Off To Hogwarts

The moment I opened my eyes, I regretted it. Why, you ask? Because I was facing the window and had forgotten to pull the drapes the previous night. What the house elves even did was beyond me— it's one thing formeto forget but aren't they supposed to take care of all this?

But, enough about elves and drapes—they're the least important topics right now; there were far more exciting things on the schedule today, namely, going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hogwarts was one of the many schools that taught magical children how to use their magic, my parents had gone to it too, and so had my mother, father, and too many cousins to count from both sides were Slytherins.

Slytherin is one of the 4 houses in Hogwarts, Slytherin is the best house, really.

Ambition to success? Check.

Resourceful to the brim? Check.

Loyal friends? Check.

Smarts and cunning? Check.

Most important of all, minimal interaction with muggle-borns and blood traitors? Check.

So naturally I am all set to be a Slytherin too, I am a Malfoy after all, It's in my blood.

Yawning, I got off my bed. I wasn't a morning person, but right now I felt anything but sleepy. I could run a mile—which is, again, something I usually avoided—I just felt very energized, or restless, take your pick.

Once I had showered, braided, untangled, and then combed my hair, I finally went downstairs, two steps at a time. I almost slipped once before finally reaching them—my family. They were seated in the dining room, which held a long table, and the only time it was fully used was when other families came to visit, like the Parkinsons and the Greengrasses. I suppose the Zabinis too, though the only constants were Blaise and his mother; his stepfathers kept changing—a lot.

I took the seat beside my brother Draco, my twin brother, three minutes apart—a fact he lords over me. I mean, how much more experience can he get by coming three minutes earlier into the world?

He was almost bouncing in his seat. Though I was as excited as he was, I was way better than him at hiding it.

Opposite me sat my mother, who looked like she was getting ready to say a few words, and beside her sat my father, Lucius Malfoy, who sighed heavily. "See, Cissa, someone has already forgotten all about her poor father."

I pushed back my chair and rushed to him. My father was the best. Never once do I remember him scolding me specifically, Draco mostly got scolded by our father, while my Mother took the credit of that for me, it was a known fact among family and friends, that I, Lucille Malfoy, was my father's little princess.

Pressing a kiss to his cheek, I said, "She has not."

Once I was back in my seat, Mother cleared her throat and, as expected, said, "You are both going to Hogwarts today. I know you will make us proud—"

Father interrupted, "Of course they will, they are Malfoys."

"I hope you will continue to uphold the honor of our name and remember who you are."

"Cissa—" Father began, then paused at the look he received from Mother. He closed his mouth and gave her a look of mock seriousness and intense concentration. She rolled her eyes but gave a small smile, which fell away quickly. She gave Draco a sharp look and said, "Study well and do not get into fights."

"Why were you just staring at me?" my brother questioned.

I replied on her behalf, "Because you're the one who gets into fights and trouble," and received a sharp glare.

"Your sister is correct, though not entirely. Cille, you need to keep him out of fights, and you need to stay out of trouble too. I do not want to receive a letter from Severus claiming you were sneaking around the castle—or 'exploring,' as you like to call it. You also need to understand that forbidden areas are forbidden for a reason," Mother continued.

Father added, "And rules, Narcissa, don't forget rules."

And Mother said, "Yes, rules are there for a reason too."

I wasn't sure I was going to do all that. A little exploring never hurt anyone, right? And Hogwarts was a treasure trove of mysteries. I had even readHogwarts: A History,despite my aversion to non-fiction books, and there were so many thrilling things there. But my parents didn't need to knoweverything, did they?

Putting on my sweetest smile, I said, "Of course, Mother, you will get no letters from Severus."

Mother opened her mouth, perhaps to point out that I hadn't promised to stay out of trouble, but she seemed to think better of it and shook her head affectionately.

Then she turned her head from one side to the other. As I followed her gaze, confused, I realized our two house-elves, Dobby and Hoppy, were gone from the room. Mother gave Father a slow nod.

"Children, you know about the Dark Lord. You also know that I was once a Death Eater, yes?" he asked, and I looked at Draco curiously, who gave a nervous glance back.

The Dark Lord was one of the most powerful wizards of all time, and he rightly believed that Muggle-borns didn't deserve magic. Their friends were equally bad, which made sense. From what I understood, Muggle-borns were undeserving—literally—and purebloods were a lot better and more powerful than them. They had filthy Muggle blood in them. Muggles, you see, are people who don't have magic at all.

The question was, why was Father bringing up the Dark Lord now?

Nevertheless, we both nodded at the same time.

His grey eyes flickered from me to Draco. "I want you to remember that I was under the Imperius Curse and was not a Death Eater by my own will, and your mother was never a Death Eater. While we agree with his cause, we do not stand with the Dark Lord. We have managed to build a good life for ourselves, and we would like to keep it that way. I have heard that Harry Potter will be starting at Hogwarts this year. I'd like you to become his friends. Do you understand?"

Harry Potter was the Boy Who Lived. As the story goes, the Dark Lord had tried to kill Potter as a baby, but it had all gone wrong; instead, the Dark Lord had been vanquished, and Harry Potter had survived.

"Yes." "Yes, Father."

"Very well then. Off you both go—complete all the last-minute packing. We will leave soon."

After asking Mother to come and braid my hair, and being told she would come in 15 minutes, I turned to Draco and tilted my head slightly towards the staircase. He gave a nod, and we both bounded upstairs into my room.

It was time for a twins-only chat. We did that when our parents acted weird, like the time when Father had refused to buy Draco a new broom and he had ranted for an hour, anentirehour.

I closed the bedroom door while he made himself comfortable on my bed.

Antares, my owl, was hooting softly, so I took a few treats for her out of the treat box and simultaneously asked Draco as I fed her, "Do you have any idea what that was all about?"

He said, "Seemed pretty clear to me."

I turned sharply, "How is it clear? Did you know Father isn't really a Death Eater?"

In a condescending tone, Draco said, "Heisa Death Eater, Cille."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean. And what was that all about not supporting the Dark Lord? Father is always on about how bad Muggles and the entire lot are, and—"

He cut off my rant, yes, I might be a bit of a chatterbox. "Cille, I think you're overthinking it. I think we should just trust them."

I said, "Of course I trust them! Why did you—"

I didn't get to finish, as there was a knock on the door. Mother was early, and she came in and squished my face. "I figured I'd make something intricate this time since I won't get to do it for the next few months."

Suddenly, excitement and nervousness weren't the only things I was feeling—sadness was there too.

I was going to miss my parents a lot.

I sat down in front of the mirror and looked into my lap picking at a loose thread on my robes, and my mother brushed my hair.

I said, "You'll write lots of letters, won't you?"

Then I winced as she tugged at a particularly tangled knot of hair, while she replied, "Of course. You will do great, Lucille. When you arrive, write to me first thing; I want to know how you like the Slytherin common room. It is rather impressive."

I grinned at her from the mirror.

Then, as she started to braid my hair, her fingers working deftly, she said, "You will keep Draco in line, won't you? You know he is impulsive and has a rather unfortunate tendency toward aggression. It doesn't look good."

Yes, my brother could be very non-classy, which grated on my mother like anything. My father didn't mind as much, partly because he was pretty much the same. He wasn't afraid to make his opinions known or get into a fight if needed. Neither my mother nor I liked that approach; we preferred a more subtle style. As Mother always said, words were far better weapons—why get your hands dirty?

I said, "You know, Mother, he doesn't particularly listen to me."

She sighed.

"But—" I started, and her blue eyes met my grey ones, "I'll try."

Soon enough, the packed trunks and owls were out in the courtyard. I grabbed my father's hand, and Draco took Mother's, and with apopwe were off. In the next moment, we were standing outside King's Cross Station.

There weremugglesall around, I tried to not let that bother me and then we ran through a wall, and contrary to what you might think, we didnotcrash.

It was magical, of course; we ran straight through it and right onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, now facing the scarlet Hogwarts Express. My hand securely in Father's, the four of us made our way through the crowd along the train, looking for a compartment.

Just as we were about to pass a compartment, the window opened, and a familiar face grinned at me.

"Lucille! Good morning, Mr. Malfoy—oh, hi, Draco—and Mrs. Malfoy, good morning!"

Before any of us could greet her back, Daphne Greengrass, my best friend, continued, "Come on in this compartment, both of you. Blaise is here too—Blaise!" She turned her head and called, "Blaise!" He appeared at the window as well and said, "Hey, everybody. Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy—Mr. Malfoy."

I smiled at both of them and said, "We'll get on—in a moment."

They moved away from the window, and Father magicked our trunks and belongings into the compartment. Once he had finished, he took his place beside Mother again.

I looked at my parents, they didn'tlookemotional but I knew they were feeling somewhat sad all the same.

Father put one hand on my head and the other on Draco's shoulder. "You both will make spectacular Slytherins, I just know it. Go now and make us proud."

Beside him, Mother nodded and added, "Also—have fun."

I moved to hug both of them, and Draco followed suit. Then, side by side, we stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.

We both entered into the compartment, which held not only Daphne and Blaise but also Crabbe and Goyle, they both were a bit thick but loyal to the faultespeciallyto Draco.

We entered the compartment, which held not only Daphne and Blaise but also Crabbe and Goyle. They were a bit thick, but loyal to a fault—especially to Draco.

I plopped down next to Daphne. I had known her for as long as I could remember, and we had always been two peas in a pod. Daphne had blonde hair too, like me, though hers was more honey-colored in contrast to my platinum locks, and she had very pretty blue eyes.

"It's still unbelievable— that we're going to Hogwarts," she said.

I couldn't agree more.

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