Expect the Unexpected

Expect the Unexpected-Chapter 2

The next morning Draco was enjoying his breakfast while a less enjoyable Pansy chatted of complete nonsense, desperate to keep his attention. But as usual he didn't listen. He had too many other things on his mind...like Trista. He still couldn't believe she was here, at Hogwarts. She had certainly grown up as well. Draco still found it hard to believe that this was the little girl he used to romp around Malfoy Manor with. Well, she romped, he just caused mischief. Malfoys never romped.

"...So I told Millicent just to go for it, I mean how hard can it be to ask someone out?"

Pansy's smug voice broke into Draco's thoughts. He was about to retort with a rude comment when he saw a very groggy Trista enter the Great Hall. Evidently staying in the common room half the night talking took away several hours of her precious beauty sleep, not that she needed it. When she got close enough Draco perked up and put on a cheesy smile.

"Mornin' sunshine!" he said cheerfully.

Trista let out a "humph" before plopping down next to Draco and began filling her plate with eggs.

"Still not much of a morning person I see," he said with a smile. Trista shook he head and smiled back. Pansy stared dumfounded between the two.

"D-D-Do you...two know each other?" Pansy asked, gesturing with her hand between Draco and Trista with a look of shock on her face.

Trista took a drink of her pumpkin juice before she answered.

"Sadly enough, yes," she said nudging him with her elbow and giving him a small smile, which he returned.

Pansy shot Trista a distrustful look.

"And how exactly do you two know each other? I though you just moved here Trista," she said very snippily, but still trying to sound conversational.

Trista wiped her mouth, then began.

"Well, I lived in London when I was little. My mother was best friends Draco's mum so Draco and I practically grew up together. Narcissa is my godmother and my mum is Draco's godmother. They tried to spend as much time together as they could, but we all kind of drifted apart after my family and I had to move to New York when I was ten."

Pansy still looked like she was going to spit nails. "Why did you move to the U.S.?" she asked in a voice that Draco noted sounded exactly like Professor Umbridge.

"Oh-ahem-um, family issues," Trista, said in a voice barely above a whisper. Her smile had been completely erased and she looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

Draco knew what the 'family issues' were. He knew it all. Her father had posed as Death Eater and became a spy for the Order. When he was discovered he was tortured and murdered. Afterwards, Dumbledore insisted that the Sternmore's leave the country. Draco still remembered the day he went with his mother (without Lucius knowing of course) to say good-bye to Tris. That was the only time Draco ever remembered crying, even though it was only a few tears, but Tris was his best friend and she was leaving. What surprised Draco the most was that the Sternmores were the only family he knew that were worthy to be Slytherins but didn't have a single Death Eater in their bloodline, but he knew Trista could be quite the little rebel if he played his cards right. The Sternmores were good-hearted people. 'Well most of them,' he thought. He finally snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Snape passing out that day's course schedules.

Upon looking at his and taking a quick look at Trista's, Draco was happy to find they had almost every class together. This mood was quickly squashed when he noticed he had all his lessons with the Gryffindors.

"Oh bloody hell," Draco moaned and put his head down on the table.

"What's your problem?" Trista asked not looking up from her schedule.

Draco sat up and pointed to a column on her schedule.

"We have all our classes with the goody-goody Gryffindors," he said quirking a silver eyebrow at her.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

"Yeah well you don't know stupid Potter with Tweedle dee and Tweedle dummy. The poor Weasel and the know-it-all Mudblood."

Trista swallowed hard on her pumpkin juice and turned to Draco.

"Do you mean Harry Potter?" She obviously hadn't heard the Mudblood comment.

"Don't tell me," Draco said as if reading her thoughts and held up a hand. "You want his autograph."

"No!" she said throwing her napkin at him.

"He's nothing exciting trust me," Pansy added as if speaking from experience. Trista assumed she wasn't but nodded in recognition anyway.

Students began filing out of the Great Hall to go to lessons. Draco figured it would be a good idea to go too; after all he didn't want to get Trista in trouble her first day for tardiness (even though they had Potions first and Draco knew he could get away with it).

Draco stood up. "Ready to go Tris? We've got Potions."

Trista nodded and began packing up her things then left for her first lesson at Hogwarts.

~*~

At first glance the dungeon classroom looked dark and cold. The sight of a savage-looking greasy-haired man she recognized from that morning at a desk in the front of the room caused Trista to stop dead in the doorway. Then she felt a hand on the lower half of her back and Draco's voice in her ear.

"Go on," he whispered. "He won't bite."

Trista took a reluctant step forward and walked cautiously to a seat next to Draco. She hated to admit it but hearing Draco's voice that close to her ear and his hand on her back sent shivers down her spine. Draco had always been like a brother and she had always felt strictly platonic towards him but that was when she was ten, and what ten year old is really interested in boys? She and Draco were best friends bottom line, nothing more, and nothing less. 'Well,' she recalled, 'there was that one time he kissed me when we were seven, but then I stole mum's wand and hexed him.' She stifled a giggle.

Draco looked to his right and saw Trista laughing into her hand. She must have felt his gaze for she turned and looked at him then snorted and burst out laughing.

"What?" he asked chuckling a little.

"N-noth-ing," she said between laughing and gasping for air. "I-just- rem-mem-bered -something." She stopped to catch her breath.

Draco grinned and turned back to listen to Professor Snape. About five minutes into the lesson Draco felt a slight pain in his cheeks. What was this? Was he smiling? Like really smiling? It was always an arrogant smirk, a seductive grin, but never a smile. Malfoys weren't ones to openly show their feelings. Well, except his mother but she was only a Malfoy by marriage. Draco would have thought further on the subject if it hadn't been for the amusing scene on the opposite side of the dungeon that caused him to smirk like a real Malfoy.

"Potter! You call this a potion? How is it that a boy can defeat the Dark Lord but doesn't have enough sense to make a simple strengthening potion?" Snape waved his wand and the cauldron emptied.

Snape wandered over to the other side of the room to check everyone else's potions. When he came to Draco and Trista's cauldron he stopped to examine its contents more closely.

"Very nice indeed," he drawled. "You," he spat at Trista. "What's your name?"

"T-Trista S-Sternmore, sir," she sputtered nervously.

He looked at Draco and Trista then turned to Harry and Neville who were partnered.

"Miss Sternmore, would you be so kind as to help Mr. Potter mix up a new potion?" he asked in the gentlest tone he could summon.

"Me?" She asked. Snape nodded. "Umm, sure..."

"Excellent," Snape said. "Longbottom you come over here and work with Mr. Malfoy."

Draco scowled at Professor Snape. He had always liked Snape...until now.

Trista gathered her ingredients and gave Draco a feeble smile before abandoning her seat, that was soon taken up by a terrified looking Neville (first a lecture from Snape, then getting partnered with Malfoy, Not a good morning).

Draco scowled for a second time that morning, "Let's just get this over with," he said unpacking his ingredients again.

In the process of mixing a new potion Draco purposefully knocked over his lizard scales so he could hear what Potter and Trista were saying. He watched as Neville added the moonswillow weed, then ducked down to clean up the scales, listening for any conversation he could, when Trista's voice finally stood out above the rest.

"No, wait, moonswillow goes after the dragon heartstrings."

Draco smirked at the sound of Potter being reprimanded when he had to stick his finger in his ear to make sure he heard right. Were they laughing? No, this couldn't be happening, Potter had taken too many things from him already. He refused to give him Trista; he just got her back after all.

"I can't believe you're related to Stoddard Withers," he heard Harry say.

"Well, it's not a very close relation. He's like my fourth cousin twice removed or something like that," she said.

Of course Draco already knew that. He could write a book of all the things he knew about Trista. If there were a class about her at Hogwarts he would pass that for sure. Hell, he could teach it. He reminded himself of these things and smiled smugly. When he sat back up again he found a foaming and overflowing cauldron next to Neville who was wide-eyed with terror.

"Longbottom, you prat!" Draco hissed.

"N-No it's su-s-supposed to d-do that." Neville shoved a paper in Draco's face. "See?"

Draco looked at the paper.

"Longbottom, you copied the directions wrong," he snapped.

Draco felt eyes on his back and turned to see Trista giving him a look that said, 'What he ever do to you?' Draco turned back and looked at Neville's terrified face.

"May-Maybe I can fix it," Draco forced out. Then took out his wand and muttered a spell, the foaming stopped immediately and Neville dove forward to fill a flask.

Draco chanced a look again at Trista; she gave him a weak smile before turning back around.

When class finally ended Trista packed up her things and headed for the doorway where she stopped to wait for Draco.

...Draco...

He seemed so different now. Had he really become what his father always wanted him to be? Heartless and cruel, and rule with an iron fist, that had always been Lucius's plan for Draco. Trista silently prayed this wasn't the case when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?" Draco asked in a concerned tone. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, first day jitters I guess," she replied dully, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well come on you don't want to be late for Transfiguration," Draco said offering his arm.

With that said Trista linked her arm in his and bit her lip deciding whether or not to tell him she agreed to meet Harry and his friends in the Library later. He didn't need to know, she was a big girl and could make friends with whom she please. Trista sighed inwardly and hoped that the rest of her day would be less dramatic than it had already begun.

A/N: *Stoddard Withers is on one of the chocolate frog cards. I didn't make him up. He tried to cross Quidditch and Polo with flying horses. (That would explain why Harry knows about him.)