Chapter 8

Heist this – we're gonna do something about it?

Most of the other Slytherin girls gave Marley mean glares this morning, in part due to the ongoing fiasco with her fumbling House Points, mostly though because it took Leaghon about ten minutes of obnoxious chirping to get the girl out of bed, and even then she remained beneath her sheets for an additional period of time. Due to this tardiness Marley decided to skip breakfast, not that she was particularly eager to do so much as look at food after last night's events. At the very least she had made up with Harry, a blessing that allowed her to scramble up an inkling of motivation to not remain in bed for the whole day. Though, with the image of a haunting, floating spectre carved into her memory, she wasn't particularly excited about it either.

Excitement didn't return when she saw the others in some of her classes, though she certainly felt something akin to it when she entered their usual study room, a crammed little chamber which could fit up to ten students, though it was de facto just for the four of them.

Harry adjusted his glasses in a frantic fashion as his head spun to the door.

"Hey.", she coughed up in a quiet whisper, causing Harry and Hermione to get up from their wooden chairs. She engulfed the boy in a hug first, though the one Miss Granger received was far from lacking the necessary softness.

"Hey there, Marles.", Ron blurted out impolitely, though remaining seated did not mean the Weasley was spared from an awkward over-the-table-hug.

"Hey Ron.", Marley responded with a level of compassion that the clumsy lad didn't really expect whatsoever.

"How are you?", Hermione inquired as she finally sat back down. The Slytherin let out a somewhat dramatic sigh before answering truthfully.

"Horrible. I could barely get any sleep tonight.", she spoke, adjusting her own set of glasses very much in the same fashion as the Boy who lived.

"We were worried. Since we didn't see you at breakfast.", the Gryffindor girl continued.

"We brought you some.", Ron interjected rudely, stuffing his hand down his coat pocket, revealing a bundle of muffins, some of which had almonds on them.

"Oh Ronald – you're my hero!", Marley announced as she gave Ron another hug, grabbing the baked goods as she and Harry sat down simultaneously, the boy carrying his features with the urgency of wanting to say something but not having come up with anything yet. With Marley shoving sweets in her mouth, Hermione once again took up the mantel of chairwoman, so to speak.

"Well...", she began, not really wanting to chip right away at it, "...we decided to not talk about last night until we were with you."

A gesture Marley greatly appreciated, though the girl wondered if she would have been able to do the same, had the roles been reversed.

"That means a lot.", the Slytherin began after swallowing her brunch. It took her an additional few seconds to continue. "Voldemort's out there right now in the forest."

Both the bluntness of her statement as well as her lack of fear regarding the name startled the rest.

"He's weak now...", Harry added, "...but with the Philosopher's Stone – with the Elixir of Life – he can come back."

"But if he comes back...", Ron muttered in a frightened voice, "...he'll... you don't suppose he'll try and kill you, Harry?"

"Of course he will.", Marley interjected suddenly, her quivering expression switching over to the Boy who lived.

"I think he very much tried to kill me last night."

Upon uttering the thought Marley's hand shot out to grab Harry's, clenching on to it tight, chills still fervently crawling through her bones at the images of last night's encounter. In sharp contrast to that, Ron let out a moronic exhale.

"And to think I've been worried about Potions final..."

Rather than scolding the boy for his laziness, a much different thought took shape inside Hermione's brain.

"Hold on a minute – aren't we forgetting about something?"

Marley politely let go of Harry as all three kids stared with curious expressions upon their friend the top student.

"Who's the one wizard Voldemort still fears? Dumbledore.", she paused for a moment, letting the others react for an appropriate amount of time.

"As long as Dumbledore is around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore is around, you can't be touched."

Words that found some footing and allowed the boy in question to quiet down somewhat.

"I guess we were wrong about Snape then.", Ron disrupted the quiet assurance, "He's not stealing the stone for himself – he's stealing it for Voldemort."

At this, the other three exchanged looks of uneasy distain, the Weasley boy feeling like he's being left out.

"What? Did I say something?"

"Actually Ron...", Harry finally began, "...I don't think Snape's trying to steal it.

Though Marley knew in her heart that he spoke this out of rational conviction, part of her still smiled profusely that he overcame this part of himself for... for her. In a way, at least.

"Harry is right.", Hermione piled on top, "I trust Dumbledore to protect us. And if Dumbledore trusts Snape, I don't see a reason why we should doubt either."

The more detailed explanation did get Ron to slightly nod his head from side to side.

"Alright.", he conceded, "But I still think there's something off about Snape – teacher or not. I don't fully trust him!"

"Maybe it's because you're bad at Potions.", Marley suggested with a pinch of malice.

"Suppose it's time you do start worrying about your Potions final, Ronald.", Hermione added, putting an emphasis on his full name which usually only Marley uttered. All but the Weasley boy giggled as he reluctantly picked up his horrendously inadequate notes for studying purposes.

"Can't believe we went from fearing Voldemort to piling on me...", he grumbled with apparent spite. The others smiled this off, glad that despite the dangers they encountered, they still could get some joy from the little things.

"I always heard Hogwarts' end-of-the-year exams were frightful, but I found the whole thing to be rather enjoyable."

A few days had passed, obviously, it's not like they'd send kids into the spooky forest the night before finals, and now said kids, four of them at least, were leaving the castle proper into the warm, grassy courtyard, summer now encroaching on their spirits. If anything, any student after finals would want to exit the building that had just inflicted torment upon them as quickly as humanly possible.

Which is why, appropriately, Ron gave Hermione the meanest of glares possible.

"Speak for yourself.", he muttered bitterly.

"I didn't think they were too hard either.", Marley spoke with her usual, chipper note that smelled like flowers, "But I definitely flunked History of Magic..."

"Me too! That fifth question was horrid.", the Gryffindor girl added while the Weasley boy stood befuddled in the middle.

"Right! I totally blanked on Grindelwald in there!"

"Me too!"

"Oh – shove it, you two!", finally burst from Ron. "Every time either of you complains about how they flunked a test, it always ends up being a B- or a C+!"

"You're absolutely right!", Hermione gave back with a passion, "A C+ would be a nightmare!"

Just as her retort was completed Harry was no longer able to hold back the pained grunt he had been supressing for hours at this point. Alongside the rubbing of his forehead, it painted quite the picture.

"You alright there?", Ron inquired, sounding far more casual than the situation implied.

"My scar. It's been burning all day."

"Oh no.", is all that came from Marley, the girl gently stroking Harry's shoulder for a short time while Hermione continued.

"It's happened before, right?"

"Not like this.", he answered through gritted teeth.

"I think you should go see the nurse.", Marley calmly spoke.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger is coming."

"Danger?", the Slytherin girl spoke, just as she abruptly halted, a small piece of paper having drifted from her coat pocket onto the pebble-covered ground.

"Hold on a second!", Ron cried out in an accusatory tone just as Marley picked up the Draconic Card in a swift motion. "You had my Quetzalcoatl this whole time? You told me you lost it!"

The girl cringed her teeth as her friends gave her mean looks, momentarily ignoring Harry's precarious state.

"Sorry...", was all she could muster, "I wanted to keep it for finals. As a token of luck?"

With a look of humiliation, she presented the card to its real owner, Ron snatching it back into his possession like a hawk grabbing a field mouse.

"Dragon thief...", he mumbled under his breath, though the matter was resolved then and there.

Plus, it offered something much more valuable to Harry.

"Of course!"

Was all that they heard before Harry sprinted away from them, roughly into the direction of Hagrid's Hut. They all caught up at their own pace, Marley remaining the furthest behind, still carrying a look of shame on her features.

"What is it?", Hermione asked as they continually ran.

"Don't you think it's a bit too convenient that Hagrid wants a dragon more than anything, then a stranger turns up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?"

"None of us saw it, so no shame in that.", Marley spoke, testing the waters to see if her friends are still mad at the girl for attempted card burglary, though based on current circumstances, it seems her selfish act had been rewarded by fate.

They eventually reached the giant man's humble abode, Hagrid himself playing a tune on his recorder that sounded eerily familiar to Harry, though he pushed that concern aside for now.

"Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?", the boy tossed at his adult friend right away. The bearded man put his instrument down at the question, staring at all four with an intrusive expression.

"I dunno. Never saw his face. Fella kept his hood up, did he."

"Well... did he say something? You two must have talked.", Harry asked further.

"That we did. Well, he wanted to know what sorts of other creatures I looked after. I told him. I said, After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be a piece of cake!"

Marley's eyes widened as she was already able to put together what happened in her mind, almost blurting out a mean word directed at the groundskeeper.

"He was interested in Fluffy?", the boy with glasses kept digging.

"Aye. Of course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're the world-travellin' type? I told him. I said... I said, the trick with any beast is to know how to calm it down. Take Fluffy, for example. Just play him a bit of music and he falls straight asleep."

The quartet all had their mouths gaping open at something this sensitive being blurted out this easily.

"I shouldn't have told you that.", slipped Hagrid's mouth right after. Though it was too late already, as the kids where off running god-knows where.

"Wait! Where are you goin'?"

McGonagall's office, being the answer to that question.

"We must see Professor Dumbledore!", Harry announced the moment his fingertips reached the old woman's elevated desk.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore has left.", the dame offered as her strict answer, sending shivers all across their bodies, "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic in London. You'll have to wait a few days for his return."

"He's gone? Now?!", practically burst from Harry, "But this is important! It's about the Philosopher's Stone!"

A firm expression of deterrence crumbled the moment the boy across from her spoke those words.

"How do you know about that?", McGonagall spoke, getting no answers from any of their expressions.

"Someone's going to steal it!", acted as the crescendo to his concerned cry. The headmistress laid down her ink-covered feather before responding calmly.

"I don't know how it is that the four of you found out about the Stone, but I can assure you it is perfectly well protected. For now, I would suggest that you head somewhere quiet and calm yourselves down. And do not tell anyone else about this."

Her eyebrows spoke the rest as the firm scolding got the quartet to exit, leaving the otherwise experienced teacher with an eerie feeling.

It wasn't until a hallway some distance removed that Harry dared speaking up again, unaware that a looming presence cloaked in black was nearby.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. Whoever is trying to get Voldemort back knows how to get past Fluffy now."

"And get to the stone.", Marley added quietly.

"And now with Dumbledore gone...", Hermione began spurting, though her thought subsided as the brooding voice behind them made himself known.

"Good afternoon.", Snape let out in a manner so cold it even made the Slytherin girl uneasy, "Now, what would three young Gryffindors and Miss Verpe be doing inside on a day like this?"

Despite also clearly carrying insecurity, Marley remained the only one capable of giving a straight answer.

"We lost track of where we're going.", she began, "We've been talking about finals for an hour now. It's been really straining."

"It really was.", Hermione added.

"Yeah.", Ron piled on top, though it was not really necessary. Harry simply said nothing, yet for the first time he didn't find himself wanting to glare at his Potions teacher.

"I see.", Snape surmised plainly, "I would not worry so much about your Potions performance, Miss Verpe. From what quick glances I took, I'd say your results were nothing short of excellent."

Despite their prior commitment, Marley still smiled at the compliment.

"As for you three...", he turned to the frightened Gryffindors, "I cannot say much of the same. Let's hope it is not fatal enough to have to repeat any semester."

That was all that Severus Snape felt like adding before walking away in the other direction, his dark cloak dragged behind him like a vampiric creature of the night. Everyone let out an exhale, though Marley did for different reasons.

"Great. Now I feel even worse", the Weasley boy complained.

"Now what do we do?", Hermione redirected shared concerns back to their stone-related issues. With little time to think about it, Harry finally announced the daring plan he had concocted to his friends.

"We go through the trapdoor. Tonight."

In their darkest hour, Marley hated herself just ever so slightly for wasting time picking out the "right" cassette to go alongside her portable boombox. Her mind did linger on either Michael Jackson or his youth-centred debut album as part of the Jackson Five, though, in the end, the girl went with a reliable choice of music she had used to fall asleep to in the past – Madonna. She simply could find no objections in picking one of her idols. If Fluffy did not turn to slumber at this goddess, she would happily die a snob.

Under the cover of nightfall, the girl made her way towards the common room's exit, carrying herself and the piece of muggle tech with the finesse of a cat burglar. Just as she was about to encroach on the door, Leaghon's brief chatter caused her to clasp the necklace in a haste, covering it as if covering someone's mouth in distress, shushing her pet alongside it.

"Be quiet!", she spoke in the softest of whispers.

"You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"

That particular sentence was spoken with far more volume, though not nearly loud enough as to be heard by anyone besides Marley.

Or Malfoy himself.

"Now Draco, listen..."

"No – I'm not listening!", he said more sharply, ultimately choosing to keep it between them for now. "You're out to see your friend Potter again. And you're going to get caught!"

"I won't! Harry has-"

A magical item which the Slytherin girl correctly chooses not to disclose yet. Though it mattered little to Malfoy for now, his brow ridge still firmly forming that hateful glare.

"I won't let you. Not after everything you did to me..."

His scolding fizzled out at the painful realization just how much damage Marley has caused, even if she didn't necessarily cause anything, so to speak.

After the little House Point incident a while back, the blonde boy had not been able to recover socially, having been pronounced as an outcast by an overtly cruel number of people. Even Crab and Goyle left his side, forming a new sort of clique with the latter taking on the mantel of nastiest pest on Earth.

It wasn't her fault, not at all. And it wasn't like Marley taking the fall for everything would suddenly solve things.

But she did still feel bad about it, regardless.

"So?", Malfoy began with his arms crossed, "Should I tell the head boy or go straight to Snape?"

"You could do neither."

Why in the world her voice carried this much compassion and beauty despite the dire situation no one knows, the other Slytherin least of all."

"Why should I-"

"You could let me go, Draco. I'm not doing this for selfish reasons. Please. Trust me!"

Remaining where he stood, his mind still went to 27 different directions simultaneously, sympathy being the one he had been told to avoid for all of his life.

Yet Marlene Verpe seemed to push him down that path somehow.

"Why should I trust you?", his venomous voice suddenly rang with quiet and curiosity, like that of any regular eleven-year-old, "Why should I trust a... stranger?"

"You could trust a friend."

Finally – finally – Draco uncrossed his arms, the metaphorical roadblock having been opened like a motorway gate. He did not add anything, nor did he actually confirm any clear sign of open trust, though for Marley it was enough that she was able to quietly exit without any more pushback.

Maybe she finally got to him. Or maybe Madonna was the real lucky charm all along.