The second detention with Umbridge was just as bad as the first. Marina would curse under her breath, eyeing her Professor, wanting nothing but to run outside, but she knew that if she did so, the toad would do everything in her power for her to lose her Prefect badge.

After the detention, she had silently found her way to the couch in the Common Room, but this time, Draco wasn't there to welcome her. She found her books and wrote her first Potions essay of the year, gripping her own quill until her knuckles turned white; there was no pain; she was safe in the Common Room. She wanted to stay there forever. She fell asleep, only to be awakened by Louis.

Wednesday was hard. The detention had become worse. Harry refused to speak to her. He didn't speak to Umbridge, either. After three days, their written words started to leave drops of blood as they carved into their skin. The Professor stopped Marina when the fifth drop of blood hit the parchment, and let her go.

She knocked on Professor Umbridge's office door at five o'clock on Thursday. She could see the Slytherin Quidditch Team fly out on the Quidditch Pitch from the window. She tried to get Harry's attention, to show him that the training had started, but he kept quiet and wrote his lines.

On Friday, the Professor dug her pink nails into Marina's arm to stop her from writing more. Her heart was thumping fast as the woman looked her up and down.

"I think I have made my point, Miss Black. You may go."

"I'm not leaving until Harry is," she spoke bravely, making Umbridge pout and Harry drop his quill.

"Well then," the Professor looked at Harry for a split second. "I suggest you get back to your writing."

Harry shook his head. Marina was already bleeding, and his hand was fine - well, not fine, but better; better than hers, just a little red. She bit the inside of her cheek and put the black quill down on the paper again.

'I shall not pride'. She let out a whimper.

'I shall not pride'. She clenched her fist.

"Well?" the nasty Professor smiled. She reached for Harry's hand. He moaned quietly. "You are excused."

Harry pulled his hand away from her grasp and grabbed his schoolbag from the floor. Marina let the quill fall to the table before the pair found their way to the door.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Harry whispered after the door had been shut. "Let me see."

Marina looked down. She brought her left hand to the sleeve of her Slytherin robe, carefully lifting it away from her right hand. She was still bleeding, her skin pink, the four words 'I shall not pride' carved into her.

"Let me see yours," she said, her voice shaky. He brought his hand up for her to see. His skin was red, a single drop of blood sliding down his hand.

"Ron saw it the other day," Harry said. "He wanted me to tell McGonagall."

"Did you?"

"No..." he spoke slowly. "I don't know how much power she got over Umbridge."

Marina suddenly felt very hopeless. Their Professor was abusing her power and wounding her students. Her voice breaking, she pressed out, "Dumbledore, then. Tell Dumbledore, Harry."

"He's got enough on his mind," he answered quickly, avoiding her gaze. "I- I don't know how."

Marina closed her eyes. She didn't know what to do - she didn't know who to turn to - who to tell. Five days had gone by, and she had not even dared to tell her best friend about what had happened to her.

She felt a tear fall down her cheek, and her hands were beginning to shake. She had to get away; Harry couldn't see her like this.

"Marina? Marina, breathe," Harry gulped, watching Marina with wide eyes. She tried to look at him - to meet his gaze - but her vision had disfigured.

The blood pounded in her ears. She had to get away. Her chest was burning as she tried to turn, but Harry quickly grabbed her. She flinched at his touch - she felt like she was being chocked. The boy carefully put his arms around her and pulled her close. His warmth welcomed her, as she hid her face in his neck.

"Breathe," he whispered softly. "We'll be alright Marina. We always turn out alright, don't we?"

Marina had discovered something new. Well, not new, she knew she could do it, she had done it before, but now, she genuinely enjoyed it. It was relaxing, and it took her mind off things. For once, she didn't think of the pink toad nor her mission. It was just her, slowly diving deeper and deeper down the lake of Hogwarts.

After detention last week, she had quietly snuck out of the Slytherin Dorm Room during the night. Pansy's snoring had gotten a little overhand, as had the nightmares, and Draco was nowhere to be seen in the Common Room as he normally would have been, holding Marina in his arms and telling her that it was all in her head.

She still saw Isak's face in her nightmares, those ocean eyes staring into her dark, right before he had threatened to kill her family. She didn't regret the murder, no, she would do it again to protect her family, but she could still cry about the memory of his body laying on the cold floor.

"Your father was a traitor," he had spat before his body hit the floor. But how did the boy know who her father was? She has never told anyone outside Malfoy Manor.

So, she had found her way to the Great Lake. The moonlight on her head like a crown, she had decided to try the spell she had used in the Triwizard Tournament once again. Wearing only a cloak, she threw it off and stepped into the water.

"Syreni Voco."

Little did she know that those simple words would change her life.

The familiar white light hit her knees once again, making her legs grow together. A sharp pain struck her neck - gills were starting to form once again. The skin between her fingers grew together, as her legs, or her new tail, turned into a color of deep green.

The icy October water shocked her system as she plunged beneath the surface of the ocean. Her heart raced, her chest tightened and her lips slowly turned to a color of dark blue as the water pulled her down, down towards the bottom of the lake. She threw her arms forward, parting the water with huge strokes, trying to swim away from the creature she hat spotted at the bottom of the lake.

Marina quickly swam towards the surface, the light welcoming her as she swam closer. She had spotted the creature several times now, swam close to it, but it seemed to do no harm to her. One time, early in the morning, she has met the Merpeople, who only looked at her with a curious look before swimming away. It was like in the Triwizard Tournament when the merpeople seemed to be angry at the other contestants, while they let her be - they didn't seem to care much about her.

She exploded from the water, throwing her head up from the surface, the gills on her neck quickly disappearing. She filled her lungs with sweet, life-giving air, and hoped for pleasure, but couldn't help but to let the overwhelming feeling of being watched take over her.

"I can't believe that they would hire someone so ignorant," Marina heard Hermione cry. She snapped her head her way, her eyes landing on the shore. The Gryffindor had Ron by her side as they walked towards Hogsmeade. Why, Marina had no other choice but to follow them.

They walked down the main street past Zonko's Joke Shop, before they found the entrance to the Three Broomsticks. Marina quickly threw the hood of her cloak over her head when Hermione threw one last glance behind her. When Marina was sure that it was safe, she stepped to the window to the bar. With one glance in, her heart sunk. There, in the corner of the bar, sat Neville Longbottom, Parvati and Padma Patil, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Hannah Abbott, the Weasley twins, along with Ginny, Terry Boot, and Harry Potter, with Cho Chang halfway on his lap, one arm around her shoulder.

Marina felt a pang in her stomach. She looked down, taking a few steps back. Why did she feel like this? Her hands were beginning to shake.

"Are you okay?"

Marina turned around. The girl now in front of her was small, an outcast Ravenclaw she could recall, with her wand behind her left ear and a necklace of Butterbeer caps around her neck. Her flowery, white dress was now dripping wet as the waves had washed up on land.

"Yeah, Lovegood, why wouldn't I be?"

"You have a beautiful tail," Luna answered with a light voice. "Can I show you something?"

Marina nodded. She wanted to get her mind off things. Luna turned around and began marching into the woods behind them. "Wait, when did you see my tail?"

They soon met an open landscape, trees parting out of their way. Luna stopped suddenly, only smiling at Marina. It was dark, cold, and the young Black suddenly wished she had brought a towel with her, but she knew that a dripping wet towel would wake too much suspicion when she entered the Common Room. She had yet to tell Draco that she still was able to transform.

Suddenly, a fog came over the woods. Marina's eyes grew wide as she watched three gigantic, dark creatures come running from behind the trees, shrills and strange shrieks escaping their gapes. Marina almost fell to the ground, but ended up clutching Luna's arm instead.

If Marina had had to give the creatures a name, she would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, as well. They were completely fleshless, making every bone in their body visible. Their heads were dragonish, their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to being to giant bats.

"You see them too, Marina Black," Luna said.

"What are they?"

"They are called Thestrals. They are gentle, really, but people avoid them because they are a bit... different."

"Wait!" Marina suddenly jumped, "I have seen them before! At the start of the school year, right? They were the ones pulling the carriages?"

"That's right," Luna said with her angelic voice. Marina was surprised at how calm she felt, being around the girl. She didn't feel the need to act mysterious, nor aggressive.

"But the others couldn't see them. I thought I had gone mad," Marina chuckled.

"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen death."

Marina froze. The only person she had seen dying was Isak. Did the Avada Kedavra curse count, when it was her who had cast it? Did Luna know about the murder?

"So you know someone who has died then, Lovegood?"

Luna nodded. "Mum. She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she did like to experiment. One day, one of her spells went badly wrong. I was nine."

"I'm... sorry." Marina gulped and looked down. "She sounded like a beautiful soul."

"It's okay. I do feel sad about it sometimes, but I do got dad." Luna whispered. "Are you okay? I saw how you looked at him."

"What?"

"At the Three Broomsticks. I saw you looking at him through the window. I see the way you look at him. It's like magic."

Marina turned suddenly, finding Luna staring at one of the dark creatures with a curious look as if she hadn't just spoken to her. "What do you mean?"

"He won't shut up about you, you know."

"Who?"

"Harry Potter," Luna said, still not moving at all.

"No." Marina shook her head. "No, he's with Chang-"

"Cho?" Luna snapped out of her trance-like state, turning to face Marina. "She's mad for Cedric, can't you see? Harry has been trying to convince the others you're worth it."

"The others?"

"In Dumbledore's Army. They're scared."

"What?" Marina furrowed her eyebrows, taking a step back. What was Dumbledore's army? Why were they scared of her?

"But Harry's on your side. You should talk to him."