Hey all!  After much time chasing down the plot bunnies, I have finally been able to work on this story!  I was reading through it and for several reasons decided it needed big changes.  So here they are, all changed and waiting for you to read!  Please enjoy the revised version of The Mysterious and Mischievous without any more annoying comments from me!  ^_-

~Chapter One- Two New Students~

                "See?  He's that one over there."

                "Ew!  That big stocky one?"

                "No!  The one in between the stocky ones.  With the blonde hair?"

                Two young witches sat in the back of a train compartment rumbling on its merry way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  While most Hogwarts students had been having a grand old time greeting old school friends and sitting together on the locomotive, no one recognized these two girls.  That would have been quite impossible, seeing as these two girls had come from America only a month ago.

                The first girl, seated by the rain-streaked window, was tall and skinny, with black hair as straight and unkempt as sticks.  The other girl, the one referring to the boy with blonde hair, was shorter and with a seemingly better disposition.

                "Do you see him yet, Lindsey?" she asked the other girl exasperatedly.

                "Yes, I see him now," Lindsey Wormtongue, the dark-haired girl, conceded, nodding.

                "Isn't he cute?" the first girl, Cari Green, squeaked indulgently.  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; I'll stop," she said with a laugh at the exaggerated eye roll from her friend.

                "So who is this kid now?" Lindsey asked.

                 "Draco Malfoy.  He's the son of Lucius Malfoy a rather, erm, prominent member of the Death-eater community," Cari whispered secretively.

                Lindsey nodded, though she had no idea what Cari was talking about.  Lindsey had only just found out that she was a witch at the beginning of the summer just past.  She had been an orphan as long as she could remember, living in a group home for awhile, then simply living on the streets of New York City, so she had never exactly had the opportunity to receive an invitational letter like Cari had, and like all of the students at Hogwarts had.  She knew little about the wizarding world at all; what she did know was what the Greens, Cari's family, had told her, when they informally adopted her last summer upon finding out she was a witch.

                Cari however, knew much about wizarding, as neither of her parents was a muggle, nor muggle-born, and her father was even an auror, the reason for their sudden move to England, and also the reason of her knowledge of the Malfoys.  Previously, in America, Cari had attended a school similar to Hogwarts in Salem, Massachusetts.

                Through odd enough circumstances, the Greens had met Lindsey in New York City, en route to England, though Cari's mother was to stay in the US.  Over the summer, Cari had taught Lindsey as much of the rudimentary knowledge she thought she could handle, so she had a vague outline of the basics, for the most part.  And now they were both here, on the train to Hogwarts, ready or not.

                "Lindsey…  Lindsey, wake up; we're here!"

                Groggily, Lindsey sat up, and Cari stopped shaking her.  Apparently she had fallen asleep on the train, and now the sky was dark and only a light soaking drizzle fell.

                The two girls exited the train and followed the slightly shorter group of first years (as they still needed to be Sorted into houses) towards a giant of a man with a lantern, who led them into boats which swam off on their own across the lake.

                When the great castle came into sight even the usually cool and composed Cari had to look up in utter awe.  The two fifteen-year-olds and the young first years all watched in rapt anticipation as the many lights in the castle windows drew ever nearer.

                "Wait, Cari- what's Sorting?  What's Sorting?!"  Lindsey tried to ask her friend as they were swept into a huge hall and made to form an alphabetical line.

                But before Cari could answer, her name was called and she was made to go towards the front of the line.  Lindsey, being in the W's, was much nearer the end of the line and had a bit more to wait.

                "Save me a seat when you get to the table!" she yelled as Cari went towards the other G's.

                "I see you remember that we get to start out the year with a meal," she said amusedly.  "Hey, we might not even get to be in the same House, you know."

                At this Lindsey gave her a look of such terror it was almost comical.

                About ten minutes more and the line was alphabetized and everyone ready.  Cari had already struck up a conversation with the two witches next to her.  However Lindsey just stood awkwardly, at least two heads taller than the two wizards next to her, who looked equally as tense.

                And then the sorting began.