"Mmh…Draco… Come on- Draco…I'm going to be late for class."

"So…"

"No, really, I have to go." I kissed Draco one more time before I slid off the desk and fixed my hair. Draco gently tugged at my hips. I shook my head at him and smiled. "McGonagall will kill me if I'm late again. Not to mention the fact that Hermione's getting suspicious."

He rocked back in the wooden chair. A little bit of light hit his face from the open window. "Like I care. People are going to find out eventually. Granger probably already knows."

"Yeah, we'll see." I said picking up my bag. I headed towards the door.

"Why do you hang out with those nargles anyway?" He asked as I turned the old knob.

"Nargles?" I laughed raising my brown eyebrow.

"No idea. Looney Lovegood can't shut up about them though."

I sighed, gave him a quick peck on his scowling lips and hurried off to class. Part of me was enjoying sneaking around with Draco. I've become all but addicted to the adrenaline rush I'd get when he pulls me away during crossing periods or when he'd send me a note during class telling me to meet him somewhere I'd never even known existed. Being with him wasn't what I thought it would be.

The feeling seemed to disappear the moment that I took my eyes off of him though. People talk in Slytherin, but Pansy still didn't know about me and Draco. There had to be at least half a dozen heirs at Draco's party. Even if Kim got Pansy away from us there was still Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Zabini, and her. Conspiracy theories weren't really on my list of priorities. But I didn't care how much he supposedly adored me; it's been Draco and Pansy for a long time. I didn't expect that to change that easily. I knew that I'm supposed to be with him, but I had to think it was my choice, not the Slytherin hierarchy playing at my heartstrings. So, I did what I was supposed to do while having fun doing it. Going out with Draco for a few months until they find a better, eviler suitor for him wasn't too bad. I really had no choice in the matter anyway.

Last Night~

"But Dad." I tried to reason. I'd snuck back to my house with the intent of giving it one last go before I let the heirs pull me completely in.

"No but's, Emma Clarissa. It's already done. We've been through this." He waved his hand across his chest in protest. His stern face wrinkled up with worry lines. He'd been working hectically trying to find a mythical herb for a potion to be presented to Voldemort.

"Dad, you would really do this to me, your only daughter?" I cried.

"Are you really going to do this to us, you mother and father?"

"Why do you think I agreed to it in the first place?" I screamed.

"Don't raise your voice at me. I've done everything I can for you. I will do whatever it takes to keep my wife and my ungrateful daughter safe. You should learn the meaning sacrifice."

"Yeah, I'm only sacrificing my entire future."

"It's not like you're a Death Eater-"

"Yet."

He set his long roll of parchment down and pulled me into his big brown leather chair. He leaned back on the edge of his desk. His eyes bore into mine with fury and understanding. "Emma Clarissa, you are the apple of my eye. I have and am doing all that I can. You have to meet me halfway. Please, he will kill you if you don't cooperate. I just need you to do this for me, for now. I promise that after I crack this potion that we will leave and go into hiding. In the meantime, be happy. Try to be nice and I'm sure he'll return the favor. If you do as you're told, the Dark Lord will trust you and you won't have to marry Draco."

Emma knew that this wasn't true. The words could not console her, nor could they settle the worry that was beginning to shake in her bones. Her entire family was faced with their own ultimatum. My dad was a death eater, I was an heir and betrothed to Draco, and who knew what horrid things my mother was put face to face with. It was just another secret that was being withheld. To top it off, I had this feeling that something horrible was lurking just around the corner. I couldn't shake it, and even my new found affection could not soothe nor ease her apprehension.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Hurry up then."

He smiled a tired smile at me and went to attend to the steaming cylinder.

I stepped into class the exact moment that the bell rang and took my seat next to Hermione.

"Where have you been?" She whispered.

I narrowed my eyes playfully and asked in a voice matched to hers, "Where have you been?"

"So, you were with your boyfriend?" She concluded.

I relaxed my eyes and laughed quietly. "Yeah."

She didn't smile. She didn't even grin. A stern, disapproving look was on her face. "When are you going to tell me his name?"

"When are you going to let me join the DA?" I countered. She'd told me about the DA on more than one occasion, but she (Ron) didn't trust me enough to actually let me be a part of it. I hated Umbridge as much as the next person. This would also be the perfect escape from my fellow demented heirs.

"Touché." She said. I could tell that she was trying to get something out, but Hermione was being, well, Hermione. It was normal for her to be a bit judgmental and say that she was being protective. She wrote down the spells that McGonagall had written on the board. "Okay, now don't take this the wrong way, but…you're being stupid."

"What?"

"You're late for class all the time. I see you every day and we've barely had a regular conversation in like two weeks. I think you should rethink this whole boyfriend thing. And about that, you won't even tell me who this guy is. You would think that you could at least give me a name."

"Yeah, well maybe you need to work on your communication skills." I spat fully glaring at her this time. I didn't really take it the wrong way. I just wished that she would stop prying. It was making things far worse than they needed to be. I'd been trying to make this believable.

To be honest, I didn't completely hate the situation. I just hated not having a choice. Draco was my boyfriend. He wouldn't have been my first choice- or even my 859th choice for the matter, but now he was. He looked at me as if he couldn't get enough, and was a perfect gentleman… when he wasn't running his hands all over me. A deep blush in my cheeks. It was the fact that I absolutely had to be with him that made me falter. I couldn't go off and get someone new if I wanted to. It was Draco until the day I died. Hermione thought that I had an out, but I didn't. I tried to make sure that no one would think that there was foul play if they did ever figure it out. Hermione would undoubtedly be the first to think that something was amiss.

"Maybe you should rethink your choice in guys. Then, you wouldn't have to be afraid to tell us that you're dating him."

"Why would I be afraid? Did you ever think that I just think that you're nosy?"

Hermione ignored me and slammed her book closed. "I think that you think that it wouldn't be in your best interest if everyone knew that you were dating Draco Malfoy. You know that we wouldn't approve of that foul git. I thought you didn't want anything to do with him. You were avoiding him like the plague, but ever since the holidays you've been sneaking around with him. He is going to hurt you." She hissed under her breath.

"I doubt that." I lied with as much ignorance as I could muster.

"Just like a Slytherin." She mumbled. She opened a second book copying a new set of notes.

I gaped in shock. I had a feeling that she knew, but I wasn't prepared for her to be so blunt about it. I remained silent for the remainder of the period. When the bell rang, Hermione gathered up her things and left the room silently. I refrained from slapping her. She didn't know anything, no matter how much she thought she knew.

I watched as the class room emptied out. McGonagall walked over to me with both curious and apprehensive eyes. "Miss Paniettiere, is there a problem?"

I glanced at her briefly before tossing my bag on my shoulder and heading towards the door. "No, no problem at all."

Sure, Hermione had some points, but I focused on my father's words more than anything else. That's what everything would revolve around. I silently swore to myself that I would not step out of line. Being an heir wasn't that bad. Some of the others, like Nott, wanted to go another round with Cody, but they mostly just whispered around me. There was something happening behind closed doors, but Draco didn't mention it to me, and truthfully I didn't want him to.

Cody greeted me with big, round happy eyes as I entered the common room. I tried to smile, but it was a pathetic attempt. Hermione's words still rang in my ears. I didn't care all that much, or at least I shouldn't have. Once my carefully built façade was broken, it was hard to get it back up. I perked up and sat beside Cody on the couch with Kim.

"Hey Em." He said with his soft exterior. Cody tried to be hard like the other Slytherins, but the only thing that made him a Slytherin was his sneakiness and how much he would lie to get out of trouble. "I'm glad I finally broke you away from your busy life with Draco."

I glance at Kim who shrugged and went back to her drawing. I brought my attention back to the boy and nodded. "Yeah, it's been a somewhat crazy week. What's been going on lately?"

"Well, Ginny forgave me. Right after Christmas break. I sent her 3 dozen roses and a bracelet with rubies. It was the last thing that I thought she would actually like. I tried to write a letter too, but it was terrible. I was going to throw it away, but Kim sent it without me knowing."

"The pleasure was all mine." Kim chirped without looking up.

That's what I liked about Kim and Cody. Cody was a kindhearted person who made mistakes but fixed them immediately. Kim was just plain unpredictable. She did as she pleased without the consent of anyone. I smiled at both of them and nodded.

"I still haven't told her about the mission, but you seem to be taking it so well." Cody said in awe.

"What? What mission?" I asked.

"Well, that's how I got to know Ginny. Originally, I was assigned to kill her."

"Wait, wait. Kill her?"

"Yeah, but it didn't really work out...hasn't Draco-"

"Cody, shut up!" Kim exclaimed finally noticing what he was saying. She gave her cousin a firm swat on the head.

I glared at her. "What the hell is going on, Anderson?"

She looked back at me, unsure if she should get her lungs ripped out by me or Draco.

"Kimberly Anderson, if you don't tell me what Cody's talking about, so help me-"

"Fine, fine. Nott got a letter telling him to train Cody. The training was to kill someone close to Harry Potter, but not close enough that it would draw attention to us. Draco got a letter telling him to train you. He kind of... put it away. He said he was waiting until..."

Her voice faded out as I evoked a memory that I thought was irrelevant until now. "Danielle."

"I don't know a-" Kim began.

I grabbed her arm and bounded up the stairs leaving Cody in a confused and troubled daze. I went through the room looking for an item that I didn't need. I grabbed my wand and pulled Kim next to me.

"Emma, let's not be hasty."

"Shhh." I set a small, half used bottle of nail polish onto the dresser and turned it into a port key. "Grab it." I ordered.

She glanced at me for a moment before nodding. We touched the port key and span in a million circles before we landed in Draco's room.

"Emma, what the hell are you doing?" She asked tip toeing around Draco's bed. I walked over to his desk. The little picture of Danielle was gone. I opened up the drawer fully to reveal the secret that lay within it. There was nothing. "Oh well, now we can leave. Maybe he just wanted to freak me out."

I frowned and touched the drawer. I wasn't about to have a dead end. I pulled the edges to make sure a-Pop! The false bottom popped up revealing a letter folded neatly into an envelope. I pulled it out and began reading.

Draco,

This is an urgent report on your next assignment. It will be the training of your betrothed, Emma Paniettiere. There is a list of spells for her to learn to be successful in a fight against her opponent. Don't forget to study the target. She is exceedingly intelligent and resourceful from what I've heard. I'm sure you've made your acquaintances with Hermione Granger...

The letter went on, but I cut to the bottom.

Lucius Malfoy

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

I pivoted on my heel to come face to face with a furious Draco Malfoy.