| Girl on Fire |

17

VERONICA MALFOY

I woke up in Mattheo's arms. I held his hand and looked at the black ink on his skin while he slept. It didn't upset me. I think deep down I knew. I knew he was going to be a death eater. He told me I would be afraid of him, he told me that he was going to go down a dark path and he has no choice. I just want to know what it is. What is he going to pick Draco for? Why did he mark me? How can he use unforgivable curses and it isn't detected by the ministry? How is he such a powerful wizard at such a young age? What is his father making him do? Does he really love me? I want to ask him all these questions but something makes me think he won't answer all of them. I love Mattheo. I really do. But is love enough to get us through?

I felt Mattheo stir and his eyes opened. He looked at me and smiled. "Hello love" he said. I smiled. "Hi." I said. He moved a blonde lock from my face. It was the weekend so we didn't have lessons. I sat up and he followed. I sat in between his legs and played with the rings on his hands. "Do you want to talk about last night?" he asked. I nodded. "Can I see the cut?" he asked. I nodded. I pulled my tank top down and revealed the healed cut. "Who healed it?" he asked. "Professor Snape." I said. He nodded. "I talked to him too." I said. He looked up. "And?" he asked. "I need you to tell me the truth." I said. "About what?" he asked. 'About all of it. How did you mark me? Why are you here? What is really going on? And is my brother safe? I need you to tell me Mattheo. Please." I said. He was quiet. "If you really love me, you would trust me enough to know I won't tell anyone anything." I said. "Fine, but remember what I told you. About being afraid. Don't say I didn't warn you." he said. I just nodded. "Snape said only dark wizards can mark someone and they can only mark one person. Why me?" I asked. He smiled. "I just knew it was you." he said. "Knew it was me? What does that mean?" I asked. "I told you. I love you. I marked you because I love you and I want to keep you safe." he said. "But you can only mark one person, what happens if you stop loving me." I said. He laughed. "Good to see you have so much faith in us." he said. "You know what I mean." I said. "Yes. The would only work if it was meant to be. If we weren't and I tried to mark you, it wouldn't work." he said. I nodded. "What about Draco?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow. "When you two were arguing. He said he doesn't serve you and you said not yet. You told him that you both know who he is going to pick. What were you talking about?" I asked. He sighed. "Mattheo tell me." I said sharply. "That's why I'm here," he said. "What?" I said. "The Malfoy twins. One of you is getting the dark mark next year. I'm here to decide which one of you it is. I already told Draco I'm going to pick him. He agreed to keep you safe." he said. I dropped his hands and stood up off the bed. "What? You- I can't-" I stammered. He got up and walked towards me but I backed up. "Veronica, I told you I have no choice. If my father gives me an order, I do it." he said. "In the beginning, you only talked to me to see if I was worthy of the dark mark, isn't that right?" I asked. He paused and my heart shattered. "I should have known. You never actually liked me did you? You just had to get close to me so you could decide which Malfoy gets the mark." I said, my voice cracked. "No Veronica- well in the beginning, yes but then-" he started. " I ran out of the room and into my. I slammed the door. "Veronica, please. You don't understand. Let me just tell you everything. Please." he begged. I opened it and stared at him. "I won't listen to anymore of your manipulation. I don't need your mark or your protection because I don't need you." I said. Then I pushed past him and went down to the common room. I looked everywhere for Draco and finally found him in the library. "Draco, we need to talk." I said. "Ronnie, I'm in the middle of writing this essay. Later?" he asked. "Draco, nous devons parler. Je suis sérieux. Allons-y." I said. He looked up quickly. French is how we communicate when it's a serious matter. "Ce qui se passe?" he asked. "Pas ici. Suis-moi." I said. He packed his things up and we walked outside and sat down at a bench. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me?" I said. His face fell. "You knew why Mattheo was here. You knew he had to pick one of us and you just decided." I said. "Ronnie, I did it for you." he said. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't need you? I don't want you to save me or fix me or whatever it is you think you're doing. You decided for me. Again." I said. "You know what, those other times, maybe I was out of line. But I will not apologize for stopping you from having to get the dark mark." he said. "The Dark Lord sent Mattheo here to decide who is worthy of the dark mark. You don't actually want it, you just want to make sure I don't." I said. "Yes." he said. "Draco, you're my brother and I love you. But you need to let me live my own life." I said. "Ronnie, whatever you're thinking, don't. The dark mark is forever." he said. "Yes, I know. This time I'm deciding for you." I said as I walked off

I'm tired of being saved. I want power. I want to be in control. I know it's bad but I know what my life will be. I know I will probably get the dark mark. Is it so wrong that I'm ok with it? Why would I want to be a good guy? Why would I want to fight with Harry Potter and his Gryffindor. What have the good guys ever done for me? Dumbldore has always been so busy saving Harry Potter, he doesn't care about anyone else. Everybody hates the Slytherins. So yeah, call me bad. Evil isn't born, it's made.