Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me(except Reyana and her family and any other characters you don't recognize). It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.
-pays homage to the vastness of Rowling's imagination.-
Wish I could come up with something as cool as Harry Potter!

All my titles in this story will be song titles. It seems to work best for me. Thanks to Led Zeppelin for this one.

The scarlet train pulled into the station with a squeal of metal on metal. Children rushed to the train dragging trunks and cages containing owls and rats. Excited laughter and shouts filled the air as friends separated during the summer holiday greeted each other. The youngest of the children hugged parents goodbye and apprehensively boarded the train that would bear them all to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Standing aloof from the crowd of excited students was Draco Malfoy dressed in a deep blue blazer and khaki slacks. He gave a self pitying sigh and headed for the train. What a mad house. He'd bet that more than half of the students were mudbloods. His lip curled in disgust and he was careful to avoid touching any of them. He swung up into the train and headed for his usual compartment.

"Look who it is." a sneering voice said.

Draco turned and looked at the red haired boy across the narrow hall from him.

He smiled, almost pleased to see the boy.

"Weasel! Looks like you're robes are too short. Oh. I forgot. You wore those robes last year too. Too poor to buy new ones."

The boy turned as red as his hair and he lunged forward.

Draco laughed and drew his wand. He'd missed tormenting the Golden Trio.

"Ron! No!" a feminine voice shouted, and a hand yanked him back.

"Ah mudblood Granger." he drawled. "Looks like the Death Eaters missed one. I'll have to remedy that."

He narrowed his eyes. If he could've, he would have cursed her, but he didn't want to risk getting expelled.

"Well," he yawned, "I've better people to associate with." He turned to go, but decided on one prank. He whispered a word and pointed his wand at the Weasel and a huge spider appeared on the boy's shoulder.

He laughed as screams echoed down the train.

Ahh... Hogwarts!

Dressed in a black sweater and long black skirt, Reyana waited next to the door for her ride. Her eyes were dull and her skin paler than usual. Her suitcases sat next to the window mocking her. Everything that she got to keep was in those 4 suitcases. She looked around at her home. The china cabinet filled with Wedgwood and Royal Worcester, the family portraits hung on almost every wall, her mother's prized herb garden on the windowsill above the kitchen sink, the crayon marks on the wall in the den from little Ryan. This was her home and she had no choice but to leave it all behind. A hot tear slid down her cheek, but she brushed it away angrily. She was done crying. She was sick of sympathy. A firm knock resounded, and Reyana took a deep breath to steady herself. This was it. She opened the door to reveal a tall man with longish black hair and a large distinguished nose. He smiled rather hesitatingly at her.

"I'm Severus Snape. I'm terribly sorry."

Reyana could tell that he meant it. She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Thank you."

He nodded curtly as if embarrassed by his show of compassion. He picked up her suitcases and took them to the long sleek black car that waited at the curb. She noticed that he was wearing black robes like the men who had taken charge of the... bodies. Was this some sort of new trend? Severus opened the door for her and she slid into the cool interior. He climbed in next to her and told the driver to depart. They rode in silence, Reyana watching her home disappear behind her. She stoically watched the traffic passing by until she noticed that the car seemed to always be at the front of the line at every light. That couldn't be possible! She knew that they'd been behind that charcoal gray Bentley before. She wrinkled her nose and payed very close attention. Yes, she was right. The car seemed to magically jump ahead of the cars.

"What the hell?" she asked in bewilderment.

Severus turned to her, surprise in his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"The car, it's always in front! That's impossible." she told him.

He relaxed, "Oh, it's a Ministry car. They all come equipped this way."

"Ministry? Of what?" Reyana was very confused.

"of Magic of course." he said calmly.

Reyana snorted. Un-be-leive-able! This 2nd cousin was obviously not quite right in the head.

"Hah. Hah. Magic isn't real." she spoke with conviction.

He blinked at her in honest surprise and leaned forward.
"You don't know."

"Know what?" she replied innocently. This was getting weirder by the second. She didn't think she wanted to live with a man who thought that magic was real.

Severus muttered under his breath several foul words. All Reyana caught was

"Damn fool lawyer!"

Reyana cleared her throat, and he jerked a little.

"Magic is real." he told her. Seeing the look of utter disbelief on her face, he held up a hand. "Hear me out. Magical ability is a trait, just like being born with green eyes. Those with this talent are trained at special schools and live among the non-magical folk. We keep ourselves a secret because of reactions like yours and because of things like the witch burnings." he paused for breath.

Reyana felt ill. He was totally convinced. This was impossible. Her family and friends were dead and she was carted off to live with a madman.

"Please stop." she pleaded. "I don't want to deal with this."

He nodded in acquiescence and pulled out a slender piece of polished wood from his robes.

Oh no. She thought sarcastically. What is this? His magic wand?

He held it up and muttered a word under his breath, and singing birds flew out the end of his wand. One of them lighted on Reyana's finger.

Her eyes opened wide in astonishment and she tentatively touched the bird resting on her finger. It was real. Not some sleight of hand trick. Reyana trembled and looked up at Severus with huge eyes.

He waved his wand and murmured a word and the birds disappeared. Without so much as looking at her, he said another word and changed the color of her hair to a brilliant pink.

Reyana gasped in surprise and narrowed her eyes at Severus. He was grinning like a schoolboy.

"Sorry." he muttered, embarrassed again at his show of feeling.

"I like it." she decided mischievously "Can I keep it?"

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

She smiled at him.

"Alright. I believe you. But bear in mind that I'm sleep-deprived and nearly mad with grief."

He nodded, the ghost of a smile touching his lips.

Reyana sighed, more content then she'd been in the week since her world has shattered. She liked Cousin Snape. Sure he needed to loosen up, but he was a teacher and kids could do that to you. A sudden thought occurred to her.

"You're a teacher. What do you teach?"

"Potions." he replied and stared out the window for a moment.

Reyana was about to laugh and decided not to. What if magic was real and you could cast spells on people and make magic potions? She smiled to herself. That would be cool. Like a real life fairytale.