✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

01 | P A R T N E R S I N C R I M E

you were a walking,         
                 talking corpse at best.

   NINE OWLs, CAPTAIN of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and a new dark, mysterious aura. Satisfied, Ember combed her hair back, tying it up into a firm ponytail that matched her tight fitting clothes. Admiring her new self in the mirror, she grinned to herself. Nobody would ever again dare to overlook the girl living in the shadows, for she became the princes of darkness.

   "Hey, are you read— by Merlin's beard, are you sure you want to wear this at the party? Your brother will freak out!"

   Through the mirror, Ember looked at Susan, who had stuck her head through the door frame. "The sooner he'll accept that I'm not the little kid anymore, the better", Ember dryly replied, gaining her a cocked eyebrow from Susan, even though the redhead didn't say anything.

   She and Hannah had asked a lot of questions, just as Ember had predicted. Of course they had. She had been missing for more than three months, and returned on Draco Malfoy's side, her appearance so far from what people were used to. And of course there was no rational explanation. So Ember did what she had been told to do: tell people to stop asking stupid questions.

   Nobody would have let the old Ember get away with it just like that. But the new Ember wouldn't get bothered with any more questions.

   "Fine. Will you come now?", Susan asked, sounding pretty pissed and impatient.

   "I'm going with Draco. I'll see you there." Breaking eye contact, all Ember could do was listening to Susan's angry growl and the door being forcefully pushed close. Ember felt a sting in her heart, but chose to ignore it.

   This mission left no room for regrets.

·

   Ron's heart was beating in his throat, he could barely hear the music through the furious bloodrush in his ears. There was this part of him that was just glad that she was alive and well; and this other part that was yelling at him that nothing was okay with her.

   Ember pressed her body tightly against Malfoy's, his hand on the small of her back, the other clutched around a bottle of Firewhiskey. Her lips moved against the Slytherin's ear, speaking words that plastered a grin on his face, and Ron's blood hit the boiling point.

   "Enough", Harry hissed after another five minutes of those torturous scenes. Shoving his way over the dancefloor, Ron was glued to his best friend's heels. Without saying a word, Harry grabbed on of Ember's wrists, pulling her with him.

   "Hey!", she complained, "What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Harry?"

   "With me?", Harry echoed. Ron threw a gaze at Malfoy, who surprisingly watched the whole scene from afar. "With me?" Harry seemed completely lost for words, staring at his sister in utter disbelief. "I saw you being abducted by the woman that killed Sirius! I didn't know whether you're dead or alive for a damn hundred days! You show up here without even an hi, drooling over Draco Malfoy! And you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong with me? They killed Sirius! Your boyfriend and his bloody Death Eater family murdered Sirius!"

   Ember's eyes narrowed to slits, turning into black orbs. "You didn't listen to me, Harry", she hissed in a dangerously low voice. "You just didn't want to listen, didn't you? I told you it was a trap! You didn't listen to me, because that's what you always do!" She took a deep, shaky breath. "Three months, Harry. They tortured me, they locked me away, and if it wasn't for my boyfriend, I'd still be pleading for death every single night. He saved me!" She wriggled her wrist out of Harry's grip, her eyes turning hazel again as she turned away. "It's your fault he's dead", she whispered, her back turned on Harry, now looking straight through Ron with an empty, dead gaze. "It's your fault, Harry. And this time I can't forgive you."

   Walking away, she pushed past Ron, her shoulder bumping against his arm, and he twitched by the impact of her cold skin. But it wasn't just that; it was like an electric shock — like her skin was trying to keep him away.

   Ron shook his head; what an ridiculous thought. He looked at Harry, who watched Ember vanish in the crowd, lips slightly parted, a look upon his face as if she had just slapped him.

   "She didn't mean it, mate", Ron said. "It's this shadow thing inside her. You saw her eyes. That wasn't our Emmie."

   "But she's right —"

   "She's not", Ron cut Harry off. "The real Ember knows that this isn't your fault." He threw a look over his shoulder, where he found Ember back in Malfoy's arms, and Ron swollowed heavy. "I think it's something they've done to her. Like they forced out her darkness." He looked back at Harry. "This isn't Emmie." Please don't let this be Emmie ...

·

   A younger Draco Malfoy once had thought it would be a clever idea to freak Harry Potter out by getting at his precious sister. But getting to know Ember Potter brought out a truth he could barely handle: it was impossible to not like this damn girl with her innocent shyness and her stupid attitude to see the good in even him.

   Unfortunately, there was not much of this girl left, and even the fact that Potter was screaming bloody murder over the fact that his sister lay in Draco's arms, couldn't satisfy Draco even the slightest. Three months in captivity had turned Ember Potter in what she had always feared to become. Worst about that was that she didn't even seem to notice.

   Ember thought she had the darkness under control; Draco wasn't that sure about it. Honestly, he didn't know what was a more frightening reality. Was it that she was controlled by something — or someone — dark and evil; or her having been turned into this evil, dark thing herself ...

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