I sat on the grass, looking at the Forbidden Forest. "Hey," a voice said. Ginny sat next to me. "Shouldn't you be in class?" I asked. "McGonagall let me out," she said. "To come check on you actually." I looked at her. "They are worried about you." "They don't have to be," I said. "I'm under Snape's order of protection. For now at least." "What do you mean?" she asked. "I'm sure that he'll repeal it once I'm strong enough. He knows my abilities better than anyone at this school," I said. "He just wants me to be able to protect myself. Getting me after I've been tortured and on the run...didn't sit well with him." I covered my face with my eyes and rested my elbows on my knees. "What is it?" she asked. "I could've prevented this," I said. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "I knew about Draco," I said. "Last year."
*Flashback*
I followed Draco into the Room of Requirement. "Draco!" I yelled. He turned around quickly, a look of panic on his face. "No. You have to get out of here," he said. "Now." "Not until you tell me what's wrong with you," I said. "There is nothing wrong with me," he said, walking towards me. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the door. "Now you need to leave." I ripped my arm away from him. "I'm not going anywhere," I said. "I'm fine," he said. "No you're not. Ever since we got on the train, you've been depressed and moody," I said. "And you won't talk to me." "If you haven't noticed, my father is in Azkaban," he said. "It's beyond that," I said. "I know you." "You don't know anything!" he snarled, pushing me against the wall. His face dropped with a look of realization. He let go of me and backed away. He turned his back to me and stood there, running one hand through his hair.
"I can't help you if you don't talk to me," I said, slowly walking towards him. I moved so I was in front of him and put my hands on his cheeks. "I love you," I said. "Nothing is going to change that." He just stared at me. "Why are you so afraid of telling me?" I asked. He grabbed my wrists and removed my hands from him. He walked away from me. I followed him. "You can't get rid of me," I called out after him. "You should know that by now." I kept following him as he walked. I walked faster to try and keep up. "So what?" I called out. "Are you trying to break up with me? All because of some secret?" He stopped and turned around sharply. "You really want to know what I'm hiding?! What I don't want to show you?!" he yelled, coming towards me, making me back up into a pile of objects.
He lifted his left sleeve and showed the Dark Mark imprinted on his skin. "This! Happy?!" I stared at the mark. "I got it this summer, after Aunt Bellatrix moved in. And with it, I got my mission." I looked at his face. "What mission?" I asked. I could see tears come to his eyes. "I have to kill Dumbledore," he said. He looked away from me. "So now you know. And you're going to walk out that door...and never think twice about it." A tear went down his cheek. He pointed his wand at me. "And I can't let you do that." I shook my head. "This isn't you, Draco," I said. "It is now," he said. "Why? Because of that mark?" I asked. "That means nothing. I have one." "Yours was forced upon you," he said. "And this wasn't forced upon you?" I said. "I don't believe that." "You should. When you left to see Ginny on the train...I bragged about the mission," he said. "I chose this." "Lower your wand Draco," I said. He shook his head. "I can't do that," he said. "Lower it!" I ordered. "No!" he yelled. "I can't! I can't let you walk out knowing what you know!"
I quickly slipped my wand into my hand from my sleeve. "Expelliarmus!" I said, flicking my wand and making his fly out of his hand. I ran at him and pushed him into the stuff behind him. Random objects fell around us from the pile. The tip of my wand was pointed against his neck. "I'm not leaving," I said. "I won't." I threw my wand onto the floor. "Why?" he asked. "He killed your parents." "You didn't," I said. "Most girls would think that I don't care about them," he said. "I know you do. You didn't tell the ministry or even your parents about Sirius. You have always been there for me, no matter what it was. You did whatever you could to keep our relationship alive," I said. "And you hid this from me. You weren't concerned with me leaving or telling somebody. You didn't want me to think you didn't care." I let go of his arm and took a step back, letting him move away from the pile. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, I love you. No matter what happens, I love you," I said. I took his left hand. "I won't tell anyone. I won't need to. I can see the doubt in your eyes. You won't do it." He just looked at me. "I know you."
*End*
"I could've told Harry," I said. "Maybe it wouldn't have happened. I was just so sure." Ginny put her arm around me. "You had no idea what was going to happen," she said. "Do you think it would've changed anything?" I asked. "I think everything would've happened sooner than it did," she said. "And you might not be with Malfoy now." "Everything just turned out so wrong," I said. "It's my seventh year and I'm being targeted for torture by teachers. My brother is running for his life. My boyfriend is scared for his life because he's under command by the thing that killed my parents." "What are you going to do?" she asked. "I can't do anything. Even if I could, I can't," I said. "I made a promise to Harry, to Draco, to you guys, even to Colin..." "Colin?" Ginny asked. "Yeah. Colin Creevey. He's in your year," I said. "I found him hiding in the bathroom." "Emily, Colin didn't come back this year," she said. "He's a muggle-born. He wasn't allowed." I looked at her. "What? No, he's here. I saw him," I said. "I used his tie." She just looked back at me, shaking her head slowly. I stood up. I gripped my part of my hair and screamed. "He was in my head!" I yelled, getting out my wand. "How did he do that?!" I waved my wand, making a tree split in half. "Emily, stop!" Ginny yelled. I looked at the broken tree. "Why would he send you an illusion of Colin?" she asked. "He wouldn't lift you up like that. It had to be someone else." "Either way, someone got in," I said. "And I have no idea how." I turned away from the forest and started walking back to the castle, leaving Ginny sitting there.