Lizzie's POV:

Grayson,

Please owl me as soon as possible. We need to talk, and not for the reason you might think. I need to explain some things. I miss you.

Love,

Lizzie

With a small flourish or my quill, I finished the letter that I had constructed and was about to send to Grayson. Ever since I had arrived home from Kings Cross (which was all of 20 minutes ago), something began to eat at me from the inside out. I had to talk to Grayson.

I rolled the parchment up and tied it with a small piece of twine I had found on my desk. Gray's owl had been at our home when we arrived as if she knew I would be in need of her.

"Here, Theo," I smiled kindly at the proud, eagle owl and handed her the letter. "To Grayson." She flapped her wings and was out the window in a blink of an eye.

Grayson, who absolutely hated learning about history, was a bit of an American history geek, so had named Theo after Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Aaron Burr, the man who had murdered Alexander Hamilton. Gray had always loved the name Theodosia and hadn't agreed with Hamilton (seeing as he had cheated on his wife), so he decided to name his owl after the daughter (and wife) of the man who had killed him.

I stared after the small, black spot that was quickly disappearing in the direction of Grayson's apartment. I figured I should get a response soon, since Gray lived so close to us, but only if he didn't choose to ignore me.

Naturally my mind went immediately to Draco. I wondered if he had made it home well and hoped that Theo returned quickly so I could write Draco before bed, just to be sure. Better safe than sorry.

I was to go to Malfoy Manor again this year a bit after opening gifts with my mum (and Grayson if he decided to show up) on Christmas morning. I faintly pondered about if his mum would have a Christmas ball this year as well.

Humming quietly to myself Suite For Solo Cello No. 1 In G Major, Bwv 1007 by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of my favorite classical pieces by one of my favorite musicians, I lay myself down on my bed. Before I knew it, I relaxed into the comforts of sleep.

-----

I awoke slowly to my mum calling to me from the front room. "Lizzie! Theo's here with a letter for you." I sat up quickly and regretted it. My head began to spin slightly, but I pushed through it. Stumbling slightly, I hurried down the stairs to my mum, who was standing by an open window where Theodosia was perched. "The bloody owl was trying to break the window."

"I'm sure she would if given the chance," I replied. Theo hated being cooped up, so Gray often just let her fly in and out as she wish.

"Is it from Gray?" mum asked quietly, wringing her hands.

"I assume so," I spoke, unrolling the parchment.

Leaky Cauldron. 8 pm. Don't let mum come.

G

This was all that was written on the parchment. It happened to be the same piece that I had sent initially.

"What time is it?" I looked up to my mum who was eyeing me peculiarly.

She glanced at the silver watch on her wrist. "It's about 7:35, why?"

"Gray wants me to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron at 8," I told her quickly, turning on my heel to head back to my room and grab my jacket and scarf.

"Great! I'll come too!" Mum started to walk towards the door, where her own jacket was hanging.

I stopped my journey and turned back around. "Mum," I began delicately, "he doesn't want you to come."

"What?" She froze with her arm in mid air. "Why not?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's a good idea too." Seeing the betrayed look that passed across my mum's face, I quickly explained. "Mum, if any Death Eater see's a muggle in a wizard establishment, they wouldn't think twice about killing you. Then they would come after me and Gray for allowing you to be there. I can't lose you, mum."

"Oh," she sighed. "Well, I suppose you're right. I don't want to lose you either." She painted a faux smile on her face, obviously hurt. "Just promise me that you'll come back this time."

"I promise. I'm never doing that to you again." I walked forward until I was directly in front of the woman and wrapped my arms around her petite form.

"Good," she whispered, hugging me back.

After a few seconds in each other's arms, I pulled back. "I should probably head out if I want to make it on time."

"Alright, don't be out too late. Dinner'll be ready when you get back. I love you."

"Love you too," I called back as I hurried to my room where I slipped into my black jacket and wrapped my Slytherin scarf around my neck. I picked up my black leather purse which held the cellphone that I rarely used, my Oyster card, and some spare cash. "See you later!" I shouted to my mum, who was now in the kitchen preparing dinner, as I walked out the door.

"Bye! Be safe!" she called back sweetly. A pang of guilt stabbed me in the stomach for leaving her before. I shook my head quickly and hurried to the nearest Underground station and hopped onto a train that would drop my near the Leaky Cauldron. I was lucky enough to snag a seat on the train and got a few jealous and upset looks from the people who were forced to stand.

After a few times of hearing the oh-so familiar male voice stating, "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform," I stepped off of the train and shoved my way through the crowd and up the escalators. The exit deposited me about three blocks from the pub, so, bracing myself against the wind, I began to walk.

By the time I had reached The Leaky Cauldron, the sun had long set and the city lights were lighting up the area. Charing Cross was lit up with building lights of every color. Green, blue, yellow, red. Cars and busses inched their way along the London traffic with blaring horns and motorbikes zoomed through the gaps.

I shouldered my way into The Leaky Cauldron and was immediately accosted by the noise. It hadn't occurred to me that it was dinner time and that witches and wizards from all around would be there to dine. The smell of firewhiskey burned my nose even though I had only just entered the room, so thick that I could almost taste it myself.

Tom, the innkeeper, nodded at me from his place behind the bar and I waved halfheartedly in return before scanning the room for my brother. I spotted his sandy blonde hair in a booth towards the back corner, so I began to squeeze my way through the packed tables.

When I sat myself down in the booth that Gray occupied, he folded up the newspaper he had been reading. I caught a slight glance at the headline, which read, 'Death Eater Terror Continues,' which caused a stab in my gut.

"Hey, Squirt," Gray grinned at me. He had procured a pair of large-glassed glasses in my absence, which made his green eyes stand out against his pale skin. I had always been jealous of his eyes; while I had gotten my father's dishwater grey eyes, Gray had gotten my grandmother's emerald green eyes.

"Long time, no see," I replied with a small smile, tucking my hair behind my ear. "This was a smart place to meet. Loud around this time. No one will hear us."

"I figured as much." Gray shrugged as if this wasn't such a completely Slytherin idea of his. "You said you wanted to talk?"

"Always been straight to the point," I chuckled lightly. "Alright, well, when I got home from Hogwarts-"

"Let's start with why you didn't come home from Malfoy's," Grayson cut me off, giving me a pointed look.

"I'll get there," I returned impatiently. "Anyway, when I got back from Hogwarts, mum got all emotional and all and she told me that you had become a Death Eater?"

Gray pursed his lips as if he knew this was coming. "Before you go attacking me and blaming me for joining the wrong side, I'm doing this for mum and you. They might've found out mum is a muggle and killed her. This way I can protect you two from the inside. I can't lose you two."

I reached forward and grasped his hand, which was resting on the table. "I wasn't going to attack you," I spoke kindly. "Now, going back to last year. You know that throughout my year at Hogwarts Draco had been my best friend." Gray nodded. "Well, at some point during my fifth year, we became... involved... And during the summer, he didn't write me once, so naturally I became worried. But one day, I got a letter with the Malfoy seal on it, asking me to come to Malfoy Manor as soon as possible, so I told mum I was going for a visit and left. When I got there, Lucius Malfoy walked me to a room w-with You-Know-Who in it," Grayson visibly tensed at the mention of Voldemort, "and- well.... And our father."

"Dad?" Gray exclaimed quite loudly, drawing the attention of a few nearby witches. I gave them a sorry look. "You met dad?"

"I did," I murmured. "During the last Christmas holiday, I spent a bit of time at the Manor and attended a ball Draco's mum threw. Our father was there."

"I have so many questions! What's he like? Why didn't you tell me? Does mum know?"

I looked down to my hands, which were fidgeting nervously. "He gave me to You-Know-Who," I stated simply. "I believe his exact words were, 'I present to you my one, and only daughter, Elizabeth. I offer her service to you in hopes that she may prove herself useful in your rise to power.'"

"What?!" This exclamation drew the attention of even more people in the pub, but I didn't care. "Lizzie! Are you saying-? Do you mean you're a-?"

"Yes," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. Gray was rendered speechless, his jaw on the floor. "He's cruel, Grayson. Our father. He is so cruel. He called mum an 'old crow'."

"What's his name?" he whispered fiercely, his jaw clenching in anger. "I need a name."

"Yaxley. Corban Yaxley."

"No. Bloody. Way." A muscle in Gray's jaw twitched violently along with his fists, which were shaking. "I sat with that man for months, and he's our father?!"

"Grayson-" I began, but stopped short due to the uncontrollable shaking of my voice. Tears had begun to leak down my face by this point.

"What is it?" He had noticed my sudden change in demeanor and placed his hand on top of mine.

My voice dropped so low that even I could barely hear it. "He ordered me to kill Dumbledore." After saying it outloud, my teeth bit into my lip so hard, I was sure I was drawing blood.

"Dumbledore?" Grayson's face had drained of all color at this new development.

"After Yaxley had handed me over like I was ever his in the first place, You-Know-Who assigned me to Draco's task. He's making us kill Dumbledore and let his lot of Death Eaters into the castle."

"Merlin's pants." Grayson dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his forehead. "Lizzie, if you and Draco don't do this, he'll kill you, but if you do, you'll be killing the greatest wizard who ever lived."

"Do you think I haven't figured that out?" I snapped through the tears. "There's no way out, and I figured I could tell you since you would understand. And I didn't even know if you already knew or not, but I needed you to hear it from my mouth. To hear how and why it happened."

"I'm glad you told me. If I had heard it from anyone else, I think I would have had a brain aneurysm."

"Do you think I should tell mum?" I began to chew on the inside of my cheek, nervously.

"No, no. Absolutely not. She needs one innocent child. I'm going to take all of the blame."

"But Gray, if something is to happen to me with this task-"

He cut me off promptly. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

"Let me finish. If something is to happen to me with this task, I want you to tell mum all of this. I want you to tell her how you joined to protect us, how father forced me to become a Death Eater, how I was forced to attempt to kill Dumbledore."

"I can't do that to her-"

"Promise me!" I slammed my fists on the table in a sudden outburst of anger, once again drawing the attention of the nearby witches.

"I promise," Gray muttered.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"How's mum?"

"She's heartbroken, and I might've made it worse." I cringed.

"What'd you do?"

"Well, when she told me about you, I had a sort of break down and asked her if she understood how terrible You-Know-Who really is."

"And you told her how terrible he is," he deadpanned, rubbing a hand down his face. "Great, Liz. Now she's going to worry even more."

"I was panicking! I wanted her to understand how horrible he is and how big of a problem this is."

"It's alright," he sighed.

"Votre chagrin est mon chagrin," I mumbled.

"What?"

"I said votre chagrin est mon chagrin."

"I know, I heard you the first time, but what does it mean?"

"It's French for 'your grief is my grief'."

"Oh," he furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

"It's something that Draco and I say to each other. It means we're in this together. Grayson, I know that you can be an arse sometimes, but I love you and I wouldn't rather have anyone else for a brother."

"And I wouldn't rather have anyone else for a sister. I'm going to get you out of this, Liz."

"Please don't. I don't want you to get wrapped up in this mess too. It's bad enough Draco has to be a part of it. If I die in this task-"

"You're not going to die," he cut me off. I gave him a stern look before continuing.

"If I die in this task, mum needs someone. If you try to get me out of this, You-Know-Who will kill you along with me and Draco. If I die, I need you to keep mum safe. Take her to America, do anything you have to, but I can't have her dying for a problem that I couldn't fix."

"I'll keep her safe, Liz, but I'm going to keep you safe too."

"So bloody stubborn," I frowned. "Just please don't get yourself killed."

"I won't."