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Harry Potter stared up at his new American High School, Hogwarts.

It was a very large school, with two gyms and over thirty different classrooms, as well as a locker rooms, lockers, and a large football field, pool, and running track. Students were scattered in small groups in front of the main building, where there were stairs, rails, and trees to sit and lean on. The grounds were mostly fresh green grass in the front of the building, besides the stairs and sidewalk, but from previous visits to the school that summer, Harry knew there was plenty of concrete at this school as well.

Harry was nervous, seeing as this was a new school where he knew not a single person. He didn't know anybody here in America yet, as he just moved that summer from England for his parent's new occupations as lawyers.

All the same, Harry trudged up the stairs into the main building, his army green backpack slung over one shoulder. As he passed groups of people, not many acknowledged his presence, as everyone was catching up with friends about their summers.

This made him feel slightly better since not many knew that he was new to this school. After all, everyone had different classes, so no one knew every student in the school, except maybe the headmaster.

It's a principal now, Harry thought. Now that he was in America, he did his best to use American lingo so as not to confuse people with his slightly different language. He got down almost all the words, but he slipped up every now and then. Of course, he knew people would understand, since his accent clearly showed that he wasn't originally from here.

Harry finally reached the office so he could let Headmaster�Principal Dumbledore know that he was here. He had yet to get his class schedule, since the other high school seniors' schedules were printed first for preparation.

Harry entered the office, and he was immediately aware that this school had a lot of money. Everything was very new and spotless, and although he had seen the entire school before, he just realized that there must be a reason why there were over two thousand students attending Hogwarts.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked. Her nameplate seemed to have not arrived yet, since there wasn't one on her desk.

"Yes," he answered, "I'm Harry Potter. I'm new here and I was hoping for my schedule."

The secretary smiled politely. "Of course!" She opened a file cabinet and asked, "What year are you are in?"

"I'm a senior," he replied. After a few shuffles of papers, the secretary pulled out a file before opening it and handing Harry a slip of paper. "Thank you."

She smiled again. "You're welcome. If you have any questions at all about your schedule, feel free to ask me or another staff member."

Harry nodded politely before thanking her again and striding out the door.

As soon as he left, he began walking absentmindedly through a few hallways, skimming his school schedule:

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Harry Potter
Grade: 12

1st Period: English
2nd Period: History/Cultures
3rd Period: Calculus
4th Period: Physics
LUNCH
5th Period: Phys Ed
6th Period: Woodworking
7th Period: Drama Interpretation

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After Harry read and reread the schedule countless times so to memorize it faster, he looked up and noticed that he was right in front of the larger of the two school gyms.

He looked at his watch and saw that he still had about half an hour before his first class would begin, and since he had nothing better to do, he pulled open the gym doors and walked inside.

Observing the room, he quickly noted how big it was. There were two large basketball courts in the room and three of the walls were covered by bleachers with foldable chairs, just like the ones in the cinema, or a movie theater, as Americans called it.

There were two clocks in the room on opposite walls from each other. There was an empty space where the wall without bleachers was, probably for the commentator/scorekeeper's table during games. The floors looked shiny and new, much like the bleachers and basketball hoops and backboards.

There was a group of five people on the basketball court farthest from him, scrimmaging. From here, Harry could already tell that all the players were very athletic and talented.

He looked to his left where rows of bleachers were set up. He saw three people sitting in the first row, watching the scrimmage across the room as well.

Harry was nervous again. He wasn't sure if he should go to them and sit down or sit by himself, looking awkward and alone. He didn't have to decide, however, since one of the students sitting down saw him and waved him over.

Harry covered up his anxiousness and strode over to the group.

The one who called him over grinned politely, his red hair looking as if it were on fire. "Hey," he said. Harry nodded before he continued, "You new here?"

Harry answered, confused, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You looked like you had no idea where you were," the guy replied. "At first, it looked like you were a freshman, but you look too old to be one."

"Oh," Harry said.

"Did you just move here or something?" asked a girl with layered strawberry-blonde hair.

Harry stared. "Yeah, why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Your accent. I mean, you could've lived in America, I guess, but it was possible that you moved, so I asked."

"Uh huh�" Harry was slightly uncomfortable meeting new people, let alone such friendly ones, but he did his best to act like he normally would with people he knew. "I used to live in England."

She smiled. "Cool!"

The redheaded boy smiled as well. "What year are you in?"

"Twelfth. I'm a senior."

"Cool! We are too! I'm Ron. This-" he pointed at the blonde, "-is my girlfriend, Lavender. And this-" he pointed at another redhead, a girl this time, "-is my sister, Ginny."

The girls waved at him. "I'm Harry," he answered back.

Ginny motioned toward the seats. "Sit down. We can, you know, bond and stuff."

"Thanks," Harry smiled, his uneasiness slowly leaving him. He was glad these people were nice to him, but he was still conscious because he didn't know them quite well yet. He took a seat next to Ron, dropping his backpack to the floor.

"So," Harry said, trying to make conversation. He didn't exactly know what to say, but he blurted out the first question that popped in his head, "are you guys twins or something?" He looked at Ron and Ginny.

Ginny giggled. "No way! If we were, Mom would be so pissed!" She paused at Harry's somewhat-confused glance. "Oh, right, you're British, huh? What I meant was, Mom would be so pissed off. We have older twin brothers, and they're a handful already."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling a bit stupid. He was a bit surprised when he found out that Ginny knew that in British, 'pissed' meant 'drunk'. "I just figured, you know, since you guys are in the same year and all that."

"Oh, that," Ron answered. "Well, we're a year apart. I'm one of the oldest seniors, and Ginny's one of the youngest." He shrugged. "It works out, I guess."

"Oh, okay." Harry nodded in understanding.

"What about you, Harry?" Lavender asked. "You have any brothers or sisters?"

He shook his head. "No, but I have a cousin, Dudley, and knowing him, I'm kind of glad I'm an only child."

Everyone smiled. "What school does he go to?" Lavender asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, some public school." He mentally knew he made an American error. "I mean, he goes to a private school. Sorry, I'm still trying to get used to American words."

Ron waved a hand. "Nah, it's okay. We'll probably have to learn British words in order to talk to you anyway."

Harry nodded before looking forward again to watch the group play basketball. He noticed that they were all guys, except for one, who was female.

She was wearing a blue basketball jersey (Harry couldn't read the number on it from here), a white tanktop underneath it (which, for some reason, he could see), and black sweatpants with two white lines on each side. A black and white baseball cap rested backwards on her brown hair, which was straight and pulled in a half-ponytail. What looked like black wristbands were wrapped around both her wrists, matching her black Vans.

The others seemed to notice that he was watching her and the guys play, because Ron said, "They're real athletic, huh?"

He turned towards the group. "Yeah. They're amazing." And he wasn't lying, either.

It looked as if the girl and a blonde boy were playing on one team against the other three, and all of them were doing exceptionally well with the ball. The girl and the blonde looked like they were beating the team of three, since they would be constantly scoring baskets and cheering.

All of them were fast and could shoot from far distances, but it looked like the team of two was much more skilled. All the same, everyone looked as if they were both serious and having fun at the same time.

Ron spoke up again. "Hey, you watching MJ?"

Harry turned towards him again. "Huh?"

He nodded at the group. "MJ. You watching her?"

"Who's MJ?"

"Oh, right," Ron remembered. "MJ's the girl." He noticed Harry's look of confusion. "Her real name's Hermione. See, she's really athletic; she plays practically every sport. She was really into soccer a few years ago and everyone called her Mia, you know, like Mia Hamm, that pro soccer player."

Harry remembered that soccer was also known as football in the UK, so he understood what Ron was talking about. "So anyway, now she's really into basketball, and we call her MJ now, just like Michael Jordan, the pro basketball player. Her middle name's Jane, as everyone knows, so it works out as her initials."

"Uh huh�" Harry understood. "So�what about her were you talking about?"

"Well," Ron said, "you were watching them play, and, I don't know, I figured you were watching MJ. Everyone watches her when they watch those guys play."

"Why?"

"Well," Ginny said, "MJ's really popular, even though she's a total tomboy."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Tomboy?"

"Yeah. She's always hanging around the guys, doing total guy things. Well, there are girls like that, I guess, but when people look at MJ, the first word that usually pops into your mind when you describe her is 'tomboy'. But loads of guys like her, and the girls just can't seem to hate her, except for Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode, that is. Anyway, MJ's real popular with nearly everyone at school."

"How come?" Harry knew there were different reasons why people were popular, so he asked, just in case he had to watch out for her or something.

"Because," Lavender said, "she's perfect."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"What she means is," Ron said, "that MJ's not only athletic, but she's one of the nicest girls at Hogwarts, as well as one of the smartest. She's brave and has money, you know, 'cause her parents are dentists. She's an awesome singer and guitarist in those guys' band (which doesn't have a name yet, by the way). She's also drop-dead gorgeous, even though she never wears makeup or skirts or anything. OW!"

Lavender punched Ron in the ribs. "Hello? I can hear you! I'm your girlfriend, you blockhead!"

"Sorry! Sorry! I love you, alright?" Lavender glared and folded her arms, faking anger. Ginny giggled when she stuck her nose up in the air. "Anyway, like I was saying, I've heard she's also a really good actress."

"You've heard?" Harry asked. "I mean, she sounds like someone who'd let the whole world know everything about her."

Ron shrugged. "Well, yeah, she can brag when she wants to, but she only acts when she's in drama class, and none of us are in it. Even her friends aren't in drama, so only the people who've been in her class know how she acts."

"So they're rumors then?"

Lavender answered, obviously not the slightest bit upset anymore, if she was at all, "Yeah, they're rumors, but you know, it could be true."

Harry smiled. "Well, I'll let you know. I'm in drama for last period, so hopefully she'll be in my class."

Ginny raised a fist in a mock-threatening way. "You better!"

Harry shook his head, smiling. "Whatever."

He turned and watched the scrimmage again, now focusing on MJ. He couldn't see her actual features from here, since she was on the other side of the gym, but he couldn't help but believe Ron when he had said that she was gorgeous. Not that it mattered, in Harry's opinion. The money, either. But they said she was nice and smart too, so she probably wasn't that bad of a girl.

As Harry was thinking these thoughts, something in his mind clicked.

"Um�guys?" he asked, facing his new friends (at least, he hoped they were his friends). They looked back at him, ready to listen. "If MJ's so perfect and everything, she must have a boyfriend, right?"

Ginny shook her head. "Wrong."

"Wrong?"

Lavender nodded. "Yup! She's totally single, and everyone knows it."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "But if so many guys like her, why doesn't she have a boyfriend? Do guys even ask her out?"

"Guys don't ask her out," Ginny said.

"Why not?"

Ron smirked. "Two words: Draco Malfoy."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that Latin or French or something?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but he's also a person. He's been MJ's best friend since�forever, so she calls him 'D' sometimes. I mean, c'mon, who'd want to be called 'Draco Malfoy' all the time?"

"So what's so great about him?" Harry asked, ignoring the useless bit of information.

Ron pointed at the blonde playing basketball with MJ. "See him? That's Malfoy. He's the reason why no one dares to ask MJ out, not even Blaise Zabini, and he's one of their best friends!"

Harry frowned. "How is he the reason why she doesn't have a boyfriend? Because he's her best friend?"

"No. It's because," Ginny answered, "he's crazy about her. He's a tough guy, Harry, and he hates it whenever a guy's with her and he's not there. Except when Blaise, Cedric, and Oliver (those are the other guys playing basketball, by the way, Harry) are alone with her, he just can't stand it when he can't watch over her."

"Why doesn't MJ do anything about it?" Harry asked.

Lavender sighed. "I don't know. She doesn't really notice, and if she does, she pretends she doesn't. Like we said before, she's an actress. Anyway, I think it's mainly because since he's there, the guys lay off her. Everyone knows that she wants to take her love life slow since her last boyfriend, Viktor Krum, cheated on her, and their relationship was really serious. Of course, he transferred to another school after she found out, that pussy."

Ron sighed. "Back on topic, please!"

Lavender slightly flinched for some reason. "Oh, right. Anyway, Malfoy's always hanging on MJ, but only when he has to. You know, he plays the over-protective non-boyfriend. If he sees a guy looking at her funny, he'll put his arm around her or something. He wants her for himself, but she doesn't seem to care that he likes her."

"How come?" Harry asked.

"Because," Ginny said, "she doesn't like him, or at least, that's what rumors say. She doesn't seem to want Malfoy to act like that, but, like Lav said, it gets rid of the guys."

Harry nodded. "Okay, so�does he, you know, snog her or anything?" He realized his mistake and covered up. "I mean, does he make out with her or things like that?"

"Surprisingly and not surprisingly, no," Ron said. "You'd think he'd make moves on her, but even if he does, she always walks away or ignores him. Last year, she finally lost it and blew up at him for hounding her so much. Of course, Malfoy still can't keep away from her. It's like he's drugged or something, but everyone knows for sure that those guys never had each other's tongues down their throats or anything. MJ's not afraid to tell anyone that. She hates how everyone's always so scared that Malfoy's going to pound them or something."

"But," Harry said, "I thought you said she's glad the boys keep away?"

"Well, yeah," Lavender said, "but not all time. I mean, not even she can stand being away from guys for so long. She just wants to be friends with more people, and it's hard with Malfoy always around. I think she signed up for a few different classes than him, just to get away for a bit."

Harry nodded, looking down at his feet. He had no idea what to say anymore, which wasn't a surprise, since he just got loads of information from people he just met. But then again, he was no longer terribly uncomfortable around Ron, Ginny, and Lavender. They were really friendly with him, and they didn't hesitate to fill him in on gossip and such.

"So," he said, changing the subject, "who were those other guys again?"

"Who?" Ginny asked. "MJ's friends?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Well," Lavender said, "there's Blaise Zabini. He's the one wearing that black shirt and green cargoes. See him?" She waited for Harry's nod before continuing. "He likes MJ too, but not as much as most guys. We think it's because he's one of her best friends, so he knows her too well."

Ginny giggled. "Hey, Lav, isn't his hair so adorable?"

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry before looking really peeved about his sister's boy-craziness.

Lavender giggled back. "I know! I've always liked guys with dark hair who bleach the top of it so their roots still show! It's real sexy, especially when they spike it! OW!" She turned to Ron, who had a glare fixed on his face. "What was that for?"

He smirked. "Hello?" he mimicked Lavender, saying nearly the same things she said to him when he was talking about MJ. "I can hear you! I'm your boyfriend, you blockhead!"

She slapped him upside the head. "Shut up, Ron!"

"I'll shut up, but can we please stay on topic?"

Lavender rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Ginny giggled. "Right, now one of the other guys is Oliver Wood. He used to be the captain of the football (Harry noted that it was American football, not the football he was used to) team before he decided he didn't like jocks. He doesn't like MJ, as far as I know, since he's in a real sturdy relationship with Katie Bell, a junior."

"And," Lavender said, "the other guy's Cedric Diggory, and I hear he's really into Cho Chang, another senior, so the girls are keeping away from him. You know, since he's so nice and hot and all-" She paused at her boyfriend's jealous glare. "I mean, girls have kind of gave up on him, ever since he quit the football team. You know, Cedric and MJ and all those guys play every sport, but they hate being totally committed into it, so they just play when they feel like it, rather than playing for the school or a club or something."

"I see�" Harry said. He looked back up to watch MJ and her friends, but he saw that they were grabbing their hand towels from their backpacks, getting ready to head off to class. He looked at his watch, not bothering to look at a wall clock, and saw that they still had a bit more than ten minutes left.

Across the gym, he noticed MJ looking up and spotting them. She said something to her friends, getting a look from Malfoy, and started walking toward Harry and his new friends.

"Hey," Ron said, "it looks like you'll get to meet MJ after all, Harry!"

He nodded mutely. He was going to meet the girl that guys drooled over, the girl who was extremely talented. He was ready, but nervous at the thought of her not being what Ron, Lavender, and Ginny said she was.

"Hey, guys!" MJ waved. After a few more strides, she got into speaking range of the group. "Hey, Ginny, I got something for you this summer!" She walked closer and closer, and as soon as Harry saw her close-up, he already knew that he was going to be one of those guys swooning over her.

"Really?" Ginny squealed. She stood up from her seat, but stood in her place, waiting for MJ to come to her.

Harry saw MJ going through her open backpack awkwardly, since it was to her side and not completely in front of her. She pulled out a yellow jersey, the number eight plastered on the front. She finally reached the group and stopped walking before holding out Ginny's present.

Harry wanted to cover his ears when Ginny shrieked in joy. "Ohmigod, MJ! A Lakers jersey!"

MJ smiled. "Yup! Just for you! I drove down to LA to see their game with D, and I got this for you. I already have my own, anyway."

Ginny was overjoyed. "Wow, MJ!" she cried. "Thanks so much!" She took the jersey and jumped up and down with it. Harry figured that she was the only one out of her, Lavender, and Ron who watched pro basketball, since the other two didn't seem to get the big deal of it all.

MJ laughed at Ginny's excitement. She turned to Lavender and Ron.

"Hey, guys! How was your summer?"

The two muttered their replies, Harry not really paying attention. He noticed they were both suddenly very happy now that MJ was talking to them, even though it sounded as if they were very close friends, despite the fact that they had their own separate cliques.

MJ turned her attention on the new student next to Ron. She seemed to have just noticed Harry, since she had a small look of confusion and interest on her face.

"Hey," she said in a casual, comfortable voice, obviously not as nervous as he was, "I'm MJ. Who're you?"