Mariana's brown waves fell into her view as she hunched over her book for Potions class with Professor Snape. She had been writing in some things he had said in class about O.W.L. examination - merely a few weeks into the school year and the professors are pressuring the students about end of year exams - when a pearly white letter dropped onto her book. She picked it up and put down her quill. It had the Kindleson wax seal on it. She looked up at the owl that dropped the letter.

"Piffington!" the fifth year piped up happily in her british accent- well more scottish than anything- as the white, with black specks, owl circled her head. The animal nipped affectionately at the hair on her head then hooted and flew away back to her parents. They obviously didn't want a response right away. This made her nervous. Her parents always wanted Piffington to wait for a response. She cautiously broke the seal, unfolding the letter. It read:

Dear Mariana,

Hello dear. Your father and I have been discussing some things, at home, involving your future. Now as you know we would like to keep our bloodline as pure as possible. Not to be better than anyone, but it gives us a better chance for more witches and wizards to be born into the family. Although we find you very capable and trustworthy, we don't want you to end up like your brother which likely would have happened if you would have stayed with that boy. What was his name? Well, it doesn't matter. So anyways your father and I took the liberty to choose you a husband now. That way you don't have to make that hard decision of who you want to marry! His name is Draco Malfoy and he goes to Hogwarts too. He's in Slytherin. You may have classes with him. His parents are absolutely ecstatic to have you as their daughter-in-law. Just know it's better this way, Dear. Write back soon!

With Love,

Mother

Mariana sat there gaping at the letter gripped tightly in her hands, her hazel eyes running over those lines again. "His name is Draco Malfoy…" "It's better this way…" She took a deep breath processing what she just read. She's going to marry Draco Malfoy. Why did it have to be him? She packed away her school things in her satchel and rose from the soft grassy ground, the letter still clutched in her hand. She headed inside the school, toward her next class. She walked into Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall and she sat by Hermione with their table right next to Harry and Ron's. She tried her hardest to ignore the kids with green robes still filtering into the room.

As soon as she sat down Hermione asked what the letter was. Normally students only get mail during breakfast. A letter after breakfast sparked curiosity. She handed the letter over to her friend letting her read it. Hermione's eyes widen as she read the letter in her hands. She then turned and glowered at Draco, who sat a few rows behind her with an angered look on his face.

Mariana, finally regaining her composure, stomped over to Draco. Seeing he had a similar note, she snatched it from his hand. He glared at her and before he could even try to take it back she whipped out her wand and blurted a spell to make him stay in his seat. She read the letter, finding his mother sent it to him telling him he is to marry her.

"What are you doing? That's mine!" he yelled.

She released him from the seat but said, "Mine too. Married couples share everything."

"Who are you?" Draco said, obviously ignoring the comment, with anger in his eyes.

"Name's Mariana Kindleson," she said slowly, letting him realize who she was.

"You mean- You're- and I'm-" He gave up on talking and just gulped.

"Well we might as well get to know each other," she turned to a bulky slytherin boy she didn't recognize sitting next to him. "Beat it," she told him and he straightened up in his seat and glowered at her.

"Leave, Crabbe," Draco told him, annoyed with this Gryffindor girl that was invading on his life. The boy glared at Mariana but grabbed his stuff - the small amount that there was anyway - and moved seats. She sighed and put away her wand then retrieved her school materials and sat next to Draco.

Mariana had just begun pulling out her notes from her last Transfiguration class when Professor McGonagall came into the room. The professor walked through the sea of desks and stood in front of her own desk that sat at the head of the class.

"Good afternoon, class," she greeted after turning to face the students.

"Good afternoon, Professor," came from the class.

"Today we will be studying how to…" The rest of that sentence was not registered by Mariana. She was too busy worrying about the rest of her year, heck, the rest of her life. She barely noticed when the class let out for lunch. The only reason she knew was because of the light tap on her shoulder from Draco.

"It's time for lunch," he said harshly. She looked at him with an irritated look, but reluctantly nodded and gathered her stuff into her brown leather satchel then settled the strap over the shoulder of her school robes.

They proceeded to walk together until someone called, "Mari!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione came jogging up to the pair, their black robes swishing behind them. The trio glared at Malfoy and he glared back. Mariana nudged him and he lessened only slightly, not daring to budge from staring at the hated boys. "Harry, Ron, um-" she began, but was interrupted by Ron who said, "It's cool Mari. Hermione told us. But that doesn't mean we have to like it." Her best guy friends then stepped next to her, cutting away Draco.

"What your problem, Potter? Weasley?" Draco said, his normal seething tone once again appeared.

"Nothing of your concern, Malfoy," Ron snapped at Draco. Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said. He took care to draw out the next words that came from his mouth, "Measley Weasley."

Ron said nothing at this, controlling himself, but Draco's eyes landed on Hermione and, fueled by dislike of the three, he sniped, "Mudblood." Ron growled at the horrid name and launched himself at Draco. Ron jumped on him and took him to the ground. You could hear the loud THUNK of Draco's head hitting the concrete floor of the old castle that was their school. Both boys grunted in anger and Ron landed a few punches on Draco's jaw and Draco had kneed Ron in the stomach. Both boys rolled on the floor, fists flying. Mariana heard a loud yelp and watched as red began to flow from Ron Weasley's nose. Ron's anger flared and he squared a nice right hook to Draco's nose. There was a loud cracking sound and a scream from Draco Malfoy.

"Gentlemen!" came a shrill voice from not too far down the hall. The rest of the school had already vacated the halls and gone to lunch. The click of heels on hard floor came flying down the hallway. Ron and Draco ignored the voice and kept at each other. Professor McGonagall pointed her wand and yelled, "Sed creverunt!" and the boys flew apart. She stopped right between the dazed boys and said in a very stern and uptight voice, "Detention for both of you and 5 points from each of your houses." She then acknowledged the blood streaming from both boys noses. "And you had better go to the infirmary to have Madam Pomfrey see to your injuries." She then walked away taking the authoritative air with her.

Harry and Hermione rushed to Ron's side and Mariana turned to Ron but Draco sat against the wall attempting to stop the crimson liquid flowing from his nose. Marianna sighed and went to Draco's side. She moved his chin side to side, examining his wounds.

"What are you doing?" he asked, then winced as she touched the forming bruise around his eye. She mumbled a sorry and removed her hand from his chin.

"Ron has Harry and Hermione. You didn't have anyone," she said as if it was obvious. She wiped her sweaty hands on her thighs, disguising it as smoothing her skirt. She noticed things she didn't before, like his jawline. It was sharpening as he aged. He began to look less of a cute kid and more of an attractive teenager.

"But I called Granger, well, a mudblood," he reminded her, disguising his shame as smugness.

"That loses you points, but I don't think I'll be able to get rid of you any time soon." She stood and extended her hand to Draco. He looked at it as he held his bleeding nose, as if her hand was covered in mud and garbage. "Take it or leave it, Malfoy," Mariana said impatiently.

Draco sighed and took her hand and she helped him off the cold ground. She then gave him a small nudge towards the direction of the infirmary. "Come on now Ron," she said calling to her friend. "I'll see you two to the infirmary while Harry and Hermione get to lunch."

She and Draco waited for Ron and then Mariana placed herself between the aggravated boys. "Bye Mari, Ron," said Hermione as Harry waved. The other three students walked off to the infirmary.

"Measly-"

"Don't even, Malfoy!"

"Shut it both of you!" Mariana yelled, staring with disappointment at Ron and even Draco. Mariana sighed at the rash idiots as they closed their mouths.

They showed up in front of infirmary and Mariana pushed open the large doors. She walked with the young wizards into the spacious room and called for Madame Pomfrey.

"I'm here, dear!" the magical nurse called from the back of the room. Mariana pointed to two beds that opposed each other. The two boys sulked to the beds and slumped down facing the back of the white room. Mariana walked away to find Madame Pomfrey.

"Why do Malfoys always make a mess of everything?" Ron asked, turning slightly towards Draco.

"Why do Weasleys always make a mess of themselves?" Draco retorted. They sneered at each other but said no more.

Madame Pomfrey came and looked at the boys with her hands on her hips. She pulled out her wand and said, "I better not see you two back in here." She pointed her wand at the boys noses and yelled "Reparo!" at each boy. The lumps on their noses went down and they returned to normal then Madame Pomfrey handed them a tissue for the excess blood dripping from their noses.

"You're fine now. Go to lunch." Madame Pomfrey waved them away and out the door. The three students walked through the hallways again to get to the Great Hall.

They pushed the big doors open and slipped in then turned shoving them shut. Not many heads turned but those that did looked confused. The three students were almost never seen together.

"Come on, Mari," Ron said as he grasped Mariana's wrist and began walking to the Gryffindor table, but she stopped him.

"I promised Missie I would have lunch with her at the Slytherin table," Mariana said in an apologetic voice. She gave him a small half smile. He nodded understanding then went to relay the information to her friends. She walked with Draco to the table harboring students who sported green scarves and ties. Draco was going to sit with his friends but Mariana called his name and he turned back to her.

"Would you like to come have lunch with my sister and I?" she asked him. He opened his mouth to protest but she said, "Just come on, idiot."

"I really don't think-" his sentence was cut off by Mariana yanking his arm and pulling him with her.

"I said come on," she insisted. He reluctantly let her drag him down the bench of Slytherins. They came to a stop next to a young caramel haired first year. "Missie," Mariana addressed the girl.

Missie, the small first year, turned and cried, "Mari!" She leapt from her seat and embraced Mariana.

"Hey there, Kiddie," she replied lovingly. "Draco," she addressed the white haired boy beside her, "This is my sister, Missie. Missie this is Draco Malfoy he's in your house. He's my-" She didn't exactly know what to call Draco. He wasn't her friend, they were going to be married, but it felt weird to call him her fiancé.

"Boyfriend. I'm her boyfriend," he said extending his hand to the girl. She had an incredulous look on her face, she looked at his outstretched hand and eagerly shook it. Mariana looked to Draco with a questioning look and he just shrugged and avoided her eyes. They sat next to the girl and began to pull food from the magical golden plates. "So Missie," Draco said putting on a sweet facade, "how's school going for you?"

Missie's face lit up as Draco talked to her. She took no notice of how he wasn't actually interested. "Well, I love being in Slytherin, and I'm really good at Transfiguration and Potions. Professor Snape is my favorite and…" Missie went on and Draco wasn't really listening. He was smiling only slightly but was eating his food secretly conversing with his fellow fifth year slytherin. Mariana nudged him and he reluctantly dismissed his friends, turned towards the beaming Missie, and listened to her go on about Potions class. Mariana tried to ignore the stares she could feel in her back, she knew who they were from and she knew they were trying to get her to look at them. She refused.

After lunch was Charms and Draco walked with Mariana, since Harry, Ron, and Hermione left before she could get Missie to stop talking. As they walked they remained silent until Mariana asked, "Boyfriend?"

Draco was caught so off guard by the break in silence that he almost missed the fake step on the stairway. He jumped over it then recovered and cleared his throat before saying, "I was just trying to get the kid off me." Mariana threw him a questioning look and he continued, "She's been following me around since she got here. Thought if she knew I had a girlfriend she'd shove off." He looked down as they walked the hallway to Charms then spoke one last time, "Taking our situation into consideration, that's not such an awkward start, right?"

"I guess not," Mariana agreed then waved as he walked off. "Malfoy," she called after him. "Watch how you talk about my sister. The Kindleson girls can be dangerous."

He smiled a small smile at her as she walked through the door of the Charms classroom and it remained on his face through his next class.

Mariana walked out of Charms with a tired look on her face. They had been working on the theories of Charms to prepare for O.W.L. exams. She sighed in despair at the thought of her examinations at the end of the year. Fred and George, the Weasley twins, were only a year older than Ron and had told him that O.W.L. exams were the worst of the exams. Their O.W.L. scores could determine what N.E.W.T. exams they take next year. Mariana still didn't know exactly what she wanted to do in the wizarding world but she was contemplating whether she wanted it to do with the muggle world.

She had began taking Muggle Studies this year and it was really interesting. There was a student, Maggie Newsome, that assisted the professor in many lessons, she was an actor in the muggle world and she knew a lot about modern day culture. Any time anyone walked into Muggle Studies and she was sitting on the professor's desk they knew class would be fun. It reminded Mariana of Defence against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin.

Maggie's classes were always interesting. With her they learned a lot about pop culture. She also knew a lot about American Broadway. Mariana didn't have muggle studies till Friday though. It was the only thing that kept her going through the week. She liked school, but there was no love for it like Hermione's but she didn't slack like Ron or Harry. She did her homework when she had the time. She did her best to try not to procrastinate and she always got good grades because, Godric, she didn't even want to imagine the fit her parents would throw if she were to get a B.

She has always been the one to take responsibility out of her siblings. Her brother had the worst grades while in school; he barely passed his seventh year. Her sister just wasn't as bright. She cared more about the people than paying attention in class, she would choose going out with a friend over schoolwork. Everyone knows that Mariana would never even risk missing a deadline because of fun. She always worked diligently and efficiently.

Mariana felt she had to fight for the love of her parents; who wouldn't love a bright and caring and kind spirit, like Missie, more than Mariana who believed herself to be dull. She didn't understand how people came so naturally to an eleven year old. When she was eleven taking to other people scared Mariana to death.

Mariana's thoughts were cut off when she almost ran straight into somebody. "Gentry," she breathed when she realized who it was. His icy blue eyes caught hers and she didn't dare look away. She knew she would have to explain now.

"You been avoiding me," he stated plain and simple. She opened her mouth to protest but then closed it and nodded, not wanting to lie to him. He sighed and frowned. "Why?" he asked, clearly hurt.

"It's really complicated." Mariana sighed really not wanting to get into this. She put a hand on his chest. "I can tell you later, but right now why don't we do something fun."

Gentry sighed and nodded, taking Mariana's hand. They walked out to the lake and sat in the grass by the water. He put his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip, and Mariana melted to his touch. She let herself fall into him. Even with their history, Gentry always has this effect on her. He was the only one that could pull her away from her studies on a Friday night.

Mariana's head rested on Gentry's shoulder and she watched the water ripple from the giant squid or the tails of mermaids pop up every now and then. She loved how they didn't even have to talk they just enjoyed each other's presence. Mariana sighed and hoped Gentry would think it was a contented sigh, even though really she was just thinking about how she was going to dread telling him about Draco.

The couple stayed like that until dinner, where they sat together with their friends. Mariana couldn't help but watch Draco who wouldn't look at her no matter how long she stared.

Mariana sat on her bed with a journal in her lap, her legs stretched out in front of her and she leaned back against her headboard. Her quill hovered above the page but no words came to her. She sighed and hoped her roommates couldn't hear her, even with her curtains pulled round. The stress of O.W.L preparation was really getting to her and her brain was fried. She pushed her fingers through her hair not caring about her perfectly groomed ponytail since it was after dinner.

She huffed and closed the journal, laying the quill on top the cover. She pushed open the curtain and crawled off her bed, throwing the book to her bedside table. She saw the closed curtains of some of her roommates and went downstairs. She didn't know any of her roommates very well and decided that now wasn't the time to get to know them. She had just sat down on the couch in front of the fire when a girl walked in and said, "Oh Mariana! Just the person I was looking for."

Mariana smiled at the girl that had just walked into the common room through the painting. She cocked her head and said, "Gracie, what's up?"

"Wow, what are the odds that you would be down here already? How funny… You know I was actually just thinking about that the other day. About how…"

"Gracie?"

"Many people just have talents you know and some are…"

"Gracie…"

"And being able to find socks when no one else can!"

"Gracie!"

"Huh?"

"What did you need?" Mariana asked exasperated, but also used to it as this is normally how a conversation with the 2nd year would go.

"Oh, right! Sorry. A boy is outside saying he needs to talk to you."

Mariana got up and as she headed towards the door she realised that she didn't quite know who it could be. And that was something that worried her. She never wanted her life to be like that. What boy is it now? Boys, boys, and more boys.

She opened the door, er, well painting, and she saw Draco standing out there waiting for her.