Seven Years in Slytherin
XxMookinexX
Based on the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.
First Year, Part Eight
Teasing too Far
"The thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were."
John F. Kennedy
It felt amazing to be able to stand on platform 9¾ again. Grace breathed in the train station fumes with delight. Was there a single person in the world who failed to be giddy with excitement at the prospect of Hogwarts again? She'd be able to see her friends, to finally see Albus again, and escape the constant watchful eyes monitoring her recovery. Unfortunately the Summer Term was not without its complications. She had three months worth of work to catch up on, and their exams were drawing closer. She was fervently hoping that Scorpius, Albus and Rose would help her out. Although Rose had never been a particularly close friend.
"Well, Grace, this is it," Mr Carlsdale said, drawing her attention back to the present. He'd gladly offered her a lift to the station with the boys when her dad had been forced to go back to work again. He'd neglected the shop during her accident, and he had a lot of paperwork and accounts to catch up on. The shop assistants - Mrs Peagreen and Martin Shoe had been very understanding throughout the whole incident, but as her father said, they were more than entitled to a holiday at this point (not to mention overtime pay).
"Thanks for taking me," she said cheerily. Alex had momentarily disappeared with their trunks, leaving her to stand awkwardly with his dad and Timothy on the platform. It shouldn't have been awkward. After all, she had known the Carlsdales for most of her life, but Timothy was being inattentive (he kept craning his neck, presumably looking for Hazel - a flowery, creative type that was hard to reconcile with Timothy's description of 'the smartest witch' he knew) and recently Mr Carlsdale had taken to making embarrassing jokes.
"It was the least I could do. After all, you'll have enough on your plate looking after Alex for us this term." She blushed hotly. Jokes like that. She wasn't sure what to think of their parents knowing everything. Timothy had clearly listened into enough of their conversation to spill the beans because when they finally came downstairs, Sally had kept winking at her, and her dad had been oddly hostile towards Alex. They'd tried to get their revenge by poking fun at him about Hazel Wallflower, but since he became such a nervous wreck at the very mention of her name, that it was hard to escalate their teasing appropriately.
"Dad," Alex groaned, coming back in time to overhear him. Timothy made a little exclamation, and raced away from them without a backward glance. "You're so embarrassing!"
"We're just pleased for you, son," Mr Carlsdale started with an impish grin that reduced his age-lines by ten years.
"If you're not sensible I'm going to leave without saying goodbye," he said petulantly. Grace sniggered, and his ears went red. His father reached out and caught him in a one-armed hug, mussing his hair up with the other hand mercilessly. "Dad! Get off of me!"
"As if you get to leave without saying goodbye," his father bellowed, thoroughly enjoying ridiculing his son. Grace turned away from their private spectacle, not least because she wasn't sure Alex could become any more red, and stood on tiptoe to try and catch sight of her friends. Alas, the only person her age she recognised nearby was Todd Turpin, the unfortunate Gryffindor, as he fell over on his way past them. "Have a great summer, son," Mr Carlsdale said as Alex leapt out of reach, trying to flatten his hair again. Grace wondered why he bothered. He'd just make a mess of it again when he made up with James. "Do try and at least revise for some of your exams."
"Ugh!" Alex's noise of disgust was very telling. Grace smiled. She couldn't imagine him seriously revising a damn thing.
"Have an excellent time then," his father said, shaking his head and glancing at Grace, "Both of you." She blushed again.
"We'll see you soon," she stepped in. "It's a much shorter term." Alex grunted and they waved his father goodbye as he went to find Timothy. Alex grabbed her hand.
"C'mon. I had to leave your trunk with some friends." She followed him onto the Hogwarts Express and towards their carriage. She wondered if Catherine or Bethany would be around, but the two girls in the carriage were both Weasleys.
"Oh! Hello," she greeted, failing to hide her surprise. It was hard to work out which girl had the more animated reaction: Molly, who enthusiastically clapped her hands upon seeing Grace even though they barely knew each other, or Lucy, whose face literally twitched through a whole spectrum of emotions. Excessive boredom became wry interest, which turned to vindictive scorn, flashed to slight guilt, and then reverted back to excessive boredom again.
"You've recovered I see," Lucy said.
"Thank Merlin," Molly gushed. "We were all really worried! Obviously, we heard from Uncle Harry that you'd woken up, but it's so great to see you up and on your feet again!" Molly was such a lovely person. Grace wondered whether Lucy acted offensively to test Molly's patience. She wondered if they ever fought. Surely, they had. They were sisters, after all, but it was difficult to imagine Molly saying a nasty word to anyone.
"I'm glad to be back." She glanced at Alex, then back to the others. "I don't suppose either of you've seen James?" Alex stiffened and then avoided everyone's gaze. Lucy's eyes could have bored a hole into him. Molly frowned, but smiled pleasantly and shook her head regretfully.
"I saw him earlier with Monique and Louis, but they could be anywhere by now."
"Thanks." She glanced at their trunks. "Do you mind keeping an eye on these for us? We should go find him."
"Of course-" Molly started. Lucy made an angry noise that drew all their attention.
"What about Albus?" she challenged. Grace blinked. "Aren't you going to thank him? He did save your life after all." The snottiness of the remark was uncalled for. Of course she hadn't forgotten how much she owed Albus. It had been playing on her mind. But she'd rather expected to spend the whole train ride with him. Obviously. That was what they did - Celia, Scorpius, Albus and she. She frowned. Of course, she'd assumed Alex would spend the ride with James and his friends. She hoped they made up. Or he'd have to come and sit with them, and somehow she couldn't see Alex and her friends getting on...
"Oh, I'm so glad you reminded me," Grace said, sarcastically, but she was careful to keep her tone light and carefree. "What would I do without you, Lucy?" The Ravenclaw crossed her arms over her chest and glared moodily as Alex laughed. Grace sent her a grin. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I've missed you!" If anything, her glower got even worse.
"Leave me," she ground out through gritted teeth. Grace snorted as Alex did a mock bow.
"Your wish, madam," he said and whisked out of the compartment again. Grace rushed after him, laughing.
"Are you nervous?" Grace asked Alex, noticing that he was drumming his fingers over the carriage walls as they walked along. "About James, I mean." He shrugged stiffly.
"I'm not sure what will be worse," he said. "Apologising, or his reaction to this." He gestured at the two of them, and Grace blanched. When she thought about her friends' reactions her stomach churned.
As they went, a few students whispered when they saw Grace, but it didn't appear to be anything malicious. Her attack had probably caused a stir. She didn't really want to inquire about what the rumour mill had churned out by way of explanation.
In one carriage Marlowe Bucket stopped dead in front of her and pointed an exaggerated shaking finger in her direction.
"A ghost!" he yelled, drawing some sniggers from the other Slytherins around him. Sebastian Cauldwell was reduced to a riotous laughter that had him weak at the knees. "'Angels and ministers of grace defend us!'" He was obviously quoting something, but Harriet Bletchley burst into a fit of tears before Grace could question him.
"Come now, Harriet," Jeremy said as Wedby awkwardly batted her on the back. "Marlowe's acting isn't that bad."
"I-I-I'm just so glad!" she sniveled.
In the end they had to feed her cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs to get her to be sensible again.
"I never realised Slytherins were so... normal," Alex reflected as they went on their way.
"Well, they can't all be like me," Grace pointed out, causing him to grin. She was still laughing as they entered the next carriage and she caught sight of some messy Potter-like hair through the first compartment's window. She opened the door with an unnecessary force in her eagerness.
"Hello!" she shouted. Her grin could have split her face in two. All her favourite people in once place! There was still no sign of James, but here were Celia, Scorpius and Albus! Also, Rose, but Grace wasn't quite as elated about seeing the Ravenclaw.
Several people shouted: "Grace!"
A few minutes were devoted to greetings and hugs. Rose made some complimentary remarks of well-wishing. The type Grace was already bored of.
"It's so good to see you," she told Albus, giving him an extra squeezey hug. "It didn't seem right to say it by owl, but thank you so much, you really saved me! I don't even want to think what might have happened if I'd lost even more time." She didn't like to think about how much time she'd actually lost to begin with. He mumbled something, embarrassed, and sat down. Alex leant against the doorway, his arms folded, watching them interact with a slight frown. She wondered if it bothered him that he hadn't been the one to 'save' her. It sounded ridiculous, but Alex did get funny about the strangest things. "I don't suppose you know where your bother is?" she asked quickly, very aware that Alex seemed quite out of place amongst them. She felt flustered. There was no way to reintroduce Alex to them in a natural way.
"Maybe he's with Bethany?" Albus suggested, pointing the same way they'd been going. "I think I saw her another carriage down."
"Cool," Grace grinned. "Give me a minute and I'll see you in a bit then!" She hurriedly ushered Alex from the compartment before anyone could get into an argument. Celia had been scrutinising them a little too keenly, and Scorpius' eyebrow had raised. That was the equivalent of alarm from him. Or anything. Actually, Scorpius expressed what he thought with his eyebrows far too much. Grace wondered how it was that she always knew what he meant.
She hadn't put much thought into how they would work at Hogwarts. They, her friends, probably wouldn't take kindly to Alex being around them all the time.
"Let's go!" she rallied, a tad too energetically.
"You don't have to come with me," Alex said suddenly. She stopped still. Perhaps seeing her friends had made him aware of the awkwardness too. She frowned.
"Don't you want me to?" He raked a hand through his hair.
"I don't know. Maybe." Grace loitered, wondering if he'd made up his mind or whether he was still thinking.
"You'll be fine," she said to fill the gap. "Just make sure you say what you mean."
"Yeah," he agreed. "No. I can go. Anyway, we should... we should do something this weekend." She blushed prettily. "I know you're going to be busy catching up with everything, but I want to see you." She grinned. It was such a simple happiness. Being thought of.
"I'd like that," she agreed. "And it'll be your birthday soon! 6th May is a Friday, right? We should definitely do something." She'd have to write to her dad to help her choose a present. She'd run out of time to go to Diagon Alley in the holiday.
"Sounds fun." He glanced up and down the corridor. There were still a few students wandering around, trying to find their friends. He pulled a weird expression. "I'll see you later," he said, and quickly kissed her cheek. She blushed. It was somehow far more embarrassing with people about. He rushed away, and she put her hands to her face to feel when her blush had gone down.
Liking someone was complicated.
When she felt more or less recovered she went back to the compartment.
"What was that?" Celia demanded as soon as she saw Grace. The blush came back full force.
"What?" she asked, overly loudly.
"He kissed you!" Celia sneered, utterly disgusted. "I saw him kiss you through the window!" Grace wanted to curl up into the floor. Rose was blushing on her behalf. Scorpius looked unimpressed. But it was the very slow look of dawning comprehension on Albus' face made her feel worst. His eyes kept getting rounder and rounder. She wished they'd chosen to say goodbye somewhere more out of sight.
"Yes," she spluttered. "W-well... I mean, we do that now."
She'd thought about writing to Celia about Alex several times over the holiday. But she'd never been able to work out the words. Now she wished she'd put more time into it. 'We do that now' certainly wasn't what she'd meant to say, and was perhaps her worst attempt at explaining the situation yet.
"Do you?" Celia asked, and Grace's insides squirmed as she started to smirk. "Well then, that's okay. I was worried you were going out with him, or something, and you hadn't thought that important enough to tell me."
"W-" Grace started, then ground to a halt. Hang on a bleeding minute. "Wait, are you annoyed just because I didn't tell you?" Celia's eyebrows rose. It was one of her most haughty expressions.
"Grace, please," she snorted. "You know me by now."
"Ceils feels aggrieved when she's left out of anything," Scorpius reminded her. "Even when it's places she doesn't care to be." Of course. Hagrids.
"So." Grace sat down. "You don't... I mean, I was kind of worried... I didn't think you liked him, particularly."
"Oh, I hate him," Celia agreed quickly. "Utterly. He's an awful braggart, and you're too good for him. I don't approve at all, but it's not as if we didn't know it was coming."
"Did we?" Albus asked, and Grace's heart went out to him. She'd never seen him look so confused. "I thought you hated one another."
"But that's chemistry, Albus!" Celia said, sighing and shaking her head. "Honestly, where have you been? It's not like you're not surrounded by people with those types of attractions in your family." Rose squeaked. Albus stared at her. He blinked, owlishly. Opposite them, Scorpius had an impenetrable blank expression.
"Can you think of someone?" Albus asked Rose, stupidly. You could have fried an egg on her face.
"Excuse me!" she rushed, and climbed over Scorpius and tripped over Grace on her way out of the compartment. It slammed shut behind her, but not before Grace heard the sound of running feet stampeding away from them.
"What was that about?" Albus asked. Celia made the most incredulous look a human face was capable of. Scorpius sighed.
"That was poorly done, Ceils," he remarked. She shot him a look, but he was already leaning forward, trying to explain to Albus. "She likes someone."
"Really?" Once again, Albus' eyes became as round as saucers. "Who?" Celia snorted and rolled her eyes like an angry horse.
"Damned if I know." Scorpius sat back, and he looked decidedly miffed. Celia actually froze. When she looked at him, her mouth started working as her lungs inflated. She was going to erupt.
"Are you being serious?" she stormed. Her nostrils flared. Grace couldn't understand how she still managed to look so pretty. "You have no idea?" She was scathing. She could have breathed fire. "But it's y-"
Grace had no idea what possessed her. She slapped her hand over Celia's mouth. The problem was that Celia was diagonally opposite her, so she'd had to reach over the table to do it, and had done so with far too much force. "OW!" Celia yelled, pulling back and almost hitting her head on the wall to add insult to injury. "Grace, what the-!"
"I don't think you should say."
She had no idea if Scorpius was oblivious or not. But it felt far more likely that he wasn't. He couldn't be, and if he was pretending, there had to be a reason for it. Celia glared at her angrily. She took a deep breath, bit her tongue, stared out of the window, stared back at Grace, glared again and then crossed her arms. Her foot started tapping under the table as Grace sat back down.
"But she's so annoying," she whined suddenly, her patience snapping. Celia had never been one to hide what she thought. "She's always hanging around, and she's not trying to make friends, she thinks it's fine just because she's Albus' cousin. I hate her. I hate, hate, HATE people who think they're entitled to barge in!" She'd ended up yelling.
Her rapid breathing was the only thing they heard in the silence that followed.
"Hypocrite."
The rebuke belonged to Scorpius. He looked angry. Grace had never seen him that way. There was no colour in his cheeks, and he wasn't clenching his jaw or glaring. In a word, Grace would say he was stony. The anger was written in his eyes. The narrowed pupils, and the intensity of his stare. He didn't blink. He was so focused on Celia that he might be staring through her. It was unsettling. Celia shifted about, flushing to the roots of her hair and avoiding his gaze. Grace realised she had never seen them fight before.
Albus looked stricken.
"You hate Rose?" he asked quietly. Celia bit her lip.
"No," she grumbled, reluctantly. More out of a need to reassure him than true honesty. "But I'm not exactly keen."
"Why?" His tone of voice was so hurt. He looked betrayed. Like he'd just seen her use the cruciatus curse on a bunny. Celia gritted her teeth and avoided their eyes.
"I wouldn't be able to explain it to you," she grumbled. Grace thought she knew. Celia was protective of Scorpius. He was her friend. Her safety net. Rose was trying to take him away.
Maybe it was more complicated than that, but Grace was sure that lay at the core of it. It was resentment taken to extremes. For Celia, who was very possessive, Rose was an easy target.
"Last term," Scorpius began suddenly. Grace couldn't tell if he was still angry or not. "Do you remember why Lucy was in such a foul mood?" They stared at him, thrown by the abrupt subject change. "I wondered if it was because of Grace, but I watched her over the following days, and I worked it out. It was obvious if you looked at the Ravenclaw table for long enough. Rose was being bullied." He looked at Albus, who'd gone green. Grace wondered if he was going to vomit. "Of course, I only noticed because Louis and Lucy were handling the situation. I'm pretty sure James got involved at one point - one morning quite a few of the first year Ravenclaws were glued to their benches in the Great Hall." Albus was on his feet and out of the compartment before they could stop him. Scorpius sighed and looked back at Celia. There was a point to the story. It was for Celia's benefit more than anyone else.
"I should have told Albus," he muttered. "I tried to once or twice. But..." He shook his head. "Anyway, it seemed to me that she wasn't at risk of being bullied again, but what she really needed was friends. It was still difficult for her to be around them. I was the one who invited her to research with us. I'm the one who asked her to be my friend." Celia sniffed - Grace realised she was crying. Not properly, but her lips were wobbling, and her face was pinched with the effort of keeping it in.
"I didn't realise," she moaned, covering her face with a sleeve to hide her embarrassment. "If I'd known-"
"Yes, Ceils." Scorpius didn't smile, but he sounded sympathetic. "I know. You'd never attack someone when they're down."
"Shut up," she grumbled, still hiding. "Don't console me. We both know I need to be better than this if we're going to change Slytherin." Grace thought this was a little overdramatic.
"We're going to make mistakes," Scorpius said. "I'm at fault here too - for not telling Albus. But I didn't want it hanging over us when we were with Rose. She didn't need friends out of pity. She needed to be around Albus because he loves her unconditionally, and to be with people our age, rather than being smothered by her family in their drive to protect her." Grace understood that. It was difficult to relax when you were being watched over - even if you knew it was for your own good. She wondered, suddenly, why Scorpius understood. What experiences had let him perceive what Rose needed most? There was still so much about her friends she didn't know.
"I'm going after Al," Grace said, suddenly making up her mind. It was impossible that she would know her friends motivations. It was impossible that she could understand their every thought and action. But she could guess that Albus was upset and angry about Rose. Maybe he resented being left out, when the rest of his family, when James, knew. Albus wasn't Alex, she couldn't just demand the answers from him. All she could do was be there for him if he wanted to talk. She hurried out of the compartment, ignoring whatever her friends were saying.
She spotted Albus at the far end of the train. Near the toilets. He had his back to her. He was talking to someone through the door. Rose? Grace came closer, cautiously. If it was really personal, maybe she should go back?
"Rose, are you okay?" Albus asked.
"I'm fine, Albus!" a slightly high pitched version of Rose squeaked back. "Please, go away!"
Albus glanced around, aimlessly, and then stepped a little closer to the door. Grace had to strain her hearing and tiptoed closer.
"I just... I don't know why you couldn't tell me," he whispered. "I thought we could tell one another everything."
"What!" Rose squeaked. The door opened, and Rose's tomato red face appeared through the crack in the door. "Albus, why would I want to talk about it?" she hissed. "Especially with you!"
Albus stepped back. He looked like he'd been struck physically.
"Why especially me?" He couldn't stop himself from asking, and his hurt was audible. "Don't you trust me, Rose?"
"Because, Albus!" Rose hissed. "He's your friend!"
Albus looked utterly confused.
"What?" he asked. "I'm not friends with any Ravenclaws." Grace put her hand to her face. He was so talented, but this particular aspect of Albus was beyond stupid.
"What are you talking about?" Rose asked, opening the door a little further. She took half a step out.
"Well... I don't want you to feel like you can't hang out with us," he said carefully. Grace frowned. Or maybe he did understand. With Albus it was hard to tell. She remembered him pointing out Rose's need to be smarter than him. Remembered the careful way he kept making mistakes to pit Rose against Scorpius instead of him. Was this a similar thing? "Whatever the reason, please keep being friends with us."
Rose looked like she was about to cry. For a moment, Grace thought she was about to barricade herself in the bathroom again.
"You know, don't you?" she whispered. He nodded. "How long have you known?" He shrugged, and Rose's face pinched into a more severe expression. "How long, Al?" He sighed and straightened his glasses.
"I don't like your friends, Rosie. I never have. Connie's alright, but Vivian's a cow. She started being mean the moment you proved you knew more about charms than her on the train. She was just sucking up to us because of our parents. You know that." Rose's lower lip quivered.
"I didn't," she protested, stubbornly. "And if you knew, why did you do it, Albus? Why did you pick Slytherin?"
"Why didn't you?" he replied, blankly. "Just because Uncle Ron told you not to?" Rose let out a little gasp and stepped completely free of the bathroom. She looked angry now. The skin on her face was mottling between fiery red and bloodless white. Albus looked grim. "I asked you if you'd follow me," he whispered. "No matter what I chose. You promised."
Rose took a few moments to respond. She took a deep shuddering breath. Her eyes filled with tears.
"I wish the world was as simple as you think it is, Al." She bit her lip. "I wish-" She cut herself short, staring at Grace. Albus followed her gaze. Grace blushed horribly and gripped tightly onto the carriage wall. She'd stopped still to listen to their conversation without even thinking about it. She'd been so curious. She'd wanted to know more. Even now, as she rushed to make some form of apology, she wanted to know what Rose had been about to say.
"I'm sorry! I thought you were angry so I followed... I listened in. Sorry. It's not my business." Rose glared at her. She turned stiffly to Albus.
"For your information," she spat. "This is exactly why I wouldn't be caught dead in Slytherin. They're snakes." Grace blushed worse and stared at the floor awkwardly. She was ashamed of herself. She knew she was in the wrong, but she hadn't thought about the impression it gave people of her house. That was the endless struggle of the Slytherin stereotype. Your every good action made you stand apart from the house, as if it made you an exception. Your every bad decision confirmed that the house was deceptive and cruel. It seemed unfair.
"Rose!" Albus called, and Grace realised Rose was storming away from them. She opened the door to the next carriage, and slid it shut behind her. Albus sighed. Grace's insides squirmed.
"I'm sorry," she whispered miserably as he padded back down the corridor towards her.
"It's not your fault," he said, but he didn't look at her. Grace closed her eyes. To this day, she had yet to hear Albus shout. She couldn't imagine him angry. Frustrated, sure. Annoyed, definitely. But furious? No, he was the type to be disappointed, and she felt the disappointment now more than ever before.
They barely heard a word from Rose over the next week. The only time she made contact with Albus was to sniffily remind him that he shouldn't forget Hugo's birthday. Only Scorpius seemed to be interacting with her normally.
For the most part, it was business as usual for Grace, with a few additional catch up classes here and there. She was kept pretty busy, especially because most of the spells didn't come naturally to her at all. Potions was the only class she felt confident she could catch up on. Fortunately her friends were willing to help her out with the other subjects (and luckily Albus wasn't holding a grudge). It felt like she was clinging to them for support in most classes, and defence against the dark arts was hopeless! Professor Viridian didn't let them work in pairs. Indeed, he kept picking on Grace as an example of what not to do around magical objects. She was a case in point about how you should always be alert. You could be attacked at any time. She wanted to say that it wasn't very fair - she hadn't had a chance to defend herself! But every time she wanted to open her mouth to protest, the other Slytherins would send her a look to beg her not to. Viridian would only hold it against her.
May began on the next Sunday. Grace was munching on cornflakes when Albus made a little cry of excitement. He was waving his letter from home.
"My dad's coming to visit tomorrow," he announced. Grace almost choked.
"Really?" she asked, wide eyed. She hadn't seen his father since the awkward conversation in the hospital ward. "Why?" Albus glanced around, and noticed that all the Slytherin first years were interested. Harriet's mouth was open, her pumpkin juice halfway to her lips. Sebastian's cereal was dripping off of his spoon onto the table with little 'splat' noises. He barely noticed.
"He does lectures on defence here every year." Internally Grace's heart sank. That was the last thing she needed - to show off how incompetent she was in front of Harry Potter.
"Really?" Celia asked. "How come I never heard that?" She leant back to try and find her brother, and beckoned when she spotted him further along the table. He was mid-conversation with his friends, but held up a finger to signal that he'd be along in a minute. Albus shrugged.
"I can't believe we'll get to meet him!" Harriet cooed, excitedly. Wedby's eyebrows rose.
"Why are you so excited?" she asked the blonde. "I thought your mum pretended not to be a witch. How do you know anything about it?"
"Yeah," Harriet sighed. "But I know about that at least! There's that massive monument to the fallen fifty in the grounds, and we're having that remembrance day tomorrow. I'd have to be an idiot not to know about Harry Potter!" Wedby struggled to keep a straight face as Harriet turned to Albus again. "Will he be coming for the ceremony?" Albus shrugged.
"He didn't say. Maybe."
"I can't believe there was a battle in this old castle," Jeremy muttered, leaning back and gazing up at the ceiling. "Then again, that must be true of all castles, huh?"
"Even the Muggle ones," Belinda agreed. "You often find dangerous magical creatures haunting some of the oldest ones. Especially the ruins in Scotland."
"Why?" Harriet asked, scrunching up her nose.
"Well, there're those legends, right?" Belinda said, looking around for confirmation. All she received were blank faces. "You know, about the Unseelie court and the greater fae. All those tales of kelpie and hags and vampires - a lot of them are based in Scotland more than anywhere else in the UK."
"That's a load of rubbish, though," Erazimus Zabini said, joining them. "Everyone knows pixies are tiny, annoying creatures. The only 'confirmed' sightings of fae come from that bloody Seer, and he makes the whole thing up." He smiled down at Celia when she applauded.
"You're such a sceptic, Raz," Scorpius muttered, smiling wryly. "Not that I believe him either."
"Did you ever get a special lecture from Albus' dad?" Celia cut in, impatiently. "Only, Albus said he's coming to visit again, and I was sure you'd have mentioned something like that to me because it's interesting!"
"Oh?" Raz ruffled up Celia's hair none-too-gently. "And I must keep you entertained?"
"Raz!" she cried, and tried to straighten herself again. "Answer the question."
"Well, he only lectures the fifth and seventh years in preparation for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, so no, I haven't actually seen him. It's usually around this time of year, though. I think he likes to remember them all - you know, from the battle. If you look during class time, he's often out by Dumbledore's grave. Usually tries to avoid causing much of a scene, as far as I remember."
"I think it's unfair that Vic always gets visited on her birthday!" Grace jumped. James and Alex had wandered over from the Gryffindor table and were standing right behind them. James had a matching letter in his hand. "What ho, little brother. Just checking you got the news."
"Vic can't help being born on the anniversary," Albus mumbled, pushing his brother's hands away as he tried to steal his toast.
"Of course not," James muttered, rolling his eyes and stealing some of Grace's bacon instead, with a wink. Honestly, he was getting far too familiar with her ever since she started dating Alex. "She was named for the victory, after all. Our glorious head girl. I wonder if the school will pay her an extra homage."
"Don't be bitter, James," Grace grumbled, still annoyed about her bacon. There was plenty on the Gryffindor table. He didn't have to come and steal theirs. "It doesn't suit you. Besides, your birthdays are during the holidays anyway!" He was such a ridiculous person. James shot them a broad grin.
"I'll have you know I'm never bitter," he replied.
"Well you're certainly not sweet," Grace shot back. She shook her head as his expression faltered and kicked her legs over to the other side of the bench as she turned to Alex. "What're you doing today?" He blushed slightly and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Actually, I came to persuade you to take a break from all that studying." The smile she gave him could have formed rainbows on a rainy day.
"See," she glanced back at James who was scowling at her. "This is sweet."
"Riiiiiiiiight," James drawled, giving Alex a thoroughly disgusted look. "You know, I'm beginning to regret setting you two up. It's a damn conspiracy." Grace lifted an eyebrow at him. As if he'd actually done any kind of matchmaking. Before she could make another remark, Alex had grabbed her hand and was dragging her away from the Slytherin table.
"What's your problem with James?" he asked, tiredly. She thought about it and shrugged. It wasn't like she was acting any differently with him. But then, maybe that was the problem?
"I don't have one. I guess I'm just used to bickering with him alongside you. I'll try and be nicer, since I'm being nice to you." He grinned. "Where're we going?"
"Just to the lake. Sorry, I didn't have time to throw together anything more creative." Grace peered up at him thoughtfully as he opened the doors and they left the Entrance Hall. "What?" he asked, noticing her look. He hand a hand over his face self-consciously.
"Nothing," she murmured, "It's just kind of amazing to me that you're being so good at this."
"Am I?" His face was on fire. "I guess, I just had a lot of time imagining what I wanted it to be like, rather than how we used to be..." She smiled.
"Well, I just wanted you to know I appreciate it."
He had to look away in embarrassment, and she giggled stupidly.
The whispers and near-hysteria from Harry Potter fans, male and female students alike, was overwhelming. Albus looked like he wanted to shrink into the wall if at all possible. James looked sick.
"I'd like to say you get used to it," he groaned as they pushed through the crowds towards one of the defence against the dark arts classrooms. "But you never do."
"I still don't know what's worse," Albus grumbled. "Hearing the hero worship, or the insane crushes. A sixth year came up to me earlier and said she'd love to be my step mother if anything ever happened to mum?"
James snorted and rolled his eyes.
"The girls here are all trolls."
"Thank you so much," Rose said reproachfully. James shot her an apologetic look.
"Aww, Rosie. You know you don't count as a girl to us, right?"
"And you know this is just his personal opinion," Albus added, before she got angry with him too. She smiled at him, then remembered she was angry, and the smile disappeared off of her face. The crowd suddenly surged all around them, and they stumbled and were swept along in the crush some way.
"Oh, hey," James greeted, realising they'd come up alongside Alex, Grace and Lucy Weasley who were effectively being pinned against the wall by the crush. "Fancy seeing you here."
"As if my day could get any worse," Lucy grumbled, scornfully, rolling her eyes to heaven. "Why does everyone know your dad is here?" James shrugged, then yelped and hopped on the spot when some overweight fifth year stomped heavily on his foot.
"Don't mind me!" he yelled. "I'm sure that'll grow back with skelegrow!" The fifth year didn't seem to care even if she had heard him. "Alex," James said, sourly. "Do you remember that spell I told you Uncle George found. The one that's really good against stuck up girls?"
"Oh, yes," Alex agreed, and there was a nasty glint to his face that Grace didn't like one bit. "How did it go again?"
"Wasn't it something like sanguis?" James started. Grace pushed off of the wall to stand in front of him with her arms crossed. She put her most severe expression on her face. Although as a first year, it was largely ineffective because she had to glare up at them in and amidst the towering crowd around them.
"Don't be stupid," she muttered as the crowd jostled them around even further. Alex was fingering his wand, rolling it about in his hand. The crowd was really getting to him. If Grace was honest, it was making her angry too. She hadn't realised how tall some of the older years were, and this pack mentality had rendered many of them incapable of the simple civilities of ensuring younger students were able to pass through unmolested (in the pushed about sense, not the other one).
"I think it was factum sangius," Alex muttered, barely thinking about the fact that his wand was waving all over the place because of the jostling of the crowd.
"Alex, you idiot, I'm joking!" James shouted at the same time as he smacked Alex's arm down. But it was too late, the spell had already been cast. The only thing that changed was the angle of spell, which shot down and hit Grace in the abdomen. Warmth cascaded from the point of contact.
She stared down, in shock, and then realised in horror that something was trickling down the inside of her leg. Her mouth dropped open. A few students nearby noticed, and pointed it out to their friends, who stared in turn. The ripple of calm spread out from that spot, even amidst the jostling from elsewhere in the crowd. The liquid was trickling faster now. Students backed up away from her so that Grace was suddenly the only person with breathing room in the middle of the crowd. In the middle of a pool of fake blood that was beginning to look like she had some kind of severe menstral problem.
Students stood around in shocked silence, then someone snickered. The girls he was with hushed him with furious expressions, but that didn't stop the buzz of conversation starting up all around her. A lot of people were talking. Some were annoyed. But there was laughter. Unmistakable laughter. Grace's face burned with humiliation. Alex didn't even have the decency to cover it up by saying something snide. She'd feel better if he turned this into a joke. But he looked shell-shocked. Even James was lost for words.
Blood oozed down her legs, forming a disgusting puddle on the floor. Even though she knew it was fake, that didn't stop her being thoroughly grossed out by the sensation of it seeping over her skin. She wanted to be sick. She glared at Alex. There was no point to his existence. She was filled with such an all-consuming rage she could barely restrain herself from throwing herself at him and punching him in the face – Muggle style.
"Grace," he whispered, his voice dry. I'm so sorry, it was an accident!"
She wanted to scream at him. But at that moment there was something even more wrong that warranted her attention.
This had happened before.
She could remember it. Clearly. Like it was yesterday. A chill went down her spine. It was a memory.
A proof, Mr Potter had said. A proof of all that was to come.
Author Notes:
Soooooo, that was a bit of an intense chapter. Before I talk further, let me just say Marlowe was quoting the ghost line from Shakespeare's Hamlet. I was thinking of pranks, and honestly, I think this is the one that would be most mortifying to me. If I was eleven, and some idiot made it look like I'd just gotten the worst period in the world in front of the whole school, I think I would die on the spot. I mean, unfortunately it's gonna take Grace a while to get round to being angry about that cos of the memory through-line, but seriously! So much rage.
There's going to be another three quarters chapter next update. It will be written better than the last one. Also, please go back and read Case Notes now because I've updated it into a proper format at last! Also, I've been updating this story on HPFF... I'm probably gonna stop updating here and just update there unless you particularly want an update here. Let me know!
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XxMookinexX
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