Only For You

Only For You

by DPx

Chapter Three - A New Home

September 1st, The Leaky Cauldron, London.

'Miah? Miah, wake up!' Harry's voice... Faint though, like it was coming through a door. Probably because it was. I sat up, blinking to clear my vision.

'Hey Harry,' I shouted. 'What's up?'

'Get up, ok? It's quarter to ten and the train leaves at eleven o'clock.'

'Ok.' I stumbled over to the door, unlocking it and opening it.

'Hey,' said Harry, quietly. 'Er, you kind of forgot to get dressed.'

'Oh, yeah, sorry, hang on.' I pulled on my jeans hurriedly, almost falling over in my rush to cover up. 'I'm really sorry about that, I only just woke up.'

'Er, it's ok,' murmured Harry. 'You all ready to go?'

'Pretty much. Just gotta put my guitar away, pack my robes and stuff in my bag, and I'll be ready.'

'Good.'

'Look, Harry, I heard something last night.' I wasn't really ready to go into this now, especially half naked and barely awake, but I might not get a chance to talk to Harry on his own for a while.

'What did you hear?'

'I heard you, Hermione and Ron arguing about me.'

'Oh.'

'Look, she was right.'

'What?'

'What I did was illegal. Very illegal.'

'What did you do? You didn't...'

'Kill someone? No.' He looked visibly relieved at that. 'No, I just got into a fight with another student.'

'And they expelled you for that?'

'Yep.'

'What about the other guy.'

'No, he kept his place.'

'I take it you won the fight then?'

'Oh yes. I won,' I said, with a hint of a smile.

'What did you do to him?'

'Transfigured him into a toad.'

'Really?' smiled Harry, 'that's pretty advanced.'

'Yeah, it felt good to do it too, but it was probably a bad idea now I think about it. I got a PS in my Hogwarts letter warning me not to do anything like it again, and the International Ministry for Magic gave me the longest talking to I've ever had.'

'Well, it's ok with me, Miah. I won't tell anyone, and I don't see anything wrong with it. I've felt like turning Malfoy into worse than a toad a lot of times.'

'Yeah, he seems like the kind of person that might deserve it. Anyway, are we going to have some breakfast?'

'I already have, but you can go down if you want.'

'Uh, yeah, I'm kinda hungry. Just need to wash first though.'

'Ok, well I'll... let you do that. Er, yeah.' He strode out of my room, closing the door behind him carefully.

I had a wash quickly, pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt before jamming all my remaining clothes into my backpack. It was a tight fit, what with my new robes, potion ingredients and so on. I packed all my school books into my cauldron before running downstairs for breakfast. I ate my bacon sandwiches quickly, running back upstairs to get all of my stuff. I almost ran into Hermione, who was dragging her school trunk out of her room.

'Sorry, Hermione, kinda in a hurry,' I said, opening the door to room 14. 'Ready, Davy?' I said to Davros, who'd jerked awake when I burst in. 'We're going. Gotta catch the school train.' I held my hand out and Davros jumped up into it. I tucked him into my pocket, slinging my bag over my shoulder and dragging my cauldron out of the door behind me.

Hermione and the Weasleys were waiting for me downstairs. 'Er, how are we getting to the station?'

'Don't worry, Miah,' Ron said. 'Dad managed to borrow some Ministry cars.'

'Yes,' said Mr. Weasley. 'They felt they owed me a favour after last year, when they couldn't let me have anything.'

'We had to take Muggle taxis,' said Ginny. 'They weren't too happy when some of George's fireworks went off.'

'And Crookshanks didn't like that too much,' said Hermione, indicating the large ginger cat she had in her arms.

Before I could say anything else, a loud hooting split the air from outside. 'Right, that'll be the cars,' said Mrs. Weasley sharply. 'Let's go.' She lead us all outside to where two brightly coloured cars were waiting, with two uniformed drivers standing by them. It was surprisingly easy to fit everything into the boots of the cars, almost as if the storage space was bigger than looking at the outside would suggest. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I piled into one car, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George into the other. The journey across central London took a shorter time than I expected too, as the Ministry cars appeared to be able to weave through traffic with great ease, and always seemed to end up at the front of any traffic jams.

The cars arrived at King's Cross Station at about 10:45 and everyone rushed around looking for trolleys to pile their trunks on to. I stood around feeling left out, with just my bag, guitar and broom until everyone had their stuff on trolleys and I followed them towards platform 10. I was still wondering how to get on to Platform Nine and Three Quarters when we arrived on platform 10.

'Right, Ron, you first.' Mrs Weasley kissed Ron goodbye, which caused him to turn a bright red. I watched Ron take a tight grip of the trolley's handle, looked around and ran straight towards a barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Just as the front of his trolley was about to hit the barrier, he disappeared. 'What the...'

'It's a magical barrier,' explained Harry. 'You just have to run at it and not thinking about crashing into it. Do it with me, you don't want to run at it without a trolley.'

'Er, ok,' I said, taking hold of Harry's trolley with him, my fingers brushing lightly against his.

'Bye Harry dear,' said Mrs Weasley, giving Harry a quick hug goodbye.

'Yes, take care, won't you?' added Mr Weasley.

'See you soon,' Harry said, smiling at me quickly before pushing the trolley forwards towards the barrier. I ran alongside him, trying not to brace for an impact which... Never came. We slid through the barrier and came out on the other side in front of a large red steam engine, with a brass plate saying "Hogwarts Express" on the side of it.

'Wow,' I breathed softly.

'Good, isn't it,' said Harry, pushing his trolley away from the barrier we'd just come through to stand beside Ron. Hermione was next, quickly followed by Ginny, Fred and George.

'Amazing,' I said, following them towards the train, dodging around a couple of rather sour faced men dressed in suits carrying a large, long box down the platform.

Ron, Harry, Hermione and I managed find an empty compartment on the train. I helped them stack their trunks in the corner before sitting down next to Hermione and opposite Ron and Harry. Before long, the train pulled away from the station, heading out of London towards Hogwarts.

'How far is it?' I asked after a few minutes.

'Quite a long way,' said Hermione. 'We should get there late in the afternoon.'

'Cool,' I said, sitting back in my seat, looking out the window.

After about thirty minutes, a plump witch with a trolley stacked high with food arrived just outside our compartment. Harry, Ron and Hermione bought quite a lot of food, but I had only about 5 Knuts in my pocket, so I didn't. Everyone offered round what they had, though, so it wasn't like I didn't get any. We had just finished off a rather large stack of cauldron cakes when the door to our compartment door opened to reveal Draco Malfoy and two larger, dark haired boys.

'Well, if it isn't the mudblood club.'

I tensed up involuntarily at hearing that insult once again. It took me right back to Durmstrang.

'What is it you want, Malfoy?' said Harry, through gritted teeth.

'Oh, I don't know, just wanted to check out the newest member of the gang.' Then he turned to me, his piercing grey eyes looking me up and down. 'Is it true you were expelled from Durmstrang for turning someone into a toad?' he asked with a sneer.

'Maybe,' I said slowly, not meeting Hermione's gaze.

'Such animals, you muggle-borns. I'm surprised they let you in at all.'

'My father was a wizard. And the best keeper that ever flew a broom, Malfoy.' I spat his name out like it was the most vile curse in existence.

'Yeah, well, he was German wasn't he? Hardly counts as human. And a muggle mother, am I right?'

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Hermione laid her hand on mine, the same hand that had reached to my belt and was resting on my wand.

'Typical. My father said that you'd be lucky to last a week, even with Dumbledore as headmaster.'

'What's that supposed to mean, Malfoy?' asked Ron.

'I would have thought that was obvious even to someone as vacant as YOU, Weasley. With a temper like that, I'm shocked he lasted as long as he did at Durmstrang. I'm surprised they didn't stamp it out of him straight away.' I tried to pull my wand out from my belt, but Hermione's grasp was firm and there was no way I could get it free. Davros squeaked agitatedly from my pocket, obviously sensing something wrong. 'Let him try it, Granger. I hardly need someone like you to protect me.'

'So that's why you brought your two goons, then, was it?' I spat, looking at the two bigger boys behind Malfoy. The look he gave me was one of surprise, and one of evident disgust. Without a further word, he span on his heel and strode away down the corridor, the two larger boys bumbling along after him. It was only when their footsteps were no longer audible that Hermione relaxed her grip on my wand hand. 'Touched a nerve there, I think,' I said mildly.

'What did he mean when he said you'd be lucky to last a week?'

'Er, well...' I mumbled, looking up into Harry's eyes. He smiled encouragingly at me. 'The reason I got expelled, yeah, I kinda transfigured someone else...'

'You what?' asked Hermione instantly.

'Transfigured someone else... into a toad.'

'Why did they expel you for that?' Ron asked. 'I mean, yeah, it's pretty advanced and not totally legal, but it's hardly conjuring the Dark Mark or using an Unforgivable Curse is it? I mean, Moody did it last term on Malfoy.'

'Yeah, but it's different for a teacher, I suppose,' said Harry.

'Yeah, that was pretty much what they said. That it wasn't appropriate for a student to use magic like that on another.'

'Well, it's not, is it?' said Hermione.

'Oh, I don't know,' said Ron. 'I thought Malfoy looked quite good as a ferret.'

'I suppose he did,' Hermione said, 'but you heard McGonagall after - they don't use transfiguration as a punishment because then everyone would think it was ok. It is illegal, you know?'

'Yeah, but who cares? It's Malfoy.' This drew a despairing look from Hermione, but Ron carried on undeterred. 'So who was this guy you transfigured.'

'Oh, just someone who used to try and push me around.'

'So why didn't you tell a teacher?' asked Hermione.

'I don't think that would have helped too much, somehow, Hermione. I don't think many of the teachers liked me that much either.'

'But you can't really go around doing things like that.'

'It's not like I make a habit out of it. I've just... Er, got a bit of a temper. And it got the best of me then. I swear to you though, this guy made Malfoy look harmless. His dad was right in with Voldemort...'

'Don't SAY THE NAME!' Ron exclaimed, looking at me like I'd just said that I wanted to kill him.

'Er, sorry... Yeah, anyway, he was right in his inner circle, then he came out with a load of rubbish about how he'd acted under the Imperius curse, and how he'd really meant to betray Vol... You-Know-Who. Totally full of it. A lot of his anti-Muggle feelings apparently rubbed off on his son. So I felt he should take advantage of the opportunity to understand what it'd be like to actually be a lower life form instead of just acting like one.'

'You're mental,' said Ron. 'In a good way, but totally mental.'

'Thanks,' I said with a little grin. I suppose it was a compliment after all. An odd one, but a compliment nevertheless.

'So what did they teach you at Durmstrang?' asked Harry. 'Cause we heard Malfoy saying how he wished his father had sent him there, he was saying they actually teach the Dark Arts, not just defence like they do at Hogwarts.'

'Yeah, that's right.'

'So you know some cool stuff then?'

'I don't know if you'd call it cool, but yeah. The whole school was pretty big on duelling, and they picked on me a bit. So I learned some pretty harsh curses...'

I was interrupted by a knocking at the door of our compartment. A pretty dark-haired girl, wearing black Hogwarts robes was standing there, smiling at Harry. He motioned her inside and she shut the door behind her carefully.

'Hey Harry,' she said, her smile broadening slightly.

'Hey Cho,' he replied, his face flushing slightly.

'How was your summer?' she asked

'Oh, pretty terrible, you know?'

'Of course, you live with those terrible Muggles, don't you?'

'Yeah... Er, how was your summer.'

'You know, quiet. I'm so glad to be coming back.'

'Yeah, me too. I hope they bring back the Quidditch Cup this year.'

'They HAVE to,' Cho said fervently. 'I mean, there's no Triwizard Tournament this year, is there?' But as she said that, her face fell, and she bit her lip, not looking at Harry any more.

'Er, yeah,' Harry said nervously, looking around for support.

'Look, Harry, I should go,' she said hurriedly, turning to leave. 'I'll see you at Hogwarts.'

'Your girlfriend, Harry?' I said, grinning at him.

'No way,' he said quickly. 'She's a bit odd for me.' I could tell that he wasn't quite telling the truth, there was something about the speed of his reply that said he wasn't telling the whole truth, but I didn't want to push it.

As the afternoon wore on I felt myself getting more and more tired and while Harry, Ron and Hermione chattered away, I managed to get in a little bit of sleep. Towards the end of the afternoon I was woken up by Harry shaking my shoulder gently. 'Miah, we're nearly there.' I blinked, trying to clear my eyes, looking out the window to find that the flat fields near London had been replaced by sweeping valleys with mountains in the background. We must have been getting near Hogwarts because all of the students walking by down the train were now dressed in long, black robes.

I pulled my robes out of my bag and got changed, feeling a little odd at being in a new school uniform for the first time. By the time Harry, Ron and Hermione had got changed, the train was slowing down and pulling into a station. 'Hogsmeade,' said Harry.

'The only entirely wizard settlement in the whole of England,' Hermione supplied.

'It's great,' said Ron. 'There's the Three Broomsticks, that's the pub, and Honeydukes, and Zonko's, which is the best joke shop I've ever been into.'

'Cool.'

'I don't know if you'll be able to go, though,' Harry said thoughtfully.

'How come?'

'Well, did you get a Hogsmeade permission form in your letter?' I rooted around in my bag until I found the by now battered parchment envelope, pulling the contents out. Sure enough, there was a permission form in there, attached to the back of the book list.

'Yeah, here it is.'

'Well, your mum needed to sign it.'

'And she won't'

'No... ' Harry said slowly. 'That happened to me too, in the third year. I managed to sneak in a few times though. My dad left me an invisibility cloak.'

'Sounds useful.'

'Yeah, it has been.'

By this time, the train had come to a stop and students were streaming out of the carriages onto the platform, a gruff voice barking 'Firs' years this way, please!' above the chatter.

'There's Hagrid,' Harry said, smiling, leading us off the train into the bustle on the platform. A positively huge man, who I assumed to be Hagrid was making his way over towards us.

''Ello Harry, Ron, Hermione. ''Ow were your holidays?'

'Great, thanks, Hagrid,' said Harry cheerily.

'Good, good,' Hagrid said, noticing me then for the first time. 'And who's this?'

'I'm Miah.'

'Miah Weiss?' I nodded. 'Yeah, I been looking for you. You gotta come with me. I know yer not a first year, but according to Professor McGonagall, you need sorting, which means yeh've got to come with me across the lake.'

'Er, ok,' I said, wondering what Hagrid was talking about.

I followed him down the platform to where a group of bewildered looking kids were waiting, a few nervously talking amongst themselves. 'Right, all of yeh, this way now,' Hagrid boomed, leading the way, at length to a jetty at which several large boats were moored. 'Right now, get in, you lot. Not too many to a boat please. Don't want to sink 'em now, do yeh?' I clambered into a boat with 3 others, a timid fair haired girl called Louisa Sparrow and a pair of dark haired twins, Aaron and John Dexter. The boat propelled itself along without any help from us and I lazily trailed my fingers in the cold water, listening to Aaron and John chatter away as the boat glided across the surface of the lake.

'So, what house do you think you're going to be in, Miah?' John (or was it Aaron?) asked me.

'I don't know really. I met a couple of people on the train who said I didn't want to be in Slytherin. And from what they tell me about the houses, that sounds fair enough.'

'Yeah, we don't really mind as long as it's not Slytherin,' said Aaron (or John).

'Cool,' I murmured absent-mindedly, going back to making little swirly patterns in the water. It'd be just my luck to get dumped in Slytherin, along with Malfoy and friends. I should have asked Harry or someone how the sorting was done. John and Aaron were babbling something about fighting dragons, and while that idea was totally ridiculous, it certainly didn't help my state of mind.
All too soon for my liking, the boats were pulling up alongside another jetty, and as the boats got closer, the huge, forbidding Hogwarts castle loomed ever larger over us. The boat bumped against the jetty and stuck there, as if held by ropes. I staggered to my feet, slightly unsteady from the rocking of the boat. I helped John, Aaron and Louisa out of the boat before following Hagrid up the flight of stairs to the massive, imposing front doors.

They swung open, creaking as they did so. But it was obvious that no one had opened them, there was no one visible in the dark hall behind the doors and Hagrid hadn't touched them. We walked inside, looking around incredulously. The walls, covered in paintings that moved and talked, stretched up to a ceiling that was so far above us we needed to crane our necks to even see it.

'Excuse me,' said a severe voice from the top of a nearby flight of stairs. 'If I could just have your attention for a moment,' said a grey haired witch, standing stiffly upright as she spoke. 'First years... Oh, and Mister Weiss, of course,' I cringed inwardly at this. Like I didn't feel stupid enough being 4 years older and 6 inches taller than everyone around me. 'My name is Professor McGonagall. I'm the deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts. You will all follow me into the Great Hall, please, where you will be sorted into your houses. You will then go to sit at your house table for the Welcoming Feast. Is that clear?'

A murmured chorus of assent rose from everyone.

'Good. Now follow me, please.' We filed up into the Great Hall, through a set of doors that were almost as big as the front doors of the castle. The whole hall, which had been alive with the chatter of the students and teachers suddenly went completely silent. Great. This was really what I wanted. Every single person in the whole damn hall staring at me. Cause it wasn't like I stood out or anything! I walked slowly towards the front of the hall, towards where the teachers were sitting, Hagrid just taking his place next to a short wizard, who appeared to be sitting on a pile of cushions. The size difference was so comical it was all I could do not to snigger.

'I don't know what HE's smiling about,' said a sneering voice that was rapidly becoming familiar. 'He'll put the Sorting Hat on his head and it'll say "go away, we don't want your kind here."' I didn't even need to turn to visualise the smirk that would be plastered all over Draco Malfoy's face. I looked the other way, to see Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting there, all of them looking like they were enjoying being back in Hogwarts.

'Good luck,' Harry mouthed to me, giving me a supportive smile as I walked by. I tried to grin back, but my face didn't seem to want to co-operate. When everyone got to the front of the hall, we stood in a semi-circle waiting expectantly. Professor McGonagall set a three-legged stool on the floor in the middle of the semicircle and placed a very dilapidated hat on the seat of the stool. This must have been the Sorting Hat that Malfoy had been talking about. For a moment, silence reigned, then a tear near the brim of the hat opened a little wider and the hat began to sing.

"Many many moons ago,
when I was freshly made,
there were four wizards of much fame,
great of both stature and of name.

Ravenclaw, shrewd and clever too,
Gryffindor, champion of the brave,
Hufflepuff, both stout and true,
And Slytherin, a proud and sneaky knave.

All shared a desire to educate,
So Hogwarts school they did create,
And each of the four, their students selected,
Into four houses, by the values each most respected.

And so and on it went,
Until the four were old,
And by the ages bent.
When it came to pass that Gryffindor
Had a plan that would help Hogwarts carry on
He selected and enchanted me, so I could choose
After they were long, long gone.

So sit, and set me on your head,
I will not steer you wrong,
I'll send you the correct way,
To join your rightful throng."

Everyone applauded the hat as it finished its song. Professor McGonagall stepped forward, picking up a scroll of parchment from the teachers' table and scooping up the Sorting Hat with the other hand.

'Ok now, when I call your name, I want you to step forward, sit on the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head, then go and join the appropriate house table.' I looked behind me at the tables, the Slytherin table covered with a cloth of green, with silver serpents embroidered into it, the Hufflepuff table yellow, Ravenclaw deep blue and the Gryffindor table covered in bold red cloth, with a large lion in the middle.

The Sorting began with a short blonde-haired boy named Marcus Anderson, who walked up gingerly, sat down, took the hat from Professor McGonagall and placed it on his head. A few seconds later, the tear near the brim opened again and a smooth, deep voice boomed 'SLYTHERIN!' The Slytherin table broke into a huge round of applause as Marcus went over to join them. As David Buckley became a Hufflepuff and the sorting went on, it dawned on me that I would almost last, if not absolutely last. I was the oldest, but also, my surname began with a "W". Sure enough, in a few minutes, I was standing up in front of hundreds of people on my own.

'Weiss, Jeremiah,' McGonagall said sharply, holding the Sorting Hat out for me. I walked slowly up to the stool, taking the hat from her, sitting down and placing it on my head.

"Well, well, well, you are a conflicted one, aren't you?" said a voice that seemed to arrive directly in my brain.

"What do you mean?" I thought back.

"There's a lot of conflict in you. A lot of anger, a lot of ruthlessness, but at the same time, much loyalty, much strength."

"Thanks... I think."

"So, where do you think you should go?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you now? Well, I think I have a fair idea. I think you should be with your new friends in..."

'GRYFFINDOR!' I think the sigh of relief I breathed must have been audible to most of the people in the hall. I dragged myself to my feet, leaving the Sorting Hat on the stool, walking towards the Gryffindor table who were all applauding. I blushed, Harry beckoning me over to the space that he'd managed to make beside himself on his bench. Harry clapped me on the back as I sat down, and introduced me to the Gryffindors I hadn't yet met. As the flow of hands to shake slowed, the tinkling sound of a small bell being rung came from the teachers' table.

Silence fell very rapidly as Professor Dumbledore (I recognised him from Chocolate Frog cards. I think I must have had at least 4 of him!), a tall, white haired man, with both hair and beard that came down to his waist rose to speak.

'Thank you all. Welcome to all of our new first years. And,' he paused, looking over at me, 'to our new fifth year. I have some things to tell you...' One or two groans came from the direction of the Slytherin table. Unflustered, Dumbledore continued with a twinkle in the corner of his eye, 'I'm sure you will be glad to hear they can wait until after the feast, however.'

He clapped his hands and a vast amount of food materialised on the platters in front of us, which had until then been empty. The sight of all that food reminded me that I hadn't eaten much since breakfast that morning, and set about a huge plateful of steak and chips with abandon.

'Slow down, mate,' said Ron. 'You'll choke or something.'

'M hungry,' was all I could manage around a mouthful of steak.

'I can see that,' he grinned. After I had finished that plate, I managed to find room for seconds and thirds (some of which Davy got, of course), not to mention dessert, of which I had two helpings. As I set my cutlery down, and sat back, a silvery head popped up through the table, causing me to jump slightly.

'Ah, you must be the new boy,' said the ghost, suavely.

'Well, one of them,' I said, glancing down the table at the other Gryffindor newbies.

'Ah, yes, of course,' he said, turning to the new first years. 'Greetings. I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the Gryffindor tower ghost. But you may call me Sir Nicholas.'

'Or Nearly Headless Nick. That's what everyone else calls him,' piped up Ron.

'I prefer Sir Nicholas,' said Nearly Headless Nick, coldly.

'But... how, how, how can you be nearly headless?' stammered one of the first years.

'Someone asks him that every year,' Harry murmured, smiling slightly.

Sir Nicholas sighed and reached up, grasping his curly long, white hair in one ghostly hand. He gave a sharp tug to the side and his head lolled to one side, attached only by a few millimetres of over-taxed sinew and skin. The first year gasped, and caught Ron's eye, who grinned, his smirk plainly saying 'wish you hadn't asked now, don't ya?'

It seemed that all the other Hogwarts houses had ghosts too. The Hufflepuff ghost was a jolly, plump man, who George told me was called the Fat Friar. 'He's ok. It's the Slytherin ghost you want to watch out for. He's called the Bloody Baron,' he said, indicating a translucent figure by the Slytherin table, covered in silvery-white blood.

'There's Peeves too,' said Fred. 'He's a poltergeist, totally mental.'

'Yeah, the Baron's the only one who can actually control him,' supplied George. 'It drives Filch, the caretaker, loopy.'

'Peeves isn't the only one to drive Filch loopy, is he?' said Hermione, smiling at the twins.

'Well, we try our hardest,' said Fred proudly.

At that moment, Dumbledore got to his feet again and almost immediately the hall fell silent.

'Thank you. Now, I have a few words to say before the feast ends. To all of our second years and above, welcome back. I hope you are all ready to get back to work. To our new pupils, welcome.'

'I have been asked to remind you, by Mr. Filch, that taunting Mrs. Norris is not only against school rules, but also inadvisable, due to the sharpness of her claws. Also, that Self-Aiming Catapults have been added to the list of banned items. The list itself, which I believe now comes in a rather attractive black leather binding, is available from Mr. Filch's office.'

'As usual, it is necessary to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is... ahem, forbidden to all, and that the village of Hogsmeade is out of bounds to all below the third year, and all above that do not have permission forms.' Oh great...

'I'm sure all of you will be glad to know that after last year's interruption, the Quidditch Cup will be continued this year. I doubt that I need to encourage any of you to support your house teams.' A low chorus of agreement came from the house tables

'I would have been happy to introduce you to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but unfortunately she has been delayed. However,' Dumbledore intoned, as a few faces broke into smiles, 'I have received word by owl that Professor Konchesky will be here to teach tomorrow.' Konchesky... That name was very familiar.

'Finally, I would like to remind you of what I said at the end of last term. Contrary to what you may have been told by Ministry of Magic or other sources since last June, Lord Voldemort has returned.' A buzz of chatter rose up, and Dumbledore waited until it subsided before continuing. 'It is important therefore that we present a united front against him. Voldemort will thrive on our arguments if we let him. Please, try to put aside any personal arguments you may have.' Harry shot Malfoy a venomous glance at this, a glance which was returned and then some by the blonde Slytherin. Dumbledore meanwhile was bringing his speech to a close. 'Thank you for listening. Your house prefects will lead you up to your dormitories. Good night.' Dumbledore sat and turned to talk to Professor McGonagall.

The flurry of activity at this dismissal threw everything into disorder, but I managed to follow Ron out of the hall, up far too many flights of stairs to be good for my stomach after that dinner and finally along a corridor to where a bunch of Gryffindors were gathered round a tall portrait of a fat lady that reached from the floor nearly up to the (uncharacteristically rather low) ceiling. Ron and I found Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George right at the back of the crowd, trying to keep out of the way.

'Prefect coming through,' said a loud female voice from behind us. I turned to see a Gryffindor seventh year prefect leading the crocodile of first years down the corridor towards us. 'The password's Aqua Vitae,' she said, and the portrait moved aside, opening up to reveal a large room behind it.

Everyone piled in and Ron and Harry lead me up some (more!) stairs, all the way to the top of a circular tower. A sign on the door said "5th year students. Weasley (R.), Potter, Longbottom, Finnegan, Thomas, Weiss." Ron pulled the door open and we followed into the room. I could see that my bag and guitar were propped up beside my bed, and I let Davros run around a bit, before getting changed, saying goodnight to everyone and getting in to bed. Sleep didn't come too easily tonight, the fact that I was in a strange place and had a million things flying around my head, about how I'd fit in, all my new friends, how I was going to be able to deal with Malfoy if he carried on giving me trouble.

And of course about Harry. It was a totally new experience for me to think about anyone that much, ESPECIALLY a boy. I could imagine his face right in front of my eyes every time I closed them - his unruly jet black hair, his flawless features and those piercing green eyes...

Yeah, it was a long time before I got to sleep that night.