***
Part One: Alanna Sandberg-Whittaker

***

HONESTLY, Alanna grew tired of explaining her occupation to people. More specifically, how she got where she was. Calling a twenty year old "Doctor Whittaker" really didn't sit right with a lot of people.

It sat right with her. She earned this. She felt like a badass. Despite everything she went through in the past, she fought for what she wanted and she got it. She had never fallen through that dark hole at Durmstrang, and neither did her brother, because their parents didn't. Their mother didn't, and after her death, they knew they owed it to her to carry the greatness she sought from the world. Never would you find a soul purer than Linnéa Sandberg's to exit the dark walls of Durmstrang. And the fact that both her children managed to do the same without being tainted by the darkness, showed you something incredible of an influence that woman had over them.

It might also have something to do with the fact that many people were just plain scared of her.

(Well, not Alanna in particular, unless she gave you her cold bitch stare, most would just see her as unthreatening with her pretty face, a cup of coffee in one hand and always wearing that same black-and-white checkered blazer. Even in the winter, it would hide under her big fluffy parka, but it was still there.)

See, quite a few years ago (a few thousand — ten thousand sounds about right) Alanna's ancestors —from the Sandberg clan, her mother's side of the family — did some stuff, that well, wasn't very nice... people were hurt, and... lets just say that Alanna's ancestors did some pretty sketchy shit. For a long time, the Sandberg coven was feared by most of Scandinavia.

Their coven originated in Sweden and so, many generations of Sandberg witches and wizards had their education within the cages of Durmstrang, hence the reason why any time a Durmstrang student or teacher heard the name "Sandberg", they'd scram in the opposite direction. You could never look a Sandberg in the eye.

It's a shame, 'cause it meant Alanna hardly had any friends while at Durmstrang, but she grew used to her own company. She also thinks it's kinda stupid since the last of the evil bunch of Sandberg's were lost somewhere in the fifteenth century. Now they're harmless as chickens. She supposes she should be grateful for it since it was the reason she was left alone by teachers and students trying to coax her into doing dark magic. Still, imagine being terrified of a teen girl who had a straight bob-cut and a thick fringe till she was thirteen. Alanna didn't get it, but it worked out for her anyways.

That's far from the point, though. Alanna hated explaining how she became the so-called "Dr Sandberg-Whittaker" that was detailed on the metallic plaque in her office, but it was pretty much due to her leaving school at fifteen (almost sixteen) and not taking a break since then. Truth is, how Alanna became the therapist she now is entails an extremely long-winded answer that most people wouldn't sit down and listen to, no matter how condescendingly curious they are. Only a select few like her father, her brother, her roommate even, know but only because Alanna wanted them to know.

She prefers to let the others guess.

Including the man who'd just entered her office. This man who'd introduced himself as Xavier Donahue, who wore a long maroon coat and had precisely trimmed hair. He did not look the part of being father to three children as he'd told her, but if she was honest, he was very attractive. But still not really her type. He had written to her weeks in advance asking to arrange a consultation to talk about his family, while she'd been on holiday in Turkey with her own family. So she said she'd be happy to as soon as she came back, which was three days ago.

"Milk and sugar for your coffee, Sir?"

Stood at her own little coffee-slash-tea-slash-biscuit station, Alanna leant with her hip against the cabinet the kettle was brewing on. It was her favourite part of her office, not that she wasn't extremely proud of how well she decorated her little space. But, as mentioned, she does have a bit of a coffee obsession, so it helps to have her own caffeine station for the extra early mornings or extra late nights writing up client reports, or even afternoons where she just wanted coffee for the sake of it. Coffee was her comfort food. And smelling coffee beans was her comfort activity, but she wasn't gonna do that in front of the well-mannered man present — instead, she just continues to pleasantly smile at him.

"No milk, one sugar, please." Xavier tells her, a smile perking up his lips. "And please call me Xavier."

Alanna gives him a polite nod, swivelling around to sweeten his coffee. "No problem... Xavier." She furrows her eyebrows, because it felt weird. No weirder than being called "Dr Sandberg-Whittaker" upon entry because that was like ten syllables in itself. She immediately said to him, "Please, Alanna is way easier."

She could tell he agreed and was more than happy with that arrangement.

"Here we are," Each of her fingers curled around the handles two sky blue mugs, Alanna walks over to her desk, flats scuffling against the floor, a crisp white blouse tucked into camel-coloured slacks. One mug clinks onto the surface of desk nearest Xavier while she tucks herself into her chair at her side of the desk.

"Cheers," says Xavier. "How was Turkey?"

"Oh, absolutely stunning." Alanna grins reminiscing in her time abroad with her dad and brother. "The two weeks away were just what I needed." She'd even managed to tan her pale skin for once and she hoped that being back at England's sunny period could help... lengthen that tan a little? "It's good to be back, although Diagon Alley seems a little quieter."

Xavier sighs. "Yeah, I believe now that people know of Lord Voldemort's return, they're more reluctant to step out of the house. It's good you're still keeping your business going, though."

"The sun waits for no one," is all Alanna says with a smile, bringing her mug to her lips. Black coffee with three sugars and a hint of cinnamon, absolutely perfect. "I did notice, though, some construction going on down the Alley. I only just got back, so I don't suppose you would know anything about it?"

"Oh, yeah," muses Xavier. "That's the new joke shop they're building. It's being run by brothers who just came out of Hogwarts. My son and nephew know them."

"That should be fun," she says. Replacing her mug with a notebook and plucking a pen from her own inventory, she asks Xavier, "So, what is it you wanted to discuss with me today?"

"My nephew, actually. Theodore Nott."

"Right," she notes. "What about Theodore? Would you like me to arrange some counselling with him? One of my clients just moved away for the summer, so I can easily fit him in for a six-to-eight-week block while he's off school, how does this suit—"

"Excuse me," Xavier interrupts her, slightly grimacing. "That all sounds incredible, except it's not your therapy business I'm inquiring about."

Alanna frowns slightly. "What were you gonna ask about, then?"

Xavier inhales. "Legilimency lessons."

"Wait—" Alanna frowns, this time for real. Legilimency? This is the first time anyone has ever brought up Legilimency in her one year of having this business. It's true, Alanna is a Legilimens, it was something brought up in her family and up until her mother's death when she was eleven, Alanna, her mum, her brother would all practice the skill frequently. Even after her mother's death, Alanna would practice on her own and sometimes she'd even manage to rope her brother in whenever he was at home, even with him being reluctant.

This is the first time anyone has ever acknowledged that side of her however, and she doesn't even know how he knows since barely any British folk paid attention to the Sandberg history (they were Swedish, why would they?) so she has no idea how this fact has reached him, unless –

"What did you say your nephew's name was again, Xavier?"

Xavier nods. "Theodore Nott."

And then it made sense.

"I know who your nephew is."

Xavier raises an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yes," she says. "His father was just sent to Azkaban, was he not? Nott Senior? No pun intended." She adds with a slight grin, Xavier chuckling.

"He was," Xavier confirms, eyes glazed and impassive at the fact. Alanna doesn't think he likes that guy very much. Alanna wouldn't either, just by him being a Death Eater and all the horrible stuff she's heard him do. "I was wondering if you would be able to help out my nephew by coaching him in Legilimency."

Alanna thinks for a minute. "Well, why would he need it? And why me?"

"Your family name — Sandberg — is very well known for being born with and practicing Legilimency since the early years. Myself and Theo's mother have been searching for a Legilimens and we could hardly find any still in the country. You're the only witch originating from the Sandberg coven in Britain."

She nods, raking a hand through the tips of her dark hair. "Very well, but... why does Theodore need to learn Legilimency?"

"Because of a Dark curse that had been placed on his family many, many years ago... by your family."

Alanna tries to think. Nott Senior being incarcerated is not the only reason she's heard of the Nott family. She knows there's something connecting the Sandberg's to the Nott's, and that's how she recognised Theo's name, if she can just remember... Years ago, she was told a story by an aunt she lived with one summer at Durmstrang something about the Nott family, if she can remember...

"I don't suppose you're talking about the Parallel Mind Tether?" asks Alanna.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Alanna," he says with slight surprise. "What do you know about this?"

"Not much," Alanna answers. "My aunt in Sweden told me about it years ago. Someone from the Nott family came to a Sandberg asking to imbue a magic connection into their family tree. Allowed them to have some sort of telepathy, I think. It came only when there was a Dark proposition to be fulfilled, that's also what I remember."

"You've mostly got it, Alanna." Xavier gives her a thumbs-up. "Yes, years ago a Nott had asked a Sandberg to put a magic tether in place to connect the minds of Nott's older and younger, father-to-son, grandfather-to-father. It allowed them to see through their eyes, feel each other's thoughts and have some control or influence it to a certain extent. As you said, it only arises when there's a Dark proposition to be fulfilled which means that since the last Wizarding War, now that Voldemort is back, it's now affecting Theo alongside his mother too. It's been pretty damaging for both of them, so Legilimency seemed like the best option for the time being."

"Time being?" Alanna questions.

Xavier nods, "Myself, Theo's mother and a close friend of ours alongside some St. Mungo's staff are working on a cure to end this curse your ancestors began." He holds his hands up in a light surrender. "I am in no way blaming you for something your ancestors did so long ago. I know that the Sandberg's have ceased to be so involved with Dark Magic after all the destruction they caused many years ago, and the mere fact you're a therapist wanting to help people shows that the Sandberg's have changed. I'm just hoping you're willing to help my nephew. Theo... well, he acts tough, but the stuff he has been put through at the hands of his father should be something no child should go through, let alone having this extra connection to him. It would mean a great deal to me if you agreed."

Nodding slowly in accord with what Xavier was saying, Alanna twiddles her pen around her fingers, elbow propped on desk, nothing on her notepad. Lips pursed, mulling it over, the smell of her coffee focusing her senses as it always does.

She had to say, she sympathised with this boy. He had a disgusting man of a father to come home to, and now that he was in Azkaban, the images Theo would see on the daily would not be an easy thing to deal with. She knows how Legilimency works. The Nott's have done countless despicable things over the centuries and this mind link only helped that. Alanna's ancestors did, too, but they broke the cycle.

The Nott's never broke the cycle.

Dark magic continued to flow their veins all these years like the ink tube in her own pen. They never got their redemption the same way the Sandberg's did. People would continue to stare at them with fear clouding their eyes, their judgement, labelling anyone with the last name Nott a world disaster, only destruction, only torment, only grey clouds. Perception becoming reality.

Alanna's grateful her ancestors managed to break the cycle for the Sandberg's. She didn't have to deal with that. She wasn't seen as an abomination. Even in a school such as Durmstrang where stigma sticks, she still had it better than countless others.

A random Sandberg started this curse. Maybe it was in Alanna's destiny to be the Sandberg to help end the curse.

"I'll do it," says Alanna. "I'll coach your nephew in Legilimency."

Instant relief crashed over Xavier's face. "Oh, thank you. Truly. I cannot tell you how much this means to us all. I know you're a therapist, not a Legilimency teacher, so I'm willing to pay extra if needed—"

"It's fine, trust me," she tells him, amused, beginning to note things down, "Hourly rate will do. He goes to Hogwarts, right? Which means term will end in a couple days. I have that space available that I mentioned — a Thursday at ten in the morning — it's one hour per therapy session so we can start with that and if Theodore feels the Legilimency working and wants extra time we can always add that on. How's this sound?"

"Incredible," Xavier says agreeably, taking a hearty sip of his coffee.

She nods along as she takes out a logbook from her magazine file, opens it and pens in some details.

"Right," she says, looking up and presses her lips together in a smile. "That's Theodore Nott booked in for next Thursday at ten. For Legilimency, to double-clarify."

"That sounds fine to me and I'm sure Theo will be happy to hear it too," Xavier grins. His eyes dart to a stack of cards on her desk table. Her business cards. "You mind if I send Theo one of these?"

"Not at all," she says, and he takes two from the card holder. He finishes his coffee and then Alanna escorts him out. "How was your coffee, by the way? Apologies I didn't have any biscuits, I'm actually needing to go on a food shop tonight."

"That's no worries," he says, adjusting his long coat as they walk to the door. "It was lovely, actually. The smell was different, almost like a bakery? And the taste was strong but not too artificial. I liked it!"

"Oh my gosh, I am so glad you noticed!" She exclaims, voice giddy with excitement. "I actually have just started to ground the coffee beans myself since I bought a coffee grinder! Using organic coffee beans as well as a cafetière has definitely been a game-changer too, but the coffee I get is actually from this Muggle place downtown..." Alanna goes on to explain her entire coffee-making-routine to patient man that continued to smile, amused at her love for coffee.

Eventually she comes to a stop and realise Alanna was holding the door open and Xavier was waiting to step out.

"My apologies, I won't keep you any longer," she says bashfully.

Xavier smiles. "None at all. Once again, I can't thank you enough for this."

He holds a hand out.

"My pleasure," Alanna grins, shaking it. "Enjoy your day, Xavier."

As Xavier steps out with their deal consolidated, Alanna can't help but feel accomplished in some way, now that she was gonna be helping Theo and hopefully in doing so, many others. It's like her mother always told her before she passed, no act of kindness is ever wasted. She had a good feeling about this.

Before she steps back inside, she notices that construction she mentioned earlier. A joke shop, according to Xavier. Outside, a few men were levitating a sign onto the progressing-building and behind them, a pair of twins with red hair were examining the levitating of their sign. At least, she thinks they're the owners.

Alanna must have been staring a little too hard because one of the twins caught on and tilted their head her way down the street, gazes connecting.

(This shit always happens to Alanna, for goodness sakes. Somehow they always have a sixth sense when it came to her looking at anyone.)

All Alanna does is press her lips together, giving him a smile. For a second, he didn't respond. But then he grins.

(He was pretty cute, not that she was paying attention or anything.)

Phew. She takes that as her cue and shuts the door, disappearing behind it. Before she did, though, she saw the builders had finished levitating the sign. She saw the name of the shop.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

***
Part Two: Emilia Karoline Fossbaken

***

An unfamiliar reflection stared out at Mia. Mimicking her every movement, every millimetre of shock her eyes widened with, every time she bit her lip and made her daily skincare routine seem more pointless, every time her clammy hands gripped the cold bathroom counter. The stranger opposite her in the mirror did everything she did and looked just like her, had the same fourteen freckles dotted around her nose, the same scar from that time she tried using her dad's shaving kit on her unibrow.

It was Mia, but it was a stranger.

And as her eyes dart between the open pair of scissors on the edge of the bathroom sink and the four ponytails scattered on the tiled floor, she thinks, yes, cutting my own hair was a big fat mistake. Fuck.

Okay, before you grill Mia about this, she has a reason. She's about to start at a new school. She's moving from her old magic school in Norway to Hogwarts in Britain. In bloody sixth year. New people, new classes, new Mia. She doesn't exactly believe in this whole "fresh start" bullshit, but she wanted to make a good first impression at Hogwarts. Wanted to look hot, but her hair was not co-operating, she still had to change and do her makeup, and her stepbrother Zeke kept yelling up the stairs at her to hurry up because he still had to Apparate Mia and her twin Max to Hogsmeade. She was stressed and her hair deciding to be a pain in the fucking ass did not make it any better, so she put her long honey blonde hair into four even ponytails, grabbed the scissors from the drawer and chopped them off. She was due a haircut anyways.

But not that big of one.

Before, her hair had easily reached her waist. Thick blonde hair with the odd golden strand or two, a cascade down her back of shimmery, mermaid-like waves. She had long hair, it's what she was known for back at her old school in Norway. Mia Fossbaken with the good hair.

Now? Now, that was nothing but a shovelled memory. She'd barely left anything, cut right up to where her shoulder junction began. No, scratch that, where her neck ended. It was a literal bob-cut and now that most of her golden blonde locks were lying on the bathroom floor, her darker roots were more emphasised, almost brown near the top, fading away where the blonde began. The odd dark blonde shine remained. If Mia wasn't so stressed right now, she might have thought it was a good look on her.

"MIA! MAX!"

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Zeke on the prowl.

As designated oldest child in their blended family and one of Mia's only older siblings who had actually passed their Apparition test – Jessica had, but she was younger than Zeke by a year, Willow had and is the oldest but she's on holiday with her girlfriend, Jack hadn't passed and was just about to leave school but couldn't care less and Roman was younger than both Mia and her twin Max – therefore Zeke had the responsibility of Apparating the twins to their school tour at Hogwarts.

Which meant nagging on them every single second.

Zeke's footsteps thumped up the stairs of their Manor (one of the perks of their dad being a world quidditch star) and, panicking, Mia scrambles to gather the four bunches of hair and dumps them in a bag, shoving them away in a drawer. She'll deal with them later, she's only going to Hogwarts for a few hours to "get Sorted" and have a school tour. It was nice of the Headmaster to let Mia and her brother have a tour of the school before they would start after the holidays.

Her brisk steps carry her out of her ensuite bathroom into her bedroom, finding the clothes she laid out earlier – a floral summer dress, denim jacket and Doc Martens. Her leather jacket was also there, but she eventually chose the denim. Seemed less intense.

"My Apparition services are not twenty-four hours, you know!" comes from Zeke, once again, trudging upstairs. Mia's grateful in this instance that their stairs were endless. "Hurry up, you guys!"

"Okay, Ezekiel, you offering to Apparate us does not give you permission to be a douche!" She hears her twin, Max, say in the next room. Then he pauses for a second and she can practically hear the sigh in his voice as he asks, "Can you help me with my hair?"

Zeke was sniggering as he said, "You sure you want a douche to fix your hair, Maximus?"

Thank fuck for Max. Mia has a bit more time to... sort this situation out. How? She literally chopped most of her hair off. How does one fix that?

Wait.

Bucket hats.

This is the perfect time to get out that bucket hat big sister Jess bought her for her birthday! The white one with the single daisy on the front, yes. The bucket hat would be her saviour today. She finds it and gathers her hair, dumping the hat over it. Looks in the mirror. She looks like she has no hair, yes, but this way no one can suspect she chopped all her hair off.

(Mia, people usually let her their hair down when wearing a bucket hat...)

A knock sounds at her door. Shit.

"Mia?" calls out Zeke. "Hope you're not having as much hair trouble as Max is?"

You have no fucking idea, Zeke.

She opens her mouth but the only thing that comes out is a wrangled groan because shit, she's gonna get caught. So she heads to her dressing table and actually starts putting makeup on like she's supposed to.

Outside of the door, Zeke frowns. "Mia? You okay, pal?"

"Mm-hmm," hums Mia, hoping to convince her brother to back away.

Zeke wasn't convinced. In his six years of being Mia's brother, ever since her dad married his mum, Mia only ever hummed if she had something she couldn't say.

"I'm coming in, pal," Zeke says, twisting her doorknob and entering the room.

When he did, this twenty-three-year-old in all his long leg and dark hair glory, all he saw was his little sister sat at her dressing table in her fluffy pink pyjamas, applying concealer to her skin. Yeah, he knew what concealer was, so what?

"Hey, dude," Mia chirps away, continuing to apply her makeup.

"Hey..." Zeke eyes her suspiciously. "Everything alright?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't it be?"

"I heard you groan before I came in..."

"Stubbed my toe," she answers automatically.

Zeke narrows his eyes. They travel to her head. "Why are you wearing a bucket hat?"

"Keeps my hair out the way," says Mia.

"Yeah, but don't you use hair ties for that? To keep it out the way of makeup?"

"Wow, look at you being such a makeup expert! Me and Jess have taught you well."

"Mia..." He says warningly. "Come here."

"Let me—" She holds her mascara up to her eyes. "Just a sec."

Zeke sighs, arms folding, waiting for her to be done. When she finished her makeup, she strides up to him with a smile. Still wearing her bucket hat.

"You're done your makeup, right?" He observes. "Can the hat not come off now?"

"Dude, what's your issue with this hat!"

"Nobody wears a bucket hat inside!"

"I like it!"

Zeke scoffs. "Well, it's done a pretty lousy job of keeping your hair inside, just look–"

He froze. His finger had merely flicked a strand of hair poking out, only for a slightly bigger chunk to fall out following that. Only, it didn't look like Mia's hair... Mia's hair went down to her waist, but this big strand barely reached her shoulders.

Mia froze too when the hair fell out. Oh shit, oh shit, I'm dead.

"Emilia Karoline Fossbaken," Zeke says slowly. "Please take off your bucket hat."

Mia knew she was truly screwed. So she gently takes off the bucket hat and when her blonde locks didn't cascade down, just dropped to her neck, Zeke's suspicions were confirmed. He puts a hand over his mouth.

"What happened?" He asks, this close to yelling.

"I had a hair crisis, okay?" She explains, but not really. "We're going to Hogwarts and I wanted to look hot but nothing made my hair look good and believe me when I say I tried every hair style, none of them worked! The scissors were just there it was an option and I panicked and I decided it's been so long since I had a haircut so I just did it. Oh my gosh, I messed up, I shouldn't have done this, I—"

"Relax, Mia." Zeke puts his hands on Mia's shoulders, immediately simmering, because it only made sense for one of them to panic at most. "What's done is done. There's no point panicking anymore. Hair grows back, it'll be fine."

"Really?" Mia frowns at his sudden turnover.

"Well, everyone will be shocked, because your hair was long. But they'll get used to it, and it'll be fine."

"You keep saying it'll be fine."

"Because it will. Hair grows back. Might take a bit of a while, but who knows, you might prefer it short by then. What won't be fine is if we miss this tour. If we do, well, Professor Dumbledore might not have us back in 'till next term."

Mia nods. She sighs and ruffles out her new short hair. "Tell me, Zeke. How does it look—honestly."

"Honestly?" says Zeke. "It doesn't look too bad. I think you'll start liking it."

She raises an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Yeah, I do." He smiles. "Get ready, pal. We don't have long to go."

Mia nods, already striding to her bed to gather her clothes. Before Zeke leaves, he hovers by her door.

"By the way?" He says, eyes darting to her outfit. "You should wear the leather jacket."

***
Part Three: Maximus August Fossbaken

***

     Max had no idea why Mia would always take so long getting ready. He's seen her do her makeup many times, she really doesn't take that long with it. He figures most of the time is spent panicking about what to wear and how to wear and how it looks and—

Max understood now.

When his twin descended the countless number of steps in their Manor, it was Mia, except, it wasn't. It looked like her, same face, same cheekbones, that blue floral dress and the Doc Martens and the leather jacket he's seen her wear before. Except, this girl's hair was short. Not even shoulder-length short. Neck-short, short-short, whatever you wanted to call it. Last time he saw her, her hair was long, the kind of long where she always ended up sitting on it at the dinner table. If there was blonde hair on the floor, you'd know it was Mia because no one in the family had hair that long. Now it wasn't long. It curled in ringlets like it always did, sure. But in very short ringlets. Her hair was short.

(She was also wearing a daisy bucket hat on top of a leather jacket and dress which made no sense to Max whatsoever.)

"Mia, your hair is short." Max states when she stands beside her, holding her composure.

"Wait, you're kidding?" Mia feigns a shocked expression before her face falls dead. "Well done for noticing, Maximus."

"So this is why you took so long?" Max raises an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"I messed up, that's what." She huffs, pulling a white bucket hat on top of her – very short – head of hair.

"I mean, you must be going for the intense look, aren't you?" He teases. "That leather jacket, mental-breakdown-hair... you're gonna make some impression at this school."

"Max, you—"

Mia attempts to smack her twin, only Max being slightly taller just has to duck his head out of the way.

"Nice try, Emilia." Max sighs, ruffling his own dirty blonde hair. Mia calls it his "douchebag hair". She groans, clearly not happy, and he puts his hands on her shoulders from behind, forcefully massaging her. "Look, Mia. You messed up. Own it. Honestly, it looks kinda cool if anything. It goes with the leather jacket."

She frowns. "Zeke suggested I wear it. I heard you had your own hair crisis?"

Max grins. "Well, at least mine managed to be averted without the use of scissors."

Mia points a finger in his face. "I am warning you, Maximus. Do not step over the line."

Max sniggers. "Where even is the douche? Was he not rounding us out a minute ago?"

Mia yells, "Ezekiel Adamson-Fossbaken, get your ass down here!"

     There was silence for a moment. And then a response

"My god, you two never fail to alert the entire house of your presence," groaning as she came out of the kitchen, the twins' twenty-year-old sister Jessica held a bowl of ice cream between her hands. Except when she saw Mia and her new look, her jaw drops.

"Mia!— I – you – your hair!" Jessica runs to the twins, gushing over her little sister's short blonde hair. Jessica had the same blonde hair as Mia, Max and their other brother Jack. Jessica on the other hand preferred to have hers long. Jessica puts her spare hand on Mia's shoulder. "Mia, I love it. I don't know how you suit a bob so well!"

"Um, you do?" Mia frowns, not expecting this at all. "Thanks, Jess."

Jessica grins at her and swats Max's hand away as he tries to reach for her ice cream spoon. "You're going for your Hogwarts tour, aren't you? Where's Zeke?"

"He went back to his room while me and Mia were getting ready," explains Max, "But he's not out yet. No idea what he's doing."

"You mean who," Jessica coughs into her bowl. Mia and Max turn their gazes on Jessica, eyes wide. "Did you not hear them last night? Zeke came home with some girl after the club and oh my god, they were so loud. Genuinely got no sleep. He's probably up there for round two."

Max gags. "That's fuckin' disgusting, Jess. What a douche. No wonder he keeps rushing us."

It's at that moment that the door to Zeke's bedroom flushes open and he stumbles out, re-doing the button at the top of his shirt, raven hair a tousled mess, skin flushed.

"We all ready to go, then?" He says, attempting a breathless smile, adjusting his sleeves. Mia, Max and Jessica were staring at him in disgust. Zeke frowns, "What?"

"Is she still up there?" Mia asks, eyebrows raised.

Zeke folds his lips on each other. Then sighs, "She just left. And her name is Lucie, for your information."

"Where'd she go? We're standing at the door?"

"She jumped out my window."

Zeke was pinned by three abhorrent looks once again. "What? I told Lucie to come out this way, but she heard all of you. You are loud, by the way. And judgemental. And she's a gymnast, so."

Mia and Jessica look at him, still unimpressed, but Max says, "A gymnast. At least your taste is improving."

Zeke scoffs and puts a hand on both Max and Mia's head each, pushing them out the door. "Time to go, children." As they get pushed out the door, Jessica yells a 'good luck!' and that she can't wait to see what house they get sorted into.

When they get outside, Zeke offers his brother and sister his arms, they take one each and in mere seconds, he Apparates them to Hogsmeade village. It was the first time either twin had come to the scenic village and gazing out to the many shops, the clothes shops, sweet shops, quidditch shops... it excited them that they'd get plenty of this while at Hogwarts. It made them think the decision to go to school here in Britain compared to Norway was a good one, because Norway and all the memories that they were fond of before, now grew to be sour.

So maybe a fresh start really was in order, despite them joining all the way in sixth year.

"What is the Sorting, anyways?" Max asks his brother, waiting for the carriage to arrive.

"Well, you know how all of us had houses at Hogwarts?" Zeke answers. "Like, Me and Willow were in Ravenclaw, Jess was Hufflepuff, Jack was Slytherin and Roman's a Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat basically puts you into your different houses."

"Wait," Mia says, "Hat?"

"Yeah," Zeke chuckles. "It's a Hat that does the Sorting. A really strange hat, mind you."

"Jack said..." Max says carefully, "He said some people treated him differently for the house he was in. That's Slytherin, isn't it? Why would people do that?"

Zeke nods slowly, frowning. "It's true. I remember Jack getting into fights all the time... the thing about Slytherin is that it's the house that's had most association with dark wizards. It's the house Voldemort was in. So, loads of people put a stigma onto the house, which is a shame, really. I knew a ton of great Slytherins. They value ambition and determination, resourcefulness. Which aren't bad qualities whatsoever. It's the person you are that matters, rather than what tie they wear. I want you guys to remember that. And that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being sorted into Slytherin, if you are."

Zeke grins down at Max and Mia, a hand on each of their shoulders. Just then, the carriage they were awaiting was seen coming down the slope towards the three of them, waiting at the exit of Hogsmeade. They were being pulled by obsidian, scaly, horse-like creatures they all knew as Thestrals. As Mia strokes one and Max taps the other's scale, Zeke gives a sad smile to his stepsiblings.

"Forgot you two could also see them," he says.

Max and Mia look at him, unsure of what to say.

"I suppose that's my cue, then." says Zeke to the twins. "I'll be waiting in Hogsmeade for when you finish your tour."

"What'll you do in all this time?" asks Mia, frowning.

Zeke grins. "I'm gonna grab a pint or two at The Three Broomsticks, that's what."

Max and Mia roll their eyes. "Make sure you're not drinking and Apparating, dude."

"Would I ever?" Zeke grins. "See you later. Good luck. Tell Roman and Jack I said hi if you see them." Zeke tells them.

"Thanks," says Mia.

"See you in a bit," says Max.

With that, Max and Mia clambered into the open-top carriage, giving their brother a wave in parting. The bumpy ride up to the castle of Hogwarts was honestly stunning, given the beautiful Scottish Highlands weather, the sun shining over the ripples of the Great Lake where many students were seeing swimming in. Students playing enchanted frisbee, flying kites... Both Mia and Max's face had lit up when they saw the abundance of students flying in the quidditch place.

When the carriage begun to draw to a halt, Max and Mia saw a stout woman with curly grey hair and a pointy hat standing at the front of the castle gates. She smiles when Mia and Max leave the carriage, Mia giving one final stroke to the Thestral before it went away.

"You must be Emilia and Maximus Fossbaken," the woman says, beckoning them forth. "My name is Professor Sprout. I am Head of Hufflepuff house."

"Call me Mia, please." says Mia.

"Max." He adds.

"Absolutely," says Professor Sprout. "Follow me: I'm going to take you to Professor Dumbledore's office to be Sorted."

Before they go in, Max nudges Mia. He noticed she was still wearing her bucket hat. "Hey, lose the hat." She frowns. He adds, "Remember what I said about 'owning it'?"

Mia purses her lips in thought. Then nods, and her hands remove the bucket hat and lets it hang by her side. Max gives her a smile as she shakes out her shortened blonde ringlets.

Max and Mia follow the stout woman – Professor Sprout – into the castle, far too in awe of the grandiose structure of Hogwarts to be paying attention to what the teacher was saying, heads swivelling all around them as they took in the ancient architecture. Stuff about the castle's founding and the four Founders, describing the four Houses, mentioning the letters they'll receive nearer to the start of term and how since they just joined, they'll receive instructions on how they can pick their N.E.W.T subjects.

Professor Sprout even said their surname was familiar, so Mia explained, "Our stepsiblings are Willow, Zeke and Roman Adamson-Fossbaken, our other siblings are Jessica and Jack Fossbaken. They've all left apart from Roman," to which Professor Sprout said, "Oh, I've met them all them! Roman's even in my current Herbology class, he's a cheeky one."

They both thought Professor Sprout seemed nice.

"Hey, you dropped your hat—!"

They turn to see a girl they'd just walked past, with stunning wavy auburn hair, start walking up to Mia. She was wearing a navy blue blouse and denim shorts and it's there that they can see a thick boot around one of her legs only, thinking it's probably to do with something medical, because she was also limping as she came up to Mia.

"Here you go," the girl says handing the hat to Mia, dusting it off and looking at the daisy emblem. She grins. "I love your hat, by the way."

Mia smiles. "Thanks. I love your hair."

"Awe, thanks!"

The girl starts walking back but gives Mia a small wave in parting, and Mia and Max see her walk over to a taller boy with glasses and dark hair, who put his arms around her shoulder. He says to her, "That was a nice hat," to which she deadpanned, "Harry Potter, don't you even think about it." He responded, "Nah, that's way too normal of a hat for you," and Mia finds herself smiling when she prods him in the ribs.

"Wait," Mia stops, realising what the girl called the boy. She shares a look with Max, jobs a thumb behind them and asks, "That was Harry Potter?"

"I suppose so," Max agrees, eyes trailing the couple walking away, because neither twin had ever seen the famous Boy Who Lived in person. The thought swimming in their minds, they continued to follow Professor Sprout

The three, after walking up and down many flights of inter-changing steps – which still amazed them more than anything – they reach a gargoyle statue.

"Sherbet lemon," Professor Sprout tells the gargoyle, which swivels upon those two words to reveal a hidden staircase. The teacher smiles at them and motions for them to go up, which they do, and once they reached the top, their expectations of the place had soared above and beyond.

Headmaster Dumbledore's office was massive. It was a tower in itself, the ceiling ascending, ascending, ascending, to a depth neither Fossbaken twin had expected. All around the walls were massive portraits of what they thought were the previous headmasters to have occupied this space, and of those who were awake and attentive, their eyes obscured in on the two blonde twins. There was a fireplace that would probably be used as a Floo Network, a cabinet with a bluish glow emanating from within, many ancient trinkets and tables and strange but magnificent objects, and an enormous book collection. On one shelf, there was an old hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," a voice boomed over the quiet room, breaking Mia and Max from their neck-twisting trance. They turn to find a man with a very large grey beard and silver robes standing at the chair by his desk, giving them a brief smile.

"Hello," Max and Mia say in unison.

"You must be the Fossbaken twins," the man with the large beard says. "I am Headmaster Dumbledore."

"I'm Max," says Max.

"I'm Mia," says Mia.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," says Headmaster Dumbledore. He looks at Professor Sprout. "Thank you for bringing them up, Pomona," to which she bashfully smiled and said a "no problem, Headmaster".

Dumbledore looks at Max and Mia. "I trust Professor Sprout has explained most of the rules and information regarding Hogwarts?"

They both nod.

"Perfect," says Dumbledore. "Then we shall be able to get on with the Sorting then." He walks over to the shelf and plucks the old, dusty hat that they noticed earlier. "This is the Sorting Hat. It will sort you into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Once you are Sorted this shall be your house for the remainder of your time here at Hogwarts." He shakes the hat of its' dust, then says, "So, who would like to go first?"

Mia and Max look at each other. One small twitch of the eye told Mia that Max didn't, so she steps forth.

"I will," she says.

"Very well, Miss Fossbaken." Dumbledore places the floppy had atop Mia's head and the moment it rests there, the tip of the hat jumps up, startling Max. But it stays up, like it's been awoken, or rejuvenated. For the first time in his life, Max cannot read his twin like he usually can. Her mouth is moving, but he can't hear any words. Her expressions are moving and while it looks like mostly confusion, he doesn't think that's it, not entirely.

Five or six minutes pass with Mia under the Sorting Hat and he can't believe his ears when the Hat yells out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Mia grins as she moves back to Max. "I got Jess's house!"

     Max smiles.

Dumbledore then beckons Max forward, and he's holding his breath as the Hat is put on him, and he jolts uncomfortably when a snarling voice above him says:

Maximus August Fossbaken.

"Holy fuck—"

Max's eyes dash around, hoping he wasn't loud—

Don't worry, Maximus. No one heard your obscenities. Just I.

Squinting his eyes, he questions, "You, being...?"

The Sorting Hat.

No fucking way. The Hat really can –

Speak, that I can, Maximus. And have been doing for hundreds of years.

"It's Max."

You are the twin brother Emilia Fossbaken spoke about, no? One of many Fossbaken siblings to have attended Hogwarts.

"I didn't hear her talk about me or our family."

Why, boy, no one did. There is a Muffliato charm around this Hat. Now, tell me, which of your siblings is your favourite? I have Sorted them all, would you believe it.

"I'm not going to choose that."

Are you so sure of that, Max? You have so many. Willow and Zeke, the clever oldest children. Jessica, the bubbly mediwitch. Jack, the arrogant, careless boy who left Hogwarts by the skin of his teeth. Your twin Mia, Hufflepuff's latest edition. Or Roman, the cheeky youngster, always in some kind of trouble.

Who is it, Maximus?

"I told you to call me Max."

It's Emilia, isn't it? The one you've known since before birth.

Max grits his teeth. "Of... of course it is. They're all amazing, but Mia is the only one who's been there with me through everything."

Yes, yes, I thought so. She's been through a lot with you. An unbreakable sibling bond. Speaking of... why did you choose to leave your school in Norway? In fifth year, especially. What made you come to Hogwarts?

"Why are you asking me the questions? You've already read my mind before, why not be satisfied with your answer there?"

Now, where's the fun in that?

Max groans internally. "What use does it have with what house I will be sorted into?"

Everything, boy. Everything. I need to find your deepest desires, ambitions... where your loyalties lie. Your morals. Say, your father is a world-renowned Quidditch player, is he not?

"He is."

And your opinion on Quidditch?

"I adore Quidditch. It's my most favourite thing in the world."

You and your twin are very alike, so you are. Will you be trying out for the quidditch team of whatever house I Sort you into?

"That depends on if you choose to Sort me or to keep chatting."

Oh, would you look at that. I appear to have pushed a button. My bad.

"Not a problem. I'd just like to be Sorted soon, please."

In good time, Max. Now, riddle me this. If I sort you into a different house than your twin, would that sit well with you?

"Um... I wouldn't mind." says Max, speaking as he thinks. "Mia and I may be similar, but we are also very different. Hufflepuff is a good house for her. She is patient and she cares violently for her friends, her family. She ends up being a little impulsive at times, but it always seems to work out for her. Like her haircut. Mia is a ray of sunshine, but she's also ambitious, and I have no doubt she will try out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

"We may be twins but something we've always understood about each other is that we have different paths. We're always going to have different paths, but it's not a bad thing. She's my twin and I love her and want her to pursue everything she wants and more."

And what do you want, Max?

Max pauses. What does he want?

"I want Hogwarts to be the place for me." He tells the Hat. "I want to find the same home and the same happiness each of my siblings have found here. I want to belong somewhere, to fulfil my potential. I didn't belong in Norway, and part of me blames it on myself because I didn't move soon enough. I want to be happy here. I haven't felt true happiness in so long."

The Sorting Hat fell quiet for a moment. Max thought he broke it, somehow. Then came its taunting voice. But it wasn't taunting him this time.

Will you ever be ready to talk about Norway, Max?

Max thinks. And he doesn't answer the question. He's very shocked to hear the Sorting Hat move on and not pester him when that's all it had been doing.

Very well, then. A pleasure to meet a Fossbaken, as always.

And then all of a sudden, the Hat booms across the room, "SLYTHERN!"

Everything stalls for a moment, once Headmaster Dumbledore removes the Hat from his head. Their entire conversation replays over in Max's head, trying to make sense of the stuff the Hat said, trying to make sense of it being a Hat.

All that he came back with was that he's now a Slytherin.

Same house as his brother Jack. Who the Sorting Hat called arrogant and careless. Max could not help but agree with the Hat in some ways... sure, maybe Jack had no motivations. But education wasn't for everyone, and it does not define you either.

So, Max is happy at being Sorted into Slytherin. Despite what people may think of the house, it's like Zeke had said. It's the person you are, not the tie you wear. And Max was looking forward to showing Slytherin house the person he is.

"Well done!" Mia engulfs Max in a hug, squeezing him long enough that he managed to hug her back. She pulls away, smiling brightly. "We are officially students of Hogwarts."

"Congratulations, both of you," says Dumbledore with a smile. "In a moment Professor Sprout will bring in your respective house Prefects. They'll give you a tour of the school and the Hufflepuff dorms, Emilia, and the Slytherin dorms for you, Maximus."

A few minutes later, Professor Sprout re-entered the Headmaster's office with a boy and a girl in tow. They were wearing their school robes and from the amount of people he saw in their summer clothes, Max figured they were obliged to look professional for the tour.

Professor Sprout introduces the girl as the Hufflepuff Prefect to Mia and the boy turned out to be the Slytherin Prefect.

"Hey, dude," the Slytherin Prefect greets Max, holding a fist out to bump with Max's. He can see Mia already laughing along with the Hufflepuff prefect. So easy. "I'm Adrian Pucey. Maximus Fossbaken, right?"

Max nods, bumping their fists together. Adrian seemed cool, with his dark hair and tall, athletic build. He was wearing black and green robes which Max would be wearing after the holidays.

"Call me Max."

"Maximus sounds way cooler, though!" Adrian smiles. "Nah, no worries, Max. C'mon, I'll show you to the Slytherin common room and then the rest of the school. See if we can get you to meet some people."

Max nods, "I'm cool with that."

"Awesome." Adrian starts leading him down the stairs after they bade Professors Dumbledore and Sprout goodbye. Max and Mia wave at each other too. The Slytherin Prefect frowns upon remembering something. "Max... your last name is Fossbaken, right?"

"It is," Max replies. He knows where this is headed.

"Wait – no way. You have, like, ten siblings, right?"

Max sniggers. "Six, including my twin. Three stepsiblings and three from my dad's first marriage as well as me."

"Hang on a second... you're Jack Fossbaken's brother, right? He's in the year above me!"

"So you're going into seventh year?"

"Yup." Adrian grimaces slightly, "And – no offence, but the whole reason I'm in this tour is so I can get a step ahead to win Head Boy. None of the other house prefects wanted to do it aside from Hazel, your twin's guide."

"I don't blame you," Max tells him.

Adrian grins at him. "So, your dad is crazy good at Quidditch, right?"

Max smiles fondly. "Yeah. Plays for the Norwegian National Team and everything. Just got transferred to Puddlemere United, though."

"So he did," Adrian recalls. "Man, that's amazing. What about you? Do you fancy your hand at quidditch?"

"It's my most favourite thing in the entire world," answers Max with no hesitation, just as he did to the Sorting Hat.

"Incredible... you know, Slytherin has their own Quidditch team, and a lot of our core players are gonna be trashed next season, I think. You should totally try out for Slytherin."

"As a matter of fact..." The thought felt sweet as honey in the eyes of Max. He gives Adrian Pucey a slight excited grin. "I think I will."

***

***

introducing...

phoebe tonkin as alanna sandberg-whittaker

olivia holt as mia fossbaken

otto farrant as max fossbaken

***

hey guys omg!!!

hope you enjoyed this chapter i'm gonna be honest i actually LOVED writing this one like,, it was sm fun introducing the new characters!!! (the sorting hat dialogue??? i enjoyed myself with that BYE)

alanna is going to be the star of a george weasley fic (guess who she connected eyes with hehe wink wink) that's gonna be released alongside part two. I am so excited to write her story and i have so much planned for that fic so I hope you guys join me in my george weasley fic when it's released!!!

mia and max, they're characters I had created a long while ago for a fic I thought I'd be able to release but I genuinely have so much on my plate atm, so it was a decision of mine to incorporate them into this fic and in the next book we will see much more of the fossbaken twins!!!

(also, their castings??? marry me every one of you. especially you otto farrant i'm LOOKING AT YOU)

another thing omfg... this fic hit 100k views... WHAT. THE. FUCK?????
i am genuinely so thankful and so grateful for every single one of you that votes and comments, takes the time out for this fic. genuinely adore all of you for supporting me <3

also for a laugh,, here's my actual live reaction to seeing that 100k plz

plz ignore how bad I look in that, isolation do be taking its toll on me 💀💀them eye bags golly

so anyways. there's one chapter left of this book and an epilogue too (some bonus content as well <3) so please stick around!!! uni starts next week and i'm gonna be loaded with the lab report i still gotta do so no promises when the next chapter will be ojt, but once again, thank you for being so patient with me ily guys 💕💕💕