The Starlit Path
Notes: I know that it has been an unforgiving long time since I last updated but I have school stuff and this one fic idea that has been dominating my time, as you can probably guess by now I am a person who has to have several projects going at one time to keep me content so I'll normally focus solely on one fic and when it get stuck or become bored with it I'll move on to work on the other fics. Not very organized I know but I work best around chaos it seems ^_^. Before I get started, yes I am stalling thanks for noticing, I would like to thank everyone first for being so patient and secondly for reviewing.
To:
Elara2: Bounces off the walls, Me too! I have been waiting to write the chapter because I am really having fun coming up with the plot and how to fit it in with the first book's storyline and such; the reason I have waited forever to write this chapter is listed above but also I had to check a few facts so that meant rereading the first Harry Potter book.
Cris: Sing-song voice that sounds eerily like a familiar poltergeist, Me not telling!
Miko no tsuki: Wow, now I am kind of scared about how this chapter will turn out, as for the boy see above thank you please! ^_^ I love being evil!!!!
Phenoix Rose: Love your name by the way and thank you!
Sh1n1m3gam1: Okay...sorry if I misspelled your name, or missed a number or something. Don't worry about Mina, she will have a very important part in this story coming up very soon.
P.S: Still own nothing but on a lighter note the chapters will be longer but will have input from either one of the girls, or divided into two or three sections to make it easier to read and follow. Now I know that it is showing gross favoritism but this chapter will be shown through Amy eyes; if you want me to add more chapters after this one with each of the girls I will but you need to ask me otherwise I'll move on. Are we clear? Good, let's move onward than! Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Amy
A Drop in the Ocean
Dark blue eyes stared out at the bizarre world laid out before her in with a mixture of awed wonder, excitement, with just a hint of fear. For a ten year old Amy Winston considered herself to be a very logical person whom only believed in what she could touch. But no matter how many times she brushed the sleeve of the woman's odd black robes the feeling was still the same, soft well worn cloth that smelled a bit of cloves. This was all real.
It was impossible though. How could this place, these people be real? How could logic allow these people to exist? There should be a law against such oddities she thought at one point only to chide herself for such bitter thoughts.
'Remember, no matter how odd they seem I am one of them.' Amy tried to remind herself.
For all of her self motivating pet talk it was very difficult to picture herself in a long robe and a black pointed hat.
Ahead of her the stern woman, whom had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, ducked into a small store labeled; Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Amy took a long and steadying breath before she too entered the tiny shop. Once inside the girl was amused by the quaintness of the shop; even though it was small it was well stocked with the advertised robes. She walked to the wall where robes of various color and size were displayed; there were forest green ones, sapphire blue, fiery reds, violets and magenta, standard black, and so many other colors that she couldn't even begin to describe. To her right she could hear McGonagall explain to the store owner her situation.
The woman nodded in an understanding fashion before she grasped a tape measure from the counter. Turning to face Amy with the sweetest smiles that the girl had ever seen the woman asked her to stand on a stool so that she could fit her robes. Obeying Amy stood on the stool, now making her almost tower over her future professor by a few inches. Madam Malkin's made quick work of her measurements, or rather her spelled measuring tape made quick work while Madam Malkin jotted down the figures.
"Such a petite child. Do those muggles under feed their children?" Madam wondered aloud as she glanced down at the figures then asked Amy to step down from the stool.
Amy quietly followed the shop keeper as she picked up at least five different black robes for school. Suddenly Amy stopped in front of a dark blue robe made out of pure velvet. It was beautiful, and most importantly it almost looked like a real normal dress, almost. She looked down to see that the hem had blue diamonds inlaid into the fabric and also the cuffs.
Her small fingers ran across the fabric in clear envy, 'It must cost a fortune,' Amy mused only to turn her eyes to the counter in time to see her professor pay for her robes with large coins. The girl winced, she didn't feel right about having this woman pay for he school stuff. It made sense of course, her family was not a wizarding family so they wouldn't have the money needed to buy the things she needed but to have her professor pay for her school supplies out of her own pocket...well technically it was the school's pocket but still.
"Miss Winston," the woman called out to her.
Silently Amy followed the elder woman out of the store and into yet another store to obtain her supplies for her Potions class.
As the blue haired child wandered around the store, careful not to disturb some of the more...interesting looking vials, she couldn't help but have questions arise to her mind. She maybe have been practical and realistic for someone of eleven but she was also a very inquisitive and intelligent girl who had enough questions about her "old world" without the introduction of this strange new culture that she was now apart of.
Glancing at the counter she saw the various bottles and ingredients laid out for purchase. So many questions, so much to learn. Her right hand slowly moved to grab one of the vials, she turned it to the side so that she could get a better look at its contents; the very light gray powder followed the movement and settled in the middle of the jar. It looked very solid almost like ash. She looked at the other bottles to see an amber colored liquid, several more powders and even some solid objects like a few mushrooms, mosses, etc... held within the crystal vials.
After leaving the apocrathy the two went to another small shop to buy Amy's cauldron, it was here that Amy pictured herself growing long gray frizzy hair, a long nose with a wart on it and of course having a large black hat perched on her head, her voice called out, "Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron bubble." Amy bit back a giggle just before they exited the shop.
Their feet trotted across the cobblestone pathway, Amy watched the people walking either pass them or beside them only to have attention caught briefly by a shop sign or something out in the open on display. For a place that shouldn't exist Amy was beginning to enjoy her stay. Her professor finally stopped in front of a large shop front. Amy craned her neck to see the wooden sign dangling above the door front, "Flourish and Blots."
If the name hadn't given away the type of merchandise sold in the shop the next glance was more than enough to convince Amy that she was going to like being a witch.
Inside the store were mountains upon mountains of books, the walls almost had books falling off the crammed bookshelves, the tables groaned under the strain of the weight they had to bear; in short, this was as close to heaven as this little girl would ever get.
Her jaw was slightly ajar as she slowly stepped into the shop like it was a sacred temple to be revered. Already her hands were itching to crack open one of the books; she didn't care what subject just give her ink on paper and she would be more than happy with the world. Bookworm by unashamed confession Amy picked up the first book she could grasp and curled up on the floor to read the introduction page.
Meanwhile her professor, whom had already collected the required books, was searching the endless rows of bookshelves and tables. For one brief and terrifying moment McGonagall thought that she had accidentally lost the child between the book store and cauldron shop; so now the poor muggle child was aimlessly wandering around Diagon Ally looking for her. She turned a corner and almost tripped over her own feet when she accidentally found the "lost" girl, sitting in the middle of the floor reading a rather large tome entitled; "Magical Miracles; the ins and outs of being a Med Wizard."
The older woman recollected herself and regained the breath that she hadn't realized that she had lost. Grey eyes stared down at the child in an expression that could be described as nostalgia for she too had been an eager student as a child whom always had a question on her mind and her arms loaded with books varying in subjects.
When the child had first stepped into Diagon Ally McGonagall was afraid that the girl would pass out from shock or worse reject the fact that she was actually just as apart of this world as she was; but over the short hour McGonagall saw Amy steadily grow accustomed, or at least accepting, of the world around her and now she had not only found a foothold but a satisfying factor to this brave new world she needed to face.
Gently the older woman tapped Amy on the shoulder. Turning her head Amy looked up to see her professor waiting for her to follow her to purchase the books. Reluctantly Amy set the book she was reading back on the table before arising to her feet. Once she was standing Amy watched as McGonagall picked up the book and "discreetly" placed it among her required volumes for school then walk towards the counter to pay for the books. For a moment all Amy could stand rooted in place as she watched the elder woman place the books in front of the store owner.
'I can't let her do that for me!' the girl thought as she moved to stop the woman.
"Please don't." Ami started in a shaken tone, not facing her soon to be professor; "You have already done too much and I don't want to take advantage of your generosity..."
"Miss Winston, I thought that even muggles knew the procedure of gift giving, since your birthday is in early September think of this as an early birthday present from Hogwarts."
The girl, still dumbstruck, realized that there was no room for further discussion with the woman on this matter moved her hand away the book. Amy was mute until they both stood on the front steps of the store.
"Thank you, for the book, for everything." Amy whispered shyly.
"You're welcome Miss Winston." McGonagall politely replied as they stepped back out into the street.
This time their path lead them to a shop called "Olivander's Wands". It looked just about as old as the sign claimed the company had been in business. Inside was a musty smell that clashed with sandalwood. Amy peered inside wondering what wonderful objects she would find on display only to be disappointed when all that met her eyes were thousands of sleek black boxes. Behind the counter was an old man with frizzy white hair around the lower crown of his head forming a sort of low hanging halo of white-silver.
"Miss McGonagall! How nice to see you again. Willow, 8 inches, Unicorn Hair correct?" the shop keeper said in an agreeable tone.
A small smile graced the woman's face, "Correct as always Mr. Olivander."
"What brings you here Professor, does your wand need repairing?" he asked.
"No. Actually I came to bring over a new student to Hogwarts to find her wand." McGonagall stated as she gave Amy a gentle shove forward. Amy stumbled for a second before she somberly approached the counter.
The shop keeper fumbled with his glasses for a moment before he slid them over his eyes. Realization dawned on his face.
"Ahh, I see. Yes, this one...I know just the one," he muttered before disappearing behind the back door.
Amy blinked her large blue eyes, had someone told him that she was coming...so quickly?
A minute later the old shop keeper reappeared holding a box in his hand, only it was different than the others, it was a dark blue velvet case unlike the small and slender paper boxes.
He set it on the counter, holding it in his hands for a moment as he began to explain.
"This wand was especially difficult to make; it is not everyday that one has to make a wand for a person before they are even born."
Amy's eyes blinked twice before she queried, "Pardon?"
The man opened the box to reveal the sleek black wand encased inside the cushioned velvet.
"All of the Olivander wands are unique and can only be used properly by the person whom the wand chooses. But this one, along with a handful of others was crafted for a very specific reason, with a specific person in mind. Ebony, ten inches, with the core of crushed sapphire and a single scale from a mermaid. This Miss Winston is your wand," Mr. Olivander's said before he gently pushed the box across the table into Amy's open hand.
She could only look at it when it first fell into her hand but once her fingers curled around the wood did she literally feel power radiating from the core. It was calling out to her, its' call was as loud as the crashing waves of a stormy sea, it was in this single moment that Amy didn't need to see and be able to touch something to feel that this was real. Too real. She shuttered as the power suddenly froze over like a violent snow storm the power was still there but now it was sealed away until she was truly ready to use it. Carefully she uncurled her fingers and set the wand back into the box enclosing it inside the case.
Still numbed by the experience Amy could only look on and then mechanically follow her professor as they stopped to buy quills and parchment and a few other things needed for her school year. Amy's shoulders shuttered, ever since she had first touched the box she had felt something falling into place. There was a missing piece and now it was found, the question was...what was this missing piece and why did it chose now to impact her? Had she ever noticed that there was something lacking before? What caused it?
So many questions. And not enough courage to speak them aloud.
September 1st
"Are you sure that you have everything?" Amy's mother asked for what was at least the ninth time.
Without a much needed sigh Amy replied with a brief, "Yes mum," before turning her head to gaze out the window. Lying in her lap was the thick volume that was her birthday present from "Hogwarts", despite the fact that it was easily eight-hundred pages Amy was on her second turn of reading through the book, her textbooks had also been read and reread at least half a dozen times. After conquering her earlier anxiety about attending Hogwarts Amy was actually becoming excited by the prospect. She was going to learn magic, not many people could say that.
Upon arriving at King's Cross Amy nervously helped her parents sort through her trunk and small suitcase containing some of her muggle clothing to wear on the weekends. Amy tried to conceal her large book from prying muggle eyes but for the most part they seemed to be oblivious of them even though her father was having trouble balancing her trunk on the small trolley. Amy glanced at the ticket stub held, her eyes immediately fell on the words Platform Nine-and three quarters. If McGongall hadn't already told her what to do on that August day Amy knew that she would have been panicking by now; her parents had a hard time swallowing the procedure, her mother must have asked her at least ten times if she was joking.
With the help of her father Amy steered her trolley towards the barrier between Nine and ten, it was decided that Amy and her father would go through the barrier while her mother stayed outside as a look out. On the count of three they raced towards the barrier, Amy winced half expecting something to go wrong despite McGonagall's instruction. Instead of feeling her face smash against plastic Ami suddenly found herself standing not but a stone's throw away from a large crimson steam engine. Surrounding them were parents with their own students, most of the parents didn't seem intimidated or afraid that their children were attending a school of witchcraft and wizardry, so either they were wizardning parents or very, very tolerant muggle parents. Amy's father on the other hand kept questioning aloud if it was all just some very elaborate hoax; the girl tried not to listen to her father's tirades on that matter but sometimes she wondered too if it was really...real.
But here her proof was, if it was a joke than there wouldn't be a real platform Nine and three quarters, no real crimson train, no real men and women sending their children to the train with their own trunks and owls.
Her father looked out at all of the parents giving their children last minute hugs and kisses on the cheek or forehead. He ruffled Amy's short black-blue hair.
"Take care of yourself princess," he said sincerely before he lifted her trunks onto the train.
Amy bit her lip; she had no clue what to say in return so she just warped her arms around him in a strong bear hug. She knew what to say but at the same time she was afraid to say it. She wanted to say, "Please don't fight with mom while I am gone; without me she won't have a shoulder to cry on." Or "Please be here to welcome me home, please don't leave like you sometimes say you will." She wanted to say those words, hoping that maybe he would hear her out and at least try.
Before she could open her mouth he withdrew from her hug and helped her up the steps to the boxcar. She stood at the top step for a moment and looked down at him, the words were itching her mouth to be told but with a small sigh and a "good bye daddy" she retreated inside the car and into her cowardly silence.
Inside the box car Amy was overwhelmed with all the people already seated inside the car. She hurriedly walked down the aisle to find an empty car but everywhere she looked there were people crowding her way. She wasn't antisocial by nature, but she did prefer to be alone long enough to sort out her thoughts. After going through at least four box cars still no place for her to seclude herself not even an empty seat. Just when she was about to give up hope Amy jerked when she felt a hand rest on her right shoulder.
The blue haired girl turned to see the smiling face of her "fire friend". In person she was very beautiful, long dark hair, deep amethyst eyes that she could have sworn could read her mind, smooth and flawless peach skin, she looked so beautiful and captivating.
Rei smiled, "You're Amy," she said without even having to ask. Before Amy could even nod her head Rei grasped her hand and was leading her to the next box car. The first thing that caught her attention was the smell of cigarette smoke.
"Jade!" Rei snapped as she quickly snatched the dangling cigarette from the blonde boy's mouth, "What would a prefect caught you smoking you ass!"
The blonde grinned, his aqua eyes dancing with mischief, 'Can I borrow a smoke?" he answered glibly.
"Well, I don't like you smoking. You're lucky that I haven't told my father or our "engagement" would be over just like that!" Rei said hotly.
Amy looked at the other girl in shock, 'Engaged? But she is only eleven and he can't be more than fourteen or thirteen!
"Rei, you don't really mean that! Breaking our engagement would break my heart in two, I might even go so far as to say that it might cause me to do something drastic..."
"Shut up," Rei growled, "We both know that you don't like me and I hate your guts, so stop pretending that we are a couple especially since neither of our parents are around to make sure that we "play nice"."
The boy sat back, his arms cushioning his head as he glanced out the window at the more parents and children coming towards the train.
"At least I am trying Rei, that's more than can be said for you. Do you think that I WANT to married to a bratty bitty woman who's favorite past time is bitching at everyone?" "Jade" replied sarcastically.
Rei snorted at the comment and tossed her hair as she turned to face Amy.
"Sorry about that," she whispered as she lead the water child over to an opposing row of seats.
"He is so obnoxious that I can't stand him." Rei said as she tossed an angry glare to the boy, whom either didn't notice the venomous stare or chose to ignore it for the moment.
"You two are...e engaged?!" Amy questioned in a breathless tone.
"Yes." Rei groaned as she rested her head on the table between the chairs, "He's my third cousin on my mom's side and since everyone is going crazy about keeping the "blood lines" pure I have to marry him, well him or..." Rei broke off when the door to the compartment opened. Amy had to lean over to see the two boys that stood at the entrance. One was tall and slender, he had light skin and dark cat green eyes that had a bright spark to them, long strawberry curls framed his almost feminine looking face. The boy beside him was dwarfed only by a few inches in height, he had a darker skin tone, almost a cinnamon color but his hair color was almost white, his ice were light gray with hints of blue.
The two seemed to know "Jade" very well because as soon as they spotted him they walked over to him and began talking to him.
Rei growled, "Great, now we have three of the gruesome foursome to contend with."
"What?" Amy asked.
""Jade's mates. Mean bunch if you asked me. They used to torture me merciless when I was a little kid. There's Jade, or Jeditie, Kunzite, Zoicite and Nephrite. Their parents all grew up together and since they all had boys around the same time they thought it would be "cute" to name them after some of the worst dark wizards in history."
Rei continued as she pointed out each one, "Kun, short of Kunzite, is the mean looking with the dark skin and white hair. Many say that he is a bastard... literally; rumors flew for years about his father having an affair with some foreign woman because of his dark skin and silver hair. He has a younger sister who doesn't look a thing like him so it makes you wonder. Zoicite is only thirteen but he has already dated at least all of the Ravenclaw girls and half of Slytherin. Jade is the same only he "claims" to done more than "dated" oh and he is a disgusting ass who smokes. The only "almost" admirable one in their little group is Nephrite, not much can be said about him aside from the fact that he has a right temper if you rub him the wrong way so many people avoid him and I recommend that you do the same."
Amy really didn't see how they could all be that bad, well "Jade's" smoking maybe but the other two didn't seem too bad, they actually looked kind of cute. For the moment the two boys whom entered a minute ago seemed to be oblivious to their presence. Kun and Zoicite sat down across from Jade, only then did Zoicite notice that Rei was sitting on the other side of the compartment and she had a new friend sitting with her. This was something interesting; Rei was always so hot tempered and mean to other girls that they normally kept their distance from the dark haired girl. The one sitting beside her looked very tiny almost mouse like in comparison to the "tiger".
"Jade, who's the girl sitting with Rei?" Zoicite asked.
"Hmm, who? Oh her. No clue. Scrawny looking thing isn't she?" Jade commented as he defiantly lit a cigarette to replace the one Rei took from him earlier.
"Blue hair, that is rather unusual but it makes her look cute." Zoicite mused as he tossed a glance back to the younger girls.
"You interested in dating younger women now Zoi? I thought that you don't date girls below third year?" Jade asked.
"Zoi" rolled his eyes, "Just because I say a bird is cute doesn't mean that I would want to date her Jade. You seem to be the only one who is willing to take just about anything you can't get well with Rei as an exception."
"I wouldn't mind dating her but I have a policy about dating within my own species." Jade replied crudely.
Rei stiffened, her hands curling into small fists, "That son of a..." the dark haired child hissed under her breath only to sigh and collapse back into her chair.
"Never mind, I shouldn't let him get to me. He only teases me like mad when he realizes that he has ticked me off." Rei said softly, trying desperately to regain her composure.
Amy admired Rei for her reaction if it had been her she would have felt very hurt by that comment and would have probably embarrassed herself by crying.
Turning her head to face Amy, Rei gave the girl a sincere smile; her hands gracefully folded in front of her, eyes focused on the smaller girl, she asked; "So Amy, tell me about yourself."
"I...uh there really isn't much to tell. I mean since I am muggle born my life isn't very exciting."
"Shhhhh!" Rei hissed and jabbed back towards the boys.
"Amy," Rei whispered, "I know that you are muggle born and I understand that it doesn't make you less of a person or witch but those as...jerks, don't know that and it is a very good thing that they don't know because if they know that you don't come from a pure blooded family they can make your life a living hell. I have seen them torture kids who lived around their houses, they are horrible people to those outside of their little group but they are utter monsters to those they deem unworthy to be called a witch or wizard. Their families are..."
"What are you two whispering about?"
Both girls jumped and whipped their heads around to see the intruder was Zoicite.
"Hi Rei," he said with a smug smile.
"Hello," Rei replied stiffly.
Amy shyly ducked her head hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was even there but unfortunate for the blue haired child she was the reason that Zoicite had approached them.
"Who's you're new mate Rei?" the boy asked as he titled his head to the side to get a good look at the face that poor Amy was trying to hide in vain.
"That is Amy Winston, she's my age so don't get any funny ideas Zoi. Now leave us alone, I haven't seen her all summer and we have a lot of girl stuff to catch up on." Rei replied pulling the old standby "girl talk" excuse, the most surefire way to get a boy off your back.
But instead of walking back to his friends Zoicite slide in beside Amy.
"Really, well by all means don't let me stop you. Chatter away ladies." Zoi replied cheekily.
Amy tried to hide her blushing face; for being someone of ill repute Zoicite was very handsome. His copper hair curled in very loose ringlets that made him look his age which countered his face that looked so mature and adult. Dark green eyes laughed with every word that he spoke, Amy wondered if he could ever say anything sincere or serious. Rei kept acting like she was annoyed by his presence but Amy honestly wished that he never left; he was charming and very funny. Normally boys avoided her or worse made fun of her but despite Rei's warning Zoicite seemed to be a very sweet person.
"So you're a first year?" Zoicite asked Amy who nodded in reply.
"Hmm you look almost like third year, but it guess it is the hair that makes you look a bit older. Do you know what house you might want to be in?"
Amy froze, "House?" she questioned, 'Does he suspect that I am muggle born? Is this some kind of test?'
"Wait no, don't tell me let me guess." Zoicite said suddenly.
He stared down at Amy for a long time, the girl shuttered feeling very uncomfortable being analyzed.
"Hmm, you seem to be a really sweet girl so I would say Hufflepuff but then you speak so eloquently and intelligent that you could also be a Ravenclaw maybe even a Slytherin."
He smiled, "I hope you become a Ravenclaw, you'll probably like it there. Their entire common room has bookshelves all around the walls even the staircase has a small library underneath it. All of the Ravenclaws are nice but kind of stand-offish and bookish...if that even is a word. Once you get in that house become pals with Cho Chang she's a really sweetie and she'll let you know about how to get to your classes and might even help you with your homework if you ask her nicely.
"You seem to know a lot about Ravenclaw," Amy said softly.
"I suppose that you get to know a house very well after two years of living in it." Zoicite replied. 'Wow, Ravenclaw sounds like an awesome house!' Amy thought, 'And Zoicite will be there as well.'
"Okay, I want to be a Ravenclaw then." Amy said in a decisive manner.
Zoicite chuckled, "With that sort of mind set they had better sort you into Ravenclaw or else. I hate to disappoint you Amy but you don't chose the house that you enter but...well you'll find out soon enough. Just keep that in mind though."
Amy was about to reply to that comment but a sudden movement caught her attention. Through the corner of her eye she could see the door slide open to reveal a girl around her height standing. Baby blue eyes stared at the small group with a sense of uneasy recognition. Long blonde hair done up in meatballs perched on her head. Amy blinked her eyes because for a moment she could see the girl holding a sword and wearing a white dress with actually feathered angel wings coming from her back.
A cold sensation passed through her, almost as if a very cold hand came through her skin and squeezed her heart.
'That's her, the catalyst.' Rei's voice whispered to her mind.
Blood blossomed on the dress, the wings were torn and a lot of feathers were missing; the sword was shattered into pieces. Pieces of string laced with rose thorns held her arms wide and her legs apart, her neck was restrained by the same rose wire and right at the rise of her breast a very red rose blossomed.
'Whether she lives or dies, she holds the fate of this world and others in her hands and she doesn't even know it. She can't wake up, not yet. We must stop her, together Amy you and me. Together. We'll put her to sleep. The mother and the monster.'
"Umm excuse me?" the real Usagi asked softly to the group.
"I said get out of here, this is our car and you for one are not welcomed you piece of muggle trash!" Rei hissed as she held Amy's now limp form.
Wide blue eyes stared forward, they saw the girl but they didn't really see Usagi, only the monsters, only the demons, only the horrors of what would come if the girl was allowed to live long enough to finally "awaken" for good or evil.
Usagi bit her lip before slowly turning away and closing the door behind her.
With the blonde gone Rei turned back to her friend. Zoicite moved to help her wake Amy up by the dark haired child just shook her head.
"She's had a very long day and needs to sleep. We'll wake her up before the train pulls into Hogsmade station. Until then" Rei closed her eyes, "Just let her sleep."
Zoicite stared at the very still form of Amy.
'That was very weird, before she passed out the room got very cold almost freezing."
He turned his head to the window that Amy was sitting next to. A very thin layer of ice frosted the glass.
Looking back at the child he wondered just what sort of person Miss Winston was. His hand moved to brush away a stray strand of her dark blue hair only to be stopped by Rei's grasp.
"Don't you touch her," she growled.
Zoicite blinked then laughed, "What you think that she is too good for me hmm?"
Rei smirked, "You're right, she is better than you. In more ways than one." Rei said cryptically before turning to stare out the now iced window.
Half and hour later a plump looking witch came down the length of the train carrying a tray of several wizard sweets. By then Amy had opened her eyes just in time to see Rei peel back the wrapper of a Chocolate Frog packet.
"Ah! Good you're awake. Here." Rei said as she tossed Amy the opened packet.
For a moment the girl looked at the wrapper skeptically before Rei told her that it was just frog shaped chocolate and not a real frog.
Amy quietly accepted the candy and placed the frog inside her mouth. The chocolate gave her a much needed sugar high to her system.
As she reached for another Chocolate Frog Amy noticed that Zoicite had left them in favor of his friends, their table was covered with tons of sweets, more than they could possibly need but a little less than they could eat.
"I got another Dumbledore, anyone want to trade?" Jade asked.
"You're still collect those things?" Zoicite asked in a teasing tone of voice.
"My collection is almost complete I just need a..."
"It begins," Rei suddenly said causing Amy to be distracted from the boys.
"That girl...was she really the," Amy began.
Rei nodded, "No doubt about it. She's the one we have to knock off," she replied in a chillingly casual voice.
"We can't be over a done with it now of course. We have to wait for just the right moment when she is about to "awake". Right now it would be cold blooded murder but once she reaches that point the world with thank us." Rei continued.
Amy didn't like this. At first it seemed like the right thing to do, but now that she had seen that their "target" was actually a human girl, one their own age even, she just wasn't sure anymore.
She wanted to tell Rei that she was scared, that she felt sick to her stomach just thinking about killing another person.
"Together Amy." Rei said as she reached over the table to grasp Amy's hand.
"Together, we can beat her when the time comes but for now we need to learn hard, we need to know every single spell that we can even get our hands on so when the times come we will be ready to take her down."
'Tell her; tell her that you can't do it. You weren't meant to save the world by killing someone else. It's so unfair. Why couldn't it have been a guy or at least an older girl with a nasty disposition? Why does it have to be a child?'
Amy curled her fingers around Rei's fingers. She felt warm and safe. Rei was probably the first friend she ever had. This friend was now asking her to help her, not now or even tomorrow but one day in the distant uncertain future when she would have to kill.
"I'll help you." Amy said.
Later the girls pulled their robes over their heads and waited for the train to coast to a stop.
Once the train came to a complete stop Rei and Ami were the first to jump off of the train with the trio of boy's right behind them. Amy followed Rei to the dock where other first years had gathered around the edge of the dock. Behind them the boys branched away making their way to the carriages. Amy gapped at all of the children huddled at the docks; above them was a tall man with a long frizzy black beard and small black eyes.
"Firs' years over here!" he then called out to someone that Amy didn't recognize. Harry something. The giant of a man lead the children into the small boats tied to the dock. Amy and Rei boarded a boat that also held a tall girl with long brunette hair and a girl with very short blonde hair, wait was that a boy or a girl? Amy wondered but only shrugged her shoulders at the question.
"Everybody in?" the giant asked, when a handful of voices rose up in reply he told the boat to move forward. Amy gasped when the boat followed the command without anyone steering the boat.
"Wow," she whispered only to hear the same sentiment echoed behind her. She turned her head to see the same awed expression on the tall brunette's face.
"Pretty amazing boats huh?" the blonde with short hair asked, Amy replied with a nod.
She wanted to speak with the girl, well she at least sounded like a girl; but Rei gave a hard tug on her sleeve to draw her attention back to her fire friend.
The boats formed an orderly formation as they glided across the lake, under archways and a large bridge until they could see the dusty golden lights of the castle.
Amy's jaw dropped in wonder as she stared at the towering spires and large agape entrance. It looked so much like a fairy tale castle that Amy had to pinch herself as a reminder that this was actually happening.
One by one the boats docked against the bank, the children filed out of the boats and onto the slopping grassy grounds. Feet clopped across the stone laid pathway leading up to the monstrous mouth of the castle's entrance. Standing at the topmost step was none other than Professor McGonagall. She wore long black robes and of course a long pointed hat and a stern but not forbidding expression on her face.
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take the students from here," the female professor said primly as she led them up the steps and into entrance hall.
The professor gave a brief introduction including the description of the houses and rules.
'Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw.' Amy mentally canted as the professor opened the large oak doors. Inside was the dinning hall, long tables rested underneath large cloth banners that held the symbol animal and colors for each house. Amy fixed her eyes on the large Raven in royal blue, then she looked down to see Zoicite wave at her.
She caught her breath as her face turned a bright tomato red. Looking ahead she could see that many of her peers were just a nervous as she was, one poor girl was visibly shaking. Another was playing with her red hair ribbon, while the "catalyst" was nervously twisting the ends of her long pigtails around her fingers. Behind her Rei was whispering the house descriptions to her.
Hufflepuff was the goody two shoes house, most of them were kind and push over, Griffendor had all of the class clowns and the overly brave idiots, Slytherin had all of the trouble makers and Ravenclaw had the bookworms.
'My kind of house,' Amy thought smugly just as the hat was brought out.
The entire room went silent as the most amazing thing happened, the hat, once stiff and worn, now arose and began to sing. The wide and thread barren brim became the mouth as it belted out its' annual song which gave a much unbiased and more helpful description of the houses and the sorting process.
After the song McGonagall arose with a long scroll in her hand began listing names.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
Amy watched as the girl walked up to the stage, sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. There were a few moments of bated silence before the hat called out "Hufflepuff!"
The girl slide off of the stool and ran down the stairs to be greeted by her cheering classmates.
"Boot Terry!"
"Ravenclaw!
Amy's face positively glowed when she saw Zoictie cheering the loudest; she wondered if he would cheer that enthusiastically if she made it into Ravenclaw too.
Rei left before she did to be sorted. The dark haired girl gracefully arose to the stage and placed the hat on her head. It pondered for a moment before shouting...
"Ravenclaw!"
Amy had to keep herself from screaming in delight, now her best friend was in her house too!
The girl was so distracted by the thought of her and Rei in the same house that she missed when Lita became a Hufflepuff and Mina became a Griffendor. The next one called was Alexander, the girl with short blonde hair, she too became a Griffendor but the girl behind her with aqua hair became a Ravenclaw. Usagi was sorted into Griffendor.
Amy was beginning to become very nervous as names were called left and right, since she was one of the lower ones on the alphabet she had to wait as all the other names and houses echoed off of the walls.
She tried to keep herself from bouncing on her feet as the line drew closer to the stage.
"Winston, Amy!"
Time seemed to speed up at an impossible pace for Amy as she moved out of line and ascended the short three steps that now seemed like three million. Her throat was very dry as her heart pounded at the pulse point. At last she reached the stool and sat down after what seemed like an endless journey.
She reached for the hat and slowly placed it on her head. The hat was so big that it fell over her eyes and she could see nothing but black fabric. It was then that she panicked. 'What if I don't get into Ravenclaw? Maybe they made a mistake and I am not supposed to be a witch? What will they do to me if I don't get sorted?'
"Don't worry child, if you can't be a witch than who can be?" a voice asked.
Amy gasped and gripped the stool.
"Hmm let's see, oh you are an intelligent one. A very bright mind, sharp wit, yet very shy and overly modest. Hmm this is a very tough choice, very difficult."
"W...why is it so difficult?" Amy asked aloud.
"Because I know where you need to go but...I really don't think it is best. You really belong somewhere else and if the circumstance and times were different I would do so in a heartbeat but well I suppose this will all work out for the best."
"...Slytherin!"
Amy felt numbed all over. First this wasn't the house that she wanted; Rei and Zoicite were in Ravenclaw. Secondly this was a house that all the "trouble makers" were in. Around her she could hear the Slytherin table clapping and cheering but she didn't feel like celebrating. She found an empty bench and with a despondent stare watched the rest of the sorting. Even when the Harry Potter was sorted into Griffendor she couldn't have cared less.
'What have I done wrong? Did that hat know that I have to kill someone one day? But I can't be bad...Rei would be here to if killing that person was bad."
"Are you alright?" someone asked her.
Amy looked up only to gasp to find herself facing "Kun".
When she didn't answer he offered her a chocolate truffle by placing it on her plate.
"You need to eat something. I don't know how those muggle schools of yours are but here at Hogwarts we only eat on schedule not around the clock."
Amy's jaw drop, "...You know that I am a..."
He glanced up, "Yes."
When he noticed how pale the girl became Kunzite replied, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone else." Then he returned his attention back to his food.
'It is not everyone else that I am worried about,' Ami thought as she picked at her food.
Notes: Sorry for cutting it so short folks, I really wanted to write more but my folks now have my computer using on a time limit and well my time is up for the weekend. Thanks for reading and I hope to have another chapter posted by next month.
Notes: I know that it has been an unforgiving long time since I last updated but I have school stuff and this one fic idea that has been dominating my time, as you can probably guess by now I am a person who has to have several projects going at one time to keep me content so I'll normally focus solely on one fic and when it get stuck or become bored with it I'll move on to work on the other fics. Not very organized I know but I work best around chaos it seems ^_^. Before I get started, yes I am stalling thanks for noticing, I would like to thank everyone first for being so patient and secondly for reviewing.
To:
Elara2: Bounces off the walls, Me too! I have been waiting to write the chapter because I am really having fun coming up with the plot and how to fit it in with the first book's storyline and such; the reason I have waited forever to write this chapter is listed above but also I had to check a few facts so that meant rereading the first Harry Potter book.
Cris: Sing-song voice that sounds eerily like a familiar poltergeist, Me not telling!
Miko no tsuki: Wow, now I am kind of scared about how this chapter will turn out, as for the boy see above thank you please! ^_^ I love being evil!!!!
Phenoix Rose: Love your name by the way and thank you!
Sh1n1m3gam1: Okay...sorry if I misspelled your name, or missed a number or something. Don't worry about Mina, she will have a very important part in this story coming up very soon.
P.S: Still own nothing but on a lighter note the chapters will be longer but will have input from either one of the girls, or divided into two or three sections to make it easier to read and follow. Now I know that it is showing gross favoritism but this chapter will be shown through Amy eyes; if you want me to add more chapters after this one with each of the girls I will but you need to ask me otherwise I'll move on. Are we clear? Good, let's move onward than! Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Amy
A Drop in the Ocean
Dark blue eyes stared out at the bizarre world laid out before her in with a mixture of awed wonder, excitement, with just a hint of fear. For a ten year old Amy Winston considered herself to be a very logical person whom only believed in what she could touch. But no matter how many times she brushed the sleeve of the woman's odd black robes the feeling was still the same, soft well worn cloth that smelled a bit of cloves. This was all real.
It was impossible though. How could this place, these people be real? How could logic allow these people to exist? There should be a law against such oddities she thought at one point only to chide herself for such bitter thoughts.
'Remember, no matter how odd they seem I am one of them.' Amy tried to remind herself.
For all of her self motivating pet talk it was very difficult to picture herself in a long robe and a black pointed hat.
Ahead of her the stern woman, whom had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, ducked into a small store labeled; Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Amy took a long and steadying breath before she too entered the tiny shop. Once inside the girl was amused by the quaintness of the shop; even though it was small it was well stocked with the advertised robes. She walked to the wall where robes of various color and size were displayed; there were forest green ones, sapphire blue, fiery reds, violets and magenta, standard black, and so many other colors that she couldn't even begin to describe. To her right she could hear McGonagall explain to the store owner her situation.
The woman nodded in an understanding fashion before she grasped a tape measure from the counter. Turning to face Amy with the sweetest smiles that the girl had ever seen the woman asked her to stand on a stool so that she could fit her robes. Obeying Amy stood on the stool, now making her almost tower over her future professor by a few inches. Madam Malkin's made quick work of her measurements, or rather her spelled measuring tape made quick work while Madam Malkin jotted down the figures.
"Such a petite child. Do those muggles under feed their children?" Madam wondered aloud as she glanced down at the figures then asked Amy to step down from the stool.
Amy quietly followed the shop keeper as she picked up at least five different black robes for school. Suddenly Amy stopped in front of a dark blue robe made out of pure velvet. It was beautiful, and most importantly it almost looked like a real normal dress, almost. She looked down to see that the hem had blue diamonds inlaid into the fabric and also the cuffs.
Her small fingers ran across the fabric in clear envy, 'It must cost a fortune,' Amy mused only to turn her eyes to the counter in time to see her professor pay for her robes with large coins. The girl winced, she didn't feel right about having this woman pay for he school stuff. It made sense of course, her family was not a wizarding family so they wouldn't have the money needed to buy the things she needed but to have her professor pay for her school supplies out of her own pocket...well technically it was the school's pocket but still.
"Miss Winston," the woman called out to her.
Silently Amy followed the elder woman out of the store and into yet another store to obtain her supplies for her Potions class.
As the blue haired child wandered around the store, careful not to disturb some of the more...interesting looking vials, she couldn't help but have questions arise to her mind. She maybe have been practical and realistic for someone of eleven but she was also a very inquisitive and intelligent girl who had enough questions about her "old world" without the introduction of this strange new culture that she was now apart of.
Glancing at the counter she saw the various bottles and ingredients laid out for purchase. So many questions, so much to learn. Her right hand slowly moved to grab one of the vials, she turned it to the side so that she could get a better look at its contents; the very light gray powder followed the movement and settled in the middle of the jar. It looked very solid almost like ash. She looked at the other bottles to see an amber colored liquid, several more powders and even some solid objects like a few mushrooms, mosses, etc... held within the crystal vials.
After leaving the apocrathy the two went to another small shop to buy Amy's cauldron, it was here that Amy pictured herself growing long gray frizzy hair, a long nose with a wart on it and of course having a large black hat perched on her head, her voice called out, "Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron bubble." Amy bit back a giggle just before they exited the shop.
Their feet trotted across the cobblestone pathway, Amy watched the people walking either pass them or beside them only to have attention caught briefly by a shop sign or something out in the open on display. For a place that shouldn't exist Amy was beginning to enjoy her stay. Her professor finally stopped in front of a large shop front. Amy craned her neck to see the wooden sign dangling above the door front, "Flourish and Blots."
If the name hadn't given away the type of merchandise sold in the shop the next glance was more than enough to convince Amy that she was going to like being a witch.
Inside the store were mountains upon mountains of books, the walls almost had books falling off the crammed bookshelves, the tables groaned under the strain of the weight they had to bear; in short, this was as close to heaven as this little girl would ever get.
Her jaw was slightly ajar as she slowly stepped into the shop like it was a sacred temple to be revered. Already her hands were itching to crack open one of the books; she didn't care what subject just give her ink on paper and she would be more than happy with the world. Bookworm by unashamed confession Amy picked up the first book she could grasp and curled up on the floor to read the introduction page.
Meanwhile her professor, whom had already collected the required books, was searching the endless rows of bookshelves and tables. For one brief and terrifying moment McGonagall thought that she had accidentally lost the child between the book store and cauldron shop; so now the poor muggle child was aimlessly wandering around Diagon Ally looking for her. She turned a corner and almost tripped over her own feet when she accidentally found the "lost" girl, sitting in the middle of the floor reading a rather large tome entitled; "Magical Miracles; the ins and outs of being a Med Wizard."
The older woman recollected herself and regained the breath that she hadn't realized that she had lost. Grey eyes stared down at the child in an expression that could be described as nostalgia for she too had been an eager student as a child whom always had a question on her mind and her arms loaded with books varying in subjects.
When the child had first stepped into Diagon Ally McGonagall was afraid that the girl would pass out from shock or worse reject the fact that she was actually just as apart of this world as she was; but over the short hour McGonagall saw Amy steadily grow accustomed, or at least accepting, of the world around her and now she had not only found a foothold but a satisfying factor to this brave new world she needed to face.
Gently the older woman tapped Amy on the shoulder. Turning her head Amy looked up to see her professor waiting for her to follow her to purchase the books. Reluctantly Amy set the book she was reading back on the table before arising to her feet. Once she was standing Amy watched as McGonagall picked up the book and "discreetly" placed it among her required volumes for school then walk towards the counter to pay for the books. For a moment all Amy could stand rooted in place as she watched the elder woman place the books in front of the store owner.
'I can't let her do that for me!' the girl thought as she moved to stop the woman.
"Please don't." Ami started in a shaken tone, not facing her soon to be professor; "You have already done too much and I don't want to take advantage of your generosity..."
"Miss Winston, I thought that even muggles knew the procedure of gift giving, since your birthday is in early September think of this as an early birthday present from Hogwarts."
The girl, still dumbstruck, realized that there was no room for further discussion with the woman on this matter moved her hand away the book. Amy was mute until they both stood on the front steps of the store.
"Thank you, for the book, for everything." Amy whispered shyly.
"You're welcome Miss Winston." McGonagall politely replied as they stepped back out into the street.
This time their path lead them to a shop called "Olivander's Wands". It looked just about as old as the sign claimed the company had been in business. Inside was a musty smell that clashed with sandalwood. Amy peered inside wondering what wonderful objects she would find on display only to be disappointed when all that met her eyes were thousands of sleek black boxes. Behind the counter was an old man with frizzy white hair around the lower crown of his head forming a sort of low hanging halo of white-silver.
"Miss McGonagall! How nice to see you again. Willow, 8 inches, Unicorn Hair correct?" the shop keeper said in an agreeable tone.
A small smile graced the woman's face, "Correct as always Mr. Olivander."
"What brings you here Professor, does your wand need repairing?" he asked.
"No. Actually I came to bring over a new student to Hogwarts to find her wand." McGonagall stated as she gave Amy a gentle shove forward. Amy stumbled for a second before she somberly approached the counter.
The shop keeper fumbled with his glasses for a moment before he slid them over his eyes. Realization dawned on his face.
"Ahh, I see. Yes, this one...I know just the one," he muttered before disappearing behind the back door.
Amy blinked her large blue eyes, had someone told him that she was coming...so quickly?
A minute later the old shop keeper reappeared holding a box in his hand, only it was different than the others, it was a dark blue velvet case unlike the small and slender paper boxes.
He set it on the counter, holding it in his hands for a moment as he began to explain.
"This wand was especially difficult to make; it is not everyday that one has to make a wand for a person before they are even born."
Amy's eyes blinked twice before she queried, "Pardon?"
The man opened the box to reveal the sleek black wand encased inside the cushioned velvet.
"All of the Olivander wands are unique and can only be used properly by the person whom the wand chooses. But this one, along with a handful of others was crafted for a very specific reason, with a specific person in mind. Ebony, ten inches, with the core of crushed sapphire and a single scale from a mermaid. This Miss Winston is your wand," Mr. Olivander's said before he gently pushed the box across the table into Amy's open hand.
She could only look at it when it first fell into her hand but once her fingers curled around the wood did she literally feel power radiating from the core. It was calling out to her, its' call was as loud as the crashing waves of a stormy sea, it was in this single moment that Amy didn't need to see and be able to touch something to feel that this was real. Too real. She shuttered as the power suddenly froze over like a violent snow storm the power was still there but now it was sealed away until she was truly ready to use it. Carefully she uncurled her fingers and set the wand back into the box enclosing it inside the case.
Still numbed by the experience Amy could only look on and then mechanically follow her professor as they stopped to buy quills and parchment and a few other things needed for her school year. Amy's shoulders shuttered, ever since she had first touched the box she had felt something falling into place. There was a missing piece and now it was found, the question was...what was this missing piece and why did it chose now to impact her? Had she ever noticed that there was something lacking before? What caused it?
So many questions. And not enough courage to speak them aloud.
September 1st
"Are you sure that you have everything?" Amy's mother asked for what was at least the ninth time.
Without a much needed sigh Amy replied with a brief, "Yes mum," before turning her head to gaze out the window. Lying in her lap was the thick volume that was her birthday present from "Hogwarts", despite the fact that it was easily eight-hundred pages Amy was on her second turn of reading through the book, her textbooks had also been read and reread at least half a dozen times. After conquering her earlier anxiety about attending Hogwarts Amy was actually becoming excited by the prospect. She was going to learn magic, not many people could say that.
Upon arriving at King's Cross Amy nervously helped her parents sort through her trunk and small suitcase containing some of her muggle clothing to wear on the weekends. Amy tried to conceal her large book from prying muggle eyes but for the most part they seemed to be oblivious of them even though her father was having trouble balancing her trunk on the small trolley. Amy glanced at the ticket stub held, her eyes immediately fell on the words Platform Nine-and three quarters. If McGongall hadn't already told her what to do on that August day Amy knew that she would have been panicking by now; her parents had a hard time swallowing the procedure, her mother must have asked her at least ten times if she was joking.
With the help of her father Amy steered her trolley towards the barrier between Nine and ten, it was decided that Amy and her father would go through the barrier while her mother stayed outside as a look out. On the count of three they raced towards the barrier, Amy winced half expecting something to go wrong despite McGonagall's instruction. Instead of feeling her face smash against plastic Ami suddenly found herself standing not but a stone's throw away from a large crimson steam engine. Surrounding them were parents with their own students, most of the parents didn't seem intimidated or afraid that their children were attending a school of witchcraft and wizardry, so either they were wizardning parents or very, very tolerant muggle parents. Amy's father on the other hand kept questioning aloud if it was all just some very elaborate hoax; the girl tried not to listen to her father's tirades on that matter but sometimes she wondered too if it was really...real.
But here her proof was, if it was a joke than there wouldn't be a real platform Nine and three quarters, no real crimson train, no real men and women sending their children to the train with their own trunks and owls.
Her father looked out at all of the parents giving their children last minute hugs and kisses on the cheek or forehead. He ruffled Amy's short black-blue hair.
"Take care of yourself princess," he said sincerely before he lifted her trunks onto the train.
Amy bit her lip; she had no clue what to say in return so she just warped her arms around him in a strong bear hug. She knew what to say but at the same time she was afraid to say it. She wanted to say, "Please don't fight with mom while I am gone; without me she won't have a shoulder to cry on." Or "Please be here to welcome me home, please don't leave like you sometimes say you will." She wanted to say those words, hoping that maybe he would hear her out and at least try.
Before she could open her mouth he withdrew from her hug and helped her up the steps to the boxcar. She stood at the top step for a moment and looked down at him, the words were itching her mouth to be told but with a small sigh and a "good bye daddy" she retreated inside the car and into her cowardly silence.
Inside the box car Amy was overwhelmed with all the people already seated inside the car. She hurriedly walked down the aisle to find an empty car but everywhere she looked there were people crowding her way. She wasn't antisocial by nature, but she did prefer to be alone long enough to sort out her thoughts. After going through at least four box cars still no place for her to seclude herself not even an empty seat. Just when she was about to give up hope Amy jerked when she felt a hand rest on her right shoulder.
The blue haired girl turned to see the smiling face of her "fire friend". In person she was very beautiful, long dark hair, deep amethyst eyes that she could have sworn could read her mind, smooth and flawless peach skin, she looked so beautiful and captivating.
Rei smiled, "You're Amy," she said without even having to ask. Before Amy could even nod her head Rei grasped her hand and was leading her to the next box car. The first thing that caught her attention was the smell of cigarette smoke.
"Jade!" Rei snapped as she quickly snatched the dangling cigarette from the blonde boy's mouth, "What would a prefect caught you smoking you ass!"
The blonde grinned, his aqua eyes dancing with mischief, 'Can I borrow a smoke?" he answered glibly.
"Well, I don't like you smoking. You're lucky that I haven't told my father or our "engagement" would be over just like that!" Rei said hotly.
Amy looked at the other girl in shock, 'Engaged? But she is only eleven and he can't be more than fourteen or thirteen!
"Rei, you don't really mean that! Breaking our engagement would break my heart in two, I might even go so far as to say that it might cause me to do something drastic..."
"Shut up," Rei growled, "We both know that you don't like me and I hate your guts, so stop pretending that we are a couple especially since neither of our parents are around to make sure that we "play nice"."
The boy sat back, his arms cushioning his head as he glanced out the window at the more parents and children coming towards the train.
"At least I am trying Rei, that's more than can be said for you. Do you think that I WANT to married to a bratty bitty woman who's favorite past time is bitching at everyone?" "Jade" replied sarcastically.
Rei snorted at the comment and tossed her hair as she turned to face Amy.
"Sorry about that," she whispered as she lead the water child over to an opposing row of seats.
"He is so obnoxious that I can't stand him." Rei said as she tossed an angry glare to the boy, whom either didn't notice the venomous stare or chose to ignore it for the moment.
"You two are...e engaged?!" Amy questioned in a breathless tone.
"Yes." Rei groaned as she rested her head on the table between the chairs, "He's my third cousin on my mom's side and since everyone is going crazy about keeping the "blood lines" pure I have to marry him, well him or..." Rei broke off when the door to the compartment opened. Amy had to lean over to see the two boys that stood at the entrance. One was tall and slender, he had light skin and dark cat green eyes that had a bright spark to them, long strawberry curls framed his almost feminine looking face. The boy beside him was dwarfed only by a few inches in height, he had a darker skin tone, almost a cinnamon color but his hair color was almost white, his ice were light gray with hints of blue.
The two seemed to know "Jade" very well because as soon as they spotted him they walked over to him and began talking to him.
Rei growled, "Great, now we have three of the gruesome foursome to contend with."
"What?" Amy asked.
""Jade's mates. Mean bunch if you asked me. They used to torture me merciless when I was a little kid. There's Jade, or Jeditie, Kunzite, Zoicite and Nephrite. Their parents all grew up together and since they all had boys around the same time they thought it would be "cute" to name them after some of the worst dark wizards in history."
Rei continued as she pointed out each one, "Kun, short of Kunzite, is the mean looking with the dark skin and white hair. Many say that he is a bastard... literally; rumors flew for years about his father having an affair with some foreign woman because of his dark skin and silver hair. He has a younger sister who doesn't look a thing like him so it makes you wonder. Zoicite is only thirteen but he has already dated at least all of the Ravenclaw girls and half of Slytherin. Jade is the same only he "claims" to done more than "dated" oh and he is a disgusting ass who smokes. The only "almost" admirable one in their little group is Nephrite, not much can be said about him aside from the fact that he has a right temper if you rub him the wrong way so many people avoid him and I recommend that you do the same."
Amy really didn't see how they could all be that bad, well "Jade's" smoking maybe but the other two didn't seem too bad, they actually looked kind of cute. For the moment the two boys whom entered a minute ago seemed to be oblivious to their presence. Kun and Zoicite sat down across from Jade, only then did Zoicite notice that Rei was sitting on the other side of the compartment and she had a new friend sitting with her. This was something interesting; Rei was always so hot tempered and mean to other girls that they normally kept their distance from the dark haired girl. The one sitting beside her looked very tiny almost mouse like in comparison to the "tiger".
"Jade, who's the girl sitting with Rei?" Zoicite asked.
"Hmm, who? Oh her. No clue. Scrawny looking thing isn't she?" Jade commented as he defiantly lit a cigarette to replace the one Rei took from him earlier.
"Blue hair, that is rather unusual but it makes her look cute." Zoicite mused as he tossed a glance back to the younger girls.
"You interested in dating younger women now Zoi? I thought that you don't date girls below third year?" Jade asked.
"Zoi" rolled his eyes, "Just because I say a bird is cute doesn't mean that I would want to date her Jade. You seem to be the only one who is willing to take just about anything you can't get well with Rei as an exception."
"I wouldn't mind dating her but I have a policy about dating within my own species." Jade replied crudely.
Rei stiffened, her hands curling into small fists, "That son of a..." the dark haired child hissed under her breath only to sigh and collapse back into her chair.
"Never mind, I shouldn't let him get to me. He only teases me like mad when he realizes that he has ticked me off." Rei said softly, trying desperately to regain her composure.
Amy admired Rei for her reaction if it had been her she would have felt very hurt by that comment and would have probably embarrassed herself by crying.
Turning her head to face Amy, Rei gave the girl a sincere smile; her hands gracefully folded in front of her, eyes focused on the smaller girl, she asked; "So Amy, tell me about yourself."
"I...uh there really isn't much to tell. I mean since I am muggle born my life isn't very exciting."
"Shhhhh!" Rei hissed and jabbed back towards the boys.
"Amy," Rei whispered, "I know that you are muggle born and I understand that it doesn't make you less of a person or witch but those as...jerks, don't know that and it is a very good thing that they don't know because if they know that you don't come from a pure blooded family they can make your life a living hell. I have seen them torture kids who lived around their houses, they are horrible people to those outside of their little group but they are utter monsters to those they deem unworthy to be called a witch or wizard. Their families are..."
"What are you two whispering about?"
Both girls jumped and whipped their heads around to see the intruder was Zoicite.
"Hi Rei," he said with a smug smile.
"Hello," Rei replied stiffly.
Amy shyly ducked her head hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was even there but unfortunate for the blue haired child she was the reason that Zoicite had approached them.
"Who's you're new mate Rei?" the boy asked as he titled his head to the side to get a good look at the face that poor Amy was trying to hide in vain.
"That is Amy Winston, she's my age so don't get any funny ideas Zoi. Now leave us alone, I haven't seen her all summer and we have a lot of girl stuff to catch up on." Rei replied pulling the old standby "girl talk" excuse, the most surefire way to get a boy off your back.
But instead of walking back to his friends Zoicite slide in beside Amy.
"Really, well by all means don't let me stop you. Chatter away ladies." Zoi replied cheekily.
Amy tried to hide her blushing face; for being someone of ill repute Zoicite was very handsome. His copper hair curled in very loose ringlets that made him look his age which countered his face that looked so mature and adult. Dark green eyes laughed with every word that he spoke, Amy wondered if he could ever say anything sincere or serious. Rei kept acting like she was annoyed by his presence but Amy honestly wished that he never left; he was charming and very funny. Normally boys avoided her or worse made fun of her but despite Rei's warning Zoicite seemed to be a very sweet person.
"So you're a first year?" Zoicite asked Amy who nodded in reply.
"Hmm you look almost like third year, but it guess it is the hair that makes you look a bit older. Do you know what house you might want to be in?"
Amy froze, "House?" she questioned, 'Does he suspect that I am muggle born? Is this some kind of test?'
"Wait no, don't tell me let me guess." Zoicite said suddenly.
He stared down at Amy for a long time, the girl shuttered feeling very uncomfortable being analyzed.
"Hmm, you seem to be a really sweet girl so I would say Hufflepuff but then you speak so eloquently and intelligent that you could also be a Ravenclaw maybe even a Slytherin."
He smiled, "I hope you become a Ravenclaw, you'll probably like it there. Their entire common room has bookshelves all around the walls even the staircase has a small library underneath it. All of the Ravenclaws are nice but kind of stand-offish and bookish...if that even is a word. Once you get in that house become pals with Cho Chang she's a really sweetie and she'll let you know about how to get to your classes and might even help you with your homework if you ask her nicely.
"You seem to know a lot about Ravenclaw," Amy said softly.
"I suppose that you get to know a house very well after two years of living in it." Zoicite replied. 'Wow, Ravenclaw sounds like an awesome house!' Amy thought, 'And Zoicite will be there as well.'
"Okay, I want to be a Ravenclaw then." Amy said in a decisive manner.
Zoicite chuckled, "With that sort of mind set they had better sort you into Ravenclaw or else. I hate to disappoint you Amy but you don't chose the house that you enter but...well you'll find out soon enough. Just keep that in mind though."
Amy was about to reply to that comment but a sudden movement caught her attention. Through the corner of her eye she could see the door slide open to reveal a girl around her height standing. Baby blue eyes stared at the small group with a sense of uneasy recognition. Long blonde hair done up in meatballs perched on her head. Amy blinked her eyes because for a moment she could see the girl holding a sword and wearing a white dress with actually feathered angel wings coming from her back.
A cold sensation passed through her, almost as if a very cold hand came through her skin and squeezed her heart.
'That's her, the catalyst.' Rei's voice whispered to her mind.
Blood blossomed on the dress, the wings were torn and a lot of feathers were missing; the sword was shattered into pieces. Pieces of string laced with rose thorns held her arms wide and her legs apart, her neck was restrained by the same rose wire and right at the rise of her breast a very red rose blossomed.
'Whether she lives or dies, she holds the fate of this world and others in her hands and she doesn't even know it. She can't wake up, not yet. We must stop her, together Amy you and me. Together. We'll put her to sleep. The mother and the monster.'
"Umm excuse me?" the real Usagi asked softly to the group.
"I said get out of here, this is our car and you for one are not welcomed you piece of muggle trash!" Rei hissed as she held Amy's now limp form.
Wide blue eyes stared forward, they saw the girl but they didn't really see Usagi, only the monsters, only the demons, only the horrors of what would come if the girl was allowed to live long enough to finally "awaken" for good or evil.
Usagi bit her lip before slowly turning away and closing the door behind her.
With the blonde gone Rei turned back to her friend. Zoicite moved to help her wake Amy up by the dark haired child just shook her head.
"She's had a very long day and needs to sleep. We'll wake her up before the train pulls into Hogsmade station. Until then" Rei closed her eyes, "Just let her sleep."
Zoicite stared at the very still form of Amy.
'That was very weird, before she passed out the room got very cold almost freezing."
He turned his head to the window that Amy was sitting next to. A very thin layer of ice frosted the glass.
Looking back at the child he wondered just what sort of person Miss Winston was. His hand moved to brush away a stray strand of her dark blue hair only to be stopped by Rei's grasp.
"Don't you touch her," she growled.
Zoicite blinked then laughed, "What you think that she is too good for me hmm?"
Rei smirked, "You're right, she is better than you. In more ways than one." Rei said cryptically before turning to stare out the now iced window.
Half and hour later a plump looking witch came down the length of the train carrying a tray of several wizard sweets. By then Amy had opened her eyes just in time to see Rei peel back the wrapper of a Chocolate Frog packet.
"Ah! Good you're awake. Here." Rei said as she tossed Amy the opened packet.
For a moment the girl looked at the wrapper skeptically before Rei told her that it was just frog shaped chocolate and not a real frog.
Amy quietly accepted the candy and placed the frog inside her mouth. The chocolate gave her a much needed sugar high to her system.
As she reached for another Chocolate Frog Amy noticed that Zoicite had left them in favor of his friends, their table was covered with tons of sweets, more than they could possibly need but a little less than they could eat.
"I got another Dumbledore, anyone want to trade?" Jade asked.
"You're still collect those things?" Zoicite asked in a teasing tone of voice.
"My collection is almost complete I just need a..."
"It begins," Rei suddenly said causing Amy to be distracted from the boys.
"That girl...was she really the," Amy began.
Rei nodded, "No doubt about it. She's the one we have to knock off," she replied in a chillingly casual voice.
"We can't be over a done with it now of course. We have to wait for just the right moment when she is about to "awake". Right now it would be cold blooded murder but once she reaches that point the world with thank us." Rei continued.
Amy didn't like this. At first it seemed like the right thing to do, but now that she had seen that their "target" was actually a human girl, one their own age even, she just wasn't sure anymore.
She wanted to tell Rei that she was scared, that she felt sick to her stomach just thinking about killing another person.
"Together Amy." Rei said as she reached over the table to grasp Amy's hand.
"Together, we can beat her when the time comes but for now we need to learn hard, we need to know every single spell that we can even get our hands on so when the times come we will be ready to take her down."
'Tell her; tell her that you can't do it. You weren't meant to save the world by killing someone else. It's so unfair. Why couldn't it have been a guy or at least an older girl with a nasty disposition? Why does it have to be a child?'
Amy curled her fingers around Rei's fingers. She felt warm and safe. Rei was probably the first friend she ever had. This friend was now asking her to help her, not now or even tomorrow but one day in the distant uncertain future when she would have to kill.
"I'll help you." Amy said.
Later the girls pulled their robes over their heads and waited for the train to coast to a stop.
Once the train came to a complete stop Rei and Ami were the first to jump off of the train with the trio of boy's right behind them. Amy followed Rei to the dock where other first years had gathered around the edge of the dock. Behind them the boys branched away making their way to the carriages. Amy gapped at all of the children huddled at the docks; above them was a tall man with a long frizzy black beard and small black eyes.
"Firs' years over here!" he then called out to someone that Amy didn't recognize. Harry something. The giant of a man lead the children into the small boats tied to the dock. Amy and Rei boarded a boat that also held a tall girl with long brunette hair and a girl with very short blonde hair, wait was that a boy or a girl? Amy wondered but only shrugged her shoulders at the question.
"Everybody in?" the giant asked, when a handful of voices rose up in reply he told the boat to move forward. Amy gasped when the boat followed the command without anyone steering the boat.
"Wow," she whispered only to hear the same sentiment echoed behind her. She turned her head to see the same awed expression on the tall brunette's face.
"Pretty amazing boats huh?" the blonde with short hair asked, Amy replied with a nod.
She wanted to speak with the girl, well she at least sounded like a girl; but Rei gave a hard tug on her sleeve to draw her attention back to her fire friend.
The boats formed an orderly formation as they glided across the lake, under archways and a large bridge until they could see the dusty golden lights of the castle.
Amy's jaw dropped in wonder as she stared at the towering spires and large agape entrance. It looked so much like a fairy tale castle that Amy had to pinch herself as a reminder that this was actually happening.
One by one the boats docked against the bank, the children filed out of the boats and onto the slopping grassy grounds. Feet clopped across the stone laid pathway leading up to the monstrous mouth of the castle's entrance. Standing at the topmost step was none other than Professor McGonagall. She wore long black robes and of course a long pointed hat and a stern but not forbidding expression on her face.
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take the students from here," the female professor said primly as she led them up the steps and into entrance hall.
The professor gave a brief introduction including the description of the houses and rules.
'Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw.' Amy mentally canted as the professor opened the large oak doors. Inside was the dinning hall, long tables rested underneath large cloth banners that held the symbol animal and colors for each house. Amy fixed her eyes on the large Raven in royal blue, then she looked down to see Zoicite wave at her.
She caught her breath as her face turned a bright tomato red. Looking ahead she could see that many of her peers were just a nervous as she was, one poor girl was visibly shaking. Another was playing with her red hair ribbon, while the "catalyst" was nervously twisting the ends of her long pigtails around her fingers. Behind her Rei was whispering the house descriptions to her.
Hufflepuff was the goody two shoes house, most of them were kind and push over, Griffendor had all of the class clowns and the overly brave idiots, Slytherin had all of the trouble makers and Ravenclaw had the bookworms.
'My kind of house,' Amy thought smugly just as the hat was brought out.
The entire room went silent as the most amazing thing happened, the hat, once stiff and worn, now arose and began to sing. The wide and thread barren brim became the mouth as it belted out its' annual song which gave a much unbiased and more helpful description of the houses and the sorting process.
After the song McGonagall arose with a long scroll in her hand began listing names.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
Amy watched as the girl walked up to the stage, sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. There were a few moments of bated silence before the hat called out "Hufflepuff!"
The girl slide off of the stool and ran down the stairs to be greeted by her cheering classmates.
"Boot Terry!"
"Ravenclaw!
Amy's face positively glowed when she saw Zoictie cheering the loudest; she wondered if he would cheer that enthusiastically if she made it into Ravenclaw too.
Rei left before she did to be sorted. The dark haired girl gracefully arose to the stage and placed the hat on her head. It pondered for a moment before shouting...
"Ravenclaw!"
Amy had to keep herself from screaming in delight, now her best friend was in her house too!
The girl was so distracted by the thought of her and Rei in the same house that she missed when Lita became a Hufflepuff and Mina became a Griffendor. The next one called was Alexander, the girl with short blonde hair, she too became a Griffendor but the girl behind her with aqua hair became a Ravenclaw. Usagi was sorted into Griffendor.
Amy was beginning to become very nervous as names were called left and right, since she was one of the lower ones on the alphabet she had to wait as all the other names and houses echoed off of the walls.
She tried to keep herself from bouncing on her feet as the line drew closer to the stage.
"Winston, Amy!"
Time seemed to speed up at an impossible pace for Amy as she moved out of line and ascended the short three steps that now seemed like three million. Her throat was very dry as her heart pounded at the pulse point. At last she reached the stool and sat down after what seemed like an endless journey.
She reached for the hat and slowly placed it on her head. The hat was so big that it fell over her eyes and she could see nothing but black fabric. It was then that she panicked. 'What if I don't get into Ravenclaw? Maybe they made a mistake and I am not supposed to be a witch? What will they do to me if I don't get sorted?'
"Don't worry child, if you can't be a witch than who can be?" a voice asked.
Amy gasped and gripped the stool.
"Hmm let's see, oh you are an intelligent one. A very bright mind, sharp wit, yet very shy and overly modest. Hmm this is a very tough choice, very difficult."
"W...why is it so difficult?" Amy asked aloud.
"Because I know where you need to go but...I really don't think it is best. You really belong somewhere else and if the circumstance and times were different I would do so in a heartbeat but well I suppose this will all work out for the best."
"...Slytherin!"
Amy felt numbed all over. First this wasn't the house that she wanted; Rei and Zoicite were in Ravenclaw. Secondly this was a house that all the "trouble makers" were in. Around her she could hear the Slytherin table clapping and cheering but she didn't feel like celebrating. She found an empty bench and with a despondent stare watched the rest of the sorting. Even when the Harry Potter was sorted into Griffendor she couldn't have cared less.
'What have I done wrong? Did that hat know that I have to kill someone one day? But I can't be bad...Rei would be here to if killing that person was bad."
"Are you alright?" someone asked her.
Amy looked up only to gasp to find herself facing "Kun".
When she didn't answer he offered her a chocolate truffle by placing it on her plate.
"You need to eat something. I don't know how those muggle schools of yours are but here at Hogwarts we only eat on schedule not around the clock."
Amy's jaw drop, "...You know that I am a..."
He glanced up, "Yes."
When he noticed how pale the girl became Kunzite replied, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone else." Then he returned his attention back to his food.
'It is not everyone else that I am worried about,' Ami thought as she picked at her food.
Notes: Sorry for cutting it so short folks, I really wanted to write more but my folks now have my computer using on a time limit and well my time is up for the weekend. Thanks for reading and I hope to have another chapter posted by next month.