A/N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed. Please check the Author's note, which is right before this chapter. It has some questions that I need to ask you. It also says that I have changed Oliver Woods age. If you'd like me to stop my age meddling and find a new way to get him into the story, please tell me in a review. I'd like to give a big thank you to Theta Sigma for helping me correct all of my vocabulary problems. I know that this story isn't exactly accurate in that aspect. Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything that's not mine.

Chapter 3

Only a Little Information

Mara looked at the people in the hallway outside her compartment. Angelina and Katie had rushed out into the hall when they'd heard the noise.

"Um, hi," Mara said. Everyone was stunned. They were all trying to piece together what had happened. The train was still stopped. Finally, Fred broke the silence.

"That was great!" he declared.

"It had to be one of the best fights I've ever witnessed!" George said in agreement. Harry nodded.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked. Mara nodded. Angelina and Katie spotted Kevin on the floor.

"Is that Kevin Edwards?" Angelina asked in disgust, pointing at him. He was obviously in pain and was trying to keep the blood from running out of his nose.

"Yep, that's him," Mara said, shaking her head.

"He doesn't look nearly as cute up close," Katie said.

"He looks like Malfoy," Oliver said. Mara looked up, as though suddenly realizing he was there. She looked a little scared, as though she though he'd dislike her now because she so crudely beat up some guy. She'd just been getting comfortable, with the others acting like nothing was wrong. It was pretty obvious Mara didn't like it when anyone thought badly of her. To put her at ease, Oliver smiled.

"So where'd you learn to fight like that anyway?" he asked. Mara relaxed slightly.

"My dad taught me," Mara said. Then, she gasped, realizing what she'd said. On the floor, Kevin laughed.

"So you have seen him since he escaped!" Kevin declared. Mara glared at him, and she kicked him.

"No don't be so violent Mara, or you'll end up just like Daddy," Kevin said mockingly.

"First of all, Sirius is innocent!" Harry said. "And secondly, how does Sirius teaching her to fight prove that Mara has seen him?" Kevin laughed again.

"Well, well, if it isn't Harry Potter. I'll tell you why: she was three when he was captured! Have you ever seen a three year old who was able to learn how to fight?" Kevin let out another evil cackle. Mara rolled her eyes and kicked him again. He stopped laughing.

"Um, I'm sorry I just burst into your compartment like that," Oliver said in an embarrassed voice.

"Oh, that's ok. Don't worry about it," Mara said in a nonchalant voice. Just then, there was an interruption.

"What's going on?" Draco Malfoy said, coming through the door leading to the next car with his goons. "Having a fight with your Mudblood friends, Potter?" He saw Kevin and stopped.

"Kevin? What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding annoyed, confused and a little scared all at once. Kevin laughed again.

"Surprised to see me, cousin? Uncle Lucius said you would be. Don't worry, everything will be explained at Hogwarts," Kevin said evilly. Draco glared at him.

"What happened to you, anyway?" he asked.

"Well, I was minding mine own business when they-" he pointed at all the other people, "-attacked me. Obviously it wasn't a fair fight."

"You wish!" Mara said. Draco looked up at her, immediately recognizing her.

"You're Mara Astri!" he exclaimed. Then something clicked in his brain. "You beat up Kevin!" Mara raised an eyebrow.

"Um, who are you?" she asked. Normally, Draco got really miffed when someone didn't know who he was, but right now he didn't seem to care.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, and these two are Crabbe and Goyle." He laughed. "Good job, by the way, for beating up my cousin!"

"Draco! Why are you talking to her?" Kevin whined.

"Because she was smart enough to dump you. Plus she just beat you up! That makes her my new favorite person," Draco declared. However, by the look on Kevin's face, he was going to regret that remark.

"I think that Draco has issues with his cousin," Harry whispered to Hermione, who nodded.

"Wait, you mean, you're Lucius Malfoy's son?" Mara asked, sounding slightly surprised. Draco nodded.

"Edwards, are you ok?" Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, said coming out of a nearby compartment. They all turned to face him.

"Oh, just great! I just had my nose broken by her!" he yelled, pointing at Mara. Flint smirked evilly and looked Mara up and down in a not-so-good way. Mara shivered and stepped behind Oliver. Sure, she could easily handle fighting Kevin one-on-one but that was only because she knew how he fought. Plus, she really didn't like the way that guy was eyeing her. Flint laughed.

"Well, Wood, it looks like you've got yourself a new girlfriend," Flint said smirking evilly. "A nice catch I think, although she is just a murderer's daughter, and an actress. Although I'm sure she's good for something," he added suggestively. Oliver looked like he was going to punch him, but he stopped himself. After all, it wasn't worth getting in trouble. However, as Flint passed by after helping Kevin up, he turned to Mara.

"Oh, and Black, if you ever want to have any fun with a real-" he shut up quickly though as he was hit by four different curses, and a punch. Two other Slytherin Quidditch team members came to carry away him and Kevin.

"He has a really hard jaw," Oliver commented, shaking his hand. He had punched him while Harry, Fred, George, and Angelina had cursed him. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle left laughing.

"You know, this reminds me of that time on the train last year," Fred began. Angelina and Katie rolled their eyes.

"Sorry Mara, but we'd better leave. If we have to hear that story again, we're going to hurt them. We'll see you later, though, right?" Angelina said.

"Sure," Mara smiled slightly. Angelina and Katie went back inside their compartment.

"Well, we'd better be heading back to our compartment, too," Harry said. "We left Ron asleep in there."

"I'd better go too," Mara said, turning towards her compartment.

"See you later," Hermione said. However, just then the train started again and threw her backwards into Harry. Fred and George fell against the wall. There was also a wall behind Harry, so, when Hermione was thrown into him, they landed against the wall. Mara was thrown off balance and would have surely fallen to the ground, if not for Oliver. His Keeper reflexes allowed him to catch her and basically keep his balance. However, he did have both arms around her waist. Harry also had his arms around Hermione. For a second everyone was in shock. Then, Fred and George burst out laughing. Oliver let go of Mara who quickly stepped away and crossed her arms. Harry reluctantly let go of Hermione.

"I wish Creevey had been here!" Fred said, still chortling.

"That would've been a great picture," George said in agreement. Mara rolled her eyes, Hermione blushed and Oliver and Harry glared.

"You two should really stop," Angelina said, coming back out into the hall.

"We could easily tell them some interesting things about you," Katie added mischievously.

"Well we're going to go back now," Hermione said.

"See you later," Mara said. Harry and Hermione left. Katie turned to Mara.

"Hey, would you mind if Alicia, Angelina and I came and hung out with you for the rest of the ride? We're getting sick of those two blabbing," Katie said.

"Sure," Mara said. "You can tell me all about Hogwarts." They agreed, and everyone went to their respective compartments.

Finally, the train arrived at Hogwarts. Harry looked for Hagrid, who shouldn't have been hard to spot, due to his large size. Unfortunately, he wasn't there.

"First years, please come this way!" Professor McGonagall said, coming into view. She stopped by Harry, Hermione and a now very awake Ron. He had woken up about five minutes before they were to arrive at Hogwarts, and they had told him all about what had happened earlier. He had seemed very confused by the fact that Draco seemed to dislike his cousin more than them.

"Potter, Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you after the feast," McGonagall said.

"Professor, where's Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

"It will all be explained later, Miss Granger," she said simply. Then she walked over to Mara who was talking with Alicia, Katie, and Angelina. She said something and Mara nodded.

"First years, please follow me!" McGonagall yelled. The first years obliged. The horseless carriages pulled up and they all got inside. Harry, Hermione and Ron got in one with Parvati and Lavender.

"Hi Ron!" Lavender said brightly as they sat down.

"Hi, how have you been?" Ron asked.

"Oh, pretty good. What about you?" she asked. "I mean, I haven't seen you since July!"

"Well, I'm good," Ron answered. Then they all talked about the summer and what they had done or where they'd gone. Before they knew it, they were heading into the Great Hall.

Harry looked at the staff table as everyone waited for the first years to come in. He noticed that some on the places were noticeably vacant. Hagrid, Snape and a few of the other teachers were not there. However, Harry did notice a man sitting at the table who looked like he could be Dumbledore's brother. He, like Dumbledore, had a long silver-white beard and long silver-white hair. As the first years came in the ceremony started. Harry watched as people sat down at their respective tables, and, as he did, he saw that a lot of students were missing as well.

Finally, all the new students were sorted.

"Now I have a few start of term announcements. First of all, as I'm sure some of our older students have noticed, certain teachers are missing, as is our caretaker, Mr. Filch. This is, I'm sure you can guess, because of events that occurred last year. Now, this means that some teachers will be shouldering more classes. However, I was able to find someone willing to take up the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This is my close friend, and a very great wizard, Gandalf the White. He came all the way here from the Undying Lands and he is quite exhausted. Many of you have no doubt heard of his part in defeating the Dark Lord Sauron during the war of the Ring, as portrayed in the works of Tolkein. Well, he is now your teacher. Also, some of his friends may be visiting soon. Also, I'm sure that you have seen two new seventh years in our midst. You no doubt recognize them as Mara Astri, the famous actress and singer, who is now seated with the Gryffindors, and Kevin Edwards, the actor, who is sitting with Slytherin. They will be joining us this year." Whispering voices swept through the room. Many people turned to look at Mara, while some were looking at Kevin. "Now, let the feast begin!"

The food, of course, was wonderful. After eating, Harry, Hermione and Ron stood up.

"Dumbledore needs to speak with you," McGonagall said to them as they got ready to leave the Hall.

"What do you think he has to say?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. It's probably about this whole Volde- er I mean you-know-who thing," Harry said. As they neared Dumbledore's office, they passed Mara coming from that way. She hurried on and they approached the Gargoyles guarding Dumbledore's office.

"Chocolate Covered Crayfish," Harry said. The Gargoyle moved out of the way and Harry, Hermione and Ron hurried inside. Fawkes was perched on Dumbledore's chair.

"Good, you're here. Now, please sit down," Dumbledore said kindly. They sat down. "I am sure there are many questions you all have to ask. However, I cannot answer all of them. Please understand," Dumbledore held up hand to stop Harry from interrupting. "I want to tell you some things, but I do not know how to explain them. I will do my best, however."

"Professor, where's Sirius? I've gotten letters from him, but now where is he?" Harry asked.

"He is staying with Remus Lupin, as I asked him to last year. Where Lupin is, I do not know. I can see you have more questions however. Go on, ask," Dumbledore said kindly.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that Sirius had a daughter?" Harry blurted out. No one looked surprised that he'd asked.

"I believe that you'll have to ask Mara to answer that."

"Why is she here, anyway?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I'm not complaining about her being here but why is she?"

"She is having some issues with people close to her. Her father suggested that she should come here. She's actually a British citizen, even though she's lived most of her life in the US. Her mother, if you recall, was a great star in the Theater. That is how Mara got into the business."

"But that doesn't quite explain why she's here, though, really," Hermione said.

"She had to get away," Dumbledore said simply.

"But why did you let Kevin Edwards come here, if Mara was coming? From what Mara said, he's just like Lucius. On the train he even seemed worse than Draco," Harry said pointedly.

"Mara, if I may say so, seemed to handle herself very skillfully against Mr. Edwards," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes but that was when he was on his own. Now he's got allies!" Harry declared.

"Like Malfoy," Ron added.

"I think Draco would give up hair gel rather than help Kev. They hate each other," Hermione said. The others, except Dumbledore, looked at her skeptically. "You saw Draco! He didn't even bother to insult us after he spotted his cousin! And," Hermione added. "I was talking about Flint and those other Slytherin Quidditch guys. Mara seemed more afraid of them than of Kevin."

"I see that Hermione understands something you two gentlemen have yet to see. However, that is for you to figure out on your own. "Now Harry, I believe you have some other questions as well."

"But why didn't Sirius tell me about Mara?" Harry asked. "I wasn't a threat. Plus it seems a lot of people knew anyways."

"You will have to ask Mara. She knows more about this than I do. After all, it concerns things that even Sirius might not be able to explain." Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Professor Dumbledore, where's Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"He's out on an assignment from me, as is Snape and a few of the other teachers. Filch is off on some personal business. That is all I can say. Now, I suggest that all of you go and get some rest. Tomorrow is a new year. You can ask Mara your questions then."

They all left the office. "Come on, maybe Mara's still in the common room," Harry said. They started walking. However, as they passed a deserted classroom they heard raised voices.

TBC…

A/N: Well, that's chapter 3. I hope you like it. I'll be writing more soon. (I hope). After all, the school year's almost over!