Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

Journey Renewed

The kitchen of number 12, Grimmauld Place, was a hive of activity as eight teenagers prepared to travel to Hogwarts. Draco had arrived the previous night, his trunk in tow, and Hotaru had returned to Bristol to fetch her own. Hermione and the Weasleys had been there for quite some time already.

Sirius waved Harry over, and the two of them stepped into the hallway.

"Listen, Pup," said Sirius. "I know you're a bit bummed out that you didn't get the Prefect badge."

"It's fine," said Harry. "I got over it." He paused. "Was Dad a Prefect?"

"No," said Sirius. "Moony was the good boy in our year; he got the badge. Your Dad made Head Boy, though."

"Well then, I'm not in bad company," said Harry with a grin.

Sirius laughed at that. "Anyway. I went down to my vault, and pulled this out of storage for you." He handed Harry a small package, wrapped in plain parchment. "It belonged to James. We used to use them when we were in detention."

Harry had unwrapped the package, and raised an eyebrow. "A mirror?"

"A two-way communication mirror," clarified Sirius. "Just say my name, and my mirror will vibrate. We can talk to each other on it."

"Like a video phone," said Harry.

"Lily said that, too." Sirius shook his head. "Muggles come up with some awesome stuff at times."

"Video phones never really caught on," admitted Harry.

"Well, these would, if I could convince Moony to make more of them," grinned Sirius. "But they're a lot of trouble to make, which is why he hasn't." He ruffled Harry's hair with his hand. "Come on. Let's make sure your stuff is already to go."

"There's no way we're all going to fit into a single compartment," said Harry.

Draco rolled his eyes. "The Half-Blood reveals his ignorance once again."

"I thought we were past that crap," snapped Hermione.

"I said ignorance, not stupidity," countered Draco. "There are a number of private carriages available at the front of the train, one of which is the Prefects' Car. Any group of ten students or more can request a private car, and a Prefect decides if they should get it."

"There's eight of us," pointed out Harry. "That's not quite ten."

"I am aware of that," said Draco crossly. "But unless it escaped your memory, you lot are the only friends that I have remaining. So if anybody is going to produce the two additional friends, it's you two."

"I'll go get Luna," offered Ginny. "Is that all right?"

"Sure," said Harry.

"I like Luna," added Hotaru.

"And I can go get Neville," suggested Hermione.

"Or Ami could," said Ron.

Ami blushed. "Perhaps...one of you two should. You have known him longer."

Hermione smacked Ron's arm. "Behave!"

Draco nodded. "We'll assume that they'll be joining us. As a Prefect, I approve our use of—"

"No," objected Hermione. "None of us can approve using the carriage. We've all got conflicts of interest."

Draco sighed. "Didn't think of that," he muttered.

"But I can," came a new voice.

The eight of them turned to see Cedric Diggory standing behind them, a cocky grin on his handsome face. Cedric's eyebrows rose as he noticed Ami.

"Well!" He bowed to her. "Pleasure to see you again, Miss Mizuno."

"Thank you." She returned the bow, hands clasped before her. "I am transferring to Hogwarts for seventh year."

"Cool. We'll likely share some classes." He turned back to Harry and Draco. "I'll get your carriage signed out. You'll be just behind the Prefects' Carriage, right before the regular carriages. So you can expect a bit of traffic before and after the meeting, but half of you will be there anyway." He nodded to Hotaru. "Congratulations, Miss Tomoe. Cho suggested you for the badge."

Harry glanced around the private compartment. "Well, this is a bit of all right."

Cedric chuckled. "It's not bad."

It was rather better than "not bad", in Harry's opinion. Rich, polished mahogany wall panels offset the emerald green fabric of the high-backed chairs—fixed to the floor, he noted, against the possibility of sharp turns taken by the train. The windows looked a bit odd, but when he got closer, he saw that they were not actually windows, but flat surfaces showing the exterior of the train. Like the ceiling of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, they offered the illusion of transparency, but would be opaque from the outside. As with most things in the Wizarding World, things were just a hair overdone—he could see intricate patterns of stars and moons embroidered in silver thread on the upholstery, and the walls had embossed carvings of various magical creatures. Even the metalwork in the compartment was brass, rather than iron or steel, and was polished to a glow.

Hermione had discovered a set of shelves near the compartment's entrance, just the right size to hold trunks. She shoved hers in place, then placed Crookshank's carrier on a chair. "You can sit here until I get back," she informed the half-Kneazle.

Draco checked his watch. "We've got five minutes still until the Prefects' meeting." He scowled. "I dread who they picked for the female Slytherin Prefect."

"Sorry...what is Prefect?" asked Ami. "Is it like our class representative?"

"Somewhat," said Hermione. "Each House has six Prefects, who form a class parliament of sorts. We have the power to enforce discipline, though not on par with the staff or the Head Boy and Girl."

Ami frowned. "How many of you are Prefects?"

"Me, Ron, Draco and Hotaru," said Hermione.

"Nobody in their right minds would give us Prefect badges," chuckled George.

"We'd refuse them, anyway," added Fred.

"Luna and I are only fourth years," said Ginny. "So we don't qualify. Though I don't know why McGonagall picked Ron, and not Harry or Neville."

"You don't think I can do the job well?" bristled Ron.

Ginny shrugged. "Not as well as Harry or Neville."

Ron considered that, then nodded. "Fair. Honestly, it shocked me, too."

"Shocked all of us, little brother," said George.

The four Prefects filed out, and Harry dropped into a seat. He glanced at Neville, who still looked a bit puzzled. "What's wrong, Nev?"

"Just not sure why you wanted me along. Was it just to fill out the tenth spot?"

"Could have grabbed anyone for that." Harry waved a hand around the compartment. "Can you see anyone passing this up?" He shook his head. "Neville, you've been a good friend to me over the last four years—better than I've been to you. I kind of want that to change."

Neville grinned. "Thanks, Harry."

"Now sit your arse down. You're making the rest of us uncomfortable."

That drew chuckles from Ami and the remaining Weasleys. Luna, on the other hand, continued to study the carvings on the wall.

"Wonder who they found for Defence this year," said George.

"And how they're going to get ousted?" added Fred.

"What's with that, anyway?" Harry frowned. "Why does every Defence professor get kicked out?"

"Or killed," supplied Fred helpfully.

"Thanks for reminding me of that," groused Harry.

Ami frowned. "You killed a teacher?"

"He was possessed by Voldemort," said Harry gloomily. "So because of my mother's protective spell, when he touched me, it burned him. He tried to strangle me, and as a result, he died from burns. But Voldemort said that he would have died anyway, when Voldemort abandoned him."

"Chotto." Ami frowned, and held up a hand. "He was in that baby form. Then he got his new body. What was he like when he possessed that teacher?"

"Just...sort of a spirit." Harry frowned. "Didn't Dumbledore tell you all of this?"

Ami's frown deepened, and she leaned forward. "Then how did his spirit survive his death? He was not reincarnated, as..." She glanced over at Neville. "Well, as some magical beings are. Because those who are reincarnated usually don't have many memories of their past life."

"I don't know," admitted Harry. "I know that he stored his memories in a diary, and attempted to come back that way."

"That sounds like really dark magic," said Neville. "Anything that affects memories is considered dark."

"It also tried to drain my soul," said Ginny. She wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering.

"Definitely dark," said Neville. "We need to research that. And we'd better do it soon. Merlin only knows what Vol—" He hesitated.

"Call him Tom," suggested Harry.

"Tom?" Neville looked puzzled.

"That's his real name," said Ginny. "Tom Riddle." Though the way she said it, it came across as more of a curse.

"Okay." Neville nodded. "We can't be sure what Tom's going to do next. Anything we can do to take him down faster would be good."

"Well, our two leading experts on research and the Dark Arts are currently at the Prefect meeting," said Harry, scowling. "Much as I hate to say it, I think we have to kerb this until they return."