Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! This is my second fanfiction, and they are both Harry Potter. It would be awesome if you decided to check my Next Generation one out (: Please enjoy!
Chapter 1-The Train Ride
"Promise me you'll write? Every week?" My sister, Alexandra said as she pulled me into a hug and started crying.
"Promise." I said; my voice muffled in her ear. "Oh, Alex, please don't cry. Everything will be fine."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just… what if they come recruiting, and they recognize me?"
"They won't find you. As long as I'm secret keeper, and no one else, you're safe. I have to board the train now. Please stay safe?" I beg, as I hug her one last time before heading to board the Hogwarts Express to begin my sixth year. I'm going to miss her, I know it. I pause in the entryway and take one last look at my short, skinny, brunette sister, not knowing when I'd see her next.
I step inside and a stream of memories from the past five years rush over me. As I walk down the hall and notice all the nervous first years, I start to remember my very own first time at Hogwarts in 1991. I remember sitting in a stall with my third-year sister. She was already sorted into the Ravenclaw house, though my parents weren't too happy about it. Coming from a pureblood family of all Slytherins, it was a nasty shock when my sister's smarts and intelligence outdid her family history. She and my mother had gotten into a huge fight about it, and they haven't been too fond of each other since. Fearing our relationship would end the same way, I was strangely hoping to be placed in Slytherin. Lost in my thought, I didn't even notice the two other students walk in. One was a very petite girl, with long, curly brown hair and green eyes, and the other was an averaged height girl with a round face. Her pin-straight hair went down to her mid-waist, and was jet black. The curly haired girl extended her hand to me and interrupted my train of thought by saying, "Hi! My name is Mandy Brocklehurst, and this is Lisa. We are just starting here. What's your name?"
"Me? Oh, I'm Andrea. Andrea Gattuso." I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it, smiling. I remember that moment as the day I met my two best friends. The two people I can rely on with anything.
I snapped back to reality when I heard someone squealing my name, and I turned just in time to see Mandy running straight towards me, arms outstretched.
"Andie! Goodness, you've grown! Gah, I missed you! Come, Lice and I have a compartment already!" She squealed, grabbing my hand and dragging me into a compartment towards the back of the train. As I enter, I am greeted with another hug, this time from Lisa.
"You have to tell us all about your summer!" She squealed, pulling me into a seat.
"I-I can't. I'm sorry; I have to go to the prefects meeting." I sighed. "Plus, I don't think you guys can handle it…"
"Oh come on! Of course we want to hear about it! Tell us in the dorms, promise us?" Mandy begged.
"Fine!" I giggled, as I slipped on my Ravenclaw robe with my shiny Prefect's badge on it. "I'll be back in a few!" I reminded them, and walked out the compartment door and back into the crowded train hallway.
When I entered the prefect's compartment, nearly everyone had seated. There were only two seats that were empty, besides my own, and from scanning all of the familiar faces I assumed they belonged to Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy.
"Welcome Andrea! How was your summer?" Hermione Granger greeted me.
"It was, well, okay I guess. And yours?" I replied politely. Something about her always intimidated me. She is probably the only student in our year that is smarter than me.
"About the same." She said.
Yeah, right. I thought to myself. "Um, where's Ron?"
"He'll be here in a minute; just had to change his robes." She informed. I decided to take a seat.
I chatted amongst the others, sparking a conversation with Anthony Goldstein (the other Ravenclaw prefect in my year) about Quidditch, and how I was planning on trying out for the team this year.
"Really? You should tell Roger. I think they are looking for a keeper." He advised. I nodded.
Suddenly, the cabin door opened to reveal the tall, ginger-haired Ron Weasley. "Looks like Malfoy is skipping duties." He muttered.
"Well, we'll begin without him." Roger Davies, the Head Boy, began. We discussed our duties and rules, and welcomed the new group of prefects, and he dismissed us.
I scuttled into the hall and entered my compartment.
"How'd that go?" Mandy was the first to ask.
"Boring." I yawned. "Has the trolley come yet?"
"No. I think it is up front, serving the first years. So, I've noticed Anthony Goldstein has gotten a lot more attractive this year, don't you think?" She said, leaning in.
"I guess…" I admitted, blushing.
"Oh my goodness! You guys would be so cute together, and you get to work together as prefects too!" Squealed Lisa.
"Oh, would you get real? I barely know the kid!" I defended. But it wasn't working. They were both eyeing me suspiciously.
"You can change that!" Winked Mandy. "Come on, it's about time you find some romance!"
"I've had romance!" I defended. "Well, sort of…"
"Andie. Be real. Going to the Yule Ball with Ernie Macmillan does not count as 'romance'," she emphasized the last word by making little quotes with her fingers. "You need the real deal."
"Well it's easy for you to say! You've had what, five boyfriends in the past three years? Or was it six?" I recalled. "I don't even know if I have time for any relationships, with NEWTS coming and such…" I sighed. This shut them up. Being in Ravenclaw, we've all agreed that our education was ten times more important than our love lives.
There was a small silence, so I started fidgeting with my silver prefect's badge to distract myself.
Just as I started getting uncomfortable from the awkwardness, Ginny Weasley popped her head into my carriage and said, "Andrea, Professor Slughorn told me to fetch you and meet him in his compartment." I looked at her in puzzlement, and to cease my confusion, she added, "He's a new teacher! Potions, I think." I nodded my head, told my friends I'd be back, and climbed into the now empty hallway.
I followed Ginny to a carriage towards the front of the train, and entered. There was a plump, bald, older man sitting in a carriage surrounded by many familiar students, including Harry Potter.
"Ah, Ms. Gattuso, come in!" He motioned to an empty seat next to Neville Longbottom, where I quietly sat. He was talking to the students, going on about their relatives' accomplishments. I had almost completely tuned him out when he called on me.
"And you, Ms. Gattuso? How has your grandmother been? Has she been writing anything new?" My grandmother. How dare he bring up my cruel, evil grandmother?
I stiffened up and said, "I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her in a while." Quickly adding "Sir." To sound more polite.
"Andrea's grandmother is a very… well, dark author. She wrote Secrets of the Darkest Art. Is anyone familiar with it? Why don't you tell us about it, Ms. Gattuso?"
"I've tried reading it, but some of the stuff is just… unbearable. Cruel. There's this vile information on some objects called horcru-"
"Okay! Well, I'd get back to your cabins. I suppose we will be arriving soon…" He cut me off nervously. I quietly exited the compartment, walked down the hall, and re-entered my compartment where Lisa and Mandy were waiting. I told them all about the odd meeting with Slughorn, and mentioned some people who were also there.
…
"You are so lucky to be a prefect." Lisa snorted. "I really don't see how some people got it, like Malfoy."
"You don't need to worry about him anymore." I muttered. They gave me questioning looks, so I continued, "He didn't show up to duties today. Stayed in his carriage. I wouldn't bother showing up to any meetings if I were him anyway. I doubt people respect him after him joining the Inquisitorial Squad…" I trailed off. I opened my mouth to continue my rant, but suddenly, the entire compartment was engulfed in darkness.
"Wh- What's going on?" Lisa said fearfully.
"I don't- I don't know." I stammered. It couldn't be dementors. Sure, I knew how to produce a patronus, but after this summer's events, I wasn't sure I had the strength. "I'll go check. Lumos." I muttered, illuminating my wand and walking into the hallway. Suddenly, the darkness began fading, and I could make out other students also peering into the hallway. What in Merlin's beard just happened? The darkness had almost cleared when it hit me.
"Peruvian Instant-Darkness Powder." I claimed when I climbed back into the compartment. "Must have slipped out of someone's pocket."
All three of us heaved out sighs of relief, and began talking about Our OWLS. It ends up; I scored the highest out of us, obtaining all Outstanding's with the exceptions of two Exceeds Expectations in Divination and Muggle Studies, and an Acceptable in Care of Magical Creatures. That means I'd be taking NEWT classes in Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts (which I probably would have failed, if it weren't for Dumbledore's Army), History of Magic, Herbology, Charms, Astronomy, and Arithmancy. Wow. I'm going to need to study. A lot. Before we knew it, the train had come to a slow, and very suddenly stopped. Looking out the window, I could tell we were at the Hogsmeade Station, so I made my way out and joined the crowd outside.