Ace almost refused to believe it as the name was called but it had to be true but he didn't understand how it could be… Vanessa wasn't a witch and she certainly didn't attend Hogwarts but how else…
' Also we are giving you a few tools to assist you in your job; you will know what they are when the time is right'
The words rang through his head as he realized that she was one of the tools given to him to help him… but did she remember everything as well or was he going to have to do as John said and learn to live without her love…
"RAVENCLAW!"
Ace's head snapped to the side and looked on in wonder as Vanessa approached the table and sat herself down next to him with a short smile that betrayed nothing. They both watched as the rest of the sorting was conducted and the Headmaster gave his speech about the school and staying away from the corridor on the third floor.
It was during this exact speech that Vanessa grabbed hold of his robe and tucked it a few times which prompted him to stare at her, she then leaned in closely to his ear and in a tone just above a whisper spoke.
" You have so much to explain Ace and it better be good "
When Vanessa withdrew herself to look into Ace's eyes she saw nothing but wide eyed wonder and confusion which was quickly replaced by a shining happiness that she hadn't seen in him in a long time... and then she felt his hand creep into hers and squeeze it tightly as she saw the tears that slowly formed at the corner of his eyes, she squeezed back without a second thought.
" I thought I lost you… "
She heard him whisper and stopped a gasp and her own tears from forming as she scooted a little closer to him and remained there for the remainder of the feast. The two never let go of each other's hands and didn't say a word more to each other.
Everyone followed as the Prefects showed them the way to the Ravenclaw tower and up the door that needed a riddle to open.
"The Poor have it, The Rich need it and if you eat it you will die"
Ace rolled his eyes at the simplicity and restrained a laugh when the Prefect actually looked like he needed to think of it.
"Nothing"
Vanessa was apparently short on patience this night and answered for everyone. Of course it was with wide eyed wonder that everyone stepped inside the Ravenclaw common room and saw the myriad of bookcases that were filled to the brim with ancient tomes and texts for them to study.
They were quickly informed of the separate dormitories and their placements and then they were shuffled off to bed as they had to rise early tomorrow for their first classes.
Vanessa had barely let her head hit the pillow before she heard a pop at the foot end of her bed and she saw an eleven year old Ace sitting there with a smile, he reached out a hand to her and she took it on reflex and with a short pop they disappeared with none of Vanessa's dorm mate being any the wiser.
The two eleven year olds appeared in the room that the house elves referred to as the "come and go room" which was at present moment neatly furnished with one large soft sofa and a warm fireplace with a bright warm fire already burning.
Ace guided Vanessa over to the sofa and sat her down before sitting across from her and simply stared with slight expectation. He didn't have to wait long.
"Ace what the bloody hell is going on here?!"
Vanessa had roared at the top of her lungs which only made it sound all the funnier due to it coming out of an eleven year olds mouth.
"Well… you're a witch!"
Vanessa decked him over the head for that little snide comment
"Hey!"
"Well don't be a prat then, I know I'm a witch you idiot! I made a vase explode when I was three, my fathers nearly shat themselves!"
"Just a vase? Good for you then. As for what else is going on… be a little more specific"
"I mean why I am eleven when the last thing I remember is that crazy bitch blowing up?!"
"Ah that… that would be because apparently the Senior Soul Manager of heaven or whatever was pissed that I robbed them of a soul so they sent me back here to ensure that they got the soul this time around… you are here because I think John realized that I couldn't live without you"
Vanessa stared at him just like she had stared when he had told her he was a Mage all those years ago… though perhaps this time it would be a bit more difficult to prove, well aside from them being here and all that.
"I think I'm going crazy…"
"Nope beautiful you have been crazy since the day we met"
"Why eleven… why not some later time… some time where I wouldn't feel bad about jumping you?"
"Because I think John needed a good laugh and seeing the two of us banging our heads against the wall until we turn fiftee" the glare that Vanessa sent him quickly saw that word go to "thirteen?"
"Better Ace"
"thirteen and can resume our usual schedule… though with you here I can definently get a lot more things done now that I have someone I can trust completely"
"So just to be clear… we died when a crazy bitch blew herself up with the sole intention of killing you. After we died you met up with some fucking form of the reaper and he was pissed because you robbed him of a soul so he sent you back here to redo everything and ensure that this time they got the soul they wanted… did I miss something?"
"No that just about sums it up"
Vanessa threw her hands in the air in annoyance "Well that's just fucking peachy!"
Ace rolled his eyes at the comment but couldn't help the smile that was on his face. He was happy to be back in some ways and the fact that Vanessa was here only made it better now the question was simply what he was going to do and in what order he was going to do things… but first.
"Get it out"
"Excuse me?"
"Get it out, I know you want to and I can see it on your face so let's hear it…"
Vanessa raised an eyebrow before a grin split her face and she jumped off the sofa and began dancing around
"I'm a Witch, I'm a Witch, I'm a Witch, I'm a Witch. No more money wasted on bullets! I'm a Witch, I'm a Witch I'm a Witch"
Vanessa kept repeating herself in that pattern for almost ten minutes before she had gotten all of it clearly out of her system. Ace didn't mind as he would most likely have reacted the same had he been living with a loving set of parents as he grew up, alas that was not the way but there was a bright side to all this… he would get to blow up the Dursley's house again!
"Ohh god… I'm a witch… does this change anything around… ya know?"
Ace raised a curious eyebrow before smiling
"As far as I know it shouldn't change a single thing perhaps aside from giving us both access to something more potent than small blue pills"
"Great! Now I just need you to teach me all of those amazing spells I saw you use back in the… past? Future? Ehh…"
"Technically our past but this worlds future"
"Yeah that"
"Well I can teach you some basics but until you have a better grasp around your magic I can't teach you that much, not like I was the best student last time I was here"
"Why was that anyway? Aren't you crazy smart?"
"Kind of limited myself so the know it all could stroke her own ego and our resident red-head didn't feel too stupid"
A devious grin spread out of Vanessa's features as a sudden realization came to her
"But this time there isn't… this time you can throttle them in the academic arena"
"And I can't wait to see Granger's face the first time I outperform her"
"Which begs the question if we shouldn't be getting back to our own beds, early up for school and all that?"
"Groan Oh don't remind me… sniffsniff I'll never forget you my beloved coffee machine…"
"Wait a fucking second are you telling me there isn't any coffee at this place?"
Ace could have sworn the walls of the room shook slightly at Vanessa's outburst but chose to not speak that opinion… what if he was right after all…
"Well… I don't really know, I didn't exactly ask for it back when I attended… but maybe… Could a Hogwarts house elf show itself please?"
With a small pop signaling its arrival a house elf in a rag appeared and was now staring intently at the two young people sitting in the sofa, one of them staring at it with wide eyes.
"What does the young mister and missus want?"
"Does the house elves know how to brew coffee?"
"Yes mister we does, Miss McGonagall likes her coffee in the mornings"
"Excellent, I assume we just ask for it like with everything else at breakfast?"
"Yes mister that is correct"
"Thank you very much for the help"
The elf gave a small smile before vanishing with a pop back to the kitchens. Ace turned to Vanessa and gave her a thumbs up, not the it registered as Vanessa was still staring at the point the elf had occupied moments before.
"What the fuck was that?"
"House Elf"
"… Ace, what is a house elf?"
"Elves that fucked up in the past and got slave-bound to Wizards, now they need to be bound to a Wizard or magical place or they will die, end of story"
"Huh… didn't know Wizards were into slavery"
"Sure they are, Wizards and Witches are single minded idiots who can't see past their own pointy nose"
"Oi! I'm a witch if you remember"
"When I'm done, you won't be"
"What?"
"I'm making you a Sorceress be it the last thing I ever do"
"I thought you had to be born with enough magical power to become one?"
"That or know a Mage or Sorceress to teach you"
"Convenient that my dear boyfriend is a Mage isn't it?"
"Your boyfriend's a mage?! How come you never told me! Dear I am offended harumf"
"Oh stop it you big baby… now let's get back to bed before the sun starts shining"
"This is Scotland… when does it ever shine?"
Next morning proved challenging for both of them as they each awoke just like their older selves would have done, grumpy and in deep need of a shot of coffee.
In Ace's case it was perhaps just slightly better since he didn't rely on the liquid just as much as his opposite did. He fought himself out to the showers allocated to the men of Ravenclaw and blatantly ignored everyone in there as some of them decided to try and make snide remarks regarding Ace and his young "body"…
"If the three housewives over there are done fantasizing about my eleven year old body , could the rest of us then perhaps get some peace here in these early hours of the morning?"
That had earned him a few snickers from some of the seventh years taking a shower and a few of the slightly older boys as well. No one spoke a word for the rest of the time Ace was showering, though most of them did wonder just why he was swearing as much as he did.
Vanessa had quite the different morning. She had gotten used to waking up and not being in her and Ace's old apartment but waking up in a room with four other beds and four other girls certainly did constitute a different experience, once that only got worse as she made her way to the bathroom.
Now Vanessa had been an only child both in her old life and in this one, so she wasn't used to having to fight for the shower, the benefit of two fathers was that both of them knew just how long their little princess wanted to spend in the shower and didn't dare contest her on it.
But this… this… this was beyond insane. She had barely opened the door to the women's bathroom before the wall of noise impacted her sensitive morning ears; someone was going to pay dearly for the oncoming headache.
"Oh Vanessa you're up!"
She recognized the voice as belonging to a Padma Patil, one of her dorm mates and the twin of some other girl that wasn't in Ravenclaw. The two had spoken in brief before going to bed and Vanessa liked the young girl, she truly did, but at this hour in the morning before her coffee… well everyone was her enemy until she had her coffee.
"Not now Padma, I need a shower and then some breakfast…"
"Oh okay, but aren't you excited? We are starting classes today and I can't wait to start learning Charms…"
The ability to tune out everything but your own breathing was a useful skill that most Snipers the world over taught themselves shortly after dedicating themselves to mentioned weapon, but it also doubled nicely as a sound suppressor around noisy girls.
Vanessa spend the entire time under the shower simply ignoring Padma and any other girl that tried to start a conversation with her, of course she did have a slight bit of selective hearing so when some of the older girls began speaking ill of her she filed it down in her mind and waited for the appropriate time to use that information.
When she had finally dried herself off and thrown on her robe she made her way down to the common room and was quite happy to see a familiar patch of black hair standing by the door and waiting for her.
"Morning Ace"
"Yawn Morning Vanessa, ready for your first day?"
"I just hope we start out with something interesting"
"For you I think that would either be Defense against the Dark Arts or perhaps Transfiguration"
"Both sound cool, let's get some breakfast first though"
Her stomach grumbled loudly in compliance and the two shared a chuckle and a smile as they walked down towards the great hall with Ace making sure to point out specific areas that Vanessa would do well to remember, like a few hidden passages or memorable statute.
The two sat down at their house table and began gulfing in their breakfast. Though it took McGonagall walking through the doors of the great hall for the two to remember the single most important details from yesterday.
"Black Coffee, please"
The two chimed it together and with a small rattle a can of coffee appeared before both of them and the two happily poured themselves a generous amount before gulping down almost the entirety of their goblets before McGonagall interrupted them with a slight cough.
"Coffee Mister Potter? And you as well Miss Weaver?"
Both eleven year olds turned and stared at each other before shrugging and downing the rest of their goblets and then turned their attention towards the Gryffindor Head of House.
"Coffee is an excellent way of starting your day…"
The two chimed mysteriously before they turned back around and resumed their breakfast, Ace had missed this part of the Wizarding world something so fiercely. The house elves made a mean bagel.
McGonagall went to the head table with a bemused expression as she sat down and continued observing the young Mister Potter and his new friend, the two seemed quite close and she could only be happy about that.
"So Filius are you looking forward to teaching the younglings?"
McGonagall had turned towards her short friend who was smiling cheerfully at her in response.
"I must say I am particularly interested in young Mister Potter, if he has inherited even a smudge of Lily's talent for Charms he will go far"
"He will go far no matter what Filius, we both know that"
The small man chuckled along with his old friend as they observed the hall slowly filling with students. As each table finally filled the two heads of house alongside the remaining two began passing out the class schedules much to the joy of the younger children, and discomfort of mostly everyone above third year.
Down with Ace and Vanessa the two were going over their schedules which revealed, much to Ace's visible discomfort, that they were starting out with Potions this morning directly followed by Charms then lunch and the day would finish with Transfiguration.
"Potions… oh this is going to be great…"
Thud
Ace's head struck the table in tandem with finishing his statement and a rather colorful string of curses followed as his thoughts passed to his rather boorish classes he had with Snape and how the greasy git loved to torture him.
"I take it there's some bad blood between you and the teacher of the subject?"
"He had the biggest hard on for my mother while they were in school, she wised up and began dating my prat of a father and Snape never got over it. He sees me as the second coming of James Potter…"
"Eww… What are you going to do?"
Ace lifted his head just enough so that Vanessa could see his two emerald green eyes release and eerie glow as his hatred for the man slowly reached the boiling point.
"When I'm done with him he is going to think my father was a saint"
Nodding her understanding Vanessa returned to her breakfast and left her lover to his mad planning which at present moment was focused on Snape, but knowing Ace it would probably somehow turn into a convoluted scheme about taking over the world.