-Description-
This story follows Scarlett Malone, a Slytherin girl, whose mother works as a maid for the Malfoy family, whose house elf was freed from them by Harry Potter, a Gryffindor who is in the same year of Scarlett. The story begins with Scarlett coming home for her summer vacation.

Part 1 - Strange beginnings

My heart pounded as i entered the Malfoy Mansion. I took a deep breath and walked side by side with my best friend through the grand front doors. Why were we here? Her mother was a maid at the Malfoy Manor, and my mother was one of the cooks. Apparently the lady of the family, Narcissa Malfoy, thought that since we were the same age as her son Draco Malfoy, that we could become friends with Draco, and she invited us to his birthday celebration.
We each held the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that Narcissa had asked us to bring. We walked through the dining room and into the kitchen to attempt to find my mother.
"Oh you're here!" My mother exclaimed with a look of relief on her face. She took the jelly beans from our hands and set them on the counter. The door creaked open as Narcissa stepped into the room. She smiled warmly.
"Hello. you must be Scarlett!" she said to me as she shook my hand.
"Yes, that is me" I smiled.
"I've heard so many good things about you. I'm sure you and Draco will become great friends. Come, come, why don't you two look around the manor?" she motioned for me and Mila to leave the kitchen. We walked back out into the dining room, where Mila spotted a black and white cat, and decided to chase after it and attempt to catch it. I giggled softly, and walked after her.
Shortly after giving up on chasing the cat, Mila decided she had to go to the bathroom. We quickly hunted it down, and I waited in the hall for her. A tall boy with shaggy blonde hair appeared. He looked at me in an odd way, and quickly turned and walked away.
That must be Draco i thought to myself. I had seen him briefly in classes, but had never really gotten a good look at him. He wasn't bad looking at all.
I was lost in my thoughts about Draco, as Mila stepped out of the bathroom. I decided not to tell her about seeing Draco, as she would encourage me to wander off in search of him. We decided to go back down to the dining room and hang out there for a while. After a few minutes, Narcissa showed up again, this time with Draco trailing behind her with an odd look on his face.
"Oh there you girls are!" Narcissa exclaimed. "This is my son, Draco. Draco, this is Scarlett and Mila." she elbowed him, and he walked over and shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you." I said politely.
"The pleasure is mine." He said in a strange voice. He shook Mila's hand, but was still watching me. I stood there, uncomfortable in his gaze.
As if on cue, my mother walked out and said to me and Mila "Girls, can you please help me in the kitchen?"
"Sure" we replied and followed her. She handed us streamers, plates, utensils, and other decorations.
"Can you go decorate the dining room?" she asked us. We walked out and started to set the table with the decorations. We quickly finished our task and walked back into the kitchen.
"What should we do now?" we asked her. She thought a moment before replying
"Why don't you go find Draco? I'm sure he could use some company."
I sighed as Mila and I walked out of the room. It's not that i don't want to see him... I just don't want him to think of me as weird. who was i kidding? I looked different from the other girls at Hogwarts. I had auburn hair, with side bangs and a part of it shaved. "Scarlett?" My mother suddenly called after me. "Can i talk to you for a second?"
I told Mila to wait there for me as i walked back to the kitchen. My mother told me to sit down.
"As you know, it's been hard to pay for our house since your father died." she said. I nodded, wondering what would come next. "And recently, we just can't afford our house anymore. But the Malfoys have been kind enough to invite us to live with them here."
I thought about that for a moment.
"Well, what did you say?" i said slowly, though i already knew the answer.
"I told them that we would be happy to live here."
The words danced around in my head. Live here? Not only was I giving up the privacy of having my own house to go to, I had to live with another family. I was still thinking when they called everyone to dinner.
I sat down at the table, next to Mila and across the table from Draco. He was still watching me with that strange look. My mother brought out our dinner, and for once he turned his glance away from me, and at his food. I picked at my salad, not hungry. I managed to choke down a few bites of lettuce as everyone ate their food. Draco wolfed his food down, glancing at me a few times. I was relieved to have him somewhat distracted for a while at least.
After everyone ate, we watched Draco open his gifts, mostly new clothes and books, and everyone else ate cake. After everyone finished, Narcissa escorted Mila and I to our rooms. my mother had brought our suitcases up, and placed them on our beds. I had the room next to Draco, and Mila had the room to my right. I dug my laptop out of my suitcase, and watched music videos, trying to drown out the sound of Mila snoring in the next room. I turned the volume up so loud i didn't even hear when the door to my room creaked open. I looked up from my computer for a second and saw Draco sitting on the chair across the room. I took my headphones off and asked "can i help you?"
He thought for a while before responding "So i hear you're going to be living here."
I sighed and said "Trust me, if i had a choice, i wouldn't. I'll try to stay out of your way as much as i can."
Draco looked across the room and said "I am actually looking forward to your staying here. And you can get in my way as much as you want." He looked back at me with that odd gaze again. He slowly got up from the chair and walked over to the bed and sat next to me. "what's that?" he asked me, pointing to my laptop.
"It's a laptop... a communication device used by muggles." i responded.
"How does it work?" He questioned.
"Well, i'm not sure, but there is a chip in it that connect to the internet, and you can access websites, and talk to people, and listen to music."
"Interesting." he responded. I sat there silently, not knowing what to do. "You're not like other people." he said slowly.
"Is that good or bad?" i questioned.
"it is a very good thing." he answered. "you're very beautiful."
"umm, thank you? You aren't too bad looking either." I said awkwardly. he smiled. "But i thought you were into that Pansy chick."
"I'm just with her for show. Trust me, she's nothing." He looked like he meant it, but i wasn't about to believe him. I was still pondering what he said when suddenly he leaned in and kissed me.