"The Start Of The Change"

-SINCE THAT DAY, ADHARA HADN'T BEEN BACK TO POTTER AND BLACK MANOR, AND SPENT THE REST OF THE SUMMER WITH THE MALFOYS. It wasn't that she wasn't allowed to, she was, but it was just that she didn't want anymore flashbacks of what had happened.

The flashbacks.

The sound of the dagger making contact with their bodies.

The smell of blood.

It haunted her. Gosh, it did.

And they noticed. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco noticed.

Adhara had changed.

Draco and Adhara sat down at the Slytherin compartments, and started to talk.

They were both chosen as prefects for the year, not that it was surprising. Adhara had also been chosen as quidditch captain, much to her shock.

"-and you don't seem like yourself anymore, Ara." finished Draco, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What?" She asked, looking confused because she hadn't even heard what he said.

Her brother sighed. "Exactly."

Pansy walked in at that moment and sat down next to Adhara, giving her a side-hug. "How are you, Ara?"

"Fine."

The girl frowned in concern, but knew her best friend didn't want to talk about it. "Hey, don't you two have a prefects meeting?"

"Yeah, we do. C'mon, Ara." Draco said, standing up, his sister following him.

A few minutes later, the two finally reached the compartment where the meeting was being held at.

Hermione and Ron, both chosen prefects for Gryffindor, lifted their head up when the compartment door opened.

Hermione immediately felt her heart breaking at the sight of the girl.

Adhara was wearing a plain black suit, her long hair opened and not styled, and her face emotionless.

"Sorry we're late." mumbled Draco as they sat down.

"Oh, that's alright. We were just getting started." The headboy said and pulled out a few papers, handing each one to them all. "These are your patrolling timetables."

Adhara looked at her timetable,

'Mondays 9pm-12am: Slytherin dungeons -Draco Malfoy.
Tuesdays 9pm-12am: Seventh floor corridor-Ronald Weasley.
Wednesdays 9pm-12am: Ravenclaw tower-Zacharias Smith.
Thursdays 9pm-12am: Gryffindor tower-Hermione Granger.'

Adhara tried not to sigh at the last one and made eye contact with her brother, both of them wanting to patrol only together and not with the others.

"-and you can take points and give detentions if you see students out of bed." finished the head girl, earning nods from the prefects.

"So, how was it?" asked Harry as Hermione and Ron sat back down at their compartment.

"Fine. Not much happened." shrugged Ron, munching on a chocolate frog.

"Addie's prefect."

Harry looked shocked. "She is? How was she?"

"Changed." was all Hermione could say.

"She didn't reply to our letters." Harry sighed. "Did she reply to yours?"

"Mine kept coming back."

"You've got to let her be. Her name's all over the daily prophet. Nobody even knows how the ministry found out. People are praising her and so is the ministry itself. But she seemed like she hated it." Ron pointed out.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in shock. That was the first sensible thing Ron had ever said.

"Maybe." Harry finally replied.

"Mr. and Ms. Malfoy?" asked a young nervous boy, who had knocked on their compartment door.

"What?" asked Adhara harshly.

"Professor Slughorn wants you both in the last compartment." He replied and immediately walked away.

Adhara and Draco shared a confused look, both of them standing up and walking away, leaving a grumbling Pansy behind.

"Who's Slughorn?" asked Draco.

"Dunno. New teacher?"

"For what?"

"Dunno again." shrugged Adhara.

When they finally reached the compartment, they became even more confused.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Cormac McLaggen, Marcus Belby, and Blaise Zabini were there with the new Professor.

They walked in, not talking.

"Ah, you both must be the Malfoy siblings! How nice to meet you!" Professor Slughorn exclaimed excitedly, shaking their hands. "Sit down, sit down!"

The two sat down, still in silence, not making eye contact with anyone except each other.

A few minutes passed by with Slughorn excitedly talking, making the Malfoy siblings roll their eyes as they finally knew what this was about.

Slughorn merely invited the most important students, whom had connections with the ministry, impressive family members, and etc.

When the Professor finally moved onto the two, his smile broadened. "-and from what I've heard, Ms. Malfoy, you've found the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. without the ministry's help and even managed to kill them and saving your family in the process!"

Adhara's eyes flashed dangerously, while Hermione and Harry tensed. Draco immediately held her hand, making her calm down. "Yes, sir." She said, her voice tight and flat at the same time.

Slughorn seemed pleased by her answer, but confused by her glare, so he just went on to the other students.

Sitting down in the great hall with Pansy and Draco, Adhara didn't make eye contact with anyone except Pansy, who was trying her hardest to cheer her up.

"Come on, Ara." Pansy raised an eyebrow and gave her a look, "You know that was funny."

Adhara's lips quirked upwards for a few seconds, making Pansy beam. "Fine, it was."

"Yay!" Pansy clapped excitedly.

Dumbledore standing up caught everyone's attentions. "Firstly, I would like to introduce the fifth till seventh years' new Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. Meanwhile, Professor Snape shall resume his post as the potions professor for the first till fourth years."

"Great." mumbled Draco sarcastically. "Why couldn't we have Sev instead of those bloody first years?"

"A very good reason, probably." Pansy mumbled just as sarcastic.

When the first years were finally sorted, they all started eating and talking.

"Pass the salt, would you?" asked Pansy.

Adhara nodded, reaching over for the salt and giving it to her. Pansy, whose hand touched Adhara's, tried to ignore the way her heart started beating faster by the small contact, and thanked her.

Draco sighed. "Sirius and James keep looking at you."

"I don't care."

"Ara, why are you ignoring them? They seem to be worried."

"So?" shrugged Adhara, looking unbothered.

Draco stayed quiet and continued to eat his food, while Adhara's eyes looked around the great hall, making eye contact with a concerned-looking Hermione.

Adhara immediately looked away, not wanting to deal with her right now.

"-and if you forget the password, you'll be sleeping on the cold dungeon floors at night." drawled Adhara, looking at the now-scared new first years.

Draco rolled his eyes fondly. "Ignore her. If you forget the password, just knock on the wall and someone will open it for you." He said and looked at the wall. "Snake."

The wall opened, granting access to the Slytherin common room, making the new first years gasp in awe.

"Deal with them, I'm out." mumbled Adhara, walking to the girl's dormitories staircases and going out of sight.