Olivia and Isabell stared at each other, expressionless.

‘I hate it when she does that,’ said Isabell.

‘Same,’ Olivia agreed, nodding her head. ‘Couldn’t she tell us where she’s going for once?’

‘Oh! Today we can go to Hogsmeade, can we not?’ asked Isabell.

‘Yeah, we can,’ replied Olivia, looking surprised.

‘I know it’s cold but we haven’t gone to Hogsmeade in a long time because of all the homework Snape and Mcgonagall gave us.’ 

‘Should we go?’

‘Yep, let’s just change into our coats before we go since it is cold.’

Olivia and Isabell headed to their Dormitory as Amelia reached Hogsmeade and found Draco holding the same black velvet box she had seen.

She ran over to him.

‘That’s cursed,’ she said, pointing at the black velvet

‘How do you know that?’ Draco asked suspiciously.

‘I just know,’ Amelia shrugged.

‘Now go and leave me alone,’ said Draco.

Amelia rolled her eyes. She then spotted Olivia and Isabell wearing thick, white coats. She had the urge to laugh.

‘Hey Amelia, why do you always run off like that?’ asked Olivia, through gritted teeth. ‘And why are you in Hogsmeade?’ 

‘I-’ but before Amelia could say anything, someone screamed.

They turned their heads around to see a girl rising into the air... gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie... Her hair whipped her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression... Then, six feet above the ground, the girl, whose name was Katie and was a Gryffindor seventh year student, let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Katie’s friend were trying to pull her down.

Olivia, Isabell and Amelia ran over to help. After a minute or so, Katie dropped to the ground and Isabell caught her with great strength. She stopped screaming and closed her eyes. 

‘Are you her friend?’ Olivia asked the other girl.

She nodded.

‘What’s your name?’ 

‘Leanne,’ the girl sniffed.

‘Do you know how Katie was cursed?’ Isabell asked.

‘I-I’m not sure, but it happened when that-that package tore open,’ said Leanne as she pointed at an open package on the floor. Inside was-

‘The necklace,’ whispered Amelia under her breath. ‘He did that.’

‘Who did what?’ asked Olivia.

‘No one did nothing,’ said Amelia hastily.

Olivia and Isabell glared at her.

‘How did that package tear open?’ asked Amelia.

‘Katie came out of the girl’s bathroom, holding that package, and she didn’t want to tell me what was in it. I asked her who she wanted to give it to but she said it-it was none of my business and oh- she must have been imperiused and I didn’t realise it! I tried to pull the package away from her, it tore and-and-’ 

Leanne burst into tears and Olivia put a comforting hand around her.

‘I’ll go get a teacher for Katie!’ yelled Harry.

He then came back with Hagrid, whose hair was covered with snow. 

‘GET OUT OF THE WAY! LEMME SEE HER!’ Hagrid said, trying to carry Katie.

He carried her easily and walked away into the castle. Leanne ran after him. Silence followed. 

‘I hope she’s ok,’ said Hermione.

‘Yeah…’ 

‘No one touch the necklace,’ Olivia said as she used a spell to make it hover. 

Amelia wanted to walk away, but she couldn’t as all of them were looking at her.

I need a way to walk away. 

A familiar voice in her head replied.

Pretend you want to go to the bathroom.

‘Guys, I need to go to the bathroom, see you later.’

Olivia and Isabell nodded in unison.

Amelia walked away quickly and up to the castle. She thought Draco would be in the Slytherin Common Room, though she didn’t know where it was. Luckily, she didn’t have to look for it because Draco had just walked past her. She approached him while he was tying his shoes.

‘Explain,’ Amelia said.

‘Not you again!’ Draco hissed. 

‘Not me again? You almost killed a girl!’

‘What do you mean?’

He stared at her and looked scared for the first time.

‘You gave Katie Bell that necklace, and she was supposed to deliver it to someone, but the package tore and Katie got cursed!’

‘It tore?’ Draco looked petrified, then he looked disappointed. 

‘So it was you! You gave that cursed necklace to Katie!’ 

‘Did you tell anyone?’

Amelia froze. 

‘Did you tell anyone?’

‘N-no,’ 

Amelia backed away.

‘You did! I’ll kill you!’ yelled Draco, drawing his wand and breathing heavily. 

‘I didn’t tell anyone! Though I will if you don’t tell me what’s going on!’ 

Draco looked angry but he thought the better of it and lowered his wand. 

‘Come.’ 

He beckoned Amelia to follow him then he walked away. Amelia grinned slightly then followed.

They reached the Room of Requirement. They both thought and muttered unclear things and then a familiar door appeared. They crept inside. Draco closed the door then took a deep breath.

‘The Dark Lord wants me to kill Dumbledore,’ he said, making Amelia gasp loudly in horror. 

‘The-the necklace was meant for Dumbledore?’ she asked, dreading the answer.

Draco nodded then looked angry again. 

‘If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you, though I don’t think it will matter since the Dark Lord will kill you before I do,’ said Draco, removing the cover of the vanishing cabinet.

‘I understand why you didn’t want me to help now, but I still will, even if it means killing D-Dumbledore,’ said Amelia, not thinking about what she was saying.

‘No, you won’t, because the Dark Lord will kill you and before that, he’ll give you the dark mark like he gave me-’ 

Draco froze, realising what he had said.

‘You have the dark mark?’ asked Amelia angrily.

Draco didn’t say anything.

‘You’ve gone too far… All of this is because of your father! You can stop doing the m-’

‘Don’t you understand? He shows no mercy. He will kill even if it means wasting pure blood! I have to do this! I never wanted this… why did I have to get dragged into this?’ 

Draco was close to crying. Then he remembered Amelia was there, and he shook his head and walked away from her. Amelia stood there, gawking at Draco, who had almost collapsed on some objects. When he looked at Amelia, his face was even paler than before, his pale eyes big and wide with fear. Amelia tried to get closer to him, to comfort him, but he walked away. 

‘Just go…’

Draco’s voice was very unsteady. 

Amelia tried running after him, but she collapsed on the spot. She reached her hand, only that it wouldn't reach that far. She realised that Draco had conjured an invisible wall, so that Amelia wouldn’t follow him. Amelia stood up, watching Draco from far away, his grey eyes glowing in the dark. 

‘Go. Don’t come back. It’s for your safety, not mine.’ 

Amelia gave him one last look and started heading towards the wooden door. Amelia’s thoughts followed her around as she started to head to the fifth floor. 

Draco has the Dark Mark. Draco has to kill Dumbledore. Draco has to do this or he dies. Voldemort wants to get rid of Voldemort. I wanted to help him… But kill Dumbledore? Killing Dumbledore means killing the source of safety at Hogwarts… 

Amelia stopped, eyes wide. 

Draco has to kill Dumbledore for Voldemort to get Harry… Potter… His equal.

She was now running. She had the urge to tell Olivia and Isabell, but she didn’t want Draco to question his trust towards her and ban her from helping him. She answered the riddle and tried to act normal when she entered the Common Room. Amelia saw that nobody was in the Common Room. Everyone was still in Hogsmeade. She took off her clothes and wore her uniform. Then, she sat by the fire, her head still filled with thoughts. There were so many thoughts that her head was about to explode. 

Draco tried to curse Dumbledore with the necklace. Is he going to continue with trying to kill Dumbledore? What has the Vanishing cabinet got to do anything with killing Dumbledore..? Voldemort made Draco try to kill Dumbledore… Because of what his father did… Why did he have to do this mission-

Her thoughts were interrupted by excited chattering outside the Common Room. Everyone had come back from Hogsmeade. 

‘Do not lick the floor! Honestly, why do they keep doing that?’ 

Amelia grinned as Olivia collapsed on the soft chair next to her. 

‘Definitely not me, though I would like to know how they did it.’

Isabell sat on the chair nearest the cosy fire. Olivia then saw Amelia fully dressed up. 

‘You said you wanted to go to the bathroom… Why didn’t you come back?’ she asked suspiciously. 

Amelia stopped grinning. She forgot that she was supposed to go back to Hogsmeade. 

‘Uh, I felt sick so I decided to go back here,’ Amelia said without hesitation. 

‘Ok… Anyways, Katie was sent to the Hospital Wing but Madam Pomfrey couldn’t help her so they sent her to St. Mungos,’ Isabell said, sighing sadly. 

‘I hope she’s alright. I also found out that the curse would have immediately killed her if she wasn’t wearing her gloves. There was a small hole so she got cursed. I overheard Snape tell Mcgonagall when I wanted to tell her something about the assignment,’ Olivia said.

‘Yeah… yeah,’ said Amelia, ‘I always wondered where you overheard these things.’

‘Staff room,’ said Olivia.

‘Staff room? How do you get there?’ asked Isabell, her mouth open.

‘Dunno, I just come across it,’ replied Olivia, shrugging.

Amelia stood up.

‘Oh! Sorry, I have to go, see you tomorrow!’

‘Ugh! I despise it when she does that!’ yelled Isabell, looking at the blurred figure of Amelia.

Amelia ran to the Room of Requirement as fast as she could, thinking Draco would be there. She was right. She opened the door.

‘Who’s there?’ Draco asked, drawing his wand.

‘It’s me! Amelia!’ 

‘I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME BACK HERE AGAIN!’ he shouted, putting his wand back in his back pocket.

‘I don’t take orders from you,’ smirked Amelia.

‘There’s nothing funny about it, I’m trying to protect you but you’re risking that protection!’ 

‘You have to kill Dumbledore, not me, so I’m only going to help you with killing Dumbledore,’ said Amelia, staring at the cold grey eyes.

Draco ignored her and continued fixing the Vanishing Cabinet.

‘I thought you already fixed that!’ said Amelia.

‘I have to make sure it’s safe for a living organism,’ said Draco, avoiding looking at Amelia. ‘I’m going to use a bird. A person on the other side in front of the other vanishing cabinet is going to cut some feathers off of that bird. If they do, it can reach the other side.’

Amelia nodded.

‘Here goes nothing.’ 

Draco put a small bluebird inside the cabinet then closed the door.

After a few seconds, he opened the cabinet to reveal the bluebird. But instead of cutting some feathers, the person killed the bird. There was wet blood on it. 

Amelia approached Draco, who was holding the dead bird in his shaking hands. She bent down on her knees, sitting next to Draco. 

‘They killed it,’ whispered Amelia softly. ‘How evil these people are…’

Draco didn’t reply, he just stared at the corpse of the dead bird.

‘I don’t want to kill Dumbledore,’ said Draco, vanishing the dead bird with his wand.

Amelia smiled sadly.

‘I don’t want my stepmother, I want my mother back, but you can’t always get what you want. If you’re lucky sometimes, you might get what you need.’  

She stood up as a tear slid down her face. Amelia walked towards the door. 

‘I want you to help me.’ 

She turned her head around to see Draco looking at her. She approached him. She smiled then nodded.