"Pepper Potter." His silver blond hair might be thinning, his face lined and goatee thick but Malfoy's voice remained the same bored drawl it had always been. "How were you ever cut out for Ravenclaw? Didn't you wonder why your brother's handwriting hadn't changed? Didn't you even think to cast a revealing charm on it?" Now he spoke, it seemed obvious that the meeting could have been a trap. This realisation combined with his condescending tone made her feel utterly humiliated. Determined not to allow him to see that he'd bested her, Pepper sat back in her chair as if she'd expected to see him the while time.
"How did you find me?" She asked. Her expression was the same as the one she'd worn back when her job description included escorting Tony's one night stands from his apartment. If she could hide her emotions back then, she could sure as hell hide them now. "I haven't used magic in..."
"Eighteen years." He raised his eyebrow in place of his usual smirk. "You weren't that hard to find. Look at enough muggle newspapers and, even in England, they mention Iron Man and his..." Searching his brain for the right word, Malfoy paused. When he settled upon the perfect end to the sentence, his cruel smile widened. "Love interest."
He was clever. Even when he'd been a teenager he'd been able to identify the smallest, seemingly insignificant detail about his victims to taunt them; to get under their skin and flare up their anger. Now he was older, he'd clearly perfected the art of being a slimy git.
Well, she wasn't a child anymore; experts had torn her life apart analysing her competence when Tony had first made her CEO. Experience had taught her to ignore their petty jibes and get on with her job. Six years at school with Draco Malfoy had taught her that.
"I'm CEO of Stark Industries." Pepper didn't allow herself to take the bait and let her anger overwhelm her as her brother often had in the past. Staying calm, she maintained eye contact as she spoke, almost looking like she was jinxing him. "I am not just his love interest."
"Sorry. Hit a bit of a sore spot there, didn't I?" If his words had come from anyone else, they would have sounded apologetic. However, the thick contempt in his voice along with the amused expression on his face suggested otherwise.
Pulling his wand out of his moleskin bag, Malfoy only needed to flick it to make two mugs of butterbeer on the table. Look at me, the gesture seemed to say, look how I've mastered non-verbal spells. Pepper looked around desperately to make sure no one had seen; all the non-magical people had their noses in their mobile phones or laptops. They weren't paying attention to anyone else. Sighing in relief, she turned back to Malfoy who wore his signature smirk.
"You shouldn't be using magic in such a public place."
"Please!" He scoffed. "Muggles don't see anything they can't explain." He took a large swig from his glass. "Drink up." Pepper eyed the glass suspiciously, not even daring to touch it... could he have slipped something in it? Of course he could. She wouldn't expect any less. Suspicion consumed her as she looked at the sly, unreadable expression on his face. Exasperated, he reached over and took a large gulp from her mug. "I didn't lure you here to poison you, Potter." He rolled his eyes, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. And it would have been done in a way that was far more subtle and untraceable."
"Funny. I seem remember you trying to poison Professor Dumbledore through a bottle of mead." To her surprise, she saw Malfoy wince at her words. He didn't dignify her statement with an answer, so she tried a new tack. "So why did you invite me? To curse me? To kidnap me?" Despite her words not being even remotely amusing, he laughed.
"Believe it or not Potter, I'm on your side this time."
"Make way for the heir of Slytherin!" The Weasley twin's shouts filled the charms corridor, instantly claiming everyone's attention. Pink faced from either embarrassment or laughter, her brother walked through the mass of staring students, flanked by Fred and George. "Very dark and dangerous wizard coming through!" Virginia choked down a laugh as she and several other first years were herded against the wall to let the large group of Gryffindors past. It didn't take long for her chuckle to turn into yet another sneeze. "Pepper-up Potter!" The twins shouted as they passed her, briefly distracted from teasing Harry.
They'd been saying the same phrase to her ever since she'd caught this damn cold. All the other first years had somehow managed to shake it off over night. Yet after a whole week, her cold was just as bad as it had been when she'd first got it.
"I wish they wouldn't badger him like that." Ginny muttered darkly under her breath, catching Virginia's arm and helping her push her way through the groups of other students towards the great hall.
"At least they're making a joke out of it." Virginia shrugged, narrowly avoiding ploughing head first into a fifth year. "Since the incident at the duelling club half the school is terrified of him."
Some people were foolish enough to actually believe the ridiculous rumours that suggested Harry Potter was the heir of Slytherin. Many suggested he and Virginia were working as a team despite hardly seeing each other outside of mealtimes. However, gossip spread like wild fire and before she realised what had happened, Virginia was almost as unpopular has her brother. The only two people who would actually speak to her were Ginny and Luna. She sneezed again, wiping her already bright red nose with her handkerchief.
"Pepper-up Potter!" She heard the Weasley twins shout once more.
She was sick of her cold. Her blocked nose meant she couldn't enunciate her spells properly; she'd ended up setting fire to poor Colin's desk instead of making the feather Professor Flitwick gave her fly. The rest of the class saw this as a deliberate act of muggle born hatred, making the the growing rumours blossom. Overwhelmed with sadness, Virginia spent the rest of the class with her arms folded on the desk, her chin resting on her forearms.
Instead of going to the Ravenclaw table, Ginny dragged her instinctively to the Gryffindor table. Her brother smiled wanly at her as she sat down in between him and Ginny. Despite her connections to them both, she felt like an outsider on their table. A person with a blue tie lost in a sea of students with red ties.
"Alright Gin?" Harry asked in a low voice. Tousling her hair in a failed attempt to try and get her to smile.
"Are you sure you want to talk to me?" Virginia asked, miserably. "People will think we're colluding to petrify more people with non-magical parents."
"As if perfect Potter is the heir of Slytherin." A voice sneered from behind her. She turned to see a boy with white-blond hair wearing Slytherin robes and a mocking smirk standing behind them, flanked by two enormous Slytherin boys. Draco Malfoy. Her brother had warned her to avoid him at all costs. "My father found it hilarious when he heard. Just goes to show people will believe all sorts of rubbish." Harry and Ron opened their mouths to snap back, presumably with some implication that Malfoy had opened the chamber of secrets. It was highly doubtful that a second year student as able to petrify people, no matter how strong his hatred of muggle-borns was.
"Who do you think it is?" Her question made her feel like a small fish who'd just got itself hooked on a line meant for something much larger.
"Why would I tell you?" His cruel laugh was the equivalent of him throwing her, wounded, back into the sea. "I do wish the heir had come to Hogwarts a bit earlier though; if he'd killed your mudblood mother in school, I wouldn't have to deal with your stupid questions." Fixing her expression so it was one of amusement rather than one or irritation or anger, Virginia looked him straight in his pale eyes. He wanted to get under her skin, make her shout back in rage. Well, if that was what he wanted, he wasn't going to get it.
"At least I'm not like you. I expect everyone in your family have been in the same gene pool so long they have webbed feet." She told him, her voice as neutral as if she was answering a question in class. To her immense satisfaction, Malfoy's expression darkened, his usually pale cheeks turned the same colour as Raspberry Bellini. To think a mere first year, his rival's little sister, made a fool out of him. Several other people around the Gryffindor table laughed at his expense.
"Pepper-up Potter." He spat childishly, unable to come up with a decent comeback... Something in his voice made her pause. Could that have been a decent comeback? Until Malfoy had called Hermione a mudblood, Virginia had no idea that it was in the least bit offensive. An unwelcome thought popped into her head: What if 'pepper-up' was a derogatory term? What if all this time, Fred and George had been goading her?
Forgive and forget they say. Forgiveness is hard when no one repents. Forgetting is even harder. Pepper thought she had forgotten, but as the memories returned in strange flashes she also remembered how small and pathetic she'd felt back then; never knowing whether someone was laughing at her or laughing with her.
There had been a time when she'd thought people could change. Aldrich Killian was a prime example. The first time they'd met, she'd thought he was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. Years later, she made the mistake of letting him stride back through the doors of Stark industries, blowing her away with a pitch for a revolutionary idea... only to have her realise he was the same sadistic creep.
Time hadn't changed Killian. She sure as hell wasn't going to believe it could change Draco Malfoy as well. In her eyes, Malfoy was still the callous bully he'd always been. His father had been a death eater and, when the Dark Lord rose to power a second time, Draco had been first in line to lead the next generation of death eaters. He'd even plotted to kill Dumbledore. People like that didn't just change. But... The unwelcome thought popped to her mind ...He did save Harry's life.
"Alright." She said stiffly, feeling once again like the small fish grabbing hold of a hook it couldn't hope to hold on to. "I'll hear you out." This time, he didn't throw her back.
"I work at the ministry handling dark and dangerous artefacts." That made sense. With his father's sizeable collection of dark and dangerous magical objects, Draco had probably been taught to handle them before he could walk. However, it irritated her at how quick the ministry had been to forgive him and place him in a potentially dangerous position of trust. "We recently uncovered a very dangerous artefact from the time of the dark lord."
If memory served her correctly, only Voldemort's supporters referred to him as 'the dark lord'. Before she was able to goad him, the most horrifying thought occurred to her.
"Is it another horcrux?"
"Since your dear brother and his friends destroyed all of those I highly doubt it." He said drily, making her feel instantly stupid. She hated how he had such power to play with her emotions. "Anyway, a group of aurors were charged with safely transporting the object back to the British ministry. We only found one of their bodies, the rest are missing." He explained, distastefully.
"What's this got to do with me?" She asked, trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably. His tale had almost instantly captured her interest. The leaned over the table, speaking her next sentence in hushed tones. "Do you want the avengers to help?" To her shock, he let out a loud, sarcastic laugh.
"Captain Ice-cream and the muggle equivalent of Sir Cadogan? I'm probably more powerful than all of them put together." He sneered smugly. Pepper's mind flitted to Maximoff and Vision, and she wondered whether that was actually true.
Could magical shields repel bullets from black widow, laser blasts from Iron Man and whatever it was that Vision shot out of the infinity stone on his head? As far as she was aware, the protego charm was only effective against spells.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Potter." Malfoy's voice quietened; for a moment he sounded almost sincere. "Your brother was one of the aurors. I'm here because I need your help to get him back." Seconds ticked by as Pepper waited for to feel some kind of reaction to his disturbing words. She expected her heart to skip a beat experience the pain and discomfort of being punched in the stomach. It didn't come. She felt strangely calm as she stared back at her childhood bully.
When a loud sneeze gave away her position on the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins accidentally sprayed half chewed chunks of food over the table in their haste to tell her to 'Pepper-up'. Had they said this before Malfoy had so eloquently used it as an insult, she probably would have laughed along. Now however, she stayed quiet, staring intently at the hunk of bread and pickle on her brother's plate.
Wishing she could just fade into the background, she shuffled in her seat to engage her brother and his friends in conversation instead. They were whispering in hushed ones about some kind of potion. The second they realised she was listening, the talking awkwardly stopped. In their defence, they didn't know they were making her feel about two inches tall.
"Hows the cold?" Hermione asked for no other reason than to end the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon then. If she'd wanted to answer, she wouldn't have had the chance. Hermione always spoke so quickly. "You know, you really should go and take some pepper-up potion for that."
Pepper-up potion. Realisation flooded over her. All this time they hadn't been goading her, they'd been telling her to take cold medicine assuming she knew what it was. How was she supposed to know wizards could even cure a cold? It seemed obvious when she thought about it. Madam Pomfrey could heal cuts, scrapes and broken bones in a heart beat, she'd even grown back Harry's bones! Virginia was about to ask Hermione more, but she didn't need to - the girl just kept talking.
"I was amazed when I first found out too. To think, we have the cure for the common cold! I mean, the muggles came pretty close to finding a cure last year before Howard Stark crashed his car. However, all his research died with him and his son is more interested in girls and parties to worry about running a business and the board is focussing on the weapons side of things..."
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Ron asked incredulously. "Who's Howard Stank?"
"It amazes me how little wizards know about muggle culture." Hermione said. "He was an American weapons manufacturer. One of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. Revolutionised the second world war... although I don't believe all the nonsense that he actually created a super soldier-"
"Anyway, the point is you should go to the hospital wing to get some pepper-up potion." Harry cut in helpfully, tousling Virginia's hair. "I'd offer to come but people would probably just think we're there to finish of Justin and Colin." She nodded sadly, guessing the real reason was that he wanted to stay here, whispering with his friends.
"We'll go with you Virginia!" The Weasley twins exclaimed excitedly. "Only to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't kill anyone." Ginny and Percy fixed them with identical, disapproving glares while Harry and Ron laughed.
Since Percy thought Ginny had been looking peaky all term, he bullied her into going with them to the hospital wing and pompously decided he ought to come along as well. Surrounded by the bright red-haired Weasley siblings, Virginia stuck out like a sore thumb with her Ravenclaw robes and strawberry blond plaits. It didn't help the Fred and George sung 'Pepper-up Potter' in a tune that vaguely resembled the music from 'Jaws'. She felt uncomfortable as everyone's eyes fixed, rudely, on her.
Ginny took it first when they got to the hospital wing. Her face turned the colour of her hair and, with the smoke coming out of her ears, she almost looked like she was on fire. Madam Pomfrey handed a glass to Virginia, who stared dubiously as the grey coloured liquid, swilling it around the cup. It reminded her of lava.
"This will really get rid of my cold?" She asked Fred, who'd taken a seat next to her. For once he just nodded without adding a joke. Taking a deep breath she downed the liquid, expecting to have the same reaction as her her brother when he had taken skele gro.
It tasted surprisingly nice. She couldn't have drunk to much of it as it was sickly sweet, with a fruity flavour in the background she couldn't place. There were little grains in it that popped like popping candy as the thick liquid slowly slid down her throat. With each tiny explosion she was able to breathe a little better, her sinuses completely clear within seconds. Then the overwhelming heat came. In the mirror, she saw herself turn as red as Ginny had, smoke erupted out of her ears as the cold virus was burnt out of her body.
"And the Potter's Peppered." The twin's sung in deep, baritone voices, when she stopped looking so much like a train. Madam Pomfrey sent the loud group of Weasleys out of her hospital wing with a disapproving glare. With all the petrified people in there, it wasn't a surprise everyone else was talking in hushed, respectful voices.
"Wow that stuff is strong!" Virginia exclaimed, coughing a few times as fresh air passed through her sinuses. Absentmindedly she scratched her wrist. "If you sold this to muggles you'd made a fortune." The twin's eyes shone with opportunity, but Percy quickly stamped out whatever entrepreneurial thoughts were blossoming in their minds.
"If you two even think about it, I'll tell Professor McGonagall and our mother." He warned them, eyes narrowed. They rolled their eyes, and trudged along behind, singing 'Potter's been Peppered' to Virginia's irritation.
The group was almost back at the great hall when Virginia started to feel a little itch on her wrist hadn't gone away, instead it had spread irritatingly up her arm. The more she tried to put the scratch out of her mind, the more her wrist screamed at her to itch it.
When no one was looking, she pulled up her sleeve and started to itch, giving into the impulse... it was a few moments before she realised it wasn't a gnat bite. A large red rash had spread up her arm, red and raw from where she'd been scratching. Gasping in shock, Virginia suddenly realised how tight her throat was. She stopped so suddenly that Fred and George plowed into the back of her, knocking her to the ground. The floor was moving... she couldn't stand up. Too dizzy to move, she pulled her knee's up to her chest, and buried her head in between her legs. She heard over a dozen feet approaching her, eager eyes staring at the hyperventilating first year.
"Everybody stay back!" Percy shouted, somehow managing to sound pompous despite the severity of the situation. "I'm a prefect, do as I say!"
Virginia didn't miss the whispers and the stares from the crowd she had drawn. This couldn't have gone unnoticed could it? Everyone wanted to watch Harry Potter's sister having some kind of fit. In the muggle world, they'd all be too glued to their tv shows and video games to care.
Unfortunately, she wasn't in the muggle world and supposedly was one of the heirs of Slytherin, despite being unable to speak in Parseltongue. Ignorant whisperers suggested this was her comeuppance for petrifying people. Others thought she was being petrified after insulting her brother. A thousand different theories were bounced off her in the two minutes she'd been sitting there.
"Gin!" There was only one person in the world who called her that. A strange sense of relief filled her; he was here, everything would be ok. "She's having an anaphylactic shock... what's in a Pepper-up potion?" Her brother asked no one in particular as he snatched up her rucksack from the ground and yanked out her epi-pen and injected her.
"Well pepper obviously, then there's also lacewing flies, strawberries..." Hermione ticked the ingredients off on her fingers, as if she was reciting them for an exam.
"That's it then." Her brother said, pulling Virginia into his arms as her breathing became calmer and more even. "The one thing in the world she's allergic to is strawberries." Hermione looked a little indignant that she didn't get a chance to finish listing the ingredients. Other students however, were looking at her as if she was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.
"Well done Harry." Percy nodded nervously. "Just to be safe I will escort you and Virginia to the hospital wing. Ron if you could help Harry carry her..."
Ignoring their brother's authoritative spiel, Fred and George stepped forward, putting Virginia's arms around their necks and grabbing hold of one of her legs each.
"Ready, Fred." George exclaimed.
"Ready, George." Fred agreed, they hoisted the first year up, carrying her as if she was on a living, breathing throne. Virginia's initial shocked gasp quickly turned into a choked laugh as they carried her through the corridors singing; "this is what happen when you pepper-up Potter!" Looking back at her brother, she couldn't miss seeing Malfoy in the doorway of the hall, a triumphant gleam in his eye that made her feel uneasy. His smile grew as hers faded away.
Dating Tony stark, Pepper had gotten more than her fair share of dirty looks, bad press and gossip. So far, no amounts of derogatory comments and conspiracies had kept her from keeping her nose clean and getting a job done well. For that, she had Hogwarts to thank. Her first year at school had been so unbearably lonely that she'd become thick skinned. But, even knowing her brother was in trouble, she couldn't go back.
Every lapse in judgement, every ounce of gossip she'd endured through school would catch hold of her, eat away at her and rip her life apart. She had a life. It was a good life. Sure, Tony didn't always get things spot on, but he was working on it for her. With a great feeling of relief, she looked Draco Malfoy in the eye and told him the truth.
"I can't help you." She'd intended to speak loudly, with certainty, but they came out as barely a whisper. In disbelief, Malfoy sniggered. "I'm serious. I haven't been a part of this world for eighteen years. I haven't spoken to my brother or anyone from my past. I haven't used my powers even when my life was in danger, you know why? I don't want to be a part of this world anymore!"
"Never pegged you for a coward, Potter." Malfoy raised his eyebrow mockingly. "I'm staying here for forty eight hours. That's how long you have to decide."
"I've already decided." She said defiantly.
"No. You haven't." He smirked, standing up and walking around to her side of their booth, offering his hand to help her up. With reluctance, she took his hand and stood facing him. With her tall heels, she was on eye level with him. "I'll see you soon, Potter." He told her, threateningly, leaning in to plant an unwanted peck on her cheek.
Even after the Christmas holidays, Peeves the Poltergeist hadn't gotten board of chasing after her with a fist full of pepper, an idea inspired by the ingenious Draco Malfoy. Singing 'Pepper-up Potter' was even more enjoyable to him than chasing after her brother shouting 'Oh Potter you rotter'. When she arrived at most of her lessons, her hair was sprinkled with grey dust and her eyes were red and watery from sneezing.
Labouring under the misconception that she'd been crying, Peeves' and the students revelled to see her like this, none more than Malfoy. He and his fellow Slytherins kept Peeves in a constant supply of pepper to throw, as well as chucking handfuls at her themselves.
The more they thought their words and actions were ripping apart her strong defences, the more insults came. It was almost as if they would not rest until she was completely isolated, unable to hold her head up high because the weight of her worthlessness was pushing it down. Sometimes, when the other students in her dormitory fell asleep, she dared to shed a tear. She never gave them the satisfaction of seeing her cry though, out of fear she'd end up like moaning Myrtle; trapped weeping forever in a bathroom.
There was hope though; Luna Lovegood was perhaps the only one of her classmates who didn't mind being pelted with pepper on the way to her lessons. Nor did she mind spending time with the sister of the alleged the heir of Slytherin. She was the only person who made Virginia feel like she was worth something.
"You know there are worse nicknames." Luna told her, in her soft, dream like voice as she plucked pepper corns out of Pepper's hair as if it was confetti. As if to prove her right, Peeve cackled hysterically at the sight.
"Looney Lovegood picked a peppered Potter!" He crowed.
"And the name Pepper kind of suits you." She carried on speaking as if Peeve's wasn't even there. Virginia nodded, trying to pretend that Peeves didn't get under her skin. "You should make it your own. It's what I would do." Her bright blue eyes were wide with sincerity, before she skipped off towards the common room, leaving Virginia with that thought.
Sighing, Virginia started trudging in the direction of the library. However, something in the corner of her eye made her pause and walk down a corridor she would never normally walk down. At the very end of the corridor stood a girl, around her height with unmistakable bright red hair. Her body was motionless; it was almost as if she'd been petrified in the upright position.
"Ginny?" Virginia took a step forward. The other girl turned mechanically towards her and stared silently. Virginia gasped, coming to a holt."Ginny, what happened?" The girl's eyes were blank; they showed no knowledge that she even knew who Virginia was. "Ginny it's me, Virginia Potter."
"Potter." Ginny repeated, the way she spoke didn't sound like herself. Nervously, Virginia took another step towards Ginny, trying to ignore the predatory glare on her face. "Yes... she's mentioned you. She likes you, even considers you one of her closest friends despite really only having your brothers in common."
The words stung her as they tumbled out of Ginny's mouth. True Virginia had no interest in Quidditch and knew nothing about popular wizarding culture. When she'd first arrived at the Burrow, she and Ginny had been forced together because they were the same age and the same sex. But the Weasley girl had always been kind to her even when the whole school seemed to hate her. For that, she'd never know how grateful Virginia truly was.
"Who are you?" Virginia whispered, shrinking back from Ginny's figure.
Of one thing she was absolutely certain; this wasn't Ginny Weasley. Whether this was dual personality disorder or whether Ginny had somehow been possessed, Virginia didn't know. She did know that the smile on Ginny's face didn't belong there. It was a smile that reminded Virginia of all the witches in the fairy tales. It was a smile dripping with pure evil.
She felt the hairs on her neck stand on end, as if someone was watching her from behind... yet she couldn't rip her eyes away from Ginny's.
"Just a memory." Ginny said, taking a step towards her. "A memory of a person who came to this school fifty years ago."
"L-like a ghost?" She hated that she was stuttering,
"In a manner of speaking, only I'm so much more than a ghost. Little Ginny has poured her heart and soul into me. I've been able to place a little part of myself in her head." Ginny's strange smile grew. "My name's Tom by the way. Tom Riddle." The name reminded her of something, but she couldn't think of what.
"Why are you telling me this, Tom?" Virginia asked slowly.
"Because you are insignificant." Ginny told her.
The next words Ginny spoke weren't words... A strange made language slipped from her lips in a soothing hiss. It wasn't a made up language though; Virginia had heard it before. When her brother had been talking to a python in a zoo, she'd heard it. When Malfoy had conjured snakes at Harry during a dual, she'd heard it. It was Parseltongue. Virginia took another step back, but she tripped over her feet in her haste and fell painfully the floor. It was clear now, who the heir of Slytherin was. Who had opened the chamber. Who was petrifying muggle-borns. It was Ginny.
"Ginny. Stop. Please. If you're in there." She shuffled back on the floor, as Ginny walked threateningly towards her. Remembering she was a witch, Virginia fumbled for her wand, but her fingers felt stiff and awkward. It fell out of her hands and scattered across the floor. Ginny ignored it. She didn't need a wand to kill.
Virginia heard a loud slither of serpent scales scraping against metal and glanced around desperately. In the a window, she saw a pair of enormous, hypnotising yellow eyes.
Everything went black.
Nightmares had plagued her sleep for weeks after seeing the yellow eyes of Slytherin's monster. Never daring to admit the weakness to her brother or her friends, she suffered alone. Even during the summer holidays she hadn't felt completely safe. Little Virginia Potter had slept with her wand under her pillow, despite knowing she'd be expelled from Hogwarts if she ever dared to use it.
Remembering this, Pepper sat quietly in the back of the bright yellow taxi, thinking of nothing but the fear those eyes had overwhelmed her with. Taking a deep breath for courage, she leaned forward.
"Excuse me, can we take a quick detour please?" The taxi driver nodded. Unbeknownst to him, the 'quick detour' would take them almost to the opposite side of New York, to a large bank. Pepper thanked him with a generous tip for taking him so far out of his way before clambering out of the taxi and walking, with as much confidence as she could muster, into the bank. "I'd like to empty a safety deposit box please?" She asked kindly. "It's under the name Petunia Dursley..."
A safety deposit box under an assumed name wasn't a particularly groundbreaking concept. Once Pepper had answered all the security questions correctly, they took her round to the box. Perhaps the assistant had been expecting the CEO of stark industries to have jewels and stashes of cash in her box. However, there was only one item in the little wooden box.
Eight and a half inches. Willow. Containing a unicorn hair. Smiling as if she was greeting an old friend, Pepper picked up her wand. As she cradled it in her hands, she felt like she'd been reconnected with a part of herself that she'd lost. It felt strange. Good strange.
The assistant didn't bother to hide his disappointment that the box only contained a stick. Pepper thought it wise to leave as quickly as possible before he tried to ask what it was. Remembering a warning from Mad-eye Moody she's heard a lifetime ago, she slipped her want up her sleeve. If she put it in her back pocket and one of her buttocks mysteriously disappeared, she didn't know how she'd ever explain that to the avengers.
Author's Notes:
When I first started writing the story, it was Harry who sent the letter. It was really tricky to write their first meeting after so long, especially as I don't think Harry's the sort of person who'd be the first to reach out. He'd respect her decision to want to stay away from the wizarding world. When I experimented writing it with Malfoy instead of Harry, I found he's a really fun character to write for. He also inspired the name of the chapter - 'snake in the grass' - which is a saying that refers to a deceitful or treacherous individual.
The first two flashback scenes are set before Christmas of Harry's second year at Hogwarts, before they'd made up the Polyjuice potion, which is what Harry, Ron and Hermione are whispering about. The final flashback scene isn't really related to Pepper's experiences with Malfoy. I just really liked the scene and it's very loosely an example of the damage Draco and his father had done.
Pepper's experiences being bullied are, in my opinion, what makes her able to rise above all the nasty comments she gets in the second Iron man film when Tony makes her CEO. Being bullied is bad enough, but it's worse when people you don't even know and have never have formed negative opinions on you. It makes you a little bit distrustful of kind behaviour from people you don't know and banter from your friends which I hope I've reflected in the chapter.
Thanks to all the lovely people who have given the last two chapters such good reviews, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I'm going to try and post an update every Sunday - I went on a short holiday to Cornwall this weekend so I didn't get a chance to.
I'd just like to say one of my favourite quote which I think is particularly relevant for this chapter: Remember everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
Thanks for reading :) x
