Bkwm512: ok, so hes looking at brooms in the window of the shop, and gwens passing by

A/N:

((I skipped over writing the part where Gwen tries to convince her parents… didn't wanna pull a Binns on y'all.

 I think I explained it enough for you to know how she did it, so… enjoy!

Oh, and I want to give a shout out to my awesome friend, Virginia, for helping me out with Draco!

Oh, and he(Draco) may seem a bit OOC this chapter, but I think, IMHO, that he isn't horrible to EVERYONE, just Gryffindors. He's only sarcastic and a bit mean to everyone else =)  ))

Gwen woke up the sunny morning after her sixteenth birthday still in her clothes from the day before.

 

"So it wasn't a dream." She muttered to herself as she rolled over in bed and saw the letter from the man named Albus Dumbledore on her night stand.

She had been accepted to a school where everything would be different, where she could chose her own destiny. The only thing to do now was convince her parents to let her go.

***

Gwen sighed with relief as she walked down the main road in the village of Hogsmeade with her bags of robes, a wand, a cauldron, and other magical things she didn't yet understand, but only knew she would need.

All she had had to do to convince her parents to let her go to Hogwarts was tell them it was a very elite school, with a very good reputation. After all, she was sixteen, and old enough to decide where she wanted to go to school.  She hadn't even had to lie. She hadn't told them it was a school for witchcraft because, frankly, they wouldn't have believed her.

The letter from Dumbledore had told her all she needed to know about getting to Hogsmeade, what she would need for school, and how to get onto the right platform. Apparently she had to walk through a wall.

Right, well, I'll worry about that later. Gwen thought, but suddenly, she had something else to worry about.

Brett.

He was standing in the middle of the road, holding hands, and whispering something to his newest bimbo.

Gwen didn't want him to see her standing alone, pathetically alone, so she looked around quickly for a shop to go into until he passed. But then Gwen noticed something that would serve her purpose better.

The blonde-haired boy from the Leaky Cauldron… Oh, what was his name… Draco! Yes. That was it. Draco Malfoy… was standing in front of a shop nearby, looking at broomsticks.

Gwen walked his way and, pretending to have just noticed him, said, "Oh, hi. Remember me?" she said.

 Draco looked over at her, and then recognized her. "Unfortunately yes, despite attempts to cleanse my memory."  He said.

Gwen stifled a laugh, tried to look indignant and, failing terribly, said, "Well, who shoved roses up your ass this morning?"

Draco smiled. "Hey, I like the way you talk. C'mon, let's go get a Butterbeer."

Gwen smiled, shrugged, and said, "Ok." She had time to kill, as she had gotten most of her shopping done quickly, and she thought Draco was amusing, not to mention cute.


***

 

"Hey! Wench! Get us two Butterbeers!" Draco yelled at the fat woman behind the bar.
  Gwen smiled again, shaking her head as she pulled back a chair from a table and sat down.

"So, what year are you in?" she asked. Dumbledore's letter had explained all about how Hogwarts worked, and about the houses and classes.

 "I'm going into fifth now. I suppose you're going to be a Slytherin. You've got a smart mouth." Draco said, leaning leisurely back on the chair.

Damn, he's cute.
 

"So, you'd be a Slytherin too, then?" Gwen asked. "If they're defined by being smart-asses?"
 

 "Yep. Slytherin turns out the most terrorists, mass murderers, serial rapists, dark wizards, and soap opera writers of any of the houses." Draco answered.

 "Well then, I guess you're right. That's probably where I belong." Gwen said laughing.
 Just then, the fat woman came with their butterbeers. She put them on the table, and scuttled away, looking over her shoulder at Draco in a weird way. Gwen noticed many people looked at Draco this way; fear mingled with hatred.

Draco sipped from his butterbeer, and Gwen did the same.
 

"So... Let me guess." Gwen said, setting down her glass on the table. "From the way everyone looks at you, one of your parents is someone important, right?"

Draco scowled and looked away. "My dad's an asshole. A freaking asshole, and everyone knows his name. He has half the Ministry in the palm of his hand, that's the only thing I like about the slimy git."

 "Yeah, I know the feeling. My dad's just like that. And then everyone looks at you like you could get them fired with a word, and they hate you for it." Draco looked at Gwen.

"But how does your dad treat you?" he asked. Draco's eyes were piercing and accusing, and Gwen didn't like being under his heated gaze.

 "Well." Gwen started, a bit uncomfortable talking about her family to this almost-stranger.

"I think, to him, I'm a possession. He can brag about me to his friends, and he can buy me everything I want, so he feels needed... but he doesn't really care. Like when I go to Hogwarts, he won't miss me, he'll just be happy that he can brag to his golf buddies about his daughter at boarding school."

 Draco face showed no expression. "That's a lot like my father. But my father..." Draco shook his head. "Never mind. Just... never mind." Draco said. "So you're Muggle born?"

Gwen nodded. "But sometimes I think there must have been some horrible mix-up when I was born, and I just have to hope I won't turn out like them." Gwen said.

 Draco smirked. "Father would hang me if he knew I was hanging out with a Mudblood. If he shows up, just tell him you're Pureblood."

 "Mudblood? I don't like the sound of that. All right, if he comes, I'm a pureblood." Gwen said, nodding. She wasn't above lying to keep out of trouble.

 "Good then."

As if on cue, a tall, pale, silvery-blonde haired man came into the Three Broomsticks. Draco sat up straight, rigid, his eyes open wide as he tried to hide his face behind his butterbeer.

"That's my father." Draco said quietly.

"Oh yes, I remember. I saw him here that night." Gwen said. Lucius reminded her a bit of her father, but Mr. Gradigh wasn't quite as cold, nor was he half as impressive-looking as Lucius Malfoy's tall, ram-rod straight form was. Impressive, but chilling.

 Lucius spotted Draco in an instant. It wasn't very hard to pick Draco out from a crowd, as his silvery hair shone like a beacon everywhere he went.

"Draco." Lucius said, forcefully putting a hand on Draco's shoulder. Gwen saw Draco flinch. It was obviously Lucius' way to "hit" Draco in public and make it look casual. 

"Father..." Draco said, a bit shakily.

"Who's this?" Lucius peered down at Gwen with distaste. "Another one of your girls?"

"No, this is Gwen... she's a Pureblood... can you take your hand off my shoulder?" Draco said, cringing.

 "Eh?" Lucius looked back at Gwen, keeping his hand on Draco's shoulder. He seemed to push it down harder now. Lucius had an odd expression suddenly.

"You... she reminds me of someone..." Lucius had a look in his eyes, as if he were trying to remember something that had annoyed him a lot somewhere in his past, and was annoying him again by escaping his memory.
 

Gwen knew how to deal with her father's cronies, and figured Lucius couldn't be much different, so she approached him as she would them. She looked him straight in his cold eyes, her chin slightly tilted up, and asked, "Who do I remind you of?"

Lucius scowled, and didn't answer her question.

"Put your chin down when you speak to me." Lucius said. He turned away from Gwen.

"Draco, I want you to meet me back here in five hours." Lucius said. Draco nodded.

"Yes, Father." Draco said. He quickly stood, and Gwen did the same. They then left the Three Broomsticks, Draco looking rather nervous.


***

"You're right." Gwen said as they walked down the main street of Hogsmeade.

"What?" Draco asked. He had recovered his coolness and confidence.

"You're right, he is an ass." Gwen explained.

Draco smiled. "You don't know half of it. I have to live with him." He said.

 "Well, at least you get away for school." Gwen said.

 "Yeah right. I have to come home every other weekend and he sends me loads of extra work to do." Draco said.

 "Wow. I wouldn't be able to put up with it, I think I'd have to run away and join the circus or something!" Gwen said.

 Draco smirked. "He'd find me anyway. That's what sucks about the magical world. With Dark Magic, he can find me anywhere."

 "Man, suddenly I'm glad I'm the only witch in my family." Gwen said, shaking her head, making locks of her reddish-brown waves of hair fall in her eyes. She pushed them back absently.

"Well, I still have to pick out an animal..." Gwen said.

"Right. I'll come with you." Draco said, and they went towards the Hauntatorium.
They went into the shop, and Gwen stared around her, astounded. She had seen a lot of wonderful places that day, but this was spectacular. There were walls of cages and perches; jewel-bright eyes stared out at them from all over, and the air was filled with twittering, scurrying, meowing, and a host of other noises.

"Well, what do you suggest, Draco?" Gwen asked Draco holding up her hands to indicate the many cages full of magical creatures.
 

"I suggest the cats or the owls." Draco said. "The ravens are good, too."

 "Hmm... all right." Gwen said. She looked over at the wall where the cages contained cats of all colors. "I never could have a cat... Mother was allergic." Gwen said. "But I think that's what I'll get. There must be some magical way to stop Mother from being bothered." She scanned the cages quickly, and her gaze came to rest on a tiny blue fluff-ball. Gwen grinned.

"That's the one I want." she said, opening the cage. A sign above it said: Full-grown blue angora. Draco grinned.

"Those little pansy things? When I said cat, I meant those." Draco said, pointing at the cages down the hall which housed sleeping panthers.

"Ha! I'm worried about what Hannah would say if I brought home the fluff-ball, You've no idea how she'd flip if she saw one of those!" Gwen said.

 "Hannah?" Draco asked.

 "The housekeeper. She's more like a mother than mother is, though neither of them bothers with the caring about me part. She just nags at me not to make a mess." Gwen explained.

 "Ah." Draco nodded. "So you want to get the angora?" Draco said, looking at the blue fluffball in Gwen's arms.

 "Yeah, I don't dare get anything bigger, and it is kind of cute." Gwen smiled, and headed to the cash register.

 "Hold up. Want to help me pick out a gift for my girlfriend?" Draco smiled.
 

"Sure." Gwen said. "What do you think she'd like?" she asked, cursing on the inside.

And you thought he wouldn't have a girlfriend? Gwen thought sardonically.


 ***

The next day, Gwen got out of the car in front of King's Cross Station and looked around smiling. She was finally here.  Mr. Gradigh took her enormous trunk out from the back of the car and set it on a cart.  The two silently wheeled it through the station. Gwen stopped at platform nine, and told her father, "This is it, Father. You can go, if you want, I'll be all right getting on the train myself."

"All right, I have a meeting in an hour anyway, I'll have time to stop for breakfast. Do well, try hard, and be the best." He said.

"Right." Gwen said, and watched her father walk back to the car.

Gwen looked around her to see if anyone was watching, before disappearing through the wall between platforms nine and ten.

Gwen gasped at the scene that opened before her as she came through the other side of the wall. A  brilliant scarlet steam engine was puffing on the tracks; cats wove in and out between trunks, people in cloaks, and people in muggle clothes; and Owls hooted, disgruntled, to one another from their cages. 

Gwen smiled contentedly. This is where I belong. She pushed the cart with her trunk on it nearer the train, and tried to lift it on.

"I know, Father. You don't have to drill it into me." Gwen heard a familiar voice say. She turned to see an angry Draco talking to his extremely tall father.

"Fine. But remember what I said, Draco." Lucius ordered.

"I will." Draco sighed, turning. His eyes seemed to immediately catch Gwen.

She was struggling with her trunk, but stopped when Draco caught her eye. She smiled.

"Hey Gwen." He yelled as he walked towards her, easily pushing a trolley. "Load your stuff on here." He said.

"Thanks, I'd never get this thing on  myself." Gwen answered.

"No problem, but when my girlfriend comes you're my little sister." Draco said.

Gwen nodded, "Right, we wouldn't want you in the dog house." she answered, smiling.

Suddenly, a high pitched voice rang out over them.

"Draco!" it yelled.

"Oh great. That's her." Draco said mournfully.

Gwen laughed again. "Can't you find someone that you like?" she asked him quietly as a girl younger than Gwen came bouncing along.

"I could, but she's hot, so I don't bother." Draco whispered to Gwen, smiling.

"Hi Draco!" the girl screamed. She was very pretty, tall and thin.

"Um... Allison, this is my little sister Gwen. Gwen, this is Allison." Draco said. Gwen knew what Draco meant when he had described his girlfriend as "really stupid" now.

"Oh! Hi Gwen!" Allison chirped. Anyone with half a brain would be able to see that Gwen was older than Draco, and that the two could most definitely not be related.

"Hi Allison," Gwen said slowly, trying not to confuse the poor girl with too many syllables at once.

"Okay well anyway I'm going to sit with my friends. Bye Draco!" Allison bounced off again, towards a group of girls that all looked oddly the same.

"Let's get on the train, shall we?" Gwen said.

"Right." Draco said. He began to walk toward the train, leaving the trolley with their luggage behind.

"Hello! Draco, aren't you forgetting something?" Gwen shouted.

"Ha ha. You must be kidding. You're pushing it." Draco said.

"Yeah right! I'm no baggage girl, either you take both or I take mine and shove yours..." she continued to describe where Draco's trunk would be lodged, and... well, you get the picture.

Draco smirked. "Get the baggage, or my Father will hear of it." Draco threatened.

"Ha! You're more afraid of your father than I am." Gwen challenged, showing her independent side.

Draco shrugged and walked to the trolley. He pushed Gwen's stuff off the pile, and pushed the trolley to the train. "Hurry up of you want to sit with me." Draco said.

"What, is there a line to sit with the great Draco?" Gwen asked with a laugh.

"Actually," Draco smirked, "There is."

Just then, Gwen noticed all the girls that were beginning to congregate around Draco as if he were a superstar.

"Oh my god." Gwen muttered. "Unbelievable." shaking her head, Gwen put her trunk and the angora onto a trolley and climbed onto the train unassisted.

***

Gwen sat in the compartment with Draco, watching out the window as the neat, ordered fields melt away into wilderness.

"So, you got rid of your fanclub? Where exactly does one send a fan club when they're sick of them?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, I send them off to polish my shoes." Draco answered with a grin.

Gwen laughed, noticed idly that she did that Draco made her do that a lot,  and  asked, "Hey, what do you think I should name it?" Gwen asked, taking out her blue angora.

"Umm... Fluffy." Draco offered.

"Oooo. Bet that one took a lot of thought." Gwen smirked.

"Umm... Draco Jr." Draco said.

Gwen burst out laughing. "You are so full of yourself, it's hilarious! But it might be cute... I could call it D.J."

"Yeh. Or name it Killer." Draco smiled, looking at the defenseless little ball of fluff.

"Fang or Ripper." Gwen suggested.

"Or Voldemort." Draco smirked.

"What?" Gwen asked. "What kind of name is that?"

Draco's smiled disappeared. "You don't know who Voldemort is?"

"No." Gwen answered, but she got a chill each time Draco said the name, as if she were reminded of some distant nightmare from long ago.

"You'll know soon enough." Draco said, turning back to the angora. "Have you decided yet?"

"Well, for a lack of anything better, and in honor of the person who first introduced me to the wizarding world," she said turning to the little fuzz ball, "I hereby dub thee... Draco Jr."

Draco smiled at Gwen. He had an expression she hadn't seen yet on his face, like he was wondering why Gwen talked to him.

I wonder if he's ever had a real friend before? The look on his face prompted her to think suddenly.

She isn't like the girls who follow me around, trying to get their paws on my money, or Crabbe and Goyle, so stupid they need someone like me to tell them what to do.

"So... want to go annoy Potter?" Draco grinned.

"Potter? Who's that?" Gwen asked.

"He's the boy who lived. Don't worry, you'll hear way too much about him in your history books." Draco smiled. "So... are you up to it?"

"All right, where do we find him?" she asked.

"Just follow me." Draco said.

They went out into the hall. Draco peered into the windows of each compartment until he stopped in front of one.

"Bingo." He said. Draco turned to Gwen. "He's in here."

Gwen smiled mischievously. "I've been wanting a little fun." she said. "Let's go."

Draco pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Gwen heard moans of anger greet him as Draco stepped in.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Gwen saw a black haired boy ask. The boy had the most catching green eyes...

"So nice to see you too, Potter!" Draco smiled all-too-kindly.

A girl with bushy brown hair eyed Gwen hatefully.

"Who's this, Malfoy? Another of your sluts?" the girl sneered.

Draco stepped aside, and waved Gwen in.

"Losers, I'd like you to meet Gwen. She's new, and she's Slytherin to the core." he said.

Gwen laughed. "Now we don't know that yet, we'll see..." Gwen paused, looked at the bushy haired girl, and said "And I am NOT a slut. And I don't belong to him, or anyone else." she said, not in anger, but amusedly.

"Well you're hanging out with him." the girl snapped.

Gwen laughed scornfully. "What an astute observation. Is that how it is at Hogwarts? You hang out with a guy and you're a slut? Draco, you should have warned me." she said.

"Well then I guess you, Mudblood, must be a major slut, 'cause God knows you're always with Weasley and Potter." Draco said to the girl scathingly, never breaking his amused glare.

"What do you want here, Malfoy? It's not like you to come without your thugs." Harry said.

"I just want to remind you losers that I haven't forgotten what happened on the way home last year, and I won't let you forget it, either." Draco said, mostly directing this towards the black-haired boy whom Gwen assumed was Potter. Gwen was staring at him, trying to figure out why this complete stranger looked so familiar, but she shrugged it off as, after finishing his threat, Draco headed out of the compartment.

***

Back in their compartment, Draco showed Gwen how to play exploding snap. Usually, when someone shows a person how to play a game for the first time, they go easy on the beginner, but Draco showed no mercy.

 

Which is exactly what I would expect, knowing what I do about him, Gwen thought.

Gwen had started to get a hang of the game, when a voice echoed through the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts momentarily. Please have your school robes on, and leave your trunks on the train. They will be taken up separately."

Gwen glanced up at Draco, her first pang of nervousness overtaken by a huge wave of excitement.

 

"It's almost time, I can't wait, Draco! This is going to be so amazing!" Gwen said, jumping up and hurrying around the compartment getting her robes out.

"You're not nervous? In my first year, I was shaking in my boots right about now." He said, laughing at her excitement.

"Why would I be nervous? If you can do this, I certainly can." Gwen said. "Do you mind?" She said, looking at the door. "I need to change."

Draco grinned. "Nope, I don't mind at all." He said pointedly.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "I set myself up for that one, didn't I? Now out!" she said, pushing Draco out the door.

***