"Dray!"
Oomph.
Her cousin staggered slightly as she flung her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. It'd been weeks since she'd last seen her cousin or anyone her own age for that matter. She wasn't even allowed to visit Rolf on the sixth isle after that first day, so had become rather lonely with only her parents and a grumpy potions master for company.
"Vini, my hair." Draco muttered looking flustered while untangling himself from her embrace.
"Is fixed in place with enough styling potion to fill our newly built lake." She quipped grinning as she inclined her chin in the direction of the lake which had recently been dug by their groundskeeper.
The lake had an island at the centre where a pavilion was slowly taking shape alongside a beautiful flower garden, the lake itself would be filled with fish and a variety of flowering water plants with a bridge leading to the centre island.
"Vinia, dear niece it has been some time since I saw you last." The drawling voice of her uncle Lucius drew her attention away from teasing her cousin, and she moved to curtsy before the blond lord with her sweetest smile fixed on her face.
"Uncle, you've been very busy of late, so we haven't had many chances to meet. Daddy speaks very highly of your recent achievements." She said, watching in amusement as her uncle puffed up with pride.
"Yes, well there has been much to be done." Her uncle Lucius drawled, and gestured with his cane, causing a parcel to come floating towards her from the Malfoy's carriage.
"Something I picked up on my recent trip to France," he said offhandedly as he walked past her and Draco heading to greet her mother.
Grabbing the box from mid air, she undid the ribbon holding the box closed. Peering inside she beamed at the sight of the tiny wooden box and bag within. The logo on the card sitting in the box showing it to be from one of the most prominent luggage crafters in Europe. Flipping the card over she read over the instructions and customization information with care before handing the box to Bippity.
"Bippity, please take my trunk and bag to my room and begin packing my things for school." She ordered, handing over the card which had the trunks information.
The trunk was a four compartment trunk, with several customizations for her use. The first was a clothing compartment which would rise up out of the trunk to display her hanging clothes with drawers for her accessories, cosmetics and shoes. It also had a dressing table, complete with mirror and padded stool. The second was a compartment which was called a portable study, and according to her cousin who had the same trunk, consisted of a large book case and desk where she could work. The third compartment was designed for potions, with a fully enchanted storage cabinet and fold out work station with burner. The last compartment was set up for standard storage, the cabinet even had a shelf designated for holding a broomstick. Not that she needed it, broomstick riding was not something she enjoyed, she would much rather fly on an Abraxan then a flimsy piece of wood. The bag she'd received was dark green in color, and made of dragon hide harvested from a common welsh green, with two weightless compartments it would easily be able to store her books and stationary for all her classes.
"Cousin, would you like to come see the new foal?" She asked, not even waiting for a response before she began dragging Draco towards the stables where the Abraxan were.
Her mares foal, was now named SwiftStrike after his mother and his tendency to kick out at any of the stable hands who approached. SwiftStrike had inherited his sire's stormy temperament, and was growing very fast, so much so that Mr Peterson worried the young stallion would grow too large to race. The more muscular Abraxan while able to fly for longer, often flew slower then those of a slimmer form. She didn't mind if that were the case, as her mare was not able to fly for long due to a injury to her wing. It wouldn't be hard to convince her father to let her keep SwiftStrike for her own, as he already had several Abraxan being trained to enter the racing scene and StarStorm had sired three other foals which all showed good results in their training so far.
"I heard StarStorm won the Belmore cup from father, he was rather annoyed at his newest Abraxan's performance in the event." Her cousin said as they sat on the fence which surrounded the small yard the mare and foal were grazing in.
"I was surprised uncle Lucius didn't enter Valiant-Glory into the cup, is her wing still not recovered?" She asked, glancing at her cousin who nodded.
"Father is considering putting her to stud instead of continuing to try and rehabilitate the injury." Draco said, and she sighed glancing at her own mare with a sad look.
Wing injuries were common for racing Abraxan, and a similar thing had happened to her Swiftwing. Her mare had once been a very famous racer before suffering a wing injury during a long distance race. The mare had later been sold by her owners and purchased by her father. While Swiftwing could still fly she wasn't able to fly very far or fast, which considering she was still learning at that time made the mare well suited for her.
"Its to bad, with Valiant-Glory gone there isn't much competition in the domestic racing scene for Starstorm." She said with a grin as her cousin rolled his eyes.
""Just wait until he reaches the international level races, he won't have such an easy time then. Some of the French Abraxan's are so fast the race is over before you can even blink, Valiant-Glory was barely half a lap in when last years Silvana cup winner crossed the finish line."
"Its been a long time since any English owned Abraxan brought home any racing titles, but I think if any has a chance it is our StarStorm." She said, pointing to where the stallion in question was being flown through a series of floating obstacles at high speed by Mr Petersons wife, who was a former racing jockey and their lead trainer.
"I will admit he is the best we have here in England," her cousin murmured before glancing over his shoulder at Serpens castle. "But if you tell father I said so, I shall deny it."
"Even uncle is aware of StarStorms superiority in the skies," she assured him with a smirk, getting a low snort in response.
Lucius had attempted to purchase the stallion on multiple occasions, even before her father began racing him. It was clear her uncle was well aware of the Abraxan's potential, and it was the mans interest that spurred her father to have StarStorm trained and entered into the race circuit.
After growing bored with watching the playful foal, she gave her cousin a tour of the castle before they separated to clean up for the evening meal. The Malfoy's would be staying with them, as their own estate on the island was still not yet complete, the Malfoy's would be staying for a few days while their estate was finished. Though both she and her cousin would be gone by the time the Malfoy estate reached completion. There was only three days left until the first of September, when they would depart for their first year at their parents alma mater, Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
"Are you sure you have everything?"
"Yes mother, Bippity has already double checked my belongings and packed according to the list you provided." She said for what felt like the tenth time that morning.
Standing on the noisy train platform with her mother fussing over her, she did her best not to allow her nervousness to show on her face. This would be the first time she would be away from her parents for such a long length of time, the longest she'd been away from both was only a few days. Even if her father was away, her mother would be home or if not her mother, then her grandpa.
She could hear her cousin having a similar conversation on the other side of them, though to her surprise it was her uncle Lucius who was doing all the fussing. While the man was often seen as cold and unapproachable, when it came to his family he was always very attentive. He was a lot like her own father in that way, though her father would never fuss in such a manner, he was far too regal for such behavior.
"Selena, stop smothering the girl, if she has forgotten anything we can send it to her later." Her grandpa grumbled, brushing past her mother and patting her head with a cool stone hand.
"Remember to stay clear of the old fool, and don't get provoked into any trouble by the lessers. You're a Morte, pay no heed to those beneath you."
"Yes grandpa." She murmured, glancing past him as she saw her father appear from within the crowd, he'd been delayed by a meeting that morning and they'd gone ahead to the train without him.
"Daddy you're here," darting around the four armed golem that was glamoured into appearing like a old man, she moved to her father as he reached them.
"Vinia," her fathers voice flowed over her, the power it carried with it washing away any feelings of nervousness or fear.
Placing a hand on the shoulder not occupied by her fwooper, her father stared down at her with what would appear to strangers as a stern gaze. Only she could feel the warmth radiating from his touch, and the way his magic curled protectively around her.
"Keep your serpent construct on you at all times, and remember to keep your shields up always."
"Yes daddy," she said, and was about to say more when a hard shove to her back sent her stumbling forwards into her fathers arms.
Turning she scowled at the man who'd pushed her, mouth open to scold him, but he wasn't paying her any heed with his attention focused on his camera as it flashed again and again.
"Potter!"
"Its Harry Potter!"
"Harry, Harry! Over here!"
"Harry!"
"Harry, what house do you think you will get into?"
"Harry!"
"Potter, Harry Potter!"
Sneering at the crowd surging towards what she assumed must be the false hero, she took advantage of her father's catching her to sneak a hug before pulling away. He was never one for displays of affection, and the only times she managed to steal a hug out of him was if she caught him by surprise.
Pulling back from her father, she turned to give a hug to both her mother and grandpa, followed by her aunt and uncle before grabbing her cousins hand and pulling him towards the train.
"Come on Dray! Lets find an empty compartment whilst everyone is distracted," she said as she dragged him to board the train.
"Calm down, Vini, we will be sitting in the Slytherin section so we don't need to worry about fighting for a compartment." Her cousin said, and she rolled her eyes at him.
"I know that, but I'd rather not have to try and push my way through a crowd of people to get there, if we board now the train should be mostly empty with them all out here fawning."
Giving a final wave over her shoulder to their parents, she stepped up onto the train and began heading towards the very front where the Slytherins had laid claim to the first three carriages. Only once the platform was out of sight did she slow her steps, and the tension in her body ease. The urge to rush back out onto the platform and strike down the pretender with the most vicious curse she could muster slowly waning as she put more distance between them. She despised that boy with every cell in her body, his mere presence made her skin crawl and her magic writhe, there was something wrong about him. Whatever the old man had done to create his false Harry Potter was something so vile, that even her dark alined magic could not bear to be near it. It was not only her, any whose core shared the dark alignment felt the same, poor Draco nearly vomited during his first brief encounter with the boy when they were five. The sickly, skin crawling feeling the false boy who lived put off didn't seem to affect the light sided wizards in the same way however, instead they seemed to be drawn to the boy, like moths to brightly lit lamp.
Seeing the door to the carriage up ahead with the Slytherin crest emblazoned on it's surface she felt a sense of reassurance. The Gryffindor carriages were at the very rear of the train and that would be where Harry Potter would sit, if he was not sitting in the few centre carriages left for first years, which meant he would be well away from the Slytherin compartments.
"Ah, well well well, what do we have here? Some little first years trying to sneak into the Slytherin carriages?" A voice mocked lowly, and she grinned at the tall dark haired boy before her.
"Hello cousin, did you save me a compartment." she greeted, running her eyes over the boys green and silver trimmed uniform with barely concealed jealousy. It would be hours before she could change her plain robes to show the Slytherin crest.
"Mm, the first two compartment's are set aside for future Slytherins." Her cousin drawled, stepping aside to let them through. "I suggest you go to the front carriage to greet the house leader first though, Yaxley has been impatiently waiting for you."
"We shall do that first then, thank you cousin." She said, inclining her head to the third year boy and leading the way through the next two carriages to find the opulently decorated first carriage where some of the older years all lazed about. Unlike the first two carriages they walked through, this one was not split into separated compartments on either side of a hall, but was one large room with comfortable lounges and tables filled with an assortment of food.
"Ah there they are, our future little house leaders." Margo purred from her reclined position on a lounge, drawing the attention of those surrounding her.
"Ravinia, Draco, come sit. Its been so long," the older girl crooned, and she fought the urge to sneer at the pretentious girl. It seemed these past two years as house leader had gone to Yaxley's head if she thought she could order the heirs of two higher houses about. Margo was house leader because her house was the highest ranked of those currently in attendance at Hogwarts, though that would change with her and Draco here.
Not moving to take the proffered seat, she instead gave the girl a very slight inclination of her head.
"We have only come to say hello, and will be spending the trip with our future classmates." She drawled, running a hand over her braid and pulling the end over her shoulder to ensure the older girl could see the serpent construct entwined in the braid, as a subtle reminder of her status as the heir of Slytherin house.
"I trust that should my cousin and I need it, we can come to you for guidance during this year. I am sure there is much we can learn from you." She said, tilting her head with a light smile curling her lips.
In truth there was nothing Yaxley could offer either of them, but they'd already decided to keep the girl in her position for now. It would make it easier to take control of the house if they integrated themselves over their first year instead of simply trying to wrest control by force the moment they arrived.
"Of course, you can seek me anytime you have need." the older girl murmured lazily, waving a hand in the air in a dismissive gesture.
"We will be leaving to join our year mates then," she told Margo, flicking her braid back to its former position over her shoulder to hang down her back. "We look forward to joining you during tonights feast."
"I shall save you both a place with me at the head of the table." Margo said, giving them a indulgent smile as they both inclined their heads towards her before leaving.
Exiting the carriage she could practically feel her cousins sneer from behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see his expression of disgust and distain.
"Hmm, I agree." She murmured in response to the look on his face. "We will carry on as planned for now."
"You are going to allow her to continue in this way?" Draco asked with a scowl and she shook her head with a smile.
"Of course not, I will give Yaxley a proper reminder of her place, but will do so in a more private setting. I have no desire to humiliate or shame her, Margo is to marry my older cousin Felix after all. It would not do for us to be on bad terms." She drawled, reaching up to lightly scratch Razle's feathered head when he nibbled at her earring.
As they reached the third carriage and found the compartments for the first years. She saw Pansy Parkinson enter the right hand compartment speaking with Millicent Bulstrode and dragged her cousin into the left compartment slamming the door closed and quickly pulling down the window shade, much to the boys amusement.
"Aw, Vin Vin, don't want to talk to your bestest friend in the world?" Draco drawled mockingly.
"Not particularly," she sneered, slumping back in her chair.
Pansy Parkinson was like a leach, clinging to her anytime they were in close proximity to each other. The only difference between the girl and a leach, is salt killed leaches, unlike the girl who just shrieked in surprise when she'd thrown salt at her during a tea party. Lord Parkinson was no better, always trailing after her father and uncle, though unlike his daughter who was as brainless as the leach she mimicked Lord Parkinson was of some use as a member of the Wizengamot.
Looking up as the door to their compartment slid open, she smiled as she saw Daphne Greengrass rush inside.
"Daph," she greeted, seeing the girls hurried entry she guessed the girl must have seen Pansy in the other compartment. The other compartment still had the shade on the doors window up, allowing the passersby to peer into the compartment.
"Vinia," the pretty blond girl said with a sigh, slumping down on the chair next to her. "You won't believe the morning I've had."
"Oh?"
Glancing at the girl she noted with interest that the normally sleek and well put together girl looked rather ruffled.
"First Astoria unpacked half my things so she could try and stow away inside, only to be found out when the elves tried to shrink my trunk and the protections prevented it from shrinking. Then when we went to leave we discovered all the floo powder in the manor was missing," Daphne said shaking her head with an annoyed sigh.
"Father had to side apparate with me, and mother stayed home to deal with Astoria who decided to throw a tantrum when she realized hiding the floo powder hadn't worked. After we got here the platform was flooded with people here to fawn over Potter and to top it all off I almost mistakenly entered a compartment with Parkinson of all people." Her friend finished with a breathless huff.
Giggling at the girls tale, she shook her head in amusement at the younger Greengrass's antics. Astoria was very attached to her older sister, and from what she'd learnt in her friends recent letters the girl had been very vocal about not wanting to be parted from Daphne.
"It must be hard for her, there are not many in her own age group from suitable families. I know she and Gabrielle Delacour have become quite close, but do not get to see each other often with the distance. Maybe you should suggest your mother take her for a visit? Fleur has recently returned to school, so Gabrielle is no doubt feeling a little lonely, especially now that Draco is also attending school and will not be joining his father on visits to France to see her." She said, glancing at her cousins suddenly flushed cheeks at the mention of his younger quarter Veela betrothed.
Both Gabrielle and Astoria were turning nine later this year, and had become close after being introduced to each other the previous year during her birthday party. She'd been worried about the two at first, as Astoria had been known to have a not so secret crush on her cousin, and wasn't sure how she would handle being around Gabrielle who was his betrothed. The quarter Veela and Draco had first met when the girl was six and she had rather cutely approached her cousin during an event at the French ministry, and declared he was her 'starlight', not allowing anyone to approach either of them for the entire night even going so far as to fling fire balls at anyone who tried to separate them. The two were betrothed shortly after, and Draco stayed in France for two months before Gabrielle was able to be weaned away from him. Even so he still visited frequently and wrote to her every few days, this year would be the longest the two would be separated since meeting, though he would be spending his Christmas and Easter breaks with her.
"I'll do that," Daphne said, brushing back her hair which had fallen loose from her ponytail.
"Gabby would appreciate the company, her mother has been busy with a new project. It might even be possible for her to come to England for a visit, she will be here for Christmas so I don't see that coming a little early and staying with Astoria would be an issue." Draco said, rubbing his finger over the silver ring around his right index finger.
The ring was shaped like a pair of wings with a orange jewel in the centre where the wings tips met, if one stared at the jewel for a time they would be able to see tiny flames dancing within it. The ring had been a gift from Gabrielle to mark their betrothal, and was made using a method known only to the Veela using their inborn flames.
She was a little jealous of Draco's betrothal, he and Gabrielle got along very well without any of the awkwardness she had with her own betrothed. She was lucky to get a letter a few times a year from Viktor, and only saw him at most thrice a year during arranged visits or formal events they both attended. She hadn't seen or spoken to him since her birthday, in person or letter. Perhaps she should write to him, but she was annoyed at always being the one to write to him. He never wrote to her unless it was in response to one of her own letters to him.
Flinching at the loud sound of the trains whistle, she glanced out the window beside them as the train slowly began moving. Not long after that their compartment door opened once more to admit Theodore Nott who was accompanied by a bushy haired girl.
"Theo, Hermione," she greeted, giving the two a smile in greeting.
"Vinia, Daph, I'm so glad I found you." Hermione Lestrange said, moving to sit beside Daphne.
"I searched all over the train, but couldn't find you until I found Theo and he told me about the Slytherin compartments." The girl exclaimed.
"Didn't aunt Bella tell you about the Slytherin compartments cousin?" Draco asked, a slight smirk on his face and she watched in amusement as the girl flushed.
"She did, but I was just so excited, we're finally going to Hogwarts." Hermione said, voice filled with awe and excitement. "Plus there isn't anything about the houses having their own compartments in Hogwarts a history, I've been reading it and -."
With a silent groan she tuned out the girls ramblings and turned her attention back to the window, watching as the scenery outside changed from city to farmland. Hermione may be her friend, but the girl sometimes drove her nearly insane with her constant chattering about the books she was so obsessed with. It seemed that even three years after being blood adopted into the Lestrange family, the girl still hadn't quite gotten over her awe of the magical world.
Three years ago, Hermione in a feat of strong accidental magic, apparated herself away from the wreckage of her parents crashed and burning car to Diagon Alley, appearing in the apparition point unconscious and covered in blood. She'd been taken to St Mungo's by passersby, after which the ministry discovered her identity and the fate of her parents who'd died during the car accident that she apparated away from. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange adopted the girl as their own when the testing to investigate the unconscious girls identity showed Hermione to be the great granddaughter to Nozéa Lestrange whose son had been a squib that was sent to a muggle orphanage at birth.
She wasn't surprised Theo had found Hermione, the poor boy was desperately trying to gain favor with her friend who hadn't responded well to being informed the Lestrange Lord had betrothed her to Theo, who was the second son of the Nott family. She understood that Hermione's reluctance was due to her initially muggle upbringing, but she also felt a little bad for Theo who was clearly smitten with the Lestrange heiress who'd saved him from a match with Pansy Parkinson. His family had been on the verge of signing a betrothal with the Parkinson's when Hermione had been adopted, but with the emergence of a Lestrange heiress whose marriage would give their son a better match they were fast to move their attentions to the Lestrange family.
The match had been finalized the year before, and if what Draco said was true, Hermione had almost leveled the Lestrange manor with the tantrum she'd thrown when she learnt about it. Only Theo's gifting Hermione several very rare books from the Nott library kept him on speaking terms with the girl, and got her to agree to allow him to court her. Though Hermione was adamant that she would not be forced into marrying him, betrothal or not. Theo was willing to agree, even persuading their parents to add a clause to the contract that allowed Hermione to end their betrothal without repercussion after they reached the age of seventeen should she be unwilling to marry him at that time, which gained him a few favorable points.
As the sky outside the window began to darken, she felt a sense of anticipation fill the carriage as they all started straightening their clothes and hair. Soon the train started to slow, and as it drew to a screeching stop she stood and rolled her eyes when she heard the announcement for them to leave their luggage. As if she was going to leave her things behind for someone to go rifling through.
None of the others had their luggage un-shrunken either, and she suspected that like her cousin Daphne and Theo had sent their owls to fly on ahead of them. Razle wouldn't allow himself to be left behind either, and as her bound familiar there was little anyone could do about his presence. She doubted there would be any issue, her fwooper was like a small statue perched on her shoulder and with the runes she'd carved onto the band around his leg, most wouldn't even notice him unless he moved, thus breaking the minor concealment enchantment intended to help him hide from any predators.
"First years, First years over 'ere!"
Stepping off the train with her group of friends following her and her cousin, she scanned the area searching for the man Nolin told her would be escorting the first years to the boats. Seeing the towering half giant she scrunched up her nose at the sight of his haggard appearance, was this truly the most prominent school in England? Could they not even afford to pay their staff a high enough wage that they were able to clothe themselves properly? She knew that Hogwarts was losing funding, and most of it was due to her father's influence as he drew support away from Hogwarts and to the construction of their own school.
That wasn't to say her father would allow their ancestors school to fail, only that he wished to force it to temporarily close in order to take away the younger students, and force out the old fool. Once Hogwarts was in his control he intended to turn it into a school for those who wished to further their education, Hogwarts University would aid those seeking to gain their masters and those who wished to enter into funded magical research.
"Right, then is this all of ya? Come then, first years, this way to the boats!"
"Ew," turning her head to see her cousin's disgusted sneer, she saw him staring down at his shoes and seeing them covered in mud, smirked at him.
"Are you a muggle cousin?" She queried, flicking her wand at his shoes and watching as they were bathed in a soft glow, the mud leaping away from the dragon hide boots.
Her cousin glared at her, and she grinned at him before turning away to continue following the group of huddled first years down the path, her repelling charm keeping her shoes and clothing free of any mud.
"This way to the boats. Come on, now, follow me. Don't be dawdling."
The light carried by the grounds keeper bobbed up and down as they trekked through the forested path, and she rolled her eyes as she heard some of the others ahead of them whimpering about the dark. Honestly, it was barely dusk, and if she was that scared then she should cast a light spell. Her group was the at the rear to gathered first years, as they had purposefully waited for the train to clear out a little before leaving their compartment, mostly to avoid Pansy whose voice could be heard chattering loudly over the crowd.
"A hundred galleons to anyone who can befuddle the hat into sorting Pansy into Hufflepuff." She said softly, causing her friends to laugh.
"The Puff's would kick her out before the night is through," Draco drawled.
"Do you really think she will get into Slytherin? She's not exactly very cunning." Hermione asked, and she hummed softly in agreement before sighing.
"Not cunning, but very ambitious, she lacks any other qualities, so Slytherin will be the only place." She told the bushy haired girl who grimaced.
"If mother wouldn't loose her mind over it I'd force the hat to sort me into Ravenclaw, better that than seven years sharing a room with Parkinson." Hermione said.
"Two years," she corrected. "Astrum institute will be accepting students from age thirteen and will be ready in time for us to join the year after next. Father has assured me that each student has their own bedroom, with a bathroom being shared between a dorm of five rooms."
Seeing the girls excited expression, and knowing she was about to start asking a thousand questions she held up a hand to silence the girl.
"Not here, not now. This is not the time nor place." She said softly, indicating the group just ahead of them which was approaching a row of boats lined up along the shore of the lake.
"In ya's get, no more than four to a boat." The booming voice of the grounds keeper called and she frowned, glancing over at her group of friends.
"I'm riding with Vinia." Daphne said, at the exact same time as Hermione and both girls stepped up to take a firm hold of her arms.
"I'm staying with Vini." Draco said, looking to Theo with a firm gaze. "I'm not letting my cousin ride in some shoddy boat alone. Blaise, Greg and Vincent are over there, go join them."
Nodding, Theo trudged over to join the group of boys though not without giving Hermione a rather forlorn look which the girl steadfastly ignored. Stepping into one of the boats with her cousins help, she settled onto the tiny bench seat glancing around at the little boat with trepidation.
"Everyone in? Alrighty then! Forward."
With that cry, the boat suddenly lurched forwards, dragging itself from the shore and into the water with a splash. Only the repelling charm she'd layered over herself kept her from being soaked like the other first years. Luckily, after she'd fixed Draco's shoes he and the others had copied her, and put in place their own charms, or she'd never hear the end of her cousins whining should he have gotten wet.
The high pitched shrieking off to the the side of them, let her know that Pansy who somehow ended up sharing a boat with the pretend Potter had gotten completely soaked. Watching the girl fuss and jerk about in the boat, causing it to rock precariously, she was tempted to give the boat a helping hand to tip with a bit of wandless magic, only remembering at the last minute that her cousin had told her the boats where enchanted to prevent tipping. Apparently the twin Weasley's who were in her cousins year had attempted to tip their boat, which Nolin had the misfortune of being in.
The gasps from her companions drew her attention away from the puppet hero's boat, and she turned her head to look up at the glittering lights of the castle before her.
"oh," she murmured tilting her head as she gazed at the school her ancestor had helped build. "I thought it would be bigger."