Author's Note: I hope that you do not see any HTML here, and that this is working properly. Thanks a million to 'April' who told me how to do it. PLEASE REVIEW! I checked my statistics and they show that more than a hundred people have read the first chapter of Never Say Never, but only six have reviewed. Come on, help me out guys! ~Moondream
"Yeah, sure," Hermione scoffed, "There's a school under the ocean that you go to. Ariele, that's ridiculous! You have an overactive imagination!"
Ariele grinned knowingly.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" She laughed, "I knew you wouldn't believe me! But really, it is under the ocean. You wouldn't believe what a relief it is to be on land again. Can you imagine looking out your common room window and seeing fish? That's how it was for me."
"That's amazing!" Hermione said in awe, "How did you play Quidditch? How did you fly broomsticks? What did you do?"
"It was…difficult," Ariele said as she slipped into a memory, "We had a room…A huge room…Under the ocean, of course…Yes…A glass room…It was used for Quidditch and flying lessons…"
"This may strike you as an odd question," Hermione began, "But why is it under the ocean?"
Ariele's face paled and her lips tightened.
"No reason," She said abruptly, "No reason at all…"
Hermione decided to change the subject.
"Hey, this is the Divination tower," She said with a smile that they both knew was faked, "Boy, this class was awful."
"Oh," Ariele replied politely, "That's…too bad."
They descended from the room carefully and started walking back down the flights of stairs. A figure stepped out from one of the classrooms into the hallway. It was Malfoy.
"Hello," He said in an overly pleasant tone, "How are we doing?"
He put his hand on Ariele's shoulder as they walked by. Hermione saw her back arch, but obviously, Malfoy hadn't.
"You're looking quite lovely today," He said suavely, "The Hogwarts attire fits you perfectly."
"Malfoy," Hermione said warily, "Leave Ariele alone."
Ariele's teeth clenched, and she mumbled something inaudible.
"What did you say?" Malfoy said kindly, "I couldn't hear your musical voice."
"I said," Ariele spoke up in a clear voice, "Do not touch me."
Malfoy drew his hand back, as if in slow motion. He licked his lips in anger, but remained calm.
"I'm sorry," He said in disbelief, slowing down, "I don't believe I heard you correctly."
"I said," Ariele spun around to face him, "Don't TOUCH me."
Malfoy's extended arm snapped back.
"I'll save you a seat in History," He called back to her as he pushed in front of the two and left to sulk.
"Save me a seat," Ariele said in disgust, "Like I'd sit by him."
Hermione giggled. "I've never seen him so angry! Goodness, Ariele, you've been here for less then a day and you're already trying to get attention." She teased.
"Ha ha, very funny," Ariele replied, "So, what time do our first classes start?"
"Our classes!" Hermione gasped, "We'd better hurry! You have history first, but I have Transfiguration first. You know where the History of Magic tower is, right?"
Ariele nodded. They called goodbye and separated.
~~~~*~~~~
Hermione rushed into the Transfiguration classroom. Most of the students were already seated, and those that weren't were filing in rapidly.
"Over here!" A voice called to her from across the room. "We saved you a seat!"
It was Harry. Hermione hurried over and sat on the desk beside his. Ron shuffled in minutes later, and took the next one.
Minerva McGonagall stared down at the students from the head of the classroom.
"I hope you have remembered what you learned last year," She began, tactfully ignoring the murmurs of "Oops" throughout the room. "Because we will be beginning with a review evaluation." Groans filled the classroom as the test was passed out. The school year was just beginning.
~~~~*~~~~
Lunch was a relief for most students, as the forth year seemed especially grueling, even though the day was only half completed.
"I know I failed," Ron was saying to Harry as he spooned some potatoes from a dish, "McGonagall's surprise test was infeasible."
"Since when did you know what 'infeasible' meant?" Hermione said to him.
"Percy uses it all the time," Ron explained, "By the way…How was your tour with Ariele?"
"Very enjoyable," She replied, "Malfoy has taken quite a liking to her."
Harry practically choked, and Ron pretended to gag.
"What does she see in him?" Harry said, "He such a scum."
"She doesn't see anything in him," Hermione told him, "I never said she did."
"Never say never," Harry admonished.
"Why do people keep saying that to me?" Hermione exploded, "I hear it all the time now! 'Never say never' this, and 'never say never' that. What is it?"
It was not a question she expected to be answered, and no one responded anyhow. There was a pause between the three. Hermione paused because she was trying to figure out the question she'd asked, Ron and Harry were silent and staring at the Ravenclaw table, where Ariele was deep in conversation with a Ravenclaw fifth year.
A male fifth year, Hermione was sure Ron and Harry were noticing. Hermione watched Ariele for a moment longer. Ariele stood up, waved to the boy, and ran over to the Gryffindor table.
"I can't remember where the Charms classroom is," She said to Hermione, "Can you help me?"
"I will!" Harry and Ron said in unison.
"Sure," Hermione replied, "Lets go."
She led Ariele to the classrooms, curiosity came over her in a wave, making her ask, "So, who was that guy?"
"Oh, the one I was talking to?" Ariele asked, "That was Jonathan, he's a fifth year. I was having some trouble understanding the Under and Overfiguration McGamble was talking about, to he was helping me."
"McGonagall," Hermione corrected, "And anytime you have trouble, you can ask me."
Ariele nodded and said, "Thanks…That evaluation was pretty complicated, wasn't is?"
"Unbelievably," Hermione replied, "McGonagall always finds a way of making things harder than they should be."
"I think she's wonderful," Ariele smiled, "She seems so smart."
"By the way," Hermione remembered, "Did Malfoy really save a seat for you?"
Ariele blushed. "Yeah, he did, and it was really hard to object to sitting by him. But I managed to avoid it, saying that I was assigned a special seat--"
"You lied!" Hermione interrupted.
"What else should I have done?" Ariele said, "Sat by him? Ugh! Anyway, after History we went to Potions, and Professor Snape paired us up for this experiment we were doing. I thought I'd die. Malfoy is impossible to work with. He spent the whole time showing off and pretending he really knew what he was doing…Of course, he didn't."
Just then they arrived at the Charms classroom and peeked inside.
"Hurry up," Hermione hissed, "Professor Flitwick is about to start. Meet me in the library after your last class."
Hermione rushed off, and didn't hear Ariele call behind her, "But Hermione! Where is the library?"
~~~~*~~~~