The following weeks comprised of getting my old friends to accept me and accepting new ones. I was able to play on my knowledge of the Slytherin girls to win them back and Draco only took a few conversations to bring back his crush on me. They accepted it all as a mistake, taking it as far to bother staff members with putting me in "my correct place". They were unsuccessful.
However the Gryffindors were harder to deal with. I relied mostly on surnames to find their blood status' but it was difficult. I avoided the obvious muggleborns, which caused many in the house to avoid me. Only one pure blood took pity on me. Lavender Brown was all I had for company and she was easily comparable to Parkinson. Loud mouthed but friendly. She helped me get more comfortable with the halfbloods and accepted my problems with muggles although she openly disagreed to save face around her housemates.
As the year progressed, I made enemies in my house due to my friendships with Slytherin and relationship with a Malfoy but I remained out their way. But Draco's rivalry with you, Harry, increased. And in turn, so did mine, you made my future husband look like a fool- to me a great offence. When we won the house cup at the end of the year due to your efforts was when his goal to get back at you got serious.
The Malfoy Manor on the outside that summer was beautiful. The Malfoy's had gotten a new collection of white birds and the flowers had bloomed by the time of my visit. The strife of my house placement was eased over before Christmas and the Malfoy's and Corvi's still longed for their children to continue their pureblooded line.
Draco had plans of a different kind on his mind, for which he wanted me to be the pawn.
"Mariella," Draco burst into my guest room, face flushed, "I think I may have come up with something!"
I returned his grin, "What is it?"
"Date Potter, mess with him. Girls are good at that stuff and after all our parents don't have to know and the Slytherins would be in on it. Everyone wins except Potter."
I thought it over, the plan had potential but it was rough. He wasn't as smart as he believed, nor as cunning.
"Potter would never believe that I would want to date him for one thing and another, someone would let it slip spoiling the whole game," I mused over the idea, watching Draco do the same.
"You're the only Gryffindor that would help, the rest love him like a saint," he whined.
I dismissed him quickly and went back to dealing to my short hair, using my wand for touch ups in the warm brown highlights. I was hardly beautiful, with a big nose and small mouth, so I could never believed I could win you over that way. I had to play on your heroic traits and kindness. A plan slowly formulated over the rest of the summer to be put into action when we returned to Hogwarts.
The first step was to distance myself from the Slytherins. This was key. How could Harry Potter ever be interested in a blood purist? It started slowly, with only Draco aware of the plan. He planted seeds of distrust in my closest friends as I began to avoid them. Ideas of my traitorous behaviour surfaced towards the end of the second year. Leaving me with no friends but Lavender and the secret relationship with Draco.
I believed this to be the price I had to pay to do my task. That was until word got to my mother of course. Lavender and I were the only ones in our dormitory when I received the howler.
Lavender cursed as I opened it, "MARIELLA! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE BURNT OFF THE FAMILY TREE? TRYING TO DISGRACE US? FIRST, YOU WERE PLACED IN A HOUSE THAT HAS NEVER CONTAINED OUR FAMILY NAME AND NOW I HEAR FROM THE PARKINSONS THAT PANSY HAS INFORMED THEM OF YOUR RECENT LEAVE FROM A RESPECTABLE GROUP OF FRIENDS, TO BE ONE WITH THE GRYFFINDORS! BEST FRIENDS WITH A BLOOD TRAITOR!" I winced this was the first I've had a voice raised towards me, "I'm removing you from that damn school if you can't explain this. Go to your Head of House, right now."
The words were followed by a sigh.
"Merlin… I wondered what your parents would think if they knew you were spending more time with me," Lavender chuckled.
I felt almost guilty about my mother harsh words in her direction, "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
It was almost a sincere apology too. It was a strange thought to me then. I, of course, believed her to be a blood traitor but to have my mother say it with such disgust in Lavender's presence left an odd feeling of remorse of the idea of offending the girl. The thought left as quickly as it came, dismissed as I thought of my talent at acting.
I slowly tied my shoes, procrastinating. I had to get an owl to Draco but my mother said to go to McGonagall very clearly. I was going to have to trust Lavender or it was going to take too long.
"I need you to get Malfoy," I said carefully.
"Why? He hates you remember, he was the one that spread all those rumours," the confusion was evident, it was as though I asked her for the map to Atlantis.
"Because I don't have time to," I snapped, breaking the character that I had been developing of a quiet girl.
I didn't wait for a reply before I dashed down the stairs and out the portrait hole all the way to McGonagall. I composed myself before sauntering into her office, without knocking.
"I suspect you have received a letter from my mother," I drawled, glad I could let my guard down without other students present.
I had been in McGonagall's office only once before and that was purely for being late to class too many times. I was not shocked to see a flash of quickly composed confusion from the professor at my rude entrance.
"Indeed I did, I trust you know that you can only use head-only, " she directed me to the fireplace, pointed out the floo powder and excused herself.
Her exit left me worried but calmed. No one to stop my mother from yelling but also no one to hinder me from telling her my motives. I stuck my head in the green flames and summoned a house-elf to inform my mother I was here.
The quiet of her entrance was unnerving, she sat down in front of the fire and took a deep breath.
"Mum, I can explain, I promise," I began.
"I had suspected since I first heard of where you had been placed that it would go this way, Mary," she spoke in such a defeated tone that I refrained from laughing at the conclusion she had drawn.
"I'm not a blood traitor, mother," I suppressed a scoff, "It's all a plot to get back at Harry Potter for Draco. As part of the plan people had to believe I was a blood traitor."
"MARIELLA!" she spluttered, "You ruined your social standing for some kind of prank?!"
"Not a prank, a plot. Now if you could keep this from father and perhaps the Malfoy's, if Draco hasn't already told them, I would appreciate it," I pulled my head out the fire to ensure I was still alone, "If I take to long McGonagall will come looking so I can't tell you much, but I swear this is worth it. You'll have to excuse me, I'll see you in a few weeks."
The conversation ended abruptly as McGonagall proved my point by knocking on the door. I thanked her, informed her I would not be leaving the school and set off to find Draco to explain myself.
