Disclaimer: read Prologue

A/N: Alright, the first chapter is out! Sorry it took so long but I had to completely change the plot and do some character work. Oh, and though this story follows the Harry Potter books, I had to change some of the event sequence to make my story work...you'll see what I mean later ;) Also, when they speak Italian, the translation is in italics. Enjoy!

Part I: L'Inizio
The Begining

One

His identity was made clear when he refused to face her. She felt his familiar presence, however, as if it were somehow apart of her; a part that had been torn away and had been hiding for so long, or perhaps even avoiding her. She chose to ignore the latter as she leaned back against the roots of the great oak they sat against. He exuberated pride and arrogance yet when she lightly placed her hand on his robed shoulder, he shook his head as if in destitution. They had met before, only once by the great oak, and always he had shied away from her. She waited, perhaps this time would be different and he would turn to meet her curious green eyes and he would speak with her. Her lips moved yet not a sound slipped from their fullness—just as a sound had never slipped out before. The day was cloudless and she gazed lazily across the valley before her, watching the dragonflies zig zag every which way above the yellowed, long grass that stretched on for miles. Of all the places they had come to encounter each other, this was her least favorite: it was always too quiet. The wind tickled her neck as it flew through the hot air and touched the tops of the blades of grass, never so much as making the slightest sound. A grasshopper landed beside her outstretched arm and she fancied the idea of capturing it, yet she knew it had ventured this close to warn her of what was to come. She grinned a little, amazed at the passing of time, and took one last look at her companion. The roots of the ancient oak began to twist themselves around her limbs as she continued to smile into the back of his head. She suddenly realized never had she smelled him; she hadn't the slightest inclination as to whether he smelled of aged hickory or maybe even a more musky and seductive scent. A thick, strong root wrapped itself around her midsection as she mentally noted to record his scent their next visit. A hole began to take shape behind her and the roots dragged her slowly towards it. She did not protest nor struggle; she already knew she could not escape her fate that was to come. Her inevitable fate loomed as she closed her eyes readying herself for the next step. A tear fell slowly down her cheek as she accepted defeat yet again. Suddenly she felt a warm hand brush against hers and she snapped her eyes open in hopes of finally catching a glimpse of her companion before being sucked back down.

Her vision was slightly blurred before she recognized the scarlet, velvet seats across from her and the scratched window to her side. The train compartments seemed to become smaller and smaller at the passing of each year and yet still she managed to fit her oversized mahogany trunk into it, which lay above her on the steel rack that traced the compartment. She blinked a few times before settling her gaze on the head of black hair across from her. A mass of straight ebony hair hung down over a leather bound book held in the palest hands Noemi had ever seen. The ivory fingers moved only to turn a page and then scratch the thigh of the focused girl. Feeling the gaze of another girl, the black hair fell to the sides as a face emerged from the ragged book. Her face, just as delicate and white as her hands, contrasted magnificently with her almond shaped, chocolate brown eyes, now gazing into Noemi's sleepy green ones.

"Well, it's about time you woke up," said the Asian beauty with a quiet Scottish accent.

"And its' about time you got your nose out of that book Cho," Noemi retorted, equally as quiet. The two girls stared intently at each other for a moment, both admiring the others confidence. Two smiles spread across their faces and soon giggles flooded the train compartment.

"So where were you two this time?" asked Cho regaining her composure.

"It was that field again, the one with the old oak tree."

"Oh I hate that one," she whined with a scrunched up nose. "The roots remind me of serpents the way they wrap themselves around you." She grimaced and Noemi could not help but chuckle at her uneasiness.

"They're not bad, but the scenery is just so boring. I wish we would revisit the fireflies."

"Noemi, only you could wish to have a reoccurring dream where you die at the end of it."

"This time it was worth it though," whispered Noemi. Cho suddenly become very interested as she leaned forward and silently urged Noemi to continue. It was rare that the dreams ever changed, aside from scenery, and the chance that something may have happened enraptured Cho. "His hand brushed against mine, almost as if he did not want me to go." Cho's thin lips formed and 'O' and then she smiled.

"Well it's about time this bloke built up the courage to show himself; these dreams have been going on for as long as I've known you!"

"Well, more like as long as you've understood me." The girls were set off into another fit of giggles which did not stop as they felt the train come to a halt.

As Noemi and Cho gracefully stepped off the steaming train, they could not help but smile at all the eager and frantic first years scurrying about trying to locate some source of order in the chaotic scene. Students ranging from first to seventh years gathered in hoards around the exits of the train desperately trying to find that lost friend they had not spotted during the journey. It was a miracle Noemi had found Cho; though her exotic features set her out from the other English students. Yet still, Noemi felt it was not mere luck that she had found Cho—or met her for that matter. She remembered the first day she had laid eyes on the young eleven year old girl; they had been sorted into the same house and for one reason or another, despite the language barrier between the two, Cho had become so intimately close to Noemi it did not feel as if they were just merely friends. There was something deeper—something Noemi still had not come to grips with yet she knew her inability to communicate had strengthened the bond between the two girls. At times, Noemi even felt she knew what Cho was thinking and feeling, nay, she felt what Cho felt and thought as Cho thought. She would be forever in debt to the girl who had stuck by her side, the girl who had taught her her first words and phrases in English, the girl who had attempted to learn Italian for her, the girl who stood beside her even when she knew Noemi could handle her own. And though their personalities clashed regularly, Noemi knew she could never survive another day without her other half safely by her side.

"Noemi, stop reminiscing of the past; we're going to miss a carriage if we don't hurry!" urged Cho from behind her. Noemi grinned and followed Cho as she waltzed her way through the crowd. The first years took the clue from the other years that these two girls were not only seventh years, but that they were ladies to be respected. A few gawked at the pair as they elegantly waded through the crowd of people as if they were dancing through—and no one dared stop the phantom music.

Finally arriving at one of the last remaining carriages, the girls made their way in and found they were not alone. Two other girls in their year sat across from them and one other who was clearly much younger than the four. Noemi and Cho sat together and while Cho took out the same book she had been reading on the train, Noemi gazed into the light brown eyes of the girl sitting across from her, and smiled.

"Hi Pansy, how was your summer?" she asked. Pansy mirrored Noemi's smile and her small amber eyes lit up—almost as if nobody had had the decency to ask her the question before. The two had known each other since second year when they had been assigned as partners in Charms. Once Pansy learned she was not in fact a Gryffindor, they warmed up to each other. Still partners in that class, the two young ladies got along well enough though Noemi soon came to grips that she could not be in the girl's vicinity for more than a few hours—Noemi always did have intolerance for those of a less maturity.

"Oh it was fab! Mother and I took a trip to the French Riviera while Father was away…doing business. I met the bloody handsomest man of my life and I'll tell you Noemi, he was smitten with me!" she bragged almost constantly but Noemi only laughed. She saw Cho roll her eyes under her mess of hair—Cho and Pansy never really came to becoming friends. While Noemi always preferred Slytherine, Cho was had preferred Gryffindor.

"What about Draco, Pans? I thought you said he was the 'absolute bloody handsomest man' you had ever met," the other girl, Millicent, spoke cocking her rather bushy eyebrow. Noemi could not help but laugh again; it was common knowledge that Pansy had had a crush on the young Malfoy for some time now.

"Well—Draco is the bloody handsomest man I've ever seen but, it changes when that person you feel so deeply for has the same feelings for you," she said sorrowfully. Noemi gave Pansy a weak smile, admiring her maturity in the matter. "But Draco is a much better shag!" Now it was Noemi's turn to roll her eyes.

"What about you Noemi, how was your summer break?" asked Millicent.

"It was alright. It's always nice to be back home for a while."

"Oh yes, we can tell you were back home. Your accent sounds stronger than ever!" chirped in Pansy.

"Haha, great. Now nobody will understand a bloody word I say for the next week!" The three girls started laughing and even Cho gave a slight chuckle. The younger girl turned to Noemi and smiled laughing. Suddenly Pansy whipped her head around and glared at the girl.

"And what, pray tell, are you laughing at?" The girl, who must have been only a second year, cowered back in fear yet held her head up high and simply returned to gazing out the carriage window. "Hey! You pathetic excuse for a witch, I asked you a question!" Pansy's voice was harsh and every word hung poisonously in the air. The carriage was silent as they waited for the mouse like girl to reply. The girl turned her head lazily and glared right back at Pansy.

"You're not my mummy, I can laugh at what I please," her voice was small yet confident. The girl had spirit, and courage for that matter. Pansy's glare twisted into a smirk and cocked her eyebrow just as Millicent had done. A Slytherine trademark? Noemi felt Cho tense, knowing how she felt about the Slytherines ganging up on the younger students. And though she would have gladly stood up for the little girl, Noemi knew if she did, the child would never hear the end of if from Pansy or Millicent. So she stayed quiet, hoping the girl knew what she was getting into.

"House," hissed Pansy.

"Slytherine," hissed the girl in reply. Pansy's smirk grew wider as she leaned forward towards the girl, who in turn leaned back a bit but still not backing down.

"Well then, I suppose I can let it fly this once. But don't think that your house will protect you, after all, I'll be closer to you than you think." With that the carriage came to a halt and the four seventh year girls stepped out into the chill night's air. Pansy turned to Noemi and Cho before heading off with Millicent, "sorry about that, stupid babies—think they know everything. See you in Charms Noemi!" She ran off to catch up with her friend and Noemi and Cho headed the opposite way towards the Great Hall for the banquet.

The Ravenclaw Common Room was still, by far, one of the most beautiful places Noemi had ever seen. Huge bookcases spanned the walls and royal blue Arabian rugs adorned the mahogany flooring. When Noemi had only been a first year, one of the older students told her the carpets could fly and she had sat there willing it to fly for quite sometime before Cho had finally come down to take her to class. Atop the rugs, plush sofas and armchairs sprinkled the room in an organized fashion and surrounded a mahogany coffee table with bronze accents. Yet the most magnificent element of the Common Room was the ceiling. The domed shaped, stain glass ceiling depicted the celestial bodies and connected them to form the Greek constellations that they studied in the beginning years of Hogwarts. It was rumor that when Rowena Ravenclaw had fashioned the room, she wrote a spell to capture essence of star and trap them in the ceiling so that it would always shine just as bright as their lively counterparts. A statue of their House Founder sat at the Northern most part of the Common Room; she was a constant reminder to them what great determination and a passion for learning could earn them in life.

Noemi and Cho came back to the Common Room with their bellies full and their eyes threatening to let fall tears. They collapsed on one of the sofas before the fire and faced each others' now tear stricken faces.

"I can't believe he's really gone," whispered Noemi after a moment or two of silence.

"I can't believe they have Snape as his replacement! That slime ball of a teacher is the very reason he's gone! He's the reason everyone is gone: Harry, Ron, Hermione, all of them!" yelled Cho. Noemi had guessed her friend would react this way; she had been very close to Harry and had made a personal promise to herself and Noemi that she would help him in any way possible when he needed it. She also knew that Cho blamed Slytherine, not just Snape, for what had happened the previous year. And why shouldn't she? It was common knowledge that it had been one of the Slytherines who had snuck in the Death Eaters and that it was Snape who had murdered Dumbledore. Noemi was just as mad as she was, yet she knew it was pointless to hate the Slytherine House when no one knew who it had been in the first place. And after the banquet, so many Slytherines and other students hadn't returned so it was plausible that the culprit had left. Yet Snape was an entirely different story—the man deserved all the horrors of Azkaban and Noemi was positive that Cho felt the same.

"There's nothing more he can do to us though. He's already killed off Dumbledore and the Golden Trio is gone—what else can he do? Start with the rest of Gryffindor?"

Silence.

"Don't say those things Noemi; the man is capable of anything," Cho had wiped away her fallen tears and looked straight at Noemi.

"Sorry," whispered Noemi. "We shouldn't think about this though. We have a whole year ahead of ourselves, and I still haven't learned proper English!" The two girls began to laugh. They laughed hard, as if it was being forced out but desperately needed.

"Well it's not my fault you're an ignorant little Italian!" teased Cho after she caught her breath.

"Oh yes it is! You are a lousy teacher and honestly, I'm not even sure you know how to speak proper English!" replied Noemi in a matter-of-fact tone. Cho looked shocked and lunged at her friend wrestling her to the ground.

"Finally some entertainment at this school!" cheered a familiar voice. Cho and Noemi looked up from their wrestling match to see a very blonde, very snide, Michael Corner grinning at them. "Now ladies, don't stop on my account. I'm just here to watch the show!" The girls grinned at each other and hurled their pillows at their fellow seventh year classmate. "Hey hey!"

They ran out before Michael could seek his revenge and they passed though one of the hidden doorways in the giant bookcase. They walked down a long hallway belonging to the seventh year girls, giggling the whole while. When they finally came to dorm 9, Cho pushed it open only to be greeted by an intense smell of decaying frog legs.

"What in the world is going on in here?" questioned Cho, coughing a bit as she said it. Noemi made her way in and upon impact of the smell she knew the answer.

"Luna, what in God's" she made a sign of the cross "name are you doing?" A small mousy girl poked her head out of her bed drapes and cocked her head at the two girls.

"Summoning my past life of course," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well can you please change the scent of your incense? I feel like I just walked into the Slytherine common room," asked Cho sternly.

"And how, pray tell, would you know what the Slytherine Common Room smells like?" asked another familiar voice. A curvy girl walked out of the bathroom across the room with a trail of steam at her feet. Her long, black, wavy hair reached down to her hips and drops of water fell sporadically from it. A white towel shrouded the dark skinned Indian girl, yet her dangerous curves could not be subdued.

"Hi Padma!" beamed Noemi.

"I have never for your information, been in the Slytherine Common Room nor do I ever intend on going there! But, if I were to guess, I would say that it most likely smells as horribly as our room does now," laughed Cho, giving the wet Padma a hug.

"Actually, I'm sure it smells much better than this room does!" laughed Padma.

"Alright alright, I'll change the incense. I hope you're all satisfied with lavender because any other scent will completely throw off my aura," said Luna in a very patient and sing-songy voice.

Noemi, Cho, and Padma all changed into their pajamas and sat atop Padma's bed. They had much catching up to do, yet upon seeing the time Cho almost fainted. Before they headed off to their separate beds however, Padma convinced Cho to at least share her timetable with her.

"Let's see, most days I have Charms, DADA, Herbology, Potions, Free, and then Ancient Runes. All Newt level naturally," said a confident Cho. "What do you girls have?"

"Hrmmm, DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, then Charms and finally, a Free. And you Noemi?"

"Well, I have Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Free, Potions, and Ancient Runes," replied Noemi.

"Alright," started Padma, "Now which good looking gents have we got in our classes?"

"Not tonight Padma," whined Cho, "tomorrow we can talk. Though I do know for a fact that Justin Finch-Fletchley is in my Herbology class and that boy has become quite the looker!" With that, Cho jumped off the bed and tucked herself into her own. "Sweet dreams my pretties!"

Noemi giggled with Padma until she herself got into her own bed. The room gradually became darker as each girl laid down in her respective bed. Luna, who slept beside Noemi, was still sitting up in bed and preforming her ceromony.

"Luna, for Merlin's sake, stop that humming!" screeched Padma from across the room. Noemi stifled a giggle and watched as Luna reluctantly blew out her candle and tucked herself in.

Noemi lie there, starring up at the ceiling counting the number of stones absentmindedly. Hogwarts was not the same, she thought to herself. Never one to think pesemisticly, she looked forward to a year full of learning and adventures with her friends. Who knows, she thought, maybe even l'amore, love. As she fell asleep, she could still hear Luna humming softly and she was reminded instantly of her mother, Isabella, back in Naples, Italy. She felt a pang in her heart as she thought of her family that was a world away from her. Suddenly panic filled her body as she began to think she would let them down and fail at her studies. She would not be able to live with herself if her mother was ever disapointed in her—and then, just as suddenly as it had come, her fears and worries left her body and she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Isabella lie, tossing and turning, in her bed in the cozy room of her parent's home. She looked out of her window and up to the stars that winked back at her and a smile slowly creeped onto her strong face. "Calma tesoro, puoi farlo," she whispered into the wind, be calm my treasure, you can do it. And with that, she too fell into a deep sleep.

A/N: Hope you liked it, Reviews are super!