The Dark Mark (The Girl Who Lived part II)

The Branding

I woke in a cold sweat, screaming. I assessed my surroundings. I hadn't the faintest clue where I was. "Scarlet". I screamed again, this time, a hand covered my mouth to muffle my scream. "Scarlet, it's me. You're safe. Calm down". I stopped scratching the person, upon realization of who it was. "Draco?" "Sorry I startled you". "What time is it?" "Two". He answered simply. "What happened?" I rubbed my temples, not quite able to recall all the details. A headache filled the spot of that memory. "After Bellatrix pushed you aside, you jumped in between me and Voldemort, preventing me from getting the Dark Mark. You were unconcious after that, and Voldemort left". We were still in Malfoy Manor. In Draco's room. I felt something tightly wrapped around my head. Bandages. I attempted to remove it, when Draco placed his hand over mine, and removed my hand from the bandages. "You took a pretty hard fall. You had to get a few stitches". I examined my Dark Mark. It had grown in size. The width of the skull fit across the upper portion of my arm. The snake that emerged from the skull's mouth wrapped itself around my arm again and again until it reached my wrist. 

"Come on, let's go back to sleep. Your head's only going to heal if you get plenty of sleep", He gently laid my head on the pillow. He laid across from me. When I woke again, Draco was awake. The dark circles underneath his eyes highly contrasted with pale skin. His grey eyes stared into mine. "Good morning". He said. There was a coldness and wetness in my hand. I glanced down to see what it was. Draco's hands were in mine. I removed my hands from his quickly. Draco's hands appeared as though they had been freshly cut. Droplets of blood forming. There was a rust color underneath my fingernails. Blood. And it wasn't mine. "Draco..." While I was dreaming, I must've dug my fingers into Draco's hands. I stroked his hand around the fresh cuts to soothe the pain. "I'm sorry. I dragged you into this". I said. There was nothing I could do now, but apologize. "It wasn't you". He said. "Let me get you something for that". I said, referring to his hand. I attempted to stand, but Draco pulled me back down with him. "Let's just stay like this for another minute". He said. And so we did. 

I later disinfected Draco's wounds and then wrapped them loosely in gauze. "There. It's done". I tucked the end piece of gauze underneath the previously wrapped layers to prevent it from coming undone. "Scarlet". "Yes?" I looked up from his newly wrapped hand. "Why have you gone so far for Potter? He isn't worth you risking even the slightest hair on your head". I didn't quite have a particular reason as to why I had risked what I had for him. "Because he's done so much for me. But I'm not just doing it for him. I'm doing it for everyone that I care about. I'd do anything for them if it were in my power. Even if that means risking my life". Some people if they heard my story, would think that I'm a hero. But in truth, I wasn't. I just didn't view my life as important as other people do. Then, these same people may assume that I am fearless. I wasn't that either. I feared death just as every other person did. I've just accepted it sooner than others.

This became a routine. I would fall asleep, and then wake to find myself in Draco's room. My fingers digging into his arms because of a nightmare. I would later disinfect the cut and wrap it in gauze.The days surprisingly didn't drag on as I thought it would. I spent a week there. My head still hadn't completely healed. Today was the day I'd be leaving. I told Fred and George that I'd meet them today at their shop in Diagon Alley. Draco and I strolled along the streets of Diagon Alley. I carried my bag. "Why are you even with Potter, anyway? He'd be extremely lucky just to be your doormat. Potter couldn't possibly be better than I am". Draco snorted. " I'm with him because he cares for me, and I for him. It's funny that you say that because I've always thought that if you could get past your prejudice's, that the two of you could've been friends". "Me and Potter? You must've hit your head harder than I thought". He smirked. "I specifically remember someone who asked Harry if he wanted to be friends". I commented. "You've won this one, Weasley". He said. We stopped outside Weasleys' Wizardly Wheezes. The facade of the shop was quite colorful. "Well, we're here. I suppose I'd better go in". "I headed towards the shop. "And Scarlet-" I stopped, and looked over my shoulder. "Yeah?" "If Potter so much as hurts a hair on your head, tell me. I'll beat him up for you, with no extra charge". He said his goodbyes and I entered the shop. 

As I had assumed, the inside was even more colorful and lively There were quite a few customers in the store. "Scarlet!" The twins ran down the stairs and threw their arms around me as if they hadn't seen me in years. "It's nice to see you two". We separated from the hug. "It's been too long, Scarlet". "Good to see you". They said. "What can I do?" I asked them. Fred took my bag and placed it in the storage room downstairs. "Follow me". I followed George to a corner of the shop. He gave me a long magenta robe robe. "All of our employee's have one". I glanced around the shop. "But you have no employees". I said. "No other employees. You're our first". George corrected. There was a loud popping noise from behind, that startled me. "Have you tried it on yet?" Fred said from behind. Fred took his usual place next to George. "What did Mrs. Weasley say about apparating everywhere instead of walking?" I raised an eyebrow. "That was so last year". Fred said.

I slipped on the magenta robe. The fabric felt cool against my skin. As I adjusted the robe to my skin, George threw confetti in the air while Fred blew into a noisemaker. "Congratulations for becoming the first ever employee of Weasleys' Wizardly Wheezes!" Said George. "We customized the robe so that it fits you. We even made you a name tag". Fred pinned a silver piece of metal with my name engraved in it. The twins had obviously been the one who had engraved it. The engraving wasn't in a font, but in their messy handwriting. "You spelled my name wrong". I pointed out. "What? Where?" George took a handful of my robe where the pin was located and examined their handiwork. "We customized it". Said Fred, who had already seen this error.

"So what shall I do?" I asked them. "Help us keep the maintenance of the shop". I knew what that meant. George was quite sneaky. George handed me a mop and smiled that mischievous smile. He had obviously not wanted to have to clean the shop himself. I began cleaning the shop while the twins handeled the sales. The work was rather tedious, but it needed to be done. I must've cleaned every nook and cranny of the place twice. "Oh dear Scarlet, you missed a spot". George said, as he left tracks of mud on the hard wood floor. "George! I just cleaned that area! Who do you think has spent hours cleaning the shop only to have you make a mess of it again?" "That may be so, but who do you think pays your salary?" George asked, still spreading mud along the places I had just cleaned. "You're not paying me at all". I said to him. He dismissed this completely and continued making a mess on the shop floors.

I continued dragging the mop along the floors. The work was rather mundane. Only was it interesting when I noticed a boy who I'd seen around Hogwarts, shove one of the product's into his pocket. He appeared to be no older than a second year. I stopped mopping, holding the tip of the mop in the palm of my hands. I observed the boy as he shoved item after item into pockets, and then into his bulky jacket. "There's an easier way to do that". He froze, and turned around. "Look, if you return everything right now, I'll look the other way". The boy didn't appear to be a threat in any sort of way. In other words, he didn't appear to be a thug. The boy looked as if he were a deer caught in headlights. "Trust me, you'll get off a lot easier if it's me your dealing with. Fred and George can be quite threatening at times". The boy began unloading his items exactly in the same place where he had taken them from. It was only when he had one item left that the twins caught him. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Asked the twins who placed a hand on the boy's shoulders. The poor kid. 

The twins may have been pranksters, but they could also be quite threatening. Not quite frightening as Mrs. Weasley, but it was pretty up there.  These moments didn't occur very often, but when they did, things got scary. This was one of the moments.