Wow...so this is probably one of the best storied I've had in terms of feedback! what i'm trying to say is THANK YOU YOU GUYS ARE SO GREAT! I'm a bit obsessive with my stories, but i'm so glad to get so much reviewing. And thanks to xXMizz Alec VolturiXx again, for reviewing on practically every chapter!you guys really do rock!

So here's chapter 6, i'm trying to keep this as by the book as possible, i like for my stuff to be able to exist within the actual original content!

Anywho, Read on...and enjoy!


Our Time is Running Out

Parchment 6: Sort me up, Mr. Hat!

A crescent moon glowed high in the sky. It's light emanated to every point of it's half of the globe. As it rose ever higher, it began shining down onto a small raccoon, who had nuzzled himself in a tree for the night. A bird landed on the branch across from him, and he began pawing at it. The two got into a terrible fight, making all kinds of annoying noises. Then, all of a sudden, an empty butter beer bottle went flying out of the window, smacking the raccoon square in the jaw. It stopped for a second, and flopped over, falling out of the tree.

"Great flying monkeys!" yelled Lixella, "I thought I told you annoying things to not come back!" She pointed a long finger at the raven in the tree. His beady black eyes stared back at her, and out of sheer shock, he flew away. Lixella frowned, shutting her large window. That tree was starting to annoy her, she didn't even have this much noise in America. Wildlife seemed to be much more wild here. She then went back to her previous chore, packing for school.

Her trunk lay on the bed, opened, and almost full to the brim with items. She had almost her entire closet, her books, and her broomstick supplies. She wasn't sure if Hogwarts allowed leisurely broom flying, like Lunareth did. Her room, at this point, looked as if a hipogryph had just flown right through without a care. Everything was messed up, from her closet, to her desk. She was trying to find her wand. It usually sat on the bedside table, but obviously wasn't there given her hasty mood.

It was around 3 a.m. and she was supposed to be in bed. She was boarding the Hogwarts Express tomorrow. "Curse my procrastination" she said under her breath. Her owl, Illunia, watched her dart around the room, twisting her head back and forth, following Lixella. "Ah ha! There you are, you sneaky little devil!" she unearthed her wand from underneath a heap of parchment, by her bed. She took a second to admire it, and then quickly stowed it away in a belt case. She then walked over to the closet and tried on her new robes, one last time.

They fit her pretty well, though they weren't as decorative as the ones from Lunareth. She adored the pointed hood, any kind of witch hat reference made her smile. She wondered what house she would be placed into. The question had been popping up among her family members all summer. She tried to picture herself in each of them. First was Hufflepuff, she stood smiling politely, shaking hands with imaginary people. It didn't fit too well. Then, Gryffindor, she pushed her chest out, and put her hand on her hips. She attempted to look like superman, and failed. Obviously Gryffindor wasn't a good house for her. For Ravenclaw, she gestured with a big smile, and lots of talk about her intense interest in divination and defense against the dark arts. She liked it, it felt like Mothwing to her, like home.

But what of Slytherin? There was a chance. She thought for a second about living there. Her aunt made it seem like the greatest place on earth. She thought otherwise. However, upon imagining Slytherin, she imagined taunting Draco every single day. This caused a devilish smile to creep over her face. Some side of her kind of liked that idea.

She was snapped out of her day dreaming when Illunia began rattling her cage. Lixella went over and let her out, "you can sleep out here tonight girl…I'll leave the window cracked incase you need some air!" She opened the black iron cage door, and then headed off to bed.

The next morning brought nothing but rush. It seemed like no matter what she did, Lixella was always late to trains. Even at Lunareth, she was late getting to the skyrail. Her aunt hustled her through Kingscross station. Then, she ended up in front of platforms 9 and 10.

"Just run at the wall, that'll take you to it." her aunt said. The two of them headed at a run between platforms 9 and 10. Lixella opened her eyes and exhaled sharply once she found herself safely on the other side. Illunia had hidden her head beneath her wings, scared as well. Platform 9 ¾ was stunning. A crimson train sat in a single railway, smoke billowing like clouds across it's top. The platform was filled to the brim with parents and children, hugging and boarding. Her aunt moved forward, and trotted over to the luggage cart. Lixella handed the man her bags, all except for Illunia and her messenger bag that held her robes and money.

"Well, I suppose this is where I let you off" said her aunt, "I know you'll be fine Lixella. It is your 6th year after all. I can't wait for the news that you've been sorted into slytherin! Oh and dear, don't forget…"

"Iris?" sounded a voice from behind them. They turned to see Narcissa and Draco standing just outside of the train doorway.

"My word! Narcissa? Oh it has been so long!" aunt Iris stated, hugging the elegant woman. She turned back to Lixella, "now be careful…and good luck!" then she shoved Lixella towards the cart, and turned to talk to Narcissa some more. Narcissa began primping Draco's outfit, which Lixella giggled at. He was such a mama's boy. He noticed her laughing and shooed his mothers hand away, insisting he could dress himself. His mother's face became stern, and she said something that looked to utterly scare him.

"Now, why don't you show Lixella to your cart?" said Narcissa, almost demanding, "and be…careful!"

"Yes ma'am.." he then strode over to Lixella, preparing to push her out of the way. But just as he did, she moved, causing him to stumble and fall. He flipped over and glared at her.

Lixella just smiled, "Draco, the platform floor isn't a place for sleeping….you should probably get on the train" She grinned at him evilly.

"Hush up, Cruxshade! Don't think I'll be treating you any more pleasurably once my mom is out of earshot!" he stated rather sharply.

" Oh I'm sorry, were you supposed to be treating me pleasurably now?" she asked, staring him in the eyes, "because if so then….well, I must rate your performance as, much less than" she leaned close to his ear, "satisfactory."

Draco's face nearly turned red as he watched Lixella turn around and head up the cart stairs. Giving her hips a little extra curve as she walked away from him. He pushed past her and headed for the Slytherin 6th year cart. Lixella followed behind him, unhappily. They arrived at a car in the back, with two rows of seats, on either side. The seats were set into fours, and were centered around a square table. Draco turned and gave Lixella a smug look.

"Don't follow me, Cruxshade! I don't like stalkers!" he said, just at that moment a shrill voice from the back of the cart screeched to their ears.

"Oh…Drakie! Stop talking to that loosy twit…and come over here!" yelled pansy Parkinson in a desperate voice.

"Oh….no stalkers huh?" Lixella laughed, Draco sighed, "Who's that…

Drakie Poo? Your widdle biddy baby mama?" Lixella could have sworn that she saw Draco chuckle at that one. He quickly regained his composure, and stepped closer to her.

"don't' ruin this year for me…Cruxshade…or I'll ruin it for you as well" he said with threatening eyes.

"Oh….but Draco" she said with an almost sinister, sultry expression. She stepped forward, so close that their chests were touching, "I'm here to make sure you don't get too…Cocky!"

Lixella glided around him, making sure she kept eye contact, and close range, the whole time. Draco stared at her, his lips pursed into a tight expression of repulsion. He locked eyes with her as she turned around, and took a seat at an empty table. He hated to admit it, but she was really good at getting the last word on him.

"One of these days, Lixella" he thought, "One of these days I'll say something to make you speechless."

"Dwakie!" yapped pansy. Draco rolled his eyes, and headed to the cart behind Lixella. He sat down next to pansy and she began lightly playing with his hair. The train ride went smoothly, everyone chatted about their summer. Around lunchtime Blaize left the table, to join someone named Slughorn. Once he left, Draco began going on and on about why he should've been invited. He felt a prick on his ankle, as if something was tossed at it. He jolted upright, and stared towards Lixella. Her long legs were sprawled up on the table, as she sat across the two chairs. She was consumed in a book that she was reading, about defensive spell casting without words. He kind of stared for a second at the way her hair was falling. She noticed him and flicked him off.

"Draco...lay back down!" pansy pleaded, and Draco laid his head back down in her lap. He swore he heard a chuckle from Lixella. Pansy's eyes narrowed as she stared at the mystery girl sitting at the table. "Who is that Draco?" she asked lightly running her fingers through his hair.

"Oh that thing…her name's Lixella Cruxshade. She's here from America, her parents died a few months ago, during the ministry battle." he stated with his eyes closed.

"American?" questioned Pansy with a sour face, "and a Cruxshade? Hardly a combination worth making!"

"yeah.." said Draco, ignoring Pansy's remarks of jealousy. Blaize suddenly re-entered the train car. However, as he did, that door to the car swung open, causing him to fall into Goyle. Then, a black mist popped up and filled the train. Draco shot up out of his seat. Lixella sat up abruptly. She could've sworn she had seen disembodied ankles scurry across the floor. She stared at the spot that she saw them, and then a movement caught her eyes. Something, or someone, had just plopped itself above Draco's sitting area.

Draco stood up in panic! He was going to keep this mission secret, and he was sure that this was a distraction so someone could get in. When the smoke cleared he sat back down, turning to Pansy. But, he noticed Lixella at the table in front of him, staring intently at the luggage rack above his head. Draco glanced to the rack, then back to her, her eyes met his and she looked puzzled. Draco was careful to choose his next few words. He made sure that, in case someone was listening, they wouldn't get much information to work with.

After the Slytherin cart's big smoke screen fiasco, Lixella got bored. She decided to take a look around the rest of the train. Besides, anything was better than listening to Draco talk about himself. She headed out of the cart, and down the hallway. She was staring out of one of the large windows when she smashed into someone. The two girls fell to the floor with a loud thud. Magazines went flying everywhere. Lixella managed to pull herself back up.

"Oh dear…I'm so sorry!" she said as she extended a hand to the other girl.

"It's quite alright." said the other girl, "I should watch where I'm going, need to stop getting distracted by interesting things. You should too…staring at landscapes is bad for your eyes!" The young girl was a tad shorter than Lixella. Her build was small, and she had pale skin, with long frizzy blonde hair. On her face she wore the biggest, most flamboyant, pair of glasses, Lixella had ever seen.

"Oh, wow…those glasses are great! Where'd you get them?" she asked, very interested.

"I got them from the Quibbler, they come free with this weeks issue. My father is the head editor of it. They allow you to see Wrackspurts…terrible little things."

"What's a Wrackspurt?" Lixella asked

"Oh! It's an invisible bug. They fly around inside of your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy." the girl spoke with a voice that sounded very distant from her thoughts.

"Oh gosh! So sorry, my name is Lixella Cruxshade, nice to meet you?"

"Luna…Luna Lovegood!" she said. She removed the glasses to reveal a pair of misty eyes.

"Well, again, sorry to bother! I'm new here and I was trying to…er...escape someone." she said, thinking of Draco.

"Oh it's fine….would you like to come sit with me?" she questioned, "My friends are in the compartment too…I'm sure they'd love to meet you!"

So Lixella followed Luna to her riding compartment. Inside sat three extra people.

"Hermione Granger" the other girl introduced herself. Her voice was soft but solid, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

"Ron Weasley" said the ginger haired boy, through mouthfuls of licorice sticks.

"Neville Longbottom, nice to meet you ma'am" said a very cleanly dressed boy, with short black hair, and rather large ears.

"Oh my…"Lixella said, as she realized who they were, "Are you guys the gang from the paper? Who fought at the ministry! I'm sorry, I don't want to sound fan girlish, but you guys are amazing! Really!"

"I like this girl!" stated Ron, beaming with pride, "she knows good people when she sees them...OUCH!" he stopped abruptly after Hermione elbowed him in the shoulder.

"Sit down, Lixella" she motioned to the seat across from her.

"So, where're you from? I haven't seen you before" asked Hermione.

"Sorry, I'm from America. That's where my…parents, lived" she stared at the floor

"Who are they?" asked Ron

"William and Altria Cruxshade, they were killed by death eaters this summer" she said, lying of course.

"Oh my I'm so sorry…wait!" Hermione looked taken back, "Cruxshade...as in the Cruxshades? One of the oldest magical families in the world?"

"Yeah…that's me!" she said, slightly grinning, "but I lived in America, in my mother's house, the Duskwoods. I just started living at Cruxshade manor, with my aunt and uncle"

"Goodness!" gasped Hermione, "You're a Duskwood too? Gosh, so you're like one of the most ancient pureblood lines that exist in the world!" Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"Oi!" chimed Ron, "You…a pureblood! Bloody hell! You may just be the nicest pureblood I've ever met."

"I hate the world pureblood" said Lixella, "it has such a terrible reputation to it, ya know? Like I'm supposed to be this evil, vial person. Like that Draco Malfoy, it's people like him that give people like me a bad name."

"Oh! I really like this girl" said Ron, "Pureblood, American, and she hates Malfoy!"

Everyone in the cart laughed a bit. The street lamps outside became darker. They all scurried in a frenzy to put on their uniforms.

"Have you been sorted yet?" Luna said distantly, "your school robes don't have any symbols"

"No…" said Lixella, "I get sorted tonight, I'm supposed to before the feast. A professor is meeting me outside of the train. Someone named Snape?"

The whole car went silent. Neville managed to catch the bag he almost dropped.

"God! I'm so sorry…"said Ron, "He's a right fowl git!"

"Ronald!" Hermione shunned him, "that's a teacher you're talking about."

"So" he said, "It's not like there's anything nice to say about the man!"

"Oh joy…I would get the unpleasant one." stated Lixella. She really enjoyed these people, they were wonderful to be around. Much better than spouting insults at Draco.

"Hopefully you'll be sorted into Gryffindor" said Ron.

"or perhaps even Ravenclaw…I'd like a friend in there" said Luna.

"Oh I'd love either, I'm sure" Lixella stated. She did really hope she was in either house. The train came to a halting stop at Hogsmeade station. They all made their way off. Each of them said good-bye, in hopes that they would see Lixella at their table soon enough. Lixella tried to push her way through the massive amounts of people. She darted around to the back of the train, as she did she spotted Draco. He was exiting the empty Slytherin cart, looking pleased. The blinds were down in the cart, and the door window was closed. Draco noticed her staring at him, and smirked. He was in far too good of a mood. Lixella wanted to know why. But, before she could make her way over to him, a cold hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Lixella Cruxshade…I presume" said a voice from behind her. She turned around to face a man wearing a long black cloak. His face was curtained by black hair, and his nose was rather large. He held a smug expression on his features. He peered down at Lixella with dark eyes.

"Yes. Are you professor Snape?" she asked

"Yes…I'll be sorting you into your house before the first years. Grab my cloak." Lixella did, and Snape apparated into Dumbledore's office. "You're lucky, usually that isn't allowed at Hogwarts….for your information. Dumbledore made an exception…for you"

Lixella stood, feeling rather sick. She had never apparated before, it was unpleasant. Snape swept around the office. He took a large dusty old hat from the shelf. "Sit" he commanded, Lixella sat in the chair. He really was rather unpleasant.

"oh my…." exclaimed the hat, as it was placed on her head, "curious, very curious. You could do great anywhere my girl. Honestly I would love to put you in Slytherin, but you seem so opposed. Maybe Ravenclaw then? No, no…you have far too much ambition in you. Goodness! Maybe Gryffindor, you'd do great there….but what is this? Oh, and interesting turn of events." the hat spoke to itself. Lixella didn't know where she really wanted to be, she was fine with mostly any of them. But Slytherin was her least favorite. "Why make it the least favorite child? You have such potential….Ah! So there is a reason for Slytherin." The hat talked as if he could see the future, "yes, yes, I see you now…..you're whole destiny awaits you….better be SLYTHERIN!" Her robed instantly popped into shades of green and silver, with the Slytherin emblem on her chest.

Lixella frowned a bit on the inside, she would have preferred one of the houses with the nice people she met on the train. But, it seemed that the hat really wanted her to be in Slytherin for some reason. Professor Snape placed the hat back on the shelf.

"Welcome to Slytherin house…miss, Cruxshade!" he said, peering down at her, again, "be warned…the name Slytherin bears many challenges in your upcoming lifetime. As a Slytherin I expect you to be able to tackle them head on, and without whining. Slytherins can be far stronger than they seem Ms. Cruxshade." he stared her straight in the eyes. What he said, he was obviously very serious about. It was as if he was trying to force some deeper meaning, or double standard on her. Once he was done with his monologue, he lead her down to the great hall. Just as they reached the outside, A large patronus appeared in front of Snape. It was shaped like a four legged creature, and beckoned him to follow it.

"You should be able to guide yourself from here, Lixella" he said, and headed off.

She took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors. Everyone had just sat down, from the looks of it. Across the room, an old man with half-moon spectacles nodded at her. She nodded back to Albus Dumbledore, with great pride. She paused, trying to figure out where to sit. Some of the kids had noticed her entrance. Particularly, Ron and Hermione, who looked at her in disbelief. She noticed their glances, and dropped her shoulders, giving them a longing expression. Ron simply shook his head, Hermione and Neville nodded in understanding. Luna saw her from across the room, and waved to her with a soft smile. She waved back. Finally, she located the Slytherin table. It was full of people she had met, and could not stand. Draco Malfoy eyed her robes in disbelief. He was in shock that she was in his house. His eyes just stayed on the Slytherin emblem on her chest, unable to accept that she was wearing it.

"ya know Draco" she said, moving closer and bending down, "one shouldn't stare at what they can't have! It only makes it more painful for you."

"Psh…I wasn't staring at you…Cruxshade!" he said, jerking his head away from her now obvious cleavage.

" Oh really?" she stated, her eyes narrowing, "cuz for a second I could've sworn you were oggling my boobs!"

"Well, it's hard to not oggle when they are right in my face" he spat

"It's hard to push past just how hideous that face of yours is…but I'm not blaming you for that, am I? Dwakie?" she stated in a venomous tone. "Welcome to your year, Draco…I'm here now, better get used to it!"

She thought she heard some clapping from the table next to them. Ron had overheard their conversation, from down the Gryffindor table, and was quite impressed by it. She bowed to him, then sat down at the end of the table, and got ready to watch the first years be sorted. She couldn't complain about her new house, it certainly came with perks.


These chapters keep getting longer!I need to know if y'all want them longer or shortened...I'm trying to not go too overboard with size!

So are you liking the bickering between these two...I can't wait, now i can start on the school year! oh it just gets better and better!

I would really love if you could review my story, and thanks so much for reading ^_^ come back again!