𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹, draco malfoy

˗ˋ 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
✧
-: third year :-

── IN WHICH A NEW PROBLEM ARISES

. . .

Harry and Marlie somehow got back to the castle in the daze that they found themselves in after finding out about Sirius Black and how he was the reason for their parents' deaths. They couldn't believe what they had heard; why had nobody told them?

Why had nobody told them that the reason why their parents were no longer with them was because their best friend had betrayed them, seeling them to Voldemort. And the thing was, it could have been mentioned so many times - Mr Weasley could've told them whilst he was informing them that Black was coming for them, Fudge could've told them after they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Literally any adult they had ever spoken to could've told them.

But no, they had kept it from them. Just like they had been kept from the wizarding world and the truth about their parents.

Harry and Marlie had been continuously silent. They didn't talk to each other, they didn't talk to Ron or Hermione - who were desperate to ask questions, but with people around they couldn't. Instead, both Marlie and Harry slipped up into their rooms when they returned to the common room after dinner.

Marlie sat on her bed for a few minutes, simply staring at the wall. Her mind was overrun with thoughts about Black and the whole situation, but the trance was broken as she remembered something.

She dug through the trunk at the end of her bed for a moment, before pulling out what she was looking for. The large, leather-bound photo album that Hagrid had given her and Harry during their first year.

Marlie began to flick through the many pages, stopping every so often at one that caught her eye, smiling softly at it as she admired the two people in it who were both so happy and carefree. She continued to flick through them until she landed on one specific one.

It was a photo of her parents' wedding day. Her mother and father waved up at her, and right beside the man that she knew to be her father was Black. His face wasn't sunken and waxy, but handsome, full of laughter. Had he alreadybeen working for Voldemort when this picture had been taken? Was he already planning thedeaths of the two people next to him? Did he realize he was facing twelve years in Azkaban,twelve years that would make him unrecognizable?

She would show it to her brother in the morning. Or maybe not. The look of him so happy made her blood boil, and Marlie decided something, waiting for Hermione to come up to the dorm.

Which she did in no time. "Wouldn't happen to have a part of scissors, would you?" Marlie asked. Hermione frowned, glancing between Marlie and the slip of paper on the bed in front of her.

"I'm sorry Marlie, I don't have any with me." Hermione said. "But I could always get some if you really want - there should be some around here somewhere."

"It's fine 'Mione." Marlie replied, tucking the photo back into the photo album and shoving it into the drawer of her bedside table. Without saying anything else, Marlie disappeared into the small bathroom attached to their dorm.

She reappeared in a few minutes, changed into her pajamas and holding a pile of clothes that she wore that day, disposing of them into the laundry basket next to the bathroom door. Marlie said nothing more to Hermione, instead climbing into bed and turning away from the muggle-born, trying to get to sleep.