"Abraxas, Abraxas, I can't wait!"

Abraxas chuckled softly, leading the way down the crowded corridor of the Hogwarts Express, dragging both of their trunks behind him. She skipped along happily in the space left by his progression.

"My friends are in here, Rosie." He opened the door, and she followed him in, beaming as he stowed their belongings.

"Little sister, Malfoy?" Aldous Falco guessed.

"No, that's Rosie McTavish," Radomir Lestrange told him with a smirk.

"Rosalind, actually," she corrected with a haughty little tilt of her chin. Abraxas ducked his head to hide his amused pride in her response, and patted the seat beside him.

"Sit down, Rosalind."

She paused slightly, wondering if she should correct her previous statement. She didn't want Abraxas to have to call her Rosalind. However, the wink he gave her as she settled beside him reassured her. Corvus Wenlock took the other seat beside her.

"Nice summer, then?" asked Arabella LaFolle, Radomir's current female interest and a third year Ravenclaw.

"Same as usual," Abraxas shrugged.

"And you, Rosalind?" she continued kindly.

"Very nice, thank you."

Aldous shook his head, a nasty smirk playing around his features as he regarded Abraxas and Rosalind. Though Rose was oblivious, Abraxas shot the other boy an icy glare.

"Problem, Falco?" he snarled. Aldous's smirk widened.

"Oh, no. It's nothing. Remember how I told you I was considering a future in Magical Law Enforcement? I was just thinking about legality."

"Shut up, it's not like that," Abraxas hissed.

"Besides, it's not even illegal until he turns seventeen," Corvus added. The two boys dissolved into laughter, and Abraxas was livid.

"Both of you, enough!" He drew his wand and the pair fell silent. Beside him, Rosalind's eyes flicked back and forth with nervous curiosity.

The rest of the ride passed in a rather more amicable manner, though Corvus and Aldous managed to sneak in several more snide comments.

When the train finally ground to a halt in Hogsmeade, Rosalind's hand found Abraxas's as the others pushed out of the compartment.

"Do we need to bring the trunks?"

"No, honey, the elves will get them."

They filled off the train, but when she began walking with him over to the horseless carriages, he stopped her.

"You're going to ride the boats. All first years do."

"Must I?" she asked. "Can't I go up with you?"

"You have to get Sorted, Rosie. But I'll save you a seat, alright?"

"Yes, alright."

He glanced around and stole a quick peck on her cheek. "You'll be fine, Rose. Love you."

"Love you too," she managed, as he shooed her off in the direction of her classmates. Abraxas hurried over to climb into the same carriage as his other friends.

"Merlin, Malfoy, she's a baby," Corvus Wenlock shouted the moment he climbed aboard. "I can't even believe you'd-"

"I told you, it isn't like that!" Abraxas was feeling a disproportionate amount of rage towards the other boy; it made him distinctly murderous to know that anyone would even consider his Rosie as anything the sweetly innocent girl that she was. The subject was dropped for the moment, though Abraxas fumed all the way to the Great Hall. True to his word, he saved a seat for Rosalind, politely telling the flirtatious Druella Rosier that she would need to find another spot and ignoring Corvus and Aldous's sniggers as she went.

When 'McTavish, Rosalind' was called, he waited with bated breath. He didn't really have any doubt that she was a Slytherin at heart, but she was so clever, and he just couldn't stand it if she was a Ravenclaw, if after all these years of waiting, she was put in a different House, if they grew apart, he just couldn't bear to think...

"SLYTHERIN!"

With a covert sigh of relief, he clapped loudly and grinned as she practically skipped across the Hall to join him.

"Congratulations, honey," he whispered close to her ear. She beamed up at him, and patiently watched the rest of her year be Sorted. After dinner, Abraxas waited until most of the other students had filtered out before suggesting they leave. Rosalind hopped to her feet with a little yawn.

"In the dungeons, right?" she parroted his previous descriptions. "Stone wall's the secret entrance. I need a password."

"I asked one of the prefects already. It's polyjuice. Your dormitory will be labeled."

"I tried a few spells before term started," she confessed as they walked. "They all worked well."

"You'll be great at your classes. I can help you, too. The essays aren't so bad first year, but they get much worse..." He paused at the hidden entrance. Rosalind looked confused at their halt, but realization quickly dawned.

"Oh, can I say it?"

"Of course," he chuckled.

"Polyjuice!" she crooned, and clapped in delight as the stone grated aside. However, she grew suddenly shy when they entered the Common Room, full of chattering students eager to greet one another after the summer apart.

"Why don't you go meet some of the other girls in you class?" he suggested, gesturing to a frightened looking knot in the far corner. "I'll be right over here with Radomir if you need me."

She nodded haltingly, and slipped off in the direction he'd indicated. He sat beside his friend, eyes never leaving her slight blonde form.

"She seems nice," Radomir told him casually. "Though I'm not sure how I feel about being second best to an eleven year old girl."

Abraxas grinned. "Sorry, mate, don't know what to tell you there. I don't care what Corvus says; there's nothing strange about it."

Radomir shrugged. "It's a bit odd, but probably not too bad, considering that in a couple years, no one will notice the age difference."

Frustrated, Abraxas shook his head. "Just forget about it. Bloody Wenlock and Falco just need to piss off."


Later that evening, the fourth year boys were settling into their dorm. Corvus had loudly and smugly shared that he'd managed to get under Florence Vance's skirts over the summer, making him the first of the group to divest his unwanted virginity. After thoroughly exhausting the exaggerated and graphic tale, all were beginning to settle into bed. As Abraxas was pulling his blankets back, he noticed something odd fluttering weakly by the door. It seemed to be a piece of parchment, folded carefully to resemble... a butterfly?

With a jolt, Abraxas realized what it was. Checking that no one else had spotted it, he headed over to the door, bending as though to scratch his ankle, and snatching up the paper on the way to the lavatory. Over the summer, he'd taught her write notes on scraps of parchment and send them to him, loaning her his wand to practice the spell. However, in her inexperience, the charm was waning short of her target; it was lucky he'd spotted it. On the paper she'd written:

Can't sleep. Can I come over there?

Wait there, he scrawled hastily, before twisting the paper into a serpent-like shape, and sending it slithering inconspicuously out the door. He climbed back into bed until each of the other boys had closed the hangings of his four poster bed, before silently rising to his feet. Casting nervous glances around, he slipped down the stairs and through the deserted Common Room. He took the stairs up to the first year girls' dormitory three at a time, pleased to see that only one bed had open drapes, and in that bed, Rosalind stared up at him with wide, fretful eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but he quickly shook his head, crawling under the blankets beside her and shutting the curtains with a flick of his wand. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling close.

"You know," he whispered, lips against her ear, "I heard that those chivalrous Gryffindors don't let boys into the girls' dorms."

"Good thing were Slytherins, then," she replied softly, happily. "Tell me about my teachers."

"Again?"

She nodded. Abraxas began to talk, mindlessly describing the minutiae of everyday life at Hogwarts that worked as well as a lullaby on a child. He could feel her grow heavy with sleep in his arms, and once the grip around his neck slackened, he drew away.

"Sleep well, Rose," he murmured. He wished he could stay; he never slept so well as when she was curled up beside him. But he knew it would be deeply frowned upon, and the reactions of his friends today had shown him that he would need to be exceedingly careful. He kissed her forehead, and returned silently to his own bed.