Raleigh couldn't believe she was actually at Hogwarts. She had heard her father mention it from time to time, how it was a place in the wizarding world where boys and girls went to study magic. She had always thought it sounded wonderful. When her letter had arrived she had been so excited, practically leaping into the car to go to Diagon Alley for a wand.

And now here she was, seated in the Hogwarts Great Hall surrounded by a crowd of Gryffindors and a table full of delicious food.

"Hi, I'm Lily!" a bubbly voice said from across the table.

Raleigh looked up to meet a pair of bright green eyes and a big smile.

"I'm Raleigh," she replied shyly.

"This is great isn't it?" Lily asked, her red hair bouncing as she spoke. "All this magic is so amazing. Severus told me it would be great, but this is beyond what I imagined. Isn't the Headmaster cool? I heard he's the greatest wizard of our time."

Raleigh listened as Lily chatted, glad that the pretty girl didn't give her a lot of time to get a word in. She wasn't really sure how she would respond. Raleigh had always been shy, and this was nothing like school in the muggle world. These people all seemed to know so much more than she did.

"Are you from a wizarding family?" Raleigh asked when she had a chance.

"Oh no," Lily replied, "I'm muggle-born, but my friend Severus' mum is a witch, and he told me all about magic. He's over there, at the Slytherin table." Lily turned and pointed behind her. Raleigh noticed that a dark haired boy with a hooked nose was staring intently at Lily, his dark eyes glittering. He kind of looked jealous, she thought. Her gaze drifted to a tall blond boy sitting beside him, clearly one of the older students. He seemed to feel her eyes on him, because he turned and met her gaze. His pale pointy face scowled and Raleigh looked down.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked after she had waved to Severus and returned her attention to Raleigh.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little overwhelmed. I'm muggle-born too," she added.

Lily grinned. "Then I'm sure we'll be great friends."

"Hey would you mind passing the pudding?" a soft voice asked from her right.

"Sure," she said, reaching for the pudding dish and setting it in front of a sandy haired boy. "It's my favorite," she murmured, trying to be pleasant.

The quiet boy smiled. "Mine too. I'm Remus Lupin."

"Raleigh Malloy, nice to meet you."

"Did you say your last name is Malfoy?" A handsome dark haired boy asked from further down the table.

Raleigh furrowed her brow. "No, Malloy," she repeated, confused.

The dark haired boy shrugged. "Oh, you look like you could be a Malfoy, that's all. I was beginning to think the Sorting Hat might've gone mad, putting a Black and a Malfoy in Gryffindor." He smiled. "I'm Sirius Black."

Raleigh smiled back. "Pleasure."

Lucius was standing by the fireplace, his ice blue eyes zeroed in on her face. Raleigh was seated in an armchair, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her heart pounding.

"Lucius, really, tell me what you are doing here. Where are my mother and father?"

He ignored her questions. "Your nephew will be ten years old in June. Did you know that?"

Raleigh guessed she would have to play along before he would tell her anything she wanted to know. "Really, and how is Draco?"

Lucius' eyes flashed. "Like his father."

She nodded, meeting his gaze before she spoke her next words. "For his sake, I hope he's not like any of your family."

"Our family," he corrected.

She watched as he ran his long pale fingers along the mantelpiece, his back to her as he watched the fire. "Raleigh, do you recall the day we first met, the day Abraxas brought us together?"

Raleigh remembered. She remembered the strange day when two tall blond men had arrived on her doorstep. It was the summer after her third year at Hogwarts. The shorter of the two men she had recognized from school. He had just finished his seventh year, and every time he had seen her in the corridors or in the Great Hall he had scowled. She didn't like him. He was one of the students who had helped her to understand the darker traits of a Slytherin.

The two men had barged right into the house, wands out, and her parents had simply let them. That was the day she had learned the truth of her origins. A wizard by the name of Abraxas Malfoy was her true father. The man she called father was actually her uncle, Abraxas' younger brother, a squib called Marcus Malfoy.

When the brothers had been younger, their pureblood parents had discovered Marcus' lack of magic, and they had sent him to live in the muggle world, fearful that he would taint their high status. The young man had changed his name to Mark Malloy and had lived happily, attending medical school and building himself a good life apart from the world of magic. Meanwhile, his brother Abraxas had married and produced an heir, Lucius.

All this time, Abraxas had never been fully able to turn his back on his brother, and when Lucius was four years old, he had gone to visit Marcus in the muggle world. During the visit he had met a young woman named Clarice. Failing to tell her the truth of his life, he had an affair with the pretty muggle, something that would surely have shamed the family had anyone found out. When the young woman became pregnant, Abraxas had sent her to live with Mark, who eventually fell in love with Clarice and decided to marry her, revealing the whole story of the wizarding world and the Malfoy family. Mark became like a father to Raleigh, who was never told the origins of her birth. He decided to re-enter the wizarding world, so as to be ready when Raleigh showed signs of magic, and Abraxas had discreetly obtained him employment with St. Mungo's. After that, he had disappeared from their lives.

At least until that day, the day her father and half-brother had shown up and the secret had been revealed. Perhaps she might have never known, had Abraxas not felt it in his bones that he must stop by and meet his child. He had never been able to explain just why, but Raleigh always liked to imagine it was because he regretted giving her up, regretted disowning her because she was a half-blood.

Raleigh gathered her thoughts, her wand twitching in her hand as she contemplated escape, should things take a turn for the worse.

"I remember, Lucius. You were just as surprised as I was. I remember the look in your eyes when you learned you were related to a mudblood." Raleigh spit out the word with disgust, angry at her half-brother for his prejudice and his arrogance.

Her life had changed after that day. It had taken her a long time to trust her parents again, a long time to forgive them for keeping such secrets from her. Raleigh realized that she hadn't truly forgiven her father until after her illness. She had never spoken of her relationship to the Malfoys with anyone, not even Severus, and no one had ever guessed that the Mark Malloy who worked as a muggle liaison for St. Mungo's was the same Marcus Malfoy who had once been Abraxas' younger brother.

"Do you remember anything else about that visit? Think, Raleigh. What did our father say as we were leaving? What were his last words before we walked out the door?"

She searched her memories, trying to understand what Lucius might expect her to say.

"He said I was lucky my father worked for St. Mungo's…"

"Yes!" His eyes had the gleam in them again, the same gleam that they had had when he opened the door. "Yes, exactly. Do you know why he said that?"

"No. Should I?"

Lucius looked almost gleeful, like he was about to receive a present.

"It was because our father's sister, Livia, died when she was almost fifteen. She died from a mysterious illness that appeared suddenly and could not be cured. Our father's aunt had also died from a similar illness when she was fourteen. One that no one understood, no one could cure. Raleigh, it seems to run in our family, at least, the women in our family. And they all expected the same would happen to you."

"Only I survived," Raleigh murmured, almost to herself. She nearly felt like screaming. More secrets her father had kept, more things that he had not seen fit to tell her. If she had known she never would have -

She nearly choked on her next breath. She never would have had Ariana. The news was unbearable. Why wouldn't he have told her? Why would he have let her risk another life? She barely got the next words out, and when she did they sounded like a growl, like an animal.

"Where is he?"

Lucius simply laughed. He laughed.

Raleigh had her wand in his face before she could blink.

"Where?"

"Perhaps we can trade information," he said softly, and she felt the poke of a wand tip in the flesh of her abdomen. "You tell me all about how you survived. Phoenix tears was it, mmm? And I will tell you what I've done with your parents. You may, of course, decide what to do with them yourself."

"And why are you so interested, Lucius? What's in it for you? Do you have anything to do with a man called Wendall Scrood who has been lurking around Hogwarts uninvited, threatening my daughter?"

"Tut tut. You ask too many questions. We are, regrettably, family. You don't think I'd really try to hurt you, little sister?"

"You are capable of great evil, Lucius Malfoy, no matter what you claim. I know you served the Dark Lord willingly, no matter how you bribed the Ministry to think otherwise. I firmly believe you would hurt me if it helped you achieve whatever twisted ends you are seeking."

He leaned closer and breathed in her ear, whispered words that made her blood run cold as ice. "I want to test your mortality, sister. I want to see if you really have become a phoenix, like the doctors say. I have to know, you see. Wendall and I must know. Perhaps we can start now, shall we?"

Tears were squeezing out of her eyes, try as she might to hold them back. She did not want to die. Perhaps if she apparated, perhaps she might be gone before the Killing Curse could hit her. Then something happened that surprised her. Lucius took a small step away and conjured a vial. He leaned close and caught two of her tears in the vial.

"Many thanks, mudblood. I think this time I shall let you live to see another day. Good-bye."

And he turned on the spot and was gone, leaving Raleigh in a weightless state of shock. She soon fainted, too overwhelmed to retain consciousness. It was the first time in Raleigh's life that she utterly regretted magic.

A/N: Whew. I don't know why but this chapter took forever...probably because I wrote a whole chapter and then decided to erase it and start over. Hope you are intrigued... Thanks for reading!