Thank you, from the bottom of my hearts, to Saphire Bethany Stacy Skyle and Erica Lovett for your reviews to this story. This chapter is for you, my friends.
/LeaJailbird

I had imagined what it would be like to return to Hogwarts without Veruca, but at the King Cross Station I started to wonder if wouldn't have been less painful than to return with her.
She didn't even look at me when we meet at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Just grabbed Felicity's arm and walked past me, whispering something. The only world I heard was "psychopath" but it was more than enough. It burned like fire.
"Just ignore her, love. She doesn't deserve your friendship. I'm sure you can find other friends, much better than her."
I wanted to believe the same. Wanted it so badly. I hugged Mrs. Lovett tight and whispered "Thank you, I love you". It had become easier since the first time I left London to go to Hogwarts, but saying goodbye at the station still hurt inside of me. And nothing was as wonderful as coming home for holiday, seeing Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney wait for me and Toby at the platform. Even Sweeney used to smile a little when I ran into his arms.
Now, he certainly didn't. When Toby walked over to a group of Hufflepuff students, Sweeney put a hand on my shoulder.
"Ruby, if that girl bothers you, or if she tells anyone the truth about you and me…"
"Mr. T, you're not gonna kill an innocent little girl, are you?" Mrs. Lovett suddenly looked very upset. "Remember she has a family, and if you…"
Sweeney gave her a warning look and she fell silent. He turned to me again. "Keep me updated. Will you?"
I nodded. "I'll send you an owl, once a week. I promise. Goodbye, Mr. Todd. Goodbye, Mrs. Lovett."

Since I couldn't stand the way they were looking at me, I didn't even try to sit in the same compartment as Veruca and Felicity. Neither did I feel like sitting with Toby and his Hufflepuff friends.
This is my sister, Ruby. She doesn't have any friends, obviously cause she's a psychopath, so I have to take care of her. Can you stand pretending to be nice to her during this train journey?
I wanted to be alone. I didn't have any friends, I didn't belong anywhere. I tried to find an empty compartment, but they were all full. All the students at Hogwarts had gone home for Christmas holiday and were now on their way back. Laughing with their friends, talking about silly things, living lives without secrets. Without death as a constant follower.
When I passed all the compartments for the fourth time, wondering if I should lower me to going and sit with Toby and his friends, the door to one of them opened.
"I saw you walking back and forth in the corridor. You can sit here with us if you want to." A red head Gryffindor girl in my form smiled to me. I guessed she was one of the Weasley Cousins (there seemed to be hundreds of them, all with the same red hair).
I didn't have anything to lose. So I smiled back, a shy smile, and followed the girl into the compartment.
She sat there with a dark girl and a boy with black hair and glasses. Probably not Weasley cousins, or were they? I didn't have to wonder too long, because the red head girl soon introduced them all to me:
"I'm Rose, Rose Weasley. This is Albus Potter and Roxanne Weasley, they are my cousins. What's your name?"
"Ruby Todd." I smiled another shy smile and scanned the dark girl. So, this was the famous cousin of Veruca's. She didn't look like her at all. This girl was short and curvy with dark skin, dark eyes and black hair. How could they possibly be cousins?
"You are in Slytherin with Veruca, right?" Roxanne asked as if she had read my thoughts.
I nodded. "Yes." Then I couldn't help saying it: "You are not very alike for being cousins."
"Oh, please don't tell me Veruca has told you that cousin story?" Roxanne Weasley sighted, I mostly felt confused. Cousin story?
"Veruca Paige is NOT my cousin! She happens to be the daughter to one of my mother's best friends from Hogwarts, Darina Benton. Our mothers used to be really close friends, and so did Veruca and I. We have grown up like cousins, yes, but that was before she became an irritating little brat. Now, she only hangs after me for information about James. And she tells everyone we are cousins. She drives me crazy. If it's not too late, avoid her. She's mean, manipulative and never cares about anyone but herself."
It all fell into place. And, suddenly I was hit by a thought: It's not my fault. A true friend would have accepted me and Sweeney. But Veruca was… an irritating little brat. I loved that thought so much that I wanted to sit and just think it for the whole journey. But I wouldn't. I would sit right there and talk to the Gryffindor students.
"Veruca and I used to be friends. But then, a thing happened…" I decided to take a chance. I couldn't tell them about Sweeney and the way he killed people, but I could tell them about the way Veruca let me down.
"The thing is, I have a really sad background. My parents are dead and I now live with a man who is… not like my new father, more like my best friend, anyway with him and my foster brother Toby Lovett in Hufflepuff and his mother, it's all very complicated. And I really don't like to talk about my background, my parents and such things. So I knew Veruca for four years without telling her anything about myself, but this Christmas she kind of forced me to tell her everything. And she didn't accept me and my family, so she turned her back against me. She is the one who avoids ME."
I was shocked myself about how much I just had told these people; Gryffindor students I didn't know at all. But it actually felt good to tell them this. Not at all like the way it felt to tell Veruca about Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, more like the way it felt the first time I met Sweeney and told him about my mother. Like I could trust them, even if I didn't know them. The way Rose had opened the door and invited me, the way Roxanne had told me to avoid Veruca… They were nice people. Nice Gryffindor students.
Real friends…
"Stupid bitch. You should be glad to get rid of her." said the boy, Albus. "She has been hanging after me for information about James as well. What's so special about him anyway? He has been teasing me since my first day at Hogwarts."
"Albus is right." added Roxanne. "You can get much better friends at Hogwarts. There has to be nice girls even in Slytherin, right?"
"Otherwise you can be our friend, Ruby." said Rose and smiled a warm smile.
"Didn't your father tell you to not get friends with Slytherins?" teased Roxanne.
"No, he only told me to avoid Scorpius. And to be better than him at every test we have in school."
"Sounds very much like Uncle Ron, yes." Roxanne laughed. "My father told me the same thing, though."
I took a deep breath, looked into Rose's brown eyes and said: "I would love to be your friend, Rose."

The memory of our little chat at the train was what kept me alive the following weeks. I could handle to be alone in school; to work by myself in the classes when everybody else where in pairs with someone, to spend the breaks in the library or in the owl tower, waiting for another letter from home, but I couldn't stand the way Veruca and Felicity were whispering about me. Or the way they left the common room if I happened to sit down at the same table as them.
And one evening, in the dormitory, they went too far. Felicity decided to talk to me for the first time in three weeks:
"Do I really dare to sleep in the same room as you, what if you kill me and bake me into a pie? This is insane; someone should go to the police. What's the punishment for murder in the muggle world; hanging?"
I didn't answer. I just ran out from the dormitory, down the stairs and out of the common room before anyone had the chance to see my tears.
They knew and it was just a matter of time before one of them went straight to a man like Judge Turpin and told him the whole story.
Hanging. Oh God, no!
Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett wouldn't have a chance, they would both be hanged. And me and Toby... we were lucky if we even were placed at an orphanage. Otherwise it was back to the street, or someplace worse...
I sat down in the owl tower and cried, suddenly terrified to lose the only people I really loved in this world. Then I remember my promise, grabbed a feather pen and wrote a short message with my hand still shaking from sobs.

She has told Felicity everything. Felicity said someone should go to the police; the punishment for murder is hanging.
I'm terrified, Sweeney. If they hang you, they can hang me as well. I won't let that happen. I love you.
Ruby Todd

I picked a reliable looking Tawny Owl, whispered "Fly to Fleet Street, as fast as you can" and let it away. I knew Sweeney would read it tonight; he didn't use to sleep much. Neither did I, without him by my side.

I had been crying in my sleep since I watched my mother die, I hardly thought about it anymore. But that first night in Fleet Street, someone was finally there to comfort me.
I saw my mother again, blood all over her face. This time I was hiding behind the coach, wanting so badly to help her but too frightened to let my father see me. Her screams echoed inside my head, mixed up with my own sobs.
"No, please! No!"
Then I suddenly felt a pair of strong arms lift me up, tighten me into an embrace and laying me down next to a warm body.
"Hush, hush. It's only a dream. You are safe here. I will protect you."
When I slowly woke up and opened my eyes, I was laying next to Mr. Todd in his bed. And those eyes I looked into, they weren't the eyes of a murder who had slit hundreds of throats. They were the eyes of the loving father I had never had.
"Mr. Todd, I..."
"Sweeney. You can call me Sweeney, but not in front of Toby or Mrs. Lovett. Is that alright?"
I nodded, trying to dry my tears. "Sweeney... Thank you..."
I slept in his embrace all that night, and all the nights after that one. The nightmares didn't go away, but they all seemed far less horrible with him beside me. Every time I cried, he was there. I realised that I loved him, that I didn't want to live anymore if he wasn't there.

I had gone through the last four years at Hogwarts without sleeping at all. Every night I had been lying in my bed, pretending to sleep, until Veruca and Felicity fell asleep. Then I had spent the night with reading in the Common Room, writing essays or practicing spells I hadn't had the time for in the day, taking walks around the castle or writing letters home. I used to be tired in the days, yes, but the thought of lying in a bed without Sweeney next to me, all alone with my nightmares, was enough to make me stay awake another night. And during my first years, I learned some spells that replaced the sleep I had missed with fake one. Or simply made me alert enough to pass another Transfiguration test.
I waited in the Owl Tower for five hours, and then the Tawny Owl finally returned. It was holding one of Sweeney's razors and a short message:

Do what you have to, Precious. I love you too.
Sweeney

I picked up Sweeney's little friend, held it to the sky. Felt it grow warm in my hand.
"See this one shine,
How he smiles, in the light
My friend, my faithful friend..."
I understood why Sweeney loved his razors so much. Holding one of them in my hand made me feel strong, like no one could ever hurt me again.
"Al right, you sir? How about a shave? Come and visit, your good friend Ruby. You sir, too sir? Welcome to the grave!" The owl I had pointed the razor at gave me an injured sight and flew out in the night. I sighted and went back to the dormitory.

First, I walked over to Felicity's bed. Watched her strawberry blonde hair over the pillow, thought about those brown eyes I knew where hiding behind her eyelids.
She wasn't like Veruca at all. Veruca was a selfish, manipulative and mean little brat, Felicity was... impressionable, silly and naive, but never mean.
I put the razor down, took up my wand. Whispered:
"Felicity, my friend... You will forget everything Veruca has told you about me from after Christmas and on. You are my friend and I am yours. Obliviate"
I watched her sleep, with a sense of sadness about what I knew was about to come. Then I walked over to Veruca's bed, took up the razor again.
"Now then, my friend
Now to your purpose
Patient, enjoy it
Revenge can't be taken in haste..."
Revenge for what? For refusing to be friends with a girl who can slit her throat in any moment?
I'm sorry, Veruca. I didn't want it to end this way, but you give me no choice. Sweeney is all I have and I will do anything to protect him.
I watched her face one last time, whispering a silent goodbye. Then I took a deep, quivering breath. And slit her throat.