"I wonder if we'll get the same kind of wands," George commented. "They're supposed to be based off of your personality, and ours are similar. At least, that's what everyone says."

"I think the odds of that are pretty low," Fred replied. "There are so many factors—flexibility, length, core, wood...it would be hard to get identical ones."

Fred wished the line wasn't so long. All the other first years had happened to come that day. As of right now, the twins were at the back. Fred wondered if the ship would run out of wands by the time they got to the front. Probably not. There had to be at least a thousand wands in there.

His thoughts wandered idly as they drew closer to the front. A girl, with black hair and dark eyes was getting her wand. Her hair was long, down to her elbows, and she was a little taller than Fred. She spoke little, yet had a look in her eye that drew attention to her. She flicked her hair out of the way as she reached for another wand. She seemed strange. Different, somehow. As she turned, Fred could see a pendant hanging around her neck. It had a silver chain, and beneath the glass covering, a crescent moon with a quote to the side of it. She certainly reminded Fred of the moon. As she headed back to where her parents were waiting, she tapped her fingers nervously on her palm. It seemed to be in a pattern. Fred didn't know Morse code, but this didn't look like that.

"Strange girl," George remarked as he followed Fred's eyes. "I don't know what, but there's something about her."

Fred nodded. Soon enough, they were up next, and the girl faded into the back of his mind, though a strange feeling haunted him all day.

•*•

Selene tapped her fingers on her palm thoughtfully as she waited in line. Everything seemed to be in a dream lately, with discovering magic existed and all that. She felt like she would wake up any second now, and she desperately wanted to stay in this dream-world forever.

She approached the front of the line, wondering how Hogwarts would be. Would it be just like her old school, that had never understood her? Or a new beginning, another chance. She hoped so. Selene had always been an outcast, different from everyone else. Maybe that was just because she was a witch.

She stepped up to where a man---probably Ollivander---was standing. She hardly noticed when he handed her wand after wand to try. In the corner of her eye, two red-headed boys were watching her. They seemed about her age---probably twins. The way they were standing, they were close. Closer than many siblings, at least. Ollivander handed her another wand and told her to give it a try. She felt silly when she gave it a small wave, but sparks came out of it. She gave him the money---she still didn't understand wizarding money---and walked over to her parents. As she turned, she caught sight of one of the twins staring at her. She dropped her gaze and ignored him. Strange.

•*•

As fate would have it, they met again that day. As Selene browsed books, she saw them again, looking at the used books. Hidden in the back of the room, she watched them carefully. She heard someone---what she thought was their father---call them Fred and George. They were identical, but there were slight differences between them---the shape of their jaws, the sound of their voices, and the shape of their mouths.

At her old school, Selene had known a few twins, and triplets too. She could always tell the difference between them. No one else did, but they simply didn't pay attention. It was amazing what you noticed when you were quiet and just listened. These days, the world moved too fast for most people to take the time to listen, but Selene always did. If no one listened to you, your voice would be useless, and everything else, too. Listening wasn't just about hearing---it was about listening with your eyes as well. If no one listened to anything, would anything really exist at all?

Selene's thoughts were interrupted as a bang sounded through the shop. A bookcase exploded into bits of wood, all the books falling to the floor in a heap. Selene gasped. She had always loved to read, to travel to distant places she could never go to in real life and have adventures that she would never have. And there was one thing she got frustrated about, and that was the care of books. So when the next bookcase exploded, Selene reacted instinctively. Time slowed down as the books tumbled, falling gracefully. Before Selene knew what she was doing, all the books literally froze in midair. The remains of the bookshelf stopped moving. A beetle that had been crawling at the foot of the bookcase stayed in the same position it had seconds before, not even blinking. Selene released the breath she had been holding, and the pieces of the bookshelf flew back together. The books returned to their places on the shelves, alphabetized and in perfect order. The bookshelf didn't have a single scratch or nick. All the torn pages fit back into the books without a tear.

Selene sucked in a breath. Had she caused that? Not possible, she thought. But many things she hadn't thought were possible had happened recently. But still, she wasn't experienced enough to have done that. It must have been someone else.

All the remaining bookshelves exploded simultaneously. Selene felt that flash of anger again, and the books and wood froze. She was so focused on hoping she hadn't done it that she didn't notice when one of the twins---Fred---pushed past her. That jerked her out of her daze, and she felt the tug in her core release and everything came crashing down on her. Books fell and wood flew apart. She braced herself for the collision, closing her eyes. A couple seconds later, she opened them to realize none of them touched her. She realized there was a tug in her gut again, and something shimmered in the air before her. A shield. It covered her---and Fred.

"What---" she began, and her control was snapped. The shield faded, and the fragments of the bookshelf and the heavy books slammed down on her.