Chapter 1: Strange New Friends

Aleah sat by herself on the Hogwarts Express, staring out the window at the deep blue sky of the Scottish countryside, high white mares' tails whisking past in the sunny blue atmosphere. She brushed her chocolate-brown hair out of her storm-cloud-blue eyes and sighed. This was her first and only year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Next year, she would leave Europe and return to the Salem Institute of Magic in Massachusetts.
A girl with bushy, mouse-brown hair skipped into the compartment. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said. "I'm the Gryffindor prefect. Anyways, we're almost at Hogsmeade, so you'd better change into your robes. See you later!" With that, she skipped back out again, bushy hair flying out behind her.
Aleah carefully opened her trunk and pulled out her robes, the Hogwarts' seal sewn under Salem's, indicating that she was an exchange student. She tugged the black robes over her black and red rose patterned silk shirt and faded denim skirt, smoothing her hair back into place.
The train chugged to a stop at Hogsmeade Station, and there was a period of general chaos as the students gathered around the doors.
Aleah slid the door of her compartment open and joined the crowd of students filing off the train. The crowd surged forward, and Aleah found herself pressed shoulder to shoulder with a teenage boy, whose unruly black hair fell into his brilliant green eyes…she gasped. "Hey! Aren't you Harry Potter?" she asked.
Harry looked up at the sound of his name. "Yeah," he said slowly, "I am. Who are you?"
Aleah smiled. "I'm Aleah Ingram. I'm the exchange student from Salem. It's so cool to finally meet you in person." She extended a hand, and Harry shook it, grateful that at least this person wasn't staring at him as if he was dangerous.
Further up in the line, several people heard Draco Malfoy's loud exclamation of "What are those?"
Harry craned his neck to see him pointing at one of the thestrals in disgust. "I wonder who he saw get killed," Harry murmured to Aleah. "These horse-lizards pull the carriages, and you can only see them if you've seen someone die. I was able to see them since last year…"
Aleah looked calmly at him. "I know," she said simply. "I can see them for myself."
Harry frowned. "Oh," he said apologetically, "I'm sorry." He paused for a moment, working up his nerve. "Sorry if this is a bit rude, but-"
The girl cut him off. "-who did I see die?" she finished quietly. "It was my grandma. She was old, that's all. I was only four when she died. The only thing I remember about her is that she would always read to me whenever I visited her house." She climbed gracefully into the carriage and held out a hand to help a nervous-looking third-year inside.
As the carriages rumbled and bounced up the road to the castle, Harry realized with a sinking heart that he now had to share a carriage with Draco Malfoy. He shot a glance at the pale, blonde boy sitting across from him. Surprisingly, he received no response whatsoever- not even a twitch.
Draco sat in stony silence, lost deep in his own thoughts. He no longer cared that Harry was staring at him, nor did he offer any comment. Instead, he thought of his father, how he had always been pushed to be perfect, how the only praise he ever received from his father was a grim nod and a "Well done. Try not to disappoint me". Realizing where those thoughts were leading him, Draco sharply berated himself. Stop it, you jerk, he admonished. Your father died because he wouldn't kill you, and this is how you honour his memory?
Harry noticed the look of consternation and sorrow that flitted across the Slytherin's face. Summoning every last nerve- and most likely, every last ounce of stupidity- he possessed, he leaned across the dark interior of the carriage. "Malfoy," he asked tentatively, and more than a bit apprehensively. "Are you all right?"
The response was immediate and explosive. Draco's head snapped up as if he had been slapped. "I'm fine, Potter," he snarled. "Mind your own business."
The carriages rattled to a stop, and Harry practically threw himself out of the door in his haste to escape the wrath of the young man behind him.
Harry rejoined Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall, and quickly introduced them to Aleah, who had silently followed him inside, looking around with wide eyes.
As usual, Professor McGonagall led the first years up to the Sorting Hat. She caught Harry's eye and winked.
Harry smiled. He was home. This was where he belonged, not Number Four Privet Drive, trapped with his horrible Muggle relatives for his own safety.
Oddly enough, the Sorting Hat's song was almost the same as the year before. It again warned that if the Houses did not unite from within, they would be destroyed from without.
Harry only half-listened to Dumbledore's traditional speech to the first-years about the Dark Forest and the rules set up by Mr. Filch. Then, he did a double-take, staring in confusion at the Head table; one seat was empty. Harry snapped out of his hunger-induced stupor. Dumbledore was speaking: "As you may notice, we seem to be missing a teacher. You new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will arrive over the weekend; at the moment, he is making arrangements with the Ministry for this job." Harry looked up sharply as Dumbledore clapped twice, and the food appeared. With a moan of satisfaction,he pulled the fries toward him and dug in.
Aleah looked around, startled, then grabbed a plate of sandwiches and a jug of pumpkin juice.
Ron glowered as Draco Malfoy sauntered up to the Gryffindor table, dressed totally in black. He turned in his seat and said, "Oi, Malfoy! Before you go on about Harry's family or have a go at my mum, let me ask you something. Has your father been let out of Azkaban yet? Or didn't you hear that that filth tried to kill me and Harry last year?"
Draco gave a low growl and grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, hauling him to his feet and whipping out his own wand. Tears filled his eyes. "Don't. You. Ever. Call. My. Father. Filth," he ground out between gritted teeth, the tip of his wand touching Ron's nose.
"Mister Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said quietly as she marched down form the Head table. "Let go of Mister Weasely's robes, if you please." Raging and fuming, she turned on Ron. "As for you, Mister Weasley, I am appalled at your total lack of control. I certainly had expected more from a Gryffindor. Therefore, I am deducting ten points. Now, I suggest that the both of you get back to your own Houses." As she returned to the Head table, she gave Draco a look of concerned pity and murmured, "Poor boy. His mother knows this is the only safe place now, but it's only been a day…"
Draco slunk back to the Slytherin table, looking forlorn and lost.
Hermione leaned over her plate of turkey, frowning. "Honestly, Ron, sometimes you can be such a thick, insensitive git!" She received a blank look from Harry, and a blank, indignant, and slightly hurt look from Ron. "Didn't either of you read the paper yesterday?" When both boys shook their heads, Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled a day-old Daily Prophet from her bag. She shoved it under Ron's nose, pointing to a large heading:

SCHOOL GOVERNOR FOUND DEAD

Ron's jaw dropped, and Hermione pointed to another headliner:

FORMER DEATH EATER DISCOVERED MURDERED

A colour-picture showed Ministry officials scrutinizing a room, a bloodied body sprawled on the floor. Ron instantly recognized the corpse's face: pointed and pale, with grey eyes that held, Ron saw as he looked closer, a look of mingled regret, fear, resignation, and anger. "That's Mr. Malfoy!" he whispered, shocked.
Hermione shushed him and pointed to the largest headline of all, right in the middle of the page:

BRUTAL KILLING SHOCKS FAMILY, VICTIM FOUND DEAD IN SON'S ROOM

Harry could have sworn he heard Ron's jaw hit the floor. He began to read:

Lucius Malfoy, 41, was discovered brutally murdered on the morning of August 30 by his son Draco. Draco said he heard the sounds of breaking glass, screams, and laughing. He mentioned that he heard or saw very little, as he had earlier taken a Sleeping Potion for some troubling dreams. He stated that, "the next morning, I woke up, and my father was lying on the floor near my bed…there was blood everywhere. I yelled for my mother; she came in and started crying. I guess the sounds I heard last night weren't dreams, they were real…" Further tests by the Ministry have revealed the floor, walls, ceiling, and door of the bedroom to have recently been affected by a Silencing Spell, accounting for why other members of the household had no knowledge of the attack until the next morning. Narcissa Malfoy told our Daily Prophet reporter that while the whole family is extremely upset by this tragic event, Draco and his cousin Katherine will be returning to Hogwarts on September 1. "Much though I disagree with Dumbledore and his policies, I admit that the children will be far safer at school than if they were to remain at home. Anyone who would try to harm them would have to go through the enchantments around the castle and deal with all of the teachers before reaching the students." Lucius Malfoy was released from Azkaban last month, having proven to have been under the effects of the Imperius Curse at the time of his arrest in June.

Ron turned very red in the face as he finished reading, his cheeks now matching the flaming red colour of his hair. "Oops," he muttered, mentally kicking himself. "It's like Mum always told me- I'm too much like Bill; always opening my mouth at the wrong time." Hearing a small noise from behind him, he turned. A slender girl, whose long, curly, silvery-blonde hair was tied up in a black ribbon, stood behind him. She was wearing a black linen blouse and black pants under her robes, and her grey eyes and narrow, aristocratic face wore a very miffed and put-out expression. Ron groaned. "Who are you?" he asked, still very embarrassed, but guessing who she was as soon as the question had passed his lips.
"I'm Draco's cousin," she said coolly, bracing a slender hand on her hip and glaring. "Next time, try thinking about what he had to put up with before you go and insult him. How would you like it if you had a horrible nightmare about your own father being murdered, then woke up to find it was all real?"
"Oh, and I suppose that you're going to say something about one of us next, are you? Go ahead; what's it going to be- calling Hermione a Mudblood? Telling Harry how rotten his family was? Having a go at my mum and dad? Just to let you know, your dear cousin wore all those out just in our first week here, so please, come up with something we haven't heard before." Ron's temper flared as he recalled all the nasty, spiteful things Draco had said over the past five years.
"Just because I'm in Slytherin, does that instantly mean that I'm going to say something awful about one of you? You have no idea," she continued softly, "how hard it is to be in our House; the responsibilities, the family name, the traditions, knowing that the Dark Lord could have your closest friends or family kill you at a whim. Try living a day in Draco's life, then you can talk to me about unfair." She spun on her heel and walked back to the Slytherin table with a sniff of disdain.
Ron went beet red and sank down off the bench, so that only the tips of his hair showed above the table. Harry could hear him mumbling, "I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot…Stupid big mouth…" over and over.
Hermione glared at her dinner as Ron pulled himself back into his seat. "Nice going, Ronald," she growled, "nice going. Real smooth."
Ron flushed in embarrassment again, but merely put his head down on the table. He quickly came up again, spitting out mashed potatoes. "Mum's wrong," he declared, "I'm not Bill; I'm turning into Fred and George."
Harry smiled. This was going to be an interesting year, at the very least.