Chapter 1

An Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the potterverse characters. If I did then a lot of characters that died in the books would still be alive and Harry would have never called his son Albus Severus. Neither Zac Efron or Daniel Radcliff are mine too, but a girl can dream.

Remus strolled silently down the empty corridor. It was late Sunday night and he was on prefect duty. Sirius was off with who knows what girl; James was probably trying to hit on Lily for the 756th time; and Peter was most likely in bed.

Subconsciously rubbing the newest scar on his arm, Remus turned the corner into yet another deserted hallway. He was just about to decide that the corridors of Hogwarts are safe enough and he might as well head back up to the common room when he heard a loud POP-not unlike the sound of someone apparating-behind him.

He turned around sharply, looking everywhere for the source of the noise. i It wouldn't be a student, /i he thought, i Most of them don't know how to apparate yet. /i

Turning around again, checking if they had run behind him in his moment of surprise.

i Wait a sec, /i he hesitated, pulling himself together, i You CANT apparate in or out of Hogwarts. /i

Severely confused, he thought of any other possible reason why he had heard the noise. i A house elf? /i He thought. i But why would they leave the kitchen to go to an empty corridor? /i

Turning around again for a second look, he spotted a mass of black lying on the floor, something glinting next to it.

Moving cautiously over, he noticed that the heap was a girl. Panicking, he drew out his wand and pointed it and the still figure. Shaking, he whispered the first spell that came to his head: "Ennervate". i What use will that do though? /i He thought to himself, i Ennervate is for stunned people. She doesn't look as if she's been stunned at all. /i

But to his major surprise the girl started to stir. He bent down, slightly more relived, holding out a hand to help her up. She took it with one hand, using the other to push herself to her feet.

"Thanks."

"Are you ok?" He asked worriedly, pulling her up and looking her in the face, checking for any sign of a hex.

"Yeh, I-" But as she bushed her hair out her eyes and looked back at him her face split into a mixture of shock, glee and by the dim light cast by the torches set on the walls in the corridor he swore he saw a tinge of red appear on hear cheeks.

But whatever sign of shock or joy she had shown, was quickly covered up, yet her cheeks still remained slightly flushed.

"I, um, must have tripped on my robes again." She said quickly, her face getting slightly pinker. "I've just arrived here, and I'm still getting used to everything."

"So your new? What school did you come from?" Remus asked interested.

She seemed to hesitate for a second but quickly regained herself. "Lorington High School"

Remus raised his eyebrows, "A muggle school?"

"Yeh, um, could you show me the way to Dumbledore's room? I'm completely lost"

He raised his eyebrows even higher. i She moved from a muggle school and she knows Dumbledore, not to mention she was following everything I said. /i

"You know Dumbledore?" Remus voiced

Even by the poor light in the hallway, Remus could see her face was starting to become very red.

"Uh, yeh. He's the one who brought me my letter…" she said quickly.

He was starting to get suspicious.

"So, do you think you could help me?"

He hesitated. If this was someone in disguise, it wouldn't be any harm in taking her. Dumbledore would find out who she was very quickly. i And anyway, He thought if I was in disguise the last person I would want to see is Dumbledore. She looks desperate too. /i

Reaching a conclusion he said, "Sure. Just follow me"

She looked immensely relived by this and thanked him. "Oh wait a sec," she said, turning around.

"What?" Remus replied.

"My,uh, necklace. Its wasn't fastened properly and I think it fell off when I tripped."

Suddenly, Remus remembered the round thing that he saw glinting beside her body when he first noticed she was there. He looked where he had last seen it and noticed it again, glinting innocently in the torchlight. Pointing it out to her, she rushed over and quickly picked it up, stuffing it in her pocket before he could take a better look at it.

He raised his eyebrow again, thinking of the strangeness of this, but then remembering how he acted during his first year here, very secretively. i But I have a good reason for that. /i He thought smiling to himself.

Dismissing this thought he moved his head as a gesture for her to follow. She walked over and followed him once he had started moving.

"I'm Remus Lupin by the way."

At this the girl's cheeks seemed to flush even more but she quickly replied, "Rachel Morgan."

i At least she's sure about that. /i He thought.

As they walked past a painting of some men playing chess, he noticed Rachel was staring at the moving figures with shock and interest. Chuckling, he said, "You cant have had painting like that in your old school"

Smiling, and looking back at him, she replied "Nothing like it. It was pretty boring there."

"Well I guess all muggle, I mean non-magic, schools are boring compared to this"

She let out a small laugh, "You bet."

He had now led them into a more brightly light corridor and he could see her properly. She was short and thin with long, brown hair, straight at the top but progressing into small ringlets at the bottom. Here eyes were dark brown and at the present time filled with awe and excitement. He noticed her cheeks were definitely tinged with pink, although not as much as he thought he saw when they first met.

"So, um, what more, except watch my step, should I know about Hogwarts?" She asked suddenly.

Remus laughed slightly, " Well, the classes would be very different to what you're used to, I expect."

She laughed, "I figured that out on my own." Smiling, she continued, "I looked at the booklist and I certinetely saw some difference."

"I bet you've never seen titles like those"

"Mhm… I think I figured out some classes though" Remus smiled, as she continued. "Transfiguration, something to do with plants, potions, something to do with animals, divination, something to do with defence and please tell me we don't have history."

Chuckling he said, "Yeh, well almost. The main classes are Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy and Defence against the dark arts. Then you have your choices, which are different to everyone." He thought he noticed something flicker in her eyes when he said astronomy, but he quickly dismissed it. "Oh and yeh, there is history."

She groaned. "I've always been bad at that."

Remus laughed and was about to reply, when he heard his name. Looking left, he saw Professor Dumbledore standing alone in the corridor.

"Remus, shouldn't you be heading up to your common room? And who's that with you?"

He had almost forgotten that he was taking Rachel to see Dumbledore, well, he thought, at least I don't need to name every sweet in the world to try and get up to his room.

"I'm Rachel Morgan" she replied. i She seems very confident, much more than when she had met me, but then again, she has already met Dumbledore.- But if she has already met Dumbledore, why doesn't her seem to recognise her? /i

"Sir, Rachel is the new girl, I was taking her to your office."

Dumbledore's face was unreadable. "Very well" he said, "Now that you have found me, Rachel can come with me and you should go back. I'm sure your friends are starting to wonder where you are."

"Thanks for your help" said Rachel, waving goodbye at Remus. "I'm glad I met you first"

Remus smiled as he made his way back to the common room.