The next morning, Claire woke up at six o’clock. She muttered something about it being too early before turning over and trying to go back to sleep. After twenty minutes, she gave up on sleep and got out of bed. She grabbed her uniform and a towel before walking into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She stepped under the warm stream and thought about how the day would go today. She figured this would be the best time to try and change Harry, early in the year when he didn’t know the other Slytherins and Gryffindors very well. She stepped out and dried off before slipping on her uniform and walking back into the room. Jessica and Katie were just waking up, groaning at the earliness of the day, making Claire roll her eyes.

“Come on, if we don’t get down to the great hall soon, Draco and Reid will eat everything.” Claire joked as her friends sighed and got out of bed, changing into their uniforms. Claire grabbed her bag and put it on her shoulder before walking out of the dorm, leaving her friends alone. She walked into the common room and saw Draco walking down the stairs with Xander and Blaise walking beside him with Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind.

“Ready for your first day of classes Drake?” Claire asked. Draco looked up and sent a small glare.

“It’s Draco.” He told her.

“Not to me Drake.” Claire said with a small smile.

“Drakie.” Pansy said, coming down the stairs.

“Run Drake.” Claire said as she stepped between Pansy and Draco, giving him enough time to get away and to the Great hall if he ran.

“Pansy, you should probably go upstairs, you’re hair is a mess.” Claire told her. “You don’t want Draco seeing you like that, do you?”

“What do you mean? I just checked on my hair.” Pansy said. As she turned around, Claire muttered a small spell under her breath and Pansy’s chair changed to a bright yellow. With a satisfied smirk, Claire turned around and walked out of the common room and up to the Great hall. She found Draco and his friends all digging into breakfast and a few feet away found Oliver, Reid, and Marcus eating as well.

“Good morning.” Claire said, walking over to them.

“Good Morning.” Oliver said, standing up and placing a soft kiss to Claire’s lips. “What’s with that smirk?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I just practiced a spell.” Claire answered.

“On?” Oliver pressed. A few seconds later, Pansy walked into the great hall, her hair bright yellow. Everyone erupted into laughter, especially the Malfoys.

“This is not funny.” Pansy said as she walked over to them.

“Yea it is. It looks like you already made an enemy Pansy.” Claire said as she looked away and sat down beside Oliver. She ate a few pieces of toast as Professor Snape came around handing out schedules.

“Hello Professor Snape.” Claire said, smirking up at him.

“Hello Ms. Malfoy, how is your father?” Snape asked.

“He’s good.” Claire nodded as Snape handed her her schedule and walked down the table. “Great, Potions with Gryffindors first thing in the morning, then Charms with the Hufflepuffs.” She looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw that Harry was no where to be seen, neither was the Weasley boy. The bell rang and all the students got up to head for their classes.

“I’ll see you at lunch, right?” Oliver asked.

“Of course.” Claire said, giving him a soft kiss. “Make sure Reid doesn’t transfigure a dog to go after McGonagall, alright.”

“Steal my fun.” Reid said as Claire rolled her eyes and they all parted ways.

Down in the dungeons, the Slytherins and Gryffindors lined up outside of the potions classroom, waiting for Professor Snape to get down there. A few feet away, Claire saw Seeley waiting by himself.

“Alright, everyone into the classroom. Sit next to the person who will be your partner the rest of the year.” Claire rolled her eyes and took a seat in the back, waiting for either Jessica or Katie to sit beside her. Everyone in the class paired off, even Jessica and Katie, leaving Claire alone. Someone plopped into the seat beside her and when Claire turned, she was met with chocolate eyes.

“We’re the only two left.” Seeley told her. Claire looked around the classroom and saw that he was right.

“Wonderful.” Claire muttered.

“Why have you been like this?” Seeley asked.

“You’ve been here for four years and you still need to ask that?” Claire asked.

“Just because we’re in different houses doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends.” Seeley told her.

“We’re not just in different houses. I’m in Slytherin and you’re in Gryffindor.” Claire told him.

“Mr. Booth, Ms. Malfoy, attention up here.” Snape snapped.

“Sorry professor.” Claire said as she turned away from Seeley and looked up front. Professor Snape explained what potions they would be brewing that year. The bell rang an hour later and everyone started piling out of the class.

“Ms. Malfoy, please stay behind.” Claire rolled her eyes and walked down toward Snape’s desk.

“Yes Professor?” Claire asked. “I really need to get to Charms.”

“Your father told me about what he told you to do.” Snape told her.

“About Potter?” Claire asked.

“Yes about Potter.” Snape nodded.

“Alright, so why did you make me stay behind?” Claire asked, confused.

“I want to make sure you know what you’re doing.” Snape said.

“I know what I’m doing. I have a plan.” Claire said as she turned and walked out the door. She walked up to the fourth floor where Charms was located as the bell rang, signaling everyone should be in class. It was then she bumped into Reid.

“You’re late.” Claire told him.

“Potter’s around the corner, headed this way.” Reid told her. Time for her to put her plan into action.

“Thanks. Now go to Transfig and don’t piss of McGonagall today.” Claire said.

“Yes mum.” Reid rolled his eyes before running in the direction of Transfiguration. Claire looked around the corner and saw Harry hurrying down the hall. Claire took a breath and when Harry got close enough, walked out and bumped into him, dropping all her stuff and his.

“Crap, I’m sorry. I’m late.” Harry said as he knelt down.

“It’s alright, it’s my fault.” Claire said, kneeling down and helping, picking up her stuff and his.

“No it was mine.” Harry said, handing Claire the last of her books.

“I’m the older one, it’s my fault.” Claire said with a small laugh. She was too good at this.

“I’m Har…” Harry looked up and his breath caught in his throat.

“I’m sorry.” Claire said with a small smirk.

“I’m Harry Potter.” He said in a small voice.

“Claire Malfoy.” She said with a smile.

“Malfoy. Draco’s sister?” Harry asked.

“Unfortunately. And Reid’s.” Claire said with a small smile. “Why, did he do something to you?”

“He upset one of my friends.” Harry told her.

“Sorry about that, Draco’s kinda thick headed.” Claire said, making Harry laugh.

“You’re a Slytherin, right?” Harry asked.

“Yep, best house if you ask me.” Claire gave a small laugh. “Why do you ask?”

“I heard that Slytherins were…” Harry paused.

“What?” Claire pressed.

“Evil, they followed the dark lord who killed my parents.” Harry finished, his voice soft.

“Well that’s a first. We’re not evil, we don’t follow him, he’s dead anyway, ever since you survived his curse. We hated him as much as everyone else it’s just…” Claire paused. “He forced some of our parents to follow him by threatening to kill their children. They never killed anyone, that was all him. They were scared about loosing us.”

“Why didn’t they fight against him?” Harry asked. Claire looked at her watch and saw they were twenty minutes late for class.

“I’ll explain later but right now we’re both really late for class. I’ll send you a note.” Claire said before heading off in the direction of the Charms classroom. When she walked in, Professor Flitwick stopped the class.

“Why are you so late Ms. Malfoy?” Flitwick asked.

“Professor Snape asked me to stay after for a little.” Claire answered, moving to sit by her friends. He just nodded and continued talking about a glamour charm. Claire looked across the room and saw Angela looking at her. She just shook her head and looked back at Professor Flitwick. He told them to practice the spell so everyone picked up their wands and looked in the mirrors in front of them.

“Remember, think about what you want to change and say the spell while pointing to yourself.” Claire rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at her hair before muttering the spell. Everyone in the room gasped as she looked in the mirror. Claire’s usual trademark blonde Malfoy hair was now chocolate brown.

“Very good Ms. Malfoy, twenty points to Slytherin.” Professor Flitwick squeaked out.

“Claire, what did you do?” Jess asked.

“I’m changing it back.” Claire said as she muttered the counter-spell and her hair returned to normal. When Claire got a spare second when Jessica and Katie weren’t looking, she scribbled a quick note to Harry, telling him to meet her by the Black Lake after dinner.

After class, Claire and the rest of the students all rushed into the great hall for lunch. The first day of classes was always the hardest to get through so everyone dug into lunch quickly. Claire sat at the table looking across the hall at Harry and pulled out her note. She said a soft spell and the note disappeared. Claire caught Harry’s eye and motioned to his robe pocket when she felt someone tickle her sides. She jumped and turned around to be met by Oliver smirking down at her before taking a seat beside her.

“You jerk.” Claire muttered, hitting his arm.

“What did I do?” Oliver asked innocently.

“Scared the crap out of me.” Claire answered, going back to her rice.

“I’m sorry.” Oliver said, kissing her cheek.

“Yeah, yeah.” Claire muttered. They spent the rest of their lunch hour talking about classes as Oliver had his arm around her waist and Claire had her head resting on his shoulder.

---

After classes, everyone returned to their dorms to drop off their bags before going back to the great hall to eat dinner before heading in to do homework. Right after dinner, Claire told her friends she had something to do and left to go sit under the tall oak tree by the black lake, waiting for Harry.

“Why am I doing this?” Claire muttered to herself.

“Claire.” Harry said, walking over to her.

“Hi Harry.” Claire said as Harry took a seat beside her.

“Why didn’t your parents fight against Voldemort?” Harry asked. Claire didn’t flinch like everyone else did at his name just sighed.

“They didn’t want to risk loosing their family members. And some were under the imperious curse which makes the person do whatever the person casting the spell wants them to.” Claire explained. “They had no choice. Harry, no one wanted your parents to die. No one wanted this stuff to happen.”

“I-I talked to Ron and his brothers. He said Malfoys were the evilest of evil.” Harry told her.

“Harry, do I look evil to you?” Claire asked, looking at him with a hurt expression.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…” Harry started rambling sorrys to her but she just shook her head.

“It’s alright, I’m used to it. Ron’s family, the Weasleys and my family have been enemies for years now. Our great great great grandparents started the rivalry and we’ve been fighting ever since because no one can let the damn feud go. For years they’ve been turning people against us so we did that in return. Well, most.”

“So Ron’s trying to turn me against you?” Harry asked.

“Well he’s told you lies about me so you would hate me. I’m guessing he doesn’t want us to have a friendship.” Claire answered. “It’s not completely his fault, it’s the way he was raised. It’s too late to change his ideas about my family now.”

“Maybe if you tried talking to him…” Harry started.

“He’s already got assumptions about me. Besides, his brothers would tell him to stay away.” Claire said. “But just because he wouldn’t befriend me doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends.” She gave him a small smile which he returned. “So we friends?”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded with a small smile.

“Good.” Claire said smiling as the sun set completely. “So how was the rest of your day?” She asked.

“We had flying lessons today. I made seeker for the quiditch team.” Harry told her with a smile.

“Really? You must be the youngest seeker in…” Claire started.

“A century, according to McGonagall.” Harry finished.

“Well it makes sense. Quidditch is in your blood.” Claire told him.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“You don’t know?” Claire asked.

“Know what?” Harry asked.

“Follow me.” Claire said getting up and taking Harry’s hand before running inside the school and up a few flights of stairs.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked.

“Hold on.” Claire muttered. She led him into a hall with pictures of Quidditch teams and plaques. She walked past the Slytherin case and over to the Gryffindor one.

“What am I looking at?” Harry asked. Claire rolled her eyes and pointed at a picture that looked about twenty years old. It contained seven people all smiling and joking around. In the center were two boys with black hair messing around and laughing. One of them looked exactly like Harry, minus the scar.

“Is that…” Harry stared.

“Your dad.” Claire nodded. “He was a chaser while he attended Hogwarts.”

“I didn’t know.” Harry said with a small smile as he realized he had something in common with his father.

“You should probably get back to your dorm before Filch catches you.” Claire told him. “I believe it’s one floor up so you should get there no problem.”

“Alright, thanks Claire.” Harry said with a smile.

“No problem Harry. Can you do me a favor though.” Claire asked.

“Sure.” Harry nodded.

“Give my brother another chance. He really wants to be your friend.” Claire said.

“O-Okay.” Harry nodded.

“Thanks. See you tomorrow.” She ruffled his already messy hair playfully before taking off down the stairs to the dungeons. When she got down there, she found her brothers and boyfriend in the common room.

“Hey, where’ve you been?” Oliver asked, standing up and placing a soft kiss to her lips.

“I went out to the black lake, needed to think.” Claire said as they both sat back down on the couch.

“About what?” Oliver asked.

“Just things. Nothing important.” Claire said, laying her head on his shoulder. They all talked for a little bit and about half an hour later, Oliver went upstairs, saying he needed to get some homework done, leaving the three Malfoy children alone.

“I talked to Harry.” Claire told them.

“How’d it go?” Reid asked.

“I told him that Weasley’s family and our family hate each other. Said Weasley was lying when he called us evil, that we’re actually nice we just hate each other because no one can let a century old feud go. We’re friends and he said he’s giving you another chance Drake.” Claire wrapped up by taking a much needed breath.

“Excellent. Father will be pleased.” Reid smirked.

“All we have to do is get Harry to turn against Weasley. Shouldn’t be hard.” Claire said. “Drake, don’t screw this up. Befriend Harry, show him you’re not a complete git.”

“I’m not a git.” Draco said, sending a small glare at his sister.

“Well play nice around Harry, don’t call that girl a mudblood.” Claire said.

“How long will this take?” Draco asked.

“If you befriend him, a few days. We just have to find a way to get him against Weasley.” Reid answered.

“I think I have an idea.” Claire said with a smirk.

“Care to enlighten us?” Reid asked.

“Not now, but I can tell you this will work for sure.” Claire said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

So what do you think, Good? Bad? Suggestions?