Secrets and Lies
By Rayven Darkheart
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Chapter One
As all of the students filed into the main hall, Professor Dumbledore stood from his chair. The students all sat down at their respective tables except for some confused first years. Smiling benevolently, his thunderous voice rang out above the soft commotion. "Welcome to another wonderful year at Hogwarts. To the returning students, it is great to see you back. To the first years, the forbidden forest is, of course, forbidden. There are, however, a few new additions this year."
He waited for this information to sink in and grinned even wider as he scanned the crowd and noticed that Harry Potter was sitting next to their newest student. More so, he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. "The first change for this year is that we have a new student this year. She is a transfer student from Bat Wing School for Witchcraft in the United States." He caught Alyma's eye and smiled benevolently when she looked at him gratefully. "Miss LaRue, would you please stand up."
Alyma sighed softly and watched as all eyes turned to her and the Gryffindor table. She stood silently and bowed gracefully, listening to the cheers from her own house and the applause from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Glancing back at the head table, she sat again and waited for Dumbledore to continue.
Dumbledore waited for the commotion to settle before continuing with a strange twinkle in his eye. "Now for the second change. Because of the enhanced danger due to the Death Eater activity, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff shall share a common room this term." He stopped for a moment and watched as some students widened their eyes in realization.
"Furthermore, Slytherin and Gryffindor shall share a common room." He tried to contain his amusement as the shouts of disdain, disgust, and sheer panic swept over the hall. "There will be no argument. Now, that's enough of my speech making; let's eat."
Though there were still grumbles of descent, the students started to dig into their dinner. Harry tapped Alyma's shoulder gently, not sure what sort of attitude to expect from her. Turning her cold emerald eyes on him, he could have sworn that they warmed a tad. Smiling, he tried to start conversation as he passed her the pumpkin juice. "How are you… enjoying Hogwarts thus far?"
Alyma accepted the juice and chose her words carefully before answering. "Hogwarts is not much different from Bat Wing. We don't have a house system, but so far so good. Anything I should know before classes begin tomorrow?"
Ron chimed in quickly while stuffing his mouth full of treacle treat. "Waff owt fo Snip."
Blinking in confusion, Alyma looked at the girl sitting next to him for a translation. Hermione wasted no time giving it for her. "He said 'watch out for Snape.' He's the Potions professor and he's not overly fond of Gryffindors."
Alyma nodded and stared up at the head table. "I think I can handle that."
The prefects, Hermione included, led their houses up to the common rooms. Hermione stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady, the new Gryffindor/Slytherin common room. Sighing at the thought, she gave the password, "Slithering Lions," and walked inside, followed by the other students.
The inside of the room, usually just gold and crimson, now had splashes of emerald green and silver. 'It matches Alyma's eyes,' thought Harry. He stole a glance at her before moving up to the door marked 'Gryffindor Boys.' He entered it and pulled Ron inside with him.
Alyma sat down in a green chair next to the fire and sighed, staring at the flames. She felt eyes on her back, more than just one pair, but she ignored them. Suddenly she felt a hard jab on her shoulder, but kept her eyes forward. "Hey Gryffindork, see the colors? That chair belongs to Slytherin. Get out of it before you soil it and we have to burn it."
Blaise noticed Alyma's left eye twitch and looked at the girl sharply. "Pansy let it go. She's fine."
Pansy wouldn't take his warning, however. She shoved the Gryffindor girl again. "I said get up bitch. Don't make me make you."
Alyma's serene façade suddenly cracked into an evil smirk. What Pansy had not noticed was that Alyma's wand was trained right at her chest. Blaise's eyes widened and he grabbed at Draco's robes trying to get his attention. Draco turned with a sour frown and looked at the pair of girls that Blaise pointed at. 'This should be good.'
Pansy pushed Alyma's shoulder once more. Before she had the chance to speak again, her eye grew wide and her hand stopped in mid air. The red head chuckled and stood. "Some seem to forget that not ever spell needs to be shouted from the roof tops to work." She moved behind the chair to the petrified girl and pushed her over before kneeling down beside her. "Do not for one moment think that I am a Gryffindor because I will not curse you. No, no, far from that. There's no rule that says we can't straddle the line between good and evil, is there?"
She winked at her victim and whispered, "Ennerviate." She stood up and walked away toward the room marked 'Gryffindor Girls.'
Draco stared at the girl's back as she walked into the dormitory. 'Now that is one fiery girl. Let the games begin.'