𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍𝐄𝐃¹ - 𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬 // 𝐆.𝐖. - 𝐃.𝐌.

- 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞 -

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒.

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𝕾he was sitting on the roof of the manor, her dangling feet swinging back and forth and her gown rising from time to time by the movement of the wind blowing fervently against her.It was still dark when Marie had gone out to watch the first light of dawn climb the peaks in the horizon. She missed doing it. She couldn't even remember when it was the last time she'd done it. Things had changed now, since Sirius had given her the news of the letter something had changed as if the pages of his life had been torn and replaced with new ones.She hated to think it was intentional, that maybe Sirius didn't have enough money to keep it and therefore sent off on purpose to be picked up by Lucius. She hated to think that.

She took a deep breath, letting her lungs open to welcome the fresh morning air. She was cold, she felt the cold September wind adhere to her skin until she felt it take root in her bones, but she didn't want to go back inside. She hadn't been out of bed for days, they wouldn't let her allow it until the wounds in her chest were completely healed. They were all strangely talkative, ready to take care of her and treat her like a normal person. She had been allowed to roam the manor, eat meals with the others in the dining room, and visit the great Malfoy library. She could cross the boundaries of the estate and then return, decide whether to leave the portrait of the woman in the room and even send and receive letters via owl.

The pages of her life seemed to have torn off again, this time crumpled up, and then replaced with others. Fresh pages and without any writing to stain the white, the paper to smell of new.

For a moment, but only for a moment, she thought that perhaps, serving the Dark Lord wouldn't be so bad. She just had to spy, try to approach Harry Potter and then report everything to him. And maybe, if she had the dark mark too, she would have more freedom than before, the Malfoy family would stop chasing her and could continue to lead the life she wanted. Free and where no one would have been able to hinder her path.She only thought of it because she had no idea what Death Eaters really did and what the consequences would be if she didn't fully complete the mission for the Dark Lord. No, she didn't know. She was so blinded by her dreams that she never expected that very mark would lead her to ruin. To the most total destruction.

It was exactly like selling your soul to the devil, making a deal with him and mistaking him for the genie of the lamp. But every desire has a price. The more the amount increases, the greater the consequences to be paid. And this Marie did not know. She didn't know at all.

She put a hand over her eyes to keep the early sun from blinding her vision.She didn't leave there immediately, she wanted to savor the moment for good, taste the smell of dew that smeared the lawn, listen to the chirping chorus in her ears in the distance and enjoy the sweet and light sound of the fountain under her feet. It all seemed so damn quiet, as if sunrise and sunset had a switch to turn off the heaviest thoughts or stop the stress digging into his psyche.

"I should go down or I'll be late," she whispered to herself as she stared at her hands in her lap twisting between them. The heat of the sun gave Marie a slight relief in her legs, which were numb from the cold that bit her bones. She stayed there for another five minutes and then went back inside.

• -- ٠ ✤ ٠ -- •

The sun was still hidden in the leaves of the trees when Marie got on the train. It was cold, the sun's rays weren't enough to warm her arms. She felt goosebumps running from top to bottom, like a slimy snake sliding scaly down her spine.It was perhaps mid-September when she found herself walking down the long corridor of the train. Empty and silent. And cold too. Very cold.To be alone in September, it seemed that from summer it had immediately passed to winter, moving the autumn aside, locking it up somewhere in some corner.She opened any booth and holed up there, transfiguring her scarf into a blanket. It was good under a certain point of view .. No screams and noises, only the almost perceptible noise of the rails in motion. Not to mention the empty booths, it was good for her to get comfortable with her legs stretched across the seat, without worrying about some student who always ran out of seats or someone who wanted to join her, known or unknown.