"Draco"

September 1993, 1 month later

Serenity sat hugging her knees on a dining chair in the Tonks' living room.

Her fingers played with the soft cotton of the trousers Andromeda had lent to her as she rested her cheek atop her knee. Lazily, her eyes watched the steam rising from the cauldron while fighting the exhaustion that comes with the pain of her slowly healing arm. Andromeda had been administering Essence of Dittany to her splinched arm for the past month, it was taking much longer to heal due to Serenity having taken a day to reach her.

Ted was due home from some ministry business anytime soon and the steam from the cauldron mingled with that of the vegetables on the stove. Andromeda, having spent yet another day at home to care for the still-emotionally fragile Serenity, had her hair tied back with loose strands falling into her face. She focused on her potion as the radio crackled around a song from some muggle band.

The sun was nearly set. The open west-facing window cast golden squares of light onto the cream tiles, a breeze blowing in from the sea and kicking the sheer curtains into the room. A breeze ran up Serenity's spine, and she glanced up at the clock and released a whine. Andromeda's attention peaked, and she looked up while stirring slowly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Serenity shook her head and hit her head against her knee.

"It's Circini's first day at Hogwarts, the sorting ceremony has started." Glancing at the clock, also, Andromeda acknowledged that it was a few hours before the time she had received an owl from Hogwarts when her own daughter had been sorted.

"What house do you think she'll be in?"

"I'm not sure, Andy, I don't know her."

"SLYTHERIN"

While the Slytherin table erupted into cheers at the sorting hat's announcement, a group of boys from the Gryffindor table booed. Circi wanted to pull the hat over her head and somehow disappear into it but, instead, Professor McGonagall plucked it from her and ushered her in the direction of the other first-year Slytherins. She wanted to cry, but, for the sake of her own dignity and the Malfoy name, she ducked her head and slid onto the nearest available seat on the bench.

The room falls silent as a girl is sorted into Ravenclaw. As she joins her housemates, a young boy with black-rimmed glasses and a blush stained onto his tan cheeks is called to the front.

'Leslie Prott', that's what Professor McGonagall had called him, didn't look like much and some of the older Slytherins were whispering about his effeminate features. Circi didn't see what the problem was, finding him to be cute and approachable. So, when the sorting hat yelled out Slytherin once again, she had the sudden urge to wave him over. She wanted to be friends with him, she had an uncontrollable urge to get to know him and how he already appeared to exude more power than the students around her.

Luckily, the nearest empty seat was right beside her, so she didn't have to wave him over. But when he did sit down, he crossed his arms and paid no attention to her.

"Hi," she smiled wanly, earning only a glance out of the corner of his eye, "I'm Circi."

"I'm Circi."

"I know." They fell silent as the final student was sorted. She really wanted to talk to him, but she wouldn't waste her energy on him- perhaps he was tired. After all, the train journey was one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.

It was almost ironic that Circi's first time on a train would be the same year the ministry sent dementors to search the train for Sirius Black and, of course, her own mother. The sight and presence of the dementors had her trembling, cowering behind Draco before he could cower behind her. He and his friends were equally terrified, but as soon as word spread that Harry Potter had fainted at the sight of one of the ghostly figures, the compartment soon filled with laughter again.

Circi wasn't necessarily comfortable with teasing and humility at the expense of someone's trauma but, for the sake of avoiding conflict, she laughed along, not knowing much about Potter to back up a counter argument.

Perhaps, as a Malfoy, she already had some power in Hogwarts; but it also became clear that she instantly had enemies. The mere mention of her name extracted boos from the Gryffindor table.

Before Headmaster Dumbledore could begin his speech, her attention piqued at Draco calling across the room to Potter and teasing him about the train incident. She wanted to tell him to cut it out, especially after seeing the look of irritation on the face of the boy she could only assume was Harry Potter, but the Headmaster's speech was beginning, and he was giving a very important warning about the dementors.

The night had continued in silence for Circi and Leslie, despite her countless attempts at starting a conversation with him. She had found her way to her dorm room and met the four girls she was meant to share with. They didn't pay much attention to her, excited to have met each other on the boats or in Diagon Alley so there was nothing left to do but retire to bed. It was tempting to try and find Draco or possibly bump into Leslie in the communal area, but she was actually tired and, after writing a letter to her father about her wellbeing and her feelings on her first night, she fell asleep quite quickly.

The next morning, on the way to breakfast, Draco and Harry had clashed in the hallways again. This time, it was Potter and his two friends facing off against Draco and his three closest friends: Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. Circi was trailing behind them, not eager to walk quickly so early in the morning. When Draco and his friends pulled their robes over their heads before making ghostly noises, the irritation on Potter's ginger friend's face became all the more prominent. Rushing forward, Circi gave Draco a small shove, knocking him off balance slightly.

"Knock it off, Draco!" He shrugs his robes back on, glancing at his friends who are equally shocked at her stepping in. There is no way she was going to be complacent about her brother being a bully. He scoffed, as Pansy oohed him. Glancing between Potter and Pansy, Draco smirked and gave Circi a small shove on her shoulder- only enough to twist her body slightly.

"What, got a crush Circ?" She scowled, crossing her arms.

"No! You're being mean." Draco matched her scowl, not enjoying the scolding from his little sister in front of his enemy.

"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about." She stomped her foot.

"Yes I do! I'm telling father!" Draco's face flushed red. You see, he knew that if Circi was to snitch on him he would surely get in trouble. She had always been closer to Lucius, just like he had always been closer to Narcissa.

"Not if I tell him first!" The group fell silent, the trio of Gryffindors sniggering and pushing past them. Ignoring them and revelling in having the upper hand, Circi produces a sheet of parchment from her bag and waves it at Draco and skips off. She can hear him mutter, "Shut up, Crabbe!", before running after her. "Circi, give me that parchment!"

"No, this is my good parchment!"

Later that day, scouring over her potions book in the library before her first lesson, a dark figure loomed over her. She glanced up to see a ghostly figure right behind her and squeaked in horror. Pansy shifted her robes back onto her shoulder with a giggle, followed by the group of girls behind her.

"Watch yourself, Rier, the dementors might mistake you for your mum."

"Rier?" Circi knitted her eyebrows together, confused at the name. Pansy scoffed, waving her hand and ignoring Madame Pince's glare from her desk at the end of the room.

"My bad! You just look so much like her pictures, I forgot you're a Malfoy."

"And you shouldn't forget it, Parkinson." The group looks up to the voice echoing around them from across the table. A tall girl in a three-quarter length grey skirt and a loose, blouse and neat Slytherin tie stood with her arms crossed. Pansy's amused grin dropped and her lackeys left the library with hushed whispers. "Jog on," the new girl said with a nod of her head. Her brown eyes traced Pansy out of the room before dragging back to Circi. Nodding curtly and tossing her head to move her fringe from her face, the girl disappeared behind a bookshelf.

Circi looked around, confused, and found a second year Hufflepuff watching her with an awed gleam to her eyes. Her dark hair frizzed out, the small hairs forming a halo over her head.

"Who was that?" The girl's eyes widen, the sunlight reflecting specks of gold in a pool of rich chocolate, her cheeks flushed at the interaction, and she cleared her throat, pulling her sleeves over her hands.

"Her name is Carmen Breckinridge- but everyone calls her Princess. Fourth year," the Hufflepuff purses her thin pink lips in a tight smile, "apparently she has connections to the royal family." Circi looked between the empty space Carmen had occupied and back to the Hufflepuff.

"I'm Circi," she offers out her hand. The girl breaks into a grin, her eyes lighting up at the introduction, and she eagerly shakes her hand.

"I'm Helena."

A/N

Peak one of my friends' cameos (hint, she's hufflepuff)