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5

"Hmm… Dark Magic, I see…" McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head, and it was now whispering in her ear.

The Darkest, Emlyn thought, and to her surprise, the hat heard her and chuckled, its brim shaking slightly.

"You are quite talented, Aspect Ancient, you would fit in any house…" the Sorting Hat continued to whisper. Emlyn wasn't listening; her interest was drawn to the boy whose eyes were riveted on her. Not that every other boy in the school wasn't watching her with wide eyes, but she had the complete attention of the only boy in the room that mattered at that moment.

Harry Potter, she thought, and started to smile because the Sorting Hat had heard her and started going off about Gryffindor. No, no, Emlyn corrected the Hat; Put me where I can hate Harry Potter.

The Hat stilled, contemplating her motives. "It seems the obvious choice, but almost not the right fit, as if..." The Hat stopped, but when Emlyn's hatred was proven indifferent as she stared back at Harry, the Hat gave in. "Well if you're sure..." the Sorting Hat mused. Emlyn smiled maliciously, never taking her eyes from Harry's.

"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat yelled out. Emlyn dismissed Harry's glances, and calmly took the Hat off and sat the decrepit looking taking hat back on the stool and smoothed down her blonde hair. I probably have lice now or something, she thought to herself. The table to the far right gave half hearted cheers, while the rest of the school clapped politely, so Emlyn made her way over that way, intending to sit at the very end of the table with the rest of the puny first years. She made it about three steps down the far side of the table before saw a very handsome blonde boy stand up. She noticed his grey eyes as she observed him warily.

"Join us," he said. She knew it wasn't a request and didn't feel like making enemies so she sat down in the spot the pouting dark haired girl next to her had vacated. She smiled sweetly at the boy as he sat down next to her. Dumbledore was talking, but she didn't really pay attention. She had been living here since the first of August and knew her way around and the rules, not that she was really going to obey any of them.

She looked back over at Potter. She knew that his eyes followed her the entire way over to the Slytherin table, but when she looked at him now all she felt was amazement. Dark hair shifted lazily across those green eyes, and she had to remember to breathe. And as soon as she did, the magical moment was over, and the pain and anger that Emlyn constantly carried around returned to settle in her consciousness.

She had seen Harry's eyes widen in shock when the Hat announced her House, and she was satisfied—for now. Even as they looked at each other from across the room, Emlyn couldn't help but hate Potter. He was the reason she was here and Tynan wasn't. The smile that had crept onto her face when she first looked at him turned into a sneer as deep hate coursed through her. She figured if she had to be here, she would make it worth her while. Harry Potter would never know what hit him.

-

Lukas was sitting at the Ravenclaw table as he watch Emlyn get sorted, and he felt her anger and hate at Harry Potter rise. They were staring at each other like there was no one else in the room. He could also tell the Emlyn thought he was attractive.

"That'll throw an interesting turn into things," he mused. Emlyn's going to have to decide between hating or liking Harry Potter. He hoped it was the latter. Unlike his sister, Lukas knew that Harry Potter had nothing to do with the deaths of his sister and parents. But Emlyn was as strong willed as they come, and there was no convincing her otherwise. He had tried, but it had only been a month since their deaths. He had thought before that time would help her get over this obsession with Harry Potter, but now he realized that maybe another kind of obsession would be even better.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat yelled. That was no surprise, Lukas thought. He could almost taste the dark magic coming from the table that was now cheering as their new member sauntered over.

Lukas's Elemental Aspect abilities were about as varied as Tynan's were limited. Along with being an attacking specialist and having the ability to manipulate all things Elemental, he could sense people's emotions. It wasn't a skill he was born with, but developed as his Aspect powers grew and he learned to control them more. At first, it was more like using his Element abilities to read the reactions of the body, such as heart beat and breathing patterns, than actually sensing the real emotions. But as he practiced Lukas learned to differentiate and tune his skill until he could actually sense the emotion. In battle, this became essential to his attacking patterns, but in real life, he just used it to annoy his sisters and to hit on girls.

By this time, dinner had started and Emlyn had calmed down considerably. He sensed the girl sitting next to him eyeing him and decided to take full advantage…

-

Draco was watching this beautiful girl next to him with interest. She hadn't said anything to him, not even a thank you so she didn't have to sit with the stunted first years. The food appearing seemed to break her of her trance. He heard the rest of the first years gasp as the food seemed to come out of nowhere, but she wasn't surprised, which piqued his curiosity. How long had she been here if she knew the food just appeared on the tables? He didn't remember seeing her on the train, but then remembered that he had slept through the entire ride.

"Hi," she said. It was now Draco's turn to be snapped out of his trance. "I'm Emlyn." She held out a petite hand for him to shake.

Draco took it and kissed it lightly. "Draco Malfoy. Welcome to Slytherin." Behind her, Pansy snorted with jealous anger. "On the other side of you is Pansy Parkinson," Draco continued, either unaware or not caring that Pansy was jealous of her, Emlyn noted.

"This is Goyle and Crabbe." He motioned to the two larger boys sitting across from her. Goyle gave her a small smile, but Crabbe didn't even bother to stop shoveling food in his mouth long enough to even look up. Draco looked disgusted, but Emlyn just laughed.

The meal went well, and conversation between her and Draco flowed easily. Emlyn thought Draco was nice, though a little full of himself, but she could tell he was the big shot of the House. His views were a little skewed, and she could tell by the way that he kept insulting Mudbloods and making references that she wouldn't have known except for her training in Dark magic, that this house was as full of Dark Magic as she was. It would be nice to talk about Dark magic for once and learn something new. Tynan and Lukas knew very little about the Dark Arts, but why would they. They had their own Aspects to learn. Her thoughts were interrupted by Draco asking to escort her back to the common room. She had to say yes, she guessed, and took his hand for assistance as she stood up. She glanced across the room, but heard Lukas before she saw him.

"Over here…" Lukas's deep voice echoed in her head. She glanced down farther the Ravenclaw table. During their meal, Draco had told her a lot more about the houses, and if she had to pick a house for Luka, it would have been Ravenclaw. He was extremely clever.

"How's it goin', Luka? Do you like your house?" she winked at him as he nodded towards the girl on his left.

"Samantha Fawcett, chaser on the house team, really pretty, eh?"

Emlyn smiled and rolled her eyes, "Yes, Lukas. Draco, here," she nodded to her left where Draco was talking to the Head Girl. "He's taking me back to the common room."

"That's nice. Be careful."

"Careful? Ha, there is no way I can be careful enough in this house. Draco is a Malfoy, Luca. This entire house is full of spawn of Death Eaters." His shock made her laugh.

"Maybe you should talk to Dumbledore and switch Houses, Emlyn!"

"Nah, I'll be okay, Luka. I can take care of myself. And plus, who knows, I might learn a thing or two.

"That's true. A bunch of evil people sitting around talking about Dark Arts—you should fit right in." He laughed.

She threw him a skeptical look across the Great Hall. "Right, you prat. Have a good night, see you tomorrow."

"Yep, tomorrow," he turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at her. She hadn't moved. "It'll be okay, Em."

Emlyn drew a shaky breath. The way Lukas could read her mind scared her sometimes, but she supposed it also might be because he missed Tynan as much as she did. "I know… I just miss her, Luka."

"I do too… I love you, sis. Goodnight."

"I love you too, goodnight." Draco had turned towards her at that instant, and held out his arm for her to take.

-

Draco liked Emlyn. She was gorgeous, smart but there was something about her he couldn't identify, and he always liked a good mystery as much as he liked a good chase. As far as he could tell, he would get a good amount of both out of her.

Dinner went by to quickly, and before he knew it, Dumbledore was standing and ordering the Prefects to take the first years back to the common rooms.

He helped Emlyn stand up. "I'll walk you to the common room, just give me one second." Granger was headed this way.

"Malfoy," she said when she reached him.

"Mudblood."

"You have night rounds tonight by yourself. I'll take the afternoon rounds tomorrow, and I will assign the other prefects times for rounds until we can set up a schedule. The prefect meeting is next Wednesday at 7."

She turned and walked off, probably so he didn't have a chance to call her a Mudblood again. Draco smirked. There was no way he was staying for rounds tonight. He had somewhere much more important to be. He walked back over to Emlyn. He took her arm and they walked towards the Dungeons in silence.

The stopped at a large dark portrait in the middle of a stone passageway in the dungeons. Emlyn couldn't see what was actually on the canvas because of the dim light provided by the torches.

"Infusco." The portrait seemed to darken even more and faint outline of a passageway could now be seen. Draco stepped through.
"Coming?" He smirked at her amazed expression. She followed him through the short, dark passageway. He stopped.

"I have rounds now, so I'm not staying. All your things have already been brought to your room, and Pansy should be here shortly to show you where it is."

"Oh, okay, well, thank you." She smiled up at him. He did not return it but she saw a small glint in his eye as he turned to leave.

"See you tomorrow for classes," he said. As she watched him walk back down the passageway, the darkness seemed to consume him.

She turned and looked at her common room. It was a very large room decorated in dark greens and blacks, with several black leather couches placed in front of an enormous fireplace. At the other end of the room were dark wooden tables and chairs, and some shelves with huge dusty books on them. There was were huge dark green curtains covering one entire wall, and Emlyn walked over and pulled them apart.

Her breath caught as she found windows from the floor to the ceiling giving a breathtaking view of the lake illuminated in moonlight. She thought they were underground, but the castle was built on a cliff, so they must be where the cliff drops off.

"Riley." She whipped around when she heard her middle name, which she was now using as her last, and saw Pansy standing at the top of staircase.

"Our rooms are up this way," Pansy said with barely masked disgust.

Emlyn sighed, let the heavy curtain fall back into place, and followed Pansy up the steps.

-

"Weakness," the new teacher shouted across the Death Eater dueling arena, "It is weakness rather than wickedness that renders men unfit to be trusted with unlimited power," the greasy man smiled at Draco. "Are you weak, sub-plebe?" The teacher, who was much shorter than Draco, though very quick and very malicious, was holding two wands; one was Draco's.

The man had taken it upon Draco's arrival that night at Cassiopia, the training arena that Voldemort had provided. Draco watched the teacher silently, trying to read the man.

His last teacher had only lasted two weeks before his knowledge of the wandless practice ran out. Draco was a fast learner, he was now on his fourth teacher, and he thirsted to prove himself. Voldemort granted his wish two nights ago, and let Draco murder the man at a Death Eater meeting to showcase his abilities.

Now there was this teacher, short and untrustworthy. Draco idly wondered where Voldemort had found these crackshots who volunteered to teach him. His gaze swept over the quivering little man, and Draco realized that the teacher was shaking with anger.

"Did you not understand me?" the teacher shouted, pointing the wands at Draco. Not impressed, Draco decided to show off and grabbed both wands with his ability. They flew to his hand.

"No, sir, I am neither weak nor stupid," Draco smirked. Looking back at the man, his face fell. The teacher's face was contorted with rage.

"You will address me as 'Master,'" the man shouted again. Draco rolled his eyes, he was tired and wanted to go back to school and get some sleep. He had ditched his rounds (and seeing Emlyn to her room) to come to train, and was annoyed and tired with this teachers' groundless impatience.

"I am not deaf either, but I only have one Master," Draco cocked his eyebrow at the man, folding his arms over his chest. The little man quivered more, his eyes widening in shock.

"CRUCIO!" the teacher crowed, and from his hand shot a green light that his Draco square in the chest. Draco was so surprised that the man could actually perform the spell without his wand that he did not have time to block it. His body exploded in the pain of a thousand white hot knives piercing his skin and Draco collapsed to the ground. Because of his familiarity with the curse, (his father used it regularly as a form of punishment) Draco was able to force past some of the pain and realized that the teacher was now standing over him. The teacher released the spell, and Draco righted himself, seething with anger.

"You will address me as 'MASTER,'" the teacher spat at him, but Draco wasn't listening. He became vaguely aware of another presence in the arena, and glanced behind the man to see Voldemort and his father quietly watching their conversation. The teacher saw that Draco's gaze was averted and almost passed out when he turned to face Voldemort. Draco kneeled, and the teacher also dropped to his knees.

"I see we have a disagreement already," Voldemort hissed, "How unfortunate," his slit eyes narrowing on the greasy man now kissing the hem of his robes as was expected.

"Only a small one, my lord," the small man said, still shaking, though Draco was satisfied knowing that it was because he was frightened of Voldemort. "I was under the impression that the training sessions were private, my lord. This is a surprise."

"I wonder if you realized something," Voldemort mused, circling the kneeling man. Draco had learned in his months of training that when the Dark Lord circled his subject, it meant inevitable punishment. He had seen Voldemort do it so many times it reminded him of a predator hunting his prey. The man obviously was under the same impression, and was shaking violently in his terror.

Not so tough now, are you? Draco thought smugly, trying to shake the after shock of tingling feeling out of his limbs from the Curse. Voldemort continued.

"Did you notice that Draco does not kiss my robes anymore? He does not have to, for I know where his loyalties are," Voldemort hissed at the man, who was now white as a sheet. "Did you also notice that I am the only one he calls Master?" Voldemort was now fingering his wand lightly, a slight pinched look on his face.

"All of my students call me 'Master,' sir, I was under the impression I was to treat the boy the same as the others I have taught," the slimy man croaked.

"Is Draco the same as your other students? NO! HE IS MY APPRENTICE!" Voldemort shouted; the man had tears rolling down his cheeks in terror. Voldemort calmed a bit, directing his attentions towards Draco. "Did Wormtail inform this teacher of the rules?"

"Yes, Master, at the beginning of training today," Draco said evenly, realizing that Voldemort must have witnessed the teacher torture him with the Unforgivable Curse.

"Would you please repeat rule number seven for your former teacher," Voldemort hissed. The emphasis on 'former' was not lost on Draco, and he almost smiled.

"Rule Number Seven: the Apprentice will be punished by the Dark Lord's order's only," Draco repeated.

"Did you miss that rule?" Voldemort asked the quivering man. He looked down at his wand again, and continued to rub it fondly. Draco knew Voldemort was searching the teacher's thoughts for the answer. Draco saw Voldemort smile slightly when he found it, "No, you were perfectly aware of your actions, and now you will pay for breaking the rules." Draco could hear the man plead for mercy, grabbing at Voldemort's robes. But the Dark Lord ignored him, and pointed his wand at the man.

"Igrensico brusithitius," Voldemort said, and a white light shot out of his wand and surrounded the teacher raising him to a standing position. The opaque light form fitted to the man's skin, and seemed to mold him into a taller leaner shape. Through the opaqueness, Draco could see the man's face contorted in pain just before the light solidified on his body forming a cocoon. The man went silent and completely motionless, and so did the three men watching. Suddenly, the cast surrounding the teacher exploded into shining pieces and Harry Potter was standing before them.

Though Draco knew it wasn't the real Harry Potter, just a transfiguration, hate began to course through him. Each teacher ingrained in him a loathing so strong that it was hard to contain. Voldemort saw the automatic sneer that appeared on Draco's face, and laughed approvingly.

The teacher had obviously noticed a difference because tears were now streaming unchecked down his face in complete panic. But Draco did not care that it was his teacher, because a vision of Harry was standing before him and his mission was to kill.

"Draco, show me what you have learned today," Voldemort ordered quietly.

Draco had learned only one thing today, and it was that he should be able to do an Unforgivable Curse without his wand. Voldemort seemed to know what Draco was thinking, and sent Lucius over to take both wands from Draco.

Looking down at the quivering Harry replica, Draco's pulse rose with excitement and terror. With one last glance at Voldemort, Draco concentrated hard and pointed his fingers towards the enemy on the ground.

There you go! Not exactally a cliffie... I know some people don't enjoy those. You can imagine what's next! ;)

A HUGE THANKS to my reviewers! You make it so much easier to actually share this story (which I wrote mostly for myself, I'm greedy I know ;)) But, I'm insanely glad you all like it! Keep reading and I promise I won't let you down!

Tell me if you like it, what you like, what you hate! Review and I'll post Chapter 6 which is all ready to go-xxx