"What do you want?" Draco said with a smirk. As soon as Catherine saw it, memories at Hogwarts started to pop up in her head. Draco pouring coffee down her friends robes in 5th year, turning your hair green in 3rd year, breaking Eriks nose, and much more. If there was one thing she had to choose that annoyed her the most, it would probably be people picking on her friends. She would always stand up for them. Thinking about this made her remember all of the hate she had for him.
"You know what I want." Catherine said with as much attitude as she could. Right after she said it though, she realized that that came out entirely wrong. She just prayed he wouldn't notice it.
"Woah! I am sorry but I do not do that kind of stuff on the train. You will have to wait till we get to Hogwarts."
"Oh shut up Malfoy. I am Catherine you idiot."
"Oh then in that case, the train is perfectly-"
"You are just the typical Slytherin, aren't you!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"That you are an arrogant son of a bitch!"
"And thats so much worse than being a Gryffindor? I have to go save the day blah blah- ugh! I did not ask you here to argue with you!"
"Then why did you ask me here!"
Catherine was now getting extremely annoyed by Draco. She didn't even begin to understand why she thought he was okay. It was probably from all the stories Narcissa told her. And the quidditch picture with leather pants also helped persuade her. She then decided it was going to be pointless trying to argue with him. They were supposed to be on the same side.
"To tell you what you are supposed to be doing during the school year for your grandfather." Catherine just nodded. They had finally calmed down. "You have to get close to Potter and become friends with him. Find out his weaknesses and his dislikes. Then somehow you have to get it to me so I can owl my father because it would be kind of weird if someone saw you owling my father."
"Alright. Is that all I have to do?"
"Yep." Draco replied as Catherine started to get up and leave. "Wait. Before you go, one question."
"Yeah?"
"Are we still on for our little session at Hogwarts?"
"Goodbye, Malfoy." Catherine said with a smile as she walked out of the compartment.
Draco just shook his head and gave a little laugh. She wasn't that bad. She had a little bit more spunk than he thought she would have though. But he was used to it. Most people at Hogwarts talked to him like that. He was like the leader of the Slytherin house. Or at least over the people in his year. The door to the compartment then opened. He looked up and saw that it was Catherine. Again.
"Back for more?" Draco said smoothly.
Catherine eyes got wide and she shook her head. "No! I just didn't know where to find Harry. Do you know where he usually is?"
"Well no." Draco thought for a moment. "You just stay here and I will take care of it."
Catherine nodded her head and sat back down. After Draco left, she stared at the door.
--------------------------------
"Hey were is your albino master?" asked Ron.
"You mean Malfoy?" Pansy asked. When she said the name Alicia turned away to hide her tears. "He just stepped out a minute ago. And since when did you have an interest in him? Are you finally coming out of the closet, Weasley?"
"Why don't you just go back to the pig pen you came from." Hermione said.
"And why don't you just leave." Draco said from behind them. He then walked into the compartment and pushed them out. "There is more of your kind in #29." He then shut the door.
"Whatever. We were there too long anyway." said Hermione.
The three then went to #29. When they opened the door, they found Catherine sitting there. Harry just stared at her. When he looked at her felt as though he had been punched in the stomach and he couldn't breathe. All Catherine could do was stare back and smile. She also could feel her cheeks turning hot. I mean, THE Harry Potter was right in front of her. She felt like some crazed fan. Catherine didn't even noticed Hermione and Ron until they started to talk.
"Hey Catherine!" Hermione started. "Can we sit with you or are you waiting for your friends?"
After Hermione had said that, Catherine remembered her own friends. Every year since they first came to Hogwarts, they had met in car #44. They would probably start to wonder where she was. Catherine hadn't talked to them in like almost 2 months.
"Oh no I am not waiting for anyone." Catherine felt kind of bad after she said that. But she had to do what she had to do. "You guys can sit here."
"Oh Catherine, do you know Ron and-"
"Harry. It's really nice to meet you." He said with a smile and he shook her hand.
"It's nice to meet you, too." Catherine said. She also shook Rons hand.
Harry sat next to Catherine and Hermione and Ron sat across from them. There was a little bit of an awkward silence because Harry was gazing at Catherine. "That must have been some strong postion," she thought. Ron and Hermione were just kind of staring at Harry weirdly. Finally, Ron started to talk and Harry blinked his eyes and looked at Ron.
"So, Catherine, what did you do this summer?"
Oh God Dammit...Catherine thought. She had never really planned what to say when she was asked this question. She had planned on what not to say. She had even made a list in her spare time at the manner:
1. Do not mention you are Lord Voldemorts granddaughter.
2. Do not mention you brought Lord Voldemort back to life as that might scare people off.
3. Do not mention you stayed at the Malfoy Manor over the summer.
4. Do not mention that you thought you liked Draco Malfoy, even though it was only a couple of days. Take it to the grave.
"Well, I live with my uncle, my aunt, and my cousin, Ryan Diltens-"
"Ryan Diltens is your cousin? Isn't he a Slytherin? I thought families usually got sorted in the same house? " asked Ron.
Thank God we got off the topic of what I did this summer, she thought. But now she might have to answer more difficult questions. All she could do was hope.
"Yes, yes, and sometimes. I did some researching in the fourth year because I wondered the same thing- the families getting sorted in the same house, not if my cousin was a Slytherin. It said that family members usually held the same traits or morals and that is why they usually get put in together. Although, some families are different. It just all depends on the characteristics of the person."
"Oh yeah I remember reading about that in a book before I came to Hogwarts. I remember always being so worried about how the sorting worked when I first heard about it in Hogwarts: A History." Hermione said.
"You read Hogwarts: A History when you were 11?" Catherine asked really shocked. She knew Hermione was smart, but she didn't know THAT smart.
"Yeah." She replied like it was nothing. "Well, I am going to go change into my robes."
"Yeah, me too." Ron said.
Soon they just all got up to go change into their robes.
Ten minutes later, Ron fell asleep. Hermione was left watching Catherine and Harry smile and flirt. She was kind of getting annoyed by Catherine and she didn't even know why. She just had a bad feeling about this girl. Hermione didn't want anything bad happening to Harry. He was like brother to her. She then looked over at Ron. He looked so adorably while he was sleeping. Before she knew it, she started to fall asleep too.
Harry and Catherine got along very well. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice that Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep until Ron started snoring. They began to laugh. Harry really liked Catherine a lot. He didn't know why he had never really noticed her at Hogwarts before. He then remembered the day before, when she had been his waitress at the coffee shop.
"So, when did you decide you wanted to work at the coffee shop in Diagon Alley?" He said with a smile.
"Oh don't remind me about that. That was awful. I was so nervous. You see my best friends mom owns it so I guess that's why she hired me in the first place. I don't think I have ever been more embarrassed in my whole life. I must have seemed pretty weird and stupid to you guys." Catherine said as she thought about that day at Diagon Alley.
"Oh not at all. Okay maybe a little bit." Harry said. "But in a very cute way."
Catherine just smiled at him. No guy had every looked at her the way he did. It made her feel special. But her stomach didn't turn and she didn't lose her breath whenever she thought about him. Harry was starting to seem more and more like a brother to her as their conversation went on. It was going to be weird when she was going to have to pretend to like him or like kiss him or something. Oh God, she thought. My first kiss...it was probably going to happen with him because of the stupid plan her grandfather had. She had always wanted her first kiss to be perfect. This was going to kind of mess it up.
Harry looked over at Catherine who was in very deep thought.She looked over at him. They had been talking for about two hours now. Harry began to yawn and she gave him a look that said, "You're tired too?" Before long, her eyes were closed and her head fell onto his shoulder. Harry felt his heart jump. He stared at Catherine for a few minutes and kissed her forehead. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep. They seemed to be imitating what Hermione and Ron were already doing. The girls head on the guys should, the guys head on the girls head. It was picture perfect.
----------------------------------
"Catherine, it is time for you to come."
Malfoy. Hermione would recognized that voice anywhere. She had desipised it for all of her years at Hogwarts. But when she heard it this time, there was something different. When he said Catherine, it had a more gentle tone than it usually did. There was even something different in his eyes. She then realized that there had to be something going on between the two of them.
"No! Malfoy you bastard! All that talk of change was just bull shit, wasn't it? I trusted you!"
"You better shut your mouth Potter, because when the Dark Lord is through with her, you are next." Draco looked back at Catherine and held out his hand. "Catherine come here, now. Don;t make this more difficult than it has to be."
Catherine began to whisper to Harry. Reluctantly, Harry let go of her and fell to his knees. Hermione heard him tell Catherine that he loved her and he would find a way to save her. Hermione tried to run over to him, but someone had their hands around her waist, holding her back. Soon they hands released. It was Ron. He walked over to Harry and tried to help him up.
Hermione looked back at the dungeon door. Catherine took Malfoys hand and walked away, looking back only once. Suddenly it became pitch black and she came back to her senses.
Hermione woke up. She had never had a dream like that before. Everything felt so real. She began to wonder about Catherine. Was she up to something? If it was anything so wrong though, there was no way she could've been sorted into Gryffindor. Hermione decided that it would be best if she just kept on eye on Catherine during the school year.
She closed her eyes. Hermione felt very comfortable. She didn't remember the seats feeling so nice before. She then realized that she was resting her head on Ron's shoulder. Hermione immediatly sat straight up. She didn't want him to wake up and think something of it. But she had slept on his shoulder before, so why would he even make a big deal about it? Why was she making a beig deal aboout it? Hermione decided she should stop thinking about it. She just sat there and looked at Ron for a minute.
Soon the waking charm went off on the train. They had put one on so that everyone would be ready when they arrived at Hogwarts and they wouldn't have to wake anyone up when they checked the train. They had some problems last time they tried to wake up a seventh year Slytherin.
"Arewethereyet?" Ron asked as he yawned.
"Well, we should be there in a few minutes." Hermione replied.
The train began to slow down and come to a stop. Harry and Catherine were still laying on eachother looking very tired. Harry looked down on Catherine and smiled. She just smiled back and said, "I don't want to get up."
"Me either, but we have to." Harry said as he stood up. Catherine groaned. Harry gave her a small laugh and pulled her up. "Come on."
Hermione and Ron began to walk out of the compartment and Catherine and Harry followed. There were already a lot of people in the train hallway trying to get out. It always was such a hassel to get off the train. Unfortunately, Draco was behind Catherine. She looked back at him and he smirked at her and nodded his head in approval. At first she was confused, but then she realized he was probably referring to her being with Harry, so she just nodded her head back. Harry then turned around. When he saw Malfoy, he took Catherine's hand and put her in front of him.
Finally they got off of the train and on to the carriages to take them to the castle. When they got there, Harry took a deep breath. He had so many memories here. This is where he first met Sirius. Harry looked down for a moment.
"Harry. Are you okay?" Catherine asked. He was breathing very hard and his grip on her hand tightened. "You're killing my hand."
Harry snapped back to the present. "Oh sorry." He said as he let go of her hand. He realized he must have been squeezing hard because she began to open and close her hand.
They then entered the Great Hall. Catherine looked over and found her friends sitting at the Gryffindor table. She gave them a big smile and ran over to meet them. They all got up to give her a hug.
"Where have you been Catherine? We all missed you on the train. " Erik said.
"Yeah, I thought we were all supposed to meet in #40." Michelle added.
"Oh. I am sorry about that. I was - er - sitting with Harry Potter and his friends, Hermione and Ron." Catherine replied.
"What? I thought you always got shy and clumsy around him." Teresa laughed.
"Well, I was at first, but then, I don't know. I just became comfortable around him." Catherine said.
"Right." Kevin said as they all sat back down. "Aren't you going to sit with us?"
Catherine looked back and saw Harry. He called her name and asked her to sit with him. She nodded her head and looked back at her friends. Oh God, she thought. They are going to hate me for this.
"Um, I- uh- actually I am going to go sit with Harry. Bye guys." She turned around and walked towards Harry. Even though she couldn't see them, she knew that they were pissed off at her. Catherine could feel their eyes burning into her back. She tried to ignore this and took Harry's outstretched hand.
"Come on. Let's go. Hermione saved us some seats." Harry said happily.
Well, actually Hermione saved Harry a seat. She didn't expect Catherine to come and sit with them. Luckily, there was a lot of space still since the first years hadn't been sorted yet, so no one noticed.
Catherine looked at the people sitting at the table. Hermione, Ron ,Ginny, Seamus, Lavendar, Neville, Parvati, Luna, and Harry. She had only dreamed about sitting with these people since she was a first or second year. They were kind of like the A-crowd for the Gryffindors. Everyone knew who they were and wanted to be best friends with them, especially with Harry Potter. Catherine felt out of place when she sat down next to them. They were already in a deep conversation so she just decided to sit back and listen.
"So, what do you think happened in Diagon Alley that day?" asked Ron.
I'm not sure. In the Daily Prophet, they said the man who was murdered was John McKimpsey. He owned some kind of castle in London, I think." Said Seamus.
"Yeah, that's what we heard too." Harry said. You could tell he was very interested in this conversation. "Coluber Castle or something like that.We didn't find out anything else though, so I don't know why someone would want to murder him. Unless they really wanted that castle."
"Well I heard it was dark magic that was performed. Maybe it's some evil plot that You-Know-Who is planning." Parvati said.
"Oh dear." Hermione said. She saw the look on Harry face again. "You shouldn't have said that, Parvati. Harry. Remember what we said to you in Diagon Alley the other day?"
"We? What do you me 'we'?" Ron asked.
"Not helping Ronald!" Hermione said irritably.
"No its okay Hermione. I get it. No trouble this year." Harry replied.
"Good." Hermione looked at him though as if she wasn't completely convinced.
Catherine looked over to the Slytherin table. It wasn't hard to spot Draco, the bright blonde hair was always a sure giveaway. He was sitting with the usual. Crabbe, Goyle, Parkison, Fey, Blaise, and other slytherin girls who were all over him and Blaise. What a man-whore, she thought. Draco then turned his head over towards her with a look that said, ' Are you doing waht you're supposed to be doing, or just staring at me?'. Yes, he said all of that with one look. Catherine just bit her bottom lip and looked over at Harry. But before she could say anything, the doors opened and the first years finally entered.
The all looked so little walking in with their robes. Some of them looked nervous, while some of them waved to their older brothers and sisters.
"Aaw! They are so small. Like dwarves." Ginny said.
"Yeah. You would fit right in with them." Seamus joked.
Ginny playfully punched him in the arm. ROn saw this and gave the death glare to Seamus. After all, she was his kid sister, and he didn't want anyone to mess with her. He saw Ginny turn around and he quickly tried to sile innocently, but it was too late. She had already kicked him in the thigh, inches awar from somewhere that would've been rather unpleasant for Ron. Hermione just laughed at his attempt to play big brother.
Soon the sorting hat was doing it usual routine of singing and sorting the children. Food then appeared in fornt of tem and they all began to eat. Catherine didn't realize how hungry she actually was. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so it made sense. Catherine usually picked something up on the train, but this ride was a little bit more interesting for her. After a couple minutes of eating, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her.
"What?" She said as she looked up at Harry.
"Oh, nothing. " He said with a smile.
She then heard Draco's voice in her head. 'You have to get close to Potter...'. She then remembered Ginny flirting with Seamus earlier. Hitting him playfully on the arm. Catherine had never really tried to flirt with anyone before so she wasn't quite sure how to do it. She just looked at Harry with a smile and lightly bumped into him. He just smiled and bumped her back. Catherine found this rather strange. She decided that after she would go to Ginny and ask her about this.
"So do you know who the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?" Catherine asked finally finding her voice. She was still a little shy around these people even though she had gone to school with them for the last few years.
"Well, I heard it was going to be this guy-" Neville then stopped and looked down.
"Oh well that tells us a lot." Lavender said jokingly.
"Well I had more to saym but I have forgotten what it was." Neville said.
"Oh Neville, dear Neville." Hermione said with a little giggle.
Ron looked over at Hermione when she said this. Could she possible like Neville, he asked himself. The thought of it made him feel like his heart was about to crack in half. After so many years have liking Hermione more than a friend, he didn't know how much longer he could keep it in. That is partly why he finally decided to tell Harry. He knew that after he did this, Harry would never just leave it alone. He always wanted Ron to be happy.
Soon Dumbledor began to make his usual speech. Through the middle of it though, he was interrupted. The Great Hall doors flung open and reveal a young, handsome man in about his late twenties. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. All the girls began to sigh.
"Ah." Dumbledore said. "I was just about to talk about you Professor Nieto. Well, students, this is Professor Nieto. He will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this school year."
Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny all began to smile and blush as he walked passed them. Actually, almost every girl he walked by did the same thing. Dumbledore ignored this and continued on with his speech.
"He was in school, one of the schools that I started for Aurors, when I asked him to fulfull this teaching position. As you can see, he accepted it and here he is. Would you mind taking a seat next to Severus Snape?"
Professor Nieto just nodded his head and sat next to Snape, who was giving him dirty looks all the way. Apparently he was still on the venture to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Dumbledore began talking again, nothing of which seemed to interest Catherine. She just looked over at the Slytherin table once again. One of the Slytherin girls, that she did not know, was playing with Dracos Hair. He was just smiling at her. Catherine just turned away. She didn't know why, but when she saw this her heart just dropped. Well she did know why. He was hot. But it felt like something beyond that. Catherine snapped out of it and began to listen to Dumbledore once more.
"Prefects, when I dismiss you, please round up the first years and orient them with the castle. As for the rest of you, go to your chambers and unpack. Class will start on the day after tomorrow. And on the last note," and this is what really caught Catherine by surprise," be careful of the new friends you make this year.