Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters.

Note: So, so, so, excited to see this story getting looked at as I go along! You guys are amazing. I can't wait to hopefully read new chapters as we go on! Sorry for the delay, I had planned to start writing a ton yesterday but I ate some bad food...food poisoning...blah blah blah. But, I'm taking all day today to write/post. I'm so excited! SP: As always, you are a doll! I love your comments, this is going to be a roller coaster of a story for you. I look forward to the 'caps lock' comments. lol.

Something to Talk About

"Shouldn't you be with one of your friends and not wandering about, especially with Courtney around?" I didn't even bother to stop walking as Draco appeared next to me, walking alongside of me.

"Oh c'mon, first of all, she's not going to kill me on the first night, secondly, she's not going to kill me while at Hogwarts" I told him.

"She killed Abby" he reminded me as I felt a chill run up my spine.

"Over Christmas break, Abby had no friends looking out for her because we were all at your house looking out for you" I snapped back.

"After being kicked out of Weasley because your boyfriend's brother tried to strangle you" he snapped back.

"What do you want?" I asked already giving up on the banter.

"Are you going to explain to me why Melinda is engaged, for real? Why didn't you stop it?" he hissed as he followed me up the stairs. "She's playing right into the Fates…fate."

"If she's with you, she's doing the same thing" I reminded him.

"But at least she'll be here, she'll be with her friends, her school, everything she is is right here, if she marries Houston, she's leaving all this, you, me, the Weasleys, everything" he explained.

"I don't know what you want me to say Draco" I said as we stopped in front of the Fat Lady. "I couldn't stop it because I didn't know it was going to happen and as much as I don't understand why it's happening I just know it's happening. I can't change anything, that's not up to me" I told him.

"I'll see you in class" he grumbled before walking off in the opposite direction. I let out a disappointed sigh. I completely understood Draco, I really did, but how was I even supposed to have Melinda hear me out? She had her mind made up. At least with the ring on her finger it sure looked like she did. Could she change her mind? Would she? I shook my head, this didn't have to be my problem, she could do whatever the hell she wanted, all that mattered was I had to make Draco new friends, possibly the Weasleys, I wasn't going to let him die alone. I shook my head again, I wasn't going to let him die. Period.

With that thought I gave myself a firm nod and turned to the portrait. "Did you have a nice summer?" I asked as she looked at me questionably; she had every reason to too, I couldn't remember that last time I made conversation with her, or if I ever had. "That was probably a stupid question…"

"Oh, no, no, I'm surprised with all the excitement people remember we talk" she said cheerfully. "My summer was wonderful dear, but please, hurry up and go inside, I do believe Chuck is coming down to chat" she said excitedly. I glanced around hoping to catch this Chuck but the portrait was already opening.

"I could be a student from a different house, like Slytherin" I told her as she gave me a 'sure whatever' look. "Or I could be a stranger" I said but she only laughed. "Well, the password is Rosemary, just so you know I didn't forget it" I told her as she chuckled again and waved bye as I went inside.

The room wasn't as crowded as I thought it would've been for the first night, but I wasn't about to complain about that. Instead I walked over to one of the oversized empty chairs and curled up. I randomly stared out a window, thinking about Fred and what was he doing, it was only seven-thirty, the shop was still open, would be until nine during the summer and fall hours and eight the other seasons. I missed him already, how did I survive last year? Right, distractions, all those vampire distractions.

As I let my mind wander I shuffled through the books on the small table next to me, a few magazines, a few raggedy copies of textbooks, more magazines. And a tattered copy The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I picked it up and flipped through the book, I had my own copy, I must have read it a thousand times, it never got old and I seemed oddly drawn to the story: The Warlock's Hairy Heart. It was the only dark one in there, though, honestly, I thought The Tales of the Three Brother's was quite scary. That was the idea behind Voldemort was trying to go for. That and Horcruxes. I could only image how the Harry Potter books would've gone had Voldemort survived his own killing curse after trying to kill Harry.

"You're reading that again?" Ron asked loudly as he, Hermione and Harry came into the room.

"Oh leave her alone, she can read it as many times as she wants" Hermione said as she sat in a small chair next to me as the boys pulled the couch closer.

"I was just thinking of Lord Voldemort" I said as Ron gave a loud shudder and Hermione glanced at Harry.

"It's alright, he's dead" Harry said as I pushed aside the alternative for a moment. "What about him though?" he asked.

"Bellatrix told me over winter break fourth year that Voldemort was trying to make a Horcrux, but, Slughorn or whatever his name was never told him. Said those were things people shouldn't dabble in" I said.

"How does Bellatrix know?" Ron asked.

"She's Bellatrix" I said matter of factly as I rolled my eyes but continued. "She wanted me to try it for the competition, you know, if I died, I wouldn't really die, but, obviously I didn't do it" I said as I caught Hermione's terrified expression.

"Why not?" Ron asked with slight disappointment.

"Oh, you know, too much work" I said sarcastically. "It was dark magic Ron, and it was advice from Bellatrix. I'm not stupid" I told him. "Anyway, I just happen to remember it, I was thinking of the Deathly Hallows and so on" I told waving the book. "We don't think Burnner has any Horcruxes out there, do we?" I asked, the thought making the rest of the pale.

"If she did, that would certainly put us at a disadvantage" Hermione mumbled as Ron glared at her.

"You think Hermione?" he asked.

"It would explain a lot though," Harry said with a little shrug.

"Especially if she was an Alternate Seer…" I added, the thought growing in my mind. "I don't mean to put this on you guys first night, I just…if she's really back, I want to be open to all possibilities" I told them.

"Of course" Hermione said first.

"But, if Voldemort couldn't make any, how could Burnner?" Ron asked.

"It wasn't that he couldn't, he never got the chance, Dumbledore kept getting and closer and ruining all his chances because of their 'insider' and then he changed tackles and went after Harry" Hermione explained.

"Now I am sorry I put this all on you first night" I said half-jokingly.

"I'll look into it soon, maybe you find out more first, I just, I can't see her making Horcruxes" Hermione said but she seemed deep in thought.

"C'mon, let's go to bed" I told them as we all stood up. "Hermione, please, don't keep thinking about it, we'll mention it to Melinda too and maybe Matt, I'm sure he might have an idea" I said as we headed to our respected rooms.

Up in the room it seemed to be the usual excited chit chat. I didn't bother giving more than a wave to the other girls before heading into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. When I was done I sat on the end of Hermione's bed and listened to everyone chat for a bit, mostly explaining their summer.

What felt like a good hour later, I went over and crawled in my bed, pulling the curtains around, sleep seemed to overcome me as soon as I hit the pillow.

"She's going to be late," I heard Hermione say from the other side of the room. I heard a few giggles and some footsteps.

"No I'm not, I'm awake," I said into the pillow as I turned over, rubbing my eyes. The sun shining through the window was bright and I figured I only had a short while before classes begin. "Please tell me I still have time to eat," I said as I made a small attempt to move the covers off myself.

"Classes start in an hour or so, so you should be okay" Hermione said as I turned over and pulled back the curtain. "Morning" she said cheerfully as she swung her bag over shoulder.

"Yeup" I replied crawling out of bed and, grabbing some clothes and heading into the bathroom.

Moments later I re-joined the girls in the common room; Lavender was gone but thankfully Ginny was sitting on the couch next to Hermione.

"Hey," I said to her as she nodded at me. We turned toward the footsteps coming from upstairs; Ron and Harry both appeared at the bottom of the steps, both still looked tired.

"Let's go then, I'm starving," Ron said grabbing his bag and heading out of the picture from.

"He's always starving," I heard Ginny whisper to Hermione. We all laughed as we made our way down to the Great Hall.

"I hope there's some fruit," I said as we all sat down. I scanned the hall, Melinda wasn't in sight, but I knew she had to arrive soon. I waited a few seconds but when she didn't appear I started placing an assortment of fruits on my plate. I looked over in time to see Ron start at his pile of assorted foods, including toast, eggs, bacon, and sausage. I started to get full just looking at it.

It wasn't until midway through breakfast did I feel Hermione nudging my arm. I looked over in the direction she was looking, Melinda had grabbed her schedule and was already turning to leave, not even looking like she was going to make any effort to say hello. "I'll be back" I mumbled as I got up and hurried after her, almost breaking into a run when I noticed she was a level above me.

"Melinda!" I shouted up as she kept walking. "Hey" I called as I hurried up the stairs. "Mel, hey, what's up?" I asked when I finally reached her.

"Do you know where Matt?" she asked spinning around to face me.

"Er…" I thought for a moment but couldn't remember where he was, I hadn't seen him since the train. I think part of my brain assumed he jumped off as we neared Hogwarts. "With his sister?" I guessed with a shrug, not particularly caring for the moment.

"No, with Draco; he's talking to Draco" she said as I shrugged again.

"They're friends…" I replied.

"They're only friends when one of them needs something. What has Draco been saying? What could he possibly need?" she asked as I shook my head.

"Nothing," I said as she continued look annoyed and upset. "Why? Did you overhear something?" I asked but she shook her head.

"I just, I know trouble starts when Draco talks to anyone but us" she said.

"You have a point, but, I'm sure they weren't talking about you. I mean, why would they? Matt isn't exactly fond of you and you're simply Draco's ex" I said as she gave me a double take.

"Okay, what has Draco been saying to you?" she asked in put out tone.

"What does it matter?" I countered feeling not only annoyed but confused.

"Why can't I know? I deserve to know what my ex is saying behind my back" she said as I shook my head.

"No you don't. He's your ex. And if he's talking crap, so what? You're happily engaged, remember?" I reminded her as she gave an off laugh.

"Right, I should've know you were gonna be the type to throw that in my face" she said shaking her head.

"I don't see why you care what Draco says behind your back" I repeated as she continued shaking her head. "I mean, unless you—"

"I just don't like people saying shit about me" she said firmly. "Especially him" she added as I looked off no longer confused, just annoyed. I knew exactly why she was asking what Draco said, she still cared. Somewhere. Unfortunately she was too far in denial, again, to even come close to admitting it.

"I'll see you in class" I told her as I walked around her, stopping only when I reached the opposite hallway. I glanced down at my schedule, I hadn't let Melinda fix it, but looking at it I realized it really wasn't that complicated. There were just too many spaces and times. But I could tell I had Transfiguration first followed by Defensive Against the Dark Arts. Surely Melinda was taking that class, I thought to myself as I continued down around to another hallway. With any luck neither Matt nor Draco were in either class and had scheduled for a later time.

I didn't even get to say hi again to Harry, Ron or Hermione before Professor McGonagall walked in, instantly causing the room to fall silent. Hermione happily dabbled her quill in her ink bottle and prepared her to write notes. I turned around to see Ron slouched back in his seat and Harry dazing out the window. Melinda was looking at the book on her lap, all of them in their usual positions. I continued looking around happily, not seeing Matt or Draco.