I had always been confident of my place in the world. For six years, my closest friends and I had made a name for ourselves as the most infamous group in the entire school. Though, I can hardly say that it never came without some degree of fear.
We were the ones who students dashed out of the way for in the corridors, for fear of being blasted by a curse. Who the younger kids offered to do homework for, in hopes that they too may be seen as worthy enough to become one of us.
We broke all the rules, and we didn't care who knew it. Our lust for control drove us to delve into the darker and more secretive side of magic that we all knew held the power that we so badly craved.
Bullies, some called us.
But in our eyes, that's not what we were at all. We were the ones with the purest of magical blood running through our veins. The only ones who were truly supposed to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the noble Salazar Slytherin had wanted centuries before we were born.
Pure-bloods - The royalty of the magical world. Therefore, it was our right.
Many of the Pure-blood families, though there are now so few, believed in Pure-blood dominance. My one shame was that I didn't belong to one of those families.
My own family - descendants of the celebrated Spanish philosopher, Gervasio Cortez - though they are Pure-blooded themselves, had never been too fussed with the topic of blood status. To them, Witches, Wizards and Muggles alike, were all equals.
They are what we called blood traitors - no better than the disgraceful Muggle-borns themselves. Only myself, Alexandra Cortez, having been sorted into the House of Salazar Slytherin, and taking on the belief that Pure-bloods are indeed superior, had become the one exception within the Cortez family.
That was what I believed for so long.
It was our last year at Hogwarts, and being part of one of the most prominent groups at, I expected we would have the entire school in the palm of our hands. I had no idea then how wrong I really was. As my friends were one by one corrupted by the whispers of a rising terror, I found my world turned upside down.
Soon, I would be forced to make the terrible decision between sticking by the ones I loved, or fighting for what I believed was right.
I stood on the Platform marked 9 ¾ at Kings Cross station, impatiently awaiting to board the old, scarlet steam engine – The Hogwarts Express.
Thick clouds of pearl-white smoke billowed around the steel frame of the giant, metal beast and I pulled my trunk behind me up and onto the train, my shoes clicking loudly against the metal grate and then turning into a duller thud as I traipsed onto the carpeted floor of an empty compartment.
I shoved my trunk forcefully into one of the overhead luggage compartments , thoroughly pissed off at having to drag it along behind me all this way, and sunk down into a scarlet cushioned seat with a sigh of relief.
A mere minute later, an equally irritated-looking girl with loose curls of raven-black hair, dropped into the seat across from me and let out a small groan of displeasure. I watched with a growing annoyance as she flicked her wand lazily between her fingers, making the compartment door open and close with a loud thud.
When she began to thump her foot against the side of the seat, I clicked my tongue impatiently.
"Bella, you do realise how annoying that is, right?" I sighed heavily and scooted along the seat a fraction, before stretching my legs out and resting my feet – which were clad in a rather stunning, however non-curricular, pair of black, Italian-leather pumps – on the seat opposite me.
"I'm just so bored," The raven-haired girl complained in her odd, high-pitched voice. "This heap of junk always takes forever to get going." She let the compartment door slide closed with a loud thump and proceeded instead to twist a long strand of hair around her thin fingers.
"Patience is a virtue, perhaps you should learn it sometime," I drawled lazily, earning a swift kick in the knee, which I gracefully ignored. "Besides, you wouldn't want to leave without your lovely boyfriend, would you? You know how incapable he is at getting anywhere on time."
Bellatrix's thin lips twisted into a knowing smirk, "Unless a Quidditch Pitch is involved, of course."
I couldn't help but let my mouth curve upwards into an agreeing smile as I reached back to fix the loose ponytail that my dark hair was currently falling out of. A second later, my head jerked up at the sound of the compartment door being pushed aside roughly.
"Knew you'd be here already," Evan Rosier greeted the pair of us with his usual, bright smile. It amused me to see he had to duck his head a little to enter the doorway to the small compartment.
He had grown so much this past year.
I watched with a small stab of envy as effortlessly, he stashed his trunk in the overhead compartment before falling into the seat beside me, brushing his sandy-blonde hair back off his face and stretching his long legs out in front of him.
He threw me a handsome grin, and I elbowed him playfully in return. I had always thought that Evan Rosier could quite easily be the most sought-after guy at Hogwarts. His piercing, sapphire eyes coupled with his athletic physique were enough to make most girls go weak at the knees.
The only problem – he's a Slytherin.
"Tardiness will not be tolerated." I wagged a finger at him in a, rather unconvincing, impression of our Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. Evan chuckled lowly, pushing my hand away and rolling his eyes routinely.
It was a rare thing to hear Evan laugh, unless you were in his company of friends. Outside of that, he usually had more of an intimidating scowl plastered on his face. Laughter suited him much more, I thought.
I remembered the Charms class where I had first met Evan in our First Year. It was our first day of classes, and although I was excited, I couldn't hold down the nervousness that was settling in my stomach. Evan had taken it upon himself to steal the seat beside mine, and he decided then that we would be friends, much to my surprise.
He was quick-witted and bright, and he spent the whole lesson making me laugh while simultaneously getting on Bellatrix's nerves, which amused me even more.
Rodolphus Lestrange, who had bustled into the compartment soon after Evan, took the window seat beside Bellatrix, slinging a casual arm around her petite shoulders and inclining his head to me in greeting. Bellatrix, who hadn't seen Rodolphus for the past couple of days was visibly trying her hardest not to jump up and down in her seat.
"Rod, I've missed you!" she cooed – fussing herself with Rodolphus' shaggy, chestnut-brown hair, which he obviously hadn't bothered to comb that morning as it was sticking out in every direction.
He uttered a small groan of displeasure before sinking down into his seat a little more and letting his eyes close shut.
Rodolphus had always been a rather laid-back, go with the flow guy. Quidditch, food, and Bellatrix were pretty much his whole life. In fact, I'm pretty certain that if any these things didn't exist, he would never have come to Hogwarts for his seventh year at all.
He wasn't all that fussed with academics. Not that he didn't do well in his classes – there was always some over-eager fifth year hanging around to help with that.
I heard Evan snicker quietly at the scene. He was always giving Rodolphus a hard time about how Bellatrix fussed about him so much, he found it nothing short of hilarious.
Rodolphus, on the other hand, did not.
Evans eyes caught mine briefly, and at that moment, neither of us could help but burst out laughing. Rodolphus' glared at the pair of us darkly, through eyes the colour of amber.
"What are you laughing at?" Bellatrix demanded as she whipped around in her seat, her own dark eyes piercing.
"Nothing," Evan replied smoothly, barely managing to wipe the grin of his face and tilted his chin upwards in feigned indifference.
"Please, carry on."
This answer apparently suited Bellatrix, who turned her attention right back to Rodolphus and his less then suitable appearance.
Sometime during the commotion, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy were the last to enter the compartment. Severus firmly nudged my feet off the seat they were resting on and sat himself down across from me, pulling an old, shabby grey coat around him tightly.
"Oh, I've missed you Sev!" I gushed, mocking Bellatrix's earlier outburst. Bellatrix, who was still too occupied with Rodolphus' hair – which evidently could not be tamed – thankfully hadn't noticed.
She would have been in a sour mood with me the entire trip back to Hogwarts if she had.
Severus let out only a small murmur in response, but I could spot the makings of a suppressed grin peeking out from behind his black curtain of hair.
"I saw that smile, Sev, I know you missed me," I teased, while nudging his knee gently with my foot, to which he protested by swatting it away lightly.
He pushed his dark hair away from his black eyes and examined me, over his long nose.
"My summer certainly was dull without you, Alex, I'll tell you that much," He answered, before rummaging around in an old, beat up leather bag that was propped on the seat beside him.
He pulled a thick, leather bound book out of the bag – who's cover was so worn with use that the title was no longer visible.
I, however, had an inkling of what he might be reading, and I shook my head in amusement.
Severus had always had an open fascination with the Dark Arts, much to the concern of some of our Professors. He had never been much of a talker, but he was an exceptionally bright guy.
I smiled to myself as I thought of how Severus and I had first become friends. He had kind of fallen into our group by accident, I suppose. In our first year, when the awe of Hogwarts had worn off and the new students had made their friends and stuck to them, Severus was still the outcast.
One day, Evan and I had come across Severus being teased by a couple of older Gryffindor students in the second floor corridors. They were making fun of him for his second hand robes and shooting Stinging Curses at his feet.
We didn't know much about the guy, but he was one of our own House, and after we were finished with those moronic Gryffindors, they couldn't hear for a week after that.
Since then, Severus had always been one of my favourite people in the whole world. I admired his individuality, and the way he didn't care about what people thought of him – most unlike all the other Slytherins we were surrounded by, who would give their left leg to become the most famous Witch or Wizard in all of England.
I guess because Severus is the only half-blood in our little gang, he doesn't seem to care so much how people perceive him. But to this day, although he mostly keeps to himself, he's often the target of much taunting.
From one group of idiots in particular.
I'd never hesitate to stick up for him in any of these situations, and I know he'd do the same for me in a heartbeat.
"What's on your mind, love?" A silky voice came from beside me, stirring me from my thoughts.
Lucius Malfoy, my boyfriend, had taken a seat next to me, and was surveying me through eyes as pale as ice – his blonde eyebrows raised questioningly.
"I sincerely hope you're not thinking about anyone other than me, Alexandra." He added sternly, but I could see the faint hint of a smile playing on his thin lips.
I sighed at the sound of him using my full name. All my friends had always just called me Alex – with the one exception being Lucius Malfoy. He, for some strange reason that I will never know, preferred to call me by my full name, no matter how many times I'd asked him not to.
"Wouldn't you like to know," I teased, and he smiled at me slightly in return.
I shook my head in amusement – Lucius was always so serious. Perhaps that's why we never got along with each other when we first met. Rodolphus and Evan were mutual friends of ours when we were younger, and for the first couple of years at Hogwarts, they were the only thing that brought us together.
I was playful, I liked to joke around – even if my humour was considerably darker than most. I had always tried to lighten Lucius up, much to his annoyance.
But there had always been something about him that intrigued me. Something that I couldn't quite ignore.
Eventually, however, we began to understand each other – and now, I don't know how I ever lived without him by my side.
It wasn't long before the boys had steered the conversation towards Quidditch, and Lucius asked Evan about who he thought might make the Slytherin team this year.
Evan was a Beater on the team, as was Rodolphus. Lucius played Keeper, and since the Captain of the Slytherin team had now graduated Hogwarts, he was hoping to fill the position.
These boys were very serious about Quidditch, especially when they were matched against the Gryffindor house team. I wasn't really into Quidditch myself, but I still liked to watch the games to support our boys, and not to mention join in the pre-game tradition of trying to take down as many of the other teams' players as we could before the match.
I gazed past Lucius, and out the window beside him. Puffs of pearly smoke were beginning to float by, which could only mean one thing. We were finally about to leave for Hogwarts. A second later, the train lurched forward, confirming my thoughts.
With a screech of metal, the compartment door slid open once more, revealing a familiar shaggy haired boy.
"Lucky I made the train! Blasted a couple of Gryffindors on the way here – should see what their robes look like now! Bloody good one if I do say so myself," a howl of laughter escaped the lips of Rabastan Lestrange, who clapped his hand on Rodolphus' shoulder and pushed his way onto the seat next to him.
Rodolphus raised his eyebrows at his younger brother impatiently – we were all too used to this.
Although Rabastan looked like a miniature version of his older brother, unlike Rodolphus' quiet demeanour, he was a real talker. Merlin, did that kid have a motor mouth on him – sometimes it was impossible to get him to shut up.
He also likes to think of himself as a bit of a ladies' man. I don't think he seems to realise that when he tries to chat up a seventh year girl, she doesn't actually take him seriously. But there's no telling Rabastan that, you'd be better off reasoning with a parrot.
Merlin knows he talks as much as one.
Rabastan started poking at Rod's arm with his fist, playfully provoking a fight. Rod, however, simply looked annoyed and attempted to brush off his attacks, failing horribly until Regulus Black stepped into the compartment and aided Rod by grabbing at Rabastans hand and then slapping him against the side of the head lightly.
"Merlin, Rab, it's only the first day back and already you're acting like a complete, and utter Doxy," Regulus scolded his best friend, only barely managing to keep an amused grin off his face.
Evan shifted over and made room for Regulus to squeeze in between the two of us, and I greeted the dark-haired boy with a quick hug.
"Have you been drinking Skele-Gro over summer, or what? You'll be taller than Rod soon," I teased as Regulus settled on the seat next to me and dismissed the joke with a light laugh and the wave of his hand.
Regulus Black was Bellatrix's younger cousin, and also – unfortunately for him – the younger brother of the biggest idiot who has ever attended Hogwarts.
Apart from bearing an unfortunate resemblance to his older brother (Not that I'm saying that he's bad looking, because he's actually not at all, it's more the fact that I despise his brother) he's actually a rather sweet guy.
He's insanely intelligent too. Regulus had always done well in all his subjects, much to the delight of Rabastan, who – and I say this with love – needs all the help he can get.
A small blonde-haired girl peeked her head into the compartment before entering cautiously, closing the door behind her softly.
This intrusion was obviously the last straw for Bellatrix, who huffed loudly and stomped her foot on the ground.
"Merlin, Cissy! Can't you see there's no room left in here?" Bellatrix turned her attention to the new arrival.
"There's no reason why you three can't go and sit with people your own age instead of tagging along after us all the time."
Narcissa Black rolled her eyes impatiently at her older sister's dramatics, and upon finding there were no seats left, sat herself down cross legged on the floor in front of her sisters feet.
"Everywhere else is full, Bella." Narcissa countered softly, and Bellatrix sighed loudly.
I gave Narcissa a welcoming smile. When it came to looks, she was the complete opposite of her sister, Bellatrix. She had long, straight blonde hair which she always pulled back into a ponytail. She also had very light blue eyes, almost the same as my own.
Also, unlike Bellatrix, she was as calm as you could get, always soft-spoken and patient. All in all, she was a good kid
"Play nice for once, won't you Bella?" I teased, earning a spiteful glare from my best friend.
"Well, where's your trunk then?" Bellatrix demanded, and Narcissa shrugged her slim shoulders lightly.
"Out in the hall – there's a bunch of kids still stuck out there."
Evan pushed himself up from the seat, "I'll get it."
To break the tense silence that had fallen over the compartment, Rabastan thought it was a good idea to tell us his story about the gnome in his garden, which had bitten his ankle over the summer holidays.
"There was a huge gash right along my ankle – and there was blood everywhere! I thought for sure I was going to have to go to St. Mungos, maybe even get it amputated, who knows really," He went on, using his usual oversized gestures to emphasize his story just that little bit more.
"Lucky I remembered one of those healing charms Professor Flitwick taught us last year!" he cried out, chuckling to himself lowly.
Lucius winced beside me at the sudden outburst. He had never really had a lot of patience for Rabastan and his far-fetched stories. I didn't blame him to be honest, they were quite ridiculous.
"Merlin, it was a tiny bite. And you didn't do anything to help it. While you were rolling around on the ground whining about how your foot was going to fall off, Mum was the one who healed it." Rodolphus snapped at his brother, who ceased laughing immediately and turned a bright shade of red.
Regulus and I sniggered quietly.
I looked back out the window again, watching the dry, summer fields and hills as we passed by – it would be a little over three hours before we arrived at Hogwarts. I leaned my head against Lucius' shoulder and yawned loudly before closing my eyes, attempting to tune out Rabastans new story about the "vampire" next door, and after a while, drifted off to sleep.
A/N:Hey everyone, what do you think of this new story? I know that according to their birthdates some of the characters are supposed to be different ages but, well, for this story we're just going to pretend that's how old they are okay? I'd love if you could review and tell me what you think
EDIT: So I have this story on another fanfic site and I'm pretty far into it, so I'm going to start editing and adding in the new Chapters here over the next few days, hope you enjoy it!