A/N: I thank everyone for the kind reviews, favorites and follows. However, my ire was pulled up as I read a few. All I have to say is this and if I lose readers oh well. I'm an artist and like all artists I am sensitive about my shit. It is a big internet, if you don't like things, go find something else. Pointing out grammatical and spelling errors is one thing as well as out of characterness. I'm cool with that. But to go on saying my plot is boring without knowing where I'm taking it and calling my ideas cliche and then pushing for where you want things to go... Yeah, no. Sorry you wasted both of our time.

Okay, rant over. On to the story. This part takes place right when everyone was loading the Hogwarts express during Prisoner of Azkaban.

Two Years Later

"Aunt Bex, c'mon!"

"No..."

"Please..."

"No."

Thirteen year old Hope huffed in annoyance as she dipped her quill in her ink bottle and returned back to her parchment. "Why not?"

Rebekah calmly flipped the channels, stopping on a news program. "Because you're to write that essay with a quill and ink, so no. I'm not giving you a pen."

"Urgh!"

"Don't 'urgh' me. Besides, it'll do you some good to learn how we did things back then."

"I learned in first grade that people used quills..."

"Yes, and now you get to experience it first hand. I don't understand why you're having so much trouble. You've been using a quill for two years now."

The news program switched from a story about soccer to a a report on an escaped convict. Hope glanced up at the TV to see them showing a picture of a pale, gaunt man with matted, elbow-length hair. "The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."

Rebekah turned off the TV. Obviously a muggle killer was not much of a concern to her as an Original Vampire.

"I've been getting zits for two years now, too. Doesn't mean I have to like it..." Hope grumbled, bringing the conversation back to the earlier topic. "And why am I getting zits anyway, I thought vampire blood fixed everything."

"Not everything," Rebekah said absently as she flipped through a book. "It doesn't cure cancer. In fact it turns out accelerates cancer cell growth."

Hope's head raised and her eyes popped at that. "Wait, really?"

"Oh yes. If I had to hazard a guess it's because cancer is natural, however horrible."

"Wow..." Hope went back to her essay on Medieval Witch Hunts and her History of Magic textbook. "Does it cure period cramps? Just so I know for when it finally happens?" Hope had already turned thirteen and she still hadn't gotten her first period. It was getting a little annoying.

"Nope. Afraid you'll have to suck that up too..."

"Hooray..." Hope grumbled. "Can I have a pen now?"

"No."

"Urgh! Well, can you tell me about the Witch Hunts?"

"Which ones?"

"Any of them. Did you know that in medieval times, they caught a witch who used a Flame Freeze charm, so that if you were set on fire it didn't hurt you. It just caused a tickling sensation and this one witch had so much fun that she let herself get caught over and over just so she could enjoy the tickles..."

Rebekah paused in her reading. "Yeah, that's just weird..."

"Her name's Wendelin the Weird, actually."

"Fitting... But..."

Rebekah got up from her seat, disappeared into a basement and came back with an old book. She then set it in front of Hope with a thud. "Use that as a reference."

Hope picked up the book and her brow arched. "Malleus Maleficarum"

"What's this?"

"It translates into Witch's Hammer. It was written in the 1450s and was a guide a bunch of dogmatic, power hungry idiots used to persecute accused witches. And as for witchcraft in America, those girls from Salem were innocent. Granted, I wasn't there then. I was in Europe. Though, from what I understand it was just a bunch of Puritanettes who were bored, jealous and decided to start a riot..."

"Did anything ever happen in New Orleans?" Hope asked.

Rebekah paused in her reading. Celeste DuBois flashed through her mind. How Klaus was responsible for her death only because of his jealousies and boredom and what that inevitably sparked for decades to come.

He might as well had been Ann Putnam Jr. I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil. Look where that landed that little bitch.

"Aunt Bex?" Hope's concerned voice reached her ears. "You okay? You look mad?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she was spared an explanation when the sound of tapping at the kitchen window caught their attention.

Hope scurried over to the window, smiling at the barn owl who had a letter attached in its claws. It was her Hogwarts letter! It said the usual spiel. She was to be at King's Cross on the first of September. There was also the list of books that included her new subjects: Care of Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient Runes, and Divination. However the most interesting thing she found in the envelope was a permission slip.

"Hey... favorite Auntie Bex with the beautiful blonde hair..."

Now Rebekah smiled. "What do you want, you suck up?"

Hope slid the form in front of her and fluttered her lashes, hands clasped in front of her. "Please, please, please! Third years get to go to Hogsmeade Village on some weekends. I think that's where a lot of shops are... I'll bring you something nice!"

Rebekah rolled her eyes but signed the form. "Fine... I suspect even you'd get bored locked in a castle for nine months on end. Have fun. And don't even think of sending me any more of those dratted beans!"

Hope snickered and went back to her essay. Watching Aunt Bex gag on an earwax flavored bean had been hilarious!

"And study that Runes book once you're done with that essay. And write me a chart of the planets. They're named for Roman gods, I want this chart to consist of their Norse counterparts..."

Hope let out another exasperated sigh. She had chosen Ancient Runes as an elective at the end of her second year. Her aunt had told Hope that her father, Klaus, was born of Vikings and she wanted to know more about them. It was weird to think she was the modern daughter of an ancient people. But, once she had told Rebekah she was taking the subject and wanted a bit of help (if only to trounce all over Hermione Granger for once) the vampire had sat her down and forced her to learn them as well as do weird multicultural charts once a week. She had barely had any fun this summer. And it was beginning to grate. Though if she were honest with herself, a lot of things were pissing her off lately.

"Can I have a pen?"

"No!"

Hope scowled.


It was a few weeks later during their usual shopping trip around London that Rebekah and Hope had gone to Diagon Alley to pick up the girl's new books. Upon entering the Leaky Cauldron Rebekah turned off her cell phone while Hope did the same with her own, pocketing her headphones. One thing she did not like about the magical world was magical interference. Her iPod during History of Magic class would have saved her a world of heartache and boredom. Ah well. That's what the many muggle books she had purchased earlier were for.

And was it her imagination or did Aunt Bex actually buy Fifty Shades of Grey?

Hope, biting back giggles the entire time, took out her wand and tapped the bricks so that they gave way to reveal Diagon Alley. They stepped into the alley as the bricks shut behind them.

"Can I grab ice cream?" Hope asked.

"Go on, I'll be exchanging the money," Rebekah said as she made her way to Gringotts.

Hope headed to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, already salivating at the thought of a treat. She bought herself a chocolate and butterscotch sundae with an unholy amount of hazelnuts. She turned to find herself a spot to sit and stopped cold at what she saw.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson of Slytherin house were seated at one of the small tables inside the shoppe, sharing a large banana split. Pansy dipped her spoon, scooped up a hefty amount of strawberry ice cream, and actually fed it to the blonde boy. Her other hand was holding his. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice her. Hope was all too glad of that.

Taking her sundae she skittered out of the shoppe, lips clamped shut to keep from cackling. Once she was outside and a few buildings away she let out a loud laugh. "Oh, my God! Eww!" She glanced around for her aunt, wanting to tell her the revolting sight she had just seen but remembered she was in the bank where the lines were usually long during this time of year.

"Hope! Hey, Hope!"

Hope turned around to see Harry Potter along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger coming from the magical creatures shop where Hope had purchased her owl two years ago. Ron looked annoyed and was cradling something in his pocket, more than likely his pet rat and Hermione was busy snuggling the ugliest orange cat Hope had ever seen in her life. And said cat was now staring very hard at Hope, its yellow eyes narrowed.

"Hi, guys," Hope greeted as she ate her melting ice cream.

"Did you get your books yet?" Harry asked her.

She noticed the Gryffindor wunderkind had grown a bit over the summer. Last year he was as tall as her, now he was a bit taller. The two got along well enough but didn't really talk much. She had, amusingly during their first year, somehow established herself as Gryffindor Quidditch team's unofficial cheerleader. It never ceased to amuse the other students when she did Hammer Time in the stands and nearly fell over the edge. And she had a feeling he particularly enjoyed it when she put Pansy in her place from time to time.

"My aunt's in Gringotts' now," she said.

"Be sure to be careful when you get the Care of Magical Creatures book,"Ron warned her.

She and Ron got on well enough though they didn't talk very much. However, there was an incident where she had punched one of Malfoy's cronies, in the face last year, and Ron had applauded her when she entered Gryffindor Tower after she had served her detention. She didn't know why she got the detention! That pig was the one who cast a hex to make her shirt nearly fly open...

"Ehh?"

"You'll see."

Hope shrugged it off, going back to her ice cream.

"Did you take that glass from the shoppe?" Hermione asked in a slightly disapproving voice.

Ever since their first meeting on the train Hope and Hermione barely got along. They only tolerated each other as they were both Gryffindors and had to share a dorm. Though Hermione found Hope to be loud, rude and combative while Hope considered the bushy haired girl to be an annoying, bossy know-it-all. The only thing they had in common was a mutual hatred of Pansy Parkinson.

"I'll put it back... It was just nauseating in there... I had to run."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "We were just in there not long ago."

"Oh! You didn't see that horror show?" Hope asked and motioned for the group to follow her. "Guess who's a couple now?" She then pointed to the window of the Ice Cream Parlor at the Slytherin couple still seated. The banana split was long gone and the two were now, to the Gryffindor's disgust, making out over the table.

"Urgh!" Ron shivered.

"When did that happen?" Hermione asked with a slightly disturbed look on her face.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Harry gagged and the group moved away as Hope set her empty parfait glass on one of the outside tables.

"That's how I felt..." Hope said with an exaggerated shiver. Though she was a bit annoyed. How did pug-faced Parkinson get a boyfriend before her? There was a disturbance in the Force.

"Well, we're headed back to the Leaky Cauldron," Hermione said

"To vomit," Harry added and Hope snickered

"See you, Hope," Ron waved. "And brace yourself. Percy's Head Boy."

Hope bit back a snicker as she waved back. Percy Pompus Weasley was now 'Head Boy.' So many dirty jokes... So little time!

and the trio left just as Rebekah had exited the bank with a sack full of wizard money.

"All right, now where to first?" the vampire asked once she reached her niece.

"Flourish and Botts. I want to get the books out of the way."

Everywhere they passed, Hope saw WANTED posters of a man that looked oddly familiar though she couldn't place where she had seen him. But, that was put out of her mind when went to the bookstore to get her supplies. The manager had rushed up to the two of them.

"Hogwarts?" he asked abruptly. "Here to get your new books?"

"Yes..." Hope began. "I need-"

"Get out of the way," the man said, moving Hope and Rebekah aside. Rebekah was about to snap at the man's rudeness but stopped when she saw a large iron cage full of The Monster Book of Monsters. Torn pages flew everywhere as the books grappled with each other, growling and snapping.

So that's what Ron meant...

The man put on a pair of thick gloves and grabbed one of the books, wincing when one bit him. He quickly tossed it into the bag where it went still after a few moments, panting slightly. "Is there anything else you need?" the man asked, nursing his slightly bleeding hand.

Rebekah just blinked at the book. "Well, Hope, your third year won't be boring." She then took the book list to get Hope's other supplied.

Hope stayed behind and looked at the cage full of books. She had a sinking feeling.

"Hi, Hope," a girl's voice called and she turned to see a small redhead holding the ever familiar second year books that also looked second hand.

"Hi, Ginny." Hope never traded many words with the girl. She just knew she was the last and the only girl in a slew of boys. Plus, she was a central part of that whole basilisk drama that had happened last year. That was an incident she had made certain to keep from her Aunt Bex. She didn't really need to know that there was a giant monster that had been targeting students. Hope remembered when Hermione had been petrified and she found herself wondering if the monster would come after her since she was part werewolf.

At that moment Percy Weasley stepped forward and extended his hand to Hope as if he had never met her. "Hello Hope. How nice to see you."

Hope's brows rose and she shook his hand, deciding to humor him. "Hello, Percy..."

"I hope you are well?" asked Percy as Ginny bit back giggles at the look on Hope's face.

"Um, yeah... Thanks..."

"Hope, who are your friends?" Rebekah asked, shopping bag in hand. She had just finished paying for Hope's books.

"Oh, this is Ginny and Percy Weasley," Hope said. "Guys, this is my Aunt Rebekah."

Ginny politely introduced herself while Percy went red in the face at the sight of Rebekah and held out his hand. "H-how do you do?"

Now Ginny was really giggling and Rebekah looked as if she were trying to hold back laughs. "Nice to meet you both."

"Percy here is Head Boy," Hope said, unable to contain herself.

Rebekah now bit her tongue as well as gave Hope a small kick to the ankle. "Really? Well, congratulations. That's very impressive."

Percy now puffed himself up so that the Head Boy badge was showing. Rebekah fought hard not to roll her eyes.

"Aunt Bex, we need to go to the Apothecary," Hope said quickly. She had seen enough weird shit for today.

"Hey, is that Penelope Clearwater?" Ginny also said suddenly and Percy let go of Rebekah's hand as if burned. Hope glanced behind her and saw no one.

Oh, Ginny, you're good.

"It was lovely to meet you," Percy said stiffly. "But, my sister and I must go and find our mother and brothers. Come along, Ginny."

"You as well..." Rebekah said and the two left the shop only to dissolve into giggles once they crossed the street. "Wow!"

"I told you he was a piece of work," Hope said as she wiped tears of laughter.


September 1st.

"So, who the hell is this Lockhart?"

Rebekah now walked through platform nine and three quarters with Hope at her side. The girl had been telling her about her last year. Normally Hope did not talk much about school and Rebekah had a feeling it was because she got into more trouble than she should. There had been many times when Rebekah had gotten a letter from the school claiming that Hope had gotten into a fight. But those were just the fights the teachers knew about. Hope normally would come home during the summer, tell her about the things she learned and her war with the Parkinson girl but other than that there wasn't much to tell. However, now there was a tale of a teacher who had been nothing but a giant poser. He had written books, claiming that he had done all of these magnificent things. Rebekah remembered seeing the picture of him on the cover of the book when they had purchased them for Hope's second year and thought most of them sounded like bullshit from the covers anyway. (Seriously? Travels with Trolls?) The only thing worth looking at was Gilderoy himself, whom Rebekah had to admit, was rather easy on the eyes.

"Well, he was this really..." Hope paused and her face took on a dazed look "...really good looking wizard..." She even let out a wistful sigh. Rebekah never heard Hope sigh like that. It was eerie.

"And he wrote all of these books about doing all of these epic things..." She had paused in putting her things in the luggage compartment to sigh and Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Hope, load up and fangirl later. Finish telling the story."

Hope's cheeks pinked up but she caught herself. "Oh right, well-"

"Hope!"

Both looked up to see Hope's two best friends, Parvati and Padma Patil coming up with a blond girl Rebekah vaguely remembered to be Lavender Brown. Two boys, one tall and black and the other with sandy brown hair had come up as well.

"Hi guys," Hope greeted as she shoved the last of her luggage onto the train. "This is my aunt Rebekah..."

Rebekah gave an amused smile when she saw the thirteen year old boys goggling at her while the girls barely suppressed the urge to roll their eyes. "Hello."

"Hi..." they both said, same dumbstruck looks on their faces.

Hope introduced the two boys as Seamus and Dean before returning back to her story about Gilderoy Lockhart. Now, the boys had a good laugh at it while the girls looked a bit put out that such a hot teacher had left them.

"So, let me get this straight?" Rebekah asked in amusement. "He was basically famous for doing nothing?"

"Pretty much," Dean grinned.

"Like a Kardashian," Hope cracked and she and Dean laughed while Lavender looked confused.

"What's a Kardashian?" Lavender asked.

"Exactly," Hope smirked while Dean sniggered. The rest of the kids just looked lost. Soon, the train conductor announced that it was time for parents to leave the train and she lead Rebekah back to the platform to say goodbye to her. There were the usual hugs but no tears this time from the vampire. Then she turned to board.

"Though..." Hope began, continuing the conversation as she boarded the train with her friends. "To be fair, she actually did get famous doing something."

"What was that?" Parvati asked and Hope dropped her voice in case of adults. However, Rebekah's hearing picked it up. "Really crappy sex tape..."

Dean cracked up at the scandalized looks on the girl's faces while Seamus covered his mouth.

"Excuse me?" Rebekah cleared her throat with an arched brow as the children froze, "Just what do you know of the tape, Hope?"

Now Hope's eyes widened and she flushed scarlet. She then rushed up onto the train. "Oh man, look at the time, I need to be on the train! Bye Auntie Bex!"

"We'll discuss this when you get home!" Rebekah called after her.

"Love you!" Hope called from the compartment window.

Rebekah only gave her a stern scowl as the train started to move a bit. She then moved out of the way as none other than Harry Potter rushed forward onto one of the compartment. He was going to miss the train! He had been dawdling, talking urgently to a redheaded man. Luckily he had caught up to the compartment that held Ron, Hermione and the other Weasley siblings.

The train picked up speed and Hope waved as they pulled away from Platform 9 3/4. Once it turned the corner, she turned to her train companions.

"Ugh, another nine months without music..."

"We have the Wireless Wizarding Network," Parvati said.

"I know... but sometimes a girl just wants to listen to Britney Spears..."

Dean gave an exaggerated shiver as he and Seamus made themselves comfortable. She gave him a scowl and the two then got into a heated debate about the best muggle music. That lasted for the better part of a half hour before the two boys left to see who else they could find.

"Oh! I didn't tell you the horrible thing I saw at Diagon Alley when I went to get my books..." Hope said to the girls and then told them about the awful sighting of Malfoy and Parkinson feeding each other and making out.

"Ew!" Padma groaned. "How the Hell did that pug get a boyfriend before any of us?"

"Right?!" Parvati said, shaking her head.

"Dark magic," Lavender nodded. "Has to be... probably a love potion."

"I say Malfoy lost a bet..." Hope said and then launched into other subjects.

It was well into the train ride and Hope was currently trying to convince her friends to visit her for once, if for nothing else but to shock them with technology and the Internet. Lavender looked wide-eyed as she explained about the Internet and Padma and Parvati were interested as well.

"Oh my God, you've got to convince your parents to hang at my house during the summer! Or Christmas. I can show you stuff on the internet like the tapes. And wait till you see Ray Jay sing during Kardashian's..."

"What's a Ray Jay? Some sort of bird?" Lavender asked and there was a thud as Hope fell from her seat, doubled over in laughter.

"Hey, are we slowing down?" Padma asked suddenly.

Hope got up and looked out the window, finding she could barely see anything. It was raining hard and outside was completely dark. She had been so wrapped up in her conversation that she hadn't noticed the weather. The lights had came on inside of the train and she could hear the sound of the pistons fading. Getting up, she poked her head out of the compartment, seeing others along the carriage do the same. She saw a flash of glasses which belonged to Harry Potter and she opened her mouth to ask what was going on. But the words never left her mouth, the train had come to a screeching halt, forcing her to hang onto the door to keep from falling. Then all of the train lamps went out and not a thing could be seen.

"Hope?" Lavender asked shakily. "What's going on?"

"No clue." There were sounds of people colliding with each other. She could make out Hermione and Ginny Weasley's voices and Hope stepped out as well. She walked forward, feeling along the walls with one hand and in front of her with the other. Her finger tips connected with someone's face and she drew her hand back but not before she felt a pair of very soft lips. "Oh, shit! I'm sorry..."

"Hope, d'you kiss your family with that mouth? And I know its dark and I'm irresistible, but do try to keep your hands to yourself" a cheeky voice said. She knew that voice.

"Shut up, Fred... or George. What's going on?" She took a small step only to move back when the boy winced in pain. She had gotten his foot. "Sorry!"

"Not a problem..." the boy grunted. "And I was just about to ask you the same thing. Have you seen my sister? She's not in our compartment."

"She went towards the back, I think..." Hope told him.

"It looks like people are coming aboard," Lavender called from her train compartment.

There was a swooping noise in the dark that came from the front of the train. She felt the older boy's hand on her shoulder. "You should probably get back into your compartment..." he told her. His hand moved to the small of her back to help her back to the compartment.

There was a sound of something swooping past her the moment she entered the compartment and then it was as all the warmth was vacuumed from the train.

Hope let out a small gasp, hands wrapping around herself in a futile attempt to keep warm. Her skin suddenly felt as if it were made of thin ice, her flesh, organs and bones icicles and snow. Everything inside of her that was good and happy died.

Joy was nonexistent; life had no purpose. A razor to the wrist in a warm bath would probably be the best thing for her. What was the point anyway? Her back collided into the wall and she let out a frail whimper.

Next to her she made out the sound of the Weasley twin letting out a shuddering gasp as well. There was a small light from a wand and Parvati, illuminated, gasped and fell back. From the small light Hope could make out a sweeping cloaked figure, looking all the world like a Grim Reaper with its face covered, except that instead of bones, its hand was scabby and had the look of decaying flesh.

She slumped down the wall, the weight of her own despair crushing her. Tears leaked out of her eyes, her face fell into her hands and she sobbed. She should end it all. It wouldn't matter in the long run. She was going to die anyway. People wanted her dead. Her family didn't want her. They wouldn't have sent her to England if that were the case. Why did she think she could be any use to her family? Her own grandmother wanted her dead.

Then she heard a voice, low and hoarse, speaking. "None of us are holding Sirius Black. Leave here." It stayed were it was and then there was a low mutter, followed by a silver flash and the thing left the train.

The lights came back on and Hope moved her hands from her face, slowly. It seemed the Weasley next to her was the first to recover. He glanced over at the younger Gryffindor and stooped down to help her to her feet. Her face was wet with tears and she was shaking. "Hey, Hope. C'mon it's gone now."

It sounded as if his voice came from the end of a long tunnel. She finally focused on him, flaming hair and freckles coming into her vision. The despair receded from her and she took a shuddering gasp. "Holy crap..." Hope whimpered.

What was that? What the Hell was that? She had wanted to die! She wanted to kill herself! Did it do crap like that to everyone? She looked at the Weasley twin who seemed shaken and pale but not a royal mess like her. She still felt dregs of whatever that thing had done to her and the tears welled up again.

"Hey..." a strong arm wrapped itself around her and she looked to see the older boy. "It's all right, it's gone now."

Hope had to fight hard to squash the urge to bury her face in his shoulder and sob like a ten year old. Instead she just turned to him, sniffling. "What was that thing?" she asked as she stepped back into the hall to get herself together before her friends saw her.

"A dementor," the hoarse voice from before said.

Hope looked up to see the only adult she had ever seen on the train, other than the food trolly lady. He had brown hair that was tipped with gray though he seemed young. He handed her a piece of chocolate. "Eat it, it'll help."

Hope ate the chocolate and was surprised when she felt much better, warmth now fully returning to her.

"Thanks," Hope looked up at him and blinked. There was something about him but she couldn't put her finger on it. And it wasn't the shabby robes he was wearing. It was a strange feeling, like deja vu. Had they met before? She opened her mouth to speak but but he had already left towards the front of the train.

As she ate the chocolate she felt much better, until soon nothing but rage remained. If there was one thing she hated was looking like a fool. And there she was with her face covered in tears and she was certain she'd gotten to the snot stage of her crying as well. So, she did what she always did when she felt awkward: make a totally unladylike joke.

"Wow, I get all weepy and whiny with the sad-girl tears and then someone hands me chocolate and like a chick on her rag who just got dumped I feel all better. Cliche, thy name is Hope."

The redheaded boy next to her gave a startled little laugh. "Don't worry about it. Those things are horrible. My dad told me about them. They guard Azkaban. Suck the happiness out of the place and drive the prisoners mad."

"Damn..." she muttered. "That is the suckiest thing ever..." she then turned to the boy. "Oh, thanks..." she paused trying to figure out which one he was. "Fred?"

"George."

"Oh."

He turned to head down the train, probably to check on his family. She went to go into her compartment but stopped when he turned around and grinned. "Just kidding. I'm Fred."

Hope huffed but smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up faster than the rest of her body when he smiled at her. When did Fred Weasley get so cute? Was he always that cute? He then turned and left . Hope wiped her face on her sleeve and went her back into her compartment and almost ran into Parvati.

"Hope! We heard you crying. Are you all right?"

Hope fidgeted, not wanting to get into how emo that creepy thing had made her. "Yeah, I'm good... it just had me messed up for a bit." She looked down at their fallen bags. The hard stop had made everything topple over. She noticed some spilled chocolate frogs and handed them to everyone.

"Eat these," she told them. "The guy at the back of the train gave me chocolate and it really helped." She pocketed one and made a note to give it to Fred since he was nice enough to stick with her.

Her friends looked at her as if she were bonkers but ate the chocolate frogs anyway. After a while they all looked marginally better.

"Dementors..." Lavender shuddered. "My parents told me about them when that man, Sirius Black, escaped. They're awful!"

Hope remembered hearing the name during the summer, an escaped convict and she had also seen pictures of him in Diagon Alley. And now that she thought on it, that was the man that she had seen on the muggle news. However, it didn't really register with her, his escape. She lived with an Original Vampire. Her aunt was way scarier. But those things freaked her out way worse.

"Is everyone all right?"

The girls looked up to see Neville Longbottom, pale and eating a piece of a chocolate square. "I heard sobbing..."

Hope huffed with embarrassment and took an angry bite from her frog. "I'm fine... it just freaked me out."

Neville gave her a sympathetic look that she wanted to slap off of his face. This was getting irritating. "They scared everyone, Hope. Harry fainted because of one."

Hope's brows rose and the girls in her compartment gasped. Was it bad that she felt better that she had at least remained conscious while the wunderkind passed out?

Wow, now I feel like a dick...

Neville left and the train continued on its journey. No one really felt much like talking. Finally the train made it to Hogsmeade Station. Eager to get off the train as if it were haunted, Hope grabbed her things and scrambled off. Niklaus hooted at her in what seemed like mild concern. After two years he finally had begun to warm up to her, though he loved to torture her aunt. How many times had he come back from a hunt and take a dump or drop a dead rat on Rebekah's clothes or in her shoes, just because he could?

Rain battered the small platform, freezing them to the bone. They made it into the carriages that were being pulled by some invisible animal. Squeezing closely to Parvati due to the cold air. She looked out the window and noticed Harry with his normal group of friends, looking a bit pale and tired and fearful. Shame soaked her chest and stomach at the thought that she was glad she hadn't passed out as he did. The poor kid looked like a hot mess!

"I can't believe he fainted... He faced You-Know-Who but those things had him fainting?" Lavender whispered.

"Well, no one is really immune to those things." Padma offered.

They made it through the gates of the school and passed the columns and statues. Two more dementors stood guard and she fought the massive urge to curl up and cry some more. Once the carriage came to a stop, she and the others left the carriage. Once inside they were inside of the castle, she heard a sneering voice right by her ear.

"So, Mitchell, you were crying and sobbing like a little bitch?"

Pansy. Of course.

Hope bristled and Parvati grabbed her shoulder to keep her from swinging on the Slytherin.

"Oh, well maybe she could cuddle up with Potter though I doubt it would do any good considering he fainted," a boy spoke this time. Draco Malfoy. Wonderful.

"Shut it, Malfoy," she heard Ron hiss from behind her. She chanced a glance and saw Harry red-faced with rage and embarrassment. She also noticed George and (her heart jerked a bit) Fred making their way towards them, ready to rip Malfoy a new one. She didn't need them standing up for her! She could do that herself. And there was a small part of her that hoped Fred would be impressed by what she was about to do.

So with a dramatic sigh, she just craned back but kept walking, speaking so that the two Slytherins and hopefully the other Gryffindors would hear her.

"Well, see Parkinson, I don't know what it did but all I saw in my head was your face," Hope began, totally calm. There were shocked snickers around her as Pansy bristled. Hope continued "Even when I closed my eyes. It was all awful and stuff, I mean, y'know. I'm sure you own a mirror. So yeah, that just had me all messed up so I lost my cool a bit. Though I might need therapy after seeing that awful shit... Honestly, Malfoy, I don't know how you stand it. You must have a stomach made of iron."

Parvati bit her lip to keep from dying of laughter and Padma had her face buried into her sister's shoulder. Hope's belly did another happy dance when she saw Fred and George looking delightedly shocked. Pansy's face turned tomato red and Malfoy gave her a glare that would have withered a weaker woman.

"Watch your mouth, you stupid whore."

Hope never even blinked. "Don't call me any of your mother's pet names."

Draco's face turned a violent shade of purple while while Harry's broke into a big grin along with Ron's. Hermione looked shocked but she seemed torn between being scandalized and wanting to laugh as well. After all the one thing all Gryffindor girls had in common was their hatred of Parkinson and Draco by extent.

"You'll pay for that..."

"Okie doke."

No more words were said when they made it into the Great Hall though she caught Fred and George giving her thumbs up and she felt a blush flare to her cheeks. Apparently Paravti noticed because she was giving Lavender an elbow to the side, gesturing between her and the twins. Hope barely had time to roll her eyes when she heard a voice call.

"Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

The two in question went over to her and Hope noticed the witch raise a questioning eyebrow toward Hope. The girl flushed but shook her head in the negative, knowing what the question was. And it was getting a bit annoying. She was thirteen for heaven's sake. How long until her lady-parts started bleeding? Maybe it was a werewolf/vampire thing that made her not have one or get one late? Maybe not all girls got them at the same time? She would ask the girls when they got to their dorms as well as owl her aunt.

The girls went to sit down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table when Parvati veered off and sat in a different spot. Lavender seemed to catch on to something because she was sporting a sly grin and tugged Hope along. It wasn't until Lavender tugged Hope to sit that she realized she was sitting right next to Fred Weasley.

Oh crap!

The boy did not notice her, he was conversing with other members of the Gryffindor team as well as their friend Lee Jordan. She wondered if she should say something only to chicken out. It was Dean who finally spoke to her.

"Heard the dementors gave you quite a fright." Hope felt the familiar ire rise.

"I'm fine..."

"Yeah, they just showed her Parkinson's face over and over... Anyone would be a mess after that!" Fred had broken away from his talk with his friends, giving Hope a friendly pat on the back.

"Oh you poor thing! You need seven chocolate frogs after that!" a girl Hope knew as Katie Bell smirked.

"You missed the way Hope handled Parkinson and Malfoy on the way here. Brilliant!" George chimed and told everyone at the table about what she had said to the two most irritating Slytherin third years. It seemed the whole Gryffindor team hated Malfoy due to his dad buying his spot on the Slytherin team last year.

"Oh, you should have heard what she said to her our first year on the train!" Lavender piped up and Hope ducked down, face burning but not unpleasantly. "She told her that Hogwarts lied to her in the letter because we could have owls, cats and toads but not pugs!"

The boys howled with laughter. "Yes! I love it!"

Hope barely missed Parvati exchange a strange 'Wonder Twin' conversation with Padma who was at the Ravenclaw table. It took all of a second but Parvati rapid-eye glanced from Hope to Fred. Padma smirked and got up, heading to the Gryffindor table but not sitting down.

"Parvati, remember Hope was saying we should come to her home to see muggle technology. We should make a point to as our parents if we can go by there during the Christmas or Easter holidays, just for a day. I am curious about the Internet."

Fred perked up at the mention of Muggle technology. "Dad might even overlook everything we do from here on out if we got to see Muggle technology..."

Ron gave a puzzled look from across the table. "Fred, if we really wanted to see Muggle stuff we could just go to Hermione's house."

"Or mine." Dean added

Parvati was far too polite of a girl to say it but the look that she gave Ron and Dean clearly said "You idiots!"

That dementor must've scrambled Hope's brain because she was just now figuring out that Parvati and Lavender were trying to play wingman for her with Fred.

Luckily Hope was saved from adding anything once Hermione and Harry came to the table. And right when they sat down Dumbledore had rose to speak. He spoke of the dementors, who were there on Ministry business and spoke of their horrifying nature and that no one was to leave the school. He then announced that Professor Lupin was the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher.

When the man who had given her the chocolate and got rid of the dementor stood up she, along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny Weasley clapped hard. She smiled broadly at him and when his eyes met hers she stopped, that strange feeling like she knew him coming over her. The feeling was so strange and intense that she barely heard the Professor's other announcement but noticed it must've been a big one as the whole Gryffindor table rose in applause. She blinked, feeling stupid and turned to Fred.

"I spaced out. What happened?"

"Hagrid's the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher!" he told her, still clapping.

Hope's eyes widened and she got to her feet, clapping with the rest of the students. Now that screwed up book that tried to bite off her hand made sense! She looked over and notice Hermione, Ron and Harry seemed extremely pleased by the news. The three of them were rather close to the giant man. She did not have that much interaction with him during her first two years but he always had a kind smile for her. Although considering the book they had for the class, Hope was a bit apprehensive.

After the announcements were over, Dumbledore announced the feast and her stomach let out a loud rumble. Like a ravenous hound, she tore into her food. Mind numbing despair made a girl hungry. As she scarfed to her heart's content, she noticed Harry doing the same thing. He sat across from her next to Ron, looking much better now that he had some food in him.

As if realizing he was being watched the boy looked up, face flushing at having the brunette looking at him. She could tell it wasn't the flush of 'Oh God, a cute girl is looking at me' but more of 'Damn it, I wish people would cut it out because of the dementors!'

She gave a teasing smile. "Hey, don't worry about it... If the dementors had you seeing Pansy over and over again like they did me, I'd faint too... I think the only reason I didn't was because I was all toked up on caffeine."

Harry looked at her as if he couldn't understand a single word she said but after a while cracked a small smile. Seeing that she was getting somewhere with cheering him up she continued, widening her eyes comically. "Oohh dude... was it Crabbe naked? That explains it!"

Harry ducked his head and she could see the unbidden snickers shaking his shoulders. Next to her a spoon clattered noisily to a plate. "Damn it, Hope! People are eating!"

Hope grinned ear to ear. "Sorry, Fred!"

Across from her, Harry laughed, happy that one person was not walking on egg shells around him. Ever since his stint with the dementors, everyone was treating him as if he were fragile. Ron and Hermione kept giving him glances as if he were going to pass out soon and the teachers were giving him wary glances and he'd barely escaped Madam Pomfrey confining him to bed rest in Professor McGonagall's. He glanced over behind him toward the Slytherin table were Malfoy was pretending to faint. He felt his temper flare up but Hope's glib tone grabbed his attention.

"Ehh, ignore that Billy Idol wannabee. He's just an attention whore. I mean, c'mon, look it his hair. What color is that? Radioactive?"

All of the Gryffindors who knew muggle terms cracked up.

"And besides, look at what he's dating. I'm sure I'd be an asshole to everyone if my girlfriend was all disgusting like Parkinson."

"Hope, you have a girlfriend?" Fred asked in a teasing voice.

Hope flushed, knowing she set herself up for that but went with it. "Of course. Parvati."

Parvati rolled her eyes and went back to her food. "When did this happen? I must've missed it."

"Wait, those two are dating?" George asked in horror, looking to the Slytherin table.

Harry, glad to have something else to talk about, told everyone of the scene in the Ice Cream Parlor and received many revolted groans in response.

"Yeah, I can't eat anymore... Ugh..." Fred groaned.

"I thought interspecies breeding was illegal..." George muttered.

Harry snickered as he bit into his treacle tart.

Once the feast was over, everyone made their way to the dorms. Harry waved goodbye to Hope and Hermione once they were inside and heading up the steps to the girls dormitories. Once he was in his own bed, he smiled, happy to be in the place that felt like home even after everything that had happened. Though when everyone was asleep, he couldn't help but stare into the darkness and wonder. Why did the dementors do that to him and not the others? Why did he faint? Who had he heard screaming in the recesses of his mind?

He shut his eyes and it all came back to him.

The cold on his skin, inside his heart. The despair. The frightened, pleading screaming...


"Girls, I gotta question. Since we're stuck with each other for another four years, get over the awkward, okay?"

Parvati had just changed into her pajamas when Hope's question reached her ears. She looked over at Lavender who had a wary look. Hermione was nose deep in her books for one of her classes while Fey Dunbar was fast asleep. Hermione absently looked up. "What is it Hope?"

"Any of you get your rags yet?" Hope asked blatantly. "Because I'm already thirteen and it hasn't happened yet and I'm getting antsy. If the parting of the Red Sea is gonna happen between my thighs monthly, I'd like to get it underway and over with."

Parvati covered her face with her pillow while Lavender's mouth dropped open. Hermione's forehead hit the pages of her book and she sighed. "Hope, why must you be so crude?"

"Was that rhetorical?" Hope asked and Hermione rolled her eyes at the other girl's glibness.

"If you must know, I've started mine over the summer. If you're really worried about it, go to Madam Pomfrey." Lavender suggested.

"It could be that you're not going to start until much later, like that girl in that book you loaned me," Parvati offered.

Hope thought for a moment. She loaned Parvati a lot of books. "Carrie?"

"Yes! She didn't start until much later and her mother thought she was a demon spawn because of her powers. She was a muggle born witch, correct?"

"Ehh, something like that. If you come to my house during the holidays, we'll watch the movie. It's old as heck but awesome. What part of the book did you like?"

Now Parvati blushed. "The scene between Tommy and Sue..."

"You perv," Hope smiled before continuing. "But, you think I could be like that? Not getting my period until I'm sixteen?"

"Or you might not get it ever," Hermione said without looking up from her book. "It does happen to some girls."

Hope let that thought mull through her head as the lights went out. Either way, she would speak with the school nurse on it. If she didn't get her period ever, did that mean the spell would never break? It seemed that's what everyone was waiting on until Professor McGonagall was able to redo the spell that was placed on her as a baby.

"Oh, what classes did you pick, Hope?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, I'm taking Divination with you guys, Care of Magical Creatures and I'm taking Ancient Runes." She wanted to take Runes considering her father came from actual Vikings before he was turned. During the summer her aunt Rebekah had been teaching her everything she knew of them. She cast a glance to her left and smirked at the sleeping form of Hermione. If Hermione had that class it would be epic to actually beat the know-it-all in something for once. As smart as the girl was she didn't have the assistance of an actual Viking woman. Sometimes having a thousand year old aunt was pretty damned awesome.


If Hope had been excited for her first Divination class, she was thoroughly disappointed. The batty woman, Professor Trelawney, reminded her of those phony psychics she saw on commercials back in America. After hearing Rebekah tell her stories of the witches who had given prophecies, had visions in their dreams; to see this fake California Psychic with an English accent was pretty disappointing. Not only was the trek to her class bizarre (not to mention that irritating painting of that little knight, she already forgot his name) but that class itself smelled strongly of some herb that made her eyes water and her head feel strange. And when the teacher came in, she was speaking in this wispy voice that made her wonder if there was something stronger than Myrrh burning in that incense burner and if the good professor had rolled up a joint full of it before class.

But, she sucked it up and began reading tea leaves with Hermione. Oddly enough, it seemed this was one of the few times the two agreed on something. It seemed the bushy haired girl was also noticing the weird shift because normally Hope and Hermione did not get along that well. Hope found Hermione's know-it-all ways irritating and Hermione thought Hope was a loud mouthed instigator. While the two stood up for each other when being picked on by Slytherin girls for the sake of Gryffindor solidarity, the two barely tolerated each other.

"This is absolute rubbish..." Hermione muttered as she looked through Hope's cup.

"I seriously think the only thing she's qualified to teach is what pills mixed with what booze give the best effects when you're low on opium and absinthe..."

Hermione's brows pinched and she fought a rude snicker that threatened to bubble up. "What do you know of opium and absinthe?"

"I'm a fan of Poe so I looked up what his deal was. As for the absinthe, it was mentioned on TV and I got curious..." She then glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening. "Plus, my aunt has a bottle stashed that she thinks I don't know about. When I got home last year, I took a shot to see if I'd see stuff like the legends say."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "You didn't!"

"It was just a little sip. Burned like crazy. But I couldn't take too much or she'd know. It tastes like black licorice... Oh like you've never snuck a swig of beer or vodka from your parents without their knowing."

"My parents are dentists and they do not keep alcohol in the house."

Hope figured that was a lie and that her parents just either kept it hidden or Hermione was too much of a goody-goody to bother to look.

She took the cup from Hermione and looked at the leaves at the bottom. "Ehh... Okay, for the sake of pretending like I give a crap about this... You have an anchor..." She flipped through her text book for the symbolism. "Difficult to change... and a cat... difficulties with relations. So... if I had to say... you're going to do something, it's going to piss people off and you won't apologize."

Hermione just huffed irritably. "Oh please... That sounds like rubbish."

Hope scoffed. It honestly sounded like a Tuesday to her.

Hermione then picked up Hope's cup. "It looks like... a patch of cherries..."

"Ooh, a love affair!" Lavender whispered excitedly from behind them.

Unbidden, Fred Weasley's face flashed into Hope's mind and she felt herself blushing. Hermione noted this but didn't say anything, instead she kept looking through Hope's cup. "A candle... an illness or worry. And... a cross... trouble." She looked up and noted a slightly paler than before Hope and closed her book. "Oh, I bet its nothing. If there is anything to this, its more than likely you'll finally snap and punch Pansy in the face and you'll land a detention..."

"And what about the candle, the illness?" Neville asked shakily from behind them, leaning in with Parvati and Lavender.

"Well, Pansy will probably be sick when she punches her." Seamus offered.

"Or she's got mono..." Dean snickered under his breath.

"Dean! Eww!"

Unfortunately the mirth of the class was broken when Trelawney decided to have another random drama show. She was looking into Harry's cup and then fell backward, hand on her heart. She began muttering something about a powerful enemy, and a Grim, predicting Harry's death. Everyone around her pretty much freaked out at that point. Lavender clapped her hands over her mouth while Parvati gasped. Hermione, at that point, said that everyone knew about Harry's enemy; the infamous Voldemort aka 'You-Know-Who' and that whatever was in the cup did not look like a Grim. The teacher had then told Hermione that she "Did not perceive much aura around her and had very little resonances of the future." Hermione flared at that but said nothing while everyone else was busy studying Harry's cup, trying to see if it was Grim.

"When you've all finished deciding on whether or not I'm going to die!" Harry snapped and everyone decided not to look at him. That's when the Professor concluded the lesson.

The poor boy had been a wreck the whole day. In Transfiguration everyone kept glancing at him as McGonagall discussed Animagi. Hope perked up at this, remembering the day she had first met the woman. She then squealed when McGonagall transformed into a tabby cat with spectacle marks around her eyes and back again. However, Hope was the only one who had shown a reaction.

"What has gotten into you all?" McGonagall asked, looking around. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten an applause from a class."

Everyone glanced at Harry, who looked like he wanted to shrink into the desk, but said nothing. Then Hermione raised her hand. "Well, Professor, we just had our first Divination class and we were reading tea leaves-"

"Ah, of course..." McGonangall said with a frown. "No need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her.

"Me." Harry said finally.

"I see... Well, you should know, Potter, that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues..." The woman then broke off, took a deep breath through her nose before speaking again. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic.I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney-"

She stopped again then focused on Harry. "You look to be in perfect health, Potter. So, please excuse me if I don't let you off of homework today. I assure you if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione laughed. Hope grinned and Harry straightened up and gave a weak smile. Though, a few people could be heard conversing about the happenings in the Divination tower once Transfiguration was over.

Everyone then headed for lunch. Hope's stomach was growling fiercely. She flopped into her normal seat next to Parvati and Lavender, both of whom were going on in awed voices about what had occurred in Divination. Hope used this time to pull out her new book. This one was another Harlequin novel and as she allowed herself to get sucked into the story, she imagined herself as the heroine and a certain Weasley twin as the hero. And when it got to the steamy scene she had to keep from squealing at the table.

However her little daze was interrupted by the sound of arguing.

"You haven't seen a black dog, have you, Harry?" Ron was asking.

"The night I left the Dursley's..." Harry said uneasily.

"Probably a stray," Hermione had said calmly.

"Hermione, if he's seen a Grim... that's bad! My uncle Bilius saw one and- he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," Hermione said.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron said angrily. "Grims scare the daylights out of most wizards!"

"And they are what cause death, Grims. They're not omens. People die of fright from seeing them. And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and thin, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"

Ron just gaped at her, mouth moving though he couldn't find anything to say. Hermione had went about reading her Arithmancy book as if the argument was settled.

"Does he realize that she basically just said his uncle died was because he was stupid?" Hope whispered to Parvati who was pretending to not listen to the argument. "I would've slapped her for that." She then went back to her book.

"Hope, you'd slap someone for a chocolate bar," Lavender said though she gave Hermione a disapproving look.

Harry, for his part, watched his friends apprehensively. He also heard the girls whispering but couldn't make out what they were saying. Ron still hadn't found his voice and Hermione went on.

"Divination seems very woolly, if you ask me."

"No one did," Harry heard Lavender huff scathingly to her friends.

"There's nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!" Ron said loudly, finally finding his voice. "Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change! Like chess or flying!"

Harry, who had taken a sip at pumpkin juice, choked at that. There was a chorus of giggles from Parvati and Lavender. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down so hard that bits of food flew everywhere.

"Well if being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That was complete rubbish compared to my Arithmancy lesson!" And with that she grabbed her bag and flounced from the Hall.

"What's she even talking about?" Ron asked Harry. "She hasn't even had an Arithmancy lesson yet!"

Ugh. Arithmancy, chess, Grims... Those guys are just ruining my smut..." Hope muttered as she packed up stood to head for Care of Magical Creatures, Parvati and Lavender still snickering behind her.

"Ruining your what?" a voice asked from behind her and she froze, whirling around to see Fred smirking behind her.

"Ahh... Fred! Hey! I, uh-"

The boy quickly snatched the book from her, flipping to the page she had been on. Hope's cheeks flushed with color and she reached for the book. "Give that back!"

Fred only skimmed the pages, brows raising at some of the scenes. "Ohoho! Hope Mitchell, you bad girl!"

"FRED!" Hope squealed, ready to die of embarrassment.

"Fred, what are you doing?" Percy's disapproving voice yelled as he made his way toward the couple.

Fred rolled his eyes and shoved Hope's book into her backpack side pocket. "Here you are. We don't need Bighead Boy coming over here."

His arm brushed hers and Hope felt a swooping sensation as if she had missed a couple of stairs. Fred noted her blush and smirked. "Don't be so embarrassed... It's refreshing to see a girl who isn't a prim and proper stick in the mud. A very attractive quality in a girl."

He then left to catch up with his twin and Lee Jordan, leaving Hope to stare dumbly as a dopey smile spread over her mouth. It wasn't until she heard a giggle from Parvati that she snapped out of it.

"Ah, Hope... we have to get to class, remember?" Lavender said with a teasing grin.

Hope nodded and made her way outside, fully appreciating the beauty of the day.


Harry was also pleased, but for a different reason. It was nice to get out of the castle. The rain from yesterday had cleared up and the sky was clear, the grass damp and springy underfoot as they set off for their first Care of Magical Creature's lesson.

Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other. He glanced over at the trio of other Gryffindor third year girls and noted Hope Mitchell's smile, blush and spring in her step. Lavender and Parvati were shooting her teasing glances as they all made their way down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's Hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. However, Hope's smile was wiped clean from her face and she came to a halt.

"Ahh, screw me!" she growled.

Harry looked in the direction she was glaring and frowned when he noticed the backs of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. They must have had this class with the Slytherins. Wonderful.

Harry watched as Pansy Parkinson bounded to Malfoy like a pug to its master and threw her arms around him.

"Ugh, I just ate..." Harry moaned.

"This crap is giving me gas..." Ron grumbled.

"Oh my God, I still can't believe that cow got a boyfriend before me..." Hope lamented and the girls nodded their agreement like last time.

"Look at the idiot she's with. Are you sure you're jealous?" Harry asked her from the side of his mouth.

Parvati and Lavender snickered while Hope pretended to think. "You have a point. Thanks, Harry! I feel a lot better!"

"Anytime."

Hagrid stood at the door to his hut in his moleskin overcoat, Fang the boarhound at his heels. "C'mon, get a move on!" he called. "Got a real treat for yeh, today. Great lesson comin' up! Everyone, follow me!"

Hagrid lead everyone to a paddock at the edge of the trees though there was nothing there.

"Everyone, gather 'round the fence here! Make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thin yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"Huh?" Hope asked, brows arched.

"How?" Malfoy asked in his cold, drawling voice.

"Eh?" asked Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy asked and pulled out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters which was shut tight with rope.

Hope also pulled out hers which was bound with duct tape. Granted, when she had brought the book home, Auntie Bex had gotten the book to calm down by snarling at it with an impressive display of fangs while clenching it hard with her vampire strength. However, Hope didn't have those accessories so this was the best she could do. Others, she noted, had bound the books in tight bags, used binder clips or, like Harry, had used a belt to keep it shut.

"Hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, looking crestfallen.

Everyone shook their heads and Hagrid explained how to open their books. "Yeh've got ter stroke them," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Like this-"

The man took Hermione's book which was bound with tape, removed said tape. The book tried to bite Hagrid but he ran a giant forefinger down its spine and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

Are you friggen kidding me?! Hope really liked Hagrid but...Wow!

"Oh, how silly of us!" Malfoy sneered. "We should've stroked them! Why didn't we guess?"

"Hmph!" Parkinson sniffed at Malfoy's side.

"I...I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, yes! Hilarious!" Malfoy scowled. "I always get a tickle from a book that tries to rip my hand off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry hissed to the Slytherin.

Hope said nothing. It was bad enough she actually agreed with the loud mouthed blond on something.

Hagrid, who appeared even more down, left to bring whatever creatures they were supposed to be studying. Once he left, Malfoy opened his mouth again.

"That bloody lummox teaching classes?! Wait until I tell my father about this!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry said again.

"Don't you have a dementor to run from, Potter?" Malfoy shot back.

"Maybe Mitchell can comfort you," Pansy sneered. "Though she might get snot in your hair..."

"Look, bitch-" Hope growled, stepping forward and Parvati held her back.

Luckily Hagrid returned before a fight could break out and Lavender let out a squeal at the sight of the creatures he had brought with him.

The had the hind legs, tails and bodies of horses but the front legs, wings and heads of giant eagles. The talons of their front legs were nearly half a foot long. Each of the animals had a leather collar around their necks, leashes held by Hagrid. He shook the chains, urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood waiting. Everyone drew back when Hagrid reached them and tethered the beasts to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid said happily. "Aren' they beau'iful?"

Hope's eyes widened as she took in the strange creatures. While she had figured she would be learning about unicorns, or maybe phoenixes, she had to say she was nicely surprised by this creature. Oh, how she wished she could use her cell to take a picture to send to her aunt. The creatures, once the shock wore off, were actually strangely beautiful. The shine of their coats, transitioning from feather to hair, almost seamlessly was nice appealing. Each of the animals were a different color; grey, bronze, pinkish roan, shining chestnut and inky black. The animal lover in her wanted to do a happy dance!

"So," Hagrid said "If yeh want to come a bit nearer-"

Not to many people wanted to do so. However Harry, Ron and Hermione approached cautiously while Hope eagerly stepped forward.

"Now, the firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended. Don't ever insult one 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Wait fer the hippogriff to make the firs' move. Walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow back, then get away from him, cause those talons hurt," Hagrid explained to the class though Malfoy and his morons weren't listening. They were talking in an undertone. Never a good sign.

"Right-who wants ter go firs'?"

Now everyone else backed away, even Hope took a small step back. The hippogriffs were more than a little agitated at being tethered. As curious as Hope was, she wasn't keen on getting scratched up by a hippogriff and having on of her secrets exposed. Granted, she healed at a much slower rate than a vampire, but still...

"I'll do it," Harry said.

A lot of people gasped and Lavender whispered "Harry, no, remember your cup!"

Harry ignored them and climbed over the fence.

Hagrid untied the gray hippogriff and pulled off its collar. Everyone gasped, Lavender and Parvati held onto each other. Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he watched.

"Now, easy, Harry... Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don't trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his head and was staring at Harry with one fierce, orange eye.

"That's it, Harry... Now, bow..."

Harry did as told, although inwardly he was a nervous wreck. He gave a short bow and looked up. Buckbeak stared haughtily at him and didn't move. And just when they all thought the hippogriff was going to redecorate Harry's face, Buckbeak bent one knee and dipped its head in an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry! Yeh can pet him if yeh want, go on..."

Harry clearly wanted to vault to the safe side of the fence, however he reached forward to gently pat the beast's beak. He watched Harry for a moment before closing his eyes as though thoroughly enjoying it.

"Wonderful! Now... reckon he'll let you ride 'im."

Harry froze at that, however, as he wanted Hagrid to have a good first lesson, he sucked it up and nodded. Hagrid showed Harry where to place his knees, warned him not to pull out any feathers and just when Harry had barely gotten on Hagrid slapped Buckbeak on the hindquarters and the animal broke into a run, vaulted and took off into the air.

Harry's stomach dropped as he held on for dear life. This was NOTHING like his Nimbus 2000! He had to grab onto the creature's feather neck to keep from slipping and was afraid to grip tighter than he wanted for fear of what the proud creature would do if he were to yank out any feathers.

Buckbeak flew Harry around paddock, then came to a rough landing that had Harry worried he would become reacquainted with his lunch. Shakily, he slid off the animal as all the Gryffindors broke into applause at the display.

"Bravo, Harry! Who's next?" Hagrid asked the class.

While everyone else cautiously climbed over the fence, Hope vaulted over it eagerly. She made her way to the pink and roan one and bent forward in a bow, keeping her eyes on the hippogriff. The animal watched her for what seemed like forever and then sank into a bow after a while. Hope grinned and stood, gently patting his beak before moving to scratch behind its ears. The hippogriff closed his eyes and leaned into the touch like a cat being scratched.

"Well done, Hope!" Hagrid beamed. "Yeh can ride im' if yeh like."

Hope let out a nervous chuckle at that. "Eh... I like my feet on the ground..." She really didn't like heights. When they were on the plane to England when she was a child, she had made certain she didn't have the window seat.

"She's scared of heights," Seamus snickered as he and Dean petted another hippogriff. "Remember the first flying lesson..."

"Shut up, Seamus..." Hope huffed before turning back to the hippogriff. "You're so pretty, yes you are!" Parvati and Lavender were also working with this one while Hope stepped back to let them.

Not everyone was as confident as Harry and Hope when it came to the animals. Neville kept creeping forward only to run back to the fence.

Buckbeak had been taken over by Malfoy and his idiots. The hippogriff had bowed to Malfoy who was petting him lazily on the beak with a look of scorn on his face.

"This is easy... Should've know it would be if Potter could do it. You aren't dangerous at all, are you?" Malfoy asked the hippogriff scathingly "Are you, you ugly git!"

A loud, piercing cry like an eagle split the air. There was a flash of talons and Malfoy was lying, screaming on the ground, his uniform blossoming with blood. Hagrid wrestled Buckbeak back to the into his collar as the animal tried to get at Malfoy, who was curled in the fetal position, holding his arm.

"I'm dying! It's killed me! I'm dying!"

Pansy shrieked, tears springing her eyes as she rushed to Draco's side. "Sweetheart, stay with me!"

Everyone else panicked as Hagrid, white-faced, lifted the injured boy easily and Hermione opened the gate so he could run the Slytherin back to the castle.

Shaken, the class followed at a slow walk and the remaining Slytherins shouted about Hagrid.

"He should be sacked! They should fire him!" Pansy cried, tears in her eyes. "Ooh, my poor Draco!"

"It was his own fault!" Harry hissed. "It's not Hagrid's fault your boyfriend doesn't know how to listen!" Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly but Harry wasn't fussed. "Crabbe, piss off!"

They made their way up the stone steps and into the deserted entrance hall.

"I'm going to make sure my Draco is okay!" Pansy cried and took off down the hall. The remaining Slytherins headed to their dungeon common room while the Gryffindors headed to their tower.

"Can you believe that bullshit?" Hope demanded as they all headed to Gryffindor Tower. "What a load of- 'I'm dying! Save me!' and then 'Oh, sweetheart! Stay with me! Edward! Bella!' Ugh! Fucking Slytherins!"

Harry wholeheartedly agreed with her.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Who cares?" Hope scoffed.

"Not me," Dean said.

"Madam Pomfrey'll have him fixed in about a second," Harry said though he was still in agreement with Hope and Dean. He really wasn't too fussed about how hurt the moron was. Like he had said, it was Draco's own fault.

"But, that was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first lesson, wasn't it?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Fucking Slytherins..." Hope repeated again as she made her way to the girls dorms.


During dinner, everyone was still discussing what had happened in Care of Magical Creatures. Harry had tried to see if Hagrid was at the staff table, but his spot was empty. He then, though much to the worry of Hermione, decided they should visit him.

Hope had glanced up just as the three left the Great Hall but stayed in her seat as she ripped through her food. Padma had moved from the Ravenclaw table to ask them what had happened.

"Is it true a hippogriff went wild and attacked Draco Malfoy?"

"No. Malfoy didn't follow directions and tried to screw up Hagrid's first lesson but got gashed up for his troubles," Hope told her.

"Hmm..." Padma poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Well, they're all over there, the Slytherins, muttering. Pansy Parkinson's been crying all day."

"Fuck her," Hope said easily as she took a bite of her roast beef.

"He probably did," Fred said across from her.

Lavender and Parvati gasped and Hope dropped her fork. "Fred, I'm eating!"

"Now you know how it feels," he said with a smirk.

Hope felt her cheeks flush and she went back to her food, ignoring the looks her friends were giving her.

"Padma..." Parvati said suddenly. "Look who it is..."

Hope looked up to see Padma flush as her eyes fell on the Hufflepuff table. If Cedric Diggory had been hot their first year when he was fourteen, he was like a god at aged sixteen. Hope's brows rose appreciatively and she noted the way Padma's brown cheeks darkened at the sight of the boy.

"Mhm..." she said to herself as she reached for the potatoes.

It was half way during dinner that she remembered she needed to speak with the nurse about her lady business. After finishing her meal, she made her way to the hospital wing. She knocked on the door and the kind older woman opened the door.

"Miss Mitchell, what is it?"

"Um... I have a medical question..."

Madam Pomfrey arched a brow when she noticed the blushing young woman. Hope Mitchell was one of the few students that never had been admitted to her wing in all of the two years she had been a student at Hogwarts. The nurse swept a critical eye over her. She could not see any injuries. "What's your question?"

When the girl flushed a deeper shade of scarlet she got the feeling this was of a puberty nature. There had been many a young first, second and third year student coming to her, stressing over their first cycles. "Oh... cramps? I see. One moment. I have something for that." She handed the girl a piece of chocolate. "This helps the mood swings, it's not just for dementors. Now, as for the cramps-"

"Madam Pomfrey... I'm not on my period. That's kind of the problem."

Now the older woman's eyes widened. "I see..."

Hope sighed and Madam Pomfrey lead her back into her office, away from the hospital beds. She gestured for the young woman to sit down. "How old are you, dear?"

"Thirteen."

"Well, this is quite the predicament you have gotten yourself in, young lady. Will the father be taking responsibility?"

Now Hope's eyes widened and she popped out of her chair, face burning but this time with outrage. "I'm not pregnant! I just haven't had my period! In like, ever. Its never started. And FYI, I'm a total virgin! I've never even kissed a boy!"

Madam Pomfrey's hands flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh! Well, I'm so sorry my dear... I shouldn't have assumed." She gestured the girl to sit again. "Is that why you're worried? Well, sometimes it can take up to age fifteen. I wouldn't worry dear. And some girls can start as early as eight years old. It usually takes two years after breasts begin to develop."

Hope looked down at her chest which had poofed out a bit. She did have to go bra shopping before the start of time. "Well, it should be about a year then..."


It was a few days later when they had Potions with Slytherin. Malfoy, after days of missing classes, had finally strutted into the dungeon. Harry looked up and barely contained his ire at the image of Draco strutting in like some bloody war hero, his arm in a sling. The whole class was then subjected to a repulsive display of Pansy swooping in to give him a careful hug and Draco made a show of pulling her close with one arm while holding the sling arm carefully, giving a light wince and brave smile as Pansy fussed over him. Hope pretended to throw up into her cauldron.

Harry wanted nothing more than to beat the little twerp's face in. When he and the others had visited Hagrid, the man was so miserable he had nearly drank himself stupid. The school governors had been contacted and poor Hagrid had been afraid he would be sacked. He hadn't been, but still!

And to make matters worse, Malfoy had plopped next to Harry and began complaining that he couldn't do certain things, such as grind or cut potion ingredients due to his sling.

And what did Snape do? Make Harry and Ron cut up his ingredients like he was some sort of invalid. Harry and Ron fumed at the injustice of it all while Malfoy just snickered happily.

"Harry..." Hope had whispered lightly as she moved back to her spot next to Parvati. Harry turned and Hope made a motion for him to lean far to the right. She then pulled out a small piece of paper, dipped it in leech juice, balled it up...

Harry did as asked and bit the inside of his mouth when Hope flicked the leech-ball. It landed soundlessly on the back of Malfoy's robes. It took all of Harry's self control not to break into snickers. After the crap Malfoy was pulling this year, he would take what he could get.

Hermione had noticed what was going on and a look of shocked disapproval on her face but said nothing. Ron was too busy fuming as he cut Malfoy's daisy roots to notice what was going on.

Snape looked up and Hope schooled her face into an expression of annoyance as she measured her ingredients on the scales. It was clear she had done this before, probably in muggle primary school. When the man leaned back down over his parchment, she reloaded and fired, this time it landed in Malfoy's sleek hair.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" Malfoy asked Harry and Ron, unaware of the steady stream of soggy leech balls hitting his back.

Harry heard a shocked gasp that told him Parvati and Lavender had seen what Hope was up to.

"None of your business," Ron spat.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher here much longer," Malfoy continued. "Father's not very happy about my injury..."

"I can give you a real injury, just keep talking..." Harry snarled.

Malfoy ignored him and continued. "Father spoke with the governors of the school, as well as the Minister of Magic. He has influence, you see-"

There was another thud and Harry found this time it gave him little pleasure, not when Malfoy was going on and on about getting Hagrid sacked with his daddy's influence.

"So, that's why you're faking that injury?" Harry asked, wrath lacing his voice. "You're trying to get Hagrid fired."

"Well, that's partly true... But, there are some other benefits... Slice my caterpillars for me, Weasley."

Hope had apparently ran out of paper and had gotten up to wash her hands.

"So, while I was recovering in the hospital wing," Draco drawled to his fellow Slytherins as Ron angrily chopped the caterpillers "You will not believe what I heard..."

"What's that, Draco?" Pansy simpered.

"Well, Mitchell apparently came into the hospital wing because she hadn't gotten her period." The paused to shudder at the mention of gross 'girl' business. "Then Madam Pomfrey took her into her office."

Harry and Ron both dropped the ingredients for their Shrinking Potion. They both looked at each other and then at the girl in question. Hope was rather far away, rinsing her hands and hadn't heard what was being said. Pansy's eyes brightened like she had just received news that Christmas was coming early.

"I bet anything that she's pregnant and wants to get rid of it. Who did you think it was?"

"Probably one of the Weasley twins. She's been making goggly eyes at them ever since the dementor thing on the train..." Millicent Bulstrode muttered to Pansy.

"Well, that's why she was such a sobbing wreck on the train..."

"What's it say about Potter that a pregnant girl handled the dementors better than he did!" Draco guffawed.

Now the class looked up at the mention of someone being pregnant. Harry felt wrath grip him in a vice. He and Hope weren't close but she didn't deserve that!

"Settle down," Snape told the Slytherins idly.

The Slytherins snickered but kept quiet, whispering here and there and flicking their eyes toward Hope.

"My brothers would never do that to a third year!" Ron whispered to Harry angrily.

"And Hope's crude but she's not that kind of girl!" Seamus also whispered hotly. Apparently he had heard the lies the Slytherin table was spouting.

"I'm not what kind of girl?"

Harry froze and slowly turned around to see the girl in question looking at them curiously.

"Malfoy said you went to see Madam Pomfrey and that you're pregnant since you didn't get your... y'know..." Ron finished uncomfortably.

Harry watched Hope's face turn ghostly white and then dark purple in wrath. "What?"

"And they're saying that it's one of the Weasley twins..." Harry told her uneasily.

"That is a total lie!" Hermione whispered sharply. "She just hadn't it at all and was wondering if something's wrong with her..."

"What a total-" Parvati began.

"Which twin do you think it was?" Crabbe asked, catching everyone's attention. Harry saw Ron's ears turn bright red in wrath at the way they were talking about his brothers.

"Which one got her pregnant?" Pansy muttered to the group. "Who knows. She is skanky enough to go after two brothers... and considering they are Purebloods, it's probably the best she could hope to do. Plus, they are Beaters..." The group snickered while the Gryffindors all looked on in muted horror.

"Oh, I bet they beat something all right..." Crabbe chimed in and received a bunch of high fives from the Slytherins.

"Fuck you, Scabies!" Hope roared at Crabbe.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mitchell..." Snape said absently and Harry noted with rage he did nothing to quell the accusations that Hope was a whore.

Though annoyed by the loss of points, Dean and Seamus snickered at the nickname and even Hermione bit back a giggle. Harry made the connection between Crabbe and Hope's new name for him and also broke into snickers. The Slytherins all shot her poisonous glares but Malfoy recovered. "Careful, Mitchell. It's not good for the baby to get so mad... though if it is Weasley's I guess you'll have to find a nice shoebox for it to sleep in unless your family can actually afford a crib..." But then he seemed to think of something else. "Well, if you look at her, apparently she does have money... Think they planned it, considering how poor they are?" Draco smirked. "Got her knocked up so her family could take care of theirs?"

"And then took turns to make certain it took... Wow. Not that she minded..." Pansy smirked.

Ron shot to his feet but Harry and Seamus held him back and Hope nearly shot over the desk, hands reaching for Pansy's throat, but Dean and Hermione held her back. "Oh, that's it! You bitch! It's on!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mitchell and Weasley. You must learn to control that temper of yours, especially in your condition."

The class froze, disgusted shock coming from the Gryffindors while the Slytherins looked ready to burst into song. Hope froze in her friends' grasps and whirled to face the Potions Master. "I'm not pregnant! But if I was and I wanted an abortion I'm sure we could make a potion of whatever that gross shit is that's in your hair!"

The entire dungeon fell silent and Snape leaned forward towards her. Hope flinched a bit but squared her shoulders, eyes narrowed. "A weeks detention, Miss Mitchell. And you ever insult me again you will be expelled. Get out of my class."

Hope broke from her friends' grips and stormed past Draco's desk, knocking over his potion on the way out of the door before slamming it. Snape just turned back to what he was doing. "Weasley, pick up Draco's belongings and another ten points from Gryffindor for Mitchell's outburst."

To make matters worse for Gryffindor, Neville was being berated by Snape. Apparently the forgetful boy had made a mistake and his potion was turning green instead of orange as it was supposed to.

"Idiot boy! Tell me, boy, does nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice! What must I do to make you understand, Longbottom?"


Hope scrawled an angry letter to her aunt, detailing everything that had happened from the dementors on the train to the Slytherins calling her a whore. She left out a few things, such as the way the dementors made her want to kill herself, only to say they were creepy. However she went into full detail about the crap from the Slytherins, and if her aunt decided to vamp out and kill all of them, then hey... they shouldn't have been talking shit. After attaching the letter to Niklaus's foot and feeding him a bit of ham from her plate she stormed out from lunch to the common room. She couldn't be in here. People kept glancing at her and whispering. Whenever she passed the Slytherin table she heard coughs that sounded suspiciously like "Slut" and "whore" and she refused to think of the prickling in her eyes as tears.

Once she got into the common room, she flopped into one of the squishy chairs and pulled out her books to start on her Transfiguration homework but couldn't due to the tears that kept smearing the ink. How was she going to get through this? Fred would never want to talk to her again and the whole school thought she was a slut. She remembered a girl back in her old middle school in America. The girl apparently slept with a boy when she was around Hope's age and had gotten pregnant. Everyone in the school called her a slut and she ended up losing it and killing herself, leaving suicide notes on Twitter. What if that happened to her? What if she ran into a dementor and decided to go with the suicide impulse because of all of this madness?

Pushing the books out of her lap, she curled into a ball, burying her face in her knees and sobbing. Stupid fucking Slytherins. She hated them all. Its a shame there wasn't a monster that fed on assholes the way it tried to kill muggle-borns last year. That would solve all of her problems.

She heard the portrait open and quickly wiped her face, picking her book back up. Oh just her luck, it was everyone including Fred and George. She quickly averted her gaze but froze when she felt both of them sit on the arms of her chair.

"Just so you know, Ron and Hermione told us what happened and we're not mad at you."

Relief flooded her like a waterfall and she let out a lengthy sigh. "I'm really sorry guys..."

"Oh, don't even worry about it..." George said lightly, patting her shoulder. "Besides, we heard about the mountain of leech balls on his back that you left as a get well present. Excellent!"

"You heard about that..." Hope was now a tad pleased with herself.

"Please, if we had a Galleon for every time some Slytherin tart tried to ruin an innocent girl's reputation because she was jealous, we could buy half the planet..." Fred added.

"That's all they do is start mess. It's what they live for." Ginny told her. "It's not like they're good at much else."

Hope giggled but then turned serious. "They're gonna pay for that..."

"The leech balls weren't enough?" Harry smirked, knowing the answer.

"Hell no!" Hope scoffed.

"Hope..." Hermione warned, a wary look on her face.

"How's that?" Harry asked. If Hope was planning on getting Draco and Pansy back for their slander, he was all for it, especially after the stunt Draco had pulled in Hagrid's class.

"I don't know yet... but I'll think of something..." She then stood up. "But in the meantime, when the match comes... Pound Slytherin like the whores they are!"

All of the Gryffindor team member's brows rose before the common room erupted into applause.

"Ooh, I like her!" Fred cheered.

Only Hope noticed the triumphant gleam in Lavender and Parvati's eyes at his declaration.

"Ahh... it's time for Defense Against the Dark Arts..." Parvati smiled, leading the way out of the common room.

Hope grabbed her books and left the common room with everyone. She said nothing as they made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class but one thought kept sifting though her head. Pansy crossed a line and now she was going to pay. She didn't know how but she would find a way to ruin that Pug face's life.

She did not know it yet but soon she would.

Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy had been marked.

Yes, this chapter had a fair bit of teen drama but remember, as nice and somewhat vanilla as Harry Potter was this is Originals drama meaning a bit of crude language horrid themes for underage kids and downright douchebaggery. Now, the preggo scandal... it happens. Even at 13, and Slytherin reminds me of irritating snobby kids who would start a scandal like that. Don't worry, the story will pick up with more supernatural elements. I'm quite certain everyone noticed Hope's strange feeling toward Lupin, not unlike Bonnie's feeling toward Lucy in Vampire Diaries. (Now, they are not related so don't even worry about that.) Also, the drama and the blood shall pick up. And as for Hope's attraction toward Fred, well... c'mon. We have to have a bit of silly puppy love before we get to the ooey gooey center that is Harry/Hope. Also, there is a reason dementors make her want to kill herself... its not just for emo drama.