*1st January 1997*

crack

"Bloody hell!" Raven Malfoy mumbled under her breath when her stomach involuntarily lurched. She briefly saw that she had landed outside a set of towering wrought-iron gates before she squeezed her eyes shut to try to stop the world from spinning, not daring to open them until she was sure it had. Suffice it to say, Apparition was not her favourite way to travel.

After a shaky breath, Raven slowly opened her eyes, flicking away a piece of platinum blonde hair that had fallen in front of her face, and took in the sight of her childhood home. Malfoy Manor was an incredibly large building placed in the middle of nowhere, and on a stormy night, could have passed as a villain's lair from a fairytale. From the outside, it was as if nothing had changed since she had last been there, almost like she hadn't even been away for the past five years.

A throat cleared next to her and Raven looked over at the young Beauxbatons professor who had escorted her there. She suddenly became aware of the fact that she had been staring at the manor in complete silence for at least a few minutes.

"Well then, off you go Miss Malfoy," said Professor Burkell, giving Raven a small pat on her shoulder in encouragement.

The professor taught Raven's favourite subject at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic: Care of Magical Creatures, and was exceptionally gifted at it, much like Raven herself. The two witches had grown closer over the years and Professor Burkell was Raven's favourite teacher, just as Raven was the professor's favourite student.

Professor Burkell was a cheerful witch; Raven had barely ever seen her without a smile on her tanned face. Her dirty blonde hair was pinned up into a bun, with several pieces sticking out as usual, and her robes were pristine despite the slightly ruffled look of them and the various tools sticking out of the pockets. At 35, she was one of the younger professors at the French school. And despite growing up in England, as she had once told Raven during one of their weekly chats in her office, she had a slight French accent from her years working at Beauxbatons.

"Thank you for dropping me here Professor. As much as I hate to admit it, I probably would have splinched myself if I had come alone like I wanted to." Raven said with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Yes, you probably would have." laughed Professor Burkell. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else but closed it only moments later.

Raven glanced back at the manor with a hesitant look on her face.

"Er... would you like to come inside, Professor?" she asked whilst gesturing at the large building behind her.

"I need to be returning to Beaubatons now but thank you for the offer, Miss Malfoy." She patted the students arm twice and took a step back. A second later she was gone and a loud crack echoed through the grounds of the Malfoy estate.

For a moment, Raven stared at the spot where her now former professor had been stood then started up the gravel path that led to the manor itself, stepping through the tall, iron gates and passing the familiar hedges that surrounded the estate as she went. When she reached the entrance, the engraved front doors swung open without her even having to knock.

'The house must still remember me' She mused quietly to herself and stepped into the grand entrance hall.

The instant that the doors clicked shut behind Raven, her twin brother, Draco Malfoy, appeared out of nowhere and launched himself at her, wrapping his arms tightly around her body. The trunk which she had been previously holding, flew out of her hand and landed on the hardwood floor with a thud.

"You're finally here!" The boy practically squealed in excitement.

"Draco, I do need to breathe you know." Raven gasped, wriggling her way out of his surprisingly strong grip.

Draco grinned sheepishly and Raven ruffled his platinum blonde hair with a laugh. He shot her a glare and reached to do the same to her but she dived out of the way before he could get anywhere near. Draco huffed in response. Her brother had always hated his hair being messed with, but to be fair so did she.

Raven looked Draco up and down before crossing her arms and pouting.

"You're taller than me now,"

"That's because I'm the older twin," Draco replied smugly.

"You can't prove that!" she exclaimed.

Draco poked his tongue out at her and sauntered off down the hallway.

Shaking her head at him, Raven reached down to pick up her trunk but it had already vanished; the house-elves must have taken it to her bedroom. With a small shrug of her shoulders, she followed her twin into one of the many rooms of Malfoy Manor.

Just as Raven entered the living room, Draco flung himself onto one of the three large sofas that were placed evenly around a coffee table. He propped his legs up on the armrest, crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

Raven felt an extreme urge to push him off the sofa.

Their mother strode into the room moments later, wearing a set of black robes, and paused at the unexpected sight of her daughter.

"Raven!" She held an ageing hand to her chest. "You weren't supposed to be arriving until this afternoon,"

Raven smirked at her mother.

"As it turns out I can be quite persuasive and they let me apparate instead of taking the train after the port key," She explained, knowing that the only reason Madame Maxime had let her was that Professor Burkell had volunteered to escort her.

"Apparate?!" Narcissa Malfoy exclaimed, a look of horror passing over her elegant features.

"Don't worry, I didn't apparate myself, a professor from Beauxbatons escorted me," Raven explained.

Relief flooded Narcissa's face. She moved to sit down on the sofa adjacent to the one Draco was lying on and Raven followed, planting herself down next to Narcissa, breathing in the familiar scent of rose; her mother's favourite.

"It may be under unfortunate circumstances, but I am glad you are home, Raven," said Narcissa.

Raven's hands balled together in her lap, a picture of everything that had happened in the past few months flashing before her eyes. She swallowed the rising emotions down and gave her mother a small smile which Narcissa returned sadly.

Being expelled from Beauxbatons at the beginning of her sixth year was not ideal but at least there were some advantages, like finally being able to go to Hogwarts with her brother and getting away from-

"So how exactly did you get expelled?" Draco asked, opening his eyes for a second to look at his twin sister before closing them again.

Raven glanced at her mother questioningly. Her parents knew of Felix's death and her uncontrollable magic, and she had assumed her parents would have told her brother. Did Draco not know?

"There were a..." She swallowed nervously. "a few incidents where my magic got out of hand. I accidentally shattered some windows and made some stuff fly around everywhere. And... there was a bit of fire." Raven mumbled the last few words, ashamed to admit she had lost control of her magic.

"Cool!" Draco exclaimed and received a glare from their mother.

"Draco I-"

A house-elf suddenly popped into the room, stopping Raven from saying what she was about to confess.

"Excuse me Miss, but Master wishes to see you in his office." The elf squeaked timidly, wringing the fabric of the front of her clothes.

"Of course Lopsy," Raven replied and the house-elf popped out of the room just as fast as she had appeared.

Raven stood up from the sofa, wondering how her father had known she was there already.

'A house-elf must have told him when they saw my trunk' She concluded.

As she passed Draco, Raven purposefully shoved his feet off the armrest and his body quickly followed after. She heard him hit the floor with a thud. Laughing, she quickly shot out of the room before her brother could throw something at her or hex her into oblivion.

Her father's office was on the first floor of Malfoy Manor. When they were younger, Draco and Raven were forbidden from entering it; their father often had meetings with important people in there, so he liked to keep them out by placing wards around the room that hexed them if they got too close. On one occasion, Raven had been extremely bored and had managed to persuade Draco to help her break into the office. Let's just say, it didn't end well for them.

Once she had reached the office, Raven ran a hand through her long, platinum blonde hair and knocked on the wood of the door. Seconds later, the door swung open and she was met with a wall of black fabric. A frustrated sigh escaped the girl's lips. What was he doing here?

"Miss... Malfoy," Snape sneered down at her.

"Urgh!" She pushed past his towering frame and stepped into the room. "And why exactly are you here?"

Snape looked the young Malfoy girl up and down, his face both amused and annoyed at the same time.

"How lovely," He said. The sarcasm was practically dripping off his tongue.

Raven glared at Snape and watched him cross his long arms over his chest and raise a single black eyebrow. He was wearing the same black teaching robes that she had only ever seen him wear, and his sarcasm clearly hadn't faded either. She supposed somethings never changed.

Lucius Malfoy cleared his throat behind her and Raven span around to see him seated at his desk made of mahogany wood. She had almost forgotten her father was even there.

Snape's eyes followed her as she approached Lucius and kissed his cheek in greeting.

Raven's father had aged slightly since she had last seen him. His hair was still as blonde as ever and his posture was still immaculate, but up close Raven could see that there were a few creases beginning to form on his forehead and around his eyes.

Raven moved back around the desk and sat in the chair opposite her father.

"You wanted to see me, father?" She asked.

The older man nodded and sat up even straighter than before.

"Following your exclusion from Beauxbatons," She saw Snape smirk in the corner of her eye. If she wasn't so irritated by him being there, she would have wondered if Snape knew about what had happened to her in the last few months. "I have made arrangements for you to continue your education at Hogwarts," explained Lucius.

"Mother already mentioned that in her last letter." Raven cut in but her father's stern look made her immediately regret it.

"I hope you understand the seriousness of what you did, Raven. And if I hear of any mishaps during the school year, I will take you out of Hogwarts in the blink of an eye. Severus has promised to keep an eye on you to make sure your magic stays under control and that you keep out of trouble-"

"I don't need a babysitter, father!"

Snape scoffed. "Your reputation proceeds you, Raven."

She whipped her head around to glare at the Potion's Master, her long hair hitting her face from the speed of her turn.

Lucius continued on, despite the death stare Raven was giving Snape.

"As I was saying, you shall be starting school in a few days after the Christmas holidays are over. The Headmaster has requested that you arrive a day before the rest of the students so you can be sorted into your house and your timetable can be agreed upon."

Raven nodded in reply and leaned back in her chair.

"So how will I be getting there if I'm not going to take the Hogwarts Express with the others?" she asked, recalling the times Draco had told her of his journeys to school on the train.

"Ah yes... Severus will be taking you."

Her head fell into her hands and she let out another frustrated sigh.

"Bloody hell!"