thirty-seven

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The week went by slowly. Katie Bell had been removed to St. Mungo's Hospital and the news about her injury had spread all over the school. Marina and Blaise kept quiet about what had happened that day in Hogsmeade.

Christmas was approaching. Hagrid had single-handedly delivered twelve Christmas trees for the Great Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Marina had spotted large groups of girls who tended to converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time Harry went past. Not that she cared, though - she found herself much more interested in the Half-Blood Prince's old copy of Advanced Potion-Making (or at least she pretended it was immensely interesting to read every time Harry was in sight).

On December 1st, Marina found herself standing in front of the gigantic mirror in her dormitory, trying to fit a lilac silk dress Narcissa had given her on. She combed through her raven hair and hid her wand inside her dress, and an hour later, Blaise was happy to escort her to Slughorn's little Christmas dinner. He tried to explain to her what the so-called Slug Club was. She concluded that it was ridiculous, and imagined that the professor only wanted her to dine at his table because of her last name.

Whether it had been built that way, or because he had used magic to make it so, Slughorn's office was much bigger than any other teacher's. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings. The room was extremely crowded, and the sound of music and laughter so loud it hurt Marina's head. A number of house-elves (including Kreacher, who had just gotten a job in the kitchens), were negotiating their way squeakily trough the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

Slughorn, wearing a tassel velvet hat to match his smoking jacket, came waltzing over to Marina and Blaise, his face lighting up. "I knew you two would come!" he cried.

"Of course, Professor," answered Blaise, grabbing a drink and turning on his Slytherin charm. "Wouldn't have missed another one of your marvelous parties."

Slughorn's lips curled upward before he walked away. A few Ravenclaw students, who Marina assumed were at the dinner because they were excellent Quidditch players, were quick to take the professor's spot and start a conversation with Blaise. And he happily talked back to them, his arm around Marina's waist - her face went visibly pale. His touch was nothing like Harry's; she stiffened up, already growing tense.

"Black, huh?" began one of the Ravenclaw boys. With brown hair that fell into his eyes, and a suit that seemed like it was two sizes too small for him, he took a step forward. "Yeah, you're the one who almost got murdered in the Triwizard Tournament, aren't you?"

He turned to his friends and let out a laugh that made Marina's stomach turn.

"No - she's Potter's chick, isn't she?" said the short blond behind him. "But I guess you're free now, for I haven't seen you two together in a while."

He began to look her up and down and bit down on his lower lip. Marina grew immensely uncomfortable at his actions. She hoped for Blaise to step in and cut them off, but he never did.

"Professor Slughorn!" cried a loud voice across the room. All the boys twisted their heads its way; Marina took the opportunity to move away from Blaise. The voice belonged to Argus Filch, who was dragging Draco by his ear. "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Draco pulled himself free of Filch's grip, looking furious. "Alright, I wasn't invited!" he spat. "I was trying to gatecrash, happy?"

Marina stared at Draco. He looked ill, with a distinctly grayish tinge to his skin and dark shadows under his eyes. She stepped forward just as Snape did.

"I'll escort him out," said Snape calmly to Slughorn.

"Certainly," answered Draco and took a step forward, "Professor."

They left, Snape leading the way. Marina stood there for a moment until Slughorn clapped his small hands together and the attention turned back to the party, the chatter breaking out again. Then, she snuck out into the corridor after them, her high heels clicking against the floor, her dress flowing behind her.

"...cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled-"

"I didn't have anything to do with it, okay?"

It was obvious that the two were trying to keep their voices down, but Marina heard every word they said. She snuck behind a wall in the corridor, and tried her best to keep silent.

"I hope you are telling the truth. You are suspected of having a hand in it..."

"Who suspects me?" said Draco angrily. "For the last time, I did not do it! That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about - hey, don't look at me like that!"

A short silence followed. Then, Snape sighed loudly. "Listen to me, Draco: I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco-"

"Oh! Like you promised Bellatrix you would protect Marina? Looks like you're failing, mate, and I think you'll have to break those bloody vows. We don't need your stupid protection, we've got a plan and it's working perfectly fine!"

"Keep your voice down!" cried Snape, for Draco's voice had risen excitedly. "You are speaking like a child."

Marina heard Draco curse twice, then footsteps leading down the corridor. In a matter of seconds, they were gone. She turned back to the door of Slughorn's office, and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't know what shocked her the most - that Snape had made the Unbreakable Vow, that Draco had lied about their plan of the repair of the Vanishing Cabinet going fine, or the fact that Draco had just called the Head of their House mate and cursed in his face.

Marina bumped into something hard; she had to step backward to not lose her balance. At first, she thought it was Snape who had come back, but soon realized that the person was invisible. Or rather: he was hiding under something invisible.

She reached forward, and tore the Invisibility Cloak off Harry.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" she said. Harry went red as Marina shoved the Cloak into his arms. "Well, can you move away from the door? I'm trying to get into Slughorn's office... Unlike you, I have better things to do..."

"Are you sure you want to go back in there?" asked Harry. "You wouldn't prefer sneaking out of here?"

"No, I would not." Marina said, and shook her head. As Harry seemed like he was not going to move by himself, she simply pushed him away, and entered the room on her own. "I'm going to find my date."

Harry followed right after, putting the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket.

"I think he's doing fine on his own," he said, and pointed at a laughing Blaise who had now found a new girl he held close in his arms. This one was taller than Marina, with a short, red dress, ocean blue eyes, and blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. "Bit of an arsehole, isn't he?"

Marina bit the insides of her cheeks. Slughorn stepped forward, clapped his hands together and hummed loudly. "Please, everybody, sit down," he said.

"Come on, Marina," whispered Harry into Marina's ear, standing behind her. "I know that you don't want to be here. Give me one night - just one night, when we don't have to worry about anything or anyone else..."

She took a deep breath, feeling incredibly stupid for ever thinking that she could have survived a night in Blaise's company. She looked at Blaise with disgust before she turned to Harry, looked into his eyes, and said: "Anywhere is better than here."

Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak again. By the time he and Marina had found their way out of the castle, the moon was shining, and the air had turned cold. The first snowfall was swirling toward the naked ground.

"Where are we going?" asked Marina.

"We're going to meet someone who couldn't get into the castle," answered Harry simply. "That might be because they almost blew it up with fireworks last time they were here..."

"This can't be good."

Harry smiled a gentle smile, and they walked off the school grounds, still hearing the chatter and music from Slughorn's dinner from afar, but ignoring it.

"I forgot to tell you how beautiful you look tonight," he pressed out nervously. "Well, actually, you look beautiful every day."

Marina tilted her head down to hide her red cheeks as Harry tried to intertwine their hands.

"...but couldn't they just have done it themselves?" asked a distant voice.

"Of course not, they're only 16!" answered another, slightly louder. Marina took off the Invisibility Cloak. Fred and George stood behind a tree, busy screaming at each other, and she didn't even bother to hide her smile anymore; her face glowed as George threw his arms up in the air. "Little one!"

"Er- I'm sorry," interrupted Harry, "but we don't have much time, do we?"

"Oh, that's right," mumbled Fred, and stepped forward. "Marina, you have Apparated before, right?"

She nodded. George walked to stand beside her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, while Fred placed his on Harry's.

"Good," said George, "then, hopefully, you won't get sick."

The familiar flashing colors were all that she could see for a second; the feeling of her stomach doing a thousand flips; cold air was replaced by great warmth, and before she knew it, a crack was heard, and they were standing in a room she had never seen before.

Boxes were piled up to the ceiling. There were bins full of trick wands. The walls had been painted red, and fireworks were constantly exploding above them. The place was gigantic, but there was no one else there.

George let go of her, and sent a wink her way. Fred looked around the room for a second, and then, just like that, the twins Disapparated with another crack.

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Marina asked Harry.

"In Fred and George's joke shop? Of course. We were the ones who paid for it, weren't we?"

Marina stayed silent for a moment. She thought of how Harry had already planned the night out before even knowing if she wanted to sneak out of the party. He had probably spent some time pitching his idea to Fred and George to get them to help him Apparate her to the joke shop, too. Harry knew her inside-out. He knew where to take her, how to make her forget about the rest of the world. Feeling her face go warm, she turned and looked around the room. That's when she spotted the huge sign that hung on the wall beside them. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, it said, because why are you worrying about You-Know-Who when you should be worrying about U-No-Poo, the constipation sensation that is gripping the nation?!

Shocked, she took a step back. Harry, however, looked at it, read it, and burst into laughter.

"Don't laugh!" cried Marina. "That sign is going to get them killed!"

"That's nothing!" smiled Harry, and walked to a shelf of products. She walked to stand beside him. "Look at this - this is what's going to get them killed."

He picked up a tub labeled EDIBLE DARK MARKS - THEY'LL MAKE ANYONE SICK!

Marina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Idiots."

"Well, they are a pair of some quite entertaining idiots." 

They walked around the store, laughing at the ridiculous names the twins had given their products. It was dark outside, and with little light inside the store, it felt much more calming than it normally would have. Marina drew her wand, and said: "Lumos." Her eyes landed upon a box of JELLY FLOWER BEANS - TO BLOCK OUT THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH LOVE. "This is what Fred and George tried to give me when we spent Christmas at the Weasleys' last year..."

"Yeah," smiled Harry, "and then Ron took them. You'd think he'd be used to getting tricked, but I have never seen him surprised as he was when flowers began growing out of his ears."

Marina cracked up. "That was a good Christmas. It was the day I met Sirius, too. And jinxed him when he tried to greet me."

"I forgot about that!" Harry burst out, and threw his head back. A warm feeling spread through Marina's body. "You knocked him out, didn't you? It was at that moment he was sure you were a Black."

"I probably should have been a little more kind. But can you blame me? I was expecting a calm and normal Christmas, not to meet my crazy uncle who I didn't even know was my uncle..."

Harry laughed before he took a deep breath. "I miss him," he whispered.

"I do, too," admitted Marina. "Even though we mostly fought... It was great knowing that there was somebody left in the family I could trust... And I really, really loved those late nights in the Gryffindor Tower when we chatted with him through the flames in the fireplace... It was kind of scary, though..."

"That was because of Umbridge. I'd prefer sending him letters, but she went ahead and took Hedwig from me."

There it was: the name that created a knot in Marina's stomach. She looked at Harry, and felt tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry about Hedwig, Harry..."

"Don't be sorry," he replied. "It wasn't your fault."

"But what if it was?" whispered Marina with a shaky voice. "They took her... and they took Louis... and-"

"It wasn't your fault. I could have helped you. I could've gone to Malfoy Manor to help you..."

"No, you couldn't have. They would've killed you in an instant. They killed Louis without even hesitating, and he was only a child. He did nothing wrong, Harry, and they killed him for fun, right in front of my eyes... And Hedwig... they only killed her because I wanted to write to you... If I had just told her to leave, and go back to you right away, none of this would've-"

Harry shot forward and wrapped his arms around her.

Only then, she realized that she was crying and shaking violently. The fireworks above them quit and fell to the ground. She dropped her wand, and let it all go; she let it hurt. For the first time, she let it hurt. She let the tears run down her cheeks, and she let herself cling onto Harry like her life depended on it.

"You know... When all of this is over... You and I will settle down together, and we'll forget about this," Harry whispered softly. "We're going to win this battle, right? And we will grow old together."

Marina nodded. She couldn't speak, but let her head rest against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Maybe, Harry was all that she needed to survive this fight. Maybe, Harry was the only reason why she carried on.

Soft music was being played on the radio across the room. "Can you hear that?" asked Harry after what seemed like an eternity of silence. She pulled away from him, pink-faced. Her tears and make-up had stained his suit, but he didn't seem to care. She nodded, to which he reacted with reaching out a hand and taking a deep bow.

"Harry... There is no way I am dancing with you. I saw how you danced at the Yule Ball."

"What?" said Harry and let his jaw drop, acting very offended.

"I love you, but your dancing is horrible."

"You love me?"

"Shit-"

"You know," said Harry slowly and took a step forward. He reached for her hand, and she let him take it. It was the one with carved-in words, and it fit in his so well that she wondered if it was made only for him. "I never got the chance to say it back to you."

She almost rolled her eyes. "That was because you were unconscious when I told you, you bloody idiot-"

"I love you, Marina Darya Black."

They stood in silence for a second. Harry smiled gently and led her out on the floor where there were no boxes. She put her other hand on his shoulder, the warm feeling never leaving her chest. Slowly, they swayed, looking into each other's eyes.

"I love you so much it hurts," he continued. "I'm sorry I was not there for you when you needed me. I don't ever want that to happen again. I want to be with you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I love you."

"And I love you, Harry James Potter," Marina answered quietly. "As long as you're by my side, I'll be alright."

And he leaned in so carefully to kiss her, her chest managed to explode with love before his pink lips even touched hers. When they pulled apart, he brought their linked hands above her head, and she spun around herself, not a worry in her head. It was just them, and it was beautiful.

Her back meeting his chest and stomach, she leaned her head back, and he whispered into her ear again, "I should dance with you more often. You look so stunning now."

With heavy breaths and beating hearts, they stayed in the shop for the rest of the night, forgetting about pain and sorrow.

For each hour, Marina realized that there was no one else she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but him.

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