Hey, Skittles and Snickers here! Thanks to roni2010, ShesASuperFreak317, AshleyRoseSparrow, and bananafreak97 for reviewing! We love you! We hope you like this chapter =)
We also want to thank Snickers' friend, Green Goat, for helping us out and just being generally awesome. Some things in this chapter are direct quotes from her. Love ya, girl! ^_^
We want to also thank Skittle's good friend Meg for being so epic that we just had to make her an OC too. Love you!
So in this chapter, we have the (drum-roll please) SORTING! And you finally get to see some more of Lis' little brother! We are also taking a shot at both of our favorite twins boys' point of views, so please let us know how we did in the comments!
Disclaimer: We are not trying to make fun of British words, we are just pointing out the confusions that can entail when moving to a different country. We do not own the references to Wizard of Oz. We also do not own Alice in Wonderland character names, words from Bolt, or AVPM references. J.K. Rowling owns everything else. We're just playing around in her imaginary world because hers is better than the ones we've come up with. ^_^
Remember: Only YOU can boost our confidence with a review (along with everyone else who reads this).
Hugs and butterfly kisses,
Snickers and Skittles
Chapter 2: Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum
Hey there, I'm Fred; the better-looking twin.
After entrusting MJ to McGonagall, who was in the antechamber with all the little first years waiting to be sorted, George, Lee and I went straight to the Gryffindor table. We just ignored Byrd, and she went to her table. I sat down next to Lee with my back to the Slytherins; I didn't even want to look at that lot right then. I'd be watching them enough later; I'd have to keep an eye on Byrd. It really unsettled me that MJ was so chummy with a Slytherin.
What? She is my baby cousin after all!
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Hello, I'm George; the humble twin.
After leaving MJ and Byrd, I sat across from Fred and Lee, facing the Slytherin table. I was curious to see who Byrd would sit with. She seemed strangely… amiable for a Slytherin; but I still wasn't thrilled that MJ was such good friends with her.
Hold on. When have you ever known MJ to make illogical decisions? I asked myself. She's a level-headed girl. Byrd must be alright.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to tell Fred what I thought, the very Slytherin I had been thinking about sat down next to Draco Malfoy, and pulled him into a one-armed hug. The words I had almost spoken rearranged themselves before angrily spilling out.
"That conniving little Byrd better stay away from our cousin!" I told Fred.
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MJ's POV
Sortings are nerve-wracking.
After the Hat sang its epic ballad, I gazed down at all the other kids waiting to be sorted. I felt like I was either a giant, or I had entered Munchkin Land. I expected Toto to pop out any second now.
"Abercrombie, Euan."
I was going to be here for a while. By the time they got to Quarters, I'd be asleep on my feet. Looking over all the little first years, I caught Lis' eye. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Next to her, Malfoy raised his eyebrows, giving me what I think was supposed to be an intimidating sneer. I guess he took Lis' words to heart. I rolled my eyes, causing Lis to frown in confusion. I shook my head at her and mouthed, "Later." She shrugged and went back to her conversation with an odd-looking girl on her other side. A dark-haired girl started talking to Malfoy from his other side, causing him to turn his attention to her.
I looked at Willis Byrd, who was at the front of the line, and realized that he looked just like a younger version of Draco Malfoy, except he had dark hair.
Then, I looked over to the Gryffindor table where that Abercrombie kid had gone. Hehe, it would have been funny if his parents had named him Fitch... I swept my gaze further along the table.
George looked up when my eyes fell on him. Grinning at me encouragingly, he caused Fred to turn around and look at me as well, and wink at me. Those two have always been my favorite cousins. We're pretty close. I know they feel like I'm their other little sister; that was why I was afraid they wouldn't like that I was friends with a Slytherin. Oddly, they didn't seem too upset about it…
"Byrd, Willis."
Aw, he looks so nervous! I thought as he flashed me a shaky grin. Smiling, I nodded at him; that seemed to hearten him a bit. He has a huge crush on me, but he's too young for me; I see him as my little brother.
He got up to the stool and sat. After a few seconds of deliberating atop Willis' brown hair, the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!"
Well THAT was no surprise. He's almost as crafty as his sister. He happily sat down on the other side of Lis.
I started when I heard McGonagall say my name. That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Most of the others must be lower on the alphabetical list...
I peeked at Lis as I walked up the stairs towards the hat, but she, Malfoy and Willis were having an animated conversation about something, so they didn't notice me until I had actually sat on the stool with the hat on my head.
I waited. I knew the hat sometimes talked to people while sorting them.
Sure enough, Ah, you're a Weasley...
Well hi! I thought to it (that wasn't a weird sentence...).
It ignored me. Let's see... what to do with you... hmmmmmmmm... clearly you would be alright in Ravenclaw... perhaps Slytherin; you're a pureblood... and you are quite cunning, aren't you? ... but you are so fair-minded; so virtuous... not to mention dedicated to your friends… yes... better be...
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
I blinked. Hufflepuff?
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Third Person POV
As soon as the hat announced his verdict for MJ, over at the Slytherin table…
"Hufflepuff?" Felicity seemed a bit perplexed.
"Hufflepuff?" Willis was totally confused.
"Hufflepuff?" Draco uttered incredulously.
"Hufflepuff?" Ron Weasley said over at his table, frowning.
"Hufflepuff?" Ginny raised her eyebrows across from him.
"Hufflepuff" Fred and George sadly stated simultaneously.
"Pay up" Lee told the twins.
Meanwhile, MJ shrugged and strolled over to her new House's table where she was welcomed with thunderous applause. Still surprised, Felicity mustered an encouraging smile at MJ. Grinning back, MJ gave her a thumbs up. She was a bit disappointed that she wasn't in Gryffindor with her cousins (who also grinned optimistically at her from across the Hall), but she knew she would be alright when the girl she sat next to started chatting energetically with her about Quidditch.
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Lis' POV
We (Draco, Willis and I) were all eating our dinner after the Sorting. I was seated between the two of them.
Willis, having very short arms, asked Draco, who had longer arms, to pass the chips. He reached over me to hand my brother a platter.
Willis gave our cousin a look similar to one that someone would give to their brain damaged loved one when they said something cute, yet so very stupid. "I said the chips, Draco; not the fries."
Draco quirked an eyebrow at him, and continued to hold out the plate to him.
Willis let out an exasperated sigh. "Lissy, pass the chips please."
Being his loving big sister, I happily obliged by reaching around Draco for the basket of potato chips.
Draco frowned. "I thought he wanted the chips?"
I looked at Draco. "That's what these are." I said very slowly, as if speaking to a two-year-old.
"No, those are crisps" he said mimicking my tone.
I frowned and looked at my old friend, Gwen, who had been sitting silently on the other side of my brother. She was wearing her usual spiked choker and matching bracelets with her school robes, along with black lipstick. She was a sixth year too, and it was plain to see that she had not changed much in the five years since I had last seen her. "You seriously call them crisps?" I asked her.
She stared back at me blankly with a mouthful of food and swallowed painfully before saying in a matter-of-fact way: "Yes."
I blinked. "And you call French fries" I pointed at the plate of fries, "chips?"
Having shoveled more food into her mouth, she simply nodded and chewed.
It had obviously been too long since I had been in England.
Willis scoffed as the dinner magically replaced itself with dessert. "That's stupid. Next you'll be telling us you call cookies something else" he picked up one and started munching on it.
My 15-year-old cousin cocked his head to the side, "Yes, actually, that is a biscuit."
I slapped my forehead in disbelief.
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MJ's POV
Hufflepuff wasn't exactly where I expected to be sorted, but I wasn't about to complain. I was having fun talking to a girl named Sadie—a fourth year as well—who answered all of my questions about the school patiently after we had talked Quidditch. She had no wish to play the game, but she knew practically everything about it; just like Lis. I told her how Lis wasn't "scared" of heights, she just wasn't "comfortable" with them. It made her laugh. When she first learned that my best friend was a Slytherin, she was a bit surprised, but it didn't seem to bother her. I'm glad; Sadie's really cool. She started telling me about the teachers.
"I wonder where Hagrid is" she said in her slight British accent, frowning. "That Grubbly-Plank woman is in his seat instead."
"Who?"
She pointed her out to me. "She's the substitute for Care of Magical Creatures. Usually, the teacher is Hagrid. His classes are never boring, but Grubbly-Plank's usually are."
"Oh." I looked a bit further up the table. "Who's the other lady with the short hair?"
Sadie looked. "Madam Hooch. She's the flying instructor and Quidditch referee; she's awesome."
"Sweet!" I scanned some more, then I spotted a man who had greasy, gross hair, and a sneer that made it look like he was either trying to hold in a sneeze, or constipated. He was walking along the House tables.
"Who's that?" I asked pointing to him.
Sadie grabbed my arm and yanked it down. "THAT'S SNAPE! HE'S EVIL!" she whispered loudly as he was passing by the other side of the Ravenclaw table.
Almost as if he heard her, Snape turned his head slowly towards us. We held our breath. Then, he went on his way towards the teachers' table. We exhaled simultaneously.
A few minutes later, after we discussed a few more things about the school, Snape appeared suddenly behind us. "Detention, Ms. Stevenson."
She whipped around. "Oh yeah? On what charge?"
He sneered at her. "For disrespecting a teacher." Then, he left us.
"Gee, I thought I was disrespecting an evil old bat, not a teacher" Sadie muttered under her breath.
"Double detention!" Snape called over his shoulder.
Sadie groaned.
I patted her back. "Man that sucks."
"Oh no, this is actually a slow day for me!" she told me. "I've only gotten detention from one teacher!" she turned to face the lady that called us up for sorting. "Hey, McGonagall!" she greeted her.
The professor gave her a stern look as she walked between the tables. "Ms. Stevenson, you will address me correctly as 'Professor'. Detention."
Sadie sighed happily as the professor walked away. "That's more like it."
I stared incredulously at her. I was never going to be bored with this crazy girl around!
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Third Person POV
After dinner, her school skirt swishing, Felicity walked slowly with her old friend and roommate, Gwendolynn Securn (who refused to wear the skirts). They were heading towards the Slytherin dungeons. Gwen was about a head shorter than Felicity, with long, dark hair that was in two braids, twirled around in two swirls on either side of her head. The end of the braids stuck up, making her look a bit devilish, and slightly scary. Her bangs almost went down to her dark brown eyes. People who didn't know either of them could not understand how they were friends; they looked so different—Felicity had a wacky, almost flamboyant style and Gwen's style was undeniably Goth. But they had similar personalities and interests, which is why they became fast friends in their first year. They had owled each other regularly while Felicity was in America. They were not clingy friends, they were not always together, but they were good friends that gave each other space when they needed it.
Felicity felt like someone was watching her. She turned around to see the Weasley twins glaring at her from the front of the stairs. One of them jerked his head towards a broom closet, indicating that they wanted her to join them.
She groaned, "Go ahead, Gwen, I'll catch up later."
"Alrigh'," her companion replied in her Yorkshire accent. "I'll cover for ye if ye decide to take too long." Gwen had become well acquainted with Felicity's habits of sneaking around the castle at night during their first year, so she didn't even look back to see why her friend had decided to dawdle.
Felicity walked right past the broom closet, then past the twins.
"Oi!" one of them called softly but angrily across the empty hall.
"I have a better place to talk if you don't want to get caught," she said matter-of-factly when they caught up with her, not bothering to glance at them. "Plus, if I recall correctly, people here seem to think that broom closets are for... well, you know."
Past Filch's office, but before the staff room, she stopped in front of the wall. Tapping a slightly protruding stone that was level to her waist with her wand, she muttered, "Solvitus". An archway opened up in the wall, about 6 feet high and 5 feet wide. She strolled right in, but the taller twins behind her had to duck slightly. They straightened up after walking through a short passageway, for they had found themselves in a tall, plain-looking room that contained a square table in the center of the place with enough space for four people to sit comfortably around it. There was also plenty of room to walk around the table, as well as a stairway at the back of the room.
"What is this?" George asked in wonder.
"A secret passageway that leads to the library" Felicity told him as she blasted the dust off the table and conjured up four wooden chairs. "I found this place in my first year" she added, sitting down. "I usually use the library entrance, though, since the Entrance Hall has a lot of people in it more often than not."
"I thought we knew about all the secret rooms here," Fred said in bewilderment. He checked himself, and then he shook his head. "Anyway," he growled, "George and I have a few questions for you, Byrd."
He moved to stand on Felicity's right as George moved to stand on her left. Now that she knew who was who, she started making mental notes of the differences between them.
"Now, Byrd—," George started kindly.
"—we've noticed that you seem quite friendly with Malfoy—" Fred said bitingly.
"—and we were wondering if you would be so kind as to explain to us what your relationship is with him."
Felicity had turned her head to look at each as they talked, as if she was watching a tennis match. Bemused, she shrugged. "Sure. He's my cousin."
The ginger-haired boys looked horror-struck. "Your cousin?" they exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah," Felicity said slowly, as if talking to a couple of toddlers. "His mom is my mom's sister. That makes him my cousin."
"Don't you get smart with us!" Fred snarled.
George frowned. "So you're a Black?"
"Yep. My mom is Emilia Byrd, Narcissa Malfoy's twin sister."
"Who?" Fred demanded. "I was never aware of another Black sister—"
"—and we know our pureblood family trees fairly well" George added quietly (he didn't add that they only knew Malfoy's family tree because it had so many Death Eaters on it).
The girl sighed exasperatedly. "My mom was removed from the family tree when she ran away to America after graduating from here. But her sisters accepted her back when she married a pureblood wizard whose ancestry can be traced back further than the 1200s. Haven't you heard of the Byrds?"
"Come to think of it, I think we have" George said, looking at Fred.
His twin ignored him. "If you're related to the Malfoys, and chummy with them to boot, then how" Fred pounded the table with his fist, "do you expect us to believe that you're tolerant to our cousin? She's a pureblood, but she's a blood traitor!" Felicity didn't flinch once. She just massaged her temples as she said, "You know, the whole 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' thing is getting a bit old."
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, WOMAN! HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO BELIEVE YOU GET ALONG WITH OUR COUSIN AND THE BLOODY MALFOYS?"
"Because they know about my muggle tolerance, but have decided to ignore it" she replied calmly. "Auntie Narcissa and Uncle Lucius are just hoping it's a phase, and their 'dear Draco' will be a good influence on me and get me to change," she scoffed.
"How are we supposed to know if you're not just using MJ?" Fred exclaimed.
"What the heck would I be using her for?" the sixth year sounded outraged.
George shrugged. "Perhaps you just want to rebel against your family?"
"Or make her THINK you are best friends, and then HUMILIATE her in front of the other Slytherins!"
Felicity blinked, and then proceeded to crack up. "You really think—hehe—I would spend all my years in the Salem Witches Institute—ha—being her best friend, just—to—TRICK HER?" She wiped a tear out of her eye, chuckling. "Seriously, I like pranking as much as the next guy," she jerked her thumb towards George at this, "but THAT would just be ridonkulous."
George shrugged at Fred, as if to say, "She's got a point". His twin frowned.
"Fine" he said between clenched teeth. "But that doesn't mean we won't be watching you."
"It's not anything personal," George piped up, "it's just that you're a Slytherin."
Shrugging and sighing tiredly, Felicity replied, "Fine. Just don't be creepy with watching me."
Just as Fred was about to retort, they heard a shuffling noise behind them. The twins whirled around to see MJ coming into the room from where they had entered.
She looked surprised, and then smiled at them. "Hey guys! Whassup? Are we having a passage party?"
"How did you—" Fred started as MJ pulled up a chair across from her best friend.
"Didn't Lis tell you we were going to meet here after settling into our rooms?" MJ asked looking at the Slytherin confusedly.
"No she didn't" George frowned. "Aren't you worried that you'll get caught?"
"Not really. It's kind of exciting to be a rebel." MJ grinned.
George gasped. "Who are you—"
"—and what have you done with our cousin?" Fred cried. "We never thought a goody two shoes like you would be a rebel! We thought you would take what we call 'The Percy Path.'"
Felicity smiled knowingly (MJ had already told her about Prefect Percy the Prat). "I have trained her well." Then she looked at her watch. "And now I must be off. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum here," she said pointing towards the boys "didn't let me even get settled in my room. So unless all my roommates are all extremely nice Slytherin girls," (Fred snorted), "I'm going to get in trouble for being out late." Getting up to leave, she bent over and gave MJ a one-armed hug before heading toward the door.
She turned around once she reached the doorway, "Nice chatting with you two," she smiled genuinely at the twins. Then, she was gone.
Fred and George finally sank into two chairs across from MJ. "So what do you guys think of her?" MJ asked, trying to sound casual.
Fred scowled. "I think—"
"—she's a lovely person" George interrupted as he kicked his twin from under the table, earning him a rude gesture when MJ wasn't looking. "For a Slytherin" he added as an afterthought. He knew MJ really wanted them to like her friend. Fred knew this too; that's why they would treat her like family.
When MJ's looking, that is, Fred thought.
End Chapter 2