| Girl on Fire |

30

VERONICA MALFOY

Everyone bowed as the Dark Lord walked through the party. Then Mattheo walked in. I rushed over and kissed him. He had a cut on his eyebrow, a bruised cheekbone and a cut across the bridge of his nose. "Why? I thought he-" I started. "Not here." he whispered. I nodded and took his hand. "Draco, I'll be right back. I'm with Mattheo so I'm safe." I whispered. He nodded and I pulled Mattheo through the halls and into a storage closet. I cupped his face and examined the abuse. "How did this happen? I thought he wasn't going to hurt you. Wasn't that the whole point of torturing me?" I asked. "I disrespected him when we got home." he said. I sighed. "What did you do?" I asked. "I told him that he may be the almighty powerful Dark Lord but if he ever touches you again, I said I would kill him and use my power as the heir to the throne to make mudbloods powerful." he said. "That was dumb." I said. He chuckled. "It was the best threat I could think of," he said. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" I asked. "I ran a diagnostic and I have a bruised lung but otherwise I'm fine." he said. "Mattheo, I love you and I love that you want to protect me but I don't want you getting hurt to do it." I said. "I love you and I love that you are worried about me but I marked you for a reason. That means it's my job to protect you." he said. I smiled at him. "You are too stubborn for your own good." I said. He smirked. "Funny, I was just going to say the same thing to you." he said. I laughed. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out." I asked. "I can't promise anything-" he started. "Mattheo." I said sternly. 'Ok, what is it?" he asked. "Marcus and Adrian are here." I said. His eyes went dark and he pushed me out of the way. He walked out and headed back for the party. I ran to catch up to him and stood in front of him. "Move Veronica. I won't ask twice." he said. "No. I know what you are going to do. Please, I'm begging you if you really love me you won't do this." I said. He stared at me. "You expect me to just sit back and watch them-" he started. "Yes. Please. If you make a scene, then I get in trouble. Please just don't. Ok? Blaise already made a rule that Allison and I always have to have someone with us. We'll be fine." I said. He exhaled and rubbed his temples. "One look. That's it. He looks at you the wrong way once and he is dead. I don't care if I ruin the party. It's 95% death eaters anyway." he said. I kissed him and I felt him relax. "Thank you. Now can we go dance?" I asked. He smirked. "Of course," he said. I took his hand and he led me to the dance floor.

He placed his hands on my waist and I rested mine on his shoulders. We danced to the music and I just looked into his eyes. It was just us. It was like there was nobody else in the room. "I forgot to tell you how incredible you look." he said. I smiled. He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Although I think that dress would look much better on the floor," he said. I felt goosebumps cover my body and I laughed. "All in good time. All in good time." I said. We continued to dance and dance. Then Draco, Theo and Enzo came over out of breath. "What's wrong?" I asked. "We can't find Allison and Blaise." Draco said. "What?" I exclaimed. "What do you mean? Where did they go?" Mattheo asked. "Allison drank too much champagne so they went outside to get some fresh air." Theo said. "How long ago?" I asked. "An hour." Enzo said. "Fuck, it's Marcus and Adrian. It has to be." I said. "We have to go look for them." Draco said. "Everyone split up." I said. "No, not you. You are staying with me." Mattheo said. 'No, we need as many eyes covering as much ground as possible." I said as I pulled off my shoes and tossed them in a storage closet. "No, this is a bad idea." Draco said. "No offense but Allison and Blaise were together and something still happened which means the whole partners idea obviously didn't work. And anyways, they already have her so they aren't looking for me." I said. They all looked at each other. "I don't like it." Draco said. "Same." Theo added. "Well it's not up to you. I'm going to find our friends now." I said. Then I took off running. I searched every room and closet. I checked under things, behind things. Nothing. I kept my wand in my shaking hands and prayed they weren't hurting them. Suddenly the world went dark.

DRACO MALFOY

"I found them!" a voice shouted. I ran down the hall and followed the voice. I bumped into Mattheo and we ran together. Theo and Enzo were hugging Allison and Blaise. "What the fuck happened?" I asked. "It's a trap. They locked us in here to distract you guys. They are going to kidnap Veronica" Allison said frantically. "What? What are you talking about?" Mattheo said. "They've been planning it for weeks. They said this is their golden opportunity for revenge." Blaise said. "Oh my- They knew. They knew we would go looking. We walked right into it." I said. Mattheo punched the wall and screamed. I slumped against the wall and tried to breathe. Everyone started talking over each other trying to come up with a plan. I couldn't breath. All I could think about was how alone she was. She was alone with them and I have no idea what they are doing or where they are. Allison knelt in front of me and took my hand. "We'll find her. We won't stop until we find her. She just has to survive until we do. She can do it. If anyone can survive it's V." she said. I nodded.
My sister, My Responsibility.