A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating in a while. Real life once again decided to be cruel and take away my internet connection. Anyway, thanks to everyone for being so patient. Cheers to Roonblah and Bent137 for helping me out with the details- Thanks guys!

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Chapter 3: Dinner and Ghosts

'If you're looking for danger, here I come!
You better look out, it's just begun!
There's something that I want you to know!'
- A1 (Scared)

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"So, I was a super witch. That was pretty much all I thought about for the next two days. That and the fact that I was totally bonkers. I didn't look around the castle. I didn't talk to anyone. I just watched the sun rise and set through the huge window with its ornate window seat. My meals appeared around the same time everyday on a tray on my desk. I saw no one enter and no one leave. All I did was wander around my supposedly new place and think I was going nuts. Of course, I knew this wasn't true but it seemed the only logical explanation, that or the moldy pizza theory. I then moved on to thinking about what this meant. I wasn't really bothered about leaving my old place. It was a dump and I hated the landlord. My jobs were crappy and my grades, well, I guess I didn't need them here. The only reason why I was angry was because I wasn't given a choice. I was never asked. Oh, I understood Dumbledore's reasons, but that didn't mean I had to accept them. I was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that my parents didn't abandon me and I wasn't normal. Okay, so I was never treated as normal. I was treated like the scum of the earth for as long as I could remember, but that's not the point. Two days passed and finally I gave in and thought what the hell, I had nothing else to do with my time. I was willing to give it a shot- so long as I didn't have to face anything that was trying to kill me, that is. However, just because I was willing to try the witch thing, didn't mean I wouldn't set a few ground rules first..."

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Cautiously, Jesse opened the door of her room for the first time in two days. She looked into the dark corridor. Nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief she slipped out the door and closed it softly behind her. Pulling her denim jacket closer around her, she cautiously walked down the torch-lit corridor and slid out from behind the huge tapestry that hid it. The corridor was empty, she looked through the window opposite the tapestry. It was dark outside, her watch said early evening so she figured she could find Dumbledore in his office. Or at least run into one of the teachers. One of the problems in her plan was she didn't know where his office was, let alone the password to get past the gargoyle guarding its entrance. Her plan was simple. Wander around until she found either Dumbledore or a teacher.

Lots of whispering pictures, cursing on her part, and several moving staircases later, Jesse found herself at the top of a staircase confronted with what could only be a ghost.

Now, being confronted with a moving staircase was one thing- all she had to do was hold on to the banister. A ghost was something entirely different. Instead of swearing her head off, Jesse just stared, mouth open at what appeared to be a man dressed in all sorts of frilly stuff and a ruff around his neck.

"Well, hello there!" he smiled cheerfully at her. "You must be the lady Jessica."

Jesse nodded, no sound coming out of her mouth, though she was able to finally close it. She blinked up at him.

"I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, ghost of Gryffindor tower, at your service," he said with a bow. "I'm am truly honoured to meet you."

Jesse, who had barely gotten over the fact that, a) a ghost was talking to her and b) she could see right through him to the banister behind him, finally snapped back into reality.

"Nearly Headless Nick" she grinned then slapped a hand over her mouth at his grimace. "Sorry." Shock did not help improve her manners.

"It's quiet alright, dear" he said, self-consciously adjusting his head on his shoulders, a sight Jesse hoped never to see again.

She repressed a shudder.

"Are you going to dinner?" he changed the subject quickly, looking down the stairs.

"Um, well," Jesse followed his gaze and realised where she was. She was at the top of the main staircase, looking down on the ground floor right next to the entrance way, which, was coincidentally right next to the main hall from the sounds of it.

"I was just wanting to talk to Dumbledore about my decision…"

"Oh," the ghost beamed at her "he will be pleased!" He began to float down the stairs and Jesse had no choice but to follow, even though she could walk right through him.

"The whole faculty have been talking of nothing else but your return to Hogwarts!" Nick continued to babble as the reached the bottom of the stairs "And the pictures are all aflutter about what this could mean in the fight against You-Know-Who!"

"Um, Nick?" Jesse stopped in front of the huge double doors behind which the sound of several hundred pupils chattering away could be heard.

Sir Nicholas paused, or more like hovered before the door, a questioning look on his face.

"Could we keep this on the DL for now? I'm still getting used to this witch thing myself." Jesse quickly looked around her, noting that thankfully, the entranceway was empty.

"DL?" Nick replied, confused.

"Down Low" Jesse smiled.

"Oh, yes. Sorry." Nick made a zipping motion across his mouth, smiled at her briefly and disappeared through the door.

Jesse blinked at it for a second, shook herself, took a deep breath and opened the door.

As soon as she entered, the sound level dropped significantly, though the noise didn't cease altogether, as several hundred pair or eyes swung towards her and the whispering began.

She looked around her briefly, making herself ignore the curious looks towards her and the sniggers from several girls at her clothes. She wore jeans, trainers, a black t-shirt and her denim jacket- nothing unusual. Her long dark hair was up in a smooth ponytail to keep it back from her face. It was probably the lack of a cloak that did it. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Like she wanted to look like a daft git.

Instead, she looked around. This place was HUGE, way bigger than the infirmary. It had banners hanging from beams- the colours and symbols she expected and it had pictures on the walls. Most were whispering but some were actually waving at her. On one side of the hall and also at the end of it were huge stained glass windows. Then, of course there was the enchanted ceiling. Jesse stared up at it. Wow. The ceiling looked REAL. It was clear- no clouds in sight and the stars glittered and winked down at her. She dragged her eyes away quickly.

She had to act cool, she reminded herself, she had to act like she wasn't freaked out by all of this. She briefly looked at the long wooden tables that took up most of the room. The one nearest the left wall had a bunch of people who looked at her disdainfully. Jesse raised an eyebrow. Slytherins then. Next to it was a table with people who looked simply curious. She looked at the banner above it. Ravenclaw. There was a large gap between it and the next table, a pathway that Jesse now walked down, following Sir Nick who seemed to be escorting her to the far end of the hall. On the right was another table- several students were whispering but they didn't look in the least bit hostile. Jesse looked up at the banner. So this was Gryffindor? Hmm. Next to them were Hufflepuff and they just sat staring.

At the end of the hall, in front of the large windows at the end, on a large stage, sat the teachers at a long table. Straightening her back and stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, Jesse followed the ghost to the platform.

The teachers had stopped talking when she had walked into the hall and Jesse fought the urge to yell "Boo!" at them to see if they'd jump. Dumbledore stood up as she approached their table and opened his mouth to say something to her when the doors burst open.

In came the largest man Jesse had ever seen. It had to be Hagrid.

"Sorry I'm late!" he said in a rush, as he hurried through the doors "Had a little trouble with Fang-" And then he skidded to a stop.

It looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head as his jaw dropped, and those same eyes were staring at an amused Jesse. He blinked at her for a second, his mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish.

"Why, you're… you're…" he began to splutter before Sir Nick piped up from his hovering position in front of the teacher's platform.

"May I present Miss Jessica." And then Sir Nicholas did an over exaggerated bow, grabbed his head from where it had flopped forward and occupied himself with putting it back on straight as he floated away to the Gryffindor table.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, nodded at Hagrid and finished walking over to the teachers' table, all the while thinking 'I'm not going insane. I'm not going insane.'

"Hagrid, you are quite correct in your assessment- this is who you think she is." Dumbledore's tone of voice seemed to snap Hagrid out of his daze and he looked at his feet, embarrassed and obviously remembering that he had to be careful what he said about Jesse. "Er, right, er, Headmaster. Sorry 'bout that." And then he made his way up to the platform to sit in his seat behind the table.

Dumbledore turned back to Jesse. "Jessica? Have you come to a decision?"

"Well, that depends" Jesse replied bluntly, not removing her hands from her pockets.

"On?"

"On if you will agree to follow some rules."

"I believe that this is not the time to talk of such matter," Dumbledore replied, though thoughtfully, as if he hadn't thought that Jesse would need to make any. "Please, have some dinner."

And only then, did Jesse notice a small empty table sat next to the teachers platform away from the other tables.

Jesse looked between it and Dumbledore, wondering how he knew she would be there for dinner before shrugging, taking off her jacket and sitting down at it.

As soon as she sat down at the table, a plate and cutlery appeared as well as a goblet. Jesse stared at it. Back in her room, when her dinner was brought to her, it always seemed just what she wanted to eat- from Sunday dinners, to fish and chips.

Now however, the plate just sat empty in front of her. She looked back up at Dumbledore who was watching her with a little half smile.

"Just tell it what you want" he smiled.

Jesse looked out over the tables of students. Their food was all there, they just had to grab what they wanted. How come she had the actual choice? Oh, right. Super witch. Maybe they wanted to impress her?

"Um, a hamburger and fries, please- no mayo or onion." The food appeared out of nowhere on her plate and Jesse smiled as she took a big bite of hamburger. Just the way she liked it. She picked up her goblet, "Apple juice, please." Her cup filled to the rim with apple juice. Throwing her legs out in front of her, and slouching further down into her chair, Jesse attempted to get comfortable and began to eat, ignoring the open stares she was getting from teachers and students alike.

She was not even three bites into her hamburger when the ghosts approached. Sir Nick proudly took a position by her right hand side and leant down to whisper in her ear. Jesse forced herself to sit as still as possible.

"The others would like to meet you, is that alright? It's just it has been so long since one of your line has been here. We all remember you as an infant."

Jesse shivered at his close presence but shrugged it off with a "Fine, so long as they don't mind me eating."

Grinning from ear to ear, Sir Nick nodded and the ghosts floated forward and surrounded her on mass, each introducing themselves, telling her how honoured they were, how they all remembered her birth and how much like her mother she looked.

Jesse just smiled politely, answered their questions quietly, ate her dinner and tried to act like she wasn't feeling like she should be locked up in a padded room. She felt like she deserved an Oscar or something. Luckily, so far she hadn't been too freaked out and everything had gone pretty smoothly. Ever heard of Murphy's law? It was never far away in Jesse's life. She should've known that something would go wrong. She should've known it would be really bad in this place.

So, there she was, talking politely to a bunch of ghosts. So far, so good.

Suddenly, a shiver ran down her spine. If she'd had fur, it would've been stood on end and Jesse tensed. Something was wrong. She couldn't explain it, but she just knew, with every fibre of her being. She was absolutely certain that something bad was about to happen. Something was coming.

And then she heard it.

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Harry and his friends had not stopped watching the mysterious newcomer since she had arrived. Witnessing Hagrid's reaction to her and taking in her appearance, they all knew that she was the one Dumbledore had gone to retrieve.

The girl looked around 18 years old. She was short, around 5'4 and she wore the street clothes of muggles that Harry and Hermione were familiar with. Her dark- almost black hair was up in a sleek ponytail that made her almost fragile looking features stand out. Her dark brown eyes had curiously swept the whole hall, from the tables- Harry noted the raised eyebrow at the Slytherin table, to the ceiling. She'd ignored the giggles from some girls at Ravenclaw as they pointed at her clothes; and, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, she'd casually followed Nearly Headless Nick to the teachers platform, ignoring the whispers that followed.

"Gotta be her" Hermione muttered from his right and he and Ron both nodded.

The fact that the Ghosts had then surrounded her gave everyone the impression that she was a celebrity, though, from the whispers of other students, it was obvious that no one knew who she was.

About ten minutes later, the girl's head snapped up as they heard the doors bang open. Harry and the others ignored it, thinking it to be either Filch the caretaker or a student slamming the doors again.

The girl continued to watch the door, as if hearing something else. Frowning, she looked around her and then back to the doors. Then suddenly, muttering something to the ghosts, she stood up.

She moved quickly around the table, catching the teachers' attention as she began to walk between the two centre tables. Harry watched curiously as she walked past.

"Something's wrong" he murmured quietly and Hermione and Ron stopped eating.

The girl paused about halfway to the door and listened again.

"What's wrong?" Dumbledore called, a small frown forming on his overly lined forehead.

The girl held up her hand to silence the Headmaster and continued her walk to the doors. Silence began to fall on the hall as the teachers stood up, their eyes intently following the mystery girl as she moved away from them.

She reached the doors a minute later and stood for a second. Obviously listening intently. Frowning, she opened them silently, slipped out of them and closed the doors behind her.

The teachers exchanged a look of worry, something that did not go unnoticed by any of the students.

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What Jesse had heard was a bang, like the sound of doors being slammed open by something large. A few students had looked up at this but then went back to eating. It must've been a sound they heard regularly- probably when Hagrid entered the building.

The next sound she heard was a loud grating noise followed by a heavy sound, like thunder rumbling. Uncomfortably, Jesse was reminded of a scene from Jurassic Park. It sounded like extremely heavy footsteps. Strangely, no one had looked up at this.

She'd made her way to the doors. She knew curiosity killed the cat but she was no cat so she figured she had more of a chance at survival.

Closing the doors behind her Jesse took a deep breath- the bad feeling getting stronger. She tried to shrug it away and ignore it. It had to be nothing. She was being paranoid… right?

Turning around, Jesse was met with the sight of two large feet. Each was bigger than a small terrier and both were covered in what looked like brown sack-like material.

Slowly, Jesse looked up. And up. And up, into the face of a very disgusting looking creature. Nope. Not paranoid.

It looked down at her with uncomprehending eyes before it smiled showing rotting yellow teeth. Lifting it's hand, the same hand that held a gigantic club it growled down at her.

"Shit" Jesse sighed before she was knocked flying back through the doors.

There was a huge bang that echoed through the Great Hall as she flew through the doors to land painfully on the stone floor. The strength of the creature and her own body had forced the doors open to slam back against the walls. They slammed back into place leaving her gasping on the stone cold floor.

"Oh, crap," she muttered, wiping blood from her lip as the doors slammed open again.

She looked up and up until she reached it's eyes again and then she winced. "Just what I need." And then she dove out of the way as the massive club came crashing down again.

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A/N: Nope! I haven't forgotten my fanfics! See! points Once again, my computer decided it needed a break. sticks tongue out at computer It's a total pain in the arse. I haven't forgotten any of my other fics either. They are all under construction still- and uni and stuff is making it difficult to get them posted. They will be- I promise.

Riley: I'm glad you like my writing dude. There will be more in the future. And Draco? Nice? Blah. Not gonna happen. That would be just too easy now wouldn't it? grins But then, Jesse isn't exactly the most friendly of people either. Think bad boy meets girl with equal attitude. What do you get? Insults, fights, curses, and maybe a whole lot of something else…

VampireBunny1: Hehe, thank you! Yeah, I figured that with Jesse being from our world, it would make an interesting view point on things. Plus, it means she knows all about the bad guys etc.