Prologue

It had been a quiet, depressing summer for the suburban street of Privet Drive. It had indeed been one of the fastest moving summers Harry had ever experienced while living at the Dursley's. Moody, Lupin, Hermione, and Ron's continuous letters served as a crutch for helping him cope with the pain of losing his beloved godfather. Ever since that day, which he could remember as vividly as if it had happened yesterday; he had been left with a profound emptiness inside him. He was sitting on his bed now, toying with a string that had been dangling from the quilt. He thought to himself. Tomorrow he would be returning to Hogwarts. He was quite happy at this thought. It was the happiest thought he'd had in a while. He thought of Ron, and Hermione and how they could just move on together and be happy. It had been a while since he'd seen them in person. The gifts that they'd sent him for his sixteenth birthday were on his desk, and they were pretty fantastic gifts. The gift he found most grand was the one from Tonks. She had sent him the book, So, You Want to Imitate a Metamorphmagus? 150 Rules Want to Be a Metamorphmagi Must Know! He read the book often and practiced, but the most he could do was change his hair color to a metallic blue.

He thought about Mrs. Figg and how he had found out she was a squib last year. He would certainly miss her. After hearing about his loss, she was one of the most comforting people closest to him. Her fascinating tea gatherings were always enjoyable. When it was Harry's birthday, she had baked him a large, delicious chocolate cake. She had made this one of the best birthdays he'd ever had. He would always remember his sixteenth birthday.

He noticed the house had grown silent. Dudley was not tapping on the new computer Aunt Petunia had bought him; Uncle Vernon was not watching the evening news; and Aunt Petunia was not baking. He went downstairs to investigate. Judging by the time, he had assumed that they had all went out for dinner. He was hungry, so he made his way to the fridge. He stopped midway there, remembering the Dursleys' strict "no touching anything in the house while they're gone rule". So he made his way upstairs, back to his room, grabbed a couple of Every Flavor beans Ron had sent him for his birthday, and then flung himself onto his bed. He jumped at the sound Hedwig made when she flew into the room: a large rat was dangling from her mouth as she began to climb inside her cage. After his nerves had calmed down, he resumed staring at the ceiling. He heard the motor from the Dursley's car rattle in the driveway and Dudley complaining about something. Then moments later, he drifted into a long, uninterrupted sleep.

Chapter One: Aboard the Hogwarts express: The sixth time

"Harry! Hurry if you want to get a good seat on the train!" Ron yelled cheerfully, as he and Hermione ran aboard the train.

Harry seemed distracted lately. He remembered how Sirius, in his animingus form, had come to see him off that day when he boarded the train. Wishfully, he glanced at the very spot where Sirius stood last year and imagined Sirius being there, and barking happily to be out of the Headquarters. He hurried on board the train and sat in his usual seat by the window next to Ron and Hermione.

"Harry! I heard about your O.W.L.s! I'm surprised that with all of your engagement with other things besides your schoolwork, that you did quite well on the O.W.L.s," said Hermione, trying to get Harry to start a conversation. Harry was too busy staring out the window. He seemed mildly distracted.

"Oh, yeah." Harry looked at Hermione. "I was very surprised too. I thought I would fail them for sure. I thought that I would have to consider a career as a professional Quidditch Seeker."

"Hey Harry, what ever happened between you and Cho?" asked Ron curiously. Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hush, Ron! When I said to not bring up any events from last year, I meant Cho too!" Hermione realized what she had just said out loud and then blushed.

"Thanks, guys for trying to help, but, I don't think I'll ever forget ... about last year," said Harry sadly. He continued looking out the window. The train was moving quite fast, past beautiful, lush green meadows and fields.

"Hey, look at that girl! I've never seen her at Hogwarts before. Do you reckon she's new?" said Ron randomly, pointing to her.

"Ron, it's not nice to point! Stop pointing!" Hermione yelled back.

"You're not my mum, so stop telling me what to do!" said Ron. His face was turning red.

"Well, I wouldn't tell you what to do if you weren't so rude! Didn't Mrs. Weasley teach you better than this?" said Hermione irritated.

"Don't bring my mum into this!" said Ron, growing angry.

While Ron and Hermione were having one of their spats, Harry began to stare at the girl who had caused their argument. She was walking down the isle way to sit in a compartment by herself. Nearby, Draco had seen her too, and began to stare at her. He sneered and pointed, and so did Pansy Parkinson and Crabbe and Goyle. She was a beautiful girl, about 5'8, she had hair as
dark as night that went to her shoulders. She was not dressed in her robes yet. She was wearing dark blue jeans, faded converse black all stars, and a black long sleeve turtleneck. Her eyes were dark brown, and they wore an expression of sadness in them. She made her way to the end of the isle way and noticed all the compartments were taken except one in which Luna Lovegood sat, so she sat down next to her, Harry could tell the girl was shy because she began to look down at her shoes.

Suddenly, Harry slapped a hand to his forehead. "OUCH!" Harry abruptly yelled, while clutching his scar. The whole car went silent.

Draco in a nearby compartment laughed and pointed. "Potter, you get more and more pathetic every year!" Draco went on laughing, and so did other people. A few moments later, after everything had settled down, Hermione inquired what was wrong.

"Harry? Are you okay? Is it your scar again?" she asked very concerned.

"Yeah, it started hurting again," said Harry, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, you know it's because You-Know-Who is back. I'm sure it'll hurt a lot more now since his return," Hermione said confidently.

"No, but it started hurting when I looked at her!" said Harry angrily as he pointed to where the girl he had seen was sitting. She was now talking to Luna.

"I think it's just your hormones this time, Harry." Ron added chuckling." I mean You-Know-Who is probably a million miles away from Hogwarts. He can't possibly be near. He knows better than to return anywhere close to Hogwarts or Dumbledore, especially now that everyone is looking for him."

"For once, I agree with Ron.... Well not exactly. Harry, your hormones may trigger your scar to hurt, I saw you staring at the new girl. And besides, Volde--- I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is probably in hiding," said Hermione, trying to reassure Harry.

Harry glanced at his right hand, which still displayed the: I must not tell lies scar from last year. He remembered Umbridge and the satisfaction she had gotten from making him write the horrible standards with his own blood. Looks like forgetting last year will be a lot harder than I thought, Harry thought to himself while looking out the window.

(Samantha's Perspective)

The long train ride and talking with Luna made me weary. The next things on my priority list are:

1. Get sorted;
2. Eat dinner;
3. Try to blend in like a normal Hogwarts student;
4. Kill Harry Potter.

I found number three on my priority list the hardest thing to do. I had never been to a real school in my life. The students at Hogwarts haven't been so welcoming thus far. It was my turn to be sorted. I advanced to the chair. A smelly, dirty, worn out witch's hat was placed on my head. I was surprised when it spoke. It then began to sing. It sang about the history of Hogwarts.

After a while, the hat seemed to not make up its mind on me. It was indecisive between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. At last Slytherin was decided as the right House for me. I then hopped off the chair and began to make my way through the great hall. I was starving. I found the Slytherin table and sat at the farthest end away from everybody. I looked down at my book and waited for the food to appear. I didn't glance up but I knew they were staring. I could feel the stares, each one ripping into me. I did my best not to look up. I wanted to sit with Luna, but Slytherins had to sit with Slytherins, and Ravenclaws, with Ravenclaws.

I decided to look up. I saw many eyes at the Slytherin table upon me. One blonde haired boy seated three seats away from me pointed and laughed with his friends. Blushing, I returned to staring at my book. It was an old tattered, blank red diary that bore the name Samantha Fill in bold gold letters on it. Dad had made me keep it to see if I had been on task. The food finally appeared and the attention was washed away. I began eating. The food was much better than the stuff I ate at home. My mum couldn't cook to save her life. I then ceased eating when a girl's voice said,

"Hello. I see you are new here. I'm Pansy Parkinson. Welcome to the Slytherins, we're a great lot once you get to know us. What is your name?" The girl's voice sounded kindred and yet cunning at the same time.

Surprised and baffled, I managed to make words come out of my mouth." I'm Samantha," I said and looked around at the table, there were more eyes, including the blonde haired boy's staring at me. "Samantha Fill."

"Where are you from Samantha?" asked Pansy curiously. It seemed the whole Slytherin table went quiet.

Knowing that father had said to never tell people where we live or where we come from, I lied.

"Oh, I just moved here from, from…" I looked up as I struggled to think of a place.

"Well, from where?" Pansy Parkinson chuckled in an unfriendly manner. The Slytherins chuckled too.

"I'm from Ca, Ca, Canada, CANADIA! Yes, I am from Canadia!" I said, hoping she'd believe me.

"Well, where is this so called Canadia?" she said callously. I was beginning to tell that she wasn't that nice of a person.

"Well, it's a very foreign country, its so foreign not many people know about it. It's located between the border of Scotland and England," I said. I was a miserable liar.

"Oh, I think I've heard of it." Pansy looked up and scratched her chin.

"Yeah. I've lived there all my life," I said. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Well that's neat," she replied. She had lost interest in me and began talking with a red haired Slytherin girl.

I was finished eating so I began to read my diary again and waited until Pansy was done eating.

Harry dug into his meal. Being depressed really made him hungry. He wondered how everyone could be so happy when he was feeling so miserable. He glanced up and his eyes wandered toward the Slytherin table. He saw the shy girl reading a book. Pansy Parkinson would occasionally talk to her. He felt the stinging in his forehead again, but then remembered his hormones. He then looked around the room to find Cho Chang. He saw her chatting away with her Ravenclaw friends. Then their eyes met. Harry blushed and looked away. He then continued staring at the mysterious girl. She and Pansy were jinxing a poor, first year Ravenclaw. The girl was laughing and so was Pansy. Harry thought to himself that she had a wonderful smile.

Chapter Two: The Defense against the Dark Arts Pro

Harry, Hermione and Ron awoke, went to the Great hall to get breakfast, received their copies of the Daily Prophet, and got ready for Defense against the Dark Arts. Everyone had long wanted to see the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. They wondered who would take Umbridge's place. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their usual seats in the back and waited for the new teacher to come in. What seemed like ages later, the new teacher finally entered. Everyone in the classroom, especially Malfoy, was extremely appalled to see the new teacher. The new teacher was none other than Lucius Malfoy. Harry thought this would be a long year, a REALLY long year. He already thought Lucius would be the equivalent of Umbridge. Lucius proceeded to the front of the classroom and began to speak.

"Good Morning, class. I am the new Defense against the Dark arts teacher. I must say now that I do not tolerate any type of horseplay, games, insolence, or failures. This D.A.D.A. year will be rewarding and worthwhile. I understand we have a student new to Hogwarts this year, will Miss Samantha Fill please stand?" said Mr. Malfoy in a frighteningly normal, yet mysterious voice.

So Samantha Fill was her name. Harry was surprised to see her in the class. She was sitting in the back of the class alone, and she was very quiet.

"So Miss Fill, are you skilled in the Dark Arts? Can you demonstrate your abilities in front of the class?" said Mr. Malfoy curiously.

"Yes, I--- I can do that," Samantha stammered. Harry had never heard her speak before. She had a very gentle and benevolent voice. It was like springtime rain shower. She was at the front of the room now and she waited for Lucius to get in the dueling stance.

"Now don't hold back, Miss Fill. Show me everything you know," said Mr. Malfoy.

"Okay. I won't," said Samantha reluctantly.

"REDUCTO!" Mr. Malfoy yelled abruptly. The whole class gasped as Samantha was knocked to the floor. She had not been expecting that at all. She quickly got up.

"LOCOMOTOR MORTIS!" yelled Samantha fiercely, quickly getting up. The spell hit Lucius and immobilized his legs.

"MOLBICORPUS!" shouted Lucius. His legs became moveable again.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Light blue, green, and streaks of all colors lit up the room. Samantha Fill was a very formidable opponent. Sometimes it looked like they actually wanted to kill each other. The class watched in awe at Samantha's skill. Harry had seen the dueling style of Samantha's somewhere before. But he could not remember.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Mr. Malfoy screamed. His face was red and he was drenched in sweat. The blue streak of light was rapidly sent across the room. He had aimed for her wand but was too slow.

"PRIOR INCANTATEM!" this caused Lucius's wand to be thrown across the room. Even though her opponent was clearly defeated, she still continued to duel. "VERMILLIOUS!" cried Samantha.

Mr. Malfoy was knocked to the floor. The spell had hit him right in the forehead. Long dribbles of blood had started stream down his face. He then wiped them off his face. "Very good, Ms. Fill. In fact, well done! You are way advanced beyond your years. You will go far," said Mr. Malfoy shaking hands with her.

"Than--, thank--- thank you," said Samantha. She was breathing quite hard. But she showed no sign of sweating.

"Class dismissed!" Lucius yelled, dabbing the streaks of blood from his face.

The whole class was startled by those words. They had spent most of the period watching Samantha and Lucius duel. It was a great match. The school would surely have something to talk about now.

It was later on in the day and classes were over. I was so glad to be done with my classes for the day. The whole school had been talking about the duel today. And I had also received a lot more stares. I can't stand to be stared at, or talked about. It always makes me feel uncomfortable. I was sitting down outside near the lake, and I began to look around. I saw two Hufflepuff kids kissing by a tree, some Gryffindors flying kites, and a cozy looking cabin with inviting aromas
coming from it. I assumed that was Hagrid's cabin. It was dinnertime so I began walking toward the great hall, I was almost to the great hall when someone spoke to me and I turned around to see who it was. It was the blonde haired boy from my Defense against the Dark Arts class. By the looks of him, I could tell he was Mr. Malfoy's son.

"Hello. I noticed you were in my Defense against the Dark Arts class. You are one of the best duelers I've ever seen. Would you like to hang out with me and my mates some time?" he said while folding his arms against his chest.

"Sure, that would be great," I said happily, but then remembered Luna and how she wanted. He led me to the Slytherin table where Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting next to him.

"This is Samantha, mates. She's a pretty good dueler so you better treat her right, or she'll duel you all and your sorry little asses will go crying to your mums," he said, eyeing each one of his friends
threateningly. I liked hanging out with them. They were a pretty acceptable bunch of people. They brought out the true meaning of being a Slytherin. They especially loved to cheat others, jinx students, and talk about mudbloods.

After dinner, I hung out with Malfoy a little longer. He was a malevolent type of person. He picked on smaller kids, older kids, stupid kids, fat kids, skinny kids, and especially Harry Potter. Occasionally, when Potter passed in the hallways and corridors, Draco would sneer and
throw an insult at him. Potter would raise his wand, but before anything too serious happened, Professor Snape would break it up. But Draco Malfoy did make me laugh. A lot. We were tired from picking on first year Gryffindors so we decided to sit by the huge outside fountain near the front lawn. It was beginning to get dark, and the summer day was coming to an end. It was just him and me.

"Stupid Gryffindors! They think they are everything with their, 'I'm so brave' rubbish. If I had my way, I'd kill them all! The Gryffindor that annoys me most is that Potter! I can't stand him. He thinks he's so much since he is the Boy-Who-Lived. If you asked me, Voldemort didn't kill him because Potter was too pathetic and unworthy to kill. He was probably just a waste of time to Voldemort," Draco said, his voice was full of anger and pity for the Gryffindors.

"I agree too!" I said laughing. "Those Gryffindors and Potter are a pathetic lot! But why do you hate the Potter boy so much?" I asked, trying to find out more about Potter and why he aggravates Draco. He looked at me like he couldn't believe I just asked that question.

"POTTER IS A IS A DAMN IDIOT! HE'S JUST AS BAD AS THE FUCKING MUDBLOOD TRASH HE HANGS OUT WITH! HE'S A GOD DAMN WASTE OF LIFE, AND SHOULD ROT IN HELL WITH DUMBLEDORE AND THOSE PITIFUL FUCKS THAT BROUGHT HIM INTO THIS WORLD!" Draco was fuming. I could tell that he really hated Potter with a passion.

"Oh," I said. I still was oblivious of the reason why he hated Potter. I decided to let the subject die.

We then talked about Professor Snape. Since it was my second day and everything, I really couldn't decide if I liked him or not. But when Draco began telling me how great he was and how he always gets Potter in trouble, I decided Snape was a pretty swell teacher. Then I noticed he was getting closer, and closer. His right hand was on top of my left. I started to blush. Then he started putting his face towards mine. I was unaware of what was happening for two seconds, and then realized what he was doing. He was going to kiss me. I leaned in too. I was just about to put his lips on mine when I felt a rush of cold and moisture all around me. I thought kisses weren't supposed to feel like falling into really cold water but then, I realized what had happened to me. Embarrassed, I rapidly pulled myself out of the water and began shivering. I didn't get kissed. I had fallen into the fountain water. I looked up to see what Malfoy was doing, and to see if he had pushed me in, but then I saw the two third year Gryffindors we had terrorized earlier laughing, fleeing from the scene. They must have hit me with a spell and then I was knocked backwards into the fountain water. I raised my wand in anger, and was about to go after the little asses when Draco volunteered to go after them himself. They ran pretty far but Draco jinxed them and made their legs immovable. We spat on them, then left them, then headed towards the Slytherin common room. At last we arrived there. I was still shivering from the fountain water. I made my way towards the girls' dormitory when Draco called to me.

"Hey, Samantha. You forgot something," he said while grinning at me.

"What is it?" I said, afraid that I forgot my wand or something. I walked toward him.

Then for real, he kissed me. And it didn't feel like falling into a fountain.