Chpt 2

DISCLAIMER: I'm not making money, I don't own Harry Potter, I don't own ANYTHING in this fanfic except for Jackie and the situation

AUTHOR's NOTE: I would like to clear a few things up. First, everywhere you see a ______, that either stands for Jackie's last name (I haven't thought of it yet) or the Headmaster of Jackie's old school, OR the name of the school. Sorry, but this is posted on very short notice. Please excuse me. Thanks for reading

Chpt 2

TWO DAYS LATER...

Harry sat in Potions that Thursday, feeling stupid and clueless. The fact that Neville was asking him for help did not help the situation much.

Ron was sitting to his left, cutting up his puffapod in a steady motion and looking bored.

Hermione was scattering bits of her puffapod over her potion and watching as they bubbled. She was sitting to Harry's right, looking hopefully up at the clock every once and a while, and trying to elude notice of Professor Snape who was walking stiffly between rows and commenting on the students' work.

"Longbottom!" he barked at Neville, making the whole class jump. "Red!" Snape was pointing into Neville's cauldron in disgust. "Red, Longbottom!"

Neville's potion was thick and a deep scarlet color.

"Heaven knows what you have done this time, didn't I clearly state that the result is a thin black potion? And besides that, you've--"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Snape marched over to it and yanked the heavy door open.

Outside, a small, black-haired girl was staring anxiously up at him. She handed him a note and stood there in front of him, waiting patiently.

After a moment, Professor Snape stuffed the parchment into his pocket, and pointed solemnly toward a desk near the back of the classroom.

The girl walked quietly over to it and sat down, ducking her head as all the others stretched to get a good look at her. She was short, at least six inches shorter than Harry. Her thick black hair was styled into a french braid, except for her bangs which fell freely around her huge blue eyes.

Professor Snape cleared his throat to get their attention. He seemed to have forgotten all about Neville. "We have a new student in Gryffindor," he announced nastily. "Her name is Jaclyn Marinson. She is a fifth year." With that, he instructed them all to get back to their work.

Once, during class, Harry caught her eye. Personally, he thought she looked a bit mean, as though her last name should be Malfoy or something of the like. The new girl must've realized what he was thinking, because she frowned at him and her eyes shot daggers.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Harry scowled and turned back around in his chair. This made Jackie even angrier. She wondered briefly what this stupid boy's name was before starting in on the load of work she had to make up since arriving at Hogwarts.

Throughout the day, Jackie Marinson stood up in the classes and introduced herself to all of the other fifth years. Soon the school was buzzing with news of the new student in Gryffindor.

***

At the Great Hall during supper, everyone finally got a chance to speak to Jackie. After his experience in Potions, Harry decided to keep his distance, but from what he, Hermione and Ron overheard, Jackie had been expelled from her last school, and had been taken to Hogwarts the day before.

Something then happened that took Harry's mind off of Jackie. The bulletins around the school now read:

Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts-Friday evening, 5:00-7:00.

Slytherin Quidditch tryouts-Saturday, 5:00-7:00

Hufflepuff Quidditch tryouts-Sunday, 5:00-7:00

Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts-Monday, 5:00-7:00

See the team captain for more information about a chance to win the House Cup for your team. Final players will be chosen by October 3. Students that were in the team last year do not need to attend tryouts.

Harry was the Quidditch captain. The tryouts were important because unless Gryffindor found a new Keeper, they'd be using the reserve, and Parvatti Patil was currently reserve Keeper. Last year they'd been able to find a replacement but he had been in his seventh year; the slot was now open again.

That evening, Harry was bombarded by a mass of people wanting to talk to him. Colin Creevey came back to bug him six times before Harry gathered up his things and went to the fourth year boys' dormitory. There he sprawled on the floor, using his bed as a writing surface.

Ron came up and hour later, muttering about stupid Lavendar following him around. Harry was asleep. Ron nudged his friend gently and whispered, "Harry!" a few times, but Harry kept on snoring. Ron went to bed.

hours later...

At some point Harry woke up and looked up at his alarm clock. It was nearly 1:00! I must've fallen asleep, thought Harry. It seemed right as his limbs were now stiff and his eyes were bleary.

He looked around. A dim yellow light illuminated the room, the other boys were all asleep and snoring, and scarlet velvet hangings were pulled all the way around every bed. Harry stood up and stretched his arms and legs, heaving a great yawn. He knelt and stacked his homework in a pile, putting it in his bag for morning. He sat heavily down on his bed and slowly took off his sneakers. Finally, his glasses came off and Harry flopped over on his bed and fell instantly asleep.

Harry's dream had no sound. It was as though a silent movie were being projected into his brain.

The day was beautiful. Lily Potter stared up at the cloudy blue sky and sighed contentedly. The wind rustled the leaves of the surrounding oak trees in the park where she and James were sitting, a bright green baby carriage parked in front of them.

Without any warning whatsoever, the sky blackened. No one in the park could see a foot in front of their faces. James and Lily panicked, and Lily desperately reached for the baby carriage.

A blinding red light flashed suddenly in front of her, and screamed and thrust her hands forward. Lily's hands were stopped. The green light had formed a sort of force field between her and the carriage. James kicked and hit the wall, yelling fiercely, but to no avail.

The last thing Lily Potter saw before she passed out was a man in a black cloak--it had to be Voldemort--stooping over her bright green baby carriage...

Harry awoke feeling miserable. His head felt like a sack of melons and he was ready to slug anyone who tried to pry him away from his pillow.

His eyes snapped open as he remembered the strange, soundless dream. He knew he'd had it before, but never had dreams of his parents been in so much detail. Harry figured that that must've been Voldemort's attack but then--hadn't the Potter's been attacked in their home? Dumbledore had never mentioned anything about a park.

Looking at his alarm clock, Harry groaned. He was a half an hour late for class--and his first class was Potions! He rolled over and fell out of his bed to the floor with a crash, surprising himself. After he'd detangled himself from the sheets, Harry pulled on his robes (he'd slept in his clothes) and his hat, slipped his feet into flip-flops and trudged down the staircase dragging his bag of books and papers.

The day passed uneventfully, save for Snape taking 20 points off of Gryffindor for his lateness.

After his last class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione started for the library. They were almost there when Harry remembered--

"Quidditch tryouts!" He checked his watch. "They started five minutes ago!" Harry dashed back to Gryffindor tower, snatched up his Firebolt and came back to Ron and Hermione, who were waiting. Together, they set off for the Quidditch feild.

"So... what do you two think of the new girl?" said Ron casually.

Hermione glanced at Ron. "Do you mean Jaclyn?"

"No!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Of course, Hermione! Who else?"

Hermione shrugged.

"How 'bout you, Harry?"

Harry thought about his reply. "Well... I don't really know, but I don't think we um... got off on very good terms..."

"Really? I assumed you two would like each other... she says she's pretty good at Quidditch."

"She does?" Harry's attention was captured. "Did she--"

A small scuffle made them all look up. Draco Malfoy was walking ahead of them, also heading for the Quidditch field. He turned around and, seeing them, took off down a separate passage and out of sight.

"What's up with him?" said Harry, confused.

"Probably just looking for a chance to talk to Marinson."

"What?" said Harry and Ron quickly.

"Didn't you know?"

"Know what?" said Ron. "And why does he want to talk to her?"

"Malfoy likes her, stupid."

"WHAT?!" Harry and Ron yelled.

"Hermione? Are you... sure? Are you telling us that Malfoy--twisted, evil, I'm-better-than-everyone-Malfoy--likes a girl?" Harry gaped at her.

"Yes," said Hermione simply.

Harry said, "It's about time!" at the very same time that Ron exclaimed, "WHAT? He--he, he can't like her I mean, come ON! What about all that pureblood crap!?"

"Honestly," said Hermione. "It's not that surprising. He was bound to like a girl before our seventh year. And as for all the fits about wizard blood... well, he must not know that she's an orphan."

"Yeah," said Ron. "But Jackie?"

Harry stared at him. "Do you like her or something?"

Ron blushed.

"Come on guys!" Harry said, running ahead of them. They'd reached the Quidditch field. A crowd of people were waiting for him, and it was time for Quidditch tryouts to begin.

***

(end of Chpt 2)