Disclaimer:
This author owns nothing in this story apart from characters in which she has created in her imagination.
Author:
just to let you know, this is an A/U fic. I'm doing a lot of those actually. So if you do not like Alternate Universe stories, why don't you just click on out of this web page before you yell at me…? (That is after you review me and lie though your fingers saying that this story is great that is.) HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE IS COMING OUT IN JULY 16/\ /\ Also, the pairings are going to be Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione. Draco?
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"LILY! GET HARRY AND GO!" James Potter skidded along the hallway, trying to distract Voldemort so his wife and son could get out all right. A small figure slowly and clumsily walked out of a room and into the hallway. She held her stuffed dragon in her arms while rubbing away some sleep from her eyes. "Jenna." She looked towards her father who stopped briefly to pick her up and began to run once more. She was scared now. Her father was running, trying to find her mum and younger-by-four-minutes brother so that all four of them could get out of this mess alive. James turned a corner, but was stopped dead in his tracks by the very man he was running from.
Voldemort smirked at the two of them. "You know that this is all futile, Potter. You will die."
"Don't hurt my family."
Voldemort's smile/smirk only widened. "Did I say that I was going to kill your family? No. I did not, though it gives me a wonderful idea though."
James shielded her from Voldermort sight. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
She came out of her thoughts as the soft trickle of rain touched her emotionless face. She did not bother to take shelter from the rain. In fact, she welcomed it. She had never really been outside that often as a child. Her father had forbidden it. She shuddered to herself as she remembered his face when she had angered him. That Crucio had been the worst of them all she thought.
People stared at her. It made her feel uncomfortable, but met each and every one of them with her own cold, hard, hazel/green eyes. One of the key factors of life her father had taught her was to never let the enemy know your emotions. It was hard work at first, but soon she had managed to lie even through her eyes. It was said that your eyes were the windows to your emotions and soul, and that if you could lie even with your eyes, you were damaged. Not irreversibly, but still damaged.
The carriage doors opened and she boarded one of them. She was having second and third thoughts about coming here. Her father had protested that there was no reason for here to go to school, she replied with "but you always taught me to know my enemies and to keep your enemies close." It was just an excuse to start off with, but her father allowed her to go after that. Her and her big mouth.
She watched out of the window in her carriage a whole band of red headed people coming through the barrier. 'Like a herd of cattle.' She thought. The youngest male and female bid their farewells to their parents and met up with a girl with bushy brown hair who in turn was saying good bye to her parents. A man with earlobe length brown hair came through the barrier with a black haired boy and a large black dog. The boy waved good bye to the man and petted the dog, whose tail wagged in gratitude, before meeting up with the two girls and other boy.
She wished that she had a family like that. All she had was her father, and he wasn't much for the lovey-dovey thing as those people were. Oh well she thought. At least I have him, which is a slight improvement on being an orphan or something like that.
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"Now Ron, I want you to look after Harry and Ginny this year. Make sure that they stay out of trouble and such." Said Mrs Weasley to her son. She was wiping off some dirt on his cheek with her finger after she had put some of her saliva onto it.
"MUM!"
"Now don't you 'mum' me Ronald. Harry has had a tough time at his aunt and uncles place, and I want you to make sure he gets plenty of rest and that the three of you stay out of trouble for at least one year."
Harry snickered as he saw his best friend being fussed over by his mum. He smiled at Ginny who blushed and smiled back.
FLASHBACK
Harry's vision was blurry because of the absence of his glasses that had been knocked off when Vernon sent a plate to his head. "I WILL NOT HAVE THIS FREAK HERE ANY LONGER!"
Harry felt himself being dragged across the kitchen and into the hallway. His uncle threw him into the fabled closet and locked him in. about an hour later, he smelt smoke. He instantly knew what was happening. He worried, but not so much as he would have if all of his belongings were being french-fried. He had been told that he would be going to the order during the holidays so he left some of his more precious things like the map or the cloak with Ron and Hermione who were going straight over there.
His uncle had burnt all of his things including parchment and quill. So he could not send Hedwig with a message to tell the order about any of this. But then he could not send the necessary message to the order every three days. Sure enough, three or four days later, or what Harry thought was three or four days later, he heard a knock on the door of number four privet drive. He had barely heard it at all. He had not eaten, or drunken anything in those days.
"Where's Harry, Dursley?"
"I have no idea who you are talking about. Now get off of my property before I call the police."
"WHERE IS HE!" The voice had turned from a low growl to a yell in that short period of time.
Harry had heard this and began to bang against the door of the cupboard. "I'M IN HERE! I'M IN HERE!" He wasn't sure they had heard him, and he was almost out of it from starvation. He heard the latch being turned, and the door opened. It was Remus. 'I'm saved!' he thought before drifting off into sweet oblivious.
Harry had woken up several hours later in a soft bed. Sirius was sort of half siting half lying in a chair and the side of the bed, sleeping.
END FLASHBACK
The whistle blew and Mrs Weasley pushed and shoved them all onto the train. "WORK HARD! AND TRY TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!" she yelled over the noise the train was making. She was waving to them as the train left the station.
"Come on guys, lets get a compartment before they all go." All along the train, there were people in the carriages. The only free carriage was at the back of the train. Settling in didn't take long. Hermione got out Crookshanks, who curled up in her lap while she read a muggle book called Obsidian Butterfly. Ron was trying to tempt Harry into playing exploding snap with him, while Ginny just listened to it all. She leaned her head onto Harry's shoulder, who didn't mind at all. In fact, he moved and kissed her gently on her nose.
"Gin! Harry! Go get a room!"
"We are in one Ron. Its not our problem you are in it as well you know."
"Besides. I had to put up with you and Hermione pashing for three weeks before Harry came to headquarters."
Hermione blushed instantly, and Ron's ears began to turn red, as well as his cheeks. "You never told me that." Said Harry, who was smiling quite broadly. "Well, I think it's time that you two finally saw each other."
Hermione just looked at Harry in a certain way. It was a 'and-what-about-you-and-Ginny-?' look. Harry just ignored it. The door slid open. It was Malfoy.
"Malfoy. What do you want? And where are your gorillas?" spat Ron.
"Ron, back off. I asked Draco to sit with us during the ride to school." Said a calm Harry.
"YOU WHAT!" Yelled Ginny, Ron and Hermione all at once.
"I asked him to sit with us. Come in Draco. They won't bite, much."
Draco laughed slightly and sat down next to Harry.
"I suppose you all would like to hear why Harry and I are sort of getting along better than we did during our last few years and to explain everything, really."
Draco looked at the nods and continued.
"Well, long story short, my father raised me in his image really. My 'gorillas' as you say Ron, were only there to sort of make sure that I held The Dark Lord in high esteem. And to tell the truth, I sort of believed him until I came to Hogwarts. That's when I met Blaise and Pansy, and well, all of the rest of Slytherin. They started telling me about the stuff The Dark Lord did. Torturing muggles and half bloods. It took a while, but I started to see the way The Dark Lord treated people. Like two years ago, The Dark Lord was visiting my Fathers home, because my father is His right-hand man. He cast Crucio on my father. I had never seen anything like that. Then he turned around and said that I should be proud that I would soon bear his mark, when I left school. Then he left.
"My father and mother don't care about me, just serving You-know-who. I wanted a new life, and to start off, I wrote to Harry, explaining it all, and asking for his forgiveness. It seemed silly to be fighting even though we would be on the same team and all. And then I started to relay messages to my godfather, who in turn gave them to Dumbledore. Sev wasn't being trusted anymore in the inner circle of things as he was spending too much time around Dumbledore. But my father, he believed that I wanted to take the mark when I was ready, so he became careless, and slipped me information." Draco stopped to let them all catch up, and give them the chance to ask questions, which Hermione dully did.
"What information?"
"Well, The Dark Lord has been training a protégée. And I am pretty sure that he is coming to Hogwarts this year." Draco glanced at Harry.
"Great, as if one of them was bad enough." Complained Ron.
"And I am certain that he would know all of the unforgivables. Dumbledore does know that a new student will be arriving from America, this year, so they think that it might actually be him."
They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was the usual great scramble to get out; owls hooted, cats miaowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.
"Firs'-years this way!" called a familiar voice. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake, while Draco headed off to save them a carriage.
"All righ', you three?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowed. They waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the rest of the school out onto the rough mud track, where the stagecoaches awaited them.
They caught Draco motioning to them to come over because the carriages were filing up fast. Moving as fast as they could without slipping on the fresh mud, they hurried over to the carriage that Draco was standing nearby. "I hope you guys don't mind sharing it with another person. It was the only one that wasn't saved already." Draco said, before climbing into the carriage. Looking at each other, they climbed into the carriage after Draco just before the door slammed shut and the Thestrals began to drag the carriages to the castle.
The extra person sat in the corner of the carriage in silence, looking out the window. She had long, straight hair that was a deep sort of copper colour. In the darkish carriage, at first glance, her eyes looked black, even though she sat near the window, but in second glance, and if you looked really hard, you could see that her eyes were a very dark hazel, with a ring of green near the iris that faded out into the hazel. If the four of them didn't know any better, they might have sworn that they were being ignored.
They felt the carriages slow and stop. Of there own accord, the doors to the carriages opened, and again there was a huge scramble. Students pushed and shoved each other to get under cover as the rain became heavier and heavier. With all of the students slipping and sliding on the grass to get under cover, a large road of mud had formed.
"Welcome!" Said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all and I think that it would be best to get it out of the way before we become too distracted by our excellent feast."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued. "As you will have heard from the 'Daily Prophet', The Dark Lord Voldemort has returned."
He paused to let the gasps and shivers of the Great Hall disappear before continuing. "I wish to make it clear now, that we must all stand together, so that he will be defeated, and once more we will have peace."
"As usual, the forbidden forest is forbidden. Hence the name. And I stress this to not only the first years, but to certain students as well that may need a reminder. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. All of their products are banned from the school, following the outbreak of students who found it amusing to get out of class, or 'liven up' their lessons with their products. Mr Filch has expressed me to inform you that no magic is to be used within the halls. On a Happier note," He continued. "Professor Lupin shall be teaching DADA once more. I am pleased to introduce a transfer student from America."
On cue, the great hall's doors opened. It was the girl from the carriage. Now that she was in the light, she was quite pretty. She had high, yet soft cheekbones, and her eyelashes were surprisingly dark. She had straight copper hair that went down to her hips that framed her face nicely as it was out. Her overall appearance gave you the sense that she was Goth and proud of it.
She didn't blush as she walked through the great hall. But she did keep her eyes directed down on the floor, which made her hair fall, making a curtain around her head. She sat down on the stool that recently sat the last of the first years. (Richard Zelwick-Hufflepuff.)
The hat's brim came down over her eyes, so she didn't have to see everyone staring at her. The hat hoed and hummed, before calling out "SLYTHERIN!" the hat was lifted off her head, and she sat down at Slytherin table who were clapping.
"Dig In."
The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Harry, suddenly ravenous, helped himself to everything he could reach and began to eat. Ron and Hermione joined him, but he had this feeling at the back of his mind that someone was watching him. Though he took no notice.
As usual, it was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, laughter and the clatter of knives and forks. "Hey Harry?" asked Neville. He was sitting opposite him, next to Hermione and Ginny.
"Yeah Nev'?"
"Well, it's two things really. Um… are you going the start up the DA again?"
Harry hadn't thought of that. "Um… I might as well. What's the other thing?"
"Well… that new girl, she's not only hasn't eaten anything, but she is just staring at the Gryffindor table. At you."
"Thanks Nev'."
Hermione, Ginny and Ron gave him a worried look. "That girl is the one from the carriage, isn't it?" asked Ginny. Harry and Ron answered with a nod. "Dumbledore said that she was from America. Didn't Draco say that You-know-who's protégée would be coming from America?" again, nodding in confirmation.
Harry's food had suddenly become dusty and dry in his mouth. Voldemort had really sent someone out to kill him. But the prophecy said that only Voldemort could kill him. So maybe she was here to bring Harry to Voldemort. Harry set his fork down and stared at his food.
"Hi. I'm Pansy, and this is Millicent. But we all call her Millie. What's your name?"
She just looked at pansy. 'Pansy seems nice enough.' She thought. 'But I don't know if I should make friends with people too soon. Oh what the heck.' "I'm Jenna."
"Hi Jenna. Want me to introduce you to some of my friends. Well, this here is Blaise, don't mind him, he's always trying to get into a girls pants, so it's not just you. As I said, this is Millie. She and I are practically joined at the hip. We do everything together. And over there is Draco Malfoy. He's the resident Hottie in school. Well, him and Harry Potter in Gryffindor anyway. Hey! I figure you two would make a good couple."
"Oh no. I mean, I don't want to intrude with your guy… if he is of course."
Oh don't be silly. He's not my type. Besides, I'm not a heterosexual, you know. So yeah."
Jenna turned away from Pansy and stared at the Gryffindor table. "Jen, Hon. It's okay. I'm used to the stares I receive when people know."
Jenna blushed. "Pansy, No. it's not that… It's well…"
"Your one two?" Pansy's voice had excitement in it.
"No. I'm straight. It's just that… you're so open to trust me with something extremely private. I just… Don't get it."
"And now, before we head off to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. He gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words. "Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "And off we go!"
The school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
As usual, everyone finished at different times, until the only ones still singing were Fred and George in their usual funeral march.
"Now, off to bed with you all."
Pansy grabbed Jenna by the upper arm, and led her to the Slytherin common room. The younger years all headed straight to their dorm rooms, while the 6th and 7th years all picked up seats around the fireplace. Their head of house, professor Snape was last to enter the common room, and took his place in front of the fireplace, so that everyone was angling towards him.
"Now, how was everyone's summer? Good, bad, I do not really care. Now, the prefects will be doing spot checks on the rest of the house and varying intervals throughout the year. As usual, my doors are always open, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. As you all know, Jenna, welcome to Slytherin. Draco, Pansy, I would like the two of you to assist Jenna until she feels more at home here. That all."
"SHIT! Late for my first lesson… POTIONS! Why oh why did it have to be potions?"
Complained Harry as he skidded along the corridors and jumped down the stairs to the dungeons.
"Well, now that Mr Potter has graced us with his presence. As I was saying, today you shall be paired off with someone and you are to create a potion called the Draught of Darkness. This is a double lesson, so that will give you plenty of time to have the potion finished."
Snape called out who people were being paired up with. Ron went with Pansy, Hermione with Draco, and Harry was paired up with Jenna.
If the name didn't make you think the potion was complicated, the instructions most certainly did. Everything had to be exact, or the potion would end up exploding, and professor Snape would not be responsible for loss of limb or fatality.
Jenna didn't really talk. Harry chopped up the ingredients while Jenna stirred the cauldron, as the potion had to be constantly moving. Harry had just placed in the shrivelled fig, when it turned a dark purple colour.
Jenna grabbed his wrist just as he was about to add the pickled dragon's liver. "What did you do that for?" he asked
"I don't really think that you would like it very much if you put that in."
"Why?"
"Oh nothing really. It's just that a normal person would like to keep their skin on their bodies."
Harry mimed an 'Oh', and placed the dragons liver onto the table.
"It's not your fault. Just look at the instruction your up to. You skipped the mandrake leaves."
Harry nodded, and set out to chop up the mandrake leaves into exactly 5mm pieces.
"Times up. Place a sample of your potion in a vial with you names clearly written on it, and then clean up. I want to see a 1foot piece of parchment on the properties and antidote of the draught of darkness on my desk next week."
"So, Harry. How were potions with Jenna?"
"It was actually surprising." Said Harry while getting some potatoes. He had skipped lunch to re-familiarise himself with the quidditch pitch and his broom. Last year, a woman by the name on Delores Umbridge had arrived at the school to teach DADA, but soon she had herself proclaimed the Hogwarts high inquisitor, and banned Harry, Fred and George from quidditch after a little 'mishap' with Draco after a match. "I sort of accidentally skipped an instruction for the potion we were doing, and was about to add the dragon's liver before the mandrake leaves, when she stopped me."
"Harry! That could have been very dangerous. It would have exploded, and you…"
"… I know… I know. Jenna stopped me, and told me to do the leaves before the liver. It was a good thing too."
"Whff? Whfft fou'd haff haffenf if yoff fifnf aff fe manfraffe leaffs?" asked Ron, as bits of mashed potato flew into nearby plates and goblets.
"Well Ron, according to Jenna, my skin would have dissolved, and I would be in some discomfort." Answered Harry while brushing food out of his hair. He and Ron had decided to both grow it. Harry's was now at the base of his neck. Though Mrs Weasley got hold of Ron, and so now he had to start all over again. Thought neither of the two had anything on Draco's hair. It was on its way down his back, and rested just above the shoulder-blades.
"Ohff." Ron sent another spray of food everywhere.
'Disgusting.' Thought Jenna as she watched the whole exchange.
"Now, this mission is extremely important. You are to make friends with 5 people. Here are their photos." Lord Voldemort held out 5 photos. One was of a girl with bushy brown hair, another of a girl with flaming red hair, and freckles. A guy with bleached-blonde hair came next, followed by a boy with flaming red hair and freckles galore. The last photo was of a boy with messy black hair.
"When the time is right, I will send you meeting point co-ordinates. You will have to find your own way there. You are to bring these people with you, subdued. Failure is not an option, Jenna."
"I understand, My Lord."
"Good, NOW GO!"
Ooooooo….. A little hostility coming on. Well, this is end of chapter one.
STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER EXCITING CHAPTER OF 'THE FOURTH POTTER' COMING SOON. SAME BAT-TIME, SAME BAT-CHANNEL.