To whoever is interested, I have uploaded on my tumblr account photos of Anya and Marie's wands along with an explanation of why they fit them, according to Pottermore and their personalities. There's also details about Wiccan Manor and of St. Louise's Orphanage, and there will be at least one preview for the next chapter.

Oh, before I forget, I would like to apologize for any grammar mistakes you'll probably see. English is not my first language and when I started writing the Barton Saga, I was barely managing to speak it, let alone write it!

Without much ado, carry on!

"I was disowned by the Harlaown family when I was seven years old. There were times I spoke without thinking or that I felt things I shouldn't, not when I was that young at least. I remember picking up people's feelings, like when they lied, or when they were angry, things like that. One day though, my father came smelling strange, he felt hot and sated... I told him in the middle of our dinner that I knew he had been with another woman. My mum and him weren't on the best of terms but they had come to an agreement; they would be honest to each other, no matter what." She smiles ruefully. "Of course, this was the icing on the cake. For them and for me. They looked everywhere they could ad even brought me to a Healer, and he told them what I was, why I was strange, why I acted so mature and childish at the same time. I still remember the look on their faces - they were so scared! So disgusted that they had been able to procreate something like me."

At my frown, she said, "Its okay, it doesn't hurt anymore when I say it. Anyways, they didn't know what to do with me. They couldn't obviously make me disappear when I had been already introduced to their friends and they weren't entirely heartless to make me go to the streets. That's where Miss Rosenberg enters. She talked to them and convinced them into letting her take me away, with just the condition of keeping the surname. As long as I was away from them, they could care less.

"The next day, it was as if I hadn't existed on their lives. The next time I saw my older brother, he didn't acknowledge me at all, not even a single flicker of recognition in his eyes. Miss Rosenberg came and took me away. I arrived at St. Louise's without a single thing, just my clothes and my shoes. Mrs. Darcy seemed taken with me until I accidentally told her I knew what kind of person she was." As Marie let out a pleased smile, I noticed she didn't sound as ashamed as the words seemed.

"And then I met you, and like they say, the rest is history."

She fell silent.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She added, "Aren't you angry?"

I chuckled, turning from the window as the sun began to settle down.

"Oh, I am angry. Don't doubt that for a second. I'm just trying to come up to terms with this because if you have just realized, you basically told me you did some mumbo jumbo so I could like you, even ging so far that I trusted you with my worst moment ever. Mind you, you were witness of that already but the thought still stands."

"I had to tell you before we went to Hogwarts," said Marie. "I knew it wouldn't be daisies and sunshines and then everyone is happy and dancing."

I pursed my lips. "Well, you will have to give me some time." I leaned back, arms crossed. I was clearly dismissing her.

After Marie left, I moved over the window and watched the sunset until the sky turned shades of pink and violet, all the while pondering how this revelation would change my relationship with the odd girl.

The day we would go at Hogwarts dawned gloomily, the sky was cloudless and windows were damp from the morning breeze. The wind was also getting colder, I noticed, and put on my yellow hoodie.

Unlike the first time in which Natasha took me in her Volkswagen - or piece of crap, as Marie dubbed it -, we Apparated in an alley near the King's Cross station, our trunks already loaded on the same cart.

"Why do I have to push the trolley?" I asked, annoyed as I pushed through the crowd.

Marie, who was sitting above the trunks and with Caleb's cage on her lap, said, "Because," as if that single word explained it all.

"I hate you."

"No, you don't," she sang, throwing me a wide smile over her shoulder.

Yesterday night, I had approached her when she had been sitting on the swing that hung in one of the branches of the huge willow tree planted on Wiccan House's backyard. She had immediately stopped swinging the moment she saw walking through the backdoor, her doe-like eyes widening as I purposely made my way toward her. Her fear melted into confusion and startled when I was suddenly standing before her, looking down at her with my arms crossed.

"How -"

"So that you know that I'm not lying to when I say this," I told her, smirking when she continued to gap at me. "Marie Harlaown, I forgive you. But don't expect me to start trusting you so soon. You will have to earn my trust in the old way - with time."

It was very stupid of me to jump straight to the situation, knowing well that there was the possibility that it would not work but still, I did and it did work. It was the first technique of protection that Natasha taught me, one of the most basic that according to her wasn't hard to call upon, even when it gave me a huge headache that lasted a day. It was supposed to protect my mind and body to whatever it was inflicted on me whilst the rest functioned normally as it did, the only downside was that I had to be on constant vigilance all the twenty hours of the day. Having a vague idea of how Marie's empathy worked, I decided to give it my first try on her - and it had worked marvelously. Now, I had to keep up with it while I still tried to learn the rest.

"Hold on tight," I said and pushed running up to the wall, Marie holding herself with one hand, and we quickly appeared on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Natasha made her jump off the trunks and with a hand on her shoulder lead her away from the iron archway above us.

"I can't do it," said Marie as we stood before the red steaming engine. A little away from us, stood a man waving a bell and yelling "All aboard!", kids shuffling by him after they said their hasty goodbyes to their families. She hugged Caleb's cage to her chest, ignoring the owl's insistent hoots. "I'm terrible at being nice to people and making conversation without pointing out their flaws!"

"Marie, there will be people that will not like your personality," said Natasha. "Ignore them, because they aren't worth your time. Just hang around for a while and you will see that the best people always are the ones who you don't think are - flaws and all. Come on, I will help you both."

Waving her wand, the two trunks rose in the air and floated behind her.

"You two have to be careful," she said quietly. But by the way her eyes lingered on my way, I knew she probably had aimed them at me.

"Why for?" I asked, when I all meant to say is, what this time for?

"Something is going to happen on Hogwarts, I know, and it all has to do with the TriWizard tournament."

Marie took a sharp intake of breath. "The TriWizard tour -"

"Shh! Not aloud!"

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

Marie turned to face me, looking aghast. "You don't know?! Its -" Natasha snapped a door compartment open, silencing her.

"You two will have to look out for each other, understood? I mean it. We are family, we only have the three of us to look after, no matter what happens, no matter what are the circumstances."

Marie said a quiet, "Yeah," when I simply nodded, frowning at the strange sentiment hiding behind her words.

The scarlet-haired woman hugged us one last time and jumped off the train, turning to wave at us as we finally began to move. Her figure faded and disappeared of view as the train rounded the corner.

"You can go and look for your friends," said Marie. She was not looking at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"I'll be fine."

Torn between her and my friends, I decided that if she was suggesting it, it must be because she wanted to be alone. With a quiet 'see you later', I left the compartment and began to walk down the corridor. To my displeasure, the first thing I heard was Draco Malfoy's sneering voice, and I blocked any negative feelings that came when he was involved. I was relieved to hear Hermione talking across the peroxide blond's.

"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he? I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him."

"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" I heard Harry say.

"Yes," Hermione sniffed, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."

"I think I've heard of it," Ron said as I opened the door of their compartment. "Where is it? What country?"

"According to a few sources, in the coasts of Russia," I raised an eyebrow. "Although, no one's supposed to know that so lets keep it quiet for a while, don't we?"

Ron rolled his eyes, budging down the seat. "Hello Anne."

"Er - why not? I mean, why nobody knows?" Harry asked me.

Instead, Hermione answered in her matter-of-fact voice, "There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets."

"Come off it," Ron laughed. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts - how are you going to hide a great big castle?"

"But Hogwarts is hidden," I said. "Everyone knows that..."

"Well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway," said Hermione.

"Just you, then," said Ron.

"And Annie too!"

I rolled my eyes. "Because you made me.'

"So go on - how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"

"There could be a good chance," I said, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"

"Come again?"

"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"

"Er... if you say so," Harry said.

"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," Ron said dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident... Shame his mother likes him..."

"There's always a downside," I said wisely.

"How have you been?" Hermione asked me.

I shrugged. "'s been alright. I don't think I will return back at the Orphanage though."

"Why?" surprisingly, it was Harry who inquired this, looking greatly alarmed. I decided to ignore it for the meantime.

"After we left the Burrow, Natasha took us - Marie and me - to her house. Believe me, it gave me a fright the first time I touched the door. It was like being in the twilight zone mixed with the Shrieking Shack. Most of my things were already there but I'll have to make one last trip to see if there was anything left."

"Oh," said Harry. He looked both annoyed and saddened by the thought.

"Why now?" Ron asked, his brows furrowing. "I mean - couldn't she have done that years ago?"

"Beats me," I said, shifting uncomfortably.

We talked about other things as the rain became heavier as the train neared Hogwarts, the sky growing darker that by midday the lanterns were lit. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for us to share. Several people came in to see us, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a boy with round face and brown eyes who I had grown closer to since the beginning of third year. When I threw him a wide grin, he fumbled with his chocolate frog, the tips of his ears turning faintly red and he did not look near my face again, making me wonder if the crush he harbored on me was still there.

Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette, which still squeaked the names of the players in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way.

"Take it off," I complained, feeling pity for the object even though it wasn't alive.

Seamus puffed out his chest. "You're just jealous you don't have one of these with all the Ireland's player autographs on it," he boasted.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked faintly, hovering a hand over Seamus' rosette. He shoved Ron's hand away.

"I have my ways," he said mysteriously, at which Dean snorted.

"He stalked all the players before the game. They only gave in because Seamus here was starting to unnerve them. Mind you, I was too."

We laughed at Seamus' expense.

"Gran didn't want to go," Neville said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville…"

He stood on the seat and began to rummage his trunk, pulling out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum with a triumphant, "Aha!"

Neville watched as the doll walked back and forth in Ron's palm. "Oh wow."

"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box -"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."

I let out an exasperated sigh as Draco Malfoy and his two apes, Crabbe and Goyle, appeared in the doorway.

"Malfoy, its too early to see your face," I complained. I pointed at the doorway, snapping my fingers and closed my eyes, dipping my head back in a suddenly tired manner. "Get out."

"It's not like if I came for the view, Barton," Malfoy retorted, the sneer on his long face making him look childish. "Weasley - what is that?"

Before anyone could stop him, he seized the maroon blanket that had covered Pidwidgeon's, Ron's new owl, cage. To my surprise, the blanket took form of an oversized coat.

I looked at it with a critical eye. "Those are dress robes?" I sneered, holding up a sleeve with lace-covered cuffs. Ron shoot me a glare.

Malfoy guwaffed. "Even Barton here agrees with me!"

"Ugh, that it's just plain worse than the clothes," I uttered, letting go of the robe.

"Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety -"

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron said, turning red. He snatched the robes from Malfoy's grip as he and his cronies laughed.

"So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know… you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won…"

"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped.

"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," said Hermione testily, looking from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4.

A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him…"

I scoffed, opening my eyes lazily. "Who says we don't now, Malfoy?"

"Do you?" he challenged.

I smiled condescendingly. "Malfoy, we are not the type who loves to divulge the Ministry's secrets. Imagine what sort of trouble your father would be in if they found out their son was being a tattletale," I widened my eyes, tutting, and he took a step back, just realizing what I meant. "Doesn't look good at all for ol' dear daddy, innit?" My smile fell and I glared at him. "Get out, Malfoy. I mean it."

Malfoy glared at me viciously before he jerked his head at Crabbe and Goyle, the three of them disappearing. Seeing as I was closer to the door, I got to my feet and closed the sliding compartment door with a quiet click!.

The trio stared at me for a while, not bothering to hide their disbelief.

"Blimey," said Ron, breaking the silence. "Its been a while since you have done that."

"Done what?"

"That - you know, the whole smiling and intimidating Malfoy thing!"

"Oh."

"It was wicked!"

I sighed, snorting softly. Honestly, only Ron would openly admit to being scared of me and then gush about how I put Draco Malfoy on his place.

It was actually refreshing.

"Did you even know what he was talking about?" Harry asked curiously. I debated if I should tell them about the TriWizard Tournament. But Natasha's comment had been far too vague, more than the usual way she spoke, and the obvious turmoil in Marie's voice when she heard about it left me worried. I decided to play it safe.

"No." I was never more proud of my lying skills than at this day.

As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Marie glanced at the sky and turned to the compartment, opening the pink umbrella as she stepped out.

"Be careful of the Dabberblimps, she said," Marie muttered, looking at the carriages across the station with longing. Her brows arched though, when she saw faint silhouettes pulling from them. Another downpour of water made her wince, and when she looked again, the figures were gone and the carriages were already moving.

The rain was falling down thickly around the umbrella and she worried for a moment it would break and water would pour down her head, but then remembered it had been Miss Rosenberg who gave it to her. It probably was charmed to withstand the storm.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

The sight of the huge man waving his lamp sent a wave of comfort through her body. Hagrid, Anya had called him Hagrid, the one who loved to collect dangerous pets. Marie fought her way through the rain and slowed down behind the bunch of scared first years. She grinned and twirled the umbrella's handle with her fingers.

Anya had told her it wouldn't probably happen, but she couldn't wait and see if the giant squid would try to greet them.