AN: First of all: welcome! Welcome back to some of you and just welcome to those of you who are new to reading my stories. As was already briefly stated in the summary, this story is centered around an OC and, although it will feature some characters from the original novels (most prominently: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley), it will be first and foremost an OC story. So do not be fooled by the 'Characters' setting; this is mostly for practical purposes. Romantic relations (and purely platonic relations) may be made later in the story, but this will mostly be later on in the story. Lastly I want to add that I don't know how often I'll be able to update since I am under a heavy workload from school, but I will try to find a pace that works for both me as a writer and for you readers. Now, without further ado; the first chapter of The Conductor. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 1

'I found her wandering the school grounds, professor. She seemed to be out of sorts, so I took her to you.' Draco Malfoy said, purposely leaving out the part in which he had first tried to flirt with her, failed, and had then decided something was off about the girl.

'Yes, that was a very wise decision of you, Mister Malfoy, for I don't think she's a student of ours, in fact, I don't think she's part of the wizarding world at all. Which leaves us with the question of why she is here and more importantly, how she got here.' Professor McGonagall studied the girl before her curiously. 'Perhaps she can shine some more light on the situation herself.' With a flick of her wand, professor McGonagall unfroze the girl who was seated in one of the chairs at her desk.

The girl looked around frantically, wondering how she got in the small, round office, when she'd been outside mere seconds ago. Then, as if a sudden realization dawned upon her, she jumped up from her chair and backed away from the two oddly dressed adults and the boy she had just met on the fields. Did they take him too, she wondered.

'Where am I? Who are you people?' The more she thought about the situation, the less she really understood. She couldn't remember being attacked, no less being brought inside.

'Miss, would you please sit down, we mean you no harm,' Professor McGonagall gestured towards the chair.

The girl calmed down a bit at those words, then nodded and, although still hesitatingly, made small steps towards her previous seating place, but made no attempt as to seat herself.

'Now, my name is professor McGonagall and this is professor Snape. We want to ask you a few things. But firstly, what is your name?'

'Daisy,' she said, in a voice much softer than before 'My name is Daisy McCalman.'

'Well then, Ms. McCalman, perhaps you would be so kind as to explain what you were doing on the school grounds?' Snape asked her in his usual snarling manner, something the girl obviously wasn't accustomed to, Draco noticed, for she cringed visibly.

'I didn't know they were private grounds, I swear!' She called out, clearly feeling the need to defend herself.

'Then what other business could have brought you to this particular area?'

The girl looked frightened at the greasy-haired man before her and it took every inch of Draco's self-control not to burst out in laughter right then and there.

For a moment, the girl seemed to be distracted from the terror before her and met his eyes with a frown, then she brought her attention back to the conversation at hand. 'I am on a camping trip with my Aunt and Uncle. Our camp is not far from here. They told me there wasn't any cultivation, so I decided to take a stroll across the landscape and came upon the castle.'

McGonagall nodded and pursed her already thin lips into a straight line – making them almost invisible – while looking pensive for a moment.

The girl, Daisy, however took this as an opportunity to question whatever it was that she had seen when she happened upon Hogwarts. 'What is this place? And how did you get me here when I was outside just seconds ago?'

Professor McGonagall did not answer, but gave Snape a meaningful look. 'I think we must get professor Dumbledore, we've got a Muggle on our hands.'

Draco, who had gotten pretty bored throughout the entire conversation and wanted nothing more than to spend the few sunny hours of his free Saturday outside a teacher's office, gestured lazily at the girl. 'Can't we just Obliviate her and be done with it?'

His Transfiguration teacher looked at him pointedly 'No, Mister Malfoy, we cannot 'just Obliviate her and be done with it'. I do not expect you to understand the gravity of the situation, nor the implications her being here has on all of us. However, since professor Dumbledore is out for business until tonight and since you're already involved, I'd like to ask you to take her under your wing for the time being. Surely you can accomplish such a simple task.'

He huffed 'As if I have nothing better to do than babysit a Muggle. Do you really think that I want to dirty my hands on…-'

'It was not a question, Mister Malfoy.'

In desperation, he turned to his Potion Master and Head of House. 'Professor Snape, surely you..-'

'Fully agree with everything Professor McGonagall has told you.'

Turning on his heel, he made for the door. 'Just wait until my father hears about this.' Without looking – or caring – whether the Girl was following him or not, he turned a corner. She could get lost for all he cared, perhaps drown herself in the Lake or something. He cursed Merlin for throwing her existence in the way of enjoying his free afternoon. He'd even gotten rid of Parkinson, just to be stuck with something far worse.

'Would you slow down, please, I can barely keep up!' He heard her voice from behind him. So she was still there. How fortunate..

Instead of answering her, he sped up even more. He wished he could see the look on her face, but didn't want to turn around. His imagination would do just fine.

'Excuse me, M-Malfoy?'

He froze in mid-step and turned around, her body almost colliding into his by this unexpected stop. 'Don't ever say my name.' Then he turned back and was about to resume walking when her annoying voice piped up again.

'So what should I call you then?'

'Nothing.'

'Alright. So what's a Muggle?'

He bit his lip as to not strike out at the obnoxiousness of her entire being. He changed course now, realizing that he wasn't going to get rid of her and wanting to let as few people as possible know that he had to take care of a Muggle. So that ruled out the Great Hall, the fields and the Slytherin Common Room. Not that he would have taken her to the latter anyway, Merlin forbid. Salazar Slytherin would roll in his grave if he knew a Muggle had entered the noble House of Slytherin. No, he had to take her to a place where there would be no one to see them together and preferably somewhere where she wouldn't bombard him with questions anymore, either. Having come up with the perfect place, he took some short cuts to avoid crowded hallways to eventually wind up at his destination: the library.

Coming to the library was by itself an uncommon thing for Draco Malfoy. He much preferred studying in the Common Room or, even better, bribing someone into doing his homework. He was not stupid by any means, though, just lazy, spoiled and too good at manipulating for anyone's good, expect for his own.

'Your school has a library?!' The Girl all but called out, having completely forgotten that he'd ignored her last question as well.

Draco merely shrugged his shoulders and dropped himself on a seat at an empty table in the back. Holding his head in his hands, he tried to forget the reality around him. This was harder than he'd hoped, especially because the Girl kept asking him questions, be it on a Pince-accepted volume. Most of them were about things she'd seen in the hallways (she'd not stop about the bloody portraits!), but she also wanted to know about things that she'd find in one of the books. Allowing her to read about magic might not have been the best of ideas, but he truly couldn't care less. After dinner she would not be his concern anymore and right now it kept her occupied. He watched as she pulled another book from the shelve fascinatedly. Flipping through the pages, her eyebrows kept rising until they threatened to disappear into her strawberry blond hair.

'Werewolves, they must be kidding right?' She asked him, her voice full of certainty.

He shrugged his shoulders again, not taking the effort to keep up with the endless stream of questions anymore. It was as if you were trying to explain the world to a child. Only was the Girl much more interested, studious and most of all; annoying. Standing there in her jeans and a crimson shirt with some band he'd never heard of printed on it, she looked every bit the Muggle she was. He couldn't understand how no one had addressed him about it, but then again, he was glad they hadn't. At the moment she was flipping through the pages of a book as eagerly as Granger, seeming more interested with every page she passed. Somehow this irritated Draco to no end, but he didn't comment on it, if only because he didn't want to talk to her.

It was at this very moment that his least favourite people in the world walked into their aisle, joining his least favourite person at the moment. As if his day could not have gotten any worse than it had already been..

'Didn't know you could read, Malfoy. Although, it seems as if you are not doing much of that anyway. Getting some beauty sleep?'

'I don't particularly need it, Potter. However, you look like you could better sleep for the rest of your life. Or better, put a bag over your head an rid us all of your Scarface.'

Then, as if things weren't bad enough, the Girl decided to turn around from the bookshelf. 'Are these your friends?'

~ Daisy ~

As soon as the last word passed her lips, Daisy knew she'd said something terribly wrong; four faces turned to her, their expressions ranging from amazement to utter disgust. One of the newly arrived people, a ginger haired guy who was at least a head taller than the rest of them, even turned a fiery red.

'I'd rather kill myself than…-'

'We most definitely are not…-'

'Merlin, I'd rather eat my…-'

'Disgusting!'

Having them all look at her, she felt slightly uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gazes of the newcomers. Even the Malfoy guy – who, for some reason she was not allowed to call by his name – was now looking at her, something which he had not bothered to do ever since they'd been with the professors.

'Never mind it, then..' Grabbing another book from the shelve randomly, she hoped that they would soon forget about her existence. What she had not been prepared for, though, was that the book would start humming when she opened it. Swiftly slamming it shut again, she put it back in its place and shoved her hands in her jeans pockets, trying to look casual.

'I haven't seen you around before, what House are you in?' The ginger boy asked her, suspiciously.

Confused by his question, she was about to ask what he meant when the Malfoy guy cut in. 'Surely you don't think that I'd waste my time on some Hufflepuff? I'd think even someone with a rat's brain like you could grasp that much. Or perhaps your parents couldn't even afford you a brain at all, Weasley.'

The redhead possibly turned even redder, his face now matching his hair perfectly. He was about to step forward, his hands clenched to fists, when 'Potter' and the girl caught him by the arms.

'Don't bother, Ron, he'll just go crying with his father,' Potter said.

'Let's go, before Malfoy lands us all into trouble.' She pulled Ron Weasley with her and, after one last intimidating look, Potter followed.

Letting go of her breath, Daisy dropped herself in a chair. 'So, you're quite the jerk, aren't you? And a cry baby too, apparently.'

Malfoy gave her a dirty look, but didn't respond.