A/N: Yay! Second chapter! Thanks to my first reviewer, bluebonnet babe. Full A/N at the end.

Disclaimer: If I owned HP, Dumbledore would still be alive. So, no, not mine.

Last time:

"Because, my dear Marissa, that young man was me."

Chapter Two: I Keep Telling Myself

After his explanation, Marissa just stared.

"You mean … I have to MARRY you when I turn seventeen? Who's crazy idea was that?"

He smirked at her. "I believe it was your fathers'."

"My− WHAT!"

"I know," Blaise said sadly. "Your own father, turning on you. It must be very hard for you."

She scowled. "Stop patronising me. I'm not five, you know." She stood, flicking back her blonde hair. "I'd better go. Erm … nice meeting you, sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?" Blaise stood up too. "I'm a very nice person you know."

Marissa snorted. "Of course. That's why you signed the bloody marriage contract without my consent. Yeah, very nice. Goodbye." She left, slamming the compartment door shut and rattling the glass in its frame.

She was in a bad mood all the way down to her own compartment until she found Ginny sitting in it, reading a book. Throwing herself onto a seat, she sighed once and pulled her school robes from her trunk.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny, looking over her book at the girl opposite. "You were perfectly fine before. What happened?"

Marissa slid the robes over her head and swept the hair out of her face. "Nothing, I'm fine. Just met a couple of gits down the train."

"Well, what did they do?" said Ginny, putting her book down. "Did they hurt you? Because I can always ask my brothers to deal with them for you."

Marissa shot her a puzzled look. "You would do that for me? Really?"

"Of course." Ginny beamed at her. "Anyway, what did they do?"

"Oh, not much really. They were just annoying." She was feeling a lot happier now. She had made a new friend and she didn't really care about the stupid marriage that much.

--

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Marissa froze. Gryffindor? What would her father say when he heard? The Slytherins were whispering. None of the others had any idea what was going on. She slid silently into an empty seat and looked across at Malfoy and Zabini who were staring at her, dumbstruck. She turned her head to avoid eye contact and watched the other first-years being sorted. Ginny got a loud cheer from her brothers, the twins as she got sorted into Gryffindor too. She sat with her brothers but beckoned Marissa towards her with her hand. Marissa hesitated. What if they didn't like her? A bigger part of her brain told her to get a grip so she picked up her plate and slumped into a seat in between Ginny and one of her older brothers.

"Hey," she said, spearing a potato with her fork.

Ginny winked at her. "Glad you could join us. This is Fred by the way, and his twin, George." She pointed at two identical boys with the same flaming red hair as her and they waved enthusiastically. Marissa decided that she wouldn't bother remembering which on was which and resolved to just call them 'hey, you' in the future.

"Hi. I'm Marissa. But you can call me Rissy if you like."

"Yeah−" began one of the twins, but glanced behind him. "Hey, Rissy, do you know why the Slytherins are all staring at you?"

She groaned. "It doesn't matter, just some stupid thing."

At that moment, Ginny piped up with, "Hey, where's Ron?"

A twin shrugged. "Probably in trouble already. Harry's probably there too, knowing them. We were never like that at their age, were we, George?"

"Nope," answered his twin. "They're a bunch of young rebels."

As Marissa lay down on her four-poster bed in her dormitory, she wondered what her father would say. Always in Slytherin? Not anymore, dad. She changed into her pyjamas And curled up under the warm covers and stared at the dark canopy for what seemed hours before falling asleep.

--

The next morning's post brought a not totally unexpected surprise. Well, two surprises really. Firstly, an eagle owl landed in her toast, scattering her breakfast and looking at her haughtily before letting her untie the latter from its leg. It flew off, its wings knocking over a milk jug and causing several Gryffindors to complain. She apologised and slit open the sealed letter.

Marissa,

I heard some very odd rumours last night from some of my confidants at Hogwarts. Apparently, you have been sorted into Gryffindor. Please reply to this letter and tell me this is not true.

Damien Blackthorn

P.S. I hope Blaise told you about your little wedding arrangement.

Marissa stared at the parchment in shock. People told him? They told her father she was in Gryffindor? But … who would do such a thing? She glanced up at the Slytherin table and her grey eyes locked onto similar ones while the Malfoy and the Black thorn stared each other down. Marissa eventually blinked and Malfoy smirked in victory. She mouthed something at him and he looked away hastily while she laughed. She accepted a timetable from Professor McGonagall. Now, what to send back to her father. He couldn't come to Hogwarts and harm her.

She dug out a quill and fresh parchment from her bag and dipped it in some black ink.

Father,

I could tell you it wasn't true, but then I would be lying. They weren't rumours. I am in Gryffindor, and I couldn't enjoy it more. Stop feeling angry, because I know you are. I can't change what the Sorting Hat said and I don't want to. Please, just let it go. I'm sure it doesn't make that much of a difference.

Love,

Marissa

P.S. Yes, Zabini told me. Next time you have important news, please take the time to tell me yourself. I will never marry Zabini.

She folded the letter up just as Ginny sat down beside her. "What's that?" she said, grabbing a piece of toast and buttering it.

"Just a letter to my dad. He's being a git again," Marissa replied.

"Oh." Ginny obviously didn't understand the feeling of coldness from her family. Marissa watched her joke around with her brothers for a while, before smiling sadly and getting up to leave the Hall. She waved at the Weasley's and headed off to her first lesson.

However, she was grabbed by the elbow by someone much stronger than her and she felt panic surge up her chest and she struggled as much as she could. She was slammed against a wall and her head spun while her assailant spoke.

"Why are you in Gryffindor?"

A/N: Yay! Second chapter! Longer chapter, I think. Anyway, just to let you know, I'm going to use Fanon!Blaise for this fic, even though it's not canon, but I find him so much more interesting and easier to write. Just to let you know that, yeah? Hope you enjoyed that. Not very interesting, I must admit.