Disclaimer: It is not in any way, shape, or form belonging to moi.

2009: First Year

"Come here, you little miscreants." Hermione laughed, planting noisy kisses on her son and giving her daughter a warm hug. "I can't believe you're starting Hogwarts already."

Blaise smirked from beside her, ruffling Jem's hair (to the boy's irritation) and pecking a kiss to Ollala's temple when she presented it to him with an expectant smile chattering about all the exciting things that awaited them at school: friends, lessons, ("Quidditch!" Jem inserted), the Giant Squid, the library.

"You're just like your mother." Blaise murmured proudly, before turning to his boy. "Try and keep your feet on the ground, at least in front of the professors."

Though neither child had inherited their nymph powers yet, they were fairly certain of the elements each child was connected to; Ollala's love of all things earthy and Jem's need to be in the air, either flying on a broom or standing at the highest point and feeling gusting breeze or powerful gales pushing against him, were rather clear indications.

Jeremiah grinned devilishly, and was herded onto the train by his mother, his sister taking the front handles of their trunks, leaving him with the back. Telepathic communication was really very helpful sometimes; it saved a lot of trouble, it creeped out other people, and it was an efficient, sly way of discussing plans (of which they had many). Oh, and their parents couldn't rebuke them for insulting each other, that was good too.

"Remember, if you have any trouble, talk to Teddy." Hermione reminded her twin children, as the train began to let out puffs of steam.

They waved goodbye until the station was out of sight, and then the siblings settled themselves in the carriage; Apple, Ollala's part kneazle cat (her mother had insisted on that when Ollala expressed her desire for a kitten) was prowling the unfamiliar space and gazing lazily every so often at Jem's owl, Pax, a pretty Eastern Grass Owl with golden tints to her feathers. Apple was a more attractive feline than Crookshanks had been, with feathered ears and tortoiseshell colouring and bright orange eyes that were full of intelligence.

Ollala ran her hand along the wood inlay, feeling the life inside it and wanting to call forth the ivy vines. She sighed. Oh, how she wished her nymph powers would awaken already.

The door slammed against the frame as it was heaved open, and a gangly, dark haired boy stepped through, his hair a messy mop and his trunk trailing behind him.

"Hi." He said, in a slight Scottish brogue, realising he'd crashed another occupied compartment. "Are you first years, or do I have to leave again?"

Jem grinned at his forward question. "You can sit with us – we're first years."

"Excellent. I'm Jasper." He introduced himself, shoving his belongings into the compartment and narrowly avoiding stepping on Apple, who hissed a warning, but didn't seem to mind too much because she jumped into his lap when he sat down and purred happily as he petted her.

"Jeremiah – Jem, if you like – and this is my sister, Ollala." Jem said, and smiled down at the cat. "Looks like you're an alright fellow, Jasper, if Apple's taken a liking to you. She's part kneazle."

"Wicked; Dad's told me about them, said he knew a girl at Hogwarts who had one." Jasper replied, scratching Apple's chin as she walked her front legs up his shoulder, following his fingers.

"That'd be our mum," Ollala told their new acquaintance. "Hermione Granger. But it's Zabini now. What'd you say your last name was?"

"I didn't. It's Wood. Dad was the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Oliver Wood! My godfather's talked about him – he played in the English League, didn't he?" Jem interrupted interestedly. "Awesome."

Jem. Ollala mentally scolded her brother. Stop being impolite.

Jasper apparently didn't mind, and the two started chatting about the current teams and whether or not the Falmouth Falcons would still top the table once the Tornadoes poached their number one chaser, Marcus Flint, for some obscene amount of Galleons, and possibly the promise of lady friend or two.

OoO

2011: Third Year

"Yala? Apple's gotten fat. What are you feeding her?" James Sirius Potter, Harry's oldest child and the bane of Jem's life (the first year had attached himself to his father's godson tighter than a lichen to a rock and seemed to spend more time in Ravenclaw Tower than he did in the Gryffindor common room), asked as he squatted down beside the part kneazle who was currently stretched out in the sunshine that had spilled into the room and onto her favourite rug.

"What?"

Ollala turned from her study table to scrutinise her pet, who had been insulted twice now in regards to her weight (the first time had been Jem, earlier in the week). "I haven't changed anything in her diet, so she shouldn't be."

"Well, she is. Look at her. She's huge."

"Maybe she's pregnant." Jasper offered from his place on one of the couches. He'd taken to studying with the twins in their common room because Ravenclaw tower was a lot more conducive than Gryffindor's to work. Initially, no one had minded, but since James had arrived, the older kids would grumble about invasions and what not, complaining about overexposure to brash stupidity and reckless bravery.

A black cat jumped down from a nearby table as if in response to that suggestion and rubbed itself against Apple, purring loudly.

"Davies!" Ollala yelled. "Your cat's got mine preggers!"

Jasper sniggered.

Nicodemus Davies was a fourth year with a ridiculously complete and obscure knowledge of Quidditch statistics from 1849 until the modern day. The very modern day. He knew the result and numbers before the final whistle was finished being blown.

"Yeah, and?" The shouted reply floated down from one of the dormitories.

"You're a wanker." She finished, going back to her homework and searching out her twin in her mind.

Jem, where are you. I finished Pucey's essay if you want to have read over it.

I'm hiding in the library.

Can I buy a 'context'?

Rowntree's been making passes at me all day and I think she's stalking me, with a final plan to ambush me while I walk back to our tower. Save me, please.

Ollala smirked, feeling a deep sense of schadenfreude. Helena Rowntree wasn't really all that bad, but she had an awful, awful laugh and sly, calculating streak a mile long disguised in Hufflepuff colours and blonde pigtails.

"Jem needs saving. Again." She informed the Scottish boy, who raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Rowntree." That explained everything, because Jasper winced in understanding and followed her out of the portrait hole in sombre silence, James tagging behind for two corridors until Ollala turned and mutely pointed in the direction of Gryffindor tower. The first year scowled but grudgingly obeyed the silent order.

When they reached the library, it was to the unexpected scene of Rowntree storming huffily out the great doors hissing under her breath about how she'd never been so offended in her life, and if Zabini thought more of that tramp than her, then she was well rid of him. Jasper and Ollala withheld their disbelieving laughter at the last statement. Merlin, she was deluded if she thought she'd ever had him.

What did you do? Ollala threw her question out to her twin, making her way inside. He didn't answer, mostly because he didn't need to.

Tilly Andrews, a Slytherin girl from their year, was in the process of climbing off a rather pink cheeked Jem, whose arms she'd jumped into in a successful effort to ward off Rowntree's advances.

"Dude. What the hell?" Jasper eloquently asked of his mate. Tilly fixed her hair.

"You're welcome." She told the blushing boy, straightening his tie which she'd inadvertently disturbed during the impromptu rescue that appeared to have taken place, before darting back to her worktable as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Erm." Jem announced articulately, before shaking his head to clear the jumbled thoughts.

"That wasn't what it looked like."

"So Andrews wasn't groping you in an attempt to scare off Rowntree?" Ollala inquired cheekily.

Her brother made to give his denial but then paused. "Actually, yeah, that's pretty much it."

"We figured as much."

Crisis averted, the trio began the climb back to Ravenclaw tower, using the secret passage Hermione had told them about one Christmas break.

"By the way, Apple's not fat. She's pregnant."

OoO

2013: Fifth Year

"But sir-" Jem whined, giving his best doe eyes to Professor Pucey, the Defence professor.

"That wasn't a request, Zabini." The teacher pointed out, though he wasn't angry at the backchat. "Besides, you need to know this for OWLs."

Jem frowned, but stood to comply with the instructions he'd been given; casting a corporeal patronus. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, because he could – easily. It was more the shape it took. In the middle of a life or death situation, no one would care if a baby owl shot out the end of your wand in a puff of silvery mist, but in a classroom full of fifteen year olds – heck, it was embarrassing.

Volunteer, please.

Why should I? You cast a perfect patronus.

Because you love me too much to watch me be eaten alive by competitive, hormonal teenage boys?

Ha. You're so melodramatic.

Please?

"Professor, please, I'd like to perform the charm." Ollala spoke up sweetly. She could get away with most things in this class, because she was bright, pretty and quietly sneaky, and, well, Pucey had been a Slytherin.

The handsome professor looked between them sharply, probably aware of their private conversation but unable to prove it, and after a moment finally yielded to her innocent mask with an acquiescing nod.

Ollala's patronus was just as well performed as Jem's would have been, although the corporeal shape was more threatening. The students weren't quite sure what it was, but it had sharp teeth and looked a bit like a small, stocky, angry dog.

"What is it?" Someone ventured.

Ollala smiled fondly at the silver animal as it bared its pointy teeth, causing some students to step back. "It's a Tasmanian Devil. They're native to the Australian state of the same name, and they are carnivorous, violent little things that make the most of opportunities presented to them."

She gave her audience an evil smile, revealing a hint of just why her patronus had fashioned itself on that particular animal.

"Impressive, Miss Zabini." Pucey commended, adding with a wry smile. "Once again, I have to wonder why the Sorting Hat chose Ravenclaw over Slytherin for you."

"My guess is the honesty, sir." She told him with a serious face. "Besides, the dungeons would do nothing for my complexion."

He laughed, and set the class onto the task of creating patronus', if not corporeal, then at least a fine, silvery mist of reasonable protection. They spent the remainder of the class sending their patronus' around the room, joined by the other select corporeal forms (Jem joined in once there were enough girls successfully casting the charm because he felt it would be less noticeable when the tiny owl appeared).

At lunch, Scorpius and Al (both first years, and both, surprisingly, sorted into Slytherin) came running up to the Ravenclaw table in search of Jem, jabbering about something or other and eventually dragging him away to have a look at whatever it was that they'd found – or needed an answer to. So Ollala and Jasper made their way back to the Ravenclaw tower, waiting for him to return.

They usually met in Jem's room because it was easy and quiet, and Jasper was allowed into the dorm without a fuss (Jem was of the opinion that the castle considered him an honorary Ravenclaw because he spent so much time there). The discussion turned to nymphs, as it often did, because it was a curious subject, and the twins enjoyed hearing the thoughts of others on the whole concept.

"So, you don't date because, ultimately, you'll find your mate when you inherit your powers?" Jasper repeated after one particularly melancholy admission by the dark haired girl sitting cross legged on the bed. She nodded. "Lame. But why not just have some fun?"

Ollala gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, yeah, that's great: 'hi, you're cute, I like you, but eventually I'm leaving for some random who I probably don't even know, because we're destined to be, sorry'. I'm sure loads of guys would froth over that."

"I wouldn't mind." Jasper said shyly, looking down at his feet from his spot beside her. "There's two years until you get your inheritance, and who knows, really, what'll happen then?"

Ollala blushed, and glanced up. Jasper's eyes were earnest and bright, and she suddenly felt warm. Inching slowly forward, Jasper heard the small intake of breath, but the girl didn't pull away so he let his lips press against hers gently, coaxingly, and she all but melted into him, uncrossing her legs in a subconscious effort to get closer to the Gryffindor.

The Ravenclaw in her all but shut itself off, as if it were a flame doused in water, and she let her senses take over; his lips, his hands, her fingers in his wavy hair were all she was aware of as he kissed her.

Her first kiss. Definitely not his first – she knew all about his past experiences – but it didn't matter because it was better than good…but then she heard the tell tale thump of Jem's feet on the stairs and pulled away sharply. Her first reaction was to panic, and then, in a split second, she had recovered her senses.

Jem, I left my bag in the commons, can you grab it for me?

The stomps paused.

Sure. The things I do for you.

"Jem's back." She told Jasper, fixing her hair and blouse (how did it end up so crooked, and where was her tie?). Jasper handed her the disappearing tie, picking it up off the ground, and then tried to get his hair back to normal.

"When you said 'fun', is that all it is?" Ollala asked quickly. He stopped short.

"Well, sort of." He floundered, looking for a proper way of answering. "I mean, I'll probably always love you – we've known each too long and too well not to – but hey, maybe we should live in the moment. For all you know I could be your mate anyway, and if not then we'll have had a good time."

He smiled and cocked his head to the side in a one shouldered shrug.

Ollala fidgeted, thinking it over.

"Alright. But on three conditions; no sex, Jem doesn't find out, and you can't fall in love with me unless you're my mate."

"Okay, definitely, and that's probably impossible but I'll agree for your sake." Jasper replied, drawing a cross over his heart, grinning. Then he stole a quick kiss, just as Jem's stomping feet announced the twin's arrival, and darted around her to sprawl on one of the other beds. "And if I do break that last one, I'll just have to drown my sorrows with other girls."

He winked.

OoO

2015: Seventh Year

"You have got to be kidding me." Ollala hissed, swinging her body around the corner and pushing her body against the smooth wall as she tried to hide from the masculine figure that was casually strolling along the Parisian street.

She and Jem had come into their powers almost two months earlier, and since then it had been a bit of a rollercoaster because neither twin had found their mate at Hogwarts (unlike their mother and uncle, who seemed to have been blessed by their mutual association with Harry Potter) and it had been giving them mood swings and mild migraines.

Pansy and Draco, Ollala's godparents, had decided to take her to Paris for the weekend – Pansy had argued her way quite successfully, and not without certain vehemence, into taking the girl to see the fashion shows as a belated birthday present.Initially, Ollala had been all for it and enjoying herself immensely. But then, she been on her way back to the hotel with Pansy and who might she see heading towards them but Nicodemus Davies, stalking down the pretty rue behind a rather rat-faced woman that spoke in a nasally, self-assured voice and looked as if the world had offended her in some way. And she kept clicking her fingers to get Davies' attention, making him write down her thoughts (well, at least he wasn't dating her, Yala thought optimistically).

This impromptu almost-meeting was precisely why Ollala was hiding, having tugged Pansy behind her in a moment's panic. Actually, the panic was mostly because the first reaction hadn't been anything remotely normal for catching a glimpse of a former housemate on the streets of Paris; she'd paused and felt a burst of happiness and then, of all the things she could have felt, a shocking sensation of lust (at which point she'd panicked completely, because, really, the only thing that could mean was that Nicodemus Davies was her mate, and she'd spent her whole school life with him in a battle of wits and snarky commentaries, so it was just too weird to contemplate spending the rest of her life with him. Heck, he could totally reject her. That was why she'd freaked out).

"What are you doing?" Pansy exclaimed, half annoyed-half amused at the quick escape. Ollala rested the back of her head against the wall, watching as the former Ravenclaw passed them.

"Old housemate." She offered by way of explanation, letting out a breath of air.

"I don't think so." Pansy argued, raising an eyebrow. "I think it's something else – old boyfriend maybe?"

Ollala snorted. "Hardly."

Pansy tapped her chin thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes before suddenly letting them fly wide open in realisation.

"He's your mate!" She gasped, grabbing Ollala's shoulders. "Why are you hiding? Go and talk to him, he looked miserable with that woman!"

Ollala fought her way out of Pansy's clutches, shaking her head.

"No! I can't; it can't be him!" The younger girl whined, holding her face in her hands as she began to hyperventilate. "I can't think, I need some earth or something, there's too much concrete."

Pansy knew about panic attacks, she'd witnessed many in friends and family, so she took control, slapping Yala's cheek once, not too viciously, and dragged her towards the parks near their hotel. When they got there, she pushed her goddaughter to the ground and took off her shoes, letting the earth touch bare skin.

It worked like a charm, and in seconds Ollala was calm once again (if breathing rather heavily).

"Out of all the people in the world, it had to be Nicodemus Davies, didn't it?" She huffed.

And then, just to prove that the universe was set against her, a man's voice called out.

"Zabini?"

She groaned and fell backwards, lying on the ground and gazing up at her mate resignedly.

"Davies. How are you?" She enquired politely, trying not to breathe in his musky scent.

"Good, good. How's Hogwarts this year?" He asked with a grin, watching as she heaved herself to her feet reluctantly.

"Not nearly as fun without you there." She replied, before covering her mouth in embarrassment. Nicodemus laughed, eyes bright, and she felt something flutter in her stomach.

"Well, that's flattering. I thought you'd have thrown a party celebrating my absence – no Quidditch stats, no philandering cat." He smirked. "But I'm being rude; who is your friend?" He said, turning to look at Pansy (who was trying to keep a hopeful and excited expression off her face at this fortuitous second encounter).

"Pansy Parkinson," she answered primly. "Yala's godmother. It's nice to meet you. We were just going to go for a chocolat chaud, would you care to join us?"

Pansy ignored the glare that Yala sent her from behind her mate. She also ignored the miming and the silent fuming. At the end of the day, Yala would have her mate – Pansy was sure of it, and she was damn well going to make sure she was right.

oOoOoO

When the Malfoys and Yala returned home to England, it was with good news and buoyant spirits. Ollala ran off to find her brother, Jasper and Harry, all of whom were playing some crude one on one scrimmage game of Quidditch out in the nearby fields.

She was barefoot, and her white dress already had a grass stain as she tore across the ground to greet them, dark curls streaming behind her.

"Couldn't wait to get dirty again?" Harry laughed, gesturing at her feet when she found them. She laughed and wiggled her toes against the earth.

"What can I say? There isn't enough living earth there – just concrete and beautiful dresses." She smiled, but turned serious immediately. "I found him, though – my mate – in Paris."

Jasper looked crushed, but managed a weak smile and Ollala looked at him sadly. They'd had a lot of fun together, but now it had to stop, like she'd always known it would. It looked like he'd broken his promise to her as well, judging by the look in his eyes.

She broke away from his gaze as Jem hugged her tightly, then Harry, and Jasper joined in calling out 'group hug' in his usual jovial tone. When they parted, chuckling, he asked her quietly, "Who is it?"

"Nicodemus Davies." She replied quietly, not meeting his eyes. He knew how much they'd annoyed each during school, fighting and arguing and being nuisances in the Common Room for no reason but to frustrate the other. "We made plans to catch up."

"Figures." Jasper said, but smiled with a hint of finality, and that was that.

The next time her spoke with her after that day was to ask what she thought of Tilly Andrews, and whether he should have a crack at wooing her. Yala had laughed and said if anyone could deal with him then Tilly could, so why not.

Jem didn't find his mate until they were at Kings Cross, getting ready to walk through to the platform and go back to school. He'd paused, and then turned to his mother, a desperate look in his eyes.

"She's here."

He dragged Hermione through the throng of people until he found a girl a little older than they were, with enormous blue eyes and blonde hair. She was rather average looking, not someone to be noticed under normal circumstances, but she was Jem's mate and when they'd finally managed to shove him onto the train, Hermione and Blaise had slyly trailed the girl home, found out her name and prepared themselves to face all the challenges that would await them when school was let out.

And both Blaise and Hermione were certain that there'd be challenges because the girl was a muggle, and not only were they going to have to explain that Jem was destined to be with her, but that Jem wasn't completely human and, even then, he was also a wizard and there was a whole world out there that was veiled in secrecy and hidden from people like her. What a great opening line that was going to be.

End.

Constructive Criticisms welcome (because you know how it gets when you've read and re-read something a bajillion times – you can't keep it objective). Read & Review like a Responsible Reader. Please.

I hope this is decent.