Last year, Harry would have told anyone who asked what his worse subject was that it was definitely potions. Between Malfoy sabotaging his potions and Snape's continuous sarcasm, Harry found it very difficult to concentrate on the subject, much less do well in it. Such was not going to be the case this year, however. Harry had a full six months working one on one with his father, relearning all the Potion Master's exacting procedures and memorizing the formulas for dozens of potions. He was now confident he knew the material and he no longer feared his professor's snarky tongue, especially after Severus's reassurance the night before.

Much to Ron and Hermione's shock, Harry was actually looking forward to his first potions lesson of the term. After bringing an excited Rosie over to Hagrid's to play with Fang, Harry hurried back to the castle and headed straight to the dungeons, where he entered Snape's classroom with his two friends and sat down at his usual lab table.

Soon after the Gryffindors had come in, the Slytherins entered, joking loudly and arguing good naturedly among themselves. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were arguing with Blaise Zabini over a Quidditch move and Millicent Bulstrode was discussing some kind of new beauty potion with her friend Pansy Parkinson. Harry looked up when the last Slytherin entered the classroom.

It was Aria, who had managed to get showered and changed just in time to eat breakfast and then race off to class. She took a seat at an unoccupied table on the Slytherin side of the room and darted a furtive look across the room.

Harry had looked up just as she peered at him and their eyes met.

Green eyes locked with amber ones and something unexpected passed between them.

It was and yet was not quite . . .recognition.

Aria felt something deep within her respond to Harry's innocent green-eyed gaze, heard it whisper in the back of her head, I know you, have always known you, long ago.

Yes, and I know you, replied Harry's subconscious.

An instant later the odd connection vanished, leaving the two teens blinking and wondering what the hell had just happened. Awkwardly, Aria glanced away, and saw Draco Malfoy glaring malevolently at Harry.

"What are you looking at, Potter?" demanded the blond boy.

"None of your business, Malfoy," growled Harry. "And it's not Potter, it's Snape."

"You can call yourself that all you want, but to us you'll always be Potter," Malfoy growled. "Now keep your eyes where they belong, on the ugly Gryffindor chicks."

Harry flushed and half-rose, ready to give Malfoy a piece of his mind.

But Aria beat him to it.

"Mind your own business, Malfoy," she snapped. "You don't tell me what to do, you're not my brother. I can look at whoever I damn well please."

"Not Gryffindor trash. Don't you have any pride, Lupin?" scolded Malfoy.

"Harry's not trash, you arrogant prat!" shouted Ron. "Why I oughta-"

Before Ron could say anything further, Professor Snape swept into the room and the petty quarreling ceased immediately. The strict teacher did not tolerate disputes in his classroom, not even from members of his own House.

The professor pointed his wand at the blackboard and the instructions for a new potion wrote themselves on the board. Before the students could do so much as take out a quill, Severus spoke.

"Before all of you attempt this potion, I want you to pair up with a partner. And not your usual one either. Today you will be partnering a student from an opposite House."

Groans of dismay and shock filled the room.

Severus sent all of them a scowl. "Well, what are you all standing around like statues for? Pair up! Quickly! Anyone not finished with their potion before the end of the period will receive a zero for the day and have to write a makeup essay as well."

Thus warned, the students reluctantly paired up.

Malfoy glared daggers when Harry rose from his chair and made his way cautiously over to Aria. The nerve of the bloody Gryffindor!

"Hi. I'm Harry," said Harry, rather awkwardly.

"Aria. You're the professor's son, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but most of the students didn't know that until a day ago."

"Oh?" Aria tilted her head questioningly.

"I was hidden away as a baby for protection," Harry explained. "It's a long story and I can't tell it now, else my dad will be on my arse."

Aria smirked in amusement. "Later then." She began to copy down the ingredients on the board while Harry set up the instruments.

That lesson they were making a Memory Enhancing Draft, and Aria gathered the major ingredients after she'd finished copying the notes on the board. She handed Harry some sprigs of rosemary to grind while she measured out some grape seed oil. Most of the ingredients in this particular draft were plants and herbs, the only magical enhancer was a small scattering of dragon talon to serve as a binder.

While he mashed herbs in the mortar, Harry asked Aria about where she had lived before coming to Hogwarts. "Did you live in the US? Because you have a slight Southern accent."

Aria's eyes twinkled. "Yeah, I did until I was eight. I lived with my grandmother in New Orleans, Louisiana. After she died, my dad and I moved all over, he was a researcher and a photographer for Magical Beastiary, that's a magical creatures journal. For the last four years though, I've lived in South America, mostly Peru and Brazil, while my dad studied species native to the Amazon rain forest."

"Are there a lot of them? I lived in the States too, for six months, in New Jersey," Harry began, forgetting to concentrate on his potion-making, he was so excited he was actually having a conversation with the pretty girl.

Severus was watching the pairs like a hawk, and he swooped down upon them like a streak of lightning. "Less chatter and more work, Mr. Snape!" he snapped. "Now get to work before I take ten points!"

Harry flushed, wanting to die at being the recipient of a scolding in front of Aria. "Yes sir. Sorry, sir." He quickly returned to grinding the rosemary sprigs.

Severus scowled at their potion in disapproval. "I expect this to be done by the end of the period, if you can manage to remember this is potions class not social hour."

"Yes sir," Aria responded swiftly, knowing he was right to yell at them. She knew better than to discuss personal history in magical lessons. What a way to make an impression, Lupin! She berated herself mentally. Then she returned to stirring the cauldron, ten times clockwise and one counterclockwise.

Severus hid a smile at the way the two jumped to after his reprimand. Guess he hadn't lost his touch after all, even after a six month hiatus. Then he swept off to examine Malfoy and Granger's potion, his cloak billowing like the wings of a night haunt.

"See what I mean?" Harry hissed to his partner after making sure the Potions Master was not looking over at them.

Aria had a slight flush on her cheeks as well. "He's right though. We could've screwed this up by not paying attention." She turned back to her potions manual and they finished making the draft in companionable silence.

At the end of the period, they bottled their samples and brought them up to Snape's desk for him to grade. Then Aria cleaned up their work station with a wave of her hand, eliciting whispers and gasps from the other students, all except for Harry, who already knew that wizards trained in America used wandless magic exclusively.

"She can do wandless magic!" whispered Ron to Hermione. "That's really something. Even you can't do that yet, Hermione."

"Well, I've never tried," said Hermione stiffly, not at all pleased the newcomer could master magic she couldn't. She picked up her bookbag and sailed out of the classroom.

Ron eyed her speculatively. "Looks like someone's got her skirt in a twist," he muttered to Harry as they walked down the hallway.

"Huh?" Harry wasn't paying attention to Ron, he'd been too busy trying to figure out where he could meet Aria again. He wished he'd asked her what her schedule was.

"Hermione, mate!" Ron repeated.

"What about her?"

"I think she's a tad jealous of that new girl, Lupin's niece, ‘cause she can do wandless magic and Hermione can't."

"Her name's Aria, Ron. And she knows wandless magic because that's all they practice in the States. I've even learned some, from Neil."

"Really? Is it hard?"

"Umm . . .yeah, until you learn the right way to focus. It takes getting used to, but it's ten times quicker than using a wand."

"What can you do with it?"

"Quite a bit," admitted his friend, not wanting to tell Ron that he'd learned several combat spells and hexes.

"Would you-I mean-do you think I could learn a bit of it?"

Harry nodded. "I don't see why not. If I've got time after supper, I'll show you some."

Ron smiled. "Great! Now it's off to Divination and just wait till you hear what batty Trelawney predicts in her tea leaves today."

Harry followed Ron up the stairs to Trelawney's tower retreat, only then noticing Hermione wasn't with them. "Where's Hermione?"

"She doesn't have Divination, thinks it's a waste of time. She took Ancient Runes instead," Ron informed him. "She might be right, but I'm going to keep this class, it's the only one you can get away with making up assignments and sleeping almost every class. You'll see." Then he pushed open the door to the Divination teacher's classroom and went inside.