Jinx cursed loudly and walked out of the bathroom, irritated. The four of them, Ron, Harry, Hermoine and Jinx had been checked in and assigned the night before. Though, it had been late, and, as far as they knew, no one even knew the name of the school. Everyone just walked into their dorms and fell asleep, deciding to wait until it wasn't midnight to get used to everything. Now, it was morning, and everyone was getting dressed. Which, as of now, Jinx decided she would mark down under 'Hate List For The Muggle School'. They had left a pile of uniforms on the dressers for each student and, while the boys wore gray and red pants and shirts, the girls had to wear plaid gray and red skirts along with the shirts. She looked at the mirror on the dresser and scowled. "This sucks."

Harry looked up at her as though he might cry. "You think it's bad? Guess what school this is!"

Jinx looked at the emblem on the side of the shirt and nearly busted out laughing. Harry answered for her. "SMELTINGS! WE ARE AT DUDLEYS SCHOOL!" Jinx looked at him simpathetically and grimaced. Harry was still fuming. "Draco has a new best friend. Ugh. I hate this school... I miss Hogwarts."

Jinx nodded and sighed, sitting down and sulking. Hermoine had been changing in another bathroom and Ron had gone to get their schedules- Jinx figured that Hermoine and Ron had come to some unspoken agreement that if he didn't get on her nerves until she thought that he had gotten what he deserved, then she would forgive him. She sighed. "Well, on the bright side, I look like Englands Brand New School Girl Barbie," she scowled. "I'm sorry, I said bright side. I meant dark. And I also meant to say that there IS no bright side to this." Just then, Ron, Fred and George came into the room.

"Here's the schedules- hey, is that Jinx?" Jinx glared at him and threw a pillow at his head. The twins laughed as he stumbled back a step from the force. "Yeah, that's her." Ron turned to Harry. "Did you know that this is-"

"Yeah, I know. It's Smeltings." Harry looked at his backpack sadly and sighed. "Home miserable home."

Then the other bathroom door opened and Hermoine stepped out. In contrast to Jinx, who made the uniform look too small, punk-rock and awkward in a 'Barbie gone wrong' way, Hermoine actually portrayed the proper school girl. The twins looked between the two. "Are you two wearing the same uniforms?"

Hermoine looked up at them from straightening her skirt. "Yes. Why?"

Fred blinked, looking surprised. "Well, Jinx is wearing a chain down the side of her skirt and you're wearing a belt. She has a hat on- is that a top hat?- and your hair's perfectly brushed. And... Jinx, why are you wearing those boots?" Jinx looked down at her buckled up boots and shrugged.

"I like these." Hermoine rolled her eyes.

"This being why you don't get in trouble?" Jinx shrugged. The twins looked at Harry.

"I thought your cousin went to an all-boy school. Why are they letting girls in?" The twins leaned against the wall.

Harry shrugged. "I guess this is the first year. I think that the Professors had something to do with it, though, because it's only the Hogwart students that get to enroll, even though they're girls." He shrugged again and sighed. "When does school start?" The twins shrugged and walked out of the room.

"We'll meet you guys later," Fred called over his shoulder. "We have to go get ready."

Jinx rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. "Hermoine, how did you find those shoes anyway?"

Hermoine sighed and rolled her eyes. "You realize that I always wear these shoes at school, right? These are dress code." Jinx tilted her head.

"Seriously?" Hermoine sighed and looked at Ron.

"The schedules?" Ron gave her her schedule and threw Harry and Jinx their schedules. "What classes do you guys have? I've got... English, Math, Social Studies, Physical Education, Lunch, Science, then Study Hall."

"Hmmm..." Jinx leaned against the wall again. "English... we have that class together... Social Studies, Science, Physical Education... bloody hell... Lunch... I think everyone has that together... Math, then Study Hall."

"I've got Social Studies, Science, Math, Physical Education, Lunch, English and Study hall," Ron said. Jinx could tell that he wasn't looking forward to starting the day by the way he said 'Social Studies'. It sounded like he was spitting the words. He was probably thinking about all those times Hermoine had talked about wanting to take Muggle Studies, something that seemed so useless before.

"Ron, you aren't looking forward to this, are you?" Harry mirrored Jinx's thoughts. "Anyway, I've got Social Studies, English, Math, Physical Education, Lunch, Science then Study hall." He thought for a second. "So... we've all got Study hall, Lunch and Physical Education together, huh?"

Jinx nodded. "I say we skip school and hex the principal."

"Jinx! How can you even think something like that?" Hermoine looked appalled. "Do you realize what trouble you can get in for even mentioning something like that? I mean, really, that's-"

"Bad and never do it again," Jinx finished for her, rolling her eyes. "What are they going to do? They don't know what a hex is."

Hermoine shut her mouth, but still looked mildly insulted. It was hard for her to stay mad at Jinx that long though- she was right. "Sooo..." Ron stood up and glanced at the time on the wall. "Is it... 7:30? Did I get it right?"

Hermoine nodded, glanced at the clock to check and then looked at her schedule. "I think we should start walking down to our classes... the room numbers for the first classes sound like they might be around each other, but we do need to find them... and school starts at 8:00. Plus, we need to find our lockers."

Jinx shrugged on a jacket and picked up her backpack. "Hm... sounds like this could just mildly be fun."

Ron looked at her, shocked. "You think that school here for a year sounds like fun? Are you sure the uniform isn't getting to you? HERMOINE WHAT DID YOU DRUG HER WITH?!" Hermoine scowled and hit his shoulder. Ron started to rub it, but bit his tongue.

"No... the lockers and things. At least this way is easier to get revenge without being caught." Jinx laughed. "A lot easier."

Ron and Harry both sighed at the same time, then looked at each other. Harry shook his head and picked up his bag. "Are we going?" Hermoine and Jinx nodded and started out the door. Ron and Harry followed. "Wait..." Ron tilted his head. "Are Fred and George in the same grade as us or...?"

Jinx was about to answer, but Hermoine answered first. "The grading system here is the same as Hogwarts, Ron. They're still a year older than us."

"Oh..." Ron looked a little disappointed.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Jinx asked, curious. "Did you want them to be in our grade level or something?"

"No... it's just... I'd rather have them in my class then a bunch of muggles. Hey, where's locker 275?"

Jinx knew he was just trying to change the subject, but she went with it anyway. "I think... it we go around here... we should be by the lockers..."

"Jinx, where did you go before Hogwarts?" Harry asked as they turned the corner. Jinx had been right- the lockers were there. "I mean, I know you lived in an orphanage, but where did you go to school?"

"I was schooled there... for a while, anyway." She looked at the lockers, deciding that she didn't feel like discussing her past. "Here's my locker." She opened locker 271 and put some things in it. Then she closed the small door and snapped the lock onto it. The others were doing the same.

"Jinx... are you sure you won't need those things later?" Hermoine asked her, looking at her locker. "They looked important."

Harry and Ron looked over at her. "What did you put in your locker, Jinx?" Harry asked, curious. Ron nodded in agreement.

Jinx shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just some extra uniforms... some paper... some quills... things I won't need."

Ron looked over at Hermoine. "Hermoine, why did you ask her that?"

Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Because I was there when she packed her bag this morning. She put nearly all her parchment and quills in there- and all the uniforms she had besides the one she's wearing right now. Honestly, Jinx," She switched to talking to Jinx and turned to look at her. "Honestly, Jinx, what did you keep in that bag?"

Jinx shouldered her bag and shrugged. "The things I'd actually need. Some extra clothes that don't make me look like a doll, my private notebook, my own quill, a jacket and my wand." She shrugged again. "Important stuff."

Before Hermoine could respond, the bell rang and Hermoine snapped her own lock onto the locker. "We shouldn't be late on our first day. Let's go." Before anyone could say anything, Hermoine and Jinx were off, trying to find their English class, room 65, in the short 10 minutes that they gave the students to get to class. "Jinx," Hermoine asked her while scanning the right wall for the classroom, "What are your priorities?"

"My priorities?" Jinx thought about it for a second while scanning the left wall for the classroom. "Not this school, if that's what you want to know." She stopped short and double checked the room number. "Yeah, Hermoine, this is our first torture chamber." Ignoring her, Hermoine opened the door and walked inside. Jinx followed.

Jinx had always hated being around a lot of people at once- being locked in a room for half your life, alone, does that to you. She had hated her first day at Hogwaets because of that, and she hated this school even more now for the same reason. Every one in the room was looking at her and Hermoine. All eyes followed them as they walked up to the teacher to introduce themselves as new students. A quick check on everyone in the room proved that they weren't the last ones there; but they were the only people from Hogwarts there at the moment.

"Hello," Hermoine said happily to the teacher. "I'm Hermoine Granger. This is Jinx Fall. We're new here. The exchange students." Jinx marveled at the fact that Hermoine could say that, without the slightest hesitation, and still smile like everything was exactly how it should be- when everything, in fact, was completely upside down. The teacher looked up at her with bored eyes.

"Yes, hello there, miss Granger, miss Fall," he said, his tone flat and monotonous. "I'm Mr.Dillins. Please take a seat- you can introduce yourself at the beginning of class." He went back to marking papers- which didn't make much sense to Jinx, considering the fact that the year had just started. How did he have any sort of school-related paper to mark?

Jinx and Hermoine took the two seats in the back by the window- "I don't want to sit in the front," Jinx insisted, pulling Hermoine along- and waited for the remaining three minutes of passing time for class to start. When the bell did ring, three more people came through the door, just making it. Jinx groaned. She'd have known that blonde hair anywhere. Sinking into her seat, she glared out the window and prayed with all her heart that there were no seats around her.

"Teacher," Malfoy sneered. "I'm Draco Malfoy and this is Crabbe and Goyle." With that little announcement, the three swaggered into the front three seats. Jinx and Hermoine sat up, glad that they didn't have to deal with the three idiots this early in the day.

Mr.Dillins, ignoring the boys, walked into the front of the room and said, in the same flat, monotonous voice, "I'm Mr.Dillins. Please, everyone come to the front of the room and grab a text book." Jinx let out a breathe that she hadn't known she was holding. At least he didn't tell us to introduce ourselves to the class.

By P.E, Jinx was fairly certain of one thing- muggle teachers hated life. So far, all the teachers had been like Mr.Dillins- bored and irritated with life. Not that Jinx could really blame them. They got to work with kids who either slept or talked all through their class on a day to day basis. At least the kids at Hogwarts were constantly on alert and quiet during class- you had to be when everyone around you had wands and were learning things that could be used to hurt you... or worse, depending on the lesson or class.

Now, standing besides Harry, Ron and Hermoine in the Smelting P.E uniforms, she was sure that people in regular muggle schools probably hated their lives as much as the teachers. She knew how to handle herself- she had learned a thing or two in fighting on her own back at the orphanage. But Hermoine hadn't. And she had seen more than a few people glaring at her every time she raised her hand in class, or gave any of the teachers reason to think that they were welcomed in the halls of the school. But that was Hermoine for you.

Harry nudged Jinx, bringing her out of her trance. She looked at him, startled. "Yeah?" He glared off to the right. Jinx followed his glare and rolled her eyes at what she saw- a huge kid, with blonde, matted hair and sunken in eyes. She had had one, possibly two classes with him- Harry's cousin, Dudley. The only reason she knew who he was was because all the teachers were on high alert that they had to watch him. So was Jinx- she wasn't going to let the idiot hurt her friends.

Curses... she thought to herself, looking at Harry. Now that they were in Physical Education, Dudley had even more reason to hurt Harry- or any of Harry's friends. Which meant her friends, too. Oh well. I'll just have to hit him back.

Looking up, Jinx realized that the class had started and that a rather irritating, perky blonde lady had taken her place in front of them. It was obvious that she was the P.E teacher, and it was obvious that Jinx was going to hate her for as long as the year progressed. She had blonde, long hair and a full-of-happiness smile that made her cringe. "Hi!" She started her introduction with. Jinx tuned her out- her voice made her want to gag. Instead, she focused on the people around her- all of them were either tuning the teacher out or looking at her with looks of absolute adoration on their faces. You could divide those groups into most of the girls and most of the guys. There were almost no exceptions.

Finally, when her flow of words stopped, Jinx looked up. "Okay! Today we will be playing dodge ball! Normal rules apply, everyone! PLEASE DO NOT HURT ANYONE!" Then, with that, Ms.Perky (the only name Jinx knew for her; she had completely tuned her out by the time she said her name) was off, running to her office as soon as she set up the balls and blew her whistle to start the game. Jinx ran for a ball, noticing that the class had already split into two separate groups. Sighing with relief, she realized that she was still on her friends side. She picked a ball and beamed it at the nearest person she didn't like- a girl who had spent most of her Science class talking... and talking... and talking... and TALKING about a boy in their Social Studies class- another class the two had together. She had short, lightly colored hair and light blue eyes. Jinx didn't like her at all.

"Hey!" The girl shrieked, insulted. Jinx rolled her eyes and caught the next ball thrown at her. Looking around, she saw that Harry and Ron were holding their own- but Hermoine didn't know what to do against anyone. She dodged the balls fine, but didn't know the rules. Jinx sighed and nailed another person with the ball.

"Hermoine!" She called, avoiding another ball being thrown at her. "Grab the balls and through them at the other team!" Hermoine didn't seem to understand, but she nodded anyway and went out to find a ball. Jinx, occupied at making sure Hermoine knew what she was doing and didn't get hurt, was almost hit in the side by a ball. Turning to see who had thrown it, she groaned- Dudley. She's be damned if he got her out.

Picking up a ball, she threw it at him and wasn't surprised at all when he couldn't dodge it- whether it be because of his weight or his massive size. Waving at him and sticking out her tongue she jogged over to Harry and leaned on his back. "Jinx?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.

Jinx shrugged, getting up once Dudley was sitting out. "Nothing. Just getting a little look at the game."

"Jinx, are you doing any work?" Jinx looked up to see Hermoine looking down at her. She groaned.

"Hermoine, this is study hall. The teacher doesn't even care enough to be here. Why are you hovering?" And so it was true. Ms. Apple, the study hall teacher, had left after getting them all set. Some how, Jinx didn't think she'd be back anytime soon. The twins, who had somehow gotten fixed with study hall this period, in their class, grinned over at Jinx. Fred gave her a thumbs up.

"Jinx! Don't say that! Come on- it's only been five minutes-" Before Hermoine could finish her sentence, the door opened. Jinx groaned loudly as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle entered the class.

Draco looked over at the source of the groaned and sneered, walking over to the back, where Harry, Ron, Hermoine and Jinx were sitting. "Granger," He sneered. "It's no surprise you're here. But who's this?" He looked at Jinx and Jinx stared blankly back. Was he joking? He HAD to know who she was. It was kind of pathetic if he had forgotten.

Then she remembered. She had had to dye her hair that morning- well, actually, Hermoine had put a charm on it that would last for most of the year. Her hair was still waist length, but it was a dark brown, and slightly wavy. Because of the way it now looked, Jinx had given herself a hair cut and layered her hair while giving herself side sweep bangs. Her eyes- as oddly colored as they were- had been changed with another charm that made them look black at a distance. But up close, there was no denying the fact that her eyes were red-gold. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of what to say. What did she want to say to Malfoy? Nothing. So she went back to her half sleep on the desk.

"Who is this, Potter?" Malfoy asked. Didn't know he cared so much, Jinx thought darkly. But before anyone could say anything, Fred and George spoke up. Jinx knew they should have kept their twin mouths shut as soon as they opened them.

"That? That's Jenny. What, you don't have her in any of your classes? That's too bad. She's from RavenClaw. Same year as you three." Jinx slammed her head onto the desk. Why did they have to say anything?

She was about to speak up and say that there was no Jenny from RavenClaw in their year, at least not as far as she knew, but Malfoy grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He smiled and his eyes lit up. "I'm Draco Malfoy," He said smoothly. Fred, George, Harry, Ron and even Hermoine busted out laughing. Malfoy looked around dumbly.

Pulling her hand away from him and wiping it on her uniform, she stifled a gag. "The twins are idiots," She mumbled sitting back down.

"What-" Malfoy started, but he looked at her face more closely and his face unraveled into disgust. "Jinx? Is that her? She looks so..." He sat down, his mask of disgust falling for a second and Jinx could have sworn he was embarrassed. "She looks nothing like herself."

Yawning and trying to cover up any of the moments relapse, she shrugged. "Of course I don't look anything like myself. I had to make myself look more..." She thought for a second. "Muggle-like? Hm." She forged deep thought then shrugged again and tried at another attempt at sleeping. She still had about a half hour left. Not that the people around her planned on letting her carry out her plans.

"Draco, why don't you just go throw yourself down a well?" Hermoine. She could tell by the exasperation. And the accompanied sound of a pencil stopping in, most likely, mid-sentence.

"Shut up, you filthy mudblood," Malfoy sneered. Why does he always sneer, anyway? Was all Jinx could manage to think at the time. That and why 'mudblood' seemed to be the only thing he could manage to say. Thick head.

"Bloody hell," She knew that was Ron. "Malfoy, all you have to do is MOVE."

"And all your father has to do to actually be respected in the magical world is stop being such a muggle lover, but he won't do that either, will he?" Malfoy sneered in return. There he goes sneering again. She didn't need to hear the multiple curses and threats and the other noise that was most likely a chair over turning to know that Ron had tried to... assault Malfoy and Harry and Hermoine had held him back as the two oafs that Malfoy used as bodyguards had stood up to protect the little weasel.

"STOP IT," Jinx groaned, lifting her head and opening her eyes. She glanced at the clock and cursed. "Perfect. Your arguing has ruined my attempt at a nap. Now I have to wait until to tomorrow to get a good try at another nap during the school day." She glared at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "That is, I'll have to wait until I'm out of earshot of you idiots before I can even think about sleeping." Stretching, she stood up and looked over at the clock at the front of the room. "I have 15 minutes. You idiots spent 15 minutes arguing?" She shook her head, then grabbed her backpack. "Anyone game?"

Ron and Harry tilted their heads to the side. Hermoine shook her head. "Jinx, don't you dare."

"Dare what?" Ron asked. "What's she going to do?" Harry looked at her intently.

Jinx laughed. "Well... I'm going to test how well this school can supervise their students." Shouldering her bag, she headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, "Though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who brought some good clothes."

With that, she opened the door and walked out into the empty hallway. Looking down every other hall, she couldn't find the bathroom. "What type of school IS this?" She mumbled to herself. "No bathroom? That's wonderful. Now I have to sneak out in THIS." She snapped her jacket around her waist. Then she heard someone laugh behind her.

Startled, she turned around and was about ready to take out her wand and hex the idiot when she saw a tall, blonde haired boy leaning against the wall. She froze and tilted her head to the side. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting in the hallway, 10 minutes before school ends?"

He laughed again and walked forward, holding out his hand. "I'm Kingston. You're one of the new exchange students, aren't you?" He smiled at her and she felt temporarily blinded. His teeth were too white, just like his hair was too white-blonde- thinking about it, she recognized it as the hair that Draco had. It was just longer and looked better on Kingston. He wasn't as deathly pale and he didn't sneer everything he said. He was lankily built and his blue eyes were way too bright.

She took his hand and shook it, letting go quickly. "Yeah, I'm an exchange student." She grinned. "You think I'd be here other wise?"

He grinned back. "Well, seeing as they only allow the girls who happen to be exchange students come here when this is an all boys school, I guess you wouldn't be here on any other account." His eyes twinkled for a second. "But, hey, what are you doing in the halls before school-" Before he could finish the sentence, the end of school bell rang. The students flooded out of the classrooms and Jinx sank into the crowd, calling back, "Well, I'm not in the halls before school ends anymore." Then she turned and walked out through the main doors.