Happy Birthday

So was my friend's birthday and I promised her I'd write this for her. Enjoy :)

It's 7th year AU, Voldemort is dead, Snape and Draco aren't evil and Dumbledore is alive.

Disclaimer: JKR owns every HP related thing I only mess with them for my own twisted amusement, I own Mia and Mattie (barely)

Mia nervously entered Hogwarts for the first time. She gazed around the entrance hall in wonder, everything looked so, different, from her last school. Durmstrang had been harsh, designed to have only the bare necessities, no comfort. Hogwarts was beautiful in comparison, with its graceful soaring staircases, the light bouncing off of huge hourglasses which would soon be filled with glittering gems. Mia's breath caught in her throat as she stared, this place was huge. Before Mia could become even more distracted, Professor McGonagall strode out of a side passage carrying a stool and a battered old hat. Seeing Mia, she started towards her.

"You will be sorted before the first years Miss Bromun, after Professor Dumbledore has announced you." Mia just nodded, too overwhelmed to trust herself to say anything. Professor McGonagall strode past Mia, into the Great Hall. Mia moved closer to the doors to listen for Dumbledore. The doors had been left slightly open so she peered through. There were the four house tables set out just like she'd imagined. And there, on the Gryffindor table. That was Harry Potter. The boy who saved us all. Her eyes swung to the Slytherin table and were drawn to two deep grey eyes. Her breath caught. This was the one, the one who'd turned away from Him, the reason she was here. No one else knew what had happened on the battlefield that day, not even Harry Potter himself.

"... We have a new student in 7th year. Mia Bromun. She has just transferred from Durmstrang." There it was, time for her to enter. She walked in, very conscious of the many students staring at her. She couldn't help the smirk, which appeared on her face as she noticed several boys were practically drooling. Mia knew some boys found her attractive with her raven black hair falling loose to her mid back. It had once been described as a shimmering onyx waterfall. She didn't put much by those kinds of comments but it was nice to hear them. The new highlights she had had put in last week certainly helped, giving her hair brightly glittering strands of ice blue and dark green. Mia supposed she had a nice enough shape but didn't really pay much attention to it; she wasn't one of those freaks obsessed with her weight. She walked steadily across the hall towards the old and slightly battered hat on the stool. Mia reached the staff table, turned and walked towards the hat. She had heard of the famous Sorting Hat of course and couldn't wait to see what would happen when she tried it on. She sat, smirking once again at those still staring at her as the hat was pulled over her head, removing the Great Hall from her sight.

Umm... Hi?

Hello Mia

So you'll be the hat then?

Yes. Hmm...An interesting past you have here Mia.

Well I suppose... What seemed like an innocent sentence had triggered sudden memories of the events that led to her transferring here.

Her life had been much like a certain Draco Malfoy's. Her father had been a high-ranking pureblood Death eater. Her parent's marriage had been arranged for social status and her father had been very displeased when Mia was born and her mother failed to produce a male heir. He had never hurt Mia or her mother physically, but Mia was never under the delusion that he loved either of them. He was killed in the final battle and she and her mother were finally free. She had only attended Durmstrang because of her father's wishes and had always secretly wanted to come here, to Hogwarts, as her mother had. And now she finally was.

Well now. Where to put you. You're cunning and brave but very devious.

Why thank you.

And quite cheeky too I see. Well there's only one place for you...

"Slytherin!" Mia was momentarily disappointed. As she pulled the hat off her head however she saw Draco and smiled. Not all wizards in Slytherin turn out bad. With that thought she walked down to the Slytherin table amongst scattered applause. There were many empty places at the Slytherin table as some of the families with more intense Death Eater sympathies had pulled their older children from Hogwarts to fight in the battle. These were all now either dead, in Askaban or in hiding. Mia however chose a seat directly across the table from Draco. May had been surprised when he returned, but Mia knew why. He gave her a half smile before turning back to Zabini. He smiled at me. Well... Almost smiled, I bet I can get him to do better. At this point the Great Hall quietened once more as the first years were led in. Mia settled down to watch the Sorting, clapping as each new Slytherin joined the table. Through the meal she noticed Draco glancing at her several times. Mia used these glances as opportunities to glance back at him without seeming too eager. She thought it was a very productive meal.

Across the other side of the room Hermione had to stop Harry from eating his napkin for the third time.

"Harry what's wrong?" She asked, worried. Harry sighed.

"It's that new girl." He looked up at Mia again and found her watching Malfoy, again.

"Mnffulsjhdboh." Hermione glared at Ron, disgusted.

"Ron finish your food before you talk." Ron swallowed the amount of food in his mouth with difficulty.

"Harry forget about her. Not only is she from Durmstrang she's also a Slytherin." He began eating again.

"Yeah, I know. But there's something... Different about her." Hermione looked between the two most important men in her lives. One stuffing his face and swallowing without even chewing, the other staring vacantly at the Slytherin table. Why do I even bother? She thought sadly, taking Harry's napkin away from him.

Immediately after dinner Pansy and the other 7th year Slytherin girls grabbed Mia. They led her out of the Great Hall and along a side passage down to the dungeons. Hmm... Gloomy, such a nice décor. Mia was led down twisting passage after twisting passage.

"How am I meant to remember this?" She asked, confused.

"Well if you look closely at every corner that you're supposed to take there's a tiny snake etched into the wall." Pansy replied pointing. Mia examined the wall and, looking closely, saw the tiny snake, which seemed to almost move in the flickering torchlight. It was so small you wouldn't see it unless you knew what you were looking for. Eventually they reached a blank stretch of wall beside a statue of a snake.

"Rowena and Salazar." Pansy said. Mia gave her a strange look.

"Don't ask." Pansy replied and turned to the wall, which had now turned into a black iron bound door with a snake shaped handle. Pansy turned the handle and led Mia in along with the other Slytherins. Mia stopped, staring at the common room. It was a big underground room, which looked a lot more welcoming than you would have believed. The walls and floor were made of stone, but there were tapestries covering the walls and green and silver rugs covering the floor. The tapestries were scenes of triumph and scenes of cunning, but not many were of battle. There were many fires dotted around the edge of the room, which banished the usually prevalent chill from the dungeons. In the centre of the room were several oak tables inlaid with silver. Arranged around the fires and tables were big comfy looking green armchairs. It was well lit by the fires and several silver chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Pansy had noted Mia's reaction with some satisfaction.

"Everyone expects us to live in darkness and horror. Most Slytherins don't actually fit the stereotypical image of dark wizards. Some look down on the other houses because of their blood purity, but most look down on them because they look down on us." Pansy's speech had been given quietly and Mia wondered which she was. Looking around the room Mia noticed the other Slytherins staring at her curiously and wondered what their thoughts were on the matter.

"Can we go up to the dormitory?" Mia asked not letting her nervousness show. She knew enough about Slytherin from her mother to know that being here was a constant battle of wills. It was almost like a game, but losing this game had very high consequences. Mia wondered briefly why her mother had told her almost nothing of Slytherin house, but soon dismissed it as she was led to the staircases on the other side of the room. She was led down the right hand staircase past six other doors until being led inside at the seventh. The door was the same as the one at the entrance had been. The dormitory was quite large and contained five four-poster beds. The beds were beautiful, made of a dark oak with delicate carving and silver inlaid snakes entwining each of the four poles. Mia noticed there was an order to the beds. Pansy was given the one in the centre and the others arranged themselves around her in order of rank. Mia had the one furthest from her, as none of the girls knew what she was like yet. There was another girl almost as far from Pansy as she was and Mia immediately saw her as a potential friend. She was tall with tanned skin and very dark brown, almost black hair. Her eyes were a dark blue and she looked more welcoming in than the rest of the girls. Mia cautiously looked at the rest of the group. They were all gathered round Pansy shrieking with delight at each new thing she produced from her trunk. These things included; a gold hairbrush, too weighty to be functional Mia thought and several pairs of lacy underwear at which the shrieks reached an intolerable level, ouch Mia thought. She noticed the brown haired girl had also winced. As if she sensed she was being watched, the other girl looked up. Seeing Mia she smiled and beckoned to her. Curious but cautious, Mia made her way slowly across to the girl's bed. Seeing Mia's cautious approach the other Slytherin ducked her head to hide her smile. Mia finally reached the other bed. She stood there for a few moments feeling rather foolish when the other girl, who had been calmly staring at her, suddenly leaned forward pulled Mia down onto her bed. The shout that had risen up into Mia's throat was cut off as a hand clamped down on her mouth. She saw another hand appear at the side of her head carrying a wand and tensed. Damn. Why didn't I listen more? Never trust anyone you don't know from Slytherin!

"Silencio." To Mia's surprise the spell wasn't directed at her, but at the now closed curtains of the bed. The hands gripping her let go so suddenly Mia collapsed onto the bed. Furious she turned to glare at the girl who had captured her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!... Stop laughing!" She fairly shrieked. As soon as the other girl had caught sight of Mia's expression she had collapsed on the bed, overcome with laughter. When she was able to speak, she looked over at Mia, who looked confused and furious.

"Calm down." Was all she said.

"Calm down? Calm down! After you dragged me in here and imprisoned me!"

"Huh. I was saving you."

"Saving me! I..."

"Hush. Unless you want to be silenced yourself." Mia was sullenly silent.

"Good. Now I brought you in here so we could talk without the others hearing."

"Won't they notice your curtains?"

"No. I do this quite often. I'm Mattie Nomil. I'm slightly different." She held out her hand.

"I noticed. I'm Mia Bromun." Mia took Mattie's hand and shook it.

"So, what'd you think of the cackling coven out there?" Mattie asked sarcastically. Mia laughed, and then paused.

"Why on Earth were you laughing at me earlier?" She asked curiously. Mattie laughed again.

"You just looked so furious that I had to." Mia frowned.

"That makes no..." At that moment the curtain was violently ripped open. Stood there was Pansy who was grinning wildly.

"Come on Mattie. We're going to miss the Initiation at this rate." The way Pansy said Initiation left no doubt that it was going to be something horrible. Why hadn't her mother warned her about this? Mattie shot her a sympathetic look, which confirmed her suspicions. Mia tried to ask but Mattie shook her head slightly.

"Later." She mouthed. Mia and Mattie stood and followed the others to the stairs. Whatever this Initiation was, Mia was sure she wouldn't like it.

And there we have it. Now 'Mia' and 'Mattie' can stop bugging me about this first chapter. Anyone can R&R however. Tell me if you like it. Of course I will continue regardless otherwise I will face two very angry friends. Have fun reading it :)