Melissa stared out the window of Hogwarts Express, not paying attention to the scenery flashing by. Her thoughts were far away, contemplating her new life in England. People were so different compared to the U.S. They talked differently, acted differently, and even used weird magic from what she had seen so far. Melissa sighed. She would never fit in. She just knew she would stick out like a sore thumb. Why couldn't she stay at her old school, Gambrone, at least until the end of the semester? It would be so much better than being transfered in the middle of the school year. But no, her aunt had to see her right away. According to Aunt Mabel, living with Melissa's cousins would be worse than living with her mother. At the thought of her recently deceased mother, tears sprang to Melissa's eyes. Angrily, she wiped them away. She never cried, never showed weakness in front of others.

Trying to think of something else, anything else, Melissa cast out her thoughts, to once again land on aunt Mabel. Mabel was a Nildort, a proud member of a pureblood family. Believing that muggles were useless, it was rumored that she aided the death eaters. Naturally, Aunt Mabel had been shocked when her sister had gotten pregnant with Melissa, and had been most insistant that she be disowned. Disgraced and poor, her mother left to the United states for a new life. Melissa grimaced, finding that her mother was back in her thoughts.

Suddenly, a madly flapping owl appeared the window, jerking Melissa back into the real world. Amazed that anyone would send her a letter, she stared stupidly at the owl before opening the window to let it in. Once inside, the black and white owl smoothed it feathers with dignity before sticking out its leg with the letter. She eagerly grabbed the scrap of paper and read:

Dearest Niece,

I would like to be the first to congradulate you on your arrival , and must say that I am sorry for not being there when you reached England. Unfortunately, I have far too many things to do to visit you in person. We will meet over Christmas break.

Sincerly,

Mabel Nildort

She stared at the piece of paper. That's it! She thought. What a pointless letter. Not bothering to scribble a reply, she threw the owl back out the window and checked her watch. 12 more minutes! Hurridly she grabbed a comb and ran it through her strait black hair. Then she stood up neatened her robes and took a look in the mirror. Reflected back at her was a rather skinny girl with a short nose and small mouth. Rather ordinary overall, she thought, except for her eyes. People either said that her eyes were her best or worst feature, entranced or revolted by those deep violet eyes, framed by arching eyebrows. Not really caring how she looked, she deemed herself passable, and quickly began to clear up the many books about Hogwarts she had been reading. She loved to read, and it never hurt to be prepared.

Nervous tension hummed throughout the air, or so it seemed, as she waited those last few minutes. Anxiety blurred her vision, her breathing quickened. Forcefully, she smoothed her face to put on a pleasent mask. It would never do to appear afraid. As the train slowed though, the butterflies in her stomach started up once more. She had arrived at Hogwarts.

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Draco's P.O.V.

The sorting hat was sitting on a stool in front of the teacher's table. Now why was that? Draco wondered. when he scanned the faces of the teachers hoping for some insight, he realized that Mc Gonagall was gone, like she would be if there was a new student. So some one was transferring to Hogwarts, but why do so in the middle of the year? He shook his head and went back to eating his dinner. He would find out soon.

Sure enough, Professer McGonagall walked in followed by a raven haired girl with a cooly composed face, a sixth year by the look of her. Scattered whisperings raced through the crowd, to be hushed when Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"As you all have noticed, we have a new student joining us. This young lady is Melissa Welkashter, who has come to live England from the United States." he stated. "She'll be entering her sixth year at Hogwarts. I expect you all to welcome her, to show her the same respect as you would any other student of Hogwarts." With that he sat down and started clapping, to be joined by the teachers and the students.

As applause rang through the hall, Draco grudgungliy admired her apparent calm. Most people woud be either deadfully embarressed or terrified. And Welkashter?What a strange last name . Draco had never heard of it before. Maybe it was some American thing.

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Melissa's P.O.V.

Melissa was horribly embarressed and terrified, her legs turning to jelly. So many people, and all of them staring at her. She felt as if she was going to throw up. It took all of her self control to keep her mask composed. What was the hat for? Ah, yes, sorting, she had read about that in Hogwarts, A History. There were four houses, sorted by personality, but wasn't it rather dumb, to split a school like that? These thoughts were silenced by the sensation of the hat sliding over her eyes and around her ears, and she felt the hat's thoughts in her mind.

Hmmmm...plenty of smarts I see..rather shy...oh, you're a secretive one are you?and not to sure of yourself, though you seem to have strength ...now where to put you..

Just please put me in a good one she thought

They've all got their strengths and weaknesses dear...let me think a minute...ravenclaw perhaps?no, you have too much cunning for straight forward brains...slytherin then?

"SLYTHERIN"the hat boomed.

Applause broke out from the green table. Since she'd read that green and silver were Slytherin colors, she assumed that that was the right table to go to. Composing her face in a mask of easy self assurance, she sauntered over and sat down in the only empty spot. Immediantly, she was bomarded by questions and comments

"So you're from America?"

"Do you have a funny accent?"

"I'm glad we got you here."

"What school did you come from?"

"what's your name again"

Rather overwhelmed, she said" I'm melissa. yes, I'm from the U.S, California actually ." I should have known this would happen, she thought. Intrigued by her accent, many people pressed harder for information, babbling like idiots. Most others, she noticed, did not join in the conversation, if you could call it that. They either silently observed her or went back to their food. Indeed, mostSlytherins were not airheads, she thought. Turning back to her babbling audience, she resigned herself to answering hundereds of dumb questions.

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Draco's P.O.V.

Silently, he fumed. He went through all that trouble to make sure the only empty seat was next to him, so that he could interrogate her while she ate. He should have expected the rather excitable Sytherins to swarm her, like Pansy, he thought, who was busy chattering away at the new girl Melissa. He rolled his eyes. How simpering idiots like Pansy got into Slytherin her would never know. Sneaking a glance at Melissa, he saw that she was indeed annoyed by all the questions. Her eyelid twitched every now and then when asked a particularly unintelligent question, like " Are all people there like you?" Other than that, her face was perfectly composed, not giving away any of her emotions. So this was a girl of masks. He would have to find more about her.

A/N: I know that this is a really short chapter, and there are probably tons of spelling mistakes(sorry!). Also, it looks like a typical story about the new girl who falls in love. Well it's not. Please rate and review!