Hello Everyone (:

I've finally finished the first chapter! yay!

I've edited it a bit, and i want to say thankyou to those who have reviewed, and if this is your first time reading this, then pretty please review aswell, because it helps out alot and i'm always open to ideas that can improve my writing (:

Lydia

xx

CHAPTER 1

The New Girl

He watched her walk, no glide towards the front of the great hall, gracefully sitting on the knarred wooden stool, and placing the sorting hat on her head. Each house watched eagerly, wondering if they would soon have a new member joining them. Draco watched along with the other students from the Slytherin table, wondering if this girl was cunning like the rest of them. The Sorting hat was taking its time, the girl sitting with her back straight and her chin held high, the posture of the old wizarding families; surely, she would join his house. The minutes ticked by, and still the sorting hat hadn't placed her, and becoming bored, Draco began scrutinizing her. She had long, silver blond hair that fell to her waist, and a ghostly complexion, pale, but still radiating light in a way that reminded him of the moon. Her robes looked expensive, but foreign as well, and she was wearing a rather curious looking pendant around her neck. It was a glass orb, with something ghostly swirling around inside it like wisps of smoke; Draco compared it to a prophecy, or a Patronus. She was extremely beautiful, and Draco clearly was not the only person who thought so, for, the male population of the school at least, were all on the edge of their seats staring dazedly at her. But there was something about her that unnerved Draco.

"Gryffindor!" Everyone in the great hall jumped at the sudden noise, most of them having dozed off, but the girl didn't flinch in the slightest; she simply removed the hat from her head and placed it back on the stool. The noise from the Gryffindor table was deafening, and Draco inwardly groaned, another bloody Gryffindor. But the girl didn't seem cheered by the Sorting hat's decision; she merely walked down to her new house table, wearing the same impassive expression she had worn when she had arrived. As she passed the Slytherin table, she looked straight at Draco, staring intensely into his eyes as if she knew everything that he was hiding; he swore he had seen her smile when he had quickly looked away from her. Draco was baffled, he had no idea who this girl was and neither did the rest of the Hogwart's students. The girl looked old enough to be in her sixth year, the same as Draco, even though she was petite, and no one had ever transferred here from another school.

"Before you all go back to your house dormitories, for your first kip back in Hogwarts, I would like to welcome our newest students," said Professor Dumbledore, gesturing towards the first years, "and introduce Miss Emilia Chevalier, who has just been sorted into brave Gryffindor! Miss Chevalier has recently transferred from our neighbouring school, Estquiel Academy, in Iceland. I'm sure you will all make her feel very welcome. Now, with a few departing words, Draco Dormiens Nunquam titilandus!"

Estquiel Academy? Draco had never heard of such a school, and it was clear that everyone else was just as confused as himself, as it was evident on their faces; all, of course, except Hermione Granger, the insufferable know-it-all. She was talking enthusiastically to the new student, no doubt bombarding her with questions about her school's NEWT results. But why should he care? She was just another blasted Gryffindor, sent from hell to show up the Slytherins any chance she got, and to annoy the hell out of him with her 'Noble Heroics'. Everyone was making their way back to their dormitories, filling the hallways and staircases, Draco pushed a sorry looking first year out of his path, and that was when he saw her again, standing beside a statue of Oddric the oddball, unnoticed by anyone else; which was unusual, considering students and teachers alike had been staring at her since the minute she had stepped foot on the Hogwarts grounds. She was staring at him again, in curiosity this time; her look rivalled that of Loony Lovegood's. A wave of people blocked his view of her, and once they'd passed, she'd gone.

She walked towards him slowly, her hair glinting in the moonlight and falling gently around her face. She looked beautiful, dressed in a flowing white silk dress that fell around her bare feet, but her eyes were terrifying. They were an intense blue, a colour you could lose yourself in, and they were boring right into him. She lifted one of her small hands out to him, silently telling him to take it, but he didn't trust her; his stomach was in knots and his brow was sweating; his whole body was telling him to run.

"Take it." she demanded in her soft, authoritive voice. Her eyes flashed in anger when he didn't. She stepped closer to him, her face contorted in anger at his disobedience; it removed all beauty from her face. Draco tried to move away from her, but found that his legs were numb and immobile; she smirked at his struggled attempts at escape.

"Impedimenta!" he yelled, aiming his wand at her, the spell did nothing, and all the while she was advancing on him. "Stupefy! Sectumsempra!" he fired spell after spell, but they just distinguished before they found their target. "Confringo!" He yelled, pointing his wand not at her this time, but the ground in front of her. A crater was blown right in her path, having the effect he had hoped for. Dirt and rocks exploded in her face, but when the debris cleared, she was still unharmed. Draco was terrified; she was no longer smirking, but was seething in anger. Her eyes turned red and the smoke in her orb necklace shone blindingly bright. She had transformed from a beautiful witch into a hideous hag. She raised her wand,

"Crucio"

Draco jerked awake, finding himself in a cold sweat and half expecting to see the new girl standing at the foot of his bed. He looked at the clock on his bed-side table; it was three in the morning. Draco groaned and rolled over onto his side, trying to fall back to sleep, but disturbing images of the mysterious new student kept cropping into his mind.

After 20 minutes of restlessly tossing and turning in his four poster, Draco finally got up. He changed into his training robes and headed down to the Quidditch pitch.

After casting a quick disillusionment charm over himself and his new Firebolt, Draco kicked off from the ground and soared high into the air, gracefully twisting and turning around the pitch. Many thought that Draco Malfoy had only been picked for the Slytherin Quidditch team because his father had 'donated' a large amount of galleons, but really, he was a very talented flier.

Draco flew until the sun started rising above the lake, the warmth slowly dispersing the morning mist that hung low on the ground. He descended slowly, savouring the feel of the wind in his hair and the warmth of the rising sun on his face. That was when he saw her, Emilia, walking swiftly out of the forbidden forest, wand in hand and silver blonde hair billowing out behind her. He flew closer to her, propelled by last night's dream; he was only a few feet above her when she looked up, straight at him. He panicked and almost fell off his broom, before remembering that he had cast a disillusionment charm on himself. It was only after he had steadied himself that he saw the dark smudge on her cheek; blood. But it wasn't her own.

Draco was distracted throughout all his lessons that morning; he was tired from lack of sleep and disturbed by what he had seen. He was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great hall, eating his lunch along with the rest of Slytherin house,

"Draco, you seem stressed" Pansy Parkinson simpered, rubbing his shoulders, he roughly shook her off,

"I'm fine" he growled, Pansy had always annoyed him, but she just didn't take a hint. After trying, and failing, to capture Draco's attention, she left with a huff.

"Now, now Draco, play nicely" mocked Blaise Zabini, Draco's 'mutual ally'; Slytherins didn't have friends.

"Oh, bugger off Zabini" Draco muttered, but obviously not quiet enough as Blaise chuckled as he sat down beside him.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" he asked, whilst reaching for a sandwich.

"Nothing, I'm fine" he replied in the same tone he had used on Pansy.

"It's definitely something, I heard you this morning, and saw you down at the Quidditch pitch. Nice Disillusionment charm by the way," Blaise smirked, "I could see you for miles." Draco almost spluttered his juice everywhere at this, so Emilia had seen him when she'd looked up! He looked over at the Gryffindor table in a panic, Emilia wasn't there: Draco let out his breath in relief. Blaise hadn't missed any of it.

"Draco, what were you doing last night?" Blaise narrowed his eyes at Draco, probably thinking he had been hooking up with a Gryffindor, afraid that his emotions would show, he stood up quickly and grabbed his bag,

"Nothing, I didn't do anything" he snapped as he walked past, hoping Blaise would forget about it.

Draco's last lesson for the day was Potions with the Gryffindors, normally he loved this lesson, as Snape always favoured the Syltherins, and the way he treated Potter elated him, but not today. Not when he knew Emilia would be in his class. He made his way to his usual seat near the front of the classroom, dropping his bag down by his feet and looking around for signs of Emilia. Blaise sat down next to him, raising his eyebrows at Draco's behaviour but deciding not to push it. Professor Snape entered the classroom with his usual dramatics, and Emilia still hadn't arrived, Draco relaxed in his seat.

"Turn to page 364" Snape demanded. The class began lazily turning the pages of their text book, when the sound of the door opening made them look up, it was Emilia.

"Sorry I'm late Professor" she said. It was the first time Draco had heard her speak, her voice sounded like music. Draco expected Snape to give her detention, or at least take away points, but he just nodded his head very stiffly once, and continued with the lesson. She sat by herself at the back of the room, ignoring Hermione's waves for her to sit beside her, Draco smirked at this, even she didn't like Granger.

"Today we will be learning about the poison SomniaVigiles. It is a potion that causes the drinker to see the thing they most fear, whilst ridding them of the ability to move. SomniaVigiles is often considered to be the potion form of Petrificus Totalus." Explained Snape, the Slytherins were listening attentively, enthralled at the idea of causing someone to see the thing they feared the most, and them not being able to defend themselves in anyway. The only Gryffindor who seemed to be paying any attention was Granger. Draco looked around at the rest of the classroom, and his eyes fell on Emilia, who was sitting very rigidly in her seat, and staring straight-ahead, eyes unseeing; she looked like she was barely containing her anger. "Can anyone tell me what the antidote is called?" Granger's hand shot up in the air like a bullet, but Snape pretended like he hadn't noticed her, " Miss Chevalier, do you know what the name of this potion is?" he was sneering at her, and she slowly turned her head to face him,

"PulchramQuietis" she said it through gritted teeth, Draco had no idea why she was so angry at being called upon.

"And do you know what the main ingredient in PulchramQuietis is?" Professor Snape looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Emilia's eyes were blazing as she answered him, and Draco swore he had seen her necklace glow brighter, just as it had in his dream.

"Veela blood" she spat.

"Exactly, however Veela hunting was banned in the 1700's, and as we don't know any Veela who are willing to donate any," he sneered at Emilia again, "we will be unable to brew the antidote. An unfortunate circumstance to whomever we will be testing SomniaVigiles on" he was looking at Longbottom as he said this, and the expression on the gauche boy's face was hilarious.

'The brewing time of SomniaVigiles is a month, and all ingredients must be added at a very precise time...' TAP! TAP! '...In total, there are 36 ingredients, the most important being...' TAP! '...Mandrake sap, which can only be taken from a matured ..."YEAH! YOU LOSE YAXLEY!"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP? I AM TRYING TO STUDY!" Draco couldn't stand the infuriating TAP! TAP! Of a Gobstone match, nor could he stand the constant shouts from a couple of darned first years. They were staring at Draco with stricken eyes, their game forgotten. Clearly, he thought, they knew not to mess with a Malfoy, Draco smirked.

"I-I, we're sorry M-Malfoy. S-sir." Stuttered the boy who had shouted, hurriedly adding the sir at the end.

"Stop playing that infernal game, or better yet, leave." The other of the two boys, Yaxley, was already packing away the little Knut sized balls, but in his haste he dropped the pouch of Gobstones, and they spilled across the common room with a great clatter. The boy froze; the other had already fled the room. The boy quickly began picking up the Gobstones, not bothering to put them back in their bag, but shoving them into the pockets of his trousers and jumper.

"Don't ever play that childish game when I am near, do you hear?" snarled Draco, he was trying not to do anything drastic, but with everything about Emilia playing on his mind, he was finding it increasingly difficult not to simply vanish the Gobstones; or even the boy for that matter. Yaxley had finally finished picking up his game, and with a startled nod, ran from the room. Draco closed his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, just two more years, he thought, and then I'll be out of this hell hole.

"Draco" greeted Blaise, sitting down in a chair beside him. Draco sighed again, opening his eyes and turning to him,

"Blaise"

"I've just come from the Owlery, your owl had a parcel, so I brought it down as well" he passed Draco a medium sized, box shaped parcel wrapped in brown paper, there was a note attached, but Draco didn't bother reading it.

"Davis!" a scrawny boy in his first year came running over from the other side of the common room.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?" the boy asked, barely reaching Draco's head in height, even though he was sitting down.

"Take this to my room" he said, lazily handing over the parcel. The boy took it and left for the boy's dormitory at once.

"Got a new pet, do you?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"First years are easy to train." Draco replied sarcastically, and Blaise laughed.

"Were you even going to look at the parcel?"

"It's just another of Mother's packages, she sends them every week." Draco was used to the regular packages his mother sent him, which were usually full of sweets, and didn't need to read the notes that were attached. Blaise nodded, suddenly becoming serious, and looked around the common room to see that they were alone.

"Draco," Blaise began, leaning forward in his chair just to be sure that no one heard, "there was another owl..." he pulled out a very small, silver envelope from the inside of his robes, and Draco knew what it was at once. He quickly took the envelope from Blaise's outstretched hand, and hid it in his robes. Blaise looked Draco straight in the eyes and nodded before getting up and leaving in the direction of the boy's dormitory. Draco swept the room with his eyes, double checking that no one else was around. Cautiously walking over to the fireplace, Draco pulled out his wand and whispered SecretaMea Absconderis, pointing his wand at the heart of the fire. The flames turned blue, and with a last glance over his shoulder, Draco stepped into them.

The flames were like warm breath on his skin, caressing his arms and legs, and only seconds after stepping into them, they roared high above him, obscuring his view of the common room, but when the flames diminished shortly afterwards, it was not the Slytherin Common Room Draco's eyes fell on. He stepped out of the fireplace into a dimly lit drawing room. No windows lined the emerald walls, and the only light source came from a few oil lamps here and there. Taking a seat in one of the silver chintz chairs beside the fireplace, Draco snapped his fingers and a House elf dressed in a filthy loincloth appeared.

"Young Master Malfoy, such a pleasure...always a pleasure..." the House elf squeaked, bowing so low its nose touched the ground.

"Bring me a Fire whiskey." Draco ordered; he had a feeling he was going to need it.

"Yes young Master, right away." the Elf snapped its fingers and disappeared. Draco was sitting in the Secret den, a hidden room that was only accessible through the Slytherin common room fireplace. It wasn't clear who had built the secret hideaway, but Slytherins had been using it for centuries. Draco's father had told him of the room, and he had been using it ever since, especially for occasions such as this. The house elf reappeared with a crystal glass of the red liquid on a tray, he took the drink and after ordering the Elf away, removed the envelope from his pocket. Draco stared at the parcel in his hands. This was the third he had received, and none of them had held good news, exciting, yes, but not good, Draco laughed to himself, if the sender of this letter ever did anything good, he would give his inheritance to the Giant squid. Knowing he couldn't delay it any longer, Draco conjured a small dagger and pricked his finger with it. Blood was the only way this kind of message could be revealed, and if the blood of another tried to open it, they would be poisoned the minute their skin touched the paper. After squeezing a few drops from his thumb onto the envelope, Draco healied the cut on his finger with a simple spell, and watched as the silver of the envelope slowly changed to a blood red. The letter was ready to be opened. Carefully slipping his finger under the fold of the envelope, Draco broke the seal and removed the letter. Written on the small piece of parchment, was a summons sent by the Death eaters:

Mr. Malfoy,

We require your presence on the 10th of October, at midnight exactly.

Remember your vows of secrecy.

This note will perish promptly.

The letter burst into flames before his eyes, and Draco was left contemplating why the Death eaters would require him. He knew what they were capable of, God, he knew what they had done, what they were planning to do. He took a sip of his Fire whiskey, and let the fiery liquid calm his nerves. The 10th of October, almost a week away, Draco sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Leaving the Secret den and retiring to his dormitory, Draco fell asleep thinking about all the disastrous things Voldemort and his followers could be planning for him.