This story is completely 100% AU. Inspired by mrsharryjamespotter's wizard!Klaine stories. If you like Klaine, you should definitely check them out. :)

Summary: They first met on the Hogwarts Express when they were both eleven years old, and that's when Rachel knew that there was something special about Finn Hudson.
I love Harry Potter and Glee bunches, so this is a kind of crossover I guess. wizard!Finchel.

This story will have seven parts, one for each year at school.

Title and lyrics are from "Swallowed in the Sea" by Coldplay.

and i could write a song a hundred miles long
well, that's where i belong and you belong with me
and i could write it down or spread it all around
get lost or then get found, or swallowed in the sea

i.

Rachel had been so excited to go to Hogwarts. Now these Neanderthals have ruined everything.

"Who are you?" the big, dark one asks.

She beams. "I'm Rachel Berry. I'm delighted to make your acquaintance."

He frowns at her outstretched hand. "I don't approve of your kind," he tells her.

"My kind?" she asks.

"Freaks," he finishes. He and the boy next to him laugh.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asks.

"Just look at you!" the other boy scoffs. "What are you wearing?"

Rachel glances down at her outfit. She thinks it looks fine. Her daddies thought so, too. "They're just legwarmers," she whispers. "Muggles wear them."

The dark boy laughs, his voice low and cruel. "Well, Karofsky, looks like we got ourselves a little Muggle-lover. And we don't much like Muggle-lovers, now do we?"

Karofsky cracks his knuckles. "Know what, Azimio? I don't think we do."

Rachel straightens herself up and takes a deep breath. She can't let herself be intimidated by these trolls. "My daddy says everyone is equal," she tells them defiantly, "regardless of whether they are a Muggle or a wizard. And," she goes on boldly, ignoring the menacing glares the two large boys are giving her, "he just says that prejudice is born out of ignorance."

"I'll show you ignorance," the one named Karofsky threatens, taking his wand out of his pocket.

Rachel squeezes her eyes shut and prepares to take on the effects of whatever curse he throws her way when the compartment door slides open. She turns around to see two boys: One skinny and lanky with brown hair that sticks up a bit, and another slightly shorter, stockier boy with a Mohawk.

"Hey," the first boy, the one without the Mohawk, says. "Is there a problem in here?"

Karofsky hastily shoves his wand back in his pocket. Rachel suddenly wonders if he actually knows any curses at all or if he was just bluffing. If he's a first year like her, then his threat was empty, wasn't it? "Nah," he says, nudging Azimio toward the door. "Let's go find another, cleaner compartment."

"Yeah," Azimio agrees, giving Rachel a little shove as he walks past her. "One without freaks."

Rachel winces as the two Neanderthals brush past the boys. She breathes a sigh of relief as the compartment door slides shut behind them.

"Are you okay?" the first boy asks her with concern.

She bites her lip and feels herself flush. He's really quite cute. And he saved her. "Yeah, I'm fine," she manages to say. She sits down on one of the seats. "I'm Rachel, by the way. Rachel Berry."

The boy smiles. "I'm Finn Hudson. And this," (he gestures to the Mohawked boy next to him), "is Noah Puckerman."

Noah rolls his eyes. "Merlin, Hudson, I already told you to call me Puck." He turns to Rachel. "Everyone else does."

Rachel nods politely. She doesn't tell him that she'll just stick with Noah. She never has been fond of nicknames.

"Can we sit in here?" Finn asks, gesturing to the seat he's standing in front of. "Everywhere else is pretty full…"

Rachel beams. "Of course."

"Cool," Finn grins, and he and Noah sit opposite of her.

"Thanks for saving me," Rachel says.

Finn blushes but Noah just rolls his eyes. "Those guys were jerks," Finn offers.

She nods. "My dads always tell me to keep my head up and to not let trolls like those two get me down."

"Dads?" Noah asks. "As in two of them?"

She knows that even in the Wizarding World, this isn't normal, so she nods self consciously, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't have a dad at all," Finn says quietly. "He died when I was a baby. He was an auror, apparently. Died a hero."

"I'm so sorry," Rachel gasps.

"I never really knew him." Finn shrugs.

"That is so cool," Noah breathes. Rachel stares at him in disbelief. She's only known him for five minutes, but she has a feeling that he's not known for his sensitivity. "That your dad was an auror, I mean," he amends. "I… I never knew my dad either, but he wasn't anything special. My mom didn't tell him she was a witch, see, and when he found out, he bolted. I haven't seen him in years."

"That's awful," Rachel offers.

Noah shrugs, turning to Finn. "So what do you know about Quidditch? Do you play?"

Finn grins. "Keeper. You?"

"Beater. You can hit people and get away with it."

"What about you?" Finn asks Rachel. She appreciates that he's trying to keep her in the conversation – it's very chivalrous of him. "Do you play?"

She shakes her head. "Oh, no. I've never… I've never even really ridden a broom before." She feels the blush settling into her cheeks.

"I'll teach you," Finn says confidently.

Rachel beams. "That'd be great." Noah starts talking animatedly about how hard he's whacked bludgers at his little sister, and Rachel's not sure, but she's pretty sure she's made her first friends.

(f&r-f&r-f&r)

Rachel honestly thinks that the Great Hall might just be the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. The stars are twinkling down on her from the enchanted ceiling and she feels her heart swell as the first years make their way down the main aisle way. She's sure that this is finally going to be the place where she belongs.

Professor Weasley, a woman with long, wavy brown hair in her late twenties, brings the first years to a halt and gets out a tattered old hat. Rachel's heard about the Sorting Hat, of course, but to actually see and hear its song is something else entirely. She turns to beam at Finn, who looks like he could throw up.

"Hey," she whispers, leaning over. "You'll do great."

He gives her a weak smile.

The hat finishes its song and Professor Weasley looks down at her list. Rachel feels her heart flutter in her chest. This is it.

"Abrams, Arthur!"

A small boy in glasses wanders up to the stool, placing the hat on his head. It slips down over his eyes and he swallows nervously. A few seconds later, the hat shouts out, "RAVENCLAW!"

The table on the middle left cheers and the boy wanders over to sit down at it, still looking slightly dazed.

"Adams, Azimio!"

The dark boy from the train steps up to the stool, and Rachel feels a surge of fear. She desperately hopes they're not in the same house.

Finn must feel her tense beside him because he looks over at her and gives her a small smile. She smiles back.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouts. Rachel relaxes. There's no way she'll be in Slytherin. No way. … Right?

The table on the far left cheers even more loudly than the Ravenclaw table as Azimio makes his way over to sit on the end.

"Anderson, Blaine!" Professor Weasley announces.

A short boy with dark, curly hair makes his way to the stool. His hands shake slightly as he places the worn, tattered hat on his head. Within seconds, the rip in the hat opens to announce, "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table cheers once more as Blaine plops down beside the boy called Arthur. He grins sheepishly and ducks his head.

"Berry, Rachel!"

Rachel takes a deep breath and steps forward, focusing on making her way to the stool without looking too eager or too foolish. She sits, placing the hat gently on her head.

"Well, Miss Berry," a voice says in her head. "Where to put you? You certainly have the brains to be a Ravenclaw, but you also have the drive and determination… Hmmm… You're suited for GRYFFINDOR!" Rachel can hear the last word shouted across the hall, and she gets up, grinning in relief as she makes her way over to the table on the far right.

She sits down next to an older red-headed girl. "Emma Pillsbury," the girl says, hesitating, then patting Rachel gently on the back. "I'm a prefect," she announces, pointing to her badge, "so feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns you may have."

Rachel nods, still grinning, looking up in time to see "Chang, Michael" head over to the the Hufflepuff table.

"Cohen-Chang, Tina!"

A small Asian girl stumbles over to the hat, placing it on her head with shaking hands. She sits, looking terrified for several seconds, and, finally, the hat yells out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Rachel cheers loudly with the rest of her table as Tina makes her way over, sitting down next to her.

"I'm Rachel Berry," she says, shaking Tina's hand.

"T-Tina," the small girl replies.

Rachel grins. "Isn't this so exciting?"

Tina nods meekly.

Rachel hesitates, then asks, "Would you maybe… Do you think you'd want to be friends?"

Tina smiles shyly. "Sure."

Rachel beams. "Cool." The table erupts into cheers once more, and she glances over to see a new blonde boy plop down on the other side of Tina. She's about to introduce herself to him as well when the Ravenclaw table explodes into celebration as a blonde girl who was introduced as "Fabray, Quinn" heads over to sit down next to Blaine and Arthur, smirking slightly.

Rachel thinks she looks like trouble.

"Hudson, Finn!"

Finn still looks like he could be sick as he shuffles over to the stool, slipping the hat onto his head. He doesn't seem to breathe until the hat shouts, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Rachel's sure she cheers the loudest as Finn makes his way over to the table, sliding onto the bench across from her.

"We're in the same house!" she exclaims gleefully.

Finn shoots her a lopsided grin. "Sure are, Rach."

Her heart pounds in her chest. No one's ever called her "Rach" before. She thinks she likes it. The table fills with applause and cheers once more as a small boy with skin like porcelain sits down beside Finn.

"Kurt," he says, extending his hand.

Finn takes it and mutters, "Finn." He glances back over at Rachel. "When do we eat?" He blushes. "I'm starving."

"As soon as the sorting is over," Emma breaks in as the Hufflepuff table welcomes their new arrival: "Israel, Jacob."

"Oh," Finn mutters.

Rachel laughs. She thinks these years will really be the best of her life. She loves Hogwarts already.

(f&r-f&r-f&r)

Rachel's first year goes by rather quickly. She figures it's because, for the first time in her life, she has actual friends.

There are two other girls in her year in Gryffindor: shy, quiet Tina, whom she befriended on her first night at Hogwarts, and loud, rambunctious Mercedes. Mercedes is very strong and very opinionated, and she makes sure she gets the first dibs on beds in their dorm. Rachel decides she likes her straightaway.

"We're all going to be the best of friends," Rachel declares.

Tina smiles, but Mercedes just looks at her, hand on her hip. "Who says?" she demands.

Rachel falters for a moment. She honestly didn't expect that. "Well, who else do we have?" she asks.

Mercedes shrugs. "Good point."

And that's the end of that. From that point on, they're friends.

Rachel's also friends with Finn, of course. And, by association, she's also kind of friends with Noah. She ends up working with both of them on a tray in Herbology, as assigned by Professor Longbottom.

Sure, she ends up doing most of the work, but, honestly? She doesn't mind so much. Finn turns out to be kind of hopeless at Herbology and Noah just doesn't seem to care.

Finn and Noah mostly talk about Quidditch, but Rachel doesn't mind. Sharing a tray with Finn just makes her like him even more: he's kind, generous, and just overall adorable.

"And the bludger just whammed right into his broomstick! Smashed it in half!"

Then, of course, there's Noah. She's counting that he'll mature, because as of right now, he's such a boy. Sometimes she doesn't know why Finn is friends with him. (But then she realizes that Finn is friends with everyone – it's just his friendly personality.)

Tina and Mercedes don't really understand her friendship with Finn until she tells them about the first day on the train.

"That's adorable," Tina tells her as Rachel beams.

"He's so sweet," she tells them. "He's not like other boys. I can tell."

Mercedes still looks doubtful. "I don't know, Rach. He seems to be a little dim-witted to me. Maybe what your mistaking for sweetness is just… slowness."

"Mercedes!" Rachel chastises. "Sure, Finn may not be the brightest wand in the air, but he really is a sweet guy."

"He's a boy," Mercedes points out. "And it's a well known fact that they are immature and not nearly as smart."

Rachel rolls her eyes.

"My cousin Grace liked a boy one time," Mercedes tells her, her gaze all serious, "and she swore that he was the perfect guy for her, and that he liked her too." She pauses dramatically. "The next thing she knew, he was dating Harley Johnson."

"Who?"

Mercedes waves her question aside. "Doesn't matter. The point is, boys only lead to trouble and heartbreak."

"But we're just friends," Rachel says, exasperated. "I don't even like him like that."

"You will," Mercedes warns her. "And that boy will break your heart. Just don't come cryin' to me about it."

Rachel sighs, rolling her eyes once more.

(f&r-f&r-f&r)

She forgets all about her conversation with Mercedes as her first year at Hogwarts draws to a close. She buries herself in studying and feels pretty good about the way her exams go. Once the testing is over, she finds herself spending a lot of time down by the lake with Tina and Mercedes, watching the Giant Squid lazily poke its tentacles up out of the water.

Too soon, it's time to leave school behind for the summer.

Rachel secretly expects that Finn will invite her to sit with him on the train ride home, but he doesn't, opting to sit with Noah and Kurt and a blonde boy named Sam instead.

She tells herself it's because she's with Tina and Mercedes, it's very impractical to try and fit seven people into one compartment. She pushes the thought of him out of her mind as she exchanges contact information with her two best friends, promising to write in the summer.

The train pulls into King's Cross, and Rachel collects all of her things, stepping down onto the platform. She hugs Tina and Mercedes goodbye, wiping her eyes. She's so glad that she's found friends.

She sees her dads waving at her, but before she can go up and hug them, someone taps her on the shoulder. She whips around to see Finn, grinning goofily at her.

"Were you not going to say goodbye?" he asks, hands in his pockets.

She smiles. "I'll see you next year, okay?"

He nods. He hesitates, then adds, "I'm really glad I met you. That we're friends."

Before he has time to react, she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Me, too," she whispers. She lets him go.

He rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks a little pink. "Uh, well, I better go. I mean… my mom… and your dads."

She smiles at him softly. "See you in September." She raises her hand in a farewell, then turns and heads over to her dads. This summer is going to be so slow. She can feel it.

She wishes it were September already.

This is completely different from anything I have ever written, and I'd really like to hear your thoughts. :3
Thank you so much for reading! I'll try to have the second part up as soon as it's written. :D