Chapter One

"Are you nervous?" A blonde woman asked as she circled a teenage girl who looked much like her, straightening clothes and hair as she went, though both were immaculately positioned by the various nit-picking muggle women paid to make her presentable, and also with a couple tiny charms done by the woman in question, in the secrecy of the dressing room of course.

The girl in question, at sixteen, had her mother's blonde hair, with just a touch of red in it, and also her mother's delicate features, small nose and chin, and defined cheek bones. Her hair, usually wavy, had been meticulously curled and styled and pinned back, and had just enough hairspray in it to make it stay. She had her father's eyes though, and currently, those green eyes were wide, despite the makeup that had been expertly applied to make them narrower, which was apparently the current muggle ideal of beauty.

She was nervous, but she would never tell her mother that.

"Not at all," the girl replied, batting her mother away from her. She straightened her collar, which had a microphone pinned onto it in a place that would be covered by her hair if she sat properly.

"That's the spirit, love," her mother said, smiling as a stagehand approached them. "You'll do beautifully, just be yourself."

"I will mum," she said, taking a deep breath in.

"You're on in two minutes," the stagehand said, leading her over to a place where she could just barely see the stage, and the presenter who was currently wrapping up an interview with some other man that the girl didn't pay any attention to. "Wait until they say your name, then walk over, shake hands, and have a seat."

"Thank you," she breathed in reply, taking another deep breath as she listened to the talk show host enthusiastically bid farewell to the man.

"Our next guest just won the Grammy for the 'Best New Artist'. You've heard her on the radio, you saw her perform at the VMA's, all the way from London, England, please welcome the very talented, very beautiful ANNA MARIE!"

Anna took one last breath, then pasted a falsely excited grin onto her face as the room broke into applause and cheers. She walked onto the stage, waving with both hands as she grinned out over the live studio audience. She shook hands with the host of the show, then daintily took a seat in the chair intended for her. She crossed her ankles, smoothing her skirt over her lap as the clapping died down.

"Hello hello, Anna, we are so glad you could be here today," the smiling man said, sitting back down as the room quieted again.

"I'm glad to be here," Anna said, keeping her mouth in a fixed, polite smile that she had been taught as a child, coming from a pureblood family that, up until a few years ago, had stuck very closely to old traditions.

"So you currently live in London, yes?" He asked, and she nodded in reply. "So how are you liking New York so far?"

"Oh it's lovely," she said, leaning forward a little as though telling a secret. "I've met so many interesting people since coming here."

"Interesting is one way of putting it," the host said to the room at large, and the crowd gave the intended chuckles. "So, let's talk about your album," he said when they had quieted. "You go by Anna Marie, but I'm told your full name is Anna Prewett?"

"Yes," Anna said, chuckling. "Anna Marie just sounds better. Anna Prewett doesn't roll off the tongue so easily."

"Very true," he said, chuckling with her. "So your album is called 'Here We Go'. Does that title have any meaning for you?"

"Well, honestly, I chose it because it's something my dad always said when I was little. Every time he wanted me to try something new, anything from vegetables to swimming, he would say 'here we go'. To me it's always been something that meant an adventure would follow, and it seemed a fitting title for my first ever album."

"Very fitting," he agreed, nodding. "And what an adventure you've had so far. You released the album in August of last year, and since then it seems like it's been a nonstop radio interviews, award shows, and photo shoots, and you have still been attending school between all of that?"

"It's been very busy," she agreed, nodding. "I go to a boarding school for most of the year, so I've had to fit all my recording and writing in between classes and homework."

"And do you think it's been worth it?" He asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Oh definitely," she said, grinning. "At this time last year I was just a normal girl who sang around the house for fun. I never would have believed I'd be here."

"So tell us, Anna, how did this album come to be?" He asked.

"Well, I've loved singing ever since I was little, and I've been playing piano and guitar since I was about seven. When I was ten I got a video camera for my birthday, and I immediately made an account on YouTube and posted videos of my covers of songs I liked. I've always liked classical music, and when I was young I would make up lyrics to go along with the cd's my mum used to play, and it just sort of led to me writing my own songs," Anna stopped talking for a moment, making sure she wasn't going too fast. She wasn't nervous in front of crowds when she was singing, but it was very warm on the stage under all the lights, and she was focusing hard on not saying the wrong things, so she took a sip of her water to buy herself a moment, hoping she wasn't sweating at all. "I recorded my mums favorites of the songs I'd written to give to her for Christmas, and she played them for her friends, who liked them as well. One of my mums friends had a brother who's a music producer, and when he heard my music he called me up and offered me a contract. It was all very much luck."

"Well I think I can say that we all agree with your producers decision," he said, grinning. "As this year's winner of the 'Best New Artist' Grammy award, what are your plans for this year? Is there more music on the way?"

"Well I return to school in September for my last year," Anna said, nodding. "There is definitely some new music planned for this year though. In fact, I have a new one that I'd like to sing for you today, if you don't mind."

The crowd cheered as he nodded, and she stood up. The host led her over to the performing area of the stage as the applause continued. They had rehearsed this part yesterday, so Anna knew to make her way to the piano bench, and the microphone in front of the piano was already positioned for her height. As a solo artist she didn't have any back up singers or a band, but she liked it better that way.

"This song is called 'Scarecrow'," she said, then took one deep breath in as the noise died down, and she began to play. The piano was comforting under her hands, familiar and almost warm. This was where she belonged. Music was the only thing in life she enjoyed sometimes, and it never let her down.

Her hands had memorized the movements and she played through the first few bars without thinking about it, letting herself sink into the motions for a moment, then she lifted her head and leaned forward a little to sing into the microphone. Her voice was soft and clear, and it flowed over the room, mixing with the piano notes. The room was silent until she was finished and stood to bow, then they broke into cheers again and she grinned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Anna Marie! You can find her album, Here We Go on iTunes and in stores near you."


"You did very well," Anna's mother said on their ride back to their hotel that evening. "For a first talk show you were brilliant."

"Thanks mum," Anna said, leaning against the door of the car and stifling a yawn. It wasn't late, not even four in the evening here, but London was seven hours ahead and she still had what the muggles called 'jet lag' even though they had traveled through the floo.

"Are you tired?" Her mum asked, watching the driver as he weaved through the streets to their hotel.

"Yes," Anna mumbled, closing her eyes. "This was the last thing we had to do here wasn't it? Can we go home now?"

"You still have a photoshoot in the morning for a magazine called 'Seventeen'," her mother said. "But we can go home tomorrow after that and you can sleep for the rest of today."

"Good," she said, then covered another yawn.

"Are you all packed for school?" Her mum asked, and Anna sighed. She just wanted to ride in silence and maybe take a short nap.

"Not yet mum," she said.

"I told you to finish before we left!" The woman said indignantly. "You aren't going to have time before the train leaves."

"If we leave tomorrow right after the shoot we will," Anna said, her voice a little accusatory. Her mother had a habit of finding reasons to stay where they were as long as possible, always finding people to talk to or some place to go see 'real quick while they were here'. Anna loved her mum, she really did, but sometimes she just wanted to be away from the woman for a while. She was glad school would be starting the day after tomorrow. She couldn't wait to go back, even though last year had been horrid.

She hoped sincerely that none of the muggleborns at school had heard of her, she didn't want anything there to change. She had friends there, but almost nobody knew who she was last year, and it was very nice after being stopped on the street all summer. Her music was more popular in America though, so she hoped that nobody at school would recognize her. Though her music had gotten a lot more popular over the summer. The VMA's had been presented only three days before, and she hoped beyond hope that nobody in London had watched them, though she knew she was kidding herself. It was her last year though, so maybe she could just sneak through unnoticed.

It helped that she went to Hogwarts, any muggle who tried to figure out which unnamed 'boarding school' she attended would come up empty handed. Her last name was a problem though. Prewett was an old pureblood name, and she knew that if any other purebloods heard the name they would know who she was. She knew that most purebloods didn't listen to muggle music though, and she knew that none of the muggle borns would recognize her surname as a magical one.

Her mother, a pureblood witch, may never have let her join the muggle music community if her father had still been alive. He had been very conservative, but Anna's mum had come from a very open minded family. He had passed away three years ago though, and when Anna had been arguing her mother around, the final winning point had been that her father had always said she had a beautiful voice and that she should share it with others. Anna was sure her father hadn't meant muggles to be the others, but her mum had let her record after that.

"Fine, fine," her mother said now, brushing off the comment. Anna grinned. She had purposefully not finished packing in hopes that she could use that to lure her mother home sooner, and it seemed to work so far.

At the hotel, Anna changed into her pajamas and fell into her bed, falling asleep immediately.

Thanks to her early bed time, Anna was well rested at five when her mother came to wake her for the photoshoot. They didn't have to travel far as the magazine photographer had agreed to use the hotel ballroom.

When they arrived downstairs the photographer was directing half a dozen people on where to put up screens and lights, and a small woman with dark hair came running over to them as soon as they entered the room.

"Anna Marie!" She exclaimed, giving the girl a quick hug in greeting. Anna had grown used to this behavior over the last few months, it seemed to be how most females greeted other females in the music business. She patted the woman back, then stood straight as she pulled away. "We have a dressing room set up for you right over here, and a makeup artist ready when you're dressed. Your clothes are all there already."

"Thank you," Anna said, following the woman across the room. "Which outfit would they like first?"

"This one right here," she said, gesturing to the wall where a multitude of hangers on a rack held a short black skirt, a bright red tank top, a black leather jacket, and about ten variations of the same outfit for her to choose from.

"That's a little… punk… don't you think?" Anna asked, holding the skirt in front of her.

"Feel free to change it up if you want," the woman said as she bustled back to the door. "Head on over to makeup and hair when you're finished.

"Alright," Anna said. "Thank you."

When the woman left, Anna turned back to the rack with a frown. Her music was piano based, or acoustic guitar on a few tracks. This punk look did not suit it at all. She combed through the different combinations they had put out for her, then picked a pleated skirt from one hanger and a long red tank top from another, then a black cardigan from a completely different rack. Once dressed she went out to the makeup artist, who decided on a natural look, telling Anna that it was 'all the rage'. Anna chuckled at that, but let the woman do what she wanted. While that woman worked, another one began to style her hair into large, loose curls.

She was in front of the white screen within half an hour, and then spent the next three hours following the photographer's instructions, changing when told, and getting her hair restyled when it was too blown out from the fans they used in the shoot.

Finally, far after Anna had lost her enthusiasm for the photoshoot, the photographer declared that he had enough pictures and she was free to leave. The woman in charge of wardrobe told her that she could keep anything she had used in the shoot since they wouldn't reuse them anyway. She had been told the same at the other two photo shoots she had gone to as well.

By noon, Anna was ready to go home, her wardrobe of muggle clothes much larger than it had been two weeks ago when they had come to America.


"Anna!" The voice floated up the stairs for the fourth time that morning. Anna groaned and rolled over in her bed, pulling a pillow over her face in an attempt to block out the sun and her mother's voice. "Anna get up now! If we don't leave in the next ten minutes we'll miss the train!"

Anna sat up with a jolt and was out of bed in seconds. She quickly stripped out of her pajama shorts and pulled on the designer jeans that were popular in the states right now, she had laid out the night before. Her shirt was next on, and she didn't bother to straighten it as she rushed to the mirror. The last few months in the public eye had taught her that image was everything to the people in her business that mattered, and that had taught her how to quickly and efficiently apply her own makeup and style her hair. She hadn't bothered to take off her makeup from the day before so she just retouched it and then moved on to her hair. It was impossibly matted from her sleep, not to mention the hairspray that had been in it yesterday. She had meant to get up and shower this morning before she left, but her mother had scheduled a last minute interview last night and they hadn't gotten home till near two in the morning.

She gave up on trying to brush out her hair and instead twisted it up into a messy bun, pinning in the ends so it sat right, then pulling out tendrils around her face to complete the look. She took herself in, using the full length mirror on the back of her bedroom door to get the full effect. The hair went well with her loose pale blue blouse and dark skinny jeans. She pulled on a black cardigan over it and used a pair of large sunglasses to push back some of the loose hair around her face. Black flats and a thin silver necklace completed the outfit.

"Anna! You had better be awake!" Her mother called from downstairs. "It's time to go. The limo is here."

"Do we have to take a limo? Why can't we just apparate?" Anna called with a groan as she threw her makeup bag into her purse, double checking that her wand was also in there, then pulling her bedroom door open in time to hear her mother's next words.

"You're the one who told the muggle news people that you were leaving for school today," her mother said and Anna came down the stairs. Her mother was using a mirror in the hallway to put on some earrings, and she turned at the approaching noise. "There are reporters outside. they will get suspicious if you aren't seen leaving the house."

"No they won't, they'll just think I left early," Anna said, rolling her eyes. "You just want to be on the news again."

"There's no such thing as bad publicity," Anna's mother said, straightening her shirt. "You could have put in more of an effort."

"I overslept," Anna said, her eyes narrowing. "Someone kept me up half the night."

"It was a very good opportunity," the woman said, hands on her hips. "Your manager said-"

"I don't care," Anna interrupted the rant her mother was sure to launch into. "I told you I didn't want a manager in the first place."

"It's necessary," her mother said, frowning.

"Can we just go, please?" Anna said, walking towards the door to peek outside through the blinds. Sure enough, there were a few people standing on the other side of the gate to the driveway, holding cameras or other recording devices. Anna sighed. "What should we do with my trunk?"

"I'll shrink it for now," her mother said, pulling her wand out of her own purse and tapping the trunk twice sharply while muttering the incantation. They watched as it shrank until it was only a few inches long. Anna picked it up off the floor and slipped it into her purse.

"All set," she said, going to the door. Her mother pushed the button to let the limo driver pull up to the house, which unfortunately also gave the reporters entry to the grounds.

Anna pulled open the door and gave the cameramen a wide smile.

"Anna! Where do you go to school?"

"When will you be back?"

"When are you releasing your next album?"

"Can we get a picture?"

"Sure," Anna said to the man who had asked the last question. She stood still, trying not to blink in the flashes. She exchanged a few polite words with them, then waved after a moment andcontinued to walk down the steps to the waiting car.

The cameras continued to flash until the limo had pulled off the grounds.

"That was very nice, well done," her mother said, patting Anna's knee. "Very polite."

"They are still going to be there when you get home you know," Anna commented, leaning back in the seat.

"In about ten minutes all of them will suddenly remember other things they have to do," her mother said, brushing off the comment.

The trip to the station was quick, and they made it to the barrier within minutes. Unfortunately, arriving in a limo wasn't exactly the most conspicuous way to get there and it only took a few minutes for a crowd of teenaged girls to gather around her asking for pictures. She obliged for a few moments, letting a couple of them take pictures and signing a few pieces of paper for them, then she told them she had to go to the bathroom just to escape. Inside the bathrooms, her mother chuckled.

"They really do love you," she said, grinning.

"How are we supposed to get onto the platform if everyone is watching?" Anna asked, glancing at the large clock visible through the high bathroom windows. They only had ten minutes before the train left. Anna's mom peeked out of the bathroom for a moment.

"They're gone for now," she said. "The barrier is only a few feet to the left, just walk straight into it and keep your head down. Come on."

They left the bathroom, both walking quickly, and before she knew it, Anna was face to face with the Hogwarts Express. She relaxed a little, taking in the train and the people, some in cloaks. This was really where she felt comfortable. In the muggle world she was always worried she was going to let something slip, but here she could be herself.

"I've already talked with Headmistress McGonagall," Anna's mother said, drawing the girls attention back to her. "She said it'll be alright if you leave school some weekends so if there's a really good opportunity I'll send you an owl about it."

"Mum," Anna began, wanting to tell the woman that she would rather focus on school for now. She had her NEWT's to study for after all.

"I told you she went here!" a nearby voice kept her from talking further. "Boarding school and September first? I knew it was Hogwarts."

Anna looked over to see a small girl, first or second year, talking to her friend. When they saw her looking, they waved and smiled. Anna smiled back and they took that as permission to approach her.

"Anna Marie?" One of the girls asked tentatively. Anna smiled and nodded, bending down a little so she was closer to that girls height. "I saw you on the telly, you are amazing!"

"Thanks!" Anna said, her face softening a little. "What's your name?"

"Amy, and this is Sarah," the girl said. "We're in Ravenclaw."

"Me too," Anna said, smiling. "Did you want a picture?"

"Yes please," the girl said, nodding quickly. A woman who must have been the girl's mother came over with a camera, and Anna crouched down with one arm over each girls shoulder and smiled. The train whistle sounded and right as the flash went off, a blonde boy walked in front of the camera.

"Oh sorry," the small girl's mother said, then snapped another picture.

"See you on the train," Anna said to the two girls who quickly ran off chattering.

"Bye Anna," her mum said. "I'll see you for Christmas or hopefully sooner."

"Mum, take it easy with the interviews for a while please," Anna said, walking with her mother towards the train. "I just want to focus on school."

"Yes yes fine," her mum said. "But you have to stay in the public eye. You're just starting out and you have to stay on top."

"Mum," Anna began again, but the train whistle cut her off again. She climbed up into one of the carriage doors. "I'll see you," she settled for, knowing her mother wouldn't listen to anything else.

"Love you," her mother called as the train started to move.

"Love you too," she called back, then ducked into the carriage, pulling the door closed as she did so. It wasn't unoccupied as she had thought, but rather, the blonde boy who had interrupted their photo earlier sat there, peering at her tentatively. She recognized him, of course. After the last two years of war, she would recognize any of the Slytherins. They all had enjoyed the Carrow's lessons too much. Well, that wasn't exactly true, she had seen the flinches and grimaces at some of the things the adults had made them do, but they hadn't protested anything.

After the final battle the year before, all the seventh years were invited to repeat their final year if they wanted to take their NEWT's. Nearly all of them had returned as it was difficult to get a job in the wizarding world without finishing school.

"Hello," she said after a moment of thought. This boy, Malfoy, had been on the wrong side of the war, but surely if he were here instead of in Azkaban, he couldn't have been too bad. He didn't reply to her, instead he looked her over for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and returned to reading a book that had been in his lap. She shrugged to herself, then sat and pulled her shrunken trunk from her bag, using her wand to enlarge it again, then she fished through it for her school robes and a book. When she was done, she hefted it up into the luggage rack, then sat on the free bench seat and opened her book.

She had barely gotten through the first chapter when the door was pulled open. She looked up, then sighed as she heard giggling. The blonde boy, who she couldn't remember the first name of off the top of her head, looked up with a scowl.

"Anna Marie?" One of the girls outside asked. Anna sighed to herself, then smiled and gestured for them to come in. There were three of them this time.

"Hello," she said kindly. She really didn't mind when younger kids came up to her. She liked that they looked up to her, it made her feel important, but she had hoped no one at school would recognize her and that had clearly gone out the window now.

"Can I get your autograph?" One girl asked, her face nervous.

"Of course," Anna said, patting the bench beside her. The girl bounced over and sat beside her, then pulled out a muggle pen and a notebook. "What's your name?"

"Elizabeth Anderson," the girls said, smiling. Anna wrote out the girls name, followed by a short message of one of the many 'inspirational quotes' her mother had made her memorize for just such an occasion, then finished it off with her own signature.

"There you go Elizabeth," Anna said, keeping the smile on her face as she handed the notebook back.

"Thank you so much," the girl said. "Could we get a picture with you?"

"Sure," Anna said, accepting the camera the girl held out to her. The other three girls gathered around her and Anna held the camera out in front of them and snapped a picture, as she had the longest arms out of the group.

"You were really good on 'Good Morning America'," one of the other girls said excitedly. "I made my mum record it and I watched a hundred times."

"Thank you," Anna said, handing the camera back to the first girl.

"My friends will never believe I met you," the third girl said, grinning.

"Make sure you don't tell them about Hogwarts," Anna said, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Of course not," the girl said, and the others nodded.

"Good," Anna said. "Do you mind if I get back to my book now?"

"Yes thank you!" The first girl said, gesturing the others out of the carriage, closing the door behind her. Anna sighed and went back to her book.

By the third chapter, the door had been opened twice more, by half blood and muggle born children as old as sixth years. Finally she just set aside her book, realizing that it was better to let them all get their pictures and autographs in now instead of at the feast. She didn't let her growing annoyance show though, it wasn't their fault that she was getting a headache, and her mother had told her over and over how important it was to be kind to her fans for at least the first year.

The fifth time the door opened, the blond boy stood up and glared at the four third years who stared up at him with fear in their eyes.

"Unless the train is crashing I don't want to see another person in this carriage," he said in a low voice. "Get out." They turned and fled, and Anna chuckled as the door slammed shut. He turned to glare at her as well, and she shrugged.

"Sorry about them," she said. "I had hoped they wouldn't recognize me."

"And what, pray tell, would the recognize you from?" He asked, plopping back down onto his bench.

"Oh, I was just on a muggle television program," Anna said, smiling. It was nice that he didn't know who she was.

"Oh," he said in a disinterested tone as he picked his book up again.

The train ride was quiet for at least two hours, and Anna had gotten through almost half her book before anyone dared to open the carriage door again. The boy glared at them and it was shut again quickly. Anna had taken out her iPod to listen to some music and didn't even notice the door opening.

"So who are you, anyway?" The boy asked, making Anna pull out one of her earbuds. The iPod was by far her favorite muggle device, and she had used it all summer as much as she could.

"What?" She asked, not having heard the full question. He repeated himself, and she chuckled. "Anna Prewett."

"Prewett? That's a pureblood name isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah," Anna said. "My dad was the youngest boy in the family, and my mum was a Lovegood before she married."

"Hm," he said, frowning. "If you are pureblood why are you going on muggle television shows?"

"I like to sing and the muggles are really big into music," Anna said, shutting her book with her finger to hold her place. "It's a huge industry for them. I just sort of got… sucked into it."

"Music?" He asked, his tone distasteful. "Whats the use in that?" His question was rhetorical but she smiled and answered anyway.

"Music is amazing. It can completely change a persons mood. It can be calming, upbeat, inspiring, sad, anything you want really," she said, leaning forward a little in her enthusiasm. "Don't you listen to music?"

"Only at my mother's house parties," he said, shrugging.

"What's your name again?" She asked. "I know you are a Malfoy but I can't remember your first name."

"It's Draco," he said, his mouth twitching up at the corners. He was probably used to everyone knowing who he was, much like she had gotten used to it over the last few months.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, holding her hand out to him. He looked at it for a moment, a confused expression on his face, then shook it slowly.

The rest of the train ride was peaceful with Draco driving away all the random visitors. The two didn't talk much, but they did converse a little about classes or other subjects, as technically they would be in the same year now.

She was a little surprised that he was talking to her at all. From what she could remember he was one of the most outspoken Slytherins against the Gryffindors. Usually the Slytherins and Ravenclaws got along just fine because neither house spoke to the other, but she had seen him being rude to the younger students of all houses in the years before. But she knew war changed people.

She herself had not been very occupied in the war. She had been at school when the last battle started of course, but she had been one of the people who helped to lead the younger students from the school to the village, then she had stayed in Hogsmeade throughout the fighting to help the pub owner and a few others defend it from death eaters until the children were all apparated away. By the time she had gotten back up to the school with the others who had stayed, the fighting was mostly over. She had then helped Madam Pomfrey to bandage the injured people. No one she knew well was among the dead, and she was very thankful that she had escaped the war with no loses in her immediate family.

She knew that this year would be different from the previous ones. There was no way that they would keep everything the same after the war. There had been a lot of renovations to the school as well, since a lot of it had been demolished by curses and spells.

"So are you the only Slytherin who came back this year?" Anna asked after a lull in their conversation. Both books had been set aside by that point and they had just finished a discussion about NEWT level charms, her best subject.

"No, there are two others that I know of. Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. There might be others too," he said, his face carefully blank.

"Oh," Anna said, shrugging. "I assumed you were the only one and that's why you are sitting in here with me instead of with them."

"Yeah well," he said, and she was a little surprised to see him shrug. He seemed too uptight to do anything like that. "After the war no one was in a hurry to associate with my family again."

"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense," Anna said, turning back to look out the window. The sun was just barely setting, which meant they had at least an hour left of the ride.

"I must confess, I'm a little surprised that you are speaking to me at all," he said, drawing her attention back to him. She raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I talk to you? I sort of crashed your solitary carriage ride so it would be rude to not talk to you," she said, chuckling. "And besides, it's not like I'm going to get sent to Azkaban for talking to you. Probably."

"Probably," he agreed, chuckling a little too. She smiled.

"Besides, you are pleasant to talk to when you aren't bullying first years," she added, then watched with satisfaction as his face turned red.

Anna walked beside Draco from the platform in Hogsmeade to the carriages, then rode with him up to the castle. It was nice, being almost alone, as most people avoided the blonde boy. Anna was content to just sit in silence, and neither of them tried to start a conversation.

As they followed other students into the hall, they split ways without a word, each one going to sit at their house tables.

The hall was much quieter than previous years. The long tables were emptier, and the students had left room for their friends who wouldn't be returning, either because they didn't want to, or they weren't able.

After nearly ten minutes of subdued chatter, a group of wide eyed first years was led up the middle isle by Professor McGonagall, who led them at the front of the room and moved to stand behind the podium.

"Good evening," she began in a solemn tone, and the room fell into complete silence as the students looked up at their new headmistress. She looked over them with a grave face. "Many of you have suffered losses over the last few years. The war has affected each and every one of you and it is something that we will not forget, but we must move on from it. We can not let the past keep us from living and moving forward and growing. In the spirit of growth and recovery, there will be several changes made to Hogwarts this year."

A low muttering broke out over the tables, and Anna looked around her for her room mates, wondering what they would think of these words, but the students on either side of her were second or third years, and she didn't know them well enough to make a comment.

"To begin, there will no longer be four houses," McGonagall said, and had to pause as loud, incredulous shouts came from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. The Ravenclaws were a bit quieter in their denial, and only the younger Slytherins were undignified to voice their opinions aloud.

"Quiet please," McGonagall called, and the hall fell silent again. "As I was saying, we will no longer have four houses. House rivalries have led to prejudices and arguments, and it is something we hope to avoid in the future. In the hopes that we can build a better sense of unity and comradeship, we have formed a new dormitory system. We are one school and we will all stand together from this point forward."

The room was silent, Anna glanced around at the shocked faces of her classmates, unsurprised. She had assumed the faculty would make some grand gesture of unity this year, though she had never thought it would take this form.

"This summer while rebuilding the castle, there were several new portions added, and many classrooms have been moved to new areas. When you receive your schedules tomorrow, you will also receive maps to find your way. Dormitories are now divided into year, returning seventh years are housing with the current seventh years for this year. Each year's dormitories are on that corresponding floor, along the north side of the building."

Anna nearly let out a sigh. Even with the new system of rooming she would still have to climb up to the seventh floor. Hopefully some of her classes would also be on that floor, otherwise she would have to carry her whole days worth of textbooks with her to every class. Just like all the previous years. At least she would stay fit, she supposed, with all the stair climbing she would be doing.

"Each of the rooms houses two people, and shares a bathroom with a connecting suite. Each year's dormitories will have a central common room. Students fourth year and above will be permitted to choose who they room with. First, second, and third years, you will be paired with another student in your year curtsy of the sorting hat."

Another round of muttering broke out in the hall, mostly from older students.

"There will be plenty of time to talk to each other after dinner," McGonagall said, waving a hand for silence. "Because there have been so many changes this year, classes will not begin until the day after tomorrow, to give you all time to settle in. Now, before we eat, if you would all please stand and move to the outskirts of the room?"

The students stood to do as they were told, with much talking and noise. When they were all along the outside of the room, McGonagall waved her hand and the four long house tables disappeared. In their place, fourteen smaller, rectangular tables lined the hall, seven on each side leaving a central aisle up to the head table. Each of the tables had a number floating above it, and Anna was glad to see that the seventh years were at the back of the hall and the first years at the front.

"Now, first, second, and third years, please line up here at the front," McGonagall called over the talking. "The rest of you, take a seat at your designated tables."

Anna made her way to the back of the hall, dodging around younger students making their way to the front. When they were all where they were instructed to be, McGonagall began reading names off a list, starting with the third years. When they put on the battered sorting hat, it would call out a dorm number rather than a house name. As she watched, Anna couldn't help but wish the older students were also being paired, because she had no idea who she would want to spend the year sharing a dorm with. The other four girls in her dorm would no doubt pair off with each other, since they had all been much more social with each other than she had been in previous years.

When all the younger students had been given a number, McGonagall took a seat, and food appeared on the tables. Anna ate very little, too nervous about who she would be rooming with to have much of an appetite. Really it wouldn't be so bad if she ended up by herself, then she wouldn't have to worry about annoying anyone accidentally, but the seventh year table was a little crowded, with the returning students. It wasn't as full as it should have been of course, not with the number of people who had died in the war, but it was still fuller than the other tables.

When the meal was over, McGonagall stood again, and the hall fell silent.

"I know that a lot of you will have questions, and we will address those tomorrow morning, so please be on time for breakfast. Now, seventh years, if you will follow Professor Flitwick out of the hall, he will show you all to your new dormitory. Sixth years, please follow Professor Sinistra-" she continued on, but Anna had stood to follow the rest of her table out of the hall and she didn't listen.

The group was nearly silent on the trek up to the seventh floor. The north wall was the one that had been between Gryffindor tower and Ravenclaw tower, and it had previously housed classrooms, mostly unused. Now it was a solid grey stone wall lined with portraits and tapestries. Flitwick came to a stop in front of a portrait of two small children playing in a field of flowers. Both girls had dark black hair that flew behind them as they chased butterflies and giggled. Professor Flitwick tapped his wand against the frame twice, and the girls turned to look at him, pausing in their game.

"The password is Dittany," the short man said in his squeaky voice. The little girls flashed identical grins, and the portrait swung open, pulling bits of the wall with it, to reveal a normal door sized entrance. The group followed Flitwick inside, and along the walls, lamps burst into light.

The common room was smaller than the Ravenclaw house common room had been, Anna noticed, but it was homey and warm.

The room had been slit into four sections, each corner had a group of white arm chairs positioned around a fireplace. In the center of each group of chairs, there were area rugs, one blue, one green, one red, and one yellow. Anna supposed the professors had thought that making all the houses room together was enough change for now, and had given them all their own little areas to make them more comfortable.

There were tall windows along the side opposite the door, looking out over what Anna was sure would be the quidditch pitch, though it was too dark to see at the moment. The windows all had long white drapes pulled to the sides, and the sills housed various potted plants. In front of the windows between what was clearly the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw corners, there were several small tables, probably for studying at. Between the other corners were doorways that probably led off to their dorms. There were about fifty of them in the year now, and most of them were standing silently, though a few of them had paired off. Flitwick left them after making sure they were all inside.

"Um, what should we do if we don't know who to room with?" A girl asked. She was still wearing a yellow tie, marking her as a Hufflepuff.

"Good question," a boy that Anna recognized to be Blaise Zabini replied with a slight sneer. A girl beside him elbowed him, and he dropped the sneer. "How many rooms are there? Maybe we have enough to room alone."

"There are 36 rooms, two floors, connected at both ends with staircases," a boy called from the back of the group a moment later. From his disheveled appearance, Anna assumed he had just run down to the end of the hall and back.

"There are 63 of us here, so we will all have to share, except one," Anna recognized the girl who spoke to be Ginny Weasley. "Should we just draw names to decide?"

"But what if we've already picked?" A Ravenclaw boy asked, frowning. Some muttering broke out at that.

"Okay," Blaise Zabini called, gathering everyone's attention. "If you have already decided who to room with, go pick your rooms. Anyone who's left will write their name on a piece of paper and put it into this bowl and we will draw to see who you will room with and which number room you will have."

"Who put him in charge," a voice behind Anna muttered, and she turned a little to see the speaker.

"Oh Ron," a girl sighed. "Don't start anything. Just go with it alright?" Anna recognized that voice as Hermione. She had only spoken to the girl a couple times, but there was no way Anna wouldn't recognize her. She was surprised the three 'war-heros' had returned to school. She would have thought they would have their pick of jobs, NEWT scores or no.

"Which side should be the boys dorms?" Someone across the room asked.

"Does it matter?" Someone else asked. "If the floors are connected anyway, just pick any room."

"I don't think the professors would want us rooming with the opposite gender," Hermione piped up from behind Anna.

"Well since they didn't specify, that's their own fault," a Slytherin girl Anna recognized as Astoria Greengrass said with a shrug and a sidelong glance at Draco, who was standing silently behind Blaise.

"How about we keep the rooms gender specific, but the suites can be co-ed?" someone that Anna couldn't see suggested.

"Okay, everyone who already knows who you want to room with, go pick your rooms," Blaise called. "Leave your dorm doors open. When everyone has picked, we will list the empty rooms to assign to people who don't know who they want to room with."

There was a surge of movement as about half the people in the common room filtered into the hallways.

"Hermione, want to room with me?" Anna heard Ginny ask behind her.

"Sure," Hermione said.

"Should Harry and Ron take the adjoining room?" Ginny asked.

"Absolutely not," Hermione said, and Anna nearly giggled at the tone. "I do not want to share a bathroom with Ronald. He is absolutely disgusting."

"I heard that," Ron said, and Anna could see Hermione's face turn red out of the corner of her eye. She giggled at that. "I'm not that bad. We all shared a tent all last year and it was fine."

"Oh alright," Hermione said, and the four of them headed up the hallway to the right. Anna sighed and turned back to the room at large. She wished she had friends that close.

"Alright, whoever's left write your name on a piece of parchment and put it into this bowl," Blaise called to the remaining people, who all began to line up to do so. Anna scribbled her name on a scrap of parchment and dropped it into the bowl, then went back to the Ravenclaw corner of the room to wait.

A boy from Slytherin that was in Anna's year named David Marley went to list the unoccupied rooms and what gender the others in the suite wanted and were.

Anna let out a yawn as she waited, it had been a long day and she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. A Hufflepuff girl named Hannah drew the names and called off room numbers as she did so.

"Anna Prewett, room number four," she called at last, and Anna made her way out of the room gladly, wanting nothing more than to curl up in her bed and sleep for the next twelve hours.

She found her trunk at the end of one of the four poster beds in her new room, and glanced over at the other girl as she entered. She hadn't listened to hear who her new room mate would be.

"Hey," Anna said as she entered the room.

"Hi," the other girl said, sweeping her long dark hair over her shoulder as she held out a hand to shake. Anna shook it as they looked each other over. "I'm Pansy."

"Anna," Anna replied. She had known of Pansy before now, but they had never talked. She had a slightly upturned nose and her face was sharp, thin mouth drawn back in a slight sneer.

"Prewett was it?" Pansy asked, turning back to her bed. The rooms were wide enough to fit the two beds against the walls, and two desks in-between them. Two tall wardrobes were positioned on either side of the door, and a door set between the foot of Anna's bed and her wardrobe led to the bathroom. It was currently bolted shut from their side, and the door handle glowed a faint green color.

"Yes," Anna replied, opening her trunk.

"I don't think I've met you before," Pansy commented, also digging through her things.

"Probably not," Anna said, relaxing a little. "I used to be a Ravenclaw and I kept to myself mostly."

"Your dorms were all the way up here?" Pansy asked, a little incredulously. "How did you manage climbing up here every day?" Anna let out a little chuckle at that.

"I carried all my books with me so I only had to come up at the end of classes," Anna said. "It's a real workout climbing up though. Your legs will get really toned."

"Well I guess that's a plus," Pansy said, giggling. "Did you hear who our dorm mates are?"

"No, I left as soon as my name was called," Anna said, pulling her sleepwear out of her trunk at last. She would wait until the next day to unpack completely.

"I hope they are girls, boys are just too messy," Pansy said, sliding the bolt on the bathroom door back and pulling it open. As soon as she stepped inside the handle began to glow red, evidently signifying that someone was inside. Pansy banged against the far door, and Anna followed her inside, leaving her armful of clothes on her bed. The bathroom was a good size, and there were two large mirrors on the wall, with a sink in front of each one. On the other side of the room, against the wall that was shared with the hallway, there was a walled off shower, and a toilet with a door that shut so that someone could use it while there were other people in the room.

The door Pansy was knocking on flew open to reveal Blaise.

"God, woman, what do you want?" He asked, spotting Pansy. Anna chuckled, and Blaise looked her over for a moment, brow raised.

"Just wanted to meet our new suite mates," Pansy said with a sniff.

"It's me and Draco," Blaise said. "And who might you be?" His voice switched tones from normal to flirty so quickly that it caught Anna off guard.

"Anna Prewett," Anna said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's lovely to meet you, Anna Prewett," Blaise said, grabbing her hand to lift it to his lips. Another arm hit Blaise upside the head, making him drop Anna's hand with a yelp.

"Stop it," Draco said, frowning at him. "Behave."

"What are you, my mother?" Blaise asked, rubbing the back of his head as he walked back into their room.

"If I was your mother I would have drowned you at birth," Draco called. "Now that we all know each other, we are going to bed. Goodnight." He pulled the door closed behind him and the girls could hear their lock slide into place. They made their way back to their own room, closing the bathroom door behind them and locking it as well.

"He's right, we should get to sleep," Pansy said, her voice a little subdued. "Anna, are you going to be okay sharing a room with three Slytherins?"

"Former Slytherins," Anna corrected, though she was a little surprised Pansy had bothered to ask. "And yes, it's fine."

"If you're sure," Pansy said, shrugging. They were silent as they both changed into their pajamas. Anna's consisted of long yoga pants and a tank top, Pansy's of shorts and a t-shirt.

"We will have to plan out a shower schedule," Pansy said as they climbed into their separate beds.

"We can do that tomorrow," Anna said. "And I think we should come up with some sort of rule about visitors too."

"Probably," Pansy agreed with a yawn. "Tomorrow."

"Right," Anna said, and they both fell silent. She was asleep within minutes.