The train to London the morning after the Yule Ball was quiet.
As Marina had understood it, most students had chosen to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays instead of going home - that being because of the guest visiting the school. They didn't know when they would see their foreign friends again - perhaps never - so they held on tight to them as long as they could. But she didn't want to stay. If anything, she wanted to run away from the castle and never look back. She got physically sick, dizzy, cold, and disgusted when gazing at it now.
Her cousin understood that, deeply sympathizing with her, though they hadn't talked about the ball. He had seen the corpse, and that was enough for him. He had joined her on the train back, and she knew he did it because she would break if he wasn't with her.
Marina rested her head on Draco's shoulder as the train came closer and closer to London. The glass of the window beside her reflected her face. She was visibly pale, and the bags under her eyes made her look extremely tired. Just ten hours ago, Marina had brutally murdered a boy. She hadn't closed her eyes since.
"Love?" the soft voice of her cousin snapped her out of her trance. "Are you ready?"
She sat up, trying to brush strands of hair out of her face, but her fingers trembled so badly that she was forced to give up after a few seconds. The train had noticeably slowed down its speed. Her eyes fell upon him, who seemed to find the table in front of them more interesting than her.
"You're not going to say anything, are you?" she whispered, her voice hoarse from all the screaming and crying.
There was a moment of silence before he pressed out, "No."
The train stopped, and the few students on it ran out of it. Marina spotted her aunt and uncle standing on the platform. Collapsing into Narcissa's arms would be medicine for her now.
She did a horrible attempt at making her hands stop shaking. Draco stood up beside her, grabbing their bags. Then he turned to look at her, and his face was not his - it was Isak's.
Treating him like he was a real snake, she stood there motionless, not saying a word, feeling her blood run cold. She could hear her own breath getting more rapid and short, blood pounding in her ears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she begged that she was in a nightmare.
"Love?"
The words that followed, sweet sayings that escaped his lips, were drowned before they could reach her. What had she done? Why had she hurt him? She swore she had never wanted to hurt anyone. She hadn't been able to control her body.
Draco wrapped an arm around her, and he was finally Draco again, not Isak.
"I'm fine," she lied. "I'm just very tired."
Would a sleepy person hallucinate like that? Or was her father playing with her mind? She shook her head in hopes to clear it. She needed to be strong now; to smile to the Malfoys and the rest of the Death Eaters, who respected her and looked up to her. She needed to be brave. At least for the next hour. When they got to the Manor, she could shut herself in her bedroom and cry her eyes out again.
They found the way out of the train. Sprinting to her aunt, she tried to forget about everything.
"Auntie," she whispered, embracing Narcissa, which was a contact she absolutely needed at the moment. Marina slowly pulled away, knowing Narcissa never was the one to break a hug first. As Marina greeted Lucius, Draco fell into his mother's arms.
They were escorted to their home with a carriage. After a little eternity, a handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. The inside of the manor was, as expected, cold, yet beautiful. Narcissa had enchanted the piano in the Drawing Room to play beautiful tunes all day long, and mistletoes hung everywhere. But it did not feel like Christmas at all.
Marina walked up the stairs, guards dressed in black bowing to her. She entered her bedroom without speaking a word to anyone.
The large mirror placed beside her bed distracted her. Instead of crumbling on her mattress, she stopped in front of it, staring at her own reflection. Something about her had changed.
"Crucio," he had said.
Her father had always spoken about a certain rush a person would receive after taking a life, but all Marina had felt was fear - terrible fear.
A single tear trailed down her cheek and cut through the makeup that had yet to be washed away. A hard knock on the door made her jump. "What do you want?" she roared, quick to dry the tear away. No one was to see her like this - weak and vulnerable - she was always to be tough, a symbol of her family's darkness.
Lucius entered the room. He carried a large present wrapped in silk. "The Dark Lord asked me to give you this."
"How is Father?" she asked and walked to him. A piece of parchment lay on top of the present.
She put the present on her bed and read the written message to her carefully:
Dear Marina,
After defending yourself and our family the way you did yesterday, a present like this is well deserved.
Shaky hands ripped the note in two, as she was scared that her uncle would read it. Her father had seen it all through her eyes. He had heard Isak's words about their family. Quickly, she removed the bow on the present before tearing off its delicate wrapping.
The box fell open. Out crawled a green, thick snake. She took a step backward and looked at Lucius in confusion. In response, he arched a brow. "I believe that you, like your father, are able to talk to snakes," he said.
Talking to snakes? Like Salazar had done? Like Potter had done during his duel with Draco in their second year?
She stretched her arm out, fearless, and parted her lips. "Come." It was a loud hiss that escaped her.
The animal wriggled up her arm and found rest on her shoulders. It was extremely heavy and slimy. Marina nearly pushed it off her, but she bit her tongue and tried to remain calm.
"A Parselmouth." Lucius confirmed, looking at her with narrowed eyes.
The door opened even wider. In came Narcissa. Her motherly instinct must have kicked in, for as soon as she met Marina's eyes, red and full of tears she was trying to hold back, she understood that something was wrong. A short minute later, she had made Lucius leave the room.
Of all the Blacks, Narcissa had always been the most gentle and careful. While the others reeked violence, anger, and determination, she had a touch and a voice that could calm anyone. Marina envied that about her. If she had a softer side, her mission would be much easier. Sometimes she imagined a life where she was more like her aunt than her mother. But she was more like a demon than an angel.
The snake she had been gifted slithered to the floor when Narcissa made her sit down on the bed. With steady hands, the woman wiped away the makeup on her face. Pink blush and rests or dark mascara rubbed on the back of her hand.
They didn't speak. Marina simply looked at her aunt in admiration. For the first time since the Yule Ball, she felt at peace.
Narcissa's wand traveled around her head, and shortly after, her raven hair was braided. One of the Death Eaters that served them walked into the room with two cups of tea just as she sat down on the bed beside her. He saw her, exhausted and fragile, but she didn't care at the moment.
Marina accepted a cup and moved it close to her face, letting the steam go up to her nostrils. "Is this-"
"Jasmine. Your favorite." Narcissa smiled and took the other cup.
The Death Eater gave them each a nod before he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Snowflakes fell gracefully to the ground outside of Marina's window. She looked out, squeezing her cup so the warmth of her tea entered her hands.
"Do you want to rest?" asked Narcissa. Marina was quick to shake her head. There was no way she could sleep. She would only stay awake thinking about what she had done. "How is your mission going, honey?"
Marina took a deep breath. She would answer honestly. There was no point in lying to Narcissa. "It feels like whatever I do pull me more away from him. I tried to get closer to him, but then he just ran away with some Ravenclaw girl."
Her aunt leaned back, looking at her lap wonderingly. Marina knew that she could speak to her about anything, but telling her about Isak and the night of the Yule Ball was something she didn't have the courage to do right now.
"What have you done so far?"
"Well, I have spoken to him almost every class... and I supported him in the Tournament..."
Narcissa turned her whole body to her. "Marina, I think you're being too nice to him."
"Too nice?" she echoed.
"Harry is used to people fooling him, using him for his fame. He might think you're like the others."
"So you think he's tired of kindness?"
"No," Narcissa chuckled. "He got plenty of bad guys around him. Just... try showing him a new side of you. Being all pure and kind is, well, boring. We all need a little contrast in our lives. Besides, you're a Black. We can be both light and dark at the same time."
If Marina could learn how to use her power and control, she would be able to make him fall.
"Has your father visited you this year?"
She sat in silence for a moment. "No. Junior says he's busy anyway," she answered with a thin voice.
"Crouch Junior told me what happened yesterday," Narcissa said calmly. "He came to visit after the Yule Ball."
Marina felt like she was suffocating again; she looked at her with horror in her eyes. "I didn't- I didn't want to do any harm, auntie-"
Narcissa reached to take the cup in her hand, and placed it on her nightstand. "You need rest, my beauty. We can talk more tomorrow."
"No-"
"Yes. Go to sleep. Don't worry more about it. Everything will be alright - trust me."
Marina didn't protest when Narcissa tucked her in under the covers and kissed her cheek. While her aunt lit the fireplace beside her, she was able to close her eyes, but never really able to sleep. Soon, she'd have to go back to Hogwarts and compete in the Tournament again, roam the same halls as Isak had. She couldn't relax her muscles at the thought of that.
Narcissa must have thought Marina had fallen asleep, for she stood up quietly and walked out of the room. Gently, she closed the door behind her.
Marina could hear Lucius' heavy steps. He stopped outside the door, saying something to Narcissa. She tried to eavesdrop, the walls in the Manor suddenly feeling paper-thin.
"What are we supposed to do with the boy?"
"He already handled it!" Narcissa spoke, "Crouch Junior said that Diggory hadn't heard a single word spoken by her. He entered the room too late. Crouch convinced him that somebody else had killed the Durmstrang student, and she had only found the body."
"Surely, he must have heard something-"
She heard Narcissa shush Lucius before she continued, "He comforted her when he found her. Do you really think he heard her say the Killing Curse? Junior still has him in his office. He won't go home before we're sure he didn't hear it."
"Tell Junior to delete his memory," he said. "And get Karkaroff here before she wakes up."
Her aunt sighed. "I'll explain it to Draco."