MARA WILLIAMS

Everything hurt. The rough edges of agony had dulled and now all that remained was the steady, throbbing ache that pulsed in my bones with every sorrowful beat of my marred heart. Everything hurt.

"Oh my god, Mara..." I flinched as soft hands settled on my shoulder and I heard the thud as she collapse to her knees besides me. "What happened, who did this do you!"

Words could not penetrate the gasping, guttural sobs that racked my body, even as Hermione pulled me into her arms. She held me tightly to her chest, holding the broken pieces of myself together. If she let me go, I would shatter irreparably.

"Mara," She whispered into my hair before gently pushing me away, holding my at arms length as she searched my red rimmed eyes for answers, her words filling the empty spaces that every loss I had ever known had carved in the shallows of my soul. "You have to tell me who did this."

I felt pathetic. I was pathetic. I was so entirely weak, just like he always said I was. She probably thought of me as pitiful now, poor little Mara, how tragic. Tears stained my cheeks as I struggled to articulate between every gasping breath that shook me to the core. "...Pansy."

"Oh Mara..." She pulled me close, and I could feel every steady beat of her strong heart. "They will pay for what they've done to you, I swear it."

I stared up at her unblinkingly, letting my grief turn to anger, turn to malice, turn to rage. "Good."

It let it build inside me, manifest. I let it consume me, I let it swallow me whole. Until every wretched fibre of my being resonated with the hellish fire that pulsed through my veins, thick and black. It tainted me and I became wicked from the inside out.

I not only became hateful, but I became hate itself.

• • •

"You must walk in there tonight with your head held high, let them see they didn't shake you." Hermione said firmly as she wiped the blood from my cheek with a damp cloth but Parvati shook her head, still holding a scarily vacant look. "I-I still just can't believe it... How could they do this to you? Why would they do this to you?"

I opened my mouth but no words came out, for what could I say. I knew exactly why they'd done what they had, but I couldn't exactly tell Parvati that. I was thankful when Hermione answered for me as she poured peroxide onto a fresh cotton pad.
"-Because they're jealous. Why else would they do something like that?"

"...I don't know." Parvati mumbled, "It just doesn't make sense.."

"Does it have to?" She snapped, "I mean it's Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode we're talking about, I doubt they have half a functioning brain cell between them!"

I shot Hermione and grateful smile. She didn't have to cover for me, but time and time again she did. I'd have to find a way to repay her somehow, I hated owing people, but now I'd be forever in debt to Hermione Granger.

"You two should really go." I muttered, "You're missing class, I'll be fine here alone."

"Nonsense." Hermione replied quickly as she pressed the pad to my split lip and I held back a hiss. It tasted just as bad as it smelled. "Sorry... Besides, we're only missing Defence Against the Dark Arts, not exactly like we'd lean anything useful anyways."

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger." Parvati smirked as she pulled an aged leather bound book from the shelf and begun flicking through the pages.

She scoffed but then pursed her lips tightly as she grimaced, "Right... Only you're arm left to do..."

"-No." I said instantly, clutching it tighter to my chest so that she couldn't read the horrid words, she'd only seen a flash of them before but not enough to see them properly before I hid them from her. "-No... It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Mara." She said firmly. "Give me your arm, it's either that or I call Madame Pomfrey. I wont allow you to get your wounds infected."

I felt sick as I reluctantly handed her my arm and Parvati looked over, a second later a gasp broke free of her lips. "...Mara, what have they done to you!"

Tears blurred my vision. I could bear to hear their pity, it only served to make me feel weaker than I already was, Parvati looked at me like I was some kind of kicked puppy.

Something flashed in Hermione's eyes as she stared down at the bloody words, every letter carved deep into my flesh. Dirty Little Whore.
She didn't look at me with sorrow, she didn't look at me in guilt. The look in her eyes was something akin to feral as she spoke, so quietly I almost missed it. "They'll suffer for this."

We were late to dinner as everyone was already tucking into the banquet before them. Hermione led the way and I followed after, with Parvati close behind me as if shielding me from the prying eyes.
Scarcely concealed whispers followed us to the bench where we sat in silence until Ron spoke up.

"Bloody hell, what happened to you?" His eyebrows drew together in shock as he studied my bruised and beaten face.

"Ron." Hermione said firmly, and he backed off instantly, staring down at his plate in shame. The atmosphere at the table was so thick I could hardly breathe, my lungs scorched with every shaking breath and my hands felt so weak I didn't trust myself to even hold my fork properly.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake their eyes. I know I shouldn't have, Hermione had strictly instructed me not to, but I couldn't help but glance over to the Slytherin table where two empty spaces remained besides Blaise.

Piercing grey eyes clung painfully to my every breath, and though his cold countenance remained frozen in his hateful glare, his eyes told a story that his lips couldn't bear to. A tale of rage and cardinal sin and purely violent intent.

Something snapped inside me and I felt my lower lip began to tremble as our eyes locked and I didn't have the strength to look away. Had he told them to do this to me?

Did he really hate me that much? Did he really resent his feelings towards me so much that he'd do this to me? He was a wicked boy, made from the most devastatingly gorgeous evil.

It was as if he could no longer bear to look at me as he abruptly stood up from his table without a word and stormed from the hall. His friends exchanged confused glances before Blaise Zabini's eyes found mine and his face contorted in horror as he realised. Something clicked in his mind and his eyes widened as a second later he stood up too and followed quickly after Draco.

"What's all that about?" Said Seamus quietly as he stared down at his cabbage soup, was he scared to even look me in the eyes?

"You don't recon it could have something to do with..." Ron's voice trailed off as he too stared down at his half eaten plate.

"-Me." I finished for him and he kept his gaze downcast. "...I hope not."

• • •

BLAISE ZABINI

My heart thundered in unguarded angst as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and willing for it to not be too late. In this moment the corridors seemed to stretch out for miles and I cursed under my breath as the stairs switched under my feet. I'd have to go the long way round.

I hoped I was wrong. I prayed to God I was wrong. -For if I was right, then the bloodshed would not end with Mara Williams, it had only just begun.

My footsteps pounded against the stone floors as I rounded the corner to the door to the Slytherin common room. A blood curdling scream pierced the air, muffled by a shout and then an almighty crash.
I tried to yank the door open but it wouldn't give, the password. What was the damn password?

"Sanguine et Igni!" I yelled, throwing my shoulder into the thick door as it burst open with a bang. The steps flew beneath my feet as another crash sounded, this time alongside a guttural cry. A female cry.

As I approached the bottom of the steps the first thing I saw was Millicent Bullstrode lying on the floor curled in a ball with her arms shielding her head as she wept, but as I ventured further I saw the source of the screams...

"What did you do!" Draco roared, his face mere inches from Pansy's as he held her to the wall by her wrists, a deep purple bruise already beginning to shadow her throat. "What did you do to her!"

"I didn't do anything!" She cried, trying to turn her face away, it contorted with fear but he was unrelenting.

"Draco!" I ran over, trying to pull him off the girl but he knocked me back with a fist as easily as if I were a child. "Draco! Stop!"

"Tell me what you did!" He bellowed as Pansy shrieked in pain, she couldn't even manage words through her great gasping sobs.

And then he violently threw her to the ground like a rag doll besides Millicent.
-But he wasn't done yet, far from it.
Pansy tried to scramble to her feet but her legs failed her just as words once had, and she collapsed to the ground in a heap, instead desperately trying to drag herself away from the ungodly boy.

Draco loomed over her like a torrent of hellfire and daggered rain, the demonic look in his eyes alone was enough to make even the strongest will wilt.
When he spoke again he didn't shout. He didn't need to raise his voice to instil fear into her wicked heart.
He looked like an freshly woken storm, cursed by thunder and dripping with darkness as he snarled,
"-If you ever so much as look at her again... I will kill you."

***
QOTD-did Draco go to far?
-TFOA