Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter, but I do own this plot and the character Mary.

Authors note: Please be generous with the comments. Advice and Constructive criticism are always welcome! If you have any questions or something is confusing feel free to ask! Enjoy!

Unvoiced Decisions

Chapter 1: Ignoring the Obvious

"Who is she?" Hermione asked staring at the new Hufflepuff like she was an unread library book. This meant Hermione was fascinatingly curious, but yet was wary about the contents that this new girl might contain.

"Oh, her?" Ron asked between mouthfuls of black and white pudding. "She's a foreign exchange student from America." Hermione gave him a questioning look. "Ya know, the United States of America?"

"I know what America is!" Hermione snapped. "I know where it is too. Goodness Ron, what do you take me for an idiot?"

"Well than why did you give me that look?"

"What look?"

"Ya know, the the bloody hell are you talking about look."

"Oh that, well…" Hermione began. "It's just that I wasn't expecting any new students this year. Usually McGonagall informs me if we are going to have to house any extra students. I was just wondering why I wasn't told."

It was there second day back at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and everyone was excited about starting the new year, some more than others. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all equally excited because this was their seventh and final year.

"She's pretty." Hermione stated a few minutes later after fully examining her new classmate. "Don't you think?"

"Well," Ron began, but was cut off by Harry.

"I think she's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed loudly.

"Brilliant eh," asked Ron, "When did you get a chance talk to her already?"

"Oh, last night actually, I saw her walking aimlessly around the halls. I was afraid she was lost so I offered to help her. She said she needed to find the Hufflepuff dormitory so I showed her the location, and on the way we had a little chat."

"Is that so?" Ron asked. "Hows come you always run into the pretty ones when they're alone in the dark?"

"Oh shut up Ron!" Harry laughed giving his friend a friendly punch on the arm.

The three of them were seated at the end of the Gryffindor table, Hermione on one side, Harry next to Ron on the other.

Ron looked back over his shoulder at the Hufflepuff and decided that she indeed was very pretty. She had long brown hair that hung strait as a bored down her back, which was all that Ron could see of her at the moment. She turned her head to talk to the girl next to her exposing her profile. Her skin was a lighter shade of brown than her hair and looked soft to the touch. Her eyes were the same color as her hair when it wasn't in the light. When her hair played the light just right, it turned a bright copper red. It was obvious she was Asian, but she looked as if she could have some other blood in her. Something her companion said made her laugh revealing her full bright smile. She clearly had some dental work done, or else she had been blessed with the most beautiful smile the world had ever known. Ron turned back to his friends only to find that Harry had been eyeing the attractive Hufflepuff as well.

"Well, what did she say?" Ron asked Harry with curiosity.

"What did who say?" Harry asked.

"The new girl, who else!" Ron was eager to get some information.

"Oh that. Well her name's Mary and she's from the Salem Witches Institute in Massachusetts. She's here as an exchange student because she's always wanted to visit the U.K., and well when she received a letter in the mail from Dumbledore, she just couldn't refuse. She convinced her parents that it was a once in a life time chance and that Hogwarts is the best wizarding school there is. So she's here for the rest of the year. That is of course if everything stays according to plan."

"Hmmm…she's nice huh?" Hermione said almost to herself. She'd been eyeing the girl as well, but for different reasons than the two boys. She was sitting between Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones; clearly having a good time. Hermione didn't know what it was, but something about this girl just didn't quite fit. It wasn't that she seemed dangerous it was just that Hermione felt, at least from her observations that she didn't quite fit in with the rest of the Hufflepuff crowd. It was almost as if she was in the wrong house and the sorting hat had misplaced her. The reason Hermione thought this was because she, unlike the rest of the Hufflepuffs seemed outgoing, and well, loud. The Hufflepuffs aren't known to be the most exciting crowd in school, but they are nice and generally get along with everyone. She wasn't saying that Hufflepuffs are plain; it was just that they tended to be more on the plain side. At least as far as looks and personality go. Cedric Diggory was a perfect example. His personality was, well, lacking. He was fortunate seeing as he had a lot of help in the looks department. Hermione usually didn't speak ill of the dead, but…

Her thoughts trailed off when Harry spoke.

"You two should go introduce yourself after breakfast. I think you'd really like her Hermione."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea Harry. Ron, hurry up and finish. I want to catch her before she leaves." Ron nodded his head unable to speak with the amount of food he had stuffed in his gob.

The Gryffindors weren't the only ones interested in the new arrival. The Slytherin table was alive with gossip and chatter concerning their new classmate.

"I hear she's easy." Blaise Zambini proudly stated to his fellow housemates.

"Blaise you say that about every new girl you meet, and ninety percent of the time you're wrong."

"But there's still that ten percent chance." Blaise smiled nudging his friend in the arm.

It was only their second day back at Hogwarts and Draco was already bored with the gossip. It was the same thing every year. He would meet up with his 'friends' and discuss all the stupid things they did over break. Then they'd make up stories about how they scored with numerous members of the opposite sex. Seeing as they were finally seventh years Draco thought that their conversations might have matured, but much to his disgust, they did not. One new thing about this year was that they had a new student, and not just any new student, a new girl student. From what he'd heard she not only had personality, but she had looks to match. Unfortunately for Draco, she was in Hufflepuff. That was almost worse than being in Gryffindor, almost, but for some reason or another, she stood out to him. She wasn't as, well how could he put this, pathetic, as the other Hufflepuffs. She actually might've made a decent Slytherin. She just arrived last night and was already causing quite a stir.

"I think I'll go introduce myself after breakfast." Draco said to no one in particular.

"Why would you need to do that? Snape already knows you doesn't he?" Crabbe asked, confused as usual.

"Snape! What! NO!" Draco yelled frustrated with his friend's stupidity.

"Well that's what we were talking about!" Goyle retorted.

"Well I was talking about the new girl!" Draco stated coolly.

"Are you serious?" Blaise asked. "But she's a Hufflepuff!"

"And I'm Draco Malfoy and if I want to associate with someone than no one's going to bother me about it. Am I right, or do one of you wish to challenge my authority?" Draco drawled, emphasizing each word with a slow twirl of his wand.

Neither Crabbe, Goyle, nor Zambini spoke another word until they had finished their meals.

Once finished, Ron and Hermione set off towards the Hufflepuff table. Mary had already finished her meal and was about to grab her books and head to her first class. Hermione stopped her by asking her to come and join them. Hmmm…I wonder what they could want, Mary thought glad to have found someone new to talk to. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to anyone from any of the other houses, and they looked nice enough.

The boy was tall with bright red hair and a funny smile. The girl was about a head shorter than the boy and had wavy brown hair that cascaded a little past her shoulders.

She had a bright smile that Mary decided she liked right away.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger and this is my friend Ronald Weasley. We're from Gryffindor."

"Hi, I'm Mary. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, our friend Harry's told us all about you."

"Harry?" Mary couldn't remember conversing with a Gryffindor before. "Oh yeah, Harry! He's a really nice guy! I was sooo nervous when he told me his name. I've read so much about him."

"Yeah he's great!" said Ron, speaking up for the first time.

"So," Hermione began, "what's your first class?"

"Oh, history of magic with Professor Binns," Mary answered, "You?"

"Same here, you should sit by me!" Hermione was glad to have found another seventh year who was talking history of magic. Harry and Ron both did poorly on their O.W.L.s leaving her alone in the class.

Ron spoke up once more and the conversation continued.

Draco got up from his seat and headed towards where he had last seen the new girl. She must be around her somewhere, he thought as he neared the Hufflepuff table. There she is! He spotted her from behind and noticed that she was already accompanied by two others.

"Just great!" he mumbled under his breath after noticing who was with her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Granger and Weaselby." Malfoy said slowly as he walked arrogantly toward the lot.

"Hello, Malfoy." Hermione said, forcing the words out as if they were poison. "What brings you here on this lovely morning?"

"Oh, I just have some business to attend too, but I don't see why I need a reason to have a chat with my two favorite Gryffindors."

"Oh, give over Malfoy!" Hermione snapped angrily.

"I was just wondering if I could borrow this lovely lady for a moment." Draco asked indicating the Hufflepuff standing before him.

"Well, I do mind." Hermione stated, "But if you must, hurry up. Time is money you know."

"And that's something Weasel can't afford to loose." Draco hissed softly.

"Would you just leave already?" Ron yelled.

"Fine, but you really need to work on that temper of yours. It might get you into trouble one day." Draco said threateningly to Ron. "Shall we?" He asked Mary, "That is if you don't mind."

"I don't." was her reply.

"Well you should." Hermione told her while giving Draco the death stare.

Without another word Draco grabbed Mary by the arm and sauntered away form the two angry teens.

As she was being dragged away from her two new friends, Mary looked back and told Hermione that she'd meet up with her in class. Draco rolled his eyes in disgust. Hermione agreed and Mary watched as Ron and Hermione got lost in the crowd.

"Where are you taking me?" Mary asked her escort as they exited the great hall.

"Somewhere we can be alone."

"Alone! I barely no you! Actually, come to think of it, I don't know you at all!" As she said this, Mary tried to break free of his firm grip. "Let go of me!"

"Why?" Draco asked with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Because I said so, what do you want from me anyway?" from the look in his eyes Mary was sure that wherever they were going she wasn't going to enjoy it.

"I just want to find someplace that we can talk and not be disturbed. I want to get to know you better; as long as that's ok with you. I wouldn't want you to go someplace with someone against your will." He continued to drag her along, and by now a full fledge smile graced his handsome face.

Indeed he was handsome, Mary thought to herself as she inspected the tall boy next to her. His hair was so blond it was almost white, but it suited his face well. It was slicked back in such a way that Mary thought for a moment it must be plastic, but after seeing him run a set of long slender fingers through his icy locks she was convinced that it was not. When he had turned to talk to her she had noticed that his eyes were a steel blue, almost grey. They seemed cold and hard like the rest of him. His body was slender, but not thin. He was built to the right extent. His height, Mary guessed was around 6'1", slightly taller than her height of 5'9". His skin was pale and he looked almost sickly compared to her tan complexion.

"Here we are." said Draco, breaking the silence.

"The library?" she asked, looking at the rows of books before her. She was surprised they were here. After all a library is the perfect place to have a quiet conversation, but Draco didn't strike her as the type who often used this facility.

"Yes, the library. Unless of course you object, if you do I'm sure we can always find an empty corridor.

"No, this is good." she quickly answered. The library she could handle, there was some supervision here, but an empty corridor that could lead to some problems.

They found themselves some seats in the far corner of the room. The chairs were rather large black recliners that Mary found to be extremely comfortable. The library was almost empty except for the occasional appearance of the librarian. After shooting a quick glance at the checkout desk, she came to the conclusion that the librarian's name was Madame Pince. She looked rather disheveled and was running around with a new arrival of books; making sure to place each and every one on the right shelf giving it a new home.

"So what's your name? I dunno about you, but I always find that a good place to start." he stared at her intently.

"Are you always this sarcastic?" Mary asked still deciding whether or not she liked this young man.

"That depends on how I view you."

"How you view me?" she wasn't quite sure how to react to this statement.

"You know are you worth my time."

She could clearly see that his ego was little to big for her liking.

"Mr. Malfoy, or whatever the hell your name is, I don't know if I'm worth your time, but you're definitely not worth mine." With that she grabbed her books, got up and left, and headed towards class where Hermione was waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" Hermione whispered to Mary after class had started. She normally didn't talk during a lecture, but Professor Binns was going on about the Order of Merlin, something she had read about in her fifth year.

"Oh, I was held up in the library." she whispered back. She didn't mention the part about still being with Draco as she knew it would upset Hermione. She could tell from the get go that there was some tension between them.

Draco sat stunned in the library, unable to believe the events that had just taken place. How dare she talk to me like that! ME, Draco Malfoy! He sat in the corner fuming. Does she know who I am! I 'm a Malfoy for God sakes, the best of the wizarding kind! I'm a member of one of the richest pureblood families in the world! What more does she want!

Blaise was right, thought Draco. She's not worth my time. She obviously wasn't impressed by my name. She must not have heard of me. I find that hard to believe considering, but she is a Yank.

He replayed the scene over and over in his head. She was feisty and he liked that. She had a quick tongue. He liked that too, but he liked to know he was in charge and she might've given him some trouble. I'm better off without her, he thought over and over again, but his mind was battling itself. One half told him to forget about it. The other half couldn't stop thinking about her. I don't even now her name, he thought out loud. He finally decided to dismiss any thoughts or feelings he was having towards this girl and to just ignore them. Draco soon came to find that this task would be a lot harder than he thought.

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LiLjDpEgAsUsChIc160: Well, that's the end of chapter 1! I hope u liked it! Chapter 2: The Unthinkable is coming soon! COMMENT!