It was the 31st August.
"Lou! Louise!" Alex was yelling up the stairs. When he got no reply, he sighed irritably and ran upstairs to find his sister.
He burst into her room,only to find her curled up in the cushioned window seat, fast asleep. As he went to shake her awake, Prince, who had been lying beneath the windowsill, sat up, giving a warning growl.
"It's okay boy" Alex murmured to the dog. "Lou, wake up!" he raised his voice slightly.
She stirred in her sleep and slowly uncurled, rubbing homer eyes sleepily and stifling a yawn. "Wha…" she looked around tiredly.
Her brother gave her an amused look. "Mum wants to see you, she's going to take you for a robe fitting" he told her.
"Why?" Louise asked. "I have all my Hogwarts robes"
Alex wrinkled his nose. "Mum thinks you should have new ones, besides, I need Hogwarts robes too; I'm starting Hogwarts this year, remember?"
A little while later…
Bellatrix was paying for Louise's Hogwarts robes, whilst Madam Malkin's assistant pinned Alex's robes. Draco passed by the shop with Theodore and Blaise. They spotted Louise, who was leaning against an empty display rail with a bored expression on her face.
Bellatrix spotted her nephew and his friends waving to her daughter and smiled. "You run along darling, we'll meet you back at Malfoy Manor" she told her.
Louise cheered up instantly. "Thanks mum" she grinned. "See you later Alex"
Her brother made a face at her and giggling, she hurried out of the shop to meet her cousin and his friends, who were impatiently waiting for her.
"Finally! Miss Daydreamer has rejoined reality!" Draco said sarcastically.
Louise made a face at him. "Haha very funny Draco" she retorted. "Anyway, if you lot wanted me along, why did you leave me this morning?" her tone was accusing.
"Because, my dear cousin, you were fast asleep curled up on the window-seat in your room and Theo here wouldn't let me wake you" Draco drawled.
Louise raised her eyebrows at Theodore, who went faintly pink and avoided making eye contact with her.
Turning back to Draco, she asked "and what were you lot doing in my room anyway?"
Her cousin gave her a cool look. "Well, I was planning on inviting you along, but apparently your sleep was more important" he replied.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever" she shrugged. "Anyway, where are we going?"
"Oh well you know, just off to Borgin and Burkes again…" Blaise smirked at the expression of disgust on her face.
She caught the smirk and punched him on the shoulder. "Shut up Zabini" she snapped. "Where are we actually going?"
Draco chuckled. "We were planning on going to the Leaky Cauldron and getting a couple of drinks" he answered.
Louise raised her eyebrows. "Will they even serve you?" she asked.
The three boys snorted.
"Our parents are DeathEaters, they wouldn't dare refuse us" Blaise explained, seeing that she was genuinely puzzled.
"Oh…" she was silent as she thought this over.
As Draco and Blaise went to go and fetch drinks, Theodore and Louise went to grab a table. As they sat down, Theodore murmured "you looked adorable when you were asleep"
Louise looked slightly spooked. "Why were you watching me sleep?" she asked.
Theo shrugged. "I wouldn't let Draco wake you up; you looked so peaceful" he explained.
She looked slightly more at ease, but still a little cautious.
Draco and Blaise came over with drinks and Louise didn't really speak much. The three boys began talking about the Quidditch cup at Hogwarts and how they were determined that Slytherin was going to win it this year.
"Well, we're going to have Lou on our team this year" Draco pointed out.
"Which means we'll have an advantage over Gryffindor!" Blaise cheered up.
"Hey, maybe we'll win this year and wipe that smug smile off Potter's face once and for all!" Theodore exclaimed.
"Lou, what do you think? You are going to try out for the team, aren't you?" Draco asked.
"Mmm" Louise replied half-heartedly.
"Are you okay?" Theodore asked her anxiously.
"Yeah" she replied. "I was just thinking about something…"