Fa A Bhialainn Ann- Chapter 1

(This is the point where you run away while you still have your wits about you!)

Fiona McLellan slumped down in her seat on the Hogwarts Express, sighing. This was going to be an interesting year. She brushed back her wavy hair, dark red-brown in the sunlight from the window.

Suddenly remembering, she waved at her Ma and Da below. They waved back, and Fi felt a slight lurch in her chest. She would NOT cry... Gray-blue eyes filled with tears and she quickly rubbed them, hiding it in a yawn. How could

this happen? She knew that the Irish schools for Witchcraft were not nearly as advanced as Hogwarts, but now, to receive a proper education, she was stuck going to school with those snotty British Prigs. All her life, when she visited London, all she ever got was funny looks. It was obvious that she was Irish-- her pale skin and dark hair were a clue, but her accent was the dead giveaway.

As if starting a new school in a new country for sixth year wasn't hard enough; she had to be mocked for being a muggle-born, Irish farm girl. And that was nothing next to her big secrets. When her Ma and Da had talked to the headmaster, he had confided that they allowed--special cases--like hers. It wasn't like hers was anything dangerous--well, not really...Just something she could be shunned for life for. She couldn't help it-it was in her blood. She had no choice in that matter, and if she HAD had a choice, she would've gotten rid of the dreaded gene as soon as possible.

The train started to pull away from the station. Once more, she rubbed her eyes frantically, sending a last wave to her parents. They waved back, the platform growing smaller and smaller, and then they were gone. Fi sighed raggedly. She would NOT cry!

She jumped as the compartment door slid open. A short, slim girl of about her age stood in the doorway, jade-colored eyes framed by pretty, dark red hair. Next to her was a taller girl, of a more stocky build, with light brown hair and brown eyes, and lots of freckles. "Oh, we didn't realize this was occupied..."

The redhead smiled. "Are you new here?" Fiona, lips sealed, nodded. It made her wince to hear the upper-class accent this redhead sported.

The brunette smiled as well. "Smashing. I'm Annelle Jonson." She had a lower-class accent, maybe Liverpudlian?

"And I'm Lily Andrews," the redhead smiled. "What's your name?"

Fiona, resigned to her fate (These two seemed so nice; what would they do once they found out she was what she was?), cleared her throat. "Fiona McLellan," she said, Irish accent sounding dreadfully strong next to the other girl's high-class British.

The brunette--Annelle, was it?--gave her a funny look for a moment, then said,

"Are you... Scottish or something?"

"No, you prat," Lily said, grinning amiably. "She's Irish! Wonderful, now I have some company!

My Grandparents on Mum's side were from Ireland. I love the way you all talk."

Fiona's pale skin flushed. "Really? I was worried that..."

"We'd shun you or something?" Lily laughed. "Fat chance. I don't shun anyone without a very good reason, and being Irish isn't on my list."

Annelle grinned. "Mine either. You just took me by surprise-I thought you were British. So,

Fiona--"

"Fi."

"-Fi, then. What's Ireland like?"

"Oh, it's wonderful," Fi said softly. "Green and lovely, and the sea is beautiful. I used to go swimming every day." She stopped herself there, scolding herself for babbling.

"Yeah," Lily said dreamily. "I've never been to Ireland before. James says that-" She stopped abruptly, blushing, and Annelle laughed loudly.

"James Potter is Lily's--er--love bunny. Yes, I think that's the correct term. I do believe they've already begun planning their honeymoon." Annelle snickered, then whispered quite audibly, "They even know what kind of cake they're having at their wedding!"

"I do not!" Lily protested feebly, elbowing Annelle in the ribs.

The compartment door, which had been slid shut a moment before by Annelle, slid open again.

Three boys appeared in the doorway. The tallest, who had dark eyes framed by black hair and a somewhat swarthy complexion, glanced at Fi and then turned to Annelle, nodding his head at her. "Who's this, then?"

Annelle sighed. "Well, she's right there; why don't you ask her?"

The other boys were staring at her. One of them, with unruly black hair and glasses, gave Lily a questioning look. She smiled back at him, and Fi had a feeling that this wasprobably the James Potter they'd discussed earlier. The last boy, who was standing behind the other two, was taller than James with dark brown hair and large, brown eyes.

He gave Fi a curious stare and, when no one made a move to introduce themselves, stepped forward, holding out a hand for her to shake. "Hi.

I'm Remus Lupin."

The tallest stepped up next to him, grinning broadly. "I'm Sirius Black."

Finally, the one who Fi had guessed was James stepped forward. Sure enough:

"I'm James Potter.

Good to meet you...er..."

"Fiona--call me Fi," Fi said warmly, forgetting her shame over her accent.

Sirius broke into a grin again--he seemed to do that a lot. "Are you Irish?"

Fi nodded shyly. "Aye."

James smiled warmly. "Well, welcome to England, then. Is it much different here?"

Fi nodded, sighing deeply. "Much. Everyone stares when they hear me talk, and not to mention I'm Muggle-born, so I get enough trouble as i'tis."

Lily shook her head. "I'm Muggle-born. Don't let it worry you."

Sirius nodded vigorously. "Yeah. So, what house are you in?"

"Well, I don't quite know yet," Fi responded. "I hope I end up in Gryffindor, though Ravenclaw doesn't sound bad."

Lily nodded. "You don't want Slytherin, though. Trust me."

Everything became silent and James put an arm around Lily's shoulders. Lily cleared her throat.

"I'm in Slytherin."

Fi tried not to look as surprised as she felt. Her? A SLYTHERIN? Fi had heard--to put it lightly--interesting information about Slytherin house.

Remus cleared his throat, obviously eager to change the subject. "So,

ah...D'you mind us sitting with you, Fi?"

"Not at all," Fi replied, scooting over so that the others could squeeze in--Remus next to her, Sirius on his other side, and across from them Annelle, then Lily and James.

Their discussion wandered from subject to subject over the next few hours, finally stopping as the conductor announced that they had arrived.

Fi pulled on her Hogwarts robes and nervously managed to get off the train and to the school. As she gawked at the beautiful and gigantic entrance hall, a boy shoved past her, pushing her forcefully into the wall. She turned, furious, and brought her hands for one moment before quickly putting them back at her sides. She wouldn't get herself expelled here...Not for that--not like last time.

Instead she called after the boy. "Oi, you!"

A pale boy who looked about her age turned around and glared. "Yeah?"

"You near gave me a concussion-aren't you going to apologize?"

The boy gave her a moment's stare, then burst out laughing. "Hey, Severus! Aaron! Come listen to this wench!"

Two other boys strolled over casually. One of them was much, much taller than Fiona and had greasy black hair and a hooked nose. Black eyes flashed threateningly first at her, then to the pale boy, who was still laughing. The other had a rather flat face, sort of like a pug dog, and was surveying her through small blue eyes with the utmost revulsion. "What's so interesting, Lucius?"

"Would you repeat that?" the pale one-apparently called Lucius managed to gasp out between sneering laughter.

"I said," Fi growled, "Apologize. You knocked me right into that wall and it hurt. Apologize now."

Pug-Face laughed loudly. "Ha! So, not only do they now allow Mudbloods in now, but Irish Mudbloods! That's a laugh!"

Fi was near exploding. She could see them now--her magic was stirred up. Pinpricks of light, buzzing about. One flew in close and she saw its minute little blue eyes under silvery curls, then it flitted away again with a flick of its blue-silver wings. She could call on the faeries-she could. She could make them teach these boys a lesson they'd never forget...just like last time...but she wasn't even sorted yet and she'd be expelled. No, she wouldn't do it. She'd stand her ground.

The boy with the hooked nose rolled his eyes and sighed witheringly. "Yes, yes. That's hilarious. Can we leave now? I'm starved."

Lucius, who was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, nodded. "Yes, let's."

Fi wasn't going to leave it at that. She wouldn't. It was stupid, but she couldn't help it. "You

whisht, you old...you...." Unable to put it the way she wanted to in English, she converted to spouting every Gaelic insult she knew at this foul boy and his friends. When she'd learned it for fun back at home, she'd never realized how easily she could express herself in another language.

He turned around. The two other boys-Pug Face and the one who was hungry-looked confused.

Lucius walked swiftly back to her and pinned her against the wall. "Listen up real close, wench. I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect. Malfoys do not EVER tolerate that sort of disrespect. You watch yourself."

Fi met his glare squarely. "You watch YOURSELF, Mister Malfoy. It's not a good idea to go making enemies with those whose powers you don't know yet." With that she brought her hands up and pushed him away as quickly as possible. Then she turned a corner and ran as fast as she possibly could--which wasn't very fast. She turned another corner and ran headlong into someone.

"Whoa! Watch where you're--Fiona?"

She looked up and saw Remus staring curiously down at her--she'd fallen to the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said earnestly, offering her a hand up and pulling her to her feet. "What were you-"

Lucius and the other boys came hurtling around the corner. "Out of the way, beast!" he shouted. "She's fair game!"

"No, she's not," Remus replied calmly, ignoring the inquiring glance Fi had given at his being called, "beast" for some reason. "Actually, Professor Dumbledore couldn't find her and sent me to look for her. I take it you're responsible for making her late? Shall I tell him that?"

The hooked nose boy turned, glaring mutinously, and walked towards the Great Hall. The pug-faced one followed, scowling. Lucius still stood, glowering at the two of them. Remus sighed deeply. "Get a move on, Malfoy. I've no patience tonight. You've already lost five points from Slytherin for causing this young lady trouble on her first evening here." He fingered the prefect badge on his chest. "Now-- d'you mind?"

"You watch yourself, Lupin. And you, wench!"

Fiona, still panting from her run, muttered a very nasty insult under her breath and turned to walk with Remus. He didn't say anything for a moment.

Fiona sighed. "Thank you. They would've caught me."

He laughed quietly. "Oh, not a problem. I'm impressed. It took me a whole hour to decide Lucius and I were enemies--on the Hogwarts Express, you see. Took you fifteen minutes. Well, here we are," he said, stopping in front of a large door. "This is it. You go in, wait until

Professor Flitwick calls you, and then go put on the Sorting Hat. Hope you end up in Gryffindor." He gave her a smile. "Then you won't have to deal with those twits."

She grinned and entered, standing in front of a whole hall of students. Every eye in the Great

Hall was on her--and there must have been hundreds of people there. She looked and saw Sirius waving and Remus smiling. James was also smiling, but he was a tad preoccupied staring at Lily, who was also waving. Too soon for her taste, she heard a squeaky voice say, "And now, we have a transfer student from Dublin Wizarding Academy-McLellan, Fiona."

Feeling a tad braver, Fi sat on the small stool and jammed the hat over her

head.