Hogwarts castle had never been more menacing looking the day that young little Gabrielle Delacour arrived. The dark and heavy rain clouds that had been circling the land all day now hovered over the towers with the occasional angry rumble of thunder to be heard. These cast shadows on the fortress, reminding the French witch of the castle she had visited earlier that summer with Fleur and Bill, the Tower of London. It had once been a prison to many, somewhat like a school that she had no say in the matter of attending.

June fifteenth seemed ages ago now that September first had rolled around. It had been the day that Gabrielle had returned home from Beauxbatons to find Fleur, her older sister, scrubbing at a dark stain in the usually impeccably white carpet.

"Fleur?" Gabrielle had asked, forgetting about how she had stood at the train station for an hour before giving up and taking the Muggle subway home. Fleur hadn't been at the house since she had stormed out a year ago to England against her parent's wishes.

Fleur hadn't looked up from her work until her own hands were bleeding, and both girls were crying.

Gabrielle later found out that her parents had mysteriously disappeared, leaving broken glass, splintered wood and blood stains to hint as to what had happened. There was no sign of forced entry, but a sign of a struggle was there. Days later they had been reported missing, and had soon fallen off of the Ministry's radar after one failed attempt at finding her parents.

After spending the summer at Fleur's small apartment, her older sister decided it would be better for her not to return to France, since there were people who would have heard what had happened. But in England and in Hogwarts, she was just a lost fifteen year old French girl most people would look past.

"Gabrielle, you need to get changed. I can see the castle already," Ginny Weasley's soft voice pulled her from her dark thoughts. The red-head had taken it upon herself to take care of Gabrielle, who was in her year. Ginny had her own uniform on, and so did the boy next to her, whom Gabrielle remembered to have been called Michael or something of the sort.

"Thank you," Gabrielle replied simply before standing up and taking her parcel of clothes to the bathroom to change. Sliding the compartment door shut, she heard Michael asking Ginny questions in whispers. So they were talking about her. It didn't bother her much, but she did dislike the pitying looks she got every time somebody found out what had happened.

In the bathroom, Gabrielle splashed water on her face as soon as she looked in the mirror. Dark blue melancholy eyes, a small pink mouth and heart shaped face with chubby cheeks looked back at her. A small ski-jump nose with a few golden freckles on it was in the center of her face, a small drop of water sliding down it in a slow and annoying way.

She had always looked young for her age, and at thirteen had easily been confused with an eight year old. It was the downside of the Veela blood in her, since Veela's always matured slower than humans and looked younger for longer.

Gabrielle, after Fleur had sent a letter requesting a meeting with Albus Dumbledore in August, had already seen the school and had been sorted privately in to Slytherin. Gabrielle hadn't known that Ginny, Harry and the rest of them weren't in Slytherin and had certain distaste for her house until she had been informed that morning. Now she dreaded school life even more.

Slipping on her uniform and patting her hair in to place, Gabrielle walked out of the bathroom and straight in to rather large and plump young man. He didn't seem fazed, but Gabrielle had been knocked down on to the floor at his feet.

"Excuse me," Gabrielle heard him say in a soft voice that contrasted his doughy physic. "I believe you are in my way." He stared down at her, his long arms crossing in amusement at her expense. He smirked when he noticed the green of her robes identifying her as one of his house, but he made no move to help her up.

Instead of making some witty retort concerning his voice, Gabrielle simply stood up and fixed her clothes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know English people were so rude." Gabrielle replied in impeccable English, thanks to a spell Ginny had found that enabled her to perfect her languages. She started to walk past him, but was stopped when he grabbed her small arm forcefully, and turned her around.

"You don't need to run off just yet. We've only just met and I don't have your name. I'm Vincent Crabbe." His grip on her arm loosened considerably just before another Slytherin boy appeared at their side.

"Crabbe, I told you to get food from the cart lady, not to harass new students." The boy who had come to her rescue was blonde and almost as tall as his companion, which meant both of them towered over Gabrielle's small five foot three frame. "Go find Goyle and get Pansy to share the chocolate frogs she bought. Tell her I sent you." Crabbe let go at once and stalked off, not looking back. The blonde boy flashed Gabrielle a smile, warming his grey eyes, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm Draco Malfoy. A girl like you shouldn't be walking around alone, unless you feel like getting mauled by someone like Crabbe."

Gabrielle frowned at him, despite her better instincts. The Prefect badge on his robes flashed brightly in to her eyes, but even then she couldn't contain her sarcasm.

"Do you charm lot of girls with that line, Draco?" She asked before walking off and to her surprise Draco followed with a smirk.

"It's mostly my boyish good looks, but occasionally it does do the trick." He answered back, placing his hands in his pockets as he strode next to her. "Now, I think I should at least know your name, since I did save you."

"What makes you think I needed saving? I could have taken care of myself."

"No girl I have ever met has ever liked Crabbe. Not even as a friend. Your name?"

"Gabrielle Delacour." She said, surprising herself. They had nearly reached the compartment with Ginny inside it and she could already feel the train slowing down. Only two more down and she would be there, safe inside without having anybody harassing her. But for some reason, she didn't mind when the blonde boy did it.

"Gabrielle is a big name for someone as small as you," Draco noted, before he saw her scowl and put her hand on the handle of her compartment. "I mean, you need a nickname." He back pedaled nervously, but didn't look away. "You're not a Gabby, I can tell that. You are more of a ... Brielle."

"Brielle? What kind of crap name is that?" She asked, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ginny move, a frown on the redhead's face and a look of disbelief on Michael's.

"It's different. I don't know a Brielle yet, but I do know a Gabby and you aren't like her." He quickly put a finger under her chin and brought her face up, just as the train stopped. Then he dropped his arm and turned away.

"See you around, Brielle." He walked off and a dark haired girl wrapped her arms around his stomach, scowling at Gabrielle.

Ginny appeared at her side, with both her and Gabrielle's trunks. "What did he want?" She asked, her frown still on her face.

"I have absolutely no clue."