Days passed quickly henceforth. Marietta hadn't spoken to the Lupin boy since that dreadful night, a strange way, both longed for and repelled his presence. Charlie hadn't been heard from. Why Tom struck her still left her confused. He had looked at her, and his expression quite suddenly changed. Shaking her head, she returned to her lunch. She stared at her reflection in the dark broth of whatever soup she had absentmindedly placed in front of her. Octavia sat across from her. "Why are you so dismal?" She sniffed, setting her books down on the bench beside her an obnoxious thump.

"I'm not dismal…" Marietta hummed. "I'm only lacking in what I thought we weren't to be, anyways." Octavia only rolled her eyes. "Don't go off speaking jibberish again. You know I hate how cryptic you are." Plucking a sandwich from a platter, she pointed at Marietta. "You've been weird lately. You should get out. A few of us are going to the Three Broomsticks later. You in?" Octavia grinned.

Marietta nodded. Anything to take her mind off Charlie. "Yea… Alright." Smiling coyly, she snatched the sandwich from Octavia's thin hand. "You're a little snake, that's what you are." Taking up another, Octavia slapped a hand across her forehead, inflecting dramtically. "Woe is me! A poor soul such as I must deal with being an utter sociopath!"

"Sociopath is the most difficult word you know. At least it's somewhat relevant." Marietta laughed. Octavia, hating to have her intelligence questioned, snapped at her. "Guess who taught me that word, anyways. Your little boyfriend!" Marietta's head pulsed. Eyes darting quickly to the Hufflepuff table, she didn't realize her smile and casual composure fleeted. Octavia grinned evilly. "That's right. Jason told me all about you. Why don't you just say yes already? He's cute.."

Sighing dreamily, she rested a hand in her palm, fluttering her eyelashes like hummingbird wings. Marietta scoffed, clearing her throat and regaining her collective disposition. "Me? With Jason? Right. I'd sooner kiss a foul mouthed little toad then.. him." Marietta's gaze drew down the table to rest on Jason. He was dumping pumpkin juice on an innocent Gryffindor. The 1st year just so happened to be Roxanne Weasley, the cousin of Dominique.

Marietta couldn't help but snicker along with the rest of the Slytherins as the girl stumbled about, trying to sort through her sopping textbooks. Teddy was the first to rush to her aid. Marietta's snide expression vanished. Roxanne hurriedly picked up her things as Jason glared at her. The rest of the table taunted Teddy. Octavia said some rude comment, cackling. Marietta felt her stomach pit. Quickly standing, she brushed past the unruly Slytherins, clutching her potions textbook.

Remaining silent, she turned out into the corridor. She was quickly stopped. Colliding with someone, she snarled. "Watch it!" Dominique was only laughing. "Sorry! Twentieth time it's happ-" Stopping when she saw it was Marietta, Dominique cleared her throat, looking down. "Oh…Sorry…" Her voice trailed off like an extinguished flame. A whisp of a word escaped her lips like the thin smoke given off from the candles lining the corridor walls.

Marietta viciously shoved her, the commotion inside growing. Several screams sounded, unperceived to Marietta's red hot ears. All the professors distracted in the Great Hall. "What? You're sorry? Do you think I give a goblin turd?" Marietta laughed. "Get out of my sight, you disgusting little slut." Dominique's face paled. "Shut up." Marietta was just a metre away when she heard Dominique say it again. "Shut up!" She said a bit more confidently.

"Ahh! Weasel wants to play, does she?" Whirling around to face her, she was barely surprised when she found Dominique's wand to be directed towards her face. "I'm not a slut. I'm not a mutt either." Dominique straightened, lowering her shoulders as she gained more esteem. Marietta smirked. "Oh really, you little wretch? Who told you that? Your Veela mum? Hmmph. Marrying into your freakshow of a family, I thought she'd be different. Guess I was wrong. You're ALL liars!"

Dominique, expecting a physical attack, not this mental one, stepped forward. "We are not liars! If ANYONE is a liar, a freak show, a good for nothing family, it's yours. I dunno how you live with yourself. Being a Death Eater and all. Do you really ENJOY killing people?" Dominique, surprised at herself, glared daggers at the Death Eater girl.

Marietta slowly raised her wand. "D'You want to find out what it feels like to lose your life? I'll enjoy it quite a bit, thanks." Dominique stepped back slightly. Marietta laughed faintly. "Oh, no, I insist!" Octavia came out of the Great hall, grabbing Marietta by the arm and pulling her out. Her face was pale. Marietta had somehow not noticed the Hall going completely silent shortly after her absence.

Dominique peeked her head back into the Hall as Marietta and Octavia sped down the stairs. "WHAT?!" Marietta hissed in a hushed whisper, somewhat afraid to break the pounding silence. A hand was clamped over her mouth. Charlie's group of friends were right behind them as they turned onto the next flight of stairs. Silently they continued to descend. An entire band, an army, of Death Eater children shot down the stairs.

Jason, Marietta and Octavia seemed to be pushed to the front. Rounding again about a stone pillar, they slowed as they reached the depths of the dungeons. Then, they waited. Octavia stared at Marietta. Marietta scratched at her scar. Though the snake was long gone, the scar on her neck still reminded her of a lesson. No matter what she did, the influence of others would always hurt her. Her present and future could never quite climb high enough to escape the reach of her past's evil hand.

Something boomed father down the hall. The group flinched unanimously as a billow of green smoke poured out of a corridor like magma from the earth. "How many..?" Whispered someone raspily from the direction of the smoke. Jason barely glanced back at the group. "Eleven." Was his reply. Chuckling, a figure's shadow appeared in the smoke. His black hood hung around his head. Marietta's eyes glinted in the eerie light. She and Octavia clutched onto each other.

"Good…" The man drew back his hood. It was Tom, but a different likeness filled him. As he walked slowly forward, his eyes were no longer dark brown, but black. They reminded Marietta of the shark's dark eyes in the photographs Charlie had shown her. Marietta saw the same thirst in Tom's sleek orbs. His skin was even paler. His dark black hair bristled as he walked. The group took a half step back. Before, he had resembled much more of a human then of Lord Voldemort. Now, he was seemingly more undead then ever.

Tom only chuckled. "Children… Be not afraid of me. I will not do you harm." He reached out, taking Octavia's hand. Octavia stared at him, fully silent. Tom smiled in the crooked way he always did. "Most of you are lucky… You have pleased me." He patted Octavia's hand. A sigh of relief washed over her as she resumed her spot next to Marietta. "Other's must prove their worth.." Tom's voice said raspily. It was still deep. It had an almost warbly nuance that Marietta had neglected to notice until now. "For some of us, it is too late…"

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a Slytherin tie. His spider-like fingers slowly unfurled, letting the sleek tie slip to the ground. It was splotted in blood. Burned. Singed. Marietta's jaw dropped. She felt a scream build in her throat. Tears pricked at her eyes. Inside her chest was a fire. It raged inside her, burning throughout her skin. It pulsed and thrashed through her veins.

Tom said something. Marietta's gaze was fixed on the scrap of green crumpled on the floor. Air wasn't filling her lungs. Her lips quivered. Octavia nudged her. "Yes…" She whispered. Marietta looked up, nodding. "Yes." Pleased with this response, Tom smirked. "Good… It's been an eventful day… And thanks to you, it shall be an even better night. Carry it out quickly."

Tom suddenly shot backwards, black smoke ejecting from him. He was lost in a swirl of inky black. When it finally cleared, he was gone. The group had been enwrapped in a cloak of silence. Slowly, Octavia turned to Marietta. "Let's go… The boys will take care of it.."

Marietta and Octavia quickly made their way up the steps. The group of boys trailed off eventually, spreading out across the halls of the school. It wasn't until they reached ground level that the Death Eaters began to fill the halls. Torturing unsuspecting students and dueling teachers. The school was enveloped in havoc. They passed most of the screaming quickly, but Marietta, at at a grand intersection of the corridors, stopped.

Teddy was hunched over, held to the wall by Jason. Jason's knuckled fist found it's way to Teddy's stomach, slamming in over and over again. Marietta drew out her wand, sprinting over. As she raised her wand to Jason, she snarled. "Let him /go/." Teddy was silent, coughing up blood. His hoarse ratching was silent to the screams and shouts echoing the halls. The explosions colliding with walls. Jason stared at her wand. She looked at it. 9 ½ inches. Cedar wood. Dragon heartstring. Marietta's mind flashed to the day she received it.

When she was called in, the old man's face was dark and scared. The process of finding her wand was quick. The second wand she tried was perfect for her. The first spell she performed was a Crucio. She shuddered as she remembered Charlie's scream. She was forced, but the feeling never left her. To have so much power. To send anyone she wished to the floor in horror. She craved it.

"Why the hell would I do /that/?" Jason sneered. Teddy was still coughing. "I'm going to find my father… He wanted to see me.." She said quietly. Selwyn was a man that knew no love or compassion. As Octavia walked off, Marietta stared up at Jason. Furious, he threw Teddy to the ground. "Well?! Why should I?!" Teddy stood. His build didn't match that of the muscular Eddy, but he was just about his height. Marietta was only an inch or two shorter then the both of them. "Jason… Why don't we just… Let him off..?" She glanced up at the sneering boy. Bewildered, he snarled. "What?! Let him off? Did you leave your mind in the dungeons?" Laughing, Jason rolled his eyes. "Marietta, I want to like you, but, sometimes, you're such a damned idiot."

Jason hit the floor face first. Teddy's clenched fist hung awkwardly in the air. His hair was a bright crimson, though his eyes were a gentle brown. Blood still stained his lips. "Uh… Sorry… He just really deserved that…" Marietta gawked. Teddy smiled. Winking at her, he mouthed silently as Jason pushed himself up. 'It's our little secret.' Jason, to say the least, was infuriated. He shoved Teddy back against the wall, his hands on his throat. "I'm going to kill you, you son of a mutt." Teddy's face was turning blue, but not of his own intention. Marietta pulled out her wand, shoving up into Jason's cheek. "Let him go, Jason." He glanced at her. Rolling his eyes, he shoved Teddy down.

"Come on, we're leaving. We'll get you to the common room. The long way. We don't want to run in with the Weasels." He slipped his arm around Marietta's waist, practically dragging her down the stairs. Blood dripped out of his nose, but he was far too wrapped up in the fact that a bloodtraitor sent him to the floor. Marietta squirmed in his grip, but he held her tight. They walked quickly down the stairs, but instead of continuing to the common room, he shoved her back against a wall, grabbing onto her wrists and pinning her back. "Now I know what Tom meant. You fancy Lupin, don't you?!" Marietta scoffed. "Fancy? Fancy Lupin? Are you bloody joking?" She droned her voice to sound bored, as if she were entirely superior to the subject, and it was ridiculous.

Jason, typically having the subject repressed by the matter, only dug his nails into her skin, drawing blood. "Don't lie to me, you little slut. You fancy him. Don't you?" Marietta winced. Eddy's teeth were ground together. His face was about an inch from hers. Her green eyes were so different then the smoky pearls that stared into her. Unsure of what to say, she stuttered.

"I-I… W-Why does it matter to you?!" It had come out wrong. It was the wrong thing to say. This was perhaps the one arrangement of perfectly balanced words that she could've chosen to send Jason into a state of uncontrolled rage. She closed her eyes, expecting either a spell or a strike. Instead, she felt his cold lips press against hers. She tore her head away, eyes flung open. She choked out in disgust. Jason wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek.

"GET OFF OF ME, YOU CREEP!" Jason smirked, pulling back. "Who would you rather kiss? Me or Lupin?" Marietta gaped at him. She knew what she had to answer. They were already untrusting of her. Marietta's mouth unfurled into a slight smirk. If she was good at anything, she was good at lying.

"I think we both know the answer to that, Jason…" She walked her fingers up his chest. Seeing that she no longer fought him, he placed a hand against her cheek. "I thought so…" He kissed her. Marietta, to her disgust, kissed him back. She did her best to make it seem real, as if she truly desired Jason's embrace. She felt awkward, knowing any conversation involved with the both of them would never again be the same. Their lips pressed together, Jason's tongue trying to penetrate her mouth, a voice sounded behind them.

"Wh- Oh… Uh.. sorry" Someone muttered behind them. Teddy was standing awkwardly, staring at them. Jason kept his arm around Marietta as he turned. She stumbled forward, steadied by him. Teddy frowned slightly when he saw her. "There a problem, Lupin?" He snarled. "N-No.. Just passing through… Carry on…" His gaze was still fixed on Marietta. She looked down, her pale skin blotched with red. "Marietta here was just telling me how much she'd rather snog me then you, mutt." Jason chuckled, pulling the humiliated Marietta closer to him. Teddy nodded. "It certainly seems she would." He was furious, and it showed in his voice. Jaon's smirk only broadened. "Carry on, Lupin."

With this, Jason turned back to Marietta, kissing her neck. He was obviously much more experienced then she. Teddy was still staring, but a look of disgust crossed his face. He started back up the steps. He caught her eyes. Before she could do anything, he turned away and disappeared up the stairs. Jason drew back, arm tight around her. "I know you want to be my girl." Marietta looked down, forcing a soft chuckle. "I'd love it." He smirked. "Good. Back to the common room, then, love?" He kissed her cheek, gesturing to the stairs." She nodded, and he led her through the cavernous tunnels back to the dungeons.