Most days I don't care that I'm a Slytherin. Sure everyone is stuck up and believes all these crazy ideas about blood purity but it's not a terrible house. But there are days when I would rather be a stupid Hufflepuff than put up with my housemates. Today was one of those days.

"I don't know how you do it Evelyn. How do you handle the embarrassment of having a blood traitor for a brother?" Narcissa asked as we ate breakfast. I clenched my fork and faked a smile.

"I imagine it's similar to how you deal with having Sirius as a cousin." She gave this a thoughtful nod.

"Yes I suppose. But you two were always so close growing up. It must hurt that he turned out this way." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Anthony snorted.

"Who are you kidding Narcissa? She still loves her brother even if he is trash." He smirked and looked at me. "Don't you Evelyn?" I didn't respond.

"Maybe you could show him how wrong he is." Jackie said putting her hand on my arm in an attempt to be reassuring. Anthony's sidekick, Gregory Pearson, laughed this time.

"Once a blood traitor always a blood traitor." He looked across the hall and glared. "The whole lot of Gryffindor is the same. Not worth the dirt on my shoe." I slammed my hands down on the table shoving away. Without another word I stormed out of the Great Hall. I heard someone running behind me and turned to see Matthew.

"What happened?" Concern was evident in his eyes.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." I said through gritted teeth.

"Really E what happened? I can try to help." He pleaded with me.

I sighed. It did no good to be mad at him. I pulled him into a quick hug and smiled. "Really, it's no big deal. Just Slytherins being Slytherins." He patted my back then ruffled my hair.

"You better get back to your friends. I wouldn't want to be seen with a dirty blood traitor like you." Matthew rolled his eyes but left to go find his friends. I continued to class. The day passed pretty smoothly until dinner. As I sat eating, Anthony slid into the seat next to me.

"I've been thinking Evelyn. How about we go to Hogsmead together? I like you a lot even with the blood traitor brother." I forced a smile on my face as I turned to him.

"How about no." His face instantly changed to a scowl.

"You might be in Slytherin but you sure don't act like it. You're probably just as bad as your filthy brother." I had had enough. I stood to leave but he grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Better watch yourself Strauss. If you know what's good for you, you'll distance yourself from the filth and show your allegiance to those on the right side." I understood the not so subtle hint. Before I had thought my actions through, I had my wand at Anthony's throat. He instantly stilled but didn't release my arm.

Leaning in I whispered in his ear. "Dunn, you better think twice before threatening my brother again. I WILL ruin your life." I pulled his hand off of me and left.

Anthony didn't back off though. He continued to talk about my brother for the rest of the week. And to make things better, Remus was sick and I had to patrol with the Ravenclaw boy until he got better. By Sunday, I was ready to claw someone's eyes out. With this attitude I walked to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Watch yourself Strauss." I heard someone say up ahead of me. A sinking feeling came over me and as I rounded the corner I came face to face with Anthony and Matthew. Anthony and his friends had Matthew surrounded. Matthew had a look of defiance on his face.

"Or what Dunn? We both know you won't do shit." I was going to kill Matthew. Why would he want to make this worse? I tightened my hold on my wand and swiftly walked to stand between Anthony and Matthew.

"What did I tell you Anthony? Leave him alone." Anthony just laughed in my face.

"Like I'm actually afraid of you?" He spat out. But before he could say more, I had him hanging upside down with a face that was quickly covering in boils.

"You might not be, but you should be." I gave a cold look to the other boys and they stepped back. "He might be a filthy Gryffindor but he's still a Strauss. I would hate to have to let my father know that a Dunn thought he was better than a Strauss." I let him fall to the floor and Anthony and his goons glared before walking off to take Anthony to the hospital wing.

"You didn't need to do that." Matthew said from behind me. I turn on him still fuming.

"What the fuck Matthew?! Why would you egg him on? He already has it out for you! Do you ever think?"

"You didn't have to get involved! You don't have to always save me anymore!" Matthew yelled in my face.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt by some weirdo when it could be avoided!" I yelled back.

"I can handle myself with a bunch of crazy Slytherins." He started to storm off but I grabbed his arm.

"You don't seem to grasp the situation Matthew. I'M sticking my neck out for you. Everything you do, affects me. Just stay out of trouble." He shook my hand off and stormed off without another word. I huffed and went to grab a quick bite of food. After dinner I headed to the entrance to meet my patrol partner to get this over with. Much to my surprise, Remus was standing there. I smiled until I noticed the cuts and bruises on him.

"Oh my god Remus what happened?" My hands fluttered around him wanting to help but being afraid to touch the bandages that littered his body.

"It's nothing really. It looks a lot worse than it is. Just got into a little bit of a fight." I rolled my eyes.

"Between you and Matthew someone is going to die before the year is out." We started our slow walk and Remus chuckled.

"He told us about the fight. But let's hear your side of the story."

"He's just trying to be a hero. He needs to keep his nose down and stay out of the way." I huffed and folded my arms across my chest. "I've kept him safe this long, I think I can continue to do it."

"What do you need to save him from?" Remus asked.

"He's got a target on his back because he's a blood traitor in the eyes of my housemates. And he eggs them on."

"I thought you were ok with him being in Gryffindor." Remus said, with what I thought was a touch of hurt in his voice. I scoffed.

"I couldn't care less what house he's in. And I don't even care what he believes. But certain people don't agree with him and these certain people are dangerous. They don't like when people don't follow them."

"You mean Death Eaters?" Remus asked. I sucked in a breath. No matter how much I denied it, this topic scared me.

"Yes. And while no one is one yet, a lot of my housemates align very closely with those ideas. Matthew isn't being careful and he makes it hard for me to protect him." I pointedly looked at Remus. "Being friends with the Marauders doesn't exactly help him stay safe."

"He knows what he believes and he stands up for that." Remus looked at me. "I have a feeling he learned that from you."

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But enough about me and my idiotic brother. Are you feeling better?" He nodded.

"I'm still tired and sore but much better thank you." I lightly bumped into him and smiled.

"Well don't make a habit of being sick. Phillips is terrible to patrol with. He thinks that since I'm a Slytherin I'm going to hex him straight to the hospital wing." Remus laughed and he bumped me back.

"I'll try not to." I beamed. Getting Remus back made today almost worth it.