Dreaming Of You

Dreaming Of You

Part 18 - Thin Air

So I flew around the moon three times and caught a falling star
And came into this world of mimes to live just as you are
But all I felt was pain here, and one thing that held true
If you did not believe in me, then I won't believe in you.

Chapter 31

"So does anyone have any idea who this 'Witness' person could be?" Draco paced in front of the group gathered in the sixth year boys' dormitory. Technically, Pansy and Asin weren't allowed in there - especially not with the door shut and locked - but in the Slytherin dorms, no one was likely to comment too much.

"I thought you were going to tell us," Pansy complained. "Why do we have to be here if you don't know anything?"

"We're pooling our knowledge," Draco snapped. "For the good of the group."

"The good of the group?" Asin echoed incredulously, laughing. "Of course we pool knowledge for the good of the group - when you need to know something. I've yet to catch you telling us anything when you know and we don't."

Draco gave Asin a sharp look. "Are you saying that you know something about the Witness?"

"I might." Asin giggled, glancing coyly at Draco. "What will you give me if I tell you?"

"If you don't, Crabbe here will give you a fist to the head," Draco said shortly. At the sound of his name, Crabbe straightened importantly. "And don't try reaching for that wand, Greengrass," he added, flicking his own wand so it aimed at her when she made a casual movement towards her pocket. "Don't think I won't curse you to find this out. If someone's going to be watching me, I want to know who she is."

"I bet you do." Asin smiled flirtatiously.

Draco scowled. Why had Noleta Elliot had to transfer to Durmstrang? She'd always been able to keep Asin in line, even if she was a year younger. "Crabbe - "

"Oh, you really aren't any fun." Asin pouted. "All right. Mum sent me details. There's going to be someone here at Hogwarts working for - " She coughed discreetly, knowing better than to even go so far as to use one of Voldemort's false names. No one wanted to attract Dumbledore's attention to the Slytherin dorms. "She's just a watcher, though - she's not allowed to actually act against anyone. With two Hogwarts agents lost already in the past six years..." Asin shook her head expressively.

"But you haven't said who she is," Pansy said crossly. "What good is any of that if we don't know who this girl is?"

"Do you think Mum would put that sort of thing in a letter?" Asin asked, laughing derisively at the other girl. "She's not that stupid! She was taking an awful risk telling me as much as she did, even if it was all in code. I haven't any idea who this Witness is. I don't even know if she's here yet."

"Are you quite sure that's all you know?" Draco gazed at Asin carefully. "I'd really hate to suspect you of hiding things from me."

Asin shrugged merrily. "I guess you'll never know, huh?"

Draco was unamused. "Crabbe, Goyle - grab her."

They obeyed. The two boys were large and slow, yes, but they were also between Asin and the door.

She looked up at Draco with beseeching eyes. "You wouldn't really let them hurt me, would you, Draco?"

Draco smiled back at her, quite pleasantly. "You wouldn't really conceal things from me, would you, Asin? Now," his face abruptly darkened, "do you or do you not know anything more about the Witness?"

Asin hung her head. "I don't."

"Wrong answer." Draco leveled his wand at her face. Asin stared at him in horror. "Maligne - "

"Draco, don't!" Pansy grabbed his arm, pulling it away.

Draco looked at her impassively. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to have to explain to Madam Pomfrey why Asin's got her eyes hanging out," Pansy said plaintively. "Or why her eyebrows are live snakes, or whatever it is you were going to do to her. I don't have time to waste in the hospital wing - I've still got figure out how to fill three and a half more inches of my essay about the different types of ghosts!"

Draco snorted contemptuously. "This is a bit more important than your essay, Pansy," he told her. "I think - "

"I think that you'd better lower your wand, Draco."

Everyone's eyes shot to the door, where Tabitha was lounging against the doorframe. Her own wand was pointed lazily at the ground in front of Draco - though her attitude suggested that this could change at any time.

"What are you doing here, Nott?" Draco growled.

"What, I can't look out for the interests of a fellow Slytherin?" Tabitha smirked. "I just thought I'd let you know that our American guests are here. The Slytherin prefects really ought to put in an appearance."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I have nothing to say to that lot."

Tabitha shrugged, tracing patterns in the air with her wand. "Your loss. After all, I'm sure the Witness wouldn't be an American." She smiled sweetly, and left before anyone else could get in another word.

~*~

"Where am I?" Autumn stared at the people gathered around her. "Who are you people? What happened to the airport?"

"Oh, no." The elderly lady who'd brought Autumn in the first place was starting to look very nervous. "You were meant to be a part of this trip, weren't you, sweetie?"

"What trip?" Autumn demanded. Then, into an increasingly alarmed silence, "What trip?"

"Hello, Juliet. I'd say it's a pleasure to have you here, but there seems to be a problem marring the joy of the occasion."

Autumn twisted around to get a look at the new speaker, addressing the lady. He looked incredibly strange. He was old, much too old to be wearing that dress he had on. "Who are you?"

The man smiled kindly at her. "Hello to you, too, Miss. You do ask a lot of questions. Curiosity is the mark of a healthy mind."

Autumn scrambled to her feet. She felt more capable of facing the world when she was standing. "Don't you dare make fun of me! My dad will know I'm gone any time now, and you'll be sorry when you're in jail for kidnapping me!"

"No one kidnapped you," the lady - Juliet? - said, alarmed. "You've just been accidentally included in an overseas trip."

"Overseas?" Autumn stared at the lady like she was insane. Which, of course, she probably was. "We haven't gone overseas. We maybe went on some crazy drug-induced high, but we haven't actually traveled anywhere."

"Oh, dear, I do seem to have made a mess of things." The lady grimaced. "Do you know who I am, dear?" she asked, not very hopefully.

"No."

"Well, it was worth a try." The lady sighed in resignation. "I'm Juliet Anderson, Head of the League of American Witchcraft Academies."

"The what?" Autumn realized she was starting to sound like a broken record. She tried a new approach. "There's no such thing as magic."

"I'm afraid you're quite mistaken, Miss...?" The old man raised his eyebrows questioningly, waiting for her name. Autumn did not oblige. Eventually, he went on. "There seems to have been some sort of mix-up, involving you in a spell that should have happened entirely without your knowledge."

Autumn would have backed away, but the crowd of teenagers from the airport was behind her. "You're crazy."

"Some would say so." The man didn't sound at all insulted. He smiled happily at her, holding out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"You're a raving loony." Autumn pointedly didn't take his hand. "Albus Dumbledore is a character from a book. I don't know how you people got me here, or why you're all pretending to be witches, but you'd better send me home right now!"

"A character from a book?" the Dumbledore-impersonator repeated meditatively. Apparently, he hadn't heard anything except that. "Now, what makes you say that?"

Autumn ignored this as being too silly for words. "You'd better take me home right now!"

"Well, of course, dear," Anderson said. "We'll be glad to, just as soon as we figure out what happened. I could have sworn that your phone was tapped into the spell network we organized."

Autumn frowned suspiciously. "Do you mean Verizon?"

Anderson blinked in confusion. "No, I'm afraid not. But please, was your telephone acting at all strangely before I found you? Were you talking to anyone you didn't know, perhaps?"

Autumn hesitated, eyes narrowed. "If I was, why should I tell you?" she wanted to know.

"Because we're hardly going to send you back to America without finding out!" Anderson said, exasperated.

"I really do suggest you help us discover what went so wrong as to allow you to come here," the would-be-Dumbledore said. "I should hate to send you back, only to find out later that there are permanent ill effects."

"Ill effects?" Autumn asked warily. "What are you talking about?"

The man just smiled. "You continue to ask questions even when you have the pair of us at a disadvantage. Won't you tell us your name?"

Autumn considered it. Of course, it wasn't very smart to tell your name to random people you meet in the airport... but she really couldn't see how it would make her current situation any worse. "Autumn Vance."

"Miss Vance." The man nodded, in what could very well have been satisfaction. "I thought that might be it. And you have been conversing with our Mr. Malfoy, have you not?"

Autumn started. "How did you know that?" she demanded.

"I know a great many things," the man said easily. "This, however, I learned from a pair of ladies named Lianne and Erin - "

"You do know them!" Autumn took several threatening steps towards the man before remembering that he was much larger than she was, even if he was old. "Where are they? Did you kidnap them, too?"

"We didn't kidnap anyone!" Anderson objected. "It was entirely accidental. Albus, do you know how this happened?"

The man studied Autumn pensively. "Perhaps."

"Then tell me!" Autumn said impatiently. "Or better yet, bring Erin and Lianne here, and they can tell me!"

"That is not feasible at this point in time," the man said. "However - "

"Why isn't it?" Autumn interrupted. "You said you had them here." She paled. "You haven't killed them, have you?"

"Now, Miss Vance, please calm down," the man tried to say.

Autumn was having none of it. "You have! Or if you haven't, you've done something else awful to them! You're probably involved in some sort of terrible crime ring - I mean, you'd have to have some involvement with drugs to knock me out for the trip to wherever we are. Well, whatever you've done to Li and Erin, you aren't going to do it to me! I've taken self-defense classes, and I'll be able to hurt at least some of you before you can do anything to me!"

"For the last time, we are not going to do anything to you!" Anderson tried to explain. She sighed. "Albus, can't we do something?"

"Do something? What, are you going to shoot me now? Is that what you want - an unexplained dead body on your hands?" Autumn realized she was trembling, and immediately ordered herself to stop. "Do you think that the police won't notice I'm gone? I was with my friend, and the first thing she'll do when she sees I'm gone is to tell them. You'll be in trouble then! I - what is that?" Autumn stopped short, watching in disbelief as the man pulled a stick out of his dress.

"Nothing at all." The man smiled pleasantly. "Miss Vance, I really suggest that you calm down, before I have to make you."

"So now you're threatening me?" Autumn demanded. "I most certainly will not calm down! I bet you're scared someone's going to hear me and come running! Well, if that's what you're worried about, I'm sure as hell not going to make you any less worried! I - "

"Stupefy!"

Autumn collapsed, unconscious.

Dumbledore sighed. "I hate having to do that."

~*~

"And now we have to deal with yet another upstart American teenager with no past."

"Severus, you don't know that's what's going on," McGonagall said reasonably. "She could be nothing like Lianne."

"Hah." The Potions teacher was unmollified. "You say that, but I can tell you right now exactly what is going to happen from this moment on. After a great deal of fuss trying to convince that girl that magic is real, we will take her back to search for her home in America. It won't be there. We'll bring her back and, through some twisted logic, she will be enrolled at Hogwarts, and all of us will have to sacrifice our free time to train her because she is six years behind where she ought to be. Well, I refuse to be part of it."

Dumbledore smiled. "Well, you do seem to have this all worked out, Severus."

"I don't know why you think we won't be able to send her home," Anderson said, frowning. "What are you talking about, saying her home won't be there? Where else would it be?"

"Call it a lucky guess," Snape said darkly.

"Severus is just grouchy because he doesn't like two of Miss Vance's friends," Dumbledore said, ignoring Snape's glare.

"Her friends - that's right," Anderson said. "You mean you really do know those two people she was going on about?"

"Of course. You've met Lianne yourself." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Or don't you remember?"

"What - oh." Anderson nodded. "Ms. Black, the emissary you sent to help organize the American part of this telephone operation. But Miss Vance seemed to be under the impression that her friends had been kidnapped."

"It's quite a puzzle, and no mistake," Dumbledore agreed. "Lianne is, as you know, still unavailable, but I'll write to Ms. Erin Connor. She may be able to visit in the next few days. Perhaps her presence will be calming for Miss Vance."

"But that doesn't explain what we're going to do with that girl," McGonagall pointed out. "We can't leave her unconscious in the hospital wing indefinitely."

"I know. We'll have her woken up, then ask her address." Dumbledore glanced at Anderson. "We can send someone to America to..." He paused.

"To see if her family still exists?" Snape filled in the gap cynically.

"To notify her relatives," Dumbledore finished, with a quelling look at Snape. "Besides, we'll need someone on hand to modify their memories, when - "

"If."

" - when we send Miss Vance home." Dumbledore sighed. "Really, Severus, you might try to be at least a bit more optimistic."

The Potions master's only answer was a snort of disgust.

~*~

"Ennervate."

Autumn groaned. She must have overslept. What had happened to her alarm clock? It was weird - she'd had the strangest dream, about being at Hogwarts -

Her surroundings registered.

"Oh my God!" Autumn sat up so abruptly she nearly cracked heads with the woman bending over her. "Where am I?"

"The hospital wing, of course," the woman - the nurse? - said. "I'm Madam Pomfrey, and - "

"You aren't."

"I beg your pardon?" The nurse was affronted. "I most certainly am!"

"You most certainly are not." Autumn was determined to have this settled, once and for all. "I don't know why you lot want to pretend to be book characters, but I'm not going to play along. I - "

"Thank you, Poppy, I'll take it from here."

Autumn looked up. It was the same man from before. Her eyes narrowed. "You knocked me unconscious."

"I'm afraid so," he said, not in the least apologetic. "You really didn't leave me much choice. You were making quite a fuss."

"Of course I made a fuss," Autumn said. "You kidnapped me!"

"Ms. Anderson made an honest mistake," the man said firmly. "She thought you were someone else, or she would never have brought you here."

"Then how come you've got my friends here?" Autumn wanted to know. "And why can't I see them?"

"You can't see them because they aren't actually here," the man told her. "Erin is in Wales at the moment. Lianne was here for a while, but now she's back in America."

"Good. Send me back, too."

"It isn't that simple," the man said patiently. "I need to know where you live, first."

"Baltimore, of course," Autumn said, annoyed. "That's where you people found me, isn't it?"

"Of course." The man sounded a little too placating for Autumn's tastes. "But where exactly in Baltimore? Do you have an address?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Then how do you expect to get home?" the man pointed out reasonably.

"Send me back to the airport," Autumn said promptly.

"No."

Autumn was taken aback by this flat refusal. "Why not?"

"Let us say that I have my reasons. Now," the man leveled a very creepy gaze on her, "please tell me your address."

Autumn shivered, deciding she didn't want to cross this man. "4722 Barrington Court."

"Thank you." The man smiled. "That wasn't so painful, was it?" Autumn was silent. "Why don't you stay here until we can locate your house? Then we'll send you back as soon as we can."

"Locate? But I just gave you - " But the man had left already. Autumn sighed. "Weird guy."

Autumn looked around the room. It looked pretty much like a normal doctor's examination room, except that there were several more cots, all of them empty. Autumn stood up, and some of her joints cracked. She winced, wondering how long she'd been unconscious.

Having no intention of sitting around doing nothing while the lunatics here did God-knows-what with her address, Autumn wandered over to a table piled with what appeared to be medicines. They were certainly in medicinal jars, but the labels were pretty crazy. What was a "bezoar," and why did it sound strangely familiar? And did that really say "Pepper-Up Potion?" Who did these people think they were fooling, anyway?

Getting tired of poking around, Autumn wondered where the nurse had gone. She didn't seem much more sensible than that Dumbledore-man, but she might be a little more willing to give some good explanations.

There were some screens at the back of the room, and a door. Autumn tried the door handle first, but it was locked. She scowled. That probably meant the nurse was hiding back there.

Autumn briefly debated leaving the hospital wing, but decided against it. That man had said he'd come back and take her home, so she might as well wait to see if he was going to keep his word. Besides, supposedly Erin and Lianne were here somewhere, and what was she doing if not trying to find Erin and Lianne? Autumn went to sit back down.

"Hey, girl!"

Autumn jumped, turning back to look at the screens. A voice had come from behind one of them. She hadn't realized there were other people there. She walked cautiously over to the screen where the voice had come from. "You mean me?"

"Yeah. Come here, would you?"

Autumn shrugged, and went past the screen. There was a boy about her age there, lying on his side on a cot, with a blanket draped over him up to his waist. He stared at her with eager interest.

"Well?" Autumn asked after a moment, uncomfortable with his scrutiny.

"Oh, I just wanted to look at you," the boy explained. "I've never seen a Muggle up close before."

Autumn rolled her eyes. "You lot really are crazy, aren't you? Muggles, wizards, funny clothes... if it weren't for the kidnapping part, I'd think this was some huge role-playing game."

"What's a role-playing game?" the boy wanted to know. "Is it a Muggle thing? Does it have to do with telephones?"

Autumn stared at him in disbelief. "You are either a very good actor or a very big idiot."

"Well, Draco says I'm an idiot," the boy said, not sounding particularly concerned by this.

"Draco." Autumn tried to inject this word with all the skeptical contempt she could muster.

"Draco Malfoy," the boy agreed. He sniffed. "He says lots of things, actually. Mum says I should listen to him if I want to get ahead in the world." He sniffed again, loudly.

Autumn took a step away. "Are you sick - no, of course you're sick, you're in a hospital wing. Are you contagious?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean the sniffing!" The boy smiled, pleased to have figured it out without help. "No, it's just that Draco says that Muggles smell funny. But you don't. Maybe if you came closer?"

Autumn glared at him. "I do not smell funny!"

"Ok," the boy said agreeably. "Maybe Draco was just confused. I don't think he really knows all that much about Muggles, anyway. He said they're all stupid, but I think they must be quite clever to come up with things like staplers."

Autumn blinked. She had to ask. "Staplers?"

"Oh, yes," the boy said enthusiastically. "We learned about those in class the other day. They go click, and this little bit of metal comes out, and you know what it does?" He lowered his voice, as if this revelation was the most thrilling in the world. "It sticks things together!"

"Ok..." Autumn backed away, towards the edge of the screen. "You know, I should probably go back out here - "

"Mr. Zabini?"

Autumn spun around. The nurse was standing behind her, looking extremely disapproving.

"Mr. Zabini is not supposed to have guests," the nurse said sternly.

"I don't mind," the boy - Zabini - spoke up. "It's really boring back here alone."

"You ought to be resting," the nurse said.

"I did rest," Zabini objected. "I rested for hours and hours. And she's the only one who's visited me, except when Draco and Tabitha came last night."

The nurse's face softened a little. She glanced at Autumn. "Well... I suppose you can stay and talk. But just talking, mind! I'll let the Headmaster know where you'll be. But stay here! No more wandering." She left.

Autumn sighed, seating herself on the chair beside the bed. It looked like she was stuck with this boy, at least for a little while. A thought struck her. "Say - I don't suppose your first name is Blaise, is it?"

"Yes!" The boy looked incredibly pleased. "You guessed! Well, I already know your name. You're Autumn Vance."

Autumn drew back. "How'd you know that?"

"They were talking about you when they brought you in," Blaise informed her. "Professor Dumbledore and the American lady. They don't know how you got here. Do you know?"

"They kidnapped me," Autumn said shortly.

"Did they really?" Blaise was fascinated. "Why?"

"I have no idea," Autumn said. "But they kidnapped my two friends in the past few days, as well. I don't suppose you know them?" she asked hopefully. "Erin Connor and Lianne Treyvan?"

"Um." Blaise's forehead creased with the effort of thought. "I don't think so. I know a Sally-Ann, though."

"What?" Autumn asked blankly.

"Well, Lianne, Sally-Ann," Blaise said. "They sound kind of the same."

"Not really." Autumn shook her head. "Look, this place - this castle, or whatever. Where is it?"

"You mean Hogwarts?" Blaise considered this. "I'm not sure. I know it's in Scotland somewhere, but I'm pretty sure it's Unplottable, so I don't know exactly where."

Autumn groaned. "Not you, too! Why is everyone so convinced this place is really Hogwarts?"

"Um... because it is?" Blaise said.

"It's not!" Autumn snapped. "Hogwarts is a place in a book. It isn't real. Next, you'll be saying that thousands of years ago there was a little furry person running around trying to destroy an all-powerful evil ring!"

Blaise was silent for a moment. "Do all Muggles yell a lot?" he asked eventually.

"I'm not - " Autumn paused, then tried again in a lower tone of voice. "I'm not yelling. I just can't figure out why you all think you're characters from a book."

"I don't think I'm a book character," Blaise said, perturbed. "I mean, I'd know, wouldn't I? I'd be little words floating around. Or maybe I'd just be written down on a page somewhere..."

Autumn stared at him. "What are you - " She shook her head. "Never mind." She decided that this was enough of this subject. "So how come you're in here? You don't look sick."

To her astonishment, Blaise blushed. "It's kind of a long story," he said, embarrassed.

Autumn shrugged. "Well, you don't have to tell it if you don't want to," she said. "But if you do, I've got nothing if not time."

Blaise hesitated. "You'll laugh at me."

"Maybe. If you did something stupid, like set your arm on fire," Autumn said candidly.

"No," Blaise said. "Nothing like that." He looked at his hands. He seemed to want to talk about it, Autumn realized. But from what he'd said earlier, he didn't seem to have had any sympathetic visitors. She resigned herself to listening to what would probably be a very dull story.

"Then what?" she encouraged him.

"Well, there's this guy..."

~*~

"I told you so."

"Yes, all right, Severus, you told us," McGonagall snapped. "Now stop gloating and help us figure out what to do about this girl."

"The poor thing... no trace of her family at all..." Anderson shook her head sadly.

"I thought you said you found an uncle," Sinistra said, frowning.

"There was evidence of an uncle," McGonagall corrected. "However, this Marvin Vance passed away several years ago."

"Leaving quite a large sum of money to Miss Autumn Vance, it seems," Dumbledore added. "Quite puzzling."

"Why?" Sprout asked. "Not the part about not finding her family, but her uncle. Why shouldn't he leave his money to her?"

"Oh, no reason, of course," Dumbledore said, smiling. "Just a thought of mine. And now," his face turned serious, "we turn to the more difficult matter. We have established that Miss Vance no longer has a family in America to return to. The remaining decision is - what do we do with her?"

"I don't suppose we can just ship her back to America," Snape said, not very hopefully.

"Actually, Severus has a point," Sinistra said. "This girl isn't our responsibility. She isn't even the American League's responsibility. She's a Muggle. The American Muggle government must have its own method of dealing with orphans."

"And do you want to be the one to explain to these Muggles exactly how poor Miss Vance came to lose her family?" Angela Stellarum, the Muggle Studies professor, asked. "The whole disappearance just reeks of magic."

"We'd be hard pressed to explain it to a wizard employee, let alone a Muggle," Samantha Deva, the Study of Ancient Runes professor, agreed. "Unless the rest of you know something that I don't, of course. But I just don't see how this Muggle girl could have gotten here all by herself."

"Unless, of course, she is not a Muggle."

All eyes turned to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Until then she'd been watching with slight amusement, as she usually did during any sort of staff meeting. But whenever she deigned to make a comment, everyone listened. Anything Miache Sanguinis had to say was almost always worth hearing.

"What makes you say that, Miache?" Dumbledore asked.

"Was it a premonition?" Trelawney asked eagerly.

"No. It vas simple logic." Miache sighed. "You say zhis girl unknowingly tapped into your telephone system? Vell, isn't zhat 'ow you can tell magical children from nonmagical? If zhey can perform magic wizzout knowing vhat zhey are doing?"

"That's certainly a good point." Anderson looked slightly uncomfortable to be addressing a vampire. "But if Miss Vance were a witch, our detectors would have sensed her when she was much younger."

"Ah, yes, we all know about the American magic-detecting equipment." Snape snorted.

"Severus, please," Dumbledore said calmingly.

"Yes, you might at least try to contribute," McGonagall added, with a great deal less patience than the Headmaster showed. "Or make helpful observations, instead of those cryptic mutterings."

"Very well. I will be blunt." Snape eyed Anderson with sneering dislike - not that this was particularly different from the way he viewed most people. "Your much-vaunted magic-detecting equipment couldn't find a wizard in the next room. The only way you find students is by tracking the accidental spells they perform. It is perfectly possible that, not only is Miss Vance a witch, but that there are dozens of other witches and wizards across the country who simply haven't had the misfortune to make a mistake severe enough to attract the notice of your employees."

"Now, Severus, that seems a little harsh," Sprout said indignantly.

"Really? I zhought it summed up ze situation wiz remarkable accuracy and insight." Miache smiled in that special way that made her fangs glint in the light, reminding everyone in the room that this was a vampire they were speaking to.

"Well, there's only one way to find out for sure, isn't there?" Sinistra said reasonably. "Give the girl a simple spell to try and see if she can manage. That will settle the matter once and for all."

"But what are you planning to do if she is a witch?" Stellarum asked. "She still thinks she's a Muggle."

"I suppose we'll have to train her," Anderson said reluctantly. "Although I'm not at all sure the American League will accept her into their schools. She didn't register on the equipment - which, might I add, is state-of-the-art - so in our public school systems she's still a Muggle."

"But suppose she is a Muggle," Deva pointed out. "Just because her situation is magical, it doesn't follow that she is. Her memory will have to be completely reconstructed."

"If she is a Muggle, maybe a boarding school would accept her without too many questions," Anderson said. "Or - well, might Ms. Black be persuaded to take charge of this girl?"

"She might," Dumbledore conceded. "However, Lianne is traveling quite a lot these days. She may not be able to take responsibility for a teenage girl."

"Her other friend, then," Anderson suggested. "What was her name?"

"Erin Connor." Snape smiled humorlessly. "That would certainly be interesting."

Anderson frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ms. Connor is only nineteen herself," Dumbledore explained. "I don't think that idea will work. But - "

"This speculation is all well and good," McGonagall spoke up, "but we still don't know if Miss Vance is a witch or not. Shouldn't we determine that, before we make any decisions?"

"As I was about to say," Dumbledore said, with a wry smile in McGonagall's direction, "Ms. Connor has replied to the letter I sent her when Miss Vance came, and she is planning to arrive here just after sunset. Since Miss Vance does not appear to trust any of us enough to believe what we tell her about magic, perhaps it might be best to wait for Ms. Connor to attempt any tests of Miss Vance's magical abilities."

"Ms. Connor is coming 'ere?" At this, Miache showed some interest. "Is she flying?"

"I don't believe so," Dumbledore said. "She and Mr. Lupin are coming to Hogsmeade by Floo Powder."

"Oh." Miache lost interest.

"Well, then it's settled," Dumbledore said.

"But what are we going to do with that girl until sunset?" Anderson asked. "She can't just sit alone in your hospital wing."

"She and Mr. Zabini seem to be getting along well, according to Poppy," Dumbledore said. "I'm sure she will have no difficulty in passing the three hours or so until Ms. Connor arrives. Now," he smiled, "shall we conclude the telephone exchange program?"

~*~

"But why haven't you got a partner, Draco?"

Draco snapped out of the contemplation he'd been in at Pansy's words. "What?"

"Your phone partner," Pansy repeated impatiently. "You were complaining about her the other day. Where is she?"

And here it came. Draco thought he might be sick. Everyone in the school knew by now that somehow, a Muggle girl had been included in the exchange. And since he was the only one who hadn't paired up with an American, it would only be a matter of time until someone put two and two together.

But Pansy was still waiting for a response. "I guess she couldn't come," Draco said, berating himself for not coming up with something better.

Pansy seemed to accept this. "Lucky you." She rolled her eyes at the American witch sitting stiffly beside her in the Slytherin Common Room.

Someone tapped Draco on the shoulder. He turned around. "Professor Snape?"

"Come with me," the professor said in clipped tones, the look in his eyes boding ill for anyone who crossed him today.

"Yes, sir." Draco followed immediately, not wanting to be the one who received the full share of Snape's wrath. This had to be about that Muggle girl. She must've mentioned him.

Snape led Draco into the staff room, where most of the teachers, as well as Juliet Anderson, were gathered. "Hello, Draco," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "Sit down, please."

Draco did so, trying not to feel like he was a small child being called out for punishment. "What do you want?"

"I understand you've been talking with Miss Autumn Vance?" Anderson said. "Were you aware that she is a Muggle?"

So they didn't know he knew! Draco would have breathed a sigh of relief, but it would have been a dead giveaway. Time to call on the old acting skills.

"A what?" Draco curled his lip in disgust. "You're joking."

"I'm afraid not," Stellarum said. "There seems to have been some mix-up with the phone network. Did you happen to notice it at all?"

Draco pretended to think back. "Well, she did strike me as remarkably dim," he said thoughtfully, "but I thought that was just because she was an American." Anderson's smile became rather forced. "So if she's a Muggle, how did she get here?"

"We were hoping you might have some idea," Dumbledore said. "Perhaps she said something to indicate - "

"She didn't say much of anything," Draco said flatly. "She yelled, she insulted me, and she said I was harassing her. And she was the one who kept calling me!"

"Really?" Stellarum seemed to find that tremendously interesting.

"Yes." Draco leaned back in his chair, coolly eyeing the group. "Can I go now, or do you want to continue interrogating me?"

Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Anderson exchanged glances. "You may go, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said. "And ten points from Slytherin for that insolent attitude towards our guests."

Draco rolled his eyes, and left without another word. He smiled a little as he headed back to the dungeons. He might just get out of this after all, if he played his cards right.

~*~

"New friend, Zabini?"

Autumn and Blaise stopped talking with a start, turning to look at the person who had just entered the hospital wing. Autumn raised her eyebrows as she got a good look at the girl. She had bright purple hair, cropped at only a few inches long.

"Hi, Mandy." Blaise sounded more on edge than he had at any other point in their conversation. "This is Autumn Vance."

"The Muggle, huh?" Mandy grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mandy Brocklehurst. I'm tutoring Blaise here while he's out of action."

"Tutoring him? In what?" Autumn asked curiously.

"Oh, you know." Mandy dropped into the seat beside Autumn. "Classes. You can listen in, if you like."

Autumn shrugged. "Well, I don't have anything better to do."

"Blunt," was Mandy's only comment, but she didn't sound particularly upset. "So, Blaise, shall we start with Herbology?"

~*~

"Are ve nearly there?"

Remus smiled at Erin. "Very nearly. Hogwarts has large grounds."

"Too large," Erin agreed. They had to walk across the grounds to get to the door to the castle because, to Erin's extreme irritation, Hogwarts had all sorts of new wards up against vampires. Last year, several vampires had attacked the school, under Voldemort's orders. Those attacks had encouraged Lady Miache to take a job as a Hogwarts professor - but they'd also led to the new protections.

"Finally," Erin said, as they reached the castle doors. She tilted her head back to look at the entire building. "I'm alvays amazed - this place is so big."

Remus smiled again. "So it is." He held the door open for her. "Now, I believe we're to go to the hospital wing."

"And you can find it?"

Remus laughed. "I should think so. My friends and I ended up spending a lot of time there."

Erin was too anxious to be amused. Dumbledore's letter had set her very much on edge. She'd spent over a year believing that Autumn and Hazel were gone for good, and she'd almost managed to resign herself to losing her good friend and her favorite cousin. Hearing that Autumn had appeared out of the blue had reopened all the old wounds from losing her friends, family, and home.

Remus sighed, noticing her distress. "Don't worry, Erin," he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure this will turn out well."

Erin wasn't convinced, but she took comfort from him anyway.

"Erin? Remus? Ah, good, you're here."

"Dumbledore!" Erin waved at him as he approached. "Is Autumn really here?"

"It would certainly seem so," Dumbledore said. "May I walk with you to the hospital wing?"

"Of course," Remus said.

"Good." Dumbledore fell into step beside them. "Now, you know what it is Miss Vance needs to know, correct?"

Erin nodded. "We need to explain about the magical world." She gave a half smile. "Knowing Autumn, she's been going crazy trying to come up with a logical explanation."

"She's suggested kidnapping, drugs, and a crime ring so far," Dumbledore agreed. "And I'm sure she's come up with some more complex theories in the time since she arrived. But that's not all." He sighed. "Erin, I'm afraid history has repeated itself."

"What?" Erin blinked.

"We have been able to locate neither Miss Vance's home nor her family," Dumbledore said. "Her situation is very much what yours was last summer."

"Oh, no!" Erin was horrified. "Poor Autumn! Does she know?"

"I was hoping you'd be the one to tell her," Dumbledore admitted. "She doesn't seem to trust anyone here - I can't imagine why." His eyes twinkled briefly.

"Leave me vith the hard stuff," Erin said, resigned.

"But what's going to happen to Autumn?" Remus asked. "She's all alone here."

"That brings us to the second thing about Miss Vance," Dumbledore said. "It's possible that she is a witch."

Erin gaped. "You're joking."

"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore told her. "We aren't sure, of course, but it's possible that she unconsciously used her magic to tap into the enchanted telephone network between Hogwarts and the American League."

"Amazing." Erin grinned suddenly. "She'll never believe it."

"So I gathered, from even just a few minutes in her company." Dumbledore smiled back. "However, as I said, no one can be sure whether she is a witch or not. So, after you've explained everything to Miss Vance's satisfaction, hopefully you will be able to persuade her to attempt a few simple spells."

"That doesn't sound very exact," Remus said doubtfully. "There has to be another way of testing for magic."

"Most countries have their own methods of testing," Dumbledore agreed. "Unfortunately, the American method is... not necessarily the most foolproof. Children need to have a higher level of magic to be registered in America than in Britain."

"That's right - it didn't pick up Lianne," Remus said. "But couldn't Hogwarts' test be applied to Autumn?"

"Not without a great deal of time and effort that could be better spent on other issues," Dumbledore said firmly. "If Miss Vance is a Muggle, there will be no response. If she is a witch, something will happen. It may not be what the spell is intended to do, but it will be something."

~*~

"Miss Vance?"

The nurse interrupted Mandy's explanation of how to tell apart the different kinds of Hellebore, and why eating any of them would be an extremely stupid thing to do.

Autumn looked up at the nurse. "What? Are you going to send me home now?"

"You have guests," the nurse said, with a disapproving look for Autumn's tone of voice. "From outside the school."

"Guests?" Autumn frowned. Who'd visit her? Who even knew she was here? She followed the nurse out to the main section of the hospital wing.

"Autumn!"

Autumn's jaw dropped. "Erin! What - how - what are you doing here?" Her face darkened. "Hazel has been panicking ever since you disappeared! Why didn't you call us or something? How could you just abandon us?"

"I didn't mean to leave," Erin said guiltily. "It just kind of... happened." She shook her head. "Look, are you ok? How are you feeling?"

"Awful," Autumn said flatly. "These people are all insane. They think this place is Hogwarts."

"Um... yes." Erin looked extremely uncomfortable. "About that." She sighed. "Maybe you'd better sit down. Or," she looked over at the nurse, "should ve go somevhere else?"

"Here is as good a place as any," the nurse said with a sniff. "Besides, this way I'll be on hand to treat her if she goes into shock."

"I'm not going to go into shock!" Autumn said angrily.

"Of course not," the nurse said soothingly. She took a bar of something from a drawer in the table. "Why don't you have some chocolate?"

"I don't want chocolate!" Autumn snapped. "I want to know what's going on!"

The nurse handed the bar of chocolate to the man standing with Erin. "You give this to her as soon as she'll take it," she instructed. "And she's to eat all of it, mind."

The man nodded. "I'll see to it, Poppy." The nurse left.

Autumn eyed the man suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know each other," Erin said. "Remus, this is Autumn Vance. Autumn, this is Remus Lupin."

Autumn paused, waiting for Erin to laugh. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope." Erin smiled up at Remus. "He's the real thing."

Autumn closed her eyes and sat down on the cot behind her. "This is ridiculous."

"I know it's hard to believe - "

"Not that!" Autumn's eyes shot open to glare at Erin. "I thought you were the sensible one! If this were Lianne, I could believe it - no, I'd expect it! - but you! I never thought you'd be taken in by some creep with a crazy story! What's wrong with you? A few days ago you were fine, and now - now you're all lovey-dovey with some guy old enough to be your father, and you're wearing a strange dress, and - oh, my God." Autumn froze. "You're one of them now, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Erin looked extremely confused by this shift in the train of the rant.

"You've joined up with the kidnappers and the lunatics!" Autumn turned on Remus. "This is all your fault!"

He took a step backwards. "My fault?"

"Yes. Your fault." Autumn glared ominously at him. "I don't know what you did to her to make her think you're a wizard, but whatever it is, you'd better stop right now! When her parents find out, you'll be in deep trouble, mister!"

"Autumn, please try to calm down," Erin said, exasperated. "There really is a logical explanation, if you'll just listen!"

"I will not listen!" Autumn stormed. "You'll just brainwash me the way he did to you! Is that what happened to Lianne? Is she off somewhere with another perverted old man pretending to be Sirius?" This startled Remus to no end, but Autumn didn't give him a chance to say anything. "That's got to be it. If this is convincing enough to fool you, Lianne wouldn't have stood a chance! Well, I will not be taken in!"

"Autumn - "

"I can see what's in front of me, even if you can't! These people are crazier than any I've ever heard of, and I'm not letting them twist my mind!"

"Please, try to calm down, or you might - "

"Whatever it is that you think is proof, it has to have been faked! I don't know what they showed you, but it will not fool me!"

"In places like this, strong emotions can trigger - "

"I will not give in!"

Crash!

Autumn stopped short. Erin winced. "I tried to tell you," she said, shrugging. Autumn looked across the room. The jars on the table, which had contained oddly named mixtures, were now a chaotic mess of shattered glass and strange liquids and powders.

"What just happened?" she asked slowly. "There was no one over there - I know I would have noticed. How did that mess get there?"

"You did that," Remus said with a sigh. "Well, it seems that we have an answer to Dumbledore's question."

"I did not do that," Autumn said positively. "It only happened just now, and I was all the way over here." She looked at Erin and Remus suspiciously. "Did either of you - no, how could you have? I was looking at you the entire time!"

"Do you vant that explanation now?" Erin asked, with a small smile.

"Yeah... yeah, I think so." Autumn stared uncomprehendingly at Erin as the older girl sat on the cot across from her. After a moment's hesitation, Remus sat beside Erin. "I just don't understand..."

"I know," Erin said sympathetically. "It's hard. But if I explain it all, do you promise to believe me?"

"No." Autumn snorted softly. "You have to know me better than that. But if, when you've told me everything, it all makes sense, then I'll believe you."

"Fair enough." Erin smiled. "Vhat do you vant me to start vith?"

Autumn frowned. "With that accent you've picked up. What's with that?"

Erin grimaced. "You had to pick vun of the hard questions first," she said. "It's complicated."

"Obviously," Autumn muttered.

"No interrupting," Erin said sternly. "I'll never get through this if you keep making comments."

"Fine," Autumn said grudgingly. "I'll be a good girl and listen quietly."

"Good," Erin said, relieved. "And be sure you keep that in mind... because this is pretty unbelievable."

~*~

"So let me get this straight," Autumn said, once Erin had finished her explanation. "You're a vampire and you're dating a werewolf, Lianne is not just a witch, but a married witch, and you've both got yourselves very well established in this lovely little magical world in less than five days?"

"Vell, no, not exactly," Erin said. "It's been more than that for us."

Autumn rolled her eyes. "You really expect me to believe that time passes at different rates in Britain and in America?"

Erin didn't rise to the bait. "I've been here for a year and a half, Autumn. Lianne's been here for more than twenty years."

"No way." Autumn drew back. "I don't believe that. I don't believe any of this. You're lying."

"I'm not," Erin said. "I can prove it, if you like."

"How? Are you going to drink someone's blood?" Autumn scoffed.

"No!" Erin scowled. "I vouldn't kill somevun just to prove a point. And I don't drink human blood, anyvay."

"Whatever." Autumn rolled her eyes. "There's nothing you can say that would make me believe you, so you might as well - "

Erin disappeared.

Autumn froze, then waved a hand through the space where Erin had been. She looked over at Remus. "Where'd she go?"

Remus laughed. He had somehow acquired a little bird, which hopped on his lap and pecked mischievously at his fingers. "I suppose you think you're cute," he said, apparently addressing the bird. "She transformed, of course."

Autumn looked at the bird, then at Remus, then back at the bird. "Into that?"

Remus nodded. "A sparrow - the third order of vampire powers. She's gaining quickly, though Miache says the power growth will slow down soon. She could have turned into a moth, or a mouse, but she says she's always afraid someone will step on her or something." The sparrow flew up to peck Remus on the nose. He tried not to smile. "That's enough, Erin."

The bird seemed to stretch, somehow, and suddenly, Erin was there. She fell a few inches into Remus's lap. "Oof! I think I calculated that too high." Remus gently but firmly moved her over to sit beside him. She grinned at Autumn. "Believe me now?"

Autumn was silent for several seconds. Then, "You turned into a bird."

"A sparrow," Erin agreed. "Like Remus said. I can also turn invisible, but not for long enough to be impressive."

"Why a sparrow?" Autumn asked. "Why not a bat?"

"I'm not powerful enough to be a bat," Erin said, turning a little red. "I'm not very strong yet."

"So anyway," Remus said, louder, "you do believe us now, right?"

Autumn shivered. "I guess... I guess I have to. But how can you have been gone a year and a half? It's only been a couple days back in America."

"I don't understand, either," Erin said with a shrug. "But vait till you see a calendar - I couldn't believe it. Vhat year do you think it is?"

Autumn frowned. "2003, what else?"

"1996, that's vhat else," Erin said. "I even got a Muggle newspaper, to check it. That's the year. Somehow, ve lost seven years."

Remus looked at Erin strangely. "You never said anything about that."

Erin shrugged. "I didn't vant you to vorry. Besides, Lianne didn't seem to think it vas important."

"That doesn't mean much." Remus let the subject go, but there was still a worried look in his eyes.

"So we've been time-traveling?" Autumn asked. "Is that it?"

"I thought so for I vhile," Erin said, "but it doesn't seem like it. There are some aspects of this that simple time-travel vouldn't explain."

"Like what?" Autumn asked suspiciously. "There's something you aren't telling me."

"I'm just trying to figure out how to break this gently." Erin sighed. "I don't think I can. I'll just say it. Autumn, your home has disappeared."

"It's what?" Autumn blinked. "What do you mean, disappeared?"

"I mean people vent to look for it, but it vasn't there," Erin said. "The same thing happened to me. Vhen I tried to go home to America, my house vas just gone. My mother, my father, everyvun - vanished."

Autumn shook her head. "Impossible."

"But true," Erin told her sadly. "I tried for months to find you and Hazel, to at least send a message somehow, but I couldn't. My letters vere returned, my phone calls didn't go through, and the two times I traveled to Baltimore it vas as if everyvun I knew had simply left. I gave up eventually. I thought I'd never see either of you again."

"What did you do, then?" Autumn asked. "Have you been staying with Lianne? Or - " She stopped, as Erin and Remus both blushed a little. "Oh. Oh."

"I did stay vith Li for a vhile," Erin said quickly. "But - she travels so much now, there vas never anyvun there, and - vell - vell, that's not really important. You are the focal point here."

"Ok." Autumn was more than happy to change the subject. "So... what's going to happen to me, if I can't go home?"

"Well, considering that you managed to blow up an entire table of medical ingredients," Remus said dryly, "you'll probably need to be trained as a witch."

Autumn stared at him. "What?"

"Dumbledore said you might have magical talent," Erin explained. "That could be vhy you kept getting phone calls from Draco. Ms. Anderson noticed you, anyvay, and assumed you vere vun of her students. That's vhy she brought you here."

"But... I can't be a witch," Autumn said, falling back on reason. "I'd have noticed!"

"Not necessarily," Erin said. "Lianne didn't."

"But..." Autumn couldn't think of anything to say. "But... I can't..."

Remus handed something to Autumn. She looked down at it blankly. "It's that chocolate from Madam Pomfrey," he told her. "It will make you feel better."

"Is it magical?" Autumn asked suspiciously.

Remus laughed. "It doesn't need to be. It's chocolate."

Autumn didn't smile back, but she did eat her chocolate like a good girl. And Remus was right - it did make her feel better.

~*~

"So she is a witch," Anderson said thoughtfully. "I don't know if that makes things easier or more complicated."

"What do you mean?" Stellarum asked. "She has to be trained now, doesn't she? You can take her back to America and put her into the school system."

"It isn't that simple," Anderson said, a trifle impatiently. "I did check to see if that could be done, just in case Miss Vance did turn out magical, and do you know what I found out? There are no records of this girl anywhere - none! It isn't just her family that's vanished. She could have appeared out of thin air. The school system will never enroll her - she'll be lucky if the government will even acknowledge her!"

"How unfortunate," Dumbledore said blandly. "We shall simply have to keep her here."

"Absolutely not," Snape growled. "I've already voiced my opinions on this. I'm not taking on the responsibility of a wearisome former Muggle just because you all feel sorry for her."

"I have to agree, Albus," McGonagall said. "It was hard enough with Lianne. I don't want to go through that a second time. Maybe if she joined the first years, or even waited until next September...?"

"So you plan to leave zhis girl to be 'umiliated by being grouped wiz eleven-year-olds?" Miache sniffed. "And you say zhat vampires are monstrous. I vill train 'er, by myself if I must, zhough I am certain zhat some of ze students vill 'ave ze compassion to 'elp me."

"Now, Lady Miache, there's no need to be like that," Flitwick said indignantly. "I'll be glad to help. I didn't mind the extra tutoring."

"You can count me in," Sprout added.

"Me, too," Stellarum said. "She shouldn't have much trouble with Muggle Studies, but I can help in other ways."

"So can I, even if she doesn't want to take Ancient Runes," Deva said.

Dumbledore smiled. "It's good to see that so many of my professors have such generous hearts," he said. "Then Miss Vance will be enrolled at Hogwarts."

"If you're determined..." McGonagall sighed. "Do you plan to Sort her?"

"I was considering a private ceremony," Dumbledore said. "I don't want to disconcert her too much."

~*~

"I am not putting that thing on my head!"

Erin sighed. "It's not going to hurt you. It's just going to Sort you."

"I know what it's going to do!" Autumn raged. "It will look at my thoughts and blab them to the world!"

"That vas just in the movie," Erin said.

"What movie?" Remus asked, unnoticed.

"How do you know? Maybe after the Sorting, it tells all the professors what the students think about!"

"I assure you, Miss Vance, it doesn't," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling in amusement. "Nor would most of the professors particularly care if it did."

"I just don't like the idea of anyone knowing my thoughts." Autumn glared at the Sorting Hat. "Or anything."

"It's not that bad," Blaise told her encouragingly. He'd complained until he'd been given permission to watch Autumn be Sorted, since he was in the hospital wing in any case and could hear perfectly well, screen or no screen. "All anyone hears is the name of your House."

"Today, Autumn," Erin said, when the girl didn't make a move. "Some of us have to leave before the sun rises."

Autumn scowled, but she put on the Sorting Hat anyway.

"Hello, Autumn Vance."

Autumn had been expecting the voice, so she only nodded a little in acknowledgement and waited for the Hat to get on with it.

"Do you know that you are the second young lady I've met who has had wild fantasies about being placed in Slytherin?"

Lianne, Autumn realized. The Hat had to be referring to Lianne. Li had always insisted she would make an excellent Slytherin, but Autumn had never been able to see it. She'd always thought Lianne would fit better in -

"Hufflepuff, actually. I'm sure she was very happy there. But you, Miss Vance, seem to be a more accurate judge of your own abilities. I see a sharp wit and a good mind, yes, but you don't have quite the hunger for knowledge that Ravenclaws look for. And with that sarcasm, and the pleasure in brutal honesty... I think you ought to be in SLYTHERIN!"

Autumn smirked as she took the Hat off. Erin was laughing. "I saw that vun coming," she said wryly.

"You'll be in my House!" Blaise was delighted. "That's great! We'll have classes together!"

"Not exactly," Dumbledore said. "Miss Vance, you're going to be tutored specially by Lady Miache, as well as some of the other teachers. You're several years behind where you ought to be, but these professors have agreed to teach you separately from the other students."

"Miache?" Remus raised his eyebrows. "I didn't think she would care one way or the other."

"Oh, I don't know," Erin said thoughtfully. "I think she still feels guilty that she couldn't stop Prissy. She looks out for me, sometimes, and I guess Autumn got included in that."

"Maybe." Remus still looked a little doubtful.

"Well, Miss Vance, you are now an official student here," Dumbledore said to Autumn, smiling. "If you don't mind spending the night here in the hospital wing, I will introduce you tomorrow at breakfast. You'll have the day to get magical supplies from Hogsmeade, and on Monday you can begin your schooling."

"Ok, I guess. It doesn't really matter that much." Autumn turned to Erin. "Are you going to leave?"

Erin nodded reluctantly. "I have to be back home by sunrise," she reminded Autumn. "Technically, I could still be out in the sun if I had magical shields and about three bottles of sunscreen on, but I don't vant to risk it if I don't have to."

Autumn hesitated, then quickly hugged Erin, much to the older girl's surprise. "You have no idea how worried about you I was," she said quietly. She wiped at her eyes before pulling away. "Write to me, or something. And tell Lianne to write, too."

Erin grinned. "Sure. You'll like Li's birds. They're pretty crazy." Her smile faded a little. "You'll tell me if you're doing ok, right? I'll try to come visit you later in the year, to make sure you've settled in properly, but let me know if anything happens before then."

Autumn gave her first official Slytherin smile. What she said was, "Of course."

What she thought was, No way in hell.

~*~

Chapter 32

"So you've heard what's going on, right, Draco?" Pansy said, sitting next to him at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

Draco eyed Pansy tolerantly. "What do you mean?"

"About the Muggle girl," Pansy said, as though it should have been obvious. "You must have heard."

"Heard what?" Draco's good mood vanished.

"Apparently, she's not so much of a Muggle as everyone thought," Pansy reported. "She's a witch - a Mudblood. The Americans didn't notice her for some reason, so she's going to enroll here."

"At Hogwarts?" Draco couldn't believe it. Just when he'd thought he might have managed to escape this scandal, this had to happen. There was no way she'd fail to mention that they'd been phone partners, not if she was going to be here permanently.

Of course, if she was a Muggle-born witch, rather than a Muggle herself, that might make the worst of Draco's problems disappear. His father would still be seriously displeased, of course, but he was unlikely to leave lasting wounds for this offense. Particularly if Draco managed to tell the story so that it appeared that she'd simply been harassing him.

Also, there was the wild card of the Witness. The way Lucius referred to her made it clear that she was a very important person. He would certainly hesitate to hurt Draco's chances of impressing her.

Draco was distracted from his thoughts when the room gradually fell silent. He looked up. Dumbledore had stood up, and was preparing to speak.

"I congratulate you all on being awake on a Sunday morning," the Headmaster said cheerfully, "and I hope that you will convey this news to your peers who were not so fortunate. I have two announcements this morning. First, I hope that the American students have enjoyed their time at Hogwarts so far - " Here Dumbledore was interrupted by applause, ranging from polite to enthusiastic. Draco did not join in.

"I will take that to mean you did." Dumbledore smiled brightly. "We shall have to show our guests a British wizarding school, before we must allow them to return to their native country. All of them, except for one, that is - which brings me to my second announcement.

"Those of you whose grandparents attended Hogwarts - " several Purebloods smirked, " - may remember that the transfer student program was ended at Hogwarts due to a lack of interest. Overall, this is still the case, but we are fortunate enough to receive a young lady from America into our student body. She was unaware that she had any magic at all until yesterday, so she will have a unique class schedule. Her name is Miss Autumn Vance, and last night she was privately Sorted into Slytherin."

Draco - as well as several other anti-Muggle Slytherins - couldn't suppress a groan. This was just wonderful. Wasn't it bad enough that the girl had to be in the same school as him? Did she have to be in the same House as well?

"I trust that Miss Vance will be accepted into Hogwarts as warmly as the rest of you were," Dumbledore continued. "For myself, I would like to offer her a most enthusiastic welcome." He proceeded to applaud, cautiously followed by the other professors.

This was apparently some sort of signal, because a girl entered through the side door closest to the Slytherin table. Draco scrutinized her, along with everyone else in the Great Hall. So this was Autumn, was it? Draco sniffed in disapproval. Her hair was entirely too curly, with little black ringlets going every which way. And not only was she dressed like a Muggle, her clothes were all wrinkled. It looked like she'd worn them two days in a row. Maybe she didn't own any other clothes.

Autumn approached the Slytherins, to all appearances perfectly confident. Draco's lip curled back. He'd change that.

"That seat's taken," he said coldly, when Autumn headed for the nearest empty chair.

She looked up at him, startled. It took Draco a moment to realize that she must recognize his voice.

"You - " She stopped whatever she'd been going to say, seeing the hostility in his face. Draco hoped that she might be frightened off, but no such luck. "I don't see anyone sitting here."

The fifth year sitting across from the seat in question immediately propped his feet in the chair. Autumn looked down at them, then moved two seats down to the next empty chair.

"That one's taken, too," Pansy spoke up. "In fact, all these seats are taken."

"Really? How convenient," Autumn said, eyes narrowed. "And here I was thinking that you were just being spiteful."

"Oh, would you look at that?" Asin giggled. "It bites!"

Draco took his cue from Asin. "Don't pay any attention to it," he commanded dispassionately. "Eventually it will go away."

"Or maybe I won't." Autumn walked back towards Draco, at the end of the table. "I bet I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I'm just some terrified Muggle who'll run back to America crying for her mommy after a few pathetic taunts. Well, guess what, Mr. Draco Malfoy - I don't scare that easily. And if you," she looked at the two girls, "think you can get rid of me with a couple overused tricks and clichéd sayings, I hope for your sakes that this school offers remedial classes."

Asin smiled brightly. "You're right," she declared. "I'm dreadfully sorry. I never should have insulted you to your face."

Autumn hesitated. Draco could see that she wasn't used to dealing with Slytherin personalities yet. Good. Any other sixth year Slytherin would have known not to trust anyone who suddenly became sweet and kind after being vicious a moment ago. Perhaps Draco could take advantage of that naivety.

"Right, then." Autumn seemed to take the comment at face value, and turned away to go to a seat.

And fell flat on her face.

"Oops," Asin said with a nasty laugh.

Autumn scrambled to her feet, her face red and her expression boding extremely ill for Asin. Not that she'd get a chance, of course. Asin was a trained - well, partially trained - witch, and she had her wand out and ready. Draco could see several teachers hurrying to break up the approaching fight, but they'd waited too long. They wouldn't be able to get there before Asin did something deliciously dreadful to Autumn.

"I wouldn't, if I were you."

Tabitha laid a hand on Asin's shoulder. Draco scowled. Just when things could really have gotten interesting.

Asin glowered at Tabitha, but she put her wand away. Not only was the unwritten Slytherin law against her for showing dissent where others could see, Tabitha was a prefect. It would be very embarrassing indeed for Slytherin to lose points from the sixth year Slytherin prefect.

"Why don't you come sit at the other end of the table?" Tabitha suggested sweetly. "We have plenty of chairs down there - and the atmosphere is much more pleasant."

Autumn glanced from Asin to Tabitha then, to Draco's surprise, at him, before making up her mind. "Sure. It can't be worse than this side of the table."

~*~

After Tabitha had rescued Autumn, she introduced the new girl to Slytherin after Slytherin on the "friendlier" half of the table. Friendly compared to Draco's side, anyway. One girl, Millicent Bulstrode, kept scowling at no one in particular, and Edmund Rookwood only seemed interested in copying Tracey Davis's Arithmancy homework.

Finally, Tracey sighed. "If you want the wrong answers that much, go ahead," she said, tossing a roll of parchment at Edmund with a shrug. "I just made up the answers anyway."

"Is it hard?" Autumn asked, catching a glimpse of some very complicated-looking symbols Edmund was now busily copying out.

"It's boring," Tracey said. "I should have taken Wizarding Laws instead. At least that class doesn't have much homework to bore me with." She went back to the book she'd been studying.

"Oh." Autumn wasn't sure what to say. She was feeling very overwhelmed by all this - magic, a new school, a new country - and none of these people seemed inclined to help her cope. Tabitha had lost interest once Autumn had been introduced, and was now deep in conversation with two other students.

"You'll get used to it."

Autumn looked up, startled. Tracey had closed her book, and was smiling slightly. "What?"

"The school," Tracey said. "I think I know how you feel. I'm a Muggle-born, too, and there aren't many in Slytherin. Halfbloods, yes. Purebloods, you'd better believe it. But Muggle-borns are much rarer."

"Because Slytherin is anti-Muggle," Autumn said.

Tracey gave her an odd look. "Not exactly. That group over on the other end of the table is, but the rest of us don't particularly care. I've met some Ravenclaws who aren't exactly thrilled with Muggles - even a Gryffindor or two. We're Sorted based on shared personality traits, not shared opinions."

"That would get awfully boring," Autumn had to agree.

"So how do you know about the supposed Slytherin prejudices, anyway?" Tracey asked curiously. "I thought you just came over from America."

"I did," Autumn said, thinking fast. "But I was talking to this boy in the hospital wing - Blaise Zabini - "

"Oh, Blaise." Tracey smirked. "Figures. He parrots every anti-Muggle prejudice Draco and Pansy feed him. I see how you got those ideas."

There was a whooshing sound overhead. Autumn looked up apprehensively, but Tracey wasn't alarmed. "It's just the owl post," she said. "It's not even as bad as most days, since today is Sunday."

That was not particularly reassuring. Autumn resisted the urge to shield her head as the owls swooped down to deliver the mail. Some of them, seeing that the letters' recipients were not present, flew back out again, presumably to wait in the Owlery. The rest separated to the various students, and a few to the teachers.

"Oh, look!" Millicent suddenly became much more cheerful. "Someone's getting a Howler!"

The Slytherins sitting around her followed her gaze. A very large black owl was indeed carrying a bright red envelope, leaving a faint trail of smoke. It was heading directly for the Gryffindor table.

"Good Lord, is that going to Potter?" Edmund gaped. "Who'd send him a Howler? I thought he lived with Muggles!"

"Who has a bird like that?" Tabitha wondered, frowning, as the owl dropped the envelope in front of a boy with dark hair, who Autumn assumed that he was the famous Harry Potter.

Potter clearly knew exactly what he was receiving, and opened it immediately.

"POTTER."

The Great Hall fell silent at the opening words, with only a few murmurs of confusion at the relatively calm tone of the Howler. It was decidedly different from the usual shrieks and screeches - although quite definitely more menacing.

"I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS YEAR'S REPRIEVE. IT ENDS TODAY. BE PREPARED - THIS YEAR YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME UNSCATHED."

As the Howler burnt to a cinder, frantic whispers broke out all through the Great Hall. Everyone knew that there was only one person who would send Harry Potter a message like that.

Autumn happened to look up at the staff table during the spreading panic. Dumbledore was staring, not at Potter, but at the Slytherin table. And he did not look pleased.