The Journey
There had been zero time for discussion , the four of them placing their hands on an expensive looking boot and whirling through the portkey until they all landed in the foyer of the Manor again .
'Hogwarts ?!' Celia exclaimed being awful at hiding her excitement . She didn't care if she would have to take sixth year lessons in the back of her classes or anything like that - she would finally get to go to the place she had only heard about for so many years .She ran a hand through her dyed blonde hair , she had begged Narcissa as a child to dye parts of it like how hers looked ,which had now resulted in the light strands that ran down her back .
'Yes , there was a death eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup . Lucius had heard when he had been talking to his assistants at the match . My husband and I have been debating sending you to Hogwarts all summer . If .. he .. is back then we believe Hogwarts is the safest place for you to go until this blows over . We hold meetings with those people because they are like family to us , but some of those people will choose the dark lord , and we don't want you around them . Lucius and I made some bad mistakes during the first war , and you could be used against us for losing faith in the dark lords return . Hogwarts is safest .'
Celia's once excitement became suddenly panged with an anxiety she had never been met with before . 'Your saying -'
'Yes Celia , he has returned ,' Lucius snarled , he didn't seem very pleased about that fact at all . Draco was horribly silent ,' My son will tell you what is expected of you , and what belongings you should possess while at the school. You are both dismissed .'
Celia looked to Narcissa , who slightly nodded her head as if to say we'll talk about this tomorrow . The mixture of emotions Celia was feeling rolled around in her stomach like storm clouds shadowing dainty sunshine . The explanation was too brief , she understood why she had to go but she wanted to know more . She always wanted to know more .
She turned and walked to the left chamber of the Manor , Draco following her down the labyrinth of those crepuscular corridors until they knew they were out of vocal range to his parents . They were in the ballroom again .
'Should we talk about the good news or the bad first .' Draco tilted his head and glanced up at the flickering chandeliers in the area , the enchanted green flames setting the ballroom in a darker hue than the usual . It was late , and Celia was truly exhausted .
She slumped down on the shiny ballroom floor and shook her head looking up at him smiling through her tiredness ,' The good , we have to talk about the good first .'
'It's great . You can finally come to school with me . You can meet Mattheo and Theo and Enzo and Blaise and -'
'-And Daphne and Astoria and Pansy . ' Celia finished . From the abundance of stories Draco had told her about the group it was like they were already her friends , even though they only would've probably heard her name mentioned by Draco a couple pf times - she knew he didn't really like discussing his homelife on a personal level .
'I bet you're a Slytherin , just like us ,' he grinned ,' I know your smart but I want you with us , not in Ravenclaw .'
'I bet I will be ,' she smiled ,' You have to tell me everything . More than what you normally do so I can be prepared .'
'Well we all had the sorting ceremony in first year , I told you that years ago , so you'll probably go after the first years so the they can have their moment ' he rolled his eyes childishly ,' the sorting ceremony is generally boring if you aren't in it '
'Everything is boring to you Draco if you aren't in it .'
He smirked ,' Slytherins have this like bad reputation because we like to stick with each other , we don't usually make friends with people outside of our house . It all comes from Salazar Slytherin's thing where he only wanted pure-bloods taking place at Hogwarts , remember what I said about the Chamber Of Secrets a few years ago .'
'Yeah I remember that .' Celia nodded
'Well the whole pure-blood thing is a bit old fashioned because there are now half-bloods and even muggle-borns in our house . Father doesn't really approve of that but it's not exactly like he can go up against Dumbledore . Slytherins stick with each other because we all have those traits that we admire the most : Ambition and cunningness .You have those traits too , so you'll fit in perfectly .'
Celia didn't really think she was cunning , she was only ambitious because she liked to study . She was only asking Draco all of this information about Hogwarts because it was the one thing that wasn't on the curriculum she had been taught at home - why would she need to learn about Hogwarts if she was never meant to go ?
'My friends are great too ,' he went on ,' we all stick up for each other against the people we don't like .'
'Like Harry Potter ? ' she asked .
'Exactly like him , and his friends . They are scum .'
'Draco !'
'It's true !' he scolded ,' Don't make friends with them , they are the wrong sort .'
'What do you mean by that ?'
'It's irrelevant Celia , just trust me , you trust me right ?'
'Yeah , of course I do .' she replied . She thought it was strange . Whenever she studied she always had t have evidence to back up a claim , and Draco had no proof to really suggest Harry Potter and his friends were scum . She decided that even though she trusted him , he was her only friend , that she was smart and head-strong enough to conclude for herself whether these people were as bad as they seemed .
She just wasn't fond on that girl with brown curly hair she saw at the Quidditch World Cup , Draco had said that was Hermione Granger during the game . The way she had whispered to that smaller girl in the stands had made Celia feel even smaller .
Perhaps it was a bad first impression , Celia was sure she was going to make a couple of those when she arrives . She would be around a lot of people like her , and probably a lot of people that were nothing like her too . She was slightly looking forward to it despite the premise seeming a little daunting too .
'Should we talk about the bad news now ? ' I can give you all the information you want for the next few days before we leave for school .'
'I don't wanna talk about that right now .' Celia said , any thought that wasn't Hogwarts was going to be in the background of her mind until she got there . Even if it was about the most malevolent wizard returning . She just felt that because she was going to Hogwarts she would be safe , she shouldn't be toiled by worries of things that haven't even occurred yet .
'How about we head to bed ?' he asked , as Celia stifled another yawn .
'That's a rather promiscuous invitation don't you think ?' she smirked through her tired eyes .
'Promiscuous ? ' Draco huffed ,' Celia I get you are smart but speak our language .'
'Sex joke Malfoy .' she grinned even harder , getting up from the floor and heading off into a sprint ,' Race you to the bedroom chambers !'
'Again ,' Draco shouted as she gained distance from hi ,' You're smart Celia but I'm not chasing after you .'
'We'll see about that !' was the last thing she said mid-laugh as she ran around the corner to bed .
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The train journey was about to begin . Celia fumbled with her trunk - an onyx coloured leather with her name engraved at the bottom of the cover in emerald green . It had been the nicest gift Lucius had given to Celia , despite the fact she knew Narcissa would've been the one to go out and get it .
'Need help with that ?' a boy with almost snake-like green eyes asked her .
'Riddle .' Draco nodded .
'Merlin your dad has to be the worst bastard in the world , why are you so miserable ?' he laughed , ignoring Draco's glare as he pulled him in for a hug . Why was Draco glaring at his friends ? Celia hoped he wasn't like this at Hogwarts all the time .
'And this must be The Celia ? . The girl that Mr Malfoy over here never shuts up about ?' he quelled , smiling as he pushed her trunk above the compartment with a number of the others ,' You're with us if you're with Dray Dray over there , come and meet everyone .'
'Dray dray ?' Celia turned around and smirked at Draco .
He rolled his eyes with a grin , ' Don't even ask .'
Mattheo slid the compartment doors open , to a carriage of around six other people . There were three other boys , who she assumed to be Blaise Zabini and Lorenzo Berkshire and Theodore Nott . As well as three girls on the other side all cramped around some wizarding magazine who she guessed were Pansy Parkinson with Astoria and Daphne Greengrass . She could certainly tell they were twins with dark brown hair that both twisted into a dull orange at the end , not too far off Celia's natural auburn hair colour .
She smiled at them all ,' Hi ! I'm Cel-'
The twins waved at her , one of the boys nodding his head and another saluting her in welcome . They all seemed so nice , until she got cut off .
Pansy Parkinson stood up from her seat in the carriage and looked behind Celia , looked at Draco . The tips of her ears that tucked away her thick bob of black hair went pink and her face seemed to heat as she furiously whispered ,' What is she doing here Draco .'
Celia took a step towards her , she wasn't going to let another girl make her feel embarrassed ,' I'm a new student ' Celia was taller than Pansy , and looked a lot stronger than her too , she stared at the glaring girl .
'I'm just wondering why Draco's dragged you here when I'm his girlfriend .'