Yay. New chapter finally up. Well, it's not really new, but I did redo it. Read&&Review so that I wet myself with happiness. I like this chapter. Angst!YUM!


The train lurched forward and I sat down, opposite of Lucius and beside Bellatrix, on purpose. We were on our way to Hogwarts. Sunshine was pouring in through the windows and nearly blinding me. I accommodated my usually pristine posture to shade myself in Bellatrix's shadow. I looked at her and Lucius. Each was looking in opposite directions. Lucius' attention was focused on the rack above Bellatrix's head and hers was focused a out the window. She was bathed in sunlight and it didn't seem to bother her one bit. I noticed that her attention was focused on her rather large family outside the window. Narcissa and Regulus were waving goodbye frantically. Sirius looked as if he'd lost his right arm, but was trying to mask it well. Andromeda was just staring at the window with a blank look on her face.

"Bellatrix." She didn't look at me.

"Bellatrix." I repeated, reaching out and gently touching her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked at me. I saw something in her eyes then that I'd never seen before, but before I could place it, it was gone.

"What?"

Stumbling for words, I blinked several times and then took a deep breath. "They'll be fine. It'll be fine." I didn't have to use proper nouns to specify what I was saying. Something inside me knew that she understood. Slowly, she turned back around and looked out the window. She tried to hide it, but I could see her waving behind the window; hands nearly clawing to break the glass when she stopped.

I knew how she was feeling. I knew that she didn't want to leave her family behind. It wasn't that she was scared for herself. No, she was scared for them.

That morning I'd awoken to find Rabastan still sleeping beside me and Mere had come in making a fuss over the 'brotherly love' before ushering us both off to the bathroom to get ready. An hour later, my family was wishing me goodbye at the platform along with Bellatrix's and Lucius'. While my family had attacked me with hugs and kisses and Bellatrix's family did the same (though she was screaming and trying to push them off rather roughly), Lucius' family didn't do the same. Abraxas stood rigidly beside his son, not even paying him the slightest of attention. Latona had yet to hug him goodbye too, which was strange considering that she usually doted on her only son. Were all the Malfoys as rigid as Lucius was? Wouldn't they want to wish their only child goodbye on his first time to Hogwarts? It was Lucius' birthday as well. He was the oldest among us. Why weren't they saying anything?

I had shrugged the event, or lack thereof, off and had turned my attention instead to Rabastan.

"Promise you'll be back?" Rabastan asked, eyes growing twice their normal size as always whenever he was stressed or excited.

"I promise." I ruffled his hair before pulling him tightly to me and hugging him. "See you soon." I kissed him on the forehead and had turned around and walked backwards to the train, tapping my nose right before I'd finally turned around to board.

Now the three of us sat in the compartment in utter silence until Lucius, who had a seat to himself, stretched out and fell asleep.

"I thought he'd never go out." Bellatrix commented, watching his pale form sleep, before she stretched out her feet, putting them on the seat opposite, and in doing so came dangerously close to kicking Lucius in the head.

"What? You did something didn't you?" I knew that tone and knew that she'd been up to something.

"Nothing." She put on that innocent façade of hers and folded her arms across her chest.

Shrugging, I decided not to press her. If she didn't want to tell me, she didn't have to. Besides, what harm could letting Lucius sleep do? Unless…unless he was dead. I quickly leaned over and ran my hand along his neck, checking for a pulse. Eventually, I found one. He was alive. I sat back in my seat, sighing, and with slight apprehension, noticed that Bellatrix was smirking at me.

The hours passed by rather quickly and soon we were changing into our uniforms. I had pulled down my bag and had begun laying out my tie, black socks, and silver and green vest, assuming that Bellatrix would leave the compartment and go to the lavatory to get changed, but with Bellatrix assuming was wrong. And today, I was dead wrong. Looking to my left, I fought back the urge to scream.

Bellatrix didn't have her shirt on and was currently rummaging around for something in her bag, via only pants and…bra. "What're you doing?" I tried to sound compose and stop myself from staring. Apart from my mother I'd never seen a girl who wasn't properly dressed. It wasn't that I found Bellatrix attractive, it was that there was something I'd never seen before standing in front of me and curiosity was beginning to get my better.

"Changing." She answered, as if being half naked in front of me was nothing out of the norm.

"Oh….okay." I didn't know what else to say or do and walking from the compartment would look totally stupid, so I just stripped off my own shirt and began putting on the pressed white one I'd already lain out. I changed into the rest of my uniform, not daring to look to my left to see how indecent Bellatrix was or to see if she was watching me.

Lucius was still asleep when the train stopped. I got up stretching my arms and went to wake him. Bellatrix grabbed my hand.

"Leave him." She ordered.

"Bellatrix, we can't just leave him here."

"Yes we can." She slunk around me and pushed me out of the compartment, closing the door behind us.

"You can't leave him lying in there." I hissed, astonished.

"Why not?"

"You just….can't. It's wrong."

"And you're point would be?" Bellatrix talked as if she didn't seem to think that anything was wrong with leaving Lucius in there to wake up and find himself back in London a few hours from now. She began pushing me down the rest of the corridor and every time I tried to turn around to go back and wake Lucius up, she blocked the corridor so that I couldn't get by. This proved a difficult situation because whenever she stopped me from going back to the compartment, she stopped others from getting off the train as well and they began to get agitated. So, I eventually stopped trying to go and save Lucius. I didn't know why I wanted to wake him up in the first place. It wasn't as if we were friends, more like acquaintances who met up with one another far too much.

'Firs' years this way. Firs' years this way." We stepped out into the dark and a booming voice, followed by a man that was booming as well loomed before us. "Foller me."

We were ushered into tiny boats and were soon crossing a large placid lake. I looked out over the black mirror, amazed. The ride was silent, neither of us talking to the other. It was quite odd not to have Lucius there. Had he been, I knew that he and Bellatrix would already be locked in some grudge match, each dying to throttle the other.

Within fifteen minutes we reached a set of docks that met up with the underpinnings of what was a huge castle. After clambering out of the boat, we were shepherded like sheep up through a stairwell, into the castle, and off to a side room. Here we were left alone for what seemed an eternity. Those around me began to get nervous, chattering away about what was to be done with us.

Bellatrix leaned against the wall beside me, calm as ever. We were a bit cramped in the room, far closer to anyone else in here than we ever would be. The minutes seemed to stretch by into hours as the nervous whispers around me only grew into nervous ramblings.

"What are they going to do with us?"

"I don't know. But my brother said it was painful."

"Maybe we'll have to do magic-"

"Don't be silly. We're only first years."

"My brother said it was going to be painful."

"Maybe we have to fight a troll-"

"Or a dragon."

"Very, very painful."

I barely managed to stifle a yawn before the door to the chamber opened up. A woman had appeared in the doorway. She was a bit on in her years and wore square glasses….and green robes. I swallowed, realizing that she was the woman with the tea that Bellatrix, Lucius, and I had put the toad in.

She wasn't alone though. Behind her was a mass full of blonde hair which was accompanied by a sour face.

I looked sideways at Bellatrix as an image of Lucius waking up all alone in a compartment wormed its way into my mind. Lucius walked into the room and took up his place directly in front of Bellatrix.

"Very clever, Black. Very clever. I'd watch my back if I were you though. I'm not one to let someone get by without revenge." He flashed a dangerous smile.

"Well, you're not me." Her sick smile rivaled his. "And I'll be waiting."

Lucius hadn't been expecting this and his face fell for just a moment. I had to hand it to Bellatrix. She knew just what to say to quirk him.

"Alright we're ready for you." The teacher, whose name I later found out was McGonagall, led us back into a large entrance hall and then stopped in front of a set of huge oaken double doors.

"Before you can sit down and eat, you must be sorted." I heard the boy who had been speaking of pain earlier whimper. "There are four houses to be sorted into. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family as you will sleep in the house dorms and spend free time in the house common rooms. Any good deeds will earn you points, while any rule breaking will loose you points." Here she stopped and glanced around the whole group as if trying to pick the good out from the bad. "The house that has the greatest amount of points at the end of the year will win the House Cup. Follow me."

She turned to the large doors which opened up. The chatter that had been going on while she talked to us was quickly silenced as McGonagall led us through the hall. The room was very bright, considering that it was lit by hundreds of candles suspended in mid air. I heard whispering break out behind me. I shot Bellatrix a side ways glance.

"Look at the ceiling." She said. As I looked upward, I saw what all the fuss was about. In the place where a ceiling should be, the roof seemed to be missing. It looked just like the night sky that we had seen outside.

"Wow." I muttered.

Bellatrix only shook her head at me.

McGonagall led us to a long table at the front of a hall where the rest of the teachers appeared to be sitting. Then, she disappeared through a door to the side and came back moments later with a stool, an old tatty hat, and a long rolled up piece of parchment.

And suddenly, the object burst into song.

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your tops hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell brave of heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And you won't get in a flap!
You're safe in my hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

As the hat finished its song, everyone burst into applause.

Someone behind me muttered, "My sister said it sings the same song nearly every year and that it only changes its tune in order to give advice or warnings, or whenever it feels like it."

Professor McGonagall's voice followed the applause. "When I call your name, you will come forward, sit on the stool, and place the hat on your head." A murmur broke out amongst the first years before it was shattered by McGonagall's voice.

"Black, Bellatrix."

Bellatrix would be the first from our group to be sorted. I looked at Lucius for a minute before turning my attention to Bellatrix—he had looked as if he'd like nothing better than to go before her. She stepped forward, not an ounce of fear about here and sat down on the stool. No sooner had her butt touched the wood, and the hat her head, when it the tatty object let loose of scream of "SLYTHERIN!"

A table at the far end of the Hall erupted into applause as she got up from the stool, smirking and with her hair slightly ruffled at the top.

"They can't expect me to put that on my head." Lucius exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, by all means, go run screaming out the doors. I'm sure your parents will be thrilled to know their only child is a chicken." I mused and right after I did so, his demeanor changed completely. Malfoy puffed out his chest and didn't speak to me for the duration of the sorting.

The minutes quickly passed and soon McGonagall called my own name. I approached the stool and that was when the thought first hit me: What if Bellatrix and I weren't in the same house? What if I were put into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor? I knew no one else here other than Lucius. What if I were separated from both of them?

I sat slowly down on the stool, not that eager to find out where I belonged. I placed the hat on my head; it slid down past my eyes and I couldn't see a thing.

"Hmmm. Interesting. Very interesting." A voice chimed in my ear and I had to have jumped ten feet in the air. "No need to be shocked, Rodolphus. I'm only a hat…that can read your thoughts."

Oh dear. I wanted this thing off my head. Now.

"No need to be alarmed though. On with business. The first of the Lestranges, I see. A sharp mind. Quite reserved. You'd make an excellent Ravenclaw. Brave, I see and you have the makings of a master duelist. Hmm….what's this? You believe in love? Maybe Hufflepuff?"

I panicked. I didn't want to be in Hufflepuff. I wanted to be with Bellatrix.

"Can't bear to be separated from Miss Black, eh?" I didn't like the way the Hat said that. There was a hint of foreboding in the omniscient voice. "You don't wish to prove yourself to anyone. Think you know best. You sit back, watch. Calculate. Already, you've begun to manipulate others to your will. You're a master with words. And what a quick temper. A bit of a sneak as well and highly sadistic."

I had no idea what the Hat was on about. I hadn't noticed that I'd done any of these things, but they sounded comforting all the same.

"You're a SLYTHERIN! Through and through." Slytherin was screamed to the hall while the rest sentence was spoken to me. I took the hat off of my head rather shakily and sat it back on the stool. Rising, I quickly walked the distance from the stool to the Slytherin table where Bellatrix sat.

"You were up there forever." She said, not bothering to whisper.

"Sorry that I couldn't be as quick as you were."

She smirked at me and didn't bother saying anything. I couldn't tell whether she kept her mouth shut because she had no comeback, or because she just didn't feel like talking. Whatever the reason was, neither of us talked until Lucius joined us at our table. He sat down opposite of Bellatrix, not bothering to speak either.

Among the students we received were Augustus Rookwood and Walden MacNair. They each sat down to Lucius' left and judging by the way he looked them both over, they lot of them had previously met. I quickly found out that Slytherin was different from the other houses. We clapped when we received a new member, but we didn't hoot and holler like the rest of the houses, nor did we receive new members with opening arms. They simply sat down, absent from pats on the backs and handshakes.

At the end of the Sorting an aging man with long, white hair and a beard to match got up. "Speeches are very important. And, with that being said….dig in." Food appeared on the once bare golden plates in front of me and there was a loud rumble as everyone began to talk. The three of us ate in silence. My thoughts wandered to what the Hat had told me. Could I stand to be separated from Bellatrix? Did I really have a gift with words? I hoped to become the master duelist it had said I would be. I spotted Lucius mumbling something to Walden and Augustus every now and then. Bellatrix, on the whole, hadn't said a word the entire time. It was quite strange. Why was she being so quiet?

My thoughts were interrupted when the old man, apparently the Headmaster, got to his feet and cleared his throat. The Hall fell silent at once. "Now that we have all eaten and drank our fill, I have a few start of term notices. Welcome back. Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts.'
He opened his arms widely in a rather loving manner which I'd never seen expressed by an adult before in public to children he barely knew. "First years, you will find that your things have already been taken to your dormitories and lain out for you. Prefects, that tricky middle faucet in your bathroom has been repaired. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to any student, no matter what year."

I looked up at Bellatrix and Lucius. Both of them had a gleam of mischief in their eyes.

If someone told them something was off-limits, they were bound to want to 'bend the rules' and 'poke about.'

"What do you say about sneaking out?"

We were now standing to leave the Great Hall. The headmaster's speech was over and we were all being shown to our dorms. There was a great deal of talk going on and coupled with the scraping of benches against the stone floor, everything had gotten very loud all of a sudden. The rushed excitement was serving it's purpose—getting both Bellatrix and Lucius riled up.

Bellatrix got up off the bench, eyes locking with Lucius'. She smirked at him. "I'm game if you are." She began walking out of the hall and I ran to catch up with her, leaving Lucius behind.

My hand wrapped around her arm and I pulled her backwards, stopping her jaunty stride. "Bella. You can't. You'll get yourself thrown out before the year's even started. He's an ass. Don't let Malfoy get under your skin. You can beat him, and you know it. So, why prove yourself?"

She looked at me and then over my shoulder at what I guessed to be Lucius. I watched her with baited breath. I didn't want her to do anything stupid to get herself thrown out, and at Lucius' hands.

"Fine. I won't." And she walked out of the hall with me still attached to her forearm.

We were led into the Entrance Hall and through a passage across the hall. The passage was dark with a rough floor and equally rough walls. Lucius caught up with us after several minutes and I could see the scowl set in his face by the light of the torches that hung from the wall. I had won; again, and he didn't quite like it. Bellatrix had listened to me instead of competing with him. Maybe the Hat was right after all. Maybe I did have a knack for words.

The passage twisted and turned, going lower and lower and becoming darker by the minute. Finally we reached a straight stretch with alcoves to the right and a blank wall of torches to the left. Ahead was a solid stone wall. There was no sign of anymore passageways leading off of this one.

I thought we'd been led into a dead in, but the prefect ahead of us turned around, and waited for silence.

"This." Said the prefect. "Is the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. What you see before you is no ordinary stone wall. After entering the common room, you may find your dorms: girls to the left staircase. Boys to the right. But no need to worry. I'm sure you'll all be quite…comfortable with either dormitory in no time." He smirked at us from under his long black hair before turning around to the wall.

"Serpent."

No sooner had the word left his lips when the passageway shook and the stone wall slid aside and opened to a large, high ceiling room with a low fire and several green chairs, couches, and a green carpet lain over the rough stone floor in an attempt to make the room seem more comfortable than it was.

Our little group made its way into the room, staring around at the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere. Everything in here was so rigid from the students sitting in the chairs to the very furniture itself.

We were only given a few minutes to look around before being ushered up to our dorms by the rest of the prefects. Lucius and I left Bellatrix to go up her own staircase and we headed to the one on the right.

The stone on the stairs was somewhat smoother than the stone that had been on the floor. We walked up the winding staircase, passing several dark wooden doors which were all positioned to the left. Each door had words burned into it, reading the year of the students who stayed inside. At the very top of the staircase was the door that we were meant to enter.

"First Years" had been burned in the wood.

Lucius pushed the door open and we entered, viewing what would be our dorm for the next seven years of our lives. It was a round room, positioned obviously in what was the center of the staircase. There were four beds, all with the headboards up against the stone wall and clothed in green sheets and curtains. The dormitory was quite large with dressers and wardrobes here and there, and a door straight ahead that I guessed lead into a bathroom. Our trunks already stood at the ends of our beds.

A black, scrawny cat sat on Lucius' bed, purring contently and digging his claws into the bed sheets. He'd brought the little menace from home, obviously. I hated that cat. I'd even kicked it a few times when I had been over at his manor. It was always lurking around, always watching.

An owl cage stood open at the foot of my bed. I hadn't brought the family owl to school and had neglected to buy one when I'd gone to Diagon Alley because I didn't want to have to take care of it. So what was this doing here?

I walked over and looked at the cage. Noticing a letter on top of it, I plucked it off, opened it and began reading.

Rodolphus,

It seems that your father and I have sent you to school without an owl .So, this afternoon, after leaving you at the station, I went out and bought you one. Rabastan insisted on naming him Toby. Have a good term. See you on Christmas.

-Love, Mere.

Ah great. An owl. Something to take care of, something for Lucius' cat to try and eat. And I didn't even know what the thing looked like! And it had the dumbest name I'd ever heard of. Toby! Who in hell named an owl Toby? It was probably some midget, gay owl…that was cross eyed. Dear Merlin.

Dear Merlin! Someone had hold of my collar and had wheeled me around. I came face to face with a mass of blonde hair and a rather angry pointed face.

"What do you want?" I growled, throwing his hand off of me.

"Why did you do that?"

"Usually, when someone has a hold on another, the one being held doesn't quite like it if he's being held by force." I replied sarcastically. I did not understand why he had grabbed me or what he was talking about.

"Stop her from sneaking out." His face was set and he looked slightly let down.

"I don't--wait. Are you talking about Bellatrix?" It had only just dawned on me. "I stopped her from sneaking out because she doesn't need to get suspended and she's better than that."

"Better than what?"

He was so stupid. Why did he care why I had stopped her? "Better than you." I growled.

Without warning, Lucius launched himself at me. Grabbing me around the next, he slammed me into the floor. "Better than me. Rodolphus. She's a silly little girl. How can she--" But he didn't finish his sentence. I was raging mad. I pulled my hand back and connected my fist with his jaw.

"Don't you ever say that you're better than her, Malfoy!" I squared up and hit him in the jaw again. When I drew my fist back I saw that my knuckles were covered in blood and so was the bottom half of Lucius' face. "You're not worth her time. You'll never be as good as she is and you're stupid to even try."

He came back, hitting me just as hard as I'd hit him.

The next few minutes were a blur of punching arms, kicking legs, and the two of us rolling around on the floor and screaming at each other. Every blow was returned, forcing each minute to get rougher.

How dare he even think he was on the same playing field as Bellatrix! She was so much better than he was.

I rolled him over onto his back, hitting him in the jaw again just as the door to the dorm opened.

Lucius had been ready to hit me, but his fist remained poised in mid-air. I turned around to see Rookwood and MacNair standing in the doorway.

They both paused, unsure of how to address the situation at hand.

"Ah we're just going to go to bed." Said MacNair. They both walked over to their beds, on the left side of the room and a minute later they'd both disappeared behind the green hangings.

I got off of Lucius and headed over to my own bed, scowling. I could hear him getting up behind me, and I was ready to pounce on him if he rushed at me again. But he didn't. I could hear him crawling into his bed.

"This isn't over yet." He muttered.

I didn't respond. I thought the matter had been solved and while I would have rather gone on being friends, if one could use a term so loosely, with Lucius, if he wanted a war then he would get one.

I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, still seething about what had just happened. MacNair and Rookwood were talking now in not so hushed whispers.

Right before I fell asleep I heard Augustus voicing, "What did that prefect mean about, I'm sure you'll all be quite…comfortable with either dormitory in no time."