Yaukira: I certainly will!

Suzaku's Rose: Thank you! I will keep writing, of course.

Athena Dumbledore: I definitely will!

Eight-year-old Arabella sat in her bedroom, reading a science fiction novel. She knew her parents would want her down to breakfast soon, and also disapproved of her type of books, and so she snatched this hour of quiet.

"Pssst! Ara!" Arabella rolled over and glared into the green eyes of her cousin. "Come on, Ara, I have something to show you before everyone else wakes up!"

"What are you going to do if I refuse, set a snake on me?" Arabella asked sarcastically.

"It was an accident! You know that we were just talking..."

"It's okay; it was worth it for the look on my pig brother's face. Where are we going?"

"Out front. Get dressed, before the neighbor wakes!" Arabella pulled on some clothes and followed Harry out front. Sitting on the mailbox, eyes gleaming brightly, was an owl.

"Oh, she's beautiful!" Arabella whispered. "I wish I could own one!" At that moment a tabby cat walked around the edge of the stone wall. She fixed her eyes on the children also. "Animals behave so weird around here," Arabella commented. "Here, kitty, kitty! Come here, precious!" If it was possible for a cat to do so, the tabby looked revolted.

"Come on, Arabella. Aunt Petunia will want me to make breakfast."

"I want to pet the kitty!" Arabella said, crossing her arms.

"Ara..." Harry began, but they were both interrupted by a roar.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRONT YARD THIS EARLY!?" a purple-faced Vernon Dursley yelled from his bedroom window. Surprisingly, neither the bird nor the cat fled.

"We are coming in, Uncle Vernon," Harry said quickly.

"I am expecting a letter from Juana, remember, I met her on that trip to Spain last year, and I am waiting for the postman. I made Harry wait with me because I am afraid of being outside, alone, this early," Arabella smoothly lied.

"Oh," Vernon said, then he slammed the window shut. Arabella and Harry grinned at each other.

"I will wait inside the door so my story is still credadibled," Arabella said.

"Do you mean 'credible'?" Harry asked.

"That was it," Arabella said.

When the post arrived, four letters fell into Arabella's hands. She flipped through them. There was a post card from her Aunt Marge, a bill for Daddy, the promised letter from Juana, and a letter... for Harry. Figuring the letter would anger her irate father more, she pocketed it and her own letter and gave the other to her parents.

"Anything else?" Vernon asked, looking with disinterest at the pieces of mail.

"No, save for the letter from Juana," said Arabella, as lying was one of her greatest talents. She found that she could almost... deflect... another's mind away from something. This did not only work for lying, but some said she could almost make herself invisible. All this meant was that she was a natural Legilimens. She did not have to take classes to learn it. It was connected with telekinesis, which she also was born with.

Vernon grunted and waved her away. She slipped out of the room and to her bedroom. Strange things like people no longer caring happened when she did not want people to know things. She wondered why. Their house was not even old, so it could not be hauntings or anything else equally silly. In fact, her room was in a seven-year old part of the house, because her parents had added this wing when she was born. Instead of a four-bedroom house, they now had six bedrooms. One was hers, one, her parents', one, Dudley's, one, a guest room, one, a room for Dudley's spare toys, and the last one was unused.

Later, Harry came up. She gave him his letter and he eagerly tore into it. He face whitened and he handed it to her without a word. She took it and read the words.

"I know Dudders does not like you, but I never thought he would stoop this low," Arabella commented.

"You know though, I am not sure that it is fake," Harry said shakily. "I have... made things happen. Do you remember, last month, when I was talking to that snake and then the glass disappeared?"

"Come off it. No one talks to snakes. I am sorry that you were so desperate to have someone to talk to-" Arabella was cut off by the pillow he threw at her. She laughed.

Suddenly, there was a faint popping sound and a stern looking woman just... appeared. She had black hair gathered in a bun and green robes on.

"What are the two of you waiting for?" she asked. "Christmas? Come on, we do not have a lot of time." Harry and Arabella just stared at her.

"Erm... who are you?" Arabella said at last.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. Do you want to get your school things or not, Harry?"

"School things?" Harry asked in shock. "I already have everything I need!"

"You will not be needing the things your aunt has bought you. We have very different things at Hogwarts."

"Wha- you mean that letter..." Arabella said.

"I have no time for this. Both of you put some part of your body on this quill," she said. The children, not knowing what else to do, obeyed her and immediately were jerked out of Arabella's room.

The three of them arrived on a street in London in front of a small inn called The Leaky Cauldron. Professor McGonagall immediately led them into the inn, through the crowd, and out the back. There, she took out a stick of wood and tapped a brick on the wall. It fell out and the hole it left widened into an archway.

"Professor, what...?" Arabella began.

"Now I will explain, since we are away from your family. You are both magical. This is not a trick; there are a whole lot of magical people out here, and you are two of them. Arabella, you cannot start using magic until you are eleven, which will be in two years." Minerva went on to explain everything and I am not going to write it here because you know it already. If you do not, go read the books, then come back to this fic. LOL

The three of them toured Diagon Alley. Arabella was mystified when Harry appeared to very interested in the sport Quidditch. She did not really care for sports of any kind. Minerva told them they could not go in though. Harry in turn was confused when she appeared to be obsessed with Flourish and Blotts, and promptly buried herself in a thick potions book.

"You do not want to buy that yet. The Ministry has almost perfected a book of all the potions in the world that magically updates when another one is created. Besides, this is very expensive," Minerva informed her. They left and got Harry's wand.

"I also suggest you buy an owl," Minerva said, pointing at the animals on the page. "They are the postmen in the Wizarding world." Harry chose a beautiful snowy owl, then insisted on buying Arabella one too so they could owl each other. She chose a large, black owl.

"What are you going to name them?" Minerva asked.

"Hedwig," said Harry, who had flipped through A History of Magic and come across the name.

"His Royal Highness seems appropriate," Arabella laughed, looking at the majestic bird. Minerva and Harry laughed. As they headed back to The Leaky Cauldron they suggested all sorts of hilarious names.

"Manuel," Minerva said.

"Khan," Harry laughed.

"Dante," said Arabella. They all laughed.

"I have an idea," Minerva said at last, "Vladimir means prince, so..."

"I like it," Arabella said. They returned to number four, and after a thrown by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon over the owls, they were allowed to go to their rooms. Thanks to Minerva, Harry now had the sixth bedroom, next to Arabella's.

"Isn't it amazing how much more you can accomplish when you have a wand pointed at the head of your opponent?" Harry said, lying back across his new bed. Arabella nodded from where she was stroking Hedwig and HRH Vladimir.

They chatted and attempted spells late into the night. Both slept soundly, knowing that they now had a power that would enable them to break out of the mold. For a moment, life really was good.