Peppermint; Draco Malfoy [2]

ONE | YEAR 3

ALEXIS' P.O.V.

I don't want to go back. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't want to go back to school.

I'll be going into year three at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a Slytherin, but the thought of returning terrifies me.

This summer has been awful. I couldn't get him off my mind. And going back will just make it worse.

Draco Malfoy and I were great friends. We understood each other... I more than him, but still. He trusted me. In the beginning, we didn't get along, but after I saw the real him, it was easy to get on his good side. Everyone thinks he's cruel and mean, and I have to say, they're not wrong, but he's not like that all the time. He can be kind and funny, and really thoughtful, but when no ones watching. When we're alone.

Despite some of the harsher things he'd say to me, his quips and jokes made me smile. I'm not like the other Slytherins, but it doesn't bother him that much. I don't have the traits that make it clear why they were put into our house, but I think that's why he liked me so much. Because I was different.

But now... it's all changed. Unlike Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, my old friends, I'm a muggle-born, and last year they all found out. I tried to keep it from them, but the Chamber of secrets revealed all.

What's worse is he knows about me... my powers. I guess you could say I'm special because I can control the weather... sort of. It's a work in progress.

My abilities are connected to my emotions, and Draco recently helped me discover that I can channel my emotions and do spells through it, although we didn't get very far with that part of the discovery.

He's the only one who knows, aside from my best friend, and I need to keep it that way. If one person knows, the whole school will know, and then everyone will have an opinion and see me differently. I just want to be normal and liked. I want to be accepted.

I've stuck to the four walls of my room for most of the summer, thinking about the retribution I'll have to face when I get back to Hogwarts. Luckily, the Slytherins didn't say much about me being muggle-born last year, but that was only because they found out the day before we were to leave for the holidays. Now... well, I don't know.

I get up from my windowsill and stand in front of my mirror, looking at myself. I run my fingers through my hair and stare at my reflection. My hair has grown even longer, the brown curls rather dull and lifeless. That's probably from the lack of sunlight.

I've also grown a little, and I definitely need a new uniform because I can't fit into last years clothes. Aside from the gained weight, my hips are more prominent and my boobs have made quite the appearance.

Looks like a trip to Diagon Alley is due.

The doorbell rings loudly and I snap out of my daydream, walking to open my door.

"Honey, can you get that for me?" shouts my mum, Bella. She's been worried about me, even more than usual. So has my dad, Cole. They've been acting funny all summer, whispering a lot and reading post letters in secret.

They don't ever get mail, not like this, yet someone's been writing to them, and I haven't been allowed to so much as read who the sender is.

"Sure mum!" I shout back, walking across the carpeted landing and down the stairs. I open the door and gape at the person standing on the other side.

"Merlin, you look absolutely awful!"

It's Thea, my best friend.

I stare at her, my jaw hanging in total shock. She doesn't live anywhere near us, and she never said in any of her letters that she was coming to visit.