"Ah, another Malfoy," the hat sounded amused. "You are not what you seem, or what your family and peers see, are you? Your heart is double. A Malfoy in name, but your true lineage is hazy, which makes you quite tricky to place. You would do well in...
When it was time for lunch, I quickly rushed towards the Great Hall and grabbed as much food as I could, which promptly went into my bag. Mother showed me how to place an undetectable extension charm on it.
Luckily, as I head out again, I manage to catch Ron and Harry who I motion to follow me. I take them out into the grounds and down towards the Black Lake.
"Are you excited for flying practice?" I ask them, mainly to Ron who has a bit more of an idea about what I'm referring to more than Harry would.
We've had plenty of heated discussions when it comes to teams and the Quidditch World Cup.
"Yeah!" He muffles as he stuffs a pumpkin pasty into his mouth.
"Ronald, every time!" I shake my head. "If you're going to eat, speak after you swallow!"
We spend a little longer by the lake until I decide it's best if we head back up to the castle. Draco would be asking questions, ones with answers that I didn't care to give him. He thinks it's his place to pry because we're twins; if anything, I prefer the distance that having secrets gave us.
It's when the first diary appeared to me, actually.
He wanted to know things, kept pestering me about my birthmark and my interest in astronomy at the age of seven, and I wouldn't tell him. Mainly because I didn't have an answer myself, and that's when the diary appeared, and I began writing in every thought, every adventure; every question that I had, into it.
I find Draco and we head down to flying practice together, which we had with the Gryffindors. The Slytherins are all lined up together and the Gryffindors faced us.
"Good afternoon, class," Madam Hooch walks up between us.
"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," we all replied.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for?! Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up! Stick your right hand over the broom and say, 'Up!"
We all yelled "up," to our brooms. Harry and I were both first to have ours up. Draco's too, but rather than him catching it firmly in his hand, it smacked him on the nose. He mutters something about it being a faulty broom and has another go.
Harry and I both catch each others eyes and share smiles.
"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it, and grip it tight. You don't want to be sliding off the end," Madam Hooch instructed.
She barely starts her countdown for us to kick off the ground when Neville's broom starts to rise. Without thinking, as Neville's broom appeared to have a will all its own, I kick off too and follow after him. The wind blows at my face.
His broom was taking him close to the castle wall, so I surge forwards and twist slightly so that I bring my broom one way and stop it as Neville continues straight for me. Hooch is yelling at us to both come down.
Before he collides with the wall, I manage to help him regain some control, and just as we're about to touch the grass again. Neville's broom jerks back up and he sails into the castle wall before I can reach him.
He slams into the wall a few more times before slipping off his broom, and his cloak gets caught on the spear of a statue which protrudes outwards from its fixture in the wall.
"Help!" He wails.
And then his cloak ripped, he began to fall before his cloak latches onto a torch which slows his descent, until his cloak rips some more, and he plummets to the ground.
"Everyone out of the way!" Madam Hooch yells for us to all move. She goes to him and helps Neville to stand up; she murmurs something about his wrist being broken and takes him to the Hospital Wing.
Before they go, she warns us to all keep our feet on the ground, and anyone else that she sees on their broom in the air will be out of Hogwarts before they can say "Quidditch."
Draco starts to snigger and he wanders over to where Neville had landed and picks something up from the ground. I can't see what it is, but as he returns to the group I realise it's a Remembrall.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse!"
"Draco!" I exclaim, appalled.
Harry strode over to Draco. "Give it here, Malfoy!"
"No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find," he tossed the sphere with a puff of small cloud inside it into the air, and caught again before getting onto his broom.
"How 'bout on the roof?" He smirks, glancing down at the Slytherins who all start sniggering apart from me.
I grit my teeth, desperate to hex him.
Harry hurries to get onto his broom, ignoring both Hermione's and mine voices of reason, and he chases after Draco who begins to taunt him again.
I don't catch much of what they're saying to each other until I do hear Draco say, "have it your way, then," before he launches Neville's Remembrall through the air.
Harry immediately pursues, and just before he collided with a castle window, as I nearly had, he catches it. He heads straight for the ground, everyone cheering for him as he runs up to us. Draco stands there with a sour expression on his face.
I'm about to go over and give him a piece of my mind when McGonagall suddenly appears. "Harry Potter?! Ally Malfoy?!"
I whipped my head around to see that she was looking for both of us.
"Follow me," she said.
Harry handed the Remembrall over to Hermione, and he catches up to me as we follow McGonagall up to the castle. Neither of us dare say anything.
Later, McGonagall let us leave, neither of us expecting to hear watch she offered us. She wanted us both to be Seekers, each for our respective houses. We couldn't believe it, more so myself, because Harry didn't know much about what Quidditch was or what it involved.
Ron and Draco are waiting for us as we leave McGonagalls office, and I couldn't wait any longer, so I blurt it out. "McGonagall didn't expel us. I made the Slytherin Quidditch team as their Seeker! She's going to talk to Professor Snape about acquiring some Quidditch robes for me to wear ready for our first game!"
Draco hugs me, and Ron does too although my brother scowls at him. "Harry made Seeker too, for Gryffindor!" The grin spreads wide across my face.
