"El…Elvin?" Haylie stuttered incredulously. Beside her, she could feel Damon shift uneasily. Brandon and Cora were clinging to Damon and Haylie, Cora whimpering softly. Haylie stole a glance at Hermione and Eileen, who were standing completely still, both of them with their mouths wide open and their eyes clouded unbelievingly.

"What?" Elvin questioned arrogantly, breaking Haylie's trance, "None of you have a better reaction than to stare blankly at each other? Come on, I expected more out of you lot."

"Why?" Haylie spoke up, her eyes tearing up quickly, but her forehead scrunched in anger. She watched, surprised, as Elvin's own face twisted with hate.

"You know why Haylie," Elvin snapped at her, "I've been telling you about it throughout the whole year!" His anger seemed to grow with every word. Haylie, not feeling the pity she usually felt for Elvin, crossed her arms across her chest and walked towards him. She made her way one step at a time, ignoring the horrified looks her sister was giving her. She was almost near to him, only a few more steps and she would be only inches from him…

"Haylie! Hermione!" Harry yelled as he, Ron, and Corinne emerged from within the Hogsmeade Forest. Immediately, Haylie stopped and whipped around, running toward them. She didn't waste any time in explaining her plan of getting Brandon and Cora to safety. It wasn't exactly the best or safest plan, but Haylie had minimal time to think, let alone come up with ways to rescue two young children, with almost no supplies. She grabbed Ron's arm with her right hand and Harry's hand with her left and pulled them aside.

"Summon your Quidditch broomsticks," Haylie whispered harshly, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Elvin hadn't tried anything.

"What? Why?" Harry asked, reaching under his robes and pulling out his wand.

"I need you to take Brandon and Cora to safety and get someone to help," Haylie said, taking out her own wand, "I'll summon mine as well…just in case."

"Accio broomstick!" Harry said softly, swishing his wand gently.

"Accio broomstick!"

"Accio broomstick!" Haylie finished, a mischievous smile appearing on her face, "How long do you think it will take for the brooms to get here?"

"Not long," Elvin's voice answered from behind Haylie, "Accio broomstick!" Haylie's smile fell and she looked over at Harry and Ron, her eyes wide with panic. Suddenly she felt Elvin next to her and begin to twist a piece of her hair, which was hanging loosely below her shoulders, between his fingers. He was smiling until Haylie reached over and slapped his hand away. His smile disappeared and he crossed his arms across his chest irritably.

"What? You didn't think I knew you were plotting something? I'm not stupid Haylie, no matter how hard I tried to play it off that way during classes," Elvin said, his voice a little louder than usual, "I'm the master of plotting schemes. I've been plotting all year! You were all oblivious to what I was doing! Even you!" Elvin snapped his head to the left and glared daggers at Damon, who returned them, his wand still out and alert.

"Even Damon didn't know what I was up to and he's my roommate!" Elvin was now yelling, but he didn't sound angry, he seemed to be mocking them, "And Ron and Hermione even saw me writing one of the letters I sent to you and they didn't even question my motives at all."

"You were writing to your sister and…" Hermione stepped in, but was cut off by Haylie.

"Elvin doesn't have any brothers or sisters! He's an only child!" Haylie realized, screaming it out loud purposely. Elvin gave her another evil smile.

"So you remember our little chat on the boat, do you?" Elvin questioned Haylie smugly, his eyes sparkling viciously, "I'm surprised you can remember some small, pointless fact like that but you can't even figure out who your enemy was. After all, I think it's been obvious."

"You! …"Eileen was now walking toward Elvin, her eyes flashing dangerously. Haylie stepped in front of her, stopping Eileen from getting any further from Elvin, who didn't look at all pleased. He took one small step toward the two girls and stopped, his left eyebrow raised. Next to Haylie she could feel Eileen's muscles tighten and her face soften. She was scared.

"You know…"Elvin muttered, his eyes scanning Eileen's entire body from head to toe and back again, "I never really liked you. You always had too sharp a tongue. But these things can be fixed…"

"I don't think…"Eileen snapped, but stopped after receiving shushes by almost everyone in the small group still standing in the large field. Haylie glanced at Elvin nervously, anticipating his reaction.

"So you still want to open that mouth of yours don't you?" Elvin hissed, "Well, as I said before, that can and will be fixed….sealiomundo!" Hermione shrieked from behind Eileen and Damon sent a disarming spell Elvin's way. He dodged Damon's spell and sent the same one back to him, sending Damon flying across the grass. Haylie stared over at Eileen, who's mouth appeared to be clamped tightly shut with no signs of opening. Horrified, Haylie gazed at Elvin.

"I'm not in the mood for this," Elvin mumbled grumpily.

"You'll never get away with this Danebridge," Damon growled from several feet away, where he was lifting himself off the ground. His wand appeared to have left a large gash across his cheek and blood was dripping down and falling from his chin.

"Get away with what? I haven't even done what I've been meaning to do," Elvin replied, glancing over at Haylie, "I haven't got who I did all this for. After all, these children were just ploys…. heck…they could even be called bait."

"Who do you want Elvin?" Harry asked, stepping out in front of Eileen. Elvin shrugged his shoulders innocently, teasing with Haylie and her friends.

"Well, it's definitely one of you people," Elvin admitted, his eyes flashing, "But…I don't know if I'll tell you who it is just yet…I want it to be a surprise when I kill them."

Soft moans were coming from Haylie's right and she looked over to see both Cora and Corinne crying, tears streaming down their faces.

"Why are you doing this?" Corinne sobbed from beside Ron, "We're innocent people. We were your friends…"

"Oh be quiet Corinne!" Elvin snapped, "You never really liked me. None of you did except Haylie."

"That's not true!" Hermione yelled back, her curly brown hair falling in front of her eyes.

"Yes it is!" Elvin roared, his voice becoming deeper and deeper, "But I didn't mind…I had a plan…since before the school year started…." Haylie watched in horror as Elvin's eyes drifted upwards and a huge smile spread a across his face. Everyone turned to see three broomsticks flying like bullets through the sky directly towards Haylie, Ron, and Harry. A fourth broomstick appeared from behind the tops of the tress and flew about a hundred feet behind the others.

"I guess I can give you all a head start," Elvin said, looking directly at Haylie, Harry, and Ron, "It's not like you'll get away. I've been flying broomsticks my whole life. I was even in the miniature Quidditch league when I was younger. I was even named MVC. Those were some good times."

"MVC?" Ron questioned, his eyebrows lifted higher than Haylie had ever seen.

"Most Valuable Chaser," Elvin hissed, sounding a tiny bit offended that Ron didn't recognize his well-earned title.

"But when we were teaching you how to fly…you weren't that good," Haylie whispered, her voice cracking slightly. Elvin let out a laugh so high and loud that it startled both Eileen and Hermione, who jumped at least a foot in the air each. Suddenly, an old broomstick twirled around Haylie and, narrowly missing her feet, land a few inches in front of her toes. Haylie instantly reached down and grabbed her broomstick tightly before gazing behind her at Ron and Harry. Harry and Brandon were already lifting into the air, while Ron was helping a shaky and tear streaked Cora straddle her legs over the broom. Haylie turned to Damon.

"Don't let him hurt any of you! I'm going for help!" Haylie yelled to him, waiting for his nod of approval. Once she received it, she hoisted her left leg over the one side of her broom, lifted it up and heaved herself and the broom through the air. The freezing wind whipped her face harshly, inflicting sharp pains across her cheeks with every slap. She didn't dare sneak a peak back at her friends. There was no time for her to get scared and there definitely no room for mistakes. She could se the trees of the forest zoom quickly below her, all of them blurring together in one big splash of green.

"Oh!" Haylie yelped as she looked up and saw one enormously tall tree appear directly in front of her pathway. She dodged it narrowly and breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she almost couldn't breathe. She could see Ron's red hair flying in the distance, but could no longer see Harry. The night was too dim and his jet black hair blended in with the darkness.

"Hey Granger!"

"Oh no," Haylie whispered, closing her eyes for a few brief seconds before turning to look behind her. Elvin was on his broom, catching up quickly, smiling and waving just like he had done the day before in between classes. She couldn't believe how fast he was flying. Only a few short months ago she had been outside on the Hogwarts grounds trying to teach him how to fly for Quidditch tryouts. As it turned out, he had known how to fly all along.

"He was even a MVC for goodness sake!" Haylie hissed to herself, mostly angry at her own ignorance, "How could I be so stupid." Unexpectedly, Elvin sped up and flew beside Haylie, staggering her balance on her broom and almost sending her down into the dark depths of the trees below her. Elvin laughed once again, and Haylie glared at him.

"You can't stop me Haylie!" Elvin yelled over the deafening wind.

"Wanna bet?" Haylie shouted, jeering to the right and dipping downward toward the upcoming Hogsmeade road. Obviously, Elvin followed her, catching up right away. Haylie knew that she wouldn't win this fight on her broom. Elvin was just too fast and too swift on his broom. Her chances of getting reinforcements were better on the ground. Finally, she ducked over the roof of the Silver store and land on two feet, her shoes skidding on the tiny rocks covering the road. More rocks flew in the air and hit the back of Haylie's robes, letting her know Elvin had also reached the ground unscathed.

"So Granger," his voice stung her ears, "You wanna know who I've been after all this time?" Haylie turned around slowly, her wand ready. She stared deep into Elvin's flaming eyes.

"Yes. Of course I want to know," Haylie's eyes narrowed, "Who is it?"