As she boarded the train she looked back on her mother and father, who lovingly waved their support. Her brother placed a comforting arm around her and she looked into his pointed face, lovingly twisted into a soothing smirk, his pale blonde hair smoothed back from his forehead. She smiled and walked the rest of the way onto the train.

"Let's find our way to a compartment," Draco said. As she and Draco searched for a compartment, she saw upperclassmen performing spells and she coveted their knowledge. She couldn't wait to learn everything she could. Draco soon found a compartment for them and they entered it.

Two boys sat together, discussing what house they wanted to be in. Their heads snapped up when the doors opened, and grinned at Draco. "Can we sit here?" Draco inquired.

"You can," said Vincent Crabbe. "But she can't," added Gregory Goyle. Draco looked at them pleadingly.

"Come on guys," Draco cajoled.

"It's ok Draco, I'll find somewhere else to sit," she said gently. And with that she left the compartment. Soon she found another one with just a red-headed boy and another one with jet-black hair.

"Can I sit here? It's the only one that's not so full," she asked. "Sure," they answered jovially.

She sat down and turned a curious eye on them. The red-headed boy was a bit stocky with a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His clothes looked second-hand, but that wasn't so bad. The black haired boy was lean and taller than the other, and quite frankly looked a little starved. He wore extremely round glasses and seemed to have broken them many times since there was tape holding them together. His clothes looked secondhand as well.

"So, what's your name?" the boy with freckles asked.

"Katherine. Katherine Malfoy. I'm adopted though."

"So am I, kind of," said the black-haired boy eagerly. "At least, my parents died and my aunt and uncle took me in."

"That's what happened to me, but the Malfoy's aren't my family at all. But they have been parents to me since I was small. About one year old," replied Katherine. "What are your names?"

"I'm Harry Potter and he's Ron Weasley," said the newly named Harry.

"You're Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived?" Katherine asked in awe.

"I guess so," replied the boy a little uneasily. "Let's talk about something else."

"Alright, what house do you want to be in?" Katherine asked.

"Gryffindor!" replied Ron brightly. "Me too," chirped Harry. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure," said Katherine vaguely. "I'm just excited to go to Hogwarts."

They talked in this vein until they had reached the famed castle.

-000-

Filled from the fabulous feast, Katherine threw another forlorn look to her brother who was sitting at the Slytherin table. Flanking him were Crabbe and Goyle who were giving her smirks of amusement, as if being in Gryffindor was something to laugh at her for. She held her head high and followed the Head Boy to the dormitories. The red and gold hangings were cheery to Katherine, who wasn't in such a good mood after having been separated from her brother. But the appearance of one Hermione Granger had lifted her spirits because of her vast knowledge of the castle that she had only been in for a few hours.

Harry and Ron didn't seem too keen on her, and she on them, but they all sat together because of their mutual like for Katherine. She was vibrant, despite having grown up in such a dreary household and loved to talk. She noted that a child talking in her house was frowned upon most of the time, and that they were very strict but loving parents.

"They can be a tad racist though," she interjected delicately, like the matter was too tainted and filled with hatred for her innocent and accepting state of mind. "They always tell me that I'm just like my mother and father, but never tell me who they are," she frowned mournfully. But she perked right back up when they began to talk about other things, showing that the only thing that her childhood had been haunted by was not knowing her true mother and father.

Reclining cozily in her bed, she thought about the day ahead of her and wished that it would just come already.

-000-

Minerva McGonagall swept through the Great Hall and found the student she had been looking for. Albus had told her that she looked like him, but she didn't know it would be so strikingly similar. It was like having him as a student again. She brushed off the old feeling that was settling on her shoulders and walked up to the young girl.

"Miss Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office after breakfast," Minerva said briskly.

"Of course, Professor…?" the girl bit down on her lip to try and remember her name. Bless her, the poor thing.

"McGonagall. Professor McGonagall," Minerva came back with.

"Thank you," the girl gushed. Merlin this was going to be a hard year.

-000-

Draco caught her before she got to Dumbledore's office.

"Hey. I noticed how you were getting buddy-buddy with Potter, Weasley and the mudblood. Don't do that. Befriend someone worthy of your attention. Like Crabbe or Goyle," Draco told Katherine.

"If you noticed me becoming friends with them Draco, then you must have noticed that Crabbe and Goyle weren't so forthcoming with friendship," Katherine retorted. "I don't have time for this. I need to get to Dumbledore's office."

"Alright, whatever YOU want. Just think about what I said. And I WILL be writing Mother and Father about this."

"Go ahead," said Katherine angrily as she spun on her heel. Really, she loved her brother, but he could be so infuriating.

-000-

Katherine hesitantly placed a closed fist near the door, unsure if she should knock. The Headmaster seemed imposing at best and the Potions Master even more so. She finally decided to knock and the Headmaster said, "Enter."

Looking around the room she saw things that she could tell were his own invention because she had never seen them before. And other gadgets that she wanted to try out for herself, to see how they were used.

"Sit please." The Headmaster gestured towards a large chair that had claws for feet. Katherine wasn't intimidated by this, only amused because it reminded her of the furniture she had in her own opulent home. She sat down primly, the way her mother had taught her to do. He gazed at her over his half-moon spectacles and smiled at her.

"So you are the Malfoys' daughter?" he queried. "Yes sir, but only by adoption," Katherine dutifully replied.

"Do you know who your birth parents are?"

"No."

"Then you may go. Have a nice year here at Hogwarts."

And with that, he lightly pushed her protesting self out of the room and shut the door on her.

-000-

Looking back on that morning, it was probably one of the strangest in her life. But not near as strange as the night that she and Harry saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets.

With the help of Hermione, they had just found their way to the Chamber of Secrets and Lockhart followed. When Gilderoy tried to wipe their memories, it backfired, sending him crashing against the wall. Harry and Katherine were separated from Ron and Lockhart. Useless though he was it was comforting to know that there was a teacher with them. Harry and Katherine pressed on.

When they reached the Chamber, they ran to Ginny who lay prostrate on the ground, checking for a pulse, for heat in her hands, anything that would indicate that she was still alive. A figure appeared out of nowhere. Harry looked up and recognized him immediately.

"Riddle," he breathed. "Riddle, you've got to save her!"

The boy named Riddle just took his wand and quietly explained to Harry that his name was an anagram for "I am Lord Voldemort". Then he looked at her. Because Harry was his main target, he didn't notice Katherine until now.

"You. What is your name and status?"

"I'm Katherine Malfoy. And I don't know my status. I was adopted by the Malfoy's," Katherine murmured in reply.

With a small wave of his wand, Katherine found herself imprisoned in a small cage that she could hardly move around in. Another small flick and the basilisk came pouring out of Salazar Slytherin's mouth.

"Kill the boy," she could hear him clearly speak.

"No!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping Harry could be saved by sheer power of will."Why don't you kill me too, why only Harry?"

"Because you are too valuable to lose. Do not question Lord Voldemort."

The entire time Harry was fighting for his life, Riddle, really Lord Voldemort talked to her. "We are so alike you know," he mused. "More alike than you could ever guess."

That statement should have tipped her off, but she was too young to understand. Now she understood how stupid and blind she had been.

-000-

A man had come up behind me and grabbed me roughly, placing a hand over my mouth so that I couldn't scream. We struggled for a few minutes, and then everything went black.

-000-

I was laying in a graveyard, unaware of where I was. I got up and looked around. A statue of a Grim Reaper towered over me and I shivered. This dank, dark place was an ominous blur of horrifying sights. A bright light flashed and Cedric Diggory and Harry appeared. I saw them and called out. They turned to me and Harry's face was flooded with horror. I instantly knew something was wrong. Typically I asked.

"Harry, what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Cedric, Katherine, we have to get out of here. Now!" Harry urged.

Suddenly a man appeared from the mist and a flash of green light erupted from the end of his wand. The light hit Cedric square in the chest and I knew he was lost to us. "Cedric!" I moaned. How could Cedric die?

My mind raced with thoughts of escape. I watched in silent horror as Harry was lifted onto the Grim Reaper and fastened there with his scythe. I saw his blood be taken and a man dump a baby into a cauldron, adding Harry's blood and his own flesh. I saw a fantastical beast rise from the cauldron. And that's where my story begins.