Memoirs of The Slytherin Princess

January

"Excuse me," I said. The boy blocking the door opened his mouth - about to retort with something rude no doubt - then saw who was asking and shot away down the corridor.

I dragged my trunk into the carriage and pushed it up onto the shelf, no longer allowed to use magic. I'm not supposed to use magic at home either, but with mother being a qualified witch (Merlin knows how or why) the Ministry couldn't tell if the spells were hers or mine so I got away with it. I was in our usual Slytherin cabin, third down from the rear entrance of the Hogwarts Express. It was always annoying being quite so early, but mother insisted on getting me there at least an hour before I or anyone else needed to be there. Apparently she didn't have the capacity nor moral obligation to look after me for any longer than strictly necessary, which didn't surprise me and I wasn't so very upset about. At least here I don't have to put up with her sullen face or monotone voice, and I'm free to think a little while.

***

"Morning, Beautiful," the handsome blonde whispered as he slid through the doorway and into the seat next to me. He placed a tender kiss on my lips and I smiled up at him as he stroked a strand of my hair off of my face with his finger. I ran my own fingers down over the crisp white shirt he had on, over his stomach and then round to his back where I pulled him into a hug.

"Morning," I said with a little grin, almost shyly, but with a feeling of ecstatic happiness growing inside me. It was the same fuzzy kind of warmth I had gotten every time I had seen or thought about him since New Years Eve.

Draco pulled my left hand from around his waist and linked his fingers into the spaces between mine, his thumb running over the silver band on my third finger. He looked down at me and hugged me a little tighter for a second, before bringing the finger up and kissing the diamond and emerald embellishment on the antique Malfoy heirloom.

"Perfect. Can't wait to be back at school. I can see you everyday again," he whispered in my ear.

And it would be perfect. Except this all had to be kept secret from everyone else. I love that. That we have promised each other to one another forever. And when the time comes, we'll get engaged, and then married. Keeping it a secret is going to be awful though, but better than having everyone doubting us or trying to break us up, or saying we're too young and foolish to know what we're doing. They don't know anything about us so how would they know? But still, it was just between us, and only he and I knew about the ring on my finger. To everybody else it was non-existent; invisible.

Draco's fingers slipped from mine as several pairs of footsteps approached and Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle entered and sat down.

"Alright boys?" I asked, receiving a couple of nods from Draco's henchmen, and a quiet yes from Blaise who it seemed was deep in thought. His eyes scanned the Platform through the window and then darted in the opposite direction when the door slid open again and in walked Aurelia, Maeve and Natalie, with a timid looking Frankie in tow. They all sat down: Natalie sliding in next to Draco; Maeve opposite; and Lia by the window, gazing out at the passing students as the wandered by the train. I saw Potter and his gang of pathetic outcasts trail by. Finally decided to return, after he disappeared at the end of last term before the holidays began. We'd all decided Umbridge had kicked him out over his consistent 'You-Know-Who has returned' speeches. Except he used His real name, because Potter thinks he's some sort of daredevil superhero to whom social acceptability doesn't apply. Wrong. And who cares if He's back anyway? He's not doing anything, He's not hurting anyone...yet. I don't care that much anyway - I'm Pureblood. It's only mudbloods like Granger and Charlotte Rosenthal and Olive Beaumont that need to watch where they step. I'm safe.

We spent the morning just sitting around in the train compartment, talking about Christmas and New Year. The party had gone down tremendously with everyone and Frankie said she'd even heard some of the Ravenclaws talking about it as she passed by them earlier. I was pleased with that - just something else to add to my repartee of fabulous get-togethers; another boost to my reputation. Not that that really concerned me at the minute, I was still too pleased with the weight of the ring around my finger to be much bothered with anything else.