Author's Note: Well, there goes that weekly cadence in a hurry... Sorry about that. New term started and stuff just got incredibly hectic. Also, I hate this chapter. Legitimately hate. Wish to give it physical form just so that I could set it on fire. It's kind of an awkward chapter. It's the end of Juvia's school year, so there's not much that happens here. Looking forward to writing the next chapter, but this one is just meh. I also need to revise it a fair bit. Some of these sections are just kinda ick and need a rewrite, but it's one of those cases where if I have to look at it again right now, I will scream. So yeah, fair warning, this chapter will be updated later. I'll add a note when I do. Also, woo! First year done! Just six more to go... I did say this was going to be a long story when I started, didn't I?

CHAPTER NINE

Sunlight at Hogwarts

Light creeping into her dorm room woke Juvia the next morning - not the harsh light of a rising sun as the Slytherin dorms were, like the Common Room, jutting out deep beneath the lake's surface, but a gentle light that meandered its way down through the lake's murky water to her window to stir her from her bed. She sat up in her bed and stayed bundled in her blanket as she watched in entranced silence the fish and plants on the other side of the glass, able to see them for the first time as the lake sang out for her.

Nearly half an hour passed in contended silence before the other girls in the dorm stirred awake. If anyone noticed her awake, they made no show of it. They said nothing to her as they got ready for the morning and left the dorm. Minerva Orland was out of the room first, shortly followed by Sorano Angel and Briar Blackthorn. Evergreen Oakleaf stuck around a little longer, but a few minutes later she was gone as well.

When the room was once more left in stillness and silence, Juvia emerged from the safety and comfort of her blankets and readied herself for the day. When she arrived at the Common Room some time later, Gajeel was waiting for her. He nodded a greeting in response to her cherry "Good morning", and the two left the Common Room to head to the Great Hall, taking the path that passed by as many windows as possible, Juvia staring up at the bright blue sky at every opportunity she could.

Even at breakfast, they didn't speak much. Juvia switched between glancing over at the Gryffindor table and browsing over their next chapters of the Defense Against the Dark Arts book, while Gajeel devoured everything in sight, only speaking to tell her to eat something.

Once breakfast was over, the two of them headed towards their classroom. When Juvia turned a corner and spotted the Gryffindor first years walking just ahead, she ducked back around the corner and peered around it cautiously, picking out Gray in the group. He was smirking at something the Loke boy was saying.

"The hell ya doing, Raindrop?" Gajeel asked as he leaned over to peer around the corner as well. "They never teach ya stalking is bad at that abbey of yers?"

"Juvia isn't stalking," she protested. "She's just... observing."

"Observing. Right. Gryffindors? Really?"

"It's not," she paused, finding that the words weren't coming easily. "Juvia's just... he probably hates her."

Gajeel frowned. "Who?"

"Gray."

"The Fullbuster brat?" She nodded. "Did he say something? I can hex his hair or something if he did. He seems like the sort that'd care about his hair."

She shook her head quickly. "No, he didn't. Well, he did, but Juvia wasn't... He told Juvia about the Houses before she was Sorted. He said that Slytherins were evil. And now..."

"Now, yer a Slytherin. Ya think he's going to think the same about you?"

"Juvia doesn't know," she sighed.

"So what if he does?"

"She's worried. He's the one that made the rain go away." He looked at her, once pierced eyebrow arched. "The spell needed a memory. A happy one. Juvia used the one from when she met Gray at Ollivander's."

"Why didn't ya use meeting me?"

"You kicked Juvia," she said with a glare at him.

"Fair enough. So, yer using that memory. What about it?"

"She's worried that if he hates her now, she won't be able to use it again and the rain will return."

"So yer solution is just t'avoid him until ya both leave Hogwarts?"

"Juvia didn't say it made sense."

"Good, 'cause it don't. C'mon, Raindrop, or we'll be late."

"It's just Defense Against the Dark Arts. No need to hurry," she muttered.

"Now, Raindrop," he pushed her gently forward, though he did keep his pace slow to let the Gryffindors go in first. With a sigh, she trudged her way to class.

It was a wonder how perfectly insignificant something like end of year exams seemed when compared to learning how to quell the storms that had plagued her all her life.

While all of Slytherin seemed in a constant state of panic that week, the Common Room a mess of books and frantic students, Juvia was perfectly calm and collected as she curled close to the window, singing softly with the lake.

Gajeel, for his part, seemed equally unconcerned with the remaining exams. He had panicked briefly over the Potions and Herbology exams, but after a few study sessions with Juvia, he had relaxed considerably. He had taken both that morning and passed easily enough. The only exams remaining were Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, and neither were concerned with either. Loathe as she was to admit it, Professor Jose's training sessions had improved her skills drastically. Even Professor Gildarts had seemed impressed with her improvement over the year. She still couldn't hold a candle to Gajeel in either subject, but she still managed to be among the best students in either subject. The exams were just formalities now.

Trying to escape the chaos and tension of their House, the pair had retreated to their usual spot that afternoon, safe and secure behind the great tapestry.

"Quidditch equipment shed?" Gajeel muttered as he leaned back against the glass, arms folded over his chest and scowl set deep on his face.

"Juvia thinks Mister Erigor, at the very least, would notice. She's pretty sure that there's not a place in Hogwarts that you can hide that they won't check. She thinks you're going to have to go home for the summer."

"You don't understand, Raindrop!" he groaned, arms thrown into the air as he straightened, pulling away from the window. "It's just going to be me and her. For the entire summer. She's going to keep me locked up in that rotting mausoleum the entire time. I'll go mad before fall hits."

"Juvia would offer to let you stay with her at the abbey, but she's fairly certain that the Sisters would notice," Juvia said with a sympathetic smile at the boy before turning back to the lake, peering out into the murky green water beyond the glass. She couldn't see very far into the lake, the water too cloudy to see much beyond the pane, but every so often, she though she glimpsed something large swimming in the shallows. Juvia frowned and pressed up closer to the glass, squinting to better see, but all she saw was the green lake beyond.

They stayed in silence for a few moments, Juvia's focus on the lake and Gajeel's focus on the ceiling above. After a few minutes of quiet between them, the boy finally sighed. "Forget it, I'll just hide under the bed."

"We do check there, Mister Redfox," came the droll response from Professor Precht as he pulled back the tapestry.

Gajeel yelped at the sudden appearance as he jumped up in the seat, earning a smirk from Juvia. The boy shot a glare at her. "Not a word, Raindrop."

"Juvia wasn't going to say a thing," she replied sweetly with as innocent a smile she could muster.

"Miss Lockser, the Headmaster wants a word. I assume you know the way." Juvia nodded. "Very good. Mind that you don't dawdle," he said before letting the tapestry fall back into place.

When the professor was gone, as far as they could tell at any rate, Gajeel leaned in and asked in a hushed tone. "What do ya think he wants?"

Juvia shook her head. "Juvia doesn't know. He hasn't sent for her in months, and she can't think of anything she's done to warrant calling her now," she replied with a frown. "She best get going. She'll see you later, Gajeel." The boy nodded at her, and she scrambled out from the window seat and its protective tapestry. She made her way carefully through the Common Room, dodging an errant charm that ricocheted off an imposing grandfather clock and picking her way past of pile of textbooks in the center of the room that seemed to be just begging for one good spark to start a decent bonfire, a spark that Juvia was fairly certain Gajeel would supply before she returned.

Once free from the chaos of the Common Room, she headed up the stairs out of the dungeon, her nerves a mix of apprehension and anticipation. Since the day she finally cleared the sky, she hadn't been called once to the Headmaster's office. Part of her rather regretted that. She was fond of the diminutive Headmaster. He'd always sit with her for a bit after every lesson, trying to cheer her up after each failure and keep her mind off of the rain that pounded against the tower. He'd ask after how she was doing, what sort of spells she was learning, what her favorite subjects were. It was nice. Almost familial, not that she really had any experience with families, but she imagined that's what it'd be like. She sometimes wished she could stop by for a cup of tea and a chat, particularly when the other girls were being nastier than normal or when she was frustrated with a spell that just wouldn't work, but it wasn't fair of her to monopolize his time. He had enough to worry about other than her. He had done more for her than almost anyone. She hadn't right to expect more.

She headed up the stairs she knew so well and paused before the gargoyle statue. "Butterbeer bubblegum," she said, and the gargoyle shifted to reveal the stairwell as it had so many times before. When she reached the door, she heard voices. Feeling uneasy, she knocked.

"Come in, Miss Lockser," came the familiar cheery voice of Professor Makarov.

When she entered, she was greeted to the sight of Professor Makarov seated at his desk with a woman seated across from him. The woman stood when Juvia entered and smiled at her, a gentle smile but stiff, as though she were out of practice. "Hello, dear. I'm Mary Wickham. I'm an old friend of your abbess'."

Juvia tilted her head, studying the face that looked down at her. "Juvia remembers you. She saw you at the abbey once."

"Huh. Thought I was more discreet than that," the woman muttered. "Well, no matter. I work for the Ministry of Magic, Juvia. I've been assigned to your case for some years now. Here, come sit down," she said, motioning to a chair beside her where a cup of tea waited for her.

Juvia pushed down the wave of paranoia that rose in her the moment the Ministry was mentioned. She didn't know what the Ministry wanted with her now. She had stopped the storms. Wasn't that enough? Why did it care any further about her? She took a deep, steadying breath as she sat in the chair.

"How have end of year exams been treating you so far?" the woman asked as she took her own seat again.

"Fine," Juvia replied simply, turning her attention to the cup before her.

"That's good. I was always a wreck this time of year," the woman said cheerfully.

"That might have had a something to do with the fact most of your books were never even opened until the week before exams," Makarov replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Details."

"Is Juvia in some sort of trouble?" she asked quietly.

The woman turned to her, her smile faltering slightly. "Of course not, Juvia. I apologize. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm here to discuss your living arrangements."

Juvia frowned. "Her living arrangements?"

"Yes. You see, when you were a child, the decision was made not to move you to St. Rowena's. It's the orphanage that most wizard children are sent to, but it was ill suited to care for you and your condition, particularly at the time. So, you were left in Josie's care on Inis Stoirm. Now, however, times have changed a bit. St. Rowena's has largely recovered from the last war, and you've progressed enough that there's less concern about having to keep you isolated. If you would like to, we can move you to St. Rowena's rather than have you return back to Inis Stoirm. What do you say?"

Juvia didn't speak for a few minutes. She thought of Inis Stoirm, cold and unfriendly. She thought of the welcome that she was likely to get from the village and the abbey when she returned there. She had a chance to avoid ever having to go back. To make a home instead among other wizards. Other wizards who wouldn't see her as a demon sent to plague them. And yet, she had met more than enough wizards who despised her for what she was and what she wasn't already. Would St. Rowena's really be all that different? And Inis Stoirm. She thought of never going back. Never seeing it again. The thought didn't fill her with relief as she once thought it would. She almost... missed it? The feeling was odd. Contradictory. But unmistakable. She wanted to go back. She wanted to return to Inis Stoirm. It was home. Wasn't it?

She shook her head. "Juvia wants to go back to Inis Stoirm, if that's okay."

The smile on the Ministry woman's face relaxed slightly. "Of course, if that's what you want. We won't move you someplace you don't feel comfortable at." She turned to the Headmaster. "The Ministry will take over her transfers to and from the island."

Professor Makarov shook his head. "That won't be necessary, Mrs. Wickham. She is a Hogwarts student. We will see to her safety. Professor Jose has volunteered his services in getting her to and from Hogwarts."

"Surely Professor Jose has more pressing calls for his time than escorting a child to and from Hogwarts."

"There is no more pressing concern for a professor at Hogwarts than the care and protection of its students."

"Commendable, but still, the Ministry is more than willing to take ownership of that concern."

"We're grateful, but Professor Jose will manage this."

Juvia listened to the two, arguing in the politest way she'd ever seen. If it had been Gajeel and Dragneel, wands would have been drawn long before now. Neither, however, thought to ask her what she wanted. She supposed she should have felt flattered that everyone was so keen to see to her safety, but really she just felt like an item being tossed around. She laid her head down on the desk as she watched the two spar. Eventually, Professor Makarov won out, much to Juvia's chagrin. As much as she wasn't happy with the idea of being shepherded from one location to another by a complete stranger from the Ministry of Magic, she was less thrilled to have Professor Jose be the one to escort her instead.

"The Minister won't be pleased, Professor Makarov," the woman warned.

"Doma's never been pleased with me or Hogwarts in general," Makarov replied with a shrug.

"True enough," the woman said. She turned to Juvia, then. "Now, Juvia, there are a few rules that you'll need to be aware of while living on Inis Stoirm. They're very important, so listen close. The first is no magic once you leave Hogwarts. This goes for all students. Do you understand?"

A small seed of panic took root in Juvia's heart. "But, what if the storms return while she's back at Inis Storm?" she asked, her hand instinctively reaching for her teru teru bozu only to clutch her amulet instead. She hadn't crafted another teru teru bozu since the charm worked, something she now desperately regretted.

"You'll need to wait until you get back to Hogwarts, I'm afraid," the woman said with a small frown.

"Don't worry, my girl," Professor Makarov piped up from the other side of the desk. "Your storms may not return now that you've had more training. Jose tells me you're progressing very well. The more control you learn, the less your emotions will impact the world around you. And if they do, Hogwarts will be here to help send them away again when you return." He gave her a warm smile that Juvia could only weakly return. At the thought of just a summer without the sun, the seed of panic sprouted, twining around her heart and constricting.

"Next rule," Mrs. Wickham continued, "keep all your supplies well out of sight from the others in the abbey. Bit hard with communal living, I know, but Josie's been doing quite well keeping her activities quiet, so she should have a few places for you to stash your books and supplies until the new term." Juvia nodded, opting not to mention that the Reverend Mother wasn't as good at hiding as Mrs. Wickham seemed to think - the other girls had more than once found oddities belong to the Reverend Mother. They just never knew what they were. Juvia, however, was more than well versed in how to hide either herself or other items away from the prying eyes of the Sisters and girls. She could manage to do the same with her supplies, she imagined.

"Next, no owls to the abbey, I'm afraid. Since Inis Stoirm doesn't have owls naturally, the Ministry doesn't want to draw attention by having owls flying in and out of the island. Any post you receive will need to be through Muggle means." Juvia nodded again. The only one who would be likely to send her anything would be Gajeel, and she couldn't imagine he'd be eager to write her, no matter the method.

"And finally, no leaving the island." Another nod. It wasn't as if there was anywhere else for her to go. "Good. Well, I'll take my leave, then." She smiled once more at the girl. "Good luck to you in your remaining end of year exams, Juvia. I look forward to seeing you at St. Brigid's."

"Good bye, Mrs. Wickham," the girl replied politely.

With a nod to Professor Makarov, the woman left the pair, heading back down the stairwell.

When her footsteps could no longer be heard, Juvia turned back to Professor Makarov. "Sir? Is it really necessary for Professor Jose to escort Juvia to and from Inis Stoirm?"

He regarded her curiously. "You're only eleven, my dear. Even among wizards, that's a little young for you to be wandering around London alone."

"Couldn't Professor Precht take her instead?"

"Professor Precht is a little old to be traveling about. Why? What concern do you have about Professor Jose?"

Juvia stared down at her tea. "Nothing."

When she looked back up at Professor Makarov, he was watching her. Frowning. But he didn't press her on it. After a moment, he smiled at her and reached out to pour her another cup of tea. "Now, then, on to more pleasant topics. Catch me up on the last couple of months."

Juvia's first year at Hogwarts ended much the way it had begun.

Well, almost.

The Hogwarts Express hurtled through the countryside, the sun shining brilliantly over the land. Every color gleamed and dazzled her as she watched entranced. Such a difference from the dreary gray landscape that took her to Hogwarts.

Otherwise, though, the trip was much the same. The compartment contained only her and Gajeel, as much a pariah leaving school as she was when she arrived. Gajeel was still sulking, his plan to hide away in one of the school's many cupboards foiled by Caretaker Macao, and spoke nothing at all for most the trip. Juvia, for her part, was too taken with the land on the other side of the window to prod him into any sort of conversation.

Juvia only turned from the window when the wild beauty of the country began to give way to more and more little towns, a prelude to the approach into London. She shifted back into her seat, less than eager for the train to carry her into that terrible mess of noise and crowds. She turned back to her sulking friend, then. "Will you write to Juvia over the break?"

Gajeel's face contorted into a grimace. "Can't ya just use the Floo network?"

Juvia shook her head. "The abbey isn't connected to the Floo network."

"Raindrop, ya really need to get off that island," he muttered.

She rolled her eyes but ignored the comment. "Will you write to Juvia? She's not likely to have many people to talk to on Inis Stoirm. She's going to be bored."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he turned towards the window. "Just don't expect any novels from me, got it?"

Juvia smiled back at him and let the compartment fall silent again. The two said nothing further until the train pulled into Platform 9 3/4. They left the compartment, Gajeel pushing a path through the carriage and Juvia following close behind him. They stepped onto the platform, greeted by a mass of families and students. They hadn't gone far onto the platform before the boy tensed. Juvia followed his gaze to a sour faced woman with gray hair tightly bound in a bun. She was glaring in their direction, her thin lips pursed.

The boy grunted. "Well, there's my aunt. Need to go."

"Should Juvia say hello?"

"Oh hell no," he replied quickly. "Believe me, ya'll live a much happier and healthier life the longer she doesn't know ya exist. I'll see ya in the fall, Raindrop."

"Bye, Gajeel," she said quietly, restraining herself from hugging him goodbye. He didn't respond, but he did reach out to tousle her hair before he stalked off towards the dour woman.

When the boy and his aunt were lost among the shuffling crowds, Juvia started to look around for Professor Jose. Her gaze, however, seemed drawn to some other figure in the crowd.

It was funny.

No matter where she was. No matter what she was doing. She could always find him. Even when she wasn't trying to.

A smile crept onto her face as she watched Gray talking excitedly with a tall man that could only be his father, given the similarities between the two.

"Miss Lockser." With a wince, she turned to face the approaching Professor Jose. The professor smiled at her, something he was more prone to do since she joined the Phantom Lords. She wished he wouldn't. She preferred his scowls to his smiles. They seemed more genuine. "Come now. Let's go." He motioned her to follow. After one last glance at Gray, she followed after the professor, taking comfort that in a few months, she'd be right here again.

She just had to make it through the summer.