Sunlight poured into my bedroom through the dark curtains. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I thought back to what happened the previous night, and the last thing I could remember was falling asleep in Draco's arms. Draco was nowhere to be found in my bedroom, which made my smile disappear. I sat up and dangled my legs over the edge of the bed and sighed. I heard a door open and turned my head to the door across from the foot of the bed. Draco emerged from my bathroom, still wearing the clothes he had worn to Diagon Alley yesterday. He walked over to my bed and leaned over the spot where I was sitting. He kissed me on the forehead and sat down next to me.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," he said.

"No, that's okay," I replied, smiling.

"I really should go back to my bedroom before Father realizes I'm here with you. I'm sure he'd find it rather...distasteful," Draco said.

"If you must, you must."

"Yeah," he replied, sighing.

There was a moment of pure silence before Draco stood up.

"I'll see you at breakfast in a little while," he said.

I couldn't resist standing up, where Draco kissed me on the mouth and left the room, stopping only to wave a goodbye before he closed the door behind him. I stood up from the bed and went into my bathroom. I took a long relaxing bath with bubbles that took the form of your thoughts before popping. Bubbles shaped like "M's" and "S's" filled the room, along with those shaped like the faces of my parents, Lucius, and Draco, even the faces of Harry and his friends, and Pansy's as well. When I couldn't take the staring eyes of Pansy and Harry, I let the water drain from the tub and I got dressed quickly.

I come out of the bathroom a few minutes later dressed in denim jeans and an emerald green sweater. I left my room and went downstairs for breakfast. The meal went the same as it had the day before, with the same conversation. Draco seemed to be a bit more upbeat than before, and I was slightly worried that Lucius would see the difference in our attitudes. Whenever Draco and I caught each others gaze and a small smile would creep across our faces, Lucius would look from Draco to me and back several times, trying to figure out what was going on between us. I had a feeling that Lucius knew what was going on, and at times, I thought that it was actually what he had expected to happen.

Lucius made the suggestion that I spend the day exploring the house, since it was now my home as well as theirs. So, after breakfast, Lucius disappeared and Draco went upstairs to finish his homework, and I started my own journey throughout the manor. Most of the rooms were the same: the same dark curtains, the same velvet cushions on the chairs and sofas, the same moving pictures, the same dark wood furnishings. Everything was the same in this house; the only things that differed were the small knickknacks that cluttered the shelves. I found a jar of shrunken heads in one room, a withered hand on a cushion sitting on a shelf in another room, and there was a staring glass eye in a case in still another room.

I went from room to room, looking at rows of antique books and paintings of other members of the Malfoy family. I opened still another dark mahogany door and found myself in a comfortable-sized office. The room was unlike the others I had seen so far. The desk was not made of mahogany, but black walnut, and the chair behind it had leather cushions instead of the usual velvet. All of the other furnishings were the same as the desk, and I scanned the bookcases on my left. The books were unusual: they were all books that I was sure would be in the Restricted Section of the library at any school, some of them with names that suggested that if you were looking to hurt someone with a curse or potion, you would find it in there.

I walked down the row of bookcases and found that there was a shelf with books that had to title on the spine. I pulled one out and opened it. Inside were photographs. I gazed down at the faces of Lucius and his wife holding a baby in their arms; they were both smiling widely. However, the picture was rather disturbing, as the child had very dark hair, not the white blonde hair that the Malfoy family prized. I wondered who the child could be. I turned the page and I found another somewhat disturbing photograph: my parents were holding a child in their arms, smiling wider than Id ever seen, but again, the childs hair was unlike that of its parents. Here, the child's hair was blonde, when I had been born with dark hair. I connected the dots.

It appeared as if both families wanted the other's baby more than their own. The pictures of the Malfoys holding me and my parents holding Draco worried me. It made me wonder about the bond between the Malfoy family and the Silverlio family. If they were this close when Draco and I were children, how come we had never spent much time with each other before this? The rest of the album held more pictures of both families, and they appeared to be much more contented at that time than they were last time I had seen them. Unable to look at the faces of my parents any more, I closed the photograph album and put it back in its place on the shelf.

I sighed and walked over to the desk. I sat down in the black leather chair and turned on the old-fashioned lamp that rested in the upper-left hand corner of the desk. I opened the drawer immediately in front of me. I found several rolls of parchment and many different quills inside. There were ink bottles that held a different color than its neighbor, and as I rummaged through the drawers contents, I found a small stack of letters dated as far back as last year. I opened the one on the top and read:

Lucius,

It is time to put our plan into action. My wife and I have made all the necessary arrangements when it comes to Elizabeth. Since the terms of our previous agreement have been met, the time to act is now. I hope all goes well between them.

Marius

"What are you doing in here?" I heard from the doorway.

I shoved the letter back inside the drawer and closed it quickly.

"Nothing," I said, standing up from the chair to face Draco as he came walking timidly into the room.

"You shouldn't be in here. This is Father's office. I'm not even allowed in here," Draco said.

"Oh, let's go then," I replied, pulling on Draco's sleeve so he wouldn't ask me what Id been doing.

"What were you doing?" Draco asked.

"Um..." I thought for a moment, "trying to decide if you were cuter as a baby or as you are now."

I didn't think that he'd fall for something as stupid as that, but he did.

"Oh, really? And what did you decide?"

"Well, you were a very cute baby, but I'm not sure whats happened since then," I said, putting a wide grin on my face.

"Hey, now. I'm sure you've changed a bit, too, you know."

"I don't think so. I've always had this cute face," I said jokingly, coaxing Draco to follow me out of the room.

"Yeah, I bet you have," Draco replied.

Time seemed to pass rather quickly in the Malfoy house. It sometimes seemed as if I'd been there forever, and other times, it was like the time had gone by faster than ever. Most of my free time was spent with Draco. We read books outside under a willow tree, explored the house together, and Draco told me about Hogwarts and its many rules.

I woke up on August eighth, and it felt almost like a normal day. The only thing that was different was that after I emerged from my bedroom to go downstairs for breakfast, Draco was waiting for me outside my door.

"What is it?" I asked with a surprised look on my face.

Draco kissed me on the cheek and pulled out a bag from behind his back, which he handed to me.

"Happy birthday," he replied.

I smiled and opened the bag. Inside was a leather-bound book, which I opened. On the first page was a photograph, with the faces of Draco and myself staring up at me. Wide smiles were on both of their faces and looked at each other lovingly. I looked up at Draco.

"How did you know it was my birthday?" I asked.

"I have my ways," he replied with a smile.

I turned to leave, but Draco stopped me.

"There's something else I have for you."

"Really? You shouldn't have," I said.

Draco only smiled. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a tiny box. He handed the box to me and I lifted the lid. Inside was a small gemstone. I recognized it as peridot,my birthstone. The gem itself was shaped like a teardrop, and the color was like that of a pear: light green and shimmering with light.

"Wow, Draco. It's beautiful," I said.

"I bought it for your necklace," he said.

"You did?"

"Yes. May I see it for a moment?"

I took the necklace from around my neck and handed it to Draco, who had pulled out his wand.

"Wingardium leviosa," he said, making the necklace float in midair.

"Draco! Be careful. You can get into trouble for that!" I warned him.

"It's okay. Father will never know and he'll deny it ever happened if the Ministry calls," Draco explained.

"Alright. If you say so."

Draco took the teardrop-shaped stone from the box and placed it on the back of the pendant of my necklace. He uttered a few Latin words under his breath, and a flash of bright light forced me to look away. When I turned my head back, my necklace was still floating in midair, and I looked closer at the back of the pendant. It now had the peridot forged into the silver, and a noticed the letters, E. S.D. M. written in curvy writing. Draco reached into the air and took the necklace into his hands. He walked behind me and placed it around my throat, attaching the clasps.

"Thank you, Draco," I said to him.

"No problem," he replied, kissing me on the lips and starting down the corridor, "come on, we dont want to be late for breakfast."

I caught up to him, taking his hand in mine, and together we went down the stairs and entered the dining room at the end of the hallway on the right. Lucius, as usual, was already seated at the head of the dining room table. Draco and I sat down in our seats and ate breakfast as if there was nothing special about the day. After we had all finished eating and the plates had been magically cleaned, Draco and I stood up to leave.

"Elizabeth, I have something for you," Lucius replied.

At that moment, Sabs came into the room with a long box several feet long, wrapped in brown paper.

"You really shouldn't have," I said, looking from Draco to Lucius and back again.

"Don't be silly. Of course I should have. It's not everyday that a young girl turns sixteen, now is it?" Lucius replied.

"Well, if you insist."

"We do, dont we, Draco?" Lucius said.

Draco simply nodded. I was quite sure that he knew what was inside the box, and seemed slightly jealous. Lucius merely gestured to the box sitting in Sabss arms. Draco merely sighed and left the room, and I moved over to Sabs and took the box from her arms.

I removed the brown wrapping from the box and used my fingernails to open it. I reached inside and pulled out a broomstick. The handle was a couple feet long and painted a bright yellowish-orange, and the bristles at the other end stuck out toward the sides. I looked back toward the handle and saw words written on the very end. I saw my name written in the wood, and I looked at the name of the broom itself: Firebolt.

I was more than shocked. I had heard enough about broomsticks from Draco since he was the seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team at Hogwarts, and I had helped him practice in the backyard by throwing golf balls into the air for Draco to catch. He owned a broom called a Nimbus 2001, but he had told me that what he really wanted was a Firebolt, since it was the latest model and the fastest broom seen yet.

After Draco had left the room, I knew I had to say something about it to Lucius.

"You know, Lucius, I thank you for the broomstick, but I really don't need it. I'm not on a Quidditch team like Draco is, and I don't need one this fast," I explained.

"What are you proposing, Elizabeth?"

"Why don't you let Draco have this one here," I said, gesturing toward the broomstick in my hand, "and let me have Draco's Nimbus 2001?"

Lucius looked away from me, seeming to think about what I had suggested. After several moments, Lucius looked back to me.

"If you're sure thats what you want," he said.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Very well, I'll have the names changed on the handles," Lucius replied.

"No, you don't have to do that," I said, "they're fine the way they are."

Lucius merely sighed.

"It's your birthday. Anything you want, its yours today."

"Thanks," Lucius, I said, smiling broadly.

"You're welcome," Lucius replied.

He smiled just enough to form a sort of smirk, one which seemed to be a characteristic of any Malfoy. I wondered if I would pick up the family grin if I spent enough time with them. I wrenched myself away from the thought, and I left the room the broomstick in my hand. I climbed the steps to the second floor, and I walked to the very end of the corridor and knocked on Draco's bedroom door.

"Come in," I heard from inside.

I opened the door and stepped inside. Draco's bedroom was about the same size as mine, with similar furnishings, but the curtains around the bed and windows were a deep forest green, whereas mine had been mostly black. There were animated photographs and Slytherin decorations on the walls, and I saw his Hogwarts trunk sitting in a corner, already halfway packed for school.

Draco had been sitting at his desk with a roll of parchment and a book in front of him. When I walked into the room, he looked up from his work and put his quill down.

"Yes?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

I returned his sentiment by rolling my eyes and sighing heavily.

" I just thought you might want to try out your new broom, but if you're too busy..." I trailed off, turning towards the door.

"No, wait!" Draco stopped me, getting up from his chair and coming towards me.

Iturned back around to face Draco, pursing my lips and raising my eyebrows. Draco looked down at his feet for a few moments before jerking his head up and speaking.

"Hang on. Did you say my new broomstick?"

"Yes," I said, smiling.

Draco gazed at me with a confused expression, so I went on to explain.

"You see, I told Lucius that I really don't need a racing broom like this, so he agreed to let us switch brooms. You know, so you can catch the Snitch a little sooner."

"You mean...?" Draco stuttered, his eyes shining.

"Yep," I replied, handing the Firebolt to Draco.

He took the broomstick from me and smiled widely. Draco ran his hands down the handle of the broom, examining it closely. He looked back up at me.

"Thanks," he said.

"Any time," I replied.

"Come on, let's go test out our new brooms."

"Uh, Draco? I've never flown on a broomstick before," I said warily once Draco and I were outside in the backyard.

"It's not that difficult. Here, I'll show you," Draco replied, coming towards me with the Firebolt in his hand.

He stood next to me and swung his leg over the handle of the broomstick. I mimicked him. He kicked off from the ground with his feet and he rose high into the air. I did the same and found myself soaring over the Malfoys' backyard. I leaned forward slightly and felt the broom go even faster. All it took was a small nudge in any direction and the broom moved in that path. Draco and I flew around in the air for a while before playing a little Quidditch.

We threw golf balls into the air to see which one of us could get to it first. Draco beat me most of the time since his broom was much faster, but there were a few I reached before him, though I think he was just letting me get to it first. After that, he summoned a Quaffle from his closet and tried to throw it past me; the Quaffle barely ever flew beyond my reach.

"You'd make a pretty good Keeper," Draco said to me after a couple hours worth of flying.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Maybe you could get on one of the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts," he said.

"Maybe."

"Come on, let's go get cleaned up."