The Mistake

The days after the Yule Ball were strange, to say the least. While Ron and Hermione were clearly angry, they still seemed to be hanging out with each other. Unfortunately for Ila that meant being stuck in the middle of a passive-aggressive sandwich, as they tried to figure out the clue for the egg.

"Maybe the egg is supposed to symbolise something?" Hermione suggested, closing her book about Dragon Eggs. It was getting close to dinner, something Ron was constantly reminding the girls. "Maybe…you're supposed to retrieve something special?"

"How the hell does that make any sense?" Ron asked, rereading his sentence for the tenth time.

Hermione waited for him to look up but carried on when she knew he was only making a dig at her and didn't actually want to know. "Well, eggs are something special to Dragons, maybe for the second task, you're supposed to retrieve something special to you, Ila."

"But I don't really have anything...wait, does that mean they'll take my Firebolt away?" Ila fretted.

Hermione shrugged. "If that's your favourite thing, then I suppose they would take it away."

Ila groaned, slamming her face onto the table.

"Relax Ila," Ron said, messing up her hair. "I'm pretty sure Hermione's got it wrong."

Ila heard her scoff, causing her to groan more. Not again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ron, if you have any ideas, don't let me intimidate you into not sharing them."

"You don't intimidate me."

"So then why don't you give us a suggestion?"

At this point, Ila rested her chin on the table, to see Ron's red face, trying desperately hard to come up with an idea.

"There's…well…you know…"

"The thing is Ron, we don't know," Hermione said.

"Well…" Ron opened and closed his mouth a few times before snatching the egg that was in front of them. He hadn't realised just how heavy it was and had to steady himself before lifting it above his head – again, steadying himself.

"Ron what the hell do you think you're -"

But Hermione was cut off by a loud thud and shriek. Ron had dropped the egg, letting out a small scream. The twins had come to greet them, unaware of just how antsy Ron was.

"Calm down Ron, it's only us."

"Have you always known you screamed like a girl?"

"Ron, what is actually wrong with you? I can't believe you do something as stupid as breaking property."

"Er – guys…"

"Who cares if he was breaking property?"

"Maybe the school, or even the ministry who owns the egg themselves?"

"Technically it's Ila's, so she can do whatever she wants with it."

"Guys…"

"It's not 'technically Ila's' because she's only borrowing it, which makes what Ron was about to do even worse. She can't come back with a broken egg; she could be disqualified."

"Alright, Hermione, I think you're being a bit dramatic."

"Says the one who was so annoyed that he couldn't think of a reasonable idea, that he thought he would take his anger out on an egg."

"Merlin, why are you always like this? Why are you so difficult?"

"Guys!"

"I'm the one who's difficult? You're the one who can't look me in the eye, let alone talk to me properly all because I went on a date with Krum, who I don't even like!"

"Good for you then – who says I care about you going on a date with him? In fact, I couldn't give two flying shits about what you do. Why would I? You'd just blow upon for no reason-"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?" Ron and Hermione shouted.

Ila pointed to the bookshelf in front of them.

When Ron had dropped the egg, perhaps it was the sheer terror of the twins or his anger towards his feelings towards Hermione, it seemed that the angle at which he dropped it…was miscalculated. Rather than having it land on its flat bottom, the egg had landed on its side and rolled in a specific direction. The same direction as the bookcase in front of them. What was even stranger than Ron dropping the egg at that angle, was that, said egg had somehow managed to cause the entire bookcase to fall.

Onto the next bookcase.

Which caused that bookcase to fall onto the next bookcase.

Which caused that to fall on to the next.

And to the next.

And to the next.

This terrifying game of dominoes with the bookcases didn't last until they could see a couple get interrupted in their make-out session to run out of the way of the last bookcase.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S BEARD HAPPENED!"

It took the five a few seconds for it to sink in before they realised that if they didn't leave in the next second, they were all going to get into so much trouble, they all would have been kicked out of school.

They rushed to get their things; the twins helped carry the egg before they all booked it out of the library. A horrifying moment came to Ila when Ron struggled to push the door open, and she had thought Madame Pince locked them in and was never going to let them leave.

That was until Hermione shoved him out of the way and pulled the door.

The five ran as fast as they could out of the library, and even though they knew Madame Pince was never going to catch them in the Great Hall, that didn't stop them.

In fact, the only thing that did stop them, was Dumbledore, standing in their way as they ran down the pathway between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. To be honest, none of them really knew why they were still running at the point.

"Hello Professor," the students greeted him, breathlessly.

"As the headteacher, I should ask students why it seems like they were getting chased by a certain librarian, but something tells me I should leave it alone."

"You should listen to that part, sir," Fred said, nearly dropping the egg, onto Dumbledore's feet. "You should...really listen to that part."

Dumbledore hummed in response, before indicating to students that he wanted to pass them. As he walked, he stopped in front of Ila, looking as if he was about to tell her something before deciding against it and walking past.

"Is there something wrong sir?"

The rest of the group left Ila, to talk to Dumbledore in private.

"No, nothing's wrong," he said, smiling. "I was just wondering if you knew where Draco would be?"

"Malfoy?" Ila asked, chuckling nervously. "W-what makes you think I would know? I definantly don't know, sir. We – we hate each other. The only conversation I have with him is just…arguing…or shouting…we definantly don't tell each other our whereabouts…"

Smooth, Ila. Really fucking smooth.

"Of course, it must have slipped my mind," he said, not paying that much attention. "Sorry, it was just that he asked to have a meeting with me, but he never showed up…how strange…well, I hope you have a good evening" – he started walking away – "and if an angry librarian shows up instead…"

"Sorry, sir."

"Whatever it takes for you to help you solve that clue," he said before walking away from her.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Hermione asked, Ila solemnly when she sat down beside her.

"Oh, grow a pair, Hermione," Fred muttered. "Who cares? Ila's basically his perfect child and, it's not like he's known to dish out detentions left and right."

"Besides, he even knows about our New Year's Party, tonight," George said.

"You're hosting another party?" Hermione said exasperatedly. "But you did one for Halloween."

"Yeah, but we never got to throw out Christmas one this year, did we? And that's always the best one. Isn't that right Ila?" Fred asked.

"Huh? Yeah…definantly…"

He wasn't at his usual place at the Slytherin table. All his friends seem to be there. Blaise, Theodore, Crabbe, Goyle…Parkinson.

So where did he go?

And why did he want a meeting with Dumbledore? It seemed that her friends weren't the only ones with a strange relationship.

"ILA!"

A sudden sharp pain shot up her shin, bringing her back to reality.

"I asked if you were going to turn up?" Fred said.

"Oh, right…er" – Ila turned to Hermione, who was intently watching the boy in front of her – "…why not?"

"Success!" The twins pumped their fists in the air and stood up.

"We're going to need your map again."

Ila rolled her eyes but found herself handing it over again to the boys, this time, with much less hesitation. She watched the two redheads, grab Lee Jordan by the collar, who was busy trying to talk up Angelina and Katie and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Is everything alright?" Ila asked Ron, who was busy reading a letter. His face was slowly turning red by the second, his fists were so clenched, it was starting to scrunch the paper up. The girls shared a confused look.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, momentarily forgetting their feud.

"Nothing," Ron grumbled, stabbing a knife into one of his sausages.

"Clearly not," Ila said, before grabbing the letter, about to read it, when Ron snatched the letter out of her hand and ripped it to shreds. "I told you, it's nothing."

The girls left it at that.

Mainly because a certain pair of girls had made their way over to them and if they carried on asking Ron, those were in the line of fire.

"Hey, guys – oh…what's this? I sense a bit of tension over here," Lavender said, in the same Trewlenay speaks whenever she makes a prediction.

"Hmm, I definantly feel some energies are a bit skewed. I sense a lot of anger in this direction"- she waved in Ron's direction – "and a lot of animosity in this direction" – she pointed in Hermione's direction – "and a lot of emotions here" – she waved in Ila's direction.

"Parvati, has anyone ever told you that you have such an amazing talent?" Ila said. Parvati's eyes lit up, flattered at her compliment.

"Really? What is it?"

"Yeah," Ila said earnestly. "You're amazing at saying so much bullshit with so much confidence."

Parvati's face deadpanned. "Very funny."

"No, no it's truly a talent I think we should all have."

"You know I was going to offer you to give you and Hermione a makeover again, but now, I'm not going to," Parvati huffed, before taking Lavender by the arm and walking away.

"I s'pose we should get ready then," Ila said to her friends and stood up. She made sure to casually glance at the entire hall, specifically zoning in on the Slytherin's table. He still hadn't shown up.

"You are coming Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I'll see you two up there," he said. He hadn't taken his eyes off his plate.

"What's wrong with him?" Ila asked once the two girls made it to their dorms. For the first time this year, Lavender and Parvati weren't in the room. From the looks of it, with their clothes strewn across the floor, and their makeup scattered on the beds, they were already done. Ila collapsed on her bed, knowing that she wasn't under any external pressure in the form of two fourth-year girls.

"I don't know," Hermione said carelessly, opening her truck and finding pieces to wear. Ila narrowed her eyes, remembering what happened when she came back from the kitchens. She thought her friends would have been worried, in fact, she thought they would have alerted Dumbledore by then and a whole school search would have been conducted. She thought people were going out of their minds at that point. Maybe they even cancelled the Yule Ball because of it.

"You have no idea how much you do my head in Mione. You talk and talk and talk, you never know when to shut the fuck up!"

"I'm sorry but the only reason why I'm not shutting up right now is that you don't want to listen to my side of the story!"

They hadn't even realised Ila was there, watching the two as they bicker. But this bickering was different. Ila could feel actual anger emitting from the two. Hermione's hair was starting to loosen from her braid while Ron's face was one shade away from a cherry tomato. They two were already walking out of the Great Hall when Ila found them. While she wanted to ask what was going on, she knew she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Why would I need to hear your side of the story? I already know. Krum asked you. You said yes, and the two of you are here right now. What else is there to it?"
"Nothing, but you don't have to sound so angry? What is wrong with me hanging out with a guy that isn't you, Ron? Besides, you were only going to ask me as a last resort. I am not a last resort."

"I never said you were, Mione," Ron said, turning to face her. Ila watched them tensely, her wand in her hand at the ready. Something told her that she didn't need to. For the first time since she had seen the two, Ron didn't look angry. His brows had softened, his face was fading back in his pale white skin. His arms were lowered. He took a step towards Hermione. "You were never the last resort to me Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened momentarily as if she wanted to take as much of Ron as she wanted. Ron gulped as he watched her reaction. Ila didn't know when she would step in. Maybe she didn't need to.

"Then why wasn't I your first?" Hermione asked, her voice breaking. She didn't stay any longer before leaving him, walking up the stairs. Ron watched after her, his fists clenched. Once she left, he turned around to see Ila watching him.

"What happened?" she asked finally.

"Nothing," Ron said tiredly, walking up to her and lazily slinging an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think I'm in the mood anymore…you don't have to stay here any longer do you?"

"No," Ila said, knowing there was a closing ceremony that she needed to be at. "Let's go back."

Ila rolled to her front, resting her head on her hands. "You don't think it has anything to do with what happened at the Yule Ball, do you?"

Hermione stilled momentarily, something Ila would have surly missed if she wasn't on her front, before going back to sorting through her clothes. "What happened during the Yule Ball?"

"I remember there being a…a fight between you two," Ila said. At that moment, Hermione's turn slammed shut. She had found her clothes.

"It wasn't a fight, Ila," she said turning her back to Ila as she laid her clothes out, seeing if it was the right one. "It was…it was just some stupid argument."

"What was it about?"

Hermione sighed, sitting down on her bed. "Ron was being an idiot like always. If something doesn't go his way, he needs to make everyone else feel bad for him."

"What do you mean?" Ila said, sitting up. "What went wrong?"

"I don't even know why he was getting so angry. He just…I think it was because I was with Krum…I don't know. He kept on bringing up why I was with him for the Yule Ball, and he kept on questioning me how it happened, but he…I knew he didn't actually care. He was just getting angrier by the second when I was telling him and then…things escalated."

"How?" Ila said.

"Krum came by to see what was going on. He asked me if I was ok and handed me my drink before Karakoff pulled him away. After that, he suddenly started shouting and…you saw how the rest went down."

Ron was so angry all because Hermione had gone out to the Yule Ball with Krum…instead of him…surely it isn't because…

KNOCK KNOCK!

Hermione walked to the door before Ila could question her any further. "Viktor!" she said, slightly alarmed. "What-what're you doing here?"
The door soon closed behind her.

It would make sense. In fact, it's probably the only reason as to why he was getting so angry suddenly…but then, what was that whole thing about the letter? Maybe Viktor sent Ron a letter to back off from Hermione, Ila thought as she made her way to her trunk to find some suitable clothes. Even though the two weren't here, she still felt as if Parvati and Lavender were watching over her shoulders, making sure her clothes were sexy enough for the party. She opened the trunk up and stared inside, she thought about Ron, Hermione Viktor vanishing at the sight of the blazar.

A certain black blazar that belonged to a certain blonde-haired boy…a certain blonde-haired boy she hadn't had the chance to talk to. Well…in her defence, she was rather busy with trying to find out the clue with the Egg but…she can't really defend her hiding under the table, bookshelves, or students whenever he was around her.

She didn't know why she was so freaked out. It wasn't like he had done anything bad to her. And it also wasn't like she was surprised about what he had said. She knew it to herself that she had been lying to herself.

And yet…she couldn't face him.

Ila slammed the trunk before leaning against it, burying her head in her hands. Ila wondered how long it would be before she was allowed to question his story. She didn't want to come off the edge but…

As harsh it may sound, it wasn't enough. There were still things that were left unanswered. She wondered if she would meet him at the party. There was a small part of her that hoped for it. But a massive part of her didn't want to go. She was sure Ron wasn't going to go and Hermione would probably busy with Krum which would leave her alone and if Malfoy was going to be there as well, her chances of bumping into him would increase which was something she definantly didn't want to happen.

She lifted her head.

What was going on with her? Since when was she afraid of him. Merlin, she was going soft. Ila stood up and opened the door. "Hermione?"

The landing was clear. Walking down the stairs to the common room, it was also completely empty. Eerily empty. Not even a first-year was there. Neither Colin nor Dennis Creevey was usually the last one to go to sleep. Was the New Year's party for all years? She wondered when the twins changed that rule. Stepping out of the room, she checked her pockets for the map…before swiftly realising she had given it to the twins. And she was definantly not going to the party to get it back. She would just have to find Hermione the old fashioned way.

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE! HERMIONE GRANGER GET YOUR ARSE HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE…BEFORE…."

Ila was never good at threats. She could still hear the echoes of her own voice, bouncing off when she heard a loud crack. Ila pulled her wand out before quickly stepping towards the noise. There was another one. Before being followed by a muffled…groan? Ila peeked over the corner of the wall to see a figure on the floor, clutching their nose.

"PARKINSON! GET BACK YOU FU - "

"S-she's gone," Ila said hesitantly, startling Malfoy. He was on his knees as he looked up at Ila. His pale face was stained bright red. There was even some blood on his hair.

"Ila?" Oh shit. She took a step back, behind the wall, but it was too late. Two minutes later, she heard him stumble and heavy footsteps coming towards her. He stood in front of her, though it looked like he regretted coming from his position on the floor. He swayed side to side momentarily, droplets of blood trailing after him. And onto her shoes. "What're you doing here?"

Ila sneaked a glance up. After all this time of making elaborate plans to escape Malfoy, this was how their first conversation in the New Year was going to be like? Seriously, when she was done with this life, she was going to have some big words with whoever was up there.

"I – I was…walking around," she said, staring at her blood-stained shoes. Good thing they were black.

"I thought" – he cleared his throat – "I thought you'd be at the party." He took a big deep breath. At that moment, Ila glanced up. His eyes were closed. He was getting closer to her. Either he hadn't read the situation properly or he was going to faint. Ila guessed it must have been the latter.

Instantly, she grabbed his shoulders, before realising that he was too tall and heavy for her to hold up and slowly lowered him to the floor. Once her knees and thighs were burning, she thought it was good enough.

"You should raise your legs," Ila suggested, stretching out her right leg before realising that he wasn't closing his eyes for the fun of it. "I guess I have to do everything now, don't I?" She, with quite a bit of force, raised his legs as high as they could go before grabbing his arm as well to check the time. She counted the seconds down, watching the red hand slowly pass over 6 then 7 then 8 and then –

"My head!" Malfoy groaned. Ila dropped his legs, his groaning once more. She wondered if she should leave him like that. It wasn't like he was going to remember. And besides, she's the one that stopped him from hitting the ground and possibly getting more than a broken nose. She turned on her heels, speed walking away from him. But only managed to get a few steps away before he said –

"Are you seriously going to leave me like this?" he said shocked. "At least check if my nose is broken?"

Why did Ila ever leave her dorm? She grudgingly turned back around. He had pushed himself onto his elbows but quickly dropped back down when Ila walked back.

"Can you at least sit up please?" she said, standing over him.

"Do you think I can do that?" he scoffed. Ila bit her tongue as she crouched down and placed her hands on his back, slowly lifting him up. She was sure he was putting all his weight on her as she struggled to lean him against the wall. Ila placed her hands at the top of his nose. It reminded her of when he did this to her, all the way back in the dingy classroom, with Crabbe was slumped against the table.

Oh, how times have changed.

Thankfully for Ila, Malfoy closed his eyes, and she went to work. Her thumbs gently pushed against his nose, while the rest of her fingers cupped around his cheekbones. She knew that his cheeks were prominent, but she didn't know they were poking out that much. Ila couldn't help but feel jealous at her 'barely there, unless she turns to the side and even then, it was barely anything' cheekbones.

"What even happened?" she asked, not because she was concerned or anything. "I could think of a few reasons - "

"Very funny," Malfoy muttered. "Parkinson..." He looked up at her. "It's nothing."

Ila trailed his nose down, checking to see if anything was broken.

She was sure that there weren't any.

But then again, it's not often that she volunteers to check if people's noses are broken or not. Perhaps she should check again.

"How did you know to raise my legs?" he asked quietly, seemingly wanting the silence between to be broken.

Ila shrugged even though his eyes were closed. "Saw it from my cousin."

He opened his watery grey eyes. Ila stopped. "I didn't know you had a cousin."

She looked at him. "Just because I don't have any parents, doesn't mean I don't have any family."

"I know that I – I just…you never mentioned it," he said, already regretting saying anything.

"You never asked."

It only took a few more moments for the silence to be broken once more. Ila had finished with his nose, confident that it wasn't broken. "Who do you live with then? I always thought it was with the Weasleys."

"My auntie and my uncle and my - "

" – cousin…what're they like?"

Ila sighed before sitting back on the wall next to him. Like a lot of the time with Malfoy, she wasn't sure of her decisions. She let her body work everything out for her as if someone else was controlling her. She didn't want to go against what her body…wanted.

"They're not the greatest of people," Ila started, staring at the wall in front of her, feeling his eyes on her. She didn't mind it. Strange after a few minutes with him, she wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't hiding under tables or students. What was he doing to her? "They…I had to sleep in a cupboard underneath the stairs for eleven years. I think that pretty much sums them up."

"A cupboard? But – that's -it's…why would do they that?" he said, sounding surprisingly disgusted to Ila.

"They don't like me," she said, smiling faintly. "They never wanted me in the first place and…I guess that was their way of avoiding it. If I was in the cupboard, then I wasn't part of their family. I didn't have a room, I didn't have…I didn't have anything of my own. I wasn't…I wasn't them…"

Ila quickly brushed a tear that had escaped from her eye, thought that it was Malfoy that was supposed to spill everything and not her crossing her mind. Ila felt his knees brush against hers. His hand was placed on top of his left. It itched to hold hers. "But it's fine now…I realised that I was a wizard and not just some wizard – the same one who defeated the greatest Dark Wizard of the time…and suddenly…everyone wanted to know me."

"Do you ever wish you could go back to one of those moments and wished it never happened?"
"Does it sound like I wish I never found that out?" Ila asked, looking at him. He shook his head.

"Just curious. I get those all the time."

Ila shrugged her shoulders, facing the wall again. "Sometimes I wonder what would happen if my parents survived…would He still be alive? If I was, would I still have to…I don't know – do all of this…go against him? Would I still be the same person? Would I even be friends with Ron and Hermione? Who knows, maybe I would've been your best friend…"

Draco chuckled. "Maybe in an alternate universe, you and I will be…" he trailed off.

"You should you get that feeling all the time," Ila said. "What happened with you?"
Draco let out a long breath, leaning back on the wall. He had stopped bleeding. Ila leant back with him, wondering if she should offer to clean him up.

"Do you want to come back to my room – I have dittany, I could clean your nose up for you," she added quickly seeing his brows raise up.

"Yeah," he said, biting back his smile before saying –

"GAH! Why the fuck is there so much red?"

Could he be any more dramatic?

Ila had opened the door to her dormitory, only for Malfoy to cover his eyes, and hissing as if he was the Wicked Witch of the West getting melted by lukewarm water.

"Will you just hurry up!"

Ila pulled him inside and looked both ways to make sure no one saw him. She was on edge the entire walk to their common room, making Malfoy wait at the bottom of the stairs so that she could run up into the common room, up her dorm and grab the invisibility cloak, run back, and put it on him before they made the rest of the journey. She knew Ron hadn't arrived at the party and there was a chance he was spending his time in the common room.

"It's not my fault that I nearly got blinded!" Malfoy said, taking the cloak off and rubbing his eyes. Ila closed the door quickly and for good measure, leant a chair on top of it so no one could come in.

"Er – just wait here – I'll get a cloth and…" She never finished her sentence. Her eyes never left the door as she walked to her bathroom and quickly closed it. She splashed cold water on her face. Her brain was getting a headache with all the back and forth. This wasn't the plan. She was supposed to figure out the rest of his story, not clean him up and risk Ron seeing the two together, alone in her room. Or even worse, have Lavender and Parvati burst into the room.

"What the fuck am I doing?" she groaned, putting her head in her hands again. It felt like the moment she left Malfoy's side; all her rational thinking leaves her. She can't think for herself and does anything that he wants.

"Where is your dignity woman?" Ila said, pointing her finger accusingly at her reflection. She grabbed a cloth, quickly wetting, determined to find out the rest of the truth. Ila opened the door, surprised to see that he was sitting at her desk, reading the notes about the Egg. Well, it was mostly Hermione's notes. There was no way she was going to go out of her way to make notes that weren't for any classes.

"You still haven't figured the Egg?" Draco asked as Ila walked over to him. He turned in his chair to face her. Ila thought he was going to do it himself…but she gently cupped her hands over his chin, tilting it up. She dabbed the damp cloth around his nose.

"No."

He hummed in response. "I'd help you but…"

"You're busy with your personal project?" Ila asked, seeing a way to get in through the door that Draco was holding shut.

"Have you thought about different animals the Egg could belong to?" he asked, switching the topic.

Ila accidentally dabbed a bit too hard on his nose, causing him to wince. C'mon Ila, get him to tell you.

"No, it hasn't really crossed my mind about all the different animals that could hatch a golden Egg that would probably be bigger than themselves," Ila said sarcastically.

"Do you always have to be difficult?"

Ila could have laughed. She was the one who was being difficult? Says the one who constantly changes his personality within two seconds. One minute he's making fun of her, the next, he wants to know everything about her and be friends with her.

Speaking of –

"Did you end up meeting Dumbledore?"

"How do you know about that?" he asked, his eyes staring up at hers. She placed the cloth on the table, the dried blood wiped clean.

"For some reason, he assumed we were friends," Ila said innocently. "I wonder why?"

"If you're trying to say something, why don't you go ahead and say it?" Malfoy said, crossing his arms.

Ila shrugged. "I'm not trying to say anything. I just think it's strange that Dumbledore thinks we've suddenly become best friends even though one of our parents is working for the same wizard who killed the other's parents."

He narrowed his eyes. "Am I really going to have to repeat myself?"

"It's not like you've told me anything have you," Ila muttered, grabbing the cloth to place in the sink in her bathroom.

"Are you forgetting about what I told you during the Yule Ball?" Draco said, standing up. Ila stopped before closing her eyes. Maybe this was why she didn't want to talk to him. She was afraid of hurting him. That was the only way for him to tell her everything. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Ila did like talking and spending time with him. He was different to Ron and Hermione, but she couldn't put her finger on how. She just knew that maybe she was avoiding him was so she wouldn't lose his…whatever they were.

"That was barely anything," Ila said, making sure her voice sounded as stern as possible.

"Barely – barely anything?" he said, his voice starting to rise. "Do you know how long I had to struggle with that for and to have someone like you tell me that it wasn't enough for you? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to tell you, of all people, anything to do with my personal life? Turn around and look at me!"

Ila slowly did so, watching him walk up to her.

"Maybe you should try harder," Ila said calmly, looking at him. "Unless you want me to think you're working with Voldemort in plotting my murder!"

The moment those words came out of her mouth, a heavyweight of regret punched Ila, right in the stomach, almost to the point where she felt winded. His harsh exterior changed to confusion, sadness and back to anger all in one smooth motion.

"Fine!" he shouted. "In case it wasn't painfully obvious from what I told during the Yule Ball; I'm not fucking working with Voldemort. I'm not scheming with him, I'm not plotting your murder, in fact, ever since the summer, I have done nothing but go against him. I've – I've read books about what he's actually done, to finally learn the truth about what he's actually done and not some bullshit lies my parents told me to stop me from asking questions. I've done everything that I can to find out what the truth was, even if that meant having meetings with Dumbledore or spending time with the one person, He hates the most to see what he's truly done. I hate him, Potter, I hate what he's done, I hate what he stands for, I hate the people that support him. I hate him more than you, Potter."

"Yeah, because he's killed your entire family and now has a vendetta against you. You can definantly hate him more than I can," Ila scoffed.

"Do you even know what he's done, Potter?"

"Is that really a question? Of course, I bloody know he's done."

"Apart from whatever Dumbledore's fed you, what exactly do you hate about him?"
Ila opened and closed her mouth every time she had thought about something, only for her to realise it was coming from Dumbledore.

"Do you know about what he did to the Ministry? About how he destroyed most of it from the inside by getting Ministry members to join? About how he made those people manipulate entire departments and made people lose their jobs over speculations and ruin their lives? He made members of Wizenmagot throw innocent people into Azkaban where they can never be trialled again. Do you even know that it was Death Eaters disguised as those members that threw your own godfather in Azkaban, Potter? Or what about all the lives that he's claimed? You probably know about that, don't you? All of the ways he used to torture people, right? About the 16 minutes of torture. Where he would people under the Crucitas curse for sixteen minutes because that was the maximum time someone could spend under it without getting brain damage and no longer feeling any pain. Do you know anything about that? Do you know anything other than knowing he's ruined your life Potter?"

Ila had stopped looking at him, taking the ground the be the most interesting thing in the room. She couldn't listen to him. She wouldn't. She could hear his footsteps until she saw his feet next to hers.

"Do you know about what he did to Lauren Dawlish?" he said in a low tone.

"No," she whispered back.

"She was cut up, Potter," he said quietly. "Scars all over her body in the shape of runes, her blood was drained. He had done that. You know that she was humiliated a number of times. He didn't want anyone to take her seriously. He even killed her mother too. But it's not like Lauren even meant anything. She was just a pawn in his game to get closer to you. She was left, rotting on our dining table, with a note beside her. A note that told my family and any of the Death Eaters that weren't in Azkaban or dead, that they'll know when Voldemort was coming back in a few days. And to think my father thought it as a joke and still went on…So you see Potter, I do have every right to be angry at him. Angrier than you."

His feet were no longer visible.

Ila heard the door slam shut.