Why do you like thunderstorms?" "Because it shows that even nature needs to scream sometimes.

- E.D

I gently moved the muscles of my face to inspect the damage. I did end up going to Amycus after supper. I thought about it for a while and even though Draco had been far too rude, he did have a point. I was allowed to stand up for myself and others, but refusing the punishment for it was looking for trouble. I volunteered to get hurt instead of the first-years so it would have been hypocritical of me to not show up.

It did result in some bruising and some cuts, but I knew that he'd gone easy on me. The Gryffindors had undergone far worse punishment. In the end, almost everyone agreed to perform the Imperius curse next lesson and so did Tracey and I. I could do so without hurting other people.

I however would not perform the Cruciatus Curse on a first-year and most others kept refusing that too. I'd rather have a first-year perform it on me than the other way around. They were only eleven.

"Are you alright, Master?" I heard. I turned around to be met with Kreacher.

"Kreacher, I was wondering when I'd hear from you", I smiled at him.

"Kreacher just got the letter from Harry Potter, Master", he bent down slightly.

"I hope you're happy with the news."

"I am, Master, but your wounds should be taken care of. Shall Kreacher fetch the nurse for Master?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll fix myself up at my dorm, it's not a big deal. In the meantime, do you wish to continue working in the Hogwarts kitchens or would you prefer another job?"

"Anything Master wants me to do."

"Well I'd like to keep you around if that's fine with you. If you like working at the Kitchens you can stay there during my time at school, but you don't have to", I said. I had ownership over this elf now, but I didn't want him to be my little assistant. I just wanted him to be happier.

"Kreacher will work in the Kitchens, Master", he bowed again.

"Great, let me know if there is anything you need, okay? I need to go back to the common room now, but I'll visit you shortly, okay?"

"Yes, thank you, Master", he said before walking away.

"Wasn't he Potter's elf?" Tracey frowned. She looked a little bit worse, as she was not a pure-blood, but she too got spared from most bullying.

"Long story", I sighed.

"Lea?" Tracey asked slowly, stopping in front of the door to the common room.

"Yeah?"

"There's a war coming, isn't there? Another Wizarding War?" I hadn't even seen Tracey look scared, she didn't easily get scared, but right now she looked terribly uneasy. She was a Slytherin because she was cunning and fierce, but she wasn't on Voldemort's side like most Slytherins. She didn't know what was going on. She was rightfully scared.

"I'm afraid so", I whispered, looking down. I didn't think about it much, but a war was brewing. Maybe it wouldn't happen tomorrow, but it wouldn't be long. It would never stop until either Harry Potter or Voldemort was dead.

"So many people died in the first war, Lea. I don't want to die yet", Tracey said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Hey, you're not going to die, Trace", I said and pulled her into a hug. "This war isn't about us. It's about Potter and the Dark Lord. We might not even notice anything. And you're a halfblood Slytherin, Tracey. Whoever wins the war, you won't be in trouble. Voldemort's side will accept all Slytherins and the other side will trust you when they find out you're not involved with the Dark Lord at all."

Tracey nodded and tightened the hug shortly before letting go.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt. I know I don't say it often, but I like it here. I have you and Daphne and Blaise and even Draco and Theo and I don't want that to break apart. You don't talk about it much, but I know that you and Draco are in a dangerous position, Lea. I don't want you to die either."

"I'm not going to, okay? We'll all be fine. We look after each other." Tracey wiped away the upcoming tears and pushed out a smile.

"I am going to absolutely annihilate Amycus if I get the chance, though. He messed up my face. These beautiful cheekbones are my best asset", she quipped. I laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the common room. I wiped away the small drop of blood that dripped from my eyebrow. It was only a small gash, but it hurt with every facial expression.

The common room was almost empty already. We had been in Amycus's office until curfew. Daphne, Blaise, Theo and Draco did sit in the corner, presumably waiting for us.

"Oh bloody hell, what did they do to you?" Daphne gasped as we walked in.

"Don't be dramatic, it's not that bad", I chuckled.

"Not that bad? They physically assaulted you!" she called out.

"Let's get you cleaned up", Blaise said and took Tracey with her to his dorm. My eyes landed on Draco, who seemed to be fuming.

I hated myself. She went to the stupid detention because I told her to. I told her to stop being difficult. Now here she stood, covered in cuts and bruises. How could they just hurt her like that because she refused to perform an Unforgivable Curse?

My blood was boiling. I had to do something. Maybe I could blackmail Snape into doing something about it. I had nothing over the Carrow twins.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Daphne called out when I was already halfway out of the door. I didn't plan on replying, but then a door slammed close, making me turn around. I scanned the room, but Eleanor was no longer there.

"How about you ask if your girlfriend is okay? Or if she needs anything? Give her a bloody hug at least!" Daphne fumed before running after Eleanor.

I sighed and closed the door again. I was not good at things like this. I cared for Eleanor deeply, but I wasn't the best at showing it. She didn't need me to do something about it, she just wanted me to be there for her, like I hadn't been all day. I hadn't tried to understand her point of view and I hadn't tried to calm her down when she was clearly upset after our visit to Snape's office. Relationships were difficult.

"Moments like these make me so grateful to be single", Nott chuckled before standing up and walking towards our dorm, leaving me alone in the common room.

I walked towards the girl's dorms and knocked on the door.

"Sod off, Draco!" Daphne yelled from the other side of the door.

"I just want to talk", I said, but there was no response. I sighed and went back to the common room. Maybe she just needed some time.

I sat down in one of the armchairs in front of the fire and rubbed my temples as I stared into the flames. I was not going to ruin this thing with Ellie on the first day of school, no way.

The problem was that our beliefs had grown apart so much over the summer and disagreements were no solid foundation for a relationship. I needed to figure out who I was going to support. Ellie unfortunately didn't really have any supportive family on Voldemort's side anymore, but I did. My mother still was on that side, my father too. I couldn't just run away with her if Voldemort won the Wizarding War. I couldn't just leave my mother behind like that, as much as I loved Eleanor.

But Eleanor wasn't going to stay on this side. She would rather die than live her life pretending to be a pure-blood supremacist, dark-side-supporting Selwyn girl. She had to pretend for so long and now the only person who was keeping her there was me. She stayed because of me, all summer. And now I was expecting her to do that for the rest of her life?

But I couldn't let her go. Maybe it was better if we went our separate ways, but we had tried that before and that didn't really go so well. She was the one for me and I needed her around to keep me sane, to show me what it meant to be happy.

I rubbed my face, tired of an entire day of overthinking. I had to choose between my current family and the one I wanted in the future.

If I chose to remain on Voldemort's side and they'd win, I'd drag Ellie into a life that she was trying to escape from. If they didn't win and I remained on their side, I'd probably be sent to Azkaban for life, leaving Ellie behind.

If I chose to step away from Voldemort's side and they'd win, they would probably kill me and Ellie, or at least cast us away for it. The latter didn't sound all that bad at first, but it'd be a very poor life. If I stepped away and Voldemort's side didn't win, then I did have a future with Ellie, but I would be betraying and leaving behind my parents. They would be sent to Azkaban. Was that what I wanted?

These were not decisions a 17-year-old should be making.

I heard a door open, so my head shot towards Ellie's dorm. She stood in the door, a suspicious look on her face. Seeing her relaxed me. I had said it before. It doesn't matter what you believe until you have to make a choice. That choice wasn't until the war would come to its climax. I had time.

I noticed that I had stood up and walked towards her. She stood there a little awkwardly, her arms wrapped around her as if she didn't know what to do with them. I never wanted her to be awkward around me.

"I'm sorry", I said in a shaky breath. She didn't look me in the eyes, but twirled a strand of her damp hair around her finger. She had just come out of the shower as I smelled the strong berry scent I had to miss all summer. That's why I loved Eleanor so much. She was strong and beautiful and classy and put-together and intelligent, but she wasn't completely like them. She had this unique-factor, that personality trait that set her apart. She had an intense dose of empathy that these others lacked and I had to stop punishing her for it. It was the most beautiful thing about her, her own personal berry-factor.

And I had called her stupid, I was an idiot.

"I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't mean it", I continued. "You're not stupid, I'm the stupid one out of the two of us. I was stressed and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that, sorry." I opened my arms for her and she doubted for a while, but eventually she stepped closer and accepted the hug. I let out a relieved breath as I felt her arms around me too. She laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes. I gave her a kiss on her head and savored the touch.

"You smell nice", I whispered and a small smile appeared on her face. She liked little compliments like these, even though they cost zero effort.

"I don't want to fight, Draco, but I'm just tired. I don't want to act anymore. I just want to be me." Her voice sounded small, so fragile, which broke my heart. I gently guided her to the armchair I was sitting in a few moments ago and pulled her onto my lap. She laid her legs on the arm rest as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I don't want to fight either", I whispered. "We'll just see how it goes and you tell me when I'm being an arse and I try to keep you out of trouble, okay? You and me against the world." She looked up again with that same smile on her face that I loved so much.

"Sounds good", she said. The cut on her forehead was healed completely, but there was still some minor bruising visible. She still looked beautiful. Beaten up or in a ball gown on Christmas Eve, she always looked beautiful.

"I want to do something", I said. "I want to dance with you." She looked up again, her eyebrows knitted together and an amused glint in her eyes.

"You want to- what?" she chuckled.

"I want to dance with you", I said and stood up, gently putting her down on the ground. "I remember at the Ministry Ball that I was bummed that I couldn't dance with you back then. I wanted to go there with you as my date, hold your arm, get you a drink, tell you you look breathtaking and then ask you to dance."

"Really? You want those things?" she questioned.

"Of course I do. Now I had to watch you dance with one of the Rosiers", I frowned, making her laugh.

"He was quite creepy actually", she shrugged. "Far too excited and a little too intense for me."

"Am I not too intense for you, Miss Selwyn?" I asked as I grabbed her by her waist and pulled her close to me. She looked surprised for a short moment before her lips curled into a smirk.

"I like your intensity", she whispered in my ear. She was an absolute miracle. I took out my wand and pointed it at the piano in the corner than no one ever used. I knew that Ellie was good at playing the grand piano, but she never wanted to show me as there were bad memories attached to the instrument for her. Soft music filled the empty common room.

"You really want to dance with me?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"I really want to dance with you", I responded. I gently put my hands on her waist as she wrapped her arms around my neck. We swayed back and forth as I stared into her hazel eyes. She was right. A favourite place wasn't an actual place, it was a person.

She was my favourite place, my favourite person.