Start of the year

Lan stood atop the hill, his expression grim as he looked upon Hogwarts, truly it was his home more than his small home with muggles, he was a wizard of great power and potential. The Al' had been put in front of his name as a title .. by a goblin, the Al' meaning power in the darkness, originally the goblin had been mocking Lan but he had taken it as a serious affair and took it to his name, as time passed Lan grew more distant from the world, colder darker until today, now he stood atop the hill, looking down upon his school and his true home, his youth belaying his raw power, he weaved his own spells, making them much like Snape had done in the past, even one that could cover him from the trace, or so he hoped as he had not tested it yet, for good reason. Today he waited for the hogwarts express to arrive as he watched teachers, small specks from up here, buzzing around the grounds in groups.

He saw the train approaching the station a few hours later and began jogging down the hill, his rucksack bulging on his back as his extreme fitness came to the fore, his long lopping strides carrying him down the slope and he reached the station at the same time as the train, blending in he dumped his bag in the pile near the last carriage and pulled on his tie quickly, having already donned his robes when he first sighted the train, now he moved among the crowd with ease, slipping between each person as he moved towards the carriages and sat in the corner of one as he waited to go to the castle, to go home ....

Allissa sat into the train on her way back to the world of magic she loved. She watched people walking through the ways and stepped out when the train finally stopped. She got her balance pretty good but was pushed out of the train as well. She made a backflip and landed gracefully on her feet. She found herself a carriage and sat down next to a boy. She looked away and saw the girl who pushed her. She looked down and got thirsty a little. She took her owl and wrote a quick letter to professor Dumbledore.

Dear professor Dumbledore,

I am writing this because I needed to let you know if I was thirsty. I am nnot really badly but I am a little. I can make it to the grounds I swear but could you let me drink when I get there?

Thanks a lot,

Allissa Stone.

Allissa took the bird’s paw and unleased it. She gave her the letter and made it fly away. The owl was as black as the night with one white spot on his eye. She looked down trying to keep control.

Lan looked at the girl from his seat in the darkest corner of the carriage, his features thrown into sharp relief as gaunt and haggard. His eyes drank in every detail quickly and he began probing the air with his magic to get a sense of how strong she was naturally and recoiled, she seemed of a strength with him ... but how? So far he had found only hafl the teachers could match his raw strength ..

He looked at her owl and nodded, instead of an owl he personally had a Saker falcon, swift and strong the bird was grey with black streaks through it's feathers, reflecting Lan's personality, he was a member of house Hufflepuff some of the companions or sorry mutual allies within his house believed him more of a like to Slytherin and their cold, evil and cruel nature but they weren't complaining because Lan was a great all round Quiditch player, specializing in being a Seeker or a chaser but he could play goal and beater well enough too, he wanted to be captain when his time came but he knew another would get the task, that much was obvious, he looked at the girl across from him and simply greeted her curtly.

Allissa watched the bird until it flew into the tower. Which was weird cause she was miles away from it. Allissa looked at the boy and smiled. ‘’ hello ‘’ she said with her all American accent. She looked down again. Why did she took a breathe? She can’t do this. Yes she can. She knew it she trusted herself. Dumbledore trusted her. Allissa wouldn’t blow her life off because of some guy. She looked out of the carriage as she saw a blonde slytherin guy walking up to a lamppost. She saw him bleeding a little on his fore head as she took the seat with her nails and ripped almost the whole seat in pieces. She tried to concentrate but it was really hard

She stopped breathing and waited until he was far away from her. In the mean time she didn’t look at any sides. She was staring right in front of her. Her eyes focused on the road. Her ears listening to the birds and stopped trying to listen to the beating hearts. She grabbed her head and started counting in her mind.

Lan frowned at the girl as she began some sort of .. all he could call it was episode after Draco walked past, he loathed Draco Malfoy with his snide comments and slippery, vicious attitude. He sighed a long sigh, expelling air from hsi lungs before he took another deep breath and began weaving one of the spells he had created, this one involved nto a wand but the wizards hands and a great deal of focus, as he did the aura in the cabin became cool and calm. He looked upon the girl as this had an effect upon her and said in a crystal clear, curt tone "Are you well? Do you need anything?" then he watched her reaction with a soft frown, for good or ill Lan was always wearing a thoughtful frown upon his rugged hard features.

Allissa shook her head. She didn't want him to worry but now someone was bleeding she couldn't imagine someone to say something. She looked at him. His voice was sweet and he was worried. She couldn't only forget her thirst. '' I'm fine don't worry '' she gave him a sweet smile and got her head digged into her stone cold hands. her Ice cold skin felt only more cold now she as mumbling some short latin words.

She looked up to the animal walking the carriage and smiled. '' go '' she said and looked up in the sky. Every star was so clear tonight it looked pretty cool to be honest. She took a deep breathe and played with her white wand. It was as white as it could be with a small golden lone around it as a sort of snake. She oved her wand but barrely used it.

She looked at the boy and smiled. '' I'm Allissa '' she said smiling knwoing that she needed to say something before it got out of hand. She felt a little better so she tried to keep this rythem. She listened to the feet of the animal and lost the smell of Draco's blood.

Allissa shook her head. She didn't want him to worry but now someone was bleeding she couldn't imagine someone to say something. She looked at him. His voice was sweet and he was worried. She couldn't only forget her thirst. '' I'm fine don't worry '' she gave him a sweet smile and got her head digged into her stone cold hands. her Ice cold skin felt only more cold now she as mumbling some short latin words.

She looked up to the animal walking the carriage and smiled. '' go '' she said and looked up in the sky. Every star was so clear tonight it looked pretty cool to be honest. She took a deep breathe and played with her white wand. It was as white as it could be with a small golden lone around it as a sort of snake. She oved her wand but barrely used it.

She looked at the boy and smiled. '' I'm Allissa '' she said smiling knwoing that she needed to say something before it got out of hand. She felt a little better so she tried to keep this rythem. She listened to the feet of the animal and lost the smell of Draco's blood.

Lan looked at her listening to her voice, the tone, the way she formed her words, assessing everything about her in a cold calculating manner, almost as if he were detached from the entire conversation, when she spoke her name he nodded.

He watched her for a few moments longer, his thoughts running through an inventory of spells to calm her a little more as he could see the tension then he felt the carriage lurch into motion and sighed "I am Lan the black .. or that is what they call me, I am named truly Al'Lan Mandragoran."

Allissa smiled. '' nice to meet you '' she said smiling. Her voice sounded like she was a piece of an cloud so soft and friendly. Her manner of speaking was almost as old as the way to rome and her pale white face was shining in the moonlight. She knew Lan the black from the first year. She was his potions partner then. She never talked to anyone before because of her voice and her manner of speaking. she felt a small calmness but couldn't imagine what to do now.

Her thirst was so freaky that she didn't even breathe. She clamed her senses and her throat cleared a little. Allissa saw a bird with a bottle and smiled. '' thanks Joyce '' she said smiling letting the bird rest on her shoulder. '' well our ways will probably end here I'd rather walk the rest of the trip '' she smiled and hald the bottle close. '' tomato juice from my mother '' she giggled and jumped out of the riding Carriage. she waved and then walked out of sight where she started running.

Lan's voice was cool as she jumped from the carriage "I know it is not tomato juice Allissa. I can smell it." then he sighed and shrugged as she was gone, feeling the ruts in the road and the bumps as the carriage trundled along up the slope in a haphazard way he saw the groundskeepers lantern out on the lake and sighed, he had never really liked Hagrid and his lessons very much, he had always found the man bothersome and dull. He sighed as the carriage came to a halt in the court yard, fluidly slipping out into the darkness, grunting as students and the few teachers about establishing order gave him a wide berth as he walked into the great hall, even the ghosts gave him a wide berth as he sat down with his back to the Ravenclaw table, weaving a few more of his own spells secretly which created an aura around him to protect him from Peeves or any other pranks played by anyone.

Allissa sat down at the Ravenclaw table where Dumbledore gave her a special seat with her back to the Hufflepuff table. She already gave back the bottle and thanked the professor. She didn't ate during dinner She always made the excuse of already ate or that she was feeling sick. She saw the first years coming through the door as she fled. She was standing behind the door next to a pot of plants. She sat down and tried to breathe deeply. the when she calmed down she got back to her seat. she watched the hat singing and the sorting. then Dumbledore's speech and the dinner. During dinner she was just sitting there.

Nothing to do. She didn't look back and ignored the slytherin table. They always hated her because she always fled as soon as possible. Allissa drank her glass of blod softly and gently. She wasn't that thirsty anymore. She waited for the sign to go the wherever you want to go. She got up and walked away as she walked to the grand staircase where she was heading her way to the owl tower.

Lan sat a while during diner, one of the new first years approached him and he chatted amiably with the boy who was also a little bit different from the rest, a possible friend before the banquet ended and he swept out the doors, calling out softly "Allissa, you are not looking too good? what is wrong? you can tell me for I have no-one to share any secret with and I wouldn't anyways, you deserve better but .. I might be able to help .. I have certain talents that people don't like bu tI could help I'm sure if you'd just tell me .. I don't even know why I feel compelled to help you .."

**** will continue in west tower ^^ ****