AN: OH, GOD DON'T KILL ME THIS IS SO LATE.

Chapter Three: The Kitten and The Train

When Tooth led her into the tavern, Dānta had let out a pent up breath she had not realized she had been holding in. She could feel the excitement bubbling within her as she looked at the moving paintings and took in the sheer amount of witches and wizards eating in the small pub. Tooth smiled down at her and Dānta smiled back at her sister, causing Tooth to give a small giggle at the pure joy on her sister's face. Then she saw her friends and Dānta's heart skipped a beat. She had already met Hermione, who was watching Baby Tooth with amusement between her chats with Tooth and was now waving at their group of friends. Meeting Tooth's friends was something that Dānta had always wanted to do and her excitement built itself over in her small body when she saw them at first.

North had been first to introduce himself to her and while Tooth had often described him as a very large boy with glimmering eyes and the most fantastic smile, Dānta had not believed her sister about the sheer size of him. He was fit and muscled for a seventeen year old, his calves larger than Dānta's waist and his arms bulging with muscle. He had thick black hair and a mustache already growing in nicely on his face. Just as Tooth had said his blue eyes were incredibly kind and filled to the brim with joy and excitement at the sight of his best friend's little sister.

After North had introduced himself in his thick Russian accent, Bunnymund had stepped forward, dramatically bowing to her in an attempt to upstage North's kindness to which he received a thump on the back. The tall boy cringed slightly though Dānta could tell North had not meant to hurt him but rather to simply josh him a bit. He was lean, his muscles more toned than jacked like North's. He had black tribal tattoos on his arms and Dānta had held in a gasp when she first noticed them. Tooth had told her about them but she didn't know the swirling patterns were this beautiful in person. His eyes were green and filled with a certain glint of hope that Baby Tooth could tell rarely left them. Bunnymund was tall as well, about six foot two, but North still towered over him at an even six foot six. His Australian accent was fluid and Baby Tooth felt herself smiling at the sound of it.

Rather than introducing himself, the next friend to step forward and greet her with a smile and an outstretched hand was Sandy. He was short, only about two inches taller than Dānta herself, but perhaps his most interesting features were his hair and his eyes. The boy had wispy blond hair colored like sunlit honey that seemed to blow about him like the strands were made of air and his eyes were simply golden and shining with happiness. Dānta put her own hand out, shaking his outstretched one and giving him a smile of her own. Hearing that the boy was mute she frowned slightly but upon seeing him shrug off the comment with a small shake of his shoulders and a smile, she perked up again. If he was alright with his condition, then she would not treat him any differently or question him about it.

The last friend present was busy talking with Hermione. The two seemed to be bickering slightly but when Bunnymund said his name, the red-haired boy turned to look at her. He had soft brown eyes and his hair was rather long, sweeping in front of his brow, and was the brightest shade of red that she had ever seen on a person. His face was freckled slightly from the summer sun and his skin a little pale. On his shoulder was a tiny owl that seemed to have dozed off. He smiled at her quickly and seemed to forget whatever small argument had been going on between himself and Hermione.

"'M name's Ron Weasley," he stated as he held out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans towards her. "I've picked out most of the ones that seemed bad, so you have a good chance of getting a nice flavor." Hermione rolled her eyes but a small smile played across her lips. Ron always had some form of candy or food on his person if Dānta was remembering Tooth's words right. Smiling she took one from the box and examined it in the dim lighting of the pub. It was golden colored with little specks of brown on it.

"Thank you," she said before she placed it in her mouth. It didn't take more than a second of chewing to discover that it was, in fact, earwax flavored. Making a face, she forced herself to swallow it before answering the questioning looks. "Earwax."

Laughter erupted from the group and for a moment Dānta thought they were laughing at her. When she saw Tooth's face though, she knew they were laughing at some distant memory because her sister had a far away look in her eyes as she laughed. When the laughter had died they walked off to their table, pulling up chairs for the three girls.

"So, Dānta, we hear you liked to be called Baby Tooth, mind if we call ya by that here?" Bunnymund asked as he sipped at a cup of butterbeer. The girls had each ordered one but theirs had yet to arrive and Dānta was anxious to try one after hearing Tooth exclaim how amazing they tasted.

"Yes, but only my family really calls me Baby Tooth, most of my friends just call me Baby since I tend to be the youngest." She said as the waitress arrived with their pumpkin pasties that they had also ordered. Dānta looked at the little cake, examining it before lifting it to her lips and taking a small bite. The warm taste of fresh pumpkin cider and whipped crème filled her mouth and she smiled as she chewed. So far, everything Tooth had said was true. Her friends were amazing and being so wonderfully accepting and nice, Diagon Alley had been thrilling to roam through, the pasties were the most delicious thing she had ever tasted, and she had never felt so complete in her whole life.

Bunnymund nodded as he took a large bite out of his own pastry. "Alright then, Baby it is." He said with a wink. "In case you don't know yet, North over there is a seventh year Gryffindor. 'E came last year with the crew from Durmstrang for the Triwizard Cup and decided he was better suited as a Hogwarts boy."

"Is true." North said as he drank deeply from his tankard of butterbeer. "I was not too fond of Headmaster Karkaroff's teachings, so I talked with Headmaster Moon and he talked with my parents and before you know it, BOOM," he exclaimed loudly, smashing the tankard down hard on the table, "I am Hogwarts student for last year at school. And prefect even!" At the last part he proudly took the badge from his pocket and held it out for Baby Tooth to see. She smiled and gave him an approving nod for which he beamed his own smile back at her as he replaced the pin in his pocket.

"As I was saying," Bunny continued, "that's North's story. As for me, I'm a sixth year prefect myself. I'm a Hogwarts boy through 'n through from year one, came all the way from Australia for my first year. Then you got Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They're fifth years like your big sis. All Gryffindors the lot of us."

At that Sandy took out his wand and produced a stream of golden smoke, spelling out the words: All? Bunnymund swallowed down some butterbeer and nodded.

"Sorry, Sandy. Forgot for a moment." The blond boy smiled and waved the apology off. Bunnymund returned the grin and turned back to Baby Tooth. "Sandy there's from Germany and 'e's a Hufflepuff. One of the finest there is." Sandy nodded and blushed slightly at the last part, wagging his finger at Bunnymund in a show of modesty.

"And you already know Toothie's a Ravenclaw." Bunny finished as he took the last bite of his pumpkin pastie.

"Guilty as charged," Tooth stated as she dabbed her lips with a napkin. The butterbeer arrived at last and the three glasses were laid out in front of the girls. Just as Baby Tooth was about to take a sip she heard someone approaching the table with a chair.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late! Took forever to convince Uncle Vernon to let me leave the house. Wouldn't believe me when I told him it was time to get my school supplies." Looking towards the new voice, Dānta gasped audibly at seeing the boy placing his chair next to North's at the end of the table. He had shaggy, almost unkempt black hair and round glasses over his bright green eyes. Just visible was the legendary scar that Tooth had told Dānta so much about. She could just make out the jagged lightning bolt shape to it. Like Bunnymund he was tall and lean, though not quite as toned or muscular. He was probably around five foot ten if she could guess.

"Oh, hello," he said upon seeing her at the table. "My name's Harry." He gave her a small grin as he settled in his chair. "You must be Tooth's little sister. You look a lot like her."

Dānta nodded, her cheeks growing slightly red that she had gasped loud enough for him to hear her. She felt her sister nudge her and she shook her head slightly, remembering suddenly that she should speak.

"Yes, my name is Dānta. It means "tooth" in Hindi." She mentally slapped herself. Why on Earth would he, the Boy Who Lived, care that her name meant "tooth" in Hindi? All that served to tell him was that her parents were so obsessed with teeth that they named both of their daughters after them.

"That's nice," he said genuinly. "I like it." Dānta grinned when he turned to his friends. He liked her name! She saw her sister give her a soft giggle before striking up a conversation with Hermione, leaving Baby Tooth at a loss for talk. Instead she focused on her butterbeer, taking that all important first sip. The drink was warm and sweet and unlike any other that she'd ever had. It was almost like sugar cookies and root beer mixed together while simultaneously being nothing like that at all.

Tooth snapped her out of her thoughts about half an hour later.

"Come on, Dānta. Mom and Dad will be expecting us for dinner in a few minutes at nan's house." Tooth had already stood and was laying down two sickles on the table as her and Dānta's share of the bill. Dānta nodded and stood as well. Waving goodbye to her newfound friends, the sisters left the pub and made their way to the same shop they had entered the alley from. Tooth opened a small satchel that was attached to her robes and handed Baby Tooth a small amount of powder.

"Go on ahead, I'll be right after you." She said, urging Dānta into the fireplace. Dānta nodded and focused. Taking a deep breath, she threw the powder down and stated in a clear voice:

"Yai's house, Burgess, Pennsylvania." The green flame erupted around her, tickling her skin as she shot through the fireplace and within just a few moments, landed roughly in her grandmother's fireplace in Burgess. Having expected the girls, the metal had been removed from the fireplace thankfully, but Dānta still emerged covered in ashes in her grandmother's living room. Coughing she dusted herself off.

"Rough landing, dear?" Her mother asked from the doorway, a small smile on Rashmi's lips. Dānta nodded and quickly moved out of the way as another burst of green flame deposited her older sister. Tooth landed more graciously from practice and did not have nearly as much soot covering her. Smiling she helped Dānta brush herself off by hand.

"You'll become better at it," she said before noticing their mother. "Amma," Tooth greeted with a smile, hugging her before leaving the room in search of their grandmother. Rashmi went over to her daughter, still messy with ashes and grinned before placing a small kiss on Dānta's forehead. She hugged Baby Tooth close to her for a moment before pulling away.

"How was your day with your sister and her friend's?" She asked, still smiling warmly at her youngest daughter. Dānta smiled back and brushed a loose strand of black hair from her face.

"It was great! Tooth has such nice friends and they were all very welcoming." Warmth was radiating from Dānta's words and Rashmi felt pride, joy, and sorrow building up within herself. Tooth had already grown a great deal being able to go from home and learn so much that Rashmi would never be able to comprehend. While she was glad for daughter, ecstatic in fact that she had had such an oppurtunity, she had missed so much in Tooth's life being only able to hear from her by letters. She had missed the first kiss, the first real crush, her first heart break, almost everything important about her later years as a child. And now, here was her baby, her last little girl going in that same direction. She was proud that Dānta had grown so well and seemed to be on the way to growing further in the future, and overjoyed that she was getting what she had most wanted. It was killing her however as a mother to release her so soon.

Noticing her mother's wistful expression, Dānta turned her head to the side almost like a bird and confusion overtook her features. "Amma?"

Rashmi shook her head, shaking off the thoughts as she heard her daughter's voice.

"I'm alright, my little dove." She said as she reached out and stroked Dānta's hair lovingly. "Now, I have a surprise for you." She said, a hint of mischief in her brown eyes.

Dānta smiled widely and her own eyes sparked with curiosity and excitement. "A present? What is it?!" She was nearly bouncing up and down. If there was one thing Baby Tooth had trouble hiding, it was excitement. Rashmi gave a small laugh at the sight before motioning for her daughter to stay put as she left the room.

"Close your eyes!" Dānta heard Haroom shout from out of the room. Enjoying the excitement, she covered her eyes and heard as her parents opened the door and closed it again.

"You can open them, darling." Her mother said sweetly and Dānta let her hands fall to her side. Her father was holding a little box with a ribbon tied around it and decorated with silver paper. He handed it to her gently and Dānta wasted no time in pulling the ribbon loose and lifting the lid to the box. Her heart stopped at what was inside. She had begged her parents for years to allow her to have one and now, now that she was going to Hogwarts, they knew this would be exactly the one she would want. In the box was a small kitten no older than a month. It was completely white except for it's right ear and it's paws which were all colored a smooth black. It's eyes were icy blue and when it saw Dānta it mewled, standing against the edge of the box and cocking its head at her.

"She's beautiful..." Dānta said as she lifted her gently from the box. Rashmi gave a warm sigh as she watched her daughter and Haroom gave a small laugh. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a red ribbon collar with a golden pendant hanging from it.

"When you decide what you want to name her, we'll get this engraved with her name." He stated as he tied the ribbon around the kitten's neck. Dānta nodded.

"Thank you!" She suddenly remembered to say, beaming up at her parents.

Tooth came in the room then and smiled at her the scene before her. Haroom pulled Rashmi against him, wrapping an arm around his wife knowing what she was feeling. Next to Tooth was their grandmother who also smiled at the scene.

"My little hummingbird," she said from the doorway. Dānta looked up and her smile grew wider if it were possible.

"Gran!" She greeted, getting up with the kitten in her arms and making her way to her grandmother, hugging her gently so as not to crush her new pet.

"What a pretty little thing," Gran commented. "Name her well." Dānta nodded. For once, her life was perfect.

Xx

They spent that night at their granndmother's home. Tooth and Dānta shared a guest bedroom, sleeping next to each other on the double bed. The heat of the night caused them to leave the window open even after Tooth's owl had returned from his nightly hunt. The kitten slept with them, curled up next to Baby Tooth's head on the pillow and purring softly. Both girls were sticky from the humid night when they awoke the next morning.

Tooth took her shower first as Dānta fed her kitten and covered the owl cage so that the sunlight would not bother him. When Tooth finished, Dānta hurried through her own shower. As soon as the girls were dressed the family headed home in their father's van with the window's rolled down in an attempt to stave off the heat and waved goodbye to their grandmother.

Once home the girls set about packing their trunks for school. Tooth gave Dānta her share of the wizarding allowance that was allotted to the family by the ministry until the girls were old enough to work in the wizarding world. She quickly explained what each coin was and how much they were worth before setting down five galleons, twenty sickles, and forty bronze knuts on Baby Tooth's dresser. "You shouldn't even really need much of that since you won't be going to Hogsmeade this year, so if there's anything you want you'll have to let me know before I leave so that I can get it for you." Tooth explained as she turned to leave.

Examining the glittering coins, Baby Tooth smiled. Wizarding money. Everything seemed so official now! The worst part was ahead however; waiting for the rest of the summer to end so that she could go to the train station and start the life she had been dreaming about since she was six years old.

Supposing that the wait wouldn't be too bad if she got a head start on her reading, Dānta opened her trunk and took out the first book in the pile: The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk. Sitting on the bed, she felt her kitten climb into her lap as she began to read. Smiling down at the small creature, she gave the kitten a gentle scratch and continued to read until her mother called her down for dinner eight hours later.

Xx

The month and a half flew by and soon it was September first. Dānta had since read through all of her school books, much to Tooth's amusement (whom had also gone through her own). She had kept true to her word when she had promised Tooth not to try any spells though, remembering that it could risk her enrollment to use magic outside of Hogwarts without express permission. She had quite liked the wand she had gotten at Olivander's that day in Diagon Alley. It was short, only about ten inches long (which according to Olivander was quite rare although wands tended to be a length that fit with the future height of their masters), made of apple wood (another odd choosing according to Olivander), the core was a phoenix feather, and the wand was slightly springy.

Now the family had travelled once again to England, this time landing in the fireplace of The Leaky Cauldron. Dressed in their muggle clothes they made their way down the streets of London and to the nearest bus stop. This had been the first time Dānta had been on a double decker bus and so she was quite excited the moment that one came into view. Tooth, amused as she always was when she watched her younger sister experience something new, smiled to herself. She knew that Baby Tooth would be happy at Hogwarts and she couldn't wait to see her bloom.

When the bus dropped them off in front of King's Cross Station, Dānta could feel her heart bursting through her chest and her excitement bubbling in her stomach. Tooth herself was excited, she was always so glad to be able to go back to school after the summer months away from her friends and unable to do magic. Haroom was wheeling the trunks along on a trolley, Tooth holding her owl's cage and Dānta her kitten whom she had affectionately decided to name Luna since she often spent the night staring at the moon from Dānta's bed.

Rashmi lead the way, stopping halfway through platform nine and ten. Getting out her camera she pretended she was photographing the family. Dānta at first had assumed that she really was taking a picture until she saw Tooth slide through the brick barrier without anyone so much as batting an eye. She felt Haroom nudge her arm and so taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pressed herself against the wall. Surprise filled her when she found that she could easily pass through. Tooth giggled and took her hand, pulling her all the way through the wall.

"You'll get used to it." She said as they waited for Haroom to come through with the trunks and Rashmi after him. Rashmi took her youngest daughter's hand and the family made their way through the crowd of families gathered around the train tracks. Tooth quickly spotted the Weasley's and Dānta saw for the first time what she had meant by "Ron has a pretty big family." Mrs. Weasley hugged Tooth tightly when she saw her. When she at last let go Tooth was able to introduce her to Dānta. Smiling widely, Mrs. Weasley hugged her as well.

"Hello, dearie!" She greeted with a warm smile. "If you're anything like your sister I might as well welcome you to the family right now!" Mrs. Weasley laughed a bit before pulling her husband over and introducing him as well to Dānta.

"This here is Tooth's little sister, Arthur."

Arthur smiled and held out his hand, warmly shaking it. "You remember Rashmi and Haroom, don't you, dear?" She continued, gesturing towards their parents. Rashmi let go of Dānta's hand to shake Arthur's and return the hug from Molly.

"Here, I'll introduce you to Ron's siblings. You'll like them!" Tooth chirped as she lead her sister towards the group of fire haired teenagers. Mrs. Weasley waved them off before returning her attention to the budding conversation between Arthur and the girls' parents. Tooth inserted them into the group of Weasley kids with ease, greeting Ron first and then introducing her sister.

"Dānta, these are the Weasley's." She said, gesturing to the group. "That's Fred and his twin brother George." Two identical boys with mischievous grins nodded at her.

"Actually, I'm George and he's Fred," said the first one that Tooth had gestured to. Covering her mouth for a moment, Tooth looked shocked that she had gotten it wrong. She prided herself on knowing faces and being able to individualize everyone she met. However, seeing the grin on the boys' faces she immediately placed her hands on her hips and gave them a stern look.

"Very funny," she said, the corners of her mouth tilting upwards despite her efforts to look very disappointed in the boys.

"Oh, come on, Toothie!" George said, placing an arm around her shoulders. "You know we can't resist." Tooth smiled and shrugged his arm off. Placing a hand over his heart he pretended to seem very wounded by the action. "You slay me, Toothie."

Ignoring him, she moved on in her introductions. "You already know Ron." Ron gave a small nod towards Baby Tooth, his mouth currently full with the sandwich his mother had packed him. "This is Ron's little sister, Ginny." Looking up at the red haired teenager, Dānta smiled. Ginny was the only girl, Tooth had already explained that and according to Ron she was a year younger making her a fourth year. Ginny smiled back before continuing a seemingly on-going argument with one of the twins.

Dānta didn't have very long to feel left out of the loop though before Bunnymund, North, and Sandy made their way over with Harry coming soon after. Once the group was all together, they bade their families one last goodbye. Bunnymund, Harry and North had come alone and so had gone on early to secure two compartments for the large group. Sandy said goodbye to his mother with smoke writing from his wand and a hug. Dānta noticed that the short and slightly stauter woman had given her son the golden wispy hair but could not tell from this distance what her eye colors were.

Rashmi had hugged her girls tightly, making each vow to write a letter once a week for her. Haroom had managed to remain calm when hugging his girls but Dānta could swear that he was crying when they had turned to follow their group. Ron and his siblings hugged their own parents before joining them as well.

Once on the train, the twins set off to find their own friends leaving Ron and Ginny to share one of the compartments with Harry and Hermione. The rest of them filed into the second compartment. Tooth stored her owl safely on the top shelf before sitting by the window. Dānta sat next to her, clutching onto Luna as Bunnymund squeezed himself in by her with his own pet on his lap, a grey bunny with darker streaks going down it's back.

"I thought we were only allowed cats, toads, or owls?" Dānta noted as she watched Bunnymund stroke the rabbit. He smiled at her.

"Special permission from headmaster Moon to have Esmeralda with me. Couldn't leave her at home, mate." He said as he continued to stroke the bunny lovingly. North chuckled as he stored his own rather large black owl on the shelf above the other side of the compartment. Sitting down he took up a large amount of the seat.

"Is very cute bunny. You should see when Aster tries to feed her carrot. Very cute." Sandy nodded in agreement before sitting next to North. In his own arms was an orange tabby cat, sleeping very soundly. It was a chubby little thing but it seemed to fit with Sandy. Noticing Dānta looking at him, Sandy brought out his wand and began to write with smoke once more. The message that appeared in the air was: Her name is Traume. She was a gift from my mother when I became mute as a toddler.

"She's a very pretty cat," Dānta said as she watched Sandy pet the cat lovingly. He nodded in agreement before pointing to Luna and giving a thumbs up as a way of saying that he reciprocated the notion. What is her name? He wrote. "Her name is Luna."

"Baby's been in love with her since she got her. She's a sweet kitten that's for sure!" Tooth chirped in. Yawning, she stretched. "You guys have it easy being six hours ahead, but for me and Baby here, it should be two am!" Baby Tooth nodded in agreement, suddenly realizing herself how exhausted she was now that the adrenalin of getting on the train had worn down. Bunny nodded.

"You two rest, we can keep it quiet it while you catch up on some z's. We'll wake ya if the trolley starts comin' by."

Saying their thanks, the girls set themselves up for sleep. Baby Tooth took out the blanket they had taken from her bed and laid it out across her sister's lap as well as her own and Tooth took her pillow and set it against the window as Baby Tooth laid her own head against her. They had a long journey ahead, but it would be so worth it in the end.

With that thought in mind, Dānta drifted off to sleep with Luna resting in her arms and Tooth's steady breathing underneath her cheek as her chest rose and fell.