Hey, another chapter, I hope that you all like it, I know that people have read this so please review, would mean the world to me!

Thank you to Isabella120 and novembermummy who reviewed this chapter and to everyone who put me on story alert!

I DON'T OWN THIS!

Chapter Two

Too young

Cause I'm never gonna walk away

If the wall comes down someday

All alone and you feel afraid

Be there when you call my name

You can always depend on me

I believe until forever ends

I will be your friend

-I will be your friend

Every since my brother had come home from his first year at Hogwarts I had had a clear picture of what I thought it was going to look like in my mind. Every time there would be shadows in ever corning that would be waiting to drag you deep into the dark arts, the halls would be dark and the walls painted as black as my brothers heart now was.

But it seemed that I had never been so wrong about it.

The stone walls were light making the large castle look like magic itself, I had no idea what it was but there was something about it that made me think of it as home without even stepping a foot inside it. I was currently sitting in a boat that was taking me over the lake and the light shown out the many windows making the river seem like it was shinning gold, one of the best things that I had ever seen.

I was relieved at home good I felt, just by being here, there was nothing dark about this school a good side if there ever was one but like always there was a down side. If there was nothing wrong with the school then my brother had turned bad all on his own, there was no one forcing him so maybe I had lost him on my own. I had I not been good enough for him to stay good? Did he not think about me when he had been here learning how to close down his emotions more and more every year? I had a sinking feeling that I had truly lost him forever, on the train he had not looked heart broken that I turned him away, he just looked mad at me, mad that I was not going to be like him and go dark.

But that was never going to happen.

So far things were going good, there were two other people in the boat with me, one girl and a boy. I had no idea what their names were but they were happily talking to one another and not even turning to me to ask what my name was, it seemed to be the story of my life but they were going to see, everyone was, that there was more to me then they thought. By the time that I left here I was going to be great. I was too engrossed in the beauty around me to give them enough attention anyway and before I knew it we were back on land and making our way to the Great Hall to get sorted.

This was the moment that I had been waiting for, the moment that was going to decide what my next years at Hogwarts was going to be like. I thought of my brother and being pushed into the shadows or going into another house and cursed by my family. Suddenly I was not sure what I wanted anymore, if my father ever got out like I hoped would I ever be able to see him again? Would he want to see me if I did not follow in his footsteps?

Professor McGonagall was different from what my brother had told me, he always like to say that she was mean and knew about as much as Dumbledore but she seemed to have a nice side, or at least a soft spot for the first years and if she knew as much as Dumbledore did then he must be a great man.

---*---

The Great Hall was shinning so brightly that I found it hard to think that it was only the candles lighting it, it looked like home and as I walked closer to the head table I tried to think about all of the meals that I was going to eat here instead of all of the people that were looking at me. I did look over the Gryffindor table for a second to see Neville, Ron, Harry and Hermione smiling at me in encouragement and I wondered what would happen if I ended up in Slytherin, would they still talk to me then?

Considering that Hermione was going out with one I hoped that they would, it seemed odd that I had made friends with people that were older then me instead of ones my own age but I tried not to worry about it, I knew that I was going to have seven year to make friends an that should be enough. I smile back slightly before stopping near the front, it would be a while before I would get sorted and I had no idea were to look so I settled for watching my fellow first years getting sorted. One by one the crowd was getting thinner and thinner with every name called, some of them looked happy, some of then sad while others looked indifferent to were they had been placed.

It seemed to be forever in till my name was finally called.

"Nott, Bella"

There were a few whispered and I wondered why, were they thinking about my connection to my brother or the one I had with my Death Eater father? Professor McGonagall smiled kindly at me as I sat down on the stall while looking above everyone's heads head and to the doors, my vision was soon cut off as the hat was placed on my head and I could only see darkness.

I jumped slightly as a small voice started to whisper to me.

"Oh, another Nott at Hogwarts, yes you could do great things…nothing too special in this mind but there could be….hmm Slytherin I think…"

A panic went threw my body and I thought that this was it, that was were I was going to be, in the place that I had deeply hoped that I would not be, I did not want to be like them, I wanted to break away from them and be my own person.

"Hmmm, well this is odd, this house would be like your home but there is something else there, something more brave…ahhh the need to prove yourself is buried in here I see…very well then…"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat was removed from my head and for a second I found it hard to move or even to think about moving, I had not been put into Slytherin, I was a Gryffindor, the first that there had ever been in my family. I finally hopped off the stall and smiled, I was different from them and I had never felt better about it. I made care not to look over at my brother, I did not even want to think about what he was looking like right now. I knew that he was going to be mad but I was smiling too much to care. All of the other first years were sitting at the same end of the table and I went to sit with them when I spotted Hermione signalling for me to come over. I glanced at the first years one more time before almost running over to the seat that she had saved me, it had almost been like she had known that it was going to happen.

"Well done" she whispered lightly as I sat down "I knew that you could do it"

I smiled.

"Thank you"

Hermione carried on smiling all the way though dinner and watched her young friend as she carried on eating, it was not in till the night grew late that Hermione suddenly had an idea, one that could change everything.

---*---

Room of requirement:

"No, I am not going to listen to this Hermione"

"Why not? I think that you should at least think about it before you just say no like this"

The long table was not there that night and the girls laying on the floor with their sleeping bags, a tub of ice cream and a spoon in their hands, it was the first night back and much to their joy Hermione had called a meeting their very first night back, they had much to talk about but she had a main reason for calling the meeting: Bella Nott.

"When you called this meeting I thought that you had a good reason for it, not so that you could try and talk us into letter some little first year join us. You do not even know anything about her for god sake you have only known her for a few hours, what makes you think that she would be good enough to be able to handle something this hard, she is eleven years old!"

"I know but I think that she had parental to be a great member"

"But that's just it Hermione, you think that she has parental, nothing more, maybe in a few years when we have left then yeah I could see it happening but right now? Right now we have no idea who we can trust, when the war is over then we can think about getting new members but in till then-"

"So your saying that if she survives the war then she would be good enough?" Hermione asked, her temper seemed to be raising but she was doing her best to keep her tone light they had never had fights at any of the meetings and she was not going to start now.

"No and you know that is not what I mean, we just have to be careful"

"Well can you at least think about it?"

"But Hermione you know how this works, her name is not even on the list"

"Then put it on there or something"

Pansy rolled her eyes and placed her ice cream down before walking over to one of the many book shelves and taking one of the books down, the paternal members book.

"You know how this works, this book tells us when it thinks that we should add someone and, oh look at that her name is not there. There are rules that we have to follow, that is the way that it had been done for years and we have no right to change them"

"Yes" Hermione said slowly, like she was thinking about her words with care "but if I remember rightly then there is another rule that cancels out that one, at least to an extent" Hermione stood up and motioned for the book that Pansy was holding, the black haired girl looked slightly reluctant but under the gaze of everyone she sighed and handed it over. Hermione opened it to the front and read a few lines before she smiled "See, right there in black and white"

Pansy frowned before taking it back and reading were Hermione was pointing, her frowned deepened and she sighed.

"You can not be serious"

"What does it matter to you any way, I think that she would be good so could you at least think about it for me please?"

Pansy sighed.

"I will think about it, but nothing more"

"That's all I ask"

---*---

Bella's point of view

The next day:

I had hoped my first day was going to go well, my parents had always said that impressions meant everything to some people and I was keen for mine to be a good one, not so that my family would be happy but so that I would be.

But while my uniform was looking neat and I had my hair tied back I was worried that I was different from the other first year girls that I shared a dorm with, last night had been…different to say the least. There were three of them, two blond and a brunette and they seemed like really nice people, they laughed a lot, well giggles…alright so it was a screech more then anything but nothing that I can not handle. They seemed to have an amazing talent for gossiping which I found to be amazing, they had stayed up in till three o'clock last night to gossip about all of the people that they had met. The talent was that they had not even been here for twenty four hours and some how they still seemed to know everything.

And yes my eyes had dark circles under them and I felt like I was dead of my feet but not for the reasons you think because while they had been gossiping about everyone I had been laying in bed with my head under my pillow in hopes of drowning out their bloody voices. I lobed to have fun, really but com on, three in the morning!

Which got me thinking, did all girls my age like to do this and was I the odd one out? Was there something wrong with me that made me so different from them? I liked to have fun, fun was good but still…gossiping was not my thing.

And I had a whole year of it.

---*---

The next day Hermione thought about nothing but Bella and what she could do to make Pansy see that they girl had it in her to be one of them, Hermione had no idea why she had taken such a liking to the girl but there was something that made Hermione think that she wanted her here next year, she had a feeling that it was going to be hard here next year and this girl would need friends.

"I still think that she is too young" Pansy was saying to her as they walked down the corridor, Bella was just ahead of them and both of them were watching her as she walked, looking for the good points that she could tell her friend, the girl held herself tall and Hermione could tell that she was confident and happy with who she was but she was not big headed about it.

There were a few things that needed to be sorted though, her uniform was neat and tidy like the rest of the students but Hermione thought that she would look better with her hair down and maybe she could smile more. While Bella was walking and talking with people Hermione got the impression that she still had no connected with any of them, she remembered what her first year had been like and knew that you needed friends to get though school.

"She will be fine, I know it"

"You have got to be joking Hermione"

Hermione sighed, she had thought that she was going to get a reaction like this one but it was worth trying at least, she could see something in this girl not matter what age she is.

"Pansy you are going to have to trust me on this one, I really do think that she could do it. She is not like the others and I know that if we gave her a chance then she can be just as good as everyone else"

"No Hermione, I won't do it. She is too young for this. Things around here can be hard enough as it is without you getting all of the small children involved. This is serious thing that we do and I will not have someone like her make a laughing stock out of us"

"But I really don't think that she will" Hermione muttered and smiled when she spotted the girl in question "Look there she is, does she really look like someone that can't do this? I know that she has what it takes, she is just the kind of person that we are looking for and I really think that she could be passionate about this"

Pansy raised her eyebrows as she watched the small girl walk to her next class with her house mates, she looked fairly simply, her black hair was tied back and she had smile on her face while she laughed and talked with her fellow first years. She was so occupied with talking that it happened in under a second, she stumbled slightly, dropped her books and attempted to stay up right, it may of worked if she had not stepped on one of her fallen books. The girl let out a small squeal that made many heads turn and fell to the ground with a loud "thud!"

"Your right" Pansy sniggered with a small smirk before she walked away "I can see what you mean, she would be perfect, that girl is all about the stealth that we're looking for in our girls"

Hermione groaned, she liked the girl but her timing was horrible.

"She can do it" Hermione muttered to herself "She just needs a little bit of work, that's all"

---*---

I could feel my cheeks heating up as I attempted to pick up all of my books, the people I had been walking with did not even look back and I sighed, I had met some really nice people here but if they would not help you out when you did something as bad as this then you knew that they were not your friends.

"Hey…need some help?"

I looked up to see a boy standing there, he has a slim face with dirty blond hair and the kindest smile that I had seen in some time, he held out hand for me and smiled as I picked up my last books and took it, allowing him to help me up from the floor.

"Thank you"

He shrugged and smiled widely.

"Don't worry about it, you should of seen me in my first year, if that had been me then everyone would of seen me fall over and then some"

I put my bag over my shoulder and frowned in confusion.

"But people did see me fall over"

"True" he said as he walked with me "but only some people saw you, not the whole school and the day is young so I am willing to bet that by tomorrow morning everyone would have forgotten about it, there are very good at getting new gossip at this school you know"

I smiled.

"Thank you, that makes me feel slightly better"

"Good, well my job is done then, I'm Dennis by the way, Dennis Creevey"

"Bella, Bella Nott" I said as I pulled my bag tighter over my shoulders, I could tell that he was older then me, probably no more then a year but I could tell that we were not the same age, he was taller then the other first year and there was no panic in his eyes like there were everyone else's.

"Well see you are Bella"

"Yeah" I muttered as he walked away "see you late"

My first day was harder then I thought it was going to be, Potions had been fun I think, Slughorn was slightly weird but he always seemed so happy and I wondered how someone that seemed so nice could of once been head of Slytherin house, maybe if he till was then my brother would be nicer too.

History of magic seemed to be going in slow motion and instead of listening I just simply draw instead, I like drawing but I'm not very good at it still it made the lesson seem like it was going a little bit faster.

And then there was my final lesson, Defence against the dark arts…this was an odd lesson to say the least, Snape was not like my brother had said, I had thought that he was going to be someone that I could look up to, I had even hoped that he would like me but it seemed that I was wrong. He did not make real eye contact with anyone and his tone was cold and unwelcoming. He seemed to love the colour black but I had to give him one thing, his tone of voice seemed to be boring but there was not one person that was not listening to what he had to say and their eyes never once left him. They could of just been scared but I liked to think that they just wanted to hear what someone like him had to say.

At dinner that night Harry and Ron did not seem to think the same thing.

"You have got to be joking" Harry said "He is the worst teacher in the world and did you see the way that he talks about his lesson? He never mentions defending yourself he just talks about the dark arts and he does it like he loves them, its weird"

Hermione looked up willing to say anything before she sighed and finally turned to Harry.

"I don't know, maybe Bella is right in some respects" at Harry and Ron's looked she added "I just mean that sometime he talks like you, he may just be passionate about the subject"

"Yeah" Ron muttered "I'm sure that he loves the dark arts"

"Anyway" Harry said wanting to change the subject "How are you and Draco doing?"

"Good" Hermione smiled "We do not get to see each other a lot but it is only the first day and he promised that we could spend tomorrow with each other after class"

"That's good" Ron smiled "but don't you go taking our friend from us now"

Hermione snorted.

"He was mine before he was your thank you very much"

"No, we knew him before you"

"Yeah I could tell that you all loved each other from the hex's that you through at one another and besides if it was not from what I did last year then you would not even be friends"

Not wanting to be just sitting there and listening in to their talk I tried to say something.

"Why?" I asked "what did you do last year?"

They seemed to freeze and even Ron stopped with his fork inches away from his mouth as they looked at me with something like panic in their eyes.

Harry muttered something and they carried on talking about something else, I did not comment on their change of subject but I wondered what had happened with Draco, what ever it was it was not something that they wanted me to know about.

It was not in till dinner was almost over that they tuned to talk to me again, Hermione started to eat her desert and she smiled at me.

"So what do you think of your dorm mates?"

I though of the fact that I was going to have to go to bed soon and sighed, I could only hope that I was going to be able to get more sleep tonight, I had nothing against them but would it kill them to sleep? I would of loved to of said something but I wanted to make friends not have them think that I am stuck up and thought that I was better then them because I did not think that. I just wanted some sleep!

"There nice I guess"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"You all get on then?"

I nodded and tried to look like I was being truthful.

"There are all really…colourful people"

"I see…" Hermione muttered "what are their names Bella?"

I sighed defeated.

"Alright so we're not winning any award for being great friends but I really am trying but…they will not stop talking! Its stupid and they will not let me sleep. I just want a good nights rest and all they can do it gossip about people that they don't even know but for unknown reasons know every thing about them. Its stupid!"

Hermione smiled.

"You don't like to gossip?" Neville said from my right "I thought all girls like to do that, its in their nature" he teased and I made a face to show what I thought.

"There is no point to it"

"Your different" Hermione muttered with a smile "I like it"

She looked happy as she carried on eating and I looked across the table to see Harry and Ron give each other knowing looks, I had no idea what was going on but it felt like I was not going to find out. I carried on with my dinner and as I talked to Neville about what I thought of Hogwarts all of the bad things went out of my mind.

Everything was going to be fine.

---*---

The room of requirement.

"Fine"

Hermione smiled and went to thank her when Pansy held up her hand to stop her, a grim look on her face.

"I have thought about it and your right, everyone should at least have a chance with something like this but there is one condition, we are going to follow the old rules when it comes to her and you know what that means"

Hermione looked reluctant but nodded.

"Are you sire because-"

"You said that she could handle it"

"she can, I am sure of it but you still have to think about her age, she is eleven and its hard for someone my age to pull that off, remember last year?"

"Yes and everything worked out in the end"

"Yeah and all we had to do was tell the boys that we are no longer running, I hate lying to them about this when they think that it is something that we used to do"

Ginny shrugged.

"We all find it hard to do but we used to do it every day before, its not right that they know about us, it kind of makes the whole thing pointless, don't you think?"

"Agreed" Pansy said before turning back to Hermione and the rest of the table. "But back to the matter at hand, we will see if she has what it takes to be one of us but you are not allowed to help her Hermione. We will give her some time to get used to Hogwarts before we talk to her though, after all she is young. Too young in my option but I see that you are not going to change your mind" she added in a bitter tone.

"No" Hermione said with a smile "I will not"

"Then its settled. Bella Nott may one day be one of us"

That's it for the second chapter, please let me know what you think!

Preview:

"Well we fight the bad guys"

My eyes widened in wonder as I tried to take in everything that they were telling me, this could not be real, I must be dreaming or something.

"You fight Death Eaters?"

Pansy looked awkward and she looked at Hermione in hopes that her friend would take over for her and say something helpful.

"No, the other bad guys"

I felt a sudden fear as I whispered:

"There's more then one kind?"

Yay!

~Haraldzidla