Perago

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Welcome To Salem University

We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through

--Anastasia OST

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Mountain. Hill. Collin. Sheep. People. Mountains. Hills. Forests. Sheep. Cows. People.

Hermione sighed audibly. The train ride to Salem was boring her out of her mind. She was alone in the compartment, and all the quietness was driving her mad. All those years with Ron and Harry sharing a compartment had got her used to noise. In that boring quietness she couldn't even read a book. Her eyes kept flying to the door, wishing it would slide open, letting in the two troublemaking friends she loved so much.

My God, I miss them so much.

Her last two 'months of freedom before you go and kill yourself over more books' - as Ron liked to call them - had been spent in the company of her friends and family.

Harry had finally convinced her to learn how to mount a broom and, although Ron was the new Chudley Cannons Keeper, it had been Harry himself who thought her the hang of it simply because Ron didn't have enough patience for her complaints.

"She's worst than my mother, for Pete's sake! Is that safe, is this advisable, I swear I can't take it anymore," he had said the day he gave up on her. Hermione had been a bit put out at his action, but admitted she was indeed too nagging and had apologized. Nevertheless, Harry had taken over, and she had been up in the air in no time.

Ginny had finally got the courage to tell her about her relationship with Draco Malfoy in detail. True, she had done it while she was severely pissed, making the tale a bit slurred, but Hermione thought it was a rather romantic story, nonetheless. She remembered that night around the fire at the Burrow, when Ginevra Molly Weasley told her all about it.

The two girls had just been joined by Tonks - who was as drunk as the two of them put together - and going thought their second bottle of Firewhiskey when Ginny stood up with a determined, if not glazed over, expression on her face.

"Ladies. This is the night we celebrate Hermione's success in entering Salem University for the bookworms - oops! I mean for the gifted people. With really big brain capacities," she had started.

"Get it over with, Gin!" Hermione had slurred, laughing at her capacity, or lack there-of, to talk stiffly.

"Was getting to it. Anyway, seeing as we decided to get pissed in celebration, something the twins are really proud of, I have decided that we should make this night worth of celebrating something for the three of us. Seeing as Tonks has finally decided to show my brother Charles how to snog properly," she snorted slightly upon seeing Tonks blush madly, "I have decided to let you in on my secret. No one knows about this," she paused. "Well, if you consider Bill and Hermione here nobody. But to get to the point--"

"Hallelujah!" Hermione preached.

"Although I'm very drunk at this moment, I can assure you, any word of this gets out, and you'll be missing several parts of your anatomy you couldn't do without. No wait, that was Bill's threat. Let's just say I'll...hang your underwear on the stag in Diagon Alley, and write 'I love Severus Snape' over them. That would do," she finished, grinning evilly.

"We won't say a whisper, err, word," both Hermione and Tonks agreed.

"Good. Then, settle down, for I shall tell you about my undying love for Draco Malfoy, prick extraordinaire."

"This sounds promising," Tonks whispered to Hermione, slurring over the words.

"Be quiet, peasant. I am about to speak," Ginny replied, cockishly.

"See? She's taken that from Malfoy," Hermione beamed proudly.

"Right. Anyway. It all started one day when our dearest Professor McGonagall told me Snape was going to fail me in Potions that year, so she had come up with the idea of a tutor. Of course, at first Hermione was the one suggested, but Snape didn't approve. No, the bloody git wanted me with someone from his own house. And so I ended up with Malfoy as my bloody tutor. Not that I regret it now.

"It wasn't until the second week of tutoring, when we finally decided that suicide was not an option, that we formed assort of a truce. Blimey if I know what got Draco to suggest that, and me to agree with him. But I did agree, and over the months we grew to be friends. We only started dating about two months ago, right before the final battle, when Draco confessed his growing love for me, and his wish to at least have a few moments at my side, to accompany him when he fought to death. It had been then that I realised I was in love with him as well, because I had spent months thinking how to ignore the tingling feelings he produced when near me, and I accepted his invitation gladly, and we've been dating ever since.

"I very much like to say that I love him with all the might a 17 year old girl can love a guy. We're keeping this secret for now, because I don't want my family to kill him when they find out. Also because I promised Bill I'd let him watch when I tell them, to see their expression, namely, Ron's fish-gaping face. Seeing as Bill is in Egypt at the time being, the confession has been postponed. So, what do you think?" she finished, tired.

"Congratulations!" Tonks squealed, jumping on the younger girl. Hermione joined them, and soon, they were deep into another game of pillow fighting.

"I'm sorry, is this compartment free?" a voice woke Hermione from her dreams.

She looked to the door to see a girl standing there, looking quite uncomfortable, jumping from one leg to another. "Yes, it's free. Actually, it's looking for company," Hermione smiled at the girl, and she returned the gesture.

While the girl stepped into the compartment entirely and put her trunk on a bench Hermione studied her. Just like Moody said, constant vigilance. The girl, or woman now, looked pretty nice. She was fairly tall, and not very fat. Her hair--dyed most certainly--was blue, and she wore it in a loose bun, twisted around her wand. She wore a pair of faded jeans, and a black T-shirt with the words: "Don't look up, a vampire's staring at you" written on it in smeared, red words. She sat down across from Hermione, and smiled.

"Thanks a lot for letting me stay here. The people in my compartment couldn't stop staring at my chest. Don't know if they were reading the phrase, or just ogling over something they'll never get. Must be the second one as no one takes half an hour to read eight measly words. But forget about them. I'm Adriana," she stuck her hand out.

"Hermione," the brown haired girl introduced herself, taking the hand.

"That's a nice name. What is it, Greek?" the blue haired girl asked chirpily.

"Yes, and yours?"

"Mine's Latin. Original form would be Adrienne, which means dark and rich, but it's not so commonly used where I come from."

"And that would be, where?"

"Oh, right. I'm from Romania. Straight from the heart of it, Brasov. I used to study at the Arges School for Wizards and Witches, which is an underground set school. They granted me a scholarship to study at Salem, and thanks to these babies--"she lifted her hand to show Hermione a black ring, "I am going to be able to study during the day as well."

Hermione looked at her confused for a while. Then it dawned on her: the pale skin, the reddish eyes, the pointy smile, and the need to study at night. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"Yep. That's why I studied at night, together with the other vampires. See, Romania is packed with vampires, so they funded a school specially set for us. But recently, an alchemist invented some sort of ring, or amulet, that when worn by a vampire would protect them from the effect the sun has on us. Thank god for that, I'd have hated having to turn Salem down, or to have to study in an underground school. But enough about me, let's talk about you," she finished happily.

"Well, I come from London. My parents were Muggles--"

"Were they? That's so cool! You have no idea how it is to have to share progenitors with other twenty kids. Although I was the first born vampire of the family. Oh, sorry. Do go on," she apologized sheepishly.

"No problem. My parents are Muggle dentists, as I was saying. They'd be proud to see a person with teeth as white as yours I'll give you that. I had no idea of magic until I was eleven. I attended Hogwarts, which is somewhere in Scotland I think. Nobody really knows anyway. I got accepted in Salem together with two other students in my year whom I have yet to see, and was bored out of my mind before you got here."

"Saved you from a death, haven't I? Oh, I'm sorry for the hyper-ness though. I recently had a glass of donated blood, and it turned out the person was a diabetic, and I'm allergic to sugar. I get all hyper. In reality, I'm a very serious person," Adriana said, although the mischievous look in her eyes already announced she was lying. Hermione liked her already.

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"Whoa, it's so bloody HUGE!" Adriana shouted when they came face to face with Salem University.

"It is, isn't it? I can hardly wait. Come on, let's go inside," Hermione said, grabbing the other girl by the hand and dragging her into the building.

The train ride had not seemed that long in the company of the vampire, and Hermione was sure she had found another acquaintance, if not friend. Adriana, although a vampire, was a perfectly normal if not too hyper person. She liked listening to music a lot, which she said tormented her parents. She was also considered the black sheep of her family; this scholarship had barely made her parents congratulate her for a while. Being the oldest of her family made her the heiress, but as her parents 'wouldn't take long before disowning me', as she had said, she was free to do as she pleased for the time being.

"Hey look, people are heading that way. Come on, Hermione!" Adriana took a turn to the left, where people were gathering in a circle.

"I think it's an assembly. I can't hear a thing," Hermione complained.

"They're going to announce the bedroom arrangements," Adriana supplied. Hermione gave her a look. "What? High hearing, m'dear."

"Try and hear who the other two Hogwarts students are."

"I'm on it. Oh, they're still on the 'B' school. Beauxbatons or something."

"French."

"That explains the names. Who on earth names their son Nour?"

"That means cloud. I know a girl called Fleur."

"Delacoeur? Veela?"

"Yes, you know her?"

Adriana groaned. "Know her? She's my distant cousin. We have a mutual hatred towards each other. She's Miss Perfect-Girl-Of-The-Family while I'm The Rebel. She just doesn't want to admit I can allure boys without using Veela charms."

"Your family really that large?"

"You'd be surprised. Oh I do hope Fleur isn't here, I'd hate having to stand her in classes."

"Me too. I met her in my fourth year at school. She seemed to have a very high opinion of herself."

"Oh, no, Fleur is nice, deep down."

"Thought you hated her."

"I do hate her. But that doesn't mean she's not nice. You just have to know her better."

"I don't--"

"Understand? Don't worry, nobody does. Understand me, that is. You'll get used to it. Ah, Beauxbatons' over! Fleur's not here!"

"Wasn't she working in Gringotts?"

"That was years ago, she decided to take a try in a University, but I guess they didn't let her in. Oh, I can't wait to drag that in her face."

"What school's now?"

"Durmstang. Oh, no. They must have passed Arges already. Now I don't know if anyone from my school is here."

"Don't worry, you can hang out with me."

"Thanks."

"Just wait for Hogwarts to come, you can come up with me."

"Oh, it's Hogwarts now! Hermione Granger, that's you, let's go!"

They made their way through the crowd, and stopped in front of a big table, where the teachers stood. The girls walked around their tables to collect their books, uniforms - this was met by groans--and other school material, and then went over for wand inspection and to make an ID. Hermione was the first to go. She sat in front of a table where a sandy haired man was scribbling something.

"My god, Professor Lupin?" she asked astonished to see her old professor.

The man lifted his gaze from the papers and smiled at her. "Hello, Hermione. I see you managed to get into Salem as well. I'll be your DADA professor while you are here. May I have your wand, please?" Hermione handed him her wand, still gaping. "Looks alright. Thank you. Now, I'll use a spell to scan your eye, that way the school can recognize you," he said, muttering some well chosen words. "All done. Welcome to Salem, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, professor. Oh, by the way, my friend here missed her school calling and we were wondering if she could pass now?"

"Alright. Let her pass, then."

"Adriana? Come on, your turn."

Adriana stepped in front of the table and glared slightly at Lupin. She grudgingly gave him her wand and let him scan her eye. When they were done, the girls stepped away, and waited in a small room.

"What was that?" Hermione asked the girl.

"What was what?"

"That. What you did with Lupin."

The vampire sighed heavily. "Look, all my life I was brought up to hate werewolves. Of course, I don't usually listen to a word my parents say, but I can't help but feel a bit uncomfortable in their presence. Seeing your uncle killed by a werewolf does that to you."

"I'm sorry...about your uncle, I mean."

"Doesn't matter. He hated me anyway. Used to curse me and such. Bastard."

"I'll never understand you, Adriana. But trust me, Lupin is nothing like that. He fights against his curse vehemently, I assure you."

"Really?"

"Really. You don't have to act like that with him, I could tell he wasn't comfortable under your glare, and he looked like he wanted to die or something." The vampire laughed. "I mean, please! He used to be my favourite professor!"

"Okay, okay, I'll behave. Hey, they just called two more students from Hogwarts now."

"Really? Who?"

"Two blokes. English people are really weird. Who the hell calls their sons Blaise and Draco?"

In stead of an answer, Adriana only heard Hermione groan.