The Dark Mark (The Girl Who Lived part II)

A Room With A View

**Scarlet's Point of View**

Finally a time came when we separated from one another's embrace. "I'm going to take a walk". He stated. "I'll go with you". I offered. "No!". He said sternly. I was taken aback by his answer. But once he realized how he'd come across, he altered his answer. He stared into my eyes. Indistinguishable emotions swirled within those green eyes of his. "I'm sorry, Scarlet. Scarlet, I didn't mean to snap at you. All I need, Scarlet, is a little time alone". He said, covering my hands with his. "Why do you keep saying my name?" I asked him. He glanced away for a moment before responding. "Because I want to say it as much as I can". I frowned. Though he was here not inches away, he felt so distant. I still felt as though he were going far away. "Harry..." I trailed off. I wanted to ask him again, and stare into his eyes to ensure that he was telling the truth, this time, without teary eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be all of ten minutes". He said before kissing me on the forehead, and walking away. 

...........

"Neville, have you seen Harry?" I questioned him. "No, I can't say that I have". Neville said apologetically. I'd been asking around, and Harry's whereabouts were unknown. I was on the verge of panicking. "Well, tell me if you've seen him, will you?" I asked, preparing myself to rush off to another portion of Hogwarts for my search for Harry. Neville caught me by the arm. "What's the matter?" He asked me. "Harry promised me that he'd return. He said that he'd be back thirty minutes ago. I'm so worried, Neville. What do I do if he's-" I was ready to blubber on about the whereabouts of Harry. "Scarlet". Neville said, knowing that telling me to "relax", would only drive up my nerves. I was being hysterical, which is why Neville was treading lightly. "I'm sorry, but I can't help but worry". I said, glancing at my recently gnawed at fingernails. Yes, it was rather unsightly and unsanitary, but it was all I could do to prevent my thoughts from eating me alive. Neville squeezed my hands in his. "Harry always follows his word. Do you trust him?" This may have been a rhetorical question, but I answered regardless. "Of course I do, but-" Neville hushed me before continuing on. "Do you trust him?" Neville asked again. I nodded. "Harry made you a promise, didn't he? When Harry Potter makes a promise, he keeps it. He'll return, I know it". Neville reassured me. "Thanks, Neville". 

He gave me that warms smile of his. "Scarlet". The voice made my ears ring. I turned on my heel to face the bespectacled boy with green eyes and brown hair. "Harry!" I throughly inspected him for injuries. Not a scratch on him. "Sorry I made you worry needlessly". He said apologetically. There was something different about him. The way he carried himself. His aura. But that didn't matter at the time. Harry was safe, and that's all that mattered. "There's something I want to show you". He said. Harry led me down the hallway when he stopped abruptly outside of the transfiguration classroom. The door opened, the windows darkened. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" I asked him. "Sorry". He muttered. "Excuse me?" I was unclear on what that meant at first, but I soon understood as he forcefully shoved me into the classroom. I stumbled a bit, before I caught myself. "Harry!" I shouted. I stared up at him to read his face as if it contained some kind of truth. But the person I saw wasn't Harry. He was morphing into someone else. A polyjuice potion. 

Specks of brown appeared in Harry's eyes. Those specks only grew, until brown was the dominant shade. His face grew longer. As did the rest of his body. Harry's hair that was in need of a trim, shrunk until it was somewhat of a buzz cut. And as it did, his hair grew multiple shades lighter. "Oliver! Why?" The door in between us muffled my screams. Oliver cast a charm on the door, temporarily locking it. I shook the handle on the door, but no such luck. It didn't budge. "You're a Death Eater, Scarlet. You've got the Dark Mark. Voldemort can and will control you. I can't allow you to harm anyone, or someone to harm you. I'm gong to protect you no matter what it takes, even if you come to resent me for it". He took a few steps away, before I called his name once more. Oliver turned his head. "And Harry?" I asked. He shook his head before continuing on his path.

............

At first,  I abhorred Oliver for what he'd done. Locking me in here with no way out.  But when I considered it with the time I had, I realized on several levels, how right he was. I couldn't trust myself. I envisioned all the possible escape routes. There were none besides the windows. 

There was a stirring outside in the courtyard. I moved towards the sound. The window making it visible of what events occurred. The allies of Hogwarts stood at the entrance of Hogwarts prepared to defend themselves at any cost, Voldemort and his band of Death Eater's parallel to them. I scanned the area for my friends. Draco stood on the opposing side. Harry was still nowhere to be seen, until I found him lifelessly dangling from Hagrid's arms. "Harry!" I shouted in horror. Though from this distance away, no one would hear my muffled cries. I pounded my fists against the glass window as if that were enough to free me from this prison of a classroom. I felt a wave of sadness and relief wash over me. After being freed from the dungeon in Malfoy Manor,  being swapped with Lucius Malfoy who acted as my doppelganger, and discovering the plans that Voldemort had in store for me, I told myself to remain my distance from him. I had no intention of feeling that he was more than a friend. But trying to convince myself as I grew closer to him became less and less effective. I was never supposed to get this close. Never supposed to fall in love with him. I was, and now I'm paying for my mistake.   

  And as my feelings for him grew, so did the fear inside me. It rose exponentially like the population of mosquitoes in the summertime. I was afraid of Harry finding out. Fearing that he'd find out that I wasn't as innocent as I seemed. That I was a Death Eater. A monster.

I drifted back to present day, not caring to think about the subject any longer. Neville stood in the middle of the courtyard, confronting Voldemort. I watched helplessly as Voldemort tortured Neville by setting the sorting hat that was atop his head, on fire.  I watched as my best friend who I confided and found comfort in, convulsed wildly in pain. I  pounded my fists against the glass window, causing the wounds from my burns to reopen. The bandages wrapped around my hands began to stain with a scarlet. There was a numbing pain that followed, but I still didn't stop. Neville was in more pain than any bleeding could amount to. 

There was nothing I could do. I had no wand. It had fallen out of one of the pockets in my robes when Oliver shoved me in here. The door was locked. And there was nothing I could use to even puncture the thick glass walls. All I could do was watch and wait. Merely a specter of the event. Suddenly, there was a crashing noise, only produced from the breaking glass. I whipped around to find Draco, a pile of shattered glass in his wake. A large gaping hole within one of the windows. "Scarlet". He held my wand in his hand. I approached him, noticing the many shards of glass sticking to his black suit. I looked at him in disbelief. "But you changed sides. You left-". "I'd never leave you behind, Scarlet". There was a numbing pain in my left arm. My Dark Mark. I began brushing one of the many shards off his jacket, when I felt my arm begin to sting. "Kill him". I heard Voldemort's voice in my head. The pain in my arm grew stronger. It felt as if my arm alone was being tortured. "Kill him. I have no more use for him. He's dead weight".  "Never". I thought defiantly. "Defiant, are we? If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get. We'll see just who kneels first". My body felt as if it was on fire. I watched as my hand picked up a piece of glass off his shoulder blade. I no longer had any control. It was as if I were the puppet, and Voldemort, the puppet master pulling all the strings. I tightened my grip around the shard, as the only display of defiance I could muster. My fists turning into a snow white. More blood stained the gauze meticulously wrapped around my hands. 

I held the makeshift blade at a certain trajectory above Draco's neck, so that with one single blow, it would puncture the vein within his neck. My hand shook uncontrollably. What made matters worse, was that I stared into Draco's eyes as I held the shard. He was a deer in the headlights. "Draco, I'm sorry". Tears burned my face as they trailed downwards due to the force of gravity. Though I had no control over my actions, I still apologized. Though it would really be Voldemort, it would be done by my hand. I'd still be responsible. He made no effort to defend himself, but simply stared back at me. His grey eyes not melancholy, nor filled with fear. They were filled with acceptance. "Scarlet, I know that isn't you. It's Voldemort. It's not your fault". I raised my arm upwards. "Finish him". Voldemort whispered in his sinister voice. I could tell that he curled his lips in delight. "I'm sorry". I managed to say once more through the tears as I plunged the makeshift knife downwards. And as I did so, he too, shed a tear.