Chapter 1 – Giliana Lenore
Giliana Lenore always kept to herself. She was quiet, but not shy. She did not talk to those around her, for she didn't care about other people's business. There was a dark aura about her, yet she was sensitive, and had a keen understanding of human emotions. She was cold, but not mean. Her blue-grey eyes glowed with the coldness of winter, and her long black hair was as soft as her sensitivity. Her skin was pale, and she had a soft and gentle face, with devastating features.
She was a muggle-born, originally from England, who moved to the USA, living there until she was 14. After she completed her 4th year at Salem Witchcraft Society, she moved back to England to attend Hogwarts for her remaining years.
"Attention Please," Said Dumbledore, as he walked into the Potions classroom. The noisy classroom of entering students slowly quieted down.
"I am proud to introduce a new student to all the 5th years. This is Giliana Lenore. She is in Slytherin. She just moved here from the United States, and was a student at Salem Witchcraft Society." His eyes twinkled. "She was number one in her class and is incredibly smart. She wants to specialize in potions, and so she will do very well in this class, I'm sure. I would like all of you to give her a warm welcome." The class stared at the new girl; she gleamed like a new crayon out of a box.
Scattered unenthusiastic "hellos" and exited "welcomes" filled the room. In the middle of the greetings from the students, Draco Malfoy let out a huge whistle, looked over at Crabbe and Goyle, and laughed arrogantly. He watched as Giliana took her seat two rows behind him. He was astounded by her gorgeous body and devastating face. He flashed a flirtatious smile at her, and then turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "I'm going to make her mine." He whispered while looking back at her; his eyes focused on her cleavage. Giliana noticed Draco's eyes on her, and she glared at him. Annoyed, Draco turned away, and continued to chat with his friends in his seat. Dumbledore stayed in the classroom for a few more minutes, talking to Snape, as the class talked amongst themselves.
Giliana just sat in her seat, staring at her new potions book, all her new supplies. She looked around the classroom. Across from her, she saw a boy with glasses, sitting to next to some red-haired boy, and some girl with long and messy hair, talking. The boy with the glasses had a lightning bold shaped scar on his forehead...It was Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. She had heard that he was going to Hogwarts now...but she never knew she would meet him, much less actually share a class with him. She was somewhat in awe at the sight of him. 15 year old Harry potter...
Dumbledore left the room, leaving Snape with his now-noisy classroom. This bothered him. He grabbed the heavy potions book, which had over 2,000 pages to it, and slammed it on the desk. The noisy classroom now had an eerie silence.
"Now that you are all quiet, we can finally do something useful with our time. Turn to page 659." The class groaned. Snape looked around the room for a student to put on the spot. His head stopped at a girl with short red hair, sitting with all the ravenclaws.
"Miss Black." Snape's face twisted in a sort of spiteful delight.
"Uhh--" Startled, the girl dropped her potions book, and quickly picked it up. Her pale cheeks blushed slightly, but she didn't seem too phased. She had been distracted with some sort of doodle. Biting her lip, she mumbled to herself and tore through the book trying to find the right page.
"Please read the page out loud," Snape sneered, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes upon the slightly clumsy redhead.
She turned the pages for about 30 more seconds, obviously taking her time.
"Anytime now, Miss Black." Snape looked absolutely annoyed. "Or is it in your nature to be so ridiculously slow?" A few snickers came from the Slytherin side, but were silenced when Todd gave them a quick glare, then finally came to the right page. She began to read aloud.
"Uh... ah-hah. The Wit-sharpening Potion. To make the witch or wizard's mind more clear and focused, during any given event. It is made out of..."The girl's voice drifted off as Giliana's mind wandered; she had already known of this potion. There was something about the girl reading that made her seem different from the others. She too, seemed independent, just the way Giliana was. Giliana sensed some sort of loneliness, and sorrow in her, and she wanted to know more about this girl.
"...lets the drinker become able to focus. There." She sat back in her chair, as if she had settled the matter.
Snape, however, didn't have time for Todd's antics at the moment. He was focused on Giliana.
"Miss Lenore, is it?" His upper lip twitched as he began a slow walk towards her table. "Do you think because you're new, you don't have to pay attention in my class?" He stopped, and crossed his arms, his black cloaks swayed slightly in his movements. "This is hardly a way to make a good impression."
Giliana's heart jumped. She froze. She looked up at Snape, his eyes narrowed. Everyone's eyes were on her now. She did not like getting all this attention.
She bit her lip, and replied, "Well, with all due respect sir, I already know a great deal about this potion."
Draco let out a "woh-ho-ho, a smart ass!" as he and some of the Slytherins whistled.
"Mr. Malfoy, order please." Snape covered his amusement with annoyance.
Snape sneered. "I don't care what you already know, Miss Lenore. This is my class, and you are required to pay attention. I'm sure Miss. Granger knows all about this potion as well." Almost on cue, the long haired girl sitting next to Harry potter had lowered her hand and turned bright red.
Snape then turned around and walked back towards the front, black robes trailing behind him. With a sharp move, he turned and faced the class once more.
"Since Miss. Lenore has insisted on wasting so much time, we will be getting into groups of three now." A murmur like bees started to rise in the room. "But, I will be choosing the groups." Taking out his wand, he gave it a flick, and with a cruel smile, he sat at his desk, as the names of those in groups were written magically on the blackboard. "I want a wit-sharpening potion by the end of class. Ingredients are there." He motioned to an open cabinet.
The class groaned, seeing their partners, the houses were mixed. Snape seemed to want to cause as much unhappiness as possible. They moved to their assigned tables.
"Well done Lenore." Draco said to Giliana sarcastically, as he went to sit with his partners, the girl with the messy long hair, and the boy with the red hair who sat next to Harry.
Giliana sat in her seat. Embarrassed and humiliated, she lifted her head up high, pretending not to care. She got up, and walked over to the board, to see who her partners were.
She read to herself, Giliana Lenore, Harry potter, and Todd Black. Harry Potter. She froze, remembering why he was famous. It gave her chills along her spine. Well, she knew who Harry potter was, but Todd black?
"Who is Todd black?" she said, staring at the board.
Todd was standing behind Giliana, reading as well. Her grey eyes looked knowingly at Giliana. "That..." She picked up her bag, for her seat was right next to the blackboard. "Would be me." She half smiled politely. "Looks like Harry's already at our table." Her eyes flickered with some sadness for a moment, but she remained cheerful. "Come on." She walked to the table Harry was at. Harry was blushing a little, but she didn't pay much attention to it.
"Mr. Weasley, those are for mashing, not throwing. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape shook his head in loathing as he watched Ron look dumbfounded at him, turn bright red, and sink down in his chair. Draco had obviously been egging on Ron.
Giliana followed Todd to their table. The two of the sat down and joined Harry.
"Hello Harry..." Said Giliana softly; she didn't know what to say to him. She looked over at Todd, seeking an introduction.
"Ey Harry." She put her bag down with a clunk on the table. Looking at Giliana, she smirked. "So, you're Giliana? Nice to meet you. This is Harry... which I'm sure you knew." She laughed teasingly. Sitting down, she got out the ingredients. "So, this is potions, obviously. Snape's a git... obviously. And he'll probably pick on you for a few weeks mostly, but he'll end up going back to either me or Harry eventually." Her silvery eyes now looked up from the table at Giliana.
"Snape doesn't bother me." Giliana's blank expression didn't change. "There are worse things than a strict teacher."
Todd looked surprised for a moment, but then her expression softened. "Yeah, I guess there are."
"I wish everyone else felt the same way you did. Snape is always trying to catch me doing something wrong..." Harry added, looking over at Snape in disgust. "Anyway, we should probably get started on this potion. I don't know about you two, but I really don't want to get on his bad side on the first week of school." Harry said, laying out the ingredients on the table.
Giliana stared at Draco with the messy-haired girl and the red-haired boy. She looked over at Todd and Harry in question. "Who are those two working with that Slytherin over there? And what's his name too?" She looked back at Draco and the other two.
"Those would be Harry's friends. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger... and that little jackass is Draco Malfoy." She opened the book to the right page, and took the armadillo bile and poured it in the already boiling water in the cauldron. "Sad to say, he's a distant relative of mine..." She shrugged, almost finding it amusing.
"Here Todd, I'll put in the scarab beetles for you." Harry blushed as he took the scarab beetles from in front of Todd, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh, thanks." She looked puzzled for a moment, but then went back to her normal slightly content expression.
Giliana kept looking at Draco, Ron, and Hermione. She watched how Draco insisted on putting in the ingredients in the wrong order, which would completely ruin the potion. Hermione argued with him to do it in the proper order, while Ron was sitting there with an angry expression on his face. "How come Draco doesn't like them?" She asked Todd and Harry.
Todd looked up at Harry knowingly with an amused expression. "Well." She put down the ginger roots that she was tearing, and handed them to Harry. "He's what you'd call a pureblood, right? And Purebloods usually think they're better than everyone else. Also, Ron and Hermione are in Gryffindor, and the worst sort of Slytherins automatically hate Gryffindors." She looked up at Giliana, brushing a stay strand of red hair out of her eyes. "Not that I'm suspecting you to start beating up Harry or anything." She winked.
"No, I'd rather not waste my time beating up someone for no reason." She said, with the same blank expression, only with a slight smile on her face that was hard to notice. "I guess I'm not like most Slytherins." She said, looking at Harry and Todd.
With most of his attention on making the potion, Harry stopped and looked over at Todd. "Uh, Todd, I forgot what to do with the ginger Roots, could you please show me?" He asked, a little hopeful that she would help him.
"I could help you with that." Giliana said, looking over at Harry. Harry stopped and looked at Giliana, slightly disappointed.
"Erm...You could?"
"Yes, adding the ginger roots is probably the hardest part in making a Wit-sharpening potion." She showed him how to do it, giving him exact instructions as she went along. Harry was impressed at how smart she was, she knew even more than Hermione. He was also surprised that she wasn't being funny when she told Snape she already knew how to make the potion.
"There, do you understand how to do it now?" Giliana asked Harry, taking her attention off the potion and looking at him.
"Yes...thank you." He said, still a bit disappointed.
"No problem." She said, and for the first time, Todd and Harry noticed that Giliana smiled.
Todd smiled back at Giliana, and watched their potion turn from a dark brown to a green.
"Now, we're supposed to turn it three times clockwise, and..." Suddenly a small explosion happened at Neville's table. Snape rushed over and cleaned it up, annoyed.
"Mr. Longbottom, I thought that your partners would keep you from picking up the wrong kind of roots. Maybe your stupidity is enough to overshadow the entire table." Todd paused, frowned, then looked back at them.
"Then, twice counterclockwise..." She picked up a large metal spoon and did so. The potion's smoke turned a very light blue.
"That Longbottom person doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. Maybe I can go and give him a hand." Giliana paused to think.
"Ah, not worth it." She bit her lip for a moment. "Snape'll have your head. Neville will be alright. He's got Hermione whispering him instructions now." She watched the potion, and turned off the heat, as the instructions said. "You seem to know a lot about potions, Giliana. I'm impressed." She smirked. "I am, however, an expert at some potions... bet I could beat you there." She teased.
"Heh, I really wouldn't care if you could. It just comes naturally to me. I know so much about potions, I could probably teach the class myself. But I'm sure Snape wouldn't like that." She smiled at Todd, the kind of smile where one's teeth don't show.
"Ahh, our potion is finished. It's just at the right color too. You two did well." She flashed the same smile at the both of them.
"You're pretty good at potions too Todd." Harry smiled a little smug at Todd, slightly blushing.
"Haha..." She smiled at them. "Ey, you aren't so bad yourselves. I'm just following the book, only a few potions I'm a true master at..." She pretended to brag.
"And what" Snape suddenly said from behind the table. "Would those be, Miss. Black?" He said her name in disgust, remembering her father. "Your potions are barely ever passing in this class. I'm curious."
"Err." She sat up straight. "That would be the Wolfsbane potion, professor." Her eyes sparkled with mischief.
Snape looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but then continued his usual glare at her. "Ah, yes. You'd know all about that one, wouldn't you?" As if he wanted to change the subject, he looked into the cauldron. "This potion.." he seemed as if he was searching for something wrong. "...is barely satisfactory. How pathetic." He smirked evilly at Harry and Giliana. He then turned and walked to another table.
Giliana's eyes widened. She suddenly felt resentment for Snape creeping in on her.
"How can that be! I've made these so many times...I can do it in the dark if I wanted to...it's been done perfectly..." She looked at Todd in shock.
"Oh, he knows it's good. He's just trying to be difficult." She seemed to wave it off like it was everyday stuff... which it was. "We'll pass just fine, he just won't like it when we do."
"Okay. Time's up. Take a vial and fill it with a sample of your... concoction and bring it to me. After that, class is dismissed." "Who wants to face the beast this time?" She packed up her books, filling the vial with some of the potion, and waved her wand at the cauldron, making the goop disappear.
"I'll go. I want him to remember that I was in the group that made the best potion." Giliana said very determined.
"Heh, alright…good luck." She stood and watched Giliana.
"You don't need to wish me good luck you know...it's not like I'm walking into my own coffin." Giliana said to Todd, with a serious look on her face, slightly smiling through the seriousness.
"You'd be surprised with Snape." She grinned, loosening her silver and blue tie.
"Heh, we'll see. I'll meet you in the great hall, okay?"
"Alright." Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she waved at Harry and began to file out with other members of the class.
Harry blushed, and waved back, his eyes stuck on her as Hermione tried to get his attention as they walked out of the classroom.
Snape sat at his desk, floating the vials to their appropriate slots. Giliana was the last one to turn her potion in. Instead of giving it to Snape, she took her wand and floated her vial to its appropriate spot herself. Snape watched, and looked up.
"Miss Lenore, from now on do as I instruct. Do not take the initiative to show off again." He grumbled. With another wave of his wand, things around the room went to their proper places.
"I was just giving you a hand as seeing you've got more important things to do." She said to him, pretending to be in a good mood, and trying not to be bothered by him.
...Right." He sneered, rather nasally, and watched her, his lip curled. "Go away, please." Despite the please, there was no politeness in his voice.
Giliana ignored him asking her to leave, and walked over to the vials. She looked at each of them carefully.
"This one, right here." She was looking at Malfoy, Hermione, and Ron's Vial.
"What do you think of this potion Professor?"
Snape couldn't believe it. What the heck was this girl doing? His eyes twitched with annoyance.
"It's sloppy, no doubt due to Mr. Weasley's impatience, but it turned out almost satisfactory, thanks to Miss. Granger's last minute attempts. Why do you care?"
"Well Professor, I was just going to say, that if you did think it was good, then you would be very wrong. Its color is too dark, and that means that they added the ginger roots too soon." She continued to look at the vials carefully.
Snape stood up.
"Please leave, Miss Lenore, before things get not so pleasant." He almost was baring his teeth, he was fed up, even though she knew her stuff... it was annoying, her putting him in his place like that.
"Alright Professor, I see my presence is displeasing to you, so I shall leave. I'm sorry that I enjoy making potions so much." She went back to her seat, where all her books were layed out. She took out her wand and floated them into her bag. She looked back at Snape.
Snape watched her, his annoyance faded, and he sighed, sitting back down and putting his head on his hand. "Yes, yes. Run along."
Giliana smiled, somehow satisfied from Snape's discomfort. She looked away, and walked out the door, not looking back.
Snape rolled his eyes, and thought to himself: 'They get cockier every year... Even if they're easy on the eyes.'
