Peyton settled into a compartment near the back of the train. He had never been so excited about going back to school before. Usually the train ride from London to Hogsmeade would consist of a fist fight or two between his half brother and himself. Thankfully this year - for whatever reason - Xavier looked skittish and had slipped away from the athletic Ravenclaw as soon as he had seen him. Normally Peyton would have been curious by the Slytherin's behaviour but there was too much else on his mind.

Not only was he going to try out for Quidditch Captain this year, which in it's own right was completely amazing, but the Tetra Wizard Tournament was starting. Which meant that Hogwarts was going to be crawling with foreign students from Beauxbatons, Durstrang and the American school Salem. However it was one Salem student in particular that had Peyton's blood pumping and his excitement levels sky rocketing.

He had met Mace in Zonko's at the beginning of the month and had sent him a few letters back and forth since then. He had never had a boy make him feel so good about himself before. His crushes on Leon and Edmund the previous year were nothing compared to his infatuation with Mace and he didn't even know which team he played for yet. Another reason for his increased excitement about going back to the old Scottish castle.

It had been absolute chaos at Platform 9 3/4 and Bellatrix had been forced to say good-bye to her sisters. Erin barely even said a word before she took off to find her own friends and Beatrix had to go to the Prefects cart. Bella was left alone traveling along the train as it started to take off, pulling her trunk along behind her. She got a lot of shocked looks and double-takes for her outfit, even her hair which she had changed over the summer vacation. There was a new Bellatrix Dark on board the Hogwarts Express. She wasn't sure how the world would handle her real self nor did she know how she would respond to the world now that she had changed.

After some time, she reached the back of the train. Nobody wanted her to sit with them. That was obvious from the glares and ducking of heads. Disappointing, but not something unexpected. After staring at the final wall of the train, she turned around and headed back towards the front in case she missed an empty compartment. In a compartment, several fourth year girls were chatting animatedly about the Tetrawizard Tournament. She stopped to say something, but a familiar face entering a compartment on his own not too far along the aisle ahead caught her eye. Brimming with excitement, the sixth year Slytherin jerked her trunk along and hurried towards the compartment before anyone could join him. The compartment door opened suddenly to reveal Bellatrix beaming down at the boy she considered to be her best friend--except for, of course, her default twin sister.

She wanted to say something cool, something casual like 'all right there, Peyton?'. It just wasn't in the true Bellatrix to be cool. There was too much of her like Beatrix. Without warning, she flew into the compartment and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. It seemed like it had been ages since she'd seen him! Everything had changed over the summer, especially her.

"It's so good to see you..."

There was an unprecedented and frightening desire to cry welling up within her, but she refused to allow the tears to show. She couldn't let go. Nothing significant had happened over the holiday and yet, somehow, the world had turned upside down and her along with it. It was like she was a fairy trapped in a bottle that someone had shaken up, turned upside down, shaken some more, and then turned it right side up again. Peyton was the only thing besides her sister that seemed, at the moment, like anything stable. Maybe that was why she had to hold onto him... There was a dread in her that, once she let go, she would fall apart. So the hug went on...and on...and on...

Peyton had been daydreaming about Quidditch and his new favourite senior when he was suddenly attacked by a petite and femininely shaped figure. He reflexively wrapped his arms back around her and held her tight to his own chest. While he had always been a broad shoulder boy Peyton was nearly an adult now and his continuous Quidditch practices at home were beginning to show in his masculine form. He buried his head in her hair trying to place where he knew that smell. He hadn't gotten a look at her before she had jumped him and had to try and deduce what he knew of her so far. She wasn't as tall as Alex and she was more slender than Aly. Sophie wouldn't have held on for so long considering he had just seen her a few days before which brought Peyton to one conclusion, the only other gal pal he hadn't seen all summer.

"Bloody hell Bells, I knew you had a good beater arm but you could strangle a manticore with that grip." He chuckled gently and separated her from his chest just enough to be able to look into her eyes. He pushed a platinum blonde lock out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear, giving himself a moment to take her in. She definitely didn't look like Bellatrix Dark but then Beatrix had no reason to have latched onto him so hard and she tended to keep her hair pink.

He exhaled deeply, "You look gorgeous, almost enough to make me rethink a few things." He gave her a cheeky wink. Bella had been one of the first people to find out about his preferences. Between their Egg Project the previous year, the mess over Christmas, her break up with his half brother and their date to the Valentine's ball Bella was probably one of the closest friends he had and he had missed her something fierce. He gave her another quick squeeze of his own before letting her take a seat.

"So where have you been hiding all Summer?"

"Bloody hell Bells, I knew you had a good beater arm but you could strangle a manticore with that grip."

That was it. The little joke spoken by his voice was the thing that broke her resolve. Bellatrix felt her nose tingle and her eyes water with tears. She would have hid them from him, but he pulled her away from him far enough to look at her. What could it have been about those gorgeous eyes and that wonderful smile of his that unsettled her so much? It couldn't be love. Bellatrix Dark didn't fall in love. She'd come close with Xavier (too close) and she wasn't about to let it happen again.

"Good thing I'm not trying out for Beater, eh? I'm aiming for Chaser this year."

Peyton's hand moved some of her hair out of her face and she felt the rough texture of his palm brush against her ear. He'd been playing Quidditch again. That was probably the thing that had brought them close together. No matter what they'd gone through, they had relied on Quidditch to pull them through. Or, at least, it had been up until last year around Christmas when Bella had gone to Callum Knight to resign from the team. She had deemed it impossible to play with Xavier Tawse.

"You look gorgeous, almost enough to make me rethink a few things."

Her lips pulled into a grin. Not the scary grin that meant someone was about to be jinxed nor the mischievous grin that expressed a plot was forming in her mind. It was the sincere grin of a normal girl who thought good things. She was sure Peyton had seen it before. After all, he had brought out the best in Bella.

"That's what I was aiming for," she responded with a tricky glint in her eye. The Slytherin reached up and flipped her hair over her shoulder in the same manner as her twin sister, smiling slyly as she did so. "I'm going to make you fall madly in love with me before the year is over with, Petyon. That's my goal this year."

It was, of course a joke. Or was it? The words had a strange ring to them. But, of course, he could never fall in love with her. He was interested in boys, not girls and if he was interested in girls, it wouldn't be her. They squeezed briefly before letting go of one another completely. She dragged her trunk in and tried to push it up in the luggage rack, but couldn't quite get it all the way up there. The bloody thing was heavy! Bellatrix groaned in frustration before finally jumping up with the trunk which finally managed to fully set itself on the rack above.

"So where have you been hiding all Summer?"

"I was working." There weren't many people she would have admitted that to, but half of Hogwarts knew anyway because they'd seen her there. "You know the club Spellpunk? I worked there over the summer."

"Chaser eh? Fair warning, if we end up playing each other, I won't be going easy on you. That Quaffles is mine." He gave her a cheeky grin. He loved being able to talk to a girl about Quidditch. While most people thought of it as a guys sport Peyton found the girls were often the most passionate and the most deadly, you simply had to look at the Slytherin team to know that much. Between Dark, Strelnikov and Li, it was downright murderous.

Peyton let out a good natured bellow of a laugh as she announced her goal for the school year was to make him fall madly in love with her. He had to admit if for any reason he was to ever fall for a girl Bella would be right at the top of the list. He didn't really blame his brother for having loved her so much, though try as he might she just didn't do it for him, "Challenge accept Madame. Though truth be told Bells, aside from making Quidditch Captain I think the only plans I've made for this year is to hopefully end up with a boyfriend."

He got to his feet as she tried to put her trunk in the racks overhead. He was seconds away form offering a hand when she managed to heft it up the last little bit. He watched it rattle as it settled into place, "Spellpunk? Wicked. I was supposed to go there a few times over the summer but never made it out. Spent most of the time just flying. Things at home haven't really gotten any better and since neither of us want to tell Helena or my mum it's just been awkward for everyone." Bella was one of the few people that knew the whole story behind him and his half brother, not to mention the rift it had caused between him and his Dad.