dear draco,

thirteen

And with every day that passed since then, with every word you spoke; every moment you hated me, loved me, I fell a little bit deeper. It was wrong, but nothing could have made me happier. You were the best mistake I ever made.

-

"Oh, finally!"

I have been looking for Harry, Ron and Hermione for ages. When I find them at last, standing in front of the hourglasses that count up house points, they all shoot me gloomy smiles. No one looks particularly happy to see me, and I don't blame them. Yesterday, Draco caught Harry as we all fled from a DA meeting, after Umbridge discovered what we were doing. Obviously, the DA had been a highly illegal organisation thanks to all of her decrees, and Harry's capture led not to Harry nearly being expelled, but to Dumbledore taking credit for the DA and then having to escape. Essentially, it was because of Draco that Dumbledore was now gone and Umbridge our new principal.

I widen my eyes when I see crystals flying up in the hourglasses, most rapidly so in Gryffindor's. "What's happening?" I ask.

I step forward just as Fred and George come down the marble staircase. "Noticed, have you?" says Fred.

"Malfoy just docked us about fifty points each!" says Harry furiously.

Fred glances at me. "Right, Isobel," he says. "I don't know how to tell you this, but your boyfriend is a little git."

"I know," I mumble.

"Actually," says George, "he's not just a little git, he's a big, huge, fat git who-"

"I'm pretty sure even Isobel hates Malfoy right now," says Hermione, giving me a sympathetic look. I force a smile.

"Well, it's not just him," says George, though he looks skeptical. "Montague tried to do the same to us during break. He would have gotten away with it too if we hadn't shoved him in a vanishing cabinet."

Hermione stares at them, taken aback. "But you'll get into even more trouble for that!"

"Oh, we don't really care about that anymore," says Fred breezily. "Besides, we've decided a bit of mayhem is just what our new head needs."

"What?" says Ron, looking startled.

"You mustn't!" whispers Hermione. "Umbridge would love a reason to expel you!"

George smiles. "We don't care about staying anymore," he says casually. Hermione gapes. "We'd walk out right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first."

When Fred and George leave, Hermione and Ron whisper furiously about what they might have planned. Harry stares at them blankly, with no apparent interest in their conversation.

"I really hope it's nothing stupid," says Ron. "My mum's going to be furious."

"Don't be ridiculous," says Hermione impatiently. "I just hope it isn't anything dangerous. They can be a bit overly reckless sometimes, can't they? What do you think, Isobel?"

"I'm thinking that we have absolutely no chance of winning the house cup this year," I say miserably. "The stones are nearly all gone."

They all spin around to look at the hourglasses. The ruby stones are flying up faster than ever. "Well," says Ron angrily, "I bet we'd still have twice that left if it weren't for your boyfriend!"

"I don't like the way you say that like it's my fault," I say coolly, gazing into the hourglass. "But you can bet everything that I'll set him straight."

-

I start calling his name the moment I'm close enough to knock on the wall concealing the Slytherin common room entrance. Just about everyone in the DA has given me some strongly worded opinion on Draco's actions by now, all of them blaming me for his actions, and I'm ready to burst with anger.

"Draco! Dra-"

After a few minutes, the wall dissolves, allowing Draco to slam open the door, glaring at me. "What?" he hisses. "Everyone in there can hear-"

Seeing my expression, he breaks off. "I hope you're very happy with yourself," I say coldly. Draco sighs slowly like he knew this was coming. I glare at him, awaiting an explanation. "Well?"

Draco avoids looking at me. "You know I had to do it, Isobel."

"No, you didn't. Umbridge being our new headmistress may benefit you but it's awful for pretty much everyone else in the school, and it's all thanks to your choices. You didn't have to do anything, Draco, you had every right not to-"

"Not necessarily-"

"Harry"- I say, motioning upwards with a wild hand – "is being interrogated right now in Umbridge's office, with Veritaserum! Is that what you wanted? To see us destroyed?"

"I do what I want to do," Draco says stiffly, "And anyway, I got fifty points for Slytherin for doing so."

"Fifty points for Slytherin?" I interrupt sarcastically. "Oh, you must be so proud! Congratulations, what a worthy cause-"

Draco sits down on a step and puts his elbows on his knees, clearly trying to contain his temper. "Isobel, I said I would respect your privacy but obviously I have duties-"

"Duties!" I interrupt again. "Your duties, oh, my apologies-"

"I didn't even do anything!" he says. "I didn't rat you out, all I did was catch Potter!"

I stare at him, offended. "You're not even sorry, are you?"

"I have nothing to be sorry for!"

Just then, a loud bang goes off, and Draco and I fall silent. After a moment's hesitation, I dart to the nearest window. A shower of red and gold sparks is falling from the sky. I grin, suddenly realizing what Fred and George had been talking about this morning. After another pop, a river of silvery stars develops mid-air, blinking several times before dissolving. I hear a crash and several delighted shrieks above us, indicating that the twins' fireworks have entered the school as well.

Draco stares, transfixed, at the fireworks beside me. "What on earth-" he pauses, noticing my expression. "You know who did this?"

"Yes, I do," I say indignantly, "but I'm not telling you who, because you'll probably just go rat them out as well."

After having gone off in a huff with Draco, most of the girls start to be nicer again. They've just about clarified that I'm definitely not a spy for Draco and his opinions aren't mine, and this makes me feel somewhat better. Hermione, Ginny and Luna are all particularly kind to me, and seem to encourage others to do the same, although they still make it very clear that they don't approve of Draco.

From there, it's more confusing than ever to be with him. I soon realize that his intentions were solely towards Harry. However, I can't keep away the constant thought of how much easier life would be if we were just on the same side. This seeming war is getting more urgent and sides are becoming more apparent, and my relationship with Draco is more complicated than ever.