Chapter 1

Sam

Samantha smoothed the front of her shirt nervously as she sat in her massive bedroom. In the corner of her room, her white dog Unna was lazing in the sunshine that was streaming in through the large bay windows. As if on cue, her mother and father walked through the door and smiled dotingly at their only child. "What's going on?" Samantha asked cautiously.

"Well," her mother began, her large blue eyes focusing on her daughter's brown "we have some exciting news Samantha!" Her father smiled down at her, his neatly trimmed beard accenting his kind face. Samantha eyed her parents shrewdly, suspiciously, encouraging her mother to continue. "We know how eager you are continue at Salem-" Samantha's heart sank a bit. She didn't like where this conversation was heading. Samantha was preparing to enter her sixth year at the Salem Witches' Institute in Massachusetts where she was the top of her class.

"And we know you love attending Salem-" her father continued on the trail where her mother left off. "But we think it's time for you to be properly – er – socialized," he finished awkwardly

"Socialized," Samantha repeated dryly. Her mother nodded eagerly, her blue eyes shining.

"We're sending you to Hogwarts for your last two years!" Her mother said this as happily as if Samantha had won a cauldron full of Galleons. Samantha narrowed her eyes at her mother. "Oh dear, don't look so disappointed," she lilted. "It will be good for you to see a new part of the world, to meet new people, and, for once, to actually go to a coed school."

"But I'm top of my class at Salem," Samantha began, hoping her parents had, in their temporary madness, forgotten this fact.

"Precisely why you need a change of scenery," her father said happily. "You've become too comfortable at Salem. It's time for a challenge!"

"We'll be leaving for London tomorrow-" her mother began.

"But tomorrow is Adri's birthday! And the semester starts in a week!" Samantha whined. Her father sighed deeply.

"Sammy," he began, "it's time for you to get out there and see the world." He patted his daughter on the head as if she was still a toddler, ruffling her soft brown hair before heading for the door. "Start packing. We leave early. Oh, and your first term at Hogwarts begins in two days."

"Make sure you bring anything you'll want for the school year from home," her mother chirped as she flitted out the door with her father.

Samantha sat dumbfounded on her bed for a full five minutes after her parents had left. Leave Salem? ...she thought They must be insane. Samantha stood up, her body heavy, and walked to her mirror. She examined her reflection closely. While not immediately striking, Sam had a certain girl next door quality that earned her many second looks when she encountered the opposite sex. She had long brown hair, big, deep brown eyes, and skin that had been sunkissed from many hours outdoors with her father. She had a slender, toned body accented by what her mother had deemed as "lovely, hereditary curves." Since before she could walk, her father had insisted that he take Sam along on all of his outdoor pursuits. Her dresser was littered with photos of her and her father kayaking in Lake Tahoe, hiking in the Grand Canyon, and, the most recent and impressive, a photo of her and her father at the summit of Mount McKinley. Sam was smiling broadly and waving animatedly at the camera while her father had one of his burly arms draped over her shoulders, looking exhausted but proud. Sam's favorite of these, though, was the photo of her very first ride on her very first pony, Marbles. She was giggling excitedly while her father, his long, brown beard (that, along with his penchant for flannel shirts and jeans, often made him look like a lumberjack) hiding his face, was holding two year old Sam around her waist. Since that first pony ride fourteen years ago, Samantha had become quite an accomplished equestrienne. Her many medals and trophies sat proudly on a shelf above her dresser along with her father's favorite photo which, coincidentally, was the one Samantha was least keen on displaying: it was a photo of Samantha's first ride on a Nimbus broom. She was flailing pathetically, unable to get a firm enough grip. Ironic, really, Samantha thought bitterly to herself Isaac Nimbus' own daughter can't even sit up straight on a broom. Even though Samantha's grandfather had founded the Nimbus Racing Broom Company when Sam's father had been a boy, and Sam came from a long line of successful Quidditch players, she had no talent for flying whatsoever. Sam sighed as she gathered up her photos (even the one of her on the broom, as she knew she'd receive it by owl if she didn't bring it with her) and placed them gently onto her bed. She pulled her old trunk out from under her bed and resigned herself to packing her things before bed, preparing to travel half way around the world the next morning.

The next morning, Sam was awoken by an urgent tapping on her large window. She sat up, half asleep, and stumbled towards the window, accidentally treading on Unna's tail on the way, the dog waking with a loud yelp. Samantha looked down at her faithful pet guiltily and patted her on the head. When Sam opened her curtains, the early morning sunlight flooded her green and yellow room. She saw her best friend Adrienne's owl perched on the sill. Sam opened her window and untied the note around the shiny black owl's outstretched leg. "Thanks, Obsidian," she yawned as she gave the owl a friendly scratch under his wing. The owl cooed back happily as Sam read the note:

Sammy,

Just heard the news. Coming over ASAP to stop whatever is going on. Are your parents crazy? See you soon.

Adri

As soon as Sam was about to send Obsidian back to Adri with a response, the sound of the large knocker on the front door echoed through the quiet house. Sam sighed and headed out of her room and down the enormous spiral staircase to her front door. She shuddered as her bare feet hit the ice cold marble of her house's front room. As soon as she had opened the front door, her best friend Adrienne Whitehorn came bounding inside, her blonde curls bouncing excitedly. "What in the world is going on?" she squealed.

"My parents are sending me to Hogwarts," Sam stated simply. Her voice contained none of the excited indignation of Adrienne's. Adrienne, apparently aghast at the fact that Sam wasn't taking this as seriously as receiving a Dementor's Kiss, replied "And you're actually going?" Sam was about to reply when she heard footsteps heading down the stairs. Adrienne's boisterous entrance had woken her parents.

"Hello Adri." Sam's father greeted Samantha's oldest friend as if she were a member of the family, his booming voice betraying any traces of tiredness. Sam's mother, Anna, followed behind her husband still wearing her nightgown.

"Good morning Adrienne," she said sleepily. "Are you hungry?"

"Hungry? Hungry?" she screeched. "How can I think about food when my best friend is leaving forever? As a matter of fact," she continued in a low whisper, "I believe this calls for a hunger strike." The Nimbuses had grown accustomed to Adrienne's flair for the dramatic. Mr. Nimbus smiled at her good-naturedly and led her and his daughter to the kitchen. Mrs. Nimbus took a seat at the driftwood table that sat in the large kitchen and conjured up four large mugs of coffee as Mr. Nimbus began frying bacon.

"Hogwarts will be good for Sam," Mrs. Nimbus said, smiling lovingly at her daughter.

"But she's number one in our class at Salem!" Adri protested as she stirred cream into her coffee.

"It'll be ok, Adri. You'll still have Megan and Krista," Sam said in a soft voice that matched her mother's. Megan and Krista were Adri and Sam's two closest friends away from home.

"But it won't be the saaaaame," Adri continued dramatically. "They haven't known me as long as you have!" Indeed, Sam and Adri had practically been joined at the hip ever since their mothers had met during a shopping trip at Paul Revere's Potion Supplies when the girls were just toddlers. Mr. Nimbus joined the women at the table, carrying a large plate of bacon and fried eggs. The plates he had bewitched to float behind him settled on the table in front of each of them.

"It'll be good for Sam to meet new people," he said as he served the two girls large portions of eggs and bacon.

"Oh!" Adri exclaimed, a thought occurring to her suddenly "There are boys at Hogwarts, aren't there?" Sam rolled her eyes. Ever since kindergarten, Adrienne had a habit of chasing boys. Even now, she was dating at least two different boys. Adrienne, with her long, blonde curly hair, her emerald green eyes, and her curvy body, never had any trouble attracting the opposite sex. Sam had always taken a more modest approach. She had only ever had one boyfriend, something that Adri liked to bring up at every opportunity. Although her friends had always been encouraging about meeting new guys, Sam had her own reasons for not wanting to jump into a relationship too quickly. "Sam," she continued breathlessly, "you'll get to meet British boys!" Sam tucked in to her breakfast, trying to ignore her best friend chirping on about all of the expansive dating opportunities at Hogwarts.

After a quick breakfast, Sam and Adri headed up to Samantha's bedroom to finish some last minute packing. Well, Sam did most of the packing as Adri flopped onto Samantha's bed and rifled through the stuff in Sam's nightstand. "Unna," Sam called to her large white dog who had changed sleeping under the window for sleeping on a pile of Sam's clean clothes. The dog stirred and glared sleepily at Samantha. "It's time to wake up. We're leaving." Unna yawned and rolled over. Sam sighed as she attempted to pull her favorite cardigan out from under the dog. "Well," Sam said to Adri after she had packed the last of her clothes, "I guess it's time." Adri pouted up at her from the bed and begrudgingly got up to see her best friend off, Unna following Sam as she headed down. They walked out to the large, manicured front lawn where Sam's parents were waiting patiently. Her father bewitched the luggage so that it fit easily inside of Mrs. Nimbus' purse, and waited for her daughter to say goodbye to her friend. "Promise you'll write me every day to tell me how things are going at Salem," Sam demanded.

"Of course," Adri squeaked through the tears that were now streaming down her porcelain face. "And you write me as soon as you get there and tell me all about Hogwarts." Sam swore she would do exactly that, embraced her friend tightly, and joined her parents next to the old candy wrapper that would act as their portkey. Sam waved sadly to her best friend, grabbed hold of the portkey with one hand and her dog's collar with another, and, before she even had time to say another goodbye, she was on her way to England.

Despite Sam's opposition to leaving her beloved Salem Institute, she couldn't deny that she was excited to see wizarding London. The portkey had dropped the family right behind the Leaky Cauldron, near the entrance to Diagon Alley. Samantha was excited to begin exploring the shops as soon as they arrived, but her parents insisted that they check in to their rooms and get some rest before heading out. Sam sighed, annoyed at her parents, and followed them into the Leaky Cauldron and sat down at a small table for dinner. The owner of the Leaky Cauldron who introduced himself as Tom served them all large mugs of pumpkin juice, collected their luggage and Unna, and assured the Nimbuses that everything would be waiting for them in their rooms. Sam began looking around at the warmly lit dining room, taking in all the different characters who were surely regulars at the pub. That was when she saw him. Sitting amongst a large group of people, many of whom had flaming red hair, was a tall, athletic looking boy whose red hair hung in front of his mischievous brown eyes. He caught Sam's eye, noticing she was looking at him, and smiled slyly at her. Sam felt her cheeks flush and she turned away, quickly engrossing herself in her father's conversation about the Bulgarian Quidditch team's order of Firebolts.

Fred Weasley was sitting at a large dinner table in the Leaky Cauldron with his family and the members of the Order of the Phoenix. As the adults' conversation turned to the current state at the Ministry of Magic, Fred began lazily looking around the room. His brother George was talking to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, while his youngest brother, Ron, was talking to Tonks about her shapeshifting abilities. As Fred's gaze casually drifted to the door of the Leaky Cauldron, he saw three people enter the dining room. He took in the appearance of a large man with a brown beard, a small woman with large, blue eyes, and trailing behind them . . . Fred elbowed his twin, who turned to him with a questioning look. Fred muttered under his breath, "Look, over there." George took in Sam's appearance. Her tan, toned legs were covered by a pair of denim shorts, and her turquoise tanktop was accentuating her curves. She had her long brown hair tied back into a ponytail, revealing her high cheekbones and large, brown eyes. "She's something, isn't she?" Fred said, almost hungrily. Since his first year at Hogwarts, Fred Weasley had gained a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a shameless woman chaser. George nodded in agreement.

"She's definitely no Pansy Parkinson," he said, though his enthusiasm over the girl's looks were no match for Fred's. Fred watched her as she sat down with her family, examining the way she took in her surroundings. Her eyes were bright, intelligent, sharp. Just as Fred was drinking in the sight of what he had convinced himself would be his new conquest, Tonks had clumsily knocked over her glass of pumpkin juice, pulling Fred's eyes away from the girl momentarily. When he looked back, however, he noticed she was looking too. Fred smiled at her and she quickly turned back, her cheeks turning pink. The new color to her face made her even more attractive to Fred, who continued to watch her as she conversed with her parents. I'm going to have you, he thought at Sam. I'm going to have you and you're going to love it.

Sam ate her soup quickly, eager to escape the dining room and the red-haired boy's piercing stare. As soon as she was finished, she informed her parents she was heading outside to venture into Diagon Alley. "I don't think so, Sammy," her father said. "It's pretty late and we should probably hit the hay. We'll go shopping tomorrow." Sam checked her watch and noticed that it was nearly nine o'clock. Hardly what a seventeen year old girl would consider late, but she knew her father would have them all up with the sun for an early breakfast and even earlier shopping. Sam began walking up the stairs and, before she reached the middle of the staircase, chanced a backwards glance at the red-haired boy. She noticed with horror that he was staring at her again. She rushed upstairs after her parents, her cheeks flushing. Sam bid her parents goodnight and hurried into her room. Unna was stretched out on Sam's bed, sleeping peacefully. As Sam undressed and began to change into a soft pair of volleyball shorts and a white T-shirt for bed, she couldn't shake the image of the boy from downstairs. There was something . . . odd about the way he had been staring at her . . . something . . . predatory. She lay down on the bed and sank into the feather comforter. She continued to think about the boy as she began to drift in and out of sleep. Finally, she yawned deeply and fell asleep.

It seemed that Sam had only just closed her eyes when the loud rapping on her door told her that her dad was already up. "Sammy, time to get up! See you downstairs in five minutes for breakfast." Sam sat up and yawned. Unna stretched next to Sam, stood up over the girl's face, and gave her a lick.

"Alright, alright," Sam said giggling, "I'm up!" She pushed Unna away gently and sat up in bed. She rummaged through her trunk until she pulled out a short, white sundress and a pair of brown leather flip-flops. As she slipped into the dress and shoes, she checked her appearance in the mirror. She quickly ran a brush through her hair and applied some mascara before leaving Unna a bowl of dog food and a fresh dish of water. She scratched her dog behind her ears before heading downstairs to meet her parents. Sam sat down at a table with her parents and began nibbling absently on a piece of toast while her mother and father looked over the Hogwarts book list. Much to her chagrin, most of the same group from the night before was occupying the large table, including the red-haired boy. A plump woman, also with red hair, was bustling around the group talking about needing to start shopping for supplies early as Diagon Alley would be full of other Hogwarts students soon. Sam secretly hoped she wouldn't run into any of them while shopping with her parents. Sam was pulled away from her eavesdropping by her mother. "Are you ready to go, Samantha?" her mother asked as she left a Galleon on the table. Samantha's parents had always been very generous tippers. Sam nodded and rose from the table, following her parents through the door of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Er – how exactly do we get into Diagon Alley?" Sam asked.

"Hmm . . . the bartender told me last night, but I seem to have forgotten. I'll just go back in and ask," Mr. Nimbus said as he headed towards the door. Just as he reached the door, however, the large group of red heads emerged behind the plump woman, along with a boy with black hair and a girl with bushy brown hair. "Ah!" Mr. Nimbus thundered at their appearance. "Sorry to bother you all, but - "

"Oh, you're American!" the plump woman interjected genially "You probably need help getting through to Diagon Alley." She began to tap the bricks on the wall, causing it to open large enough for all of them to get through. As they all poured into Diagon Alley, Mr. Nimbus thanked the woman.

"I'm Isaac Nimbus," Samantha heard her father say. "This is my wife Anna, and my daughter Sammy – er, Samantha," he corrected.

"Molly Weasley," the woman returned warmly as she introduced her children Ron and Ginny, along with a girl who Sam learned was named Hermione Granger and a boy whose name Sam already knew, Harry Potter. "And these two," Mrs. Weasley said, indicating the tall twin boys, "are Fred and George." The red-haired boy from last night, whose name was evidently Fred, quickly found Sam and flashed her a sneaky smile. Sam felt her cheeks begin to go pink.

"Do you own the Nimbus Racing Broom Company?" the boy named Ron blurted at Sam's father. He laughed good-naturedly and replied in the affirmative. "Wow," he said, looking impressed.

"Thank you for your help, Molly," Isaac said, shaking her hand.

"Yes, thank you very much," Anna echoed in her soft voice.

Sam, who hadn't spoken at all during this exchange, suddenly felt words awkwardly tumbling from her lips. "I guess I'll see you guys at Hogwarts?" She blushed a deeper shade of pink as Fred smiled at her.

"Hoping to, Sammy," he said in a deep, mocking voice. Samantha shot a quick glare at Fred and decided that she didn't like him very much at all, especially because, the first time they spoke, he made her feel as though she couldn't form a coherent sentence. Mrs. Weasley bustled away with her brood in the direction of a large white building and Samantha and her family went the opposite direction towards the bookstore. As far as Sam was concerned, she couldn't wait to get as far away as possible from Fred Weasley in case she decided to say anything else embarrassing.

As Sam perused the books in Flourish and Blotts, she knew exactly what Adri would be saying about Fred. "Oh, Sam, you think he's handsomeeeee. That's obviously why you got so embarrassed!" Thinking about Adri's reaction to Fred cheered Sam up a bit and she continued to examine the books in front of her. Samantha loved to read and devoured books hungrily. She jumped as she heard her father clear her throat behind her. "Sammy, aren't you supposed to be looking for your school books?" Sam smiled at her father sheepishly.

"Sorry Dad, got distracted," she admitted.

"No problem kiddo, I knew you would so I already grabbed what you'd need. Let's go pay for these and find your mom," her father lead the way to the front of the store to pay for the books before adding, "I think she's picking up an owl for you so you can keep in touch with us during the year." Sam's heart leapt at the idea of having her own owl. Sam adored animals of any kind. Along with her dog, Unna, she owned two horses, Oliver and Remy and her old pony Marbles. She never, however, had ever had an owl of her own. Sam smiled at the thought of her pets, wondering what they were up to now. She imagined cantankerous old Marbles eating his way through the entire barn while Remy and Oliver tore through the large paddock they called home. Lost in her thoughts about her pets, Sam hardly noticed when she ran into someone in the middle of the store, knocking their books right out of their hands. Sam apologized profusely as she bent to pick up the fallen books. As she straightened herself up, she was face to face yet again with Fred Weasley. "Fancy meeting you here," he said with a smile as he tucked The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 under his arm.

"I'm really sorry, I was just in a bit of a rush and I didn't see where I was going - " Sam was talking very quickly as she felt her cheeks begin to flush yet again. She was infuriated that a perfect stranger could have this effect on her speaking abilities.

"It's fine," Fred said easily, apparently taking great delight in Sam's embarrassment. "Just have your dad send me a Firebolt and we'll be even." He flashed her a cheeky grin before turning to rejoin his twin brother. Sam sighed, annoyed, as she walked towards the front of the store where her father was waiting.

"What was that all about?" her father asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," Sam replied with another annoyed sigh. "Where's mom?"

"She hasn't come back from buying your owl yet, so I thought we'd meet her there." Sam's excitement at receiving her own owl returned, and she followed her father out of the bookstore and into a dark shop called Eelyops Owl Emporium. Sam looked around excitedly, taking in the beautiful Snowy owls asleep on their perches, the strange-looking Barn owls who were hooting quietly, and the tiny Screech owls who were observing the store through their large eyes. High up in a lonely cage above the counter, however, Sam saw a single owl all by itself that looked nothing like the others. The owl was large and white, with dark rings around its large, brown eyes. Its beautiful white feathers were streaked through vertically with brown, and brown rings encircled its neck and head, making it look as though it were wearing a striped cowl. The owl looked nervous and was turning its head side to side at every little noise. Sam saw her mother at the counter trying to decide between a small brown screech owl or a very large, very haughty looking barn owl. The shopkeeper, an old, irritable looking man, was standing behind the counter waiting for Mrs. Nimbus to make up her mind.

"What do you think, dear?" she asked, noticing her husband walk through the door.

"Well, which one is better for long journeys?" Mr. Nimbus addressed the question toward the shopkeeper, who rolled his eyes as if he had been asked this question at least twenty times by Sam's mother. Before the man could answer, Sam asked eagerly, "How long have you had the Barred owl?"

"Barred owl?" the man snapped back at her, "I think you mean Barn owls, and we've had them since - "

"No," Sam interrupted, "the Barred owl. The one above the counter."

"Oh, he flew in a few weeks ago. Must've been blown off course, poor thing. I took him in, waitin' to see if anyone would claim him but he's been here ever since," he replied, his demeanor softening a great deal as his focus shifted away from his needy customer and onto his owls.

"Is he for sale?" Sam asked, her eyes bright.

"Hmm, not sure. I've grown rather fond of the little fellow, but . . . you swear to it that he'll have a good home with you?" he asked, extremely serious.

"I swear," Sam replied, her tone just as earnestly serious as the shopkeepers.

"Then he's yours for four Galleons." Sam paid the man out of her own pocket and happily took the cage as the man handed it to her. Sam and her new owl, along with her parents who were weighted down by the day's shopping, headed back to their room at the Leaky Cauldron. Sam had decided to return on her own after lunch to purchase her uniform so that her parents could stay behind and pack for their trip home.

After a quick lunch, Sam headed back into Diagon Alley alone to purchase her Hogwarts uniform. As she walked into Madam Malkin's and noticed that all of the Hogwarts robes were plain black, her heart sank a bit. Sixth and seventh years at the Salem Institute were allowed to wear whatever color robes they pleased, and Samantha had been looking forward to purchasing shocking pink robes along with her three best friends. Resigning herself to the fact that she would indeed have to wear the boring black Hogwarts robes, Sam ventured further into the store to get measured.

After an uneventful purchase, Sam walked back out into Diagon Alley and began heading back for the Leaky Cauldron. As she walked past Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, she heard someone let out a low whistle. Sam turned abruptly, annoyed, expecting to see Fred Weasley and his twin brother, but instead saw a tall, dark haired boy sitting at a table, accompanied by a few friends. "I haven't seen you around before," the boy noted, sounding intrigued. "Do you go to Hogwarts?"

"I'm starting tomorrow," Sam replied.

"Ohhh, you're American," the boy said, sounding even more intrigued. His friends shot each other a look that was hard to read. "I'm Sebastian Rone," he said, introducing himself. "And your name is?"

"Samantha Nimbus," she replied, feeling more and more uncomfortable. She didn't like the penetrating stare he was fixing her with.

"Well Samantha," he said casually, his eyes traveling up and down her body, making her feel utterly exposed, "would you like to join my friends and I? We were just discussing the finer points of Quidditch." Sam figured he had either noticed her last name or was trying to rope her into a discussion of something neutral that was at the same time something that most people would be eager to discuss.

"I really need to get back to my family," she said, a bit nervously.

"Alright," the boy said, still keeping the casual tone to his voice. "Hope to see you around school," he added as Sam turned to leave.

As Sam flopped into her bed, her new owl snoozing happily on her nightstand and Unna stretched out on the floor, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited about going to Hogwarts. Sure, she would miss her friends back home and her parents, but Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the best schools in the world. She turned on her side to admire her new owl, his head tucked snugly beneath his wing. "You need a name," she murmured to him. Sam's eyes fell on a T-shirt lying next to the night stand with the Salem Institute crest emblazoned across the front. "Salem it is then," she said, smiling. The owl blearily opened an eye and hooted softly. Unna leapt onto the bed, not keen on being ignored, and curled up next to Sam. She scratched Unna behind her ears absentmindedly as she thought about what the school year would be like.