A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the delay in updates...! I literally beg your forgiveness on bended knee! If you could only see me now, pathetically kneeling on my bedroom carpet... Forgive me?
I actually had this chapter ready for a while now (really! Ask Nightcrawler if you don't believe me!), but between finishing last minute uni assignments – oops! Pretend I didn't just say that – and flying back home for the holidays, I kinda lost track of time and forgot to actually upload the chapter! This isn't an excuse, I promise! In all honesty, it's too stupid to be an excuse, and completely the sort of thing I'm infamous for.
Ernie: We. All. Know. How. Stupid. You. Can. Be. Cinammon. Let's. Get. On. With. The. Show.
Right you are Ernie! ::hangs head in shame::
Ernie: Thanks. Go. To. Mcgirl.
Thanks for the kind words. Enjoy the rest of the story!
Ernie: CharmingStar.
Is that a new name I spy, Alex? I like it! And your vote of confidence means a lot, thank you.
Ernie: Winter. Blaze.
You're absolutely right, darling! Snape and Draco aren't very happy about Talia's sorting, but they don't really have a choice, they have to accept it!
My decision to put Wyatt in Gryffindor, never wavered, but my decision to put Talia in Gryffindor too, did not come lightly. I was very, very tempted to put her in Slytherin and use Wyatt as her only contact to Harry and the gang. But I felt that the gang's prejudice - Ron's prejudice in particular – against Slytherins, couldn't be ignored. Not knowing Talia from before (the train doesn't count), I just can't see them become all chummy with Slytherin! And they have to be relatively close for what's to follow. I even briefly thought of putting Talia in Ravenclaw, in a, neither-here-nor-there gesture, that would allow her contact with all sides. But that would mean introducing a whole lot of new characters, and I was too lazy to do that! In the end, I decided that her relationships with Snape and Draco had already been established enough, to survive – albeit with difficulty – her sorting into Gryffindor.
Ernie: The. Lovely. Anna.
My, my what nice compliments! Yes, as you can see, they do start classes in this, though you don't see them during lesson times. This isn't a very exciting chapter, but I thought it was rather fun! It serves to set the relationships between the characters. They're still children after all!
Ernie: Triquetraperson.
I'm glad you liked that part! Her argument with the sorting hat was my favourite part of that chapter too! And yes, you're absolutely right, that is exactly like her!
Ernie: Svata2004.
The "right" houses, huh? I'm glad you think so. I was rather nervous about unveiling the houses. I thought people might be upset I've placed Talia in Gryffindor, when she so obviously belongs in Slytherin.
Ernie: The. Incredibly. Insightful. Nexos23.
Incredibly insightful is putting it mildly, Ernie! You've hit the nail on the head, my friend! If any original character ever belonged in Slytherin, it's Talia, but I badly needed her to be close to the Golden Trio for the rest of the story. I didn't think there was a way of them ever letting her in if she was a Slytherin, so I found myself wondering how I'd ever make it seem credible that she ends up in Gryffindor! I picked the most cunning, Slytherin, self-serving, way I could think of, and made the whole exchange as amusing as possible to slip it past you, and make it seem natural that she end up where she did. But you're way too smart for me and worked it out anyway. Yes, the argument with the Sorting Hat was nothing but a plot devise to make Talia's sorting sound credible. I'm glad you think it worked!
Ernie: Asian. Orchid.
You've used one of my favourite quotes! "Where there's a will, there's a way," indeed! "Carpe diem" is another good one. Talia is familiar with both of these. In fact, you could say that she lives by them. Good ol' Hogwarts has no idea what's in store for it!
Ernie: The. Brilliant. Ori.
If you insist on calling me a fanfic goddess, then I'll have to insist on calling you... the review goddess! I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter! This one may not be as interesting, but it should present a brief chance of getting to know the characters before... the rest of the story happens.
Balancing Talia is really hard. We just have to remember that's easily tempted by the darkness, and not just occasionally, but all the time! She's also stubborn and pig-headed, and she's decided to be "good". She can be frivolous and flippant, but those she does care about, her family, most notably her father and Wyatt, she cares for deeply and passionately. There's also a grace and elegance about her, that I can only envy. Walking "the constant tightrope that destiny has assigned her" is a very good description, well done. "Danger attracts danger"? Ha! Funny you should say that...
Ernie: Songwithoutwordz.
Feel free to say that you like this story as many times as you want, lol! You might have to wait a little for Draco's reaction (i.e. it's not in this chapter, I'm afraid), but I'm pretty sure at this point, that he's got a few things to say on the subject!
Ernie: Charmedsisters.
What good is being half-Charmed, and Princess of the Underworld, if you can't use your many and powerful skills in getting what you want...? ::sigh:: I wish I was a little more like Talia...
Ernie: Charmed148.
No worries! I'm glad you like the story!
Ernie: And. Thank. You. For remembering. Me. In. Your. Review.
And finally...
Ernie: The. Incredible. Mixer.
Oh my! Such kind words! Keep it up and I won't know what to do with all these compliments!
But don't let that stop you...
Thank you. I work hard for my character development and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm rather pleased with it! Goodness knows, I spend way too much time on it!
I really am very fond of Talia when she goes all Princess-of-the-Underworld on us. Almost as much as when she goes all kicking-ass on us! I'm rather happy to report that there's a rather large amount of both to come!
Ernie's growing up rather nicely, isn't he? I think I make a rather good laptop parent. I give him frequent virus checks and I even had my brother run a defragging on him yesterday!
..oo00oo..
Err... I tend to get carried away in my author's notes, don't I? Oh well, you could have skipped over all that rubbish...
One last thank you, before I let you get on with the chapter. Thank you Nighcrawler! You really are the best beta a girl could ask for!
..oo00oo..
Chapter 17: Settling in
Life at Hogwarts had begun without a hitch.
Wyatt and Talia found to their pleasure that their summer lessons had paid off and they were more or less at the same level as their fellow classmates in wizarding education. If anything, they found their lessons slightly boring. You see, even though they were constantly being taught new things, the learning pace was much slower than what they had gotten used to throughout the summer. But the magic world was still relatively new to them and there was much to learn about it and to keep them amused. They enjoyed the company of their new friends most of all.
..oo00oo..
"Lunch!" announced Ron happily before opening the doors to the Great Hall. He said it as if he hadn't eaten for days.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Is he always like this?" Talia asked, grinning.
"Pretty much," said Harry.
"Always," Hermione corrected. "There're three things that Ron loves more than anything in this world," the curly-haired witch said. "Food, quidditch and..."
She looked at Harry.
"Food!" they said together, before bursting into laughter.
The exchange betrayed fond familiarity and made Talia smile. It seemed to be an old, running joke between the three of them.
"Hey!" shouted Ron in mock indignation, "I care about other things too, you know!"
But his friends just laughed at him as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.
"I'll have you know Talia," he said to her, ignoring Harry and Hermione, "that I'm a deep and cultured person, once you get to know me."
Hermione hastily hid a smile. Harry didn't bother, he snorted openly.
"Thanks for your support, mate," Ron said sarcastically, pretending to be upset, before stuffing a chicken leg in his mouth.
Talia laughed at his reaction.
"Don't be such a baby, Ron!" she said, ruffling his hair playfully.
Ron put up a face that looked both betrayed and gob-smacked. It was an admirable feat, considering his mouth was still full of chicken.
"'ice fwends you are!" he said to Harry and Hermione, trying to pout with his mouth full. He glared at them, but everyone could tell he wasn't serious, "you turn," he said, spraying the table with chicken ("Ron!" Hermione screeched), "evewybody againsht me! She's only known me faw a few days and she thinksh I'm a prat alweady."
Harry put his hands up in mock-surrender; Hermione grimaced in disgust at Ron's atrocious table manners, while Talia laughed at the redhead's attempts to speak around the food in his mouth.
"Ginny, Wyatt! Over here!" waved Hermione to their friends, when she saw them from across the room.
Ginny and Wyatt walked up to them and took their seats around the table.
"Guess what guys!" Ginny said excitedly, "you know how we were wondering who this year's DADA teacher is and why he wasn't at the welcoming feast...?" She didn't wait for an answer. "It's Professor Lupin!" she announced triumphantly.
"Really?" asked Harry, looking up interestedly.
"That's fantastic!" agreed Hermione enthousiastically.
"Yeah! Turns out, that Dumbledore had so many complains about the other DADA teachers he's had in the past few years, that he had to bring Professor Lupin back... by popular demand!
"'at's gonderful!" agreed Ron.
Ginny nodded eagerly. "Isn't it?"
"Who's Professor Lupin?" asked Talia.
"The new DADA teacher," answered Wyatt.
Talia rolled her eyes at him.
"I guessed that much Wyatt."
Realising his mistake, Wyatt grinned wryly and tried to make up for it.
"We've just had him in class and he seems pretty good, Tal."
"Professor Lupin's the best DADA teacher we've ever had!" Hermione tried to explain. "He was here four years ago, in our third year."
"Well, if he was so good, why didn't he stay?" asked Talia.
"Yeah, I meant to ask about that," added Wyatt.
The two cousins looked at their friends expectedly, but they seemed unwilling to answer their question. It was Harry who finally answered.
"Professor Lupin's a werewolf," he said quietly. "When people found out, some parents complained and threatened to take their children out of school."
"That's why he wasn't at the welcoming feast. Because it was the day after the full moon," explained Ginny.
Talia looked at Wyatt and he simply shrugged and spoke for both of them.
"People will always be afraid of what's different," the younger boy said with wisdom beyond his years. "It's in their nature. Personally, after the stories I've heard about the previous DADA teachers in this school, I'm rather glad we'll have someone that's actually good at it this year."
Talia nodded in agreement and she was glad to see the others relax.
"Professor Lupin was a friend of my parents," admitted Harry, "and the rest of us consider him our friend, too."
"We knew a werewolf once," Talia said, referring to one of their adventures of a few months ago. "Remember, Wyatt?"
"Yeah. I felt sorry for him. I doubt it's very pleasant being a werewolf."
"It looked kinda painful to me," agreed Talia.
"Professor Lupin always seems tired," added Ron, this time remembering to swallow before speaking.
"And he's prematurely grey," added Ginny.
"But I'm really glad he's back," said Harry firmly, putting an end to the discussion.
"Hey Harry, can you pass the potatoes please?" asked Dean, oblivious to their previous conversation.
Harry passed the potatoes to Talia who passed them on to Dean.
"So how are you guys finding Hogwarts?" Dean asked her, taking the platter of potatoes from her.
"So far, so good!" Talia answered cheerfully.
"Good!" said Seamus on Dean's other side, taking the potatoes to serve himself, "the more pretty girls in Gryffindor, the better!"
He winked at her and Talia flashed him a blinding smile in return.
"Flirting again Finnegan?" Harry teased, having followed their conversation.
Parvati, across from Seamus, snorted.
"Seamus, you couldn't flirt if your life depended on it!"
"Hey!" he protested, "that's not what you said last year, when we were dating!"
Parvati put her nose up in the air.
"Even I make mistakes, Seamus!" she teased haughtily.
Seamus looked hurt.
"Never mind Seamus," Talia consoled, "I happen to think that your Irish accent is very sexy!"
Ginny, sitting a few seats down, chocked on her food at Seamus' expression.
"There!" he said, grinning triumphantly, pointing at Talia, "a girl with taste!"
"I happen to think that your Irish accent is very sexy, Seamus..." Dean parroted next to him in a high, squeaky voice, batting his eyes at his Irish friend.
Seamus shuffled cautiously away from his friend.
"Err... I know I'm irresistible and all, and I hate to break it to you mate, but I don't bend that way."
Lavender and Parvati across from them, giggled at Dean's thunderstruck expression.
"Oi!" complained Ron between bites, "I have to share a room with that prat! Don't put ideas in my head!"
Neville's eyes widened. He had watched the conversation around him quietly so far.
"What's wrong, big brother?" asked Ginny, getting into the spirit of things, sparing a mischievous glance at Talia, "afraid that your virtue might be in danger from Dean over here?"
Ron looked at Neville and they both blanched at Ginny's insinuation. Hermione laughed outright at Ron's and Neville's nauseated expressions.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm as straight as they come!" protested Dean.
Talia took pity on him.
"You look cute when you're embarrassed, did you know that?" she said leaning on his arm, batting her own long eyelashes at him.
He couldn't help but smile back at her.
"She on the other hand," commented Lavender, pointing at Talia, "has got the flirting part down to a 'T'!"
Talia performed a half-bow as best as she could, considering she was sitting down.
"You don't know the half of it!" mumbled Wyatt.
The rest turned to look at him questioningly.
"Well, how am I supposed to play the overprotective cousin, when I can't even keep up with who she's dating every week?!" he said exasperatedly.
"Hey!" protested Talia.
"It's hard, mate, isn't it?" said Ron, placing an arm around Wyatt's shoulders in sympathy and looking pointedly at Ginny. "They don't make it easy on us," he sighed tiredly.
Ginny scowled and flicked a pea from her plate to her brother's across the table, with deadly accuracy. Talia, slightly more direct - and more violent - leaned across the table and smacked both Ron and Wyatt on the back of the head.
..oo00oo..
Over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy, surrounded by his cronies, couldn't help but notice the Gryffindor table explode with laughter around the girl that he just couldn't get out of his head.
"Do you want some potatoes, Draco?" Pansy simpered next to him, hanging on his arm as if for dear life.
Draco didn't deign to give her a verbal answer, simply flicking his hand in a dismissive gesture that said it all. Perhaps he hoped that Pansy would finally take the hint and leave him alone, but the irritating girl simply put the potatoes down and daintily placed food in her own mouth while staring dreamily up at him. She never even let go of his arm.
Draco wrapped an elegant hand around his goblet and brought it to his lips, never once straying from watching the laughing Gryffindors across the room.
..oo00oo..
"Oh no! Not another one!" said Ron dramatically the moment he walked into the Gryffindor common room.
Harry and Hermione, who were following their friend, turned to see what had caused Ron's exclamation, only to see a girl comfortably curled up on a crimson armchair with a big book. Harry sniggered looking back at Hermione.
"There's nothing wrong with someone wanting to read, Ron! You would do well to read yourself once in a while." she complained.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."
"Need I remind you that this is our N.E.W.T. year?"
Harry's attention wandered back to the girl on the armchair. He was tired after a long day of lessons and his Legilimency lessons with Snape. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to Ron and Hermione bickering – again!
He moved over to stand right above the girl in the armchair, trying to look in over her shoulder. She still didn't seem to notice his presence. Harry smiled, Talia and Wyatt had become part of the group so quickly, that it still astounded him! They weren't quite as good friends to him as Ron, Hermione, and even Ginny, were - of course - but they had become good friends nonetheless. It was good to see someone so far removed from all the bad things that were currently going on around him in the wizarding world. The two cousins were simple students enjoying their way through a magical education, he thought. The way he might have been, if things were different. He didn't begrudge them their ignorance of the ongoing war.
Harry looked down at the open pages of the book. He blinked and looked again. He rubbed his eyes and looked a third time, but it seemed to make no difference. The page was covered in lots of tiny little characters that Harry did not recognise. He frowned. If they were runes they weren't any he was familiar with...
"Talia...?" he said.
It didn't seem to have any effect on the girl who was so utterly absorbed in what she was reading, that she seemed to be lost in a world all of her own. He resisted the urge to snort. It was such a typically Hermione-thing to do!
"Talia?" he tried again, only louder.
"TALIA!"
He got through to her this time.
"Hello Harry," she smiled up at him, completely unperturbed, "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"
"I was wondering what you were reading," he admitted. "It doesn't look like homework."
"It's not." She looked back down at the book on her lap. "Ever heard of Homer's Odyssey?"
"Who?"
"Homer," said Hermione from behind him. Ron and her had given up on their bickering and were now happy to join the conversation. "He was reputedly the greatest bard of all time."
Talia nodded, her eyes glittering in the firelight. Hermione elaborated to Talia's pleasure.
"He lived thousands of years ago in ancient Greece. He was blind, but his talent for storytelling made him famous. His most popular works are called The Iliad and Odyssey. They're still read today and considered to be two of the greatest classics of all time."
"Is that one of those two?" asked Ron, observing suspiciously the enormous tome.
"This is the Odyssey. The Iliad is, in a way, its prequel. The Iliad talks about the Trojan War." Talia's voice softened as it took on the tone of storytelling. "It tells the story of how the Greeks set out from home to fight a bloody war against Troy, a far away kingdom. The war lasted for ten whole years. This book here, the Odyssey, follows one of these Greeks', journey home after the war. This man, Odysseus, King of Ithaca, angered the ancient gods, and in retaliation, they put many obstacles on his way to his homeland. It took him twenty years from the end of the war to get back to his wife and son."
"Wow! Thirty years! That's a long time to be away from home..."
Talia nodded at Ron smiling softly.
"May I?" asked Hermione reaching out for Talia's book. "I've read the abbreviated version of the story before, but never the whole thing."
Ron and Harry gaped at their best friend. Did Hermione just confess to reading the abbreviated version of a book?
Unthinkingly Talia passed the book to her. Harry watched Hermione to see what she would make of the funny writings on the pages.
"Err...Talia, this isn't in English, is it?"
Talia seemed startled.
"Ah yes, of course not. Sorry Hermione, I forgot. It's in ancient Greek actually. I'm pretty fluent in the language, I didn't even realise."
"You speak ancient Greek?" asked Ron, obviously surprised. His mouth hang startlingly open.
"I speak modern Greek," Talia corrected. "When one speaks modern Greek, ancient Greek's relatively easy. My father used to take me on holiday to Greece every summer when I was little. That's were I learnt it. Both the modern and the ancient versions of the language."
That wasn't true. Not really. She had learnt modern Greek at Pontikonissi, but it was her father's lessons in the deepest recesses of the Underworld that had taught her ancient Greek. Ancient Greek, a language wildly different than its modern counterpart, was a language as useful as Latin for many of the dark incantations. Draco would have known that, Talia involuntarily thought, then stubbornly chased that thought away from her mind.
The trio seemed to accept her explanation easily enough though, and Talia had to resist the urge to grin smugly at this display of her lying skills.
"Hey, Ron!"
They all turned towards the source of that call to see a blond boy sitting next to Ginny Weasley. They seemed to have been playing Wizard's chess, but it was obvious from the board and her expression, that Ginny had lost spectacularly.
"I've been told you're the Gryffindor chess champion," challenged Wyatt, "Care for a game?"
Ron grinned at this.
"Ah, fresh blood!" he said blissfully, rubbing his hands together. "Get ready to lose my young friend," he said rolling his sleeves up.
Harry left with him, but Hermione stayed behind with Talia talking about books.
Ron was delighted to find Wyatt a more worthy adversary than Harry in chess. Not good enough to beat him at it, of course, but definitely able to give him more of a challenge. It wasn't long before the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors surrounded them. It was a Friday night, and there wasn't much else to do. Besides, the common room was warm and cosy, and company was good.
"So what do you think of Hogwarts, Wyatt?" asked Ron.
"It's great!" enthused the other boy with a grin. "I never thought I'd get to attend a magic school and there are so many things to get used to, I'm still reeling!"
Harry chuckled.
"I know what you mean, mate. I was the same when I first came here."
"What do you like best about it, Wyatt?" asked Ginny kindly.
"I know I'm going to sound like such a geek, but I just can't get around all the subjects we're studying."
"Geek?" asked Lavender, not familiar with the American term and, being a pureblood, severely lacking in television-provided education.
"A geek, a nerd, a school-obsessed, homework-junkie who lacks any semblance of a normal life outside the classroom," said Talia in an 'innocent' attempt to help.
"Thanks Tal," said Wyatt sarcastically while Ginny giggled next to him, "but I think they got it at 'nerd'."
"You know me," Talia answered cheerfully, "just trying to help!"
Ron frowned.
"What's so fascinating about the school subjects?"
"Yeah, you're scaring us mate," said Seamus and shuddered.
"Well, you all know that Talia and I attended a muggle school before, right? The only magic training we've ever had was from our parents and aunts. In school we studied things like maths, geography, chemistry, biology... I still can't believe I'm doing charms and potions in school!"
The pure-blooded witches and wizards looked confused, but those who had some sort of experience with muggle education, mainly the muggleborns and half-bloods, knew exactly what Wyatt was talking about. Harry and Hermione shared a look over Ron and Ginny's confused heads.
"Maths?" repeated Ron.
"Chemistry?" enquired Ginny.
"What's biology?" asked Neville interestedly, joining the conversation.
"Subjects in muggle schools are very different than here, for obvious reasons. I know what you mean Wyatt. I've been here for seven years and I'm still having trouble believing it," said Hermione grinning.
"What's your favourite subject, Wyatt?" Harry asked.
"Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid," he answered without a moment's hesitation.
Harry grinned.
"Hagrid's great, isn't he? Lupin's pretty good too!"
Ron and Ginny nodded vigorously.
"Professor Trelawny was great!" said Parvati dreamily and Lavander nodded to show she agreed. The professor had returned after Umbridge's departure but now only taught students of OWL level and below.
"And Professor Firenze's great too, of course," Lavender supplied just as dreamily and both she and Parvati giggled. The centaur had remained at Hogwarts teaching only N.E.W.T. level divination.
Hermione snorted and the two girls glared at her. Hermione's opinion of Divination in general, and of Professor Trelawny in particular, was well known.
"Professor Sprout's my favourite," contributed Neville shyly. "Herbology's my best subject."
"Flitwick's ok, I guess," Seamus said.
"Morgan," said Dean emphatically.
"Muggle studies?" Harry asked him.
Dean nodded.
"But...you're muggleborn," protested Seamus.
Dean grinned.
"That's why I'm so good at muggle studies!"
Ginny laughed. She and Dean might no longer be going out, but they had remained good friends.
"Hagrid and Professor Lupin are wonderful of course," said Hermione agreeing with her closest friends, "but my favourite teacher's Professor McGonagall."
Ron snorted and it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Harry took one look at Hermione's reddening face and decided to disrupt their bickering before it even started.
"Who's your favourite Professor, Talia?"
Talia raised her eyes from the book she was reading. She had seemed more interested in her book than their discussion, towards the end, but that didn't mean that she hadn't been paying attention.
"Professor Snape," she answered without the slightest hesitation and without looking up from her book.
The Gryffindors simply stared. And it was the shocked silence that finally made her look up.
"What?" He's not that bad!"
But her friends continued to stare. Some of them, Ron in particular, actually blinked in disbelief at her pronouncement.
"I happen to like Potions very much and I'm good at it," Talia attempted to explain. "Snape knows what he's talking about and I always find his lessons interesting."
Silence followed this comment too.
"... Snape?!" asked Ron finally in obvious shocked disbelief.
Talia shrugged before going back to her reading.
"She's an odd bird, that one," Ron whispered to his friends.