I inhaled sharply, as if taking my first breath of air after being underwater too long. I was coughing so hard that I woke myself clear up.

"Stop moving," Draco said angrily, and I fell back against something soft. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself in my lamp lit bedroom at the Grayson's. I focused in on what it was that was towering above me. It was Draco. He pulled back a bloody cloth from my neck before pointing his wand at it. I was hoping all that had happened previously could have simply been a bad dream, but as the pain hit me, I knew it was reality. I cried. Everything hurt. I felt mangled. And then I was surprised; the last thing I could recall was Draco pointing his wand at me where I laid on the cold road. Why didn't he kill me? I thought that's what he'd done. He pointed his wand at a wound and the pain in that area subsided. He was healing me? I thought for sure I was dreaming. After about ten minutes of mending wounds, Draco stopped. I was able to sit up, though there was still a lot of damage. I took in the sight of him and was immediately frightened. The mask that was usually on the faces of Death Eaters sat on my desk in the corner. Draco looked over where I was looking.

"If you tell anyone about any of this, I promise you it will be the last thing you ever say," Draco said darkly, taking a step towards me. I backed up against the wall.

"Why don't you just erase my memory?" I whispered. "Why didn't you kill me?" I asked. Slowly, Draco backed towards the desk and picked up his Death Eater mask without taking his aim or gaze away from me. My coat was resting on the chair, inside which was my wand. I couldn't have defended myself if he were to attack.

"Something tells me you might be useful. And don't even think about coming after me. I'd find you before you could even try," he said.

"What makes you so damn sure about that?" I asked through gritted teeth. Draco smiled.

"I wouldn't try me," he said. Though I didn't show it, I honestly felt threatened. Draco approached and I closed my eyes. I felt his wand under my chin, where it stayed for about five seconds. And then I realized he wasn't going to kill me, otherwise he wouldn't have wasted all that time healing me. I opened my eyes to find a vibrant purple light emanating from Draco's wand. His eyes were closed and he was chanting something under his breath. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but it didn't sound like English. I watched as his wand travelled to the center of my forehead, the bright light intensifying. It split off in two directions and went in through my ears. I felt an unsettling chill before Draco pulled back his wand and looked down at me. I didn't feel any different. I was no longer in pain, but something told me what he'd just done wasn't a healing charm.

"What did you just do to me?" I asked. Draco eyed me for a moment before heading towards my bedroom door.

"What did you do?!" I screamed. I jumped out of bed and reached my coat, but by the time I got a hold of my wand and pointed it, Draco had disapparated. I ran to the bathroom and turned on the light. I looked at myself from head to toe, even stripped to see if there were any marks; I found nothing. That son of a bitch had done something to me. I thought about his threat and decided maybe it would be best to remain silent about the Graysons and everything that had happened that night…

I never packed so fast in my life, apparating back to my dorm and boxing my clothes and all my possessions. I sent them to my parents' home with a flick of my wand, and then apparated back to the Grayson's house for a few final items. Their Russian Blue cat was sitting on my bed when I turned around from the closet.

"Oh, you. I can't leave you," I said, feeling saddened to see him sitting there, unaware that his owners were recently deceased. I picked him up, and he didn't scratch me or anything. I took him home with me. When I got there, no one was there. I assumed my parents were on a business trip for work, as they often were. I sighed, putting the cat down. He followed me everywhere as I turned on the lights. It was cold, so I lit the fireplace. The cat rested on a pillow on the couch. I went into the kitchen to fix myself dinner. The whole time I was eating, I couldn't take what had happened off my mind. I was trying to figure out what to do about it. I couldn't just forget. I could erase my memory, but I didn't want to. Something had to be done. There were two dead, innocent Muggles back in the States, and I had something to do with that. Maybe not directly, but it wasn't something I was simply going to ignore. The doorbell rang and I sat straight up, wiping my eyes. I hadn't even noticed I was crying. The first thing I did was ready my wand. I tiptoed towards the front door, so whoever had rung wouldn't realize anyone was home. The bell rang again and I froze for a second, having been startled. There was a knock. I waited, right behind the door. Whoever it was started slowly down the steps. I looked through the peephole and caught a bright red flash. I pulled the door open and George turned around, dropping a box that was covered in gift wrap. He paused, looking utterly surprised to see me.

"Angie," he said, and I watched his breath float momentarily on the night air.

"I don't deserve that," I said, placing the gift on the coffee table. George frowned, and then dropped his head sadly.

"George, I don't deserve anything from you. I can't…"

"I'm sorry to have left things like that between us," he said. "I felt really bad after I came back. I thought…I thought you weren't going to come back because of me," he explained, finally looking up again.

"So, then, why'd you bring this here?" I asked, mentioning the present, staring at my hands uncomfortably.

"I-I dunno. I was being foolish. I thought maybe your mum could send it over to you. I just wanted to apologize," he said.

"I was hoping you'd forgive me, even if none of this was working out. I had a long time to think and you were right—I am selfish. But it's hard for me not to feel like I need someone…it's hard not having him by my side all the time anymore. You were always around, with Fred and I. It just felt comfortable for me to continue that. I realize I wasn't letting you live your own life," George admitted. As I started to realize how much George cared for me, I started to change my mind about forgetting what had happened. I shouldn't have come home. I shouldn't have been where I was. Perhaps Draco had put some sort of tracking charm on me, and if I was right, then coming home was a giant mistake. I was putting people I cared about I danger. I shook my head to myself, wishing I'd just gone to my flat.

"I'm sorry, too," I said. "I should've…we never should've—"

"I'll never be sorry about that," said George. I looked up into his eyes.

"I'm just happy that…"

He trailed off. "Have you been crying?"

"Would you like some tea?" I asked, immediately getting up and heading to the kitchen. I felt unsafe, the more I thought about Draco, and the fact that he was actually a Death Eater. I wasn't going to tell George. I wasn't going to tell anybody and involve them. But I had to do something…

It was a Sunday morning, and I was out and about in London, alone. I could've invited Katie or Alicia, or Ginny, or anyone, let them know I was back home, but I decided not to. I'd told George before he left the night I came home not to tell anyone I was back for winter break. I wanted to create the illusion that I was still over in the States in school. After George had left, I'd hastily taken all of my things, even the Grayson's cat, who I'd decided to call Grayson, over to my flat which was in London and away from the country and towns where most of my friends lived. In an odd way, I'd missed the city. Even the dirty streets that failed to look any more pleasant with the slushy snow that had fallen the night before. I sighed, wanting to take things off my mind. I kept thinking it really could be that simple. I could just point my wand at my forehead and make myself forget it all. But the reason I couldn't bring myself to do it was because I still wasn't sure what the hell Draco had done to me. Erasing my memory would've left that damage done. At the same time, I wasn't sure whether he'd done any actual damage; I felt perfectly normal. I remembered him saying he thought I might be useful...The way he'd said it scared me. I had no idea what he meant. I walked into a perfume shop, just to look. I didn't need to buy anything, I was just hoping the showy displays might change my thought process. I wasn't looking and testing perfumes for more than five minutes before I saw someone familiar across the room. It was Pansy Parkinson. I felt a jolt in my heart as she spotted me, suddenly her eyes growing wide. It was almost a haze to me, but I remembered her voice from that night. She was there when Draco was talking after the car accident. And then I realized he was supposed to have gotten rid of me. That's what they meant. Quickly, I left the perfume shop. I knew Pansy was going to follow me. I felt a sense of torment, suddenly as I turned a corner and found it deserted. It was almost like things were moving in slow motion, like my heart was moving much slower. I was honestly scared. I heard a swooshing noise and turned to find Pansy pointing her wand at me. I fell to my knees, reaching for my wand. She was going to kill me and I had to stop her. I couldn't even scream. My voice and senses were slowly muting and I began to feel lightheaded. My hand fell still and I was feeling myself drift away, watching Pansy smiling as she stepped cautiously towards me. She was enjoying this. The swooshing noise intensified, and suddenly Pansy's gaze was averted skywards and I looked to see what was coming. It looked like some sort of black cloud, a figure. And as my head hit the ground and I was sure I was dead, I heard a voice say darkly, "Don't. She's mine."