The Dark Mark (The Girl Who Lived part II)

The Portable Swamp part 2

We had covered what seemed to be half of the swamp. The twins left a long trail of cyrpess branches as a marker of where we had been. I yawned. "Scarlet, do you want to stop for the night?" The twins who walked on either side of me, stopped to look at me. Fred stood in front. George stood in the back. "No, I'm fine". I answered. Fred's stomach growled. And soon after, so did George's. "Looks like we'll be stopping after all". They said.

The day was coming to an end. The sun yawned just as I had earlier, and prepared itself for a long night's sleep. The orange sun, and the layers of the sky reflected perfectly off of the murky water. "We only have a few hours left of sunlight. We need to work fast. Let's divide up the work". I said. We decided that the dryest area in the vicinity would be our campsite. The area was shaded by a canopy of trees. "Good idea, Scarlet. George, gather the fire wood and start the fire. Scarlet, create a makeshift shelter for us for the night, and I'll hunt for our dinner". Fred took control of the situation. We headed our separate ways to complete our task. Fred sharpened a stick in between two rocks, which he would then use to catch the fish with. Fred then placed several leaves on the ground beside him where he would place the fish. Upon the sight of a fish, Fred would plunge the stick into the water like a harpoon.

George created a fire pit first by making a layer of rocks. The ground was still a little too damp to hold the warmth of a fire. He then layered it with twigs and leaves. He rubbed two of the twigs together, creating enough friction to generate enough heat to spark a fire. I gathered some long tree branches and arranged them into a tent-like structure. I arranged layers of tree bark, tree branches, and leaves onto the makeshift shelter. When all work was done, the sun was done setting, and there was no sign that it had been there minutes prior. Fred, George, and I sat around the roaring fire, roasting the various species of fish that Fred had caught before the meal. As we chewed on our meals on a stick, we picked the small bones out of our teeth.

I once dreamed of this type of experience. Maybe not exactly in a swamp, but something like it. I dreamed of myself going off and traveling to some distant place on those dreary and boring rainy days at Malfoy Manor. I'd often read books on adventure. How I envied them. Whenever I read novels, I imagined myself in place of the character's. I wasn't the one sitting alone in my room, reading with nothing better to do. I was the protagonist that went on a riveting, dangerous, and exciting adventure. But in a way, I was a protagonist. Of my own story. It had many elements of a novel. It had the adventure, and most certainly, the danger. Perhaps generations in years to come would eagerly listen to my story and feel that same excitement and thrill that I felt when reading about other's with lives that I felt were more interesting.

"How's the food?" Fred seemed awful proud of himself for being able to catch our dinner with nothing but a lengthy piece of wood that he had fashioned into a spear. "It's rather good". I answered. "I could've done better". George commented. "Here. You're not quite cooking that right". Fred said as he took hold of the stick that I had been smoking the fish on. After our dinner that consisted of a large assortment of fish, big and small, we settled underneath the tent composed of sticks and leaves. I took my place on the rightmost side of the tent. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, only to open them upon hearing the bickering of the twins. I had shushed them several times, but after a short period of time, they'd be just as loud as they had been minutes ago. "I can't sleep like this. Scoot over". I made Fred scoot over and took the spot that Fred had occupied. The twins were quiet now, but I still found myself unable to sleep.

I'd developed insomnia ever since I was branded with the larger Dark Mark. It began with the nightmares. Not a night had I slept when I hadn't had one. At Malfoy Manor, it always took me the longest time to feel comfortable and fall asleep. I'd always wake up, screaming, to find Draco beside me. I had dug my fingernails into his hands. He didn't utter words of reassurance, but stroked my back instead. Somehow, this seemed to be the most comforting thing.

'Maybe some fresh air will help'. I had thought. It didn't. I sat on one of the rocks near the greenish water that the moonlight had reflected off of. The owls hooted. The frogs croaked. The crickets chirped. All in the swamp was restless, but George and the fire that had gone out. "What are you doing still up?" Fred had exited the shelter and joined me. "I've been having nightmares lately". I answered. I didn't care to go into detail. Fred must've sensed this. He changed the subject. "How do you like my invention?" He asked. "I think it's amazing. I personally like it better than George's edible Dark Mark". I responded. "I'm glad you like it". His eyes twinkled. Or maybe it was the stars that shone brightly, reflecting off of them. "What made you come up with the idea?" "When you told us of your life before Hogwarts, and even before becoming a Weasley, I assumed that you must've spent a lot of time reading and daydreaming. Imagining yourself in other places but there. So I wanted to create a place where you could go to escape. I know a swamp isn't quite ideal, and it still needs a bit more work....... Maybe if I-" He went on how he could alter the invention when I stopped him short. "It's lovely".

He noticed me shiver the slightest bit when a small breeze flowed by. "Do you want my jacket?" He'd tied it around his waist when he had rolled up his sleeves to catch the fish. He began untying it when we were interrupted by George who placed his identical jacket that had a different color scheme, around my shoulders. "Sorry I ruined your little moment. Things were so slow, a tortoise could've gone faster. When you make your move, you have to move faster than that, Freddie". George said, pushing the two of us a farther distant apart so he could sit in between us. He hung his arms around both of us.

"Do you think we'll find the box tomorrow?" I asked them. As far as we knew, the box was the only way for us to return to the way things were. "I think we will. But it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if we didn't return home tomorrow. What's one more day, right Freddie?" George said this as if he didn't have a care in the world about whether we returned or not. "Right, George. I've got my two favorite in the whole entire world here. What's the rush?" I had to disagree with their reasoning. Time, as I assumed, had not been altered while we were in here. People would be worried about us if we stayed in this artificial swamp for even a day longer.

We talked for a bit longer. I finally felt tired again, so I laid down in the shelter, with the twins on either side of me. Fred held one of my hands and George held the other. "Night Fred. Night George". I said, closing my eyes. "Night, Scarlet. Night, George". Fred said. "Night Scarlet. Night Fred. But wait a minute, why is my name always last? I'm clearly better looking and more important than Fred, so my name should be first". George justified. "But I'm older". Fred argued. They soon were bickering with one another, and were immersed in another one of their cat fights. I didn't feel like shouting as I normally did to break these up, so I squeezed their hands with such a force that the skin surrounding my hand turned white. "Scarlet... You're hurting me". The twins said, gripping their hands. "I finally feel tired, and I'm getting some sleep". I answered, loosening my grip on them. We soon found ourselves asleep under the makeshift tent, listening to the restless world around us.