Chapter 6

Unwanted Surprise

A few hours later the train slowed down and people piled out.

The familiar call of "firs'-years! Firs'-years!" was heard among the rumble of footsteps and talk.

"All right there, Harry?" Hagrid called to him.

"Yeah thanks!" he shouted back. They walked to the carriages drawn by Thestrals. To everybody's surprise, Roxanne ran up the horses and immediately began stroking and patting them.

"Aren't they amazing?" she breathed. The horse whinnied in delight.

Ron shook his head, "still can't see 'em. But I suppose that's a good thing," he added thoughtfully.

Roxanne glanced at the other carriages and noticed Malfoy stroking a Thestral as well. He caught Roxanne's eye and smirked before climbing into the carriage.

Roxanne started feeling nervous again. Harry had explained how they decided which house to put you in. she wasn't worried about which house she would be in, she knew she would be in Gryffindor. It was the bit where they called out your name that worried her. She was very ashamed if her name and was not at the legal age to change it.

Inside the castle there was another new student starting sixth year as well, so Roxanne stood near him and waited for the first years to get sorted. The boy had curly red hair and green, almond-shaped eyes.

"Evans, Mark," Professor McGonagall called from the hall. The boy gave Roxanne a small smile and walked out. There was a loud, Gryffindor! And an even louder cheer, then,

"Winters, Roxanne."

The ovation stopped instantly and there was a murmur of whispers. But Roxanne's heart was beating so loud and fierce in her chest she couldn't hear anything. As she walked towards the stool and the faded hat she forgot to breathe properly. 'Its ok, I'll be with Harry in Gryffindor. Everything will be ok,' she thought to herself. She picked up the hat and sat down. Before the hat had even touched her hair it shouted out,

"SLYTHERIN!"

For a second Roxanne had herself believing she had heard Gryffindor, but when

Slytherin began clapping she realised the truth. She stood up and placed the worn hat back on the stool. Her hands were clammy and she felt very light-headed. She glanced up at the Gryffindor table and saw Harry's face. He looked speechless. Hermione had a sorrowful expression on and Ron looked outraged.

Close to tears, she made her way to the Slytherin Table. The hall was so silent the wind could be heard from outside. To her horror she saw the only space left was right next to Draco Malfoy. Her throat tightened and mouth dried up. This was like a horrible nightmare. Maybe she would wake up?

Malfoy had a sickeningly happy smile on his face as he budged over slightly to allow a bigger space for Roxanne. The second she sat down she put her head in her hands and strained to keep the tears back.

Meanwhile Dumbledore was doing his regular speech and introducing the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but Harry heard nothing. He was staring at Malfoy who was grinning almost triumphantly at his fellow Slytherins.

"She didn't even get a chance to ask to be in Gryffindor!" Hermione shrieked when the food appeared on their plates.

Harry wasn't listening. A feeling of overpowering rage had filled him and all he wanted to do was rip that stupid hat up and then smash the place to pieces. His girlfriend was sitting next to his enemy! The person who's father tried to kill him! Like Roxanne, he had his head in his hands. But unlike her, he was so furious he was pulling at his hair like people do when they confused and angry.

"I'm sorry mate," said Ron sympathetically. "Harry?"

Harry knew to prevent himself from hitting someone he must leave. He jumped up and ran out of the hall. Heads turned and watched him go, as did Roxanne.

"Poor feller," said Ron, not touching the food.

"Poor Roxanne more like," said Ginny, stabbing at the carrots on her plate.

"I wonder what the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is like," said Hermione, gazing at the woman sitting in between Snape and Hagrid. She had golden hair her, which flowed down her back, and she wore black, oval glasses. She was talking merrily to Hagrid as Snape glared at her venomously.

"Is that all you care about?" snapped Ron.

"No! I was just wondering!"

Roxanne had lifted her head to stop her hair getting butter and gravy in it.

"Winters huh? No wonder you didn't want to tell us," said Pansy, but she looked very serious.

Roxanne wiped the tears from her eyes and sucked a mint humbug.

"You should eat," said Malfoy, putting a chicken leg on her plate.

"Don't talk to me, Malfoy," growled Roxanne. A memory popped into her mind, when her cousin married Malfoy's cousin she could remember knocking the wedding cake over and she had pushed a three-year-old Draco into the mess of cake. That had been the first and last time they had met.

"You need to face the facts Winters, you're in Slytherin and that's your house, your home."

"Don't remind me," grumbled Roxanne.

"I guess Potter has told you about us then," said a boy called Allen Pucey, who was sitting beside Pansy. Roxanne didn't reply.

"You'll make real friends in Slytherin," said Malfoy.

"Who says I'm going to hang out with people like you?"

The people around her laughed.

"You are a person like us Roxanne!" said Pansy, shrieking with laughter.

"I'm not! I'd rather die than be like you," she snapped.

"Then prepare to face death," said Malfoy coolly, pouring thick gravy over his baked potatoes.

Roxanne knew practically everybody in the hall was staring at her and half of them talking about her. But she wasn't surprised, she had expected way more than this. Like people shouting to Dumbledore, "a Malfoy I can live with, but a Winters?"

She stood up and walked out of the hall the way Harry had gone, feeling hundreds of gazes burning into her back like lasers. She reached the Gryffindor tower and saw Harry sitting down next to an empty portrait.

"Harry?" Roxanne whispered apprehensively.

He lifted up his head, caught sight of Roxanne and smiled weakly. Roxanne sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't even get to say…" she mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Don't make friends with Malfoy. Don't…don't even speak to him," said Harry, his voice wavering dangerously.

"Of course not."

"Are you wanting to enter?" a voice asked from beside them.

They looked up and saw the Fat Lady back in her portrait. She smoothed down her pink, satin dress over her plump belly and waited patiently for the password.

"Er…I've forgotten," said Harry grumpily, "they've made the passwords into sentences now for safety reasons."

"No need to be so sarcastic. We don't want another repeat of third year," sniffed the Fat Lady.

Harry's face changed to anger, "he wasn't in there to hurt anyone!"

"I know that now dear, but still. If he could get in someone else could as well."

"I know it now. Metus metuas et metuas solus," he said to the Fat Lady.

"I don't think she was meant to hear that," sniffed the Fat Lady.

"Shut up," was all Harry said to her.

"That's Latin," said Roxanne, "it means dread fear and fear only."

Harry remembered what Lupin had said when Harry had asked why he hadn't let him face the Bogart in class and Harry had told him the Bogart would have become Dementors, not Voldemort, Lupin had replied with, "that suggests that what you fear most of all is – fear. Very wise, Harry."