Iuga Sortis (Bound By Destiny)

One

(Three Years Later)

Sleep refused to come. It didn't matter what position she tried, it flat out did not come. How could it, when her mind was so active? She'd left her home in Charleston to move across the Atlantic to live in a strange place, full of strange people with strange powers. Let's not forget you're one of these strange people now, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her. Though it had been three years since her mother told her who she was, Nia Roberts still couldn't wrap her mind around it. While her grandmother had taught her some things, it was imperative Nia finish her education at Hogwarts like her mother did. "They have the best teachers there, and you'll be living with children just like you. Pretty soon you'll never want to leave!" Jamilah had told her as she prepared her for her plane earlier yesterday. Nia sucked her teeth at that, thinking her grandmother didn't know what she was saying. She wouldn't like it here--they don't even have televisions! She missed her shows and missed her friends back home. Groaning she threw off the covers and grabbed her mother's old wand from the nightstand.

"Lumos." The wand emitted a bluish-white light, strong enough for her to see from, but not to wake up the others. She slipped into her slippers and out of the second year girls' dorm and made her way to the common room. The area was nothing short of immaculate. There were green plush sofas with sliver lining to match the emerald green carpet. She took off her slippers, and realized it was soft, feeling like new grass underneath her bare feet, a testament to how luxurious and no doubt expensive it was. The tables were made of ebony with ivory tops, and the candlestick fixtures were of three silver snakes that were coiled at the base to separate at the top, the candles placed inside their open mouths. Though it was the dungeon, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace warming it, complete with silver pokers to stoke the logs. She had never seen such opulence. So involved with studying the room she sat down on the couch, only to be promptly kicked off of it and onto to the floor.

"What the--"

"Don't you ever watch before you place your bum where it's not wanted?"

The question effectively cut off her impending tirade. "Bum?" she asked, slightly amused.

"Yes. Bum, backside, butt, a--"

"I get it! I get it! Jeez," Nia said, holding up her hands for the person to stop. She absently rubbed the place where she'd been kicked in an attempt to soothe it.

"Great. Now get this--leave."

Nia gasped, indignant, and whirled to give the person a piece of her mind. Before she could utter a word the person sat up, challenging her to lay in on him. Never before had she seen such blonde hair! It was practically platinum, and it was hanging into a pair of the loveliest gray eyes she'd ever seen. He was broad in the shoulders and tall--obviously an older boy. He definitely didn't have a face that made milk curdle she thought, but he was very pale. Sensing her perusal of him, he smirked, well aware of the effect he had on her.

"And another one succumbs to the god that is Malfoy," he said smugly.

"Excuse me?" she asked, breaking out her inspection of him.

"I'm sorry sweet, but I dare say you're a bit too young for me. As it is, are you even supposed to be here? You don't even look old enough to be a first year!"

"I'm a second year!" Nia bit out angrily, folding her arms under her chest. She wondered why the first person she'd meet in her House would come off as such a jerk.

Draco's eyes perked up a bit at that. While her face didn't look like a second year, her body had curves that could damn well put many of his yearmates to shame--even if she was a little round. But he quickly ended that train of thought and sneered at her again. "Well, either way, it's still passed your bedtime. Now run along, little girl and leave me in peace before I give you a detention."

"And who do you think you are?" she asked, her annoyance rising with each passing minute.

He grinned evilly. "I'm a fifth year, a prefect, a Malfoy, and Snape's favorite student--not necessarily in that order of importance."

"And you're a punk."

Draco didn't quite know what a punk was, but by the tone of her voice, he knew it wasn't something good. "Oooh, so the Little One has spunk. No matter, I've been called worse things," he said with nonchalance.

"Don't call me that! Only my Daddy calls me that!"

Draco was charmed despite himself; very few people had the gall to stand up to him whose last names were not Potter, Weasley, or Granger. "And is your daddy here?" he sneered.

Nia raised an eyebrow, looking smug. "Yes."

That shut him up quickly, and he peered at her. "Who's your daddy?" Nia couldn't help it; she began to laugh. "What's so funny about that?" he asked, confused by her reaction.

"In America that usually means one of three things, two of which I'm sure you didn't mean. But that doesn't mean it ain't funny," she explained.

"Uh-huh," Draco said skeptically.

"So what 'worse things' do people call you?"

He smirked. "As if I'm going to tell you that, you're liable to take up the game."

"Well, what does your family call you?"

His expression softened as he thought about his mother. "Dragon," he said wistfully.

"Dragon," she said, scrunching up her nose as she tested the name on her tongue.

For some unknown reason, his pet name sounded cute, even endearing coming from this short, plump girl who had encroached on his private time. He removed his long legs from the couch, swinging his feet to the floor. "Sit."

Nia looked at him askance and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Weren't you just kicking me out not two seconds ago?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Changed my mind. I can do that you know," he shrugged.

She cautiously went to the couch and sat down, well out of his reach. They sat in silence, watching the fire blaze as they became lost in their thoughts. Draco looked at his companion, smiling a bit that her legs couldn't reach the floor as she rested against the back of the couch. Her hair was braided to her scalp, with the ends covered in beads and falling to her shoulders. The lilac tank top she wore exposed her chubby mahogany arms as she cradled a pillow to her chest. Perhaps her most striking feature were her eyes--golden like the fire they were watching, so unlike his own silver eyes.

"Do you like what you see?"

He jumped, then cursed himself for being caught staring at her. She smiled at him good-naturedly. "Don't worry you don't have to answer that. It was just that your gaze unnerved me a bit," she explained.

"Draco."

"Huh?"

"My name is Draco. It's Latin for dragon."

Nia turned away from the fire and smiled at him. She has such a gorgeous smile, he thought, those dimples will break many a heart.

"Ah, that explains it. I'm Nia, then," she said, extending her hand. He shook it, noting her grip was warm yet strong.

Draco cleared his throat, asking the first question that came to mind. "You're not from England are you?"

"I'm from the States, Charleston, South Carolina to be more specific."

"I've been to the States, but never there. I've been to LA, New York, Boston . . ."

"Big cities. Charleston's tiny compared to those places."

"Yeah, but you don't sound like some of the Americans I've talked to," he noted.

"I'm from the South, we talk differently down there," she told him.

Draco nodded in acceptance, then frowned. "How are you a second year? I don't remember seeing you here last year."

"My grandmother just told me this summer that I'd be going to school here. Up until then I went to regular school," she shrugged.

He scowled at that. "You mean Muggle schools?"

"Problem?" she challenged.

Something told him he didn't want to get on her bad side. "No. So, you went to a Muggle school in the States; are you Muggle-born then?"

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently not if I got Sorted into Slytherin! Besides, my mother went to this school."

"Which house?"

"Gryffindor."

Draco snorted.

"Problem?" she asked again, twisting so that she could face him.

"Merlin! Why would I have a problem with the Golden house of Hogwarts where the Golden boy of the wizarding world lives along with his Golden sidekicks?" he said sarcastically.

"Well I've always been partial to silver," she deadpanned.

Draco surprised himself by laughing at her comment, the simple statement breaking him out of his momentary foul mood. "You must hate your eyes then," he said, looking into them.

"Eh, they serve their purpose, and nothing that colored contacts couldn't fix," she said blasé. "But I do like yours."

That was probably the first genuine compliment he'd heard in his entire time at Hogwarts, and he couldn't contain his blush. If Nia noticed, she decided not to comment on it.

"So," he said, clearing his throat, "your mother was a graduate of Hogwarts, Gryffindor no less."

"Yup."

"And you didn't know you were a witch," he asked, looking incredulous.

"I didn't ask, she didn't tell," she said.

"Clearly you're father's a wizard because you said he was here. Let's think; who is the only wizard here young enough to be your father?" he thought aloud, tapping his finger on his chin. His eyes widened in shock. " . . . Snape!"

Nia giggled. "Yup."

His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "But you're black!" he sputtered, momentarily forgetting his sense of etiquette.

"Ain't you a quick one?" she said sardonically.

He glared at her, indignant. "But you have a different last name than Snape!"

"How do you know my last name?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

Draco rolled his eyes. "McGonagall only told the entire school when she called your name to be Sorted!"

Nia was glad that her skin was dark enough to hide her blush. "Yeah so? It's my mother's maiden name," she muttered.

"That's odd," he acknowledged.

Nia shrugged. "Well, I've already told you too much. No one is supposed to know my relationship to Snape so could you please not tell anyone?"

"Ok."

"Pinky promise."

"Pinky what?"

"It's a Muggle thing, like sealing the deal, making it binding or something. All you gotta do is link your right pinky with mine's and kiss your thumb. It's perfectly harmless." Draco looked at her in exasperation before finally offering his pinky to her and doing as she said. She was right; the ritual was painless.

"Never thought I'd see the day where I'd voluntarily do something Muggle," he said, shaking his head in awe.

"First time for everything, right?" she asked, yawning a bit towards then end of her comment.

Draco smirked. "Go to bed," he ordered, but without his earlier malice. She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed--his first real laugh in years.

"I like your laugh. It's nice," she commented.

"Guess I'll have to laugh more often, eh?"

"Guess so," she said. She stood and stretched, her tank top riding up to expose her belly button.

"Stop starin' at my gut," she chastised, her drawl thicker than before as she pulled her tank top down again.

He grinned. "A couple of laps around the pitch should make that gut disappear in a snap," he teased.

"It's baby fat," she mumbled half-heartedly, pouting like a six-year-old.

He laughed again and pointed his wand at the fire. "Desino." The blaze went out, leaving only the soft light of the candles to illuminate the room.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering an arm to her.

"We shall," she said, taking his arm and using him for balance as she stepped into her slippers. He walked her to the dungeon wall that led to the girls' hallway and muttered the password. The wall slid open and he felt her eyes on him in a silent question.

"I'm a prefect remember?" he said with a half-smile.

"Lord help us all," she gibed. She began to walk down the hall when she turned and walked back to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "It's just that I came out there tonight because I couldn't sleep and I felt all alone. Now I'm bone-tired and I've made my first friend. Fate's funny like that, ain't it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in thought.

"Yeah, I guess she is."

Nia chuckled. "Goodnight Dragon. See you tomorrow," she said, impulsively kissing his cheek before she left.

Draco stood there dazed, not used to such genuine displays of affection from someone other than his mother. He smiled and left to go to his own room. Truer words were never spoken, for in Nia, Draco found his first true friend.