Ghost Whisper: As one of my more popular stories, I felt obligated to post another chapter of Twin Souls up as soon as I could. The fact that I had some time off from school certainly helped.

In any case, let me just right now that I was overwhelmed by the amount of response I had for my last chapter. It far exceeded any expectations I had, and was much more than I feel I deserved. Nevertheless, I'm so happy to hear from some of my readers. Just knowing that there are some people out there who are curious as to what will happen next, is a great motivation to continue working on this story. Thank you so much!

And now, on with the story…

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Staring straight up at the deep blue velvet draped above him, TK contemplated his situation. The predawn light was not strong enough to make its way through the heavy fabric covering curtaining the four-poster bed he slept in, leaving him in relative darkness. Only the rustling of his bed-sheets broke the silence as he rolled over onto his side.

Truth be told, he should be sleeping still. TK knew that he'd regret his wakefulness tomorrow, when it came time to begin acting his role as a student at the school. A clear head was the best way to start things – something Patamon seemed to know quite well, considering the way he was curled up into a small ball on the pillow opposite Takeru's face. Everything was just too strange for him to settle down though, much as he knew he should.

'I wonder how Kari's doing,' he thought absently, shifting in bed in an attempt to get more comfortable. 'And my Mom – she's gotta be worried by now. That whole episode where we went to the Digiworld when I was young really shook her up. At least the second time around, she didn't really have a chance to notice when we were gone. But when the Digimon started appearing in the real world…I thought she was gonna tie me up and have us live in a cave or something. I hate to think about what she's going to do this time when I get home.'

"Mmmm…doughnuts…" Patamon muttered sleepily, a small trickle of drool falling out of the corner of his mouth as he smiled.

"That's gross Patamon," TK grumbled as he pulled back from his partner. He couldn't help but grin a little though. Some things just never changed, no matter the circumstances – and the appetite of a Digimon was definitely one of those things.

At least Patamon was okay though. Hagrid, the giant man who apparently taught Care of Magical Creatures had been curious about what type of creature Patamon was, and had asked TK about it when he led him to a temporary room for the night. The man had seemed quite surprised upon hearing TK's explanation of what a Digimon was. Apparently, the magic fields surrounding Hogwarts prevented anything technology related from working. Why it didn't affect Patamon was anyone's guess, but Takeru was thankful that it hadn't. He didn't know how he would react if something were to happen to Patamon – though he knew it wouldn't be something to test.

'It's nice to have one friend here with me. This would be so much harder if I were alone.'

TK yawned, a jaw cracking one that seemed to last forever. It seemed as though the excitement of the day – or night? – was finally catching up with him. Even his own frantically whizzing thoughts couldn't continue to force sleep back. With a small sigh, he burrowed himself deeper under the covers, letting sleep take him, even as his brain started once again on worrying about how long he would have to stay here before going home, and how he could contact his mother.

The last thought he had before falling asleep was a strange one that seemed to come from nowhere. 'I'm glad Chance is on my side.'

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The room was completely silent.

Even the portrait of Mathilda Magplot that was hung over the doorway to the room was asleep, the beaded shawl of the wealthy 18th century witch drawn up around her shoulder's. That was good. The two roommates had been given a strong warning before taking up residence in the room, that the portrait was a notorious gossip, but that there weren't any other rooms in a state to receive guests.

Round blue eyes observed the rest of the room carefully, checking to be sure that nothing was out of place, before Patamon got up from his warm resting place on the bed. As silently as possible, the small Digimon glided over the portrait. He hovered for a moment, vexed. How was he supposed to get it open? He didn't have hands to hold it open, and while his ears would work, he was currently using them to stay afloat. Finally, after several moments of suppressed growls, he hit upon a possible solution.

There was a small table next to the door, upon which a fancifully sculpted candle holder sat, the candle burning smokeless and never seeming to melt. It was just high enough that he could stand on the edge and reach up with an ear to nudge the portrait out of position. With some careful maneuvering, that was exactly what he did.

Several minutes later, Patamon found himself gliding soundlessly down the dark hallways of the castle. He had to resist the urge to shiver and zip directly back to the room he shared with TK. The walls around him seemed almost alive, and Patamon could have sword they were making the fur behind his ears itch. Was it something about the magical 'wards' that hid the castle from the view of all those without magic?

'Really, the lengths I go to make sure that TK's safe,' he thought sourly, shaking his head in hopes of getting rid of the annoying tingle. 'That Dumbledore man might be good, but he sure hasn't told us everything. I just know that there's something going on that he's hiding from us – and I will find out what it is.'

Peering around the corner of a wall, Patamon confirmed that there was no one currently in the hallway he was planning on exploring, and then took a quick right, barely avoiding flying straight into a suit of armor that seemed strategically placed to catch the unwary off guard. 'Then again,' he thought suspiciously, 'it just might have been. This castle gives me the major creepers.'

Once again, Patamon allowed himself to be grateful to whatever digital-god that had blessed him with his large ears. The ease with which he flew through the halls made him far faster and quieter than he would have been, were he crawling. Even better, was that much like a bat, they detected the unnoticeable vibrations in the air that told him when he was approaching a person or an object.

Now for instance, he could tell that there was a small creature stalking silently along the floor of the hallway…

With a squeak, Patamon's flight ground to an abrupt halt, as he found himself gazing into the luminous slit-pupilled eyes of a cat.

"Meow?"

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"Damn them all!" The exquisite crystal of his wine goblet was shattered with a loud tinkle, as he threw the object into his fireplace in a fit of rage. The man paid no head to the destruction of property. It was not as though it was a irreplaceable object. Right now, his fury was all encompassing however, and the glass had a small price to pay, in the face of what he would be doing to his servants, incompetents that they were.

Of all the misbegotten, idiotic, useless fools! False information! They had sent him false information! With all the good that had done him, he might as well not have a spy within the council! It would have been better if he'd not acted at all – it was far more likely that the boy would have remained lost within the forest, rather than finding his way to those who could be his allies. The man growled, stalking over to the far wall, which was covered by an oversized bookcase, filled with countless tomes and objects of power.

There was the item he was searching for. A shriveled looking hand, the skin pulled tight over claw-like fingers, the appendage, which had been hacked off of some pathetic soul's arm at the wrist, was holding a wicked looking knife. A large opal graced the handle, and the stone was smeared with rusty stains – dried blood from previous uses.

On the wall near the bookcase was a birdcage, filled with several doves. Wasting no time, the man opened the cage, extracting a bird and slicing open its neck on the blade of the knife. He flipped the weapon over, rubbing the pommel-stone over the welling blood till it was thoroughly coated. The opal lit from within with an orange light, and the man allowed himself a small feeling of satisfaction as the corpse of the dove struggled weakly up in the palm of his hand, glassy dead eyes watching him.

"Go," he hissed at the creature. Sickly orange light emanated from the blood at the bird's throat, covering up the blood. When it faded away, all that could be seen were pristine white feathers. "Go to the castle, and watch my enemies. And deliver this to the boy. It does not matter which." He slipped an ornately decorated gold ring onto the leg of the dove. Turning to the window, he pushed it open, releasing the dove into the night air. His spells would sustain it for as long as he needed.

But for now, there were other matters of importance to take care of. His servants would not be relaxing tonight, or many other nights to come. Voldemort was not pleased – and he would be sure that his displeasure was magnified with every one of his Death Eaters upon whom he chose to mete out punishment.

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Review Responses:

Draic: Yeah, just one of those…blah sort of chapters, where decisions have to be made. I tried to at least have some plot development – and make it different from the way everyone and their dog introduces new characters to Hogwarts at least. I hope it turned out okay. Glad to hear that Alternate Fantasy is coming along! :D

Mysterious Bearer of Life: -Jumps Back- Ok, I heard the shout! I must update! -holds heroic pose-. Ahem…sorry about that. Hopefully this chapter meets with your approval. Thanks for the review!

Firehedgehog: Great to hear from you! I'll keep on trying to put out chapters without extremely long waits.

cherri88: I'm glad you like it so far. I do try, but sometimes I worry that things aren't turning out in a coherent, interesting way. Thanks for the shout out! :)

nunofyorbiz: It's nice to hear things are turning out well so far. I was considering bringing the DD in later, but… unless I have a major plot change, it probably won't happen. In the earlier chapters, I already explained why out of all of them, TK was the one best suited (and able) to go. Throwing in the DD could weaken my back-story, and have things get kind of crowded character-wise. I might have some special appearances though…