Author: Jadelyn Tate

Story: Kith & Kin

Pairings: Lily/James (duh), Severus/OC, Remus/OC, Ron/Hermione (for now)

Disclaimer: I own Hayden, Diana, Sage, Eleanora, and Porcelina. I’m not gonna say I own the idea of Harry having a twin cause I don’t think anyone owns that idea, it’s so common. shrugs Eh. I do have to say I own this particular fic though. Anyone who wants to argue, give me hard facts. Then we’ll talk.

Summery: It’s the summer of Harry’s fifth year and he and the rest of the wizarding world are about to get the shock of a lifetime.

They were nearly late again. Partly because of him and Hayden, Harry knew. They had a guard seeing them off, lead by Mad Eye who, as usual, was paranoid about Deatheaters. Despite his dire warnings of vigilance, nothing happened on the way their way to Kings Cross except Mrs. Weasley having a fit over Sirius accompanying them in dog form.

Finding out Ron and Hermione had to stay in the Prefects carriage for a while wasn’t pleasant, but Harry shrugged it off. Finding out Nora was going with them, however, was a shock.

“Wait, what?” Hayden asked, confused, when Nora had asked if they wanted to go find a carriage. Nora smiled.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” she asked innocently. Hayden and Diana’s eyes narrowed as they stared at her. “I’m your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.”

“No way!”

“Sweet!” the girls exclaimed at the same time. Harry smiled—he liked “Aunt Nora”.

“Well, let’s get going,” Nora said, ushering the group of three fifth years and one fourth year towards the train. “I asked a couple friends save a compartment to fit all of us; I hope they got here in time to grab one.”

“A couple friends?” Diana asked curiously. Nora shot her a smile but didn’t reply. As they walked down the length of the train, Harry couldn’t help but notice the stars and whispers as they passed. He grimaced, realizing that everyone had been reading the Prophet and likely thought ill of him. Finally, Nora, who was leading the group, let out a soft snort. Harry, who was a few inches taller than his Godmother, looked over her shoulder to see what had amused her. The only thing he could see was what looked like four scarves in crimson, blue, green, and yellow tied to the handle of one of the compartments.

Nora strode forward, peeked in, smiled and opened the door. Harry, who was just behind Nora, with Ginny next to him, walked in. He and the younger girl were gently pulled to the side by Nora. Harry’s attention turned to Hayden and Diana who were just walking into the compartment.

“Hey Hay, Di,” a deep, soft voice cut through the girls babble. Harry turned and saw that the compartment already held two people—a woman the same age as Nora and a tall boy with a pale face and shoulder length black hair that looked a great deal cleaner than Snape’s. His coal black eyes were watching Hayden and Diana with amusement as the girls stared at him open-mouthed.

“SAGE!” the girls screamed and launched themselves at the boy. Harry watched as Sage staggered under the two girls who were babbling at him (or scolding him for not telling them he was coming, as Hayden was now doing). For his part, the other boy was listening to the girls with amused patience. Then, Diana looked behind him and Harry felt a jolt when a girl Ginny’s age with hair the same shade as Draco’s came out from behind Sage and smiled brightly up at the trio.

“Calli!” Diana let go of Sage to hug the younger girl. Harry sat down when he felt the train start moving and watched in amused silence as the four teens talked over each other. He turned to Ginny as Nora and the woman began chatting.

“Looks like the biggest compartment on the train,” he motioned to the spacious interior, which could easily fit the entire Weasley clan, plus a few guests. Hayden, Sage, Callisto, and Diana were all sitting one side with the two women sitting next to them. He and Ginny were sitting across from them. There were three seats empty on their side—the fourth held another girl about Ginny’s age. Harry watched, bemused, as Ginny gave the girl a bright smile.

“Luna!” she greeted happily, scooting over to talk to her. Harry glanced over and saw the four teens had quieted. Sensing their attention, Ginny turned.

“Everyone, this is Luna Lovegood. She’s a Ravenclaw in my year,” she introduced her. Luna made no attempt to hide the fact she was studying the group intently.

“Luna was looking for a compartment and I invited her to join us,” the unnamed woman said softly. Harry watched as Hayden and Diana both jumped, looking at the woman in surprise.

“Ms. Ronaldi!” they exclaimed, moving to hug her. The woman laughed and hugged them back.

“How are you girls?” she asked softly just as Harry spotted a familiar form peak in, frown, and move on his trunk trailing behind him. He jumped up, opened the door and poked head out.

“Neville!” he called, motioning for him to come. Smiling in relief, Neville hurried over. Once he was close enough, Harry bent to help him with his luggage. Thanking him, Neville shuffled in after Harry. Nora and Ms. Ronaldi stood up and helped get his trunk situated while Neville struggled to keep his hands on his toad, Trevor. Harry motioned for him to take a seat.

“Everyone, this is Neville Longbottom, he’s one of my roommates and a friend. Neville, this is, uh….” he trailed of, realizing he didn’t know Nora’s last name. Nora smiled.

“I’m Professor Nora Deselle. I’m teaching DADA this year,” she introduced herself. Neville went pale and mumbled a greeting. Nora laughed softly.

“Don’t worry, Neville, I don’t bite. In fact, I knew your parents quite well in school,” she teased gently and Harry watched as his friend instantly relaxed.

“I’m Procelina Ronaldi; I’m going to be assisting Madame Pomphrey,” the woman introduced herself.

“I’m Diana Lupin, and yes, I’m related to Remus Lupin—he’s my father,” Diana waved and Neville blushed.

“I’m Hayden. Hayden Potter.” Harry rolled his eyes at the slightly mischievous glint in his sisters’ eyes; she instinctively knew was planning on having a lot of fun imparting that bit of knowledge. Neville snapped his head to Harry who shrugged sheepishly.

“She’s my twin. Long story,” he waved it away. Neville smiled tentively at the redhead. Hayden seemed to take pity on the boy and gently elbowed her friends. Harry held his breath, suddenly worried how Neville was going to react to Snape’s son.

“I’m Sage Snape,” he introduced himself. Harry inwardly groaned as Neville flinched and seemed to draw into himself. And it only got worse when the blonde next to Sage introduced herself.

“Callisto Malfoy,” Harry put a hand on Neville’s shoulder, sensing that Neville was about ready to bolt.

“Neville, it’s okay. Sage didn’t grow up with his father and I’ve been assured he’s not like him. And Callisto is Malfoy’s cousin, not his sister,” he assured him, trying to calm the other boy down. He completely missed the resigned looks Sage and Callisto exchanged. Neville looked at him and Harry nodded. Neville swallowed and turned to the two, setting his shoulders.

“Sorry. I’m…Professor Snape doesn’t like me and Malfoy has hexed me a lot,” he apologized and Harry inwardly gaped. It was times like these that proved to Harry that the Sorting Hat had not made a wrong decision when it placed the other boy in Gryffindor. Hayden and Diana beamed at Neville and Harry just watched bemusedly as the girls moved so they were sitting on either side of the other boy.

“Tell me about this Malfoy,” Hayden purred, a dangerous glint in her eye. Harry groaned, knowing they were digging for more dirt on the Slytherin Prince. Hayden had taken an instant dislike to the boy when he had told her about him.

“Neville?” he spoke up, watching the boy turn to him. “Be careful around these two and Sage, they’re the new Fred and George.” he informed him. Neville instantly eyed the girls warily. Diana smiled brightly at him.

“No worries, we like you. It’s the ones we don’t like who have to watch it,” she told him cheerfully. Harry eyed Sage in amusement when the boy coughed out “stockings” and Callisto snickered.

“I still want to know what that’s about. The stockings, I mean. You haven’t told us,” Ginny spoke up from her place by Luna. Hayden smirked.

“Dragon House is Coventry’s version of Slytherin, or so I’ve heard,” Hayden began.

“While Phoenix, our house, is Cov’s version of Gryffindor,” Diana continued.

“And Christmas of last year we left a little present in their common room,” Sage jumped in, sounding smug.

“Stockings filled with candies, apparently from Honeydukes.”

“You’d think by now they wouldn’t accept unknown gifts.”

“Seriously. Anyway, they weren’t from Honeydukes; we made them all.”

“Each had a small potion filling, the potion having been brewed by me of course.”

“And a charm on their door that would react to the potion.”

“Everyone who ate one of the candies suddenly turned bright green an hour after going through the charmed doorway.”

“Green as in the Wicked Witch of the West green, from the muggle movie.”

“And it lasted for 24 hours for every pass through the doorway.”

“Some went through a couple times before the hour lapsed so they got hit harder than the others.”

“Yeah, Syrin ended up being stuck green for a week,” Hayden remembered fondly. Harry shook his head; listening to the three talk was like listening to Fred and George—he felt like he’d been at a three way tennis match.

“From the sounds of things, Syrin is Hayden’s version of Malfoy—they do NOT get along,” Diana informed them. Sage snorted.

“Evil little wench,” he muttered and made a face when Ms. Ronaldi smacked him upside the head.

“Be nice,” she scolded. He scowled.

“Aunt Porci, you don’t like Syrin either,” he pointed out. Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Doesn’t mean you can use dirty language,” she admonished. Sage sulked. Harry turned to Callisto and found her struggling to hide laughter.

“Are they always like this?” he asked conversationally and she nodded, her eyes twinkling with a soft warmth.

“Worse, actually,” she replied, her face expressionless as the trio gaped at her. As Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Luna watched, Sage lunged forward and began tickling Callisto. Harry grinned as she began shrieking with laughter, Diana and Hayden having joined Sage in torturing the young girl.

“Harry?” a soft voice whispered in his ear and Harry turned to see that in the spectacle of the four Coventry transfer students rolling around and tickling each other, Hermione and Ron had come back. He scooted over and the two sat down, watching the girls.

“Callisto and Snape?” Hermione asked quietly. Harry, who had told Hermione and Ron about the two, nodded.

“And Snape’s aunt, Porcelina Ronaldi,” he whispered back. The women smiled at them before glancing at their watches.

“We’re going to go say hello to the train staff; we’ve missed them,” Nora told them, standing. The two women slipped out and had only been gone for a few minutes when a familiar form snapped the door open. The ten students all froze, looking at the three boys suspiciously.

“I’m surprised they let you back, Potter,” Malfoy spat, glancing distastefully at the four Coventry students. “…or that anyone would still remain friends with a freak like you.”

“Just out of curiosity, which of us are you talking to?” Hayden asked, looking bored, as she arranged her head in Sage’s lap. Malfoy sneered.

“Are you stupid?” he demanded. Harry flexed his arms, just stopping himself from getting up and attacking the skinny blonde. He knew Hayden would not be happy with him if he did. Besides, he wanted to see how Sage and Calli, as she insisted she be called, handled the boy.

“Actually, it was a logical question, seeing as how there are two Potter’s in the compartment,” Sage replied lazily. Harry glanced at him and made a face; Sage was gently running his hands through Hayden’s hair, causing his sister to purr like a contented cat. Malfoy looked at them, his face unreadable.

“So, which one were you talking to? Harry or Hayden?” Diana broke in. Malfoy stared at Hayden, studying her. She blatantly studied him right back, looking amused.

“You’re Potter’s sister,” Malfoy’s voice was flat as he stared at her. Hayden slowly clapped.

“Give the boy a prize, he guessed my identity,” she drawled. Sage snorted.

“Blowup doll?” he asked, causing Hermione and Harry to choke. Hayden craned her neck up to smirk at the black haired boy.

“Well, I doubt he’s gonna get any any other way,” she answered, her eyes twinkling. Sage chuckled as the Gryffindors and Slytherins gaped; Luna, for her part, was just looking bemused as she read her magazine.

“Did you actually want something cousin, or are you just here to entertain Hayden?” Calli asked coldly. Malfoy started and turned to her. Harry stifled a snicker at the absolute shock on his, Goyle, and Crabbe’s faces.

“I take it the Malfoy golden-daddy never mentioned his banished brother?” she asked. The three Slytherin’s didn’t answer. “I’m Callisto Malfoy, daughter of Verus Malfoy who was the brother of Lucius Malfoy which makes you my unfortunate cousin.”

“You’re a Malfoy?” Draco asked and Hayden snorted as she got up.

“Duh. Pay attention, ferret face,” Hayden called, rummaging in her trunk for something. Ron snickered as Malfoy glared at her and pulled out his wand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Sage told him. Malfoy looked at him suspiciously.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” he snarled. Sage smiled and pulled out his wand.

“Sage Snape, son of Severus Snape and Amelia Ronaldi,” he gave a mocking little half bow, his wand not wavering as he kept it pointed at the Slytherin trio. Malfoy eyed him before turning to Diana who had her wand pointed at him as well.

“And you?” he asked, eyeing her wand warily. Diana smiled.

“Diana Lupin, daughter of Remus Lupin and Nora Deselle, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor,” she told him.

“Don’t forget your Godfather!” Hayden called, her voice muffled. Harry was slightly amused by the fact she was almost halfway stuffed into her trunk, completely unconcerned by the “threat” of Malfoy and his gorillas. Diana nodded her lips in a smirk.

“Oh yes, and I share a godfather with Harry. I’m certain you know who I’m talking about,” Diana told him.

“Hayden, if you lock yourself in your trunk again, I’m not letting you out until we get to the school,” Sage called, putting his wand back in his pocket, apparently deeming the Slytherins a non-threat. Hayden wiggled back out of her trunk, her hand grasping something as she glared at Sage.

“That was only once!” she snapped before tossing Calli a small bundle. Calli looked at the cloth in amusement.

“You didn’t!”

Hayden and Diana shared grins. “Oh but we did,” Hayden replied, silently dismissing Malfoy.

Calli opened the bundle and revealed it to be a blue shirt, with a snake being eaten by a Phoenix portrayed on the front. Underneath, written in flowing calligraphy, were the words, “Snake’s may be deadly, but a Phoenix never dies.” On the back, in the same calligraphy, was “Phoenix House”. Harry grinned as Sage shrugged off his jacket to reveal he was wearing the same shirt, only in green and the Gryffindor boy wasn’t too surprised when Diana and Hayden pulled off their sweaters to reveal red and yellow versions.

“Oh hello, are you a friend of Harry’s?” Harry turned to see Nora smiling brightly at the three Slytherins. Malfoy’s expression turned to one of horror and he stalked from the room, Goyle and Crabbe lumbering after him. Nora turned to the teens, feigning bafflement as they cracked up.

“What’d I say?”