This fic is dedicated to my best mate and beta, Ellen…love you dude! Ha

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"Oi, Ellen!" The wild-haired girl called out to her friend, as she ran along the platform, struggling with her trunk as the train blew its whistle.

Ellen turned from her parents to follow the girl, shouting her last goodbyes as she hurried to board.

The girls made it just in time. The train started to pull away from the platform just as Ellen gave the girl a hand with her trunk, and she was starting to panic as she walked, then jogged along next to it. Luckily, a hand thrust its way out the open door and grabbed hold of her arm, hoisting her up into the steadily accelerating train.

"Careful," said a low, smooth voice.

Ellen turned to look into the palest, iciest eyes she had ever seen. The boy's perfect lips formed into a smirk as he bent over to pull her trunk further into the train.

"I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?"

"Uh, yes," the other girl replied, as Ellen continued to stare at the blonde boy. "We're from Beauxbatons. I'm Claudia, and this is Eleanore."

The boy looked up into Ellen's eyes as he repeated her name.

"Eleanore…"

"You can call me Ellen." She gave him a shy smile, cheeks rapidly turning pink.

"Well, I'd better go…see you 'round." With that, he disappeared into one of the compartments, too quickly to hear Ellen's soft "thankyou".

"Come on!" Claudia called, already halfway up the carriage.

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Ellen slid the compartment door shut gently, careful not to disturb Claudia as she slept. Her goal was to find the change rooms, but as she had no idea where on the train they were, she thought it would be more sensible to find someone friendly looking and ask them, or even better, find the gorgeous boy from earlier.

The first compartment she came to contained some pretty scared looking first years, who had no more idea of the location of the change rooms than she did, the second held some menacing looking older boys.

By halfway down the carriage, Ellen was starting to give up hope of finding the boy, as he wasn't in the compartment he had entered earlier. Just as she was considering turning around and heading back to her compartment to get changed, a door opened, and a bush-haired brunette girl walked out into the corridor with a bundle of clothes under her arm.

"Excuse me, are these the change rooms?"

"Yes, they are," the girl replied. "You must be new. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ellen."

"Nice to meet you. What year are you in?" Hermione inquired.

"Uh, sixth year."

"Wow, same! Do you know which house you're in?"

"Yeah, my family moved to England during the holidays, and Dumbledore invited us to the castle so I could get sorted. I'm in Slytherin."

"Oh," replied Hermione, a strange look crossing her face. "Well, my friends will be wondering where I got to. Bye."

As she watched Hermione hurry up the corridor, Ellen entered the change room confused.

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Stepping out of the change room in her brand new Hogwarts uniform, complete with grey mid-thigh length skirt, white shirt, green and silver tie, grey vest and white socks, Ellen ran straight into the back of the mysterious boy from earlier.

"Watch it! Oh, sorry, it's you again Ellen. Huh, you really seem to be….you're in Slytherin."

"Yeah…why? Everyone seems to act like it's a bad thing…is it?"

"No, I'm in Slytherin too, sixth year. You?"

"Sixth…sorry, I don't even know what your name is…" Ellen asked with a bashful grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Draco Malfoy, at your service." He bowed, with that smirk on his lips again. Ellen laughed, and curtseyed.