Ginny Weasley could hear McGonagall's voice droaning on the lesson. Of course she felt guilty not exactly paying attention, but she had heard basically the same one the past few years. The first week at Hogwarts was always review. Was it wrong to already be bored on the first day though?

She shook her head and doodled on the corner of her paper that she was taking notes on. She ended up drawing a Snitch, remembering many times when Harry would catch it and hold it up for all to see. Many of those catches had won the Quidditch matches.

Finally, the class was over and she scooped up her books into her arms. She walked briskly, finding her brother Ron and his friends in the hall on their way to the dining hall for lunch. A bright grin lit up on her face when her eyes met Harry's. After all, she had been crushing on him the past four years on and off. It was both annoying and nice. Annoying that he would never return her feelings, but nice that he would always want to be her friend anyways.

"Hey!" She waved as she stuffed her books in her bag.

"Hi, Ginny!" Hermione passed her a smile.

Ron merely huffed and looked slightly annoyed. He'd been in a bad mood the past while, and Ginny was frankly over it. She wasn't letting his bad mood dampen her days, so she ignored it. Harry was much more pleasant, giving her a nod.

"How's your first day so far?"

"Oh, a little boring of I'm being honest." Ginny let out a deep sigh. "You know how it is. Just review of what already know, but kind of nice to slowly get back in the groove I guess. What about you guys?"

"Same," Hermione admitted.

"Pretty much," Harry agreed.

"Uh-oh. Looks like trouble," Ron muttered the warning, interrupting the conversation.

Ginny and others turned to look at where Ron was looking. To their dismay, there came Draco practically strutting across the hall towards them. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to move before the childhood bully was already standing in front of them.

"Hello, Potter."

"What is it Malfoy?" Harry looked at the blond in annoyance.

Malfoy gave a curt smirk. Crabbe and Goyle flanked either side of him and Varian was standing to his right, preoccupied with a book. Now that Ginny thought about it, he was with Draco since day one but had barely ever heard him speak. But he hung out with Malfoy, so he had to be just as vile as the other Slytherins that always tailed the Slytherin Prince. Whether it was Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Blaise, or Theodore Nott.

"Haven't died yet?" Draco tilted his head slightly.

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione retorted.

"Oh, I'm just concerned about the rumors," he said mockingly. "Heard that Potter hit his head while practicing his broom tricks during the summer."

"Nice to know you care," Harry returned sarcastically.

Draco merely laughed. "Hope you didn't knock that lightning scar off your head while you were at it. Honestly, I think it would be an improvement to your features."

Ginny's temper flared as she stepping in front of Harry. She hated that she had to look up at Malfoy, but she wasn't backing down. She set her jaw and pointed her chin up, her face inches away from Draco's. "Lay off, Malfoy."

"Oi, Potter. Got yourself a girlfriend or something?"

"Hey! My sister isn't dating anyone!" Ron snapped.

"Protective much, Weasley?" He smirked, knowing he could always get a reaction from Ron from that.

"Oh, shut up." Ginny glared at him, her eyes saying far more than her words.

The threat was clear. As always, the Slytherin Prince jeered off her warnings, pushing her aside. However, he didn't continue the annual banter, Crabbe and Goyle following. The boy reading book hadn't moved yet, apparently not paying attention from the start.

"Oi! V!" Malfoy called.

The boy looked up from his book, startled. He put his thumb on the page he was on before he closed the book. Ginny crossed her arms, willing for the final member of the Slytherin squad to leave so her and her friends could get back to their lives. The boy wordlessly followed after the Ice Prince as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, now the mood is spoiled," Ginny huffed.

"Oh, come on. We're not letting Malfoy get to us. He could have done much worse," Hermione pointed out.

It was true. Malfoy could have called her a mudblood or there could have been wands drawn. Perhaps Draco wasn't being so cruel for the first day. Who was she kidding? It was Draco Malfoy. He didn't care if it was the first day or not.

"Think you'll make the tryouts for Quidditch this week?" Ron suddenly asked teasingly to Harry. He leaned his elbow on his childhood best friend's shoulder.

"Huh. I wonder. It's not like I'm the best flyer on the team or anything." Harry smirked.

"Oh, really? Well, not for long!" Ginny smirked. "I'm getting close to you in speed."

"Oh, Harry." Ron shook his head with fake disapproval. "You're not gonna let my little sister beat you at your own sport, are you?"

"I have to have a successor at some point," Harry laughed.

"You know, we're late for our first lunch," Hermione interrupted.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed, running ahead of them.

"Hey!" Ron yelled. "That's cheating!" He rushed after his younger sister.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. They both took off at a sprint. "Hey! Wait up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian had always had the same dorm since year one. Which meant he had the same roommate. Of course, most figured that he was the luckiest half-blood in the world school seen by Slytherins, or pitied by the rest of the houses. Frankly, it wasn't so bad. Draco Malfoy may be a spoiled, rude and a show off by day, but at night, he kept mainly to himself. He stayed on his turf, Varian kept on his turf and they surprisingly got along rather well.

He remembered his first year when he sent an owl to his parents about sharing a dorm with Draco. At first, his mother was a little concerned and afraid the "spoiled brat" would be a bad influence. Now she was just happy if they even interacted. Varian may have taken after his mother in many things, but her energetic, extrovert personality did not pass down. He was very quiet and reserved like his father.

The page to his book crackled as he turned the page. Varian pressed his back against his pillows that leaned against the headboard to his bed. He was currently still in his uniform, but his sweater and robe laid to the side. His tie was loosened and his first few buttons to his shirt were unbuttoned.

Draco sat at his desk, bent over his homework. The first full day was always exhausting to Varian, and it was apparent that it was the same for the Slytherin Prince. The annoyed frown that was pasted to the blond's face and dark circles were under his eyes. If Varian didn't know any better, he would say that the Malfoy heir was troubled by something, but this was Draco. Nothing ever seemed to bother him. At least, nothing that Varian could tell.

The Ice Prince let out a sigh, sitting back in his chair and rubbing the back of his stiff neck. Varian glanced up from from his book, knowing that Draco was probably about to call it a night. The boy stood up, closing his books and turned to Varian.

"Long day?" Varian inquired.

Draco snorted, rolling his eyes.

"You're not still sore about me accidentally blowing up a potion in your face last semester, are you?" Varian felt a little nervous for bringing up the sore topic, but he didn't want to be avoiding it all year. Especially if the only person he somewhat got along with was still angry about it.

The teen huffed and Varian took that as a yes.

"Oh. I see..." Varian subconsciously curled up a little more, glancing away guiltily.

Draco didn't seem to notice, or if he did, didn't act as if he cared. He only went to the closet to get his clothes to change to sleep in. When he came back, he looked over in Varian's direction. "It doesn't really matter."

"Huh?" Varian raised a brow, confused.

"It doesn't really matter," Draco muttered in annoyance.

"You mean the potions incident?"

"Well, what else, in Merlin's name, do I mean?"

Despite Draco's tone being sharp, Varian couldn't help but grin a little. That was as close as getting an all-is-forgotten-and-forgiven as he was getting. He would take it.

"Just don't let it happen again," Draco retorted.

"I won't make any promises," Varian said.

"Of course you won't. You're Slytherin. We never keep them anyway." Draco fell back in his own bed across the room. He reached over and turned off his lamp.

Varian took the liberty to use his wands to blow the other lights out for him. All except the one burning by his bed so he could read for a little longer. He hadn't exactly changed either, but he didn't want to get up to do it yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caine tapped her fingers on her desk, her eyes drifting to her left arm. Frankly, she probably should be wearing long sleeves in case someone walked in, but she wanted to look at the mark. It was permanent, very much like a tattoo. It was the symbol of her allegiance to the Dark Lord.

The only reason she was sitting in her room with a tank top on was because Pansy had been present when she gave the oath. Her roommate hadn't taken the herself yet, not being seventeen like herself. She would stand by Pansy when she came of age for her to get her own dark mark.

It was a shame really. A large portion of the school was against the Dark Lord and his cause. They were nothing short of idiots. The only to end up on top once the war took place was to be on his side.

Pansy let out a loud sigh as she sat down in a chair. She pulled off her tie, leaning her head back. "I'll be far too happy when this is all said an done!"

"Pan, this is only the first day." Caine twisted in her seat, leaning her arm on the back of her chair. "Not to mention you have a whole nother year after this one."

"Ugh, don't remind me. This is going to be a rough year."

"A lot of happenings," Caine agreed. "Plans are finally going to be brought into motion. I can't wait to watch the chaos unfold."

"You sound like you enjoy the suffering that is bound to happen," Pansy retorted.

She shrugged. "A small price for the bigger picture. Want some chocolates?" Caine pulled out a box that was tied with a ribbon.

"I don't know, will it run away from me?" Pansy smirked.

"Nope. No hexes, no charms. I don't mess with my chocolates," she promised.

"Then I don't mind if I do." Pansy happily accepted one of the chocolate covered cherries. "Thank you. I need to get a stash of my own chocolates first chance."

"Can't live without them," Caine agreed.

"Sooo... When is the Dark Lord's first move?" Pansy inquired absently.

The red head shrugged. "I don't know. The Dark Lord may not always tell me ahead of time. Even if he did, I would be sworn to secrecy, even from you. You may be on our side, but you don't have the dark mark. On top of that, the dark mark doesn't guarantee that I can still comunicate that information with you."

Pansy nodded, licking her fingers. "Fair enough. Could you at least tell me if things are going well? Wether if it's the mission in general or just you yourself?"

Caine nodded. "I could manage that. However, it will likely be very vague."

"I can live with that."

The seventh year paused before looking at the younger girl. "This is something I can say, but you can't say anything to anyone else."

Pansy made a motion of locking her lips. Caine smirked. Pansy was a girl of her word. If she said she wouldn't say anything, she would take the secrets to her grave.

"Don't be surprised if you see a lot of Death Eaters randomly dropping by. They will be causing chaos. So if you see one, you can turn around and pretend you never saw them."

The younger girl nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem."