*Never Be Broken*

Hey everyone! This is my new fanfic *Never Been Broken*. You may remember my other fics (~The Other, ~The Forgotten Curse~, ~Child's Play~, and *Another Granger*). This fic is about Tara and Ava Daney, They are two fifteen year-old twins who attend the NEW magic school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This story takes place when Hogwarts was just built, long before the trio were ever born and before Voldemort began to terrorize the Wizard world. I don't want to give much away but this story will have romance, action, drama, Quidditch, and lots more. It's mostly about Tara and Ava, but will deal with the feud between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin and how that splits the houses of the school and how it splits the Daney twins. I hope you enjoy it!

:love:

Prologue


“At last, our school is almost complete,” Godric Gryffindor said excitedly as three of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood proudly outside the entrance of the enormous castle.

“ What a wonderful sight this school is!” Helga Hufflepuff yelped, stretching her arms outward to show her friends the building. Four round towers stood high in the sky on top of an ancient looking castle, engraved with statues and gargoyles. The detailed carvings of the rock castle gave Hogwarts a wealthy, royal style as well as a unique character.

“All that is left to do is hire our teachers and we are done this project,” Rowena Ravenclaw said, turning to her co-founders, “Where on earth is Salazar? We have our first interview for our staff in just ten minutes!” Both Helga and Godric shook their heads unknowingly and began up the stone steps to the entrance. The floors inside the school were brand new marble and shined in the candlelight. Hundreds of clean, white candlesticks illuminated the hallway and rooms of the brand new Hogwarts. Where in the world these four witches and wizards came up with the name of this school, could not be determined. None of the people who came to Hogwarts cared. Approaching quickly was the grand opening day of the school, which had been chosen by Helga herself. She had chosen her birth date, September first, to be the beginning of the school year for all time, as long as the school would still teach.

“Godric do you know where he is?” Rowena continued, her voice vibrating with worries, “You are his best friend, you should know!” Godric was oblivious to any knowledge of Salazar’s whereabouts. He shook his head and checked the large sundial at the edge of the wooden platform.

“We better proceed to the Great Hall,” Godric told his co-founders, “That is where we will be interviewing. Both women nodded, still looking around as they walked, trying to find Salazar Slytherin. It was no surprise to any of them that the man who held Slytherin as his surname was the one to be careless. Salazar Slytherin was a very intelligent and power-hungry man with jet-black hair and blazing orange eyes. His eyes set him apart from the rest of his friends along with his amazing power as a parseltongue. Many people disliked Salazar because of his aggressiveness and constant struggle for power and control. Only one person had ever understood Salalzar and his dark and sly ways. Godric Gryffindor was that lone person.

“Don’t worry Rowena,” Godric said reassuringly, “Salazar has never let us down before.” Godric had always been understanding of people and their immediate mental and physical differences. He had grown up with four sisters who taught him the skill of listening and compassion. Even though he had grown up with four emotional sisters, Godric was far from being the least bit feminine. His thick light brown hair hung a little higher from the tip of his ear and always appeared full and clean. His piercing blue eyes, though shockingly beautiful, were calm and comforting to anyone who looked upon them. Godric seemed to be completely different from his best friend mentally as well. No one could ever dampen Godric’s bright spirit and his deep love of his world. Along with his manly good looks and delightful personality, Godric’s braveness charmed witches of all ages and ranks.

“Here we are,” Helga gushed, smiling more happily than ever as they entered the completed and simply breathtaking Great Hall. As she pushed the huge oak doors open, all three of them felt proudly of their hard work and imagination. The idea of the ceiling changing to suit the mood of the people around it came from the creative mind of Helga Hufflepuff. Helga was the shy witch of the bunch and usually didn’t announce her wonderful ideas loudly. In fact, she usually told her thoughts to Salazar or Godric, since both were not afraid to speak their minds. Since Helga had always been a tiny bit bigger around the middle, she had been teased as a young witch. Because of her harder childhood, Helga always tried to be nice to everyone she met and keep her secret insecurities to herself. None of her friends had ever understood why she felt so shy around wizards her own age, because Helga had gorgeous curly strawberry blonde hair that bounced at her shoulders and the sweetest smile that they had ever seen.

“You know Helga I saw that you were voted the best smile in Witch Weekly,” Rowena Ravenclaw exclaimed, giving her friend a small hug, “You looked beautiful in the pictures.” Helga stood proudly and thanked Rowena as they sat down on one of the newly polished benches at the Ravenclaw table. The last, and probably the bossiest, out of the four founders of Hogwarts was Rowena Ravenclaw. Rowena had arranged most of the plans for the new school and had completed most of the paper work. This was simply because Mrs. Ravenclaw was a perfectionist in everything she did and would probably hold the title of the most intelligent witch ever. Rowena gained her name Ravenclaw from marriage, not from her uncanny resemblance to a raven. She had a very large nose and straight dark brown hair that slightly resembled the sharp features of a bird, but she also had wonderfully soft facial structures. Her eyes, for instance, were a very pale blue that glittered in the light and her cheeks were always brushed with a dash of rose.

“We need to hire the best of the best for this school,” Rowena stated with no hesitance or room for argument, “My baby will be here next year and we must make it so he will become the best wizard he can be.” The “baby” she was speaking of was her son Dominique, who in just one year would be old enough to attend Hogwarts. Besides Rowena, none of them were married or had any children, which proved to be good for work. Because Rowena had a child, the others guessed they would be seeing her the least throughout the school year. Suddenly the door slammed and the three adults snapped their heads in the direction of the heavy doors. There stood a man with jet-black hair and a crooked, pale face, beside a heavyset woman wearing the ugliest dress that any of them had ever laid their eyes on. Yellow and pink polka dots covered the middle-aged woman from head to toe. Even her high heel shoes were splattered with tiny little yellow dots.

“Oh my,” Rowena whispered, so only Godric and Helga could hear. Although all three of them wanted desperately to crack up laughing, each of them knew they were on the job and no insulting of the job applicants was allowed. While Godric and Rowena sat chuckling to themselves, Helga stood up and glided over to the two figures.

“Hello, Mrs…”Helga realized she did not know the strange woman’s name. From the start they could tell this woman would be the perfect teacher. She seemed to be strangely happy and immediately gave Helga a huge hug.

“I’m Betty Weiss,” she announced loudly, hurrying over to the table where the others sat, “I was so impressed that you sent a tour guide for me. Salazar, here, was very helpful and he has a great sense of humor, don’t you Salazar? He just loved my jokes didn’t you?”

“Sure, whatever you want,” Salazar mumbled, sitting on the opposite side of the table next to Godric. Leaning over to his friend, Godric whispered softly.

“Sense of Humor? You?”

“I just zoned her out the whole time; I couldn’t tell you what she was talking about. I do believe I heard something about her ears and orange pickles one time, but I couldn’t confirm it,” Salazar answered, appearing to be on the verge of laughter himself. Godric smiled and started to listen as the women founders began to interview Mrs. Weiss.

“So…Betty….What experience have you had in the field of child education,” Rowena asked, her voice still cracking from laughter.

“Wonderful experience,” Miss Weiss answered, cupping her hands in her lap and flashy them a toothy grin. The four interviewers waited patiently for Miss. Weiss to continue, but no more came.

“Well that’s great Miss Weiss, but we really would like to know what kind of….” Rowena started, but was rudely cut off by Godric.

“Um… how about another question,” Godric insisted, “How well do you work with teenagers?”

“Wonderfully, “Miss Weiss chirped, proving that her interview would go absolutely wonderfully.

*

“I can’t believe you actually hired her,” Salazar snorted three days later after they had finally made their decisions on the teachers for Hogwarts.

“Don’t worry Salazar, Miss Weiss will be a wonderful Charms teacher,” Rowena giggled. Salazar shook his head, obviously not looking forward to spending a year with her.

“So this is our final list then?” Godric asked, scanning the paper quickly.

“Yes,” Helga sighed, happily but softly, “I think we’re done.” All four of them sat inside the Great Hall once again checking over their list of teachers and staff.

Staff list:
Salazar Slytherin (Headmaster/Potions)
Godric Gryffindor(Headmaster/Defense Against the Dark Arts)
Rowena Ravenclaw (Headmaster)
Helga Hufflepuff (Head-Headmaster)
Leslie Marsden (Transfiguration)
Daniel Bennion (Herbology)
Betty Weiss (Charms)
Connie Lehman (Care For Magical Creatures)
Joseph Jackson (Arithmacy)
Patricia Trawleny (Divination)
Ruth Muggleworth (Muggle Studies)
Conrad Davidson (Study Skills)
Madeline Larson (Flying Lessons)
Catherine Boyerman (Head of Mealtime Department)
Jack Bodman (Gamemaster)
Terry Radshaw (Quidditch Head)

“ Great! Now we need to chose who will be invited to attend Hogwarts!” Godric exclaimed, pulling out a piece of blank parchment, “The names of magical beings between the ages of 11-17 will show up on this paper and we will say whether we should ask them to attend or not.” Salazar pointed his wand at the brown piece of new parchment and cast a spell. Immediately it flew of the table and floated in the air right in front of the four witches and wizards. Suddenly ten names appeared in black ink.

“Wow, I guess these are in no specific order,” Helga whispered, her voice sounding awed and excited, “The first name is Laura Brown, her information is here….oh no, we can’t have convicts in our school.” The name disappeared instantly from the parchment and they all started to call out the names from the paper.

“Patty Leonard….no….Jessica Boardman…yes….Roland Weasley…yes….Sara Dorrington….no….Albus Dumbledore……yes….who else…” Godric could tell that something was bothering Salazar.

“What’s wrong Salazar?” Godric asked, stopping the parchment and turning to his friend. Salazar was ready to speak his mind.

“I do believe we should be choosing our students by blood, don’t you? Purebloods are better at magic and should be treated like they are better at magic.,” Salazar said, almost as if he was ordering his co-workers to follow his directions. All three shook their heads.

“No Salazar. We must allow all different types of magical children to enter our school. All deserve a good education,” Godric told him, bringing up the parchment once more. Next two names came up together. Godric noticed this and pointed it out to his friends.

“I guess those two girls are twins,” he said, ordering the parchment to show them the files of the two girls, “They look like very nice and smart girls and they could probably be useful to the school….Tara Daney and Ava Daney….send them a letter.”

I hoped you enjoyed it!
:clap:



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Chapter 1 *The Beginning of it All*

“Oh, how wonderful! My babies are going to Hogwarts!” Evelyn Daney squealed, clutching a clean piece of parchment between her chubby fingers. Evelyn Daney, also known as “Mum” to her children, glanced at her daughter Ava before whipping around and hurrying towards the wooden stairway beside the kitchen. Ava rolled her eyes and followed her mother who was practically making the house shake as she ran up the old, creaking stairs.

“Mum, calm down!” Ava shouted, watching as her mother marched over to the narrow closet beside the bathroom door and pulled out a large black suitcase. Dust filled the air as Mrs. Daney hauled the suitcase over to Ava’s bedroom doorway. She suddenly stopped and took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead. It was perhaps the hottest day of the year and no one was free from the suffocating heat. Ava fanned herself with her hand, feeling moisture form everywhere on her body from her feet to the part in her light brown hair. Mrs. Daney turned to face her daughter and smiled sweetly.

“I just knew that my babies would get into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!” she squeaked, grabbing the handle on the suitcase once more, “From the moment that Helga Hufflepuff…such a sweet lady, she has a beautiful smile…announced that they were going to open a brand new magic school, I just knew that my children would be smart enough to receive an invitation to attend!”

“Yeah, I guess it’s cool,” Ava agreed, smiling back at her mother, “Why don’t we wait for Tara to come home before we start to pack. I think she’ll probably want to help, don’t you think?” Almost like clockwork, Ava heard a door slam shut and a rumbling sound as someone hurried up the stairs.

“What are you all doing up here? Don’t you know that heat rises?” Tara Daney panted, out of breath from running crazily up the stairs. Ava and Tara Daney were 15 year old fraternal twins, both born with the same creamy skin and bright blue eyes. Only, Ava had straight light brown hair that hung in thick layers down below her shoulders, while Tara had longer hair in wavy dark brown curls that twirled carelessly around her round face. Unlike most twins, both girls never seemed to fight with each other and surprisingly enjoyed much of the same things.

“Oh, Tara! We’re celebrating! You and Ava have both been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! We have to pack immediately so we can go to Diagon Alley to buy some things,” Mrs. Daney cried, heaving the dusty suitcase all the way into Ava’s room. Tara glanced at Ava skeptically, not quite sure she wanted to move away from home to attend a stuffy boarding school.

“It’s not stuffy Tara darling!” Mrs. Daney called from inside the room, having read her daughter’s fragile mind.

“I really wish she wouldn’t do that,” Tara mumbled, angry at her mom for rummaging through her private thoughts. Tara and Ava’s mother was born with a special power to be able to read other people’s minds, which both Tara and Ava had inherited. Neither girl knew very many witches or wizards their own age, having lived most of their lives surrounded by muggles. Of course, they took annual trips to the newly formed wizarding town of Hogsmeade and enjoyed the sights and rumble of main street Diagon Alley, so they were not ignorant to who they were. In fact, they were actually quite good at magic and loved to entertain their muggle friends with their powers. Every one of their classmates just thought Ava and Tara were special and gifted, none of them had ever been told of the wizarding world and, according to their mother and father, they never would. It was all too dangerous.

“Get used to it sis,” Ava sighed and started to walk toward her room, “After all, we are going to a magic school with other witches. I’m sure there will be other mind-readers.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Tara mumbled, turning to go to her room, “Will there be wizards as well?” Ava stopped and turned, a huge smile stretching across her face.

“I’m guessing by your huge rush of happiness that there will be boys there,” Tara questioned, her own smile emerging. Ava winked at her sister before disappearing into her room. Tara shook her head happily and stepped through her doorway, pushing aside the real jewels and gold that hung from her door frame. The Daney’s were not the richest magical family in the world, but they weren’t poor either. Many of the twins’ muggle friends couldn’t believe all the jewels and precious metals that were hung, draped, nailed, and displayed around the Daney home. In reality, the family could pretty much turn anything they wanted into silver and gold or rubies and diamonds. Tara had once turned her old mathematics homework into a collection of sapphires, while Ava tested her abilities by transforming a broken teacup into a shiny, polished peridot, which so happened to be green, Ava’s favorite color.

“Hoy! Where’s the nasty little witches who live in this here house?” a male’s voice echoed through the house. Tara leaped off the bed, where she had been flipping through a copy of Witch Weekly, and rushed into the hallway. There she met Ava and together they raced down the stairs and wrapped their arms around the tall boy who stood at the door.

“Aidan! Have you been accepted as well? Huh?” Ava asked, not able to hide the excitement in her voice.

“Tell us!” Tara demanded, taking his hand and urging her sister to take the other. They both gripped his hands tightly, awaiting his answer. His face fell.

“Well, Tara…Ava…”his gloomy eyes shifted from one twin to the other, “I…I…” All of a sudden his face lit up again, “Of course I’m in! I couldn’t leave you girls alone to drown in your sorrows of going to a stuffy old boarding school by yourselves!”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Ava and Tara yelled in unison, hugging him again before slapping his forearm.

“Ow! What was that for? Have you two gone completely wonky?” Aidan questioned, rubbing his forearm, but not acting seriously hurt.

“You made us think for a second that you weren’t accepted! I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t coming with us,” Ava told him. Tara nodded in complete agreement.

“Sorry Ava, sorry Tara,” Aidan said, the smile on his face showing them that he wasn’t being entirely sincere, “It’s just so funny to watch you two get all worked up.”

“You haven’t seen us worked up yet,” Tara told him, placing her fists to her hips, “Believe me, we can be fierce.”

“Of course I know that,” Aidan said, but taking a step back, “I’ve been your best friend since I was what? Two?” All of a sudden Mrs. Daney came down the steps, flashing Aidan a smile.

“Yep, ever since you three were babies,” Mrs. Daney giggled, reminiscing, “You know Aidan, when you were three you used to run around our backyard naked when we had your family over for dinner. I do believe I have pictures.” Ava and Tara giggled loudly, as Aidan’s face turned a deep red. He glanced nervously at Ava and then looked to the floor. Mrs. Daney noticed this and walked over to ruffle his short dirty-blond hair.

“Oh don’t worry, you were cute,” Mrs. Daney said, handing him a small dusty suitcase and clapping her hands together to release the dust from her fingers, “Help them pack and don’t encourage my daughters to think negatively about Hogwarts, it will be the best experience of your life. I don’t know why all of you seem to think that it will be stuffy.” The three teenagers watched as Mrs. Daney crossed the large foyer and vanished into the Daney kitchen.

“Maybe because it will be stuffy,” Ava grunted, beginning to walk toward the stairwell, “I have to get packing. Mum said that we must leave for Diagon Alley tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” Tara wailed, rushing after her sister. Aidan followed the two girls, sneezing loudly from all the dust that rested like a thick blanket on the small suitcase.

“God bless you,” Ava and Tara called to him together, just pausing for a second before starting to complain again. Aidan swatted the dust particles as they floated aimlessly around his head, until he finally gave up and ran up the stairs. First stop was Ava’s room, where she had already begun pulling books, charcoal drawings, and magical objects off her shelves. In the middle of her room sat a huge black suitcase, already half full with all her clothes. Tara was no where in sight.

“Where’s Tara? In her room?” Aidan asked, gazing at the mess Ava was creating on her bedroom floor. She stopped and wiped her forehead, where small sweat drops were forming from the excruciating heat.

“Yeah, probably,” Ava answered, standing up and walking over to him, “Can I ask you something?” Aidan narrowed his eyes, wondering why she sounded so serious.

“Yeah, of course Ava,” Aidan said, trying to sound casual, not serious, “What’s on your mind?”

“Well…I think Tara has been a bit…sad lately,” Ava confessed, sitting down on her bed and inviting Aidan to take a seat as well. He walked over and plopped down beside her, resting the dusty suitcase on the floor.

“Do you think it’s because of her falling out with Jared?” Aidan asked, “Your family doesn’t see him as a fitting suitor now. She really seemed to like him as a possible match some day. She hasn’t seemed the same since.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Ava said, sighing loudly before continuing, “I think the fact that he thought she was too weak a witch really hurt her. I mean, he wasn’t all that powerful himself. We’re just as good as him at magic. He just thinks he’s the best because he’s a parselmouth like his uncle.” Ava paused and looked into her best friend’s eyes, “I’m worried about her. Ever since then she’s been obsessed with improving her powers and trying to meet his standards. Personally, I just don’t know why she’s bothering. He’s nothing special, just a conceited boy who never thinks about anyone else besides himself. I will never let a guy affect me in that way if he’s not worth it. In fact, I don’t want a boyfriend. It’s all too…annoying.”

“You don’t?” Aidan questioned, his eyebrow rising, “Well…anyway…I agree with you. She needs to snap out of it. But it’s only been two weeks since they broke up. She’ll get over it once the whole Hogwarts thing starts.” Ava managed to give him a little smile and stood up.

“I hope you’re right,” Ava whispered, before kneeling on the floor next to her suitcase, “Well, I better finish packing and you should give Tara that suitcase. If she doesn’t start packing now, she’ll never finish.”

Please post comments on the feedback thread! Thanks!

Chapter 2 *A Splitting Decision*

Diagon Alley was as busy as ever and for Ava, Tara, and Aidan, this meant that they were going to have to push and shove their way through many crowds to fetch their supplies. Witches and Wizards of every shape and size gathered in Diagon Alley every year, but now with the opening of three magic schools, Hogwarts, Beuxbatons, and Durmstrang, new stores needed to be opened and more supplies needed to be made. Before this year, no magic schools had existed and the new generations were taught by their parents alone. Now the young witches and wizards would be formally taught. Most were very excited about this new progression in the magical world, while others preferred their magical children attending one-room school houses like the muggle children did.

“Catch up darlings, we must get to the Wand shop at once!” Mrs. Daney called over the rush of loud voices all around her.

“Mum, we already got our wands! Don’t you remember?” Ava yelled back, as Tara rolled her eyes at her mother’s brain lapse. Aidan opened the bag he was holding and peered inside; searching for the Olivander’s box he knew was hidden below piles of school robes. Next to him, Tara also sifted through her bag and pulled out a long, skinny box with the heading Olivander’s displayed on the top in flowery gold lettering.

“Yeah, mum. I’ve got mine right here,” Tara screamed, jolting the woman who stood right beside her at the Witch Weekly stand. The old witch gave Tara a nasty look and went to serve a customer, huffing miserably the whole time.

“Sooorrrryy,” Tara droned, rolling her eyes once again. Mrs. Daney gave a playful slap to her forehead and rushed back over to the teenagers.

“Sorry dears, you know how my mind just flies all over the place when I’m excited,” she said, receiving a warm smile from Ava, who had just finished check listing everything in her bag.

“I think we’re done mum, after we get our cauldrons of course,” Ava turned around and pointed to a medium sized building twisted and shaped as a large cauldron.

“Alright Ava. You three go on,” Mrs. Daney suggested, now spying the Witch Weekly stand, “I just want to have a peek at the new pictures for the Smile Award. I heard Helga Hufflepuff won! A darling woman!” With that, Ava, Tara, and Aidan ran across the dirt road and entered the cauldron shop. Inside it was dark and dreary, as a person would expect it to be, it being a cauldron. All around the three teenagers were more future magic students grabbing, pulling, and pushing to get the cauldron they desired. Ava, Tara, and Aidan gazed around the room, their mouths open in amazement.

“There are so many people….everywhere,” Aidan observed, taking a step forward, followed by Ava and then Tara who sprinted across the floor in pursuit of a rather beautiful cauldron. It appeared to be a very expensive cauldron, being it was one of the only non-black selections in the whole inventory. The handles were beautiful with one a silver carving of a lion and the other handle a silver carving of a slithering snake. Tara stared open-mouth at the cauldron for a good many seconds before finally reaching up to take it off the shelf. Ava and Aidan walked up behind her.

“It’s wonderful Tara! Are you going to buy it?” Ava asked, tracing the silver lion with her fingertip.

Tara nodded and said “Yeah, I think I will buy it.” She began to walk to the checker but stopped abruptly, causing Ava and Aidan to walk right into her back. Up ahead was Jared, Tara’s ex-boyfriend, holding the very same cauldron in his hands. He glanced over at the three of them, standing and staring at him then smiled when he saw the cauldron in Tara’s arms. He shook his head, laughingly, before stepping to the counter and purchasing his cauldron. Ava put a weary hand on Tara’s shoulder as a small tear slid gently down her cheek. Immediately, Tara wiped the lone tear away and took a deep breath.

“You could pick another one…”Ava started but was cut off by Tara, who gave a small exasperated “No”.

*

The young wizards and witches gazed in awe at the castle that stood before them. In their tiny boats they felt so inferior, so small, to the large gothic style structure that was picturesque and beautiful, but also very foreboding at the same time. It was the vision of castle that could touch the sky and lead you to the clouds; a tower that could bask in the soft glow of the moon, but still be tall enough the reach the burning sun. Ava and Tara both let out a faint whisper of “wow”, which seemed to be echoed by the hundreds of other witches and wizards spread out across the large body of water, waiting to enter one of the first ever magic schools in the world. None of them had ever seen a school so majestic and enchanting. It was definitely head over heels grander and nicer than the one-room-school houses muggles used for studies these days.

“Students, listen to me!” a deep and gruff male voice yelled from a few rows ahead of Ava and Tara. He stood, almost tipping over the boat, causing a few of the younger girls to scream. He gained his composure and cleared his throat loudly. Tara and Ava glanced at each other quickly before tuning into the man’s announcements.

“Cheers everyone! I’m Professor Bennion. Many of you…actually all of you will be in my Herbology classes this year and for the many years to come. Unless you’re a 7th year already, then well…” he paused and turned to see the boats coming to a stop up ahead, “Well I guess I don’t have time to explain everything to you now. Just improvise, okay? Great, everyone off the boat and welcome to Hogwarts! I’m sure you’ll be in for a very fun year!”

*

“Now the sorting for the 5th years will begin!” Professor Hufflepuff called, giving a little clap of excitement, “Step up closer darlings. I will call you all up one at a time like I did the 6th and 7th years. Just sit on the stool and our sorting hat will do all the work for you. Look how beautiful this hat is. I absolutely adore hats. I had this one specially made and if I do say myself he looks better than new…”

“He?” a high-pitched male voice, probably a first year, questioned from the back of the Great Hall.

“Yes! He talks to you as he chooses your house. He’s rather remarkable if I do say myself. He should last for hundreds to thousands of years I’d say…” Professor Hufflepuff was stopped by Professor Ravenclaw, who was now whispering something to her from across the large staff table.

“Well, alright Rowena. I’m starting, you don’t need to be so snappy,” a girl beside Tara giggled quietly at this and covered her mouth in shock as Professor Hufflepuff called her name.

“Come on Lonnie,” the professor urged, flashing Lonnie her award winning smile. The girl, apparently named Lonnie, seemed to tiptoe her way up to the redwood stool and paused almost 10 seconds before sitting down on it. As Professor Hufflepuff placed the sorting hat on her head, she shut her eyes, squeezing them tightly. After a few seconds of watching the hat come alive and speak silently to her, it screamed loudly, making Ava jump slightly.

“Hufflepuff!” the hat bellowed. As Lonnie stepped off the stool, Professor Hufflepuff jumped up and down, bringing Lonnie in for a big bear hug.

“My first 5th year student for Hufflepuff! How wonderful!” Professor Hufflepuff screeched, refusing to let go of Lonnie, who’s face began to turn a light shade of purple.

“Helga, let the girl go!” Rowena ordered, sending her friend a devilish glare. Aidan tapped on both Tara and Ava’s shoulders.

“I don’t want to get into Hufflepuff for the sole reason that I don’t want to suffocate in one of her hugs,” he joked, smiling when both girls laughed.

“Aidan Hayes!” the professor yelled, stretching her neck to watch Aidan walk up to the platform. Ava gave him a pat on the back as he ran up to the stool and jumped on it, certainly not afraid to hear the name of his house.

“Gryffindor!” the hat roared, as claps erupted from all ends of the Great Hall. Tara noticed a tall, muscular man cross his arms happily at the end of the staff table. She recognized him as Godric Gryffindor, the head of Gryffindor house. She found him quite handsome.

“Roland Weasley!” A tall, lanky boy with flaming red hair walked up and took his seat.

“Gryffindor!”

“Sasha Saloum!”

“Slytherin!” Cheers erupted from the end table on the opposite side of the Great Hall, which was covered with a beautiful woven green tablecloth.

“Zachariah Brussel!” A somewhat plump boy patted one of his friends on the back and climbed up the steps. Tara turned and whispered in Ava’s ear, “He must be wealthy. He can certainly afford food.” Her voice didn’t sound mocking or mean, it just sounded casual. Ava nodded, agreeing with her sister. In her community, people with a little more meat on their bones were glorified and said to be the wealthiest people because they could afford to eat hearty meals.

“Ravenclaw!” the boy smiled and ventured over to the Ravenclaw table, where he joined his older borther, who appeared to be in 7th year.

“Tara Daney!” Ava gave her sister a small smile as Tara scurried through the crowd and ran up the steps, excited to finally know which house she would be in. It took the hat a while to contemplate Tara’s house. Underneath the hate, Tara could hear it speaking to her.

“You have a wonderful gift. Mind-reading is very rare! Use it wisely and you could become a very powerful witch. You will have to keep your anger in check; do not become too cocky Miss Daney. I guess your house should be obvious. SLYTHERIN!”

Tara jumped off the stool and ran over to the Slytherin table, where she was greeted with hugs from both the girls and guys. Finally, they all settled down and Tara took her seat, saving the one right next to her for Ava.

“Jared Kelley!” Tara let out a groan and, on the other side of the room, Ava glared angrily at the boy as he pushed her out of his way on his path to the stool.

“Very sorry Miss Daney,” Jared said sarcastically, giving her a wink, “I didn’t see you there.” Ava crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her right eyebrow in disgust. To the disappointment of both sisters, the sorting hat was final on all of its decisions.

“Slytherin!” the hat yelled, Jared giving a bow as he stepped off the stool. Ava looked around in disgust as most of the girls in the room swooned and clapped loudly as he made his way to Tara’s table. Tara, Ava could see, was shaking her head furiously.

“Ava Daney!” Professor Hufflepuff yelled, “Wow. The first twins we’ve had yet!” Ava shot her a small smile and glanced over at Tara, who frowned with Jared having picked the seat right beside her, the seat Ava was sure was saved for herself. Then Ava peered over at the Gryffindor table, where Aidan has his fingers crossed in hope that one of his best friends would join him. Once Ava had plopped her bottom on the warm stool, Professor Hufflepuff placed the hat atop her head. She could feel the hat ruffle her hair as it moved slightly with every word it spoke.

“Ah, another Daney! Interesting….very interesting. You and your sister seem to have one mind. Both of you enjoy the same things, have the same skills up to date, the same gifts…GRYFFINDOR!”

“What?!” Ava spat, staring unbelievably at the hat as Professor Hufflepuff lifted it from her head. All the applause and yelling was deafening as Ava gave Tara a short shrug of the shoulders and began to walk to the Gryffindor table, where Aidan was awaiting her.

“Welcome to Gryffindor Ava!” Aidan said happily, giving his friend a hug.

“Thanks Aidan,” Ava answered, glancing across the room and meeting her eyes with Tara’s, “I’m glad to be with you too.”

Chapter 3 *Two Different Perspectives*

“Balderdash,” Godric Gryffindor said gruffly to the portrait of a rather large woman that seemed to be some kind of door. Ava stood on her tiptoes to set herself higher than the towering 7th year boys who had rudely not thought to stand in the back of the large group of Gryffindor students. Beside Ava stood Aidan who, though taller than Ava, had still not reached the peak of his height growth.

“Well, hello Godric! Our very first day in business! I’m so happy. I’ve been so lonely just sitting in this portrait for the last couple of months with no one here but Lord Cambridge over in the portrait across the hall. He snores Godric! You should tell him to stop!” the fat lady ordered him, pointing her index finger directly at his nose. Ava was sure that if The Fat Lady had been an actual living body, that she would have poked him directly between the eyes.

He gave a great laugh that seemed to shake the floor and gave his reply, “Don’t worry Babs. I’ll talk to Lord Cambridge about his snoring problem. Though I do not expect him to stop.”

“Well…just try dear. That’s all I can ask…or maybe I’ll just sing at him…” the fat lady thought out loud, trying not to look Godric in the eyes.

“No Babs! No singing. You’ll wake up the children when they’re sleeping,” Godric told her sternly, but with a gentle smile appearing on his face, “Please let us through now. I’m sure these children are very tired and are anxious to be the first ever classes to lay their eyes upon the Gryffindor House Common Room!” Cheers erupted as the portrait hole opened, allowing all the students to run inside the Common Room. Ava could hear lots of “ohs” and “ahs” and a few “brilliants” as she tried to push her and Aidan’s way through the group. She, her mouth wide open and here eyes sparkling, stopped abruptly and gazed around the large room. Aidan pulled her arm so they would move out of the pathway of the rest of the Gryffindor students who were still filing into the Common Room.

“Wow,” Ava whispered breathlessly, walking forward. The room was rather large and definitely spirited. Most of the fabrics and carpets and paints were the Gryffindor House colors. People laughed as they sat down on the couches half-circling around the brilliant fireplace, which already, in the end of summer, had a blazing fire that crackled and sparked beautifully within the hearth. Ava could feel herself subconsciously smiling, realizing the happiness and wonder of what was before her took over her body completely. Beside Ava, Aidan was observing his surroundings as well, his eyes bulging and his mouth wide.

“Welcome everyone! I am so delighted to finally meet my very first Gryffindor students! I am sure you will have a very exciting year. First, though, I must tell you some ground rules about Hogwarts,” his face turned serious and his eyes seemed fixed out the window on what seemed to be a giant mass off black smoke. Instead, she would find out that it was the Dark Forest. She knew right away that it would be off-limits to all students.

“That forest at the far end of the Hogwarts grounds is forbidden to all who do not want to suffer an untimely death,” Godric told them, with no sign that he was joking. Aidan gulped and peered down at Ava, who stood a few inches shorter than him. For a moment they met eyes, both a little intimidated by everything in the magical world. It all seemed so dangerous.

“Also, students will be reprimanded if they walk through the corridors at night without a proper escort. It is the same with the outdoors after dark,” Godric stopped when he saw all the frightened faces of the students, many of them still glancing nervously out the window at the Dak Forest. He gave the students a warm smile and he seemed to loosen up more, making everyone feel a little more relaxed.

“Children, you will have a wonderful time here at Hogwarts. We have used all means possible to ensure that you are safe within these grounds and I will do all in my power to keep it that way. Any questions?” Ava and Aidan looked all around them, trying to see if anyone would actually ask the Headmaster a question. As expected, one lone boy raised his hanf in the air, slowly but surely. Godric’s smile didn’t falter as he nodded his head approvingly at the small boy, who seemed to be one of the youngest wizards in the whole Gryffindor house.

“Are we to have a feast as grand as tonight’s every evening?” he asked, his voice showing that he had not reached his full manhood. Suddenly, Godric began to laugh, his chest rising and falling immensely, his bellows long and gruff.

“Yes…Albus, is it?....Yes, we will have fine meals here every evening, afternoon, and morning. You shall not be disappointed,” Godric reassured him. The young boy smiled devilishly and licked his lips, turning to a boy beside him and whispering in his ear.

“Well everyone, I do believe you all should be off to your bed chambers Your names will be posted on the door of your rooms. Remember that the people you share your bedroom with will stay with you till the end of your Hogwarts run, so please be civil. Goodnight everyone! Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Godric gave everyone a tiny wave and exited through the Fat Lady portrait. Immediately, all the students raced up the stairwells toward the boys and girls dormitories. When they reached the top Ava and Aidan exchanged their “goodnights” before both walking in opposite directions. Ava approached the door and realized that she was the only girl left in the hallway outside the dormitories. She took one last look around her and then opened the wooden door.

“Ohhh!” All of a sudden Ava was pushed to the floor, landing hard on her back. Another girl, about Ava’s age fell on top of her, both their legs and arms twisted painfully. The girl’s dark brown eyes met Ava’s and she immediately jumped to her feet, taking Ava’s hand and trying to lift her up from the floor.

“I am so sorry!” the girl apologized, her eyes looking scared and truly regretful, “Are you alright Miss? I did not mean to hurt you. I just forgot my bag and desperately needed my face wash. Please accept my apology. My heart will stop beating if you do not forgive me. I shall be ruined! I…”

“It’s alright, I’m fine!” Ava assured her, finally standing on her feet again, “Don’t worry about it. Just, please, don’t call me Miss again.” The girl blushed slightly, forming a nice contrast with her pale skin and beautiful curly, blond hair.

“Well, alright if you say so. My mother always taught me to say Miss to those I do not know personally. My mother likes everything…clean and proper,” the girl told Ava, “Including me.”

“What’s your name?” Ava asked the girl, instantly taking a liking to the girl. With that question, the blond girl’s face lit up.

“My name is Emery,” she chirped, reaching out her hand, assuming Ava would shake it, “Emery Marrieta. What’s your name?”

“I’m Ava Daney,” Ava said, reaching down and picking up a bag that sat a few feet from the doorway on one of the sitting chairs, “This must be yours.”

“Oh yes. Thank you Mi…Ava,” Emery said, “You must be my third roommate. I already met the other two. Their names are Layla and Felicity. They are quite wonderful. Shall we go upstairs? I’ll show you where our room is.”

“Of course. Thank you Emery,” Ava said, giving her roommate a smile, “I can’t wait to meet them and see the room. Are you a fifth year?”

“Yes. Though I don’t know many other fifth years myself. I have a little brother named Andrew in the second year and an older sister named Elizabeth in seventh year, but I don’t know many others,” Emery answered her, dragging her bag up each step, one at a time.

“I’m in fifth year as well. I don’t really know many people either. I just know my friend Aidan, who is a fifth year in Gryffindor, and my twin sister Tara.”

“You have a twin sister?” Emery asked, finally reaching the top of the steps, “Is she in Gryffindor?”

“No,” Ava said, her smile falling, “She’s in Slytherin.”

*

“Welcome to Slytherin,” Salazar Slytherin greeted his students, giving each one a cold stare. Tara twirled her thumbs around each other nervously, glancing about her at the people surrounding her. Unlike Ava, Tara didn’t know anyone from the Slytherin house and she wished desperately that she had been sorted into Gryffindor with Ava and Aidan. For a few moments she zoned out, thinking of how horrible her life at Hogwarts would be without her sister with her. Beside Tara stood a really tall boy, who was staring directly ahead at Salazar Slytherin, his lips curling into a tiny grin.

“…Those are the rules everyone. You must abide by them at all times. I expect you are all Half-bloods and pure-bloods in this room. Are there any muggle-borns here?” Salazar asked, his eyes darting from one end of the room to the other. Suddenly, the tall boy standing beside Ava raised his hand slowly into the air. As soon as Salazar’s eyes reached the boy’s elevated hand, his eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath.

“Fine,” Salazar snapped, his nostrils flaring angrily, “Everyone proceed to your dormitories. Hurry! I need my sleep. It’s been a…” he glanced at the tall boy beside Tara, “…very long day.” The tall boy gulped and tried to dodge Salazar’s accusing eyes. In that moment, Salazar Slyhterin whipped around and rushed through the door and into the hallways of Hogwarts, which were still illuminated brightly by the candles that outlined the corridors. Instantly the Slytherin students dashed to the stairwells, some stopping to laugh at the muggle-born boy, whose tan skin couldn’t even hide his deep blush. Tara began to turn around and hurry up the stairwell with the other Slytherin girls but decided to stop to talk to the muggle-born boy for a moment. After all, she had never met a wizard who wasn’t pure-blood.

“Um…excuse me,” Tara said, trying to get the boy’s attention, “Are you alright? You seem a little….off.” The boy turned and looked down at Tara, his height making him at least 3 inches taller than her. After a few seconds of staring at her, unbelievingly, he gave her a small smile.

“I’m fine. I just don’t really like him that’s all,” the boy glanced nervously back at the door where Salazar had exited and then peered around the common room, “In fact, I don’t really like being in Slytherin House at all.”

“Me neither,” Ava agreed, looking around herself. The Slytherin Common Room just seemed so cold. Large stone pillars held up the walls and there appeared to be very few open windows. The fire in the stone hearth was burning brightly, but not with the normal yellow glow of a warm fire. Instead the fire seemed to be totally blue and green, giving a slight chill to the room and the students standing by it. The couches were a dark black and green, which Tara didn’t find as comforting as she wanted.

“It’s just so cold in here,” the boy continued, walking towards the steps, obviously assuming Tara would follow, “Plus, it’s obvious he didn’t want any muggle-borns in his house.”

“Well I don’t mind having you here,” Tara told him, making him blush even more, “I do wish I was in Gryffindor House though. I have a twin sister named Ava in that house, as well as one of my best friends. His name is Aidan. He’s a really funny boy actually…What is your name?”

“Oh, I’m Bradley Dorrington. I usually just go by Brad,” he told her, pausing for a few seconds, “Your name is Tara right?”

“Yes,” Tara was taken aback that he knew her name, “How did you know that?”

“I got sorted before you,” Brad explained, “I’m a sixth year.”

“Oh,” Tara turned away for a moment, subconsciously pulling her hair behind her ears, pretending to gaze at the stairway.

“Come on, we should go up to the dormitories,” Brad suggested, walking quickly past her but stopping at the bottom of the steps to wait for her.

“Okay, that’s probably a good idea,” Tara said, walking to keep up with him, “I don’t want to get the bed facing the window, do I?”

“No I guess not,” Brad laughed, holding out his arm, motioning for Tara to go up the stairs, “Ladies first.”

“Why thank you kind sir,” Tara joked, flashing him a smile and walking lightly up the steps. Once they both made it up the stairwell, they paused.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow Tara,” Brad said, his blush still not disappearing. Tara could feel her face heating up and could almost imagine how red her face must have looked.

“Yes, I’ll see you then,” Tara said, quietly but not so that she was whispering. At that moment both of them rushed through their separate dormitories, pulling the doors shut behind them. Before heading up to her room, Tara decided to stop and take a breather and reflect on everything that had taken place that day. At last she smiled and walked down the hallway, whispering to herself, “Maybe being in Slytherin won’t be so bad.”

Chapter 4 * Gryffs and Slyths*

It was almost 11:30pm at the Hogwarts castle. Most of the students were sleeping soundly, except for the special few who couldn’t force themselves to go asleep after the exciting day they had just experienced. The night was silent and dark, but three people were still wide awake, talking, laughing, and planning for the coming months.

“I think our first day went very well, don’t you think Rowena?” Godric Gryffindor asked, his voice sounding bright and enthusiastic. Rowena was staring down at the house lists, her reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose. She nodded her head slowly but surely. Helga Hufflepuff, who was sitting with them on the purple silk couches, clapped her hands proudly and pulled the Hufflepuff list from the top of Rowena’s pile and beamed at it proudly.

“It’s all so wonderful! These children are absolutely adorable!” Helga said, her smile not even disappearing as Rowena snatched the lists from her fingers.

“Don’t celebrate yet Helga,” Rowena warned, taking off her glasses and placing them in a small handkerchief before hiding them away in her desk drawer, “We haven’t even begun our classes yet. That starts tomorrow. There’s still so much to do. Where is Salazar?”

“I’m not sure. The last time I saw him was right before he went in to explain everything to his House students,” Godric told the ladies, lifting his tired feet onto the matching purple foot stool in front of the couch, “But I’m sure he’ll be here soon. He loves this office.” The office they were all sitting in was the headmaster’s office, which all four of the founders shared equally. Attached to the lounge area were the main office room and the four separate bedrooms for each of the founders.

“What did I ask you Godric?!” someone yelled from behind Helga and Godric. Rowena gazed upwards, her eyes pointing directly behind Godric. He lifted himself off the couch and came face to face with a very angry Salazar Slytherin.

“What’s wrong Salazar?” Godric asked, sheer worry outlining his face. Salazar noticed this and calmed down a little, lowering his voice level as well.

“There is a muggle-born in my house! I specifically asked you to tell that…thing,” Salazar turned and pointed to the sorting hat, which appeared to be sleeping at the top of a very tall shelf, “To not allow any muggle-borns into Slytherin. Obviously, you didn’t or it just wasn’t listening hard enough.”

“I’m very sorry Salazar, but the hat refused to discriminate against the wizards and witches attending this school. Anyway, I thought that since you really did not want muggle-borns in your house that that energy would reach the hat and it wouldn’t sort them into Slytherin. Plus, isn’t there only one muggle-born? That’s not too bad and I’m sure your attitude toward muggle-borns will finally dissipate after you interact with one.”

“I highly doubt it,” Salazar spat, giving the sorting hat a nasty look before disappearing into his bed chamber. Godric sighed and sat back down, rubbing his eyes, suddenly feeling tired.

“Rowena, who is the muggle-born in Slytherin House?” he asked her, watching attentively as she found the Slytherin House list. She opened the same drawer that she had placed her glasses in and reached her hand inside, emerging a few seconds with her wand. She tapped the paper 4 times, whispering a spell herself. Finally, her eyes scanned the list and she peered up at Godric and Helga.

“His name is Bradley Dorrington,” she muttered, sounding extremely exhausted herself.

“Alright. Well, I think we better have a little talk with him tomorrow,” Godric pushed himself to his feet, his hip bone cracking as he stood up, “In the mean time, I think we all better get some sleep. We have a long year ahead of us.”

*

“Get up sleepy head,” a soft voice whispered in Ava’s ear, “It’s time for our first breakfast at Hogwarts!” Ava grunted and rolled over to find her roommate Felicity’s nose only about 2 inches from her own.

“Come brush your teeth Licy before you get that close to Ava’s face,” her sister Layla joked, grabbing Felicity’s arm and pulling her away from Ava’s bed. Felicity gave her sister a horrified look and rushed into the washroom. It only took a few seconds before Ava and Layla could hear her slashing water from the wash basin into her mouth and spit the water out into the bucket beside it.

“Disgustimentrie!” Felicity yelled from the washroom, making the dirty water disappear to wherever it went. Nobody was quite sure where the spell sent it. Ava scrunched her nose and lifted her head off her soft feather pillow. Over on the opposite end of the room, Emery was starting to stir, her blond curls resting gracefully across her face.

“Do I have to get up,” Emery mumbled as Ava finally forced herself to get to her feet and travel to her nightstand. Ava opened the wooden drawers and collected every piece of her new Hogwarts robes and turned to Emery.

“Believe me,” Ava told her, pausing to yawn, “It’s easier if you just get up and don’t whine about it.”

“Alright,” Emery muttered, punching her pillow and driving herself to sit up with her left fist. Just as Ava was slipping on her robes, Felicity rushed into the room, heaved her nightstand drawers open and searched through her clothes, her arms flailing excitedly. A lone wool sock flew through the air and brushed past Ava’s cheek, which surprised her. She whipped around to stare at Felicity, who had already found all of her robes and was rushing to get them all on as fast as she could.

“Where’s the fire?” Ava asked, finishing her dressing and raising an eyebrow at Felicity.

“Did you forget that you told Brad you would meet him early this morning?” Layla spoke up from near the window, where the bright light of morning was shining through the glass and forming tiny rainbows all throughout the room. Felicity nodded and ran out the open doorway.

“Brad, huh?” Ava questioned, her voice sounding interested, “Do they fancy each other?”

“Yes, of course. They met in Diagon Alley over the summer. He’s a 6th year and she’s a fifth year,” Layla told Ava and Emery, who were both finished putting on their dress robes and sitting on their separate beds, awaiting her answer, “He’s a muggle-born you know.”

“A muggle-born? What’s that?” Ava asked naively, her head swiveling between Emery and Layla.

“You don’t know what a muggle-born is? You aren’t one are you?” Emery asked, waking over and sitting beside Ava, “Muggle-borns are wizards and witches born to non-magical parents. I’ve never met any myself.”

“He’s a nice boy, though I do wish that she wasn’t being courted by someone in my year,” Layla said, finally done putting on her robes and lifting her sack of morning class book from the floor.

“You’re in sixth year?” Emery asked, sounding surprised, “But I thought you and Felicity were twins.”

“No, we have a year between us,” Layla told them, stepping out the door, “Come on. Breakfast will be served soon.”

*

“Let’s go,” Tara yelled from the dormitory hallway, waiting impatiently for her roommates to finally finish their dressing.

“We’re coming Tara!” Celeste called from inside the room.

“Yeah, just wait a moment!” another girl yelled in a high-pitched voice, which Tara recognized as her blond roommate Ashlyn’s accent. Tara leaned against the wall, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. After her talk with Brad the previous night, Tara hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep with all the thoughts racing through her mind. She couldn’t yet tell whether these feeling she felt for him were platonic or if they were something more. I mean, I’ve only spoken to him once. How can I possibly fancy him? Those thoughts crowded her brain, making her unable to focus on anything else, even the two girls who were stumbling out of the bedroom. She didn’t notice till her third roommate, Linnea, came running out the doorway and stomped directly on Tara’s toes.

“Oh!” Tara and Linnea both yelped, though one was in pain while the other was just surprised.

“Don’t just stand in the doorway Tara!” Linnea observed Tara’s stance, her eyes floating up and then down her frame at least three times, “Plus, it is not proper to lean.” At once Tara stood up straight, completely taken aback by Linnea’s rudeness. As Linnea strode past Tara, Celeste, and Ashlyn, all watched her carefully, noticing the way she swayed her hips gracefully when she walked and how each step she took seemed as light as a feather and how her dark brown hair sashayed back and forth beautifully. She was so prim and proper, certainly more proper than anyone Tara had ever met.

“That girl needs to stop saying such horrible things,” Ashlyn spoke up, pulling on both Celeste’s and Tara’s sleeve as they walked down the hallway toward the stairs, “She just thinks she’s special because her family donated large sums of gold toward this school.”

“Well…we should give her a chance,” Celeste suggested, as they exited the common room and walked down the corridors, now becoming filled with Hogwarts students. Up ahead they could see Linnea’s dark brown head talking with a younger girl and Tara searched around the hallway desperately for Ava or Brad.

“Tara!” Ava’s voice rang from behind Tara. She spun around and ran into the arms of her sister, who she had not seen since the previous night in the Great Hall. They squeezed each other tightly and then split apart, both girls having a set of friends surrounding them.

“Is that your twin sister, Ava?” Emery asked, giving Tara a bright smile.

“Wow, you two look a lot alike,” Celeste observed from behind Tara, looking between both twins.

“I need to tell you about Brad,” Tara whispered in Ava’s ear, giving her a small wink before greeting Aidan, who was running toward the group of girls.

“Hello Tara! How was Slytherin’s Common Room?” Aidan asked, glancing at Ava and then back at Tara.

“It was alright, a little dim though,” Tara told him, looking over his shoulder, “Do you know a Slytherin boy named Brad? I really would like to talk to him.”

“Oh, the boy named Brad that Felicity was going to meet?” Layla guessed, pointing her finger at two figures near the Great Hall entrance way, “He’s over there with my sister.” Ava watched helplessly as Tara’s face fell, her eyes darkening slightly. As Tara watched Brad, she noticed Godric Gryffindor walking toward him, looking very stern. Once Godric had reached him, she saw him pull Brad aside, excusing Felicity who came running over to her sister, looking flushed.

“Let’s go take our seats now,” Felicity said, pulling her sister with one arm and giving Brad a little wave with the other as they walked by.

“Look at Salazar Slytherin,” Emery said, gazing past everyone’s heads, at the tall man across the hallway. He was glaring at Godric Gryffindor, his tongue tracing the inside of his teeth. Ashlyn looked away from him and then to Godric, who was still talking with Brad.

“I don’t think Professor Slytherin likes Professor Gryffindor very much,” she said, trying not to gaze back at Salazar.

“Yeah, I guess not,” Ava agreed, also noticing his menacing look.

“Ah, so rivalries begin,” Aidan joked, using his hands to excite laughter from the girls.

“I don’t think so,” Celeste told them, “Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin have been best friends since childhood, what could possibly ruin that now?”

Chapter 5* Aidan and Tara’s Secret Heartaches*

“Hello dears! It’s such a wonderful day, isn’t it?” Professor Weiss greeted her Charms class, flashing them all a smile of pearly white, perfectly straight teeth. Ava sat in her seat, Tara sitting right beside her, both girls a little frightened by their new teacher. After a whole day of classes, everyone seemed ready to finish. Finally they had reached their final class of the day, but to their amazement, it seemed that their Charms teacher had more energy than any of the others.

“I think this woman is a little too enthusiastic after a full day of classes,” Tara whispered in Ava’s ear, both girls giggling. Aidan was sitting beside Tara with his Charms partner, Brice Chapman.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have a full day of lessons,” Aidan piped up, fidgeting with the long, white feather each group had placed in front of them.

“Unlike us, she doesn’t have classes every hour,” Brice added from beside Aidan, giving his partner a funny look and turning back to listen to Professor Weiss.

“Still, I didn’t even have that much energy during the first lesson of the day,” Tara mumbled and leaned back against her hard, wood chair, glaring at something across the room. Ava glanced at her sister and then tried to follow her eyes to see what or who Tara was glowering at. Once she saw the girl’s face, Ava sighed and tried to talk to her sister, though Professor Weiss’ rather irritating, high pitched voice seemed to overtake her own.

“Well, does anyone know any simple charms at all? Have your parents taught you anything?” Professor Weiss asked of her class, gazing around the room wide-eyed and ready for someone to speak up. Ava and Tara glanced at each other quickly and then looked down at their books, realizing that their parents really hadn’t taught them much about being magical at all. Sure they knew a few tiny, common spells but not much more.

“Yes dear,” Professor Weis chirped, pointing to Celeste, who had her hand raised way in the air.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Celeste said, her face turning a light shade of pink as the whole class turned in their seats to look at her. Ava gave her friend a small smile and picked up her wand, ready to try this new spell.

“Oh! Wonderful! Now, students, pick up your wands. This charms requires a swish and flick motion, as so,” Professor Weiss demonstrated before continuing, “Now everyone, try it with your feathers!”

“Do you want to go first or shall I?” Ava asked Tara, who seemed to be still glaring at the girl across the room. Ava put her wand down and snapped her fingers in front of Tara’s envious eyes. Immediately, Tara turned to face Ava.

“Look at her over there. She thinks she can do everything,” Tara muttered, her frown not wiping off her face, “What did you say her name was again?”

“Her name is Felicity,” Ava told her sister, “She’s one of my roommates. You really should give her a chance. She is really and very lovely girl.”

“Who are we gossiping about over here?” Aidan asked, her curiosity taking over his body.

“A girl that Tara is mad at because the girl is involved with someone Tara fancies,” Ava explained sarcastically, trying to say it in a tone of voice that would make Tara see how foolish she was acting.

“What?” Aidan questioned, though by his face Ava could tell he had understood everything.

“Get back to your feather Aidan,” Ava told him, “We need to get back to ours as well.”

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Tara shouted, attempting to master the swish and flick motion. Unfortunately, she didn’t even manage to lift the feather two inches off the table. With Tara obviously frustrated, Ava decided to try the charm.

“Wingardium leviosa,” Ava said calmly, circling her wand and flicking it gracefully. Obviously her method worked better as she and Tara watched the feather lift up a couple feet in the air.

“Wonderful! Look at Miss Daney’s fine work,” Professor Weiss squealed, her already high pitched voice sounding as shrill as a morning bird’s cry. Ava flinched and smiled wearily up at her professor, feeling everyone’s jealous eyes upon her, cutting her like a sharp knife. Beside her sat Tara, her face stony and cold and her arms were folded across her chest. She didn’t dare look at Ava, she just continued to stare at Felicity who was, at the moment, giving Ava a tiny clap of “good job”.

“That’s great Ava!” Aidan congratulated her from beside Tara, his smile seeming to melt Ava’s worries away, as well as blurring her vision to the rest of the classroom who were still staring at her. Even after a few moments of Ava not focusing on the feather, it still hovered high above their heads not even faltering from her lack of concentration. For the first time during the whole class, Ava smiled at her accomplishment and tried not to think about her sister, who hadn’t been happy for months.

*

“How are you doing Tara?” Aidan asked his friend, walking up to the Slytherin table between Tara and another student who he did not know personally. Tara circled her fork in front of her face, blowing a piece of hair that had fallen from her loose ponytail and was now hanging right in front of her nose. She didn’t even greet her best friend as he spoke to her. Her thoughts were elsewhere. About ten minutes earlier, as dinner began in the Great Hall, Felicity decided to visit Brad at the Slytherin table and had not left, much to Tara’s dismay. When Tara didn’t answer Aidan’s question he gazed around the Slytherin table. He didn’t know many of the Slytherin students in his year. He mostly has friends in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, not the other two houses.

“Aidan! What are you doing sitting over here?” his friend Brice called from about two people down the table on the opposite side from where Tara and Aidan were sitting, both looking rather gloomy. Brice got out of his seat and shoved between two girls, Tara’s roommates Celeste and Ashlyn, who giggled and eyed Brice seductively.

“What’s wrong with you two? You seem…upset,” Brice gazed between Tara and Aidan, “You two aren’t courting are you? Is that why you look so exasperated? Have you broken your relationship off?”

“No…”Aidan began but was cut off by a very grumpy voice.

“No, of course not! No boy would ever fancy me,” Tara’s voice came out deeper than usual, “Even he,” motioning to Aidan, “has never fancied me. He has his keen little eyes on my sister and has for years! Of course, Ava always gets everything she wants but won’t even realize it. She gets put into Gryffindor, while I’m stuck over here with a boy who won’t even notice me and a roommate who thinks that I’m as proper as shoe polish!” Brice just stared at her, his faced filled with mixed reactions. After a few seconds he closed his lips, which had been hanging slightly open ever since she began her little speech, and he nodded his head in understanding.

“Well…your life does sound a bit…well….tragic,” Brice stuttered, obviously trying to find words that would sooth Aidan’s ailing friend, “Well, actually….shoe polish is proper in a way. I mean, you do shine shoes with it, right? That’s a proper thing to do…you know…shining shoes…” Tara gazed up at Brice her eyes narrowing as if she didn’t really know what to say to him. Aidan felt that it was time for Brice to go back to his original seat and eat his dinner.

“Brice, I really don’t think you’re helping at the moment,” Aidan said through gritted teeth, using his eyes to direct Brice back to his seat. Brice understood, and with one last pitiful look at Tara, began to get up from the table.

“Oh, please don’t go Brice,” Ashlyn pleaded in her abnormally high voice.

“Oh yes, we enjoy your company,” Celeste added, batting her eyelashes at him. Brice gave both girls a warm smile.

“Sorry ladies, I’m needed elsewhere,” Brice stepped over the bench, “I will be sure to visit though.” As he walked back to his seat, Celeste and Ashlyn began giggling and carrying on like love struck little girls. Aidan rolled his eyes and turned back to Tara, who was still gazing jealously at Felicity and Brad. For the first time, Aidan thought back on Tara’s little spiel and suddenly realized what all was said.

“Um…Tara… What were you saying about me fancying Ava?” Aidan questioned, tapping her shoulder until she would unglue her eyes from Brad and Felicity and start listening to him. Tara sighed and whipped around to face Aidan, her face looking less irritated than before. She reached out her hand and wrapped her fingers around her cup, which was almost overflowing with fresh pumpkin juice. After bringing it to her lips gently, and taking a small sip, she placed it back on the table and focused on her friend.

“Don’t even try to deny that you fancy Ava,” Tara said sternly, tilting her head slightly to the side, “It’s so obvious.”

“Where are you getting all this from?” Aidan asked, his voice sounding more frantic than he had hoped. He noticed Celeste and Ashlyn inching forward lowly, both their ears pointed directly at Tara and Aidan’s conversation.

“Come on Aidan,” Tara smiled, something quite rare for her, “You act way different around her than you do with me. The only difference is that you are attracted to Ava and not attracted to me.” Aidan raised his eyebrow, a gesture which was not left unnoticed by Tara. She let out a small chuckle.

“Don’t worry, I don’t fancy you as anything more than a friend,” Tara reassured him, “I really don’t care what you and Ava decide to do. All I want is Brad to notice me. All I want is for any boy to notice me!” When Aidan didn’t answer, Tara turned her gaze from Brad and Felicity to face him. Aidan was staring across the Great Hall, his eyes upon none other than Tara’s sister.

“So are you going to finally tell her how you feel?” Tara asked, stabbing her green beans with her fork and stuffing them in her mouth. She cringed at the taste of the green vegetables. Aidan removed his eyes from Ava, looking deep into Tara’s eyes. She could tell that she had touched a nerve.

“She doesn’t like me in that way,” Aidan bowed his head, his voice now almost as soft as a whisper, “I do…fancy her…I have for a while. I just don’t…”

“Hey Aidan, why aren’t you over at our table?” both Tara and Aidan turned around to see Ava standing behind them smiling.

“Oh, Ava,” Aidan’s face blushed a deep red immediately. To keep her sister from noticing this reaction, Tara spoke up.

“Well you can’t have him all to yourself Ava! He’s my best friend as well,” Tara told her sister, putting her arm around Aidan’s shoulders and glancing behind her, to see if Brad was noticing. Surprisingly, Brad did start to walk over to the table after Felicity gave him a cutesy little wave before returning to the Gryffindor table. Tara immediately pulled her arm away from Aidan and whipped around in her seat.

“Hello Brad!” Tara yelled across the table, several Slytherin students looking up from their meals to see the cause for all the commotion. When she said his name Brad smiled and changed his immediate direction to sit down in the empty spot across from Tara, where Brice had sat a few moments before.

“Hello Tara! I’m really glad to see you,” Brad squeezed in between Ashlyn and Celeste, who watched him carefully, both raising their eyebrows at Tara. Ava, who was still standing behind Tara and Aidan, gave her sister an odd look.

“Oh, Brad, this is my twin sister Ava,” Tara said, pointing a slightly shaky finger at Ava, “ and this is my friend Aidan.” Brad nodded at Ava and shook Aidan’s hand, Tara watching gleefully. She appreciated that he was proper and seemed to be kind to all her friends. She couldn’t have wished for someone better to date. Unfortunately, the looming picture of Felicity hung in the back of Tara’s mind, making her, for a split second, release her tight smile.

“It’s nice to meet you Ava and Aidan,” Brad finished his greeting. Beside her, Tara saw Ava grab Aidan’s arm and slowly lift him from the table.

“Come on Aidan. Let’s go eat at our own table,” Ava suggested, giving her sister a brief wink, “It was nice to meet you as well Brad. Both Tara and Felicity have so much to say about you.”

“Brad! Come over here! You’ve received an owl from someone!” Brice called from a few seats down, the rest of the boys surrounding him moving over to leave a spot for Brad to sit down.

“I’m coming man!” Brad returned, looking back over at Tara, “That’s Brice, if you don’t know him. He’s been one of my good friends for years. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for being so kind to me last night. I was really feeling bad about the whole muggle-born situation and you really made me feel comfortable. That was really nice of you.”

“Well….you’re welcome,” Tara answered, her cheeks feeling hot, “You’re not so bad to talk to either.”

“I hope I can count on you for support,” Brad continued, glancing over at Salazar Slytherin, who was pacing around the Slytherin table with a horrible scowl plastered on his face, “I know we don’t know each other that well, but I do hope we can become better friends. It’s just that I don’t think Professor Slytherin’s ridicule of me is over. I heard him and Professor Gryffindor having a huge row over me being in Slytherin. I guess that he doesn’t want any muggle-borns in his house, while professor Gryffindor wants equality for all students. I really hope this doesn’t cause any more problems. I’d hate for some sort of…blow out to happen over me.”

Chapter 6 *Half Past One*

A month passed by slowly, as the leaves of the trees around Hogwarts began to wither and fall, lying lifeless and dry on the grounds. September turned into October and summer turned into fall, much to the dismay of Tara Daney.

“I love the summer! Why can’t it be summer all year around?” Tara would say, sighing loudly as she gazed out the hallway windows, watching the leaves turned from green to yellow.

“I much prefer winter,” Ava would say back to her, their few differences shining as clear as ever, “The grounds will be so beautiful with a fresh layer of snow, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think,” Tara grumbled, suddenly turning and walking away from the giant glass windows. Ava gave her sister an annoyed look, before turning back toward the window and trying to forget her sister’s attitude. She touched her fingertips lightly against the window, longing to go outside and explore the grounds. A great and powerful gust of wind swept past Hogwarts, making the glass beneath her fingertips rattle and chill. This chill mixed with her focus on the outdoors caused Ava to jump when a hand touched her shoulder.

“Oh sorry,” Aidan said, stepping backwards, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh, it’s fine Aidan,” Ava told him, “I just kind of…was in my own little world. You see, I really want to…”

“Go outside and look around?” Aidan finished her sentence and gave her a sly grin. Ava bowed her head and gave a little laugh, shaking her head at him.

“I’ve known you too long Aidan Hayes,” Ava told him, peering back out window.

“Do you want to go out there? I’ll go with you,” Aidan suggested.

“Are we allowed?” Ava asked, looking over her shoulder at the conference room door, where the school headmasters seemed to be in some sort of argument.

“Sure. Let’s just go out for about 10 minutes. I’d say it’s about half past one now, so we should be able to go out,” Aidan reassured her. She gave one last look at the conference room door before nodding her head in agreement.

“Alright, let’s go. Just wait here while I go get my coat,” Ava said, skipping happily toward up the corridors and to the Gryffindor Common room.

*

In the Conference room, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Godric Gryffindor were all sitting around the large, round oak table that stood in the middle of the gigantic space. It was half past one in the afternoon and all four adults had huge headaches from their constant bickering over the last month. At the moment, Rowena was trying desperately to knock some sense into Salazar, who refused to let go his hatred of muggle-borns.

“But you see Salazar, that my house is said to be the house of the cleverest students,” Rowena told him, glancing over at Godric and Helga before turning her eyes back on Salazar, “That obviously means that muggle-borns are just as capable witches and wizards than pure-bloods. I don’t know why you are still so discriminatory against them.”

“They do not deserve to have an education as good as a pure-blood student! Pure-bloods have earned their keep!” Salazar shot back, abruptly standing up in anger.

“Salazar, sit down!” Rowena demanded. Salazar turned his dark eyes on her and his forehead creased.

“Don’t speak to me as if I’m a child, Rowena,” he snapped at her, his finger pointed straight at her nose, “I won’t stand for it.” With this, Godric stood up.

“Don’t threaten her Salazar,” Godric ordered, pulling his wand out and pointing it at his best friend. Salazar seemed surprised, but not any less angry.

“Mark my words Godric,” Salazar spat through gritted teeth, “This school will not be a joyful place if I’m unhappy. The problem now Godric…” Salazar stared into his best friend’s deep blue eyes, “is that I am not happy.” With that statement, Salazar Slytherin walked slowly toward the doorway, before exiting and slamming the heavy red wood doors. From beside Rowena a small cry erupted in the room. Godric looked over to where Helga Hufflepuff sat, crying her eyes out. Rowena had her arms around her friend and was rocking her back and forth as if she was a small baby. Godric walked over and handed Helga a handkerchief.

“Don’t worry,” Godric reassured her, “Everything will be alright.”

“I just don’t understand why we can’t all be friends again,” Helga sobbed, blowing her nose loudly into the handkerchief, “We all wanted Hogwarts to be a fun, safe place. What happened to our dream?”

“It’s still there Helga,” Godric said, sighing and gazing out the large round glass window, where he saw two figures running around happily down in the Hogwarts grounds, “We just need to help Salazar see it again.”

*

“Do you know what time it is Tara?” Celeste asked, sounding too cheerful for Tara’s taste.

“I guess it’s about…,” Tara estimated in her head, “Lunch was about an hour ago, so it must be around half past one.” She had just entered the Slytherin Common room and now plopped her bottom on one of the silver colored couches and closed her eyes. Her long dark hair fell over the back of the couch and she shook it to feel it swish back and forth.

“I just love your hair!” Another Slytherin girl, probably in second year, called from across the room. Tara smiled and was about to say “thank you” before another girl’s voice stole the words right out of her mouth.

“Thank you Gertrude,” Linnea, Tara’s roommate, swooned, flashing the girl a beautiful smile. Tara rolled her eyes and thought to herself, I’m not in the mood to fight with her today. Unfortunately, Tara seemed to have no luck at all.

“Hello Tara,” Linnea walked over and stood right in front of her, her showy smile still stretched across her face. Tara tried to return Linnea’s smile, but imagined that it looked more like a smirk.

“Hello Linnea, how are you?”

“Absolutely wonderful,” Linnea answered, her tone snotty and certainly not friendly.

“Well then your day has been better than mine,” Tara added, starting to stand up, but realizing that Linnea was in her way.

“Oh, that is a shame,” Linnea said with false sympathy, “Though I can not imagine how you could ever have a wonderful day when you wake up to that pig pen you call your side of the room.” Tara’s eyes narrowed angrily, her patience wearing so thin that she wasn’t quite sure if she had any patience left at all. After a month of arguing back and forth with Linnea, she just couldn’t take it anymore. The girl criticized her about everything, even things as small as the portion of boiled potatoes she put on her plate one night at supper. Anger still flaring up inside her, Tara stood straight up, not even caring when she pushed past Linnea, stepping on her foot on the way.

“Ow! Excuse you!” Linnea yelped, taking her shoe off and examining the large skid mark on the toe, “What is the matter with you?” Tara stopped and whirled around, her cheeks bright red and her eyes wide.

“No Linnea, What is the matter with you?!” Tara screamed, not even noticing Brad and Brice walking into the common room, “You have been on my case for a month now, telling me that everything I do isn’t clean, or prim or suitable! You wanna know something? I don’t care if I’m not prim or proper or graceful! So you need to back off and leave me alone before I make you leave me alone.” Linnea’s mouth, along with several other students’ in the room, dropped. She stared at Tara in amazement and with one last glare Linnea put her shoe on her foot and strutted out the common room door, with no words to Tara.

“Nice one Tara,” Brad spoke up from behind her. She turned around and saw him smiling at her, a glint in his eye. She smiled shyly at him.

“Thanks Brad,” she said in her sweetest voice. Brice, who was standing beside Brad gazed between Brad and Tara and immediately headed toward the door.

“I’m going to the library. You can meet me down there when you’re ready,” Brice winked at both of them and hurried out the door, a huge smile plastered on his face. Tara watched him leave before she turned to speak to Brad again.

“Why do you have to go to the library?”

“Schoolwork. What else?” Brad joked, bowing his head a little, as if he was nervous. Tara noticed this and beamed proudly.

“Well, you could be going to meet up with Felicity,” Tara suggested, her eyes squinting unwillingly.

“Oh, no,” Brad told her, looking over Tara’s shoulder at Celeste and Ashlyn, who were whispering silently to each other and rudely pointing at them.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll speak to her later,” Tara said, peering over her shoulder and sending her friends a cold stare, before putting a smile back on her face and looking back at Brad.

“Yeah, I’m sure I will. I believe she’s with her sister, Layla, now,” Brad explained, then pausing slightly, “Do you…” Tara waited for his question. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster as if it was going to fly right out of her chest. She didn’t want to say anything because she didn’t want to appear too anxious for his attention.

“Do you want to come to the library with me? If you don’t have anything to do here, of course.”

“Yes!” she yelled, maybe a tiny bit too loudly. Brad grinned at her.

“Well, alright!” Brad said, raising his voice a little higher as well, “Let’s go now then.”

Chapter 7 ~The Art of Flying Broomsticks~

“Welcome students to one of your specialty classes,” a very tall, but very thin tan woman yelled across the long courtyard of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ava Daney shivered slightly as a large gust of wind brushed past the two lines of fifth year students, all desperately trying to keep as warm as possible. Even with their heavy winter robes, the freezing November air just cut through them like a knife, making everyone’s teeth chatter and bodies shake.

“Why on Earth they chose our flying lessons to begin in the middle of November is beyond me,” Emery snapped from beside Ava, her lips appearing bluer than they had previously. Her cheeks were flushed a dark pink and her long hair blew in the wind. Ava actually thought she looked quite pretty that day. Apparently, so did some of the Ravenclaw boys who stood across from them, because Ava could see them glancing over at Emery every few seconds. Once again, their professor, called Professor Larson, began to instruct them on “the art of flying broomsticks”.

“I know that we all do not know each other that well yet, but by the end of this year, you will miss these classes,” Professor Larson told them, her large nose turning red every moment she spoke. Ava smiled and gave Aidan a small eye roll before she bent down to pick up her broomstick. She ran her fingertips from the tip of the broomstick handle to the thick pieces of straw that formed the bottom of the broom. It was so smooth.

“Alright everyone, get mounted on your broomsticks and we’ll be off!” Professor Larson called right before a large gust of wind blew her pointed black hat off the top of her head, allowing her hair to blow free. She jumped up and began chasing around the courtyard, her hat still moving across the grass. All the students were snickering and some just decided to get on their brooms and take off into the air. One of those people happened to be Jared Kelley, Tara’s ex-boyfriend, who sailed through the sky above their heads, showing off his already polished skills in flying. Ava glared as he twirled and flipped through the air, even taking his hands from the broomstick a few times without falling. Beside Ava, Emery, and Aidan, three Slytherin girls were whispering among themselves, or at least they were attempting to whisper. Ava could hear every annoyingly shallow word they said and decided to persuade their opinions on Jared Kelley.

“I hear you girls taking about Jared up there?” Ava said coldly, pointing toward Jared as he did a back flip on the broom right above their heads. Without hesitation all four girls whipped around, their bouncy ringlets almost slapping Ava across the face. She moved her head just in time and gave a small peek at Aidan who was standing a few feet away from her, clearing laughing at her situation. Ava turned back around to face the girls as they gazed at her with their eyes wide open and huge smiles plastered across their faces.

“Oh yes! Do you know him?” the girl with the tightest ringlets Ava may have ever seen asked. Her voice was high and screechy and the light that was reflecting of her shiny blond curls was blinding Ava so much that she had to discreetly shade her eyes by pretending to gave upward toward Jared.

“Yes I do know Mr. Kelley. He actually courted my twin sister for a while. She’s not here of course,” Ava explained, resisting the urge to laugh as the girls giggled to themselves, “If she had this class with him, I’m sure she would start crying right in the middle of the lesson. Jared has that affect on people.” Immediately, the girls stopped giggling and eyed Ava curiously.

“Wait, why would she start crying?’ one of the other girls, who Ava knew by the name Abigail, asked, “I know who your sister is. She’s Tara Daney, correct? They never speak in the Great Hall or in the Common Room.”

“Yeah, it seems as if they avoid each other,” the shortest girl of the group spoke up, her eyes looking so confused. Ava could not believe the stupidity of these girls as they spoke. She resisted the urge to laugh as her anger at Jared Kelley grew more and more with every flip he completed on his broom. With one last venomous glare at Jared, she began to explain the situation further.

“Yes, of course they avoid each other. They broke up. It was a nasty break up as well,” Ava’s voice grew deeper as she thought back to those nights that her sister cried herself to sleep. With a small gulp she continued.

“He broke my sister’s heart and then proceeded to poke fun at her for the past two months. I have also heard that he has done this to other girls as well.” The group of girls gasped and sent desperate looks Jared’s way as he began to lower himself to the ground and climb off his broom.

“But he is just so good looking,” Abigail sighed. All the other girls nodded in agreement and began to whisper once again amongst themselves.

“If I were you girls, I would stay away from Jared Kelley. He’s no good,” Ava warned them just as Jared started to walk toward the group of girls, a cocky grin stretched across his face. As he grew closer and closer, the girls began to give him harsh looks and instantly stopped talking.

“Hello ladies,” Jared greeted them, his voice reeking of fake charm, “Would any of you like to learn the art of flying broomsticks. I’m sure you are all fast learners, and I know that I’m a wonderful teacher.”

“In your dreams you prat,” Abigail answered, spinning on her heel and marching off, her pack of girls following her in single file. Ava gazed over at Jared, whose face she could not clearly decipher. Then, from his confused expression, he cracked a small grin and turned to face Ava.

“I see you’ve been talking about me to your little friends,” he said, taking a step closer and stopping.

“What gives you that idea?” Ava questioned, not able to hide the sly smile from her lips. Jared, once again, took another large step forward so that he was less than a foot away from Ava. He leaned over as though he meant to kiss her, but stopped just far enough so she could not feel his breath on her cheeks when he spoke.

“I’m sure you know that I don’t like being made out to be some kind of monster just because I broke up with your sister. She wasn’t worth my time. Of course, the same might not be true with you. I always wondered what it would be like to date both Daney sisters with six months. What do you say Ava? I’m sure you’re friends would approve. No girl can resist me,” Jared said, moving his head closer. This time Ava knew he clearly meant to kiss her and she turned her head away from him. He rebounded and stood up straight, his grin gone.

“You seem to forget Jared that I know you,” Ava replied, “And anyone who knows you does not want anything to do with you. You’re charm won’t work on me. You hurt my sister and you most certainly will not be rewarded for that. Just go away and leave me and my family and my friends alone.” She turned to leave but could not walk any further because Jared had grabbed a hold of her arm and was squeezing it tightly. Her arm began to hurt from the pressure his grip was imposing on her arm and she tried to pry free. Forcibly, Jared pulled her closer to him.

“Don’t talk to me like I am beneath you, you worthless girl,” he snarled, his eyes looking evil and angry. Ava tried to look away but could not unglue her eyes from his. This scared her.

“Let her go!” Aidan came over and pushed Jared to the ground with all the strength he could muster. Ava lost her footing and almost fell over with him, but Emery had also come to her rescue and helped catch her before she fell.

“You think you have courage Aidan, but all you have is stupidity,” Jared yelled, jumping to his feet and brushing the dirt from his robes, “You’ll regret that. Believe me you will.”

“Is there a problem over here?” Professor Larson asked, shaking out her newly retrieved hat and placing it square on the top of her head.

“Well…” Aidan started, but was interrupted by Ava.

“No Professor,” Ava said, trying to ignore Aidan’s upset looks, “We were just asking Jared where he learned to flip in the air like he was earlier. It was so amazing!”

“Oh yes it was,” Professor Larson smiled and told Jared to follow her, “I do believe you and your talent could help me persuade the headmasters to allow us to form a Quidditch program here at Hogwarts. I say that if the professionals can do it, why can’t our students? Come on Mr. Kelley. You’ll demonstrate your superb flying for the headmasters.” Ava sighed and rubbed her arm as Professor Larson and Jared walked away toward the castle. Slowly, she pulled her sleeve up her arm to reveal her bare arm, where she saw a huge, dark bruise that appeared to be in the shape of Jared’s handprint. Emery gasped and Aidan immediately started to rant.

“How could you just let him get away with that? Look at that bruise he gave you Ava! He’ll just do it again and again and maybe next time he won’t just give you a bruise. For all we know, he could end up seriously hurting someone! We have the evidence right here,” Aidan pointed to Ava’s bruise, “we could just march up to Godric Gryffindor and tell him what happened and perhaps Jared would get what’s coming to him!”

“Aidan, please stop,” Ava pleaded, realizing that all the students around them were beginning to move toward the castle, “Classes are over. Let’s just go back to the Common Room to clear our heads.”

“But Ava…”

“No.”

*

“This boy appears to be a professional on a broomstick. You should see him doing all sorts of flips, twists, turns and all of them are being done with out his hands on the broom! A Quidditch team would be a great way for him to flex his flying muscles and sharpen his skills. Plus, he would have fun, as would other students in all of the houses,” Professor Larson said, trying to persuade all four of the headmasters of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to start a Quidditch league at the school. Jared Kelley stood right beside her, his broom in hand, and his usual cocky smile shining brightly on his face. He saw Salazar Slytherin staring at him with a tiny smirk on his face.

“You’re a Slytherin, aren’t you boy?” Salazar asked. Jared replied with a sharp nod of the head and Salazar grinned a little wider, obviously proud of his student. Rowena Ravenclaw sent Salazar a sharp look and shook her head.

“No, we can not have a Quidditch team at this school,” she said, her voice stern and her mind made up. Professor Larson gave Salazar a desperate look and stepped closer to the headmasters, clutching Jared’s arm.

“Please headmaster! I beg you! I’ll be the coordinator. It doesn’t have to be a professional team. It can just be an interschool activity. Each house can have a Quidditch team. We can have tournaments throughout the year between all the houses! Wouldn’t that be fun?” Professor Larson finished, her face noticeably flushed.

“What about the issue of our students’ safety? There will be injuries,” Rowena protested, glancing down at Helga Hufflepuff who was sitting in the chair beside where Rowena was standing. She did not look too thrilled with the possibility of having Quidditch played at Hogwarts either.

“Yes, and in my house…well…they are not the most athletic group of children and…” Helga was interrupted by Rowena.

“Yes, my students were chosen for Ravenclaw because they have a certain amount of intelligence and intellect and they are meant to raise the bar for the rest of the houses. It will not be fair to them…”

“Well, I think it’s an outstanding idea,” Salazar Slytherin rose from his chair and walked over to Jared, putting his large and tough hand upon Jared’s shoulder, “You would have fun playing Quidditch with the Slytherin team, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course! It would be great!” Jared answered with a little too much enthusiasm in his voice. Professor Larson beamed at him and focused her attention on Godric Gryffindor, who up to that point, had not said one word on the subject. He sat quiet, his eyes flickering between his fellow headmasters, obviously torn on the subject. Suddenly he looked up at Professor Larson and he began to speak.

“I agree with Salazar. I think it will be good for the students,” Godric said, ignoring the malicious stares he was receiving from both of the lady headmasters, “It will give our students something to look forward and I’m sure they will have fun playing and showing their house spirit.” He stared right into Rowena’s eyes and she finally heaved a great sigh and nodded her narrow chin in agreement.

“Very well then, I suppose these children do need something to keep them preoccupied after classes. I expect that you, Professor Larson, will make sure that nobody gets hurt and that these students learn to play the game properly,” she gave Professor Larson another one of her stern looks, which she, as usual, did not pick up on through her excitement.

“Oh thank you! Go on Jared and tell all your friends of the new Quidditch teams at Hogwarts!”

“I shall go write a few letters to get the supplies needed for the teams,” Salazar stood up and followed Professor Larson, who appeared to be skipping through the doorway. Once the heavy oak doors had slammed shut, Rowena sat down.

“Well, I just hope we made the right decision,” Rowena mumbled.

“Yes, this new competition between the houses could prove disastrous,” Helga chimed in as she gazed out the huge stained glass window, which sent light in sparkling colors dancing across the giant glass table.

“Oh, try to be positive. Quidditch could become some sort of tradition at this school,” Godric smiled at Helga and Rowena and then glanced over at the doors where Salazar had exited only a few moments ago, “Plus, it’s nice to finally agree on something with Salazar. After all, he hasn’t been himself lately.”

“Yes, that is true,” Helga responded, her voice sounding sad and worried, “I am afraid that he’s changing. He has never been this controlling and argumentative. I just hope with all my heart that he doesn’t get any worse, because if he does…well, I don’t even want to imagine what may happen to Hogwarts.”

Chapter 8 ~Games of the Body, Heart, and Mind~

The day finally arrived in late October. All the equipment was bought, all the players were chosen, and the grand stadium was built by the best wizard carpenters available. It was time for the first Quidditch match in Hogwarts history to begin. Ava and Tara Daney ran down the grassy field that leaf from Hogwarts castle to the large arena, where hundreds of other students from all four houses had already taken their seats. As they approached the doors to the stands they saw that each student was given a thick wool scarf in their house colors, which certainly helped to keep them warm in the chilly November air. In fact, Tara shivered violently, realizing that she should have worn more layers under her school robes.

“I told you to wear another sweater,” Ava teased, stopping to grab a Gryffindor scarf and say thank you to the professor who was handing them out. Tara snatched a Slytherin scar from the woman’s hands and threw it over the back of her neck, shivering one last time before giving a relieved sigh.

“Remind me to give my thanks to whoever paid for all these scarves. They’re so warm,” Tara said, covering her red nose with the end fringe of the scarf. Ava laughed.

“That would be Jared Kelley and his family,” she told her twin sister, who immediately scoffed and let go of the scarf, letting the ends hang lifelessly by her hips.

“Oh, I can’t stand Jared! He is such a pompous, arrogant, spoiled rotten…”

“Wow! I’d be careful if I were you. Someone could hear you…” a boy said from behind them. Ava and Tara turned around to see Aidan leaning up against one of the large wooden pillars that kept the audience seats standing. He was wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch Team uniform and his light brown hair was pushed back out of his face. Ava felt herself stop breathing as she looked him up and down, from head to toe. For some reason she could feel an enormous lump form in her throat and her plams began to sweat, even within her orange gloves.

“Aidan!” Tara immediately ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. Ava soon got a hold of herself and did the same, forming a three person bear hug, that none of them seemed to want to ruin. Finally, Tara backed off, quickly followed by Ava. Aidan beamed at the two girls, obviously proud of his accomplishment.

“Look at you! You look like a professional!” Ava said, smiling back at him.

“Well…I would hope so. This is the first time I have to play Quidditch in front of a large crowd. I hope I do alright,” Aidan admitted, looking a little nervous. Tara leaned over and fixed the name tag he had pinned to his shirt.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be wonderful,” Tara reassured him.

“Yes, we’ve seen you at some of your practices and you were magnificent. You were certainly the best Chaser I have ever seen,” Ava added.

“Thanks,” Aidan said, flashing the girls one last smile, before looking over his shoulder and realizing he had to go. They wished him good luck and Tara and Ava parted, Tara toward the Slytherin section of the stands and Ava to the Gryffindor section. Once she climbed all the way to the top of the steps, Ava saw Emery, Layla, and Felicity chatting down by the far end of the seating area. All three of them were sitting and laughing and Ava was relieved to see an empty seat beside Emery on the second bench.

“Come on Ava, we’ve saved you a seat!” Felicity called from where they were sitting. Ava hurried over and took her seat.

“Hello Ava! What took you so long? We almost had to give your seat away to Linus Wilburton,” Emery giggled, glancing over her shoulder to a small fourth-year boy with long, tangled golden hair and an abnormally large and pointy chin. Ava felt a twinge of sadness for the boy, but stayed in her seat when she saw an equally as small girl with strawberry blond hair come over and sit next to him.

“That is not fair!” Emery cried, bringing Ava’s attention back to her group of friends, “How does Linus Wilburton have a suitor, while I do not?” Layla and Felicity laughed, while Ava decided to answer.

“Because you don’t let any of the boys here get close to you! I see them watching you Emery. Believe me, to the boys in our year, you are very desirable,” Ava told her, jabbing her finger to the right, where two third year boys were gazing over at Emery, smiling way too enthusiastically. Emery bit the tip of her tongue and scrunched her nose in disgust.

“Come on Emery, you know it’s true,” Felicity joined in, waving to Brad, who was sitting across the arena in the Slytherin section. Emery rolled her eyes.

“That’s easy for you to say isn’t it Licy? You’re going out with someone.”

“Just because I have a suitor, does not mean I am wrong about your boy problems,” Felicity retorted, blowing Brad a kiss. Layla sighed and grabbed her sister’s wrist and brought it down to her side.

“Would you please not do that this whole entire Quidditch match? You’re only embarrassing yourself,” Layla snapped. Felicity crossed her arms over her chest and gave her sister a poisonous glare.

“Fine Layla,” Felicity said, her voice still as angry as ever, “I was just trying to cheer Brad up.”

“Why does he need cheering up?” Ava asked.

“Because he didn’t make the Slytherin Quidditch team. He told me it was because he was a muggle-born. It really upset him,” Felicity explained, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck as a huge gust of wind washed over the entire Gryffindor section. Ava pulled her scarf closer as well and jumped when the whole crowd started to cheer. Carefully, she peered down over the railing, where she could see Aidan getting mounted on his broom, ready to make his debut. Suddenly, the lump that had formed in her throat earlier returned. Unable to make it go away, she took a deep breath and smiled, realizing that she really liked this feeling she was experiencing and didn’t want it to go away.

*

“Oh look! The players are starting to line up on the field,” Ashlyn cried, giggling loudly and pointing down over the wooden railing. Tara smiled when she saw Aidan, who was already getting mounted on his broom. Directly across from her seat in the Gryffindor section, Tara could see her sister sitting down with her roommates. She immediately noticed that Ava was staring down at Aidan, her eyes not moving from his position on the field. There was something about the smile on Ava’s face and the way she had acted around Aidan right before the match, that told Tara that Ava had finally woken up to what was happening. Ava and Aidan were finally realizing their feelings for each other.

“Well, it’s about time,” Tara whispered to herself.

“Hey Tara!” Brad’s voice rose high above the noise of the crowd and Tara turned her head to see that he was sitting about ten people down to her right. He was waving and flailing his arms about.

“Hello Brad!” Tara called back, fiercely trying to look away from him, as she could feel her face turning a deep scarlet.

“Tara, come sit with me for a little while,” Brad yelled, patting his hand on an empty seat beside him. Not expecting him to ask her this, Tara just stared at him, her mouth hanging a little bit open. For a few seconds she did not move a muscle. This continued until someone gave her a little nudge from the back.

“Go Tara! What are you waiting for?” Celeste hissed in her ear, pushing her forward. Suddenly Tara came back into her right state of mind and hastily got up out of her seat and ran over to where Brad was sitting. She sat down in the spot he had saved and peered back over at her friends, who were both giggling madly.

“I’m so glad you decided to come over here,” Brad said happily, as Tara turned her attention from her friends to him, “A lot of my good friends are on the Slytherin Quidditch team and I’m just so grateful that at least you are here to talk to me.” He appeared a little sad as he said this and he bowed his head slightly. Tara took offense to this and her smile faded.

“Well I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” Tara said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. Across the field in the Gryffindor section, she could see Felicity, Brad’s girlfriend, sitting the exact same way and she immediately dropped her arms to her lap. Brad noticed the chilliness in her voice and looked up at her.

“Oh no! That’s not it. I just really wanted to be on the Quidditch team,” Brad said, “Unfortunately, Salazar Slytherin didn’t think I was good enough. Of course, I know I was good enough and so did everyone else. He didn’t put me on the team because I was a muggle-born.”

“Oh that’s horrible!” Tara exclaimed, putting her hand over her mouth in shock.

“Yes. I knew I could talk to you,” Brad told her, giving her a large, and incredibly handsome, grin, “You’re just such a nice girl and I really feel comfortable talking to you.”

“Thank you,” Tara said, her voice just above a whisper.

“The only reason I decided to come and se the match today was to watch my friends play,” Brad explained, “Especially Brice. He told me to not let Salazar Slytherin and his prejudice get to me. Plus, I’m sure he wants someone out here calling his name. He likes support.” Tara and Brad laughed at this just as the voice of Rowena Ravenclaw echoed through the stadium. Tara looked over at the special section for the headmaster s and professors, all of whom seemed very enthusiastic about the game. All of them were excited besides Rowena Ravenclaw, whose voice was being projected through the arena through her wand.

“It’s amazing how magic can do that,” Tara said, taking in all the excitement around her. She had never been to a Quidditch game before and hadn’t really heard much about it. After all, Quidditch was a very new sport made up by the Bulgarian wizards. Wherever those men came up with the idea of throwing ugly brown balls through gorgeous hopes of all different sizes really was beyond Tara’s train of thought.

“Everyone let’s have a safe and fair game!” Rowena Ravenclaw yelled, which attracted many laughs and snickers throughout the Slytherin section, “Now I will hand my wand over to Professor Larson, who will begin the game by announcing the players on both Quidditch teams.”

“Alright everyone! Are you ready for the first ever Hogwarts Quidditch match?” Professor Larson screamed through the wand, forcing Tara to cover her ears from the piercing noise, while others jumped up from their seats and cheered. Over in the professor’s section Rowena Ravenclaw had taken the wand and was explaining to Professor Larson that she had to speak quietly as to not deafen the students. Professor Larson nodded her head and snatched the wand back, taking out a long piece of parchment.

“We’ll begin with the Gryffindor team,” Professor Larson announced, as the players on the team got ready to fly as their names were called, “Our three Gryffindor chasers are Jaron Baker, Larry Donners, and Aidan Hayes!” Tara screamed and clapped as she saw Aidan take off into the air, zooming swiftly past her seat. Across the field sat Ava who was also on her feet jumping up and down with excitement at the sound of Aidan’s name. Tara noticed this and decided to send her sister a message. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on her sister’s image. Suddenly she felt a rush of power run through her and she opened her eyes as she thought, You seem to be a little more excited about Aidan today than usual. Tara could see Ava sit back down into her seat, her eyes closed and her forehead scrunched in thought. She was obviously receiving Tara’s mind message. With a smile Tara sent one last comment from her brain to Ava’s. Is there a reason for this excitement? With that comment she saw her sister’s eyes flicker, than open wide and even through the distance, Tara could tell that she was flustered. Don’t even start! This message came to Tara from Ava and she shivered from all the power she could feel pulsating throughout her body. The twins had not used their mind reading powers for months, ever since before school started. They did not want to bring any unwanted attention to themselves and preferred to keep it private. By the time the girls had finished exchanging messages, the rest of the Gryffindor team had been announced.

“Now, it is time to announce the Slytherin Quidditch team!” Professor Larson’s voice rang throughout the arena and a great applause came from Tara’s section. She joined in, as did Brad, who seemed to have gotten over some of his anger. The energy of the students was invigorating.

“The Slytherin Chasers are Tannum Chiefly, Bernard Moison, and Thomas Stewart!,” the crowd cheered as the three boys jumped on their brooms and sailed into the air, stopping so they were just at Tara’s eyelevel.

“The Slytherin Beaters are Jared Kelley and Peter Shultz,” Professor Larson continued, clapping herself. At Jared’s name, Tara frowned and stopped cheering. Brad noticed this and also noticed Jared wink at Tara as he flew by the seats.

“Do you know him well?” Brad asked, pointing at Jared.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Tara admitted, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Alright,” Brad said, looking back down at the players still on the grass, “Oh! It’s time for Brice to fly! Look!”

“Here is the Slytherin Keeper, Brice Chapman!” At the sound of Brice’s name, the crowd roared excitedly and Tara heard a considerable amount of girls crying his name. She rolled her eyes at the amount of girls behind her screaming “We love you Brice” and “Will you take me to Hogsmeade with you?”. As he flew by them though, she smiled and clapped just as much as anyone else. After all, she didn’t dislike Brice. He had tried to help earlier in the year. For a second she remembered him making a comment about how shoe polish is proper, which made her let out an unexpected giggle.

“That’s Brice for you. Always fancied by random girls he doesn’t know,” Brad said, also noticing all the attention his friend was getting, “I just wish he would pick one of them though. He refuses to court any one until he finds the right girl.” Tara nodded and glanced over at Ashlyn and Celeste, who were clapping harder than any of the other girls around them.

“And finally…the Slytherin seeker is Alan Boyd!” Professor Larson finished just in time for hundreds of screams from all around the arena. Once Alan had flown to his rightful position in the air among his fellow players, Professor Larson grinned and handed the wand to Godric Gryffindor, who stood up from his seat.

“Let the game begin!”

Chapter 9 ~An Interesting Proposition~

“I’m really sorry,” Ava said, walking over to Aidan as he entered the Common Room. Unfortunately, Slytherin had won against Gryffindor. Aidan gave her a short lived smile and dropped his uniform on the table by the Common Room entrance and sunk into one of the big chairs by the blazing fire. Ava sighed and went down to sit in the chair across from him. Nobody else was in the room with them, so they were all alone together, both quiet and both rather solemn faced. Ava knew to hurry up to the Gryffindor Common Room right after the match ended, because she knew Aidan well enough that she knew he would come directly up to the Common Room after he had changed out of his uniform and into his robes. As they sat by the fire, Ava gazed out the window and saw the sun start to dim behind huge black clouds. There was no doubt that it would thunderstorm that night. Coincidently, Ava smiled at this fact. She loved thunderstorms and thought that this would bring her back into good spirits. Suddenly Aidan’s voice brought her back to reality, and Ava turned her head towards him.

“We played a good game didn’t we? I mean, we only lost by twenty points,” Aidan rambled, obviously trying to convince himself that the loss wasn’t that awful, “After all, Brice was fabulous as Keeper. He hardly let any of our shots through the hoops.”

“Yes, you only lost because Brice was so good at his position,” Ava agreed, “You did wonderful! I was amazed at how good you got at Quidditch. The last time I saw you practice in your backyard, you could hardly hold on to the ball.” A deep shade of red flushed Aidan’s cheeks, and he bowed his head slightly, a small smile on his lips.

“Oh…well….I’ve been practicing,” Aidan replied, “Maybe I could teach you how…”

“Aidan! Come over here!” one of his fellow teammates called from the corner, where he was standing with a bunch of fourth and sixth year girls. Aidan gazed over his shoulder and then turned back to Ava.

“I really do need to talk to Larry about the new agenda for next week’s game against Hufflepuff…” Aidan started, but stopped as Ava began to giggle.

“You need to speak to Larry….I understand that,” Ava said, her giggles disappearing, as she started to calm down, “But why do you have to tell the whole of Gryffindor’s female students your plan as well?”

“Well….I…” Aidan looked absolutely frightened, which made Ava smile even wider.

“I’m just kidding with you!” Ava said, waving him away, “Go on. I must go to the library anyway to work on a report for Potions class.” Aidan narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, clearly trying to decide whether she was being truthful, before flashing her a large grin and running over to Larry and the group of girls. Sighing loudly, Ava walked toward the Gryffindor Common Room exit, stepping out into the hallway quietly.

“Hello Ava! Great Quidditch match today wasn’t it?” Felicity yelled across the hallway, where Ava could see her wrapped around Brad, squeezing him tightly and smiling giddily.

“Yes, it was wonderful!” Ava replied, smiling at the happy couple before turning the corner to travel down the long hallways to the school library. As she walked through the many hallways, which seemed to never end, Ava began to hum a sweet melody, one her mother used to sing to her when she was a young girl. Her voice seemed to bounce off the hollow walls and she began to hum softer, hoping no one would hear her, for she was often too afraid to sing in front of people she did not know. Suddenly, she stopped. Her song had ceased. The haunting sound of faint footsteps reached her ears and she reached to the pockets of her robes, trying to find her wand. No one else had been in the halls with her. Most people were still in their respective houses, either celebrating their victorious match or all discussing the afternoon’s game in huge debate. The fact that Ava was alone in the hallways with no one to protect or defend her, made her feel slightly more uneasy. Hogwarts was a huge school. So huge, in fact, that a young girl’s screams, may not be heard through the excitement in all the houses. Ava continued on down the hallway, her wand now in her hand and her nerves on full alert. Finally, she could see the stairwell that lead down to the library entrance in sight.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Ava whispered in relief as she sped up almost to a run as she headed right for the stairwell. She was almost there…

SMACK! Ava fell to the floor, her ankle twisting. She yelped in pain and lied down flat on her back, breathing in and out slowly to reduce the pain. Of course, she didn’t realize that she was accompanied on the floor by one of the four headmasters, who was grunting under his breath and trying to fetch all the papers he had dropped during the collision.

“Are you hurt Miss Daney?” the voice of Salazar Slytherin raced through Ava’s head and she opened her eyes to see his dark, foreboding eyes gazing into her own. He didn’t appear at all concerned, just angry and slightly curious. No wonder nobody, not even the students in his house, liked him. Ava sat up and flinched in pain, grabbing her ankle, which she imagined was twisted. Salazar got to his feet and took out his wand in one fast swipe. Ava even thought she actually heard the wand whip through the air.

“Don’t worry Miss Daney,” Salazar sighed, looking bored, “I’ll fix that ankle for you.”

“Oh no, don’t!” Ava interrupted him, picking her own wand from the spot where she had dropped it, “I’ll fix it myself.” With one quick spell and a flick of her wand, Ava’s ankle was as good as new, perhaps in even better condition then before the fall. Instantly, she saw Salazar Slytherin’s right eyebrow rise to almost a point in the middle of his forehead. Obviously, he was surprised by her magical skills.

“Where, pray tell, did you learn how to do that?” he asked, eyeing her curiously, never hiding away his own wand. Slowly, Ava pushed herself onto her feet and moved her ankle in circles to confirm that it was fully healed. When she was satisfied with her work, she glanced up at Salazar and answered his question.

“I read a lot.” This answer clearly did not convince the Head of Slytherin, but he did not press it any further. He just followed up her answer with a compliment. At least, Ava took it as a compliment, whether that was how it was intended or not.

“Well, I have heard that you are an exceptional student,” Salazar said, peering down the stairwell and looking back at her, “I see you were on your way to the library.” When Ava nodded “yes” to this statement, Salazar smiled, his lips curling in a very disagreeable, evil manner.

“Go on then,” Salazar urged, beginning to walk past her, “I hope that you will be working on that potions assignment. It should turn out to be more helpful in your future than you may think.”

*

The grand library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was nearly empty after the first great Quidditch match. Only a few lonely, yet very hard-working students, still lingered through the aisles and aisles of bookshelves, stuffed to the brim with bound pieces of literature, spells, and magical history. One Slytherin student, in particular, had arrived in the library only a half an hour after the huge event and was still there and hour later searching for a certain textbook.

“The Power of Potions…The Power of Potions…where on earth is The Power of Potions!” Tara Daney whispered angrily to herself as she searched the rows of books on the dozens of bookshelves strewn throughout the gigantic library, “How do they expect us to write a report on summoning potions if we can’t even find the worthless book to research from?”

“I don’t know Miss Daney, why don’t you ask them?” a voice answered from the books on the shelves. Tara jumped back, obviously surprised to hear the books speaking to her.

“Are you…is that…how… is someone trapped in one of those books?” Tara asked, dumbfounded and a tiny bit scared. All of a sudden a burst of laughter erupted from the same spot she had heard the voice before and she stared at the books as if they were snakes, ready to bite and sink their venomous teeth inside her.

“Who’s there?” Tara demanded, looking to her right and seeing a tiny first year girl staring up at her. This girl had, perhaps, the hugest and roundest pair of eyes Tara had ever seen on a human being. Her hair was a frizzy, mousy brown and her skin a deep tan from too much time spent in the sun.

“Who are you talking to Miss?” the girl asked, her eyes drifting from Tara to the books on the shelf in front of them.

“The books….they’re…” Tara started, but stopped as the voice came again.

“Come on Miss Daney. Don’t you recognize my voice?” the voice came again and more laugher followed.

“Did you hear that?” Tara asked the first-year girl, who still stood beside her. With a puzzled look on her little circular face, the girl stared up at Tara with her big round eyes.

“Um…Miss Daney, is it?” the girl said, still looking confused, “I think someone is speaking to you from the other side of the bookshelf.” Immediately, as the girl said this, Tara knew it to be true and she instantly felt incredibly foolish.

“Oh, yes,” Tara muttered, blushing as the young girl walked down the rest of the aisle and turned the corner. With one quick grab, Tara lifted three books from the shelf, one falling to the floor loudly. She bent over to retrieve it from the floor and when she once again lifted her head to the bookshelf level she could see Brice’s smiling face grinning back at her.

“Hello Tara,” Brice laughed, giving her a little wave. Tara glared at him, her nostrils flaring and her face turning from a flustered pink to an angry crimson.

“Why must you embarrass me like that?” Tara demanded, placing her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner, without realizing that Brice could not possibly see this irritated gesture.

“I did not embarrass you, Miss Daney. You did that by yourself,” Brice answered. Tara remained silent, knowing that Brice was not wrong.

“What book are you looking for?” he asked her, no longer laughing but still giving her his sweet and amazingly handsome smile.

“The Power of Potions,” Tara told him, flipping nervously through the pages in the books she was holding.

“Well, what a coincidence!” Brice exclaimed excitedly from the other side of the bookshelf, “I just so happen to be holding that very book in my hand. Stay there. I’ll bring it over to you.” Tara put the books back in their places, as Brice appeared from around the corner with a large, and incredibly dusty, book in his hands. As he handed her the book, Tara took in his appearance. He looked as dashing and handsome as ever, but he was still in his Quidditch clothes.

“Thanks,” Tara muttered, looking him up and down, “Why haven’t you changed from your Quidditch robes and why aren’t you up in the Slytherin Common Room celebrating with the rest of your team? After all, you won!” He shrugged and sat on one of the large satin couches near the gigantic half-circle window that allowed the students to behold a gorgeous view of the Hogwarts grounds. It stretched for miles and miles, most of it forest or water. Tara sat in the chair across from him, waiting for his answer.


“I don’t really like all the attention,” he said, fooling with a loose string on his colored robes, “I mean, it’s good during the game because it gets me excited and ready to play my best, but it’s all so…it gets irritating after a while. Everyone needs their space.” Tara nodded her head slightly, somewhat understanding where he was coming from. There was only one thing that she didn’t understand.

“What about all the girls,” Tara asked, raising her eyebrows, “Don’t you enjoy all the attention you get from them. I think my roommates fell in love with you a while ago.” Brice gazed up at her, his expression turning from a serious one to a full-fledged grin.

“Of course I enjoy that,” Brice told her, looking slightly embarrassed, “Who wouldn’t love a bunch of good-looking girls calling their name and sending them love owls?”

“You get love owls?” Tara asked, giggling.

“Yes I do. I believe I got one from your roommate Ashlyn. It was a very nice letter, though I do think I was allergic to the perfume she put on it.”

“That sounds exactly like Ashlyn,” Tara laughed, imagining her friend rubbing a bunch of roses on a piece of parchment and confessing her ove for him, “She’s a little odd at times, but she’s really nice…” Tara looked up at Brice, who was gazing out the window dreamily, “Brad tells me that you refuse to date anybody. Why is that? You have so many admirers.”

“Oh do I?” Brice chuckled, shaking his head, which made his brown hair sway back and forth, “I wouldn’t refuse to date someone I truly care for. Just because girls like my image, doesn’t mean they like me for me. It also doesn’t mean I like them.”

“Well, I guess I can understand that,” Tara mumbled, flipping through the pages of her textbook, “I don’t know how I’m going to pass potions! This report is going to take me forever!”

“When is it due?” Brice asked, straining his neck to look at the pages.

“Two weeks. It’s one of those ten page reports. It’s on summoning potions.”

“Well…I have a proposition for you Miss Daney,” Brice said, a mischievous smirk forming on his handsome face, “I’ll help you with the report, since I happen to know a whole lot about summoning potions, and I’ll also help you with this whole Brad issue you seem to have,” Tara blushed at this and turned her head slightly away.

“And what do you want me to do for you?” Tara asked, not quite sure what kind of game he was playing

“Nothing…,” Brice said, “yet.”

“Tara!” Ava’s voice came from the doorway of the library, where she had just entered with a pile of books in her arms.

“I’ll see you later Tara,” Brice assured her, getting up out of his chair, “I’ll help you on that report tomorrow during lunch.” Tara watched intently as Brice hurried out of the library with only a small “hello” to Tara’s twin.

“You will not believe what just happened in the hallway with me and Professor Slytherin,” Ava said breathlessly as she plopped down into the chair that Brice had occupied a few moments before, “that man is so strange! I’d even describe him as a tiny bit scary…wouldn’t you?”

To read my fanfic, *Another Granger*, click on the link below:

http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=85851

If you gave any comments on this story or any of my other fanfics, please feel free to send me an owl. Thanks!

Chapter Ten of *Never Be Broken* will be added soon below this post! Happy Reading!

Chapter 10 ~The Smarter Twin~

A week passed and, more and more, the teachers and students at Hogwarts began to notice that Ava Daney had extraordinary magical talents. She seemed to excel in all of her classes and got along with just about everyone, much to the dismay of her twin sister. While Ava had finished her essay on Summoning potions a few days before, Tara was still struggling, only managing to complete half of the ten pages required. Today was Tara’s second session with Brice, who had agreed to help her finish the last five pages.

“So, when is he coming?” Ava asked, biting on a piece of bread covered freshly churned butter. Tara gazed longingly at the food, but turned away, knowing that it was her time to do homework, not eat.

“He has three minutes,” Tara sighed, swishing her feather ink pen back and forth over her nose in sheer boredom. To her left was Aidan, who was also trying to complete her assignment. Of course, he only had two pages left to do.

“I really cannot write this anymore,” Aidan complained, “I’m seriously going to kneel over and die from all this tension on my brain. I hate writing.”

“Stop complaining Aidan,” Tara spat, rubbing her temples, “You’re giving me a migraine.”

“Like you haven’t been complaining since you got here!” Aidan shot back, “All we hear is…oh no, my roommates are calling me as proper as shoe polish, and Brad won’t marry me and Jared is being annoying, oh, pity me, I’m in Slytherin…blah, blah, blah…don’t be a hypocrite Tara. You complain as much or even more than we do.”

“Don’t even go there Aidan or I’ll….”

“Hello Brice!” Ava cut in, waving as Brice and Brad, who was arm in arm with Felicity, came over to the table.

“Hello…Ava, right?” Brice said with a large smile on his spotless face. Ava nodded.

“Hello Tara, Hello Aidan…” Felicity chirped from beside Brad, who gave them all a warm smile. Tara, on the other hand, was not smiling. She was glaring at Felicity, who was now resting her head on Brad’s shoulder.

“Hello,” Tara mumbled through gritted teeth, releasing her glare from Felicity and moving it to her still unfinished report, which was still lying on the table. Brice sat down across from her and snatched the paper out from under her nose, reviewing it so far. He bit his lip and glanced up at Tara, who was now staring at Felicity again, this time looking her up and down with her eyes flashing angrily. Seeing her reaction to Felicity standing there with Brad seemed to amuse Brice and he laughed to himself, only heard by Ava, who seemed to be the only one at the table not engaged in work or conversation.

“What’s so funny?” Ava asked him, finishing her piece of bread and wiping her hands on her cloth napkin. Brice looked up at her and flicked his eyes toward Tara and then toward Felicity, his smile growing each second. Ava immediately understood and started to giggle.

“What are you laughing at?” Tara asked, suddenly aware of the smiles and giggles both Brice and Ava shared.

“You,” Ava said bluntly, turning her face away, unable to control her laughter. Tara scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, her left eyebrow raised at Brice. He did not see the signs of her annoyance toward him, because he was all of a sudden distracted by a group of girls who had semi-circled around the table.

“Oh no,” Brad said, pulling Felicity with him as he pushed through the group of girls, “Brice’s usual pack of admirers have decided to grace him with their presence. Brice, I’ll talk to you later!”

“Alright,” Brice called out to him, sending him a large wave, before putting his attention back on the half a dozen girls standing in front of him.

“I’ll talk to you later as well, Tara!” Brad’s voice rang over the chatter of the lovesick girls. This immediately made Tara perk up.

“It’s such a wonderful day isn’t it?” Tara exclaimed, gazing at Brad as he walked off, his image growing smaller and smaller until he finally exited through the Great Hall doors. Ava rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her fist.

“Whatever you say Tara…just don’t get your hopes up about Brad. He is still dating Felicity, you know,” Ava told her sister, shaking her head and picking up Tara’s feather pen and shoving it in front of her face.

“I’ve got the whole Brad and Felicity situation under control,” Tara said, snatching her pen back, “A very reliable source tells me that they are having problems in their relationship.” Instantly, Tara nodded in Brice’s direction, and Ava’s smile disappeared.

“What are you having him do?” Ava gasped, “Tara, you’re not making him ruin Brad and Felicity’s relationship are you?” Before Ava could get an answer out of her sister, Tara’s face turned bright red and her smile turned into an angry glower.

“Brice, what are you doing?” Tara snapped, glaring at the group of girls who were still hanging around him, “You’re supposed to be helping me with my assignment, not entertaining possible girlfriends who are not good enough for you anyway!” Of course, this statement triggered many reactions. Brice turned around abruptly with a surprised, and somewhat amused, look on his face. Ava had choked on her pumpkin juice, and the group of girls surrounding Brice were staring at Tara, their mouths and eyes wide open in shock. Aidan, who had been concentrating on his report up until that moment, peered up at the group of girls, deciding that their reactions were the most important. Indeed they were worth watching.

“What is your problem, Tara?” one of the girls asked, the anger in her voice undeniable. A few of the other girls still stood perfectly still, while a girl, who Tara knew to be Carissa Sinclaire, stepped out from behind her friends, one hand on her hip.

“At least he is talking to us about something other than school work. He’s just helping you out of pity, because your sister asked him to,” Carissa hissed, pushing her bright blond bangs out of her eyes.

“What?” Ava screamed, standing up from her seat and looking Carissa straight in the eye, “That’s not true and you know it.” She glanced down at her sister who was looking at Brice. She looked crestfallen.

“Yes it is true! I saw you and Brice talking three days ago,” Carissa shot back, crossing her arms over her chest, “Isn’t that right Brice?” As they were talking Tara had reached out her hand to take back her report and was inching it back over to her side of the table. Instantly, Brice slammed his hand down on the parchment, standing up and looking Carissa straight in the eye.

“It is true that I was speaking to Ava a few days ago, but that was about a love owl one of her friends, Emery, had sent me,” Brice explained, not taking his eyes off Carissa, “Plus, your theory is not plausible, because I told Tara I would help her with this report a week ago.” Carissa must have realized her mistake, because her pale cheeks turned a deep scarlet.

“I’m sorry…I misunderstood,” Carissa admitted, taking a step back and after a few seconds, finally spinning on her heels and walking away from the group. The other girls soon followed, flashing Brice small smiles as they scurried off to their respective House tables. Ava looked down at Tara and Aidan and noticed that both appeared rather pale. Ava immediately jumped in to reassure Aidan and her sister.

“Once again, Emery causes problems!” Ava laughed, trying to make Tara smile, “That girl just can’t help it. After all, Brice, you are a little irresistible. Wouldn’t you say so Tara?” Brice was staring at Tara, a concerned look on his face. Tara was just glaring at her paper, not quite sure how to answer. Finally, she lifted her head.

“Umm….I wouldn’t say irresistible…” she said, a small smile creeping across her face.

“Hey! Of course I am!” Brice interjected jokingly. They all started laughing as if nothing had happened.

“What is with them anyway?” Tara asked, glancing back at Carissa, who was glaring at them from across the Great Hall, “They’re always following you around. It’s a little creepy…”

“Not to mention obsessive!” Aidan chimed in. Brice shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. I guess they don’t have anything better to do,” Brice said, not even bothering to look back at his admirers, “Maybe they want me to ask them to the December Hogsmeade Ball. It’s in less than two months.”

“December Hogsmeade Ball?” Tara questioned, dropping her quill pen and finally giving up on her report, “What is that?”

“It’s a ball that the Hogsmeade family have decided to throw this year,” Brice reached out and took the pen, scratching some notes down on his own sheet of parchment, “People from all over the wizarding world are going to come dance, talk, and listen to brief speeches from each of the Hogwarts founders about the progress made in the school. It’s to keep everyone informed and to allow people to socialize. All the students are allowed to attend.”

“Are famous people going to be there as well?” Aidan asked.

“Yes. Everybody who is anybody is going to attend,” Brice answered, finishing whatever he was writing and pushing it toward Tara, “It should be fun.”

“Yeah, I have to get a dress on our Hogsmeade trip in November. Tara, we can both…” Ava was suddenly interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She stood frozen for a few seconds, before turning around and staring up into the eyes of Godric Gryffindor.

“Yes, the December Hogsmeade Ball should be very enjoyable,” he said in his gruff, yet comforting, voice. They all nodded, a little nervous. Professor Gryffindor must have realized this, because he laughed heartily and smile at each student. When he reached Aidan and Brice, he went to shake their hands. Aidan and Brice obliged and seemed a little more at ease.

“Good job boys at your Quidditch match,” Godric said with every ounce of sincerity in his voice, “You both did very well.”

“Thank you Professor Gryffindor,” They both said in unison, glancing at each other quickly. Now, finished with the boys, he turned to Ava, who was a little more than half his size and had to look up to look at his face.

“Miss Daney, may I have a word with you?” he asked, his arm stretching outward, clearly beckoning her to follow him to the left, where few students were crowding around them.

“Yes, of course Professor,” Ava agreed, shooting her sister and Aidan one last nervous look, before following Godric to the corner. Once they were out of earshot, Godric Gryffindor took out his wand and immediately formed a piece of parchment out of thin air. He smiled at Ava, and she smiled back, finally feeling comfortable. His smile definitely had a calming effect on anyone who beheld it.

“Well, Miss Ava Daney, I hear you are quite a student! I have gotten exquisite reviews from all your professors,” he paused to read a few words off the parchment before continuing, “Many of them have recommended you for our advanced program. You, and a few other superior students, will have a chance to learn directly from me, Professor Hufflepuff, Professor Ravenclaw, and Professor Slytherin about more complicated spells, charms, and potions. You will receive more personal tutoring on the skills you will need to reach the top positions in the wizarding community. I really do hope you take advantage of this opportunity, Miss Daney. I promise you will not be disappointed.”

“Of course I’ll do it! It sounds wonderful!” Ava chirped, her heart bursting with joy at the thought of learning magic from some of the best wizards and witches of all time.

“Wonderful!” Professor Gryffindor said, grinning from ear to ear, “Our first meeting will be in here at six o’clock next Saturday. I look forward to seeing you there!”

“Thank you, Professor Gryffindor! I’m looking forward to it as well!” With that, Ava ran back over to the table to tell Tara, Aidan and Brice the good news. Although they all seemed excited, Ava couldn’t help but shake the feeling that her sister’s smile was not one of happiness, but one of hidden jealousy.


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