I sat on my bed, legs crossed. I had a textbook on my lap, a scroll of parchment rolled out across it. Another textbook lay next to me, flipped open to page 201. I was finishing up last-minute homework, stuff that I had left behind out of sheer boredom and procrastination.

I looked up as I sensed movement, and saw my owl glide elegantly into my room. She glided over to the bed and perched herself next to me, and held out her leg. I smiled and removed the parchment that had been tied around her leg.

“Thanks, Kakali,” I said. She gave me an affectionate nip before perching on the desk. She set to preening herself, giving me a glance with those huge, amber eyes every few minutes. Kakali was my eagle owl. She was a rather light gray, peppered with plenty of black spots.

I had been writing to my friend, Sabrina Lestrange. Kakali was my only mode of communication without involving Floo Powder, and I had to multi-task. I unrolled the parchment and read the short note.

Yeah, I can go. I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron. I should be there by the time you get this note. I'll meet you at the usual table, see you soon!

I tossed the note and my school things on the bed next to me. I moved over to my closet to find something to wear. There was a knock on the door, and I bit back a groan.

“Come in, Aunt Beatriz,” I called, before disappearing into the walk-in closet. It was every girl's dream and nightmare in one. I had a massive array of clothes, and yet nothing ever seemed like it fit the occasion at hand.

“Rayne, where are you?” said my aunt, rather loudly. I rolled my eyes.

“Closet!” I replied. I could hear the click of my aunt's heels as she approached the closet. I knew she had reached the door when the clicking stopped.

“Good, I'm glad you're getting dressed. Scorpius is -”

“Aunt Beatriz, please! We just did this yesterday!” I whined. I turned around, arms across my chest, and glared at her. “I'm supposed to be going school shopping with Sabrina, anyway!”

“Well, take Scorpius along with you,” replied my aunt. I snorted.

“Right, like a guy wants to go shopping with a couple of girls, anyway.”

“He might like to get to know his fiancée better, however.” At the word fiancée, I jabbed my fingers in my ears.

“La, la, la, la! Can't hear you!” I said loudly. It was my aunt's turn to glare.

“He's already here so take your pick, either stay here all day or go out with him!” she snapped. I groaned and fought back the urge to stick out my tongue and stomp my foot. “Shall I tell him of your plans?”

“Fine, whatever!” I snapped, turning back to the clothing. I muttered to myself as she walked away, half nonsense and half about how insane an arranged marriage was. I set to the task of finding an outfit, tore between how long I felt like taking. On one hand, I wanted to drag out the time, for fear of another awkward meeting with my … scratch that, with him. Then again, I wanted to hurry up and see Sabrina.

I finally decided on an outfit, used a spell to quickly put on light makeup, and forced myself into the hallway. At least he wasn't waiting there. I could feel the dread stabbing at me, dread of another awkward meeting that was sure to follow. What else could I expect? Merlin, what in the world did two sixteen-year-olds partaking in an arranged marriage even say to each other?

I paused at the railing overlooking the first floor. I could see both him and my aunt standing there, waiting for me. I had half a mind just to run away and board myself up in my room.

“There you are!” I bit my lip to keep back the grimace as both my aunt and … whatever-you-call-him looked up at me. He gave me a nervous smile, which I could not force myself to return. I descended the steps slowly, trying to remind myself of what lady-like was, all the while wondering why I even cared.  He was still smiling by the time I made it down the stairs, and all I could think of was how idiotic it made me feel. Then again, I still felt a little smug knowing that he was grinning like an idiot because of me.

“You look great,” he said. What a mood-killer, great one Romeo. I held in a sarcastic retort and forced a smile.

“Thank you,” I managed. I had to turn away before the smile killed me. Unfortunately, I turned right to my aunt.

“Well, you two best be on your way. Behave, Rayne,” warned my aunt. I gave her a sweet smile.

“Who, me misbehave? Never!” I quickly turned away and scrunched my nose. Scorpius seemed to catch this, for he grinned again. He was way more into this crazy scheme than I was. I led the way to the nearest fireplace without a word, and disappeared into the fire.

When I finally stopped spinning, I stumbled out into a dimly-lit pub. I paused long enough to dust some soot off of my skirt, before looking around for Sabrina. I could hear Scorpius emerge from the fireplace behind me, but I paid him no attention and headed straight for Sabrina's and my usual meeting place.

I found Sabrina sitting at a back table, another girl our age sitting next to her, and, to my annoyance, Scorpius right beside me.

“And who is this?” Sabrina asked, leaning forward with interest. I glanced at Scorpius and, in all honesty, I couldn't blame her for being interested. After all, he was rather good-looking. He was tall, with platinum blond hair that hung perfectly into his eyes, which were the gray of clouds on an overcast day.

“This is Scorpius Malfoy, you remember me telling you about him, don't you?” I said, partially hoping that she didn't. By the sudden loss of interest, I knew that she did.

“Oh yeah, the taken one,” she replied, leaning back into her chair. I grinned and shook my head.

“Well, uh,” I gave him an awkward, sideways glance, “that is Sabrina Lestrange. And this is...?”

“Oh, I'm Kaia Zabini,” said the girl with a smile. “I hope you don't mind, Sabrina invited me.” Sabrina, who was in the middle of taking a swig of whatever was in the bottle in front of her, nodded.

“Oh no, it's fine,” I replied, with a small smile.

“You wouldn't happen to be related to Blaise Zabini, would you?” asked Scorpius. I heard a change of tone in his voice, so I looked over at him. He wore a scowl on his face, so my eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, he's my father. Why do you ask?” replied Kaia. Scorpius's scowl deepened.

“My father knew him, that's all,” he replied, looking away. I could hear a sudden calmness in his voice, but his scowl remained. My brows furrowed. I shook my head and turned back to the others.

“Are we going, or what?” I demanded. Sabrina held up a finger and chugged down another large drink of whatever was in the bottle.

“Okay, I'm game.” Sabrina and Kaia stood, Sabrina swaying ever so slightly.

“That isn't firewhiskey, is it, Sabrina?” I asked. She gave me an innocent look.

“No, of course not!” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever, I'm not picking you up whenever you start falling over, and I'll push you over if you start thinking you're funny,” I replied. Kaia laughed at this, and I grinned as well.

“Whatever,” was Sabrina's reply. I sighed and headed for the back exit, giving a brusque nod to the happy bartender. The four of us crowded around a large, seemingly shabby brick wall in the back of the bar.

Kaia moved forward and tapped a certain brick with her wand. Stowing it back in her pocket, she stepped back as the bricks rumbled angrily. They began to move and shift, and settled to form a large archway.

I took another glance at Scorpius to find that he was still glaring at Kaia. I nudged him with my elbow. He looked over at me and gave me a smile. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.

When we had passed through the archway, we had entered what appeared to be a whole other universe. The archway closed behind us, and we proceeded into the streets. The shops around us were blaring bright, happy-go-lucky colors. The wizarding war had been over with for 24 years now, and yet the celebrations still seemed to have barely begun. Everyone who had been alive during the war was still unbelievably happy. No one my age could understand their parents' or grandparents' elations, and hardly any of us even attempted to. After all, the new thinking was to move toward the future.

Our first destination was Madam Malkin's, a witch who sold robes of all kinds. We all needed new school robes, and Kaia was interested in finding new dress robes. We walked into the shop, and there was a tinkle from somewhere further into the store.

The store was crowded with racks of clothing, from everyday clothes to  gorgeous dress robes. The shop was separated into halves; the men's clothing to the left, while the women's to the right. Sabrina and Kaia headed immediately to the right of the shop. Scorpius drifted in the direction of the men's robes, but I followed him.

“What is your problem?” I demanded, planting myself in front of him. I crossed my arms over my chest and rested all my weight on one leg. He sighed and appeared to struggle to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

“The simple explanation? She's the daughter of Blaise Zabini.” I rolled my eyes.

“Judging people before you even know them. You are so like your father.” I spun around to storm off. However, Scorpius seized my wrist so hard that I gasped in pain. He jerked me back around to face him, and kept a tight grip on my wrist. His hold was so tight that I could see a little of white in his knuckles.

“Never compare me to that atrocious man,” he said slowly, his voice laced with hatred. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were slightly squinted, shrieking rage. I managed to keep my countenance smooth, but inside, my heart stuttered slightly as fear gave me a good nip.

“Get the fuck off of me,” I snarled. He loosened his grip and I ripped my hand away from him. We glared at each other for several long moments. Finally, I turned away from him and stormed away.