Apart from the OC, or otherwise cited, JK Rowling owns the rights to everything in the story.
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A huge thanks to Krista and Lauren for reading over the chapters and helping me edit them.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked into the castle, and Harry's eyes wandered around as he finally began to feel at home. The sight of the Great Hall, the marble stairs, and the group of first years waiting by professor McGonagall with a scared look on their faces was all too familiar; but someone else was with them tonight, someone who didn't seem to fit.
Harry stared at the girl with curiosity and he could see her nervous smile as she carried a conversation with McGonagall. She had long dark hair, milky white skin and piercing green eyes, much like his own. She had a pleasant look on her face but her eyes had a mysterious intensity to them and she seemed to be trying her best to take in her surroundings as McGonagall continued to talk to her, while directing their group to the room where they would be waiting until the Sorting Ceremony.
"I wonder who that is speaking to professor McGonagall" Hermione said. "She doesn't look like anyone I have seen here before"
As Harry turned around, he realized his friends had stopped to see what had caught his attention.
"I don't recognize her either," said Ginny, joining the conversation, "but she looks old enough to be in your grade or higher anyways"
"OI!" Ron called them from the doors leading to the Great Hall, "Are you coming or not? The Sorting Ceremony is about to start and I'm starving!"
Harry, Hermione and Ginny made their way towards Ron, the girls shaking their heads while Harry's thoughts were still on the girl. They sat down just in time as Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall shortly after followed by the first years and, at the very end of the line, the older girl. The Sorting Ceremony proceeded as usual until all first years were called. Harry could see other students staring at girl with confused looks now and he could hear the hushed sounds of students whispering among themselves. The girl had her back towards them, but Harry was sure she could feel all the eyes on her. His attention was soon drawn to the staff table once again as Professor Dumbledore stood up to address the Hall.
"Good evening and welcome back to Hogwarts" The professor looked around the Hall and his wide smile was welcoming, "I am sure you are anxiously waiting for dinner and the chance to catch up with your friends, but before we continue I would like to say a few things. First, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that students are not allowed in the Forbidden Forest…"
Harry was no longer paying attention to the Headmaster. He and Ron were discussing the upcoming season and Quidditch tryouts and it wasn't until Hermione called their names and motioned towards the front of them room that both boys did the same.
"… and last, but not least, I am sure many of you are wondering who our last student to be sorted tonight is. This is the first time Hogwarts has accepted a transfer student and she will be joining the sixth year. I trust you will all welcome her and make her feel at home. Professor?" He said, nodding towards McGonagall.
"Smith, Sofia," called Professor McGonagall.
Sofia sat down and waited for McGonagall to place the hat on her head. It wasn't long after it touched her that she heard it scream, "Gryffindor!" Sofia had never been to Hogwarts before but she knew enough about the school and its houses that she was pleased with the hat's selection. As far as she was concerned, anything other than Slytherin was fine.
She made her way to the table where people were clapping the hardest and sat by some older looking students who had waved her over and were, thankfully, the closest to the front. She could still feel the other students looking her way, but she didn't care; the people around her introduced themselves, and she decided to focus on them alone. As the food appeared in front of them, people slowly turned their attention back to their respective tables and noises of chewing, laughter and stories being told filled the Great Hall within seconds.
One set of eyes had yet to leave her, however. They belonged to a student sitting across the room from her, at the third table down from hers, and he could not bring himself to look away or to believe it was really her. He knew her parents were back in London, he had heard the rumors at the Ministry, but he never thought she would leave her old school and come to Hogwarts. And he wished she hadn't but there she was, sitting two tables over and laughing along with the other Gryffindor's, all at ease whole he himself was far from it. She was a piece of his past he sincerely hoped would stay there and yet here she was, intruding in his well-constructed live.
With great difficulty he tore his eyes away from her and looked down on his plate. It was now filled with delicious food and, although he had been looking forward to this since boarding the express earlier on, he was no longer hungry. His father had barely managed to escape the Ministry in time during the mission that had resulted in many of the Death Eaters being captured, but the Dark Lord had not forgiven Lucius and his punishment had been severe. Although he was still in a valuable position at the Ministry, things at the Manor had been very tense lately, which meant Draco was already stressed and under a lot of pressure; he did not need her adding to his pile.
"Draco, are you ok?" The distant voice of his ex-girlfriend, Pansy, asked.
"I'm fine," was all he grumbled in response.
He did his best to eat but he didn't say much. Sofia's presence had his head spinning and had unlocked a chaos of emotions that Draco was usually so good at keeping under control. The most surprising one was fear. He would never admit it out loud, it was hard enough admitting it to himself, but there was no denying it; her presence scared him, which in turn made him very angry. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's were not scared of anything, or anyone.
Sofia was doing her best to keep up with the group of Gryffindor's as they moved towards their common room, but she couldn't stop glancing around at the crowd. She knew he was here, somewhere close, and she knew she should be scared and angry but she wasn't either. She was anxious, and she was hurt. It had been years now, but the hurt from the words said had never truly left her. It went away for the most part, helped greatly by the fact they were in different countries and that they hadn't seen each other since she was ten, but it never left her entirely.
She stopped walking as the group reached a curious portrait at the end of a hallway, the Fat Lady someone near said. Ahead of her a girl with curly brown hair was announcing to other students the first password of the year, Bravery.
"How fitting," Sofia thought, "I will definitely need to be brave if I'm going to survive this."
Once inside the common room, the curly haired girl approached her, closely followed by another girl and guy with bright red hair, and a guy with untamed black locks and a lightening scar. She had wondered when, and if, she would meet Harry Potter.
"Hi, I am Hermione Granger. These are Ron and Ginny Weasley, and that's Harry Potter." the curly haired girl said with a smile on her face. Sofia shook their hands. "All of us are in the sixth year as well, except for Ginny, who is in her fifth year. You will be in the room with me and the other girls from our year. If you are ready, I can show you where it is."
"That would be wonderful"
Sofia turned and followed Hermione to their room. Once she introduced herself to the other girls and checked on her bed and trunk, she followed Hermione back to the common room where she stayed with their group until later that night. Once she started yawning, she got up, wished them all a good night and went to bed. She lay in bed ready to sleep, but her mind kept going back to Draco and sleep took a long time to come.
Lying in his bed in the dungeons, Draco Malfoy couldn't stop thinking about her as well.
The next morning Sofia woke up very early, not because she was well rested but because thoughts of a certain blond man had kept her restless. She was furious with herself for letting the simple idea of being in the same school as him mess with her emotions so easily. Didn't she decide long ago he wasn't worth it? Hadn't she learned to let it go? As she thought about it her hand made its way to her necklace and pendent, as it always did when she thought of him and it was such a strong habit she no longer noticed it. The necklace, which as far as anyone else knew was purchased by her, had never left her neck once he put it there, not even after that one last day… No, she couldn't think about it now, she couldn't do that to herself again.
After lying in bed for as long as she could, she finally gave up on ever going back to sleep and quietly got up and dressed. Thinking about where to go next she left her room and made her way down to the common room where she found Harry sitting in an arm chair by the fire, looking as tired as she felt.
"Morning," she said, causing Harry to jump and turn towards her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. Actually I didn't think I would find anyone else here." She said, sitting down on the arm chair across from his.
"Good Morning. I wasn't expecting anyone here this early either." He said, trying to stop a yawn, "I don't usually get up this early but I just couldn't sleep… too much on my mind. What are you doing up so early?"
"The same… Well, I guess I am going to get some breakfast"
"I'll join you" Harry said, standing up.
"Don't you need to wait for your friends? Sofia asked.
"They will be down soon enough" Harry replied casually.
The pair made their way out of the common room and Harry guided Sofia towards the Great Hall. Sofia looked around, trying to remember all the turns they took, determined to memorize her way around as soon as possible.
"It will take me a long time to find my way around; this place is a lot different from my old school." Noticing the curious look on Harry's face, Sofia went on, "I used to attend Beauxbatons. My parents and I moved to France when I was ten and we just moved back to England. I am sure you are familiar with them, given the Triwizard Tournament and all. Fleur and the other students told us all about you actually"
Harry's faced turned a little red at the mention of Fleur, but he wasn't comfortable discussing the events of that year so he quickly changed the subject.
"So, why did you move to France in the first place?"
"My parents work for the Ministry of Magic, and they were assigned to a division in France. All countries have representatives of their magical community living abroad and on behalf of their Ministries, and my parents were representing ours there. They got assigned to something else here, and that's why moved back." Sensing his next question, she went on "I was supposed to stay at Beauxbatons, but my parents wanted me to stay closer to them and decided to send me to Hogwarts instead. I understand them, but I'm sad I had to leave my friends behind."
"I would be too, but you will enjoy Hogwarts. Apart from a few people, everyone around here is great."
Sofia didn't have to ask whom he was referring to. She might have lived the past few years in France, but she was no stranger to the happenings in England and she knew about the Malfoy's, and every other dark wizard, animosity towards Harry.
"I am sure I will enjoy it, it will just take me a few days to get situated. Is it always this long from our Common Room to the Great Hall"
"It might actually be longer" Harry said, pulling aside a tapestry and gesturing for Sofia to go through first "We are taking a couple of shortcuts"
"Oh" she replied, looking a little nervous now.
"Don't worry about it, there are plenty of us you can follow to and from the Common Room until you get your bearings"
"How long did it take you?"
"About a week"
Sofia grunted, but didn't responds and they continue to walk in silence. They soon made it to the Gryffindor table; the room was almost empty but it wasn't long after they sat down and began eating that more people made their way in. In an effort to avoid seeing Draco, Sofia had sat with her back towards the Slytherin table and she kept her eyes away from the doors the entire time.
A few minutes later Hermione, Ron, Ginny and a boy named Neville joined them and they ate and talked until mail arrived and her father's owl landed in front of her. The sigh of hundreds of owls filling in startled Sofia but she soon had untied the parcel from her father's owl. She let it eat some of her cereal before it took off again while she read her parents' letter. They were asking about her first impressions as well as asking her to write back once the week was over and she had settled in. Throughout breakfast Sofia had to retell her story to Hermione and Ron, as well as answer some of their questions and ask her own about them. She was beginning to enjoy their company a lot, especially Hermione's whom seemed to be very interested in reading. When breakfast was almost done, Professor McGonagall approached the Gryffindor table and began to allot their schedules. It took a while, as she had to check on everyone's OWL's results, including Sofia's. She had had to take the test at the Ministry, a week before term began, in order to attend Hogwarts. After going over them together, Sofia was pleased to realize that she would have at least one of the trio with her in every single one of her classes. Her heart sank a little once she realized Gryffindors shared a lot of classes with Slytherins, but she made up her mind that she would not let Draco ruin things for her.
Their first class of the day was Ancient runes and Sofia walked to the classroom while deliberating with Hermione what new spells they would be learning while Harry and Ron trailed behind discussing Quidditch once again. They went their separate ways soon, as the boys headed back to the Common Room for a free period and the girls continued to class. By the end of class, it was clear to everyone that Hermione had met her match in Sofia, who was just as smart and ready to answer any questions. The girls had worked together as a pair during their assignment and judging by their smiles it was obvious that both girls had really hit it off.
After their first class, Hermione and Sofia met Ron and Harry and they headed to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, with the Slytherins. While they walked, Sofia was trying not to be nervous as she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid running into Malfoy now and if all she had already heard about Snape was true, this class was going to be a nightmare. The announcement that Snape would be teaching DADA classes this years had been met with great protest by all expect from his own House, a piece of news that had only been overshadowed by Dumbledore's address on the Dark Lord's return.
The four of them settled into chairs towards the back, the furthest away from both Snape and Malfoy. Sofia knew, within a few minutes, that all she had heard was true: Snape was not to be messed with, and he hated her House. After lunch and a quick free period, in which the girls decided to begin on their Ancient Runes homework, they made their way to the Dungeons for their very first class with the new Potions teacher. Once again, they set as far away from the Slytherins as possible, to Sofia's great delight. However the general mood in the room took a hit as Professor Snape arrived, as Slughorn informed them that Snape would be observing this first lesson.
After being told about the potions around the room, Sofia managing to answer one of the questions, they were giving their instructions and as Harry walked away to get the necessary ingredients he was missing Sofia, who was also missing some, followed him. She held her breath as she walked by Malfoy who was busy weighting something and didn't seem to notice her. With their ingredients in hand Sofia and Harry began to make their way back to table and that was when Draco turned, heading to get ingredients himself, and his eyes met hers for the first time in years.
To them the mood in the room changed instantly and things were suddenly happening in slow motion as they stared into each other's eyes. His gray eyes were icy orbs full of usual loathing but Sofia recognized a hint of something else and her breathing stopped. Just as quickly as it happened it was gone and he walked past her, head held high, and without a word. When he was gone, Sofia made her way back to her friends and began to work on her potion, but her mind was racing. Did she imagine that? Had Draco Malfoy really revealed a hint of his old self to her? She tried her best to concentrate in her work. She noticed, with a start, that Snape was watching her from behind Slughorn's desk and her heart began to beat even faster.
Across the room Malfoy tried his best to concentrate on the instructions and his cauldron, but he couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. He knew they would eventually run into each other but he didn't expect it to be so soon, and he didn't expect it to be when he was caught off guard. She had changed since they last saw each other, but he still recognized that face.
"She is as beautiful as always" he thought, before mentally smacking himself. "Don't start with that now Draco, it's not worth it," he thought.
"You have 5 minutes"
Professor Slughorn's voice brought Draco back to reality. He didn't know how, but he had managed to produce a very good potion, as always. He would never care to admit it to anyone else, but he enjoyed potions and always did well in class. Of course many were certain his grades were because of Snape but he was fine with that. When the five minutes were up, professor Slughorn came around checking everyone's potions and to everyone's great surprise, he presented Potter with the little bottle of Felix Felicis. Snape's look was almost scary, as he walked over to Harry's caldron to look over his work. To her great surprise, Snape moved from Harry's to hers, where he stood intently watching her potion.
"Once you have cleaned your area, you are free to go" Professor Slughorn announced.
"Ms. Smith, I would like a word with you before you leave" Professor Snape said.
Everyone turned to gaze at Sofia and her heart sank. Looking around she could see sympathy and concern from her fellow Gryffindor's as well as laugher and looks of malice from a few Slytherins so she quickly looked down. Once she was done cleaning her area she walked over to Professor Snape, who didn't address her until the room was empty.
"This morning I received an owl from your previous portion's master, he obviously he didn't know I no longer teach potions. He spoke very highly of you and your abilities with potions. That was a very impressive potion you just produced, but it is too early to decide whether or not I believe Mr. Edward. He also mentioned he used to tutor you after school, in order to develop your skills. He advised me to continue the work with you. Would you want that Ms. Smith?"
"Um.. I… err, I suppose so Professor"
"I will be watching your performance in this class very closely for the next few days. I don't usually tutor my students, unless they are in need of remedial potions, but your former Professor is most insistent. I will only honor his request if I believe you have true talent. Are we clear Ms. Smith?"
"Yes sir."
"You may leave now."
Sofia left the room and hurried to her next class. Thankfully, she made it in right before her Muggle Studies teacher did and sat by Hermione, who had saved her a seat. Later on the girls met the guys for dinner and Sofia proceeded to tell them what Snape had said. Harry and Ron had looks of pure shock, disgust, and horror when she told them she had agreed to take private lessons with Snape, if he found her worth of such a thing.
"I don't think you realize just how evil he is," Protested Ron.
"He is going to make your life miserable. You should tell him you changed your mind" Joined Harry.
They turned to Hermione, wanting her to come to their help, but she was staring at Sofia with a thoughtful look.
"I think its brilliant Sofia, it will give you a chance to continue with your studies. I wish it didn't have to be Professor Snape, but maybe he will go easy on you since you are new and so interested in his subject." She looked at both Ron and Harry whose mouths mirrored a perfect "O" and continued "Oh just stop it! It's not like he offered it to you two. Sofia will be fine!"
"You really think so?" Sofia asked once she stopped laughing at the boy's faces. "I mean, I am a Gryffindor and I hang out with you guys, shouldn't that count against me?"
"Just give it a try, if it doesn't work out, you can just drop it. We don't even know that he will teach you. No offense" She quickly added "Well, I'm heading to the library to start on all this homework. Anyone else want to come?"
Sofia nodded yes and the girls left. Later on, while waiting for sleep to come, Sofia thought back on her first day and the look in Malfoy's eye. Her stomach turning, she tried to push him out of her mind and she finally fell asleep several long minutes later.
