To Be Determined (Part I)

Chapter One

“Grambois Academy?”

Between stuffing a forkful of eggs in his mouth, Ron mumbled a barely coherent “Never heard of it,” before settling his attention back down to the plate of breakfast that was sitting before him. Hermione rolled her eyes, studying the picture of girls and boys about the same age as herself crowd around a table in the ministry, attempting to file and fill out paperwork in a language most of them hardly knew. They all had the same characteristic olive colored skin and all looked equally forlorn and exhausted. Hermione felt a twinge of pity as she studied their weak moments, each one stepping forward as a member of the ministry called for their presence, a translator standing before them to break the language barrier.

Only Harry seemed even mildly interested, due to the fact that what happened at Grambois had everything to do with the Dark Lord and his new found following in France. He leaned across the table and stole a glance at the picture. Hermione set the paper down and allowed Harry a better view. “See that boy there?” she motioned. “He disappeared shortly after this photo was taken.” She flipped her copy of The Daily Prophet around, pointing at the headline of the story and the page long article that accompanied it. “Take a look at this.”

Grambois shaken by Death Eaters.

As tears streamed down the cheeks of friends and family members, people avidly searched the countryside for signs of survivors that were lucky enough to flee the scene of the most devastating shock to the international magical community since the incident involving the notorious escaped convict Sirius Black and his old school days companion Peter Pettigrew from over a decade previous. The tiny city in France had a population just barely reaching one thousand, with the population split fifty-fifty between the nonmagical and the magical community. Grambois has kept a generally neutral outlook while doing their best to “keep their students’ minds on their school work, rather than the travesties going on outside of their borders” said one of the remaining staff members, who chose to remain anonymous.

The attack happened on Friday evening after dinner, and since the school is so close to the inner skirts of the city, students have the opportunity to leave campus and go home for the weekend if their households are close enough. Approximately thirteen of the hundred students took this option, while thirty-four of the forty-two staff members took their leave as well. “This is a weekly occurrence,” an Potions/Defenses staff member explained. “It is such a close knit community that the students don’t take advantage of the freedom they receive and we’ve never thought anything else about it.”

Just as the remaining students settled down amongst themselves to enjoy their evening, The Dark Lord and his troupe of followers achieved access via the East Wing, where the student dormitories are. The entrance was a giant explosion, rocking the walls and sending students into a curious flurry. They peeked out of their dorm rooms one by one, but You-Know-Who didn’t immediately turn his wand on any of the students.

One of the remaining survivors recounted how You-Know-Who kept hissing “to himself,” and looked into the face of each student he passed as if he were looking for someone. It was then, when he apparently did not find who he was looking for, he turned his wand upon a pair of boys who were intent on confronting You-Know-Who, and he immediately used the unmentionable curses on them both. As the remaining students caught sight of what happened, they rushed from their room with intent to make it outside of the school through the west wing doors and windows. Those who were grouped together sought to protect each other, and the younger students, while trying to make it to safety.

You-Know-Who issued the command that sent his rumored five to eight Death Eaters to sweep room after room, the massacre ensuing. Of the eighty-seven students remaining over the weekend, only seven are known to have escaped unscathed. One of the seven’s whereabouts are completely unknown and neither body nor clue to location have been discovered, he came up missing soon after The Ministry took control of the situation. Grambois has taken the place of the substantial massacre known to date that can be attributed to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In memoriam of the eighty students and the six remaining staff members that lost their lives, a memorial service will be held at the school to honor those whose lives will be greatly missed.
By Olivia Trenshaw, reporter

Harry put down the paper he previously held in his hands, it suddenly felt like it weighed like a ton. It then became apparent to him that nearly everyone that surrounded him was speaking of the same occurrence that he just read about. Whispers of names listed later in the following article floated around their heads, all obviously French and painfully butchered by the English tongues. Ron hadn’t stopped to listen, instead he was pouring over his half empty plate of eggs he was still determined to dominate thoroughly. Hermione tried to smile comfortingly, though there were no words to describe how either of them felt.

“Hermione,” Harry mumbled weakly, a sense of devastation taking over. “Why did this happen? Those poor people, they were our age. Just like us. Voldemort felt no remorse as he issued the command that ended each of their lives. That could have happened anywhere. It could have happened here, in our very own school. Voldemort doesn’t care who it is, or where they are anymore.”

“But Harry, that was a remote school in France and no one expected it to happen there. Voldemort’s reign of power hadn’t expanded to France before then…” Hermione tilted her head compassionately, trying to relieve the feelings of worry. “Plus, you know that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world to be right now. You don’t have to worry about him while you’re here.”

Groaning, Harry put his head in his hands. “I don’t care about myself, I care about all of the people out there who aren’t here. The people Dumbledore can’t protect!” It was just then that Dumbledore stood up from his position of the Headmaster’s seat and gently waved his hands for silence. It wasn’t observed immediately, due to the fact that in their memories, Dumbledore never addressed the whole school on such an ordinary Monday such as this. He had to pull his wand out from his robe pocket and send a few colored sparks in the air to get the entire student body’s attention. The last of the conversations puttered to a halt, and several hundred eyes stared back at Dumbledore, burning with curiosity.

Dumbledore looked from face to face in the crowd, his eyes a little less sparkling and blue than normal. The typically firm, comforting presence of Dumbledore was greatly shaken.

“As you all are gaining knowledge of the tragedy that occurred at Grambois, I want each and every one of you to remember this, if nothing else. Through strength in friendship, every challenge can be conquered. What those students exhibited while at the hands of The Dark Lord is something he will never experience. The power of friendships and sacrifice, even though some were pureblood, and some were born out of muggle families. Those kids tried to stand up for each other, regardless of who made up their genealogy.”

“Those remaining students who were able to survive such a brutal and heartless attack are now going to be shipped off in different directions based on their language and magical abilities. For the most part, they have never been away from each other. They grew up together, mostly from the same towns or close enough where distance was never an obstacle. Now, they’ve not only permanently lost a great deal of their comrades, the remainder of their strengths are being divided and dispersed all around Europe. It is a sad day.” Dumbledore narrated quietly, his voice strong yet meager all at the same time. “Those students -- children, just like you -- died for each other. Fought and cared for each other. There were no division of houses, ages, gender, or background. They loved each other equally and without discrimination. It is a beautiful thing. Naturally, we can not terminate houses and prejudice between race, gender, age, or religion is an unfortunate part of life, but I want you to always remember that no matter who you are, you have the strength to look past all of the trivial things and rise up to be better than those who choose to sink down to the level of bigots and dogmatists. You, my friends, students, companions, are better than Voldemort. Don’t forget that.”

Someone from the Slytherin side of the Great Hall scoffed, and Harry immediately presumed it was Draco Malfoy or someone who associated with him. Dumbledore seemed unaltered and continued with his oration as if nothing had happened.

“Through the power of love, peace will once again settle across the magical community. As you all sit here and eat your meals, chat with your friends, and prepare for another day of classes, realize that currently right above your heads is a student coming from the grim place of Grambois who is to join you as a Hogwarts student. I ask you to welcome her as you would your best friend. Be gracious. Be courteous. Be respective. Just remember, she has been through more than you will ever know, so above all, be compassionate.” Dumbledore paused, allowing the eminent whispers to grow as everyone turned to their friends and passed words of gossip and rumors. Dumbledore raised his hands for silence once again, which was immediately observed this time. “With that being said, I won’t take up any more of your breakfast time. I bid you the best of days as you begin another vigorous round of educational learning!” He took his seat without another word.

It was an explosion of chatter. No one seemed even the slightest bit interested in the remainder of breakfast foods sitting barely touched on their plates. Everyone was whispering amongst themselves, peering over the papers as the studied the picture of the survivors. They pointed at each person and tried to guess the likelihood that they were the one that would soon be joining them.

Before the trio knew it, Proffessor McGonagall approached them and loomed over Hermione’s shoulder. “Miss Granger, it wouldn’t be too inconvenient to speak to you now privately, would it?” The tone of their Head of House warned that the only acceptable answer would be to accept the invitation. Hermione shook her head, and stood up. She glanced between the faces of her two best friends and set off at nearly a jog to keep up with McGonagall, who was all business as usual.

Hermione’s nerves began to grow. “I-I’m not in trouble am I, Proffessor?” By the time that Hermione had mustered the courage to speak, they were already halfway to her office on the seventh floor. Before she spoke, she had racked her brain for every possible thing that could have been considered wrong, and came up with nothing obvious.

“Let’s not speak until we are in private,” McGonagall said softly, though definitely not threatening or ominous. A good sign. They reached her office and she opened the door, held it open and allowed Hermione to step through first. She paused as a curious faced girl stared back at her, cocking her head to the side as she studied the new admittance to the room. The girl who stood before Hermione was short, barely reaching Hermione’s shoulder and had freckles all across her face, down to the exposed view of her chest. She had light brunette hair that hung just to her shoulders, and had vibrant green eyes that stood out above all else. Her clothing were nondescript and gray, just a pair of jeans that must have been several sizes too big and a gray shirt that clung to her tiny waist. Hermione and the girl locked eyes, and stared at each other. Neither one daring enough to say anything.

Professor McGonagall followed Hermione inside and closed the door, and then proceeded to break the silence. “Hermione, this is Aidan Laszé.” Hermione looked from Aidan, to McGonagall, back to Aidan again. Aidan offered a weak smile, her face aged and stretched and she looked like she desperately needed a nap, shower, and a full and hearty meal. When neither of the two younger girls said anything, McGonagall stepped between them and took a seat at her desk.

“She will be joining us for the remainder of the school year. She is a fifth year and will reside in Gryffindor house, in your dormitory, and needs a prefect to show her around for the first couple of days. Now, naturally she will not be in all of your classes, but it has been set up that at least Harry or Ron will be able to accompany her until she feels more comfortable at t.” McGonagall shuffled through the papers on her desk while Hermione silently mulled over the plethora of new information.

“Et ez a pleasure meeting you,” Aidan said softly through a heavy French accent.

Hermione’s mind flashed to Dumbledore’s speech that she experienced only five or ten minutes beforehand, and to the article she read with her friends beforehand. It seemed so obvious that the girl that stood before her was the girl that Dumbledore spoke of. Her stomach fluttered with pride at the thought that they entrusted her, out of all of the other prefects, to help her adapt to the school.

Smiling widely, Hermione extended her hand to Aidan. “I am honored and would love to help you get acquainted to the school. I know that Gryffindor will graciously accept you as one of our own.” Aidan slipped her small, petite hand into Hermione’s much wider, strong hand and they shook. Professor McGonagall found what she was rustling for, and stuck a folded piece of paper into Aidan’s free hand.

“This is your schedule,” McGonagall explained. “It is up to you whether or not you would like to attend classes today, or if it is more comfortable for you, you can become more familiarized with the school. Miss Granger would be permitted to give you a tour of the school.” She turned her attention back to Aidan, “It will not be a problem if you decide to avoid attending classes. I have already spoken to all of your professors, and they are content with excusing you both due to wild circumstances. You are both dismissed.”

Aidan carried nothing as they approached the door and were sent into the bustling hallway. Aidan was overwhelmed by the massive amounts of students in just the one corridor. It was amazing, she thought to herself as she looked into individual faces with an abundance of amazement. So many people, she noted silently, more than she had ever seen in one place.

“So,” Hermione began softly, keeping her voice low. “Where are you from? What’s brought you to Hogwarts, of all places?”

With a raise brow, Aidan answered with “Ez eet not ov-ee-ous? I came vrom Grambois, France. Your… Minnie-stree ov Magic…” she struggled to get her mouth around the words, “Zhey suggested zhat zhis would be the best school for me to attend for zhe time being.” Hermione immediately felt embarrassed and flushed, unsure as to act as if nothing had happened or to acknowledge the tragedy had really occurred.

Instead, she decided to press to see what Aidan desired to do with her day. “Are you interested in attending classes or do you want me to show you around the school?” She asked softly, her still cheeks flushed from her previous question still lingering.

“I would like to zee zhe classes, zhere is no sense in getting more behind zhan I already am. Plus, I wouldn’t vant to get you behind either.” Aidan said softly, unfolding her class schedule and gazing down the list of subjects. It was Monday, she noted. She had three classes that would make up her day. Charms, Potions, and Divination with a lunch break between class two and three. It seemed manageable, she thought quietly to herself as she followed Hermione down several flights of winding stairs.

As she walked through even more bustling hallways, attention slowly began to shift to her. Students of a variety of ages and houses suddenly took notice of her, watching her intently as she passed. Her clothing unquestionably stood out, her gray and blue attire standing out among the black robes. Hermione heard whispers as they continued on their way towards the Charms class room. Classes were to start within minutes, so she picked up her pace and coiled around the clusters of students. The two companions reached the Charms door just as the bell overhead rang, signifying the start of classes. Everyone was already settled as Hermione and Aidan paused at the door way.

If the attention and whispers were bad in the hallways, it was nothing compared to the way everyone seemed to turn to someone and mumble something underneath their breath. Aidan felt her cheeks glow pink as she looked into the faces of the people that would soon be very familiar to her. Hermione pretended to not notice as she weaved her way through the desks and dropped her bag alongside the empty chair across from Harry. Aidan filled the seat across from Ron, the forth seat that which was normally empty.

Professor Flitwick hadn’t made his way to the classroom to disband the awkward stares, and Aidan felt herself sink down in her chair, wishing that she was invisible. Hermione began to organize her belongings on the table when she realized that Aidan didn’t carry anything for lessons with her.

“We can share books and parchment until the teachers can get you your own set,” Hermione offered brightly, presenting a quill and a roll of parchment with the book equidistant between them. Aidan nodded, clutching her tiny hand around the feather quill and roll. Harry and Ron both hadn’t broken their eyes away from her out of pure curiosity. Then, Hermione turned her attention to the two boys. “Harry, Ron, this is Aidan…” she trailed off, realizing she didn’t remember her last name.

“Laszé,” Aidan finished without a second thought. “I am from zhe zity of Grambois, France. I am sure zhat you ‘ave ‘eard about eet by now, ev-eree one elze it would zeem.”

Both boys were immediately in shock, but it was Harry who jumped forward to ask her the burning questions that Hermione had been too shy to ask. “Were you one of the kids that was home for the weekend or where you one that managed to escape?”

“Neither I guess,” she answered. “I vas in zhe school zhat night, but I didn’t run but I hid in zhe storage closet towards zhe end of zhe attack until the Minnie-stree did a vull sweep of zhe school and found me crouching behind zome brooms and buckets.”

Fascinated, Harry continued. “Did you see Voldemort?”

Ron cringed out of habit.

“Yes,” she answered plainly, and unaffected. “I saw him.”

“How did you make it out alive?” Ron stammered weakly. “The only person to ever face You-Know-Who and live to tell about it was…” his eyes traveled to Harry out of instinct. “Harry.”

Aidan frowned feebly, taking a moment to try to think of how to explain her experiences. She wasn’t great at English, by any means. Today was the first time she had really spoken English for an extended period of time and it was becoming more exhausting by the moment. As she collected her thoughts, Professor Flitwick bustled into the room and stood on the crate to get a complete view of the classroom. He had just opened his mouth to address his class when he squeaked with a sound similar to that of a mouse getting trodden on. Even though the class was slowly turning forward in their seats, everyone had at least one eye on the newest admittance.

“Can it be?!” Flitwick squeaked softly. “Is this the new girl everyone has been speaking of?” He jumped off his crate with a huff and in a flurry, he was across the room and standing eye level with their table. “Please, my dear, come to the front of the class and tell us a little about yourself, we want to get to know you.”

Biting her lip, Aidan timidly stood and followed the sprightly man to the front of the classroom, which was very bright and heavily decorated while being equally distracting. She stood beside his crate as he waved his hand, allowing her to be the center of attention, as if she hadn’t been already for the last several minutes. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fifth years eagerly at attention.

Clearing her throat, she began. “My name iz Aidan Laszé, I was born in the city of Grambois fifteen years ago…” she paused as everyone began to whisper again, as expected. It was the first official confirmation they had that the girl that stood before them was in fact the girl from the survivors picture.

“We want to know a little about you personally, dear!” The bright Charms teacher said, clapping his hands with excitement. “It isn’t every day that we are graced with the blessing of having a new student with us that doesn’t come with the crop of first years.”

Hermione interrupted, “Actually Professor, we have never had a new student. It is outlined in Hogwarts, A History that no student shall be admitted outside of first years because the magical list that takes down names is known for never making an error.”

“Yes, yes!” He replied brightly. “What a special day it is today, please. Aidan, tell us more about you personally, what are your hobbies and interests?”

Aidan mulled it over in her head trying to form the words she wasn’t sure that she had. “Well, I ‘ave played violin ever since I vas a little girl. I also ‘ave done dance ever since I could walk, most specifically ballet. My parents died vhen I vas really little and I ‘ave been living with my uncle for zhe past year and a ‘alf. Before zat, I lived with my grandmozzer, ‘oo recently passed away.” She paused to take a breath, wishing that all of the numerous eyes would break their gaze. “My best subject at school vas our equivalent to Potions. Our Potions class vas… grouped? Grouped together vith our Defenses classes. We had such small years of students zhat it was more beneficial to have us study together, et offered us longer class times.”

Pleased with her explanation, Flight smiled and waved her down from her spotlight. Aidan eagerly stepped down from her virtual podium and took a bee line for her seat, thinking that it couldn’t come fast enough. She nearly jumped into her chair, keeping her head low as she pretended to carefully script her name and the subject of her notes at the top of her paper. Thankfully, Flitwick stepped forward to his podium once more and regained control of his class. He began with the lecture, paying no more attention to Aidan, much to her appreciation. She attempted to keep up with the lesson, but Flitwick spoke too fast for her to try to write her notes in English, so she mentally switched to French and was easily able to scrawl out at least semi legible notes that she could transpose later when she had spare time. Harry and Hermione were able to pay attention to the lesson, but Ron found himself mesmerized by the way her hand rolled over the parchment, curling and winding around letters and words he couldn’t comprehend. The way she leisurely wrote such straight, even lines of French text was beautiful. He tried not to stare but found it nearly impossible to break his gaze. Aidan felt eyes burning into her, but this was nothing new to her anymore. Yet, she allowed her eyes to trail upward and caught Ron’s.

He felt his stomach bulge with excitement and he quickly looked away. Aidan studied him for a brief moment before returning to her notes, her elegant loopy scrawl keeping the same even, unaffected lines that they had before her interruption. Yet, Ron managed to steal a glance every time he presumed she wasn’t looking.

Charmed ended quickly, without much complaint. Flitwick attracted no more attention to Aidan and for that she was beyond appreciative. Eventually, everyone stopped staring, and only gazed in her direction once Flitwick had his back turned. There was a few minutes of time where students were allowed to pair off and practice the incantations they had been studying and taking notes over, but after a few weak attempts, they began chatting amongst themselves in small groups. The Gryffindors grouped to themselves on the left, and the Ravenclaws grouped on the right.

It was then that Ron mustered the courage to properly introduce himself properly. “Aidan?” he called softly, and she turned her attention to him with a small smile on her lips. “I didn’t get a chance to properly introduce myself.” He stuck out his hand, and she slipped hers inside of his. It amazed him how his entire hand seemed to be able to engulf hers. “My name is Ron Weasley, it is a pleasure to have you join us at school.” Despite how even his voice sounded, he was nervous and scared beyond belief. He gave her warm, soft hand a gentle shake. “I hope I get a chance to really get to know you.”

She smiled, “Et iz a pleasure meeting you as well, Ron.”

Harry stepped forward quickly before Ron had a chance to speak up again, “And I’m Harry, Harry Potter. If you ever need any help, I’m always available. I hope your adjustment to Hogwarts goes smoothly.”

He extended his own hand, and much to Ron’s sadness, she slipped his hand out of his and took Harry’s, shaking it as well. Ron set to putting his belongings back into his bag, Hermione following his suit.

“I have so many things to ask you,” Harry said softly. “I just don’t know where to begin, and I don’t know if what I want to ask will be too difficult to answer.”

Aidan dropped her hand, and stuck her hands in her pockets of her too baggy jeans. “Of course et will be ‘ard,” she explained gently. “Yet zhe world ‘as to know what ‘appened zhere and I am one of zhe few who was zhere, start to finish. I ‘old many answers, many memories and I know zhat et is… import… important? Important that I share vhat I saw.” Harry nodded with a small smile. Ron watched from a distance. Hermione seemed to ignore the conversation at hand, but in reality she was actually straining her ears to hear every word. Secretly, Hermione disapproved of badgering Aidan with questions but knew Harry wouldn’t heed her suggestions. “Whatever you want to know, ask.” Adian explained. “If et becomes too personal, I will let you know. I would also applaud you if you found somezhing zhat I wouldn’t answer. Zhe Minnie-stree ‘as pretty much asked ev-eree zhing already.”

Harry nodded his understand just as the bell rang. The trio, plus their new member all walked leisurely towards the door, in no real hurry to rush to Potions. The descent down to the dungeons was just like the walk from Professor McGonagall’s office, except multiplied by three. Throughout that first class, rumors burned like wild fire and everyone seemed to have heard about Aidan, and the way she was out of uniform made it easier to pick her out of the crowd. She was almost thankful when they approached the door that Hermione announced would lead them down into the dungeons, there wouldn’t be very many people down there to stare at her.

Rushing forward, Ron grabbed onto the door and held it open for his friends, and Hermione and Aidan passed through together, elbows bumping as they squeezed in at the same time. Aidan paused at the head of the stairs, and shivered as the cold air met her full force. She paused, allowing her eyes to adjust to the sudden change of light. She felt people shuffle past her, and push her aside as several more students went down the winding stairs. Aidan’s new friends followed, Hermione leading the way. Down the stairs they ventured, aiming to join the students that were grouped around the Potion’s room door.

With much relief, there weren’t that many students and thankfully over half of them had already gotten their desire to bluntly stare at her out of their system. The four grouped together alongside the rest of their classmates, attempting to keep their distance from the large group that was inching closer, curiosity getting the better of them.

“I know I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself, but I’m Seamus Finnigan.”

“I’m Lavender Brown, we’ll be room mates!”

Neville Longbottom smiled politely, but said nothing while Seamus Finnigan introduce him. Aidan smiled in return, acknowledging his brief introduction.

“The name is Parvati Patil, I will also be one of your room mates, we’re going to have so much fun. Fifth year Gryffindors are the best of the bunch!” Parvati said brightly, extending her hand for a shake.

“I’m Dean Thomas, easily the cutest and most attractive Gryffindor of the bunch,” he said as he ran his fingers through his hair laughing before Seamus elbowed him in the stomach. They both began a brief playful brawl, jabbing and exerting their manliness as an attempt to be viewed as strong, but they quit as quickly as they began.

After all of the introductions were done, Aidan was able to relax and let the conversations flow around her easily, not feeling pressured or nearly as awkward as she had felt before. Hermione kept close by at her elbow, and though Aidan didn’t say much, she just listened and laughed as they made jokes and welcomed her.

The kindness and easing feelings were short lived, the other side of the group that wasn’t in Charms earlier that morning couldn’t hold back their own curiosity any longer, and the whole lot of them approached as one large mass. Aidan felt nervous as the new students loomed around her, a pointy faced leader standing in the front. She gulped as the person in charge stepped forward, leaving the rest of his friends a step or two behind and he smiled. Despite the smile the blond wore, Aidan felt a sense of foreboding that she couldn’t precisely put her finger on. All of the Gryffindors stopped talking, casting their gaze to their least favorite person: Draco Malfoy.

“I heard along the grape vine that we had a new girl,” Draco began with an air of unwritten authority. “Yet, what they didn’t tell me was that she was a Gryffindor… and they didn’t tell me how pretty she was. It is unfortunate that you weren’t placed in Slytherin. Can I be graced with knowing what your name is, anyways?”

“Step off Malfoy,” Ron snapped, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Draco drew smoothly. “I didn’t realize that I was talking to you, blood traitor. In case you have forgotten, I don’t associate with your kind.”

Ron stepped forward, a little clumsily, but forward nonetheless. “I am not going to let you make Aidan’s first day any harder than it has to be, so leave her, and us, alone.” His voice shook as he stood up for her, and Aidan smiled weakly to herself behind him.

Draco laughed, “Or what? What are you going to do, Weasley? Send the enchanted vacuum cleaner after me? You’re pathetic. You and your whole family.” At the mention of his family, Ron lunged forward and attempted to punch him straight in the face. Sensing trouble from the start, Harry had readied himself to disarm either of them or jump in between their physical fight, whatever happened to come up first. Harry jumped between them, holding Ron back as he thrashed and swung at the empty air. The entire mass of Slytherins laughed manically, and Draco stood before him with his arms crossed, looking bemused.

“Is that all you’ve got, Weasley? Can even overpower Potter here, who is nearly a head shorter than you? You’re pitiful.” Draco laughed.

“Be careful, Malfoy…” Harry grunted in warning, “If you don’t watch your mouth,
I’ll let him go and he can have his way with you.”

“Lemme at’im Harry… Lemme at’im! He can’t insult my family like that, you murderous coward!” Ron added in Malfoy’s direction. “Your lucky your father and your precious Head of House isn’t here to save you because I’m more than ready to beat you senseless, you bloody prat!”

At the mention of Severus Snape, the door to the Potion’s room flung open with a slam and Snape emerged from the shadowy depths of the inside. Ron immediately jumped backward, no longer pulling taut against Harry but he never broke his angry glare from Malfoy. Malfoy, on the other hand, attempted to retain a sense of innocence that only Snape, possibly on pure intention, would fall for.

“What is going on out here?” Snape drew slowly, his voice barely over the level of a whisper. Everyone else who was speaking on an undertone to each other fell silent immediately. Snape looked into each face of the crowd, though he refused to look at Aidan, and his eyes fell on Draco. “Explain, please.”

“Weasley was trying to attack me!” Draco said quickly, trying his best to look distressed. “I just was trying to introduce myself to the new student and he jumped up and started insulting my father. I told him that he should watch his mouth and he jumped to attack me.” Ron looked completely dumbfounded and stumbled backward a few steps to stand alongside Aidan once more.

For the first time, Snape gazed at Aidan whose face was so red that it looked like she was about to pop. Aidan wished that she could just disappear because now everyone’s attention was on her, as if most of them weren’t staring already. Ron’s ears had grown just as red, all the while Draco looked rather pleased with himself.

“Weasley, you should really learn to not be so violent, because of your temper you have cost your house thirty points.” Snape paused, knowing that a chorus of groans would be sure to follow. “You need to learn how to control yourself,” he swept into the classroom without another word, a signal that he was about to start class. Thankful for the attention to be switched to how unfair Snape’s treatment is, she followed Hermione to the table exactly like the four person one they shared their previous period. Aidan took her seat along side her and waited for the class to begin.

Snape looked around the class room slowly, and he stopped his gaze at the table the quartet of Gryffindors. “Parkinson,” Snape said so very softly, yet everyone in the entire room heard. “Switch places with the new student.” He ordered softly. “We don’t want her to be an unintentional victim of Weasley’s wrath.”

The look plastered on Pansy’s face was of pure astonishment. She looked to Draco, half expecting him to stand up and demand that she did not be placed among the trash. Yet he made no motion or even act like he had even heard Snape say anything. She resigned to having to defend herself.

“B-But sir,” she stammered weakly. “I didn’t do anything wrong, why am I being punished for his behavior?”

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked equally appalled at the idea of poor Aidan having to endure the entire period with Draco Malfoy, and all of them secretly hoped that Pansy would pitch a fit that was obnoxious enough to change Professor Snape’s mind. Instead, he just motioned for her to move, causing her to pull herself to her feet with a disgusted expression. Grabbing her things, she marched over to the table, nose straight up in the air. Aidan followed suit, standing up and allowing Pansy to take her seat while Aidan crossed the imaginary barrier that consistently separated the Gryffindors from the Slytherins. She sat alongside Malfoy.

“I’m sorry about my behavior earlier,” Malfoy amended in his honey sweet voice. “I hope that it didn’t taint your view of me so early on in our friendship. Let me introduce myself.” He held out his hand in greeting, which Aidan took warily but with a polite smile. “My name is Draco Malfoy, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Ron’s glaring gaze was permanently imbedded into the back of Malfoy’s head.


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(Author's Corner)
Evenin' readers, Jerrica here and ready to get to know all of you! I figured I would let you know what I'm looking for in reviews. In depth is better, but I'll take what ever you want, just to know that someone out there is reading start to finish. I want harsh criticisms, what I can do better, what contradicts each other, grammar and spelling, anything. I'm here to improve my writing and you all can help me out!

Also, I don't have a title yet as this is a full length feature, and just in Word alone the first chapter was fifteen pages. I have a long way to go! Any suggestions for a title, at any point, would be great!

Thanks to anyone who reads, I always return reviews!

Love, Jerrica Wheeler. :)