DESCRIPTION: There's a new mystery girl at Hogwarts who has a secret. What is she hiding? And why does she seem so familiar to Draco Malfoy? What happens when they are thrown together for a school assignment? Will there reluctant romance blossum? Or will Draco's mysterious Dark behaviour tear them apart?
Well, hey there. This is my first time writing on fanfiction so don't be too hard on me! Hahaha. This kinda came out of nowhere; all of a sudden I was like BAM idea for a story and started writing. So, um, let me know what you think?
Oh, and please don't get too bored and decide to stop reading at this chapter! This is purely just an introduction to characters and such.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own ANY of Harry Potter, all the credit goes to dear old JK Rowling :) I do, however, own Summer and the storyline (except for the canon bits, obviously)
Chap One
Summer had never been so nervous in her life. She stared up at the scarlet steam engine train that belched thick rolls of dark mist onto the platform, her heart beating frantically against her ribcage like a bird vying for escape from its cage. Hundreds of bobbing heads belonging to the new and old students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry milled in front of her eyes as they chatted and laughed loudly with friends, or dragged heavy trunks full of school books and clothes, and cages containing pets onto the steam engine.
Why did this have to happen to her?
A boy pushed roughly past her on his way to meet up with his friends, jerking Summer out of her state of stunned terror as she stumbled a few steps to her left, sending her head-first into the man standing beside her, Stephen Cauldridge.
"Are you alright, Summer?" Stephen asked in a concerned tone, his strong hand gripping her around her arm to keep her from falling over. As soon as Summer had regained her balance, he let his hand fall back to his side.
"I'm f- No, you know what, Stephen? I'm not fine!" Summer turned her scared gaze to him. "I can't do this!" she continued in a whisper shaking with her uncontained fear. "I can't suddenly pick up and move schools more than half way through my education! All the other kids in my grade have known each other for six whole years! They've made friends, they've settled into their own little cliques, they've practically grown up with each other! You can't just expect me to just easily slide in with them when they have that kind of background with each other, can you? I'll be a complete outcast!" Summer's breaths came in and out in short gasps and she realised she was on the verge of an anxiety attack.
Stephen, who was a rather tall man, bent down so that his calm blue eyes were level with Summer's wide hazel ones. The corners of his lips twitched with barely contained – and severely misplaced, in Summer's opinion – amusement at her reaction.
"Listen to me Summer," Stephen began in his most comforting tone, "you will be fine. I know moving from Australia is a huge change for you, but you need to be protected, and being in the school run by Albus Dumbledore gives you the best chance at staying safe. Now, I don't want to hear another complaint about this from you." His deep eyes grew very somber and his already lowered voice dropped even quieter as he continued carefully, "You know what your… what your parents sacrificed to keep you safe–"
Tears burned in Summer's eyes, blurring her vision. She blinked them away, furious at herself for being so weak.
Stephen tactfully ignored the moisture in Summer's eyes. "Fitting in with these children should be the last of your worries. You're main priority this year is to keep your nose down, not to get involved where you shouldn't and to stay out of trouble. I know how difficult that seemed to be for you at Alinga, but I'm hoping you'll have a better chance at Hogwarts…"
Summer's tears only worsened and a spasm of pain cut through her at the reminder of Alinga School of Magic and all the friends she had left behind there; friends she would most likely never see again. However, she forced a wobbly smile at Stephen's attempt to lighten the mood. She knew he was usually a very serious man, and he was trying his best right now to make her feel better, and she appreciated the effort.
A piercing whistle rang out through the platform, warning the remaining handful of students still saying their goodbyes to their families to board the train.
Summer hastily rubbed her eyes to rid them of any wetness, absently noting that it was a good thing she hadn't put any eye make-up on that morning. Stephen straightened his back so that he was once again towering over Summer's slightly shorter-than-average height. Summer trailed behind him as he carried her heavy trunk to the train with ease, his arm muscles bulging beneath his long, tan trench coat.
"Thanks," Summer mumbled when he'd stowed it away in the carriage and stepped back onto the platform.
"You're welcome." Stephen hesitated awkwardly for a moment before holding out a large hand for her to shake. Ignoring this, Summer leant forward out of the train and wrapped her arms around his neck. Stephen patted her back stiffly once or twice before drawing away from her.
"Thanks for all your help this summer, Stephen," she said, attempting a smile. "Without you… I just wouldn't have been able to… I… Well, you know… Thanks." She blushed at her stumbling sentence.
"You're more than welcome, Summer. Keep your chin up and you'll make friends in no time." He flashed a brief, kind smile, his weathered skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes.
Summer nodded, despite the doubt she still felt coursing through her. The train suddenly emitted another loud whistle and it began to slowly slide away from the platform. Stephen walked beside the train, keeping Summer in his sights until the last possible moment.
"You have to write me!" Summer called out suddenly. She was unsure whether he heard her or not as the wind seemed to whip her voice away as soon as it left her lips. She contented herself with simply waving out the window until the platform disappeared from sight.
Closing her eyes, she drew in a long breath of fresh air, attempting to calm her nerves and fear. Knowing that she couldn't put off finding a compartment to sit in any longer, she turned away from the window and began to wend her way through the packed, narrow train corridor with her heavy trunk, peering through the compartment windows and hoping against hope that there would just be an empty one she could hide in for the trip.
She was in no such luck, however. After double-checking every compartment, Summer resigned herself to the awkward silence that would no doubt greet her and slid open the door to a compartment that only contained two girls and one boy that looked about her age.
As expected, the conversation died immediately and three pairs of eyes swiveled to stare at Summer.
"Uh… Hi," Summer said lamely, blushing furiously under the weight of the trio's stares. One of the girls looked like she was trying to murder her with her gaze. "Uh…"
"Did you want something?" the glaring girl snapped abruptly, her eyes narrowing. "Or were you just going to continue standing their gaping at us?"
Summer's blush deepened and she gestured pathetically at the empty seats in the compartment, clearing her suddenly blocked throat and stammering, "I – I was j-just wondering if there's a… a sp-spare seat in here at all?"
The boy snorted and turned away from Summer to look at the wild country side that was rolling past the window. The girl who hadn't spoken yet sneered and said, "No. We're full. And even if we weren't, why would we share a compartment with someone who looks like they shop for clothes in a bin?"
The two girls began to giggle cruelly and Summer, her eyes downcast and her cheeks burning, left the compartment without another word, sliding the door shut behind herself. She looked down at the clothes she was wearing: an over-sized jacket over a simple white tee shirt and black jeans.
She painfully remembered being complimented frequently on her sense of style whenever the need to dress like a Muggle arose. Her dress style had definitely been impacted when she had had to leave majority of her wardrobe back in Australia.
Forcing herself to forget the girl's nasty comments, Summer continued a fair way down the corridor, looking for any remotely friendly-looking people. She tried five more compartments, four times getting refused, albeit in a bit friendlier way than the first time, and the fifth time being so disturbed by what the four teenagers in the compartment were talking about that she had to excuse herself and leave after several minutes.
Sighing, Summer made her way along the corridor in search of another compartment. She was just about fed up with the students in this school. She knew that she would be an outcast, but not letting her simply sit quietly in the corner of a compartment? Was she that bad?
Summer stopped outside one of the last, emptier-looking compartments. A skinny boy with jet black hair sat opposite a girl with wide, protruding eyes and long blonde hair. As she watched, another rather plump boy struggled out from beneath the seat, his hands clenched firmly around a toad.
Inwardly hoping that this bunch weren't quite as weird as the last ones she had encountered, Summer slid open the compartment door. The two boys looked around at her and the girl followed suit a little slower, her eyes staring at a point somewhere a little over Summer's right shoulder, slightly unfocused.
"Uh… I was just wondering…" Summer trailed off, looking in confusion at the spaced-out blonde. She shook her head slightly, thrown off course by the girl's airy persona. "Look, I've tried most of the other compartments and everyone's either rude, weird or just refuses me and I don't know whether that's how you Hogwarts people treat everyone or if I'm the only one, but I'd really like to be able to sit down for at least some of the trip to Hogwarts so I don't develop some kind of weird circulation problem that causes all the blood in my body to rush to my legs which then starves my brain of oxygen and I end up in the Hospital Wing for two weeks and miss all that time of school which then leads to me failing my N.E.W.T.'s and I end up in a job where I have to scrub bedpans without magic or something –"
"What accent is that?" The blonde girl overrode Summer's slightly-heated ramblings.
"And – Huh? Oh, Australia – I'm from Australia," Summer muttered, her cheeks burning dully as she realised that the students in front of her probably thought she was some crazed, raving loony after her little speech. "Look, I'm just… going to go…" She turned to walk out.
"Wait a second," the skinny boy said suddenly.
Summer winced and slowly turned to face him.
"You can sit in here. After all, we wouldn't want to be the reason you end up… scrubbing bedpans without magic…" He grinned.
Finally, a nice person! Summer thought with a sigh of relief. She thanked him with a smile, stored her trunk in the luggage rack overhead and sat down across from him, next to the plump boy who was still grasping his pet toad.
The boy made sure the toad was secure in one hand before holding out the other for Summer to shake. Summer tried to ignore the fact that he had just been holding a slimy amphibian and shook his hand briefly, too grateful for the kind act after so much cruel behaviour to knock the gesture back.
"I'm Neville Longbottom," the boy said, "and this is Luna Lovegood and Harry Potter."
Summer nodded slightly to the girl who was still studying her as though she was the most fascinating creature on Earth before she registered what the boy named Neville had said. Her head whipped around to face the skinny boy and her eyes automatically flashed up to his dark hairline where a red, lightning-shaped scar stood out vividly on his forehead. Harry reached up and flattened his fringe somewhat self-consciously.
"Harry Potter?" Summer couldn't help repeating in a slightly awed-tone. After all, this was the Boy Who Lived, the very person who had seen the destruction of the Dark Lord and then watched him return two years ago.
"Yeah," Harry said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
Summer mentally shook herself and dropped her eyes from Harry's scar. "Sorry," she said. "You probably get sick of people staring at you…"
"Don't worry; I'm used to it," he shrugged.
"Anyway, I'm Summer Mo – Maple. Summer Maple," Summer said, catching herself just in time. Luckily, the others didn't seem to notice her stumble.
"Is it true that the Billywigs in Australia spin on their heads?"
Summer stared at Luna, who was still watching her unblinkingly. "Uh… What?" she asked blankly.
"The Billywigs in Australia – do they spin on their heads?" Luna repeated politely.
"Not that I know of?" Summer thought back to the bright blue, native Australian insect that caused students to levitate when stung by them. She couldn't recall seeing any of them spinning upside down as they flew through the air.
Luna blinked but continued to stare avidly at Summer.
Harry broke the slightly awkward silence. "So, what made you move from Australia, Summer? I don't remember ever having transfer students before…"
Summer wracked her brains for the story she had rehearsed with Stephen just yesterday. "Oh, I… err… My Uncle Stephen was sent an owl a few weeks ago from your Ministry of Magic, asking him to come to Britain to work with them in the International Wizard Communications Office. I live with him, so I obviously couldn't stay in Australia without him, s-so I had to come to Hogwarts." She inwardly winced at how feeble her voice sounded and cursed her inability to lie convincingly.
The others, however, seemed to accept it.
Summer wracked her brains for a conversation topic but was saved the effort when the compartment door slid open. A tall, gangly boy with red hair and freckles entered with a rather pretty girl with bushy brown hair. The boy flopped down into the seat beside Harry with a groan that was followed by a loud rumbling that seemed to emanate from his stomach.
"Has the lunch trolley been yet?" he said hopefully, looking around. "I'm starved."
"I swear, Ron, you are so unobservant," the girl who had come into the compartment with him said bossily. She gestured toward a slightly taken-aback Summer.
The freckled boy – Ron, was his name? – turned to look at where Summer sat, his eyes widened slightly and he sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat whilst his ears burned a bright red. He opened his mouth as though to say something but the only sound that came out was a strange sort of choking.
"Don't mind him," the girl said, shooting Ron a look of confusion mingled with exasperation. "I'm Hermione Granger." She held out a hand, which Summer shook, before sitting down on the other side of Neville in the last empty seat.
"Summer Maple," Summer replied, remembering not to stumble over her name this time.
"Oh! We were told about you in the Prefects' carriage," Hermione enthused, her eyes bright. "It's ever so interesting to have a student from Australia! I holidayed there once, it's so beautiful. The sky is always so blue; the only thing I wasn't particularly partial to was the weather. It was always so hot! However, I suppose Britain seems very cold to you, doesn't it?"
Summer, who was amazed someone could say so much so fast, simply smiled incredulously and nodded.
"What year are you in?" Hermione probed further.
"Sixth."
"Oh good! You might be in some of our classes!" she said enthusiastically. "You'll be getting Sorted, I suppose, with the first years… I do hope you're in Gryffindor!"
"Sorted?" Summer asked blankly.
Ron seemed to regain control over his voice box as he cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, you know, into the different Houses. All of us are Gryffindor except for Luna; she's in Ravenclaw."
"So, your school is separated into Gryffindors and Ravenclaws?" Summer said, amazed. Alinga never had different 'Houses'; the school promoted unity above all else.
"Don't you know anything about Hogwarts?" Neville asked, politely incredulous.
Hermione cleared her throat and Summer turned back to face her as she said, "There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. We were all Sorted in our first year into each of the Houses, we sleep in separate dormitories, eat at different tables, play Quidditch in our House teams but we do have inter-house classes."
"Wow. So do you guys hang out a lot among the Houses?"
"Well, we do a bit with some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws…" Neville hesitated with a grimace. "Not Slytherin."
"Why not Slytherin?" Summer asked, confused at why one House would be excluded in such a way.
"Slytherins are jerks," Harry said bluntly. "I think that's one of the aspects the Sorting Hat considers when Sorting people into Slytherin."
Summer was just about to ask about this 'Sorting Hat' when someone interrupted her.
"Glad you think so much of us, Potter," a drawling voice said from the compartment door that Ron and Hermione had left open.
Summer looked up and saw a tall, pale boy with white blonde hair and pointed features standing in the doorway. Summer would have found him quite attractive, if not for the scowl on his face and the look of intense dislike in his grey eyes. Behind him stood two stocky, menacing-looking boys.
"Bugger off, Malfoy," Ron said immediately, glaring at the boy.
"Oh, feisty this morning, aren't we, Weasel King?" the boy sneered. "Is someone PMSing?"
Ron's ears turned red once more and he growled as he stood, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Malfoy. The two boys behind Malfoy stepped forward threateningly. Harry and Neville immediately jumped up; Harry grabbed Ron's wand arm and pulled it down to his side.
"You better watch yourself, Weasel," Malfoy snarled. "Sooner or later you won't have Potty and lard boy here to help you come to your senses. Then we'll all be able to see how easy it is to turn you into a pig. It shouldn't be too difficult, considering you're halfway there already, what with the hovel you live in."
Ron, his face bright red, struggled against Harry and Neville's grips. Malfoy simply smirked and disappeared along the corridor, his two cronies in tow.
As soon as the blonde was out of sight, Ron dropped back into his seat, his hands shaking with suppressed rage. "I won't take any of his crap this year," he swore vehemently. "If he says one more thing about me or my family I swear I'll kill him."
"You shouldn't let him get to you –" Hermione cut off her sentence when Ron threw her a murderous glance.
Summer was confused. "So, that boy… Malfoy…?"
"They've basically been enemies since the first time they saw each other," Luna said airily, her gaze now drawn to Ron's reddened ears.
"He's a perfect example of why we don't mix with Slytherins," Harry said, his expression dark.
"Are all Slytherins like that?" Summer asked, wide-eyed at how a quarter of the students in Hogwarts would be like the cruel boy who had just breezed through.
"Basically."
Summer's stomach clenched in a knot. What if she was placed into that House, surrounded by those types of people? She wouldn't last a night.
"H – How can you avoid being put into Slytherin?" she asked weakly.
"Oh, don't worry, you won't be," Hermione said quickly. "The Sorting Hat doesn't work like that." At Summer's questioningly look, she continued, "The Sorting Hat is what Sorted us into the Houses. Everyone has to put it on in front of the entire school and it judges you. It sort of looks at your personality and your mind and decides which House would suit you the best. It usually isolates specific traits in your personality. For example, Gryffindors are known to be brave and bold, Ravenclaws are known for their wit and intelligence, Hufflepuffs for being loyal and hard workers, and Slytherins for being –"
"Absolute prats," Ron overrode her, earning laughter from everyone in the carriage except Hermione.
"I don't believe the Sorting Hat put it quite like that," Hermione said, the corner of her lip twitching. "They're really said to be ambitious, power-hungry and pure-blooded."
"This makes them perfect candidates to become Death Eaters once they leave Hogwarts." Harry paused. "Well, some of them before they have even left," he trailed off and Summer noticed Hermione and Ron shoot him warning glances, but she didn't question it.
Instead she said, "Pure-blooded? Why is blood status a defining quality for Slytherins?"
Ron snorted. "Because if a Muggleborn, or even a half-blood, was sorted into Slytherin they would be torn apart within an hour."
Summer frowned and Hermione elaborated for her, "Slytherins are extremely prejudiced regarding parentage and such. They believe that Muggleborns – people like me – are like animals, not worthy of breathing the same air as pure bloods. Half bloods, like Harry, are almost as bad; having one Muggle or Muggleborn parent is, of course, a disgrace." She rolled her eyes. "And so-called 'blood traitors', like the Weasleys–" She gestured toward Ron, "are certainly not on their Christmas card list."
"That's… so strange," Summer muttered. "If a pure blood talked down to a Muggleborn at Alinga, they'd quickly be taken down a peg. How bigheaded would you have to be to take that view on the world?"
Hermione smiled warmly at her.
"Well, at least that rules out being Sorted into Slytherin after all," Summer said, feeling more positive. At the others' questioning glances she added, "My parents are both Muggles."
"That gives you more of a chance to be Sorted into Gryffindor then," Neville piped up happily. "I can't wait to watch the Sorting tonight!"
This generated a conversation of the others retelling what it felt like to be Sorted in their first year. From what they said, Summer drew the impression that it was an extremely traumatizing experience, one that she was not looking forward to at all.
However, as she looked around at the others chatting and joking, she thought that if she was Sorted into Gryffindor, maybe she had found a group of people that would accept her. If only she ended up in Gryffindor, this year wouldn't be so bad.
All she could do was wait and find out…
As the train sped toward Hogwarts, the sky outside the windows slowly darkened until the lamps inside the compartments flickered on. The lunch trolley had come and gone a couple of hours ago and although Summer had never eaten as much sweets and cakes as she had then, her stomach was starting to quietly complain as they drew closer to the school.
Harry and Neville had been called away to a mysterious meeting with a teacher named Slughorn some time ago. Neville had returned just after dark, saying that Harry had gone off under his Invisibility Cloak without giving a reason. Summer noticed Hermione and Ron exchange worried looks, but she was more interested in the fact that Harry owned an Invisibility Cloak. She asked Neville about it as the Hogwarts Express passed under a layer of rain clouds.
They soon changed into their school robes, Neville, Ron and Hermione pulling on robes with what they explained were the Gryffindor colours of scarlet and gold and the House crest on the front and Luna robes with the blue and silver of Ravenclaw. Summer herself pulled on plain black robes.
Just as she was about to ask how much longer the others thought the trip would take, the train began to slow. Looking out the window, she saw that they were stopping beside a station platform.
"Finally!" Ron exclaimed, jumping to his feet before the train had even come to a full stop. "I thought that my stomach was going to eat itself."
Hermione rolled her eyes and mouthed 'typical' to Summer, who giggled.
They grabbed their trunks and the others grabbed the cages containing their various animals, and headed out into the crowded train corridor.
"Where is Harry?" Hermione asked, anxiety lacing her tone.
"Don't stress Hermione," Ron said. "He's probably waiting for us in a carriage."
Hermione bit her lip but didn't say any more.
Five minutes later, Summer was able to finally step out into the cool crisp air on the platform. She breathed in deeply, relishing the change from the stuffy compartment air.
Summer followed the others to one of the hundreds of horseless carriages that all the other students were piling into. She climbed in after Neville and wrinkled her nose at the faintly bad smell. When the door snapped shut after Ron, the carriage began to trundle up an inclined muddy track.
"Look, Summer," Neville said suddenly, pointing out the cloudy window. "That's Hogwarts."
Summer leant over Luna and stared up at the magnificent castle that they were traveling towards. The many towers and peaks stretched up to the star-littered heavens, the small yellow windows burning brightly.
She had thought Alinga had been impressive, with its huge mansion-like structure and estate, but it was nothing like Hogwarts.
"Wow," she breathed, her eyes wide as she stared up at the castle.
The carriage drew to a stop in the shadows of the castle and Summer climbed out, craning her neck to continue to look up at the school. She followed the crowd through the oak front doors and into the high-ceilinged Entrance Hall. The students pushed on across the hall toward another set of huge doors.
Summer hardly caught a glimpse of the huge, well-lit room before she heard her name being called over the din the students were making.
"Summer Maple! SUMMER MAPLE!"
Looking around, she caught sight of a severe-looking elderly witch wearing a pointed black witch's hat beckoning to her over the heads of the students. Summer looked around to tell Hermione or one of the others that she'd meet up with them soon but they had already gone ahead, searching the crowd for Harry.
"Miss Maple!"
Summer picked her way through the students and stopped in front of the tall woman.
"Good evening Miss Maple," the woman said briskly. "My name is Professor McGonagall, I teach Transfiguration here at Hogwarts. I also take care of the first years while they wait to be Sorted. Due to these special circumstances, you are to be Sorted with the first years and so I cannot allow you into the Great Hall until the first years arrive. They should be here any minute."
Summer sighed and nodded, her stomach exploding with butterflies at the reminder of being Sorted in front of all her soon-to-be classmates. She resigned herself to an anxious wait.
Draco Malfoy pushed through a small group of third year Ravenclaws, ignoring their squawks of protests. He sat halfway up the Slytherin table, immediately being surrounded by his usual gang of friends: Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Theodore Nott. He glared up at the enchanted ceiling above his head, which showed a looming threat of rain in the form of dark clouds.
"What's the matter, Draco?" asked Pansy, placing a hand on his forearm and leaning closer toward him so that her face was a few mere inches from his left cheek.
Draco, who was not in the mood for Pansy's constant fawning, slid away from her and snapped, "Nothing's the matter, Pansy. Leave me alone."
Pansy sat back and pouted like a toddler.
Draco ignored her, his mind on more important things. Anger was still coursing through his veins, the same anger that had driven him to stomp down on Potter's nose back on the Hogwarts Express. It was with a kind of sick pleasure that he remembered the satisfying crack and the blood that had spurted onto Potter's chin and into his mouth.
I hope he chokes on his own filthy blood, Draco thought coldly. It would serve him right after he sent Father to Azkaban.
Even though he hardly thought that the missing presence of Dumbledore's Chosen One would go unnoticed, he was hoping that Potter would be halfway back to London by now so he'd never have to look at his stupid scarred head ever again.
The chatter in the Great Hall fell silent as Professor McGonagall entered the room with a fresh bunch of twerps in tow. Draco paid no attention, instead pulling out his wand and levitating his fork in front of him. He only half-listened to the Sorting Hat's song, which spoke of 'sticking together in these troubled times'.
What a load of crap, Draco thought bitterly. This whole school is a load of crap.
He looked up to glare at the Sorting Hat and caught sight of an older girl standing amidst the short first years. She looked just as terrified to be in front of the school as the first years did. The dark brown hair that cascaded down her back in soft waves shifted as she fidgeted nervously. Her cheeks were tinged with pink, her wide hazel eyes were darting around the Hall nervously and her teeth were worrying her lower lip.
Draco recognized her as the girl who had been sitting in Potter's compartment on the Hogwarts Express earlier. He had heard the rumors of a mysterious girl on the train, a girl no one had seen before, who looked too old to be a first year and definitely too young to be a new teacher. So he had gone down to Potter's compartment to investigate, only to get too distracted by Weasley's stupid fat mouth to check her out properly.
He was able to appreciate that she was quite attractive, with her promising curves showing even through the loose school robes she wore; however befriending Potter and his little friends definitely put her further down on the list of possible conquests. Despite this, he couldn't seem to stop studying her over the heads of the other students.
She was now shifting nervously from foot to foot, her teeth biting hard on her bottom lip as Professor McGonagall called up one first year after the other. Draco didn't bother to applaud for the new Slytherins or to sneakily boo and hiss as the other Houses gained a new first year. He watched the girl carefully, almost fascinated by her behavior.
Finally, after Professor McGonagall called out 'Maple, Summer', the girl tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear with trembling fingers, took a deep breath and walked shakily up to the stool on which she sat. The Sorting Hat, when placed on her head, slipped to just above her eyes.
She gave a startled little jump and a small yelp a few moments later, no doubt when the Sorting Hat began to talk to her. Draco smirked as she twisted her head wildly, obviously trying to find the source of the voice.
"Hufflepuff," Draco heard Blaise mutter under his breath.
"What?" Draco turned to look at his friend. "Why Hufflepuff?"
Blaise snorted. "Look at her. She's pathetic. Scared of a Hat? Definitely Hufflepuff."
Draco felt an inexplicable rush of anger as Blaise said this and he retorted heatedly, "No way. Not Hufflepuff… Maybe Ravenclaw."
"Why Ravenclaw?" Theodore asked absently.
Draco shrugged. "She's definitely not in Hufflepuff and she's not Slytherin. Process of elimination."
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "You missed out –"
"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shrieked suddenly, drowning out the last of Theodore's comment. He smirked when Draco groaned.
"Damn," Blaise muttered. "She was hot."
Draco rolled his eyes and watched as the Summer girl gave back the Sorting Hat with trembling hands and hurried to join the Gryffindor table where she sat next to the cheering Mudblood and the Weasel. Of course she would be in Gryffindor. Well, now she was certainly off the list.
Draco continued to glare at the girl as Dumbledore began his brief pre-dinner talk. She looked so relieved to be sitting at the Gryffindor table; her eyes were bright and she was smiling slightly as she looked up at Dumbledore.
She shifted in her seat and her eyes traveled absently around the Hall, only to land directly on Draco. She met his glare and gave a small start, showing her surprise to see him looking at her. She quickly dropped her gaze to her empty golden plate, her cheeks colouring pink and her brow furrowing in confusion.
Draco let his gaze drop as the plates and dishes around him suddenly filled with delicious-smelling food. Dumbledore had finished his speech, then.
The doors of the Great Hall suddenly opened and the Boy Who Should Have Died hurried into the hall, his head down. Damn. He had managed to get to Hogwarts after all.
Every eye in the Hall was on Scar Head as he sat down hastily at the Gryffindor table, opposite his repulsive friends. Draco noted with grim satisfaction that although his nose seemed to have been mended, he still had dried blood on his face. Draco felt a gaze burning into him and, looking round, he saw that the new girl was now watching him. He narrowed his eyes in response, causing her to turn away once more.
He didn't drop his gaze this time, watching her grow more and more uncomfortable as she became aware of this. A slow smirk spread over his face.
This was going to be interesting.
As Harry explained that his face was covered in blood because of an encounter with Malfoy, Summer looked at the blonde Slytherin who was sitting across the Hall, staring at the back of Harry's head. He had the shadow of a satisfied smirk on his face as he studied the dried blood on Harry's face.
That's just sick, Summer found herself thinking, finding pleasure in knowing that you've caused another person pain. Sick.
Suddenly, Malfoy's steel grey gaze flicked from Harry directly onto her, his lips turning down slightly in a frown. Summer's cheeks heated up when she realised he'd caught her staring. She hastily dropped her gaze, hoping he would do the same.
However, as she peeked at him through her eyelashes several minutes later, she realised he still staring at her, his eyes narrowed slightly and his head tilted to the side. To hide her discomfort, Summer stabbed her fork into the mash potato in front of her; however she was so distracted and uncomfortable by Malfoy's unrelenting stare that the potato slid off the fork and onto her lap before it could reach her mouth.
Cheeks burning now more than ever, Summer hastily cleaned the potato off of her robes, inconspicuously glancing over at the Slytherin table to see if Malfoy had noticed this embarrassing little slip. Judging by the way he was shaking with barely concealed mirth, she supposed he had.
Shaking her head slightly to clear her thoughts, Summer turned to Hermione and struck up a conversation with her on the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. Much to her delight, Hermione succeeded in taking her mind off of a certain staring, blonde Slytherin with her in depth explanation of the ceiling and the history behind it, referencing a book called 'Hogwarts: A History', which she offered to lend Summer.
Soon all thoughts of Malfoy had been driven from Summer's mind as she filled herself with delicious food – which she managed to get safely into her mouth – and listened to the hearty chatter at the Gryffindor table. She felt almost happy for the first time in… Well, she couldn't really remember the last time she had felt this contented.
Just as Summer's eyelids began to grow heavy – it had been a long day – the plates on the table were wiped clean of all food morsels and Dumbledore rose to his feet once more. Summer's eyes glazed over slightly as he began to talk about banned magical items, the out-of-bound areas and how Professor Slughorn would be teaching Potions this year while Professor Snape – which Summer learned to be the angry-looking, greasy-haired man at the end of the staff table – would be taking the Defense Against the Darks Arts position. She didn't understand why the whole Hall buzzed with talk at this particular point, and decided to wait until later to question Hermione about it.
One sentence, however, caught her attention.
"…Lord Voldemort and his followers are once again at large and gaining in strength."
Summer was not the only one in the Hall to have an automatic reaction to the name. She flinched so violently her hand knocked over the golden goblet in front of her. Thankfully it was already empty.
She stared up at Dumbledore with wide eyes as his speech continued, reminding them all how important it was to abide by the new security measures placed on the school and such. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest and she knew she looked very pale.
If the wizard that was meant to be protecting her was worried about You-Know-Who and his forces breaking into the school, would she ever be safe?
She suddenly wished Stephen was with her now. She always felt safe when she was with him.
All around her people were beginning to get to their feet, the benches scraping back loudly. She blinked, catching up with reality and jumping to her feet as well. Hermione had rushed off toward the first years, it being part of her Prefect duty to show them to the Gryffindor dormitories, and a glum-faced Ron dragged his feet behind her.
This left Harry and Summer to make their way to the dormitories together.
The conversation was pretty light as Summer followed Harry up three flights of stairs. She took in her surroundings with less awe than she would have before Dumbledore's speech. She shot Harry a careful look, wondering…
Finally, she threw caution to the winds and asked, "So, Dumbledore seemed pretty worried about You-Know-Who getting into the school, didn't he?"
Harry frowned thoughtfully as they climbed yet another flight of stairs toward the fifth floor. "With the speech, you mean?" When she nodded he continued, "No, I don't think he's too worried. Well, no more than everyone else anyway. He's just being cautious." He looked at her, his gaze softening. "Don't worry, Summer. Hogwarts is the safest place I know. There's no way a Death Eater will touch you while you're within these walls."
He offered her a reassuring smile, but Summer didn't feel all that comforted. This may have translated on her face, because Harry went on to say, "Besides, even if Voldemort –" Summer gave an involuntary twitch at the name, "– and his Death Eaters somehow managed to find a way into Hogwarts – which is highly unlikely, mind you – chances are that you wouldn't be hurt. I mean, how many students are in this school? And it's not like they'd be sorting you out in particular…" A dark look passed over Harry's face and he slipped into silence, frowning at the floor.
Summer, who felt a twinge of fear at his last sentence, reached out and lightly touched Harry on the shoulder, trying to bring him out of his sudden silence. "Harry?" she asked quietly.
Harry blinked and looked back up at Summer. He stared at her for a silent moment that seemed to stretch on for minutes. Then he gave her a small, unconvincing smile and nodded toward a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress at the end of the corridor.
Leading her up to it, he said, "Leo pardus." The Fat Lady nodded once and swung open to reveal a hole in the wall.
Summer clambered through the hole behind Harry and found herself in a rather large, round common room where the dominant colours were scarlet and gold. Crackling flames danced in the fireplace, offering warmth to the Gryffindors who were gathered in groups around the common room, having a last minute catch up before bidding each other good night and heading up one of two staircases on the other side of the room, the girls to the left and the boys to the right.
Hermione and Ron were sitting in two squishy armchairs by the fireplace. Ron was staring deep into the fire and looked as though he may very well fall asleep right where he sat while Hermione, seemingly unaware of her companion's drowsiness, was chatting animatedly to him about how exciting the subjects this term were sure to be. Summer suppressed a giggle as she and Harry walked over to the pair.
"Oh, hi Summer. Hi Harry," Hermione said brightly.
It astounded Summer at how much energy Hermione seemed to have when Summer herself felt as though she was about to pass out on the hearth rug. As it were, she simply stifled a yawn and swayed on the spot, her eyelids drooping.
"Um, Hermione?" Harry said, interrupting Hermione's excited banter. "Maybe you should show Summer to the girls' dormitory before she falls asleep and lands in the fire?"
Hermione jumped up immediately after apologizing profusely for being so insensitive. Summer assured her she didn't mind and, after saying goodnight to the two boys, followed Hermione up the left staircase while her brainy friend continued to twitter on about schoolwork. Summer nodded and made agreeable sounds in the back of her throat when it seemed appropriate, trying her hardest not to yawn all the while.
Hermione finally led her into a circular room that contained five four-poster beds and two large windows with wide window sills overlooking the dark grounds. Hermione pointed out which bed belonged to who from the bed on the left all around to the bed on the right: Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Casey Combs, Hermione and the last one, which had no personal objects on the dresser and was right next to one of the aforementioned windows, was obviously Summer's.
Summer dragged her feet over to her trunk, changed into a loose pair of cotton slacks and an old, over-sized tee shirt. She decided then to sit on the windowsill and gaze out into the shadowy grounds below.
She had definitely appreciated Harry's attempt to comfort her anxiety about You-Know-Who and his followers… but he didn't know the full story of her fear and there was no way she could tell him; Stephen had warned her against letting anyone too close to her and she knew he had her best interest at heart.
All the same, Summer knew it would be a very long year if she tried to keep her past a secret to all her friends. She frowned. Hell, even if she wanted to tell them, she couldn't tell them everything. She didn't know everything.
"Goodnight Summer," Hermione said from her bed. "See you in the morning."
Summer looked up and smiled in reply and Hermione drew the drapes closed, hiding her from view.
With a sigh, Summer supposed she may as well turn in as well. Yawning widely, she stumbled off the windowsill and fell onto her bed. She had soon drifted into a deep, and thankfully dreamless, sleep.
Ohk, so... what did you think? Hahahah. All reviews welcome,, even bad ones.. although try not to yell at me and say I ruined Harry Potter or something =S That would hurt hahah.
Well, um, yeah. Review if you think I should bother continuing... :)
Thanks xo