A/N: Hey guys my next chapter. Things move a bit faster here in Arianne's story than in the book. The fanfic about the first book will be basically how she got close to her friends and such and her part will not too big, but is prominent. The first part will be done in a few more chapters.
Thanks to all of you who read and favorited this story...
All original Characters and storylines belong to J.K. Rowling. I only own my OCs and my storyline.
Chapter 11 – Gryffindors
I open the first letter, it was from Cissa. 'Long overdue, wonder why she took so long to write'
LETTER:
"Dear Annie,
First off, you might be wondering why my letter is so late. That is because I know how exciting and time consuming first few weeks at Hogwarts go by. I was a first year once too. So I wanted to give you some time to breathe.
I am so happy that you got into Ravenclaw. I always thought you were too clever for your age, and too shy to be in Slytherin. Well, I hope you adjust well in Ravenclaw. You father is very happy about it. Well we had a bet about which house you would be in, I said Slytherin and your father was sure it was Ravenclaw. Now, according to his bet, he is allowed to eat cakes and other sweet things for 3 whole days. And before you start the lecture, yes I already spoke to the healers at Mungo's; they gave me a special kind of sugar which won't cause his health to deteriorate.
I always thought you studied way too much, what with your constant questions, practicing potions and charms with Severus and always reading any book you could lay hands on. I also always tell you how much I love blue dresses on you. They go so well with your hair and skin. I already asked Madame La Pomone to make new dresses for you in Blues. In fact, next week Severus will be bringing you a few dresses.
I hope Draco is doing well. I got his letter saying he was sorted into Slytherin. Please take care of him. You and I both know that however tough he may act, he is just a boy, who is sensitive and bitter. I still can't tell you how happy I am that you came into our lives. I always remember the Draco who was so kind and good, but then he wanted to be more like his father and started doing anything and everything to please him. I know that deep down he still is a good person. Please take care of him.
Lucius sends his congratulations. Now don't be surprised. It did take a while to convince him, but eventually he came around. He is very proud of Draco for being in Slytherin.
Tell me all about your classes. Make us proud by getting good grades.
Love,
Cissa"
I smiled to myself. Typical Cissa always worried about clothes. I looked over the letter once more before opening the other letter, which was from Papa.
LETTER:
"Dearest Lia,
I would like to start by telling you how much I miss you. It's very silent and lonely here at the Mansion without you and Draco. I miss our walks and chats. Secondly I am so delighted that you got sorted into Ravenclaw.
Take good care of yourself darling. Make sure you show everyone that the Malfoys are best at everything.
If you need anything or if anyone is bullying you, immediately inform Draco or Severus, They will take care of it. I still wonder why you did not let me enroll you a Arianne Malfoy. It would have made sure people don't bother my baby girl.
Your brother Lucius although not so happy with a Malfoy being in Ravenclaw, calmed down after I reminded him you were at least not in Gryffindor.
I am sending you the books you asked for through Severus. Your sister went on another shopping spree last week to buy you blue cloth for dresses. Be warned. She is sending you a hoard of blue dresses.
Oh my darling girl, I miss you so much. Please keep writing to your old man.
To the love of my life, my sweet baby girl,
Your father, Abraxus."
I was almost in tears reading Papa's letter. I missed him too. In the few years I had been with him, I had grown close to him.
I wanted to reply to their letters but my stomach was growling with hunger. I decided to have a bite before replying and went downstairs to grab a bite. I go to the great hall and have toast and bacon and wash it down with some orange juice. Then I hurry outside, and bump into Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor, and my partner in Transfiguration for group assignment and practice classes. ""Hello Hermione, how are you? Where are you off to so early in the morning on a Saturday?"
"Hey Arianne, I am going to the hospital wing to visit Neville. He had an accident in flying class yesterday" she says, "would you like to visit with me?"
"Of course Hermione. Let's go right away. I hope it's not anything serious?" to which Hermione shakes her head no. So off we go to the hospital wing to see Neville. He is up at that time and drinking some potion. Madame Pomfrey sees us and gives us a silent nod "you girls can visit him for a while, but please be silent. And Longbottom here needs to rest after a while." Hermione assures her that we will be quiet and leave soon, so the healer leaves us to speak with Neville.
"Hey Neville, how are you doing now?" "Arianne, Hermione, you both came to see me?. Thank you very much. I am doing better than yesterday" he says and winces thinking about something. "How exactly did this happen Neville?"
"Well I just lost control of my broom and did not know how to stop it. I fell from the top of the Gryffindor tower. Thank Merlin there was some windows to break my fall, or I would have been worse"
Hermione hugs him lightly and says "Oh Neville! Be more careful in future"
We spent a bit more time with Neville, discussing random things about Hogwarts and our classes. After a while Madame Pomfrey comes in with a tray of food for Neville "I am glad to see some color back in your cheeks boy. Your visit did some good to him. Now you girls should be off having lunch and Longbottom here needs to eat his mash and take some potions. Off you go girls." The elderly Healer says with a smile on her face.
"Of course Madame Pomfrey, Thank you for letting us visit Neville" Hermione and I thank her and leave to Lunch wondering how fast time passes by when you are having fun with friends.
We went to the great hall to see most of the students had already finished eating and were leaving. There was nobody at the Ravenclaw table, so, Hermione invited me to eat with her at the Gryffindor table. We were having Lunch when suddenly two people came, lifted Hermione off her seat and hugged her "hey Mione, how come you are late? You..." said one "are never late to anything" and the other boy completed his sentence. Then turning to me, they hugged me and introduced themselves. "Hello there, you must be …" "…Mione's friend. I am…" "Fred and I am his twin…" "George"
They kept doing this thing where they each spoke a part of a sentence and the other completed that sentence. Almost looked like they rehearsed every sentence before speaking, but they just met me. 'Maybe it's a twin thing', I think.
"Hello Gred and Forge, Nice to meet you. OOPS! Sorry I mean George and Fred. I am Arianne Thomas", I say correcting myself. "No problem Ms. Thomas. We will definitely…" "Start calling ourselves Forge and…" "...Gred. Thanks for that amazing Idea." "We should be off now ladies. Have a nice Lunch" "And once again nice to meet you Arianne" They say, and kiss mine and Hermione's hands in a gentleman like manner but with big grins, and leave.
"It was nice meeting your friends Mione; they sure seem like fun people to hang around. Are they Ron's brothers?" I ask. "Yes they are Ron's Brothers. They are in Third year." Hermione says.
I nod and continue eating my Lunch. After Lunch, Hermione and I decide to study for a while and go to the Library and finish our assignments, discuss books and classes. At dinner time we go back to the hall and have dinner at our respective tables. I was too tired to even remember about my letters and fall asleep seconds after my head hits the pillow.
I sleep in very late on Sunday, waking up at around 4pm, that too because Luna wakes me up.
We both go to sit by the black lake till dinner time and call it an early night because we had double potions with Hufflepuff the next morning.
Next morning at breakfast, there was a great commotion as Luna and I were about to leave to class. We looked to see all heads turned towards the Gryffindor table, where a dozen screech owls were carrying a large parcel and dropped it in front of Harry Potter. Everyone was wondering what parcel the Boy Who Lived received and from whom.
Later that day, I got to know that it was in fact a broom that he got. Draco, the ever curious, followed him and found out and as usual got jealous and tried to complain to Professor Flitwick, who was obviously in on the secret.
Apparently Harry was selected to play as seeker for the Gryffindor team. And Ron boasted that it was possible because Draco tried to get Harry into trouble and instead got him into the team. Draco was beyond mad at Harry. He thought Harry was someone who had a great life and loved being the centre of attention. Both Draco and I had known many people like that who did almost anything to be the centre of attention, but I knew Harry was not like that. He seemed too humble to be an attention seeker. I tried to explain the same to Drake, but he was blinded by bitterness. So I advised him to try out for the team as well, because he was good at flying and Quidditch too. Drake seemed to have gotten some brilliant Idea about something and giving me a kiss on the cheek, rushed off, saying he had something to do.
Whatever was cooking in Draco's brain, he always seemed to be deep in thought, always planning something secretly with his two new best friends, or should I say servants. He could always be seen with Crabbe and Goyle, who were too eager to do whatever Drake said (too eager to climb the social ladder). Even Blaise was worried, so much so that one day he came to me to discuss Drake's secretive behavior. Blaise suspected something bad was going to happen, that Drake had something really bad planned for someone. We both decided to confront Drake about this, but he was avoiding us like the Plague.
I decided to write to Cissa about this but decided against it as she was sure to discuss it with Luc, and I didn't want Drake to be in trouble with Luc.
Soon It was almost Halloween, and Draco was looking even more smug as the days were going by. I didn't realize just how fast the days were going until one day I woke up to the smell of Baking Pumpkin wafting through the air. It was Halloween today, and Hogwarts celebrated Halloween really grand.
The breakfast table was laden with different food either made from Pumpkin or shaped like one. We had Bat shaped bacon, Pumpkin shaped toast, Pumpkin juice, Pumpkin flavored Coffee, and even Pumpkin Jam.
We even had fun-filled classes. The first class was Herbology, and Madame Sprout let us harvest pumpkins and carve them to decorate the Great Hall with. Then In Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall deemed that we were ready to practice turning a napkin into a cap/hat. It was supposed to be a group practice class, but as my partner Hermione was not present, Professor let me do it on my own. I was able to turn the napkin into a beautiful hat, and even managed to decorate it beautifully with flowers and ribbons. Professor McGonagall was quite impressed with me and gave ten points to Ravenclaw.
Although I was very happy to earn points for my house, I was still worried about Mione. I saw her at breakfast, excited for her charms class and her first Halloween at Hogwarts, and even saw her when she was going to class. But I didn't see her after that for the whole day.
Later that day as I was going to dinner along with Luna, Padma and a few other girls from my house, I overheard Padma say that her twin in Gryffindor saw Mione in the girl's bathroom, crying her heart out and said she didn't want to be disturbed.
Apparently something serious happened in her charms class. Knowing Mione, it must be that she failed to answer a question or perform some spell they learnt in class 100% correctly. So telling Luna I would go persuade Mione to come to Dinner.
I rushed off to the girls bathroom to hear Mione's sobs from a closed stall. Mione, what is wrong. Are you alright? This is Anne. Please come out and tell me what's wrong" I say, knocking on the door. "No, please leave me alone Annie. I don't want to speak to anyone right now." Hermione says her sobbing reduces a little. Mione, please. You know I am your friend and would do anything to help you. At least tell me what happened". I hear footsteps at the other side of the door, and see Mione's feet at the door; she sits down at the door and tells me about her charm's class and how Ron was mocking her. "Oh Mione, you should not cry for what that Idiot of a boy said. He is just jealous that you are better than him at everything. Besides, you know he is wrong about you not having friends. I and Luna are your friends; George and Fred are your friends. We all love you very much. Please, at least open the door, I brought pumpkin pasties for you. Remember how excited you were about your first Halloween at Hogwarts? Come on out, we can go to the hall and enjoy ourselves to our heart's content and show that Weasley that you do in fact have friends and that we all love you very much."
Silence.
I wait and after a while at last, Mione comes out the door wiping her eyes and hugs me. We both turn to leave to the Great Hall, seeing something huge blocking our way. That something was a troll, and he was raising his club to smash us. In a panic, Mione rushes back into the toilet, and drags me in along with her. We crouch down just in time, before the Troll's club come crashing down, breaking the door in half. We both scream and crawl towards the sinks, when we hear someone calling our names. It was Harry, Ron and Luna, come to save us. Luna and Ron try to distract the Troll to let us escape, because his club was already raised about to smash us.
Thankfully the Troll forgets about us, but the bad news was, it was now very interested in Luna, Ron, and Harry who were throwing random bits of wood at it. It went after them and tried to smash them. Ron, Harry and Luna were rooted to the spot too shocked to move. Mione was shouting at them to move, but they didn't listen. They would be smashed in a few seconds if they didn't move.
'Think Lia, Think. What to do. Protection, Protego. There's so many of us, hope this works." I think.
But suddenly a semi-transparent net like light comes out of my hands, covering all of us, Harry, Ron, Luna, Mione and Me. I feel something warm inside my heart and know for certain how to control it. Just as the Troll's club smashes into my Protego charm, I make sure to make the net like thing a little stretchy so that the Club bounces back with double the force the troll used. The club hits the Troll on the head very hardly and it falls down, unconscious. We turn around to leave before the Troll comes back to its sense, but hear footsteps walking our way. Professor McGonagall was the first to enter the bathroom, closely followed by Severus, with Professor Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Severus bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. "What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry and Luna looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Severus gave Harry a sharp look, which I knew meant he was disappointed in him. Harry looked at the floor. We were all wondering what to tell the teachers when a small voice came from behind me, "Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me." "Miss Granger!" Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. "I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. I was shocked; I had never, till date, seen Mione lie to a teacher. "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
"Well — in that case…" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get us all out of trouble, even though some of us (cough, cough, RON) had hurt her.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left. Professor McGonagall turned to Harry, Luna, Ron, and me. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win your houses five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go." We hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until we reached the stairs. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. From that moment on, Mione, Luna, Harry, Ron and I became quite good friends. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
A/N:
Hello all. How's the story so far?
Thanks for reading, following and favoriting my story.
