| Girl on Fire |

92

VERONICA MALFOY

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. Draco walked in and shut the door. "Come in," I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and sat down. "Sev wants to talk to you," he said. I got out of bed and began to get dressed. "Do you know why?" I asked. He shrugged. I pulled on a skirt and blouse and put on my heels. Then I started to do my hair. I was doing my makeup in the bathroom and Draco came in...

"What is this?" he asked. My face fell as I looked. He was holding up the scroll with the code I created for my plan. "It's nothing." I said. He furrowed his brow. "They look like Ancient Runes, but they aren't," he said. "It's just a project I'm doing. Something mum was teaching me." I lied. He nodded. At the mention of our mother, he decided to drop it. I finished getting ready and left. Draco and I walked to the headmaster's office and I knocked on the door. "Come in"...

Draco stayed outside and I walked in. Severus was sitting at the desk and he looked up at me. "Hello Veronica," he said. "Is everything ok, Sev?" I asked. "Yes, I just wanted to talk to you about Amycus," he said. The pit in my stomach grew but I just nodded. "We handled it yesterday. I'm fine." I said. "I'm sure. But I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me." he said. "Ok?" I said. "You told me that he just held you down while The Dark Lord tortured you. Correct?" he asked. I nodded. "Is that all that happened?" he asked. I kept my eyes to the floor. "Veronica..." he said. "What?" I exclaimed. "Did he do anything else?" he asked. I stayed quiet. "Veronica, did he force you to-" he started. "Yes!" I yelled. I stood up and started pacing. "Yes, ok. He was one of them." I said. Severus nodded with a solemn look on his face. "Why does it matter? It's over." he said. "For you, yes. But if he's a predator I need to know. You aren't the only young girl he has access to now." he said. My heart sank. "You mean-" I started. "Yes, Veronica. He may not harm you anymore but there will be lots of other students here." he said. "But you'll protect them, right?" I asked. "I'll do my best." he said. My face dropped. "Your best?!" I shouted. I faced Severus. "Your best might not be good enough and I'll be damned if I let someone else suffer through what I've suffered through. You don't know what it's like Sev. To have your power taken away. To be violated. You don't get it. So you better make sure he doesn't touch them, any of them." I said. He just nodded. "I will." he said.

"You better. Because if Mattheo taught me anything, it's how to kill someone." I said. Then I turned on my heel and walked out. I shut the door and Draco stood up from the bench.

"What happened?" he asked. "Nothing." I said. "Ronnie, do you really have to keep things from me? Especially now?" he asked. "Fine. He wanted to know if Amycus was dangerous." I said. "Of course he is. Didn't we establish that yesterday?" he asked. "Not like that" I said. "What do you mean?" he asked. "He wanted to know if he ever forced me to do anything. He said I'm not the only young girl Carrow will have access to now. He needed to know if he was like that." I said. Draco stopped in his tracks and I looked at him. "And is he?" he said. "They all are." I said quietly. Then I kept walking. "I hate this year and it hasn't even started yet," he said. I nodded.

Later that night, it was time. I put on some socks to make my footsteps quieter, and packed my stuff. I put the scroll with the code, and the letter. It read...

Dear Dumbledore's Army,

This is a war. There is good and there is evil. This school has been taken over by evil. They will come after you the hardest. Harry Potter's house. The Gryffidors will suffer the most. The only way you all will survive this year is with me. I know you but you won't know me. I cannot reveal myself. I can only ask that you trust what I am telling you. Trust that I want to help. Trust me.

Enclosed is a scroll. Each symbol represents a letter. You will use this to decode my messages to you. Every night, exactly 30 minutes after dinner, you will find an envelope hidden under the table at the very back corner of the Restricted Section of the library. It will contain any necessary information such as patrol schedules, wards, spells, charms, anything and everything the Carrows may be using to catch you all. If you ever need anything, such as information, keys, passwords, anything off the Black Market  etc, please leave a coded letter in the same spot. I will do my best to get the requested item for you. Dumbledore's Army can survive, but you need me. I have only one condition for helping you. DO NOT try to find me. DO NOT try to discover my identity. DO NOT tell anyone outside of Dumbledore's Army about this. I am already risking my life by doing this, please don't make it be for nothing. If you do any of these, all my help will cease and you will be left to fend for yourselves. Trust me, you do not want that. I know this may seem like a trap but it's not. When you receive your first letter of information, and it's all true, I hope that will show my loyalty to you.
I only hope you can pledge your loyalty to me.

                                                    ~The Spy

"Fairy Lights" I whispered to the portrait outside Gryffindor. Luckily it opened. I snuck inside the empty room and looked around their common room. I went to Harry's dorm and left everything in a bag on Harry's bed. I cast a charm so that it only reveals itself when one of his roommates comes in. So either Dean, Seamus, or Neville will find it. Then I left as quickly as possible.

There's no going back now. I'm in. All in.