How hard was it, really, to avoid Draco Malfoy?

Piper was about to find out. 

The boy was everywhere- except the library, for the moment, as she was seeking refuge there at the very moment. If this was the muggle world, she wouldn't have been surprised to find cheap, tacky posters with his face emblazoned on them. As it was, though, Draco didn't need it- his name had carried on the lips of every first-year, his face etched into every student's memory.

The gossip about him hadn't died down, even after a considerably long time from the start of term. It was actually nearing Halloween now, so the fact that Draco had still managed to be the talk of the Slytherin part of the school was quite impressive. 

Piper fingered the page of the library book guiltily. It was nearing Christmas, and she still hadn't made up with Hazel. If she was being honest, she hadn't really considered doing it at all. It was just a stupid friendship on a stupid train and now they were in different houses and the possibility of actually becoming good friends was slim to none. 

'Fancy seeing you here,' said a voice behind her. 'Never really pegged you for the reading type.'

A blonde-haired girl decked out in blue-and-bronze robes sidled into the seat next to Piper. Her smile was still as frosty as ice, but her voice seemed to be slightly less cutting, less reality-jarring. 

'What's that supposed to mean?' shot back Piper immediately. She didn't have the patience to put up with Annabeth's cryptic, snarky attitude at the moment. Also, she was sick of being assumed that just because she was a pretty face, she would avoid 'nerdy girl things' like reading. Annabeth was undeniably pretty, and yet no one gave her that kind of attitude. 

Well, that was probably because Annabeth usually intimidated them too much to actually get a word out in edgewise, but still. 

'Nothing,' waved off Annabeth airily. Then, she suddenly burst into fits of laughter. 'Merlin, Piper, you're so easy to tick off. The slightest comment about my observation of you and you throw a fit.'

Taken aback, Piper mentally reviewed what Annabeth had remarked about her. Taken the right way, it really wouldn't have seemed like much of an insult at all- a mere observation, just like the blonde had said. 'Sorry,' she apologised. 'I just get used to people judging me before they've even gotten to know me. I thought you were implying something else.'

Now, if only she could apologise in such a heartfelt way to Hazel. 

Annabeth's face darkened. 'Trust me, you're not the only one.' A tiny huff of frustration escaped her incredibly rose-pink lips- too pink to be true, although Piper was certain that Annabeth had never so much as touched a tube of lipstick in her life. She just didn't seem like that kind of girl. 

They sat in silence for a few moments, during which Piper only pretended to read her book- it was about dragons, but somehow the author could make even those majestic creatures seem mind-numbingly boring. Meanwhile, Annabeth was growing increasingly more agitated, flipping through pages quicker than even she could possibly read them. Her eyes settled on the page for a second before she could mutter, 'No, not this one,' and move on. When she got to the end of the book at the rate she was flipping, she sighed heavily and shook her head, saying, 'It wasn't even the right book.'

Before Piper could ask what she was looking for, someone interrupted what she had been about to say.

'Annabeth! There you are, I was looking for you!' a male voice called excitedly. 

The boy who rushed over was also shockingly blond, with electric blue eyes that Piper swore were sparking, white-hot, and the most adorable grin as he held up a book. 'Annabeth, didn't you say you were looking for this just yesterday? Well, I found it! And- oh, who's your new friend here?'

Annabeth's startlingly stormy-grey eyes fluttered open, and Piper realised that they had been closed- for whatever reason, she couldn't be sure. It didn't seem like she would close her eyes while reading, but Annabeth had had a frustrated, conflicted expression on her face while she'd been rubbing her temples. 

However, all that vanished as the boy came bouncing over. Piper smiled at his enthusiasm, and to her surprise, she found that she recognised him. It was the boy that Annabeth had been talking to at the feast after the Sorting. He'd seemed particularly reserved then- perhaps he only got this excited when around books. 

'Jason Skylark- Piper Black. Piper- Jason. Jason and I met at the feast and we found ourselves getting along rather well,' introduced Annabeth.

'That's her way of saying you're her friend,' Piper explained to Jason, who laughed. 'Anyway, you guys are lucky. I met Draco Malfoy at the feast and he's taken every opportunity to belittle me at every cost. Can you believe, he actually got his hair dirty for trying to cast an experimental spell on his goons that he was going to do on me- and it backfired! So far, I'm impressed by his dedication to bully me.' 

Jason was silently laughing so hard, he was doubled over. 'You're- you're really funny, Piper,' he complimented her. 

Piper felt herself faintly blushing. 'Thanks, Jason.' All her life, all the compliments she had received were just about her beauty. To have someone pick up on the girl beneath it all- it really meant a lot to her.

'Well, anyway, this has been fun and games, but Jason, if you don't mind, I'd really like to see that book now,' interrupted Annabeth, although Piper noticed that it was about the same soft, warm tone she'd used with Percy. The only difference was that she'd probably talked to Percy like that from the start, whereas Jason probably had to work to be her friend to get that kind of subtle treatment. 

Somehow, she was comforted by this knowledge. 

'Oh- sure,' Jason said, still grinning. He gave a thick book that was in his hands to Annabeth, who immediately started flipping pages frantically. Jason exchanged a look with Piper, who giggled and grinned back at him. 

As Annabeth got to a section in the book, she abruptly stopped. There was a horrified expression on her face- but it stayed there only for a second. Then she slammed it shut loudly, earning a well-deserved 'shhhh' from Madame Pince.

'Thank you, Jason,' said Annabeth. Her voice was devoid of any emotion, and so was her face. It was like they'd been stretched back into that expressionless manner that Piper had first seen on the train, unable to function or spurt out any other emotion to mask what she was really thinking inside. If Percy had been around, then maybe he could have guessed what was going on- but Piper and Jason were absolutely stumped as to what had made Annabeth react this way. 'I appreciate you getting this for me.'

Then she got up suddenly and left with the book Jason had given her in her hand.

'What was she looking for?' asked Piper curiously, getting up from her seat. She noticed that she was almost as tall as Jason, and surveyed him inquisitively. His robes were impeccably neat, his blond hair perfectly styled with a glossy sheen to it, his cuticles exactly cut, and his whole appearance had that kind of put-together feeling about them. He was the kind of person Piper would expect to be working in a high-end business profession in the muggle world. 

'A book about genealogy, I think,' answered Jason, still quite puzzled. He shrugged. 'She's been on edge for weeks about that book and I thought I'd help her out, I guess. Wizards are crazy about their bloodline and stuff.'

'Are you?' asked Piper inquisitively. She wondered, briefly, whether Jason was like the Malfoys or her family- the pure-blood bigots or the ones who hid behind a mask every time they gathered with their kin to blend in properly. 

To her surprise, Jason's face darkened. 'I'd like to think not,' he muttered under his breath, but Piper still caught it. He made a tremendous effort to smile back at her, as if he could disguise what he had said with a cheerful face. 'I'm a half-blood,' he stated with such finality that Piper couldn't bring herself to probe more, even if she was dying to know why Jason was so touchy about the subject. 

'Well, that's cool,' offered Piper. 

'Says the pure-blood,' retorted Jason, but he had an edge of humour to his voice. 'Well? What are we waiting for?'

'...Um, what are we waiting for?'

'To open the book she threw away!' said Jason, as if it were obvious.

He was right- as she was leaving, Annabeth had angrily thrust the book Jason had given her onto one of the nearby shelves with such force that she had rumpled a few pages. The book was squeaking, annoyed.

'Oh,' realised Piper, embarrassed. She rushed over to the shelf, Jason hot on her heels, and soothingly patted the book, who was too enraged to let her open its pages. 'It's alright,' she said, not being able to believe that book-loving Annabeth would commit such a heinous crime to a mere book. 

The book relaxed after a few more soothing pats and let her turn the pages. The problem was, she had no idea which page had made Annabeth react so violently.

Jason seemed to have sensed the problem as well, but instead of dithering around like Piper was, he merely asked the book, 'Which page did the blonde girl turn you to?' he asked politely. 

'Page seven hundred and seventy-eight,' the book whined. 'And now it's all crumpled!'

'Perks of having a magical book,' Jason winked at Piper before turning to the crumpled page. 'Just ask it to do whatever you want. Really, though, I thought you of all people would have known.'

'I don't really spend much time in the magical world despite my blood,' rejoined Piper, shrugging.

Jason had finally reached the page Annabeth had freaked out about. His electric blue eyes briefly scanned the page- and he audibly gasped out loud. His hands were shaking, as if he couldn't believe what was right in front of his eyes. 'No way,' he gasped. 'No way.' 

'What?' demanded Piper eagerly, putting a hand on the page. Jason's warm, soft hand guided hers to a name on the page, and only then did she realise that it was a family tree they were looking at.

Frederick Ravenclaw- married to Athena Ravenclaw (affair with Matthew Pace, love child Malcolm Pace)

'No way,' gasped Piper. 'Do you... do you think Annabeth knew?'

'I don't think Annabeth knew,' said Jason slowly. 'I know she did. That girl is creepily informed when it comes to dirty little secrets. It just probably came as a shock to her when she found that it was written here.'

'That's twisted,' breathed Piper. 'I can't even imagine myself in that scenario, knowing... that's one twisted family tree.' 

However, she let out a shaky breath, because she actually could imagine that very well. To distract herself, she looked at the page once more and noticed something. 'Look,' she pointed. On the corner of the page, there was an almost invisible incendio spell written in invisible ink. It was slightly burnt and charred, though, and still smoking faintly. There was also an unbelievably huge ink spot on three of the names, which Piper found oddly suspicious.

The book whined again. 'Someone tried to burn me up! And when they couldn't, they poured Everlasting Ink on me!'

'I'm not blind, you know,' said Piper, 'I can see that. But it couldn't have been Annabeth. There's no way a first-year could use written spells to do magic, not even her. Maybe it was Malcolm?'

'No,' said the book immediately, as if determined to be of some help. 'It was a girl. A girl with blue eyes and brown hair.'

Jason turned to Piper, recognition slowly sparking in his handsome eyes. 'That sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it? I feel like I've seen someone like her before...'

'I certainly haven't,' countered Piper, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 'I haven't seen a single girl with blue eyes and brown hair in this school at all. You tell me when you see her, then.' Her eyes sparked with a burning challenge, as if determined to show Jason the fieriest (yes, that's a word) aspects of her personality. 

'Just because you haven't seen her doesn't mean she doesn't exist, Piper-' 

'Her.' The voice came from the book with such certainty that, without even looking at the girl the book was referring to, both Piper and Jason knew absolutely that she was the one. Their heads both simultaneously turned to scrutinise a girl behind a bookshelf, casually picking out another book.

The girl in question had the glossiest brown hair in ringlets that Piper had ever seen, and Piper was a model working with some of the world's most famous makeup artists. Her eyes were even bluer than Jason's- they were an unnervingly royal blue colour that put even Percy's beautiful eyes to shame.

The only thing that mattered, however, was that she was wearing Ravenclaw robes of a shiny blue-and-bronze. 

'That's why she seems familiar!' Jason exclaimed, smacking his forehead with the bottom of his palm. 'I've seen her lurking in the Ravenclaw common room! I can't believe I don't remember her!'

'Keep your voice down,' hissed Piper immediately, and without glancing back she slowly crept up to the girl, fluidly passing the book into Jason's hands as she walked in front of him, 'and follow me.' 

After they followed the girl for a few steps, Piper pulled Jason behind a bookshelf inconspicuously. 'It'll look suspicious if we keep following her from behind. We have to go in front from here, so that it won't even enter her mind to peg us as people she doesn't want attention from.'

'You're scarily good at this, Pipes,' laughed Jason nervously. 'No wonder you got sorted into Slytherin.'

That statement actually made her pause for a brief moment before regaining herself and moving on. Do I really belong in Slytherin? wondered Piper. I lost a friend because of that, though...

'Pipes?' enquired Piper, smiling a little at Jason's new nickname for her. She had to admit, it was sort of endearing, between friends. 

'I don't know, it just sounds right. If you don't like it, then I can stop... um...' excused Jason, his cheeks a faint red. Luckily, Piper made no move to turn around as he said this, only continued walking further ahead. He found himself staring at her naturally coarse, distinctively dark brown locks flowing behind her back. 

'It's cute, Jason,' smiled Piper, as she knocked down a book in the name of espionage from a random shelf, placing it directly in the girl's path. 

Sure enough, just as the duo disappeared behind a corner, the girl tripped over the book on the floor and the book she had previously been holding was now splayed out on the floor. It was a textbook, and the front was open. 

This is the property of Helena Ravenclaw, the cover page read. 

'Helena Ravenclaw,' Piper whispered to Jason. 'Heard of her? She might be one of Annabeth's relatives.'

A look of understanding slowly dawned upon Jason's face. 'This is better than I thought,' he said, smiling in such a way that it made Piper feel quite thrilled and slightly scared- which was probably how she made him feel most of the time. 

Jason opened the book and spoke softly next to it. 'Show me Helena Ravenclaw,' he said. 

The book stayed on the same page, unmoving. At first, Piper didn't get why Jason was grinning so strangely, but then she realised.

'She's one of the indelibly inked out names,' realised Piper. 'This is better than we thought.' 

'Exactly,' grinned Jason proudly, sharing a look with her.

Update! Finally! Basically, I'm just going to say it. I have no idea how to spice up the story because if there wasn't a self-inserted mystery, this would just be the Seven waiting around for Harry to get himself killed by a troll or Voldemort/Quirrell. I did not anticipate this challenge of getting the characters to know each other- I mean, would the Golden Trio really invite the Seven to their adventures if they'd never had a conversation with each other first?

So basically, my mission is to get the Seven be familiar with each other, and then let them make friends with the Golden Trio. Otherwise, it would just be unrealistic. So please bear with me as I try to introduce side mysteries to get all the characters close to each other first!

Love always,

Bella