Note from Me: So I started this story in high school some time and I'm not in college (my last year) so it's been a while. It's been so long I can't access my old account which is why it's posted here. I'm sorry for any inconsistencies or anything like that. I'm not exactly sure where I was originally taking this story but I guess I'll be taking it somewhere else now! Enjoy.

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When Lindsey woke up the next morning, the sun was streaming brilliantly through the window and the beds were empty. She sat up with a start. I'm late! She jumped out of bed and frantically pulled on her uniform and robes. She then started filling her schoolbag, but had no idea what to prepare for or where to go next. The door of the dormitory burst open and the bushy haired girl came in and began putting on her shoes, having just come from the bathroom. There was a moment of awkward silence. Lindsey contemplated asking this girl what to do but she got the feeling that this girl did not like her for some reason. A few more moments of indecision passed before Lindsey finally said, "Um, sorry, do you know where we're supposed to go? I woke up terribly late."

"You're not really late," the girl answered. "Everyone just left for breakfast. In the Great Hall, were dinner and the sorting were last night." The bushy haired girl continued to fiddle with her shoe for a minute and then turned back to Lindsey who was staring at the door trying it see if she remembered how to get there. This school was much larger than SAA. "I'm going down if you want to come. You'll get your schedule at breakfast."

Lindsey smiled in relief. "Great. I don't think I could make it there myself." The brown-haired girl smiled briefly and started walking out the door. Lindsey jogged a little and caught up with her half way down the steps. Once they climbed through the portrait hole, Lindsey felt the need for conversation.

"I'm Lindsey by the way."

"I remember." The girl replied. Lindsey didn't know why this girl might possibly be acting so peculiarly.

"Right. Guess I'm the only transfer." Lindsey laughed. The other girl remained silent. "Sorry, I don't think I know your name."

"Hermione."

"Nice to meet you." Lindsey said, trying her hardest to be as polite as possible.

"You too." Hermione replied, rather ingenuinely. "Do you know what classes you passed into? Do you have OWLS in the United States?"

"Yeah, we do." Lindsey replied a little too excitedly. "I got an Outstanding in all of them."

"What kinds of classes do you take?" Hermione asked, seemingly a little bit more interested.

"Oh well, um, there's History and Herbology. Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts – all the normal stuff. And then I also too Astronomy, Ancient Runes, and Arithmacy. But Potions is really my favorite and my best."

"It won't be your favorite here." Hermione replied. Lindsey gave her a weird look but didn't have a chance to ask why. "Looks like we'll be in the same classes pretty much."

"Cool." Lindsey smiled. Although Hermione was kind enough to show Lindsey to the Great Hall, she didn't seem to warm to her at all. Neither girl said a word to each other as they made their way down which made for an extremely awkward few minutes. When they reached the hall there the feast had been the night before, Hermione muttered a quick "here it is" and took off towards the crowded table. Lindsey took a deep breath. She had the feeling that a few dozen pairs of eyes were all on her as she gathered the strength to find a seat. The dread started sinking in as she wandered down the long table and couldn't find a single opening. There was one a little ways ahead but she desperately hoped not to have to take it. Since took another deep breath and resigned herself to a very awkward breakfast.

"Um, Hermione." Lindsey said very meekly, almost unheard by everyone. Hermione turned around and stared at her. "Is this seat taken?" Lindsey asked, feeling more and more awkward by the second. Hermione hesitated so Lindsey added, "There doesn't seem to be any other spaces."

"Go ahead. Sit." Hermione replied, making it all too clear that she didn't want Lindsey to sit there.

"Thanks." Lindsey said taking her seat. She gave a small but genuine smile to the two boys sitting across from them. Harry smiled back a little but the red-haired boy from the train just stared. Lindsey looked down at her plate and concentrated very hard on the eggs and toast. She probably looked stupid staring down like that but she didn't want to get onto Hermione's bad side at all since the girl already hated her for some reason.

"Lindsey," Harry said. Lindsey looked up but didn't say anything, "er, how was your first night?"

"It was good. Nothing too exciting." Lindsey replied. "This castle is huge, I'll never figure out where I'm going!"

"You'll get used to it." The redhead interjected. "I'm Ron by the way."

"Lindsey."

At that moment, McGonagall came and handed each of the four students a paper with their schedule on it, saving Lindsey from having to have more of an awkward conversation.

"Ugh, Double Potions this morning!" Ron exclaimed. Lindsey's mood lifted, that meant she could start her day off right and show everyone what she could do.

"I love Potions!" Lindsey exclaimed and all three looked at her like she had three heads. Lindsey recoiled just a bit. "I'm just really good at it."

"It wouldn't be so awful if it weren't for Snape." Ron commented and Lindsey could almost feel the distain in his voice. She and her uncle had decided to keep their relationship under the radar for as long as possible and Lindsey could see why now. She put her acting skills to the test.

"Is he the creepy one with the long hair?" she said looking up at the professors table searching for her uncle. When she found him, he was looking in their direction and she had the strangest feeling that he was angry with her about something. Then again who could ever tell with that man.

"The slimy git." Ron muttered.

"Yeah." Harry added. "That's the one. I'm fairly sure he's evil." Lindsey didn't respond but looked away from her uncle quickly. The death eaters' mask appeared in her head, thankful that her uncle wasn't surprise attacking her mind at that moment. She knew he wasn't evil yet sometimes she wasn't so sure. If Dumbledore said he wasn't evil, then he mustn't be. With all that Snape had taught Lindsey in terms of fighting off Dark Magic and teaching her to protect herself against the Death Eaters, there shouldn't be any doubt in Lindsey's mind that Snape was truly on Dumbledore's side. However, he was just so creepy and cold that Lindsey was always looking for signs that he was bad. She couldn't help also having a little bit of feelings against him when every time she thought about him she remembered seeing his mask which made her think of her parents.

"…Lindsey?" Harry's voice broke Lindsey's thoughts.

"What? Sorry, I was, sorry what did you say?" Lindsey asked.

"I just thought you'd like to take your letter." He said indicating the owl that was sitting with its leg sticking out for Lindsey.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. " Lindsey blushed. "Hi there Toto." Lindsey cooed taking the parchment from the little brown owl's leg and patting her lovingly on the head.

"Fluffy?" Ron mocked.

"Yeah, my friend got her when she was eight and obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. She really had wanted a dog but her parents thought the owl would be more helpful."

"What's the Wizard of Oz?" Ron asked.

"Oh, it's a movie. Well it was actually a book first and then it was made into a movie about this girl who goes to this magical place called Oz and she had to find the wizard of oz to be able to get back home to her farm in Kansas but it turns out that the wizard is a hack and a fake and is no more than a lost Kansasian himself. It's wonderful." Lindsey explained.

"Oh. A movie is the thing that's like a portrait but it always does the same thing." Ron said. "And it tells a story."

"Yeah, that's the one." Lindsey replied.

"Ms. Hathaway." Professor McGonagall appeared behind Lindsey who jumped a little at the sound of her voice.

"Yes ma'am?" She responded.

"Would you mind coming to my office with me before your first lesson?" Professor asked, with a tone that made Lindsey wonder what she had done wrong.

"Of course," Lindsey answered, "I mean, I don't mind going to your office."

"All right, come along." She said and Lindsey sprang up and followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall, really nervous the entire way out.

"I wonder what that's about." Ron mused watching the two women leave. "I mean she couldn't possibly be in trouble the first day, only Fred and George can manage that usually."

"I don't know." Harry added, thinking about the new girl. He couldn't help but wonder what her story was and where her mind had gone when she had spaced out like she had. "Hey Hermione, have you talked to her much?"

"No." Hermione said, seeming very stern and cold.

"Oh." Harry didn't really have the energy to figure out what Hermione said it that way or what she was thinking. Soon enough the three of them made their way do the dungeons and lined up outside of the Potions room. Harry kept watching for Lindsey, hoping she would be able to find her way after meeting with McGonagall. When Snape appeared and ushered all of the students into the room, Lindsey still hadn't shown up. About five minutes into the class, the door opened and McGonagall appeared with Lindsey in toe.

"Professor Snape, I'm terribly sorry I kept Ms. Hathaway in my office which is why she is late." Professor McGonagall stated in her regal, upright manner.

"It's fine, however I hope Ms. Hathaway will be able to keep up with the lesson." Professor Snape sneered just has he would with any student.

"Yes, sir." Lindsey replied softly.

"Take a seat Ms. Hathaway." Professor Snape commanded, McGonagall gave Lindsey the smallest of smiles and Lindsey turned to find an empty seat. There was one left. The one next to Draco. Lindsey heaved the smallest of sighs before silently making her way to the desk and pulling out her things. Draco continued to watch her with a creepy smirk on his face. Harry felt bad for the girl as he watched Draco stare at her like a piece of meat. Lindsey behaved very cordially the entire class, keeping her extreme distaste for the boy under wraps though Harry could tell she disliked him.

Throughout the lesson, Professor Snape treated Lindsey like any other student, not picking on her as much as he did Harry or Hermione but not showing any favoritism like he did Draco. It was clear to him by the end of the class that Lindsey's abilities outshone the rest of her year and possibly the year above her. She knew the delicacies of her ingredients and handled them precisely the way they should be handled, the way a potions master would handle them. She had earned Gryffindor points which was a nice change from the points they usually lost in Potions class.

"So, tonight do you want to maybe meet up? You can help me with my Potions homework." Draco was saying as Lindsey hurriedly packed her things away at the end of class. "I mean I know you're in Gryffindor which is very unfortunate for you but I think I could get past that for…"

"Lindsey, do you need any help?" Harry said, unsure of what came over him. He just didn't want to see the poor girl suffering.

"That would be great. How do we get to the common room from here? I have a break between classes." Lindsey smiled. She was so grateful for the savior. Draco, on the other hand, scowled. Lindsey and Harry swept out of the classroom without a word to either Draco or Professor Snape.

"You're my hero." Lindsey laughed.

"No problem. I saw you two in Diagon Alley not too long ago." Harry started saying and didn't know where he wanted to continue.

"Yeah, my, un" Lindsey stopped unsure whether it was safe to say uncle even but supposed it probably wouldn't do any harm, "uncle thought it would be a good idea to have classmate show me around and help me get my things since he is always busy."

"Oh, so you two aren't friends then." Harry replied, joking a little.

"Absolutely not. He is an awful person and I only spent a few hours with him and I know that." Lindsey replied.

"I was kidding." Harry said.

"Oh, right." Lindsey said, blushing and laughing. The two made their way out of the dungeons with Draco and Snape both scowling after them