The sunrise revealed a twinkly white layer of frost on the grounds of Malfoy manor, inside the occupants busied about preparing for the day ahead. Aurelia had found it very hard to settle her mind enough to sleep, she could only think of her wand and what she would do with it once she had it back. She sat on the edge of her bed, waiting to leave her home. Her feet jigged with her impatience, each time she looked at her clock the hands had moved so slow they could have been going backwards. Her door clicked and in walked Draco Malfoy. His hands were tying his black travel cloak around his pale neck, his face had a look of arrogance across it. He stopped at the foot of her bed, just inches from where she was perched on the edge of her bed. She was suddenly aware her skirt had ridden up from her persistent rocking. Aurelia was surprised because instead of his usual spill of nasty words, he picked up her travelling cloak and threw it around Aurelia, she braced herself as she was rarely this close to her brother, he fastened it around her shoulders which trembled as she felt his fingers against her chin, his hands were cold and dry. The opposite of his fathers. Draco's next action was to reach behind her neck with both hands against her smooth skin, her nostrils flared as his caress tickled the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end and her stomach lurched. He released her wild hair from beneath the cloak with one swift movement. Aurelia watched his hands retreat to their usual resting place, he took a breath to speak but was interrupted by Mr. Malfoy who paced into her room, Aurelia's glassy blue eyes slowly swept up to meet his gaze, his face was relaxed yet his eyes pierced holes straight through her. He motioned for them to follow him.
Time passed quickly as Aurelia had given up trying to grasp everything that was happening, they'd made a carriage trip to a grand train station in London, but of course the carriage only took them to a darkened side street before it entirely disappeared from sight. Aurelia and her brother had travelled alone, the air had a freezing chill to it but the sun shone on their pale faces, they walked towards the large building but Draco stopped and put his hand out to stop his sister.
"Mother and father haven't told you something Aurelia." He spoke very with a soft and hushed voice to the girl. Who was bemused to her spot, Draco had said her name and she couldn't remember the last time he had done that. She peered through her hair at his face which still held a smirk across it. Her voice croaked as she used it for the first time that day.
"What?" she asked fiercely, and her eyes danced around his face.
"I stole this" his long fingers handed her a piece of paper which had previously been ripped in half, the only thing she could read was her name, the rest was a mixture of fancy lines and dots and they made no sense to her.
The girl shrugged her shoulders and handed the parchment back to her brother, his face dropped his smirk. He expected her to at least read the letter, and had thought that maybe she would have some sort of adverse reaction, like lose her temper for example. He reached forward to her and pointed to the name that was written after Aurelia's.
She knew what the letter M looked like, only this scrolled letter after her name, wasn't that.
Aurelia stood in her spot, her legs were heavy as stone, she could barely breathe, Draco strut off into the station, his anger and nausea dripped from his stomach into his limbs. He became as arrogant as his father, even the eyes he saw Aurelia through had narrowed, his usual dislike for the girl was plastered from head to toe. She finally moved herself to catch up with her brother, her mind raced and all she could think was that she had different parents somewhere. That she wasn't a Malfoy; that Lucius wasn't her father, but what did that make her? Who did that make her?
Aurelia's shoes clacked the marble floor in a quickened pace to match Draco's' march, she watched as he pushed his way through the crowds. They reached a platform. Aurelia caught up with Draco, all the while her scrawny arms wrestled with the trolley of luggage.
"Platforms 9" he pointed to the sign above their heads. "And ten" he pointed to the other sign that was the other side of a brick pillar. Aurelia stood steadfast waiting for these bricks to move and reveal a doorway, like the ones at Diagon Alley yesterday. Draco lost his patience and grabbed the girl by her shirt collar, her face flickered with fear, but she held his gaze with her eyes until he released her. Aurelia's small body hit the floor, rolled backwards into blackness before she was suddenly confronted by their luggage trolley which came at her and swallowed her legs with its cold metal underbelly. Her brother strode through the dark and looked down his nose at her. He looked like his father. Draco reversed the trolley off her legs and turned to push it up the platform. They seemed to be at a different station, or perhaps just a different platform. A sign up above read Platform 9¾, Aurelia marvelled at the colourful and loud crowd. Behind them stood a bright red steam engine with steam billowing from its hot chimney. She had read a book on these metallic and majestic wonders at the Manor. She skipped, hopped, and jumped through the witches and wizards to catch up with Draco who was piling their trunks into a storage hold.
Draco whipped her black wand from the inside of his cloak and handed it her. Her stomach flipped with nerves, she snatched the thin wood from his hand which now adorned elaborate silver jewellery.
"Your cases will meet you at Hogwarts" he sneered and swung around to greet his companions. They laughed and joked. They pulled at each other's cloaks and appeared to fight at one point.
Aurelia was left alone, but she wasn't alone. Her wand held her hand, rather than she held the wand. Together, they boarded the large train and found a place to sit which hadn't been occupied yet. As she sat, the rough fabric of the seats scratched at the backs of her exposed legs, she was reminded of Lucius, she hadn't ever been away from him. What would he be doing now that she was gone from their home. She pulled her neck tie lose which he had tied for her when they stood in the lobby of the manor and she undid the two top buttons of her stiffened ironed shirt. She ran her fingers threw her hair and gave it a little shake, as if in some way that motion would rid her of her thoughts. Outside on the platform, it was less busy than before. The people left there were not like the people she would usually come across, they wore colourful cloaks, they had various belongings with them, most waved, some cried but they all didn't resemble her family at all.
Her family, Aurelia thought. However, they weren't her real family. Maybe that's why she was treated so differently. Feelings trailed through Aurelia's puzzled mind, she was so distracted that she did nit notice Draco had entered her compartment and sat opposite her, the cabin filled with other students behind him. A sharp kick to the shin broke Aurelia's daze. She saw she had company and glared at Draco, he sat with his back propped in the corner of the seats, a girl sat under his arm laying half her body on his lap; Aurelia watched the girl's fingers stroke the dark fabric of his trouser leg. Aurelia found herself staring daggers at that girl too.
Someone was sat uncomfortably close to her, breathing onto her chest. His dark eyes peered at her.
"Blaise!" Draco warned, whilst not raising his blue gemstones from his downwards gaze. Aurelia shifted in her seat to retreat away from this boy. She sat and listened to their conversations about each of their summer adventures. She learned a lot about this group in those hours, they liked to talk about other people a lot, bad mouthing teachers, and students alike. They were quite rough with one another, but overall, they seemed to enjoy themselves. Aurelia had kept quiet.
The train squealed and howled as it came to an abrupt stop. The lights flickered off and Aurelia felt freezing cool air rush around her, she breathed and the air flowed white from her mouth, she had never experienced this before. The students around her sat upright with panic etched into their facial features. The train jolted, throwing Aurelia off her seat and to her knees in front of Draco Malfoy, her hands gripped to the tight material at his knees. Her icy breath shot in and out of her partly opened mouth, they all looked to the door of the cabin, one boy was stood with his wand raised, the girl at Draco's lap whimpered and buried her face.
Draco felt the fabric of his trousers tighten as the girl at his knees gripped them tighter, he could just about feel the pulse at her wrist beat hard and fast, and she trembled. Even given the terrifying moments they were in Draco felt a sickly feeling come to his stomach as he imagined her poised at his father's feet like this. Petrified.
The way the group reacted to the sudden darkness and freezing temperatures told Aurelia that this wasn't a normal event to happen on board the Hogwarts Express. Draco was about to kick the girl off from his knees, out of disgust for her or for his father, he wasn't quite sure, but Aurelia stood and pointed her wand, raised high to the door. She hadn't a clue what she would do should this cabin door open, but she knew there was danger and she desired the attention that being the savour would attract. The staggered breaths of the people around her were all that moved the air in that moment, without warning the train was aglow with white light, it blinded its closest passengers, whatever had plunged the train into the arctic depression was gone with the sharp light. The boy who was stood next to Aurelia, slumped back into his seat, which left her to be the centre of everyone's attention.
Panting, she lowered her wand and regained her footing before she timidly adjusted her clothing which had gone askew from being thrown off her seat, but not before Master Malfoy had seen the yellowed purple stains on the pale skin of the girls' thigh. He also noticed she rubbed the bruise before returning, back to her seat.
The train soon pulled into its stop and the older students Aurelia shared the journey with, got up and left, she worried, what was she to do now.
"Follow the other first years and don't take any notice of that fool in charge of you!" Draco said to her. His hand lifted to hold the back of her head and he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "he can't hurt you here." After short and brief eye contact he raised his eyebrows, dropped his hand and left.
Aurelia felt as if she could cry, or scream, or laugh. Draco knew, and that hurt her, but she quickly felt relief to hear him say she was free. She had no idea how to live life without Lucius lurking in the shadows, but she was ready to find out. Aurelia followed the other students dressed as she was in their black generic Hogwarts robes, when they trailed after a very large and tall man, even in the dull night light she noticed how hairy he was. The short boat ride further ignited the excitement in Aurelia's empty stomach. The water was black but twinkly, it rippled like silk bed sheets. She was barked at by the giant for touching the enticing element, but she cared more for how it felt on her hands than what he said. Before long Aurelia found herself in the middle of a crowd of new pupils in front of a pair of huge carved wooden doors, chatter could be heard from the other side. Her breathing quickened when the butterflies of nerves grew in her tummy. Her small fingers clutched at her skirt, trying desperately to lower its length, she realised that some girls immediately closest to her whispered and pointed at her, it was at this moment she remembered her scars. She knew she stood out from the norm. Her hair, wild and untamed, dark, and curly, sprung out in all directions and down to almost the bottom of her back. Her damaged face would always haunt her.
The doors opened to a grand banquette hall that was bigger than she could ever have dreamed and it was warm with its greeting, candles swayed in the air above their heads. They walked down the length of the room towards a tall slim witch who stood holding a hat in one hand and a scroll in the other, Aurelia tried her utmost hardest to concentrate and listen to the instructions and orders the lady spoke, but she was too overwhelmed. She didn't even notice the older student's on the benches, point her out and the hushed talking that followed. As the crowd decreased in size Aurelia shuffled forward until she was able to see what her fellow class mates were doing. They were called individually to sit on a brown stool and a ripped hat was placed on their heads. The girls' ears pricked as she heard her name called, however she was stumped at her apparent second name. She didn't move, until the tall proud witch observed her over her glasses with an eyebrow raised.