Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize, but the plot's all mine……well sort of!

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A/n: I am so sorry for the lack of updates. My A-level finals start from the 18th of October and continue until 23rd of November!

And I've also got the Mock exams from the 6th to 16th September! I've been busy studying for my "8" credits, so there was really no time to think about and write a new chapter.

I've been working on this chapter for quite a few days now and there'll probably be no more updates until my Mocks finish- sorry, but my college admissions depend on my mocks result.

I promise I'll never abandon the story…even if I stop getting reviews.

And talking about reviews, thanks to all those who reviewed and to those who read but didn't bother reviewing. No worries, because I do that all the time too. Nasty habit I know…but since I now understand how good it feels if your work is appreciated, I think I'll stop that nasty habit of mine.

To FURRY: Your advice is much appreciated, but you'll have to wait to see what I'll do about Ginny. I might make Ginny the way you want, but I might not either. And I also want to thank you for inspiring me to write a fan fiction, even though you yourself abandoned your story before even posting it. Thank You!

On to the story………

The New Boy

Time at the Burrow flew by so quickly that before anyone knew it, the Holidays were over and it was time for the new school year. The incident with Draco Malfoy was a distant memory. Although there was not much for the youngsters to do other than household chores and the frequent visits to Diagon alley, especially to the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan's joke shop "WeasLee's Wizarding Wheezes", Harry felt this was one of the best holidays of his life, lesser to only other earlier holidays spent at the Burrow and Christmas time at Hogwarts.

"Ron. Harry. Wake up. You'll be late."

The boys woke up to Mrs. Weasley's loud voice on the morning of the 1st of September. After scrambling out of bed a total of fifteen minutes later, they washed up, wore clean robes and hurried down to the kitchen for breakfast. This particular morning on the school day was a lot less chaotic than Harry remembered, obviously owing to the lack of the twin troublemakers.

Down in the kitchen Harry grabbed the abandoned Daily Prophet before settling down in his chair. Recently a wizarding school in Ireland, "The Maple Institute of Magic" had been attacked by unknown deatheaters while the school was in session. But thankfully, except for a few teachers no one was seriously injured although the school was destroyed completely.

"Harry the paper is not going to run away. You can read it after you're done with your breakfast" Hermione admonished the messy haired boy.

"I just wanted to know if they'd found anything about the deatheaters who attacked that school" Harry defended himself but he did put the paper down.

"Well did you know some of the Maple students are joining Hogwarts? Professor McGonagall sent me a note this morning about that along with the list of my Head Girl duties. Some of them will be with us in seventh year."

"Whoa! Do you think any one of them will be sorted in Gryffindor, or Slytherin for that matter?" Ron was unusually excited.

"Why? You want someone new to flirt with?" Harry asked snorting.

"Hey! I do not flirt with everyone" the red haired boy replied, clearly disgruntled.

"Oh yes dear brother. You manage to flirt with every girl except me". This was one of the few times Ginny spoke up in Harry's presence.

"Hah! I do not flirt with Hermione either" Ron pointed out. At this Harry nearly choked on his bacon and risked a glance at said girl whose lips were set in a thin straight line. Hermione clearly did not like where this conversation was headed so she quickly interrupted.

"Come on. Finish off your breakfast, or we will miss the train." At this, Harry smirked at her and was granted with a death glare, one which went unnoticed by the red haired boy.

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After being hugged goodbye by the senior Weasley's the four got on the train just before it started to move. Ginny went to look for her friends whereas the three seventh years walked the familiar corridors towards their usual compartment. The other students usually left their compartment to themselves- not that they'd mind getting into another one but this was one of the perks of being popular seniors. But this time there already was a boy seated in there. He looked to be about their age and was quite good looking with black silky hair that framed his slightly dark face and fell in his bluish grey eyes. He turned to look at the door when it opened and widened his eyes slightly in recognition when he spotted Harry. Although Harry would have become slightly irritated at this gesture other times, he was far busier checking the other handsome boy out to notice.

"Hello. Do you mind if we sit here?" Hermione nudged Harry before she politely asked the other boy at which he nodded his assent. Ron had a knowing smirk plastered in his face.

"Looks like somebody's got a crush." He softly whispered in Harry's ear in a sing song tone, at which the bespectacled boy rolled his eyes, although there was a tint of red in his face.

"I'm Hermione, Head Girl and they are Ron and Harry. We haven't seen you here before. Are you a new student?" Hermione was in her full Head Girl mode.

"Yeah", the boy replied. "My names…"

But before he could speak any more their door was thrown open and they all turned their heads to see Draco Malfoy, surprisingly without his cronies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well. Look who it is. Potty, Mudblood and Weasel. And there I was, wishing you'd fail to grace us with your presence this year." He smirked at the three Gryffindors who only rolled their eyes at this old jibe. They waited for him to continue with a bored expression in their face but to their surprise he turned towards the new boy and nodded at him.

"Gabriel"

"Hello Draco"

"What are you doing here with these filthy Gryffindorks? Come along. Wouldn't want you catching some disease from them now, would we?" He smirked at the trio and left before anyone could retort.

The new boy Gabriel stood up and gathered his belongings and followed the blonde but not before apologizing to Harry and his friends for Malfoy's behaviour.

"I'm sorry about that. He can be a real git sometimes." He left the three surprised Gryffindors with an apologetic smile in his face.

"Whoa. Did he just apologize to us? And he seems friendly with that slimy Slytherin!"

"Oh come on Harry. Just because he knows Malfoy doesn't mean he has to be evil like him." Hermione it seemed had recovered from her surprise quite quickly. "And he must be one of the Maple students. Probably in sixth or seventh year"

The rest of the train ride passed without any incident. Hermione had to leave soon after Gabriel's departure to do her Head girl duties and the two boys spent the rest of the train ride playing chess and eating the various goodies from the food cart.

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"Welcome to all the students, old and new to this new year at Hogwarts. This year in addition to the first years, some other students in higher years will be joining us too. They have come from "the Maple Institute of Magic" and as their school was attacked the previous month, they will be continuing their studies here. I request all the students to make them feel at home. Let the Sorting begin"

After Dumbledore's speech, McGonagall led the nervous new students in the Great Hall and began the sorting ceremony after the sorting hat's song. The forty five first years were the one to be sorted first and then it was the turn of the Maple Students. There were only a total of six students, Gabriel among them.

McGonagall called the first student on her roster, along with their year.

"3rd year: Anderton, Richard"

"Ravenclaw"

"5th year: Samson, Abigail"

"Hufflepuff"

"5th year: Varnes, Amy"

"Ravenclaw"

"6th year: Brown, Randolph"

"Ravenclaw"

"7th year: Barnes, Anne"

"Gryffindor"

This was the first Gryffindor among the six new students and she was heartily greeted by the whole table. Harry, Ron and Hermione politely greeted the girl before turning their attention to the last student. He was the one the trio were the most interested in.

The boy stepped up the platform just after McGonagall called his name.

"Black, Gabriel"

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So, did you like it? Chocolates to anyone who guesses correctly who this Gabriel Black is………

And which house do you think he'll be sorted in?

Comments? Criticisms? Questions? Please review! Even if it to say you've read my story!