Evolving

Draco was sitting away from the other Slytherins that Sunday evening. They didn't understand. Sarah was an insult to their House even if she was very smart and talented. He knew she could be mean, but she only acted like that occasionally. He actually heard rumors that she talked kindly to Gryffindors and such. He was disgusted that the others were impressed with her. He hated to even look at her even though she was very attractive. He was found one day walking to Herbology when he passed her walking the other way.

"Hello, Draco," she said cheerfully.

He turned around and yelled out, "You dare not address me by my first name again, traitor." She faced him a little stunned.

"I'm sorry," she said haughtily. As he walked away from her, she began to approach him.

"Do you, Mr. Malfoy," she called out to him, "know the true definition of a Slytherin?"

"Yes, I do," he replied turning to look her in the eye. He gave her a grin as he started slowly, "They are cruel, frighteningly daring, horrid, annoying, sneaky... and hated."

"... and deceptive," she added. He eyed her carefully. "A good Slytherin never lets the other know exactly what they're after. They're tricky; they play you to get what they want, and it's always good to see what the other Houses are thinking." She paused while Draco studied her. "Remember, Malfoy, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." And with a grin she turned on her heal and walked away. He wasn't sure what to think, but he still dismissed her as being in the wrong house. Her words, though, had been wisely chosen unless she was trying to deceive him into trusting her.

The next day in Potions, Sarah entered looking around. And to Draco's displeasure the only seat open was the one next to him. He tried to summon someone else, but she had already taken the seat. She had an annoying smile on her face as he turned to give her a quick glare. This did not bother her, however.

"Making any new friends," he muttered. She laughed.

"Actually, yes. A nice fellow in Ravenclaw helped me to find a book in the Restricted Section. I told him I really needed it, so he checked it out for me. Little did he know what was in it..." Snape walked in, silencing the whole class as he started to give out today's lesson. Draco was tempted to smile at the thought of a Ravenclaw falling for such a trick, but he didn't, remembering how much he despised her. After they had started their potions, he continued their conversation quietly, "But I know that you don't always talk to somebody to get something. So you are too nice."

"Oh, but you could use them later, you never know," she retorted. "From watching you, I know that if you want something, you let the whole world know instead of waiting for the right opportunity."

"What's that suppose to mean," he said slightly offended.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not as wise," she explained.

"Are you saying you make a better Slytherin than me?" he said heatedly.

"Of course not. See, you're jumping the gun again and announcing to everyone what you're thinking. I'm only saying there's room for improvement."

"You couldn't be more vague," he said lowly.

"Actually I could be..."

"Shhh, Snape's coming," he whispered. He approached them, and examined their potions.

"Excellent, Miss Evans. Ten points to Slytherin," he said with a faint smile, and he walked on to the next pair. Seeming pleased with herself, she continued.

"Anyway, I was replying to your comment of me being vague. I have already explained that you shouldn't just give away what you're thinking. You have to give pieces of it, so hopefully the person you're trying to sucker doesn't figure out your angle." Draco was a little shocked at her words, but he liked it. Perhaps there was hope for her yet.

"But I don't want to give you the wrong impression. Sometimes I do feel like just being nice. Slytherins are never predictable, you know." He rolled his eyes and poured the next ingredient into the cauldron making his potion turn red.

"Are you saying you never just want to kill someone for no reason?" he asked.

"Of course not. If I kill someone, then they deserved it," she sneered.

Two days later, he was talking with his friends at breakfast when his eagle owl dropped a letter on his plate. He opened it curiously. As he read it, his expression turned miserable. He held the letter away from him as if it were going to give him some horrid disease.

"Impossible," he muttered at the letter. "Incendio." And the letter burned slowly to ashes. He waited until every inch of it was gone and then calmly rose up from the table and marched back to his common room where he would stay until classes began.

"How did this happen," he asked himself plainly. According to the letter, his father had made a deal with the Ministry to keep from entering Azkaban. He was now working to help them hunt down the Death Eaters. This was bad news, for if Lord Voldemort should find out (assuming he didn't already know), then that would mean certain death for his family. He didn't know what his dad was playing at. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't even see Sarah walk in. "Problems?" she said inquiringly. He looked up and gave her a dark look.

"Keep you bloody nose to yourself," he said.

"I wasn't being nosey; I just wondered if you needed some help."

"You can't help me," he said looking down. She stood there for a moment making sure he had nothing else to say before she left.

Later that day before he went up to his dormitory, his friends began bombarding him with questions about his letter. He couldn't get rid of them. He felt like he could just scream out loud when a voice rose above the others. "I know what it was about," Sarah said proudly. Everybody stared at her for a second before they began to pry her for answers. Draco was thankful for her distraction. He saw after a moment that she was making up some wild story about his family being forced out of their manor by the Ministry. But she finished it with his family winning the manor back. She was telling it like a story, and when she ended it all the Slytherins were cheering. They came and patted Draco on the back. Even he had to admit that her story sounded fairly convincing. After a while, all the people started drifting up to their dormitories. He saw Sarah still working on her homework. "Thanks," he said sitting across from her.

"What are Slytherins for?" she said.

"Lying," he said with a laugh. She smiled at her paper.

"Yeah, but I could have told them the truth," she said carefully.

"What do you mean? I burned that letter."

"Well, let's say I took a good guess, or perhaps you didn't notice me behind you when you opened the letter." She gave him a sly smile.

"You dirty..." he couldn't think of a good enough title for her. He looked down. How did he not see her? he scolded himself.

"Don't worry, Draco. I won't tell anyone," she said. He noticed she used his name, but he supposed he owed her one, not to mention he wasn't in a position to make demands.

"You better not," he said before he made his way up to his four-poster.

By Thursday, Harry was feeling his normal self. It had taken him a while to be able to speak properly again. And sometimes right in the middle of class, if Harry was thinking real hard, a memory, very vivid, would push its way into the front of Harry's mind. And then he'd spend the next thirty minutes literally fighting with it, trying to push it back down into the depths of his subconscious mind. He was surprised that no one had yet made fun of him, but perhaps the staff and students thought it more serious than funny. But even the Slytherins didn't bring it up, or maybe that was because Snape had been the one to inflict the spell on Harry. And since Snape got into trouble for performing the spell, he wouldn't want the Slytherins to be talking about it.

Today the Gryffindors were to have their first tryouts for Chasers as Alicia, Katie, and Angelina were gone. It was a Sunday and a very beautiful one at that, perfect for try-outs. The only problem was that their first match against Slytherin was coming up soon, so they would have to hurry. As Harry approached the field he saw Ginny in the line to try out, and he also saw... Colin! Harry greatly doubted Colin would even be able to fly properly. As he sat down next to Ron and the two Beaters from the previous year, they called forth Euan Abercrombie. He was a fairly good flier as he did some loops and carries, but Harry hoped they would find better. The next contestant was Colin. He was actually quite talented on the broom. He was a little overactive but he held on. He did some nice maneuvers and he had good aim to. Despite what Harry thought earlier, Colin might actually make the team. The next five people were pretty average. They couldn't do much but fly in circles and roughly throw the ball. One particularly bad person actually fell off doing a simple loop. Then came Carla Grace. She had long, straight, very dark brown hair, and Harry could've sworn he saw Ron's jaw drop. She was a lot like Cho on the broom. She moved gracefully and confidently. Harry had a feeling that she had played Quidditch before. Ginny, of course, was naturally good on the broom having taken Harry's spot last year. He had no doubt she would make it. She was the last contestant. The four of them went inside the changing rooms to discuss their final decisions. "We also have to elect a new team captain," said Kirke. "I think it should be you, Harry."

"Me?" Harry was taken aback.

"Well, you're the only member who's been in the team for six years and all," said Sloper.

"Well, if you think it's best I suppose I could take the job," Harry said uncertainly.

"All right, then," Kirke scribbled on his notebook. "Now, who do you think we should get as our Chasers?"

"Um, well, I think Ginny Weasley was an excellent flier," pointed out Harry. They all exchanged looks and nods.

"All right, do we all agree that Weasley should be one of our new Chasers?" he asked.

"Yes," they all chimed. Kirke scribbled again.

"Okay, who else?"

"I liked Abercrombie," said Sloper.

"No!" said Ron, "He was terrible."

"Compared to who?" asked Sloper a little offended. Ron thought for a moment.

"Grace, Carla Grace," he had a dazed smile. Sloper thought about this for a moment.

"Well, she was pretty good," he said.

"I thought so too," added Kirke. "What about you, Harry."

"Sure, she was fine." Kirke gave one nod and wrote her name down.

"I also nominate... Creevey," Harry said slowly.

"That little bugger?" asked Ron surprised.

"Well, he was good even if he is annoying."

"He's kind of small," informed Sloper.

"Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be lighter, and he can dodge Bludgers better, I bet," answered Harry. They looked around at each other before Kirke wrote down his name.

"All right, we have as our new Chasers: Ginny Weasley, Carla Grace, and Colin Creevey. Does everyone agree?" They all nodded. "Then I'll get out this list as soon as possible," he finished and ran off back to the castle, and Sloper hurried to catch up to him.

"Harry, how come I don't remember ever seeing that Carla girl before," asked Ron.

"Uh, I don't know. I guess you just overlooked her," Harry said.

"How could I possibly overlook her?" Ron was frozen in amazement.

"C'mon, let's get back to Gryffindor tower," urged Harry with a little smile.

"Good idea! Maybe I'll see her there. What year is she in?"

"The paper she handed in for try-outs said she was in fifth year with your sister." And Ron pondered this all the way up to the common room. Upon entering, he immediately searched the whole room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Feeling a little put out, he took a seat by the fire and stared away into the unknown.