Word about the Tri-Wizard Tournament was all she heard from her classmates the next few days, whether it be from the front of the classroom, where she was required to sit in all lessons so that the professors could watch her, or at supper.

Juliet was sat closest to the head table where Dumbledore and the rest of the staff sat. She was always the first one into supper, and the last one out. It had been two days in this new place as a prisoner, and she hadn't taken a single bite of food. Staring down at the hen and potatoes on her plate, Juliet had been known to eye the knife in her place setting instead of eating.

As a result, the knife was removed from her setting at the table.

Dumbledore's hope was that Juliet could be integrated into the school and a normal life as a young witch as easily as possible. And if that meant removing sharp objects from view, then so be it. But normal wasn't so easy when all that her peers did was talk.

Ron had been berating Harry for information for about the umpteenth time that evening.

"Okay, but what did she look like?" Asked Ron somehow through a mouth full of potato. After being friends with him for this long, Harry could decipher his speak even though a mouth full of food, just as well.

"I dun' know," shrugged Harry, taking an unsteady breath. "She had black hair, and a nice…face."

"Mate," exclaimed Ron. "I hardly think that her face was the nicest thing about her."

Hermione was utterly disgusted.

This was more-so a conversation for the boys' dormitory. In fact, it had been discussed in the boys' dormitory. Every night. And now they sought it fit to carry it over into supper.

"She had Gryffindor robes." This was the first real clue that Harry had given in days, not that he had even known who the girl was. "But I'd never seen her before."

While everyone else had spent the last few days obsessing over the tournament and who would be the champion to represent Hogwarts, Harry was obsessing over finding the girl that he had seen naked in the bathroom.

"For goodness sake, do you really notice nothing?" Piped Hermione.

Ron looked over at her, as if he was appalled that she hadn't spoken sooner. Clearly, Hermione knew something, and she was holding out on the group. A long pause ensued.

"Well?!" Blurted Ron. Pumpkin juice spurted from his lips.

"The new girl," Hermione answered. "She is sitting right over there." Her chin nodded to the head of the table, and they all craned their necks to have a look. The girl was sitting at the front of the hall, just staring at her plate full of untouched food.

There she was—the girl from the bath.

"…Who…?" Harry asked, trailing off at the sight of her.

"Her name is Juliet d'Aragon. I've done research on her family. They're French royalty—purebloods, having attended Hogwarts since its inception. They are the only non-English to attend the school. It's rumored that the founder of their house, Forthwind d'Aragon had an affair with Rowena Ravenclaw…although…." Hermione looked distraught.

"Although what?" Asked Harry.

"…Although, some texts say that it was actually Salazar Slytherin that Forthwind had had an affair with. The d'Aragons have been placed in almost every house—Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff…Slytherin…over the centuries. But not once in a millennium has there ever been a d'Aragon sorted into Gryffindor house…."

"Until now," said Harry, looking on at Juliet, lost in the sheen of her tangled dark hair.

"Until now," confirmed Hermione. "She moved into the girls' dormitory after supper yesterday. She's quiet. Couldn't get a word out of her, not even a hello. Minds her own business and doesn't seem to be bothered by what anyone has to say to her."

Just then, Juliet turned her head the slightest, making eye contact with Harry. He pulled away immediately, turning back to his friends. "Listen," he said at a low voice. "When I…saw her…the other night, Snape was with her."

"You mean Snape was taking a bath with Juliet?!" Ron was horrified. Hermione whacked him on the shoulder.

"No," Harry corrected. "No, he came in when I was there and took me out of the bathroom. Like he had been standing watch at the other door or something."

"Why would Snape be standing guard for a student like that?" Asked Hermione.

Another year, another chance to be suspicious of Snape.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's any good—"

A crash echoed about the Great Hall—the clattering sound of a tossed plate quieting even the smallest of conversations. She was there, standing at the front of the hall, fists clenched tightly and jaw seething, pees and hen and potatoes strewn about the stone floor. The enter hall was staring at her, wordless. Waiting for her to do something.

Dumbledore was unmoved.

It was Professor Snape who had finally gotten up from his seat and escorted Juliet out of the Great Hall by the arm, looking even unhappier than usual. Professor Moody followed behind, limping on his staff. As they passed by towards the exit, scores of heads turned. Whispers accumulated.

"Freak."

"What's got her wand in a knot?"

"Completely mental."

"Who's that?"

It went on until the grand doors to the Great Hall shut behind the three of them, then it was back to the regularly scheduled programming of mindless chatter and waiting for the dessert to appear. The three friends looked at each other in shock and awe, and gave a look among themselves that seemed to say "Forget dessert, follow them!"

With the teachers distracted by one another and Dumbledore reassuring Madame Maxime that this was an isolated incident by a student who was suffering from exhaustion due to a long journey in order to attend this school year, which was not entirely a lie, and that her girls were nothing but safe and secure in these walls, the three friends gathered themselves from the table and one by one, excused themselves to the restroom. Ironically, Ron did actually have to go, as the six pork sausages covered in honey gravy that he had scarfed down were not sitting well with him.

"They're starting to talk to me," he groaned, feeling a twisting in his bowels that only meant he would be on the toilet for quite some time. Hermione shooed him towards the toilet, leaving just her and Harry to follow the Professors who had escorted Juliet out of the Great Hall.

Rounding the corridor as quickly and as quietly as possible, they came upon the group a ways away, where no wandering student, visitor or otherwise, would be able to run into them at this hour. Snape had Juliet pinned against a wall, his wand to her throat. Harry and Hermione listened intently, doing their best to pick up on Snape's whispers.

"Miss d'Aragon…your intention?" Snape drawled, clearly unamused. She was seething, wriggling furiously in Snape's grasp. Mad-Eye stood watch, apparently, but seemed to be more preoccupied with taking a swig out of an oddly shaped hip flask.

"Let me go!" Juliet squirmed, her limbs clearly immobilized by some magical means. "I never asked to be here. I'm the last of His line, if you kill me now, this will all be over. That's what you want, isn't it?!" She would rather die that suffer the fate she was suffering at Hogwarts.

Mad-Eye spun around, trudging towards the girl. "Your loss, my dear, would be unthinkable at a time like this," he stated intently. Snape gave Mad-Eye a side glance.

"As much as I'd not like to admit it," Snape said. "Professor Moody is correct. Your loss at a time like this would be incredibly…regrettable. So do not make me take permanent action against you, girl."

"That's an empty threat, and you and I both know that. Dumbledore wouldn't let you kill me. If he did, he would have done it already himself." Juliet kicked free of the grasp of the immobilization spell that had a hand on her and whipped around Snape's hold. In the blink of an eye, she spit at him, causing him to lose grip on his wand. She snatched it out of his hand, and then backed away, his wand now in her control. Her stance meant that she was ready to duel.

Hermione kept Harry back, who had already pulled the wand out of his robe in order to try and diffuse the situation on his own, as if he could have done anything.

"No!" Hermione hissed. "Stay here, or you'll get hurt! If she's dumb enough to take on two Hogwarts professors all by herself, then it's likely she'll be expelled, and if you get involved, that means you too!"

Before them, the duel had commenced between Juliet and Mad-Eye in a dangerous display of hexes and curses, that is, until Snape's wand began to fail Juliet, and she was struck with a simple "Expelliarmus!" It took Snape all of a few seconds to retrieve his wand and stun Juliet, bringing her to her knees. He swore at her under his breath.

Mad-Eye seemed to be much more impressed as he bent over and threw the stunned student over his shoulder like a rug, hobbling away with her. The pair then vanished beyond the corridor, leaving Harry and Hermione to their own thoughts.

Ron returned from the bathroom then, claiming that he felt like a new wizard. He looked at his friends, who didn't seem to be too interested in the state of his bowels.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

Later that evening, the Gryffindor common room was lively with mischief and chatter. A muggle-born student had brought with them a large collection of muggle records, and the Gryffindors were enjoying them with the same fervor as they would any other music in preparation for the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament champion selection. Tomorrow would be the day that possible contestants would be able to add their names to the Goblet of Fire, and the whole school was in a sleepless uproar.

Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me

It all keeps adding up

I think I'm cracking up

Am I just paranoid?

Or am I just stoned?

One of the older students was passing around a rather sizable bottle of rum, and there were all manners of shenanigans going on, which mostly consisted of younger students egging on the older ones to put their name in the Goblet.

"What are you, chicken shit?" Seamus Finnigan, who was obviously very drunk, asked a tall seventh year girl as he leaned into her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Eat goblin dung."

Everyone in the vicinity laughed, even Harry and Ron, who had been absorbed in figuring out what had happened earlier in the evening with Juliet and the professors.

"She must have been expelled, that's the only explanation," Hermione reasoned. "There is no way any student would have been able to attack a professor like that and still be allowed to attend classes, which haven't even started yet."

By this point, the whole house knew who Juliet d'Aragon was. The mental one that had knocked her food over in the Great Hall and had to be escorted out by not one, but two professors for having a fit.

The bottle of rum had come to Harry and Ron—Hermione refused to participate—when the common room door burst open, and a very much not expelled Juliet walked through, surprisingly calmly.

The whole common room stopped and looked at her in bemusement. The only thing that could be heard was the B-side of a Green Day record playing in the corner, drawling to a slow stop when someone leaned over the record needle to stop it.

She sported a purple bruise on her cheek, about the size of Snape's fist.

Looking around, Juliet's dark eyes settled on Harry, who she recognized as the boy from the bath. Harry, who had the half empty bottle of rum in his hand, met her eyes through his glasses. She approached him, standing over him.

"Can I have some of that?" She asked.

Harry nodded his head and offered the bottle to her. Juliet took the top off the bottle and in one fluid motion, took the longest uninterrupted swig that her stomach could tolerate before the bitter sting of the dark alcohol would allow her no more. Wiping excess droplets off her mouth, Juliet realized that the entire room was looking at her.

"What?" She announced, slightly irritated that everyone was all eyes on her. It took a few seconds before the Weasley twins began to cheer her on for drinking without sputtering, and then the entire common room applauded and cheered, and a feeling of acceptance flooded the air. Someone even patted her on the back, causing her to flinch, but accept the friendly gesture before the Gryffindors went about their usual tomfoolery.

How exhausting.

Juliet slumped down into one of the sofas opposite Harry, Ron and Hermione, and curled her legs up into the cushions, making herself as small as possible. As it turned out, this was her home now, no matter how many times she tried to escape or how much she denied it. Until she could come up with a better plan or until someone came for her, which was doubtful, seeing as the only people who knew she was alive were now either dead or in Azkaban, she was to make the best of her situation.

"Uh…hi," came a voice opposite her.

Juliet glanced over.

It was the bath boy.

She breathed a grunt in response.

"Are you…uh…are you okay?" He asked.

Juliet rolled over to face him and his friends properly. Just because she had been raised by Death Eaters didn't mean she didn't have any manners. Always look at someone who's talking to you.

"Peachy."

"We saw what happened earlier, between you and Professor Snape."

"Okay."

Hermione intercepted, closing her book fully to engage in the conversation. "I think what he means to say is that we wanted to know if you're hurt, which clearly…. We saw you start a duel with a professor, and we were worried."

"I'm fine."

Juliet was clearly a person of few words.

"So…you weren't expelled?" Asked Ron, who had been brought into the loop of what had happened by his friends.

Juliet gestured to herself, as if to say, "Do I look like I was expelled?"

"Fair enough," shrugged Ron.

Harry decided that if she could spit at Snape and then steal his wand and hold her own in a duel against another professor, then she was worth becoming friends with. He stuck his hand out in a friendly hand-shake gesture.

"Harry," he greeted.

Juliet nodded her head at him, leaving Harry to retract his hand.

"Juliet."

Hermione and Ron did the same and got the same greeting.

"Is this your first year here?" Hermione asked, already knowing the answer.

Juliet rolled over onto her back and folded her hands on her stomach, preparing herself for questioning as if she was in a psychologist's office. "Unfortunately," she sighed, making her disdain known. "I'm a fourth year, I guess. Never been to school before now, so you can imagine I'm a bit…tense."

Hermione was almost insulted. "How have you never been to school before your fourth year?"

Juliet shrugged. "Didn't have time for it."

The three friends looked at each other a bit funny, not sure how to go about reacting to that rather vague statement. It was Harry who finally broke the silence.

"Do you have Charms for first period tomorrow? Because if so, Ron and I have it together, and you could sit with us, if you have no one else to sit with," offered Harry, mostly wanting to be polite, but also because he thought she was pretty, and very much against Hermione and Ron's wills, which was apparent due to the looks he was getting.

Juliet looked at Harry.

"You're the boy who watched me take a bath the other day, aren't you?"

Ron choked on his spit.

"I, uh—I didn't mean to, I was…—"

"You were hiding from someone. You weren't hiding from Sever—" Juliet caught herself. "You weren't hiding from Professor Snape, were you?"

"N-No. I was hiding from Filch. He was coming around the corridor when I dove into the bathroom for cover," confirmed Harry, wanting to clear his name as a pervert.

Juliet nodded her head thoughtfully. "Get a good show?" She asked.

Harry flushed a beet red and began to trip over his words. Ron was still choking on his spit, and Hermione was patting him on the back.

"I'm only joking," said Juliet, getting up off the couch. "I'll take you up on that offer. It's be nice to have some…friends."

With that, Juliet took the liberty of excusing herself without actually excusing herself, and made her way to the girl's dormitory without another word.

"Would you look at that," she thought, almost smiling to herself. "I think I've just gone and made myself some friends."

I feel like a lot of people forget that these books take place in the 90's, which, I also do sometimes. Thought I'd throw in a little 90's music for ya, and also because I love old school Green Day.