I passed out on the couch for over nine hours. It was probably one of the best sleeps of my entire life.

I awoke in the morning due to light rain sprinkling over the walls and windows. I slowly opened my eyes, and as I awoke, I suddenly had a terrible urge of hunger.

While I was sleeping a blanket appeared over my body, the same one that I had used last night. I sat it back over the couch and slipped my legs over the couch and went over to the kitchen.

It was nothing like the beautiful meals Hogwarts had to offer, but it was enough to keep me sustained. I grabbed a granola bar from the countertop and ate it practically like an animal. I was glad to know no one has watched me eat it, because if they did I would be highly embarrassed.

After eating I threw the garbage away in the trash can. When I turned I saw Tom standing between his bedroom door and the kitchen, arms crossed along his chest.

"Looks like you slept well." He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips together. For some reason he enjoys staying the obvious, which I find a waste of time.

"I slept fine, but I couldn't stop thinking about Hogwarts, my friends, my family." I said with a sigh, leaning against the countertop. I even had a dream about my father that night, and how frantic he must be.

"I gave you your choice. You either stay here with me or drop dead in the hands of the twins." He said with a raise of an eyebrow. I nodded with knowing. He was right. I could either live or die.

"I have to go give a speech to my Army. Stay here and don't do anything stupid." He said firmly. I nodded and pressed my arms against my chest. I'm so used to him using a teleportation spell it's getting incredibly old.

Within a few moments he disappeared, as did he usually did when he had somewhere to be. I was getting bored here. It was getting repetitive; the same.

I was getting tired of riding a horse on a carousel, I needed a change. I walked from the kitchen to Tom's bedroom. His door was open, practically inviting me inside to look around, maybe even look through a few things.

If he's giving a speech it would probably take at least an hour or two. I stepped inside, back into the dark and gloomy bedroom that looked in the exact same state as it had whenever I left it last time.

I headed to the desk, which had a few notebooks on it. I didn't want to snoop around his own personal writing, so perhaps the books on the nearby shelf may have better suited my desire or excitement.

I dragged my finger across the book backs, soft skin running along the leather. One of them caught my eye. It had gold writing on the back, which read "The Rules of Riddle." It sounded like a book from his family, intriguing.

I pulled it from the shelf and flipped through the pages. I landed on chapter twelve, which was title "To Gain Power." It seemed interesting, so I walked toward the living room with the book in hand.

I slid onto the sofa and looked through the chapter. There was thirty pages in this chapter, so it seemed sustainable, at least for the time being.

I read through about ten pages of boring nothingness before I finally found something interesting. The subtitle was incredibly consuming of my mind.

'To Gain You Must Lose.' I continued reading. "In order to reach a great amount of power there is sacrifice. You must choose a River, Flameside, Irongate, or Greendale woman to fulfill your great need; power."

I almost couldn't believe what I read. My name was scribbled on the page in black ink. It was terrifying to see my name in a book of history, out of all things, a book of history about the Riddle lineage.

"In order to reach a great amount of power there is sacrifice. You must choose a River, Flameside, Irongate, or Greendale woman to fulfill your great need; power." My thoughts kept swirling around that one paragraph in particular.

I couldn't help but read more, despite the pure shock looming inside of me. "To obtain the power you must first earn her love; her trust. Then you must stab her in the heart with the sword of Amberstine to gain her strength."

Fear.

I closed the book, slamming the pages together. I threw it to the furthest side of the couch. Shock and terror inside of me. There was finally a clear light I could see.

The only reason Zachary, Nicholas, Adam, or Tom wanted anything to do with me was to take my power away, the lineage my ancestors passed down for many years.

I didn't know what to think, what to do. I only knew that I could finally see the desire they all carried in their eyes, and what was truly behind it. Finally I was no longer thinking I could actually be loved, I was thinking about my real use for them.

Movement behind me allowed me to note that I was no longer alone. I turned to see Tom standing there, brushing debris off of his slick black suit jacket.

I stood with my arms crossed and my jaw clenched, outraged. This was absolutely treacherous; the fact that he was only using me. I should've seen it all along, but of course I was too blindsided by the fact I thought I was finally wanted.

When our eyes met I could instantly tell he knew something was wrong solely by the way his face dropped. I bit my tongue so I wouldn't yell, and instead I spoke in a calm tone, one like my mother used to use when I got into trouble.

"I know your reasoning for keeping me here, Tom." I said somewhere between firm and calm. I kept my eyes on his, completely unwilling to break eye contact.

"Pardon me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I let out a shallow breath through my nose, trying to keep my cool, even though it was turning out to be quite a difficult thing to do.

"Don't play dumb with me." I replied more firmly. I was losing my patience and my temper, at this rate if he said the wrong thing I'd probably go hurtling at him across the room.

His eyes broke contact and looked toward the sofa, where the book was sitting. His gaze instantly travelled back up to mine, but I was all too angry at that moment.

"Send me back to Hogwarts. I'm no longer asking. I'm telling you." I said sharply. My heart was pounding. Goosebumps lined my arms, I was practically shaking with anger at that moment.

"Anastasia, it's not me that wants to take your power, it's the twins. You must listen to me." He spoke frantically. I wasn't buying his statement, not even for a single moment. He's known for lying, how could I be so stupid as to ever trust him.

"I don't care. Anyways I'd rather let the twins have it than you, filthy liar." I said loudly, not quite a yell but nearly there. I didn't care if my fate truly lied in the twins killing me, and even if it did, I'd rather them take it.

"I'm not letting you leave." He said firmly, crossing his arms. The thing is I already knew he would say that, so I had another plan in mind.

I walked over to one of the largest windows in the tower. Though I didn't want to, the threat I thought of was great. "Send me back or I'll jump from this window. In fact it would be the best way to go, since no one has earned my love or trust." I replied, my hand set on the window.

He tensed up, eyes looking from the window to me. "Do it, then. Jump." He replied. Every ounce of kindness and light in his eyes was bombarded by an evil darkness. I knew it; he truly was only using me.

My hand had been resting on the glass long enough for me to come to the conclusion that the glass was only about an inch thick, so I wouldn't need much to break through it.

Also due to the slimness of the glass it would shatter in larger pieces rather than smaller ones, so I'd have a lesser chance of getting cut. Below me was forest, so I could only hope for a good fall.

I walked back to the living room. I could feel Tom's eyes piercing into me as I moved, as he watched for me to break through the window.

I stood still for a moment, then ran at full speed  toward the window, my feet feeling as light as air. At the last moment I jumped, and as I did, I covered my face with my arms and curled my body as I hurdled through the glass.

I was flying.

It was insane. I felt the wind over all portions of my body, dragging me toward the earth below. In that moment I closed my eyes and sucked in a light stream of air.

I was ready.

At that moment my body slammed into a sleek body with muscles rippling beneath it. The surface was black, with small spikes here and there. My hands clenched onto whatever I could grab.

I opened my eyes to realize I wasn't on the ground, I was on the back of a Dragon that had saved me.