Sectumbloodysempra

by Yamitron

When a spell goes awry, three muggles land themselves in Hogwarts and predictably cause problems for the Marauders and Bellatrix Black. Let this be a lesson to ennunciate clearly, kiddies.

2. Chapter 2

[[A/N:: Hello, me again. Finally updating this piece. Yes, to answer the question I will say again; Toy is an O.C. by the name of Rachael. She is the only OC in this story. Anything in between / /'s is to be considered italicized.]]

Bellatrix blinked and glanced behind her, but did nothing about the girl clinging to her (most likely due to the conflicting impulses of hers to shove off a stranger and beckon a half naked girl closer,) just gawking at James with incredulity. He conjured a girl and he didn't know how, so he decided to do it again? What an idiot! Bella said nothing, just glaring and holding her breath, awaiting whatever would happen...

In Kaiba Corp tower, 20 year old Seto Kaiba was bent over his glowing laptop screen, tak-tak-taking away at his keyboard, while 12 year old Mokuba Kaiba was lying on the floor doing algebra homework. Seto sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, staring at a boring report of a new product's marketing campaign.

"Hey, Seto?"

Seto frowned over at him, scowling. "What, Mokuba?"

Mokuba pushed himself up and grabbed his papers, walking over to the paper cluttered desk. "I don't really understand this one," he pointed to a highschool level question; he was in the advanced classes after all. "Could you show me?"

Seto pushed away his laptop and focused on Mokuba, grateful for the distraction. "Sure."

He began to draw out the formula for the problem and his little brother draped his arm around his shoulders to get closer as he watched, when all of a sudden-

Gasps surrounded them as they suddenly found themselves thrown back from the end of that wand. Mokuba tumbled back first quickly followed by Seto, who hit the ground on his back, grunting. Seto rubbed his head, eyes closed, and Mokuba glanced up around him to the crowd of people. "Seto?"

Seto just grumbled. "Nnnh."

"Seto..?" He said again, tugging his sleeve.

He cracked an eye open. "What."

"... Where are we...?" Mokuba asked, lips parted and repeatedly looking around to try and see everything at once, speaking quickly with his brother in Japanese.

/Those/ voices she recognized - the Kaiba brothers! Instantly, Toy glanced up, eager for a familiar sight; her eyes lit up in grateful camaraderie at the two sharing her confusion and wonder, but her blush intensified as she was reminded that, once again, she was pantsless and vulnerable and running up to hide behind a cold and heartless Seto was not exactly an option - and Mokuba would be little help. She inched ever closer to Bella, encouraged by the fact she hadn't been shoved away, hesitantly but desperately clinging onto the girl with her face half-buried in a bony shoulder.

Meanwhile, James was having three heart attacks.

"Shit shit /shit/ shit why did I /do/ that what did I just /do/ the headmaster's going to /kill/ me-" Pacing frantically, the boy muttered a fretful chant to himself for a good few moments before turning suddenly on his heel to face the two new guests. He hadn't heard the girl speak (and appeared too terrified to, at any rate), and whatever language these two had chattered in was entirely unfamiliar to him. Something oriental. Ah well; first things first. Assuming control, his voice ringing with sudden authority (he /was/ the Head Boy, after all, he of all people should be able to organize this mess), he called out: "You two! Do you speak English?"

Bellatrix was frozen. She was blatantly staring at the two newcomers, mouth falling open, murmuring a 'Shit..' to herself, not bothering to pay attention to the girl clinging to her.

The Kaibas, meanwhile, were on the floor and gaping around. Seto's eyes widened quite a bit and blinked around, mind flying to find a reason why his mind would conjure this strange image. Mokuba however lept to his feet, amazed by the foreign-ness of it all. "Yes sir!" He beamed, though staying close to Seto. "Wow, where are we?" He asked, peering curiously at James.

Suddenly finding her voice, Bella looked to James again. "... You summoned Asians? ... Why did you do that?" She asked, amusement colouring her voice.

James shot her down with a hissed, "I didn't mean to - now shut up." Color crept into his cheeks at her amusement. It was her bloody fault...

Turning his attention back to the newcomers, he gave into the biting urge to show off a bit more. This kid seemed to be taking it just fine. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he stated matter-of-factly, opening an arm in a grand sweep toward the castle. His lips twitched upwards in pride. Assuming they were muggles (in which case he'd be in a /lot/ of trouble, but they could go home with a simple mind-wiping charm), he went on to explain in the simplest terms he could: "We learn magic here. Dear old Bellatrix," here he jerked his head at the girl in question, "and I were in a bit of a scuffle, and I said...well." He realized, now, how young this kid was - and made a futile effort to watch his language. "I think I made up a spell by accident when I jumbled together some words. Whatever it was, it summoned you guys here."

Bellatrix sniggered and finally turned her attention to the girl behind her. "Hello there. ... Speak English, kid?" She sniggered, grinning at her and nudging her gently. This was just too amusing to be cruel.

Seto meanwhile stood, scowling at him as he spoke, then went on a tirade in Japanese. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening! Where are we? What country is this? I must have hit my head. Maybe I'm dreaming. This is bizarre enough I can wake up now. Wake /up/. This is as far from okay as it can possibly get. I've been working too hard. That must be it. Or maybe I drank something that was drugged. I don't know. Something." He glared from Mokuba to James and addressed the latter in english this time. "Drop the act. We're not falling for any 'magic tricks'. Now what country is this. Where are we really."

Mokuba frowned at Seto. "Don't mind him." He looked to James. "Magic? Really? Can I see?"

In her hallucinations, Kaiba would not suddenly appear and freak out. So, Toy reasoned, this had to be real. Shit.

Skittish, she jumped back a bit at being addressed. But Bellatrix's kindness (for the moment) encouraged her, and quietly but hopefully she replied: "..Y-yes, of course. It's...been a while, though. Sorry if I'm slow..."

"England," James said simply to the cynical one, then turned back with a much more welcoming smile to the smaller, inquisitive one. With a light flick of his wand and a quiet, "Avis," a handful of brightly colored birds flew from the end of his wand and fluttered off toward the boy, occupying themselves with circling flashily around him for a few moments before they popped with a puff of smoke into oblivion at his "Finite Incantatem."

"Yeah? 's your name?" She asked, actually pretty intrigued. A half naked girl doesn't fly ontop of you from the end of the Head Boy's wand every day. "Mine's Bellatrix Black if you didn't catch it."

Seto glared at the showiness, holding his head in his hands. "I haven't been to England in years..."

Mokuba looked awed, whipping his head around to watch the birds until they disappeared. "Wow!" He said quietly, looking back to James. "That's incredible..." Smiling up at him, he said, "If this is a dream, it's an amazing one..."

"Bellatrix...pretty." Toy swallowed once, slowly gaining the confidence to speak despite how shaky she was (both due to her fear and the fact that she hadn't spoken English in two years). She had to struggle to remember the order of adjectives and nouns, then direct objects and verbs - but she thought she had it right. "I don't like my real name, so call me Toy." She remained firmly snug against Bella's back, unaware of the curious teenagers who had inched their way around the pair to get a good look at the girl's scantily clad bottom.

"I certainly hope it isn't a dream," James remarked briskly, satisfied with the young one's reaction. "I've got a very good life right now, and it'd be a shame for you to wake up and cause all this to disappear. ...Well, once I bring you to the headmaster, my life may not be quite as ideal," he added as an afterthought, grin fading. Picking up from that note, he continued: "We should do that now. The both of you, follow me - and Black, bring your friend." Eyeing the crowd, he decided now might be a good time to exert his authority again and break up the party. Reluctantly, he shooed them off, sending each back to their dormitories (though many lingered, wanting to see if Toy'd stand up).

"Toy... Well, we've had stranger names 'round here." She sniggered.

Seto was about to argue when Mokuba eagerly stepped up to James, ready to follow him. The absolute excitement radiating from the boy was too much for the elder brother to convince him it wasn't real, so, sighing, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed after the boy, silent and glowering.

"Headmaster? Is this a boarding school? I spent two years in one, but my heart problems put me in the hospital so I have to go to regular school now. With magic, I'd think a lot of people get injured. What happens then? Is it all like pulling a rabbit from a hat and poofing in clouds of smoke? What else can you do? Is it hard?" He rattled off. Mokuba liked learning in Domino, so being emmersed in this entirely different world, he was like a sponge, desperate to soak up anything that came his way.

Bella snorted and wiggled. "I would /love/ to follow after you, Potter, but first I would adore if I could be out of these roped bonds. And oh, my /wand/ back would be ever so lovely." She sneered at him, huffing. Turning to Toy, she murmured; "Some types here are real douche bags. I'd avoid him if you could. Stick with me, eh?"

Glancing at the others staring at the girl, she snorted yet again. For seventh years it would be a snap to conjure up clothes or at least a blanket. But she would enjoy the view just as much as the other's, so she stayed quiet about that. Besides, the girl wouldn't know.

James was laughing, holding his hands up and imploring the boy to slow down - but Bella's whining interrupted and earned a roll of the eyes. He addressed her irritatedly. "I'm not stupid. You're in trouble too, probably more than I am, so you're staying wandless and bound. Don't make excuses - you can stand up from there, I've heard how flexible you are."

Toy was all too eager to comply with Bella's warning. So far, she'd seen James panic and summon two more people, patronize and insult Bellatrix, snap at Kaiba, and boss everyone around. He was far too arrogant for her tastes; Bella, meanwhile, had shown her nothing but kindness and appeared to be a victim of James's attack. She had won Toy's allegiance already. And in this strange and frightening new world, Toy was unlikely to warm up to anyone else now that she'd found a friend.

Hesitantly, she began to protest. "...Um.."

Before she could find her voice, though, James sighed and interrupted her. "Right, right." Irritated with himself for not realizing this sooner, he shed his robes (easier than conjuring another clothing) and tossed them to her. Toy snatched them up like a starving man at a feast and pulled the thing closed tightly around her, reluctantly standing once she was sure she'd fastened it good and shut. James had to admit, he was a little disappointed, but what was a chivalrous Gryffindor to do?

Mokuba was practically bouncing he was so excited. He remained by James' side, silent for now, and just beamed around the grounds. There was so much to take in, from the giant lake to the hut to the huge looming castle. It was all so phenomenal. Seto, meanwhile, stubbornly growled and scowled and was all around unpleasant.

Bellatrix wiggled to a standing position, scowling at James. "Show off." She sniffed, throwing her head back to shoo away the tumbles of black hair which still fell over her shoulders. "Ugh, to Dumbledore I assume, now. Quickly, mmn? I'd like to get back to the common room. This is ridiculous to say the least." She shifted her weight to one foot, sass showing in her stance despite the lack of movement in her arms.

"Excited for your punishment, ehh?" James sneered, starting off, then, with no more delay. The bouncing boy by his side kept his mood from plunging too low, and as he led them into the castle and through the corridors, he questioned the child (ignoring his less-than-cheery older brother). "So, what's your name, kid?"

Toy, meanwhile, was shuffling beside them - as skittish as ever. She hesitated, but after a few steps decided 'fuck it,' and latched onto Bella's arm, head ducked down toward the girl as if trying to shrink into her and disappear.

Mokuba smiled at him in between whipping his head back and forth to take in the alien sights. "My name's Mokuba. Mokuba Kaiba. That's my big brother Seto." He said offhandedly, as he assumed everyone in the world knew the Kaibas. "What's yours? I didn't catch it, but maybe my English is bad.."

Bellatrix grinned down at her. "You're not going to try and memorize every inch of this place like the kid over there?" She asked, amusement still showing everywhere.

Of course, the household name meant nothing to James. He waved off the statement. "Nah, no big deal. James Potter." He felt no need to introduce the girl walking some few feet behind them.

Warily, Toy shook her head. She'd been far too caught up in her own misery to really notice where they were or process what was going on; she began to glance around, but found nothing of interest in the gritty castle walls or suits of armor (after all, her place was in the city) until a torch, floating in midair, caught her eye. She stared at it as they walked past, a subtle but solid reminder that hey, magic is real, and suddenly she found herself craning her neck to catch glimpses of small things like this wherever they went.

She was rewarded - and quite easily frightened again - when a ghost floated its way into their path.

"Hey, Nick!" greeted James, grinning at the knight's raised eyebrows and wide eyes.

"Potter..." he replied distracted, staring from the Kaibas to Toy. "...What mess have you gotten into now?"

"You automatically assume I'm to blame? Nick, I'm offended."

"You know I've got good reason to, based on your, eh, colorful history..."

"Hey, now. ~"

Bellatrix, having been irritated at being bound up, was just considering asking Toy to take her wand from James' back pocket, when Nearly Headless Nick floated infront of them. She scoffed, scowling at the ghost. "This is hardly the time."

Mokuba's eyes grew as big as saucers, staring at the transparent being looking at them, and instantly edged closer to Seto. The elder Kaiba touched Mokuba's shoulder, but otherwise was unimpressed. 'Big deal,' he thought, 'my holograms at least have colour.'

The younger looked with timid eyes up to Nick, shyly speaking. "Wh-...Who are you..?"

The ghost ignored Bella. He turned to Mokuba with a friendly smile, reminded of the first-years who often stared at him with the same look of astonishment, and shared a warm glance with both Toy and Seto as well - one seemed scared as a startled sheep, the other foul-tempered (dare he say skeptical?). "You may call me Sir Nicholas," he chortled, bowing low. But his amusement quickly faded. "Bellatrix is right - you'd better run off to the headmaster's," he sighed at James. "I doubt he'll be happy about this."

James sobered as well. "Yeah, me neither. Be seeing you."

To make a point, Nick floated straight through Seto before disappearing through a nearby wall. Toy stared after him as they started off again; weakly, she tugged at Bella. "Was...was that a - ghost?" She knew it was. She wasn't stupid - just unwilling to believe what she'd just witnessed.

Mokuba stared wide eyed and waved goodbye to the ghost, looking back to James. "Wow! Are there a lot of ghosts here?"

Seto meanwhile felt his blood run cold as the ghost glided through him, and wheeled about to stare after him. "Makes no sense.." He murmured under his breath in Japanese. "I don't see the projection site. Maybe it's through some sort of thin fog. I must've hurt my head pretty badly to think all of this up. Maybe I'm in Domino Hospital in a coma. They'd better get me out of it soon, I really don't like this.." His ramblings were cut short by an elbow to the ribs from his younger brother.

"Seto, shush. You're ruining it." He complained back at him, face looking almost like a kicked puppy. Mokuba too thought this was more-likely-than-not just a side effect hallucination from morphine, and he was probably back in the hospital as well. But he wanted to make the best of it, explore what he could.

At his brother's look, Seto quieted again, though scowling, and continued looking around the castle as they started off again.

While the elder was ranting to himself in an alien tongue, Bellatrix turned to answer Toy. "Yeah. One of the more stuffy ones. There's a looot of ghosts 'round 'ere. Bloody Baron, Fat Friar, Grey Lady, that was Nearly Headless Nick.. There's also poltergeists, but I'm really not in the mood for them." She glanced down at the frightened girl and chuckled lightly. "I'd get used to the unexpected if I were you. There's a lot of stuff you're not used to. Nothing the rest of us can't handle of course. Oh," and as the series of staircases came into view, all hundred sixty of them extending high up into the castle, she murmured, "The staircases here are tricky. They change, and some steps aren't steps at all. Stick close." She hummed, bored sounding.

"Yeah.." Toy murmured distractedly in reply, the words not really registering (she didn't even hear James's similar warning to watch their step). She was too busy craning her neck to stare up at the endless staircases, the sight of them all - extending for what looked like miles, rotating and swiveling around - dizzying. Nonetheless, she stuck close as advised; no way was she about to let go of her new friend.

Meanwhile, the Japanese mumbling irritated James, and he scowled as they trudged up the staircases, wondering what it was Seto was so agitated about. He was a muggle, he should have been staring around wide-eyed in wonder like the others! Did none of this impress him? Was he really so thick, so stubborn, he'd still try to deny all this was happening?

His inner monologue was cut short, however, when they turned a corner and suddenly found themselves in front of a rather grand-looking phoenix statue. He ushered everyone into its spread wings (though it was rather cramped) and, with a mumbled "lemondrop," the golden statue began to turn and rise until they stood before the door to Dumbledore's office. James had barely begun to raise his hand to knock when a quiet, kindly voice rang out from behind it.

"Come in."

The rest of the way to Dumbledore's office, Bella was more or less silent, watching out for the girl but otherwise scowling up as they grew nearer and nearer to the headmaster's office. She hated it there. The old man with his long beard and crooked nose and prying eyes. Always speaking softly to her as though she were a child who took the last cookie and was being reprimanded for it. No doubt he would handle this situation similarly. Addressing the muggles like they were infantile, and ignoring her entirely until it was her turn to be punished. Then she'd get to spend an evening filing work for Filtch, cleaning up after Care of Magical Creatures incidents, or her favourite, polishing the trophy room. She had so many better things to do with her time. She could be nicking supplies from the potions room and trying that Felix potion she'd read about, or researching syllables to find a new dark spell to use at the next duel. Or destroying other underclass students' homework. ANYTHING other than Dumbledore and detention... Her mind was still fixated on this inner ranting when they entered the pheonix wings and rose up, scowling to herself at the soft 'Come in'. Prat.

Mokuba was bouncy as ever and Seto as surly, murmuring 'Cheap theatrics' under his breath, in English this time. He had caught on that the boy leading them, who had to have been much younger than himself, was annoyed by him. After debating between ticking him off with continued Japanese or by voicing his complaints so he could be understood, he opted for being understood, and decided to murmur to himself so the arrogant boy could hear him.

As they walked through the doors to the Headmaster's office, Mokuba bounded through, instantly fascinated with the myriad of spindly objects surrounding them, while Seto and Bellatrix let James pass them.

Dumbledore's eyes flitted between the Kaiba brothers and the girl who seemed to be wearing James' robe, and something flashed in his eyes for a split second, barely noticable, before it was gone again. "My, my.." He hummed, taking in what were obviously three very out of place muggles. "What happened here, James?" He asked, turning to the Head Boy.

A nervous laugh escaped his lips as James rubbed the back of his head - no longer focused on Seto's irritating skepticism. How did he explain his way out of this? Even more, how could he thrust the guilt on Bellatrix?

"Well, headmaster, you see...ehm...I caught Black here setting fire to some underclassmen's homework, and when I tried to take her to you she started dueling me. She used this spell I'd never heard of - sectumsempra, I don't know what it does, it sure was powerful though - and I eventually caught her, I asked her what it was. Only, though..." He faltered at the look Dumbledore gave him, knowing he couldn't continue to shove the blame off himself. "...I broke it up with a swear word in the middle when I said it, so I wouldn't accidentally cast it, only I apparently discovered some new spell. It...summoned these three here."

Dumbledore ignored Bellatrix's snort at his attempts to blame her for this, and listened to James, his eyes straying over the three. "You obviously don't know them.." he started slowly. "So it would appear that this particular spell doesn't do nothing when miscast like most, but it latches on to unwitting people at random.." A faint frown shown on his lips for a second, before he caught himself. "Where are my manners. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he smiled, standing to greet them. "And who are all of you?"

Surprisingly, Toy was the first to speak up. Shy as she was in this unfamiliar environment, something about Dumbledore soothed the anxiousness within her. She could tell he was trustworthy, and his kind voice was somehow more encouraging than Bellatrix's had been. "Rachael Grubstein," she stated, voice soft but audible for once, "though I prefer my nickname, Toy."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Grubstein." He smiled, blue eyes twinkling.

"I'm Mokuba!" Mokuba piped up, glancing up from where he was curiously poking around through the instruments to the left. "And that's my big brother Seto. We're the Kaibas from the Kaiba corporation?" He hummed, beaming up at Dumbledore. He took an instant liking to the man, his kind face just enhancing his whole experience.

Seto, however, scowled. "Look," he said, cutting off Dumbledore's chuckle. "I don't know what kind of crap is going on here," he stode forward, towards Dumbledore's desk, gripping the edges and leaning over it as he tended to do when attempting intimidation. "But I want this explained right now." He glowered.

Dumbledore predictably was unphased by this attempted show of aggression and authority, and only continued to smile at him. "Of course. But first, would you all mind telling me precisely what you were doing before you showed up here? And more importantly, from where you came?"

Mokuba appeared at Seto's side, tugging his sleeve to get him away from the desk. "Seto and I were in Seto's office, I was asking for help on my math homework when suddenly we were outside." He frowned. "We're from Japan. Domino City."

Dumbledore, still smiling away, nodded, and turned to Toy. "And, you?"

She was beginning to emerge from behind Bellatrix, shifting to stand at her side instead. "Domino, as well," she replied, but hesitated on the next part of the question. Unconsciously, she wrapped the robe tighter around herself. "I..was in my apartment, getting ready to take a shower."

"So she'll need clothes," James helpfully offered. Not missing a chance to show off his chivalry, he added, "I lent her my robe for now, but." It was at that moment he noticed the slit in the fabric - near Toy's knee - and tried to recall when exactly that had happened...

Bellatrix rolled her eyes at James.

Seto was having a discussion under his breath with Mokuba in Japanese, mostly along the lines of 'what are we going to do now', and 'where is the nearest phone so we can get the hell out of here'.

Dumbledore nodded. "Well, until we sort this all out enough to get them home, I suggest they stay in the dormitories. The Kaibas here can stay in Gryffindor tower with you James, and Ms. Grubstein can stay with Ms. Evans, who I'm sure would be happy to lend her some clothing."

Immediately, Toy's grip tightened around her companion's arm. "Wait, now," she interjected, voice gaining some conviction. She was confused and disoriented and frightened enough as it was; damned if she was going to let go of the one person who'd protected her. Her expression hardened; she stood straighter. "I want to stay with Bellatrix."

James turned his attention from the muttering Kaibas to the girl, his frown deepening. He felt sympathy for her, he really did, but did they honestly have to go through this? No /way/ Dumbledore'd let her stay with cruel, sadistic, deceitful Bellatrix.

Both Bellatrix and Dumbledore turned to look at her, each with an expression of disbelief. "Why do you want to stay with her?" Dumbledore asked, his expression shifting to worry. "I assure you that Ms. Evans is the most wonderful of students. Head girl and the best female in her class."

Bellatrix snorted. "Our definitions clearly differ on 'best'."

"Quiet, please, Ms. Black." Dumbledore's eyes flickered over to her for the briefest of moments. "I'm sure if you meet Ms. Evans you will get on just fine."

Even in her most comfortable state, Toy did not get along well with best-in-their-class good girls.

"I'm scared and upset and disoriented," she maundered, voice strong and unwavering though reminiscent of a lost child. "Bellatrix is the only one who helped and protected me. She's been kind to me and I need someone familiar to cling to or else I'm going to-" She cut herself off, half due to the lump in her throat and half because she'd been about to say "fucking cry" and somehow she couldn't bring herself to swear so crudely to this kindly old man. "...I can't handle being tossed around from person to person like some ragdoll right now, I just can't." Her voice fell quiet near the end, and there was an obvious pleading quality to it as well as in her eyes that couldn't be ignored.

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows and (partially to spite James, who had a look on his face which clearly read 'what the fuck',) draped an arm around the girl's shoulders, patting her. Dumbledore looked uneasy to say the least, but nevertheless sighed. "Yes... Well.. I suppose that's alright. But I'm rather reluctant to place you two in the Slytherin house." Hogwarts students obviously knew this was because of the general aura of malicious intentions that came from nearly every member of that house, but as the Kaibas and Toy especially had no idea of this, the idea was lost on them. "I think there's a spare room down by the kitchens, across from the dungeons. Ms. Black, you know where that is. I'm sure we could have two four posters and Bellatrix's belongings there in no time. If that would be alright with you, Ms. Grubstein?" He smiled. "I am truly sorry for this unfortunate turn of events. If there's anything we can do to help you adjust during your brief stay, don't hesitate to ask."

Seto interrupted. "I still want my questions answered. Now." He glowered.

"Mr. Potter can answer all your questions. Now, scurry off, and we'll see to this in the morning." He finished, smiling at each of them (though passing over Bellatrix and Seto very briefly,) and gave an air of finality as he sat back down.

Satisfied, Toy backed down, though she continued to lean into Bella (feeling rather safe under her hold). She didn't quite notice at first how displeased Dumbledore seemed to be with the girl, how he ignored her, and now that she thought about it...well, who knows. Bella had been nothing but kind to her and she had just met Dumbledore - she couldn't trust his judgment, despite her inclination to do so. Perhaps her intuition was just off.

At Dumbledore's dismissal, James turned, frowning to himself. He led the others back downstairs, and before the two groups parted, he took a moment to glare down Bellatrix. "Black, I trust Dumbledore. If he says the girl can stay with you, I won't challenge him. But if you lay a hand on her..."

Toy, a little ruffled at being referred to as "the girl," simply clung tighter. Why was everyone so wary of Bellatrix?

Bella rolled her eyes. "Jealous you can't be gallant Prince Douche anymore? She'll be fine, Potter, just take care of Scowly and Peppy there." She sneered, arm rewrapping itself around Toy's shoulders. Voice sweet (to mock James,) she spoke to Toy. "Here, c'mon love. I'll lend you some of my clothes and we can get you out of that horrid /Gryffindor/ robe." She said the word as if it was a curse word, escorting her down more flights of stairs toward the kitchens.

Seto hung back, arms folded and frowning, waiting for a lull to start bombarding him with questions as Mokuba did, but much less innocently. As he opened his mouth to do so, Mokuba jumped in. "That guy was cool. I liked him." He smiled up at James.

James led the brothers further up the staircases, turning to grin at Mokuba. This kid, he liked. "Dumbledore? Yeah, everyone likes him. Well, everyone /not/ from Slytherin. He's a great wizard - probably the best headmaster Hogwarts ever had."

"What /is/ Slytherin? And who was that other girl?" He asked, trotting along next to James. "Also where are we going?"

James took every question in stride as he led the way off the staircases and down a corridor. "Slytherin's a house. We're all divided up into houses - Gyffindor, my house, then Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Never trust a Slytherin," he advised. "That girl was Bellatrix Black, one of the nastiest Slytherins you'll ever meet. I don't trust her one bit. And we're going to the Gryffindor common room - we'll set you guys up there in our dormitory."

Mokuba nodded furiously. "How long will we be here?" He asked, Seto's eyes snapping up and paying attention to this one. He was dying to know this as well.

James's smirk slid to a frown. "That's up to Dumbledore," he murmured. "He has to figure out how the spell works and then reverse it. But I'm sure it won't take any time at all, Dumbledore figuring out a spell is like...like having the entire FBI working on a single case. No, FBI's American, isn't it? You all are Japanese, I should think of a better metaphor - oh, here we are."

As he'd been rambling, they had reached the painting of the Fat Lady. He rambled the password off rather dismissively (to her dismay) and quickly climbed in, ushering Mokuba and Seto in behind him. His grin returned once he caught sight of his friends, impatient to see their reaction once they looked up and saw his guests - Remus was buried in homework, Sirius in a girl.

"Sirius, Remus!"

After gazing in wonder at the portrait which swung open to show the commonroom, Mokuba scurried after him, leaving Seto to glower at the moving lady before stepping in when it was about to close. Mokuba resumed whirling around and taking in the common room, while Seto folded his arms and leaned against a wall, glaring at anyone who looked at him, fiddling with his necklace.

Sirius glanced up with a grin, recognizing that voice. "'ey, Prongs!" He excused himself from the girl and hopped up, strolling over to him. However, he noticed about two seconds after standing that there were others there with him. "Who're the new comers?" Curious, he peered at them with interest.

Everyone, of course, stared at Seto.

James barely had time to open his mouth before Remus answered for him. "Muggles!" he gasped almost immediately upon looking up, setting his quill down but too stunned to get up and join Sirius. "How did - have you-?"

"Relax, Moony, I already went to Dumbledore," James defended, lifting his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I accidentally summoned them here. I created a spell, how cool is that!"

"Very cool." Sirius replied, looking at James first, impressed, then looking over to Mokuba and Seto instead. Seto bothered him already, so he started with Mokuba. "And who are you, kiddo?" He grinned, ruffling Mokuba's hair to see him beaming up at him.

"Mokuba Kaiba!" He smiled, staring at him, fascinated at meeting more magic people. "What's your name?"

"Sirius. Sirius Black." He grinned.

Mokuba looked back to James, with whom he was more familiar and therefore slightly more comfortable. "Is that a common last name here?"

James, crossing his arms and leaning back against a wall, chortled. "Not exactly. He and Bellatrix are cousins, that's all."

"How's he know Bellatrix?" inquired Remus, who had stood, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and busied himself frowning at the two of them. Seto especially interested him; his expression seemed as if he was under the impression he'd wake up from a nightmare any second.

"Had a bit of an unfortunate run-in with her. Actually, I summoned another girl here - half-naked, too, you should have seen her-" (here, Remus smacked his arm), "- hey! Well anyway, she's staying with your cousin, Sirius. I don't like it, not one bit."

Seto glared at Remus for a moment or two before looking away, staring into the fire and twirling the trading card shaped locket around his neck in his fingers.

Sirius frowned at this. "A half naked girl staying with my cousin, or anyone staying with my cousin at that, is in for some trouble, that's to be sure." He tapped his chin twice. "That means these two are staying here, yeah? Mokuba and Chuckles over there." He grinned at Seto. " 's your name, Chuckles?"

He only scowled at him and muttered to himself in Japanese.

"Can he speak English?" Sirius asked James.

"Yeah," interrupted Mokuba before James could speak. "He can. My brother's just a buzzkill. His name is Seto." He said, sighing, looking apologetic on behalf of his brother.

"Speaking of Mr. Buzz Killington over there..." James lifted his eyebrows at Seto, peering at him above his glasses. "You said you had some questions, yeah? And before you ask the first one, yes, this is all real."

"Something tells me he wouldn't believe you if you took him on a broomstick ride under the invisibility cloak to a dragon's nest while transformed into - I don't know - a stag," smirked Remus.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap. Look. I didn't ask to come here, nor do I want to be here. Frankly all I want is to get out of here as quickly as possible. Now is this some sort of mental institution or am I in a coma somewhere, because you're all as crazy as they come." He glared from James to Remus to Sirius, who was chuckling behind a hand. "All I know is one minute I was in my office, the next I'm here surrounded by a bunch of.. insane kids!" He scowled around from the seventh years to the first years, arms folded, clearly annoyed he not only didn't understand what was going on, but why those younger than him were not showing him respect. "Who put you up to all of this. Is it money you want? Because clearly there are easier ways to do that."

Mokuba's eyes widened and he took a step backwards towards the wall.

Sirius laughed. "You can sure pick 'em, James~" He hummed.

"Hey, don't blame this on me, I didn't pick anybody! Had I a choice, I wouldn't have taken someone with such a stick up his ass. We get enough of that around here with Snivellus." In annoyance, he flicked his wand in Seto's direction, sending red sparks flying from the end of it; they fizzled and sparkled before fading out in the air between them. But most likely he'd dismiss that as a cheap parlor trick, too; exasperated, James ruffled up his own hair, huffing. "What do I have to do to make you believe all this?" he plead.

"Ngh." Seto glared. "I run a company and I've designed and invented mechanisms to project holograms for card game dueling. I've seen or /invented/ tricks like this a million times over." He didn't even flinch at the sparks. "You may convince my brother of your madness, but I'm not fooled."

"You felt when Nearly Headless Nick floated through you, right? Can holograms do that?" Desperate, James racked his brain for anything he could use; he didn't exactly want to hurt Seto, but if the disbelief continued, he might whip something a bit more concrete out - a flipendo at the least. "Here, see if this convinces you-" Remus started when James flicked his wand straight at Seto, but all he shouted was a forceful "Rictusempra!"

Seto lifted a hand curled into a fist to press against his tightly shut lips, and immediately bent over slightly. Though he made no sounds other than an occasional sharp exhale, he certainly felt the effects. His face screwed up slightly, he cleared his throat and managed a "S-stop... stop that..!"

With a righteous huff, James ended the spell, lowering his wand. "Believe me now?" he scoffed, and then a brilliant idea occurred to him. It'd been so long since he'd bullied anyone, and this guy needed a major ego check...smirking and ignoring Remus's disapproving look, he relifted his wand. "How about this - Tarantallegra!"

Sirius cracked up in the corner as soon as the spell left James' lips.

Seto, who was about to start angrily go off on James, widened his eyes as his legs suddenly jerked around, flailing and dancing around. His face twisted into absolute anger, and he glowered at James as his face went red in humiliation. "STOP THIS."

The whole common room was alight with laughter; James, quite thoroughly enjoying himself, only smirked. "Not until you admit magic is real! Go on - say it!"

Mokuba was giggling as well, though biting his lip to keep himself from laughing too loudly lest he incur the wrath of his brother.

Seto, enraged, only continued flailing. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW."

Grinning as widely and infuriatingly as ever, James switched out the Tarantallegra in favor of a Levicorpus, laughing as Seto was lifted upside-down and his white coat billowed about his head. His hair, amazingly, retained its shape (are all Japanese people like anime characters, with gravity-defying hairdos?). "Admit it!" he bellowed.

"I'LL ADMIT NOTHING UNTIL YOU PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN." He swore, glowering upside down.

"Well, then, we're at an impasse. I won't put you down unless you admit, you won't admit unless I put you down...I, however, am a reasonable man, and I shall compromise." With a grand gesture of humbleness James set Seto upright and lowered him back to his feet, bowing low and sweeping out his wand arm. Remus, though /highly/ disapproving of his friend's tactics, couldn't help but snigger to himself with the rest of the students.

Seto was quite literally shaking with anger. Red in the face and hands curled into fists, infuriated. "As soon as I gain control of my muscles.." He murmured in Japanese. "I will fuck your shit up so goddamned hard..."

Raising his eyebrows, James hooked his thumbs into his pockets and glanced to Mokuba. "Mind translating, buddy?" Though he was sure he understood well Seto's intentions, there was no way a /muggle/ could hurt him.

Mokuba bit his lips to keep from laughing. "E-erm," He glanced at Seto's red face again and cleared his throat. "He's swearing. .. A lot." He grinned as Seto continued to spout explicatives. "He's saying.. He will mess you up, if I clean it up a .. lot." He looked apologetic again.

"Heh!" James only crossed his arms as he continued to watch Seto seethe. Deciding his victim had had quite enough, he flicked his wand and uttered a simple cheering charm - mild enough to put an end to this tantrum but let him keep his senses about him. "Care to admit magic is real, now?" the boy taunted, eyebrows disappearing into his messy bangs.

With Seto Kaiba, the most a cheering charm could do for him is to return his face to its usual pale tone and quiet the swears, though leaving his face still quite blank. "Ngh," he grunted, debating. "I'm not convinced I'm not dreaming," He said as a disclaimer, "However if I'm not.. That seems as logical as my going completely out of my mind. It's one or the other." Huffing, he finished. As close to an admittance as Seto would get.

This disbelief was getting /quite/ annoying.

"I assure you I'm not a figment of your imagination," sighed James, sinking down into an armchair. "I can't force you to believe, unless you want to go through what you just did over and over." (He sort of wanted to, that had been amusing.) "That might convince you. Either way, you're stuck with us for now."

"Where are we staying." He said, not quite stiffly (as that cheering charm had done a number on him,) but certainly not friendly. Mokuba sighed and shot almost pleading looks to the other Gryffindors, desperately trying to let them know without disrespecting his brother that he didn't feel even remotely the same.

"I'm starting to think I'm dreaming." Sirius snorted after a moment's silence. "And it's a really bad nightmare, too." He grinned at his friends, wanting to lighten the mood from Seto's obvious dislike of being there (and all of their obvious mutual feelings).

Sirius's joke sent chuckles through the room; even Remus hid a smirk behind his hand.

"I dunno," said James after a moment's thought, raising a hand to idly stroke his chin. "Depends if there are beds available. Unless we have two extra, you guys can grab a couch here in the common room to crash."

Seto sighed and sat in an empty chair, staring into the fire, and refusing to talk (which was a major improvement), occasionally murmuring in Japanese to himself.

"I'm sorry." Mokuba frowned. "I'm excited to be here. I believe you." He weakly smiled around, looking much more sheepish and shy than he did a few minutes ago.

Remus took to the boy before a now-weary James could. "Thank you," he offered, voice quiet and kinder than any of the others' had been. "Not many muggles /do/ believe us. Then again, not many muggles show up at Hogwarts..."

Mokuba liked him. Smiling he tilted his head. "I assume muggles means me." He laughed softly. "What was your name again?" He suddenly felt bad, he was having trouble remembering people's alien sounding names. The girl started with a 'B-e'... and the old man had a 'door' in his name, right?

Oh! He hadn't even thought of that - Mokuba would have no idea what some of their terminology would mean. Of course.

"Muggle means non-magic folk, like you, yes. And I'm Remus - Remus Lupin." He smiled as welcomingly as he could. He jerked his head in Sirius's direction: "The rugged one over there is Sirius. You'll usually find him, James, and me together - unless James decides to go off by himself and summon people here." He aimed a pointed look at the troublemaker in question, but James was far too preoccupied to pay attention; Lily Evans had just climbed in through the portrait.

"Nice to meet you." He said twice. Once in English and once in Japanese, bowing to both of them. If he was going to be lost occasionally, couldn't hurt to speak Japanese to them. Maybe they'll both learn something.

Glancing at Lily, he only smiled at her, looking between the three boys, hoping one of them would either say something or tell him what to be doing, or something. He felt very out of place.

As James was greeting his girlfriend with a rather generous snog - whilst she attempted to yell at him between kisses for the story Dumbledore had just regaled to her - Remus decided it was up to him to take over. With a sigh, he glanced to Sirius. "Think it's about time for supper? We could take the two of them down to the Great Hall."

Sirius shrugged. "I suppose. /I'm/ hungry at least, and I think they have extra lamb chops tonight, so food sounds good to me. Y'up for a trek, Kiddo and Chuckles?" He raised an eyebrow, winking at Mokuba and sniggering at Kaiba. "Alright, Moony, this should be fun for us. Heheh."

"Nothing isn't fun for you, Padfoot," he countered with a grin, motioning at the Kaibas to follow them. He almost beckoned James, as well, but the boy seemed a bit preoccupied being screamed at by his lovely girlfriend.

"Too right you are." He hummed back, grinning, and stepped out of the portrait hole.

Mokuba all to eagerly started bounding after them, having realized he was pretty hungry, but Seto stayed put. "Seto.." Mokuba started to whine. "C'mooon. I'm hungry." He pulled on his wrist.

Seto murmured to him in Japanese, "I don't want to go anywhere with these people."

"C'mon, it'll be fine, just for some food-"

"I said /no,/ Mokuba."

"Please! Just come do this for me. We don't get to do much anymore and I'm having fun." He frowned like a sad puppy. It was true, the Kaiba brothers rarely did anything together these days.

Sighing, Seto stood. "You /owe/ me, little brother. You owe me."

Mokuba beamed again and tugged him after Sirius and Remus waiting for them just outside the portrait hole.

BREAK

Bella rolled her eyes. "Jealous you can't be gallant Prince Douche anymore? She'll be fine, Potter, just take care of Scowly and Peppy there." She sneered, arm rewrapping itself around Toy's shoulders. Voice sweet (to mock James,) she spoke to Toy. "Here, c'mon love. I'll lend you some of my clothes and we can get you out of that horrid /Gryffindor/ robe." She said the word as if it was a curse word, escorting her down more flights of stairs toward the kitchens.

Toy eagerly followed, though she spared a glance back at the Kaibas; she wanted some familiar sight before she disappeared down into more uncharted territory. She picked up the conversation as they made their way downstairs. "What are Gryffindor and Slytherin? I've never heard those words used in English before - are you guys divided up into teams or something?" She had gained back some confidence from her outburst, and she had no qualms holding questions back anymore.

Bellatrix kept her eyes on the staircase as they descended. "Hmn? Oh, they're our Houses." She hummed, still aimiable sounding for the moment. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, my house. We have kids aged 11-18 here, and each is separated into a year and a house. Easier that way." She frowned. "I'm a Slytherin seventh year, the final year. James 'Head Boy' Potter there is a Gryffindor seventh year. Heh, we don't get along." She smirked, helping her over a nonexistant step.

"I can see that." A hesitant half-grin made its way to her lips as they stepped off the stairs. It was only then she noticed the paintings around them. It had been so subtle she hadn't noticed until now; but her eye caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and she hesitated to do a double-take. "Did - ...so the pictures move here?" She frowned, but her eyes remained wide, now taking in the wonders the school had to offer. "Sorry, I must seem really slow to you, you're used to all this..."

"Heheh. Yeah. I grew up with this stuff. Portraits move. And speak to you if you catch them in a good mood." She said, bored again, striding with Toy around the corner and down a passageway lit with more floating torches, going down a slowly sloping corridor towards the kitchens. "Suits of armor move too if you see them."

"Portraits move, staircases move, suits of armor moves...is anything stationary around here?" Though her comment seemed annoyed, her tone was one of wonder, and even as they reached the kitchen Toy was busy glancing around for anything new and fascinating she could find.

Bellatrix laughed. "The beds are, if you're lucky." She winked, lighting her wand (which James had given her back when they parted ways at the stairwell and undid her rope bonds,) and escorting her into the room which had a torch lit near it. She held the door open to show a stone room with a fire burning in a small makeshift fire pit, a window looking out onto the cliff Hogwarts was perched on, an emerald curtain billowing from the crack the window was open, two four posters made with green and silver beddings, and a trunk at the foot of one with "BB" written on it. Bella ushered her in. "I suppose this is where we're staying..."

"Not for very long, I hope."

The shock had worn off and as Toy's weariness caught up to her, it was all she could do to limp for her new bed and collapse onto it with a quiet sigh. It was all well and good for the Kaibas; Seto wouldn't believe any of this, and Mokuba would be too fascinated to be upset. But all Toy wanted was to be home, with her fiance, comfortable and safe in his familiar embrace...

Shit, her fiance.

She hadn't even thought about him before now. Were they still on the same timeline? Was he out there, wondering where the hell she'd disappeared to?

"Oh, shit..."

Bellatrix was taking her black robe off to show her uniform, a black skirt, white button up shirt which was too small for her, quite obviously designed to showcase her breasts, the sleeves rolled up halfway on her forearm and a green and silver tie loosely hanging around her neck with a snake on the end. Sighing, she ditched it on her trunk and also flopped back on her fourposter uncaringly. "Hmn?" She hummed, rolling over on her stomach and facing her. "Whaswrong?"

Had Toy been looking, no doubt she would have been a tad distracted by the display, but as it was her face was firmly buried in this pillow that smelled all wrong. "My fiance," she whimpered, muffled, into the pillow. "I disappeared the second he walked out the door and he's probably out of his mind with worry wondering where I am..."

"Fiance?" She asked, screwing her face up in a disbelieving questioning look. "How old /are/ you, kid?" She asked, looking her over again. She had thought she was roughly her own age, but perhaps she was wrong.

"Seventeen," she sighed, picking her head up to give Bellatrix a sort of 'please believe me?' look. "I have two kids, too. Twin boys. Heh." Exhausted, she reburied her face into her pillow, letting slip swears under her breath in Japanese.

"..." Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "My age, and you're going to get married and are already a mum? Someone got busy." She snorted, rolling over onto her back, legs crossed at the knee, her dark hair tumbling over the bed and grazing the floor.

"Heh." Though she chuckled, Toy could feel her face warming and compensated by burying it further into her pillow. "I just grew up faster than most. I'm happy where I am. ..Er, was..."

It was then that a thought occurred to her, and she could have smacked herself for not thinking of it before - but, no, it would have been too good to be true. Too convenient a solution. Hesitantly, she raised her head, venturing forward: "Do...you guys use cell phones here?"

"What's a cell phone? Some muggle thing?" She asked, frowning and flicking her wand idly, conjuring bubbles and then popping them with the end of her wand.

Disappointment slumped Toy's shoulders. Of course. Her eyes fixated on the bubbles, scrutinizing the colorful shimmers in each as they were popped. "It's...ngh. Fits in your pocket, you can use it to communicate with anyone, even continents away. Talk to them or send them a message or a picture or whatever. ..What's a muggle?"

So like an owl. Muggles are so weird. She sighed making a bigger one before popping it. "Muggles are non-magic people. So were I to hand you my wand, you couldn't do a thing. You also have absolutely no idea what's going on. Heh."

"Yeah, there's that..." Groaning, Toy flipped over, clutching the pillow to her chest like a lifesaver and staring dejectedly at the ceiling. Scrunching up her face, she tried to recall any other piece of information that might be helpful. "..Just to make sure, it /is/ 2011 here, right?"

"..." Bellatrix rolled over and gave her a look suggesting she may be talking to a mental patient. "... It's September of 1970."

"September of nineteen..."

She repeated the phrase slowly to herself, as if chewing the information, before trailing off and falling silent as the date sunk in. After a short moment, she bolted straight up. "I'm sorry, you said /nineteen seventy/?"

"One nine, seven zero." She said, using the spell to write letters in fire in the air, flicking out the digits. "An okay year so far." She sounded bored.

"..." Eyes wide, Toy tightened the grip on her lifesaver-pillow, staring dully at Bellatrix - too preoccupied to be impressed by her spell. "..So not only have I travelled halfway around the Earth, I've gone back in time forty years. Great. Just - great."

Questions were racing through her head already, but at the moment she was too surprised to register them. Would the future remain the same once - if - she got home? Would she come back to find Bakura and Marik still together? Would she end up in the same year, even? Her kids didn't exist, her best friend had yet to be born, her fiance...he was god-knows-where...

Egypt. Egypt is where he was. Not that it mattered at the current moment.

Bella frowned. "You're just lucky you weren't splinched, kid. You could have left an arm or a leg in the .. future. Heh. That happens occasionally. If you're overwhelmed, I can make you a potion or use a cheering charm. You'll know what's going on and all, you just won't be so stressed, as I assume you are."

"Nnh, a good strong dose of gin is what I could use..." Holding her head in her hand, she heavily nodded, sighing. "That sounds really nice right now."

"We don't have gin here," She said, standing and rummaging through her trunk after moving her robe. "But I do have some firewhisky. It's much stronger than you're used to..." She grinned, tossing a half-empty pale green bottle with a picture of a firework on it, but otherwise unmarked. "Bottoms up."

Thank god, finally something Bellatrix recognized. At least they shared a common knowledge of alcohol.

Toy caught the bottle by its neck and stared at it for a moment, experimentally swishing the liquid around. She opened it, sniffed it, thought "what the hell," and took a very generous swig. Of course, this left her coughing harshly into the back of her wrist, but the strange burning sensation in her throat was pleasant in a weird sort of way.

"Shit," she exclaimed once she'd regained her voice, grateful for the distraction and the buzz she would be feeling, no doubt, in no time. "Good stuff.."

Bella sniggered. "Yes. Kind of explodes. I'm sure you don't know, but here, we come of age at 17. I can get as much of this shit as I want. Pretty great, mmn?" She flashed a grin before rummaging around for another drink, sipping it as she bounced back onto her bed, humming once. She was raised with the ideas that Pure Blood magic people were the best of the best, and the dirt of the world were the muggles. But at age 17, her political and social ways of viewing the world were put second to her hormones, and this girl certainly attracted her. Therefore, she was able and willing to have 'polite' (as polite as Bellatrix could be) conversation with her. And even share her firewhisky. She surprised herself with that one.

"Lucky..." As she waited to recover from the first swig, Toy swished the bottle about, making quiet conversation. "We're adults at 18, but we can't buy alcohol for another three years after that. I got all mine through...less honorable ways." With the hint of a grimace - both at the memory and having let something like that slip - she braced herself and downed another few gulps.

"Welcome to the club." She sniggered, emptying her bottle and throwing at the wall, smashing it to bits. With a simple flick of the wand and a nonverbal 'reparo,' the shards flew to each other and sealed themselves back up. She smirked at it in pride; she must admit to herself that she enjoyed doing minor spells like these with a muggle in the room. She assumed the girl would get more amusement out of it then she did. "Where'd you say you lived again?"

Indeed, she did. Toy's lips remained parted in fascination as she watched the pieces pick themselves up and reform in midair, sealing perfectly back together; her answer was distraction. "Domino City, in Japan..."

"Never heard of it, girly." Bella hummed. Arranging herself so her legs were crossed and she leaned back against the headboard, arms supporting her, she looked over to Toy with a slight tilt of the head. "So tell me. What do you think of Hogwarts, witches and wizards, and apparently, the past." She grinned, wanting to know how outsiders would view them. This was the most amount of 'muggle studies' she would ever care to do.

A moment passed before Toy responded, thoughtful. "I'm still not entirely sure I'm awake. This is all...it's insane. It's fantastic. In the muggle world, that glass would have been beyond repair, and you'd have to put on shoes and sweep it up and wrap it up and toss it out. You just waved your wand and in two seconds it was perfect again." Her voice took on an almost awed tone. "And the spell that brought me here - it was new. So you all must be creating and changing spells constantly. Anything's possible here, it's a little difficult to wrap my head around that..."

"Yep. Anything." She said, smirking again as she watched her speak. "Offense and defense, creating and destroying. Anything. Practical," She flicked it and the covers flew back from Toy's bed. "And impractical." Another swish and birds flew from the end of it, flying in circles for just a moment before she caused them to disappear in a burst of fire.

A hand flew to Toy's throat in surprise as her covers yanked back; her eyes widened at the blossom of fire that swallowed the birds. Everything here was strange and wonderful...she wanted to believe it was all real, and she almost did, but the existence of magic itself? It was too good to be true. Anyway, if it /didn't/ exist, then this was all an elaborate dream and Kura'd wake her up any second, and that thought comforted her.

"That's...this is fantastic."

Bella grinned at her, then yawned as she lay there, eyes closing. "Mn. We can get food at the Great Hall if you want, talk, or you can go to bed." She shrugged.

At the mention of food, Toy realized abruptly just how hungry she was; nevertheless, bed sounded like a better idea. She was so exhausted, and the food could wait...

However, something compelled her to murmur, "Talking'd be nice." Perhaps it was her innate curiosity (though she doubted she could handle much more information right now), her desire for companionship, or just the firewhiskey. Either way, she blinked at Bella expectantly.

Blinking at that, she raised her eyebrows. She hadn't expected the previously scared, timid girl to want to talk to her. "Okay." She hummed, rolling herself to lie on her stomach across her bed, facing Toy and supporting her face with her palms, her breasts squeezed together visible through the V neck-line in her shirt. " 'bout what?"

Toy had been timid due to her sudden shift of environment; now that she was growing used to her situation (as unreal as it felt), she felt more certain - around Bellatrix, at least. And with the aid of alcohol.

Though her eyes strayed down to the generous cleavage for a moment, Toy didn't waste much thought on it. "I don't know anything about you. Tell me who you are."

"Hm." She thought a moment, debating what to tell this muggle. "Well. As you know, my name is Bellatrix Black. I come from a pureblood family, meaning everyone is a witch or wizard. I've two younger sisters, Narcissa and Andromeda. I'm good at Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. And of course I'm in Slytherin, as I've already told you and you can see from the green and silver decor. Heh."

Leaning back on one hand, Toy let the information sink in. She was grateful for the distraction of getting to know this girl and picked, at random, something to prod at. "Pureblood? You guys categorize yourselves based on your bloodlines?" The only way she could relate to this concept was to draw an analogy to race - how someone might be purebred or a mutt based on their lineage - but it wasn't quite the same, she felt. Race would overlap with this.

"Yes. The more magic in your blood, the better you are. PureBloods are the best of the best. Mudbloods are the worst in the wizarding world. Those born from nonmagical families." She slowly jiggled a foot up and down, watching her face for her reaction to this.

This, Toy could sense something off about. She wasn't so sure about Bella's intentions here - she herself was a Pureblood, and touting her own origins like that set off a red flag in her head. "Why are 'mudbloods,'" (she of course had no idea of the connotations behind the word), "worse - are they not as good at magic..?"

"They come as confused as you are. They don't know anything about magic or magical history or what makes witches and wizards stand out. They don't catch on to the wizarding ways, and they don't truly fit in. I was raised knowing magic and spells and the history of the wizarding world, while mudbloods know nothing. They don't belong at Hogwarts. They belong in the muggle world." She frowned, finishing her tirade.

"Hmm." The nagging feeling that Bellatrix was biased persisted as Toy digested all this. "Maybe they didn't grow up with it like you did, but if they've got the gift, they've got a right to learn," she hesitantly put forth.

"Maybe." She sighed. "But not here. Hogwarts is one of the oldest wizarding schools in the world. If they go anywhere, maybe to Beuxbatons or Dermstrang. Not here." She sighed again, rolling over onto her back and looking at the ceiling, conjuring green bubbles with her wand and popping them.

More and more was Bellatrix's elitism rearing its ugly head. Toy was beginning to doubt her companion, but rather than cause any confrontation, she prodded at another subject. "Beauxbatons, Dermstrang? There are multiple schools?"

"Uh-huh." She hummed, popping more of them. "Beauxbatons is in France, Dermstrang in Bulgaria. Witches and Wizards are all over the world, there has to be more than one school." She said this as if it were obvious. "Just like there's more than one muggle boarding school or trade school."

"Yes, but there are thousands of muggle boarding schools, if not millions. Three is a pretty small part of the population." Toy frowned, hugging her knees to her chest as she hesitantly put forward a point. Her speech was beginning to get slurred; analytic and interested as she was, she was beginning to feel the effects of the exhausting day.

"Wouldn't it be unfair, though, to force them to go to a whole 'nother part of the continent - where they don't even speak the same language?"

"Beauxbatons and Dermstrang students do speak English." She stopped popping bubbles and glanced over to her. "You should get some rest. You've had an interesting day, after all."

"Mmnh...very interesting," she agreed. Perhaps interesting wasn't the right word, exactly.

But even as she was drifting off sitting up - weariness taking sudden hold of her - Toy hesitated. She didn't really want to fall asleep in these robes. "Do...you have something I could borrow to sleep in?"

"Hn." Bella got up and opened up her trunk, rifling through it a moment, then pulled out a charcoal grey nightgown and tossed it to her. Naturally, as it was hers, it had very little sleeves and came up the middle of Bella's thigh, however it would be to Toy's kneecaps.

A little sheepishly, but emboldened by the alcohol, Toy managed to turn her back to Bella and quickly change without blushing too hard. The moment she was dressed, though, she crawled beneath the covers, barely murmuring a thanks and a goodnight before she was slipping away...

Bella glanced at her and paused, two fingers touching the side of her jaw and eyes half lidded as her eyes stole over her. "Hn..." A plan was forming in her mind, and she chewed her cheek muscles a few moments. Hn. That could work…

After a few minutes, she herself changed into a black night gown, and climbed into her own bed to sleep.