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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 7 – Allies and Enemies

Ashleigh was nervous, more nervous than she had ever been except for when she had gotten her acceptance letter from Hopkins. Only that moment could be compared to this. She was patiently waiting at the Gryffindor table sitting between Harry and Hermione; neither of the Weasley’s were awake. Hermione informed her that she was always up at the crack of dawn unless she was sick and when she asked Harry why he had dragged himself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, he just murmured something that sounded like ‘nightmare’.

However, when they turned her own question on her, she had no problem telling them that her nerves had gotten the best of her and she just couldn’t sleep. She was entitled to be nervous after all.

The time was now nine o’clock and the Great Hall was filling more steadily now that the hour their trip to Hogsmeade began to approach. Ashleigh had the feeling that this day would hold a lot of good and a lot of bad. She hoped she was wrong but she rarely was. Instinct told her to go with her gut feeling and keep a close eye on things that she normally wouldn’t. Although, her day was about to become full of things she normally wouldn’t even know existed so she didn’t know if her instincts were on today or not.

As she looked up at the magical reflection of the sky in the Great Hall, noticing that it was a beautiful, clear sunny day, she remembered the day that had brought her to this time. Those skies had also seemed innocent, yet look where it had landed her! She still couldn’t believe that had only happened yesterday, it seemed like ages ago.

As Ron and Ginny sat across from them she vowed to never take even something seemingly unspoiled like the sky at face value. Everything it seemed; had a dark side.

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Albus Dumbledore walked into the Great Hall, anxious at what the day would bring. There was a new student about to be sorted and in the middle of October no less. That had not happened since he was a student here himself, but even then, it was a transfer student from Durmstrang who knew that he was a wizard. This young lady however, had just come into the knowledge of being a witch and how she will handle everything thrown at her will be interesting to say the least.

Taking his seat at the head table, he motioned for Professor McGonagall to start the sorting of Miss Grey.

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“Attention.” Professor McGonagall said to get the student body’s focus on her instead of the food on their plates.

“Miss Grey would you join me please?”

As Ashleigh stood and began the assent to the platform in front of the head table she could feel every eye on her. Holding her head high, she reached McGonagall and sat on the proffered stool, knowing the process as Harry and Hermione had told her what to expect. It was for this reason that she did not jump off of the stool in fright when the old wizard’s hat that had been placed on her head, Gryffindor’s to be exact, started speaking to her.

“Hmm, it’s not the beginning of the school year and yet they bring me out of my pondering of my next song. Rude that. Well since I’m here, you shall be sorted, oh yes. But where to put you? Well I would go through with you why I put you where I do but you are old enough to figure that out on your own, aren’t you? It would take far too long to explain why you belong in each house.”

All through the hat’s rant about being interrupted during its song writing, Ashleigh wished it would just get on with it. So she was surprised when she suddenly heard the shout of “Slytherin” echoing around the hall.

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, the seventh years making room for their new house mate. Silently, Ashleigh stood and walked over to the Slytherin table giving a regretful glance over at the Gryffindor’s she had become friends with. ‘Oh well’ she thought, ‘it’s not like we can’t be friends, after all, it’s not like I’m going to be living down in the dungeons’.

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“I can’t believe the hat put her in Slytherin! She’s got Gryffindor written all over her! Why else would Dumbledore have put her in Gryffindor Tower last night?” Harry asked, extremely confused at what had just happened.

“Well,” Hermione chimed in, “We are the only house with a bed vacancy in the seventh year dorms, which was probably the real reason why. It also helped that I am in Gryffindor, being Head Girl. I can help her a lot, Dumbledore already asked me to help her with her studies. I intend to keep my promise, although I don’t know how much she will actually need. Besides, what does it matter if she is in Slytherin? It’s not as if we will never see her again. After all, we did make friends with her first and she doesn’t strike me as the type to ignore people that she has come to think of as friends just because of a house rivalry that she isn’t even aware of.”

“Not bloody likely. She’s a Slytherin now Hermione! She will listen to those slimy scumbags and turn on us in a heartbeat.”

“Oh Ron, just give her a chance will you? She may surprise you.”

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As Ashleigh took a seat at the end of the Slytherin table, she noticed several things at once. First that every Slytherin eye was on her, second that the male eyes were not just on her, but traveling up and down her form, and third that one female in particular, one with a slightly upturned nose, was giving her the death glare. This latest fact only caused Ashleigh to smirk through her cool nonchalant façade.

The dark haired boy sitting on her right turned to her as soon as she sat down and offered her his hand.

“Blaise Zabini, at your service.” He said, bringing her hand to his lips.

Ashleigh quickly pulled her hand away, not used to such an introduction.

“And your name is?” He quickly asked before his quarry could slip to the other side of the table.

“Ashleigh Grey. What are you? The welcoming committee?” This boy must not listen very well. McGonagall had said her name just moments before.

“I am if you want me to be.” Blaise replied with a sly look.

Ashleigh was getting a bit tiered with how he kept undressing her with his eyes. She turned away, thankful when someone interrupted their banter before she punched him for being so smarmy.

“Blaise lay off will you? Let the girl breathe before you start hitting on her, it’s not very Slytherin of you to come out and admit you are lusting after her the first time you meet her.”

By the time his little speech was finished, Ashleigh was completely amused by the blonde boy sitting directly across from her. He had not been there before, she noted, he must have just come in.

“Draco Malfoy.” He offered, his hand extended.

Ashleigh was a little afraid to take his hand, terrified he would kiss it. She knew it was a European thing, but she was American and happy with the custom of shaking a strangers hand rather than chancing herpes.

Draco did not however, kiss her hand when she placed her hand in his. He shook her hand firmly, but not tightly. Ashleigh liked him more than Blaise instantly.

“Ashleigh Grey.”

“Interesting name, how do you spell it? There are numerous ways to as I am sure you know.”

“It's not an interesting name at all, it’s extremely common, too common for my liking but what can you do? My parents decided to spell it A-S-H-L-E-I-G-H. They thought it was a little more original than the other versions which happened to be true. My name is not nearly as interesting as yours though. Draco, hmm, that’s a name of a constellation right? A dragon if I remember correctly.”

“Yes.” Draco said, amazed that she knew enough astrology to correctly interpret his name. Most people just found that his name was extremely odd, something to laugh at. He felt he should mention this to judge whether or not she thought the same, and she did.

“Not at all. I would kill for my parents to have had a little more imagination when naming me. I mean, getting a name from a television show is so over done. That’s why half of the female population from my time was named Ashleigh Nicole. No one has any imagination anymore.”

Draco was floored, he never had anyone recognize his name as anything except strange, other than family of course. He was about to ask Ashleigh another question when the girl who had been giving her the death glare came sauntering over.

“Drakeypoo, aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friend?” She asked the blonde in a sickly sweet voice as she batted her eyes and ran a finger down his arm.

Ashleigh watched the girl and felt the need to vomit. She settled for rolling her eyes and spoke up before Draco could.

“He doesn’t need to introduce me; I can introduce myself, although I can’t say the same for you apparently. I’m Ashleigh Grey.”

The girl looked as if she was about to breathe fire. “Pansy Parkinson.” The girl replied through gritted teeth, death back in her eyes.

“Tough break, I thought I had a crappy name. I mean my name has been interpreted as ‘ash meadow’, which I guess isn’t too bad compared to Pansy. At least I’m not named after a hideous flower, and you certainly can’t use my name to characterize a homosexual.” She said with a winning smile.

By the end of her speech, Pansy was seething. Draco and Blaise were in stitches of laughter and the rest of the school stared at her in wonderment, and then promptly broke out into hysterics. Whoever stood up to Pansy Parkinson and blatantly made fun of her in any way was indeed a strong or very stupid witch or wizard.

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“I can’t believe she just said that to Pansy Parkinson! The girl must have a death wish. Although I don’t think Pansy is stupid enough to actually kill her. Pansy at the very least will find a way to return her humiliation.” Hermione said as she finally stopped laughing at what Ashleigh had said about Pansy.

Harry, Ron and Ginny, among the other Gryffindor’s were also sobering up.

“I don’t care what that hat said, that girl belongs in Gryffindor. I mean, who else would attack a Slytherin like that in front of the whole school?” Ron asked, clearly impressed with the new girl.

“A Slytherin would. And just look how she seems to be getting along with Malfoy. I wouldn’t be so sure that she doesn’t belong in Slytherin. It is possible to be suitable for more than one house.” Harry replied, thinking of his own sorting.

“Harry’s right Ron. The sorting hat had debated over putting me in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I’m sure I’m not the only one it has had trouble placing. And as to her talking to Malfoy, you can’t possibly expect her to be in Slytherin House and not try to make any friends or at the very least, allies. She will need them all the more in that house.”

“I suppose.”

“Well we still have a bit of time before we leave for Hogsmeade, let’s go back to the dorm and get ready. Ashleigh is still meeting us at the bottom of the staircase right Hermione?” Harry asked, curious as to whether the girl was still going with them.

“Yes she is. We discussed it last night, that no matter which house she was sorted into, she would come with us seeing as we are the only two with permission to go to Diagon Alley.”

Together they got up and left the Great Hall, feeling confidant they had not lost their new friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco was impressed. It had been a long time since a girl had impressed him. He thought that she may very well end up being one of his best friends, and only friends at that. Not that she wasn’t beautiful, he thought, she was very beautiful. She was the sort of dark haired natural beauty that didn’t come along very often and certainly was not found in Pansy Parkinson, which is why he knew she was jealous of the girl. Draco knew very well that Pansy wanted him for herself, but that would never happen. Draco was more of a blonde type of man, go figure?

So it was with great relish that he offered to escort Ashleigh to the Slytherin common room. Taking a shining opportunity to annoy Pansy a bit more, he offered her his arm. With a look of pure amusement she roped her arm through his giving him a flirtatious smile. ‘Oh yes’, he thought, ‘she is on to my game and is willing to play. This will be fun indeed’.

Pansy just watched them while biting her bottom lip, her arms crossed, and a foot slowly tapping. Silently she swore that the new girl would pay for daring to take Draco from her.

As they traveled through the dungeons, Draco pointed out short cuts to certain areas of the castle which would come in handy once she was more familiar with the school. The way to the common room was a very windy path, though she wasn’t worried about being able to find it again, she did have a pretty good memory.

Draco stopped in front of an expand of gray stone wall and tapped a pattern with his wand along the stones. Once done, an archway appeared in the stone revealing the Slytherin common room. It was a chilly room decorated in deep shades of green with silver accents. Very like the Gryffindor common room except it was chilly in presence rather than warm.

They sat down by the fireplace which was not yet lit, talking about classes when the archway once again appeared to admit Professor Snape.

Draco gave a nod and a “Professor,” in greeting.

Ashleigh merely gave him a half smile.

“Miss Grey, would you please follow me, there are some things we need to discuss before you leave for Hogsmeade.” He said in a somewhat stony voice, yet she somehow thought that that was soft for him.

“Sure,” she said, standing. “See you later Draco.”

She followed Snape out of the Slytherin common room and down the hall and to the right and stopped in front of the only painting she knew she would find in the dungeons. The portrait was of a woman dressed in ancient Greek attire framed by a burning sunset and an ancient ruin. The woman in the portrait smiled and asked for her password. Turning to Ashleigh he said, “You may set your password to whatever you like; only you, the Headmaster and myself will know of it. What would you like it to be?”

“Would ‘Time is a bitch’ work or is that unacceptable?” She asked bitterly.

“Unacceptable, profanity is not permitted in this school.” He told her in a harsh tone.

“I thought as much, anyway it was only a joke. I think I’ll have ‘Wild Orchid’ as my password then. It always has been my favorite flower.”

“A lovely choice indeed.” The woman in the portrait replied.

“That is most acceptable, please step inside.”

She looked past the portrait of the sunbathing Grecian lady and saw with much glee, that her rooms looked nothing like the Slytherin common room. There was a lot of deep green in the design but there was also royal blue with deep burgundy accents. It was quite a warm room.

“Through the door to the right you will find your bed chamber and an adjoining washroom. I assume the accommodations are acceptable.”

“Are you kidding me? This is more than acceptable; I shared a room smaller than this with three other girls at college. Why exactly is the Headmaster giving me my own rooms instead of sharing like every other student?”

“It is my understanding that he wishes you to have the most possibility at concentration possible. With others around you, you may find that concentration will be short in coming.” He replied.

“So nothing new huh? Well I suppose that was to be expected. I’ll just be thankful for what the good wizard gave me.”

“There are a few other things I need to discuss with you. Take a seat.”

She walked over to one of the overstuffed chairs and curled her feet under her. Severus almost smiled at how comfortable she seemed around everyone, even him. That wasn’t like anyone he had met since Lily Evans, and especially not a student. He in turn sat in the chair across from her.

“I’m sure you will hear of the points system for the houses if you have already not,” at her nod, he understood that she had, “the system will not pertain to you as you will not be a part of regular lessons. You will however be subject to other punishments such as detentions for misbehavior during your private tutoring sessions. You will receive your schedule on Monday morning as not all of the professors have given the Headmaster their free time slots. Do you have any questions?”

“None that I can think of for now.”

And with that he stood to leave, striding to the door quickly.

Hurriedly, she rushed after him and caught him by the arm before he could leave. He turned a questioning look on his dark face.

“Thank you for showing me to my rooms.”

Raising a surprised eyebrow, he simply replied, “You are welcome.” Turning on his heel, he left her rooms, his robes billowing out behind him.

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A/N: I had some problems posting the first few chapters. While I thought I was updating the story I was actually creating new ones unknowingly. The situation has been fixed.

The destruction of Hogwarts is pondered upon in some chapters.

Thank you for the positive words! It really boosts my confidence especially since I’ve just started posting.
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A Matter of Time