"Great, so if you, Marina, could pair up with Neville here..."

Marina chuckled lightly as Harry hurried through his sentence, waving his wand around. It was the first meeting of the year for Dumbledore's army, and she was sure his head would explode if he got any more stress dumped on him.

"Ah, I see!" a smirk appeared on her face; she found herself in the mood for some teasing. "You're not pairing me up with yourself because you're scared I will kick your arse in another duel..."

"That duel was a tie!" he reminded her, staring at her back as she walked away. "Just like the Triwizard Tournament!"

"I literally set you on fire, Potter."

Neville was standing by the fireplace, clenching both of his hands around his wand. It seemed like the floor was more interesting than Marina, for when she shouted his name, he didn't even look up. She shrugged it off, waving her wand around her head twice, making her messy curls form a bun on the top of her head.

Umbridge's class had her even more tired and exhausted than on the normal. The woman had now begun giving the fifth-years weekly essays, and Marina had already enough on her plate, being a Prefect, a member of Dumbledore's Army, and having to learn more about her family. She figured, that since her father had been a Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts, that there must be some information about him hidden in the Slytherin common room. There was already a book dedicated to the Malfoys on the bookshelves in the boys' dormitory, so why shouldn't there be one about the Blacks?

"We're just practicing spells, right?" she asked Longbottom, who suddenly bolted his head upward. Marina was surprised to see that the bags under his eyes were even bigger and darker than hers. His red tie was loose and his lips chapped, and she was sure his hair had become even greasier than Snape's.

"I think so," he answered slowly, bringing a hand up to his face to wipe his nose.

Glancing to the side, Marina realized that several pairs had already started their practice. She hurried, drawing her wand and pointing it at the boy in front of her.

"Well, then, hit me. Do what you can: disarm me, stun me, throw me against the wall... your choice."

Neville didn't move. In fact, he stood perfectly still, though a Black was pointing their wand at him. He let his hand fall to his side, and took a step backward.

"Come on, Neville." He flinched at her use of his name, leaving Marina more confused than ever. "Don't you want to practice? Having a rough day?"

"Stupefy!" the Gryffindor suddenly shouted from the top of his lunges, pointing his wand at her. Marina jumped at once, closing her eyes and preparing to fall to the floor.

It was first after five seconds that she realized that nothing had happened. She opened her eyes again, only to find Neville on the floor, laying flat, his wand rolling away from him. He had failed miserably at the spell, only stunning himself.

Fred and George, who had not so surprisingly paired up to practice together, started howling at Neville from across the room.

"At least you tried, Neville," Cho said with her high-pitched voice, walking past the pair.

"Yeah," Cedric joined in, "you're definitely getting there..."

"Er- I think the mistake was your hand movement," Hermione said from behind them, brushing her hair out of her face. "Because you said the spell rather good, but you could have-"

Ron made a horrible grimace, and Hermione took it as a sign to close her mouth. Marina put her own wand in her pocket, and got to her knees to pick up Neville's wand and hand him it. The boy's face was now completely pink. She didn't dare to speak; it seemed like he wanted peace and quiet at the moment. He tilted his head upward, meeting her eyes.

There was something about the scene that made her stomach flip...

"Great, guys!" Harry suddenly shouted, making Marina jump for the second time. Neville shot out of his trance and snatched his wand out of her hands. "I think we're done for today. Same time next week, okay?"

The members of the army sighed in unison, most of them tucking their wands away before walking to the door. Marina reached a hand out for Neville to grab, but he only stayed in his position on the floor.

"Are you coming?" Harry approached the two.

He softly touched her shoulder. She looked between him and Neville, and decided that she needed to stay in the Room of Requirement for a little longer.

"Yeah, just go ahead," she said, standing up and brushing her knees.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, little lion, go run away," she laughed silently, reaching forward to kiss his cheek. He turned red at once.

"I'll wait in the hall, then."

Harry, now full of energy, ran to throw his arms around his two best friends' shoulders. Within seconds, they were gone, and the door to the room shut with a thud.

"I recommend getting up from the floor, Neville, it's dirty," Marina laughed. He finally moved. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he spat through gritted teeth.

She scanned his face and shook her head. "I know you're not. Trust me: I know that look on your face. You're hurting."

He looked down at his wand, a line forming between his eyebrows. His lip began to shake, his breaths getting heavier. She figured he was trying to gather up the courage to say something big. Turning around, she prepared to hear whatever he wanted to tell her.

"Is it true what they say about you?" he blurted out, stepping forward. Marina, who was now busy fixing her hair, let her hands drop to her side at once. "That your mother is Bellatrix Black?"

"What?" Marina turned around again, facing him, while her blood ran cold. He was clenching his fist around his wand so hard that his knuckles turned white. "Who told you that?"

"Are you?" he said, his voice louder than before.

"No, I am not!" She took a deep breath before continuing, "Neville, you need to calm down."

The boy stood completely still while his wand pointed at her. Marina saw the pain in his eyes - she recognized it. And Merlin, was she aware of how far people would go to hurt others when they were hurt themselves.

She flickered her hand, mumbling the disarming spell, watching his wand fly to her.

"Hey!"

"You'll get it back when you tell me what is wrong," said Marina calmly. "You're not yourself, Longbottom. Though we have only spoken a few times before, I can see that something is wrong with you. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Just tell me what is wrong."

Neville reached into his pocket, pulling out the same copy of the Daily Prophet that Draco had given her. She put both of their wands on the ground, sprinting to look at the paper.

"Is it Bellatrix? Did Bellatrix hurt you?"

"Not me..." he glanced at the paper, not daring to look Marina in the eyes. "Fourteen years ago, she used the Cruciatus Curse on my parents. She tortured them for information."

Just the name of the curse brought back dark memories. "Are they..."

"Yes. In St. Mungo's, but they can't..." he trailed off, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

"They must be proud of you," Marina shot in before he could open his mouth again. A single tear was rolling down her cheek, and Merlin, was she tired of tears. "Accio Neville's wand!"

The wand came flying to her hand at once. She pushed it against his chest harshly, snatching the paper out of his hands before turning to one of the gigantic manikins resting on the fireplace. The army was supposed to use them for training hexes, though it seemed like they mostly practiced them on each other.

"What are you doing?"

Marina ripped the first page of the paper out, anger in her eyes, and placed in on the manikin. Neville jumped at an instant, seeing Bellatrix laugh at his face and point at him.

"You are going to stun that woman," Marina spoke, "and I am not leaving until she hits the floor."

The boy looked down at his wand, unsure of what to do. When he had told Harry about his parents, he had shown sympathy and understanding. But then again, Marina Black was not Harry.

"Stupefy," Neville tried, his voice breaking while so. He pointed his wand at the manikin, holding his breath, though nothing happened.

"Where is the anger?" Marina walked to stand behind him. Her voice was now darker than usual, and she had bitten her lip until she tasted her blood. "I see no passion, no anger. You will not go far without the two."

"STUPEFY!" Neville tried again, only to find his wand falling to the floor.

"Is that everything you got?" she spat, thinking of how she had been trained herself. The Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor had pushed her to the very edge every time she learned a new curse - and it always seemed to work. She picked up his wand again, throwing it into his hand. "Show her how angry you are!"

"STUPEFY!" Neville roared, flickering his hand. The manikin fell to the floor at once, the page flying off it and into the fireplace. He watched the flames burn the laughing woman black before turning to Marina.

"I knew you had it in you, Longbottom," she simply said, grabbing her wand from the floor. "You are going to make your parents proud."

Her raven hair flowed down her shoulders as she walked to the door. They had stayed long - longer than she had intended. The sun had been replaced by the moon, and she was sure the dinner of the day had already been served.

"H-how about you, then?" Neville asked with a shaky voice just as her hand met the doorknob. "Who are you making proud?"

Marina smiled, though he could not see it. "My parents: Darya Swan and Regulus Black."

January seemed to be passing alarmingly fast. The topic of the murderous Death Eaters that had escaped Azkaban seemed to be the only thing people talked about, both students and teachers. Marina thought it was both cute and annoying how every time someone mentioned Bellatrix Black in the hallways, Harry would turn to her worryingly and ask her how she was feeling.

After the Christmas break, Marina felt more like herself than ever. For the first time since starting her years at Hogwarts, she was not picking on muggleborns, staying up all night with Draco, or trying to contact the Dark Lord to give him updates about her life. Instead, she had found something to fight for.

She could still recall the shocked faces of the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Lupin and Sirius when she had spoken the words: "they told me Voldemort was my father." Mrs. Weasley had let out a loud cry at once, and Harry had looked as if he was about to pass out at any moment.

She had gone on to explain how her childhood had been like, and their jaws just kept dropping lower and lower. "He told me I was the Heiress of Slytherin."

It didn't take long before Harry had shot up out of his seat, asking her if she was a Parselmouth. He had gulped as she nodded; for he could speak the language of the serpents, too.

February arrived quickly. The weather turned warmer and wetter, Umbridge meaner and uglier. She had begun to hover over Draco at all times, talking about how lovely his father was. Thus, Marina had officially started sitting with the Golden Trio instead of the blond Malfoy during classes. Whenever she would glance to the back of the classroom where he sat, Umbridge would stare at her until she turned her head again.

Marina had begun doing her daily Prefect inspections with Ron and Hermione instead of Draco, which made him scream at her each time they passed each other in the hallways. Her heart ached, for she wanted her best friend back, but he had been lying to her all her life.

Louis Allen had kept Marina up many nights to talk. His parents had finally come to accept that he was a serpent and not a lion, and he was over the moon because of it.

When everybody else had gone to bed, she found herself teaching the short first-year the most basic spells she knew of. She wanted him to become a strong wizard, and she knew well that Umbridge would never teach her classes the spells that Marina knew of.

He was incredibly clumsy, knocking things over each time he waved his wand. Marina couldn't count all the times where she had to throw herself on the floor to catch vases before they broke. At first, she had felt incredibly hopeless, but when she realized how much determination and ambition the boy carried inside of him, she decided that she was going to help him defend himself (for being a half-blooded Slytherin could be quite challenging these days, and you never knew who would attack next).

Pansy had stopped talking to her - not that she was complaining - but talked badly about her behind her back. Marina had decided to find out what the Slytherins truly thought of her, and borrowed one of the Weasley twins' extendable ears to listen to what they spoke off when she was in the dorm room. To her surprise, Draco kept quiet, and let Pansy and Goyle do the talking. Blaise had excused himself after a minute, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"That filthy bloodtraitor," Pansy had laughed loudly. "She doesn't deserve the Slytherin uniform, and don't even get me started on how bad of a Prefect she is!"

"I'll tell you what!" Goyle had burst out only a second after. "She doesn't deserve her last name!"

So, when she spotted Fred and George in the hallway the day after, Marina saw no other choice but to ask for their help to teach the Slytherins a lesson.

Little did she know that the twins would drag her up to the Gryffindor Tower.

The piercing, painted eyes of the Fat Lady stared down at her, scanning every inch of her. Black tried pointing at her sweater she had gotten from Mrs. Weasley, smiling wide, but the line between the lady's eyebrows did not disappear.

"She's friendly," Fred said, looking at the portrait.

"Really," George added, but Marina doubted them. "Mirabile dictu."

The Fat Lady only pursed her lips, not removing her eyes from the serpent. "This is not your common room, young woman."

"Er- yeah - it is!" Fred walked as close as he could to the painting. "Don't you recognize the witches of the Gryffindor house?" George let out a dramatic gasp, holding a hand over his heart. "She's attended this school for years! Shame on you!"

Marina's face had turned red as a tomato by the time the lady finally gave in. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it, Fred and George laughing and giving each other high-fives.

"Is this really a good idea?" Marina began. "I mean, I really appreciate your help and all, but if anyone sees me in here, I am definitely losing my Prefect ba-"

She stopped mid-sentence to pick up her jaw, which seemed to have fallen to the floor; the Gryffindor common room was nothing like the Slytherin common room. It was a circular room, decorated in different shades of red. Several books and Quidditch supplies lay on the floor. A gigantic fireplace dominated a wall, making the whole room lit up; in front of it, huge armchairs and a couch covered in clothes with a sleepy Potter on it.

"Relax," George smiled, "the others are eating breakfast, they won't be coming back in half-an-hour."

Harry shot up when he saw her, his hair messier than she had ever seen it. "What are you- How did you get in here?"

"Why aren't you in the Great Hall eating, Potter?"

"He's been having nightmares lately," Fred answered, running past the couch before Harry could even open his mouth.

"He's trying to catch up on sleep," George finished, turning to face Marina. He looked her up and down before smiling wide, his nose crinkling. "Wait here, little one, and we'll get your... items."

He winked at her before turning away, running up toward the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, dragging his twin with him. Marina sighed, walking to sit on the arm of Harry's couch.

"You look tired," she laughed, as he desperately tried to comb his hair with his hand (it only made it worse).

"You look beautiful," he quickly responded, watching her face light up at once. Though they have exchanged hugs and kisses on the cheeks for over a month, her stomach still made turns when he spoke to her.

"Here you go!" Fred and George came storming out of the dormitory, a suitcase carried between them. They walked to drop it on the couch, an inch away from Harry's leg, making him jump, his blanket falling to the floor.

"We got everything you need for a good prank," Fred sang, opening the suitcase to reveal a dozen of colorful toys. He picked a up a small box, his own face plastered on it. "This one is my personal favorite. It will make your victim scream until they pass out."

"You already know this one." George reached for a piece of candy. "The one we tried to give you on Christmas Day - the one that made plants grow out of the victim's ear, remember?"

"Yes, I can recall Ron's whimpers when he lost his hearing, thank you very much."

"Oh! And this!" Fred grabbed a small, green ball, holding it up for everyone to see. "This is new!"

"What is it?" Marina took it from his hand, holding it up against the light to examine it. It had several holes in it.

"That's my favorite," George smiled, staring at her instead of the ball. "Once it hits the floor, it will shatter into a hundred pieces and let out a horrible green smoke, leaving everyone in the room green for days!"

"I'll take it!" Marina said without hesitation. "How much is it?"

George closed the suitcase with a smack. "The first one is on us."

"Er- may I ask what you are going to be using that for?" Harry shot in, sounding as if he was not sure if he really wanted the answer.

"Well, the Slytherins have been acting weird lately," she began, watching him nod in agreement, "so I borrowed those extendable ears from these two yesterday to listen to what was being said when I was not in the common room. Turns out, they have a lot to say about me when I am not there with them. So why not teach them a lesson not to talk shit by pranking them?"

"That's right, I'm so proud," Fred hulked, wiping an invisible tear off his cheek.

"But I doubt it will work out," Marina's eyes met the floor. "It's not worth risking my Prefect badge for a stupid prank."

Harry looked at her in silence. She threw the ball up in the air, catching it with her right hand and handing it back to George.

"No." Harry got to his feet, a smile appearing on his face. "Don't give it back. I'm going to help you pull this off."

"That's nice and all, but you won't even get into the Common Room." She shrugged. Harry only shook his head, sprinting toward his dormitory. Marina turned, looking at the twins, who were now jumping up and down. "I'm going now."

Then, suddenly, a book on the floor clasped shut. A loud yelp left Marina's lunges. The book flew toward Fred, and he covered himself with his suitcase. She wasn't