The Mark of a Death Eater : Sequel

Chapter Nineteen

Zayn's POV

The sleeping girl in Zayn's arms was Emma, but at the same time, it wasn't.

She had taken the color out of her hair, the dark, forest green that made her skin fairer and brought out the nature in her strange colored eyes. The chocolate waves were something he hadn't seen for years, though he remembered it well. It made her look younger and warmer. Her skin was lighter than he remembered, his own honey colored skin a stark contrast to hers. He could feel her ribs through the shirt she was wearing and her cheekbones were almost sharp under his fingers. Curled up against him, she looked smaller.

Still, it was her. By some magic, some great power in the world, Emma was back. Back to where she belonged - by his side. He didn't let go of her, not understanding anything, trying to figure her out, the way he always did.

He was so confused. Why did she think she was dead? Why did she think he was dead? What had happened to her over the past few months, since she'd fled Hogwarts? Was she truly loyal to You-Know-Who?

He'd seen the mark on her arm when Sophia had treated her. There was no doubt that she was working for You-Know-Who, but Zayn had known Emma for as long as he could remember. She was wildly unpredictable, going from the fluttering-eyelashes-and-smiling-sweetly-Emma to the stare-you-down-with-a-scorching-glare-Emma. From the tight-hugger-Em to the the don't-touch-me-Em in a second. But never with him.

The Emma that he knew had an aversion to muggle-borns, but that came from the nature of her last name, parents who believed pure bloods were superior, and hundreds of years of blood status prejudice. She hadn't liked them, true, but her dislike had never run deeper than that, into the hatred and bloodlust that shrouded the so called 'death eaters'.

Emma had been mean at times, a bully at others, but over the past year she'd tried to be different with those who were willing to. She'd been distant to him, not as trusting as she usually was, but he was observant.

He'd seen her smile genuinely when talking to Ginny Weasley, roll her eyes with playful annoyance at Cormac McLaggen, and exchange secret looks with Arianne Sylvermist. He'd seen the way she watched Draco Malfoy, with a hint of protectiveness and something else that made Zayn almost envious. He'd seen her wipe a tear away from Daphne Greengrass and run to the bottom of a hill in response to a fallen girl she didn't know. Emma was not a bad person. She was still the person he loved, always had and always will.

He ran his finger down her eyebrows where they creased as she turned and mumbled in her sleep. She said his name several times, and he didn't know what to think... What was she thinking? What had she been thinking when she'd run with Draco Malfoy out of the school and straight into the hands of you-know-who?

Emma had always been like fire. She could be raging and destructive when she wanted, reducing a person to nothing with just a few words. Other times, when she was simply annoyed, she was more capable of being confined. Sometimes, in the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning, she'd be sitting across him reading a book, her bare legs tucked under her, and he'd look up to find her staring at him and smiling. A soft, warm smile, so unlike how everyone else knew her. All it took was a smile like that to set his heart alight. In those moments, she was as soft as candle light, but she always glowed.

That was what made him buy her the fire opal that now hung against her collarbone. She burned as brightly as the colors in the stone. Seeing her wearing the necklace made him feel better. It proved that she still thought about him. When they'd emptied her robes the day she came in, he'd found a drawing that he'd made last year folded in the pocket. It was a simple drawing of the Hogwarts great hall, but she, somehow, had carried it with her. The small gesture gave him hope that she would be okay.

He felt guilty and a little selfish for thinking of himself when all he should have been doing was taking care of Emma. She was so obviously hurt. When she opened her eyes and he saw them so full horror and fear and... something else... something that scared him right down to his core, he wondered if something inside her was permanently broken.

What had they done to her?

Whatever happened, he knew one thing. He pulled the girl he loved closer to him. He was not letting her go this time. Not ever.