| Girl on Fire |

85

VERONICA MALFOY

Everyone heard footsteps and rushed to the back corner of the room where I was. I stood up and Theo and Enzo stood in front of me. I wiped the tears from my cheeks as I looked to see who was there. The door opened and I heard a familiar voice. "I'm here," he said. Severus.

I pushed past my friends and ran over to him. "Your house elf alerted me of a-" he started. I cut him off as I hugged him. I don't think either of us expected it. He went stiff and simply patted my back. "There, there, it's alright." he said awkwardly. "It's not Sev. He killed her. He killed our mom." I said as my voice cracked. "What did you just say?" Sev said. Draco walked over and pulled me off him. He kept his arms around me as he spoke. "Mattheo killed our mother. She's dead." he repeated, his face blank.

I felt the tears fall to my cheeks again and Draco pulled me close. Sev's face turned to stone. He turned on his heel and began to walk up the stairs. "Severus!" Draco yelled. We all ran to follow him. "Where the bloody hell is he going?" Blaise asked. We followed him and he went straight to our fathers study. "What are you doing?" I asked. He opened the door and went inside.

Our father glanced at him and then us and just sipped his whiskey. "You told me Narcissa was out on an errand. You said the reason the children were in the cellar was for disrespect. You said the meeting went well and none of the children received the dark mark." he exclaimed. "And your point?" my father said. "You lied. Narcissa is dead, the children were trapped in the cellar for almost an entire day. And the children did in fact, receive their dark marks!" he snapped. "Our family's business does not concern you." my father said. "I'm Veronica and Draco's Godfather and I'm Theo, Enzo, Blaise, and Allison's professor. It is my business." he spat. "Fine then...yes. Narcissa is dead. But I didn't kill her."  he said. My stomach lurched. "In fact, it was my daughter's psychopath boyfriend who killed her. So really...who's fault is it that she's dead?" he taunted. My veins iced and I felt ill. "Veronica is not to blame for the actions of Mr. Riddle. Her and Draco loved their mother far more than anyone. Far more than you." Sev said. He scoffed. "Where is she?" Draco asked. We all looked at him. "Where's her body?" he asked. "She is being buried as we speak," he said. Our faces fell. "No." Draco whispered. Then he took off running. I followed him as he ran outside the small cemetery on the grounds of the Malfoy property. "Wait! V! Draco!" Blaise called. "Guys!" Allison yelled. They ran after us until I saw Draco. He was stopped at a place near the entrance of the cemetery. I walked over to him.

He was standing over the casket that held her body with tears in his eyes. I took his hand and he looked at me. "Together?" he asked. I nodded. "Together." I said. We opened it and there lay our mother. She was still. Peaceful. Her eyes were closed and her hair was smoothed out. Our friends caught up to us and walked over. Allison had tears on her cheeks and Blaise was trying not to cry. We all stood together with her. "I'm sorry mum" I whispered. I took her hands and they were cold. I choked back a sob and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and Sev was there. "Your mother loved you two more than anything. You know that." he said. We just nodded.

Time passed and as wrong as it felt, we had to let her go. She was buried and Draco and I stayed sitting next to her gravestone until it got dark. Then we went inside. Severus had to leave but he spoke to our father before going. I don't think my father will try anything. Our friends stayed with us so that was nice. I didn't want to be alone and neither did Draco. We just sat in Draco's room, drinking and the boys were smoking. I noticed Allison staring at her mark. Then I noticed they all were. They would occasionally look at it. They would poke it or rub it as if they were trying to see if it was real. I did the same thing. DRaco must have noticed too because he spoke. "It's real guys. It won't go away. Trust me, there's no point in trying to get it off." he said. They looked at him and just nodded. "Sorry mate, we know this isn't a big deal compared to what just happened to you guys." Enzo said. "Yeah, it's just new to us." Theo added. "You are allowed to be upset." I said. They all looked at me. "You guys were right. Mattheo set you up. Right from the beginning. I should have known but I loved him so I didn't see it. He set you up for this." I said. "It's not your fault V, we were all going to get the dark mark." Blaise said. "Yeah, but not now. If not for him you would have had a few more years." I said. "It doesn't matter. Besides, we all have the dark mark now. We are in this together." Allison said. I nodded. Then it was quiet.

Mattheo really fucked us all over. He broke my heart and he broke me. Then he abandoned all of us.