A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for all the kind reviews, suggestions, and the follows! I'm really grateful and hope this chapter is worth the wait.


Year Two

As soon as their uncle disappeared into Knockturn Alley, Chrono and Aion ran down the streets and towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. Well, more like Aion dragged Chrono with him to the Quidditch shop, anxious to buy a servicing kit for his brand new Nimbus 2001 broomstick.

While Chrono would never, in his right mind, play Quidditch, he enjoyed watching it as much as the next wizard. But he'd much rather go meet Rosette since it had taken them forever to go back and forth in their letters to coordinate a time and place to meet and buy their school supplies together.

"You're gonna get caught," Aion said loftily from the other side of the shelf, looking at handle polish.

"No I'm not," Chrono grumbled, averting his eyes to the floor.

He heard Aion make an exasperated sound. "What's so great about her anyway? I mean, she's just a muggle-born."

"So? She's…different…"

"What the heck does that mean?"

Chrono felt his cheeks burning. "It's…She's just my friend, that's all. Along with Azmaria."

"Why can't you be friends with other Slytherins?" They met at the end of the aisle, violet meeting red eyes.

"Why are you friends with Genai and Viede?"

"What's wrong with them?" Aion gave him a knowing look, silently prodding him for an answer.

Chrono glared back defiantly. "They're assholes."

Aion burst out laughing and only calming down enough when he reached the front counter to pay for his kit.

"Yes, they are. But don't change the subject. Gryffindors are one thing but a Gryffindor who's a mudbl-"

"Don't say it," Chrono growled, shoving Aion in the shoulder.

"I'm not calling her that—"

"I don't care. Just don't say that word."

Aion gave him a funny look as if he'd just made a bad joke. Chrono didn't back down. He'd been biting his tongue all summer, forced to hear their uncle go on and on about "mudblood" this and "mudblood" that.

As soon as they left the store, Chrono wasted no time in heading off to Flourish and Blotts, glad to be out of that conversation.

~0~0~

Rosette's parents seemed to know who he was before he'd even introduced himself. Everything about them looked like pictures of muggles he'd seen in books and he was trying to figure out which parent she looked like the most. She had her mom's rounded face but her dad's nose and smile. Her whole family was blonde.

She hadn't changed much, except for her hair being longer and pulled back in a ponytail today. And then there was her brother, Joshua, who could've passed for her twin if he didn't have first year textbooks tucked under his arms.

But now he could see where she got her warmth and natural joy from. Even though she tried to act like she was embarrassed by them, he could tell she was close with all of them in different ways.

"Let's go meet Az before they start asking you about what university you want to go to," she groaned, grabbing him by the wrist.

"University?"

"I wanna come!" Joshua whined.

"No way!" Rosette argued. "I'll be seeing enough of you at school anyway."

"Mooooom! Rosette's being a brat!"

"Now, Joshua, we need to get the rest of your school supplies. Let Rosette and Chrono have their alone time," Mrs. Christopher said slyly.

"Oh my god, Mom!" Rosette cried, marching away.

Chrono was glad she was walking ahead of him so she couldn't see him blushing for the second time within the last hour. If she did happen to turn around, he would lie and say it was the heat beating down on him.

Yeah, that's all it was.

Azmaria was waiting for them at the ice cream parlor with a large banana fudge sundae and three spoons.

"I've missed you both so much!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to pull them into a close hug.

"How was your summer, Az?" Chrono asked, sliding into a chair.

"Oh, nothing too exciting. Just helping Mum and Dad out at the Broomsticks as usual. I can't wait to take you guys there next year!"

"What d'ya mean next year?" Rosette asked through a mouthful of ice cream.

Chrono slapped his forehead when he realized he'd forgotten how bad her table manners could be.

"Oh shut up," she told him, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

He smirked, "I didn't even say anything."

"So? I know you're judging me, you jerk."

"You're a jerk," he shot back.

"Your face!"

They could've gone at it for another ten minutes but Azmaria's laughter interrupted them.

"How cute! You guys missed each other!"

Rosette scoffed, spraying Chrono's shirt with faint drips of ice cream, "Not even!"

Chrono just rolled his eyes and wiped his shirt off.

~0~0~

Now that they were second years, Chrono, Rosette, Azmaria didn't have to ride the boats across the lake but instead came to a coarse mud track where hundreds of stagecoaches were parked, each one tethered to a large, fleshless horse with lifeless glossy eyes and black leathery wings. Torn between disgust and wonder, Chrono slowly approached one of the creatures only to jump back when it snorted at him, curling its lips back over its jagged fangs.

"Chrono, what are you doing? Hurry up!" Rosette demanded, sticking her head out the coach window.

"Hold on, Rosette, look at this thing," he said, unable to take his eyes off the zombie-looking horse.

"Look at what?" Rosette asked impatiently.

"Don't you see this horse…thing?"

She shook her head slowly, giving him a look that told him she thought he was going crazy.

"Chrono…the carriages are pulled by magic. We go to a magic school, remember?" she said to him as if he were four years old.

He glared at her, starting to get annoyed. "I'm telling you these monsters are right here!" he barked.

"And I'm telling you I don't see anything. Now get your butt in here so we can go," she snapped back at him.

Her face alone told him he couldn't convince her otherwise so with an exasperated noise from his throat he climbed into the carriage.

~0~0~

"This is a bad idea!"

"Quit whining! We won't be out here that long."

"Why didn't you ask Az to help you?"

Rosette snorted. "Have you seen her throw? Here."

She slapped a handful of golf balls into his hand and mounted her Nimbus 2000 broomstick. With a resigned sigh, he crossed the field and climbed his way to the top of the stands. She met him up there, floating in the air, ready for action.

For the next half-hour, he was throwing golf balls as hard as he could in every direction and Rosette shot after them like a bullet, catching every single one.

"Wow! She's really good!" exclaimed a voice behind him.

Startled, Chrono spun around and saw a girl clapping her hands excitedly. Her long, pale hair was pulled back into a plaited ponytail and there was something both delicate and lively about her. He wondered just how long she'd been watching them.

"Er, yeah she is," he said.

"Are you friends?" she asked.

"Yeah, we are. But…um, who are you?"

The girl extended her hand, still smiling. "I'm Mary. Mary Magdalene—"

"Chrono! You're supposed to be helping me. What are you—"

Rosette landed at his side and dismounted her broom, looking between him and this strange Mary girl.

"Sorry to interrupt," Mary said, "I just like to come out here sometimes to watch the sunset. Isn't it amazing?"

She indicated the dipping sun behind purple, blue and gold clouds. They all stared at it for a moment before Rosette turned back to Mary.

"What house are you?" she asked.

"Ravenclaw." She held her hand out again and they both took turns shaking it, which caused a gasp to escape her throat.

A blank look fell over her eyes and she fell completely silent. Rosette and Chrono exchanged confused looks with each other before Rosette leaned forward and snapped her fingers under Mary's nose.

Mary jumped awake.

"Oh! Sorry, did I space out?" she said.

"Yeah, kind of," Chrono answered.

"Sorry," she apologized again. "Well, I'll let you get back to practicing. It was nice meeting you, Chrono. Rosette."

She spun on her heel and started down the stairs only to stop and call back over her shoulder.

"Before I go," she began.

"Yeah?" said Chrono.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you…you guys should really name her Ian."

Rosette and Chrono just stared at her but she didn't elaborate and simply waved goodbye. As soon as she was gone, Rosette blurted out,

"What a weirdo."

"She seemed alright," he said, chuckling awkwardly. "Wanna keep practicing?"

Rosette shook her head. "Nah, it's getting late anyway." With a sigh, she plopped herself down in the nearest seat. "Watch the rest of the sunset with me?"

He grinned and sat next to her, finally feeling like his return to Hogwarts was officially complete.

~0~0~

Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of the few classes where Chrono sat with Aion on the Slytherin side of the room instead of with Rosette. Even though he enjoyed the subject well enough, he always found himself getting distracted by the girly giggles coming from the Gryffindor side. Every time he glanced over there, he'd see Rosette and Azmaria huddled close together with the other girls staring dreamily at their professor, Ewan Remington. He was a young, handsome and well-built blonde man with piercing blue eyes that never hesitated to throw a wink at his female students.

The Slytherin girls were the exact same way but Chrono never seemed to hear them as his stomach turned into a gnawing beast whenever Remington awarded Rosette three points for her "very impressive work ethic and enthusiasm." Or whenever Rosette gushed about how brilliant he was when they were working on homework and always tried to find an excuse to drop by his office hours to go over course material.

"Good afternoon, everyone. How are all of you?"

Remington entered and set his briefcase on his desk, smiling at them. As always, he was impeccably dressed in dark robes and not a strand of hair was out of place. Chrono, his cheek propped against his fist, joined all the other boys in rolling their eyes when they heard the familiar giggles break out across the room.

"Please pull out your textbooks and turn to page four-thirty. We'll be going over grindylows today," he continued, "would anyone care to guess as to what a grindylow is?"

Like always, Rosette's was the first hand in the air.

"A grindylow is a water demon that can trap its victims in a tight grip. The only known spell to work against it is a Revulsion Jinx," she recited.

"Excellent, Rosette! Five points."

The familiar gnawing beast came back to Chrono as watched her blush and temporarily bask in the jealousy of the other girls.

"Like Rosette said, a Revulsion Jinx will repel the grindylow—"

"They're also domesticated by merpeople!" Chrono blurted out suddenly.

The room fell silent for a moment before Remington cleared his throat. "Very good, Chrono, that's also true. Five points to Slytherin," he said.

Then Rosette's hand shot up in the air again. "A grindylow's diet also consists of fish, algae, and small creatures," she said.

"Yes, Rosette, good poi—"

"But they will eat humans which is why they're a class two dark creature," said Chrono.

"They're found in lakes in Ireland and—"

"Rosette! Chrono! Good work, both of you," Remington laughed, stopping their competition. "Take another ten points each for coming to class prepared. And since you're both so on top of things today, you can be partners for the next part of the lesson."

Rosette and Chrono exchanged looks from across the room.

Remington continued: "Everyone else, find a partner and let's finish taking notes."

As everyone shuffled around to follow instructions, Aion elbowed Chrono in the side.

"What the heck was that all about?" he demanded. "Are you that desperate to sit with your ickle girlfriend?"

But before Chrono could splutter out a comeback or a strongly-worded insult, Aion went off to partner up with Viede and Rosette was now standing in front of him.

"I already prepared my notes for the day," she told him proudly, brandishing said notes. "Oi! Give it back!"

Something caught his eye on the parchment and he snatched it from her.

He gave her a weird look. "Why have you got little hearts drawn around Remington's name?"

"N-None of your business!" she squeaked, her face turned bright red.

She took back her notes and quickly sat down.

He just shook his head, thinking to himself:

Girls are so weird…

~0~0~

It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin for the first match of the year. Rosette was the Seeker for Gryffindor and Aion, the Seeker for the latter.

The cheering and screaming filled Chrono's ears as the players on the stadium took flight. The match had begun. He had a hard time keeping up with the players as they zoomed around at high speeds. The most he really had to go on was Damon Youngblood's commentary and the scores being called out.

"Gryffindor leads forty to ten and Treadaway has the Quaff—oh! Not anymore—"

"What's going on?" Azmaria yelled as loud as she could over the crowd, "I can hardly keep up!"

"Treadaway had the Quaffle, but Hale from Slytherin stole it! I think Smith has it now!" Joshua yelled back his face was glowing with fiery excitement.

Chrono wasn't surprised given how he'd seen the younger Christopher read Quidditch Through the Ages four times already. He probably knew as much about Quidditch as if he'd grown up in the wizarding world.

"Either way, we've gotta win because Rosette's has a Nimbus Two Thousand, which is a lot better than—"

"Aion's got a Two Thousand and One!" Chrono cried. To his amusement, Joshua's face dropped with surprise, but then he turned his attention back to the sky even though he knew he'd have no idea about what was going on despite Youngblood's announcement that"Gryffindor still leads with sixty to ten!"

Then he spotted two speeding figures chasing after a little golden flicker.

"C'mon, Rosette! C'mon Aion!" he heard himself shout at the top of his lungs.

Both Aion and Rosette seemed to be evenly matched in speed and determination.

They both gradually closed in on the Golden Snitch with their arms outstretched, Rosette at a more capable reach…

The Bludger came out of nowhere smashed into the front end of her Nimbus. Everything after that happened in slow motion:

Her broom went spinning out of control, jerking extremely hard from one side to the next.

She lost her grip on the handle and slid off entirely.

She fell.

And fell.

After what seemed like an eternity, she hit the ground

~0~0~

While entire house of Slytherin was celebrating their victory in the dungeons, Chrono sat with Joshua, Azmaria, and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team in the hospital wing anxiously waiting for Rosette to open her eyes. She had a few bruises, a particularly bad cut on her forehead which the nurse had already bandaged up, but would otherwise be fine.

So why the hell won't she wake up? He wanted to scream.

He thought he'd been faking his calm exterior pretty well but when Azmaria gently placed her hand on top of his, he saw that his fists were clenched so tightly into the fabric of his jeans that his knuckles were glaringly pale compared to his tanned skin.

He gave her a grateful smile even though his worries were far from gone.

"She's waking up!" Joshua cried, which earned him a sharp 'sh!' from the nurse.

Chrono and Azmaria immediately jumped forward to watch their friend's eyes gently flutter open.

"Rosette! Thank goodness!" Azmaria exclaimed.

"Where am I?" Rosette asked dizzily.

"The hospital wing," Chrono answered. He gently laid an ice pack on her forehead.

"Did we win?"

No one answered right away which was a dead giveaway, making her groan miserably.

"What was the score?"

"Er, one hundred sixty to sixty," said Nichol Treadaway, the team captain.

"Are you serious?!" she cried. She shot up in her bed a little too quickly that a wave of pain and nausea hit her.

Even though she was across the room, the nurse instantly reacted and came over with a potion which she practically force-fed to the stubborn blonde. And then she rounded on the rest of the students. "Everyone out! Now!"

"I'm fine!" Rosette protested.

But the nurse ignored her and shooed them all out.

~0~0~

"Do you want me to get Madame Leibler?"

"No. Sheesh, Chrono, you're worse than my mom!"

"Yeah, and wait till I tell her and Dad what happened," Joshua chirped mischievously.

"Don't even think about it, Joshua!" Rosette growled menacingly.

"But what am I gonna tell them in my letter? They're gonna want to know how you're first game went."

"Then tell them about how awesome I was!"

Joshua made air quotes with his fingers. "You mean how you 'awesomely' fell off your broom?"

"Shut up! And 'awesomely' is a stupid word."

But he was already scribbling away on the parchment in his lap. "Dear Mom and Dad, Rosette awesomely fell off her broom in her first quidditch game. She still has dirt stuck in her teeth," he read dramatically.

"Why you little—"

She lunged for him but instead nearly fell over when her body reminded how sore she still was. Chrono caught her just in time by the shoulders and pushed her back onto her pillow.

"Lay down, dummy, or you're gonna hurt yourself even worse," he said.

Rosette moaned. "They're gonna kick me off the team, aren't they?"

"No way! You're a great Seeker and it was just your first game!" Azmaria insisted quickly. "I'm sure Nichol will give you another chance."

Rosette didn't look convinced as she reached for her ice pack. But she hissed in pain, clutching it tightly.

"What's wrong?" Chrono asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just sore so maybe I sprained it or something."

He frowned, not totally convinced but didn't push the issue. Besides, Madame Leibler had said she'd be fine by Monday morning.

~0~0~

It was too bad the rest of the school didn't share Azmaria's optimism when Monday did finally come.

If it wasn't one of the Gryffindors giving Rosette a hard time about losing to Slytherin, it was the Slytherins cheering her on for putting them at least three hundred house points ahead of everyone else.

And Rosette's temper certainly didn't help Gryffindor's standing especially when Professor Valentine caught her threatening to hex her tormentors into oblivion and back.

"Maybe that's why they don't let mudbloods play Quidditch, Christopher!"

Genai had stepped forward with his usual haughty expression with Aion and Viede not far behind, neither opening their mouths.

He was waiting at the end of the corridor as Chrono and Rosette approached the throng of Gryffindor and Slytherin students waiting outside of the Transfiguration classroom.

The onlookers fell silent immediately as the scene unfolded before them, the only one guffawing was Viede. Feeling a rush of heat to his face, Chrono chanced a look at Aion, who was staring right back at him with unreadable eyes. Chrono didn't know whether or not he was angry at his brother for not adding to Genai's comment.

However, he grabbed Rosette's arm before she could attempt to strangle Genai, and pulled her into a small alcove.

"Ow!"

She wrenched herself free and cradled her arm painfully the same way she had last week.

"Your arm's still hurting you?" he asked, "you really should go back to see Madame Leibler."

"No way! Practice is in two days and we've got to win our next game!" she argued.

"But a sprain shouldn't last this long, Rosette."

She didn't answer, pursing her lips tightly. Chrono frowned—it wasn't possible he had won an argument against her this fast.

"Rosette…"

"It's broken," she muttered.

"What?!"

She sighed and continued. "It hasn't stopped hurting and I can't even use my wand anymore."

"You've been walking around all week with a broken arm!" he snapped harshly.

It came out more severe than he meant and even she looked stunned. It didn't help that he suddenly remembered the moments he had noticed her wand movements looking awkward in class. Now he wanted to kick himself for not even realizing that she had switched hands days ago.

"I wasn't sure until last night when I had trouble sleeping. But I think I found a solution. Reach into my bag, will you?"

With an agitated sigh, he carefully helped her slide her bag off her shoulder. He pulled out a large textbook with a dog-eared page.

"Bone Repair Antidote?" he read the title. "I don't know…"

"I can do this, Chrono. Most of the ingredients are on our supplies list."

"Yeah, but this is fifth year level stuff."

"Well, I'm not gonna wait until fifth year to fix my arm!"

He wanted to tell her to go back to the hospital wing but knew it was pointless. Her mind was already made up.

"Ok…fine. But we're going to need some help."

~0~0~

"Eye of newt?"

"Check."

"Banshee mucus?"

"Check."

"Powdered salamander spleen?"

"Check, but I do have one question, Shader."

The cat-eared Ravenclaw looked up from the bubbling cauldron, her glasses fogged over. "Yeah?"

"Do I even want to know how you found this place?" Chrono asked, looking around the abandoned girls' bathroom.

It was a rather depressing place lit only by stubs of candles with their glow reflecting off the damp floors. Underneath a large, cracked mirror was a row of chipped sinks and the wooden doors to the stalls were scratched and flaking, one door barely hanging on its hinges.

Just the fact that it was a girls' bathroom made him feel weird about being here. He just hoped the OUT OF ORDER sign on the door outside was enough to keep someone from barging in on them.

Shader tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"Weeeell, I found it by accident in my first year 'cause I really had to pee. But then I realized it was a great place to work on my potions. Don't worry, no one ever comes in here!"

"And why is that?" Rosette asked skeptically, placing her good hand on her hip.

"Because it's haunted. A little girl died here," Shader whispered that last part.

Chrono and Rosette gulped but she quickly assured them, "Relax! Alc is really nice. And Strauss and Barney get along great."

Barney being her pet cat who was currently purring in Chrono's lap as he chewed on the boy's shoelaces.

Before either Chrono or Rosette could ask who she was talking about, one of the toilets started gurgling.

Then Barney leapt out of Chrono's lap to chase around a silvery and semitransparent kitten.

Rosette squealed in surprise as a shiver suddenly overcame her like she'd just stepped out of a freezer. At the same time, a little girl with cropped hair and lifeless eyes floated into view. She had on Hogwarts robes like they did and still had her pointy hat on.

Chrono could only stare at him in amazement even though he knew he should've been used to all the ghosts hanging around the castle.

"Hi, Alc! How are you today?" Shader greeted her cheerfully.

"I'm fine," Alc replied softly. "You brought visitors."

She glanced over Rosette and Chrono with very little interest. They both gave tiny waves.

"Yep! These are my friends." Shader turned off the fire under the cauldron and gave the clear blue liquid a final stir. She ladled a spoonful into a goblet. "Bottoms up, Rosette!"

"Must be nice to have friends and to be alive," Alc commented monotonously as she watched Rosette hold her nose to swallow the potion in one gulp. "My only friend stopped visiting me years ago."

But no one was really paying attention to her as they watched Rosette's arm start glowing a faded blue before going back to normal.

"I think it worked!" she exclaimed, flexing her arm.

"Excellent!" Shader cheered. "Looks like you'll be ready for your next quidditch game after all."

"You bet! And this time, we'll cream those slimy Slytherins. Er, no offense, Chrono," she added quickly.

He shot her a half-hearted glare. "None taken," he said flatly.

By the time, they had finished cleaning up everything and said goodbye to Alc and Strauss it was dinnertime. Right before Chrono stepped into the Great Hall, Rosette tugged his arm to make him turn around.

"What?"

She bit her lip and seemed to be choosing her next words carefully.

"Thanks again, Chrono," she said finally.

Before he could tell her it was no big deal, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Wha—"

He gave her a dazed look which made her snort with laughter before she glided into the Great Hall. He soon did the same and sat down at Slytherin table with a goofy grin spread across his face the whole time.

~0~0~

One of the best thing about Christmas at Hogwarts, Chrono and Aion soon found out, was having the entire common room to themselves where they settled in the cushy armchairs by the fire to open their presents.

Azmaria had given him The Spells of Champions which contained information on the winning spells dueling champions had used during tournaments.

Shader had given him a set of sample potions that she brewed herself. There was also a note that one of them would explode if he dropped it but she couldn't remember which one it was. He carefully put the potions off to the side.

His uncle, who was away on business in Russia, had sent him and Aion silver and green mokeskin pouches which could only be opened if the correct Russian phrases was spoken.

And lastly, Rosette had given him a burgundy beanie which she had knit herself, and a box of Christmas cookies she and her mom had baked. This one also came with a note but it was from Joshua.

Don't eat the Christmas tree cookies!

"Ooooh, did your girlfriend make these for you?" Aion cooed, grinning wickedly.

He grabbed one of the Christmas tree cookies and before Chrono could stop him, he popped it into his mouth.

He only chewed about three times before he spat the mushy chunks into the fire.

"Oh god!" he cried. "I think your girlfriend's trying to poison you, bro."

"Shut up," Chrono grumbled, taking one of the candy cane-shaped cookies instead.

Once they had opened all their presents, they played several rounds of wizard's chess and toasted marshmallows. When they got bored of that, they practiced their levitation and animation charms on random snake statues and the smaller portrait frames of previous Slytherins.

That lasted for about five minutes before Duffau materialized out of nowhere and demanded they take their foolishness outside. Thankfully, he never deducted points from his own house and definitely wasn't going to change his mind now since Slytherin was just barely behind Gryffindor in house points. That was thanks to the Gryffindor quidditch team which made a crushing comeback in their last match against Hufflepuff.

"Sectumsempra!" Aion cried.

Chrono just sat holding a bright blue flame in his hands to keep himself warm as he watched his twin unsuccessfully wave his wand at an apple perched on a rock.

"Damn," Aion muttered.

"What spell is that?" Chrono asked, his breath floating in front of him in icy puffs.

"Made it up," Aion said, fishing a folded piece of parchment out of her pocket to read over.

"What d'you mean 'made it up'?" Chrono asked.

"I found one of Uncle's books that talked about inventing your own spells," Aion answered simply.

And so they spent the rest of the afternoon trying to invent new spells with little to no luck even though they ended up with a long list of both decent and ridiculous incantations.

The next best part was the decorations and the feast, which was no less spectacular than it was even when the Great Hall was full of students. The Hall itself had a silvery glow all around thanks to the tiny icicles, glass and crystal ornaments floating in midair or decorating the twelve Christmas trees lined around the room. Glittering streams that changed colors stretched from one wall to the opposite which also had holly and mistletoe hanging from them.

And finally, being able to wander around the castle after hours and not really worry about getting caught because none of the teachers really cared as long as no one tried to sneak into the forbidden forest.

Chrono found himself too full of energy that night to sleep so he crept out of bed and wandered the dark hallways with only the full moon lighting his way.

Before long he found himself peering into his, Rosette, and Azmaria's old study room from last year. They hadn't been back in a while but it was still the way they had left it except for one strange thing.

Across the room and propped against the wall was a tall mirror that nearly touched the ceiling with strange engravings along its ornate frame. Creeping closer, Chrono read the inscription:

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

He saw his own reflection—a skinny boy in his pajamas and sneakers with a puzzled look on his face.

Then two new people appeared beside him, which made his heart hammer loudly in his ears.

On his left was a woman with long, silky hair and on his right was a stern-looking man who looked a lot like him. Both were smiling and waving at him but when he turned around, no one else was in the room.

"Mom? Dad?" he whispered, turning back to the mirror.

They nodded. Tears stung at his eyes as he pressed his hands against the glass, trying to touch them somehow but unable to.

Then Rosette appeared and his parents happily greeted her as if they'd known her for years. It didn't matter that she was muggleborn nor did they care about their pureblood traditions. They just accepted her the same way she had accepted their son.

He stayed like that for a long time, unaware of the passing minutes or the world around him.

"Kind of sad, isn't it?"

Chrono jumped away from the mirror with startled yell.

Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was Mary Magdalene. This was the second time she had appeared out of nowhere…or maybe she had been there all along.

She was in her nightgown with her hair spilling over her thin shoulders.

"What d'you mean?" Chrono asked her once he was over his shock.

She slid off the desk and strolled over to his side.

"I show not your face, but…your…heart's desire," she read slowly, pointing to the engravings.

He looked up and realized that the words read backwards.

"It doesn't show us truth or the future, only things we wish for. You see your parents too, don't you?"

He swallowed. "How did you know that?"

"Just a guess," she giggled.

He would've asked about her parents, but figured that would be rude. Yet she somehow seemed to know what he was thinking and said,

"It's not so much that I wish I could see my parents again. I just wish I could have a normal, happy life, you know? That I didn't have to see the things I see and could simply be…myself."

He nodded.

Rosette was right: she was kind of weird. It was also a little unnerving to find out that he had a lot in common with such a strange girl.

She touched his arm, her fingers cool against his skin.

"We should probably get back to bed, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah…" It was hard to pull himself away from the image of his parents and his best friend but he let Mary lead him out of the classroom and back into the hallway.

"Goodnight, Chrono," she said, letting go of his hand. "Merry Christmas."

"Uh, thanks…Merry Christmas, Mary."

~0~0~

Chrono had not been back to the mirror since that night but he wasn't so quick to forget about it even after classes resumed. But with exams coming up, it seemed like he was no longer allowed a free moment to go back even for five minutes. He wanted to show it to Rosette more than anything but she was caught up with quidditch practice three times a week and cramming homework in the rest of the time. And before he knew it, the school year was coming to an end and they had to sign up for their new classes for next year.

"Whaaat? I wanna take Care of Magical Creatures!" Joshua whined on the other side of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Well, you can't until third year," said Rosette, sticking her tongue at him. And she couldn't resist the urge to add: "Who knows? Maybe we'll get to work with dragons."

She snickered at his jealous expression and looked to Chrono and Azmaria, expecting them to back her up but instead they both cringed at the thought.

It was her turn to start whining, "What? Don't tell me there's no such thing as dragons!"

"No, there are definitely dragons but they're really dangerous," said Chrono, to which Azmaria fervently nodded.

"My Uncle Tiberius was eaten by a Norwegian ridgeback before I was born," she added, "the only thing the dragon left behind was this medallion he used to own."

"I thought dragons collected treasure," Joshua countered.

"He thought it was made with real gold but it was actually fake."

"Ok, so no dragons," Rosette decided. "But I'm still going to sign up for Magical Creatures and you guys have to take it with me."

"Sorry, Rosette, I already signed up for Arithmancy and Divination," Azmaria smiled apologetically.

Rosette looked disappointed for only a second before she looked at Chrono expectantly. Without warning, she snatched his sign-up sheet away and filled it out for him.

"Hey! How do you know I wasn't going to sign up for something else?" he protested.

He wasn't really—Arithmancy sounded boring and his uncle would flip if he took Muggle Studies.

"Too bad," Rosette retorted. "There! You're taking Magical Creatures with me and we'll all have Divination together."

Her tone was final which made him and Azmaria roll their eyes despite the grins on their faces.


That's it for Year Two! I had a lot of fun with the scenes with Mary and wish I could've had more with Aion but they just didn't quite fit. How did you guys find this chapter? I guess I'm kind of wrestling with having a somewhat continuous storyline versus the random snippets. Some stuff is purposely left open because they will come up later.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!