A/N: Hey, there. I really hope, some people are reading this :) If so: This is my next chapter. The next few chapter will be rather quiet I think. They have normal classes, and I think I'll need about 4 chapters to introduce most of the more important characters in their year. This story is about Lucius and Rodolphus and their way to become death eaters, so I always thought it was quiet im portant for the stories porpose to describe what's going on in those character's heads. I also like to write rather excessively long dialogues, and I hope you don't get overly mad at me, when I spend a lot of time and words to two characters just talking with each other.

With that: Have Fun!

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A letter to father.

4th September 1966

"Dear Father,

most likely, you've already been informed about the good news. Still, I think, it's only appropriate to inform you personally: From this week on until the last of my days I will be a proud Slytherin. I know this is what you wanted for me. I am still..."

He eyed the first sentences of his letter to his father. He'd rather just write: 'Made it! Slytherin it is! Greetings to the little one!", but his father would make him regret that. He was raised to be more than that... Longingly he looked over his shoulder to Malfoy, who eagerly filled his parchment with elegantly curved words.

Rodolphus angrily gritted his teeth. Their parents weren't exactly friends, but they were in contact with each other. Surely Lucius would write everything to his parents about how he and his new classmates were sorted, and then Abraxas would repeat everything to Rodolphus' father. No, Rod had to write and admit everything unless he wanted Stephanus Lestrange to find out indirectly. And Stephanus Lestrange didn't appreciate finding out crucial information – or really any kind of information – the indirect way.

He took a deep breath and tried to explain to his father how he was almost sorted into Hufflepuff in the most gentle way. He hid this bit of information behind news about his classmates, those he shared a dormitory with and those in the other houses, and told him how he'd met Weasley and the mudblood and the Black sisters and the Malfoy heir. He wondered whether his father might chastise him for talking too much, instead of coming straight to the point but Rodolphus always found it difficult to determine what his father considered important and what not... So he told everything. Better than forgetting something, he thought.

"I'm fine and looking forward to visiting the family again at Christmas. Please convey my regards to my little brother,

In love,

Rodolphus Lestrange."

It was as if he'd been writing for eternity. When he finally finished and started his walk up to the Owlery, Lucius was already gone.

He felt nervous watching the bird disappear. He'd never openly admit to it but he was afraid of his father. And it wasn't only a subtle sense of insecurity. Still, those last sentences hadn't been lies. He was looking forward to coming home for Christmas. After all, they were still his family. And he loved them. The tension slowly left him. His shoulders sank with relief as the brown owl disappeared.

"Was it really that bad?" a drawl behind him made him jump. He whirled around and the embarrassment made him blush. "You've written quite a bit."

His Slytherin comrade didn't seem to care about Rodolphus' beat red head. Rod still didn't know whether he liked the boy. He had something arrogant and confident about him that even Rodolphus, a Lestrange himself and just as pureblood as the Malfoy, felt inferior. He made you believe you were weaker, stupider or less talented than him, without even saying it out loud. Still, Rodolphus knew his father would want him to bond with the Malfoy boy; his father would deem Lucius Malfoy exactly the right company for his son. And all things considered, Rodolphus couldn't deny that he admired Malfoy despite his arrogant behavior. That he had admired him from the first day they'd met and that something about him made Rodolphus feel safe in his company...

Lucius leaned against the doorway. His long hair sleek and in place, as if he hadn't just climbed all the way up to the Owlery – a march that certainly left Rodolphus winded. The blonde had a small smile playing about his lips, absentmindedly fumbling with his cufflinks. With his icy eyes, he was quietly regarding his dark haired schoolmate.

"I thought you'd be long gone," Rod answered defiantly, crossing his arms. No! His father had taught him, that a Lestrange wouldn't bow to anyone – well aside from the Dark Lord of course – and he'd certainly not bow to that arrogant peacock of an eleven-year-old. If Malfoy wanted, he could tell the whole school, the Slytherin common room, and their dormitory about how he owned the school – or about how his father owned the school – Rodolphus didn't care. He didn't own him.

"I've been waiting for you," Lucius responded still with this shadow of a smile that Rodolphus thought was taunting him.

"What for?" he growled harshly. "Some weird hobby of yours?" He tried to sound glib, but Lucius' widening smile indicated he was failing.

"You looked as if you felt sick when you wrote the letter," he explained offhandedly and nodded to the window. "I feared you might grow nauseous and fall down the window."

He opened the door to leave the Owlery. For a moment, he hesitated, then held the door with the tips of his finger's. He expectantly looked to Rodolphus, who scowled.

"Oh, come on! I don't want to wait any longer holding the door for you. I'm not a house elf," he grumbled impatiently.

Rodolphus hesitated, then he felt a sudden rush of defiance. "As if I'd just follow you..."

For a moment, he thought Lucius would laugh at him and he actually seemed to think about doing so. But then he just shrugged. "You want to watch the birds, then?", he sneered and left.

For a moment Rodolphus felt embarrassed and stupid. If he was lucky, Lucius would write this to his father, and then Rodolphus' father... He shrugged it off and left the Owlery. He really had to stop thinking about his father. Why was it that he was still holding so much control over Rodolphus even when he was at Hogwarts? His father couldn't reach him here, but still... Enraged he trampled down the stairs.

As he entered the common room, he found the blonde sprawled over a dark green couch, reading one of their new school books. Rodolphus had already realized that Lucius tried to learn a lot of their subject material in advance. Quite a geek he was, though he didn't really brag about it in class but silently enjoyed his superiority. He didn't acknowledge Rod's arrival, so the Lestrange ignored him. He ignored all the other students too, silently making his way to the dormitory. In fact, he'd avoided most encounters with his fellow students. Not only with those from the other houses but with the Slytherins, too. He felt insecure because he still was just about the smallest of them all, even compared to the girls, and it didn't really make it any easier that he got into an argument with a fourth year the other day, who demanded his seat at the fireplace where, at the moment, Lucius had been sprawled out with not a care in the world and nobody to object. Really, it was irritating. Lestrange was just as pureblood as Malfoy was, but while they seemed to accept him in their Slytherin house hierarchy, they didn't accept him. He was the heir of the Lestrange family, one of the so-called 'sacred twenty-eight'. By right, he should be up there with the other heirs of great old families. There weren't that many, after all, were there? 28 at most and most of them weren't attending Hogwarts at the moment, not to mention being in Slytherin. So he by right should be one of the maybe 15 most valued people in the whole school these days. Only somehow he wasn't... and it was irritating. Slytherins were normally so strict with their hierarchy... only somehow, he wasn't a part of it yet. Malfoy was definitely occupying one of the top seats, despite being only a first year... The Lestrange didn't want to insist on his right, or demand it be given to him – but it was irksome, he thought, silently making his way to the dormitory.

Someone had already pulled the curtains close, cancelling out the fake light from the enchanted windows. When he silently entered, a boy with fiery hair jumped off his bed, wand in hand. Rodolphus eyed him only mildly interested. The other boy hid something under his pillow, then looked up and smiled a toothy smile. He looked impatient, though, Rod thought.

"You're Rodolphe', eh?" he asked excitedly.

"Rodolphus," he corrected.

"Right...," mumbled the red haired, "name's Tarquin."

He eyed Rodolphus shortly, then seemed to come to a conclusion as he reached under his pillow again, and hid whatever it was he held in his hand, in one of the other beds.

"Nice to meet you," answered Rod, slightly irritated by the boy. He didn't really care to know what Tarquin was doing. He remembered him from the ceremony. He'd said he was half-blood and he'd seemed annoying and somehow weird.

The boy went back to his bed. In broad daylight, Rodolphus knew, he looked a little bit as if his parents had dipped him in a paint pot once. With his bright red hair, his blue eyes and nearly papery white skin, he looked rather curious.

"You're trustworthy, right?" he asked offhandedly. "You're okay. Unlike the other two arrogant pureblood jackasses." He was obviously talking about Lucius and Aris Mason, the other purebloods in their Slytherin year. Though Aris wasn't of such noble birth as both Lucius and Rodolphus were. Obviously, Tarquin felt excluded by the other two. After only four days no less. Rodolphus had to admit, he was rather impressed at how fast Lucius and Aris had made enemies in their own dorms. For a moment, he hesitated to answer. He couldn't really tell Tarquin the half-blood that he was different from the other two Slytherin purebloods. That would indicate he'd be tolerant toward abominations like him – or even worse, mudbloods and blood traitors. His father would...

He was thinking about his father again, he realized and in a sudden burst of defiance he answered: "Oh sure not. Don't mind me. If you want to play a prank on them, just go ahead. I would recommend Malfoy but I see, you've already made that choice."

"Yeah. Aris is kind of an idiot, but the blonde thinks he's the king of the world, right?" Tarquin agreed.

It was the midst of night when a sudden scream woke him. About a second later the torches and candles came to a sudden light. Janis Johanson, a lanky boy with golden hair was sitting in his bed, his wand in hand with which he'd ignited the lights. The others sat sleepily in their beds, only Tarquin beaming with triumph and Lucius nearly standing on his mattress. The Malfoy was holding something that looked like a giant living beetle in his right hand. A red mark on his neck was evidence to where the beetle had bitten him. Malfoy calmed down quite fast, Rodolphus thought, considering the ugliness of the bug in his fingers. He keenly scanned the room, shortly zooming in on Rodolphus before turning that icy cold stare at Tarquin. For a moment he seemed to consider something, but then he jumped from his mattress and started for the window, stopping short when he realized that the fake window wouldn't open anyway. He turned around sharply. Lucius' embarrassment was written all over his face. But he couldn't really let go of the bug either, Rodolphus hoped, else it would just crawl through their dorm. After a while in which he intently looked at the beetle, he grabbed his wand and strolled in Tarquin's direction.

"Nice, Tarquin. What was that? An engorgio?" but Lucius didn't leave him time to answer. "No, or you'd made it even bigger, right? And they only teach it in second grade, so I doubt you'd be able to do even that much. Did you use the fertilizer we just used in Herbology? But I don't think that one was meant to be used on bugs...," Tarquin looked agitated and afraid when Lucius stopped right in front of him. "Very nice, indeed. But what now? We have to get rid of it. We can't let it run free in our dorm, nor can we let it out." For a moment Rodolphus thought, Malfoy would make the other boy eat the beetle. Certainly, Tarquin felt the same, judging by the way he panicked.

"Malfoy...," Janis tried to intervene halfheartedly. Aris just grinned from ear to ear.

Lucius, instead of making Tarquin eat the bug, slammed it down on Tarquin's bedside cabinet. When he let go, the fist-sized monstrosity tried to get away but Lucius already had his wand pointed at it. "Incendio," he ordered and the bug suddenly ignited in bright red flames. Tarquin screamed and jumped off his bed, Janis and Aris cursed quietly but obviously Lucius didn't want to make the bug suffer even more by dragging it out, so it was over within seconds.

"You could've just trapped it," Rod complained weakly, though he knew better. Sprout had informed them that the fertilizer was deadly for insects within a few hours, so by killing it, Lucius had probably spared him an even worse fate. But still, he felt a little sick.

Suddenly the door burst open and a boy in pajamas and dishevelled brown hair entered, who Rodolphus even without his badge recognized as the fifth year prefect.

"What's going on in here?" he drawled.

"We had a little problem with an insect," Lucius shrugged. "But it's dealt with."

Maybe the prefect was too tired himself to investigate further. He eyed them all suspiciously, but then he left.

"Merlin, Malfoy," Janis groaned when they were alone again. "That was a little much, don't you think?"

Lucius looked at the halfblood challengingly. "What would you have done? Eaten it?" He gave one of his typical haughty smiles and returned to his bed.

Tarquin was eying the ash beside his bed. He glared at Lucius hatefully, but before he could do anything else, Janis had turned off the lights again. It went quiet again.

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A/N: Just if you are interested: Tarquin is actually not an OC of mine, but was featuerd in JKR's 'Wizard of the month' project from 2004-2007. I decided for him to be a Halfblood in Slytherin, born in 1955 he's slightly older than Rodolphus.

Rodolphus of course is a pureblood and I decided for his borth to be in August 1955, making him one of the youngest pupils in his year.

Lucius on the other hand will hav his birthday in october and thus be nearly a year older than Rodolphus.

The other two boys in their house and year are OC's:

Aris Mason: a pureblood and born in March.

Janis Johanson: a halfblood with swedish origin and born in December.

Next week I will also introduce the girls of their year and house.

So long,

Ceies.