Harry Potter and the Wondrous Blood Ri

Chapter Twenty-two

Regina walked with Rabastan Lestrange through the Floo room to Platform 9 ¾. To the world around her, she presented the perfect image of the Slytherin Ice Queen going into her 5th year. Inside she was having a few memories. She remembered the wonder she felt the first time she had seen the beautiful scarlet engine as one Harry Potter. She remembered the nerves and then excitement as she made friends with a red-headed Ron Weasley and others.

She shook herself out of it – she had not been paying attention to Rabastan.

"Were you listening to me, Princess?" He asked her.

Of course, Rabastan and his brother had taken to calling her the nickname that Bellatrix had taken to calling her.

"Of course, daddy –" she said with mocking seriousness, "I promise to be a good girl at school this year."

Rabastan chuckled darkly. "That is exactly the opposite of what we expect of you, Princess."

Regina's immaculate eye twitched slightly. "I know that I need to be careful of the Zabini girl."

"Yes," he said with intensity. "When she was over at the Manor, she was challenging."

Regina nodded along with him. She didn't need another challenge after the summer. She was already worried about what exactly was wrong with Jillian. Jillian hadn't responded to any of her letters. She was tempted to call her through the bracelet, but wasn't sure if that would be appreciated.

"Well, it is time to load the train," she said. She nodded smartly at Rabastan and then walked confidently toward the Hogwarts Express.

She didn't have to wait long to find a spot, because she ran into her boyfriend – her on again and off again boyfriend, Graham Pritchard. She sat with him, Malcolm Baddock, and Emma Dobbs. She silently thought to the changes in her seating arrangements. Gale Weatherby was gone. She was convinced that it had something to do with that creep, Theodore Nott. He was a Death Eater who wanted to be something, and Gale was a minor pureblood who wanted to become a major player.

Azure Zabini was her greatest rival among the students of the Dark Arts. She clearly was getting outside tutoring just like her. She guessed it was her brother and her mother.

She was about to wonder about her best friend, Jillian MacDougal when the compartment door opened and a disheveled Jillian walked in. Regina jumped up forgetting her decorum and rushed to her red-headed best friend. Jillian looked worse for the wear. But she still wrapped her arms around her.

"What happened to you?" Regina asked her.

"Azure –" she said.

Regina's eyes narrowed and her grip went to her wand. Malcom shook his head. "That isn't necessary, Regina."

"You'll have to explain," Regina was about to say, when her boyfriend Graham stood up.

"No, Regina," he said. "We need to go to the Prefect meeting. He looked to Malcom. Then back to Regina. "Jillian will be safe here."

Regina pinned her Prefect badge on her robe and then slipped her arm into Graham's. "Let's go."

Regina walked with him out of Compartment 4 and down all the way to Compartment 1. She followed him in. She seated next to him as everyone started to settle in. They were just about to start when Joshua Goldstein, the other 5th year Slytherin Prefect slipped in. Regina's eyes narrowed at him. She knew he had just finished spending time in the presence of Azure Zabini. Joshua looked at her with a look of absolute guilt and then sat down across from her.