I apologize for leaving all of my stories hanging. The transition into the 2003-2004 school year was rather shaky, and my grades have been falling, forcing me to therefore study more, write less. : (

Harry yawned as he jerked into consciousness. He looked around for the source that had disturbed his sleep, but was unable to pinpoint it. Every fiber of his body was newly awoken, and he winced as his mattress groaned against his shifting weight. Drowsily, he began to drift off again but when his mind began to ease away once more Harry heard the faint, soft sounds of a voice singing. He listened, but could not discern the words, and the voice seemed harder to hear when he was wide awake. Certain that he would not get anymore sleep until he discovered this source, Harry carefully eased himself to the edge of his bed, pausing only when his bed gave off a most ungodly squeak. After he was sure Ron had resettled from his turnings, Harry donned his slippers and fumbled with his glasses before quietly shuffling towards the door.

Holding his breath, he cracked open the door and slipped out. His hands felt like ice and Harry squeezed at them in an attempt to stop them from trembling so much. The words to the lilting song did not clarify themselves and Harry peered around the corner. Raye Aino, or rather Hino as he now understood, sat near the fire singing to her owl, or to the moon, or both. Sekded gave a small, owlish hoot that seemed to wind itself in with her words, which were obviously Japanese.

Enthralled by the weaving of notes, Harry was startled to realize that the cold in his hands had begun to creep up his arms. There was nothing like a seat by the fire to him now and he took a deep breath before stepping out and down the steps that led to the dormitories. The roar of the fire sent a slight chill through him before its warmth crashed down like a wave onto the shore. Raye seemed not to notice him, but Harry felt sure she had detected him on the steps. "Good evening, Raye."

"Hello, Harry." In her hands Raye held a small photo album and she leisurely flipped through it, pausing now and then. "You know, then?"

"Know what?" Harry asked. "There are many things that I know. What are you talking about?"

Raye laughed softly, and she looked up at him. "Dumbeldore seems to think that you know." She didn't clarify, and her eyes returned to the pictures she held.

Harry could not keep up the knowledgeable, smooth guy front. He was so eager to impress her, but a talented assassin no doubt could see through that. "That you are Raye Hino? Yes, I know." Raye merely nodded, and Harry could not resist asking, "Can I see?" He held out his hand questioningly towards the album.

She hesitated. "Why not? You already know about my identity."

"And so will Hermione, if you aren't careful." Harry's eyes flicked from her photos to her face.

A smile crossed her face. "I'm not very good at this, am I?"

"You just need to be more careful. Right now, Hermione's too interested in impressing you to notice, but she will. Who are these people here?" Harry had come to several pictures that showed girls in short, pleated skirts, leotards, and sailor collars. He flipped over some pages. Most pictures depicted a group of the same four girls, some with a younger girl with unnaturally pink hair, and others had two other girls who looked older with another young girl and sometimes with a tall, stern looking woman. Some had a man in a tuxedo standing off in the background, or affectionately holding a blond girl.

"I took those pictures. Do you like them?"

"Yes, but who are they?" Harry flipped the page again and found a large group picture. This time, Raye was in the picture. She was wearing the same outfit as the others, except in red.

"'They' are the Sailor Senshi, the Sailor Scouts who protect Japan. I believe some of them will be joining us under the pretenses of a Japanese/English student exchange program. They are going to experience a battle that they have never thought could exist, but they've been through enough. They can handle this."

"What about Japan?"

"Only some of them are coming." A sudden, comical expression crossed her face in what could only be described as utter resign-ment. "Oh, Usagi is probably going to fail all these courses, though she knows what's going on."

"Who?"

Raye pointed to a blond girl. "Her. Usagi."

Harry looked closer at the pictures. "Whoa, her hair looks like…"

"Meatballs? Yep. Her odangoes, we like to call them."

There was a slight pause as Harry closed the book and handed it back. He stared into the fire for a while. "Dumbeldore really thinks it will begin soon, huh?"

"Mm." Raye sighed. "I don't want to do this again and be involved, but do I really have a choice?"

Harry shrugged. "Do I?" Sekded hooted.

Harry groaned as Ron woke him up. As he hefted himself over the edge of his bed again, he vaguely heard the enthusiastic exclamations of Ron's overly optimistic expectations for the school year. Harry stumbled wearily towards the door, ignoring Seamus' furtive, "What happened to 'im?" A crowd had gathered in the Common Room. Raye was in the midst of the crowd, chatting happily with a tall brunette who could probably compete with Ron for height. Rapid Japanese words were tossed about over the crowd, and Harry couldn't help but grin at the evident subject. I'm so happy you're in my house! What houses are the others in?

Ron clattered down the stairs, then paused in obvious confusion. "What's going on?" he mouthed. The crowd had already begun to disperse towards the more interesting thought of breakfast, and Raye brought the girl over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had just joined them.

"This is Makoto Kino."

Makoto gave a wave. "Hello," she said softly, and Harry was under the impression that her English wasn't as strong as Raye's.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione, that's Ron, and that's Harry," Hermione said slowly, smiling. Makoto nodded.

"Hello," Harry said as Ron managed a "Hey."

Talking in English, either for their benefit or to help Makoto with her English (Harry couldn't tell which), Raye asked, "Which houses are Usagi, Minako, and Ami in?"

"Usagi and Mina are in Hu-ffle-puff, and Ami are, is, in Ravenclaw," Makoto said slowly. She then broke into a barrage of Japanese, giving them the impression that she was quite a loquacious person. Raye laughed and responded, causing Makoto to double over.

"We'll be along later, after Makoto unpacks," Raye said, turning to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who were watching the scene unfold silently.

"All right, don't get lost," Ron returned. "Ow!" (Hermione dug an elbow into his ribs.) "Seriously, this castle is a natural maze."

As they left, Hermione hissed at him. "That was very polite. Your tactfulness astounds me, sometimes." Sarcasm dripped from every word, but it wasn't harsh. "Harry, why are you so tired?"

Harry had just given in to an enormous yawn he had been battling. "I… didn't sleep well."

"It's the first day of courses! You know you should have gotten a good night's sleep."

"I know."

When they entered the Hall, Harry looked around, trying to see Usagi, Minako, and Ami. He recognized them from Raye's photos. Ami especially drew many stares. Ron did a double take as he first saw her. "Wow. How much dye do you think it took her to get it that color?"

Harry shook his head. Hermione was right. Ron's "tact" needed work. "Ron, I think it's natural."

"Whoa."

Usagi got up from her seat at the Hufflepuff table next to Minako and crossed the hall to talk to Ami. Harry got the feeling he was going to hear a lot of Japanese around the school at sight of the loquacious girl. "Ngh," Ron said, scanning his class schedule. "Harry, we've got double potions first." Harry said nothing, but resentment bordering on hatred was twisting his insides. He glanced up at the front table. Why did Dumbeldore trust him? Still, having the whole summer to think about the last year made Harry feel slightly foolish. Snape had tried to help in his own way, but it was so convenient to blame everything on his and Sirius' mutual enemy that he didn't really care if it was fair or not if he blamed Snape. Sirius. Harry's insides gave an unpleasant lurch. With the excitement of exchange students, he had managed not to think of Sirius for two days. As he looked at Snape, he couldn't help but think, Why not you? Why couldn't your places have been switched? This thought was so unfair that Harry's stomach gave another squirm, but he couldn't help entertaining the thought.

Sirius would have made a great teacher. Maybe not potions, but Defense Against the Dark Arts. Come to think of it… "Hermione, are there any new teachers this year?"

"huh? No, why?"

"Umbridge was Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher last year, but this year…"

"OH!" Hermione's eyes were wide. "You don't think they've dropped the course, do you?" Ron, mouth full, merely waved a finger around and shoved it in front of her on her schedule. "Good. I was about to say, with You-know…Voldemort back…" Hermione trailed off as Raye and Makoto entered the hall.

Raye sat down across the table from Harry, next to Hermione. She had just received her schedule and peered over at Hermione's. "Ooh, you're taking Arithmancy also? Is that class difficult?"

"Not terribly…" Harry and Ron snorted.

Makoto spoke, a little more fluently than before. "I have a different one." Her schedule resembled Harry and Ron's. "What is Divination?"

"Nothing really important. It's just a bunch of stuff that doesn't work…"

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron's description. "Well, it's fortune telling and things like that. It doesn't really happen."

"I beg to differ." Raye's eyes were sparkling, and there was a hint of the clairvoyant in her eyes. Harry remembered she was a Shinto priestess. Was she more "in tune" with the spiritual world? "There are some people who can see into the future." Hermione coughed, and Harry remembered when Hermione cracked, up in that far attic of musty incense and heat strokes.

"Well, our old teacher wasn't a true seer. Our new one is a centaur," Harry said quickly, hoping to amend anything they had unwittingly said.

"Hah! A centaur? What do those creatures know? They are star gazers, seeing things only in the big picture, but unable to see the present or the next. 'Mars is bright tonight, it is vengeful.' They don't know much." Raye didn't bother to clarify.