The Scars that Bond

The day had been perfect. Nothing had gone wrong, so there was no reason to think that anything would go wrong that night in the Australian Outback. But as a couple drew their last breaths, the only thing they wanted was for their daughter to be safe. Elizabeth and Sam Clayton gave their lives trying to protect their fifteen-year-old daughter, Danielle, but the wizard was going to kill her as well. He pointed his wand at her, muttered the incantation, and something red flashed, and she felt as if there were knives cutting her everywhere. As the wizard left laughing, Danielle screamed at the top of her lungs before every thing went black.

Danielle woke from her dream with sharp pains all down her body. She looked down her body and grimaced at all of the new scars. I look like I was attacked by a pack of dingos, she thought cynically, and it was true. She even had what could have been seen as a bite mark on her shoulder, but of course that wasn't what really happened. If it was, the parents might still be alive. The murder of her parents happened three months ago, but the image was still freshly imprinted in her brain. She knew it always would be. After her parents' death, Danielle had to move to her aunt and uncle's house in London, England. She had actually been born in London, but her parents moved her to Australia when she was only three years old. Her parents told her it was because they wanted her to be safe, but she couldn't see why they thought the Australian Outback, an oven of a country full of Dingos, poisonous snakes, and sharks, safe. She never really found out the true reason. She loved living there; she just wanted the truth. When Danielle turned twelve, she began attending the Kakirra Wizardry School in Sydney. She had just finished her two year there and was home for summer holidays when her parents were killed.

So now she was back in London living with her aunt, uncle, and they too had magic and treated her well, but Danielle hated them. Danielle knew her aunt and uncle were up to something evil, and their son wanted to be a part of it! They had house-elves doing everything for them, yet they never treated them well. Danielle hated it and refused the elves' service—except for one elf. Even their name sounded evil: Malfoy.

Danielle had just finished brushing her hair when her favorite house-elf, Wobbly, popped into her bedroom. "Miss, Danielle," the house-elf said as he bowed, "there is a Professor Dumbledore here for you, miss."

Danielle turned and smiled at the little creature. "Thank you, Wobbly," she replied kindly. The elf smiled brightly at her appreciation. "Will you please tell him that I will be right there, and could you please meet me up here when I return?"

"Of course, Miss Danielle," Wobbly said, and bowed again before disappearing.

Danielle quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, donned a light jacket to cover her scarred arms, and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. She then dashed down the stairs and outside to the terrace where her guest was waiting. As she walked outside she saw an elderly man with long white hair and a matching beard smiling at her. "Hello, Miss Clayton, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am here to talk to you about attending our fine school this year."

Danielle smiled brightly at that. "Oh, that would be wonderful, sir, but I do have a couple of questions," the professor nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "Will I have to start as a first year? You see, sir, I've already completed two years at my old school, but if I have to—"

She stopped short when the professor held up his hand to stop her. "No, you will not have to repeat your first year; you will be with your own year. Oh, and may I add my deepest sympathies; I am so sorry to hear about your parents…"

"You knew my parents?" Danielle asked immediately.

Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Yes, very well. They went to Hogwarts in my early years as headmaster. Your father was in my office more than I was." He laughed lightly, but he saw Danielle's eyes sparkle with tears as she smiled. "Your mother was always in the library or with your father. She wasn't like your relatives here. Elizabeth was in Gryffindor, but your relatives were all in Slytherin."

Danielle smiled before looking down. "I never knew that about them," she said as a few tears slid down her face.

Dumbledore gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Were there any other questions you wanted me to answer?"

Nodding, Danielle wiped her eyes before looking back at him. "Yes, sir, just one. How will I know which house I will be in? Will I just be put in my cousin, Draco's house?"

Dumbledoresmiled at her again. "Not to worry, my dear. That is the only thing you will have in common with the first years. You will have to be sorted into one of our four houses: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor."

"Thank you so much, Professor, for your help." Danielle stated with obvious relief.

Dumbledorenodded, no longer smiling. "Of course, Miss Clayton, but I am afraid I must ask you something."

"Anything, Professor," Danielle replied respectfully.

"Is there anything you might be able to tell me about your parents death? Who might have killed them perhaps?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Danielle's eyes narrowed at the memory of her parents' murderer. "I know exactly who murdered them; I couldn't possibly forget those blood red eyes," she said, nearly growling at the memory. "Voldemort killed them. There were two others there, but they did nothing, and I don't know who they are."

Professor Dumbledore placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Things will be very different for you here, Miss Clayton. There has only been one other person who has faced Voldemort and lived, and I'm sorry to say that it has given him some unwanted attention. I hope that with your similar traumas you two will become friends."

Danielle nodded. "But, sir, how will I know who he is?"

Dumbledore smiled gently but evaded the question with an odd question. "Curses leave very unique scares wouldn't you say?"

Danielle then noticed that her jacket had slipped off her shoulder, and her scar that looked like a dingo bite was showing. She immediately covered it and looked down, embarrassed of the scars that now marred her body because of Voldemort. The professor's question confused her, butshe thought it best not to ask about it.

"Well, I really must be going. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Clayton." He gave her another warm smile and took his hand from her shoulder. "and I look forward to seeing you this coming September."

"It was nice to meet you, too, Professor," she called to his retreating back. As the door closed, Danielle remembered that she needed to speak with Wobbly. She ran up the stairs to her room and summoned the little elf.

"Miss Danielle called Wobbly?" he askedwhen he appeared in her room.

"Yes, Wobbly. I wanted to tell you, before I ask Uncle Lucius, that I want you to be my personal house-elf. I know how Uncle Lucius treats you, and I promise that I would never treat you that way. If I could free you I would, but Uncle Lucius would kill me. Would that be okay if you were my house-elf?" Danielle asked.

The little house-elf began to cry. "Wobbly would love to be Miss Danielle's house-elf. Miss Danielle is nice to Wobbly; Wobbly likes Miss Danielle."

"Awww..." Danielle cooed, "I like you too, Wobbly, and I just wanted to go over a few things with you. First, there are only a few things that I don't want you to touch: my wand and my things in the bathroom. Anything else you can do what you wish with it. Second, the only thing I will ever command of you is that you never punish yourself if you feel that you failed or made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes; even little house-elves like you," Danielle smiled at Wobbly's sniffling laugh. "And lastly, other than what I just went over, I will never order or command you to do anything; I don't do that. I ask politely."

Wobbly nodded his head vigorously. "Wobbly knows. That's why Wobbly likes Miss Danielle."

Danielle brought up the subject later that day when she and her relatives were eating dinner. "Uncle Lucius, I was wondering if it would be alright if I took Wobbly on as my own personal house-elf?" she asked timidly.

"Well, that would be wonderful," her uncle replied with a smile that looked fake to Danielle, but then again, she'd never actually scene him smile for real. "I am so glad that you've changed your mind. Narcissa has just been dying to send one of the creatures up there to help you clean that room, but I told her that we needed to respect your wishes."

Danielle found herself having to force a smile and laughed dryly. "Thank you, oh, and I will need to get my school supplies-"

"Yes, that's right," Uncle Lucius interrupted. "Yes, I think I will reserve you a room for at the most extravagant inn in Diagon Alley-"

"Actually," Danielle interrupted, looking at him apologetically, not wanting to anger him, "I was hoping that maybe I could choose which inn I stay at..."

This time there was no question that her uncle's smile was fake. "Of course. Any one you choose would be perfect..."

Danielle's smile was becoming harder and harder to maintain. "Well, I was looking at some, and I found one that I liked."

"Wonderful," Uncle Lucius replied immediately. "Just tell me which one it is, and I'll reserve a room for you for in about three weeks. Does that sound good? You can have a week to shop for your things and anything else you could want."

"Sure, that sounds great," Danielle said; this time she had a genuine smile. "Well, the one I chose was the Leaky Cauldron. It doesn't cost much, and I really don't need to stay in an extremely lavish room. It's not like I'll be in it very much."

While she was explaining this to him, she could see his fake smile slowly disappear from his face. "Are you sure?" he asked incredulously. "I want nothing but the best for my little niece."

What a liar, Danielle thought but didn't voice it. Her smile again became forced. "I'm sure, Uncle Lucius."

"Well, then I can't say no can I?" her uncle asked sarcastically.

***

Three weeks later, Danielle Flooed into the Leaky Cauldron in London."Hello, Lucius Malfoy reserved a room for me here," she said as she stopped at the front desk.

"And what was your name, Miss?" asked Tom, the innkeeper.

"Danielle Clayton," she answered and watched him as he searched for her name in his books.

Tom smiled at her when he found it. "Ah, yes, Miss Clayton. Room twelve, right this way."

Danielle followed Tom up the stairs and down a long hallway until they reached room twelve. It was a simple room with a bed, a desk and chair, and a wardrobe. There was a small window with a not-so-great view of the Muggle city outside, but she didn't care what kind of room she had; she just couldn't wait to go to Diagon Alley. Almost immediately after setting down her things she left and went downstairs in search of Tom.

"Tom," she said when she found him. "I need to go to Diagon Alley, but I've never been there. Do you think you could show me how to get there?"

Tom smiled. "Of course, miss, follow me."

Danielle smiled her appreciation and followed Tom around to the back door which seemed to lead to a brick wall. Tom drew his wand, and Danielle's hand instinctively went to hers in her jeans pocket. "All you have to do is tap your wand on these bricks like this." He tapped his wand gently on nine bricks in a counterclockwise motion. Then all of then began shifting and moving until before her stood the giant archway that was the entrance to Diagon Alley. "Enjoy your day in Diagon Alley, Miss Clayton," Tom said before walking back inside.

"Thanks, Tom!" she yelled after him.

Danielle began walking down the cobblestone street, turning her head back and forth and taking in all the sights. They had a place like this in Sydney, but it wasn't nearly this extravagant. For the first few days, all she did was walk around Diagon Alley looking in all of the shops and stores. Things were so much different here than they were Down Under. There, people had to be more discrete, but here, no one was discrete; people were wearing wizards' robes and almost no muggle clothes could be found. It wasn't like that in Australia. While there was a place like this in Sydney, it was sort of out in open; witches and wizards had to be careful of just who was in the stores otherwise they risked exposure.

The day before she had to leave, Danielle decided that it was time for her to get her school supplies. The first store she passed was a bookstorenamed Flourish and Blotts, and she immediately walked in. Danielle simply loved books, and upon entering the shop, her eyes lit up at what she saw. There were stacks of books spiraling upward until they touched the cieling. There were so many shelves crammed with books that she lost count. Some books were floating from one shelf to the other, and she giggled at the few people who were chasing them around the dug into her pocket for her school book list. After finding all but one of her books, Danielle looked for books that looked interesting for her to read in her spare time, and she came across one named Advanced Defensive Spells and she went through just a few months ago, she thought the book would be an excellent read. As she reached for it, another hand reached for it as well. Danielle looked sideways at the person and saw a girl that looked abouther age withslightly bushy light brown hair. Her cheeks were dusted with a few freckles and she had warm cinnamon brown eyes that were looking at Danielle curiously.

"Er... hi, I'm Danielle Clayton," Danielle stammered nervously.

"Erm, hello, I'm Hermione Granger," the girl replied, equally nervous.

"Um, can you maybe help me? It's my first time in Diagon Alley, and I don't know where to get all of my school supplies," Danielle inquired.

"Oh, you go to Hogwarts? You don't look like first year..." Hermione stated curiously.

Danielle smiled at her. "I'm not, actually; I'm going to be a third year. I just transferred here from the Kakirra Wizardry School in Sydney, Australia."

"No way! That's so cool! I've always wanted to meet someone who goes to another school like Hogwarts," Hermione seemed to have lost all of her nervousness and was talking very excitedly.

"Well, now you have," Danielle smiled and shook Hermione's hand. "Er, do you think you could help me find this book? I've looked everywhere for it."

Hermione didn't even need to look at Danielle's book list to know which one she was talking about. "Oh, you need The Monster Book of Monsters, don't you?" Danielle nodded. "They have it in the back; you have to ask for it. Just go up to the desk, ask for the book, and they'll go back and get it."

Danielle nodded her thanks and walked up to the front desk with Hermione following behind her. She asked the woman at the front desk for the book, and she heard the woman grumbling quietly as she grabbed a pair of thick gloves and went to the back room to retrieve the book. When the woman returned with the book, Danielle noticed that her shirt looked rumpled and her sleeves were slightly torn. Danielle had to keep from laughing as she knew that the book had done this to her. She paid for the book and thanked the woman before looking at the book. To say it looked ghastly was an understatement. It was like the book was alive, and in fact it was. The book was covered in fur, and when Danielle looked closer, she saw that it had eight eyes on the cover, and the thing had teeth! The only thing keeping it from biting her arm off was a thin red leather strap.

"You know, I wonder how you're supposed to open it," Hermione thought out loud. "When I tried, it came alive and tried to bite me."

Deciding that it was better to show her rather than tell her, Danielle began stroke the spine of the book. By the third time, the leather strap unbuckled itself, and the book opened. Hermione stared wide-eyed at the open book. "Whoa, how did you know to do that?" she asked.

Danielle stopped flipping through the book and looked at the Hermione sadly. "I used to have this book back in Australia. When my... er... when I moved here I couldn't bring it with me. Actually, I couldn't bring any of my books..."

As she said this, Danielle grabbed the book she'd been looking at earlier and handed it to Hermione. She grabbed the one that appeared behind it, and they once again walked to the front desk to purchase the books before leaving Flourish and Blotts. Hermione was silent for a few minutes. "Why didn't your parents let you bring your books with you?" she asked timidly while watching Danielle's reaction.

Danielle stayed quiet for a while as she tried to keep from crying. "We... erm... I had to leave rather quickly," she answered finally.

Hermione walked in front of her and made her stop. She looked directly into Danielle's eyes. "Danielle, erm, did something happen to your parents?"

Danielle looked away from her before answering. "Yeah," she whispered, and then looked back at Hermione, "They were killed... four months ago. We were out on a hike in the bush one arvo a few months ago. It was really hot that day, so we made sure to sent up camp by a billabong. We made a huge bush telly that night; it attracted heaps of bities. It also attracted a pack of dingos. My parents loved to do things the muggle way, so they didn't have their wands on them. When the pack attacked, we had no chance. They attacked my parents first. When they saw me, some of them broke off to get me. I'm just glad I had my wand or else I don't know what would've happened." Danielle hated lying, but no one would believe the truth. "I spent two weeks in St. Mungos.

Hermione had a look of horror on her face. Though she didn't understand some of the slang Danielle was using, she didn't need to to understand just what happened. "Oh, that's horrible. I'm so sorry about that."

Danielle gave her a sad apologetic smile. "It's okay, Hermione."

"You know," Hermione started, "you have something in common with my best friend, Harry. His parents were killed when he was a baby, but it was You-Know-Who that killed them. He would've killed Harry, too, but his parents' sacrfice saved him. In our first year, You-Know-Who came back and possessed our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; he was after the Scorcerer's Stone, but Harry stopped him.

"Then in our second year, he possessed our friend, Ginny, and forced her to release a Basilisk onto all of the Muggle-borns in the school. He then kidnapped her into the Chamber, but Harry and her older brother, Ron, went in to save her. There was a cave-in, though, and Harry and Ron were separated. When Harry finally found her, she was nearly dead, and the memory of You-Know-Who was sucking the life out kof her to make himself real. He made the Basilisk attack Harry, and I doubt that he would have survived very long had Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes not blinded it and brought him Godric Gryffindor's sword. Harry killed the monster, but not before getting stabbed in the arm by its fang. Harry took that fang and stabbed the diary with it, making You-Know-Who vanish and giving Ginny back her strength. Harry was dying, though, from the venom of the Basilisk, and wouldn't have made it if Fawkes hadn't cried into his wound-"

"Of course, phoenix tears have healing powers," Danielle interrupted absently. She was terrified when Hermione said that her uncle had been involved in that evil plot. What is she going to think when she finds out that I'm not only related to him but living with him? she thought worriedly, but she couldn't help but think about all of the horrible things this Harry kid had gone through. She now knew that he was the boy that Professor Dumbledore had told her about. "Wow, it's horrible that he went through all of that," she said as she brought herself from her thoughts. "My parents were a part of the resistance against Voldemort when I was a baby, but they left with me right before the end of the war. I always thought they would tell me those stories to scare me..." Danielle was struggling not to cry. I should've helped them. I should have done something! Even as she thought this, the rational part of her brain knew that if she had, she would have died with them.

Hermione noticed her inner struggle and gave her a friendly hug. "I'm so sorry that I brought all of these memories up. It wasn't my place."

Danielle sniffled and wiped away her unshed tears before looking up at her and giving her a small smile. "It's okay, Hermione. I would've had to talk about it sooner or later."

"So do you live with relatives?" Hermione inquired.

Danielle nodded absently. "Yeah, I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin..."

Hermione was silent for a while as they continued walking down the streets of Diagon Alley. As she looked from Danielle to the street in front of her, she couldn't help but notice how much Danielle and Harry had in common. She decided to voice this thought to see what Danielle thought about it. "I don't know, Hermione," Danielle said in response. "I mean I've never defeated a Dark Lord, and I've never saved anyone's life."

"Yes, but think about it," Hermione said, trying to get Danielle to see what she was thinking. "I mean both of your parents were killed, and you both have weird scars from almost dying yourselves. Plus, if you're reading Advanced Defensive Spells and Charms, then you must be good at Defense Against the Dark Arts; that's Harry's best subject." Hermione used her intuition to guess Danielle's talents.

Danielle had to admit that she and this Harry kid did have a lot in common. After Hermione showed her where to get the rest of her school supplies, they decided to go to the ice cream shoppe for some treats. At around seven in the evening, Danielle told Hermione that she needed to go back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh, you're staying there, too? What room are you in?" Hermione asked.

"Erm, I think I'm in room twelve," Danielle answered as she tried to remember correctly.

"Cool, I'm right down the hall from you. Oh, I can't wait for you to meet Harry and Ron. You're going to love them," Hermione exclaimed, very excited. "I mean Ron can be a dolt sometimes, but once you get to know him-well he can still be a dolt then too. Well he has his moments when he can be okay."

Danielle laughed at Hermione's description but was nervous about meeting them. While she had no doubt that she would like them, she had no idea how they would feel about her. With all of the trouble her relatives had given them, what reason would they have to think that she was any different? When Hermione and Danielle returned to the Leaky Cauldron, she immediately retreated upstairs to her room saying that she was tired. Hermione in turn went in search of her friends.

"Hey, Hermione, who was that?" Harry asked, looking toward the stairs that Danielle had just ascended.

"Her name is Danielle, and she just transferred to Hogwarts from Australia. She seems pretty smart and from what little I can tell, she also seems like a good person..." Hermione paused for a second before repeating what she had said to Danielle earlier that day. "You know, Harry, you and she have a lot in common..."

Harry highly doubted this, but he decided to hear her out because she was rarely ever wrong. "How so, Hermione?"

"Well her parents were killed this summer, and she has scars from the attack on her life. Now she has to live with her relatives because of it. And from what I can tell, she seems to be really good in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione finished.

Harry stood there in silence. This girl really did have a lot in common with him, and now he couldn't help but want to meet her. Both he and Ron were just in silent amazement until Ron muttered, "Bloody hell."

"What really surprised me was that she didn't seem to recognize you when I mention what happened to your parents. I thought she would have at least recognized your name when I mentioned it, but she didn't seem to." Hermione added, pulling Harry from his thoughts.

When Harry went to bed that night, all he could think about was Danielle. How could this one girl have so much in common with him? And why were common things between them things that he never thought he would have in common with somebody? Plus, it would be nice to meet someone who knew nothing of his fame and could get to know the real him. Would he meet her tomorrow on the train?

In the next room, Danielle was thinking of Harry and what Hermione had told her about him. She couldn't believe that a single person could go through that much in his lifetime and not go completely insane. She hoped to meet him on the train...