Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and I ran into Defense Against the Dark Arts. We slid into our seats just as the bell rang. We looked around for the teacher.
"Maybe they couldn't find a new one," Ron said. I shrugged.
"Maybe the teacher's just late," I said. Then a young woman walked into the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I was talking to Professor McGonagall about something. I'm Professor Tompkins." We all looked at her and didn't say anything.
"Okay, um...the Headmaster told me that you learned about Unforgivable Curses last year and that two of you are able to resist the Imperious Curse. Miss Marcin and Mr. Potter. Well why don't you two tell us all how you do it?" Harry shrugged.
"I don't think about it, I just do it," he said. Professor Tompkins looked at me.
"What about you?" she asked. I looked down at the table that the five of us were sitting at.
"I don't know," I said. "I just know that I don't want to do whatever it is the person is telling me to do." Tompkins nodded and began the day's lesson.
After classes were over Cory, Hermione, Ron, Jordyn, Taylor, Harry, and I were standing in a courtyard waiting for Draco.
"So how much homework do you guys have?" Jordyn asked.
"Not much," I replied. "You?" She shrugged.
"Not really."
"How do you like your classes?" Hermione asked. Taylor smiled widely.
"We love 'em!" she said. "Hey, when you guys go to Hogsmead what do you do?" Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I smiled at each other.
"Go to shops and the Three Broomsticks," I said. "It's a pub. The best shop is Honeydukes. It's a sweets shop." Jordyn grinned at this.
"You'll get me candy when you go, right?" she asked. We all laughed and nodded.
"The Three Broomsticks is great too you know," Harry said. "Everyone goes there"
"Lots of girls?" Jordyn asked. "I bet you check them all out!" Harry grinned.
"Nope," he replied. "I pay attention to only one girl." He was smiling mischievously.
"Who?" Taylor asked. Harry put his arm around my shoulders.
"Your sister here." I laughed.
"Yeah right," I said. Harry pretended to look hurt.
"I do so!" he teased. "You are the only one! I swear! Here, I'll prove it." He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. It was a fake kiss but none the less it made me laugh even harder.
"Oh Harry, stop it!" I cried. Then I looked up and saw Draco standing in front of us. Harry took his arm off my shoulder. I smiled at Draco.
"Hey," I said. "We were waiting for you."
"Can I talk to you?" Draco asked. "Alone?" I gulped and nodded.
Draco led me to another courtyard, which was oddly deserted.
That's not good, I thought. Draco turned to me.
"What were you playing at?" he hissed.
"We were just joking around," I said. Draco walked up to me and shoved me to the ground.
"You let him kiss you!" he shouted. I got to my feet.
"It wasn't a real one!" I shouted back. "I wouldn't have let him do that! Quit being paranoid!" Draco grabbed me and threw me against a wall. My head slammed into it and little white dots danced in front of my eyes. Draco walked up to me and started to choke me.
Just like he did at the ball, I thought.
"You are my girlfriend," he hissed. "You're mine, do you understand?" I nodded as I struggled to breathe. Draco let go and I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. Tears came into my eyes but I kept them from falling. That might make things worse. Draco put his pointer finger under my chin and tilted my face toward his.
"You're mine," he whispered. "I won't let anyone else have you." He leaned down and kissed my lips. I shuddered and pushed him away.
"No," whispered. "Don't do that." Anger flashed across Draco's face. He threw me to the ground and gave me a hard kick in the side where the bruise was. He had given me that bruise over the summer, although it was more of an accident. He had been chasing me, trying to give me a kiss and I had slipped and hit my side, it was still kind of his fault though.
I cried out in pain and curled into a ball.
"Stop it!" I cried. Draco pulled me to my feet.
"Then let me kiss you!" he demanded.
"No," I replied. He punched me in the stomach and I doubled over in pain. Then he backed me up against the wall and pinned me there. He leaned down and started to kiss me. I gave up on trying to fight him because that would just make him angrier. Finally he pulled away and smiled at me.
"See?" he asked. "That wasn't so bad"
"I thought you were nicer than this," I spat. "You're a total git!" Draco slammed his fist into my gut again. I fell to my knees. He knelt in front of me.
"Take that back," he said. I coughed for a minute.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I take it back." Draco smiled.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too," I replied. He kissed my cheek and then pulled me to my feet. We walked out of the courtyard and I didn't need him to tell me not to tell the others.
"Why are you limping?" Cory asked. I looked up at him as Draco and I walked toward the others.
"I fell," I answered with a shrug. "I'm clumsy." Oh Cory, help me! Draco's hurting me! Harry help me! Draco put his arm around my side and pulled me against him tightly. I winced but no one saw.
"So what do we do now?" Jordyn asked.
"Dinner will be starting soon," Ron said. Jordyn nodded. I noticed that she was watching a first year boy from Ravenclaw.
"Quit that," I snapped at her. "You're too young." Jordyn scowled at me.
"Let's go in then," Hermione said. "Shall we?" We all nodded and walked into the castle and then to the Great Hall. Draco kissed my cheek before he went to sit at his table. Harry, the others, and I went to sit at our table.
"Why are you so pale?" Taylor asked. "Are you sick?" I shook my head and sat down. Dinner appeared and everyone began to eat. I however, didn't have much of an appetite. I pushed away from the table and stood up.
"I'm going to bed," I said. "I'm not hungry." Cory and the others looked at me quizzically.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," I replied. Harry please, protect me! I walked away from them and left the Great Hall.
As I was going up the stairs the pain in my side grew so bad that I collapsed on the stairs and sobbed in pain. After a few minutes I got to my feet and trudged to the portrait that led to the Common Room.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.
"Secrets," I said tearfully. How fitting, I had a very deadly secret. The portrait swung forward and I went into the Common Room. I hurried to the girls' dorm and into the room that I shared with the other sixth year girls. I went to my trunk and pulled out a container of murlap paste. This would dull the pain in my side. I pulled out a cloth and some gauze. I climbed onto my bed, closed the hangings, and pulled off my shirt. The bruise looked worse because of Draco kicking me. I dipped the cloth into the paste and smeared it on the bruise. Slowly, my side went numb. When I couldn't feel it anymore I wrapped the gauze around my ribs until the bruise was pretty well padded. Then I pulled my pajamas on and fell asleep.
For months I used the paste on the bruises that formed almost every day. Each time Draco saw Harry pretending to kiss me or every time I said something that upset him he took me to a deserted place and beat me up. Of course he was smart enough to hit me where no one would see the bruises. I was afraid to tell the others and for some reason, even though he was hurting me, I still loved him. I never tried to tell anyone. I just kept pretending that I was fine.