After a flurry of owls back and forth between Sirius, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang, Elle found herself anxiously sitting on the train to Hogwarts with Genevieve. Her hands were shaking, her wrist was burning, the constellation tattooed on her collarbone was glowing. Sirius had seen her off with a hug and whispered assurances. She had never been so nervous about going to school – as awful as Durmstrang had been, at least they hadn't been there. Tears were stinging her eyes, her emotions were a lump in her throat. Gen was casual, comfortable, chatting incessantly. She was trying to fill Elle in on her friends, but the hurricane brewing in Elle's head made it hard to pay any attention. Suddenly, a gaggle of teenage girls opened the door to the compartment and threw themselves in. Elle jumped, squeezing herself into as tiny a corner as possible. Gen quickly introduced everyone, but Elle didn't catch a single name. The girls started chatting quickly about their holiday, about the acceptance that one girl received to a renowned Healer training program, about another's trip to Paris, another who had been offered a prestigious internship with a member of the Wizengamot.

It was unlike anything Elle had experienced. The girls were all lounging on one another – two had even swapped out their blouses at one point, openly changing in front of the rest of the compartment. It was overwhelming, making Elle's head hurt, and she desperately wished she could escape but had no idea where to go. Gen caught her eye, mouthing "you okay?" Elle tried to muster a small smile, nodding, but she was entirely unconvincing.

"So, Elle, what do you want to do after school?" One of the girls asked. Elle's eyes widened, as she realized that, for the first time in her life, she had a choice. No one had ever asked her this before, as everyone in her life had just assumed that she would finish school, marry well, produce a few heirs, and then take over the role of matriarch of The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. She was destined to be the next Cassiopeia, who had been destined to be the next Walburga, who had been, well, you get the idea. The thought made her sick, anger was coursing through her veins, she wanted to scream or cry or maybe just dig her nails into the sill of the train window and drag them. She could destroy the sill, destroy her nails, and perhaps the splintering of the wood would be less painful than the splintering of her head or her heart. She was vaguely aware that she hadn't yet answered the question, yet that was immaterial as she didn't actually know what the answer was. Besides, she thought, as everyone stared at her awkwardly, it felt as though too much time had passed since the question had been asked. "Anyways," the same girl carried on, apparently unphased by the lack of an answer. "David and I finally got around to shagging over the holiday!" Several of the others squealed, and Elle winced, the sound foreign to her ears. "It was downright, er, animalistic."

"NO." Gen shouted half-heartedly, covering her ears. "I do NOT WANT to hear about werewolf sex! It just makes me think of my mum and dad and that's just not okay." At that, Elle pressed a mouth to her hand to stifle a giggle, and everyone seemed to notice. Oddly, she thought, that little slip was what endeared her to all of Gen's friends and she realized that, for the first time in her life, these people didn't care about who she was or what her surname was or what was in her Gringotts vault – they were just genuinely friendly and cared about her because they cared about Gen. After that, the conversation flowed a bit more flowly, Elle was less hidden in the corner, and even offered the occasional sarcastic comment – those always resulted in raucous laughter. By the time one of the girls – Chloe, Elle thought her name was – looked out the window and announced that they were getting close and should probably change, Elle was actually enjoying herself and had almost forgotten that she was going to a new school and was now part of a new family.

"Er, right," Gen said, as they all begin to just change, not bothering with modesty. "Elle, I know Sirius said you've got the uniform, but have you got all the Gryffindor goodies? I'm sure between us we could pull together a tie and scarf."

"Or I've extras. You can confuse everyone. A new seventh-year that they've never seen before, sitting at the Gryffindor table wearing a Hufflepuff tie."

"Only if she wears one of my Ravenclaw scarves with it."

Elle giggles, buttoning her white blouse. "Sirius ensured that I have all things Gryffindor. I think he'd have given me a lion tattoo had I allowed him."

"Wait. Elle. What's that?" The Hufflepuff girl asked, pointing at her collarbone.

"Oh. Er, it's a tattoo. Pleiades. The constellation that houses my namesake star. Er. Yeah. My, er, Elle. It's for Electra. I, er, I know it's probably weird. Getting a tattoo of your own name. But. Er. Well, I have it."

"Sirius has a tattoo of his star, too," Gen whispered in her ear.

"Oh, how wonderful! Oh, I love thestrals," Elle said to her new – dare she say it – friends, as she nuzzled one of the skeletal creatures pulling the carriages. "What's your name, hm, love?" She asked the animal quietly. Gen's eyes widened, as she exchanged a glance with the other friends they'd be sharing a carriage with. None were naïve enough to believe that the carriages just pulled themselves, but they were also all unable to see the creatures. Gen had, perhaps foolishly, she realized in retrospect, assumed that Elle would be just as unable to see the thestrals.

"Blood traitor," Gen heard from somewhere nearby. She spun her head, looking for the source, ready to protect her new cousin if necessary. She saw a blond boy that she vaguely recognized as someone from the Slytherin Quidditch team, and her brain was telling her that he was in her brother John's year.

"Draco," Elle said in a cold, high voice, unlike anything Gen had heard from her.

"You dare to use my given name after what you did to the family?" He took a step closer, gripping his wand tightly.

"I do, Draco," Elle responded. Her own wand was dangling almost lazily between her long fingers, and she too took a step, making the gap between the two purebloods even smaller. "And what are you going to do about it, curse me?" In the carriage, Gen gripped the thigh of the girl sitting next to her, terrified of what was about to happen.

"Don't test me."

"You can't possibly do anything to me that he hasn't already done." Elle laughs once, a harsh, dry, humourless bark of a laugh. She had an almost murderous glint in her eyes, and Gen suddenly realized that she actually had no idea what Elle had faced at the hands of her family.

"I said, don't. test. me." The boy positively sneered, reaching his wand out and prodding her left wrist with it. Agony filled her face, and she wordlessly turned on her heel, gracelessly climbed into the carriage. She was already folding back in on herself, her wrist burning, her chest feeling as though it could crack open at any minute. Fortunately, she thought, she hadn't given her cousin the satisfaction of seeing her cry or hearing her shout.