My Saving Grace

Chapter 9

The Heir of Slytherin

"Remind me why we're going to this thing?" Trilla asked Katie Bell. She had been up in her room enjoying the extra bit of sleep she got on a Saturday when Katie had woken her up saying something about a dueling club. All Trilla had done was roll over and pull the sheets over her head. But after Angelina and Ella had run in as well there was just so much noise that sleep was an impossibility.

"Because," Ella said impatiently. "It's a dueling club! That's got to be the best club in Hogwarts!"

"Except for Quidditch," Angelina reminded her.

"Yeah, but that's not a club," Ella retorted.

"It's still better than any old dueling club, no matter how gorgeous the instructor might be." Trilla had been about to break up the ensuing argument, but the thought of Professor Lockhart being thought gorgeous was enough to make her puke. "Don't you agree, Trilla?" Angelina asked after seeing the look on Trilla's face.

"Nah. She likes the roguishly handsome types." George leaned down and kissed Trilla's cheek. No one had any idea where he had come from, but since it was Fred, George, and Lee they accepted it in stride.

"Sure is a lot of people here," Lee said, looking at all the students filling the Great Hall. Suddenly a large grin broke out on his face. "Hey, Fred, George what if we…" But Angelina cut him off.

"Don't even think about it." Lee closed is mouth when he saw Angelina's narrowed eyes. He had commentated enough games to know that when Angelina got that look she meant business. And that was almost always bad news for the opposite team.

"Can you even believe this guy?" George asked when Professor Lockhart took off his hideous maroon cloak and threw it into a crowd of Ravenclaw 6th year girls who shrieked in delight.

"It's like all the girls in this school are hypnotized by him." Fred pointed at Katie and Angelina who were watching Lockhart and completely ignoring the conversation around them. Which, Trilla thought, with the Fred, George, and Lee standing next to them wasn't the smartest idea. "See?" Lee shook his head sadly.

"Aren't I lucky then?" George kissed Trilla's cheek. "Trilla's practically the only girl who thinks he's a dimwit."

"That's because you're so devilishly handsome," Lee told George.

"Why thank you," Fred replied, "I do think that I look quite dashing. Wouldn't you agree, Trilla?" Trilla smacked Fred's arm in reply and George followed suit. "Ouch," Fred said, rubbing his arm. "You didn't have to hit me that hard, George." George only shrugged.

"I smell blood."

Trilla's head snapped around so fast that the back of her neck hurt. At first she had thought that it was the same voice she had heard before running through the castle. But this voice was different. It wasn't as deep or as menacing as the first one was. George felt Trilla tense and looked at her in concern.

"Are you all right there, Trill," he whispered to her.

"Shhh, wait a moment."

"Leave him alone," she heard Harry say from the platform that was standing in the middle of the Great Hall. Craning her neck, she saw a snake almost at eye level with a Hufflepuff second, or maybe third, year who looked absolutely terrified.

"Don't get in between me and my dinner, boy." This time Trilla knew that it was the snake that was talking. It wasn't her imagination. She wasn't insane. Suddenly things were making more sense, though now Trilla had wished she was in the dark once again.

"I said to leave him alone," Harry walked closer to the snake. It turned angrily towards him.

"George," Trilla whispered, turning towards him. She bit her lip, trying to phrase her question the right way.

"What is it?" He asked when Trilla didn't say anything.

"Why is the snake talking?" She said very quietly so that Fred and Lee wouldn't hear. George looked at her for a second and then took her hand.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Trilla followed George all the way up to his dorm. "Now what was that?"

"The snake. It was talking. It was going to eat that little Ravenclaw third year,"

"Hufflepuff second year," George corrected her.

"That isn't important." Trilla said, George's attempt at cheering her up a bit falling through completely. "What is important is that Harry was talking and the snake was talking back."

"Hold up a second. Harry was hissing." George scratched his head, deep in thought.

"What did you just say?" But George wasn't listening and went right on talking.

"So that means that you and Harry are both Parselmouths!" He said. Trilla looked at him with a forlorn look on her face. "Which," George said, seeing how Trilla didn't look very happy, "Under other circumstances would be a pretty cool thing." Trilla looked at George out of the corner of her eye. He smiled at her and sat down on his bed next to her. "Hey, it isn't that bad."

"Every witch or wizard who was a Parselmouth turned out bad. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. So was … Voldemort." Trilla stumbled over what to call the evil wizard who was also her father. Trilla looked at George and much to her surprise found tears in her eyes.

"That doesn't matter," George said, putting an arm around her.

"Yes, it does, George. First year the Sorting Hat told me that I was descended from Salazar Slytherin. And look at who was my father. How can being a Parselmouth come to anything good? What if …" Trilla paused, "What if I'm just as bad as they are?"

"Trilla," George said softly. But Trilla looked away. "Trilla look at me." He cupped Trilla's face in one of his hands and turned it towards him. Her eyes met his and George thought for a minute that his heart would break from the amount of sadness and fear in Trilla's eyes. He never wanted her to think that. Ever. She was too good for that. He just needed to show her.

"Trilla don't you ever think that for one minute. That isn't you. You are not evil."

"How do you know?" She asked in a small, scared voice. "How do you know that's true?"

"The same way I know that I love you. It's," George struggled to put the things he was feeling into words. "It's a truth that you can't escape from. Like when you look at Harry you know that he's meant for great things. When you look at Dumbledore you know that he is the most brilliant man that has ever lived. There's no hard evidence. It's not written in a book. But it is true. Just like I love you with all my heart and I know you love me the same way. I know that we will be together till the day we die. And I know that you are not evil.

"Trilla, darling, there are so few truths in this world that when you see one, you have to hold on to it with all your might. You are not evil. You never were and you never will be." Trilla had been staring intensely into George's eyes. For a minute she didn't say anything and George was afraid that he had maybe over done it a bit. But without warning Trilla leaned forward and kissed George with more love and more passion than she ever had before. George wrapped and arm around her back, bringing her closer to him. They broke apart for a minute and Trilla smiled at him. "Better?" he asked her.

"Much," she replied. They began to kiss again when the door flew open. Fred and Lee froze in the doorframe obviously sorry that they had ruined the moment.

"Why do you people always walk in at times like this!" George said angrily.

"Sorry, mate. We didn't know," Lee said, backing up a bit when George got up off the bed and stalked over to them. He finally seemed to have snapped from the months of never getting a moment alone with Trilla and, unfortunately for them, Fred and Lee were the ones who George was going to take his anger out on.

"Well, where else would we be if you didn't see us in the Common Room? It's not dinner and I make it a point never to set foot in the library." Fred and Lee looked at each other with a loss for words. Trilla had never seen George get angry at Fred. She didn't think that it was possible.

"Look, George, we won't do it again. It was an accident." Lee said, breaking the silence. George didn't say anything. He just glared at his two best friends.

"George," Trilla called.

"What?" He replied, still eyeing Fred and Lee suspiciously. Trilla thought it was time to step in and help the two boys out. They obviously didn't know what to do with an angry George.

"Want to go take a walk?"

"Yeah, sure." George's voice lost the edge to it and Trilla took his hand and walked out of Gryffindor Tower, leaving Fred and Lee contemplating George's sudden outburst. "So where do you want to go?"

"It doesn't really matter." Trilla replied. "I just didn't want to see you pick a fight with your brother." Neither of them said anything for a moment. Then Trilla broke the silence. "Why did you get so angry, anyways?"

"I suppose all the months of never getting a moment alone finally caught up to me. Lee and Fred just happened to be in the wrong place when I finally snapped." George started laughing. "Did you see the looks on their faces? It was worth it just for that!" Trilla laughed along as well.

"Miss Black, Mr. Weasley."

The two turned around to see none other than Albus Dumbledore walking down the corridor behind them.

"If I may have a quick word with Miss Black for a moment?" It was more of a command than a request and George nodded before walking a little ways off and sitting on one of the stone benches under the window.

"What is it, Professor?" Trilla asked the Headmaster. But she already knew what this would be about.

"Come to my office," Dumbledore said. They walked passed George and down another corridor before stopping in front of a large, stone gargoyle.

"Lemon drops," the Headmaster said. The gargoyle stood aside and Trilla saw a winding staircase behind it.

Walking into Dumbledore's office was like walking into the attic of a collector's home. There were magical objects that were whirring and whistling and glowing. Cabinets were full of items that Trilla couldn't identify. Hundreds of portraits hung on the walls. Some were asleep, others were chatting amiably with each other. A few turned and looked down at Trilla and Dumbledore as they entered the room.

"Ah! There's my great granddaughter!" Trilla jumped as looked up to see who was talking. "You haven't been causing any trouble now, have you?"

"No trouble at all, Phinneas." Dumbledore said, taking a seat behind his desk. "I just wanted a word. Please, sit." Victrilla sat and tried not to fidget. "Now, I must ask you a question, Victrilla. How much do you know about your family?"

"Do you mean my parents, sir?"

"Yes, but also going back a bit further than that. Tell me what you know." Dumbledore sat back and waited for Trilla to speak.

"Well, my mother's Bellatrix Lestrange and my father's Voldemort." Trilla was surprised when Dumbledore didn't flinch at his name. Instead he smiled.

"I'm glad to see that you don't call Voldemort He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. But no one seems to listen to an old man's ramblings as they once did." Dumbledore smiled at Trilla from behind his half moon glasses. "What else do you know?" Trilla hesitated fro a moment.

"First year the sorting hat told me I was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

Dumbledore nodded. "As far as I am aware, you are the only descendant of his." Trilla paled. Dumbledore thought it was her. For one brief moment Trilla saw herself getting expelled and thrown into Azkaban. She had to make Dumbledore see the truth.

"It's not me, sir!" She said quickly. "I'm not the one who's doing any of this!"

"I know." Dumbledore held up a hand to make Trilla stop talking. "I wanted to know if you knew anything that might help us. Anything at all." Trilla wrinkled her brow in thought.

"No." She said. "I don't think so."

Dumbledore looked her in the eye and Trilla found herself unable to look away. The intensity of the gaze almost frightened her. It was as if Dumbledore was looking straight into her soul. But then he looked away and Trilla realized that she had been holding her breath.

"Very well. You may go. I dare say a certain Mr. Weasley is waiting for you." Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled.

Trilla smiled back and ran down the staircase where George was waiting at the bottom.

"Is everything ok?" He asked, taking one of Trilla's hands and began walking down the corridor back towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Yeah," Trilla said. Then, more quietly, she added, "He wanted to know what I knew of my parents." George just nodded in understanding.

"Does he know who's behind all this?"

"No." Trilla said. "I don't think so. But from the way he was acting it almost seemed like had an idea."

"Bet its Malfoy. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been going on about that for ages. And they're always missing after dinner. Wonder what they're up to." George said thoughtfully.

"There you two are," Percy said as Trilla and George walked into the Common Room. "It's almost pasted curfew. Where have you been?"

"Dumbledore's office," George replied as he tried to snake his way passed his older brother to where Fred and Lee were entertaining some first years.

"Dumbledore's office! What have you gone and done this time, George?" Percy tapped his foot impatiently and a very Mrs. Weasley like expression came over his face.

"I didn't do anything. He wanted to talk to Trilla." Percy narrowed his eyes.

"What about?"

"Dumbledore wanted to talk to me privately, Percy, and I don't have to tell anyone what he told me." Percy simply stared at her before giving the two a curt nod and walking off.

"What's got his knickers in a twist?" Lee asked.

"No idea." George said, flopping down on a couch. Fred just stared at him. "What?"

"You're not going to turn us into newts or anything, are you?"

"'Course not. McGonagall hasn't taught us human transfiguration yet." The three boys laughed. It was good to see that everything was back to normal between the three of them.


"But if it isn't Draco, who is it?" Harry sat down and Ron threw himself onto the couch next to him.

"I've got no idea, mate," Ron said dejectedly. "And poor, Hermione." Harry nodded in agreement.

"What's all this about?" George asked the two.

"We sneaked into the Slytherin Common Room. Draco isn't the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"You sneaked into the Slytherin Common Room?" Fred asked. It was apparent that both Fred and George had long dreamed of something like this but had never accomplished it. Trilla looked form one to the other. They both looked as if they were about to worship Harry and Ron. Trilla just rolled her eyes. Harry and Ron looked at each other and smiled in spite of being so obviously depressed.

"Yeah, it was great. Terrifying. But great!"

"You do know that I could have told you that it wasn't Draco, right?" Trilla told the younger boys. They turned and looked at her, a funny expression on their faces.

"Why didn't you then?" Ron asked. He was beginning to get the look that he gave Hermione when they started arguing, which Trilla didn't appreciate very much. Hermione was talented, yes, but she could be a bit bossy at times and didn't favor being compared to her.

"You never asked!" Trilla replied truthfully. George exchanged looks with Fred and grinned. It was obvious that they expected this to turn into a full blown fight. They sat back, curbing all the questions they had for Ron and Harry about how they could possibly get into the Slytherin Common Room and waited for either Trilla or Ron to explode.

"You might have had the consideration to tell us how you know this!"

"He's my cousin!" Trilla yelled back.

"That's not a very good reason." Ron retorted. "You barely even talk to each other." George opened his mouth to say something and Ron turned on him next.

"Don't you get involved with this as well. Besides you two have detention." Fred and George looked at each other and sighed. Without a word they got up and walked out of the Common Room towards Snape's room in the Dungeons. "So what's the real reason?"

"Nothing that I'm going to tell you. It's private and I don't have to tell anyone." Trilla picked up her diary and ran out of the portrait hole. She had had just about enough of Ron. Under any other circumstances she wouldn't have been so short tempered with him. This time was different though. She had been grappling with herself for the past week or so with weather to tell Harry about her parentage and that she was a Parselmouth too. It might make him feel a little better to know that he's not the only Parselmouth in the school and that it can't be him who opened the Chamber, despite what everyone else thinks.

"Victrilla?"

Trilla stopped walking. Harry walked up to her, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I suppose so." They began walking down the corridor again. "There are just so many things that most people don't know. It's hard to keep your feelings hidden for so long with only George knowing your secrets." Harry nodded.

"I know how you feel. Hermione and Ron are the only ones who know mine, and not all of them at that." They fell into a companionable silence for a while. Then Harry spoke again. "There's so much of my life that I've never told anyone. Like my childhood. They have such a great family and so many people to lean on that Ron doesn't really understand how alone I feel right now. The entire school hates me." Trilla didn't need Harry to tell her that he was talking about the Weasley family. "I can't even remember my parents." Harry added so quietly that Trilla didn't know if she was supposed to have heard it or not.

"I can remember my parents a little. But I wish I couldn't." Harry looked Trilla for the first time since they started walking. "Harry." She said quickly. "I have to tell you something. You deserve to know this."


This chapter's a bit darker than the others. Let me know what you think. Sorry for the long wait.