I used to be an avid member of this site years ago but I fell out of it for a while. I'm now in college and I recently found myself in need of SOMETHING to read and with no books around, I decided to explore this site once more and quickly fell back in love. So I remade an account and now I'm going to post my first story for the first time in a really long time. Don't be shy when it comes to reviewing either! I'd love to hear from you and take any suggestions! I love constructive criticism but refrain from flaming. Thank you! I hope you enjoy the story!
DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter. I merely play with her ideas.
P.S. This takes place with everyone in their seventh year assuming Harry, Hermione, and Ron all attended their seventh year. I have read all the books and watched all the movies so I know the true positions of everyone in the final book staff wise but in this Dumbledore is not dead and is still headmaster, Snape is the Defense against the dark arts professor, and Slughorn is the potions professor. Just take into note I do recognize this was not the set up for the seventh year. Thanks again! Enjoy!
+CHAPTER 1+
She sat awkwardly at one of the four, long dining tables. She hated this. She didn't know anyone and the few people she did know all were in different houses. Aside from one person she really disliked and a few she didn't really talk to or didn't know well, she didn't know anyone at the Gryffindor table which was even weirder because she wasn't even a first year. Her old school had been shut down at the end of her sixth year because of a fire that ripped through the building and a lack of funding/donors willing to repair it. It was known for having great academics but was one of the poorest schools around and was headed in a downwards spiral for years, so it didn't take anyone by surprise when the news got around that the school wasn't going to be rebuilt. There weren't many students either, about 300 or so and about a third came to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was just glad that she had set up a special visit over the summer to be sorted and get tours aside from the prying eyes of the rest of the student body. She saw that many of the other students that had formerly attended her old school had done the same while others were mixed in with the first years getting sorted. After the sorting was all done and there were some oddly tall students mixed in with the puny first years at the ends of each of the tables. She jumped a little when all sorts of food just appeared in the middle of the tables out of nowhere. There was everything you could possibly imagine! And if there somehow wasn't something you wanted you need only close your eyes and think about it for a few seconds and it would appear on your plate in front of you. She watched as students around her dug in and laughed and talked and enjoyed their dinner. As good as the food looked, she felt a little queasy from the nerves of starting at a new school. She managed to drag a chicken leg and a spoonful of mashed potatoes on her plate as she nervously started picking at it. She stared down at her plate wondering if it would make her life easier to just try and talk to the person next to her when someone beat her to it.
"Hey, who are you? I've never seen you before. Are you a student?" She looked up to see someone with flaming red hair and pale, freckled, skin mumble through mouthfuls of food. He was suddenly struck in the back of the head by a girl that was sitting right next to him and directly across from her.
"Ron! Don't be so rude! And of course she's a student! Look at her Robes!" The girl turned around to face her. "I'm sorry about him. He's really hasn't got a brain-to-mouth filter. My name is Hermione Granger, this is Ron Weasley and right on your left happens to be Harry Potter."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. And it's nice to meet you. My name is Samantha Thomas. But he really isn't completely off. I'm new." She didn't even flinch at hearing that Harry Potter was sitting right next to her. Of course it was amazing but she had known beforehand that he attended Hogwarts and didn't doubt that she would run into him eventually.
"Really? Why weren't you up there getting sorted?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh, I really didn't want to be standing around awkwardly with the first years. I would've stuck out horribly so I organized a visit over the summer to get sorted and get tours so I could sit awkwardly at the table with everyone else." She smirked a little and Harry chuckled.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you transfer? It just doesn't seem to happen a whole lot and we seem to have an oddly high amount of transfers this year." Hermione asked inquisitively.
"Well, my old school was shut down at the end of last year. There was a fire and no funding to rebuild so they called it quits." She shrugged it off. "Shit happens."
"Tell me about it." Ron mumbled. Hermione elbowed him hard in the ribs making him cough up a piece of bread. "Why do you always have to hit me? Why can't I ever eat in piece?" He whined. She ignored him and continued with her conversation.
"Well I think that's horrible, but I'm sure you'll like it here. Have you been up to the Gryffindor common room yet?"
"No, I had to go directly here with everyone else and Dumbledore skipped it on the tour saying that it was something he wanted me to wait until my first day to experience it."
"Well, how about we show you it after dinner?" Harry asked with a friendly smile on his face.
"Sounds great!" She smiled back.
From across the hall a certain blond-haired Slytherin sat lazily with his friends. He glanced over at the Gryffindor table and found Potter, Weasel, and the Mudblood. But they were talking to someone else… Well Potter and Granger were anyways. Weasley was just stuffing his face as per usual. "Hey, Zabini."
"What?" Zabini glanced up at him from his food. He was starving and didn't really feel like talking.
"Who are Mudblood and Potter talking to?" He asked nonchalantly.
Zabini glanced over at the table. "How the hell should I know? I've never seen her before in my life." He turned back to his food and continued eating. Draco just shrugged his shoulders and continued to heat as well while Parkinson continued to babble on and on about the places she visited over the summer.
Dinner ended and the four got up from the Gryffindor table and began venturing through the many halls of Hogwarts. As they made their way up the changing staircases and to the painting of the fat lady, Harry said the password. "Pickled Eggs!" and the fat lady nodded with a smile, "Welcome back Harry, Hermione, and Ron." The painting swung forward and revealed the portrait hole that led to the common room. It was gorgeous and amazingly homey and the same time. Hermione brought her up to the girls' dormitories and there she found her things on one of the beds.
"Oh, look! Your bed is right next to mine!" She smiled at Samantha.
They prepared for bed and got cozy but Samantha had a hard time sleeping so she decided to read. She quickly got swept up in the book and it wasn't until hours had passed that she finally decided she had had enough reading for one night. It was 2 am. Her stomach growled and she immediately regretted not eating much at dinner. She decided to venture out and see if she could find food somewhere or at the very least, explore a little more and ignore the hunger pains. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep right now anyways. She never could when she was hungry. She threw on some slippers and grabbed her wand. She was only wearing a pair of tiny sleeping shorts and a tank top but it was still early September so the weather was still warm enough at night to get away with it. She tip-toed down the stairs and out the portrait hole.
Draco was incredibly bored. His parents had made him accept the position as prefect. He didn't even want it. But now he was stuck making his rounds through the castle halls. He only liked this when he actually caught someone trying to sneak around to do whatever and he got to bust them. Last year he even made a second year cry because he was so afraid of getting turned in to filch. But of course he was still turned in. he smirked at the memory and continued to wander.
She made her way down to the dining hall, not finding a single person or scrap of food. To be honest she wasn't really expecting too. But she hoped. She decided to just wander around and see what she could see instead. She was already out so she might as well make use of her time.
Draco had taken too kicking a little pebble around as he walked down the halls. He decided to make his way to the library as that seemed to be a favorite destination for light night/early morning wanderers.
Samantha was beginning to get kind of bored but at the same time she enjoyed the peacefulness of the empty halls and dark corridors, along with the eerie-ness to it all. She began to hum a song. She wasn't sure what song it was. She just sort of made up the tune and went along with it. She swayed as she walked and spun a couple times as she continued to walk. She crossed through a couple of the courtyards and continued humming.
Draco was just about to the library when he heard something. It sounded like a voice. But it wasn't just a voice. It sounded like humming. He began to walk quietly in the direction of the humming.
Samantha started to think and gradually her mind slipped to her older brother. He is still one of her favorite people in the world but he made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime already and he was hitting a really rough time. He had problems with drugs and continuously stole to support his habits. As much as she loved him she refused to see him if he was on something but always encouraged him to quit. She hadn't seen him in a few months but he gave her some of her best childhood memories. She had so many of them playing with their dogs or him taking her to the park as a child or teaching her how to ride a bike. Their mother had died at a very young age. She was killed by Voldemort for being a staunch defender of Dumbledore's army. They were always well looked over by their father but her brother seemed to play the role of a second father at times. She was much attached to bother her brother and father. When they lived together, he would cook for her and make sure she did her homework and put her to bed. It wasn't until she started going away to school that he started truly having problems and they became separated. Before she even realized it she began singing. (A/N: This song is 'Innocent' by Taylor Swift.)
"I guess you really did it this time,
Left yourself in your warpath,
Lost your balance on a tightrope,
Lost your mind tryin' to get it back.
Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?
Always a bigger bed to crawl into,
Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything?
And everybody believed in you?"
Draco noticed that the humming turned into singing and continued towards the source. As he got closer he began to realize that whoever it was had a beautiful voice. He started to be able to make out what she was saying and listened intently.
"It's alright, just wait and see,
Your string of lights is still bright to me,
Oh, who you are is not where you've been,
You're still an innocent, you're still an innocent.
Did some things you can't speak of,
But at night you live it all again,
You wouldn't be shattered on the floor now,
If only you had seen what you know now then."
He slowly began to realize the gravity of the song. Whoever this girl was she was troubled about something or worried about someone.
"Wasn't it easier in your firefly catchin' days?
And everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you,
Wasn't it beautiful runnin' wild 'til you fell asleep?
Before the monsters caught up to you?
It's alright, just wait and see,
Your string of lights is still bright to me,
Oh, who you are is not where you've been,
You're still an innocent."
His curiosity was starting to overwhelm him as he sped up his pace.
"It's okay; life is a tough crowd,
32 and still growin' up now,
Who you are is not what you did,
You're still an innocent.
Time turns flames to embers; you'll have new Septembers,
Every one of us has messed up too,
Minds change like the weather, I hope you remember,
Today is never too late to be brand new."
She continued to sing and deep down she hoped her brother could hear her wherever he may be and whatever he may be doing.
Draco had reached a corner and saw a light lighting up the hall. He turned his head around the corner and saw a girl. The light was coming from the tip of her wand and she was the source of the singing. She didn't seem to notice him and she was walking in his direction. He flattened himself against the wall behind a suit of armor and peaked out at her trying to identify her but the light kept him from seeing her features.
"It's alright, just wait and see,
Your string of lights is still bright to me,
Oh, who you are is not where you've been,
You're still an innocent.
Its okay, life is a tough crowd,
32 and still growin' up now,
Who you are is not what you did,
You're still an innocent, you're still an innocent."
She finally got close enough to him where he could see her face and he was pleasantly surprised. She had long chocolate brown hair that reached her elbows. It was perfectly straight and sleek except for a slight curl at the bottom. Her eyes were a sparkling blue and her lips were full but small. As she got even closer he was able to make out the rest of her body. She had a perfect hourglass figure.
"Lost your balance on a tightrope,
It's never too late to get it back."
"She's gorgeous." He mumbled. He didn't expect her to jump and turn right around, shining her light right on him. "Damn! Turn the light down will you?" He scowled.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She snapped. Her face was gleaming red. She never sang in front of anyone. She was convinced that she was alone.
"I could ask you the same thing!" he bit back and folded his arms over his chest.
She glared at him before spinning on her heels and trying to storm off in the opposite direction. He just followed her.
"I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me who you are and what you are doing."
"I asked you first! Besides it's none of your business what I'm doing."
"Actually it is. I'm a prefect and I'm on my night rounds." He stated matter-of-factly.
"And what's that supposed to mean to me?" She continued to walk in the direction she suspected the common room was but the horrific truth was, she wasn't quite sure where it was.
He looked completely baffled. "How could you not know what a prefect is? Are you new here? Because you sure don't look like a first year to me!"
"F.Y.I. I actually AM new so I WOULDN'T know!" She spat. She felt kind of bad for being so rude but she was extremely embarrassed and just wanted to escape to her bed and try and forget this ever happened.
He stopped for a moment and thought before it struck him. "What house and year are you?"
"7th year Gryffindor, as if it were any of your business." She continued to walk around aimlessly.
He realized that they had already pretty much made a circle around the library. "Where are you trying to go?"
"I'm going back to my common room!" She was so frustrated! This would only happen to her.
"Well you're going the wrong way."
"What?" She hissed at him.
"You're. Going. The. Wrong. Way." He repeated himself and slowed down his pronunciation.
"I know what you said, I'm not stupid."
"Then why did you say 'what'?"
Her face turned a whole other shade of red and she tried to walk past him in the other direction but he put his arm out and stopped her. "What do you want!"
"Look, I won't report you to Filch for being out past curfew and I'll bring you back to your common room if you just tell me your name."
She glared deeply at him. That was the last thing she wanted him to know. Now he'd be able to tell the whole school who he caught singing in the middle of a corridor at 2 am instead of just 'some girl'. After thinking about it and trying to see if she had any other decisions she finally decided she had no other options.
"Samantha Thomas."
"See now that wasn't so hard was it?"
+END CHAPTER 1+
Well that's it for chapter one. I kind of winged it considering I don't really have a set direction for it yet but I have plenty of ideas. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to throw them at me! Please review! :)