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All characters belong to J.K, but Hope belongs to me and Brianna belongs to my friend Ashley (ashley09, who by the way has a fanfic too! Feel free to check it out!)

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Choices Already Made

The next day Hope had her first class, potions, and she had already managed to find a way to be late. Along with Draco, because he was the one helping her find her way around. He had told her that being late wasn't a big deal because the Professor preferred Slytherins, and he was also the Head of Slytherin. Knowing this made her feel slightly better.

Once they had reached the door Hope followed Draco in and the whole class turned to see who had entered. She felt everyone's eyes on her, but didn't care too much about it. The Professor cleared his throat.

"Mr. Malfoy and...uh...Miss. Evans I believe?" As he said her name he smiled, she automatically hated this man, and didn't understand why.

She held back her feeling of instant hate and nodded, "Yes sir..Evans.."

"Very well, Miss. Evans. I'm Professor Snape.."

"I know who you are." Her words sounded as if she had intended to be smart with the teacher. She realized how they came out and hoped she had annoyed him in at least the slightest way.

He gave Hope an odd look before speaking, "Do you two have any particular reason for being late?"

Draco finally spoke, "Sir, We were.. well--"He searched for the right words, but Hope interrupted.

"I became interested in different areas of the castle and that caused us to be late, none of it was Draco's fault.." She looked at him as if she was truly sorry.

Draco gave her a glance as if to thank her, and Professor Snape spoke, "I will excuse it, but only because your new Miss. Evans. Please try to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Hope nodded, "Yes sir, I promise I'll try."

Draco walked over to his seat and Hope followed, taking an empty seat next to him. Feeling someone's gaze upon her he glanced across the room and saw Harry looking at her. He smiled then looked away. Hope rolled her eyes then looked at the Professor.

"Today we will be making Wit Sharping Potion, the directions are as follows on the board... ingredients include ground scarab beetle, cut up ginger root, and armadillo bile... you will find the items you need in the cabinet by my desk." Professor Snape gestured towards the cabinet. Then walked over towards his desk, sat down, and began to write a letter. He saw a few students weren't working, and instead they were watching him, "Get to work!" He demanded.

Hope glared at him, still not liking him but looked up at the board. She sighed as she got up to get the ingredients. Many other students were doing the same. She got the ginger root and scarab beetles.

When she returned to her desk she began cutting up the ginger root, at the same moment Professor Snape walked past her in a hurry.

"Keep working, I have a few things to attend to. " With this he walked out of the door, and Hope looked around the room noticing that now everyone was speaking, and she saw Draco stand up.

"Draco? . . What are you doing?" She asked questionly, standing up as well.

He looked back at her, "You'll see" He smirked, and she grabbed his arm before he could do what he was planning.

"Draco, don't.. Look, I understand your mad bu--"

"But he isn't worth my time?.. "He spoke finishing her sentence. She had told him this over and over again as the summer past. He had been saying that this year he would make Harry pay for what he did. Not only did Draco say he would make Harry's year unforgettable, but he also said that Hope was going to help him.

Hope rolled her eyes, and Draco spoke again, "So you've said before.. and even though you may be right.." His eyes narrowed on Harry, and he lowered his voice, "I told you Hope.. We are going to make him pay.. "

Hope sighed, frustrated, " And I told you.. I want nothing to do with it."

His head quickly jerked over towards Hope, "You don't really have much of a choice now do you?" He spoke in a tone that brought her back to reality to face the fact that was true:

She Had No Choice.

She remained silent for a while, then spoke, 'Fine.. but not now.. leave him be.. just for now." She spoke in a slow, persuasive tone.

"Fine, for now" He sat back down and almost as if the timing were planned, Professor Snape returned.

"You only have ten minutes left, just put the finishing touches on your potions and I will walk around to see if you should receive credit for today." He glanced around, the room as if looking for someone to fail.

Hope put her ingredients in then mixed it together, finishing just as Professor Snape came.

"Not exactly the right color.. but very close.. I will give you credit for today.. but next time pay closer attention to the order you put them in." His tone wasn't at all rude.

After he had spoken with Hope he moved onto Draco whose potion was, of course, perfect. He continued like this around the room until it was time to leave and go to the Great Hall for lunch.

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Hope wondered down the halls next to Draco, listening to him complain about random things. When they entered the Great Hall they sat around they same around that they had yesterday during the sorting ceremony. Across from her was a girl. With the girl's long straight strawberry-blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin compared to Hope's wavy brown hair that came to the middle of her upper back, brown eyes, and pale skin, they were different in appearance.

The girl spoke, pulling back her hair, "Hey, I'm Brianna Jones" Her tone was cheerful and welcoming

Hope smiled, "I'm Hope Evans, nice to meet you.."

Brianna nodded, "So how do you like Hogwarts so far?"

She thought for a moment before answering, "Its pretty nice so far.."

"Oh, then I suppose you haven't met any Gryffindors? Or famous Potter over there?.." Brianna rolled her eyes as she spoke of Harry.

Hope gave a weak smile,"Uhh..umm..well, I have but...." She didn't finish her sentence, but Brianna didn't seem to care much, she just shrugged it off.

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About a month passed and Hope knew more people, outside of Slytherin and in. Some Slytherins were disgusted that she associated with other worthless people, but Draco stood up for her every now and then.

Truth be told, she was only friendly to them because she needed people to trust her. To feel like they could tell her anything. And she had almost earned the trust of the one person she needed to know:

Harry Potter.

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