The Mark of a Death Eater

The Beginning

Crash!

I woke with a start. 'What's going on?' I thought, dazed, my heart beating slightly out of rhythm. I looked out the window, bewitched to look like the sky outside. Rain was pouring down the window while lightning and thunder flashed overhead. 'Good storm,' I thought vaguely.

I was lucky to have this window. There was one in each room in the Slytherin dorm. Even then, it only pictured rain pouring down it when it rained or a dull silver or yellow glow depending on the sun or moonlight. The other windows were greenish and gave a murky feel because of the lake. This window was a blessing.

I felt my stomach rumble almost as loud as the thunder and was suddenly aware of how hungry I was. I reached down under my bed and pulled out a thin, silvery, lightweight sheet. An invisibility cloak; my pride and joy. I threw a gown on and wrapped the cloak around me.

I glanced around the room warily. The figures of Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis and the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astoria were all spread out on their respective beds. Astoria never slept in our room but for some odd reason she was encamped next to her sisters bed. She seemed down lately, perhaps that was why.

From all the Slytherin girls, my least favourite is Pansy. She's a giggly, nosy, gossiping, stuck up prat who thinks highly of herself for absolutely no reason. Apart from all that, she's just plain annoying. Daphne is my best friend, we've been that way since third year. Astoria is alright, but she's 2 years younger than the rest of us and she's really proud. She walks straight and sits upright and even sleeps like a queen. Really, her back and legs don't even curl! You cannot be friends with a girl who can't slouch properly. I tip-toed across the floor, carefully avoiding Pansy's magazines and Daphne's make-up. For girls, we're kind of messy.

I walked into the common room. It was perfectly empty, except for a boy with a book open on his lap. Pale, whitish-blonde hair was visible above the head of the chair. Malfoy. What was he doing awake this time of the morning? I slowly walked towards him and looked at the book on his lap: A Dementer's Kiss and the Effects of a Patronus. A stack of parchment and a tall green and black quill lay on the table. He was still busy with his essay? That was due last week. Ah, well.

I walked out of the Slytherin dorm and closed the door softly behind me. I wandered through the many doors and passages of the school until I reached the painting of a large bowl of fruit. I tickled the pear, heard it giggle and then turned the doorknob it had turned into. I was so grateful for my invisibility cloak. It had wiped out all of my inheritance when I'd bought it but it was worth it. Especially when one is half dying of hunger. We'd had an important test that day, so I'd skipped breakfast to study (I usually don't eat it anyway), then skipped lunch to study (because i wasn't really hungry), and having barely slept the night before (due to studying) I ended up falling asleep and missing dinner. So it should be understandable as to why I was in the kitchen at 02:45am.

The kitchen wasn't full, but it wasn't empty either. Half of the house elves were doing dishes, cooking and cleaning, a few were sleeping on dirty rugs stretched out on the opposite side, and I guessed that the rest were cleaning up the school. A very tiny house elf with enormous violet eyes came running up to me smiling. "Miss Emma! Miss Emma! It's so nice to see you, Miss. Is you you wanting food?"
"Uh, yeah. How are you doing Tinkle?" I asked.
The tiny elf beamed at me. "Oh very good! Tinkle has been raised to the third stage for the kitchen!" Her eyes shone with excitement.
"Uh... right." I had no idea what the third stage for the kitchen was, but I tried to look thrilled.

In a short while, the elves had brought me crumbed chicken and baked potatoes. I asked for an apple crumble for dessert and they happily obliged. After I ate, feeling rather full, I threw my cloak over my body and began walking back to the Slytherin dungeon. I strolled at a leisurely pace because I had absolutely no need to rush.

When I reached the door, I whispered the password (Hebridean Black) and pushed through into the common room with a smile on my face. Malfoy sat in roughly the same position I had found him in. I wondered if I should wake him; he was going to be in a lot of trouble tomorrow if he had outstanding homework. I decided to not - he'd never know anyway - and made for my dorm.

"I know you're there," a voice said, nearly giving me a heart attack. I paused at the foot of a doorway, hesitating, my heart trying to recover from near death.

Well.
I guess he was already awake.