The Mark of a Death Eater

Hogsmeade

I thought I’d sleep early that night to wake up early the next day but obviously that didn’t happen. I slept even later than usual. The next morning, I pulled on a red and black jersey, long black boots and a straight black pants. I brushed and brushed at my tangled hair until it lay in waves around my face. 

Daphne was full of energy, bustling around the room, curling her eyelashes, piling her hair up on her head and then letting it loose again. Her unmade bed was littered with several outfits and she was still in her pajamas. The reason was that Rudolph Skyzer, the guy she liked forever but would never admit had asked her out. Last night she’d come into the room, fallen across her bed for about 3 seconds, the bounced up and made me swear not to tell anyone what se was about to tell me. “I can’t swear not to tell anyone if I don’t know what it is.” I said. She pouted. “Then could you at least pretend to be excited for me?” she asked. I didn’t have to pretend. That was one thing I truly was happy about for her. She’d been swooning all night last night. Laughing, I made my way across the shoes surrounding her bed. “Here, Daphne. Let me help you.” I laughed. I told her to leave her hair down and she chose a turquoise tunic jersey and beige tights for her to wear. She pulled her hair into a low, loose ponytail and stopped brushing what looked like half a tube of lipgloss on her face. Her nails were pale pink. A colour she’d said last night was called Dusty Rose. I wasn’t too eager to apply the stuff to my nails, even after she offered me a colour that was actually nice greenish-blue, called Mermaid Satin. Bletch. 

I grabbed a big black bag on my way out with my purse and invisibility cloak in it. My purse was full. I have my own vault and all four of my grandparents had left me money after they had passed on. Half of that inheritance was gone since I bought my invisibility cloak but that was definitely worth it.  I met Zayn outside and we chatted as we walked. The subject soon rose to Thestrals, after Zayn claimed he saw one flying over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. He’d seen his grandfather die. “Wouldn’t it be cool to ride one?” he asked. “No.” I said firmly shaking my head. “I can’t see them. How would I ride on something I can’t see? And besides, descriptions in books make them sound terrible.” “They’re not as bad as they sound. People make them out to be worse than they are.” I shivered internally. I’m glad I’ve never witnessed a death, then. 

“Where do you want to go first?” Zayn asked “Oh, I don’t care. Where so you want to go?” Zayn shrugged. “Anywhere. Let’s go to the shops first, then we’ll warm up at The Three Broomsticks,” he suggested. We had a great deal of fun in the shops. First Zonko’s where I bought a few things. I accidentally squeezed ink down he front of Zayn’s shirt while trying to show him a trick quill, Luckily, I siphoned it off with a new spell I learnt before too much damage ensued. The Weasley’s had their own shop in Diagon Alley. I loved it. When I went to Diagon Alley I spent most of my time there. In full disguise of course -no-one needs to know about that. We went to Honeydukes next. “Do you like Berties much?” I asked Zayn. He shook his head. “It’s alright but I prefer chocolate.” He picked up a handful of licorice wands. “You don’t eat licorice, right?” I pulled a face. “I can’t stand the smell of it, honestly.” I said. He laughed. “I know. Remember, back when we were younger, we used to sit up in that tree at the front of my house and read books-” “And your mum used to bring us licorice and chocolate.” I finished. I laughed. “Yeah. And I never liked climbing trees but you insisted that I had to do it. You said it was a ‘guy thing’ and I had absolutely no choice.” Zayn took my hand and pulled me towards The Three Broomsticks. “Oh and remember when Soph and Rigel first started dating?” I asked. “We used to laugh at them all day. And remember the day we were trying to fly to the top of the tree? I was terrible at flying.” “I beat you by climbing it. Then I jumped onto my broom and soared off.” I smiled reminiscently. “Those were the good old days.” I said. “Yeah,” Zayn agreed. “Back when none of this was happening.” He pointed to a poster for escaped convents from Azkaban. “At least when this all goes down in the end, I’ll have someone who cares about me.” I said, sighing. “I’ll always care about you Emma. No matter what.” 

Zayn pulled out two chairs at the far end of the bar. We ordered two butterbeers and Zayn spoke again. “Emma, I know you think you’re parents don’t care but I know they do. They’re just...” “Busy?” I finished. “Please Z, lets stick to happier subjects.” I stared gloomily at the candle in the middle of the table. “Like the present I got you?” Zayn asked. “Present?” I asked, brightening up. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small silver box with a black design on it. “What is it?” I asked. He pushed the box towards me. “Open it,” he urged. I took the box in my hand and glanced at him. He nodded at the box. I pulled off the lid and gasped. “Oh my gosh Zayn!”At the bottom of the box, t’s silver and red standing out against the boxes dark lining was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever seen. It was a huge fire opal. One that actually looked like it was made of fire in red and blue. Circling it was a silver border made up of leaves and a fine chain. I was about to say something to Zayn but he beat me to it. “This isn’t like a... well, some romantic gesture or anything. Just think of it as an early birthday present for you and a gift from me.” I stood and gave him an enormous hug. “Thank you so much Zayn!” I’ll keep it on forever!” Zayn fastened it around my neck and smiled. “It’s to remind you of me. Everytime you feel lost, remember that I don’t want you to. That I’ll never want you to give up hope, ok?” I nodded. “Thank you Zayn.” I whispered. He hugged me tightly back. “Like I said, I’ll always care about you Em. No matter what.” I honestly was about to hug him and probably never let go, but we walked out instead, hand in hand. There was nothing intimate about it, just comforting. I was just about to say something to Zayn, when we heard an earsplitting shriek. We took one look at each other and ran towards the noise. Where just about the only thing that could ruin my mood was waiting for me.