Arrows

Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I do own the plot, and a handful of characters.

Chapter One: First Shot

"So, how was your holidays?" Hermione Granger asked, receiving glares from her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. It was a simple inquiry, yet it seemed their holidays were not worth being spoken of. Hermione had tried to reason with them earlier that it could not possibly be that bad, as Harry had stayed at the Weasleys' once again, since the Dursleys' had reached new levels of purple-faced intensity, but they refused to speak of it. The trio sat in a relatively deserted compartment on the famed Hogwarts Express, gearing up for their sixth year at Hogwarts. Once again, Hermione tried to initiate conversation.

"My holidays, I hear you say? Well, they were fantastic; I finally got to go to Egypt." She turned to Ron. "And I visited that tomb you told me about, Ronald. It was brilliant. Horrible looking things in there, though, looked like they had been buried there for years." Hermione cast her gaze over at Harry and Ron, who were sitting side by side across from him, and noted a small smile from each of them.

Finally, Ron spoke up. "That's the one we tried to shut Percy in. But it echoed too much, Mum heard him straight away."

Hermione grinned at him. She turned to Harry. "Anything to say on the subject?"

For a moment, Hermione thought Harry was ignoring her completely, but as it turned out he had heard what she'd said. "You didn't claim her, Ron," he said suddenly.

"I pointed at her!" said Ron, indignantly. "I looked at her arse. I commented on her boobs!"

Hermione began to squirm uncomfortably in her seat. "I hope you two aren't talking about me."

"Serena," said Harry, his eyes misting over. "She was of age, too, goes to Durmstrang."

Hermione's face looked like a mixture between disapproval and amusement. "Durmstrang, you say? And what does this Serena have to do with you and Ron?" Ron banged his fist several times on the seat, and looked as though he was teetering on the edge of saying something. Harry cast a very severe look at Ron. Suddenly, Hermione understood. "Oh," she said, her eyes suddenly becoming very round.

"He snogged her, he did!" said Ron, angrily. "In front of everyone. In front of Ginny even."

"I didn't know they were looking," Harry responded. "I didn't really care for an audience."

"I'd claimed her, Harry," Ron continued. "She was mine!"

"She didn't fancy you. What was I supposed to do if she didn't fancy you?" Harry inquired.

Hermione felt as if she was watching a very intense tennis match. From Harry to Ron, from Ron to Harry… She cleared her throat, suddenly. "When did this happen?"

"Last Saturday," said Ron, bitterly.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Ron!" said Hermione, raising her eyes skyward. "Get over it!" Harry had a very smug look on his face, indeed, and Hermione rounded on him. "And you! You with your little… look on your face! You shouldn't have snogged the girl, if you didn't have permission from Ron first. It's a little obvious you both liked her, and I'm sure you wouldn't like the same done to you."

The two boys sat there quite still, as if being scolded by a very strict teacher. In fact, Hermione was becoming increasingly reminiscent of Professor McGonagall, but they daren't say it to her.

Suddenly, Hermione brightened. "Now, who cares for some Bertie Botts? I'm feeling rather peckish…" And then she stood up, without waiting for a reply and left the compartment in search of the trolley lady, a handful of gold rattling in her pristine Hogwarts school robes.

Harry cast a quick look in Ron's direction, and muttered, "Sorry."

Ron sighed. "Yeah, mate, me too. 'Bout time I get over it, anyhow."

Harry gave Ron an awkward pat on the shoulder. Ron nodded in his direction, and went to sit in Hermione's seat. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Just a bit," Harry replied, patting his stomach. "Can you place an order? Hermione couldn't have gotten that far."

"Yeah, all right," Ron sighed again. "Be back in a few."

Ron left the compartment and Harry felt quite alone in a matter of minutes. He moved around in his seat, and was sitting cross-legged beating the edge of his seat with his hands in a rhythmic pattern, when the compartment door opened and a tall, blonde girl wandered in looking quite lost, but cheerful all the same. She wasn't wearing robes, but Muggle clothing. Several of the boys in the compartment turned to stare at the girl, who cleared her throat rather loudly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, giving each of them a hard stare.

Harry turned to stare out of the window, when he saw the blonde girl approaching him out of the corner of his eye. He turned back around and gave her a weak smile. "Oh, hello. Having a seat, are you? It's most fun, you know." He mentally slapped himself. Oh, yes, Harry, he thought, sitting is a very joyous occasion. I wish I had a good sit for Christmas.

The girl returned the smile and spoke in a very proper way. "Hello. D'you mind? Is there anyone else sitting here?"

"Er… yeah, just a few friends," Harry replied.

She moved to sit across from him and Harry spoke up, surprising himself. "They were sitting over there, so you should… you know." He patted the seat beside him, indicating for her to sit down.

The girl laughed and held out a hand. Harry took it and shook it as she introduced herself. "I'm Juliette. I just transferred." She sat down.

"From where?" Harry asked.

Juliette uttered a nervous laugh. "Home? My parents are quite powerful; they can magick anything. I've been taught for as long as I can remember."

"Cool," Harry nodded. "So, do you know stuff?"

"Charms, you mean? Sure, I've pretty much got all of Miranda Goshawk's books memorised." She laughed again. "That doesn't make me sound too good, does it?"

"Oh, Hermione will love you," said Harry, reassuringly.

"Hermione?" Juliette raised an eyebrow.

"I'm here," said a voice. Both Harry and Juliette looked up to see Hermione at the entrance of their compartment with a bundle of food in her arms. She looked behind her and said in a very exasperated voice, "Oh, come on, Ron! It's not that heavy!"

Hermione walked into the compartment and deposited the bundle of food onto the two empty seats. She didn't even seem to notice Juliette, or the fact that she and Harry were sitting rather close, though neither of them seemed to notice that either. "Ron!" she said again.

Ron stumbled into the compartment with a jug of pumpkin juice in one hand and a mountain of sweets resting unsteadily on his arm. Harry looked at him in interest and Ron mumbled over a packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, "Payed extra."

Juliette laughed and looked at both of them as they sat down, with the food splayed around them. Ron shrugged. "Help yourself."

The four of them tucked in, and Hermione looked at Juliette in surprise, as if just noticing she was there. "Who are you?"

"Oh," Juliette began, swallowing a Bertie Botts Bean. "Blech! Horseradish. I'm Juliette. I'm new."

Hermione scoffed. "Obviously. Where did you come from?"

Juliette obviously looked quite uncomfortable with Hermione's rudeness. She looked at her feet, before looking back up at Hermione and offering her a pathetic smile. "You know, around."

"Hmm," said Hermione, absently. "I'm Hermione Granger."

Ron spoke up after clearing his throat several times as he had deepened his voice considerably. "I'm Ron Weasley."

Juliette gave him a brilliant smile. "Oh, are you? I know your dad! He works at the Ministry, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," said Ron, still talking in a very funny way. "Loves Muggles, he does."

Juliette laughed. "Right, right. He works for my dad." Then she looked as if she had said something she shouldn't have. "Shit. Forget that – that last part. I'm on my crazy pills, 'cause I'm crazy."

"My dad works for your dad?" said Ron, ignoring what she had just said. "But… oh, you're Fudge's daughter, aren't you?"

"No!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"Fine, yes, I am. But you can't tell anyone." Juliette started to look very anxious now. She began chewing on her fingernails, or what was left of them anyway.

Harry finally spoke up. "Why not?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, isn't it obvious? Fudge isn't exactly the most popular person in the world, now, is he?"

"There's a rumor going around that he's gonna get fired as Minister," said Ron very quietly. "And that Lucius Malfoy's going to take the top job."

Hermione and Harry both shuddered, but Juliette didn't seem too bothered by it. She was looking at Ron, curiously. "What happened to your voice? It's gone all high-pitched and girly."

Ron cleared his throat several times and spoke in the same deep manly way, "Nothing. Nothing has happened to my voice."

"Oh, Ron!" said Hermione, exasperated. "Now is not the time to be hitting on her. She's distressed, can't you see?"

Juliette began to look wildly around the compartment, before her eyes settled on Harry's forehead. Her green eyes widened. "Scar… oh my God…"

Suddenly the compartment door opened yet again and Draco Malfoy stepped in, with Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind him. "Well, well, well," he said, "isn't it the geek patrol? Have you seen an uglier sight?"

"Why you," Ron began, but Hermione grabbed his robes tightly in her hands, looking rather bored, as if she was getting tired from their normal exchange. Draco, however, didn't seem to notice. He had spotted something else. His face softened instantly and he spoke in a very kind and quiet voice, the trio had never heard before, "Juliette…"

Juliette's eyes moved from Harry's scar to the blond boy standing quite near the compartment door, obviously wondering whether to run or move closer towards Juliette. She smiled at him and he began blushing profusely, not daring to make contact. "Hello, Draco."

"H – hello," he said. "You at Hogwarts now?"

"Yeah," Juliette replied, a dazed look on her face.

"Me too," Draco continued.

Ron snorted, and muttered something incomprehensible. Hermione, however, must have understood, because the pair of them was now chortling silently. Harry didn't laugh or say anything. He sat quite still, though the rather intense look on his face showed he was listening and wasn't very fond of what he was hearing.

Juliette was nodding. She met Draco's gaze again. "Yeah," she said again.

"Well…" Draco turned around halfway before giving Juliette a pathetic wave. "Bye." He then left the compartment without another word, Crabbe and Goyle followed, not looking at all perturbed.

Ron stopped laughing. He looked at Juliette very seriously, then he said, "What the fuck was that about?"

Juliette merely smiled. "I'm not saying a word."

Authors Note: Chapter One out! Please, please, please review! I will love you forever! And I'll get Chapter Two out faster! Sincerely—

Jordan