Blaise was surprised, an emotion he'd felt a lot since meeting Alexandra Potter, not because Malfoy had asked Potter to join them in their room, that he had expected. No, he was surprised by the entire setup of their conversation: It was to be inferred for her to ask for something in return, she was a Slytherin why wouldn't she? And from the train trip, he knew she was a lot darker, and a lot more powerful, than she let out. What he hadn't expected was for her to shed her mask and show the real Alexandra Potter. And he hadn't expected Malfoy to be so… so receptive to her. He had practically leant into her touch when she touched his jawline. It was very unsettling to watch the otherwise proud Malfoy scion turn into putty in her hands.

After that, he knew Draco would do anything to get her to stay in their dorm room. Why? Because he had seen the look in her eyes when she pulled away. It was filled with yearning. Malfoy might not know it himself, but he, somewhere deep down, wished to be hers.

And now Blaise couldn't help but notice that most of the Slytherins were looking at her in wonder and intrigue. One thing was sure, Alexandra would play a central role in the future, she was simply too exciting to be a pawn.

"Blaise," a husky voice called, "Draco and I are going to find a room, do you want to join us?"

Her eyes were intense bidding him to say yes, and he found himself wanting to follow her, not even caring if he normally would have said no.

"It would be my pleasure Potter."

"Do call me Alexandra, Blaise. I do not identify with my former last name."

"Former?" What did she mean former?

"Yes, former. I was adopted at age six." Well, that explained it.

.

They settled on a spacious room with dark green walls and beds made out of walnut wood. From the ceiling hang a silver chandelier with burning black candles. Blaise immediately felt at home. He tried making small talk with Malfoy but was mostly unsuccessful. This was most likely because of Alexandra Potter, who none of them could ignore: Her presence made them nervous, yet he didn't wish for her to go away. It was confusing at least.

Soon after the lights were out and Blaise felt himself drift away.

When he woke up the next morning it was to the sound of running water. He blinked, Draco was still sleeping so it had to be Alexandra in the shower. Then he heard a smooth husky voice, that unmistakably belonged to Alexandra.

"Blaise," he nearly choked, "no need to be surprised. Now I forgot my towel in my trunk, would you mind getting it for me?"

"I can do that," Blaise answered, swallowing a large knot. He wasn't really sure if he was trying to convince her or himself… She was, after all, a girl, and Blaise, contrary to popular belief, had never seen a naked girl before. Just because his mother wasn't sexually shy didn't mean the eleven year old boy had seen it all.

He opened her trunk and quickly found a towel, then he knocked the door, "I have the towel here."

The water stopped running. he shuffled around a bit unsure of what to expect.

Then the doorknob shifted, and the door opened. He quickly evaded looking at her by concentrating really intensely on the floor.

She laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laugh but one filled with scorn, as if she dared him to look at her. He stubbornly lifted his head meeting her eyes. He then took in the figure in front of him. She was definitely not perfect, but she was really close, at least according to Blaise. Her skin was ivory and her black hair clung to her body, thankfully covering up her developing breast. She was slender, he thought, and in a surprisingly good physical shape too. It then hit him that he was staring at a naked eleven year old. Then again, it had been her that had dared him to look in the first place!

"Thank you," She reached out for the towel and tossed it over her body.

"Blaise, I really do not want the gender difference to mean anything," she bit her lip as if she knew that what she was requesting was kind of bizarre.

"I want to do as I please, I know that this might change in a couple of years, but right now we're just children."

He just nodded, what was he supposed to say?

"I want to make sure that you and Draco aren't uncomfortable, though. Back home I work as a model and there's a lot of nudity at the shoots when we change clothes, and sometimes it is part of the photoshoot itself, so it's not weird to me… I just hope we can all be mature enough to realise it would be an inconvenience to avoid the bathroom whenever someone's taking a bath."

Blaise couldn't help but feel like he would seem incredibly immature if he said no. He knew he was being manipulated but he still didn't want to seem childish. And besides, did it really matter that much?

"I'm okay with it, but you should ask Malfoy too." He shook his head in disbelief: He had just said yes to her request without even asking something of her too. He felt stupid.

That feeling, however, didn't last long as she shot him a brilliant smile that made him forget to breathe for a moment.

Shortly after Malfoy woke and Blaise watched how Alexandra masterfully manipulated him into saying yes to her uncanny request. It was amusing to see her batting her lashes at the Malfoy heir: It reminded him of his mother. It was also unnerving since she was only a little child and his mother a grown up woman. She wasn't supposed to know how to 'flirt'.

Well, he guessed it was the modelling that had made her grow up quickly.

While Draco moaned about mornings and sleep deprivation he and Alexandra got dressed. She still denied as much as touching a pair of under robes and as she slid on a pair of muggle high heels he understood why. They did wonders for her legs, made them look miles longer than before. Her black baggy trousers and a formfitting purple shirt wasn't that bad either. And since it wasn't against the dress code, he couldn't really be complaining. Malfoy though wasn't impressed.

"Why do you insist on wearing those muggle clothes?" He almost sneered

Alexandra just shot him a disappointed look, pouting her lips. Blaise almost, the keyword being almost, sniggered as Draco's face suddenly became sullen.

"Draco, I'll talk to you when you've had a cup of coffee and aren't acting an insufferable git with a pureblood supremacist complex. Now get dressed, we are going to be late if you don't get out of bed."

As Draco got dressed Blaise only had one question: What in Merlin's name was 'coffee'?

.

.

Alexandra purposely ignored Draco all the way to the Great Hall. He was going to be hers, so he had to learn not to displease her. She glanced at Blaise, he had been all too easy to manipulate. She had been scared for a moment, though: Scared he wouldn't take the bait, wouldn't look at her. But he had and he had clearly enjoyed the view.

While Alexandra knew Blaise didn't see her in a sexual light, he was eleven, not twenty, she also knew he admired pretty things. It was fairly easy to find out, to be honest, he seemed vain and he always looked at Pansy Parkinson with such disdain it bordered animosity.

Now, she knew she was a pretty thing and was prepared to use that to her advantage. A wicked smile spread across her lips for a short moment.

Blaise Zabini could be an interesting toy too, maybe even more so than Draco. Yes, she was going to make him hers.

Speaking of interesting people… She entered the hall and instantly glanced over at the Gryffindor table. There they were her favourite twins. And Lee of course. He wasn't that important, though.

"Draco," the boy perked up hearing her name, "Blaise, I'll meet you two later, would you please grab a timetable for me?"

Draco seemed disappointed that she still hadn't forgiven him but only spoken out of pure necessity.

He resembled a dog, eager to please its master. Alexandra found it entertaining.

"I can do that," He exclaimed to her great enjoyment.

"Thank you Draco, now be gone." She waved her hand dismissively and plastered on a charming smile to soften up her dismissal.

"Go mingle with ickle Parkinson or something."

She turned around leaving them flabbergasted only to turn around a second after.

"Oh Draco, while I remember, catch," She threw her backpack at him, turned around once more and strutted towards the Gryffindor table.

.

.

Gred and Forge Weasley sat discussing their next great prank with Lee as a sudden interference occurred. This so-called interference was the abrupt appearance of a raven haired girl. She had plopped down between them and thereby caused the conversation to reach a standstill.

"Thank you for clapping yesterday boys," her tone was lighthearted, "it was very courteous of you."

Fred, or Gred as he called himself, was the first one to answer her.

"What we wouldn't do for you little snake…" it was meant as a joke but she just smiled gratefully at them.

"You know we weren't the only ones. Longbottom and that other new kid, Granger I think, clapped too." Lee exclaimed a bit perplexed with being praised by Alexandra.

She nodded slowly, "it has been duly noted, I guess I should thank them too sometime soon. But now we're going to get something to eat, I want my tea and my oatmeal."

The twins silently agreed, they wanted breakfast too.

As it turned out Alexandra was great company, she had a good sense of humour and the conversation flowed between them. They soon found themselves relaxing and telling her about their latest joke idea.

"We'll turn their skin red.." Fred explained

"And their hair gold…" George continued

"Then we'll make sure they can't be reversed by a simple finite…"

"It's going to be hilarious!"

They looked at Alexandra in anticipation, "so?"

"Well, that all sounds jolly and fun, but…" She bit her lip and for a short, but terrifying, moment they thought she was going to rat them out.

"Since the Slytherins are going to be the victims, I'm going to be hit by it too. So promise me you won't do it today, maybe tomorrow?"

They looked at her in confusion, it didn't seem she minded being a 'victim' so why would she like for them to wait?

As if she had felt their bewilderment she answered their unspoken question.

"Purple clashes horribly with red," she gestured towards her shirt, "tomorrow I could wear something in yellow or orange and those colours compliment red beautifully." She finished her sentence with a wink.

"Anyway, I have to go catch up to Draco and Blaise, I'll see you later." As her figure retreated all three of them broke down in laughter. She was something else entirely.

.

.

Alexandra caught Blaise and Draco by the door, here she asked for her timetable, which Draco had secured and now handed over to her. None of them asked her about her detour to the Gryffindor table, but she could tell they wanted to. Alex sighed and decided to indulge them. They would have to get used to it eventually, so why not now?

"Why don't you ask me, I can tell you're dying to know."

Draco though had apparently decided to stay silent, it appeared that he felt he had been on her bad side enough today. Blaise, being reserved, as always, also struggled with the idea of saying something that would potentially qualify him for 'the-cold-shoulder-treatment'. They, however, needn't wait long for their answers as one Pansy Parkinson decided to ask for them.

"What were you doing over there at the Gryffindor table with those Weasley twins?"

"For someone so stupid I shouldn't be surprised, but Merlin I thought it was quite obvious. I, of course, was having a conversation."

Pansy, now coloured in a fine nuance of red, seemed to deem that explanation inadequate.

"I knew you were halfblooded trash, but hanging out with the bloodtraitors? That's a new low even for you Potter."

"Oh Pansy, sometimes I don't now whether to laugh at you or pity you. Your bigoted ways make it extremely hard to see the potential in others."

With that as her closing remark she turned to look at Blaise and Draco once more, totally ignoring Parkinson she continued.

"Now I see great potential in both Fred and George," her voice was smooth and cold but not reprimanding, "just like I see great potential in you two, but if you can't accept this then you'll have to go."

This statement made both Blaise and Draco look thoughtful. This was fantastic, the ideal outcome of her little rant at Pansy. if she made them doubt their pureblood roots they would be much easier to shape.

They went to History of Magic, with the Hufflepuffs, first, a class Alexandra honestly found tedious. Her fellow students seemed to think so too since they were practically falling asleep. She decided to spend the time productively and found her order list for the bookstore. She had run out of reading the material, and that wouldn't do. While she knew she could always use the library, she found that owning a book brought her a certain gratification, it was just nice to know that she owned something.

After History of Magic, they had double charms, this time with the Ravenclaws. Alexandra immediately recognised their short professor as the man McGonagall had talked to when they went to Diagon Alley and sent him her best smile. He smiled right back at her. Gullible, she thought. The lesson in itself wasn't terribly exciting, but it wasn't boring either. They started out with some theory Alexandra already knew and then went on to practical work. Their job was to make a feather levitate using wingardium leviosa, as it turned out Alexandra found it ridiculously easy and made the feather soar in her first try. This came as a surprise for both her and Flitwick as this was one of the charms she hadn't tried at home before going to the castle. This also earned her 10 points to Slytherin and an acknowledging glance from Professor Flitwick. She then went on to doing it non-verbally, which was also an easy feat, earning another 10 points from their professor. By the end of the lesson Alexandra had a floating table in front of her, another 10 points were added to her earnings. Draco and Blaise had also managed to get their feathers to float. If they hadn't they wouldn't be worth her time she decided.

At lunch, she went to sit with the twins once more, this time nobody asked hr questions, but it was made very clear that none of the Slytherins liked it. They glared during the entire break hence the twins and, especially, Lee felt… slightly uncomfortable. They had only stopped being stiff and animated when she had turned around, looked at the Slytherins and given a cold stare. A stare that promised pain, and a lot of it. That evidently got them to stop, and the Gryffindors immediately felt much more comfortable.

Then they went to double potions, with Gryffindor, something her new favourite redheads had warned her profusely about. She, however, had just shrugged them off: Professor Snape was said to heavily favour his own house, so she assumed it wouldn't be too bad.

He had made a dramatic appearance, scaring the living daylights out of most of the first years. Dark robes billowing and all. She found it, for a lack of better words, enticing, and of course it was highly amusing to see 'The Draco Malfoy' nearly jump out his chair. It turned out that the twins were partly correct in assuming Snape would be a mouthful, once he read her name on the student list his eyes seemed to narrow and his lips thinned into a straight line of indignation.

"Miss Potter, our very own celebrity."

Her face went void of emotion, something told her this man was not to be messed with. Nevertheless, that wouldn't stop her from doing so, just not at the current moment.

Next to her she could feel Draco shiver uncomfortably. Blaise had decided to sit with Daphne Greengrass, so he was now caught in the middle of the non-verbal-non-physical battle of wills Snape had initiated.

"Tell me, Miss Potter," Snape spoke her name as if it was venom, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Easy.

"The Draught of the living dead, sir." She saw a flicker of interest cross Snape's eyes.

"Where would I find a bezoar, Potter?"

"In the stomach of a goat, sir." by now he didn't even look angry at her anymore, just mildly intrigued.

"Then tell me, what is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"There is none professor, they are both names for the same plant, which is also known by the name aconite."

"20 points to Slytherin for being well prepared and not acting like a complete dunderhead."

That turned out to be the last words spoken between her and Snape that day. She did manage to make a perfect cure for boils, though, this was hardly a feat since it reminded her a lot of cooking, and therefore gave Snape the opportunity to award Slytherin even more points.

As they left the classroom she turned around staring into Snape's eyes, "for future references, professor, I would appreciate it if you do not call me Potter. I don't identify with that name, you can call me Miss Miller, or Alexandra if that is preferable."

She then hurried to try and catch up to Blaise and Draco, only to tell them that she'd be spending her evening at the library.