It used to all be so simple. Before the war, before we grew up. It was easy. Draco and I would run through the halls of Malfoy Manor. We would wrestle, play and be children. That all changed when disaster struck.

Honestly, we should have known it was coming. The end of the first war, the Chosen One, we knew Voldemort would return. The second war was going to begin soon. So Draco and my childhood were cut short, extremely short.

On our 5th birthday life changed. We would always have the memories of play and a loving father, but those memories slowly faded away. Draco was trained in the role of a pureblood heir. He learned politics, how to hold his head high and manipulate people to his benefit. There were some basic lessons in muggle dueling and self defense as well as nonverbal magic. By the time he was 8, Draco could beat almost any 6th year at Hogwarts. I was trained a little bit differently.

Whereas Draco learned how to be obvious and work with the Ministry from his position in the Malfoy family, I was taught my role as a female Malfoy. I learned to hold my tongue, hide my emotions, and be the perfect woman. Being refined, and of course, protecting my family. Draco learned the basics, I mastered the art. I never officially bought a wand before I learned magic. Wands only handicap wizards. They become dependent on the wand to channel their magic and a simple disarming spell could end an entire duel. Wandless magic is only reliant on the power inside of me instead of involving a wand, which makes it more direct and powerful. I also learned to use knives, swords, bows and even muggle guns. The art of the assassin and fighting became my life. I was also taught to navigate the political scene, but whereas Draco mastered that arena, I did not. The shadows became my home, my comfort and my friend.

"You will be attending Hogwarts soon. You need to be prepared." My mother was holding Draco and my acceptance letters in her hand. I walked over to the targets I had been using for my knife practice. Only one of the knives hadn't hit in the center, it was an inch off, but that was enough to get a disapproving eye from my mother. I would pay for my mistake later. Refusing to look at Narcissa I removed my knives and placed them in the various hidden sheaths on my body.

"Draco. Explain to me exactly what you are to accomplish this year."

Draco stood up and closed his book. He had grown over the years. He was still short for his age, but he held himself with an aristocratic air that couldn't be ignored, unless you knew him. Draco's back was just a little too straight, just slightly too prim, and showed his nervousness. It made me itch to rush to his side and fight the person making him feel uncomfortable, but this was a battle I knew Draco had to fight on his own.

"I will befriend Harry Potter and establish myself as the Prince of Slytherin. I will have the best marks in my year and only associate with children who are beneficial to the goals of our family." Mother nodded her head. That didn't ease my nervousness. Draco passed, but he didn't have any real tasks to complete. He never did.

Draco had become more pompous and arrogant around people because of this, but he never showed that to Narcissa. The last time he had talked back to our father she ripped him apart. He didn't speak for the next week for fear that she would curse him again. I, on the other hand, had never been allowed to develop such a rebellious streak. My punishments were much more severe than Draco's, and they left scars all over my body. Any mistake I made was unforgivable and was treated as such. A wrong move could lead to their family being harmed or even killed. That was a risk that I could never take.

"Nysa. What are your tasks for the year?" Narcissa turned to me and I could see the spark in her eye that said that I must answer her question correctly. After my accuracy when practicing with my knives, this would determine the severity of my punishment. I held my position with a straight back, and my hands behind my back, in a respectful battle ready stance.

"I will join Slytherin house and quickly make myself a part of the background. Any attention that is drawn to me will be forgotten quickly by whatever means appropriate. I will find any threats to Draco and our family and deal with them. If there are issues with Harry Potter, and people try to interfere with his and Draco's relationship I will remove them. My marks will be acceptable, but not good enough to draw attention. Harry Potter is not to come to any unnecessary harm and any information that will be helpful to our family will be immediately reported back to my parents."

A slight nod indicated that I was correct. I held in my sigh of relief. I would not have too many scars added to my collection tonight. Narcissa took a moment to closely examine both Draco and me. She seemed to be satisfied with what she saw in us for she gave one of her rare smiles.

"You have done well. This year will be challenging for you, but I know that you are prepared. Learning to interact with other children may be difficult, but remember your tasks and I am certain that you will be proficient in that endeavor. We will leave for Diagon Alley in one hour. I have received word that Harry Potter will be there around that time and we must begin our plan now." Draco and I nodded and withdrew from the training room to prepare ourselves for the year to come.

I carefully made my way into Madam Malkin's shop, keeping to the shadows. Honestly, it would be all too easy to steal from the store. She didn't even have wards preventing people from removing the clothes. Honestly, some people were just stupid.

Shaking my head I located my package of robes and carefully placed it into the small bag I carried with me. It looked like a small coin purse, but it had an undetectable extension charm on it. I had been ordering robes from Malkin's shop for years now. It was always anonymously done, and the robes were left in the same place and I retrieved them without allowing anyone to see me.

Hearing the ring of a bell, I glanced over to see a small boy in muggle clothes walk through the door. He had black hair that pointed in every direction and big round glasses that covered at least half of his face. Though his unruly hair covered his forehead, I could tell that this was Harry Potter.

Glancing back at Draco, who was standing being measured for his dress robes, I slunk toward the back of the store. Harry slowly walked back towards Madam Mankin and seemed extremely nervous. I almost felt bad for him, if it wasn't for the fact that I had spent the last six years learning to hide and control my emotions.

Draco tried his best to strike up a conversation, but it was obvious that he was failing. Harry was just too scared, and Draco's emotions were getting in the way. Normally he never had an issue with emotions, but this time was different. It was odd, Draco was more arrogant than usual, but at the same time he seemed extremely eager to get Harry to like him. I tilted my head to the side, confused. Why was Draco acting weird? He was blushing, blushing!

Luckily Madam Malkin finished measuring Draco for his school robes quickly. He reluctantly walked out of the store and towards our mother. I followed silently behind him. I would have to talk to Draco about his behavior. This might pose a problem to accomplishing our goals for this year.

Narcissa was waiting outside Gringotts for us. She had a meeting for some kind of job. Mother never told us exactly what she did, but oftentimes threats to our family or problematic wizards disappeared soon after one of her meetings. She would be expecting us soon, but I wanted to talk to Draco first.

"I noticed your behavior towards Potter, Draco." I kept my voice low, but that didn't make it any less threatening. Draco flinched slightly at my tone. It reminded him of Lucius. I held in a sigh, but softened my voice.

"Brother, you acted oddly, I want to make sure that you are ok, and will be able to accomplish what is best for our family without your emotions disrupting our progress."

"Nysa, you know me better than that. I have never been good at controlling my emotions. I saw Harry and… I don't know, I guess I was surprised. He was definitely not what I expected." Draco hung his head. He obviously didn't understand why he had reacted in such a way.

Suddenly Draco looked up at me, panic evident on his face.

"Will you tell mother?"

"No. So long as you make sure this never happens again."

Draco sighed in relief. We were both terrified of Narcissa, and this was a simple mistake. I was not my mother, and would not treat it as if Draco had disgraced our family.

Finally we reached Gringotts and apparated home. All of our packages, except for my robes, were being sent home via owl later today. It was time to finish preparing for the unknown dangers that awaited us at Hogwarts.

Author's Note:

This is a story that I've been tossing around for a while now, but I wasn't sure if anyone would like it. If it's something you guys think I should continue working on and posting, just let me know. Thank you!