Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Rowling's magical world, only mine.

"Lena!" My brother burst into my room without so much as a knock. I startled in shock, almost dropping the stack of books I had in my hand.

Giving him a slightly outraged look, I kneeled down next to my half-packed school supplies and waited for him to explain himself. It was very unusual of my brother to be up so early, I have always been the early bird while he slept till the last minute.

"I couldn't sleep all night," he exclaimed, hopping on my bed with a frustrated groan. "I can't stop thinking about what happened at the Quidditch World Cup."

I understood what he meant. I knew he was not concerned about the safety of muggles, my brother was much more easy going about our family's beliefs about blood purity than I was. He was, however, not appreciating the message of Death Eaters appearing meant.

The Dark Lord could possibly return in the near future and despite my father's attempt to redeem himself by joining his side again, neither He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named nor his followers were known as merciful to traitors. After all, my dad did decide to betray him in order to protect me and my brother. At the time of his downfall, my father claimed he was under the Imperius curse to avoid going to Azkaban, unlike his most devoted followers who deemed going to prison as some kind of honour. These nutjobs would have done anything to please their beloved leader, but my father chose running.

Theodore and I had to acknowledge that him joining back could possibly end up having a bad outcome, which did no good for our nerves. We already lost our mother all those years ago, we were not ready to become orphans—or worse, paying for crimes we never committed. Praying for the price of our father's lack of loyalty to either sides. He was a true Slytherin, switching sides when it is convenient for him. It was inevitably going to come bite us in the arse.

I let out a loud sigh and closed my baggage. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Theodore watching me. He waited for my answer.

Deep down I wished we would not have to talk about this, but I could not dodge the conversation any longer. My brother needed comforting and since he could not voice his concerns to our father, he came to me. I always felt like I owned it to our mother to look out for Theo, to make sure he was alright and cared for.

No matter how much our dad loved us, he barely made time for his kids. When he was not working in the Ministry, he was busy with Lucius Malfoy and their super-secret murderous boyband. It was never just the three of us alone, where opinions were safe to express.

I had to be better than that, I had to be the responsible one, to provide a person to my brother to whom he did not need to lie to.

"I am not sure what his plan's are," I began softly. "But I know he will try his best to keep us out of this."

That was not entirely true. I hoped that he would keep us out of it.

Theo nodded his head, but the shadow of worry did not disappear in his eyes. I put a reassuring hand on his right knee and squeezed it lightly. "Theo—"

"I don't want him to come back," he whispered so low I barely heard it. He made a face, as if his words were sour and painful. "I don't understand why they are doing this. He won't—he won't be happy with us, will he?"

"Me neither" I said. "Perhaps this is all avoidable. Dumbledore is still the Headmaster. I don't think we should worry yet."

Not everyone had as much faith in him as the Gryffindors did, that was a fact, but nobody ever dared to question Dumbledore. Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was afraid of him. I believed that as long as Dumbledore was alive, You-Know-Who stood no chance.

Theo seemed to consider my opinion and gave me a smile that was not quite bright but at least true.

"Malfoy says his father—"

"Malfoy is a git."

The name itself made my blood boil. They shared the same house, he was friendly with my brother and I happened to have known him all my life, so naturally I hated him. He was a spoiled little brat whose only achievement ever was threatening with his father's power. Although I could handle his comments and protect myself against his hexes Malfoy, even I had enough of him. I could never forgive him for trying to get Hagrid's hippogriff killed and I made sure to high-five Hermione Granger after I heard details about it.

Theo never denied my accusation. I had the feeling he did not fully support Malfoy, but he was too much of a shy person to tell him off. He was not like me, all mouth and too much nerve. He was more reserved, a shy bookworm who preferred not to talk to people most of the time. He and Malfoy could stay in the same room without jumping at the other one's throat—we couldn't.

Plus, I knew Theodore was better at handling situations which might benefit him later on. Since Lucius Malfoy and our father were friends, it should have been a better decision to keep good relations with him. At least that was he suggested. I refused to listen. Every occasion spent with the Malfoys had been a delight since. Too bad I could not just put Silencio on Malfoy.

I was sure that my new year at Hogwarts was going to be a bit more entertaining since I had learned a lot of new hexes to try on Malfoy. I expected Harry Potter to do something heroic this year again just so it could compensate all the points I was going to lose.

I smiled at the thought which got me a confused look from my twin-brother. His eyebrows shot up, his chocolate eyes, my eyes, held a secretive glint in them I could not comprehend.

"Still haven't forgiven him?"

For being a complete moron by disrespecting a hippogriff and trying to have him executed? I was not mad, I was furious.

Draco Malfoy completely forgot about our friendship the moment the Sorting Hat screamed GRYFFINDOR instead of SLYTHERIN. He decided to stab me in the back and give into the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor rivalry. He hang on his racist father's every word, anyway.

"No!" I brushed off the question with a motion of my hand. "He is a cockroach! The next time he has dinner with us I might just poison him."

My brother chuckled into a yawn. I poked his arm with a finger.

"Besides, you haven't slept yet. When are you planning on catching up? Classes are starting tomorrow!"

"You sound like a Ravenclaw." Theodore groaned, but based on his tone he would have actually preferred me to be in Ravenclaw. At least it would not have given people a reason to try to pit us against each other like they always did. "I take a nap before we go, I already packed everything."

He got up from my bed, heading towards the door but then he stopped midway and turned towards me. "Do you think this year will be less dramatic?"

"Knowing us? I highly doubt."

"Knowing you."

I shrugged. "If Malfoy leaves me alone, I will be fine, but I cannot promise I won't send him straight to Madam Pomfrey if he minds his own business. He is not my priority this year. I want to join the Quidditch team. Now that Oliver is gone, I am sure we will have a different formation."

Theodore shook his head. "No chance, Elena, Slytherin's taking the cup this year."

I scowled at him. I was quite confident. "We have Potter."

He winced at the mention of Harry's name, but I promised myself not to even acknowledge that. I was sure Theo has acted weird to him since Malfoy and Potter are mortal enemies, but I could not have given any less damn about it. My father tried his best to convince me that being friends with Harry Potter could potentially ruin a lot of things for my family, so I avoided him the first school year, but eventually in the second year we exchanged a few words about Quidditch and then by the third year we were on good terms. His friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had been much more suspicious about me than his friend, but overall we got along fine.

They politely never brought up my father and I never mentioned him to them.

"Yeah," he agreed, running a hair through his thick brown hair. "But I prey he gets in a coma and then Slytherin has a chance."

I giggled. "Sounds like a sore loser to me."

He stuck his tongue at me. I rolled my eyes.

Childish brat.

"Go so sleep!" I commanded with a playful motion of my finger. "I got to finish packing."

He winked at me, eyes red from lack of sleep and hair standing towards all possible directions, but he looked much more like my brother than he did half an hour ago. The thought warmed my heart and I got back to packing with a more positive outlook.

Perhaps, I thought to myself, I could also consider my advice and stop worrying for now.

"Oh Tinky—you shouldn't have to," I greeted our house elf with a bright smile as I inhaled the lovely scent of freshly made pancakes. "I love pancakes!"

Of course she knew pancakes were my favourite, that is why she made them. She had been with me since I was barely a toddler. She took good care of us when our mother died. My father treated her like dirt, but I truly loved her.

Tinky bowed at me. "Miss Nott, Miss Nott is happy Tinky made her favourite-it's an honour, Miss Nott!"

"Tinky, would you please take a few pieces for my brother? If he oversleeps, he probably won't have much time to eat."

"Yes, Miss Nott!" She snapped her tiny fingers and a plate apparated onto the kitchen counter with three delicious looking pancakes with strawberry jam on the side. As my expression lightened up even more, Tinky gave me a guilty look. "Miss Nott. Mistress, your father is unfortunately too busy to take you to King's Cross today. Tinky will!"

I sighed. How many years could I have spent pretending that one day he would at least get away from his duties long enough to take us to the station?

I wanted to ignore how my stomach did a flip at the thought and I suddenly forgot about my craving for the pancakes specifically made for me. Despite his beliefs, despite me not understanding his choices deep down I was just a fourteen year old who wanted her dad to be a part of her life even if it meant just him saying his farewell to us at the train station.

To avoid hurting Tinky's feelings I took my plate and took place at the dining table. The times when nobody was eating by us, the table felt uncomfortably huge and quite lonely—and to be honest, despite being surrounded by the Slytherin colours in my home all my life, this time, I found myself wishing for red and gold.

To get my mind off of thoughts that clenched my belly, I took the Daily Prophet and got lost is reading.

The smoke coming out of the Hogwarts Express filling my lungs was more comforting than I anticipated. To every student, Hogwarts was a second home—to some it was the only place in which they ever experienced what it is like to have a home. Watching mothers kissing their children goodbye, fathers hugging them, I started to feel like although I had a fairly privileged life the Nott residence never felt like this. I had never been happier for a new school year. At least there I was not constantly reminded of my broken family.

I said goodbye to Tinky by bending my knees and giving her a kiss on the temple. Some people threw be fairly disgusted glances, but I could not have cared less. I considered Tinky a part of my family and I refused to even consider people's opinion about the treatment of house elves.

Theodore also waved bye to her, in a more reserved, definitely less provocative way and then turned heels to catch up with Daphne Greengrass, a pure-blooded Slytherin girl. He already put on a mask to impress his friends, because today morning's worry and the lack of sleep were no longer visible on his features. Daphne threw me a cold glare but nodded her head hello. I had not expected her to like me given that I was a rival from another house, so I was fine with her unfriendliness. She was alright with Theo and despite her bitchiness my twin brother seemed to like her.

Now that Theo was settled and off with his friends, I started looking out for my own mates and soon I found Dean Thomas who was so deep into an exchange over the Quidditch World Cup with Seamus Finnigan that he had not even notice me. I regarded them with a smile and a quick 'hello, how was summer' before I went to Ginny who was already actively searching for an empty cabin. Ginny and I quickly found a common grounds the previous year since we both liked Quidditch and hated Malfoy with passion, so there was no question about who I want to spend my train ride with.

"My summer was alright," she said cheerfully, throwing her long ginger hair behind her back. Then she must have remembered something because she burst into a fit of laughter. "Fred and George enlarged Harry's cousin's tongue. Mom was furious but—it was hilarious."

I grinned at that. Harry explained his situation with his aunt last year. I did not know how bad it was and I could not possibly imagine why Dumbledore let this happen to Harry every summer, but I was glad Fred and George tricked that idiot into eating that candy. A little payback for being greedy.

"The World Cup," Ginny began with a bittersweet undertone in her voice. "The World Cup was nice. Ron's love for Viktor Krum is utterly disgusting."

I could not ignore the fact that she had not brought up what happened at the celebration, but I simply did not have the guts to mention it myself. I was there and I knew that my father was part of the Death Eaters marching. If Ginny knew it, she made sure not to dance any more around the topic because she quickly shifter the conversation to our own Quidditch team.

"So, will you go to the try outs?"

I nodded. "I guess I want to be a Chaser. We will see. When we play at home, I am usually a Seeker, but I don't think anyone can knock Harry off the position for the next four years."

Especially after they won the cup last year. Ginny hummed at that but did not try to disagree with me.

"You? Chaser?" came a familiar sneer I would have recognised anywhere. Malfoy stood by the door of the cabin, his pets Crabbe and Goyle right next to him serving as huge body guide trolls. "Quidditch is a dangerous sport, Nott. I doubt you are fierce enough to stay on your broom."

Goyle and Grabbe laughed in union. It was not funny at all, but I guessed that they were just too deep in Malfoy's backside to notice.

I winkled my noise at him as if he smelled terrible and forced a smile on my lips. The day I would let Draco Malfoy win an argument would be the last day of my life. I raised my head high, to show him that he is beneath me. I was a proud lion.

"You better perform good enough on the try outs, Malfoy," I offered with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Your father might not be able to pay them off this time. You know after a while everyone expects a little bit of skill. I bet Potter would appreciate a bit of a challenge."

I must have hit a weak spot, because Malfoy's expression changed. Seeing the slightly stunned but nevertheless angry look on Malfoy's face, Ginny high fived me.

"Laugh till you can, filthy blood traitors," he threw at us, his steel eye glaring a whole into me. He gave the impression he paid extra attention on me. I wondered how we could get along when we were children. Those days seemed far away, almost as if they never existed.

I raised an eyebrow at him. I was wondering whether he would say the same thing to my brother. Probably not. I was the Gryffindor. I was a traitor for him the moment the Sorting Hat made his decision. Something in me, my inner proud lion, told me not to feel sad over people who chose to abandon me for things I had little to no control over, but I could not help the small ache in my heart.

"We could discuss who the real traitor is, Malfoy, but I don't want you to waste my time," said Ginny with perfectly careless monotony.

"Piss off, Draco," I said the sweet icy tone still in my voice. I pushed a strand of long brown hair out of my eyes and turned my head towards the beautiful scenery. I had no mental energy to listen to Malfoy, I had no patience to get even more into his web. "And take your dogs with you."

"Come on, boys," he called for them, pretending to grin but it came off more like sneer. "We have better things to do."

Before he close the door behind himself, he shot one more look at me and left.

"What a git," hissed Ginny. "He just cannot walk away without saying anything."

I stayed silent for the rest of the ride.

I had the right assumption that this year was going to be me quite difficult.

AN: Hi guys! :) If you have gotten this far, I hope you liked the first chapter, I will try to update regularly, especially on Sundays. br /This is going to be a long journey for my beloved characters. Please forgive the slight Slytherin bashing Elena does ocassionally, she is a lion, after all. It's hard to think with a Gryffindor's mind as I am a Slytherin myself.