DRACO WAS minding his own business until he saw Thomas Higgs trying to kiss a girl again. This time, it was a girl he didn't know, causing him to go over faster.

Thankfully, Higgs didn't like him very much, causing him to give up pretty quickly. But Draco finally got a good look at the girl after Higgs ran off. Draco presumed he went to go find his mom or something.

"You look terrifying," Draco told the girl, dragging her to a different area.

The girl glared at him, not saying anything.

She was only a couple of inches shorter than him. She had raven black hair. However, the tips of her hair were a bold ice-blue color that blended into the black. Her eyes were gray with a hint of green, or so he thought. She was still glaring at him.

For some reason, she looked familiar to him. But he didn't know where he could possibly know her from.

"I didn't need your help," she mumbled as they stopped.

"Oh really?" Draco retorted, expecting a thank you and not a complaint. "You looked like you were struggling quite a bit."

"Oh, shut up," the girl replied, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. "I'm exhausted. I was woken up by a Merlin about an hour ago. I'm still not fully awake."

Draco couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but he decided to keep talking.

"If you don't want to deal with any other situations like that, you can come sit with me and my friends," he suggested. "Most people do not mess with us."

The girl just laughed at him, causing him to feel a little offended and not used to the feeling.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can take care of myself, and I already have someone to sit with," she said bluntly. "But thanks again, from what I've heard, it's a rare pleasure to have a Malfoy ask you to sit with them."

"Who are you?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. That was sediment that only wizarding families higher up would say.

"Laura Pickering," she shrugged, "and you?"

"Draco, Draco Malfoy," Draco replied. He didn't like that she was taking control of their conversation.

"Ah, that's which one you were," Laura nodded, seemingly putting the pieces together. "I knew you were a Malfoy, but I'm glad I know which one now."

"What's your blood purity?" Draco asked, starting to get ticked off.

"I'm a Pureblood," she answered, to his surprise.

She didn't seem like a Pureblood. She acted far from any Pureblood Draco knew. Yet, she knew things only a Pureblood would know. He didn't have a choice but to believe her.

"How come I've never seen you then?" he asked, folding his arms.

"Merlin, so many questions," Laura sighed. "Who are you, Vogue?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. He was losing his patience with her and fast.

"You didn't answer my question, Pickering," he said, spitting out her last name.

"Woah, calm down," Laura said, frowning. "My last name is precious to me. You don't need to say it like that. But if you want to know so badly, I'm American. I'm from the land of hot dogs."

"Why don't you take me seriously?" Draco asked, clenching his fist. He hated her attitude and the way she was talking to him.

"Because you've been asking a million questions," Laura said bluntly, then begrudgingly added, "But thanks for helping me out earlier."

Draco's hand relaxed. He wasn't expecting a thank you based on how their conversation was going. Before he could say anything more, Pansy Parkinson ran up to the two of them.

"Laura!" she exclaimed, then once she saw their expressions, she trailed off a bit, looking between the two. "Do you know each other?"

"No," the two of them said at the same time.

"Erm, well... Blaise is waiting for us, so let's go," Pansy said, grabbing Laura.

"Why's Malfoy following us?" Laura asked as they walked, glancing over at Draco, raising an eyebrow.

"He sits in the same compartment as I do," Pansy said, looking over at Draco, who still looked mad. "We're technically friends, but Draco tends to hang out with his goons more."

"Don't even, Pansy," Draco frowned. "I hang out with you and Blaise all of the time. Crabbe and Goyle just always tag along wherever I go."

"You're also always busy bugging Potter," Pansy pointed out as they boarded the train. "You're practically asking to have them tag along since Blaise and I refuse to go with you."

"Yeah, yeah," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just putting Potter in his place."

Draco watched Laura's expression as she cringed, but he didn't say anything as they reached the compartment where the rest of their friends were sitting.

"I found her!" Pansy exclaimed as they walked in. "I guess I also found Draco..."

Draco didn't say anything to that, as he closed the door behind him as the train started moving. He ended up sitting next to Blaise, across from Laura and Pansy.

"Introduce yourself," Draco said bluntly, staring at Laura, who raised her eyebrow at him.

"Hi, I'm Laura Pickering," she smiled, her demeanor completely changing from earlier. "I'm from New York... I used to go to Ilvermorny, but I'm going to Hogwarts this year."

"I'll go next," Pansy offered. "I'm Pansy Parkinson, but we've already met."

Draco watched as Laura smiled, nudging Pansy playfully.

"I'm Blaise," Blaise said, grinning. "I can already tell we're going to be best friends."

"I can't wait," Laura laughed.

Draco glanced over at Blaise, who just smirked. He and Blaise had been close friends since before their schooling at Hogwarts. Blaise knew how to push Draco's buttons; he was definitely pushing his buttons at that moment.

"I'm Jordan Young," Jordan, who was sitting next to Pansy, said. "While this lot are all fourth years, I'm a seventh-year, so you probably won't see much of me."

"Nice to meet you," Laura smiled.

"I'm Crabbe, and he's Goyle," Crabbe said, nodding towards Goyle.

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said bluntly. "But you already guessed that earlier."

"Oh, please," Laura said, making a face at him. "Stop sitting on your high horse. It's not cute."

"So!" Blaise said, stopping Draco from saying anything else. "Why're you going to Hogwarts this year?"

"Hogwarts is my dad's alma mater," Laura shrugged. "I also needed a break from this evil witch that's like out to get me or whatever."

The compartment fell silent. Draco couldn't tell if she was joking or not... Since their first encounter, he had been attempting to determine if she was being sincere.

"Anyways," Laura said, as if she had said something that happened every other week, "I'm glad to be here. Hopefully, we can have a fun school year together."

"We're glad you're here as well," Pansy smiled.

"So, what's it like in America?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Awful," Draco said, not letting Laura have a chance to respond. "I went there when I was younger to visit a friend of my parents. It was horrible."

"It's not perfect, but shut up, Blondie," Laura shot back, narrowing her eyes at Draco, "I don't want to hear those words from you."

🪐➶.✧༄

After the compartment had lightened up, the group kept talking, and Laura explained more about her life.

Draco didn't want anything to do with her after their first encounter up to that point; however, she kept taunting him, getting him to unwillingly participate in the discussions.

"Well, we're almost to Hogwarts," Pansy said, glancing outside. "Everyone knows the drill-"

Pansy looked over at Laura, remembering that Laura was the new one in their group. Draco narrowed his eyes as Pansy's gaze landed on Draco.

"We're changing it up," Pansy said, giving Draco a firm look. "Draco, you're in charge of showing Laura where to change. If she gets hurt- or hit on... I'll kill you."

"Yeah, yeah," Draco muttered, getting up and grabbing his robes. "Follow me, Pickering."

The two walked in silence over to the bathrooms. Draco had seen Laura send Pansy a pleading look before they left. He could tell she didn't like him. When they got to the bathroom, there was only one empty room. Draco let Laura go first.

Draco watched as Harry Potter walked out, bumping into Laura, watching as he awkwardly said sorry to Laura and then went in to change.

"Potter," Draco greeted.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was just being polite, Potter," Draco said. "Making small talk as I wait for my friend."

"I didn't realize the people you hung around with were your friends," Harry retorted.

"Well, they are," Draco said, just smiling. "But she's new, so I'm trying to be her friend. Though, she's a pain in the arse."

Draco and Harry said nothing more to each other, Draco taking the next open room.

As Draco walked in, Laura walked out, now wearing her robes. Draco did a double take, as he had forgotten she hadn't been sorted yet, her robes still plain. He wondered what would happen if she ended up not being a Slytherin.

"Malfoy, we aren't friends," she said as he closed and locked the door.

As Draco changed, he heard Laura talking to Harry.

"I'm so sorry," Laura said quickly.

"It's fine," Harry said with a laugh. "I don't think we've met. I'm Harry Potter."

"Laura Po- sorry- Pickering," Laura said awkwardly. Draco raised an eyebrow, unsure what that was about.

"Sorry, what?" Harry asked, also confused.

"It's Pickering," Laura said. "It was nice to meet you-"

"I heard you were making friends with that Slytherin lot," Harry interrupted. "Things at Hogwarts can be tough. You don't want to be making friends with the wrong sort."

Draco quickly changed, not needing Laura to deal with Harry herself, especially with the attitude he was putting on.

"Thanks," he heard Laura say. "But uh, I think I can tell who the wrong sort are myself."

Draco finished, changing, walking out, trying to look nonchalant. He gave her a look to finish her conversation.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Harry," Laura smiled, waving him goodbye and walking up to Draco.

"What did you talk about?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "I just feel like I got déjà vu."

"I dunno," Laura shrugged as they walked to their train car. "He said something about how you suck or something."

Draco sent her a look, and she just laughed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Malfoy," She grinned. "He technically said that if you read between the lines, but I think I can figure things out myself."

"Huh," Draco said, raising an eyebrow, "Potter and I had a conversation similar to that at the beginning of our first year."

"I guess it's just a Potter conversation," Laura shrugged. "It's in the genes," she had a stupid grin on her face, pointing to the pair of jeans she was holding.

Draco stared at her as she laughed at her own joke. He couldn't tell if she was joking. That's what he found infuriating about her. He couldn't gauge if she was serious when she said those things.

"Did you say a 'Potter thing?'" Draco asked quietly, stopping her in the hallway of the train.

Laura stopped laughing, tilting her head in confusion, processing what he said before shaking her head.

"No," she said with a small laugh. "I was joking. I wanted to make a joke about my jeans. I can admit that it wasn't a good joke, but I thought it was funny."

Draco took a step closer to Laura, leaning in. "You can tell me the truth. There must be some truth behind that joke," he said.

Laura took a step away, narrowing her eyes.

"I am Malfoy," she said. "Can't you see the jeans I'm holding? I'm just being 'jean'uine' with you."

Laura burst out laughing again, doubling over in laughter. Draco sighed, realizing what he was going to have to say.

"I'm just being 'jean'uine' myself," Draco said, cringing after having to stoop to her level. "I know you're lying to me, Pickering."

"I only just met you," Laura said, her laughter dying. "How am I supposed to trust you, especially when we piss each other off?"

"You'll just have to put some trust in me," Draco shrugged.

"Fine," Laura sighed. Draco could tell she didn't care too much about this secret because she didn't fight too hard to keep it a secret. "But- if you tell anyone else, you're dead."

"I promise I won't tell anyone," Draco said.

"Okay, so Pickering is my last name," Laura whispered into his ear. "But my real- well- legal last name is Potter. But it's Pickering to you and everyone else."

"I won't tell a soul," Draco smirked.

"I will find out if you do," Laura said, blinking at him. "You will be wishing death upon yourself if you do."

"I'd like to see you try," Draco laughed as they made it back to the compartment, where he was met with Blaise and Pansy smirking at the two of them.

"You two were gone for a long time," Pansy smirked as Laura closed the door behind them.

"We didn't do anything," Draco sighed, sitting next to Blaise again.

"I would never do anything with him," Laura said, looking at Draco.

"Don't worry, I feel the same way, Pickering," Draco said.

Blaise laughed at the two of them, changing the subject. Their train car was all changed by the time they reached Hogwarts. They all got out of the train and went out to the carriages.

Draco watched as Lavender Brown went to approach Laura but ended up just waving when she saw that Laura was standing with Draco and Pansy. Draco laughed a bit as he watched Laura wave back at Lavender, then went to pet the air in front of the carriage.

Draco shot Laura a strange look as she petted the air but didn't say anything about it, as they were soon off to get to the castle. 

As they arrived at the castle, Draco was surprised to see Snape standing there, as he usually was inside. He was even more surprised when Laura walked up to him.

"Hey, Snaps," Laura said, a distasteful look forming on Snape's face. "Thanks for not buying me cereal. It was so fun to wake up to that this morning."

"Laura, I need you to come with me," Snape said bluntly.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the interaction as Laura waved him and the rest of their carriage goodbye as she went with Snape.

"How does she know Snape?" Blaise asked Draco as the two walked away.

"Why would I know?" Draco asked, turning to Blaise. "I have pretty much no idea who she is."

"None of us know who she is, Draco," Pansy added, "She's probably going to get sorted though. Personally, I'm hoping she gets put into Slytherin with us."