Two gangly looking gingers are in front of me, whispering back and forth to each other, intermittently looking at me before either nodding or shaking their heads. Finally they take a step towards me, both having their hands out. The one on the left is first, "Name's Fred, love." Followed by the one on the right, "And I'm George, pleasure to meet your acquaintance." I shake both of their hands at the time of their introduction, although George kisses the back of my hand, winking at me. I feel my neck flush a little, and Hecate lets out a precautionary hiss, her tiny head sticking out from the hoodie.

The twins gape at me, staring at my hoodie, "Wicked! You have a snake? A Puff?" Hecate pokes her head out a little more, her head tilting to the side in curiosity. George continues to stare at the snake, looking a little freaked out by it, Fred on the other hand takes a step closer and hesitates a moment before holding his hand out, "Hi pretty girl, what's your name?" I stare at him a little shocked by his approach to Hecate.

I clear my throat a little, "Her name is Hecate… Would you like to hold her?" I gaze up at him, trying to calculate his expression. He seems a little surprised by my offer, but he ultimately nods his head, "I would love to." At that, Hecate slithers out from my hood and onto Fred's extended hand, curling up into herself on his hand. Bringing his hand closer to himself, he lifts the other to softly caress her head. Hecate flicks her tongue softly against his hand, taking in his scent before "snuggling" up into his arm.

It's my turn to look at him in surprise. Besides Annabeth, Hecate had never taken to anyone so quickly, not even Luke. With my staring at Fred and Fred looking at my snake, I don't even see the look on George's face as he looks at the invisible bubble around us. After a moment he clears his throat, clapping his hands.

"Well then, ladies and brother," he winks at us, "why don't we continue this conversation over here." He motions to what looks like an exact replica of the dining hall, four tables spread out throughout the room. At this I take a bigger look around, taking in my surroundings. I hadn't paid much attention when I walked in, being caught off guard by the twins.

Around us is an enormous kitchen, but not built as any other would be, instead, the counters and stove tops are a shorter height, like a quarter of what it normally would be. Continuing my perusal I catch sight of an energetic being making hot chocolate on one of the stoves. A short being with big floppy ears that bounce as he does.

I seemed to have been caught staring at him-her for a while as one of the twins clears his throat and says, "Oi Black, c'mon now, quit staring. You never seen a house elf before?" I turn around and walk to the table, where George is sat staring at me in confusion and Fred is softly petting Hecate, nodding softly as she hisses at him.

"Um, no, I haven't seen house elves before. I think they're illegal in America, or maybe they're just in certain areas of the world," shrugging, I sit down. "I'm sure they're probably illegal, based off of his mannerisms and dress, it looks like he came from a bad home before coming to work here. So it seems close to slave labor, which in America is a huge no-no, muggle world or not."

Fred looks up at me while I'm speaking, nodding, "Ya hear that, Dobbs? You could be a free elf in America! Not that you aren't now, but ya know!"

The elf named "Dobbs" turns around with happiness on his face, three mugs of hot chocolate floating next to him. "Yes, Messers Weasley and Weasley, Dobby's be knowing since Dobby be at Hogwarts, yes he do," nodding vigorously, his ears seem ready for take-off. "Dobby be wanting to speak to Missy Grangy about it and see if she can help other elves like Harry Potter helped Dobby." My eyebrows shoot up at that, wondering what the trio did to help Dobby.

The twins shake their head, a grin on their faces, "Those three…"

"…have been getting themselves…"

"…into worse trouble than us…"

"…since day one, honestly."

I chuckle, their actions reminding me of Travis and Connor and all the pranks they would play back at camp. I sigh softly, missing them even more than I thought I would.

"What's up with you, Black?" Fred looks at me, Hecate curled around his neck and he holds the hot chocolate between his hands, warming them up.

"Just reminiscing about some people. How do you know my name? I never introduced myself," I cock my eyebrow at him, taking a sip from my own mug.

His eyes turn humorous, "Do you not remember? They said your name in the Great Hall. You're gonna be the heart of conversation for a while."

Frowning, I look at the two of them, "I guess that's fair. That's pretty annoying, are you all like this? I mean is the whole school that bored that they feel the need to gossip about the new girl?"

Fred glances at George, a conversation occurring at 100 miles per hour between their eyes.

"Hey, what's going on?" I cut in, just wanting to know the truth.

"Do you not know?" George asks.

I roll my eyes, "With that context, how could I possibly know anything?"

Fred cuts in, looking at George in exasperation, "The name Black isn't common in the Wizarding World. Actually, there's only one magical family in the entire history of England with that name."

"Okay… And what does that have to do with me?" I already could feel where this was going.

Fred started off, "It could just be a coincidence…"

George interjected, "… we mean, since we don't know why you decided to come to England…"

"… you could just be a random transfer student…"

"… but if you came here looking for family…"

"… you came at a coincidentally bad time - "

" - look can you just tell me - " I got cut off by George.

"- we're getting there - "

"… because one of the most hated criminals…"

"… just escaped and his name is…"

"… Sirius Black." I sighed the name out in unison with Fred.


A/N: Hey y'all. I'm trying to post more frequently and so far so good, right?

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signed,

oterol