Can't Go It Alone

Cnorth

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All HP characters belong to JKR.

Credit: Pawn for the powers that play and whitv, thank you very much.

A/N: Sorry Regina Bella, just now remembered the explanation thingy: Chelli is pronounced like Shelly, she just spells it different. Also, Destiny's Darkness: here is the myspace address: . This story will be AU from this point on, even more than usual. Dumbledore is still dead, but Snape and Malfoy didn't do it! Cuz I kinda hate that….they're too good of characters, and Malfoy is too cute to be evil!

On with the story:

Now that only one version of Stacy remained, they continued to the counter at the Floo Station, and Luna took the lead. "10 for the Leaky Cauldron, please," she said, and handed over several sickles.

The hot blonde handed her a tub of floo powder in return, and motioned them through the left hand door. "First fireplace on your left. Enjoy your trip," as he nonchalantly went back to the Sports Illustrated he had been reading the entire time of the "two Stacy fiasco".

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hollie asked, bouncing across the room with unbounded energy. The others followed, and after explaining the use of floo powder to Sam, who had a very confused look on her face, they continued.

Minutes later, they had all gathered in the Leaky Cauldron. Luna walked with them to Gringotts to get their money exchanged and to get the money the school was providing them since most the girls, being college students, were broke.

In one large group, the girls went to get their books. It was about ten minutes later that Ashley realized Hollie and Chelli were no longer with the group.

"Hey guys, did any of you see where Chelli and Hollie went?" she asked, worry clouding her face. There was no way this was a good thing the way she saw it-there were two options. Either the girls were captured by death eaters or getting themselves into trouble. She honestly wasn't sure which would be worse.

Everyone shook their heads about having seen Chelli and Hollie, and Luna pursed her lips, pulled out her wand, and did a summoning charm. Seconds later, the two came flying out of a side alley at an extremely dangerous speed. They skidded to a halt in front of Luna, and Chelli quickly stashed something shiny, pointy, and sharp looking into her new cloak, which she had argued about wearing, but reluctantly agreed to.

"You two shouldn't run off like that. You-know-who is after you, and while I refuse to believe he will win this war, he is pretty damn powerful. You are just two untrained girls, you wouldn't stand a chance against even his weaker minions right now. And Diagon Alley is one of the least safe places for you…do you realize how easy it would be to hide in this crowd?" Luna reprimanded, and then said "bondus bracchius". A magical chain formed attaching Chelli and Hollie to a bracelet on Luna's arm, and when Hollie tried to pull away, it jerked her back. Immediately, an unintelligible cross between pouting and arguing erupted from the blonde and brunette. The occasional threat of stakings could be heard loud and clear though. Chelli was then distracted by the store they were quickly approaching. Her eyes went big and starry-eyed, and her tongue peaked out of her mouth slightly. "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! Oh my god! Holls, we gotta go there!"

The two girls moved forward as one, dragging the somewhat startled vampire behind them. The others quickly followed, also wanting to see what was in the store.

Two red headed boys popped up behind the counter. "Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! Come enjoy our sale for back to school! We close for the school year at the end of the day, better get a jump on it."

Luna smirked, and walked forward. "Fred and George Weasley, I presume?" she asked, and both nodded, although their attention was elsewhere. Fred had his eyes fastened on Chelli, and George was watching Shaylin with rapt devotion. Luna hurriedly pulled two envelopes from her purse, handing them to the boys. "You got served," she winked at the girls, who understood the muggle movie reference.

Fred and George took the envelopes, opening them rapidly when they saw the Hogwarts crest.

Dear Mr. Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that your application for readmission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to finish your schooling has been accepted. Included you will find your booklists for term, you will once again be seventh years. Also, the person delivering this is one of your two defense against the Dark Arts professors, Luna Burgess. Please equip her with all your defense products that she will need, and charge it to Hogwarts.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress

Booklist

Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7

Good vs. Evil and the Fuzzy Lines in Between

Business and Accounting in the Wizarding World

Guess What: How to Identify a Transfiguration

Guess Who: A Guide to Animagi

Ivy Fern's Practical Guide to Herbology

Flamel's Guide to Alchemy and the Magickal Science of Potion Making

Please note: No book is required for Muggle Studies.

The twins shrieked like two twelve-year-old girls who just met their teen idol causing Chelli and Shaylin to bust out laughing. Neither guy was sure whether to be embarrassed or flattered at making the two girls laugh. Chelli quickly turned her attention back to the pygmy puffs in an attempt to avoid Fred's prying eyes. Shaylin just smiled back at George, before winking and turning to follow Chelli.

After a while the girls were done with their shopping. Joe, of course, had been done for almost an hour. The poor boy looked like he was about to pass out from boredom, or maybe it was the weight of all the bags Ashley, his girlfriend, had him carry. Luna guided the teenagers back out through the Leaky Cauldron onto the muggle street, and hailed a cab, packing Shaylin, Lori, Whitney and Sam into one car and telling the driver to go to King's Cross station, and then rapidly hailed another two cabs for the rest of the people. The second cab contained Joe, Ashley, and Stacy. The last contained Luna, and, as they were still attached to her, Chelli and Hollie. Both of whom without saying a single word decided singing "The song that never ends" would be a good choice all the way to the train station.

Upon reaching the station, they piled their baggage onto baggage carts, and headed for Platform 9 ¾. As she herded the teen girls and Joe, Luna popped an extremely large dose of Excedrin Migraine. Also, the vampiress continued to throw venomous glares at the two girls, to who she was thankfully no longer chained.

Stacy pelted towards the barrier between the two platforms, pushing her cart in front of her.

"This'll be painful to watch." Chelli commented, skeptical about running headlong into a brick wall.

"Impedimenta!" Luna shouted, executing a very clear swish and flick with her wand. Stacy stopped moving immediately, stumbling to the ground in a rather ungraceful heap.

"See? I told you it was gonna be painful," Chelli smirked.

As she helped pull Stacy off the ground, Luna began a longwinded explanation of how to get onto the platform. Five minutes later, Luna finished her lecture as Hollie studiously watched a drop of drool that was forming at the corner of Sam's mouth. "This blows. I feel like a five year old coming off a sugar high!"

"You ARE a five year old on a sugar high, Hollie," Lori jibed, before proceeding to follow Luna's instructions and slide forward with her cart onto the platform. Even after seeing Lori go through the wall without a problem, Sam still looked a little bit doubtful.

"I dunno, running into a wall on purpose? That seems like something that Hollie would do, but me? Not so much, folks." Still, Luna pushed and prodded until she finally cooperated. Once through, she turned to Luna and said, "To quote Chells that makes the kind of sense that's not."

As they boarded the train, they saw several professors getting into one of the front compartments. While some of the teachers, like Snape and Trelawney, stayed at Hogwarts over the summer, others, like McGonagall and Flitwick, went home. They found, not surprisingly, plenty of empty compartments on the train, and settled in for the long trip. Chelli stretched out over one of the seats and quickly drifted off. Everyone else talked the time away, except Lori, who was buried deep in a book. Ashley took the time to curl up against Joe, who wrapped his arms around her, and before long, they had joined Chelli in slumber.

Upon reaching the station, they clambered into the carriages that Lori knew to be pulled by thestrals, which she was disappointed not to be able to see.

"Look out your windows to the left, we're passing Hogsmeade," Luna said, pointing to the quaint little town that started about twenty feet to the side of the road, connected by a small path.

Finally they reached Hogwarts, and before long they were all inside the Great Hall, waiting while Professor Lupin, who had taken over as Deputy Headmaster and Magical Business professor, went to get the Sorting Hat.

"Like Hell I'm puttin' that thing on my head. God only knows where it's been…somebody in all these years has to have had lice!" Chelli exclaimed, when she saw the ratty hat that was brought out. Had it been as it was portrayed in the movies, she might have been okay with it. But if anything, it was in even worse condition. Eventually, McGonagall gave up and charmed the hat so it didn't have to touch her head to find out what house she would be in.

Shaylin was the first to put on the hat. "It seems like you are very humble and loyal…HUFFLEPUFF!"

Then came Lori. "In your deepest mind, there is always one question: why? You think therefore you are….RAVENCLAW!"

Whitney was next, an amused smirk on her face. She wasn't sure whether to expect that she was going to end up in Gryffindor or in Hufflepuff, but she was hoping for Gryffindor. "GRYFFINDOR!" She squealed with joy, pleased to have gotten into her favorite house.

Next was Hollie. "Well, you really have attributes suited to all the houses…cunning like Slytherin, loyal like Hufflepuff, daring like Gryffindor, and smart like Ravenclaw." The sorting hat hemmed and hawed, unsure of how to choose where to put Hollie. Finally, it decided. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The progression continued, with Chelli and Stacy being sorted into Gryffindor, Ashley going into Hufflepuff, Joe going into Ravenclaw, and Sam, surprisingly, going to Slytherin.

"Why is Sam in Slytherin? She doesn't have an evil bone in her body!" Whitney asked, a confused look on her face. Sam shrugged nonchalantly, and dug into the food in front of her rather than answering the question.

"She doesn't have a single cunning bone in her body either, but maybe when you think about it, she has more of that than any of the other house's qualities. Have you ever heard her laugh?" Stacy asked, making fun of her friend.

After dinner, the new students went to settle into their rooms, choosing beds and arguing over shelving. Before long, they were all asleep, getting ready for the next day when school, and the rest of their lives, would start.