OK, so this is a new story that I am working on. It's pretty much your average Draco Malfoy/OC story; Muggleborn fourth member to the Golden Trio, American girl with plenty of attitude. Anya Collins is her name and she;s from New York City. One day she get's the letter that changes her life forever. This story will be a mix of things that happened in all 7 movies and books. There will be drama, horror, mystery, and of course romance! Can't be a megamatchmaker's story without romance! ;)

Of course, I own nothing from the actual Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling has that privilege. But I do own Anya Collins and everything to do with her life back in the U.S.

Ch. 1 The Letter & Truth

No one would have expected something like this to happen, least of all little Anya Collins. Sitting up among the leaves and branches of the old oak tree in the backyard of her family's house just to say on the outskirts of New York City, this little girl had no idea that her life was about to take such a turn that would permanently change her life… for good and for worse.

"Anya!" her mother, Nicole, yelled from the open window in the kitchen. Dark violet eyes darted up from the book about a magical world they had been scanning over to the A-frame house that overlooked most of the city. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming Mom!" she shouted back as she tucked her book back into the little knapsack she always brought with her and climbed down the tree. Even with the early July summer breeze blowing her hair into her face, she was still able to safely find all the notches and crevices in the rough bark thanks to climbing up and down the tree so often.

"Hey there pumpkin! Happy birthday!" Rick Collins greeted as he picked up his daughter as she came running through the patio doorway. He felt the worn denim material of her bag brush against his arm and raised an eyebrow. "Up in the old tree again, were you?"

"You betcha!" Anya grinned as she kissed her father on the cheek. She knew that he was only teasing her. After all, he was the first person that ever brought her up in that tree when she was seven years old and ever since that day, she could always be found in it.

Anya was a lot like her father; adventure-seeking, courageous, and generous. Her mother was also just as adventurous as they were- though maybe not quite as extreme as her husband and daughter- and they would often spend most of their summer weekends up in the mountains for camping trips, exploring the area and searching for new things. But Anya received most of her looks from her mother's side of the family, from the dark auburn hair that shined with natural gold highlights down to the dimple in the left corner of her mouth that showed greatly when she smiled- which was quite often. The only physical qualities she gained from her dad were the rare color of his eyes and his button nose.

One thing that Anya was always happy about was that she was the luckiest girl on the planet. No, not because she had two wonderful parents that cared for her very much- although that just another good reason why. But the fact was that she really was just lucky.

First there was the swing accident back when she was five. Anya had been swinging far too high for someone her age to jump off of, but she had decided to do so anyway. Most little girls at that age would have had at least received cuts and bruises after jumping from that height if not also breaking at least two or three bones in their body. But instead Anya simply had got back up without even a single scrape anywhere on her person. When her parents found out, they only came to the conclusion that the thick, soft material of her clothes had been what had prevented their little girl from getting hurt at all.

Another time had been when she was around the age of eight. When she had lived more into the city, Anya had a neighbour a few houses down from her place whom had a very vicious German shepherd that was at least 2 ½ ft. tall on all fours alone. Well one day after school, Anya had to stay late so she had missed the bus and had to walk home. Now it wouldn't have been so bad since her house was only two blocks from school at the time with no busy streets to cross and it was the middle of the day- but she had to pass the German shepherd place. Now normally if any kid were to pass by the house the dog would start barking and chase after them until the chain he wore pulled him back, but the chain broke the same day and instead of the dog chasing her and threateningly snapping his teeth, he walked up to Anya calmly and began to lick her face. The only bad thing that came out of that was when the owner came by later that day and started spewing nonsense about how Anya did something to his dog.

And there was the previous year, when Anya began to lose her voice. Anya's biggest devotion was to anything involving the arts; singing, music, dancing, and even acting. Nothing gave her more joy than to do such things, and when she had heard that there was the possibility that she would never be able to do one of that she loved most was like a knife to the heart. The doctors had told her parents that there was the slight chance that the special medications they had given would help, but the chances were slim. After spending most of her night praying to every God she knew of, Anya woke up the very next day with her voice in mint condition. People would say she use to sound like the female singer from the group 'Aqua' and now sounded like the perfect mixture of Christina Aguilera's spunky personality, Mariah Carey's sweet voice, and Whitney Houston's powerful notes.

With all the strange things that happened to her all the time, Anya had a very difficult time making friends. Having Lucy Heller, aka Lucy-fer, the most popular girl of their age, disliking Anya- for even the most ridiculous reason- was not exactly helpful in Anya's case. The only people that she could actually trust other than her family were Irene and Emily Holt; two twins who acted like the sisters she never had. Anya even got along with their older brother Adam, who was the one who taught her how to play the guitar.

"OK you two," Nicole said as she placed the plate stacked with butter toast onto the table along with the rest of the food. "It's time to eat." Rick simply shrugged his shoulders and sat his daughter down in her chair before taking his own seat. "Happy birthday sweetie pie."

"Thanks Mom," Anya grinned as she sat down and began to load her plate.

Anya listened to her parents talked about the plans they had made for the day as she spread raspberry jelly onto her banana pancakes. They were going to the store to pick up some groceries before going to the park for a nice picnic and then go to the zoo. As they were planning out their route of the zoo when the sound of rusty bolts turning reached their ears as the mail was pushed through the slot in the door.

"I'll get it!" Anya said through a mouthful of pancake as she jumped out of her seat and dashed into the hallway.

There were three letters sitting on the smiley face doormat when Anya got there. One was a brown envelope with the bank's logo stamped in the corner. Another had the names of several fast food restaurants plastered across it, showing it to be some advertisement letter. And the last one… was addressed to her.

It was a large envelope made of a heavy yellow parchment with an emerald green writing in a very elegant script. Anya was very surprised. She had hardly ever received any letters save for the ones that her aunt Danielle had sent those few times that she wasn't able to make it for Anya's birthday, but she had already sent it when she found out her husband Eric had to go to the hospital for another check-up on his blood levels. She turned the letter over in her hand to see a purple wax seal with a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake all surrounding a 'H'.

"Anya? Sweetie, is everything alright?" she heard her mother ask her from the kitchen.

"Um… yeah. Yeah, everything's fine Mom," Anya answered as she walked back into the room. She handed the other two letters to her father as she sat down; hardly ever taking her eyes off the one she received. "Hey Mom, have you ever seen anything like this before?" she asked as she held the letter out to her mother, seal first. Nicole looked down at the seal, and Anya could have sworn that she saw something change in her parents' eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Sorry sweetie, but no. Does it say who it's from?" When her daughter shook her head no, she gestured at the envelope. "Well maybe you should open it!" she said with an encouraging smile. Anya grinned in return and tore open the side before shaking the contents out onto the table, which were two papers. She unfolded the first one to see the same coat of arms on the top and began to read out loud.

Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Collins,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

The entire table grew silent as Anya finished reading. The young girl's eyes darted over the writing two more times silently before she started chuckling. It started very lightly, almost non-existent, before it exploded into a near roar of laughter. "OK, I'll admit it; that was really good. Now which one of you did this? Dad, right?"

"What are you talking about pumpkin?" he asked her.

"I'm talking about this joke you guys are trying to pull! I've got to say, it's very creative- especially the names. Very original! But I've gotta say, it's a little farfetched even for a prank," she explained. Anya knew her father had the tendency to pull practical jokes on his fellow employees, friends, and even his wife and daughter. So for him to be behind this sort of thing wouldn't have surprised her in the least.

"Anya honey," Nicole said softly as she looked her daughter in the eye. When Anya looked up, she saw that there was neither humour nor mischief in her mother's eye and the smile on her face slowly faded away. "This isn't a joke."

Anya looked back and forth between her parents and saw the honesty on their faces. "What are you talking about 'this isn't a joke'? It has to be a joke. I mean- I can't be a- a-" The word seemed to be lodged in her throat, unable to move either up or down. "I mean, that's impossible! Magic isn't real! It's just something people made up to put in stories and fairy tales!" She kept looking at her parents, hoping they would tell her it really was a joke, but the look on their faces told her otherwise. When she spoke next, it came out in hushed tone before turning harsh. "So… I really am a witch? And… and you two never even thought to tell me? What else should I know about myself? Are you even my parents?" The hurt and betrayal quickly built up to the point where tears started falling from her eyes.

"Honey…" Nicole said in a soothing manner, hoping to find some way to calmly explain this to her daughter. But when she reached her hand out to touch Anya's on the table, the girl snatched it away as though she had been burnt and jumped out her seat once more, this time knocking it down.

"Leave me alone!" Anya shouted as she ran upstairs to her room. For the first time, she was glad that her door had a dead bolt on the inside as she slammed it close before jumping onto her bed and burying her face into her pillow. She ignored the sound of her parents knocking on her door and grabbed the remote to her stereo, pressed 'play' and turned the volume up to full blast.

The sun was setting by the time that Anya finally came out of her room that night. After listening to several of the soundtrack CDs that she owned- such as Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, and Beauty and the Beast- Anya finally felt relaxed enough to be able to talk to her parents and try to understand this news about herself and hopefully figure out what exactly she was going to do with it. When she got downstairs, she heard something in the living room and figuring that it was her parents, she walked in. her parents were the ones making the noise, but they weren't the only ones.

Anya was positive that she had never met the older gentleman before and if she did she had no memory of it. He was quite tall and very slim, and judging by the silver coloring of his immensely long hair and beard- both which looked like they could be tucked into his belt- he was very old. His eyes were a remarkable blue shade and they seemed to twinkle behind the half-moon glasses that sat on his long and crooked nose. The thing about him that stood out so much though was what he was wearing; long robes of a maroon color under a large purple cloak, high-heeled buckled boots, and a pointed hat that matched the cloak and had gold stars and moons scattered all over it.

"Hello Anya," he greeted the young girl with a very pronounced English accent that held the slightest hint of Scottish.

"Um… hello," she answered back timidly.

"Anya sweetie, this is Professor Dumbledore," Nicole said as she motioned to the older gentleman.

"Oh!" Anya exclaimed as she walked further into the room. Dumbledore stood as she came closer and politely held his hand out to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"The pleasure is mine, young lady," he said with a smile. "Please, won't you join us?" he waved his free hand and right before their very eyes, a lovely wooden rocking chair appeared out of thin air. "It's alright," Dumbledore said as Anya jumped back in shock. "It won't bite." Once everyone was seated comfortably, Dumbledore waved his hand again and a beautiful silver tea set appeared on the coffee table, the sweet smell of lemon tea reaching Anya's nose. "Would any of you like some?" he offered, to which only Anya nodded. The pot rose from its place on the tray and poured out some of the liquid into a cup all on its own. Then the cup floated over to Anya who gingerly took it in her hands and took a timid sip.

"Your mother and father have told me that you hadn't taken the news you received earlier today well, is that correct?" Dumbledore asked her, to which she shook her head. "Well I can only assume that you have a great deal of questions to ask, so perhaps I should start from the beginning.

"You see Anya, everything that you have ever heard about beings that have special abilities is real; witches and wizards, werewolves, vampires, and much more. Over a thousand years ago, there were four witches and wizards who were quite well known and they worked together to create Hogwarts. These wizards were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Each house in the school was named after the founders and witches and wizards around the world have been furthering their magical education for centuries, just as you can."

"Hang on a second," Anya interrupted as she sat her cup down on the table. "There's something I don't understand. If I'm really a witch, then why can't I do magic? I mean, I've never been able to before so why should it only start now? And what about my parents? Aren't they a witch and wizard too?"

"You are mistaken my dear, you have done magic before. If anything strange happened- things that you were not able to explain- when you felt a strong emotion; anger, fear, or even sadness. And as for your parents, it is not necessary that they are wizards for you to be one yourself," Dumbledore answered. Seeing the perplexed look on the girl's face, he began to elaborate. "You see my dear, your parents are what is known as 'muggles', meaning that they have no magical abilities, and you are 'muggle-born.' You are the only person in your family that has magic in your veins. And as for only being told of this now rather when you were younger, it is because most witches and wizards begin to show true magic potential at the age of eleven. Think of it as the Wizarding world's version of becoming a teenager."

"And how did you know that I even was a witch in the first place? I mean, do you have some sort of 'Witch Detector' that starts blinking and whistling while pointing to where the new witch is? And what about you two?" Anya asked the last question to her parents. "Did you know about this?"

"They only knew what I had told them the first time we had met," Dumbledore answered, bringing Anya's attention back to him. "You see, I somehow have a gift which allows me to see if there is any magical traces within a person and I had seen that there were traces when you were born and so I came to America and spoke with your parents, telling them that there was the possibility of you being a witch. I told them that should anything happen that was out of the ordinary, they could contact me."

Anya was silent. She could hardly believe that this was actually happening- that all this was real. But there was a man standing right in her living room and telling her all these facts with such clarity that it was impossible not to believe him.

"So what exactly is going to happen now?" Rick asked.

"It is Anya's choice," Dumbledore said. "She can choose to go to Hogwarts, where she can pursue the knowledge that is as much a part of who she is as you are or she may remain here and continue living her life exactly as it is now."

Nicole and Rick both looked over at their daughter who had stood up from the rocking chair and walked over to the large glass window that overlooked most of the city. They couldn't see her face, but they knew it was twisted with her inner conflict. They both knew that Anya was intrigued with the idea of studying magic but was afraid of her life changing.

And they were right. Anya was slightly terrified thinking about it. There were at least a dozen 'what if' questions running through her mind; what if she wasn't any good at magic? What if she goes to Hogwarts and realizes it's not what she wants? What if she became the school's outcast? How could she go back to being the 'normal' girl in New York City when she knows that she isn't normal? And what would happen if she chose not to go? Would her powers grow in strength until things start flying around against her will? It was a lot to take in.

"Whatever you decide, my dear, should be what you heart tells you," Dumbledore said as he waved his hand and the tea set along with the rocking chair vanished. "I thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Collins." And with that, he picked up the cloak from the chair he had been sitting in and draped it over his shoulders as he made his way to the front door.

"Wait," a soft voice spoke up, bringing the attention of all the adults in the room to the young girl. Anya looked into the eyes of the older gentleman that seemed to almost twinkle with knowledge and she knew that he already knew her choice. "You know… I doubt that I can get my school supplies at the usual places I shop."

So that's chapter one, obviously. As said before, this story will have many chapters as it follows Anya throughout the next several years of her life. Hopefully, you like it and will comment.

Check out my video on youtube for the trailer for my story. Username is twilightfanatic92

R&R!

Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)