Vested Interests
~FawkesRises
Disclaimer: don't own anything, don't sue me
AN: Actually this hit me smack in the face last night in the middle of CSI and after I took this Which Poem Are You? Quiz over at youthink.com. LOL The randomosity never ends I suppose. The little poem is by WH Auden.
And who pray tell is this about? This is Millicent Bulstrode.
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To you, love is desperate and hateful.
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Lately you've been thinking of that Muggle writer who stuck her head in the oven.
Not that you want to – but you wonder what it feels like for everyone to remember you for such a weird thing.
Kind of like Granger -
Second year, over Christmas break, she apparently turned into a human sized version of a cat. More precisely, your cat. You have no idea how or why that happened, but that's about the only thing you can think of when someone mentions 'mudblood.'
Maybe it was because Pansy came up and asked your cat's name, which was surprising in itself – your house mates tend to ignore you most of the time. And you knew that Pansy was really looking for a horrid name to call Granger in between classes and you really shouldn't care what Pansy calls anyone…But there she was and before you knew it you'd said his name was Asphodel (after your favorite Potions ingredient) when it's really Auden (after your favorite poet).
"When he looked the cave in
the eye,
Hercules
Had a moment of doubt."
Ah – your great secret.
No, your parents are not death eaters. Not one of your brothers has the dark mark. And you don't plan to break that particular family tradition.
This is what you keep locked up close because nothing is sacred in Slytherin. One day, one day you know that it'll all be found out. And you know you'll be pared down to nothing by the same tongues that attack Potter and Granger and Weasley. By Draco or Blaise or Pansy.
Take a deep breath. That's it. Now…
Your favorite class is Muggle Studies. This year it's focusing on British classic literature.
The professor hands out copies of the books to each student – battered copies that you're sure have been here since the founder's time.
You want more than anything to read your own copies of The Invisible Man and A Tale of Two Cities.
But you keep your books at home when it's time for Hogwarts, stacked neatly in the now empty closet. You would keep them on the bookcase, your parents wouldn't care – only there are always visitors and if anyone else saw… And there's no way to take them to school – dormmates are lovely but also extremely nosy.
At least with the school copies you can pretend you don't care about 'these stupid Muggle books' when Draco rips Mrs. Dalloway out of your hand while you're reading. If it was one of yours, you'd be hard pressed not to strangle the little ferret (everyone calls him that behind his back). As it is, you just bide your time and try not to wince when he tears one of the pages.