She took in a deep breath before splashing the cool water on her face. Placing her hands on the edge of the dingy public bathroom sink, Reina looked down, watching the water fall down the rusted drain as she got lost in her thoughts. She almost had not been able to make it this year. The orphanage where she spent most of her life, had heard that there was a danger now in her world, and had done their best to stop her from returning to Hogwarts this year. She was absolutely paranoid the entire trip to the station, looking over her shoulder and behind her. Reina knew the rules of the wizarding world. No use of underage magic. She had broken that rule, she had no choice. They had locked her in her room to keep her from going back to school. She had had to use the unlocking charm and a few petrification charms on some of the adults there or else she would have never been able to leave. She could feel the knots in her stomach starting to turn as she thought of having to stay at the run down, pitiful excuse for a place to live. Where the children were never happy, and the adults were never pleasant. She would have never seen her friends at school again. Now, in her 5th year of being a Slytherin at Hogwarts, she only had three friends. Her own house hated her, the stuck up pure bloods that they were. Because she came from an orphanage with no idea who her parents were, she held no worth to them. She wasn't even worth a name to them, they always called her "orphan". No, she had found friends in the least likely of places for a Slytherin to do so. The Golden Trio of Gryffindor. It had all started in their first year at Hogwarts. She had seen a small, bushy haired girl rush to the bathroom crying. She knew that feeling all too well, as she had not been met with kindness either coming to this school. She had followed and consoled the girl she now knew as Hermione Granger, before the troll had barged into the bathroom, nearly crushing the pair to death, had it not been for Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. After the ordeal with the troll, they hadn't cared that she was in a separate house from them, let alone a Slytherin. They accepted her as one of their own, and the four of them had become inseparable since.
The beep of her watch brought Reina out of her thoughts. The train would be leaving in 10 minutes. She hurriedly shut off the tap and gave herself a once over in the mirror. Her long, wine red hair was back in a ponytail, a few fringes coming out here and there from a long day of traveling. Her worn out and slightly too large muggle jeans and sweatshirt were a bit wrinkled from the long time spent cramped in a bus seat, but no worse for wear. She had never had new clothes growing up in the orphanage, it was always hand me downs from the older kids, sometimes she was even given boy clothes to wear instead of girls. The only new clothes she had ever had, were her school uniform and robes. She rarely ever wore make up unless the occasion called for it. She didn't really have a need. Her skin was a porcelain shade and always smooth with no blemishes, her eye lashes long and naturally dark. Her lips were always a soft pink color. Then there were her eyes, a bit red and puffy from the tears of happiness she had shed when she had safely and on time, made it to the train station, and the paranoia that someone would know what she had done, and stop her from going back to the school that she called home. The redness around her eyes, definitely made the ice blue color of her eyes pop even more than usual. She turned the tap on once more to dab some cold water around her eyes, and when satisfied when the redness had gone away, she picked up the handle to her trolley cart and made her way to the platform between platforms.
She stood right in front of the pillar marking platforms 3 and 4. Looking around her once more she bit her lip and took in a huge breath before walking what seemed right into the pillar. She felt the familiar woosh of air pass over her as she went right through and a smile appeared on her lips as she saw the normal hustle and bustle of the wizarding world. She let out a breath that she had been holding in for the past minute. She had expected someone from the Ministry to be waiting for her there, to take her away for her use of underage magic, or worse, to tell her she could never return. She left her trolley over by the other students luggage and walked through the crowd, looking for the three people she had become close to over the years. "Rei!" Stopping and turning around, she saw Hermione rushing towards her and tackled her into a hug. "I thought you said the orphanage wouldn't let you come back this year! I am so glad they changed their mind!" Reina gave her friend a sort of half hug and had to calm down the beating of her heart as she had remembered what she had to do to be there this year. "I am glad they did too..." Just then she felt arms around her waist and was picked up and spun around. She laughed and let out a playful scream as she spun and when she was set down, she was greeted with the kind green eyes she had become accustomed to over the years. Her best friend Harry Potter. Out of all three of her friends, she had become a lot closer to Harry than anyone else in her life. He understood what it was like to not know your parents, and to have to live in less than happy conditions growing up as a child. Just like her, coming to Hogwarts was an escape and the happiest years of their lives. Harry and Reina had dated in the past in their third year, it lasted a week before they realized that they were better off friends instead of in the awkward situation of boyfriend and girlfriend. Harry wrapped his arms around her in a big hug and whispered into her ear, "I am glad you could make it back. You look beautiful." She could feel a slight color stain her cheeks and smiled, returning the hug then stepped back to take a look at him. She could tell he had definitely taken a mental toll over the summer. What had happened at the end of last year, no one could blame him. He had seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named not only come back, but also kill a fellow student right before his eyes. No matter how many times she told him to the contrary, he blamed himself for Cedric. She could see that he was doing a little better from when they had said goodbye at the platform last year, but it still hadn't completely gone away. The three of them heard the loud whistle of the train and Reina took a look around. "Where is Ron?" As soon as she had spoken, the red head came into view, stopping where they were and resting his hands on his knees, panting. "Sorry! Mum decided she needed a talk with me before I left. Ronald Weasley! Now don't you go making any extra trouble this year! The Wizarding community has enough to deal with without your shennanigans, and if I so much as hear an inkling that you are causing trouble, I will send a Howler like you have never heard before!" The others laughed as Ron tried to do his best imitation of his mother scolding him and they headed towards the train.
She always hated this part of the journey, where her and her friends had to separate and go to their houses compartments. She got along with no one in her house, and no one in her house liked her. It had been that way since day one when they found out she had no parents. It only got worse when she decided to become friends with "The Golden Gryffindors" as they were called. She thanked whatever gods were looking out for her today as she found an empty compartment in the back of the train and settled in. The whistle for the train blew one last time before it steadily started to move forward and out of the station. Reina looked out the window, seeing children and parents waving to each other, saying their goodbyes and their "I love you"'s. It always left an empty feeling in her chest every year. She wondered what it would be like for someone to care about her, to miss her, to tell her they loved her. From what the orphanage and Professor Dumbledore had told her, she had been left on the door step of the orphanage as an infant, barely a few days old. No note. No indication of who her parents might be. Just a small bracelet around her wrist with the word "Reina" inscribed on it. Since then she had seen children come and go, getting adopted and going on about their happy lives. No one ever came for her. No one ever looked twice at her. A couple times growing up, she had heard the adults talking, saying that parents would take one look at her and got a "off" vibe from her.
She never understood why people thought of her that way, until one day, when the man she had come to associate as a father figure in her life, Albus Dumbledore, had come to her, telling her that she was a witch, that magic actually existed, and that for the better part of a year, other than the summer, she would be taken away to be with witches and wizards of her own kind. She remembered that day as if it had just happened. She was sitting there alone in her room, looking out the window with tears rolling down her cheeks. Her bunk mate Jonathan, had just been adopted. This was the 17th bunk mate she had since she had come to the orphanage that had been adopted and she was left there, alone, to hope one day she too would be loved. There was a knock at the door and she hurriedly wiped her eyes and turned as the door opened. First came in the Matron, a hard tempered, strict woman. She gave a look of disdain at the sight of the girl she could tell had been crying. "Women do not cry, Reina. You have to be strong to make it in this world." The Matron went over and straightened the little girl's clothes. "You have a visitor, best be on your best behavior for the man." She said in her stern voice before turning and showing the girl the elderly gentleman at the door. Reina couldn't help but stare. He had a long grey beard. almost touching the floor, and to her, he seemed to be wearing a dress. She had seen many different types of people coming through the orphanage, but never before had she seen a man look so strangely. The elder man walked slowly into the room, looking around and giving a slight shake of his head. Then his line of vision landed on the little girl by the window. "Thank you Madam, I shall take it from here." The Matron gave one last look at the little girl in warning before walking out, leaving the pair alone. "Reina Smith?" He looked over his spectacles at the girl. a small twinkle in his eye. The little girl nodded, still not knowing quite what to say. "I can imagine that my being here is, a bit of a shock for you, no?" He smiled at the girls confused look at his attire before she looked down with a blush on her cheeks, being caught staring and nodded. "Do you know why I am here, Reina?" The little girl looked up to him then and after a moment of thinking, she shook her head. "Reina, have you ever made something happen? Something impossible?" Reina scruntched up her face, trying to think of a moment of when that may have happened to her. "Once, one of the boys brought home a snake from the garden. I could hear him, and talk to him. He said his name was Arian." The girl giggled a little and looked to the man. "Isn't that such a funny name for a snake? He said that he knew the other boys made fun of me and that he didn't like it. One day, he bit one of the boys when he pushed me over, that was the last I saw of him." Dumbledore stiffened a bit at hearing the story. A parseltongue, was not looked greatly upon in their society. He had already had to fight with the Ministry, even to let this little girl go to the school she had a birth given right to. "That definitely is something. Do you talk to snakes often?" The little girl shook her head and looked back down to the floor. "When I told the Matron the story, she said I was lying and she punished me. So when I hear them now, I ignore them." Dumbledore strode over to the little girl, kneeling down in front of her and opening his palm. A small dragon appeared in his hand, blowing smoke from his nostrils and crawling in and around his palm. Reina gasped and looked awestruck at the creature now in front of her. "Mister, you know how to to magic!" Her eyes were a light with a joy he had not seen in a long time. "Yes, my dear. And so can you. You are a witch, Reina. There are many witches and wizards in the world. You..," he smiled and brought his pointer finger to her nose, poking it. "come from magical parents, which brings me to why I came here. I am a headmaster at a school for children like you, where you will learn to do magic and potions and learn about the magical creatures in our world. Hogwarts, the finest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry known to the ages." He paused a moment to let the little girl let this sink in. Reina just blinked a couple of times, not really knowing whether to believe the man or not. After all, he had just believed her snake story, and made a dragon appear right in his hand, and it moved! "Sir, you say that I come from magical parents. Do... Do you know who my parents are?" She looked up hopefully at the man in front of her now, perhaps now she would know the truth about where she came from. Dumbledore knelt there for a moment in front of her, trying to hide the sadness in her eyes. "No dear child, I am afraid I do not." Reina looked to the ground sadly, she would never know where she came from. Dumbledore stood and offered his hand to the little girl. clearing his throat to get her attention. "It is not where you come from that matters, it is the great things you do with your life, that will determine who you truly are." He could see some of the sadness in the little girls eyes disappear and she gently placed her hand in his. "Let us get you out of here and onto your true destiny."
A few minutes into the train ride, the compartment door slid open and she could hear the high pitched and annoying voice of Pansy Parkinson. She inwardly groaned as she knew what was coming next. "Hey, Orphan! This compartment is ours, find somewhere else to be where they don't mind being in the presence of a homely nobody." Reina sighed and closed her eyes a brief moment to calm herself down and turned to look at the students entering now. There in the front, of course, was the brunette girl with the upturned nose, Pansy Parkinson. She had been one of the first ones to call her "orphan" and then the name just stuck with everyone in the house. Next, was the tall, dark, and utterly cocky, Blaise Zabini, who chuckled at the name given to her and sat down beside Reina, placing his arm around her shoulder. "Awe come on, Pans! She has no one to look after her!" he had a smirk plastered on his face as he tilted her chin up to look at him with two fingers. "You know, Orphan, I would always be up to the task if you were feeling a bit... lonely." He wiggled his eyebrows and she roller her eyes and let out a sound of disgust, pushing him away from her and scooting closer to the window. "Now don't be like that love, we are house mates! We look after each other. I in fact, have a few things you could look after" Blaise gave her a wink and moved close to sit right beside her again. Reina had already had enough. Ever since their third year, Blaise would taunt and flirt with her, trying to get a rise out of the girl. "I am sorry to say that I have my big girl pants on today, and can look after myself," She sent a glare his way before snatching up her bag and moving to head out of the compartment before running into a hard force, blocking the doorway. She let out an exasperated sigh as she knew just who she had run into. She took a step back and looked up into the silver eyes, and stoic face of Draco Malfoy. The leader of this obnoxious group. He had grown taller over the summer. Now standing a foot above her. He wasn't built, but through the shirt he wore, she could see the toned outline of his chest and arms. No doubt from playing quidditch from sun up to sun down. Reina might actually find him attractive, if he wasn't such a stuck up priss. His hair hung down almost hiding his eyes, but she could see the glare those silver eyes were sending her. "Oh my god, Drakie!" Pansy shrieked and ran to him, locking her arm with his. "Now you will have to burn those clothes! Such a shame, they look so good on you too.." Pansy ran a finger down his chest and to his stomach before he pushed her, and her hand away. "Are you going to apologize, Orphan?" Draco asked in his rich boy, matter of factly voice. Reina glared up at him and stood straight, looking right into his eyes. "You're right, I am sorry Drakie, sorry that you have the attitude of a simple muggle toddler and the brain of a troll. " Draco sent an icy glare to the girl in front of him. No one had ever talked back to him, always being too frightened that he would curse them six ways to Sunday, let alone call him "Drakie" he hated that nickname and no matter how many times he had told Pansy to shut it, she never listened. Then to compare him to a toddler? A Muggle at that? She must have had a death wish. Reina wasn't afraid of him. He had seen Hermione punch him square in the face in their third year and all he did was run off complaining like a little girl and last year when Moody had turned him into a ferret had been one of the most memorable moments of her school years. "Why you..." He started, but Reina didn't give him the chance to finish, She just rolled her eyes and moved past him and out of the compartment. Sometimes she really didn't understand why she had been put in Slytherin. Literally every one in that house, was rude, obnoxious, stuck up little spoiled brats. She had never been that way, and would never be. She was almost ashamed to be in the same house as them, if it weren't for the fact that Slytherin was known for their intelligence. That, she knew she had. She was top of the class of her house, with only one competitor. That, unfortunately, was the spoiled pureblood dick she had come to know as Draco Malfoy. She had tried to find another compartment on the train, but they had all been full of students either glaring at her or talking about all the expensive trips they had been on for the Summer Holiday, so she just went to the back of the train and sat there at the end of the hallway, putting in her headphones and drowning out the world for the remainder of the trip.