Could you remind me of a time when we were so alive?

My light blue eyes narrowed as we walked down a hallway and found some Slytherins in our path. Sara, Teresa, Rachel and Gray all stopped.

All our blue robes stopped swishing with our walk as we paused. Taking up the whole hallway we stared at our fellow, not so nice but good looking, Slytherins. The six of them were gazing at us, the first two staring directly at Rachel, who at this moment regretted her good looks. My mind registered them and I knew the leader was Marcus Flint; the two others in the lead were Arian Pucey and Miles Bletchley. The others, the more handsome but not important people were Graham Montague, Viktor Free and Lewis Abbot. I gave them my everlasting look of hate then looked into the deep eyes of Miles who was staring at me.

Walking confidentially towards them they did nothing but wait, all six of them, for the five Ravenclaw's to come up to the Slytherins. Blue gazes looked at the green smirks on their faces. I stood frowning abruptly at Miles who licked his lips so sensually it sent shivers up my spine.

Apparently no one else had seen what Miles had done as I looked to my friends who stared absentmindedly into space. Flint took some steps towards me; he was now so close I could feel his words driving their way into my skull, "Out of the way Williams." His voice had been so murderous that at first I moved but then thought differently about it.

"Save your breath for someone else, Flint." I said just as angrily as he looked Rachel up and down. Her eyes narrowed at him as she whispered, "Don't even think about it."

It was Lewis, the handsome tall brown haired man, that said, "Trust me, we have already thought about it."

Miles took steps forward and leaned on the wall next to me as he said, "Don't worry about it Mara, I have been thinking about someone else." His eyes never left mine as my blue looked inside those green eyes. He ran his fingers through his chin length black hair that swept into his face. He was much taller than me, looking down on me, hovering his hands above mine. I glared as my waist long brown-red hair shook slightly as I moved my side bangs from my flawless face. Looking clearly into his eyes I saw a longing there that I did not, in any way, return.

Finally when I thought it was never going to end Miles pushed past me, brushing himself against me as he did so. I felt for a moment, everything about him and it drove me, momentarily insane. We all looked back to the Slytherins as they disappeared from view.

"Bitch!" Teresa was the first one to yell down the hall after them as they went around the corner.

"Shit!" I heard Sara and Rachel say in unison as the six Slytherins came back around the corner. I turned back around to find them holding all of our wands. Panic grabbed the inside of me as I stared wildly around.

Miles Bletchley smiled with those perfectly pink lips as he said roughly, "Let's have some fun."

Gray was the first one to yell it and we were off. "RUN!" She had screamed it so loud it pained my head to hear it. Yet we all had the same idea. Running away was not it; we all ran to the Slytherins and fought them the only way we could. The Muggle way…with our hands and fists.

I felt Miles take me around the waist and whispered in my ear, "Yeah, you only wanted a reason to get on top of me, didn't you? You should have just asked Williams." I felt his teeth scathe my ear as he kissed my neck with such a force that I got pushed back two steps. Yet again though, he took me back in his arms and said, "Next time just kiss me."

Jerking angrily away from him he said, "Okay, I'm going to propose a little game here Williams. I will give your wand back if you can get to the dungeons before me."

Letting go of him I saw for the first time that my friends were no longer in my sight. Searching with my eyes and listening intently I looked at Miles once more. Sparkling with his eyes he nodded towards the hallway. "You promise?" I added, looking into his eyes to find a truth that was not there.

"I swear Mara." Miles said as I took one last look and bolted away from him. I could feel his footsteps behind me as I sprinted. My heart was pounding profusely against my chest as I searched for the fastest path to take. Running through the Great Hall I opened the doors and went down cold stone steps towards the dungeon. I could no longer hear Miles behind me but I kept running.

Darkness covered my vision then suddenly taking a right another right and a left I found I was lost. Stopping, no longer able to see anything in this pitch black darkness I froze. Reaching out with my hands I touched the stone walls around me as I heard a soft rustle. Turning in circles, able to see nothing I screamed when arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I felt a familiar breathing across my neck as Miles whispered, "All this darkness no one would ever know…" He said it so softly that I was almost sure that I had never heard it. Yet the arms that were around me were very real indeed. Tipping my head the other way I said, "You know very well that Oliver and I have been dating for two happy years."

That set him off as I felt his heart race as his chest plastered itself against my back. "Huh…maybe it is time for a change, don't you think?" His words were gentle against my cheeks as he whispered them.

"Never!" I said with so much conviction that could and would never be changed. Miles finally let his grip loosen as I felt his hand reach inside my robe. Taking a sharp breath I took a step back as he whispered, "I'm not doing anything Mara…just giving something back."

I knew very well that it was my wand but it mattered not. "Get me out of here." Knowing very well that I could not find my way alone.

Miles said nothing as he found my hand and pulled me forward. I reluctantly followed him and soon we found the saturated light that hit the stone cold walls. When I saw the door that led to the Great Hall I pulled my hand back and said, "Nice try but it's never going to work." Leaving him I pushed my way forward and saw that it was time for lunch, being a Saturday.

When the lights filled my eyes of day I saw Oliver Wood distraughtly around the Ravenclaw table looking for me. Running to his side I saw the looked of surprise hit his face. "Where were you?" He asked as he took me in his arms to hug.

"No where, I seemed to have just wandered." I said it with a slight edge to my voice, hoping it would disappear. I looked past Oliver Wood to see Gray staring straight at me as Sara stood to watch me more careful. Sara's lips were pursed together that I had at first thought she had lost them. Gray lipped to me, 'We looked for you! We just got away, we thought you might have been down here, eating.' I nodded to her, understanding their reason to be here without me.

Oliver reached up and touched my cheek with his hand as I saw Miles staring hard at us. I could feel the anger and jealously from this far away. Taking both of my hands I draped them across Oliver's face as I reached up to kiss him hard. Oliver greeted it with a smile and when I pulled away all I did was look at Miles. Miles face had turned to a dark red as his eyes became a solid black mass with so much anger that I could never possibly contend with. Giving him a small smirk I winked then licked my lips softly. I saw him shake his head briefly as he sat loudly on the Slytherin table.

Taking Oliver's hand I led him from the tables and into another hallway. He followed with a confused but a fun look in his eyes. "Tell me," I started but then Oliver said, "Before you say anything Mara, I want to practice, you know that."

Of course I knew he would want to have Gryffindor Quidditch practice but I was hoping he would soon get out of that habit. He was almost as much obsessed with Quidditch than he was with me. He may even love the game more…hopefully that would never be true.

"I will meet you on the pitch and then…" I let it fade as he whispered, "Come visit me tonight. You know…how you always slip by?"

I nodded as his accent presented itself. He was like that, when he spoke about me or with me, his accent came out in its full colors. The English accent coated ever word with a shiver that sent me into a wild frenzy.

I beamed at him as I put my arms around his neck as he passionately kissed me back.

Shooting up from my bed I looked around. Everything was in order; my clothes, papers and wand were right where I had left them. Taking a shaken breath I looked at myself in the small mirror next to my bed. I was no longer a sixteen year old girl worrying about friends and man…well that was still true but I was now twenty and fully out of school.

Looking up I tried the lights; when they failed I grabbed wand. Looking into the darkness I noticed something that should not have been there. Looking at the fluffy chair that was resting in the corner I saw a body in it. Screaming as it stood I illuminated my wand and whispered one of the most unforgiving curses, "Crucio!"

Silence hit my bedroom as I stood, wand ready. Taking careful steps forward I jumped when a hand wrapped around me as a wand was put to my head. A rough, dark voice entered the room before saying, "First, you can't possible think it will do any harm to Deatheaters when you don't really mean it. You have to want a great amount of pain done to the victim."

Saying nothing in my defense I felt a smile cross the lips of the Deatheater before I said warily, my voice shaking with the rest of my body, "What are you doing here?"

Laughter, a dark ominous laughter hit the walls, "You don't think I wanted to see you?"

I felt him turn me roughly before looking into a mask that I knew he was required to wear. Reaching up, unafraid, I put my fingers on the bottom of the mask, tearing it off then throwing it to the side He had no objection as I saw the real face of another kind of evil. Basking in the silence but only for a moment he said so sensually, "Hello Mara."

Feeling his hand caress my cheek I whispered softly, grudgingly, "Miles."

Miles hair looked darker than ever, reflecting any light that could have been in the vicinity. He had a more pronounced jaw line that set a pounding deep inside of my soul. His green eyes now had a tint of gray, that when they looked at me, sent shivers up and down my spine. His smile was as sweet as ever when he looked into my eyes. Longing, wanting, lusting, that is all I saw in those demanding eyes.

I knew he was looking over me deeply; for I had changed just as equally. My hair was now shorter and my face had grown into a stunning look of fierceness and beauty. My body had also filled out more, and I knew as Miles eyes went down to my breasts that he knew that also. I was still shorter than him, considering he had grown taller yet and was staring down at me.

Leaving my wand on the table I temporarily turned my back to him, "Is that so smart Mara?" He murmured as I walked away to the window.

Shrugging I tried a small smile before I turned around to find him right in my face. Gasping then backing up slightly I felt his lips touch my neck. Diverting my eyes so our eyes could not meet I said explosively, "You left!"

Miles ran both hands over my shoulders then down my body before saying, "I have missed you greatly. It wasn't my fault-" He started but grabbing his left forearm, I grabbed his sleeve. There I looked at the Deatheaters mark that moved slightly under my touch, "Oh yes…it was your masters call…I figured as much."

Miles grabbed his left arm back before saying, while rolling down his sleeve, "He called us all…"

My teeth were grinding together before I said murderously, "You left when we were seventeen! You left before school had even started! You didn't even tell me where you went! You just disappeared! I never heard from you since until tonight! I have not heard from you in about four years and you expect me to welcome you with open arms! Do you know how that feels? No, you could not possibly understand how I felt! I gave everything for you and this is what I got in the end, to be alone!"

His eyes gave up what little love he had left before saying curtly, "I had to go to the call. We had business to do, and now that you know that my brother is a Deatheater, you understand that it is in my family, it's in my blood, you can't take that away so easily."

I had nothing to say to him, I was fuming with anger that I was basking in. I knew if I opened my mouth words were going to come out but I was sure they would make no sense. All I wanted to do was scream at him viciously but that would get us nowhere.

"Get out of here…no point in coming back when you have been gone for this long." I whispered pointing to the door finally, after a long silence.

Miles grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight, "I know it had been about four years but still, I care-"

"I don't love you."

I could feel his shock as I said the words, now facing him. My eyes were narrowed; no sympathy was left to give him.

"You should have been a Slytherin." Miles said absentmindedly as he crossed the room. "You know, I will be back soon to check up on you. After all, I know that if you didn't love me you wouldn't have to fight the urge to…" His eyes slide ominously to the bed before smiling slyly.

Scowling I knew he was using Occlumen to read my outward thoughts. Anger hit me again before I pointed to the door again, "Get out!"

Shrugging without another word the mask appeared back on his face as his dark black robes billowed into the night, "See you soon Mara, at Hogwarts..."

Blinking I saw that he was gone before going to the window. I saw his figure walk away from my house before disappearing behind a corner with a crack.

Something bright caught my eye as I looked up high in the sky. Screaming with my hands over my mouth I backed up. There stood the Dark Mark over my house; the terrible omen of Deatheaters, Miles, and death.

Finding my place and myself I jumped out of the room. Sprinting wildly down the stairs, my arms now flailing in every direction I felt myself trip on the last stair. Going head first into the ground I planted myself in the living room on the wood floor. Getting up slowly stroking what felt like a broken head I turned around to see where I had fallen. Touching my face I felt an odd wet sensation. Looking closer at my hands I let out a blood shattering scream. I had not tripped on the last stair when I was running.

I had tripped on my maid, Eleanor, who was crumpled and very dead. Immediately knowing it was the Cruciatus Curse I screamed for Miles. When no one came I knew that I was now branded.

Miles thought I belonged to him, and he would kill anyone who stood in his way. He was going to get to me in the end; he would make sure of that.