To the girl who reads by flashlight, who see dragons in the clouds, who feels most alive in worlds that never were, who knows magic is real, who dreams. This is for you.

- Meagan Spooner

I always thought of the train ride back home as quite nostalgic. I always spent it looking at the passing landscapes, thinking over the past academic year. And this year I had a lot to think about.

I shared my compartment with Daphne and Tracey. I would see Draco over the summer, but I wasn't quite sure if I could invite my friends over this time around. I hadn't really thought about the summer and what would happen. Things would be different, my father had said, but to what extent I didn't know.

I had seen a little snippet of what was to come in the newspaper though. Death Eaters had invaded the Ministry, Potter had been there obviously, and Sirius Black had been murdered.

The newspapers were very vague about it all, but I would surely get the details at home. I just hoped my father hadn't been there, as one of them.

The O.W.L.'s had been quite great. I didn't know my results yet, as they'd be mailed in somewhere next week, but there hadn't really been an exam I had struggled with.

"Look, we're in London", Daphne grinned as the train rolled into the tunnel. This was it.

"Ladies, I'll miss you terribly these next two months", I said and pulled the two into a hug.

"Don't get sappy on me now, Lea", Tracey complained. "Or I might just start crying." I chuckled, pulling away and smiling at them sadly. It was always weird to go back home. Hogwarts felt more like a home to me than Selwyn Keep, but although the summer would sure be eventful, I had Draco on my side this time.

We stood up and made our way to the nearest exit as we neared King's Cross station. I saw Draco already waiting in the hallway, sticking out like a sore thumb between the first- and second-years with his white-blonde hair and height.

Things had been very much the same these past two weeks. We were both very busy with the exams, so we didn't get to spend that much time together and we didn't have patrol either during the exam weeks, so our conversation was limited. But I did speak to him occasionally before going to bed, sneaking in a kiss here and there when no one was around.

"Hi", I smiled as I joined him at one of the exits. Crabbe was bickering with Goyle about a game of rock-paper-scissors.

"Hey", he mumbled, his look a little distant. And then King's Cross came into view.

"What are we going to tell our parents?" I asked. I hadn't really thought about that much.

"What do you mean?"

"Well if we tell them about the recent developments, our mothers will start planning the wedding, but if we don't, there's no way we're going to get a minute of time alone", I shrugged. I really hoped he didn't want to hide this from his parents. I could not survive the upcoming summer without emotional support.

"I guess I'll have to tell her then, but I'll make sure she stays calm", he said, avoiding eye contact. I smiled slightly, shortly giving his hand a squeeze.

And then the doors slid open.

I hugged Tracey and Daphne goodbye one last time before splitting ways. Fifth year was officially over.

I spotted my mother in the far back, next to Narcissa. And then I noticed the oddity. My father wasn't on the platform, and neither was Draco's. I swiftly exchanged a look with Draco, but his face read the same expression. Something was terribly wrong.

"Come on, let's go", my mother said and grabbed my arm as soon as I was within reach. Before I could mutter a simple "hello", I felt the sensation of apparition.

Selwyn Keep looked as stoic as ever, the dark green ivy climbing up the old walls. And then a second pair apparated next to us.

I frowned as I noticed Draco and Narcissa. They came over a lot, but I had figured she would let Draco settle in first.

"Let's go inside, Eleanor", my mother said, pushing me forward urgently. "I'll explain everything when we are inside."

I felt extremely anxious suddenly, as if the world was crumbling down and I wasn't aware of it yet.

"I'll speak to her in the library, you stay here", my mother said to Narcissa as we entered the manor. I didn't know what to do, so I simply followed her to the library on the second floor.

"Mother, please tell me what's going on", I said as she closed the door behind us. I couldn't take this anymore. "Why are Draco and Narcissa here? Where is Lucius? Where is dad?"

"Calm down, honey", my mother sighed and pushed me in one of the armchairs, but I was too restless to sit down.

"Lucius and your father got sent to Azkaban."

I felt as if the world was playing a joke on me. To Azkaban? For what?

"You must have heard about what happened at the Ministry, Eleanor", my mother continued, so I just nodded hazily.

"It didn't go exactly as planned and many of our kind got captured by the Ministry. Not only Lucius and your dad, but many others. Theodore's father, Vincent's father. We didn't want this to happen, but ... but they were careless."

"Dad is in prison? For how long?" I asked, my voice shaking. How could this have happened? Everything was fine at Easter, it had all been a far away concept. He told me things would change over summer, but he didn't tell me he wouldn't be there.

"Calm down, Eleanor. He got a life sentence, but the Dark Lord will break them out sooner or later, I'm sure of it."

"Mother why are you so calm about this?!" I yelled. "Dad is in prison, possibly forever!"

"Calm down and sit, Eleanor!" My mother shouted. "NOW!" I clenched my jaw together and sat down, clenching my fists to stop my hands from shaking.

"We need to have faith in the Dark Lord. Your father was careless, this is his own fault. All we can do is not give the Dark Lord a reason to leave your father in there when he breaks the rest of them out." I couldn't look at her. How could she do this? How could she let my father be one of them? Why was he one of them?

Draco and Narcissa will be staying for the summer. It's not good for either of us to be alone right now and Malfoy Manor ... It's gotten a different purpose", my mother sighed. Draco would be staying here, at Selwyn Keep? I guess that was not a bad thing.

"Stay here until you've calmed down. We can't afford any slip-ups, Eleanor, none at all. I can't help you if you do", she said, making her way to the exit. "And be nice to Draco for once, the boy has basically just lost his father", she said before closing the door.

So did I mother, thank you for being so considerate.

I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes for a while, trying not to get too overwhelmed. My father was a Death Eater, our family supported Voldemort. He had been sent to Azkaban, so now I needed to be a good Death Eater's daughter to possibly help him get out of that place one day.

I walked to the window and hoisted myself up on the window sill. The sun was shining brightly, but it was still cold inside the castle. I always knew that my parents were on the darker side of the Wizarding World and I suspected my father had been a Death Eater, although he never explicitly told me, but this? I wasn't ready for this.

We weren't just on the bad side anymore, we were in the inner circle. And I just ... I just had to be in there too. I had no choice.

They killed people. They tried to kill Harry Potter and his friends a week ago. I might not like the bunch, but they're children, most of them not even sixteen. Would my father kill me too if I didn't agree with their way of thinking?

I bit my nails anxiously. I was too young for these situations.

The door opened again. It wasn't my mother, like I had expected. She didn't care. Draco did.

"Hey", he said as he closed the door. He was frowning deeply, I supposed he had received the same news. I couldn't help but smile as I saw him, though. I was happy that he was here, that I had someone to talk to, someone to lean on.

So I just pulled him into a tight hug.

"Everything is going to be okay", he said, gently stroking my hair.

"Is it?" I asked. I genuinely didn't know.

"I think it will be okay, eventually. We just have to believe that." I took in his scent to help me calm down. How different life was from a month ago.

"I just wish we had a choice", I whispered, afraid that someone would hear.

"We do have a choice", Draco replied. "We just don't get to act on it, yet." He pulled me to one of the velvet couches in the room, sitting down and pulling me next to him. I didn't feel like letting go, so I kept my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder.

"And what would you choose?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter", he shrugged. "It doesn't matter until the time comes that you have to choose. And we'll see what happens, no use in worrying about it now."

I nodded, tracing the veins on his arm with my index finger.

"Do you think our fathers will be okay?" I asked. I wasn't close to my father, not at all, but I was worried. He was still my father.

"If it's true what they are saying and they failed a mission the Dark Lord had given them, then I think Azkaban is the safest place for them to be right now", he said, tightening the hug. "I just hope that the Dark Lord thinks that that is enough punishment."

There was a thoughtful look in Draco's eyes. He had matured very early, he was only sixteen, but already had quite a deep understanding of how the world worked. He could compose himself so much better than me. He knew what to do in any situation.

"So, we're living together now? I didn't expect it to escalate that quickly", I grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"You're something else, Selwyn", he chuckled, giving me a kiss on my head.

"I'm not saying I mind", I grinned, looking up into his silver eyes.

"Well there certainly are worse places to be", he whispered, barely being able to finish that sentence before our lips touched. He wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me closer, keeping my hair out of my face with the other.

"That does mean that I definitely have to tell my mum, right?" he said as he pulled away.

"Unless you want to miss out on all this", I smirked, pulling myself away from him.

"Oh shut it, Selwyn", he chuckled, grabbing me by my waist and pulling me back. I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder again, closing my eyes.

"Why do all pure-blood families have libraries like these?" Draco asked after a while, scanning the huge book case that filled the entire wall opposite us.

"Because we want to seem intelligent and it looks rather fancy, I'd say. What else do you do with a castle with fifty rooms?"

"Smartass", he sniggered. "Have you ever actually read one of these?"

"I have actually", I said, standing up again, making my way over to the bookcase. I took some out that I had read and enjoyed.

"I quite liked these. Feel free to read any of them whenever you feel like it."

"They don't look like something I'd enjoy", he shrugged, picking up a navy one with a simple title in silver on the front. Many people didn't appreciate books, but I felt like nothing was more valuable than knowledge, true knowledge.

"I think they're the perfect representation of you, though", I shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, most people never pick them up, because they feel intimidated by them. They don't have pretty pictures on the cover to reveal the inside. There's just a hard, dark exterior and that scares people", I said, caressing a black leather-bound spellbook. "Only those who dare to pick it up and read it get to experience the lovely story inside."

It was quiet for a long time, but a good kind of quiet, a comfortable silence.

"I don't know how you do that. You're good with words", Draco whispered, wrapping his arms around me from behind me, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"I read", I chuckled, turning around. He looked so relaxed. I hadn't seen him like that very often.

"There are more fun ways to pass the time", he said. I raised an eyebrow, but the smug look remained on his face.

"We should go back before our mums gets suspicious", I said, but I didn't really protest when he pulled me back into his arms.

"We can spare a minute", he purred, his soft lips gracing mine. I gently kissed him, just for a little while.

"No, we can't, come on", I said and grabbed his hand. I pulled him up and after protesting for quite a while, he finally gave in.

"You're a pain in the arse sometimes, do you know that?" he smirked.

"Oh please, you love it", I said smugly, opening the door to the hallway.

"Does he now?"