Meri came into the common room feeling more confused than she had done for a long time. What had just happened had been the absolute last thing she had ever expected - and while on the face of it, it seemed like something she ought to feel happy about, it wasn't as simple as that. There had to be something behind it, of that she was sure. But what? It made no sense. And she was more than confused - she was angry too, and what was more it had flustered her, which was even more irritating. She spotted Lily sitting by the fire, and headed straight for her. Maybe it was insensitive to tell Lily about this, but she had to know. It might well – in fact, it probably was – connected to her, and she was Meri's best friend. Meri was fed up with talking round things and the two of them not being straight with each other. After her slip-up in telling Zeke about Malfoy, she owed Lily the truth. Anyway, she needed to talk it over, and Lily was the only person she wanted to do that with.

"Lil?" she said, as she approached. Bothered though she was, she still noticed that Lily herself didn't seem totally relaxed. She wasn't reading or doing school work or anything – just sitting there with a frown on her face, staring into the fire.

Lily jumped at the sound of Meri's voice, and looked up. If anything, the frown deepened.

"Meri! Where have you been? I was looking for you."

"Sorry, I had a prefects' meeting," Meri explained, puzzled by Lily's tone of voice. She sounded almost… well, annoyed that she hadn't been able to find Meri, which was unusual and also unreasonable. Meri quite regularly had prefects' meetings, or she could have been in the library or the toilets or anything. Meri had no obligation to be in the common room whenever Lily happened to want her, and Lily had never before been entitled enough to expect it.

"Oh," Lily said stiffly. "A prefects meeting. Right. Was Scorpius there?"

What on earth was going on? Everything seemed all upside down at the moment, what with the encounter she'd just had and now this. It was almost as if the world was in on a joke, conspiring to confuse the hell out of Meri Hewitt.

"Yes, he was," she replied. "Why? Have you two had an argument or something?" That would explain Lily's bad mood, and also the funny tone in her voice when she mentioned Malfoy's name.

"No, nothing like that," Lily said. "It doesn't matter. Forget it."

Well, this was definitely not normal Lily behaviour. Something had happened, but if Lily didn't want to tell her, she wasn't going to get it out of her by pestering. The best she could hope for was just to carry on and hope Lily would come out with it in the end – which she probably would, as she usually did. What Meri had to tell her just now probably wouldn't help to make her any happier, but if she waited then it would be even worse when she did tell Lily.

"Well, listen, Lil. The weirdest thing's just happened, and I don't know how to tell you about it."

Lily looked up, a flicker of new interest in her eyes. Meri just wished that what she was going to say was better news.

"What is it? What happened?"

Meri sat down on the armchair beside Lily's.

"I… Merlin, Lil, I really hope this doesn't bother you, especially if there's something else going on with you. But you're my best friend and I have to tell you – Zeke Lucas just asked me to the Yule Ball."

For a moment, Lily just stared at her. Meri, anxiously watching her friend's face, saw shock register in Lily's hazel eyes, and then gradually something else appear, something a little like anger. Or hurt. Meri's heart sank. But Lily was obviously struggling with herself.

"Zeke did?" she said at last, her voice not sounding quite like herself. "Zeke asked you to the ball? Well. I mean, that's great for you, isn't it? He's a nice guy. And that makes two of them after you." She laughed, the sound a little too bright and brittle. "You'll have to choose."

"What?" Meri could tell that Lily minded, and she was definitely going to address that in a minute, but there was no way she was letting something like that get past her. "What d'you mean, two of them? Who's the other supposed to be?"

"Oh, you don't know? I thought you might." Lily was looking at the fire again, not meeting Meri's eyes. "Apparently Scorpius likes you as well. Don't worry. I don't mind," she added unconvincingly. "I mean, if you weren't going to the ball with Zeke, I'd say I wouldn't go with Scorpius, so you could instead. If you wanted to. I don't know though." She smiled, though the smile wobbled and disappeared quite quickly. "Bit unfair, I'd say. You having two people fancying you. Couldn't you have made do with one?"

Meri, staring at her friend, had not yet managed to respond. Initially she thought she must have misheard – or misunderstood. But as Lily rattled on, obviously trying hard to seem as if she didn't care, it was clear that this really was happening. Except that it was ridiculous. It was bizarre and impossible and completely unbelievable.

"Lil, stop. That… that's crazy. It can't possibly be true," she stammered out at last. A horrible suspicion occurred to her suddenly. "This isn't some kind of joke, is it?" She couldn't really believe it of Lily, but it was the least nonsensical explanation for what was going on. Perhaps the whole thing was a trick, Zeke and all. After all, Lily did not know that Meri genuinely liked Zeke.

"Of course it's not a joke," Lily said. "Why would I make something like that up? It's not that crazy. Why shouldn't they like you? You're nice and pretty and kind, and way more clever and sensible than me." She was still not looking at Meri, and her voice got slightly shaky at the end. "It makes total sense really."

"No, it doesn't." Meri's brain was finally engaging properly, and although she did believe Lily when she said it wasn't a trick (Lily couldn't lie properly, and anyway she wouldn't lie like that to Meri), everything was telling her that something weird was going on. "No, seriously, Lily. I'm not putting myself down – even though you're all those things too, and you're definitely prettier than me. But that's not the problem," she went on quickly, before Lily could argue. "I mean, the whole thing makes no sense. I've barely even spoken to Scorpius Malfoy – he doesn't know me! How did you even work it out that he likes me? Did he say so?" She could not imagine that. Even if Malfoy and Lily were only friends, it was a bit much to agree to go to the ball with a girl, then tell her that you fancied her best friend. Unless it really was all some sort of strange joke.

"No," Lily said. "Hugo told me."

"Hugo?" Meri blinked at her. "How would he know?"

"He heard Scorpius telling Urquhart," Lily said. "I mean, I don't know why you're looking for reasons for it not to be true, Mer. There's no reason for him to say that to Urquhart if it wasn't true. And Hugo said they said your name, and even he couldn't misunderstand that. Scorpius is a nice guy – maybe you should…"

"A nice guy who you like," Meri cut across her friend ruthlessly. "And don't you think that's a bit weird, Lil? Two guys you've been involved with suddenly apparently fancy me, even though one of them's never even spoken to me."

Lily looked up, a frown on her face. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying it makes no sense," Meri said impatiently. "And why is Hugo interfering anyway? He did that last year too – did you know it was him who convinced Zeke to ask you out?"

Lily's mouth fell open. "No! Hugo did? But why?"

"I don't know. Maybe he thought he was helping. Maybe he thinks he's helping now. How did he just happen to overhear that conversation anyway?" The more Meri thought about it, the more suspicious she was of Hugo Weasley's involvement. She couldn't think of a single possible reason for him to make something like that up, but she could easily imagine him getting the wrong end of the stick, or exaggerating whatever he'd heard.

"I don't know," Lily said slowly. "But he was sticking his nose in a few weeks ago as well. Only then it was almost like he wanted me to get together with Scorpius."

"Well, I definitely want to talk to Hugo a bit more about this," Meri said firmly. "Because it's weird, and I don't believe it. Any of it."

"Apart from the bit about Zeke," Lily said after a small pause. "That wasn't Hugo – Zeke literally asked you out."

Meri hesitated. Now was the moment to find out the truth. "Do you mind?" she asked at last. "Honestly, I mean."

There was another pause. Lily still did not look at her. "No," she said eventually. "Of course I don't."

Meri sighed. "Lily, you're obviously lying."

"Okay, well maybe I am," Lily burst out, her words coming in a rush. "I mean, wouldn't you mind, if I went out with your ex-boyfriend less than three months after you broke up? I don't still like him or anything, it's just… Well, it's weird, you know? Especially since my date apparently likes you too. And I'm not saying I fancy him either, but you've got two guys and I've got nobody, and I'm sorry if that makes me a horrible person…"

"It doesn't make you a horrible person," Meri broke in quietly. "At least, if it does then I'm one too. Because how d'you think I always feel when you've got people lining up to go on dates with you and I've never been on an actual date in my life?" Now, if ever, would be the point to tell Lily about her feelings for Zeke, but Meri found she couldn't do that. It had been too private for too long.

There was a silence, and now it was Meri who couldn't look at Lily, and Lily who was staring at her.

"Mer, I never knew that," Lily said at last, her voice entirely changed from the slightly accusatory tone she had used a moment ago. "I mean, I… I always thought you weren't interested in stupid stuff like that. You always said you didn't mind…"

"Yeah well, what was I supposed to say? And I didn't mind, not really. I don't mind you going out with people. It just… just sometimes, it feels like crap, when nobody's even interested in me ever. It's not a big deal," she added quickly.

"Yes it is. Of course it is. I'm selfish and horrible, and I should have realised. And now I'm here being a bitch about you having a date to the Yule Ball. I'm the worst friend ever."

Meri barely had time to look up, let alone respond to this, before Lily was suddenly in front of her and flinging her arms round her. Startled, Meri jumped, then relaxed and returned the hug.

"Lil, you're not. It's okay," she insisted.

"And that's why you're a way nicer person than me," Lily replied, releasing Meri but squeezing into the same chair as her. "You forgive everything. But I'm going to be better, Mer, I swear I am. And if I start being selfish again, you have to tell me. Okay?"

Meri laughed, suddenly feeling such an immense relief that it brought tears to her eyes. It had been a horrible weight, all her feelings when she was around Lily, and just to have it out in the open made a big difference. "Okay, fine. But you're not selfish. Not really."

"Well anyway, I'm sorry," Lily said, leaning back and resting her shoulder against Meri's. "Truly. And I don't mind you going to the ball with Zeke. I don't even mind if you want to go out with him properly. And as for Scorpius, I'm going to get that out of Hugo. But it would serve me right if he did fancy you, and I don't see why he shouldn't."

The corner of Meri's mouth twitched upwards. "Well, thanks. But you don't need to worry – I'm about 98% sure Malfoy isn't interested in me. And if you really want to know, I said no to Zeke."

"Oh." Lily tilted her head to look at Meri. "Why?"

"Because he was going out with you three months ago!" Meri replied heatedly. "I don't believe he likes me either – he just wants to be able to hang out with you, just like last time. Plus you can't break up with someone and move straight on to their best friend – that's not an okay thing to do."

It had been one of the hardest answers she had ever given, because she had wanted to go to the Yule Ball with him. It had been all her most secret dreams coming true. But in the end, her friendship with Lily was more important than any of that. Zeke was a nice person deep down, of that Meri was certain, but he could also behave in ways she didn't like at all, and she didn't want to go out with someone like that even if he was not just using her to get to Lily. If that meant she had to forget about him and move on somehow, then that was just what she was going to have to do.

"You could have gone with him," Lily was saying. "I wouldn't have minded."

"I'd have minded," Meri retorted. "I don't want to be used. Anyway, I've already decided, so that's that."

"Right. Well." An expression of determination came over Lily's face. "You're not going by yourself though. I'm going to find you a date, and he's going to be perfect."

Issie had had a miserable few days. She had refused to talk to Lucy because the only thing Lucy wanted was for her to give in and come back to the club, and she was determined not to do that. Not if Eris Montague was there. And part of her felt guilty that she was letting Lucy down, but another part was full of hurt anger that Lucy – whom she had thought was her friend – had picked Eris instead of her.

Alice and Jake had tried to ask her about it too, but she told them she did not want to talk about it. They wouldn't understand. Couldn't understand. Issie barely understood herself. All she knew was that Eris, and the people like her, seemed to have an enormous grudge against Issie, against her family, and against the fact that she had been sorted into Gryffindor. But after all the names she had been called, Issie was not going to back down and let Eris think that she had won.

So Alice and Jake tiptoed round her as if she had somehow suddenly become delicate, and she avoided her other friends. She did not go to the drama rehearsals, and pretended not to hear Tilly calling her name as she left the Great Hall after breakfast one day.

But some things had to go on, and Quidditch was one of them. Nobody on the Quidditch team was anything to do with the drama club, and she cheered up while she was in the air, thinking only about keeping her broom moving smoothly, and about looking for the snitch. Her problems seemed to have been left on the ground, but as soon as she was down again her gloom returned. She knew that she would not be able to go on ignoring everyone forever. At some point she was going to have to explain to Lucy exactly why she couldn't be part of the same club as Eris Montague, and she wasn't looking forward to the conversation. Lucy would try to persuade her, and the trouble was it was very hard to say no to Lucy Weasley.

Having no desire to go back to the common room, where it was likely that she would encounter people like Pádraig and Artemis, she lingered while getting changed. Lily and Angharad – who had been Seeker until the end of last year, when she had joyfully handed over the role to Issie and taken James Potter's place as Chaser – had changed and gone, chatting about the Yule Ball (for which Lily apparently had a date, although she was refusing to say who it was). Emilia, the third Chaser, had hung around for a few moments, waiting for Sapphie, but Sapphie was making notes on the practise and had told her to go ahead. Slowly, Issie sat down and tied her shoelaces. She could not hang around the changing rooms forever, especially with Sapphie here.

"You all right, Issie?" Sapphie's voice startled her, and she looked up.

"Yes, thanks," she said automatically.

Sapphie laid her parchment and quill down on the bench beside where she sat, and looked thoughtfully at Issie.

"Are you sure? You've seemed kind of quiet the last couple of practises. Not really your usual self."

Hastily, Issie tried to work out what was really behind these questions. Was Sapphie just concerned for her, or was she tactfully saying that Issie wasn't playing well enough? Issie hadn't thought she'd let her worries affect her game, but maybe she hadn't done as well as she'd thought.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "I've got a bit of a cold, though." Not exactly a lie, although it was no more than the sort of snuffly nose you normally got at this time of year. Definitely not enough to have affected her Quidditch.

"Yeah?" Sapphie raised her eyebrows, looking almost amused. "Well, for goodness' sake don't do an Emilia on us – if you're not feeling well, go to Madam Pomfrey. Not that we've got any more matches this term, so we should be all right."

"Oh, I'm not that ill," Issie hastened to assure her. "Honestly. I'm fine."

Sapphie sighed. "Okay, look, Issie – I'll come clean. I heard about what happened with the drama thing. And I know that must be rough, so I just thought I'd check you were doing okay, and if you wanted to talk about it or anything."

Issie froze and for a moment held her breath. That was just exactly what she didn't want to talk about, and the last thing she had expected was to hear about it from Sapphie Jordan, who was a seventh-year and miles above any of it. What should she say?

"Oh," she said at last. "Well. I mean, I- I don't really want to. Talk about it, I mean." After a moment's reflection, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised that Sapphie knew about it. People gossiped, and Sapphie was friends with more than one of Lucy's cousins. She wouldn't have expected Sapphie to be very interested though.

"Right," Sapphie agreed, still looking at her. "Well, I get that. Thing is, you're on my Quidditch team, and as the captain, I'm supposed to look out for you, especially for things that could affect your performance. It's not going to do that, is it?"

"No!" said Issie at once, dismayed. "Honestly, Sapphie! I promise I'll work just as hard as usual. It's not… it's not important."

That was a lie, of course, at least the second part was. It was important to her, very important.

"No?" Sapphie sounded like she did not altogether believe it either. "Look, Issie, what did happen? I mean, I heard it was about that Montague kid – did she say something to you? She wasn't that nice to you last year either, was she? If there's something going on, you ought to tell someone, you know."

Issie stared at Sapphie, trying to think what to say. Inside, she felt herself crumbling. Her first thought had been to hide everything. But it seemed like Sapphie knew half of it anyway. And why should she keep it to herself? It wasn't as if Eris deserved that.

It involved more people than Eris though. If she went and got Eris into trouble, that would probably be the end of the drama club altogether. Professor Clearwater had said all along that they could only do it if it was contributing to house unity, and this was exactly the opposite of that, although it wasn't Issie's fault. Anyway, she did not want to repeat all the things Eris had said to her, the things about her family. She knew that plenty of people in Gryffindor had been no more pleased about her sorting than some of the Slytherins – what Sapphie had thought personally, she had no idea, but the thought of relating all her family's troubles with their fellow Purebloods made her feel hot and ashamed.

"Issie?" Sapphie prompted gently.

"I don't know why she hates me," Issie admitted at last, talking slowly and wondering how much to say. "I never did anything to her."

"So what makes you think she hates you?"

"Last year she called me a blood traitor." Sapphie looked a little shocked, so Issie hurried on. "But I didn't care that much, because I didn't have to hang around with her, and my friends stuck up for me. It's only now we're in the drama club together. At least, we were. She's the main character in the show, you know. I s'pose she's quite a good actor, but I wish Lucy hadn't picked her. Most of the Slytherins in the club are fine," she added. "They're nice. So I don't know why Eris has got a problem with me."

"So has she been calling you names again, or what?" Sapphie persisted. "Because that's the sort of thing she shouldn't get away with – I mean, there's names and then there's names, and there's a reason people shouldn't go throwing 'blood traitor' around."

"People do, though," Issie said, saying more than she had intended to in her desire to explain. "You don't understand - I know nobody in Gryffindor would ever say stuff like that, but not everyone thinks it's that bad. Some people still think it's normal - they talk like that all the time, I've heard them when we've gone to pureblood parties and things. They even use the, you know, the M word for Muggleborns. Not my family," she added hastily. "At least, not my mum and dad. They don't call people that. But some people do."

Sapphie laughed, a grim note in her voice. "You don't need to tell me that – or that I don't understand. I may not hear that kind of slur thrown around much, but I've heard plenty of others. I'm black - I know prejudice doesn't disappear, even if people want to believe it has. Doesn't mean people should get away with it – in fact, it's a good reason why they shouldn't."

Issie blinked at her. She had never really thought about things like that. "Yes, but I'm not the one people like that're prejudiced against," she pointed out. "I'm a pureblood. And I never heard Eris calling a Muggleborn names, even though there are plenty of them in our year. I don't think it's about that really – it's just me she doesn't like. She didn't call me a blood traitor this year," she added. It seemed strangely as if she was actually sticking up for Eris Montague in a weird way – which she wasn't, of course, but she didn't want Sapphie to misunderstand. Eris might be a blood purist – some people were. But that didn't really explain why she should hate Issie.

"Well, you'd know more about that than me," Sapphie said. "I don't even know the kid. But sometimes people just use the easiest insult they can think of. Sometimes they don't even really know what it means, or they don't think about it anyway. That's not an excuse though. What has she been saying to you this year?"

And Sapphie sounded so genuinely concerned, so understanding of the whole thing, not like she thought it was a big fuss over nothing, that Issie found herself pouring the story out. The way Eris had made a point of picking on her right from the start last year, the way she and her brother and a whole group of others had threatened Issie at the New Year party, how hard it had been to start feeling like she really belonged in Gryffindor and hadn't been put in the wrong house. And then the drama club and how Lucy had clamped down on any hint of fighting, but how Eris had suddenly turned on her when they were alone. The stuff about the League, and the things Eris had said about Issie's family, about how they got away with everything and acted like they were better than everyone else.

"And it doesn't even make sense," she finished. "It was like she blamed me for the League getting found out, and people thinking her parents were part of it, but that isn't my fault, or my mum and dad's fault. It's the people in the League's fault, for doing all that horrible stuff! But it was like… like she thought I'd got put in Gryffindor on purpose, to… to…" she fumbled for the right words, "to look like I was better than them or something. And that's just stupid – everyone in my family's in Slytherin; why would I think people in Gryffindor are better?"

She had ended up with her feet up on the bench, her knees huddled up to her chest and her arms wrapped round them. Sapphie was looking at her, she could sense it, but she couldn't meet her eyes. Already she wasn't sure if she should have said all that. Some of it was personal stuff, family stuff, and family stuff wasn't supposed to be shared. How could Sapphie do anything about it anyway?

"It doesn't matter anyway," she mumbled into her knees. "I don't know why she hates me really, but she does, and my family too. And I don't want to be in the drama club with her."

"Wow," Sapphie said eventually, when Issie had almost started to think she wouldn't say anything at all. "That's a lot of heavy stuff, when you think about it. I mean, half of it's hangover from the war, isn't it? I wish people could just let it all go." A tinge of annoyance came into her voice as she spoke, but the next moment she was more thoughtful again. "You want to know what I honestly think? I think Eris Montague sounds more like she's scared and hurt than that she hates you."

Issie looked up in amazement that turned into hurt anger. Was everyone going to take Eris's side? She opened her mouth to argue, but Sapphie cut across her.

"No, listen a second. I'm not making excuses for how she treated you last year, but half of that sounds like she was joining in with the older kids. And this year? Well, look what's happening. Okay, the Montagues haven't actually been accused of anything, but there's still investigations going on. And if her family's being investigated for things they haven't even done, I can see why she'd feel like that's not fair. Plus, she's friends with that Avery girl, isn't she? An Avery was one of the ones who got arrested. And then there's you, and your family was involved last year – Oh, I know they didn't do anything wrong! But as far as anyone knows, neither did the Montagues. I'm not saying it's okay for her to take it out on you, and I don't blame you for wanting to stay away from her. I'm just saying that sometimes people lash out and do shitty things when they're hurt and angry, that's all."

It wasn't what Issie wanted to hear, and she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"So you think I'm being stupid and I should just go back and do the play," she said, her voice indistinct.

"No, I think you should do whatever you want to do," Sapphie replied. "And if she says anything to you again, I think you should tell someone. Ignoring that kind of thing doesn't solve anything, and there's no excuse for going round calling people blood traitors, as if we were stuck fifty years ago. But I also think that maybe she's not worth running away from. You guys have put a lot of work into that play from what I've heard. And now Lucy Weasley's stuck in a nasty position, you're miserable, and the show might not even happen. An angry little girl throwing round slurs she doesn't understand – she's not worth any of that, Issie. I'm not going to tell you that you should go back to the club if you don't want to. But I think you should at least talk to Lucy. She's your friend, and she deserves to understand."

Sapphie encountered Albus in the common room that evening.

"I talked to her," she said abruptly, by way of greeting.

"Any luck?" he asked, raising his head from the book he was reading.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm very good at giving advice. But she did tell me what had happened."

"And?"

Sapphie sighed and flopped into a chair. "I think I've persuaded her to talk to Lucy anyway. But I think if you really want to sort things out, you need someone to sit down and have a chat with Eris Montague too, because that kid seems pretty mixed up, and she's repeating some nasty stuff. If she's getting it from older people in her house – or her family – which I think she must be, then a fight between her and Issie Malfoy's the least you should be worrying about."