Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter, everything you recognize belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Everything that is underlined is taken directly from the book.

"talking"

'thought'

'written words'

Chapter 7

Change can be Easy or Difficult

Fire surrounded her, blocking off any chance of escaping. A menacing laugh filled the air, making her hair stand on end. She tried to turn around, to see who was laughing, but found herself unable to move. The fire seemed to be getting closer to her with every passing second and still she could do nothing. The laughing got louder and she heard some words within the laughter but she couldn't make them out since she was too concerned with the fire, which was now close enough that she could feel the heat all around her.

Someone was screaming – no – she was screaming. Someone was calling her name and she wanted to turn around but she still couldn't move and the fire was too close. It was going to consume her! She struggled against whatever was holding her there but she still couldn't move. She was beginning to panic as she heard footsteps behind her. She heard a shout and felt a rush of magic coming towards her. Time seemed to slow as the magic flew towards the air towards her. She tried again to break free of the magic holding her down but nothing seemed to be working. She was screaming again. The magic was a foot away from her and –

Journey woke up with a start, clutching her chest as she tried to calm down her breathing. It took several minutes before Journey's heart rate had slowed down enough so that she could think clearly.

'What was that?' Journey thought to herself as she struggled to remember what she had dreamed about. Normally, Journey didn't have any dreams and for one to affect her this much … it was making Journey nervous.

'There was fire,' Journey thought slowly as pieces started coming back to her, 'and laughter … but not of the humorous sort.' Journey strained her brain for a few more moments but couldn't seem to grasp any other details from the dream. She couldn't even remember who the girl was from the dream, only that she was there.

Looking over at her bedside table Journey saw that it was almost six o'clock. 'Might as well get up then,' Journey thought as she quietly got out of bed trying not to disturb the other girls or wake Aurora who was sleeping at the foot of her bed. Journey opened her trunk as quietly as she could and grabbed her shower things and a set of robes which now featured the Slytherin colours instead of just plain black. Journey ran her finger over the snake on the crest, hoping that even though she was sorted into Slytherin, her parents would still be proud of her.

Pushing the thought aside, Journey closed the lid of her trunk with a quiet 'click' and walked into the bathroom to have a quick shower. She took her time, something that the Dursleys would never have allowed, and before long she could hear the sounds of the bathroom door opening and closing and the other shower turning on beside her. Journey quickly finished up as there were only three showers for four girls and she didn't want to leave anyone waiting. Journey only struggled a little bit as she tried to put on her robes for the second time and walked out of the stall to see Lilith waiting for her, still looking half asleep.

"Good morning!" Journey said cheerily as she walked passed Lilith to the sink so she could brush her teeth. Lilith made a noise that with a little imagination could sound like a greeting before walking into the shower and closing the curtain behind her, making Journey snicker. 'Someone is not a morning person.'

After brushing her teeth and washing her face Journey contemplated on what to do with her hair. Normally she didn't care what her hair looked like, but today she wanted to make a good impression on her professors and classmates, meaning she could not look haphazardly put together. Deciding to just to something simple, Journey brushed her hair back and put a green headband in that matched her eyes and kept her hair out of her face. Satisfied with her appearance, Journey left the bathroom and put her stuff away in the first compartment of her trunk. Aurora was awake now and butted her head against Journey's leg, demanding that Journey pick her up and pet her. Journey giggled at the kitten's antics but happily obliged.

After spending several minutes scratching the purring feline behind the ears, Journey put her down on the bed and grabbed a toy for her to play with from the trunk's first compartment while also grabbing her bottomless bag the goblins had given her. She put all her notebooks in the bag since she wasn't sure which classes she had today yet and didn't want to leave anything behind. She also grabbed her text books but decided after some deliberation to leave her supplementary books behind since she thought that would be overkill. Journey also packed all of her different coloured pens and pencils so that she could keep her class notes consistent with the notes she'd already taken. Harry laughed at the amount of effort she put into her notes but Journey didn't mind, they couldn't all have Harry's amazing ability to remember nearly everything they had ever heard or read so Journey had to find a way that worked for her.

After she had finished packing her bag, Journey returned to playing with Aurora while she waited for the other girls to get ready for breakfast. Journey felt a little bit nervous for her first day of class and couldn't help thinking discouraging thought. 'What if I'm really behind everyone?' she thought worriedly while sitting back from Aurora absentmindedly, 'what if I'm so bad at magic that they send me back to the Dursleys and leave Harry all alone in Hogwarts?' Journey had no doubt that they'd keep Harry in Hogwarts, he was much too important to the wizarding world, but if she didn't have enough magical talent …

"Ready to go?" a voice behind Journey asked.

Journey turned from where she was sitting and saw that Tracey was the one who had asked the question and that the other girls were waiting by the door. All three of them were dressed in Slytherin robes that matched her own and like her, they had their book bags ready. Not wanting to keep her new friends waiting, Journey quickly grabbed her bag and rushed over to them.

The four girls walked down to the common room, where Journey got her first real look at the area she would be calling 'home' for the next seven years.

The room itself was very impressive. An elaborate mantelpiece was surrounding a small indentation in the wall where Journey guessed a fire was usually set. The walls looked slightly worn as did the ceiling, except the ceiling had chains hanging off of it supporting green-coloured lamps. There were several tables around the room with high-backed chairs around them, along with a couple of comfortable-looking armchairs closer to the fire. There was a large bulletin board against the wall closest to the exit and a few of the other walls had bookcases leaning against them.

'Definitely meant to be more of a professional setting rather than somewhere to feel comfortable in,' Journey thought as she followed Tracey and the others out the common room with the wall closing back up behind them, looking to all the world just a plain, ordinary dungeon wall.

It took twenty minutes and three wrong turns before the first-year Slytherin girls finally made it to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they walked over to an empty spot at the Slytherin table, Journey scanned the Gryffindor table for any sign of Harry. Journey was a bit upset when she saw that he wasn't there since she really wanted to talk to Harry about what happened yesterday and tell him that she hadn't suddenly gone over to the dark side now that she was in the Slytherin house.

Deciding to wait until later to talk to Harry, Journey sat down with the other girls and began to place some bacon and eggs onto her plate. The four of them talked about what they expected classes to be like, who was a good teacher based on what their older brothers and sisters had said and that sort of thing. They had just gotten into a debate on whether or not they thought astronomy was a useless subject when Theo and Blaise sat down next to Daphne looking rather haggard.

"Rough night?" Lilith asked.

Theo grunted as he began eating while Blaise nodded tiredly. "Draco thought it he could command the two of us around like he commands Crabbe and Goyle."

Daphne smirked at him. "Bet that went down well."

Theo snickered and said, "I told him that if he ever tried to make me unpack his stuff again, I'd punch him in the nose … and that if it hadn't already been done today I would have done it then too."

"Bet Lucius would have been so proud of him, getting beat up twice in one day!" Tracey snickered.

Journey smiled and let out as small giggle even though she had no idea who 'Lucius' was and watched the others laugh. It seemed as if everyone in Slytherin that she had met so far knew each other, or at least knew of each other, which sometimes made Journey feel like she was an outsider. She felt that she needed to prove herself to these people to become their friends and she wasn't sure if she liked that.

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Harry watched as Journey laughed with the Slytherins around her, feeling slightly hurt. He'd wanted to talk to Journey this morning but didn't want to approach her in front of so many Slytherins. He had missed her last night. It was the first time that he could remember that they hadn't shared a room or the bed, and he felt really lonely laying in the gigantic bed all by himself.

"Cheer up," Harry heard Ron say, making him turn away from the Slytherin table and back to his new friend who was currently shovelling eggs into his mouth as fast as humanly possible. When several minutes passed and Harry still didn't show signs of eating his breakfast Ron paused his inhalation of food and looked at Harry.

"Mate, she's still your sister even though she is … Slytherin. Maybe the Sorting Hat put her in the wrong house or something? We had a second uncle or something that was in Slytherin and mom said he was an alright guy."

Harry appreciated Ron's efforts to cheer him up even if they weren't really that successful. Harry didn't really care that Journey was in Slytherin, what he cared about was that she was in a different house than him and that he missed having her constant, supporting presence. He knew that he couldn't spend his whole life with Journey at his side but he wasn't sure if he would be able to do so much on his own when he was used to doing everything with her. Even this morning, people had been whispering about him as he walked to breakfast with Ron and all he could think about was that if Journey were with him, she would have said something to each and every person who made him feel uncomfortable to make sure he was ok.

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Journey's first day of class passed in a blur.

Professor Snape had handed out their timetables during breakfast to everyone, barely even looking at Journey at all. Journey wondered about her head of house, but for some reason couldn't get any feelings at all from him. Even when she tried to focus, Journey felt as if there was nothing to grasp at, which confused her greatly.

Journey quickly put the thought out of her mind so as not to distract herself during her classes and got up with her fellow first year Slytherins. They followed the directions of an upper-year student to get to their first class of the day, Charms, which was taught by Professor Flitwick. Professor Flitwick was a very small man and needed to stand on a stack of books to address the class, making some of the Slytherins snicker at him behind their hands. Journey could care less that their professor was the shortest man she had ever seen, he had an enthusiasm for teaching and seemed like a fair, honest man, which was enough for Journey to like him.

After Charms, the Slytherin first years headed down to the greenhouses for the one and only class Journey was dreading, Herbology. Journey's amazing ability to not be able to work with plants at all seemed to carry over to the magical world. In the first ten minutes of the period Journey had accidentally cut off the bud of a flower that Professor Sprout was having them trim, causing a strange liquid to burst out and spray her and a few other Slytherins. After that, Journey had accidentally stepped on a vine of some super-important plant that the Professor was growing. Turns out the plant didn't like being stepped on so it whacked her upside the head, making her pour to much Dragon-dung fertilizer on her plant and toss the bucket of fertilizer into the air and knock a box of … something over which sparked and set four peoples' plants on fire including her own. The bucket of Dragon-dung hand landed between Crabbe and Goyle and some of the dung had flown out and hit them but thankfully, they seemed too thick to notice. Then, Journey had somehow managed to injury the venomous tentacula that was hanging on the wall when she was putting the fertilizer away. Journey later found out that it was allergic to the fertilizer and had been hit with some of it when she had flung her bucket, causing boils to erupt on the plant. Those accidents, along with several other mishaps, caused the Professor Sprout to look at her thoughtfully.

"I haven't had a student this horrible at Herbology since your mother came to Hogwarts, Miss Potter," the Professor said quietly after she called Journey back after class for a moment. Journey looked up sharply from where she had been examining her shoes to look at her professor in shock. 'She knew my mum?' Journey thought in a daze.

Professor Sprout saw the look on Journey's face and chuckled. "Yes, I taught your mother," the professor seemed to be looking past Journey now, lost in memories of an earlier time, "she was one of the finest witches Hogwarts had ever seen. Bright… caring… thoughtful… there are so many words that could be used to describe Lily Evans. She was exceptionally talented at Charms and Potions, and very good at Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Transfiguration… although your father was definitely the master of that subject. Even in her other subjects that she didn't really care for Lily excelled and was top of her class… except for Herbology. Your mother couldn't even water a plant without damaging it."

Professor Sprout started laughing at that point and Journey smiled. This was something about her mom that was probably not common knowledge, something personal. Journey was glad to know something more about her parents, and to find that she had a little bit in common with her mother besides her looks, and couldn't wait to tell Harry what she knew.

When Professor Sprout had stopped laughing she turned back to Journey her eyes were soft but focused, she seemed to know where Journey's thoughts were going and gave Journey a small but warm smile. "After several months and many ruined plants later," she said with a slight chuckle, "I realized that the only way to get your mother to pass was if I had her take extra lessons outside of class for her practical knowledge while in class time she would simply observe. It seems as if I will need to offer the same service to you."

Journey looked down, embarrassed for the fact that she already needed extra help. 'It's only the second class!' Journey thought dejectedly, 'what if I'm so bad at my other classes, that they decide that I should just be sent back to the Muggle world and –'

Journey was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Journey saw Professor Sprout smiling kindly at her. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, dear," Professor Sprout said softly, "no one will know about it if you don't want them to. You can tell everyone that you are just in detention for damaging my plants if that makes you feel any better."

Journey almost smirked, 'She knows how to speak straight to a Slytherin's heart, wonder why she's head of Hufflepuff?' Brushing the thought aside Journey nodded to Professor Sprout, who was awaiting an answer.

The professor beamed. "Terrific!" she said with a clap of her hands. "I'll look for someone in your year to work with, but so far no one seems to stand out from the rest. I've only taught two classes though so I still have half the first years to teach!" she said with a laugh, making Journey laugh as well at the woman's enthusiasm. "If I can't find anyone in your year I'll have to look elsewhere but hopefully it won't come to that. Sweet Merlin! I've kept you for too long and you're going to be late for your next class! Here's a note for your professor." Professor Sprout grabbed a spare piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note onto it and handed it to Journey before shooing her out of the greenhouse.

Turns out Professor Sprout needn't have worried, for history was their next class with the Ravenclaws. Professor Binns was a ghost and didn't even notice her as he droned on about some goblin war. Already, half of the Slytherins were sound asleep and the most of the rest were well on their way. Determined not to follow her lazy classmates, Journey pulled out her textbook and notebooks and began writing. Journey had already started making notes on her history textbook before the term had started to it was really simple to just pick up where she had left off.

Even though she wasn't directly listening to Binns, Journey still had trouble paying attention to her book and felt her eyelids drooping. 'Maybe his voice has some power to make people fall asleep even if they aren't listening to him,' Journey thought almost sarcastically as she pinched herself a third time in an attempt to stay awake. 'Maybe one of the older Slytherins will know of a way to block out sound from coming in so I can study in piece.' With that thought in mind, Journey turned back to her books for the last ten minutes of class and determinedly blocked out the droning sounds of Professor Binn's voice.

After History, the Slytherins had lunch and then astronomy, where they learned about star charts and the various constellations. They wouldn't have their practical lessons until Thursday at midnight, but Professor Sinstra believed that they should know at least some theory before they try anything practical.

The next morning the Slytherins had transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs. Journey knew without knowing that Professor McGonagall was a very strict teacher, and she was proven right when on the first day, the professor threatened to throw them out without being welcomed back if they acted out.

Journey was thrilled to discover that Transfiguration was something she was truly gifted at. Professor McGonagall had given them each a matchstick to turn into a needle after she had finished teaching. Everyone else in the class had started trying to cast immediately but Journey didn't. Instead, she went over the notes she had taken from the textbook and from the lecture which were side-by-side in her notebook. After she had done this, Journey turned back to her match and looked at it. Both the textbook and Professor McGonagall had stressed how important visualization was, so Journey decided to try that instead of casting blindly like the rest of her classmates. Journey stared at the match, examining the rounded red tip, the rectangular wooden body. After she had examined the match, Journey shut her eyes and focused on that image. When the match was clear in her mind, Journey started to think of how it would change into a needle. 'The whole thing would need to turn silver,' Journey thought and imagined the match turning silver, 'and the body-part of the match would need to become rounded… and thinner… the eye of the needle would should go where the light-up part of the match is, since it's already bigger at that end, and the other end would have to be pointed.' As Journey thought of each of these changes she imagined them happening to the figure in her mind. By then end of her thought process, Journey had a perfect needle visualized in her mind.

"Miss Potter?"

Journey's eyes snapped open and she looked up to see Professor McGonagall giving her a stern look. In her peripheral vision, Journey could see the eyes of her classmates on her and a few were even laughing quietly.

"Well? Are you going to try or not?" Professor McGonagall said sternly, "I will not tolerate any slacking off in my class, Miss Potter."

Journey couldn't help the blush that formed on her face when several students snickered quietly. Forcing herself to ignore them, Journey nodded to Professor McGonagall indicating she was going to try the spell.

Quickly picking up her wand from the desk she had put it on earlier, Journey brought the image of the needle back to the forefront of her mind. Turning a matchstick to a needle was a new spell for her so she focused as hard as she could. Right before she said the incantation with the wand movements, Journey pulled out some of her magic. As she said the words on the board, Journey struggled to keep the image of the needle in her mind and keep her magic from falling back to her 'centre'. Right when she finished the last syllable however, Journey felt a strange shift. Journey's magic shaped itself without any prodding from her and began to rush down towards her wand. The magic seemed to understand her desire to change the matchstick in front of her into the needle that she was visualising in her mind. Journey could almost see the magic leaving her wand and wrapping around the match, moulding it into the needle she so desired. This had never happened before when Journey had tried magic, even the ones from her school books, but thoughts of her magic's strange behaviour vanished from Journey's mind when she saw the product of her spell. The flat edges of what had been the matchstick became rounded and the flat end became a point. The red tip of the matchstick turned silver, along with the rest of the matchstick and a hole appeared at the end opposite the point. When the change was complete, the magic abruptly stopped flowing, shocking Journey a bit and left her exhausted. Happily and with a small amount of pride and shock, Journey picked up the matchstick-turned-needle and examined her work. ' It's a little heavier than it should be', Journey thought, 'and a bit too thick… it isn't as smooth as a needle should be either, still feels a bit like wood.'

Despite its imperfections however, Journey knew that what she was holding in her hand was unmistakably a needle and she was proud of her work. After examining the needle she was holding for a little bit longer, Journey went to pass it to the professor but paused at the look on her face.

Professor McGonagall was looking at her in a mixture of surprise, pride, sadness, regret, envy, and something that almost looked like wistfulness but Journey was sure she was imagining it. Without saying anything, Professor McGonagall took the needle from her and examined it closely.

The class waited in shocked silence for Professor McGonagall to say something. Journey felt a blush start to creep back into her cheeks from their intense scrutiny.

After what seemed like a few hours, but was really only a few seconds, Professor McGonagall handed the match to Journey and said, "Very well done, especially for a first try Miss Potter. I don't even think your father managed that feat, and he was one of the best Transfiguration students I'd ever seen once he put his mind to it. 20 points to Slytherin."

Professor McGonagall gave her a rare smile (the older Slytherins told her that she never really smiled so she assumed this instance was a rare case), and Journey felt her heart skip a beat once she fully processed what the professor had said. Journey smiled back at Professor McGonagall and gave her a quiet, "thank you," so that she wouldn't appear rude, but inside her head was spinning. 'My dad was that good at transfiguration?' Journey thought in awe, 'and Professor McGonagall thinks that I might be as good as him?'

Journey smiled to herself and picked up another match that Professor McGonagall gave her. Journey closed her eyes again as she envisioned the needle again in her mind, fixing all of the small errors that she had found with the last time. It took less time to picture the fixed-up needle in her mind, but it still took her a while to fully commit the image to her mind. Journey cast the spell again and felt the magic stir within her on its own accord to change the needle.

Journey thought about how her magic was reacting while she examined her new needle. When her and Harry had been practicing before, they always had to call up the magic and shape it themselves, even when trying some of the spells from their textbooks. What had changed?

Listening to the class casting the spell in attempts to copy her, Journey found her answer. 'The words… of course! The words and the wand movements acts as a focus… so we don't have to focus ourselves!' They hadn't been paying attention that much to the words or wand movements when trying their spells at home. Both Journey and Harry had thought that the words and wand movements were just for show, but now Journey knew better. She couldn't wait to tell Harry about her revelation.

'Harry!'

She couldn't believe she had forgotten him! With all the changes going on around her, she hadn't talked to her brother since the night of the sorting, 'which was days ago!' she scolded herself, 'what if people are singling him out for being a celebrity? Or are being mean to him? I don't even know how he's holding up with classes or … or anything!'

Journey knew that she couldn't control her brother, and that if people were singling him out she couldn't really do anything, but she was so angry with herself for forgetting about him she didn't try to change her thoughts. It was especially hard since she had always been the protector of the two, and to suddenly know nothing of what her twin was going through …

Journey resolved to sit with her brother that night at dinner…

…and Merlin help anyone who tried to stop her.

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Harry sighed as he watched his sister walk out of the Great Hall with some first year Slytherins without even saying 'hi' to him. He knew he was sitting rather far away for the door and it was unlikely Journey had seen him but still…

'Would it really take that much to just stop by to say 'hi' to your brother?' Harry thought dejectedly.

Ron tried to cheer him up, telling him that they had charms this afternoon with Professor Flitwick. Even though that class was quickly turning into one of Harry's favourites, the thought of seeing the fun, fair professor couldn't lighten his spirits. Harry quietly followed Ron to class and struggled to maintain his focus throughout the lesson. They were practicing wrist movements for the levitation charm, but they wouldn't actually be trying the charm until October. The tiny professor just wanted them to know the movement so that they could practice it on their own time.

Since charms was a double-class that day, the first year Gryffindors had nothing to do until dinner. Most went to go back to the dormitories to play Exploding Snap, but Harry decided he would try and find the library. Ron went with him, even though he thought he was bonkers for wanting to go to the library this early in term.

After several wrong turns and a trick staircase later, Harry finally found it. It was bigger than Flourish and Blotts by a fair bit and Harry knew that Journey would probably try and read the whole library before they left Hogwarts.

'Journey,' the thought of his sister and her not speaking to him made Harry sad again, 'what did I do wrong? What if she doesn't like me anymore because I'm a Gryffindor?'

The last thought scared Harry more than he liked to admit. Pushing it aside he sat down at the nearest table with Ron to start the one assignment they had for charms, hoping to finish it before dinner.

Harry could tell Ron was trying his best to keep his spirits up, and he felt bad for making his new friend put up with his less than stellar behaviour. Deciding to make it up to him, Harry helped him out with the assignment. Harry also said that he would help him learn how to study better and stay on top of things if Ron taught him how to play chess. Ron was a wicked chess player, the best in his family even, and Harry had always wanted to learn so they were both pleased with this arrangement.

An hour later, Harry realized that it was time for dinner so they quickly packed up their nearly-completed assignments and rushed off to the great hall.

They only made one wrong turn so the two Gryffindors reached the Great Hall just as everyone else in the castle seemed to be piling in. Harry and Ron quickly sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table that was usually for first years. It was furthest from the doors and closest to the teachers so that they could keep an eye on any troublemaking.

After getting himself seated, Harry looked over at the Slytherin table in hopes to catch a glimpse of his sister. He saw her group of friends sitting at their usual spot, but couldn't see Journey anywhere among them. Harry didn't even have time to feel confused when he felt someone sit down beside him.

"Hey, little bro."

Harry whirled around to his right to see Journey sitting there calmly, piling mashed potatoes onto her plate. Across form them, Ron was looking as thunderstruck as Harry felt. 'What is she doing here?'

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, voicing Harry's thoughts.

Something occurred to Harry. "I'm not little!" he said indignantly.

Journey chuckled. "You're shorter than me," she said with a smirk to him before looking at Ron with narrowed eyes. "I'm visiting my brother since I haven't been able to see him for the past few days. Is that a problem?"

Ron quickly shook his head, not wanting to get into an argument with his best mate's sister. "Of course not. Just didn't think different houses were allowed to sit at each other's tables."

Journey laughed, making Harry smile. He could almost feel how happy she was through their twin bond, and it made him happy as well.

"I looked it up," Journey said after she had finished laughing, "The only time that you have to sit with your housemates is during really important feasts such as the Closing House Ceremony and the like."

Ron nodded and they all started talking about their classes. Harry and Ron both looked at Journey in awe when she pulled out the needles she had transformed in her very first transfiguration class. Not even Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor know-it-all, was able to get such a change by the end of class, and Journey did it on the first try! Harry immediately offered to let Journey be a part of his and Ron's 'study sessions', as they had begun to call them.

"I don't know if you want me as a part of your study group," Journey said with a slight blush on her face. "I'm absolutely rubbish at Herbology. Professor Sprout wants me to get special help already cuz I'm absolutely rubbish with plants."

Harry was going to say something comforting but Ron beat him to it.

"Who cares if you're bad at Herbology," he said through a mouthful of chicken, "when you're that good at one subject, it's okay to be bad at something else. Besides, Harry thinks he'll be decent at Herbology. You can help us with transfiguration, and Harry and I will help you with Herbology."

Journey appeared to be partially mollified by Ron's answer, but Harry could tell she was still slightly upset that she would need help in any subject. Journey hated whenever she had to ask for help from anyone, even if it was in exchange for help with something else. Trying to cheer his sister up, Harry put his arm around her in a one arm hug to show that he didn't mind having to help her out a bit, and that she wasn't weak for needing help in the first place.

Journey smiled at him softly, and Harry knew that she understood what he was trying to say. They both turned back to Ron, who seemed oblivious of their interaction, and continued to discuss the first half of their first week at Hogwarts.

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The next morning, Journey couldn't wait to get out of bed. She had slipped Harry a note last night to meet her before breakfast started at the library so that they could talk in private about a few things. She wanted to tell him all the things she had learnt about their parents and how it was like living in the dungeons with the other Slytherins.

Journey always the first one awake, but this time she took extra care about being quiet since she was getting up earlier than usual. Journey had showered the night before so that she wouldn't have to this morning, part of her master plan to make sure no one woke up and asked her where she was going. She was breaking Unofficial Slytherin Rule Number 2, no Slytherin (especially a first year like herself), was to go out alone. The other houses might target them for an unfair fight, but Journey wasn't worried.

'Who else would wake up at 5:30 in the morning and be walking around the castle, just to take out a no-name first year?' Journey thought with a smile as she silently walked across the Slytherin common room and out the wall-which-was-a-door.

Just because she thought it was improbable, didn't mean Journey was stupid. Before she walked around any corner, Journey always checked to make sure the coast was clear before walking out into the open. Most of the students in the other houses, especially the Gryffindors, hated Slytherins. Even though she hadn't done anything to anyone in another house personally, they might still attack her. At least, that's what the older Slytherins told her.

It seemed like no time at all before Journey was waiting in front of the library for Harry to show up. They weren't actually going to go in the library, rather, they were going to go to an empty classroom where they were much less likely to be overheard or interrupted.

Several minutes passed while Journey waited behind a gargoyle for Harry to show up. She was just beginning to feel nervous when she heard familiar footsteps along the stone floor. Grinning, Journey jumped out from behind the gargoyle and tackled her brother in a hug.

"Oomph!" Harry said as he nearly fell to the ground but caught himself just in time. "A little warning next time!" he said in a muffled voice since Journey's fiery hair was over his face and he probably didn't want any to end up in his mouth as he talked.

Journey laughed. "How else would I make sure you were awake then? Had to make sure you weren't sleepwalking or anything."

Harry detached himself from his sister with a laugh. "I guess."

Journey beamed at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him along to an abandoned classroom down the hall. After checking to make sure that it actually was abandoned, Journey quickly slipped in and shut the door after Harry went through.

They both decided to sit on what they assumed to be as a professors desk, since it had the least amount of dust. Harry sat cross-legged facing Journey, who had one leg tucked underneath her and the other dangling off the side of the desk. Journey had to smile when Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. 'Definitely not a morning person,' Journey thought, remembering all the times she had to drag Harry out of bed so that they could get to school on time back when they were at the Dursleys.

'Had that really only been a few days ago?' Journey thought in awe, 'it seems like a lifetime since we've been at the Dursleys' home.'

"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked softly, breaking Journey out of her thoughts.

Journey gave her brother a soft smile. "I was just thinking about how it seems like we haven't been at the Dursleys in forever, but really it's only been a few days."

"I know what you mean," Harry said with a laugh. "I keep half-expecting to wake up and hear Aunt Petunia banging on the door telling us to make breakfast, and that this is all a dream."

"If this was a dream, do you really think I'd make myself so bad at Herbology?" Journey said with a completely straight face.

"I don't think any amount of dreaming could make you good at Herbology," Harry countered, ducking the half-hearted swipe from Journey that was aimed at his head.

They talked for a bit about their classes. Both Harry and Journey thought that Professor Flitwick was going to be one of their favourite professors since he was fair and full of enthusiasm. Professor McGonagall also seemed to be a fair professor, but both twins agreed it would not be a good idea to get on her bad side. Harry thought Professor Sprout was lots of fun, especially since he got to care for a whole variety of plants that he never even knew existed. He had a good natured laugh at Journey, saying that even magic couldn't fix everything.

Journey was going to say something very witty back before she remembered what Professor Sprout had said to her. "Did you know that Mum sucked at Herbology?" Journey asked quietly while looking at the desk.

Harry's laughter abruptly stopped. Peaking up through her hair, Journey saw that Harry was looking at her open-mouthed with eyes as wide as saucers. He actually looked a lot like a goldfish.

Several moments later, Harry regained the ability to speak, sort of.

"What? How – How did you know? I – uh – really?" Harry stuttered.

Journey smiled sadly. 'It's times like this when you can tell how lost we are,' Journey thought, 'We try so hard to be strong for each other, since we have no one else to help us. And yet … as soon as someone mentions our parents, we both just seem to fall apart.'

"Journey?" Harry whispered as he put a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Journey shook her head. She had to stop herself from bringing up her barrier of sarcasm, her fall-back plan Journey used whenever she felt vulnerable. She knew Harry didn't deserve that so instead she told him what Professor Sprout had told her.

"It's true," Journey said with a little bit of enthusiasm, "Professor Sprout told me herself that she hadn't had such a bad Herbology student since Mum came to Hogwarts. She couldn't even water a plant without killing it, even though she was top of her class in every other subject."

"Sounds like someone I know," Harry said with a smirk.

Journey swatted him on the arm but didn't say anything since she knew he was just teasing. She wasn't top of her class … yet.

"Mum was so awful Professor Sprout had to give her extra help, like she is giving me," Journey said only slightly dejectedly, "Mum didn't get the offer for a few months in… I think Professor Sprout wants to save as many plants from me as possible."

Harry laughed loudly at her theory, and Journey couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her. It was kind of funny that Journey was that bad Herbology, not that she'd admit that to anyone out loud.

After a few moments, Harry quieted down. He had a wistful expression on his face, making Journey wonder what he was thinking about.

She didn't have to wait long. "I wonder what Dad was good at. Mum was good at everything… except Herbology of course, but no one has said anything about Dad."

"He was good at Transfiguration," Journey said without thinking, "McGonagall told me."

Harry refrained from gaping this time, but he still looked shocked. "Really?" he asked.

Journey nodded. "Yep. She told me so right after I changed my first match."

"Looks like you've got some of Mum and some of Dad in you then," Harry said with a chuckle. "You're rubbish at Herbology and awesome at Transfiguration."

The happiness in Harry's voice would have fooled almost anyone, but Journey could see the sadness and worry in his eyes. Journey wasn't sure why he was worried, but she knew she needed to end it before it grew out of hand.

"What are you upset about," Journey asked gently.

Journey knew Harry would know it was pointless to lie to her. Not only did she know when someone was lying, she also had the advantage of living with him for their whole life. Journey knew what to look for if Harry tried to lie.

"You have some of Mum and Dad in you," Harry said softly, "Would they still have loved me even if I'm not like them? Would they –"

Journey quickly reached across the desk and pulled Harry into a sharp hug, cutting off his sentence and ignoring his grunt of protest as he became unbalanced. He quickly settled down enough to hug her back and Journey continued to hold him for several, long moments. Finally, Journey let go enough that she could pull back and look Harry square in the face. He avoided her eyes for a few seconds but eventually gave up and looked right at her.

"Now you listen to me, Harry," Journey said gently but firmly, "I asked myself the same question when I was sorted into Slytherin. The only difference was that I was worried you wouldn't love me anymore since house houses are enemies. All it took was for me to look at you for a few seconds to see that it didn't matter that we weren't in the same house, you're my brother, of course you still loved me! Harry, they were our parents. They wouldn't have cared if you had 12 toes, you are their son. They loved us unconditionally. I know that."

Journey could see the relief slowly flood through Harry by the way his shoulders relaxed and the grin that slowly spread across his face. "Really?" he asked hopefully.

Journey smiled. "Really."

The longer she thought about it, the more she was able to convince herself that she knew she was right.

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Journey quickly left the room after that since they started hearing a few scattered voices outside the room they were in. Harry waited a few more minutes before following after her. Journey was worried that some of the older Slytherins might not take too kindly to one of their own hanging out with a Gryffindor that often, even if said Gryffindor was her brother.

Harry didn't understand this. 'I mean sure, Gryffindor and Slytherin are arch-enemies,' Harry thought as he slowly walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, 'but you would think that being siblings, twins even, overrules some stupid, 1000 year old house arguing. Whatever. Journey said we can still eat dinner together sometimes and that we can meet together as many mornings as I want to.'

Satisfied with that thought, Harry picked up his pace. He made it to the Great Hall in record time and with only one wrong turn. He told Ron of his accomplishment, but Ron was shovelling food into his mouth he could only manage a, 'tha's grea' H'rry', while spraying food at him. Harry decided to wait until Ron started eating at a more sedated pace before saying anything else.

Looking across the Great Hall, Harry caught sight of Journey. She was sitting with her friends from Slytherin, who seemed to be almost finished their breakfast since they were talking more than eating. As if sensing his look, Journey shifted her eyes from the blonde haired girl sitting in front of her to look right at him. She gave him a small smirk and a wink before turning to the boy beside her and saying something.

Harry's heart swelled. He had been so worried that Journey hated him, but now he knew differently. She was his rock, someone he could depend on. With her ability to know things, she seemed to always know what to say to him to get him out of his funks, like the one this morning. Harry didn't know what he would do without Journey.

Harry was pulled out of his musings by Ron, who had slowed down eating enough to talk about his second love, Quidditch.

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The next time Journey saw Harry was right before the only class the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins shared, Potions. It was taught by the Slytherin head of house, Professor Snape, a man that Journey had yet to meet personally.

"We'll see him tonight," Journey heard Daphne say from where she was standing on Journey's left.

For one quick second, Journey thought that Daphne had read her mind. Looking up, Journey saw that Daphne had addressed her comment to Theo.

"Why will we see Professor Snape tonight?" Journey asked curiously.

Daphne turned to look at her with a look of bewilderment in her icy-blue eyes. After a few seconds, the confusion cleared from her face and was replaced with understanding.

"I forgot," Daphne said apologetically, "Professor Snape always has a mandatory start-of-term house meeting on the last day of the week after his first staff meeting. Even before Professor Snape was our Head of House, Slytherin had these meetings. We all know about it because, well…"

Daphne struggled to come up with something to say without offending Journey. Journey didn't know why she would be offended, but figured it had something to do with the 'Slytherin Politics' that she had seen glimpses of.

"We know about it because we have parents who were in Slytherin and they told us." Blaise said bluntly.

It took Journey a while to get the message behind the words. 'I'm an outsider,' Journey thought sadly, 'Everyone in Slytherin knows so much more than me about pretty much everything that it means to be a Slytherin since probably every single generation of their family has been in Slytherin. They know so much more than I do… how can I ever hope to fit in here when I don't even know how to start?'

Journey was brought out of her depressing thoughts with the arrival of the Gryffindors, followed Draco and his henchmen, aka Crabbe and Goyle. Harry tried to catch Journey's eye but she avoided looking at him. Luckily, at that moment the door to the Potions classroom snapped open with a bang.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Professor Snape. His black eyes scanned over the nervous first years from behind his curtains of greasy, black hair. A sneer pulled at his lips, hinting that he was not impressed with what he saw. After a few more seconds of nervous waiting, Professor Snape stood aside and said sharply, "Enter."

No one needed any prompting. Even the Slytherins, besides maybe Draco in his arrogance, were intimidated by their Head of House since they knew that if they missed behaved, Professor Snape would deal with them after class, privately. The first years scurried into the classroom like mice beneath the watchful gaze of an owl or a hawk waiting to swoop down on them. When all of the first years were in the room, Professor Snape slammed the door and turned with a swirl of his robes, which continued to billow out behind him as he stalked towards the front of the class.

Journey hoped she chose her seat wisely. After years of living at the Dursleys, it had become second nature to Journey to know how to go around attracting as little notice as possible, so as to not 'outshine' Dudley. In a classroom, Journey knew it was best to sit in the middle if the teacher was attentive. Teachers tended to split their attention between the eager-beavers and teacher's pets at the front of the room (to make sure their star-pupils where understanding what they were saying of course), and calling out troublemakers that sat at back of the room. They tended to ignore those sitting in the middle. Their eyes would simple glaze over them as they looked from the front of the room to the back, which is what Journey hoped for with this intimidating professor.

At first, Journey thought her plan had worked. Professor Snape had surveyed every student in the class with a critical eye as they floundered for a seat close to their friends, yet he seemed to look right over where she was sitting. Something was slightly off however, but Journey couldn't figure out what it was.

Journey didn't have time to ponder what was bugging her when Professor Snape launched into a speech. He spoke quietly, fear and awe keeping the class silent while he spoke.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Journey was hooked. Even with the offhanded way Professor Snape ended his speech and his monotone voice throughout, Journey could almost feel the passion he felt for the subject. Journey sat up a little straighter in her seat. She would soak up every scrap of information that this man, intimidating as he was, would offer her for he was truly a master of his subject.

Unfortunately for Journey, Professor Snape didn't continue speaking about potions. Instead, he suddenly called out, "Potter!"

Journey jumped. It was the first time Professor Snape had said anything in a voice higher than just above a whisper. Journey wasn't sure which Potter he was referring to but thankfully, at that moment Professor Snape turned his head to look at Harry.

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Journey's mind ran into overdrive, trying to think of the answer even as she turned to look at Harry. 'Asphodel … fields of Asphodel in Greek mythology…where are they… the Underworld! The fields of Asphodel were in the Underworld, which means death. Wormwood… wood is alive… life, death – Living Death!'

Journey let out a small smile as she remembered the potion in just a few seconds before she frowned. The Draught of the Living Death was rather far into the textbook, and they wouldn't even be brewing that potion this year. It was only mentioned because they were going to make a different sleeping potion and they had mentioned some of the differences. 'That's really obscure knowledge,' Journey thought as she watched Harry look back at Professor Snape while thinking of his answer, 'I'll need to remember that he like's asking hard questions for when we have to study for exams.'

"A sleeping potion, Professor," Harry said quietly even though his amazing memory recall almost ensured he would be right once he found the information he was looking for. Beside him, bushy-haired Hermione sat down dejectedly from where she had almost standing up to get the professor to notice her, making Journey smirk.

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow. "Called?" he prompted.

Without his early hesitation Harry replied, "The Draught of the Living Death." His earlier success seemed to have given him a boost in confidence since Harry's voice was much louder and more assured than before.

There was a pause while Professor Snape's eyes seemed to bore into Harry's. After several long moments, Professor Snape looked away sharply and rounded on his next victim.

"Patil! Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

This one was harder for Journey to remember, even though she felt she should know the answer. She felt annoyed when Hermione's hand shot into the air again. 'If she can know the answer, so can I.' Journey thought determinedly. 'Bezoar, bezoar, bezoar… not a plant I'm pretty sure. Must be something living since I don't think there's any potions with rocks or minerals in them…was mentioned in the introduction of 'An Idiot's Guide to Potions', it said everyone making potions, especially poisons, should have a bezoar on hand because…because…because bezoars save you from poisons!' The rest of the knowledge she knew about bezoars clicked into place, leaving Journey feel almost smug.

"I don't know, Professor," Parvati Patil, a small girl with dark hair who had a twin in Ravenclaw, said softly.

Professor Snape sneered at her. "Pity," he said without emotion.

Professor Snape tried one more person, Ron. "Weasley, tell me the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane."

'Trick question,' Journey though. She had read that bit of information only a few days ago so Journey knew they were the same plant but from the way Ron was stuttering, he clearly didn't. After a few attempts he got angry and said, "I don't know, but Hermione does," and from the way she was bouncing up and down in her seat with her hand up, Journey figured that she probably did, "Why don't you try her?"

Journey knew that was a mistake. Most teachers didn't take sarcasm very well (not that she never gave it herself) but there were some teachers you just didn't mess with.

Professor Snape was one of those teachers.

A sneer curled its way onto Professor Snape amid the giggles of the class. "Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. Immediately, Hermione sat down and the class went silent. "For you information, Weasley and Patil, a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down? Also write down Potter's answer, it was acceptable."

As soon as Professor Snape had finished speaking, the was a sudden rush of movement uniform to everyone in the class as they tried to grab their quills and parchment fast enough so that they too would not be call out. Journey pulled out her green, spiral bound notebook and several different coloured pens and a pencil. She was writing down the date when Professor Snape spoke again.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Weasley."

Journey hoped that Ron wouldn't argue the point loss. Looking over at him, Journey saw that although Ron looked upset by the announcement, he surprisingly didn't try to argue it. Journey wondered why but then figured that one of his brothers had probably warned him about Snape.

While they were writing down their notes, Professor Snape took attendance. It brought Journey's earlier weird feeling back to the forefront of her mind, but she wasn't sure why.

Every time Professor Snape called out a name, he would look up from his list and survey the class for who he had answered. For a few seconds, he would stare at the student, as if analyzing them. Some students, mostly Gryffindors, Snape would look at like he wanted to use as a potions ingredient and others, all Slytherins, he would look at in a variation of calm indifference to slightly, just slightly, pleased.

Journey's first indication to the fact that something weird was going on was when Professor Snape got to Harry's name. "Ah, yes," Professor Snape said quietly making Journey, and the rest of the class, look up, "Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity."

Journey watched as Harry flushed from the way Professor Snape almost sneered the word, making Draco and his cronies snigger quietly. He seemed to glare at Harry before moving onto her name.

"Journey Potter." He said quickly, like he already wanted to move on.

Journey put her hand up quietly, not daring to risk saying 'present'. Professor Snape's eyes snapped to where she was before he looked away quickly and called out the next name. In that brief second, Journey thought she saw something behind those normally emotionless black eyes, but she wasn't sure.

Journey frowned. 'Why did he skip over me?' Journey wondered, 'I know that's what I was going for but it doesn't usually work that good.' Journey stopped writing and closed her eyes, trying to see if she could use her ability to know things to figure out something about the Potions Master. To her great frustration, it was exactly like the Welcoming Feast. It was like he wasn't even there. Journey tried harder, focusing her mind and her magic. Surprisingly, Journey could feel her magic react, however it felt different from all of her previous attempts at magic. If her magic normally felt like flowing energy that seemed almost a cross between watery and fiery, this would be the cross between being smoky or cloud-like. It passed through her body and went into her mind, making Journey see flashes in her mind of many different things so fast she couldn't even keep up. After a few seconds, Journey refocused herself and pushed her thoughts back to her task, promising to think about this strange phenomenon later. The magic drifted from her mind with little resistance and flew into the open air where Journey struggled to keep a hold of it. Journey couldn't see where the magic was, but she could sense when the smoky-cloud touched Professor Snape.

Unfortunately, so could Professor Snape.

The instant her magic made contact with Professor Snape, he whirled around from where he was writing instructions on the board. His eyes quickly scanned the class as Professor Snape looked for the source of the strange magic. Afraid, Journey quickly broke her concentration on her magic, feeling as it dissipated around her instantly. Not a moment too soon since the next moment, Professor Snape looked directly into Journey's eyes.

Professor Snape started at Journey for a few seconds before she felt something strange. It was similar to the 'tickle' Journey had felt when she put on the Sorting Hat but felt more like a gentle push than a tickle. The sensation gave Journey a mild headache so she mentally tried to push back at it. Journey could that the force she exerted was probably comparable to that of a young child trying to shove an adult, but she couldn't bring herself to care since her headache had worsened from the effort. 'Not trying that again anytime soon,' Journey thought as she rubbed her temple.

The pushing against her mind instantly stopped and across the room, Professor Snape's eyes widened. Almost immediately, Journey felt her headache vanish, much to her relief.

'What was that all about?' Journey thought feeling slightly dazed.

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amethystdreamstar: Don't kill me! I'm sorry to all of my readers for making you wait so long for a chapter. University was so much more work than I thought it would be the I've barely had any time to write. I tried to punch this out over Christmas break but I had to visit with a whole bunch of family and close friends since I had been away for 4 months. I know how crummy it is to wait forever for authors to update and I'm really, really sorry. I can't write a chapter per week since I have finals looming on the horizon but I will work on the next chapter during that time.

I want to thank Derflinger and MarkerBarker78 and the anonymous reviewer from my last chapter. Reviews inspire me, and that's really what made me get started on working on this chapter again.

Derflinger: I didn't expect to see in Slytherin either, it was a last minute thing I assure you :P I'll try my best not to make Journey a Mary-Sue, but I think it is important to note that children with poor upbringing do mature faster because of the need to take care of themselves. Journey has not only herself to take care of, but she also feels responsible for Harry so I think that would make her a bit of a thinker. I know that makes her no psychologist but cross the line between mature and super-crazy-impossibly-smart :P I don't intend to give them many gifts. Most of their gifts are based solely on their control and sensitivity to their magic. There won't be an endless amount of 'superpowers' and I'll try my hardest not to forget any of them (I wrote a list :P)

MarkerBarker78: what can I say, I'm full of twists and turns :P Journey won't progress into her full ability for quite some time. To be honest I didn't even think changing to Harry's POV but you're right that would've been a great time to switch. Journey is not better than Snape at Occlumency, she just has a natural gift for it that (I think) goes hand-and-hand with being able to see the future (or at least it should, can't have everyone knowing the future). Most of the stuff you mentioned happens way too far in the future for me to even think about right now, but you did raise many thought-inspiring questions, thanks :) Harry isn't perfect at wandless magic, I'm sorry if I gave that impression. He and Journey can only do a few, first year level spells, along with a few other things like summoning, the fire, etc.

About this chapter: I tried to capture both Harry's and Journey's insecurities and fears of being thrust into a new world, especially without the constant support of their ever-present twin. Harry's naïveté in believing Journey knows everything is just that and Journey is only able to speak so 'psychologically' to Harry because she had just went through a very similar experience only a few days before. Slytherin politics is going to play very nicely into my story, I'm going to take some liberties with fandom and add some things that hopefully will be unique. (not crazy-out-there though).

I'll try to push out the next chapter as fast as I can but it will be difficult. I don't have anyone to bounce ideas off of or to keep me on track to make sure that I don't do anything stupid. (Any volunteers? :P)

Please Review :)