Draco started at the name as if he'd just been slapped. His mouth hung open in a rather undignified manner, completely un-Malfoy like. His quicksilver orbs searched her sea green depths for any hint that she might be joking. When she gazed back as seriously as him, Draco felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Persephone was alive. He couldn't believe it. But how unlike her sister she was.
Pansy had jet-black straight locks that cascaded down nearly to her rear and cold calculating ice blue eyes that looked as if they should belong to a feline. Her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent and she looked as if a puff of wind would blow over her frail figure. Her sister on the other hand had wavy strawberry blonde hair that reached mid back. Her eyes were almost almond shaped with a kind, doe-like quality to them. Her body was well muscled from years of riding horses and her skin was still kissed with the sun from long hours working on the track in the summer. They were as different as night and day, dark and light, moon and sun. Both sisters were breathtakingly beautiful but in such different ways it was impossible to tell that they were related.
Draco suddenly drew back from Persephone as if he'd been burned. If his parents found out that Pansy's sister was indeed, still alive, he might be saddled with her instead of Pansy. Both girls were likable enough, and of course had more than enough beauty to bring honor to both the Malfoy and Parkinson names, but Jesus Christ he was only seventeen! The boy couldn't keep his eyes from wandering even if he tried. There were just too damn many good-looking females in this school. And he had the pick of the litter, he thought to himself with a self-satisfied wolfish grin. The mere thought of marriage had the poor boy running away faster than Secretariat pulling away from his competitors in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.
Grace turned to stare at Draco quizzically. He looked back at her with a sheepish expression and a quick excuse that they were almost to the school and he needed to change into his robes. Grace just continued to stare. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Okay Seph, I know we just met and all but this is your only warning. I have no shame and I have no problem getting naked in front of you if you don't vacate the compartment."
Grace narrowed her eyes at Draco when she heard his new nickname for her. "Please just call me Grace. That name makes me sound like some upstart upper class snobbery."
"Dear, you ARE upper class snobbery." Draco said with a snicker. "You're from an extremely wealthy and extremely ancient pureblood family. Last warning. The shirt is coming off." And without any further warning he swept off his gunmetal grey turtleneck with a flourish. Grace turned about 5 shades of red before dashing unceremoniously out into the hall, Draco's pleasantly amused chuckle following after her. Unfortunately she did not think to check for anyone coming and a few paces later, she ran smack into the Boy Who Lived himself.
Harry was walking along the train hallway, peeking in compartments, looking for Luna and Neville. His brow furrowed. Normally they sought him out knowing that Ron and Hermione were prefects and that he had no company during their time patrolling the train corridor. Suddenly, the same strawberry blonde he noticed before boarding the train flew out of a compartment about 4 down from him. He heard Malfoy's amused snicker and rolled his eyes. Malfoy was sure starting early on the poor girls. I mean damn, they hadn't even gotten to the school yet! His thoughts were cut off when the girl suddenly barreled headlong into him, knocking his glasses askew and sending him to meet the train carpet in a rather unceremonious way. The poor girl turned beet red and started stuttering.
"I'm so sorry! Oh geez let me help you up. Oh God I am such a freaking klutz!" Grace held out her hand to him. Harry contemplated her for a minute. She seemed nice enough. And he doubted that she was in Slytherin since she was so inclined to apologize. He gave her a small smile and grasped her small but surprisingly strong hand. She pulled him up rather quickly and without much effort. He straightened his glasses and smoothed his robes before holding his hand out again.
"My name is Harry, Harry Potter. What might yours be?" Grace hesitated. Should she say her real name or go with her muggle one. She decided to be on the safe side and stick with her muggle one. She knew there were some really big rivalries at this school.
"Grace Parker." She smiled at him shyly. My God but he was cute. Shaggy black hair
fell down into bespectacled emerald eyes and she looked over him in approval. What
these wizard boys do to keep in the shape they're in she didn't know. Maybe it's some sort of a spell. Man did she ever want to learn THAT particular spell! She thought about Draco Malfoy. Oh he had definitely been good looking, there was no doubt about that. But Harry for some reason had caught her attention more so than the cocky platinum blonde. She found arrogant guys to be tiresome to be around after a while. Harry had a more innocent charm about him, he struck her as the type of guy who would stand there nervously at the front door, flowers in hand, just waiting for the right moment to knock. Her cheeks flushed when she realized his beautiful green eyes were staring right back at her. He just smiled when he caught her blushing.
"Which house are you from? I've never seen you around Hogwarts. You must be from either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Your accent is strange though. I can't quite place it."
Grace was confused. What did he mean by houses? "I never went here for school. As I was telling Draco," she noticed Harry stiffen and his smile become a frown, "I'm from America and I was brought over here to finish my education. I'm just glad I was allowed to bring Magic. I would have been lost without my pony." Harry visibly brightened.
"Well that means you still have to be sorted." He laughed when he saw her confused face mixed with a dash of fear. "Don't worry, you're too nice to end up as a Slytherin in the snake pit. I'm pretty sure you'll end up in one of the other three houses. So Grace, what did you do in America?"
"Well my father owned a racing farm in Kentucky. I used to help train and exercise and I was getting my magical education through home schooling but that was before-" Grace cut herself off. She didn't even tell Draco what happened to her father. Harry was getting to her fast. Harry's eyes widened at the mention of racehorses.
"Bloody hell! I don't know much about horses or horse racing but I know you must have to be pretty damn brave to ride those brutes going as fast as you do." He grinned. "Well that settles it. You'll be a Gryffindor just like me, Ron and Hermione. Come on! We still have about an hour till the train gets to Hogwarts!" He smiled at her gently and took her by the hand and led her down the corridor to another compartment. He opened the door and a few people were sitting in the compartment. One guy she noticed had bright flaming red hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Damn but these English boys were gorgeous. Another occupant had the same flaming red hair as the guy and if Grace had to take a guess she would say they were brother and sister. Across from the red haired girl a curly haired brunette sat next to the red haired boy with her nose buried in a very intimidating looking volume. She was lost in thought and didn't seem to notice the newcomer. Next to her sat a willowy girl with long platinum blonde hair. She wore a rather dreamy expression and was staring out the train window as if looking for something. Across from her sat another young man with dark brown hair. He seemed rather nervous and shy, and timidly gave her a small smile as she entered the compartment behind Harry. Ron cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. Harry just smirked.
"Everyone this is Grace. She's from America and she's new this year. And I can pretty much count on her being in Gryffindor because anyone brave enough to ride racehorses definitely counts in the Gryffindor house." Harry gave her a bright smile, which she returned. He was very charming. The brunette looked up from her enormous book.
"Hello Grace, my name is Hermione." She greeted warmly. " And don't listen to Harry's prattle." Harry looked offended. "It doesn't matter what house you're in-"
"Yes it does! She'd better not be a bloody Slytherin-!"
"Ronald, knock it off. You haven't even introduced yourself and already you're bellowing at the poor girl like an angry centaur." Ron looked decently chastised. Grace hid a giggle behind her hand. Then suddenly something troubled her.
"The blonde boy I was sitting with earlier, Drake something or other-"
"Malfoy." Ron spat. Hermione gave him a severe look.
Now Grace was thoroughly confused. "I think he said he was in that house, the one with the snake emblem. What's so bad about that house?"
Ron had the air like he was going to go into another rant but Hermione cut him off with a quick hand to his mouth. He glared at her as she spoke.
"There's nothing wrong with the house itself –" Ron started to mumble through her hand and she used the other one to cuff him on the back of the head. He glared at her but said nothing more. Satisfied, Hermione continued. "As I was saying, it's not the house itself, but the nature of the people and the ideology that most of them grew up with. Grace, I'm sure you're familiar with the fact that some magical people are pureblood some are halfblooded and some are Muggleborn." Grace nodded her assent. Her tutor touched on it briefly. As a matter of fact she remembered something about him mentioning the fight overseas in England. Something to do with an evil halfblood wizard. And something about…
"Harry Potter! I knew I heard that name somewhere!" She saw Harry cringe. And suddenly she realized how much he hated being recognized everywhere he went. She had found herself a kindred spirit. "Sorry Harry. Yeah your fight with Moldyshorts or something like that-" Ron burst out laughing despite Hermione's squawk of frustration at being interrupted so much (A/N poor Hermione she must really hate me right now!)
"Mol-Moldyshorts, man Harry you oughta use THAT one during the final battle!" Tears were streaming down his face as he collapsed into peals of laughter. Harry just smiled.
"His name is actually Voldemort, Grace." A hush went over the compartment. Ron's hysterical fit of laughter stopped suddenly as if Hermione cursed him with Silencio. (A/N she didn't! ) Grace looked from one person to the next. Every single one of them had a very serious look on their faces as their archenemy was called by his name.
"Harry, don't encourage her to throw out his name so carelessly. I know you have every right to but she could find herself in a serious situation if she used his name in front of the wrong people." Harry nodded his agreement to Hermione's statement.
"You see Grace, Voldemort, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as you should call him unless you're with any of us, is the most evil wizard in a century. He kills witches and wizards just simply because their blood isn't considered pure." He spat the word like venom. "The blonde kid you met on the train. Be wary of him. He follows exactly those ideals. His father is a huge supporter of the evil bastard, and I wouldn't advise you to get too close to him. He's as slippery as a snake and can be trusted about as far as his house's mascot. I don't know you well enough to tell you not to talk to him at all, but just heed my advice. Be very careful whom you proclaim open alliance to. For as many allies as you make, you'll have just as many enemies." Harry's green eyes bored through hers, as if to challenge her as to what side she stood for. Suddenly something troubled her. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off from what she was about to say by the train grinding to a halt.
"Oh look at that we're here." The quiet blonde girl jumped up from her seat. She walked over to Grace and studied her for a minute. "Darling, I think you may be infected by a Wrackspurt." She tilted Grace's head to the side to look. Grace was thoroughly dumbfounded. What the hell was a Wrackspurt?!
"Okay Luna, that'll do." Hermione's commanding voice rang out behind her. Luna looked at her with a quirky smile and flounced out of the compartment, skipping and humming down the corridor. Grace turned to Hermione but all Hermione did was shake her head and smile. "She's a bit…extraordinary Luna. I assure you she's harmless. Come on, we'll show you to the carriages." Grace followed after Hermione and the boys out of the train. The two boys were just in front of them, involved in a heated discussion of the last Quidditch World Cup and soon they were approaching the school's carriages. Grace yelped and hid behind Hermione.
"Wh-wh-what are those things?" Grace shook from head to toe. The creatures pulling the carriages were fearsome looking indeed. They looked like, well, dragonish horses with huge batlike wings. Breath misted out of their skeletal heads. Their leathery wings curled high above their withers and their sleek midnight coats shone in the moonlight, giving them an eerie, unearthly glow. One turned to look at Grace and ducked its head to get a better look. Grace jumped back in fright.
Harry watched Grace's movements and could only deduce that she could see the Thestrals like he could. He watched as Tenebrus lowered his head to the frightened girl. "It's okay Grace. They're actually really gentle, they just have a bad rap. That's Tenebrus. Normally he's not super friendly towards anyone but Hagrid but he seems to like you."
Grace looked at the strange horse like creature in front of her. She looked into it's blank white eyes and shivered. She was used to the liquid chocolate depths of her beloved racehorses and Magic's quirky one blue eye. These white eyes were giving her the creeps. Still, she tried to look past the obvious difference to the horse that lived inside these monsters. Tenebrus gave her a quizzical look and ducked his head to shove it hard into her chest. Grace couldn't help but laugh. Magic did the same exact thing when he wanted attention. So she reached up and scratched the animal behind his poll. Tenebrus let out an equine huff of delight. Grace found herself softening up to the animal, after all, he was quite horse like in his manner. She was pulled from the front of Tenebrus by a gentle hand.
"Unless you want Tenebrus to run you over, you'd better get in the carriage." Harry said with a laugh. He lead her to the side of the carriage and helped her up onto the landing to jump inside the cab. Ron and Hermione were already sitting inside.
"Bloody hell, those Thestrals give me the creeps and I can't even see them." Ron said with a shudder.
Grace was confused. "Why can't you see them? They're standing right there."
Hermione took a deep breath as Grace looked at her imploringly. "Thestrals can only be seen by someone who has seen death." She finished her sentence in almost a whisper. "You can see them Grace. Who did you watch die?"
Grace was very quiet. Then she took a deep breath and spoke with a slight quiver in her voice. "My parents. My mother died when I was ten from a training accident and then my father, well I suspect my father was murdered. I don't know exactly how he died. I think someone injected him with a drug that was meant for one of our horses to disqualify him. That kind of foul play is common in racing. My father just got in the thug's way."
Harry sat next to her in a very pensive state. She lost her parents too. It seemed he might have found a kindred spirit in Grace. The rest of the carriage ride passed in somber silence as the morbidity of the previous conversation permeated the cab like a poisonous miasma. It seemed like an eternity before the carriage came to a stop. Grace chanced a quick glance at Harry. She wondered if she had said something to offend the boy, as he had been very quiet ever since she mentioned the death of her parents. Maybe she was too forthcoming? Her thoughts were interrupted by Hermione announcing that they had reached the castle gates as the carriages gracefully came to a stop. The four students jumped out of the carriage and before she ran ahead with the others, Grace walked over to Tenebrus and patted his sleek shoulder. Tenebrus arched his neck and leaned down to whuff in her ear.
Harry turned back to watch the interaction between human and creature. Grace sure had a way with animals. Tenebrus was completely in love with her. His eyes were closed in equine bliss as Grace scratched him behind the ears (a/n do Thestrals have ears??) and he could hear Grace speaking quietly to the animal. He smiled softly as he walked over to drag her away from her newest equine friend. He tapped her on the shoulder and Grace must have been startled for she spun around quickly and almost knocked him over. He didn't realize how close he was standing either for when she spun around she also tripped over his shoe and fell forwards into a very startled Harry's arms. His seeker reflexes allowed him to catch her before she fell. Grace turned to look up at his face and they both blushed deep when they made eye contact. Harry hastily let her stand up then backed off quickly. Grace stood there not knowing quite what to do. Harry scratched the back of his neck nervously before speaking. "So err, I guess we should head into the feast?" Grace giggled nervously before nodding her head and walking with Harry up to the castle to try and catch Ron and Hermione. Before they were out of earshot, Harry could have sworn he heard Tenebrus chuckle.
Okay so I'm not really sure if Thestrals are as equine as I made Tenebrus to be but hell it's my story so I say they're like horses when it comes to being scratched behind the ears! And so things continue to develop. Harry is so cute when he's got a crush heehee. Oh did I say that out loud, of course I could mean that he's...attracted to her! Ah bullocks I gave some of it away. Oh well. Next comes the sorting! What house should I put Grace in hmmm...well she's based on my own personality (at least when I was her age) so I'll really have to think it through. Suggestions are welcome, though I'm pretty sure I know which house. It's going to be either Gryffindor or Slytherin (obviously otherwise the story wouldn't be as fun! ah rivalry) so she's pretty much in a catch 22 at this stage. She's gonna make some enemies, and that's what keep the story fun! And of course I love non canon ships so don't be surprised to find some really funny pairings in here.
Oh yes and one more author's note. I know I just trucking along on this fic, but now I may be moving to South Dakota (for a horse racing job YAY!) and if I do my access to a computer will be limited until my broke ass can afford a laptop! So updates on this fic may be scarce for a while and for that I do apologize. I hope that you guys can still stick with me! Shout out to Beyond Rubies for giving me my first review! Thank you so much, I appreciated it so much that I went with your idea and had her go to Harry. I was originally leaning towards Draco (hee) but my Draco would break poor Grace's heart anyway, he's such a player! Thanks guys, keep the reviews coming!