A/N : Hello again. First of all, thanks to those who reviewed. To be honest, I was not expecting such positive reviews. As for your comment on the signed review thing, Black Aura-Sama, I hadn't noticed it was activated until you told me. Sorry. Well, here's the next past of the story. I also just noticed that I missed the last few lines of the first chapter. I'm adding them now. Thanks for reading, and please review. Flames will be put to use in killing of Fudge and his idiot squad of a ministry (Weasleys and other intelligent officials excluded, of course.)
end of the last chapter
Two days later, oceans away, Albus Dumbledore received a letter. A letter that let him hope that may be not everything was lost yet. Throwing a pinch of glittery powder into the fire burning in the fireplace, Minerva McGonnagall's head appeared in the fire.
"Minerva, if you could please tell the house elves to prepare two guest rooms? We'll be getting some visitors soon!" he said.
"Very well, may I ask who?" the transfiguration teacher replied.
"You may Minerva. Miss Tennou agreed on teaching here, and will be bringing a girl from Japan along. They will be staying with us for the holidays." He answered. Minerva McGonnagall gave him a questioning look, but gave it up as she realized that she would not get an answer out of him.
"Very well, I will inform them." She said and her head vanished from the flames.
~~~~
Also, at almost the same time, another letter arrived. Its contends were simple.
Azrael
I have just learned that his Lordship returned. Please inform him that I shall be arriving shortly.
Ariel
A week had passed, since Haruka had received James letter, and made her decision to return to Britain.
Now, her and Hotaru were leaving.
It had taken quite a lot of talking to get Hotaru to leave this early, however, since Haruka had forgotten that Usagi's birthday was the same day she had planned to leave at, and Hotaru had flat out refused.
Only after Haruka had agreed that they would go to the party for a while, before leaving, Hotaru had relented, and they had prepared everything for their departure.
"Are you all packed, Hotaru?" Haruka called from the living room.
"Hai!" came Hotaru's call from upstairs, and a few moments later she came into the living room, a backpack on her shoulders, and another bag in her hand.
"Are you sure that I won't need anything else?" she asked, for the umpteenth time.
"Yes, you can't take many things by Floo, and I don't want to loose anything important on the way, while apparating, so I'll get you a new wardrobe in Britain. I'll ask Sev' whether we can stay at his house for a while, I don't want to stay at Hogwarts all the time, and it's as close to Hogwarts as you can get." Haruka said, picking up her own bag.
"Now, how do you travel with Floo?" she asked Hotaru. Hotaru groaned.
"Haven't we gone over this enough? You throw some Floo powder into the fire, step in, and say your destination. In case of intercontinental travel, you add the country." She recited Haruka's lecture. For the last week Haruka had done nothing but telling her to be careful while traveling via Floo. "Oh, and you've to stand straight, and be careful not to hit your head while stepping out of the fireplace." She added. Haruka nodded.
"Good, I wouldn't want to look all over the world for you." Haruka handed her a bowl of Floo powder. "You're going to Hogwarts, Britain!"
"Alright!" Hotaru said, accepting the bowl, and threw a hand full of the powder into the flames.
"Hogwarts, Britain!" she said and was gone a moment later.
~~~~~
After the spinning stopped, Hotaru found herself in the grate of a dark office. Carefully stepping out, ducking under the mantle, she removed some sooth from her clothing, and looked around a bit. She came to a stop in front of a cupboard filled with vials and flasks of different liquids and other things, undistinguishable in the dark. Suddenly, the door opened, and someone stepped inside, shedding some light into the room.
"May I ask what you are doing in my office?" someone asked in English, but too fast for Hotaru to fully understand. She turned around to come face to face with a dark haired man dressed in black wizarding robes.
"I am sorry, but I did not understand you. You are talking too fast." she said slowly, stumbling over the uncommon syllables. English had never been her best subject at school. He looked at her funny, but repeated his question non the less, this time more slowly.
"I asked what you were doing in my office." Hotaru nodded, signalizing that she understood.
"Haruka sent me here, she said to wait for her, since she's apra... apparating." she said, and realization crossed the man's features, before his face took on a mask of indifference.
"Very well, I will take you to the headmaster then." he said and turned, motioning for her to follow.
He lead her out of the room, into a dimly lit corridor, up two staircases, and down another corridor, until they stopped in front of a statue.
Hotaru was about to ask what they were doing there, when her companion spoke to the statue.
"Ton-tongue Toffee!" he said, and the statue suddenly came to life, revealing a hidden staircase that moved upward much like an escalator. They were about to step onto the moving stairs, when someone could be heard running towards them.
"Hey, Sev, wait up!" Haruka called in English, rounding a corner. Hotaru thought she must have run quite a distance, for when she met up with them, Haruka was quite out of breath, something that didn't happen often to the senshi of the sky.
"Sorry, but it's quite a way from the lake up to the castle." Haruka apologized after catching her breath. Hotaru noticed how the man Haruka had called 'Sev' looked at the young woman strangely.
"And why, pray tell, did you run all the way? You could as well have apparated all the way to the office, could you not? Considering that you can apparate through the barriers!" he asked her, somewhat harshly.
"Maybe I forgot. And you can drop the facade, Severus. I don't believe that Hotaru will tell on you, considering that she knows the importance of keeping certain things secret." she said, and when she noticed Hotaru's confused look, she sighed.
"Sorry, Firefly. I'll try and slow down a bit, alright?" she said, switching to Japanese for a moment, before reverting to English.
"Well, how about we get inside?" she said, and motioned to the still open entrance to Dumbledore's Office. Hotaru went ahead, Haruka following her, but Severus stayed behind.
"We'll talk later, Spitfire." was all he said, before he turned and left. Haruka sighed, and for a moment, Hotaru thought that she had seen grief in her foster mother's eyes, but when they came to a stop in front of a mahagony door, Haruka was smiling at her.
~~~~~
Severus walked hurriedly back towards his office. Once inside, he cast numerous locking spells on the door. Sitting down at his desk, he simply stared into space. When he had first received HER letter, he had thought it would be easy to go back to the way it had been. Pretend in front of everyone, especially their father, and simply be themselves around each other. But now, having to face her, he knew that it wouldn't be as easy as he had thought it would be. They had both changed in the past fourteen years, and they had both worn masks to hide their pain. And he could tell, even from their short encounter, that she was sick of it. She wanted the lies to end, and she would not stop until all of them had.
~~~~~
Haruka knocked at the dark oak door of the headmasters office, memories of the old times flying through her head. How often had she been in this office, together with James, Sirius and the others, in trouble for yet another prank they played? She didn't know, and it wouldn't do to get lost in the past now.
"Enter!" could be heard from the inside, and Haruka opened the door, motioning for Hotaru to enter first.
"Ah, Miss Tomoe and Miss Tennou. Hello. I wondered when you would arrive." Professor Dumbledore said, looking up from a stack of paperwork.
"Hello to you, too, Professor. It has been a while." Haruka said, taking a seat in front of the desk, and motioned for Hotaru to do the same.
Reluctantly, Hotaru complied. She was still uneasy about the whole situation, and the fact that her English was just short of abysmal didn't make it any easier. Professor Dumbledore hurriedly signed the paper he'd been working on, before turning his attention back to the duo in front of him.
"Well, it has been quite a wile indeed. Now, you wrote that you wanted to talk about your accommodations during the holidays." Haruka nodded.
"Yes. I need to clear it with Severus first, but I'd like to stay at Serpent's Cove, if only for a while. If it's no problem, that is."
"If Severus agrees, I don't see why not. It is the holidays, after all. Now, as for Miss Tomoe's tutorials, has she had any magical education prior to today?" Dumbledore continued.
"None. Michiru and I never suspected a thing, and this past week has been a tad bit too busy to teach her anything. So, I must admit, she has none." Haruka replied, and, upon Hotaru's confused expression added, "She's also in need of a Translation Spell, I believe." Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgment.
"Certainly. I can cast it right now, if she doesn't mind." Haruka turned to Hotaru.
"Hotaru, Professor Dumbledore is going to cast a Translation spell on you, so you won't have to worry about not understanding anything anymore, okay?" she told her in Japanese. Hotaru nodded.
"Very well, Miss Tomoe, I will cast it now. Veritas Translare "
Hotaru suddenly felt a shiver go through her, but after a second, it was gone.
"Thank you, Sensei." she said, noting with surprise that the language was now sounding less forced, though still foreign.
"No thanks necessary, Miss Tomoe. Now, Haruka, I believe you have a few things to talk about with Severus about accommodations. Why don't you go do that, while I talk to Miss Tomoe about her tutorials?" Dumbledore said. Haruka nodded, and got up. Hotaru looked at her worriedly.
"Don't worry, Hotaru, I won't be long. Professor."
"Please, you are no longer a student, Haruka. Call me Albus." Haruka smiled slightly.
"As you wish, Professor." she said, with a grin, and was gone.
Hotaru shifted in her chair, suddenly feeling extremely uneasy.
"Well, Miss Tomoe, about your tutorials... Seeing as Haruka wants to stay at Serpent's Cove, it will be best if she takes care of the basics. After that, I will sent you a schedule, with the dates on which you are to floo here, and take tutorials with the other teachers. Do you think you can manage to review four years of school within the next two months? For if you don't, we could always prolong the tutorial time, and have you start later in the school year." Dumbledore said. Hotaru remained silent for a while.
"If... if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd like to try tutorials first, before making such a decision, sir. As Haruka already told you, I have never seen magic at work until a week ago, and I don't know what to expect, Sensei."
"A wise decision, Miss Tomoe. Now, it is time for lunch. Let's go down to the great hall. I am sure Haruka will be gone for a while." Dumbledore said, and got up to lead Hotaru down to the great hall.
~~~~~
Haruka turned another corner, and stopped in front of a door, suddenly hesitating. Resting a hand against the frame, she could feel the spells Severus had woven around the office, locking everyone out. She sighed. They both didn't want the past to repeat itself. She knocked at the door.
"Severus, open. It's me!" she called, praying that he hadn't cast a silencing spell on the office as well. A few moments later, the door swung open.
She entered to find the room wrapped in darkness. Severus, no, Salazar, was sitting at the desk, staring off into space, all illusions that had surrounded him before now gone.
"Why did you come back?"
"Because I didn't have a choice, Sal. None of us ever had. We are just pawns in his game." she replied.
"So you plan on going back to him, and once again be his pawn? I thought you knew better, Mandy." Haruka flinched.
"I never said that. And don't call me that. My name is Haruka!" she snapped.
"Really? How comes you are here then? Only Mandy would have come, crawling back to father's feet like a lost little puppy. If you are not her, then why did you come?" he asked, voice cold and monotone. Haruka flinched again at his words.
"Maybe because I thought that I could help. Things have changed, Sal. I'm no longer the foolish little girl I was." she whispered, unable to look into his eyes. He had hit a sore spot, and she knew that he knew it.
"I hope it is true. He is on the move, and I don't know how long I can keep him from Harry." he said, and with a move of his hand, the torches flared to live, and it was once again Severus sitting before her, illusions back in place. Or maybe they had never been removed, and it had simply been her imagination.
~~~~~
Dumbledore lead Hotaru down a few halls, until they reached a giant set of double doors.
"I don't usually take the main entrance, but I thought you might like the view, Miss Tomoe." Dumbledore said, and pushed open the doors. In front of them was a vast hall, with four tables decked in four different colors. The one closest to the left side of the hall was decked in green, then came a blue one, followed by red, and the one to the very right was decked in yellow. Their way lead them up to a fifth, set upon a low pedestal, at which a few people were sitting, talking among themselves, not even noticing their entrance. Looking around in fascination, Hotaru gasped when she noticed the ceiling.
"Sensei, what...?" Dumbledore had noticed her gaze, and smiled.
"The ceiling is charmed to look like the sky outside. I must admit that I am very fond of it, especially during a full moon. It makes an excellent observatory, when the students are home for the summer." he said, walking up the stairs at the side of the pedestal. One of the people at the table, a somewhat stern looking woman in dark green robes, looked up.
"Albus." She said, in a manner of greeting.
"Ah, Minerva. I'd like you to meet Miss Tomoe. She'll be attending our school next year." Dumbledore replied, before turning to Hotaru.
"Miss Tomoe, meet Professor McGonnagall. She will be your Transfiguration Teacher."