Chapter Five

I woke up to the curly haired girl, Lavender, opening my curtains and giving me a strange smile. I blinked and then realizing that someone was leaning over me sat up so quickly that I almost rolled out of bed.

"It's the first day of school sleepy head! Hermione told us to make sure you woke up on time. She also said that she would wait for you down in the common room," Lavender said as she proceeded to spell her uniform clean. Wait, I didn't know any spells yet but as she a muttered the strange words I knew exactly what she was saying and what she meant by it. This must be what Dumbledore was saying when he told me that I would catch on quickly. I sat up and grabbed my toiletries and made my way to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and suffered some strange looks from the other girls. When I got back to the room I quickly changed into my uniform and then fishtailed my hair. Lavender saw me and handed over a small glass jar filled with some light pink gel.

"It's hair gel, my mum makes it from scratch," she said as she put some on the top of my head. "I found the purple and grey head band you had and spelled it to be gold and maroon. I hope you don't mind." I smiled and it took it from her before slipping it on. Lavender was really sweet I got the feeling that Hermione didn't like her that much last night but she made sure I was up and presentable for my first day of classes. She smiled back and the grabbed a pair of shoes for me. "Here me and Padma thought these looked the cutest and the most comfortable." I slipped the on and dusted my face with some powder foundation and smudging some brown massacre on before grabbing my satchel with my school supplies. Before leaving the room I took a deep breath and headed out to join the bustle of other Gryffindor girls making their way to breakfast.

When I got down to the common room Hermione, Ron, and some black haired boy were waiting for me. I closed my eyes and focused learning that the boys name was Harry and that he was the boy-who-lived, the chosen one if you will. I made my way to them and started to listen to Hermione bicker with Ron about how the both had to tell Fred and George that they needed to take their notice off the notice board. I smirked when Ron begged Hermione not to make him, they seemed like a family that would tease each other but knew when enough was enough; it would be nice to have a family like that. When they noticed me Ron smiled and introduced me to Harry.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The owls come with the mail during and on the first two days of term we get our time tables that alternate daily," Hermione said as she lead me down to the Great Hall with Harry and Ron trailing behind us. Some of the paintings commented at are apparent lateness but I took the cue from the rest of the students to just ignore them. That is something that I was going to have to get used to quickly, talking paintings next thing will be that the statues move at random too. When we got to the Great Hall I took a seat with them but began to preoccupy myself with finding a jug of orange juice that didn't contain pulp. It didn't even take five minutes for Hermione and Ron to start arguing again and it made me feel like I was back at my old house before I was the one that everyone took their aggression out on. But this was also a good thing because if they were too occupied with yelling at each other than they wouldn't notice me not eating. I was startled when I heard a large clang and it was followed by a hundred of owls entering the hall. A damp angry looking owl landed in front of Hermione and she gave it some money in return for a newspaper. I was surprised to find a letter for myself that was given to me by a simple brown owl.

Dear Whore,

I know that by now your probably trying to ruin someone else's life at your new school for freaks but Anne and mom wanted me to deliver a message to you. No matter what anyone might tell you there you deserver every lesson that you learned and no one is sorry. I also wanted to express the joy I have by telling you that you won't be coming home for Christmas holiday and you'll spend Spring Holiday with that freak you like so much in Venice. You also will be spending one month of summer holiday in your beach house in Hawaii with said freak and maybe Anne's kids if they can convince her that your freakishness is not contagious. Do not respond no one wants to hear from you.

With hatred,

Diane

I snorted, Diane thought I was going to be upset that I won't be seeing her or Chase or Paul for a year. By God I have never been happier. A whole summer without her making comments at me, a whole summer of not getting beat up or punished, a true, true holiday. I smiled and titled my head back.

"What was the letter 'bout?" Ron asked after he swallowed a mouthful of food.

"My adoptive sister told me that I'm staying here for winter holiday and I'm going to Venice, Italy with my best friends family for spring holiday and I get to spend a month in Hawaii at my mum's old house," I said as I drank some more orange juice. I was practically in ecstasy, it's sad that being told that I wouldn't have to see three people over the course of the year could make me so freaking happy. At this time Professor McGonagall was walking down the table handing out timetables. I took it and looked it over, History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Look at today! The worst classes ever all in one day. Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day. I wish Fred and George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted . . ." Ron moaned as he all but slumped head first into his plate of food.

"Do mine ears deceive? Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive of lessons," Fred commented as he and George squeezed in besides me.

"The eggs are pretty good here Evy. I'd try some," George commented as he reached over Fred to plop some eggs on my plate. I frowned and forked some eggs into my mouth before moving around my plate. I spent the rest of Breakfast playing with my food and silent, they just had to go and ruin my good mood didn't they? But I deserve it, I shouldn't be happy. I don't deserve to be happy. I sighed and glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Blaise eyeing me again with a slight frown. I drew myself up when I saw him and stared him down before I panicked and shifted my gaze back at my plate, haphazardly shoved another forkful of eggs into my mouth and swallowed them in one go.

"Come on Evy. We have History of Magic now, follow us closely or you'll get lost, " Hermione said as she hooked her elbow around mine and lead me off towards a dusty looking classroom a bit away. There would be no need to follow her at all today if she kept dragging me around this freaking castle. When we entered I noticed it was four people per desk so I sat on the left outer corner while Harry and Ron sat in the center leaving Hermione to take the right corner, she was way to observant if I got to close to her then she could start finding things out. After we got in some Ravenclaws walked in and took the seats by the front of the classroom, leaving the rest of the Gryffindor's to grab empty seats in the back. Once a small bell rang a ghost professor floated through a chalkboard and proceeded to lecture us nonstop in a monotonous voice about Giant Wars. So not only was this class going to be boring by having a freaking ghost lecture us but it was on some of the dullest topics possible. About ten minutes in Harry and Ron were engaged in an intense game of Tic Tac Toe. Most of the Ravenclaws were even starting to space out and it seemed that only Hermione and I were taking notes. I was shocked Ravenclaws were supposed to be super smart and studious and stuff. Finally the bell rang again and everyone jumped up and shoved their materials in their bags before nearly sprinting out of the door. This time Ron put his arm around my shoulder and guided me out underneath a balcony that would provide us with some shade from the rain. I swear if one more person touches me I'll try and burn them to teach them to keep their hands off, I would think my constant flinching would get the message across.

"What would happen if I refused to give you and Harry my notes this year?" Hermione asked as she caught up to us.

"Well there are two options. One, we would just get the color-coded notes that Evy took. Or, the second option is that we'll fail O.W.L.s and that'll be on your conscious," Ron joked as he lightly elbowed her. She scowled, someone couldn't get a joke. Wait, Paul couldn't take a joke either and he yelled a lot. What if she turned out to be another Paul?

"Yeah, maybe we'll take Evy's anyways. Your notes aren't color coded," Harry joked as Hermione looked like she would pounce on them to kill. I let out a small giggle, which caused everyone to look at me. I quickly stepped back and fiddled with the sleeve on my robe. Thankfully I was distracted when some Asian girl from Ravenclaw came forward to talk to Harry. While they had their brief conversation I stayed a bit away from the group and watched the other students go about their business. What would it be like to know that your freakishness was normal, to not be a freak but to be normal? Harry drew me out of my thoughts, as Ron and Hermione were too in to their argument about Ron's apparently horrid behavior to the Asian girl that had came to talk to Harry.

"They've really been having a go at it this year," Harry said in a way of explanation on our way towards Professor Snape's classroom. We made our way into the castle and soon started going down some staircases and towards what would be the dungeons in a real medieval castle. This was fascinating but terrifying at the same time, no one seemed to go down here, and it was completely empty.

"H-H-H-Harry?" I whispered as we made another turn into what seemed like a darker part of the castle. Harry turned around to look at me.

"What is it Evy?" He asked as he noticed me standing in the corner being hit repeatedly by students on their way to Potions too.

"W-where exactly are we going?" I asked as someone gave me a rather hard shove, sending me sprawling into someone who then proceeded to shove me off of themselves, landing me on the floor. I frowned and got up looking around for the wrong doer to find two Slytherin boys chuckling with each other.

"To potions. We have it with Slytherin this year unfortunately. The professor is Professor Snape; he hates Gryffindor's because he is the Slytherin Head of House. If your decent at potions you'll get a grade lower then the worst Slytherin student," Harry explained as he ushered me towards a queue that had formed outside of a door to what might have been a dungeon if this place wasn't a school. If what Harry said is true than Snape might hate me because I got sorted into Gryffindor, would that mean he would turn into something like Paul and Chase. Maybe if I apologize to him and explain how I was arguing with the sorting hat he might forgive me.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't notice we were moving in till Harry tugged my arm. The tables for Potions were by threes and I felt nervous when Harry went to go sit at a table with Ron and Hermione. I shouldn't be upset they are actual friends and I'm just some girl they're babysitting out of pity. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and took a seat at a table that I thought was empty until Draco and Blaise came to sit with me. Bloody Hell, I completely forgot about Draco, he's most likely going to hate me now too. And if Snape still wants to be my guardian then I'll have to put up with Draco during the summer, someone that controls my fate must surely hate me.

"Settle down," said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him. There was no real need to call the class the order for as soon as the class heard his study door open all fidgeting, whispering, and general non-settleness ceased.

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and starting around at us, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my . . . displeasure." His gazed lingered on a fellow Gryffindor who visibly gulped much to the joy of Draco, the prat.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye." At this point his gazed rested on Harry who glared right back at him. Not a good idea, not a good idea Harry.

But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Snape softly, "so whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from O.W.L students. Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at the Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing. The ingredients and method" – Snape flicked his wand- "are on the board" – (they appeared there)- "you will find everything you need" – he flicked his wand again – "in the store cupboard" – (the door of the said cupboard sprang open)- "you have an hour and a half . . . Start."

I stood up and closely read the ingredient list before gathering all of them and making my way back to my table where I organized them in set of two rows. Draco and Blaise where already getting started and a completive nature in me sprang up and I began making the potion while barely glancing at what was on the board. I don't know why but for some reason I just knew how much and when to add something. I frowned; Harry, Ron, and Hermione where right; this potion was extremely difficult to make. It was slightly on the difficult side for me and I was almost breezing through it compared to everyone else. Near the end of class I realized that I was coming close to the end of my potion before Draco and Blaise where.

"I guess me and you are going to have some more completion. Hell even the mudblood might have some," Blaise commented. Draco turned and looked at my potion before going back to his own. I frowned and shifted towards the center of the classroom. If Draco got mad that I was doing better than me it'll just make the fact that I'm in Gryffindor worse. But what in the hell did mudblood mean other than something that was horrid.

"I might not know what you mean but I could tell that it was a horrid comment and I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my friends," I whispered as I put the finishing touch on my potion. Draco looked sideways at me and opened his mouth but closed it quickly when Snape started to speak.

"A light silver vapor should now be rising form your potion," called Snape, with ten minutes left to go in the class. I smiled; my first potion was a grand success. A quick glance around the room showed me that only Hermione, Draco, Blaise, and I had made the correct potion. A few other Slytherins looked like their potions were almost correct, as their vapor was dark silver. Harry's cauldron was issuing a copious amount of dark grey steam and Ron's was issuing green sparks. I felt rather accomplished, if people that have been taking potions for longer than I have messed up then I must be good at something, like potions. I smiled even wider but that soon turned to a frown when Snape started to walk around the room and inspect everyone's cauldron. He gave some words of encouragement to the Slytherin students before he made his way over to my table. He saw my potion and gave me a nod of the head before turning to Draco and Blaise.

"Draco and Blaise, perfect as always," Snape said before spinning around and looking at Harry's. "Potter, what is this supposed to be?"

The Slytherins in the front of the classroom turned around looked eagerly at the scene in front of them. It seemed that they loved to watch Snape taunt Harry.

"The Draught of Peace," said Harry tensely. I frowned, I felt bad for Harry his potion was nowhere near as bad as some other people's.

"Tell me, Potter can you read?" said Snape softly. I frowned when I heard Draco snicker but I didn't want to do anything to make anything worse for myself. Growing up in my house I learned that staying undercover as much as possible was best for survival.

"Yes, I can," said Harry. I could see his fingers were clenched around his wand I hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid like jinx Snape.

"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."

Harry squinted up at the board with some difficulty, I would assume, because of the multi colored smoke now swirling though the room. I got a little distracted with all of the pretty patterns that it made before I quickly pulled my attention back towards Harry and Snape.

"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore'."

I thought about for a minute and it suddenly sank in to me, Harry forgot to add the syrup of hellebore.

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?"

"No," said Harry very quietly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No," said Harry, more loudly. "I forgot the syrup of hellebore." While Snape and Harry continued their version of in class entertainment I realized that Draco had gotten closer to me. I felt a small tug on my sleeve causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

"Calm down. I just wanted to congratulate you on your potion. As you noticed not many people managed to correctly make it. At the Great Hall I noticed the Hat had trouble sorting you, what houses was he considering?" Draco whispered as he flicked his wand, gathering his potion into a small glass vial that was labeled with his name and house.

"W-w-well it mentioned all four before narrowing it down to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor," I muttered as I tried, and failed, to mimic the same spell. Draco smirked and did the spell for me.

"It took me a while to get the spell, it's difficult to get the correct amount of potion," Draco replied as he made his way to the front of the room. I followed after him, noticing that Harry's cauldron was empty.

"Did he empty your cauldron?" I asked Harry as I walked back. Harry nodded and glared at Snape. That certainly wasn't fair, Goyle's potion was most definitely worse then Harry's and Snape didn't make a comment about his. What if Snape hated me now because I wasn't in his house? I had to spend an entire break with him. I followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione to lunch. I didn't feel like sitting there and watching them argue with each other so my only two options would be to not go to lunch at all or to find the library and spend my lunch there. I had a foot and a half of parchment to write on Giant Wars for my history class along with half a foot on the use on moonstones in potions. Library it is, I could use my notes to write the history essay but I would need to do some research for potions. While I was all but fighting myself to make a decision on what to do for my lunch period I had fallen behind and lost Hermione, Ron, and Harry in the crowd by the Great Hall. I scanned around trying to find someone that looked nice so I could ask for directions when I spotted a girl with long blond hair skipping towards a staircase. I started jogging in her direction and called out to her. She stopped and turned around to stare at me.

"I-I-I'm sorry, but I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the library?" I asked. She looked rather odd but the feeling in my gut told me that she would make a great friend, plus she was a Ravenclaw which meant she could help me find a good book to use on my potion's essay.

"I was headed there myself. The teachers are assigning us a lot of homework already and I needed a book on nargles," the girl said as she set off in a slower pace.

"I'm Evy by the way. And what are nargles?" I asked as we started to climb a staircase.

"I'm Luna, you're the new girl. Nargles live in mistletoe and have a perchance for stealing things," Luna answered in her singsong voice. We spent the rest of the trip in silence. Once at the library we sat down at the same table and silently began doing out homework. During the lunch period I had managed to complete my essay on Giant Wars and using my potion's book I glanced a small amount of information on moonstones that I used in the outline of my essay for potions.

"After dinner I could help you find a good book for potions," Luna said as she packed up her stuff. "Lunch is almost over, you should head back to grab some food before the elves take it away."

After Luna left I pulled out an old composition notebook that I used as a diary and a muggles pen before writing a small entry for the day. How much food I ate, how classes were going, and the questions running through my mind with Draco.