Anastasia, November, Hermione, and Daphne spent the next couple hours in the Horned Serpent common room, getting to know each other over a nice spot of tea. Nova learned that Daphne was a Slytherin (the fact surprised Nova slightly, but didn't bother her), and she told Daphne and Hermione that her father, Roger, was a prefect at Hogwarts nearly twenty years prior.

Meanwhile, Harry and Kellen were in the library, going over History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts in preparation for their upcoming end-of-year-exams.

Kellen beamed at Harry's aptitude at learning the material. "I'm glad you're taking your studies seriously," he whispered. "Our end-of-year exams aren't all that far away... and you know I won't be satisfied until I know you've finished in the top five of our year! You got this."

Harry couldn't help but grin. "And it's all because of you, Kellen. I know you're going to be number one with a bullet when it's all said and done - you can do this in your sleep. But I'm grateful that you're taking the time to ensure that I get the material," he replied in a soft voice.

Kellen looked at the clock on the wall. "I say in about twenty more minutes, we can wrap this up and get ready for dinner. After all, Hermione is supposed to be here today... she might already be here... maybe we should just call it a day now so I can get ready? I need to shower and change and put a spritz of cologne on... I need to look sharp for her!"

Harry chuckled. "Chillax, dude! You don't need to look sharp for her until Friday evening. You might want to run a comb through that Flock of Seagulls hair of yours though..."

Kellen smirked, and gave Harry a gentle, playful shove.

"We can study for twenty more minutes, Kellen," Harry said. "I could use the extra practice... it won't hurt anything."

"Fair enough, Harry," chuckled Kellen. "I think we're good with history. Defense now?"

"Defense," agreed Harry.

The boys spent the next twenty minutes going over their DADA text, and headed back to the dormitory to get cleaned up for dinner. The girls had already left the common room by the time they made it to the Horned Serpent tower, so neither of them were yet aware that Hermione and Daphne had already arrived at Ilvermorny.

Kellen grabbed a quick shower, and put on a nice flannel shirt and some khaki pants and some nice trainers. He combed his hair neatly but didn't slick it back with gel this time.

Harry just wore a crisp tee and a clean pair of blue jeans and Chuck Taylors. They traipsed their way downstairs to the great hall and took their seats at the Horned Serpent table. The boys were by themselves for a couple of minutes, but they were soon joined by not only Ana and Nova, but their friends from across the pond, Hermione and Daphne!

Kellen immediately stood up to greet the pretty English girls that had come all the way to see him. Daphne wore her blonde hair in a ponytail, and was in a basic white button blouse, black trousers, and simple black ballet-style flats; Hermione was in a striped sweater, corduroy pants, and trainers. Her hair was its usual frizzy brown jungle.

"Omigosh! Kellen! I can't believe it!" Hermione squeaked. She was so overcome with emotion that tears had started to fill her eyes.

Kellen smirked. "Hello, Hermione. It's an honor to meet you in person finally." He embraced her tenderly, which she quickly returned. As soon as they broke off, his eye seemed to twinkle. He snapped his fingers, and a pretty bouquet of red, yellow, and orange tulips appeared in his hand. He casually presented it to Hermione. "I'm guessing that you like tulips," he murmured.

Hermione's jaw dropped. She had never seen a display of magic like this before - not from a student, at least. Especially not from a fellow firstie. This boy is phenomenally talented, she thought to herself. She looked at Kellen, then at the tulips, and at Kellen again. "I... I..." she stuttered. She took a whiff of the flowers, taking in their naturally pleasing scent. "They're beautiful, Kellen. Thank you." She leaned toward Kellen, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the forehead. His face turned a deep shade of pink.

Daphne then introduced herself to Kellen. "Hello Kellen. I've heard of you, you know. Hermione has told me lots of good things about you. I'm Daphne Greengrass. I'm a very good friend of Hermione's. It's a pleasure to meet you." She extended her hand to Kellen to shake, but he grinned as he pushed her hand back down, and gave her a warm embrace instead. It took Daphne by surprise a bit, but she smiled and returned the hug.

Once again, Kellen snapped his fingers, and produced a lovely bouquet of pink carnations and presented them to Daphne. "I'm guessing pink is your colour?"

Daphne looked at Hermione, her brows furrowed and nose wrinkled. "This boy is too good," she mouthed. She turned to Kellen and smiled sweetly, accepting the lovely floral gift. "Thank you, Kellen. Those are quite lovely." She inhaled the sweet scent of the carnations and gave him another hug.

Kellen then smirked, and gestured toward Harry. "And this... this is my brother, Harry."

Hermione and Daphne looked at each other again, completely dumbstruck. Kellen made no mention of having a brother in any of his letters.

"Erm, Kellen... you never told me you had a brother that went to school here," Hermione murmured.

"I'm not his blood brother," Harry clarified. "We're foster brothers."

Daphne cocked her head slightly. "You... you sound a little British. Not like Nova, but you have a bit of Received in your voice patterns."

Hermione giggled. "Well, so does Kellen... he does have a hint of a British accent too! But that doesn't really surprise me, his mum's from London."

"Well, yes," Daphne agreed. "But his brother's is definitely stronger."

Kellen whispered to the pretty British girls. "Can you keep a secret?" Both girls nodded.

He whispered in each of the girls' ears. "He's... Harry Potter. But you're not supposed to know that, so I'd greatly appreciate it if you could keep that to yourselves."

Hermione and Daphne looked at each other, their faces glowing and unable to keep themselves from grinning. "The Harry Potter?" they squeaked. They both squealed excitedly like fangirls that got to meet their favourite teen idol. "Eeeeeeee!"

"Shhhh!" admonished Kellen in a whisper. "I'll tell you the story of how we met tonight, away from the commotion of the great hall. But you must swear to me that you won't tell anyone at Hogwarts, other than your deputy headmistress Professor McGonagall, who already knows. If word gets out that he's here, there could be dire consequences for both our schools. I fear there's a very dark sect of wizards - loyal to You-Know-Who - that want to use Harry's powers for nefarious purposes and it's both my privilege and responsibility to help keep his identity under wraps. Please promise me."

"I promise," said Hermione dutifully.

"I promise as well," added Daphne.

"He may not be my blood brother, but I sure as hell will protect him like one," Kellen said. "He's also my very best friend in the whole world."

"He's the very first friend I've made," Harry chimed in. "But like Kellen said, we'll tell you the story this evening."

Hermione smiled at Harry. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see your scar, please."

Harry smirked, and swept away a few strands of hair covering his forehead.

"It's real! I knew it!" Hermione squeaked.

"Now Kellen, don't forget that Friday we're going to Vermont for our last Quiz Bowl of the term. Are you ready to help make it a clean sweep?" Ana asked with a bright smile.

"Most definitely, Anastasia," replied Kellen. "I just hope we get back in time for the Spring Dance!"

"Oh, we will, Kellen, don't you worry. It doesn't start until seven thirty, and we'll be back before six. You'll have time to eat and get cleaned up and changed," Ana said with a confident grin.

"Whom are you taking to the dance, Ana?" Hermione asked.

Ana grinned like a schoolgirl. "Harry."

"Oh, aren't you lucky," Hermione replied with a giggle. "A date with the Boy-Who-Lived himself!"

"I'm not taking him because he's the Boy-Who-Lived," Ana murmured. "I'm taking him because he's Harry." Harry smiled gratefully at Ana. She had always liked Harry simply because he's Harry. Not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. He was grateful for being at Ilvermorny, where his celebrity status meant a great deal less than had he gone to Hogwarts.

"As it should be," chimed in Daphne. "If you're going to take someone to a dance, it's because you like them as a person and not because they're rich or famous or powerful... even though Harry is potentially all three."

"Are you taking anyone, Nova?" asked Hermione.

"I can't, I'm a third-year student," responded Nova. "It's only for first-and-second year students, though they could potentially ask a third-year. Besides, Harry and Sandy would have a lot more fun with Ana and yourself than an old fogey like me."

"November, you're a beautiful girl," Kellen said. "I'd have been delighted to take you."

"You're a dear, Sandy," giggled Nova. "But you'll have a lot more fun with Hermione - I promise."

"Why do you call Kellen 'Sandy', Nova?" asked Hermione. "I'm guessing there's a story behind it?"

Nova giggled again. "Well, he does have a rather unusual name - both his first and last names are quite uncommon - and I just thought calling him 'Sandy' would be easier for me to remember. We met during physical training the morning of our first day. His hair is sandy-blonde and shaggy and just sort of flops in the wind, so it just sort of... stuck. And he hated me when I called him that at first, but he's used to it now."

Both Daphne and Hermione burst into full laughter. Kellen grinned, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm guessing you'd like to meet your pen pal in just a little bit, Daphne?" asked Harry. "Chelsea is a Thunderbird. She sometimes comes to our table, but if we don't see her, we can always pay her a visit in a bit."

"That would be great, Harry," replied Daphne.

A few minutes later, dinner was served - the children dined on cheeseburgers, French fries, and pumpkin juice. Eventually Chelsea and Alexander made their way over to the Horned Serpent table, where Daphne and Chelsea finally got to meet each other at last.

"You look just like your picture," Daphne giggled as she embraced the grey-eyed Thunderbird with the coppery-red pigtails.

"So do you," replied Chelsea. "I love your accent, by the way. It's very posh."

"Do you have any plans after dinner?" asked Daphne. "Or are you going to go back to the common room?"

"Why don't we go to the music room?" suggested Nova. "Sandy can play a song or two for us on the guitar... or piano, whatever you'd prefer. He's quite good at both."

"You never told me you could play the piano," Hermione told Kellen.

Kellen shrugged. "It's not my instrument of choice. My hands were made to hold a guitar. I took piano lessons for a few years, but if you want to hear a virtuoso, ask Anastasia to play for you. She has the real talent of the outfit."

Anastasia blushed deeply. "And it's funny that he says that I'm a virtuoso, but while I like playing the piano, my real passion is the violin. I don't think I've ever played it for you, have I Kellen?"

Kellen shook his head 'no'. "Do they have a violin in the music room?"

Chelsea nodded. "They do... I'll be more than happy to show you."

"Do you play?" asked Daphne.

"I'm afraid not," Chelsea asked. "I just sing... well, I did try the clarinet a while back, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. So I just stick with what I know!"

"Same here," replied Daphne. "I took voice lessons... I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I rather fancy myself as a singer." She giggled. "I guess I'd have to be good to sing in the choir at Hogwarts!"

"Well, whenever you are ready, I can show you to the music room," Chelsea offered. "I'm sure Kellen plays the guitar beautifully... I've never heard him play, honestly... but I'm curious to find out!"

A couple of minutes later, after everyone had finished, the children got up to head to the music room. Kellen found the Gibson Les Paul and the amplifier in the back room, and started tuning the strings using the piano in the main room to assist. Once finished, Kellen plugged guitar into the amplifier and started warming up.

Harry, Ana, Nova, Hermione, Daphne, Chelsea, and Alexander all sat around Kellen to listen to him play. He grinned before he started playing his first song. "For you no-maj born, this one should be quite familiar to you... it's most appropriate, I should think." He started out with Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice in F minor.

"That's the Mickey Mouse song from Fantasia!" Hermione exclaimed. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice, right? You're an amazing talent, Kellen!"

"I have no idea what that is," giggled Daphne. "But you're right! He plays wonderfully."

"Thank you both! Any requests?" asked Kellen.

Hermione tapped her chin with her fingertips. "How about a traditional British standard?" She shot a sneaky glance at Kellen. "Sunshine of Your Love by Cream."

Kellen raised his head, with an approving expression on his face. "You got it, Hermione."

He played a perfect rendition of the famous Eric Clapton tune, singing in a rich tenor:

"It's gettin' near dawn

When lights close their tired eyes

I'll soon be with you my love

To give you my dawn surprise

I'll be with you darling soon

I'll be with you when the stars start falling

I've been waiting so long

To be where I'm going

In the sunshine of your love

I'm with you my love

The light's shinin' through on you

Yes, I'm with you my love

It's the morning and just we two

I'll stay with you darling now

I'll stay with you till my seas are dried up

I've been waiting so long

To be where I'm going

In the sunshine of your love

I'm with you my love

The light's shinin' through on you

Yes, I'm with you my love

It's the morning and just we two

I'll stay with you darling now

I'll stay with you till my seas are dried up

I've been waiting so long

I've been waiting so long

I've been waiting so long

To be where I'm going

In the sunshine of your love"

Hermione stood up and gave Kellen a big hug. "You were terrific, Kellen. Thank you."

Kellen patted the spot next to him on the piano bench. "Would you like to play something for us on the old ivories? I'm sure you're better than I am."

Hermione gave Kellen a sneaky look. "You play something first."

Kellen sighed and shook his head. "If you insist." He stretched his hands and cracked his knuckles, and played Debussy's Arabesque No. 1. By Kellen's standards, it was very sweet and expressive, although he thought that Ana could easily play it better.

"That was beautiful, Kellen," Hermione said. "You're a better pianist than you give yourself credit for."

Kellen dipped his head, slightly embarrassed. "I'm all right at it, but I still prefer the guitar."

"You're an utterly brilliant guitarist," Hermione said softly, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "And you're a decent singer too." She then turned back to the piano and started playing Beethoven's Für Elise.

Kellen chuckled. "Yeah, you're better than I can ever dream of being," he admitted. "You're a born pianist. But you really ought to get a load of Anastasia... she's unreal." He turned to Ana. "Would you mind playing a little something? You're beyond amazing."

"Up you get, Grimseth," giggled Anastasia. "Amateur hour's over." She took over Kellen's spot, and banged out a positively brilliant rendition of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, a notoriously difficult song to play.

"Don't beat yourself up, Sandy," Nova noted. "You really are a good pianist."

"Yeah, but not like Anastasia," Kellen quipped. "She plays like she's got a third hand!"

"Who says I don't?" giggled Ana. "Oh and Chelsea? Be a dear please, and find me that violin! I think you were all a good audience so I think you deserve a little encore."

"Coming right up," Chelsea replied. She went to the storage room in the back and returned a couple of minutes later with a small violin case, and handed it to Ana.

Ana opened it up, placed the violin under her chin, and played a particularly beautiful rendition of Dvorak's Humoresque No. 7.

Kellen's jaw dropped. "Oh Merlin, Anastasia... I thought you were a marvelous pianist... I swear, the violin was made for you, and you alone... oh goodness... that was amazing! And Harry... are... are you crying?"

"Oh, shut up," sniffled Harry, as he wiped his face with his hand. "Don't tell me you weren't."