Year Five: The Order of the Phoenix

Darkness is rising as Marie's fifth year approaches. The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts and is represented by a new breed of vile known as Dolores Jane Umbridge. Determined to learn proper magic, Dumbledore's Army is formed in secret. All the while, Marie must quickly learn how to walk the fine grey line between the Dark and Light or else she may be her own undoing...

Chapter Fourteen-Draco's Observation

Draco Malfoy couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned but his immaculately comfortable bed did nothing to calm his nerves or urge his mind to rest. Accepting defeat, he understood that he wasn't about to have any peace of mind while the night's events replayed over and over again in his head.

He had been listening in on the meeting, of course. When his parents greeted them at King's Cross and were so pale with worry, he knew something was up. When they arrived on their property it became evident that Marie had connected the dots as well, her mind working faster than his own. The pink coloring her cheeks from the chill became startling as she took on a stark pallor as well. He didn't get the chance to question her as his mother didn't make a single sound in response to his own vocalized questions as Narcissa had him gripped tightly as she lead him up the path and into the manor. The door had barely closed when she sharply turned so to usher him upstairs toward his room. Out of the corner of his eye he could've sworn that he saw another figure looming in the entryway but he didn't get a good look.

His mother soon left him with instructions not to leave his room and she hurried back downstairs. He only waited a brief moment before slipping back out into the hallway and making his own way back to the lower floor. Of course he wasn't about to sit quietly in his room. There were other ways to get to the main dining room and he spent his entire childhood learning the layout of the extravagant manor and knew the turns and shortcuts better than anyone. It hardly took any time before he was on the other side of the wall that separated him from the dining room. After catching his wind and softening his irregular breathing, he stepped right up to the wall and the pads of his fingertips gently pressed into the secret panel he knew would grant him access to the room. The pannel shifted without a sound to his immense relief. He only dared to open it a fraction, enough for one grey eye to get a solid view.

The room was dimly lit, the only sources of light coming from the candles floating overhead. The long dining table was filled with witches and wizards wearing nothing but black cloaks, the hoods drawn up for some of them. He couldn't see the person at the head of the table due to the high back chair and that Draco's hiding spot was behind it. Fortunately he could see Marie standing by herself at the opposite end. His heart pounded for his friend as he could see how plainly terrified she was in that moment. All the color was gone from her face, even her lips had turned white. He could see her trembling where she stood, arms locked by her side. He stole a quick glance at his parents to see that they would not look at the girl, their own gazes lowered to the table. What was going on? Why was everyone so terrified? It looked like Marie was standing before a court, awaiting a sentence of some sort.

"It's so good to see you again, Marie..."

The voice set chills all the way down the boy's spine as his gaze stared at the back of the chair. The room seemed to lose warmth with every passing second. He looked back to see Marie staring with wide green eyes, looking as if she had seen a ghost. Her lips formed a firm line as she forced herself to take a deep breath. Who was it? Who could cause so much fear? An answer was dancing at the edge of his mind but it couldn't possible be correct...

"I do hope you all remember Marie," crooned the voice. "As she was a guest of honor at my rebirth..."

Suddenly, memories from last term blared to life within the boy's mind. The final task, when Marie and Potter had appeared out of thin air, the Triwizard Cup falling to the side. They were both so bloodied and beaten, the girl screaming at the top of her lungs for the Gryffindor to wake up. He even saw Marie up close at the Hospital Wing when he managed to sneak away and visit her. He remembered the look of her battered body, her skin mottled with bruises, her broken wrist, the scar that now marred her shoulder. He couldn't ever forget what the task did to her.

"Voldemort has returned," echoed Dumbledore's words from the closing feast.

But Marie never said that, he recalled. In fact, Marie didn't say a single word about her ordeal in the maze. She didn't tell him how she got her injuries or who or what had caused them. She never breathed a word of the event. He had blamed it on shock and trauma and did not press her for information at all. He remembered how she was after the loss and emotional turmoil from losing Captain Tess. Marie handled shock differently than other people. Instead of lashing out, she would keep it bottled up inside, not wanting to burden anyone with her difficulties. He didn't agree with it but he couldn't force her to tell him, so he simply waited by her side as her friend and hoped that maybe she would tell him what had happened.

The figure rose from the chair and Draco forgot how to breathe as he finally caught a glimpse of the infamous Dark Lord. He was a tall and skeletal with skin as white as bone as he approached Marie. His feet felt rooted to the floor as the figure almost glided with a dementor-like quality, eerie and unreal. He could hardly hear over the sound of his own heart beating furiously as the Dark Lord towered over Marie. He wanted nothing more than to grab his friend and run as fast as possible, Apparating to farthest point of the world in order to get away. His body remained frozen in place, unresponsive. His hearing was mildly compromised but he did catch names like "Severus Snape" and shortly afterward he heard Potter's name being mentioned.

Wait-Potter?

"Tell me, how did your brother react to you?" asked Lord Voldemort. "The famous Harry Potter at last discovering that he had family all along. How was it?"

Wide grey eyes flickered back to Marie, the question taking a moment to register to his shocked mind. Her brother... Marie wasn't thrown by the announced fact and began to inform him of what had happened. Draco couldn't even hear as his mind reeled with shock. Marie, his best friend, was related to Harry bloody Potter, the Boy Who Lived? She didn't look surprised so she clearly must have known about the relation. But she never said anything of the sort that would connect her to Potter. Now that he was studying her with the new information in mind, it was slowly but surely becoming staggering fact that she was related to the famous Gryffindor. The color and texture of hair, the narrow build, and of course, the brilliantly green eyes. He always assumed it was some type of coincidence that they both had green eyes and not a big deal. And of course there was the fact that she was in Slytherin, not in Gryffindor like her brother. Didn't that mean something? More importantly, why didn't she ever tell him?

Trying to shake the images out of his head, Draco gave up on sleep entirely and threw back the covers of his bed and got to his feet. He barely pulled on his robe before sneaking out of his room once more. His socked feet were silent as he crept down the hall, wandering back to the guest room where he and his parents had left Marie and Marcus Flint, one practically unconscious, the other shell shocked. The floorboard creaked under his weight when he came to an abrupt stop outside the room, recalling what had happened.

Voldemort had called for Sophia Flint and Marcus had gotten to his feet as well. Draco had been confused about what was going on but it became apparent soon enough. Sophia had drawn her wand and cast an Unforgivable Curse upon her very son. It was surreal to see the former Slytherin Quidditch Captain writhe in pain and the roar was deafening as he cried out. Draco's mind was desperately trying to keep up with everything that was happening and he looked back to Marie just in time. Her eyes were wide and she was sprinting across the room to get to the troll wizard. He had never seen her move so fast. She didn't even draw her wand as she screamed out the incantation. What was she thinking, charging like that?

"FINITE INCANTATEM!"

He remembered nearly being forced off his heels as the unseen force of magic had practically exploded from the girl. The floating candles were extinguished and fell to the ground and even Sophia Flint had fallen as the spell was undone. He couldn't understand what had happened. Did Marie cast wandless magic? Was it just a fluke? A cause due to high stress and emotions? Emotional magic? She didn't seem to care what she did as she dropped to her knees to catch the large wizard and keep him from hitting the floor.

Now, his fist hovered over the bedroom door, debating whether or not he should knock and demand answers or return to bed and wait until the morning. It was some ungodly hour where most normal people would be fast asleep. Then again, it wasn't a normal night and neither of them were exactly normal.

Before he dared to rap his knuckles against the door, the silver knob turned and Marie was soon looking up at him, hiding most of her body behind the door.

"Hello Draco," she whispered softly. There were already soft grey imprints under her green eyes that clearly stated she hadn't fallen asleep either. Most likely keeping vigilant guard over Flint. She stepped out into the hall and gently closed the door behind her so not to wake Marcus. She took a deep breath and he noticed that she was fiddling with her fingers, an old nervous habit of hers.

"I want to talk," he finally informed her, being sure to keep his voice low. She nodded.

"I know," she sighed, her exhaustion evident. "I'd be surprised if you didn't." With a nod of agreement, they started to walk down the hallway to find of private room so their voices wouldn't travel and wake the rest of the house.

Draco choose the library on the lower floor due to it being his favorite room and that they would be guaranteed privacy courtesy to the walls being thickly lined with books. Marie closed the door behind her and then took a seat on the beautifully crafted love seat while her friend remained standing, unable to relax enough to sit down. Her hands refused to keep still which only informed the boy that she was nervous about their conversation as well.

"How long have you known?" he finally began. "About Potter being your brother?" His voice sounded loud and mute all at once and he couldn't figure out if it was due to the room or his nerves acting out.

She waited a short moment before answering.

"I've always known."

He turned to face her fully, unable to control his stunned expression. "You've always known?"

She lowered her head. "Yes, I have."

"And you never-you never once said anything about it!" he exclaimed in his surprise. He ran a hand through his rumpled blonde hair, pacing a few steps before turning around and returning to her. "I don't understand why you never said anything, we're friends aren't we?"

Marie looked up quickly, stinging from the implied tone. She got to her feet as well. "Of course, Draco you're my best friend!"

"Then why didn't you ever tell me? Were you ever going to?" he asked in all honesty. "Were you ever going to let me know that you just so happened to be related to the bloody Boy-Who-Lived?" He didn't even notice that his voice was rising near the end.

"I don't know," she answered. "I wasn't even allowed to tell Harry about our relation, let alone my own friends."

"So, what then? You were just supposed to keep this all to yourself?" he snapped.

"Yes."

His words died in his throat as he looked down at the girl who had now recovered some energy, a flush returning to her cheeks. She was just supposed to keep that kind of monumental secret bottled up inside of her? Who would put that on a young girl's shoulders? She said she always knew which meant that she always knew that she could never tell anyone about her connection. Not even to her own brother.

Taking a moment to collect his bearings, he pushed on with his questions. He needed to collect as much information as possible. He couldn't be left in the dark where Marie was concerned. They needed to be on the same page. "Fine. Potter's your brother. Why did it matter to You-Know-Who as to what his reaction to you was? I'm assuming he knows of your relation now, correct?"

Marie gave a nod, running her hands through her turbulently mussy hair. "Correct. Harry is aware of our connection now."

When she didn't elaborate on Potter's initial response to their newfound sibling status, he pushed again. "Well? What did he do? Welcome you with open arms? Do a jig? Spill it, Rogue."

"I can't," she managed to sigh. "I can't disclose absolutely everything with you yet, Draco. It's not safe."

"What do you mean it's not safe?" he exasperated. All he wanted was the absolute truth. He gestured widely to the large private room they were in. "We're here alone, with no one listening in on us. Why can't you tell me? I can keep your secret, Marie. I'll swear to whatever you want."

"I know you can, Draco. Truly, I know," she answered, her voice apologetic. "It's just that you can't promise that someone else won't get the information from you-"

"-I swear-" he began but she stepped forward and cut him off.

"-from your mind." Her tone was grave and he went very still. From his mind? Sensing his question, she quickly set into explaining herself, her hands fluttering.

"There's an obscure branch of magic that some wizards practice, including You-Know-Who, that allows a wizard to reach into the mind of another person and shift through memories and draw out information they wouldn't otherwise have access to. Implanting thoughts and notions are another ability with this kind of magic. Please, please, try to understand why it isn't entirely safe for me to tell you everything. At least not yet," her voice wavered near the end, nearly begging.

There was more to what was going on, of course. It wasn't as simple as his friend forgetting to mention that she had a brother, it went far beyond that. This was Marie, it was never simple. There were layers and layers of complexity and, in this case, danger. Her eyes were becoming brighter with unshed tears and her lower lip dared to even tremble.

"I'm so sorry for not telling you any of this, Draco, and still being unable to fully confide in you. After all we've been through, you've put up with me and you've even...you've even taken me into your family, and I can never express just how grateful I am for all that you've done for me-"

Her words were snuffed when the blonde boy stepped right up to her and pulled her into a fierce embrace, her voice quieted by his shoulder due to their height difference. His entire body dared to shake as he refused to unlock his arms from the young witch. Listening to her apologize for everything that happened that was outside her power was enough to make his stomach clench. It wasn't her fault that she was Potter's sister. It wasn't her fault that Captain Tess was killed by her fellow guardian, thus sending Marie into the Malfoy's care. It wasn't her fault her name was drawn from the Goblet of Fire and she witnessed the return of the most frightful and dark wizard of their time. Her apology sounded like she was somehow leaving him and he just couldn't let that happen.

"It's not your fault, Marie," he murmured, his hand lost in her massive hair as he kept her to him. "None of this is your fault. You're too bloody brilliant to honestly think otherwise."

It seemed to be the right thing to say because in the next moment she had folded entirely into the hug, her arms tightly squeezing him in return. Nothing was said but he could hear her sniff and he knew she was trying very hard not break down and sob outright. He had loads more questions to bombard her with, but he held his tongue instead. A few things he could figure out for himself. Such as Voldemort targeting Marcus Flint in order to get a rise out of Marie. He must have been looking for something in particular as he studied her reaction. He would wager his family's wealth it was to observe the magical outburst. Even Draco had noticed that the girl's magical prowess tended to get out of hand, especially when she was emotionally riled up. Most of the time he didn't think she was aware of it. It was typically subtle, such as her hair starting to stir even though there was no breeze, or a page of a book moving without any assistance. Most of the time it went unseen, a type of undercurrent thrumming throughout her entire body. A new thought came to mind.

"Hey, Marie?" The girl made a small sound of acknowledgement. "That magic you did back there-to save Flint-did you know what you were doing? You didn't even have your wand out..." When she took a little too long to answer, he leaned back so to get a look a her face. Guilt was written as plain as day.

"Yes, I did know, to some extent," she answered finally. "It was all in the heat of the moment and I knew I had to act. It was faster than drawing my wand, but Professor Snape is going to be furious with me when he finds out."

He studied her a little longer, the second part of his question clawing its way to the surface. It couldn't be helped, the words were already free from his mouth. He had to ask her.

"Does it hurt? Using magic like that?"

Green eyes darted to the side to avoid contact and that was all he needed to know. Yes, it did hurt her. What saddened him the most was that he knew for a fact that even though it hurt her, Marie would not stop using that type of magic if it meant she could help someone she cared about. He pulled her to him again, burying his face in her dark hair.

It didn't matter to him that she was Potter's sister, under the scrutiny of the Dark Lord, and keeping more secrets than was healthy. Above everything else, she was his best friend, a person he had come to truly care for over their years together.

Most importantly, she was Marie and that was more than enough for him.

REVIEW! Sorry that it's been awhile, and that it was kind of a short chapter. I wanted to show some of Draco's reflection about their first night of winter holiday (bit overwhelming). He may still be a prat and rival of Harry Potter, but he understands that his friendship/relationship with Marie is very important and he clearly cares for her. As a reviewer has told me, Marie and Draco make up their own Brotp/bromance (*fist bump*) lol

As they are very adamant about their friendship and Draco is determined to stay in the loop, it's safe to bet that Marie will find a way to safely talk to her best friend about everything. Putting their heads together, they're bound to come up with a solution ;)

Next time we should get to see some of 12 Grimmauld Place for the winter holidays, Remus moments, and maybe even a proper date with our favorite half-troll? Who knows, it's Christmas holiday! lol

I'm trying to make time for writing this while balancing work/internship, and schoolwork, but I'm going to Harry Potter World next week and I just couldn't contain my excitement! (I even made butterbeer cupcakes, yum!) I never forget Marie when I vanish from the internet, Marie's storyline is always playing in my head, never fear! lol

Song recomendation of the day: Photograph, covered by Peter Hollens

Thoughts would be loved (tell me what you'd like to see?) and I hope you enjoyed!