| Girl on Fire |

103

TIME JUMP: 2 MONTHS
VERONICA MALFOY

It's been 2 months and things have been surprisingly calm. Draco and I stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas break. Neither of us wanted to go home when mother wasn't there. It just didn't feel like Christmas without her. So Draco and I stayed.

Now, break is over and every is back. Lessons started last week. Mattheo and I have been spending all our time together. DA has been doing ok because of us.
It's nice to know that I'm doing the right thing for once in my life. I know I might be killed but it's worth it. I'd rather die being proud of who I am.

I woke up in Mattheo's arms and it was the most safe and comfortable I've felt in a long time. It was Saturday morning and I just had to supervise a detention at 7pm. Otherwise, I had the day to myself. I laid in bed for a bit longer and my eyes lingered over Mattheo's dark mark. I traced it with my fingers and he stirred slightly. Then I slipped out of bed and pulled on one of his shirts. I grabbed my stuff and wrote out a note that read, See you at breakfast. Then I left.
I went back to my room and took a shower. Then I did my hair and makeup and got dressed.

Then I headed down to breakfast. I sat down with Draco and my friends and they smiled. "Hey," Allison said. "Where were you last night?" Draco asked. "I was- wait, why?" I asked. "You weren't at your dorm," he said. I rolled my eyes. "Checking up on me?" I scoffed. "Yes. That mark on our arms may grant us immunity from some things but we aren't invincible." he said. "Draco, you need-" Blaise started. "I'm serious. If we screw up, The Carrows know and they report to Severus and Severus reports to The Dark Lord. We don't want to be on his radar anymore than we already are." he said. "Draco, calm down. I was with Mattheo." I said. He rolled his eyes. "That's worse." he muttered. "Don't start this. He was just doing what our mother told him to do." I said. "Mmmm" he mumbled. "What?" I snapped. "How many times has he lied to you before, Ronnie?" he asked. "That's not-" I started. "How do you know this isn't a lie too?" he asked. "It's not a lie." a deep voice said. We all turned around and Mattheo stood there.

He kissed me on the cheek and sat down. "I'm not lying about your mother. I'm sure Severus would let us use the Pensieve in his office if you don't believe me." he said. I took his hand. "That's not necessary. We believe you." I said. "Speak for yourself. I want proof." Draco said. I glared at him. "Draco, enough. Why can't you just believe him?" I asked. "Because, Ronnie. He lied to all of us. Multiple times. And it's too convenient that he only tells you what happened after mum died. When there's nobody to confirm or deny the story but him." he said. I clenched my fists until I felt Mattheo intertwine our hands. "It's alright, Veronica. I understand." he said. I just nodded. Then he turned to Draco. "We can go to Severus at 7." he said. Then he turned back to me. "I'll stop by the classroom to pick you up after you supervise detention," he said. "Ok." I replied. "What should we do until then?" Blaise asked. "Get high?" Theo asked. We all exchanged glances and chuckled. "Let's get high." We all agreed. Then we headed outside. We spent the day baked and laughing our asses off. And just for a moment, I could forget the world crashing down around me. I was happy.

Eventually, it was time. Mattheo and Draco left and I headed to detention. I walked in the classroom and Amycus stood at the front, smirking at me. I looked at the desks filled with kids. It was mostly first and second years. Plus Ginny, Katie, Dean and Seamus. Seriously, can they ever not get in trouble? I walked up to the front and Amycus handed me the clipboard of names. "Mostly mudbloods and crybabies," he said. "Pathetic. I wish The Dark Lord would just purify the school already." I said. He chuckled. "I'm sure when he does, you and your king will rule it." he said. I smirked. "We already do." I replied. He looked me up and down and it made me ill. "You are one lucky girl. First you steal all my fun with the detentions and now the heir to the Dark Lord's throne has marked you as his." he said. "Don't act shocked. Veronica Malfoy always gets what she wants." I said smugly. "Yes, she does." he said. I rolled my eyes. "Now out, I want to teach these losers what happens when their chosen one abandons them and there's nobody protecting the dirty bloods." I snapped. He smirked again and casually strolled out. "Have fun. Just don't kill them. Snape hates it when we have to get rid of a body." he said. I nodded and flicked my wand so the door shut. Then I silenced the room and put a special locking spell on it. I looked down and saw tears on the faces of the first years and second years. "Sorry for what I said, I had to sell it" I said to them. "Sell it?" a kid asked. "Nicky, she's with us." Katie said. "She's a death eater!" a little girl said. "Yes, and a helpful one at that. Let's not piss her off and lose the only person keeping us alive here, alright?" Ginny said. They all just nodded. "Just be quiet and when you leave, make sure to cry or limp so it looks like I hurt you." I said. Then Ginny, Katie, Dean and Seamus all stood up and walked over. "What's so urgent you all decided to get detention together? I mean, you realize how annoying it is to have to-" I started. "It's Luna." Ginny said and her voice cracked. "What?" I asked. "Luna Lovegood. Do you know her?" Katie asked. "Yeah, she gave me some rock at the beginning of last year. Said it should help me overcome my demons and clear my soul of any marks." I said. It was just then I remembered that encounter. It never made sense until now. I chuckled to myself. "She knew." I muttered to myself. "What?" Seamus asked. "Nothing. Yes, I know Luna. Why?" I asked. "She never showed up at school." Dean said. "So? A lot of people-" I started. "Yeah, then we got this letter from her father." Ginny said, handing me a parchment. I opened it up and it was scribbled writing with ink smeared from tears. But I read,

Ginny,

Pandora ran away with D.E. They left by train. Please find them.

Hedwig's Friend, X

"I have no idea what any of this is or what it means." I said. "Neither did we...at first." Katie said. "It's in code." Seamus said. "Because of how much the mail is being monitored." Dean added. "Ok, explain..." I said. "Pandora was Luna's mothers name. So I guess Pandora is code for Luna. D.E. stands for death eater, we think. Xenophilius is Luna's dad and Hedwig is the name of Harry's owl so Hedwig's friend, X is probably her dad. He's trying to warn us that Luna was taken by death eaters at Kings Cross." Ginny said. "None of us saw her on the train," Seamus said. "And her father has been speaking out against Voldemort so it makes sense they would take her as leverage." Dean added. "You got all of that from just a letter." I said with my eyebrow raised. "Yes!" Ginny shouted. "Ok, ok, bloody hell. What do you need from me?" I asked. "Your connections. Voldemort gave the order but somebody had to carry it out. If you can find out who those death eaters were, maybe you can find Luna." Ginny said. "Then what? I go in and duel them all to save her?" I asked. "Yes." Katie said. "What part of spy do you not get? I don't do rescue missions , I do covert operations." I said. "Make an exception." Ginny said. "Even if I knew where she was, which I don't, and even if I could save her, which I can't, where do I take her? Here? She's obviously wanted by The Dark Lord. Plus I don't have the resources or the manpower to pull something like this off." I said. "Luna is our friend. You have to save her." Katie said. I sighed heavily. "Fine." I said. They smiled. "If she's alive, and that's a big if, I'll find her. But I'm not going to save her. I'll find out where she is and you can alert The Order. They are more likely to save her successfully with the least amount of casualties anyways." I said. They all nodded. "Thank you Veronica. Really." Katie said. I nodded. "You can all go now just remember what I said, look injured." I said. Then they all left, each limping or crying.

They are good actors.