Draco helped Adelina onto the crimson Hogwarts express and the two of them, luggage in hand, made their way to the back of the train. Some children, Daily Prophet tucked neatly under their arms stared at the two and whispered as they past, but for the most part, everyone was too involved in reuniting with old friends, and finding a seat to notice the two sixteen-year-olds.
As they rushed by the compartments, Adelina couldn't help but look for the three people she had met at Diagon Alley. She peaked into the open compartments quickly as she followed Draco.
"Here," He said, stopping in front of a compartment, "This is where my friends and I sit."
He swung the compartment door open to reveal that four people were already sitting inside. On the right hand side two enormous boys were sitting, grunting as a third boy told a story of his summer vacation. They reminded Adelina of boulders. One pulled out a comic and began to read it, or at least Adelina assumed he was reading it. The third, was a tall black boy who had his feet up on his luggage in front of him looking smug.
There was also a girl, in the compartment. An ugly girl who Adelina couldn't help but notice looked away determinedly when they walked in. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest and she stared out the window with an angry expression on her face.
"Hello everyone," Draco said, sitting down next to the ugly girl. "I would like you to meet Adelina Castillo, my fiancée."
They all turned to look at her and the black boy nodded with approval. The two boys just stared at her, dumbfounded. The ugly girl only acknowledged them with an indignant "humph" and turned away.
"Blaise Zabini," The black boy said. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, I'm sure it is," Adelina replied turning to the two large boys, "And who are you?"
"Crabbe"
"Goyle"
"Right…" She said now rounding on the girl, "and you are?"
"Pansy," She replied, "Pansy Parkinson, the Malfoy's first choice in a fiancée."
"But you said no." Draco said quietly.
"I didn't say no!" Pansy cried desperately, "My parents did! I locked myself in my room for months."
"Eating pastries, no doubt," Adelina commented eyeing Pansy's love handles, "it is lucky for Draco that his family decided to search elsewhere for a bride."
"And what is that supposed to mean!" Pansy cried. "You don't even know him!"
Adelina rolled his eyes, "It means Pansy that if your family had not said no he would be stuck with some gordita with a squished up face, instead of" Adelina paused for a moment and tossed back her hair, "me."
"Well—that's not even—I don't even know what—what does gordita mean?" Pansy stammered.
"Little fat girl," Blaise Zabini said. "My mother dated a Spanish man once. I picked up a few things."
Adelina nodded at him. "So you are, in some ways, civilized."
"Now-a-days," Zabini said darkly, "no one is civilized."
Adelina smiled and sat down next to Draco.
"You did not tell me you had such a charming friend." She said flirtatiously.
"He's not usually so…articulate." Draco eyed him suspiciously.
"Aren't you supposed to go do Prefect duty?" Crabbe asked looking up from his comic.
"Oh, right, Pansy…" Draco made a motion to get up but then noticed Zabini staring at Adelina's tan legs.
"I'm not going to go." He said turning sharply around and sitting back in his seat.
"Well—well then I won't go either!" Pansy decided, shooting a glance at Adelina, "I don't want to leave you without me, Draco."
"Do not do him any favors," Adelina said. "Go, and while you are there maybe you can stop by the rest room and wash off that disgusting perfume."
The girl turned, without a word to Adelina, and plopped herself down on Draco's other side.
"Do you want me to stay Draco?" She asked.
"Do what you please," He said. "It makes no difference to me."
Just then they heard footsteps of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger passing by their compartment.
"Weasel boy!" Adelina cried as he walked by, "Weasel boy and Granger girl!"
Unfortunately, this was taken as an insult by the rest of the compartment, who laughed hysterically as they turned looking for where their name came from.
"I suppose you're coming back from the prefect meeting then," Draco drawled. "Did you take notes, Granger? Or did you just memorize it word-for-word."
"I didn't see you there," Ron spat. "I didn't think you liked anything better than your small, pathetic, position of power, Malfoy."
"I don't need power from this school," Draco said. "I have my own."
He made a rude hand gesture, "Get out of my sight Weasley."
"Come on, Ron," The girl muttered, pulling the boy out of sight.
"A waste of pure blood," Zabini spat. "Fawning over the mudblood."
"She's not even pretty." Pansy remarked.
"One could say the same thing about you." Adelina replied coolly.
Everyone in the compartment turned to look at her.
"Adelina has some…err…different ideas on blood than we do…" Draco said.
"What do you mean different?" Zabini asked. "Would you hang around with a mudblood?"
Just then a small girl stepped into the compartment, she looked as though she was about thirteen and she was carrying two envelopes.
"I—I'm supposed to d—deliver this to A—Adelina Castillo and Blaise Z—Zabini." She said nervously.
She held out the envelopes and looked around the compartment. She looked so frightened and Adelina could almost detect that she was shaking.
Adelina reached out and grabbed the envelopes.
"You may leave now." She said, and the little girl ran from the compartment.
"Here you go." Adelina handed Blaise his card.
"What is this?" He asked.
"An invitation," Adelina said reading her letter.
"Adelina," She read aloud. "I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. Sincerely, Professor H. E. F Slughorn."
"Yeah, that's what mine says as well." Zabini said.
"Why weren't we all invited?" Draco asked.
"I suppose we will find out when we arrive," Adelina said. "We should leave, Blaise, I do not want to be late."
The two left the compartment and walked down the crowded corridor to compartment C. As they entered they saw that Professor Slughorn was a rather large, balding man who had a very large grey mustache.
There were three other people there already, a tall gangly boy with light hair, and a larger wiry-haired boy. Next to Slughorn a pretty redheaded girl sat awkwardly dangling her feet off the ends of her chair.
"Ah! Miss Castillo and Mr. Zabini! How nice of you to join me!" Slughorn boomed.
Adelina sat down, "What exactly is going on Professor?" she asked.
"Ah well I just wanted to meet some of my new students." He replied, "Please, sit down."
The two sat down next to each other and Slughorn continued to try and make awkward conversation. No one really talked much, only the occasional nods. From the looks of things Blaise didn't really like anyone in the compartment, and everyone else sat quietly.
After a few moments of awkward silence the compartment door slid open again and a round faced boy slid into the room with Harry Potter.
"Harry, m'boy!" Slughorn exclaimed, jumping up to shake his hand. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"
The round faced boy nodded, looking frightened and sat down next to Harry.
Adelina attempted to make eye contact with him but he looked away, no doubt Ron and Hermione had told him what had happened.
"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course—"
None of the three acknowledged each other.
"And Miss Castillo, our new transfer student…"He smiled and Adelina nodded.
Harry tried obviously to ignore her presence, but Longbottom's glance was fixed on her long tan legs and gently curling hair.
"This is Cormac Mclaggen; perhaps you've come across each other—? No?" The wiry haired boy raised his hand and this time, Harry and the Longbottom boy nodded back.
"—and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether—"
The thinner boy smiled and nodded, Harry and Longbottom returned the gesture.
"—and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn said pointing to the pretty girl next to him.
"Ginny Weasley correct?" Slughorn asked her.
"Yes," She replied. "Ginny Weasley."
Weasel boy's sister! Adelina thought. She does look like him…
"Well now, this is most pleasant," Slughorn lied. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things…Pheasant, Belby?"
The lunch, it turns out, was a chance for Professor Slughorn to meet some well connected students and establish himself as more of a friend than a teacher. Marcus Belby's uncle invented Wolfsbane potion but once it was revealed that Marcus and his uncle were no longer on speaking terms Slughorn moved on to the next student.
Cormac Mclaggen was extremely well connected and often went hunting with the current minister of magic. Blaise, apparently had a famously beautiful mother who had been married at least seven times. Neville's parents were well-known aurors, and from what Adelina could make out, they were either dead or missing.
Then it was her turn to be interrogated.
"So, Miss Castillo how are you adjusting to life here in England?" Slughorn asked.
"I am making due," She replied coolly. "I miss my home country, but I am making due."
"I'm sure you will learn to love it here." He said.
"And I, professor, am sure I will not," She said staring over his shoulder to the window behind him.
"I hear you are to be married," He said, taking out a copy of the Daily Prophet. "It is a Rita Skeeter article though, so I take it wit ha grain of salt but—"
"Yes," She cut him off, "Draco and I will be married."
The car shifted uncomfortably. Blaise leaned back awkwardly trying to act as though this news was in no way shocking to him, while Mclaggen and Belby leaned in, eager to hear more to bring back to their carts once the lunch was over. Ginny, Harry, and the boy named Longbottom all took the opportunity to make various noises of disapproval. Longbottom gave out a tiny squeak, Ginny rolled her eyes, and Harry coughed loudly.
Adelina shifted her gaze to the three of them on the other side of the cart.
"You would think," she began slowly, "that three heroes of the ghastly events at the ministry this summer would have—at some point—learned how to conduct themselves during a formal dinner."
Longbottom's face tensed as he stared down at the floor and Harry seemed lost for words, but Ginny surprisingly shot back.
"You would think that the beautiful pureblood heiress to the Castillo fortune would have learned to choose a husband that wasn't going to end up dead or in jail."
These words struck a chord with Adelina, but she refused to let the little red-haired girl see that she'd affected her.
"I am not sure who you are or where you come from Miss Ginny Weasley, but I would like to let you know that at least in Spain the word Betrothed means that I—being betrothed—had no choice as to who I would marry. But being a lady I took my fathers decision with dignity, a quality that heroes and martyrs often overlook."
"And now," Slughorn said over the two arguing girls, deciding the conversation had gone on long enough. "Harry Potter! Where to begin?"
Slughorn of course, began at the beginning, and went over the story that every member of the compartment had heard hundreds of times with varying accuracy. When the subject of Harry being 'the chosen one' finally arose Zabini let out a tiny cough and laughed a bit at the notion which he clearly found to be ridiculous.
"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented…at posing…" The redheaded girl called out from behind Slughorn.
"Oh dear!" Slughorn laughed. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"
Zabini merely turned away and whispered "obnoxious little blood-traitor" in Adelina's ear.
The afternoon continued with Slughorn interrogating the students and inviting them all to join what he called "The Slug Club" while he stuffed them up with foods he'd brought from home and stories of famous wizards he'd taught and still kept in contact with.
He finally let them go ten minutes after the lamps had been lit on the train and called after all of them to visit whenever they wished. Harry, Longbottom, and Ginny turned to walk behind Adelina and Zabini down the dark corridor back to their compartments.
"Can you believe that filthy little blood traitor?" Blaise spat as they walked down the corridor, not bothering to lower his voice.
Adelina laughed and turned behind her to see the three 'blood traitors' engaged in low whispers.
"For all her faults," Adelina began, "I liked her. She has how-do-you-say—spunk?"
Adelina could hear the three friends behind her parting ways as she and Zabini entered the compartment.
"The damn door won't close," Zabini declared angrily trying hard to shut it.
"For someone so gifted in looks, Blaise, you don't seem to be as well endowed with strength." Adelina laughed.
Draco took this moment to jump up from his place in Pansy Parkinson's lap and try to close the door himself. "Don't be dull Zabini, I'll do it."
As soon as Draco's hands touched the sliding door an unknown force threw it open and Draco flew backward into Zabini who fell into Goyle's lap. Goyle leapt from his seat, ready to fight, and Zabini made his best attempt to seem unafraid.
"Please!" Adelina shouted. "Stop all this ruckus; it is giving me a headache!"
"The lady has spoken," Draco said, sitting down and putting his head defiantly in Pansy's lap.
"Draco," Adelina began scathingly, "If you wish to make me in some way jealous or to arise some sort of passion in me for you, you will have to do better than that." On the word that she flicked her finger in Pansy's direction and sat herself down comfortably next to Blaise, draping one of her legs over his.
"Now you see how much better looking Blaise is than you?" Adelina said, taking the moment to coil her arm around his shoulders. "This is a threat…is it not? He knows some Spanish, he is pureblood, he smells delightful, and he even looks more like a man I would have hoped to marry. Now what are you taunting me with? A small, fat, piglet of a girl who probably could not even satisfy your mind let alone your sexual desire and—"
"ENOUGH!" Draco shouted, standing up. "You will not do this in front of my friends! I forbid it!"
"Oh really?" she laughed, raising an eyebrow. "And what is to stop me?"
In a fit of rage Draco lashed out and grabbed Adelina's arm, pulling her close to him and lowering his voice to a whisper that only the two of them could hear. "Your fiancée is what will stop you…darling."
He stepped back a moment and turned to Pansy. "Move seats, go sit next to Zabini." He commanded, and Pansy begrudgingly obeyed.
"Adelina sit down where Pansy used to sit." Adelina surprisingly did as she was told and smiled at the reaction that she had gotten out of her fiancée.
Draco laid his head in her lap and smiled to himself at the fact that he had finally been able to control his future wife the way the he knew his father had controlled his.
"So, Zabini," Malfoy began not bothering to look at the boy sitting across from him, "what did Slughorn want?"
"Just trying to make up to well-connected people," Zabini said. Still fuming over the fact that Adelina had left his side. "Not that he managed to find many."
"Who else did he invite?" Malfoy asked, directing this question to the girl who had begun stroking his hair.
"Some boy called Mclaggen from Gryffindor whose uncle is some big something-or-other. This Belby boy, whose house I did not catch, but lost Slughorn's interest after a while and then there was that Longbottom boy with the round face, Harry Potter, of course, and this small redheaded girl from Gryffindor, Weasel boys sister I believe."
Malfoy sat up suddenly, ruffling Adelina's long curls.
"He invited Longbottom?"
"Well, I assume so, as Longbottom was there," Zabini answered, turning away from Draco.
Adelina laughed and Draco turned around ferociously to look at her.
"Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted to look at The Chosen One." Malfoy sneered, "But that Weasley girl! What's so special about her?"
Pansy took this moment to finally speak up "A lot of boys like her. Even you think she's good-looking Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please."
"I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like." Zabini said, more to Adelina than to Pansy.
"For me, the problem with her was not that she was how-you-say 'blood traitor'. It was more that she was loud and over-aggressive." Adelina announced. "She was, however, very…intriguing."
The whole car went silent as they all stared at Adelina, some with disgust, and some with shock.
"I have found the flaw in your new fiancée, Draco," Zabini said charmingly. "She does not seem to know the importance of blood."
"I fully understand the importance of blood, in that it is entirely unimportant," Adelina replied, delivering another shocking blow to the compartment. "It does not translate to talent, or beauty, well in my case it did translate to beauty, but in Miss. Parkinson's you can tell that it does not. Often times it does translate to wealth, but there are wealthy wizards who are not pure. It is all a matter of talent which blood purity fails to deliver." Adelina said matter-of-factly.
"Who cares what Slughorn is interested in anyway?" Draco said, in an attempt to change a dangerous subject. "What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher," Malfoy yawned and took Adelina's dainty hand. "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"
"Not at Hogwarts next year?" Pansy declared. "Why?"
"Well," Malfoy smirked, "I may have moved on to bigger and better things."
"Oh shut up." Adelina laughed. "We all know you have a big task from the Dark Lord himself, good for you, it's really fascinating let us hear all about it."
"You—You're going to work for Him?" Pansy looked dumbfounded.
"Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I doing see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it…When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course he isn't…It'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown." Draco boasted.
"You are an idiot," Adelina scoffed. "You think that you could possibly work along side the Dark Lord without proper magical training? The Dark Lord himself worked to further his education, even now he works to know more! But you a boy of sixteen don't need to?"
"Like I said," Malfoy pressed on, "It's all about the kind of service he received and the—"
"And you think you'll be able to do something for him?" Zabini asked. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"
"I've just said, haven't I? Maybe he doesn't care if I'm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for."
Adelina opened her mouth to respond but Draco cut in, "I can see Hogwarts," He said. "We'd better get our robes on."
The compartment, as a whole, shuffled toward the luggage rack. Pansy struggled with her trunk as she attempted to get it down, but Blaise stepped in to help Adelina with hers. She turned to Malfoy to see the look of jealousy on his face, but he hadn't noticed. Instead Malfoy was staring at the spot on the luggage rack where Goyle had just removed his trunk with subtle concern.
Adelina turned and pulled on her robes along with the others and as she could feel the train beginning to slow down she put on a short, fur cape to guard against the cold. When the train gave it's final lurch Goyle was the first to thrust himself out into the compartment, closely followed by Crabbe and then Zabini. Pansy lingered for a moment, looking from Draco to Adelina, then stormed out indignantly.
"Well?" Adelina asked, eyebrow raised. "Are we not going?"
"You go on," Malfoy told her. "I just want to check something."
"Are you stupid?" Adelina laughed. "Even if I was able to get around out there in the corridor I would not know even where to go."
"Adelina I'm telling you right now that I—"
"Fine," She said. "Blaise will help me, I'm sure."
Malfoy's eyes narrowed in jealousy, "No, stay here, but don't move."
Adelina settled herself next to Draco's trunk and smiled.
She watched as Draco bent down over the trunk and pulled out his wand, then, before she could register what had happened Draco shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Instantly Adelina saw a previously invisible Harry Potter topple paralyzed out of the luggage rack, invisibility cloak at his feet. Malfoy was smiling broadly, staring at the paralyzed Harry Potter and wishing he had a camera with him in order to commemorate the moment.
"I thought so," He smiled. "I heard Goyle's trunk hit you. And I thought I saw something white flash through the air after Zabini came back…"
Adelina smiled, she hadn't realized that Draco was so clever.
"You didn't hear anything I care about, Potter. But while I've got you here…"
Draco stamped hard on Harry's face. His nose broke instantly and blood spurted everywhere. Adelina watched in silence, a moral battle raging inside her pretty head.
It was her duty to her fiancée to leave Harry stranded, but it was her duty as a person to help someone so desperately in need. His nose was bleeding badly and without medical help he could bleed to death.
Alright, Adelina thought, A compromise then…
"That's from my father. Now, let's see…"
Malfoy dragged the cloak out from under Harry and spread it over him making him invisible once more.
"I don't reckon they'll find you till the train's back in London," He sneered. "See you around Potter…or not. Come on Adelina."
"Leave me for a moment, Draco, I have to apply makeup and I don't want you to see."
"But Potter—"
"As if I care what he thinks," Adelina flashed a charming smile. "It's you I care about Draco."
He flushed. "Alright, but hurry up."
As soon as Draco had cleared the compartment Adelina bent down next to Harry.
"That was a very stupid thing," She said quietly. "You should leave him alone, Harry Potter, he is desperate."
She pulled the cloak off him slowly and tapped her wand to his nose to stop the blood flow. "
"These things he speaks about, they are bigger than you." She whispered moving even closer to his head.
"I cannot re-mobilize you." She said sadly. "If I did that I would be going against my fiancée, but I will not keep you invisible."
She bent down and kissed his cheek, "Someone will find you, Harry Potter, I am sure of that."
"Adelina!" Draco called. "We don't have all day!"
"Coming!" She called back, and hurried out of the compartment.
"You look—er—you look beautiful." Draco said awkwardly.
"Thank you," Adelina said, flipping her curls over her shoulder. "Let's go then, shall we?"
Adelina slipped her arm under Draco's and the two made their way off the train.