Bright

-5-

The train for Hogwarts was leaving in a few hours, and Elle didn't know how she felt about going back. Did anyone else know about her past? How was she going to face Harry again without letting her secret slip?

She finished packing jumpers and robes into her trunk. She packed only the best she could find. She folded her final jumper, her favorite blue one that she used to play quidditch in. She, Draco, and Blaise all would play quidditch from dawn until dusk during the summer so they could improve their skills. Blaise and Elle were both practicing to be chasers, and Draco was practicing to be the new seeker. Draco wasn't the best she'd ever seen, but there was a passion there. A passion that was not just fueled by his incessant need to be better than Potter, but a passion to be better at his favorite game.

There was a quiet knock at the door that tore Elle from her trunk.

"Come in!" she called, finishing up folding her sweater.

"Hello Elle"

"Hello Narcissa" she smiled at the woman.

"Lucius had to leave the country on business, but he sends his love. He also told me to give you this." Narcissa pulled out a black leather bound journal. It had beautiful stars streamed all over the cover of the journal. The stars formed a shape, but she couldn't quite figure out what the shape was. "He said that whenever you feel lonely, just write in the journal."

Elle nodded "Thank you Narcissa"

"Of course love, now finish packing up, we leave within the hour!" Narcissa called from the door.

Elle nodded once more as her door was closed. She set her journal down and picked up her sweater. She placed it neatly in her trunk, along with her photo that Lucius gave her.

Elle grabbed the journal again and opened it. She saw pages upon pages of writing, some of it was Lucius, but a lot of it was not. She turned back to the first page and saw that it said "Property of Tom Marvolo Riddle"

"Elle, are you ready?" Draco called from her doorway, interrupting her deep dive into the journal.

"Yeah, just let me close this up." she replied.

"What's that?"

"Oh, just a journal so I can keep track of all the times you kick a first year."

"I will not be kicking first years!" Draco replied mockingly offended.

"Keep telling yourself that. I know that the first first year you see will receive your boot in the arse."

"Very funny. Now let's go."

Elle giggled and threw the journal into the trunk and shut it. As tormented as her mind was about going back to school, she was very excited to see her friends again. Theo and Pansy would owl her on occasion, and Blaise would come over when he wasn't in Greece with his whore of a mother as Narcissa likes to call her.

Blaise and Elle grew a lot closer over the course of the summer. He knew when Elle was in a good mood as well as when she was not in the best mood. He was always one that easily detected emotion. He did it so well with Draco throughout their childhood and she only wished she had that talent. Blaise was very conservative about his talents, and he only used them when he felt there was no other option. When Elle would get upset about her father, Blaise wouldn't pry it out of her with Draco in the room, and he would never say a word. He would just hold her.

Even though these kids were only twelve years old, they felt emotions like adults. They were expected to act like adults. They were expected to cope with the most heinous life situations like adults. They never got to be kids.