After we've eaten, Professor Dumbledore tells us the rules and then dismisses us, and we're taken up to our dormitories by the Prefects. We're about halfway up the stairs before I feel a cold hand grasp my wrist and I turn around to see Draco Malfoy staring at me incredulously. Because I lived at Malfoy Manor with my parents and my mother's sister is Narcissa Malfoy, I saw a lot of Draco during my childhood.

"Hannah?" he hisses. "What are you doing here?"

"Learning to control my magic, the same as you would be," I reply in a voice laced with anger.

"So you're a Granger now, huh?"

"Who I am now is nothing to you, cousin."

"I think it is," he replies dangerously. "You see, my Aunt Bella has been looking for you."

"No Draco, you wouldn't," I say, eyes growing wide in fear.

"Oh yes, I would. I really ought to tell her that you're here and that you're living with the Mudblood, Granger."

"Leave Hermione out of this, she knows nothing."

"You mean you never told her?"

"I swore I wouldn't, Draco."

"It's not just your mother looking for you; He's looking for you, too."

"Why? What does he want with me?"

Draco grabs the left sleeve of my robes and pulls it up, revealing the red mark on my forearm.

"That's why. You're branded as his and he wants you back. If he finds out that I've been lying to him, he'll kill me."

"How would you have been lying to him?" I ask sceptically.

"I promised him that I would tell him if I saw you."

"I can't go back there, Draco," I say, pulling up the other sleeve of my robes. "Not after everything she put me through."

He gasps as he takes in the sight before him, of my entire arm covered in scars. Scars my own mother gave me when I was four years old.

"She did this?"

"Yes, so just forget that you saw me, and we can both pretend that nothing happened."

He says nothing, just glares at me before storming away silently. I run and catch up to the rest of the group and go to the dormitory. We reach the top of the stairs and the Prefect tells all of us the password to get into the Common Room and he says it to the Fat Lady's portrait and lets us in. Everybody oohs and aahs when we walk in, and then one of the girl Prefects takes us up to our dorm. Our trunks are already in the dorm at the ends of the beds, and the Prefect leaves us to unpack and get to know each other. There are ten other girls in the dorm, and I learn the names of a few of them, but unpack quickly and take off my uniform, putting on the cloths I wore on the train; faded blue skinny jeans with ripped open knees and slashes down the length of them, a tight, black, muscle shirt with ripped-off sleeves and ripped black gloves. I go back down to the Common Room and see Hermione sitting in an armchair in front of the fire. She smiles as I come down the stairs and makes room in the huge plush armchair for both of us. I sit down with her and she braids my hair while we wait for some other people to come down.

"Why can't you tell me what happened to you?" she asks me suddenly.

"I just can't," I sigh. "It would put both of us in danger."

"I'm friends with Harry Potter," she laughs. "I'm always in danger."

"Not like this," I say, turning to look at her. "This could get you killed."

"I nearly got killed in my first year here; I think I can handle whatever you tell me."

"This is too big for you, Hermione."

"What, but everything's fine for you?"

"No, it isn't fine for me, but I have to live with it. You don't."

"You're going to slip up somewhere, and I'm going to find out."

"I just can't tell you right now, Hermione," I whisper. "Maybe in a few years, but not right now. Just trust me."

"Fine then. But just remember that I'm here for you."

"I will," I say, and she hugs me gently before we hear Ginny coming down the stairs, along with the boys. They plonk themselves down on the couches and we start talking about the upcoming Quidditch season. Hermione doesn't like flying so she won't be trying out; Harry has a pretty much guaranteed spot on the team; Ron's trying out for Keeper, and Ginny's trying out for Chaser.

"Are you going to try out for the team?" Harry asks me.

"I'm a Muggle-Born, Harry," I say. "I didn't know I was a witch until I woke up. I've never flown before, let alone played Quidditch."

"So I guess you don't support the Chudley Cannons?" Ron asks hopefully.

"The what?" I say, even though I know perfectly well what they are. I still have to stick to my story to keep both Hermione and I safe.

One of the prefects comes in then, holding a rolled up piece of parchment tied with a crimson ribbon.

"Hannah?" he says, surveying our group.

"That's me," I say warily.

He hands me the parchment. "For you, from Professor Dumbledore."

"Thankyou."

He walks up to his own dormitory as I open the parchment and read it silently.

"What is it?" Hermione asks with a worried expression on her face.

"Dumbledore wants to see me in his office immediately."

"Does it say why?" Ginny asks.

"No, it just says that I need to go now."

I stand and leave, walking quickly to the Headmaster's office and ascending the staircase. I reach the door and knock four times; entering once I hear his voice telling me to do so. I sit in the seat he conjures for me in front of his desk and he studies me for a moment.

"I trust you're settling in well?" he finally asks.

"Yes, thankyou."

"Now that we have the nice things out of the way, we need to talk about the serious matters at hand."

"What would they be, Sir?"

"What is the story of your life before you came to Hogwarts? What did you say to your friends? About things you did with the Grangers as a young child?"

"I said that I was in hospital in a coma for my whole life and woke up just over the holidays and that Hermione believed I was dead, which is why she never mentioned me to anybody."

"Very good, you've made sure that there aren't any holes in the story."

"Thankyou Sir."

"There is another matter I wish to discuss with you though," he says, suddenly very serious.

"And what's that, Sir?"

"Voldemort has returned, and the Death Eaters are slowly regaining their ranks once more. That means that your mother is now at large again."

"I'm not sure I'm following you, Sir."

"Now that she is active once more, it means that she could find you."

"I don't want to go back there, I can't go back there," I say, tears starting to well in my eyes.

"Hannah, we are here to protect you. I placed you in Miss Granger's care because she is remarkably skilled, and she is capable of protecting you. You just have to trust those closest to you. I did vouch for you with a reason, you know."

"I understand, Sir."

"Before you go, I have something for you." From a drawer in his desk, he produces something unfamiliar to me. He hands it to me and I eye it carefully, not sure of its purpose. "It is a sleeve to cover your arm. Your left arm. Nobody can see it."

I understand he means to cover my Dark Mark, and I nod, leaving as he motions for me to exit. I go back to the common room and the Fat Lady lets me in, and I hear the others talking about Umbridge.

"The Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts," Hermione says dejectedly to the others as I walk in.

We talk for about another hour before we go up to bed, and I put on the sleeve Dumbledore gave me when the others aren't looking. I slip into a magenta crop top and three quarter tights and slide into bed. The other girls start gossiping, but I ignore it and try to go to sleep, but the girls keep asking me questions. I ignore them until they ask me what I think of the stories about You-Know-Who.

"He's real," I say shortly.

"How do you know?" one of the girls asks.

'Because I've met him," I think.

"Because I just know," I say groggily, before rolling over to sleep.

Once they think I'm asleep, they start talking about me, and they say I'm a bit strange and hot-tempered. I clench my fists, but ignore them, finally falling asleep.

"There's something not right about her."