Guidance
Draco looked at Aurelia. Had she fallen asleep and therefore had not realized she had been touched? He could not figure out why she had let only Harry Potter touch her, out of all people. She just looked at him and clicked her beak lovingly. Whatever the reason, Draco didn't have time to think about it right now.
His eyes were focused on the door to the compartment. A beautiful young girl was standing there, looking for a place to put her trunk. Draco stood up and helped her with the trunk. She didn't say a word, she just sat down and looked out the window. Draco looked at her, she was magnificent. Aurelia meanwhile, had noticed her master's "condition" and clicked her beak for attention.
Draco paid no mind and continued to stare at the mysterious girl. Well, Aurelia was very upset now. She hopped over to the girl and squawked at her loudly. The girl reacted slowly. She turned her head to look at Aurelia and then ,slowly, put out her arm. Aurelia was taken aback, this stranger wanted her to mount her arm, like she owned her!
But Aurelia soon found herself cooing warmly and perched on the girl's arm. Now it was Draco's turn to be shocked, once again. then the girl lowered her arm to allow Aurelia to dismount. Aurelia then returned to Draco and stood beside him. Wild thoughts were running through Draco's head.
Most of them though, were about that girl. They arrived at Hogwarts a short time later. Draco put Aurelia on his shoulder and headed for one of the carriages waiting to take the students to the castle. To his surprise though, the girl followed him and joined him in the carriage, where he promptly kicked Crabbe out.
She did not speak though. Draco wanted to hear her voice, to talk to her as he would no one else. He did not understand these feelings. He felt as though he could tell her anything, that she was the one person who would understand him. The one who knew his secrets.
She remained silent as the students entered the great hall, still by Draco's side. He moved to sit down at the Slytherin table but she started up to the teacher's table. He could not understand this, was she a teacher? But, no, that's impossible he thought. But she took a seat next to Dumbledore as if she had always sat there and nothing was out of place.
All the student's went to their respective tables and the first years gathered at the front to be sorted. Draco continued to watch the girl for any clue as to why she was up there. The sorting began as each frightened first year sat on the wooden stool and had the sorting hat placed on their heads.
After "Cromby, James!" was sorted into Hufflepuff, Dumbledore leaned over and whispered something into the girl's ear. She did not respond, nor did she give off any signs that she had heard him. Dumbledore resumed his gaze on the sorting. The feast began and Draco was distracted by the food and his fellow Slytherins.
By the end of the feast he had almost forgotten about the girl when Dumbledore stood and motioned for quiet. "I would like to welcome all of you back to Hogwarts and for our new arrivals as well. This year will be an exciting one. I have a few announcements to make before you leave.
First, for all seventh years, the N.E.W.T.'s will be held a little earlier this year so please study hard. Second, the Slytherin dormitory has been damaged so the Slytherin students will be placed in different houses until the dormitory is fixed. And last but not least, there is a new subject being offered to you this year. Prof. Rutledge will be teaching Guidance.
As you will find out tomorrow morning some of you have been placed in this special class. You will learn more tomorrow. Thank you for your Attention and goodnight." He sat down while the students stood up. The Slytherins remained behind. Prof. Snape came over to the table and began to explain what happened.
" During the summer certain events caused the dormitory to be damaged. We have not yet been able to repair it so you will be placed in different houses until we are able to repair the damages. When I announce your name I want you to come and stand to my right. Parkinson, Boswell, Dervik, Gordon, Harvey, Folgelby. You are going to be in Ravenclaw."
With groans from the students, the head of Ravenclaw lead them off to the dormitory. This continued until only Draco and a few others remained and the only house left was Gryffindor. Draco could not believe it. He was going to be sharing a room with Potter and Weasley, not to mention Granger.
Once they got to the dorm, the Gryffindor's seemed to think the same thing. Draco was indeed in the same bedroom with Potter and Weasley. He did not care to have a confrontation with them right now. He pulled the curtains around his bed and fell asleep with Aurelia by his side.
the next morning when he received his schedule he noticed that he had Guidance, that new subject Dumbledore was talking about. After breakfast he, along with the other students chosen, headed down to the dungeons.
He entered the classroom only to notice that it was pitch dark inside. Then suddenly, small blue orbs by the walls lit up. He took a seat in the middle of the classroom. he watched as the rest of his classmates entered. Then his heart sunk as Potter walked in.
Harry took a seat in the front so Draco had a good view of him. Finally everyone had arrived and taken a seat. All of them were looking at the teacher's desk, waiting for the prof. Then she walked in. That girl from the train. He had an empty seat next to him and hoped she would sit there.
But she walked right past all the students and stood at the front of the classroom. The other student's seemed puzzled also. Then Potter raised his hand "Excuse me, Where's the professor?" The girl turned away from him and went to the board. With her wand she wrote "Professor Rutledge".
Again the class was puzzled. Another student was their teacher? "Welcome, I am Prof. Rutledge. I hope you will enjoy Guidance for it is an interesting subject." But Draco couldn't resist any longer. "How can you be our teacher, You're the same age as us. And what is Guidance?" He shouted.
"Well Draco, I am the same age as you but I have been taught magic since I was born and before that even. Now I know most of you will say the same thing but truthfully before I could walk or speak I was doing magic." she said calmly. "But how is that possible? You need a wand to do magic and you can't get a wand until you start school!" said Lavender Brown.
"that's not true, you can do magic without a wand. You can do magic with your emotions." But it was Harry Potter who had spoken, not the prof. "Very right Harry. But I did not use my emotions, I used my mind. Guidance is a very difficult subject to learn and master. Most of you will not remain in my class. In one month I will give a test and those who pass will continue with guidance, those who don't will be placed elsewhere. Now let's begin. Draco, Harry please join me up front" Draco got up as did Harry and the two of them walked to the front of the classroom.
"Now I need you both to face me. Do not break your eye contact no matter what. Draco and Harry both stared at her. Suddenly they found themselves floating several inches off the ground. They were now facing each other, wands drawn. Draco had the urge to curse Harry and vice versa.
But before Draco could say anything an image entered his mind. There was a girl in front of him. He reached out his hand towards her. Their fingers intertwined and they walked off together.
She led him to an old mansion and took him inside. It was dark and he lit a candle. She handed him a book and he opened it to a random page and read "The one you love will soon betray you" Puzzled, he closed the book and she screamed.
She was running away from him, into the darkness. He followed her into another room where men in trench coats grabbed him. Then they forced him to the ground and a hooded figure approached him "Traitor!" said a voice from under the cloak.
But just as the figure raised it's wand a shadow came from the darkness and seemed to be attacking the figure. Draco broke free and ran back into the darkness. Someone was shaking him. "Draco!? Draco wake up!" He opened his eyes and found himself on the floor of the classroom. Prof. Rutledge had not moved but Harry was kneeling at his side.
He looked frightened. Draco sat up and felt the room spin. " Harry, help him to his feet and then take your seat." Harry put his arm around Draco's shoulders and the other behind his back and pulled him off the ground and into the seat next to him. Harry then took his own seat.
Draco did not seem to mind that Potter had done any of this. " These two have demonstrated the first step to mastering Guidance. I want you all to pair up with someone you don't know or don't like. Then using the instruction on the board, I want you to try this first step."
The students moved around the room and began to pair up. Soon the classroom was filled with the chanting of the other students. Harry and Draco remained seated and prof. Rutledge came over to them. "good job boys, I've never seen such a strong connection between two beginners. But despite that, there is something more, something I know to have happened only once before. I want to work with you, have you study guidance more intensely.
I want you two to rest now and come back after dinner. You have a long way to go but I'll help you. Now I know this is all very strange, and I know you two used to hate each other. But your dreams said a lot and now I hope you'll remember what happened here today. Don't forget to come back after dinner."
And with that she walked off to examine the other students. Draco and Harry looked at each other. But Draco did not feel any animosity towards him. He felt as if he understood what had just happened and that Harry had gone through it with him.
Both of them looked away. Harry did some doodling for the rest of the period while Draco tried to remember the dream. After class Draco went to talk to the girl, now known as prof. Rutledge. " Hey, I just wanted to know if ..um.. Well... What's your name?" he said with a blush.
she looked at him for a good 10 seconds before answering. " My name is Aurora, And I like you too."Then she kissed him on the cheek. He left the classroom in a state of confusion. It was only the first couple of hours at school and already it seemed like a lifetime.