Today is the 4th year anniversary of this story!

I remember this day four years ago – I actually hoped to get the chapter out on the 29th of February, but missed it. Can't quite believe I'm still writing this after 4 years – but here we are. I'm sure I'll blink again, and we'll be talking about the 8th year anniversary for the story – hopefully we'll be beyond 24 chapters by then – And to the me writing the authors note's in 4 years from now – I hope you've got that full-time job you're after 😉.

After four years, I'm still re-editing the earlier chapters. And good news…

I've finally fixed the Nest Scammander mistake of Chapter One! Thank you to all of you who read my author note in chapter one explaining the difficulty I had fixing the mistake and that my priority for a long time was giving you new content.

Thank you to the two people who reviewed my latest chapter (already nearly 8 months ago!).

Land of Insanity – I'm glad you liked the Space Race part - As good as magic is, and as much as the wizarding community hate to admit it, I do feel like there are some things were muggle tech is better than magic, and I think that if the muggles got to the moon when the wizarding community were not even close, I think it's something the wizards would choose to ignore. I'm also glad that you've picked up on Kiku's subplot – you will find that it continued in this chapter.

Unseated4th – Thanks again for your reviews and for editing the chapter. I'm sure we didn't get everything, but as with all the other chapters, I'll re-edit at some stage. I know you hadn't updated Getsutide in a while, but you did say you're getting back into it. Perhaps any people actually reading this part might want to check out your stories?

To everyone else – Let me know what you think! Make sure you drop a review 😊

And now… The chapter.

Enjoy!

Hogwarts – Slytherin Common Room

22nd October – 8:44 am

Kiku's POV

The first thing Kiku became aware of when he woke a few days later was the sound of movement within his dorm. He yawned, groggily reaching over to his watch.

'8:45 am'

"Yabai!" Kiku cursed. He jumped out of bed knowing that there were only 15 minutes until his first lesson began. A wave of dizziness suddenly overcame Kiku, forcing him to grab onto the nearest bedpost. It was only when this passed that he noticed Zabini smirking at him. Kiku observed that the other boy was wearing his weekend wear.

'But why –' thought Kiku as Zabini disappeared up the stairs. 'Ah, of course.' It seemed the rest of Kiku's brain had finally woken up. It was Saturday. What was more, it was the first Hogsmeade Saturday of the year, which explained why everyone was already up so early for a weekend morning.

Kiku sat back on his bed. The dormitory was now empty – well, with the exception of Crabbe and Goyle who seemed to be arguing over who actually owned the pair of polka dot underwear Goyle currently sported. The Slytherin pair had recently taken to ignoring Kiku when Arthur was not present, and as he watched Crabbe try to snatch back 'his' underwear, Kiku decided to count this one a blessing.

Kiku slid his curtains shut. Moving to his draw, he removed his carefully folded weekend clothes and let himself think about the planned day trip.

Do I really want to go?

Hogsmeade was one of the oldest towns and only entirely wizard establishment in the UK, so Arthur of course had been looking forward to showing Kiku around. However, Kiku also knew that the other Slytherins would be joining them on the trip. Recently it had not just been Crabbe and Goyle, but the majority of Slytherins in their year who had shown a growing dislike towards him, something Kiku strongly suspected was due to his clear friendship with Alfred and by extension the other Gryffindor students. No one had said anything of the sort directly, but Kiku wouldn't be surprised if it did come up soon.

Kiku reminded himself that he would only have to be in this dormitory for a couple of months. Little more than a blink of the eye to one who had witnessed the passing of over two and a half millennia – so he knew better than to let the situation bother him. Kiku finished getting ready and moved to walk upstairs, but not before catching a glare from Crabbe.

Even so, it's not pleasant to be around people who clearly have a growing dislike of you.

At the top of the spiral staircase Kiku entered the Slytherin common room where he found Arthur speaking with Malfoy.

Despite Malfoy's obvious flaws, Arthur had taken on the 'side project' of befriending the boy. When asked about this, Arthur had explained that despite Malfoy's strong magicist beliefs and overall arrogant nature, he felt something positive might lay dormant deep inside. The hope was that by building up a positive relationship with Malfoy – perhaps even becoming a mentor of sorts – Arthur could reverse some of the negative ideologies the boy had been brought up believing.

Malfoy sneered at Kiku as he approached.

Yeah, good luck with that Arthur-san.

"Ah, Kiku," Arthur said looking up at the approaching nation. "Draco was just telling me of some of the best places to visit in Hogsmeade. You're coming with us, right?"

"Eh…" Kiku began, not failing to notice Malfoy roll his eyes – the feeling was mutual. He then noticed Arthur's potion essay that had been left on the table. Perfect.

"Actually, given my results for the Moonseed essay, I was thinking of spending today studying."

There was truth in this statement. It seemed the Sedher gem's power did not extend to Kiku's writing skills and much to his embarrassment, he had barley passed his first potions essay, not due to the content of his work, but because his written English was 'barely understandable' according to Snape.

"But I helped you with that last night," protested Arthur.

Kiku scoffed at what his friend considered 'help'. Who would have thought that the personification of England would be so bad at teaching English?

"I am sorry Arthur-san, but every rule you taught me last night can be broken," said Kiku exasperated, thinking of how Arthur had spent the better part of an hour teaching Kiku the 'i before e, except after c' rule only to then tell Kiku that he had spelt the number 'eight' wrong. ("Of course it's not spelt 'ieght'," Arthur had said. "Why would you think that?!").

"Oh well," said Malfoy, a little too quickly. "Honda's made up his mind. He can focus on learning to spell better than a seven-year-old while we spend the day in Hogsmeade."

Kiku's eyes flashed briefly in annoyance and without another thought he said, "Actually Arthur-san, I think I will come."

Draco's POV

Draco stood waiting in the courtyard as Filtch checked off the students leaving for Hogsmeade. Usually people would go through pretty quickly, but it seemed like someone had pissed off the squib as he was deliberately taking longer than necessary in checking off each student before allowing them to leave the school grounds. As a result, the courtyard was quickly becoming crowded.

As Pansy attempted conversation with him about the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons in just under a week, Draco noticed Honda slink off to meet with Jones, the Mudblood nearby. He glared at the pair. If Honda was going to be accepted into his group, certain things needed to change. Draco turned to say something of the sort to Arthur. To his surprise though, Arthur was moving to join Honda's side. Tempted by curiosity, Draco moved slightly so as to hear what they were talking about, while still nodding occasionally to keep Pansy happy.

"Hey dude," Jones was greeting Arthur. "Looks like we're off to that village you're always going on about."

"I am not always talking about it," Arthur protested – though his tone told Draco that the comment hadn't bothered him. "But make sure you do visit Scrivenshaft's – they've got some really interesting quills there."

"We might go there later," said Potter. "We're planning on going to go to Honeydukes first."

"Just as long as I can get something that isn't cursed."

"Alfred, I told you earlier – the chocolate frogs are enchanted, not cursed," said Granger.

For reasons unknown to Draco, this seemed to annoy Arthur. "Please don't tell me you've been getting 'cursed' and 'enchanted' mixed up."

Jones paused. "Ok, I won't tell you."

"Alfred," Arthur reprimanded.

"Iggy, it's fine," Jones said waving a hand dismissively.

"Except for the fact that even a first-year knows the difference –"

"A Honeydukes store opened in Tokyo a few years ago." Honda interrupted abruptly. "I like the Chairo. It is just a simple chocolate bar with no additional enchantments - well aside from the label design. They might have that one at Hogsmeade."

"Sounds like my kinda bar. I'll buy a whole stack," Jones unnecessarily jiggled the money in his coin bag as though to prove his intent.

Draco felt a slight shove from behind him. Looking to the front of the crowd it seemed like the squib had finally started letting more students through. He turned his attention back to Pansy – who seemed slightly annoyed by his lack of attention – and began to follow her through the slowly moving crowd.

"By the way, Kiku," Jones called back as Honda and Arthur re-joined the rest of the Slytherins. "I didn't think you were coming today. What changed your mind?"

Honda switched to Japanese to respond.

Draco frowned, unable to comprehend a single word. Jones and Arthur apparently could though as Arthur shook his head, smiling slightly while Jones outright laughed before looking Draco directly in the eyes.

At this point the crowd really started moving, and Draco lost sight of the Gryffindor group. His frown deepened as he followed the flow of students. He may not have understood exactly what had been said, but sometimes you don't need to understand the words to gather their meaning.

After finally having his name marked off, Draco re-joined his group. Pansy had chosen the more attentive recipient of Millicent Bulstrode to continue her conversation with while Crabbe and Goyle told Arthur (and Honda) about a particular stink bomb from Zonks' they intended to purchase. Draco meanwhile decided to take a page from Zabini's book for once, pulling himself from the surrounding conversations, he allowed himself to think about what he had just observed.

He frowned; several thoughts were going through his mind at the same time, all of which needing unpacking. Glaring again at Honda, he decided to start with the easiest problem – Honda's acceptance of Mudbloods. This had been a constant – right from their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express, Honda had made his stance on Mudbloods clear.

In Draco's mind, he had already been more than lenient when it came to the Japanese student. Honda wasn't just new to Hogwarts, he was new to the UK, so Draco had reluctantly tolerated the relationship that Honda already had with Jones. But now that several weeks had passed, the excuse that Honda was a foreigner and that things may be different abroad was becoming increasingly irrelevant. Honda's interaction with the American Mudblood this morning had reminded Draco of the offer he gave Potter back in first year. And like with Potter on that first day of school, Draco suspected there was little point in giving Honda more time to make the right choice.

As the Slytherin group began the walk up the final slope, Draco's mind slipped back to his early childhood. There really wasn't a time he could remember when he would have associated with Mudbloods the way Potter, Weasley – or Honda did. As a young child, his parents had always taught him that Muggles couldn't use magic because they were stupid and that in the old days, before the wizarding world had hidden itself, the Muggles had attacked the wizards because they were jealous of the power magic gave. Of course, he now understood it was a little more complicated that, but as a child it was all he had needed to know.

So, from a young age he had known that since Muggles were stupid and violent, it only followed that their Mudblood children would be little better. Draco reluctantly accepted that there were rare exceptions, like Granger who weren't as stupid as the rest (though he refused to acknowledge this aloud). Jones, however, had all the violent and stupid traits that his parents had warned him about.

It was for this reason that it baffled him that actual wizards like Potter and the Weasley's would want to associate with Mudbloods. Until Honda had arrived at Hogwarts, it hadn't been much more than an annoyance – there had always been blood traitors around, since at least Gryffindor's time and probably before even him. But Slytherin had known the importance of not associating with Mudbloods. To have someone in the founder's house who was so willing to associate with Mudbloods was – in Draco's mind – an insult to the memory of Slytherin. Draco glanced at the smaller boy walking in front of him. Things would need to change with Honda – and soon.

So, what makes Arthur different?

Draco found himself stumped by the thought for a moment. He switched focus to the other transfer student, who was currently walking on his tiptoes, trying to catch his first glimpse of the town. While it was undoubtedly true that Arthur was more tolerant of Mudbloods than Draco's parents would deem acceptable, Draco couldn't help but feel there was something different with Arthur – for some odd reason, calling Arthur a traitor – of any kind – simply felt wrong.

Draco considered this for a few moments. Perhaps it was because of the much more argumentative relationship Arthur held with Jones. No one would dispute the fact that the pair were almost always arguing. However, it was also true that when they weren't fighting, they seemed to share a strong bond. In addition to this was Arthur's clear disapproval of the use of the term 'Mudblood'. What was even stranger was the fact that when asked about this during their last Astrology class, Arthur's answer had seemed to Draco to be almost intentionally vague.

As the Slytherins entered the main street of Hogsmeade, Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned in a circle, smiling as he took in the sights. "Ahh, it's nice to be back."

"You've been here before?" asked Pansy.

"I've been here a few times – but that was ages ago."

The Slytherin group made their way down the main street.

"Has it changed much since your last visit?" Pansy asked as they approached the statue in the centre of town.

Arthur seemed to hesitate slightly before giving his response. "A little I think, it's been a long time since I was here, so it's a bit hard to remember." He looked down one of the roads that lead out of town adding, "I heard the Shrieking Shack took the spot as most haunted place in the UK sometime recently, so I wouldn't mind seeing that."

Draco blinked, thinking he must have misheard. He exchanged a glance with Zabini and Pansy who also looked slightly confused, confirming he had heard correctly.

"The Shrieking Shack got its reputation almost thirty years ago," said Pansy sounding sceptical.

"Not exactly what I'd call 'recent'," added Draco, not failing to notice the way Arthur seemed to momentarily seize up.

"Well, as I said I was quite young when I was last here, maybe I saw it and forgot…" Arthur's voice trailed off as though hoping this would clear everything up.

"It's a pretty infamous spot though," pressed Draco.

"Arthur-san, you said your father is somewhat strict when it comes to anything that is haunted," said Honda speaking up for the first time in a while. "Perhaps he did not take you there as a child because he does not want you near it?"

An expression not unlike gratitude flashed across Arthur's face so quickly Draco almost missed it. "Ah," Arthur responded with a snap of his fingers. "I bet that's it," he turned back to the others. "My dad had an unfortunate encounter with a banshee in a haunted mansion near Edinburgh in his youth and since then he has always been paranoid about any spirit-related being." He rolled his eyes and added in a slightly embarrassed tone, "I shouldn't even be surprised that he failed to mention the Shrieking Shack last time we came – it wouldn't be the first time he's done something of the sort."

Draco sniggered a little before deciding that it was about time for the new students to see the infamous house. They followed a side street leading out of the town, which soon turned into a path winding through the trees before it disappeared altogether. From there it was only a short walk until the trees gave way to form a large perimeter surrounding the house. While the first snow of the season had not yet fallen, it was clearly only a matter of time, as evident by the lone, barren tree that stood next to the house. With creeping weeds, flaking wooden boards and several smashed windows, it really was little wonder why this house in particular had gained so much infamy, especially if the rumours of what occurred at the end of the last school year were true.

Honda, Draco noticed, seemed particularly interested in the UK's most haunted house, and after listening to a few of its stories he took it upon himself to share some anecdotes about Japan's most haunted location. Though initially reluctant to listen to anything Honda had to say, Draco soon found himself absorbed in the tale Honda told – turned out the guy could tell a good ghost story.

Finally, after several more ghost stories, it was decided that the group would head up to the Three Broomsticks for lunch – via a quick detour at the joke shop. They were almost at the pub when Honda realised he had left his jacket back at Zonko's. Arthur volunteered to go back with him (the only one who would) while the rest of the Slytherins went ahead. Just as they were entering the building, Draco spotted a number of older students preparing to leave. A sudden thought occurred to him.

"You go on ahead," Draco said to Goyle as the rest of the Slytherin group filed into the pub. He then positioned himself outside the building, hoping that things might work out as he imagined. He waited in the shadow of the building for a minute or two, and was just beginning to question his actions when he heard Arthur and Honda returning. At the same time the pub door opened and the older students exited.

"Now, this is one building I definitely remember," came Arthur's voice as the two entered earshot. "I hope they still have that cottage pie from last time."

"Are you sure zat is a good idea?"

It was the French transfer student – Bonnefoy. He had been among the group of departing students. In fact, it was because of Bonnefoy's presence within the group that Draco had decided to take this chance of shameless eavesdropping. The conversation he had heard earlier had sparked something in his mind, giving him reason to want to see how this interaction might turn out.

"What was that?" Arthur asked darkly.

Bonnefoy smirked, flicking his hair back he continued. "I was simply warning you that ze food there is of ze same subpar quality that one would expect to find anywhere on this side of ze channel. It would be discourteous of me to let you naively raise your hopes that you might get something here that passes for actual food."

"Looks like you ate here anyway," Arthur countered, a scowl forming on his face.

"Oui, ze 'whole experience has made me very homesick."

"Man, you're a complete food snob," laughed one of the Weasley twins.

"It is not so much as being a snob," explained Bonnefoy "as it is having standards. If you ever visit my country one day and try ze food of ze French, you will see how basic England's skills actually are."

Draco noticed Arthur's bushy eyebrow twitch at the final statement.

"Come on," scoffed the other twin. "It's really not that bad."

Francis looked sadly at the redhead. "One day George, you will see."

"At least I'm not always calling out for help!" Arthur suddenly burst.

For reasons Draco didn't understand, this odd statement seemed to greatly annoy Bonnefoy, as the French student's expression faltered, then darkened.

"Mon Cheri, I am just glad that unlike yourself I'm not seen as an overbearing nuisance according to some people," he shot back with a rebuttal that made just as little sense to Draco.

"Ahh!" Arthur gasped, looking as though he had been hit. "He did not say that."

"Oui, he did – he's said it plenty of times, just last wee–."

"Francis-san, that's enough," Honda said, stepping forward between the two.

"You heard him frog-"

"Arthur-san! You too!" the Japanese student reprimanded before uttering some kind of curse in his native tongue. Draco watched in some amusement as the usually mild boy vented at his fellow transfer students. "Really, why must the three of you always be provoking each other?"

"Ah Kiku," said Bonnefoy lightly while twirling his hair around his finger. "Since when do I provoke anyone?"

Draco couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the audacity of this comment.

Honda frowned, then lowered his voice and in a more serious overall tone continued to speak. Draco strained to hear what was being said before realising that the boy had also switched back to his native language, meaning he couldn't understand it regardless of the volume. Bonnefoy could though as he reluctantly nodded before uttering something that sounded like 'Go men' before switching back to English.

Bonnefoy understands Japanese too? Draco thought with some surprise before figuring it must be on the subject list at Illvamory.

"All jokes – like your food – aside," Bonnefoy addressed Arthur. "You do know that ze Three Broomsticks is a pub, oui?"

"Get to the point Frog."

Bonnefoy instead turned to Honda – who still looked unimpressed. "Just make sure our little light-weight friend stays off the butterbeer."

"No promises there," was the somewhat stiff reply.

"Hey!" Arthur protested, looking between the pair. "I'm not that bad."

Honda averted his eyes, as though to avoid giving an unwanted response.

Bonnefoy, who clearly had no such issues laughed as though someone had told a very funny joke. "Have we forgotten last New Year's already?"

"You know that's totally different," Arthur countered as Bonnefoy began to more away. "Not that it matters anyway seeing as we're not even of age yet."

This last comment caused Bonnefoy to scoff. "If that's what makes you happy," he said before turning to leave with the other sixth years. "I'll see you later, assuming you are able to walk back to ze school. Au revoir."

Arthur stood on the spot, glaring at Bonnefoy's retreating form for a few moments before turning and following Honda into the pub. Draco waited a few moments before he too followed.

Ten minutes later, Draco sat with a butterbeer while listening to the surrounding babel. He and the other Slytherins were spread out across the table by the window. The best seats in the pub had kindly been saved for them by a couple of third-year Hufflepuffs until Crabbe and Goyle had 'convinced' them to move. Draco looked around at his fellow Slytherins, thinking specifically of the new students.

Honda sat at the edge of the table. No one was speaking with him, though it really didn't seem like he cared. Arthur meanwhile was engaged in a conversation with Zabini, his earlier argument with Bonnefoy seemingly forgotten – though the three butterbeers placed in front of him suggested otherwise.

Draco took a sip of his own drink, while looking between Honda and Arthur. For the second time that day his thoughts were focused on them. He still wasn't sure what made him stay behind for the chance encounter between the three exchange students, but he was glad he had. While he couldn't pretend to know exactly what had been meant during parts of the argument he had just witnessed, it seemed he should include Bonnefoy as having an odd relationship with the others.

It was clear that as with Jones, Bonnefoy and Arthur's personalities seemed to clash, but also like with Jones and Arthur, Draco had previously seen the French and English students getting along well. It also was something that Honda seemed to not only understand, but know how to deal with. Today alone, Honda had defused two arguments, something he was seemingly well experienced at.

As though to prove his speculation that the closeness of the transfer students, Honda chose at that moment to reach over and take the third Butterbeer from right in front of Arthur, the later of whom didn't seem to notice.

Draco frowned slightly. It was clear the transfer students knew each other well, the nature of some of the arguments he had witnessed clearly proved that much – yet it was just as clear they did not hate one another. Previously Arthur had mentioned they only came to know each other after starting at Illvamory, but Draco found himself wondering how such close, yet apparently complex relationships could develop in just over three years.

Deciding to shake it off for now, Draco joined the conversation to his left, though couldn't help but send another glance in the transfer students' direction. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but there was one thing that Draco Malfoy was sure of.

Something strange is going on.

Done. Woah, that was hard, particularly the middle section before they entered Hogsmeade. This combined with working – and Netflix explains the long gap. I'm 700 words into the next chapter, so you will get it eventually. The real question is 'when'?

I know there will be people who disagree with my choice to have Malfoy refer to Arthur using his first name. It took me a while to decide on this (As opposed to using 'Kirkland'), however I went with the first name for two main reasons. Firstly, as a loyal citizen, Malfoy can't help but like Arthur and so uses his first name. Second reason being that if Malfoy does get another POV towards the end of the school year, the use of Arthur's first name here could be used to interesting effect – though I'm not going to go further with that so as to avoid potential spoilers 😉.

Next time:

Sure, there might only be a few hours in between classes ending and the two international schools arriving, but Harry and Ron both agree that's enough time to give Alfred a taste of flying.