Cin had decided to stay in Diagon Alley, but after being mobbed by reporters, she stayed in her mother's townhouse with Sirius. Her parents' last wishes had informed her about Sirius's role in her life, and she decided to get to know him as she would have growing up if not for Dumbledore's meddling. Sirius had decided to teach her how to become an animagus to give her an advantage because he knew this war wasn't over. He didn't want her part of it, but he also knew that both leaders of the war, wouldn't allow her to stay out of the conflict.
It turns out her fox form could travel through shadows, and even use it to spy on people using their shadows. It turns out, the Peverell's animagus forms were everything from grims to shadow foxes. Ragnok sent her books about her form to help her master them. Hyacinth had also mastered Occlumency, and Andy Tonks had taught her etiquette. They spent time under a time dome so Hyacinth could learn what she needed. They would teach her what she needed to know about being an heiress from old pureblood bloodlines, and how to manage her estates so she wouldn't be torn apart by vaultures.
Etiquette was boring, but she knew it was necessary, and while animagus training was fun, Cin enjoyed protecting her mind more than anything else. The first defense of her mind was the Marauders Map. However, instead of a map of Hogwarts, it was a map of every place Cin has ever traveled to. The map was an outline of Potter's Keep, the cottage in Godric's Hallow. It held the memories of her parents, Sirius, and Remus.
Another destination of her mind defenses is Diagon Alley. It held the memories of Cin's shopping experiences, mischievous, and carefree actions. The stores held a few memories but they were protected by people and objects protecting some hidden core memories. The bank of course was also a line of defense. The tellers are both the offense and defense with the money and gems they have as surface thoughts or distractions. Plus, the scales, money, gems, and artifacts pulled others into traps. If anyone ventured into her mind, they would have to get the right goblin to lead them to the cart, they could get to more important memories which were protected by dragons and other animals plus other traps.
Hogwarts was the fourth defense that held Cin's school memories and studies; both mundane and magical studies. Cin knew every inch of the castle, better than the Weasley twins and her father and his friends. She used every last secret of Hogwarts as an added defense. The final defense of Cin's mind was the Forbidden Forest. It held her worst memories. They spent two weeks under the time dome, which equaled two months. Usually, mastering an animagus form and Occlumency took longer, sometimes years, but with Cin's raw magic and determination, she did what no one else, including Dumbledore, did in two months. Normally, Cin wasn't one to let her ego get in the way, but in this case, she was happy to brag.
The first thing she did when she left the time dome was register her form. She had insisted that Madame Bones use the name Grace Evans in honor of her mother and to protect her from allies and enemies alike. She had invited Draco and Leo over to her townhouse for the remainder of the summer. Surprisingly, she found Draco funny and witty. As it turned out, he didn't like muggleborns for no reason but hated that they thought they had the right to change everything in the wizarding world when it took them centuries to get where they were.
When September first rolled around, Cin let Hedwig fly ahead so she wouldn't be stuck in her cage all day. She didn't feel like taking the muggle side, so she flooed onto the platform and quickly entered a compartment toward the back and cast a Notice Me Not spell keyed to everyone that wasn't Leo and Draco. She didn't have very many friends because they all decided to turn on her because of a bloodline gift. Neville surprised her the most. Their families had been allies for years and instead of honoring that, he decided to stay silent and didn't even try to stand by her. If he doesn't stand by her this year, she will break the alliance between their families for the next century.
She was brought out of her thoughts when the compartment door opened. In walked Leo and Draco. Cin's heart took off when she saw Leo. She hadn't known anything about soulmarks until Andy had taught her everything she needed to know. As it turned out, her soul mark showed up on her thirteenth birthday on her hip and she hadn't known what it was. Her mark was the Leo constellation. She had known who her soulmate was as soon as she realized what the mark represented. There was only one person, male or female with the name Leo, and soulmate or not, Cin could only picture herself making a life with Leo. She's had a crush on him pretty much throughout their schooling, but their friendship came first so she didn't say anything.
"Hello, Leo, Draco," she greeted smiling as they sat across from her. "Hyacinth, Cin," they greeted.
"How was the remainder of your summer?" she asked. "It could have gone better. Our parents were grilling us on our grades again," Draco muttered.
"Why? The two of you are in the top five of our entire year," Cin said incredulously. Their parents should be beyond proud of them.
"It's nothing like that. It's our third year and that means classes are going to be harder and they wanted to know if we could handle it," Leo explained a little better than Draco. Cin nodded smiling.
"We can start a study group if you'd like," she suggested. "That'd be great. What electives are you taking, Cin?" Leo asked.
"I'm taking Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient, Runes, Dueling, and Languages,"she said smiling. "How are you doing all of that Hyacinth? Some of those classes happen at the same time," Draco asked.
"I have tutors on the weekends. And I will not be in Snape's class. Andy Tonks will be taking over my potions education," she explained. "He can't let go of his grudge against your father, so I can understand that," Leo said.
"On another note. What do you think about the resorting?" Draco asked. "I agree with it. Children change over time. We all have traits of all the Houses. It just depends on which trait is the strongest at the time," Cin said.
A few hours later, Leo and Draco left so she could change into her uniform. She loved the new one. She hated robes, as they got in the way of Defense lessons and Potions. Robes were a safety hazard. Cin shrunk her trunk and placed them in her pocket. She refused to leave her belongings lying around. When she stepped off the train, she couldn't help but smile when she laid eyes on Hogwarts. School or not, Hogwarts was special and was her home away from the muggle world.