Title: Past Revealed
Prompt: Revealed (Writer's Choice)
Word Count: 279
Rating: PG

Diagon Alley was as lively and colorful as it always was as September crept closer and closer each year. Draco and Hermione walked side by side, her arm nestled in the crook of his, though the overcrowded streets and past the open shop doorways through which customers streamed. Draco's eyes flickered disinterestedly about the faces of each passerby, never focusing upon one for more than a moment. Hermione's eyes were bright, and her lips were graced with an even brighter smile that was infectious to everyone that saw her—except, of course, for Draco.

All very suddenly, (and most likely out of nowhere), a young boy came barreling toward them, missing Hermione by a centimeter. Draco, however, was not so lucky as to avoid a confrontation. The boy stumbled into him, tipping the tarnished brass scales which he was clutching in his arms.

"Watch where you're going!" Draco said gruffly, at the same moment that Hermione exclaimed, "Be careful!"

The boy—who could not have been older than eleven—looked up at the pair fearfully. "S-sorry," he stammered, "I wasn't—" Abruptly, he stopped, and his mouth began to open and close as if his lungs had been switched with gills. His eyes were fixed upon Draco's arm.

Hermione followed the line of his gaze and then gasped. A sharp end of the scales had caught upon the sleeve of Draco's robe, and had torn it. Now, revealed upon pale flesh for all to see was the Dark Mark. Quickly, Hermione repaired the damaged cloth with her wand and ushered him away from the boy.

"Let's go home," she whispered, no longer cheerful. Draco nodded somberly and they Apparated.