Chapter Three

I'd spent another two fun days with the Tonks before my mum collected me. When she met my new owl, Ash (as that was the name I'd picked for her), she made all the appropriate oohing and ahhing before we flooed home. Apparating was not the best mode of transport for an owl. I'd added another undetectable extension charm to my trunk when nothing would fit after our little impromptu shopping trip, which really turned out to be a Hi-Remus-I-Didn't-Know-You'd-Be-Here kind of thing. I'd teased her about that a lot over the last few days.

The Hogwarts Express was leaving in two days, which was the end of Christmas Break. Like the rest of them, this break was spectacular but I knew that, starting when we arrived back at Hogwarts, nothing would be the same ever again.

Dad and Draco were waiting for us by the fireplace when we popped out. I was pulling my trunk along (mum had sent her luggage ahead of us) but I dropped that quickly when I saw Draco. I pulled him into a hug. I had missed my little brother, like usual. He hugged me back, whispering how he'd missed me. I gave Dad a hug, too, and a kiss on the cheek before Draco and I disappeared up to my room but not before Dad complimented Ash. On the way up, Draco started asking questions. "Where'd you get her?"

"Diagon Alley," I said. "She's my familiar. I couldn't resist."

"Familiar?" said Draco, flopping onto my bed just like normal. "That's special. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Drake."

I dropped my trunk beside the door and walked over to the window, looking for a place to put the owl cage. Alas, there was none, so I summoned a small table from one of the unused sitting rooms that matched my décor and set Ash up beside the window, leaving both the window open and the cage door. Instantly, Ash was outside, flying over the rolling grounds of the Manor. I watched her for a moment before joining Draco on the bed.

We were silent for another moment until Draco broke it. "Father told me that you're joining the Order."

"I am," I answered. "And you'll be under my protection. You won't be coming back to the Manor until after the war is over, Draco, so I want you to pack everything, okay? Everything."

"It won't all fit," he said, stupidly.

"I thought you were a wizard," I teased.

"Right. Right."

The next two days passed quickly, I spent all my time with my parents, as did Draco. We both understood that it would be a long time before any of us could meet face-to-face but Severus, Draco's Godfather and our Potions Professor, had agreed to let us use his fireplace to communicate with our parents once a week. Not to mention brief, undetailed and unsigned letters were allowed.

I had taken my advice to Draco and packed my trunk with most things I owned – my walk-in closet of clothes and shoes, as well as my book shelves, my owl supplies, all the items on my desk, as well as blankets and pillows and potions and preserved food (just in-case). Draco definitely wouldn't have thought of any necessary items. But who knows what would happen this year?

Soon enough, I was dressed and packed and ready to leave, as was Ash, when Draco hurried in, missing his wand. "I can't find it anywhere. Can you summon it for me?"

With a wave of my hand and some wandless, non-verbal magic (that Severus, my mentor, had taught me as I grew up, as well as Legilimency and Occlumency and anything else I'd ever wanted to learn), Draco's was pulling itself from his robes and presenting itself to me. I grabbed it from the air, laughing at him. "It's okay, little brother. Soon enough you'll be old enough to perform magic by yourself, if you can find your wand, that is."

"Ha, ha," he mocked. "Severus agreed to teach me wandless magic this year. I'll be better than you soon."

"Good luck," I said, dryly.

"I will be," he said, stubbornly. He gets that from me. Neither of my parents can be classed as 'stubborn'. With a sweep of his robes, obviously from Severus, he rushes out of the room, with his wand in hand, no doubt going to get his drunk. I hope he has the good sense to add a lightweight charm to it. It's not like the Ministry will tell him off or anything. I sit on my trunk, bored. Ash is hooting nearby. We're leaving in ten minutes.

Next, my parents enter, dressed smartly, and take a seat on the sofa to my right. Nine minutes later, Draco rushes in, dressed and with his owl and trunk and ready to leave. I stand up and walk into the fireplace and with a shout of 'Platform 9 and ¾', I am whisked away to the aforenoted platform in Kings Cross Station, London. I step out of the way as Draco comes out next, followed by our parents.

"Draco, Gemima," says Dad as we stand on the platform. "Whatever happens this summer, just know I love you, okay?" With a quick hug each, he tells mum, "I'll see you back at the Manor, darling," and leaves through the floo. He has a meeting with a fellow follower from what I could gather this morning, so he can't stay.

I slide an arm around Draco's shoulders. As his older sister, it's my job to protect him and comfort him and make sure he has a bright life. I hope I've achieved that thus far. We both look towards our mum, who has tears in her eyes. "You've both grown up so much, especially you, Gemima. I'm so proud of you both. Draco, I know we have fought a lot in the past but I love you just as much as your sister, okay? And no matter what, just remember that you have each other. Alright? Alright. I love you."

Just like dad, she gives us a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and with a wipe of her tears, she disappears into the floo. I look to Draco, wiping his cheeks from a single tear that has fallen. "No crying, okay, Drake? Everything is going to be alright in the end, you'll see." I pull him to me, resting my chin on my head and patting his shoulders. In one hand, then, I grab my trunk and with the other, I grab Draco's hand. I know he'd die of embarrassment if his friends caught him holding my hand but he doesn't seem to care at this moment.

As we're walking, somebody bumps harshly into me. My trunk drops from my hand, banging loudly. I look up, furious, to see Ronald Weasley, Slytherin extraordinaire. Yes, you heard right, a Weasley in Slytherin. No doubt he was the black-sheep in his family of Gryffindors.

"How dare you!" I shouted, drawing the attention of the people around us. "That was uncalled for."

"No, that was perfectly deserved," he drawled, smoothing back his stupid red hair. "You're a blood traitor, a Gryffindor."

I laughed, hollowly. "Me? A traitor? That's such a joke. Have you seen your family recently? You're the definition of a blood traitor. How does it feel to be the only snake in a family of lions?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," he roared, the closest he would ever come to being a lion.

"I'm sorry," I said, coldly. "But you've seemed to got your information wrong. My surname is Black. You heard me! The Noble House of Black. How much of a blood traitor am I now, Weasel?" With that, I picked up my trunk and, tugging on Draco's hand, I pulled him onto the train, past Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and their band of Gryffindors, whom were gaping at me in complete shock.

Draco and I picked a compartment halfway down the train, completely empty. We levitated our trunks onto the racks above our heads. I placed the owl cage on the floor by the window and then I took a seat at the window with Draco completely opposite me. "Gosh," I mumbled. "He infuriates me. How did he get into Slytherin? Urgh!"

"You're not the one who has to share a dorm with him," said Draco.

"That's horrible," I said, sympathetic. "You know you can bunk in with me. There's only one other Gryffindor girl in my year. And she's nice. She won't say anything. There's an extra bed and everything."

"I don't think I'd be able to get into the tower, nor would I want to," he declared, looking out the window instead.

"You can just fly up to the window. Of course. Come on, Drake, do you forget you're a wizard all the time?"

"No," he defended. "Just on breaks. I barely use my magic."

"You'll grow out of that," I murmured. "When you turn seventeen, you won't forget that excitement. I can't stop charming everything to have an undetectable extension charm. Every has something they can't stop performing when they come of age."

"It'll probably be the summoning charm," he said, confidently.

"How do you know?" I quirked an eyebrow. Just then, the train started to move.

"That's the spell I perform most nowadays anyway."

"True."

The door to our compartment slid open easily as the train chugged along. It was Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. The (most likely) soon-to-be saviours of the wizarding world when Harry comes of age and defeats Lord Voldemort. If only that would happen sooner, everything would go back to normal.

"What do you want, Potter?" sneered Draco.

I kicked him, lightly. "Draco, that's no way to speak to anyone," I muttered. Especially not the heroes of the side I have to join soon enough. Ginny Weasley sniggered as Draco massaged his leg. I shot him a look. Behave, it said.

"Er, Gemima," said Harry. "We saw that, um, fight with Ron on the platform. And I just wanted to ask… is your last name really Black?" He shuffled nervously. Hermione put an arm on his shouldering. Comforting, I supposed. I wondered if there was anything going on there.

"Yeah," I said. "Gemima Black. Why?"

"We wanted to know why you changed it," added Hermione.

"Well," I said, uncomfortably. This wasn't common knowledge (that Lucius Malfoy wasn't my biological dad) but I guessed if I anted to be on their side, they had to trust me. Starting now. "Well, it's personal. I wanted to honour my dad, since he was a Black, you know."

"I thought your dad was Lucius Malfoy."

"He's my step-father," I told them. I guess everyone was going to find out anyway since I had openly declared myself a Black. I loved my dad so much more now. I had never considered that I was admitting he wasn't my biological dad, I had just thought I was acknowledging my first one. But he'd supported me.

"Who's your real father?" demanded Ginny.

"My real father is Lucius Malfoy."

"But you just said-" she started, haughtily.

"My real father is Lucius Malfoy but my biological father was Regulus Black." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at him, knowingly. "You didn't want me to be Sirius' daughter, right? I know he's your godfather. My mum told me so. He's mine, too, and my uncle. I guess he never mentioned me to you."

"I don't think he knows you're alive," interrupted Hermione.

I sat up straighter, as did Draco, who was watching the whole exchange silently. "Why would you say that? Of course he knows I'm alive. My mother asked him to be my godfather before he was convicted and he accepted. He accepted!"

"But," Hermione continued. "He said something to us over Christmas. He said he had no family left besides Harry."

Oh. "Well, that doesn't mean he thinks I'm dead. He probably just doesn't consider me family." I shrugged as if that was no big deal. My eyes stung but I ensured no tears appeared on the surface and I remain unaffected. All my dreams of meeting him and him being like Regulus and telling me stories of him and being an uncle… all down the drain.

"No, I don't think that's it," said Harry, sitting down beside us. Draco looked over at him, annoyed, but wisely kept his mouth shut. "Sirius would love to have some family, especially one in Gryffindor. Meet me in the common room tonight at midnight. He'll prove it to you." He patted my arm, nodded to Draco before his trio disappeared back down the corridor.

Draco swapped seats immediately, putting his arm around me for a change. He was taller than me anyway, even if I was older. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Even if I meet him and all goes well and he accepts him, you'll always be my number one, alright?" He smiled brightly, putting his head on mine, too.

We stayed like that for the rest of the trip, with me sleeping on his shoulder and Draco reading a book.

He woke me up with five minutes to spare, turning his head and pulling down the blinds to allow me to change into my uniform and stash my robes into my trunk before I did the same for him. He had just finished changing his clothes and fixing his trunk when the train pulled into the station. We left our belongings on the train and trudged up to the self-pulling carriages. Draco and I climbed into ours, as well as some third-year Ravenclaws, and the carriage started to roll up the hill.

I turned to my brother urgently. "When we get up to the castle and we separate into our houses, I want you to remember that I'm only ever an owl away, or a shout. Come and find me, for anything, even just to hang out. I want to see a lot of this year, Drake, okay? Besides that, enjoy the rest of the year and I'll handle everything else." I kissed his forehead, ignoring the Ravenclaws, and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

I turned my head to the front of the carriage, bringing the carriage in front of us into my eye-sight. I noticed a boy in Slytherin robes looking back at me. We made eye-contact and he grinned at me. He winked. He had black hair, like me, and I couldn't see his eyes from here but I guessed green because of the similarities to his robes. It looked the same colour. He had a strong jaw and a pretty smile. Not to mention he was fit. A smile creeped up my face.

"Draco," I said. "Who is that Slytherin?"

He looked up, squinting. "Matthew Prewett. Sixth-year."

"Prewett?" I asked. "As in Gideon and Fabian Prewett? Molly Prewett?"

"Yeah," answered Draco. "He's Molly Weasley's nephew. Pureblood, of course."

"Of course," I echoed. "Who are his parents?"

"Fabian Prewett and Marlene McKinnon. Wait – do you like him, sis?" Draco asked, smiling. "I thought you were dating Nott."

"I told you, Draco, I dumped him."

"Right. Right." He grinned. I thumped him lightly but that did nothing to break his all-knowing grin. "I'll make sure to send him your way."

"Don't do a thing, Draco," I responded as the carriages came to a stop. "I can handle myself." We waited until the Ravenclaws scurried away before exiting the carriage. I saw Matthew Prewett disappear into the castle in front of me with Daphne Greengrass and her sister, Astoria, but not before he shot a smile at me over his shoulder. Oh, definitely, I would be seeing more of him this year. I couldn't say I would mind his handsome presence.