The end of the school year was a sad day for me. It seemed just yesterday that I had been sorted. I had only just met Astraea, and I wouldn't see her during summer break at all.

"Back to the Malfoys," I said to Harvest. The train platform was warm under my boots.

"Have fun," she said back, grimacing. I had already said goodbye to Astraea, knowing that Harvest would be mad if I talked to Astraea while I was walking with her.

I rolled my eyes at Harvest. "Hooray." I spotted Fred and George, jumping up and down in the middle of a crowd of red and gold. They were waving, desperately trying to get my attention. I caught George's eye and winked. He winked back.

Snacks came about halfway through the train ride. "Hocolate fog?" I offered Harvest a packaged candy, my mouth full.

"Sure," she said, taking it. Harvest opened the package and the frog jumped out. "Grab it!" She yelled, making a wild lunge. This was one feisty chocolate frog. I sat completely still in my seat until the frog assumed I was safe. It hopped onto my outstretched hand and I closed my hand on it.

"Peep, peep," said the chocolate frog. I peeked into my hand.

"Aw, he's actually kind of cute," I said.

"You're not going to eat him?" Harvest moved over to my side of the compartment and took a peek at the chocolate frog as well. "I guess he's cute," she said doubtfully. "As cute as a frog can be."

I put the frog in my pocket. "I'm going to call him Meatball."

"Meatball," Harvest said incredulously. "He's cute, but you're calling him Meatball? That's just too much."

Soon enough we were at Platform 9 ¾, and I had to say goodbye to Harvest. "See you next year," I called as she walked away with her mom.

"Yeah!" She called.

One of the many Malfoy house elves had brought a broom for me to fly back on. The elf sat behind me, silent, as I flew. It was nearly dark by the time I reached Malfoy Mansion, and Lucius had apparently had a bad day.

"Those Mudbloods," he said to Narcissa. She had insisted that we all sit down as a family to celebrate my coming back from Hogwarts.

"They want to steal my job. The Minister isn't being harsh enough on them." Narcissa nodded.

Draco had grown in my absence, and I couldn't shake the growing feeling that he had done something to my chambers. I rushed up to my room after dinner, knowing that if I didn't want to be annoyed by Pureblood bigotry, I'd be in there all break long.

Thank gods that Draco hadn't changed my room one bit. I pulled Meatball out of my pocket and set him on the dresser. "Don't you dare get into any trouble," I told him sternly. Just in case, I set him in a tiny cage meant for the smallest owl possible; so small even he wouldn't be able to slip through the bars. He looked a little deflated after that.

I went to bed as happy as I could be, seeing as I was going to be stuck in Pureblood land all summer. Oh well. At least I could look forward to going back to Hogwarts next fall.

And that, my friends, is the end of book one of "A Secret Protector." Thanks to all of the people who are reading this and leaving reviews. Zenith, as always, thank you so much! The second book should start soon, but it'll be a lot shorter. I have plans…

-docmuse.