DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I don't even own the computer I'm typing this on.

A/N: Sorry it's been such a long time since an update. I was into my original fiction for a while, but now I'm back on Harry Potter again. After all, the next book is coming out soon! I need to get cracking! Thanks to all of my readers and reviewers. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Expect frequent updates. After this week, I start summer vacation. Woohoo!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

the New studenT

"Kana?" Harry questioned. "Kana, is that really you?!" Without thinking, he threw his arms around her. For a split second, Harry thought he felt Kana return his sentiment, but she quickly pulled away from his embrace.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Do I… do I know you?"

Harry's heart cracked in half. He gulped. "Yes. I mean no. I mean, I heard about you." He paused, took a deep breath, and tried to collect himself. It would take some quick thinking to get him out of this one. "You're from HHHHhhlkkjdflkhlaskdfjoiqkdHawaii, right?"

She nodded, her green eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Why?"

"Oh… I was there over summer holiday," he said quickly. "It was very beautiful."

A sad smile spread over Kana's face, as though she were remembering Hawaii's sandy beaches or its blazing red sunsets. Or maybe even vaguely remembering giving surfing lessons to some over-heated British tourists on the island's blue-green shores. "Yes, it was. It is." She gazed into Harry's eyes and he felt a shiver creep up his spine. He could feel his heart pumping inside his chest.

If only she could remember that kiss. Remember him. Harry would give anything to remind her about it. He couldn't stop staring at her. He thought he was never going to see her again and now she was standing right before his very own eyes. If only he could lift a finger to her cheek and rub against her soft tanned skin, or brush his lips against her own…

What was he thinking?! He could feel himself blushing at the thought of kissing her. The silence that stood between them was an uncomfortable one, and Harry turned away from her. It hurt too much to look at her.

But she was studying Harry with equal interest. "You play Quidditch?" she asked, eying his Nimbus.

He nodded. "I'm a seeker." He did his best not to show his surprise that she had any idea what Quidditch actually was. He was still in shock. He was all sweaty and he could feel the liquid dripping down his back and even down his forehead. He was going to be late for Potions, but he didn't even care. There was nothing that Snape could do to him that wasn't worth his time with Kana.

He had to see her again. He wanted to see her all the time. He had it bad. "Listen, Kana…" He swiped his fingers through his hair and tried to shove his bangs out of his face.

"I – I'm sorry, I have to go." A shade of paleness swept over Kana's face. She managed a slight smile, then turned on her heel and hurried away.

Harry opened his mouth to shout something, to stop her, but he didn't have the heart. Why was she in such a hurry? He didn't have time to wonder. He had to get down to the dungeon after taking the quickest shower of his life. And he'd definitely need to make it a cold one.

Harry blindly made his way down the stairs. He was lost in his thoughts. Did Kana know all along she was a wizard? Sirius did say that the Islands had their own kind of magic.

The memory charm had obviously worked. Kana didn't even know who he was – yet she never asked him for his name. He wondered why she had to leave in such a hurry. And why did she look so funny when she was walking out of the Great Hall?

Just as Harry made his final approach down into the dungeon, Peeves dropped a water balloon from the balcony about his head. It had just missed him, but it wouldn't have mattered if it'd hit him anyway – he was still wet from his shower and the rough Quidditch tryouts.

"Oh Potter, you rotter. You're late for class. Now Professor Snape's going to be a real pain in the…"

"PEEVES!"

In one fluid swish, quick as lightening, dark as midnight, Professor Snape stormed out of his classroom. "I've had enough of your foolishness for one day. Get back upstairs or I'll sick Filtch on you faster than you can finish your idiotic rhyme!"

Peeves squealed like a little girl and took off through the ceiling, dumping the last of his water balloons onto the stairs.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Snape said, glaring at Harry. "So nice of you to join the rest of your class. Twenty-five points from Gryffindor. Get in here." He gestured to the door.

Harry sighed. It could have been worse. He could have gotten a detention.

But as he stumbled inside of the classroom and took his usual seat next to Ron, he realized it was going to get a lot worse. There was something going on. Something different. He turned to Ron, whose face was a little redder than usual, and raised an eyebrow. Ron gestured over to the Slytherin's side.

Harry's jaw dropped open.

Draco Malfoy was sitting smugly in the row across from Harry. The seat next to him - instead of being filled but Tweedle Dumb (Crabbe) or Tweedle Dumber (Goyle) or even Pansy Parkinson – was occupied by a different girl.

Kana sat there next to Draco Malfoy, smiling at him as he whispered in her ear.

Harry felt a wave of rage and possessiveness wash over him. He stood up, about to march over to Malfoy's desk and ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, when he felt an arm pull him back down to his seat.

"Sit down," Ron muttered under his breath.

Harry opened his mouth to object, but Snape was already eyeing him curiously. Harry glared over at Malfoy. Malfoy stared right back at him, winked, and then laughed. Kana didn't notice. She turned back to face the front of the classroom.

She was a Slytherin!

His knees gave out from under him. No. There was no way that Kana could possibly be a Slytherin. No way. Not the funny, caring, kind girl that he'd met in Hawaii. There had to be some kind of mistake.

The Sorting Hat must have been right! Somebody was sorted wrong. It was Kana. It had to be.

"Mr. Potter, are you ready to join the rest of the class now?" Snape snapped.

Harry cleared his throat and avoided the eyes of his fellow classmates. "Yes sir."

Snape's eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he addressed the rest of the class. "Today we will review every single potion we brewed last year." He paused. "We will first discuss the potions, and end with re-mixing the antidote we made last year for exams. Only this time, we will be testing it on your fellow classmates."

Many of the students gasped. "But Professor!" Hermione's hand shot in the air.

"Miss Granger, please put your hand down and save your breath." He began to pace the length of the classroom. "I do realize that generally, the school rules would prohibit this sort of experimentation, but with the recreation of the Dark Arts Studies, I have no doubt that this will prove to be an excellent lesson." He stopped in front of Neville Longbottom's and Seamus Finnigan's desks. "And Mr. Longbottom, this time there will be no help from Miss Granger."

Neville let out a little squeak. His exam had nearly been a disaster last year when his antidote was fed to his pet toad, Trevor. But Seamus looked more frightened than Neville; after all, he would be the one who would be poisoned and then had to take Neville's antidote.

Snape called on random people in the class and shouted out names of potions, demanding their contents, as well as their functions. Hermione's hand was constantly in the air, until Snape shot her a warning glance. She sighed and put her hand down. It was no use.

Snape called on Pansy Parkinson, who was still rather frazzled after leaving the Great Hall this morning, and she recited the ingredients of an antidote for a shivering poison. Snape then told everyone to gather the ingredients from the table in front of him.

"Oh no," Seamus muttered. His teeth were already chattering in anticipation. The poison each student would be given would be undoubtedly come from shivering shamrocks. Leprechauns would make the mistake of eating the bright green clover and would freeze to death, shivering on the outside but feverish on the inside.

"Well, it's been a while since Madam Pomfrey has seen you, hasn't it?" Ron questioned. "Not since first year? I'm sure she's missed you."

"Oh, shut up," Seamus muttered under his breath.

"How am I supposed to have any confidence in myself to get the antidote right when nobody has any confidence in me?" Neville complained, returning from Snape's desk with enough dried clover root for all of them.

"I have confidence in you, Neville," Hermione announced.

"Me too," Harry agreed. Ever since Harry found out what had happened to Neville's parents during his fourth year, Harry never doubted him. Neville was incredibly strong. It was too bad nobody but he and Hermione knew it.

Just when Neville had made it back to his and Seamus's desk, Crabbe stuck out his leg from the Slytherin side of the dungeon and Neville fell to the floor along with his clover root, which flew all over the nearby desks and cauldrons. The Slytherins erupted into laughter, except Kana, and Malfoy had the biggest grin of them all.

"Quit clowning around, Mr. Longbottom," Snape snapped, "and get back to work."

Neville knew better than to defend himself to Snape, so he reluctantly got on his hands and knees and began to gather up most of the clover he'd dropped.

"Don't worry, Neville," Hermione said. "Just follow the instructions on the board. You can do it."

"But does it say one pinch of bullfrog paste or two?" he squinted at the board.

Seamus folded his hands in his lap, closed his eyes, and proceeded to pray.