Purple Hair Ties ♔ Draco Malfoy ♔

| thirty |

" storms let you know that even the sky has to scream sometimes "

The first of September couldn't come any faster. was beginning to hate Camp Jupiter with a fiery passion. She hated that they acted that, because she spent the majority of the year at Hogwarts, she was weak. Yes, she might not have trained the way they would've liked. However, that didn't mean that she didn't train at all! Her learning control over her magic was extremely important. She had so many stories of what happens when you don't know what you're doing, she knew that Camp Jupiter was wrong about Hogwarts. They didn't understand the magic. They didn't know how amazing the quirky school was. They didn't know how Hogwarts made her feel more welcomed for being different than Camp Jupiter ever did. She knew the truth about Hogwarts, but that didn't stop her from feeling so hurt when no one else did. But as she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, all of her worries melted away. She wasn't going to let the stress of camp and worrisome praetors get to her. No, this was going to be a great year. She was sure of it. Walking down the corridor, her heart pounded, trying to decide which friends she would sit with: The Gryffindors or the Slytherins? She considered her options as she walked before deciding that it was time to hang out with scarlet-clad folk.

She found Draco before she found her other friends. She ran right into him, stumbling slightly. He smiled at her, the grin practically stretching from ear to ear. "Romy!" he said. "How've you been?"

"Fine," she said, smiling back. "You?"

"Good, good. C'mon, let's go find the others." He grabbed her hand and started to pull her in the direction he was originally going in.

"Actually," she said softly, pulling her hand back, "I was planning on sitting with Harry, Ron, and Hermione." His smile dropped. "Just for a bit! I want to catch up with them before the year gets so hectic, I can never see them."

Draco nodded, studying her. "...Are you wearing makeup?"

"Erm, yeah. I gotta go. See you later."

Quickly, Romy scurried away from Draco. It was odd, she thought. He was odd. But kind of thirteen year old boy notices if a girl is wearing makeup? She hadn't been wearing too much, had she? The children of Venus had told her that the cosmetics looked natural. Were they lying to her? Or was Draco too observant for his own good? Merlin, boys people were weird.

She found the Gryffindors at the end of the train, sitting with an older man that looked too ill to even be alive. The compartment door was closed and locked, so she knocked lightly. The trio jumped, looking startled, but visibly relaxed when they saw it was only Romy. Harry opened the door, shutting it quickly after she stepped inside. She looked around, taking in her friends. They hadn't changed too much over the summer, the boys' hair was shaggier than she remembered and Hermione had finally managed to tame her locks. She looked to Hermione's lap, seeing a cat sleeping in a basket. From the letters she had received over the summer, she assumed that this was Hermione's recently adopted cat Crookshanks. "Who's this?" she asked, looking at the man as she sat next to him.

Harry sat on the other side and Hermione replied. "Professor Lupin. We believe he's filling the Defense position."

"Hope he's up to the task. We need a competent teacher for once." She watched him closely. "At least it's unlikely students won't be falling madly in love with him."

Ron snorted. "What're you talking about? He's a real looker, if you ask me!" He nudged Hermione. "What do you think? You gonna be crushing on him?"

Hermione flushed.

Romy looked at Harry. "So, what were you guys talking about? You all looked awfully freaked out when I knocked."

They exchanged uneasy glances before Harry replied, "Mr. Weasley told me that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban...To come after me."