One wouldn't notice her unless they were really looking and yet…many people believed her out of place, so in a way, she was the same as him. In fact, if it hadn't been for that night by the lake second year, he likely never would have known she existed.

"Ow! S-Stop…s-stop!" the group was inching her closer and closer to the edge of the lake, the smaller girl using her wand to deflect what spells she was able, some getting past and lashing her skin. Laughter followed her pleas of mercy.

"She wants us to stop. Why don't we show the little mud-blood where her kind belong?" Another set of spells and soon all she felt was cold as she sank below the surface, some invisible force holding her just under the surface until suddenly it wasn't. she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and drag her back to the surface, her vision clouded and splotchy.

"A-Are yo-you okay?!" she coughed and spluttered, trying to answer him but she was dreadfully water-logged and cold. She felt the person roll her onto her side so she'd have an easier time, even lightly patting her back to help dislodge the left over water.

"I-I'm sorry…y-you m-must be f-freezing." Once she was able to speak she looked at who had saved her.

"Y-You sh-sh-should have let m-me drown…" the boy looked stunned, looking through a shock of reddish blond hair his sea foam colored eyes spared her a sympathetic look.

"Wh-Why would I d-do that?" she had to be freezing, what could he do to warm her up…he had to think of something.

"L-Let's get y-you to the h-hospital wing." He was surprised she didn't put up a fight when he helped lift her to her feet.

"They…they'll just d-do it again…" he stopped, tilting his head to look down at her, noticing the color of the inside of her robes he was slightly surprised, they were in the same house, but he had never taken notice of her.

"D-Do you h-have a name?" suddenly her head tilted upwards and he was startled by very different colored eyes staring back at him.

"Y-You want to k-know my name?" Newt nodded, intrigued by her eyes.

"Anna, Anna Carrio…" She averted her eyes to the ground as he rushed them through the grounds. Once finally inside he took a chance to get a good look at her, her brown hair was a wet, curly mop right now and clung to her pale face, her cheeks were a rosy color due to the cold autumn air outside.

"R-right, the h-hospital wing." The two Hufflepuff's walked in silence for a while until Anna spoke.

"Thank you…" She kept her eyes downcast, as if the stone tiling was the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Why…Why did th-they call you a m-mud-blood?"

"My parents, they're muggles…" that explained it, not many inside the walls of Hogwarts were friendly to muggle born students, mainly because they weren't common.

"Oh, wh-where are my manners. I'm N-Newton, Newton Scamander." She still didn't look up, "Y-You know…I've always b-been fascinated b-by muggles." Still no response.

"I really like Hogwarts…it's less—" she trailed off in her words, seeming to have warmed up by the lack of stuttering, he wondered if she was just unsure of the word to use.

"Mundane." The door of the infirmary was before them.

"Well, I-I'll j-just…"

"Thank you…" if they hadn't been the only two in the corridor, he'd have missed her words of gratitude entirely. No one had ever thanked him for anything before so he was a bit unsure of how to respond.

"O-Oh, you're quite w-welcome, Anna." There was a small hint of a smile on her face "Y-You remembered my name?"

"O-Of course, sh-should I not have?" Her smile grew and he returned it, albeit an awkward smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Newton…" he looked confused for a second, "That's…that's your name, right?"

"O-Oh, yes, that's my name, Newton Scamander." She smiled again, something the reddish haired boy was already growing fond of.

"I hope to see you around." And with that she quickly ducked inside the infirmary.

The next morning at breakfast Newt looked for the brunette among the mass sea of yellow sporting students, but he didn't see her, maybe she'd stayed in the infirmary for the night…or maybe…his mind wandered to the group of older students who had targeted her last night. Surely, they wouldn't try again…would they? His eyes turned towards the door and relief filled him, Anna was just fine, and color had returned to her skin, but her eyes were still downcast. Trying to wave her over he'd sadly gone unnoticed.

He watched as she hesitantly looked for a place to sit and felt anger rise as, while she was walking down the aisle an older student had tripped her. Cautiously sliding his wand out of his robe sleeve, he muttered a spell that kept her from connecting with the stone floor until she got back on her feet. Finally, her eyes looked up, seeking out her savior, he made another weak attempt to wave and couldn't help but smile when her face brightened.

"Newton!" she hurried over and he made some room on the bench for her.

"I'm so terribly clumsy, I should have been watching where I was going." She thought she was clumsy? But he'd seen the older boy trip her.

"You-You're not clumsy, he tried to t-trip you." A look of realization dawned on her features, "Oh, really?" he quirked a brow at her seemingly dimwittedness but shrugged it off.

"S-so…do you feel better?" he tried to change the subject, the brunette next to him just beamed, "Oh, yes! Madame Greenwood patched me right up!" he was happy for that bit of information as food began appearing on the tables, her dual colored eyes watched with excitement as she piled a rather large waffle on her plate before reaching for some bacon.

As breakfast came to a close he began wondering if they had any classes together.

"I have transfigurations first, but I'm not very good at it. What about you?"

"O-Oh, I have charms." Her eyes sparkled. "I love charms, Watching the feather fly was wonderful." Her fascination with the world he'd spent his whole life in brought a smile to his face, he'd known from a young age he'd attend Hogwarts, but she'd only found out on her 11th birthday.

"I enjoy herbology, particularly the healing properties that some of the plants have." She looked at the table. "I'm no good at herbology, plants don't like me."

"I'm rubbish at muggle studies." She seemed to perk up. "Maybe…Maybe I can help?" she seemed enthralled with the idea, Newt however was confused "Y-You want to help me?"

"Of course, think of it as my way of thanking you for last night" her happiness was seemingly contagious.

"All right, you can help me with muggle studies, and I can help you with Herbology." She clapped her hands together "Wonderful!" her rambunctious attitude was drawing attention and murmurs flowed around the table, her ears turned red from embarrassment and she lowered her eyes again.

"Sorry…guess I got excited…I'll shut up now…" she instantly closed off again, feeling a bunch of eyes on her, Newt felt something unfamiliar rise in his stomach, disgust and… anger? she'd been so happy only a moment ago, but the second the whispers started she'd completely shut down.

"I-I find it b-best to just i-ignore them." His stutter was back, he wasn't used to talking to girls…or anyone for that matter, most people found him annoying. He wanted to cheer her up, but he wasn't sure how to go about it until something his brother did came to mind. Bringing his hand up ever so slightly, he hesitated but pushed forward, ruffling her hair softly. This small action snapped her out of her trance and she glanced at him curiously, he felt his own ears burn slightly red as he retracted his hand, letting it fall back to his side awkwardly.

"I have history of magic after transfigurations…" he looked over again, she was still looking at her food.

"So do I…M-Maybe we c-can sit together?"

"I'd like that, Newton."

Anna struggled through transfiguration, they had been trying to turn animals into water goblets, needless to say she failed miserably and her professor had just smiled and told her to keep trying. Finally, class was dismissed and she hurried for history of magic, excited to see her friend.

Newt waited by the door of the history of magic classroom, looking for the familiar head of brown hair, half wondering if maybe she'd gotten lost when he didn't see her.

"Hey salamander, looking for your freaky little girlfriend?" freaky? She seemed perfectly normal to him.

"She's n-not my—"

"Newton!" he looked around, startled and spotted Anna, but something was different…

"Your hair…" she skid to a halt, earning a dirty look from a Slytherin they shared class with and took a lock of her hair to inspect it.

"Oh, yeah, not sure why it does that…" it was a vibrant ginger color, this intrigued newt, he'd read about witches and wizards who were born with special abilities, but he'd have to look more into this. Whispers circulated as the two stepped into the classroom a few students laughed at the odd pair of friends.

"Aw, look, it's salamander and his little cricket." Anna looked confused, she didn't see a cricket in here, shrugging she took her seat and Newt followed behind her.

"Aw, little cricket's got nothing to say?" the jabs continued until the teacher walked in.

Needless to say, History of magic had not been fun she'd been hit with an enchanted paper ball...repeatedly.

"I'm not excited for potions, but I'm not terrible at it."

"I quite enjoy potions, it ties in well with herbology." Anna beamed leaving newt confused.

"you didn't stutter" Newt shook his head at her observation, taking in the fact that her hair was almost back to its normal brown color, however it still contained streaks of orange here and there.

"Ne…n" he vaguely heard his name, still mesmerized by her unusual hair

"Newton?" he finally snapped back to attention when a hand was waving in his face. Anna wore a look of reservation.

"You were staring…is it that peculiar?"

"N-No, not at all. Sorry, it's just…fascinating." She tilted her head as she pushed the door to the potions classroom open.

Over the course of the next few weeks Newt and Anna had grown closer, he was ecstatic that someone would listen to him ramble on about all of the magical worlds fantastical creatures.

"Newton, what's a…s..snally…gaster?"

"Y-you know, you can call me Newt, Anna. We're friends after all." He watched a smile grow on her face, one of his favorite things about her, that and the ever-changing colors of her hair, it was now turning a very brilliant shade of yellow, he made a mental note that yellow must have meant she was happy.

"Newt." He snapped back to reality once more when realization dawned on him.

"Metamorphmagus!"

"Bless you?" the two shared an equally confused look before he got back on track, "No, your hair, you're a metamorphmagus!"

"Metamorphmagus?" Newt nodded with excitement as he fished out a book. Anna watched perplexed "Where were you hiding that?" he ignored the question as he flipped through the book pages.

"I remembered reading about them in one of my mum's books back home, she told me metamorphmagi are extremely rare, but you being muggle born, I'd imagine it's even more so." Anna scooted back from Newt.

"That explains the cat ears…" he quirked a brow, "There was an instance when I was younger, I sneezed once and out popped a seat of ears and a matching tail" he watched the girl bring her hands up to her head to mimic the appendages.

"I'd h-have l-loved to see that." Now Anna wore the funny expression then a Cheshire like grin grew.

"I bet I could do it again!" the yellow haired girl bounced with excitement, he reached over and ruffled her hair and she grinned, it had become a silent way for him to show affection, and at times, calm her down.

"A-All Right, let's see." He watched Anna's face scrunch up for a second, Newt watched with intrigue as two ears popped out of the top of her head.

"Amazing!"

"I wonder what else I could turn into…" newt couldn't help the growing smile as her face shifted into a dolphins snout and her eyes turned bright yellow.

"Fascinating!" Anna was absolutely beaming.

It wasn't long before Christmas was upon them, chatter of Christmas plans filled the school corridors, most planned on going home.

"Christmas plans, Newt?" the reddish haired boy looked up from his cauldron.

"Oh, I'm staying here over the holidays, dad's away on ministry business and my mum is helping with a hippogriff migration in Ireland, you see, much like birds they prefer warmer climates during the colder months."

"You're going to be wonderful in care of magical creatures next year" Newts ears burned red at the compliment.

"What about you?"

"Oh…my mum and dad are going to America to visit my cousins…but they'd rather I keep magic away from them, so I'm staying at the school as well."

"They don't want you…I'm sorry, Anna." She shrugged "They left me here last year too, I think it will just be an annual thing, but at least I have someone to talk to this year." Newt smiled at the idea, he'd spent his entire first year at Hogwarts entirely alone, gone home for Christmas where his parents sang his older brother's praises at being made a prefect and getting onto the Gryffindor quidditch team, he'd be lying if it hadn't left him feeling empty.

"Last year was all about my older brother, he's a prefect, you know?" she looked up from her cauldron "A prefect? For which house?"

"Gryffindor, he found out last year. Our mum was over the moon." The smell of the pepperup potion filled their noses.

"Well Done, Miss Carrio, 20 points to Hufflepuff house for a perfect potion!" her hair faded to bright yellow again from it's natural brown state. With that class was dismissed and it was time for lunch.

"Your tutoring is really helping, Newt."

"Yours as well, my marks in Muggle studies have gotten better." Pushing the doors open brown and green eyes peered up at the enchanted sky above, eyes sparkling with wonder.

"I never tire of watching the snow fall." Newt found his own green eyes trailing upwards, an almost stupid grin on his face.

After a few long moments his eyes trailed back to her.