Author's Note: My apologies if I get this American stuff wrong. Don't even
ask why I set it in America when I live in Australia.
Chapter 2
Jennifer Lei waited outside the principal's office, observing her surroundings, she had a habit of observing everything in sight. She adjusted her bag so that it didn't cut into her shoulder as much, but as she was moving her bag, something fell out of it. Jennifer looked down and saw a photograph of herself and her best friend staring back up at her. She picked it up and looked at it.
The photograph was taken years ago, when she was still 9 years old. She carried this picture around with her everywhere she went. The girl standing next to her had brown bushy hair and they were laughing so much you could see tears in their eyes. Jennifer remembered that day clearly. They were playing in the park when this picture was taken. But 5 minutes afterwards, her best friend was told that they were moving away for good. They had kept in touch though, writing letters frequently.
All of a sudden, the door beside Jennifer opened and a young lady asked her to come inside.
The young lady looked very fragile and petite. Her black hair was slicked back into a tight little bun and her small glasses sat daintily on the tip of her fairy nose. Her friendly brown eyes had a twinkle in them and her red lips were almost always seen smiling. She signaled Jennifer to sit on the chair opposite her with a tiny gesture of her tiny hand.
Jennifer sat down timidly and the young lady smiled at her, knowing that she was nervous.
"You must be Jennifer?" she asked, looking down at her notes, making sure she had the name right.
"Yes, that's correct" Jennifer replied with a thick Australian accent {Authors Note: Sorry, but since I'm from Australia, I figured the new girl should be from Australia too!!}, looking around the room, taking everything in.
"Welcome to this school Jennifer. My name is Mrs Botany, the Principal and I'm sure you will find that this school is very friendly and you will fit in right away. You've moved from Australia?" Mrs Botany asked.
"Yes, that's correct" Jennifer replied once again.
"Well, I've received all of your reports and letters from your teachers back in Australia and I must say that I am very impressed." Mrs Botany said, while she took out those reports and letters and started to sift through them, as if making sure they were all still there.
"Thankyou Mrs Botany" Jennifer replied politely, smiling. She felt flattered at her comment.
"Well, I shall just give you your timetable then and." Mrs Botany was cut short by a quick rap at the door. "Excuse me Jennifer" Mrs Botany said, smiling at Jennifer. "Come in!" She shouted towards the door.
An old man looking very harassed opened the door and walked in, followed by two boys, one of them Jennifer recognised as the boy from under the oak tree.
"I'm sorry Mrs Botany, but Mr Pratt and Mr Malfoy were disrupting my class again!" the old man exclaimed, obviously extremely tired of these two pranksters. Nobody had noticed that Jennifer was in the room as well.
"Thankyou for reporting that to me Professor Pynn. I will handle this, and you can go back to your classroom." Mrs Botany said kindly.
"Thankyou Greta, and I'm sorry for taking up your time" Professor Pynn said, as he backed out and closed the door.
"Mr Pratt, Mr Malfoy, can you please wait outside until I have finished my appointment and then I would like to have a word with you two." Mrs Botany said slowly and quietly, still smiling.
It was just then that Leon and Draco turned around to see Jennifer sitting in her seat, gazing off into space. Draco's heart jumped a couple of beats and seemed to be frozen to the spot. Leon had to push him from behind for Draco to move out of the room.
"I'm sorry about that Jennifer." Mrs Botany said, getting Jennifer's attention again. "But you know how it is with pranksters like that. Every school gets them." She added with a smile. "Now, here's your timetable and I've organised somebody to take you on a tour around the school. She should be waiting outside this office," Mrs Botany said, taking out a piece of paper with Jennifer's timetable on it and handing it to her. She stood up and Jennifer followed.
"Thankyou Mrs Botany. It was nice meeting you" Jennifer smiled and quickly put her timetable in her bag.
"It was a pleasure meeting you too Jennifer" Mrs Botany replied, extending her hand. Jennifer shook her hand and walked towards the door. Before she opened it, Mrs Botany asked, "Jennifer, can you please ask those two boys to come inside in a couple of minutes? Thankyou dear" and Jennifer left the room.
Outside, she saw the two boys sitting down opposite the office, talking to a pretty young lady with long, dirty blonde, curly hair and tanned skin dotted with freckles. She was wearing a mini skirt, showing off skinny tanned legs and a white singlet top with a blue bikini underneath it.
They were laughing as Jennifer approached them.
"Hi." Jennifer said timidly, not wanting to disrupt anything. "Umm. Mrs Botany would like to see you two in a couple of minutes" She told the two boys quietly.
"You must be Jennifer Lei!" The girl exclaimed with a big smile on her face, her deep-sea blue eyes twinkling. Jennifer nodded; she couldn't help but smile at this friendly face. "I'm Cathryn Pratt" She smiled and extended her hand. Jennifer took it and felt more relaxed.
"You would have met my twin brother I presume" Cathryn said, signaling Leon.
"Sorry, but I haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to these two boys" Jennifer said, smiling.
"I'm Leon Pratt," the boy with dirty blonde hair said, smiling mischievously.
"And I'm Draco Malfoy" the boy with slicked back white blonde hair drawled.
.::.Draco Malfoy, that name seems oddly familiar.::.
Jennifer shrugged off the thought and said; "I think Mrs Botany's expecting you guys in her office around about now"
Cathryn rolled her eyes and said, "What did you guys do now?"
"We're innocent! I swear we are!" Leon exclaimed, trying to look innocent, but didn't really work. Draco just started laughing at Leon's pathetic attempts.
"Yeah, real angels" Cathryn replied.
"Aw c'mon Cath! We're angels! Honestly! The horns are just holding the halo up!" Draco said, pretending to look hurt.
"Sure, sure, whatever! You guys get in that office before I find out what you're really doing!" Cathryn said, and pulled the guys on their feet and pretended to kick them into the office.
After they left, Cathryn turned to Jennifer and they both started walking.
"Sorry you had to see that. I swear, I'm adopted" Cathryn said. Jennifer laughed and replied, "I'm sure they're not so bad!" Cathryn raised an eyebrow and said, "No, they're worse!" and they both started laughing.
"Leon and Draco have been inseparable ever since Draco arrived. It's quite scary sometimes." Cathryn said as soon as they were out of the building.
"You mean Draco's new?" Jennifer asked, looking around her.
"Yeah, he came at the beginning of this year and I was his guide as well. That's how he met my brother. Funny thing is, he never talks about where he's from or what school he went to. He actually never talks about his own family. Big mystery I guess." Cathryn shrugged and started showing Jennifer the different buildings and dorms.
Jennifer couldn't help that nagging feeling coming to the pit of her stomach whenever Draco Malfoy's name was mentioned. She couldn't quite put her finger on where she had heard that name before.
.::.He does have a mystery past. Maybe his father was in some book I read and he's ashamed of it.::.
Jennifer kept thinking about this. But she knew it wasn't the reason why she recognised the name, or the face.
Chapter 2
Jennifer Lei waited outside the principal's office, observing her surroundings, she had a habit of observing everything in sight. She adjusted her bag so that it didn't cut into her shoulder as much, but as she was moving her bag, something fell out of it. Jennifer looked down and saw a photograph of herself and her best friend staring back up at her. She picked it up and looked at it.
The photograph was taken years ago, when she was still 9 years old. She carried this picture around with her everywhere she went. The girl standing next to her had brown bushy hair and they were laughing so much you could see tears in their eyes. Jennifer remembered that day clearly. They were playing in the park when this picture was taken. But 5 minutes afterwards, her best friend was told that they were moving away for good. They had kept in touch though, writing letters frequently.
All of a sudden, the door beside Jennifer opened and a young lady asked her to come inside.
The young lady looked very fragile and petite. Her black hair was slicked back into a tight little bun and her small glasses sat daintily on the tip of her fairy nose. Her friendly brown eyes had a twinkle in them and her red lips were almost always seen smiling. She signaled Jennifer to sit on the chair opposite her with a tiny gesture of her tiny hand.
Jennifer sat down timidly and the young lady smiled at her, knowing that she was nervous.
"You must be Jennifer?" she asked, looking down at her notes, making sure she had the name right.
"Yes, that's correct" Jennifer replied with a thick Australian accent {Authors Note: Sorry, but since I'm from Australia, I figured the new girl should be from Australia too!!}, looking around the room, taking everything in.
"Welcome to this school Jennifer. My name is Mrs Botany, the Principal and I'm sure you will find that this school is very friendly and you will fit in right away. You've moved from Australia?" Mrs Botany asked.
"Yes, that's correct" Jennifer replied once again.
"Well, I've received all of your reports and letters from your teachers back in Australia and I must say that I am very impressed." Mrs Botany said, while she took out those reports and letters and started to sift through them, as if making sure they were all still there.
"Thankyou Mrs Botany" Jennifer replied politely, smiling. She felt flattered at her comment.
"Well, I shall just give you your timetable then and." Mrs Botany was cut short by a quick rap at the door. "Excuse me Jennifer" Mrs Botany said, smiling at Jennifer. "Come in!" She shouted towards the door.
An old man looking very harassed opened the door and walked in, followed by two boys, one of them Jennifer recognised as the boy from under the oak tree.
"I'm sorry Mrs Botany, but Mr Pratt and Mr Malfoy were disrupting my class again!" the old man exclaimed, obviously extremely tired of these two pranksters. Nobody had noticed that Jennifer was in the room as well.
"Thankyou for reporting that to me Professor Pynn. I will handle this, and you can go back to your classroom." Mrs Botany said kindly.
"Thankyou Greta, and I'm sorry for taking up your time" Professor Pynn said, as he backed out and closed the door.
"Mr Pratt, Mr Malfoy, can you please wait outside until I have finished my appointment and then I would like to have a word with you two." Mrs Botany said slowly and quietly, still smiling.
It was just then that Leon and Draco turned around to see Jennifer sitting in her seat, gazing off into space. Draco's heart jumped a couple of beats and seemed to be frozen to the spot. Leon had to push him from behind for Draco to move out of the room.
"I'm sorry about that Jennifer." Mrs Botany said, getting Jennifer's attention again. "But you know how it is with pranksters like that. Every school gets them." She added with a smile. "Now, here's your timetable and I've organised somebody to take you on a tour around the school. She should be waiting outside this office," Mrs Botany said, taking out a piece of paper with Jennifer's timetable on it and handing it to her. She stood up and Jennifer followed.
"Thankyou Mrs Botany. It was nice meeting you" Jennifer smiled and quickly put her timetable in her bag.
"It was a pleasure meeting you too Jennifer" Mrs Botany replied, extending her hand. Jennifer shook her hand and walked towards the door. Before she opened it, Mrs Botany asked, "Jennifer, can you please ask those two boys to come inside in a couple of minutes? Thankyou dear" and Jennifer left the room.
Outside, she saw the two boys sitting down opposite the office, talking to a pretty young lady with long, dirty blonde, curly hair and tanned skin dotted with freckles. She was wearing a mini skirt, showing off skinny tanned legs and a white singlet top with a blue bikini underneath it.
They were laughing as Jennifer approached them.
"Hi." Jennifer said timidly, not wanting to disrupt anything. "Umm. Mrs Botany would like to see you two in a couple of minutes" She told the two boys quietly.
"You must be Jennifer Lei!" The girl exclaimed with a big smile on her face, her deep-sea blue eyes twinkling. Jennifer nodded; she couldn't help but smile at this friendly face. "I'm Cathryn Pratt" She smiled and extended her hand. Jennifer took it and felt more relaxed.
"You would have met my twin brother I presume" Cathryn said, signaling Leon.
"Sorry, but I haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to these two boys" Jennifer said, smiling.
"I'm Leon Pratt," the boy with dirty blonde hair said, smiling mischievously.
"And I'm Draco Malfoy" the boy with slicked back white blonde hair drawled.
.::.Draco Malfoy, that name seems oddly familiar.::.
Jennifer shrugged off the thought and said; "I think Mrs Botany's expecting you guys in her office around about now"
Cathryn rolled her eyes and said, "What did you guys do now?"
"We're innocent! I swear we are!" Leon exclaimed, trying to look innocent, but didn't really work. Draco just started laughing at Leon's pathetic attempts.
"Yeah, real angels" Cathryn replied.
"Aw c'mon Cath! We're angels! Honestly! The horns are just holding the halo up!" Draco said, pretending to look hurt.
"Sure, sure, whatever! You guys get in that office before I find out what you're really doing!" Cathryn said, and pulled the guys on their feet and pretended to kick them into the office.
After they left, Cathryn turned to Jennifer and they both started walking.
"Sorry you had to see that. I swear, I'm adopted" Cathryn said. Jennifer laughed and replied, "I'm sure they're not so bad!" Cathryn raised an eyebrow and said, "No, they're worse!" and they both started laughing.
"Leon and Draco have been inseparable ever since Draco arrived. It's quite scary sometimes." Cathryn said as soon as they were out of the building.
"You mean Draco's new?" Jennifer asked, looking around her.
"Yeah, he came at the beginning of this year and I was his guide as well. That's how he met my brother. Funny thing is, he never talks about where he's from or what school he went to. He actually never talks about his own family. Big mystery I guess." Cathryn shrugged and started showing Jennifer the different buildings and dorms.
Jennifer couldn't help that nagging feeling coming to the pit of her stomach whenever Draco Malfoy's name was mentioned. She couldn't quite put her finger on where she had heard that name before.
.::.He does have a mystery past. Maybe his father was in some book I read and he's ashamed of it.::.
Jennifer kept thinking about this. But she knew it wasn't the reason why she recognised the name, or the face.
