| Girl on Fire |

93

VERONICA MALFOY

Today is the day all the students return to Hogwarts. Draco and I stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, with our Dark Marks on display as every student came in. McGonagall looked at us with sadness in her eyes. Not disappointment, sadness. Draco and I kept a straight face. Our friends walked in and sat down and we nodded at them. Then Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, and Dean Thomas all walked in too. They glared at us and I glared back. The second they looked away, I exhaled a shaky breath. I suppose it's best if they hate me. If they hate me, they'll suspect I'm the spy. This has to work. It just has to.

The first years were sorted and the feast began. Draco and I went over to the Slytherin table and sat down. "That felt strange." Blaise said. "What did?" Allison asked. "No speech. Usually we have to sit through a speech before we can eat." he said. "Sev isn't one for speeches." I said. "Besides, what would he say? So, I killed your old headmaster and now death eaters run this place. The Carrows will probably torture you if you get detention and there are dementors everywhere. Good luck?" Draco said. We all went quiet. "Yeah, that would be awkward." Theo mumbled. "So you guys are like, in charge huh?" Allison said. We both shrugged. "Everyone knows we are death eaters and we serve The Dark Lord. We are supposed to be representatives of him here." I said. Allison's eyes widened and his face paled. "Fucking hell" she mumbled. "What? What's wrong?" Blaise asked. He looked where she was looking and his face fell too. "Son of a bitch" he said. "What is wrong with you two?" I asked. Blaise sighed.

"Looks like you two aren't the only ones representing The Dark Lord here," he said. Then he pointed to the doorway of The Great Hall. I stood up and looked over and everything stopped.

My heart stopped, my veins iced, my stomach sank and everything turned to background noise.

"Mattheo" I said under my breath. Emotion started racing through my head. Sadness, anger, betrayal, fear, pain, fury, everything hit me all at once. I felt like I couldn't breathe. We locked eyes and he looked broken. He looked broken and scared. But I was furious. So I didn't care.

Mattheo turned around and walked out. I got up and started to storm after him. Draco and my friends got up and ran after me. "Veronica, this is a bad, bad, bad idea!" Allison said. They walked quickly, trying to keep up with me but I just walked faster and ignored what they said. I got outside to the hall and saw him. "Mattheo!" I yelled. He kept walking. "Mattheo, stop!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned around. I walked over and stared at him. It was deathly quiet. "Veronica, I'm so-" he started. Then I slapped him...hard. I slapped him across the face and his head whipped to the side. I grabbed his tie and slammed him against the wall with the tip of my wand dug in his neck. "Ronnie, don't-" Draco said. I stared at Mattheo as tears filled my eyes. His brown eyes were full of sorrow. There was a deep gash on his forehead but it was covered by his curls. He was still so beautiful to me. But I hated him. He teared up too.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. The tears fell down my cheeks. "You left me. You killed my mother and then you abandoned me. And all you have to say is you're sorry?" I said. "I had no choice. I was protecting you." he said. "Bullshit." I spat. "Please Veronica, just listen to me. I did-" he started. "No. I'm done listening. You broke my heart." I said. He stared at me. "You abandoned me. Did your father tell you what he did to me?" I asked. "What did he-" he began. "It doesn't matter. What matters is I can't do this anymore." I said. "What does that mean?" he asked. "You killed my mother. You know how much she meant to me and you slaughtered her. I can't forgive you and I can't forget." I said. "You love me Veronica. I know you do." he said. "You're right. Some fucked up part of me is still in love with you. And I hate myself for that." I said. "Don't do this," he warned. "For the longest time, we were ready to set fire to the world together, and I stood there with the match. But I don't want to go up in flames. Not anymore." I said. I let go of him and stepped back. "It's my turn to leave you." I said. I turned to leave and he grabbed my wrist. "I won't give up. Ever. I won't ever give up on us." he said. I pulled my wrist away and shook my head. Then I walked over to my friends and took Draco's hand and we walked off. Leaving him...

GINNY WEASLEY

"Who the bloody hell is The Spy?" I exclaimed. I just finished reading the letter and looking over the scroll. Dean, Seamus, Neville, Cormac, Lavender, Parvati, and Katie all sat in our dorm. "We don't know either." Dean said. "It was sitting on Harry's bed and it only revealed itself when we came inside." Neville added. "What if it is a trap?" Katie said nervously. "Then I'll find out tomorrow night." I said. "You're going to go!" Lavender exclaimed. "Someone has to. Besides, what if it isn't a trap. We are going to need all the help we can get this year." I said. They all nodded. "I'll go with you." Neville said. I nodded. "Ok, it's settled. But we're keeping this to ourselves. Everyone got it?" I said. "Got it." they said. The Spy, I wonder who it is?