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Marina looked at her reflection in the thin mirror in the Slytherin Common Room. In a few minutes, she would attend the Yule Ball.

Brushing a hand over her silky dress, she admired herself. Narcissa had been able to get her the most beautiful (and probably most expensive) dress in Hogsmeade. With golden details, it would make every girl envy her. Her dark hair was all dolled up, half-up, half-down; her lips stained with red, matching the uniform of her date.

"You look absolutely amazing," he told her, standing by the door, his hands in his pockets. His lips created a playful smirk.

"Well, tell me something I don't know..."

"Let's go then, My Lady," Isak said, reaching for her hand. She suddenly got tense — only Death Eaters used to call her that. He must have noticed how her muscles tightened, for he knit his eyebrows together, "What is it?"

She shook her head and placed her hand in his. His touch was warm. "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Tell me, who was your father, again?"

"Oh! Wait! I forgot something!" he said, quickly turning toward the door again. "Just go to the Hall, I'll be there in a minute."

And just like that, he disappeared out of the room, and she was left alone. He hadn't answered her question. Truth be told, she didn't want to go to the Ball with him. She wished to go with Harry, but she couldn't, for he had found a date long before she had.

Marina didn't think much of Isak. Walking out of the Common Room and setting off toward the Great Hall alone, a part of her wished that he wouldn't return. But she needed the clue to the Second Task, and he could give it to her. She had tried to get in contact with her father, but he wouldn't talk to her, and Junior was busy. She had proved that she could win the First Task without their help — she could manage to win another without them.

Trying to focus on something else than the Tournament, she thought about how lovely the Ball would be. She wasn't going to be at Isak's side at all times... The teachers had transformed the Great Hall into a winter wonderland, and she could not wait to see it. Standing outside the door to the Great Hall, she felt herself growing excited.

Marina watched Draco and Pansy stumble down the staircase, Draco in his usual black suit, and Pansy in a purple, short dress, smiling wider than ever. She waved at Marina like she was a princess.

"Are you standing here all alone?"

"Only for a second," Marina smiled, batting her eyes. "You look good, Pansy."

The Parkinson looked at the floor for a split second before her eyes met Black's again. "How I wish I could say the same to you, Primadonna."

Marina rolled her eyes, turning toward her cousin, only to find him staring at the staircase behind them with wide eyes.

There, on top of the stairs, stood Hermione Granger, clutching a rose in her hand. She was wearing a long, pink dress that sparkled as she stepped down the stairs. She smile wide at Marina, showing that her teeth were back to normal after the horrible incident. 

"I knew it! She could never get a date-" Draco began before his face turned to stone. Viktor Krum came walking towards Hermione, reaching out for her hand. He kissed it, and off they went. Hermione's cheeks had turned pink.

"Champions, it's time to line up!" Professor McGonagall entered the room, clapping her hands together. The other students near took her statement as a sign to leave.

Isak entered the room just as Harry did. For a second, Marina's eyes met Harry's, and he gave her a small smile. Isak then ran up to her, and she looked at him. In his hands rested a golden tiara which he reached to place on the top of her head. It matched her dress perfectly. Grinning, he cupped her cheek.

"You are truly the most beautiful girl in the world," he whispered. A warmth spread in a chest, which was hard to compare to anything she had felt before. She placed her hand in his again, and turned to look at the other Triwizard Champions.

First in line came the two, then Harry and Cho. She supposed Cho was beautiful, stunning. Supposed they were. She was wearing an ocean-green dress with gold details, her long, black hair falling down her back. His suit and red tie fit him perfectly. Behind them came Fleur and a boy Marina had never seen before, and lastly Krum and Hermione. They were all gorgeous, but Marina couldn't really take her eyes off Harry and Cho.

Marina was very familiar with big extravaganzas and dances like these. Coming from one of the most famous, celebrated, and respected families in the Wizarding World, she found herself getting dressed in large gowns and high-heels at least four times every year. When she was younger, Narcissa used to invite pure-blooded wizard families she admired to big feasts at Malfoy Manor. Men with controversial reputations would compliment Marina and reward her beauty with jewelry. The attention was great; it was not like she ran away and hid in her room when they approached her. Isak reminded her of them: strong, generous, tough. Hard to read. He was, however, the complete opposite of Harry. She wondered how she would ever be able to convince her heart that she was in love with the Boy Who Lived.

Professor McGonagall counted down the seconds before opening the great doors of the hall. Marina gasped; it was like a fairytale. The hundreds of students in the room had put on their best clothes, and were all turned to her to watch her make her entrance. Flitwick and his orchestra started playing music at once.

"It is time for the dance of the Champions!"

Isak's hand found Marina's waist. Krum's found Hermione's, but Harry's struggled. Marina could hear Cho whisper a small now to him.

The orchestra started playing the song of the waltz, and with that, the dance had officially started. Isak stepped his left foot forward, and Marina responded with stepping her right foot backward. Isak put his left hand up, and Marina put her right hand against his. Isak stepped his right foot forward, and Marina stepped her left foot backward, and so it went on.

Suddenly, both of Isak's hands gripped around her waist, and he lifted her up. They began to spin in circles. She glanced to her right, where she saw the Harry desperately trying not to step on Cho's toes, and didn't even attempt to hold her laugh back. Isak put her down again on the floor again, and now, the rest of the students and teachers joined in.

After minutes of spinning, the song came to a sudden halt. Everyone turned to the orchestra. Isak released his hands from hers and brought them high up in the air, eyeing her to do the same.

"Can you feel everyone watching us?" he asked her. "We're stealing all the attention."

The dancing went on and on, the orchestra playing slower songs. With elegance and grace, he spun her until she was the last Champion on the dancefloor. She supposed the others had grown tired or given up.

"Tell me," Marina said in a low tone, "what your plan is now. We have everyone's eye on us. Isn't this what we wanted?"

He clicked his tongue. The dance ended, though he did not let go of his grip around her waist. Isak bowed down to her level, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Do you want to get out of here? I can show you how to get the clue you need."

"Now?" Chills went down her spine.

He gestured toward the door. "We have to do it now, while everyone is in here."

"Alright."

"Go get the Golden Egg, then."

And so, they did. They walked back to the Common Room, and while he stood there, looking around, she ran to her Dorm Room and retrieved the Egg. Nobody had seen them sneaking out of the Ball. At least not anyone she knew of. They were alone, now.

"Where are we going?"

"Up," he said calmly. "Tell me, Marina, have you tried opening the Egg underwater?" She shook her head. "That's what you have to do. My friend was kind enough to give me the password to the Prefects' Bathroom — you see, I think that's where we have to go to get your clue to the next task. I've heard that it's the place for a bath."

"Your friend?" she echoed. "A Prefect here?"

"Diggory. Cedric Diggory."

Marina knew Diggory had put his name in the Goblet of Fire at the start of the year. She had overheard a group of Hufflepuffs talking about how they used to be certain his name would fly out of it so he could compete and win. He was probably preparing for the tasks as if he was in the tournament, she thought.

Marina and Isak made their way to the fifth floor. "Okay, this is going to sound crazy, Marina, but a few years ago, my Father told me a story," Isak began as they walked up the stairs. "In which this man received a Golden Egg with a secret message as a gift, but the only thing the man heard when he opened the egg was distant screaming. He didn't understand what to do. He stayed up all night trying to think of an idea on what to do, but nothing helped. Then, one day, he lost his egg into a lake when bathing. He swam down to the bottom of the lake to get the egg, and just as he picked it up, he accidentally twisted it and it opened. That was when he heard a song, and he finally understood the message. It was someone begging for help, a long lost lover, and now he could help them."

She was struggling to understand everything he said because of his accent, but she let him continue.

"I think that's why Father made that Golden Egg such a large part of the Tournament. He's inspired by the story."

"I don't know..."

He quickly turned to her, his face twisting. "Just trust me!"

She thought that a whole challenge inspired by a childhood story would be madness, but it wouldn't hurt her to try opening the Egg underwater.

"Nobody can see this, alright?" he whispered, hovering over the lock to the door to the Prefects' Bathroom. He whispered a password to the lock. Marina looked at him with a confused look on her face.

The old door opened; Marina could not even think before Isak had run inside the bathroom. She doubted if she really wanted to go inside. But after a minute or two, she followed him. And that, she did not regret: the room was like a paradise. A swimming pool-like run sunk deep into the floor with golden bath taps surrounding it, shooting out soap bubbles that were floating around mid-air, and pictures of mermaids plastered on the big windows. One of the mermaids, who was playing with her hair, looked Marina directly into her eyes and nodded wisely.

"I want to be a Prefect," Marina managed to press out, her hand covering her mouth.

Without answering her, he ran to the bathtub. He tapped the taps, and the bath started filling up with water; the bath taps running different-colored water. Isak sat down next to the side of the tub, reaching for a bar of soap, and throwing it in the bathwater. Looking at the tub, one would imagine it would take quite some time to fill, but it actually filled remarkably fast. Soon, the water turned pink, and the bubbles every color of the rainbow. "Nice, huh? Try not to get that beautiful dress wet."

Marina nodded her head as the boy smiled, looking at her with glints in his eyes. "So, you think I should drop the Golden Egg to the bottom of the pool and go after it?"

"Something like that."

The mermaid on the window beside her began humming quietly.

Sitting down on their knees beside the bathtub, Marina lowered the egg underwater, and looked at Isak. At the same time, they drew one last breath and dived their heads underwater. She twisted the top of the egg, carefully opening her eyes, feeling the water sting. Just what Isak had hoped would happen, happened: a wall of angelic voices sang out.

Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
An hour long you'll have to look,
To recover what we took.

Marina threw her head above water, gasping for air. "Isak, you did it! You figured it out!"

She closed the Golden Egg and glanced up at the mermaid on the window, who was still staring at her. That was when she noticed Isak was no longer by her side, but standing by the window, looking between her and the mermaid.

"Don't you think I know who you are, Black?" he spat, a sudden harsh look on his face.

"What?"

"I know your father well, that traitor, defying his master like that."

Getting to her feet, feeling water from her hair drip on her dress and shoulders, she tried to make sense of his words. There was no way he knew about her father...

"Daughter of a traitor," he spoke smoothly. When she tried to take a step forward, he reached into his pocket. Marina's whole body froze: he was finding his wand. Panicking, she reached inside her dress to search for her own. "Don't move! I said- Crucio!"

Marina fell to the floor. The familiar pain she used to feel in nightmares about her father attacked her body. The feeling of hot knives stabbing every part of her made her want to scream, but she couldn't. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Circling her with his wand pointed at her as if the curse wasn't already driving her insane, she realized that he was preparing to torture her longer than the Dark Lord himself had done. Marina began choking. Tears came rolling down her cheeks.

"You see, my father knew your father quite well, actually," his calm voice spoke as he put his wand back in his pocket, finally lifting the curse off her. She lay there fragile, trying to breathe. "He was broken when your father passed away. Didn't talk for weeks. I was young and couldn't understand why. But now that I know the story, I can finally avenge him. I'll start with you, simple girl, and then work my way through your family, killing them one by one!"

There was a sudden light that appeared, taking over the room and blinding Isak as he turned around to face the girl again. It flew around the room, silently, before hitting Marina straight in the chest. She let out a scream of pain - and just for a second, she felt nothing. No fear, no pain, no sadness. It was as if someone had taken control over her body.

"Avada Kedavra!" she screamed, her voice darker than ever, moving her wand in a lightning bolt-like movement. A green light shot out of her wand like a flash and hit the boy square in the back.

Marina breathed heavily, with her wand still pointed at him, her curls now dangling across her face. The light broke out of her body, blinding her in an instant. She could feel again - a strong, deep feeling of fear and remorse filled her body. The boy lay on the floor, eyes white and wide open.

Marina Black was only fourteen and had ended a life.

"Marina?" a soft voice asked. She recognized the voice right away. She let go of her wand, dropping to her knees.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Marina?"

"I'm so sorry," she yelled. "I'm so sorry!"

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