Ahhhh, the fire.

[Batz]

Maria Janelle Sanchez was sitting by the fire in the Slytherin Commonroom, writing. It was late afternoon, and classes were over for the day. Her quill scribbled over the special blank paged book her mother had made her, her eyes following the strokes. No one was around, so she was writing in the open. She usually only wrote in her four-poster bed with the curtains drawn, but since the common room was completely deserted, she had decided to sit by the fire. She hadn't rested by the fire since her second year, and, she admitted, she had missed it.

[jen]

Dalton Willow slipped through the portrait hole as quietly as he could, not for Maria's sake, but because he was out of the dorms past the given curfew again. The prefects seemed to be out to get him when it came to giving out detentions. He glanced around the room and then tossed his bag on the couch.

Dalton rubbed his eyes and gave a small yawn as he looked over Maria. He removed his school robes and loosened the tie that had clung to his green button up shirt. Dalton then laid down and rested his tired head on the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Writing in your diary again Maria?" he inquired, his gaze shifting to his fellow slytherin that sat across from him. "What do you write about anyways? Can't you just talk in your head instead of writing it?..so much more work."

[Batz]

She looked up from what she was writing, her hand stopping in midstroke. "I find it easier to remember everythin if I write it down. And what I write about is none of your business." she said cooly, her dark eyes glittering. She didn't mind people interrupting her all that much, as long as they didn't try to read what she wrote. It wasn't what teenage girls normally wrote, about her thoughts, feelings, yadda yadda yadda. She, secretly, wanted to be an author. But no one knew anything about that, because she was defensive when it came to her own devices. She hadn't met anyone that she really trusted enough to tell about her stories.

[jen]

Dalton shook his head but smiled slightly, "Fine, don't tell me." he replied and rested his head back down again. After a minute or two he got bored again though. "So how was your summer? I haven't really seen you besides the start of the year." asked Dalton. While he lay there, he used his wand to make a green gel type substance make shapes in the air above him.

[Batz]

She shrugged. "It was okay. Nothing special." she said, shutting her book and putting her quill back in her robe. "So what were you doing out so late, Dalton?" she asked, her dark eyes studying him, nearly emotionless. A lot of people said it was like falling into bottomless black pits, especially when she had that devil-may-care look on her face.

[jen]

"None of your business." he replied, mocking her tone that she used on him earlier. His eyes looked over her's, wondering how they could possibly be so dark. His on the other hand were a vibrant green. They helped him lure people in, welcomed them, and then he would take over the rest of the job- whatever that may be. Dalton sat up and diverted his attention to the fire, it was safer to look there. He couldn't let himself get caught up with any feelings for girls now that he was giving as much time as he could to the death eaters. Although he had to admit, it was hard with people like Maria and Jessica around.

[Batz]

"Hmmm." she responded, staring at the fire herself. Fine, let him have his secrets. It was easier to keep her own that way. As the flickering flames refelcted in her eyes, the twin abyses seemed less deep, more like a hole than a pit. Her eyes, even when blank, if you managed to stare into the deep pits long enough, showed the tiniest hint of emotion. But no one noticed, because as soon as they made eye contact they had to look away, or be sucked into the pit forever. "What about your summer? Anything interesting happen?" most people didn't notice, that her voice was deep and low, yet melodic. Most people were to awe-struck, aware, whatever the hell you called it about her beauty to give a flip about anything else.

[jen]

Dalton shrugged, "Not really; did some traveling but that was all." he half-lied. He really spent his whole summer with his father in Sweden, looking for the Evanescence stone for the death eaters. They didnt find it of course, because when they returned, they heard of news that would point them in a totally opposite direction. This was when his father cursed for a very long time and Dalton almost killed himself (not literally) for spending a whole summer looking for somthing that wasn't there. He wasn't too sure if he enjoyed being more a part of the death eaters now that he was older, but if he quit now that would be the last straw for his father and he would most definately be removed from the family. Dalton's father was rather harsh, cruel, and controlling, so as of now he didn't have a choice.

[Batz]

"Better than my summer. All I did was stay at home. At least travelling is semi-interesting." she said, which, to other people, would piss them off. She usually didn't converse with people, even if they were Slytherins like herself. She was much too secretive, and, even though she didn;t have to worry about letting something slip, conversation meant trust. And trust meant she'd probably tell her secrets, which definately would not be a good thing.

[jen]

Dalton nodded, "Semi..." he muttered and then looked to her again. "Hope you don't mind, I usually sleep out here. My roomies are loud, ignorant fools who do nothing but nonsense child stuff." he said while summoning a pillow for himself. He despised the other slytherins that shared his room with him and would much rather sleep by the fire anyhow. Dalton unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off carefully, putting his marked arm close to his side nonchalantly so she wouldn't see. He rested his head on the pillow but wasn't tired, so his eyes continued to wander about the room.

[Batz]

Her eyes had flickered towards him when he had spoken, and in the flicker of the flames, she could faintly see.... She squinted a little to get a better look at it, and then her eyes shot wide. She couldn;t be sure, since it was only in the tiniest flicker of the fire, but somehow she just knew. It would explain his own secretiveness... Like the same thing did hers. "You're...." she began, but she didn't continue. She hated looking like an idiot, which she most certainly would if it was just a stupid tattoo.

[jen]

Dalton's pulse raised just slightly. As he had laid his head back down he caught her eyes staring at a particular spot on his arm. "...a death eater" he finished her sentence. He wasn't going to lie, it was obvious she saw it by the way her eyes responded. After completeing her sentence, he studyed her face for a long while, trying to decode her thoughts. "You don't seem too surprised. Why not? Do I act like one?" Dalton inquired.

[Batz]

She blinked in slight suprise. "Well, it would explain why you were so secretive over your activities...." she murmured. Subconsiously, her hand went to the same spot on her arm, where a similar mark lay. She stared into the fire, her eyes, the twin abysses, if you looked closely enough, you could see a bit of a troubled feeling there, hidden deep. She would've never guessed that there were other students at Hogwarts that were Death Eaters. Not meaning to appear snobbish, she had thought she was the only one.

[jen]

Dalton's green eyes penetrated deep into her her dark ones. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could sense something. "You know, you're kind of secretive too..." he finally said. He wasn't sure if he had guessed right, so he didn't want to come out and say anything. Now that she knew, he comfortably stretched his arms, the muscles tightening within them. Then he relaxed them and folded them behind his head.

[Batz]

She winced. Her father would get her for this. No one was supposed to know, Death Eater or not. "Y-Yea." she said, deciding to leave it at that. Her dark eyes fixed on the fire, and her fingers massaged that spot on her arm. The spot where her mark lay, the mark no one was to know she had. Quite the opposite of Dalton, Maria grew more tense, rather than more confortable. She knew she'd never get to sleep, whether he found out or not.