Chapter Three
September the First
Lexi's last month at the orphanage seemed to drag on and on. She had never felt like she belonged there, but now she knew for a fact that she didn't belong there. She was a witch. She was different. She was better. She had more power than anyone in the orphanage could ever dream of. And yet she still had to listen to Mrs. Hannigan and clean the orphanage before she got any supper. The only thing that kept her sane was knowing that it was only for one more month.
Finally September the first rolled around, and she was at King's Cross. She had watched a dark-haired boy who looked to be about her age and two people who could only be his parents walk straight toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten and copied them.
The platform was packed with families. Mothers were hugging their children and saying tearful goodbyes. Fathers were giving their children last minute advice and telling them to have a good term.
Lexi strode toward the train door, but stopped when she heard her name. She looked back over her shoulder and saw Narcissa waving at her. She turned around and headed over to the Malfoys.
"Hello," Lexi said politely.
"Where's your mother?" Draco asked.
Narcissa and Lucius looked at Lexi curiously. They had been wondering the same thing.
"Not here," Lexi said shortly.
"You're here alone?" Draco said. He stared at her in disbelief, partly because his parents would never have let him go anywhere in London by himself and partly because everyone else was there with their family.
"I am sure Lexi didn't come here alone," Lucius said, looking at Lexi with raised eyebrows.
"I did, actually," Lexi said. She met his cold gaze levelly.
Lucius looked like he was about to say something, but Lexi was saved from more questions by a whistle sounding.
"You two had better board the train now," Narcissa said.
Narcissa hugged Draco goodbye and told him to write her after the sorting. Lucius hugged Draco next.
Lexi was standing off to the side, feeling very out of place, when, all of the sudden, she felt someone's arms around her. She saw long shiny blonde hair. Narcissa. It took Lexi a moment to snap out of her initial shock and return the hug.
After they said their goodbyes, Draco and Lexi walked toward the train. Narcissa had tears in her eyes as she watched Draco walk away. He was her only son. He'd never spent more than one night away from home. She was going to miss him. Once the children were out of earshot, Narcissa swallowed hard, took a deep breath and turned to Lucius. It was better to be angry with Lexi's mother than sad.
"What kind of mother lets a little girl run around London by herself?" Narcissa said in a disapproving tone.
"Apparently Lexi's," Lucius said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"She's eleven!" Narcissa cried in tones of outrage.
"She made it to King's Cross in one piece, and she's on the train now. She will be fine," Lucius said indifferently.
"Well, I would love to talk to this woman," Narcissa muttered.
"She's a Muggle," Lucius said, his lip curling.
"Do you think that's why she didn't come? Do you think she doesn't like magic?" Narcissa asked.
"It's possible," Lucius said slowly.
"I don't understand," Narcissa said. "There is nothing that would stop me from being here for Draco."
"Yes, well, remember that if he is in Hufflepuff," Lucius said in a drawling voice with a hint of a smirk curving his lips.
"Lucius! Don't even jest about that!" Narcissa said.
Lucius chuckled. "I know our son will be in Slytherin. I am not so sure that Lexi will be in Slytherin."
"She will be," Narcissa said confidently.
Lucius raised his eyebrows. "Do you care to bet on that?"
"What do you want to bet?" Narcissa said calmly.
Lucius leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made Narcissa flush.
"And if I win?" Narcissa asked after a second.
"Whatever you wish," Lucius said.
"Even if I wish for you to be nice to Lexi?" Narcissa raised her eyebrows.
"I'm always nice," Lucius said smoothly, trying to suppress a smirk.
"No, you're not, Lucius," Narcissa said knowingly, a hint of amusement in her voice. She turned serious and looked directly into Lucius' grey eyes. "Will you be nice to her if she is in Slytherin? Please? For me."
"Why do you care for this girl?" Lucius asked.
"She's family," Narcissa answered. "Her father, my cousin is dead. She has no one. She's just a girl. She's the same age as Draco."
"She has her own mother!" Lucius said.
Narcissa scoffed at that. "I haven't seen her mother anywhere, have you?"
"If she is in Slytherin, and only if she is in Slytherin," Lucius said grudgingly, "then I will be nice to her. However, if she is in Hufflepuff like Andromeda's brat, or Gryffindor like the blood traitor Sirius Black, we will have nothing to do with her. It would be a disgrace to the name Malfoy. Do we have an agreement?"
Narcissa nodded. She was confident that Lexi would be in Slytherin. Lexi reminded her too much of Bellatrix to be anywhere else. So, Narcissa was the picture of calm confidence as she shook Lucius' hand.
On the Hogwarts Express, Lexi was going to ask if she and Draco could join a round-faced boy and a girl with bushy brown hair that looked about their age, but Draco stopped her with a restraining hand on her arm.
"What are you doing?" Draco demanded.
Because it looked like she was about to sit with the boy he recognized as Neville Longbottom and a girl he suspected was Muggleborn. His mother had asked him to help her get to know their ways and introduce her to his friends.
Lexi freed her arm and glared at him. "I was just going to ask if we could join them."
Draco shook his head. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. I'll introduce you to some of my friends."
Draco found two of his friends in a compartment toward the back of the train.
"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco said, gesturing to each in turn. "This is my cousin, Lexi Black."
"Hello," Lexi said distractedly, trying to lift her heavy trunk up into the compartment.
Draco noticed her struggling and looked at the other two boys. "Oy, Crabbe, Goyle, help Lexi with her trunk."
"They don't need to-"
Lexi hadn't even finished her sentence when Crabbe and Goyle picked her trunk up with ease and loaded it in the corner. Crabbe came back for the cage that held her owl.
"Thanks," Lexi said as she took a seat.
Draco loaded his trunk and then sat down next to her. Crabbe and Goyle sat down opposite them.
"Did you see the new Nimbus?" Draco asked Crabbe and Goyle. "Father was going to get me one, but they'll come out with a new racing broom next year before school starts and we can't play Quidditch until second year anyway."
The boys started talking about Quidditch, and Lexi tuned them out. She didn't know what Quidditch was. From what they were saying, it sounded like a wizard sport played on brooms. She had never been into sports. She had played basketball during recess, and that was about it.
After about an hour, a woman opened their compartment door and asked if they wanted anything off the cart. All four of them got up to see what she had. There were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes. The boys all pulled a face and turned their noses up at Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Lexi didn't want to eat anything with frog in the title. So, she bought some Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes.
Draco was trying unsuccessfully to convince Lexi to try a Chocolate Frog when the round-faced boy and girl with bushy brown hair that Lexi had almost sat with barged into their compartment.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," the girl said.
"A toad?" Draco sneered. "No."
"What about the rest of you?" The girl said in a bossy tone of voice.
"We're all in the same compartment. If Draco hasn't seen a toad, why would the rest of us?" Lexi said, annoyed at the girl's tone.
Draco smirked, evidently pleased.
"I just thought- never mind," the girl said. "I'm Hermoine Granger. Who are you?"
"Granger?" Draco repeated. "Are your parents our kind?" He asked, though he thought he already knew the answer. He had heard of most of the wizarding families.
"No," Hermoine answered. "Nobody in my family's magic at all." She didn't seem to notice the look of horror on Draco's face. "It was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course."
Lexi had the feeling Hermoine was never going to shut up and was suddenly very glad that Draco had stopped her from sitting with Hermoine. She would rather walk to Hogwarts than spend hours in a compartment with Hermoine Granger.
"And I got some extra books for background reading. Harry Potter's in three of them, and he didn't even know. He's on the train, two compartments down."
Hermoine was still talking, and Draco looked interested for the first time since she'd opened her mouth.
"I read about all of the houses, of course. I hope I'm in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Any idea what house you'll be in?" Hermoine said.
"Slytherin," Draco said coolly.
Hermoine didn't seem to like what she knew about Slytherin. She said a hasty goodbye and left with Neville.
"If I'm in the same house as her, I think I'll kill myself," Lexi said.
"I thought she'd never leave," Draco complained. "Let's go find Potter."
Lexi didn't know who Potter was, but it was clear she was the only one who didn't. She shrugged and went with the boys.
Two compartments down a black-haired boy was talking animatedly with a red-haired boy who had dirt on his nose. The boys both looked up when they entered.
"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" Draco looked at the black-haired boy with interest.
"Yes," Harry said.
"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco said. "And this is my cousin, Lexi Black. My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
The red-haired boy sniggered, and then tried to cover it up with a fake cough. Lexi looked at him and wondered what was so funny. Apparently Draco knew what the boy was laughing at.
"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco said.
Lexi didn't see anything funny about Draco's name. She'd heard much worse names. But the red-haired boy blushed and averted his eyes, evidently embarrassed that Draco had called him out, and she knew Draco had called it like it was.
She'd only met the Malfoys on two occasions, but, for some reason, Lexi felt defensive of them. Maybe it was because Narcissa and Draco had been the first people to ever really be kind to her. Or, maybe it was because they were family. Whatever the reason, she was silently cheering for Draco.
"No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Wealseys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford," Draco said to Ron.
Draco turned to Harry then and said the same thing that he'd said to Lexi earlier about some wizarding families being better than others.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly, refusing to shake Draco's extended hand.
Big mistake. That's what Lexi thought, too, and she'd almost made friends with Hermoine Granger.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Draco said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
Both Harry and Ron stood up.
"Say that again," Ron said. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. He looked ready for a fight.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Draco said in an amused tone.
It would be stupid of Ron to start a fight. It would be two against four. And Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than both Harry and Ron.
"Unless you get out now," Harry said.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we? We've eaten all our food, and you still seem to have some," Draco said.
Goyle reached for a Chocolate Frog. Ron leapt forward. Idiot. Goyle would kill him. Actually Lexi would kind of like to see that, but the fight was over before it began. Ron's rat bit Goyle's hand. Goyle yelled and swung his arm around until the rat flew off and hit the window. They heard footsteps outside of the compartment and exchanged weary glances. Someone had probably heard Goyle yell. Lexi, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle left the compartment in a hurry and went back to their own compartment. They would fight Potter and Weasley anytime, anywhere, but they didn't want to get caught fighting.
"How did Potter's parents die? Did they die in the war, like my father?" Lexi asked Draco.
"They died in the war. They were on the other side, though," Draco said.
Lexi was lost in her thoughts. She had a lot of questions and no answers. She had been thrown into this new world that she knew nothing about. She was suddenly a Black. She had family she'd never known. She had a father she would never know. He'd died fighting in a war. She didn't even know what he was fighting for. She didn't know who had fought with him, and who had fought against him. She already had allies and enemies in this new world, and she didn't even know how to tell them apart. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Hermoine came back.
"What do you want now?" Lexi asked.
"I just wanted to tell you to put your robes on," Hermoine said in a bossy tone of voice. "I've just been up to front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there."
"Thanks, Mum," Lexi said sarcastically.
"Well, if you're going to be rude, I'll just leave," Hermoine sniffed.
"Honestly, who does she think she is? The boss of everyone?" Draco said.
Hermoine may have been annoying, but she was right. They arrived at Hogwarts fifteen minutes later. They were sorted before they did anything else.
Their names were called in alphabetical order, so Lexi was one of the first ones to be sorted. She got what she wanted. The Sorting Hat put her in Slytherin almost at once. As she walked across the hall to the Slytherin table, Draco nodded once in approval and smirked at her.
Crabbe and Goyle joined Lexi at the Slytherin table before long. Lexi watched with a bored expression as people she didn't know took their turn trying the hat on. She was glad when Hermoine Granger was put in Gryffindor, far away from her. Neville Longbottom tripped over his own two feet on his way to the stool, and then forgot to take the hat off. Lexi made a mental note to thank Draco for stopping her from sitting with those two on the train later.
Just as expected, Draco joined Lexi in Slytherin. He told Crabbe and Goyle to move over, so he could sit next to Lexi. He leaned over and whispered, "Well done, Lexi."
Harry and Ron joined Hermoine and Neville at the Gryffindor table. Funny, every single person who had annoyed Lexi on the train seemed to be in Gryffindor.
"Is every idiot in the school in Gryffindor?" Lexi said after Weasley had been sorted.
The others at the Slytherin table laughed.
Once everyone had been sorted, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
"Is he trying to be funny?" Lexi whispered to Draco.
If he was trying to be funny, he'd failed. He sounded like a crazy person.
"Who knows?" Draco whispered back. "Father says he's the worst thing that ever happened to Hogwarts."
Before Lexi's eyes, the dishes in front of her filled with food. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes and vegetables.
It hadn't been unusual for Lexi's mother to spend their grocery money on drugs. At the orphanage, she had gotten regular meals, but they hadn't been filling. Porridge for breakfast, cold sandwiches for lunch, and something mushy and unrecognizable for dinner. Lexi could get used to this. She cut a slice of roast beef and a slice of roast chicken for herself and put a helping of vegetables on her plate.
Lexi ate silently and listened to everyone else talking. They were all talking about their families. From what she heard, she was the only one at the table that hadn't grown up in the wizarding world. She had a feeling that no one there would be impressed with her beginnings. Not that she could blame them.
Theodore Nott was a tall boy with a small build. He was quiet, but he had laughed when Lexi asked if every idiot in the school was in Gryffindor. From what little he said, his father was friendly with Lucius Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were friendly with Lucius as well.
Tracey Davis was a fellow half-blood, but she at least had grown up knowing she was a witch. Her mother was a witch and her father was a Muggle. Not that that mattered to the others at the Slytherin table. As soon as they found out about her father, they gave Tracey the cold-shoulder. She was ignored for the rest of dinner. And, she didn't know it yet, but she would be left out for the next seven years.
Pansy Parkinson decided who was in and who was out. And the other first year Slytherin girls did what she said, or they were out, too. She was the stereotypical mean girl. She wasn't the prettiest girl in their year. She simply had a confidence that the others lacked. She loved being the center of attention. She talked animatedly and laughed loudly. She was the only one there who was wearing make-up, and she would be the first one to have a boyfriend. She already had her eye on Draco. For the next seven years, Pansy would be nice to Lexi for no other reason than because she was Draco's cousin.
Daphne Greengrass was Pansy's best friend. She was the best looking girl by far. She had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, long, dark eyelashes, and a perfect smile. In a few years, all of the boys would be chasing her. She might have been the leader, but she wasn't very smart. She was just a pretty face. She would get by on good looks alone.
Millicent Bulstrode was about as different from Daphne as possible. She had a large, jutting jaw and a large, square build that made her look like a boy. She was bigger than Draco. For someone so ugly, she thought an awful lot of herself. She spent most of the meal making disparaging comments about other students and their families. Lexi had to admit that most of what Millicent said was funny, even if she didn't particularly like her. Pansy seemed to think so, too, because she went out of her way to include Millicent.
Desserts had appeared, and Lexi was eating an éclair when a tall boy with dark skin and handsome features asked her about the very thing she had wanted to avoid talking about.
"So it's Black, is it?" The boy said. He looked at Lexi and tilted his head, considering.
"Yes," Lexi said. "And you are?" She said coolly.
"Blaise Zabini," Blaise said. "You wouldn't be Sirius Black's daughter, would you?"
All of a sudden, all eyes were on Lexi. They all wanted to hear if she was the daughter of the famous mass murderer.
"No," Lexi said slowly. "My father was Regulus Black."
No one had anything to say about that. Regulus Black was the least well known of the notorious Black Family. He had done what was expected of him. He had been in Slytherin. He had gotten good grades. He'd played Seeker on the house Quidditch team. And, when he finished school, he had joined the Death Eaters. And then he had died. He'd been young, and he'd never really done anything worth knowing. No one in the room knew how he died. For most of the people at the table, it was enough that Regulus Black had been a pureblood and a supporter of Lord Voldemort.
After that, the conversation shifted to the professors. None of the Slytherins seemed to like Dumbledore. They only liked McGonagall a little better than him. She was apparently the Gryffindor Head of House. They stopped talking when Dumbledore got to his feet again.
"Ahem, just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," Dumbledore said.
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
And then Dumbledore led everyone in the school song. Lexi didn't sing. There were a few other Slytherins that didn't sing, but they were in the minority. Almost everyone was singing to a different tune, and many of them were tone deaf. It was not a pretty sound.
When the song was over, Slytherin prefect Gemma Farley led the first years deeper and deeper under the school into the dungeons. She stopped in front of a stretch of bare stone wall and looked over her shoulder at them. "The password is pureblood."
Draco grinned and nudged Crabbe and Goyle.
Pureblood was the magic word. A stone door concealed in the wall slid open. The first years followed Gemma into the Slytherin common room. It was dark with soft green lighting provided by round green lamps hanging on chains from the ceiling. There was a fireplace with an elaborate carved dark wood mantelpiece, and there were high-backed dark wood chairs arranged around the fireplace. There were also dark green leather sofas that had green and silver throw pillows on them. The room had a sense of grandeur.
Gemma directed the boys through one door to their dormitory, and led the girls through another door. There were five four-poster beds hung with dark green velvet curtains. Lexi would be sharing a room with the other first year girls. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get her own room, but it was better than being at the orphanage.
Their trunks had already been brought up, and Lexi found hers at the end of one of the beds. She changed into pajamas, brushed her hair, and climbed into her bed. The other girls were doing the same thing. They said goodnight to each other and got in bed. The sound of the water from the lake was relaxing, and Lexi fell asleep almost at once.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in this story. I would love to hear what you think of the characters so far. I'm trying to keep the Malfoys in character, but please let me know if they seem out of character. Depending on what you think of the children, I can include more (or less) of the characters you like (or dislike). I have several chapters written, but I always edit them before I post them and will take feedback into account as I edit. Keep in mind that this chapter is primarily written from Lexi's perspective. Personally I don't dislike Harry or Hermoine; however, Lexi and Draco do. Thanks again for reading.