It was Halloween eve. The entire school was standing outside on the grounds, waiting for the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to arrive. Renna's cheeks were pink from excitement and cold, and her green eyes were sparkling. Gabrielle would be here any minute!

"You look very excited," Harry murmured in her ear. She glanced at him, still smiling.

"If your best friend since childhood was arriving, wouldn't you be excited?" she asked.

"Except for the small fact that I never had any friends until I came here, yes, I would be excited," he said, his eyes -the same shade of emerald as hers- scanning the grounds. "How do you think they're going to be arriving? Brooms?"

"I doubt it," Renna said. "Not from France. And Madame Maxime hates brooms, anyway."

"How then?" Ron asked.

Renna shrugged. "It was never an issue while I was at school. I have no idea."

Almost as soon as she stopped speaking, Dumbledore announced that the delegation was approaching. She looked around eagerly.

While Madame Maxime exited the huge carriage and greeted Dumbledore, Renna had been watching the doors for Gabrielle. She was probably the only one to see the students exit behind Madame Maxime, and with a thrill of happiness she spotted Gabrielle, also searching the students with excitement. She spotted her and waved slightly. Renna waved back, but couldn't do anything else while they were outside.

As soon as the feast was going, Renna said, "I'm going to go over to the Ravenclaw table, okay guys?" Harry looked at her knowingly and nodded.

Renna hurried over and slid into the seat that Gabrielle had saved for her gladly and hugged her friend as hard as she could. Gabrielle returned the favor, then started asking questions. "How are you? Are you enjoying your new school? Do you miss me? Are you having fun? What's it like here?" Gabrielle finally paused in her questioning and looked around the hall in bewilderment. "And why are there four tables?"

Renna laughed and said, "Gabrielle, you idiot. There are four tables at Beauxbatons as well."

"Well, yeah, but I mean, here it seems like the students are segregated or something," Gabrielle said. "So what's the deal?"

"It looks like they're segregated because they kind of are," Renna explained. "There are four Houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. I'm in Gryffindor. At the beginning of the year the new students get sorted into one of the four houses, and they eat together, sleep together, and take classes together. Weird, huh?"

"Most definitely," Gabrielle agreed. "So will you get in trouble for sitting with me here?"

"No," Renna said, smiling. "People are allowed to go sit at other tables, which is a relief. Imagine if your boyfriend was in a different house and you couldn't sit with him!"

"That would definitely be awkward," Gabrielle said thoughtfully. "So," she continued briskly, "Who do you hang out with? How many new friends have you made? And," she lowered her voice, "Who is that hot blond boy staring at you? He hasn't stopped since you came over here."

Pretty sure that she knew who Gabrielle was talking about, Renna glanced over at the Slytherin table. True to her guess, it was Malfoy. He raised an eyebrow at her and mouthed, How do you know her?

Tell you later, Renna mouthed back, then turned to Gabrielle and said, "That's Draco Malfoy. He's a Slytherin-" she stopped at the look Gabrielle was giving her. "What?"

"What was that little exchange about?" Gabrielle asked innocently. "Tell him later? Are you two going out or something?"

"No!" Renna said hastily. Gabrielle raised her eyebrows disbelievingly. Renna sighed. "We're not," she said. "Even if I wish we were. We just talk sometimes, and he's a nice guy once you get to know him."

Gabrielle laughed and said, "So I was right! You do like him!"

Renna sighed. She had never been able to keep anything from Gabrielle before, and she hadn't really expected to now. "Yes," she admitted. "I do."

"Well, I don't blame you at all, sweetie," Gabrielle said, glancing at him again. "He is drop-dead gorgeous. Now back to my earlier question. Who are you friends with?"

"Look over there," Renna said, pointing at the Gryffindor table. "See where I was sitting? The boy on the left is my first friend. I met him at the Quidditch World Cup. The girl on the right is Hermione Granger, and the boy next to her is Ron Weasley. Those three are my best friends, but most of the people are really nice and I'm getting to know a few other people as well."

Gabrielle nodded as she digested this information, then glanced at Renna sharply. "You didn't tell me the name of the first boy."

Renna winced. She had hoped to get by that. "Well, okay, as long as you promise not to freak out too badly."

"Okay, now I'm intrigued," Gabrielle said, looking at him again. "So who is he?"

Renna sighed. She couldn't see any way out of this. "Okay," she said, running her hands through her hair. "He's- he's Harry Potter."

Gabrielle stared. Then she squealed, "Are you serious? Your very first friend is Harry Potter? You're joking!"

"Who is joking about what, Gabrielle?" said a voice, and Renna looked up to see Gabrielle's older sister Fleur looking at her in surprise. "Oh, hello Rennati." Then she turned her gaze back onto her sister. "What is Rennati joking about?"

"Nothing," Renna said quickly, trying to give Gabrielle the clue to shut up right now.

She didn't take the hint. "Renna's best friend is Harry Potter!" She said excitedly.

Fleur, startled, looked back at Renna, whose face was in her hands. "Really?" she said, smiling. "Wow, Rennati. Getting a little ambitious, are you?"

"He's not bad-looking, either," Gabrielle observed, watching him. "Will you introduce me later?" she said, turning her pleading look on Renna.

Renna groaned and whacked her. "Jeez, Gabrielle! Think about something other than boys for once!"

"Well, what else is there to think about?" Gabrielle said with serenity. "So, will you?" Renna suddenly grinned.

"Yes, I will," she said. "I've told them a lot about you, and they want to meet you. Harry in particular."

"Wait," Gabrielle said, looking a little uneasy. "Good stuff, or bad stuff about me?"

Renna grinned wickedly; she knew that Gabrielle was almost in love with Harry. This was going to be a fun year. "I think I'll just leave you in suspense," she said. "For now-" she ducked the arm Gabrielle swung at her and continued, "Shall I tell you a little about him?" giving in at the stricken look on Gabrielle's face, Renna said, "I told him that we were tricksters, and he seemed very interested." She grinned reminiscently. "I told them about the time when we -ah- well, remember the professor's underwear?"

Gabrielle laughed. "You told them about that?" she said, still laughing. "Probably our finest hour. That was beautiful."

"Wait," Fleur said. "You two were the ones who put Professor Dumont's underwear on that cat and let it run through the Hall during lunch on her birthday?"

"They couldn't catch it for ten minutes," Renna said, tears of laughter sparkling in her eyes at the memory. "And couldn't calm down the hall for another twenty minutes. A bright pink thong, too. With black hearts on it, remember?"

"You two have deranged minds," Fleur sighed. Then she smiled. "It was funny, though."

After dinner was over and everyone was getting up to leave, Renna dragged Gabrielle over to the Gryffindor table to meet her friends. As she passed Draco, he pressed a piece of paper into her hand. She slipped it into her pocket, but ignored it for now.

Harry and the others were waiting for her. "Guys," she said in English, "This is my best friend Gabrielle Delacour. Gabrielle, this is Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger."

"Hello," Gabrielle said in accented English. "It is very nice to meet all of you." Then she grinned, her eyes sparkling. "And I hope that Rennati has not told you too many bad things about me!"

"I haven't said anything bad about her, have I, you guys?" Renna said, turning to Harry for support, but feeling a little nervous when she saw that Harry was grinning. "Have I, you guys?"

"Oh, I don't know," Harry drawled, his eyes dancing. "There was the time when you told us about-"

"Harry!" Renna cut in, half horrified and half laughing. Then they were interrupted by Fleur.

"Rennati, we are leaving now," she said, coming to a halt in front of them. "I need to take Gabrielle with me, for, even if you have forgotten, you two do not share a dormitory anymore!" she smiled.

"Shoot!" Gabrielle said. "I had forgotten!" she turned to Renna and said, "I'll se you tomorrow, right?" then she smiled. "Maybe I can sit with you guys at the Gryffindor table."

"See you tomorrow, Gabrielle," Renna said. Gabrielle hugged her, then said goodbye to the threesome and walked off with her older sister. Renna turned back to her friends and found them all staring at her. "What?"

"I guess it just never sunk in before that you speak French fluently and have this whole other group of people that speak it too," Hermione said. Glancing at Ron and Harry, who were a little dazed from the meeting with Fleur, she added, "And that you actually know some very attractive girls."

Renna giggled. She had forgotten that she had spoken French with the girls from Beauxbatons. It was second nature for her to switch back and forth, because at school she had spoken French and at home English. "Fleur and Gabrielle are part veela," she told the boys. "Their grandmother was one, and I think their mother might be one as well. Don't let the looks take you over," she advised them. "There is much more to a person than just looks."

As they headed upstairs to their dormitories, Renna remembered Draco's note. She pulled it out, unfolded it, and read:

Renna, I'd like to talk to you. Will you meet me outside the Gryffindor common room at twelve tonight?

Draco

Renna folded up the note and slipped it back into her pocket. She hadn't really talked to Draco since that night over a month ago, when she had asked him to think about why he hated Harry. Reminded of that, she glanced over at Harry. She also needed to talk to him about it.

She grinned. These boys didn't have a chance. She hadn't told anyone, but another one of her skills at Beaubatons had been mending quarrels and enmity. She thought that she had gotten somewhere with Draco, too. He had seemed very thoughtful lately, and hadn't done anything to Harry that she knew of for a while.

At twelve o' clock that night, a dark figure slipped into the deserted common room and crept across to the portrait hole.

Renna felt like she was on an assignation, and had dressed accordingly. Under her open robe she wore a dark red shirt with a low neckline that was cut so close to her skin that it left little to the imagination. She wore a pair of jeans that settled low on her hips and hugged her legs before flaring out gracefully. She didn't bother with makeup, because it was dark, and rationally she knew she shouldn't be bothering with her clothes so much either, but she couldn't help it. She left her hair loose.

When she exited through the portrait hole, a dark figure separated itself from the shadows and approached her. She looked up into swirling gray eyes as a voice whispered, "You came. Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go somewhere else."

She followed him through the corridors and out onto the grounds. It was chilly, and she was glad that she had brought her robe. She didn't realize that she was smiling.

As we walked across the grounds toward the lake, I turned my head and watched her. She was smiling, the wind blowing her hair and robe back to reveal her clothing. She looked beautiful, the moonlight making her almost mystical and her outfit adding to that impression. I was still holding her hand, and I didn't want to let go. So I decided not to. If she wanted to let go, she could.

We reached the edge of the lake and sat down beneath a tree. We watched the wind make ripples on the lake for a while before she said, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

I brought myself back to reality and said, "Several things, actually." I sighed softly. "Might as well start with the biggest one."

"Let me guess," she said, smiling at me. "Harry."

"Brilliant deduction," I said. I looked out over the lake and ran my hands through my hair, frustrated. "I thought about what you said. I thought about it a lot, actually, and went through all of the things I could remember about him. I couldn't find one where he thrust himself into the spotlight. So honestly? I don't know why I hate him. And you know it's not just Harry. It's Weasley and Granger, too. I guess-" I stopped for a moment, but didn't look at her. "I guess I've just always assumed that he was someone I should hate."

"Draco, look at me," she said. I turned my head and complied. She was smiling. She was also looking at me as if I was more than a little dense. I flushed, just slightly. "You may have noticed that I have no enemies. I have no one that I truly dislike, either. There are people who don't get along with me, but I can usually ignore them. I didn't have any enemies at Beauxbatons, either. I don't see the point of antagonizing someone to the point where they become my enemy. And I don't understand why others would, either."

Beauxbatons, I thought. That's another thing. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," I said. "You never said you went to Beauxbatons. That is, I assume you did from the way that Beauxbatons girl greeted you."

She smiled. "That was Gabrielle; she was my best friend. And yes, I did go to Beauxbatons once upon a happy time. Up until this year. That's why I can speak French."

"You can speak French?" I asked, interested. "That's a stupid question. If you'd gone to Beauxbatons up until now of course you can speak French."

She laughed and looked out, over the lake. The wind had died down. She shivered slightly and moved closer to me. I put my arm around her and she nestled in even closer, laying an arm across my chest. We sat there for a while, just enjoying the quiet night. The Durmstrang ship was moored a little ways away on the lake.

After a while she stirred and said, "We should probably go back to the castle." She looked up at me. "Draco?" she started to get up, but I pulled her back down.

"Just a little while longer."

We stayed for about five more minutes, and then I acknowledged that we did have to go back to the castle. I sighed and said softly, "Renna?"

She didn't answer. I craned my head around to look at her face and found that she had fallen asleep. I picked her up gently and cradled her against my chest. Her only reaction was to snuggle closer. Carrying her was easy - she was ridiculously light.

About halfway to the tower she stirred and said drowsily, "Draco?"

"You fell asleep," I murmured quietly. "We're almost there." She let her head fall back against my chest but didn't go back to sleep, I could tell.

When we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she sat up. I set her down gently and said, "Good night, Renna."

"Wait," she said. I paused in the act of turning away and turned back to face her. She pulled my head down to hers and kissed me. I stiffened with shock; then my hands slid around her waist and I deepened the kiss. Her arms went around my neck, to play with my hair. She broke off the kiss and slid her hands down to my chest. Then she grinned wickedly. "Good night, Draco."

I smiled and kissed her softly once before turning and walking down the corridor to my own common room.

"I'm telling you, he didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire!" Renna yelled. Her hands were clenched into fists and she was on the verge of pulling out her wand and hexing Malfoy into a pile of pieces.

"Oh really? Then please explain how it got there?" Malfoy replied with no less heat, his gray eyes snapping.

"I don't know how it got there! If I did then I would most certainly tell you and Dumbledore!" Renna hissed. "Explain to me how Harry could have gotten over the age line, hmm? And you should have seen his face when his name was called as fourth champion! He had no idea it was coming!"

"Either that or he's a really good actor," Malfoy said spitefully. "You know what your problem is, Renna? You trust too much. You don't believe that Potter could have gotten over that age line, therefore he didn't put his name in."

"And you know what your problem is, Malfoy?" Renna shot back, her face flushed with anger. "You don't trust enough. If you loosened up a little bit and learned to trust people besides yourself, you might even start having a few friends!"

She glared at him for a moment longer, then walked off down the corridor, her pace quickening until she was running. She felt angry tears prick her eyes and stream down her cheeks. Dodging students, she ran out the doors onto the grounds, thanking her lucky stars that it was break and she didn't have another class for fifteen minutes.

She reached her favorite beech tree on the grounds and rested her forehead against it, taking deep, calming breaths. She wiped her cheeks quickly, hoping that no one had heard her fight with Malfoy. Reaching up, Renna grabbed a low branch and swung herself up into the tree. She climbed until she was nearly hidden by the branches, then sat and put her arms around the tree trunk, resting her cheek against the rough bark. Closing her eyes and breathing in the smell of beech, Renna slowly let go of the things that had made her angry and sank into herself, releasing all emotions and simply being.

When she felt calm again, she opened her eyes and looked down. She had left her bag at the foot of the tree. Renna thought of climbing down, but decided that it was too much trouble. So she just sat there for a while, not thinking of anything in particular, and definitely not thinking about a certain blond boy.

As she was sitting there, a boy came and sat down at the base of the tree. When he saw her bag he hesitated and looked around for the owner, and when he saw no one he cautiously opened the bag, presumably to look for identification. Renna watched, then decided to cut in before he could entirely go through her bag. "You know," she said softly, "It isn't polite to go through other people's things."

The boy jumped and looked up. Renna laughed at the stricken expression on his face and climbed down until she could drop gently onto the ground. "I'm sorry," he said. "I mean, I didn't see an owner so I was just looking for a name. I wasn't going to look at your stuff or anything."

Renna laughed again and said, "It's okay. Now you know it's mine." She sat down next to him and continued, "I don't keep any of my valuable stuff in here. It's an old habit, but when people routinely steal people's things and play tricks on them you kinda learn to keep stuff that you don't care about in your bag."

"You're the new girl, aren't you?" The boy said. "Sorry. That was a stupid question."

"I don't believe in stupid questions," Renna said. "Yes, I'm the new girl. My name is Rennati Forester."

"I'm Neville Longbottom," the boy said, sticking out his hand. Renna shook it. "Actually, my question was kinda pointless, because you're in most of my classes and you're in my year and my house. So I should know who you are."

The bell signaling the end of break rang, and they stood up and headed back to the castle together. "What do we have next?" Renna asked Neville, who pulled out his schedule.

"Umm...next I have Divination."

"So that means I have Arithmancy," Renna said. They parted in the entrance hall, Neville heading to the North Tower and Renna heading to the fifth floor.

Unfortunately, now that she was alone she had time to brood on the fight she had just had. She had blurted out that bit about Malfoy's friends without thinking about it first, or how it would sound to him. The look on his face right before she had left - shocked and vulnerable. It was the only time that she had seen him when he didn't have complete control over his face and emotions. And the unfortunate thing was that it was true. Malfoy didn't have any real friends. Now she felt sick, sick and guilty. She shouldn't have thrown it in his face like that.

But what could she do about it now?

Apologize? How?

Renna entered the Arithmancy classroom and slung her bag more forcefully than normal onto the ground next to her chair, and sat down. Hermione looked up from her book and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Renna said, a little too forcefully.

Hermione sighed. "Renna, you're brilliant at schoolwork, and great at figuring out emotional stuff, but your face is as easy to read as a book sometimes."

"I had a fight, that's all," Renna said, her tone saying subject closed.

Hermione didn't let her get away that easily. "Who with?" she put her book down and looked at her fully.

Renna glared. "Dra- Malfoy."

"Well, what's so odd about that?" Hermione said. "We have fights all the time."

Yeah, but you don't find him the hottest piece of boy-flesh in the school, do you? Renna thought acidly. "Hermione, have you ever had a decent conversation with him?" she said instead.

"Uh, no," Hermione said, a little startled. "I mean, he's never really been my idea of someone who could give good conversation, you know? He usually just calls me a- well, you-know-what, and then sneers and walks off, unless he and Harry or Ron get into a fight."

"Well, I have," Renna said. Ignoring Hermione's shocked look, she went on, "And if he doesn't have a prejudice against you, he's really nice. When was the last time he called you a mudblood?"

"Um," Hermione said, thinking, "Well, he hasn't talked to any of us for like, a month, I think."

"Why do you think that is?" Renna pressed.

"I don't know!" Hermione said, frustrated.

"It's because I talked to him," Renna said. "About why he hates Harry. I went for a walk and found him, and we talked. I asked him to tell me why and he couldn't come up with one good reason. His most potent one was that he had brought down Voldemort -don't flinch, god!- but I asked him if he had knowingly brought him down, or had he done nothing and a killing curse had backfired for reasons known to no one when he was one year old? I asked him to think about it, and about you and Ron as well, and he's been very quiet up until now.

"Now what about you? Why do you hate him, or do you not even hate him? I understand that he always calls you a mudblood. But that's it, right? Besides his attitude? To me, that doesn't seem like enough to hate somebody with."

"Well," Hermione said, her eyes narrowing in concentration, "Now that you mention it, I never hated him. Just ignored him, mostly. Why? Are you on a Don't Hate Malfoy campaign?"

"Not exactly," Renna said. "Did you ever think that the whole thing was really pointless? That there's absolutely no point in it?"

"Yeah, sometimes," Hermione said.

"So if he began being nicer, would you be nicer also?" Renna pressed.

"Yeah, I guess so, but you're never going to convince Ron and Harry that his intentions are anything but evil."

"Oh, I have my ways," Renna said, grinning, just as the teacher came in, effectively preventing Hermione from asking her what she meant. Renna grinned at the frustrated expressions Mione kept throwing her. At the end of the class Renna quickly packed up her things and left, smiling wickedly.

"Renna, I know exactly what you're doing, and it's not going to work!" Hermione said.

Surprised, Renna turned to face her. "What am I doing?"

"Avoiding me to make me wonder and to keep from telling me what you're going to do. And it won't work. I want to help."

"What?" Renna said, completely flummoxed.

"I want to help you end the war between Harry, Ron and Malfoy," Hermione said again. "It's just stupid, and it needs to end."

Renna stared at her in near shock. Nobody had ever wanted to help her in her end-hate campaigns. Gabrielle was totally uninterested, and nobody else really knew. "Well, that's great," she said, her mind already working on all of the things that two people could do, instead of one.

"So, what do you have planned?" Hermione said, falling into step as they descended to the dungeons and their Potions lesson.

"Well, now that Ron thinks that Harry put his name in the Goblet, I don't really think that we can do much about that. I mean, I can only do so much for people, but they have to take the actual steps."

"So you've done this before?" Hermione jumped at the piece of information.

"I used to do it all the time at Beauxbatons," Renna said. "I just can't stand the tension in the air when people are glaring death at each other. A few good friendships have come out of them, too."

"Okay, but what about the Malfoy relationship?" Hermione asked.

Renna thought hard. "Call me madcap, but I think, if we can get them speaking civilly this year, next year or the year after they'll become really good friends." She ignored Hermione's disbelieving snort and continued, "No, really, think about it. Harry and Draco have similar personalities; both are ambitious, have a need to prove themselves, and like causing trouble. Plus they're just compatible, that's all. I think that they're only really enemies because Draco's never been taught how to think differently."

"Draco?" Hermione said, smirking. "You two are on first name terms, are you?"

Renna blushed. "Well, yeah, I mean, it's kind of stupid calling someone who you're trying to get to like their mortal enemy by his last name, you know? And it's just nicer." She stopped talking and scowled. "Mione, have you noticed that Draco - Malfoy has no real friends?"

"Yeah he does," Hermione said, surprised. "He's got Crabbe and Goyle, and then there's Pansy-"

Renna interrupted. "But they're not friends, not really. They're more like cronies, or underlings. It's as if Malfoy's afraid to let anyone get close enough to discover the real him."

"I cannot believe that we're dissecting the personal life of Draco Malfoy," Hermione muttered. Renna, once again, ignored this.

"Have you ever seen Malfoy interact with anyone the way we do, for example? To be friends, you have to trust the other person. I think Malfoy's afraid of trusting anyone, because they might let him down and then he would be vulnerable and open to the world."

"You really put a lot of thought into this sort of thing, don't you?" Hermione asked, amazed. Renna smiled.

"It's so interesting, looking at people and trying to figure them out. I think psychology's fascinating. If you learn emotions really well, you can help people an amazing amount. I think I want to work at St. Mungo's as a psychologist nurse, helping people in shock or who have serious trauma." She scowled. "A really difficult thing is finding your own faults and acknowledging them. One of mine is that I hold grudges for a long time, and Malfoy insulted Harry severely this afternoon. It's going to be hard to get them talking while I have my own prejudice."

"It'll work out," Hermione said as they entered the dungeon and sat down together. "Now what's our next move?"

"Well, I don't think we can do much until after the First Task," Renna whispered. "Harry's under too much stress and Draco's not in a mood to cooperate. I think we just have to help Harry prepare and go from-"

"Fascinating though your social lives undoubtedly are, you two," a voice easily recognizable as Snape's said behind them, "I believe that this is a Potions class, and not free time. Now you both have a potion to make, and I suggest you start working before I find it necessary to take points from Gryffindor!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she hurriedly got out her things and began setting them up. "I think he must like you, Renna," she whispered as they both began reading the instructions. "Last year, he would have immediately split us up and taken twenty points for talking."

Renna frowned and stopped dicing roots. "I like Potions," she said. "It's one of my favorite subjects. Don't you enjoy it?"

Hermione shrugged. "It's okay." Catching a look from Snape, the two girls quickly started brewing their potions.

Hellooooooooooo? (hello? hello? hello?) man, someone needs to start sending me reviews fast.