"Oh, come off it, James," Remus Lupin laughed as he and his three closest friends strolled down Diagon Alley, shopping for their supplies for the new year.
James spread his arms out as he turned on his heels, walking backwards to face the others. "She wrote to me all summer. I'm telling you lot-between Evans and being Head Boy, this is going to be a good year."
Sirius snorted. "It better be! This is our last year at Hogwarts."
"Exactly," James laughed with a dramatic flourish of his robe sleeves as he turned back around, only to collide with a petite blonde girl.
Everything the teen had been holding scattered across the ground as she stumbled backwards. "I'm so sorry!" She cried out in a thick, French accent, her alabaster toned cheeks turning a bright shade of red.
"That's alright. It was my fault, really," James assured her as he and the other three boys dropped to the ground, gathering her things for her.
Remus handed the girl a stack of papers as she regained her footing, briefly glancing over them to find a sixth year Hogwarts supply list. "You go to Hogwarts?" He asked, his confusion ringing out in his voice. She wasn't a familiar student to him, but there was no mistaking the Hogwarts emblem on her supply list.
"I'm transferring there," she answered quickly, hesitantly taking the papers. For a moment, her nervous, emerald eyes locked with his before she quickly turned back to James, who was gathering the rest of her things from Peter and Sirius.
"So you're from Beauxbatons?" Peter questioned, his nose twitching inquisitively.
Her blush seemed to spread as she took the rest of her thigns from James. "Uh, not exactly. Homeschooled."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Haven't heard of many homeschooled witches or transfer students. What brings you to Hogwarts?"
"Family," she responded shortly. She seemed fairly uncomfortable as she stood there in front of the four boys.
"Well, if you need help finding your way around the castle, come find us. I'm Remus Lupin, this is Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. We're all seventh year Gryffindors."
"I'm Head Boy as well," James announced, flashing her his charming smile.
"Antlia Dubios. I'll be joining the sixth years," she replied quietly, her gaze locking on Sirius for a moment before she hugged her things into her chest. "I should be on my way. Thank you, all of you, for helping me with my things." Before any of the four boys had a chance to get another word in, she was already rushing past them.
"I wonder what house she'll be in. Think she'll be sorted with the first years?" Peter piped up, glancing quickly between his friends.
Sirius turned his head sharply back to the group after watching her disappear around a corner, completely ignoring Peter. "Something is off about her."
Remus shrugged a little. "She was probably just uncomfortable from Head Boy over here knocking into her."
"Hey!" James shouted, trying to keep an offended look as Remus chuckled to himself.
"Come on. Let's go get the rest of our things before everything closes," he suggested as Sirius started to speak. "She's foreign. She's going to seem odd if you're not used to her home's culture, and last I checked, you weren't adept in all things French."
Sirius sighed a little, dropping the conversation as he followed his friends to finish off their last supply list.
The last two weeks of the break passed by in a flash. James, along with Sirius, Remus, and Peter were one of the last groups to board the train, thanks to James' new duties as Head Boy. His three best friends had lingered out on the platform with him, entertaining themselves instead of worring about where they'd sit.
"Guys, you should have gotten us a compartment," James groaned as they searched for a space big enough for all four of them.
"Hey, this one's empty!" Sirius called from a few doors down the hallway as he stepped through a doorway just to stop in his tracks. "Oh."
Remus walked up behind him but smiled when he saw the now familiar French girl sitting alone, already dawning black and green robes. "Antlia, mind if we join you? Everywhere else is full."
She looked up and met him with a warm smile, her composure seeming to have completely shifted from their initial meeting. "Not at all! Have a seat," she said kindly, moving her open carryon to her lap, making room as the boys slipped in and sat down.
"So you're a Slytherin."
Antlia looked straight at Sirius, caught off guard by his icy tone. "Yes," she hesitated with her answer, her voice slipping back into the comfort and familiarity of her accent, despite her efforts to blend in with the other students.
Peter gave his friend a nervous look, but Sirius didn't budge. "There's a few decent blokes in Slytherin. Sirius, you should introduce her to Regulus; he's a sixth year too, isn't he? He could help her find her classes."
"Regulus is Sirius' younger brother," Remus explained softly.
"That would actually be really nice," she remarked, trying to maintain a receptive smile, despite her discomfort.
James gave a light chuckle. "Ignore him. He can't figure you out so he's being a dick. Come on and I'll take you to Regulus," he offered with a friendly smile.
"Right now? You really don't have to-"
"Nonsense. I need to talk to the Head Girl anyway," he interrupted cheerfully, standing up. "Sometimes she's around that group. She's close to two of them at least."
Remus rolled his eyes at James, still smiling, as Antlia zipped up her bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. "Have fun, Antlia, and try to relax. You'll find your place in no time."
Her shoulders relaxed a little and she actually met Remus' gaze. "Thank you."
"Come on," James grinned, swiftly leaving the room, Antlia forced to quickly fall into step behind him without time to wait for a reply from Remus.
"Is the Head Girl a Slytherin as well?" She asked curiously, glancing briefly into as many of the bustling compartments as she could as they rushed by.
James shook his head, searching for a specific group. "Evans is in Gryffindor, but she has a few Slytherin friends she occasionally hangs out with."
"Oh," she responded softly, settling with focusing her gaze ahead of them both.
"Ah! Here we go!" He announced before swinging open a door. "Regulus, Severus, Narcissa, Lucius, and Lily. L-Evans? Can we talk?" He pointed to each person in a flash as he named them before focusing on Lily Evans, the red haired, green eyed girl.
Lily glanced up from her conversation with a boy with dark eyes and long, black hair only to make him scowl at James. "Of course," she answered calmly, rising up.
James held the door open for her as they both slipped out, ignoring the irritated looks form the boy he had distracted Lily from.
"Typical Potter," scoffed the boy with platinum blonde hair as he leaned back into his seat, resting his arm around the thin, almost frail looking blonde girl beside him.
Antlia was left standing there awkwardly, feeling completely confused. James had gone way to fast for her to remember which one of the teens was Regulus, much less the rest of the group's names.
The blonde girl patted the empty space beside her, inviting Antlia to sit. "You must be the transfer student Lily was talking about. I'm Narcissa Black," she introduced herself curtly before putting a hand on the leg of the boy on her other side. "This is Lucius Malfoy and that's Regulus Black," she paused to motion to one of the two black haired boys sitting in front of her, "And Severus Snape." She ended by pointing at the longer black haired boy who still looked rather agitated.
Antlia glanced between Narcissa and Regulus, ignoring the other two boys for a moment. "You're both Sirius' siblings?"
Regulus snorted a little as Narcissa gave an unamused laugh. "No. Regulus is Sirius' brother, but I'm their first cousin."
"There's a few other Blacks running around the school," Lucius said, watching Narcissa instead of directly acknowledging Antlia.
"My sisters," Narcissa sighed.
Antlia raised an eyebrow, seeming attentive but unsure of what to say.
"Bellatrix is a seventh year, I'm a sixth year, and Andromeda is a fifth year. They're both Slytherins as well; I'll introduce you when we run into them." Narcissa paused, staring her down. "Well? Introduce yourself."
A subtle blush rose up to her ears. "Antlia Dubios. Born and raised in the outskirts of Perouges, France-"
"So what brings you to Hogwarts of all schools? Beauxbatons is a little closer to home, isn't it?" She seemed to almost lean forward towards her, the question feeling more like an accusation than harmless curiosity.
Antlia sat there stiffly, contemplating on justifying herself. "My mother passed away and I have family in London."
Narcissa studied her for a moment before leaning back against Lucius. "I'm sorry," she said, her tone softening ever so slightly.
Regulus frowned as he met Antlia's gaze. "I'm sorry unfortunate circumstances brought you here, but I'm glad you've joined us."
"Thank you, Regulus. I appreciate it," she returned with a weak smile.
"Dear, you're a Slytherin now. You belong here and we, as your housemates, will help you settle in." He was very blatantly trying to be kind and warm towards her, but despite obvious efforts, he still looked and sounded fairly stiff.
"Cissy!" Sang a pretty, dark haired teen as she burst into the room, the sudden commotion drawing attention away from a grateful Regulus. "Have you seen what Amycus has done to himself? There's-" she stopped in her tracks as her eyes locked on Antlia. "I don't know you."
Despite the stark differences in hair color, Antlia immediately noticed the girl's resemblance to Narcissa. "I'm Antlia, I transferred from-"
"I don't care. What the bloody hell do you think you're doing here?" She snarled at her, the air in the room tensing immediately.
Severus looked up from the potion book he had pulled out. "Narcissa," he drawled out her name, agitation building up in his voice. "Control your sister."
"Bite me," Bellatrix snapped back at him before turning right back to Antlia.
"Seriously, Bella. Calm down," Narcissa sighed wearily.
"What? You don't find it odd that Miss Veela over here shows up just as things start?"
Narcissa's gaze almost immediately became stern. "You need to hush."
"Look at her," Bellatrix spat with a glare at Antlia, completely ignoring her younger sister as she tensed up. "She's probably just here to steal Tom because she knows-"
"Bellatrix."
She looked at Regulus, hushing for moment. "For Merlins' sake, stop." His voice held an air of authority to it, almost seeming to have a threatening tone lingering in between his words. "Sit and hush or go bother Yaxley."
Bellatrix huffed and shot a glare at Antlia. "I don't trust you, Veela," she growled before stalking out, leaving the door dangling wide open behind her.
Regulus stood up and closed the door firmly. "Sorry about Bella."
Antlia seemed confused as she sat there. "Veela?"
"They're a human hybrid creature-" Severus started, his gaze directed back down to his book once more.
"I know what veela are. I just don't understand why she said that."
Narcissa sighed. "You're blonde, conventionally attractive, and from France. She thinks you're here to seduce someone she adores. Logical? No, but that's sometimes just how she is."
Antlia frowned. "I'm not a veela and stealing her boyfriend most certainly wasn't my goal for coming to Hogwarts."
"I know dear. Again, sometimes my sister's obsessions blind her to logic."
Regulus seemed to almost visibly relax again at Narcissa's words. "Take it as a compliment. You're pretty enough that she finds you threatening."
Antlia gave a small shrug. "I don't want to already be starting off on the wrong foot."
"It's Bellatrix. She'll calm down eventually, and even if she doesn't, it's not worth worrying over," he assured her.
She gave a small nod and tried to relax. The year already felt like it was going to be a long one, but nevertheless, she couldn't help but to feel a twinge of excitement. This was her first year not being homeschooled. Her first year being out, on her own, surrounded by other witches and wizards, and she ready for it. She was ready to leave behind the life of hiding amongst muggles and get to embrace what she was. She only wished her mother was still in France, waiting eagerly for her first letter to make it's way home.