Two weeks before Hogwarts started, Harry noticed that a new girl had been spending a lot of time in the park and at Mrs. Figgs house. He hadn't she had any grandchildren. The girl looked to be about his age but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon made it clear that they wanted Dudley to spend time with her, and not the abnormal boy that they were ashamed to be related too.
The only problem was that she spent a lot of time outside, while the outside was foreign to Dudley. He liked to watch them and see how Dudley would screw up again. It always made his day.
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"Hello Dudley. Isn't there anyone else that you can go bug, or annoy, or mess with?" Calleigh sighed as he sat down beside her.
"Well fine, if you don't want to be around me, then I will leave then," Dudley scoffed.
"Finally!" she said letting out a deep breath as Dudley trudged away.
It wasn't until he got a little farther that she noticed that he had gotten a hold of a skinny boy and seemed to like to push him around. What would she care, she might be free of Dudley the rest of the day.
After Dudley finally got far enough away, Calleigh, walked over to see if the boy was alright. He didn't seem to be hurt or anything and looked like he was used to it. She shivered at that thought. She needed to be happy; she was finally away from her Uncle.
"Hey, are you alright?" she said, helping him up.
Calleigh couldn't believe she had just said that. What had happened was his problem not hers. But then again sometime she thought she didn't think anyways.
"Yeah, I am fine. I am sorry that my Aunt and Uncle are forcing Dudley to be around you," the boy said sympathetically.
"So he is your cousin. You look nothing like him you know. You don't act like him much either. What's your name?" she asked in curiosity.
"Harry, Harry Potter. What is yours?"
"My name is Calleigh Black. It is nice to meet you Harry. You know it seems like I have met you before though," she commented with a smile.
"I was just thinking the same thing. So how long are you going to stay around here?"
"I will be leaving when I start school and won't be back until about two weeks before school starts again."
"Where are you going, Calleigh?" Harry asked quizzically.
"I would rather not say. Well, it was nice to meet you Harry Potter, I should get going. Maybe I will see you later," Calleigh sighed smiling, while walked away back to Mrs. Figg's house.
Harry stared back as she walked away. He did have the feeling that they had met before, but he knew that was impossible. His parents had died and there was no way that she had grown up in England.
It wasn't long before they both became anxious to get to school. Neither of them had much clue that they would be going to the same school, or that their lives would have much further connection. How very wrong they were.
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Calleigh had been late to the train station. Mrs. Figg had apologized the whole way there, but Calleigh didn't care how late she was as long as she got to go. When they got to platform 9 ¾ she noticed that a woman with red hair was escorting five young boys onto the train. Four of them had red hair, while the other had black. Calleigh had thought that was odd, but she didn't have much time to think.
"Mrs. Figg, it is nice to see you. You better hurry the train will leave. Now who is this?" the woman with red hair asked gingerly.
"Good to see you too, Molly. This is Calleigh, she is going to Hogwarts. She is from the US and Dumbledore has said that I should watch her for a little while before school starts to get used to the change in time and to get her supplies," Mrs. Figg replied kindly while they got her and her stuff aboard.
She got on just in time, because the train just started to leave when she got on. The only problem was that most of the spots had been filled up, and the few that were left were filling up just as fast. As she walked down the corridor she saw that most of spots were full. But as she got to one, she saw the boy with red hair and the other one with black hair sitting down.
As she walked past she thought he looked familiar and continued to walk until the look made sense to her. She abruptly turned back around and went to the compartment. The boy with red hair seemed to be mesmerized at Harry like he was an idol. She didn't understand, but she probably didn't understand much about the wizarding world.
"Harry, you are going to Hogwarts!" Calleigh said in amazement.
It took him awhile to realize who had spoke to him. He had gotten so used to stares and remarks about him being Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Though, when he looked to where the voice had come from he hadn't expected who he saw. Calleigh stood outside of their compartment with a smile on her face.
"You are going to Hogwarts, Calleigh. What a small world, huh?" Harry responded quickly.
"Harry, who is this?" the boy with red hair asked.
"Oh, I am sorry. Calleigh, this is Ron. Ron this is Calleigh," Harry said quickly.
"It is nice to meet you Ron. May I please sit in here with you two, please? I think the other compartments are full," Calleigh greeted cheerfully.
"Of course. So Calleigh, how do you know Harry?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Well, I was staying at Privet Drive for about two weeks, and that is where Harry lives. So Ron, is there any reason you are staring at Harry so intently?" Calleigh laughed while sitting down.
"You don't know!" Harry and Ron exclaimed at the same time.
"Know what?" she asked innocently.
This was Ron's chance to jump. "He is the boy who lived. He defeated, he defeated, You-Know-Who!" he stammered.
"Who is this You-Know-Who?" she asked in confusion.
"His real name is Voldemort. How do you not know?" Harry said while Ron uttered a little scream.
"Well, for one. I didn't even know about anything like this until this summer, because I lived with my Uncle. Also, I don't even live in England. I live in Maine, in the United States. Very boring," she replied with a sigh.
"Oh," was all that the two could say.
The rest of train ride went quite well. Calleigh was excited to get to school and get started on everything she would be doing. She also wanted to know what house she would be sorted in to. From what she heard of the conversation between Harry and Ron, she didn't want to be in Slytherin.
When they got to the school she was amazed. It was a huge castle that looked enchanting. The inside looked just as amazing. They were escorted in the Great Hall were all of the other students sat waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Professor McGonagall called off a long name of lists before she even got to Calleigh at least that was how it seemed. Each house had already received at the least one student so far.
"Black, Calleigh."
Calleigh gulped as she walked over the stool to put on the oversized hat. The whole way there seemed to take forever and all she could think of was of her Uncle. She felt like she hadn't done something right and now she was in trouble.
As she put on the hat she heard a little sound in the back of her mind. She didn't really care what house she would be sorted into, but she really wanted to be in the same house as Harry and Ron. They had been nice to her and made her feel welcome.
"You are quite unique, Ms. Black. You would do well in any house, loyal and patience, sly and clever, smart and witty, and heroic and true. But which would suit you and your fears the best?"
A short silence started after that before it began again. "You are scared of those around you, and to make friends. From what I see, you belong in GRYFFINDOR!"
Calleigh hopped of the stool placing the hat back. She was ecstatic over her placement. Her parents had been in Gryffindor and she swore in her mind that she would do well. As she started towards the table a cheer erupted.
Harry and Ron both got sorted into Gryffindor as well. She wanted to call them her friends but was too scared to.
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The year passed quite uneventful for Calleigh. Harry and Ron seemed to keep busy with Hermione Granger involving the Sorcerer's Stone and Nicholas Flamal. She strayed away from talking to them like she did with most people. She just couldn't take what it could bring.
In the end they had stopped Lord Voldemort from rising once again. It had scared her, but she didn't want to talk about it. She never did like to talk. Calleigh was afraid of what would happen to her.