The Starlit Path
Notes: Just a quick review before I start: Serena is half-blood, her dad's a muggle and her mom is a witch. Lita's parents were a witch and a wizard. Mina and Ami are both muggle born and Rei is a "pureblood".
Wow, this is really not what I was expecting! Normally I am content with a review or two but in the past two days or so I have received.. a lot more than expected. So this is to everyone whom reviewed for one currently very ecstatic author! Thank you so much ^_^
Chibi Pyro Duo: Winces: My bad, I am really sorry about that! Wow, you must have read my mind, I was going to ask for suggestions for house in this chapter! I will keep your suggestions in mind, the houses and reasons for the girls fit so perfectly so I'll more than likely use most of your suggestions; but I am currently caught between two houses for one of the senshi so I'll just go with the flow. And thank the gods and goddesses there will be no Darien and Serena love thing going on! Sorry people but I have been a fan of the show for years and I still don't understand what Serena sees in him! But I'll stop there before Darien lovers hurt me. Serena will be paired up with someone but NOT with Darien.
Moondaughter: Thank you! This will be a senshi and general fic, but not conventional pairings, please don't hurt me! I can't help it! I do like the classic parings but I end up spicing my Sailor Moon fics with slightly altered pairings but don't worry it is nothing too bizarre. Again, I am truly sorry but I just can't bring myself to write a Serena and Darien romance. Yes the outer scouts will be making cameo appearances in this fic, and even be more in the stories I hope to follow this one up with. And yes this will be Harry's first year at Hogwarts, which is why this story should be considered AU.
Blood Rose077: Cool name by the way and thank you!
Angel or Nightcrawler: Blue blushes: Thanks!
Elara2: Hehe of course there will be love interests! But as to whom is with whom me no telling tales, at least not yet! I'll try to update as often as possible but school is being very evil to me this year. Sighs, I wouldn't hate school so much if it didn't stifle my "work hours" and my creativity!
Mae: Thank you! I am glad that you like my story and even more pleased that you think that this fic is unique among the many Sailor Moon and Harry Potter crossovers.
Well enough with my yap, onward to chapter one! Thanks for reading and enjoy ^o^
Chapter One: The Letters
Part One: The Daughter of the Moon
The years flew by rather quickly for now standing in front of the window, watching the sunrise, was an eleven-year-old Serena. She was still the joy and treasured daughter of her mother and father but the round baby cheeks, the wide and wonderful filled eyes of youth were becoming a polished sheen, even the chubby and clumsy hands and legs were just beginning to lose their baby fat showing a very brief glimmer of the beautiful woman that she was going to grow up to be. For a moment Serena paused at her reflection as a flash of a silver hair caught her eye instead of the molten golden.
"Could it be?" she wondered. For years now Serena had become unnerved by some very strange occurrences. For instance, on every full moon she would stay awake through most of the night to stare at the moon as she would be plagued by "waking dreams", only to forget them with the morning light. And several other things such as her new found ability to levitate objects at a whim and blurred visions of another face staring back at her from the mirror. The other person, or girl actually, looked exactly like her expect for a few differences; the girl in the mirror had long silver hair instead of gold and she wore a white dress; but other than that they were identical. But as soon as Serena blinked her eyes the vision almost always disappeared.
Serena had questioned her mother about these odd events but she would always receive the same answer; "It was just your imagination Serena," She had heard it so often that she had begun to believe it; but even with the mantra of "it is just my imagination" the occurrences and images kept returning. "So if none of this is real and it is not my imagination than there can only be one conclusion", Serena pondered as she placed her hairbrush on the dresser. Staring into her reflection she frowned for a moment only to grin widely, "I must be going crazy!" she said with more confidence and cheerfulness than one would give an actual insane person credit for.
"Serena, breakfast is ready!" called her mother from downstairs. "Coming," Serena replied as she arose from her chair and darted out of the room. Already halfway down the stairs she could smell the thick buttery aroma of freshly made pancakes. With the added motivation of hunger and the love of her mother's pancakes Serena took the stairs two at a time only to end up tripping over her own feet once she reached the last step. She would have collapsed to the ground if it weren't for two strong hands holding her up. "Careful princess," said a voice coming from the man attached to the hands. Serena turned her head to the side to see her dad holding her up.
Quickly Serena scrambled to her feet, smiling sheepishly at her father, "Sorry about that," she amended as they both walked down the hall to enter the living room and then the kitchen. As soon as she entered the kitchen Serena's eyes fell upon the large stack of still steaming pancakes. Within the blink of an eye Serena had sat down in her chair with her plate piled high with pancakes with melting butter and thick syrupy covering the hotcakes. Before her parents had even sat down she had already downed three whole pancakes. With a mutual glance of slightly exasperated understanding both Serena's mother and father sat down on either side of the table as their daughter continued to gobble down her breakfast.
This was a typical summer morning for the Collins, nothing out of the ordinary or even notably different about the comfortably atmosphere. But in a matter of moments the normalcy was replaced by bizarreness. A grey blur suddenly bolted out from the open window and onto the dining room table. For a moment everything went silent as the family of three looked down in disbelief at the bundle of feathers, beak, and talons. The spell of silence was broken with a soft hoot from the owl as it dropped the parchment that it carried in its' left talon to the table then proceeded to turn around and fly out of the open window; all of this taking place in a matter of minutes. Equally curious Serena and her father arose from the table to glance out of the window to see if the owl had truly left or if it was hanging about the house before it would decide to come back inside.
At the table Serena's mother was staring at the letter the owl had left with a look of absolute horror on her face. It looked like a normal letter only it was sealed with the wax seal of Hogwarts. Even though she was sitting down Serena's mother could feel her knees try to buckle underneath her as well as cold sweat forming on her brow. "No," she whispered as she reached for the envelope, hoping in vain that this letter was about anything but her worst fear.
Hearing the envelope being torn open Serena turned her head to face her mother. "Who's the letter from mom?" the girl asked. But her mother refused to give a reply; instead she continued to franticly scan the letter's first line over and over again almost as if she was trying to will the words away or at least try to change the letters around so that it made up jibber; but as of now anything would have been better than accepting the truth.
Finally she couldn't deny the truth anymore. This was Serena's Hogwarts letter; the faculty was requesting her only child's attendance at the infamous academy of witchcraft and wizdery. Her hands started to tremble and grew clammy as the nightmares that had started since her only daughter's birth ran through her mind. "No, there must be some mistake!" she thought, "At least the Head Master would know that I have to protect my daughter from the magical realm. She can't go into their world, if she even steps foot outside of the muggle world they will kill her! This must be a mistake." But there was Serena's name, written clearly and boldly in blaring green inked cursive scrawl. Now that they had received the letter Serena would have to go to Hogwarts.
Growing worried about her suddenly sullen and silent mother Serena edged away from the window to approach her mother. Now she was standing beside her mother but the woman still seemed to be miles away. Serena carefully reached her right hand to touch her mother's arm, "Mom? Are you feeling all right? Who's that letter from anyway?" Slowly Serena's mother lifted her gaze from the letter to face her daughter. Tears began to form in her eyes as the woman's resolve to protect her daughter only strengthened. Turning away from her daughter so that Serena would see the tears falling down her face the woman said in a cold tone, "Serena go upstairs to your room."
"What? But mom what did I do?" Serena began to ask but then her mother spun around to give her a heated glare.
"Don't you dare question me young lady! Now go upstairs and don't come down until I come and get you understand!"
Scared out of her wits Serena only nodded mutely as she turned to walk out of the kitchen. Once Serena left the kitchen her mother went into the living room and began to light a fire inside the fire place; only instead of using a lighter or even a match the woman merely snapped her fingers for flame to come sparking off the tips of her fingers. Following close behind her was her husband, once he saw what Cassie planed to do with the letter he turned to the hall, catching Serena just before she started walking up the stairs. Gently holding her wrist he whispered to his daughter, "Stay right here, don't move or even breath."
"But momma told me to go up."
"I know, but what your mother doesn't know won't hurt her. And besides you need to hear this," was his reply before he slipped out of the hall, but leaving the door between the hall and living room cracked open just wide enough for Serena to watch the scene unfolding. Hiding in the safety of the hallway Serena watched as her mother began to furiously tear the piece of parchment to shreds. With each torn piece that fell to the floor Serena could hear her mother's voice grow in volume and intensity as her father stared on at his wife in disbelief. Carefully he approached his wife just as she gathered up the scraps of parchment to toss them into the already lit fireplace.
"Cassie, be reasonable. You know, even better than I do, that if Hogwarts wants Serena to be a part of their school than they won't take "no" for an answer," Serena's father said, trying in vain to reason with his wife.
At first his plea seemed to have fallen on deaf ears because she threw the pieces into the fire. Only after all of the pieces had become curled and charred did she turn to face her husband and, unknowingly, her daughter. Serena withheld a gasp; because the face she saw was not the kind face of the loving mother that Serena knew and loved; but the face of a woman gone mad. Her once soft green eyes were glowing in fury, her amber hair raised wildly around her head like a demented halo of wrath.
"I refuse," her mother hissed dangerously soft at first but then she repeated it in a louder tone when she bent down to pick up a stray piece. Holding it between her fingers, she watched with a sense of distorted glee as the piece easily caught fire.
"I refuse to allow that school to take my daughter away from me." Serena's mother stated softly as she calmly blew the ashes off her open palm.
Shocked to the core of her being Serena spun on her heel and raced up the stairs, not even pausing to double back when her right slipper slid off of her foot. Only when she was behind the safety of the locked door of her bedroom did she breath a sigh of relief. Leaning up against the solid frame of the door Serena tried to catch her breath while at the same time trying to sort the mess that was her sanity. She had never seen her mother so.deadly serious. Sure Serena had seen her mother angry, quite a few times actually, but what she just saw downstairs was just frightening. Not knowing what to expect when her mother would come upstairs and allow her back downstairs Serena lifted herself off of the floor and walked to her bed.
Lifting her right hand she turned on her radio, hoping that music would help calm her nerves while at the same time give her the courage to face whatever might be in store for her. Little did the "princess" know that she would have more to worry about in the near future than her irate mother.
Chapter Two:
Fire and Ice
The evening had started off normal. A quiet, if not cold, dinner with her father; followed by a strict review of her daily lessons. Then the required two-hour meditation, and honing of her skills with fire which now she was dismissed from. Finally she had the midnight hour to herself; but instead of logging into a computer to play games or even writing letters to be sent by owl the next morning like any normal teen witch-in-training would have done Rei chose for this free hour to "talk" with the fire. Although she loved her times spent in front of the smoky smelling warm hearth Rei had never been so compulsive about fire until this past week; for she had seen her "equal" in the fire just last week; actually it was just a shadow of the person but she could feel a dominate aura. Very strong just like her own, possibly even stronger.
But instead of the warmth of fire she had felt the liquid coldness of icy water enter her veins. Her equal was searching for someone just like them. Rei was more than eager to answer his or her call for companionship because for all the fuss her father made over her powers it was kind of lonely being the only child, with even a magical background, whom could "talk" with the elements and find out about the future through their guidance. However friendship was not the only reason for her search; while the aura was strong and well developed it was not using its' power to the full extent; almost as if the owner of the aura was afraid of getting caught wandering the dreamscape or was just afraid of the unknown. Every night since that evening Rei would sit in front of the fireplace, staring into the dancing flames as they would try to guide her to her 'equal". Some night she found the aura only to have it fade into the dark dreamscape while other times the aura wasn't even present. Looking into the core of the fire with her dark purple eyes narrowed in determination Rei was certain that she would not only find the aura tonight but also be able to contact the owner of this strong icy force.
She didn't have to search for long because the ice aura was there almost as if it was waiting and looking for her instead of the other way around. A small smile graced Rei's normally solemn lips as she dove deeper into the flame's core. Reaching her hand inside of the crackling fire Rei could feel her body tremble as her hand went from the warm fire aura to the icy river. Suddenly her hand brushed up against a soft offered palm. The smile grew wider. At long last she had found the other seerer, another dreamscape wanderer just like her.
Amy whimpered in her sleep as she felt something hot touch her skin. Afraid that she had traveled too far she tried to pull back only to be surrounded by the flames that had "burned" her just a moment ago. Wide fear filled eyes of blue flitted nervously at the flames as they rose and fell, dancing to their own erratic rhythm. She turned to run only to find herself surrounded by fire. Suddenly a hand brushed against her shoulder, scared out of her mind now Amy gave a sharp shriek as she jumped to turn and stare at the intruder.
"Hmm, so it is a girl." Rei thought as she glanced the short blue haired girl over. The kid seemed very afraid of her surroundings; "Since her aura consists of ice and water all this fire must be making her nervous." Rei figured. Slowly she cut the power of her aura down so only dulling embers glowed around their feet instead of the leaping flames.
Amy glanced down at the ember for a moment than turned her gaze back to the newcomer to the dreamscape. She raised one skeptical eyebrow at the girl; this was the first time she had seen on the vast dreamscape. "Who are you?" Ami asked a bit loudly, only to bit her lips when she could hear the loud echo that returned.
Rei smirked, a shame really this girl had so much power and yet seemed so timid and humble. Rei bowed her head, replying; "Who I am really doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we were finally able to met."
"Met? Have you.have you been looking for me?" Amy asked.
Rei nodded before she flicked a long strand of her raven hair away from her face; "Yes, I have been looking for you for almost two weeks now." She grinned, "You're pretty good at navigating the dreamscape. How long have you been exploring the astral plane?"
"No.not long, a few months at best." Amy muttered shyly as her face turned beet red.
Rei blinked her eyes in disbelief, "Really? That is.wow! A few months? It took me months just to access the plane let alone visit and navigate it so easily.
Amy stared at the new girl as if she were crazy. Rei noting the funny look immediately stifled her grin and curbed her excitement.
"Sorry," Rei quickly amended. "It's just that I am so excited that I am not the only dreamscape wander especially my equal!"
"Your equal?" Amy questioned.
Rei brushed off her question; "I'll explain it latter. I can't right now because my dad with be upstairs to make sure that I am in bed soon, so I have to leave."
"Alright," Amy replied, even though her head was still spinning slightly from the new questions that were slowly beginning to surface.
Smiling Rei turned to leave but then she turned to face Amy again, "Oh and Amy, I would like to met you again. Can you come to the dreamscape again tomorrow evening? I really want to get to know you better before we leave for Hogwarts."
Amy's stared at the raven-haired girl in disbelief; for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity they merely watched each other from the short distance separating them. All knowing eyes staring into fearful orbs of ocean blue as the two girls, one of fire, one of ice, compared each other; testing each other's outer façades and appearances to the point the masks almost fell away.
Finally the timid one of the two gained the courageous resolve to speak.
"How do you know my name?" she whispered.
For yet another eternal moment Rei glanced at her then with a slow blink she replied, "I know you because through our differences we are the same."
And with those last words the raven-haired child disappeared within the amber flicker of flames. Leaving only the echo of her words in the otherwise silent dreamscape.
On two opposite ends Amy and Rei awoke to their worlds that couldn't be more different to each other's personality.
Rei faced a cold house devoid of the life and love that burned in her own chest.
Ami cried scolding tears as she tried to drown out the loud and heated exchange of her bickering parents below her.
Both collapsed on their beds to stare out their windows at the distant stars as both of them wished for a life different than what they had.
One scowled at her foolishness for even thinking that things would change because of a dream; while her counterpart wept because she knew that the miracle she was asking for wouldn't come.
Part Three: The Roar of Thunder
White light filtered through the heavy parchment, but it had failed to reveal the contents of the letter. Behind her Lita could hear her grandmother chuckle in amusement as she watched her only grandchild wonder whether or not she should open the strange sealed letter. Turning the letter over again Lita stared at the was seal as if it held the answers to what was contained in the letter; well actually the seal did but since Lita didn't know what the crest of Hogwarts was she had no clue.
Even though watching her granddaughter ponder over the envelope and what it contained Lita's grandmother was excited about the arrival of the letter; for if her granddaughter's heritage wasn't enough to get her admitted into Hogwarts her abilities would all but guarantee the child to get accepted into the school. Finally unable to the false serene appearance, Lita's grandmother snatched the letter from her grandchild. Quickly she opened the letter and began to read it aloud to the child, excitement growing in her voice with each line that she read. After she finished Lita gave her grandmother a very disbelieving stare.
"What's the matter Lita? I thought that you would be ecstatic about getting this letter," was the old woman's statement.
Lita lifted a skeptical eyebrow, "This is some kind of joke right?" she asked coldly.
For a moment the expression on the old woman's face was one of disbelief. "Lita, you don't know about Hogwarts."
Lita gave a bitter laugh, "This is a cool practical joke and all grand mom but you do realize that you are missing April Fools by several months don't you?"
"Lita," the elder lady started her tone completely seriousness, "this is not a joke. You, Lita Mahanoy, have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Lita narrowed her emerald green eyes at her grandmother; "Come on grandma, did you really think that I would believe a phony looking letter telling me that I am to go to a school of magic? It's nice that you want to try and cheer me up but this is just ridiculous."
Arising from her chair Lita left the room without even a backward glance at her grandmother. Slowly she climbed the stairs up to a surprisingly neat and organized bedroom. Sitting cross-legged on her bed/sofa Lita leaned forward to unlock the window planting in the wall just a few inches from her. Glancing up and down the ordinary and boring street Lita allowed her eyes to linger briefly at Privet Drive, number four in particular which was strangely abandoned. Just yesterday Lita had planed to visit Harry, her only true friend, but she only got as far as the curb that lead into Privet Drive. Harry's uncle, Vernon, was furiously packing the car as quickly as humanly possible. He seemed so absorbed in his work that Lita had thought that he wouldn't notice her if she just walked inside the house to talk to Harry but as soon as Lita reached the edge of the driveway Mr. Dursely was on her like a rabid pit bull.
"Who are you?" he growled irritably.
"I am Lita. I am a friend of Harry's." Lita began, only to be cut off by Mr. Dursely.
"A friend? A friend!? That boy doesn't have any friends!" he bellowed as if the very though of his nephew having normal human interactions was criminal.
"Unless you are one of his "kind". You are aren't you?! You grew tired of us not replying to your stupid letters so now you've come to take Harry to that school!" Vernon howled as he rushed from the car to the house.
Within a matter of minutes Harry's cousin, Dudley, his aunt, and the boy himself were all but shoved out of the doorway to the house by Harry's uncle. He forced them all into the car without tearing his vicious gaze from a very confused Lita. Harry's uncle got inside of the car and started the engine and started to backup quickly. Lita jumped out of the driveway and onto the grass to prevent herself from getting run over. As soon as the car had exited the driveway Mr. Dursley swerved the car around the through the normally quite community; Lita watched the car drive away until it was nothing by a black dot. Turning away to return home Lita wondered what Harry's uncle had meant when he had called her one of Harry's "kind".
Sure the boy was a little weird but not so bizarre that he should be considered alien or a different species. Looking back on yesterday Lita began to wonder what in the world had caused the Durselys to just pack up and leave. Harry hadn't mentioned about his "family" taking a holiday this year; and even if they were on holiday it was strange that they would take Harry along since he was normally sent to stay at Mrs. Figgs's house instead of going on holiday with his adopted family.
Lita sighed heavily; compared to Harry's life Lita realized that she had it pretty good. True her grandmother was a nutcase but at least she was a loving nutcase. Lita snorted as she recalled the stupid letter. That was a new low, even for her grandmother, sure she had been upset since yesterday morning but that didn't excuse her grandmother for pulling such a stupid stunt. Lying on her back Lita stared at the stark white ceiling above her.
"A academy for magic? Yeah right grand mum, nice try." Lita grumbled aloud.
Downstairs Lita's grandmother was quickly scrawling down a reply to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, all the while hoping that Lita would one day thank her for all the effort she was putting in to make sure that her granddaughter's destiny would be fulfilled. Being a squib, she herself never had a chance to learn magic so she was shocked to say the least when Lita had refused to even consider the fact that not only did magic exist but that she carried a piece of that power within her own body. What she really couldn't understand why the girl's parents hadn't told their child or even used magic around her granddaughter; for even through their short lifetime they had been very adamant about keeping Lita from knowing about their world and magic. What the old woman didn't know was that she was a key piece in setting a chain of very complex game that involved the fate and destinies of several people.
Part Four
The Golden Child
Baby blue eyes scanned the contents of the letter; Mina sighed as she rested her head on top of her desk. After reading and rereading the piece of paper at least thirty times she still couldn't make heads or tails of it. If anything the whole letter sounded like the beginning for some sort of fantasy novel or movie. Maybe it was a new script that she had to study, the blonde wondered. But if it was than why did an owl instead of the post deliver it? At that question Mina could only shrug.
Stranger things had happened she suppose such as this strange abilities that she had to drawn light. If Mina found herself in a dark room she could literally draw a ball light to her location in an instant; she could even form objects out of the light, like chains and even a sword one time. But she was careful to make sure that her mother never saw her do these things because Mina felt that her mother just wouldn't understand. Mina glanced at the letter this time with the beginning of a skeptical expression; "Maybe," Mina mused, "if there is a place like this 'Hogwarts' than there might be people who could understand me and my 'talents'."
Mina shook her head as she moved to tear the letter apart but for some reason she stopped herself. Maybe she would just wait until her mother came home, just to have someone else help deceiver the cryptic letter or at least assure its' authenticity. Placing the letter back into its' envelope Mina, child star, turned her attention back to the new script for next week's show that she had to study before shooting began Saturday.
Part Five
The Dark Mark
His breath came out in a long hiss as his wrist began to burn again. Clumsily he rolled back the dark layers of his robe sleeve to reveal the source of his pain. A perfectly normal arm and hand, with all five fingers aligned and in place; and yet pain was coming from this limb. Clasping onto his wrist with the other hand, the young man could feel the warm sticky slick feeling of fresh blood. No one had said that it would bleed so often nor this freely; but then again there were many things that they had 'forgotten' to mention to him.
One was the pain that he would experience; after the ceremony he had immediately passed out from the white-hot pain. And now his wrist was bleeding almost constantly but only in the pattern of the marking now imbedded into his skin. He scowled at the still bleeding mark, he had never wanted this to happen but what was he to do?
His father had passed away so it was his duty as the eldest, not to mention only, son to protect his mother. And since his father ran with the pack of wolves that had terrorized Britain while he was still a toddler it was his duty to carry on his father's duty as right hand man to the Dark Lord whom had yet to arise from the ashes of his defeat. But there had been many rumors mulling around, rumors of the Dark Lord's return so all of his old followers whom had either blackmailed or had hidden to keep from getting captured were crawling out of the woodwork to welcome their lord. The possible return was why he had been branded with the Dark Lord's mark before his sixteenth birthday. If he had refused to take the mark than not only would his life be in danger but his mother's and baby sister lives would be in jeopardy as well.
He snorted, a wonderful inheritance he received; the burden of carrying for his mother and sister and now he was saddled with serving the Dark Lord just to keep them and himself from getting killed by pissed of Death Eaters.
"Would be just my bloody luck that the Dark Lord hasn't risen and never will, leaving me scared for life for no reason," the young man fumed. But even though he complained he knew that there was nothing that he could do except be a perfect servant for the Dark Lord, if he had arisen, and if not just follow the instructions of the older Death Eaters until they would give up hope of their lord's return.
The blood had long since dried on his wrist, now all he had to do was clean it up before his mother saw it; he knew that if she had a clue on what was really going on that she would go hysterical and make herself sick again. He entered the washroom, turned on the water and quickly washed the blood off, since he was still attending Hogwarts he couldn't use magic outside of its' gates and he really didn't know any strong cleaning spells that would get rid of the dried on blood so soap and water would have to do. He roughly scrubbed the blood off only to reveal the horrible skull and serpent. Out of compulsion he tried to rub the dark blemish off, furiously until his skin was a bright pink; but the mark was still there, just as black and menacing, as it was the night it was placed imprinted on his skin. He had heard that the mark would remain on one's skin forever, no spell could remove it nor could it be covered up.
Thank Merlin for long robe sleeves. Although he was sure that his house would just "love" to see a fresh Dark Mark, and it might even be considered a high honor, he would much rather never see the damn thing ever again.
Notes: So what do you think? Sorry if it took me so long to update but the laptop that I am currently working from is possessed by some sort of evil spirit that seems intent on crashing the poor laptop. Again thanks to everyone who reviewed my humble fic! Please send me suggestions or comments because if the reader isn't happy than ain't nobody happy. Thanks for reading and peace ^_^
P.S. I dare you to guess who the young man was in part five, and no it is not Draco.
Notes: Just a quick review before I start: Serena is half-blood, her dad's a muggle and her mom is a witch. Lita's parents were a witch and a wizard. Mina and Ami are both muggle born and Rei is a "pureblood".
Wow, this is really not what I was expecting! Normally I am content with a review or two but in the past two days or so I have received.. a lot more than expected. So this is to everyone whom reviewed for one currently very ecstatic author! Thank you so much ^_^
Chibi Pyro Duo: Winces: My bad, I am really sorry about that! Wow, you must have read my mind, I was going to ask for suggestions for house in this chapter! I will keep your suggestions in mind, the houses and reasons for the girls fit so perfectly so I'll more than likely use most of your suggestions; but I am currently caught between two houses for one of the senshi so I'll just go with the flow. And thank the gods and goddesses there will be no Darien and Serena love thing going on! Sorry people but I have been a fan of the show for years and I still don't understand what Serena sees in him! But I'll stop there before Darien lovers hurt me. Serena will be paired up with someone but NOT with Darien.
Moondaughter: Thank you! This will be a senshi and general fic, but not conventional pairings, please don't hurt me! I can't help it! I do like the classic parings but I end up spicing my Sailor Moon fics with slightly altered pairings but don't worry it is nothing too bizarre. Again, I am truly sorry but I just can't bring myself to write a Serena and Darien romance. Yes the outer scouts will be making cameo appearances in this fic, and even be more in the stories I hope to follow this one up with. And yes this will be Harry's first year at Hogwarts, which is why this story should be considered AU.
Blood Rose077: Cool name by the way and thank you!
Angel or Nightcrawler: Blue blushes: Thanks!
Elara2: Hehe of course there will be love interests! But as to whom is with whom me no telling tales, at least not yet! I'll try to update as often as possible but school is being very evil to me this year. Sighs, I wouldn't hate school so much if it didn't stifle my "work hours" and my creativity!
Mae: Thank you! I am glad that you like my story and even more pleased that you think that this fic is unique among the many Sailor Moon and Harry Potter crossovers.
Well enough with my yap, onward to chapter one! Thanks for reading and enjoy ^o^
Chapter One: The Letters
Part One: The Daughter of the Moon
The years flew by rather quickly for now standing in front of the window, watching the sunrise, was an eleven-year-old Serena. She was still the joy and treasured daughter of her mother and father but the round baby cheeks, the wide and wonderful filled eyes of youth were becoming a polished sheen, even the chubby and clumsy hands and legs were just beginning to lose their baby fat showing a very brief glimmer of the beautiful woman that she was going to grow up to be. For a moment Serena paused at her reflection as a flash of a silver hair caught her eye instead of the molten golden.
"Could it be?" she wondered. For years now Serena had become unnerved by some very strange occurrences. For instance, on every full moon she would stay awake through most of the night to stare at the moon as she would be plagued by "waking dreams", only to forget them with the morning light. And several other things such as her new found ability to levitate objects at a whim and blurred visions of another face staring back at her from the mirror. The other person, or girl actually, looked exactly like her expect for a few differences; the girl in the mirror had long silver hair instead of gold and she wore a white dress; but other than that they were identical. But as soon as Serena blinked her eyes the vision almost always disappeared.
Serena had questioned her mother about these odd events but she would always receive the same answer; "It was just your imagination Serena," She had heard it so often that she had begun to believe it; but even with the mantra of "it is just my imagination" the occurrences and images kept returning. "So if none of this is real and it is not my imagination than there can only be one conclusion", Serena pondered as she placed her hairbrush on the dresser. Staring into her reflection she frowned for a moment only to grin widely, "I must be going crazy!" she said with more confidence and cheerfulness than one would give an actual insane person credit for.
"Serena, breakfast is ready!" called her mother from downstairs. "Coming," Serena replied as she arose from her chair and darted out of the room. Already halfway down the stairs she could smell the thick buttery aroma of freshly made pancakes. With the added motivation of hunger and the love of her mother's pancakes Serena took the stairs two at a time only to end up tripping over her own feet once she reached the last step. She would have collapsed to the ground if it weren't for two strong hands holding her up. "Careful princess," said a voice coming from the man attached to the hands. Serena turned her head to the side to see her dad holding her up.
Quickly Serena scrambled to her feet, smiling sheepishly at her father, "Sorry about that," she amended as they both walked down the hall to enter the living room and then the kitchen. As soon as she entered the kitchen Serena's eyes fell upon the large stack of still steaming pancakes. Within the blink of an eye Serena had sat down in her chair with her plate piled high with pancakes with melting butter and thick syrupy covering the hotcakes. Before her parents had even sat down she had already downed three whole pancakes. With a mutual glance of slightly exasperated understanding both Serena's mother and father sat down on either side of the table as their daughter continued to gobble down her breakfast.
This was a typical summer morning for the Collins, nothing out of the ordinary or even notably different about the comfortably atmosphere. But in a matter of moments the normalcy was replaced by bizarreness. A grey blur suddenly bolted out from the open window and onto the dining room table. For a moment everything went silent as the family of three looked down in disbelief at the bundle of feathers, beak, and talons. The spell of silence was broken with a soft hoot from the owl as it dropped the parchment that it carried in its' left talon to the table then proceeded to turn around and fly out of the open window; all of this taking place in a matter of minutes. Equally curious Serena and her father arose from the table to glance out of the window to see if the owl had truly left or if it was hanging about the house before it would decide to come back inside.
At the table Serena's mother was staring at the letter the owl had left with a look of absolute horror on her face. It looked like a normal letter only it was sealed with the wax seal of Hogwarts. Even though she was sitting down Serena's mother could feel her knees try to buckle underneath her as well as cold sweat forming on her brow. "No," she whispered as she reached for the envelope, hoping in vain that this letter was about anything but her worst fear.
Hearing the envelope being torn open Serena turned her head to face her mother. "Who's the letter from mom?" the girl asked. But her mother refused to give a reply; instead she continued to franticly scan the letter's first line over and over again almost as if she was trying to will the words away or at least try to change the letters around so that it made up jibber; but as of now anything would have been better than accepting the truth.
Finally she couldn't deny the truth anymore. This was Serena's Hogwarts letter; the faculty was requesting her only child's attendance at the infamous academy of witchcraft and wizdery. Her hands started to tremble and grew clammy as the nightmares that had started since her only daughter's birth ran through her mind. "No, there must be some mistake!" she thought, "At least the Head Master would know that I have to protect my daughter from the magical realm. She can't go into their world, if she even steps foot outside of the muggle world they will kill her! This must be a mistake." But there was Serena's name, written clearly and boldly in blaring green inked cursive scrawl. Now that they had received the letter Serena would have to go to Hogwarts.
Growing worried about her suddenly sullen and silent mother Serena edged away from the window to approach her mother. Now she was standing beside her mother but the woman still seemed to be miles away. Serena carefully reached her right hand to touch her mother's arm, "Mom? Are you feeling all right? Who's that letter from anyway?" Slowly Serena's mother lifted her gaze from the letter to face her daughter. Tears began to form in her eyes as the woman's resolve to protect her daughter only strengthened. Turning away from her daughter so that Serena would see the tears falling down her face the woman said in a cold tone, "Serena go upstairs to your room."
"What? But mom what did I do?" Serena began to ask but then her mother spun around to give her a heated glare.
"Don't you dare question me young lady! Now go upstairs and don't come down until I come and get you understand!"
Scared out of her wits Serena only nodded mutely as she turned to walk out of the kitchen. Once Serena left the kitchen her mother went into the living room and began to light a fire inside the fire place; only instead of using a lighter or even a match the woman merely snapped her fingers for flame to come sparking off the tips of her fingers. Following close behind her was her husband, once he saw what Cassie planed to do with the letter he turned to the hall, catching Serena just before she started walking up the stairs. Gently holding her wrist he whispered to his daughter, "Stay right here, don't move or even breath."
"But momma told me to go up."
"I know, but what your mother doesn't know won't hurt her. And besides you need to hear this," was his reply before he slipped out of the hall, but leaving the door between the hall and living room cracked open just wide enough for Serena to watch the scene unfolding. Hiding in the safety of the hallway Serena watched as her mother began to furiously tear the piece of parchment to shreds. With each torn piece that fell to the floor Serena could hear her mother's voice grow in volume and intensity as her father stared on at his wife in disbelief. Carefully he approached his wife just as she gathered up the scraps of parchment to toss them into the already lit fireplace.
"Cassie, be reasonable. You know, even better than I do, that if Hogwarts wants Serena to be a part of their school than they won't take "no" for an answer," Serena's father said, trying in vain to reason with his wife.
At first his plea seemed to have fallen on deaf ears because she threw the pieces into the fire. Only after all of the pieces had become curled and charred did she turn to face her husband and, unknowingly, her daughter. Serena withheld a gasp; because the face she saw was not the kind face of the loving mother that Serena knew and loved; but the face of a woman gone mad. Her once soft green eyes were glowing in fury, her amber hair raised wildly around her head like a demented halo of wrath.
"I refuse," her mother hissed dangerously soft at first but then she repeated it in a louder tone when she bent down to pick up a stray piece. Holding it between her fingers, she watched with a sense of distorted glee as the piece easily caught fire.
"I refuse to allow that school to take my daughter away from me." Serena's mother stated softly as she calmly blew the ashes off her open palm.
Shocked to the core of her being Serena spun on her heel and raced up the stairs, not even pausing to double back when her right slipper slid off of her foot. Only when she was behind the safety of the locked door of her bedroom did she breath a sigh of relief. Leaning up against the solid frame of the door Serena tried to catch her breath while at the same time trying to sort the mess that was her sanity. She had never seen her mother so.deadly serious. Sure Serena had seen her mother angry, quite a few times actually, but what she just saw downstairs was just frightening. Not knowing what to expect when her mother would come upstairs and allow her back downstairs Serena lifted herself off of the floor and walked to her bed.
Lifting her right hand she turned on her radio, hoping that music would help calm her nerves while at the same time give her the courage to face whatever might be in store for her. Little did the "princess" know that she would have more to worry about in the near future than her irate mother.
Chapter Two:
Fire and Ice
The evening had started off normal. A quiet, if not cold, dinner with her father; followed by a strict review of her daily lessons. Then the required two-hour meditation, and honing of her skills with fire which now she was dismissed from. Finally she had the midnight hour to herself; but instead of logging into a computer to play games or even writing letters to be sent by owl the next morning like any normal teen witch-in-training would have done Rei chose for this free hour to "talk" with the fire. Although she loved her times spent in front of the smoky smelling warm hearth Rei had never been so compulsive about fire until this past week; for she had seen her "equal" in the fire just last week; actually it was just a shadow of the person but she could feel a dominate aura. Very strong just like her own, possibly even stronger.
But instead of the warmth of fire she had felt the liquid coldness of icy water enter her veins. Her equal was searching for someone just like them. Rei was more than eager to answer his or her call for companionship because for all the fuss her father made over her powers it was kind of lonely being the only child, with even a magical background, whom could "talk" with the elements and find out about the future through their guidance. However friendship was not the only reason for her search; while the aura was strong and well developed it was not using its' power to the full extent; almost as if the owner of the aura was afraid of getting caught wandering the dreamscape or was just afraid of the unknown. Every night since that evening Rei would sit in front of the fireplace, staring into the dancing flames as they would try to guide her to her 'equal". Some night she found the aura only to have it fade into the dark dreamscape while other times the aura wasn't even present. Looking into the core of the fire with her dark purple eyes narrowed in determination Rei was certain that she would not only find the aura tonight but also be able to contact the owner of this strong icy force.
She didn't have to search for long because the ice aura was there almost as if it was waiting and looking for her instead of the other way around. A small smile graced Rei's normally solemn lips as she dove deeper into the flame's core. Reaching her hand inside of the crackling fire Rei could feel her body tremble as her hand went from the warm fire aura to the icy river. Suddenly her hand brushed up against a soft offered palm. The smile grew wider. At long last she had found the other seerer, another dreamscape wanderer just like her.
Amy whimpered in her sleep as she felt something hot touch her skin. Afraid that she had traveled too far she tried to pull back only to be surrounded by the flames that had "burned" her just a moment ago. Wide fear filled eyes of blue flitted nervously at the flames as they rose and fell, dancing to their own erratic rhythm. She turned to run only to find herself surrounded by fire. Suddenly a hand brushed against her shoulder, scared out of her mind now Amy gave a sharp shriek as she jumped to turn and stare at the intruder.
"Hmm, so it is a girl." Rei thought as she glanced the short blue haired girl over. The kid seemed very afraid of her surroundings; "Since her aura consists of ice and water all this fire must be making her nervous." Rei figured. Slowly she cut the power of her aura down so only dulling embers glowed around their feet instead of the leaping flames.
Amy glanced down at the ember for a moment than turned her gaze back to the newcomer to the dreamscape. She raised one skeptical eyebrow at the girl; this was the first time she had seen on the vast dreamscape. "Who are you?" Ami asked a bit loudly, only to bit her lips when she could hear the loud echo that returned.
Rei smirked, a shame really this girl had so much power and yet seemed so timid and humble. Rei bowed her head, replying; "Who I am really doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we were finally able to met."
"Met? Have you.have you been looking for me?" Amy asked.
Rei nodded before she flicked a long strand of her raven hair away from her face; "Yes, I have been looking for you for almost two weeks now." She grinned, "You're pretty good at navigating the dreamscape. How long have you been exploring the astral plane?"
"No.not long, a few months at best." Amy muttered shyly as her face turned beet red.
Rei blinked her eyes in disbelief, "Really? That is.wow! A few months? It took me months just to access the plane let alone visit and navigate it so easily.
Amy stared at the new girl as if she were crazy. Rei noting the funny look immediately stifled her grin and curbed her excitement.
"Sorry," Rei quickly amended. "It's just that I am so excited that I am not the only dreamscape wander especially my equal!"
"Your equal?" Amy questioned.
Rei brushed off her question; "I'll explain it latter. I can't right now because my dad with be upstairs to make sure that I am in bed soon, so I have to leave."
"Alright," Amy replied, even though her head was still spinning slightly from the new questions that were slowly beginning to surface.
Smiling Rei turned to leave but then she turned to face Amy again, "Oh and Amy, I would like to met you again. Can you come to the dreamscape again tomorrow evening? I really want to get to know you better before we leave for Hogwarts."
Amy's stared at the raven-haired girl in disbelief; for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity they merely watched each other from the short distance separating them. All knowing eyes staring into fearful orbs of ocean blue as the two girls, one of fire, one of ice, compared each other; testing each other's outer façades and appearances to the point the masks almost fell away.
Finally the timid one of the two gained the courageous resolve to speak.
"How do you know my name?" she whispered.
For yet another eternal moment Rei glanced at her then with a slow blink she replied, "I know you because through our differences we are the same."
And with those last words the raven-haired child disappeared within the amber flicker of flames. Leaving only the echo of her words in the otherwise silent dreamscape.
On two opposite ends Amy and Rei awoke to their worlds that couldn't be more different to each other's personality.
Rei faced a cold house devoid of the life and love that burned in her own chest.
Ami cried scolding tears as she tried to drown out the loud and heated exchange of her bickering parents below her.
Both collapsed on their beds to stare out their windows at the distant stars as both of them wished for a life different than what they had.
One scowled at her foolishness for even thinking that things would change because of a dream; while her counterpart wept because she knew that the miracle she was asking for wouldn't come.
Part Three: The Roar of Thunder
White light filtered through the heavy parchment, but it had failed to reveal the contents of the letter. Behind her Lita could hear her grandmother chuckle in amusement as she watched her only grandchild wonder whether or not she should open the strange sealed letter. Turning the letter over again Lita stared at the was seal as if it held the answers to what was contained in the letter; well actually the seal did but since Lita didn't know what the crest of Hogwarts was she had no clue.
Even though watching her granddaughter ponder over the envelope and what it contained Lita's grandmother was excited about the arrival of the letter; for if her granddaughter's heritage wasn't enough to get her admitted into Hogwarts her abilities would all but guarantee the child to get accepted into the school. Finally unable to the false serene appearance, Lita's grandmother snatched the letter from her grandchild. Quickly she opened the letter and began to read it aloud to the child, excitement growing in her voice with each line that she read. After she finished Lita gave her grandmother a very disbelieving stare.
"What's the matter Lita? I thought that you would be ecstatic about getting this letter," was the old woman's statement.
Lita lifted a skeptical eyebrow, "This is some kind of joke right?" she asked coldly.
For a moment the expression on the old woman's face was one of disbelief. "Lita, you don't know about Hogwarts."
Lita gave a bitter laugh, "This is a cool practical joke and all grand mom but you do realize that you are missing April Fools by several months don't you?"
"Lita," the elder lady started her tone completely seriousness, "this is not a joke. You, Lita Mahanoy, have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Lita narrowed her emerald green eyes at her grandmother; "Come on grandma, did you really think that I would believe a phony looking letter telling me that I am to go to a school of magic? It's nice that you want to try and cheer me up but this is just ridiculous."
Arising from her chair Lita left the room without even a backward glance at her grandmother. Slowly she climbed the stairs up to a surprisingly neat and organized bedroom. Sitting cross-legged on her bed/sofa Lita leaned forward to unlock the window planting in the wall just a few inches from her. Glancing up and down the ordinary and boring street Lita allowed her eyes to linger briefly at Privet Drive, number four in particular which was strangely abandoned. Just yesterday Lita had planed to visit Harry, her only true friend, but she only got as far as the curb that lead into Privet Drive. Harry's uncle, Vernon, was furiously packing the car as quickly as humanly possible. He seemed so absorbed in his work that Lita had thought that he wouldn't notice her if she just walked inside the house to talk to Harry but as soon as Lita reached the edge of the driveway Mr. Dursely was on her like a rabid pit bull.
"Who are you?" he growled irritably.
"I am Lita. I am a friend of Harry's." Lita began, only to be cut off by Mr. Dursely.
"A friend? A friend!? That boy doesn't have any friends!" he bellowed as if the very though of his nephew having normal human interactions was criminal.
"Unless you are one of his "kind". You are aren't you?! You grew tired of us not replying to your stupid letters so now you've come to take Harry to that school!" Vernon howled as he rushed from the car to the house.
Within a matter of minutes Harry's cousin, Dudley, his aunt, and the boy himself were all but shoved out of the doorway to the house by Harry's uncle. He forced them all into the car without tearing his vicious gaze from a very confused Lita. Harry's uncle got inside of the car and started the engine and started to backup quickly. Lita jumped out of the driveway and onto the grass to prevent herself from getting run over. As soon as the car had exited the driveway Mr. Dursley swerved the car around the through the normally quite community; Lita watched the car drive away until it was nothing by a black dot. Turning away to return home Lita wondered what Harry's uncle had meant when he had called her one of Harry's "kind".
Sure the boy was a little weird but not so bizarre that he should be considered alien or a different species. Looking back on yesterday Lita began to wonder what in the world had caused the Durselys to just pack up and leave. Harry hadn't mentioned about his "family" taking a holiday this year; and even if they were on holiday it was strange that they would take Harry along since he was normally sent to stay at Mrs. Figgs's house instead of going on holiday with his adopted family.
Lita sighed heavily; compared to Harry's life Lita realized that she had it pretty good. True her grandmother was a nutcase but at least she was a loving nutcase. Lita snorted as she recalled the stupid letter. That was a new low, even for her grandmother, sure she had been upset since yesterday morning but that didn't excuse her grandmother for pulling such a stupid stunt. Lying on her back Lita stared at the stark white ceiling above her.
"A academy for magic? Yeah right grand mum, nice try." Lita grumbled aloud.
Downstairs Lita's grandmother was quickly scrawling down a reply to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, all the while hoping that Lita would one day thank her for all the effort she was putting in to make sure that her granddaughter's destiny would be fulfilled. Being a squib, she herself never had a chance to learn magic so she was shocked to say the least when Lita had refused to even consider the fact that not only did magic exist but that she carried a piece of that power within her own body. What she really couldn't understand why the girl's parents hadn't told their child or even used magic around her granddaughter; for even through their short lifetime they had been very adamant about keeping Lita from knowing about their world and magic. What the old woman didn't know was that she was a key piece in setting a chain of very complex game that involved the fate and destinies of several people.
Part Four
The Golden Child
Baby blue eyes scanned the contents of the letter; Mina sighed as she rested her head on top of her desk. After reading and rereading the piece of paper at least thirty times she still couldn't make heads or tails of it. If anything the whole letter sounded like the beginning for some sort of fantasy novel or movie. Maybe it was a new script that she had to study, the blonde wondered. But if it was than why did an owl instead of the post deliver it? At that question Mina could only shrug.
Stranger things had happened she suppose such as this strange abilities that she had to drawn light. If Mina found herself in a dark room she could literally draw a ball light to her location in an instant; she could even form objects out of the light, like chains and even a sword one time. But she was careful to make sure that her mother never saw her do these things because Mina felt that her mother just wouldn't understand. Mina glanced at the letter this time with the beginning of a skeptical expression; "Maybe," Mina mused, "if there is a place like this 'Hogwarts' than there might be people who could understand me and my 'talents'."
Mina shook her head as she moved to tear the letter apart but for some reason she stopped herself. Maybe she would just wait until her mother came home, just to have someone else help deceiver the cryptic letter or at least assure its' authenticity. Placing the letter back into its' envelope Mina, child star, turned her attention back to the new script for next week's show that she had to study before shooting began Saturday.
Part Five
The Dark Mark
His breath came out in a long hiss as his wrist began to burn again. Clumsily he rolled back the dark layers of his robe sleeve to reveal the source of his pain. A perfectly normal arm and hand, with all five fingers aligned and in place; and yet pain was coming from this limb. Clasping onto his wrist with the other hand, the young man could feel the warm sticky slick feeling of fresh blood. No one had said that it would bleed so often nor this freely; but then again there were many things that they had 'forgotten' to mention to him.
One was the pain that he would experience; after the ceremony he had immediately passed out from the white-hot pain. And now his wrist was bleeding almost constantly but only in the pattern of the marking now imbedded into his skin. He scowled at the still bleeding mark, he had never wanted this to happen but what was he to do?
His father had passed away so it was his duty as the eldest, not to mention only, son to protect his mother. And since his father ran with the pack of wolves that had terrorized Britain while he was still a toddler it was his duty to carry on his father's duty as right hand man to the Dark Lord whom had yet to arise from the ashes of his defeat. But there had been many rumors mulling around, rumors of the Dark Lord's return so all of his old followers whom had either blackmailed or had hidden to keep from getting captured were crawling out of the woodwork to welcome their lord. The possible return was why he had been branded with the Dark Lord's mark before his sixteenth birthday. If he had refused to take the mark than not only would his life be in danger but his mother's and baby sister lives would be in jeopardy as well.
He snorted, a wonderful inheritance he received; the burden of carrying for his mother and sister and now he was saddled with serving the Dark Lord just to keep them and himself from getting killed by pissed of Death Eaters.
"Would be just my bloody luck that the Dark Lord hasn't risen and never will, leaving me scared for life for no reason," the young man fumed. But even though he complained he knew that there was nothing that he could do except be a perfect servant for the Dark Lord, if he had arisen, and if not just follow the instructions of the older Death Eaters until they would give up hope of their lord's return.
The blood had long since dried on his wrist, now all he had to do was clean it up before his mother saw it; he knew that if she had a clue on what was really going on that she would go hysterical and make herself sick again. He entered the washroom, turned on the water and quickly washed the blood off, since he was still attending Hogwarts he couldn't use magic outside of its' gates and he really didn't know any strong cleaning spells that would get rid of the dried on blood so soap and water would have to do. He roughly scrubbed the blood off only to reveal the horrible skull and serpent. Out of compulsion he tried to rub the dark blemish off, furiously until his skin was a bright pink; but the mark was still there, just as black and menacing, as it was the night it was placed imprinted on his skin. He had heard that the mark would remain on one's skin forever, no spell could remove it nor could it be covered up.
Thank Merlin for long robe sleeves. Although he was sure that his house would just "love" to see a fresh Dark Mark, and it might even be considered a high honor, he would much rather never see the damn thing ever again.
Notes: So what do you think? Sorry if it took me so long to update but the laptop that I am currently working from is possessed by some sort of evil spirit that seems intent on crashing the poor laptop. Again thanks to everyone who reviewed my humble fic! Please send me suggestions or comments because if the reader isn't happy than ain't nobody happy. Thanks for reading and peace ^_^
P.S. I dare you to guess who the young man was in part five, and no it is not Draco.