An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

viii - in which the dark mark appears

"Shhh!" Hermione clamped a hand over Valerie's mouth. "I need to hear! What happened? Ron, where are you — oh, this is so stupid — Lumos!"

A bright patch appeared at the end of Hermione's wand. Valerie spotted Ron's figure lying sprawled out on the ground. "Sorry," he muttered, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and grass. "Tripped over a tree root. Rotten luck. Did you see that?" He propped himself up and leaned in closer to the girls and Harry. "The muggles just got attacked! Do you think those people were Death Eaters? Why were they here?"

Valerie shook her head and motioned over to Draco Malfoy, casually leaning against a nearby tree. "Keep it down. I bet his dad was here. Maybe stirring up trouble."

Ron's eyes went wide at the implication.

"I can hear you, you know," Malfoy spat, slinking over to the group. He grabbed Valerie's chin and inclined her face up towards his. She knew what to do in these situations. Go limp, and leave him alone. Ron's fists balled up at his sides, and Hermione started to talk.

"Ah, Ah! You're next, Mudblood," he said to Hermione, not even turning to look at her. He seemed more focused on Valerie. "Shame you weren't in Slytherin. You'd do great. Better than this lot," he sneered. His grip on her tightened. "My father wouldn't like to hear the ideas that they're polluting your mind with, Faire. You don't belong with them."

Harry raised a hand and brought it to Malfoy's face, making him release his grip on Valerie and reel back, grasping his red cheek. "That's what you get!" Harry yelled, helping Valerie up from the ground. "Are you alright? What was that?"

"I stand by my word," Malfoy said, getting up and brushing his robes before retreating with one last dirty look.

Harry pressed shaking fingers to his forehead, causing Valerie to fall back hard on the ground. "Ow! Harry, why did you — oh," Valerie started. Hermione pulled Harry up from his crouching position and removed his hand from his head. "Harry, is your scar hurting again?" she asked anxiously.

Ron kneeled down next to Valerie. It was all too much. He tried to block out Hermione's screeches and just focus on Valerie. "That hurt," Valerie remarked, gesturing to the ground.

"Yeah, I bet it did. Are you alright? What was Malfoy even talking about? Did he touch you? Did he —" Ron's voice was getting higher and higher. He had one hand holding her up.

"He didn't — touch me," Valerie whispered, a little bit of horror in her face. "Not like that."

"It was dark. I was afraid," Ron insisted.

"Thanks for worrying, but I'll be okay. What about Harry? Is his scar hurting again? Did he see Vol — sorry, You-Know-Who?" Valerie could now hear Hermione's voice through the ringing in her ears. She glanced over to see her shaking Harry slightly.

"...If you heard him..."

"Sounds serious. I better get up. C'mon, help me?" Valerie asked. Ron held out his hand for her to take and pulled her up, putting an arm tentatively around her shoulders. "I'll make sure you don't fall again."

"Thanks. You're a good friend, Ron."

"...Harry, you better not be lying this time!" Hermione's voice got louder. Ron and Valerie were now amusedly watching the scene unfold from a safe distance. It was still very dark out, but they could make out Hermione and Harry's figures. One crouched down to the ground, one standing up and shaking a wand. I'll leave you to guess which one was Hermione and which was Harry.

A flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them. The group went silent, including Hermione. Harry winced and clutched his head again.

"It's the Death Eaters. They're after Muggles," Harry whispered in a small voice. They could hear several people nearby screaming.

"Still here, aren't you?" Malfoy sneered from behind them. Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie watched as Harry and Ron tensed up. Hermione frowned. " They're after you, you know," he said to Hermione. "You better run before they find you. Go on, Granger."

"Hermione's a witch," Harry fumed, crossing an arm in front of Hermione.

"They can tell the difference, don't worry. She's a Mudblood."

"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron.

"Never mind, Ron," Hermione argued, seizing his arm as he took a step towards Malfoy. "But—"

"Never mind, Ron," Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Need your girlfriend to defend you, huh, Weasley?" Draco grinned evilly. There came a bang from the other side of the trees. This seemed to fuel Malfoy's comments. "Go on, then. I suppose your daddy told you to hide. No, to protect the Muggles, wasn't it?"

"Where are your parents?!" shouted Harry, losing his temper. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

Malfoy turned his face to Harry. He was still smiling. "If they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Pottah?" he chuckled, enunciating the p.

"Where's my wand?" Harry panicked, ignoring Malfoy's comment. Hermione lit up her wand again to help Harry look.

"Maybe you dropped it," Ron said. "Why are you even here, Malfoy?" Ron asked of the other boy, sneering.

"MORSMORDRE!"

The sky around them erupted. "What was —?" Ron started.

Something vast, green, and glittering shot up high into the sky from the dark woods. It was a colossal skull, made of what looked like glistening emerald stars. There was a serpent coming from its mouth like a tongue. As the group watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

The wood around them erupted with screams. Valerie didn't understand why. Why were these people freaking out about a stupid symbol? She looked around for who might have conjured the skull, but there was nobody.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, evidently as confused as Valerie was.

"Harry, out of the way!" Hermione grabbed his collar and pushed him closer to everyone. "It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Valerie stared at Hermione, still thoroughly confused. Ron grabbed her robe and turned her towards him, whispering in her ear. "You-Know-Who's sign. That's not good."

"That's the Dark Mark? I thought it was Malfoy's bat signal," Valerie said, her eyebrows shooting up. Malfoy was already gone, however.

There was a pop, and a large group of wizards surrounded the group, their wands held at the ready. "Drop your wands!"

Valerie said what they were all thinking. "Oh, shit."