Marina had passed out six times in the last three weeks.

The first time it happened was after her talk with Slughorn. That was the time she talked with Harry afterward. She had run to Dumbledore's office that night, and panicked. She stayed there until dawn, for she was afraid of passing out again. It did not help much: she passed out during class the day after, and Hagrid had carried her back to Dumbledore. The third time was during dinner in the Great Hall after hearing someone call her name. The fourth time she passed out was when Hermione had approached her to ask her how she was doing, the fifth when she was cursing Parkinson, and the sixth while trying to free Kreacher from his service.

She now woke up on the hard floor of Dumbledore's office after passing out for the seventh time, not remembering anything. By now, the Headmaster had gotten so used to talking her out of her panic attacks, that he did it in minutes. Afterward, he smiled brightly and opened the door, ready to escort her to her common room, but she shook her head in response.

Marina had grown tired of not knowing the truth about her past and she was beyond exhausted from not knowing why the Dark Lord kept her like a broken doll to play with. Anger had been spreading through her body, and it was today that she would dare to show it: she got to her feet and took a deep breath before demanding answers.

Instead of yelling back or throwing her out of his office, Dumbledore simply pursed his lips and pointed at the two chairs by his desk in response to her outbreak.

"Something is wrong," whispered Marina and shook her head as she sat down in a chair. "I can't remember what happened. I don't know why I'm here. I don't want to go back to sleep - I want answers."

"I do understand your frustration, Marina, but if you wish for answers, you must seek them," spoke Dumbledore and walked to the other chair. Marina's head was aching so badly that she was struggling with hearing his words.

"Why am I here today? Did I pass out again?"

"You passed out in Potions. Harry caught you, and brought you up here to me," explained Dumbledore and ran a hand through his long beard. "Tell me, Marina, do you see anything when you are unconscious?"

She shook her head. Why would she see things when she was unconscious?

"But you do remember what happens before you faint?"

"I usually do - well, not today - but the first time, for instance, I was talking to Slughorn after class, like you asked me to do."

"Pardon me - when was this?" Dumbledore asked and tilted his head downward, the light in the room making the wrinkles on his face stand out.

"You know," began Marina, suddenly feeling unsure. "The first time I fainted. It was the first day of classes, I was staying behind after Potions to help Slughorn with cleaning, and I asked him about my family and about-"

"No, Marina, you passed out during his class. Draco brought you up here right away - Slughorn never got the chance to speak to you."

Marina shook her head. "No, you're wrong. I spoke to him - Slughorn - and he told me about Horcruxes."

As she spoke the last word, a gush of wind flew through the office. Chills went down her spine, and she turned quickly to search for anything that could've caused it. When she turned back, Dumbledore had opened a drawer of his desk. He pulled out a dusty book with a gigantic hole in it, and placed it on the desk.

"This was Tom's diary," he explained. "Could you open it for me?"

Marina reached out to take the diary, but let out a shriek instead: a sharp, intense pain spread through her body just as her finger touched it. She squeezed her eyes shut, pictures of a young Riddle gripping the diary in his hand, smiling at the sight of a dead, pale girl in a uniform on the floor in front of him.

Dumbledore snatched the diary out of her hand, and she opened her eyes again. Quietly, she muttered a word Narcissa would have hexed her for using. The Headmaster put the diary back in his drawer, and adjusted in his seat.

"Precisely... Marina, I do believe I know why you have memories of speaking to Slughorn. If I have understood this correctly, you have a special connection to Voldemort."

"I am able to talk to him in my mind and in my dreams," Marina confessed, "if that is what you are asking."

"Is he able to see what you are doing and where you are?"

"No - no, I don't think so. He used to guide me when I was younger, but that was only if called for him first."

Dumbledore didn't seem taken back by her comments. He only looked at her, his mouth closed. She turned her head to look out of the window. The sun was slowly getting replaced by the moon. She wondered what Draco was doing now. They were supposed to work together and fix the Vanishing Cabinet after dinner...

"Why are you speaking about Horcruxes, Marina?"

She tried to swallow the big lump in her throat before answering. "This summer, I found Father's diary in his old bedroom at Grimmauld Place. On the last pages of it, he had written about Horcruxes and how to destroy them. Actually, he had written about Tom's Horcruxes."

"Now, tell me, what did you see when you touched Tom's diary?"

"I saw him, and his diary, and a girl on the floor-"

"What did the girl look like?"

"She was pale... wearing a Hogwarts uniform... But, Headmaster, this doesn't make any sense. Why did I see Tom?"

Dumbledore stood up, walked closer to her, and folded his hands.

"I believe there is a reason why you have the memory of speaking to Slughorn about Horcruxes, Marina. I believe that Slughorn was the one to give Tom the information he needed to create one. The reason why you passed out that day, was that Tom knew what you were about to ask the Professor for. He used his powers to knock you out. Once you were unconscious, he played with your mind. While you thought you were talking to Slughorn, you were talking partially to Tom's memory of him, and Tom himself. And I believe there is a reason why you could see him standing over a body... Do you think it's possible that, because of your connection with him, you might remember his memories?"

Marina folded her arms. "I don't possess his memory. I can't remember anything about his life. Don't you think I would have remembered how he killed tens of people?"

"But you do remember how it feels, don't you? To end a life? You have lived with the memory of what happened at the Yule Ball ever since it happened, haven't you?"

Marina's stomach did a flip. No, Dumbledore couldn't know about Isak. All evidence of his death had been covered...

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"I think you do, Marina."

"How do you know about this?" she spat, knitting her eyebrows together. Something inside of her had been triggered by the sound of Isak's name.

"I know everything that happens within the walls of Hogwarts, Marina," answered Dumbledore calmly. "You must understand, that if it is true that Tom has created Horcruxes, as your father wrote in his diary, he possesses greater power than what I imagined. And if you have a connection to Tom, and remember what he has done, you will be the key to finding out how he made the Horcruxes, and where he has hidden them."

"If it's true," sighed Marina and slid back in her chair, "and he is able to control me and play with my memory... How do I even know that this conversation is real?"

"You can't be sure."

They sat in silence for a moment. A dark thought entered her mind, and she gave a great shudder.

"Headmaster... If it is true that Tom has made multiple Horcruxes... And since I am able to connect to him and remember parts of his life... Do you think that..."

"We can't be sure," answered Dumbledore, confirming that he already knew what her question was: am I a part of his soul? "But we can seek more information... As I said, I believe Slughorn was the one to teach Tom about Horcruxes. We need to know exactly what he told him. Therefore, I want you to do two things for me. Firstly, you must persuade Slughorn to give up his memories of Tom. Secondly, you shall come to my office twice a week. Severus and I will teach you how to block Voldemort out of your mind. Is that understood?"

All she could do was nod.

October arrived, cold as never before. As orange and red leaves fell from trees, and an alarming amount of pumpkins began to appear in the Great Hall, excited and nervous students spend their filled days on the Quidditch pit, with a hope to make their house's Quidditch Team proud before the year had passed.

Three blonde witches were giggling loudly in the corridor of the seventh floor of Hogwarts. With their cheeks as red as their Gryffindor uniforms, they were mumbling about how wonderful it would be to audition for their team in front of the handsome Chosen One, and how they were sure he had a good eye for them.

In other words, Marina felt sick to her stomach when she passed them. They didn't even bother to look at her when she asked them to kindly move out of their way - she had to squeeze herself between them, trying to block out their words.

Besides the large window at the end of the corridor, next to where the door to the Room of Requirement was to appear in a matter of minutes, sat Draco, his grey eyes glued to the Quidditch pit.

"Aren't you trying out this year?" she asked.

"Don't want to. Lost interest for it, I guess."

Marina made sure no one else was around before thinking of what she needed. The gigantic door of the Room of Requirement appeared just there. She tried to forget the memories that she and Harry had made in the room, and hurried inside, Draco following right behind her, a green apple in his hand.

"You haven't," she said in a low tone, realizing that this was the first time she had held a conversation with him in nearly a year. "You have always loved Quidditch."

"Yeah, well, I've got some other things to worry about this year, haven't I?" he spat out his words harshly, fixing the button of his black suit and walking straight to the Vanishing Cabinet. Marina closed the door behind her slowly and took a deep breath.

"Draco... I know we haven't talked in a while, but I understand that the mission the Dark Lord gave you is too much for you to handle. I want to help you, but you have to let me, okay? Talk to me."

The blond turned around as quickly as he could, a vein in his neck already popping out. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, and began: "Talk to you? You want me to talk to you?"

"That's what I said, wasn't it?"

"How do you expect me to talk to you when you haven't even bothered to look at me for ten months?" he asked, his voice growing louder, his lips trembling.

"You're being ridic-"

"You have run around for months, not even asking me how I have felt about it. I have had no one to talk to - absolutely no one! Do you know what they did to me when you were gone?" His voice broke at the last word. Marina shook her head. "That's because you haven't even cared about it. You haven't cared about me at all! Every time you left the school or refused to come back home, I got the blame for it. Every time you chose Potter over me, every time you chose Weasley over me, every time you chose Granger over me - I got the blame for it! I had to suffer for your actions, and you didn't even care to look at me."

Marina let out a harsh laugh, trying to hold back her tears, and placed her hand on her hip. "Well, how do you expect me to act when I find out that you have been lying to me my whole life?"

"Of course, you find a way to make this about you-"

"No, Draco! Listen to me now!" she took a step forward, and felt anger grow in her chest. "You and your family lied to me my whole life. You must be crazy, to think that you could just pretend like Bella was my mother. You didn't expect me to find out, did you? You were going to play a part in the show, pretending that everything was all right, when the man I thought was my father is really just the murderer of my family?"

"What?"

"Don't act like you don't-"

"Marina! You need to slow down," Draco cried, and walked closer to her. At that moment, she realized she had been caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even heard what he had said. "I don't understand what you are talking about!"

Maybe she could have tried to talk to him instead of teasing and ignoring him last semester, for now, he stood there, completely clueless, and she stood there, feeling like the villain of the story. Draco had never known the truth; he was just as lost as she had once been.

But where was she to start, anyway?

Bellatrix is not my mother? I'm the daughter of someone else in the family? I fell in love with the only person I was not supposed to fall in love with, and fought by his side against the man who raised me? I own a house in London, which has belonged to our family for years? The reason why I haven't spoken to you in nearly a year is that I thought you were one of those who wanted to hurt me?

Tears. Tears seemed to be the answer. Marina broke down and ended up telling Draco everything. He listened silently, with wide eyes and a clenched jaw. She had to confess, it hurt to talk about it, but an enormous weight was lifting off her chest. By the end of it, after speaking of everything that had happened last year, and the sun had gone down, they were both crying.

"I've gone crazy, without you, you know that?" whispered Marina and dried a tear. "I've hated it, not talking to you. I'm so sorry, I've been such an idiot-"

"Don't. I've been a jerk, too."

"Well, I can't argue with that," snickered Marina. "Snogging Parkinson wasn't the coolest thing to do."

His pale cheeks turned red.

"Merlin, maybe you should have just punched me in the face-"

"Oh, like Hermione did?"

The two looked at each other for a second before they both fell into a fit of laughter.

For the first time in a long time, Marina felt just fine. She didn't worry about Riddle watching her every move. Instead, she put her head on Draco's shoulder and thanked those above for driving them back together.