The Darkest of Roses
Chapter 1: Hogwarts, here I come!


Darwin Jones got up bright and early that day and he had immediately jumped from his bed, pulling on one of his robes and heading out the door and down the hallway to the next door on the right. He peeked in and grinned at the hump lying in the large bed. Her hair was sprawled all along the pillow in a dark curtain. He heard light snoring and giggled before slamming the door open and rushing in. He scurried onto the trunk at the foot of the bed before springing himself onto the hump with a triumphant yell. The person moaned out, squirming a bit and he heard some talking but couldn't make it out as he straddled the hump, grinning and shaking the person. "Come on, sis! It's September fifth!" he screamed, shaking the lump of lazy mass under the covers.

"The sun hasn't even risen yet. Leave me alone," the person mumbled and Darwin grinned, shaking her harder. She began fake whimpering before she turned onto her back, causing Darwin to flop onto the other side of the bed. She looked over at him with narrowed eyes as she glared playfully. "I don't see how you're so excited to go to school, Darwin," she stated before yawning. Darwin grinned and knelt beside her.

"It's Hogwarts, Abby. What more is there to ask? I'll be studying magic finally," Darwin stated, getting more and more excited. "Mom said the train leaves sharply at eleven o'clock." Darwin smiled as Abigail sat up and ran a hand through her tangled hair before sighing. She looked over at her alarm clock and groaned. It was only seven o'clock; she had a good three hours before she could've gotten up and gotten ready. "I bet mom's downstairs, making breakfast. Get up with me!" Darwin reached out and grabbed her forearm, tugging.

"Ok, ok. Just stop yelling," Abigail stated, peeling her covers off and stepping up from her bed. She stretched and yawned as Darwin grabbed her robe, rushing over to her and handing it to her. She eyed him. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself if you keep running in little outbursts like that, Winnie." Darwin blushed and shoved Abigail slightly, pouting.

"Don't call me that, Abby! If anyone at school hears you call me Winnie, they're going to make fun of me," Darwin pouted. His bottom lip flipped outward and Abigail smiled, pulling on her robe.

"Ok, I'll try not to call you that, Winnie Pooh," Abigail teased and Darwin shoved her again, causing her to fall backwards onto her bed, laughing. Darwin rushed from the room, yelling for their mom as Abigail got up and shook her head, heading out of her room and down the hallway where she heard Darwin's loud ranting as he told their mom the story. Abigail rolled her eyes as she stopped at the top of the stairs before slipping up onto the railing and sliding down the long staircase. It brought a smile to her face as she hopped from the end and began heading toward the kitchen where she heard some small laughter. She stopped before the double swinging door and poked her head in to see both her parents in there and Darwin, who was sitting at the table, waiting for his breakfast.

"Come on in, Abby," her mother stated without glancing behind her. Abigail smiled and walked in, heading straight to the seat next to her dad who hugged her good morning with a kiss on the forehead. Abigail smiled and muttered 'good morning' as her mother slid a plate of food in front of Darwin, who instantly began eating. He was way too excited over going to school. "Darwin tells us you called him Winnie," her mother stated, smiling over at Abigail who grinned.

"Yes, I did," Abigail stated. "It's been his nickname for years. Why would I stop suddenly because he's joining Hogwarts?" Her dad chuckled. Abigail looked over at him and saw him reading the Daily Prophet while the Quibbler was lying on the table. Abigail knew he'd read the Daily Prophet and then move onto the Quibbler for comparison. Her dad, Roger Jones, was a very political man. He loved drama in the work area and was always reading up on the news for that day. He worked in the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; he was an auror. He wasn't the best but he was up there. Before the sudden controversy against headmaster Albus Dumbledore by the minister, Cornelius Fudge, Roger Jones was a very loyal auror to the Ministry but now he's swaying and only doing bare minimum to get his paycheck every month.

"It seems Fudge is still paranoid that Dumbledore wants to take over the ministry," Roger stated, sighing and folding the newspaper as Abigail's mother, Ginger Jones, slid a plate of breakfast in front of him. "Thank you, dear." Abigail reached over and grabbed the newspaper, frowning as she skimmed over the title and began browsing through the articles.

"Why is he pointing fingers?" Abigail asked, glancing up at her father who frowned and looked over at her. Abigail noticed how different her parents were from last year; they seemed a bit more on edge than normal. Her mother baked constantly which meant she was worried and her father drank only three cups of coffee instead of his normal five cups. It was real strange to see them like this.

"Because he's scared of the truth," Roger stated. "He-who-must-not-be-named was prophesized to come back and now that he's faced with it, he doesn't know what to do so he's pointing fingers. No one can blame him but he doesn't have to make it so blatantly obvious that he's off his rocker." Abigail giggled slightly as her mother slid a plate of breakfast before her. It was a platter of sliced potatoes, bacon, and eggs. Abigail smiled in thanks and began eating.

"What's Hogwarts like, Abby?" Darwin asked out of the blue and everyone looked over at him as Abigail sipped at her milk, shrugging. How could she explain Hogwarts? It was a fun and wonderful place, full of pricks and losers with the exceptional badass and wannabe celebrities with your usual side order of nerds and bookworms. Abigail sighed.

"It's like every other school, Darwin, like in the movies," Abigail explained. Darwin frowned. "There's not much of a difference…" Darwin seemed disappointed but Abigail didn't care. He'd figure it out for himself if Hogwarts was exceptionally cool or not. Abigail was in the middle; it was school. Her repot card was sent home at the end of the year and showed how many times she slacked off during the year, spending her study time snogging with her new crush or covering for her best friend who was off sneaking around with her new boyfriends. Her father understood more than her mother.

"Are you two both packed?" Ginger asked, looking over at her children. Abigail nodded; she had finished it all up last night. All she had to do was pack up her toiletries after she took her shower and brushed her teeth this morning. Darwin grinned, nodding furiously as he finished his breakfast and got up to put his dish in the sink, which began washing itself. Abigail watched her younger brother and sighed.

He was incredibly short for someone eleven years old, like Abigail was her first year and if it hadn't been for Chelsea Andrews, her best friend, she would've gone a couple years without friends. Chelsea Andrews was a girl who was real skinny and bony but she ate like a cow, all the time. The two got along real well with Abigail's premature growth and Chelsea's stick thin waist and large head. Together they bloomed into real people, at a much slower pace than the others. This year was probably the best for Abigail; she had become a woman over summer vacation and it made her mother excited and her dad freak out, subconsciously. Now, Abigail looked identical to her mother in build and her face was a copy of Roger Jones's face. It was clear this family was all related.

Abigail finished off her breakfast and put her plate in the sink before giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for breakfast, mom," she stated. Her mother smiled over at her as she began eating her breakfast. Abigail left her parents in the kitchen and began heading up the stairs; she wished she could slide up the railing. She hated the stairs at her house; they were so obnoxiously long. Her mother adored stairs so her father had to make large paychecks so Ginger could have her dream two story house. Abigail would've liked it if her mother wasn't a material girl so much and settled for their first house, which was a one level with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a large family room. It was perfect but now they lived in a large mansion with six bedrooms and four bathrooms with one large master bathroom by the master bedroom that her parents slept in on the second floor at the end of the hallway with large doors. Abigail never walked into her parents' bedroom; it freaked her out at the end of the hallway.

Abigail headed into her bedroom, which was the second door on the left while her brother's was the first on the left. Abigail stared around at her large, plain bedroom. She had a few posters of her favorite bands up on the walls but unlike normal teenagers, they were in frames and hung perfectly straight since her mother was anal about pictures. She had shelves lining one wall that had most of her pictures on; they were all in frames standing up on the shelves against her crème colored walls. Most of the pictures were of her and Chelsea; the rest were of her family with the greater amount of them being her and Darwin. Abigail's bed was a large king sized bed that she hated; she wanted a full since it was the perfect size for her smaller height. A king was just too large for her height of five feet and four inches. Maybe if she was married it'd be the perfect bed but that wasn't going to be for a while…

She had a large armoire against the wall that she knew held all her dresses and gowns that were stock full of assorted colors, all color coordinated by her mother. She had a trunk at the foot of her bed that held her extra blankets and trinkets. She had two dressers under all her shelves that were identical and to her left was an open closet full of her plain Jane clothes and where her uniforms would be if they weren't packed in the large luggage trunks perched in the closet. Abigail smiled and walked to her semi empty closet (since most of her favorite clothes were packed away for school) and grabbed a plain outfit of blue jeans and a raspberry shirt. She grabbed some undergarments and headed out to take a shower, brush her teeth, and comb her hair. It took her a while to apply her make up since she was a normal teenage girl obsessed with looking good.

Abigail stood back from her full sized mirror on the back of the bathroom door and smiled. She had filled out over the summer vacation of her birthday month of fifteen years old; she officially looked like a female instead of a little girl now. She had grown more in the bust area and her hips actually swayed out from her still narrow waist. Her dark hair had grown over the summer since she refused to cut it after her mother cut it too short for her first year and it looked disgusting. It was to her lower back now. Her eyes had darkened, if possible, and were pools of dark brown that she inherited from her father while her brother got their mother's beautiful lush green eyes that Abigail was jealous about.

Abigail nodded at her reflection and gathered her toiletries before heading to her bedroom again, shoving them inside one of her trunks. She sighed and looked over at her alarm clock; they'd be leaving soon. Her mother liked to be ridiculously early to the train station. Her mother had serious OCD problems sometimes.

"Sis!" Darwin screamed, knocking on her door hard. Abigail opened her door and made a face when Darwin was in a ridiculous outfit of a plaid shirt and his neon green pants. "I can't seem to pick out the right outfit. Help me!" Darwin sobbed with tears streaming his face. Abigail smiled.

"Of course, I'll help you. Come on," Abigail stated, placing a hand on his upper back to follow him to his bedroom.

Another year at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy thought as he smoothed out his black suit jacket. He had a black turtleneck shirt underneath and a pair of black slacks. He didn't slick his hair back anymore and it fell on his head like limp blades of silver. He had gained a lot of muscle this summer and he looked sharper in black this year; he smirked at his reflection before grabbing his wand and pushing it in the pocket on the inside of his jacket. He ran his fingers over his hair once more before turning away from the mirror and grabbing his black duffel and wheeled luggage, heading out of his bedroom—which he was glad he wouldn't see for another ten months. He headed down a hallway and down the three flights of stairs to the first level of his three story house. He loved his house; it was grand and large and screamed they were wealthy. His mother was waiting for him at the foot of the steps with a forced smile.

"You look very handsome, Draco," she cooed, checking his suit once more before smiling. "Your father had to go into work. I'll take you to the station if you'd like." Draco smirked. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy, tried so hard to be the perfect mother. She took Draco to the train station and brought him home for the holidays and summer vacation. She hosted parties every Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, occasionally a summer party and of course, Draco's birthday that happened to be last week.

The two headed out the door and to the black limousine that was waiting for them. Draco handed his bags to the chauffeur with a slight scowl as he opened the door for his mother and helped her scoot in before sliding in himself. The door was shut behind him and they were heading off when the chauffeur got in the driver's seat. It wasn't a long ride to the train station, but a very quiet ride. Draco could feel his mother's pride starting to rise as they neared the train station. Narcissa was very proud of Draco for getting into Slytherin and this year, she knew a new professor would be taking over the defense against the dark arts spot once more and she knew who it was, even though she didn't tell Draco just yet.

They stepped out and the chauffeur handed Draco his luggage. "Wait here," Narcissa snapped. "I'll be right back." Narcissa placed her hand against Draco's lower back and the two headed into the station, toward the platform where they crossed through without hesitation. They didn't want to go through the floo network and Narcissa didn't like apparating to the station in case they appeared next to unworthy folks.

The train was its usual maroon and black color with the gold trim and Draco looked down at his mother who was dressed in her dark hunter green business suit that had large cuffs with a knee length skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and as she smoothed out his already smooth suit, she smiled up at him and hugged him briefly. "Do well, Draco," she mumbled. "Make us proud." Draco nodded and leaned down slightly to kiss his mother's forehead before turning and heading toward the train. He didn't look back as he stepped on the loading bus and instantly, he was accompanied by his posse consisting of Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe. He was slightly thankful Pansy Parkinson wasn't with them at that moment; he didn't want to deal with her obsessive worrying and pampering.

A loud laughter rang through the train as the group walked passed a compartment and Draco glanced inside to see two girls sitting on the benches. One had her leg tucked under her butt with a mini skirt on, showing more leg than he wanted since she wasn't that attractive to his eyes but the other girl was indeed his quota. She had dark hair that fell to her lower back and a bright smile; it was she they heard laughing. She was wearing plain clothes but even if those plain clothes, he could see the wide hips and the luscious legs underneath. The two girls looked up at him as the group passed and Draco allowed a smirk to show as the dark haired damsel stared at him, confused almost.

Draco kept walking and pushed them from his mind as Crabbe and Goyle forced some first years from the compartment and the four of them sat down. Blaise sat across from Draco as the two oafs sat on either side of them. Draco glanced out the window and inwardly sighed. He had another year at Hogwarts and another year to torment that pansy Harry Potter. It brought a smirk to his face on the remarks he would be able to use this year after the conflict of the ministry against Harry Potter and his beloved Albus Dumbledore, the daffy old fool. Draco couldn't stop the smirk from widening as thoughts of tormenting St. Potter crossed his mind, as well as his mud-blood girlfriend and blood traitor best friend.