I flinched, shielding my face from the tip of Malfoy's wand. That was the worst memory possible for him to find. I was glad I'd ended it before we could get any further.

"You used Amortentia on me? Why the bloody hell don't I remember?"

"Stop spitting in my face and I'll tell you," I shot back. "It's your fault you were surfing through my memories in the first place, you muppet."

"Well, what did I do? After you ended that memory, what the hell did I do?"

"You don't want to know, mate," Theo rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess that's my cue to leave, now."

"Don't you dare move," I growled, pointing at him, lifting off my seat, but not before Draco pushed me down again. "You escaped once, but not this time," I snapped. Theo froze. I turned back to Malfoy. "You know I beat your sorry arse," I crossed my arms over my chest, a teasing smirk flitting across my face. "That's why you're so mad."

Draco couldn't seem to wrap his mind around what he'd just seen. His jaw hung like a loose drawer from its hinges.

"And you two planned against me together?" he sputtered, pointing his wand at the both of us.

"We did," I nodded a matter-of-factly. "Of course we did. Someone was bound to."

"And that was your 'greatest memory'?" he asked through gritted teeth, absolutely vexed. 

"No, but it was certainly one of my most prized ones. I finally got you back, Draco Malfoy." 

He scowled, pressing the tip of his wand in the area below my collarbone, face inches from mine. 

"Why can't I remember anything?"

I shot Theo a look. He tapped the wand in his back pocket. 

"Just as you asked, M'lady."

"Nott, didn't you have a prisoner to catch?" Draco turned on him. The smirk vanished fro Theo's lips and he seemed to cower under Malfoy's shadow. 

"They didn't need me. Pansy got him before he could get too far."

Pansy was a Death Eater too? No surprise there. I always suspected she'd take the dark route.

I stopped moving, icy fingers wrapping around my heart. Who was I to speak? I'd taken the dark route as well. 

"I'm going to have to go back in," Draco pointed at my head. "I have to know what happened next."

"Nothing, Draco," I said, pushing his hand away and getting to my feet. "Honestly, all you did was try to kiss me in front of a few thousand students—"

"I did what?" The blond boy sputtered, his cheeks turning to the color of fresh red roses, prominent against his deadly pale skin. 

Theo laughed, but was immediately silenced by Malfoy's daunting expression. 

"I'm just kidding," I raised my hands, assuring him. "It never happened."

When Malfoy turned away in relief, Theo's eye caught mine and he shook his head at me disapprovingly. 

Liar, he smirked.

"Try to go somewhere else, this time. You only fell upon this memory because you were looking for something like it," I said, raising an eyebrow. The red flush in his cheeks deepened. With fury flashing through his his eyes, he said loudly, "Legilemens."

I felt him enter my mind, this time, with more force. I felt more uncomfortable than I did the first time, because now, he was looking for something—anything—to use against me. I could tell from the way he sifted through my memories, pushing them aside, digging deeper and deeper and—

I stepped off the train, sulking. I'd spent every passing moment until Christmas holiday trying to figure out how to face my parents after being sorted into Slytherin, even though they already knew. I'd come up with so many reasons, explanations . . . but as soon as I saw their faces through the crowds of people, I froze. My legs stayed rooted to the spot and I inhaled deeply, trying to find the will to move towards them.

"Elvira," Mum called, waving me towards her. "El!" I clutched the handle of my bags, setting my jaw as tears pooled in my eyes. They approached me, bending down on either side.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Dad asked, smiling. "We want to hear all the stories! What did you think of the castle? Are the other kids treating you well?"

"I . . . I'm . . ."

"Are you alright?" Mum asked, her excited smile replaced by a look of worry.

"I've . . . I was sorted into Slytherin!" I gasped, unable to keep it in anymore. The tears brimming my eyes began to leak, dripping down my chin. "I'm so sorry, I don't know how it happened . . ." Mum and Dad exchanged glances and stood up. Were they angry? Maybe they'd forgotten, and I'd reminded them. Oh, no . . . I'd only made matters worse! 

Mum took my hand, moving us away from the stuffy crowd and near the wall. She huffed through her purse, and pulled out a neatly wrapped package. Sitting down at eye level with me, she placed it in my hands gently.

"We were going to give you this later, but I think there's no better time than this. Go on," she nodded, "open it."

I sniffed, trying to rip it open as neatly as I could. As I pulled the wrapping away, my eyes widened. 

It was a house scarf. A Slytherin one, green and gray striped. 

"We bought this for you as soon as we heard," Dad said, gently patting my shoulder. "It doesn't matter which house you're in, what . . . job you want," he shrugged, throwing out an example, "what matters is what's in here." Dad pointed towards the left of my chest, right above my heart. "Slytherin is not a bad house," he frowned, "none of the houses are good or bad. That depends on the decisions you make, the future you choose, and the company you keep. We're proud of you—always will be, El. It's time for you to be proud of yourself, and your house." He took the scarf from my hands, wrapping it around my neck. Mum placed her hands on either side of my face, wiping my tears with her thumbs. 

"We could never be upset with you," she said, kissing my forehead.

The memory ended, and suddenly I was staring at Draco's face. I could feel a bead of sweat drip down my temple.

"I think we're done for today," I said, a little breathlessly. "Let's continue to—"

"Fight back."

I stood in the bathroom, staring at my reflection. You're made of steel, Elvira Steele. You can take them. 

The door to the girl's bathroom swung open, and Pansy Parkinson walked in, two of her  cronies behind her.

"Give it back, Pansy. I know you took my wand."

"What, this?" she asked with a smirk, pulling it of her pocket. She held it out, and I grabbed at it, but she pulled it back before I could get a hold of it. 

"What do you want for it?" I asked, desperation coloring my voice.

"I hear you're planning on joining the Quidditch team?" 

"My grandmother was a seeker," I explained. "She played for England, and maybe I can—"

"Don't."

"Excuse me?"

A smirk appeared on her face. "If you play for the team, I'll snap your wand in half. Gryffindors don't deserve to play for Slytherins."

"I am a Slytherin,"  I argued. "Why don't you understand that?"

"Listen, Steele," she said, her lips curling back into a sneer, "I'll make your life a living hell. I will tell everyone about your parents, I will make sure they despise you. Now, if you want me to keep my mouth shut," she said, tapping the end of my wand against her palm, slowly stepping towards me, "you won't ever join the team."

"Why would you—" I paused. Of course she would. She was Pansy Parkinson. Bully. Tyrant. Gremlin. "Fine. I won't try out for the team. Now can I have my wand back?"

Her smirk grew wider.

Get out of my head, get out of my head . . . I struggled against Malfoy's presence, flipping in and out of memory and reality. 

"I have to see what happens next," Draco said through gritted teeth.

"No you don't," I shot back, gripping the armrests of the chair I was sitting in. 

Pansy held the wand between her fingers, delicately. "Of course you can."

With a sigh of relief, I stepped towards her, reaching for it. As my hand hovered inches from it, a look of darkness passed through her eyes.

She brought it down over her knee. With a sickening snap, she broke the wand clean in two.

I gasped in the chair, sitting upright. Relieving that one made it feel like someone had broken my arm in half.

"Walls," Draco tutted. "Build your walls, kick me out." 

A scream tore from my lips as I saw my beloved wand sit in the palm of her hand, two pieces now instead of one. I lunged for her and she dropped it as I punched, trying to land a blow anywhere. In the middle of the grapple, I heard a loud crunch. My already broken wand had come under her shoe. Now, a piece of it was shattered. My heart broke along with it, a wave of nausea rising up my throat. 

"Get out!" I yelled at Draco.

"Make me!"

One of Pansy's cronies latched onto my hair, yanking me back. Pain shot up my scalp and I stumbled back.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Parkinson shouted. My arms and legs snapped together, and as the girl let go of my hair, I crashed into the ground, unable to move. Pansy walked towards me, her chest rising and falling as she stared down at me. "Like I said before: I will make your life a living hell. Let's go."

As she turned, in a sudden rage I grabbed her ankle. She spun around, kicking her leg away from me. Then, she raised her shoe over my wrist, and—

"OUT!" I pushed him out of my mind.

I launched myself at Malfoy, knocking him to the ground, and ripped the wand out of his grasp. He stared up at me with narrowed silver eyes.

"You can't leap on the Dark Lord like this, Steele," he drawled.

"You went too far. That was embarrassing!" I fumed. He already thought I was pathetic enough, and now he had proof of it. 

"Embarrassing?" He struggled to sit up, but I kept him pinned down, pressing my palm against his shoulder. With the other hand, I pointed the end of the wand at his throat. I knew what was coming. He was going to rub this memory in my face for as long as I was alive. "She destroyed your wand! Why, because she thought you'd be better than her at flying?"

"It was actually becuase I was supposed to be playing for Gryffindor, according to Pansy."

"Can't argue with that. But, you're a Slytherin, there was nothing wrong in trying for the team, even though you most probably wouldn't have made it." He raised an eyebrow. I growled down at him.

"That's what I've been saying for six years! Does anyone listen? No!" I said, throwing my hands up. "And, rude," I added.

"I wonder why she did it."

"Because of you, idiot."

Now, he looked confused. "What did I have to do with that?"

"She wanted to get on your good side, of course. You were trying out that year, too, and my grandmother used to be a seeker. Maybe she thought I'd inherit the genes."

"How long were you laying there for?" 

"A few hours?"

"How long, Steele?"

I groaned. "Eight hours. Snape took points off for me missing class."

"Blimey. You were what, twelve?"

"And a half! Don't pity me," I scowled, pressing the end of the wand into the soft skin of his neck.

"I'm not pitying you, I just . . . What happened to your wand?"

"Ollivander's a miracle worker. He took the core and whatever was left and made me a replica." I frowned. "That's not the point! When I said get out, it meant get out!" I hovered over him. 

"If I back out any time you ask me to, you'll never learn." Annoyed, I lowered my weight onto his stomach, and he wheezed. "Can't . . . breathe . . ."

My jaw dropped open. "Rude!" 

With a sudden burst of strength, Malfoy pushed me off, and we struggled for his wand. I wondered where mine was; it was surely not in any of my pockets. Suddenly, our previous  situation was reversed. I was flat on my back, my wrists pinned over my head. I struggled, but he was a lot stronger than I was. 

As I looked up into his  curious silvery eyes, an angry blush began to rise up my neck, coloring my cheeks.

Someone cleared their throat. We both looked up to see Nott standing over us, arms crossed. "You guys done?"

I pushed Malfoy off roughly, rubbing my sore wrists, and got to my feet, wiping dust off my clothes. Malfoy got up too.

"While you two were busy arguing, we got a visitor."

"Who?" Draco and I asked in unison. 

As if on cue, out from behind him stepped Parkinson. 

Pansy Parkinson. Her eyes fell on me, confused and irritated.

Malfoy gave her a dirty look.