Two months later.

"Oi, you bloody fool!" I shouted, running towards the door. I hung out the room, ripping off my shoe. "Stop right there!" I hurled it across the hallway at the man who'd been trying to break into my room. "You're lucky I don't have my wand!" I screeched. "I will destroy you. DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO I AM?"

Of course he didn't.

I sighed, slamming the door shut and plopping down on my creaky bed. It was my second month in the stupid Leaky Cauldron Inn. I was going mental. The git, Draco Malfoy, had abandoned me here almost two months ago and hadn't bothered showing his slimy pale face again, leaving me on my own.

There was a loud knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked gruffly, sliding down to the wooden floor, my arms still propped up on either side of the bed.

"House-keeping."

Maybe if I didn't answer she'd leave.

Knock, knock, knock.

I stood up, marching towards the door and throwing it open. "What do you want now?"

"Wouldja like your shoe back, then?" the crazy haired woman asked me. Behind her, a broom magically swept the floor. My eyes fell to the boot hanging from her hand.

"Yes. Thank you," I said curtly, slamming the door.

Time to leave this place.

I packed up all my belongings with a flick of my wand which I grabbed from my drawer. The new school year would be starting soon, but I really wasn't up to it. Me? A not-really-but-sort-of-under-the-circumstances follower of You-Know-Who?

Harry Potter already hated me, and his friends would too. There was no reason for me to go.

"Wingardium Leviosa," I said under my breath. Swish and flick. The trunk floated and I charmed it to follow me. I grabbed the newspaper off the table. My eyes scanned the date, and with a sinking realization I registered the fact that I'd turned seventeen about a week and a half ago. I hadn't at all remembered my own birthday.

Of course, I had better things to worry about.

I exited the room, slamming the door shut behind me, and made my way downstairs absently, my mind completely elsewhere. The long rows of stairs distracted me as I counted each one, groaning. Why had they made so many floors? I'd been so off, that I hadn't been watching where I was going and slammed into a particularly familiar looking girl.

I took a step back. "Sorry, it was my fau-Ginny?" Ginny Weasley stood in front of me, a couple of inches taller since I'd last seen her. Long, straight red hair fell perfectly over her shoulder, green eyes narrowed.

"Elvira," Ginny said with a curt nod, "what are you doing here?"

"I was just leaving," I said, grabbing my floating trunk and trying to walk past her, but she blocked my path.

"Are you finishing your seventh year at Hogwarts?" she inquired. "I mean, I've been asking everyone. And I know you, so-"

"I'm not," I shook my head, confused as to why she wasn't exploding at me. Ginny had always been the hotheaded Weasley, so I usually kept my distance. "Why are you asking?"

"So you're going to be with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, then?" she asked.

I stood there, tremendously confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Stop blockin' the stairs!" someone shouted from behind me.

"Can we sit down for a moment?" I asked her, and she nodded. I climbed down, trunk following, and sat at one of the tables, Ginny taking the seat opposite from me.

I never liked the Leaky Cauldron. For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.

"Would you like anythin', dear?" a short and stout woman with graying hair and very chubby, freckled cheeks said to us. Her eyes were warm.

"Just tea, please," I said.

"I'll have the same," Ginny nodded. I turned my attention back to her when the woman left.

"Ginny, what did you mean when you asked if I'd be going with Ron, Harry, and Hermione? And why aren't they going to Hogwarts this year?"

Ginny looked surprised. "I'd thought they'd tell you. You four seemed pretty chummy last year."

So Harry hadn't said anything to her about what he'd seen in the Astronomy Tower that night. It was confusing, but all the better for me, even though it wasn't my fault. I'd played along with what Dumbledore instructed me to do. Harry just hadn't seemed to understand that.

"I haven't heard from them over the summer," I shook my head, anxious to find out what they were planning. "So?"

"Well, know that I've told you . . . they want to look for the Horcruxes," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes. "They think they're heroes, the lot."

"You-Know-Who's?"

"I thought you weren't one to fear the name, Steele," Ginny raised her perfectly arched eyebrows.

"Let me fill you in on a little secret," I said, leaning closer, "the name's under a taboo. If you say it, he'll automatically know your location. The curse was put on it by the Dark Lord himself. So be careful." This was news to her. "Anyway, I haven't been in touch with the three of them, you're right. I hope everyone's well at home."

"Mum's been talking about you. She asked Ron if you'd be coming over the summer, but he said 'definitely not'. You've had a fight, haven't you?"

"Something like that." I stood up, right as the little woman came with two cups of tea. I paid her for the both of us. Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but I smiled. "Don't worry about that. I'll see you later, Ginny."

She pursed her lips into a smile in return. As soon as I turned to leave, the door swung open, the hundreds of bells lining the walls chiming at once. In the doorway stood Draco Malfoy, dressed in his usual black suit. His eyes scanned the tables as the few people who sat there fell silent. And then, he saw me.

"Let's go," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, glancing at Ginny who was staring at him, flummoxed.

"Steele, we have to go," Malfoy said through gritted teeth, walking towards me in a hurried fashion.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I don't know who you are," I retorted, trying to send him a message. Why did he have to come now and ruin my last remaining friendship?

"Steele." He gave me a look, reaching for my arm. I backed away.

"Unhand me, stranger!" I announced to the whole pub. Draco narrowed his eyes, lowering his outstretched arm.

Ginny stood up, pulling out her wand. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she spit out.

He ignored her. Suddenly, I felt a searing pain in my body. "Nevermind," I said with a groan. Obviously, Malfoy had felt it too, because his jaw was set.

"Hand," he ordered. "I was trying to keep it from getting worse."

"Elvira, what's going on?" Ginny asked, eyebrows drawn together. "Why does he want you to go with him?"

"I'm really, truly sorry," I apologized over my shoulder. Malfoy was holding out a hand, silver ring glinting. "Where were you for two months?" I hissed.

"Not now."

I grabbed onto his hand and the next thing I knew, we were once again standing outside the huge, decorated oak doors of the Malfoy Manor.

"What's going on?" I asked him, yanking my hand away from his. "Why did you come to collect me?"

"Because," he said, his eyes deadly serious. "The Dark Lord asked for you personally."

My heart sank, dread filling the pit of my stomach.