Intrigued, I followed Draco. He went down the front hall, and then up the stairs. There were four doors in the long hallway upstairs. The first on the left was a study of some sort; it had a desk and empty shelves. I never go in there. Across the hall from that is my room. The last on the right was the bathroom, and across from that is Draco's room, I guess.

I peeked around the top of the stairs as he headed into his room. A few minutes later, he went into the bathroom, a bundle of clothes in his hand. Oh, so he was taking a shower.

When I heard the water start running, I crept my way down the carpeted hall to his room. Waiting another minute with bated breath, I stood crouched over the doorknob, but no other sound from the water was heard. I turned the knob, and it opened easily without any creaks. I wanted to see what Draco's room looked like.

For years this room had been empty, the carpeted floor looking lonely. Sometimes I slept in here so this room wouldn't feel abandoned. The carpet had been a deep maroon, but now it was a dark green. There were two windows framing the corner of the house, and that's where his bed sat. It was a large four-canopy like mine, only his was green and silver for some reason. Mine was cobalt and silver, but that's because those are my favorite colors. Maybe green and silver are his favorite colors.

A large writing desk was hunched in the opposite corner as the bed. The rest of the walls were covered in bookshelves, full and almost tottering over. It reminded me of the library. At the foot of his bed was a large trunk, and I cautiously approached it. It was so shiny! It was black, ornate carvings all over it. I traced the designs with my fingers, running my hands over the smooth wood. Whatever was in here must be very valuable, I thought, to be put in such a beautiful box.

"What are you doing?" a cold voice asked, and I jumped.

I whirled around to face Draco, now dressed in all black, including his leather shoes. I smiled at him, opening my arms to encompass the room. "It's so pretty," I sang, twirling a little. "I love your box," I ran back over to it, but didn't touch it this time. "What's in it?" I looked at it longingly.

"Get out of my room!" he sneered, striding towards me. He grabbed my upper arm and hauled me out of the room before slamming it in my face.

I was playing happily in the garden the next day, weeding my way across the large beds. I squeezed my hands in the damp dirt, loving the squishing sound and the feel of the cold earth on my hands. It had rained earlier, and I had had so much fun jumping around in the muddy grass. I was probably brown from head to foot, but I didn't care. I was humming to myself when I heard a crash coming from the house.

I hadn't seen Draco since he'd dragged me from his room yesterday, but he was still trying to get out. Silly goose, I smiled to myself, I'd already tried everything ten years ago. You can't get out unless they let you. And they only let me out when I don't want to leave, I just want to go. Like if I want to go play in the park, but not try to run away, they'll let me. But if I pretend to want to play in the park, and then try to run away, they won't let me go any further.

I had planned on telling him that, but he wouldn't speak to me when I knocked tentatively on his door after he threw me out. So, I figured I'd just leave him alone for now. Maybe he'd want to play later. I know a lot of fun games.

"Hello? Anyone home?" a friendly voice called from behind the hedges. It was one of the neighbors! I shot to my feet and ran into the house. Sure enough, there was knocking on the front door. "Cameron, are you in there, sweetie?"

I slid on the stairs, my feet slippery from the mud, and barged my way into Draco's room. He'd found he couldn't lock it earlier, and I learned a lot of new expletives. More to add to my list.

"Help!" I wheezed as I ran to him. He was sitting on his bed, his head in his hands, but when I came in, he snapped his head up and glared.

"I told you to get out!" he held his wand at me, but I wasn't afraid of it anymore. He couldn't hurt me; Dasan said so.

"Cameron, I know you're in there. I thought I saw someone leave something on your porch a while back, and just wanted to make sure you're alright." It was Betsy, the ever-concerned neighbor next door, who always had one eye on her neighbors, and the other on her husband's wallet. She always made sure I got my packages, and gave me presents on the holidays. It annoyed me to no end.

"Please, help." I said, reaching out towards him with muddy hands. "They won't like it if she calls the police again."

The first time I didn't answer the door, about a week after I moved in, she had called them. Dasan and the Others had had a fun time explaining everything, and I'd had a hard time recovering from what they did to me afterwards. I'd always answered the door after that.

Draco shrugged, not caring. "So, go answer the door."

I dropped my eyes, wishing he would be like he was when he was sleeping. He probably is, just not used to showing it when he was awake, that's all. I'll give him time. Slowly, I made my way down the mud-tracked stairs and answered the door.

"Oh, hello, sweetie. I knew you'd be here," Betsy gushed, going to pull me into a hug, but seeing my muddy state, hesitated. "Been playing in the rain again?" she winked as though we had a secret, and peered around my shoulders to see inside the house. She'd never been inside, and that wasn't going to change today. "Well, I saw something a couple of days ago being dropped off on your porch. It looked awfully big – do you need Rupert's help putting it together?" Rupert was her rich, helpful husband who always watched her younger sister play tennis. I didn't like him, either.

"No," I answered casually, leaning against the doorframe as she tried to push her way in. As always. "I'm fine. It came already constructed, thanks."

"Oh, right. Well, that's good." She beamed at me, and paused again. Most likely trying to figure how to prolong the conversation. "Did you know there's a carnival in a week? Would you like to go with Rupert and I? You know how he loves the roller coasters."

I shook my dirty hair, splattering her multi-colored house dress with spots of mud. "No, thank you." I replied politely, as I did every year the carnival came to town, and Betsy asked me if I wanted to go with. Talk about stubborn. I heard footsteps on the stairs, and froze. A second later, I tried to slam the door in her face, but she put her foot out quicker than I thought possible.

"Well, who is this?!" she all but squealed as Draco came into view.

He strode forward and pushed me aside as he held out a hand. I could see him smirking as he introduced himself. "Draco Malfoy, ma'am. Nice to meet you." he drawled, taking my spot at the doorframe.

Betsy turned to me, her eyes wide and shiny for some reason. "I didn't know you had a brother." She exclaimed, clapping her hands together happily.

Draco and I both froze. If I hadn't been muddy, I would have had the same pale hair and skin as Draco. His eyes were grey, whereas mine were a dark blue, but, yes, I could see the scary resemblance.

"You're one of the neighbors?" Draco recovered quicker than I did, and smiled at her pleasantly. "Cameron never told me about you." he nudged me with one shoulder, in an 'I'm your brother, you should've told me this' kind of way, like you see on television.

I could see the accusation in Betsy's eyes as she thought the same thing.

"Yes, I'm here for a short stay," he continued in the same sweet tone, and I could see that she was melting.

"Well, it's nice that Cameron gets some company," she commented and then her shrewd eyes narrowed. "Why have you never visited before? It's not good for someone, uh, like her, to be alone for too long!" she pointed a finger at him sternly.

"Our mother," here he slung an arm around me and pulled me closer. I could smell his shampoo. It smelled nice. "Has fallen ill, and I've been caring for her. I asked Cameron if she wanted to come and visit, but you know how she is about leaving the house." He shook his head in mock exasperation.

"Yes, yes," Betsy nodded sagely, her brown curls bouncing around her head as she looked at him with admiration. He was a very good actor, I'd give him that. "Well, since you're here, maybe you'll take her to the carnival." She suggested, throwing me another wink.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Draco looked down at me and smiled. I almost gasped. That's the smile he had on his face when he was sleeping! This is the Draco I've been waiting to meet! Does that mean the Draco I want to know is the fake Draco? This is all very confusing.

When she was through the front gate, I sighed in relief. Draco dropped his arm immediately. That hadn't gone too badly. Much less worse than what my imagination had conjured. Draco left his perch on the frame and went inside again.

"That was fun," he smirked at me, most likely loving the fear it had given me. "Maybe I should meet all your neighbors." He continued as he almost skipped to the library.