Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope. No way, no how. I do wish, though.

A/N: I think I'm going to try alternating POVs each chapter. Right under the chapter number I'll write who's POV it's in, just so you'll know.


.ONE.
-Marnie Ashford-

"And, everyone, let us give a warm welcome to the new batch of First Years!" My grandpa, Albus Dumbledore, said, raising his glass. The occupants of the Great Hall broke out into applause. Grandpa beamed at the students, whom were having fun with old friends and new. They had become his second family. The day he was no longer their headmaster would be a sad one. The noise slowly died out as he waited to speak once more. "I sincerely hope that you all enjoy your meal. Eat!" Grandpa waved his hand and the large feast sat before them all. Grandpa beamed once more and sat in his chair, turning to his me. I sat on his right side, as usual. "Enjoy your meal, Marnie." As Grandpa spoke, his voice was soft, as usual. I smiled over at him, nodded, and began to eat my meal.

I picked at my food while my grandfather conversed with Minerva McGonagall. I looked around, examining the seventh years -- people I'd been with for all seven years of their schooling but knew nothing about. I sighed to myself as my eyes fell upon a certain Harry Potter. I found myself smiling, though nobody had said anything. I just smiled for the sake of smiling. And, well, for the sake of the secret crush I'd been harbouring for the last seven years. Yes, a crush on Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived. I'd cut out my tongue before I admitted it, though.

"Marnie? May I speak with you for a moment?" I looked up to find Minerva staring down at me. I nodded and pushed my chair away from the staff table. I followed the woman into a room, just off the Great Hall. Minerva — I had called her that, instead of Professor McGonagall, since I was about four — leaned in close to me, as if she didn't want anyone to hear what she had to say. I looked at her expectantly. "Marnie, Albus wants you to be with the normal students this year. He'd like for you to be in my house, in Seventh Year, just like you should be." I looked at Minerva in shock.

"But, Minerva, I can't do that!" I squeaked. Minerva raised a thin eyebrow.

"And why, exactly, is that?" Minerva asked, folding her arms across her chest. I sighed, letting my shoulders sag.

"Fine," I said. Minerva smiled widely and patted my shoulder.

"Perfect! Let's go get your things from your room. Your grandfather would prefer that your belongings were all in the dormitory before the other students get up there," Minerva said, leaving her hand on my shoulder. She steered me out of the small room and back into the Great Hall, giving Albus a small thumbs-up that I barely noticed.

"Minerva?" I asked, my voice quiet, as they weaved through the crowded Great Hall. Minerva turned around, still walking. It was obvious that the woman had superb hearing.

"Yes, Marnie?" Minerva asked. I released a small sigh before replying.

"Why do I have to do this?" I asked, even though she knew she wouldn't receive an answer. Minerva smiled and patted my shoulder as we began the long walk up to Gryffindor tower.

----

Once my things were in their 'proper places', as Minerva said it, I plopped down on the edge of my new bed. Minerva had left halfway through, complaining about the multitude of students she had to lecture already, even though it was the only the first night. I smiled to myself and slid further back onto my bed, closing the drapes of the four-poster behind me. I had barely gotten a chance to lay my head on the soft pillow and curl up into a small ball when I heard voices, presumably of the other girls that were staying in the dorm.

"Oh, I know! He was so cu—was that bed here last year?" One girl said. Her voice was high-pitched and slightly annoying, but her words made me blush and hide my head under my pillow. I secretly wished for them to go away, though I knew it wouldn't work.

"Don't think so," Another girl replied. I buried my head further under the pillow.

"Maybe there's a new girl?" A third girl suggested.

"No. I doubt it," The second girl said. I heard my drapes being slid open and three identical gasps. I slowly uncovered my head and peered up at them, my cheeks beet red.

"That's Marnie. Dumbledore's granddaughter," The first girl, who I recognized as Lavender Brown, said, blankly, as if I wasn't even there.

"What's she doing in here?" Parvati Patil—the second girl—asked, though not to me.

"Do you talk?" Lavender asked, though it obviously sounded ruder than she meant for it to. I opened my mouth to reply, but shut it when Hermione Granger—the third girl—spoke.

"Lavender! How rude! Hello, Marnie. I'm Hermione Granger. This is Parvati Patil and the rude one is Lavender Brown," Hermione said, sticking her hand out for a shake. I shook it, gently, while I nodded.

"I know," I said, my voice quiet.

"Oh. I'm sure you would, since you're Dumbledore's granddaughter," Parvati said, smiling to show that she meant no offence. I smiled meekly.

"Let's go down to the common room," Lavender whispered to Parvati, who nodded. They walked from the room together, waving back at Hermione and I. I gestured to the edge of my bed.

"Have a seat," I suggested. Hermione smiled widely and sat down.

"So, do you know anyone here? I've never seen you talking to anyone, other than teachers. Ever," Hermione said, her tone slightly cheerful.

"No. Well, I know who people are, but I've never spoken to anyone except Draco Malfoy before," I said, plucking a feather from my blanket that had fallen from my pillow.

"Malfoy? You talked to Malfoy?" Hermione squeaked. I looked up at her, startled.

"Yes. I like him, actually. He's really nice," I said. My voice was soft, which was nothing new. I hadn't ever talked much, but when I did, I was quiet. Hermione giggled.

"I think he likes you, Marnie, if he was being nice. And that's a hard thing to believe, seeing as you're Dumbledore's granddaughter," Hermione told me. I nodded in agreement—just because I didn't talk to the people myself didn't mean I didn't know what was going on. Draco had a reputation for being bad, but he was a completely different person around me.

"He doesn't like me," I muttered, a small blush rising to my cheeks. Hermione giggled again and patted my shoulder.

"It's okay. Happens to most of us. Now, I want you to meet my friends, Harry and Ron," Hermione said, rising from the bed. I stood, also, and we crossed the room to the door together. I smiled on the inside. I was finally meeting my secret crush. "Now, I have to warn you, Ron is rather shy around girls." I laughed quietly.

"I can tell by the way he walks," I said. Hermione glanced at me, one eyebrow raised.

"How?"

"Well, I don't know… My whole life I've been able to tell things about people by the way they walk and stand and stuff," I said, my cheeks turning slightly pink. We had reached the stairs, and we quickly walked down them.

"Really? What kinds of things?" Hermione questioned, leading me up the stairs that sat right next to the ones we had just went down. I guessed they led to the boys' dorms.

"Well, there's the Ron thing… And, well, um… " I trailed off. I had come much to close to giving away a hint about my crush on Harry. Hermione turned around, smiling.

"What is it?" She asked, a knowing smile planted on her face. Well, maybe not knowing. But she did know it had something to do with someone I liked. I blushed.

"Well, uh, Harry… He seems like he might be a good cuddler… " I muttered, my head bowed. Hermione giggled.

"You like Harry?" She asked. I shook my head violently, looking up at Hermione.

"No! But, really, no. I just have always thought we'd make good friends because of our parents and stuff… " I lied.

"What about your parents? Were they friends?" Hermione asked. She clearly didn't know what had happened to my parents, and I wasn't going to tell her just yet. I only shook my head.

"Can I meet Harry and Ron now?" I asked, changing the subject. Hermione smiled and nodded. We continued walking down the hall, past numerous doors—each marked with four boys' names. As we walked, I was pondering Hermione's actions. I had heard that she was, well, a know-it-all. But she seemed, to me, to be pretty much a normal girl. Maybe it was just because I was a girl, while most of her friends were boys? I shrugged to myself as Hermione opened the last door on the right and walked in. I slowly, cautiously, followed behind her.

"And, did you hear? Dumbledore's granddaughter is going to be in our—Merlin, that's her, Harry!" It was Ron Weasley who spoke. Both boys looked up at me and I blushed under their eyes. Hermione took one glance at me and then ran over to Ron and Harry. She whispered something in their ears and they nodded. The only word I could get from it was 'shy'. Harry smiled over at me and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from blushing. I smiled back, walking over to Hermione, who was standing in front of the boys. When I stopped, Harry held his hand out for me.

"Harry," Harry said as I slipped my hand gently into his. Our hands were slow as they shook, and we held them just a moment longer than we had to.

"Marnie," I replied. Harry nodded. I looked over at Ron, who had stood up. He held his hand out for me, also.

"Erm… Ron… Ron Weasley," Ron said. I giggled when I put my hand in his, causing his face to turn slightly pink.

"Marnie Ashford," I said. There was something about Ron that made me feel extremely comfortable, like I had known him forever. Ron glanced at something behind me as we released our hands from each other's grip.

"Oi! Seamus! Come here and meet Marnie," Ron demanded, smiling. I turned to see Seamus Finnigan walking towards me.

"Marnie! Aren't you Dumble's granddaughter?" Seamus asked, reaching his hand out to me. I smiled and nodded as I shook his hand. "I'm Seamus, but I'm sure you know that already." I smiled wider and nodded again.

"Hey, Hermione? Seamus?" Ron said out of nowhere.

"Yes?" Hermione and Seamus said in unison. Ron snuck each of them a wink, careful not to let me see.

"Remember, we have to go do that thing? In that place?" Ron asked, moving closer to the door. Seamus looked at Ron, a blank expression washing over his face.

" …Thing?" Seamus asked. Ron glared. "Oh! The thing! Let's go take care of that!"

"Let's go, boys. That thing will take a while." Hermione said.

And with that, the three of them were gone, leaving me alone with my secret crush. When I slowly turned back to Harry, a deep blush highlighting my freckle-dusted face, I found that Harry had the same blush as I did. We glanced into each other's eyes, blushed deeper, and looked away.

"Want to play Twister?" Harry suggested, pointing to a half-open box on the floor.

"The Muggle game?" I asked, just to be sure. Harry nodded. "Sure." Harry climbed off of the bed he was sitting on and began to set up the game. "Want some help?" Harry looked up and grinned.

"If you want to," Harry said, his voice low. I smiled back at him and crouched down to the ground to help him. He handed me the spinner.

"Where should I put it?" I asked. Harry pointed to somewhere towards the middle of the room.

"Over there. There'll be more room for the mat, then," Harry said. I nodded and crawled over to the spot he'd pointed to, where I set down the spinner. Harry walked over to me and spread out the mat covered in coloured dots.

"I've never played this before," I confessed. Harry looked at me, feigning shock.

"Well, I'll have to teach you then," Harry said, smiling. His smile made me want to melt, so I kept myself occupied by playing with the spinner. "Okay. It's all set."

"Okay," I said, my voice quieter than usual. Harry gestured for me to come closer to him so that he could teach me better. I scooted over to him so that there was barely an inch between my thigh and his and pulled off my shoes. Harry did the same.

"Okay, now, spin the spinner," Harry told me. I did. It landed on 'Right foot, blue'. I looked up at Harry skeptically.

"Now what?" I asked. He smiled again and tapped my right foot and then a blue circle on the mat.

"Put your right foot on a blue circle," Harry said. I nodded and stood up, putting my right foot on the same circle Harry had tapped. "Good. Now its my turn." Harry flicked the spinner and it landed on 'Left hand, yellow'. Harry stood and placed his left hand on a yellow circle.

"My turn?" I asked.

"Yep," Harry said. I smiled and pulled my wand from my pocket — I couldn't reach the spinner.

"Verto," I said, flicking my wand. After it spun, the spinner landed on 'Right hand, yellow'. I looked down at the mat and blushed. The only yellow circle I could reach properly was the one next to Harry's. I slowly reached over and placed my right hand on the circle.

"What was that word you used? We haven't learned that one yet," Harry said. I glanced at him before returning my gaze to the mat.

"Verto," I said. I watched as Harry pulled out his wand and flicked it at the spinner.

"Vierdo," Harry said. I watched, wide-eyed, as Harry's shirt disappeared. I giggled.

"Harry, its Verto, not Vierdo," I said, still giggling. Harry blushed and tried again.

"Verto," Harry said, flicking his wand again. I giggled again.

"Good job, Harry," I said, brushing my hand along his arm. I hadn't even ran the thought through my mind before I had done it. For a split second we looked into each other's eyes. Then, we blushed and looked down at the spinner. It had landed on 'Right foot, red'. Harry blushed deeper and slowly stretched out beneath me to touch his foot on the red circle. I looked into his eyes, both of us blushing crazily. Then the door opened.

"Marnie! Harry! We're—" Hermione cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath. She stopped dead in the doorway, causing Seamus and Ron to run right into her. She had a knowing smile plastered on her face, again. "—back from doing that thing."

"Harry, mate, why's your shirt off?" Ron asked. Harry looked down and blushed, not only remembering that he had on no shirt, but that he and I hadn't moved from our position.

"I said the wrong word for a spell," Harry said as he and I slowly stood upright. I ran a hand through my long brown hair and looked at the ground.

"Must have been Vierdo," Hermione said, matter-of-factly. Harry and I both nodded. "Well, Marnie, I think I should teach you some of the more advanced spells that I'm sure none of the teachers taught you in your private tutoring. Come, come!" Hermione promptly left the room. I looked up at Harry, blushed, and ran after Hermione.

"Thank-you," I said quietly as we walked down the boys' stairs and back up our own.

"It's not a problem, really. I could tell you were uncomfortable," Hermione said, opening the door to our dorm.

"You're not really going to teach me spells, are you?" I asked. Hermione laughed.

"No. I know you already know more than I do, anyway," Hermione said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. I plopped down on my own bed.

"Good. I've had enough of spells and potions to last me three lifetimes," I said. Hermione smiled.

"Yes, well, you'll never get away from them," She told me. I nodded.

"I know. That's what Grandpa tells me, all the time," I said.

"So, what's it like, being Dumbledore's granddaughter?" Hermione asked. I shrugged and stretched out on my bed.

"I dunno. I suppose it's just the same as when it's anyone else," I said. Hermione smiled. "I have a question for you."

"What is it?" Hermione asked. I took a deep breath.

"Whenever I see you around Harry and Ron and all of your other friends, you just seem so… different. You talk so intelligently and act like an adult. I don't understand it. You're completely like a normal witch when you're with me," I said. Hermione shrugged.

"Technically, that wasn't a question. But, I understand what you're getting at. I don't know. I just don't have a lot of female friends," Hermione said, picking up something from off of her trunk. My eyes grew wider when I saw that Hermione was knitting.

"What about Parvati and Lavender?" I asked. Hermione shrugged again.

"They're not really my friends. We just share a dorm," Hermione said, starting a new row on her scarf. I nodded.

"So, who do you like?" I asked, surprising myself with the boldness of the question. I usually just waited for people to come out with it. I wasn't one for asking questions. Hermione glanced up at me and blushed.

"Well… I sort of fancy Harry," She said, returning to her knitting. I giggled.

"Really? How long have you liked him?" I asked, noting that I still spoke like an American, though I'd lived in England ever since I was one and a half. Even in the dim light, I could see Hermione blush deeper.

"About a year and a half," Hermione stated blandly. I nodded.

Before I could say another word, Hermione launched into a deep conversation about her feelings for Harry. I couldn't help but feel guiltier and guiltier with each word.