Chapter 13
Voldermort opened the door to his office and gently steered Trinity inside and over to a chair in the middle of the room.
"Trinity." He began, smiling madly. "Just before you're mother died, we had a discussion. Relating to you being Marked." The raven haired Gryffindor cast her gaze to the floor to hide her tear stained face. She was trembling and she knew that he could see that. "We decided the right time would be when you turned eighteen." He turned around to look at her. "And I've waited almost an extra year."
He walked towards her and gently pet the top of her head, "you're a lovely girl. But you're weak." He dropped his hand and pushed her off the chair and onto the floor.
"I'll make sure you won't feel a thing when I Mark you, my dear." He stated, walking over to stand by the window overlooking the Black Lake.
Nagini slithered down from her perch and slowly crossed the floor towards the trembling Gryffindor. The python opened her mouth wide enough to fit over Trinity's left forearm before biting down, piercing the clear porcelin skin of the girl.
Trinity tried and failed to hold back her cry of pain as the snake venom travelled throughout her bloodstream. Voldermort then began speaking to Nagini in parseltounge, and as the python released her grip on Trinity's forearm. The raven haired girl was sweating and she felt hot all over, her veins burning with venom.
Nagini slithered back up the pole and onto her perch before turning to watch her Master. Trinity's body felt like a white hot blade was running over her, her head throbbed, her arms and legs ached with the burning sensation as she was slowly being tortured. The pain was unbearable and Trinity's eyes blurred with tears when she saw his bare feet stepping closer towards her.
Voldermort's cold hands made contact with her arm and she winced in pain. He pulled the left sleeve of her robes up and pointed the tip of the Elder wand onto her purple forearm, Nagini's venom still coursing through the veins. "Mosmordre." A numb, tingling sensation rippled across the skin on her forearm as the ugly, black pattern formed. Voldermort carefully placed her arm back on the stone floor.
"Lucius." Voldermort stood up and turned to face the window. The sound of thunder cracked as one of the Deatheaters appeared. Voldermort placed his wand inside his robes and turned to the hooded man behind him.
"Yes, My Lord?" Mr. Malfoy asked, looking down upon the raven haired mess on the floor, crying silent tears.
"Take my niece to her dorm room, and Nagini. Give her some Draught of Living Death, then go back to doing your duties."
Lucius bowed his head low, "yes, My Lord."
Nagini slithered down from her perch and across the stone floor towards Trinity and Mr. Malfoy who apparated them into the raven haired girls dorm room. He placed her on the bed and poured some of the potion into her mouth.
He closed the curtains around her bed and cast a charm to make sure none of the girls' in the dorm could opened the curtains. Lucius then apparated out of the room to go back to his duties, guarding the corridors.
Nagini placed her mouth over Trinity's left arm and sucked her venom out of the girls body before curling up at her side and going to sleep.
It had been three days since anyone had seen Trinity. The Weasley's waited for her every morning before they went down to breakfast and were disappointed every time she didn't come downstairs. Ginny had gone into the girls bedroom, but couldn't open her curtains.
It was now Saturday and the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. As Draco took his position as Seeker, his eyes scoured the Gryffindor spectators, looking for a glimpse of Trinity. But she wasn't there. He hadn't seen her in any of his classes and her Potions homework was piling up. He'd written notes on her work so that when she finally appeared, she would be able to do it herself.
As the Quaffle, Bludgers and the Snitch was released, Draco went straight in for the kill. He kept his eyes on the Golden Snitch as he tailed it around the pitch, dodging Bluders as he did so. The Ravenclaw Seeker - Johnson - came up and flew beside him. Draco and Johnson began cobbing each other; throwing their elbows into each others sides in an attempt to knock them off their brooms.
Draco pulled upwards after the Snitch as Slytherin scored another ten points for scoring the Quaffle. The platinum blonde glanced to his left when he heard the Ravenclaw Seeker coming up beside him. Malfoy slowed down so Johnson could overtake him, when the Seeker did, Draco grabbed hold of the broom tail and pulled hard.
"Malfoy's blagging!" Zacharias informed the audience, "and now he's after the Snitch! Will Slytherin take this victory? Or will Ravenclaw pull something out of the bag?"
Draco zipped through the air after the Snitch, Crabbe appeared beside him and knocked the Bludger away and towards the goalposts, which was saved by the Ravenclaw Keeper. Draco reached out his hand and took the Snitch in his palm, raising it above his head with a victorious shout to go with it.
"Malfoy's got the Snitch!" Zacharias informed the spectators. Madam Hooch blew her whistle - signifying the end of the game. Slytherin took the match from Ravenclaw 230 - 20 points.
After the Quidditch game, the Weasley's made their way up to the Gryffindor tower and were sat in the common room, wrapping up the present they'd bought Trinity for Christmas.
"Will she like it?" Ron asked, watching Ginny wrap up the gift in shiny crimson wrapping paper.
"Of course she will." George replied, cutting some gold ribbon. "Ginny said Treacle Fudge was her favourite."
"I know that." Ron said, "I was talking about the picture."
"Of course she will." Ginny smiled, "she said having us as her friends was enough, so that's what we're giving her." She smiled at Ron and George.
"Besides," George added, tying the gold ribbon into a pretty bow. "Who wouldn't want a picture of our mugs?" He chuckled.
Ginny looked up and beamed, she got up and ran over to a raven haired girl as she tiptoed slowly down the stairs. "Trinity!" She put her arms around her shoulders and gently squeezed her. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"
Trinity ran a hand through her greasy hair and looked up, her skin was deathly pale and she had dark bags under her eyes. "I feel like death." She whispered, her voice hoarse.
Ginny wrinkled her nose, "no offence, but you look it aswell." She placed her hands on Trinity's shoulders and turned her around, "go and have a shower and then we'll say goodbye before everyone goes home at lunch." Trinity nodded before she tiptoed back upstairs as Ginny wandered back over to her brothers, "she doesn't look well." She whispered to them.
They shook their heads, "what do you think her Uncle did?" George asked. Ron had told them that Voldemort personally came to their Transfiguration class on Tuesday to get her.
"Don't know." Ron replied, "but it can't be good. Do you think she'll be alright here on her own."
"I'm sure she will." Ginny replied, putting the red and gold present under the Christmas tree in the common room. It was beautifully decorated with red and gold tinsel, bauballs, ribbons and glitter, there was a gold star at the top of the tree which magically glistened and sparkled.
"Let's bring our bags downstairs." Ron suggested, getting to his feet.
The goodbye was fairly sad on Trinity's behalf but the Weasley's reassured her that they would be back before she knew they'd even gone. "We'll write, don't worry." George smiled as he hugged the raven haired girl.
Trinity nodded and smiled back, "have a wonderful Christmas. I'll see you when you get back." She hugged Ginny and then Ron before watching them carry their suitcases out of the Gryffindor common room, the portrait swinging closed behind them.
Malfoy was lounging downstairs in the Syltherin common room, twirling Trinity's wand between his fingers. 'What did the Dark Lord want with her?' He thought, 'long enough so that she'd miss the rest of the weeks lessons?' He pocketed the wand as Blaize came jogging down the stairs into the common room.
"Kim's packed her things." He informed Draco, collapsing onto the sofa beside the platinum haired eighteen year old.
Draco nodded his head, "I'm not going home for Christmas." He stated, "I've decided to stay here."
Blaize chuckled, "and work your magic on Trinity. You know I'm going to win Malfoy, so you might aswell give up now."
Draco growled, "she's my mate, Zabini, you know the bets off."
Blaize shrugged his shoulders, "a bet's a bet. You of all people know that."
"Well, in that case then - I'll make sure you lose."
"Prepare for defeat." Blaize got to his feet and made his way towards the staircase, "I already know I have this in the bag."
Sunday rolled around quickly, and as Trinity pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, her green hoodie and some chocolate brown UGG boots. She pulled a brush through her tangled hair before putting a handful of galleons in her never-ending pocket.
Trinity tiptoed downstairs and out of the Gryffindor common room, she slowly made her way into Hogsmeade, following the Hogwarts students that weren't going home for Christmas.
Once inside the shopping area, Trinity went straight into Gladrags Wizardwear. 'Ron needed a scarf.' She thought, 'and a hat for George. Ginny wanted either a hand-held mirror or a hairbrush.'
She looked around at the scarves, and it wasn't long before she found a nice red and gold striped one. 'Gryffindor coloured.' She thought, looking at the label, 'anti-fraying, long-lasting.' The scarf had also been magically charmed so that strong winds could not pull it off the wearer.
She then saw handheld mirrors beside the shoes, and picked up a lovely silver one. Small silver flowers climbed up the handle and surrounded the glass mirror, it was charmed unbreakable, and Trinity knew it was perfect, especially as the Weasley's bird Errol tended to crash and drop things when he landed.
Next, Trinity looked at the hats, and found the same hat George had showed her the other day (minus the hole), and this one was also charmed to repel strong winds and was long-lasting. She walked over to the counter and picked up some red wrapping paper aswell.
Trinity paid for her items and was delighted when the shop assistant wrapped them up for her aswell. She then left Gladrags Wizardwear and stepped into Honeydukes. She picked up some Jelly Snakes, Caramel Frogs, Sugared Butterfly Wings and some Strawberry Bertie Botts before jogging towards the Owlery.
She gave Errol and two other owls a treat before writing a Christmas card to 'the entire Weasley household'. She tied the Strawberry Beans and the mirror together before handing them to Errol, then the Jelly Snakes and the scarf was handed to a big hazel coloured owl and finally, the card, Caramel Frogs and the hat was given to a white owl. She then handed the Sugared Butterfly Wings to a honey coloured owl and quickly wrote a card for Kimberly.
Trinity sat down for a minute or two before going back towards the shops in search of something to buy her Uncle. She looked around before heading into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, she knew the one he had was a little ratty.
She looked around for a while before picking up a beautiful black quill with a white vertical stripe down the centre. She paid for it before spotting Dark Arts objects on a stall just outside the shop. Trinity quickly left the shop before picking up a Secrecy Sensor off the stall, and handing over the galleons for it.
Trinity then headed into Madam Puddifoot's, to buy a new mug for Hagrid. She daren't look at the loved-up couples seated at the tables; she walked straight towards the shelving which supplied crockery and other utensils. She smiled as she spotted a big creamy porcelain coloured mug with a pastel yellow dragon on the front, the handle resembled a scaly dragons tail. After purchasing the mug, Trinity headed back to Hogwarts to do her school work.
She trudged through the snow and it wasn't long before she was back on the school grounds. Trinity made her way up Gryffindor Tower and grabbed her school bag which Ron had piled all of her homework into.
Trinity made her way through the corridors and into the library which was peacefully silent and empty. She tiptoed towards the bookcase which had the book about Dragons, and once she found what she was looking for, she sat at the usual desk infront of the butterfly window and started on her homework, pulling out her quill and ink as she did so.
Trinity separated her work into different piles, two Transfiguration essays; one Divination essay and a questionnaire about tea leaves; three Dark Arts essays and a questionnaire; one Charms essay and then a Herbology research page she had to annotate notes on. 'Trust Professor Snape to set the most amount of work.' She thought.
Trinity began working on the first Transfiguration essay to began with and completed it within an hour, then she moved on to the Divination questionnaire which only took about five minutes. Trinity opened the Dragon's book for a five minute break before starting on the other Transfiguration and Divination homework.
Trinity completed her Dark Arts questionnaire and the Charms essay just before the door to the library creaked open. She looked up at the clock on the wall, realising she'd been in the library for almost four hours! She sighed and began annotating her Herbology work, underlining important words and sentances when a shadow fell across her parchment. Trinity looked up, and her green eyes met the steel grey ones of Draco Malfoy.
"I've been looking for you." He stated, sitting in the seat beside hers.
Trinity carried on annotating her Herbology notes. "Why?" She asked in a small voice.
He dumped three pieces of Potions homework on the desk, and then two extra Potions assignments. "To give you these." He stated, gesturing to the work. "And this." Draco handed her the twisted corkscrew wand.
Trinity pocketed her wand and turned back to her work, "thank you." She whispered.
"How much work have you got?" Draco asked, glancing at her eyes with the dark bags underneath them. She looked almost like a corpse.
"Three Dark Arts essays." She folded up the finished Herbology work and stuffed it into her bag. "And that." She rifled through the Potions homework which consisted of two essays and three questionnaires.
Draco nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes, "what did your Uncle want?" He asked.
Trinity froze, not once had she looked at her arm and she most certainly did not want to show Draco. "Oh." She whispered, "the usual."
Draco frowned, "does he usually hurt you?"
Trinity shook her head, "not all the time." She glanced up at him, "only when I do something wrong." She picked up her quill and started on the Dark Arts questionnaire.
"Didn't you want to go home for Christmas?" Draco asked.
"My mother died." She paused what she was writing. "My Uncle is my guardian. What about you?"
Draco shrugged, keeping his eyes on her form, "I didn't want to go back. Besides, I have a lot of catching up to do." He dumped his bag on the desk and pulled out some pieces of parchment, his quill and his ink before setting his bag on the floor beside him. "Like Charms essay's and Transfiguration questionnaires."
Trinity and Draco worked in silence for a few moments, and the Gryffindor couldn't help but steal glances at Draco's left arm. Her forearm began to throb, and she shifted her position in her seat to get more comfortable. Trinity put both of her hands on her lap - under the table - and began to gently rub the sleeve of her top over the mark to see if it would soothe the throbbing.
But then it began to sting and Trinity didn't know what to do, she didn't want to look at it, all she wanted was for the burning to stop.
"Will you stop fidgeting?" Draco asked, in a slight snapping tone. "What's gotten into you, Riddle?" He sat back in his seat and looked down when her hand touched his left wrist.
"Can I see..." she asked.
"See what?"
"You know...the..." she looked around and leant in to whisper, "the Dark Mark?"
He scowled. "Why?" Trinity looked down at her own sleeve, the stinging sensation in her arm began to burn and she could almost feel it...moving. She winced. "Why?" He snapped, placing his hand over his sleeve in defence.
Trinity couldn't bare the pain any longer, she pulled out her wand and to 'pack' her things before grabbing her bag and running out of the library. Draco watched her leave and then shook his head, 'that girl is so wierd sometimes.' He thought.
Trinity tore down the corridor towards the Headmasters office and was soon ambushed by two Deatheaters. "Where're you off too, Miss Riddle?" One of the drawled, Trinity recognised the voice to be Draco's father.
"I need to see my Uncle." She stammered.
Lucius sighed before apparating Trinity outside Voldermort's office and then leaving her there. The Gryffindor knocked and waited outside patiently before hearing her Uncle's voice asking for her to enter. She opened the door and stepped inside, and once she did, the burning siezed...and she felt fine. A little scared, but otherwise fine.
"Next time, Trinity, just point your wand onto the mark." The Dark Lord's distant-like voice stated, slightly annoyed.
"I'm sorry, Uncle. I...I didn't know what to do." She looked down at the floor.
"That, my dear, was breaking you in. The first time it's painful, but next time I call for you, it will only burn if you ignore it." Trinity nodded and looked down at the stone tiles. "No one knows you have the mark...am I correct?"
The Gryffindor nodded, "yes Uncle."
"What about your mate?"
"No Uncle." The raven haired teen shook her head.
"You should wear the mark with pride." Voldermort stood and crossed to the window of the Black Lake. "You may go now." Trinity left the office as quickly as she could, frightened that if she loitered for too long he'd think of something to punish her for.
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