A/N: This story is not even remotely canon, so don't take it personally. This story starts at 6th year. The unwritten years follow the canon storyline, except in this story, the hall of prophecy was not destroyed and Lucius did not go to Azkaban/fall from Voldemort's graces. This story gets more interesting as it goes, so if the first few chapters seem a bit juvenile just hang in there, it gets better.
Please review. I love feedback. I poured my heart and soul into this story, so please be nice about it.
Daria McVey was proud to say that she a perfectly average witch. She attended a perfectly average school and had perfectly average friends. Well… if you considered the boy-who-lived perfectly average, and she did. She had perfectly average blood (half magic and half muggle) and wasn't at all famous. She wasn't as brave as Harry, or as smart as Hermione, or as funny as Ron, but she was clever, and witty, and a little bit snarky. She had no extraordinary talents or powers, besides having a habit of setting things on fire, and she loved music, muggles, and quidditch in that order.
It was a lovely fall morning as Daria sat on her bed looking over her school supplies list for her upcoming year at Hogwarts. She would be entering her 6th year and was in the Gryffindor house.
"Daria," she heard her mother call from downstairs, "Are you ready to go to diagon ally?"
Daria frowned and reached over to pause her muggle mp3 player. She had found the little beauty in a muggle store earlier that summer couldn't resist purchasing the piece of muggle ingenuity. "Yeah. I'll be down in a minute," she called back and climbed out of bed.
Daria did a quick mirror check before heading down. She had a perfectly average frame, with curly dark red hair that came down to her elbows and emerald green eyes. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, slung her bag over her shoulder, and hurried downstairs.
"Is that what you're wearing?" Daria's mother asked, turning her nose up at her daughter.
Daria looked down at her ripped jeans and fitted band t-shirt (which she had also picked up on her muggle shopping trip, much to her mother's dismay). She shrugged; she didn't see any stains.
"No, I just came down here to model what I wasn't planning to wear," she replied sarcastically, "I'll just go back upstairs and put on a formal gown."
Her mother sneered before she grabbed some flew powder and stepped into the fireplace; Daria followed her.
Daria's mother, Fauna, was a pureblood and sometimes (actually all the time) Daria felt like her mother hated having a half-blood as a daughter. Her father had been a muggle, but he died when she was very young. Her mother claimed to be a reformed blood traitor. Daria wasn't quite sure how one could redeem oneself after receiving the status of blood traitor, but Fauna was loath to talk about it.
Daria decided to go to the bookshop first, heading to the educational section while her mother wandered over to the fiction. She found a promising bookshelf and bent over to scan the bottom shelf.
"Well fancy seeing you here, McVey," she heard a smooth voice say as she glided her finger along the bottom row of books.
Daria stood up and turned towards the shadows, spotting Draco Malfoy leaning up against a shelf smirking at her.
"Do you often lurk around in bookstores? Cause I've got to admit, that's kind of creepy," she asked, raising her eyebrow at him. "Even for you."
"Only when you're around," he teased and stepped closer, choosing a bookshelf closer to her to lean on now. He grabbed a book out of the shelf, tore a page out of the middle, and then put it back.
She frowned as she watched the shelf move slightly under his weight, "You know, you're going to make one of those fall over and I'm going to laugh my bloody ass off when you do."
He sneered at her. "I'm not that heavy," but stood up a little straighter. "So where's your golden bloody trio today? I figured scar-head would be falling all over himself to carry your books for you," he asked as he looked around for Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"I haven't seen them," she shrugged, trying not to blush at the thought of Harry wanting to carry her books. "Where's your pug?"
Draco's eyes darted around quickly before he answered, "I lost her at the candy store. I'm hoping she won't look for me here."
"Why? Because she thinks you can't read?" she asked with a smirk.
He glared at her before responding, "No, because I know she can't read."
Daria finally spotted the book she had been looking for and tucked it under her arm along with the three others she already had, "Well Malfoy, as fun as this has been, I've got to get going now. I have other stores to go too and friends to find rather than hide from."
"Do you need any help with those?" he asked, looking down at her armful of books.
She raised her eyebrow, considering his offer.
There is no way he's nice enough to carry my books for me.
"Why?" Daria asked as she searched his eyes suspiciously.
Draco let out an annoyed sigh, "Because they look heavy."
She kept her eyebrow raised but reluctantly handed him her books, "Thanks... I think."
Draco and Daria walked towards the cash register in silence. As they passed the long open staircase going down, she leaned over the rail, noticing her trio of friends of the floor below. She waved to try to get their attention.
While she was still looking down, she saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned just in time to see all four of her books falling down to the floor below.
Daria shot her eyes up to Draco, who as also leaning over the railing, and smirking wildly as he watched the books hit the ground.
"Whoops," he laughed as he took in her outraged expression.
"You're an asshole," she hissed before she headed down the stairs to collect her books. She could hear him laughing behind her.
She bent over to pick up her first book and heard someone call to her.
"Daria! There you are!"
Daria stood up and looked straight into Harry's green eyes. She smiled as he pulled her into an embrace.
"You'd think you hadn't seen me all summer," she chuckled as she hugged him back. She smiled at Ron and Hermione, who were a few feet away, and gave them both a hug too.
"We haven't seen you all summer," Ron complained. "You don't even write."
Daria thought about how her mother hated that she was friends with the boy who lived, a muggle born, and a Weasley; and how her mother had put the family owl under lock and key when she got home, just like every summer.
"Sorry," she shrugged, "I've been busy."
Daria leaned over and began picking up the rest of her books.
"What happened?" Harry asked, bending over to help.
Daria glanced back up to the top of the stairs but Draco was long gone. "I accidentally dropped my books over the rail upstairs," she sighed as she stood back up. She went to take the two books Harry had picked up from him but he stopped her.
"Here, I'll carry them for you," he smiled and took the two she had in her arms as well.
"Thanks, Harry," she smiled. She hoped he wouldn't notice she was blushing.