Painting The Sky

by VeronicaSummers1996

Gabrielle Delacour has decided to spend a year at Hogwarts, but with Voldemort freshly returned and Umbridge ruling the school, it's not easy. And what happens when she finds out that she is more important than she could have ever dreamed. Fifth year with Gabi added in and told with many changes, gets slightly AU at end. will be regular updates.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Fresh Canvas
"It's absolutely amazing." Hermione said hugging me as I presented her and Ginny my freshly completed painting.
"Wow Gabi, this is insanely good! Like, you need to be an artist" she said, she traced the shining lines of her painted self's red hair. I giggled at their praise. "You don't mind if we leave it here, do you? I don't want it getting all messed p on our way to Hogwarts or in the dorm"
"non, I don't mind" I smiled brightly at them. I caught Fred, who was walking into the kitchen where we stood, do a double take at my light-filled smile. My heart lept at his entranced look. Then he shook it off and walked over and rustled my hair.
"Who's ready for their first ride on the Hogwarts express?" he asked smiling. I bit my lip. In actuality I was nervous, but I didn't want to admit to it. I knew my anxiety would lessen when I was reunited with Ria and CJ. I was counting the hours to meeting them at King's Cross this very morning. they must be dying of excitement. I heard a small hoot and looked up to see my owl from home tapping at the window, a letter from Papa attached to her leg.
"Jolie!" I cried, running to open the window and grab for my tiny white owl. She rubbed her head against my hair jovially. I had left her in France, papa promising to send her over with a letter before I left. I then promptly began babbling to my pet in French, causing everyone to look at me oddly. I blushed pink in my cheeks and Fred laughed.
"In the car now, the cab is here and we best be off" Mrs. Weasley commanded. I hopped to and grabbed my bags, almost knocking over the kitchen table in the process, then ran out into the front hall to avoid the laughter. Okay, so I was a bit clumsy.
We reached the station after a horrifying ride that I think was the most unpleasant one the poor cabby ever had to make. I lept out immediately, half to get away from the owl that had been chewing on my hair the past hour, and half out of pure excitement. I scanned the crowd for my friends, Ginny gave me an odd look. "who are you looking for?"
"My best friends, CJ and Ria, the ones I told you about?"
"Ah, yes, the famed fellow Veela and the gay boy" Fred came up behind us, smiling as he quoted my descriptions of my best friends. I looked up at his eyes, they were a shade lighter blue than George's, which is how I could tell them apart. The twins were the only members of the Weasley family to have blue eyes.
"Oui, Zey just arrived from France, I so desperately must see zem!" I squealed. I looked around wildly again, my hair flying out and whipping against Ginny's face. She grumbled and pushed my head away, but her groans had a hint of amusement in them, so I figured I hadn't deeply injured her personal well-being or anything.
"Briiieeee" I heard and I whipped around and spread my arms in time to embrace the oncoming storm of Ria as she raced into my grasp. We hugged so tightly I thought I might have lost circulation. Then it was CJ's turn. I hugged him so tight that I think our heads might have exploded if we hadn't been pulled apart by a harried looking Mrs. Weasley wanting to get us on the train.
"Guys, I's like you to meet my best friends, Ria and CJ, R and C, I'd like you to meet my new friends. Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George" I announced, proud to actually have friends to introduce.
"We've heard more than an earful about the two of you" Ron said, causing Hermione to slap him on the arm.
"Ronald, be nice. He just means Gabi's told us all about the two of you, all good things of course" she smiled graciously. Ria smiled shyly, an unusual thing compared with her usually boisterous personality. Of course one must keep in mind she wasn't used to company besides CJ and I.
"She
Ers you call 'er Gabi?" Ria says shuttering. "last time I tried that, well you don't want to know what she did" CJ laughs loudly and I glare at him.
"Don't you laugh Charles James." I say sticking my tongue out, "Nor you Rialla" they both shutter at the use of their full names.
I noticed Harry and the others were saying their goodbyes to the adults. I quickly motioned for Ceej and Ria to wait a moment and then went to hug Sirius the dog goodbye, scratching his furry head. Then I hugged Mr. Weasley and Tonks.

A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the platform started hurrying on to the train.

'Quick, quick,' said Mrs. Weasley distractedly, hugging us at random and catching Harry twice, 'Write... Be good... If you've forgotten anything we'll send it on... Onto the train, now, hurry...' CJ and Ria were watching the blustering woman looking a little nervous, unsure how to fit in with a group so close, probably wondering how I had done it. Should I ell them that the key to Mrs. Weasley's heart was not being afraid to clean?

For one brief moment, the great black dog reared on to its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders, but Mrs. Weasley shoved Harry away towards the train door, hissing, 'For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!'

'See you!' Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, then they rounded a bend, and Sirius was gone.

'He shouldn't have come with us,' said Hermione in a worried voice.

'Oh, lighten up,' said Ron, 'he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke.'

'Well,' said Fred, clapping his hands together, 'can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later,' and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right. I waved at their retreating backs, the look in my eyes must have spoken to Ria, cause she looked at me funny, then glanced at Fred's retreating back, wondering what could've been going through my mind.

The train was gathering still more speed, so that the houses outside the window flashed past, and they swayed where they stood.

'Shall we go and find a compartment, then?' Harry asked.

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. I was still absorbed with the window. The veiw out a train window is amazing to paint, everything blurred past like a hurricane of color. It was magnificent.

'Er,' said Ron.

'We're-well-Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage,' Hermione said awkwardly.

Ron wasn't looking at Harry; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.

'Oh,' said Harry. 'Right. Fine.' I could tell from the tone of his voice he wasn't thrilled.

'I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey,' said Hermione quickly. 'Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time.'

'Fine,' said Harry again. 'Well, I-I might see you later, then.'

'Yeah, definitely,' said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. 'It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather-but we have to-I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy,' he finished defiantly.

'I know you're not,' said Harry and he grinned. But as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, Crookshanks, and a caged Pigwidgeon off towards the engine end of the train, Harry looked as though he was feeling oddly lost. Ginny looked at his unhappy expression and her eyes seemed sad, she clapped her hands together as if having an idea.

'Come on,' Ginny told him, 'if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places.'

'Right,' said Harry, picking up Hedwig's cage in one hand and the handle of his trunk in the other. We struggled off down the corridor, peering through the glass-panelled doors into the compartments they passed, which were already full. I could not help noticing that a lot of people stawithal Harry, and unfortunatley also at me, with great interest and that several of them nudged their neighbours and pointed us out. After we had met this behaviour in five consecutive carriages I remembered that the Daily Prophet had been telling its readers all summer what a lying show-off Harry was. I hoped they were staring at me simply because I was new, and that it had nothing to do with my veelaness. Ria and CJ were trailing behind, nervously hiding from actually looking into compartments. I had never seen them so shy. I vuagely wondered if they would open up to Harry and the others at all.

In the very last carriage we met Neville Longbottom, Harry's fellow fifth-year Gryffindor, or at least that's how he was introduced to me. his round face was shining with the effort of pulling his trunk along and maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad. I waved at the boy and he dropped the toad to the ground. He blushed crimson and scrambled after it. Ginny gave me a look, I rolled my eyes at her, it's not my fault he got flustered.

'Hi, Harry,' he panted. 'Hi, Ginny... Everywhere's full... I can't find a seat...' the he managed to focus his eyes on me and my friends. "Who are they?" he asked.

'What are you talking about?' said Ginny, who had squeezed past Neville to peer into the compartment behind him. 'There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here-' she hadn't introduced us yet and I looked at her and Harry, feeling a little peeved.

Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.

'Don't be silly,' said Ginny, laughing, 'she's all right.'

She slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside. Harry and Neville followed. I shrugged and entered in behind them, pulling Ria along with me, CJ followed tentatively.

'Hi, Luna,' said Ginny, 'is it okay if we take these seats?'

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. I knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of Butterbeer corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside-down. Her eyes ranged over Neville and came to rest on me. She nodded. I liked her instantly. She was amazing in her way, all that imagination you could just feel pouring out of her. She also seemed to have a certain sight in her eyes, one I was sure she alone had.

'Thanks,' said Ginny, smiling at her.

Harry and Neville stowed the three trunks and Hedwig's cage in the luggage rack and sat down. Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called The Quibbler. She did not seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. She stared and stared at me, as I had taken the seat opposite her. Ria and CJ next to me, Harry Ginny, Neville, and Luna on the other side. "Everyone these are the new exchange students from France" Ginny finally began introducing us, I stuck my tongue it at her and she smiled. "This here is Gabi, and her friends are Ria and CJ" she gestured to each of us in turn. "Gabi and friends meet Neville and Luna. Luna's a Ravenclaw in our year." Apperantly satisfied with her job of introducing, Ginny turned to Luna.

'Had a good summer, Luna?' Ginny asked.

'Yes,' said Luna dreamily, she looked away from me and over to Harry. without taking her eyes off Harry she said 'Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter,' she added.

'I know I am,' said Harry.

Neville chuckled. Luna turned her pale eyes on him instead.

'And I don't know who you are.'

'I'm nobody,' said Neville hurriedly.

'No you're not,' said Ginny sharply. 'Neville Longbottom-Luna Lovegood."

'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,' said Luna in a singsong voice.

She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Harry and Neville looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. Ginny suppressed a giggle.

Then she abruptly pulled it down again and looked at me. "You're part Veela, you as well" she said glancing from me to Ria. Ria looked nervous, but I smiled and nodded. I would have loved to paint her, those giant eyes would make a perfect subject. "Veela are surprisingly human" she said simply as I assessed the lines in her face, already drawing my sketchbook out of my bag. I startled at her words but looked up to meet those huge eyes.

"Yes, I suppose so" I said quietly. Ria gave me a questioning look as the girl dissapeered again, Ginny smothered a giggle, but I liked the girls words. I liked being considered human.

The train rattled onwards, speeding us out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously grey clouds.

'Guess what I got for my birthday?' said Neville. He had been silent up until now, I think RIa and I had been a bit much for the sy young boy, he couldn't seem to do anything but stare at the ground. He finally regained his mouth however.

'Another Remembrall?' said Harry, I wondered why he would assume that. Maybe Neville was forgetful like me. I was always bumbling about forgetting something or another, I could never keep my head on straight. I would've had a whole store of rememberalls by now, but every time Maman got me a new one I woud forget where I'd placed it.
'No,' said Neville. 'I could do with one, though, I lost the old one ages ago... No, look at this...'

He dug the hand that was not keeping a firm grip on his toad into his schoolbag and after a little bit of rummaging pulled out what appeared to be a small grey cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spines.

'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' he said proudly.

I stared at the thing. It was pulsating slightly, giving it the rather sinister look of some diseased internal organ.

'It's really, really rare,' said Neville, beaming. 'I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it.'

'Does it-er-do anything?' Harry asked.

'Loads of stuff!' said Neville proudly. 'It's got an amazing defensive mechanism. Here, hold Trevor for me...'

He dumped the toad into Harry's lap and took a quill from his schoolbag. Luna Lovegood's popping eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine again, watching what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.

Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant; thick, stinking, dark green jets of it. They hit the ceiling, the windows, and spattered Luna Lovegood's magazine; Ginny, who had flung her arms up in front of her face just in time, merely looked as though she was wearing a slimy green hat, but Harry, whose hands had been busy preventing Trevor's escape, received a faceful. It smelled like rancid manure. As for me and my friends, Ria was absolutely coated, as she was across from Neville. And CJ had hid his face in his tee-shirt. I was less coated then them, but the stuff clung in my hair. I lifted a strand, interested. It made a cool texture when spewed onto hair, and a cool color. Ria rolled her eyes as she saw me assessing it with a huge smile.

"Oh god, now she's going to paint stinksap" Ria groaned, Ginny, Harry, and CJ laughed.

"SO she really does do that with everything?" Ginny questioned and Ria nodded. Neville, who had gotton the most sap, was just now recovering from his shock and spitting out mouthfuls of the stuff.
'Sosorry,' he gasped. 'I haven't tried that before... Didn't realise it would be quite so... Don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous,' he added nervously, as Harry spat a mouthful on to the floor.

At that precise moment the door of the compartment slid open.

'Oh ... hello, Harry,' said a nervous voice. 'Um ... bad time?'

Harry wiped the lenses of his glasses with his Trevor-free hand. A very pretty girl with long, shiny black hair was standing in the doorway smiling. She had eyes only for Harry, not even glancing at the rest of us, and she didn't even seem put off by the sap on his face. Clearly, this girl had quite a crush.
'Oh ... hi,' said Harry blankly.

'Um...' said Cho. 'Well ... just thought I'd say hello ... 'bye then.'

Rather pink in the face, she closed the door and departed. Harry slumped back in his seat and groaned. I'm guessing that her crush was very much shared by Harry, and felt bad for the boy. I would've offered him a kind word, but if you haven't gleaned this by now, I'm not exactly a socially well-adjusted person. I'm rather awkward most of the time. I just happen to be lucky that I'm awkward in a way most people view as charm.

'Never mind,' said Ginny bracingly. 'Look, we can easily get rid of all this.' She pulled out her wand. 'Scourgify!'

The Stinksap vanished.

'Sorry.' said Neville again, in a small voice.

Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. I hadn't gotton anything from the trolly, not sure what it all was. However Ginny and Harry provided me and my two friends with detailed discriptions of Bristish wizarding treats and I did try some Bertie Bot's Beans. Harry, Ginny, and Neville had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards when the compartment door slid open and they walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.

'I'm starving,' said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him. He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the frog's head and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

'Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house,' said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. 'Boy and girl from each.'

'And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?' said Ron, still with his eyes closed.

'Malfoy,' replied Harry at once, certain his worst fear would be confirmed.

' 'Course,' said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the Frog into his mouth and taking another.

'And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson,' said Hermione viciously. 'How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll...'

"Who's Malfoy?" I asked curiously. Hermione turned to me and sighed.

"Not a person you ever want to meet, though I don't doubt you will. He's this bloke from slytherin, mean as they come. He won't like you or Ria much either, has a vendetta against anyone not pure blood wizard, and Veela's aren't full wizard to him." She ran a hand through her hair and looked out the window.

"Sytherins the bad house right?" CJ piped up. Ron turned to him.

"You kidding? Worst house in history. Those Slytherins would faster stab you in your sleep than beat you fair and square on the quidditch pitch" Ron says heatedly.

"That's cheap, I can't stand anyone who cheats quidditch. I played a chaser at Beauxbatons, but the team was recreational, I hear you have real competition at Hogwarts" and with that I knew CJ and Ron would be occupied happily for the rest of the ride. CJ could never have enough of quidditch, and I sensed Ron was much the same.

'Who are Hufflepuff's?' Harry asked.

'Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott,' said Ron thickly.

'And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw,' said Hermione.

'You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil,' said a vague voice.

Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was gazing unblinkingly at Ron over the top of The Quibbler. He swallowed his mouthful of Frog.

'Yeah, I know I did,' he said, looking mildly surprised.

'She didn't enjoy it very much,' Luna informed him. 'She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded,' she added thoughtfully, 'I don't like dancing very much.'

She retreated behind The Quibbler again. Ron stared at the cover with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then looked around at Ginny for some kind of explanation, but Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself giggling. Ron shook his head, bemused, then checked his watch.

'We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often,' he told Harry and Neville, 'and we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving. I can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something...'

'You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!' said Hermione sharply.

'Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all,' said Ron sarcastically.

'So you're going to descend to his level?'

'No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine.'

'For heavens sake, Ron-'

'I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing,' said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle's low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. 'I ... must ... not ... look ... like ... a ... baboon's ... backside.'

Everyone laughed, but nobody laughed harder than Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. Luna laughed so hard her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs, and onto the floor.

'That was funny!'

Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he looked around at the others, who were now laughing at the expression on Ron's face and at the ludicrously prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was rocking backwards and forwards, clutching her sides.

'Are you taking the mickey?' said Ron, frowning at her.

'Baboon's ... backside!' she choked, holding her ribs. I was a bit distracted by all the laughter, people are truly wonderous when they laugh, so much simple motion, but I did notice Harry Lean down and pick up Luna's quibbler. He read through it for a bit.

'Anything good in there?' asked Ron as Harry closed the magazine.

'Of course not,' said Hermione scathingly, before Harry could answer. 'The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that.'

'Excuse me,' said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. 'My father's the editor.'

'I-oh,' said Hermione, looking embarrassed. 'Well ... it's got some interesting ... I mean, it's quite...'

'I'll have it back, thank you,' said Luna coldly, and leaning forwards she snatched it out of Harry's hands. Riffling through it to page fifty-seven, she turned it resolutely upside-down again and disappeared behind it, just as the compartment door opened for the third time.

I looked around; there was a ferrety blonde boy stabnding there, two huge ugly boys behind him, I could only assume that they were someone quite distasteful as the others were glaring at them. 'What Malfoy?' Harry said aggressively, before the boy could open his mouth.

'Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention,' drawled the Malfoy boy. 'You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.'

'Yeah,' said Harry, 'but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.'

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.

'Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?' he asked.

'Shut up, Malfoy,' said Hermione sharply.

'I seem to have touched a nerve,' said Malfoy, smirking. 'Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line.' His eyes suddenly found me. "Who's this?" He asked curiously. I wanted to run, to hide, from the two monstrous boys behind the blonde. One of them was practically assaulting me with his eyes. I cringed, there was something cruel in his gaze that terrified me to no end. I had never been particularly tough, and evil always frightened me so when I saw it in someone's face. "Potter have you found yourself a couple of Veela whores? The nasty boy laughed. The insult really didn't insult me much. I was fine with cruel words. I just wasn't fine with those probing eyes. CJ looked ready to throw a punch, he was always the protector. I figured that Ginny was about at that point too, and somehow figured her punch would be a lot more powerful.

'Get out!' said Hermione, standing up.

Sniggering, Malfoy gave us a last malicious look and departed, with his two bodyguards lumbering along in his wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at me. "Well that's Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle" she sighed.

'Chuck us another Frog,' said Ron.

The weather remained undecided as we travelled farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it carefully away in her bag and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead.

Harry was sitting with his forehead pressed against the train window, trying to get a first distant glimpse of Hogwarts, but it was a moonless night and the rain-streaked window was grimy.

'We'd better change,' said Hermione at last, and all of us opened their trunks with difficulty and pulled on our school robes. One's which were brand new in the case of me and my friends. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests. At last, the train began to slow down and everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving me and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

'I'll carry that owl, if you like,' said Luna to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed Trevor carefully in an inside pocket.

'Oh-er-thanks,' said Harry, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms.

we shuffled out of the compartment feeling the first sting of the night air on our faces as we joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, we moved towards the doors. I could smell the pine trees that lined the path down to the lake.
A brisk female voice was calling out, 'First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!' I wondered if I should go with her, because I was technically new to the school.

"Should we go with her?" I asked nervously. Ginny turned her focus on me, Ria. And CJ, who I'm sure were all looking very lost. Harry seemed distracted by the sight of the woman, Luna just seemed distracted all together, though that was probably normal.

"I'd say it's probably best if you do" Ginny nodded. "She'ss lead you to be sorted. You should be following Hagrid, but apparently he's not here" she looked off in the same direction as Harry.

I linked arms with Ria and CJ and we started to walk towards the woman, I could feel Ria shiver with nerves. We were about to be sorted.