Chapter Text
4 years ago, Hogwarts Great Hall
A tiny pale-faced girl with jet black hair and emerald green eyes sat atop the stool with the Sorting Hat covering her head.
Sometimes the hat took seconds to announce its decision as to which house a student would be sorted into, other times it took several minutes.
After nearly an hour the pale girl was waiting, the hat apparently still undecided. Nobody knew what it was saying to her or why it was taking so long. The students were getting restless and hungry for the Feast. They were only up to the L’s. The second half of the first years were yet to be sorted.
The teachers exchanged concerned glances at the hat’s unprecedented behaviour. For the first time in over a thousand years a Hogwarts student would be Houseless.
Present
“What the hell do you mean she’s going to be in Hufflepuff ?”
“Language, Alexandra!” Eliza hissed at her daughter.
“Mom, tell them! The Sorting Hat has to be wrong.”
Professor Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled from one of the portraits above the desk. The present Headmistress watched the family drama with a disinterested gaze. She pressed the tips of her fingers to her glasses rims and switched them for another of the many pairs lined up on her desk; this time a pair of catseye frames.
Hogwarts Headmistress of five years, Catherine ‘Cat’ Grant, observed the three visitors to her office: Alex Danvers, Gryffindor Prefect and star Quidditch Captain, currently arguing with her parent, Mrs Eliza Danvers, and a younger girl sitting quietly in an over-stuffed armchair who couldn’t get a word in edgewise. The girl had long sunkissed blonde hair that curled in waves and if she would’ve raised her eyes at all, they would’ve been the most astonishing shade of blue.
“Alex,” Eliza warned and patted her eldest daughter’s shoulder. The pressure just enough to say let me handle it from here . She turned to the Headmistress and the Deputy Headmaster who stood resolute behind her. “Professor Grant, Professor Jonzz, please forgive my daughter’s outburst.”
“That’s quite alright, Mrs Danvers,” said J’onn Jonzz, Head faculty of Gryffindor house. “I’m familiar with my Prefect's sense of loyalty. There’s nothing wrong with defending one’s family.”
Eliza nodded. “Thank you. We realise that Kara is starting school rather late. Is there any way for her to be assigned to the same dormitory as her sister? They’ve grown rather close in the short time that Kara’s been with us. I explained her circumstances in my owl.”
Kara shifted in her chair, unnoticed by all except Cat Grant.
“Yes, we think it best that Miss Kara enrol as a fourth year,” said J’onzz. “Due to her … unusual magical education so far. However, there have been an unprecedented number of girls sorted into Gryffindor so the dormitory is full. Girl power, indeed.” He said the last part under his breath.
“That is niffler dung!” cried Alex. “She can room with me. I’ll conjure her a bed myself.”
“Alex,” Eliza sighed.
“No”. Alex stepped out of her mother’s grasp and stood directly in front of the headmistress. “Professor Grant, my sister had to watch Krypton explode in flames. Everyone she knew and loved was killed by a Dark Wizard. I’m sure you know who . She was the only survivor and now she has to come here, after what she’s been through, and pretend to be … just an ordinary witch? Think about how new and terrifying this must be! Kara is the bravest person who has ever stepped foot in this place. She should be in Gryffindor and you know it.”
Cat Grant pursed her lips. “I think we should go with what Miss Danvers wants.”
“Yes!” Alex exhaled in relief. She pulled her fist into a punch.
“The younger Miss Danvers,” said Cat, turning to the silent girl in the armchair. “What did the Sorting Hat say to you, Kiera?”
“Kara,” Eliza and Alex corrected in unison.
Kara looked up at her adoptive mother and sister before answering in a small voice. “It was deciding between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It did say I was very brave.”
Cat nodded. “And how did it decide upon Hufflepuff. Did it take your preferences into account?”
Kara nodded. “Yes.”
Alex looked both taken aback and softened. “Kara. Why didn’t you choose Gryffindor like me. What did the Sorting Hat say to change your mind?”
“It said-” Kara’s cheeks pinkened and she looked down to mumble her answer. “It said Hufflepuff common room is near the kitchens.”
J’onn hid a grin. “Well, there you have it. Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Kara Danvers. I’m sure you will bring great honour to Hufflepuff house.”
Alex cringed. “ Hufflepuff? But that’s so-”
“So ‘ what ’, Miss Danvers?” Professor Grant lowered her chin to peer through her catseye glasses at Alex. “Gryffindor doesn't have the monopoly on bravery. I hope you’re not forgetting that Hufflepuff has produced many fine and illustrious leaders of the Wizarding World including myself?”
“O-of course not, Professor,” Alex muttered.
Cat turned to Kara. “You won’t be treated as special here. Are you prepared to keep your head down and work hard, Kiera?”
“Kara,” said Eliza and Alex again.
Kara lifted her posture and sat up straighter. “Yes, Professor, I won’t fail you.”
“Good. Now, up and away all of you so I can get something useful done for once.”
The three Danvers were standing outside the Hufflepuff dorm where Kara’s heavy trunk had been deposited.
Eliza wrapped her youngest daughter up in a tight hug and then pulled back to stroke Kara’s blonde locks. “Have a good time in school, sweetheart. If you need anything just ask. If you want to write, Alex has her own owl that you can use whenever you like. Oh, I’m going to miss you girls so much!”
“Thanks, Eliza.” Kara straightened her pink sweater. “I’ll be fine here with Alex. I can’t wait to learn about your kind of magic.”
It was time for Eliza to go. She hugged Kara one last time and then Alex. “Take care of your sister, Alex. Study hard for your OWLs.”
“Of course, Mom. See you at Open Day.”
After Eliza left, Alex rolled her eyes at Kara. “I can’t believe you picked Hufflepuff because of the food, you dork.”
Kara sniffed the air and grinned at the delicious smell coming from the kitchen nearby. “You wanna go see if there’s cake?”
“No, we need to find your bed and get you unpacked first before it gets too late.” Alex stared at the stack of barrels barring the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitory. “Any idea how we get in?”
“Um I forgot to ask.”
“Maybe there’s a password or something.”
“Maybe we can just knock?” said Kara.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The two Danvers heard a newcomer say. A girl about Alex’s age but much shorter than her came up to them. She had dark hair, brown skin, and amused eyes and was wearing a bright yellow Hufflepuff hoodie. “Not unless you want to get covered in vinegar.”
Alex stiffened. “Sawyer.”
“Danvers. You’re not trying to break into my common room are you?”
“No. I’m taking my sister to find her dorm. Can you open the entrance for us?”
Sawyer shrugged and smiled. “Can’t do that, sorry. You’re not a Hufflepuff. You need to be invited in by one of the House members.”
Alex crossed her arms and drew herself taller. “So invite us in. My sister is a Hufflepuff and I’m a Prefect.”
“Well, I may not be a Prefect like you, Danvers, but Professor Grant did ask me to meet you here and show your sister around. I’m sure she thought you needed to get back to your own house duties. I heard there was a pretty wild party getting started in Gryffindor on my way here.”
Knowing she was finally beaten, Alex glowered for a second before turning to her sister. “I gotta go, Kara. Sawyer will take care of you and she’ll let me know immediately if you need me. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow ok? Don’t sleep in.”
“Ok. Thanks, Alex. I love you.”
Kara reached out for a hug and heard Alex whisper, “You too.”
Once Alex was gone, Kara held out her hand to her new Hufflepuff housemate like she’d recently been shown how to introduce herself. “I’m Kara.”
“Maggie Sawyer, nice to meet you, Little Danvers. I hope you’ll warm up to me more than your sister has.”
“Oh, I will! Alex is pretty protective of me. I’m new here.”
Maggie smiled. “Yes, I know. I’ll show you the trick with the barrels and then introduce you to the other ‘puff kids. Unlike Gryffindor, Hufflepuff knows how to party without causing a ruckus. Your sister will have a job quieting the party I heard that's for sure.”
“Yeah, Alex is a stickler for rules.”
“Don’t I know it. She never lets anything go on the pitch either.”
“Do you play too? They told me Alex is really good at the Quidditch game. That's what it's called right?”
Maggie stared for a second, clearly wondering how a magical kid could have grown up not knowing anything about the Wizarding World’s favourite sport. “Yeah, she’s the best, kid. But don’t tell her I said that.”
That night Kara settled into the comfy bed in the dark dormitory, thinking about everyone she'd met that evening. It was late and the other students were already asleep in their beds nearby.
Maggie had introduced her to half the House once they'd gotten to the Common Room. There were students playing games or hanging around reading or chatting excitedly in groups. Many of the kids were curious to have a new student join their House. It didn't happen often since almost all of them had been enrolled as 11 year olds. Some only wanted to know whether she could play the Quidditch and whether she'd be an asset to Hufflepuff in the house cup competition. But others were genuinely nice and welcoming.
“Wow! You’re Alex Danvers’s sister?” said a first year boy named Carter. “That’s awesome. Her team wins the Quidditch cup every single year. Nobody else comes close.”
“Hey, traitor,” Maggie teased him. “We do alright. Hufflepuff almost scored against Danvers last week.”
“I can’t wait to see a game,” said Kara. “I can't believe they can fly!” Getting to see her sister in action after hearing so much about the sport that was played in the air on broomsticks was truly exciting.
Flying sounded amazing to Kara. Nothing flew over Krypton, not even birds. Alex had given her a weird look when she’d said that once.
It would be the first night she'd slept apart from Alex since she'd been adopted. Already she'd gotten used to Alex hovering protectively over her. It wasn't like she was alone here though. There were half a dozen other girls in the adjacent dorm but only one other girl in hers.
Kara figured it would be hard to make close friends coming in so late since the others all knew each other and had already figured out who they wanted to hang out with. Especially with Alex being suspicious of everyone who came within 5 feet of her. She hadn’t told the whole truth earlier in the Headmistress’s office. Part of the reason she wanted to be in Hufflepuff was to distinguish herself from her family (Eliza Danvers and Alex's father Jeremiah had both been in Gryffindor.) Not to mention give Alex a little break from her constant protection detail.
She loved Alex as a sister despite only coming into her life recently. Back in Krypton she'd always wanted a sister. The only reason she had one now was because her parents were gone though. They were with Rao, she knew they were watching over her and that she'd see them again someday… but it was a long time off. She wondered what they would’ve thought about her new life with the Danverses and this kind of magic that people went to school to learn… Everything had been so different in Krypton. She chased the thoughts from her head in an attempt not to dwell on sad things. She had to focus on her new life now.
Kara was a little nervous about tomorrow. The next day would be her first day at school. Maggie had given her a parchment with her schedule of classes and a fourth year girl called Eve Tessmacher was going to show her how to find them. Kara was coming in midyear and she didn't have a clue about what the classes entailed. Surely all of the other students would be lightyears ahead of her. She'd probably be the worst in the class.
Kara sighed and rolled over. The tiredness was drawing her into sleep. She hoped to not have any bad dreams tonight.
“Little Danvers. Wake up, Little Danvers.”
Someone was shaking her shoulder. It felt like she’d only just fallen asleep five minutes ago.
“Ieyu?” said Kara, still half asleep. “Alex?”
“It's Maggie, kiddo. You gotta wake up or you'll miss breakfast and then Danvers will have my head.”
Kara's stomach growled at the mention of food. She sat up at once. “Oh! Where’s the food.”
The rest of the dorm was empty, the other girls were already up and gone to the Hall. Maggie helped a yawning Kara rip open the packets containing her new uniform and tied her yellow Hufflepuff house tie for her. The two of them hurried through the castle, making their way to the Great Hall. By the time they got there Kara was not as neatly put-together as she’d started out. Her glasses, uniform, and blonde ponytail were all a little askew.
The hall was loud and busy with students and the trencher tables were still piled up with breakfast foods of all kinds. There wasn’t much time before the start of classes so everyone was making the most of their remaining free time and snagging a few extra pastries.
Maggie puffed. “We made it, Little Danvers! Just in time. Let's go find your sister and her nerd friends.”
Kara wasn’t puffed from the running at all. She followed Maggie and looked around wide-eyed, taking in the massive Hall and all of the bustling kids. She looked up, noticing that the ceiling was see-through like the sky. It was overcast with a tinge of dark grey in the clouds.
They found Alex sitting with a Ravenclaw boy and a Gryffindor boy who also wore a Prefect badge. Whatever they were discussing seemed interesting. The Ravenclaw boy, who was younger than the other two, said something to earn him a punch to the shoulder from Alex. But he didn’t look upset or offended, instead he looked rather pleased with the attention bestowed upon him.
“Kara!” said Alex when she saw her. “There you are! Why are you so late. You've missed the good food.”
Seeing Kara's face fall, Maggie jumped in. “Ignore your sister. The plates refill themselves, Little Danvers. Have as much as you like.”
Alex grabbed Kara and sat her down beside her with a full plate. The younger girl immediately started in on the pancakes and rashers of bacon in front of her, happily stuffing her face with alarming speed.
Alex raised a brow, noticing that Maggie was still standing there. “I'll take it from here, Sawyer.”
Maggie heard the dismissal and resisted rolling her eyes. “Can we talk? Later, I mean.”
“I have practice later.” Alex looked away, grabbing a piece of toast to add to Kara’s pile of food.
“Right. Well, maybe I'll see you ‘round sometime. Bye Kara. Good luck for your first day.”
Kara said goodbye around a mouthful of pancake. “Bye ‘aggie!”
Maggie left quickly after that. Kara wasn’t sure, but it seemed that Alex disliked Maggie for some reason. She’d never seen her sister act so stiff and abrupt with anyone else. It didn’t make sense. Maggie was really nice and even though she was older she hadn’t treated Kara like an annoying little kid at all.
Alex introduced her to the two boys they were sitting with, Gryffindor Prefect James Olsen and Ravenclaw fourth year Winn Schott.
James gave her a friendly smile. He towered over the rest of them even when sitting on a bench. “So how do you like Hogwarts, Kara?”
“It’s nice so far,” Kara smiled back shyly. “I’m a bit nervous about classes though.”
Alex gave her a sharp look. “Why. Did someone say something to you? Was it one of the Slytherins. I swear, I’ll give them detention-”
“No!” said Kara. “Nothing like that. I’m just worried it’ll be hard. I don’t know anything about magic.”
Winn frowned. “Er, what do you mean. I thought you said she was from Krypton-” The boy said the last part sotto voce to Alex.
Alex hissed. “Shut up, Winn. Kara, you’ll be fine.”
The conversation switched to the latest news from the national Quidditch games. Amid the bickering about who the best player was and the teams likely to make the semi’s, Kara realised something. Neither James nor Winn had asked her where she was from or why she was here, Alex must’ve filled them in but told them not to bring it up. What did they know about Krypton? All her life Kara had believed that outsiders knew nothing about her home. Not until it was destroyed by a Dark wizard.
There was something Alex hadn’t told her. It was probably just her sister trying to protect her again. Kara looked down at her schedule for the first class of the morning:
Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Classroom 3C
Winn showed Kara the way to their first class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was held in the aptly named Serpentine corridor. She wasn’t at all looking forward to hearing details about the kind of magic and the kind of people who were responsible for what happened in Krypton. It seemed like the class schedules were being mean to her already. Hopefully her other classes would be better than this one sounded.
As soon as they arrived, Winn ran to his assigned seat next to a girl in a green tie called Siobhan who started teasing him mercilessly. Kara recognised a few other students from her house, but didn’t remember their names except for Eve who was facing the other way to chat to some Slytherin girls.
Kara stood off to the side of the door, feeling awkward. Should she wait for the teacher? Or sit somewhere now? But what if she sat in the wrong place? Alex had told her that school had lots of rules and she was conscious about doing the wrong thing and getting in trouble already.
The class of fourth years were seated at their desks now, but they were noisy and boisterous because the teacher hadn’t yet arrived.
“Good morning, class!” The voice of J’onn Jonzz boomed. He passed Kara as he entered the room. “Miss Danvers, welcome. Take any free seat you wish.”
The classroom was silent now and Kara quickly sat in the first empty seat she saw, which happened to be right up the front. She was relieved to see the familiar face of Professor Jonzz as her first teacher of the day. Hopefully he would go easy on her.
“Alright class, we’re starting our unit on hex-deflection today. Get your quills ready to take notes.”
The class groaned.
“Now now,” Jonzz admonished their lack of enthusiasm. “I won’t have my fourth years performing sloppy wand movements and creating flimsy defences because they don’t know the theory. I’m going to write everything you need to know on the board, so copy it down carefully. Next lesson we’ll have the practical lesson where you can show me how much you’ve learned.”
Kara opened her bookbag and got out a blank roll of parchment, a brand new quill, and a bottle of ink. She undid the ribbon and smoothed out the parchment but it wouldn’t stay flat. She laid her forearm on the parchment to hold it down while trying to open the ink bottle at the same time.
Wynn raised his quill in the air. “Will this be on the final, Professor?”
The Professor closed his eyes briefly. “Yes, Schott. It will be on the final.”
Professor Jonzz talked while he spell-wrote on the board with his back to them. Occasionally he walked around and threw questions to the class over the sound of quills scratching.
The chalkboard was half covered already.
Panicked that she was falling behind, Kara twisted the ink bottle top but it wouldn’t budge and her parchment threatened to roll up.
“Give it here.” The girl beside her sighed and grabbed the bottle out of her hands. She tapped the lid with her wand and the bottle opened with a pop before she set it back in front of Kara.
“Thanks,” Kara whispered gratefully.
She took her first good look at the girl beside her and wondered how she’d missed noticing her before. The girl was strikingly pale with beautiful dark hair pulled back into a plait and her eyes were a vivid green. Not that she was looking back at Kara, already the girl was glancing up at the board as she took notes in her careful script.
The Professor started speaking again which Kara snapped out of her staring. She ought to be doing the same as her deskmate and concentrating on the class even though she'd much rather make a new friend. She wasn't sure why but she knew she wanted to know this girl better. At this point she’d take any kind of friend who hadn’t been specifically picked out for her by Alex.
Kara dipped her quill in the ink and started taking down the notes on her parchment. They hadn’t used such crude writing methods often where she was from so she struggled a bit with the quill. Her writing was slow and messy with smeared ink all over the parchment.
There was a small break in the note-taking as Professor Jonzz was explaining something to a student who’d asked a question.
Kara turned to her deskmate and smiled. “I’m Kara by the way,” she said softly and held out her right hand.
The pale girl murmured back. “Your hand’s covered in ink, Kara.”
She couldn’t tell whether the girl was amused but it was odd that she didn’t reply with her own name or accept her hand. Maybe she’d offended her somehow? Kara was still learning social interaction here, there were little things that she kept missing. She’d thought she’d mastered the handshake at least. Apparently not.
The pale girl’s uniform was a generic grey including her tie. There were no stripes signifying which house she was in. Kara’s own pleated skirt had a thin yellow and black stripe about two inches from the hem and her tie was yellow. The other girls’ house uniforms were similar but in blue, maroon, or green.
She’d never seen any other student who was wearing a uniform without a House colour.
“Hey, how come your uniform is grey.” Kara whispered. “Which house are you in? I’m a Hufflepuff.”
The pale girl frowned but kept her gaze forward. She must’ve heard but she didn’t reply.
“Danvers,” Professor Jonzz called. He tapped the chalkboard. “Eyes up here.”
Kara snapped back in her seat at the admonishment, even though it was gentle. She blushed beet red and didn’t look up from her work or a say another word for the rest of the lesson.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Winn or Eve dragged Kara across the castle to each of their shared classes. She would never have found her way otherwise. There were so many twisted corridors and some of the staircases moved, Kara felt sure she would’ve been hopelessly lost trying to find her way with the parchment map alone.
Their middle period between break and lunch was Futures of Magic which turned out to be even worse than Defence Against the Dark Arts. The Professor’s name was Lord and he spent the entire lesson making the students feel stupid (except those from his own house, Ravenclaw).
Winn told Kara that Futures of Magic had replaced the old class History of Magic on the timetable. It was the same boring content but had been adapted for the new generation of Witches and Wizards to prepare them for “the changing world of magical careers that awaited them”. Kara had no idea about any of the events Professor Lord mentioned so she was even more lost than she’d been in her first class.
“Miss … Danvers, is it?” Lord called on Kara to answer his next question. “What year was Voldemort defeated?”
“Who?”
Kara’s response was innocent but the entire class tittered in disbelief. Professor Lord had thought she was being a smartass so he’d taken a point away from Hufflepuff. Kara’s face burned with embarrassment. The last thing she wanted was to bring attention to herself and how much she still had to learn. The second last thing she wanted was to lose points for her house and let everyone else down. Hufflepuff was already in last place.
“That was harsh, Kara,” Winn shook his head after class. “Lord is such an ogre. Oh, don’t worry about losing the point. We’ll get them back easy. The teachers shower points on Carter Grant because of his Mom.”
“Thanks Winn.” Kara made an effort to smile and hide how stupid she still felt.
The last class was Charms taught by none other than Professor Grant herself. Even though school was nearly over for the day, the students were better behaved than usual. Cat Grant was a strict teacher who took no nonsense from anyone and all the students knew better than to step out of line in her class.
The class was a challenge but a fun one it seemed - for the others students that was. Kara was wielding a borrowed wand but so far she hadn’t managed to make it do anything magical, not even test-sparks. She spent most of her time trying to look like she was doing something to cover the fact that she wasn’t able to perform any magic yet.
Professor Grant had made the entire class room into puzzle games and the students were told to to work in groups to move objects around to unlock the lesson notes using only the most precise Placement charms. The Headmistress strolled around the room observing the students and admonishing those who were resorting to the much easier Levitation charm that they’d learned in first year.
“No, Smythe,” said Professor Grant, waving her wand to clear up a mess. “I said Placement charms only . What you have done is fling that chalkboard duster into Huang’s face!”
“Sorry, Professor,” said Siobhan. “I don’t get it.”
Cat sighed and beckoned another student over to join them. “Lena? Would you please help Smythe and Huang.”
The pale girl with the all-grey uniform joined the group that Kara had been observing out of the corner of her eye. The same girl she’d sat next to in Defence class took out her wand and began to demonstrate the movements to the other girls.
Her name is Lena. That's a pretty name. It suits her as she's so pretty herself.
Rao, she must be smart if the teacher gets her to help the other students. Maybe she could help me? No, that would be too embarrassing! I don't want her to know how useless I am at magic. I wonder if she'd want to be friends, maybe we could-
“Kiera!”
Kara jumped in fright. “Yes, Professor Grant?”
“Why are you standing around looking like a lost sheep? Well? I’m waiting.”
Kara looked down at her feet and gripped the wand in her hand. “I … I tried to do it the way you said. Nothing happens.”
“You might as well put that thing away if you’re not going to use it. You’ll learn by watching.”
Kara nodded, feeling about an inch tall. The Professor left to continue her rounds of the room. The other students paid their newest classmate no mind as they progressed through the assignment while Kara only watched.
Her first day was nearly over and she had not managed to do a single thing right! What would happen if she couldn’t do magic at all. Would she be flunked out of school? What would Eliza say? What would Alex say? Kara had seen her sister perform some routine spells as though it were second nature to her. Alex had transported Kara’s heavy trunk across Hogwarts with ease, sounding almost bored as she performed her Wingardium spell. Would Kara ever be able to do magic like that?
“That’s it, class dismissed!” Professor Grant called out. Her wand flicked sharply and the entire room cleaned itself up in an instant. “Read Chapter 2 for homework. Now get out of my sight and take your teenage dramas with you.”
Winn got Kara’s attention in the crowd as they filed out of the class. “Hey, Kara, do you want to come to the lake until dinner?”
That cheered her slightly. Dinner wasn’t far off and she did want to see the Giant Squid she’d heard about. “Yeah, I’ll catch up ok? I have to meet someone first.”
Alex climbed the stairs two at a time towards Gryffindor tower still clad in her Quidditch gear after the team’s training session. One side of her was caked in dried mud and her sweaty hair was stuck to her face. She was dying for a hot shower in the Prefect’s bathroom to relax her sore muscles and to get cleaned up before anyone saw her looking like such a mess.
“Danvers!”
She stopped at the top of the staircase and turned around to see Maggie at the bottom, wearing jeans and a black shirt that had a motorcycle on it with the band name The Flying Hagrids. She cursed internally.
“Sawyer.” Alex said impatiently. “What is it. I have to shower.”
“I can see that,” teased Maggie. “How was Little Danvers’s first day?”
“What do you mean. She’s not with you?”
“Uh no? I wasn’t aware I was supposed to keep tabs on her. She’s probably somewhere with her fourth-year friends.”
Alex frowned. “I saw Winn and Eve at the lake with James earlier. She wasn’t there. Did she go back to your common room?”
Maggie shook her head. “I don’t think so. I was just there.”
“I should go check on her.” Alex started down back down the stairs.
“Danvers, go shower. I’ll find Kara.”
“No.” said Alex stubbornly. “She’s my sister. I will find her.”
“Fine, I’ll come with you then.”
“I can't stop you.”
The two of them went to the Hufflepuff common room first and the kitchens with no luck. They’d talked to Eve in the common room who’d seen Kara waiting outside the girls bathroom near the Charms classroom while everyone else left. But nobody knew where she went after that.
Alex wanted to check the kitchens first but Maggie thought they should go back to the Charms classroom, where Kara was last seen. They decided to split up.
Maggie jogged along the Third floor corridor towards Classroom 2E where Charms was held for the younger years. She didn’t make it the whole way, stopping when she nearly ran into a fourth-year girl around a corner. The girl jumped a mile in fright.
“Lena!” panted Maggie, halting her jog. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen the new girl, Kara Danvers? Blonde hair, baby blue eyes, Hufflepuff... She would’ve been in your last class.”
Lena nodded and clutched her books to her chest. “She was still here when I started my private lesson with Professor Grant but I don’t know why she was hanging around after everyone else left. It sounds like someone's crying in the girl's bathroom so I guess it could be her?”
Maggie sighed. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t do anything to her, I swear.” Lena was quick to say.
Maggie thanked her for the tip-off and entered the Third floor girl's bathroom, hearing soft sniffles inside.
“Kara?”
The sniffles silenced but there was no reply.
“Are you in here, Little Danvers? It's Maggie.”
One of the stalls opened to reveal Kara looking small and shy with flushed cheeks and wet eyes.
“There you are. We've been looking for you. Everything alright?”
“I waited for um … someone after class but they didn't come out for ages and then I couldn't remember the way back,” Kara mumbled. “I was scared I’d miss out on dinner. I’m so hungry!”
“It's only your first day, kiddo. Everyone gets lost. Shall we go back to the common room to wait for dinner?”
Kara nodded. “Don't tell Alex I was crying. Please?"
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
It wouldn't have mattered even if Maggie had intended to tell because the young girl burst into tears and buried herself in her sister's arms the second she saw Alex when they got back to the barrels where the older Danvers girl was waiting impatiently.
Warmth swelled in Maggie’s chest while watching Alex comfort her little sister. It seemed there was only one person allowed past that stoic Danvers facade and she herself had never seen Alex so soft and gentle with anyone. Kara spilled every part of her bad day and every worry she had into her sister's chest.
“Shh Kara, I'm sure it wasn't that bad…," Alex soothed. "No. You do belong here. They're not going to kick you out...”
And Alex listened, allayed her fears and reassured her that tomorrow would be better. It must've worked because later at dinner when Maggie passed by their table she saw Little Danvers tucking happily into a third helping of desserts with a smile brighter than sunshine.
After dinner, most of the students left the Great Hall for their respective common rooms but a few groups remained, mainly students with friends in other houses. Among them were Alex, Kara, Winn, and James who were playing games and passing around boxes of sweets. The boys were having fun introducing Kara to Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Ice Mice over a game of Gobstones. Kara had yet to encounter a boogie-flavoured bean so the boys kept offering her the most suspicious-looking beans. So far the worst she’d gotten were pickle and fish sauce.
“Winn! This game is for little kids,” Alex complained. “Can we play something else.”
“You only say that because you're losing,” said James. He snapped his stone and it rocketed one of Kara’s into the Snake Pit. Smelly liquid squirted Kara in the neck. It disappeared after a few seconds but the stench of rotten eggs remained.
Kara giggled. “How come we never played this before at home, Alex?”
“Because Alex doesn't like losing,” said Winn. “And she stinks at Gobstones.”
“It's a new experience for our star Quidditch player,” said James, taking the piss. “The rest of us mortals have to be content at winning kids games.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “You guys are lame. This is the least cool thing we could possibly be doing right now.”
“Is there some reason you want to look cool?” James asked pointedly.
“Do you want to play Exploding Snap after this?” Winn offered, without taking his eyes off the board. He flicked his stone towards Alex's last piece and it collided with a click.
“Hey, Danvers and co. Having fun?” said Maggie, coming up beside their table.
The Pitted gobstone squirted fart-smelling liquid into Alex's face, signalling the end of the game for her. Everyone laughed, including Maggie, but Alex’s expression turned sour.
Kara erupted in giggles again. “Alex, your face!”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Danvers, but you stink.” Maggie teased.
Alex snapped. “Don't you have anything better to do, Sawyer.”
Maggie gaped for a second, taken aback by the harsh tone. “Um actually, yeah I was hoping to … Nevermind. Little Danvers, be back in the dorm by 9.30 ok? Don't want you to stay up too late and sleep in.”
“Okay!” Kara chirped.
As soon as Maggie was gone, Kara slapped her sister’s arm and hissed. “Why were you so mean to her!”
“Why are you letting her give you a curfew?” Alex retorted.
“Because she's really nice and she looked after me.”
Alex frowned. “ I look after you.”
Kara laughed and looped her arms around her sister's neck. “I know you do, silly.”
The game degenerated into an all-out war after that. Winn and James ended up taking each other's last stones out, leaving Kara the winner which she was very excited about. The four of them played a few rounds of Snap after that, a game which Kara also loved. She laughed with glee every time the pile exploded and stuffed yet more Ice Mice into her mouth which turned her giggles into squeaks.
“Hey, give it back!” someone cried nearby.
A group of seventh years were harassing a younger girl who had been reading quietly a few tables over. One of the boys upended her bookbag, spilling its contents everywhere, and grabbed her wand. The gold lettering on the black shaft glinted in the candle light but not enough to be legible at a distance.
“Yo, Mike, toss it here,” another boy laughed.
The girl jumped up. She was instantly recognisable being one of the few still dressed in uniform and hers was entirely grey with no House colours. She tried to intercept her wand but the boys kept it out of her reach.
Mike gloated like the bully he was. “Didn't your brother teach you any Dark hexes, Luthor? Too bad you haven't got a wand on you. Otherwise I’d be afraid for my life.”
The raised voices garnered the attention of the few remaining students in the hall. But nobody intervened on the girl’s behalf.
Kara grabbed Alex's arm to get up. Her voice squeaked in high pitch. “That's Lena from my class! We have to help her.”
“Kara.” Alex warned and yanked her back. “Stay here.”
Alex exchanged a glance with James, her fellow Gryffindor Prefect, weighing up whether to go over or not. They were well within their jurisdiction, even though the bullies were a grade above them. Mike Matthews came from a highly connected magical family and it wouldn't be the first time he'd sidestepped any consequences of being reported.
A jet of red magic came from nowhere and hit Mike square in the chest. He slumped to the floor coughing as his attacker slunk into view. A tall thin girl with a green and silver badge pinned to her black leather pants stood over him with her wand at the ready.
“What's up, Roulette,” Mike wheezed. “Lookin’ hot by the way.”
“You're a skeeze, Matthews. 10 points from Gryffindor.” The Slytherin Head Girl, apparently named ‘Roulette’, swiped the stolen wand off the floor and handed it back to Lena. The other bully was nowhere to be seen now.
Mike protested. “It was self defense! You know what Luthors are like. She threatened to hex me.”
“I did not!” Lena denied hotly.
“Too bad,” said Roulette, tilting her head towards the younger girl with something like admiration. “That would've been entertaining. Why don't you come along to Dueling club, Luthor? I'll let you hex anyone you want.”
Something about Roulette’s offer made Lena visibly uncomfortable and she shook her head quickly before scooping up her things and running from the hall.
Roulette sashayed away with Mike following, ignoring him still hitting on her as they headed out.
Now that the action was over Kara let her awe show. “Who was that? ”
“Veronica Sinclair,” said Alex grimly. “She's a seventh year Slytherin, Head Girl, and captain of the Duelling club. Not someone you want to run into in a dark corridor.”
“Why was Mike being mean to Lena?”
“She’s bad news, Kara,” said James. “The Luthors are a family of dark wizards. I wouldn't be surprised if she did threaten to hex him.”
Alex scoffed. “Oh, come on. Mike is a douche, he was lying.”
“Oh really? So why did Roulette ask her to join Duelling club then? She's never let anyone under fifth year join before.”
“Except Slytherins.” Winn piped up. “She let Lyra in early.”
“Lena's not a Slytherin though,” said Alex. “She's Houseless.”
James rolled his eyes. “She's a Luthor . She might as well be a Slytherin.”
Kara didn't really understand what they were saying but she somehow knew they had it wrong. The fair girl who sat next to her in class didn't seem like someone who would hex someone. Even if she was from a family of Dark wizards that didn't mean she was bad too. She was the one being picked on! Why did James say she was practically a Slytherin? Lena didn’t wear any house colours in her uniform.
“What does it mean to be Houseless?” asked Kara.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” said Alex, ending any chance of further curiosity. “Come on, it's nearly 9.30. Gotta get you back to base, lil Hufflepuffle.”
“Aleeeex,” Kara complained, but her sister ignored her and flicked the end of her own ponytail into her face. For the two Danvers girls this was always the start of a game of chase.
They ran the whole way to the barrels. Kara matched Alex’s speed easily and got there first. She deliberately tapped the rhythm wrong and jumped back just in time for Alex to be drenched in vinegar. Kara disappeared into her common room leaving only the sound of squeaky giggles behind.
Chapter 2
Notes:
Hi everyone, thanks for giving this story a warm welcome! Thanks so much for the kudos and comments. Here's an update for you. Enjoy :)x
Content warning: one use of an uncensored slur against lesbians (d***) in the fourth scene.
Chapter Text
Kara’s second day of school started much the same as the first. She slept in (again) and had to be roused by Maggie (again) so that she wouldn’t miss breakfast. Luckily, Maggie didn’t mind that this was becoming a routine. Once Kara was awake, it wasn’t hard to get her up when there was the promise of food. The girl liked to sleep and eat a lot .
The two Hufflepuffs rushed into the Great Hall and plonked down at the usual table where Winn and James and Alex already were seated. Today, Maggie sat down to join them for her breakfast as well, exchanging a glance with Alex who noted her presence without a snarky comment.
Alex slid a full plate in front of Kara. It was already piled up with pancakes and cream and berries. She grabbed a few muffins from the cake stand, wrapped them in a napkin, and shoved them into Kara’s bookbag.
“What’s’at for?” said Kara, mouth full.
“So you don’t get hungry in class between breaks,” said Alex. “Mom cleared it with Professor Grant by express owl. The teachers know you have permission to eat any time. You won’t get in trouble.”
“Okay. But why-”
“You were a teary little zombie yesterday because you didn't eat enough.” Alex broke off half the banana she’d been peeling and pushed it into Kara’s mouth. “Here, eat this.”
Maggie watched the sisters with amusement. Kara was clearly torn between happily chewing her banana and frowning behind her glasses at the officious treatment. The kid she’d taken under her wing was like a ridiculously cute puppy and it was good to see Alex actually relax around someone for once.
The back page of the Daily Prophet was open in front of Alex, showing a moving photo of a player making a Quidditch goal via a swinging handstand on her broomstick. Maggie leaned over to see better.
“Is that Germaine Tindall?” said Maggie.
“Of course.” Alex nodded. “Nobody else scores like that. They’re calling it the goal of the century.”
The player wore the uniform of the Holyhead Harpies, Britain’s only all-female Quidditch team. Maggie didn’t follow Quidditch like most students did but even they were on her radar. Mainly because a number of the Harpies were on another “team” altogether.
“You’re a Harpies fan right?” Maggie asked casually.
Winn butted in. “Tindall is Alex’s all-time hero. She has a signed jersey from her debut World Cup.”
“She sleeps in it,” said Kara, contributing briefly before stuffing some more pancakes into her mouth.
James reached over to grab the Prophet only to have Alex yank it back and folded it into her bookbag for safekeeping. That photo was destined to be tacked up in Alex’s dorm room, right where she kept her broomstick and Quidditch gear.
“Do you follow the League, Maggie?” asked James. “Are you a Harpies fan like Alex?”
Maggie’s lips twisted into a smile. “No, I’m Muggleborn so I grew up without Quidditch. But I know some of the Harpies, especially Tindall.”
“Woah, you know her?”
“Not personally, I meant I know of her. Her wife is the lead singer of The Flying Hagrids. They got married recently.”
Alex choked on her pumpkin juice and coughed. Her eyes snapped up to Maggie’s in surprise and held. Obviously the fact that her hero was married to a woman was new information to her. The redhead wiped her mouth behind a napkin, now studiously avoiding eye contact.
“What’s a Hagrid?” asked Kara. “And how do they fly?”
“I’ll educate you later, Little Danvers,” said Maggie, with a wink. “Your sister has obviously dropped the ball there.”
“That’d be a first.” James nudged Alex. “Right, Captain Stickyfingers?”
James and Maggie talked music after that, comparing their favourites without any input from Alex who had gone silent. James preferred bands like Bludger to the Head and Creevey Crisis whereas Maggie went for bands with female leads like the Hagrids or the Black Sisters. They both agreed that any wrock band was better than pop warblers like Celestina Warbeck, who most kids’ mothers listened to.
James checked his watch. “I gotta go. It’s nearly class-time.”
Winn waved his hand in Kara’s face to get her attention away from more food. “We should go too. First period is Herbology and the greenhouses are out of the castle.”
Kara sighed and pushed away her plate. “Great, I can’t wait for another day of classes I suck at.”
“You’ll be fine,” said Alex. “Be good.”
“Okay. Love you!” Kara wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, nearly strangling her just before she ran off after Winn.
Alex rolled her eyes and smoothed her short burgundy locks behind her ears. Maggie didn’t want to make the Gryffindor girl more self-conscious than she clearly already was by staring.
“Are you, um-” Alex started then shook away a frown. “I don’t suppose you’re coming to the game on Saturday?”
Maggie shook her head. “Can't, I have morning tea with the scholarship witches. I have to be grateful and dutiful and present myself for their inspection. Show them I’m putting their galleons to good use.”
“Oh. Of course, I shouldn’t’ve assumed you’d even want to.”
“Hey, I wish I could-”
“No, no, it’s cool.” Alex fumbled for her bag as she got to her feet. “I have to go.”
After she was gone Maggie finally let her breath out. It was hard to believe that her interactions with Danvers could’ve gotten more awkward but somehow they had. The girl was pinging her gaydar but her inquiries had been deflected every time trying to penetrate that ever-present armour. Even if the redhead was gay she obviously wasn't out and that wasn't a combo Maggie wanted to revisit. She just wished Danvers would give her a bit more to go on.
Greenhouse 3
The first class of Kara’s second day got off to a flying start. Specifically, a flying dung start. A couple of Gryffindors had Wingardium ’d some of the dragon dung towards the Slytherins who had of course retaliated leading to a dung fight that only broke up when Professor Longbottom handed out detentions to the combatants.
“Anyone else caught wasting dung will be shoveling it for detention on Saturday,” Longbottom Professor warned. “Ok, fourth-years, today’s lesson will be a very special magical plant.”
Kara stood at her place at the bench where a little white pot was placed in front of her. All of the other kids had one too.
The Professor went on. “Each of you has been assigned a juvenile Ficculent to take care of. They are capable of extremely rapid response to stimuli. All you have to do is make sure it’s still alive by the end of the lesson.”
The fourth-years looked at each other wondering if that was all there was going to be.
“This is gonna be a cinch,” said Winn, out of the corner of his mouth. “How hard can it be to keep a plant alive?”
Kara eyed her assigned plant. There was a small smooth blob, greenish with a tinge of pink at the edges, sticking out of the soil. It was kind of cute but didn’t look like it could be very useful or interesting. She wondered what kind of magical property it could have or whether it was a useful ingredient in some sort of potion.
Kara was content to watch her plant for a while. She decided to wait and see whether it changed and looked like it wanted anything. Occasionally she whispered a few things in Kryptonian to it when no-one was nearby. Nothing happened of course but she smiled happily at getting to use her native language for the first time in a while.
Many of the other students in the class were fetching water and fertiliser for their plants. A few were rifling through their textbooks trying to find any hints on Ficculent care. Apart from that it was a cruisy lesson with not much to do.
They were barely halfway through the period when some of the Ficculents started to shrivel up and die. Several students started to panic about what they’d done wrong to their plants.
“Professor, mine’s dead!” a student called out.
Professor Longbottom walked over to diagnose the problem. “Did you water it? They hate water.”
“Mine’s dead too,” said Eve Tessmacher, crestfallen at her bench.
“Did you feed it?”
“Yes.”
“They hate fertiliser.” Longbottom shrugged.
Almost the entire class’s Ficculents were dead or dying by now. The list of things Ficculents hated now included: ‘Sunlight’, ‘Warm air, ‘Cold’, and ‘People’ thanks to Winn who had given his a tiny poke with his finger.
Kara’s heart began to beat faster as they got closer to the end of the lesson. Her plant was still alive! She’d been observing it and nothing had changed about it so far, except that it might’ve been a little bigger now. She figured there was no point trying to do anything to help it now, seeing as how these plants seemed to hate absolutely everything. It was too risky.
“ El Mayarah ,” Kara whispered her family’s motto and continued to watch.
A few minutes before the end of class a tiny pink bump began to appear on the side of the blob.
Professor Longbottom peered over Kara’s shoulder from his great height to approve of her work. “Well done, Miss Danvers. It’s going to flower.”
Kara’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Really?”
“Yes. You may keep it in your dorm if you like. Five points to Hufflepuff.”
A sparkly yellow 5 lit the air a few inches above Kara's head and then faded away.
The Professor clapped his hands to get the class’s attention. “Alright, fourth-years, time’s up! How many living plants do we have? Raise your hands.”
Only three students had managed to keep their plant alive, including Kara. The other students were Siobhan and her Slytherin friend Leslie who had been gossiping together the whole time and ignoring their plants entirely. Neither of their plants looked as healthy as Kara’s though.
“A round of applause for Misses Smythe, Willis, and Danvers whose Ficculents survived an hour in their care. For homework read the chapter on ‘Good intentions’ and summarise it. Class dismissed.”
Kara’s excitement was uncontainable for the rest of the day. Her success with the Ficculant plant, which now accompanied her to her classes, more than made up for the bad day she’d had yesterday. Somehow she’d aced the Herbology lesson and won points for her house!
Winn and her Hufflepuff classmates congratulated her. They wanted to know her secret and how she’d managed to keep it alive when everyone else had such trouble. She didn’t want to tell them about talking to it in Kryptonian in case she sounded crazy. It probably hadn’t made any difference anyway and she’d merely been lucky to get a flower bump.
“Seriously, Kara, what’d you do?” quizzed Eve. “Siobhan’s and Leslie’s didn’t start to flower.”
“Um, nothing!” said Kara hastily. “There was no trick to it. I literally did nothing.”
A nearby Slytherin fourth-year boy griped about Kara getting house points when she hadn’t even done anything. But it couldn’t spoil her mood.
The middle period was Care of Magical Creatures, which Kara enjoyed as well, partly because it was held outside. The lesson started off with a discussion about cryptids, which were creatures rumoured to exist but unknown to both Muggles and magical folk. The Professor told them about his adventures far and wide searching for clues and following various unconfirmed sightings of Banshees, Bicorns, and Bigfoot.
Professor Wobblybuff pulled out a pair of funky glasses and placed them on his face. “Now class, you will see that I have donned a pair of Spectrespecs. The reason is so that I may visually encounter a creature known as a Wrackspurt.”
Winn raised his hand. “Um Professor? I thought they didn’t exist.”
“Yes, many people think that. Class, can anyone tell me why we are discussing Wrackspurts in a lesson on cryptids?”
Only Lena Luthor raised her hand and was called on to answer. “Their cryptid status was revoked by the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after their existence was confirmed by the research scientist Luna Lovegood last year.”
“Yes! And can you tell me which division they fall into: Being, Beast, or Spirit?”
“I believe Wrackspurts are classified as spirits.”
The Professor clapped his hands. “Excellent, Miss Luthor! Take five points for…?”
There was a pause while the teacher waited for Lena to respond.
“Slytherin,” said Lena.
A green 5 briefly lit up the air as the points magically transferred to the house total.
“Now, Wrackspurts are invisible to the naked eye. They have been known to float into a person’s brain via the ear causing forgetfulness, vague thoughts, and a general lack of focus. Something I believe afflicts a great many students at this school. Not to mention some of the staff!”
Wobblybuff chuckled to himself at the joke.
“Each of you will have a turn with Spectrespecs to try to locate some Wrackspurts nearby. There’s enough pairs for one between two.”
He chuckled again and started to hand out the Spectrespecs to half of the students leaving them to pair up among themselves. As usual, students sought out their friends and paired up quickly before leaving to explore the woods. Kara looked at Winn and Eve but they both had Specs too so she was going to have to choose someone else.
Kara looked around and noticed Lena, Specs-less and partner-less waiting at the edge of the remaining group. She walked over to get her attention with a bright smile.
“Hi Lena.” Kara held out her Specs to the pale brunette. “Do you want to partner up?”
“Are you sure?” said Lena, clearly puzzled by the gesture.
“Do you have someone else already?”
“No,” Lena amended quickly. “I didn’t expect anyone to- I mean, thank you.”
“You can go first.”
Kara handed the Spectrespecs to Lena, since she didn’t know what to look for and she figured she wouldn’t know it even if she saw it. They’d have a better chance of completing the lesson if Lena led the way. The two girls wandered off, away from places that were already being searched by others. They walked around without talking for a while.
Kara turned to Lena and brought up something she’d been dying to say. “I saw what happened after dinner last night. Are you alright?”
“Yes, fine.” Lena’s face was obscured and she mumbled the last part to herself. “It’s not like it was the first time.”
“You’re really smart huh.”
Lena lowered the Specs, suspicion at the ready. “Yes, why?”
Kara smiled. “No reason. You always do well in class. You know all the answers.”
“You're referring to earlier. The cryptids question.”
“Yeah. You sounded like a grownup. How did you know that stuff?”
“My family has Ministry connections. Eavesdropping is easy when you live in a place that is dead silent.” Lena walked off ahead.
Kara left it at that and didn’t ask for any more details since Lena didn’t seem to want to talk about it. She assumed that family was a sensitive topic for her, after what she’d heard students said about the Luthors. It wasn’t just what Mike and Roulette had said, it was also the way that James and Alex talked about them. Luthors didn't seem to be well-regarded and normally she'd take Alex's view as truth… but Lena seemed nice, if a little guarded and standoffish.
Kara kicked herself for scaring off her potential new friend. She called out to her. “Hey, Lena, have you seen any of the wacky things yet?”
“No, and we’re not likely to,” said Lena, giving a shrug when she looked back at Kara. “There’s a reason they were undiscovered for so long.”
“What can you see? Are the Specs doing anything?”
“Nothing except making me look like a demented owl with multi-coloured eyes I expect. I can’t find any Wrackspurts.”
“Well, what do they look like?”
“I’ve never seen any. How would I know?”
“Because you know everything!” Kara said exasperatedly.
The corners of Lena’s mouth turned up into a smile and lowered her Specs. “You’re cute when you’re grumpy. You should eat something.”
Kara’s stomach growled at the suggestion so she swung her bag around and grabbed one of her spare muffins to munch on. She glanced at the Professor who saw what she was doing and stopped eating momentarily in case she was about to get in trouble. But the teacher merely nodded his permission at her.
The muffin disappeared in record time. Lena watched her as though waiting for something to happen which was weird.
Kara scanned the woods ahead and started towards something shiny that caught her eye over Lena's shoulder. “Hey, what’s that over there.”
Excited shouts soon came from the rest of the class and Professor Wobblybuff also jogged over. Those wearing Spectrespecs were pointing at something invisible in mid-air that only they could see.
“I can see them!”
“I can see them too! They’re right there.”
Lena stood beside Kara, putting the Specs back on to look for herself.
“A cryptid revealed, right in front of our very eyes!” The Professor was as excited as the students. “Those are indeed Wrackspurts. They look like floaty rainbow coloured specks that shine in the light. Of course, they can only be seen when one is wearing Spectrespecs. Don’t anybody get too close! We don’t want to get infected.”
The lesson ended shortly after that and the class groaned that the cool part of the day was over.
Wobbybuff instructed them to hand back the Spectrespecs and take a worksheet to complete for homework. Lena threw the Specs on the pile and grabbed two sheets. She slipped one into her bag and then gave the second one to Kara.
“You saw them,” said Lena in a low voice. “Even though I had the Specs the whole time. You could see the wrackspurts before everyone else could.”
Kara adjusted her non-magical glasses. “What do you mean? No, I couldn’t.”
Lena pinned a narrowed gaze at her, unconvinced. “I grew up around liars. I can tell when someone’s lying to me.”
Lena tossed her braid over her shoulder and walked away. Kara watched her go, wondering whether Lena was as right as she always was.
Alex was on her way to a Prefects meeting in the DADA classroom with the Deputy Headmaster when she passed by Kara and Winn in the hallway who were on their way to lunch. Kara lit up and grabbed Alex out of the crowd to tell her her news.
“Alex, Alex, guess what!” Kara squealed and jumped up and down. “Look!”
Alex eyed the pot that her sister held out. “It's a Ficculent plant.”
“It's alive! It's going to flower. I got house points.”
“Five points for Hufflepuff,” Winn confirmed.
“That's great, Kara.” Alex smiled and congratulated her. “I'm really proud of you.”
Kara beamed. The floodgates opened and she told her about today’s classes and all the things she learned. It was a huge improvement on yesterday when her sister had burst into tears at the end of classes. The extremes were likely due to Kara adjusting to so many changes at once, Eliza had warned her about it. And even though Alex was going to be very late for the meeting she didn't have the heart to stop her ramblings nor put a damper on her excitement.
Eventually Kara ran out of words due to her own hunger and Winn hinting that they should get a good table before they all went.
Alex shooed Kara towards the hall doors. “Go, eat!”
“Bye Alex, love you!” Kara waved one last time.
The meeting was well underway by the time Alex ducked in. She slid into a seat at the back hoping to go unnoticed. When she caught Professor Jonzz’s stern eye she had the grace to look sheepish and kicked herself for being late to one of her mentor's meetings. He kept talking though, updating the Prefects on the school news and any student issues they needed to be aware of.
“I have one more announcement,” said Professor Jonzz. “As some of you may know, Alissa Finch transferred to Ilvermorny. We have a new Prefect joining us today.”
Alex’s eyes darted around the room, instinctively looking for the new face among the more familiar Prefects. Some of the tall seventh-year boys were sat in front of her though, which obscured her ability to spy. Finally she recognised a low ponytail of shiny black hair falling over the back of a Hufflepuff vest and felt her stomach swoop.
Jonzz gestured for the black-haired girl to stand up to be introduced. “This is Margareta Sawyer, who will be taking on the position of fifth-year Prefect for Hufflepuff house. Please make her feel welcome.”
The students clapped politely. Alex shifted low in her seat behind the boys so that there was less chance that she’d be seen while spying. She was relieved as hell now that she hadn’t walked in even later and made a fool of herself interrupting Maggie’s introduction.
Professor Jonzz finished up with a directive to keep an eye out for bullying and report any problems to him.
“Thank you, Prefects. I apologise for taking up your lunchtime. Help yourself to the food at the back.”
The students descended upon the food which the house elves had arranged in lieu of the usual Great Hall spread. Alex went up to Jonzz to apologise for being late first (he didn’t chew her out though, he merely gave her the Look of Stern Disappointment), so by the time she got to the food she had to elbow her way in and out before the seventh-year boys hogged it all.
Once she scored the best of the remaining food, Alex decided to head outside to see if James was around when she noticed Maggie eating from a plate of food by herself. She took a deep breath to get rid of her sudden nerves and went over.
“Hey,” said Alex. “You can't eat in here, Sawyer.”
“Hello to you too, Danvers.” Maggie brightened for a second when she said hello and then looked confused. She looked pointedly at Alex's plate of food.
Alex’s face suffused with heat. “Not you in particular. I meant Jonzz hates it when students eat in his room so we should head out.”
“Oh. Er, Is it alright if I come with you?”
“Yeah, sure. That'd be fine. That's actually what I meant to say when I came over. But it came out wrong. I didn't mean it to sound… uh like it did. No offence.”
Maggie smiled. “None taken.”
Alex led the way outside the castle to the lawn. Technically they weren't supposed to be there during lunch but it had the advantage of being private. They sat down and tucked into the sandwiches and pastries on their plates. She was hungry but struggling to eat with her stomach doing flip-flips.
“Breathe, Danvers,” Maggie murmured beside her. She was teasing her.
Alex let out an amused huff. “What makes you think I'm not breathing.”
“You're all tense. Relax. It's just me.”
God that's 1000 percent the problem , thought Alex. Her heart was jumping in her chest, she was afraid it would be obvious to the other girl. Why couldn’t she just calm down and not act like an idiot for once. This was probably a bad idea. The silence stretched on and Alex wracked her brain for something to say to cover up the fact that she had no idea what to say.
“Congrats by the way,” Alex cleared her throat of dry sandwich. “On being made Prefect. For what it’s worth, you can’t be worse than Alissa Finch was.”
Maggie’s lips twisted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Danvers.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I know. I was just teasing you.”
“Why.” The redhead’s eyes darted to the side.
“I like to get a reaction. I’m hoping that one day I’ll get a smile out of you. ”
Alex’s heart chose that moment to freeze completely for a second and then kickstarted itself into a wild rhythm that thundered in her ears. Maggie was still looking at her in that way. She wasn’t just imagining it. It couldn’t really be real though?
“Dyke.”
It was a boy’s voice, said loud enough for both of them to hear. Their heads snapped around, searching for the source. A stream of students holding school broomsticks were walking behind the two seated girls, apparently on their way to their next flying lesson. It was impossible to tell who’d said it, sneered at her with that tone in his voice, and then melted back into the crowd.
“Alex, don't-” Maggie’s voice was sympathetic. Almost like pity.
Alex couldn’t look at her. She jumped up and practically ran back to the castle.
Great Hall
“I’m starving !” Kara exclaimed, as they headed towards the Great Hall for dinnertime that evening.
“You’re always starving,” said Winn, trailing behind her with James.
“Only because the food here is awesome! I can’t seem to get enough.”
James laughed. “You sure are a bottomless pit, Kara.”
The third-years’ last class of the day had been Transfiguration in which they were studying the theory behind transforming tadpoles into needles.
Kara hadn’t faired too badly in the class, despite not being able to do any magic, she found that she could read the transfiguration spells in the text quite easily even though they were written in a foreign alphabet. The other students had spent their first school year learning it, which Kara had obviously missed. Her only guess was that it was a script similar to Kryptonian.
She was hoping to tell her sister about her day and ask whether she knew of any connection between the transfiguration alphabet and her native language.
“Where’s Alex?” Kara asked James. “How come she’s not with you?”
James shrugged a shoulder. “I dunno, she wasn’t in the library for our free period. Probably in her dorm room prepping some strategies for tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?” said Winn.
“Quidditch, remember?” James raised his brows as though to comment on Winn’s failure to remember such a big school event. “Gryffindor vs. Slytherin grudge match.”
“I can’t wait to see her play,” said Kara excitedly. “I bet it’s amazing to be able to fly.”
A soft rumbling was heard in the distance. Thunder, though not very close. A darkening grey sky was visible through the corridor windows.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.” James muttered.
“Why?” said Kara. “Is it bad for playing Quidditch?”
“Not usually,” explained James. “But the Slytherins have those new Professional weather-repelling kits, makes it easier to see and grip the quaffle in rain, sleet, or snow. The International Quidditch Association is considering banning them from all games but hasn’t come to a decision yet. At the pro level it’s not really a problem since all players have the same kit. But at school level it’s a huge advantage.”
“Why do only the Slytherins have them?” said Kara. “Isn’t that unfair?”
“Of course it’s unfair! But it costs a fortune to kit-out a whole team and we can’t afford it. Slytherin got theirs donated to them by the Luthors last week.”
Kara’s eyes widened. “Lena’s family?”
“Yeah. Who else.”
“But Lena’s not a Slytherin. And she doesn’t play Quidditch does she?”
James shook his head in annoyance. “No matter what the Sorting Hat says, Lena is a Slytherin and one day her true colours will show. The Luthors are a Slytherin family going back generations.”
Winn explained more. “The Luthors are super rich, they donate to the school all the time. Both of Lena’s parents were here as Slytherins. And her older brother too.”
“She has a brother here?” said Kara.
“No.” James cut Winn off. “He graduated already. End of story.”
“But-”
“Kara, I’ve told you.” James stopped abruptly and put his hands on the young girl’s shoulders. He towered over her. “Stay away from Lena, ok? It’s not safe, especially for you.”
Kara’s face fell. “But I don’t understand. She seems fine.”
“Hey," James softened his voice. "You didn’t do anything wrong, you’re just new here. You gotta trust me on this alright? Ask Alex if you don't believe me.”
Kara considered James's warning, but when he realised she wasn’t going to nod or agree to it verbally he let go of her and sighed. It just didn’t make sense to her, why did James and Alex want her to stay away from Lena? Even if Lena was like her family, the most they’d accused the Luthors of was being rich and favouring their own House. Why exactly were the Luthors bad? Pretty much everyone at Hogwarts was biased towards their own House. Inter-House rivalry was anywhere between friendly and militant at times. Even outside of their school uniforms it wasn’t uncommon to see students - and staff- sporting articles of clothing in their team colours. Alex practically lived in her faded red and gold hoodie proclaiming her allegiance to Gryffindor in giant block letters.
Everyone wore House colours except Lena.
“I know you’re only looking out for me,” said Kara, looking up at James sincerely. “But Lena’s in my class so I can’t avoid her completely.”
“Just be careful ok?”
“Always,” Kara smiled lopsidedly and pushed her glasses up. “I don’t think she likes me very much anyway. So you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
The trio entered the Great Hall just as the platters of food began to appear on the table.
After dinner, Winn went back to the Ravenclaw common room and Kara and James went back to Gryffindor Tower.
Kara wanted to see if Alex was there, so James gave the password ‘ victoria aut mors ’ to the Fat Lady portrait and ushered her in. He gave her a brief tour of the common room and then pointed her to the stairs leading to the girls dorms. Kara took two stairs at a time and then knocked on the fifth year door.
“Alex?” she called through the door. “Alex, are you in there? It’s Kara.”
Half a minute passed until footsteps. The door opened to reveal Alex, already in her pyjama pants. On top she had a plain black tank rather than the usual Harpies merchandise. Her textbooks and study notes were open on the desk in the background as though she’d been studying.
“Hi!” Kara chirped. Then she noticed Alex’s face, its drawn expression and lifeless eyes. “Oh. Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” Alex forced a smile. “Fine. Just not feeling the best.”
“Are you sick?” said Kara, worried all over. “Did you miss dinner? Oh no, are you going to be okay to play the game tomorrow?”
“Yes, I'll be fine for the game.” Alex’s reply was firm. “It’s nothing.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“Do you want to come in?”
“Yes!”
Kara bounced into Alex’s dorm, taking in the half dozen four-poster beds in maroon velvet and gold tassels for the Gryffindor fifth year girls. Alex’s bed was unmade but her study desk and pile of Quidditch gear were neatly arranged. The other girls’ areas were far messier, with clothes strewn everywhere and crooked posters pinned to the walls. The other girls must’ve been still down in the Common room -- or elsewhere, they were sixteen after all.
Alex sat on her bed and leaned back against the propped up pillows.
“Wow, this place is cool.” said Kara, looking around and taking everything in.
“It’s not that different from yours,” Alex pointed out with a little smile. She pulled the covers up to her waist and drew her knees up, lying on her side.
Kara’s brows knitted. “Are you sure you’re alright? Did something happen.”
“I’d much rather hear about the rest of your day. But I guess I could use a hug.”
Kara didn’t need any more prompting than that. She practically dove into the space in front of Alex and wiggled into her older sister’s arms. Originally, Kara was going to tell her about Transfiguration and being able to read the alphabet already but she didn’t want to worry her sister when she clearly had something else on her mind. So she skirted around it in describing her afternoon.
After Kara ran out of words, she settled for quiet. She always felt so content being held by Alex and it seemed that Alex didn’t really want to let her go tonight either.
“I better go soon,” said Kara. “It’s nearly 9.30.”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your new Prefect, Sawyer.”
“Maggie’s a Prefect now?“ Kara rolled out of bed and jumped to her feet in one easy motion. "That’s awesome. I’ll have to congratulate her next time I see her.”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t see her at dinner. Have you seen her since breakfast?”
"No." Alex bit her lips and turned her face away. She slowly got out of bed and grabbed her faded Gryffindor hoodie to put on so she could escort Kara back to Hufflepuff Basement. It would be too cold in the corridors in just the top she was wearing.
“What’s wrong? Did you and Maggie have a fight.”
“No.”
“Do you not like her? You’re always acting weird around her.”
Alex flinched. She really didn’t want to talk about it. At all. She didn’t want to tell Kara what happened today because it’d upset her. She couldn’t say anything without telling her the whole issue anyway. There was no point until she figured out her own feelings and how to get over them. Kara was right, she was being weird and people were obviously starting to notice. She should just keep her mouth shut.
Kara was still waiting for an answer.
Alex placed her hand on her sister's shoulder. “Let’s just get you back ok?”
Chapter 3
Notes:
Thanks for reading, enjoy! :)x
Chapter Text
Hufflepuff dorm
The next morning Kara woke up on her own. It was Saturday so there was no need to rush for classes. She got dressed, intending to make her way down to the Great Hall to see if her friends were there yet. She wore her favourite blue t-shirt with the sparkly red raspberry on it, jeans, and the red Converse high-tops that used to belong to Alex.
It was her first weekend at Hogwarts and Kara was excited to spend more time with her sister and friends without the constraints of the school day. Winn was going to show her the lake and the Giant Squid, and of course there was the Quidditch game on later in which she’d finally get to see the sport played live for the first time.
Kara pulled Alex’s Gryffindor hoodie over her head for warmth. Most of the other students would’ve considered it a betrayal to wear off-House colours, especially on Quidditch day, but Kara didn’t care. She was proud to be Alex Danvers’s little sister and she wanted everyone to know who she was supporting today.
“Morning Kara!” Eve greeted her. She’d obviously just come from the showers as her hair was still wet.
“Good morning, Eve.” Kara smiled back. It was just the two of them in the dorms for the weekend. The other Hufflepuff fourth-years (twins named June and July) had been called home for family reasons.
Kara went to sit on the bed to brush her hair when a loud MEOW! came from under her bedspread. The creature shot out the other side of the bed and headed for Eve.
“Spikey!” cried Eve. She picked up the grumpy tabby and patted him until he got sick of it and jumped down to her bed. “Be nice, you naughty kitty. Sorry Kara. He’s usually friendly.”
“It’s no problem,” said Kara with a smile. “I get scared too sometimes. Is he yours?”
“Yes, he’s the pet I brought with me since my first day at Hogwarts.”
“Oh, I didn’t know we were allowed pets in the dorms. My sister Alex has an owl.”
Eve stroked the glowering cat affectionately. “Yeah, most kids bring owls. They’re useful for sending messages home and they live in the owlery so they take care of themselves most of the time.”
“I wonder if I could get a pet,” Kara mused out loud. It would be nice to have an animal friend here. Preferably something she could cuddle. Besides, Alex already had an owl so it’s not like she needed one for communication purposes.
“Ask your parents for one.”
Eve supplied the solution as though a kid simply had to ask their parents and they’d automatically be allowed to get a pet. Kara wasn’t so sure though. She hadn't been adopted by the Danvers family for very long. They’d done so much for her, taking her in and sending her off to Hogwarts with Alex, that she felt a little guilty asking for something as big as a pet.
“Maybe,” said Kara, knowing she probably wouldn’t ask. Now that the idea was in her head though, she was already thinking of candidate animals that she might like to choose for a pet. Dog was top of the list, but nobody else seemed to have one so they probably weren’t allowed.
“Are you going to watch your sister play Quidditch today?” asked Eve.
“Yup!” said Kara. “I'm so excited. I still can't picture people flying about on broomsticks. This is kinda new for me.”
“You'll love it. Alex is amazing. She’s easily the best in the school.”
“Are you going to come watch?”
“Nah, I'm meeting Siobhan and the girls. We're going to try different makeup spells from the latest Which Witch magazine.”
Kara didn't think that sounded better than a flying sport but she smiled. “Sounds fun.”
Great Hall
Not that she would tell anyone for fear of being embarrassed, but Kara was proud of herself for finding her way to breakfast by herself and on time. On her way she passed several castle windows and noticed that the sky was clear. It wasn’t sunny but at least it wasn't raining.
When she got to the Great Hall, Winn, James, and Alex were already there. Alex was dressed in her Quidditch uniform sans padding and guards. Kara brightened immediately and went over to join the table.
“Hey Kara,” said James, accompanied by his usual easy smile.
“You’re awake,” said Alex, a little surprised. “You got up by yourself?”
“Yup. Pancakes!” squealed Kara. She slid on to the bench next to Alex and filled her plate with gusto.
Winn chuckled. “There’s pancakes every day. It’s not exactly a surprise.”
Kara playfully rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but today is Saturday, my first one at Hogwarts. Saturday is the best day of the whole week.”
“You say the same thing about Sundays.” Alex said wryly, without looking up.
“No, Sunday is my favourite day of the week. There’s a difference.”
“There really isn’t.”
Kara went to give her sister the traditional shoulder-shove but she noticed that Alex still wasn’t looking her usual self. Her face was pale and her eyes looked sore and tired, like she’d been tossing and turning all night without getting any sleep.
The plate in front of Alex held the remains of a few slices of toast that’d had their crusts torn off. It didn’t look like much had been eaten though. It didn’t bode well for trying to play an intensely physical sport later on an empty stomach.
Kara leaned into her sister to whisper. “Alex, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” Alex managed to smile. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“I wish I could help.”
Alex pulled her into a side hug. “You are, thank you. Now, make sure you eat a good breakfast. Keeps you powered throughout the day.”
Kara pulled back, one eyebrow raised, and crossed her arms. “I will … when you eat something too. I bet Germaine Tindall doesn’t skip breakfast on game day.”
Alex chuckled at Kara’s transparent attempt at manipulation and nodded. “Deal.”
The younger Danvers fulfilled her side of the bargain much better than the older one did. Kara periodically gave Alex a pointed look at the food as if to say her efforts weren’t good enough yet. In the end, Alex managed to get some food down.
“It’s not like you to be nervous, Captain,” said James, who had been eyeing Alex’s reluctance to eat. “You’ve run through more training sessions than all of the other teams put together. You got this.”
“The weather’s clear,” said Winn. “That means Slytherin doesn’t have the kit advantage.”
“Smart money’s on a Gryffindor win today,” James said confidently.
Alex shrugged. “Anything could happen on the pitch. Cooper’s lost a bit of confidence after the bludger to the head last week. Slytherin will try to rattle him.”
The doors to the Hall banged open suddenly and a voice bellowed with a volume that was definitely amplified with a sonorous charm:
“GRYYFFFINDOOOOOOOOR!”
It was Mike Matthews, Max Junior, and crew, and they were decked out in House colours, whooping and singing chants and generally making a spectacle. They ran past any tables with Slytherin students and threw maroon and yellow streamers everywhere. A few of the younger Slytherin students attempted colour charms to change the streamers to green with mixed success. The streamers turned a sickly brownish mix of maroon and green.
The seventh-year boys noticed Alex and ran over, pretending to throw themselves at her feet for worship. One or two of them were shirtless with the Gryffindor lion painted on their torsos.
“Danvers! Captain of our lion-hearted warriors! We’re not worthy. We’re not worthy...”
Alex only rolled her eyes and tried to ignore them. Usually Alex liked the support of her fellow Housemates but sometimes teenage boys were just too loud and too much overall. The older boys especially, with their deep voices and testosterone-fuelled antics being more irritating than attractive.
“Aren’t they cold without shirts?” whispered Kara. She nudged Winn but he was too busy watching the spectacle.
James chuckled, catching a whiff of FireWhisky coming from the boys. “I don’t think they’re feeling it, Kara. Seems like the party’s started a bit early for some.”
Eventually one of the staff appeared to shoo them out and to “save it for the pitch”. The boys continued their whooping on the way out and a distant “SLYTHERIN SUCKS!” accompanied them out.
Alex got up from the bench and patted Kara’s shoulder. “I’ve got to go early to set things up before the rest of the team get there for the warm-up. I’ll see you later, ok? After the game.”
“Yup, I can’t wait!” Kara jumped up and threw her arms around her sister. “Good luck, Alex!”
“I won’t need it but thanks.”
“I’ll wave at you from the crowd,” Kara squeezed out another hug. “So make sure you look out for me. Break a broomstick!”
Alex tried to slide out. “Kara, I need to breathe.”
“Oh.”
James took pity on his fellow prefect. “Hey, Kara, check it out. Chocolate croissants just appeared.”
The distraction worked. Kara pounced on the sugary pastries, allowing Alex to leave. Kara sent back a chocolatey smile and waved at her sister leaving the Hall until she was out of sight.
Kara, Winn, and James spent the morning by the lake, basking in the slight warmth it provided to the otherwise chilly day. The Giant Squid didn’t show, not even a hint of tentacle, but Winn assured Kara she’d see it eventually.
The boys explained the rules of Quidditch and recounted some of the standard strategies. Kara listened wide-eyed to some of the stories they told about notable games and incidents that either happened right there at Hogwarts or during international games.
“One time Tindall took a bludger hit that shattered her eye socket and she kept going… scored the winning goal… England won the Tournament of course.”
James accio’d his broom to show Kara how it flew. She was so enthralled by the idea of flying that he cast height and speed restriction charms on the broom so that she could try it for herself safely. Kara was fearless though, she hopped on straight away and zoomed around in circles at no more than a metre off the ground.
Charmed brooms were usually only for magical kids when they were little and they grew out of them before Hogwarts age. But Kara had lived a non-magical life so far and she was having an absolute ball.
“This is so much fun!” Kara laughed and performed a barrel roll that had her tumbling to the grass.
“You’re a natural at flying, Kar,” said James. “Must be a Danvers thing.”
After lunch a stream of kids, most of whom wore either maroon or green House colors, headed towards the Quidditch pitch when there was less than an hour before Snitch-off. The trio decided to join the crowd and get there early to secure seats that had a good view.
Alex played Chaser so James suggested that they sit between halfway and one end so that they’d be better placed to see her goals. As it turned out, a great many other Gryffindors had the same idea and the House filled the entire bay.
A few Gryffindor girls were going around offering facepaint and flashing flags, both of which Kara desperately wanted. She had no money to pay for them so James handed over a few Knuts on her behalf. The Gryffindors didn't recognise her as one of their own and gave her a strange look when the Hufflepuff girl requested her face painted.
Now sporting maroon and gold warpaint along with her Gryffindor hoodie and a flashing ‘DANVERS’ flag, Kara explained to everyone within earshot that she was Alex Danvers’ little sister.
Once the game started, Kara bubbled over with excitement like a little volcano. She didn’t know the words but she joined in with the Gryffindor chants and jumped to her feet each time they scored. There was a lot going on at once in a Quidditch game, it was too much action to follow but her focus was on her favourite redhead Chaser anyway.
Alex was playing well, James commented, but she didn’t seem to be in her best form. One or two of Alex’s passes were sloppy compared to her usual and he seemed to be having trouble shaking the Beater who was marking her closely.
The Slytherin Beater shoulder-checked Alex and ended up getting her in the head which caused an uproar in the Gryffindor stand. She’d already passed the Quaffle to another Chaser, who went on to score, so the move was far too late. The ref called time-out so that Alex could be checked.
“FOUL! That’s a foul!” The maroon supporters who were on their feet yelling for justice.
“Are you blind, ref? Send him OFF!” James bellowed.
“That’s my SISTER!” Kara yelled. She seemed ready to jump out of the stands and go down there to defend her.
Alex wasn’t hurt. She submitted to Professor Jonzz’s cursory exam of her injuries, still sitting on her broomstick in mid air where he’d flown over. She was given the ok and everyone took their positions to resume the game. The Gryffindors were still grumbling about the Slytherin beater who was only given a warning.
The warning did no good, however, the Slytherin Beaters teamed up and hustled poor Cooper, Gryffindor’s seeker, instead even though the Snitch was nowhere to be seen. Alex noticed he was struggling but signaled to her Chasers to increase the attack while the defense was weak.
“Alex, I’m open!” Lara, the other Chaser, cried from the far goal and barely finished her call for the Quaffle before Alex shot it her way. She one-timed it through the hoop.
“GOAL!” The announcement came via sonorous . “GRYFFINDOR lead SLYTHERIN 60-10.”
Play continued until all hell broke loose.
The tense calm held only as long as the time-out. The Gryffindor team stood around worriedly as Cooper sat on the ground holding his head. “I can’t, I can’t go back on.”
Alex ran a hand through her sweaty burgundy locks. She’d called for a timeout the second she noticed that Cooper was in trouble. He’d been hit by a bludger twice already and couldn’t get his eye-in again. Last game he’d had a bad concussion, thrown up all night, and it left him panicking about another serious injury. Naturally, that was why he had been targeted by the Slytherin Beaters's harassment.
Slytherin were watching from their own huddle. They were smirking like the arseholes they were.
Cooper was likely out for the rest of the game. But because he hadn’t been physically injured enough to be sent to the Medical wing, the Slytherins protested any substitution.
“That’s ridiculous,” Alex spat. If looks could kill the Slytherin Captain would’ve been ash.
Professor J’onzz, who was refereeing, gave a tiny nod. “Danvers, it’s your call. You can forfeit or you may take the field and play on… but without a Seeker.”
Alex took a breath to consider the risk. Her team stood off to the side. She couldn’t let them down. They were winning but without a Seeker they had no chance of catching the Snitch. There were no substitutes allowed in the School league. It wasn’t Cooper’s fault and she didn’t want him to feel guilty for making them forfeit. But with one player down, the Beaters would have fewer players to mark, which put her Chasers in more danger than usual.
“We’ll play on,” Alex said firmly, sending a glare towards the Slytherin Captain, the smug bastard, who laughed at her decision.
Back in the Gryffindor huddle Alex met her team with a grim face. “We can do this. If we forfeit, we give Slytherin a point they don’t deserve. Our goal difference speaks for itself. We’re top of the table for a reason.”
“But if we lose,” said Lara. “Slytherin gets three points. They’ll overtake Ravenclaw for second place.”
“I know, but we don’t stand down to Slytherin bullies. Ever.”
Alex quickly spelled out her revised strategy for the game. “Forget the Snitch. Let Slytherin have it, but only after we’ve scored enough goals to win. Get in their way, right up in their faces, but do not let them score.”
Lara looked a little doubtful. “We’ll have to more than double our score to wear the 150 points though.”
“Yes, exactly. So, Beaters? I need you to clear the field for the Chasers. Protect Diana and Lara at all costs. The Snitch might not come out straight away, it’s random, so we need to take that chance. We may just get lucky and score enough goals before it appears.”
A tall slender girl called Diana nodded. “Their Seeker isn’t experienced when the Snitch is acting erraticly. We can take them.”
Alex called an end to the huddle. “Let’s go, Gryffindor!”
Play resumed again and Slytherin didn’t know what hit them. It was obvious that they had become complacent and were relying on the fact that as soon as the Snitch came out their Seeker would have no competition for the catch. But they hadn’t reckoned on the Gryffindor Chasers’ relentless attack and before long, Lara and Diana had scored three goals each.
It was 120-10 when the Snitch finally appeared. A glint of gold flashed in the corner of the oval pitch. The crowd saw it and more importantly, the Slytherin Seeker saw it.
Alex took advantage of the distraction and slammed the Quaffle past the Slytherin defender into the goal, making it 130-10.
It wasn’t going to be enough though. The Snitch buzzed erratically, followed closely by the Slytherin Seeker. He dove for it…
WHACK! The bludger came out of nowhere. The Slytherin Seeker howled and grabbed his wrist and the Snitch disappeared. Carol, one of the Gryffindor beaters flew by, satisfaction written on her face.
“Lara, NOW!” Alex screamed for the Quaffle, one-timed it back to Lara who sent it rocketting forward to Diana. It was a drill they’d rehearsed a hundred times. It paid off.
“GOAL!” The pitch announcer yelled. “The Lions lead the Serpents 140 to 10. Can Gryffindor actually win this? It seems Captain Danvers thinks so!”
Slytherin realised the danger far too late and their play turned dirty. Gryffindor were closing in on a huge score, the likes of which they couldn’t match even with the Snitch. Their only hope was to end it now one way or the other. Catch the Snitch or take out the Gryffindor players violently.
The Quaffle slipped from Alex’s grasp as the Goalie shoved her hard from her blindspot. She cursed as the Captain sent it up the field towards the Slytherin Chasers. It was the closest the green team had been to scoring in the entire second half. But the shot on goal was weak and easily shunted away by the Gryffindor keeper.
The crowd was in uproar. The chants were deafening. “GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR!”
The Gryffindor Beaters cleared the Slytherins tailing Diana, who had the Quaffle and was speeding towards the goals. The Goalie swerved for the save but predicted the shot wrong and the right-most ring rang with the sound of success.
150-10.
It was Lara’s turn next for an absolute blinder. Hanging from her broom one-handed she tossed the Quaffle to one of the Gryffindor Beaters who belted it through the goal with his bat. Clang!
160-10.
Alex’s heart hammered in her chest. They could do this. They were so close. They could snatch this sweet victory out from under the Slytherin noses. She imagined Kara’s face in the crowd, watching the sister she idolised. It was important for her little sister to know that someone could achieve something great, no matter how far behind they felt.
“The SNITCH! The snitch has finally appeared!” The announcer called.
The golden Snitch flitted mid-field, as though teasing the openness of its position. The Slytherin Seeker wasn’t close but as soon as he sped in the right direction the Snitch took off, bouncing ahead. He was gaining pace. In a few seconds it would be over.
“MINE!” Alex roared and collected the stray Quaffle. She urged her broomstick faster and sped towards the goals in the opposite direction to the Snitch’s. Her Beaters supported her, clearing the defending Slytherins out of sight with well-placed Bludgers.
Only the Slytherin Captain, a huge seventh-year called Bruce, remained in defense. He covered the ring bodily, blocking the shot on the closest centre goal. There wasn’t time to go for the left or right ring.
The Slytherin Captain faltered when he realised Alex wasn’t going to back down. It was a game of chicken, whoever moved first would lose the game. His bulky form blocked her target completely. She knew her planned strike would hurt like a bitch but there was no other choice.
Alex barrelled right into him and hooked her arm, Quaffle and all, through the goal for a CLANG! Vaguely her ears registered a sickening snap. It didn’t matter, she’d done it.
Seconds later, the Slytherin Seeker’s fingers closed around the Snitch.
The final siren blared.
“GRYFFINDOR WIN 170-160! What an amazing victory for a Seeker-less team. I’ve never seen anything like it!”
The crowd went insane. Nobody could believe what they’d witnessed, how Gryffindor had managed to fight back with six players to Slytherin’s seven. Winning without fielding a Seeker was absolutely unheard of.
A wave of relief overcame her. Alex sank to the ground and dropped her broomstick as soon as her feet hit grass. Her vision swam and her ears roared. She cradled her broken forearm absently, heart rate still going a mile a minute as she swayed on her feet.
The entire Gryffindor stand emptied and students were running on to the pitch whooping and screaming. One girl outstripped them all with her speed. A blonde Hufflepuff in Gryffindor colours sped past them faster than anyone would’ve given her credit for.
Kara reached Alex first, launching herself into her sister in a way that was more crash-tackle than hug.
“Alex! Alex!” Kara’s voice was hoarse from screaming. The excited girl jumped up and down. “You were so amazing! Your goals were the best. Oh Rao, you’re hurt!”
Alex exhaled gingerly. Her shoulder ached but the pain in her arm was killing her. “I’m … okay. Don’t worry.”
Professor J’onzz rushed over to examine Alex’s head state again. He warned her to keep still. “Danvers, don’t make me admit you to Medical.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You will be fine when I say so. Brackium emendo .” J’onzz waved his hand over her arm.
“Arghhh!” Alex wailed. The pain in her arm intensified for a second as the bones knit together. It dissipated, leaving an ache and a huge bruise. But at least it was no longer fractured. J’onzz examined the slash across Alex’s forehead again.
Kara bit her lip. “Is she going to be ok, Professor?”
J’onzz smiled down at her. “Of course, Miss Danvers. Your sister is made of stronger stuff than any Slytherin. All clear, Alex. Well done.”
The Gryffindor students surrounded their Quidditch team players, congratulating them and hugging and crying. Random people kept coming up to Alex, and as much as she tried to smile and greet everyone, she was wincing in pain a lot. But she kept it up until the group started heading back to the Castle to retreat from the settling afternoon cold.
The party in Gryffindor tower started early in the evening and looked like it was going to become an all-night bash. Junk food and snacks were brought out and piled on tables in the common room. Music blared at a volume that became louder each hour.
When the Firewhiskey was passed around, Alex grabbed a bottle and took a whole mouthful. The delicious burn warmed her from the inside out and soon enough her bodily pain eased along with everything that had been worrying her lately. It was such a relief to not have to think. She closed her eyes and tipped the bottle higher for another swig.
Kara hung around like a nervous wallflower in the Gryffindor common room, watching the party. She was out of place here. Not because she was a Hufflepuff though... The other Gryffindors had welcomed her with open arms when they learned who she was and they chucked her maroon-painted cheeks and called her “cute”. But she felt a little immature now that the party had … taken a turn.
Many of the older Gryffindors were dancing, or whatever it was they were doing, to the heavy music. Even Alex, who was by the fireplace with a bottle in one hand, was flanked by two seventh year boys dancing around her. One of them began to grind on her from behind.
Kara was dying to go get dinner but she was reluctant to pull Alex away from the party. She’d been taking up a lot of Alex’s time lately and she wanted her to have fun for once. Alex was sixteen. That was old enough to want to spend time with boys, wasn't it? Maybe one of those boys was someone special to Alex.
Another couple caught her eye. James was in one of the corner armchairs with Lucy Lane straddling his lap. They were kissing. Deeply.
It made Kara blush, but she couldn’t stop herself taking a few more curious looks. It was something she hadn’t really seen before. It hadn’t occurred to her that the other students would be doing those things yet. James was older and lots of girls liked him. It was just the way things were and not being a part of any of it wasn’t fun.
Kara’s stomach growled, nagging at her for a proper meal instead of a handful (or ten) of potato chips. It was nearing 9pm so she decided to dash to the Great Hall to see whether any dinner was still on.
Great Hall
The hall was nearly empty, with only a handful of students dotted here and there. Most of the tables were clear apart from a few that still had serving trays of dinner and desserts available. She’d made it just in time.
The smell of pizza nearby caught Kara’s interest. Her stomach was howling.
The table with the pizza was not unoccupied. There was a pale black-haired girl who sat alone, accompanied only by a large thick book which she pored over. Her dinner plate was mostly being ignored as she concentrated on reading.
Lena!
Kara cheered herself for her good Saturday luck. She wouldn’t have to sit alone after all and she wouldn’t have to miss out on pizza. She bounded over to greet her classmate.
“Hi Lena,” Kara chirped. “Do you mind if I join you?”
Lena looked up from her book in surprise, although she didn’t seem annoyed at the interruption. She opened her mouth to reply but didn’t get a chance to answer.
“I hope you’re not sucking up to Luthor to steal our House points, Danvers.” Siobhan stopped by the table. She had been walking past with Leslie. They both gave the Hufflepuff a disdainful onceover.
Kara was confused. “What House points? I just want pizza with my friend.”
“All the tables have pizza tonight, dumbass,” said Leslie. “You just have to tap the tray with your wand. Oh wait, that's right. You can’t do magic can you? Nevermind.”
Siobhan scoffed. “As if anyone would want to be friends with Lena Loser.”
“I know right. What a fake.”
The Slytherin girls tittered as they walked off, shooting glances at Kara that made her feel like an inch tall. Especially because it was true that she hadn’t been able to do any magic yet. She'd been at Hogwarts a whole week now, she really should have known how the dinner trays worked by now. And of course, Lena Luthor, the most brilliant witch in fourth-year, was witness to her lack of ability. Again.
“Ignore them,” said Lena. “All of the tables dispense pizza. But if you want someone to re-fill the trays for you, you’d better join me.”
Kara smiled widely. “Thank you!”
As Kara sat on the bench beside her, Lena took out her wand and tapped the pizza tray. It instantly refilled itself with a fresh piping hot pie. Kara grabbed a few slices for her plate and stuffed one into her mouth, heedless of the potential burnt tongue.
Lena watched her eat with something akin to curiosity and amusement. When Kara noticed her watching she quickly went back to her book and turned a few pages to resume reading.
“Hey Lena?” said Kara, after swallowing a bite. “What did Siobhan mean about me stealing house points?”
Lena explained. “Any points I win in class I get to choose which House to give them to. I imagine she thought you were trying to influence me away from choosing Slytherin.”
“Oh. I wasn’t.”
“I know.” Lena didn’t look up from the page. “You wouldn't be able to anyway.”
“What are you reading?” asked Kara.
Lena flipped the cover to show her. Her eyes raised, deep emerald in the low light. “ A history of muggle inventions: from Arkwright to internet .”
Kara squeaked. “Is that a textbook?”
“I suppose it is,” Lena admitted with some discomfort as she flicked her dark plait over her shoulder. It settled in the hood of her black chunky knit jumper. She sighed and propped her face on her hand, tilting her head. “Muggle technology fascinates me but I wasn’t able to enrol in Muggle Studies.”
“Why not?”
“My timetable was full.” Lena rolled her eyes. “ ‘Luthors have better things to do than waste time with silly Muggle contraptions ’ or so I’m told.”
Whenever anyone alluded to the Luthors, including Lena herself, Kara always felt as though there was something she was missing, something that everyone else knew and she didn’t. There was so much about the magical world that she didn’t know. But she did know about cotton factories and the internet.
“We had technology where I'm from,” said Kara. “So I know a fair bit about it.”
Lena stared for a moment. “Yes. I imagine you do.”
It hadn’t occurred to Kara before they died to ask her parents why Krypton had been so isolated. Its inhabitants had been focused on science and technological advancement with no input from the magical world. Kara had never heard of anyone relating their secrets to outsiders. It hardly mattered now, she supposed, with everything destroyed and no other survivors except her.
Lena changed the subject. “Why are you wearing Gryffindor house colours?” she asked, referring to the maroon hoodie and warpaint Kara still sported.
“Why don’t you wear any house colours?” Kara blurted out.
“Touche.”
Kara’s face heated up, she had the feeling she wasn’t supposed to ask about it. “Sorry, that just came out. I was at the Quidditch today. My sister plays for Gryffindor. Her name is Alex.”
“I know,” said Lena dryly. “Everyone knows Alex Danvers.”
“Were you there? It was so amazing! Oh Rao, I couldn’t believe how fast they fly. Alex was so good! She scored the winning goal and got Player of the Match.”
Lena smiled wistfully. “You think very highly of your sister don’t you.”
“Yes!” Kara nodded. “She’s the best sister I could’ve ever hoped for. She’s always looking out for me and even when I’m pestering her she always has time for me.”
“That sounds nice.”
Kara noticed a tinge of sadness in Lena’s tone. Maybe she ought to have toned down the gushing sororal pride. Not everyone was as lucky as she knew herself to be. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No.”
Winn had mentioned there was a Luthor brother, so Kara had been looking for a way to bring it up since no-one else would tell her anything about it. But Lena’s denial was even more curious.
Lena reached for the dessert plate with her wand. Close up, the black wand looked elegant and smooth. The gold lettering sparkled in the light: LUTHOR. With a single tap, dishes of ice-cream began to appear.
“Ice-cream!” gasped Kara. “I love ice-cream.”
“I thought you would,” said Lena.
Lena took a bowl for herself and sipped at each spoonful of the delicious vanilla bean ice cream displaying impeccable table manners. Her face turned to horror when she saw what Kara was doing with the ice-cream she was spooning out.
“Great Morgana!” cried Lena. “ What are you doing?”
Kara held up a slice of pizza that now had a ball of melty ice-cream sitting on top of it. “What? This is delicious.”
“That is disgusting!” Lena giggled. “Gross.”
“Tastes fine to me.”
Kara took a huge bite of pizza and ice cream, enjoying the mix of salty and sugary goodness. She ate the whole thing, showing off in a way she’d not usually bother with in front of her other friends. Lena shook her head and laughed several times. Something about the way Lena’s eyes sparkled as she laughed, the dimple in her right cheek that appeared, and the sound of her giggle lifted Kara up. It made her feel warm and tingly inside. Like the taste of the sweet ice cream, she found herself wanting more of it.
All of a sudden, Lena's face turned sober. She scooped up her book and got up from the table. “I need to go. Good night.”
“Oh.” Kara hid her disappointment. “I'll see you in class then?”
“I suppose so.”
Kara wished her sweet dreams which seemed to cause Lena to pause for a second as she took her leave as though no-one ever said that to her. Lena always seemed lonely and a little sad. Kara made it her mission to make her smile again as soon as she could.
Prefects bathroom
Alex left the party feeling like shit. Worse than before she’d started drinking. Still in her damp Quidditch uniform, she felt gross all over and stank of whiskey. She was dying to be clean.
She’d thought partying would make her feel better. Being a Quidditch star had attracted the attention of most of the boys in her year and above. One of the seventh-years, Max Junior, a friend of Mike Matthews, had come up behind her. His cheek felt rough on her neck. He'd grabbed her by the hips and she didn’t stop him. Until he groaned in her ear and whispered how hot she was.
Her stomach felt immediately sick, she'd shrugged him off and left quickly.
No doubt he was probably telling everyone right now what a prick-tease she was. Either that or a slut.
What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just get it together for once like everyone else.
It was late. Nobody would be in the Prefects’ bathroom at this hour. Alex liked to shower or change when no other girls were there. It wasn’t like she didn’t keep her eyes firmly fixed on the floor at all times but being alone was a relief that was hard to explain.
Alex was tired and sore. A swim in the heated pool would help soothe her aching body.
She clutched her pyjamas, towel, and toiletries bag to her chest and went to one of the sinks to dump her stuff. She ripped off her sodden uniform shirt and reached her arms behind her back to undo the clasp of her sports bra. It fell free and she untangled her stiff arms from it.
The water of the pool shifted and a voice said. “Hey Danvers.”
Alex grabbed her towel to cover her bare chest and spun around. Her heart jammed into her throat like a jackhammer. “M-Maggie!”
The newest Prefect was swimming quietly in the pool. Her black hair was slicked back and she was up to her chest in water. She was wearing a plain black one-piece suit and looked… enticing. Small plumes of steam rose from the surface around her. She’d swum over to the edge of the pool to prop her elbows up.
Maggie gave her a gentle smile. “I didn’t think anyone would be here this late. I didn’t see anything, promise. I wanted to let you know I was here before, y’know, it was too late.”
“It’s- it’s fine,” Alex shook her head. “It’s the Prefect bathroom, you’re entitled to use it whenever you want. I don’t own it.”
“I’m nearly done anyway. You can have the place to yourself.”
“No, no,” Alex backed away and grabbed her things one-handed. “Stay, I don’t want to-…disturb you. I’ll take a shower instead.”
“How was Quidditch? Did you win?”
“Yeah. 170-160.”
Maggie grinned, a few beads of water dripped down her cheeks. “Awesome. But not surprising.”
As soon as Alex shut herself into one of the shower cubicles, she let out the breath she’d been holding. She hung up her towel on the hook and dumped the rest of her stuff on the shelf. She ripped off the rest of her clothes and balled them up. Despite being in a cubicle out of sight, she still felt awkward being completely naked when Maggie was right out there with only a door separating them.
What rotten luck! To run into the one person she… liked, here, like this, when Maggie looked amazing and Alex looked like a goddamn mess and was still half-drunk.
The shower spray kicked in and she went under even though it was still too hot. It nearly scalded her skin and her cuts stung in the heat.
A small knock sounded on the shower door. “I’m going to bed. The pool’s free now if you want.”
Alex forced her voice to work. “Thanks, Sawyer.”
“Hey um, Alex? I'm sorry about the other day.” Maggie's sigh was audible. “I’m used to getting called names like that and I don’t blame you for keeping your distance. I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me. I just wanted to let you know there’s no hard feelings and I hope you’re ok.”
Alex was stunned. She’d thought that the slur had been aimed at her, it’d terrified her that someone had figured it out, that people knew what she was like. She’d been so careful not to let it show. But Maggie seemed to think it had been about her instead. And it wasn’t the first time she’d been called such a thing, she even said that she was used to it. Did that mean she was...?
Was Maggie gay?
Alex had been nothing but aloof and mean to her and yet Maggie the one was apologising. She’d been so wrapped up in keeping her own feelings hidden that she’d forgotten to consider whether she was hurting anyone else’s. How could she ever begin to explain or make up for that?
“I’ll leave you in peace now,” said Maggie through the door. “Not that it’s my business, but if you’ve been drinking be careful not to slip in the shower. See you ‘round.”
Alex shoved her face under the hot spray.
Chapter 4
Notes:
Hi everyone, thanks for reading :)x Someone gets a Howler in this one ...
Chapter Text
Kara's first weekend at Hogwarts flew by. Most of Saturday was taken up with the Quidditch game but Sunday was quieter. She'd wanted to spend time with Alex and explore Hogwarts more but Alex begged off, saying that she had a lot of studying to do.
Kara took her homework up to Alex's dorm so that she could keep her company. It didn't take long for Kara to breeze through her worksheet and textbook reading. Back in Krypton she’d been a smart kid, excelling in all science and technology fields but what she really loved was art. Here, she could handle the theoretical side of magic fine, she just hadn't managed to do any practical magic yet. Not being good at something - especially when she put in effort - was a new experience for her. An uncomfortable one.
Alex had reassured her that everything would be fine but Kara wasn't convinced. Secretly she felt like an imposter who would eventually be caught and kicked out of school. It took her a second to remember that there was something she had been successful at this week and had been intending to ask her sister about it.
“Alex, guess what? I can read this,” said Kara, holding open her copy of A First Course in Transfiguration.
Alex was concentrating, deep in her own homework. “Huh?”
Kara went to stand by Alex's study desk and showed her the textbook. “I could read this straight away.”
“Without learning the Transfiguration alphabet first?”
“Yep. Do you know if it's because I'm Kryptonian?”
Alex frowned. “I don't know. How about this -- can you read these runes?” The redhead pointed to the page she'd been working from of her Ancient Runes text.
Kara adjusted her glasses to translate the symbols aloud. “I think it says ‘ Magick of the four elements air, earth, fire, wind . Steel conquers all .’”
Alex gaped. “Wow. It took me ten minutes just to do the transliteration. That's amazing, Kara.”
“Really?” Kara smiled happily. “I'm going to write to Eliza and tell her. At least I’m not rubbish at everything here.”
Alex smiled fondly at her little sister and went back to work. “Don't forget to tell Mom about your Ficculent plant and your first house points.”
“Oh yeah! That was so long ago I nearly forgot.”
“It was only the day before yesterday.”
“Yeah, ages ago.”
Kara got out a fresh sheet of parchment and started to write her letter to her adoptive mother. Her writing was still slow-going because she wasn't used to the quill and ink yet. She was tempted to ask for an exercise book and biros instead but didn't want yet another reason to stand out in class. She could just imagine what the Slytherin girls would have to say about another failing of hers to fit into the Wizarding world.
When Kara finished she folded up her letter and slipped it into an envelope she snagged from Alex's desk.
“Can we go see the owls?” said Kara. “I want to send my letter.”
Alex ran her hand through her hair and bit her lip, eyeing the pile of work on her desk. “I really don't have time. I've got to study for Potions after this. The test is first period tomorrow.”
“But you've been working for hours. You're brilliant! Can't you take a break for a bit? Pleeease.”
“I’m not that brilliant. I’ll have to work hard to get a good enough OWL to go into Advanced Potions next year. St Mungo’s medical program won't recruit anyone without a NEWT in AP.”
Kara sighed heavily but smiled to show she wasn't mad. “Okayyy. They'd be stupid not to take you. But I'll stop bugging you for a while so you can study.”
The youngest Danvers left the older one in relative peace for the rest of the afternoon.
It seemed that the fifth-year workload was a lot higher than the fourth-year workload. Kara figured that with all of the effort Alex put into her studies she was headed for a very high-level career in the Wizarding community. She wasn’t familiar with what types of careers there actually were though she had heard of St Mungo’s and guessed that Alex was hoping to become some sort of doctor or medical person.
Kara got out her crumpled parchment map and found her own way to the Owlery which was located at the top in the West Tower. The spiral staircase curled around the tower but the number of steps didn’t hinder her speed and her rate of breath was normal even at the top.
The scene inside the Owlery delighted the girl, having never seen so many owls in one place before and certainly not in the daytime. Most of the owls were sleeping in their perches, except for the empty spaces awaiting owls who were out on delivery somewhere. There were school owls who lived there permanently and student owls who lived there during term time.
Kara walked around the circular room, mindful not to step in too much of the droppings or the regurgitated rodent pieces that covered the stone floor.
A loud Whoo-woo startled her and she whipped her head to the side, though not as gracefully as an owl might have done.
There was a very large grey owl above her to the left. It had a circular head with radial markings around its yellowy eyes and a white patch under its beak that looked like a bowtie. The little sign underneath its claws stated that it was a male Great Grey Owl named ‘Phantom of the North’.
“ Whoo-woo to you too,” Kara said to Phantom.
Phantom maintained a bored stare and rotated his head. A closer look revealed a black ID tag attached to his foot that said LUTHOR in gold lettering.
“Oh!” Kara smiled. “You must be Lena’s owl. Nice to meet you, I'm Kara Danvers. I don’t suppose you’ve seen Skittles Danvers have you?”
The clucking noise Phantom made with his beak sounded almost derisive, as though he were being asked a question that was beneath his dignity to answer. He didn't seem to like being treated as some sort of servant.
“Never mind then, you grumpy thing.”
Kara felt rather than heard the flap of feathers as something landed on her shoulder. A small owl-like bird perched there, its claws dug into her skin but it wasn’t painful. The bird skittered across her shoulders and back again and then pressed its head into her neck as a show of affection.
“Skittles!” said Kara, recognising Alex’s feathered friend. Skittles Danvers wasn’t a true owl species, she was a Tawny Frogmouth with grey-brown feathers that made her look remarkably like she was made of gum tree bark. Her eyes were bright orange.
Skittles’s mouth gaped in a dopey frog-like smile and clamped shut when Kara inserted her letter.
“Alex says hi. Can you take this letter to Eliza for me, please?”
Skittles scrambled into take-off and silently passed through the glassless windows of the Owlery to soar into the sky with the letter secured in her beak.
Kara spent a while longer in the Owlery, looking at each of the birds and reading their little species identification cards. There hadn’t been any birds in Krypton and she was fascinated by these feathery creatures, with their silent flight and wise bearing. She said hello and introduced herself to each of the owls who happened to be awake. A few of them nipped at her fingers gently requesting treats and she kicked herself because she hadn’t thought to bring anything to give them.
When she went to leave, Kara realised she’d been in the Owlery so long that Phantom had gone out and was recently returned, fluffing his dewy feathers back into place on his perch. There was a letter under his clawed feet so she assumed he must’ve been called to one of the Luthor family members to bring a delivery to Lena.
The envelope was bright red, like blood, and it was quivering, which Kara thought was a little odd but she didn’t think of it further. Maybe the Luthors liked fancy stationery.
“Bye everyone!” she whispered to the owls. “Bye Phantom, I hope you’ve got some kind words to give to Lena.”
By dinner-time that night, Alex was completely exhausted. It had gotten to the point where she could barely concentrate anymore and the words on the page were beginning to blur. She’d gone through absolutely everything that was supposed to be on the Potions test the next day. She still wasn’t quite confident with her Insomnia Potion work but at this point it’d have to do.
Kara lit up when she saw her enter the Great Hall. Her little sister was already seated for dinner with James and Winn, the other fourth-year Hufflepuff girl Eve, and one of Winn’s Ravenclaw friends when she joined them.
“Alex!” Kara called out happily. “Come sit with us. There’s roast lamb and potatoes!”
Alex said hello to the others and took a seat next to Kara, shaking her head at the pyramid of potatoes piled on her sister’s plate. “How’s it going?”
James shrugged and smiled. “Not bad. You recovered from yesterday?”
“Yeah,” Alex admitted. “Bit achey still. And tired.”
“Kinda ironic, seeing as how we’re getting tested on Sleep series potions tomorrow. I’m losing sleep over this test.”
Alex chuckled. “After the week I’ve had I think it’d take the Draught of Living Death to put me into a sound sleep. At this point I’d take it willingly.”
She only realised the mistake of her flippancy when Kara’s face crumpled. Alex put her arm around her sister and whispered an apology, explaining that it was only a joke and of course she didn’t mean it. Kara only perked up again when she spotted a potato on the platter with the perfect amount of crunchy golden brown exterior.
Just before dessert was about to appear on the tables the owl delivery came.
Kara looked up eagerly searching for Skittles but Alex’s wasn’t among the owls soaring in dropping letters and parcels to students. The young girl’s face spoke of her disappointment.
“It’s ok,” Alex reassured her sister. “You only sent it this afternoon remember? Skittles won’t be back yet even if Mom has replied.”
“Oh. Does it normally take a long time? Back in Kryp-” Kara stopped herself, looked around and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Back home we had electronic mail that went instantly.”
Alex smiled. “That sounds pretty cool. But owlpost takes a little longer than that. Skittles isn’t a great flier over long distances.”
Kara smiled back. “I guess that’s kinda nice too. It gives me time to look forward to Eliza’s reply. I’ll have to remember to take treats to Skittles and the others next time. They were so friendly.”
“Do you like owls? Ask Mom if you can get one of your own.”
Alex wasn’t sure why but Kara looked down and shook her head like she was suddenly shy. It reminded her of when Kara first came to live with them and she would tiptoe around the house like a guest and was too polite to ask for anything she wanted. Even when she was still hungry, she ate only what she was given. It took them two weeks to realise that the poor girl was reluctant to tell them she was practically starving. It seemed she wasn’t completely over that tendency yet.
Kara spotted a large owl overhead that flew in after the others holding a red envelope. “Hey, look! It’s Phantom.”
Kara recognised the identity of the owl but Alex and the others recognised the significance of the envelope’s colour. Phantom slowed in mid-air, headed for a table with only one girl seated there. The owl dropped the red envelope on to the table in front of Lena Luthor.
Lena stared at it, dread visible on her face.
A hush fell over the entire Great Hall. Everyone else knew what it meant too. They were poised as though waiting for a bomb to go off.
James whistled. “Bloody hell.”
“It’s been a while since anyone had one,” said Winn, craning his neck to see.
“What is it?” Kara half stood out of her seat to see past James and Alex. “What’s going on. I can’t see past your big heads.”
“Luthor’s got a Howler,” said James, not even trying to hide a smirk.
“What’s a-”
“LENA LUTHOR, YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY NAME-”
The stern voice of a middle-aged woman with impeccable diction came from the opened red envelope. This wasn’t the first time that one of Mrs Luthor’s vindictive rants filled the dining hall. Students began to titter, enjoying the drama.
“-...I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DID TO DESERVE SUCH AN UNGRATEFUL CHILD. YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE SPENT A SMALL FORTUNE ON YOUR EDUCATION. YOU WILL NEVER STAND IN YOUR BROTHER’S PLACE! HOW DARE YOU-
Laughs from different corners broke the silence of the Great Hall. It wasn’t like this was the first time the Luthor girl had received a Howler, but it was one of the best. Most of the students took some kind of pleasure in hating her for one reason or another. The Slytherins tolerated her because of her family’s wealth and connections but they never fully accepted her as one of them. And the other Houses hated her more than they hated most Slytherins.
Alex's thoughts darkened at the reminder. She glanced at her little sister beside her to remind herself that she was here, alive and safe, despite Lex Luthor. Poor Kara lost everything and yet, here she was, worriedly watching one of her classmates get reamed out by the mother of the very Dark Wizard who’d destroyed her entire culture in one devastating blow.
“-...LET ME REMIND YOU, LUTHORS DO. NOT. SHOW. WEAKNESS.-”
Lena bolted out of the hall with the Howler. They could hear it yelling at her until she got far enough away.
“How awful,” said Kara. “Was that Lena’s mother? Why would she write such mean things for everyone to hear.”
James grabbed a spoon and started dishing out their desserts. Sticky date pudding with caramel sauce. “Who cares. It’s not like the Luthors deign to care about anyone other than themselves.”
Kara frowned. “I don’t think Lena’s like that.”
Alex couldn’t bring herself to pity Lex’s little sister. She was reluctant to tell Kara to stay away from Lena again though, knowing that it could only backfire if it only made her sister want to befriend the lonely Luthor girl more. Neither could she tell Kara the truth. So she changed the subject quickly.
Alex asked James with an arch in her tone. “How’s things with Lucy?”
James tried unsuccessfully to hide a grin. “They’re alright. We’re seeing how things work out.”
“How wha’ works out?” said Kara, wide-eyed and spoon hanging from her mouth.
Alex and James shared a look. James explained to Kara. “Lucy and I are dating.”
Kara blushed hard and spluttered. “O-oh. R-right. Of course, that kind of- Yeah. I mean, that’s cool.”
It wasn't the first time that Alex wondered whether Kara had a little bit of a crush on James. She couldn't imagine him seeing her as a mature enough girl to consider dating though, even if he weren't totally into Lucy Lane. She couldn't blame him. Lucy was a gorgeous brunette and had a commanding presence about her. Kara was still a kid in comparison.
“What about you, Captain,” James raised his eyebrows. “See anyone you like lately? Mike told me that Max Junior is into you but you snubbed him at the party.”
Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I'd rather kiss the Giant Squid.”
“I’m gonna go!” The table bumped and dishes clattered as Kara got up too quickly. “Bye!”
Winn frowned as Kara whipped away all of a sudden. “Where's she going? It’s not like her to leave before dessert’s finished.”
“Do you ever notice anything?” said Eve incredulously. “She took the whole bowl of puddings with her. And the sauce!”
It was difficult to jog through a darkened castle while juggling a bowl of puddings and a sauce boat, as Kara came to learn.
She was looking for Lena but realised she had no idea where the girl might’ve gone. By now the sound of the Howler's yelling had ended, either that or Lena had run off far into the woods. She really wanted to see whether she was okay since it seemed like no-one else was going to.
Anyone would need the kindness of a friend after being treated like that. She kicked herself now that she hadn’t noticed Lena sitting alone at dinner. She should’ve asked whether she wanted to join her and her friends! But -- Kara realised -- James and Alex would’ve disapproved. She didn’t like lying to them, but she also didn’t like the idea that poor Lena was alone all the time.
Kara had no idea where she should look. Being Houseless meant that Lena wouldn’t have a common room to retreat to. Where did she sleep if not in the House dormitories? Where would she go if she was upset?
Kara thought the Library was unlikely but checked there anyway. It was dead quiet and empty but for the ancient librarian pottering around.
The corridors and classrooms too were empty as was to be expected for a Sunday night. There were no students around to ask. Kara was tempted to find one of the teachers to ask where Lena lived, but she was conscious of being caught red-handed after filching an entire table’s worth of desserts.
How could it be that after four years at Hogwarts, nobody was connected with Lena? She didn’t seem to have any friends and no-one sat with her at mealtimes or during class -- except the few times that Kara herself had.
A mental flashbulb moment gave her an idea and Kara took off running to the West Wing for her second visit that day. The wing was dark with only a single candle lighting the entrance to the Owlery which was pitch black inside, owing to the lack of moonlight that night.
Kara took careful steps into the entryway of the circular room. The candlelight from behind her only just revealed the keen eyes of the few owls who remained on their perches. The other birds must’ve been out hunting.
“Phantom?” said Kara, shivering in the stone cold room. “Phantom Luthor are you here?”
Of course no-one answered. A few beaks made clicking noises.
“I’m Kara Danvers, I’m a friend of Lena’s. Please, Phantom, are you here? I need to find your owner. I think she’s upset. So if you could lead me to her or take a note for me…?”
Kara felt rather than heard a large feathery whoosh brush her in the face. She screamed and stumbled back trying to keep her footing and the bowl of puddings intact.
At the same time the corridor candle fizzed out, leaving the place in the inky black of darkness.
“My glasses!” gasped Kara. Her eyes tried to adjust to the dark as she knelt down and felt around. “Phantom, if that was you that was very naughty! I’m going to tell Lena what a grump you are. When I find her, that is.”
Kara got to her feet and groaned in annoyance. What she would’ve given in that moment for a torch or electricity, rather than deal with a place that still used candles for Rao’s sake.
Then she heard a voice call out.
“Who’s there! Lumos.” Light flooded into the pitch black corridor as a hidden door swung open. Someone stood in the doorway, peering out with a wand at the ready.
Kara coughed. “Sorry, I lost my glasses and -- Lena, is that you?”
Lena lowered her wand now that the tip was glowing bright white. “Kara? What are you doing crawling about in the dark talking to yourself.”
“Hi,” said Kara, suddenly meek and clutching the bowl to her middle. “Um, I came to see you actually."
“What do you want?”
Lena didn’t seem pleased to have been discovered. It was hard to tell in the dim light but she seemed paler than usual and her eyes were red like she’d been crying. Her expression was stoic and fierce. The effect was ruined by her being dressed in oversized grey silk pyjamas that’d slipped off of one shoulder. Her long dark hair was loose down her back.
“I j-just um,” Kara stammered, trying to put something into words. “I wanted to see if you were ok. That letter from your Mum was really mean. I’m so sorry, that sounded judgemental. I’m sure she’s a nice person usually. I mean, you’re nice so it can't be a Luthor thing. Anyway... You missed dessert. Here!”
She held out the bowl with outstretched arms and was prepared to run away in shame as soon as she got the chance. But Lena jumped as though she thought the bowl was going to be thrown at her. Suddenly her plan seemed lame. Why on earth would Lena want to eat a huge bowl full of puddings by herself this late!
“You came to see if I was ok?” Lena said slowly.
“Yes,” Kara mumbled. “Sorry for intruding. I didn’t know where you lived so I went to ask Phantom to help me find you.”
“Why.”
“I thought you could use a friend.”
There was a pause while Lena seemed to be coming to a decision. She stepped back and held the door open. “Do you want to come in for a minute?”
Inside was clearly a bedroom. Kara stepped in, taking in every detail of the sparsely decorated tower room. There was a four-poster bed in the center of the semi-circular room and on one side there was a bookcase and study desk piled with neat stacks of parchment, textbooks, and writing materials. On the other side was a fireplace blasting warmth into the stony room.
“Is this your room?” said Kara.
“Yes.” Lena went to sit on the bed and gestured for Kara to join her.
Lena held out her hand and said Accio glasses. The glasses materialised in her palm. Instead of handing them back, Lena reached forward and slid them on to Kara’s face. “There you go.”
Suddenly self-conscious, Kara adjusted her glasses with her fingertips. “Thanks.”
“That’s a lot of puddings, even for you.” Lena hinted with a half-smile that caused a dimple to appear in her right cheek.
Kara set the bowl between them on the bedspread. “They’re probably cold now,” she said, downcast. "Sorry, this was a dumb idea."
Lena raised her wand again and tapped the bowl with it to cast a charm. The puddings and sauce reheated by themselves and the smell of warm caramel hit the air. She held out her palm where two spoons materialised and waited for Kara to select one. Then the two girls tucked into the delicious puddings.
“Oh Rao, this is so good,” said Kara, grinning cheeks full. “Magic is awesome.”
Lena smiled back. “So are you enjoying your first week at Hogwarts? Or just the food.”
“Both. I love school. I love learning all about this new magic -” Kara stopped herself “- that we also had where I’m from.” She blushed and shoved the rest of her pudding into her mouth.
“Have you learned how to operate an ink pot yet?” Lena teased.
Kara giggled. “Hey! That is unfair.” She picked up the shiny black wand that was laying on the quilt cover next to Lena and pointed it at her. “Stop teasing me, or I’ll put a spell on you with your own wand.”
Lena raised an eyebrow, mildly amused. “That’s ebony but go ahead and try.”
“Huh?”
“My wand. The wood is ebony and the core is unicorn hair. Very loyal. It won’t respond to anyone but a Luthor.”
“Wow.” Kara raised the handsome wand to her eye level and examined it down the shaft with a new appreciation. The jet-black straight wood had been polished until it shone, notwithstanding the gold letter badging with Lena’s surname on the handle. It certainly looked impressive and powerful.
“I don’t have a wand of my own. Eliza, my adoptive mother, gave me her training wand.”
“You’re adopted?”
“Yeah. My sister Alex is great and Eliza has always treated me like a daughter so I’m really lucky. I went to live with them after my parents died.”
Suddenly Lena’s expression turned serious. She reached out to take her wand back as though she didn’t want Kara touching it. Leaning back, she slipped it under her pillow out of sight.
Kara hoped she hadn’t offended Lena by playing around with her wand. She hadn’t been in the magical world long but she knew that wands were very personal items and often strongly bonded with their owners. Plus, her fingers were sticky with caramel sauce so she well understood why Lena would want it back.
Kara had learned that it was hard for other people to know what to say when she admitted to being an orphan. She tried to think of something that would change the topic off herself and get Lena talking again. “So, what’d you do today?”
“Nothing really,” said Lena, giving a shrug. “I did some reading and went over a few things before the test tomorrow.”
A zip of panic hit Kara. “Test!? Do we have a test?”
“No, no, calm down. You have Herbology first period tomorrow, I have a test in Potions with the fifth years.”
Kara’s jaw dropped. “You’re in Alex’s potions class?”
Lena nodded and tucked her legs up underneath herself on the bed. She looked way too small, far too young, to be in the same class as sixteen year olds. Her coal-black hair hung over her shoulders, making her skin look even more alabaster than usual. Kara wondered if it was as perfectly smooth to touch as it looked. A tiny amount of pink stained her cheeks and lips and dark eyelashes fluttered as she looked down.
“I like your room,” said Kara, looking around. “Does it get lonely up here away from all the others?”
Lena made a soft scoff noise. “Compared to what.”
Kara shrugged. "How come you didn’t want to live in the dormitories? It’s just me and Eve in ours at the moment but it’s nice being in the Common room when everyone’s there. It's next to the kitchen which is awesome because you can smell things cooking all the time.”
“I was supposed to be in Slytherin,” explained Lena, picking at a loose thread on the quilt. “My parents nearly took me out of Hogwarts entirely when they found out I didn’t get in. They couldn’t fathom the idea of a Luthor in any other house. It’s not like the other houses would’ve wanted me anyway. I was this close to being shipped off to Durmstrang. But Professor Grant stepped in and let me stay here.”
“So… you’re Houseless?” Kara asked carefully. She didn’t want to pry about a sensitive topic. “That’s what I heard. I don’t even know what it means.”
Lena looked at her carefully for a moment before deciding to tell her. “Did your sister tell you how students are usually assigned to their houses in first year at the Sorting Ceremony?”
At Kara’s nod she continued.
“Well, the Sorting Hat stalled on me. It sat on my head too long without coming to a decision and eventually some of the other kids were starting to faint with hunger. The teachers took it away and moved on. So now I’m waiting indefinitely for my Sorting to finish. Apparently, the Hat could still come to a decision even after all this time but I doubt it.”
Kara’s brows knitted in confusion. “The Hat asked me if I wanted to be Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Didn’t it give you a choice?”
Lena rolled her eyes, looking a little angry. “Yes, it did. I spent the whole time arguing with it. Stupid Hat.”
“What were you arguing about?”
Instead of answering, Lena pursed her lips and gazed intently at Kara making it hard for her to remember what she’d even asked. She didn’t even notice that Lena had a drippy pudding in her hand until it smashed into her lips.
“Mmph! Lenaaa!” Kara mumbled, laughing and trying to catch the crumby mess of pudding.
Lena giggled. “What? It’s a good look for you. Matches your sweet personality and golden hair.”
“Very funny. Oh well, the joke’s on you because this is the last pudding.”
The two girls talked for hours until Kara yawned and realised that it was well past her curfew. She was loath to leave though, even though it was a school night and she ought to get back. She’d been having such a good time. As she slipped out the door she waved goodbye with a pouty sad face at having to go.
Lena smiled back and it was the full pretty wide smile that Kara liked best.
Kara floated all the way back to Hufflepuff, feeling as though her chest might burst with the happiness of having made a new friend.
Chapter 5
Notes:
Hi everyone, thanks for reading. Enjoy! :)x
ps. I've borrowed the character Hecate Hardbroom from The Worst Witch. Let's pretend she's doing a secondment to Hogwarts as a potions teacher.
Chapter Text
Alex stared down at the 65% on her returned Potions test in dismay. It was a pass but not exactly a high grade. Many other students in the class would’ve killed for that grade but to her all it meant was her future career as a Mediwitch was slipping out of her grasp. With marks like these she was never going to get into Advanced Potions next year.
She chanced a glance sideways at James who was shaking his head at his own paper.
“A few of you did poorly,” said Miss Hardbroom, stalking the room, enunciating each word as though it were a trial to utter it. “Those were the better results. The rest of you failed dismally.”
The Potions professor passed by Lena’s desk at the front of the room and returned the last paper.
Alex caught sight of a large red grade on the top. 87%. It was circled.
“Well done, Miss Luthor,” said Miss Hardbroom. “First place.”
Alex rolled her eyes, feeling her mood sour even further. Luthor the fourth-year prodigy kicked her ass and it stung. It was obvious the rest of the class felt the same. If glares were daggers Lena’s back would have resembled a porcupine’s. It was no secret that the Luthors sent her off every summer break to intern with professional witches and wizards. She had private lessons with the Headmistress for Merlin’s sake. It was the kind of education that only old galleons could buy.
“Ten points to...?” Miss Hardbroom raised her hand, ready to perform the spell that adjusted the House totals.
Lena looked like she was trying to shrink herself into her seat. “Slytherin.”
The entire class groaned.
“Quiet.” The professor said sharply. A green 10 fizzed into the air and then out again. “Since it appears many of your brains were asleep during the test, today we will move on to Awakening potions...”
As soon as the lesson ended, Alex steeled herself with a deep breath and approached Miss Hardbroom. Her poor performance on the test was a blow but she knew she had to suck up her pride and ask the teacher whether she could seek extra credit or do anything to bring up her grades. Thankfully, the rest of the class were gone in a flash so nobody would be around to overhear.
“You have much potential, Miss Danvers,” said Miss Hardbroom, not unkindly. “This is a disappointing set-back but not one that should deter you. I believe you are intending to take Advanced Potions for NEWT?”
Alex nodded. “Yes, I want to apply for St Mungo’s after graduation.”
“Is there anything personal” - Miss Hardbroom paused on the word as though it tasted sour - “troubling you that is interfering with your studies?”
“I… I’ve just got a lot on at the moment.” Alex said lamely. She broke eye contact, fearing that the Professor would see through her. People said that old HB was a Legilimens and the last thing she wanted was someone peeking into the kind of thoughts that were occupying her lately.
“Perhaps you could study with a friend? Tutoring I suppose you’d call it. There was only one student in the class who out-scored you but I imagine an arrangement with you might benefit her as well.”
It dawned on Alex what HB was hinting. Tutoring with Lena Luthor, a girl who was her younger sister’s age? It would be humiliating. If she couldn’t do well without resorting to that it wouldn’t be worth it.
“I can’t,” said Alex, gritted teeth. “Not with her.”
Miss Hardbroom nodded. “I see.”
“I’ll just work harder. I promise.”
It was a lame promise, seeing as how she’d already been working hard. Alex grabbed her bag and books, ready to get out of this awkward conversation. She forced herself not to run out the door. The Professor’s voice stopped her in the doorway.
“It’s a foolish witch who allows others to make up her mind for her… I know that you are no fool, Miss Danvers.”
Stupid old cow. Alex swore in her head as she stalked off to her next class. She would never admit it but deep down inside her the warning had hit its mark.
Kara had a much easier time in her first period than Alex did. Herbology was another easy lesson in looking after plants that preferred strange care routines. She managed most of the tasks as well or better than the rest of the students until it came to casting an anti-fungal spell. She tried Eliza’s spare wand again and as usual nothing happened.
Nearby, Siobhan snickered to Leslie. “What a squib.” They both burst into laughter.
By the tone Kara figured the unfamiliar word was an insult. After Winn finished casting his own anti-fungal spell she asked him what it meant.
“It’s a non-magical magical person,” said Winn in a hushed voice. “No-one knows why but some of our kind are born that way. Their powers never come in so they can’t do magic.”
“Oh,” said Kara. “I guess that does sound like me.”
Winn winced. “Kara, no. Squibs are considered to be pariahs in the magical community. Don’t go saying it too loud. Besides, you’re not one.”
“I haven’t been able to do any magic since I arrived though. Maybe I am a squib?”
“But you can’t be.” Winn’s eyes darted away and back. “You’re from-- well, you know.”
Kara’s eyes widened, realising what her friend was referring to. Something about her being from Krypton meant that she was a magical magical person?
“What do you mean?” she started to ask.
Professor Longbottom interrupted them, peering from his towering height at their work. “Careful, Miss Danvers! Your Plantar Plant has acquired athlete’s foot.”
Kara watched her skinny plant stomp around on the bench, itching its huge feet together in a huff. The feet’s greenish skin began to flake, which looked both disgusting and uncomfortable. “Oh no!”
Professor Longbottom gave her a sympathetic look. “Still no success with the wand then?”
Kara shook her head.
“Not to worry,” said the teacher kindly. “It won’t be long for your magic to show itself now that you’re here.”
Her poor little plant looked miserable. It only took another second for Kara to get an idea though. She raced over to the store cupboard to grab a small bottle of what looked like brownish powder and then raced back.
Kara sprinkled the powder on the plant’s feet, the tip of her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she worked. After a few minutes the feet stopped itching themselves and all of the flakey bits fell off. The Plantar Plant performed a happy little pirouette in response.
Winn looked confused. “What did you do?”
“ jraolahs jurim, ” Kara said in Kryptonian. She squinted, trying to think of the English word. “Uh… qinnamomum?”
Professor Longbottom smiled down at Kara approvingly. “Yes, cinnamon is a decent anti-fungal for plants and an acceptable alternative to the antimycosium spell. Well done, Miss Danvers.”
Kara held her hand up to Winn and grinned. “Sky five!”
Winn chuckled and returned the high -five. “Close enough.”
The next period was Potions.
At first, Kara looked for Lena hoping that they could sit together and be cauldron partners but then she realised. Her new friend would hardly be in fourth-year potions class when she was in the fifth-year potions class. She ended up working together with Eve Tessmacher. With Kara’s careful reading of the recipe and Eve’s ability to cast spells they managed to produce a tolerable Laughter Potion. Even the severe and strict Miss Hardbroom, whom Kara was secretly afraid of, had no criticisms.
When lunch break came, Kara was bubbling with excitement. The prospect of food was usually enough for that but she was also keen to see Alex to see how her test went. And she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, she would get to the hall before everyone so that she could sit with Lena and then her friends would have no choice but to join them.
Her secret plan was to gradually introduce them to the idea that they were friends. Then maybe they’d see how great Lena was and want to be friends with her too. She’d had such a great time with her the previous night. Kara couldn’t wait to see Lena again.
But when lunch neared its end and neither Alex nor Lena showed up to the Great Hall to eat, disappointment joined the eleven toasted sandwiches in Kara’s stomach.
“Don’t you want any dessert?” said Winn, eyeing the plate of untouched tarts.
Kara shook her head. “I don’t feel like it.”
“You better take some for later, just in case.”
Cat Grant lowered her chin to look over her catseye glasses at the class of fourth-years. It was double Charms for the afternoon and the lesson was going to be a big one.
“Today you will be practicing defensive charms and shields. You will pair up. Each of you will take a turn defending against whatever your opponent is strong enough to throw at you. Any hex, curse, or jinx is fair game, EXCEPT Section 7 ‘Malicious and Deleterius’. Sort out your ridiculous teenage quarrels amongst yourselves but if I see anyone breaking the rules I'll have you out on suspension quicker than you can say Quidditch.”
The class buzzed with excitement. This was going to be no-holds-barred duelling, which usually wasn’t allowed outside the strict confines of Roulette’s club. The point of the lesson was to demonstrate defensive charms or spells but the fun part was going to be the other side. The students were already thinking up the worst, most annoying, spells to attack their friends with.
“Oh, and today will be assessed as part of your overall grade.” Professor Grant finished with a bored tone and a loose hand wave. “Get to it.”
Kara sighed and turned to Winn at her side. “I’m going to be annihilated aren’t I?”
“Pretty much,” said Winn, unable to completely hide his enthusiasm for the lesson. “This is gonna be wicked!”
“Do you want to pair up?” said Kara. “At least you know you won’t get attacked in return. I don’t even know any hexes.”
“Sorry, I’m going to partner with Eve.”
“Winn!” Kara complained.
Winn held up his hands. “Hey, you can’t do magic yet, I can’t attack a defenseless witch! My bat-bogey hex is out of this world.”
The rest of the fourth-years were already paired up by now. They were getting ready by facing each other and positioning piles of cushions behind the defenders just in case. In no time at all the room was loud with shouted curses and laughter. Some students tottered around on jelly-legs, others went suddenly stiff-as-a-board and fell into the cushions in a full body-bind, and some poor unfortunate souls were covered in pimples from a furnunculus jinx.
Only a few managed to shield themselves. It seemed that the attackers were having more luck than the defenders.
Kara was the odd one out. Everyone else was having even more fun than usual and she was having even less than her usual. Not being able to do magic was increasingly frustrating, not to mention boring. Even worse, she was going to fail the assessment. At this rate she’d be lucky if she passed anything at all this year. Maybe she'd even get kicked out of school.
Among the hubbub she almost missed seeing Lena Luthor run into the classroom, late and harried-looking.
“Nice of you to join us, Miss Luthor,” Cat Grant drawled.
Lena stammered. “I-I apologise, Professor, I was-”
“You were wasting my time and my patience and you’ll never do it again. Partner up with Kiera. The sight of her moping over there by herself is giving me wrinkles.”
Lena stowed her bag at the front of the room with everyone else’s and joined Kara with a hesitant smile. Kara brightened up from the inside out at seeing her again.
“Hi Lena!” Kara greeted her with a huge grin.
“Hi yourself.” Lena looked around the chaotic room. “What’s going on in here? If I didn’t know better I’d think this was a Duelling Club meeting.”
Kara explained the lesson. “Defense charms practice. We’re supposed to take turns attacking each other.”
“Oh.” Lena’s face turned serious. “I guess that’s out of the question then.”
“I could throw stuff at you?” Kara offered as a joke. “I’m sure it wouldn’t matter though. I bet you can do a perfect shield charm.”
“I can actually.” Lena lifted her chin.
“Is it good enough to defend against a tickle attack?”
“Rictusempra? Please. I could block that lame spell in my slee-EEEPahhh!”
Lena’s lofty words turned into a shriek as Kara suddenly grabbed at her middle and tickled her. She tried to twist away out of reach but there were two hands holding her by the waist now. Every time she tried to grab one of Kara’s hands Kara grabbed hers.
“Kar-aaa,” Lena laughed, out of breath. “Sto-op it.”
At once, Kara ceased her attack and bit her lips to hide her grin. “You don’t seem to be all that good at defending yourself against me.”
Lena chuckled. “Yes, I’m aware. But I could’ve stopped you if I wanted to. For your information I can do a Level 7 protego.”
“I don’t know what that is but it sounds impressive.”
“More like necessary. I couldn’t walk five steps in the hallways last year without someone hexing me.”
Kara frowned at that, the joke now unfunny. Lena said it so casually, as though it were entirely normal that she would have to put up with being attacked on multiple fronts. It was like she was proud of her ability to defend herself rather than recognising that it was wrong for her to need to in the first place. The schools in Krypton would never have condoned that sort of behaviour.
“Lena, that’s-” Kara reached out to take her hand. “That’s not right. It’s bullying.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry,” Lena brushed it off. “Anyway, they’ve stopped. There’s no point in it anymore so they’ve lost interest.”
“I thought Prefects were supposed to look out for that sort of thing?” An unwelcome thought dawned on Kara. “Did my sister know?”
“Kara-”
“Did Alex ever see this happen to you?”
Lena shrugged. “My face was usually covered in slime or bogeys, I honestly don’t know. Besides, she can’t be everywhere. It’s not important.”
“It is,” insisted Kara, holding her hand even tighter. “ You are important. You deserve to be safe at school. Back where I’m from-”
Professor Cat Grant appeared next to them like a spectre to chastise them. “Girls. I do not see anything that looks like work going on over here. Save it for Madam Puddifoot’s.”
Lena pulled away from Kara’s hand like it was molten. She stepped aside to put some distance between them.
“Sorry, Professor,” said Kara, fidgeting with her glasses.
“I take it you are ready to be assessed?”
Lena spoke up. “But, Professor Grant, you already assessed me at a higher standard during our last private lesson. You know I can defend myself.”
“Yes, I do. What I need to assess is whether Kiera can defend herself. If she can’t, she will fail today’s test.”
“But she won’t be able to.” Lena said as if it should’ve been obvious.
“She hasn’t even tried yet. Attack her.”
“E-excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
There was a pause, whatever colour was usually in Lena’s face drained completely.
Lena lowered her voice, barely audible over the din of the class. “I can't. You know why I can't. Kara hasn’t been able to do a single spell since she came here. My magic is far too powerful. I won’t -”
“I won’t ask you again.” Cat gestured for the girls to move apart. "Chop chop!"
Once they were in position, facing each other down, Lena swallowed hard and raised her shiny black wand towards her only friend... a friend who had no wand of her own raised to defend herself.
“ Rictusempra .” Her voice wavered on the relatively harmless spell. Her magic shot out of her wand and headed towards Kara. She could feel the build of her magic and then the release. It flew towards Kara, right on target and then...
The magic dissipated.
Nothing happened.
Kara stood there unaffected, looking from Lena to Professor Grant and back. “Lena, it’s ok. You can attack me.”
“I just did.” Lena frowned in confusion. She looked up at the Professor to see whether it was a surprise to her as well. She was certain she’d cast correctly. Kara ought to have been doubled over with the giggles by now.
“Something stronger,” said Cat, barely looking up from her clipboard. “Try a Knockback jinx.”
Lena raised her wand again. “ Flipendo, ” she said half-heartedly.
Again, the spell had no effect. Lena hadn’t wanted to cast it in the first place but she had cast it even if it hadn't had the intended effect. It was as weak as she could manage and would have barely nudged one of the other fourth-years.
“Well, that was pathetic,” said Professor Grant, peering over her glasses, with her characteristic bluntness. “Again. I suggest you put some effort into it this time. Knockback jinx, make it as strong as you can.”
“No!” Lena looked to be near tears. “I’ll hurt her.”
“You need to get over this fear, Lena. As your trusted Headmistress I would never allow you to hurt yourself or anyone else. Kiera is in no danger.”
Kara was standing at the ready, wide-eyed and apparently still defenseless.
“Do it now, Lena!”
Lena raised her wand with a shaking hand and squeezed her eyes shut. “ FLIPENDO MAXIMA! ”
A jet of white-hot light shot out of Lena’s wand towards Kara and hit her target square in the chest. The amount of power behind it should've been enough to blast her friend off her feet and possibly through the window behind her. But the magic fizzed out as though it had been absorbed by a protective shield, one that did not look like that produced by a protego charm though.
Kara stumbled back half a step but remained on her feet. She smiled. “Nice job, Lena, you did it this time! I felt that.”
Lena’s jaw dropped in horror and realisation at what she’d done. She’d attacked an innocent girl , someone who’d been nothing but kind to her. The power she’d been able to put behind her jinx... and yet Kara had barely felt it. How had that happened? It didn’t matter though. She was all too conscious of what could have happened and it would’ve been her fault. She would’ve been the one to finish off her brother’s work at destroying the Kryptonians.
The proud face of Lillian Luthor congratulating her for her good work floated into her mind. Her brother’s too, his face like it had been before, so different from the sunken shell that now resided in Azkaban. Well done, Lena. I always knew you were one of us. A true Luthor after all...
Lena’s hands began to shake. Cat Grant’s hand settled on her shoulder, a good thing too, because it felt like she was about to faint. The noisy classroom muted and it sounded like wind was howling in her ears.
“Well done, Kiera,” said Professor Grant. “10 out of 10.”
“I passed? I passed!” Kara lit up and ran over to them. “Oh Rao, Lena, are you alright. What’s wrong?”
Lena was trying her hardest not to burst into tears in front of Cat and the rest of the students. Morgana knew they would torture her enough over it regardless. A couple of classmates nearby began to stare and wonder what was going on.
Cat squeezed Lena's shoulder and spoke to Kara. “Kiera, take Lena to get a drink of water. Don't bother coming back.”
Alex had free study time for the last period of the day. She decided to use the time to go over her Potions test feedback to see where she’d gone wrong. But when she got to the library it was unexpectedly full. Apparently the 7th years had the first of many NEWT practice tests coming up. Even the least studious of final-year students were caught revising. Mike Matthews and Max Junior were there, each with a Muggle Studies textbook that looked as if they hadn't been touched since being passed over the counter at Flourish and Blotts. The only unoccupied single-desks were right near the boys.
Alex left the library, annoyed.
When she got back to Gryffindor common room a younger student had a note for her. Equal parts dread and hope zipped through her when she saw who it was from.
Danvers,
I’m on lights-out patrol tonight. I know you used to be scheduled with Alissa so I just wanted to check you were alright with it.
I tried to get one of the other Prefects to swap but no-one wants Mondays apparently. I’ll keep trying but it looks like we’re stuck together this time. See you tonight,
Maggie
Shit. Alex had forgotten all about Prefect duty tonight, she’d been so distracted it hadn’t even occurred to her. Now that Alissa was gone and Maggie had replaced her, she was going to have to perform patrolling duties with Maggie. She’d have to face her -- and without the possibility of running off if things got awkward.
The worst part was, underneath all her worries, she really did want to be spend time with her.
Scratch that. The worst part was that Maggie had apparently anticipated her reluctance for them to be alone in the corridors at night and had tried to swap shifts to spare Alex’s feelings. And when she’d failed she’d sent a note to warn her.
Ugh, just because I can’t get myself together I’ve made her feel like I don’t want to be around her. She probably thinks I’m a fucking homophobe. Or maybe she’s not even gay and it’s just my own stupid wishful thinking reading too much into things.
Alex felt her mood darken and knew she wasn’t going to be able to study straight away. She left the Common Room and, having remembered promising her mother to call to update her about how Kara was, headed towards the school’s mirrors.
The mirrors were charmed so that students could call home and speak face-to-face with their parents. Alex remembered using them daily in her first year to call her Dad, he always encouraged her and listened to her worries and it had gotten her through the homesickness that had plagued her first time away from home.
She wished so hard that she could speak to her Dad now. He had always gotten her in a way her Mom hadn’t. There was a tiny fear that niggled her about what he would think if he knew the truth about her. Maybe it was better that the image of his perfect daughter would never be tarnished. He was officially MIA - missing in action - after going out on an Auror mission and never returning.
Alex sat in the booth and tapped the mirror in front of her with her wand. “Eliza Danvers, please.”
A cloudy mist swirled in the mirror and cleared after a minute, revealing the living room at home and her mother’s face smiling back at her. As always the sight of her Midvale home made her long for her room, her father’s telescope, and the beach. She could almost smell the salt air just thinking about it.
“Alex, sweetie,” said Eliza. “It’s so good to see you! How’s Kara today, has she been eating enough?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“You are taking care of her aren’t you?”
“Yeah, of course,” said Alex, nettled. As if she wouldn’t take care of her sister! “She’s fine.”
“Good.” Eliza smiled tightly, obviously hearing the impatience in Alex’s tone with being questioned.
There was a pause.
“So I got a call from my friend Hecate Hardbroom earlier,” said Eliza. “She was concerned about you and whether there was something wrong. You only just passed a Potions test today?”
Alex fought rolling her eyes. “I got 65, that’s not ‘just passing’. It was the second highest grade in the class.”
“But it’s not going to be enough to get into Advanced Potions. St Mungo’s is very competitive. We’re only taking on two graduate positions this year and both of them had the highest NEWTs. I’m worried about your OWLs.”
“Mom, I’m handling it, ok. It was one test.”
“Did you study for it?”
Anger flared up inside Alex. “Of course I did! I always study. I worked all of Sunday.”
“You can’t only study the day before a test and expect to excel.”
“But that was the only day I had free. I had Quidditch on Saturday.”
Eliza sighed and gave her that annoyingly worried parental face. “Sweetie, I’m not attacking you. But maybe it’s time to quit Quidditch if it’s interfering with your studies.”
“Give up Quidditch?” Alex shouted. She was long past the point of being polite. “I can’t give it up. My team relies on me.”
“Yes, but at some point you need to focus on your future career. There’ll be time for sport later.”
“Oh? And when will that be. Because right now everyone's acting like my career is going to be my entire life.”
Eliza frowned. “I don’t understand why everything has to be an argument with you, Alexandra.”
“Why won’t you just listen, Mom!”
“Ok, I’m listening. What do you want to tell me.”
Alex went silent. There were so many things going on with her lately but she had no idea where to start. Stupid old HB just had to go and tattle on her to her mom! But somehow she knew that wasn’t the real issue. There was something wrong with her. She couldn’t sleep, her grades were slipping, everything felt like a massive effort...
“I can’t give up Quidditch…” Alex bit her lip, trying to explain how important it was to her. “It’s the one thing at the moment that makes me feel-” her voice cracked and she cut herself off.
“Oh, Sweetie, I know how much you miss your Dad. You two used to be thick as thieves playing Quidditch in the backyard.”
“It’s not about Dad.”
“Alright.” Eliza smiled gently. “Just have a think about it.”
Alex faked a smile. “Ok.”
They both knew it was a lie.
“Hecate mentioned that some peer tutoring might help with Potions. She suggested someone?”
Alex sighed inwardly. It looked like tutoring with Lena Luthor was the price she’d have to pay to get her Mom off her back about quitting Quidditch. She ended the mirror call with her mother as politely as she could, given her mood, and agreed to look into tutoring. But as soon as she got back to the dorms she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her face, taking comfort in the dark.
Kara following worriedly behind Lena as she stalked the halls leading away from their Charms classroom. By the time the two girls reached the water fountains, Lena was shaking so badly that she could hardly get any words out with her breath hitching.
“I h-hate her!” said Lena angrily swiping at her eyes. “W-hy w-ould she… make me… do that. Sh-she knows h-how… I f-feel.”
Kara stood by feeling useless as Lena leaned over to drink from the fountain. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say seeing as how she didn’t really know why her newest friend was so upset. She’d thought Professor Grant had been a bit too strict but it was obvious to her now that Lena had been pushed into doing something totally against her will. Surely a teacher wouldn’t do that without a good reason?
“I’m really sorry you're upset, Lena.” Kara placed her palm on Lena’s back.
Lena straightened and let out a rough exhale to calm her breathing. “It’s not your fault. You should go.”
“I’m not leaving you like this! Besides, Professor Grant said not to come back... Or was she joking?"
"Cat doesn't joke."
"She's a teacher, I’m sure she didn’t mean to upset you. Why did she make you do that spell?”
“Because,” Lena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. “She thinks I’m under the mistaken impression that I’m a danger to everyone, that it’s why I refuse to join Duelling Club and it's also why I don’t have any friends.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know! Nobody wants to be my friend in the first place. And I’m not mistaken. About anything, ever!”
Kara rushed to correct her. “No, I meant you do have a friend -- me!”
Lena’s face melted into a watery sad smile. “Oh, Kara, no. I especially can’t be friends with you.”
“Why?”
“Because I am a danger. To you more than anyone-- No, don’t interrupt. You've only been part of this world for a short time and you don’t know anything about me. Frankly, I’m surprised your friends haven’t warned you about my family.”
“They have," said Kara honestly. "Well, they’ve tried.”
“They’re right to. Trust me, you’re better off staying away.”
Lena seemed so earnest, as though she believed what she was saying. But Kara could see the pain in her eyes, the pain of rejection and loneliness. She was more certain than ever that Lena needed a friend - needed her . And she wasn’t going to back down. Especially since, so far, she hadn’t heard of one good reason to stay away from the young Luthor girl. Those who had tried to warn her off had only provided vague aspersions about her family and that was not reason enough to indict someone, not according to Kara.
“I don't think you're dangerous,” said Kara, raising her chin. (Lena’s eyes narrowed at her.) “You couldn’t even get me with that flippy spell.”
Lena spluttered. “That should have knocked you across the room!”
“Yeah, but it didn’t. I guess there’s only two possibilities: either you’re rubbish at spells” (Lena’s jaw dropped) “ or I’m in no danger from you, and I’m pretty sure you're not rubbish at anything.”
“You are impossible. And indestructible, apparently.” Lena shook her head in disbelief. Then she seemed to come to a realisation. “Cat knew didn't she, she knew it wouldn’t affect you. Great, now I feel like an idiot.”
“I do too,” Kara admitted.
“You, why?”
“I don’t know how I shielded your spell. I think Professor Grant did something so that I wouldn’t fail the test.”
“No,” Lena contradicted it easily. “I know Cat’s magic. She didn’t interfere. It was all you.”
“Then I don’t understand.” Kara pinkened and looked away. She knew Lena knew that she couldn’t do magic but it was still embarrassing to have to admit it to her. A girl as smart as Lena would hardly be impressed by someone who could apparently only do magic by accident. Secretly Lena probably thought she was a squib just like the Slytherin girls from Herbology. Did Hogwarts have a rule about getting rid of squibs? Just the thought of leaving her sister and her new friends made her eyes fill with tears.
“Kara.”
“Yeah?” Kara’s heart began to race at the intimate tone. Lena was staring at her intently with her green eyes cloudy from crying. Her lashes were still wet.
“I know you’re not like the other students here.”
Kara pushed her glasses up her nose unnecessarily. She didn’t want to answer, she was afraid of anyone knowing, but Rao was it true. Ever since her parents died, she would be alone for the rest of her life in a way. Yes, she had a new family but that could never replace what she'd lost. Not many of the other kids could understand what it was like to lose their parents. But she didn’t want to make things about herself right now, Lena was the one who was upset and needed comforting.
“...tart,” said Lena.
“Huh?”
“You’ve got tarts in your bag don’t you? You’d better eat something. It’s a while until dinner.”
Kara swung her bookbag in front and retrieved the tarts that Winn prompted her to squirrel away at lunchtime. She stuffed a whole one into her mouth and silently offered the other to Lena, who declined with a smile. The second one disappeared just as quickly as the first.
“You look like a squirrel,” said Lena. “Cute, but a bit of a pest.”
With her cheeks full, Kara could only grin in response.
It only struck her then that it was last period and they’d essentially been given an early mark. Kara cheered up in an instant at the chance to spend the time with Lena outside the classroom and without anyone else being able to butt in. Finally she swallowed and was able to talk.
“Come on, let’s go to the lake and see the Giant Squid!” said Kara, grabbing for Lena’s hand and pulling her a few steps in the right direction.
Lena laughed. “Why? What’s so good about calamari that’s been hit with an engorgio charm one too many times.”
“I haven’t seen it yet. Pleeeeease?”
“Don’t give me that look- Oh, alright! We’ll go.”
“Yes!” Kara jumped and threw her arms around Lena for a hug. For a second, Lena stiffened in shock and then seemed to get used to it. For someone like Kara hugs were a daily occurrence but this was the first time she'd gotten to hug Lena. And like all rare hugs with someone special it ended too soon.
The two girls went to sit by the lake for the two hours or so until dinner. They talked and giggled the entire time. Lena wowed Kara with some joke spells that she knew: growing herself a handlebar moustache, transfiguring her shoe into a block of cheese, densaugeo on Kara to give her buck teeth like a rabbit… Ordinarily such spells wouldn’t have impressed more than a four-year old magical child but Kara had an endless wonder for what was still so new to her.
For the first time since Kara’s arrival at Hogwarts a giant tentacle breached the surface of the lake. But she didn’t see it or hear the splash. Her whole attention was centered on pretty green eyes and a laugh she wanted to hear again and again.
Chapter 6
Notes:
Hi everyone! Thanks for reading :)x
Chapter Text
Alex made it through her free period and the time after school by trying to keep her mind on work but she was starting to get the jitters about tonight. Merlin, Morgana... who had she pissed off to end up with patrol duty with new Prefect Maggie Sawyer? It was bad enough that she'd completely embarrassed herself the last time they'd talked. Now she was going to be stuck with her for an extended period of time.
Maggie obviously knew she had some sort of issue and that meant she'd be under even more scrutiny. They'd be alone for ages. What if Maggie asked what was going on with her? What would Alex say then? She was too stubborn to ask anyone to swap shifts in case they asked why but she began to regret that the later it got.
At dinner time Alex went to the Great Hall alone hoping to scarf down some food so that she could return to her dorm as quick as possible to hide for a bit until patrols. But when she got there she saw that Kara was already seated at one of the dining tables and she wasn't alone. A dark haired pale witch in a plain grey uniform sat across from her.
It was Lena Luthor the Potions prodigy. Begrudgingly Alex realised this was actually an opportunity to grovel for help and get her mother off her back about her grades.
Alex sighed to herself. Well, here goes...
“Hey Kara,” said Alex, sliding onto the bench next to her sister.
Kara tore herself out of whatever animated story she was telling Lena. Her blonde plaits whipped around. “ALEX!”
Alex pressed a smile and turned to the other occupant of the table. “Hi Lena.”
Lena seemed surprised at being acknowledged. “Hi.”
There was an awkward pause. Kara beamed, looking between her sister and friend, at their amicable greetings. It seemed Kara hadn’t taken any of her or James’s advice to avoid the young Luthor but Alex was reluctant to interfere and end up hurting her in the process. The young Kryptonian had already dealt with enough trauma this year. Alex hoped that they’d drift apart on their own without her having to intervene.
“How were your classes today?” Alex asked Kara.
“Good.” Kara spooned a fork full of spaghetti into her mouth. As soon as she swallowed she shoved another twisted bundle into her mouth without stopping to elaborate.
“Mom says hi by the way. She replied to your letter and Skittles is on her way back with it for you.”
Kara nodded. “Cool.”
Alex chuckled. “Ok, guess that's all I'm getting.”
The older Danvers tapped her wand on the edge of the serving platter and spooned a good helping of spaghetti on to her own warmed plate that suddenly appeared. She nearly groaned out loud at the first mouthful of hot pasta. One of the many good things about Hogwarts was that the food was excellent.
As she ate, Alex noticed Lena shooting glances at her every now and again. She tried to ignore it, difficult as it was, but it was putting her on edge. The next time it happened she stared back until Lena startled and looked away embarrassed. Apparently she wasn’t going to speak to Alex unless she was specifically addressed.
“Oh, I forgot to ask!” said Kara. “How did your Potions test go?”
“Not great,” said Alex with a grimace. “Lena here topped the class though.”
“Really?!” Kara squeaked at Lena. “How come you didn't tell me? Gosh, I wish you were in Potions with me. I nearly spilled a cauldron full of Happiness potion over myself today.”
“How would we tell the difference?” muttered Alex, she raised her brows at Lena who couldn’t prevent a laugh escaping.
“Actually, Lena, since you did so well on the test,” Alex forced herself to say. “I was wondering if you wanted to study together sometime? I could use the uh, help with Potions.”
Lena looked stunned. “... O-okay. That actually sounds... yeah, I wouldn't mind that.”
“Cool. If I can return the favour, somehow, just let me know.”
Lena shook her head quickly and mumbled about it not being necessary.
Alex supposed that Lena was glad to have someone to study with for a change. Merlin's beard, she must’ve been lonely before Kara latched on to her with her gigantic open heart. Alex steeled herself against pitying her though. It wasn’t hard -- all she had to do was picture Krypton burning and green flames licking at Kara’s parents' backs as they made a last ditch effort to save their only daughter.
Lena didn’t act like an evil Luthor spawn but Alex had heard enough of the Luthor family to know that she had been marinating in hatred her whole life. They were the darkest of Dark Wizards. It was possible that Lena was the white sheep of the family, but it wasn’t a risk that Alex was prepared to let her little sister take.
Alex pushed her half-finished plate away. “I have to go.”
“I'm free tomorrow?” said Lena. “If that suits you. Or any day really.”
“Tomorrow’s fine,” said Alex. “I'll meet you in the library after the last period ends.”
“Can I come too?” said Kara, ever the eager puppy.
“Nope. You can have fun doing something else.” Alex stood up and then bent over Kara's head to hug her shoulders. “Be good. I'm on rounds tonight so don't let me catch you out of bed.”
Hufflepuff Common room
“I’m so happy!” Kara clapped her hands together and wiggled on the comfy couch where she and her friend were sitting cross-legged. “You and Alex are going to study Potions together, it’s amazing!”
Lena gave her a half smile. “It’s … surprising, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t imagine why Alex needs tutoring. She probably saw that we were becoming friends and now she wants to get to know you too!”
Lena winced. “I don't know, Kara. She seemed reluctant.”
“That’s just Alex. She likes to come across tough but inside she’s a big ball of mush.”
The girls chatted and snacked on sweets from a bag with the Sugarplum’s logo on the outside that Eliza had packed for Kara when she first came to Hogwarts. If it was a surprise that there were any sweets left after being at Hogwarts for this long, it was only because Kara had prolonged her own supply by sneakily eating from Alex’s bag instead. Lena didn’t eat many of the sweets, the only ones she was allowed at home were Toothflossing Stringmints and she didn’t like the ones that played tricks on the eater like making steam blow out your ears or turning your hair blue.
Kara pouted. “I’ve nearly run out. What are we going to do when the sweets are all gone?”
“You can re-stock at Honeydukes,” said Lena, giving her a smile. “There’s a Hogsmeade weekend coming up.”
“What's that?”
Lena explained the monthly trips to the nearby village of Hogsmeade for third-year students and older. She said she usually didn't bother going herself unless she needed something at Scrivenshafts, the book shop. Then she listed all of the shops and places to visit and everything sounded amazingly interesting. With how new she was to the magical world, Kara was excited to see another new place. Especially if she got to spend time with her new friend.
“There's a whole shop?” Kara's eyes were comically wide. “Just for sweets?”
“Yeah, and one for jokes and pranks. I've only been on the wrong end of those though. The tea shop is nice, or so I've heard.”
“We have to go together! We can have tea and donuts, they're a treat made from toroidal-shaped dough. You know what those are, right?”
“Yes, silly, I am human.” Lena looked down. She’d gone a little red and Kara supposed that it was because they were sitting too near the fire.
They were about to start a game of Exploding Snap when three boys in Gryffindor colours entered the room, looking very out of place among all of the yellow Hufflepuff paraphernalia. It was Mike Matthews, flanked by his best friend Max Junior and some other boy whose name Kara didn’t know. The three boys spotted her and Lena and came over towards the couch.
“What is she doing in here?” Mike Matthews demanded.
Kara frowned, realising he was talking about Lena. “We’re allowed to bring friends from other Houses to our Common rooms.”
“Yeah, friends from other Houses . She's houseless. Even Hufflepuff didn’t want her and they take all the misfit losers.”
Max Junior burst into laughter. He made a big show of high-fiving Mike and the other boy.
“I should go.” Lena whispered to Kara.
“No, you shouldn’t.” Kara stood up on the couch cushion and propped her fists on her hips. There was a crack from the wooden frame underneath her. Unfortunately the boys just laughed harder when she raised herself to their height. Nevertheless, she stared them down with as much fierceness as she could project.
Max Junior sniggered and elbowed Mike. “Careful, dude, you’ve made the little ‘puff angry.”
Kara wasn’t cowed. “Lena is my friend and this is my House Common room. You three are Gryffindors. What are you doing in here?”
A girl’s voice came from the staircase to the dorms. “He’s my boyfriend,” said Eve Tessmacher. “We’re going on a date at Hogsmeade next weekend. Isn’t that right, Mike?”
Upon seeing Eve, Mike smirked at Kara one last time. “That’s right.” He went over to give his supposed girlfriend a kiss on the mouth. Eve, who was still standing on the bottom stair, beamed up at him with lovestruck eyes. Their height difference only served to illustrate their age difference.
Kara stared at them feeling a little like she wanted to gag. What in Rao’s name could Eve possibly see in Mike? Eve was nice. Mike was a bully and a jerk and seemed to have no good qualities beyond his considerable good looks. Nobody who treated Lena badly could ever be desirable in her book.
“Let’s go,” said Mike, taking Eve’s hand. “Gryffindor’s having a get-together.”
“A party?” said Eve. “But it’s a school night.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun.”
As soon as Mike, Eve, and the other two boys left an uncomfortable silence descended on the common room. Kara was fuming about what happened. She hated the way that everyone treated Lena, who hadn’t done a thing wrong to anybody ever. Her poor friend could barely go about her daily school routine without having some jerk guy get in her face about things that weren’t her fault. Plus Mike was clearly leading Eve on.
Lena stared down at her hands. “I should go,” she said again.
Kara’s face fell. “No, please stay. Don’t listen to them, they’re idiots.”
“I know that,” said Lena, a little cross. “But I’m not going to stay where I’m not wanted-”
“But I-”
“- I know , Kara. But this is exactly why I didn’t want to be friends. I didn’t want you to get caught up in my mess. You’re the one with plenty of other friends, you should hang out with them and I should keep to myself. It's for the best.”
Lena wouldn't meet Kara's shocked face and hurt eyes even as she got up to leave.
As soon as she was gone, Kara sank down on to the couch like a puddle. She clutched one of the bright yellow cushions to her chest and hugged it. In an earlier life, her Ieyu would have bundled her up into a hug when she was sad like this. Of course she did have Eliza now and, at school, she had Alex to comfort her but Alex had her own sadness these days and she didn’t want to burden her.
Kara waited in the Common room for a while, hoping that Lena would change her mind and come back but she didn’t. Sure, Kara did have other friends… but there was only one she wanted to be with right now. And she knew that, sadly, Lena didn't have anyone else.
Lena would rather be alone than be with her and that hurt.
10:05 pm
It was finally time to leave.
Or rather, it had been time to leave five minutes ago. Alex had been ready for lights-out patrols for ages but she’d procrastinated on actually going. She'd considered pleading off sick but it was too late now. She’d left the dorm once already but went back in to change her shirt. Finally, she left for real, all the while kicking herself for keeping Maggie waiting.
Alex power-walked through the corridor, heart racing. The castle was deserted and dark already, and her footfalls echoed on the flagstones.
When she saw Maggie leaning against the statue of Boris the Bothersome giving her a smile, she smiled back.
“Hey, Danvers,” said Maggie. “Come here often?”
“Every Monday,” said Alex as cheerily as she could manage. She stuffed her hands in her hoodie pocket. “Shall we?”
The two of them walked in quiet for a while. Maggie seemed happy enough to let Alex lead and to choose the route. Alex's old patrol partner, Alissa Finch, had been a terrible Prefect overall. Half the time she never showed up for rounds and the other times she bored Alex to tears with her inane chatter about some wrock boy band or other. Maggie was a huge improvement even if her presence did cause Alex to condemn herself for her stomach feeling so fluttery.
“So what happens on patrols?” Maggie asked.
“This is it.” Alex gestured to the empty corridor ahead where the candlelight flickered orange shapes on the stone walls. She explained that Prefects were scheduled in pairs to patrol the main corridors near the House common rooms to make sure that no students were out of bed after hours. It usually took no more than half an hour. “Sometimes we get to give detentions if we catch someone but that's not often.”
“I was kinda hoping that being a Prefect would be more exciting.”
Alex shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“Oh well, can't have everything. At least I get the pleasure of your company. You hated being paired with Alissa right?”
“I didn't mean-- I didn’t mean I hated her . She was just-- ” Alex turned to see Maggie grinning at her. She stopped and felt her cheeks flush. For a second she’d thought she’d offended a friend of Maggie’s or something until she realised that she was merely being teased.
“Danvers, I shared a dorm with her. I know exactly what you meant.”
So far they'd covered Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw Tower and the main routes leading back down to the Entrance Hall. Without discussing it, Alex headed them down the narrow winding staircase to the Dungeon Corridor so that they could check the dungeons next. As they descended to the level below the Lake it got noticeably cooler. Maggie zipped her leather jacket up under her chin.
“So you're Muggle-born right?” said Alex, trying to make conversation but also secretly curious. “What did your parents say about you being made Prefect?”
Maggie shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Weren't they proud of you?”
“Not likely. They don't even know. I haven't talked to them in a while. I guess you could say we’re estranged.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Alex got the gist that there was something going on with Maggie's family life. She kicked herself now for even bringing it up since it might have been a sensitive topic. But now Maggie made even less sense to her. She was so confident in herself, it seemed hard to imagine that she was essentially alone in the world. Now that Alex thought of it, Maggie always seemed to spend holidays at Hogwarts. She began to wonder about these so-called parents who could callously eject their own kid, especially someone as amazing and kind as Maggie.
“It's ok,” said Maggie. “Well, it's not okay. But it's not your fault for asking. I bet your parents were super proud when you were made Prefect.”
“Yeah,” Alex admitted. “Mom cried. Kara thought it was something bad until we explained. She thought it meant the opposite of ‘perfect’.”
Maggie smiled, revealing her dimples. “She's a sweet kid.”
“I probably should’ve said this before but thanks for looking after Kara. She's so new to everything and I've been under a lot of pressure … It just helps to know there's someone in Hufflepuff who I can trust to look out for her when I’m not there. So uh, thanks again.”
“Aw, Danvers, you are a softie underneath it all. I have four little siblings so I know the deal.”
“Any of them coming to Hogwarts?”
Maggie shook her head. “Nah, I'm the odd one out in the family, in more ways than one. Cat Grant had to get me a Granger Witches Scholarship so that I could come here in the first place. Hogwarts is pretty much my home until I graduate.”
A sinking thought occurred to Alex. What if the reason why Maggie had been kicked out of the family was because her parents found out she was gay? She tried to imagine what she herself would do if it happened to her and had no idea how she’d cope. Somehow Alex knew that her Mom would never cut her out of her life, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid of her reaction. Her mother constantly pushed her and never accepted anything less than perfect, especially now that her Dad was gone. Alex was hesitant to even bring up the topic of questioning her sexuality, especially if she wasn’t even gay after all. She’d never hear the end of it.
“You ok, Alex?” Maggie’s hand fell on her shoulder.
Alex nodded too fast. “Yeah. Fine.”
By this time they’d been past Slytherin Dungeon without incident and made their way back up the staircase leading to the Entrance Hall. It was a quick cut through the door to the left of the Marble staircase that led down to Hufflepuff Basement and the Kitchen corridor. Their duties were nearly over and Alex couldn’t help wanting to spend more time with Maggie, to help take her mind off of her family issues of course.
“I was thinking um...” Alex lightened her voice. “Do you want to go to Hogsmeade next weekend? We could get butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks? Or tea and cake at Madam Puddifoot’s?”
“You and me?”
“Yes, why, what’s wrong with that?”
Maggie stopped and turned to her with a taken-aback expression on her face. As though she were seeing Alex for the first time. “I guess I wasn't sure about you.”
Alex was confused. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know if you were into girls.”
“I-I’m not.” Alex felt her mouth go completely dry. Her face tingled with embarrassment, first she had practically hit on Maggie by suggesting a well-known date spot and then she’d denied she was gay so quickly that it looked even more like a lie.
“Sorry, my bad. It sounded like you meant it another way... Sometimes you have to be careful who you come out to. It's cool, I promise.”
Alex smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. It hit too close to home. Suddenly she felt like Maggie had seen straight through her and knew she had lied.
“I was just trying to-- ” Alex gestured uselessly and fixed her gaze above Maggie’s head on the barrels behind her that concealed the entrance to Hufflepuff Common room. The Kitchen was only a corridor away and the final part of their patrolling duty. She plastered on another smile.
“I’ll-- I’ll do the rest myself, since it’s your first shift you should go early.”
“Are you sure?”
Alex nodded as she turned around. “Yeah, I have to go past the Kitchen on my way back anyway,” she assured Maggie and then walked away as quickly as she could.
It was dark in the Kitchen Corridor with only the dim light of a nearby candle.
At the end of patrols, Alex was heading back towards Gryffindor Tower when she spotted a student sitting on the freezing flagstones under the portrait of a shining silver platter piled full of tumbling fruits. Before getting annoyed, she reminded herself to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. Some of the younger students struggled with being away from home. When kids broke rules it wasn’t always because they were being a pain in the arse. Sometimes it was because they needed help.
As she got closer she recognised who it was.
“Kara!” said Alex, surprised to see her. “What are you doing sitting here alone in the dark?”
Kara smiled weakly. “Waiting for you. I guess you have to give me detention for being out-of-bounds.”
“I’ll let you off this time,” Alex chuckled and then noticed her sad little face. “Is everything ok?”
“Not really.”
Alex lowered herself to the floor next to Kara and hugged her younger sister to her side with one arm. She waited patiently for her to spill but it seemed Kara needed a nudge to open up. There had been many nights at home when the two of them had stayed up late under the covers, with Alex listening to Kara describe her bad dreams or holding her while she cried about missing her parents. She took the responsibility of big sister very seriously, but it never ever felt like an unwanted duty.
Poor Kara had gone through so much. Alex couldn’t help but want to shield her from as much of the world’s cruelty as possible.
“What's wrong?” she prodded gently.
Kara hesitated.
Alex squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Seriously, you can talk to me. What's on your mind?”
“I'm not sure if...” Kara sighed. “I think Lena and I might not be friends anymore.”
That was a surprise, considering how chummy they’d been when Alex saw them earlier that day. “What do you mean ‘might not’? Did something happen?”
“Mike was bullying Lena and I told him off but now she says that we shouldn't be friends anymore. She thinks it’s for the best if we stay away from each other.”
Alex suppressed her annoyance with both Mike (who was a moron) and Lena (who definitely was not). She hadn’t wanted Kara to be friends with the Luthor girl in the first place, but neither did she want Lena playing around with Kara’s feelings; friends one minute then not-friends the next. She forced herself to remain neutral, otherwise it would only upset Kara. But maybe Lena wasn’t all bad though, if she was willing to stay away to protect a friend... Alex wouldn't have thought a Luthor capable of that.
“It sounds like she's trying to push you away,” said Alex.
“Really?”
“Did she actually say she didn't want to be friends anymore?”
Kara shook her head.
“There you go. But if she keeps pushing you away don't get yourself hurt by trying to change her mind. Ok?”
Kara nodded this time. “Yeah. I just hope we can still be friends, that's all I want.”
“Well, only an idiot would give up being friends with you. And I'm quite sure Lena Luthor is no idiot.”
“Yeah, she is really smart.” Kara smiled shyly. “Thanks Alex. I know you disapprove so I thought maybe you'd be glad if Lena broke up with me.”
“No, I would never want to see you hurt,” said Alex softly, not bothering to correct the slight misuse of the phrase. “I admit I have reservations about Lena being who she is but… You should be friends with whoever you choose, ok? Just be careful. Some people aren’t who they seem.”
“Ok.” Kara's smile began to glow again.
“Things will work out.”
“I hope so. How was patrols? I saw Maggie this afternoon. She said you two were partnered tonight.”
Alex’s face coloured in the dim light. “Um yeah, it was alright.”
She was toying with the idea of bringing up what happened tonight.
It'd taken a while to recognise what was going on but Alex was sure now that she had the worst crush ever on Hufflepuff fifth-year Prefect Maggie Sawyer. She’d practically asked her out!
She wasn't sure what it meant though. Did it mean she was gay? That felt like a safe-enough word, but she couldn’t imagine using the L word or the D word. They sounded too… wrong somehow. Little by little, things were beginning to make sense though. Like the fact that she didn’t find a single one of the boys at school attractive. But maybe that was just because they were too stupid and immature? Maybe Maggie was just a one-off, a schoolgirl crush and she'd get over it and go back to being normal.
She was dying to confide in someone. Sometimes it felt like it was always on the tip of her tongue, as though she could blurt it out at any time.
Would Kara understand? She had lived a sheltered life in the Krypton zone but she also had the kindest heart of anyone Alex had ever known. Alex always got Kara to confide in her about her worries so that she could help, but she wasn’t used to confiding in anyone else herself. Not since her father disappeared.
“I-” Alex started.
Kara’s stomach began growling loudly. She giggled. “Oops.”
“Never mind. Come on,” said Alex, getting to her feet with a groan. “My butt is frozen. Let's sneak into the kitchen and get hot chocolate.”
Alex tickled the pear in the painting and it swung open to reveal two house-elves. The elves were ecstatic to receive students and plied the girls with as many marshmallows as could fit in their mugs of hot chocolatey goodness. The elves were used to helping students who couldn't fall asleep, they often gave out drinks that were laced with a mild Sleep potion.
Kara's eyes began to droop not long after her last mouthful. Alex managed to walk her sleepy sister up the stairs and put her to bed. She smiled to herself at Kara's innocent unconscious face and gently removed her glasses. She was so exhausted herself that she climbed into her sister's bed too and fell dead asleep.
Neither of them noticed the absence of the other Hufflepuff fourth-year girl who was supposed to be in the dorm room.
Fourth-floor corridor
Lena Luthor was hurrying through the shadows when she stopped sharp in her tracks. Several loud voices came from around the corner, it sounded like a group of other teenagers getting closer. Unfortunately they were heading towards her. They were in the corridor that linked Gryffindor Tower and the West Tower where her room was located. She wouldn’t be able to get to her room safely without passing right by them.
It was late, well after lights-out. She often went out at night for walks, since there were no students around and no adults ever cared to check on where she was anyway. She didn’t bother wondering what the others were doing out of bed. She only wanted to return to her room as quickly as possible.
Lena ducked into a slight alcove and pressed herself into the wall hoping that whoever they were wouldn’t discover her. She was dressed in black jeans and her favourite black hoodie so perhaps she would get lucky. She squinted into the darkness towards the approaching group. It looked like there were three of them.
One of the taller ones pulled out a wand and then suddenly the tip was glowing with a Lumos charm, throwing bouncing shadows off the walls as they walked. Lena cursed in her mind.
“Dude, did you see Lara and Diana?” One of the boys laughed.
“The more the merrier I always say,” the other boy joined in, and they high-fived.
“As long as I get to watch.”
A short blonde girl was with the boys. She sounded uncomfortable as she asked, “Mike, can you walk me back to my dorm? It’s late and I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Mike groaned. “You said you’d come with us. I wouldn’t have asked if I knew you were going to be like this.”
The other boy piped up. “Stay with Mike tonight. No-one will even notice you’re gone. He's done it loads of times.”
“I don’t know...” said the girl.
The trio were mere metres away from Lena. She could see the Lumos light bouncing over her shoes already. In another second or two they’d see all of her.
Lena slid her hand into the pocket of her jeans and curled her fingers around her wand. She was ready to run, but she didn’t think she’d be that lucky since it sounded like the boy was her favourite bully Mike Matthews. She stepped out into the middle of the corridor. With any luck they’d get a fright.
Eve screamed. One of the boys let out a yell, spooked by Lena’s unexpected appearance in front of them.
“Fuck!” Mike gasped. He exhaled hard and held up his wand at the ready. “Merlin’s balls! What the fuck?”
The other tall boy who was with them -- whom Lena now recognised as Max Junior, Mike’s thuggish best friend -- let out a grunt. “Check it out, dude. It’s Lena Loser.”
“Fancy seeing you here, Lena Loser.” Mike said with fake friendliness. “It’s after lights-out. Why are you out of bed?”
“Why are you?” Lena retorted.
“I’m a Prefect. I’m doing patrols.”
“No, you’re not. Alex Danvers is scheduled tonight.”
“Did you see that? She just threatened me, bro.” Mike turned to Max who nodded. He turned back to Lena. “That’ll cost you 100 points from Slytherin.”
A green -100 symbol materialised in the air above them and then dissipated.
Lena rolled her eyes.
Eventually one of the teachers would realise that a Prefect had misused their ability to affect the House totals (as occasionally did happen) and would reverse the penalty. But that would not be before all of Slytherin house woke up tomorrow and saw the damage. By breakfast every one of them would know which student had lost them the points too. It hardly mattered -- they already hated her.
“What if she tells a teacher we were here?” said Eve in a small voice.
“She won’t.” Max Junior answered. “‘Cos she’d have to admit she was out too.”
Apparently he wasn’t as much of a moron as he seemed.
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” said Lena. “Let me pass, please.”
“I don’t think so.” Mike stepped forward and pointed his glowing wand at her face. In the wizarding world, pointing your wand at someone was considered rude at best and combative at worst. Pointing your wand at someone’s face was downright offensive. The glare from the Lumos charm was blinding at that distance and Lena couldn’t help squinting and blinking to shield her eyes.
“What happened here tonight,” said Mike, obnoxious to the end. “Is that Eve, Maxwell, and my good self were minding our own business when you attacked us. Just like a Luthor would do. We simply had to defend ourselves.”
Lena’s stomach clenched. She gripped her wand in her pocket. She wasn’t sure whether she was that much of a quick-draw to beat whatever was coming since he already had his wand aimed.
Mike saw she was drawing her wand. “ Expelliarmus !” he said, casting the Disarming spell.
A jet of weak red light shot towards her and her wand fell to the floor with a clatter. Max Junior bent over to swipe it up. He looked at it for a second, grinning cruelly at Lena in the gloomy wandlight, and held the wand horizontally between fingertips of both hands.
“Don’t!” Lena cried out.
A sickening snap broke the silence.
Dread revolted in Lena’s stomach at the sound of her wand being snapped in two. The wand hadn’t been with her long but they had finally begun to bond and it had formed a loyalty to her. It was always difficult to break a bond between a wand and its wielder, but this one was especially stubborn. It hadn’t wanted to transfer its allegiance between siblings.
Max tossed the broken pieces at Lena’s feet. She immediately kneeled to gather them up. The shaft was broken near the handle end between the L and the rest of her surname UTHOR. The two dangling pieces were held together by the fibres of the core, the unicorn hairs now looking frayed.
Mike and Max began to laugh uproariously. Mike grabbed Eve’s hand and the three of them left Lena there alone to stare at her broken wand.
Lena blinked back her tears and clenched her teeth against the rage that buzzed through her body. By the time she’d raced back to her room, slamming the door behind her, her chest was shaking with the effort of fighting the urge to cry. She threw herself on to her bed fully clothed and pressed her face into her pillow.
She wanted to scream. Everything was so unfair!
The two halves of her broken wand were still gripped in her hand. The unicorn hair had already turned from white to dull grey. It was losing power quickly. The wandwood would likely never trust her again and the core was certainly beyond repair.
Lena tried not to imagine her mother’s reaction when she learned that the wand she’d entrusted her daughter with had been broken. There was no way she could write home to ask for galleons to buy a new wand, not without getting the worst Howler of her life. Or worse, being yanked out of Hogwarts and sent to Durmstrang as punishment.
She pictured her brother far away in Azkaban, howling mad and shivering with cold. How stricken he would have been to learn that his beloved wand was now dead in his sister’s care.
Chapter 7
Notes:
Hi, I'm alive but it's been awhile since I've updated. Happy reading :)x
Chapter Text
The next morning Maggie (who was always up bright and early) went to rouse Kara Danvers in time for breakfast. When she entered the fourth-year dorm she saw that there were two occupants but one of them wasn’t a fourth-year and wasn’t even a Hufflepuff.
Maggie was surprised to see Alex Danvers, probably only just awake, sitting up in bed next to her little sister who was still asleep. Alex’s mahogany hair was tousled and she still wore the same rumpled Gryffindor hoodie and jeans that she’d been wearing during their patrol duties the night before. She probably had no idea how attractive she looked right now. Maggie chided herself for thinking along those lines… After last night she was pretty sure that Alex was either not gay or deep in denial.
Alex noticed her, stiffening her posture. “Sawyer! Hey.” She straightened her clothes and smoothed down her hair.
“Morning, Danvers.” Maggie gave her a smile as they greeted each other in soft voices. “Did you sleep here?”
“Yeah. Kara was upset last night.”
“Poor kid. Is she homesick?”
Alex glanced at the sleeping starfish on the bed and lowered her voice further. “Always, but this was friend troubles.”
Maggie nodded. “Ah, I see.” She looked around the room for something to do and then noticed that Eve’s bed was empty and appeared not to have been slept in. “Have you seen Eve Tessmacher?”
Alex followed Maggie’s gaze. “No, I was a bit out of it last night but there was definitely no-one here when Kara and I went to bed.”
“It looks like Eve didn’t sleep here.”
“Could she have had a sleepover with a friend in another House?”
“Maybe.” Maggie shrugged. “I hope that’s all it is. I’ve seen her hanging around with that tool-shed Mike Matthews lately. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’s had a girl for a ‘sleepover’.”
Alex sighed. “We’d better tell Professor Grant as she’s head of Hufflepuff. I'll do it since I should’ve noticed last night.”
The two girls looked at Kara and said at the same time:
“Do you want me to-?”
“Can you-?”
They both laughed softly. Maggie grinned. Alex rolled her eyes at herself and gestured for her to go first.
“You go report Eve’s missing,” said Maggie. “I’ll wake up Little Danvers and make sure she gets breakfast.”
After Alex left, Maggie went over to the bed and leaned over to place a hand on Kara’s back. The younger girl was still sleeping, face down, her light eyebrows knitted in an adorable frown. Maggie rubbed her back trying to wake her gently.
“Little Danvers?” she crooned. “Breakfast in ten. Kara … Time to wake up, sleepyhead.”
Kara came to slowly. “Ieyu?”
“It’s Maggie,” she said, smiling at the sleepily blinking younger Danvers girl. “Pancakes are waiting.”
For a little while after waking up, Kara was in a cheerful mood and then she remembered what’d happened with Lena yesterday. But she was resolved to try to work things out with Lena and see if they could still be friends. Once Lena understood how much Kara liked her and didn’t care what anyone else thought, surely she would reconsider.
At breakfast Kara sat with James and Winn and tucked into her pancakes. She squirreled away a banana and some apples into her bag for later. When the Owl post arrived she saw little Skittles last among the owls soaring in through the window in the ceiling.
Skittles dropped an envelope on Kara’s plate, getting syrup all over it. But she didn’t mind. “It’s for me! It’s from Eliza.”
Kara tore into her letter and sped through her adoptive mother’s words. Eliza was happy to hear she was having a wonderful time at school and making friends. As she read, Skittles skittered around on the table, mouth gaping in her usual dopey-looking smile. James conjured up a slug from the garden for Kara to give Skittles as a reward. After gobbling the treat, Skittles took to the air again to return to the Owlery with her friends.
Kara watched the owls leave through the upper window. “Bye Skittles! I’ll come visit soon!”
It wasn’t long before Alex joined them, now dressed neatly in her Gryffindor uniform, and then Maggie arrived too. After Maggie had woken Kara up, she’d left her to make her own way to breakfast. Apparently Maggie had gone to see Alex and it looked like the two of them were getting along better.
Alex grabbed a banana from the fruit plate and stuffed it into Kara’s backpack. “Hey James, are you on patrol tonight?”
“Yeah, why?” said James.
“Keep an eye out for Mike Matthews.”
“Up to his usual is he? Who was it this time.”
Alex and Maggie exchanged a glance. “A fourth-year girl,” said Alex.
“Serious?” James raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, we were just with Professor Grant. Apparently Mike and crew were out after lights-out last night. This was after Maggie and I finished patrols.”
Kara hadn’t really been listening to the older kids’ conversation, she was too busy stuffing her face with pancakes. But she did hear Mike’s name mentioned. And that made her remember all of the times she’d seen the older boy bully Lena. It didn’t surprise her that Lena was absent from breakfast this morning as she often avoided the hall during popular times.
Winn leaned over the table and waved Kara out of her thoughts. “Hey Kara, did you do the reading for Care of Magical Creatures?”
“Yep.” Kara nodded. She drained her cup of pumpkin juice.
“What’d you get for Question 10 on the worksheet? I couldn’t find anything in the chapter about it.”
“Oh, I put humanoid cryptids. Like mermaids. It was in Chapter 29 so I figured that Professor Wobblybuff forgot to tell us to read that chapter as well.”
Winn gave her a funny look. “How did you find that? We’re only up to Chapter 10.”
Kara shrugged. “I’ve read all my books.” Not only had it been interesting reading all she could about this new world, it made her feel less unprepared turning up to lessons.
First period was Care of Magical Creatures. It was a fine day so the class was held outside, despite being a theory lesson. Kara waited and looked around but Lena wasn’t among her classmates. Apart from being sad at not getting to see her friend, Kara was worried by her absence. She wondered whether she should ask the teacher or offer to go to Lena’s room to check on her. But she decided against it. If Lena was playing truant she certainly wouldn’t want someone drawing attention to it.
The students were seated on the lawn working through some sketches of cryptids they’d been reading about. When Winn asked Professor Wobblybuff about the hard question on the homework they learned that Kara’s answer was correct. The Professor apologised for asking a question that was too far advanced than what they’d covered in their readings. He went so far as to praise Kara for working ahead which earned her some dirty looks from the Slytherin girls.
The conversation turned to the magical creatures living at Hogwarts, since there was a colony of mermaids who lived in the lake.
Winn raised his hand. “Sir, is it true that there are unicorns in the Forbidden Forest?”
Wobblybuff nodded enthusiastically. “Indeed there are, Mr Schott! Not as many as there used to be. In fact, unicorns were once found in all the forests of Europe. Only Muggles consider them to be cryptids of course. Mermaids, centaurs, unicorns… Muggles never notice anything they can’t exploit!”
At the end of their lesson the Professor instructed them to hand in their sketches using a levitation spell. Kara turned to Winn to ask what was going on. He already had his wand out and raised.
“ Wingardium leviosa .”
Winn’s parchment rose into the air and floated forward.
The rest of the class were also casting the spell and soon the air was full of levitating papers heading towards the teacher. One of the papers folded itself into an airplane and flew gracefully into the pile.
Kara sighed and retrieved her wand from her backpack. Trying not to feel self-conscious, she whispered the words of the spell and copied Winn’s wand movements. As usual nothing happened. Her paper lay stubbornly on the grass.
“Do you want me to do yours?” Winn offered.
“No, it’s ok.” Kara sighed and got to her feet. She could feel the entire class watching her have to walk up to the Professor to hand her sheet in.
“Squib,” someone coughed. Kara’s face reddened.
Professor Wobblybuff gave her a kind smile. “Thank you, Miss Danvers.” Then he noticed her sketch. “Merlin’s beard! What an excellent likeness of a unicorn. You are quite the artist. Five points to Hufflepuff!”
A sparkly yellow five appeared above Kara’s head.
Winn gave her a thumbs up. There were distinct groans from Leslie and Siobhan, muttering under their breaths about pity points for squibs.
Kara hadn’t thought her drawing would be very authentic since she’d never seen a unicorn in real-life. Her sketch was more detailed than the other students managed but she put that down to having seen many talented artists’ works back home in Krypton. At her old school she’d excelled in the STEM subjects that her parents encouraged her in, but she enjoyed art more.
Kara took a moment to send a thought to Rao for her parents. She hoped they knew how much she was trying to fit in to this new world. They would want her to make them proud and not to be too sad. But it was impossible to think of Krypton without thinking of its end.
At the start of the second period Kara was at the back of the crowd of students entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
When she finally got inside she saw that Lena was already there, sitting in her usual seat up the front in her plain grey uniform.
As Kara took her place next to Lena, she looked to see if her friend would greet her and tell her yesterday’s decision was a mistake.
“Hi Lena.”
Kara was hoping for a smile or eye contact at least but the other girl didn’t look at her. Her heart dropped but she wasn’t ready to give up. She sat down and stowed her backpack under the desk at her feet. The class were still talking loudly and getting out their wands. So Kara quickly rummaged in her bag to get a pencil and tore off a scrap of parchment.
Kara scribbled something and then pushed the scrap across the desk into Lena’s eyeline. It said ‘Are you ok?’ and underneath she’d drawn a doodle of a flower.
Lena saw it but didn’t respond.
“Settle down, class,” said Professor J’onzz from the front of the room. The students quieted and stilled.
Not wanting to get caught passing notes, Kara sat up straight too and listened as Professor J’onzz explained today’s lesson. They were going to be practicing wand movements following on from last week’s theory. Kara paid attention, memorising the wand patterns he demonstrated, hoping that one day she’d be able to put them into practice herself when her magic came through.
“Today I want you to practice your swishes, flicks, and sweeps.” The Professor walked between the centre aisle desks. “Work in pairs at your desks. I’ll come around to each pair in turn to check on your progress before we move on to incorporating them into defensive spells.”
As soon as the class got to work the noise level increased again. Shyly, Kara turned to Lena who was looking forward with a blank expression.
“I guess you’re stuck with me again,” Kara joked with a smile. When she didn’t get a smile in return she toned it down. It was the first time since their very first meeting that Kara felt uncomfortable in Lena’s presence. She was bursting to talk to her and convince her she still wanted to be friends no matter what.
“Were you sick in the first period?” asked Kara. “I hope you’re better now.”
“I’m fine.” Lena said stiffly.
Before long Professor J’onzz came to crouch ahead of their table. “How are we doing, ladies? Show me what you’ve got.”
Kara startled at being caught not doing work. She grabbed Eliza’s wand that was laying on her desk.
Without knowing whether what she was doing was in any way correct, Kara traced her wand movements through the air in what she hoped was a decent imitation of the patterns they’d been learning. As they’d learned in their theory, the other students would’ve been able to feel a response, the hum of the wand's core, whenever their moves were good enough. But Kara had no such tactile feedback to guide her.
“...and swish?” Kara finished.
J’onzz gave her a nod. “Well done, Miss Danvers.”
“Really? But I couldn’t feel it like you said--”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ll get the feel of your magic eventually. For now, I’m glad to see that you have been applying yourself and attempting to learn the unfamiliar.”
The Professor turned to Lena who had been watching in silence. “Miss Luthor? Your turn.”
“I’m sorry, Professor,” said Lena quietly. “I can’t complete the lesson today. I don’t have a wand to use.”
“Where is your wand?”
Lena paused. She sighed and then pulled the pieces of her wand out of her black satchel. The formerly shiny black wand was now dull, with tape wrapped around the handle not quite hidden beneath her grip. She placed the wreck on the desk in front of her.
J’onzz appraised the wand. “Hmm. A break that bad can’t be fixed with Spellotape. How did it happen?”
“It was an accident.”
“I see.” By J’onzz’s tone he was unconvinced. “Are you sure it wasn’t broken on purpose by another student? Because if so, that would constitute bullying. If you want to report it I will suspend them on the spot.”
Lena didn’t answer. Kara peered at her face but there was no answer there either.
The Professor sighed. “Very well. You’re aware that the wand will die if you don’t replace the core?”
“Yes,” Lena replied dully.
Kara was horrified at the thought. “Wands can die? They’re alive ?”
J’onzz briefly explained about wandwood, cores, and wielder bonds. He said that wands had a form of non-living sentience that responded to certain wielders and could influence the magic that was focused through them. If a wand became damaged enough it would lose power unless it was repaired by a professional wandmaker. In the worst cases the wand would die.
“Can Lena’s wand be repaired?” said Kara.
Professor J’onzz shook his head. “It’s notoriously difficult to replace the core of a wand made with unicorn hair. There’s usually no hope for it.”
“But Professor Wobblybuff said there were unicorns in the Forbidden Forest.”
“There are… but they are astonishingly fleet of hoof. The only thing you’re likely to catch is a glimpse.”
The Professor let Lena skip the lesson and advised her to purchase a new wand as soon as possible.
Suddenly, a loud bang followed by laughter caused the classroom din to rise in volume. One of the students had deliberately caused a misfire and everyone nearby was now covered in soot. Professor J’onnz headed over to chastise the misbehaving students and hand out detentions.
After the teacher was gone, Kara turned to Lena who was still trying to ignore her.
“It wasn’t an accident was it,” Kara said in a low voice. “It was Mike Matthews. He broke your wand because of what happened in the Common Room yesterday.”
Lena frowned. “No. It wasn’t him.”
“Lena-”
“I said it wasn’t him. Just leave it alone please.”
“Alright. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed.” Kara held out her wand to Lena. “Here. Do you want to practice with this? It’s my adoptive mother’s wand. I can’t use it so you might as well try.”
Lena finally turned towards her and gave her a pained look. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because you’re my friend. I want to help.”
“Well, it's not necessary. And you shouldn’t lend a Luthor a wand that’s bonded with one of your family members. It’ll probably revolt at my touch and blow us both to smithereens.”
“Oh.” Kara hadn’t known that could happen. There was still so much about magic she didn’t know and even more that she didn't know about the relationship between a wand and its wielder. Nor did she understand why Eliza’s wand would act as prejudiced against the Luthor family as everyone else she’d met in the magical world.
The two girls at the front of the room didn’t talk for the rest of the period. Lena pulled out a textbook from her bag to read.
Sneaking a look from where she was sitting, Kara could see that the chapter title was ‘Wandless magic’. She wondered what Lena was going to do about her wand. Surely she could just write to her parents to explain what happened and ask for a new one? Kara didn’t know how much wands cost but the Luthors were rich so that probably wouldn’t be an issue.
But Lena seemed attached to her wand. In fact, most people Kara had met in the magical world were attached to their wands. A replacement wouldn't be the same. Kara could relate to that, there were things that once lost could never be gotten back.
When the bell rang to signal lunch, Kara was pulled away by Winn for the lunch break.
Lena Luthor was the last to leave the DADA classroom. As she packed up her things, she saw the little note that Kara had given her sitting on the desk. Kara was always so kind, it was difficult to shut her out. Lena cursed her rotten luck that the first person who’d ever shown interest in being her friend was someone whom she couldn't in good conscience be friends with.
Lena picked up the note, intending to keep it, when she noticed something that hadn’t been there before. The drawing of the flower now had something poking out of the middle of it.
A small green shoot was sprouting.
Library
After lessons ended for the day Alex dragged herself to the library with her Potions textbook in tow for her first peer-to-peer tutoring session with Lena Luthor.
She would have rathered shovel dragon dung in the greenhouses or go six rounds with the Whomping Willow but, unfortunately, this was the best way to get back on track with her grades. She reminded herself that Lena was doing her a favour but she couldn’t bring herself to be grateful for it. Getting help from a kid her younger sister’s age was embarrassing enough.
She entered the near-empty library and looked around. A part of her hoped that Lena wouldn’t show up. Then she could head out for a quick training session instead without any guilt. But of course the Luthor prodigy was already there waiting at one of the corner desks, still dressed in her plain grey uniform.
Alex plastered on a smile and she sat down across from her. “Hi Lena.”
Lena returned the greeting with a polite nod but didn’t say anything.
“So.” Alex swallowed her pride. “I need to bring up my grades. I have to get a good enough OWL to be accepted into Advanced Potions. Maybe you could look over my last test and see where I’m going wrong?”
As unwilling as she was to admit it, Alex found that studying with the Luthor girl was actually very helpful. To her surprise, Lena explained what she’d missed in the last test without gloating. In fact, she told Alex that her approach was on the right track, she’d only made a few invalid assumptions with the basis elements of the Sleep series potions and they could be easily corrected.
When Lena finished explaining, Alex nodded. “That actually makes sense when you put it like that. I can’t believe I’ve been going about it wrong all this time.”
“It’s a subtle difference,” said Lena. “Drowsiness promoters are not as effective as ingredients that target the neural receptors that control the sleep-wake cycle.”
“It seems so obvious now. Why doesn't the textbook cover it like this?”
“Because of the connection to Muggle neuroscience and non-magical pharmacology. It’s a huge oversight, not to mention a prejudiced one, since Muggles are quite advanced in this area. Hecate Hardbroom has been petitioning the Ministry for years over the issue.”
Alex was surprised to hear a Luthor spouting anything positive about Muggles. Given the strong anti-Muggle sentiment of her family and their many and varied attempts to influence the Ministry, Alex would bet that Lena wouldn’t even hint at anything pro-Muggle at home. Perhaps she really was the white sheep of the Luthors... If so it would mean she wasn’t just a pariah at school but also at home. Her life must suck royally.
Alex might’ve felt a little sorry for her but that didn’t mean she was thrilled about Lena’s on-and-off friendship with Kara. That reminded her -- she needed to figure out what Lena was playing at and lay down the big sister act.
“So are you meeting up with Kara after this?” Alex asked casually.
Lena bristled, pausing her writing. “Not today.”
“Tomorrow then? How about the day after?”
“I don’t think so.”
Alex fixed her with a pointed look. “I thought you two were friends. Kara seemed to think so.”
“Just ask me what you want to ask me, Alex,” Lena said coolly.
“Ok. Why have you been ignoring Kara all of a sudden?” Before Lena could get a word in, Alex went on. “I don't know exactly what you said to her but she was really upset last night. She’s new here. If you didn’t want to be friends with her you shouldn’t have encouraged it in the first place. She gets really attached to people and she’s already lost so much--”
“I know that,” Lena hissed. “Don’t you think I know that.”
“Then why are you doing this.”
“Because she wouldn’t want to be friends if she knew who I was. I'm a Luthor and she’s the last Kryptonian!” Lena blurted out, then lowered her voice. She looked left and right to check. Thankfully no-one was around to overhear.
Alex gritted her teeth. “How do you know that?”
“What's more important is why doesn't Kara know. Why haven't you told her that it was my brother who slaughtered her family and the rest of the Kryptonians?”
Alex glared. “She doesn’t need to know. No-one is supposed to know. You can’t tell anyone who she really is, for her safety and her privacy. She’s still grieving.”
“Fine, I won’t tell her. But I can’t be friends with her and lie to her all the time. She’ll hate me when she finds out who I am sister to.”
“She's not going to find out.”
“She will one day.”
Alex hated to admit it but Lena was probably right. One day the truth would come out. She only hoped it was far enough into the future that Kara was strong enough to deal with it.
Alex remembered back to when Kara first came to live with them. She could see it as clearly in her mind as if it were only yesterday. Her parents brought home a girl who was going to live with them. A girl who had miraculously survived the attack on the Kryptonians, an attack which had killed every other man, woman, and child living in the non-magical Krypton zone. A girl who was now bereft of family, friends, and culture, and who would join the magical world for the first time.
The Ministry, embarrassed by The Skeeter Report’s characterisation of the attack on Krypton as a ‘Ministry-sanctioned genocide’ due to corrupt influence by certain powerful wizarding families (cough, the Luthors, cough), was only just able to keep the identity of the lone survivor protected. Because of Eliza’s connections, the Danvers family were nominated to foster the newly orphaned girl. Afterwards, Alex suspected a smattering of Memory charms had been performed on involved Ministry staff so that they'd forget who the Last Kryptonian really was.
Kara was a sweet-natured blonde-haired girl with enormous blue eyes and a penchant for Chinese food. At first Alex had only been annoyed at having to share her life with a newcomer and she’d baulked at her parents’ instructions to spend her holidays keeping her company. Alex came to resent her new “sister” especially after Jeremiah disappeared a few months later. But Kara kept trying to be her friend and it wasn’t long before Alex realised the true depth of what she’d been through and couldn’t help wanting to shield her from further harm.
Kara herself had no memories of what happened the day Krypton died. Eliza and Jeremiah had decided not to tell her the truth in an effort to shield her from the media coverage of the tragedy and the very public trial of Lex Luthor in which she was simply named as ‘Girl S’. They wanted to give her a chance to grieve outside of the spotlight. Her parents had trusted Alex with a secret that no-one else knew.
Alex had grown into an overprotective big sister like she’d been born for the role.
“Looks like our hour is up,” said Alex without looking at her watch. She scooped up her things and stood up to go. “I’ve got to go find my sister and see if she has someone to sit with at dinner. Thanks for your time, Lena, but I don’t think I’ll need any more tutoring.”
Lena nodded. “I expected as much.”
Alex tried to ignore the loneliness hidden in Lena’s tone. It was as though Lena truly believed that no-one would opt to spend more than an hour in her presence. The thing was -- Lena wasn't that bad to be around and if it weren’t for her family connections… Well, Merlin forbid Alex ever start pitying a Luthor. All she had to do was picture Kara’s sad little face from last night (or from the day she first came to live with them) and that would steel her against anything like compassion for a Luthor.
Unfortunately, Kara’s compassion for her wouldn’t be so easy to quell.
Hufflepuff common room
After a late dinner Maggie Sawyer managed to score the best seat next to the fire back in the Hufflepuff common room. There were plenty of other students around playing games or chatting and one of the seventh years had set up a Wizardophone to play some music.
Maggie preferred to keep to herself so she was browsing through the latest copy of Wrolling Stones magazine and enjoying the Flying Hagrids in the background. It was still early but the heat of the fire and the comfyness of the chair were lulling her to sleep and she considered staying right there the whole night instead of heading up to her dorm room.
“Hey Maggie?” One of the first years Connor Grant popped up at her side.
“Yeah, Connor, what’s up?” she asked.
“Someone’s outside the barrels asking for you. They said to ‘come out now, please’. Actually, she didn’t say ‘please’, I added that part.”
Maggie groaned at the thought of having to get up. “Somebody better be in a full body-bind.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Thanks.”
As soon as Maggie poked her head out into the corridor she saw an agitated Alex Danvers pacing back ‘n forth. The Gryffindor Prefect had changed out of her school uniform and was dressed in warm dark Muggle clothing like she was heading out into the chill. It wasn’t their scheduled night for patrols though. Despite it being unwise, Maggie couldn’t help hoping that Alex was there to see her for any sort of personal reason like wanting to hang out and spend time together.
“Danvers. Fancy seeing you here, what’s up?”
Alex spun around. “Sawyer! I’ve been looking all over. Please tell me Kara is in there.”
“Kara?”
“Yes, my sister, Kara! Is she there?”
Maggie shook her head, confused. “No, I haven’t seen her all evening. Eve is. I think she’s a little chastened after Professor J’onzz chewed her out about last night. Either that or she’s sulking because her boyfriend got a week of detentions and can’t go to Hogsmeade this weekend.”
“Kara definitely has not been back to Hufflepuff since school ended? Like, at all? Are you sure?”
“Wait, Kara's missing again?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know!”
“Hey, I’m sure she’s fine,” said Maggie calmly. “Remember the last time? Come on, I’ll help you find her.”
Alex nodded but she still looked worried. As they walked Maggie placed a hand on the small of her back, wanting to reach out in some way. It was unusual to see the Gryffindor Prefect and star Quidditch Captain so rattled. Alex was so private and reserved. Maggie was surprised she would accept her help at all. And she didn't shrug away from her hand so that was a plus.
“I’ve already checked the Kitchens,” Alex rambled. “I was going to check the Owlery next in case she went there to see Skittles. She really likes owls, well, all birds really. She’s fascinated by flight or whatever. It’s weird how much she likes them.”
Maggie smiled reassuringly. “That’s probably it.”
But when they got to the Owlery Tower there was no-one there. They left the cool circular room alone to its softly hooting occupants.
Outside in the corridor Alex let her arms slap her sides out of frustration. “Where else would she go?”
“What about her friends?” asked Maggie. “Did you check with them? Maybe she went to another House to hang out.”
Alex shook her head. “No, James hasn’t seen her. I went by Ravenclaw on the way and Winn hasn’t seen her since dinner either.”
“What about Lena?”
“I doubt they’re together tonight.”
“Still, Lena might know something.”
Alex frowned as she seemed to realise something. “How are we supposed to find her? Where does she sleep if it’s not in any of the House dorms?”
Maggie pointed behind her. “You’re standing in her doorway.”
“Here?” Alex jumped back and appraised the bare stone wall of the corridor that led to the Owlery. There were no markings or wall hangings of any kind that hinted anything was behind it. And there definitely was no door. She’d been past this very spot innumerable times on her way to see Skittles.
“You’ve never wondered where she lives?” said Maggie, raising her eyebrows.
“I’ve never cared before,” admitted Alex.
Maggie used her index finger to trace an L on the stone wall. Slowly the outline of a door began to form and then a second later, a wooden door with ‘LUTHOR’ in gold lettering on the front fully materialised. She knocked as well for good measure and waited for Lena to answer.
Lena was about to get ready for bed when she heard the knocking. She cracked open the door to see who it was in case one of the teachers had come looking for her. Sometimes Cat Grant popped in to check on her but that was a rare occasion. There were very few students who even knew where she roomed let alone knew how to access it, which was a blessing since she didn’t want her room to be filled with Dung Bombs on a daily basis.
“Yes?” said Lena. Seeing Maggie Sawyer she opened the door wider and noticed Alex Danvers standing there as well. “Oh. Hi.”
Maggie gave her a smile. “Hey, Lena. Have you seen Kara Danvers tonight by any chance?”
Lena shot a look at Alex who was stony-faced. It was only a few hours earlier that she'd told Alex that she was determined to stay away from Kara. Surely Alex wouldn’t expect her to go back on her word so soon. But she was a Luthor so people tended to have very low expectations of her character. Was Alex here to intimidate her into avoiding her sister?
“I haven’t seen Kara since school,” said Lena carefully. “Why?”
“We can’t find her,” said Alex.
“Kara’s missing?” Lena’s stomach sank at the thought that something might’ve happened to her. “Are you sure? Have you checked with her friends?”
Alex pinned her with a glare. “We’re checking with you .”
“I didn’t do anything I swear!” cried Lena. She looked from Alex to Maggie, hoping that at least one of them would believe her.
“We know,” soothed Maggie. “But you’re Kara’s friend so we thought you might know where she would go. Maybe she said something in class today?”
Lena thought back over everything that had happened that day. After tutoring with Alex, Lena had stayed in the Library until she headed to the Hall after the dinner rush. She’d been in her room ever since. If she hadn’t been so set on ignoring Kara maybe she would know where she might’ve gone. The only conversation they’d had that day was about wands in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Unfortunately that just reminded Lena about how kind Kara had been to her, still trying to be a good friend and even going so far as to offer her adoptive mother’s wand.
Her wand.
Lena’s eyes widened. “Oh no.”
“What is it?” said Alex impatiently. “If you know something, spill!”
“I think … she might have gone to the Forbidden Forest.”
“WHAT!” cried Alex. “Why would she go there? How does she even know about it?”
“In Defence class today she saw that my wand is broken. She was asking Professor Jonzz about whether it could be repaired before it dies.”
“What’s that got to do with the Forest?” asked Maggie.
“My wand is unicorn core,” said Lena.
Hearing that, Alex stepped close in front of her personal space, ignoring Maggie’s warning hand on her jacket sleeve. Lena had to look up since she towered over her in height. Alex Danvers was too much the Gryffindor Prefect to do anything to hurt her, but she sure had the look of being capable of it. Especially where her sister was concerned.
Alex said in a low voice. “Are you saying that my sister has risked her life by going into the Forbidden Forest to try to catch a unicorn so that she can harvest a tail hair in order to repair the wand that was used by Lex Luthor to murder the Kryptonians?”
Lena winced. “I think so?”
“Fuck,” groaned Maggie, running a hand through her hair. “Well, maybe she hasn’t gotten very far. It’s not like she’s going to be able to catch a unicorn, they’re too fast.”
“That’s not the point, Maggie,” said Alex angrily. “The Forest is dangerous and Kara doesn’t have magic. She can’t even use Lumos or a compass spell. It’ll be dark soon.”
“So how do we find her?” asked Maggie. “Where do we even start? The Forest’s enormous. Locator spell?”
Alex shook her head. “No, it relies on magical traces. We’d have to have something of Kara’s that had some of her magic on it to track her with.”
Lena spoke up. “I have something.”
Two heads whipped towards her.
“That’s not possible,” Alex said firmly. “Kara hasn’t been able to perform any magic yet. Not even test sparks with my Mom’s old wand.”
Lena went back inside her room to retrieve something from her desk. It was a small scrap of parchment that had a 3-inch tall bright green stem growing out of it, sporting several curled leaves. It had been growing at an increasing rate ever since Kara gave it to her that morning. Lena held out the paper plant in the palm of her hand towards the older girls.
Alex stared.
“What is that?” said Maggie, eyeing it curiously.
“It’s Kara’s,” said Lena, sending a meaningful glance at the older Danvers who would be able to recognise her sister’s handwriting. “It means her magic is finally manifesting.”
Chapter 8
Notes:
Hi everyone, I thought I'd post this before Christmas gets hectic and I forget. Thanks for reading! And special thanks to those who have commented and left kudos. :Dx
Chapter Text
Earlier that afternoon
The last period of the day was Futures of Magic, which was quickly becoming Kara’s most-hated class.
Professor Lord spent the entire lesson pontificating about how increasing numbers of squibs signified a breakdown of magical society. Even if Kara hadn’t been someone who could not perform magic she would’ve thought his opinions unfair. It’s not like squibs could help being what they were!
Anyway, FoM was worse than Defence which was saying a lot because that class sometimes reminded her of her parents being killed.
Kara spent most of the class thinking about Lena and her wand situation. Even if it didn’t get her friendship back she still wanted to help. She’d thought of writing to Eliza to ask for money to buy Lena a new wand but Winn had told her at lunch that wands cost at least 10 gold galleons these days. That sounded like a lot of money and, Kara knew, the Danverses were comfortable but didn’t seem to have a lot to spare since Jeremiah's disappearance.
The only remaining option was to repair Lena’s wand before it died. The thing she needed most was a unicorn hair and they seemed even rarer than galleons. Winn had told her that raw unicorn hair was even more expensive than a wand with a unicorn core (which seemed like perverse economics to Kara), but apparently it was because the Ministry of Magic subsidised the cost of wands since they were essential for magic.
There seemed to be no good solution to the problem.
“Listen up, class,” Professor Lord tapped his wand on the chalkboard upon which an essay question appeared. “For homework, you will write an essay arguing why the Ministry should compile a central register on all squibs living in the magical world and monitor their movements with magical tracers. Two rolls of parchment minimum.”
Seated next to Kara, Winn groaned. “Two rolls! That’s going to take ages.”
For once, Kara wasn’t worried about not passing a class assignment. She wasn’t sure this was one she wanted to succeed at. Not if she had to pretend to agree that people like her had to be tagged and treated like animals. She had no intention of spending her evening writing about bigoted points of view, so she might as well go big about breaking the rules.
As soon as class ended, Kara raced back to her dorm to retrieve her map of Hogwarts. Previously she had seen an annotation on the map somewhere about a forest near the school. Sure enough, to the East of the Hogwarts grounds there were little tree symbols surrounding the label.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
^ FORBIDDEN ^
^ FOREST ^
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“I’m coming with you.”
A voice came from behind Alex as she started off down the West Tower corridor away from the owlery with Maggie at her side. She felt Maggie shoot her a questioning look but didn’t interrupt their purposeful stride.
Alex turned her head, but only for a second. “No you’re not,” she told Lena.
“But it’s my fault she’s gone,” Lena argued, following them. “I need to help find her. Please!”
“Go back to your room.”
“No!"
“Like you said, it’s your fault that Kara's run off in the first place. You won’t be of any use to us in the Forbidden Forest without a wand anyway. What are you going to do if we come across an Acromantula, throw galleons at it?”
“If you leave me behind, I’ll tell Professor J'onzz where you’re going.”
Alex stopped in her tracks and whirled around. If Lena told a teacher they’d put a stop to her going into the forest to look for her sister. They’d have to assemble several teachers together for a search party and that would take ages. Not to mention that it would draw attention to Kara going into an out-of-bounds area. Now that her sister’s magic was manifesting, who knew what state the last Kryptonian would be in when they found her. No, it would be better to keep the whole thing a secret. Even from teachers.
“Fine,” Alex gritted her teeth. “But if you get attacked or eaten, you’re on your own.”
The young Luthor was smart enough not to look triumphant that her threat to tattle on them was successful.
“This way,” said Maggie, tugging on Alex’s hoodie sleeve. The three of them clambered down the spiral stairs that led down the West Tower. When they got to the ground floor, Alex turned for the exit that led out towards the Courtyard and the Greenhouses.
“Wait!” Lena panted behind her, trying to keep up. “We need to go via the dungeons.”
“Are you crazy?” said Alex. “That’s in the opposite direction. The forest is towards the East.”
“There’s a secret passage called The Way to the Forbidden Forest, located near the Potions classroom. It’s quicker and the teachers don’t know about it.”
“How do you know about it?”
When Lena didn’t answer, Alex figured it was information she’d come across eavesdropping on her Slytherin parents or something like that. If Lena was lying about the passage being secret or if it turned out that the passage was blocked and they lost precious time that could’ve been spent looking for Kara, there'd be hell to pay.
“Are you sure about this?” Maggie asked Lena.
Lena nodded. “Yes.”
As it turned out, Lena was right. The Way to the Forbidden Forest was hidden behind a statue of Delia the Deceitful. Alex gave her a suspicious glare when Lena activated it by tracing the Dark Mark on the plaque. Once inside, the three of them broke into a jog. The stone passage underground was damp and cool but they seemed to move faster than possible and before they knew it they reached the end, which was concealed with an illusion.
The three of them popped out into the grasslands on the edge of the forest. They faced an intimidating sight. An immense thick wood of tall trees with thick bases and even thicker undergrowth awaited. There were no cleared paths here so they would have to beat their way through it.
Beside her, Maggie took out her wand. “ Lumos .” The sun was still falling but inside the forest it would be as dark as night.
Alex pulled out the scrap of paper she’d taken from Lena. The one with Kara’s message ‘ I hope you’re ok ’ and the bright green vine curling out from it. Hopefully it held enough of a magical trace to be used for the Locator spell.
Alex took out her own wand and tapped the paper with the tip. “ Appare vestigium! ”
Glowing gold footprints began to form a path in front of them. They led directly into the forest, tracing out a route towards the target’s current location.
She took off at a run and the others followed.
The forest was alive, buzzing with activity and a cacophony of insects singing a tribute to the end of the day.
Kara stepped through the undergrowth, parting it like she was wading through water. Enough light filtered through the canopy above for her to see ahead, Branches yielded as she pushed them gently away, and tree roots politely curled away from her toes.
The forest hardly deserved the name Forbidden, she thought, as though it were some dangerous place that people should never step foot. It was beautiful. On another day, Kara would’ve liked to have hiked through the forest with Alex. Or Lena even. But today she was on a mission.
Her eyes were peeled, searching the surroundings for a magical creature whose likeness she’d never seen with her own eyes. Professor J’onzz had said there were unicorns living in the Forbidden Forest. Maybe she would get lucky and find one. She could pluck a tail hair to give to Lena for her wand, then Lena wouldn’t get into trouble with her parents, and then Lena would realise that there was someone on her side.
Suddenly Kara caught a glimpse of silver-gold in her peripheral vision. It dashed through the brush, the sound of light hooves clipping in its wake.
Could it really be…? Without a second thought, Kara chased after it.
The trio were fighting their way through the undergrowth, beating back tree roots and thorny branches that seemed to grow more resistant the more they tried to force past them. It was as though the forest was fighting back.
With the light from Maggie’s wand, they could only see a few metres in front of them. Alex’s jeans were torn at the knee after tripping more than once, since she was leading the way and encountering the worst of the raised tree roots first. Maggie had burrs stuck to her clothes and hair. Lena was now sporting angry red scratches from the burrs and thorns that attacked her bare arms.
“How did Kara get this deep into the forest alone?” Maggie asked, panting with effort.
“No idea,” said Alex, short of breath herself but not as badly as the others. “But she’s survived worse.”
Maggie might not know what the dig was referring to but Lena would.
Behind them, Lena was breathing hard and struggling to keep up. Alex noticed but didn’t slow her unrelenting pace. The only thing she cared about was getting to Kara as soon as possible. Besides, Lena had demanded to come along. She should’ve known what she was getting into.
A loud rustle burst through the trees overhead. All three of them stopped, startled.
Alex searched the woods ahead. She thought she saw movement, a black shape in the darkness, but then nothing. Merlin’s teeth, what if it was a demon creature or werewolf…! The forest was full of both known and unknown dangers. What if Maggie or Lena got hurt and it was her fault for leading them here? She never should have brought them along.
“What was that?” whispered Maggie. “Alex, do you--”
Maggie was interrupted by a thump. The dead body of a large rotund bird fell to the ground right next to Lena who let out a shriek. It might’ve been less frightening if it had been covered in blood and gashes as though ripped apart. But the body was unmarred except for one thing.
There was an arrow sticking out of it’s chest.
Alex’s heart froze with dread.
Centaurs.
Whatever the creature was that she was chasing, Kara was gaining on it.
As she got closer she saw it was a small horse-like creature streaking through the brush ahead. It ducked and weaved, as though trying to lose her, but its stamina eventually ran out.
When the creature stopped in a small clearing, Kara saw that it was barely taller than her knee and it had a gold bump on its forehead. It was trembling and covered in a sheen of sweat that made its silver-gold coat gleam. The whites of its eyes showed as it stared at Kara. The poor thing looked terrified.
Kara stopped a few feet away so as not to startle it.
“ :dho ,” she said in Kryptonian. “ khap vokai .” [ Beautiful one. Let me help you. ]
She willed it to understand that she wouldn’t hurt it.
Kara took a step or two closer and realised why the small creature had stopped. Lying on the ground next to it was a larger horse-like creature, one that would have been as tall as Kara’s waist perhaps if it had been standing. Its coat was pure white, its hooves were gold, and it sported a gold horn from its forelock. It also watched her with fear in its eyes.
It was a unicorn. An adult female, Kara guessed, which made the silver-gold one a foal.
When Kara came closer to the foal it whined. The larger white unicorn began making snuffs and noises as if distressed. It tried to get up but couldn’t. One of the white unicorn’s hind legs was caught in a tangled vine.
“Shh it’s ok,” Kara cooed. “I won’t hurt your baby. Let me help you, Ieyu.”
Kara approached the fallen unicorn from the front, making sure to stay in its field of vision, and then knelt down so that she could try to free the leg that was caught. Hopefully, the unicorn’s leg wasn’t injured. The tangle looked like a complicated knot and she had to lean close at one point to get access, but as soon as she tugged at it the vines loosened.
Once free, the white unicorn shot to its feet and gathered its foal close.
It stared at Kara for a second and then bolted off into the brush, followed closely by its foal, leaving nothing but a white and silver-gold flash behind.
Kara didn’t like to guess what could have happened to the mother or the foal if she hadn’t came upon them but she was glad to have been able to help and even gladder that the animals had trusted her enough to accept help from a human.
Only once the brief encounter was over did she remember what she had come into the forest for. Even though she’d missed the chance to pluck a hair from one of the unicorns, she didn’t mind. Now that she’d seen the beautiful creatures up close, she didn’t have the heart to demand something from them. She would just have to think harder on what to do about Lena’s broken wand.
Kara smiled to herself and turned back to retrace her own steps.
“We need to go back,” Alex said in a low voice. She stood up from where she’d been kneeling over the dead bird inspecting the arrow sticking out of it. The shaft of the arrow was dead straight and fletched with dull red feathers.
“We can’t!” Lena protested. “The footsteps still lead ahead-”
“It’s Centaur territory.”
The protest visibly drained out of Lena’s facial expression. Maggie looked left and right.
Kara’s footsteps must have led right into Centaur territory, in which case they were absolutely fucked. The Centaur colony was intolerant of human contact, especially deep in the forest where they were granted full reign. They didn’t interfere with goings-on at nearby Hogwarts under the proviso that they were undisturbed. They were hostile and unpredictable, ever since what happened in the 1990s when a former Headmistress was brutally killed, and now even the teachers wouldn’t attempt to approach them.
Kara had gone into the forest looking for a hooved creature… what if she’d encountered the dangerous type?
THWACK! An arrow whizzed past Alex’s head and slammed into the trunk of a tree.
“Let’s go,” Alex hissed, grabbing Lena’s forearm. “Now.”
The three of them turned back the way they came, ready to break into a run. Before they could take a single step, they were stopped on their toes by three tall figures blocking the way. Each was at least 7 feet tall with a human torso and the lower body of a horse. Two of them had chestnut-coloured coats. The third was grey and standing back in the shadows. At least two of them were armed with bows.
“Halt. Advance no further.” One of the centaurs commanded with bared teeth, pointed ears flattened back. His voice was deep and breathy. He was muscular above like a man and built below like a draught horse.
“We uh-” Alex croaked.
“We apologise for the intrusion,” said Maggie, deferentially. “And we’re leaving.”
The lead centaur snorted. “This is our territory. We decide who may enter and who may leave, not you.”
Lena piped up. “Can you help us? We’re looking for a friend. She-”
The centaur stamped a hoof with a deafening thud. “WE ARE NOT IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANS.”
Fuck , thought Alex, they’d angered them now. Centaurs abhorred illusions to domestic horses, especially of being used in any way by humans. Alex grabbed Lena tighter by the arm and pulled her behind her own body. Maggie stepped closer too.
The first centaur spoke again. “You dimwitted apes were warned to stay away from us. Perhaps you need reminding of what we do to intruders.”
“These are juveniles,” said the least tall centaur who was female judging by her large bare breasts. Alex tried not to stare as the female took a step further into the light from Maggie’s wand. “Likely more stupid than fully grown ones.”
The third centaur cut in. “All the more effective an example to the others I’d wager.”
“Perhaps leniency is warranted…” the first centaur mused. “It hardly matters, given the darkness that is soon to descend upon the human world. Many will die.”
“I’ve told you before, Pholos,” the female centaur huffed. “Your interpretation of planetary movement is incredibly loose. You see what you want to see.”
“And you don’t, Chiron? Your heart bleeds for every juvenile creature now that you’ve knowledge of your own impending foal. You should be at the colony with the other mares.”
“You are low to bring up such matters.”
“ You are weak.”
As the centaurs argued amongst themselves, Alex kept her eyes on them and subtly stepped back. Behind her, Lena and Maggie took the hint and began edging backwards too. If they had a chance they could slip away. They wouldn’t be able to out-run them but centaurs were distractible when it came to the topics of astronomy and divination, they might not even notice.
Suddenly, the sound of someone running towards them crashed through the undergrowth.
“Alex!” a familiar voice cried out.
Alex froze in fear. It was Kara!
The centaurs heard and saw her running towards them too. They stopped arguing immediately. Their faces became angry when they realised that the trio were trying to get away and that there was yet another intruder in their territory.
A fourth centaur appeared as if from nowhere. Then came the sound of springy ash stretching as a bow was loaded with an arrow.
“Halt!” a new voice commanded. “Come no closer!”
Kara skidded to a stop.
The fourth centaur’s bow was trained on Kara. He was a magnificent black stallion, taller and leaner than any of the other three. His coat was coal black and shimmered like embers when any light fell across it. Centaurs were renowned archers and Alex was afraid that his aim would be deadly true.
“Please, take me!” Alex said hastily. “Let the others go. I’m an adult, they’re only kids.”
The centaurs ignored her pleas.
“Do you see this, Pholos?” the stallion said, tipping his chin at Kara. “Do you not see that you endanger us all with your threats?”
“I see that you are here instead of at the seventh rim where you are supposed to be.”
“That is a Kryptonian !” the stallion bellowed.
Pholos snorted, indicating his derision for the newcomer. “Your conspiracy theories grow tiresome, Typhon. The Kryptonians were destroyed. Girl S doesn’t exist. Even Muggles reading yesterday’s tea leaves could see that.”
The female centaur Chiron tilted her head towards the sky. “Pholos… look. ”
Pholos took a quick glance above and his eyes widened at the moonlit clouds gathering in a certain way, only visible through a small gap in the tree canopy above. His gaze fell back to Kara and he raised his head, starting to stamp and back up.
The clouds above began to rumble. The original three centaurs were spooked and bolted back into the dark woods.
The black stallion Typhon lowered his bow. He kept his eyes on Kara and backed away slowly into the dark.
Alex had no idea why the centaurs suddenly bolted but they were a superstitious lot. Maybe they saw a Fizzing Whizbee in the clouds or something. It unnerved her that the black stallion had recognised Kara as being from Krypton since so few knew about it. What had the black stallion meant about Girl S not existing? Did he think the Ministry was lying about there being a survivor?
She didn’t have time to ponder it further. Kara ran at her. “Alex! What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, dummy,” said Alex, trying to be stern. “You should not have come here alone -- or at all! I’m so mad at you right now.”
Kara's face turned sheepish. “Sorry. But I-” Her eyes fell on Lena, then Maggie, then Lena again. “Hi.”
Lena gave a stiff smile. “Hi Kara. I’m glad you’re alright.”
There was a flutter in the trees above, interrupting the awkward pause. You could barely tell from inside the forest but night had fallen. They still had to make their way out of the forest and back into the castle to their dorms without being attacked, eaten, or worse: caught by a teacher out-of-bounds.
Maggie raised her wand which was still glowing white with Lumos light. “Uh, sorry to interrupt… whatever-this-is... but should we go? I don’t fancy myself a detention.”
The way back was much easier than the way in. They’d long outstayed their welcome and the forest itself seemed to want them out as fast as possible. Kara was the fittest so she led the way with Maggie behind her providing their only source of light. Alex brought up the rear to make sure that Lena didn’t fall behind again. They didn’t talk, conscious that they still hadn’t met all the dangers that the forest housed.
When they reached the edge of the forest it felt as though being ejected from some great gaping maw.
It was full dark now but the castle lights were visible and there were glowing orbs moving at walking pace. Teachers or Prefects on patrol? It would be bad enough being caught out of bed but to be caught coming back from a jaunt into the Forbidden Forest, with the loamy stench and scratches to prove it… Alex had a feeling that she and Maggie wouldn’t hold on to their Prefect badges for long.
“We should split up,” said Alex. “Better chance of not all getting caught by a teacher.”
Maggie nodded. “I’ll take Kara to Hufflepuff via the kitchens. You take Lena?”
“No need,” said Lena firmly. “I’ll make my own way back.”
Alex wasn’t happy about the idea but she wasn’t going to argue. “Fine. Go by the courtyards then, I’m going via the secret passageway and the dungeons. Gryffindor Tower is the furthest away.”
“But-”
“I’ll take the biggest risk for myself,” said Alex, casting Lena a glare. “ You don’t get to do that.”
When the time came, Lena slipped away through the courtyards without saying goodbye. Alex physically felt Kara deflate next to her and rolled her eyes. The reason Kara had gone out in the first place was because of Lena. That reminded her -- she still needed to get Kara’s account of what happened in the forest. And lay down the law on doing stupid dangerous things to get a girl’s attention.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, ok?” Alex looked under her eyebrows at Kara. Then she looked at Maggie, projecting as much gratitude as she could.
Maggie smiled, waving as she led a chastened Kara away.
Once they were all gone, the relief hit her. Not to mention the realisation of just how close they’d all come to being captured or harmed in a place they weren’t ever supposed to go near. As Alex traversed the Way to the Forbidden Forest she thought about all the stories she’d ever heard of mauled bodies and disappearances and werewolf bites… She imagined having to tell her Mom that something had happened and she’d failed to protect her sister.
She was so preoccupied that the end of the secret passage came up quicker than she realised. But when she tried to walk through the illusion covered by the statue she hit a solid wall.
Once they got back to Hufflepuff and were safely inside, Kara and Maggie crept through the empty Common Room towards the entrances to their respective dorms. There were a few candles flickering in the sconces despite the late hour.
Kara went to go but felt Maggie staring at her. She turned to her. “Alright, Maggie?”
“I’m glad you’re safe, Little Danvers,” Maggie said softly, still staring at her in that strange way. Then she disappeared into the fifth-year dorm.
Kara was glad that Maggie hadn’t asked what had happened in the forest. No doubt Alex would demand all of the details tomorrow. But for now, she wanted to keep the encounter with the unicorn mother and foal to herself. Before going into the forest she hadn’t realised what it would mean to her to see such creatures in the flesh. They were so pure. She could hardly imagine trying to catch them on purpose now, not if it made them afraid of her. Seeing that kind of fear in the eyes of a mother and child reminded her of the last time she’d seen her own mother and father.
And that reminded her that somehow the Centaurs knew who she was. They knew she was Kryptonian. How? She would have to remember to ask Alex about it.
Inside the fourth-year dorm it was dark as Kara tiptoed in to avoid waking Eve. As soon as she saw her bed she dropped into it exhausted and fell asleep fully clothed.
It wasn’t until morning that she would notice a long gold strand of hair clinging to her jumper.
"Oof!" Alex grunted as she shoved her shoulder against the stone wall. It didn't budge.
She was certain that this was where they had entered the secret passage. Lena had traced the Dark Mark so that they could enter, maybe there was a different trick for the exit?
“ Revelio … Aberto … Reducto! ” Alex tried every charm and spell she could think of that might open the end of the passageway. Nothing worked, not even destructive magic that would have turned a normal wooden door into splinters. Of course, the passage wouldn't be a secret if it could be opened with textbook spells.
Alex let out a growl of frustration and kicked the wall with her foot.
"Let me OUT," she yelled.
Nothing.
Her only option now was to go back the way she came and retrace the route that Lena had taken through the courtyards to the West Tower and then take the fourth floor corridor across to Gryffindor Tower. But that would take ages. She was so tired that the thought of doubling back made her want to scream. She just wanted this night to end.
If Lena hadn't refused to be accompanied, Alex would have been back to her dorm by now. In fact, the only reason she was out at all tonight was because of Lena fucking Luthor. If she ended up getting expelled over this… ugh! And worse, now Maggie and a bunch of Centaurs knew that Kara was from Krypton and that meant her secret wasn’t totally a secret.
Suddenly, an arm reached through as though the wall were made of light instead of stone. It reached around for a second, searching, then grabbed Alex by her sleeve and pulled her through the illusion that disguised the exit.
"Shit!" Alex stumbled, nearly falling to her knees, as she appeared inside the Potions corridor.
Standing in front of her was a tall stern-faced woman with black hair scraped into a tight bun wearing a long black dressing gown.
"Miss Hardbroom, I-" Alex stammered. "I was just-"
Miss Hardbroom narrowed her gaze. "Come with me."
Potions Mistress’s office
Alex sat in an extremely uncomfortable hardback chair while waiting for the interrogation to start. Miss Hardbroom sat at her desk with ramrod-straight posture, hands folded neatly on its surface, staring at Alex as though waiting for her to confess.
Alex looked away, taking in the surrounding office.
The current Potions Mistress may have only been at Hogwarts now for one year but she had certainly made herself at home. The office was full of bookcases, potions ingredients, and Ministry leaflets -- all meticulously organised. At this time of night, the low light of a single candle only made the black decor seem blacker.
Previously, the office had been empty for almost as long as the position of Potions Professor had. After the 1990s, the position had been “temporarily” filled in by the portrait of Saul Swoopstikes despite the notable disadvantage that he had died several hundred years ago. Hecate Hardbroom, formerly of Cackles Academy, was a huge improvement when she agreed to take on the mantle of Hogwarts Potions Mistress. Although strict and demanding, she had taught Alex more about modern Potions in one year than Swoopstikes had taught her in four.
But now, Miss Hardbroom knew Alex had been out after-hours trespassing in a secret passageway that no-one was supposed to know about.
How did HB know about it, Alex wondered, and how did she know to make the sign of the Dark Mark?
Miss Hardbroom’s eyes twitched.
Alex’s breath caught when she remembered the rumours that old HB was a Legilimens and here she was entertaining thoughts in her mind about her teacher having Death Eater connections. And if she was reading her mind right now she would already know exactly where Alex had been tonight and why. She’d have her out of Hogwarts quicker than you could say Quidditch and worse -- she’d tell her Mom.
“How was your tutoring session with Lena Luthor?” asked Miss Hardbroom.
The off-topic question caught Alex by surprise. “Uh... okay, I guess? We’ve only had one.”
“I’m pleased to hear it.” Hardbroom narrowed her sharp eyes. “See to it that you continue.”
The message was clear -- continuing her tutoring with Lena Luthor was Hardbroom’s price for not punishing her for the illegal Forest jaunt. Damn she was good.
Alex swallowed her pride and nodded. “I will.”
“Good. Give my regards to your mother. I promised her I would-”
Just then the door to the Professor’s living quarters flew open. A petite blonde-haired woman wearing a pink negligee with fluffy cuffs came in with her hands on her hips. Her nails, though short, were painted bright pink. Even her lipstick was pink and she seemed to have an overall pink glow about her.
“Hecate Hardbroom, what are you doing!” said the pink witch. “It’s nearly midnight. If you’re working again I’ll--” her eyes fell on Alex and she saluted her forehead with the back of her fingers “Oh hello, well met.”
“Um, hi,” said Alex.
“Is Miss Hardbroom interrogating you on your Potions performance? Nevermind that, she acts strict but inside she is very sweet.”
Hardbroom froze visibly for a second and then introduced them to each other. “This is Miss Pippa Pentangle, Headmistress of Pentangles Academy. Pippa, this is one of my best students, Alexandra Danvers.”
“Oh, your friend Eliza’s oldest,” said Miss Pentangle with a smile. “Lovely to meet you, Alexandra. Be that as it may, it is already late and both of you should be in your beds. Including you, Hiccup! Honestly, the number of times I’ve had to massage the stiffness out of your back from sitting in that wretched chair I don’t know. Not to mention the bed is dreadfully cold without you.”
It was difficult to tell who blushed more: Alex or Miss Hardbroom.
When she recovered enough, Miss Hardbroom dismissed Alex with a stiff nod. “If you have any questions, Danvers, my door is always open.”
Chapter 9
Notes:
Hi everyone! Sorry for the long delay on this one. Happy reading x
Chapter Text
Kara woke up with the sun. She was too nervous to go back to sleep but it was way too early to go knocking on Lena’s door and tell her what she’d found last night. The gold strand of unicorn hair must’ve gotten caught on her clothes when she’d leaned over to help the mother unicorn.
Maybe they could use it to repair Lena’s wand before it died!
Kara flung off her bed covers, got dressed for the day, and then sat on the floor to attempt the homework essay for Futures of Magic that she’d neglected to do last night.
Unable to bring herself to argue the case for squib registration and monitoring, she instead wrote two scrolls of parchment on why such methods were: 1) barbaric and 2) unlikely to achieve the intended purpose. Back home, she’d had no trouble with essay writing and now, advocating for a cause she was passionate about, the words flowed out of her quicker than the ink flowed from her quill.
Once she was finished she headed down to the Gryffindor Common room to toss her essay to the ASP (Assignment Submission Portal), which hissed at her and then coiled up and went back to sleep.
The minute hand on the wall clock ticked over from ‘Too early! Go back to sleep’ to 6am.
A zip of excitement raced through Kara and she left the Common Room for the West Tower and ran up the steps taking two at a time. In the corridor leading to the owlery, Kara traced the shape of an ‘L’ on the stone wall just as she’d seen Lena do.
Wait.
What if Lena was still asleep?
What if it was still too early to call on her and Lena got mad?
The wooden door appeared, opening a crack to show Lena peering out. She was already dressed in her plain grey school uniform despite the early hour. She didn’t look mad to see her but she wasn’t smiling either. She opened the door wider and then looked both sides to check the corridor.
“Kara. Is everything ok?” asked Lena.
“Yes!” said Kara. “I need to talk to you about last night. About why I went into the forest-”
Lena held up a hand. "I already know. And you shouldn't have gone there.”
“But-”
“How do you think I'd feel if you’d gotten hurt, knowing you were there on my behalf? You could've gotten killed. You could've gotten us all killed."
Suddenly Kara felt about an inch tall.
"I didn't think about the danger,” admitted Kara with a lame shrug. “I just wanted to help you with your wand."
Lena sighed. "The situation is beyond help."
"But I found a unicorn! Well, two unicorns. A mum and a baby. Anyway, I got a hair. Look!"
Kara held out her hand to show her the gold strand of unicorn hair wrapped around her index finger for safekeeping. The hair was both stronger and thinner than a human hair and it glowed in the daylight. She didn’t have the same appreciation for how valuable the magical substance was but Lena sure did.
Lena reached out as if to touch the golden strand and then withdrew her hand. She shook her head. “I can’t accept this from you, Kara.”
“Why?” asked Kara.
“Because of my family… It’s complicated. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“But your wand will die-”
“Just stop!” Lena snapped. “You’re making it really hard to refuse, pestering me so often about it. I don’t need your help and I don’t want to be friends with you.”
Kara was too stunned to say anything, even to apologise, while Lena slipped inside and closed the door. She went back to her dorm, skipping the breakfast hall, to wait there until her first period.
Alex was jolted out of bed by her ‘final final FINAL. last chance. get up NOW!’ alarm clock screaming in her face and stomping its feet over her bedspread. Breakfast would end in 10 minutes. She had just enough time to throw on yesterday’s uniform and bolt down to the Great Hall to snap up a few pieces of toast before heading to class.
First period of the day was Potions. After letting her off the hook last night, Miss Hardbroom would likely be very displeased if Alex was late to her class.
It was a puzzle though – Hardbroom was well-known for being strict about even the tiniest breaches of rules. Why would she turn a blind eye to the fact that Alex had clearly been out of bounds after hours? She no doubt suspected that Alex hadn’t been out alone either and yet she had not interrogated her about who she had been with and where they had gone. Perhaps HB really was a Legilimens and knew it all already. In which case it was especially surprising that Alex had escaped expulsion.
And then there was the fact that HB appeared to be in a romantic relationship (apparently someone could stand her!) – with a woman . Not just any woman but the Headmistress of the Academy she previously worked at.
Usually such a secret would’ve spread like wildfire around the school. But HB hadn’t warned Alex not to tell anyone or blackmailed her against it (even though she did have ammunition). In fact, it sounded like she had offered herself as a confidante. HB never came across as warm or approachable but maybe…
Maybe HB suspected Alex was gay. If she could read minds, she must know. How embarrassing.
When Alex rushed into the Great Hall, tie askew, finger-combing her hair, she wasn’t prepared for every eye to turn directly to her. Her first thought sent a cold panic down her spine – everyone knows. They know I’m gay. They know…
It wasn’t until someone nearby shoved a magazine into her hands that she realised it wasn’t her they were whispering about.
‘GIRL S’ REVEALED!
The Skeeter Report can exclusively reveal the secret identity of the Last Kryptonian, known only as ‘Girl S’ in the recent Wizengamot trial of notorious Dark Wizard Lex Luthor. Girl S is currently enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under the name KARA DANVERS, having been adopted into the wizarding family of that surname, according to an inside source at Hogwarts.
‘She doesn’t know one end of a wand from the other but yes she is a student here,’ confirmed the source, who did not want their name published.
Kara Danvers was the only survivor of the mass murder plot perpetuated against the Kryptonians by Lex Luthor, for which he is serving one hundred and three life sentences in Azkaban prison.
The Kryptonians were a secretive sect of witches and wizards who withdrew from magical society in the late 1990s in order to pursue a non-magical existence centred on Muggle technology. Their leader, Rao, used the discovery of a substance called Kryptonite to block the magic of his followers and to discourage contact with outsiders. During the second wizarding war, Rao claimed independence from all Ministry oversight, a move which former Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse called ‘akin to treason’.
Earlier this year, an investigation by The Skeeter Report into Lex Luthor’s Ministry connections revealed that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ignored several credible tip-offs that an attack against Krypton by the Dark wizard was imminent.
‘It was a genocide,’ wrote International correspondent Rita Skeeter. ‘The Ministry knew about it and they covered it up. The Kryptonians were believed by some in the Ministry to pose a threat to the control of all things magic since they learned how to live without it. If it hadn’t been for my investigations, we’d still be in the dark about the influence that a certain wealthy family has within all Ministry departments.’
The Minister for Magic was approached prior to publication but declined to comment.
A thousand thoughts raced through Alex’s brain while reading the magazine she held in hands that trembled with rage. It wasn’t her that had been outed, it was Kara! A quick glance around the Great Hall showed that her sister wasn’t at breakfast. She had to find her and check on her. She had to call her mother. She had to figure out who had blabbed to the media.
Obviously several people at the Ministry knew who Girl S was (since they were involved in protecting her identity in the first place) but the Skeeter article said the source was at Hogwarts. Headmistress Grant was the only one there who was supposed to know Kara’s real identity. Cat Grant would never tell, Alex was sure about that. There were only two others who knew…
Which of them had contacted The Skeeter Report? And why?
What if, as a result of the article, one of Lex Luthor’s followers came after Kara? She could get hurt, or killed, or worse…
“Hey, Danvers, are you alright?” a soft voice said beside her.
Alex’s head whipped around. “Maggie! Have you seen my- Wait, was it you?”
Maggie opened her mouth to reply but Alex didn’t give her the chance. “I need to know. Did you tell that hack Rita Skeeter about Kara after you got back last night? Did you wait until she went to bed and then blabbed to the first journalist who’d give you a few galleons?”
“No,” Maggie said simply. “It wasn’t me. I’m going to assume, Danvers, that you are worried about your sister and that you don’t really think that low of me. Yeah, I’m short of galleons, but I would never betray a friend.”
Alex nodded and exhaled. “Right. Yeah. I know. I do know that, you’re a Hufflepuff so of course you wouldn’t and um, you’re a really good… friend.”
Maggie grinned, dimples on display. “I’ll take that as an apology.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just-”
“I know.”
Before she could stop herself, Alex realised she’d reached out to take Maggie’s wrist. There was so much she wanted to say to her, she wanted to thank her for last night and apologise for … well, everything. But then remembered she was in the middle of the Great Hall, breakfast was over, and she was almost late for class.
“I gotta go,” said Alex, apologetically.
“Me too.” Maggie smiled. “See you round?”
“Definitely.”
Alex took off at a run, heading for the dungeons.
Potions classroom
Alex skidded into the room, out of breath, just in time to take her seat. Hardbroom gave her a warning glance but said nothing to her. HB started telling the students to settle down and get out their parchments and quills ready to take notes. It would be a theory lesson, one Alex really needed to pay attention to but it was impossible.
The class was a blur. Alex spent the whole time staring at the back of Lena Luthor’s head, wondering if she was the one who had betrayed Kara and counting the minutes until she could interrogate her. It was almost too obvious: Lena must be following in her brother’s footsteps. She’d faked her friendship with Kara to get close to her, all so she could finish her brother’s work and target the one person he hadn’t managed to kill.
Lex Luthor was probably laughing deliriously in Azkaban right now, knowing how close his protegee was to ending the Kryptonians once and for all.
Was Lena actually capable of killing though? Surely the Aurors would’ve swooped down on Hogwarts if they’d thought so. Or never let Kara come to Hogwarts in the first place. And Lena had had plenty of opportunity to do it; she’d known all along who Kara was. Maybe Lena’s plan wasn’t to kill her but to hurt her in other ways. Like revealing her identity to the wizarding world.
As soon as the lesson ended, Alex shoved her stuff into her bag and darted to the front row of desks. She grabbed Lena’s plain grey jumper sleeve and pulled her aside.
“Luthor,” she hissed. “A word.”
In the hall, Alex looked left and right until the other students were out of earshot. Lena looked apprehensive but not surprised to be treated in such a way, almost like she expected the confrontation.
“What are you playing at, Luthor.” Alex said in a low voice. “Was it you who told the press that the last Kryptonian is at Hogwarts? Have you sent owls to your Death Eater friends to tell them to come finish your brother’s work yet?”
“I don’t have any friends,” said Lena flatly. “Death Eater or otherwise.”
“Don’t be smart. You’ve known who Kara was all along.”
“Yes, I have. But it wasn’t me who contacted The Skeeter Report. There must be someone else here who figured out who Girl S really is. A girl comes late to Hogwarts without any knowledge of magic mere months after the attack on Krypton? It was kind of obvious. Frankly I’m surprised it took anyone else this long to figure it out. ”
Alex stepped closer, backing her up against the stone wall by her sleeves. “I need to know. Is there a threat against my sister’s life?”
“Not from me.” Lena bit her lip. “And not that I know of. My brother’s supporters are largely disbanded, the Ministry has been honest about that at least. Most of them were ex- Voldemort supporters who were under Lex’s control via the Imperius curse anyway.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Lena’s eyes began to shine and she looked away quickly. “I’d never hurt Kara. She’s the one person who-”
“Danvers!” Miss Hardbroom admonished. Alex let go and jumped away from Lena. HB looked furious. “My office. Now.”
First period was Herbology and as much as Kara wanted to listen to Professor Longbottom’s explanation of how to properly prune a Flutterby bush, she found it difficult to concentrate. Her mind was replaying her fight with Lena. But that wasn’t the only reason she couldn’t focus on her work.
Kara was used to her classmates talking about her behind her back or calling her a squib under their breath, particularly Leslie and Siobhan. But today was different – everyone seemed to be staring at her. Whether they were moving through the hallways or letting their attention wander during a dull lecture, her fellow students had been giving her strange looks all morning and they didn’t look away when she caught them. It left her very uneasy.
When the students were instructed to practice on their assigned Flutterby bushes at their workbenches, the classroom volume rose enough that Kara felt she could speak to Winn beside her without getting in trouble.
“Winn,” said Kara in a hushed voice. “Do I have something on my face?”
“Like what?” said Winn.
“I dunno. I feel like everyone’s staring at me.”
Winn turned around from his workbench and sure enough, a few students were looking their way. “Uh, you haven’t heard yet?”
“Heard what?”
“Um… I’m not supposed to say anything! Alex will kill me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just ask Alex, ok! I have to concentrate on pruning my bush.”
There was definitely something going on and even her friend wasn’t going to clue her in. Kara spent the lesson absent-mindedly deadheading her Flutterby bush (it seemed to thrive regardless). There were hours of school still to get through before she could go find Alex and get some answers.
Unfortunately, her next class was Futures of Magic. Kara noticed straight away that Lena wasn’t there and wondered whether she was skipping class again. Professor Lord began handing back their latest homework.
Kara sighed at her parchment, now sporting a large red F tap dancing across the page. Apparently the Professor was less than impressed with her dissenting opinion about squibs. It stung but she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Blimey, Kara, how come you got an F?” said Winn, leaning over her shoulder to look at her grade. “You wrote more than two parchments! I only managed one roll and I got a B. I wish we could drop this class next year. I can’t wait to take Arithmancy. I’ve been reading up on being a Gringotts curse-breaker. Did you know there’s a goblin who claims he’s proved that the Geminio doubling curse is NP-hard?”
Kara blinked. “Huh? Sorry, Winn, I didn’t get any of that.”
“Settle down, fourth-years,” said Professor Lord, banging on the chalkboard. The classroom fell to a hush. “Today we are continuing our study of non-magic users in the magical world. Last lesson we covered squibs, who are incapable of using magic despite being born to magical parents. Our next topic is about a cult of witches and witches who, despite being capable of magic, chose not to use their powers. I’m talking about: the Kryptonians.”
Kara froze in her seat at the name of her people being spoken aloud. Wait, did he say ‘cult’?
Professor Lord paced around the room. “Who can tell me the name of the cult leader? Yes, Siobhan?” he said, after several hands went up around the room.
“Rao,” said Siobhan.
“Correct,” said Lord. “Delusional man! He believed that magic polluted the body and that its use, in situations where muggle technological solutions existed, was lazy and dangerous. Some say he used a poison he called Kryptonite on his followers to subdue their magic. He brainwashed them into leaving magical society to live a life of drudgery at a compound hidden in the woods that came to be known as Krypton. Few were allowed in, no-one was allowed out.”
Kara was fuming. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing! Her community wasn’t a cult . They weren’t brainwashed . And they surely weren’t poisoned !
Krypton was her home, it was nothing like Professor Lord described. The people there had been happy and safe, they had art and music and technology and… no magic at all. Come to think of it, nobody there ever spoke of magic as if it were real. It was the stuff of fairytale stories. Since coming to the wizarding world herself, Kara just assumed that nobody back home had known that magic was real.
But Rao wasn’t a wicked man! He was a great leader. True, Kara had never met him personally, but her parents and their friends and all the teachers spoke of him so highly. Yes, no-one ever left the community. But why would they want to? It wasn’t because they weren’t allowed to. That was absurd.
She looked around but none of the other students looked like they objected to what was being said.
“As Krypton gained followers,” Professor Lord went on. “Rao attracted the attention of the Ministry, who were suspicious that he was trying to undermine their authority. Several pureblood families became concerned about the threat the Kryptonian ideas posed to their children and called for the Ministry to act. There was one dark wizard who became increasingly irate at the Ministry’s lack of action. I’m-sure-you-know-who…”
Lord continued. “On the day Krypton fell, it is said that Lex Luthor killed every man, woman, and child with a single killing curse. There was only one survivor…”
By now, Professor Lord’s pacing had brought him closer to Kara’s and Winn’s desk. He stopped to face Kara, looking down at her with his stupid arrogant face. Every single pair of eyes in the room was now on her.
“...And she’s sitting right in front of me.”
Alex sat in the same hardback chair in the Potion’s mistress’s office as she had last night.
“10 points from Gryffindor,” said Hardbroom sternly. “I never want to see you manhandle another student like that again. I appreciate that you want to know who exposed your sister’s secret but this is not the way to do it. You are interested in pursuing a career as a Mediwitch, correct?”
The non-sequitur took Alex by surprise. “Uh, yeah?”
“Then you must learn not to. jump. to. conclusions.” Miss Hardbroom enunciated. “And not to do harm in pursuit of your goals. I’m calling your mother.”
Alex groaned under her breath.
Hardbroom turned around and waved her right hand across the glass of an ornate mirror that was fixed to the wall behind her. The glass swirled a few times before revealing a blonde-haired harried-looking woman wearing a lab coat against a backdrop that looked like one of the offices at St Mungo’s.
“Hecate,” sighed Eliza. “Thank you for calling.”
Hardbroom nodded politely. “I have Alexandra here with me. I thought you should know that copies of that rag, The Skeeter Report, have made their way around the school.”
“Yes, I’ve just been visited by Cat Grant and the Minister for Magic. The Aurors are investigating but we don’t know anything specific yet. Apparently the Minister thought Rita Skeeter was bluffing about knowing the identity of Girl S. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“We need to find out who told Skeeter!” said Alex. “And how they found out.”
“Miss Luthor was right, Miss Danvers,” said Hardbroom, glancing at Alex. “It was only a matter of time before someone figured it out.”
“We knew they would eventually,” admitted Eliza. “We just wanted to buy Kara some time before she became famous overnight for all the wrong reasons.”
“What!” cried Alex. “How could you all let this happen? Kara didn’t need to come to Hogwarts. You could’ve kept her hidden somewhere where no-one would ever find out who she was.”
“What would be the point in surviving if she didn’t get to live?” said Miss Hardbroom, with the infuriating candour of someone dislikeable who just made an extremely valid point.
Eliza went on. “I know where you’re coming from, Alex, but Kara is safer at Hogwarts than anywhere else. Cat Grant would never let anything happen on her watch.”
Alex could hardly believe what she was hearing. The adults thought it was inevitable that Kara’s secret would get out. They thought she was safe enough even if everyone knew who she was. Why hadn’t they done more to protect her? Where was Cat Grant when all this was going on? If Alex had been in charge she would’ve ordered a Circle of Aurors around Kara at all times.
As if she knew what Alex was thinking, HB broke in and said to her. “I took this job as a favour to your mother.”
Eliza sighed again. “Hecate, I never wanted to put you in this position. I know this isn’t your job anymore. If I’d realised what it would mean for you – you and Pippa – being apart so often while you’re still newlyweds…”
“You’re married?” Alex blurted out.
“Yes,” Miss Hardbroom answered stiffly. “In fact, your little jaunt last night interrupted an anniversary of sorts.”
Alex’s face reddened.
“Hecate, you can’t know how grateful I am,” said Eliza.
“Actually I can.” A hint of a smile curled at the end of HB’s thin lips. “You will join us for dinner sometime I hope?”
“We’d love to. I can’t wait to meet Pippa.”
As soon as the adults ended the Mirror call and said their goodbyes, Hardbroom gave Alex an unreadable face and told her to hurry along to her next class.
The rest of the day was a blur for Kara. She floated from class to class along with the tide of fourth-years without paying attention to where they were going. She copied down notes in Transfiguration and labelled a diagram of a gryphon in Care of Magical Creatures without comprehending any of it.
Had she been raised in a cult? Had her parents really been a Witch and Wizard who were brainwashed into leaving their powers and all of magical society behind? They had never once mentioned magic or their life before Krypton to her (it seemed strange now but she’d never thought to ask about their lives growing up or before they got married and had her). Maybe they’d been forbidden to talk about it.
That’s why everyone at school had been staring at her today. Because now they all knew she was from a cult.
The very idea cast a shadow over her entire life. She’d thought Krypton was her home, a place where she’d spent a safe and happy childhood, a place she’d longed for ever since she left it… but now it all seemed like a lie. How could it have been a great place if the people weren’t there of their own free will? How could they have been happy?
And the last thing Krypton had been was safe.
Kara couldn’t remember the attack. She couldn’t even remember waking up that day or what she’d had for breakfast or what she or her parents had been doing leading up to the event. She couldn’t remember the last thing they’d said to her. Instead of her memories there was just… a blank. She supposed she’d been spared from remembering some awful scenes but having no recollection at all was jarring. It was as though someone had snipped out a part of her mental timeline and joined the pieces back together.
Her parents were dead. Everyone in her community was dead. She’d seen it happen and survived… and couldn’t remember a single thing about it.
But she knew the truth now. She knew who was responsible for ending the only life she’d ever known and forcing her to start over. She knew who had killed her parents.
His name was Lex Luthor.
Lena’s brother.
So this was why Lena had tried to avoid becoming friends with her! This was why Alex and James had warned her against getting to know her classmate. Were they worried for her safety? Or merely worried that she would find out the truth?
Everyone had been lying to her for months. Alex and Eliza and James and Winn… and Lena too. They all knew the truth about Krypton and no-one had thought to let her in on the most important secret of her life! Her memories – her truth – had been taken from her.
As soon as the last period had ended, she dodged Winn’s requests for a game of Gobstones and ran down to the Great Lake as fast as she could.
Kara stopped at the shoreline and clenched her fists into balls as she stared out across the water with hot tears in her eyes. The water’s surface was calm and still, though she knew that within the depths of the loch there were thriving communities of merpeople and selkies as well as other magical creatures. Owls flew soundlessly overhead, despite the daylight, returning to roost in the West Tower.
Nothing flew over Krypton, she remembered. Not even birds.
Rao must’ve barred all magical communication, Kara realised, wanting to scream. No Hogwarts letters in, no cries for help out.
“Any chance of calamari for dinner?” someone asked behind her.
Kara recognised Lena’s voice and hastily wiped her eyes. She didn’t reply, and Lena must’ve felt she had to fill the silence. She came to stand next to her.
“I know what it’s like to have everyone staring at you,” said Lena, squinting ahead across the water. “Everyone thinks they know all about you but in reality all they know is what they’ve been told by bad actors and hacks. Anyway, if you need anything…”
Kara frowned at her. “You’re here to show me support?”
“Um, yeah?”
“But you won’t take it when I offer it to you.”
Lena sighed. “That’s different.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Kara-”
“No, Lena. Friendship isn’t one-sided and neither is trust. If you want me to accept your help you have to trust me enough to accept mine.”
“You don’t understand. My wand… It used to be my brother’s.”
Kara was too numb from a day of shocks to be shocked any further. “It’s yours now. And you’re not your brother.”
“I know I can’t say much to make it anywhere near ok but I’m sorry you lost your parents.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry you lost your brother.”
Kara held out her hand that still had the unicorn hair wrapped around her finger. Lena took her wand out of her pocket; it was even duller than the last time she’d seen it and crooked where the break was insufficiently held by Spellotape.
This was the weapon that had killed her parents.
Kara thought that she should probably hate it on sight but she felt nothing except certain that, in Lena’s possession now, it would never again be used to hurt anyone.
She freed the gold strand of hair from her finger and then wrapped it around Lena’s wand as though it were a maypole ribbon. Immediately, the hair began to glow and was consumed by the wood into its core. The wand started to shine again, black as the finish of a piano, and the gold letters spelling out ‘LUTHOR’ glittered. Even the break healed itself. Kara smiled. Magic was really cool sometimes.
Lena gave her a hesitant smile. “It worked!”
“I knew it would,” joked Kara.
Lena sobered for a second and looked down at her wand. “I don’t know how to thank you, Kara. I’ve never known anyone like you. You’re an extraordinary person.”
Kara fought a blush, tempted to say that Lena’s smile was more than enough thanks. She’d thought Lena was extraordinarily pretty since the moment she’d set eyes on her, but it seemed like an embarrassing thing to say so she decided to keep it to herself.
They ended up staying at the lake, watching the two lilies that Lena had conjured for Kara’s parents float on the surface, until sunset fell and it was time for dinner.
Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Notes:
Guess who's not dead... me! It's been 84 years since I updated. Here's a new chapter in case anyone's interested.
In the last three years I met someone and had a baby. So I have negative 2 hours to myself these days and no braincells to spare for writing.
Enjoy!
Chapter Text
The students were done with staring.
Now everyone wanted to talk to Kara and quiz her on her past life and what it was like growing up in a cult. She was suddenly the most interesting person at Hogwarts – someone who had faced a Dark wizard and survived! – and everyone wanted to know how. (Not that Kara had any answers for them on that score.)
It wasn’t only students either. Reporters from every two-sickle rag, newspaper, and tabloid were camped outside the gates trying to get an interview with anyone willing to spill a detail or two about Kara’s daily life. One of them managed to get into Hogwarts and came back crowing about having “scooped” the others on a prized story.
The article that appeared in print revealed nothing more than Kara’s breakfast preferences.
Cat Grant was still away – a topic that would set Alex off on a rant – but she had sent orders to Deputy Jonzz that all reporters were to be banned from Hogwarts grounds.
The attention was too much for Kara. Though she was glad to know the truth (about her community and the Wizard who ended it), part of her wished she could go back to being Just Kara, a latecomer to Hogwarts of little interest beyond her circle of close friends. The revelations about her family brought the tragedy to the forefront of her mind and she sometimes felt as though she was living through it all over again.
Alex was a constant source of comfort. Unfortunately, Eliza hadn’t been able to get away from work but she did talk to Kara face-to-face by Mirror often and promised to be there in person for Family Visit Day.
Life at Hogwarts gradually settled down. When the students realised Kara wasn’t going to give them any thrilling tales, they turned their attention to the upcoming weekend visit to Hogsmeade. Though unable to voice an actual apology for her off-base accusations of treachery, Alex resumed tutoring with Lena to mutual benefit. And Kara gained confidence in her classwork now that her fledgling magic was starting to flap its wings. Her magic was distinct from everyone else’s. She needed no wand and seldom used incantations.
One night during their monthly Astronomy lesson, the fourth-year students were standing in pairs on the castle ramparts below a clear moonless sky. Professor Edwina Hubble was strolling from group to group offering help as the class worked in pairs. Kara and Lena were sharing a telescope and working together on filling in a star chart.
“Do you think this is Vega? Or Altair,” said Kara, squinting over her star chart in the near-darkness.
Lena hid a smile. “Neither. You’re looking northwest instead of northeast. Here,” she said, repositioning the telescope in the correct direction and closer to the horizon.
“Oh! There they are.”
“The Centaurs use them as navigational aids. In muggle Chinese culture, Vega and Altair are lovers separated by a river and are only able to be together once a year. ”
“Or,” said Kara cheekily. “They’re giant balls of gas millions of light-years away and their movement is determined by gravitational forces.”
Lena poked out her tongue. “Science nerd.”
Kara took another look through the telescope before noting down her findings on the star chart. She straightened up to hand the chart over to Lena to do the next part. The conversation had reminded her about something that’d happened in the Forbidden Forest. Her face turned serious. “What do you think the Centaurs meant about me?”
Lena cocked an eyebrow. “You mean when one of them said you don’t exist?”
“Yeah.” When Kara saw Lena’s reluctance she pressed her for more. “Please tell me the truth.”
Lena sighed. “Ok. You have to understand that there was a lot of confusion after what happened to Krypton. The only thing most people in the magical world knew was that the Kryptonians had been attacked and there was only one survivor. Once it came out who was behind it there was a public outcry. My parents’ house was turned upside down by Aurors searching for clues about Lex’s whereabouts, his followers were detained and interrogated by the Ministry, Knockturn Alley was in lockdown…
“Once he was captured and brought to trial, there were some who claimed that it was all a hoax and that ‘Girl S’ never existed. It didn’t help that the Ministry refused to reveal your identity. But I guess that’s a moot point now.”
Kara nodded, taking the new info in.
“For the record, I’m glad you exist.” Lena teased, giving her a gentle bump with her shoulder.
“Me too. For a while I wished I didn’t survive,” Kara said in a small voice. “But I don’t feel like that anymore.”
The two girls shared a smile and then completed labelling the rest of the constellations in their starchart in a companionable silence. Shortly after that, Professor Hubble called the class to an end and ordered the yawning students straight to bed with strict instructions NOT to wake the portrait of Lars the Loud on the way.
At lunchtime, Alex slid into her seat at one of the dining room tables (joining James and Winn who were already there) and immediately started heaping mini pies and sausage rolls onto her plate. She was starving.
“Hey Captain,” said James, reaching for another pie. “Are you ready for the Transfiguration practical on Vanishing spells this afternoon?”
Alex scoffed, then swallowed. “No way. So far only my patience has disappeared. My snail stubbornly continues to exist.”
“So far all I’ve ended up with is two snails.”
Alex chuckled.
Vanishment, or evanesco , was the hardest topic they’d studied so far in fifth-year. Eventually they’d be expected to progress to disappearing more complex living things like mammals, however, most of their class had yet to successfully perform the spell on anything except inanimate objects. Alex had seen her mother vanish all manner of household pests, including an infestation of doxies that had taken a liking to the garden shed, while she'd been relegated to Doxycide duty. Not a surprise, considering that Eliza Danvers had scooped up N.E.W.T.s in all her seventh-year subjects. It was a lot to live up to.
“Do you think it will be on the O.W.L. exam?” asked Alex.
Winn piped up. “Dad said it always is. I wonder what animal they will choose this year?”
“Maybe a manticore,” said James ruefully. “At least it’ll kill me quickly if I don’t pass my O.W.L.”
“Hi guys!” Kara waved happily as she and Lena appeared.
Lena looked unsure of her reception so Alex smiled and then shot a look at James, who was glaring at the young Luthor. Alex kicked his shin under the table. He didn’t look happy about it but didn’t say anything.
“So, Hogsmeade is this weekend. Who’s going?” Winn asked the group. “Lena?”
“Oh, I don’t know-” Lena started.
“ Yes ,” said Kara emphatically, backhanding Lena in the shoulder. “You’re coming with me, remember!”
Lena smiled. “Ok. I guess I am.”
“Yay!”
Alex gave Kara a stern look. “You are to stay with either me or Lena the entire time, got it? No wandering off.”
Kara dismissed her concern. “Of course, silly.”
The recent debacle with the Forbidden Forest and their narrow escape from detention and death was still in the forefront of Alex’s mind. Not to mention that a reporter might be brave enough to risk the wrath of Cat Grant and approach the Last Kryptonian for an interview. Surely Hogsmeade was close enough to Hogwarts that no hack would be stupid enough to try. But Alex didn’t want any of them getting too close to her sister. Just in case.
“I’m not going with anyone,” said Winn, without prompting. “I asked Siobhan but she laughed and called me a leprechaun. Do you think I should try her again?”
“Dude, you’d be safer going with a manticore,” said James. He turned to Alex. “How ‘bout you, Captain? Meeting up with anyone for a drink?”
Alex shook her head quickly. “No. You?”
James grinned crookedly. “Yeah. I’m taking Lucy to Madam Puddifoots.”
“Nice.” Alex low-whistled. The only time she’d been to Madam Puddifoots was with Max Lord Junior in their third-year and he’d tried to show off by squirting milky tea through straws stuck up his nose. Why she’d even agreed to go with him she could hardly remember. She hadn’t been on a date since. Ugh, that sounded really pathetic.
Alex had hated her one experience of Puddifoots, which was generally thought of as a sappy first-date place, but the idea of going with someone she actually liked ( Maggie , her heart whispered)... that might be ok. More than ok. Maybe if she got the chance before the weekend she would find a way to ask if Maggie would be going to Hogsmeade.
Saturday
Excitement was high among the students while lining up for Professor Jonzz to check their permission slips. The fourth-years and above had visited Hogsmeade before (except Kara) but since this was the first visit of the term they were all keen for the opportunity to leave school grounds. Once cleared, the students walked or ran off in pairs or small groups, laughing and chattering noisily about what they were going to buy.
Kara was accompanied by Lena and Alex, who led them at a marching pace and overtook anyone who was walking too slow.
When outer Hogsmeade came into view they were greeted with a picturesque village consisting of stone cottages with thatched roofs and English gardens surrounded by hedges of improbable heights. Older witches and wizards who were sitting on their porches sipping tea waved and smiled at the passing students. Further on was High Street, a cobblestoned street flanked by two rows of quaint shops.
“Mum said to give you this,” said Alex, pouring a handful of sickles and knuts into Kara’s cupped hand. “Lena, you can show her around, right? I’ll catch up with you later.”
Lena nodded. “I’ll keep my eye on her.”
“Great!”
Alex headed straight for Spintwiches Sporting Needs. There was a small crowd of students outside the shop peering in through the window at the new stock of Quidditch equipment and a green-and-gold display of Holyhead Harpies merchandise that snatched at customers with its talons when they got too close.
“So.” Lena turned to Kara, shrugging her arms and then letting them fall to her sides. “Where do you want to go first?”
“Everywhere!” said Kara, barely able to keep from bouncing on her toes.
Lena chuckled and hooked their arms together, leading her towards the nearest shop, which happened to be Honeyduke’s. The bell rang as she opened the door to let Kara in.
The sweets store was bigger on the inside than it appeared and had a black-and-white chequered floor, pink trims, and moss-green walls covered in posters advertising the most popular wares. There were shelves upon shelves of rainbow lollipops, teetering glass jars of jelly beans in every flavour imaginable, and mountainous piles of toffees in foil twist wrappers. The shop was absolutely chock-full of Hogwarts students, many of whom were carrying armfuls of loot and calling to each other across the din.
“Wow. This is crazy!” said Kara. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Be warned,” said Lena, eying the nearby Acid Pops, which actually did burn a hole through one’s tongue. “Most of the products contain tricks or temporary magical effects – but they’re real. I read that Muggle sweets don’t have any effect except taste.”
Kara hummed. “Well, Muggle sweets can be harmful in large regular quantities. It can kill you but it takes a long time.”
Lena furrowed an eyebrow. “How strange.”
With Lena’s guidance, Kara browsed every product as they squeezed their way up and down each aisle. Kara made her selections carefully, pondering each offering and Lena’s opinions on it. Once she was sure that she’d seen everything on offer, she checked with Lena that she had enough money and then they headed for the exit.
While waiting in line for the till, Kara spotted a display of Cockroach Clusters at the front of the shop. “Ooh, yum! I love chocolate-covered peanuts.”
Lena cringed. “Um, Kara, those aren’t peanuts…”
“You mean they ACTUALLY have cockroaches in them?!”
Horrified, Kara wondered what other creepy crawlies Wizards and Witches ate. She looked down at the pile of sweets in her arm and snuck the boxes of Sugared Butterfly Wings and Fudge Flies back onto a nearby shelf.
So far Alex had spent all of her time at Spintwitches hovering around the Harpies merchandise trying to decide whether to buy a new pair of Quidditch gloves. They were very expensive and realistically she would only be able to wear them at training anyway because she had her Gryffindor uniform gloves for games.
But she wanted them so badly.
She turned the gloves over in her hand, examining their quality. They were green dragon leather with gold fastenings and had a replica signature of Germaine Degeneres across the wrist guard underneath the Holyhead Harpies logo.
As Alex slipped her hand into a size ‘Medium’ glove to check the fit, she remembered that Degeneres had gotten married this year to a woman. Her favourite player had always been obviously gay and out to the world. Even Maggie, who hated sports, had known who she was. Alex wondered whether wearing Degeneres fangear so often would out her at school. Would a straight girl don the name of the Wizarding World’s most famous lesbian? Would a guy? Probably not.
Above the merchandise display, the half-woman half-eagle creature flapped its wings and stared down at Alex hungrily. It screeched at her as if to say ‘ hurry up and buy it or else put it back! ’
Alex sighed to herself and put the gloves back. They were a limited edition item but maybe there would still be some left in her size if she changed her mind and came back later.
Leaving the shop disappointed, she suddenly realised she was dying for a butterbeer and set off towards the Hogs Head inn.
When she reached her destination, Alex stopped at one of the inn’s windows and peaked inside through the grimy glass. Her insides jumped at a glimpse of one particular Hogwarts student who wore a yellow Flying Hagrids shirt, loose black hair, and a dimpled smile.
Maggie was inside.
Alex hadn't run into her at school for days it felt like, so she hadn't had a chance to ask her about her weekend plans.
She went in. The bell on the door rang, barely audible over the din of conversations bouncing off the stone floor and filling the jam-packed bar area.
As she headed for the booth where Maggie was sitting, someone else came into view. A girl with long blonde hair wearing a red-and-white checked apron was sitting across from Maggie. Alex recognised her – she was a former Hogwarts student who had graduated last year and lived in Hogsmeade. She thought her name was Nicole but couldn’t remember the surname. The girl smiled (a perfect smile) and reached across the table for Maggie’s hand.
Alex stopped as if burned. But it was too late. They noticed her standing there.
Maggie brightened up. “Hey, Danvers. Alright?”
“Yeah,” Alex choked. “Yeah, great! How are you? I mean, you’re great. Um, obviously.”
After a pause, Maggie seemed to remember she wasn’t there alone. She gestured at the other girl. “This is my girlfriend, Nicci. Do you want to join us?”
“No,” said Alex, quickly. “No, I uh, I gotta go. You two have a great time.”
She made a beeline for the exit, squeezing between groups of people, gaining many disapproving glares and huffs in the process. She only remembered to breathe again once she got outside.
Kara was having an absolute ball exploring Hogsmeade with Lena. They went into every shop but spent the longest in those that held the most interest for one or both of them. Lena loved the bookstore, Tomes and Scrolls, pursuing the titles even though she didn’t purchase anything. Kara enjoyed the weird and wacky plants and herbs on show in the herbology supply store Dogweed and Deathcaps. She exchanged a few knuts for some interesting seeds.
At the end of the cobbled street was the one shop they hadn’t seen yet – Zonko’s joke shop. After seeing the flavours on offer in Honeyduke’s Kara was a little apprehensive of the kind of products a Wizarding joke shop might have.
As soon as they entered, they were hit with the smell of dungbombs. The shop's walls were covered with faded red and gold wallpaper and there were hot pink bird cages hanging from the ceiling, each of which contained a creature that resembled a ball of fluff. The shopkeeper was occupied in the far corner telling off a couple of boys for setting off packets of Dungbombs without paying first.
Before they had a chance to look at any products, there was a large SPLAT! as a wet creamy mess landed on Lena's shoes.
Kara had seen it a split-second before it happened but not quickly enough to act. It turned out they were standing next to a display of Self-Propelling Cream Pies. But they weren't alone. Two Slytherin girls from their year were standing behind the display, as if to ambush them.
“Oops!” said Siobhan, biting back a grin. Lesley didn’t bother hiding the fact that she was giggling. “Didn’t see you there, Lena Loser. It was an accident.”
Kara frowned. “No, it wasn’t. You did that on purpose.”
“I did not! It says right here they are self -propelling. Stop trying to gaslight me, Kara. Is that something you learned in your creepy cult?”
“Stuff a dungbomb in it, Siobhan,” Lena snapped.
Kara turned red. She didn’t understand the insult but gathered that it was meant to embarrass her.
“Come on, let’s just go.” said Lena, gently tugging on Kara’s arm. She cast a Vanishing spell to clear the mess and surreptitiously dropped a galleon on the counter by the till on their way out. Siobhan and Leslie only laughed harder.
How could I have been so stupid!
Alex meandered around the quieter end of Hogsmeade main street. She kicked her boot through some loose rocks. They pinged into a wrought iron fence, which she subsequently kicked as well. She groaned under her breath.
Of course Maggie would have a girlfriend! And not just any girlfriend but a pretty, older girl who had already left school and had a real job. Someone who wasn’t afraid to reach across the table and hold her hand in public in a way that Alex knew she wouldn’t have been able to do. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
It was all so overwhelming and … complicated . Last week during prefect patrols she had actually asked Maggie to go to Hogsmeade with her! And then said she wasn’t into girls, which was obviously a lie. She still hadn’t been sure and the automatic denial just fell out of her mouth. But now because of the way she’d acted, Maggie must have figured out Alex’s ridiculous crush on her. Merlin’s tits, how embarrassing.
Maggie and Nicci ( ugh! ) were probably having a grand old time right now chuckling about how pathetic she was.
The only thing Alex wanted to do now was run back to her dorm at Hogwarts and bury herself under her covers for a year. Or ten.
But she couldn’t. She had to wait until Kara and Lena finished having the kind of carefree fun that Alex could barely remember having. She had to be the responsible big sister and escort them back to school grounds. She had to hide everything she was feeling and get on with being Alex Danvers, unflappable, stoic, School Prefect, Quidditch Captain…
How much she didn’t want to be herself right now!
A cutting voice sounded behind her. “Miss Danvers, I do hope you aren’t engaged in loitering like some sort of teenage delinquent. That frown on your face is giving me wrinkles.”
Alex jumped to attention. “C-Cat Grant! I mean, Professor Grant.”
Cat Grant stood nearby, looking radiant and impeccably dressed in designer Witch robes. Despite her comment, there was nary a wrinkle visible on her face. No doubt she used the latest Anti-Aging charms and potions. The Headmistress narrowed her eyes at her.
“Where have you been?” Alex blurted out, suddenly remembering her irritation that Cat had been absent from Hogwarts when Kara’s identity had been leaked to the press. “My sister-”
“Yes, yes,” Cat Grant flapped an impatient hand back-n-forth. “I’m well aware of what’s been going on. And I will forgive your impertinent questioning of my whereabouts just this once . ”
“Sorry.”
“I don’t believe you are, but let’s move on. I’ve already discussed this with your mother. I discovered who gave Kiera’s secret identity to that dreadful Skeeter woman.”
Alex’s jaw dropped. “You did? Who.”
“Max Lord.” Cat Grant’s face darkened. “Pompous idiot and heir to the Pensieve Inc magi-facturing fortune.”
Lena had been right, Alex realised. It wasn’t that hard to guess that Kara was the Last Kryptonian, if you had any knowledge of the circumstances. Max Lord wouldn’t have even needed to use his considerable connections to gain access to top secret Ministry information. He only needed to put a few facts and not-coincidences together.
“He put my sister’s life in danger,” said Alex, incensed. “He violated student confidentiality. He should lose his job!”
“He should. And more,” said Cat, and before Alex could butt in, she went on. “But he’s already resigned.”
“So he just gets away with it?”
Cat shrugs. “They usually do. I now have the unfortunate task of hiring a new Futures of Magic teacher. If I can find someone less irritating than that Wish version of Elon Musk whom my predecessor hired…“
As Alex digested the news, she realised that Cat Grant had already gone.
Lena was wracking her brain for somewhere she could take Kara that would cheer her up. She was about to suggest getting a butterbeer when Kara brightened and exclaimed, “Let’s go there!” Kara was pointing towards a shop at the end of the high street.
It was Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. The outside windows were painted a sickly sweet pink hung with lace curtains tied with satin pink bows. Inside, Lena had heard, was an even frillier explosion of pink and a romantic atmosphere. The only non-pink decor was a rainbow flag sticking proudly out of an iron brazier attached to the bricks beside the entry.
The draw for Kara had been the chalkboard out front that proclaimed they had “CAKES! PIES! TARTS!”
“Kara, are you sure-” asked Lena.
“Yes, come on, let’s go!” Kara grabbed her hand and yanked her in the direction of the Tea Shop.
Once inside they were swiftly pounced upon and led to a table that was squeezed into a corner by a middle-aged woman in a frilly apron with a name tag that read Rose Rozz. The place was packed with Hogwarts students in pairs – mostly couples – many of whom were flirting over friands or holding hands across the table. In a booth next to a steaming-up window, fifth years James Olsen and Lucy Lane were snogging passionately.
Lena noticed that Kara had seen the older couple as well and was now blushing furiously and fiddling with her glasses. She searched Kara’s face, trying to decode whether her friend was actually upset or just embarrassed.
They sat down. Two menus materialised in front of them, hovering in midair. Rose hurried away to serve another table.
While they waited for Rose to come back and take their order, Lena couldn’t think of anything to say. She looked around in vain, trying to find something she could bring up that they could talk about. Kara seemed to be having the same problem.
Unfortunately, avoiding each other’s eyes only meant that they noticed that several other students were either looking their way curiously or outright staring. Lena was used to it, she'd been a pariah ever since she set foot in Hogwarts… but it had never been for this reason.
There was a promotion flyer on the wall with rainbow-flashing text on it that read “ Announce you’re gay and you won’t pay !”
Lena fixed her gaze on the table in front of her. If it wouldn’t have been rude to leave Kara there alone, Lena would’ve vanished herself into oblivion.
The frilly-aproned woman returned, harried. “Okay, love birds, what will it be? Flirting Fancies, Chivalrous Choux, Romance-arons? Don’t even think of asking for Erotic Eclairs, those are strictly 18 plus and if you think you can circumvent Cat Grant’s commercial-grade age charm you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Can we have a minute, please?” said Lena, and the waitress gave a stiff smile before rushing off.
Lena caught Roulette’s smirking gaze a few tables behind Kara. The older girl was sitting alone in one of the window booths. Roulette raised her espresso glass in a toast towards them. Lena deliberately averted her eyes.
“Kara.” Lena said softly. “We can go if you like.”
“Do you want to go? Because I want to stay,” said Kara, earnestly. “I don't care who's staring. Let them stare! The food looks great here, doesn't it? I think I want everything! I- I mean, except the um, eclairs.”
Lena let out a giggle. “Ok. Let's get everything.”
Once their time at Hogsmeade had come to an end, the students began making their way back to Hogwarts forming a snake- like line with a long tail of stragglers. They laughed and joked, comparing purchases as they went.
Alex waited at the end of the street for Kara and Lena. They were some of the last to appear, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief to see her sister not only safe but happy. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and forced a smile. Only Morgana knew how much she didn't want to deal with any more are-they-or-aren't-they friends drama. She had enough girl problems of her own.
As soon as Kara saw her she excitedly recounted all of the new things she'd seen.
Alex had of course seen everything that Hogsmeade had to offer many times. Luckily, her sister didn't seem to notice that her enthusiasm was rather shallow.
Lena was quiet too, seemingly content to not be alone for once.
When they got back, the trio approached the wall of barrels next to the kitchen outside the Hufflepuff dorms where someone was clearly waiting for them. Alex's stomach flip-flopped. It was Maggie Sawyer.
“Hi Maggie!” said Kara.
“Hey guys,” said Maggie. “I was hoping to run into you. Everyone alright?”
Alex bristled. “Why wouldn't we be.”
Ignoring the dig, Maggie turned to Lena. “Professor Grant told me to give you a message. I'm not sure whether you want to hear it in private or whether you should have friends around for support… It's up to you.”
Lena shook her head. “It's fine. Pretty much everyone in this place knows everything about me.”
“Or thinks they do,” corrected Kara.
“Right,” said Lena, with a small smile.
“Are you sure?” asked Maggie. “This is kind of a big deal.”
Alex exhaled impatiently. “Can we get this over with? I'd like to get to dinner before I'm older than Atla the Ancient.”
“It's not up to you, Danvers,” Maggie replied coolly.
“It's fine,” said Lena. “Whatever it is, I've heard worse. I’m sure they have heard worse too.”
Maggie took a deep breath. “The message Professor Grant sent is: a decision has been made. ”
Lena's face drained of what little colour was there to begin with. Her jaw visibly stiffened as she obviously tried to hold back her reaction to the news. Kara grabbed her hand but she didn't seem to notice.
Alex swore. “You're kidding! After all this time?”
“What decision?” asked Kara, confused. “I don't understand.”
“The Sorting Hat,” Lena explained in a defeated voice. “It's finally decided what House I belong to.”
Bet it's Slytherin , Alex thought darkly.
There has never been a Luthor in any other House. Why would Lena be any different? But as she looked at her younger sister and her friend, Alex hoped they'd all been wrong about Lena Luthor.
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