"She is a paradox. She is faithful and yet detached. She is committed and yet relaxed. She loves everyone, and yet no one. She is sociable and also a loner. She is gentle and yet tough, she is passionate but also platonic. In short she is predictable in her own unpredictability."

- Unknown

I shivered as a cold wind brushed past us on the way to the quidditch field. I linked my arms with Daphne and Tracey to enjoy the extra body warmth.

"Slytherin better win", Tracey grunted. "It's absolutely freezing." It was November and winter sure had come early this year. Although I'd like to play quidditch, I was very happy I didn't have to be on a broom right now.

"They will. Draco will catch the snitch, I'm sure of it", Daphne grinned.

"Yeah, sure you think that", I chuckled. She narrowed her eyes and shrugged.

"How are things with you and Malfoy anyway?" Tracey asked. I hadn't told her that I had seen Malfoy and Pansy in Hogsmeade because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. They weren't dating so I couldn't make a problem of it, but I sincerely hoped Malfoy wasn't playing with her feelings.

"I'm not sure", Daphne shrugged. "He's been kind of cold actually. He doesn't really flirt anymore." Well, at least he wasn't leading her on. The sad look in Daphne's eyes was painful to watch, though.

"I'm sure he won't be able to resist your charm eventually", I said, giving her a warm smile.

"Eleanor, can we talk?" I heard. I turned around to see Benjamin walk up to us. We hadn't spoken since that one night after Astronomy.

"Sure", I said, unlinking my arm from Daphne and Tracey and following him. He was wearing his quidditch uniform and the match would begin in just a couple of minutes.

"Shouldn't you be warming up?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm just a reserve. Got plenty of time to warm up in a bit", he shrugged. It was quiet for a while and I was not sure what to say.

"Okay", he mumbled eventually when we had reached a secluded spot. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly."

"No, no, it's me who should be sorry. I had no right to pry into your business like that and definitely not so bluntly. I just thought I had noticed something and got excited, but it was foolish of me to jump to conclusions over nothing."

Benjamin shrugged, not sure what to say.

"The thing is," he said eventually, "that I'm not sure if you're really wrong. I just ... I thought about it a lot after our talk and ... I don't really know myself. I just need to figure it all out first."

"Hey, that's okay. Take as much time as you need and trust your own instincts, okay?" Benjamin nodded, but he still looked ... scared.

"I just don't want to be different", he mumbled, looking down. Seeing him so hurt broke my heart.

"Hey, come here Benji", I said and pulled him into a hug. I wasn't much of a hugger, I hated it when people hugged me, but in situations like these, I felt like a hug was necessary.

"You're not different because you possibly like boys, okay. You're still Benji Evans, the Gryffindor reserve chaser and the only Gryffindor I really like", I chuckled. "You deserve happiness just as much as anyone else, maybe even more so. Please don't let your doubts keep you from being happy. It seems like a big deal now, but one day you'll look back and you'll see that everything turned out okay."

He pulled back from the hug and smiled genuinely now.

"Who knew Slytherins could be so compassionate?" he grinned.

"What can I say?" I shrugged. "I'm the full package."

He rolled his eyes laughing and then we walked back to the quidditch pitch. The match was about to begin and Gryffindor captain Angelina Johnson didn't seem very pleased with him arriving late.

I quickly made my way up the Slytherin stands as Madame Hooch entered the field to start the match.

"What did the Gryffindor want?" Daphne asked as I sat down besides them. Daphne wasn't the biggest fan of Benji as he was a Gryffindor and a half-blood, but she tried her best to not let it show. I could be friends with whomever if it meant I accepted her hanging out with Malfoy.

"You missed quite a show", Tracey chuckled. "Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had some fun with Ron Weasley. He looks like he's about to fall off his broom." I glanced at the new Gryffindor keeper, who looked like he was about to throw up. His two brothers didn't look very pleased either.

"Shame that the Weasleys are so poor. They've got good genes", Tracey wiggled her eyebrows.

"Who, Ron?" I frowned. I didn't know him very well, but I was not exactly attracted to him.

"No, the twins. They're quite handsome", she smirked. It was hard to judge the twins from this distance but they were indeed not bad looking.

"Imagine Lea's mother if she came home with a Weasley as her boyfriend", Daphne snorted.

"Oh shut it", I grunted. My mother would indeed not be pleased, my father even less.

"Their older brother, Charlie, is way more attractive, though", Daphne continued. "My father said he works with dragon's in Romania right now. That's kind of hot."

"Who's your favourite Weasley, Eleanor?" Tracey asked when noticing my lack of response.

"How about none of them? They're all Gryffindors and b-", I stopped myself. I almost said it. "And simply not my type", I recovered, cursing myself internally. I almost said it. I almost called them blood traitors.

From a very young age, I had decided that I would not be as degrading about blood status as my parents are.

When I was eleven, I met this girl called Samira in a shop in Diagon Alley, a couple weeks before going to Hogwarts. We talked for a bit whilst my mum was talking to Narcissa and we hit it off quickly. I gave her my address and we promised to write to each other. But then my mother saw and freaked out. Samira was a witch, born in a muggle family, or, as my mother called her, a mudblood. Samira was such a sweet girl and only eleven, but my mother spat venom like she was a cockroach. She forbade me from talking to her ever again and that night, I encountered the blood quill for the first time, as a punishment.

Samira also goes to Hogwarts, she's a Hufflepuff, but I never spoke to her again after that day.

I didn't want to be like them. Sure, the Weasleys were a bit extreme, but noticing that I was about to call them blood traitors ... it disgusted me. I would not turn into them.

Being a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight was something my family took great pride in. It was also one of the reasons why my family was so respected. It was a rarity and it showed superiority.

There were half-bloods in our family, of course, as no blood line could stay completely pure without incest, but there was no muggle in any generation. If I'd find myself a boyfriend and he'd be a muggle or muggleborn, I'd be disowned and removed from the family tree, a disgrace.

The Weasleys were part of the Sacred twenty-Eight as well, but they were very careless with it, as if they didn't care at all. I hadn't made my mind up yet. It was a stupid rule, only being able to marry at least half-bloods, but something about keeping that title was alluring. It had a sense of ... power.

I was shaken from my thoughts as all Slytherins around me stood up and started roaring. I quickly did the same, assuming we'd scored. Zoning out during a bustling quidditch game, definitely had to add that to my resume.

I noticed Adrian intercepting a quaffle and forced myself to pay attention.

Adrian was very good at quidditch, which was rather attractive. I had read about that somewhere, that people were perceived as more attractive when they were good at something. I couldn't agree more.

I cheered again as Adrian scored, just barely passing Ron Weasley. The Slytherins were doing really well, actually. The team used to win games because of foul play when Marcus Flint was captain, but they'd become considerably better in the last two years.

"Come on, Malfoy", I mumbled as Gryffindor scored. He just had to catch the snitch.

I could never be a Seeker. The outcome of pretty much every game depended on the seeker. If they didn't catch the snitch, the odds of winning were very small. It happened at the Quidditch World Cup finale last year, but it was a rare occurrence. The seeker decided the game, a kind of pressure that I would not be able to handle.

"Oh no, Potter spotted it", A third year in front of us yelled, pointing at Harry Potter, flying past at a baffling speed. He had a Firebolt, the most renowned and expensive broom in the world. Not even Malfoy had one of those.

And then it was over. We had lost.

"For fuck's sake!" Tracey cursed, pulling off her beanie roughly. She always got really into quidditch and would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

"I guess that means no party in the common room tonight", Daphne sighed. As the Gryffindor team celebrated their victory on the pitch, we left the stands in a pretty sour mood. The quidditch cup was almost always won by either Slytherin or Gryffindor, so this was not a good start of the season.

"Come on guys, hit the showers", I heard Adrian say as we reached the pitch again. He went with his hand through his hair, beads of sweat pearling on his forehead. He caught my gaze and smiled slightly, walking over.

Adrian was properly handsome, with a chiseled jawline and deep green eyes. The quidditch outfit was a definite bonus as well, showing off his defined arms in the best way possible.

"I'm sorry you lost, but you played really well", I said, to which he shrugged.

"Not well enough apparently", he sighed.

"Oh come on, Slytherin was leading by fifty points when Harry caught the snitch. You were doing great", I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, we're going to put all the blame on Malfoy now?" he smirked, finally laughing genuinely.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do", I grinned. "I'll see you around."

"Wait, Eleanor!" I turned back around, raising my eyebrows.

"I'm going to try to organise a little party in the common room for my birthday in a couple of weeks. Should be fun if Umbridge doesn't find out about it, which could be hard since so many Slytherins are in the Inquisitorial squad. But if I manage to pull it off, will you be there? It's the week before Christmas break" he asked.

"Sure, I'll be there." He smiled and winked, before heading off to the Slytherin dressing rooms. Wait, what was the inquisitorial squad?

I suppressed the smile as I walked back to the castle, where Daphne and Tracey were waiting for me.

"Make it official already", Tracey grinned as I walked up to them.

"Oh hush, there's absolutely nothing going on", I rolled my eyes, pulling them inside the castle.

"Come on, you can't say there's absolutely nothing there. You must have kissed already", she continued.

"You better not have kissed that snack without telling me about it", Daphne complained, crossing her arms.

"No, I have not, now shut up before someone can hear you. I'd rather not have my personal life be the newest Hogwarts gossip", I hissed. We went to our common rooms to spend the rest of the day indoors, as it was way too cold for doing anything more interesting. I had a Potions essay to write anyway.

"Have you guys heard about this thing called the inquisitorial squad?" I asked Daphne and Tracey as we sunk down in the comfortable green couches.

"Oh yeah, Draco said something about that", Daphne said. "It's a little group Umbridge has gathered to keep students in line."

"Isn't that what us prefects are for?" I frowned, already in a bad mood by hearing that woman's name. One day I would not be able to fight the urge of throwing that woman off the Astronomy Tower.

"I suppose, but there are only Slytherins in that squad. Good for our ranking in the House Cup."

"Yeah, I bet if Malfoy's a part of it, he wouldn't hesitate to abuse that power", I huffed. Malfoy hadn't been unpleasant lately, but he still had a shitty personality.

Although I despised the woman, it did hurt a little that I hadn't been selected for this little group. If she had offered, I would have declined, but she didn't even consider me. Normally, she'd do everything to get in the good graces of any Selwyn, the family she was supposedly related to.

It also surprised me that Malfoy hadn't boasted about it yet.

A part of the Slytherin quidditch team walked in, causing quite the raucous. I really needed to get that Potions assignment done.

"Ladies, I'll be heading to the library, see you around", I sighed, walking to my dorm to gather some supplies and then to the library. I wasn't the only one with that idea. A couple yards in front of me, the boy with unmistakable platinum hair was carrying his bag with books as well.

"I heard about your little squad", I said as he hadn't noticed my presence. He quickly glanced over his shoulder but didn't seem fazed.

"I have to say, I'm a little butthurt that I wasn't invited to the party. Would have loved to be better at that than you too", I grinned. Malfoy and I were on less aggressive terms, but that didn't mean I couldn't test him once in a while.

"Not now, Selwyn", he growled, clearly not in the mood. The smart thing to do would be to let it go, but I was in the mood for some fun. I wasn't a Ravenclaw for a reason.

"Seriously, I wasn't even informed. I find that rather rude", I continued.

"I said, not now", Malfoy threatened, turning around, his eyes spitting fire. He really was in a terrible mood.

"What's got you in such a sour mood? Is it the game?" I stopped in front of him, analyzing his every move. Analyzing people was something I had been good at from a very young age. I noticed things and remembered them. I knew exactly when people were angry, anxious or sad.

Right now, Malfoy was angry. He was clenching his jaw, fiddling with his thumb and his nose was slightly scrunched up.

"Can you just stop talking?" he said. Malfoy had this talent where he could sound incredibly menacingly without raising his voice. It always reminded me of a phrase my grandfather referred to when I was younger.

Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that waters flowers, not thunder.

It was a sentence I understood, but for which I did not possess the skills. I was too hot-headed, too easily triggered. I tried to compose myself at all times, but when a certain person knew exactly which buttons to push, my temper got the upper hand.

Malfoy on the other hand, seemed always in control. Always one step ahead, weighing every word before he lets them slip past his lips. He was like rain and I was thunder.

"It's just a quidditch match, someone's got to win in the end", I said. I understood him surprisingly. They had lost because he hadn't caught the snitch. He was blaming himself.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Selwyn", he rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps I don't, but I know you're being hard on yourself. You always do that."

"You don't know anything about me", he hissed, stepping closer and pricking his finger in the soft skin below my collarbone, causing me to take a step back.

"You'd be surprised."

"Just shut up."

"Do you really think that after all these years, I haven't picked up the details?"

"I told you to shut it", he said a little louder now. In a swift move, he had me pinned against the wall, his hands roughly gripping my shoulders.

All I could do was stare at him in surprise. Malfoy had never really gotten physical, aside from a few pranks that ended rather painfully, or the potions incident over a month ago.

"I know you like to test my limits, Selwyn", he said, his voice a mere whisper, completely in control again. "But there are times when you really need to learn when to shut your mouth."

"And there are times," I said quietly, "that you need to learn to deal with your anger issues". He stared into my eyes for a long time, trying to figure me out, but I kept a stern frown on my face, not showing him anything.

"Just leave me alone", he growled.

"Just don't be such a dick." He clenched his jaw again, looking away. I knew he was trying to control himself, but I couldn't help but be slightly scared of what he'd do.

"You really are something else, Selwyn", he mumbled. And then he removed his hands from my shoulders and walked on, just like that.