The Slytherin Princess | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Chapter 45: Back to school

Juniper chuckled a little. "Yeah, I guess that would be a bit daunting. Didn't mean to shove it all down your throat at once. I'll try to make it better, I'll go get my friends Silver and Marin, they'd probably love to meet you. Hang on."

You tried to sit calmly as Juniper left the compartment again, but you couldn't believe your luck—getting all your friends back in one go? You felt a pang of guilt as you remembered this was pretty much exactly what Draco had warned against you doing—but the least you could do was try to offer them comfort. After all, they thought you were dead.

You looked back up as Juniper re-entered the train compartment, followed closely by Silver and Marin. Marin had changed a bit over the summer, her hair was almost black, much darker than her normal mousy brown. Silver, however, looked almost exactly the same. The three of them shared the same gloomy, overcast expressions, however, and Silver's eyes were nearly blank.

"Silver, Marin, this is Ravena," came Juniper's voice, and you smiled at the two of them. "She's going to be my new roommate," Juniper continued. "So play nice."

"Don't be too hard on Juniper," Marin piped in just then, and three pairs of eyes turned to look at her. "The girl you're replacing in Juniper's dorm, y/n, was killed over the summer. Juniper will warm up to you, but it's gonna take a minute before she bounces back completely."

"I don't think I'll ever fully bounce back," Juniper said sadly, and even though her eyes were downcast you heard the crack in her voice. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. "Y/N was a fighter, you know? I know she didn't just give up. So at the very least, I know her last breath wasn't spent running away from her problems."

You felt your heart warm at Juniper's words. But Silver seemed eager to change the subject away from you, as he turned to look directly at you. "What do you want to do when you finish school, Ravena?" he asked.

You shook your head. It was going to take a minute to get adjusted to your new name. "I'm...not sure," you said, your mind blanking. Y/N wanted to be a Potioneer, but that probably wasn't going to be the smartest thing for Ravena to say. "I'm fascinated with animals, so I might end up as a caretaker in the Sanctuary for Magical Creatures...back home...in Ireland," you said finally. Headmistress Maguire said it would be a great fit for me after seeing my O.W.Ls grades and my grades in my Care of Magical Creatures classes. I was supposed to be taking more classes in that path back at Erehnoll this year, but I transferred here instead."

Marin chuckled slightly. "Not that being this way is a bad thing, but you seem a bit preppy for Slytherin," she quipped. "I feel like you would fit better in Hufflepuff, but if your Erehnoll house was the Hogwarts equivalent of Slytherin, then that's how it has to be."

"Shut up, Marin, you just want someone else in this friend group to not be Slytherin," Silver joked, and you laughed at the lighthearted rib. You were glad to see Silver being humorous like that. You had been worried upon your first glance at him that he was much deeper in his grief over your death.

Marin rolled her eyes, even though she was smiling herself. "And so what if that's true?" she joked back. "I need some representation!"

Everyone laughed at that.

The laughter died down as the Hogwarts Express pulled into its final stop, just outside of the school. You sighed slightly as you looked outside. The normally bright and welcoming school just seemed...foreboding this year. The clouds hiding the shining sun didn't help the overall atmosphere one bit.

You tried your best to ignore it as you pulled your luggage from the racks and followed Juniper, Marin and Silver outside, but it was only amplified when you saw who was standing at the top of the steps, just outside the large doors that shut the world out from the main entrance of the castle.