Always Late

by Pokahydee

HP SM, After being discovered late, Usagi is going to need help from the wizarding world to catch up to the students her age. Between lessons and detentions, Usagi barely has time for her secret lessons with the goldeneyed boy.

3. Chapter 2 Classes

Always Late

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi and Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I do not own the characters or anything, but the plot belongs to me. Please don't copy my story, I've put a lot of work into this story and I don't necessarily want to see it duplicated elsewhere, it's depressing to me.

Note: This story started out as a one-shot for Sailor Ronin Usa-chan's Mentor thing she had going on her site, but it's quickly turned into a multi-chapter story. Anyway, I don't really have many comments to make except that I don't generally read stories in the Sailor Moon, Harry Potter genre so I don't really know the cliché's and whatnot so please don't accuse me of writing a cliché story or whatever because I'm uninformed about the trends that run around that section.

Thoughts are 'italicized'
Dream Sequences are 'italicized' (thoughts in dreams aren't)
olloollo Change of scene, time, etc…

Chapter 2 - Classes

Usagi let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding as she approached the table. She walked over to the table and sat down next to a girl who looked to be a year older than she. Usagi didn't say anything through the rest of the sorting and clapped politely when the last person was sorted.

"You seem a bit old for a first year." The pretty girl who sat next to Usagi said as she turned her attention to Usagi.

"My powers developed late so I just received a letter last year." Usagi explained as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. It felt weird being paired with children who were so much younger so she felt slightly out of place.

"Oh, I see," The girl said thoughtfully. "My name is Hannah Abbott 4, how was it your name was pronounced?"

"Usagi." Usagi said as she enunciated the syllables slowly so Hannah could get a feel for the name.

"It's nice to meet you, Usagi. I'll help you get around to some of your classes if you'd like." She offered with a smile as she took Usagi's hand and shook it gently. A small smile spread across Usagi's face and she nodded her head.

"I would like that, Hannah-san." Usagi said politely as the smile remained on her face. 'Maybe this won't be so bad.' Usagi thought to herself as she continued to smile. It didn't seem that all Europeans were rude and uncouth like that Malfoy boy from the train. Not that Usagi expected them to be it had merely been nerves that caused her to feel that way. It seemed Hannah was about to say something else, but went silent as the headmaster rose from his place at the faculty table.

"To all or our new comers, welcome!" Dumbledore said as he stretched his arms out to the side and proceeded to turn in a welcoming manner along all of the tables. "To our old hands, welcome back. There is a time for speech, but this is not it. Tuck in!" He said and returned to his seat.

"Tuck in?" Usagi questioned but nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise as the golden dishes in front of her magically filled with food. "Sugoi…" Usagi said as her eyes bugged out in delight. "I don't think I've ever seen food like this… It looks so good!" Usagi said as she began to fill her plate with all manners of different foods that were near enough for her to reach. She didn't notice the boys across the table staring at her as she sampled this and finished off that.

"Do you always eat like that?" A boy sitting across the table from Usagi asked. Usagi looked up and had the decency to blush.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Usagi said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment as she pushed her plate back from the table.

"Where does it all go? You're so thin, but you eat like that all the time?" Hannah asked as she looked over at Usagi with wide eyes. There were a few girls sitting close to Hannah who had similar looks of shock on their faces.

"I guess I have, umm… high metabolism?" She said as she struggled with the strange word. She had heard Haruka say something about metabolism or something before and she only hoped she had used the word correctly.

"I guess you do, huh?" Hannah said as she giggled lightly.

"Did I say something weird?" Usagi questioned as she felt a slight blush touching her face. "I wasn't sure if that was the right word."

"It was the right word, don't worry, Usagi." Hannah said with a smile. "Anyway, dinner is almost over. Once Dumbledore does his welcoming speech, we'll head up to the dormitories." Usagi turned back to the table and grabbed a cloth napkin from the table. She began to take bits of this and that and tucked it safely inside the napkin.

"What's that for?" Hannah asked as she saw Usagi wrapping up some of the sweets and some fish in a napkin.

"Hmm? Oh, it's for my cat, Luna." Usagi said with a smile as she held them on her lap. She didn't dare tuck them into her robes, which incidentally, were still sopping wet. She didn't want Luna to yell at her because her treats were smashed or soggy. Usagi turned her attention to the front table as the silver-haired man stood and began to speak. He introduced a woman called Professor Umbridge who was going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Usagi couldn't help but think the woman looked somewhat like a huge frog who had a large pink bow perched on its head. She had piggy little eyes and an annoyingly smug smile on her face. The students were all listening intently to Dumbledore; Usagi included, when the same woman cleared her throat loudly effectively interrupting Dumbledore's welcoming speech.

"Can you believe that woman?" Hannah whispered quietly, but loud enough for Usagi to hear. "I can't believe she interrupted Professor Dumbledore…"

"I don't like the looks of her…" Usagi said slowly as her eyes returned to the woman who was rattling on about something Usagi didn't even attempt to listen to the mindless dribble that kept pouring from her mouth. Usagi felt her eyes drooping when the woman finally finished her speech and hurriedly wiped the drool from her face that had dripped out during the lecture.

"What a boring woman…" Hannah murmured beside Usagi. She received a nod of reply from Usagi as she snapped back to reality. With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore dismissed the students and there was a rush as people jumped from their seats and began to exit the great hall.

"First years! This way, follow me!" A fifth year boy said as he put his hand in the air so the first years knew where to go. "The Hufflepuff dormitories are this way." He said as he began to walk toward the exit. Usagi noted a pretty girl whom looked about fifth year bringing up the rear so they didn't lose any first years.

"I'm a prefect so I'll show you the fastest way to our dormatories." Hannah said as she motioned to a badge with a P on it pinned to the front of her robes. "He's going to take the front, I'll follow behind, all right?" Usagi nodded with a small smile and stood up next to Hannah.

"This is the fastest way to our dormitories." The fifth year boy at the front said loudly over the low murmur of the students as they admired the inside of the hallways. Usagi's eyes bulged out of her head and her mouth dropped open when she looked at the paintings that hung on the walls. In Muggle households, pictures didn't move. They were merely snapshot of events that had happened in the past. Instead of the stagnant photos she was used to, the people in the paintings were moving. Not only that, but also some of them were speaking as the First Years passed, welcoming them to Hogwarts. There was even a person who looked like a stereotypical witch who was going from painting to painting whispering something into the ear of the painting's occupants.

Usagi's eyes trailed over the tall ceilings and suits of armor as she descended a flight of uneven stairs. She gasped and lost her balance as her foot sunk deep into one of the steps. She fought back tears as the edges of the trick step bit into her stuck leg.

"Oh! I'm sorry Usagi! You didn't hear him tell you to jump that step, are you all right?" Hannah asked as she grabbed Usagi's arm and with the help of another first year boy, they pulled Usagi from the step.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Usagi said as a blush touched her cheeks and she found herself giggling slightly nervously. "Thank you for helping me, I'm Usagi." She said as she stepped up onto the same step as the first year boy. He smiled slightly and put out his hand for her to shake it.

"Evan." He said as Usagi grasped his hand with uncertainty. He saw the look of confusion on her face and shook her hand up and down slightly.

It was a long walk, full of twists and turns. Every now and then, their prefect would lead them down a secret passage that was hidden behind a tapestry on the wall, or tell them to jump over another trick step. They even passed a little man called Peeves that their prefect said was a poltergeist and liked to cause trouble. He also told them not to get caught in the hallways by Mrs. Noris or Filch, the caretaker because they would be facing detention for sure. He even took them through an area that was pitch-black and he had to light up the tip of his wand for anyone to be able to see at all. Usagi noted that they seemed to be going down an endless amount of stairs, as if they were descending into the core of the earth itself. After what seemed like an hour, their prefect paused in front of a portrait of a stately man wearing a crown and very a fancy cloak of fur draped over his shoulders.

"Password?" The figure in the painting said as he shifted his position slightly.

"Hungarian horntail." The prefect said and with a slight smile and a wave of the staff in his hand, the portrait swung forward to reveal a darkened passageway with light filtering through at the end. "Follow me now. The boys dormitories are down the stairs on the right, the girls are up the stairs on the left. Your things will have already been brought to your room so you may begin to unpack."

Usagi walked into the room and drew in a sharp breath. She had walked into a sort of lounge with squashy armchairs, tables that already had a few older students who were playing wizard chess, and a large fireplace with a blazing fire crackling merrily away. 'Maybe I should have read that book…' Usagi thought slowly as she tried to take in everything in the room. All of the woodworks as well as the tables were intricately carved with different designs that curled around like smoke on the wood. Not only that, but large tapestries with silver and gold threads glimmered from their places on the walls and seemed to tell the stories of the defeat of famous Dark wizards dressed in black with snakes and spiders wrapped around their shoulders or legs.

"Are you Usagi?" A small voice questioned. Usagi looked down at a blond first year student and a small smile touched her lips as she nodded. "You're in our room, I'll show you where." She said and with a small smile headed up the stairs with Usagi following her. Usagi tightened the blanket around her shoulders and thought longingly of her nice dry clothes in her trunk. She was mostly dry by this point, but she was still chilled to the bone. She wanted to warm herself in front of the fire, but it was best that she change first. She followed the girl up the steps and down a long hallway with doors on either side. They went nearly to the end of the hallway and the small girl disappeared through the doorway. Usagi followed and looked around in amazement once more. She stood in a large round room with five, four-poster beds set about in a circle with a bay window between each of them.

"Sugoi…" Usagi mumbled as she spotted her trunk at the end of the bed in the very center of the room. Her trunk was very easy to identify, it had stickers of bunnies all over it and her name was written in elegant pink letters on the lid in both Japanese and English (something that Michiru had insisted on doing). She glanced at her bed and saw Luna sitting on her pillow staring straight at her. "Oh, here you go, Luna-chan." Usagi said in Japanese as she laid out the small bundle for the cat. She opened the napkin and separated some of the sweets so Luna could enjoy them each separately. She brought out another small one that had an assortment of fish and chicken on it.

"Are you sure you should be giving your cat that? I heard it wasn't good to give cats anything sweet or chocolate." The blond girl who sat on the bed next to her reading stated.

"It's all right," Usagi said with a smile as Luna mewed in gratitude and rubbed her face against Usagi's hand in true cat fashion. "She loves sweets, she can eat more sweets than I can at times." Usagi said as a sweatdrop slid down her forehead. She glanced down at the cat and saw the glare she was receiving from her 'mentor'. She laughed inwardly, Luna couldn't yell at her as long as the other girls were in the room so she could say anything she wanted. "Although I must say she's been getting a lot bigger around the middle." This time Usagi felt a pair of teeth sink into her hand instead of the piece of fish on the napkin. "Itai! Luna-chan! Hidoi!" She cried as tears filled her eyes and she shook her hand.

"I don't think she likes when you call her fat." The little girl who had led Usagi to the dorm room said with a giggle. "She's very pretty. That's a really strange mark on her forehead, though. I've never seen a cat like that."

"She has a bald spot there," Usagi explained as she refrained from strangling the cat. "That's why she's named Luna, because of the shape of the bald spot."

"Where did you get her? Did you get her on Diagon Alley?" The girl asked as she sat down on Usagi's bed and began to pet the cat while she ate her treats.

"No, I've had Luna for several years now. She's one of my best friends." Usagi said with a smile. "Even if she is a little annoying and bossy at times."

"Bossy?" The girl questioned as she raised her eyebrow slightly.

"Aa… She'll start to meow and bother me until I do what it is she wants." Usagi said as a sweatdrop slid down her face at her slight slip-up. She had almost slipped on her first evening there. Usagi rose from her bed and dropped the sopping blanket to the floor. She peeled off the sopping robes and stood in her old school uniform that was still dripping slightly. The blanket had soaked up most of the water off of her Hogwarts robes, but her uniform underneath was still as wet as ever. She shivered as she walked to the end of her bed and began to dig through her trunk for her fuzzy pink pajamas. She quickly pulled on her pajamas and then dug out one of her winter kimonos and pulled it on over in order to warm herself more quickly.

"Usagi-chan, you should get to sleep, you've had a busy day." A familiar voice whispered in her ear as Usagi snuggled into the blankets of her four-poster bed. Usagi nodded in reply to Luna and yawned loudly before she pulled the curtains closed around her bed.

olloollo

Usagi awoke the next morning to a loud screeching noise and the feeling of claws digging into her skin. She sat straight up and screamed in pain as tears stung her eyes.

"Luna! That was mean!" Usagi sobbed as she rubbed the scratches on her arms. The cat sat in Usagi's lap and glared up at her.

"Oh, you're awake. We tried to wake you up, but we couldn't." The little girl from the previous night said as she peeked her head inside of the closed curtains. "You had better hurry or you'll be late for class. You've already missed breakfast so I brought some back for you."

"Eh! It's that late already!" Usagi cried as she pushed the cat off her lap and ripped the curtains open. She ran to her trunk and began to throw clothes out of it, looking for her school robes. She pulled out her schedule as she hopped around the room pulling her sock on with a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth. "Why am I always late!" She whined as she grabbed a bag packed with books and followed the small girl out of the room, chewing on her toast at the same time.

"We have Transfiguration first. We had better hurry or we'll be late. That Professor McGonagall looked strict." The girl said as she and Usagi sprinted down the hallways through throngs of students going in every direction.

"Do you know where the classroom is?" Usagi questioned as she tried not to lose the small girl in the crowd. It was a little bit tough because she was so short Usagi could barely see her over the heads of other students headed to their classes.

"Yeah, I asked one of the upper-classman for directions to the class so they wrote them down and drew me up a map." She explained as she nearly tripped over one of the older students who pushed past her rudely. "We're almost there."

"What's your name, anyway?" Usagi questioned as she pushed past a student who looked like a second year so she could stay close to her guide.

"Daphne Lee 5." She explained as she looked down at the map in her hands once more. "And you're Usagi, right? The new exchange student." Usagi blushed slightly.

"Yeah, I'm from Japan." Usagi said and nearly fell over Daphne as she stopped suddenly.

"Here it is! Transfiguration!" Daphne said as she walked through the open door and into the room. Usagi followed her into the room and they sat a table right in the back of the classroom. Usagi recognized a few of the people from her own house, but most of the others looked unfamiliar to her. "Made it just in time…" Daphne said quietly as the two girls sat there panting and breathing heavily. Usagi recognized Professor McGonagall as the teacher who had done the sorting the previous night and felt her body go rigid. She was glaring darkly at a pair of boys who had just walked through the door even though class had technically already started.

"If you do not want to lost points, it would do well for you to arrive to class on time." McGonagall said as she stared sternly at the two boys who flinched and fidgeted under her gaze. "Now, transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. If there is any goofing off, you will be asked to leave and not return." She said as she sent another glance toward the two boys who could be heard whispering to themselves. "Is there something the two of you would like to share with the class? I am not the type of teacher who won't take points from my own house." She said and the whispering stopped immediately. "Now, for an example." She turned toward a large cage in the corner of the room, said something quietly and it changed into a pink flamingo.

"Sugoi…" Usagi breathed as her eyes bugged out of her head. Ever since she had found out she was a witch, she still hadn't seen much magic. When she fought as Sailor Moon, it wasn't quite the same as seeing a huge cage turn into a living, breathing bird. Usagi could hear people whispering excitedly as they watched McGonagall change the bird back into a cage.

"You will be starting off small. As you can see, Transfiguration is the ability to cage one thing into another. Now, write this down and when we are finished taking notes, we will be changing matches into needles." McGonagall said as she pointed her wand toward a blackboard at the front of the room and words began to appear across it. Usagi struggled to read the big looping letters on the board. Being still relatively new to the language and the fact that she hadn't seen many different peoples' handwriting, she had to concentrate exceptionally hard in order to understand them. Not only that, but they were very complex and confusing.

"Does this look like a needle to you?" Daphne asked Usagi as she held up a silver shard. It was jagged and did not have the eye for the thread to go through.

"Erm… It's kind of like a needle, I guess." Usagi said as she looked slightly uneasy. Her own match was more elongated and pointy and even had a bulge at one end where the eye of the needle should go, but it was still made of wood. "Mine's not much better." She said as he held up the wooden 'toothpick'.

"Now, I want you all to practice on your matches and we will continue transfiguring matches to needles the next class." Professor McGonagall announced at the end of the class period. Usagi rose from her desk and sighed heavily. She rose from her seat and walked toward the door when McGonagall's voice broke into her thoughts, "Miss Tsukino, I would like to speak with you for a moment. I will give you a note for you next class."

"Yes, Professor?" Usagi asked as she blushed slightly. She didn't think she had done too badly in her first class so she couldn't understand why she was asked to stay over.

"It seems you have done very well on your first day of class. I have to ask you, though," Professor McGonagall paused for a moment as if in thought for how to word something. "Are you having trouble understanding English writing?" Usagi blinked in slight surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. She had been expecting to be told that she didn't have enough magic to be able to continue the class and was going to be sent home.

"Oh… well, a little I guess. I'm not used to seeing your handwriting yet and I'm better with reading print than cursive." Usagi said as she blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Professor. I'll ask Daphne-chan for the notes that I missed."

"Hmm…" Professor McGonagall was thinking to herself and then seemed to reach a conclusion. "All right then. I must speak to Miss Granger, but I think she will be able to tutor you with your English cursive."

"Hermione-san?" Usagi questioned in slight surprise.

"Ah, so you have met Miss Granger? Very good, I will speak to her after her class today. Here's your note, run along to your next class." Professor McGonagall said as she handed a sealed envelope to Usagi. "Just give it to your teacher and make sure you practice transfiguring your match for the next class."

"Hai, McGonagall-sensei!" Usagi said as a smile spread across her lips and she nearly jumped into the air. "Ah! I'm sorry! I forgot, thank you, Professor McGonagall." Usagi said as she bowed and blushed slightly. She had slipped and used Japanese a few times already in the day she had been there, but she hadn't done so in front of a teacher yet.

"Very good, off you go." Professor McGonagall said as a small smile touched her lips. The blond girl might be older than the rest of her peers, but at least she seemed enthusiastic about her schooling.

olloollo

"Professor Bins…" Usagi said as she looked down at the schedule in her hands as she walked down the hallways. They were empty of students and Usagi could hear lectures and chanting going on from classrooms as she walked passed open doors. "History of Magic…" She murmured as she looked from one side of the hallway to the other. She finally sighed in defeat and dropped her arms to her side. "I have no clue where that is…"

"What are you doing in the hallway, mudblood?" A drawling voice questioned from behind Usagi. She turned around and saw the boy with white-blond hair from the train, now snake and tentacle free. "Is the little first year lost?" He questioned mockingly as he fake-pouted at her.

"I'm all right…" Usagi lied as she lifted her head up and returned the glare she was receiving.

"Hmm… What shall I do with the little first year in the hallway when she shouldn't be? I'm a prefect so of course, I won't get in trouble for walking the halls, you, on the other hand…" He trailed off and a smirk spread across his lips as he took a few steps toward her.

"I have a note from Professor McGonagall. She asked me to stay after class." Usagi explained as she held up the sealed envelope for Draco to see. The boy sneered as he saw the Gryffindor crest and McGonagall's signature on the outside of the letter.

"Is the mudblood failing out already? Good… it looks like I won't have to help you out, then." He said with that arrogant smirk on his face. Usagi's cheeks turned pink as she bowed at the waist quickly and began to head down the hallway. She didn't want to say something that would get her into trouble on her first day of classes. Usagi had to force herself to ignore him when, in reality, she wanted to turn around and say something to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face. She noted vaguely that he was following her and quickened her pace. She could hear his steps quicken as well. She turned a corner and spun around angrily.

"Why are you following me!" She demanded as she spun around to see a boy with white-blond hair standing in front of her. She blinked a few times in the dim light and a small gasp came from her. "Eh? Elios? What are you doing here?" Indeed, the white-haired, golden-eyed boy stood before her.

"Come along, hime. I will show you to your class." Elios said as he extended his hand for Usagi to take. Usagi smiled slightly and took his hand. He gently kissed the back of her hand and began to lead her along the corridors.

"Thank you, Elios." Usagi said as she smiled at his back. He led her through numerous hallways and up various staircases. She was, again, frightfully confused because the interior of the castle seemed to change. The staircases had been different the previous night and she had spent time peering over the edge of the staircases, trying to memorize the way to the classroom. "Ne? Why are you here?" She questioned as they walked through a small corridor that was hidden behind a tapestry.

"You looked like you needed a little help." Elios said as he smiled back at her and continued to pull her along behind him. They came out the other side and turned left and walked down about 100 feet. He paused in front of a door on the right side of the hallway and turned to smile at Usagi. "Here is you classroom. If you need any help, call me with this." He said as a small oval pendant appeared in her hands on a silver chain.

"Sugoi… it's beautiful…" Usagi said as she ran a finger over the shiny pink stone set in the center of the pendant.

"You had best hurry, they class started ten minutes ago." Elios said as Usagi looked back up at him. She smiled and hugged him quickly before she pulled the letter from her pocket and pushed the door open to the classroom.

olloollo

Usagi sat at the lunch table next to Hannah and Daphne while she shoveled food into her mouth. The boys across the table were staring at her in shock again as she cleared one platter after another.

"I thought I was going to die in that History of Magic class." Daphne whined as she took a bite of her apple pie. "Do you suppose that Professor Binns has always been so boring?"

"I suppose he has," Hannah said with a laugh. "After all, he didn't let a little thing like death part him from his teaching. I bet he didn't even realize that he was dead." Usagi and Daphne chuckled quietly; Usagi nearly choked on her chocolate cake in the process.

"That class was worse than some of the classes I had to take in the Muggle school I used to go to." Usagi said as she took a swig of pumpkin juice and wiped her mouth with her napkin. She still felt weird saying the word 'muggle', she had grown up a muggle so it was weird calling her family and friends that.

"You went to a Muggle school? How was it?" Hannah asked as curiosity lit up her face.

"Hmm? Well… it was pretty boring. We did the basic stuff, math, Japanese grammar and kanji, science, and we had an English class but I never learned much in there." She said as a sweatdrop appeared on her forehead. "I went to a small gathering of exchange students with some friends at one point and I couldn't say much of anything. Everyone there was so smart…" She said as she pouted slightly.

"If you didn't learn English in class, how do you know it now?" Daphne asked as she raised a slight eyebrow in Usagi's direction.

"My friends Haruka-san and Michiru-san taught me." Usagi explained as she took another bite of her half-eaten chocolate cake. "And Setsuna-san helped as well."

"San?" Hannah questioned as she heard the strange word.

"Oh! Sorry, when you put 'san' after someone's name in Japanese, it's a sign of respect. It's basically like saying Mr. or Mrs." Usagi explained as she realized her slip. "I'm still getting used to speaking English all the time… I had a little trouble reading cursive in Professor McGonagall's class, though." She said as she blushed slightly. "Then again, I never did learn all of the kanji in Japanese so I guess it can't be that bad."

"Kanji?" Hannah said slowly as she said the foreign word. "Is that like your alphabet?"

"Kind of, but it's a lot more complex than yours in English so most Japanese people don't learn all of it. There are different things about the characters that can be translated even if you don't know what it means… My friends helped me, but I still have trouble with some of the kanji. I'm just glad I didn't have to learn it all to pass the high school entrance exams." Usagi said as she blushed slightly. "I never did very well in school because I didn't really try, I guess." Usagi said thoughtfully.

"You have entrance exams? So if you don't pass them, you can't go to high school?" Daphne asked as her mouth fell open. She had grown up in a muggle household so she knew about high school and college and such. Usagi nodded in reply.

"Yeah, so I probably wouldn't have gotten in to a very good school. It doesn't matter, though. I'd rather be here at Hogwarts than a boring muggle high school anyway." Usagi said with a smile. "It might be hard, but I'm going to do my best not to flunk out. I miss my family and my friends, though…"

"You'll make new friends." Hannah said as she smiled at Usagi reassuringly. "You've already made a few." She said referring to herself and Daphne.

"It also seems I've made a few enemies…" Usagi said slowly as she glanced in the direction of the Slytherin table. She saw the blond boy glaring in her direction and turned her attention away from the table.

"You mean Malfoy?" Hannah asked as she had been watching who Usagi had looked at. Usagi nodded and frowned deeply.

"He's not very nice… He called me a Mudblood the first time I ever saw him…" Usagi said slowly. She glanced over at Hannah and saw a horrified look on her face.

"He didn't!" She said in shock as she looked directly into Usagi's eyes. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not… I didn't even know what it meant, Hermione-san had to tell me what it meant." Usagi said as she looked away from Hannah and back at her dessert.

"Hermione Granger?" Hannah questioned as she glanced toward the Gryffindor table. Usagi followed her gaze and gave a small wave to Hermione, who returned the wave with a smile.

"Yeah, I sat with her and her friends on the train after I met Malfoy… She kind of saved me from him." Usagi said with a slight blush. "He tried to hurt Luna too." Usagi said as she frowned deeply.

"Luna? You mean Looney Luna?" Hannah asked as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"Looney Luna?" Usagi questioned as she turned her attention back to Hannah.

"Yeah, she's a year under us, Ravenclaw… She's really strange…" Hannah said as she glanced in the direction of the dreamy-eyed face of Luna who sat one table over.

"Oh! I met her on the train!" Usagi said as she spotted the girl Hannah had been looking at. "I wasn't talking about her, though. I was talking about my cat, Luna." Usagi said with a smile.

"Oh! Luna is such a pretty cat!" Daphne gushed from Usagi's other side. "She has this cute little crescent moon bald spot on her forehead!"

"Does she really?" Hannah asked with a smile. "Mom bought me an owl when I made Prefect so I write to her every week. She gets lonely while I'm away at school. She still has my dad to keep her company, but can you blame her? For the past five years I've been gone the entire time except for over Christmas and summer breaks."

"We'd better hurry, Usagi." Daphne said from beside the blond. "We have potions after lunch. I heard it's really bad to be late for his class. Besides, we want to get good seats."

"All right." Usagi said as she pushed her half-eaten dessert back into the middle of the table. "I'll see you at dinner, Hannah-san." Usagi said as she stood and bowed at the waist. She turned and followed Daphne toward the doors to the Great Hall and they headed downward, toward the dungeons below the schools. Usagi realized as they walked through hallways lined with torches flickering slightly as they passed that she would rather have to sift her way through changing stairs than walk down through the dark, cold corridors to the dungeons.

"This place gives me the creeps…" Daphne said slowly as she pulled a folded up map from her pocket and turned left down a corridor.

"Yeah… why would they have classes down here?" She questioned herself as she followed closely behind Daphne.

In another five minutes, the two girls had joined the query to enter the class. Usagi nearly cried out in surprise as she saw the girl who had pushed her out of the boat on the lake standing outside the door with the rest of them.

"Oh look, it's the older first year. Are you sure you're in the right class, miss prissy?" Petunia Parkinson from the boat said in a drawling voice. Usagi ignored her and headed into the classroom followed closely by Daphne who didn't even glance in Petunia's direction.

Usagi took a seat in the middle of the classroom and stared up at the front, waiting for their teacher to enter the room. Daphne sat beside her and she was aware that two of the other girls from her dorm room were sitting behind her and Daphne. There was whispering among some of the students in the room but was cut off abruptly when a man with dark, greasy hair walked into the room. The door closed behind him with a resounding clang.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or incantations in the class." He said as he walked up to the front of the classroom and dropped his books down on the desk with a loud thunk. "I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science of potion making, but to those few who have the ability, I can teach you to ensnare the senses and bewitch the mind. I can teach you to bottle fame, brew fortune, and even put a stopper in death." He said slowly as he walked across the front of the classroom looking down his nose at the class. Usagi sat up straighter in the chair as the professor's glare fell on her. She winced slightly as she met his narrowed eyes and looked down at the desk almost immediately. She couldn't believe how creepy some of the people attending Hogwarts seemed to be.

"Now, collect your cauldrons and begin the potion on the board." He said and with a flick of his wrist, long spindly writing appeared on the front board. Usagi squinted slightly and turned her head to the side as she tried to make out the ingredients of the potion.

"Come on, you get the cauldron and I'll get the ingredients, all right?" Daphne said as she put a hand on Usagi's arm. Usagi turned to meet her eyes and nodded slightly before she stood and headed toward the back of the room with the rest of the students to get her cauldron. A few minutes later, Usagi was sitting back down at her desk next to Daphne squinting up at the board as she tried to make out the ingredients and instructions. Again, she was having a little bit of trouble reading the cursive writing. This time is wasn't overly fancy, it was spidery and untidy and more than once Daphne had trouble reading his writing as well. It was all right, though. Usagi had made that potion before in her private lessons so she didn't have too much trouble. The hardest part was reading his writing.

"Is it supposed to be orange?" Usagi heard one of the girls behind her ask. She turned slightly to look at their potion. Sure enough, the potion was a bright orange and bubbling angrily.

"It's supposed to be dark blue." Daphne said as she pointed to the potion on the desk between herself and Usagi. "And there's supposed to be silver steam floating off the top of it."

"Fill a flask with your potion and bring it to the front desk for marking." Professor Snape said as he sat at his desk glaring down at the students in his classroom. His eyes roamed across the room and it seemed that only two groups had managed to brew their potion correctly… the over-grown first year and her partner, and a group of Slytherin boys across the room. The rest of the potions ranged from muddy brown to vivid pink. Usagi obediently filled her flask and walked to the front of the room in line with the rest of the first year student. When she handed the flask to the professor, he grasped it and his narrowed eyes fell on her. She bowed slightly and turned away from him and headed back toward Daphne.

Daphne had just finished cleaning up their cauldron and the two of them headed for the door. Usagi paused and glanced back at the teacher whose eyes seemed to be boring in the back of her head. When she met his gaze, she sensed something from him… a dark power seemed to be emitting from him slightly. Her eyes moved down to his arm where she could sense the dark power more and noticed that he quickly drew the sleeve over his arm.

"Come on…" Usagi said as she grabbed Daphne's wrist and headed out the door of the dungeon classroom.

"What's wrong, Usagi?" Daphne questioned as she saw the stricken look on Usagi's face. Usagi pulled Daphne along the corridors toward the stairs that led up.

"I'm sorry… That teacher just gives me the creeps…" Usagi said quietly as a shudder ran through her body. "He seems really strict… I'm just glad I had those remedial potions lessons while I was learning English. I've never been very good at that type of thing… I can't even bake cookies without forgetting something." She said as she scratched her face. "I think we did pretty good, ne?" Daphne smiled and nodded.

"Let's see… we have… Defense Against the Dark Arts next." Daphne said as she looked down at the schedule in her hand.

"Is that the class that lady from the feast teaches?" Usagi questioned as she remembered with a groan the woman who had talked so much during the feast that she had fallen asleep.

"Yes, Professor Umbridge." Daphne said as she read the name on the paper aloud.

"Do you suppose her class will be as boring as her speech?" Usagi questioned as a sweatdrop appeared on her forehead. She didn't want to have to sit through another class like History of Magic… She couldn't afford to fail two classes because she couldn't stay awake.

"For our sake, I hope not. I always heard that Defense Against the Dark Arts was supposed to be fun. Although… some people say the position is cursed." Daphne said slowly as a shudder ran through her body.

"What do you mean?" Usagi questioned as she turned to look at Daphne.

"Well, it doesn't seem that many of them have lasted past their first year teaching that class. I heard from one of the upper classman that there has been a new teacher each year. One died, one lost his memory, one was sacked, and one was locked in a trunk for nine months." Daphne said as she counted each teacher off on her fingers.

"It really does seem like the position is cursed." Usagi said as a sweatdrop slid down the side of her face. "So, do you know where this classroom is?" Usagi questioned as they went up a few flights of stairs.

"Yeah, let's see… We take a right up here at this corridor and it's the third door on the left." Daphne said as she looked down at the map in her hands. One of the sixth year prefects had given her the map and bewitched it to change with each floor and highlight the class that they had next. "I'm just glad that prefect gave me this map." Daphne said as she rolled it up and shoved it inside her robes to one of the inside pockets.

The two of them finished climbing the stairs and stood outside of the Defense Against the Dark Arts door en queue to enter the room. After a minute or so, the bottleneck cleared and the two first year girls were able to enter the classroom with the rest of the students. They took their seats somewhere in the middle of the classroom and took out their wands. They heard to door close and the short, toad like woman walked to the front of the classroom and sat down at her desk.

"Good afternoon, class." Professor Umbridge said in a sickeningly sweet voice as she peered around the classroom with a wide grin covering her face. There were a few mumbled replies to her welcome to the classroom and she frowned slightly. "When I say, 'good afternoon, class' I want you to reply with 'good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'." She said as the wide smile reappeared on her lips. "Now, let's try this again. Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." The class said in unison as they stared up at the mousy-haired teacher.

"Wands away and books out." Professor Umbridge said as she tapped her wand on the board. Words appeared where her wand touched the board. "Now, copy these down into your notes. Go on now." She said as people seemed reluctant to put their wands away.

Usagi looked down at her notes and squinted up at the board. The writing was flowery just like the teacher who wrote it and she was having a little trouble copying it down.

Course aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in the context for practical use.

Usagi looked down at her notes and frowned slightly. In her other classes, they had actually done magic, but in the aims, it didn't say anything about using defensive magic. She glanced over at Daphne and made a motion to the wand sticking out of her bag on the floor. Daphne shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Now, turn to chapter one in your book and begin to read. There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge said with another sickeningly sweet smile. She sat down at her desk and busied herself with a long scroll of pink parchment that lay in front of her.

Usagi glanced down at her book and began to read… slowly… She couldn't seem to understand what they were saying in the book. There were lots of technical sounding terms that made understanding the book next to impossible. When she glanced around the room, she saw that most of the other students were in the same position. Some were staring at their books with furrowed eyebrows while others seemed to have given up reading completely and were staring longingly out the window at the lake with the sun beating down on its surface.

"Hem hem." A small cough said close to Usagi. She spun around to face the toad-like professor and felt her cheeks flush slightly. "I believe you are in the wrong class, my dear." Said Professor Umbridge sweetly.

"No ma'am, I am a first year student." Usagi said uncertainly as a slight blush touched her cheeks.

"No no no, my dear. I don't believe this is your class. You must be a fifth year at least." Umbridge said impatiently as she grabbed Usagi's hand and attempted to pull her to her feet. Usagi snatched her hand back from Umbridge's clammy, warm hands and remained seated.

"I was discovered late, ma'am." Usagi explained as she grabbed her bag from the floor and began to rummage through it. She found a paper and held it out for Professor Umbridge to see. Umbridge snatched the paper from Usagi's hand and scanned it quickly with her eyes. She looked up from the paper and narrowed her eyes on Usagi.

"And you understand everything that is written in that book?" Professor Umbridge questioned sweetly as her eyes fell on the open book that was still on the first page of the chapter. Usagi blushed slightly and shook her head.

"It's very technical, ma'am. And if I must say, it seems that not many of the students are able to understand it." Usagi said slowly as she glanced around at the students who, with lack of anything better to do, had turned to stare at her and Professor Umbridge. A few students nodded their approval at Usagi's having stated the obvious and Umbridge frowned deeply.

"This is Ministry approved curriculum, Miss Sukno." Professor Umbridge said as she dropped the parchment back onto Usagi's desk.

"It's Tsukino, ma'am." Usagi politely corrected as she flushed, but this time with anger.

"Tut tut, we needn't correct the teacher. I read it off the paper as it is spelled, my dear." Professor Umbridge said in her sweetest voice. "You must be this exchange student I've heard about, am I correct?" Usagi nodded her approval but bit down on her tongue to keep from retaliating. "Why they let someone enter this school so late is beyond me, but no matter. If you aren't able to keep up with the English students of the class, I'm afraid you will have to return to your country." She said as she eyed Usagi with a slight smirk on her face. "And I will do everything in my power to see to it that it happens." Umbridge said as she leaned forward and said the last part for only Usagi's ears.

Usagi's eyes widened in surprise at the professor basically saying that she was going to do whatever she could to see that Usagi either flunks out or is expelled. Her face flushed even more red as anger surged up inside of her. She knew this woman was not someone to cross, but she wanted nothing else than to curse her into oblivion even if it was just with Japanese words. She held her tongue, though… with much difficulty and turned her face back to the book that lay open on her desk in front of her.

:Fin:

4 Hannah Abbott is mentioned in the 3rd book briefly. In the chapter "Grim Defeat", she spends "much of her time in Herbology telling everyone that Sirius Black can turn into a flowering shrub" (page 166). She's also a Hufflepuff prefect.
5 They only listed a few first year names in the 5th book so I made one up shrugs Daphne is the name of one of the girls I twirled baton with in High School (marching band), and Lee is my EX-fiancé (I named her before we broke up . stupid asshole grumbles).

Nixinox: Honestly? Usagi is more of a Hufflepuff than anything. Her courage isn't really unwavering, she's not overly ambitious, and we all know she isn't the best student in the world so Hufflepuff seemed the logical choice. Besides, nearly everyone puts her in Gryffindor or Slytherin, I wanted to be different

Tenshi no Nozomi: I was actually planning on making her rather gifted at Transfiguration so I may put in something about animagi, I don't know yet. XD I have next to nothing planned out for this story;. The only reason Snape would be a bit nasty with her is because she's a fifth year in first year classes, I don't plan to make that too bad, though shrugs Since most of his animosity is reserved for Gryffindors. XD

Nercia Genisis: Thank you It's only slightly original? pouts Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try harder, won't I? .

Usagi Asia Maxwell: That's pretty much what I was thinking when I wrote it She is a Hufflepuff, plain and simple. No matter how you twist the story, her personality makes her a Hufflepuff.

Keating's Disciple: It would have been too easy if I'd put her in Gryffindor XD And honestly, her personality makes her a Hufflepuff hands down I'm still not sure what the pairing will be shrugs I hardly set pairings when I start writing a story anymore. grins The tension will only get more pronounced as the story goes on evil smirk

drakness'-angel: Glad you liked it Personally, I think they should be this (just my opinion, though):

Mars - Gryffindor (hard to place, maybe Slytherin)

Jupiter - Gryffindor

Venus - Hufflepuff

Saturn - Ravenclaw

Mercury - Ravenclaw (she's definitely a Ravenclaw)

RtisTykSyko: I'm glad you liked it Like I said above, I think she fits into Hufflepuff the best out of all the houses And I wanted to explain how she was able to speak English instead of just having her show up and not have any trouble whatsoever. I was going for a bit of realism. It's unlikely that she will become buddy buddy with either of them in this story. Based on the 5th book, Harry is 'PMSing' all through the book; And Draco isn't the type to befriend a half-blood who is in Hufflepuff.

ChesireKit: I'm going to attempt to keep a lot of her habits the same in here I try my best to keep people true to their character when I'm writing. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with this story, though XD I was probably going to make her be rather gifted at Transfiguration and DADA because it would seem a bit unique, you know what I mean? Hmm… Usagi might be more pure than Draco because she's a princess, but she's still just a half-blood wizard. I mentioned that she had tutoring in the potions because that's really the only subject she could do outside of a regular school because it doesn't involve using actual magic, and besides, we all know how terrible Usagi is at cooking. So basically the extra course was added for her to kind of put her on an equal standing with the other students in first year. Anyway, lots of questioned asked, a few I could answer, but I honestly don't know what's going to happen in this story XD I'm just writing it as I go because if I plan something out, I get bored with it and don't want to continue;