Tears and Tears One: A New Beginning

Raef tossed and turned. She was having a fitful sleep; she wasn't doing well at all. She was dreaming about the people from Diagon Alley, from Hogwarts, and her family. Suddenly, she felt a shiver run through her body. She woke up, panting, looking around.

Yes, this is home, she thought. But I don't feel well at all. I may be 12, but I feel merely 2. What's wrong with me? I can feel something bad will happen...but what?

The last thing she remembered was seeing a book before she fell asleep, and woke up the next morning not remembering her ponderings at all.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Raef SR grinned down at her daughter.

"Ugh...mom, can't you let me sleep in more?"

"No, I'm afraid not. You need to get ready, your uncle is taking you to Platform 9 ¾ today, I need to go to Hogwarts on my own accord."

"Uncle? You mean, Uncle Corak's going with me?"

"Yes."

"WOO-HOO!!!" Raef jumped up and shoed her mother out of her room, slipping on some comfortable clothes; she knew she could change on the train. She quickly ran out and grabbed some bacon. Checking her watch, she grumbled, Yeah, I'm late. Big surprise. She kept the bacon hanging out of her mouth while she tied her shoes, hopping up and down on one foot. Grabbing some water, she gulped that down too. Her uncle chuckled.

"Act like ya never seen food b'fore. Aye, I know what that's like." He wolfed down his own breakfast and said, "C'mon then. We got ter Floo our way in, and that's never pleasant." He frowned and said, "Yeh got yer stuff? Cloaks, books?"

Raef grabbed a bag and nodded.

"Caldron-oh wait, yer mom's takin that. Let's see...scales, phials, all that junk?"

Raef grabbed another bag and nodded, looking exasperated.

"Yeh always forget sumthin, but what is it this time? Ahh...got some money?"

Raef slapped her head and ran and got it. Crak smiled and shook his head. Aye, cute kid. Remembers everythin' except for one thing. Poor lass. But he had no time to think over this now, they were running quite late.

"C'mon lassie, we've got ter go!" Raef flew into the main room, grabbed some powder, and shouted "PLATFROM 9 ¾!" Her uncle followed suite.

------------------------

Arthur Weasley looked nervously at his watch "The entrance must have closed up on them! We have to-"

"They'll be here in a minute, Arthur, they'll be-oh my, I do say, what was that?"

'That' was the arrival of two members of the Wolfe clan. They traveled via Floo, but they weren't exiting through your normal, built in the wall fire. No, some kids had started a fire and Corak and Raef just popped through, with much yelling going around and about them. Brushing the soot off of themselves, the conversed in a language that Ginny recognized as Lanolf.

"Remember what Raef SR said? It's a language. I didn't think it was, but here they are, conversing in it."

"Huh. I suppose. That one bloke looks surprised." It was true; Raefs uncle looked around in awe. Raef caught sight of them and waved, then tugged on her relative's shirt, pointing. He looked up at them and trotted over.

"Oh boy. Didn't Raef SR say she had a war happy brother?" Fred asked, trying-and failing-to sound nonchalant, glacing at his scared face.

"Erm...well, if you want to put it like that, Fred-" Ginny said.

"This one's missing an eye. Think it's him?" George looked curious.

"Oh boy, this oughtta be good, trying to talk to a psychopath who can't understand English, eh George?" Fred muttered.

Mrs. Weasley looked rather miffed. "Psychopath? Fred, don't call him that, that's very cruel. I'm sure he had reasons to do whatever he did. Ginny, don't laugh, it is quite rude."

"Aye I did, as a matter 'o fact. I had plenty 'o reason," said the 'psychopath' grimly, looking at them, his yellow eye flashing.

The Weasley's looked shocked, but none more so than Fred and George. "I-er-I-uhh-..." Fred drifted off, uncomfortable. "I...meant it in a nice way?"

"Well, whatever the reason, I've been called worse than a Psychopath from a 15 year old. Nah, I've been called a lot worse but for the sake o' yer ears, I won repeat 'em." He looked to Ginny, grinning, who turned red and looked away. He has a heavy Scottish accent that made a few words hard to understand.

"Hey, you can speak English as well like Raef Senior."

"Yes, I can Fred," Fred's eyes widened. "Yeah, I heard you guys-"

'Just like your sister,' mumbled George.

"-and anyway, English is summat I picked up through me travels. It's a hard language t' learn, but everyone seems to speak it." He looked at the train, whose whistle blew right at that moment. Raef too, stared at it until it stopped. Shaking it out, Raefs relative continued. "My name's Corak. Yeh're Fred, George, and Ginny." Raef spoke a few garbled words to him, and he said, "That one's Percy. But yeh're missin a lad. Where's Ron?"

"Erm...Ron. Well, I don't know, he should've followed us-" but Mr. Weasley was interrupted by another loud impatient whistle from the train. "Oh dear. Get on kids, we'll find Ron and Harry."

Corak spoke a few words with Raef in Lanolf, who turned and ran after the Weasley kids.

"Gunna be a summat interesting year, havin' a student who cant understand a word 'o English that's also a troublemaker."

"Oh dear. And combined with two of my sons, this won't be very fun for the teachers. Not fun at all. I don't envy your sister, not one bit."

Raef followed the Weasleys till they broke off into groups. The twins went with a friend of theirs, and the eldest headed up front, which left her alone with Ginny. Looking down at her, Raef tried speaking English. "Rrarrre rrrooooo rroinrr?" Ginny stared, and mumbled something that Raef didn't understand. But then she pointed to Raef, pointed to herself, and then pointed in a direction. Raef nodded, understanding, and they headed off.

They got to Hermione's, Harry's, and Ron's usual compartment without much trouble. Hermione smiled as they walked in, and waved. "Hello!" She then looked worried. "Where're Ron and Harry?"

"They didn't make it, they didn't come through, and I'm so worried-"

"Oh, don't worry Ginny! They'll be fine, I'm sure they will. I hope they don't do anything illegal..." She looked troubled, then turned to Raef and motioned for her to sit down next to her. She handed Raef a tablet with a quill that said, Hello Raef! How are you doing? I'm quite well, but I hope I've studied enough over the summer...I did my homework and all, but I'm still worried. Which house do you want to be in?

Raef thought a moment, then wrote,

Hello Hermione and Ginny. I'm doing quite well, my mom's sub-teaching this year so school shouldn't be much of a problem. I can also ask my Uncle, he's be especially good with subjects like History of Magic, he's been in most of the wars and battles I've ever heard of, and my mom was once an Auror, that'll be good for DADA. I don't know what house I'll be in, but my mum was in Slytherin and I'm told my father was (I never knew him, my family says he left or died or something like that) so I think I'll go in there. Gryffindor wouldn't be bad, and Ravenclaw would be cool, but I don't know about Hufflepuff. They sound accident prone to me. I hope I'll be in Slytherin-they may not be IQ smart, but they're more life smart, more prepared for whatever faces them.

Hermione and Ginny read this and stared. Ginny took it next and wrote,

Hi Raef. I'm surprised...most of the people I know who wanted to be in Slytherin were...well, stuck ups from family's where half of them were Death Eaters. I mean...I always thought from what Fred and George said the Slytherin=Death Eater, but your mom was an Auror and that's cool. I'm being sorted this year too; I'm a first year. I hope I'm in Gryffindor, everyone else in my family was, and I want to uphold that honor.

Raef smiled.

Yeah, I know all about the 'family honor' business. My grandma, she's not too pleased with me or my mum for going to Hogwarts. And my mum's hoping to teach there, that hurts my grandma more. She thinks that she should be able to teach me herself, not having some 'barmy old fool' teaching me. She doesn't think too highly of anyone outside of the family, she doesn't.

Hermione stared.

What? How can she not? Dumbledore's a genius! So are *most* of the teachers at our school. I can't believe her. I'm sorry Raef, but it's very upsetting.

Hey, I don't blame ya. Mum and her got in a big fight that Uncle Corak broke up-he brought me here, remember Ginny? -And my mum left early this morning to stay away from me grandmum. Oh, writing like this is so troublesome. Do you know any other languages?

No.

No.

Pooey...

"Speaking of 'Pooey', here comes trouble, Ginny..."

And it was true. Draco Malfoy and two other people Raef didn't know showed up. They sneered, and Draco said something that made Hermione and Ginny both angry. Raef merely blinked, not knowing or understanding them. Draco-she recognized him as her mother worked with Lucius a few times-went over to her and handed her a note and a book. A book?

Hello Raef

Don't show this to your friends; it's magic and I thought it might help you learn English. I'm not saying your friends aren't trustworthy, but if word leaks out you have it then people will try and steal it. Don't use it now, merely put it away and use it later. Do get along with Draco, won't you?

Lucius Malfoy

Raef smiled and tucked it away in her belt. She tucked the note away, too. Looking at Draco, she was puzzled. Ginny took the notepad and quill and handed it to Hermione, who began to write fast. Handing it over to Raef, they began to jabber again.

Raef- DON'T LISTEN TO HIM. He's a greedy little conniver, and he's not worth your time. His name's Draco Malfoy, and his friends are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. All they do is call people means names and insult the Weasleys and make enemies. If he extends his hand and smirks, don't shake it.

Raef looked at Malfoy. He didn't seem too bad, except for that smirk. That was an evil little grin on his face that she didn't like. Ripping off the top part of the paper they'd written on, she handed the rest to Draco. He wrote out something and hands it back to Raef.

Hello there. Father told me about you; you're Raef SR's daughter, aren't you?

Well, whoever you are, I'll tell you this: We pure-bloods are best off left alone, not that those Weasleys can call themselves pure-bloods. They hang out with Mudbloods like Granger and weirdoes like Hagrid and they've forgotten some important wizarding things. I can help you figure out who's best to hang out with. I really can.

Raef looked up from the note and gave him a calculating look. She smiled and wrote something down, then handed it back to Malfoy. His eyes widened, puzzled, and as he raised his head, his puzzlement went to fear as Raef raised her fist, ready to give him an almighty punch on the nose. Malfoy jumped back, saying something fast, and him and his friends beat it.

Hermione and Ginny stared, then Hermione cheered and Ginny clapped. Raef showed them the short note she'd written before some boys her age ran in.

Those who say are.

"Bloody brilliant!"

"Too cool, girl, too cool."

"That was excellent, did you see his face?"

Raef looked at the speakers. The first was a sandy haired boy with an accent. The second was a very tall black boy, and the third was a slightly tubby round-faced boy. Raef couldn't help it- although she couldn't understand them, they looked extremely happy. She held up her hand and they slapped it.

Hermione said something to them and they looked at her peculiarly. One of them pointed to the quill and pad of paper and she handed it to them.

Bloody brilliant!

Too cool, girl, too cool.

That was excellent, did you see his face?

Raef smiled, and wrote,

Well, he insulted them so I decided to get back at 'em. I don't take crap from anybody, least of all some jerky punk.

They read it and grinned.

However, the 6 of them couldn't 'say' much more about it, though, as the plump witch with a cart came by. She said, "Would you dearies like anything?"

They all took a few things, except for Raef. She frowned and scratched her head. Hermione wrote

She wants to know if you want to buy anything. Point something out and I'll tell you how much it costs.

Raef grinned and extracted a handful of Galleons. Cost thought Raef is not a matter. They all stared at her. She took a little of each and paid for it, then sat down, digging in. She then paused and looked to see them staring at her. She wrote a short note.

I'm a teenager, guys. I like to eat. Speaking of which, help yourself to whatever I've bought, as I don't really care.

Eerybody grinned, and they helped themselves to what everyone else bought.

Raef was thinking of something else, though. She took the paper the boys had written on and looked at the first boy's handwriting, then at him, and thought of his accent. Raef came to the conclusion that he was either Irish or Scottish-and perhaps he knew the language?

What are your names? My name's Raef Wolfe JR. She hoped they didn't mind her interrupting them eat.

Aye, my name is Seamus Finnigan. Pleasure to meet you, Raef. Thanks a bunch for sharing your food and telling off Malfoy, it's about time someone has.

Raef grinned. That name and his writing proved it.

My name's Dean. Dean Thomas. Good to know you.

My name's Neville Longbottom. Happy to meet someone who can stand up to Malfoy and win. Thanks for the food too, I forgot my money at home.

She smiled. They certainly seemed to like her. She was having some second thoughts on Slytherin, but she still wanted it as a first choice.

Raef looked up at them. Hesitating, she tried speaking Irish to see if the one-Seamus-understood it

"Dia dhuit. Féad aon de sibh *Seamus* faigh mé?" Seamus stared at her. He could understand it!

"Dia dhuit! Sea, mé féad faigh sibh. Cionnas rinn sibh fibir mé labhair seo?" Seamus was surprised, to say the least.

"Mé rinn hach. E was (A/N-does anybody know the Irish term for was?) a tuaiream; breitheamhing le bhur basscriobhing agus bhuraccet accent (A/N-again), mé smaoineamh sibh were (A/N YOU try finding a decent Irish translator!) Irish er Scottish." Raef grinned. It was nice having someone understand her.

"Mðr. Gu'n glé maith. Ach dråsda mé féad caochail teangas teanga sibh!"

"Dearbh, gu'n is maith. Heh- féach ag a éadans, buachaill déan siad féach undearbh. Direach inis siad mé rådh dia dhuit, cðir?" She grinned again and held out her hand.

"Cðir." Seamus shook her hand.

"Anybody have any idea what they're saying?" Hermione said.

"Not really. I can recognize a few words, but that's it," commented Dean. "I'll say this though, they look quite happy."

"True-I think it's some language and English that's broken. Either that or it's a full language.."

"Yes, Neville, it's a language. It's Irish that's kinda broken up, but it's Irish nonetheless. She told me to say 'Hello' for her to you." Seamus had stopped talking with her.

"Wow. That's pretty cool. Now she has a translator-boy, do I hope she goes Gryffindor!" Dean looked anxious.

"Well, she had said she wants to be put into Slytherin. Ask her if she still wants to go Slytherin." Ginny said. She, too, was anxious.

"Siad amhuil dü fibir ma sibh déan amhuil dü bi î Slytherin."

"Sea."

"She said yes?" Dean looked surprised. So did everyone else.

"Yeah, she did. Looks pretty happy about her choice, though." It was true- she was smiling that showed she was all too happy about Slytherin. "Although, she may not go in there."

"You crazy? If she threatens a guy she can't understand, there's no way she's a Hufflepuff." They all laughed. Even Raef, who couldn't understand, grinned nervously.

A while later, a voice sounded throughout the train.

"We are about to Enter Hogsmeade. Please leave your things on the train; they will be taken to the castle separately. Thank you.

Hermione looked shocked "Hogsmeade? But...but we aren't dressed! Ack! Boys, get out and across the hall! We need to get into our robes!"

The three boys bolted and closed the door.

Raef, though she didn't understand the English, knew that she needed to get into her robes when she saw Hermione getting hers out. She quickly got dressed and threw her regular clothing into a trunk and squished it down, then left everything but her wand, parchment, and quill there. Hermione said, "Good luck you two!" and headed off with the boys.

Suddenly, Raef felt a tugging at her arm, and she looked down to see Ginny tugging at her. She pointed to a very large man who was yelling something. Ginny grabbed my quill and parchment and wrote,

He's calling for the first years-that's me. You'd better come too, you need to get sorted. I'll tell Hagrid about you, though he may already know. Hagrid's the big tall guy. He's gamekeeper here.

Raef nodded and followed Ginny, who took her hand. She followed along to a lake, where boats were laid out. Ginny pulled Raef Towards Hagrid. "Hagrid, this is Raef Wolfe JR. Is-"

"Ahh, Raef JR? Yeh, she suppose ter come wit us. C'mon, get her into a boat. FIRS' YEARS!" Raef jabbed her finger into her ear and wrung it vigorously back and forth. "Firs' Years come along!"

Ginny nearly dragged Raef down as she got to a boat. There was already a small mousy haired boy sitting there, a camera around his neck. Ginny said something to him, and a second later pulled Raef. Raef smiled and waved at the boy, who raised his camera and snapped a picture that made Raef dizzy. Ginny giggled, and the three of them caught the giggle fit. Suddenly the boats gave a lurch and they were off. Ginny wrote something and handed it to Raef. It was messily written, but readable enough.

Hello. That boys name is Collin Creevy. He says he's taking pictures to send home to his family. Can't say I blame him, it's really good of him to do that. We should see Hogwarts soon; I'll stop pestering you.

But you're not pestering me at all, Raef thought. It's nice to have you as a friend, despite what my grandma says. 'Trust no-WOW!!!

The 'WOW' was Raefs first view of Hogwarts. It was all that and a bag of chips and more. It had huge towers, and large grounds. She felt the urge to howl after hearing a werewolf in the forest do so, but told herself she'd be laughed at. She saw bats and owls fluttering about; saw the dew sparkle on the grass; saw the fire lit within the cheery castle. She jumped out of her thoughts-and out of her skin-when the boat touched shore. Looking back at the water, she gaped. Was that a-no it couldn't have been...surely not? But it looked like something was moving in the water. She shook her head. Nonsense, I'm just excited, it was probably a fish...wasn't it?

She helped Ginny and Collin out, as both were small and needed a leg up to not step nto the water. She followed the students and Hagrid through a pair of doors, then climbed some stairs. And some more stairs. And some more. They climbed down some, too, and eventually ended up in front of another pair of doors, where an irritable looking woman was standing. Ginny looked nervous and Raef put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked down at her and grinned. Ginny managed a weak smile and a thumb's up. Raef looked back to the woman, who cleared her throat. Ginny grabbed the quill and parchment, ready to recite anything for Raef. However, Hagrid tapped on Raefs shoulder and said in French, "Yeh don't need ter worry-I'll repeat what she say fer yeh-God knows I've heard it enough and could say it meself now." He tuned to Ginny. "I'll tell her what she says, alright there?" Ginny nodded and turned back to McGonagall.

"Welcome ter Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet'll begin shortly, but befor yeh take yeh're seat in the great Hall, yeh'll be sorted inta yeh're house. The Sorting ceremony is very important because while yeh're here, your house'll be summat like your family. Yeh'll have classes with em, sleep in yeh're House dormitory, and spend free time the yeh're house common room.

"The four houses're called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble History, and each has produced outstandin' witches an' wizards. While yeh're at Hogwarts, your triumphs'll win yeh points, and rule breakin'll lose yeh're house points. At the end 'o the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. It's a great honor. I hope yeh'll be good fer the house yeh go to.

"The sortin ceremony'll take place in a few minuites in front of the rest of the school."

He thought a moment and said, "That's about it. Any questions?"

"Umm...who's that?" Raef pointed to the lady.

"Oh, that's Professor McGonagall. She teaches Transfiguration. Anythin else?" Raef could think of no more and she shook her head. A few students were staring at her, and she felt herself go red.

Professor McGonagall left through the doors, and a babble of noise broke out. A few people were looking at her quizzically, and few scared and one looked awed. Deciding she looked like an idiot not saying anything, Raef said, "Dia dhuit uile. Féaching ag sion?" They looked away and Raef saw Ginny wink, and she returned the favor. Professor McGonagall walked back in after a few minutes and called for the students. They lined up, Raef in back of all of them, and walked through the hall.

Raef looked around in awe. The ceiling was a dark, cloudy midnight blue. She knew it was enchanted, her mother had told her about it. The candles hung from nothing, and she looked around at the hundreds of sitting students. She suddenly felt very tall, very tall indeed. Next to the First years, with everyone else sitting down, she was a giant. Looking to the Slytherin table, she saw Draco Malfoy. He glared and Raef just smiled. She saw her other friends, who waved-the Weasleys, Hermione, Dean, Neville, Seamus-but still no Harry or Ron.

She looked up at the staff table. Her mother was sitting next to a teacher in black and a teacher in aquamarine. She didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements, as the one in aquamarine kept talking to her and she was trying to ignore him, and the one in black didn't look like much a cheery fellow. But she winked at Raef and gave her a small thumbs up. Raef perked and replied with a smile, and her mother turned to the man in black next to her, chatted with him for a moment, and they both looked over at Raef, who looked away. Her face was still tinged with red and she was determined not to look any worse. She turned her head and looked to the Headmaster, then to a stool in front of everyone.

Raef had no problems seeing over the other children heads to look at it, and was amused at the dirty old hat on top of it. Hagrid whispered to her, "She's gunna call out yeh're name in a while. Yeh're gunna be after everyone else. When she calls yeh're name, just go up to the stool and put the hat on. The hat'll sort ya." Raef nodded like it made sense, but it didn't-he may as well have spoken English. The hat would sort her? What was she going to do, turn it upside down and pick a house name out of it?

Raef SR watched the hat, and paid attention to the song.

"Many centuries ago,

When I was bright and new.

There were two wizards, unalike

That were similar too.

And two witches of truthfulness

Which were kind and smart and young,

They came together to teach children

Until their brains were wrung.

One of the Wizards was Gryffindor,

He was wise and smart and loyal.

He passed it on to his students

And in good magic they toiled.

The other wizard was Slytherin

And he made his ideas known.

For his students took on that trait

And their morals never roamed.

And one of the witches was Hufflepuff

My, what a cheery soul!

Her students were curios, loving, true

They cared for heart; not gold.

And so the last of the witches was Ravenclaw,

Who's brilliant and persistent, no doubt.

Students of hers are wise and knowing

Yet when overloaded, don't pout.

So these four brilliant minds

Came up with this school.

To teach all wizarding children

How their minds, they can rule.

So how will you rule your head in the end?

Go put me on,

For I can see.

I doubt if there's someone else

More knowing of this than me."

Much applause ended, and she muttered to Severus, "Well, the bit on Gryffindor was good, but I'm not sure I liked the Slytherin part much."

"I agree. Surprisingly, Hufflepuffs wasn't too bad. Figures-Gryffindor hat gives Slytherin a bad name."

"Too right you are. Of course some people give Gryffindor a bad name, but..." She looked over to Lockhart, and Severus snorted.

They both turned their attention to the hat, which was just about to sort the first student.

___

Raef watched anxiously as a child was made a Ravenclaw. She looked around and felt a bit dizzy-what was wrong? She wasn't motion sick, it had been long since the boats; the lights weren't blinding, that wouldn't affect her; perhaps it was the noise? But no, it wasn't extremely loud, it wasn't; so what was wrong?

Was she...nervous? Oh come on, that's a little kid trait! Not for a pre-teen member of the Wolfe clan!

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked back to the hat when McGonagall said, "Creevy, Collin!" Watching with baited breath, Raef let out a sigh when it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" She watched the scarlet and gold table yell out. The next became the first Hufflepuff, then a Slytherin, and then two Ravenclaws. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw-and then it was Ginnys turn.

"Weasley, Ginny!" She heard shouts from the Gryffindor table, and looked to see the Weasleys-but still no Ron or Harry! She shook her head and looked back. Ginny was shaking with the hat on her, then it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" She hopped off the stool, leaving the hat on it and joined her brothers.

McGonagall said, "And joining the Second Years, will be Wolfe, Raef JR!" Raef heard her name and stepped up, slowly cautiously. She had a quick glimpse around the room before the hat was put on her head and...talked to her?

"Oh now, let's see...there's curiosity, oh yes. A general sense of wonder. There's bravery and courage, too. And there's a hunger, an eternal thirst to prove yourself. Something mysterious, greater to you than even you would think, young Raef. And that can only mean you're a-"