Chapter Text
Prologue - Whispers of the Dark
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Fright Village, London
Ages 11
Catra D’riluth stood at the corner of the busy business district in Fright Village with her hands at her hips. She wore a flimsy tank top with “IT’S SLYTHERIN OR NOTHING" printed in bold, green letters across her chest with shorts cut off midthigh. There was a sea of people rippling by, going through the motions of life, as she anchored herself to the free patch of concrete by holding onto the beam supporting the awning atop an antique store.
The heat was smoldering. It made her baby hairs stick to her sweat glistened neck. The ponytail she wore wasn’t doing much, though it did allow her shoulders to selfishly embrace any passing breeze. But she’d rather bake in the heat than be stuck in the house all day at Weaver’s orphanage.
Three more months until Hogwarts. Three more months until she’d have to deal with Weaver’s bullshit.
I can’t wait until I learn some real magic, she thought, if I knew other spells then I could summon vanilla ice cream with cherries—just with the flick of a hand. She added mint chocolate chips to her list with a shudder. Catra couldn’t stand the stuff, but Adora loved it.
“Catra!”
Catra craned her neck, lifted up on the tips of her toes, and grinned. Somewhere in the crowd, she spotted the familiar hair poof. Catra cupped a hand over her mouth. “Hey idiot, I’m over here!”
A young blonde girl, about the same age as Catra, parted through the sea of disgruntled adults. She stopped in front of Catra hunched over and flushed, with her hands on her knees. “You were...going too...fast.”
“You’re just too slow.” Catra poked Adora’s forehead with the tip of her clawed finger.
Adora slapped the finger away with a grin. Once her breathing was under control she straightened up to cross her arms above her head. Catra jutted out her bottom lip as she craned her neck to meet Adora’s eyes. It wasn’t fair. Catra was the shortest at the orphanage—her and Lonnie tied for last—even Kyle was gaining some ground.
Adora’s face twisted into a frown. She brushed the tips of her fingers along Catra’s sweat slicked arm—the fur there was pressed flat like a pancake. “What’s wrong?”
Catra batted the fingers away. Her teeth, sharper than most, glinted in the light as she bared them. “Nothing.”
Adora’s hand dropped at a sluggish pace but her face was twisted once more as if she’d been slapped. Way to go arsehole, Catra thought with her ears flattened back on her head.
All you do is hurt people, a voice layered with multiple others echoed in her mind. Another reason for her to learn more spells—to keep the voices away. Weaver gave her a book—one on dark magic—to prepare her for Hogwarts, to make her strong, but it felt like the harder she tried, the worse things got. It was telling in the way she lashed out over the simplest things, in the bags under her eyes during sleepless nights, and worst of all, in the way Adora was looking at her now—like a slowly sinking ship, too far away to save.
Adora’s been watching from the shore for a while now. Whenever she tried to get her feet wet to offer Catra a life jacket, the ocean turned rampant. Catra chewed the inside of her cheek until she tasted iron. She was all alone on this sinking ship.
“Is this the place?” Adora asked.
Catra’s ear flicked. Adora was deflecting, and Catra was willing to take an ‘out’ when she had one. She cleared her throat, and jerked her thumb at the stain-glass door behind her. “Yep, this is it. Where’s Lonnie and the others?”
“I think we lost them by the river.”
“Ametruers.” Catra scoffed.
Adora bumped shoulders with her, grinning. “It’s fine. We make a great team.”
“You’re too close.” Catra placed her hand flat on Adora’s stomach and shoved her out of her space. Catra felt her face flush up. The heat must be getting to her. “And it sucks for them. But we’re still doing this. C’mon.”
The overhead bell rang as Catra guided Adora inside the store. A pleasant draft from the AC chilled the heat from Catra’s neck. There was an older man at the front register dealing with a woman looking to buy a doll whose eyes followed Catra over the woman’s shoulder. Catra shuddered. She hated coming to this place. The Shack was a well known store in their area. Filled with rare antique items with spells woven into them. On the shelf to her left, Catra spotted a pocket watch with the lid popped open. The hand for the clock wasn’t moving but she could still hear it ticking. ‘FOR THOSE WHO NEED MORE TIME’ the labeled sticker beneath it said. Only for two silver pieces.
“Don’t touch it.” Catra slapped Adora’s hand away. “You might get caught in a time loop.”
“Nu-uh.” Adora said. “Time Turner’s are banned. No way they’d risk it.”
“You still wanna risk getting your prints on that thing? What if it is contraband? I doubt Weaver’s gonna like having a swarm of Auror’s at her stoop.”
Adora took a notable step away from the sketchy pocket watch. They kept looking for something within their price range that wouldn’t land them in Azkaban. The Shack was sketchy for sure, but it was right in their price range. She and Adora spent all winter saving up the pocket change Weaver called allowance , all so they could buy something meaningful that would connect them forever before they attended Hogwarts. It had been Adora’s idea.
“It’ll be a token of our friendship.” Adora had said.
Hmm, Catra thought as she scanned the store, what screams friendship? Catra picked up a black leathered book from the bookshelf. The pages were all blank. Just as she started to close it, black ink slowly spread across the pages. The book started writing itself. Catra laughed, in awed. Her interest faded quick enough. The book had a propensity for some cheesy romance story that Catra didn’t care for.
Adora gasped behind her. “Catra, look at this!”
Catra abandoned the book and walked across the room to meet Adora. “A mirror ? Lame, Grayskull. We’ve only got a couple of silver pieces, we can’t just—”
“But it’s not just a mirror!” Adora’s face was spotted with red in the cheeks. Catra almost expected her to stomp her foot like she used to when she didn’t get what she wanted. “Look. You’re supposed to use it to talk to someone who's far away.”
Catra crossed her arms and leaned in close to inspect it. It wasn’t anything special. Just two rectangular mirrors that fit snug in the palm of Adora’s hand. There were jagged edges carved along one edge of each piece, as if a bolt of lightning had split the pair in twain. But time had made the edges dull, removing any threat of pricks to their skin.
Catra looked up at Adora. “Lame.”
“It’s not, it’s…” Adora puffed out her cheeks. The air slipped out from her lips, making her bangs flutter up then fall back down into a tangled mess on her forehead. “It’s cool.”
“ How ?”
“Because…it won’t matter how far we are from each other, we’ll always be connected.”
Catra felt her face heat up again. The damn AC must be malfunctioning. Stupid, sketchy store. Catra straightened up, leaning away from Adora. “Still sounds lame.”
“Think of it like we’re spies then.”
“Spies?” Catra’s ear twitched. She liked spies.
Adora nodded with a gap-toothed grin. “Yeah! Instead of using our magic we can use these. This way, no one can track us.”
Now that sounded cool. Catra uncrossed her arms and reached out for the other half of the mirror.
“Don’t touch that if you don’t intend on buying it.” A shadow loomed over them. Catra took a staggering step back. The old man from behind the register stood over them with a scowl.
Catra scowled right back up at him. “We’ve got money.”
“Lemme see it then.” He held out his hand.
They each handed him the pieces of silver they had stashed in their pockets. He cupped the coins in his hand and justled them around. “It ain’t enough.”
“Yes it is.” Catra growled. He hadn’t even counted it. If he had, he would’ve known that it was exactly the right amount.
“Not anymore. The price went up for your mutt's entrance fee.” He turned his nose up at Catra. “You’re lucky I even let this hybrid in my store for as long as I did with her touching everything with her filthy hands.”
Catra balled her fists up at her side. Something hot rushed through her blood, setting her on fire from the inside. The feeling of fire seeped out from her skin and hissed at the air. You’re gonna let him talk to you like that? A voice whispered in her ear. He’s no better than you. Teach him a lesson. You know a spell that will make him throw up his intestines. I know you remember how it goes.
She did. Catra vividly recalled the ghastly spell she had read in the book Weaver had given her. Catra hasn’t practiced it, but she’s sure she could—
“Let’s go, Catra.” Adora said.
The voices were washed away like words written in the sand when the tides came in. Adora grabbed Catra’s elbow and the fire died in her chest. Catra hung her head as Adora led her out of the shop. She didn’t look up until the noise of the business district became a gentle roar.
They ended up on the bridge overlooking the lake across the highway. Catra perched herself atop the brick wall and swung her feet over the ledge. Adora settled for leaning against the wall instead of risking the fall.
“That guy was a dick.” Adora said.
“I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn’t be.” Adora frowned. “People like him are scum . You’re the best person I know. And you’ll be the best witch too. And when you graduate from Howarts—when we’ve mastered all the spells we can think of—we’ll come back and make him spit up something gross. Like frogs .”
Catra’s shoulder trembled as she laughed. “ Eww. ”
Adora grinned. “I know, right?”
Silence.
“Catra?”
“Hmm?”
Adora wrung her fingers together. “Back at the store…after he said that stuff about you, you got all quiet and then I felt…this weird…I don’t even know how to explain it. But it felt like I was in the water—like a wave had hit me and pulled me under…I couldn’t breathe, not until I grabbed your arm.” Adora turned her head to her. “What was that?”
“I don’t know.” Catra lied.
Adora frowned.
Catra smiled. She hoped it didn’t look as fake as she felt. “There was all sorts of weird shit in that store. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
Adora nudged her shoulder into Catra’s hip, smiling. “I’m not.”
“Aren’t you a little worried? Not about me, about Hogwarts.”
“It’s gonna be awesome. Why, you nervous?” Adora teased.
“Shut up. Of course I’m excited for Hogwarts but,” Catra drew her legs up into her chest, “I’m also kinda freaking out. How can you be so calm about it?”
“Because, we’ve got each other. Nothing can stop us. We’ll always be together. I promise .”
Catra blushed. She ducked her head and whispered, “I hope you’re right.” Catra dropped her chin atop her knees and groaned. “I just wish we could’ve gotten those mirrors. And we lost all that money we saved,” she huffed.
That guy deserved way more than a mouth full of frogs.
“Oh what, you mean these mirrors?” Adora held out the identical two-way mirror pieces.
Catra gasped, “You got it! How?”
Adora nudged her hip and answered with a grin, “I took it when that arse was yelling at you.” Adora’s face scrunched up, “I mean it. He shouldn’t talk to you like that—no one should. And it’s not like I stole it; he owed it to us.”
Catra took her piece while Adora held on to hers. “Lonnie is gonna be sooo jealous,” Catra cackled. “C’mon, let’s hurry back so we can rub it in her face.”
Adora jogged up beside her. “Ooo, wait! Let’s use it to prank Kyle first.”
They walked home together with their mirrors clasped tight in their hands—a new symbol of their bond—as they eagerly awaited the future.