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Chapter Four: Broken and New Friendships

Jamie Murray

I woke up abruptly and sat up in bed, after having another nightmare. This time I was walking along the path to Hogwarts when a sinister shadow with shiny eyes appeared to drag me into the Forbidden Forest. I shuddered and wiped the tears from my eyes. I put my head in my hands, trying to forget the painful dream.

It was still early and I wasn't about to fall back asleep. I was much too anxious. Today would be the first day of classes and that thought scared me. What if I was the only one in the class who couldn't do magic? They would all laugh at me for sure.

Bonnie was curled in my lap and I gently shifted her to the side so I could get up. I opened my trunk of clothes and began to load the contents into the wardrobe provided. It was full of clothes that Renée had bought for me. Though they seemed a little different than what I was used to. Though, my past outfits consisted of plain t-shirts and pants from Good Will. After I finished, I showered and got ready. Wanting to look extra nice, I spent extra time fixing my hair until it was straight and smooth. By the time I was ready the other girls were beginning to wake.

When Hermione was dressed and ready we headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I wasn't too hungry and nibbled on some toast. Melissa met up with us and sat with me, telling me about making some friends last night.

Klaus came over then, dressed in his houses robes. I immediately got up and crushed him into a hug.

"Good morning," Klaus said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm hanging in there," I said. "I wish we didn't have to be apart."

"Me too," Klaus said, "but it's not so bad. We'll still get to see each other."

"Not as much as I'd like to," I said.

"How about we meet up somewhere at lunch?" Klaus suggested. "Somewhere on the school grounds. There's a nice spot by the lake I saw earlier this morning."

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"Fiona wanted to see the lake," Klaus said, "She's a bit homesick so I offered to go with her to keep her company."

"Oh," I said, trying to hide my frown.

"So you'll meet me?" Klaus asked.

I nodded. "I'll be there," I said.

Suddenly hundreds of owls came flying in through the open windows. They flew around until they found their owners. Klaus' owl, Atticus found us and delivered a letter from Renée checking up on us. She told us that Violet, Sunny, Beatrice, and the Quagmires were well and happy. They were going to school and continuing to pursue their interests. Lastly, Renée told us not to worry too much about fitting in, though; I knew she was mostly referring to me. It comforted me a bit to know that she was concerned about me. It made me kind of homesick. I planned on writing some letters back tonight. I missed them and I wished I could just talk to Renée or Violet or any of my other amazing friends about what I was going through.

"You're still nervous, aren't you?" Klaus said, "I can tell because of the creases on your forehead. You need to relax. You're going to be okay."

"Do you think I'm going to be good at magic?" I asked.

Klaus smiled. "I wouldn't doubt it for a second," he said. "We can talk some more later on." He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

We bid each other goodbye, much to my disappointment, and I hurried to catch up with Hermione.

"Come on," she said, "we can't be late."

We had Double Potions first. This class was combined with the Slytherins and I hurried along with Hermione as she chatted avidly about the types of plants we would be studying in the future. I tuned her out, muttering little 'hmms' and 'ohs' every now and then. Trying to catch a break from Hermione, I told her to go on ahead as I went to the girls' bathroom. I fixed my hair, making sure it still looked nice. After a moment, I headed back out and hurried to Potions. One thing I should have taken into account was that I barely knew where the classroom was. The school was like a maze and getting lost was easy. I tried desperately to find the right way to go. My foot almost fell through on of the trick stairs that you were supposed to jump over. I managed to reach the bottom floor in three minutes so I only had two minutes to spare.

I was running so fast to where I thought was the right way to Potions, that I ran smack into someone who had been headed in the opposite direction. I fell backwards and landed on my butt, dropping my bag with my books.

"Watch where you're going," a voice cried, in irritation. I stiffened. I recognized that voice. I looked up and met Draco Malfoy's gray eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," I sputtered.

He scowled. "Of course it was you," he said, "You should be sorry, you could have given me a concussion." He stood up and rubbed his forehead. "Where were you going anyways?"

"Potions," I said as I got to my feet.

Draco Malfoy glared at me. "Potions is this way," he said, "the direction I was headed before you ran into me." He headed toward a staircase that looked like it led to the dungeons.

I hurried to catch up, hoping to ask him why he was acting so strangely.

"Wait," I said.

"What do you want?" Draco Malfoy asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," I said.

"Well, I'm not interested," he said, quickening his pace.

"Please," I said, "I'll be at the tree by the lake if you want to meet me after classes."

"Don't count on it," he replied. "Now, will you bugger off?"

At that, he stormed into the classroom. I stayed behind, a little hurt by his words. I shook them off and entered the room after a moment, finding an empty seat beside Hermione. I glanced over at Draco Malfoy who kept his gaze straight ahead. Though by the hatred in his eyes, I knew he felt my gaze on him. I didn't understand it. How could someone go from being your friend to hating your guts? Unless…maybe he knew about me being a Muggleborn now. I suppose that would make sense. But I didn't like the thought. It seemed ridiculous to carry around that much hate for someone because of their blood status.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, breaking my thoughts. "You look like something's troubling you."

I shrugged. "I'm fine," I said, "just a little worried about Potions. I heard Snape was a mean teacher."

At that moment, a figure came bursting into the room looking ominous like a bat. He had a hooked nose and dark hair, and strode to the front of the classroom. His face was set in an angry glare. I was right to be worried about Potions. Professor Snape immediately began insulting Harry Potter for being famous while the Slytherins, particularly Draco Malfoy snickered at him. He took a point away from Gryffindor for no good reason.

If that wasn't bad enough, I could hardly stay focused. Every time I listened, out of a mixture of excitement about the subject and hatred for Professor Snape, I would get a creepy feeling like I did in my nightmares. Except these occurred when I was fully awake. I tried to carry on, but every few seconds, I had to glance at the door or at the window to make sure I was safe. Before, Count Olaf always seemed to pop up out of nowhere when we least expected it. I began to worry that he had somehow escaped from prison and was hiding in Hogwarts. What if he was in disguise as a teacher? I narrowed my eyes at Professor Snape, and despite having a similar aura of menace, he didn't look at all like Count Olaf.

"Jamie!" Hermione was hissing at me.

I snapped out of my thoughts and saw her trying to get my attention.

"I've been trying to get your attention," Hermione said, sounding a little impatient. "Is everything all right?"

"Sorry, I'm fine," I muttered. "I'm just tired."

"Let's just focus on our potion," Hermione said, "try to stay awake."

I nodded and we got to work on our potion. Poor Neville Longbottom knocked his potion over, getting covered in boils. Professor Snape blamed the whole thing on Harry Potter and we lost another house point.

It didn't get any better throughout the rest of the day. The slightest sound, like the clicking of a lock or the sound of footsteps. I couldn't focus and every now and then I would think about Draco Malfoy and how much he hated me. And that made me so angry. He had no right to behave that way towards me. I never did anything wrong.

All of the other classes were all very exciting. There was Charms with Professor Flitwick who was so short he had to stand on a pile of books when he taught us. The spells were definitely not easy to learn, but I really enjoyed his class. He was also the conductor of the choir that met every Wednesday after classes. I made a note to join. We also had Transfiguration, which was harder than I thought. Professor McGonagall was very strict and did not show any favoritism toward us. However when she got to my name on the roll call she gave me one of her rare smiles. I remembered that she was the person I had sent my letter to rejecting the opportunity. I kept growing increasingly frustrated when I couldn't get the spell to work. Hermione nailed it in one go, also receiving a smile from Professor McGonagall, and spent the rest of the time trying to help me.

We got a break to go to lunch, and I found that I was starving after not eating enough at breakfast. I ate hastily and then, met up with Klaus to talk about our day. I told him about Potions. I didn't mention anything about my hallucinations or my plans to meet Draco Malfoy.

After lunch, I had Herbology in the greenhouse, taught by Professor Sprout. We learned how to care for magical plants and herbs and how they are used. It was interesting to see that magic went beyond just reciting the spells and waving a wand. Also, the class was combined with Hufflepuffs and I got to talk to Charlie Kornbluth for a bit. Apparently, he received a letter shortly after Fiona and her brother rescued the recruits. I grimaced at that thought, knowing what I was doing during that time—becoming one of Olaf's recruits. I told him about Renée and the others at home. I invited him to visit us sometime if he wanted. He was an orphan now too and was being raised by some relatives. Next was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell. He was a really strange teacher who wore a turban and stuttered a lot. His turban made me think of when Count Olaf wore one when he was Coach Genghis and when I saw him, I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't Count Olaf in disguise. I was a little suspicious of his turban, because of that. I knew all too well that turbans could be used to conceal things. The last class of the day, History of Magic, was by far the most boring. First of all, the teacher, Professor Binns, was a ghost and his lectures went on for hours. He was more boring than Mr. Remora from Prufrock Prep.

Finally, classes ended and we were free for the rest of the day to do some work and relax. Only Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape gave us real homework, of course. So I headed out to the grounds, telling Hermione that I would meet her in the library, after waiting to see if Draco Malfoy would actually show up.

Draco Malfoy

Classes ended with Transfiguration and I scowled at Professor McGonagall as I left. That old bag was always taking points away from the Slytherins. Though I was sure she treated the Gryffindor's equally as sternly. I made some snide comments to Crabbe and Goyle as we left and headed out to the grounds, hopefully to pick on some weak Hufflepuffs. I pushed open the heavy doors to the grounds. The sun was out and the air smelled like cut grass and smoke. The smoke must have been coming from the hut that belonged to that oaf of a gamekeeper, whatever his name was. We walked along the path near the lake. I glanced over to the lake and my eyes were drawn to a small blond girl. Jamie. She was sitting under the oak tree with her knees tucked with a textbook resting on her thighs. She had her wand out and a feather. The sight of her made me pause in my stride, causing Crabbe and Goyle to give me peculiar looks.

I broke my gaze away and back to my friends. "Why don't you go on ahead?" I said, "I have some matters to take care of."

They hesitated and I narrowed my eyes. "Go on," I demanded.

As always they grumbled some 'yes''s and left without question. I glanced around to make sure no one was looking my way and was relieved to see this part of the grounds was relatively quiet. My eyes rested on Jamie again and I walked over to her. I really wasn't looking forward to meeting Jamie, but I knew I had to. I had to tell her that we couldn't be friends or even talk to each other. Otherwise, she would keep trying to talk to me and it would make it that much harder to stay away from her.

She didn't notice me approach.

"What did you want to discuss with me?" I demanded, making her jump and look up at me in surprise with her wide blue eyes. "Make it brief. I don't like waiting."

"I thought you weren't going to show," she said.

"Well, I changed my mind," I said, curtly.

"Are you angry with me?" Jamie asked, uncertainly. "I thought we were friends."

"Friends?" I scoffed. "Of course not."

"I don't understand why you were so nice to me on the train," she said, as she got to her feet, "and now it's like you're a completely different person. What's the matter with you? Why do you seem to hate me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I said. "You're in Gryffindor now."

"Why does that matter?" she asked.

"It means we can't be friends," I said, tersely. "We're rivals."

"That's ridiculous," Jamie said, "Just because we're in different houses doesn't mean we have to be enemies. I'm still friends with Klaus and he's in Ravenclaw."

"Gryffindor and Slytherin have been rivals since the school was founded," I said, "It's tradition."

"So what?" she said, "Then, break the tradition."

"I don't want to," I said. Break the tradition? My father certainly wouldn't approve of that. And neither did I.

Jamie frowned at me. "Well, too bad I never actually considered you a friend," she spat between gritted teeth. "Oh, and by the way, I'm also a Muggleborn."

"I know," I growled. I hated that she was a Muggleborn. "But how is your aunt a Pureblood? Or did you lie about that too?"

"She is a Pureblood," Jamie explained, "but she was my Muggle mother's adopted sister."

"Well now there are two reasons why we can't be friends," I said. "In fact, I shouldn't even be talking to you right now." I turned to leave.

"Then why did you come?" she said in fury, following after me. "You didn't have to meet with me."

Her question caught me off guard. I turned back to her. Her blue eyes were hard as they searched mine for answers. "I thought I would clarify a few things that's all. Why do you even care if we're friends or not?"

"Maybe it shouldn't matter to me," Jamie confessed, "You know, a lot of people say that Slytherins are mean and hateful. But after everything I've learned from my troubles, I know better than to make assumptions about people because of things they can't change. I was willing to give you a chance to prove that you were different…that you were better than the rest of them."

I stared at her for a second. After everything she's learned? What did she know? I suppose because her parents were dead she thought she was superior to the rest of us. Like Potter.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am, unlike you," I said, "You lied to me about who you were. If you ask me, that isn't exactly 'noble' behavior for someone who is criticizing mine. I guess we're not so different after all. Well, I wouldn't say we're similar in any other way. You're a filthy Mudblood and I'm as Pure as can be. Also, just because your parents are dead doesn't mean you know more than the rest of us. It just makes you an orphan."

It was Jamie's turn to fall silent. She was hurt, clearly.

"Maybe you should have listened to your friends," I said.

I glared at her, feeling triumphant as I began to walk away. I had only taken a few steps away when I heard her reply, in almost a whisper:

"You know nothing about me."

I glanced back at her, meeting her soft blue eyes and saw an indescribable sorrow in them that struck my very core. I almost found myself regretting my words.

Immediately, I shifted my gaze away from her eyes, hopefully, before my face could give anything away.

"Don't try to talk to me anymore," I said, finally. "We were never friends. And we never will be."

At that, I turned and headed back into the castle, trying to regain my composure. She was just a Mudblood. Her pain shouldn't matter to me. I had to remind myself of that.

Melissa Sampson

I was not at all looking forward to my first day of classes. I had to take double the classes to catch up to the third year level, except for Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. The extra lessons would be just the professor teaching me individually. Hermione who was Jamie's new friend offered to tutor me. It felt awkward asking an eleven year old to teach me, but Jamie assured me that Hermione was the best tutor I could find.

I had Potions in the morning on Friday. I despised Potions because we had to share it with the Slytherins. I trudged into class choosing a seat next to Angelina Johnson. She had seemed the nicer of my roommates. My other roommates were not nearly as nice. They spent a lot of the time whispering about me because I had entered Hogwarts so late. Then, there was the fact that I had one of the longest hat stalls in the history of Hogwarts, according to Hermione. The problem was the Sorting hat couldn't decide if I was better suited for Gryffindor or Slytherin. He kept saying things like there was this part of me that showed I could be destined for darkness and evil. I just rolled my eyes. Maybe I could be bad-tempered at times, but I never thought of myself as evil.

Professor Snape started the class and we were to make boil-remover potions. Before we began, Professor Snape clarified that the Weasley twins were to work separately. George Weasley just shrugged.

"We'd be happy to work with someone else," he said, "We wouldn't want any problems."

Professor Snape glowered at them.

"Weasley number one, you can work with Taegan," he barked, gesturing from George Weasley to a Slytherin boy wearing a huge grin. "Weasley number two, you can work with her, whatever your name is." I realized he was pointing a scrawny finger in my direction.

The Weasley twins went off to their assigned partners, Fred Weasley heading in my direction. George Weasley didn't look too pleased with his partner.

Fred Weasley sat down in the seat across from me.

"Hello," he said with a friendly smile.

"Hello," I muttered. "All right let's get to work."

I went to grab some ingredients and Fred followed to help.

"And your name is?" he asked as I grabbed a supply of grass.

"You don't already know?" I said, bitterly. I couldn't stand people acting like I was an alien. "Does 'hat stall girl' ring a bell?"

He looked amused. "That was you?" he said.

"Go ahead and mock me," I said, "I don't care."

"Are you kidding?" Fred said, his brown eyes twinkling. "I thought that was bloody brilliant. You made history. It's an honor to meet you."

He winked and held out his hand. I kept mine to myself.

"I'm not Merlin or anything," I muttered, brushing past him to my seat.

Fred followed me back to our seat, sitting down across from me, as a grin flashed across his face.

"You're certainly much more attractive," he said.

"What?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "Beards don't suit your taste?"

"Not really," Fred said, "I prefer those who are beardless."

"Well, I prefer to be called by my actual name," I grumbled, "People don't seem to understand that."

"Right, we never did properly introduce ourselves," Fred said, "Why don't we start over? I'm Fred Weasley."

He held out his hand again. I sighed and this time I took it, shaking his hand briefly.

"I'm Melissa Sampson," I said.

"Melissa," Fred repeated. "I like it."

I rolled my eyes. "Enough flirting," I said, "we need to work."

I looked away and began working on the potion, chopping some roots up with the knife. Fred Weasley began skinning one of the other peculiar ingredients.

"So," Fred Weasley continued as we worked. "Why did that hat take so long? Couldn't decide where to place you?"

"Something like that," I muttered.

"Which houses?" he asked.

"A little nosy, much?" I said, "It's none of your business."

"Oh, come on," he said, "You can't just have a hat stall and provide no explanation."

"Why?" I said, "So I can feel even more like an outcast?"

Fred Weasley chuckled. "I think you're forgetting the fact that we're magic," he said, "Pretty much everyone here is far from ordinary. Besides, I happen to like outcasts." He leaned forward. "I'm one too."

"Maybe," I said, "but at least the whole school doesn't think you're mental."

"True," he said and then he smirked, "You aren't really mental, are you?"

I glowered at him and grabbed a handful of the grass, throwing it in his face. His expression was priceless and I shook with laughter, desperately trying to hide it. He joined in and picked up a handful of cut up roots, throwing those in my face, making us laugh harder.

"The ingredients are not for playing with, you fools," Professor Snape growled, appearing before us out of nowhere. Everyone turned to look in my direction and the Slytherins began to snicker amongst themselves. George Weasley grinned at us. Oh, great. "Maybe an evening detention will make you think twice next time about fooling around in my class. Five points from Gryffindor each." I could feel the glares from my roommates and didn't dare look at them.

We carried on with our potion, silently, until class was dismissed.

"Weasley and his girlfriend can stay behind to receive their punishment," Professor Snape demanded.

The class filed out, leaving Fred and I behind. George lingered by the door, exchanging a look with Fred.

Professor Snape loomed over us as he explained our punishment.

"You, Weasley, and your girlfriend…what is your name?"

"Melissa Sampson," I said. "And I'm not his girlfriend."

"You're the new girl, aren't you?" Professor Snape said.

"That's right," I said. "What's it to you?"

"You think you're so special because that dumb old hat couldn't decide where to place you?" Professor Snape sneered. "Perhaps it knew you were a little sneak."

"Actually, I don't think I'm all that special," I muttered. "I'd prefer it if that hadn't happened. I was only having a little fun. Jeez, lighten up."

Fred Weasley looked at me in amazement, his mouth agape. Professor Snape looked like he wanted to strangle me. I wasn't afraid of him. Compared to the Sinister Duo and Count Olaf, Professor Snape was benign.

"How dare you talk back to me," Professor Snape growled. "You've just given yourself a week of detention. And you can join her Weasley. I hope you enjoy scrubbing the desks. Without magic."

"I think I'll manage," I said, rolling my eyes. I've had worse detentions than that. When I was at the New York boarding school and Alfonso who was really Count Olaf gave me detention, he spent the entire two hours talking about all of the awards he won. No detention could be worse than that.

"That's two weeks!" Professor Snape roared. "Another word and I'll make it two months!"

"We'll take it!" Fred Weasley cried before I could retort, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out into the corridor. George Weasley was waiting and looked at me with an incredulous expression.

"Who are you?" he blurted.

"Melissa Sampson," I said, giving him an odd look.

"Otherwise known as hat-stall-girl," Fred Weasley added.

"That was you?" George Weasley cried, growing even more excited. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He took my hand to shake it eagerly.

"It's nice to meet you too…" I said to George Weasley before rounding on Fred Weasley. "I told you not to call me that. Do I need to throw something else at you?"

Fred Weasley grinned. "That won't be necessary," he said.

"Nice going in there," George Weasley said and Fred Weasley went back to staring at me in wonder.

"I've never seen anything like it," Fred said in admiration.

"Jeez," I said, "You two look like you're going to faint. It wasn't that great."

"No one ever talks to Snape like that," George Weasley said. "They're all afraid of him."

"Well, I'm not," I said.

"Neither are we," Fred Weasley said.

"We're all about causing trouble with teachers," George Weasley said, "but even we have our limits."

"Let's just say I know Muggles who are more terrifying than he is," I said.

They exchanged glances again, still in awe. "I never thought of Muggles could be terrifying," Fred Weasley said.

"Well, they can be, trust me," I said, quickly. I did not want to get into all of the details with them. "Anyways, got to go. Can't be late."

I started down the corridor, wondering how I was going to get to Charms from here.

"Wait, Melissa," The twins said simultaneously as they caught up with me.

"Yes?" I said.

"Why don't you join us?" Fred Weasley asked.

"We know a short cut that will get us there in no time," George Weasley said.

"A short cut?" I said. It sounded suspicious. "That doesn't sound good to me."

"I thought you were a Gryffindor," George Weasley said.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Fred Weasley said.

Fred and George were giving me goofy smiles.

"I do like adventures," I said with a smile. Despite being called hat-stall-girl, I was beginning to enjoy their company. "Let's go."

"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," Fred and George said, as they pulled me down a dimly lit corridor.

Review!

Hope you enjoyed the many POV's! :)

Also, I posted a pic of Melissa on my profile and Renée as well!