✓ | PLAY WITH FIRE ⎯⎯ harry potter

three

Her cousin sat on the leather couch, dressed in his pajamas, his empty eyes staring into the flames. Was there somebody Marina trusted with her life, it was her cousin. He seemed to be the only one who truly understood her, and she would do everything to protect him.

As he turned to look at her, his grey eyes glistening, she decided that she couldn't carry her burden alone anymore. She had to tell someone about what was happening to her at night.

She dropped down next to him on the sofa, the cold leather meeting her skin. Her head found his shoulders naturally.

"Are you alright?" the blond spoke with a tired voice. He brought a hand up to her curls, gently brushing them behind her ear.

"I don't think so," Marina whimpered.

And as if Draco was able to read her mind, he sighed, "what does he want?"

She turned to face him. "He comes to me in my dreams." She would have sounded nearly fearless if it wasn't for her breaking voice when she continued, "he takes me to the Chamber of Secrets, wanting me to hurt others... To train me to kill Harry..."

"So, what?"

Marina's lip trembled. She couldn't take it anymore: the feeling, the fear, the torture, the screaming, the pain... All caused by someone she should trust. Someone she should love. "I don't know what to do, Draco. I can't stay strong when he scares me like that. He says he will... kill me."

"He won't, Marina, not you." He gently took her hand, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "He would never kill you, you're his daughter. Hey, hush, you're going to be alright, I promise. All you have to do is complete the mission."

"But, in the nightmares he says-"

"It's okay, it's over now," he cut her off.

"No," she mumbled, "it hasn't even begun."

The morning came, and the Great Hall filled with students chatting in all languages when it was time for breakfast. Marina was sitting with the Durmstrang students by the Slytherin table. A boy named Isak was at her side, rambling about the studies they had up in the cold north. His eyes flickered around the table as he spoke, but her eyes never left him.

All her life, Death Eaters had trained her to become a weapon. She had learned a hundred ways to kill and torture, how to persuade someone into getting the information you want from them, how to appear to be innocent, and then - perhaps the one thing she thought was the most important in her situation - how to read someone and their body language.

Marina feared Isak had been taught the same, for she found everyone else in the room easy to read, but him. The flickering of his eyes could tell her that he wasn't completely with her. He was probably making lies in his head that would soon travel to his mouth and her ears so that he could appear much more interesting than he really was. But his voice was monotone, and he lacked emotion in his face.

He began to talk about Dark Arts. If he was telling the truth, Durmstrang Institute embraced the darkness. The students at the school learned what it was and how to use it. When he was finished talking, she leaned on the table, and spoke, "It's nothing like Hogwarts then. Everyone here is so sensitive."

Now, a dirty smirk appeared on his lips. He ran his hand through his hair - was he nervous? "Are you, though?"

"Me?" she chuckled. "No. If it was my choice, the Dark Arts would be prioritized in teaching. I mean, we are blessed to have this power, right? Why not use it?"