The Perfect Plan

Draco Malfoy always timed his entrances perfectly. It was part of his style, to ensure every eye was on him as he made his way to his destination. His housemates knew when to get out of his way and instinctually moved as he approached with that haughty, regal manner that was so distinctly Malfoy. So it was no surprise that early September morning was no different than any other day.

It was exactly halfway through breakfast. The early risers were finishing up their meals and many students were making their own way through the piles of food that appeared each morning courtesy of the house elves. Papers covered some of the tables as some students rushed to complete homework assignments. A few of the pupils, mostly Ravenclaws, had books propped in front of them, reading as they ate. However, the majority of the students used this time to enjoy their friends and the start of day.

Crabbe and Goyle at his sides, Draco made his way to his place at the head of the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. As a seventh year, he had spent his time at Hogwarts earning this seat. Placement at the Slytherin table was much more complex than any of the other houses would have ever imagined and any Slytherin who dared to make a move up the table had better be ready to back up their new "position" within the house ranks. Malfoy currently held the position of power at the table - facing out over the rest of the hall, the perfect defensive spot with no one at his back - and this reflected his status among his housemates.

Fiona Austin sat in the Great Hall, moving her eggs from one side of her plate to the other while barely listening to her three roommates that were seated around her. As a sixth year Slytherin, she sat about a quarter of the way down the table, just down from Malfoy and company. Early on, she had made certain that her seat was on the opposite side of the table from Draco. Not too smart from a defensive standpoint, she knew, but it suited her strategy just fine. At this point, her strategy included watching him make his grand entrance of the morning. She covertly watched each step that he took from the moment he entered the room until he sat down next to Pansy Parkinson.

Fiona's dark brown eyes narrowed as she stared at the two seventh years at the end of the table. In public, Pansy always claimed Draco as hers. Just watching the way that she was leaning against him, pressing so that he had a view down her robes made Fiona want to jump up and pull the trash away from him. Especially since it was well known in Slytherin House that Pansy only associated with Draco because of his position. As Fiona watched, Pansy suddenly leaned back and laughed. It was supposed to be flirtatious, but sounded like fingernails on Muggle chalkboards and made Fiona stab at her eggs as she pictured Pansy's face on her plate.

As a piece of her breakfast flew off her plate, the dark-haired girl turned her attention fully to the one she had watched enter the hall, blocking the pug-nosed girl from her mind as she did so. Pale blonde hair, sharp gray eyes that took in every detail around him. A beautifully arrogant smile that turned to a sneer whenever Potter and his friends were nearby. She felt the anger ebb as she watched his hands handling the silverware and imaged that the hands were...

"...right, Fiona?"

Her friend and roommate, Dara Zabini, knocked Fiona out of her revelry. Dara was leaning across the table, looking at Fiona with a question in her eyes.

"Sorry?"

"Dreaming, again, eh? Who this time?" The other girls at the table laughed as Fiona blushed. Dara's escapades in the Astronomy Tower had become legend among her friends. Fiona, on the other hand, was known as the dreamer, the romantic one waiting for her prince to come, something that was quite an unusual attribute for a Slytherin. Of course, they all knew who the prince was and were quite willing to tease her as much as possible.

"Oh, just Snape, as usual..." The girls burst out in laughter. Dara stood and placed her arm across her forehead with dramatic flair.

"Severus, my master of Potions and so much more." Fiona rolled her eyes as Dara continued in a husky voice. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips. "You know how to stir me the right way and can clean my cauldron any day, Snapy-poo."

"And you, Miss Zabini, may present yourself to my office at 8 p.m. this evening. I believe cauldron cleaning will be in order." Professor Snape turned toward the Head Table and stalked off, leaving the three other sixth year girls red-faced and struggling to hold in their merriment as Dara sighed dramatically. As soon as he was out of hearing range, the girls exploded in laughter.

"Only two weeks into the year before my first detention. That must be a record for me. Why didn't you warn me he was back there?" Dara dropped back down onto the bench.

Fiona shrugged. "I didn't see him. Sorry, Dar."

"You done there or do you plan on moving the eggs around for another ten minutes?" Jillian Cooper asked. "I still need help with that Transfiguration assignment. You said we could review it before class." Jillian and Grace Von Tragon made up the final two of the foursome.

Fiona sent one last glance toward the head of the table. Her gaze was met with a piercing stare and a smile as Draco nodded his head toward Dara.

"Draco enjoyed your show, Dara." Dara leaned in and looked down the table at Draco who was silently applauding her performance. She stood and winked at him as the girls grabbed their bags and left the Great Hall for their first class of the day. Fiona only wished that she had the self-confidence that her friend displayed. Especially when it came to dealing with Malfoy.

They made their way to Professor McGonagall's classroom well before class was to start. Jillian opened her book and the girls began to review the assignment.

Fiona knew that she couldn't find better friends. The other houses may stereotype all of the Slytherins together as evil, but it just made them tighter as a group. She knew that her friends were there for her and they would remain true no matter what. They were also a major part of her plan. Who else would help her with all of the research and work that were now underway?

She had known that she would be different from the moment that she walked through the doors of the Great Hall. The walk to the front of the room was just short of torture. Even the stars twinkling brightly on the enchanted ceiling did nothing to calm Fiona's nerves. All of the faces turned to look at the first years as they walked in. She finally swallowed her fear and thought I'll show you all. Then as it had been for her whole eleven years, the curse of having a last name beginning with an "A" kicked in as Professor McGonagall began the Sorting Hat ceremony with...

"Austin, Fiona"

She had climbed the steps with a cool expression on her face and sat on the stool, placing the hat on her head as she did so.

"Ah," she heard the hat say, the voice resounding in her head. "Austin, I see. As clever as your father, you would do well in his old house..."

"So I see. Hmm, then maybe your mother's house..."

"Ah, yes. Well, Gryffindor would not suit you at all, so it must be...SLYTHERIN!"

Cheers had erupted from the Slytherin table as they received the first new student of the year. Fiona hopped off the stool and almost skipped to the table, a smug smile on her face as she began composing her letter to her parents in her head. I suppose all of the ambition that you said I had, Mum, overrules any of my cleverness or loyalty.

The ceremony had finished soon after a girl with red hair joined a group of other redheads at the Gryffindor table. The headmaster stood to say a few words and the feast began. Out of the four girls that had been sorted into Slytherin, two appeared to already be friends and were eyeing Fiona and the other girl with speculation. They began to chat as they dug into their food. She found out that one of the girls had an older brother who was a second year Slytherin and with all of the information that she already knew, Dara Zabini was dubbed the Queen of Gossip.

The first year students were seated at the head of the table with the prefects readily accessible for any issues that may arise. Slytherins were all about outward appearances and even they did not see the point of intimidating the first years on the first night by making them walk the length of the Hall to the foot of the table. They were proud of their new housemates and would show them off that night. Then, discreet conversations in the common room would direct them to their "proper" positions for the next morning.

Fiona had turned to ask the prefect next to her a question about her raven, and that's when she saw him for the first time. Nudging her new friend, she tried to point toward him without drawing any attention to herself.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

"That, my new friend, is Trouble with a capital T."

He had glanced down the table toward the first years at that moment, smirking when he had seen her stare. She fell for him then, the proverbial head over heels. And the first spark of the Plan ignited in her head. Draco Malfoy would be hers.

She had been there when Harry Potter, also known as the Boy-Who-Got-All-The-Attention, was trying to avoid having his picture taken with Lockhart in the courtyard. The idiot professor was mumbling something about autographs and fame, oblivious to Potter trying to escape his grasp. She laughed with all of the other Slytherins when the comments were made about his Fan Club. Creevey and Weasley. Everyone at Hogwarts knew about their infatuation with Potter. Everywhere he went one of them followed. Fiona had smiled to herself because she was a better stalker than that little Weasley girl could ever be. And Fiona had improved her technique over the years while Weasley's attention to Potter became more and more apparent. Was she so dense that she couldn't even figure out the first rule? That you should be invisible.

Fiona knew this rule. And because she knew this rule, no one would ever accuse her of being a stalker. No one would call her the President of some stupid Fan Club. However, she knew Draco's schedule backwards and forwards - every step that he took. She knew every little habit he had, from the way he liked his tea (two sugars and just a tad of milk) to the way he laid his clothes out the night before so that he could sleep until the very last possible moment.

Oh, her friends knew about her little hobby, but only because she allowed them to. Such was the distinction between the sly serpents and the stuck-up lions.

Knowledge is power. The more information you had, the more power you held. A few choice words were just as capable of bending someone to your will as the mightiest sword and biggest fist. Dara Zabini may have been dubbed the Gossip Queen, but it was Fiona Austin who took the gossip and knew how to apply it. Dara may have been the leader of their group, but Fiona turned into the brains.

The drawback to being invisible was just that - you were. Everyone knew of this group of girls, but when asked who they were, people seemed to always overlook Fiona. It was always "Those Slytherin First Year (or Second Year or whatever year they were in) Girls" or "Dara Zabini and her friends". Even her fellow Slytherins tended to overlook her, something that was very rare for them to do. Yes, Fiona had mastered the invisibility rule.

So now here they were five years later, and Fiona's Perfect Plan had to be executed. Soon. Before Draco Malfoy left Hogwarts and left Fiona behind. And invisible.