught their fancy, (which for Minako was every week) Ami provided the money, being Keeper of Time did have its advantages you know.

It was almost time for the Hogwarts new year of schooling to start, and the girls were almost caught up…well….most of them.

"Argh!" Ami, Raye and Makoto glanced up at Minako's angered face.

"Professor Snape has really got it in for me, ever since I dissolved his favourite cauldron, which was purely accident, he's got this thing against me! I swear he is a youma…" Minako glanced up at the group with big puppy eyes and a trembling lip. "Can I moon-dust him?"

Makoto rolled her eyes.

"You know we can't dust humans or other life that isn't youma. Besides, if you did dust him, you'd have to put him back together." Ami said matter-of-factly, still reading her Herbology book.

Makoto closed her eyes and leaned against the hard leather of the chair she was sitting in. Her mind travelled as she wished, but memories came to her, ones she never wanted to see, the images Hotaru needed her to see.

Makoto's physical body never moved in shock or reacted whenever she fell into this half-trance. It was only her mind, which moved, her mind that reacted.

"Hotaru?" Makoto called mentally. A dark purple swarm appeared. Hotaru's voice always came out of it, mournful, of a child which had grown up much to early, one of a person, who like Makoto, saw too much of life taken before it's right time, and, like Makoto, had truly lost her parents, but Hotaru, unlike Makoto hadn't seen the bloody remains before her eyes, and felt the warm sticky blood on her hands.

In many ways, Hotaru and Makoto were alike. But both reacted to their pasts differently. Makoto kept it inside, true, but she never tried to remember, never tried to confront it, thus, it was always in the back of her mind, like a persistent agonizing nail, driving her mad.

Hotaru kept it inside as well, but she confronted it, and thus made her healing better. But, being the Soldier of Death, Destruction and rebirth, always made one much darker and older then one of any age should ever be.

"Makoto." The child voice spoke.

"It has been a while."

Makoto closed her mental eyes, feeling the power and the pain rush through her body, as she always felt whenever she fell into the half-trance.

"School has been…difficult." Makoto replied, her eyes half dazed from the rush she had just experienced.

A chuckle was heard.
"I know you Makoto, I know. But some forms of school has been quite, pleasant, you have been advancing quite rapidly in."

Makoto smiled. It was because of her nature and of Hotaru's that had made her excel far more rapidly then the others in the arts of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Herbology. Professor Snape had even taken a liking to her, and had shown her far more advanced attack spells, defence spells and potions that she would probably never use, or potions that were extremely useful, but extremely complicated,

"Will you be training today?" Hotaru asked, breaking Makoto's musings.

"Yes."

"Good…when the school starts you won't have much time to practice, you must keep the appearance." Hotaru said.

A long staff appeared from within the cloud, it floated to Makoto's hands, landing gently in her outstretched fingers.

"Take this staff…I can't use it anymore, and I really don't want to…so..long….I have been responsible, I need rest." Hotaru said, her voice frail.

Makoto glanced at the staff; it morphed from the simple sliver staff to the Silence Glaive.
Makoto glanced at the fading cloud.

"I am sorry Makoto." Hotaru said, her voice wavering as if she were in silent tears.

"Why?" Makoto asked, feeling confused. Hotaru had called her, no, summoned her to this trance, why was she apologizing, besides that?

"I can no longer hold my own, I never was as strong as the others." Hotaru said, the mist coming closer to Makoto's mental self.

"What do you mean? What's going to happen?" Makoto asked.
"The others…so…strong….I am…too weak to hold….myself….don't worry…I will be…reborn in the next…..generation…."

Makoto watched with alarm, as Hotaru's voice grew weaker and sadder. The dark cloud now directly in front of Makoto.

"I must…meld…. now…. for-forgive…. me…"

The cloud suddenly darted forward, rushing through Makoto's being, the darkness was overwhelming her.

Makoto screamed as the dark completely engulfed her, shredding through her mind, changing her appearance as well as her mind.

As suddenly as it began, the pain and agony stopped. Makoto dropped to her knees and collapsed in her mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Makoto?"

"She's not waking."

"Is this normal?"

"Not as I am aware…Makoto? Please wake up?"

Makoto slowly lifted her heavy lids, watched as blurry shapes and figures began to sharpen themselves.

"Wha-What happened?" Makoto asked, her throat screaming for relief from the burn, the act of breathing and speaking seeming to infuriate the pain even more.

"You just collapsed! I'm so sorry, I didn't know my jokes were that bad." A voice cried, which Makoto instantly recognised as Minako.
"It's okay." Makoto said, wincing as the pain again flared up, protesting her use of her throat.

"Excuse me, Drink this."

Makoto looked up as someone shoved a evil-smelling concoction at her mouth, practically forcing her to drink it.

"Drink Makoto, it is a potion, designed to give you energy and to accelerate your healing." Makoto managed a smile as she heard Ami say the usual Ami-like words.

Opening her mouth, Makoto instantly gagged at the horrid concoction, but managed to swallow it down, grimacing at the taste.

"Good, now, give it an hour or to, and you will be back on you feet." The lady said, which Makoto assumed was the Nurse.

Closing her eyes, Makoto gave into blissfulness of sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Makoto opened her eyes.

She wasn't in the nurse room anymore; she was back in her 'bed'.

Getting up, Makoto looked down on the bed, a black robe was neatly folded on the edge of her bed.

Picking it up, Makoto quickly put it on.

Walking to the mirror, she glanced at her self briefly before looking back down to find her brush.

"Wait-"

Glancing back at the mirror, Makoto's eyes widened in shock.

Her normal bright green eyes were now dark green, almost black.

Her normal chestnut hair had darkened drastically and had streaks of black running through it.

Her eyelids had somehow darkened as well, seeming as if she had placed quite a bit of dark green and black eye shadow on it.

Her skin was so pale, and her lips, they looked like…

Makoto looked away, biting her lip to keep her tears from falling at the remembrance.

Her lips were almost exactly what her parent's blood had looked like, stained on her hands.

"What happened?" Makoto asked aloud, collapsing on the floor.

"Hotaru."

Makoto got up and threw the robe off her.

Whispering an incantation that had suddenly come to her mind, she walked over to her wardrobe and opened it.

Inside was stuffed with clothing, all ranging from black to dark green.

Grabbing a blackened green shirt and black pants, Makoto quickly put them on, then tied her hair back with a black ribbon she had found.

Glancing back in the mirror, Makoto felt a tinge of surprise. She liked the look, it felt appropriate, considering this was the mood she felt she was in.

Grabbing her henshin pen, Makoto put it into her sub-zero space pocket before exiting the room.

Walking through the maze of corridors, Makoto walked forward, her steps long, purposefully headed in a direction, yet was graceful in her movement.

Noise began to grow the closer she got to her destination.

'People are here.' Makoto thought to herself in disinterest.

So the term had begin, or the term was just beginning, who knew.

Makoto headed in the direction of the voices.

The Dining Room.

Walking forward, Makoto opened the doors.

Where the usually empty tables and chairs, were people, everywhere, all in identical black robes, and all seated within a certain area.

Noticing that no one had noticed her, but that might have been because Makoto was walking in the shadows, the light seemed so cheerful it hurt her eyes to look at it.

Makoto proceeded to almost glide to the wall and move quietly towards the Professor's Table, while looking around the crowded room for her friends.

"No sign of them…interesting." Makoto said aloud.

Another door was beside her, with voices inside. Makoto instantly recognized the voice of Minako and walked in.

All eyes looked up at her in surprise.

Raye, Ami and Minako stared at her open-mouthed before running to hug her.

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry! I'll never tell a joke again!"

"Makoto, your…hair."

Makoto hugged them back fiercely before letting go of them.

In the same room as them was a group of youngsters all in identical black robes. Professor McGonagall was there as well, her mouth alternating between opening and closing.

Makoto looked at her friends, all dressed in their planetary colours and none of them wearing the black robes.

"Well, time to move." Professor McGonagall said, walking out the door.

Everyone followed in behind.

Makoto watched as the dining room suddenly quieted as all eyes turned onto them.

She knew that Dumbledore was saying things, but she took no notice, glancing quickly at all the students, taking time to note each one of them individually.

A black-haired boy sitting beside a redheaded girl and a bright redheaded boy was sitting beside him.

'That would be Potter.' Makoto thought, looking back at the dark-haired boy.

"Aino, Minako."

Makoto looked up abruptly as she heard her friend's name was called.

Watching carefully, Makoto watched as Minako sat on a stool and placed an old scruffy-looking hat on her friend.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A crowd cheered as Minako walked towards them, giving her friends the V-sign first.

'The Sorting Hat." Makoto thought. 'We are going through the sorting hat now.

Makoto watched as some younger kids walked up to the hat, one at a time, and was sorted into different houses.

"Hino, Raye."

Makoto watched as Raye walked up to the sorting hat.
The stony face was still, but the eyes went through a varied of emotions.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Makoto watched as the table where Potter was sitting went up in a cheer, as Raye walked towards them, brushing past Makoto first.

Something hard was dropped in her hand.

Makoto looked at it briefly. It was her wand; compacted in a spell Ami had taught them earlier that month.

"Thanks." Makoto mouthed. Raye winked at Makoto before being engulfed in a crowd of gryffindors.

Makoto watched as more children passed before her name was called.

"Kino, Makoto."

Walking smoothly to the stool, Makoto sat on it and placed the hat on her head. Immediately another mind came into contact with her own.

Closeing her eyes to keep distractions from the outside world out, Makoto felt her mental self form into the mind of the hat.

Well, that is new, I have never met anyone who knew how to d o that at your age. The hat said.

"So what house am I in?" Makoto asked it.

Very clever you are, I see it in you, and you would do very well in Slytherin…but such loyalty, and a hard-worker, and yet you are intelligent…you three are difficult to decide you know.

Makoto mentally rolled her eyes at the hat.

Fine, I see you are impatient…your house it-

"Wait, you were informed of the plan…right?"

Of course, I may be a hat, but I'm not stupid. Your house is-

Put me in a good one alright? I don't want to be stuck in a perky house. I hate perky.

Fine! Give me a chance to finish my sentence! Your house is…

"SLYTHERIN!"

Makoto opened her eyes and stared at her new house.

"You didn't put me in a perky voice." Makoto told the hat with a tinge of relief.

"Your Welcome." The hat said.

Makoto placed the hat on the old stool and walked gracefully towards her house.

There was cheering, but Makoto didn't notice it. She walked directly to the spot in front of Potter's and sat down calmly, staring directly into the boy's eyes.

'Doesn't seem like a bad soul…but…' 

"Hi! My name is Pansy, I'm from one of the old wizard families. I heard your name but I can't remember if that's an old family or not. Is it?"

Makoto stared emotionlessly at the perky girl's face.

Pansy shrunk in her seat before turning to the girl beside her.

Makoto looked up as she saw Ami walk up to the hat.

Closing her eyes, she communicated to Minako and Raye telepathically.

"Bet ten bucks she's going into Ravenclaw." Makoto said.

"No way, Ami is more…..nevermind…I'm not betting, everyone knows Ami is so smart she's going to Ravenclaw." Minako said.

"HELP! These two identical twins are bugging me beyond belief. Ow! One just poked me…..excuse me…I have to burn something."

Makoto opened her eyes in time to see Minako and Raye open theirs as well.

"Don't." Makoto mouthed to Raye.

Raye gave her an anguished look before a curious look came on her face.

Makoto stifled a laugh, as the two twins were both suddenly engulfed in water.

Looking over to Ami, who was still under the hat, but giving a faint smile, Makoto gave an inward grin, knowing what had happened.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Makoto watched as the ravenclaw group cheered their new arrival. Ami blushed faintly, walking towards the group.

Closing her eyes once again, Makoto pulled hers mental self out of her body, staring down on the positions she and her friends were in.

She herself was directly in front of Potter, Ami, and Minako were placed near the only two entrances, and Raye was only a mere few seats away from the boy…should anything happen, they would be able to stop it.

"Excuse me." A voice said, rudely interrupted her thoughts and pulling her mental self quickly into her physical self, giving her a headache.

"Who are you? Why re you sitting in my spot? Get out." A blond ordered rudely, two large, dim-witted looking boys beside him seeming to slobber at the sides of their mouths.

"Who are you." Makoto said back, her eyes staring emotionlessly at the arrogant youth.

"Move or else." The boy said, his hand clenching his wand tightly.

Makoto turned away from the boy, staring back at Potter, who wasn't even aware that he was being watched.

The boy behind gave an exasperated sigh and sat down beside her, roughly pushing the another girl out of his way. His two friends, sitting down on the other side of her.

"Why are you staring at Potter like that? You're infatuated with him?" The boy asked.

If he was expected Makoto to blush or to turn her head away and start shouting at him, he was disappointed. Makoto stared on ahead; making no acknowledging sign that she had heard him speak.

"Why won't you talk to me?" He finally asked as food appeared on their plate.

"I won't speak to snotty little brats." She finally told him emotionlessly, staring up as Dumbledore went over to the platform for, what she assumed, was announcements.

"Greetings all! I trust your summer holidays were wonderful, as mine were. As you may have noticed, we have four new students here much older then the newer younger ones. You are to treat them with respect and kindness, for they are exchange students for this year. I know this is new, but it was an idea toyed around with Minister of Magic, and finally accepted.

As usually, the Forbidden Forest is restricted area, and trips to Hogsmeade are available only for third-years and up, so make sure you have your parent's permission slips present.

Now, for final words…

Green bananas, and blue peppers!"

Dumbledore sat down as a burst of applause came forth from the tables.

Makoto stared at Dumbledore, slightly amused at his reference to them.

'Green Bananas? Blue Pepper? No comment.'

Makoto ate the tasty food as she had for the several months she had been there, and then walked up to her dorm room, not feeling really sociable at the moment.

Saying the password and entering the room, Makoto sat down on her bed, which she noted and turned a much darker colour since she had last come in.

Laying down, Makoto closed her eyes, remembering what Hotaru had last said when she suddenly did…something…to her.

"Meld…Hotaru said she was weak…did she?" Makoto thought aloud.

Glancing into the mirror she took a closer look then before. Her hair seemed shorter, and she even seemed a month or so younger then before.

'The others haven't changed at all…this must be because the outer scouts are keeping themselves separate from us…but Hotaru was too weak to maintain that kind of strain and remain herself in my mind, so she must have combined herself fully to me, making her and me, truly one… I need to train.'

Makoto got off the bed and quickly changed into a dark green gi.

Tying her hair securely into another ponytail without the ribbon, Makoto walked out the door of her room and walked towards the entrance of the castle.

Stealthily walking out the door of Hogwarts without so much as a creak, Makoto walked across the crisp green grass to a certain area, one she often frequented for training.

The Whipping Willow…quite a violent tree actually, but one with heart. That and it didn't dare hurt Makoto.

Walking to the tree Makoto placed her palm on the trunk of the tree, silently communicating with it, asking for a decent fight with the branches.

The tree's leaves rustled in the non-existent wind as an answer.

Makoto felt a faint smile appear on her lips as she form her body into the fighting position.

Suddenly a branched whipped towards her.

Immediately Makoto began defending herself against the unsought of the unrelenting branches, as the whipping willow began beating itself upon her harder and harder, leaving no room for error.

'Just the way I like it. Adrenaline rush.' Makoto thought to herself.

After quite a while whipping and thrashing, Makoto and the Weeping Willow stopped and bowed to each other.

Sweat pouring from her body, and her hands trembling from her workout, Makoto walked back to her dorm room, pure stubbornness kept her from falling and sleeping on the spot.

Meeting no one on her way in, Makoto entered her room and fell into the bed, clothes and all, and gave way to oblivion.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*End of Chapter 4: Fascicolazione*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Me: Well? What did you think? Like it? Not like it? Review people! Please!

Violentdelight: Well, it would be nice if people do review…

Me: Exactly! Review please and make my day a whole lot brighter.

Violentdelight: And mine too!