A FINAL CHANCE
By: Shadowedheart89
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I claim to.
Chapter One: All Aboard
I can't believe I am doing this…again, I thought for probably the millionth time that day. I was sitting on the Hogwarts Express, waiting to depart to yet another school. I took a moment to look at my reflection in the glass, forcing myself not to change anything that I saw. This was my last chance at going to a normal wizarding school, so I decided to do it in my true form, without morphing. So as I looked at my long black hair, and tanned skin, I felt a bit restless. To me, my true form was too plain. It was too thin, too short, and had too many scars. The only thing that I did like was my eyes, which would change even if it wasn't for my power of morphing.
Sighing, I pressed my forehead against the window so that I wouldn't have to face my reflection. That's when I saw him. He was kind of short, much too skinny, had unruly black hair, his clothes were much too big for him, and even form the distance I could see his startling green eyes trying to hide behind his round glasses. I would have known him anywhere. It was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, The Savior of the Wizarding World. He was standing with a red haired boy, and a bushy brown haired girl. I knew them to be Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger from reading tons of books and magazine/newspaper articles about Harry. Really though, who didn't know them?
Evidently without even being aware of it, I started to reach out to Harry with my mind, because suddenly he turned and looked straight at me. For what seemed like minutes but what actually only could have been a few seconds, we did nothing but stare at each other, our eyes locked. Finally, I broke the eye contact and ducked out of view, feeling ashamed of myself.
Still, it didn't end there. The connection to him was still open and seemingly out of no where but only in my mind I started to hear him and his friends talking.
"Did you guys see that girl?" Harry asked his friends.
"No, what girl?" asked Ron, seeming curious.
"I don't know who she is. She was on the train. She was staring at me."
"Well maybe it was just a new student surprised to see the famous Harry Potter. You should be used to it by now," Hermione put in sensibly. I hoped he would believe her.
"Yeah, maybe you are right. It just felt weird. It was like…" his voice trailed off as the connection finally severed. I sighed in relief, and slouched more down into my seat. The first day hadn't even begun yet, and I was already risking being caught.
I had no idea why I was so nervous, but I knew that it was the reason for me losing control like that. Just that little bit though, was dangerous. Deciding that it was just the fact that this was going to be my last chance, I settled for trying to meditate for awhile to clear my mind.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, closing myself off to all of my thoughts and surroundings. I sensed my magic flowing through the compartment, and lift my bag up, so it was just floating in the air. I felt myself starting to relax. That is until the train started moving and I fell forward out of my seat, and my bag fell on top of me. I groaned at the sharp pain in my back as I stood up, but ignored it as I put it back in the overhead compartment. I just sat down again when the compartment door slid open, causing me to jump and send a burst of magic out that made the overhead light flicker.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," said a friendly voice. I turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway.
"It's alright. I guess I'm just a bit nervous, that's all," I replied.
She smiled at me. "Well I was wondering if you would mind if my friends and I joined you. It's doesn't seem like there are any empty compartments."
"Sure, I don't need a whole compartment to myself," I told her and she laughed.
She stepped into the compartment and sat across from me, followed by Ron who took the seat next to her, and then Harry who sat next to me. I tried my best to not stare at Harry and hoped that he wouldn't recognize me.
"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," she told me offering me her hand.
"I'm Marlene Wizidore," I responded dutifully, taking her hand.
"This is Ronald Weasely, and Harry Potter," she told me motioned to each as she said their name.
"Uh, just call me Ron," Ron told me shaking my hand, and turning a delicate shade of red.
I turned to Harry to shake his hand, and the moment our fingers touched, an amazing thing happened. We both shared a vision of him as a baby of when Voldemort killed his mother. The detail was so amazing that it seemed as if it were happening that exact moment. The green light, the chilling laughter, the sudden pain, it was all in such clarity. The vision only lasted a second, and when I looked at Harry, his eyes were wide, with apparent surprise and suspicion.
Please don't say anything. I don't know what happened, but please just don't tell anyone, I begged him telepathically, and squeezed his hand to emphasize my words. He stared at me for a second longer and I was sure that he was going to tell them what happened.
When he opened his mouth, I was surprised to find what came out of it, "You're the girl that was staring at me earlier."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and dropped my hand. "Yes, that was me. I'm sorry. I just couldn't believe that I was looking at the real Harry Potter. I've been reading about you my entire life, but I'm sure you're tired of hearing that."
"Yeah, you have no idea," he replied bitterly.
"So I take it you're new here?" Ron asked casually.
"Yep, my last school was Durmstrang…I think."
"You're not sure?" Hermione asked, sounding suspicious.
"Not really. In the last year I've been to about 6 different schools," I told them nervously, hoping they wouldn't make too big of a deal of it.
"Wow, why so many?" Harry asked.
"Well my parents are researchers, and they travel all over the world. They always want to make sure that I'm close by, so they always take me with them," I told the well practiced lie.
"That must be terrible. Don't you miss all of your friends?" Hermione asked.
"Well I don't really have much of them. It's been like this ever since I was a child, and we haven't really been in a place long enough for me to make any close friends except for my mentors, but they usually travel to meet me, wherever I am. My parents promised me that we would be staying here for awhile, well at least until I graduate."
"You must hate it," Ron said.
I just shrugged. "It's all I've ever known. Besides, I get to meet all sorts of interesting people and learn new types of magic. Did you know that there are different tricks and techniques in different parts of the world?" I asked.
Harry and Ron looked at me blankly but Hermione looked amazed. "You probably know more than most of the students at Hogwarts. I wonder what classes you are going to have. What do you want to be when you leave school?"
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't really given it much thought," I lied. I knew exactly what I was going to be doing, but school wasn't going to prepare me for it.
Hermione looked like she was about to explode at my words. She opened her mouth to say something but Harry intervened, "Hermione, don't lecture the girl. I'm sure she'll be able to figure something she wants to do before it's too late. Not everyone needs a set plan."
She glared at him for a moment then turned to me, "What year are you?"
"I believe I will be joining the 6th years. I might have to take some extra classes though because of all the differences between the schools," I told her, wondering exactly what this year was going to be like class-wise. Usually I'm stuck in a bunch of easy classes that I can pass in my sleep. With my abilities, I was always able to get by with shortcuts.
"Well then, that means you'll be joining us. And really, you should be looking into what it is that you want to do."
"Thanks Hermione, I will. Enough about me though. What about you guys? What's school like here?"
"Well Gryffindor is the best house, so hopefully you'll get in. Wait, have you been sorted yet?" Ron asked.
"No, not that I know off, although I was told that when I got to the school there would be some last minute things that would take place. Maybe one of those is this sorting."
"Well don't let Ron make you biased. All of the houses have their own unique qualities, we just happen to be in Gryffindor," Hermione informed me.
"Just hope that you don't end up in Slytherin. They are just horrible," Ron told me in a low voice. I glanced over at Harry who just rolled his eyes.
"What's wrong with them?" I asked feeling a bit worried. I mean I read up on the history of Hogwarts, and know about the dark wizards that came out of the house, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with the house.
"Most of them are rich, pureblood snobs. One, Draco Malfoy, is the hugest prat ever," Ron told me. He had barely finished speaking, when the compartment door flew open and a gorgeous tall, thin, platinum haired boy stood in the doorway. I recognized him immediately, even though it had been three years since I last saw him.
"Well if it isn't Scarhead and his sidekicks Mudblood and Weasel. And look at this, they added a new member, and didn't even invite me," Draco Malfoy said in his haughty tone, causing his two companions to laugh stupidly.
"Well if it isn't Draco Malfoy. I see you still have nothing better to do with your time than to insult others," I said before standing up to face him. I could feel Harry, Ron, and Hermione looking at me with surprise.
Draco studied me for a few moments before the recognition dawned on him and he began smirking. "Why, its little Marlene Wizidore. My, have you grown." He moved toward me and I could tell that he was going to hug me, but I told him telepathically, remember your reputation. Instead, he took my hand in his and kissed it. For anyone else, the change in movements would have been awkward, but he some how made it elegant. "I must say though, that I see your taste in companions still leaves much to be desired," Draco told me with a smirk.
I sensed the trio behind me getting angry before I responded, "Yes, because I like to surround myself with intellectual beings that can carry on a conversation, where as you surround yourself with mindless brutes that probably don't even know that they are being openly insulted." By the look of faces of his two massive companions, I could tell that my assessment was right. Behind me, the trio was trying suppress their laughter.
Draco's smirk faltered for a moment before he replied, "I doubt that you could consider Potter and Weasley here to be 'intellectual beings'"
This time I smirked, "Well dear, it's not like you have been around enough to know."
His face flushed for a second, before he retorted, "Well obviously, I used to spend a lot of my time with you."
I laughed, "Touché, Draco. Well is there anything else here you needed, or did you just plan on being a jerk?"
"Well not that it's any of your business, Wizidore," he drawled, "but we were just looking for a compartment to sit in. Obviously we're not going to sit here with the riff raff, so I suppose we'll be going." He turned and started away but then turned, "And Wizidore, if I were you I'd watch who your friends are, and watch it with the insults. I won't always be so nice to you." Then he mentally added, Meet me in about 10 minutes. We have to talk.
I closed the compartment door and looked at the trio. "Is he always so arrogant?"
"Usually more so," Hermione told me. "How do you know him?"
I thought about what I wanted to say first, and then settled on the relative truth. "A few summers ago, my parents and I stayed near him. One day I was walking around in the woods behind our house, and I ran into him. There weren't many other kids around so we became friends. We were almost inseparable that summer. Then I had to move, and we haven't talked since. Well until just now."
"Did you ever meet his parents?" Ron asked.
"Once," I told him, and then shuddered at the memory. I thought Draco's father was going to kill him on that one meeting. He had found out that Draco was spending so much time with me, and it led into an argument. His father wasn't much for words, and used Crucio against poor Draco.
"Did you know that his father was a Death Eater?" Harry asked a bit sharply.
I feigned surprise, "No, I had no idea. Draco didn't like to talk about his parents very much. I know they were rough on him sometimes, expected him to be just like his father and carry on the family name and honor. Neither of them seemed to be home very often though."
It was silent for a moment before I excused myself to go to the restroom. Hermione offered to come with me, but I told her not to, because I wanted to try and find it myself. I doubt it would have gone too well trying to meet Draco with her following me.
I started walking down the main aisle with absolutely no idea of where I was supposed to meet Draco, when suddenly a compartment door slid open, and some one grabbed me, pulling me inside. I shifted my weight and turned, causing the person to trip and hit the side of the compartment.
"Bloody hell!" cried an angry Draco. "What did you do that for?"
"Why the bloody hell did you grab me like that!" I shouted at him, crossing my arms.
He glared at me for a moment, then got up and walked over to me. He slipped his hands along my waist and said, "I missed you Marlene. I wrote you, but you never replied."
I put my hands on his shoulders. "My parents wouldn't let me. They said it was too dangerous. You know, with your father and everything."
He glared at me and moved back a bit. "I'm not my father," he told me coldly.
"I know that Draco, but you know it would have been dangerous. I remember what he did when he found out that we were friends," he flinched at the memory, but I continued, "and I didn't even want to think of what he would do to you if he found out you were still talking to me after he forbid you to do so."
"Well, he's not here anymore, so I can do whatever I want. Including talking to you, hugging you," he closed the distance between us and hugged me, "kissing you," he moved back enough to kiss me, "and doing whatever else I want with you as I please."
"With my permission," I added smiling.
He smirked, "Of course, with your permission." Then we started kissing again. After a moment or two he pulled away. "I really do hate to break this up, but I must get back. I'm sure my 'mindless brutes' will be looking for me soon."
I laughed, "Yeah, I have to get back too." He took a step away from me, and then started eying me. "What?" I asked, irritated. I hate people looking at me, and I was starting to get the strange feeling that he knew I wasn't really in my true form the last time I saw him. I was close, but not quite. Draco knew quite a bit about my powers, but there were still somethings that I wanted to keep from him, for both of our safety.
"I just can't believe how much you've changed," he said, sounding a bit awed.
"It's been three years Draco. In our lives, it might as well have been a lifetime."
He shrugged. "I suppose, but it seems like there is something else that I just can't put my finger on." He shrugged and gave me one last kiss. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you around. Hopefully you get into Slytherin, and then we can really wreak some havoc," he told me while his eyes became cloudy with some hidden emotions. I felt the urge to delve into his mind to find out, but restrained myself. It was bad karma to just start entering people's minds.
"I have a feeling that no matter what house I am in, we'll end up together again, creating doom for the rest," I told him laughing. He merely shrugged, then left the compartment.
I sat down for a moment, feeling a bit drained from the stressful day. It didn't really help that I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. I took a deep breath, and then closed my eyes, picturing my school uniform in my mind. I felt the tingle of magic in the air and when I looked down at myself, I saw that I was now in my robes.
After a few more moments, I went back to the other compartment, but when I got there, Harry was the only one there.
"What happened to Ron and Hermione?" I asked him, evidently scaring him out of thought, since he jumped slightly.
"Oh, they left. They had prefect duty. They probably won't make it back before we get to the school." I asked him what a prefect was, and he explained it to me. Then after an awkward silence, he asked, "What happened earlier? When we shook hands?"
I took a deep breath, and then silently cast a silencing charm on the compartment. I glanced at him, and saw him staring expectantly at me with those amazing green eyes, .
"If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret. I mean you can't even tell Ron or Hermione."
"I promise," he told me sounding sincere. I figured if there was anyone that I should be able to trust not to turn me over to Voldemort, it would be him.
"I'm not an ordinary witch Harry. I have special powers and gifts. One of those includes the ability to see others thoughts and memories. I guess you could call it telepathy. Usually I can control it, but I've just been so stressed out lately my powers have been a bit out of my control. I'm sorry. I didn't try to bring up those memories for you."
He looked taken back for a few moments as he thought it over. "It's alright. It was just so clear, and then I could hear you talking to me, but you weren't. It was weird. You could do some amazing things with those powers. Can you control people's thoughts and actions?" he asked with sudden curiosity and suspicion.
"Yes, but I would never unless it was a life or death matter. I guess you can see why I didn't want you to say anything. If the wrong people found out, then You-Know-Who would be after me. And even in school, every time some one does something wrong, they would just blame it on me, saying I did it."
"I don't know how you do it. I would be so tempted," he told me, with a glint in his eye. "But I guess it just comes down to morals."
I nodded and another uncomfortable silence ensued. He kept looking at me as if there was something he wanted to ask, but couldn't quite get it out. Finally I took the initiative and asked what it was.
"I was just wondering, what other powers do you have?"
I felt my heart begin to speed up. I didn't want to lie, yet it was too soon to tell him everything, even if he was Harry Potter. Luckily I was saved by the trolley. We both bought some sweets, and the question was lost for the time being.
After awhile, two others came to the compartment, a boy and a girl. Harry introduced them as Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood. They joined us and we played a few game of Exploding Snap before my drowsiness finally caught up to me and I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt decidedly strange, but couldn't quite place my finger on what it was. After a few moments, I realized what it was. I was sleeping on someone's shoulder. I sat up suddenly and looked at a surprised Harry.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. You should have just pushed me over."
He laughed and blushed. "It's alright, I fell asleep too. I didn't really notice." I could tell he was lying but didn't say anything to contribute to the already embarrassing situation.
I looked out the window, and saw that it was already getting dark. "How much farther is it until we get to the school?"
He glanced at his watch, then outside at the surroundings before answering, "About 20 minutes. Well as far as I can tell."
I felt my stomach growl, and decided that I couldn't wait 20+ minutes to eat. I pulled out my wand, mostly for show, and conjured up a plate of sandwiches. "Care to join me?" I asked Harry when he gave me a surprised look.
He nodded and took one. "I take it that you are probably very good at your studies."
I shrugged. "I make pretty good grades, and I'm a fast learner when it comes to magic. I guess it's just a gift."
He smiled. "Well maybe you'll be able to give Hermione a challenge. She's the top of our class, but she hates to be out done."
I grimaced, "Well that's good to know. I hope that I don't get on her bad side."
"I doubt that. She might try to get you to convince Ron and me to take our studies more seriously. Well if you end up in our house that is."
We kept eating in silence for awhile, both of us lost in our own thoughts. These school houses seemed to determine who everyone's friends were. I read the history of the school, and I knew that there were rivalries among the houses, but I had non idea it was like this. I wanted to become friends with Harry and his group, but I didn't want to give up on my friendship with Draco either.
I was still mulling over my thoughts, when I felt the train start to slow down.
I gave Harry a questioning look and he answered, "We are approaching the school."
I nodded, and without even thinking, I just waved my hand over the plate and banished it.
Harry looked at me amazed, "You can do wandless magic? That's amazing!"
I looked at him for a moment confused, before it dawned on me that I hadn't used my wand. "Oh, well I can only do a few spells without my wand," I lied. I can do more without a wand, than with one.
Harry studied me for a moment with a curious expression, and then gasped. I felt a surge of fear, but then he said, "I forgot to change into my school robes."
I laughed, and pulled out my wand. He took a step backwards, eyeing me suspiciously. "Don't worry about it," I told him. Then I waved my wand and muttered some words for show, and suddenly he was in his robes.
He looked down at him self and grinned. "Thanks, I owe you one."
He opened the compartment door, and when I saw the crowd of kids trying to get through, I put my hand on his shoulder. "Help me find my way without getting trampled, and we can call it even."
He laughed, "It's a deal." He stepped into the crowd, and I grabbed his hand. He looked at me for a moment, and I blushed. He just gave me a shy smile, and led me through the crowd. As we walked through the crowd, he asked me where I was supposed to go. I told him I didn't know, and he seemed to think for a minute.
"I guess I'll take you to Hagrid, he should know where you should go."
I just nodded, feeling a bit distracted. I started to get a weird feeling, but I just figured it was nerves. When we finally got of the train, I realized what it was. I looked at what I could see of the towering form of the school, and could feel the power and magic radiating off of it, even from the distance. It was captivating me.
Harry saw my interest in the school and smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
AN-Well this is my first attempt at any kind of fanfic. I hope you like it! Please rate and leave feedback.