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II.
Identity

"Most people are other people.
Their thoughts are someone else's opinions,
their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

― Oscar Wilde

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Slytherin, that's what it was all about after Draco and I had received our Hogwarts letters.

My Uncle and Aunt had been sorted there and so had my parents, practically everyone – extended and otherwise – we were associated with had been sorted into the serpent household while at Hogwarts, so said Draco. Naturally, I refused to believe everyone in our family – extended and otherwise – had been sorted into that House. So days before we left for Platform 9¾, I played detective and casually asked my Aunt about anyone in the family – extended and otherwise – who had been sorted to a House other than Slytherin. As expected, she casually threw out a name or two, one a Hufflepuff and the other a Gryffindor and that was that. So once I brought this information to Draco who looked a bit irked that I proved him wrong about his unreasonable statistics, he ended with "it's a family tradition and something we should continue." A weak response, in my opinion but that was that. So it was a bit of a disappointment that the main subject that was talked about as we waited to board the Hogwarts Express was being sorted into Slytherin. My Uncle and Aunt expected that from Draco as it was "tradition" while my Aunt commented to me something along the lines of "surely, you'll make your parents proud," which my Uncle repeated via different words.

Once the red steam engined blew its whistle for the first time, the first warning that we must board, I bid my farewells from my Uncle and Aunt amidst the chatters from our friends who surrounded us. Aunt insisted I should write her a letter that first night and tell her about my experiences while she promised us both to send sweets every week. I could tell Draco was embarrassed by the attention my Aunt showered on him and insisted he should board to get a good cabin before he disappeared into the crowd. I, on the other hand, gave her a big hug – while I looked forward to the new experiences while at Hogwarts, I would certainly miss her mothering. After one last round of farewells, I slipped into the crowd.

At an early age, I recognized how people treated and reacted to the presence of my Uncle Lucious Malfoy. I knew without really knowing, that he was an important man. It would be a couple years later that I learned as to the reason. He was important because of his status, family prestige and his money. Naturally, this was transferred to Draco who milked it for all its worth – being a child of his and all. Granted, this was the kind my Aunt spoke of being the "right kind" of people we should socialize with. So, naturally – I was surrounded by the offspring of these people who I shared a compartment with. Out of the four people that we, Draco and I, shared a cabin with I mostly got along was with Daphne Greengrass – unlike Pansy Parkinson who I considered the female equivalent of Draco. That is not to say that I couldn't stomach being around her, at most our "friendship" was casual at best.

With the knowledge the trip to Hogwarts would take hours, I brought along a book with the belief I'd be able to read it along the way. Big surprise, it was close to impossible. Between loud obnoxious conversations between the five of them and Pansy asking trivial things about Hogwarts – I started reading Hogwarts: A History –, I decided to take my reading elsewhere.

When I first saw how crowded Platform 9¾ was, I believed it was due to the amount of families bidding their children farewell, and clearly that was not the case. I was a bit miffed seeing that every compartment was practically full and while I could had settled for one whose occupants were quiet, each one I came across was as lively as the next. Whether it was due to them being all friends or that it happened to be after the lunch hour that had set their lively moods, I wouldn't know. As I was about to check on the next compartment, a girl quickly stepped out from it and had it not been that I stepped back, she would had bumped into me.

"Oh, sorry! I was about to bumped into you, was I?" she asked, as she slid the compartment behind her.

I quickly looked her over: bushy haired, brown eyes and large front teeth that was remarkably similar to those of a rabbit – no, she wasn't familiar. "You might want to face the way you're walking next time," I replied as I held the book up to my chest.

The girl let out a light chuckle, "Of course; I'm Hermione Granger, you are?"

Just as I was about to introduced myself, her eyes went wide and pointed towards the book I held. "You're reading Hogwarts, a History? Oh, it's one of my favorite books. I quickly gone through it after purchasing it – so excited to learn everything there's to learn about Hogwarts and the magical world," she finished with a wide grin.

"Magical world?" I asked, mostly as a rhetorical question. I had come across half-bloods before, but never a muggle-born. I looked over her again, remembering the stories Draco would tell me about them and she looked nothing out of the norm. "I never met a muggle-born before," I commented as I pushed back a strand of my dark hair behind my ear. Remembering my manners, I introduced myself, "Xadia Lestrange."

"Well, Xadia – there's always a first, isn't there?" she smiled, before she dropped her friendly demeanor and turned serious. "By any chance, had you seen a toad somewhere?"

"Toad?" I asked a bit confused by her change of demeanor.

"Neville Longbottom has lost his, so I'm helping him on the search."

Neville Longbottom? As in the son of those my parent's ha-"Huh?"

"Are you okay? You kinda blanked there for a minute..." Hermione peered at me, before she shook her head. "It's this train ride, isn't it? It's a good thing we're allowed to walk around or I'll go stir crazy – well, not really but you get the idea. Well, if you happen to catch the toad, just take it down three compartments from here – that's where we're at and you're welcome to join us if you need a quiet place to read."

"Quiet place? Yes—I mean, no. Thanks, I just needed to take a stroll, I think I should return now before they send out a search team," I said with what I hoped was a genuine looking smile and not the awkward one I felt. "Nice meeting you, Gra – I mean, Hermione." I last said, correcting myself from a habit I wanted to eliminate.

"Right," I last heard from her as I returned down to the corridor I had ventured from.

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Other than Pansy commenting on my lack of "greenery" of my new school robes, in which I replied we hadn't been properly sorted yet, in which, resulted a somewhat amusing look coming from Draco, our arrival to Hogsmeade had been as expected: exciting. With Hagrid – a giant of a man – rounding us First years, as we were called, he gave a booming welcome and guidelines to follow as we were to be led to Hogwarts. Not wanting to participate in Draco's comments concerning Hagrid's ancestry, I trailed behind his little wouldn't be until we reached the lake that Hagrid made us board a small boat, a boat that safely fitted three students. It goes without saying that the two of us, Draco and I, shared the same boat along with Gregory Goyle.

"How is it that giant of ahalf-breed hasn't sunk his ship?" Draco commented, referring to Hagrid leading the way with his small boat.

"Magic, Draco." I replied as I dipped my fingers lazily into the dark, cold lake that our boats glided on. "Might want to keep your senses sharp," I uttered, lazily throwing a glance at Gregory beside me.

Draco looked over his shoulder, "Of course, as I should say the same about you." Moving around, he resettled across from me but not before he nudged my leg with his foot. "Such as back in the train, meeting with that mudblood and ban-"

I nudged his foot in return as I signaled with my head at Gregory. "You already know."

"Goyle isn't listening," he pointedly said, which caused the chubby boy beside me to turn his bodyaway from our conversation. I rolled my eyes and turned to dip my fingers back into the cold lake.

"He's here, the Longbottom boy. His name is Neville. No, I haven't met him..." I added, knowing he was going to ask that. "So for now, I rather blend into the background."

"That's ridiculous – you know that, right? Face it, it's going to happen and you might as well start getting used to the idea. You practically had the whole summer to dwell on it, it's time to man up."

"So easy for you to say," I muttered under my breath as I gazed down at the dark matter my fingers grazed. "Only thing you had to worry – which I know you hardly do – are those rumors about your father truly being a Death Eater."

"Go ahead and beat yourself up for a matter you had no say in; if anything, I'd put that brain of yours to good use, you know. Have that be the center of their attention – wouldn't hurt being related to a smart cousin, I mean – that's why you're reading all those bloody books, right?"

Typical of Draco – I couldn't help but let out a small grin, which soon slacked once my eyes set upon the glorious outline of Hogwarts. "Well, look at that," I voiced as I signaled behind him.

On special occasions we'd visited Hogsmeade and during those trips, our eyes would gaze upon the sight of the looming castle that towered over the village. Hearing stories about my Aunt and Uncle's time at Hogwarts was always exciting, and build us up for the moment we received our Hogwarts letters. During those times we thought the magical school couldn't look any better during those days, but now it paled in comparison to what we saw under the full moon. The glowing warm lights that emitted from the countless of windows, the castle's conical roofs that reached up for the skies - even the very lake we glided on reflected an otherworldly enchanting world.

So awe-inspiring, so magical.

I knew right then that everything would be all right, partially thanks to Draco as well.

Note:

I found this to be the perfect ending, so I really had to end it here ~

At the beginning when I first came to outlining this story, I thought of making each chapter a year of hers in Hogwarts but decided against it. There'll be too much going on within a chapter, so I decided to dedicate two chapters for each year of her being there. These, naturally, will be dedicated to those events in her life that had played a role in forming who she is now – the girl you read in the prologue. Also, I'll let you know this was meant to be a mini-fic, a prequel to my main story - which, technically, will be the sequel to this story :)

Now I'll end it with this chapters' question:

Right now, at this moment, what do you want the most?

Until next time!