A/N: Hey, you guys! (If there are any of you out there!) This is my very first story so please please PLEASE review! I'll be updating pretty much weekly on the weekend, possibly more if I have a day off from school somewhere in between! Also, a special shoutout to Cynthia for being my first ever review! Yay! Thanks so much for reading, and without further blabber from me, here's chapter two :)

Let it in

Let your clarity define you

In the end

We will only just remember how it feels

Katelyn Williams's day was not going as well as she had hoped.

It was going better. She had been afraid that everyone would be depressed from the war, but it seemed as though people wanted to forget and move on. That was good- Katelyn had some things that she wanted to move on from as well. Also, she was afraid that people were going to treat her weirdly because she was from America. McGonagall had made a quick announcement to all of the students after the Sorting the night before to announce that Katelyn was from America and that she was here to study with them. However, most people had seemed friendly and welcoming, and she already felt at home.

The classes were completely enthralling, and Katelyn threw herself into them wholeheartedly. She enjoyed difficult classes that most people would despise and excelled at all of them. Katelyn had just finished up lunch before heading to her Ancient Runes class with the Gryffindors. Even though it was twenty minutes before the class started, there were already three people in there- three people that she recognized instantly. She smiled at them as she quickly sat down at a seat near the front of the classroom.

"Are you the new student from America? Sorry to be rude, it's just so interesting there!" A girl with curly brown hair asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I am. And don't worry about it, everyone's been asking. I'm Katelyn Williams." She replied.

"I'm Hermione Granger. This is my boyfriend, Ron Weasley, and our friend Harry Potter." She replied. The two boys behind her smiled and said hello. "So how are you liking Hogwarts?"

"It's pretty amazing- my old school was really small, so this castle and all of these students is absolutely breathtaking." Katelyn responded. The girls chatted aimlessly until more students began to arrive and Hermione retreated to the back of the class with the boys. Katelyn watched the desks around her begin to fill up and was afraid that she would be left without a desk partner.

Draco Malfoy's day was not going as poorly as he had thought it would.

It was going worse. Most students were avoiding him like the plague and he hadn't talked to anyone but his teachers all day. At least he wouldn't have anything to distract him from getting the grades he would need to please his mother. Draco had skipped lunch and gone to the library to read, and now it was time for Ancient Runes. He did not expect to have anyone to sit with in the class- most of his old friends had either not come back or were no longer speaking to him.

"Draco!" Katelyn's cheery American accent surprised him when he walked into the classroom. "I'm so glad we have a class together! Do you want to sit with me?" She asked. "I was so worried that I was going to have to sit alone," she confessed, giving him a relieved smile.

"Me too," he replied, and slid his books down on the table. He hesitated before sitting down. "Are you sure you want me to sit here?"

"Of course I want you to sit here! Unless you don't want to! Don't feel like you have to sit here," she said, looking dejected.

"Of course I want to sit here," he said, smiling at her. He became nervous as to what he would have to do. He didn't want to alienate her from the rest of her classmates without her knowing why. "I was just worried that- well, Katelyn, I don't know exactly how to say this, but last year, during the war, I was-"

"Draco." She interrupted. "I knew who you were the first moment that I saw you. What's in the past is in the past- no one can change it, so no one should live in it. Now, please don't make me sit alone," She said with a smile. He looked at her incredulously and took a seat next to her, unable to keep a smile off of his face.

The more time Draco spent with Katelyn, the more he liked her. He liked the way that she kept her slightly curly light-brown hair natural instead of using a straightening charm on it. He liked the way that she didn't judge him- or anyone, really- about things that had happened in the past. He really liked how she was smart, but not in a bragging way like Granger. While Granger's hand instantly shot into the air like a rocket as soon as the professor asked if anyone had translated the rune, Katelyn's stayed safely at her side most of the time, even though the rune was meticulously translated on her notebook. Draco noticed that when Professor Babbling was explaining the homework, instead of complaining like all of the other students, Katelyn simply wrote the assignment in her notebook with a satisfied look on her face.

"I'm absolute rubbish at Ancient Runes; do you think you could help me with my translations?" Draco asked hopefully. Katelyn's face broke out into a huge smile.

"Of course! How about we meet in the Great Hall right after dinner and then we can go to the library?" she asked.

"Sounds good," Draco agreed as he gathered his books to go to his next class, already looking forward to the next time he would see her.

When it was time for dinner, Katelyn nervously scanned the tables for somewhere to sit. Originally, there had been four tables for each of the four houses, but in an effort to create House Unity, there were many tables where anyone could sit.

"Katelyn! Would you like to sit with us?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I would love to! Thank you so much!" Katelyn replied as she followed Hermione over to a table in the corner. She sat down in an unoccupied chair as Hermione introduced her to the group.

"Well, you met Ron and Harry before, but this is Neville, Seamus, Ginny, Dean, and Hannah." Hermione said, pointing out each person. Katelyn said hello to each member of the group and smiled.

"So what did you think of Ancient Runes, Katelyn?" Harry asked. "I can't stand it."

"Ancient Runes is actually one of my favorite subjects," Katelyn said, smiling. "Second only to Transfiguration."

"Bloody hell, we've got another one that actually likes her classes! She's just like you Hermione!" Ron said good-naturedly as they all laughed.

"In America, we call people who like school "nerds"" Katelyn said. "I guess we would classify."

"Ooh, say more things like an American!" Hannah said.

"Yeah, your accent really is quite lovely." Ginny replied.

"I've never been around people who think I have an accent before," Katelyn said, laughing. They compared ways of talking for the rest of the meal until it was time for Katelyn to go meet Draco. "Well, thank you so much for inviting me to eat with you- I had a great time. I've got to go meet Draco now though, we're studying in the library."

"Draco Malfoy? Why are you studying with him?" Hermione asked, not even trying to hide her disgust.

"Well we met yesterday before everyone else got here- I think he's very nice." Katelyn said.

"He's evil. Pure evil." Ron replied. "He's been bothering us ever since first year. He's no good."

"Can't say anyone really has anything positive to say about Malfoy," Neville admitted. Katelyn bit her lip and shrugged, trying to shake off any doubts she had.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow, then. Bye," Katelyn said, turning and walking away. She met Draco at the exit of the Great Hall and they began to walk to the library.

"Met some of the Gryffindors, I see?" Draco said, giving her a smirk.

"They all seem nice! I just ate dinner with them. They were all very welcoming." Katelyn argued.

"Well, I'm sure they said some very nice things about me." Draco said, looking carefully at her face.

"It doesn't matter what they said. I try to make my own opinions about people," Katelyn said.

"And what's your opinion of me?" Draco asked, a hint of a smile on his face.

"I don't share them!" She admonished him, laughing. "But I will give you a hint- you're doing pretty well in my book." She said, giving him a smile. This time he was unable to wipe the smirk off of his face as he opened the door to the library for her. You're doing better than you know, thought Katelyn as she grinned despite all of her previous doubts. Far better than she'd hoped.