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Thanks so much! Enjoy!

~luv

Gemini Enchantress

Disclaimer: I don't own harry potter I don't own ANYTHING so stop rubbing it in… ;)

Chapter 4

            Tara paced silently. Her palms were sweaty, and her head was spinning with all the horrible possibilities this year would bring. She knew for certain. Tara made a noise of disgust at her fate. She would be sorted into Slytherin and would end up sharing most, if not all her classes with Draco, her doting servant whom she ended up serving. She could see the hall, filled with students, all waiting. The first years had been sorted, and now Dumbledore stood. The hall quieted. This was it; Tara's breathing was becoming ragged. Deep down Tara hadn't accepted her role, as Draco called it, of the "Slytherin Princess". Her sorting, she felt, would seal her fate and prevent her from having any of the friends she yearned for.

"And I present to you now," said Dumbledore in a voice that easily carried throughout the commodious hall, "Tara Richmond, our exchange student from a small school in America."

            Harry watched as Dumbledore gestured for Tara to enter, but no one came. Then, thanks to a small push from Snape, Tara stepped out.  The whole hall watched her. Harry could see the fear in her eyes, but to everyone else, she seemed calm and cool.

"Thank you Headmaster," she whispered quietly.  She took her seat upon the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat atop her head. They waited. The hat seemed to take a long time in deciding.  Finally, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR" and the table exploded -- Harry clapping hardest of all, and through the tumult Malfoy had cried "WHAT!" but no one had heard. Yet, Tara seemed oblivious to all of this. She turned to Dumbledore her looking confused. The clapping had died away by now, leaving in its place an unpleasant silence.  Snape strode to Dumbledore's side whispering frantically in his ear.

"What do you recon's up?" asked Ron who, like the entire hall, was staring at Tara, who was still standing before the staff.  Dumbledore nodded, but then shook his head. Snape looked livid when Dumbledore gestured her to sit down. She made her way less proudly, her fear seeping through her, down the line of tables between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Whispers began to rise up, and a sort of buzzing filled the room. Tara walked, searching for a friendly face, anyone who would let her sit next to them.

"Ugh," she heard from her left, "an American. Next they'll have vampires enrolling," said a girl from the Ravenclaw table with long black hair and almond eyes.

"Tara," Harry shouted, surprising everyone, "Come sit over here with us." Relief was etched all over her face. She sat down next to Harry, too thankful to be out of the spotlight to notice Ron and Hermione's looks of disbelief. Nor did she notice the lovely shade of tomato-red Draco Malfoy was turning across the room.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley."

"Hi", smiled Tara. 

"Thanks, Harry", Tara said her voice low.

"For what," he asked turning to her, his mouth full of food. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I dunno", she murmured. Harry glanced over at her.

"Aren't you hungry", asked Harry.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm just—surprised," she responded, glancing nervously over at the Slytherin Table.

"Why," asked Hermione.

"Oh, I just wasn't expecting to be a Gryffindor, not that I'm complaining, it's a lot better then Slytherin.  I wouldn't have been able to take an entire year of Draco none-stop," she said, beginning to sound like her old self.

"Why do you hang around with Malfoy if you dislike him," asked Hermione. Tara blushed.

"I'm living with the Malfoys. My father's sick, I guess you could say. The Malfoys are a good friend of his."

"But you don't like them?" Ron raised his eyebrows while asking the question. Tara shifted uneasily; this was a subject she didn't really want to get into, but it seemed she had no choice.

"I didn't grow up with my father. I was adopted and lived in America. This place is all new to me; it's complicated. I just hope this year isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"What's that supposed to mean", asked Ron, looking hurt. Tara laughed, smiling for the first time in a long time.

"It won't be, trust me. It's already better than I ever thought," she said as the four made their way to the common room. She smiled brightly at Harry, who returned the grin willingly. 

            In the throng of students, a certain blonde Slytherin crept up behind Tara. He grabbed hold of her, pulling her close, whispering frantically into her ear.

"Draco, the hat doesn't make mistakes. I'm going to bed now, Good night." She shook him off, walking as fast as she could, disappearing into the crowd. Tara continued to climb the stairs, the crowd around her thinning. Looking up, she suddenly realized she didn't know where the Gryffindor common room was. "Oh shit," she muttered.

"Lost", asked a voice, coming form behind. She spun around afraid that Draco might have followed her, but it was only Harry. 

Smirking she said, "Of course not, I just don't know where I'm going." 

"C'mon common room's this way", Harry said, nodding up the stairs.  Tara followed silently, as she seemed lost in her own world of thoughts. 

"Tara", Harry asked tentatively.

"Yes?"

"Tell me a little about yourself." 

Tara hesitated, before continuing, and carefully avoiding Harry's gaze. "What do you want to know?"

"Well I'd like it if we were friends, so I don't know, just anything." Harry was amazed at himself for being so honest with her. He barely knew her, and yet…

"Okay, lets see. I was born in London, but my mom died shortly after I was born. Since my father couldn't take care of me, I was adopted by a nice family in America, and so that's where I grew up. I had loads of friends," she said nostalgically.

"Just friends?" As soon as he asked, Harry kicked himself mentally. It was too personal of a question. She laughed at the expression on his face.

"There was one boy I dated. He was a few years older than I was. We were a thing for a couple of years."

"Years?" interjected Harry and Tara nodded.

"He was, special. But it ended when I moved here. I wanted him to be free to meet other people," she said a slight gleam in her eye as she looked at Harry, "in case I did." Harry blushed, but Tara chose to ignore it. They had reached portrait of the fat lady.

"Pig snout," Harry said, the portrait swinging open. Tara stepped inside, taking in the sight of her new home.  The common room was still full of students, mostly in their own year.

"Hiya Harry", Dean shouted from across the room.

"Hi Dean," said Harry striding over to him, leaving Tara where she was, hovering awkwardly over the scene.  Lavender waved at her, and motioned for Tara to join her little group. She smiled and sat down on the couch.  Harry looked up remembering suddenly that he had left Tara standing by the door. But she was sitting with Lavender nodding her head looking a bit uneasy. Curious, Harry strode over.

"Hi," said Harry.

"Hey Harry," said Tara smiling looking relieved.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"Tara was just telling us," giggled Pavarti, "about her old boyfriend. Now tell us, was he a good at…you know." She winked. Tara stared blankly at her.

"I'm going to assume you meant kissing", she glared at Pavarti. "And the answer isn't any of your business. I don't kiss and tell," she said rather hotly.  Taken aback, the girls just stared. Tara crossed the room, Harry following, and plopped down in a chair across from Ron. Her face was flushed.

"Something wrong", he asked. Shaking her head, she retrieved a leather- bound book from her bag. Tapping the tie with her wand twice, the book opened. Pulling out a quill, she buried herself in the book the feather moving furiously.

~*~*~*~

            Harry woke up to find his dormitory empty.  He rushed into his clothes dashing down to the common room.  He saw Tara standing with Hermione, laughing. His stomach fluttered a bit at the sight. He suddenly realized that he looked a mess; his hair was tousled, and his clothes rumpled.

"Hiya Harry. Jeez, bad night? You look like you just rolled out of bed."

"Nah, I'm fine. Just weird dreams." At the mention of dreams, Harry noticed all three of them stiffen a bit. They walked through the corridors, heading to the Great Hall. Tara was unusually quiet.

"Something up, Tara", asked Hermione; she seemed to have warmed up to the girl. 

"Uh, yeah, I have to go meet with Professor Dumbledore. You know, get my schedule, and learn the rules. Um, I'll see you in class ok?"  Before any of them could answer, Tara took off in the direction of the headmaster's office. 

            As Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, Ginny looked up from the newspaper and asked coolly, "Where's your knew friend?"  Harry glanced over at her, wondering about her attitude.

"Tara is meeting with Professor Dumbledore. And what's up with you?" Ginny looked up, her cheeks turning pink.

"It's just that, I heard that... never mind," Ginny took to her breakfast, carefully avoiding the others' gazes.  Harry looked at her. What did she mean?  Tara appeared in the hall, looking a little upset. Spying Hermione, she smiled, but before she could make her way over, her attention was drawn to the Slytherin table. She simply turned on her heel and left.  Draco stood, followed her, a frown worrying his features.  Harry, seeing all of this wondered silently what could be going on in that girl's head.

~*~*~*~

            He walked down the empty corridor, grumbling about Peeves.  Harry was lost in his mumbling when he caught muffled voices in the air, coming from a side corridor. Curious, Harry peered around the corner and to his surprise, he found Tara, looking irritably at none other than Draco Malfoy.

~Earlier~

           Tara nearly ran from the Great Hall. Lately, all she felt like she was doing was running. Running from whoever was chasing her.  A smooth, strong hand grabbed her pulling her into a side corridor.  The eyes that met her were haughty gray ones.  Fear shot through Tara like a knife, but her façade was firmly in place.

"Tara, I think we should talk", Draco began.

"Really? I don't think so," she said, a smirk similar to his own crossing her face as she tried to sidestep the boy but to no avail. His eyes hardened, blocking her path with his arm.

"Why do you have to be like that", he said, leaning on his hand that was against the wall, blocking Tara's way out.  His eyes were bright with mischief. The look scared her. She suppressed a tremble as Draco leaned in, his hot breath brushing Tara's skin.

"Draco, get away. My father won't be happy if you, if you—"

"If I what", he said twiddling a strand of her hair between two of his fingers. Tara pushed him back.

"If you piss me off!" she replied angrily, storming away. 

~Present~

Draco had finally caught her alone, in one of the few moments when the Dream Team didn't surround her. Harry watched the two argue back and forth, making sure to keep their voices low.  Ducking quickly out of site, he watched as Tara walked off, looking completely unruffled. But something must have been bothering her as she was rubbing her arm that hung limply at her side. 

            A few minutes later, Harry met up with Hermione, Ron, and Tara, who was smiling falsely. The group was walking, Tara beside Harry, their shoulders bumping every now and then. She seemed not to notice, but another girl did.

I apologize for the long wait, please review it means a lot to me.

~luv

Gem