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rarepair_shortsTitle: Of Dark Little Boxes
Character Pairing: Zacharias/Marietta
Prompt: decisions, decisions
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1275
Summary: She looks up at him. "Just don't go to the DA meeting tonight, Zacharias."
Author's Notes: The tenth fic of the series. I'm sorry, I keep going over the preferred word limit! Marietta just has so many thoughts.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/77461.html
Cho leans curiously over her shoulder. "What did you get in the mail, Mari?"
Marietta crumples the letter in her hands. "Nothing," she says. "How are things between you and Harry?"
Cho smiles. "Oh, much better." She sighs dreamily. "I feel so bad for misunderstanding him."
"That's wonderful," says Marietta, who feels smothered. "I've forgotten one of my books, so I'll just meet you in class, all right?" Cho nods, and Marietta moves out of her seat and away from the Ravenclaw table. She hasn't really forgotten her book; she just wants a moment alone.
But such a thing is never possible. "You're in a hurry," says Zacharias, materializing beside her as they march out of the Great Hall. "Chang's finally started nauseating you, has she? It was only a matter of time."
"Of course not," Marietta snaps. "I've forgotten my Charms book."
"This one?" Zacharias reaches into her half-open bag and pulls out Marietta's copy of The Standard Book of Spells.
"You're insufferable," Marietta replies, snatching the text from his hands.
"But you adore me," he says with a grin. "Don't you?" A line forms across his forehead, as she watches his inner reservoir of anger bubble up to the surface.
"Are you going to the DA tonight?" Marietta asks, changing the subject. She may be fond of Zacharias, but she is not in the mood to feed his ego at the moment by saying it aloud.
"Of course I am." His rage fades into a curious confusion. "I'd never miss an opportunity to keep Potter in check. Why, aren't you coming along?"
Marietta sighs and stops in a corner, kneeling as she stuffs her book back into her bag. "I don't know." She looks up at Zacharias. "It's impossible, you know? You, and Harry, and Cho, and the letters."
"What letters?" Zach demands, brushing Marietta's curls over her shoulder as she rises.
"It's my mother," she replies reluctantly, as she has never spoken of this before. "She wants me to join Umbridge."
"I knew we hated Potter, but I hardly think we have to go that far," says Zacharias. "I mean, something killed Cedric." Pain flits across his eyes.
"But what was it?" Marietta asks, searching his gaze. "Is You-Know-Who really here, or are we all just wasting our time? I mean, if the Ministry doesn't believe it."
"Then they're a bunch of gits," Zacharias finishes for her. "Potter may have fucked up with Cedric, he may be a Gryffindor fool, but he's not a loon. Surely we'd have noticed by now if he was."
"She's going to disown me if she finds out what I'm doing," Marietta says, feeling a twist in her stomach. "I'll be an abandoned child with no friends and no life and nothing to my name. I'll be ruined and alone." She's thought these things but never consciously, and saying them is making them more true, more worrying. "My father doesn't care, she's got him right behind her. She hates me already, so what am I going to do if Potter screws this up?"
"Marietta," says Zacharias. He hesitates, chewing on his lower lip. Marietta's never seen him like this. Zacharias is always completely sure of himself, and he is always angry or smirking. He's got such a sorrowful expression on his face now that it's making her even more worried. "You're not alone, Edgecombe," he says finally.
She's taken aback by her realization of what he's feeling. Zacharias honestly does care about her, in a way that Cho Chang never can in her naïve world of ignorance. It touches her, and it makes her feel so horribly guilty. "Thanks, Smith," she says, with a tentative smile.
"Any time," he replies, and leans in slowly to kiss her. It is the sweetest of their kisses, filled with honest affection. "Don't worry about your Mum," he says, pressing his forehead to hers. "What's she going to do? Umbridge isn't going to find out about us, and soon they'll all see what they're up against."
"I don't know about that," says Marietta, breathless and confused. "Sometimes I think about just telling Umbridge everything."
"Why would you do such a thing?" He doesn't sound angry for once, just honestly confused.
"Because it's useless. You know Potter can't really do anything to help us. We're fighting blind. I don't know, I just think," and she hesitated, pulling away from his touch. "I just think it would better protect us if I did tell."
"You mean better protect Cho," he says, and now that old familiar anger is back. "You want to pull her away from him."
"For Merlin's sake, Smith, it's not always about Cho," Marietta snarls, but she doesn't even know if that's true. She doesn't know anything right now, she's confused and she has a million different things on her mind. "I thought you were with me on this. I thought you hated Potter as much as I did."
He rolls his eyes in an overly-exaggerated manner. "Yes, we all loathe Harry Potter," he says angrily. "But why are you going to throw away the only chance we have? We're still learning, aren't we? Merlin, Marietta," and he grabs her, yanking her in close. "I'm not going to let what happened to Cedric strike you, too. I'm not letting that happen again."
"It's not going to happen," she says, wrapping her arms around him. He is warm and smells like cologne and pumpkin juice. "I'm doing it to protect you, too."
"I don't need protecting."
"Neither do I." She looks up at him. "Just don't go to the DA meeting tonight, Zacharias. They'll never know you were in on it."
"Don't do this. It's stupid."
"It's right," she insists. "I'm ending this charade once and for all. I'm putting everything back where it belongs. We're breaking the rules, and she's going to find out sooner or later. Can't you see it's for the best?"
Zacharias backs away from her with something dark in his eyes. "Fine," he says. "But make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. I'm not hanging around waiting for you to make the right decision anymore. It's her or me. You do what you feel you have to do."
"Zacharias," she says pleadingly, but she doesn't know how to finish.
"Don't worry about me," he says coldly. "I won't be there tonight. I'll be safe." He sneers at her and turns away.
Marietta doesn't know what to do. She feels pressure bearing down on her from every side, as though Umbridge and her mother and Zacharias and Cho are standing around her and shoving her forcefully down into a dark little box. The opening is so hard to see, the answers are so impossible to divine, and she doesn't know that she can listen to what Zacharias has told her. The DA is the cause of everything in her eyes. It brought Cho and Harry together, it brought this scrutinizing wrongness upon all of them. Umbridge has been hinting for weeks that she's on to something, that it's only a matter of time before she cracks down on the rebellious liars of the school.
Marietta only wants to protect everyone she cares about. It's not only about placating her mother, it's about saving both Cho and Zacharias. It's about removing this heavy weight from her shoulders, and possibly making her other life decisions a little easier. She'll still see Zacharias, and surely he'll understand eventually why she's done what she felt was necessary.
Marietta hates making decisions, but she has to do what she can. She has to find the opening of the box.
Character Pairing: Zacharias/Marietta
Prompt: decisions, decisions
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1275
Summary: She looks up at him. "Just don't go to the DA meeting tonight, Zacharias."
Author's Notes: The tenth fic of the series. I'm sorry, I keep going over the preferred word limit! Marietta just has so many thoughts.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/77461.html
Cho leans curiously over her shoulder. "What did you get in the mail, Mari?"
Marietta crumples the letter in her hands. "Nothing," she says. "How are things between you and Harry?"
Cho smiles. "Oh, much better." She sighs dreamily. "I feel so bad for misunderstanding him."
"That's wonderful," says Marietta, who feels smothered. "I've forgotten one of my books, so I'll just meet you in class, all right?" Cho nods, and Marietta moves out of her seat and away from the Ravenclaw table. She hasn't really forgotten her book; she just wants a moment alone.
But such a thing is never possible. "You're in a hurry," says Zacharias, materializing beside her as they march out of the Great Hall. "Chang's finally started nauseating you, has she? It was only a matter of time."
"Of course not," Marietta snaps. "I've forgotten my Charms book."
"This one?" Zacharias reaches into her half-open bag and pulls out Marietta's copy of The Standard Book of Spells.
"You're insufferable," Marietta replies, snatching the text from his hands.
"But you adore me," he says with a grin. "Don't you?" A line forms across his forehead, as she watches his inner reservoir of anger bubble up to the surface.
"Are you going to the DA tonight?" Marietta asks, changing the subject. She may be fond of Zacharias, but she is not in the mood to feed his ego at the moment by saying it aloud.
"Of course I am." His rage fades into a curious confusion. "I'd never miss an opportunity to keep Potter in check. Why, aren't you coming along?"
Marietta sighs and stops in a corner, kneeling as she stuffs her book back into her bag. "I don't know." She looks up at Zacharias. "It's impossible, you know? You, and Harry, and Cho, and the letters."
"What letters?" Zach demands, brushing Marietta's curls over her shoulder as she rises.
"It's my mother," she replies reluctantly, as she has never spoken of this before. "She wants me to join Umbridge."
"I knew we hated Potter, but I hardly think we have to go that far," says Zacharias. "I mean, something killed Cedric." Pain flits across his eyes.
"But what was it?" Marietta asks, searching his gaze. "Is You-Know-Who really here, or are we all just wasting our time? I mean, if the Ministry doesn't believe it."
"Then they're a bunch of gits," Zacharias finishes for her. "Potter may have fucked up with Cedric, he may be a Gryffindor fool, but he's not a loon. Surely we'd have noticed by now if he was."
"She's going to disown me if she finds out what I'm doing," Marietta says, feeling a twist in her stomach. "I'll be an abandoned child with no friends and no life and nothing to my name. I'll be ruined and alone." She's thought these things but never consciously, and saying them is making them more true, more worrying. "My father doesn't care, she's got him right behind her. She hates me already, so what am I going to do if Potter screws this up?"
"Marietta," says Zacharias. He hesitates, chewing on his lower lip. Marietta's never seen him like this. Zacharias is always completely sure of himself, and he is always angry or smirking. He's got such a sorrowful expression on his face now that it's making her even more worried. "You're not alone, Edgecombe," he says finally.
She's taken aback by her realization of what he's feeling. Zacharias honestly does care about her, in a way that Cho Chang never can in her naïve world of ignorance. It touches her, and it makes her feel so horribly guilty. "Thanks, Smith," she says, with a tentative smile.
"Any time," he replies, and leans in slowly to kiss her. It is the sweetest of their kisses, filled with honest affection. "Don't worry about your Mum," he says, pressing his forehead to hers. "What's she going to do? Umbridge isn't going to find out about us, and soon they'll all see what they're up against."
"I don't know about that," says Marietta, breathless and confused. "Sometimes I think about just telling Umbridge everything."
"Why would you do such a thing?" He doesn't sound angry for once, just honestly confused.
"Because it's useless. You know Potter can't really do anything to help us. We're fighting blind. I don't know, I just think," and she hesitated, pulling away from his touch. "I just think it would better protect us if I did tell."
"You mean better protect Cho," he says, and now that old familiar anger is back. "You want to pull her away from him."
"For Merlin's sake, Smith, it's not always about Cho," Marietta snarls, but she doesn't even know if that's true. She doesn't know anything right now, she's confused and she has a million different things on her mind. "I thought you were with me on this. I thought you hated Potter as much as I did."
He rolls his eyes in an overly-exaggerated manner. "Yes, we all loathe Harry Potter," he says angrily. "But why are you going to throw away the only chance we have? We're still learning, aren't we? Merlin, Marietta," and he grabs her, yanking her in close. "I'm not going to let what happened to Cedric strike you, too. I'm not letting that happen again."
"It's not going to happen," she says, wrapping her arms around him. He is warm and smells like cologne and pumpkin juice. "I'm doing it to protect you, too."
"I don't need protecting."
"Neither do I." She looks up at him. "Just don't go to the DA meeting tonight, Zacharias. They'll never know you were in on it."
"Don't do this. It's stupid."
"It's right," she insists. "I'm ending this charade once and for all. I'm putting everything back where it belongs. We're breaking the rules, and she's going to find out sooner or later. Can't you see it's for the best?"
Zacharias backs away from her with something dark in his eyes. "Fine," he says. "But make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. I'm not hanging around waiting for you to make the right decision anymore. It's her or me. You do what you feel you have to do."
"Zacharias," she says pleadingly, but she doesn't know how to finish.
"Don't worry about me," he says coldly. "I won't be there tonight. I'll be safe." He sneers at her and turns away.
Marietta doesn't know what to do. She feels pressure bearing down on her from every side, as though Umbridge and her mother and Zacharias and Cho are standing around her and shoving her forcefully down into a dark little box. The opening is so hard to see, the answers are so impossible to divine, and she doesn't know that she can listen to what Zacharias has told her. The DA is the cause of everything in her eyes. It brought Cho and Harry together, it brought this scrutinizing wrongness upon all of them. Umbridge has been hinting for weeks that she's on to something, that it's only a matter of time before she cracks down on the rebellious liars of the school.
Marietta only wants to protect everyone she cares about. It's not only about placating her mother, it's about saving both Cho and Zacharias. It's about removing this heavy weight from her shoulders, and possibly making her other life decisions a little easier. She'll still see Zacharias, and surely he'll understand eventually why she's done what she felt was necessary.
Marietta hates making decisions, but she has to do what she can. She has to find the opening of the box.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 05:08 pm (UTC)Awesome job - didn't even notice this was on the "longer" side. :D
no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 10:58 pm (UTC)