Kindred Spirits

No sooner had the Potters arrived at Platform 9 and 3/4 than Ryan left in a hurry to find Marlene McKinnon. Marlene, James and Ryan had been friends since a very young age - what with their families being so well-acquainted and so close. The McKinnons lived on the other side of the meadow that separated their house from the Potter Manor and so, the kids had delighted in playing together.

Now, many years later, Ryan was most excited to reunite with Marlene. Upon finding out that Marlene was also a student at Hogwarts, she'd resolved to find her and spend the train ride with her. She'd promised, though, that she'd meet with James and his friends before her sorting. And with that, she'd left.

James, now alone, had taken to searching for his own friends. He'd found Peter quite easily - or rather, Peter had found him. He'd tripped over his own trunk while getting to the train and unwittingly tumbled into James. After the incident, the two of them had found Remus, who'd already made himself comfortable in their usual compartment. Then, finally, last of all, Sirius arrived, stumbling into their compartment with all the grace of a dancing elephant.

"Oi! Watch your step, mate!" Peter exclaimed when Sirius stepped on his foot. But Sirius paid him no mind; he was too busy lunging at James. In a flash, the two of them were rolling on the floor, in an all-out play-fight.

At first, Sirius was the one in control; he kept James in a head-lock, while James kept thrashing around. That, however didn't last long. Years of Quidditch training and of throwing the Quaffle around had given James all the natural strength that a Chaser could possess. With one swift move, he flipped Sirius on the floor and pressed his knee on his torso, pinning him down. Sirius waved his arms around like a mad-man to escape James' hold to no avail.

"You ready to tap out?" James asked cockily, throwing his best mate his trademark smirk.

Sirius only gave him a glare and huffed, giving up his struggle. "You know, I'll beat you one day."

"Don't flatter yourself, Sirius," James laughed out in response. "Maybe you can beat Remus-"

"Doubtful," Remus responded with an idle smile. Sirius was physically stronger than Remus, sure, but what Remus lacked in strength, he made up for in height. Sirius, knowing this, scowled at Remus with all the ferocity of an angry poodle.

"- But you can't beat me," James finished his sentence. "I'm both taller and stronger than you."

"You're not taller!" Sirius protested immediately, looking absolutely scandalized.

"I sure am," James boasted, puffing out his chest. "I stand at a proud 180 cm, thank you very much."

"Oh, please, you're 175 cm at best," Sirius huffed out.

"Yeah? Wanna test that?" James challenged.

Remus, having had enough of their childish bickering, sighed. "You guys do this every year at the start of term, and it's always the same story. You measure your height and then fight over who's taller by half a centimeter. It's just pointless. Will you ever stop it?"

"No," Sirius answered, unperturbed by Remus' intervention. "Now, c'mon, Pete, measure us."

"Maybe Moony's right, mate. This is pointless. There's always the same outcome," James shrugged, slumping down on the seat opposite Remus. "I'm taller than you and you always end up weeping about it."

"That's not true!" Sirius argued, but his protests went unanswered. The rest of the boys were already engaging in a conversation about their summers. Sirius, dissatisfied, huffed and took a seat next to Remus, grumbling underneath his breath, "you're just a coward."

James paid him no mind. He was too pre-occupied listening to Remus talk about David Bowie's new album. Then, suddenly, he got an epiphany and he sat up eagerly.

"Everything alright, James?" Remus asked, with a weird look on his face, seeing James' eyes widen.

"No, actually," James said hastily. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you since Diagon Alley, but I keep forgetting."

"Well, what is it then?" Remus urged, looking concerned.

"My sister knows about your furry little problem," James blurted out and watched as his friends' faces were overcome by absolute horror.

"What?!" Peter shrieked.

"You told her?!" Sirius demanded sternly.

"No! I swear I didn't!" James denied the accusation immediately. "She just told me out of the blue, like, 'Oh, Remus is a werewolf in case you didn't know' and before I could ask her how she knew, we reached Ollivander's and I haven't had the chance to talk to her about it since!"

Remus, who had been silent so far, had a very troubled look in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he spoke meekly, "how could she know? Are you sure that none of you told?"

"I haven't even met her yet, Moony. Can't have been me," Sirius explained fervently, shaking his head for extra effect.

"And I've only talked to her in front of you. You'd know if I'd told," Peter was quick to reassure Remus with wide eyes.

No one spoke. Remus seemed to be digesting all this information. He looked pale, nearly as white as a ghost. Then, he turned to James and in a meeker voice still, asked, "she can't have... figured it out on her own, can she?"

"I dunno..." James trailed off, pondering on the question. "I mean, my sister is smart, but... well, I didn't think she could diagnose lycanthropy with a glance."

"So, wait, we really think she figured it out on her own?" Peter asked incredulously.

"It's the only explanation," Remus sighed, looking very unconvinced. "Unless we have a leak in our midst."

"I haven't even seen her in my life!" Sirius shouted instantly, wanting to be exonerated of a crime he didn't commit.

"I -" Peter went to add to this, but was promptly interrupted by Remus.

"Okay, I get it. There's no use repeating yourselves. The best thing we can do about this is talk to her. We can ask her how she knows, simple as that," Remus explained calmly.

Sirius looked at him as if he were insane, "how are you so calm about this?"

"I'm not calm. I'm absolutely scared out of my fucking mind," Remus exclaimed, louder than he'd meant. He calmed himself down and continued, "but there's nothing else we can do about it now. If she knows, she knows. Let's just hope she won't go around telling anyone."

"Ryan wouldn't do that," James was quick to assert. "Not to you, or anyone."

"Where even is Ryan, by the way?" Sirius asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"She went off to find Marlene as soon as we arrived at the platform. They were really close childhood friends and she's been hell-bent on seeing her again," James said.

Remus looked out into the corridor absentmindedly and his troubled look deepened. "Uh, James? Are you sure that Ryan's with Marlene?"

"Yeah, why?" James asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Well, because Marlene is running our way as we speak."

James turned around so fast that his head could have detached itself from his shoulders. He looked out into the corridor only to see that Remus was right. Marlene was running at them full-speed with the most crazed smile on her face. Not one second later, she pulled the compartment door open and rushed in.

"James!" She shouted excitedly.

"Marlene?" James reciprocated, though more hesitantly than her. "What's up? Why are you running and smiling like a lunatic?"

With barely contained glee, Marlene answered, "Ryan's fighting Lestrange in the hallway!"

"Eh?!" James squeaked. Bloody hell, his sister was going to give him a fucking heart attack.

"She punched him in the face!" Marlene added enthusiastically, unbothered by the boys' baffled reactions.

Amidst the sea of flabberghasted expressions, Sirius' face broke out into a grin. "Oh, this I've got to see."

"What do you mean 'she punched him in the face'?" James asked in a panic, ignoring Sirius' remark.

"I mean she literally broke his nose. It was a wicked good punch! You should come see!"

"For fuck's sake, Ry," James cursed underneath his breath. He got up quickly and demanded, "lead the way, Marls."

Marlene didn't need to be told twice. She turned around and ran down the hallway, with the four boys hot on her trail. From a distance, James could see a crowd gathered in the middle of the corridor. Once they reached the source of the commotion, James pushed everyone out of the way with unimaginable force in a desperate attempt to get to his sister.

Once he reached the forefront of the gathered crowd, he saw Mary Macdonald holding back a grinning Ryan, and a bleeding Lestrange fuming in anger opposite them. Lestrange seemed to be recovering from something. He was grasping at his wand very tightly, preparing to attack Ryan with one hand, and holding onto his nose with the other.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ryan warned conversationally, gesturing lazily at the hand that was holding his wand. "I am leagues better at duelling than you."

"Well, aren't you cocky for a blood traitor?" Lestrange spat at her with a wicked look on his face.

Ryan didn't look intimidated. She just shrugged. "Not cocky. Just honest. I'm only looking out for you. You don't want to duel with me, Lestrange."

Lestrange didn't take the warning kindly. He snarled like a crazed animal and replied, "your warnings don't mean shit to me."

Then, in a flash, he pointed his wand at Ryan and shouted, "confringo!" Mary immediately stepped away in horror and watched as Ryan, looking absolutely unbothered, raised her hand. With unprecedented ease and a lazy flick of her wrist, she deflected the spell. The force of it hit the nearby window, making it crack, but Ryan remained unharmed.

"So you insist," Ryan smirked. "Alright then. Don't say I didn't warn you."

And the real fight began. Lestrange, fueled by anger and hate, shot spell after spell at Ryan. He was relentless. He kept on and on and on. But as ferociously as he attacked, Ryan just as easily defended. With her wand now in hand, she deflected each of his spells. She didn't even bother throwing a counter-curse at him. Her defense was very strong - so strong, in fact, that, even though Lestrange was the one attacking, Ryan was the one cornering him. With each spell, Lestrange kept taking more steps back, until he was nearly pressed against his group of slimey friends.

Eventually, noticing the position he'd been put in, he stopped firing spells and looked at Ryan with the most incredulous, disgusted grimace on his face. With venom lacing his tongue, he inquired, "how does filth like you know wordless magic?"

"Some call it skill, others call it a gift. Take your pick," Ryan responded idly. Then, she switched from the defensive to the offensive. She cast a spell so quick that Lestrange was caught completely off guard. He flew backwards with such force that he knocked down his friends like bowling pins.

The aftermath of this was immediate. The crowd 'ooh'd and 'ah'd in amazement. They applauded Ryan and cheered with glee. And then, silence. All that could be heard, was a strict voice, shouting, "what is this all about?"

Everyone froze in place. Professor McGonagall had arrived at the scene. She got to the front easily and, upon laying eyes on Ryan, she clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Miss Potter. I should have figured. We're not even at school yet and you've already been in a fight."

Now, any ordinary person would've been frightened by McGonagall's strict and merciless look, but Ryan was not ordinary. She'd faced too many detentions to be taken aback. With a strange calm, she reasoned, "he had it coming, professor."

McGonagall looked absolutely scandalized, almost as if this was the last response she'd expected. "That answer is not helping your case."

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Ryan shrugged. "Plead innocent? Beg for forgiveness? I will do neither. I fought Lestrange and I don't regret it one bit."

This elicited a gasp from scattered students in the crowd, a facepalm from James, and another click of the tongue by McGonagall. "Be that as it may," she commented sternly, "whatever spurred you to so resolutely attack a classmate?"

"His filthy mouth and his extraordinarily inflated ego. I thought it best for the greater good to knock him down a few pegs," Ryan explained plainly, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I see," McGonagall pursed her lips, obviously dissatisfied with the answer. "And is this how you conducted yourself while at Ilvermorny? Did you punch whoever 'spoke filth'?"

"If someone were to disrespect my classmates and belittle them for their blood, then yes, actually," Ryan answered, looking right into McGonagall's eyes with an almost challenging look - as if she was testing the professor to defy her logic.

McGonagall didn't speak for a while. She just stared at Ryan with an indecipherable expression. There was disapproval there, but - was that a smidge of pride in her eyes? Maybe Ryan was just imagining it, but the professor looked almost amused by this.

"Well, perhaps things at Ilvermorny were different. Here, at Hogwarts, we don't act so rashly," McGonagall reprimanded her regardless. "However. Am I right to assume, miss Potter, that you were not the only one involved in this ordeal?"

"Indeed, professor," Ryan nodded. "Lestrange was insulting Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald."

Nodding, McGonagall turned to Lily for an explanation. "Would you care to recount the present events, miss Evans? Since you are, of course, a Prefect this year."

Lily, who had been standing silently nearby, flushed at the recognition. Her face became nearly as red as her hair. "Mary was escorting me to the Prefects' meeting, professor, along with Ryan and Marlene. Lestrange cornered us on the way back and he- he called me a-"

"He called her a mudblood," Ryan intervened, when she saw Lily struggling.

"I see," McGonagall pursed her lips. "And is this the reason for mr. Lestrange's crooked nose?"

"Yes, professor," Ryan nodded.

"And the spell-casting?" McGonagall questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Lestrange instigated it, professor," Lily confirmed resolutely.

"I understand, then, that there was misconduct on both sides," McGonagall declared. She turned to Lestrange, who was being held up by two of his friends, "mr. Lestrange, I trust that you remember that such crude name-calling is absolutely prohibited in this school, as is, of course, dueling with other students -" then, she turned to Ryan, "- but, miss Potter, that does not mean you are supposed to fight back when provoked."

Ryan nodded indifferently, and Lestrange mumbled an agreement underneath his breath.

"Since you're both equally at fault, I shall give both of you a month's worth of weekly detentions, starting this upcoming Friday. However, seeing as term has not officially started, I will not be taking any points from Slytherin house, or your future house, miss Potter. If such an incident is still repeated, the both of you will face much greater consequences. Is this understood?" McGonagall looked at the two students through her thin glasses.

"Yes, professor," Ryan affirmed, smiling idly, as if she hadn't just received a month's detention.

"Right," McGonagall stated, giving Ryan a curious glance at her nonchalance. She cleared her throat, "and miss Evans, I feel the need to remind you that as a Prefect, your job this year is to settle arguments like this, not to watch from the sidelines. Remember that you have the power to put an end to this."

If possible, Lily's face became even redder and she cast her glance downwards. "Yes, professor McGonagall."

Satisfied, McGonagall nodded her head, and said, "that'll be all then."

She was ready to leave, when Ryan spoke up again, "actually, professor, before you go, I have a question."

Taken aback, McGonagall raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Ryan, "yes, miss Potter?"

"May I call you Minnie?"

The dumbfounded look on McGonagall's face was unprecedented. "Excuse me?"

"Y'know - Minnie," Ryan repeated, as if this would clear up all the confusion. "From Minerva. That is your first name, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, and no, miss Potter, I didn't think I would ever have to utter such a sentence in my life, but you may not call me Minnie," McGonagall answered. She had this disbelieving look on her face.

"But why? It's so fitting!" Ryan didn't relent. She kept going with a small grin on her face and the eagerness of a ten year old child. "There's this Muggle cartoon, you see-"

"This is not the time, miss Potter," McGonagall scolded her sternly with a deadpan expression. She then turned to the on-looking crowd and sighed, "now, all of you, get back to your compartments. We are still on a moving train. And mr. Lestrange -" she regarded the boy with little interest, "- do come with me to have your nose straightened out."

With just her command, the crowd broke away into smaller groups. As they left, whispers travelled between them. Ryan's name could be heard echoing from their hushed voices.

As she was leaving, McGonagall's eyes found James and the rest of his friends - the last of the crowd that had stayed behind - and shook her head with the smallest hint of a grin on her face. She then left, her robes swishing behind her, followed closely by a clearly disgruntled Lestrange.

As soon as she'd gone, James rushed to his sister's side. "Oi! What the hell were you thinking, Ry?!"

"I was thinking that Lestrange has an abnormally large nose."

Sirius barked an instinctive laugh at this, but was silenced promptly by James' smoldering glare. "That's not funny, Ry."

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Ryan retorted. "He insulted Lily and Mary in a way that no one should ever be insulted. I wasn't going to let him stand there and berate them."

"That's still no reason to get in a fight!" James retaliated. "You could have come looking for me! I'd have handled it."

"How, exactly?" Ryan challenged him.

"What?" James asked, taken aback.

"How would you have handled him?" Ryan repeated. "I'll tell you how. You'd have done the same thing I just did."

"I wouldn't have," James denied it fervently.

"Uh, yes, you would've," Peter chimed in from the back.

"Shut it, Pete," James spat off-handedly. "Okay, maybe I'd have done the same thing. But that's not the point, Ryan."

"Then what is the point, Jamie?" Ryan asked with a sickeningly sarcastic tone.

"The point is I'm supposed to be keeping you out of trouble!" James finally exploded. "I can't do that if you're going around punching people!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ryan glared at him with the intensity of four suns. "I didn't know you were my dad."

"I'm not your dad. I'm your brother. And dad asked me to keep an eye on you, because clearly, you can't help but get into dangerous situations!" James accused her. He sounded more angry than his friends had ever seen him. He was usually an easy-going prankster, who loved to have a laugh. Never had he ever screamed like that.

"Dad asked you to do what?!" Ryan yelled with wide eyes and balled fists.

"He asked us - all of us - to keep you away from danger," James explained. "And, y'know, at first, I didn't understand why. I didn't believe you would ever get yourself in such shitty situations, but I get it now. You just go looking for trouble."

"Yeah?" Ryan taunted him. "Says who? The prankster of the year? How many detentions did you have last year, Jamie?"

"That's not the same and you know it," James shook his head disapprovingly. "I had detentions. You were nearly killed, Ry! Mom and dad told me you barely escaped by the skin of your teeth!"

"And you think I instigated it?" Ryan asked, incredulously. "You think I got bored and went around, trying to get mauled to death by a werewolf?!"

Utter silence followed her statement. James' eyes widened and he took a disbelieving step back. The girls began to retreat, sensing they'd overstepped a boundary. And Remus... Remus looked absolutely heartbroken. When Sirius dared to chance a glance at his friend, he was sure he'd never seen him this horrified.

Finally, James regained his composure just enough to mumble, "y-you were attacked by a werewolf?"

Ryan shook her head visciously, and tears began to streak down her cheeks. Her eyes burned with the tears she'd been holding back all summer. Her head ached with the memory of betrayal. "No. I was attacked by my best friend."