Marina wiped away yet another tear away from her cheek.

A Death Eater had once told her that the only way to remove the Imperius Curse was to find the one who had cast it and make them remove it. If they refused to do so, the only way out was to kill them. Yet, Snape and Dumbledore had been able to make her come to her senses again.

Now, she laid in a bed in the Hospital Wing, waiting for Pomfrey to give her permission to leave. She wanted to go home. Every part of her was hurting, her heart throbbing with every beat of her heart. Her body was marked with wounds that would surely turn into scars, but worst of all was her memories of her not being able to control herself while hurting and torturing him...

The large door beside them opened. Draco rose up from the chair beside her bed. "Think you can find your way out again, Scarhead."

She turned to watch him walk in. There was a mixture of blood and dirt smeared on his face. He rolled his large eyes when Draco came sprinting up to him.

"You're probably the one who did this to her!" Draco spat, trying to act tough, but his fragile voice not letting him.

"Shut up." Harry groaned. Draco's eyes flickered down to Harry's bloody sleeve, and he took a step back.

Marina sat up straight. "Draco, can we have a minute?"

He put a hand up to his heart as if he was offended and hurt. Giving one last huff, he marched out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Harry walked to sit on the edge of Marina's bed. Now that he was close to her, she could see that he was holding back tears.

"Are you alright?" she asked, moving closer to him.

He nodded. "And you? Do you remember anything?"

"Yes," she gulped.

"What?"

"I didn't mean to-" Before she could continue her sentence, she broke down. Her lungs gave in, and she let out a heartbreaking sound as she covered her face with her hands.

"Marina, it wasn't your fault..."

"I hurt you..."

"You didn't mean to." His voice was gentle. "Listen, I know you didn't. You were under an Unforgivable Curse. I'm just glad you are okay."

Marina's crying stopped for a moment as she looked up at Harry. He was so kind and forgiving. It was in times like these when she wondered how she was ever supposed to fool him and break his heart.

"And lucky is her," Pomfrey spoke, entering the room again. "If it hadn't been for Snape, she would still be under the Imperius Curse!"

"Snape?" Harry echoed.

"He was able to remove the curse," Marina explained. "It was hard, though."

Harry smiled for a second. "You know, Krum didn't want to hurt you."

"He tortured me," Marina said bravely while shifting in her seat.

"It was Moody - no - it was actually someone else, who put him under the Imperius Curse."

"Who?" Marina faked a surprised tone as if she had no idea who he was talking about.

"Marina, Moody hasn't been who we have thought he has been. Do you know the Crouch family?" She nodded. "Turns out Barty Crouch Junior wasn't dead after all. He has used Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Moody."

Marina's eyes grew wide - they had found him. They had found out Junior's secret. The last 24 hours had been a nightmare for her. This was the cherry on top of it all. Aurors were probably hurting him now. "Where is he?"

"Dumbledore took care of him. He confessed to putting our names in the goblet. He served Voldemort," Harry continued, watching Marina flinch at his use of the Dark Lord's name. "He was mad."

"Is it over, then? If Dumbledore got him, are we going to be okay?"

"No." Harry looked down. "Lord Voldemort has returned."

"No one is safe," she completed his sentence. How would he have acted if Tom had said she was his daughter before they left the graveyard? She bit down on her lip.

"Exactly," he spoke, leaning back in his seat. A silence spread through the room, both knowing in that a few hours, they would part.

Nobody in the Manor realized what was happening the first nights. They would hear her piercing screams until they echoed in their heads, her fists meeting the walls until the thick red was dripping onto the floor, the books on the bookshelf falling to the floor with a thud. Her eyes would become a little redder every morning, her hair a little messier, and her lips more chapped.

Being back in the Manor was hard, to say at least. The rooms had become darker and emptier. The Drawing Room that Marina loved so dearly, which she and her cousin would normally have enjoyed by sitting in front of the green fire for hours talking, hearing her aunt's cat purring in the background, was now the one room she didn't dare to step a foot in.

She had tried occupying her mind with books and stories in the start, trying to forget the year that had passed. When that didn't help, she would find her way to the garden, the oh so beautiful garden, covered in black roses and statues of deceased family members, but she could still hear the screams from far away.

At nighttime, the dreams would come. The nightmares. "I will work my way through your family, killing them one by one," Isak would whisper to her every night, moments before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. She could still remember the sound of his body dropping, his wand falling to the floor, her cousin screaming from behind her. She could still remember explaining, lying, to her best friend how she had found her Yule Ball partner dead on the floor and that she didn't have a clue who the ruthless murderer could be. She could still remember his shaky hand wiping away her tears.

She could still remember the Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute, Igor Karkaroff, yelling in anger at Lucius telling him that one of his students had been found dead. She could still remember her father lighting Karkaroff's Dark Mark when he was to avenge his student's death. It was a warning. The small pain was enough to stop him. What he had told the other Durmstrang students, what he had done with the body, Marina didn't know, but none seemed to remember Isak the day they left Hogwarts.

And what a day that had been. She couldn't bear to say goodbye to Krum, no matter how much Harry tried to persuade her that he wasn't dangerous, that he had been cursed before the third task. She watched him kiss Hermione goodbye from afar, Ron standing behind her, looking at them with a disgusted look. Fleur had kissed his cheek, before approaching Marina to give her a big hug and kiss her cheek. She was certain that she would somehow return to the country to improve her English.

Then there was Harry. The boy she just could not explain. He had awkwardly approached her to say goodbye and give her a patch of paper: "Write to me."

But half of the break had already passed, and she had yet to pick up the quill. She didn't know where to begin: thank him for saving her life in the Third Task? Ask him how he was doing? Ask if he had nightmares, as well?

Lucius had seen him at the Ministry of Magic a few days ago. He had supposedly used magic outside of Hogwarts, resulting in him getting expelled. But Marina knew he would find a way out of the problem, he always did. Besides, it was probably one of her father's doing anyway. Not that he would tell her - she was kept in her bedroom all day, sometimes in the kitchen to eat, while the Death Eaters would hold meetings in the Drawing Room. He was plotting something big, that she knew, but according to Rita Skeeter, many wizards were doubting his return. Those blind cowards.

Marina was spending her days training and learning spells and hexes. She had good trainers, skilled Death Eaters who had nothing but admiration for her, but she could only wish she had her mother by her side. Once she was out of Azkaban, everything would be alright. At least, that's what she hoped.

"Booklists have arrived, dear," the gentle voice of Narcissa interrupted her thoughts. The young girl let the snake Nagini slither off her lap before standing up. It was a wonder how Marina had managed to sneak her out of the Chamber of Secrets, to the train, to the Manor - but she had managed to do so without being caught.

Draco was opening his letter when Marina entered the room. He had pushed his book aside, the family's white owl sitting upon it.

"Two new ones, only two," he informed, "Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk."

"And who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, you think?" Marina laughed, sitting down on the chair beside him. "A cursed job."

Instead of reacting to Marina's joke, Draco's jaw dropped. His hand reached into the small envelope, and what he brought out made Marina's jaw drop, too: two small, silver and green badges lay in his palm.

"Prefect?"

"Prefects," Draco corrected her, handing her one of the badges. It had a gigantic 'P' on it. He playfully brought his up to his chest with a proud smile, "it will look quite excellent with my Quidditch robe, will it not?"

"I remember my days as a Prefect," a dark voice said. Lucius had entered the room and was staring at the two with a smirk on his thin face. "Punishing Gryffindors is actually quite fun. The Dark Lord was a prefect, too, I believe."

Marina smiled - she felt better knowing that the Prefect badge of Slytherin ran in her family. But she just couldn't quite understand why she had been chosen to become a Prefect. There was certainly someone in the Slytherin house with better grades than her. Was it because of the Tournament? Had Harry been chosen, too?

"I'm sure you will be lovely prefects," Narcissa said, walking over to the love of her life. "Make us proud."