Such was the excitement in the Greengrass household that Daphne and Astoria Greengrass were packed and ready to leave before the sun rose on September 1st. Rose Potter was ready as well, but that was more the force of habit than anything else. She had spent the summer living out of her trunk, splitting time between the Dursleys, the Greengrasses, and the Davises. It had been a wonderful summer, easily the best she could remember.

Only her first summer might compete for best ever, but she didn't spend too much time considering that.

Astoria spent breakfast grumbling about how the Express really should leave earlier in the morning. Daphne replied that then the gryffindors would sleep in and miss the train, and then how would the Headmaster award them the House Cup? Rose, having heard Seeker and Chaser both get forcibly woken up that morning, couldn't help but laugh.

As the Greengrasses made sure they were forgetting nothing, Rose approached Lady Greengrass.

"Selena," she began, having only recently gotten into the habit of addressing the Lady Greengrass by her first name. "Thank you again for opening your home to me this summer."

"You always have a home here, Rose." Selena Greengrass replied, a warm smile on her face. "And I don't want to hear anything about paying us back for our hospitality, young lady."

"I, but…" Rose sputtered. How had she known?

Selena laughed. "This wasn't a transaction, Rose. We welcomed you because Lily would have welcomed Daphne and Astoria if the circumstances were reversed." She leaned forward, wrapping Rose in a hug - and smiling again when Rose did not cringe as she would have a year ago. "Rose, Lily Potter might as well have been my sister. And you and Daphne are inseparable. Face it, kid, you're family."

Rose closed her eyes. "I… wow, it's so strange to hear that out loud." She opened her eyes, now growing wet, and looked up at her hostess. "Thank you."

"No, Rose, thank you." Selena gave her another hug. "Now, I think, it's time to get going. The girls will want to step into the floo the instant it opens, I suspect."

Rose laughed. "You're probably right."

Lady Greengrass and Rose Potter entered the floo room to find the Greengrass sisters staring intently at the old grandfather clock next to the fireplace.

The clock read 10:29.

Rose leaned over to Selena. "Should we tell them that the floo at the platform opens at ten o'clock?"

"No it doesn't!" said Astoria. She threw a pinch of powder into the floo, watched them turn their trademark green, and then shouted "Platform Nine and Three Quarters!" The green flames turned immediately red again, signaling that there was no destination, or that the destination was closed.

Selena looked puzzled. "That shouldn't happen." She walked over, seeing that the clock had ticked over to 10:30, and tried herself. Nothing.

Another pinch of powder. "Verdant Imports!" Selena shouted. The flames remained green, and presently Lord Greengrass's head appeared in the flames.

"Honey?" asked Daniel Greengrass. "Are the girls alright?"

"They are," said Selena cautiously. "But I have a very anxious first year who can't seem to get the floo to connect to King's Cross. Could you try?"

"Of course. Give me a moment." The flames went back to red, as Lord Greengrass tried the connection on his end.

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Astoria, clearly starting to panic.

"Then I will side-along you to the platform, and I imagine your father will break away to help get your sister and Rose there as well." Selena hugged her youngest. "Don't worry."

Before she could respond, the flames again turned green, and Lord Greengrass stepped through. Brushing himself off, he looked at his wife.

"I don't know what is happening here, but I know that I can connect to the platform from my office - even stepped through and back. So I'm going to suggest that we bring the girls through to my office, and then send them on to the platform." Daniel looked at the floo, still trying to figure out what had happened. He saw the look on Astoria's face, the complete relief there, and grinned. "Don't worry, Tori, we'll get you on that train."

Lord Greengrass picked up a pinch of floo powder. "Verdant Imports!"

oOoOoOoOo

Amelia watched as the flames turned red once again, before closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm really too old for this nonsense." She muttered.

James Potter chuckled at his friend and her annoyance. "It could be worse, you know. We could be running late."

Susan and Chaser watched as the two adults tried to figure out what had happened to the floo. James had already said that they would just side-along apparate to the platform, leaving plenty of time to solve the puzzle of the broken floo, as Susan had termed it. The turn of phrase had thoroughly annoyed her Aunt Amelia, who enjoyed a good mystery novel when she had the time.

There was a reason she had gone to work for the DMLE, after all. She could not leave a mystery alone. And this was definitely a mystery.

After a few minutes, Susan leaned over to Chaser. "I wonder if that elf messed with the floo."

James and Amelia whipped their heads around, both looking intently at the Heiress Bones. "What elf?" asked James.

Chaser's eyes grew wide. "Well, um, remember when my presents got lost on my birthday?" James nodded, and Amelia now watched her niece, eyes narrowed.

"Well, we may have figured out what happened." Chaser looked sheepish, as he and Susan and Neville had decided not to mention the elf to their parents and guardians. Madam Longbottom would have gotten angry, James would have worried about security around the manor, and Madam Bones would have started an investigation, tipping off the Malfoys in the process.

The look on her face said she that she still might. "Care to tell me what happened, Miss Bones?"

It was Susan's turn to look sheepish. "There was a house elf, who said that Harry shouldn't go back to Hogwarts because there was danger."

"Of course there's danger," said James, earning a glare from Amelia. "I mean, he plays quidditch, after all. And he did kind of incinerate a professor last year, if you'll recall."

Amelia Bones rolled her eyes. "Fair point, I suppose." She looked back at her niece. "Which elf was it, Susan. One of ours?"

She shook her head. Harry saw her eyes go to the floor, and decided to rescue her. "He said his name was Dobby, Auntie."

James reacted first. "MALFOY?" If the floo had been working, Lord Potter would have gone straight to Malfoy Manor, wand in hand.

"Yes, dad, it was a Malfoy elf." Harry said, firmly. "But he couldn't tell us what the danger was, just that there was danger. And that I shouldn't return to school." He shrugged. "That's why he hid my presents and kept my mail, he wanted me to think I had no friends."

"Bloody buggering hell," muttered James. Amelia reached over and smacked the back of his head.

"Language, James."

"Yes, Director," said Senior Auror Potter, abashed.

The clock on the wall struck 10:45 with a gong, earning a glance from Madam Bones.

"Well, you two, don't think I'm going to drop this." Amelia's expression softened. "But for now, you have a train to catch. Grab your trunks, and we'll be on our way."

oOoOoOoOo

Marigold Potter watched as Ginny Weasley scribbled in her new diary. Hope it was worth making us late, she thought. The Weasleys had had to turn around and head back to the Burrow to retrieve the book, after Ginny forgot it. Had the girl not come close to a full-blown panic attack, they might not have bothered - but Ginny was the baby of the Weasley family, and Marigold had argued in favor of the detour as well.

She had seen panic attacks like that. She had had them. No need to make an already stressful day moreso.

They had gotten to the station with ten minutes to spare, and that became five minutes once they got trunks and bags and cages sorted out among the six students.

The twins waited for no one, charging straight through the barrier. Mister and Mrs. Weasley followed closely behind, mainly to make sure that their wayward sons actually got on the train. Percy sighed and walked through with a protesting Ron.

Ginny suddenly looked nervous, but Marigold's hand on her shoulder seemed to calm her down. "You've done this before, Gin. Just walk straight through. I'll be right there with you." Ginny nodded, clearly still worried. But she walked forward, pushing her cart alongside Marigold's.

The crash took both of them by surprise. Then Ginny got another surprise when Marigold began swearing in Goblin.

oOoOoOoOo

Seeker Potter, still on the ground where he had fallen, watched as Ron Weasley brushed himself off. Their carts were in disarray, and his trunk was on its side. The barrier, meanwhile, was unchanged.

Ron walked up and touched the bricks, finding them solid. "Blimey," he said to himself.

"We're going to miss it," Seeker said. The Weasley family had already been running late, and Ron and Harry had been the last of them to attempt to reach the platform. Now they had about five minutes to get on the train, with no way to get past the barrier.

"We've got to do something," said Ron, stacking his trunk back on the cart.

"I know, I know. Give me a second." Seeker closed his eyes, sitting down on the nearby bench. Anyone else having problems with the barrier this morning?

Try out your mage sight, Seeker, and tell me what you see. Spellforged sounded more annoyed than he had been in quite a while, making Seeker think that yes, he was not alone in his problems. Harry stood and quietly said the incantation, making the hand gesture as he did so. The mist fell over his eyes, and the platform lit up with color.

Seeker saw that one of the security guards on the muggle side of the platform had a red glow on his arm - a wand in a holster, probably - and a bright green glow in his jacket pocket. An auror? He filed that away as an option, before turning his attention to the barrier, which glowed with a purple light.

It's purple, he reported.

That'd be elf magic, replied Spellforged. Dobby.

Dobby, agreed Seeker. So now what?

Ron Weasley watched as Harry sat down on the bench, seemingly unconcerned about missing the train. If his parents were coming back out to the muggle platform, he wouldn't have worried, but they were flooing to the alley to have lunch with Bill, who was in town for a few days. They'd be back to get the car later, but by then it'd be too late.

The car. The car!

By this point, Harry had closed his eyes, and seemed to be in some sort of trance. Should have gotten more sleep, mate, thought Ron. "Oi, Harry!"

One eye opened. "Yeah?"

"We can take the car! We just need to fly over top of the train, and follow it to the castle. Easy!"

Harry nodded. "We could do that." He shrugged his shoulders, as if waking up. "Or - and hear me out on this, because it's a little bit off the wall even for me - we could ask that auror to take us to Hogsmeade, and then screw around in the village for the afternoon."

Ron turned, and looked at the security guard. "What, him? He's a muggle, yeah?"

A grin spread across Seeker's face. "Bet you a galleon that he's not."

Ron was tired and worried - and eager to fly the car on his own. "Right, you're on." Harry waved his hand at the man, offering Ron the chance to win his galleon. Ron took the challenge in stride, walking up to the tall dark-skinned man.

"Excuse me, sir, could you help my friend and I?" Ron asked, meekly. "We've missed our train, you see."

Kingsley Shacklebolt looked at the boy in front of him, and then at the bench - where he saw two school trunks, an empty owl cage, and the boy-who-lived. He smiled down at the boy, in his best impression of a muggle copper wasting his time. Just to be safe, though… "Which platform were you looking for, son?"

"Platform 9 and three quarters, sir."

"Ah, well, you should just make it if you go now. Come along." He walked with Ron over to the barrier.

"It's simple, all you need to do is walk through this…. " Kingsley trailed off, as his hand met solid brick. "...solid brick wall. Hang on a minute," he said, confused. Leaning back, he looked at one of the large clocks lining the muggle side of the platform. 10:58. "Well, seems like they closed the barrier a little early today, boys." He reached into his pocket for his muggle-style auror badge.

"Sir," began Harry. "Could you help us floo up to Hogsmeade? We can meet the train there, or walk up to the castle."

Kingsley looked at the boy. Now that the train was almost certainly on its way, the floo was probably their best option. He could side-along apparate them, but two students and their luggage might be a little too much to handle safely on his own. No, the floo would be simplest. And the Leaky Cauldron was an easy walk from King's Cross Station.

"Since the barrier closed on you, and you were here on time after all, I suppose I can get you there." Kingsley wagged a finger at them in mock scolding. "Just remember to arrive early next time, Mister Potter."

Harry nodded, chuckling. "Yes sir, Master Auror, Sir."

"Just Auror, actually. Kingsley Shacklebolt." Harry took his offered hand, shaking it.

"Harry Potter, sir, and this is my friend Ron Weasley." Ron shook hands with the auror as well. Kingsley paused, taking another look at Ron.

"I know your parents, Mister Weasley. Good people."

Ron smiled, sheepishly. "Thank you, sir. And for helping us out."

"It's nothing." Kingsley said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That's why they send one of us out here, just in case. Here, let me check in and then we'll be on our way." With that, he took out his badge to signal the DMLE as to his unscheduled trip to Hogsmeade. As he did so, he saw Ron Weasley reluctantly handing a galleon over to Harry Potter.

oOoOoOoOo

Hermione and Spellforged returned to the same private dining room from breakfast, finding a simple spread of sandwiches and salads. Ragnok did not join them - he was busy trying to find out why every floo in Gringott's seemed incapable of connecting to King's Cross Station that morning.

Hermione took a sandwich and sat down, continuing to read her book. Spellforged took his own seat, closing his eyes again to reach out to the link.

Marigold was the first to check in. Seeker told me that there was an auror on the muggle side of the platform, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Nice man. He took Ginny and I to the Leaky Cauldron, and floo'ed with us to Hogsmeade. Then he walked us up to the castle.

Yeah, he was pretty nice, confirmed Seeker. He showed us where the kitchens are at Hogwarts, since the elves don't serve lunch in the great hall before the students arrive.

You'll both have to tell us how to find our way down there, said Rose. Daphne and Astoria and I made it onto the train, but we had to floo through her dad's office to make it. Spellforged could hear her annoyance. It seems that Dobby blocked the floo where he knew we were, but didn't stop us from flooing somewhere else first.

Well, Auntie Amelia is going to want to have words with that elf, said Chaser. We may have let it slip that we thought he was behind this, and dad almost went to Malfoy Manor right then.

Seeker checked the barrier, it was an elf who blocked it, said Spellforged. We're going to need to have a talk with Dobby.

Agreed, said Rose.

I just hope he gets the hint when we return to Hogwarts, and leaves us alone. Marigold's comments drew groans from Chaser.

Marigold, my dear sister, did you have to say that? Now we know something else will happen. They could hear the chuckle in Chaser's thoughts, but his point was a serious one - none of them knew what Dobby would do next.

"You'll have to teach me how to do that," Spellforged heard Hermione say. He opened his eyes, and saw her watching him.

"How do you mean?" he asked.

She smiled. "You just closed your eyes, and it was like you were somewhere else. I could even see you moving slightly, as if you were having a conversation."

Oh, it's nothing, I was just having a brief meeting with four other versions of myself from parallel universes, no big deal.

To Hermione, he shrugged. "It's actually a muggle technique for meditation, I'll teach you sometime. It helps to organize your thoughts."

"I could use that, sometimes," she admitted, returning to her book. Spellforged stood up, noticing that half an hour had passed during his 'conference'. He went to make himself a sandwich.

oOoOoOoOo

As it turned out, the train ran about half an hour slower that evening, for whatever reason. This resulted in Spellforged and Hermione walking up to the castle on their own. The light, almost misting rain did little to slow them down, as both were eager to get to the castle. Missing the train had not been a huge loss, in the broader scheme of events, but Hermione could tell that he regretted not seeing his cousin.

They stood in the entrance hall, looking at the empty great hall. The tables were set and ready for the start of another year, the candles were floating there as usual, and the banners were clean and bright with their proud house colors. Spellforged turned around, seeing the massive hourglasses that tracked house points. Each house started with the usual 100 points, mainly so that everyone could tell which hourglass was which before the start of term. The gems that tracked those points were almost glittering with color, as if they, too, were eager for the start of the year.

But for all that, the castle felt… empty.

Spellforged watched as Hermione cast a drying charm on her cloak, wondering if she would teach it to him, seeing as they now had some time to kill. Then his eyes went back to the great oaken doors and the courtyard beyond. The rain had gone from a mist to a drizzle, and threatened to turn into a proper rain.

"Hermione, I just got an idea." He ignored her feigned look of annoyance. "Come on, you'll love it. Follow me."

oOoOoOoOo

Erik Sullivan was nervous.

The train ride had been fun, despite the fact that his cousin Harry had been nowhere to be found. He had gone to the back compartment, hoping to find his wayward cousin, but instead found several first years.

One of them had kept to herself for most of the ride, writing in what looked like a notebook or diary of some sort. The red haired girl introduced herself as Ginny Weasley, and said that she wanted to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Then she had gone back to her writing.

A blonde girl found them next. She had been friends with Ginny, as apparently they lived in the same village. Her name was Luna Lovegood, and she was very nice. She even offered him a copy of the Quibbler, her father's newspaper. Never one to say no to free reading material, Erik had accepted the newspaper - and ended up giving the girl a galleon to pay for a subscription by the end of the train ride.

When he asked what house she thought she'd be in, he got a smile in return. "Oh, I'll be in Ravenclaw with you."

"How do you figure that?" He had not said where he hoped to end up, nor had he mentioned his reasons for wanting Ravenclaw.

She nodded to the copy of the Quibbler in front of him. "A hufflepuff would accept a newspaper from a stranger just to be polite, and then put it away. A gryffindor would probably tell me 'No, thanks,' and then chat with their friends. A slytherin would not have sat down in the first place, not with a pair of first years they didn't know. But a ravenclaw? You accepted that newspaper, and then read it immediately. You wanted to know what it said." She smiled at him. "We'll be wearing blue before the night is out."

Another girl had stopped by, looking for Harry, and got trapped in their compartment when the snack trolley came by. "One of the disadvantages of being at the back of the train," Erik had said. He offered his hand to the girl. "Erik Sullivan."

The brunette smiled and returned the handshake. "Astoria Greengrass."

As it turned out, Astoria Greengrass was fairly sure that she would end up in Slytherin, where her sister was a second year. But she was open to the possibility of Ravenclaw, as she loved to read even more than her sister did. And her mother had been in Ravenclaw.

Erik got the impression that his cousin's presence in Ravenclaw had something to do with it as well. Astoria was not the only student they had seen who wanted to meet the boy-who-lived. He could almost picture the eye roll Harry would give him when he recounted the story.

When the train arrived, Harry still had not come and found him. Nor did Erik see him getting into the carriages that carried the older students to the castle. A large man named Hagrid directed the first years to boats, which ended Erik's brief search. He hoped Harry was waiting at the castle.

Erik helped Luna and Ginny into a boat, before climbing in himself. A small boy named Colin Creevey joined them, a muggle camera in his hands. He, too, thought he'd end up in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

As the boats left the dock, Erik chuckled to himself. Ravenclaw is popular this year, he mused. Surely it's a coincidence that Harry wears Blue.

"Watch yer heads!" shouted Hagrid, and the four ducked under some branches. When their boat cleared the pointe, they saw it. Hogwarts, lit up like a million candles in the evening sky. Even the light rain could not ruin the moment.

Erik smiled when he heard Colin's camera clicking. He decided to ask for a copy of that picture later on.

By the time they arrived, several of the first years were shivering in their damp robes. Hagrid led them up the stairs to an antechamber, where they were to wait for the Deputy Headmistress. When they came to the last stretch of stairs, however, they saw a surprise on the first landing. Two Ravenclaws were standing there, a boy and a girl, waving their wands at the first years.

Erik saw Astoria walk past the girl, and a puff of air caught her long hair - which was now dry, to her amazement. Another wave of the wand, and her robes had dried as well. He did not recognize the girl, but the boy - aha.

"Harry!" he said, as he came near. Harry Spellforged heard him, and looked over - a broad grin across his face. He waved, before returning to his drying and warming charms. When it was Erik's turn, Harry dried him off first, before wrapping him in a bear hug.

"Erik - it's good to see you. Train ride go ok?" Harry saw the line behind his cousin, and tried to keep it brief.

"It was brilliant - I already met a few new ravenclaws, I think."

Harry laughed. "Doesn't matter where they put you, kid."

"I know, Dad. We'll talk later, Harry." They both laughed at that, before Harry moved on to the next first year in line.

When all of the first years had been dried off, a tired looking pair of Ravenclaws walked up to the doors at the top of the staircase. Hagrid chuckled at them, before clapping one of his mighty hands on Harry's shoulder. An older witch in dark green robes entered the antechamber at that point, looking with surprise at Harry and Hermione. Hagrid gave Harry a little nudge, and Harry shook his head.

"The firs' years, Per'fessor McGonagall," he said, in his best impression of Hagrid. The first years laughed at him, and even the Deputy Headmistress cracked a bit of a smile.

"Yes, Mister Spellforged, thank you. And you, Miss Granger. Ten points each to Ravenclaw. Now, if you would be so kind, please join your classmates in the Great Hall."

Erik watched his cousin give him a little wave and a thumbs up, before walking through the doors and into Hogwarts. As Professor McGonagall began her speech, Erik smiled. He was home.

A/N: Thus begins Year Two. One of the most consistent compliments I get is that each of the five has their own voice. I hope that comes through in chapters like this, where we have our full company on display - along with some new faces. Unless it's mentioned specifically, most sortings will hew to canon. But I will be playing a bit with that, as I did with Astoria (who is a year older than canon, here, because reasons). As before, you should not need a chart to keep everything straight (though I do).

Verdant Imports is a reference to the Greengrass family law firm in the excellent Novocaine, by StardustWarrior2991, here on ffn. If you're a fan of well-written post-war fics, or a fan of Harry/Daphne as a pairing, then you should be reading that work.

Anything I say about the second prophecy will spoil things, so I'll just say that more clues will be coming. We have plenty of time.

Feedback, as always, is welcome.