Chapter Two
Harry
Harry pushed through the crowded train struggling to get to the compartment Hermione had reserved for them. He accidently knocked into a nervous first year causing several papers to scatter on the floor. With a casual flick of his wand, the papers were once again in the first year's hands, and Harry was continuing his trek to the back of the train. With a final surge of energy, Harry made his way through a group of giggling third year girls and stumbled into Hermione's compartment.
"Blimey, it's a jungle out there, isn't it?" Ron exclaimed taking in Harry's disheveled appearance. "I hope you didn't get attacked by a group of love struck girls."
"No," Harry sighed taking a seat next to his redhead friend. "I just had to fight my way through the hall. I wasn't aware there were so many first years."
"Dumbledore says it's the biggest class in Hogwarts history. There's supposed to be 300 of them!" Hermione exclaimed pouring out her knowledge. "We also have a new student coming from America."
"I wonder if she's hot." Ron muttered earning a smack from Hermione. "Goodness, I was only making a statement!" Ron exclaimed holding his injured head.
"It doesn't matter, Ronald. I doubt she'll be looking for any romance during her first year at Hogwarts."
Harry swallowed as he remembered Mr. Wealsey's letter. Keep an eye on her. For a moment, he considered telling Ron and Hermione, but he shook his head. He had made a promise to Dumbledore, and he was going to keep that promise.
"I'm not sure if I'm excited to meet her." Harry stated ignoring Hermione's appalled look. "Isn't it weird for her to transfer her sixth year? I mean, she's coming from America!"
"Maybe she needs a change of venue." Hermione suggested.
"The gods know that she'll be needing someone to escort her around the school."
Smack!
"Oh gods, Hermione, would you quit hitting me?"
"Well if you weren't so damn–"
"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted their bickering and the Golden Trio turned to face the person interrupting their conversation. "Is it OK if I sit with you guys?"
The girl standing in the doorway clearly wasn't as stunning as her mother. Some people might view her as beautiful, but she was simply… plain. The only things she had going for her was her eyes. They were captivating and stunning, but besides that, there wasn't anything connecting her beauty to her mother's goddess-like beauty. Her nose was too wide, her lips too thick, and she had no figure.
"My name's Athena." She smiled warmly at the three. "I'm new here; I just transferred from–"
"New York?" Ron asked returning her smile. "We heard about you." He shoved Harry down, and patted the seat between the two of them. "Come, sit with us! We'll tell you all about Hogwarts."
"Oh, really!" Athena grinned not hesitating to take her seat between the two boys.
Harry grimaced as her skin brushed against his. He didn't enjoy the way the Dark Lord's daughter was pressed into his side.
"What houses are you three in?" Athena asked.
"We're all in Gryffindor." Hermione responded sizing up the girl. "I'm Hermione, and those two are Ron and Harry."
Athena looked over at Harry, and for a brief moment, their eyes met. A flash recognition lingered in her light brown orbs, and Harry swallowed nervously. Who knew what her father had sent her here to do to him! He struggled to breath as her lips formed a perfect 'O' as she looked at him.
"Harry Potter?" Athena asked quietly. "The Harry Potter?"
"The one and only," Ron responded quickly. "I wasn't aware that people knew about Harry in America."
"The wizards and witches who have connections to the Aurors in Europe do. Otherwise, America's wizarding population doesn't mingle too much with the European powers. We closed off borders to Europe once the Second Wizarding War began."
"I read that American schools allow Squibs to attend." Hermione mentioned.
"Yes," Athena glowed with pride. "We encourage Squibs to learn whatever magical things they can, so that they can contribute to our society. Some of Squibs grow to be very accomplished Healers, Gardeners, Architects, and so on."
"I've read that Sir Arthur Quimby was a professional dragon trainer and he was a Squib." Ron supplied.
"Oh yes." Athena nodded her head. "He's a very charming man. I met him when he came to speak at our school."
"What school did you attend?" Hermione questioned.
"St. Augustine's School for the Magically Gifted."
"That's a very hard school to get into." Hermione noted. "They only accept witches and wizards who are very promising, and if you get below a certain mark, you are immediately expelled."
"Yes, but that's only a rumor. We're like the American version of Hogwarts."
"You guys have houses in your school too?" Ron asked.
"No, we didn't have any–"
"There you are!" Draco Malfoy burst into the compartment looking extremely proud of himself, and Harry rolled his eyes with disgust. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"I've just been sitting with some new friends I've made." Athena responded folding her arms across her chest. "Nobody asked you to look for me."
Malfoy looked around the compartment grimacing once he realized who Athena was sitting with. His eyes landed on Harry, and he let out a low hiss.
"My gods, you couldn't have mingled with a different group of people?" Draco exclaimed. "Do you know who they are?"
"I'm sorry, but how do you know Malfoy?" Hermione asked giving a questioning look towards Athena.
"I'm her boyfriend." Malfoy stated before Athena could answer. "I saw her at my father's dinner party, and it was love at first sight. Isn't that right, darling?"
Harry glanced over at Athena not too surprised at the information. If she was really Voldemort's daughter, then it would make sense for her to be dating the son of his most loyal follower. The only thing that shocked him was the idea that anyone could find Malfoy attractive or charming.
"I don't believe in love at first sight, darling." Athena placed extra emphasis on the last word earning a laugh from Ron.
"Say what you want," Draco dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "It was love at first sight for me."
"What was your first interaction like?" Hermione asked struggling to understand how someone as intellectual as Athena could end up with a git like Malfoy.
"We argued over the purpose of Squibs in European society, and we had a wizarding duel."
Draco grimaced when Athena mentioned the duel, but he didn't deny the claim. Curiously, Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Never mind that," Malfoy pursed his lips. "C'mon, Athena, we have to meet Pansy and Blaise in our compartment." Malfoy glanced over at Hermione. "Speaking of compartments, shouldn't the Mudblood be in the compartment with the perfects."
"Draco!" Athena's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't call her that!"
For a moment, Malfoy seemed unsure of what to do. Harry watched Athena with curiosity as she stared at Malfoy. Shouldn't she be disgusted that Hermione was a Muggleborn witch? Shouldn't she be joining Malfoy when he ridiculed her? She was the Dark Lord's daughter! Why was she defending Hermione?
"Sorry, honey," said Malfoy sarcastically. "I don't apologize to Mudbloods."
"Don't me hex you."
"So you can start another duel that you'll just withdraw from?"
"You know why I withdrew from that damn duel, and it had nothing to do with my skill as a witch!"
Malfoy swallowed. "Nobody asked you to do that."
"Having girlfriend troubles, Ferret?" Ron asked amused with the Malfoy's predicament.
"Mind your own business, Weasel." Malfoy snapped earning him another glare from his girlfriend.
"Don't call him that either!"
"Oh gods, look what you did, Weasley." The blond boy looked at Athena angrily. "I'm sorry, Athena." He spoke through clenched teeth, struggling to force the apology out of his lips.
"I don't care."
Draco
Draco bristled with anger as he followed Athena to the dining hall. Her hair flowed behind her gracefully teasing him with each gentle bounce it made. Sniffing the air, he cringed as the warm sent of honey and chamomile assaulted his senses. Bloody hell, she even smelled delicious. Blinking for a moment, he forgot why he was upset until he saw her red and gold plaid skirt. Oh yeah, now he remembered.
That damn sorting hat placed her in Gryffindor. Of all the bloody houses in the bloody school that dammed hat had to choose Gryffindor. How the hell was he supposed to keep her away from the Pothead, Mudblood, and Blood Traitor if she was in their house?"
Sighing, Draco ran a hand through his hair. It was a nervous habit that he didn't even know existed until he met Athena. It didn't help that she was still upset with him for making up that lie about them being a couple. It was just that he could see how the Pothead and Weasel were looking at her, and just felt so damn jealous that he had to do something. Of course, he couldn't explain that to her. He was a Malfoy, damn it; he would die before he admitted his feelings to a woman.
"What do you think your father will say about the house you've been placed in?" Draco asked wondering if the Dark Lord would take his rage out on him.
He winced as he remembered the curciatus curse that had been placed on Athena. If he could that to someone that he loved, what would he do someone he had no emotional connection too. Would Draco become another body added to the Dark Lord's collection?
"It doesn't matter." Athena shrugged nonchalantly. "He never cares." She turned around to send him a sickeningly sweet smile. "He loves me too much."
"It really seemed like he loved you when he crucio'd the hell out of you that night of the dinner party." The words fell out of Draco's mouth before he could stop them, and he felt satisfaction wash over him when he saw her angry face. Dear gods, she was attractive when she was angry.
Draco
Voldemort sneered down at Athena waching her writhe in agony. Draco took deep breaths trying to calm his racing heart. How could he do that to his own daughter? It had been over an half hour sicne the torture began yet the Dark Lord had no intentions of stopping. Somehwhere in teh crowd he could hear Pansy whimper, but draco didn't tear his eyes away from teh scene. Several painfully long moments later, the screaming stopped. Athena lay on the ground panting with tears running down her smooth cheeks. Draco wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
It was his fault she was hurt.
The Dark Lord smiled sadistically at his followers. "We'll continue this gathering in the library."
Desperate to leave, the group of death Eaters quickly shuffled out of the room. Each one walking as fast as they could to escape the dreary atmosphere the punishment had brought. Draco longed to follow them, but his feet stayed firmly planted where they were. He wouldn't leave without making sure Athena was OK.
"Clean up before coming to the library." Voldemort hissed smoothing down his black robes.
Draco looked away to avoid making eye contact with the Dark lord's snake-like eyes.
When the heavy door slammed shut alerting him of the Dark Lord's exit, Draco moved towards Athena. The two of them looked at each other for a moment unable to say anything.
"Why did you do that?" Draco yelled. His blond hair fell into his eyes, and he pushed it out of the way angrily. This damn woman was going to give him a heart attack. "You shouldn't have done that! I could've handled punishment. Mine isn't nearly as bad as what happened to you."
Athena didn't answer. She kept her eyes trained on the air above Draco's head and the boy hissed. What was wrong with her?
"Athena, god damn it, what's wrong with you?" Draco yelled louder. "You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to." Athena mumbled. "It doesn't matter what you think. I wasn't going to let you get punished."
"And how do you think I feel?" Draco screamed. "I should've lost, but I had to watch you get punished for something that's my fault!"
Athena frowned forcing herself to stand. "Don't worry about me."
She moved towards the door stumbling occasionally, and Draco ran a hand through his hair as he watched her leave.
"Where are you going?" He paused waiting for her to answer, but when she didn't, he followed after her nearly shaking from rage. "Where the hell are you going?"
"I'm going to the bathroom." She hissed.
Draco paused for a moment wanting to send a Cruciatus Curse of his own flying towards the girl. He wanted to see her writhe with agony from the power of his own wand. He lifted his wand, aiming it towards her back.
Draco lay panting in the chair across from Snape. His head ached terribly, and he felt as though he hadn't eaten or drank anything in a while. Turning his head to glance at the clock, he was surprised that he had only been in the room for five minutes.
It felt like an eternity had passed.
Snape looked down at Draco with a blank face. His eyes were swirling with emotion that the younger boy could not decipher. The two sat in silence for a moment unsure of what to say.
"You could work on your occlumency." Snape said his voice drained of all emotion.
"I managed to push you out though." Draco defended himself as he struggled to sit up.
"After, I had obtained the memory I desired. You're occlumency is too slow."
"You're going after the tender memories."
"And those are the memories the Dark Lord goes after." Snape sighed as he looked at the younger boy. "You need to master this if you want to succeed in your mission."
"I know what I need to do." Draco clenched his fists as he recalled his task.
"It'll be easier to complete your task if you don't get distracted by the Dark Lord's child."
For a moment, Draco was unable to respond. His mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find the right words.
"I – she – I'm not – she's – it's not –"
"Perhaps you should check on the status of cabinet," suggested Severus, seeing Draco's angry expression.
Grateful for the excuse to leave, Draco leapt up from his seat fleeing the office. His robes swished behind him, and he didn't slow his pace until he was at the Room of Requirement. Pausing to check his surroundings, he pushed open the door and disappeared into the room. The amount of miscellaneous items that lay scattered him around made walking a danger, but he easily made his way through the junk until he reached the large, black cabinet hidden amongst several muggle objects.
Draco ran his fingers over the smooth, black wood marveling at its antique beauty. Perhaps if this object wasn't the cause of his stress, he would be able to fully appreciate its beauty. It was, after all, a rare item that cost his family thousands of gaellons. It was something that he wouldn't mind having rest in his room.
His hand stopped once it reached the handle, and nervously, Draco slid open the door. The inside was simple enough, three shelves and a coat hanger on the back of the door. He eyed it with pursed lips before grabbing a random item from one of the piles of junk that lay around the cabinet. He turned the muggle device over in his hands before placing it on the middle shelf of the vanishing cabinet. The Malfoy heir debated on whether or not to leave it there, but his curiosity won, and the boy eagerly closed the cabinet door.
One… two… three… four… five…
Draco opened the door disappointed to see the muggle object still sitting in its spot. He once again eyed the inside of the cabinet before closing the door. Maybe it took a while for the item to send. He would check again tomorrow.
Smoothing out his wrinkled robes, he quickly spun around on his heel before marching out of the Room of Requirement. He headed down the hall his stomach grumbling loudly, and it urged him to walk faster towards the dining hall.
"Draco!"
The blond haired boy stopped in front of the large door as he heard his name being called. Nervously, turning around he saw a figure rushing towards him.
"My gods! Where have you been?" Blaise Zabini clapped Draco hard on the shoulder. "Why am I just now hearing about you and Athena dating?"
Draco groaned as he recalled the rumor that was spreading around school like wildfire. Everyone could not stop talking about the Slytherin boy who was head over heels in love with the Gryffindor woman. Sure, he was the one that started the rumor, but it wasn't that big of a deal. There were plenty of Slytherin guys that shagged Gryffindor girls. Why would his situation be any different?
"It's nothing." Draco muttered shoving the door to the dining hall open. "I was just saying that to get Potter to sod off. I swear that Pothead has an unhealthy obsession with Athena."
"Oh look, there goes the Pothead talking to your woman."
Draco snapped his head in the direction that Blaise was pointing nearly fuming when he saw Potter with his arm casually around Athena's shoulders as the two laughed about some joke the Weasel said. Grinding his teeth together, he stomped off towards the Scarhead barely paying attention to the Italian boy that was following him.
"Hello, beautiful." Draco wasted no time in sitting between Potter and Athena. His arm encircled her waist pulling her against his side. He pretended not to notice her cringe.
Blaise, eager to add to the drama, sat between Draco and Potter giving the Gryffindor male a head nod. He pulled a gold plate towards him spooning some macaroni on his plate (he thought about the mashed potatoes, but after he choked on them at the Death Eater party, he had a strange aversion to the starchy food).
"Hello, Potter." Blaise greeted the Chosen One with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "Greetings, Weasley, Granger." He smiled before pouring some pumpkin juice in his goblet. "Lovely evening, no? Look at how the stars shine." He winked dramatically at Granger relishing how she snorted in disgust.
"What are you doing here, Zabini?" Ron hissed stabbing his steak rather harshly with his knife.
"I felt bad for Draco. He has to sit here at the Gryffindor table with only that lovely lady keeping him company. I figured that I'd sit with him for the night."
"Thanks for the sacrifice, mate." Draco muttered sipping from his goblet.
"Where were you, today?" Athena asked Draco. "You said that you were going to meet me and Hermione in the library, but you never showed up."
"What's wrong, Malfoy? Are you scared of a Mudblood like me?" Granger hissed.
He watched with amusement as she angrily fiddled with her napkin. She was an amusing sight.
"Don't flatter yourself, Mudblood." Draco rolled his eyes. "I was meeting with Snape."
"Don't call her that." Athena cried shoving his arm off of her. "We talked about this already."
"My gods!" Blaise grabbed his heart dramatically. "Draco Malfoy, I am very disappointed in you, young man! We do not use such language around such beautiful women like Hermione and Athena." Both Granger and Draco winced at the use of Granger's first name. Blaise said it with too much lust for Draco's tastes.
"My apologies, Mudbl- Muggleborn." Draco forced an apologetic smile, and Athena cringed
"Jeesh, Ferret. You keep acting like that and people will think you actually have a heart." Ron said sarcastically looking at the two Slytherins with distrust.
"What were you and Snape talking about?" Athena asked curious to learn why he was always disappearing.
"Just practicing a potion I was having trouble with earlier. He offered to tutor me."
"You were having trouble in potions? That's ridiculous plus Snape teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts now." Blaise said looking at his friend with curiosity. Draco swallowed nervously knowing that his friend was easily seeing through his lies.
"You are the second highest in Potions." Granger muttered glancing at Draco intently.
Those damn Gryffindors and their desire to stick their noses in everyone's business were going to cause trouble for Draco.
"He's the fourth highest now!" Ron added cheerily looking up from his plate. "Harry and Athena are the two at the top of the class, and Hermione's been bumped down to third."
"The Mudblood is third instead of fourth? That's a surprise – what are you looking at me like that for? – God damn! Athena, I'm sorry! It was a slip of the tongue."