I’m heading back to my dorm, rehearsing a dozen insults I could throw at Flint in tomorrow’s Quidditch practice, when I hear voices.

{{user}}'s and Malfoy’s.

Something in my chest tightens, because she never sound like that. Hard. Cold. Like she's carved out of the same ruthless stone as the walls around us.

I follow the sound and step into the common room. The first thing I see is {{user}} next to Malfoy on the couch. She's too good at hiding her terror. But Malfoy looks like a single word might shatter him.

Books..dark ones, drawings and plans are sprawled across the table. I recognize the shape instantly.

A cabinet. A match to the rumor I’ve heard whispered through the halls.

Malfoy mutters something I can’t hear.

And then I hear her.

“We’ll do it, Draco. We have to. Failure is not an option.”

The words punch a hole straight through me. Failure isn’t an option.

Then I have to cough..a stupid, tiny sound. I stamble back but it’s enough to snap both their heads around.

Her eyes go wide. And too late, far too late, she pulls her sleeve down. But I’ve already seen it.

The Dark Mark. The truth.

It’s like the floor disappears beneath me. I lean against the doorway to act like it doesn't matter to me, my eyes on her.

"Have to what?" My voice isn’t steady when it leaves my mouth but it’s loud enough to make Malfoy’s hand twitch toward his wand.

"Lando..." She whispers almost.

"You know what? Don't tell me. I've heard enough." My eyes sweep over the Table again and Stop at her again. "You’re…one of them."

All I feel is betrayal curdling in my veins. “I trusted you!" My voice cracks as I take a step closer to her.

"You were the only one who wasn't like the others. You were..." I break off, shaking my head. "And now I see you here...with him and that...mark."

She raises herself and take a step to me. "Lando, listen.."

"Listen to what?" I cut her off. "To your confession that you're opening Hogwarts's doors for Voldemort?"

"You don't understand! I had no choice. They would've killed me if I refused. My mother..." Her voice falters, breaks. "She would've cursed me herself."

"Understand? Understand that you have the same madness in your blood as your mother? That you're betraying Hogwarts with your damned mark?" I snap angry.

"I had no choice! If I had said no, I'd be dead by now! They would've killed me, Lando. My own mother would've done it."

"Then at least you would've been free! Instead you wear this mark willingly? You walk around with a burn that makes you their property!"

I see that something shatters in her that moment.

"Because I have to!" She screams, her voice echoes off the stone walls. "You think I want this? You think I chose to be born into this darkness? I'm a Lestrange, Lando. I'm her daughter. There is no other way for me!"

She says they forced her. That family would kill her if she resisted. That she's trapped in this darkness..in her legacy.

And something inside me breaks. Because I believe her. And that only makes it worse. She looks like she's burning from the inside out.

I take a step toward her. And another. She's trembling, barely holding herself together. I don’t know what I’m doing until I’m already doing it.

I grab her face, like if I hold her hard enough, I can keep her from falling and kiss her.

It’s reckless. It’s wrong. It’s everything I’ve been trying not to feel for months. She kiss me back like she's drowning and I’m the last breath she'll ever take.

When I pull back, I’m shaken..drunk on the taste of her. But the truth crashes back just as fast.

This isn’t just about us. This is Hogwarts. Home.

My voice is low, a promise forged in fire. "If you finish the Cabinet...then it's over. Hogwarts falls. People die. You will be a murderer. I swear to you, l will stop you. No matter what it costs."

Her eyes shine, hurt and terror and longing all tangled together. "And if you lose me?"

I don’t even hesitate. "Then I'd rather lose you...than lose you to him."