AN: I have NOOOOOOOOOO idea why on earth I am posting this story again since it got booted off the site months ago (still tryin' to figure that much out… :p); and plus I got two other stories I'm working on. But I started looking up all of my stories again just to see how corny they all were and I found this one. I did love writing this story and was kinda angry when it disappeared off … Suppose I'll never figure that part out, eh? :p

This first chapter is COMPLETELY CORNY!!! I HATE it… But for the life of me I couldn't rephrase anything like I wanted to. Call it writer's block or whatever. So if things sound horrible as you read, you all know why! But either way, I hope y'all like this story, whether or not it is corny in all y'all's opinions. And PLZ! Review if you can or want to, Okie? Ttyl8rz and Enjoy!

OH!!! ONE MORE NOTE!!!!

I made this story up BEFORE book 5, so Sirius is still quite alive in this one. My other two he ain't. But this one, he is. And just because JK made OotP don't mean I'm gonna change it… And besides, I liked Siri… sniff sniff hahaha

Disclaimer: I own not-ta! :)

Pairings: HP/DM, SS/OC (you'll find out who later...), SB/RL, RW/HG

One Last Side Note: Just so you all know, yes the Dursley's are nice to Harry in this fic. I made it that way for a reason. And if you are SO curious on to knowing why, then just continue reading on through this story and find out for yourselves. What, you actually think that I would tell you? HA! You've got to be joking. I like to put ppl through suspense. But newhoz; as to why they are nice to Harry, you'll find out the true reason later on in this story as you read along. I gave you a little hint somewhere further in this chapter. If you read it, you'll know what I mean. So thx for all of you patience. R&R PLZ!!! ((Grins sheepishly))

"...talking..."

'...thinking...'

''…time/place…''


Malfoy's Match

The darkness of the trees rustled gently as the wind began wrapping itself around the thin branches. The shadows crept in every corner as it attempted to keep up with the wind's playful antics. The thin beams of light that fought their ways through the dreary darkness seemed to produce its own shadows as it cast its lively rays of light upon a man and a young child as they stood there. Looking down amongst the single stone that seemed to stand there, as though waiting for their approval on its owner's departure.

"Sev?" asked the child faintly as she continued to look down upon this single stone.

"Yes little one?" replied the older man as he squeezed the small child's hand, as though giving her some reassurance.

"What happens to me now?"

……

''One and a half yrs. earlier''

"Harry! Harry sweetie, you need to get up! You'll be late for your own birthday at this rate!" called a gentle voice as she attempted to rouse the now sixteen year old teenager.

"Oh, come on Aunt Petunia! Five more minutes! Please?" Harry begged as he shoved his head underneath the pillow.

"That's what you said almost a half an hour ago. Now hurry up and get out of bed. Ron, Hermione, and the others will be here soon. I don't want them to arrive just to find out you decided to keep your lazy arse in bed. Now move!"

The young woman tore away the blankets and pillow away from the boy's bed to find a rather tired, and agitated for that matter, older Harry Potter looking up at her in annoyance.

"Alright, alright. I'm up. Give me five minutes and I'll be down for breakfast."

"Alright, just hurry up. I'm going to take you and your friends to Diagon Alley today and get your school things while your Uncle Vernon and Dudley get the house ready for your party. Alright? So I don't want you taking too long now."

"I won't. Just let me get dressed."

"Alright, I'll see you at breakfast then"

And with that, the older woman walked out of the bedroom, leaving Harry behind to freshen up for his birthday. When he was ready, he slowly made his journey down the stairs to the kitchen, still managing to wipe the sleep from his eyes while doing so. And as he walked into the kitchen, he was greeted by two hearty "Happy Birthdays" from his Uncle Vernon and cousin, Dudley.

"Hey, hey now. Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence. How's the birthday boy doing this morning?" asked the older, stockier man as he slightly ruffled Harry's head as he walked into the kitchen.

"Just fine, Uncle Vernon. Wish I could get more sleep, though."

"Well that's what you get for talking all night long on that computer of yours," interrupted Petunia as she set some food on a plate for Harry. "I told you that that thing would cause you trouble in the future. Now look at yourself. Barely got any sleep last night, now did you?"

"Yea, yea, I know…" replied the black haired boy as he took a seat at the table. "I'll try to remember that next time."

"Good, because if I have to, I'll unplug the thing at night to prove my point…"

At that, Harry sighed.

When had the Dursley's become so nice to Harry? And why for that matter? ... Well, truthfully, no one really knows why. They just kinda… did. It was after his fifth year at Hogwarts. They had met him at the train station and they were just… nice to him. He vowed then and there, when he got back to Hogwarts, he'd talk to Dumbledore and find out what he did exactly to make the Dursley's like him. Not that he did mind of course. He figured that they were his family. And living with a family that went from hating you to loving you was definitely better than none.

Shortly after breakfast, the rest of the Golden trio arrived; rather shocked, mind you, at the Dursley's. Petunia greeted them with a warm smile and invited them in. Showing them their way to Harry's room.

"Hey guys!" greeted Harry as he saw his friend being escorted to his room. He walked up to them and greeted them once again with a hug before pulling back and smiling.

"Harry, be ready in about thirty minutes. We'll be leaving for Diagon Alley then to get everyone's things. Alright?" asked Petunia just as she was exiting his room.

"K, Aunt Petunia. We'll be ready by then."

Petunia gave a curt nod and a quick smile before finally exiting the room and back to her husband, Vernon.

"Harry, you mind explaining what is going on?"

"Yea mate, I thought your family hated you?"

"That's what I thought too." Harry motioned for them to sit down, doing so himself at the top of his bed.

"Then what's going on?" asked Hermione as she took a seat at the edge of the bed, just in front of Harry. Ron taking the opposite side of Harry.

"Don't know, to tell you the truth." Harry looked down his hands, as though trying to piece together a very confusing puzzle. "They just picked me up at the train station at the end of last year and just acted nice to me. Like they either wanted to make up for all the things they did to me, or that they don't even know what really happened between us and their memory was just switched with another. It's really weird. But hey, it's better than they way I was living before."

"I can agree with you there, mate," mumbled Ron as he took a quick look around the room. "I'm surprised this place doesn't look like hell warmed over."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, remember what we Weasley's did to get you out of here just before second year?"

Harry chuckled slightly as the memory of his bedroom window being pulled out of the wall as the Weasley boys came to "pick up" Harry. "I remember being reamed for that when I got back from Hogwarts. But boy was it ever a laugh to see the look on the Dursley's faces when they saw it!"

By then the whole room was lifted up with the light laughter of the Golden trio as they reminisced about the "good old days".

A little after their arrival, the three friends were called down by Petunia. They each grabbed their things they needed and headed out the front door where they found a smiling Aunt Petunia sitting in the front seat of their car.

"Ready you three?"

The three nodded their heads and hopped into the car, slowing making their way to the Leaky Cauldron.

''September 1st; Platform nine and quarters''

"Now, you make sure to owl us every once in a while so we can know how everything's going, ok?" asked, more of demanded, Petunia as she saw Harry off to school.

"I will, Aunt Petunia. Don't worry. And you know how to send me something if you need to." Harry smiled at the concerned face of his aunt. 'Who ever thought that I'd see the day where she was worried for me…'

Petunia smiled and gave a short nod before embracing her nephew into a tight hug. 'I'm definitely going to have to get used to this,' thought Harry as he returned his aunt's hug.

"Now Harry, my boy, I don't want to find out that you're getting yourself into so much trouble like you always do. So try not to kill anyone at school. Especially that Malfoy kid."

Harry looked at his uncle as he spoke, remembering the day he had told the Dursley's of Malfoy and how they always seem to treat each other. The Dursleys, at first, were confused. But eventually understood what the relationship between the two were like snow to fire and how much they seemed to hate each other. And the Dursleys, being like any other parent, told him to at least attempt to ignore Malfoy at least one last time before trying to start anything. But knowing Harry and Malfoy, that wouldn't happen anytime soon. But he agreed to take their advice anyway. Just to suit their requests.

"I'll try, Uncle Vernon."

"Good, now run along before you miss the train. Your things are already on board."

Harry gave a curt nod before giving one last hug to his aunt and uncle and ran for the train, hoping to meet his friends inside.

''On the train to Hogwarts''

Harry sat in a single compartment on the train, his friends waiting for him to return in another. He had hoped to find a little peace so he could think of a few things. But alas, just when he had hoped he did, his nightmare just happened to walk through same door that he had entered just moments before.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Harry Potter! Have a nice vacation with the Dursley's?"

"Oh shove it, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood for your games."

"Oh, what? The mudblood and weasel abandon you somewhere on this train and left you to your own little misery?"

"Malfoy, I'm warning you..."

"Ooh, like I'm scared..." Malfoy smirked as he saw the anger that was building inside Harry just by being in the same room as him.

"Don't make me hex you."

"Oh, and who's gonna help you with that? Your friends?"

"Malfoy..."

Just as Harry was about to attack Draco for all he was worth, he was stopped by a forceful voice that just seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Exactly what are you two boys doing?!" demanded this new voice as its owner came closer to inspect what was further happening.

Harry and Draco turned their attention to the woman that walked into the room; giving Malfoy, what seemed, a run for his money.

"Aunt Nina? What the hell are you doing here?" Malfoy exclaimed to the woman, shock prominent on both his and Harry's faces.

"I should be asking you now shouldn't I?" Malfoy's "aunt" gave him a stare that would rival any other Malfoy straight to the floor. "What did I tell you about your first day of school back to Hogwarts?! Erg! Sometimes I wonder why I ever bother with you, Draco."

"But Aunt Nina…"

"Don't 'but Aunt Nina' me! Now get back to your two goons before they wonder where you disappeared to and trash this train upside down trying to find you." Malfoy tried giving his "aunt" a sneer that almost rivaled her own, but gave up when she threw one straight back into his face. "I said Move!"

Malfoy turned to Harry and gave him one final sneer before turning back around, and walking out the train's compartment; mumbling a few things from his extensive vocabulary before doing so.

Nina sighed and shook her head, mumbling a few course things of her own in the process, before turning her attention back to Harry and giving him a sweet smile. 'Whoa, who ever thought that I'd get a smile from a member of the Malfoy family…'

At this, Harry finally got a good look at this new woman, taking in every detail that he could think of. Harry estimated her to be around 5'8", maybe 5'9". Her black hair was straight with small waves that reached down her back. Light streaks of a deep red shone as the light of the train beat down upon her head. Her eyes were almost emerald green like Harry's; only with a dark blue trim around the iris. To him, her eyes seemed calm, almost gentle as they stared at him. Her lips had a slight ting of red in them, but not too much to make it seem like her lips were bleeding. Her robes fell open, down to her feet and brushed out slightly as she moved. Making it seem as though slight waves of cloths trailed behind her. Her muggle like clothing that show beneath the robes where black, her skirt clung to her hips, but flared out slightly by her ankles. Her black shirt showed every curve of her torso as well as quite a bit of cleavage if she angled just right, which every man would die for; even if to get just one single peek. And he had to admit, she did look good, but he wasn't about to say anything….

"Sorry about that. My nephew likes to get himself into a lot of trouble. It seems more to you than to anyone else." Her voice was soft, yet stern as she spoke of her nephew.

"Draco Malfoy is your nephew?"

Harry seemed a little shocked by this. How can someone as kind as her be an aunt to someone like Draco Malfoy? It was preposterous! This earned a small laugh out of Nina as she saw the disbelief that showed across Harry's face.

"Believe it or not, yes…" Her American accent slightly caught Harry off guard, but continued to listen to Nina as she took a seat across from Harry. Sighing slightly before speaking again. "Well, actually, no. He's more of my second cousin. But with the age difference, and the fact that his father and I always fought and acted like brother and sister, that's just how he grew up thinking. I eventually explained it to him, but I think the 'Aunt Nina' thing just kinda stuck. You know that goes, eh Mister Potter?"

"How'd you know my name? I didn't think anyone could see my scar."

"Oh trust me, it wasn't your scar. It's just that… well… you look a lot like Lily and James. You remind me a lot of them…"

"You knew my mum and dad?"

"Yep, and proud to say so! You know, James was a prankster, but Lily wasn't as innocent as she made herself out to be. And everyone wondered why we became such good friends…" Nina sighed slightly once more and almost laughed as she remembered half the pranks that she and Lily always managed to pull off and never get caught. "Now those were the good ol' days."

"Excuse me, but you've gotten me confused. Were you in Gryffindor house when you were attending Hogwarts?"

"Oh, Lord no. I was in Slytherin…"

"Seriously?!"

"Believe it or not! What, you actually think that the cousin, or aunt, whatever you want to call me, of a Malfoy would've been placed somewhere else?"

"Good point I guess… By the way, I don't mean to come out sounding rude, but what's your name exactly?"

"Oh, no problem. My name's Nina. Nina Hartsworth. And while it's been a pleasure talking to you, I really should go find Draco. Or else my daughter's gonna be capable of killing him for reasons I don't want to know…"

"Alright. It was a pleasure talking with you."

"As well as you. I hope we can talk again to get better acquainted. I'm sure you have many question about your parents." Harry smiled at the thought of learning more about his parents and abruptly nodded his head. "I thought so. So I'll see you around, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded his head once more, receiving a generous smile from his archenemy's aunt. She then stood and gave one last wave to Harry before stepping out of the train's compartment.

''Back with Nina''

Nina Hartsworth, as this woman was now known as, walked down the hallways of the train compartments, finding the right room in which her daughter and nephew were waiting for her. But just before reaching the compartment she was looking for, she heard a loud screech that sounded immensely like her daughter's. She stifled a laugh as she peeked in from behind one of the compartment's door as she saw Draco holding down her five and a half year old daughter as he continuously tickled her. She slowly opened the door to reveal that she was there, but Draco never relented in his pursuit on tickling her till she begged for mercy.

"You know Draco, you can turn a child blue by tickling her too much…" she said as she watched this scene roll by, arms crossed in front of her as she leaned against the doorframe.

"What!?" Draco exclaimed as he calmed his laughing to speak to Nina, but still continued to tickle the small child who was laughing so hard the whole train could hear it. "She's the one who denied that I could tickle her and actually find her ticklish spots…"

"Really? Well, I guess that's her own doing then, now isn't it? But I suggest you stop tickling her before she dies from lack of oxygen to her brain. And then I'd have to kill you."

"Stopping…" Draco finally relented on his tickling attacks and sat back on the other "couch" of the compartment and smiled as the little girl continued to laugh. "She never seems to stop laughing, now does she?"

"She's five, you expected what from her?" Nina smiled at Draco before walking up to her daughter to attempt to calm her down. "Sam sweetie, you're gonna make yourself suffocate if you don't stop to breath. And then you won't be able to have anymore of that wonderful cheery cheesecake you love oh so much…"

This immediately made the child stop, but not without giving her cousin, Draco, a few glares first. "Hey mommy, when are we going to reach that new place we're gonna be living at?" the child asked as she sat up and took a seat next to her mother.

"Soon, hun. Don't worry. Then you can proceed to run around everywhere and see what it's like. But not before you eat dinner."

"Yay!" Sam jumped up and hugged her mother before letting go and proceeding to do with same with Draco.

"So, answer something for me, will you, Aunt Nina?"

"And what's that, Draco?"

"I was curious, why did you decide to have Sammy here live with you?"

"Well, I couldn't very well leave her alone without me, now could I?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know, just giving you a hard time…"

Just then the door swung open and two stocky men stood there, as though expecting it to only have one of the three there occupying it.

"Who are you?!" asked the taller of the two as he sneered at the young woman and her daughter.

"And what does it matter to you?" she sneered straight back at him, causing him to take a step back.

"Grabbe, Goyle, this is my Aunt Nina. So don't mess with her, she'll rip your heads off." Draco then continued with mumbling, "All four of them."

Nina looked up at him and smirked at what he had said, especially since she had actually heard him and no one else had. Draco looked up at her and smirked back. They sat silently, looking as each other as the thoughts of his previous statement drifted through their minds and stifled back a few chuckles at the images that seemingly danced throughout heads.

"Thanks for the intro, Drake. Look, I have something to do real quickly before we reach Hogwarts. You mind watching Sam?"

"Not at all. Just don't disappear when we get off the train. I don't to be stuck with her for the whole day."

Nina stood up and smirked. "Oh, but I thought you loved her?"

"Out!"

Nina laughed and jumped slightly as she ran out the door, barely missing the small hex that was thrown her way.

''Hogwarts train station''

"Hey, Harry! Harry, over here!"

Harry turned and walked up to his friends. Receiving hugs and pats on the back. "Where were you, mate? We lost you when we got off the train…"

"No where important, Ron. Just had some thinking to do is all."

"Well, at least we found you."

"Oh? How so, Mione?"

"Well, earlier on the train, I think I saw our new DADA professor…"

Ron rolled his eyes and slightly shook his head as he spoke. "I still want to know why you think she's our new DADA professor! We've never seen her before in our lives!"

"Precisely. We've never seen any of our new DADA professors before in our lives. That's the whole point, Ron."

"Alright you two, I think that's enough," interrupted Harry while trying to hold back his small laugh at his two friends' minor bicker. 'These little spats never seem to get old between these two…' "We'll find out later who she is, but until then, I think we should get going. You two can finish arguing about this later when we…"

"Hey look! There she is!"

Harry turned around and looked at the woman that Hermione was pointing to. "Oh, I know her," said Harry as he watched her climb of the train and was rapidly greeted by Hagrid.

"What do you mean you know her? How?"

"Yea mate?"

"Well, that's exactly what I mean." After noticing Hagrid waving for him to come over, Harry turned back to his friends, who had looks of confusion of their faces. "Look, I'll explain when we get to our dorms. But Hagrid needs to talk to me. So I'll see you two there."

Harry waved bye to them and turned towards Hagrid.

''Back with Nina''

Nina Hartsworth carefully climbed off the train, her feet landing perfectly on the ground before her. And just as she let go of the train railings, she heard her name being called. She looked up and smiled as she was greeted by "a giant of a man" as he swept her up in a hug. "Nina, I can't believe yeh made it!"

Nina laughed slightly as Hagrid picked her up slightly from their hug. "It's great to see you again, too, Hagrid."

"So, how yeh been doin' since the las' time I saw yeh?" asked Hagrid as he put her down and parted to take a good look at her. "Yeh've grown a lot since then."

"Well thank you, Hagrid. And it's been ok I guess. Have had better days, but I suppose you know all about that by now, huh?"

"Yes, but don' yeh worry, I won' talk 'bout it 'less yeh want to."

"Thank you, Hagrid."

"Well, suppose we should get goin'." Hagrid turned and waved for someone who was a little ways from where they stood.

The person who he waved to nodded his head slightly and turned to talk one last time to his friends before walking over. "Something you needed, Hagrid?" asked Harry as he reached them.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Dumbledore wanted to see yeh. So I came to fetch yeh myself. As well as Nina here."

"We already met, Hagrid," said Nina lightly as she smiled lightly at Harry. "Haven't we, Harry?"

"Yes. But I don't get it, why would Dumbledore want to talk to me?"

"Yeh'll find out when yeh get there. But I suppose we should be gettin' on our ways…"

"Wait Hagrid, I have to find Draco and see if it's ok if he could watch her a little while longer…"

"I didn't realize yeh brought her here! Dumbledore should be surprised to see her." Hagrid smiled slightly. "I always wanted to see what the little tyke was like…"

Nine smile and shook her head slightly out of amusement before looking around and stopped who she was looking for. "Well, no need to get too excited there, Hagrid. Cause there's my little angel now!"

Nina waved over at Draco, who immediately noticed her and walked over. "Here, take her. She's being a pain," mumbled Draco before handing Nina's daughter back to her, whilst completely ignoring 'the-boy-who-lived'.

"Really?" Nina took her daughter from Draco's arms and smiled. "Are you being a pain to your Cousin Draco?"

The little girl giggled, and without attempting to hide her quilt, quickly admitted to it. "Yes, mama. But it's fun to watch Draco go red!"

Everyone laughed at her remarks, including Harry, earning her a grin from Draco. "So, explain something to me, Aunt Nina…"

"What's that?"

"Why were you defending Potter?"

Harry glared at him, as though attempting to burn a hole through the back of Draco's skull as he stood him front of him.

"Well, I think you already know the answer to that, sweetheart. So, if you don't mind, I have to meet up with Dumbledore. I was going to take her with me to meet him, but since you seem to be so keen as to be annoyed by Sammy here, I figure you can just take her back with you." At this, Draco groaned, but kept what he wanted to say to himself. "So you mind if you watch her again for me while I talk to the headmaster? You can take her to the Slytherin common room to show her around a bit…"

Draco sighed slightly and shook his head before looking back up at his aunt, finding that pleading (and annoying) look that she always gave him. "Fine. But just as long as she doesn't try to hex me again, then I'd be happy to."

"Samantha! Have you tried to hex him again!?"

Samantha ducked slightly, while still in her mother's arms. "No mama. I was just playing…"

"Well, playing or not, don't do it again."

"Yes mama."

Nina shook her head and slightly hid back the smile that wanted to crawl across her lips. "Look sweetie, I'm gonna have Draco take care of you in his Slytherin dorms until I come and get you. I have to talk to Albus before we go back to our own. Ok?"

"Ok mama."

Samantha crawled back into Draco's awaiting arms again after giving her mother a small kiss and light hug. "Be good for him, alright? He's gonna show you around a little bit."

"Alright!"

Draco said his goodbyes, once again completely ignoring Harry, and walked away. Ignoring the glares and confusing looks he received from his housemates and the rest of the Hogwarts student body.

"Well, then, I suppose we should get goin' now." Nina and Harry nodded their heads in agreement and followed Hagrid to their destination.


AN: Aight, there's the first chapter… My original posting of this story, the first chapter was actually shorter but had one other scene that I deleted. Didn't like it when I read over it. Of course, I'm anal like that, so I suppose that makes sense, eh? Hahahaha… But tell me what y'all think and I'll post another chapter of this story soon! Till then! L8z!

Blue Rosed Dragon