Sorry for the wait but I hadn't been feeling well, now that I once again resemble a human being... Enjoy the new chapter!


"My name is Alya Mira Black. Heiress of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Heiress of the Royal House of Slytherin" she introduced herself with a little curtsey.

Draco sighed, whishing she would have left out her complete title and stopped at Black, while Daphne and Theo gaped like fishes.

Blaise blinked again before smirking "My, I can see why Draco was so worried about it. With a father of your caliber…"

"Indeed. He tends to leave a certain.. impression, does he not?" she giggled with a little smirk making him chuckle.

"You.. You really are HIS daughter?" Theo breathed incredulous

"I am" she nodded "Now, dinner will be served soon so you better show our guests their rooms Draco, I'm sure you all want to freshen up after the long train ride"

"You are right, Mother would be upset if we were late for the meal" Draco sighed "come on, you'll have plenty of time to get to know her better" he said, before doing a double take and glaring at Blaise as if to dare him to get to know her too much.

Seeing the look with the corner of his eye, Blaise turned to Alya and gave her an exaggerated wink making her giggle and cover her mouth with her hands before Draco noticed anything.

Who knew the blond could turn into such an overprotective older brother?


"Dementors on school ground? Really?" Alya scoffed at the old man's idiocy "I'm glad you didn't send me there Uncle"

They were just finishing dinner when Alya asked Draco to explain why exactly he failed to owl her as frequently as he usually would this past school year. It was then that Draco told her about the dementors being posted at Hogwarts. All of the children were feeling various degrees of depression through it all, many suffering from night terrors too. Draco, while reacting better than others, was still left with a sense of numbness and slight misery, giving him trouble with anything that required paying attention, like school work, lessons or having to sit down and write a letter.

He was not using it as an excuse, he was angry at himself for being unable to shake it off, but needed to make her understand.

"Did they at least catch Sirius? Or it was completely useless?"

"Useless of course" sneered Lucius "They had him but he managed to escape Hogwarts… wonder how?"

"Potter has something to do with it, I'm sure" Draco grunted

"Whenever isn't he involved in something disastrous happening in the school?" Blaise grumbed "First the troll, the illegal dragon of the groundskeeper, the Mirror of Erised that really shouldn't be kept in a school of impressionable children, then the whole business with Quirrell being murdered and the rumors of Dumbledore hiding the philosopher stone in the school"

"The what?" Daphne gasped

"Philosopher's stone. You know, the turn anything into gold thing, elixir of life, pretty red stone?"

"I know what it is, you asshole!" she interrupted him, before blushing at her language "I meant how did you know?"

"Oh, I have my sources" he waved her off

"Quite interesting sources, Mr. Zabini" Lucius commented intrigued "Have you seen this Mirror of Erised?"

Blaise grimaced "Yes, I did. Pretty cruel artifact.." he said with eyes gone cold.

"Second year" the Italian boy continued "It was the whole speaking parseltongue fiasco, people being petrified and the basilisk in the chamber of secrets.."

"There really was a basilisk?" asked Theo awed

"Yup. I would give half of my estate for the chance to go down the Chamber and explore it" he sighed wistfully

"It would be pretty interesting" Alya agreed from his right side "Maybe we could arrange something about it?" she whispered mischievously.

Blaise turned to see her eyes twinkling happily "I like how you think" He smirked

"And what of this year?" asked Lucius "In what kind of troubles has Mr. Potter gone into?"

"Nothing much, apart from battling dementors and werewolves to save his godfather and then probably helping him escape with a certain hippogriff."

"Pity it can't be proven or we could get rid of scar head for good" sneered Draco

"Enough talking about Mr. Potter" Narcissa scolded them "why not speak of more pleasant things while we enjoy our dessert?"

"I'm sorry Mother, you are right"

"So.." Daphne started towards Alya "Are you homeschooled?"

"Oh, no. Uncle wanted me to, but can you imagine how boring it would be to be trapped inside the manor all year long?" Alya shuddered "I've been accepted at the Academy of Magics in Salem"

"Wow, I've heard it's really hard to enter there. They have an admission test so difficult that only one student every twenty manages to pass"

"True" she nodded "But it's for a good cause. The curriculum is really advanced and a lot of the subjects and magics we study are either dangerous and illegal in many countries or lost; a lot of the times both"

"How interesting"

"Theo is the resident bookworm" Daphne informed her, waiting for the brown haired boy to start drooling imagining all the rare books Alya's school had

"No, problem. I am a bit of a bookworm too, maybe I could lend some of my books?" she offered

"Really? It would be great" the boy cheered

"Of course. Only the basic ones mind you, I'm not allowed to share the more advanced knowledge outside of the school, but compared to what you will study at Hogwarts it still will be challenging to you"

"That's fine. Thank you very much!"

"How the school?" Daphne asked "Is it similar to Hogwarts?"

"Well… The school is a castle." She stated "But the similarities end here. The Academy doesn't sort into houses. We're only divided into years and after our OWLs, we are sorted based on power, academic scores and chosen field"

"Field?"

"Yes. Some want to be healers, others scholars or spell crafters… by the end of the school they will all be Masters"

"Do you know what you would like to do?" Blaise asked

"Oh, yes. There is a program offered that I'm really interested in, I'm already working hard trying to qualify"

"What is it about?"

"Um.. Well. Basically instead of choosing just one field to specialize into, you.. well, you do it all" she said plainly.

"All?" asked Daphne surprised

"Yes. The last time it was done was in 1864, no one qualified for it since then"

"How does it work?" Theo inquired confused. Just the amount of sheer work and the hours required for the study should be impossible for a normal human.

"I would study with all the masters in the school. Of course the Academy as special time control rooms where for example one hour outside would equal to five on the inside. It is extremely taxing on the student, such program, but I'm determined to go through with it"

"That's impressive" Blaise commented fascinated by the passion she was showing

"T-thank you" she whispered with a mild blush.

Narcissa saw this and smiled with shining eyes, already planning the betrothal, marriage and a horde of nephews and nieces. They would be so beautiful together!

It was so rare to see her niece so girly and shy that she mentally applauded the young Zabini for such an accomplishment. It was high time that her beautiful girl started accepting the praises and attentions of young men. After all soon young men will run all over each other for the chance of courting her.

"What title would it grant you at the end of the program?" he asked smiling

"Who goes through with it and succeed is recognized as a Master or Mistress of Magic" she said proudly "It's the highest title you can ever get. That's what Merlin was acknowledged as"

"So in the scale of power, it would be above Arch Mage?" mused Theo "Dumbledore can only dream of this kind of title, let alone Master of Magic! You're gonna kick his ass!" he exclaimed making them all laugh


"Alya, dear. Could you come to my study for a moment?"

"Yes, Uncle. Do you need something?"

"I just wish to talk to you for a few moments"

"Of course" she nodded taking a seat in the armchair in front of his desk

"How do you feel about Black.. Sirius being free?"

"Free isn't exactly the word I would use, seeing he is still a fugitive and will need to hide away from dementors." She said "I don't feel anything particular. I know that he is my Uncle but I don't know him and even more important he supports Dumbledore. I doubt I would ever trust him to know of my existence, so why bother worrying about him?" she shrugged her shoulders delicately

"He is your carrier's brother, you have a pretty close connection with him"

"I would have had things gone differently. But he got himself thrown into Azkaban actin like a stupid Gryffindor and trusting Dumbledore to keep him out. Look where it got him." She sighed "Honestly I doubt he is sane enough to recognize that the same man he put his trust onto is the same that left him in that hell on heart to suffer. He will keep following Dumbledore, I'm sure. Had things been different… I'm not sure. Aunt said that he has a visceral hate for his family and anything dark. And I am both"

"Honestly, I'm happy with the family I have. I don't need an insane uncle who would try to make me become something I'm not or that would judge me based only on my father. I have you and Aunty Cissy and Draco. That is enough for me"

"Very well. Should you need to talk, don't hesitate to come to me or to your Aunt, alright dear?"

"Of course." She said raising from her chair

"Goodnight Alya"

"Goodnight Uncle Lucius" she smiled "Oh, Uncle? Thank you for always taking such good care of me. I love you"

"I love you too, princess" he told her allowing a small smile to grace his usually aloof features.