The hooded figure paused at the abandoned house's entrance, before slipping inside. The floorboards, coated with dust, protested loudly at his intrusion, but there was no one living to hear.
This house was thought to have been destroyed at the end of the war, almost a decade ago. But still it remained, hidden from all but those who knew what it was. What it meant, this skeleton of a former age. Memories waiting to be claimed.
Despite the complexity of the hallways and rooms, seeming to be thrown in such a meaningless order, the invader found what they was looking for without much trial. Tucking the object under their cloak, they brushed the ancient ashes out of the fireplace, choosing to ignore the blackened marks that had marred the stones years before. Instead, with a simple finger movement, a fire sprung into place once more, crackling in the dust-filled air.
A rebirth from the ashes.
The figure unfolded a prewritten letter, coated in sparkling dust, and threw it into the now-green fire with a whispered destination to speed it on it's way. The master would know of their success soon.
As the intruder left, closing and locking the door behind them, the house breathed a relieved sigh. The real secret still lay undiscovered within it's recesses, waiting for the proper owner. Waiting forever, perhaps.
-----
Zuko had already decided that his second year at Hogwarts would be worse than his first. In fact, perhaps he might as well make a preemptive strike and give the go ahead to call this the worst school year he was ever going to have.
Case in point. Azula had come to town.
She had distracted him throughout the whole Sorting, and he couldn't help but beg, beg beg for her to be put in one of the Houses. Any House, as long as it wasn't his.
But it was a silly thing to hope for. The fire progedy got Sorted into the Fire House, and he had a problem. Go figure.
Mai gave him a knowing look, when she saw that he wasn't clapping at his sister's Sorting. She understood, even though she was Azula's friend. She understood what kind of force his sister was.
The very blonde boy took the seat next to Zuko, and gave him a once over with cruel, knowing eyes.
"Do I know you?"
Zuko was not in the mood. "Perhaps. I don't know." The boy did look oddly familiar. A child of one of Father's friends, maybe. He had stopped trying to keep track of all the visitors in his house, preferring to train and think in silence, alone.
They all end up on Azula's side, anyways, he reminded himself with a scowl.
And the boy was still staring at him. He had sat on Zuko's right side, which was why he was still in doubt. Anyone who saw the left side of his face knew immediately if they recognized him or not.
Azula sat down on the boy's other side. Zuko's scowl deepened.
"Hello, brother." That sickly sweet smile on her face made his stomach churn. "Won't Father be proud? Another Fire witch."
Like he didn't see it coming. Azula had been shooting sparks since before she could walk. And Father was always proud of her.
"Yes. I'm sure he'll be delighted." If Azula caught the bitter note in his voice, she chose not to comment on it.
The blonde boy was looking from one of them to the other. "You... you're Ozai's kids?"
Azula gave the boy a razor-sharp smile. "Yes, of course. And you are?
"Draco Malfoy," the boy spat out in a hurry, his eyes now fixed on Azula. Zuko's tense shoulders itched to unwind, but with Azula so close by, he didn't think he'd ever really feel safe relaxed.
"I know the family." His sister was doing her best to look bored, but Zuko knew her well enough to see that the drop of his family name had piqued her interest. "The question now is can you live up to it?"
Zuko made a face. Watching this was just as bad as it would be to watch his sister flirt. It just made him feel ill. All this one-upping, trying to consort with those worthy enough for you, while still trying to prove that you were better.
It was too much for the first day of school.
Mai shot him a weird look from across the table when he stood up as soon as Dumbledore had dismissed them, but he didn't notice. The gloomy girl was always glaring anyway.
Lee caught up to him halfway to the dungeons. "You alright, mate?"
Lee Jordan was, Zuko supposed, his best friend. By default, really, seeing as he was one of the only people Zuko actually talked to.
He wasn't a pureblood, so he was sure that as soon as Azula found out, he would be hearing from Father. Or maybe Father would just ignore him, and force him to spend yet another summer rotting at his drunken uncle's house.
He would just have to get better marks this year, is all. Shouldn't be too hard. And this year, he could try out for the Quidditch team, which would make Father happy. Happy enough to let him come home.
Lee was saying something again. Zuko blinked, and looked over at the boy. "What?"
The boy was used to his funks, and his only sign of annoyance at Zuko's lack of interest was a roll of his eyes.
"I asked whether or not you're trying out for the Quidditch team. They need a new Seeker. And Bole tried to fight a troll over the summer, so he'll be at St. Mungo's for a while, and the team needs a couple of Beaters."
"Oh." Beater. That was more up his alley. But Father wanted the best, and the best played Seeker. "Yes. I'll be there."
Lee clapped him on the back. "That's the spirit! And I've applied to commentate the matches, so I'll be able to make you look even better than you are!"
This got a wry smile out of the morose boy, as they reached the bare stretch of wall that marked their common room.
"The firsties won't be back yet," Lee commented. "And you took off so fast, I don't even know the password yet."
Zuko scowled. It sounded to him that Lee was saying it was his fault they were now stuck outside their room. "Sorry," he muttered, not at all sorry.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and a flickering light betrayed who it was as a firebender. Lee made a face when he saw who it was.
"Bigot," he muttered. Zuko didn't bother asking who it was. The fire-bearer had already stepped into his line of sight.
The large boy smirked at them, and from behind him, among the train of first years, Zuko could feel Azula's condescending grin.
"Waiting for someone to let you in, boys?" His voice was booming, and much louder than it needed to be. It made Zuko want to cover his ears, but he had more dignity than that, at least.
Neither of the second years bothered to answer him.
"Tsk. I am a Prefect now. It would be best to answer promptly." He turned to his group of first years. "Mind you don't turn out like these two next year. Bad examples of the House. Agni Kai!" He shouted the last two words, making Lee, Zuko, and most of the first years jump. The stone wall in front of them opened, and Zuko and Lee scurried inside before the new prefect thought of more insults to throw at them.
Collapsing on his bed inside of their dormitory, Lee sighed. "What an ass."
"Shut up." Zuko sat on his own bed, the farthest from the door, and one down from Lee's. "People don't call him Combustion Man for nothing."
"He can't be fifth year. No fifteen year old is that big. I bet he's part troll, and his parents just didn't want to admit it."
This was natural. They had often complained about Gordon Kane, commonly called Combustion Man, last year, after the older boy had chosen them to be his first year victims of the term. It appeared as if this trend would continue to this year as well.
They probably would have been relieved to know that Gordon, though still not going to pass up a chance to bother the two, had lost interest in them. They were much too easy. Anyways, his days of petty bullying were over.
In his own dorm, still empty of his year mates, Combustion Man, named that for his talent for explosions, took off his signature bandanna and smirked at what he saw reflected back to him in his small, cracked mirror. Furrowing his brow, he concentrated on a chip in the stone wall. Easy did it.
With a zap, the stone was once more even. Staring at his newly transfigured third eye, Gordon couldn't help but laugh.
"Easy pickings."
A/N: So, I just read somewhere that the Houses are already roughly based on elements. But, as they don't match up for my story, I'm going to let this slide. It is, after all, an AU.
I apologize for the short chapter, which took so very long in coming. It was only after writing a few chapters of this that I remembered what huge fandoms I was combining, with so much back story and detail. So I had to plot it out before I could continue. I offer Zuko as a sacrifice to your wrath. Oh, and one good thing is that now that I've got it all sorted out, I plan to update within the next week or so, and the updates should be pretty steady after that.
Hope I didn't disappoint too horribly! Thanks for reading.
