THE HEIR OF GRYFFINDOR
Chapter 8 - The Exchange Student

Harry woke to a cool breeze blowing from his window as it carred his face, teasing him awake. He sat up, gave a great yawn and looked around the Gryffindor Dormatory, searching for his best friend. "Where is Ron?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes that had formed overnight. He got out of bed, sliding on a pair of house slippers before heading down to the common room. He found Ron there, sitting in one of the two chairs near the ancient fireplace. The other chair was occupied, and he could see auburn red hair and the twinkling of dark green eyes - with the shadows, they looked dark green. The two seemed to be in deep conversation.

"Harry! About time you woke up! I want you to meet Lily, Lily Luchesi. She's been telling me a few things about herself. And I was just telling her about the order - her dad's an auror from America - Greenwick School For Witches And Wizards was the school she was at before - I bet we ran into them at the World Cup!" he said excitedly when Dudley came down. Ron's excitement went down a notch.

"Its nice to meet you Lily." said Harry when he saw his cousin coming down the stairs. They would have to put him on a diet. . . his parents had been spoiling him far too much. . . well, he supposed Dudley would get used to Hogwarts life with no coddling from his parents except on the holidays. "Hey Harry." said Dudley, yawning. "Hey Dudley, come on over." said Harry, waving him over. Ron glared at him. "Something wrong Ron?" asked Lily and he brightened back up. "Oh no, nothing at all. I just need to talk to Harry for a second." he said and before he could even say anything, Ron grabbed him by his hand and drug him by the chess set.

"Harry, have you gone completely mental!? That's the guy that tormented you for years! Why are you even considering being around him more than you have to?!" asked Ron. Harry considered it. It was true. But to leave Dudley all alone in a world that he had no inkling about. . . that would be cruel. "Honestly Ron, I'm the only person he knows here, and his parents have been against magic since before I was born - its a wonder that they even let him come - I'm surprised that he would WANT to come. But maybe this will open his eyes. And maybe, maybe the influence we cast on him will go further than we know." said Harry, and Ron sighed.

"Your right." Ron admitted. "That and I know exactly what its like to come to a world you never knew exsisted." said Harry. "Yeah, okay." Ron said grudgingly. "Just give him a chance." Harry pleaded. Ron nodded. "ONE." he said and the boys rejoined Dudley and Lily, who were chatting. "Sorry about that. I'm starving - ah and there comes Hermione now." said Harry who grinned up at his female friend.

Hermione looked surprised to find Ron talking with the red haired girl he stared at yesterday and a bit miffed. 'So she's pretty. . . so what? Is that all Ron cares about?' she thought irritatedly. "Oh good morning Harry, Dudley was it?" she said, pointedly ignoring Ron and the girl. Dudley nodded. "Dudley, I'd like you to meet my other best friend, Hermione Granger. Smartest at Hogwarts - passed her first exam with 110% if I remember right." said Harry.

Hermione beamed. "Wow, nice. . ." said Dudley, impressed. "Anyways, lets head down to breakfast. Ronald can catch up." she said, and let her bushy brown hair flip in her quickness to turn away from the scene though nothing was particularly damning about it. And, as Hermione had yet to find her courage enough to ask him out (she was hoping he would ask her out.) And she'd hoped to have him finally see her as a girl. But now that this red headed girl came into the picture, that wouldn't happen in a million years - unless she somehow stole the attention away from her. . .

Harry could see that she was lost in thought. Ron called out to her and he and Lily caught up, but she ignored what he was saying and a wide grin was spreading on her face, then disappeared in a flash. "HERMIONE!" cried Ron and looked agitated at her as he grabbed her shirt collar. She glared back at him. "WHAT?!" she shouted back, glowering at him. "Jeez. . . we're at the hall - and you nearly fell down the stairs." he added quietly. She flushed. "T-Thank you Ron." almost whispered Hermione. Ron nodded, releasing her shirt. Harry felt a drop of sweat at his temple roll down. 'Jeez those two. . .' he thought before catching up with them.

Dudley stared at the amount of food that was on the tables. He'd never had to make his own plate before. . . "Here Dudders, let me help you." said Harry, choosing things he knew Dudley would like. A fully loaded down plate was in front of Dudley moments later. "That's really kind." said Lily, smiling at Harry. Ron looked a little like a lost puppy since Harry was getting attention now. He could clearly see the jealousy there, burning in his best friend's brown eyes. Would it always be this way, he wondered. "Ah - its nothing really." mumbled Harry. Lily beamed. "And modest too."

"Oh yeah, he's really modest." muttered Ron when Lily gave him a questioning look then grabbed some mini cranberry muffins from a plate, taking a bite of one. With a sip of milk, she finished the bite-sized muffin. "Oh wow, these are delicious!" she said and then said sadly: "I wish that they weren't made by house elf labor though. I mean, I think anyone who works should get paid. Even if its not money -" said Lily and Hermione's eyes brightened. "I so agree! And they should be pai- oh. Well, any sort of payment as appreciation I suppose would be wonderful. A gift - maybe more elves and people would be more approachable with S.P.E.W then. . ." she thought aloud.

"Uh. . . spew? What's that?" said Lily, scrunching up her nose as spew wasn't a very pleasant sounding word. "Oh, well, I made an organization -" started Hermione when she was interrupted by Ron, which got a glare from Hermione. "Called the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare." she said. "Basically, it was formed to make wizards aware that house elves should be treated better, have their own rights and to be paid for their work." she said. "Now that's a brilliant idea. I tried to do the same at my school, but the name my friends used were The Elivsh United Association." said Lily and smiled. They had a lot in common.

"Wow. . . I think you might have competition Hermione." said Ron and chuckled to himself. Her smile widened and there was venom in it. "Oh Its alright - I suppose it'll brighten up things here." she said and Ron's ears reddened and his face paled at the same time. It was an odd look for him, thought Harry. He could clearly hear the venom in her words but Lily didn't notice. 'She may be very clever but she is either a complete airhead or she's even more clever than I think she could be. Either way, this is certainly an interesting turn of events he thought.

Then suddenly as though from nowhere a drawling voice could be heard directly behind Harry and he glanced upwards to meet the Slytherin Prince himself, Draco Malfoy. "What are you doing at the Gryffindor Table Malfoy?" asked Harry. Draco snorted. "The only rules concerning tables Potter are during events such as the Sorting like last night. I'm not here for you however." he said, his voice almost conversational if not a bit strained.

"Luchesi. . . that name sounded very familiar. . . do I know you?" asked Draco, leaning in towards the table to separate Weasley and her from each other. Lily Luchesi blinked up at the drawling voice's owner. There was something so familiar about the silver-gray eyes. And that voice - it haunted her as an old memory tried to surface but failed. "I - I think - I remember your voice - where though. . ." she said, blocking out Ron's insults to Malfoy. "I - I can't remember. . ." said Lily.

Hermione seemed surprised by this and made a mental note to find out later. What would a Gryffindor have to do with Slytherin scum, like Malfoy? She was determined to find out. . .

"Are you a pureblood by chance?" asked Draco, grinning. He saw Granger studying his actions. Damned Granger and her cleverness. Lily answered his question with raised brows. "Yes, I am a pureblood, but what does that matter? I believe that what families people are born into matters not nearly as much as their choices."

"Wise AND beautiful. Careful though, Luchesi - others do not feel that way." said Draco and smirked. Her eyes never left his silver ones. "I shall have to be careful then. But that is my belief." she said, refusing to lose ground on what she believed. Draco seemed impressed. "Get out of my way Malfoy!" shouted Ron, and Malfoy smirked. "Weasley, shut up!" he yelled back. "Dear Merlin, you don't ever learn, do you Weasel? Your mother should have taught you better manners than that."

Ron gaped at Malfoy. That was low, even for him. Draco avoided the punch and Hermione and Harry tried to rise from sitting when McGonagall came over. "Ronald Weasley! Detention!" she cried shrilly and Hermione and Harry jumped to his defense. "But - you see -" said Hermione, and Harry interjected with "Professor McGonagall. . ." but she shushed both of them. "Malfoy, you should return to your house table. No excuses. I did not see Malfoy swing back at him -"

"He was talking about my mother!" said Ron defensively. "At the same time though. . ." said Lily, not really wanting to get in the middle of it, but also not wanting to let the boy that was just here get into trouble for nothing. "It was true that Ron was being rude when - Malfoy did you say? - was speaking with me." she said. McGonagall seemed surprised - Malfoy was not generally the genteel gentleman. Her cool eyes fell upon Lily. Things were going to be very interesting. Could she be the answer for what she was hoping? She knew things the trio would soon find out. All of them were adults now. And what of Dudley, the wild card thrown into this situation? Would he be a help to Potter, or like Malfoy, turned against Potter? Only time would tell, she decided.

Hermione and the other students at the table was blinking at her. She cleared her throat. "Excuse me. You should start heading to class. Here are your scheduals. Dursley, your tutor will arrive shortly. You are to follow me." she said and Dudley nodded, looking scared. "As long as it isn't Snape mate, you'll be fine." said Ron, who finally decided to give him a chance. "Great, my luck it will be." muttered Dudley. He got up and followed McGonagall.

"Ugh, okay what have we got first?" asked Ron, taking a look at his list of classes. "Will we have different scheduals?" asked Lily worriedly. Ron shook his head. "No, the Gryffindors stay together for most of their classes. Except for the more brainy ones - like you and Hermione for example, might have like triple classes - meaning you know, more advanced classes." he explained awkwardly. He certainly wasn't in any. "Ah, well, I'll probably see you a lot then, won't I Hermione?" asked Lily, going slowly with the name as it was very strange to her, since she wasn't English raised. English born, certainly, but not raised in England.

"It seems like we have . . . Ugh, nooo. . ." complained Ron, and Hermione took a quick peek at hers - and her face fell too. "Oh no, potions. . . but that does mean one thing." said Hermione. Lily looked at hers too, and while the other two looked at her like she'd grown two heads, she brightened at seeing the name. "Snape - so your cousin can't have - wait, Severus Snape?! Eek! I bet he'll be surprised to see me!" she said happily.

The three of them snapped their heads up and stared at her at the same time. "Wait, what?!" they all asked in unison shocked. "What? He's my great uncle on my mother's side. I haven't been able to see him for a long time - been away and stuff. . ." she said sheepishly. Then she stood up. "Come on, we're going to be late." Lily said and pushed in her chair. The others followed.

Ron had been right beside of Lily, but then Hermione tugged on his shirt and Harry passed Ron, not seeing what Hermione had done. "I need to talk to you. Something's not right here." said Hermione in a hissed whisper. Ron rolled his eyes and sighed, clearly frustrated he couldn't join her. "What Hermione?" he asked, walking beside her. "Somethings funny about her. Malfoy talked to her - civilly. And she knows Professor Snape. She's suspicious." she said with a frown. Ron blinked. "Blimey Hermione, she's a pureblood. Of course she would have some relations with others we know - I mean, if you look at my family tree, you'll find me and Malfoy are related in some fashion."

Hermione blanched. "Well, yes, I suppose that makes sense. . ." she said, and Ron raised his brows. "That doesn't mean I let people know that though. I mean, I hate Malfoy. Absolutely can't stand the git." he declared. "So I don't accept him as family - and probably never will."

"Still, I think we should be careful about what we say around her. . . especially because Malfoy was civil to her. . . even though she said exactly what his kind is against. There's also something I don't understand yet, but I'm working it out. . ." she added when they arrived at the classroom. Ron waved it off. "Mione, you worry too much." he said and went to his seat, leaving Hermione to both seeth and wonder if she maybe had it wrong.