Author's Note: New Story! Harry Potter based :) because Harry Potter wins all.

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Today, in just two years, my life will be over. Well, not exactly my life, but the life I've known.

It all began on a summer's day long ago. I was nine and my mother was watching over me in the garden. She always had her eyes on me, even now she still does.

"Ava!" she called, as I examined a budding rose.

"I'm right here, mother," I replied calmly, getting off my knees and walking a few steps closer to the garden porch. Even at nine I was the most low-key member of my family.

"Your father and I need to have you come inside now. There's someone here to meet you."

I stared at her, slightly bewildered. Why would someone come to meet me? "Okay," I finally said in a measured voice before going into the house.

As soon as I saw the expression on my father's face I knew something was wrong. "What's going on Daddy?" I asked, my eyes darting around our familiar dinning area. The dark wood table that seated eight was shining like usual, the light blue walls adorned with ancient family heirlooms and china, family portraits, and lights.

"Ava liste-"

Before he could finish a tall man entered the room along with a little boy about my age. "Ah, I see my wife escorted you inside," my father said to the stranger, smoothing out an invisible wrinkle on his shirt.

"Yes, such a charming woman," the man said, his dark eyes turning to me, "This must be your daughter."

"Yes, Ava, I'd like you to meet Mr. Redgrave and his son, Axton."

"Hello," I said, somewhat awkwardly, "It's nice to meet you."

Mr. Redgrave didn't reply as he stared at me, almost as if he was sizing me up. "Perfect," he said, looking at my father again, "Am I taking her now or later?"

My eyes widened in disbelief. Taking me? What was going on?

Shaking his head, my father's eyes narrowed as he said, "I believed we agreed that she would

stay with us until her seventeenth birthday, the day of the wedding."

Wedding? I was getting married on my seventeenth birthday? To who, Mr. Redgrave?

"Fine, fine, but we'll be arranging meetings for them. You wouldn't want your daughter marrying a stranger, would you? I'm sure Axton will agree."

Axton nodded curtly, his eyes fixed on the floor. I could barely see him behind his father, but he looked just as nervous and confused as I did.

"No I wouldn't. We can arrange the meetings in my office. You may go back outside Ava, make sure you tell your mother first though."

I nodded, before turning and leaving that room as fast as possible.
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As the years went by I met with Axton about once a month until the summer of my eleventh birthday. That year we would both be going to Hogwarts, as best friends. I learned many things about him, like he didn't know who his actual father was, but it was by his request we'd be married. I also learned that his mother died when he was just two years old from Dragon Pox. He lived with Mr. Redgrave and his wife, pretending to be their son. He never told me who exactly Mr. Redgrave was, but I had a feeling he worked for his father.

Axton learned about me too, and as we grew up, we became close. Maybe it was because of the arranged marriage, or maybe it was just because we were naturally compatible. I don't know, and I don't care to know.

As we approached our journey to Hogwarts, I learned that Harry Potter was going to be in our year. I'd heard about him somewhat, mostly from my parents' gossiping though; talking about the death of a dark wizard and how this Potter boy was the only known survivor of the killing curse.

I was sorted into Slytherin, and towards the end of the sorting Axton joined me. Knowing all that I did about the houses I didn't expect to end up in the house of snakes. My father was the only known snake on his side of the family, and my mother's side was all in Ravenclaw. I was expecting to join the ravens, or even the lions. Apparently the sorting hat didn't think I belonged there.
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I sighed as I shut the lid of my trunk. It was about 9:30 and we would be leaving any minute. It was always a tradition to drive to King's Cross; which was only 20 minutes away. Factoring in traffic though, and the drive was almost 45 minutes. I got up off my bed and went over to my vanity. I was dressed like a muggle, in jeans and a simple button-up sweater. My naturally strait auburn hair went down past my shoulders. I hadn't felt like doing anything too drastic to it this morning, opting to just leave it down and praying it didn't decide to get frizzy with the humidity.

As I was contemplating my hair, I heard a knock on my door.

"Ava, are you ready to leave? Your father's already started the car."

"Yes, I just need to finish packing up Hermes' food for the train ride." Hermes was my pet owl. I'd gotten him on my 12th birthday, when I had complained about using the school barn owls for sending letters. He was very picky about things, but I loved him to pieces.
I grabbed his owl nuts off my dresser and slipped a few into his cage, then put the rest in a small bag by my trunk.

"Can you help me with my trunk?" I asked my mom, who was standing in the doorway. She nodded and took out her wand, casting the Hover Charm on it. I picked up Hermes' cage and slipped the bag over my shoulder before following my floating trunk out of the room.
When we finally made it outside, my dad helped load my school things into the back of the car. I hopped into the back seat, putting Hermes' cage and my bag next to me. It would be a boring drive, mostly just my parents talking about things going on at the Ministry. My father was Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and my mother was a support staff of the Minister.

I leaned back into my seat, hearing the murmuring of my parents and the car's wiper blades swishing away the rain. It had started drizzling out, which wasn't unusual. It just meant my hair would look ten times worse than it already did.

My eye lids fluttered as I heard my father's voice.

"Ava, we're here!"

I stretched out my arms before opening my eyes and unbuckling and getting out of the car. It seemed I missed most of the ride to the train station, nothing worth complaining about.
All my things were strapped onto a trolley. A few muggles passing by shot us strange looks for keeping an owl in a cage. I was use to it though.

"What time is it?" I asked my mom, stifling a yawn.

"10:33, we got stuck behind a car crash. It's a good thing we left earlier than usual," she replied. Turning towards my father, she said, "Patrick, don't forget the keys. We don't need anyone stealing the car."

"Yes, dear. I have them right here," he smiled and patted his pocket.

"Are we going to just stand around here all day?" I asked sarcastically, grabbing the trolley and pushing it toward Platform 9 3/4. I really didn't want to miss the train.

My mother gave me a stern look before my father came and linked his arm with her's.

There were some Hogwarts' students by the barrier to the platform. I eyed them warily, hoping it was no one I knew.

As we got closer I noticed one of them had particularly bright, red hair. A Weasley. 'Great, Potter's gang.' I thought, rolling my eyes. It looked like they were being escorted one by one onto the platform.

"Harry, look it's your girlfriend!" My eyes narrowed as I saw Ron staring right at me.

"My what?" Harry questioned, turning to look in the same direction Ron was. His green eyes met my blue ones and I saw red flash across his face. "She's not my girlfriend you git!" He whispered, but I was close enough to hear him.

I took this scene in. For one, why did Ron say I was Harry's girlfriend? The only time Harry and I had even had a proper conversation was when I got paired to work with him in Potions once last year. Maybe it was a joke? There was no way Harry could actually want me to be his girlfriend, I'm a Slytherin, he's a Gryffindor. And everyone already knows that Axton and I are together. Last year we went to the Yule Ball together, and since that night our relationship had been public. Not our arranged marriage though. No one at Hogwarts knew about that besides us. If anyone did know, they aren't saying anything.

My parents and I crossed onto the platform once Potter's gang got through, and I immediately searched the crowds of people for Axton. I wouldn't be able to sit with him on the train this year, as I had been made a Prefect. At least, not for the entire ride.

I was eyeing a suspicious group of 4th years when I felt arms wrap around my waist from behind and a tender kiss on my cheek.

"Hey there gorgeous," Axton said. I could hear the smile on his face.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Ax," I told him, struggling out of the embrace.

"Sorry," he apologized, not sounding it at all. With a smile still on his face he grabbed one of my hands instead. "Let's go find a compartment."

"I can't, remember? I need to sit in the Prefect compartment for the beginning of the ride."
Axton frowned, a contemplative look on his face, "That's right. You're going to be with Draco."

"Are you serious?" I asked, exasperated. I really did not want to be stuck with Draco Malfoy.

"Yeah, his father told my dad at the Ministry."

Sighing loudly, I said "Well isn't that just wonderful." The train whistle rang out into the air. "I need to go say goodbye to my parents. I'll try to find you later." Giving Axton a quick hug, I dashed over to where I had seen a flash of my mom's blonde hair. It looked like they had already gotten my luggage onto the train.

"There you are Ava!" Mom said, pulling me into a hug as I caught up with them. "I hope you have a good year, and write often!"

"I will," I promised turning to give my dad a hug.

"Be good, and study hard for the O.W.L.s," he told me. I rolled my eyes. My father definitely knew I would try my very best to pass the O.. Even if it meant staying up for 3 days studying.

"You know I will, Dad."

The whistle rang again, and I bid goodbye, turning to board the train.
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Okay, if I said the beginning part of the ride was bad, that would be a very large understatement. It was brutal. Brutal. Draco made comments the entire time. Over everything. ' Weasley, how'd you become a Prefect?' was the most poplar. Then Ron had to go and pull a few "Ava-you're-Harry's-girlfriend" jokes and it was chaos. So I was more than pleased to be able to go do rounds and get free of the chaos.
The horrible part was, Draco decided to follow me.

"I don't understand why Dumbledore would make scum like Weasley a Prefect," he complained, while I practically ran down the train. "Looking for someone?" he asked, a smirk on his face. "I bet Redgrave's with that Ravenclaw girl, what was her name again?"
I paused. "What Ravenclaw girl?"

Draco laughed, "The one he's been all over this train ride. You don't think the he's sitting in an empty compartment waiting for you, do you?"
Taking a deep breath, I continued walking, ignoring the git behind me. There was no way Axton would be with another girl. We were meant to be together.

"You don't believe me," Draco stated, catching up to me again. "I saw them together last year. Right after the Yule Ball. He was apologizing about going with you. He said he had no choice."
I stiffened, that couldn't be true. Axton asked me to the ball; I didn't even want to go. Unless Mr. Redgrave had told him to ask me...no. Mr. Redgrave didn't care about what we did at school. Malfoy was just messing with me, trying to get a reaction.

"You're lying, Ax asked me to go with him," I replied, more confident than I felt.

"Maybe someone made him ask you?" It was almost as if he had read my mind.

"Why do you even care?" I asked, truly curious as to why my personal life mattered to him.
Draco took a minute to think of a response. The train was swaying slightly, and I realized how close we were standing together. My need to go find Axton was growing stronger.

"I'm just looking after you," his gray eyes looked deep into mine, and all I saw was the truth.

"I don't need someone looking after me," I whispered, pushing past him. He didn't follow me.
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I finally found Axton, about five minutes after my embarrassing Draco incident. He was sitting in a compartment with a few other Slytherin guys. No Ravenclaw girls in sight. I knocked on the door, staring pleadingly at him. Seeing the expression on my face, he exited the compartment and drew me into a hug.

"What's going on Ava?" he asked, stroking my hair. I just shook my head and lead us into an empty compartment.

"Draco Malfoy got to me," I said weakly, almost falling onto the seat. Axton sat down next to me and pulled me onto his lap.

Laughing, he replied, "Do I have some competition?"

'No,' I thought, 'but I might.' Instead, I said "Of course not. Draco just said some things that I, I just don't know what to think about."

"What did he say?"

I didn't want to talk about it. Especially not to Axton, so I just kissed him in response. Axton tried to get the conversation going again, but eventually he surrendered and Draco drifted far from my mind.

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R&R :)