The Mark of a Death Eater

My Old Friend

"Zayn?"

I was horrified. "What are you doing here?!" I demanded.
His face fell. "I thought you'd be happy to see me," he said.
"I most certainly am not!" I hissed. I dropped the book to the floor and kicked it under the couch.
"Do you know how much trouble you're going to get into?"
"Well, you did give me the password," he said.
"Only because I didn't expect you to break in here. People will be arriving any time now."

As if to prove my point, I heard the stone wall shift and the shadow of two people fell across the floor. Thank goodness it was only Connor and Zeke. I could tell them apart today because Connor spilled ink in class and still had a large blue patch on his left hand.

"Hey Evergreen, you're not going to-" Zeke started but stopped when he saw Zayn.
"Oh. You," he said.
"What's wrong?" I asked. Connor pulled a face. "We got into trouble because of this guy," he said, jerking his finger toward Zayn.
Zayn smiled. "Because of what happened at lunch? Well, that wasn't my fault. Nobody asked the two of you to 'stick up for damsels in distress,'" he said.
Zeke shrugged. "He was asking for it."
Connor added: "And that Silvermist girl is definitely easy on the eyes."
"What happened?" I asked, frowning. The twins grinned matching evil smiles.
"No matter, but we are going to insist on payback, Osman," Connor said to Zayn.

"You're a Ravenclaw," said Zeke excitedly.
"We could sell you out you know," added Connor.
"But, they never actually mentioned anything about people not being allowed to visit other houses," said Zeke thoughtfully.
"Yeah, there's no official rule that says it's forbidden." Connor agreed. I could see him sharing his brothers thoughts.

"Hey, that means we could do it anytime! We could try out that prank we wanted to on that Hufflepuff prefect-'
"Actually," I interrupted, "there is such a rule. And I figure the teachers never mentioned it because it was so obvious."
Both the boys smiles faltered.
"Oh," said Connor. "But-" he perked up again. "You're helping a fugitive basically," he said grinning.
I gave him a look. "Are you really going to lecture me about rules? When you're off telling first years they have to wrestle Graphorns?"
Zeke grinned triumphantly. "That was a pretty good one though wasn't it?"
"And even know were to draw lines," said Connor. "Sneaking into another house... well, good luck mate."
The two boys walked off without a further goodbye.

I rolled my eyes then turned on Zayn. "I repeat. What. Were. You. Thinking?"
He gave me a mischievous smile. "I wanted to speak to you. We haven't spoken in ages and I have no homework left, so I just thought." He shrugged.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "It's just for a few minutes," he said.
When I didn't reply he stood up. "Fine," he sighed, "I'll go."
I pulled him down on the couch next to me. "Are you crazy?" I asked. But I knew I was grinning.
"I knew you wouldn't make me go," he said. I gave him a hug then.

"So, how are things?" I asked.
He shrugged. "They're okay."
I hesitated before asking the next question. "How's... Mallika?" I worked hard to keep the animosity out of my voice. Mallika is Zayn's girlfriend. She's got icy-blue eyes and pale blonde hair that she flips too many times a day. She's got this constantly bored expression on her face that I often feel like slapping off her. Why she's in Ravenclaw is beyond me. I don't know what Zayn sees in her, honestly.

Zayn caught my eye and I found myself staring. I'd forgotten how deep those eyes could look sometimes.
"We broke up," he said flatly.
I tried to make a sympathetic face. "Oh, I am sorry," I said, hand on his arm.
He gave me a knowing look. "You don't have to pretend, I know you hated her."
I grinned and punched him in the arm. "Good. You were too good for her anyway."
He laughed, a rich and wonderful sound.

There's only one way to describe Zayn Osman: he is a gift from above. He's my best friend in the whole universe. If I could have a person tied to me for eternity, I would chose Zayn. Mostly because he makes the most wonderful chocolate chip flapjacks, but still. He has dark brown hair that makes you want to run your hands through them and the warmest eyes you'd ever see.

One of the best things about Zayn, apart from the cute glasses he sometimes wears and the way he says your name, is that he's an incredible artist. I'll never forget, the first time I visited his family, he sat next to me after introducing himself and drew me to perfection. And we were eight at the time.

My history with the Osman's goes far back. Our parents have always been friends, since our fathers work together at the Ministry as Unspeakables.

Rigel, my older brother, is going out with one of Zayn's older sisters, Sophia, something that happens when you've been friends all your life. The Osman's have two other daughters after Sophia: Jasmine and Alia, who finished at Hogwarts just last year. They're not twins, but were born in the same year, just ten months apart. I happened to be born on the same day as Zayn, around the same time, infact. As you can see, our lives have been enterwined since the very day we were born.

Zayn had been dating Mallika for a good few months, and luckily for the many girls at Hogwarts who I knew had an interest in him, was now single.

Zayn and I spoke for a good while until the common room became full again and he realised he had to leave or risk serious trouble.

"Do you want to come with me to Hogsmede this weekend," Zayn asked as he stood up and stretched. "If your friends won't mind, of course."
"I look forward to it," I smiled.
"Oh, Arianne gave me a book to give to you but I forgot it in my room. I'll give it to you when I see you again."
Speaking of Arrianne brought something that Connor said earlier to my attention. "What were Connor and Zeke taking about earlier? Something about Arianne?"
Zayn shook his head in humor. "During lunch, Terry Boot asked Arrianne out and it was clear she was uncomfortable but didn't want to say no, so those two though they were 'helping' and they put that charm that makes your teeth grow on Terry," Zayn explained.
I couldn't help it: I laughed. "Is Terry okay?" I asked, chortling.
Zayn shook his head. "Only you," he said, "would laugh at something so silly."
"Hey, who laughs in Muggle Studies recreation?" I giggled.
"That's because that was incredibly stupid. Who hits a ball with a stick into a hole for fun?"
I shook my head as I waved Zayn off. I needed to give my friends more attention.

After Zayn left, I was determined to stay up late as late as it took until the common room cleared to take a proper look at the book. Daphne was playing some sort of card game with Rudolf Skyzer, a boy that Daphne liked but would never admit to it. Pansy and her three girlfriends, Tracey Davis, Vivienne McAlly and Helen Juno were reading a magazine together. Draco was sitting alone, and seemed to be doing nothing in particular but stared at a melting candle all evening. Even when I'd finished my homework, Daphne and Rudolf were still talking to each other in that totally oblivious way.

It was a long time before I actually ended up getting any alone time and finally settled down with the ancient book.