Fae Queen of Slytherin

School. Again

"And you have everything?"

"Yes. I have everything Mrs. Malfoy, promise." I smile as Narcissa turns on Draco asking the same questions she's already asked me. 

I push my trolley through the barrier and stumble onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"Lupa! Hi!" 

"Hey Pansy."

"Where's Draco?"

"He's coming, why?"

Why does she know where he is?! "No reason, just wondering." One day she'll realize he's mine. I can't wait to see her face when she does. I nod and walk on. 

"Hey Lupey" 

"'sup Blaise?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Want help with your trunk?"

"Sure." Blaise picks up one end of my trunk and helps me lift it onto the train.

"Saw you talkin' with Pansy, what'd she want?" 

"Just to know where Draco was."

The ride to Hogwarts felt like it was taking so much longer than it actually did. 

Go through the motions. Nod. Smile. Monosyllabic answers.  

The crush of people in our compartment makes no sense. Not everyone goes home for Christmas. Why are there suddenly so many more people? 

A hand brushes against mine. My heart leaps into my throat. 

"W... what?"

Ugh. Her attention span is embarrassing! Was she even listening?

"I was just saying you seemed a little distant." Pansy says coldly, "Am I right?"

"Oh. Sure. I'm... not feeling the best." 

"Oh. I'm sorry." Pansy's voice contains no sympathy. I don't understand her sudden desire to hate me. "Anyway, I was just saying how pretty the snow is. Don't you think it's pretty Draco?"

Draco nods, inattentive. "And the clouds too."

Pansy's face goes red, "Of course, the clouds too..." 

My head leans against the glass of the window. My eyelids droop and before long the comfort of sleep claims me.

"Lupey, wake up. We're here." My head jerks up and I feel a painful kink in my neck. I nod blindly and stand up. My hand goes to the back of my neck and a small voice flashes through my mind. Strained muscle 

Right. That. 

The carriages have skeletal black horses pulling them. Their colorless, blank eyes stare wildly around. One of them locks on me.

Lady. You have come to speak to us?

What?

You have come to speak to us.

What are you?

We are your servants. The comfort to those who see death. We are their confirmation.

My heart is choking me. I back against the carriage and frantically search for the door. My vision flutters and I collapse.

                                                                                            ~~~

"Honestly is she always going to arrive in a dead faint?"

"She does seem to be making a habit of it Minerva."

My eyes flutter open and I take in my surroundings. I'm in the hospital wing, with a curtain stretched around my bed.

Dumbledore's voice floats back to me, "Her... weakness... must spawn form her power. It is because of who- what she is."

"I can hear you."

Dumbledore parts the curtains and looks in on me. "So you can." His blue eyes twinkle in a smile, but I cannot return it. 

You treat me like an animal. An experiment. How can you expect me to smile after hearing what you just said.

I scowl and stand up. "I'm fine." I walk out of the hospital wing and towards the sounds coming from the Great Hall. 

"Lupa!" George runs up and hugs me, "What happened? You didn't come in with everyone else, we thought you were hurt!"

"I- I'm fine George. Don't worry." 

"Hah. Worry? Us? Never!" Fred grabs my head in a hug, then, bending so he can look into my eyes he says, "Never scare us like that again, please." 

Warmth spreads through my body at how much they care.

"Did you get your sweater?" George holds me out at arms length. A smile spreads across his face when he realizes I'm wearing it.

"Yes! Mr Malfoy was livid it was hilarious!" Fred laughs and hugs my head again. 

"He said I shouldn't wear it so I put it on right in front of him. You should have seen his face!"

"YES QUEEN!" George smiles and grabs my hand. "You want food? We got some from the kitchens, we can go someplace and you can tell us all about it!"

School is great. 

I love Hogwarts.