YOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LOOK LOOK A NEW CHAPTER. MY BEANS. THEY'RE SO PURE I LOVE THEM.

This chapter is, somehow, even longer than the last chapter, which I had thought was my limit but heRE WE ARE. .-. I wrote this entire thing in like a week and I don't know how I'm still alive it's currently one in the morning on Sunday (now it's monday) and I still haven't done my homework but eeeehhhhhhhhh.

Oh oh lemme know what you think! I had a lot of fun writing this, and i hope you have just as much fun reading as I did writing. (Also I am so sorry.)

On another note I forgot to bring up, timelines are crap. What is a timeline. Who needs timelines when you can have video games and high-tech video cameras in the 1990's, when the Harry Potter series took place.
Another thing, I don't curse, so Zack doesn't curse either. That's it. You can literally imagine what he says though; it's really not hard.
also, I haven't read the books in forever, so if something's not exactly right, that's why. I hope I got all the obvious differences, but specific accents or speeches, you get the gist of without me repeating it. (hopefully) (if not i'm sorry)

So uh, hope you enjoy? This is nothing but garbage but it exists and so its here. Have fun?

Chapter 2: Someone Met

Summary: Zack and Ray meet new people, make new friends, get mistaken for making out, and get sorted.

"We're finally done!" Zack pumped his fists into the air, then flopped on their couch.

Professor McGonagall had just left their humble little abode, after warding the house from intruders and the like. Ray assumed it was some sort of magical security measure, because she could feel the faint magic resonating in their house.

"Zack," Ray spoke, reaching into her sleeve.

Zack tilted his head her way, not willing to get up just yet. Shadow was sleeping at his feet, purring so deeply it almost sounded like a growl. "Huh?"

Ray brought out the small white snake hidden in her sleeve, holding it out in her hands. "This snake asked me to rescue them, since they were about to be fed to a larger animal. I can.. Understand what they're saying, and speak back."

"A snake, huh? The last time we've had to deal with one of those was the building." Zack accepted easily, already turning on the television. (Now that he knew he was leaving in a month, he had to get his fill in for the next few months now.)

Ray turned towards the snake writhing around in her hands, wrapping around her arm. "Hello little one, I'm sorry that took so long."

"~I did not mind. Thank you, for rescuing me.~"

"It was no problem. The owner was a jerk, anyways," Ray replied softly. "You.. mentioned that most people cannot speak to snakes?"

"~Yessss. It is a rare ability called Parseltongue, usually only passed down through offspringssss.~"

"I.. My parents weren't magical; I know that. Anyways, they're dead."

"~Hmm, how strange. Perhaps you can only understand magical breeds of snakesss, such as myself.~"

"Magical breed?" Ray cocked her head to the side.

"~My kind is a rare type of magical snake that has almost become extinct. Our fangs, poison, and skin can be sold for a high price, and as such, we've been hunted to near extinction. I am still too young to protect myself, other than hiding my presence from humans.~"

"Humans are.. Destructive creatures," Ray agreed. "But.. why am I able to understand you? I've never been able to understand other snakes before, and you said it's a rare ability.."

"~I do not know. Thissss has never happened before.~" The snake stopped to study Ray for a moment. "~Human, will you take me as a familiar?~"

"Familiar..? But.. what about Elio?" Ray wondered, not wanting to upset her new owl.

"~Humanssss are able to have multiple familiars, though it is quite uncommon. Your owl will not mind.~" The snake explained.

"Then I accept." Ray nodded. "But.. now what?"

"~The bond will be formed once you give me a name, speaker. You have already formed one with your owl, and your friend with his cat. You two must be powerful wizardssss, if they have already accepted you as their master in such a short time. Usually, a familiar bond takes yearssss to form. I am a rare exception to the rule, and am able to choose when to bond to a human.~"

Ray glanced to Zack and Shadow. She didn't find it surprising that they had already formed a familiar bond with each other; they were too alike in every aspect for anything else. However, Elio had already decided to bond with her, as well. Maybe he had seen something special in her, just like she had seen in him.

She looked back at the small snake in her hands, cold blue eyes meeting an ever-changing purple hue. "May I ask your gender?"

"~My kind has no gender in the normal sense, speaker.~"

Ray lost herself in thought. The young snake was so beautiful, a pure white that reminded her of the moon, and eyes that reminded her of the dark sky past that. There had been many occasions where Zack and Ray had been trapped outside overnight, with their only roof being the hundreds of billions of stars shining overhead. "Nova." Ray barely heard herself whispering the word, still to entranced with her thoughts of the galaxy and universe above. Still, she continued, "After the vast expanse of the stars in the night sky, mysterious, unknown, dangerous, but unmistakably beautiful."

Nova seemed pleased with their name. "~It is a wonderful name, Master. I am pleased with it.~"

Ray turned to Zack, who glanced at her in return. "This is Nova."

"Are you done with your weird hissing now?" Zack asked in return, yawning.

"What?"

"Yeah, you were doing this weird hissing, like a snake does. You didn't notice?"

Ray made a confused expression. "Um, no?"

"~It is called Parseltongue, the language of snakessss.~" Nova slithered up her arm and hung loosely around her neck.

Ray tried to notice what she was speaking when she addressed Nova again. "~That makes sense. Oh, I can tell I'm not speaking English!~" She gestured to Zack. "~This is my friend, Zack. If anything ever happens and I'm not available, go to Zack. He will not understand you, but he'll know that something is wrong with me.~"

"~I will keep that in mind.~"

"Yo, Ray, what're we gonna do about our jobs?" Zack questioned, finally getting up from his position on the couch to grab something from the fridge. Shadow followed him lazily, flopping on the floor halfway from the couch to the kitchen.

Rachel shrugged. "I suppose we'll have to tell them we're resigning. Maybe we can find a new job in the wizarding world after this."

"Huh, I guess you're right." Zack muttered in return. He turned to his cat. "Oh, Shadow! If anything ever happens to me, go to Ray. She'll know something's wrong."

The cat accepted the order with a dutiful look gleaming in his eyes. In the back of her mind, Ray realized that she had just said something eerily similar a moment ago. Perhaps the duo were closer to each other than they thought.

"Rayyyyyy, I'm hungryyyyy," Zack whined. Surprisingly, Zack was a really good cook, able to throw together random ingredients and have it taste like the best thing Ray had ever tasted, but Zack always said that Ray's cooking was super tasty, so she should cook more often. In the end, they'd usually take turns.

"I'll make dinner," Ray replied, smiling just a bit, "as long as you make dessert."

"Deal!"

. . . . .

"Hey, Ray, are you ready for this?" Zack frowned, glancing at the small vial in his hands.

The date was September 1st. The Hogwarts Express, a train to get to the school, would be leaving in a couple short hours, and Ray and Zack were preparing to leave. They'd packed everything they needed; everything important was in Ray's purse, and all of their school stuff was in their trunks.

Professor McGonagall had stopped back over and helped set up the wards around their house to protect it from theft and the like while they were gone, and had explained how to get to Platform 9 ¾, and also on the train. She'd also taken some time to describe what the school was like, giving them each a rule book, telling them about purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns, and what the differences were. They were apparently going into the second year curriculum this year, skipping the first altogether. When Hagrid, the groundskeeper, calls for the first years, they were supposed to follow him, and then get a second year schedule once they entered the school. Professor McGonagall gave Zack a bracelet, engraved with runes. As long as he kept the metal band on, nobody would notice the bandages he always wore. (Zack seemed skeptical, but put it on anyways.) The Professor had also described the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, and what each of the houses were like. (She had seemed awfully fond of Gryffindor, but it made sense when she told them she was the head of the house.)

Another thing that Professor McGonagall had told them about was the wizarding war. Apparently, some person named 'Lord Voldemort' had tried to kill a baby, failed, and died himself, after killing a whole bunch of people. A lot of people believe that Voldemort is not truly dead, but waiting to come back and start another wizarding war.

The baby who Voldemort had tried to kill—Harry Potter—grew up loved and doted upon for stopping the greatest evil of their time, and is worshiped in the wizarding world by most everybody.

Ray didn't think that sounded right the moment she said it. Perhaps it had reminded her too much of her old life, the one before Zack. It was her own gut feeling, similar to the natural instincts Zack has.

But, right now, they were about to drink the potions to de-age themselves back into small 12 year-olds, each holding the vial in their hands. Elio had already left for Hogwarts, not wanting to be cramped in his cage for hours on end.

"Well, I'm not gettin' any younger!" Zack exclaimed, clearly proud of his ironic pun.

Ray clapped at it, and Zack downed the potion in two gulps.

Soon enough, the potion started working its magic. Zack fell on the floor, unconscious, and was shrinking, his clothes now way too big for him to wear. Even his bandages were starting to slip off his arms and legs, uncovering his scarred body. After a few minutes of Ray carefully watching over Zack, he started to wake up, sitting up and ruffling his hair right away.

"Hey, Ray, what happened..?" Zack asked, looking around confused. His voice was a few octaves higher, and his clothes were falling off his shoulders.

Ray could only stand there and stare at the small boy in front of her, looking almost close to tears.

"Ray? Rayyyyy?" Zack asked, starting to stand up.

And then it hit her.

Zack was shorter than Ray.

"Hey, the hell? Why're you so tall all of a sudden?! And my clothes too- did I shrink?!" Zack exclaimed, about to dash off and find a mirror, when he seemed to remember. "Wait- I drank the potion, didn't I? Am I twelve? Is this really was being twelve feels like? I'M SO SMALL!"

Ray couldn't help herself—she reached forward and hugged him. The small Zack fit perfectly into her arms, just like she had when he'd still been older. He amused her by hugging back, always having liked touching and holding her as much as she did.

After almost five minutes though, Zack gently tried shoving her away. "Hey, Ray, we still need to catch the train. You can hug me as much as you want when we get on."

Ray sighed, but complied with young Zack's wishes. "Do you want help with your bandages?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice. I don't know how to move this thing." By thing, he was referring to his body, which was a lot smaller than what Zack was used to.

Zack put some smaller shorts on, unwrapping all of his bandages. Ray had seen him without his bandages before, and usually helped wrap them at this point, so Zack wasn't worried about Ray being freaked out by his burns. (It had taken them a while for Zack to finally show and trust her, but he'd eventually come around. Afterwards, the duo had only grown closer.) (However, nobody else was ever allowed to see him without his bandages.)

He sat in Ray's lap, letting Ray gently wrap the fabric around his torso and arms, though he preferred to his his face himself. It only took a matter of five minutes, since they'd done it so many times, but Ray cherished every single moment.

Afterwards, he dressed in the robes they'd gotten, swooshing around and spinning with a delighted gleam in his eyes. (For a second, Ray thought she was going to faint from how cute Zack was being.) Shadow, while now half Zack's size, as a very large cat, could still be lifted by Zack easily, since he'd always been abnormally strong. Shadow didn't seem to mind that Zack was smaller; in fact, he was also rather content with this change. He was able to cuddle up even closer to his owner, and Ray was totally not getting jealous of Shadow.

"Hey, hey, Ray. You still gotta drink yours! We're gonna be late soon!" Zack exclaimed, trotting cutely up to Ray to watch her.

"Oh, right." She held up her own vial, forgotten on the table in the chaos. "I'll pass out for a few minutes while I shrink, so don't be alarmed."

Zack nodded, and Ray downed her own potion with a couple sips. She fell unconscious with a quick blink, never reaching the floor because Zack caught her.

When Ray woke, she was confused for a quick minute, feeling her clothes falling off and seeing Zack look a lot smaller than he's suppose to be. After a quick moment, she remembered drinking the potion, and then everything made sense.

"Zack?" Ray mumbled, slowly sitting up.

Zack's hand was combing through her hair, petting her head softly. "You finally awake?'

She nodded. Her clothes were falling off her shoulders, though not as bad as Zack's had. "I'm going to go change." Ray stood up, not even bothering to try and cover a bit more of her skin. Zack didn't care about stuff like that.

Ray returned to the living room a moment later, now dressed in matching black robes to Zack's. They were light and airy, though Ray found she prefers wearing pants. Nova returned to their rightful place wrapped around Ray's neck, while Shadow was right at Zack's side like usual.

Zack saw her and paused. "You're a really cute twelve year old, brat." He smiled one of his rarer ones, the ones reserved solely for each other and nobody else.

Ray returned the soft smile with one of her own. One that was solely reserved for Zack, at moments like this. "You're much cuter than I am, Zack."

He grinned, and Ray was sure he was blushing a bit underneath at the compliment. Zack jumped up from the couch, grabbing his bag full of all his stuff. "Come on, Ray! We're gonna be late!"

"Don't forget your wand and weapons, Zack," Ray replied easily. They still had plenty of time, but Zack was excited. One thing she did notice, however, was that Zack was back to being taller than her again. But by a lot less height, making it barely noticeable between them.

"Oh, right!" He ran over to the table, where all their stuff was laying on. They'd packed the night before, only leaving out what they'd want to carry on them. He grabbed his wand holster and attached it, making sure his wand was inside, before reaching for the knife next to it, tucking it away in one of the several pockets.

Ray did the same with her wand and holster, making sure she also had a knife on her. Her gun was in her purse, easily reachable at any moment. She supposed they'd have to start getting used to using their wands instead. (She wondered how any of the wizards would react to having a gun pulled out instead of a wand.)

"Zack, do you have everything?"

"Yeah! I got your bag too!" He replied, holding up both Ray's and his bag in his hands.

Ray grabbed her purse, and then they were ready to go. A taxi to the station was easy enough to grab, even though they were both twelve.

. . . . .

"Hey, Ray.." Zack pointed to the brick wall in front of him. "You want me to run into a brick wall? Like, actually 'sprint towards it' run?"

"That's what Professor McGonagall said to do. Here, I'll do it first if you're worried."

"No!" He snapped back. "If it doesn't work, I'd rather get bruised than have you getting hurt."

Ray swore that if anybody had heard that line, they would've"Awwww"ed at the two of them. She's glad nobody did.

Zack sighed, rearing himself up. He was holding their bags protectively in front of his face, and broke off into a run towards the wall.

Ray's eyes widened when he went right through it, but she's not really sure what she expected otherwise. A moment later, she took off herself, and met Zack on the other side rubbing his nose, bags on the ground next to him. Shadow had seemingly disappeared a little while ago, but Ray was sure he'd turn up sooner or later, so she wasn't worried.

"Are you alright?"

"I ran through one wall just to slam into another one!" Zack frowned, pointing at the wall right next to him. He seemed to pause, then glance over Ray's shoulder, squinting for a couple seconds. His eyes widened, looking like a kid on Christmas, and he started to point to where he was looking. "Ray, Ray, look!"

He grabbed her hand and turned her around before she was able to react, only to notice the thing Zack had seen. In fact, it would've been rather hard not to notice the huge train, painted sleek black with light bouncing off, reflecting and making it look all the more majestic. The train, which must be the Hogwarts Express, was surrounded with a bunch of families all saying goodbye to their kids. A few of the students were already boarding, some dressed in the same robes as Zack and Ray, along with a specific color.

"Do you want to go board?"

"YES."

Zack grabbed Ray's robes, dragging her along just like usual. (Zack seemed pleased he was still able to lift Ray's weight easily.) Ray, of course, let herself be dragged, guiding Zack along to the door, and into an empty compartment on the train.

After only a few minutes, where Zack looked around excitedly at everything outside and inside, the compartment door slid open, revealing a small girl with bright blue eyes and soft, wavy, blonde hair. She looked fairly similar to Rachel, other than Ray's carefully neutral face, more straight blonde hair (and not the same shade; Ray's was darker), and the cold look in her eyes Ray has had since the building.

Another different was the many strange-looking things the girl was wearing or doing, such as her wand tucked behind her ear, some bright-colored hair clips decorating her hair, and a weird-looking magazine tucked under her arm.

"Hello. Would you mind if I sat with you?" The girl tilted her head, sending a small smile their way.

Zack just waved the girl off, going back to staring out the window, which she seemed to accept as an answer. She sat down on the opposite side of the duo, who were sitting on the same side of the seats. "My name is Luna Lovegood."

Ray greeted her with a nod of her head. "Rachel Gardner."

"What did it feel like de-aging? Did you drink a potion?"

Zack paused and stared at the little girl, who had somehow figured out their secret in seconds upon meeting them. As per usual, he stayed quiet, letting Ray take over.

"Why would you think we've been de-aged?" Ray tilted her head, as if she had no clue what Luna was talking about. Even still, she wasn't too worried. The girl, Ray could tell, was not a threat, only just curious.

"Oh, that's easy. The nogglebons told me," Luna replied. "Nogglebons never lie, you see."

Ray hummed. "We drank a potion. It knocked us out for a few minutes, and then when we woke up, we were smaller. It's.. hard, getting used to a smaller body."

"It seems like it would be," Luna agreed, nodding her head.

"Hey, Ray, open the door," Zack suddenly called out, shaking her a bit.

Ray didn't bother questioning Zack anymore, and opened the door like he wanted. Surprisingly, or not, Shadow was on the other side. The cat lept straight into Zack's lap, who almost fell over from the force of it.

Luna started stroking Shadow's fur, who had deemed her trustable enough to allow her touch. "You're familiar bond is very strong."

"It sure is! Because Shadow is the best cat you'll ever find!" Zack high-fived his cat, who returned the gesture. (They had had.. An interesting month, Ray mused.)

The three (four) of them stayed in a peaceful silence, other than Zack's occasional grunt or Shadow's occasional purr. Luna started to read the magazine she was holding upside-down. Ray brought out her own book, and Zack was half petting, half wrestling his cat. In a few short minutes, the train whistled, and then they were moving.

Twenty minutes went by in relative silence, with Zack having moved to stare out the window and watch all of the fields go by, when the door snapped open. (Luckily, Zack only glared at the door, instead of bringing out some sort of weapon. Ray didn't react, and nor did Luna, seemingly immersed in her magazine.)

"I'm sorry, have you seen two boys come by here? A redhead who's always complaining and a boy with black hair? They're my friends, you see, and I haven't been able to find them, and I'm worried they missed the train- Oh! Are you first years? I'm Hermione Granger, a second year Gryffindor. It's nice to meet you!" The girl—Hermione—went on an on, never pausing to take a breath. Instead of leaving once she saw her friends weren't here, she sat on the empty space next to Luna. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? Hm, I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as it's not Slytherin—that house is where all the Death Eaters go. You know, I've never trusted the Slytherins. Perhaps it's because we don't get along—see, I'm a Gryffindor, and we and the snakes don't get along well at all. There's been a house rivalry for as long as anybody can remember, and was even mentioned in Hogwarts: A History a couple times. Oh, you're reading a book? What's it about? Have you learned any new spells? I remember when I got my letter I was so excited to try out magic; I had read all of our textbooks before school had even started, and then I dragged my parents back to the store to go buy me some more before school, but they wouldn't let me read those until I went to school, because they didn't want me to be bored from already reading everything before I even got there-"

"SHUT UP!" Zack finally snapped. It had been building up for a while, and Ray had been wondering when he was finally going to get annoyed enough. Even Shadow was hissing now, just as fed up as Zack was. "You're so damn annoying! You just keep talking and talking and talking and never shut up!"

Ray decided to take over the situation when Hermione looked on the verge of tears. "Sorry, Zack gets annoyed at people easily. But he was also right; we don't know you, and don't appreciate people interrogating us. Please mind your own business."

"Oh, uh," Hermione blushed. She pushed her hair out of her face, not that it did any help. It was so poofy and curly that it seemed to have its own gravitational pull, along with defying the laws of physics. "I'm sorry. When I get excited, I can just go on and on. Can we.. forget that happened..?"

Zack just 'tch'ed and turned back to the window. His bad mood seemed to instantly disappear as he looked out into the fields flying by, almost the same exact view as earlier.

Ray nodded, going back to her book. She flipped a page before she spoke. "You shouldn't judge people based on their house. Imagine if you had told a small, little first year that the Slytherin house was evil and that everybody who got sorted there is a Death Eater, which I understand is some sort of murderer?"

Hermione nodded. A blush was creeping up on her neck, as if she knew where Ray was going with her point.

"Imagine telling an 11 year old that the entire Slytherin house was evil, and then the kid gets sorted into that house. Where does that leave them? They come into a new world not knowing anything, and everybody already hates them because of what house they're in."

"I.. I guess you're right.. I'm sorry. I never thought of how that would sound to the first years.." Hermione apologized, face hung low.

Luna spoke up. Her voice was much softer than Hermione's, who was sharp and to the point, even if the point was all over. "What year are you two going into?"

"What?" Hermione looked up, glancing to Zack and Ray with a confused expression. "Aren't you two first years?"

"We'll be going into second. We had.. We're a special occasion." Ray explained upon seeing Hermione's even more confused face, even if it was vague. "We're not allowed to tell what it is, so please do not ask.

"Are you two muggleborns?" Hermione asked instead, kicking her dangling feet back and forth.

"Our parents are dead." Zack answered with a creepy grin on his face. Of course, the creepiness was lessened by the fact Zack was holding onto his poofy cat.

Ray, a bit more helpful, nodded. "Probably. We don't know."

"Oh, uh," Hermione blushed (again), "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a bad topic."

Luna only smiled knowingly.

"Weren't you looking for your friends?" Ray brought up, voice the same neutral as always.

Hermione sent a half-hearted glare to the door, as if it had somehow offended her. "I looked all over the train for them. If they want to find me, they can look for me themselves."

After that, each of them settled down. Hermione brought out her own book, rapidly devouring it with almost wild-looking eyes. Luna went back to reading her magazine—the Quibbler—upside-down. Shadow eventually crawled out of Zack's lap to sleep peacefully on the seat. Ray had no problems with that, crawling into Zack's lap herself. She was promised hugs, and she was going to get them.

. . . . .

The next interruption, halfway through the train ride, was the trolley. The two girls declined, while Ray bought her and Zack a bit of everything again, planning to store them up for a while. They'd gone back to Diagon Alley later and re-visited the candy shop, but Zack was already making a dent in it over the last couple weeks. (Ray hoped the food at Hogwarts was good; their stash won't last otherwise.)

Hermione looked slightly disgusted at all of the candy they'd bought, but when Ray inquired, she found out that Hermione's parents were dentists.

Hermione also seemed to notice something else. "Oh wait, I just realized I don't know any of your names! I'm Hermione Granger."

"Rachel Gardner," Ray responded easily. "This is Zack."

"Zack..?"

"Just Zack."

Hermione didn't looked like she believed that, but accepted it anyways. Everybody has their secrets; some more than others.

"My name is Luna Lovegood. My dad owns the Quibbler."

And the next few minutes were spent with Hermione and Luna discussing back and forth if the Quibbler was a realistic source or not, and why each person thinks so. In the end, Hermione didn't really believe the Quibbler still, but she was willing to let other people have their own beliefs about stuff.

. . . . .

"Oh, we're here! I didn't even realize!" Hermione jumped up from her place on the seat, shoving her book into her bag.

Zack was already way ahead of her, already having slammed open the compartment door and dragging Ray outside as fast as he could in his excitement. Hermione and Luna barely got a second to blink before Zack and Ray were gone.

(It almost felt like a dream meeting those two, despite the fact they'd see each other again in only a few minutes.)

Hermione had to go to the carriages, pulled by some pure black winged horses, looking much too skinny to be healthy. Luna met up with Zack and Ray a few moments later, and saw them staring at the horses that seemed to call to both of them, looking straight into their pasts with an indifferent stare.

"Thestrals," Luna whispered. "Only people who have seen somebody die can see them."

"Beautiful," Ray whispered back, barely aware of her own breath. She meant more than just the thestrals—the air here was so pure, so clean, unlike the cities both Zack and her had been raised in. Even before the sun had set, the moon was shining down on the entire castle, letting off a faint glow that was more calming than anything. "It's beautiful," she whispered again, more confidently this time.

Zack grunted his agreement, leaning just a bit closer to Ray than he already was.

"First years! First years, over here!" bellowed a very tall man, complete with a giant beard and voice to go with his height. (Ray thought, for half a second, that he reminded her of Shrek.)

"That must be Hagrid. Professor McGonagall said that he'd be calling for the first years," Ray concluded.

"Woah! Look at that! Ray, we get to go into the boats!" Zack exclaimed happily. His eyes were gleaming with excitement, already having picked up Ray to carry her over to a boat.

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid yelled out.

Zack somehow remembered not to just chuck Ray and himself into an empty boat, and gently put her inside before climbing in himself. Luna climbed in only a moment after them. She peered out over the side of the boat, making Zack copy her action and look over the side too, to see what she was looking at.

"There's a giant squid in these waters. He's very friendly, I've heard, but can be very scary."

Zack pointed out into the water somewhere. "Oh, I see him!"

All of the students who heard him immediately looked out the side of their own boats to where he was pointing, only to see the pitch black void of the water.

"There's nothing there, you liar!"

"There's no way you can see it!"

"Yeah, stop trying to scare us!"

Some of the kids shouted out their disappointments. Zack ignores them all, not even having heard in the first place. Instead, he was shoving Ray over to the edge so she'd be able to see what he was talking about.

"Zack, I don't have night-vision, remember?" Ray smiles. She cups his face within her hands, bumping foreheads with him. "I'll see him when he comes closer to the surface, alright?"

Zack bumped foreheads with her back, cuddling closer into her neck like a cat. Ray took the opportunity to pet his hair, scratching the soft black strands and feeling him lean in closer to her hand.

"Geeze, get a room, will you?"

A new voice, high pitched a just a bit too bossy, came from the other side of their boat and made them separate, just so they could glare at the source. When they looked over, it was a small red-headed brat. It was obvious she was used to getting everything she wanted at home; Zack didn't even study psychology like Ray did and it was obvious to him.

The brat climbed into their boat, taking a seat next to Luna. "Oh, Luna, at least you're here. I don't know what I'd do if I had to sit here alone and watch these two snogging."

"Hello, Ginny. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Luna answers politely, but the duo can see she was upset with the redhead for barging in and insulting them.

Zack glances at Ray, tapping her hand twice—their signal for when Zack wants to say something, but knows he probably shouldn't, and is leaving it up to Ray.

"Please apologize," Ray says, her voice devoid of any noticeable emotions.

"What?" Ginny retorts, "Why should I-"

"We don't appreciate you barging in without asking and insulting us. Please apologize," Ray repeats.

Ginny's face starts to match her red hair, and she crosses her arms defensively. "Why should I apologize? You were the ones doing inappropriate stuff out in public like that."

A couple of the boats close by were starting to stare, since Ginny was nowhere near quiet, but Ray decided quickly that she didn't care. "If touching a boy is against the rules, please show me the exact line, and I expect you to follow the rule yourself."

Ginny splutters, glaring defensively. She seemed to reach her arm into her robes, as if she were reaching for an object for comfort. Ray counted it as a win when she stayed silent for the next couple minutes, until the boats started moving across the lake, glistening in the sunset. Most of the kids, including Zack and Ginny, 'oooh'ed and 'aaah'ed at the sights, while Ray and Luna only smiled at their (aka Zack's) cute faces.

The castle came into view, and soon enough—which Zack almost whined at—the first years were getting off the small boats. They hadn't run into the squid, sadfully; Ray had really wanted to meet the giant squid.

The first years (plus Zack and Ray) were led inside the giant castle, glistening with lights and bursting with magic, down halls and into a corridor. They stopped at a large door, and Professor McGonagall came to explain everything.

"Through these doors is the Great Hall, where all the students and teachers eat their meals. You will be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. The house you get sorted into will be like your family for the next seven years while you're at school, so I hope you'll all get along with everyone."

She proceeded to explain the point system, losing and gaining points for their specific house, and some of the basic rules that should be followed easily. About halfway through, she caught Zack and Ray's eyes, and let out a small smile, despite her stern expression. None of the other kids seemed to notice, too busy looking around at everything to pay as much attention.

Once she was done explaining and answering questions of the students, along with scolding a kid named Colin Creevey for taking unwanted pictures. Many of the students had been curious about the kid named Harry Potter, who was apparently a second year this year. Professor McGonagall steered most of them off saying that they'll be busy with schoolwork, and that she's sure they'll see him over the course of the year.

(Ray wonders if Harry ever got asked if he wanted all of this fame.)

They were led into the Great Hall, where every kid stared up in awe. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky, and Ray had to admit it was one of the prettiest things she's seen. There were bright colors everywhere, like the golden gleam of almost every wall and plate in the room. The Great Hall was divided into five parts, it seemed, with the four very long tables—one for each house—, and a raised table at the other end of the room where all of the adults—teachers—were sitting.

Most of the chatter in the room was quiet, but still obviously there. It was obvious that the older years didn't really care about their sorting, since it didn't pertain to them at all. She heard some of the murmurs, such as how small their class was, if any kids were the offspring of Death Eaters, and how many will end up as snakes.

(Ray wonders why any of that mattered. These were just children.)

Ray looked ahead, only to see a stool sitting on the other end of the room by the teachers, with a worn down hat sitting on the chair. The first years were stopped in the middle of the floor, in between the blue—Ravenclaw—and yellow—Hufflepuff—tables.

Surprisingly, or not, since this was a magic school, the hat broke out in a long song, or was it a poem? The hat spoke of the four houses and the attributes of each, and a bit about the founders; nothing Ray hadn't already learned by reading. Zack, however, seemed fascinated with the talking hat. He had a big grin on his face while he was listening to the hat speak, and he was squeezing Ray's hand just a bit tighter.

The hat soon quieted down, done with his monologue about Hogwarts and the houses. Zack's grin, however, did not die out, and he was ecstatic once he knew they'd be putting the hat on!

"When your name is called, come up and put the hat on!" Professor McGonagall told all the first years, who were all equally nervous and excited, it seemed.

Ray didn't listen to any of the names or people really; if they were important, Ray would learn about them later. She was, however, a bit worried that the Professor would shout out Zack's full name, and she'd spend the next couple months constantly correcting them because she knows Zack hates his full name.

Only a few kids in, who had all gone to their respective houses, Professor McGonagall sent out a quick glance in their direction. "Zack!"

Ray heard the murmuring shortly after. Why didn't 'Zack' get a last name called out? What was his full name? Why hadn't the school said it? Was he related to somebody they knew?

Zack was grinning as big as ever, having to stop himself from rushing up as fast as possible. Most of the whispering had stopped when Zack stepped out, everybody curious to see the person who had no last name. Ray saw him lean over beforehand, and though she couldn't hear, she knew that he said "Thanks" to Professor McGonagall with the sappiest smile on his face. He was thoroughly enjoying all of this, with all the magic and Ray's here and Ray is a cute kid and magic!, and not having it get ruined by everybody knowing his name.

He put the hat on his head, and it flopped over his hair, way too big for his head. Zack was kicking his feet back and forth like a little kid, his grin only getting wider the longer he spent with the hat.

The entire crowd watched in complete silence as they watched this no-last-name first year kid sit under the hat for almost five minutes.

And then the hat spoke once more.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Zack lifted the hat off his head and stared at his clothes changing from black to a gold and red trim. He trotted down the steps to his house, spinning back around to wave to the hat, before reaching his table and sitting down at the end. He was instantly popular with the other Gryffindors, with them obviously wanting to know his last name and make friends with him and all that.

However, Zack didn't care about any of them. Next up was Ray, who's 'G' comes right after Zack's unsaid 'F'.

"Rachel Gardner!"

Ray took her time walking up the stairs with an indifferent face, listening to all the rumors flying around about the both of them. None of them mattered to her, of course, but she wanted to know if Zack had made any enemies that she should know about.

Ray sat down on the stool, and flopped the hat down on her head.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Ray almost bristled at the voice in her head, but managed to stay calm; she had expected something of the sort to happen, but her reflexes were an ingrained response.

"Hmm, you've been through quite a lot. You and your friend both have been through much more than anybody else here, no matter what they may think."

Ray wondered how she could kill a magical hat without anyone suspecting it was her. Or if it could even die.

"Calm down, young lady. I'm sworn to keep secrets. Your friend, Zack, was quite determined to become friends with me. It's been a long time since a student has asked my name, much less asked to be friends with me."

Ray found herself believing that easily. "If Zack trusts you, I'll trust you."

"Well, it's not my job to make you trust me, but thank you anyways. You're both a very interesting duo, and I fear your lives will only get harder as you stay here."

Ray didn't find that very surprising at all.

"Anyways, my job is to sort, so let's see.. You're not very brave, courageous, or outgoing. The lions would rip you apart, even if Zack fits there easily. Hmm, you could be a Hufflepuff, with how loyal you are to Zack, but better not. They're a social bunch, and that's not what you want either. Ravenclaw would be a good suit for you—they value knowledge and curiosity, but no.. You're much more ambitious and cunning to fit in with them. There's only one place for you, really, so it better be—"

"SLYHTERIN!"

(I am so sorry for calling Hagrid Shrek I swear-) Review if you want; it's my lifeline at this point tbh