Disclaimer: not mine....blahblah. see first chapter

Varina's parents had never been married. Her mother was a young French witch, Aurelia Saulnier, from one of the noblest wizarding families in France. Her father was Sirius Black, also from an old pure-blood family. They had met whilst Aurelia was staying in England with her aunt. However, Aurelia's parents did not approve of her relationship with Sirius and would not give consent for their marriage. This was an obstacle, yes, but it couldn't stop their passion for one another and so they continued to see each other in secret. It was these secret liaisons that had led to Aurelia's pregnancy. She was a disgrace to her family. Sirius took her in and they lived together. When the baby came, they named her Varina after Aurelia's mother. It looked as though they would always be happy, the perfect little family. But all that changed shortly after Varina's first birthday.

When Sirius realised what Peter Pettigrew had done, what he had done by switching places as the Potters' Secret-keeper, he decided to go after Pettigrew. He knew there was a chance he might not be coming back. He told Aurelia to take Varina back to France, where they would be safe from abuse and harassment, should something go ill, and wait until they heard something. "Whatever you may hear, always remember that I love you, and that I am innocent," he had told Aurelia as she prepared to leave. That was the last time Aurelia saw Sirius. He had been arrested for murder and would not be coming back. Varina and her mother lived together in France until her fourth birthday. A few months later, they emigrated to America. Aurelia was struggling to look after a young child and keep a steady job at the same time. Eventually it became too much for her; she was unemployed, she was living in squalor, she had lost her husband and she couldn't look after her daughter. It was Varina who found her. She had hanged herself in the bedroom. They found an envelope addressed to Varina next to the bed. It contained a letter explaining why Aurelia had killed herself and about Sirius, and a small silver heart-shaped locket. Varina had been put into care, passed around from family to family.

She knew that she was a witch (her mother had told her so in the letter), but she had no idea where she was supposed to go to school or get any of her equipment. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about that, for on her eleventh birthday she received a letter, much like the Hogwarts students did, telling her she had been accepted into a small wizarding school and she would be able to buy her supplies on campus.

It was last summer that she had heard of her father's death. The news hit her like a ten tonne weight. She was an orphan. She had no-one. And worse than that, Voldemort had returned and Sirius would not be there to fight in the war. She knew he was an essential tool in the imminent war. She had to do something. She had left her foster home and returned to England a few weeks later. She went to see Dumbledore, explained her situation and asked for a place in the school and he accepted.

Of course, Varina didn't tell Draco all of this. She was careful to skirt around her father's identity; she was all too aware that Sirius Black's name had not been cleared and he was still thought to be a crazed murderer. She also left out the reason she had returned, merely saying she had had enough and wanted to return to her roots. He seemed satisfied enough with her story, as he did not ask any awkward questions. He seemed more interested in her school. "What lessons did you do over there? Do they have OWLS or something else?" he asked "Yeah, they had OWLS," she replied, "but personally I think that's just because they were just too lazy to come up with a new acronym though." She was pleased to see him laugh appreciatively. "We didn't do as many subjects as you do here. We did Charms, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration."

"Is that all?" he asked incredulously, "You're bloody lucky, you know that. After you're first History of Magic class, you'll be desperate to go back."

"That bad, huh?" He nodded, an intensely serious look on his face, before smiling his cheeky smile again. Every time he smiled, she couldn't help but momentarily feel butterflies in her stomach. She told her self she was being stupid. She'd only just met him, and he was just being friendly. He was a prefect after all. He was supposed to be nice to the other people in his house.

They talked for a while longer and Draco introduced her to his two friends Crabbe and Goyle. Varina thought they greatly resembled gorillas but kept this thought to herself merely greeting them politely and joining in some very dull small talk with them, keen to get back to talking to Draco. She told herself it was because she wanted to have a conversation with someone who could use words with more than one syllable at a time, but deep down she knew there was another reason.

Eventually the plates before them emptied and the feast was over. They stood up still mid-conversation and started for the common room, when Crabbe interrupted.

"Er, Draco? Aren't you supposed to show the first-years where the common room is?"

"Oh, shit, yeah. I forgot about that. Here, I suppose you should come along too," he said turning to Varina.

"Oh, sure," she replied. She followed as Draco and another sixth year girl (who she assumed was the other Slytherin prefect) guided the first-years to the Slytherin common room. "

Here we are," he said as they came to a halt in front of a stretch of bare, damp stone wall. Varina could see from the first-years faces she wasn't the only confused one.

"The new password's Wolfsbane," he said, and as he did a door appeared in the wall and slid open. They walked into a low-ceilinged, rectangular room that was lit by green lamps which descended from the ceiling on chains. There was a crackling, open fire in front of them, surrounded by an ornately carved mantelpiece and equally ornate chairs nearby.

"Boys' dorms are to the left and girls' to the right," Draco informed the first-years.

"Er, Draco?" said Varina tentatively, "Where am I going to sleep?"

"Good point. Hang on a second, I'm pretty sure there's a spare bed in the sixth-years' dorm. Let me go and ask Pansy," he said, making his way over to the other prefect. Varina didn't know whether to stay where she was or follow. She decided to stay put. She watched as Draco talked with Pansy. Varina's first impression was of a pug in wizard robes, but then rebuked herself for being nasty. She might well be sharing a room with this girl, it was best not to insult her. Draco beckoned her over.

"Varina, this is Pansy, my girlfriend," he said. Varina felt a stab of jealousy deep within her. She forced her suddenly leaden body to respond. She smiled, a mask to her true feelings.

"Draco said you didn't know where to sleep. "There's a spare bed in my room," said Pansy, turning away dismissively.

"Thanks," she forced herself to reply.

He had a girlfriend. She felt so stupid. Of course, he had a girlfriend. How could someone that good-looking not have a girlfriend? Still, she had been so sure he liked her. That flirtatious smile, the way he kept looking at her before the Sorting. She could kick herself. She was introduced to Pansy's friends, all of whom resembled an animal of some kind in Varina's mind. Or in the case of Millicent Bullstrode, a troll. She talked with them for a bit, answering their questions and listening politely. But her eyes kept going to Draco, sat next to Pansy, his arm draped across the back of the couch behind her. She was extremely grateful when, at last, everyone got up to go to bed.